The Foundation
“On this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” – Mat. 16:18
The church that Jesus built has become popularly unpopular. When we examine the intent of the Gospel, it seems clear that most of what we see today, in our post modern culture, is a far cry from the original intent. Jesus gave us the blueprints for a church built on self sacrifice and death to oneself for the glory of God. We find this today to be an unpopular Gospel. So much so that many churches have completely abandoned the judgment of sin and embraced what ‘makes sense’.
An unpopular Gospel is what we’re called to live for and maybe die for. Resisting the gates of hell takes a deep devotion to the truth of the Word of God. When the Gospel demands that we live sacrificially and lay down our lives one for another, it becomes popularly unpopular. It doesn’t speak to our comfort and personal greatness.
Our Pursuits
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,….But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, ….For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Mat 6:19-21
When the Gospel demands that we lay up treasures in Heaven and not on earth, where rust, moth, and termites can eat it up, it becomes a popularly unpopular message. It doesn’t speak to our need for satisfaction in the here and now.
Messages that speak to our peace and comfort on earth are more popular than those that promote a heavenly reward after earthly suffering. Our post modern Gospel has promoted a god of self and diminished the divine and sovereign being He truly is.
The Reward
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” – Mat. 6:1
When the Gospel demands that we love our neighbor as ourselves, it becomes a popularly unpopular message. It doesn’t focus on our self idolatry which drives our desire to be self consumed and not other-concerned.
When the Gospel demands that we set our sights on a Heavenly reward and not earthly praise, it becomes a popularly unpopular message. It doesn’t focus on our blessings here on earth and how God loves us so much to give us everything we want.
Sin and Its Wages
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. – Rom. 6:23
Lo and behold, when the Gospel dares point out our sin and its eternal consequences, it becomes a popularly unpopular message. It doesn’t ignore the scourge and go straight to the forgiveness and redemption. It is out of love that God points out our sin.
Since love is the highest and the greatest virtue, it demands that sin be identified, resolved, eliminated, and the sinner reconciled to God. This is an unpopular message. Love is defined to mean not only turning a blind eye to those things that grieve the heart of God but going as far as to embrace them as right.
Popularly unpopular words in Christianity today start with the word sin and go on to words such as repentance, judgment, suffering, sacrifice, service, and God forbid we use the word abomination, we become popularly unpopular.
It is tough for post modern man to accept the reality of a greater ONE controlling our destiny. Yet reality cannot change simply because we don’t accept it. Let’s make the popularly unpopular Gospel popular again!
Nelson Masinde 