Heart for Israel

Churches that don’t preach the Gospel

How can this be? If it’s an evangelical church, surely, they must preach the gospel. After all, the term “evangelical” means the “good news”, and that good news should be preached among all nations. One danger churches can fall into is topical preaching. This is not necessarily wrong, but people tend to pick topics that they like. The danger is that you do not preach “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). That being said, I personally know Pastors who do topical preaching, and they are very Biblical and remain very balanced in preaching.

Another danger that churches fall into is Politics. Certainly, our lives intersect with politics, and God has ordained government as an institution. There are some moral issues that overlap with politics. Marriage and family, abortion, sexual issues, money/taxation- yes, even Israel- are all topics addressed in the Bible. If they are addressed in the Bible, then we should preach/teach on those topics. However, for more liberal churches, politics is their religion. For some conservative churches, politics is becoming or has already become their religion. Both are in great error.

For many of these churches, the gospel is either missed or forgotten. The Pastor may feel that everyone in his church is saved. They are greatly deceived because a young child may have prayed a prayer and thinks they are saved. Or an older person, who has thought that they are saved but are not. In addition to all that, most churches today live-stream. This is great because you have no idea who is watching. On any given Sunday, you may have an unsaved person watching. What will they hear? Hopefully, a clear presentation of the gospel at some point in the sermon.

Another danger is the psychological seductions that have happened to many churches. These are churches that may be evangelical and may have the gospel, but have been deceived into thinking that psychology has the answer to help people. This is a huge distraction from the truth of God’s Word.

The truth is that psychology is a man-centered approach to thinking that, through some technique, one can change the condition of man. It is trying to solve man’s problems with man’s methods. The truth is that only the gospel, through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, can change the heart of man. In John 17:17, Jesus said in prayer to the Father, “Sanctify them through thy truth: Thy Word is truth”. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Bible is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It can divide the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow. It can reveal the intents/motives of the heart of man.

If Pastors are not spending time exegeting and expository preaching/teaching, they will never give their people the truths they need to grow and be more like Christ. Part of the beauty of doing book studies and verse-by-verse exposition is that you hit every topic and many more that you may not normally teach. Unfortunately, many churches do not preach the gospel, and it may be 50 years later, they do not have the gospel at all! Beware of these dangers, and stay faithful to preaching God’s Word and keep the gospel central in your teaching!

If you are in a church that is consumed with politics or enamored with psychology, and it is not clearly explaining and presenting the gospel, consider the following advice. First, please make this a matter of prayer before doing anything else. Secondly, you may want to approach the Pastor with your concerns of either politics or psychology. Thirdly, if nothing changes, you should look for a church that clearly presents the gospel, teaches, and applies God’s Word in every sermon.  You should ask to see their statement of faith- often, churches will have a statement of faith on their website. Make sure it lines up with your beliefs. If you think you can come into a church and get them to conform to your beliefs, 99.9% of the time it doesn’t work, and you waste your time and the church’s. If the statement of faith is too general or brief, ask to see the full statement. Lastly, be praying that God will lead you to the right church in which you can grow and serve.