Preachers preaching on works rather than on Jesus

It seems to me there has been a great emphasis on Christian working for Jesus! Some preachers use positive re-enforcements, telling us what a wonderful person we are, building us up and then sending us out to find a need and fill it. Other preachers use guilt, that the whole world is going to hell and it's up to us to witness and do good works in order to win the lost for Jesus. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be encouraged to do good works, but before a person can go out and witness for Jesus they need to know WHO He is. If a pastor is preaching Jesus then a person's faith is built up, and it's not built up in their own abilities and talents, but In God. When I see Jesus as my shepherd I realize that He is a good shepherd, looking out for me, providing for me and doctoring me when I'm hurt. He gives me rest when I'm tired, comfort when I've been emotionally hurt.

I had been listening to some old preaching tapes on Jesus when some Mormon missionaries had come to my door. I asked them if I could share with them before they started in about Joseph Smith and the Mormon church. I presented the gospel to them and was able to answer their questions using teaching I had learned from the tapes I had been listening to. This type of teaching equipped me to be a more effective witness. Of course, even that couldn't have been possible without the Holy Spirit bringing to my mind the things that needed to be said.

It's not that Christians don't want to witness, it's simply a matter of not being equipped to witness. If all the emphasis are on doing something for the Lord and not on the Lord then we having nothing to give to those around us. The whole Bible pivots around Jesus. He is the Alpha (beginning) and the Omega (the end).

I was reading one of those kindle Christian free books on the Kingdom of heaven. I've been pondering the significance of what the Kingdom is all about for several years now so I was eager to read this book. I wasn't too far into it when I read the author's perspective on the talents. If any of you are familiar with this parable Jesus talked about handing out different measures of talents to several servants. The ones that used their talents were given more and the one servant that buried his talent in the ground was thrown out into everlasting darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. Pretty scary right? Typical of the messages I've heard over the years was the idea that we must use our talents for God or else! But this is so far from the truth. Actually the word 'talent' does not mean human ability or works. It is a Greek word that means a measure of money. You can read more about it in my book, "Legalism the Other Gospel", but basically the servant that is hiding his 'talent' is burying a huge amount of money. The master told the wicked servant you could have at least put it in the bank to earn interest. Jesus spoke in parables for a reason. The parables are designed to make you think and to seek God for the answer. Jesus said in John that  the works of God are Believing in the Father and His Son whom He sent. Ephesians says that we are not saved by works lest any man should boast, so I don't believe Jesus was contradicting His own words. What he was saying is that we are all given a measure of a conscious knowledge of God. Deep down we all know He exists. So when we deny there is a God and ignore our own conscious knowledge of right and wrong we are essentially burying the "talent".  The darkness is a place where God is not allowed. Our world is full of these places. Jesus says that He is the light. He came to pierce that darkness. When Jesus, the God of Love is forced out then the darkness takes over and the atrocities that man commits against one another is horrific and it will definitely be a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Looking through the history of man we see that our world is plunged into this darkness. Without knowing the true God men worshipped false gods that are actually demons in disguise., These demon gods led men to do some horrific crimes against humanity including human sacrifice, prostitution of their daughters, polygamy, and many more. If you think we're far removed from this you need only to enter into an abortion clinic where a baby big enough to live outside its mother's womb is forced to be delivered and before it's little head breaches the birth canal the doctor reaches in with a sharp instrument and pierce's the baby's skull and sucks it's little brains out. This barbaric procedure is practiced in our modern society. But now instead of killing this baby on an altar of Baal or some other blood thirsty god it's done in the name of convenience. This is that darkness that Jesus came to dispel, to show us the way to love, to value every human life. There are those that prefer the darkness because they love the darkness more than the light, so they reject the light. They are the servant burying their talent (conscious).

Those teenage boys that went into Columbine High School specifically targeted Christians. They hated the light. They were entrenched in the darkness of this world. There was definitely wailing and gnashing of teeth for those parents that lost their beloved children in that massacre. This is what the parable was talking about. It is not to scare Christians into doing some sort of work for God or else you miss out on eternity without Him. It is directed toward those that reject the gospel message and remain in their darkness.