John 3:16 and the Feminization of the Church! – Part #3

All You Need Is Love: “Vive la difference”

By Richard Allen – December 8, 2025

In John 8:32 Jesus tells us: “The truth shall set you free!”  He prefaces these words by saying that we can only attain this freedom by ‘believing in Him,’ and ‘abiding in His Word.’  The truth is certainly to be prized above all things in life. But factual truth is often abrasive and hard for fallen sinners to tolerate. We like things "soft and easy,' certainly not ‘harsh’ or ‘in your face.’ Part of the reason that Jesus was despised by men is His unvarnished promotion of the truth to all who heard Him. Without sounding too ‘sexist’ or demeaning to the ‘fairer sex,’ that is to women, let me observe that speaking gently and kindly – especially when it comes to hard or uncomfortable truths – is typically a behavior of the females in our species. There are certainly exceptions to the rule, but in general, women avoid the conflict that results from a more ‘in your face’ approach to truth. Men tend to be violent – both with their actions and with their words. God designed women to be nurturers and men to be protectors!

If you remember from the previous blogs in this series, I am not advocating that we only speak harsh and violently when sharing the Gospel with others, not in the least. But I am advocating a balanced approach in both what and how we share, knowing that we are commanded to ‘speak the truth in love,’ not with hatred or condemnation (Ephesians 4:15). There has been a radical shift over the past 50 years since the ‘Sexual Revolution’ to completely shy way from anything that is hard or condemning in Scripture. As the late preacher, Voddie Baucham lamented, “we are told by modern purveyors of the Gospel that we cannot violate the 11^th Commandment: Thou Shalt Be Nice!”  We have to be kind, gentle, always positive – never condemning anyone or their behavior!  But there are other truths, hard truths that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has to press on anyone who by faith would come to Him for Salvation, namely that we are all fallen, broken sinners who need to Repent of our Sin and Flee to Christ for ‘Righteousness.’

Sadly, the John 3:16 all-consuming approach to the truths of God dictates that we only preach things that are soft, feminine, comforting and full of love and emotion. Is it any wonder that teaching Repentance and Faith have been completely stripped from modern gospel presentations? I know a preacher, who after taking the senior pastor role, so “dumbed down” his Church with cool videos, trendy rock music, anecdotal preaching and feelings – that he turned his church into a glorified youth group. He refused to preach or teach Repentance, fearful that someone might think they had to produce good works in order to even approach Christ for Salvation. How ironic, the Apostles of Jesus were capable of preaching Repentance and Faith – without fearing that some might feel a need to “earn their Salvation by works!” There is a big difference between Biblical Repentance – which calls upon all men everywhere to: “Forsake their sin and change course” (Acts 17:30), and teaching “works righteousness.”  Abandonment of the Biblical Gospel shows how the “Feminization of the Church” in our age has completely ‘neutered the Gospel of all saving power.’

I don’t want to overstate current conditions in the Church, but the “Feminization of the Gospel” is not just that the softer, kinder, more feminine message is not also a part of the Biblical Gospel, but rather that without the Masculine side of Gospel Truth – we have No Gospel! “A Partial Truth, masquerading as The Whole Truth, is an Untruth!” The Gospel is both the message that “we are undone by sin, without hope and unable to save ourselves – needing to Repent of our Sin,” and it’s also “a Tender Entreaty from a Sovereign God who is drawing us to Himself, and calling us to be healed!” The problem with Today’s Gospel is that the Masculine side of the Gospel has been completely abandoned for a more palatable Feminine “message of “only hope, forgiveness, love and mercy.” God’s holiness, justice and righteousness are jettisoned or played down so that we don’t push away Millennials, or Gen Z (who all worldly polling says) don’t want to hear anything harsh that might make them feel uncomfortable. Many of us first noticed the beginning of these trends back in the 1970’s. Many ministries have since abandoned “Repentance,” some claiming that it was an “Old Testament Doctrine,” only meant for Jews in the Tribulation or Millennium. What nonsense!

None of this should surprise us if we are paying attention to the culture around us. The Church has always adapted to the culture in the world – in any given age. Not just in dress or music, which for the most part are benign, but “worldly men within the Church corrupted the message to suit the tastes of the fallen sinners in the age in which they live.”

Just look at any successful online ministry or TV evangelist, and you’ll see that the majority of popular Christian outreach is from the Feminine approach to the Gospel. Except a few faithful preachers (i.e. John MacArthur, Voddie Baucham, John Piper, R.C. Sproul), the vast majority of ministries that are extremely popular (i.e. Joel Olsteen, Ken Copeland, Benny Hinn, Steven Furtick), preach a feminized gospel that offers to “heal you, make you healthy and wealthy.” You’ll never be rebuked for sin, except the “sin of not giving them your money!” These last names are the big ministries with huge outreach, budget and revenue. Sadly, most of all the “mainline denominations” – who used to preach the whole Gospel of Christ, also now preach the easy message that:  God loves you and accepts you without repentance or change!

There is no call to Repent and no Confrontation with Sin. But what makes this even more pernicious is that the Gospel itself is drastically edited to make it palatable. Since no one talks about sin, there is no need for a “Sinless Savior to die a  substitutionary death” to reconcile fallen sinners to God! The Message of Christ Crucified is “way too harsh and severe.” God is all about love and forgiveness – and a loving God would never require an “innocent man to die for someone else.” To these sentimental churches who have lost the “True Gospel,” a Holy God requiring a substitutionary death, would be a “monster,” not the God of Love they so confidently proclaim Jesus to be!

There is another sad by-product of this Feminization of the Gospel:  It mostly appeals to the men and women who have embraced “woke-progressive” ideology in every part of their lives.  Traditionally masculine men are not attracted to these churches or the gospel they proclaim.  They view these churches and their “toothless gospel” as a “crutch for weak men, women and children.”  Often, the only time you see adult men attend these churches is at a wedding or funeral. Jesus Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah – with His harsh teaching about Sin, Righteousness and Judgment to come – is vanquished in favor of: Jesus, the Lamb of God, weak, frail and swooning, as He hangs helplessly on the cross. Both images of Jesus are presented in Scripture. What is even sadder, He apparently suffered this cruel death for absolutely nothing – since these churches “don’t preach Christ Crucified.” They practice “confused altruism” regarding Jesus’ death. Jesus’ death is reduced to a symbol of “self-sacrifice” and love for others, not as the “only way poor sinners can be restored to God” (Acts 4:12). His death is well-meaning and symbolic, accomplishing absolutely nothing. His death did not accomplish a “turning away the wrath of God” (the actual meaning of ‘propitiation’), because God is Love and ready to “just forgive” everyone because He’s so nice! 

The style of preaching and instruction in churches where God is exclusively represented as a “God of Love” – is out of balance, choosing to appeal only to men’s feelings. To these ministers, teaching Factual Truths about Jesus is just too “doctrinaire” and intellectual. So, no matter how many Biblical facts you provide them – it won’t make any difference. They will never let your Biblical  facts get in the way of their personal feelings. Let me also state that the Gospel of Jesus should appeal to “both head and heart.”  This generation of converts’ pre-occupation with what I call “The Concert Model of Worship,” is proof positive that the Feminization of the Gospel is clearly in the ascendancy. “Sappy emotions, highly produced music and fog machines are substituted for “a genuine experience of Gospel Truth.”  On the other hand, exposition of Scriptural Truths and doctrinal teaching is “way too hard to understand,” or even tolerate. On any given Sunday most attendees leave with thanksgiving – as long as the preacher has affirmed them and “made them feel good about their shallow easy-believism.” You have probably observed that the differences between content and preaching sound familiar, they are the same differences that exist between Men and Women!

We live in “lawless times.”  When Sandra Day O’Connor was appointed as a Supreme Court Judge in 1981 only 5% of American Judges were female.  Flash forward to today, better than 60% of judges are female across the spectrum of all Judges in the land.  Is it any wonder that the same is true of other professions – including college professors, human resource managers, and lawyers. Again, don’t hear me wrong, God has gifted men and women with skills and abilities that allow both to flourish in a variety of jobs.  But there are jobs where men’s strength and temperament are more suited, as there are jobs where women’s caring and nurturing would exclude most men from being successful. Now, since the Feminist Movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s, we have several decades of data to analyze. It’s easy to see another unintended consequence: “When women move into any given profession, their presence almost always pushes men out.” Today almost 60% of all College graduates are women, with only 40% being men. No doubt, some of this disparity is from choices made by entering students – but much of it is because of the “Social Engineering” of Elites in Academia and Government interference.

How then should we respond? Most important is that we see that it’s not an “Either / Or” proposition. Like so many truths, these are corollary Truths in Scripture, and we need both!  We need to faithfully preach both the Holiness and Righteousness of God, as well as the Love, Mercy and Forgiveness of God! Just like the differences between Men and Women, all Christians should rejoice that God displays attributes that we might respectfully call masculine and feminine, Vive la difference!  No place is this seen more clearly than in the Cross of Jesus.  Without God’s Holy and Righteous Character, there would be no need for an innocent subject to atone by dying on a cross.  And without a Loving, Merciful God – willing to Forgive – there would be no Sinless Savior offered to come and die in our place!  Here’s how the writer of the Psalms states these corollary truths:

“Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10).

Soli Deo Gloria!