5/18/10 – I need to clarify something with this article so that I’m not misunderstood. This blog post is a general observation of today’s evangelicalism and the steep decline it’s on with regards to the seeker-sensitive movement and the abandonment of sound doctrine in the church. I wasn’t targeting anyone in particular, just pastors who are smitten by method, tactics, and managerial books more than they are the Word of God.

That’s the reason I write this.

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There are today too many motivational speakers disguised as Christian preachers. These men maintain an engaging Christian veneer but are weak and petty in their approach to truth. They are more concerned with meeting the felt-needs of their congregation and welcoming unbelievers into the fold that they downplay the Bible and sound doctrine in favor of fun, lighthearted, and inoffensive sermons.

Douglas D. Webster has observed that much of today’s preaching is not “God-centered, sin-exposing, self-convicting and life-changing” but composed of “light, informal sermons that Christianize self-help and entertain better than convict.” He goes on:

There are so many illustrations in today’s market-sensitive sermons that the hearer knows the pastor better than she knows Christ; so many human-interest stories that listening to the sermon is easier than reading the Sunday paper; so practical that there is hardly anything to practice.

No wonder nominal Christians leave the church feeling upbeat. Their self-esteem is safely intact. Their minds and hearts have been sparked and soothed with sound-bite theology, Christian maxims and a few practical pointers dealing with self-esteem, kids or work. But the question remains: has the Word of God been effectively and faithfully proclaimed, penetrating comfort zones and the veneer of self-satisfaction with the truth of Jesus Christ?

Indeed. This kind of man-centered approach to Christianity dominates today’s Evangelicalism. And we’re all the worse for it. Until pastors reclaim their duty to preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:2) we’re doomed to eating spiritual cotton candy. And we all know how that goes.

Wake up pastors! How long must we put up with you? How long until you abandon your humanistic rhetoric in favor of sound Biblical truth? When will you trade in your anemic illustrations and fortune cookie one-liners for the pure and nourishing meat of the Word?

Stop riding the Saddleback stagecoach; quit slurping from the Willow Creek fountain. Forget taking surveys to inform your ministry technique; cease tailoring your message to make non-Christians feel at home in church. Get back to the Bible, the sure prophetic Word (2 Peter 1:19). Exalt Christ, preach His atonement, explain the Resurrection. Trace the Redeemer and His mighty acts as recorded in the Word and set Him firmly at the center of your preaching.

Many will despise you for it; you might even lose half your church as the tares leave in search for less provocative sermons (John 6:60-66).

But at least you’ll be obedient to Christ.

There is no room in ministry for life coaches who speak Christianized psychobabble fueled by worldly, motivational technique. The sheep need shepherds (1 Peter 5:2) who will feed them the Word. Because only when preaching is meaty and devoid of fluff can the flock begin growing in earnest.