“While the Scriptures do teach us to be kind and compassionate towards others, it does not teach us to do so at the expense of truth. This is where the gospel is compromised, and becomes a false gospel. We don’t want to offend people. It’s okay to talk about the positive things in Christianity, but we don’t want to upset anyone by telling them they’re a sinner.”

The visible church today is undoubtedly full of false gospels. There is, of course, the cults like Mormonism and the Watchtower Society. There is the Roman Catholic church, who is the world leader in false gospels. We have the Prosperity Gospel, the Word of Faith movement, the New Apostolic Reformation, Charismania, easy-believism, and so on. Satan’s attack on the Church is relentless and never-ending. But there are a few, less noticeable false gospels that have crept into even the most sound of churches over time. I would like to go over a few of those today.

The Gospel of Niceness. Growing up, I was always taught to be nice to people. “You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar,” the old saying goes. The teaching is prevalent, and usually involves parents, or teachers encouraging kids to be thoughtful and kind to others. “Share your candy,” or “play nice with others.”

Christianity is often confused with niceness; “you seem so nice, are you a Christian?”

While the Scriptures do teach us to be kind and compassionate towards others, it does not teach us to do so at the expense of truth. This is where the gospel is compromised, and becomes a false gospel. We don’t want to offend people. It’s okay to talk about the positive things in Christianity, but we don’t want to upset anyone by telling them they’re a sinner. The church is afraid that if we tell people they’re sinners, and they need to repent, that they won’t come back.

We’re afraid of spoiling a friendship, or disturbing a close relationship by speaking the truth. While we’re called to engage the world, and share the love of Christ, we must not put our relationships above the work of the Holy Spirit. As a Christian, you should expect to be hated by the world (Matthew 10:22). If you have close friendships with those in the world, it need only be based on the truth. If you aren’t sharing the whole counsel of God with your friends who are lost, you are leading them to eternal torment.

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