Sermon

Pragmatism Rules?

/ Christopher Terry / 1 Comment

Pragmatism has become the god of this age.  If it works, do it.  Regardless of right and wrong, we live in an age dominated with the belief that the end justifies the means.  There is an entire section in Christian bookstores dedicated to church growth.  Rarely, do any of these books deal with prayer and preaching straight biblical truth.  These books deal with discovering what unregenerate people want and then giving it to them so they will come to your church building.  If they find preaching boring…shorten the sermon.  If they find hell offensive…leave it out.  If they want to be inspired …leave out the parts about sin.  We have studied and learned what lost people want and as a result we cater to the lusts of their flesh.  But, they come to churches around the country listening to watered-down preaching and an un-offensive gospel.  If only the apostle Paul knew as much as we do (1 Cor. 1:17).  He said the gospel he preached was offensive to unbelievers and that GOd Himself had to enable lost people to believe it (1 Cor. 1:18-25, 30-31).

I have been sucked into the lie of being more concerned about not offending people than being concerned with not offending God.  I have feared man more than I have feared God.  This is not right.  I have repented of this and asked God to help me to fear Him more than man.  I have asked Him to help me to preach all of His Word and to do it without apology.  Prayer, biblical preaching, and biblical worship are not in style currently.  The truth is that throughout time Satan has attacked these things and believers have been seeking the respect and approval of this world.  Scripture says that we are citizens of heaven.  Christ said that the world would hate us because we belong to Him.  The apostle John said that if you love this world you don’t love God (1 John 2:15-17).  James said that friendship with this world makes one an enemy of God (Jas. 4:4-5).  Scripture says that the world is under the authority and influence of Satan (1 John 5:19; Eph. 2:1-3; 6:10-12).

We have believed the lie that we can convince spiritually dead people who are enemies of God and offended by the gospel to believe in Jesus Christ by speaking our wisdom to them and by entertaining them.  God has chosen the method of believers verbally preaching the gospel to unbelievers and He alone is the one who enables them to believe an offensive gospel message.  We gather as a church to pray, worship, and to sit under the preaching of the Word of God.  As God’s Word is preached to us without apology, it will convict us, anger us, and break us.  It will be uncomfortable at times as God speaks truth into our lives.  God’s Word is essential for evangelizing lost people and for discipling saved people to Christ-likeness.  There is no substitute.

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John MacArthur’s Contribution to Evangelical Christianity

/ Christopher Terry / Leave a comment

I was thinking about this whole subject the other day and some very important thoughts came to my mind.  MacArthur gains his share of criticism from others in the Evangelical community and outside, but what prominent figure in any arena of life doesn’t get criticism.  There are a couple of immensely important contributions that MacArthur makes through his teaching ministry and ministry model.  I mentioned the following things to my wife:

  • MacArthur has modeled and promoted expository preaching The other day I heard him described by someone as the “prince of expository preaching.”  I believe that Spurgeon was the so-called “prince of preachers.”  One thing anyone knows who has read over the sermons of Spurgeon, though a bold proclaimer of biblical truth, his sermons are far from expository.  MacArthur on the other hand has trumpeted the necessity of expository preaching and it comes a very crucial time in evangelicalism.  Much of preaching in popular evangelicalism amounts to nothing more than a Psychological self-help session with a few Bible verses thrown in for good measure.  I am thankful for MacArthur using his public presence in evangelical Christianity for the purpose of modeling and lauding the necessity of expository preaching.  It has set a worthy example for those men, who are soon to be and already are involved, in ministry.
  • MacArthur has provided a biblical model of church governance – This statement will cause some who read this some consternation, especially congregationalists.  When one takes an honest look at the N.T. teaching on how churches are to function with a plurality of elders functioning in leadership over the congregation, spending their time in the study, preaching, and teaching of Scripture, and equipping the body for ministry, MacArthur’s church appears to have done a fine job of following the biblical pattern.  This is why so many men are leaving “fellowships” like the GARBC.  The churches in many of these fundamentalist camps do not promote or function with this biblical model.  Many of these fundamentalist movements began with admirable motivations but now function with the identity of being “separate from everything.”  This has resulted in these movements having churches full of disagreeable people who want to vote on everything.  This is why I am thankful for men like John MacArthur for modeling this in his church and teaching it through his ministry.

One final thought that I would like to share is that there are some younger men who are attempting to practice the same model of ministry which MacArthur has practiced.  One man who comes to my mind is James MacDonald.  I would like to thank the Lord for men like this who have provided a worthy example of biblical preaching, church governance model, biblical church ministry, and love for the God of the Bible.

Update:

Obviously the list is not exhaustive, nor is it meant to be a blanket approval of everything John MacArthur does or says.

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The Human Element of Preaching

/ Christopher Terry / Leave a comment

I am taking a preaching class this Spring for fulfillment of my M.Div. degree.  I am not so excited at the prospect.  I took two homiletics classes in Bible College.  I am sure that there are beneficial things that I may learn in this upcoming class but I am admittedly frustrated over the “performance-driven” event that preaching has become.  I understand that someone may preach the truth of Scripture accurately and yet bore people to tears.  This is an unfortunate and unnecessary event.

My view of the matter is that the man of God must study the text thoroughly for the correct understanding of the passage.  After he arrives at this correct understanding of the text he must passionately proclaim this truth to his hearers, urging them to act upon the truth contained in the passage.  I have come to the point where I am generally unconcerned with providing stories for the entertainment of the hearers.  The duty of the preacher is to accurately and passionately communicate the truth of God’s Word to his hearers, urging/pleading for them to act upon God’s instruction.

I personally feel that there is too much emphasis on the performance oriented tools and tricks.  God seems unconcerned about how entertaining his spokesmen were during their ministries.  I want to proclaim the Word of God accurately and passionately to those who are listening.  I want others to proclaim the Word of God accurately and passionately to me.  Just some suggestions.

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