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Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World

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At the end of his long and distinguished career, the famous British preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) found himself locked in a battle with the Baptist Union over its decreasing attachment to scripture, and increasing acceptance of error and sin. And now, more than one hundred years later, Dr. John MacArthur, of Grace Community Church and the Grace to You radio ministry, finds himself being forced into the same battle against scriptural infidelity and pragmatism in the American Evangelical church. With piercing analysis and voluminous use of scripture, he attacks this not-altogether new trend in the Evangelical church.

Dr. MacArthur is a wonderful preacher and teacher, who is an expert at handling the Word. In this book, he examines the trends in the Evangelical church towards "Seeker-Friendly" services and ecumenicalism, and shows how they are incompatible with the Bible. I found his arguments to be cogent and highly convincing, and I must say that I really enjoyed his examination of the Pauline letters to Timothy. If you are interested in the course that the modern Evangelical churches are going, then you would do well to read this thought-provoking book.

Dr. John MacArthur is a pastor-teacher who is not ashamed to biblically address issues that may even make someone mad. He has done this with his books THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS, FAITH WORKS, RECKLESS FAITH, CHARISMATIC CHAOS, and this work as well. In each of his books Dr. MacArthur provides his reader not only a fair survey of the topic/movements but also gives his readers biblical exposition on the subject.

In this work, Dr. MacArthur reviews the seeker sensitive movement (he has done this again in his book HARD TO BELIEVE). He uses the infamous Down-Grace controversey during the late 1800's in England and the stand taken by Charles Spurgeon against the down-graders. Just as Spurgeon saw the down-grade as moving away from the true gospel of grace, MacArthur see's the modern seeker sensitive churches moving away from a true biblical gospel toward a user-friendly, worldly, flesh based gospel that is pragmatic at best.

If you are a person who struggles with church growth or possibly a pastor who wants to see their church grow but you frown on much of the church growth movement then I would encourage you to read this book. Allow God to show you His sovereignty in building His Church through His servant Dr. John MacArthur.

Dr. John MacArthur has produced a book which gives a good view of the modern evangelical church in view of the "Down-Grade" controversy of Charles Spurgeon's days.

The "Down-Grade" controversy, which erupted when Spurgeon noted the decline of doctrine in the Baptist Union and began exposing it in his "Sword and the Trowel". Spurgeon requested that the Union adopt a doctrinal statement, whereas the only requirement for membership was to agree on the issue of Baptism. He noted that once an organization gets on the "down-grade", the slide to the bottom gradually picks up speed until it cannot be stopped. That was where he found the Baptist Union towards the end of his ministry.

This is a good book for those who are interested in the history and legacy of Spurgeon's ministry, for Dr. MacArthur brings out many little-known facts about the controversy. The main theme of the book, however, is not the bare historical facts, but how the principles of Spurgeon's stand are to be applied to the down-grade of today's Evangelical churches.

MacArthur shows that while theological liberalism was the issue of Spurgeon's day, PRAGMATISM is the issue of our day. Whatever works in building a church must be all right. He uses several examples of theatrics, marketing tactics, and acceptance of worldliness all play a factor in the loss of biblical Christianity in the modern day. Preaching is no longer looked at as the central mission of the church, but consumerism, pleasing the customer.

"Worldliness is rarely mentioned today, much less indentified for what it is. The word itself is beginning to sound quaint. Worldliness is the sin of allowing one's appetites, ambitions, or conduct to be fashioned according to earthly values. (I John 2:16, 17).

Yet todaywe have the extraordinary spectacle of church programs designed explicitly to cater to fleshly desire, sensual appetites, and human pride - 'the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.' To achieve this worldly appeal, church activities often go beyond the merely frivolous." (preface, xvii)

There are many quotes in this volume of Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones, Tozer, and others. MacArthur goes on to show the problem behind the pragatism goes deeper than simply falling into marketing tactics, but the roots are in doctrinal declesion. The doctrine of salvation, sanctification, predestination and election, and others are clearly defined and the decline and misrepresentation of these doctrines are traced to the modern problems in the church.

The book closes with 3 appendixes, the first on Spurgeon and the Down-Grade Controversy, the second tracing modern pragmatism to Charles Finney, and the last is an excerpt from the Puritan writer and preacher Thomas Boston, "Carnal vs. Spiritual Wisdom", note the excerpt below:

"Carnal Wisdom: Work diligently for fluent and eloquent speech; fine style very much appeals to the learned. Without it, they will think nothing of your preaching.

Spiritual Wisdom: Christ sent you 'to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech ' (I Cor. 1:17). Do not preach 'with superiority of speech or of wisdom' (I Cor. 2:1). Your message and preaching should not be "in persuasive words of wisdom'."

Overall an excellent book for the minister and laymen for evaluting the methods and doctrine of their churches. One unfortunate quality of the book is the fact that it uses a plethora of Bible versions, typical of most modern books. It is my personal opinion that the points could have been made without a subtle endorsing of versions produced and promoted by the folks Dr. MacArthur exposes in his book.

Unlike many of today's man fearing, people pleasing "christian" authors, MacArthur shoots from the hip with blazing truth and plenty of scripture to back his point. In his unswerving style, he exposes the mega-church movement for what it is, a watered down,God dishonering,fruitless circus aimed at winning flesh with flesh. Men like John MacArthur, Allister Baig, and Os Guinness are true defenders of the faith that was once delivered to the saints. The amazing thing about MacArthur is, he pastors a church where as many as ten thousand attend each week,and he continues to preach and write about the old truths that were common place just a little over a century ago. And that is exactly what the mega church guru's say will drive people away!I highly recommend this book to anyone with a desire to learn truth, especially those who may be in churches promoting the Hybels/Warren/Schueller mentality.We need to see more books like this in "christian" bookstores and less of the psycho-babble, feel good foolishness that is so common today. God's work is serious business and when we make foolishness of it, we'll reap (and are reaping) the consequences. Good work MacArthur, keep on keeping on !!

John MacArthur once again has written an excellent and much needed book. In this book, he shows the danger of "watering down" the Gospel and replacing Biblical teaching and the preaching of the true Gospel with entertainment and feel-good sermons (as well as many other things that the modern church seems to want to replace the true Gospel with). He conclusively shows that the true Gospel is inherently offensive and the "Seeker-sensative" movement cannot remove the offense of the Gospel without destroying the Gospel itself.

"Ashamed of the Gospel" is also a very appropriately named movement, for (as Dr. MacArthur demonstrates), this is exactly what many people are in the seeker-sensitive movement, whether they realize it or not.

John MacArthur rightly calls us to be wary of those who would sacrifice the purity of the Gospel for church growth. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

This is a much-needed book in the Church today and I would highly recommend it to everyone, especially pastors and missionaries (or anyone else who shares the Gospel a lot, as all Christians should).

One feels quite lonely sometimes--standing against pragmatism and present day Marketing techniques in the church. I am encouraged as I read all the reviews written for this book. I agree that Dr. MacArthur is exactly on target. The Appendices alone are worth the purchase of the book. Fascinating summary of church history for those of us who haven't done much study on the subject. He explains how evangelism has gotten where it is today. This is a MUST READ for all Christians!

With a piercing discernment that comes only from the Spirit of God and a firm founding in scripture, John MacArthur unmasks the shallow and potentially damning "market-oriented," "seeker-friendly," "entertainment-focused" philosophy of evangelism that has become so popular in American churches.

The Church is under attack--not from the impious world, but from some of the most influential leaders in American evangelical Christianity. These well-meaning, but woefully misguided teachers have adopted the strategies and tactics of Madison Avenue, baptized them, repackaged them and sold them to the modern church. The basic idea, however, is that pleasing the unregenerated masses is the only way to grow the church. While this in itself does not seem like something to fear, MacArthur demonstrates that when the Church's primary focus is on making the unbeliever comfortable the gospel message is inevitably lost. Uncomfortable topics such as sin, hell, discipleship and holiness are brushed aside and love and assurance are preached to the once-born, self-righteous, unregenerate masses!

Will God build His church, or must we? Will Christ save the souls of men, or has he given this greatest of tasks to mere men? Is there a Sovereign God in Heaven, or must we seduce the world into "making a decision for Christ" by appealing to their sensual, depraved minds? Sennacherib once again surrounds the walls of Jerusalem--the purity of the gospel and the souls of countless men and women are at stake. Where is the prayerful Hezekiah? Where is the bold Isaiah of this age? Arise, O Lord! Defend Your cause!

Note on Appendices: MacArthur's examination of the ministries of C. H. Spurgeon (Appendix 1) and Charles G. Finney (Appendix 2) alone is worth the price of the book.

The title sounds ominous but the book is an encouraging and educational read. MacArthur writes in a positive tone throughout and while the subject matter is of vital importance, his style remains calm and patient.

'Ashamed' is clear writing backed by solid exposition of God's Word as to why the church must not alter the gospel message, not be lured by the latest secular trends or the temptation to measure success by the world's standards, and must be faithful to its calling and purpose as defined in Scripture.

The frequent quotations from Spurgeon and occasional quotes from other well known Christian theologians of the past are helpful, enjoyable, and never overbearing.

The issues discussed in this book are crucial for every Christian to understand and by God's grace MacArthur does an excellent job with this difficult task.

Today's church, while many good things that we are doing, it still alot of sad things not being done. Dr. MacArthur has written a book that is dead on. He writes to help the church see what's wrong with the modern method of church growth. To prove his point, he use C.H. Spurgeon as a great exmaple of a man who fought this in his day. We are putting the church in a bad position when we get away from the biblical precepts of scripture for church growth. Just because is big doesn't mean it's good. Good work Dr. Macarthur.

It was just over one hundred years ago that the great preacher Charles Spurgeon began the long battle that would ultimately cost him his life. He saw in the church of that era a trend away from the preaching of the gospel and towards entertainment. The church began to focus on pleasing people rather than preaching the gospel in all its offense and power. The battle Spurgeon waged became known as The Downgrade Controversy.

Now, a full century later, John MacArthur is sounding the alarm to warn discerning believers that the crisis the church faced in the late 19th century has come to the modern-day church. The church is, once again, on the downgrade. While Spurgeon fought against the influence of liberalism in the church, today we need to fight against the influx of pragmatism. Believing that those who ignore history are dooming themselves to repeat it, he has written Ashamed of the Gospel to show that the alarms Spurgeon sounded are equally relevant in the 21st century church. To prove this point he precedes each chapter with a relevant quote from Spurgeon.

MacArthur believes that the root cause of the downgrade of our day is a deep-rooted shame for the gospel. The church has grown ashamed of the purity and simplicity of the gospel. In place of traditional "old-time religion" the church has begun to substitute a "show-time religion" that focuses on entertainment more than the preaching of the Word. Pleasing the goats has taken precedent over feeding the sheep - glitter over the gospel. Doctrinal purity has been replaced by pragmatism, what God commands by what works.

The themes of the book are easy to discern from an overview of the chapter titles. Some of the chapter titles are: Christianity on the Down-Grade, The User-Friendly Church, Gimme That Showtime Religion, All Things To All Men, The Foolishness of God, and I Will Build My Church.

Equally fascinating as the book are the appendices. The first is a history of the Downgrade Controversy, the second an examination of Charles Finney's contribution to pragmatism in the church, the third an essay by the puritan preacher Thomas Boston entitled Carnal vs Spiritual wisdom and the fourth an update on Evangelicals and Catholics Together. The final appendix is especially interesting as it allows MacArthur a forum to explain how ECT came together and why he stood strong against it.

A courageous book that has likely earned MacArthur far more enemies than friends, I highly recommend this book to all believers, both clergy and laity, but especially those who are discontent with much of the modern church-growth movement. If you have read books like The Purpose Driven Church you owe it to yourself to balance that book with this one. You will not regret it.