Embarrassed Of Jesus
Many pastors, in an effort to be more palatable to people and to grow their crowds, round off the corners of the Gospel and avoid addressing the very things in our culture that most need addressing. We need fewer pastors who are embarrassed of Jesus and more pastors emboldened by Jesus.
Dear Pastor, lock your knees. Stiffen your spine. And, preach the Bible with boldness and in the power of the Holy Spirit! Preach on, preacher!
This is not a new issue. It’s a long standing issue and one that we’ve all surely wrestled with.
Billy Graham was being criticized by a man for his preaching. He said of Rev. Graham, “His preaching is going to take the church back 50 years.” Graham responded, “I’m sorry. I had hoped to take the church back 2,000 years.” Bullseye.
We need to reject the modern propensity of apologizing for, avoiding, or nuancing the clear declarations of the Scriptures so as to finesse a crowd or attract a broader audience. Yes, we should be good missiologists. We should appeal to as many people as possible. But, in our appeal, we must always hold sacred the power of the Person and the Word who transforms the people we engage.
It is impossible to be a faithful witness if our witness does not fully testify to the Truth; the full, unapologetic, clean and clear truth. Anything less is getting close to another Gospel.
Not only do pastors need to get back to preaching clear, bold, sermons from the Bible with enthusiasm and anointing, but Christians in general need to be more plainly stated and less nuanced in their discussions about faith. People may disagree. Some people may prefer a “more thoughtful” enlightened delivery. And, yes, we should grow and become more effective in our witness. But, desiring or promoting vague, warm platitudes is not Gospel work. It is something else.
Paul emphatically declares that “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” (2 Cor 1:21)
Boldly preaching the Truth in love is the order of the day. We must preach. And we must stiff-arm the temptation for:
- Diet Church
- Church Lite
- Woke Church
- Pep-talk Church
- Chicken Soup for the Soul Church
There are at least six significant problems leaving out or minimizingt the unpopular truths of the Bible: :
- It is a rejection of the inspired Word of God.
- The Good News is not presented. There is no Good News to comprehend if the Bad News is not presented and acknowledged.
- It presents a false Gospel.
- It subordinates the Creator to the preaching preferences of the creation.
- The Gospel actually has to be preached for people to be saved.
- It abandons our young people to be discipled by the pop-culture.
A REVIVAL OF BOLD PREACHERS TO REACH THE NEXT GENERATION
John Wesley famously said, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on Earth.”
According to the State of the Bible 2023 report, there is a decline among young people engaging with Scripture. However, 44% of Gen Z adults between the ages of 18-26 are either very or extremely curious about Jesus and/or the Bible. And, when you look at the youngest half of Gen Z (ages 18-21), 56% reported being curious about Jesus and/or the Bible, while only 34% of older Gen Z (ages 22–26) report being curious about Jesus and/or the Bible. Rounding off the corners of the Bible in an effort to make the church more palatable and grow larger crowds has had the side effect of failure to disciple an entire generation. We cannot abandon our young teens to posting rainbow emojis on their Instagram accounts without having cleanly heard from a pastor and parent what the Scriptures say about Biblical sexuality. What the church needs now more than ever is a revival of bold, clear, unapologetic Gospel preaching as an antidote to what has hampered the church over the past three decades.
So, in an environment where the rising generation is hungry to hear the Scriptures, whether they presently agree with the declarations of the Scriptures or not, far too many pastors are mute or vague and abandon them for lesser concerns. Bear in mind that every single person, prior to accepting Christ, did not agree with the Scriptures enough to follow them. To have the truth and withhold the truth when people want the truth is ministerial malpractice.
TRANSFORMATION OVER PALATABILITY
The practice of preaching a soft Gospel has, in effect, prioritized palatability over salvation and transformation. Being embarrassed of Jesus and being embarrassed of the Scriptures will not build the church. It is not redemptive. It will not transform lives.
We must joyfully, unapologetically, and powerfully echo God’s word without blush and with arms stretched forward to receive anyone from anywhere who would repent of their sins and believe in Jesus.
Unembarrassed. Unapologetic. Unashamed.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)