The 2020 Gospel Test

 

2020 has provided a host of cultural and personal challenges.  Churches face division over preferences and perspectives about the right way to live in a shaking culture.  Political parties are simultaneously outraged and divided. The political, medical, and economic future of our country is uncertain, except in the perfect knowledge of our Lord. 

There are many issues that require Biblical teaching in 2020.  How does the Bible address death? Or race? Or loving our neighbors? Or politics? Or economics? Or government? Or issues of conscience? Or the end times? The wise pastor will not try to address every issue that the culture is facing, but will prioritize those issues most necessary for the faithfulness of his own congregation. These are issues that do need Biblical teaching. He is a fool who will not bring God's word to bear on the most challenging cultural and personal issues of his own church members.  But the wisest pastor will, above all, be determined to keep the gospel central and prioritized. Being a gospel pastor in times when the culture is largely placid is simple, unifying, enjoyable.  2020 has tested this determination.  It is one thing to talk about Christ and him crucified when few other topics shout for our attention. It is much harder when the culture and sectors of the church are demanding that we speak to many legitimate moral and theological issues.   

Being gospel centered means that whenever we address another topic, we discuss it in terms of its theological relationship to the gospel. We are determined to view our discussion of death, or race, or love, or politics, or economics, or government from a gospel centric perspective. In other words, we refuse to make these gospel implications the central point of our teaching, such that everything we teach begins to revolve around them.   Everything is not centered around health, or love, or race, or politics, or generosity--all of those topics are centered around Christ.

We are also determined to keep the gospel prioritized, so that our passion and our greatest effort and time is given to extolling Christ and him crucified and risen.  This means, of course, that we must be self-controlled in addressing other topics, however urgent or culturally central they are at the time.  We do not ignore them, but we do not apportion to them the height of our passion or the majority of our content.  Our highest goal in preaching and teaching and leading is that our churches would know Christ and him crucified.  Our desire is that the person and work of Christ would outshine, in our ministry, every other light, even as we allow those other lights to shine in right proportion to Christ. 

Let us test ourselves, pastor brothers, by the 2020 test. Are we preaching Christ and him crucified as the first thing, even as we navigate the many other needs of our churches in this tumultuous year?  I thank God for the many brothers who are, and I pray God will give me strength to follow their example.   And wherever we have not passed the 2020 test, may we resolve with fresh dependence to keep Christ first in 2021.

Prayer and Preaching

When I begin to lack fervency in prayer for my preaching, I should only return to Psalm 19:10.   Unless people love the Word more than much fine gold, enjoy it more than an incomparable dessert, my preaching still has far to go to reveal the true value of the Word.   Reading this verse, and considering my weak efforts, I feel (more appropriately, in my case!) Lloyd Jones sad admission that he felt he had never truly preached in his life.  My the Lord anoint his word, and use this broken farmer to sow his perfect seed. 

 More to be desired are they than gold,
  even much fine gold;
 sweeter also than honey
  and drippings of the honeycomb.
(Psalm 19:10 ESV)

The Spirit and Preaching

Without the eyes of the Spirit, the preacher cannot see the truth of the Word.

Without the heart of the Spirit, the preacher cannot feel the value of the Word.

Without the passion of the Spirit, the preacher cannot long for the impact of the Word.

Without the wisdom of the Spirit the preacher cannot trace the unity of the Word

Without the guidance of the Spirit the preacher cannot summarize the point of the Word.

Without the Spirit—the Word will not be preached, but only a man’s thoughts, worthless as a mist against a mountain.

But When the Spirit moves, the mountains may be throne into the sea.

Hope for Preaching

Hope for a Biblical message does not lie in rhetorical power, or vocabulary, or theological insight, or dramatic delivery, or brilliant illustration, or effective timing, or clear organization, or pastoral experience, or even empathy and discernment in connecting to the listeners, or in the ethos of internalization and the integrity of personal application.  The only hope for the success of a message is the Spirit of God.  Without the Spirit’s work, even the diamonds of preaching will easily be swept off the porch of our listeners’ minds as accumulating verbal dust or bothersome ideological cobwebs.  Worse, the listeners may be impressed only with the preaching.  But when the Spirit moves, our words of dust convey the light of eternal glory, shining undimmed into darkened souls.   The Spirit alone can reveal the diamond treasure of the glory of Christ. 

So, let us denounce false hope or false despair in looking at our words, and cry out with desperate confidence in the Spirit of God.  

Spirit of God, speak the glory of the Word of Christ to us.

Don't Canonize Your Structure

I love strategizing church ministry structures--deciding the most effective way to apply Biblical principles in our current church situation and cultural context.  However, a danger lurks in this expression of Biblical leadership.  Pastors can sometimes decide that their ministry structure--not the goals, the principles, or the practices mandated by the Bible--but their particular church schedule or emphasis, is as Biblical as the Bible itself.  We canonize our structure. 

Here's how it works:
Teaching is crucial to the people of God. People need to hear more of God's Word.  A church that doesn't provide mutliple teaching contexts a week is being unbiblical. 

Christians of every maturity need to evangelize.  Our teenage Christians need to evangelize.  A church that doesn't prioritize evangelism in their youth ministry structure is unbiblical. 

 Christians need to grow in their study of the Word. Non Christians should not be burdened with deep Biblical studies, they need to focus on the simple gospel.  Allowing non-Christians or young Christians to attend a discipleship meetings undermines transparency and sanctification or burdens unbelievers and is therefore unbiblical.  

Christian singles have extra time and energy to focus on discipleship.  Singles should experience the full life of the church.  A singles ministry that does not provide every aspect of the christian life is unbiblical. 

God created families. The gospel is for every generation.  A Church that creates ministries focused on specific seasons of life is unbiblical. 

Of course the examples could be numerous.  The tricky part is that we might never actually verbalize the italicized conclusion, even to ourselves. But functionally, relationally, we hold that conclusion with a grip that should be reserved for the Bible itself.  For a given church, in a given time in its own history and culture, to structure their ministries in accordance with the italicized accent could just be wise, discerning leadership.  But the leaders must carefully inform their own hearts and their people of the difference between a choice of accent and a Biblical structure.  Such as...

Biblical teaching is crucial for God's people. We've chosen to accent that priority by providing multiple teaching contexts in our church schedule.

Christians of every age need to evangelize. To highlight that truth, we've chosen to accent evangelism in our youth ministry.  

Christians need to grow in their study of the Word. Non-Christians should not be burdened with deep Biblical studies, they need to focus on the simple gospel.  We've chosen to provide ministries that focus on rigorous Bible study, better for mature Christians, and others that focus on the basic truths of the faith, better for non-Christians.

Christian singles have extra time and energy to focus on discipleship.  Singles should experience the fullness of the Christian life.  We've chosen to create a singles ministry that provides many of the aspects of church life with a schedule that conforms to Singles' typical availability.

God created families. The gospel is for every generation.  We've chosen to eliminate age-specific ministries to highlight the value of families worshiping and learning together. 

Of course, a wise pastor will recognize that every ministry structure is a choice to emphasize one accent rather than another.  There may come a day when a different accent may be needed in his church and in order to reach his culture. In that moment, the pastor that differentiated between legitimate accents and canonizing his structure will find it easier to lead his church toward a transition.

It's also important to recognize that some practices do receive priority in the Bible. We should make sure that those practices receive priority in our structure.  But we should be honest with ourselves. All of us have particular burdens and gifts and our structures (and Bible references!) normally tend in those directions.  This is part of God's sovereign care for his church.  But in order to serve the next generation and the next leader in his Biblical gifts and burdens, we should distinguish between accents and the Bible. We should not canonize our structure.








 

The Shuttered Window

If only experiencing spiritual joy were as easy as opening the window shutters.

One moment the room is gloomy, the next it is cheerful and bright.  But then again,  window shutters are a good reminder that my experience of gloom is not the same experience I would have if the sun suddenly disappeared. I may feel a certain darkness inside the house of my soul, I may not even have the strength to open the shutters, but the earth is still spinning in its orbit and I have not frozen to death in the darkness of a sunless space.  The Sun is still doing its job even when my soul is shuttered. 

And God is doing his job as well, however I may be feeling today. Shine on, Lord God, and sustain us by your grace, and forgive me for how often I define you by my current feelings.

Content To Be A Brick

Have you looked at a brick wall recently?  Very few individual characteristics stand out about each brick. You tend to notice the wall, the strength, the solidarity, the togetherness, and not each individual brick.

The Bible says that we are like living stones, built into a spiritual house for the Lord.  May we be content to be just one of those bricks, leaving to the Lord our individual reputation or our individual accomplishments, and glad to be a part of the larger whole of his Spirit indwelt church, his holy temple on earth. 

Of course, you would notice a gap, where a brick should be.