Practical Considerations in Preaching

We live in a whole new world. Period. Full Stop. The culture has shifted, and the church had better be seeking to understand and communicate in ways that are effective, or we will fail have an utter mission failure. 

We are commanded to do what Jesus commanded us to do, make disciples. That is the mission, not facilitating legacy, or keeping the structures in place. we are told to make disciples; and we have some pretty wide parameters. In Acts, we see Peter and Paul using differing approaches for differing situations. Timeless message. Gospel, Gospel, Gospel. When you look at Paul, you see him in the synagogue, doing street evangelism, setting up class, preaching to all hours of the night at a church service, and on and on. What Paul does in one place is not always what he does in the next. He had systems, but they were always flexible. Looking back, he writes in 1 Corinthians 9, "I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel. (1Co 9:19-23).

Which brings me to today's issue here in preaching week.. Practical considerations in preaching.

We live in a whole different world than the one that bred the short, sub twenty minute sermon. You could take that lectionary, shorter approach at one time. Could (not recommended even then, but could)... There was a day when people knew the gospel story, and had a fundamentally Christian worldview. They accepted the major themes of Christianity, because it was the dominant metanarrative (grand story that shapes a culture) of western civilization. Christianity shaped and molded western civilization, it was the air people breathed, and it provided the framework in which we thought, whether or not we knew it. The result was that people basically knew A-T of Christianity. They knew the story. To bring them to Christ, you just had to get them from T to Z. Now, you have to add allot more layers than you used to, people don’t know the story, they don’t have a clue, and if we want to see lives changed, we’re probably not going to see it happen in 20 minute sermons. The world has changed in the years since the twenty minute sermon became king, especially in the last 20 or 30 years, as we have moved into postmodernism and began to feel its force.

Let me take a moment to explain to give some background here in terms of postmodernism. For the last 100 to 150 years, we have been living in a world that has been dominated by the ideas of a school of thought known as modernism. Simply put, Modernists felt that the world was knowable and rational. There is an objective reality, and through science and human reason, we could understand and master the world (the problem with Modernity is that it assumes science is the source to all knowledge- therefore, it makes science God). On the other hand, Postmodernism argues that “there is no objective reality, you can’t really know anything, you only have your perspective”. There are no truths, no absolutes (the major problem with postmodernism is that it relegates all truth claims to the dustbin). There is no right or wrong, at least not in terms of the object sense of moral absolutes, things are only wrong in the subjective sense of “wrong for you” (so says postmodernity). This is the increasingly dominant voice. We live in an era which has turned the individual or 'self' into the ultimate authority. We've turned ourselves into 'gods'. My ideas, my opinions, my input is the final court of appeal. Everyone demands his or her own pulpit or stage. Our postmodern age is an age which elevates self-expressionism above all else. Everyone’s opinion is as good as another's. Your own ideas are just as relevant (or irrelevant) as anyone else's. Thus, why should you be forced to listen to someone preaching to you? And the very idea of preaching or being preached to is diametrically opposed to the spirit of our time. At best we allow for dialogue, a situation in which two or more people speak, share and provide insights with equal authority, where being listened to is on a par with listening. An authoritative message from the Creator to his creature, from the King to his subjects, the Master to his slaves is anathema to the postmodern mind. [i]

However, as Christians we should not be modern or postmodern, we believe that there is objective truth, God’s word is true, and there are absolutes that he has given. It stands against modernity and postmodernity. To the moderns, we say, there is an authority higher than science. Science may shed light, but it is not the one who speaks about ultimate reality. God does. To the postmodern, we say, there is objective truth. We have a message that is true, you can know what is true and not. There is an authority that says, "This is right, and wrong". There are moral absolutes. Pay attention. Hear this loud and clear.

And here’s the application of this information to preaching. More and more, as learn about communicating, I have been seeking to make intellectual arguments as I preach. I have been seeking to challenge their idols (keep in mind that an idol is good things that we make ultimate things, a good thing that we treasure more than God) and defeater beliefs of moderns and post-moderns (Everyone has defeater beliefs, things that they believe that contradict the bible, and cause people to dismiss the bible’s claim as something that doesn’t fit their worldview right off the top)[ii]. As I preach, I have to show the text, and show that what the bible says is true, and also have to show that they can’t just dismiss out of hand what doesn’t square with their assumptions and worldview. This process takes time (to go back to yesterday’s post- almost always well above that twenty minute mark).

In a sermon, you need to gain attention, introduce the passage, explain the passage, challenge the things that say “dismiss what the pastors saying”, the idols of our hearts and the defeater beliefs. And you need to show why this all matters and relate it to life, and show how the cross relates to this issue. Showing how the cross relates is huge. Ultimately, the purpose of every sermon is not to give information and general instruction but to preach the gospel and make it real to the heart. You have to get to the cross. I would say that it’s not a sermon if Christ isn’t preached. It’s a teaching, an encouragement, a speech, but not a sermon unless you get to the gospel and show how, because of the cross the thing we’re looking at (whatever it is), looks different.

Now here’s the challenge to those that grew up on the short sermon. This takes time. Moving through this is what the bible says, this is why you should believe this, and applying it is not a quick process. But if you don’t, people (especially young post-moderns) will dismiss what you are saying out of hand. They’ll say, “it doesn’t square”, and move on. This means you have to be fiercely apologetic, you have to show them why they should accept what the bible is saying. You need to make arguments that make them engage. Show them that they can’t just dismiss out of hand what they don’t want to hear. Think of it this way. If you lay a charge of dynamite on a rock face, and blow it up, you sheer off the face of the rock, but don’t blow it up. But if you drill a hole into that rock, if you bore down, then put that same charge in, it blows the rock apart. In preaching, if I just say “This is what the bible says, accept it”, or just make a straight appeal to the heart, no one is changed.[iii] But if I drill down, with an argument, “Here is what the authoritative word of God says”, if I show why they should believe the truth we are looking at, show why the beliefs and assumptions that they have unwittingly picked up from culture are wrong, and if I dig down and confront the defeater beliefs and the idols, saying, “here’s is why it is true…. You know it’s true---- look at the proof ”, and then, I get to the heart, through the cross, that changes us (Thank you Tim Keller for teaching me this. As a pastor, I’m still learning how to do this better and better. Some weeks I do well, some I don’t). But according some of the people who have studied this far more than I, people that have had successful ministry to postmoderns- (such as Keller, such as the people who are running Resurgence and Acts 29 conferences) that’s how you get to postmoderns. People in their teens, 20’s, 30’s, and even creeping into the early forties. This isn’t a quick 20 min and out the door.

And here’s the thing, younger people aren’t interested in short quick stuff. Some of the most downloaded sermon Podcasts are people like John Piper, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, Tullian Tchividjian. This isn’t the soft mushy stuff. They give you meat. Younger generations, for all their problems with the idea of truth, hunger to hear answers and certainty in an uncertain world, and they want to grow and go deep. They crave it even if they cant articulate it, is my observation.

Two quick thought as I wrap up today’s post. First, at the end of the day, this process will differ, depending on the passage. For some, the sermon may be close to 20 minutes, for others, it could be 40. Or 35 minutes. Or whatever. Pastors need to be respectful of time and say, a sermon should be as long as it needs to be to cover the passage adequately. Not more, not less. At the end of the day, the issue should not be the length of the sermon, but the content, and making it understandable. And understand, the reality is that to do good expositional preaching, the pastor will probably go longer. We should probably expect that solid expository sermons that mix this layer of apologetic in will be longer rather than shorter. John Macarthur suggests that “I am convinced that biblical exposition requires at least forty minutes”[iv] 

I’m not willing to go there ironclad, but he’s on to something. The more you dig in, the more you find, and the longer it goes. As a brand new pastor, I didn’t grasp this. I thought I could cut time down, I vainly promised I would shorten, and believed that in time they would shrink. Now, I don’t think so. I actually think I was underselling the reality, good exposition takes longer. It just does. I know that now.

Second, there is no alternative to preaching. The church must make preaching the heart of its life. Preaching is how God speaks; it is is one of God's primary means of grace. We cannot minimize it, or seek to limit it. It is God's way because it is ultimately a reflection of the nature and authority of God himself. Far too many ministers have a low view of preaching. They would rather dialogue, encounter, counsel or advice. And the pulpit is sidelined. The authority of God and his word is compromised and ultimately drowned out. But equally, far too many of those who sit in the pew need to change too. Far too many of us have drunk deeply from the wells of modernity and postmodernity. Preaching has lost its appeal because we challenge its authority by either not listening (or making an effort to) or by simply staying away when we feel like it. Getting preaching into its true, Biblically demanded focus is essential, because God himself guarantees that his word will never return to him empty. [v]

Now, with all this said about the practical considerations in regards to the craft of preaching, here’s the bottom line. The church is slowly growing, and God is bringing new life, and I believe that it starts, with preaching. With the proclamation of the gospel week in and out being the engine that drives everything.

New England is the least churched part of America. Massachusetts is number 46 in terms of church attendance, and Gospel centered, bible preaching churches are few and far between (while all around us dead churches close their doors, last summer, a local church in our denomination closed their doors- FBC Natick). And yet, we are slowly growing. Slowly. And for us, the road to changing into a Gospel centered, bible driven church that seeks God’s glory above while making an impact on our community has been rough. I didn’t understand that some in the church decided to institute change through a man. But God is working, and we’ve had conversions! New birth, and I long for many more, because that’s kingdom growth. Transfer growth is fine, but it doesn’t build the kingdom, transfer growth is just people shipping. Real growth happens as people connect to the gospel- coming, listening, and finally seeing his need, and coming to Christ. From there, we want to see disciples begin to grow in the gospel, and someday, serve because of the gospel, sharing the gospel, and continue to be changed by the gospel.

That is our trajectory. We have moved onto firm ground, and while we are not out of the woods by any means God is working. My prayer is for many, many more conversions. For changed  lives and full on revival to hit our imploding culture. Today, we are watching the devolution of our country, and world. We’re watching the fall of Western civilization, and two millennia of Christian culture fall apart. The churches in Europe are empty. My prayer is for revival. It starts with us, hearing the gospel, taking it and approaching it seriously, apply it to our lives seriously and living out in a real way that allows us to share the gospel.

One final thought. In many ways we’re closer to the world Christianity started in than the world our parents lived in. Islam, atheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Wiccan, and allot of other voices are active in our culture. We are not a Christian culture in any way, shape or form. The northeast, has been classified by many thinkers as Post Christian. So what do we do? Pastors, church leaders, people. We preach well. Once again, we need to make the arguments of scripture, use logic, and witness winsomely. We don’t sit and try to be liked, and I need to be proclaiming the bible in a way that changes lives, rather than gives a back massage. Furthermore, we take on a wartime approach. Think of ourselves not as people who are home, but soldier in a fight. Think of ourselves not as people who are home, but missionaries who have a challenge. We need to change our mentality from that of comfortably settled churches, to being churches that have a church-plantlike desire to create a gospel movement that wins people to Christ and changes our communities for Christ.

  

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[i] Faith in Focus, "Preaching, the supreme means of Grace"

[ii] Both of these ideas come from Tim Keller, for a great book on idolatry, read his book, Counterfeit God’s- in my recommended books list. The idea on defeater beliefs really comes from a sermon he gave at the Gospel Coalition conference called The Grand Demythologizer., although I've heard him make the point several times.

[iii] I’ve heard Keller make this point several times, but cannot tell you where as I have downloaded much of what he gives away and listened and re-listened to them

[iv] http://www.gty.org/resources/Questions/QA96/Preaching-and-the-Clock

[v] Faith in Focus, "Preaching, the supreme means of Grace"

20 Minutes and Counting

Time is always an issue in church. As I said on Monday, this time last year I was told, “no more than 20 minutes”. The first time I heard 20 minutes was the line that many expected came when I received an angry letter after my second Easter, a year before the debacle (although I've come to realize it was underneath many of the sermon length complaints early on), when I preached about 35 minutes (at the time I was averaging 25 min). What made the day even longer was that then there was communion, which also went longer than usual. 

Now, to be honest, I didn't understand the roots of this issue when I arrived. I have never bothered with a church that limited the sermon to twenty minutes in my whole life. The pastor I grew up under regularly cracked 45 to an hour. I want to learn, to be fed, and when I picked a church, that was how I decided. I’m someone who has been an admitted preaching junkie, someone who chose his church based on preaching, preaching, preaching. Short preaching always irked me, and turned me off. But what I came to understand over time us that part of the time compliant is rooted in the fact that there are various preaching traditions, and lectionary preachers tend to be different; shorter and less exegetical. But as someone that was from and trained in exegetical preaching and never sat under lectionary driven preaching, it didn’t make sense, I didn’t have any frame of reference to understand where the whole issue was coming from. So, I first had to try to understand the cultural issues. 

But, having done that, I think at the same time, it's worth interacting with some of the various reasons that I have come across in and out of First Baptist as to why sermons should be no more than 20 minutes, and some thoughts on them.

First, the excuses

Older people can’t sit through the sermons, it hurts too much. The pews are too uncomfortable.

If this is true (and having sat in many pews, including the ones in my church, I think it is), fix it. Get pads for the pews. Deal with the physical impediments that are easily remedied. Simple and easy solution (I recognize church treasurers that read this will have their hearts stop here...).

There is a contingent that needs a ride home.

In any church, you have seniors who are getting rides. The church should work with the congregation to meet them where they are at and care for them, call it widows and orphan care, 2012 style. Care for your people. If these people need rides home, have someone get them rides home. Deacons, leaders, this is your area.

People are busy and have places to be.

So true... We live in a busy, fast paced world. But, first of all, can’t we take one day, and devote more than a little time to God from it? Sunday is supposed to be the Lords Day; the day where we celebrate the resurrection of the king and worship him. It’s a day of worship and rest. In many places, people spend the whole day in church. We think an hour to an hour and a half service is all we should have to give to God. A two hour service is a travesty (remember, 15 minutes equal 1/672 of a week. An hour and a half is 6/672, 2 hours, 8/672- not even two percent of your week). If our walk with Christ is supposed to be the most important thing in our lives, should we be able to stop, and focus on Him? For an hour, an hour and a half, or even two… Please?

On top of that (and this is just my observation from a lifetime of church life), some of the same people who bang the drum for an hour or hour and 15 minute service saying they have places to be stay for an hour or more at fellowship hour. Some make it an hour and a half (That’s the record at First Baptist since I became pastor). Now I love fellowship hour; it’s great, but it is not the main event, or even a close second or third.

Next, the foolish

 

Shorter sermons are easier to remember because they make the preacher be more precise.

I heard this from time to time, and yes, I’ve heard it at the church I pastor, First Baptist Medfield. My take on this argument is, maybe this is true, but most likely, it’s not (the more I think about it, the more I think it’s definitely not). Many use this as a rationale for preaching shorter sermons, but then still preach without significant precision. But on top of that, the communication reality is that if you want to really communicate, and have something to say, and you place things in super tight, there is little breathing room for the listener. Every phrase is essential, and even the best expositors tend to lose people when this happens. As an audience member contemplates the implications of one simplified and highly structured statement, they may (and probably will) miss the next one, and then begin to be lost in the argumentation. All this is not necessarily so, but it’s an issue, and one of the struggles that all communicators face when they try to go deep in a short period of time. Now, to be fair, I will agree that some preachers are better preachers when they preach shorter sermons. But, as a general rule, sermons with some breathing room usually make better sermons.

All that needs to be said in a sermon can be said in 15-20 minutes.

I’ve seen this here and there, and actually heard another pastor say this (unbelievable).

Thankfully, I have never heard this from my congregation. Smart Boston Metroers know a foolish statement when they see one, and that one is just flat out incorrect. But it gets me to something I want to say. There may be some passages that preach that fast, 15 minutes max, but they are rare. Most don’t. Not if you want to get beyond the surface. Not if you want more than milk. Someone noted that handling a complicated text like Romans 9:14-29 would easily require an hour to adequately explain the numerous challenges found in that text. Working through the implications of Mark 8:34-9:1, taking up your cross and following Christ, took a little over 30, and there was a giant pile on the cutting room floor. Some passages, like the prodigal son’s, really require 40 plus if a pastor wants to deal with the whole passage well (and remember, many passages, while thick and dense, like the prodigal son’s, really shouldn’t be split, because it tells a coherent message).

The cultural issue I ran into

 

It’s just hard to sit through long sermons. You lose me after 20 minutes.

 

The heart of this objection is, I can’t pay attention for more than that.

This is one that drove me to madness for awhile (because I didn't get the root issue. Culture). One I haven’t heard as much of lately), 

While a a pastor, I (and hopefully every other pastor) want to communicate so that people understand what I’m saying, and grasp the wonders of God’s word, and believe that therefore, pastors should be constantly working to improve (I know I have improved as a communicator, and I have taken steps to improve my preaching, and make it easier to follow), I didn't understand that at the heart, the problem is cultural expectations of the church. 

At this point, my personal belief is that this really comes down to the internal clock. For most people, there is an internal clock that goes off after point X. Whatever X is. If you are expecting the sermon to be 20 minutes, and it goes more, you get antsy. My brother pointed out that at his church, people are used to 50 or so minutes from the pastor (whom I grew up under), and an hour and a half to an hour and forty five minute service. If it gets to two hours, they begin to rustle a bit. At some point, I realized that the internal clock of my congregation needed to reset before this issue would end. For many years (as best I can tell), my church had a steady diet of 20 minute (ish) sermons. For the most part, First Baptist had been basically standard, mainline, short, leave me alone stuff. There, the average is between 14-17 with 20-22 at the long end… and after that, the bell went off. I have come to believe that this is more a cultural issue than an attention issue. It’s what we were used to, not an inability to pay attention. 

Disagree? Consider this. What left me (and still leaves me) scratching my head is that many of the same people who might complain about the length of the sermon can easily sit through a two to three hour movie (and not even have to get up to use the restroom). Many of them regularly sat through long lectures at the university at one time (Most college students sit and listen to 2 hour lectures, even high school students sit through 45 minute plus lectures). Many can spend hours learning about subjects that’s interesting to them. Furthermore, many people in their 20’s -60’s go to continuing education (for professional or personal reasons) events that include lengthy lectures. I know that there is a point where the law of diminishing returns kicks in, but it’s much longer than the 20 minute mark. We can watch movies and football games for 2 or more hours like it’s nothing, why can’t we listen to the preaching of God’s Word?

Here's the answer, at least part of it. Most Americans (and certainly we over-scheduled, exhausted Boston Metroers) have had an idol of time inserted into our lives. Furthermore, I truly believe that many Americans have had a terrible theology of preaching fed to them. 

At a certain point, we got to this point that we just wanted a clean one hour service, and a “don’t bother me” sermon where we say “Let’s get together and feel alright”. The combination becomes lethal for a church long term, because God should have primacy in our lives and schedules, and furthermore, a sermon is not just a talk, or a lesson, nor is it a political speech, or an exhortation to social activism, it is not just a chance to yell at a congregation to shape up and be moral, and it certainly is not a time to just give a dity of "Let’s get together and feel alright. Instead, a sermon is an encounter with the word of God, facilitated by the preacher. It’s God taking a preacher who has soaked in his word, and through the preacher, speaking to the congregation. It’s the high point of the service - God is speaking through His word[i]. My conclusion is that to say, 20 min max is an incredibly bad idea. If the sermon is the apex of the service, the high point that everything leads to (which is how most of our services our structured), it’s not something to be endured, and gotten past, it should be the big family meal of the week (I’m thinking of the big Italian dinner at Nana’s here). At the end of the day, this whole discussion all boils down to the Word of God and the exposition of His word having a preeminent part in the worship service. If the Word of God is our rule of 'faith' and 'practice' then we believers should allow the scriptures to speak into our lives in a significant way.

Conclusions 

First, the preaching mandate was in some ways, the dying gasp of the fight, I just didn't know it. Many of my people had started to grow hungry. Plus, those that were coming in had no interest in short sermonettes. While I blew it (majorly), in not dealing with things properly in June, by the time the meeting with the pastoral relations committee happened, the issue resolved as an almost non-issue.

But second, what flips the script? What changes the direction? What have to create a desire for more? Ironically, the same medicine and food that we often kick against in our go, go, go, don’t bother me culture. Preaching! We have to have our expectations changed by a steady diet of preaching  (and that has slowly happened here at First Baptist- or so it seems to me as the pastor- now I have people say, “I wanted more”, or comment-  “how long till we get to an hour sermon- soon I pray”). Kids don’t crave steak over milk and cookies. But if they understand that they want to grow big and strong, they can be encouraged to eat the healthy stuff. The gospel preached, brings change. To you pastors who might read this, if you want to see change, hold up the gospel, show the wonder of Christ’s work, get people to see that God is speaking his word through scripture , that it must be primarily if we are to fulfill our chief end of glorify God, or see the kingdom break out of the doors and into our community. To church leaders, including mine, same thing. If you want to see the church change and grow and thrive, hold up the gospel. You hold up the gospel alongside the pastor. Show the wonder of Christ’s work, get your people to see that God is speaking his word through scripture. Be at it constantly, because this must be primarily if we are to fulfill our chief end of glorify God, or see the kingdom break out of the doors and into our community

Third, with all this said, my encouragement to other pastors looking back is, be wise… wiser than I was. Save yourself and your people some pain. Understand your dynamics. Be more explicit about what you will be doing, and bring your leaders along with you. Get consensus, something I didn't do and should have, and as you move, go methodically. Start where they are and carefully build up and lengthen out, over 2-3 years if need be, because if your congregation is getting lost, and fidgeting, or expecting things to end, when they aren't, you’re not communicating anyways.

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[i] I know that came from someone, or from someone’s, but I have no idea who said it now.

A Theology Of Preaching

I truly believe that “Preaching the Word of God is the primary and supreme means of creating, feeding and maintaining Christ's Church. Preaching Christ crucified, in season and out of season, whether eloquently or as a stutterer, is the most important means God uses to pour his saving grace going into the world”^[i]. Why is it so important? The most important thing we do? Because preaching is facilitating an encounter with God that is word based, it’s using the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17), while being carried along and empowered by Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:11) to do his work.

I believe this because of what God’s word says about preaching. It tells us that preaching, the proclamation of the gospel which the world defines as foolishness, the proclamation of the gospel which many in the church decry as passé and see as something to be kept short, or minimized, or retired, “has the power to save”. Paul writes “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (1Corinthains 1:17-18, 21). God saves through preaching.

But not only is just the power to save, it’s also a means by which God speaks. Scripture makes clear that God speaks through preaching. In Titus Paul writes that God “at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior (Titus 1:3) In 1 Thessalonians, 2, Paul writes “we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers” (1Thesalonians 2:13). In Romans 10, we read “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" (Romans 10:14-15). What comes through in all these verses is that God sends His word through preaching and teaching. Amazingly, even Jesus ministry was primarily a preaching and teaching ministry. He did miracles, but these were signs that backed up his words. John preached and taught. Paul, and Peter, and the apostles all preached and taught, and they equipped and sent out people like Timothy, Silvanus, and Silas, who preached and taught. They did this because God speaks through preaching.

Furthermore, it is through the faithful preaching of the word that the church grows. I would go so far as to say that preaching is the primary means by which the church of God grows. This is seen most clearly throughout the book of Acts. When you look through Acts (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 6:7; 8:14ff; 10:36ff; 12:24; 13:49; 19:20). What do you see? The word is preached. Allot. And this changes lives, and grows the church. We get snippets and summaries of the preaching throughout Acts, as aproximatly twenty-five percent of the book is sermons. Right from the start, we see that the believers gathered, and “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (1:42), and “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts (2:46). Notice that. They broke bread at homes. At the temple, they met. Why? Because that’s where they gathered to hear the Apostles preach and teach. It ties back to devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. Later, in Acts 10, peter recounts that “he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophet’s bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles (Act 10:41-45).

The church grows through preaching, through serious feeding on the word of God. Consider this; many Scholars think that Hebrews was probably a sermon. Paul preached till midnight one night. Peter and the disciples taught for extended sessions at the temple (Acts 3). Furthermore, we see that in addition to the word preaching, the bible uses many words that fit under what we call preaching. Herald (2 Pet. 2:5; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11; Rom. 10:14-15; 1 Cor. 2:21; 2:4). Exhort (2 Tim. 4:2; John 14). Witnessing (Acts 26:5; 23:11). Announce (1 John 1:3; Acts 20:20; 1 Peter 1:12; Luke 9:60). Teaching (Acts 4:2; 5:25; 13:12; 2 John 9). Evangelize (Luke 16:16; Gal. 1:11; Acts 21:8; 2 Tim. 4:5).Paul writes that he was “appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher (2Ti 1:11-12). All of that is included in what we call preaching today.

So who is to preach and teach? Pastors, Elders, (who must be able to teach), those core leaders that are the spiritual heads of the church are commanded to preach, to teach, to explain, to apply the bible. In Matthew were told “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Mat 28:18-20). In 2 Timothy, we see a command to a young pastor to preach, as Paul tells timothy, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:1-2).

What’s amazing here is that we see in this passage that there is a strong connection between the authority of the word of God, the bible, and preaching. In chapter 3, Paul writes, “as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” ^{(2Ti 3:14-17)}. Then, in the next lines, Paul then tells timothy, and all pastors and church leaders, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2Ti 4:1-5)

All of this is to say, the ministry of the church starts with the preaching of the word. And as I preach, I’m preaching the word. Not my thoughts. Not my opinion, everything that I say, begins and ends with the word of God, and that passage. The ideas of the sermon should come from that passage; the point of the sermon should come from that passage. And as a result of the preaching of the word, God speaks to us. We encounter God more fully, and lives are changed, because God’s word does not return empty. God says it will accomplish it’s purposes, declaring, “as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it (Isa 55:10-11).

Here is where the rubber meets the road with all this. Scripture throughout makes preaching the second-to-none means by which God communicates himself, his promises and his grace to his children and to all of humankind. I truly believe that healthy churches have a high theology of preaching, because this is how Gods community grows. Someone once said, “You show me a church which is growing spiritually, and you'll invariably take me to a church focused on powerful preaching” ^[ii]. I believe he’s right. Here’s something that’s interesting and worth noting. Look around at most of the thriving ministries. The pastor preaches. Really preaches. Usually in the 30-50 range. Mark Driscoll, pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in the country, regularly goes an hour plus. I don’t think that the connection between preaching and growth is a coincidence, because “Preaching is facilitating an encounter with God that is word based”^[iii]. When people encounter God, they keep wanting to encounter God, and the church grows.

Ajith Fernando, a Sri Lankan pastor, who has ministered in the middle of hostility and  persecution, observed that “the desire for teaching is an evidence of conversion. Openness to being fed by the word is a key evidence that one is truly regenerated. Many people come to Christ and have a felt the need met because they hear that the god of the Christians is a prayer answering God. In their eagerness to be blessed by this god, they go to the motions of making a decision. Since the possibilities of prayer attracted to Christ, they may give a high place to prayer. But how do we know that the seed of eternal life is germinating in them? If there is such a seed, it will hunger for the nurse meat of the word ^[iv]. Peter states this principle by using a metaphor from human life. Like new born babies crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation (1 Peter 2:2).

What’s amazing is that if you go many places in the world, people will study Gods word for hours. They will listen for hours. Read David Platt’s book Radical, he tells of teaching all day long, and people being hungry for more. Why? Because they realize it’s a privilege to be cherished. We don’t. Our puritan forefathers did, we don’t it. Once, Mark Dever (pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist church in DC) had a woman who reacted with incredulity when He mentioned that the Puritan preachers occasionally sermonized for 2 or 3 hours (at the behest of their congregations), and she said, "Dr. Dever, if they preached for 2 or 3 hours, . . . what time was left for worship?" His response was something like, "Ma'am, understand that from the Puritan's standpoint, the sermon was the apex of worship, because the conscionable hearing of God's word from the mouth of God's servant was the ultimate act of worship. Because you are hearing, you are sitting under the searching judgment and the comforting promise of God's word spoken into your heart. It's the greatest act of worship as the people of God gather together . . . It is the culmination of worship. Remember, that many of (them) would have been able to remember the smell of burning flesh in their nostrils, for the people who had died at the stake so that they could hear the Word of God read to them and preached to them in their own language. They knew the great cost, so they didn't care how long their preacher preached” ^[v].

I think one reason that our people are oftentimes so lackadaisical about the privilege of preaching is that they don't understand the cost that has been born for the word of God to be brought to them in their own language, and they don't understand the magnitude of what it is to have an encounter with the living God which is word-based, facilitated by the servant of God preaching the word of God to their hearts, speaking that truth into their lives.

Here’s how this all comes together. The preaching of the Word of God is a word based encounter with God; it changes lives and causes church to come alive and grow. It’s the gateway through which God speaks to us as a community. At no other point do we all meet and hear from God together. This is the thing that opens the door for everything else. G. Cambel Morgan is credited with saying, "Sermonettes breed Christianettes, little sermons, little Christians" P.T. Forsyth put it this way, “Brevity may be the soul of wit, but the preacher is not a wit… A Christianity of short sermons is a Christianity of short fibre.”^[vi]. I think that’s true. I thought so last fall, I believe it more than ever today. Therefor, how can we ever sit there and say, God you are on the clock… In this last year, I have seen God move, and begin to generate something awesome. People hungry for the word, and getting hungrier, and I see a depth starting to develop in people that did not have depth. Ultimately, I believe that this is happening not because I am gifted or eloquent (because I’m not), but because they are being fed the only food that will satisfy- the life-giving word of God through which the gospel flows.

 

Now, in light of this, here is how we should approach the sermon.

A) Recognize true biblical preaching for what it is – God speaking to your heart! God is telling you something!

B) Come with an attentive heart. In order for the Word to be effective in your life, you must be attentive with diligence (Prov. 8:34; I Peter 2:1-2; Luke 8:18; Ps. 119:18; Eph. 6:18-19)

C) You must prepare to hear and receive God’s Word when it comes (1 Pet. 2:1). You do this by putting away sinful things and desiring His good news.

D) Pray, pray, pray. Pray for your open heart. Pray for the preacher to preach from the Scripture, by the power of the Spirit (Psalm 119:18, etc.)

E) Hearers of the preached Word are to receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind (Heb. 4:2; 2 Thess. 2:10; James 1:21; Acts 17:11)

F) Hearers of the preached Word are to meditate and confer concerning it (Luke 9:44; Heb. 2:1; Luke 24:14; Deut. 6:6-7; Mal. 3:16). 

G) Learn to love God and His Word preached and to hide it in your heart (Psalm 119:11; Prov. 2:1).

H) Then, afterward, practice it immediately. Tell it, teach it, recite it, meditate upon it, do it (Luke. 8:15; James 1:25)!

Now, that is a very basic theology of preaching primer, it is in no way complete, but it lays out some grounding thoughts. There is much that could be said. For more study, I would recommend something like Dennis Johnson's Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures, Brian Chapell’s “Christ Centered Preaching”, and John Stott’s Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today, as well as anything by my old professor Haddon Robinson.

I would like to summarize today's thoughts this way. There is no alternative to preaching. Yes, preaching can be and necessarily must be improved. Every pastor should working hard to improve constantly. It is an imperative. To not work with every ounce to improve, given the significance of the task, would be incredibly sinful. I am light years ahead of where I was when I began; I pray that I will be 1000 times better than I am now before I retire. I believe that boring preaching is an insult to Christ himself. But I also believe that preaching has no substitute as the supreme means God uses to communicate, be it yesterday, today or forever.

---

[i] van Garderen, Rev. Dirk J, Faith in Focus, Preaching, The Supreme Means of Grace, I loved this phrase so much I’ve all but appropriated it. Faith in Focus is the denominational magazine of the Reformed Churches of New Zealand.

[ii] van Garderen, Rev. Dirk J, Faith in Focus, Preaching, The Supreme Means of Grace.

[iii]Duncan, Ligon, Gospel coalition workshop: Preaching Q&A with Ligon Duncan and Crawford Loritts. You can listen to it here.

[iv] Fernando, Ajith, NIV Application Commentary: Acts. Page 132

[v] Duncan, Ligon, Gospel coalition workshop: Preaching Q&A with Ligon Duncan and Crawford Lottis.

[vi]. Forsyth, P. T, Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind (pp.68-69).

A Week On Preaching

Last spring, I was faced with some serious challenges from within the church I pastor that forced me to evaluate my understanding of the role and power of preaching. I was told by the pastoral relations committee of my church that the sermons were to be no more than 20 minutes long, and it was made clear that I could toe the line, or else. I agreed to hold that line (for awhile), but I made clear that we needed to revisit the subject once and for all. At first it wasn’t dealt with. The agreed upon date to revisit the subject came and went, and to my shame I didn’t force us all back to the table. After speaking to someone with legal training and being told that there was breach of contract on the pastoral relations committee side for not reconvening as agreed, I just blew off the agreement. It was sinful of me, I should have made us all come back to the table to finish the process properly (yes, pastors can sin too- I confessed this and repented of it to the pastoral relations committee last fall, and I continue to admit it now). However, last fall, the subject was re-opened, dealt with properly, and put to bed with the pastoral relationship committee. I believe we are past it forever. 

Here on the anniversary of that ugliness, I would like to reflect on some of the things that I learned as a result, because while it was a rough time, it really forced me to think about preaching carefully and critically and it made my understanding of the importance of preaching grow. I came to realize that preaching is a live or die issue for me. It's an issue that would limit my tenure if unresolved (at First Baptist Medfield or any other church I serve).

Why? Why is this a hill I was ready to die on, and would still be ready to die on?

Because I believe that preaching shapes how effective a pastor is, because it is through the preaching of the word that God speaks. The ministry of the Word, preaching and teaching of the Gospel, is the apex of the service, if we minimize the preaching of the Gospel, if we make it something we tolerate rather than love and elevate, we tell something to the church, and the world around about what we think of what God has to say. The more I thought about it and read last summer and fall, the firmer my convictions became that church that grow and thrive, not just in size, but also in depth and vibrancy, are churches that take time to really examine the Word of God, feast on it, and are shaped by it.

With this said, I would like to structure what I have to say on preaching in this way. Tuesday I will lay out the theology of preaching that under-girds my approach to the pulpit. Wednesday, I will speak to some of the general arguments that I have heard about why we need the sermon to be no more than 20 minutes (both in and out of my church). Thursday, I will speak about some practical considerations in regards to preaching in a postmodern world. Friday, I will walk through what I will call closing considerations. I hope that this is helpful to all. 

Preaching: How Biblical Preaching Brings True Revival

Preaching is the key to revival, both in a local church, or in the Church, Capitol C, Universal church made up of every tongue tribe and nation.

This week, I will post some sections from a document that I put together on preaching last summer and fall that lay out the theology of preaching that under-girds how I view preaching, and an answer to some of the common objections to preaching. For today, enjoy!

Today, please ponder this timely reminder by Dr. Steve Lawson.

Every season of reformation and every hour of spiritual awakening have been ushered in by a recovery of biblical preaching. This cause and effect is timeless and inseparable. J.H. Merle D’Aubigné, noted Reformation historian, writes, “The only true reformation is that which emanates from the Word of God.” That is to say, as the pulpit goes, so goes the church.

Such was the case in the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other reformers were raised up by God to lead this era. At the forefront, it was their recovery of expository preaching that helped launch this religious movement that turned Europe and, eventually, Western civilization upside down. With sola Scriptura as their battle cry, a new generation of biblical preachers restored the pulpit to its former glory and revived apostolic Christianity.

The same was true in the golden era of the puritans in the seventeenth century. A recovery of biblical preaching spread like wildfire through the dry religion of Scotland and England. A resurgence of authentic Christianity came as an army of biblical expositors—John Owen, Jeremiah Burroughs, Samuel Rutherford, and others—marched upon the British Empire with an open Bible and uplifted voice. In its wake, the monarchy was shaken and history was altered.

The eighteenth century witnessed exactly the same. The Bible-saturated preaching of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and the Tennents thundered through the early colonies. The Atlantic seaboard was electrified with the proclamation of the gospel, and New England was taken by storm. The Word was preached, souls were saved, and the kingdom expanded.

The fact is, the restoration of biblical preaching has always been the leading factor in any revival of genuine Christianity. Philip Schaff writes, “Every true progress in church history is conditioned by a new and deeper study of the Scriptures.” That is to say, every great revival in the church has been ushered in by a return to expository preaching.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, preacher of Westminster Chapel London, stated, “The most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church, it is the greatest need of the world also.” If the doctor’s diagnosis is correct, and this writer believes it is, then a return to true preaching—biblical preaching, expository preaching—is the greatest need in this critical hour. If a reformation is to come to the church, it must begin in the pulpit.

In his day, the prophet Amos warned of an approaching famine, a deadly drought that would cover the land. But not an absence of mere food or water, for this scarcity would be far more fatal. It would be a famine for hearing God’s Word (Amos 8:11). Surely, the church today finds itself in such similar days of shortage. Tragically, exposition is being replaced with entertainment, doctrine with drama, theology with theatrics, and preaching with performances. What is so desperately needed today is for pastors to return to their highest calling—the divine summons to “preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:1–2).

What is expository preaching? The Genevan reformer John Calvin explained, “Preaching is the public exposition of Scripture by the man sent from God, in which God Himself is present in judgment and in grace.” In other words, God is unusually present, by His Spirit, in the preaching of His Word. Such preaching starts in a biblical text, stays in it, and shows its God-intended meaning in a life-changing fashion.

This was the final charge of Paul to young Timothy: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). Such preaching necessitates declaring the full counsel of God in Scripture. The entire written Word must be expounded. No truth should be left untaught, no sin unexposed, no grace unoffered, no promise undelivered

A heaven-sent revival will only come when Scripture is enthroned once again in the pulpit. There must be the clarion declaration of the Bible, the kind of preaching that gives a clear explanation of a biblical text with compelling application, exhortation, and appeal.
Every preacher must confine himself to the truths of Scripture. When the Bible speaks, God speaks. The man of God has nothing to say apart from the Bible. He must not parade his personal opinions in the pulpit. Nor may he expound worldly philosophies. The preacher is limited to one task—preach the Word.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “I would rather speak five words out of this book than 50,000 words of the philosophers. If we want revivals, we must revive our reverence for the Word of God. If we want conversions, we must put more of God’s Word into our sermons.” This remains the crying need of the hour.

May a new generation of strong men step forward and speak up, and may they do so loud and clear. As the pulpit goes, so goes the church.

 Amen and Amen!

Repentance

When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance”, wrote Martin Luther as he began the 95 Thesis. Stop and think about that for a moment. All of the Christian life is repentance. Ouch.

Why is repentance so important? Because it’s only when we see “the ugliness of our sin that we can glimpse the beauty of God’s grace”. Dennis Johnson observed that “Repentance is intrinsic to "the gospel of God's grace", for only those who see the ugliness of their sin can glimpse the beauty of God's grace. Repentance is not only a turning from sin and misplaced worship, but also a turning towards God. While repentance is appropriately shown in heartfelt grief for past evil we should not overlook it's positive dimension; turning in humble dependence to the living God who saves. Paul speaks of a worldly sorrow that leads to death. Such was Judas remorse when he saw his own treachery lead to Jesus condemnation. Whereas Judas turned from God towards self-destruction, God's gift for repentance turns us back to him. Despite the folly and evil of past attitudes and actions, we turn to Him in the hope that his mercy can overpower our guilt, and that His spirit can overpower proneness to rebellion. People who have repented in response to the Gospels call will "practice deeds worthy of repentance". Because repentance is a turning towards God, it is inextricably bound to faith (The Message of Acts, page 153).

Ultimately, repentance is more than a onetime thing. Repentance is the way we make as followers of Christ in the gospels. The clearest sign that we are growing and developing Christ-like character is that we hate our sin and are repenting of it. Repentance should permeate all of life, like salt permeates your dinner and makes it tastier. Every area of your life should be marked by repentance. All of your life should be marked by an intentional turning away from sin and towards God, as you trust in the good news that Jesus saves sinners. The gospel is for each and every day, it’s something that should shape you each and every moment, and seeing it should lead to a continual posture of repentance.

Luther got this. Almost 30 years later, on February 16, 1546, Luther’s last words, written on a piece of scrap paper, echoed the theme of his first thesis: “We are beggars! This is true”. From opening thesis to dying breath, Luther understood this and lived with it at the foot of the cross, in that place where our rebellious sin condition meets with the beauty of God’s incredible grace in the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ—a gospel that is deep enough to cover each and every flaw us “beggars”. As you move through Lent and towards Easter, as you move through this time that has historically been marked by thinking of the suffering of Christ, and as you think about the gospel; see your sin, see the cross and the grace of God, and make repentance your continual approach to life.

Abortion Got Personal

Last week I saw two stories that broke my heart. The first on is about 6 years old, but the second one was in the news last week.

Story one was of a botched abortion. A young mother accused a Florida clinic of botching her abortion, allowing her child to be born alive - then putting the baby into a plastic bag and throwing her out with the trash. Here is the core of the story, you can read the whole story here.

 Aged 18, Ms Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy...Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated and ready for the procedure.But Dr Renelique did not arrive in time - and, according to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labour and delivered a live baby girl. Then, Ms Williams and the Department of Health claim, one of the clinic's owners - who has no medical licence - cut the infant's umbilical cord. Ms Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic bio-hazard bag and threw it out. Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips. An autopsy revealed air in the baby girl's lungs - proving that she was born alive and breathing.

The Second one was in the news last week, and was all the rage on Facebook. Here is the essence of the story. You can read the whole story here.

The parents of a four-year-old Oregon girl with Down syndrome were awarded $2.9 million after doctors misdiagnosed their daughter as not having the condition during a prenatal screening.

Ariel and Deborah Levy of Portland, Ore., filed a “wrongful birth” lawsuit against Legacy Health System, claiming that they would have terminated the pregnancy had they known they would have a special-needs child.

The Levys said the doctors were “negligent in their performance, analysis and reporting” of test results after their child was born as well.“It’s been difficult for them,” said David K. Miller, the Levy’s lawyer, “There’s been a lot of misinformation out there. “These are parents who love this little girl very, very much,” Miller said. “Their mission since the beginning was to provide for her and that’s what this is all about.

The $2.9 million will cover the estimated extra lifetime costs of caring for someone with Down syndrome.

Here's the thought that struck me with both stories. Life is cheap. We throw it in a garbage can. We dispose of it because it might have a genetic defect. We ponder after birth abortion (aka infanticide), and euthanasia, like it's no big deal

Now, you may have notice that I have talked about abortion allot lately. It got real and personal a couple months ago. I have always been pro-life. My mom volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center, and my sister in Law is the director of one right now. But it came home in a new way a few months ago when Veronique and I where told that our daughter might, might (less than one percent chance) be Down's Syndrome.

Now, come what may, we're keeping her. She's made in the image of God. She's our daughter. We stopped the inquiry, it doesn't matter. But what has broken my heart was the statement by the doctor that while 1 in every 600 pregnancies are Downs syndrome babies, 97 percent are aborted. the words from the doctors mouth have left me heartbroken. 1 in every 600, but only 3 percent of those children live. Now the stats I saw when I searched the internet where a little bit different, but they reflected the general trend she cited. When parents find out their kids are Downs syndrome babies, they abort them. They kill their child. What are we doing? How can we stand numbly by?

Atheist and Reason: They don’t own it

Today, the leading atheists are holding a "Reason Rally" on the National Mall in Washington. They will  hold up Reason as the banner that they believe people should rally, and claim that it will lead thinking persons away from belief in God.

This is an assertion that doesn't stand up to the weight of Reason. Today I would like to point out two articles that are worthy of your consideration.

First, from the Washington Post, an article every Christian should contemplate. Atheists don’t own reason by Tom Gilson, a writer and missions strategist blogging at www.thinkingchristian.net, and the managing editor of the collaborative e-book “True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism.” Here are some excerpts from his article. Read it all here.

The new atheists--participants in the contemporary anti-religion movement led by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, the late Christopher Hitchens, among others--are working overtime to tell the world that reason favors atheism, and atheism alone...For years, though, knowledgeable critics have been calling attention to new atheist’ rational fallacies, emotionally loaded rhetoric, and illegitimate, selective use of evidence. It’s time now to add that up together and recognize what it means: the new atheists have no business proclaiming themselves the defenders of reason, simply because they don’t practice it competently....Of course that’s not what the new atheists want us to believe. It is religion, they say, that is the antithesis of reason... What happens, though, when we examine the new atheists’ own “reasonableness” and “internal coherence”?

Sam Harris debated William Lane Craig last April on whether atheism or theism (roughly defined as the belief in one God) provides a better explanation for the existence of moral truths (transcript here). Opinions may differ as to which of them held the more defensible position. What can hardly be disputed, though, is that Craig showed up with logical arguments, at least one of which, if sound, would completely destroy Harris’s atheistic explanation for morality. Harris conspicuously ignored this, and indeed virtually all of Craig’s logic. He devoted one 12-minute segment to rhetoric depicting Christianity in the most negative light possible, and suggesting that we should therefore conclude that Christianity is wrong. It was what logicians would describe as a fallacious appeal to emotion with respect to the question being debated and to the points Craig had raised.

In his best-selling “The God Delusion,” Richard Dawkins devotes an entire chapter to unscientific anecdotes supporting his belief that a religious upbringing is abusive to children. (See also “Religion’s Real Child Abuse.”) Actual science shows exactly the opposite: spiritually engaged teens are healthier than others on multiple dimensions. Such abandonment of science is surprisingly irrational for the man who was formerly Oxford University’s Professor for the Public Understanding of Science. But rational and logical errors are pervasive throughout “The God Delusion,” so much so that University of Florida philosopher Michael Ruse, an atheist, would endorse Alister and Joanna Collicutt McGrath’s “The Dawkins Delusion?” by saying, “‘The God Delusion’ makes me embarrassed to be an atheist, and the McGraths show why.”

These are, unfortunately, not isolated examples.The American Atheists, for example, co-sponsored a billboard in Harrisburg, PA juxtaposing half of a sentence from the Bible with an inflammatory, racially charged image of slavery. In doing so they combined at least two rational errors: the fallacious appeal to emotion and imagery, and the “straw man” fallacy of misrepresenting their opponents’ position; for although the quoted phrase, “Slaves, obey your masters,” is troubling on the surface, the Bible’s supposed endorsement of slavery is not what atheists allege it to be. As Glenn Sunshine shows in his chapter in “True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism,” Christianity has in fact been history’s major force for the freeing of slaves. Immediate abolition was realistically impossible in New Testament times: The Romans would have treated it as insurrection, and the inevitable bloodshed to follow it would have produced greater evil than would have been alleviated by abolition. The injunction to “obey” was thus temporary and contextual. It was also tempered with instructions to masters to treat slaves reasonably, as fellow human beings. Eventually slavery “virtually disappeared” from Europe under Christianity’s influence, as social historian Rodney Stark stated in “For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery” (p. 299).

Failures in the practice of rational reasoning such as these are all too common among the New Atheists. They charge Christianity with being unreasoning or unreasonable, but too often they do so as they have done with slavery: use incomplete evidence or demonstrably invalid reasoning. From my observations, it adds up to this: the new atheists’ difficulty with valid, responsible reasoning is widespread and systemic. Far from being the defenders of reason, they are among the chief offenders against it. It’s time we called them on that.

Second, an excerpt from True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism, entitled The Irony Of Atheism that can be found at Gospel Coalition. Read it all here.

One of the great ironies of the contemporary atheistic movement comes from its ubiquitous use of rhetoric, branding, and emotional triggers to advocate for reason. The leading atheists trumpet their devotion to reason in all their public communications, typically featuring the word in bold type across the names of their books, websites, organizations, and events...Throughout their books, talks, and websites, the New Atheists consistently promote their allegiance to the glory of reason. This is not a novel development; the "new" atheists are hardly the first atheists to claim the brand of reason for themselves. In Aristophanes's play The Knights, written in 424 B.C., Demosthenes asks Nicias, "Do you then believe there are gods? . . . What proof have you?" There is a well-established tradition that connects the skepticism of religion with a love for reason. But some of these connections are more dubious than others. For instance, during the French Revolution, a "Cult of Reason" ransacked churches for their silver and gold and "converted" these churches into Temples of Reason. In the government-sanctioned "Festival of Reason" that accompanied this movement, a young woman was presented as the Goddess of Reason. At other times the connection has been presented hyperbolically, without reference to serious historical or sociological research.

How Atheists Unwittingly Honor God

For the New Atheists, as for some of the old, ardent love for reason apparently motivates visceral disgust of religion...Despite such attacks, as Christians we are delighted that those who consider themselves our opponents are such ardent appreciators of reason. After all, Jesus famously proclaimed that the most important commandment includes loving God "with all of your mind" (Mk. 12:30). So, ironically, we believe that atheists honor God unawares when they reason well. Because we desire to honor God, we want to demonstrate why Christianity provides the most reasonable framework for the existence and use of reason.

The contrasts are clear: atheists claim that religion is the main barrier to reason. Christians believe our capacity to reason comes from being created in the image of an all-knowing God, and the active use of reason is an important way to honor him. Atheists brand themselves as a community united by reason. Christians marvel at how this group rallies together even as their most prominent leader, Richard Dawkins, argues that evolution favors the selfish gene, not the reasonable group. Atheists work hard to eradicate religion for the sake of a brighter future. Christians are amazed that atheists so blissfully ignore the scientific fact that, if religion is a false consolation, the future always ends in death.

Atheism Is a Thought Stopper

Leading atheist Sam Harris says "faith is a conversation stopper." Christians reply that Harris has also said that none of us is "the author of your thoughts and actions in the way that people generally suppose." The reductionistic, deterministic, and materialistic worldview of many atheists seems, to reasonable Christians, to exclude the existence of transcendent, immaterial things like propositions, the rules of logic, and, most important of all, the very existence of minds.

These aren't straw men, but rather, a description of how many atheists see the stakes as well. Consider the famous Madalyn Murray O'Hair's speech on atheism from 1962:

We must look to materialistic philosophy which alone enables men to understand reality and to know how to deal with it . . . Atheism is based upon a materialist philosophy, which holds that nothing exists but natural phenomena. There are no supernatural forces or entities, nor can there be any. Nature simply exists. But there are those who deny this, who assert that only mind or idea or spirit is primary. This question of the relation of the human mind to material being is one of the fundamental questions dealt with by all philosophers, however satisfactorily. The Atheist must slice through all obfuscation to bedrock, to the basic idea that those who regard nature as primary and thought as a property (or function) of matter belong to the camp of materialism, and that those who maintain that spirit or idea or mind existed before nature or created nature or uphold nature belong to the camp of idealism. All conventional religions are based on idealism.

That is the question: do we have minds, or are we neurological processors akin to robots? And which worldview can better account for the existence and use of reason?

In short, [True Reason] directly challenges the goals of organized atheist communities. Our hope is their fear: a revitalization of faith and thinking Christianity. Their identity as reasoning individuals depends upon the truth of our worldview. Their communal ideals of honesty, freedom, love, and justice are borrowed from the Bible. The very existence of reasoning Christians responding to atheist rhetoric undermines their fallacious, straw man depiction of religious people.

Read them both in full, and as you do, remember that as Christians, we should be driven, not to be a-reason, but driven to be more reasonable, more rational, more thoughtful than those who look to reason with hope, because we believe, with all of our heart that we should be, as Romans says, transformed through the renewing our of mind.