The Death of Evangelical Christianity

I am considered to be a pessimist by my wife and a few others.  I can easily see the worst in any situation.  In fact, I look for the worst-case scenario in every situation.  One area that I see little hope for is the Evangelical cause of Christianity. I don’t believe that American Evangelicals know what the Gospel is anymore. The Gospel is not feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, providing shelter to the homeless, and giving health care to the sick.  The Gospel is about transforming the life of a sinner to a follower of Jesus Christ.  The evangelical Christian has forgotten the mission of the Church. The results of changed lives will cause us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter to the homeless and health care for the sick but that is not the primary mission of the Church.  The mission is to proclaim the message of repentance and follow in the footstep of Jesus Christ who is our LORD and Redeemer.  Our message is the salvation of man from the bondage of sin through Jesus Christ.

The message of the Gospel is quite simple and is easy to understand. The problem is that many so-called evangelical’s leaders have become a bunch of hireling scheming swindlers. They preach a gospel of health and wealth because they know that is the "gospel" people want to hear.  They realize that if they were to preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, they would no longer have their fine houses, cars, and bank accounts.  They cannot preach the Gospel because it would require not only their hearers but they themselves to come to grips with their spiritual need.

Many "Christians" today are Constitutional Christians, they are in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.  They believe the American dream is the Christian life.  The concept of financial success is presented as an important part of God's blessing to His followers.  The evangelical message has been lost to a social gospel that denies the need for a spiritual change in the life of people.  While the Gospel of Jesus Christ demands the death of self, the new message is the exaltation of self. 

If we were to live the Gospel we say we believe, every single aspect of how we conduct our lives would be radically altered and there would be such a change in our lifestyle that those around us would not recognize us as a modern Christian causing the people around us to take notice of a new spiritual life that they have never seen.  The sad message given by the Church today is we Christians are indistinct from the world.  We live in the world and have become part of the world.  We cannot separate ourselves from the "one thing thou lackest."  We are not willing to take the step that will give us power with God. As Paul wrote to Timothy, there are those who will heap to themselves teachers who will say what we want to hear.

The problem with the American Evangelical Christian is they have come to love the world they live in.  They will not risk the loss of being able to keep up with the Jones, putting their children in private schools, enrolling their children in the top sports teams and running in the accepted social circles. They are not willing to sacrifice their friendship with the world to have the spiritual life in Jesus Christ.

Do I think the American Evangelical Christian will change? No. When people love the world more than they love the LORD, it is hard to see any change that will take place.  The bondage of the world has become so strong that making the sacrifice to throw off the chains of bondage is too much to accept. Until a revival of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is accepted and the real mission of the Church is acted upon I fear the bondage of the world will continue to destroy the Evangelical branch of Christianity.