It seems like the church in America has forgotten what it means to be a follower of Christ. In a sermon entitled "The First Word of the Gospel", evangelist J. Edwin Orr (see When God Walked On Campus by Gleason) talks about a word we have all together removed from our evangelism vocabulary.
He notes that the first words of John the Baptist was also the first word out of the mouth of Jesus, and the disciples, and the Apostle Peter in his sermon at Pentecost, and Paul throughout his ministry. The word: REPENT!
John the Baptist says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"(Matt 3:2) Jesus says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"(Matt 4:17) and "Repent and believe the gospel" (Mar 1:15). Then Peter follows suit in his first great sermon, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you for the forgiveness of your sins"(Acts 2:38). Then again in his second great sermon, "Repent, and be converted, that you sins may be blotted out...."(Acts 3:19). And what is Paul's message? (Act 26:20) : "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance."
Thus a Christian is not someone who just adds Jesus to their life, but rather someone who does an about face, turns from themselves, repents of the evil person they are and puts their trust in Jesus Christ. Defined, repentance is "that mighty change in mind, heart, and life wrought by the Spirit of God." This is much more than remorse. This isn't just being sorry because you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Orr states that the essential sense of the word repent is to change (greek word metanoia, meta= change, noia= mind).
Lets make sure our evangelism lines up with the evangelism of Jesus, John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul. May we not give in to a defective message that give people false hope that they are a Christian, but rather preach the necessity of repentance in the Christian life, both at the point of conversion and every day thereafter. Lets preach the true gospel, that of repentance and belief.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
Exegetical Preaching vs. Topical Preaching
In Practical Wisdom For Pastors, Curtis Thomas puts forth several problems with topical preaching.
First, it places most of the burden on the preacher to decide what God's people need to hear.
Second, it forces the pastor to spend time continuously coming up with new topics rather than spending time with a passage itself, digging out the thoughts and the applications that God has already determined are needed
Third, the congregations usually does not know ahead of time what portion of scripture is going to be dealt with and thus don't have the privilege of getting into the Word ahead of time.
Fourth, as a general rule, topical preaching does not teach the congregation to know how to interpret and apply the Word for themselves.
All of these are excellent points, but I wanted to comment briefly on the second two points. As elders/pastors, our job is to equip the saints for ministry. If we are preaching messages that dont help them to learn how to study the scriptures for themselves we arent equipping, we are spoon feeding. Stop just handing them fish and start teaching them how to fish. People can walk away from a topical message and agree fully with the points/conclusions of the preacher, but have no idea how they got there, nor any idea how to get there themselves. By teaching expository messages you teach people how to study the scriptures. Then also as you teach through a book of the Bible it also allows the congregation to study the passage before hand and gain their own conclusions and see if they match up with yours. If they dont they can then go back and study the passage, meditate, and pray as they seek the meaning of the text.
The point: preach expository messages (one of the 9 marks of a healthy church) because they involve the congregation in the scripture learning process. It gets us away from the idea that there is one man in the church who understands scripture (the "Senior Pastor") and everyone else is confined to learning the scriptures through his teaching. Instead let the teacher that our Lord sent, The Holy Spirit, do the teaching.
First, it places most of the burden on the preacher to decide what God's people need to hear.
Second, it forces the pastor to spend time continuously coming up with new topics rather than spending time with a passage itself, digging out the thoughts and the applications that God has already determined are needed
Third, the congregations usually does not know ahead of time what portion of scripture is going to be dealt with and thus don't have the privilege of getting into the Word ahead of time.
Fourth, as a general rule, topical preaching does not teach the congregation to know how to interpret and apply the Word for themselves.
All of these are excellent points, but I wanted to comment briefly on the second two points. As elders/pastors, our job is to equip the saints for ministry. If we are preaching messages that dont help them to learn how to study the scriptures for themselves we arent equipping, we are spoon feeding. Stop just handing them fish and start teaching them how to fish. People can walk away from a topical message and agree fully with the points/conclusions of the preacher, but have no idea how they got there, nor any idea how to get there themselves. By teaching expository messages you teach people how to study the scriptures. Then also as you teach through a book of the Bible it also allows the congregation to study the passage before hand and gain their own conclusions and see if they match up with yours. If they dont they can then go back and study the passage, meditate, and pray as they seek the meaning of the text.
The point: preach expository messages (one of the 9 marks of a healthy church) because they involve the congregation in the scripture learning process. It gets us away from the idea that there is one man in the church who understands scripture (the "Senior Pastor") and everyone else is confined to learning the scriptures through his teaching. Instead let the teacher that our Lord sent, The Holy Spirit, do the teaching.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Theologians over here, Practical Christians over here....
It seems to me that we are more and more separating theology from practice. Orthodoxy from Orthopraxi. It goes like this, "Theology, that is for pastors and seminary professors, I am just a regular Joe and I need the practical. I need to know how to be a better husband and father, how to get through the work day without killing my boss, etc."
Thus we have sermons that jump right to application (three steps to being a better whatever) before laying the foundation of theology. But it is theology that is at the basis of all of our actions. How do I become a better Dad? It is by understanding the Father that is God. Understanding how he is consistent in discipline yet overflowing in love, grace, and mercy that I can then seek to do the same. Look at the way the Apostle Paul writes his letters. He usually starts with theology and then brings it to practice or application. It is orthodoxy that feeds orthopraxi. Our theology is always at the basis of our actions or practice.
Why do we pray for our loved ones when they are sick? Because we understand that God is a loving God who rewards the prayers of His people. Why are we vigilant in taking the Gospel to other nations? Because we have a God that who says he desires all to come to know Him. Why do we preach? Because we have a God who says he saves people through the preaching of His word. So why do we do what we do? It is because of theology.
Most importantly, in the Christian life we have a main objective of loving God more deeply every day. How do we do that? By knowing Him more. God is completely beautiful and perfect. Thus the more we come to know Him the more we are overwhelmed with a love for Him. Our love grows as we know him more. There is a direct correlation; the more you know God the more you love Him. Our theology ought to make us more and more in love with Christ our King, if it doesnt than it is a waste and not theology at all, but useless ramblings.
So theology is indeed the foundation for what we do. If we abandon theology then we will soon have practices that move farther and farther from scripture until one day we will have practice that is void of any scripture at all. Or are we already there?
Thus we have sermons that jump right to application (three steps to being a better whatever) before laying the foundation of theology. But it is theology that is at the basis of all of our actions. How do I become a better Dad? It is by understanding the Father that is God. Understanding how he is consistent in discipline yet overflowing in love, grace, and mercy that I can then seek to do the same. Look at the way the Apostle Paul writes his letters. He usually starts with theology and then brings it to practice or application. It is orthodoxy that feeds orthopraxi. Our theology is always at the basis of our actions or practice.
Why do we pray for our loved ones when they are sick? Because we understand that God is a loving God who rewards the prayers of His people. Why are we vigilant in taking the Gospel to other nations? Because we have a God that who says he desires all to come to know Him. Why do we preach? Because we have a God who says he saves people through the preaching of His word. So why do we do what we do? It is because of theology.
Most importantly, in the Christian life we have a main objective of loving God more deeply every day. How do we do that? By knowing Him more. God is completely beautiful and perfect. Thus the more we come to know Him the more we are overwhelmed with a love for Him. Our love grows as we know him more. There is a direct correlation; the more you know God the more you love Him. Our theology ought to make us more and more in love with Christ our King, if it doesnt than it is a waste and not theology at all, but useless ramblings.
So theology is indeed the foundation for what we do. If we abandon theology then we will soon have practices that move farther and farther from scripture until one day we will have practice that is void of any scripture at all. Or are we already there?
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