And Even More So Today!

“The fundamental fault of the modern Church is that she is busily engaged in an absolutely impossible task--she is busily engaged in calling the righteous to repentance. Modern preachers are trying to bring men into the Church without requiring them to relinquish their pride; they are trying to help men avoid the conviction of sin. The preacher gets into the pulpit, opens the Bible, and addresses the congregation somewhat as follows: ‘You people are very good,’ he says; ‘you respond to every appeal that looks toward the welfare of the community. Now we have in the Bible--especially in the life of Jesus--something so good that we believe it is good enough even for you good people.’ Such is the modern preaching. It is heard every Sunday in thousands of pulpits. But it is entirely futile. Even our Lord did not call the righteous to repentance, and probably we shall be no more successful than He.”
J. Gresham Machen
Christianity and Liberalism
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), p. 68

[These remarks--which perfectly describe the modern “seeker-friendly” pattern widely adopted in evangelical and fundamental churches in the recent years, which down-plays, even omits, preaching on sin, guilt, judgment and condemnation, and omits any call to repentance--were published in 1923! Let it be known that the inevitable consequence of this omission of the Gospel’s clarion call for repentance from sin and guilt was general apostasy in short order in the denominations and churches which substituted the Biblical Gospel for the easy Gospel of smooth words and sin without consequences-- Doug Kutilek]