Is the problem of preachers watering down the real message from the Scriptures (in some cases, polluting the message)a new thing?
Not really. This problem goes way back to the Old Testament times. We can read is Jeremiah 23:21-22 that God said, "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings." Looks familiar , right?
According to these verses, what gives us a clue that there's a problem? People who have heard the supposed men from God preach never arrived to a decision to repent from their sins. Time and again, we read from the New Testament that people who responded to the Gospel message resulted to a change in their lifestyle, one that forsakes sin. The words are very clear... "they should have turned them from their evil way". How many people in our churches were clearly described by Jeremiah 23:22? A lot! Our churches nowadays are filled with false converts who attend church services on a regular basis, declares themselves as "Christians", but clearly lack the changed life that the Bible talks of in terms of true believers. They are people who profess of faith but show NO outward evidence of its existence. This is exactly what James talked about in the second chapter of his book when he discussed the problem of faith being dead because the proof of good works is absent.
The Bible is so clear when it said "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Cor 5:17)."
Let's go back to our main text (Jeremiah 23:21-22) and now examine what brought the pitiful result. The clue is in black and white and is as clear as day. The supposed prophets did not preach from the Word ("...if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words..."). The result (men not turning from their evil ways) will be expected if the message we preach does not come from God's Word. Well you can argue by saying, "Well I still spoke from the Bible. I just lightened the treatment." I will never back down from saying that the message is still not from the Scriptures if you say that you change just a little the real emotion of God when it comes to sin. If God hates sin, then we should declare just that to people. We should not make any effort of making sin a non-issue just so we can avoid offending people by showing them how wretched they are in front of God. The message of the Gospel is this... we're sinful people who are bound for Hell but God, instead of pouring His wrath on us, gave His only son, Jesus, so He would be the one to suffer for the sins we so enjoyably committed, and that the only response He is asking from us is repentance and faith.Not really. This problem goes way back to the Old Testament times. We can read is Jeremiah 23:21-22 that God said, "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings." Looks familiar , right?
According to these verses, what gives us a clue that there's a problem? People who have heard the supposed men from God preach never arrived to a decision to repent from their sins. Time and again, we read from the New Testament that people who responded to the Gospel message resulted to a change in their lifestyle, one that forsakes sin. The words are very clear... "they should have turned them from their evil way". How many people in our churches were clearly described by Jeremiah 23:22? A lot! Our churches nowadays are filled with false converts who attend church services on a regular basis, declares themselves as "Christians", but clearly lack the changed life that the Bible talks of in terms of true believers. They are people who profess of faith but show NO outward evidence of its existence. This is exactly what James talked about in the second chapter of his book when he discussed the problem of faith being dead because the proof of good works is absent.
The Bible is so clear when it said "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Cor 5:17)."
I once heard someone say that the reason why the Gospel message is being repackaged (e.g. "God has a wonderful plan for you", "God loves you as you are") is to make the message relevant to our time which gives importance to concepts like tolerance, non-offense and political correctness. I totally disagree with this. The Gospel that shouts "repentance and faith" should not be changed even a bit for the purpose of making it relevant to the present. People in our time MUST instead make a decision to make the Gospel relevant to their lives even if it runs against what our times hold on as its most cherished "values" or else, its Hell for them.
People in the past have made the mistake already of changing the message from the Bible. It did not bring the results promised by God. We preachers of the present time must not make the same mistake or else, we might, one of these days, hear God declare to mankind about us, "...I have not spoken to them..."
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