Every generation of Christians has had ‘blind spots’ in either their practice or theology! That’s one good reason why we should read old Christian classics. Its not that earlier generations had superior wisdom – they just had different struggles.

I believe that one of the great weaknesses of the modern church is in how we offer the gospel. Is the gospel something that primarily addresses our need for happiness or fulfillment? Is the gospel intended to improve our marriage, help us raise our children, or increase our checking account? If the gospel is to be preached to all the nations, then what relevance is it to the affluent who are happily married with successful children?

Let’s look at an analogy:

A child who was running through a wooded area fell onto a sharp stick and cut his jugular vein. His father immediately picked him up and pressed his thumb to the boy’s neck in an effort to stop the gushing blood while he rushed him to the hospital. In the emergency room, when the surgeon arrived, the child showed him a small splinter he had received in his thumb when he fell. He wanted the surgeon to remove it. Of course, the surgeon ignored the child’s plea, and began work to stop the life-threatening injury to the boy’s neck.

The modern church preaches a message that calls sinners to come to God for their “splinters” ignoring their life-threatening injuries. It tells the world that God will heal marriages, drug problems, alcohol problems, etc. When the real reason they should come to the Savior is that their life’s blood is gushing from their throat. They are in debt to the Law and eternal justice. It’s like a criminal saying to a judge, “I know I’m guilty of rape and murder, but I have an important personal problem that I think the courts should deal with first.” Our priority should be to deal first with the fatal wound of sin before we even look at the splinters of our personal problems.

The puritans insisted that we preach both the law and the gospel. One proper use of the law is as a ‘severe schoolmaster’ (Galatians 3:24) to bring the sinner to repentance. If a man comes to Christ for a ‘happy life’ then we cannot be surprised when he turns aside at the first sign of trouble (Mark 4). But if a man comes to Christ because he sees himself as hopelessly condemned by God’s righteous law to an eternal hell and wishes to ‘flee from the wrath to come’… Can you see that such a man will endure worldly ’unhappiness’ and will be able to truthfully say, ’for me to live is Christ, to die is gain.’