The Burr in the Burgh

I want to direct you to a blog I just discovered. It's called Wretched of the Earth. The blogger is a missionary in Bangkok, Thailand. And the post I read today, Jesus Is Not a Nicer Buddha, is right on the mark.

He notes the temptation to "sell" Christianity on its practical worth. It's this line of thinking: You should be a Christian, because Jesus helps you with your problems. Or you should be a Christian because God'll make you happy, help you have better relationships, give you techniques for managing stress and so forth.

What about, 'you should be a Christian because Christianity is true?' God does help us with our problems. True. But your main problem is not that you are "stressed out." Your main problem is that - apart from Christ - you are going to die and go to hell. Christ is not the supreme advice giver. He is not your therapist. He is the sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world. That should remain the focus. True evangelical preachers and missionaries know that the doctrines of sin and grace, thoroughly and winsomely presented, are the only message which will save. And as long as we live in this world, we need to hear that message.