WE SHOULD NOT GO AROUND CONDEMNING PEOPLE?? RIGHT?

"We shouldn't go around condemning people. Jesus did not come to condemn men but to save them. For goodness sake! Its not working! Drop the microphone and just tell them you love them and encourage them. Help them with their needs. Joy and laughter should be the center of our lives not condemnation and negative preaching."
-- from an "anonymous Christian"

Here is my response to this common argument.

First of all, the Gospel is the Gospel. We cannot water it down, reduce it or adjust it to the standards of men. The message of God, whether you like it or not, is an offense to the flesh because it reveals the enormity of your sin and the holiness of God. If you take away the sinfulness of man and the command to "repent of all your sins" in your evangelism, you are no longer preaching the Gospel. Instead, you are preaching a gospel that does not change life, gives false security and brings no genuine conversion.

Second of all, it depends on how you define "condemning people". If condemning people for you means something like "You are all going to hell! Repent and believe! God is angry! He is angry with all of you!", I would agree that such evangelism is no longer a message of life even though it is true that we all deserve hell. But if "condemning people" for you means explaining the wickedness of every man, convincing the unbeliever that he or she deserves the wrath of God and that he is unable to save himself, then I see no problem. In fact, failure to mention the sinful nature of mankind, the wrath of God or the need to repent in our evangelism is a betrayal to God, His Word and to the person you are sharing the Gospel with.

Thirdly, lets take a look at the phrase "Jesus did not came to condemn the world but to save." This is true but used out of context. On Jesus' first coming, He came to save the world, not to condemn it. So its true BUT!!! on His second coming, He will come to condemn no longer to save (the very opposite of His first coming). So to say that Jesus does not condemn is one side of the coin because we all know that He is coming back to judge the world, laying his hands on his elect and casting unbelievers on the lake of fire.

Fourthly, lets take a look at the phrase "For goodness sake! Its not working!" This is true but neatly twisted (again -- sigh). Its true that even if the true Gospel is preached it will never work.

The Gospel is foolishness to man. Who would believe a message that openly declares man's disobedience and depravity? Who would believe that God came in the form of man to save mankind from their sins? Who would believe that Jesus received the eternal condemnation that we were supposed to take? Who indeed? No one. Unless God moves, opens the heart of the person and changes his very nature, no one would believe or receive such an "absurd" message.

In the same way a fish does not know its wet, men are not aware of their sin or the enormity of it. They do not know how holy and infinitely worthy God is that is why they do not understand why they deserve His wrath.

The Bible says that we, in our unregenerate state, are blind, are unable to save ourselves, have no interest in God's kingdom, are God-haters, are children of the devil, are slaves to sin, are fallen creatures of despair and last of all, depraved sinners who according to Job, drink down inequity as if it were water. That's what we are in our unconverted states.

Men simply do not want the truth nor want to receive it so its true that preaching does not work. Even if the full counsel of our Lord were preached in the most eloquent tongue, it still won't work. Men are dead and are unable to respond to divine stimuli. So what now? How is it that men, upon hearing the Gospel, are internally changed and saved if it does not work?

Its simple: Ezekiel 36 and all those verses in the Old and New Testament that explain the new covenant answers it. God moved! God moves to change the nature of the unbeliever so that he can hear and receive Christ! He regenerates man supernaturally!

Preaching the true Gospel is both the deepest burden and greatest comfort to the preacher. It is a burden because when a true preacher stands before unregenerate man, he knows that if God does not move, there will be no true conversion and his words would be puny gusts of wind against solid stone statues. But it is also his greatest comfort, because he knows that his work is resting on the power and sovereignty of God. He does not have to entertain men to keep them awake or conform his message to the whims of the crowd. He simply preaches diligently in accordance to the will of the Father and relies on the Holy Spirit to move on his behalf. He knows that if God does not move, nothing will happen. But He also knows that if God does move, there will be true conversion. So his work, burdensome it may be, is resting on the shoulder of God.

For the fifth point, lets examine the phrase "Drop the microphone and just tell them you love them and encourage them" First of all, who said that preaching the Bible's testimony against unregenerate men is NOT love? Who said that convincing men the truth about their sinful natures is NOT love?

Would you prefer a doctor who hides the truth because they want to encourage their patients? Or would you want a doctor who will tell you the raw truth about your state, risk his reputation, put himself and his entire career on the line in the name of love?

We do not need preachers who will feed our flesh and starve our souls. We need preachers who will feed our souls and starve our flesh. We need men of God who know Him and are willing to put themselves in the line for the sake of telling people the truth.

This is what true love is: to tell men the truth about themselves, to explain the reality of hell which all deserve and convince them of the cross of Christ that redeems the vilest offender and finally, to expound the Biblical process and assurance of conversion. This is true love. Not to skip the issues about their disease, let them jump into evangelical hoops, give them a false security and share a masterfully twisted gospel that causes their sight to become worse, leading the astray even more.

On the issue about encouragement, lets take a look at how deluded this idea is. One thing you have to understand is this: if its the truth, whether it bring you down or lifts you up, its the truth. It doesn't matter if you want to hear it or not. If the Bible says something, you ought to listen hard and listen well. We have this false notion that if something bring you down, its bad.

My dear friend, Jesus called Peter "Satan" and many times did he emphasized his lack of faith and discernment. This would have brought anyone down. I'm not saying we should discourage our brothers. What I am saying is that, we shouldn't focus on how it affects us. Instead of asking, "Is this negative or positive?" we should ask ourselves "Is it true or not?"

When the Bible says all have sinned, its true and we ought to praise God that His Word is true. In this deep statement, "All have sinned" we find ourselves guilty, "falling short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Yes it brings us down. Yes it hurts us and reveals the enormity of our sin. Yes it brings guilt and shame but is this not the work of God? Is this not the will of God? To create repentance in your heart? Don't you see that repentance starts with being broken down over sin? It begins with realizing your unfaithfulness to a faithful God and ends with you crying to God to save you?

The issue here is not whether it uplifts you or not. The issue here is whether it is true or not. And if it is true, you ought to praise God that you can still hear the truth shared in this fallen world.

Would you rather have the people be deceived and think well of themselves? Or would you rather have them hear the truth no matter how painful it may be so that some of them would fall under the conviction of God, repent and in the end, be saved by the Lord from the eternal fire?

For the sixth point, lets now take a look at the phrase: instead... help them with their needs. Dear sheep of God, the greatest need of man is God. Their greatest need is to to hear the truth about Him, the truth about themselves, the reality of hell, the meaning of the cross and the miracle of regeneration. This is their greatest need! To deprive them of their greatest need is one of the greatest crimes in the pulpit.

Finally, lets take a look at "Joy and laughter should be the center of our lives not condemnation and negative preaching." The fallacy of such statement is not hard to understand. Joy and laughter are not the center of our lives. God is the center. And being with God does not mean you will receive earthly prosperity all the time. Yes, there is a promise of heavenly fortune but that is but a small gift compared to the one and only gift that matters: Christ.

And because preachers no longer talk about the real Jesus and instead offer a jesus who does everything they want, winks over their sin and hugs sensuality, the sheep of God starve and they no longer see why Jesus is the greatest Gift of all.

About negative preaching, it depends again on how you are going to define such. If negative preaching to you is telling people what they really are and what God really is, then you're lost. But if negative preaching for you is talking all about condemnation without explaining the finished work of Christ on the cross or the reality of regeneration, then I am inclined to agree that, indeed, such preaching is negative and not helpful.
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I hope I was able to shed light in the issue of "preachers condemning people".

Lord willing, I'll be posting more question-answer type of articles to address most of the issues in modern day Christianity.