While there are several inhibitors related to communicating the gospel, there are 2 major barriers today undermining the rapid spread of the gospel: 

BARRIERS TO CHRISTIANS

There are longstanding spiritual, cultural, and intellectual habits or traditions among most Christians that have become barriers to freely talking to people about Christ.

  • MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SALVATION 

    Many Christians have a shallow understanding about how radically sin separates us from God, what it cost God to save a person(see Luke 7.36-50 and why the woman anoints Jesus’ feet) and how much God loves mankind.  Others miss living in the joy of being saved!  And still others are unaware of the power they have through the Holy Spirit.  And some wrongly assume one’s salvation is a private matter, between the individual and God.

  • FEAR 

    For most, the very thought of talking about Jesus causes paralysis created by fear, inhibiting them for years, decades or a lifetime, from sharing the gospel with a family member, neighbor or coworker (even Paul asked for prayer to overcome fear – Ephesians 6.19 – 20).

  • LACK OF TRAINING 

    For many Christians, fear comes from not having not been trained on how to communicate the gospel or share about how Christ has impacted their life.

  • CHRISTIAN CULTURE “LITE”

    Many today have been raised in a Christian culture with little Bible reading, teaching, prayer, and serving others.  ‘Going to church’ was sufficient.  But like seeds on rocky soil, it leads to a shallow spiritual life.

  • WORLDLINESS

    Unfortunately, in an affluent culture many succumb to the enticements and distractions of the world, programmed by a culture that pursues fun, pleasure, and entertainment, instead of developing the discipline of a true disciple of Christ.

  • CULTURAL CHRISTIANS 

    Then there are people raised in a church - 3rd, 5th, or 8th generation ‘Christians’.  They have things in common with those they go to church with: shared values/morals; comparable subdivisions; vacations together; the same social strata, even the same ethnicity.  Unfortunately, they don’t tend to grow in holiness and discipleship where their walk in Jesus is ever new and fresh, and where they look back and see spiritual progress the last 6 months.  The Bible is a good book, just not their ultimate authority.  So they have a form of religion but not its power. 

BARRIERS TO NON-CHRISTIANS

There is an overlapping but different set of spiritual, cultural, and intellectual barriers non-Christians have, that keep them from hearing about, knowing, and trusting Christ. 

  • LOSS OF IDENTITY 

Because they don’t know Christ, they know (Romans 1) and at the same time don’t know (2 Corinthians 4.4): 

  • who they are 

  • where they have come from 

  • why they exist 

  • how to tell right from wrong, outside of their feelings 

  • where they are going when they die

  • SPIRITUAL LOSTNESS 

    While the unbeliever knows where he/she is physically, they are spiritually blind, as pertains to the lostness of his/her own soul (Luke 15; 19.10), portrayed through the metaphors such as being blind, deaf, dead, and lost. 

  • ‘DISCONNECT’ FROM ULTIMATE TRUTH 

    When people follow their own heart and not Jesus, they become disconnected from the truth of the gospel, like a ship untethered from its anchor and adrift in the ocean (Romans 1.18, 25; 1 John 2.4).

  • LACK OF TEACHING 

    Sadly, many have not had fathers or mentors teach them the way to live in Jesus, and the only models in their lives were those who exhibited a god-less lifestyle (Deuteronomy 6.5 – 9; Mark 7.7).

  • MISUNDERSTANDINGS 

    Many have basic misunderstandings about God, Jesus, the Bible, sin, why we need to be ‘saved’, how to be saved, the church, etc. 

  • MORAL RELATIVISM 

    When there is a loss of identity, true spirituality, and truth, people lose the framework on which to discern right from wrong, light from darkness.  And because individuals or communities want to retain their autonomy, they invent an artificial standard of right and wrong.  One of those standards is called ‘moral relativism’: an irrational belief that we can create our own standard and believe that What is true for others is not true for me.

  • LOSS OF MEANING 

    Sadly, being outside of Christ creates a loss of true meaning and purpose in life, where the soul is adrift in a sea of meaninglessness and, as Francis Schaeffer said, ‘their feet are firmly planted in midair’. 

So, what must we do?

We need to:

Understand the barriers lost people have, 

Overcome our own barriers, and  

Do what Jesus told His disciples to do:  

Go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And look, I am with you…to the end.

Matthew 28 

Overcoming the barriers and restoring the early church’s practice

is what Breaking the Barriers is about.