A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

Do you remember that sermon by Phil Johnson? I still hear it in my sleep.

In my judgment, the typical evangelical church of this generation has become weak and womanly. Churchgoers demand that preachers be soft and dainty—especially when they are dealing with hard-edged truths. If you don’t sufficiently tone down every severe text or hard-to-receive doctrine in the Bible, the tone police will write you up for an infraction before you can get from the pulpit to the front door. All the rough edges of every truth must be carefully sanded smooth and painted in pastel tones. We’ve traded up to cushy seats instead of hard-bench pews and we expect our preachers to fashion their message accordingly. None of this sinners-in-the-hands-of-an-angry-God stuff.

Instead, today’s evangelicals favor feminine themes: Let’s talk about our emotional hurts, our personal relationships, our felt, needs. We’re hurting. The church has begun to look weak, effeminate, frightened, sissified—like a society of fops and milksops instead of soldiers.

We’re told relentlessly that we have to be always agreeable no matter what—seeker-sensitive, gender-neutral, effervescent, transparent, sentimental, and delicate in everything we say and do. Those sound like rules for figure-skaters, not warriors in the army of Christ.

Excerpted from ‘Man Up-Time to Act like Men in Church’ by Phil Johnson.