Smiley-Face Christianity:
The Gospel For The 21st Century

Modern man wants a modern gospel, a more palatable plan of salvation, one that has a more seeker-friendly message accompanied by a happy-face delivery boy. And such a gospel – which is no gospel at all – must adhere to certain socially acceptable guidelines to be acceptable to today’s “tolerant” generation, the generation that tolerates anything OTHER THAN biblical truth. Here are those modern guidelines:

Do your best to preach without hurting anyone’s feelings.
You must be “doing it wrong” if you upset or offend your listeners.
Be sure to present your views as no more valid than anyone else’s.
Never tell anyone that their religion or their views about heaven are wrong.
You cannot preach about hell… that word must be totally avoided.
Do not refer to people as sinners, but simply as fallible human beings.
Avoid using the word sin… Call sins “mistakes” instead.
Never talk about damnation, only about God’s “unconditional love”.
Use a modern bible that has been edited to remove offensive words and doctrines.
If you must talk about sin, never use specific examples, just speak in general terms so that no one will think you are talking about them.
Never ever call homosexuality a sin. Instead, say that God loves everyone even though the bible says homosexuality is an abomination to God [Leviticus 20:13] and even though the bible says that God hates the workers of iniquity [Psalm 5:5]

Based upon the above guidelines for modern evangelism, John The Baptist would never have been beheaded if he had not been so “intolerant” about the behavior of others. He should have just minded his own business. But instead he had to go out and “judge” others, making himself a “bad example” for witnessing. The evangelist Stephen would never have been stoned to death if he had not made the Jewish religious leaders so angry by his “mean-spirited” speech about their hypocrisy and sinfulness. And the apostle Paul would have gotten many more “converts” and a lot less flack if he had only avoided certain subjects (like the exclusiveness of salvation by Jesus Christ). But he had to be “obnoxious” and tell people the truth. And of course Jesus Christ destroyed so many people’s “self esteem” by constantly telling them to “go and sin no more”. If he had only stuck to miracles and healings, he would have been much more “popular” and would never have been crucified. In fact just about everyone would have liked him… At one point during his ministry the Jews even wanted to make him their king. But he ended up “upsetting” too many people in high places by violating the evangelism guidelines above. Perhaps Jesus was not familiar with “friendship” evangelism, where deeds are preferred over creeds.

If you are in a church that uses the “modern” approach to sharing the gospel, run from it as fast as you can and find a church that preaches the whole counsel of God and that loudly and clearly warns the lost to flee the wrath to come.

SEE ALSO:

Smiley-Face Christianity:The Gospel For The 21st Century

Smiley-Face Christianity:
The Gospel For The 21st Century