Do You Want To Go Away?

“Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’” [1]

Christ will never compel anyone to remain as one who is counted among the faithful. If a person is determined to “quit” pretending that she or he is a follower of the Risen Saviour, the Master will not keep them from leaving. Perhaps you will recall that in the First of the General Epistles bearing his name, the Apostle of Love has written, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” [1 JOHN 2:18-19]. There is no effort to compel anyone to continue being counted as one of the faithful, though those who choose to walk away will be revealed to have been false in their pretending to follow the Saviour.

Many contemporary Christians are giving the wrong answer to Jesus’ question, “Do you want to go away as well?” We need not look far to see denominations, churches, and institutions and preachers who are obviously offended by the gospel. That’s a pretty strong statement, Pastor. How do we know they are so offended by the gospel? It’s because of the distance they have put between themselves and the gospel.

In the Sixth Chapter of John, Jesus told his hearers that he was the bread of life, and they must eat his flesh and drink his blood if they wished to have eternal life. Many of his followers went away after hearing these words. Jesus then turned to his disciples and asked, “Do you want to go away as well?”

This is a question that each Christian must face repeatedly. You should know that this question rises to challenge the preacher each time he takes his place behind the sacred desk to preach. The temptation to repackage the gospel is constant. There is always pressure to soft sell the truth, to bring in a little marketing advice, to translate, to explain, to qualify, to dilute.

As Christians, we will answer the question Jesus asked His disciples in such a way that the answer will be visible for all to see. Our response as followers of Christ cannot be hidden. Our commitment to Christ is clear to everyone, and the answer we will give is at once seen by all. Over the last two centuries, Christians have failed to answer the question correctly on far too many occasions. The history of the Faith reveals a sustained pattern of rejection and compromise and accommodation. The doctrines of inspiration and revelation and substitutionary atonement have been discarded among many of the professed people of God in this day. Many professed Christians no longer believe in hell, it simply isn’t culturally significant anymore. Likewise, doctrines such as the trinity, justification by faith and imputed righteousness have become increasingly difficult to find in North American churches and run counter to the modern mind.

Perhaps the theological truth that is most seriously compromised is the exclusivity of the gospel. It is one thing to say that Jesus is a saviour, but that is not scriptural. Jesus is either the Saviour or he is no saviour at all. Jesus has testified, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” [JOHN 14:6].

Liberal Protestant churches have abandoned the gospel to such an extent that it would be a “miracle” for anyone to hear the authentic gospel in those places. Sadly, this same theological compromise increasingly influences even Evangelical congregations. We are witnessing what seems a veritable explosion in the number of feel-good churches today. We have so many empty, meaningless sermons delivered as preachers blather on without saying anything of significance. Most evangelicals these days know better than to offend through embracing blatant heresy; and so, they solve the problem by speaking no theology at all. Followers of Christ must carefully guard against this spirit of accommodation. They must admit that the only way such deviation from commitment to Him will not happen to us is by the grace of God and not by our own ingenuity.

Christ is still the only way to God and the only hope for sinners. I pray that we in this congregation will always stand without apology, without compromise, without embarrassment and without hesitation upon this truth. We recognise that in holding to such an uncompromising stand we will assuredly offend some, and we will offend, perhaps, many. I pray, if that is to be, we will offend all the right people and for all the right reasons. We who follow Christ must echo Peter’s response to the Lord’s question, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” [JOHN 6:68].