Friday, February 06, 2009
Where's The Problem
Paul McCain, writing at BHT recently said:
Having said that - two take-aways.
The first is there is a time and place for almost everything good in the church. Example. A while back I was in a church where I was treated to a "sermon" that contained all sorts of wonderful financial advice. How to manage debt, that sort of thing. Oh sure there was scripture at the beginning, that seemed to be immediately forgotten once the preacher got to the meat of his talk. Now again, the financial advice given was, for the most part, sound - my problem was that it was not a sermon. This was material for a mid-week seminar, or perhaps a Sunday School class, but this was not material for lifting the name of Christ in worship.
Ecclesiastes talks quite famously about a season for everything. There is a time to talk practicalities and there is a time to preach. Worship services are for preaching. When we offer "sermons" that, while truthful and useful, do not rise to the level of the proclamation of the Word of God, the we neglect the season for worship.
The second take-away from this great post is the essential "other-focused" nature of being a Christian. This reflects, as McCain points out, on the prior point. A "sermon" on finances is about me - not about my Lord. In broad terms, the church exists to serve God. It does not exist to serve either itself or the congregation. Therefore, the church should be calling the congregation to that service as well.
I really like this essential point. The church is not about "Self-help" for that is still about self. Christ wants us to be about the other.
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The crisis in Christianity is not liberal v. conservative, not whether the Bible is, or is not, inspired, and is not who is “missional” and who is not. The crisis in Christianity is constant and a long-standing one. It is the crisis over the question of the supremacy and centrality of the proclamation of the message of Christ: the righteous, innocent Savior of all mankind.There are several key things to take from this excellent post. First the counter-point. While I agree, too often people use Christ centeredness as an excuse to never get down to the nitty-gritty of being a Christian. I have seen such "centrality of Christ" groups become Christians in word only, not in deed. The crisis of legalism that is discussed later in the post is countered by the crisis of faith without action. I do not think that is what McCain is driving at here, but it is something to watch for.
The great crisis in Christianity is that in many quarters and places, pulpits and homes, the Gospel is an afterthought, an aside, something for conversion, a cliche, a Shibboleth, quickly mouthed in order to permit something other to be said, proclaimed, advanced and promoted, and usually that “something” is nothing but law, driving the sinner not to Christ, but to his feelings, emotions, personal opinions—turning a person right back into himself.
Having said that - two take-aways.
The first is there is a time and place for almost everything good in the church. Example. A while back I was in a church where I was treated to a "sermon" that contained all sorts of wonderful financial advice. How to manage debt, that sort of thing. Oh sure there was scripture at the beginning, that seemed to be immediately forgotten once the preacher got to the meat of his talk. Now again, the financial advice given was, for the most part, sound - my problem was that it was not a sermon. This was material for a mid-week seminar, or perhaps a Sunday School class, but this was not material for lifting the name of Christ in worship.
Ecclesiastes talks quite famously about a season for everything. There is a time to talk practicalities and there is a time to preach. Worship services are for preaching. When we offer "sermons" that, while truthful and useful, do not rise to the level of the proclamation of the Word of God, the we neglect the season for worship.
The second take-away from this great post is the essential "other-focused" nature of being a Christian. This reflects, as McCain points out, on the prior point. A "sermon" on finances is about me - not about my Lord. In broad terms, the church exists to serve God. It does not exist to serve either itself or the congregation. Therefore, the church should be calling the congregation to that service as well.
I really like this essential point. The church is not about "Self-help" for that is still about self. Christ wants us to be about the other.
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