In our day of political correctness, ‘likability’ has become a golden calf. This has become true in many of our churches and pulpits. We must seek to go out as “lambs among wolves” when sharing the gospel, however, we must be careful that we do not dumb down the message beyond recognition.
There are a couple of issues that we must clearly understand in order to prevent us from watering down the gospel and getting caught up in the swell of cultural softness. We must never take the nails, thorns or splinters away from the scandal of the cross as we share, but we must make sure our presentation of those truths are not muddled by the ugliness of carnality and bitterness. Nothing is a ugly as a preacher sharing the glorious truths of Christ with harsh bitterness, frustration or control. It makes a mockery out of the message and fails to present the God of the Scriptures.
If we stand for the truth and Spirit of the gospel, we will be persons who are:
- Loving
- Gentle
- Courteous
- Kind
- Tenderhearted
- Respectful
- Truthful
- Honoring others
Equally so, when we stand for the gospel we will also be:
- Misunderstood
- Hated
- Outcasts
- Killed
- Mocked
- Slandered
- Falsely Accused
Jesus told us that the world (those who love their sin and rebellion) will hate us because of Him. We just need to make sure that the reason they hate us is ‘because of Him’ and not because of any arrogant, self-willed or unholy attitudes we display when presenting the gospel. There is a big difference!
“But speaking the truth in love…” (Eph. 4:15)
