As you seek to spread the message of the gospel, remember, you are not marketing, selling, or cajoling people the gospel. You are a minister of the gospel, a prophetic herald of the good news of Jesus Christ. Don’t try to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Rather, preach the gospel in all of its redeeming-glory. 

Preachers often give thought to the question of how they will get the message of the gospel out to people who need to hear it. The church is, after all, supposed to evangelize the nations. While preachers are ready to preach God’s word, there is the practical question of what means he will use beyond standing in the pulpit and speaking. Should a church advertise? Send out e-mail blasts? Broadcast radio messages? Encourage people to invite their friends to church? There is a myriad of ways that a church can get the word out. Regardless of what methods a pastor chooses, there is an important principle to remember: never seek to appeal to the masses. This may seem counterintuitive. But in truth, preachers and churches must remember that their calling is to address the remnant.

Appealing to the Masses

In one of his most famous essays, “Isaiah’s Job,” political and social critic Albert Jay Nock (1870-1945) used the ministry of Isaiah as a way to illustrate the difference between appealing to the masses and speaking to the remnant. In one of his more trenchant observations, Nock writes:

If, say, you are a preacher, you wish to attract as large a congregation as you can, which means an appeal to the masses, and this in turn means adapting the terms of your message to the order of intellect and character that the masses exhibit. If you are an educator . . . you wish to get as many students as possible, and you whittle down your requirements accordingly. If a writer, you aim at getting many readers; if a publisher, many purchasers; if a philosopher, many disciples; if a reformer, many converts; if a musician, many auditors; and so on.

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