Several decades ago,

ago, preaching was defined as an act meant to disturb the comfortable

and to comfort the disturbed.

Maybe you've heard that definition before of preaching, well disturbing

the comfortable remains one of the great challenges faced by the preacher and the evangelist and all of us

who seek to share the gospel in the

prosperous west today.

Because to be comfortable in sin apart from Christ is the deadliest place to be.

And with that concern comes this question from a listener named

a mat.

Hello, Pastor John, as an evangelist.

What have you done to try and convince people

who have their material needs met of their need for Christ.

I have a wealthy brother who has no interest in the gospel or spiritual matters.

I've been praying for him for years to be saved and I just don't know how to break through all the comforts of his life that make him feel confident and assured and safe.

This question resonates deeply with me, not only because of people I know who are outwardly

quite content and yet are lost, but also because my father was an evangelist who saw thousands of people come to Christ through his ministry and said to me when I was a boy, Johnny, getting people

saved through the gospel seems not to be the hardest thing in my ministry, but

getting them lost so that they know they need to be saved.

That's the hardest thing.

So this question is not new to me. It's been around for a long time. I suspect it's not unique to our time.

The thing that this question is getting at is that most people do not feel any need for the most important thing

...