Preaching/teaching

For years I have heard over and over that we, the church of Christ, are dying. Then comes the question, "WHY?" It is a question hard to answer, yet relatively easy. Let's address our pulpits and classes. The message of our Lord is being abandoned for entertainment and feel good! Many are substituting ceaseless inspirational stories and jokes, sprinkled with a few Bible verses to make it all seem acceptable. Some have personal agendas they want to promote and target those in lessons. It makes the classes/pulpit powerless and empty. In other words, there is nothing offered that you cannot find from a motivational speaker in an unbelieving world! Many are preaching/teaching on the level of a Reader's Digest or a good movie or television show. Weak and empty! (There is a bible class series out, being used based on a popular television show!) Where does all this take us? To the entertainment mode! It might hold our attention and make us feel good but there is no substance. There is nothing spiritual. It leaves people weak and shallow. They cannot distinguish between gushy, mushy and true spiritual power!
On the other hand, you have those who constantly abuse the people with words of harshness, condemning others, wanting to debate or argue over issues, issue oriented while using biblical texts as machetes to strike down anyone who gets in their way. They are eager, as the Jews were, to defend not realizing they will destroy (or at least attempt) if someone gets in their way, calling it defending the truth! It demoralizes people. I am not saying to not hold to the truth. Truth must be held to and maintained but how does one go about it?
It takes nothing more than looking at our Lord! Jesus is the Teacher and Lord. We have abandoned His love, His authority and His message! No longer are we wanting to "know Him" but use Him for our convenience and personal satisfaction. We seem to be missing our Lord and the message of the good news (not fluffy stories). Wasn't it Paul who said he determined to know nothing, except Jesus and Him crucified? What are we determined to know?
In the recent past, I was reading a blog by a brother in Christ. He asked the question about why so much diversity in the church in contemporary and traditional arena. He personally held to the contemporary thinking. I wrote and pointed out some verses about knowing the Christ and our Father. In his response, he nicely set aside God's word with a nice smelling story and went on. Then it hit me, that's why there are so many dying in the church as well as in the world. We have lost the message and the focus of that message. The message and preaching become persuasive words of the wisdom of man and away from our faith resting on the power of God! As a result...church hopping and confusion. Let's split the services into two groups! (Sounds a little like Jews/Gentiles of the first century.) We as preachers/teachers seem to have created a people with little or no conviction, shallow, empty hearts that go after every wind of doctrine or book because our message is just as shallow. When are we going to take our roles as preachers/teachers seriously as the Lord intended? We have the church to convert!