Pastor and author David Platt says in a new book that too many Christians have bought into a political-centric "false gospel" that has led to discouragement and division within the church and has pushed younger generations away from Christianity.
Platt, the author of Don't Hold Back: Leaving Behind the American Gospel to Follow Jesus Fully, told the Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast that he wants to see Christians unite around Christ and to practice charity on issues where "the Bible is less clear or less direct."
"The biblical gospel exalts Jesus above everything in this world," Platt said. "And we've exchanged that biblical gospel for an American gospel that prostitutes Jesus for the sake of comfort and power and politics and prosperity in our country. And I think the effects of that are all around us.
"Instead of an eagerness to unite in the church around Jesus, we are quick to divide over the idolatry of personal political convictions instead of enjoying this multi-ethnic beauty Jesus is made possible for us in the church," Platt added. "We still are churches segregated in so many ways by the color of our skin."
Platt is the pastor of McLean Bible Church in Washington, D.C., and the author of multiple bestsellers, including, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream.
"I'm convinced that it's not just an American dream that was consuming our lives, it was an American gospel that was hijacking our hearts that has led to all kinds of division and discouragement and disillusion with the church – and, yes, many in the next generation disengaging from the church altogether," Platt said.
The discouragement and disillusionment within the body of Christ is "the fruit of a false gospel," he asserted.
"If we would get back to the beauty of the biblical gospel, and who Jesus is, it would have major effects on our lives and the church and in the world around us," he said.
Platt acknowledged there are issues that divide the church but said Christians must always practice charity.
"Where the Bible is less clear or less direct, we're not looking to unite there – [because] we're united around Jesus and the authority of His Word and what the Bible is most clear about, at the core of the gospel," he added. "And then there's a freedom in the body of Christ, to learn from each other, have different perspectives on different things [and] to have good, healthy discussions marked by humility, and openness around those things. And those things can't divide us if Jesus is what unites us. I think that's what's been exposed over the last few years is we've looked to things to unite us that were never intended to unite us, when it comes to some different convictions on different things where the Bible is less clear or less direct."
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
