If you asked around, I think a lot of people would probably say that life would be much easier to live if Gods Word were, somehow, "softer" on issues such as:

• Why did the Bible have to say that if I find myself in the middle of a worship serviceand I suddenly remember a strained relationship with a friendmy first responsibility is to go immediately and reconcile that relationship (Matthew 5:23)?

• If it is a natural human reaction to get angry, then why did Jesus say that we must love our enemies and pray for people who continually wish to harm us (Matthew 5:44)?

• What about all the different religions that have so many members all over the worldhow could Jesus say that He is the only way (John 14:6)?

In much the same way that the skeletal bones give form and structure to the physical body, Christs absolute pronouncements give form and structure to the gospel message. Without absolutes the gospel would be no more than a simple string of subjective sayings without any power whatsoever to change lives. I was confronted with the true power of the simple gospel message when I visited a maximum-security prison and spoke to 24 inmates serving time on death row.

As I considered what it was the Lord would have me say to these men, I struggled with one possible scripture passage over another. Finally the lights came on: the key to addressing this group of inmates would be to return to the core and essence of the gospel without compromising any part of it. The men I was going to speak to were dealing with nothing but the core issues of living day after day. The realization of the power of the simple gospel message compelled me to review a study of the essence of the gospel message in preparation for my visit to the prison.

This exercise occurred at the same time I learned the good news and bad news about baptisms reported by Southern Baptist churches in 1999: 1) For the third consecutive year baptisms were more than 400,000 with baptism among adults 30 and older setting all-time records; 2) But baptism of students fell.

These mixed statistics make me ask:

• Have we focused more on being a buddy to our teens rather than being spiritual mentors?

• Have we overreacted to some methods of child evangelism and in the overreaction significantly hindered any means of reaching our children?

• Are we effectively training parents how to share the gospel of Christ with their own children?

• Do we still have a strong evangelism emphasis in our vacation Bible schools, or has it become more focused on crafts and activities?

• Have choir tours become focused on simply going and performing and replaced mission tours where the object is to go evangelizing?

• Are we telling our kids to be on mission without modeling the on mission lifestyle?

The gospel is not about being comfortable or convenient but about being biblical and practical. The stakes are high; they are about eternal life and death. Even prisoners agree that we cant go soft on Gods truth. As I left the penitentiary, one of the death-row inmates threw his big arms around me, leaned back and looked straight into my eyes and said, "Man, keep preaching and dont ever go soft on the message!"

Bob Reccord is president of the North American Mission Board, SBC and author of the new book, Forged by Fire: How God Shapes Those He Loves (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000).