Gospel Preaching versus Motivational Speaking
Mary Ann Wray
Many years ago in Bible College, one of our favorite instructors, Brother Tom Bender, who is now with the Lord, made the following statement that has resonated in my spirit ever since then…
He said, “Anyone can get 50 people to follow them but that doesn’t mean God called them to be a leader or a preacher.”
I know he was right because over the years I’ve seen people with followings that don’t even mention the name of Jesus, His finished work on the Cross or what it means to be a disciple/ true follower of Christ in their messages. Many give themselves the title of Prophet, Apostle, evangelist, or pastor but Jesus seems to be missing from their messages.
The founding church Apostles and teachers preached gospel messages to win the lost, wrote epistles and letters to other churches, gave instructions to the church, corrected the church, even rebuked, the church, but it all centered around the person of Jesus Christ with the purpose of maturing the saints of God into Christ likeness.
If you’re a motivational speaker, you can get many people to follow you these days, but that’s not the same as preaching the gospel and centering your messages around the New Covenant.You have nothing to gain from staying true to the gospel and scripture in this world. It will cost you fame, fortune, and popularity but the rewards in eternity will be beyond what the human mind can fathom. They can’t be measured by dollars, fame and popularity.
May God help us to stay true to the gospel; for in it is the power of salvation to everyone who would believe it: to the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile).
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