For the sake of clarity I want to first say from the start that I do believe there are a lot of well-meaning pietistic pastors out there who are frustrated by the lack of involvement and sincerity they see from many professing Christians. As a new, zealous Christian in my cage-stage I was guilty of some of the things I will be discussing so I’m in no way trying to be condemning or come off as me thinking I’m better than anyone; may that never be. I can’t imagine what it’s like being a pastor in America today so I’m making a conscious effort to keep my own feelings and judgements in check because I truly want to extend grace to my brothers while trying to speak up about a serious, prevalent problem in our churches today.
At the time of writing this I’ve been a believer for about 7 years. For the first year or so of my new life in Christ, I felt alive for the first time. The Lord brought me to His word and showed me my sin, my need for a savior, and that Jesus Christ is my Savior that He sent for me; I was born again and sealed by The Holy Spirit. It was as if I had completely new eyes to see, new ears to hear, and a new heart for God. I was full of love for Jesus, joy, peace, boldness, strength, and security. For some context, I’ve always been an extremely anxious and depressed person since I can remember; It was a huge part of my identity until this point. But now with this new life in me I thought I would never have anxiety ever again. I didn’t have anyone to guide me or a church to be a part of (or even knew where to look for one), so I was alone just inhaling the word of God out of pure joy, studying, listening to sermons online, worshiping God, singing, praying to God, debating and talking with unbelievers in forums online, writing gospel tracts; it just flowed effortlessly. Then I came across reformed theology online. The Bible was being taught in a way I had never heard before and they seemed like they were the ‘serious’ ones who knew what they were talking about, so I curiously listened. The contrast between the more watered-down sermons I was used to and what these men taught was like night and day and my understanding of God and His word began deepening into a rich, solid theology. Many of these pastors were also responding to other pastors and doctrines they disagreed with, and the more I read the Bible and listened to reformed teaching I saw that there was a popular version of Christianity being taught that was not the true, biblical understanding of scripture. Long story short, I jumped in head first and before I knew it I was reformed. And before you even begin to think this is a hit piece against reformed theology, let me get that idea of your head. I believe that the reformed protestant understanding of scripture is biblical and still hold to most of what I was taught because it is consistent with the Bible and the historical account of the faith. So the problem I’ve seen isn’t with serious study of God’s word and theology, it’s that the pendulum has swung too far.
In an effort to combat the popular shallow, self-centered teaching of the Bible, many reformed teachers and pastors have obscured Christ from the view of His people. It went from self-centered Christless Christianity in the watered-down churches, to self-centered Christless Christianity in the reformed churches. In the watered-down churches we’re being taught to look for ourselves on every page of the Bible and to see God as our personal genie who bows down to us and doesn’t care about how we live, and in the reformed churches we’re being taught to focus on our obedience and to see God as a distant landlord who hires slaves to work for Him and whips them into shape rather than as a Good Father who is raising beloved sons and daughters. (Since I hold to reformed theology I want to primarily address the camp I’m in.) Seemingly every sermon in the reformed churches I’ve attended in person and listened to online are essentially Christ being held out on a stick and moved farther away the more we try to grab ahold of Him, and I’ve talked with believers around the country who say the same. What I mean by that is we’re taught a lesson on the morality and duty of the Christian life and Jesus is only given to those who have proven themselves “worthy” of Him by their obedience (which does not happen because no one measures up even to our own standard, let alone God’s perfection). Then we walk away, not loving Jesus any more than we did before the sermon, with a focus on ourselves to either feed our pride and false confidence in our fallible obedience, or left in utter despair because we can never reach the ever changing goal post. The focus is always on what we do rather than on what Christ has done, and the effects are destroying many of God’s children. This is not a secondary issue, it is a matter of the gospel not being preached in Christian churches around the country… Let me say it again; God’s people around the country are STARVING for Jesus to be given to us while there is an infinite banquet readily available for us to be nourished by, being held just out of reach. Whether we’re prideful about our obedience or stuck in despair over our lack thereof, we need Jesus and it is your job, pastors, to feed Him to us every week. It should not be the case in 2026 that pastors who preach the law and gospel faithfully and distinctly are this few and far between online, let alone in our local churches. I shudder to think of where I’d be if God didn’t lead me to the few faithful men who I regularly learn from, and many others have said the same who listen to them as well. There needs to be a recovery of the sufficiency of Christ for sinners. You cannot rest in Christ when you’re constantly being pointed inward towards yourself, and rest in Jesus is paramount to our individual and communal life with God.
Ironically in that first year I described being a believer, by the grace of God my focus was on Jesus in the gospel and the stuff I did just flowed naturally out of the security I have in Christ and out of love for Him. I didn’t need anyone trying to scare me into obeying their subjective standards to do things. And when fear was being used for the next 5 years, I did do a lot of things. I was the first to volunteer when our church needed help or to get something done, I was reading my Bible, going to the Bible studies and prayer meetings; I probably seemed like a really diligent Christian. All the while my love for God was dwindling as it was being replaced with absolute terror of Him. Because of this emphasis on my obedience and holiness, I lived in a state of morbid introspection and in constant fear that I might not be saved. I sat at the table as my heart pounded out of my chest, but at least I went to the prayer meeting. I had multiple panic attacks every week, but at least I went to church and volunteered. I sat in the bathroom crying as I attempted to fix and paint both of the church’s bathroom walls by myself (which I had very little experience of but wanted to prove my worth), but at least I wasn’t being lazy or useless, right? I could go on and on about these types of experiences but to get to the point, fear does work to get people to obey. But it doesn’t last and more importantly it damages and doesn’t produce genuine fruit of the Spirit. Withholding the gospel from God’s people and using fear tactics is sinful, harmful, and not the way God shepherds His sheep. We need our pastors to give us Jesus, not lectures on morality. The moral aspects of being a Christian happen when Christ is preached and emphasised because it’s God who supernaturally does it by His Spirit. And I’m seeing this to be true the more I learn to rest in Jesus and what He accomplished on my behalf. When Christ is rightfully emphasised, good works flow out of gratitude for the grace we’ve been given and it’s not a heavy yoke. Our love for Christ and our brothers and sisters pours out of us out of the overflow of the love of God that’s poured into us. The gospel isn’t just the starting point of our Christian life, it’s everything and it’s the answer to both antinomianism and legalism. Pastors, I see your want for people to obey, but do you want them to obey out of fear or out of love? If the latter is the case, then preach Christ for sinners; Trust in the power of God to do His work in and through you, and teach us to do the same.
– Katrina
