At a ministry conference I heard the pastor of a large and growing church plant say that their church is growing because they “preach the gospel”. Whilst this is true, they do present a strong gospel message, they have a lot else going for them. They are very trendy, they have good marketing, contemporary worship, great discipleship programs and a committed leadership team. Simply saying that a church is growing because they “preach the gospel” is being a bit simplistic.

Consider the not so subtle message behind this statement; it is basically saying “everyone else isn’t growing because they don’t preach the gospel”. Yet we all know churches and ministries that present the gospel message that aren’t fast growing churches. Preaching the gospel may not result in a large crowd.

In my theology studies I was looking into the connection between human nature and the Gospel. The interesting finding was that whilst the Gospel should inform our human nature in reality our human nature can determine the impact of the Gospel in our churches. Let me highlight it with a simple statement from a friend:

“every week at our young adult service we would hear the gospel presented but we were so busy looking for a partner that we didn’t take it in”.

We need to understand human nature and the desires of our heart to be effective in ministry. If we don’t address human nature then the Gospel isn’t as effective as it could be in our ministries or churches. Consider these examples:

• Youth Ministry – young people have a human desire to belong and to connect with others. If we don’t meet their need to belong then they won’t hang around long enough to understand the gospel.
• Young Adult Ministry – young adults have a human desire to find a meaning and purpose for their life. If we present the gospel without connecting it to this desire for a purpose then it will wash over them.
• Church Systems – Andy Stanley says that you can preach anything you like but the systems in your church influence behaviour. The systems in your church are the systems you put in place to response to human behaviour, things like systems for welcoming newcomers, communication systems, discipleship systems etc. Does your church have systems that are informed by the gospel but are aware of human nature?

Of course preaching the gospel really works. It is the main thing that we should be doing in our churches and ministries. Yet if we think that it is the only thing we need to focus on then we are being to simplistic. Human nature will naturally default to fulfilling its own desires. We have to be intentional at using the gospel to shape all areas of our ministry not just our preaching and teaching sessions.

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P.S. Preaching the Gospel is christian language for talking about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  It is presenting the saving work of Christ to his followers and non christians.