Samuel
said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the
head of the tribes of
"But I did
obey the Lord ," Saul said. "I
went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I
completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers
took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in
order to sacrifice them to the Lord
your God at Gilgal." -- 1Samuel 15: 17-21 (NIV)
Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings or in obedience? Our intentions and sincerity do not matter -- only our obedience to the true Gospel. Our heart is wicked and deceitful above all things says the Bible.
The further away the church gets from the Gospel, the more we see it relying upon carnal solutions and strategies. The smoothness of the speaker does not hold the power to save. The modern church is enamored with professional speakers, motivation and self help. These are lies. We cannot help ourselves -- if we could we would not need a Savior. Likewise, we do not need a worldly strategy to deliver the Gospel. Recently I wrote about a mega church pastor who had written an article suggesting to pastors to not bring a Gospel message on Easter Sunday but rather a "more practical" message such as how to improve your marriage or feel more significant in the world. His rationale for this was that so many unsaved go to church on Easter Sunday that you want them to come back! NO! We should want them to go to heaven and have eternal life! The only way they are going to get there is if someone preaches to them the Gospel!
And
so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come
with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I
resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.
My message and my preaching were not with wise and
persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on
God's power. -- 1Corinthians 2: 1-5 (NIV)
So much of the modern church landscape is entirely about eloquence and human wisdom. It takes so much human wisdom to think that the people who need the Gospel the most should not hear it the one chance they get. What is Paul saying here? I resolved to know nothing -- preach nothing -- teach nothing -- impart nothing -- to you except what? The latest leadership schemes? The most popular motivational techniques? NO -- Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Gospel. All motivational speaking can accomplish is to send a more motivated person to hell. When motivational speaking inhabits the pulpit people will still be going to hell; they just may seem more enthusiastic about it.
If it is not eloquence in speech craft, it is an over reliance on human wisdom as Paul states above. Churches with marketing strategies. Don't preach about the blood! Don't preach about the cross! Don't preach about sin! Remember now, the key to everything we seek as people is imbedded solely in the Gospel message and that message is that Christ died for our sins and rose on the third day. You cannot remove the blood, the cross, and sin from that message because there will be nothing but an empty shell remaining. Unfortunately, that is what we are seeing across this country today. Gospel messages that are mere shells of what is needed to truly set people free. Messages about what God wants to do for you ignores what He has already done! Prosperity in this life ignores true prosperity -- eternal life! Wait a minute preacher, can't I have both?
"No
one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or
you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God
and money. -- Matthew 6: 24 (NIV)
You can prosper in this world beloved but you cannot pursue prosperity and God. There can be only one pursuit. There can be only one Master. Anything pursued ahead of God is by definition an idol. Marketing schemes within the seeker friendly and purpose driven models of church growth are designed to make the church seem relevant to the world. That is patently absurd and strictly unbiblical. We are supposed to be a shining city on a hill. We are supposed to stand out to the world. We are supposed to be different. To give them another choice in this world gone mad. Mixing the world's culture into the church is the very leaven Christ warned us about. It is their culture that is sending them to hell -- why in the world do we want to be relevant to it? I've heard these strategies defended by pastors and lay persons as a means to lure them into church. Lure them in? What are they squirrels and we are afraid if we make too sudden a movement we will frighten them away? Don't say Jesus too much! Don't want to scare them! There is no hell number two beloved. Their condition cannot get any worse. I find it eerie that Christian leaders think the best way to eventually get around to the freedom found in the Gospel is to first trap the person you wish to bring freedom to. Come hear our unsaved band! Come listen to our unsaved professionally trained singers. So often now I see the catch phrase -- "relevant messages" used in church marketing materials. This is subtle code of course for avoiding the harder topics in Christianity. A new ten part series on improving your self esteem. We do not need to feel better about ourselves! We need to feel better about our God! But we do 20 community outreaches per year! Where is the Gospel? But we provide the best day care in the city! Where is the Gospel? But we put on the best plays and concerts! Where is the Gospel? But our pastor is on television! Where is the Gospel?
