In this false gospel, happiness is the highest good and God's love is measured by how happy we are, how good life feels, and how easy it is. The mission of Christianity is less to save than to protect you from suffering or hurting -- especially the suffering or hurt that comes from self-denial. It has no power to correct what is wrong but is so weak it can only affirm and support what we deem to be good or right in the moment. It cocoons the Christian so that they never have to suffer the pain of turning down any desire that proceeds from the heart, any thought that proceeds from the mind, or any words that proceed from the lips. This is not a gospel of repentance or penance but a gospel of "it's all good so go for it."
The god of this gospel is not strong enough to bear the sins of the world or anything at all but is a tethered pet who must tell us the lies we want to hear and preserve us from anything we don't. In this gospel we are always blessed and never in want or need or sorrow or pain. The god of this gospel is not a god at all but a coward invented by cowards who think that what is soft and easy is always good and what is hard and difficult is always wrong. In this gospel there is no mortification of the flesh, no denial of any of the desires within, and no call to repentance. In this comfortable gospel, suffering is seen as failure, bearing a cross is a curse, and the best death is one without pain that comes when you think it is time. God is merely a slave to such desires.
This is not a Gospel that saves but a therapeutic gospel that consoles the sinner to become comfortable in his sinning ways. In this gospel: “God loves you just the way you are." In this gospel, you are urged to flee from anything that might compromise this self-indulgence for surely Jesus would not want you to do anything but be happy. The enemy in this gospel is not the devil, the world, or the sinful flesh but any one and any thing that would prevent you from getting what you want, doing what you want, or saying what you want. You will not hear much of Jesus in this gospel nor of the cross, and certainly nothing of St. Paul and his call to live holy, upright, and godly lives. Where Scripture is used, it is cherry picked to avoid any unpleasant and offensive talk of sin or hell or of a Savior who must suffer and die so that the sinner might live.
Often I hear people complain about the churches that have nothing to say to sin except repent and believe the Gospel. I hear the grumpiness of those who insist that some churches have nothing to talk about except sin and redemption. I hear of those who were offended because someone in church had the nerve to mention their pet sin or fail to affirm their sinful desires as good or insist that only way to cleanse sin is with the blood of Jesus the righteous. It is not a feminine gospel but a soft one and it repels those seeking unchanging truth and a solid foundation. While there are those who complain, there are signs that some are being drawn into the true as if the cross were a magnet. Remarkably, where this strong Gospel is proclaimed, young men are being drawn in. They are looking for something strong enough to suffer for and strong enough to die for. They are looking for a love strong enough to confront sin and a Savior strong enough to suffer and die for it. They are looking for a Savior who calls you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. Is that what you are looking for as well?
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It is true that man, by his nature, seeks to avoid suffering. In reality, he cannot escape suffering while in this earthly tent. When one reads the Bible, and understands the Gospel superficially, one might avoid unpleasant verses and focus only on the uplifting ones, yet the Bible will not allow it. The Bible is the most honest book in creation. It holds nothing back. To read and discern it, the Holy Spirit guides us to comprehend the living word, and apply it. Sin is described in the Bible, so why do some pastors avoid talking about it in their sermons? Suffering is mentioned as well. “We must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22. Tribulations from without and within will come into our lives, and difficult trials, and tests. They will be there to purge the dross, to actually strengthen faith and dependence on the Lord. That is why the entire Gospel, the whole word of God must be preached and understood plainly. We cannot simply open the Bible and pick and choose only the Gospel verses we want to hear. And what about the verses which we do not understand? These we leave to the Lord, asking for wisdom. We may never understand everything we read in the word, and that is normal, but where we put our trust in Jesus, our faith will not falter. Doubts and fears will plague the believer from time to time, but trust and confidence in God, and not in the flesh, will prevail. He has promised to hold us up. And the Lord keeps His word. Soli Deo Gloria
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