It’s almost beyond belief that some preachers can scare you out of hell without inviting you into heaven.
Admittedly, it takes a lot less effort to draw forth guilt than it does to inspire righteousness. Satan loves congregations to hear sermons that lock them into a perpetual state of guilt – Believe me, like cars clamped by a parking lot attendant with a stopwatch, that church is going nowhere.
If I could pin all the blame on the preacher I would, but that wouldn’t square with reality. The fact is that churches often settle on a diet of sermons and classes that maintains their status quo. I realise that many have thought this, and some have even accused specific congregations of practising it, but I am suggesting that it is something more common than not.
Though, as a rule, I reject the idea that human interactions are complex, I would be a fool to suggest that any group is without its various layers. Groups are made up of people who, for their own reasons, feel welcome in each other’s presence. The bigger the group, the more layers, and the more potential for preaching a “happy medium.”
Like you, I do not like sermons that upset people for the sake of upsetting them. But there are two realities that surround each one of us as we sit in our pews. First, look without and you will see the frenetic nature of your Christian experience. Nothing about it is normal to the unbelieving world and nothing stays the same for you as you are forced to grow up in Christ. Then, look within and you will see the triad of Christian strength: Your Bible, your Brethren, and your Prayer life. Neglect that which is within, and you will remain powerless to deal with that which is without.
Our preachers and teachers help us “to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ” (Ephesians 5:15). For it is the Gospel that destroys the guilt of hell by inviting us to share in the Glory to come:
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:14).
John Staiger