You’re Not Helping Them, You’re Hurting Them

Note to pastors: if you keep telling your congregation they are great they’ll start to believe it.

There are far too many churches and pastors who believe that preaching to increase the attendees self esteem is sharing the Gospel. Church shouldn’t be the place where you hear about how great you are or how great you can be. Church is a place where you should consistently hear about the greatness of God. If Jesus is not the ultimate theme of your message, you’re not preaching the Gospel. Without Jesus there is no Gospel. If talking about and hearing about how great Jesus is doesn’t make you feel great then its time to take a look at your heart.

Pastors I implore you all to please, please preach the Gospel. Please preach the supremacy of Christ. Please seek to know nothing more than Christ and him crucified. You’re not helping your flock when you tell them they are or can be great. You’re hurting them. If they don’t know how great Jesus is, you fail. If you or your flock believes they are great, its awfully hard to believe Jesus is great. Pride, after all, is the original sin.

The greatness of Jesus is enough for all of us. Please believe that. Please preach that.

For Those In the Bible Belt

For all of those who live in the Bible Belt here is a great heart check from Dr. Ray Ortlund:

“Are you a Christian because of what you have experienced from God’s grace or are you a Christian because not to be in (insert city) it is too embarrassing?”

You can read Ray’s blog here.

Why Pastors Should Read Charles Spurgeon’s Sermons

Last week I found a great deal on the sermons of Charles Spurgeon through Christianbooks.com. You can pick them up here. I’ve read only the first few sermons of the first volume so far but have already been deeply blessed by Spurgeon’s words. The passion, urgency, and eloquence of which Spurgeon wrote, and no doubt spoke, was unique in his time and is still relevant and rare today. (In fact the only preacher who comes to mind that speaks so honestly and passionately today is John Piper.)

It is not surprising that Spurgeon’s church was one of the largest of his day. His words were piercing and tough. His theology was sound. His convictions were unwavering. Most of all, however, his passion for the spread of the Gospel was paramount in his ministry. It cannot be said today, much less throughout history, that most pastors and churches have made the spread of the Gospel their one single objective but Spurgeon did. We can see Spurgeon’s call to his fellow pastors in his sermon on the Bible: “Gentlemen, pull the velvet out of your mouths; speak God’s word; we want none of your alterations.”

Sadly, today we still have a majority of preaching done with “velvet” in the mouths. It is good for pastors to be challenged in this way for the Gospel is not the natural default setting for anyone’s heart. I say to you preachers, read Spurgeon. Heed his words when he says that we want none of your alterations. Study the Bible with fervor. Preach with conviction. Teach your people the Gospel and all its glory.