Does this offend you?
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.
Lord, to whom shall we go?
This is the final observation here. It is not a frustrated Peter who is bemoaning having no other way to go. It is the overwhelming sense of knowing you are where you belong. To be able to rest in the assurance that the words of Jesus are the words of eternal life and that He is in fact sent by God as our deliverance. Our Lord. Our Savior. This ratio sounds about right too. The mega church numbers of five thousand plus are the ones who walk away unsaved while the smaller numbers of true disciples stay because they have come into the true light of Jesus Christ. Narrow is the way and few are those who find it. As it pertains to the NAR and Purpose Driven Church let us make some further observations:
1. Jesus did not alter his teaching for the unsaved. In modern day churchianity it is common for the preacher to water down or sugar up the Gospel. This means you do not preach anything that might scare away the goats. You certainly do not teach that we must eat the flesh of Jesus and drink His blood! Additionally, you do not preach repentance and the forgiveness of sin. This is crucial as the focus of Jesus Christ was not concern for the delicate sensibilities of the lost but rather on the fact that they were lost! These folks and the folks in mega churches today are in need of a spiritual tourniquet and the mega-heretics are applying some carnal balm and a Band-Aid.
2. There was no compromise in His teachings. There was no desire to teach sloppy agape and only speak about love and puppies and pancakes. There was no reason to distract with false signs and wonders. There was no confusion about who we are compared to who God is. Joel Osteen once said that he does not preach condemnation because he believes people know what they have done wrong. Yeah that is not true Joel. Most have whitewashed what they do wrong by comparing themselves to other humans. The Gospel compares them to a Holy God so they can realize their need to repent.
3. The teaching was designed for those that stayed. The focus of the teachings for the Purpose Driven Church is always the unsaved. That is why sermons have to do with this life and not the eternal life. Sermons today are a mix of self-help and motivational seminars designed to meet a worldly need and convince the goat to come back the following week. The teaching from John's Gospel was not designed for the unsaved who ended up walking away. Jesus knew they would walk away, yet He still designed the teaching to promote only the truth. As difficult as the teaching may have been, it was designed for those who understood that He had the words of eternal life. We accept hard teachings because we know God would never lie nor lead us astray. Our preaching should always be directed to the sheep.
4. Jesus did not pursue those that rejected His teaching. This is perhaps the most profound point here. The Purpose Driven Church through the Seeker Friendly Industrial Complex is in constant pursuit of the goats. People in these heretical camps often marvel at teachings like this because the notion of not pursuing the lost is anathema to them. The reality however is that Jesus Christ simply preached the Gospel and if the vast majority of people rejected that message and walked away -- so be it. If a small handful stayed -- hallelujah to God! The emphasis was not on the numbers of people but on the authenticity of the message. When we preach the truth of the uncompromised Gospel two things will happen -- the sheep will be fed and the goats can be drawn by the Holy Spirit. When you compromise the Gospel only two things can happen -- no one can be saved and the sheep starve.
