The Idols That Silence the Church in Canada

Recent research shows a growing reluctance among Christians in North America to evangelize, often from fear of offending others or clashing with cultural values. In Canada, where progressive, non-confrontational “tolerance” dominates, this reluctance is even more pronounced.

The problem is not merely a lack of training or evangelistic programs. It’s that the church has bowed to the idols of our age—idols that choke our witness and keep us silent. These must be named and destroyed.

• The Idol of Comfort: Our culture avoids sacrifice, suffering, and discomfort at all costs. But evangelism is costly; it risks rejection, slander, and even persecution. A church addicted to comfort will never carry a cross.
  

• The Idol of Niceness: This idol silences truth in the name of preserving feelings. But the gospel is not “nice.” It confronts sinners with the reality of their guilt before God and their desperate need for a Saviour.
  

• The Idol of Multicultural Relativism: This idol insists all cultures and beliefs are equally valid, denying sin in the name of inclusion. But true evangelism proclaims that anything contrary to Scripture is sinful and morally bankrupt. The only godly life is life under the lordship of Christ.
  

• The Idol of Tolerance: Those who bow here fear being labelled judgmental more than they fear God. But evangelism is not an invitation to “consider” Jesus; it is a divine summons to repent and believe.
  

• The Idol of Therapeutic Christianity: Here, faith is reduced to a self-care option that may “work for you.” Sanctification is confused with self-improvement. But Christ calls His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, and die with Him in order to truly live.
  

• The Idol of Secular Progressivism: This idol redefines righteousness and justice according to the shifting morals of the age. But true evangelism holds up God’s law as the standard by which the world will be judged, and Christ as the only righteousness that saves.

We do not primarily need new evangelism techniques; we need to smash the idols that keep us from being faithful witnesses. The church must not only reject these idols in theory but also confront them with courage in real life, refusing to retreat into silence or fear.

May God raise a generation of men and women who, like Paul, can say with full conviction: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

Nino Marques