A 12 March 2009 article in the Jerusalem Post began with this:
“After meeting the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, and praying at the Western Wall on Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI arrived for a historic meeting with the chief rabbis at Heichal Shlomo, next to the capital’s Great Synagogue, and agreed that the Catholic Church will cease all missionary activity among Jews.”
I confess that I was immediately somewhat incensed that the leader of a large segment of professing Christendom would dare make such a statement! That’s in direct violation of the Great Commission! Christians don’t have the right too stop evangelization efforts to any people group!
There have since been articles published from the Catholic sector that say the Pope didn’t really say that, but that’s not the point of this blog post. I have no desire to get into any sort of wrangling about what the Pope did or did not say/mean, or the content/validity of RC message. So if you read this and have a burning desire to comment in either of those directions, please don’t.
What has captured my attention, with the seriousness of a heart attack, is that we Protestants, who call ourselves ‘evangelical’, are quite adept at something with far worse soul-damaging potential than NOT evangelizing when we spread a false gospel while claiming to share the Gospel! Before you get all huffy, hear me out.
You see, the Apostle Paul clearly defined an absolutely necessary point of any valid Gospel message – that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (See 1 Cor 15:1-5). That Christ died for our sins was the first of three points in Paul’s description of the Gospel, and what he emphasized repeatedly in the letters he wrote to several churches of his day.
Yet the issue of sin, beginning with the devastating effect of sin on all mankind after the Fall, is missing from much of what we like to call “spreading the good news!” Instead we would attempt to ‘attract’ lost people to Christ just by telling them how much Jesus loves them, has a wonderful plan for their life, and how they can find their best life now. We have replaced the God-centered Gospel message of Scripture, the message that is the power of God for the salvation of those who believe, with the man-centered, moralistic, therapeutic message of pop-psychology that sends people straight to Hell while they are convinced they are Heaven-bound!
Shame on the Pope? Maybe.
If our Protestant ‘evangelical’ message is missing the central issue in all of Scripture. . .SHAME ON US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Battle Cry 
Hi born4battle. You have hit on a very important topic. The so called prosperity gospel drives me nutty because it focuses not on Jesus but on stuff. The outside looks and sounds christian but the message is primarily aimed at material gain (I Timothy 6:5) and appealing to the lusts of the flesh (II Peter 2:18) as to draw a following. (and keep the money flowing)
This post contains a most needful message because in many circles today, the true message of the gospel; that being Jesus christ came into the world to save sinners, is being exchanged for a social gospel while sound doctrine has been cast aside because it interferes with the show.
Sorry if this is a little harsh. Please feel free to delete it if it’s overboard. Blessings always in Jesus name.
timbob
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Gee, Timbob, I thought you were being gentle – really!
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Hello B4B,
This is very good. Our own laziness and disinterest in the things of God bears fruit of a poisonous sort.
The only difference between RC and our nonsense is that they are unable to retract what has been previously taught. It becomes like mercury building up in the flesh of the fish, and then distributed to the parish.
Protestants should know that people fail in matters of teaching. Roman Catholics have eliminated that possibility.
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Greetings, Sean!
“The only difference between RC and our nonsense is that they are unable to retract what has been previously taught.”
I think I hear the familiar sound of a hammer pinging on the nail.
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