5 Distortions of the Gospel in our Day

I started listening to your program about a year ago. I actually looked forward to my one hour drive to work to listen to the WORD with you at 7:30 am (WLTN). Well, I actually felt the Holy Spirit turn and move. One year later, I feel Him move through my veins, burning, needing to explode. But, I am human and know that I try to put out the fire, afraid of what God will reveal. I am currently in another stage where I am about to accept what he is doing and WANT TO CHANGE. First thing, Clean myself from the SIN OF CONSUMPTION, and actually read the NEW TESTAMENT with my Husband, (Who is excited and well read in the WORD). Well, I could go on but will stop here, because here with the Holy Spirit aching to be released is where I am at, finding myself on my knees in the morning, asking Jesus to help me. Knowing that I am nothing without Him. Pastor MacDonald, I hope to come and visit you and your Church one day, and will when Jesus tells me so. Until then, I just want to Thank Jesus for touching your life so as to reach out to many like me.

James,

There are many declining reasons why we have of late left the Gospel for no Gospel at all. In part, it most certainly begins with those advocating the idea that the Old testament is not for us today. They do not understand the continuity (uninterrupted connection or union) between the old and the new. The Old testament for many has become a non-relevant portion of the Bible. The truth is that the Old testament and the New testament as one complete redemptive plan is the Gospel. We have wrongly come to the conclusion even in reaching the lost that the Law has no relevance in proclaiming the Gospel despite the fact that we are told in God's Word that the Law is a school master leading us to Christ and to know what is sin. It is also clear from Paul's Gospel that in his proclaimtion that he exclusively used and reasoned from the Old testament in his presentation.

Some of those who helped bring us to this conclusion have been people like Scofield's dispensationalism, which ultimately divides the bible in such a way as to leave us to the understanding that only the Pauline Epistles to revelation is relevant for us today. Also Lewis Sperry Chafer downplayed repentance as being necessary for salvation.

Therefore let us reclaim the whole counsel of God in the proclaimation of the Gospel so that men and women might Repent and Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us also return to Christ Centered preaching which has also become in many spheres of influence something of an archaic form of peaching.

Yesterday I retuned home to a woman on fire. The newest edition of a Pastor's Resource flyer arrived in our mailbox. My wife was ranting and jotting notes in the margin next to a book on the emergent church (a distraction struggling for attention) page titled "everything must change" The description talked of the many young adult drop outs who have left the church, part of it said "Have we focused too much on me and overlooked we" then goes on to speak about social concerns. My wife wrote "enough of we and me and let's focus on HE" The arrogance of a person or small group of people who think they have the answer or are able to re-invent the church, based on how they feel or what they think. Jesus Christ said he will build his church, HE WILL BUILD. I recently heard someone proclaim with great boldness that the Church of Jesus Christ in an un-stoppable force. God help those who lack confidence in Him and have distorted the gospel and his Church.

ps. when can we expect this book on the church

I love straight forward Truth, always in love. But give me Truth.

And James, God has blessed you with the ability and desire to share the Truth; thank you for that.

You are loved,
Joe

Hello Again Pastor James,

"I AM". He is the word and the truth. There have been many cases of misguided worship in the past, including Pastor worship ( Jim Jones). I believe that once we have accepted that our Lord is that unapproachable light that you speak of in Downpour and that his word is the only rule and law that matters in our lives here.Once this becomes the highest priority in our lives as individuals and not as a group mentality only while we are in church. Then can we be free of the trappings of false teachings. All my Praise be in your Holy Name Lord for if not for your Blood I would not be worth the dust you made me from. Each day you bring me joy and blessings, one of those being Pastor James who teaches from your word which you have burned into his heart. He brings us joy,comfort, correction, laughter and direction from your truth. Bless him in his life and guide him to keep you above all else as the compass and rule of his live and mine. Let us as individuals try to be the church that Jesus would built upon so that others would come to him through us without us being prideful or judgemental. Let the church be our gathering place to praise his Glory and Truth. As long as the man standing at the front of the church has the word in his hand and in his heart for God's Glory alone you are in the right church. Amen....

Hey Pastor James,

Welcome back! I meant to say hi to you after the Sunday morning service but you had vanished. Did Jesus teach you his trick? ;-)

Right on with this post. Just remember that communicating the gospel (or anything else for that matter) aculturally is utterly not possible, at least this side of Pentecost. Ok, so everything is possible with God, but 99.999999% of real life evidence (including the fact that I'm busting my tail around the clock to figure out the language that the Bible was written in so that I can accurately translate it, understand it, and teach it) points to the blatant fact that culture is real and has its nuances and limitations, all of which are impossible to ignore, however valiant our efforts to claim so.

Grace,

My dear Brother....
Where have you been all my Christian walk? (EX-ACTO MUNDO)....then I am not out of my mind after all. Oh,dear Brother JAMES,I have been driving the "brethern" nuts with my insistance that the WHOLE COUNSEL of God MUST be preached. Oh, how I pray for the perishing souls who only think they are saved but have never REPENTED. Without repentance there is no salvation! So many churches today preach a watered-down,cotton candy salvation and all this does is stoke the fires of hell.
Saw you at Muskoka in July..God bless...pray...pray..pray...

James,

While I appreciate this post I do have some concerns that perhaps you could address.

The bible wasn't written in a cultural vacuum (sp?). It was written by and to people of a specific place, time and culture. Therefore, understanding one's culture and how 'language games' work seem vitally important not only to knowing God's word but communicating it in a right way.

What I am conveying is that what if we have imported meaning into some biblical words that weren't present for people of that time and culture. I am all for repentance, but how that word was originally understood and used (politically, spiritually, culturally) is not how we would understand that word today.

The woman caught in adultery, the man on the cross, Zaccheaus (sp?) and other accounts were we see no condition of repentance necessary. Zachcheaus gave back to those he stole from and gave back even more than what he took and it was at that point that Jesus declared salvation had come to him. No repentance. And we are reading into the text if we try and say that repentance had to be there. Unless repentance meant something a little different than it does today.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Tom,
You're dead-on right about the culture thing.

The way I understand it, repentance is, quite literally, turning and going in the opposite direction from which one has been going. In terms of sin, this means ceasing to sin and continuing to live free from the bondage of that sin. When Jesus said, "Go and sin no more," he was commanding repentance. When Zac made his wrongs right, he was repenting.

The doctrine of repentance has suffered at the hands of the church's large-scale commitment to success. Massive numbers of church leaders have a great love for and commitment to ministerial success. Their tendency is to pick and choose the elements of both religious truth and pop psychology that will most readily facilitate the accomplishment of their purpose. A focus on the love of God, the role of faith in human happiness, the benefits of holistic living and the upbeat elements of a well integrated human personality, are seen as much more helpful in building large churches than thundering against sin, insisting upon repentance, and issuing warnings about judgment and hell. Consequently, there is a noticeable absence of any vital ministry of the Holy Spirit in these churches. Millions of churchgoers have no idea that they need to repent because in their church there is an acute lack of that great work of the Spirit in convincing the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment to come (John 16:8-11). When there is virtually no conviction, it can hardly be surprising that there is little or no repentance and virtually no true conversions. That the gates of hell will readily prevail against these churches is overlooked.

Originally written by Richard Roberts in his book Repentance. Forwarded by Henry Blackaby

Don,

Thanks for your response, yet I think that you missed what my post and Matt's post were concerned about.

I whole heartedly agree that the modern church tendency has been to focus on the wrong things (or perhaps, the right things at the exclusion of some other right things).

I guess first I don't see where Jesus 'thundered against sin' he certainley didn't want people to continue in their sin but I don't see him hard core with people involved in sinful living.

Plus, judgement and hell from the lips of Jesus were spoken to almost exclusively to those in spiritual leadership...not the broken, hurt and outcast that he ministered to on a daily basis.

Finally my concern was based on the original meaning and understanding of the word 'repentance'. You spoke a lot about repentance in your post but failed to define what it actually is. Which is my point. I think we have bought into an idea of repentance that wasn't what the 1st century (and earlier) would have understood repentance to mean. We can't assume how we use a word today is the same as how they would have understood it back then.

I am not trying to make following God in the way of Jesus any easier, but rather trying to get back to a biblical understanding of common words that we just throw around today and think we know automatically what they mean and meant.

Tom,
I'm pretty sure Don's comment wasn't a rebuttal against ours, but rather that he felt like the quote was edifying for the conversation in general.

Huge point, though, about Jesus' change in tone when dealing with different types of people (i.e. religious high ups, the rich, and the self-righteous in general vs. the oppressed, poor, and humble). This absolutely must not be overlooked. A one-size-fits-all approach to sharing the Good News (which inherently includes the Bad News of what happens to those who refuse the Good News) is ignorant, irresponsible, and in fact, impossible.

One word of caution, however, about Jesus' attitude toward sin. We toe the line of heresy when we start attempting to contrast Jesus with the God revealed in the Old Testament. This is dualism, and it's a heresy as old as the church itself. Jesus is that Old Testament God--of one substance with Him, co-eternal, through whom all things were made and by whom all men will be judged.

Once again we are brought to the foot of the cross, where justice and mercy are supremely and incomparably demonstrated towards both sin and sinners. God's hatred of sin is greater than our minds can comprehend, as is his tenderness toward those who are eager to renounce that sin and surrender to His loving reign.

"Once again, I look upon the cross where you died.

I'm humbled by your mercy, and I'm broken inside.

Once again, I thank you.

Once again, I pour out my life." -- Matt Redman

Repentance is a command, and it is also a gift. When one Preaches the Whole Gospel it is the place where Repentance is obeyed and Repentance is given/received. For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. How can they hear without a preacher?

Repentance is the first Word of the Gospel! Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"

Go to this web address and read more about preaching that Hinders Revival.

http://articles.christiansunite.com/article2707.shtml

Matt,

Thanks for your post. My deepest apologies if i sounded like i was trying to make Jesus out to be different from the God of the OT.

Yet, the language of calling one a 'sinner' or 'sinful' comes overwhelmingly from the lips of Jesus in relation to the religious leaders of his day, not to those he was ministering to.

God as we see him in the OT is ticked off about Israel's sin and failure to be what and who he has called her to be. They were to be a light and witness to the cultures around them and failed either by buying into the religious systems of those cultures around them or simply not caring about other people. Jesus, in the NT, continues that in relationship to the religious leaders. They are not living up to or living out what and who God has called the nation of israel to be. Jesus was being and doing and fulfilling what and who Israel was supposed to have been.

Again, please don't misunderstand. God hates sin and it will be dealt with. My point is sometimes we make Jesus out to be and do things that he really isn't doing and being.

In our culture we tend to 'thunder' against the homosexuals or those who choose to have abortions (or at least think those two issues are right and okay). Yet how would Jesus have treated them and what might he say to those Christ-followers who are 'thundering' against them?

We go on and on about how bad affairs and divorce are (and they are wrong things to be sure)...yet Jesus on one level defended a women who had been caught in adultery (didn't defend her action obviously) and simply told her...'i don't condemn you either...go and sin no more.' Which, according to the language game...most likely would have been her repentance.

Thanks for your insights Matt, I really do appreciate what you have to and are saying.

Sorry for the double post...just wanted to clarify.

When I wrote:"Yet, the language of calling one a 'sinner' or 'sinful' comes overwhelmingly from the lips of Jesus in relation to the religious leaders of his day, not to those he was ministering to."

I was getting ahead of myself. I meant to say that the language of 'sinner' and 'sinful' came overwhelmingly from the lips of the religious leaders towards those whom Jesus was ministering to, not from Jesus.

Hope this helps clarify. Sorry.

thanks be to God for His mighty love and compassion. so many times in scripture i read of this love and compassion and how it ties so closely to His patience and forbearing. however as i read Matthew 11:20-24, as one example, it becomes very clear that this devine love, compassion, patience etc. is for a purpose, repentance. the life and works of Christ Jesus were to bring about restoration to God by His atonement and our repentance. simply; God is right and i was wrong, i now seek and follow the God who is right and forsake my former self that was wrong and lost.

a rather simplistic post but it seems the fewer words the better.

pray long, pray strong.
chuck

You said it! I'm in total agreement with you Pastor James. I wish I could explain this to some of my christian colleagues. We're part of a young adult bible study group- on evangelism and I couldn't sit still because of what I was hearing (styles of sharing the gospel for 21st century wiht back up bible verses). It is very frustrating (especially since as an immigrant I can't articulate this very well, and others don't get where I'm coming from.Beause I've been tuned into the Word (via Walk in the Word- thanks:) But I know inside what I wanted to say, you said it. I'm no pastor or teacher, but I'm a serious believer, serious about my life here on earth for Christ Name. Preach on brother.you said it.

I am in a church where the pastor has recently begun to use many Emerging Church techniques. We have a conservative congregation and many are disturbed by the lack of Bible teaching and a real lack of preaching the gospel. What should we do--a number of us have gone to our pastor and been rebuffed.