THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF A "POLITICALLY CORRECT" GOSPEL!
Everyone seems to have an opinion as to what our world needs today in order to make it a better place. But our world does not need more heroes. The world does not need faster computers or more health foods and vitamin pills. The world does not need more scientific advances and more nuclear warheads. The world does not need a better mousetrap. The world does not need "slick politicians" it needs "Godly Leaders!" We do not need more congressional bills and senate bills. We do not need "political correctness," THE WORLD NEEDS GOD! A great many of our modern-day pulpits need to cast aside their timidity and constant fear of slipping outside the bounds of "political correctness" and instead concentrate on and concern themselves with presenting a pure gospel message not mingled or diluted with extraneous matter just so they can avoid the possibility of offending someone’s "delicate sensibilities." And our pulpits need to preach that pure gospel message with courage and spiritual fortitude. The fervent preaching by the disciples "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6). We need that same non-diluted, un-compromised gospel message today because it is the only message that will truly save! The disciples never backed down. They didn’t waiver in their preaching. They were thrown in a prison cell but what did they do? They made their prison cell a pulpit! They were stoned and what did they do? They rose from the dust bleeding and bruised and bolder than ever before! They were lashed with whips and what did they do? They praised God all the more! The Romans took Christians and set them on fire making human torches to light up their arenas. Nothing could stop the disciples and Christians of that day from preaching and adhering to the bold, straight-forward, all-powerful, all-saving gospel of Jesus Christ! There is no room behind any pulpit for a "politically correct" gospel because ours is not a "politically correct" Saviour. A politically correct gospel is one which conforms to the ways of the world to minimize "offending" someone. Scripture cautions us very strongly about the world and tells us that we must be careful not to conform or align ourselves with it. This especially applies to the preaching of God's Word. "Politically Correct" preaching comes from "pathetically weak" pulpits that don't have the courage to present the gospel in an unabashed manner.
If you want to see the results of a watered-down politically correct gospel just walk the busy sidewalks of New York City or Los Angeles where millions have gone in search of fame and fortune with the expectation that those things will bring them happiness and what you will see instead are thousands of sad, miserable faces. There are hundreds of famous Hollywood stars who achieved a high level of fame and fortune only to end up committing suicide because they discovered that those things did not provide the hope and happiness that they thought it would. The modern-day "psycho-therapeutic self-help love yourself think your way to happiness I’m OK You’re OK" message does absolutely nothing to provide for a persons spiritual well-being and is as effective as a screen door on a submarine. An article in the Los Angeles Times Stated that the "suicide rate in general has been steadily increasing for the past decade," and it is not exclusive to any one place, people or country. People throughout all walks of life are in emotional turmoil. Pain and suffering are all around us and no matter what the world may tell you the Bible tells us that JESUS ALONE can provide unspeakable peace in the midst of pain and suffering. JESUS ALONE can provide hope in a world that is hopeless. JESUS ALONE can provide courage and strength to overcome in a world decomposing beneath layer after layer of its own un-repented sin.
The world was in the same depraved state when Jesus entered into it two thousand years ago as it is in today. And knowing that He would be "despised {that word "despised" means to be looked down on as contemptible} and rejected of men" (Isaiah 53:3) the Lord still came to the world to be wrongfully accused, to be mocked and spit on, to be whipped to the point where His back was nothing more than chunks of open, raw bloody flesh, to take upon Himself the unimaginable weight and penalty for the sins of all mankind, and to be mercilessly and hatefully crucified (Matthew 27: 12-35). Jesus knows all about suffering. No one in the world has ever suffered more than Jesus Christ suffered and He endured all of those tremendous sufferings, pains, and agonies for one reason and one reason only - "YOU!" Jesus came into the world to die. He did not come to tip-toe through the tulips. He did not come for the purpose of instructing you how to "plant a financial seed and buy yourself a miracle." He came for ONE REASON - to die for your sins and my sins. He came "to seek and to save that which is lost" (Luke 19:10). He came to give His life upon the Cross as the penalty for sin and yet He was sinless. He gave His life’s blood for the verdict against you and me of "guilty" and yet He was guiltless. He came into a world that rejected Him, beat Him, spit on Him and hated Him, and yet He loved us. We ignore Him, we avoid Him, we push Him aside and yet He reaches out for us. With all the impressive technology that we have in our world today we think that we have out-grown our need of God but let me tell you this; you can be a person who knows all the answers to the most complex mathematical equations, you can know more wealth than Fort Knox, you can know world-wide fame, you can know perfect health, you can know how to fly the most sophisticated aircraft in the world, you can know how to perform the most delicate brain surgery but my friend you are totally lost - if you don’t know Jesus Christ!
Incredibly, the largest percentage of people in our world today continue to turn to and rely on "earthly things" to provide them with a sense of happiness. The heartbeat of the world is a heartbeat for "self gratification." The desires of man’s heart are set on "things below" instead of "things above" (Colossians 3:1). And absolutely everything that we turn to in a desperate attempt to satisfy that emptiness in our heart and that sense of hopelessness in our life all fail us time and time again. Man’s sufferings, his pains and difficulties, our loneliness and overwhelming sense of helplessness and hopelessness are things which can only be satisfied only by God when we exercise an attitude of faith and obedience toward His Son Jesus Christ.
Remember this - when you go to bed tonight you will take it for granted that you are going to wake up in the morning, but you have no guarantee of that. If you do wake up in the morning you have no guarantee that you will survive the day to make it to bed another night. That’s why the Bible warns us to choose Jesus Christ Today! The Bible says "Now is the day of Salvation, NOW is the time to accept Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him Lord and Master of your life" (2 Corinthians 6:2) - tomorrow may be too late!
It doesn’t matter how low you’ve fallen. It doesn’t matter what sins you have committed. God can take any broken, shattered life and remold and remake you into a brand new person in Jesus Christ. He doesn’t care what color your skin is. He doesn’t care how rich you are or how smart you are HE LOVES YOU! He wants to live in your heart. He wants to supply you with that joy, hope, peace and assurance that so many in the world are searching for. And how do we become immersed in that joy, hope and peace? Contrary to much of todays preaching there are not "many" ways there is "only One," and that way is through the Cross of Jesus Christ! We must step away from our own selfish desires, step away from the ways of the world and those things that have become a barrier between us and Christ. He did not come with a collection plate to gather the "money seeds" planted by those who wish to receive a great "financial harvest". He came with His life and his blood to gather unto Himself all those that plant their complete faith and trust in Him and in Him alone for the eternal salvation of their soul.
God bless you,
Mark Shutts
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