The fundamental mission of the church is preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. But there has been a loss of faith in the power of the Word. We feel it won't be effective if we say it as it is. It will turn people off; let's rebuild the temporal order first.

But there is a startling discontinuity between human reasoning and what God's Word says the priority is. War, loneliness, world hunger, abortion--these are rooted in man's rebellion. Man must submit in faith to Jesus Christ and repent. Putting a Band-Aid here and there on this or that moral problem is not the answer. Evangelization hits the core: man must submit in faith to Jesus Christ and repent. He must renounce his autonomy and self-sufficiency. Personal appropriation of the death and resurrection of Christ is the one foundation for Christian community and world peace. Failure to act on the gospel imperative to evangelize has resulted in holding to the form of Christianity while denying its power. Beautiful liturgies; mass; regional, national, and international meetings; crusades against immorality are good and have their places, but none of them is an adequate substitute for dying to self.

But you, keep you head in all situations, endure hardship,do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of you ministry.
2 Timothy 4:5

Selection from Reflections for Ragamuffins by Brennan Manning