“Whenever I listen to motivational speaking, I seem to hear the message, ‘Peace, peace,’ where there is no peace. It sounds to me like a doctor assuring a patient who has terminal cancer in its final stages that he should not worry because all will be okay if he only believes in himself. The guy is dying, man, for crying out loud! It is the height of insincerity if a preacher knows that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and instead makes those heading for the slaughterhouse feel nice.
Motivational speaking makes people feel good, whereas the gospel first makes people feel bad—until they find their all in Christ. True preaching must make people face the fact that they are living in rebellion against God and that they need to repent or they will perish. It is only as people recognise this and cry out, ‘What shall we do to be saved?’ (Acts 2:37, 16:30) that true preaching gives them the good news, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (Romans 10:13)” (Conrad Mbewe, The Curse of Motivational Speaking).