It seems to me that evangelicals are much too focused on themselves and what they want; instead of following the example of Christ by serving and loving others. This has resulted in a tragic irony for the evangelical church within American culture. Namely, the very thing this worldview espouses (evangelism), is also the thing they are failing at. Although this failure can be seen on multiple levels, there are two in particular that stand out.
First, and most recently, they have failed in maintaining a cultural relativism necessary for the gospel to be preached. Cultural relativism is a standard practice for any Christian seeking to share the gospel within a culture. You would not find any effective missionary going into a country and forcing people to believe the gospel. Instead, the gospel and their message is adapted to fit the culture.
Second, the reason this lack of cultural relativism exists is due to the fact that for the last 300 hundred years only a small part of the gospel has been preached. This has caused the gospel to be preached out of context, ultimately resulting in communicating an incorrect message.
Recently, I had the opportunity to preach at Papio Creek Church and share what I believe to be the most important message for the evangelical church today. That is, we need to preach the correct gospel. The old message of sin and salvation must be replaced with the hope of the Kingdom. For sin and salvation are meaningless unless it is preceded by the kingdom.
Below is a recording of the message that was preached on Sunday July 27, 2014
You can also listen here.
By Eric English
What do you think?