There are hundreds of pastors in Portland, Oregon (America’s most atheist city). Do you know how many of them I’ve bumped into ministering the Gospel at the abortion clinic, at parades, in the city square, at the riverfront, or anywhere else? Not one, not ever, in over 20 years of pastoral ministry. If you took a survey in all of America’s cities you would find it’s much the same. As a rule, pastors won’t obey the Bible, won’t obey the Great Commission, and won’t “do the work of an evangelist” in the manner the Lord Jesus commanded and so clearly exemplified personally and through His Apostles on the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative pages of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and the rest of the New Testament (2 Tim. 4:5). What’s worse is that they not only won’t do it, they won’t teach it, they won’t support it, and they often outright condemn Biblical evangelism as detrimental to souls and the good reputation of the local church. They’re what I call “Don’t go therefore!” pastors. They have exchanged Christ’s Great Commission command for the self-loving goals of staying popular, prosperous, and safe in a world that hates God, His Law, and His Gospel. They may give lip service to the Great Commission or the plight of perishing sinners, but they’ve chosen love of self over love God and neighbor and defiantly refuse to die to self and take up the cross — forsaking their cherished popularity, prosperity, and safety.
What’s the result of this long term “Don’t go therefore!” pastoral defiance of Jesus Christ’s Great Commission command in America? The result is the abandonment of God-centered, Bible-driven ministry and the adoption of man-centered, seeker-centered, pragmatism-driven ministry and the rebellious deconstructing and reimagining of the church, preaching, evangelism, missions, Heaven, Hell, the Gospel, and God Himself. The result is the conscious rejection of the one true God, the God of the Bible, the only God there is. The result is the decline and widespread rejection of Biblical Christianity as antiquated, ugly, hateful superstition. The result is the rise of professing Christians, seminary professors, and pastors who sympathize with Christopher Hitchens’ literary ax-grindings against God and are apt to say and teach things that sound like quotes from his book, GOD IS NOT GREAT: HOW RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING. The result is the rise and near universal acceptance of the faith system and worldview of atheism under the guise of Naturalism, Materialism, Big Bang Cosmology, and Evolution in schools, universities, seminaries, churches, and society as a whole. The result is the rise and absurd promotion of the oppressive, cruel, misogynist, murderous, jihadi terrorism inspiring, soul damning, false religion of Islam as a “beautiful and peaceful religion.” The result is the rise of rampant immodesty, unbridled lust, sexual immorality, and the accompanying mass genocide of millions of unborn babies in America’s abortion clinics. The result is the rise and globally enforced celebration of radical homosexual perversion and gender rebellion in which you are commanded to don a purple shirt, wave a rainbow flag, bend your knee, and gleefully confess the glory of Sodom and Gomorrah with an obligatory lisp or be labeled, ridiculed, marginalized, and cancelled as a disgusting homophobic hater worthy of only derision and destruction. The result is the rise of a false woke church, with false woke teachers, with a false woke gospel, and false woke converts who exchange the moral commands of God for the immorality of Satan. The result is churches filled with unrepentant Democrats who support and vote for the advancement of everything God hates — calling evil good and good evil — while they pretend to love God and Jesus too (Isaiah 50:20).
How has this happened? Those “Don’t go therefore!” pastors have the same Bible you and I have. They have the same four Gospels that contain the Great Commission example and commands. They have the same book of Acts that records the history of Christ’s Church obeying Christ, going everywhere, preaching to everyone, suffering, dying, filling their cities with the doctrine of Christ, filling the Athenian Square with the Gospel of Christ, and turning the world upside down for the glory of Christ in the redemption of sinners.
They have Matthew 28:18-20 in their Bibles:
“Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”
They have Mark 8:34-38 in their Bibles:
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
They have Luke 24:47 in their Bibles:
“Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
They have Acts 1:8 in their Bibles:
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
They have Acts 2:40-41 in their Bibles:
“With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”
They have Acts 4:18-20 in their Bibles:
“So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.'”
They have Acts 4:29 in their Bibles:
“Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.”
They have Acts 5:27-32 in their Bibles:
“The high priest asked them, saying, ‘Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!’ But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things.”
They have Acts 17:6 in their Bibles:
“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”
They have Acts 17:16-18 in their Bibles:
“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, ‘What does this babbler want to say?’ Others said, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,’ because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.”
They have Acts 17:30-31 in their Bibles:
“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
They have Acts 20:20-21 in their Bibles:
“I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
They have Romans 1:16 in their Bibles:
“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.”
They have Romans 10:14-17 in their Bibles:
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
They have 1 Corinthians 1:18-24 in their Bibles:
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
They have Philippians 1:27-30 in their Bibles:
“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.”
The Bible is clear. The problem is today’s “Don’t go therefore!” pastors simply won’t obey the Bible. The command and example of the Lord Jesus is clear. They simply won’t obey Jesus, who they somehow manage to call “Lord, Lord,” without blushing (Matt. 7:21-23). The command and example of the Apostles is clear. They simply won’t obey the Apostles’ Spirit inspired commands or follow their example while they shamelessly continue to preach their epistles. They’re smarter than the Bible, Jesus, and the Apostles. In fact, they’re far more spiritual and nicer too. I mean look what happened to Jesus and His Apostles. They all were hated. They all suffered terribly. They all died horrible deaths. Surely that’s no example to follow. Or is it?
“[Jesus] said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” -Mark 8:34-38
Today’s “Don’t go therefore!” pastors are smart. Too smart. They’ve figured out a way to do Christianity and fulfill the Great Commission that allows them to be popular, prosperous, and perennially safe. They’ve figured out a way to do Christianity and fulfill the Great Commission that gives them their best life now and avoids needlessly suffering for Christ’s sake and “having the same conflict” the Apostles experienced with a Satanic world system very much opposed to God, His Son, His Word, His Law, His Gospel, His Heaven, and His Hell. What today’s “Don’t go therefore!” pastors fail to get is that Jesus and His hated, persecuted, martyred Apostles successfully and gloriously turned the world upside down. Their biographers can joyfully write, “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!” at the end of their lives — and their tombstones will forever have “FAITHFUL DOULOS!” boldly chiseled upon them. What today’s “Don’t go therefore!” pastors fail to get is that the world is crushing their pathetic, popular, prosperous, safe, apathetic, anemic, cowardly perversion of Christianity and their churches too. No matter what feigned deception of valiant Christian ministry they manage to pull off in life, their true biographers will write, “MISSION FAILURE!” at the end of their lives — and their tombstones will forever have “DISOBEDIENT REBEL!” emblazoned on them.
What are we to do? What’s the answer? What do we need in this evil hour of compromise, cowardice, and encroaching spiritual darkness in the world and the visible church? We don’t need smart men. We don’t need creative men. We don’t need soft men. We don’t need fearful men. We need faith-filled men! We need men who believe the Bible and obey it! We need valiant men! We need men who don’t just quote the Apostle Paul when he says, “To live is Christ and to die is gain!” but men who minister the Gospel like him! We need men who don’t just quote George Whitefield, but men who minister the Gospel like him! We need men who are empowered by the Spirit of God to die to self, take up the cross, and “Go therefore!” in obedience to Christ their King — who can truly say to Christ’s Church, “Follow me as I follow Christ!” That’s God’s man. That’s the need of this hour and every hour. That’s the need of this nation and every nation. That’s the need of Christ’s Church and every local church. Nothing else will do.
Our seminaries and Bible colleges need to start asking potential students on what street corners, in what parks, in what city centers, at what abortion clinics, and where else they minister God’s Law and Gospel in obedience to Christ’s Great Commission command as an entrance requirement? Our seminaries and Bible colleges need to start training, equipping, and requiring their students to engage in weekly Biblical ministry of the Gospel on the streets as a graduation requirement. Our seminaries and Bible colleges need to purposefully train up Gospel warriors who will march forth from their institutions with the full armor of God fixed in place, the shield of faith in their left hand, and the double-edged Sword of the Spirit in their battle-trained right hand. Our seminaries and Bible colleges need to treat the Gospel not just as a doctrine on the page, a doctrine to be believed, a doctrine to be preached in the pulpit, but the central message of Christ that must be proclaimed in accordance to the central mission and command of Christ to “Go therefore!” to the highways and byways and rescue perishing sinners wherever they’re found. Our seminaries need to equip Gospel men — men who fearlessly declare, define, and defend the Gospel above all else — not mere polished pulpiteers who safely exegete Paul’s Gospel battles from the pages of Scripture while stubbornly refusing to enter the battle themselves.
Look around. Every form of abominable evil is advancing and Biblical Christianity is ebbing from the earth. The era of the “Don’t go therefore!” pastor must come to an end. We need courageous men who believe and obey Romans 10:14-17 and equip others to courageously do the same:
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
