I was the one who started it.
Segun Iwasanmi@iwasanmisegun212159
15 hours ago
I didn't do that on purpose, but I started it.
About a year and half ago, I made a post. Honestly, it was with good intentions and real observation. I embedded the words in the midst of an article I wrote:
"Many are leaving the gospel of Christ because it wasn't presented with love."
Correct, right? You've seen it too abi?, Harsh preaching, angry pulpits, condemnation without compassion. People walking away wounded. I wasn't lying. Many would like that post, share it and probably post on their Whatsapp status, then tag their pastor to it
Let me show you the untrue truth in this statement, someone can read it and write:
"The way you present truth matters as much as the truth itself."
Still standing true. Even I'll agree. Packaging is real. 😀
Then someone builds on that and says:
"If your preaching is driving people away, you need to check your method."
Hmm. Okay. Still sounds right. The comment section will be full of people tagging their pastors.
Then a month later, a popular voice online takes it further:
"Hard preaching is not anointing, it's just aggression with a microphone."
People are screaming in the comments. They'll cut that part and post it as a reel. And it still sounds... true? Kind of? You've seen aggressive preachers, so you'll nod.
Then it arrives dressed in concern:
"If people are not responding to your message, maybe the problem is your message."
Now we are no longer talking about style, we've quietly moved to content but nobody noticed because the progression felt like wisdom.
Then someone who has been following the whole trail writes their own post:
"The gospel that convicts without comforting is not the full gospel."
And now correction itself is the problem. Now the discomfort that comes from hearing truth has been repackaged as pastoral failure. And thousands will agree. Because one and a half years ago, someone, me, handed them the first brick without knowing what they were going to build.
Then the last post comes. Somehow calm, reasonable but devastating:
"Maybe what we call gospel preaching is just religious pressure laced with bible verses, Christ is not that hard "
And soon that suggestion becomes established as a doctrine
I'm not saying my original post was wrong. I'm saying truth without a fence is a road without a destination. Someone will always keep walking. And the question is not just "is this true?" The question is "where does this go if someone follows it all the way?"
Correction is love. Rebuke is love. The surgeon's knife is not cruelty, it is the most serious form of care. And a gospel that cannot tell you that you are wrong, is not good news It's just good feelings.
That statement I made, I still believe the heart of it, but I watch it differently now because I've seen where the road goes.
© Segun Iwasanmi
Let's Shift The Shift Back
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© Segun Iwasanmi | ™The Man With The Story.
Book Writer | Screen and Scriptwriter | Creative Fiction writer | Book Editor.
I help people turn rough ideas into bold stories that work
