Preaching Christ in a Day of Change

Preaching Christ in a Day of Change

Paul was determined to know nothing among the Corinthians save Jesus Christ and him crucified (I Cor. 2:2). Ignorant of the true meaning of these words, some folks insist that teaching that goes beyond the life and words of Jesus, as revealed in the four gospels, is non-productive, even divisive.

Our change agents are openly critical of the gospel preaching of past generations and of contemporary preachers who emphasize the church and the doctrine of Christ in their preaching. Their proposal is that "we just need to preach Christ" and cease dwelling on the church and doctrine.   They reason that we are not divided about Christ, but about doctrine. To some, their plea sounds thoroughly biblical and reasonable. When we compare what they mean by "just preaching Christ" with what the apostles did we see a stark contrast.

Peter preached Christ to the people of Jerusalem, but also taught them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their sins, that they might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

Later Peter and John preached Christ to the rulers of the Jewish community but stressed the necessity of obedience (Acts 5:30-32).

Philip preached Christ to the folks of Samaria, but he also preached "the kingdom of God" (Acts 8:12). He preached Christ to the nobleman from Ethiopia and persuaded him to request baptism (Acts 8:35).

When Paul preached to Sergius Paulus, he took time to rebuke the evil sorcerer, Elymas who opposed them (Acts 13:7-12).

In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas preached Christ but they also appointed for them elders in every church (Acts 14:21-23).

In Athens, Paul preached Christ but he first preached about God as creator and provider of man's needs (Acts 17:22-31).

In Ephesus Paul preached Christ to a small group who were disciples of John the Baptist, but he led them to be properly baptized in the name of Jesus (Acts 19:1-7).

Wherever Paul preached, he did not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God and anything profitable for his hearers (Acts 20:20,27).   He warned Christians of the danger of false teachers who would arise among them (Acts 20:28-31).

In their literary teaching, Paul and the other inspired writers taught about Christ and every other important aspect of Christianity and Christian living.

What is the conclusion we should draw from these examples? Yes, we must above all else preach Christ! But as we do so, we must also preach the many other aspects of the faith. To fail to do so is to be unfaithful to our trust. To serve Christ faithfully, we must teach disciples "to observe all things whatsoever (he) commanded" (Matt. 28:20).

This being the case, we reject as contrary to God's will, the sweet sounding proposal of the promoters of change that we just preach Jesus. Like poison coated in candy, the idea of "just preaching Jesus" and not dealing with the church and doctrine, can only do great harm to the body of Christ. It serves the devious purposes of the change agents, for their goals are more easily reached among brethren who know only Jesus, but nothing of his church and the doctrine he ordained for her.

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