I think it?s unfortunate in our day how the gospel has been watered down. The parts men love are a taught openly, and those we do not are hushed. For example, I was attending my sister?s church, and the pastor was reading this bible passage from Hebrews 13. He read verses one through three, but then skipped verses four and five and picked back up at verse six. Verse four tells us not to fornicate or commit adultery, because God judges fornicators and adulterers. Verse five tells us not to love money. The pastor at this particular church decided this knowledge wasn?t really important; that it would only make his listeners uncomfortable.

Hebrews 13:1-6:

1 Let the love of the brethren continue.
2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
3 Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.
4 Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ?I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.?
6 so that we confidently say, ?The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me??

I think it?s unfortunate in our day how the gospel has been watered down. The parts men love are a taught openly, and those we do not are hushed. For example, I was attending my sister?s church, and the pastor was reading this bible passage from Hebrews 13. He read verses one through three, but then skipped verses four and five and picked back up at verse six. Verse four tells us not to fornicate or commit adultery, because God judges fornicators and adulterers. Verse five tells us not to love money. The pastor at this particular church decided this knowledge wasn?t really important; that it would only make his listeners uncomfortable. He was worried they would feel guilty and stop coming to church because they wanted to feel happy, not ashamed.

This pastor thinks what is important is that God loves us and we should love Him and each other. He?s right, but it?s only half the story. So much is spoken of God?s love, and rightly so. His love is extraordinary. 1 John 4:8 tells us God is love. Psalm 136 tells us God?s loving-kindness is everlasting TWENTY-SIX TIMES! It looks like God is trying to make a point he doesn?t want us to miss. God?s love is obvious. He has proven it with his patience, his care, and his forgiveness. Need I mention the cross?

John 3:16, of which everyone is familiar, tells us this story of God?s love. We?re all familiar with this verse, aren?t we? ?For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.? We?re all familiar with it because it has been preached to us hundreds of times. But how many of us can recite Psalm 7:11? It says, ?God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.?

God has dozens of attributes, and they are all important. I feel tempted to list each one, but we would be here all day. Perhaps someday I will go into detail on each one, but for today I?d like to focus on His lesser-taught attributes. Everyone already knows and believes that God is good, merciful, kind, compassionate, loving, and so on. But it is important to realize the other aspect of his character; He is holy, righteous, and wrathful; He detests sin, and He insists upon justice. My favorite verse to show both sides of God?s character is Exodus 34:6-7:

?Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness and truth; who keeps loving-kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.?

It?s really important, if you spread the gospel, to tell the whole story, even the parts people don?t want to hear. Some people think they know better than God what men need to hear, and over the years the gospel message has been stripped of some basic concepts, such as the existence of the devil, sin, judgment, and all these ?bad? things. These topics don?t fill churches, they say. People want to hear good news, they say. But how can one ever recognize what God did for them, if they don?t realize that sin is a terrible problem?

So make sure when you?re sharing the gospel that you explain to them who God really is, and what his nature is like. God?s nature is two-fold. He is loving, yet he must punish sin. Both of these must be stressed when sharing the gospel or it is not the whole story.

Don?t worry, when you share the Gospel with someone, that you might offend them or tell them something they don?t want to hear. God gave you the message to give the way He wants it given, and I believe He knows what He?s doing. Church attendance is sliding fast in America, and I think it?s because church leaders are trying so hard to get people in the door that they aren?t delivering the true message, as in the case of my sister?s church I mentioned earlier. In trying to appeal to everybody, they have missed the point of the Gospel. And in their quest to make thousands of quick converts, they have made no disciples.

We are called to be witnesses for Christ, not lawyers. We aren?t supposed to tamper with the message and twist it in a way we think will convince somebody. That?s not our job. We are to accurately deliver the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God. And if we do that, God will help us, and will do the rest.

Copyright © by Access Christian All Right Reserved.

Published on: 2006-01-26 (1729 reads)