A Decadent Gospel & Shabby Evangelism

By Jay M. Nair

Theology is considered to be a dry word, as it seeks to be rational and systematic in its study of religion and its influences. Now I know most people detest dead dry theology. Hence instead of going into theological squabbles, let me start with something practical. I seek to show the application of bad theology and thus prove the effect of bad theology without ever boring you with theological concepts. This is no way because I am not convinced of the need of studying theology, but keeping in mind the church men of our day and age – who is characterized by an anti-theological and anti-doctrinal stance. Hence I am venturing into this indirect method.
These days, we do hear many who say that if we make our churches more seeker friendly and our gospel presentations more attractive with all kinds of entertainment, then all men will hear us, ‘accept’ Christ and thus the whole of humanity will be saved. With this aim, they invent ways to make the gospel and their evangelism relevant and culture friendly with the inclusion of good entertainment, psychological techniques and a good stock of multimedia. They think the world is still unsaved because men are merely uninformed of the good news and so if the world is just informed of the gospel, men all around the world will get saved.
The end of successful evangelism according to the above stated psychology of present day popular minsters is: men who hear the good news, deciding to accept the salvation offered by Christ. Now the sufficient question to be asked is: can any man “accept” Christ just because he heard some information about Him? Again, is man the decisive factor in salvation? In other words, does a man become saved because he made a decision to choose God? Is that the message of the glorious gospel of grace? [1] For the Bible is clear that no man is saved by works, but by the grace of God. For man in his fallen nature is incapable to choose anything but sin (John 8:34, Romans 8:7). One of the best definitions I have heard of man is: man is a radically depraved, morally fallen, God-hating creature. How can such a man dead in his transgressions choose the righteous One unless worked upon by the Spirit of God?
For salvation is totally a work of God – which ever department of salvation it be, whether regeneration, justification, sanctification or glorification, it is done by God and man has no part to play (Romans 8:30). I do not mean that we can breathe easy after we have been regenerated. Certainly a saint has to exercise his God given faith for his perseverance. But a true understanding of the sovereignty of God in salvation will make us understand that man cannot initiate salvation. Neither can he grow in salvation or complete it on his own. It is wholly the work of God.[2]
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Now in evangelism, God starts this work by regenerating the sinner’s heart to repent of his sins and have faith in Christ. Both repentance and faith are gifts of God and man has no claim to boast about his repentance or faith. (2 Timothy 2:25; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10; I Timothy 1:14 ;Philippians 1:29) This being the case, we preach the gospel for God to work in the hearts of men. We preach the gospel for it is the only message He is pleased to bless with His power for the salvation of them that believe (Romans 1:17, 1 Corinthians 1:21).
If then, should an evangelist be mindful of the Lord whose gospel He preaches or the dead sinners and their interests? If this truth about the sovereign working of God through His Spirit in the salvation of men, throughthe preaching of the gospel of His Son is humbly acknowledged by us, then we will see how utterly foolish is all our attempts to manipulate or woo sinners to accept Christ by employing worldly props. If we truly believe salvation is God’s work and cannot be initiated by man, then we will make all our outreaches to please God first and foremost. The Lord of Harvest be pleased to bless the outreach with the powerful working of His Spirit will be our priority. And He will be pleased only if the true gospel is preached. There is little discussion or planning on worldly attractions for sinners.
Nowhere in the book of Acts, do we read of any Christian event organized by the Apostles. There was no light and sound show to woo men. Were they not mightily filled with the Spirit of God to come up with such “wise and creative means” to spread the gospel? The reason we don’t read the church wearing herself out in such vain strivings of the flesh is because the Apostles were truly led by the Spirit of God. They were convinced by the Spirit that honest, straight forward and faithful preaching of the gospel alone is required by the Lord from the church for Him to work and save His elect. So they believed in God and stripped themselves of all other resources and means to see the work of the Lord. Hence the glory of God was seen in most amazing fashion in their evangelism.
Today sadly, we do not have this type of evangelism. Evangelism has become an event where men psychologically manipulate a crowd of people, drawn in by means of music or some entertainment to accept some “Christ”, who will be their errand boy, so that they can have their best life now, and finally die peacefully to go for an eternal vacation in the paradise of God. What a tragedy! Evangelism is no longer about God working. God revealing Himself through the truth of His Word and the Spirit working in the hearts of men and convicting them of their wickedness in the backdrop of His character, leading them to repentance produced by His sorrow and kindness, and thus saving them through regeneration to the inner reality of justification by grace – the Spirit bearing witness to their spirit that they are now born again in Christ. (Titus 3:5-7; Romans 8:16) Here there is no manipulation, no playing with words. You are either saved or doomed. No false hope is given to any unregenerate. True joy knows no bound both in the heart of the regenerate and in heaven, for “what is impossible for men, is possible for God” (Matthew 19:26) and He has done it amongst His elect, whom He graciously chose to be the subjects of His salvation. Oh what a glorious sight it is to see the Lord work.
Having said this, I make my first charge against today’s evangelism, which is under the claws of men. Today’s evangelism is nothing but mere strivings of the flesh to achieve that which God declares as impossible for men and possible only for Him.
Moving on, let me shed some thoughts on the missing truth of the elect that is never taken into account by today’s evangelists. The doctrine of the elect is thought by some as a deep and mysterious truth and so mysterious that they think that we can just neglect it or let some theologians deal with it. Surely it is deep and mysterious, for it traces back to eternity. But it should be considered in understanding evangelism. Now though it is true that the Lord gave Himself as a ransom for all kinds of men and desires all – Jews and Gentiles to repent and be saved, the Bible is clear that only the elect of God shall inherit the Kingdom of our blessed Lord.(I Timothy 2:3-6; 2 Timothy 2:10; Acts 13:48) The elect comprised of Jews and Gentiles are those whom the Lord chose in eternity past before they were even born, to be the objects of His mercy in His beloved Son. He gave them grace to become His children before time (2 Timothy 1:9), before they did any work – even before praying any prayer of salvation. (Romans 9:11, 23) Thus the elect are the elect purely because of the purpose, grace and will of God.((2 Timothy 1:9, Romans 9:21) The elect are as sinful as the others, but God chose them to be adopted in His beloved Son to be holy and blameless before His sight (Ephesians 1:4-6). Now having said that, we should understand that evangelism will only result in the gathering of the elect, who are yet to obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:10). Evangelism is not going to result in the conversion of the whole world. For they who are reprobate according to the sovereign plan of God shall remain so.
Now this pricks us. For we have always been quite optimistic about God being the means for all our ends. But the truth about God’s sovereign choice of His people makes us go mad, as we expect Him to be our servant, having no free will but to make all men happy. Humanism has thus penetrated our age so much that we define God and religion in terms of its benefit to man. A humanist soul is greatly distressed at this truth about the sovereign choice of God’s people and Him passing by the remaining humanity dead in Adam. The great humanistic dream of all the people in the world ‘accepting’ Christ and seeing heaven on earth is thwarted by this truth. How can any sensible humanist worship such a cruel selfish God?
Unless we get rid of our humanistic inclinations, we cannot understand this truth. For man was created for God and not otherwise as humanists dream. The Bible declares that all things were created by Him and forHim (Colossians 1:16). Everything was created and exists for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11, KJV). It is for His purposes that all things exist. The only purpose to be met by God in His sovereign dealings with His creation is to meet His purpose behind creation. Hence to fully appreciate His salvation, we should approach it with His purpose in mind rather than focusing primarily on those needs of ours to be met by Him in salvation.
In His presence the seraphs declare ““Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory”(Isaiah 6:3). God created, so that His glory will be declared through out His creation. Through His sovereign dealings with each, His glory fills the earth. Glory means the manifestation of the whole attributes of God; the revealed testimony of His nature and character. His dealings with the created world thus declare His manifold attributes, revealing His glory in His creation. In the light of this truth, we can see how His purposes are met through His dealings with the elect and with the reprobate. The elect are they whom God chose in His Son to be the objects of His mercy to declare His goodness and grace, while the reprobate are the objects of His wrath to declare His justice and power. Thus by revealing His grace and mercy to the elect and His wrath and judgment to the reprobate, the glorious testimony of the Lord’s Name is made known in all the earth. (Romans 9:16-24)
Am I saying that God predestined some to go to hell and hence should be blamed for the loss of such men? God forbid. God does not have to predestine any man to go to hell, for all men are hell deserving owing to their own sins. But even before He created the heavens and the earth, in His Son He chose some from this great pool of sinful humanity, to reveal the glory of His grace and thus to make them an eternal spectacle of His splendor, all for the praise of His name. Though the humanist will cry out and if possible sue the Lord for being unjust, the Bible declares there is no injustice with God. For when He sends the reprobate to eternal hell fire, He is justly punishing the wicked. Also with the elect, He justifies them by the blood of His Son and through His Spirit sanctifies them and brings forth Christ-likeness in greater measure, so that in glory He can justly reward them with His eternal fellowship. The Lord is not unjust, as He declares that on the last day, He shall render to each man, according to his works.(Romans 2:6) Thus God is always just and the justifier of the one who has been blessed with faith in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:26)
Now having discussed this truth quite a bit, let me make some applications of it on evangelism. Firstly, evangelism is God’s work of gathering in His elect, whom He gave grace before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9). Secondly, the elect are saved and called to a holy life, because of the purpose of God (2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 1:4-6). They are not saved merely for their need to escape hell [3]. For if escaping hell alone is taken as the criterion with which men are to be saved by God, then all men are to be saved. For all men are in need of escaping hell and if the sole purpose of God in His plan of redemption is to meet this need of mankind, then it has to be an universalistic salvation. In the above two statements I made as applications of the doctrine of election on evangelism, the humanism of our day which characterizes much of our evangelism is greatly discouraged. For if the above statements be true, then there is no place for a dream of converting the whole world. Also the purpose with which those that are being saved are called, is not that of man but of God. In effect we are thus called to have a God centered evangelism where the goal is to meet that which God considers as the end of evangelism and not replace it with any humanistic dream.
Thus I make my second charge against today’s evangelism, which is under the tyranny of humanism. Today’s evangelism is nothing but an appeal to men to use God for their purposes. It employs anything to please men to get them accept their message of self profit. Today’s evangelism thus arrogantly thinks it can win the whole world by its man pleasing ways. Making all men happy and not meeting God’s purpose of reaping a people for Jesus Christ is their agenda. Such a message is well received these days and any evangelist can draw in a humongous crowd. All in the name of meeting the ‘felt needs’ of men, they preach humanism. They declare the attributes of God to not lead people to worship God, but to teach men which need of man can be met by that attribute of God. Then they call men who are yet to employ this ‘Christ’ as their servant, to give Him a chance. Once that’s done, all of them will happily sing “You are all that I need”(to fulfill all my selfish dreams). Then the evangelist brags about his statistics and praises the glory of humanism in his books and conferences. Being confident of the power of humanism, he dreams bigger dreams of converting every soul on earth like this and sweats himself in the pursuit of things which God has never promised. [4]
Now having considered briefly the shabby and sloppy nature of today’s evangelism, let me move on to the message of today’s evangelist that is called the ‘gospel’ or ‘good news’. Since humanism defines the end of all things in our day and age, the glorious gospel of our blessed God is also given meaning and relevance in the light of it. Thus men have come to this conclusion that God’s good news should be characterized by its benefit to man, especially his earthly life. So in essence the gospel that is preached today by popular preachers and big shots on the pulpit is all about how God can meet the felt needs of man and give a fulfilling life here on earth to all who accepts this Christian invitation. The gospel is thus merely an invitation to selfish men to invest on God’s provisions in Christ to get better results in life. Thus today’s ‘gospel’ in other words is just the best MLM business plan in the whole world.
Whereas Apostle Paul says, that he preached the gospel to bring about the obedience of faith in Gentiles (Romans 1:5). He preached the gospel so that men, who are blessed by God with faith in the gospel, can become true worshipers, whom God is seeking (Romans 15:16). Thus the power of God in His glorious gospel transformed evil men to be worshipers – those who loved God with all their heart. True worshipers surely have faith in God to meet their needs, but they primarily love God for who He is and what He has done in His Son, and they will trust in Him, even if He slays them. Worshipers are they, who will not let their heart bow down to any idol – either external or internal, and you can throw them into a fiery furnace and they will say “God will save us from it and even if He does not, we will not serve any idols, but God alone”. (Daniel 3:17-18)
Today’s evangelism does not produce such worshipers, but rather men who are mere consumers of His provision. They ‘accepted’ the Christian invitation to see God meet some ‘felt need’ in their life. Their “Christian” pilgrimage is just a journey from one felt need to another. They were praying to God to meet some external need of their life and still they are praying the same kind of prayers. It’s just that the felt need is different. But their hearts haven’t changed; they still seek what the pagans eagerly seek for (Matthew 6:31-32). Their prayers have never been on overcoming temptation and mortifying sin in greater maturity through His grace and thus becoming better worshipers of God. They are so because they believed in a gospel so. They believed in a gospel so, as they heard a gospel so. O what has man done to the glorious gospel of our blessed God? The gospel that once changed sinful men to be worshipers of the Most High God, today makes men idolaters?. The gospel that once made men to fear and to sanctify God in their hearts now makes men to play the fool with the Holy One?. They take the holy things of God and use it for their pleasure like Belshazzar drank wine from the vessels of God’s temple, praising the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. This all just proves that today’s gospel is not at all the gospel of the Bible. The “church” thus comprised of men of such conversion knows not what is holy and what is profane and brings only disgrace to the Name of our Lord.
Today’s “church” is so, because of the gospel being preached and believed in by men who fill her pews. Their life is one that is marked by excessive self indulgence and moral decay. Hence I make my charge against the message that is preached under the name of the gospel, that it is nothing but a decadent one.
With this decadent gospel, men have defined revival as an event where we draw a good deal of men with silly entertainment, declare the good news of humanism, that too without much preaching but through carnal means, then ask them to take a decision and if they do, pat them on their back that they are now saints as they then regularly warm the pews of our “church”. The startling thing is no one ever questions the conversion of any in the church. No concern to validate one’s conversion in the light of Scriptures. No preacher or leader is interested in leading men to do that which the Apostles used to do with their churches. However Paul did it (2 Corinthians 13:5) John did it (I John 2:5-6) and Peter did it (2 Peter 1:10).
In conclusion, let me share the glad tidings of our God that though the problem we face is so daunting and looks despondent, there is hope if by the grace of God, the church returns to the old ways – in our understanding of and preaching of the gospel – as prescribed in the Bible. It is not contemporary theology or improved church growth methodology that we need, but a return to the old rugged cross and a theology that is as ancient as the Ancient of Days. Then the Mighty One will truly revive His church and save men, to be that peculiar people(1 Peter 2:9, KJV) who rejoices in Him alone (Psalm 85:6), the kind of worshipers the Father is seeking (John 4:23), who treasures Him alone (1 Peter 2:7) while refusing to rejoice in any thing else, not even in His supernatural provisions (Luke 10:20, Philippians 1:21). Oh that’s true revival and I am certain, it is coming, yeah already here in the hearts of a few.

Footnotes :
[1] It is no way communicated here that there is no decision involved in conversion. There is an exercise of the will when a soul gets saved. However the question posed here is whether that will is the natural will of a man- a will untouched by the Spirit of God with the gospel or is it the regenerated will – the new disposition given by the Spirit in giving the sinner a new heart. If it is the former then salvation is essentially dependent on man’s work, while the latter affirms salvation by grace alone; which by the way is what the author believes as the biblical salvation.

[2] When salvation is affirmed as wholly the work of God and man has no part to play in it, some sincere saints think it is leading them to apathy and passivity. They fear it will lead them to lead irresponsible, reckless life, making the grace of God a license to sin. However if anyone who affirms the monergistic view of salvation and then thinks they can live recklessly has got all his thinking corrupt. For though the Bible affirms the sovereignty of God, it also does uphold human responsibility and the way they hold together is : God requires human responsibility and then we being incapable makes that human responsibility of ours fruitful, through His sovereign work of grace. So in other words, human responsibility is fruitful only because of divine sovereignty. Hence if anyone affirms the sovereign working of God in them, the evidence will be greater fulfillment of human responsibility. Thus it is impossible to affirm one and deny the other. So the charge laid by many on Christians who believe in the sovereign grace of God that this understanding will lead people to apathy and licentiousness does not hold true.

[3] Escaping hell is the greatest need of all human beings and the author wishes to give no approval to any teaching or movement in Christendom that belittles the doctrine of hell. It is of utmost importance for every single soul outside Christ to know that they are on their way to eternal hell fire for their rebellion against God. However the point made above was that though we find this universal need of escaping hell, we do not find an universal salvation in the Bible. We only find a particular group of people getting saved – they who repent of their sins and call upon the Lord. The Bible also tells us that even though all men needs to be saved from hell fire, only those who have been appointed unto eternal life (in other words the elect) shall believe and call upon the Lord to be saved. (Acts 13:48, Acts 18:27 )

[4] Great Commission of our Lord does clearly require us to go and preach the gospel to every creature. There is no contention over that fact. However the modern day expert in church growth thinks he has figured out a way in converting every single soul on the planet. He boasts in his discovery of that technique which he thinks is more efficacious than God’s grace working through the simple preaching of the gospel. His message is one that is marked by self profit for its hearers than true salvation and his method is that of the Wall Street than of the Bible. God has not promised to convert every single creature to whom we preach, however even if He decides to do that, it will be through the glorious gospel of His Son and not using the crooked methods of these church growth experts and their message of humanism.
© 2009 Beacon Of Truth Ministries
By Jay M Nair
© Beacon Of Truth Ministries.
Website: http://www.beaconoftruthministries.blogspot.com/