The Heresy Trial
What is the biblical way to speak to unbelievers about the gospel? A few traditionalists have claimed I'm heretical by asserting that Jesus told us not to, and didn't Himself, invite unbelievers by telling them they are going to hell for personal sin.
Plaintiff (Traditional "Full Gospel")Argument:
Jesus did not shy away from telling everyone about sin and hell. America has become weak on this message and it is what is wrong with our nation. Loubier claims to have biblical proof for his argument but we disagree. Jesus' first words in ministry were "Repent and believe," and he mentioned hell more than any other topic. It is not possible that we have been wrong for hundreds of years. Loubier is a false teacher, arrogantly proclaiming that he knows scripture better than the most learned scholars throughout history.
Defendent (Randy Loubier) Argument:
Despite traditional views, Jesus never once told an unbeliever they would go to hell for personal sin (though he did to believers). And He told us five times that we should not judge eternal matters. In one of those five instances, He told us that if we did, we would root up the church. This is possibly the principal cause of the greatest decline in church attendance in the history of America (last 50 years). The conservative church has turned hundreds of millions of people away from Christ, in direct opposition to Christ's commands. Jesus told us to follow Him--if He wanted us to tell unbelievers the sin and hell story why didn't He do that?
Why Does This Matter?
Consider how big this is...
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Over the last 50 years we've witnessed the greatest exodus since Moses--this time away from the church.
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Our PR problem is massive. Hundreds of millions do not think well of Christians. From Barna, 87% of unchurched millennials think we are judgmental hypocrites, and only 22% of all non-Christians have a positive view of us.
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This topic is the single greatest barrier between conservative evangelicals and the more progressive churches.
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The conservatives say, "The Bible is inerrant. You can't water down the gospel!"
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The progressives say, "The Bible is ANCIENT. We have progressed!"
If the case put forth in Faith Forward Gospel is solid, the Bible would still be inerrant,
but the message to the unbelieving humanity has been "mainline" all along.
That is HUGE.
What is Heresy?
Heresy is a belief or opinion that contradicts the established doctrines of a religion, especially when publicly and persistently maintained. It often involves a fundamental error in religious doctrine, particularly within an established church.
You Be The Judge
I am a conservative in every way. My ministry gave out 10,000 "full gospel" tracks on the streets, marketplaces and front doors of NH, and reached over 50,000,000 people with "full gospel" social media posts worldwide.
It was not easy for me to change my mind.
Furthermore, it was the Bible that saved me long ago. I can't go against the Bible. I believe every word of it. The Word is my life.
I went looking for proof that we must give the sin and hell script to unbelievers (because I was ministering to the Japanese and 'sinner' doesn't translate well in Japanese). When I didn't immediately find it, I just assumed I needed to dig harder. I dug and dug. I found the traditional arguments online and researched their cases. Over the course of nearly ten years, I kept researching the scriptures to support the evangelical machine, dating back to the 1700's. What I found will astound you.
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To be clear, my research corroborated everything we know about "the full gospel." And therefore, the Roman's Road for example, is accurate theology! We are all sinners, headed for hell, without faith in the risen Christ. Evangelicals spout truth! It is all true. What is contended is not WHAT is true, but HOW we tell the gospel to unbelievers, and how differently Jesus spoke to believers who have ears to hear. Without ears to hear, the four year old is not told the full birds and bees story, nor does God tell us everything even after salvation. Faith is a continuum from mustard seed to mountain moving faith. Truth is revealed to us as we develop ears to hear. The "full truth in love" doctrine of my fellow evangelicals was not how Jesus spoke to unbelievers, nor how the apostles spoke to unbelievers.
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The results of the research are in the book, Faith Forward Gospel. Before publishing, 93 beta readers reviewed it from multiple denominations and countries. Most loved it saying, "It's about time someone did this research and proved what I always knew intuitively." A few, though, hated it. They cried heresy and many other names. They tried hard to refute the scriptural argument with scripture alone, but couldn't. It was frustrating for them and me, too; I don't want my brothers upset.
But, I am standing up for my King. The revelation of Jesus' exact words to his three main audiences (religious hierarchy, the unbeliever, the disciple), has been cataclysmic for me, and it will be for you (one way or the other). Collapsing the three audiences into one leads us to misrepresenting Jesus in many ways.
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You need to hear what Jesus said with a new set of lenses. It will change everything. As one beta reader put it, "Once you see it, you can't unsee it."
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One last point about me. I don't need to sell books--I'll give this away, and any books you need. Just email randy@randyloubier.com. I have been a successful businessman my whole life--I don't need your money, and I don't need to be known. I just need you to hear Jesus' heart and message. What you do with it after that is up to you.
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Do the research and you be the judge. I'll respectfully ask though that you don't respond with emotion, tradition, or the standard Christian phrases--I am sensitive to your views, but I've researched all of that. A thorough, scholarly, scripture-only refutation of the arguments I assert in the book is all that will capture my attention. You will need to show:
1) Jesus did not speak differently to his three audiences.
2) That His main conviction was not faith (that it was personal sin).
3) That He always told the sin and hell story when He was inviting unbelievers to faith.
The bottom line: Is it heretical to state that one does not have to force the full gospel on an unbeliever in order to lead them to pursue a relationship with the risen Christ? That our words can only offer hope of salvation and joy, an indiscriminate invitation into the wedding banquet, with the full faith that the Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin at the right time, and that the Master will arrive and judge the wedding clothes.
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