Shepherding to truth

Matt Chandler’s excellent post on shepherding people to truth:

Give people texts to read and then give them plenty of space to wrestle. I love strong, convincing theologically driven books. The Bible’s better.

Listen. Don’t listen to respond. Listen. You’ll find that people usually have an aversion to truth because it is affecting something or someone very close to them. If you’ll listen and see past a specific theological agenda, you can minister to their hearts. Let me give you an example. The Village is reformed in theology. A few weeks ago after an especially clear presentation of God’s sovereignty over salvation a young man came up to me after service frustrated with what I taught. It didn’t take long to figure out someone very close to him wasn’t a believer. We prayed for his family member for 10-15 minutes and asked the merciful God of the universe to save. After we prayed together, he told me he needed to “learn more of what the Bible says about all this.” After feeling loved, cared for and then prayed with, he was much more open to hear the scriptures unpacked. I have found this to be the case more often than not.

Go read his other two bullets at the link above. good stuff.

hat tip to vitamin z.

truth in love

Paul reminded the Ephesian church that only with truth would there be mature Christian unity and only if truth was spoken in love.

Truth cannot be ducked or minimized in any way, but it must be softened with compassion. It is not compassionate to downplay or minimize or disregard truth.

Dr. Mohler wrote about this the other day in the context of homosexuality.

first the truth:

The homosexual rights movement understands that the evangelical church is one of the last resistance movements committed to a biblical morality. Because of this, the movement has adopted a strategy of isolating Christian opposition, and forcing change by political action and cultural pressure. Can we count on evangelicals to remain steadfastly biblical on this issue?

Not hardly. Scientific surveys and informal observation reveal that we have experienced a significant loss of conviction among youth and young adults. No moral revolution can succeed without shaping and changing the minds of young people and children. Inevitably, the schools have become crucial battlegrounds for the culture war. The Christian worldview has been undermined by pervasive curricula that teach moral relativism, reduce moral commandments to personal values, and promote homosexuality as a legitimate and attractive lifestyle option.

Our churches must teach the basics of biblical morality to Christians who will otherwise never know that the Bible prescribes a model for sexual relationships. Young people must be told the truth about homosexuality–and taught to esteem marriage as God’s intention for human sexual relatedness.

The times demand Christian courage. These days, courage means that preachers and Christian leaders must set an agenda for biblical confrontation, and not shrink from dealing with the full range of issues related to homosexuality. We must talk about what the Bible teaches about gender–what it means to be a man or a woman. We must talk about God’s gift of sex and the covenant of marriage. And we must talk honestly about what homosexuality is, and why God has condemned this sin as an abomination in His sight.

but with compassion:

And yet, even as courage is required, the times call for another Christian virtue as well–compassion. The tragic fact is that every congregation is almost certain to include persons struggling with homosexual desire or even involved in homosexual acts. Outside the walls of the church, homosexuals are waiting to see if the Christian church has anything more to say, after we declare that homosexuality is a sin.

Liberal churches have redefined compassion to mean that the church changes its message to meet modern demands. They argue that to tell a homosexual he is a sinner is uncompassionate and intolerant. This is like arguing that a physician is intolerant because he tells a patient she has cancer. But, in the culture of political correctness, this argument holds a powerful attraction.

Biblical Christians know that compassion requires telling the truth, and refusing to call sin something sinless. To hide or deny the sinfulness of sin is to lie, and there is no compassion in such a deadly deception. True compassion demands speaking the truth in love–and there is the problem. Far too often, our courage is more evident than our compassion.

Go read the rest. Great stuff.

tyranny?

why use such a strong word when judges make up law and choose to favor one group over another rather than allow democratic processes to work?

Keith Pavlischek at First Things quotes Nathan Diament who calls this struggle over competing legal rights between gay rights and people of faith “the mega-cultural issue of the decade.”

Pavlischek points to this Washington Post article recognizing the tension as well as the fact that people of faith are losing.

Faith organizations and individuals who view homosexuality as sinful and refuse to provide services to gay people are losing a growing number of legal battles that they say are costing them their religious freedom.
….
— A Christian photographer was forced by the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission to pay $6,637 in attorney’s costs after she refused to photograph a gay couple’s commitment ceremony.

— A psychologist in Georgia was fired after she declined for religious reasons to counsel a lesbian about her relationship.

— Christian fertility doctors in California who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian patient were barred by the state Supreme Court from invoking their religious beliefs in refusing treatment.

— A Christian student group was not recognized at a University of California law school because it denies membership to anyone practicing sex outside of traditional marriage.

Tyranny doesn’t seem like too strong a word for this sort of thing. Now what is the proper christian response? To fight like crazy? to become another aggrieved interest group marching on Washington and/or various state capitols?

Or is it to recognize that Jesus sent us out as sheep amongst wolves and to therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves? Is it perhaps to love our neighbors as ourselves? What does such love look like in the face of the tyranny described above? how do we continue to be marked by love instead of judgment while remaining true to God’s word regarding sin?

these are very difficult questions to answer. I am afraid that very soon we will all have to find answers to them.

what he said

here is Mark Driscoll talking about holding truth tightly while being relevant to the culture.

Bumped up from last July, because it is still relevant.

here is the page where you can download the entire message that the above video was advertising.

truth and doctrine

Kevin DeYoung has a great series of four posts on Truths that Transform, Doctrines that Damn.

Here are his summary conclusions, but go read all four posts.

First off, we see that anyone who says they have a church with no doctrinal center does not have a Christian church.

Second, we see that the early church believed orthodoxy was very important, and it was more than just living the right way, it involved holding certain truths about God, Christ, and salvation.

Third, we see that orthodoxy is not a moving target. There is no indication that Paul wanted his young pastors to repaint the Christian faith for a new generation. On the contrary, there is every indication that he wanted the apostolic deposit of truth to be passed on untouched and uncorrupted.

Fourth, we see that this apostolic message was to be declared boldly and confidently, and anyone who preached a different message or led others away from this core message were to be gently opposed and strongly rebuked (somehow, I guess, we can gently oppose and strongly rebuke at the same time).

Fifth, and more to the point of this series of blog posts, we see what the essentials of the faith looked like. The gospel message that Paul preached and expected all Christian to adhere to looked something like this: God is glorious; we are sinners; and Jesus Christ is our Savior and God. Jesus Christ is the son of David and God in the flesh; he died and rose again; he ascended into heaven; he is coming again. Salvation is by sovereign grace, according to the converting power of the Holy Spirit, through faith, not according to works. Jesus Christ saves us from sin, saves us for eternal life, and saves us unto holiness.

This is the gospel of the early church. It is rooted in Scripture. It is not to be deviated from. And it must be proclaimed confidently by anyone who would lay claim to apostolic authority in his ministry.

contending and contextualizing

The church must both contend for truth and must contextualize truth to be effective in evangelism. Compare II Timothy 1:14 to I Corinthians 9:22.

Hunter Beaumont’s diagnosis of the current evangelical moment is that we are over-contextualizing and under-contending:

But in postmodernity, the cultural scorn has shifted. The supernatural is plausible again, but exclusivity and assertiveness are now taboo. The quickest way to ruffle skirts in our pluralist world is to come off rigid or narrow. So the new breed of preachers is tempted to lop off anything that sounds too exclusive—the Bible as universal truth, Jesus as the one mediator between God and man, and God’s judgment, along with its remedy, penal substitutionary atonement. This is where our generation must contend or perish.

What do you think? agree or disagree?

our culture’s effect on our faith

Al Mohler is hitting on a very sensitive topic with this post. It is a more complete picture of the effect than the slice that I was looking at in my comments to this post. I said the following:

Number 2, there is a basic misunderstanding of the important responsibility of church membership in this country. In the U.S. we are so deeply ingrained in a culture of individualism, that we don’t really comprehend the passages in the Bible addressing the serious ramifications of joining a body of believers. In Hebrews 13:7 and 17 the writer makes it clear that placing yourself under the authority of elders is very serious. You have to find elders whose faith you can imitate and you have to obey them because they will give an account for you to God. Wow! Think about the awesome amount of responsibility that places on someone like Mark Driscoll who is responsible for and will give an account for more than 7600 persons. James 3:1 is also very serious for Mark, as is I Peter 5:1-6.
We are so used to our cultural congregational easy to join, easy to leave democratic church governance model that seeing a church trying to do it biblically seems extremely foreign.

Al Mohler, speaking more generally says the following:

Americans are not sure what to do with ideals of equality and fairness, but we are generally certain that equality and fairness are the right categories to employ, regardless of the idea or context.

People who think themselves autonomous will claim the right to define all meaning for themselves. Any truth claim they reject or resist is simply ruled out of bounds. We will make our own world of meaning and dare anyone to violate our autonomy.

The same research report indicates that a majority of American Christians pick and choose doctrines, more or less on the basis of those they like as opposed to those they dislike.

This certainly explains a great deal about the current shape of Christianity in American today. Specifically, it points to at least one fundamental reason that so many Christians — including a significant number who claim to be evangelical — no longer believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.

That reason: Eternal punishment in hell is not consistent with “the American experience” or “the American way.” The God of the Bible, in other words, does not act in ways consistent with what many people consider to be American ideals. Sending people to hell is just not fair.

The Bible never claims that God acts fairly, of course. Fairness is the best we mortals can often hope to achieve. We want our children to learn to play fairly and each child learns all too quickly to cry out, “No fair!”

But God does not claim to be fair. The God of the Bible is infinitely greater than we are. He is faithful, just, holy, merciful, gracious, and righteous. A morally perfect being does not operate at the level of mere and faulty human fairness, but at the level of his own omnipotent righteousness. We hope to make things fair. God makes things right.

We must work doubly hard to make sure that we place ourselves under the authority of the Bible. There will be an increasing number of times where choosing to teach without apology or hesitation what the Bible says will be at variance with what our culture says. Recognizing this conflict will change how we approach these topics, but we must continue to teach the truth in love with gentleness and respect.

hat tip to Ramblin’ Pastor Man.

Ligonier West Coast Conference

Outlines of various talks given at the Ligonier West Coast Conference are posted on the Ligonier Ministries blog. As you would expect, there is some challenging and excellent material being presented.

The one on Postmodernism by Ligon Duncan caught my eye.

Here are the three reasons Ligon gives for a Christian to “be informed” about post-modernism:

1. It is pervasive in our culture today. We need to know what is out there.
2. If someone truly embraces the tenants of postmodernism, it makes it more difficult to hear the claims of Christ that are being addressed in the gospel. For believers that dabble in the ethos of postmodernism, it weakens their discipleship at critical points.
3. Many church leaders today believe that in order to speak into a postmodern milieu, the church needs to itself embrace aspects of postmodernism.

and here are the ways that Ligon believes postmodernism affects Christianity if it were embraced by the church:

1. Would assert that all religions boil down to the same thing (since we cannot make absolute truth claims, all theologies must be alike).
2. All truths are relative. [Many young people are reluctant to believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation for everyone.]

[See Chris Chrisman Goes to College by James Sire — excellent book which explores how today’s college students are faced with postmodernism in college, both in the classroom and in their relationships.]

3. All religious systems followed sincerely will lead to the same end.
4. No religious assertions can claim to be absolutely true. All are subject to revision.
5 . Making truth claims are about attempts to impose our assertions are others.
6. Religious truths are important only in so far as they help everyone to live in harmony. If you hold some idea to be true that preferentially favors one group over others, watch out. For example, if you think that homosexuality is immoral, that is divisive and unhelpful.

New link in the sidebar

I put a new link over to the right to this excellent page on Resurgence. It is an excellent refutation of doctrinal errors that some leaders are making in an attempt to be culturally relevant.

I post here again Driscoll’s summary words on the topic.

if you have time, here is the page where you can download the full message that Mark was teasing in this video. It is very good stuff.

we have to be culturally relevant, but we also have to contend for the faith.

more on marriage

This quick post is an update to the one below it to give a little more context.

The angst described in this article has been felt by every person married more than a week. That is why the article strikes such an emotional chord. The very real presence of ebbs and flows of happiness in the marriage relationship is why I wrote this email message to my Sunday school class several years ago.

As lovers of God and followers of Christ we must be vigilant (on guard) all the time against the Deceiver. He wants to destroy our families, our health and our testimony as God-lovers.

Don’t even start to entertain the idea that divorce is the way out to fulfillment and happiness. It is a lie. God makes it clear how he feels about divorce. He hates it. Jesus said that it was a provision made for the hardness of hearts. It is not ever to be plan A. It is not something to allow your mind to wander back to as a “choice.”

The deceiver wants to steal your happiness, kill your marriage, and destroy your relationships and testimony for Christ. He does not want what is best for you. He does not want you to reach your full potential.

The presence of divorce as a perpetual and repetitive contemplation by the author of the article is what is so disturbing. She is getting lied to and she is considering the lie from all the angles.

Don’t. Do. It.

one of the saddest things I have read

If you want to see “the Lie” in action then read this article. It is an offering from Oprah.com.

Here is a peek or two or four:

I contemplate divorce every day. It tugs on my sleeve each morning when my husband, Will, greets me in his chipper, smug morning-person voice, because after 16 years of waking up together, he still hasn’t quite pieced out that I’m not viable before 10 a.m.

It puts two hands on my forehead and mercilessly presses when he blurts out the exact wrong thing (“Are you excited for your surprise party next Tuesday?”); when he lies to avoid the fight (“What do you mean I left our apartment door open? I never even knew our apartment had a door!”); when he buttons his shirt and jacket into the wrong buttonholes, collars and seams unaligned like a vertical game of dominoes, with possibly a scrap of shirttail zippered into his fly.

……

As one girlfriend remarked, it’s the age of rage — a period of high irritation that lasts roughly one to two decades. As a colleague e-mailed me, it’s the simmering underbelly of resentment, the 600-pound mosquito in the room. At a juncture where we thought we should have unearthed some modicum of certainty, we are turning into the Clash. If I go will there be trouble? If I stay will it be double? Should I stay or should I go?

……

What are we doing here?

We were groomed to think bigger and better — achievement was our birthright — so it’s small surprise that our marriages are more freighted. Marriage and its cruel cohort, fidelity, are a lot to expect from anyone, much less from swift-flying us. Would we agree to wear the same eyeshadow or eat in the same restaurant every day for a lifetime? Nay, cry the villagers, the echo answers nay. We believe in our superhood. We count on it.

So, did our feminist foremothers set us up for failure? Or were they just trying to empower us so that we wouldn’t buy into the notion of having to be a better better half?

…..

Because in the end, that’s basically what it’s all about: getting your order right. Our day comes down to choices — and it’s finally dawning on the long-term wives of the world that divorce may be the last-standing woman’s right to choose.

emphasis added

what can one say? do you hear the unhappiness? Do you hear the deception being fed to the writer?

The Lie is always the same. if you do the right thing, you will be miserable. If you do the wrong thing, then you can realize your full potential.

The Deceiver’s playbook hasn’t changed since Genesis 3.
“But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Don’t be deceived.
“16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

UPDATE: see post above this one.

HT to the Corner (KLo)

Is it possible?

Is it possible to combine elements that the emerging church is using to connect with the culture, with correct doctrine? are they antithetical? or can they be complimentary and fill the gaps in each other’s approach? Must we choose one or the other?

Here is a review of a performance of the Church Basement Road Show. Robert Sagers concludes his review with these questions:

….what is it about the emergent church that is so attractive to so many in our churches? Perhaps it’s the fact that so much of what leaders from within the movement have to say is right, and true.

What if our churches began to preach the whole counsel of God as a narrative of redemption, a story that is good specifically because it is a story that is true? What if we began to declare the full-orbed gospel of cosmic reconciliation in Christ, without de-emphasizing the reality of personal enslavement to a personal devil and the need for personal evangelism and personal repentance of personal sin and personal faith in the risen Lord?

What if we began to preach and display grace, truth, and love as fully embodied in the person and work of Jesus Christ, without abandoning the fact that the Spirit of this same Christ has breathed out every jot and tittle of the Bible–making every word of Scripture equally grace-filled, truthful, and loving? What if our churches were characterized by great love for God and for one another, without casting aside the need for confessional fidelity? And what if we began doing even more good works in Jesus’ name, proclaiming that the impetus for such works is the life, death, resurrection, and promised return of our King?

After attending “The Church Basement Road Show,” I am more convinced that if more of our churches did these things, it would be even easier to dismiss certain aspects of the emergent church as heresy and some of its leaders as marginalized false teachers. For Christians have good news to proclaim, and if some of the emergent church’s challenges to contemporary evangelicalism drive us back to greater fidelity to the faith once for all delivered to the saints, evangelicals can be thankful indeed.

Is it possible?