Testimonial Evangelism and Postmodernism

If you're like me, you've heard the term postmodernism thrown around a lot but haven't been able to grasp what exactly it means. In a nutshell, postmodernism defines truth as being a construction of one's own thoughts and ideas as it pertains to their own personal experience. Consequently, this worldview leads to the truth that there are many truths, no matter how contradictory they may be since each individual is the determining factor of what is true.

We see postmodernism's affects on art, literature, and architecture to name a few examples. What I am more concerned with is how this worldview is affecting Christianity in how we read the Bible, evangelize, do church, and judge right and wrong. Rather than confronting a culture of half-truths and no-truths with absolute truth, the church has retreated and married herself to the postmodern culture by adopting the belief that we shouldn't judge falsehood but treat all opinions, beliefs, etc. as equal, regardless of substance. Each individual's personal standards is exalted above the standard of God's word.

So what does all this have to do with evangelism and your personal testimony?

I remember growing up and hearing a lot of "to each his own's" and "whatever floats your boat's". Looking back, I realize that this is the lingo of the postmodernist-the one who subjects truth to their own personal experience. And looking forward, I see why testimonial evangelism fails when it comes to sharing absolute truth with a world in love with subjective truth. We can tell people how Jesus has changed our life and greatly influenced us, with good and right intentions, but the postmodernist response is, "Whatever floats your boat." Ultimately, they hear about our PERSONAL experience, no matter how joyfully and sincerely we present it, and gleefully write it off as something that is good for you, the Christian, but not good for them.

At this point, you might say that sharing your personal testimony is less confrontational and opens up the door to have others listen to you. This is a genuine concern but at the end of the day, we should base our gospel ministry not on pragmatism or what gets the best results but on biblical authority.

So what is the biblical evangelistic response to a postmodern culture?

In Acts 17, Paul was greatly distraught after noticing many idols in the city of Athens. He could've easily preached his own personal testimony about his own personal God, which I'm sure would've fit right in with the religion in Athens since the Greeks set-up many altars of worship to various gods. Instead, Paul went on to proclaim "Jesus and the resurrection" (Acts 17:18) and then preached one of the greatest evangelistic sermons in the Bible (Acts 17:22-31).  He confronted the idolatry of Athens by boldly declaring the gospel!

And this is exactly how we should respond to the idolatry of postmodernism. which replaces the true God with the god of self. We need to replace our subjective and personal testimony with God's objective and universal testimony found only in the gospel! Rather than pointing others to our own inward experience, we should point sinners to God's outward demonstration of His love on the cross (Romans 5:8). Afterall, does the gospel not show us that this life is not about us and our story but about Christ and His glory. And we give Him glory by looking away from ourselves and setting our sights on our Savior, the author and finisher of our faith!

The culture we live in loves the idea of subjective truth. A worldview that puts the individual on the throne and allows them not only to construct their own perception of truth which makes them comfortable but it also gives them free reign to reject any truth that makes them uncomfortable. This is why personal testimony is so appealing to the postmodern culture...it's personal in respect to the one sharing it and it sets no demands on the hearer. In contrast, the demands of the gospel, to repent and trust in Christ, are universal. This is what God, through Paul, commanded all Greeks to do, regardless of the god they worshiped (Acts 17:30). And even today, God commands all men to repent and trust in Christ. And the gospel promises that anyone who comes to Christ in repentance and faith will by no means be turned away, regardless of their own personal experience. Although the postmodern culture doesn't like this idea, it is actually good news! God's love towards sinners has nothing to do with what we do but everything to do with what Christ has already done! If you ponder the depth of that good news, the focus in our proclamation will shift away from us and our own testimony and towards God's love and His testimony about His Son!

A Lasting Resolution

With another year coming to a close, many people are reflecting on 2010, whether it be the goals we reached throughout the year or those we quickly forgot after January 1st, 2010.

So as many Americans who celebrated Christmas completely miss the point of the incarnation of Christ and the power of His gospel, we rush towards this year's New Year's Eve party getting out our fancy suits and champagne glasses while we gobble up our black-eyed peas and cabbage and for one night, feel like change is in the air.

Unfortunately, the church can also miss the point of Christ's first coming and run to preach a "gospel of resolutions" that turns the gospel merely into a message that can bring positive changes in our lives.

Here's an example from an email that Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church sent out today.

"At the beginning of this year, God gave me Ephesians 3:20 as a promise for this new decade, and we have seen God do amazing things. I am expecting to see His supernatural power and provision exceed our expectations in these last few days of 2010, and I want to encourage you to be a part of what God is doing now and what He plans to do in 2011."

The fact of the matter is that God already  "exceeded or expectations" by sending the long-awaited Messiah to this earth over 2,000 years ago. The God-man, Jesus Christ, displayed the supernatural power of God by living a perfect and obedient life under the law, being completely without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). While we exceedingly break God's commandments, Christ obeyed it perfectly by living a righteous life in thought, word, and deed. He then willingly went to the cross and suffered under the wrath of God. We, as sinners, deserved this but the precious Christ, who didn't deserve it, satisfied the justice of God and took our sin and punishment completely (Isaiah 53; Romans 3:24-26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; 1 John 2:2). He then died and was buried then rose again from the grave proving that he was the son of God who sufficiently made the payment for our sins (Romans 1:4, 4:25).

This is the good news and in light of God's amazing love towards sinners, we must repent and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Proverbs 28:13; Luke 13:3; John 3:18). Upon putting our faith in Christ, God will justify us and forgive us of every single sin we have committed and will commit (Romans 3:28, 5:1; Galatians 3:11). We will receive the righteousness of Christ as our sins are nailed to the cross with Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 2:13-15).

This is the message the church has been entrusted with and this is the message the church should be proclaiming to the ends of the earth (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)! So while the world will continue to preach and embrace a message that can only bring about an empty change, the gospel is the power of God that can give life to sinners dead in their trespasses and sins and bring salvation and forgiveness to all who come in repentance and faith! And it is only in Christ that the old has passed away and we are made new creations (2 Corinthians 5:16, 17). So this new year, if you are a Christian, make it your priority to preach the good news to a lost and dying world. And if you have yet to believe this good news, repent of your sins and trust in Christ and God will give you life!

Mark 10
²³And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,  "How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" ²⁴And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again,  "Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." ²⁶And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,"Then who can be saved?" ²⁷Jesus looked at them and said,  "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God."

Tolerance and Worldly Preaching

I have to wonder sometimes if while entrenched in a culture that preaches tolerance, Christians let the world's greatest commandment-"thou shall not judge"-infiltrate our thinking without even knowing it. This idea that the church should not judge anyone on any matter lest we be accused of not being loving. Don't get me wrong, we do want to be loving in all that we do but love does not separate itself from discerning what is true and what is false (1 Corinthians 13:6), particularly when falsehood has crept into the church. I have seen this affect the way we deal with "preachers" who have dumb-downed the gospel and preaching. Many factors may contribute to this, including our low view of God's word and preaching, but I do think we have let tolerance take priority over the biblical command to stand firm on God's truth and oppose those who water it down by their methods and message. This must not be so...there is too much at stake (see Titus 1:9-16).

How would the preachers of old respond to what goes on in the church today? By comparison, we would probably look like cowards.

Neglecting Such a Great Salvation

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

(Hebrews 2:1-3a)

This passage in the book of Hebrews was written to the church to serve as a great warning in regards to the new covenant. In knowing the just retribution that came with neglecting the Mosaic law which was given by angels (see Leviticus 26:14-39; Numbers 15:30-31), the writer makes a lesser-to-greater argument by emphasizing the greater judgment that came with neglecting the salvation through Jesus Christ that was proclaimed by God Himself. The overarching principle is that the gospel that God has proclaimed through Christ is so important, that God will judge all men who neglect it.

While it is a great tragedy when a person who is lost in their sins hears the gospel message only to neglect it and walk away indifferent, what is even a greater shame is when the church neglects this gospel message that has been entrusted to us by God. Instead, we turn to shameful and irreverent schemes that have nothing to do with the Christ. Whether it is during a Sunday morning worship service or at a youth conference, the church has perverted the gospel to appeal to carnal men. We claim to care about the souls of men but in reality our methods show that we only care about numbers and getting "decisions" for Christ. If we truly were concerned for the salvation of men, then we would be faithful to preach the God's word, which is the only medium that is sufficient to bring lost sinners to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:15) and thus bring them to repentance and faith in Christ (2 Kings 22:11; Romans 10:17; 1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18) and guide them into all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:3).

I've seen this at it's worst this week in Houston, TX. A conference that prides itself on being "the most anticipated inner city multi church student conference in Houston, Texas" is busy spreading its Christless and worldly Christianity to 1,000+ youth. As you walk through the website and watch some of the highlights, you will see that the preacher has been replaced by the comedian and the storyteller and the message has been replaced with silly illustrations and bad jokes. Even worse, rather than proclaiming the gospel and God's word, the "pastors" and "speakers" feel it necessary to hold sessions on how teens can be prepared for their "first time". And this is all done in the name of "love".

This is where parents and churches are sending their youth, and sadly, churches across the evangelical landscape have used these antics to replace the message that Paul said was "of most importance" ( 1 Corinthians 15:3). The only message that is the power of God to save, sanctify and glorify the sinner (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2).  So rather than proclaiming this gospel message, the church turns to man-centered and man-made strategies that may produce results that look good on paper but in God's scheme of things, do nothing to profit the souls of men.

It's a sobering thing when we see those lost and dead in their trespasses and sins turn away from the only way to find reconciliation to a holy and righteous God but what's just as frightening (if not even more) is when pastors and teachers, those very men that are called to preach this message of reconciliation to the lost, ignore God's message and method and replace it with their own. I pray that God would awaken our hearts and unplug our ears to pay careful attention to this great salvation so that we use God's means to preach God's message for God's glory.

Hold Fast to the Gospel

With the Christmas season already upon us, many right-wing Christian organizations are already waging war against a secular industry that is attempting to remove Christ from Christmas. While I do find this type of extreme political correctness a bit annoying, what concerns me more is not what's going on in the secular realm but the Christless preaching that many hear from church on Sunday morning.

I vividly remember the "Christian" opposition I received when I expressed this particular concern I had with a popular preacher here in Houston. Over and over I heard "inspiring" messages of how to live a victorious kind of life. One thing was missing though...the gospel. Any mention of repentance, sin, Christ, and the cross was limited to the end-of service 2-minute invitation to say a prayer and ask Jesus into your life. This was after a 30 minute presentation on how to live your best life now. I shared my concern with friend from the congregation but they saw no need to place the gospel at the center of any of the pastor's sermons. In fact, they sarcastically asked how many times does he have to talk about the gospel. We're already Christians, right?
Unfortunately, this wasn't a unique experience. At every church I visited, I heard similar preaching. This was also prevalent at churches that didn't sugar-coat the sermons but steadily exhorted the congregation to do this and do that and live holy. I was told what I should be doing but I was never really explained why I should be doing these things or the fact that Christ has already fullfilled all that God requires on my behalf. I was told the what but never the Who or the why.

So what you have in many churches is a message of moralism. Preaching that focuses on what we do rather than on what Christ has done. Messages centered on our righteousness rather than on Christ's righteousness. The end result produces Christians who work hard merely out of duty or guilt and not out of a love for their Savior. What follows is an attitude that starts comparing other Christians to our standard of obedience or what we're doing. We fall into a mindset that other Christians are not doing enough.

What we don't understand is in light of all that Christ has done, we can never do enough.

The Gospel is not merely, as Michael Horton puts it, the spark that ignites the Christian life via salvation. It is also the fuel that drives faith and practice. Too often I hear well-intentioned Christians exhort new believers to get into a discipleship/accountability program and learn the deeper things of God. They view the gospel and salvation as an event that happened in the past. But what is deeper than the infinite love of Christ that was demonstrated on the cross (1 John 3:1)? And isn't it in the gospel that we now stand? Everything we do from getting up in the morning to laying down at night and everything in between should be motivated by the love that God has shown us through Christ.

The new and old believer's response to Christ's saving work on the cross is one of obedience flowing from a heart of love for their Savior (John 14:15, 23-24). You can't have one without the other. If you remove love, then you have legalism. Remove obedience and you have antinomianism. The true Christian who obeys God's law understands that Christ obeyed all that law perfectly on the his behalf. This is why no discipleship program or twelve-step class can do anything for anyone unless the Gospel is at the center of all things, especially in our Sunday morning services. What He has done for our sake should be our focus and not simply what we should be doing.

I want to write more but I do not want to make my initial post on this topic too long. I'd like to share something from 1 Corinthians 15 that is very important regarding Christ-centered preaching, evangelism, living, etc. and I will do so in my following posts.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...

Not Ashamed of the Gospel

Romans 1:16
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.

This is what looks is like to not be ashamed of the gospel.

This past weekend, 60-plus youths got together for an evangelism boot camp and took the gospel to the streets of Houston, TX. There were no pews; no fancy church buildings and altars; no professional bands to back them up…only a group of teenagers that understood the command of our God our Savior to go and preach the gospel to the whole of creation.

It turned out to be a great weekend. We were able to proclaim the truth to hundreds of Houstonians through gospel tracts, one-on-one witnessing, and open-air-preaching. There were some that received it with joy and other that received it with anger but we rejoice that the gospel was preached for we know that it is the power of God for salvation.

The Gospel According to 2Pac

I came across a website for a young adult service that meets to discuss the bible in a q&a session. I was immediately drawn to a statement on their home page.

‘“God ain’t mad at ya” The biggest myth we help people come into realization is just that, God is not mad at you, nor is He turning His back on you because of poor choices. The fact is where sin increased; God’s grace increased all the more, Romans 5:20 (NIV).’

Immediately I thought of Psalm 5:5 where the Psalmist says that “God hates workers of iniquity.”

Several questions popped into my head regarding the pastor’s theology so I sent him an email and questioned him on his belief that God is not angry with the wicked, as well as his use of Romans 5:20 to support this view. There are a few ministries here in Houston that use this same theme to reach the lost. Just check out http://www.godaintmadatya.com/.

I received a lengthy (3 pages) response as the pastor attempted to lay out his position. While I found numerous disagreements on his poor use of Scripture as well as his stance on certain attributes of God, it wasn’t until the his last paragraph that I saw the foundation of his loose and low view of God and His word.

“According to every Christian publication plus News Week, this generation only has 14%-17% believers in Jesus and the bible as the infallible truth of God. My generation is 35% and my parent’s generation, the WWII people was 85%. It does not take a rocket scientist to realize if the Church as a whole does not change its ways of confrontation Christianity and begin to teach the grace of God instead of pointing out the speck in our brother’s eye, the church as we know it is close to an end.”

So his entire theology is not driven by the truth laid out in God’s word, but by the results of obscure surveys done by secular and Christian publications. His bad theology is just another fruit of the seeker-sensitive movement that considers more of what the public says, rather than what God says.

According to the pastor, it may be the end of the Church as we know it…at least that’s what the surveys suggest. So what does this cause him to do? Water down the truth and make an image of God that is more palatable to his audience so that they won’t be turned. This is a dangerous mindset that leads to all sorts of false teachings and unbiblical methods of reaching the lost.

We do not tamper with God‘s word simply because we aren‘t getting the results we want. (2 Corinthians 4:1-2). We are not co-authors but ambassadors for Christ who make an appeal on behalf of Christ…not on behalf of what the public wants, regardless if people are being turned off by the truth or not (2 Corinthians 5:20).

When we do make a decision to change and tweak the gospel for the sake of results, it reveals a few things:

1. We are not trusting in the sovereignty of God and His plan for salvation. We know that if our message is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 4:3). Who are we to try to convince someone of truth by watering-down the truth and not making it truth after all? It is up to God to give them eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand (John 1:12-13, Acts 16:14).


2. We are in danger of preaching another gospel, which is no gospel at all! Some of Paul’s serious warnings were against those who were preaching a different gospel(Galatians 1:6-9). Rather than distorting the message to receive the approval of men, we must always remember that the gospel was not taught to us by men but received through a revelation of Jesus Christ from the Holy Spirit. If it’s anyone’s approval we desire, it should be God’s (Galatians 1:10-12).
   
3. Our sufficiency is found in statistics, surveys, and man-made methods rather than the Scriptures. When results become our final authority on whether or not our message is effective and true, we undermine God’s word and let the whims and opinions of carnal human beings be our guide.

In the end, we know that as stewards of God’s truth, successful evangelism does not hinge on the hearer’s response. We know that without the ordinance of God, men will not respond to the gospel. We are the givers of truth and God is the giver of faith so successful evangelism is when we preach the biblical gospel in season and out of season in hopes that God will bring sinners to their senses and grant them repentance (2 Timothy 2:25-26, 2 Timothy 4:2).

So then what do we do if people are turned off? We preach the gospel. What do we do if it is received well? We preach the gospel. Why? Because we are not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16)!

Preach Righteousness

"We don't stand here to proclaim our righteousness but to proclaim the righteousness of God's Son (2 Corinthians 4:5).

-Richard Caldwell (my pastor)

The Simple, the Scoffers, and the Foolish

Proverbs 1:22

How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?

Here in Proverbs we see a progression of sinful behavior. We can learn quite a bit about our witnessing encounters from this verse.

We first have the simple ones who love their simple ways. In ignorance, they cling to the coziness of their simple life and simple way of thinking in regards to God's truth, eternal salvation, good and evil. I've encountered many simple people while witnessing...they hear the Gospel but shrug their shoulders and walk away…back to their simple life. As a result of their indifference to the truth, they turn away from God and consequently any hope of salvation (See Proverbs 1:32).

The scoffers who delight in their scoffing make a mockery of everything holy and religious. Just think about the new atheists like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, etc. and movies such as Religulous by Bill Maher. They worship the god of naturalism and scoff at the thought of a Holy God who reigns supreme over all of creation. This group is particularly tough because even the mention of God, the Bible, and Jesus is immediately counted off as superstition and foolishness. However, 2 Peter 3:3 tells us that they mock the truth of God's word so that they may follow their own sinful desires (see John 3:20).

And the final group is those who hate knowledge. These are the worst of the three because they hate to be taught any truth whatsoever. Their pride deceives them into believing they are above reproof and as a result, they reject any truth that would lead them to knowledge of God which would ultimately lead them to salvation. This is especially true with false Christians. Now I know I'm not the judge of one's salvation but I encountered someone that may fit this description perfectly while I was witnessing in Atlanta. I handed a tract to a lady at the BET Awards and asked her if she were to die, would she go to Heaven but before I could even finish my sentence she replied , " I asked God for forgiveness and I know I'll make it in." I tried asking her if she considered herself to be good enough to go to heaven and she didn't want to hear it.

With God's help, I patiently took her through the law and told her that the Bible declares no one to be good but she continued to put her hand in my face and proudly exclaim, "Nah uh…stop…that's the end of this discussion!"

She then went on to say that she prays every night and asks God to forgive her so nothing anyone says to her will convince her otherwise...keep in mind she had her hand in my face the entire time. I tried getting a word in but she kept shaking her head and making loud and obnoxious high-pitched noises. It was extremely frustrating. I asked her if she had read her Bible recently and she claimed she read it earlier that day. I asked what passages and she said, "Isaiah 1, 2, and 3." I then asked her what she read and if she learned anything new and she said she forgot.

She then said, "Look...we will see who's right when we both die...maybe I'll see you in Heaven or maybe I won't!"

Her pride and contempt for any knowledge or reproof whatsoever was ultimately her own stumbling block. She hates the knowledge of God's word and as Hosea 4:6 says, "my people perish for a lack of knowledge." And unfortunately, a sinner full of pride will reject the truth of the gospel that can set them free and give them everlasting life…in other words, pride paves the way to eternal destruction (Proverbs 16:18). Furthermore, when our hearts are filled with pride, the Bible states that God is at war with us (1 Peter 5:5, James 4:6, Proverbs 3:34).

But we also know that God gives grace to the humble. As Christians, we must preach the Gospel and not quarrel with anyone but with great patience and kindness, gently oppose the simple ones, the mockers and the haters of knowledge and believe that through upon hearing the outward call of the Gospel, God is doing an inward work by pouring out His Spirit upon their hearts and granting them repentance(2 Timothy 2:25, Romans 5:5).

An Election that Stands

Now that the election is over can we get back to business? All the effort that we put into the preaching of politics…can we now focus our time, energy, and efforts into preaching the Gospel? It’s the preaching of the Gospel that will change the hearts of a nation…NOT POLITICS.

For all those fretting over the election of Obama, I ask you one question. Could God be working something out above and beyond our comprehension? If you believe Romans 8:28, then the answer is yes. Although I will not speculate on what those plans may be, Christians must continue to fight the good fight of faith. Don’t get out of the ring and simply stop fighting...trust in His will and continue to read your Bible, pray, and proclaim the Gospel.

And remember, even though we may not like the results of the election, we must ALWAYS trust in God’s purpose and not in politics or presidents. All the promises of God are still true and we must always abide and rest in these promises.

Another thing...before we react like the liberals and begin attacking the President Elect (and I say this with a big gasp), remember that those who are in authority ARE GOD’S SERVANTS (Romans 13:6) so let’s debate, reason, and discuss things with respect...keeping in mind that he is a minister of God. We must submit to that authority (Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1) and if we are going to hold any president accountable, let’s always remember Ephesians 6:12…our fight is not against those in office but against the rulers, authorities and spiritual forces of evil IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES.

So take heart Christian...despite who the people of America elected, always remember your election that took place before the foundation of the world (Romans 1:4) by a gracious and merciful God because when all that we see in this world passes away, this is the only election that will prove of most eternal importance (Romans 8:29-39).

Preach!

"When I interview a missionary in our mission the only thing I want to know is will you walk into the middle of the square, open up a Bible and preach because that is how the gospel travels throughout this world...through preaching!"

-Paul Washer

To Preach or not to Preach

I recently joined Vertical 713, an outreach ministry based here in Houston, for a night of street witnessing at Herman Park and downtown.

I had the opportunity to speak with a merry-go-round operator (I can’t remember his name) at The Aquarium in downtown Houston. There weren’t many people in line so when I handed him a million dollar bill, he asked me what it was about. I told him there was a million dollar question on the back…would you go to Heaven if you die? He laughed it off a little and had a smile on his face as he thought about it. He said he wasn’t sure because he “did some bad things in his life”. He didn’t really want to elaborate so I asked him if some of those bad things included breaking some of the 10 Commandments. He casually agreed and then I began asking him if he’s ever lied, stolen, blasphemed, etc. As he admitted to breaking each of those laws, he quickly grew somber in his countenance. He admitted his guilt if he stood before a Holy God and said he would only deserve Hell. I then presented the Good News to him and let him know that God provided a way through Jesus Christ for him to be forgiven. I ended the discussion by telling him to read the Gospels and think about our conversation. He thanked me and said he would put much thought into it. As I walked away, I glanced back and noticed he was reading the tract I handed to him. I pray that God opens his heart and waters the seed of the Gospel that was planted in him.

This is just one of many witnessing encounters that many Christians, who use the law and grace, can attest to. I only share this story because of recent comments made by other Christians, including Joel Houston of Hillsong United at the recent Hillsong Conference in Houston, TX. Comments such as, “All we’re here to do is love people and be the hands and feet of Jesus.” Now I’m not even sure what that means but according to Joel Houston, we “don’t need to preach” Jesus but just love on people. In fact, in one of his workshop sessions, his response to questions about outreach was that, “we don’t need to get on a soapbox and preach”. He also told a story of how he had been going to a local coffee shop for seven years and never preached but just talked to people. Wow…talk about extreme relationship evangelism…if you can even call this evangelism.

So here was a crowd hungry to go out into the world to reach lost sinners and Joel, a very influential figure with young Christians, discourages them from preaching the gospel…what a shame.

That same night after we finished a night of sharing the gospel, a friend of mine received a phone call from another Christian. She told him that she doesn’t agree with our “methods” and we simply need to tell people that “Jesus loves them” instead of preaching Law and Grace.

So on one hand, we have a famous worship leader discouraging eager Christians from preaching the gospel at all, and on the other hand, we have Christians who suggest that if we must preach, we only need to be talking about the love of Jesus.

In The Great Commission, Jesus commands us to “go into the world and preach the gospel to all creation”. The word preach here literally means to herald or proclaim (particularly divine truth) and in order to proclaim anything, we must open our mouths and use words. This is not a command to be “the hands and feet of Jesus” but to be the mouthpiece of Christ by preaching his good news. If the Great Commission was only meant for the disciples, then the gospel would have died off with their martyrdoms. Furthermore, in Romans 10:14-15, Paul systematically explains that in order for someone to be saved, they must hear the gospel, and in order for them to hear the gospel, someone must preach it to them. In other words, open your mouth Christian so that the sinner may hear the gospel. It’s as simple as that. So rather than hiding behind our fears and cowardice by suggesting we should minimize the gospel to our actions, let us boldly and without hindrance preach the Kingdom of God (Acts 28:31).

Also, I don’t argue against telling people that Christ loves them; however, just as a good doctor must first tell his sick patient that he is indeed ill and needs a cure, we as Christians must show the sinner that they are indeed sinners and need God’s forgiveness. Otherwise, the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who believe it is the power of God unto salvation (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

And while I can reference many more verses and point out that the Church of Jesus Christ was built on the preaching of the gospel by the apostles, firsthand experience will always trump any theological arguments or differences in the matter of if and how we are to to do so. With that said, I challenge Christians to get involved with a Biblically sound outreach ministry or go to Way of the Master’s website and equip yourselves to share your faith. Also, as I pointed out earlier, there is a wonderful outreach ministry, Vertical 713, that consistently hits the streets on Friday nights and preaches the gospel throughout Houston. Feel free to contact them or send me a message if you're interested in doing the same.

Adorning the Gospel

It amazes me how much time and effort we put into finding the right job and choosing the right university, but when it comes to finding and choosing the right church, we are willing to compromise essential and sound teaching and settle for a church that we’re comfortable with.

With our jobs we expect exceptional training, management and organization. We demand that our employer provide the necessary tools to increase and utilize our skills and expertise so that we may gradually progress in our workplace.

With our universities and schools, we anticipate that our professors teach and instruct us with proper and well-thought out curriculums to prepare us for the workplace. So much time is devoted to studying, learning and applying the principles taught to us by these instructors.

Yet, when it comes to the church, we settle for silly and asinine sermons and teachings that, at best, give us wisdom and guidance that are no different than what we find on Oprah or Dr. Phil Today. And at worst, lack any substance or Biblical truths and consequently create thousands of false converts that comfortably sit in church pews today.

In contrast to the standards of the modern church, Paul’s letter to Titus gives us a detailed outline of God’s standards for church leaders and what they should be teaching

Firstly, a leader is not qualified on the basis of aptitude, education, oratory skills, physical appearance or natural ability but rather on moral and spiritual character. He must lead a blameless life, free from scandal and corruption and be devoted to encouraging the church through sound Biblical doctrine. And I’m not talking about a “be a better you” type of encouragement but a solid exhortation to live a holy life. And in addition to shepherding and caring for the flock, a church leader must equip the saints to evangelize and defend the truth (See Titus 1).

So…Paul puts an emphasis on inward character of church leaders and encourages them to teach and live sound doctrine. The modern church seems to put an emphasis on the outward appearance; get a cool haircut (spiky or messy with lots of gel), wear the latest and trendiest clothes (torn jeans, striped collared shirts from Express and absolutely no ties) and listen to cool music (U2, Radiohead, etc.). Sound doctrine? Expositional teaching? Good character? That stuff doesn’t appeal to the public…we need relevant teaching! Oh…and let’s not forget about the booming sound system.

Speaking of teaching, Houston has its mega dose of megachurches known for shallow and superficial sermons that hide behind a mask of relevance and self improvement. We teach people how to become a better you and live life to the fullest. Wanna find a date? Go to your local church and they’ll be sure to hook you up by the weekend. I’m not kidding…how else will we get people to come and listen to our shallow sermons? Have we forgotten that we are called to preach Christ crucified which is the power of God unto salvation (1 Corinthians 1:22-24)? Walk into most modern churches and you will not hear the Gospel and if you do, it certainly isn't the Biblical, God-centered Gospel but a man-centered, self improvement message which is really no gospel at all (Galatians 1:6-7).

Back to Paul’s letter to Titus…you can read through chapter 2 and from the outset, God commands Titus to teach sound doctrine. And this is essential and imperative whether you’re young or old, male or female. It doesn’t matter if you’re leading a youth group or teaching a Bible study for senior citizens; sound doctrine is indispensable and absolutely necessary. And rather than doing sermon series based on CSI or Dr. Seuss, Paul tells Titus to teach the church on topics such as self-control, purity, and Godly speech so that they may obtain a sound and good faith that leads by example. And as leaders in our church, these are the things we should teach and pass down to the younger generation.

If you’re a believer, what is your church teaching? Are you under a pastor who is encouraging you with Biblical truths and equipping you to live a holy life that is an example to those who oppose it? And if you’re a church leader, are you teaching what is in accordance with sound doctrine and feeding your sheep by rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)? Or, just as Charles Spurgeon recognized over a hundred years ago , are you merely amusing goats?