I had set in pews before where watering down the message of God was prevalent. Instead of laying out what the Bible says about a certain topic, the pastor finds it necessary to water down the message. You will not find any verses in the Bible that say that we should be watering down the gospel or anything that God says for that matter.
When I read the Bible, I see verses that tell me God wants us to be bold in proclaiming him. Revelation 3:15-16 “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” If that verse does not get your attention, I don't know what will.
Revelation tells us that God wants us to be hot or cold. He does not want us lukewarm. As Christians, we are to proclaim our creator boldly. Acts 28:31 “Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” Do we hinder Gods word by how we present it?
As humans, it is difficult sometimes to confront realities. The boldness of our words can cause conflict with our audience. To counter our boldness, we often look for ways to express the truth in a more subtle way. It is not easy being bold. It often takes great courage to speak about something that may not be popular. As Christians, we are instructed to be bold. Proverbs 28:1 “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Watering down the message does not make us bold as a lion.
Watering down the message makes us weak. We do not do justice to the scriptures. When we are afraid to speak the truth boldly, we set ourselves and our audience up for failure.
Our message must be undeniably clear as not to change someone else while we are watered down ourselves. Take Church for example. If your Church has continually watered down the message and tailored it in a way to not offend, you need to examine yourself first. Before you can proclaim a bold message, you need to make sure that you are boldly following scripture yourself. How can a Church possibly share the word of God in a bold way if they are afraid they will offend someone with the words of God?
Watering down scripture does not bring your congregation closer to the Lord. In fact, you draw them away. You begin to train your flock with a weak message. Weak messages lead to misunderstanding of the scriptures. Misunderstanding the scriptures leads to an ineffective disciple. An ineffective disciple does not lead lost souls to the Lord. Finally, lost souls do not go to Church.
When membership and attendance drop in a Church, you can most likely track it back to watering down the Scriptures. Without a strong foundation, everything will crumble around you. Just as Revelation 3:16 says “I will spit you out of my mouth.” Does this mean that Churches that water down scripture will be spit out of God's mouth and removed from their authority? God only knows.