This is a question many people are asking in these times. First of all, the gospel has not changed and it is still relevant today. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a force to be reckoned with.

Let us read 2 Timothy 4:1-4 (KJV) written by the Apostle Paul:
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

The challenge that we face today is that the gospel has been watered down to make people feel good instead of allowing the Word of God to convict them. Paul writes to Timothy in this passage a powerful message that many pastors and leaders need to be reminded of. We need to be ready to reprove, rebuke, exhort with compassion, of course. The problem here is that we have allowed people influence our messages.

We have allowed people to influence what we can and cannot preach. Many preachers are preaching what people want to hear instead of preaching in the Spirit. We are more into preaching fables instead of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why Paul said people will not endure sound doctrine, but they will put up with their own desires. The problem we have with certain preachers today is that they are fulfilling the desires of men instead of the desires of the Holy Spirit.

Our sermons need to be like coffee without the cream and sugar. Give it to the people like it is. Many preachers’ messages are decaffeinated due to lack of sound doctrine. Our sermons need to be caffeinated and be filled with the Holy Spirit instead of cream and sugar. They may not like it now, but eventually they will want more of the authentic gospel.

Timothy was to herald God’s Word with the authority of heaven behind him. The Word of God is what both sinners and saints need. It is a pity that many churches have substituted other things for the preaching of the Word, things that may be good in their place, but that are bad when they replace the proclamation of the Word. As Warren Wiersbe say, “True preaching is the explanation and application of Bible doctrine. Anything else is just religious speechmaking.”

Let me close with this. When a congregation is more mesmerized with the preacher’s methods than it is the Message, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, then it has fallen into a state of institutional idolatry.

The Gospel is still relevant. Proclaim it!