There is one true church – Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 1:22-23
Many believe one church is as good as another – Therefore, “preach Christ, not the church”
To preach Christ, one must also preach the church – Acts 8:5,12
Unintended consequences (“preach Christ, not the church”)
- In order to survive, a church must attract and retain members
- Cannot do so on the basis of being a sound church
- They’ve gone to great lengths to argue that one church is as good as another
- Now they need to convince people to go to their church
Introduce the “social gospel” – they are promoting their church; ironic since they began by saying “preach Christ, not the church”
Our responsibility is to preach the gospel, period