Spirit-Filled New York City Pastor: ‘We Shouldn’t Preach Hell Without Tears in Our Eyes’
This week on an episode of Fox and Friends, Pastor Ron Lewis of Every Nation Church in New York City said that pastors need to be true to their convictions instead of succumbing to fear and pressure when addressing hot-button cultural topics in the pulpit.
A new study by Barna Group, published in January, revealed that half of American pastors worry about preaching on cultural issues such as abortion, LGBTQ issues and the reality of hell simply because they might offend someone.
Lewis appeared on the Fox News show with Pastor Michael Youssef of Atlanta and Pastor Corey Brooks of Chicago.
“Because we are called of God to preach the gospel and to preach the counsel of God, we really need to be true to the Word of God and not cave into fear or the overt concern about offending people,” Lewis told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of “Greenelines” on the Charisma Podcast Network. “For example, the topic of hell. We need to go deeper in our theological understanding of hell.
“I know there is a movement today that would want to completely ignore hell. Obviously, universalism is growing in its popularity through certain teachers,” Lewis said. “But, it’s like one of the ancient men said, we shouldn’t preach hell without tears in our eyes. If we really believe it, we should not be so cavalier with this. We don’t want anyone to end up in hell, so we need not to be the stumbling block but let the Word of God itself penetrate the heart and also let us, as ambassadors for Christ, feel what God feels and see what He sees.”
For more of Pastor Ron Lewis’ thoughts on preaching on cultural issues, listen to the podcast below.
