The Gospel Coalition Posts It’s Biggest Self Own Yet

The Gospel Coalition is concerned, concerned about people in churches viewing and listening to material outside of local churches. And they published this concern on a parachurch platform that produces material that “competes” with local church influence. The hypocrisy is self evident as social media lambasted when The Gospel Coalition’s social media coordinator thought it wise to post this paraphrase:

Christians going to their local church on Sunday but devoting much more time and attention to online resources—podcasts, YouTube videos, sermons from other churches—for their spiritual nourishment.

The real result: malnourishment.

The linked article titled “The Hidden Danger of Online Sermons” is more nuanced than the tweet would suggest but it’s criticisms are vague and nebulous.

However, I’ve observed a concerning trend in recent years: Christians going to their local church on Sunday but devoting much more time and attention to online resources—podcasts, YouTube videos, sermons from other churches—for their spiritual nourishment.

Nothing is inherently wrong with using other resources to help grow your knowledge and love for God and his people, but online resources are best used as a supplement rather than a primary source of nourishment. Our primary discipleship, through preaching and teaching, should come from the pastor and saints of the local church where we’re covenant members—our home church.

The context of this article frames the phenomenon as recent, but this is nefariously disingenuous. For several decades, there have been sermons preached on radio and television. Over the last 25 years, online ministries have popped up. The Christian publishing industry has had its way with the laymen. So what’s changed in recent years?

The answer is that legacy Evangelical leaders, especially with the passing of John MacArthur and Voddie Baucham this year, have failed to reach the next generations of believers to be their Christian content consumption. So in reality, this concern is born out of a competitive environment that is capable of exploiting Big Eva’s multitude of sins to deny them an audience and build up competing institutions. Big Eva’s greatest advantage will be its deeper pockets of legacy donors and enormous email lists.

The online community is full of pastors and Bible teachers with all manner of personalities and teaching styles. Some are charming, enthusiastic, and relatable—perhaps all the things you wish your pastor was. Or maybe that describes your pastor, but you prefer teachers who are academic, calm, and steady.

I’m not saying we should never listen to other teachers. But when we spend a lot of time listening to a curated selection of pastors online, we can begin to compare our pastor to them and grow discontent with our overseer—the one God has given spiritual authority over us (1 Pet. 5:1–3) and the one who must give account for our souls (Heb. 13:17).

The problem with this argument is that it’s a truism not exclusive to what is happening now. Obviously, this was true during the age of televangelists. But this is also true in churches where multiple pastors preach.

Imagine I’m heavily influenced by a particular pastor on YouTube, other members are seeking discipleship from a popular Instagram influencer, and still others are relying on a heavy diet of podcasts. We could come to identify more with an online community united around a particular personality or aspect of doctrine and practice than with the embodied community in our local church.

We may be in danger of becoming like the quarreling Corinthian church that Paul admonished because some identified as followers of Paul, others of Apollos, and still others of Cephas (1 Cor. 1:12–13).

Ultimately, we follow Christ and are united with other believers under his lordship. But one way we can guard the unity of our local body is by devoting our time and attention to following our pastor as he follows Christ, rather than spending a lot of time following online teachers.

There is an ecclesiocentric mindset that people have where they think that our entire lives as Christians must revolve around the local church. This comes at the detriment of other spheres like family and the civil arena, as well as the pursuit of excellence in vocation. This rings similar to when JD Greear and others lamented Christians listening to conservative podcasters more than them. A pastor’s ego sensing a danger in perceived competition is a much greater threat to unity than people consuming Christian content.

1. Listen attentively to your pastor’s teaching on Sunday and again during the week. Replay your pastor’s sermon, asking the Holy Spirit to help you understand and apply it at a deeper level. Talk about it with fellow church members and perhaps even reach out to your pastor with questions and encouragement.

2. Take advantage of other opportunities to sit under teaching in your local church outside the weekly worship service. For example, many churches gather for Sunday school classes, a midweek Bible study or prayer meeting, and small groups.

3. If you listen to online sermons or podcasts, make sure the teacher is theologically sound so the teaching will supplement your church’s discipleship rather than detract from it. If you need help identifying likeminded pastors and teachers to stream, ask your pastor or elders for recommendations.

Christians learning theology outside the church is a positive development because many churches weren’t doing it, and it means they’re growing not just on Sundays. Another thing is that pastors gained a reputation for being unwilling or bad at speaking out on political issues, so Christians sought Christian influencers who specialize in this area. This development is for the best, and pastors should consider encouraging it.

The Gospel Coalition, in contrast, stands to lose the most in this changing environment. The last hope of Big Eva is Gavin Ortlund, an effeminate YouTuber groomed by Russell Moore. The Gospel Coalition is an online behemoth, but they are losing ground, and this post by them was an own goal in their struggle to reassert relevance.