Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 15
February 27, 1964
NUMBER 42, PAGE 5b

Let The Church Be The Church

George W. Dehoff

The business of the church is to preach the gospel of Christ. It exists for this purpose. There is nothing which the church does that is secondary to preaching the gospel. There is nothing else which the church does but what some other organization is doing it much better. If the church isn't going to conduct a militant campaign of preaching the gospel, it had as well go out of existence. And that is what it will do unless it preaches the gospel.

It is not the business of the church to operate colleges, soup-kitchens, relief stations, summer Camps; Youth centers, entertainment bureaus, ball teams, and such like. The church must preach the gospel and "visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction." If the church goes into the entertainment business in an attempt to reach the people (reach them with what?) men of the world will say, "That's real Christianity." But if the church preaches the gospel, men of the world will be displeased. That is the purpose of gospel preaching: To cause them to become displeased with their condition and to become Christians.

Every inch of ground which we now occupy has been gained by gospel preaching — by a campaign of teaching the facts to be believed, commands to be obeyed, and promises to be enjoyed. Every Christian should teach, preach, dispute, confute, rebuke, exhort, and whatever else is necessary to get men to see the truth, and to know the difference between truth and error. This is the work of the church.