“Just preach the gospel, but let other people alone.” This
advice is often given by people who think that preachers should not speak
against the views of other religious people. But is this what the Bible says we
should do?“Just preach the gospel, but let other people alone.” This
advice is often given by people who think that preachers should not speak
against the views of other religious people. But is this what the Bible says we
should do?In fact, is it even possible to really preach the gospel without telling people when they are wrong? The fact is that anytime we preach any Bible principle, some people will be offended because they are violating that principle.
Suppose we preach the importance of religious unity. Then we are rebuking the division that exists in denominationalism.
If we preach the need for moral purity, then we are opposing immorality and Situation Ethics.
If we preach the need for faith in Jesus, we are saying Jews and Hindus are wrong.
If we even preach the love of God, we will offend atheists who do not believe in God!
If in fact we preach any part of the gospel, we will upset someone because there will always be someone who does not believe it! The only way to really let other people alone would be to so compromise the message that it ceases to be the gospel!
The fact is that the gospel will not let people alone. One main purpose of the gospel is to tell people that they are guilty of doing wrong and must change. No one can receive the blessings of the gospel until he realizes he stands condemned before God.
Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned, and Luke 13:3 says that unless we repent we will all perish. That simply means that we must all realize we have been wrong, and that we must all make up our minds to change and become right. Now, how do you preach that and still let people alone?
The real question is: Are people doing what the gospel says? If not, you cannot preach the gospel and still let those people alone, because the true gospel will not let them alone!
(c) Copyright David E. Pratte, 2018; gospelway.com
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Scripture quotations are generally from the New King James Version (NKJV), copyright 1982, 1988 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. used by permission. All rights reserved.