The Man-Pleasing Gospel

Is it possible that, in our drive to share our Christian faith with the world, by thinking critically through our message, taking into consideration posture and presentation, we have only adjusted and adapted the message as to lose its original content?

Are we not more concerned with pleasing Man (humanity) than God when we compromise the gospel to make it more attractive to the masses?

Consider how infrequently we take into consideration these Scripture truths concerning Kingdom exclusivity and difficulty:

Matthew 7:13-14:

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

Matthew 7:21-23:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'"

Matthew 10:32-39:

Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. . But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 13:10-16:

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

Matthew 13:47-50

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 15:7-14

"You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"

After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand. It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?" But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

Matthew 16:24-28:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

Matthew 19:16-26:

And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." Then he said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?" Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

The overwhelming sense I get is that passages like this are ignored because they are too difficult to assimilate with the false gospel that has morphed and/or sifted into the sub-conscience of Christendom. Somehow (probably Satan speaking through his mouthpieces, the false teachers (Matt 16:23, 2 Timothy 4:3), at some time, we were fed the lie that in order to be effective for the Kingdom of God, we have to persuade all people into thinking God and His ways are beneficial to the pursued.

When that [pragmatic, beneficial character of God being able to meet the selfish perceived wants/needs as an acceptable presentation of the gospel] is our preconception, our end becomes to manipulate the minds of men by distorting the image of God to fit the perceived attractiveness of God to the manipulated/deceived. This is making God something He is not. It makes Him small and controllable. Rather, it simply becomes an idol, and all who associate with it become idol worshippers.

Our end should be not to compromise the presentation of God to make Christianity inclusive and alluring, but to magnify the Lord, proclaiming His [Christ Jesus'] worth and glory. The Sheep ("brothers of Mine") will then be fed and the Church will not continue to gather more and more goats into its flock (Matt 25:31-46). The Sheep will be fed because the Church will finally be doing as it is meant to, and the worth of our inheritance - our hope and strength - which is Jesus (because He is Lord and worthy to judge the living and the dead - to reign over creation because He is infinitely great) will be realized and will empower the saints to boldness.

The Man-pleasing gospel and the "Church" which presents it needs to be exposed by the Light. Repent all who are tickled by such notions of the Faith, that God may graciously have mercy on the humble (Isaiah 30:9-18). When they don't, true saints, stand firm and unashamedly on the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16) - not this man-pleasing rubbish - and proclaim it on the rooftops till you are silenced by death from persecutors or Christ comes in Glory once more, and all will be on bended knee (Philippians 2:10).