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Does Your Church Hear The Gospel?

Does Your Church Hear The Gospel?

Last updated on: August 26, 2016 at 8:00 am by Ryan Welsh

Does Your Church Hear The Gospel? 2016-08-25T22:42:45-07:00 Ryan Welsh

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hear the gospel? My friend and colleague recently said something that was reminiscent of a thought that I’ve often had. He said, “Would the authors he reads go to his church?” I have never thought of it in those exact terms, but I have thought much about the inconsistency between belief and choice of church for many Christians.

TOLERATING NON-GOSPEL PREACHING

I have many friends and family members, whom I know love Jesus and understand the gospel, yet attend churches who have hardly anything resembling gospel preaching. This puzzles me. While there are some preferential details that might turn some people off towards certain churches, there is one thing that is of paramount importance that is often overlooked. That thing is the gospel. I am dumbfounded by some of the reasons people leave churches. People leave congregations for reasons as superficial as clothing norms and worship style, yet they will endure sermons that have no distinguishable Christian characteristics. People will, unfortunately, tolerate “Christian” sermons that don’t include Christ. Many so-called “Christian sermons” could pass as applicable teachings in more than one religion.

preaching meme There are some sensible reasons to leave a church, but by far, the greatest reason to hit the eject button is if the main doctrine of Christianity, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is absent. The gospel is not a subjective idea. Either a preacher proclaims the gospel or he does not. Either he explains for God’s children, the good news of Jesus Christ and Him crucified or he teaches a sub-Christian, man-centered idea.

WHAT IS GOSPEL PREACHING?

The gospel is that sinners need a Savior and that Jesus is that Savior. The gospel is not that Jesus wants to give us a better life in the here and now. The gospel is not that we need to “BE BETTER.” The Gospel is not that Jesus has died for us and now we owe Him our obedience as payback. The Gospel is not a chance to even out the ledger. The Gospel is that we deserve hell because we are wretched sinners. Yet, because of the love that God has for us, He sent His Son to pay the punishment we deserve. The good news is that Jesus has taken our sin upon His shoulders, died, and given us His righteousness.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Now, when the Father sees us, He sees His Son’s righteousness. His righteousness has been imputed to us as a gift of grace, not a result of works.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift from God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Paul made clear that his preaching was concerned with the gospel only:

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified (2 Corinthians 2:2).

Teaching law without gospel is not gospel. It’s legalism. It’s religion. Teaching gospel without law is not gospel because without bad news there’s no need for good news. With no sin, there’s no need for Jesus. Gospel preaching happens when a pastor teaches God’s children what the Bible tells him to.

It’s no surprise that we have so many “motivational speakers” and “Psychologists” and “life coaches” masquerading as preachers. Paul warned us:

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

HOPE FOR MORE GOSPEL PREACHERS

What church do you go to? Does your pastor preach the gospel? Does he preach the bad news about your sin and the good news about Jesus dying for that sin? Does He teach that you are now a new creation? That you are no longer condemned?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, you can, and ought to, hold your pastor accountable to the charge that he has been assigned:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:1-2).

If he does not, you ought to find a church family where you will be fed God’s Word. My hope is not that a mass amount of people would flee their churches, but that a mass amount of pastors would begin to preach the gospel.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16).

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