If there is no challenging of the sinful heart, there is no gospel preaching. If there is no astonishment at the forgiveness of sins, there is no gospel preaching. If there is no joy in Christ’s victory over indwelling sin, there is no gospel preaching. Contemporary preaching tends to soften the offense of the gospel so that its message will be more palatable to modern sensibilities. We minimize sin in order to minimize offense. But in so doing, we subvert God’s Word with human words, commit the sin of idolatry, and rob people of the joy of forgiveness found in the gospel.