Popularity and the gospel

In a similar vein to Rusty Peterman's post about suffering and the gospel, Matt Self offers these thoughts on popularity and the gospel:

Gospel is not your typical positive message. If we are honest, it is a call to struggle, to denial, to embrace burden. Yes, Jesus renews us through the Spirit, but any attempt to explain this to a non-believer that does not force them to weigh the cost -- to understand the reality of their decision -- is a perversion of the Gospel. If we are selling them a better life through less struggle, less heartache, less pain, we aren't preaching the real Gospel.

Amen.