Preaching

What Martyn Lloyd-Jones has to say to Emergents and the Evangelical Left

/ davidsschrock

Reading books from earlier generations is helpful in evaluating the proclivities and overemphases of our own generation.  Reading Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Preaching and Preachershas reminded me of that truth this week.  For in his classic work on preaching, the good doctor reflects on the condition of preaching and its primacy within the Christian church.  Informed by the timeless wisdom of the Scriptures, he speaks to many cultural trends sweeping through evangelicalism today.  In particular, he addresses emergent tendencies to exchange preaching for dialogue and the evangelical left’s push to advance social justice, environmental care, economic revision, and other secondary matters to the forefront.

Considering the manner in which we speak about God, Lloyd-Jones recalls Moses encounter with God at the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-6), and he says, “our attitude [in how we approach God] is more important than anything we do in detail as we are reminded in the Epistle to the Hebrews, God is always to be approached ‘with reverence and with godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire’ (47).   The eminent pastor goes on to explain:

To me this is a very vital matter.  To discuss the being of God in a casual manner, lounging in an armchair, smoking a pipe or a cigarette or a cigar, is to me something that we should never allow, because God, as I say, is not a kind of philosophic X or a concept (47).

While surely not denying the place of Christian conversation about the things of God, Lloyd-Jones admonition to preach the Word with fear and trembling is forceful.   He challenges preachers seeking to rightly divide the Word to also faithfully present the Word as a divinely authorized message from God himself.   The manner is as important as the means.  Explication of the Scriptures devoid of proper gravity minimizes divine authority.  In Lloyd-Jones estimation, this kind of preaching fails to convey the seriousness of the message we preach.  This raises a series of questions for budding preachers to consider:

What kind of message does it send  when a sanctuary is converted into living room?  Or what is the effect on the church when pulpits are replaced with bar stools?   Or how is the message of God perceived when the preacher dons a pair of sandles and a hawaiian shirt?  Surely, these things have little bearing on the content of the message, but might they distort the seriousness of the Scriptures?  The good doctor thinks that such mishandling of God’s Word is a case of malpractice.

Lloyd-Jones book also confronts another modern issue, namely the promotion of a socialized gospel.  In an age where evangelicalism sees to be splintering and the evangelical left calls for renewed attention to matters of society and culture, Lloyd-Jones words remind us of Christ’s central mission and the church’s singular purpose–to proclaim the gospel of salvation.  Lloyd Jones writes:

Take all this new interest in the social application of the Gospel, and the idea of going to live amongst the people and to talk politics and to enter into their social affairs and so on [Read: incarnational ministry and missional church]…The argument was that the old evangelical preaching of the Gospel was too personal [i.e. individual], too simple, that it did not deal with the social problems and conditions.  It was a part, of course, of the liberal, modernit, higher-critical view of the Scriptures and of our Lord….The very thing that is regarded as so new today, and what is regarded as the primary task of the Church, is something that has already been tried, and tried with great thoroughness in the early part of the century (33).

Lloyd-Jones reminds us that a socially-minded gospel, fueled by liberalism, has “already been tried.”  Not surprisingly, the idea of socializing the gospel, incarnating the church into the clothes of the culture, is not new.  Though emerging churches and leftist evangelicals may think of themselves as cutting edge, Lloyd-Jones replies in the words of Solomon “there is nothing new under the sun.”  He continues:

I have not hesitation in asserting that was largely responsible for emptying the churches in Great Britain was the ‘social gospel’ preaching and the institutional church. [Why?]  The people rightly argued in this way, that if the business of the Church was really just to preach a form of political and social reform and pacifism then the Church was not really necessary, for all the could be done throught the political agencies (34).

Lloyd-Jones’ warning here is that when Christians fail to uphold the central message of the Bible, the message of forgiveness and eternal life purchased on the cross of Christ, the church is undone.  When emphases are on this world only, and fail to consider the eternal realities of heaven and hell; or when the exclusive message of Jesus salvation is broaden to some kind of pluralism or universal inclusivism, as are growing among even evangelicals today, then the long-term result will ultimately be empty churches.  He offers a better, more biblical way.

My objection to the substitution of a socio-political interest for the preaching of the Gospel can be stated more positively.  This concern about the social and political conditions, and about the happiness of the individual and so on, has always been dealt with most effectively when you have had reformation and revival and true preaching in the Christian church.  I would go further and suggest that it is the Christian Church that has made the greatest contribution throughout the centuries to the solution of these very problems.  The modern man is very ignorant of history; he does not know that the hospitals originally came through the church… The same thing is true of education…The same is true of Poor Law Relief and the mitigation of the sufferings of people who were enduring poverty (35-36).

My argument is that when the Church performs her primary task these other things invariably result from it…The other people talk a great deal about the political and social conditions but do little about them.  It is the activity of the Church that reallys deals with the situation and produces enduring and permanent results.  So I argue that even from the pragmatic standpoint it can be demonstrated that you must keep preaching [the gospel:God, man, Christ, response] in the primary and cental position (36).

May we hear the words of this faithful preacher, evaluate our own commitment to gospel proclamation by them, and go forth preaching with greater boldness and clarity.

The Value of Land (Joshua 24)

/ davidsschrock / 1 Comment

On Sunday I preached a message on YHWH’s covenantal faithfulness and Israel’s continued fickleness as a picture in history of mankind’s need for a better covenant. In the sermon, I began with a reflection on the importance of land in the Bible and in Joshua:

In the Bible there is a great deal made of land. God created the man and put him in the garden to till and to cultivate the land (cf. Gen. 2). If sin had not ruined the project, this garden, tended by Adam and his descendents, would have domesticated the whole earth, spreading the glory of God all over the globe (cf. G.K. Beale, The Temple and The Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God). Certainly the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21-22 pictures this, a perfect garden-city that will be inhabited by the lamb of God and all those for whom his blood was shed. And what will they be doing? Having dominion over all creation, working and serving in the land–a gloriously restored Eden.

So too, in the redemptive history between Genesis and Revelation there is much discussion of the land. Abraham is promised the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1-3, 7). The first five books of the Bible anticipate Israel’s arrival in the promised land. Likewise, the importance of covenant faithfulness is stressed throughout the OT for the purpose of God’s gracious presence remaining with his people in the land (cf. Lev. 26:12-13; Deut. 30:15-20).

In the book of Joshua, the first five chapters report the entry of Israel into the land. This includes a reenactment of Israel’s great march through the Red Sea, when this time led by Joshua, the people cross the overflowing Jordan to enter the land. In chapters 6-12, Joshua records the many battles that ensued in taking the land. The land did not come without a fight, but God faithfully enabled Israel to conquer the wicked nations of Canaan, so that it could be said in 11:23: So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

In chapters 13-21, the land is divided among the people of Israel. Each tribe is allotted their proper portion and they are then called to finish the initial work of having dominion over the land by casting out any remaining foreigners. Again God’s faithfulness is seen in 21:43-45: Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Finally, in the last three chapters, 22-24, Joshua speaks to the people whom he has led for so many years, and his words too concern the land. This time it regards how the people might be able to stay in the land and retain a dwelling place with God. In chapter 23, Joshua delivers his final address and in chapter 24, the passage that I preached on Sunday, Joshua mediates a covenant renewal with the people of God, that they might remain obedient to God and enjoy his presence in the land.

Ultimately though, the story has Israel afflicted within the land and, at last, cast out of the land. Within one generation, in the book of Judges Israel’s disobedience invites foreign oppressors. But even more devasting in the history of Israel is the expulsion of Israel from the land when the powers of Assyria and Babylon come and conquer God’s obstinate people. It seems that despite all attempts, the people of God cannot keep the covenant. They are too stiff-necked and lustfully idolatrous. So it is with us!

The good news of the rest of the story is that another Joshua has come, and that like his namesake he has led his people through the waters of judgment. In Mark 1, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, in an act that would later come to symbolize his followers participation in his death and resurrection (Rom. 6). In Mark 1, Jesus passed through the wilderness unassailed by the temptations of the devil, and reentered the land, like a warrior returning home. This conquering reentry foreshadows the work that he would ultimately complete on the cross inaugurating a new covenant with his blood. So that, Luke could say that he came to lead a new exodus (9:31). The final result is that Jesus Christ showed himself to be a superior law-giver than Moses who died outside the land; he proved himself a better leader than Joshua, laying down his life so that his people might have an eternal inheritance in the land to come; and the mediator of a better covenant whose promises far exceeded those of the old covenant.

Joshua 24 is a picture of sweet OT devotion, but it is a far greater picture of another Joshua who has provided a better way to a better land, giving his weary followers the promise of everlasting rest. May we who hear the story of the ancient Israelites, now strive to enter the rest given by the new Joshua.

Sola dei gloria, dss.

Corn Creek Baptist Church and the Spiritual Gift of Listening

/ davidsschrock / 2 Comments

This morning my wife and I had the privilege of worshiping with Corn Creek Baptist Church.  Located in the rolling hills of Northern Kentucky just off the Ohio River, it is a church with a long history, as indicated by the cemetery plot in back.  The people were so kind and welcoming, and those to whom we spoke indicated that they had been in that area and at that church for their whole life.  Aaron O’Kelly is the pastor and a seminary student at Southern, and someone who kindly allowed me to come and preach to his congregation while away in Texas.

Preaching there this morning reminded me of the honor it is to serve churches like CCBC who have for decades permitted young seminarians from Southern to come and fill their pulpits.   Reflecting on this, it strikes me that so many of these churches are gifts to young men cutting their teeth on the preaching of God’s word.   And I wonder how many even know of their service to the kingdom.  So many of these churches endure the constant rotation of young men who come to seminary, take a church (for 1-5 years, perhaps), and then move on to another mission field or congregation somewhere beyond Louisville.

And while the effects of our rotating ministry must be soberly considered by us young preachers, we must at the same time, be grateful for these churches who sacrifice and endure with our developing ministries.  We ought thank them publicly and before the Lord for their investment into the church at large for allowing people like me to come and open God’s word.  Such kind opportunities have been invaluable in my life and in the lives of thousands of current and future pastors, missionaries, and preachers of gospel.   In this service then, these churches clearly have a gift of listening.

I can think of countless moments this morning where improvements could have been made and points clarified, and where a more seasoned pastor could have better exposited in the text.  Yet, with grace and patience the people from Corn Creek allowed me to go on.  So that despite my youth, the Word was preached, Christ was lifted up, the people were encouraged (so they kindly said), and God  was honored.  He was honored both in the preaching of and in the listening to the Word.   For aspiring pastors and young seminarians, may we pause and give praise for the countless rural and street corner churches who permit us to lisp in their presence; and may  those who fill their pulpits labor hard to honor them with Christ-centered sermons and faithful biblical exposition.  May we not forget or diminish their longstanding ministry of serving the church as the incubator of young preachers.  Truly, if seminary, etymologically speaking, is a seedbed, then churches like Corn Creek are incubators and greenhouses for developing pastors.  In this unique role, they serve the church at large and build up the kingdom.

Corn Creek Baptist Church, thank you for your ministry of listening to and loving on a young preacher like myself.  Know that churches all over the globe are built up because of your unique ministry!

Sola Dei Gloria, dss