Preach Christ

Has the primary focus of what is now called “the gospel” shifted from being about Jesus to being about what Jesus will do for people? How can you avoid this in your preaching/sharing/ministry?

This was a discussion question for one of my classes at IHOPU about Christology. The relevance of the answer to this question is so pertinent to us as believers in our generation that I thought I would share my answer here. 

In the church, the primary focus of Sunday morning messages and the sharing of “the gospel” has shifted from being about the person of Jesus and knowing Him in His identity to what He can do for us. One of the reasons that Jesus is so rarely talked about is that people do not fully grasp the unequaled splendor and majesty that He has. They are not fascinated by Him in all of His mind-blowing glory, and thus do not preach about His supreme beauty, but rather preach of what He can do for us. Jesus , the second person of the trinity, has been demoted from the place of high honor and reverence, to a pocket genie who can help us when we get stuck running our own lives. As forerunners in our generation we are called like Paul to preach Christ and Him crucified.

But we preach Christ crucified….1 Corinthians 1:23

For I am determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2 

Yes, we preach about what Christ has done for us but we do it from a place of considering the great worth and unhindered glory of Christ. The only way to preach Christ effectively is to know Him intimately and deeply. Our reach must never relent in pursuing the knowledge of Christ. 

“No Christ is not in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.”- Charles H. Spurgeon