In times of secularisation and confusion, the church needs to recover its integrity and a desire to proclaim the gospel boldly. These were the main messages heard at the 2023 European Leadership Forum (ELF) conference, in Wisla, Poland, recently.
‘Gospel integrity is a major need for the church now’, theologian Michael Reeves (England) told the 750 participants on the first evening. ‘The moral deficiencies and spiritual dryness that Christians bemoan, have roots’, he said. ‘We are astonished when evangelical leaders fail’, but this only shows that often evangelical leaders ‘minimise sin and offer shallow repentance’.
In a message that set the tone for the rest of the week, Reeves warned against ‘prioritising outward performance over inward reality’. ‘Friends’, he continued, ‘our need is not only for moral integrity but for a gospel integrity. There is no spiritual health without acknowledgement that we need mercy’.
