Reestablishing God's Standard in the Church: Intro

What happens when a structure that looks perfectly fine on the outside is quietly deteriorating within? In 1919, a massive molasses tank in Boston had been showing warning signs for years before it catastrophically exploded, killing 21 people and injuring over 150 more. The tank had a standard it was supposed to meet, but those responsible kept ignoring the signs because it had always worked before. This sobering historical event opens up a powerful question for us as a church: just because nothing has collapsed yet, does that mean we are truly up to God's standard? As we begin our journey through the book of 1 Timothy, we are invited to honestly evaluate ourselves not by what has always worked, not by what seems to be going well, and not by what other churches are doing, but by the standard God himself has laid out in his Word. The central question we will return to again and again is this: are we a biblical church that is up to God's standard? This is not a comfortable question, but it is a necessary one. The future of the local church depends on our willingness to confront the warning signs before the walls come down.