Preaching Christ

The church needs to rediscover what it means to be Jesus centered.  The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, "...we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles..." (I Corinthians 1:23).  In our day preaching about Jesus has been replaced with preaching about the mission of Jesus, or preaching about the spiritual character of Jesus.  It often seems that the gospel has become equated with some justice or service mission, or perhaps, a word which calls for those who hear to model their living after the example of Jesus.    

While there is nothing intrinsically wrong about such preaching, it is not the message about the Christ who delivers, saves, and radically transforms the heart.  The cross is used to speak of the suffering the mission calls us to endure and the love we are to have in our hearts, but not an act of God which is justifying, redemptive, and atoning.  For some the traditional language may sound too holy and too out of date, and if so, it is imperative that we find new ways to communicate the spiritual truths such words convey.   The church cannot preach Christ and not first preach about a relationship with Jesus.  Christ cannot be preached if the message about Him is not an invitational message which creates a longing for life with Him.  We can preach and inspire people to do better and we can persuade people to do the right things in terms of social justice issues or ministries of service; however, it has no lasting power. 

The core problem is that without the transforming power of Christ touching the heart, the strength and motivation for the modeling and the mission will soon run dry.  If it is not the love of Christ which moves us into the world, those who seek to do the mission will soon become exhausted and those who seek to model the lifestyle of Christ will soon become the duty bound instead of the dispensers of unconditional love.  The church must either preach Christ crucified or prepare for its funeral.