Category: Bible & Theology

3March2016

How to Listen to a Sermon

Written By robfaircloth1 Comment on How to Listen to a Sermon

Part of healthy church life is faithful expository preaching. In fact, one could say that expository preaching is foundational to the life and health of any local congregation.

Much is written for preachers to help them prepare biblical, expository sermons. One would think that listening to them wouldn’t require much instruction. After all, everyone should already know how to do that.

Years ago, Mortimer Adler wrote How to Read a Book. Material abounded to help authors write books, but Adler demonstrated that just because someone possesses the mechanical skill to read a book doesn’t necessarily mean he has the ability to comprehend it. In the same way, just because someone possesses the mechanical ability to hear doesn’t necessarily mean that he is able to listen to a sermon.

What Is a Sermon?

The concept of sermons and preaching has entered the vernacular of our conversation in many ways. When someone is trying to tell us what to do, we might tell him “Quit preaching at me!” Or we might describe his attempt at persuasion as “sermonizing.”

For now, we might define preaching as “proclaiming, explaining and applying the Bible” and a sermon as “a particular event of preaching.” Given those definitions, it is still quite possible that someone might tell the one delivering a sermon “Quit preaching at me!” You’ve quit preaching and done gone to meddling… And it is still quite possible for a preacher to be guilty of sermonizing. It is also quite possible that those who think they are delivering sermons are actually more soporific than watching paint dry.

What might also be helpful for would-be sermon listeners would be a series of instructional articles including How to Tell Good from Bad Sermons, How to Listen to a Bad Sermon, and How to Wake from Dozing During a Bad Sermon and Make Others Believe You Were Listening. For now, it might be appropriate to talk about what sermons are not.

A SERMON IS NOT A MUSIC VIDEO

I know. This comparison may be lost on those to whom music video is just as anachronistic as “butter churn” or Vitalis. But the medium of communication inaugurated by the music video shaped entertainment and limited the collective attention span in a…er, what was I talking about?

We should not expect a sermon to last from 3 ½ to 5 minutes or have great special effects, heavy make-up, pyrotechnics, or teased hair. The preacher should not enter the pulpit through the mist and smoke created by a fog machine.

Some say that the modern audience is no longer able to focus on an average-length sermon. But the content of a proper sermon is infinitely more valuable than a music video, an episode of Law & Order, or even the three-hour finale in the swan song of American Idol. If we can sit through those, we can pay attention to a 30-, 45-, or (whoa!) even hour-long sermon about matters of eternal consequence.

A SERMON IS NOT A BLOG POST

In the world of constant, rapid change, blogging is old news. It’s also sort of like a navel: everybody’s got one. They can also be anonymous, untrue, and vicious, which are not the sort of things with which to compare sermons.

But sometimes our temptation is to treat sermons the same way. The preacher might use the (anonymous) material of another preacher, throw assertions out without foundation and let the proverbial comment stream go wild until – after 732 posts – the thread is finally exhausted because the people are, too, and no one remembers what set the whole thing off.

A SERMON IS NOT A TEXT MESSAGE

A prchr cnt rdc t msg 2 its strppd cmpnts & xpct 2 b bff 4vr w/t cngrgtn.

A SERMON IS NOT A TWEET

But, if it were:
10:17 a.m. – Walking to the pulpit.
10:18 a.m. – opening the Bible. Turn to James 1:16-18.
10:19 a.m. – What good is God?
10:24 a.m. – Sorry, been in the bathroom (swine flu).
10:26 a.m. – Walking stage left and gesticulating: Stand firm in trials.
10:45 a.m. – Battery went dead; had to recharge
10:52 a.m. – Out of cell range for a while…
11:04 a.m. – Genuflecting: Pray with me.

A sermon is not a book, an owner’s manual, or a Idiot’s Guide to whatever. It is the proclamation of the word of God to the people of God through the man of God whom He has called and equipped for that purpose.

So, dmnd gd srmns that prclm Gd’s wrd. BFF, lol, CU ltr.

18February2016

If the Kingdom is here, why do things look the same?

Written By robfaircloth

Many non-Christians point to continued suffering in the world as evidence that there is, in fact, no “kingdom” of Christ. How good can the reign of a holy God be when it is attended by oppression, sickness, disaster and continued strife between men? If a “king” has come, shouldn’t we see his throne, his castle, his fortifications and armies?

Unfortunately, many believers look at the world around us and and ask the same question, leading to doubts, insecurity, and a ministry characterized by ineffectiveness and fruitlessness.

Mark 1:14-20 addresses some of those concerns. Even though the arrival of the kingdom is not accompanied by great fanfare (castles and armies and such), it demands radical change in the lives of those who hear of its arrival.

We should recognize several things about the arrival of this kingdom.

First, its Context is Immediate. Jesus says that the “time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand.” Unlike our expressions in which we use “kingdom come” as a distant event (“you could tell him that until kingdom come”), we pray “thy kingdom come” in recognition that the kingdom is both here and is also coming: it is “already, but not yet.”

Second, its Circumstance is Normal. Mark quotes Old Testament prophets to teach that John the Baptizer was the messenger before the Lord/LORD, and that Jesus is the “one greater than” John. But with the arrival of the king, and of the kingdom, Andrew and Simon still have to fish for a living. Men still need to eat. James and John still have to mend broken nets. The earth still yields thorns and thistles from the curse of the Fall (Genesis 3).

Third, its Demands are Comprehensive. The kingdom is at hand, so “repent, and believe the gospel.” When a king has conquered territory and is establishing the reign in his realm, the occupants have a choice: join the new kingdom or rebel and face the consequences.

Fourth, its Effects are Radical. The king issues a call demanding men come: 1) to him — not to a cause or to a principle; 2) to service — to become fishers of men, not to simply know something; and 3) to fellowship — he calls men to follow among others whose names they know, not to a faith that is private or anonymous. And men leave all to follow him. Andrew, Simon, James and John left their business, their family and even those on the payroll in order to follow Jesus.

Are we, too, required to quit work or leave family? Not necessarily. But we should be diligent not to permit mending nets and tending family to prevent us from following him.

The fanfare of the kingdom of Christ is the radical change of nature, the wholesale reorientation of mind and will and emotions that occurs in men when they are exposed to the arrival of the kingdom in the preaching of the gospel, hear the call of Christ, and repent and believe.

It does not matter, then, that the nets are still broken.

17February2016

Does everything have to be so “biblical”?

Written By robfaircloth

Many people who identify themselves as Christ-followers claim to believe the Bible is God’s revelation of himself to us, and, in the words of a famous confession, is the only sure guide as to what God would have us believe about him and what duty he requires of us.

Yet one author has pointed out that the claimed authority of Scripture is much different than the ‘functional authority of the Bible,’ that is, whether Scripture actually governs faith and practice in the life of the church.

Judging by what people say, there is not much functional authority goin’ on out there. Some of the most revealing statements come from church leaders, such as deacons. I collect anecdotes of the things leaders say, and for a long time the winner (loser?) in this area was the following:

I Don’t Want to Disagree with the Scriptures, but…[I will, anyway]

The deacons at a church were discussing the formation of a search committee for pastor, and worldly standards of education and prominence had been governing who the deacons suggested for the committee. One deacon then stood and read the various passages of Scripture teaching that the body is made up of various parts, each one fulfilling a specific role, and suggested that the deacons look to the spiritual qualifications and giftedness of its members to determine who should comprise the search committee. There was no discussion, but another deacon stood and began his defense of the former, traditional option with, “I don’t want to disagree with the Scriptures, but…”

That example has been relegated to position number two by the following:

Does Everything Have to be so Biblical?

The pastor had expressed his objection to the proposed Christmas program, which was more It’s a Wonderful Life than Advent, and a deacon, obviously growing tired of the preacher’s explanations, said “Biblical, biblical, biblical. Does everything this church does have to be so biblical?”

Well, one would hope so…

4June2013

The Role of Grace in the Life of the Believer

Written By robfaircloth

It is in vogue today to speak frequently about “grace” and “the gospel” in Christian circles, to the point that those terms are combined with and attached to virtually every conceivable topic, so that everything is “grace this” and “gospel-centered that”.  And we are to preach grace to ourselves and preach the gospel to ourselves on a regular basis, and determine how “gospel truth” applies in any given number of circumstances.

Grace and the gospel (good news) through which we are told of it are fundamental to Christian life, both in the sense that we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) and walk in grace (1 Corinthians 15:10; Galatians 3:3). It is only by God’s good pleasure that any sinner is saved, and it is only by God’s good pleasure that any believer who still carries the sin nature (all of us!) is able to become more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-30).

But make no mistake about it: it is God’s expectation that the good pleasure which saves us, and the good pleasure which sustains us, will actually, inevitably and invariably result in a follower who is more holy today than he was yesterday (1 Peter 1:15-16) and more obedient tomorrow than she was today (John 14:15).

While it is true that the believer must continually preach the gospel to himself in order not to fall into legalism or works-righteousness – or the despair that comes from the realization that we fail at both of those – the danger is that we come to see the truth of grace as an excuse for failing to root out sin in our lives, or failing to pursue practical obedience and holiness in all aspects of our walk with God. In other words, too much focus on grace leaves us the subject of Paul’s admonition that we shouldn’t keep on sinning just because we can count on grace to cover our disobedience (Romans 6:1).

We can, in fact, abuse grace and abuse the gospel just as easily as we abuse any other blessing from God.

When we do abuse grace and abuse the gospel, it is revealed in very practical ways and in many of our relationships. The idea that we should “let go and let God” is quite popular, but when it is applied to our obligation to live holy lives, it can have disastrous consequences. Abuse of grace comes about when we fail to take action – action that is frequently expressly commanded in Scripture – on the grounds that God will forgive us, anyway.

For instance, fathers are commanded “do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). The book of Proverbs fleshes out more fully what the “discipline and admonition of the Lord” is. Thankfully, God’s grace covers our frequent failures as parents to fulfill this command perfectly. We are able to come to God with our frequent sin in parenting and receive forgiveness as with any other sin (1 John 1:8-9), and praise God for that!

However, a father may decide that bringing up his children in the discipline and admonition of the Lord is just too hard, or cramps his style, or isn’t “loving” enough. Similarly, a father may decide that stringent adherence to God’s instruction for parents and the expectations that children behave rightly is too “legalistic”, and besides, if God wants his children to behave, He will take care of that Himself. That father is, to be sure, abusing grace, and cannot count on the favor of God. He might, indeed, be truly saved and enter heaven with God, but he will be held accountable by God for his abuse of grace and his failure to obey the command of Christ with regard to parenting.

Similarly, harboring personal sin is an area where believers might abuse grace. We frequently speak of our “weaknesses” – by which we mean sins to which we are particularly prone – and praise God for his ongoing forgiveness of our sin in those areas.  By grace, God does forgive us. But it is an abuse of grace simply to recognize sin, seek and receive forgiveness, and even repent – when “repenting” is merely being sorry, but taking no steps to obey and change into the image of Christ in that area.

For instance, someone may admit to having a temper problem (which the Bible calls “outbursts of anger”) and sincerely seek forgiveness. Yet if he thinks that this will cause God to instantly remove the sin itself, or somehow obligates God to withhold discipline for continued instances of it, he is mistaken, and is abusing God’s grace.

The truth is, grace is a huge blessing for sinners, and as one of those aspects of God’s disposition toward us, we will never exhaust the riches that it holds. One of the riches of grace is that God is merciful, longsuffering and patient with us, and forgives us again and again.

Yet grace is not merely the favorable disposition of God toward us by which he is inclined to forgive us when we disobey him. Another aspect of the riches of grace is that is also the power of God to avoid sin and to obey him in the first place (2 Corinthians 12:9).

A faithful follower of Christ should, indeed, crave grace, know it, depend on it. But we abuse that very grace when all that we crave is mercy for our disobedience. The faithful follower of Christ should also crave from God that aspect of grace that empowers us to obey him.

10May2013

Deviation is Death (but grace…)

Written By robfaircloth

To be honest, Leviticus usually gets short shrift from most Bible reading plans.

Not that it isn’t included as one of the books to be read along with fan favorites, but believers who come along Leviticus in those plans, or who are looking for devotional material to start or end their day, don’t typically remain there long.

All Scripture, it is said, is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Theoretically, then, it is also profitable for preaching, though one who goes looking for examples in all the sermon outline resources will find that Leviticus is among the least represented. When I undertook to preach through Leviticus at Covenant Grace Baptist Church [Troy AL], I knew of only two other pastors who had done so, neither of which I actually knew, and one of which had been exposed as a heretic. Those facts did not give me much with which to persuade the congregation that the project was worthwhile.

Sample logic chain: all pastors who preach through Leviticus are either unknown or heretics; you are a preacher; therefore, if you preach through Leviticus it will make you either insignificant or apostate (and listening to it can’t be good for us, either).

Fortunately, the premises of the syllogism are untrue: it isn’t “all pastors,” and preaching doesn’t “make” the results.

What, then, does a Bible-believing congregation of Christian believers do with Leviticus? It’s Law, after all, and we are “not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

What one finds in Leviticus is, among other things, a corrective to a “law-less” grace, a grace that gives ample room for additional sin in order for grace to abound (Romans 6:1). More on that later.

Deviation is Death

A bird’s eye view of Leviticus, with its many provisions for sacrifices, cleanliness, festivals, behavior and temple accoutrements, leaves us with the immediate impression that DEVIATION from the standard of God means certain DEATH. Deviating from God’s standard of holiness results in the death of animals in the burnt offerings, purification offerings, reparation offerings, and others. Sons of Aaron, who offered “strange fire” to the Lord and deviated from his command, suffered instant and dramatic death (during a worship service!). And many violations of God’s commands carried the death penalty.

But Grace is Life

It would be easy to think that Leviticus is no place to find grace, but to do so would be a terrible mistake.

It is, after all, the same holy God who judges sin who also gives instructions for men to be able to come into his presence and not be burned to a crisp. It is the same God who sends unclean people outside the camp who also provides for the manner in which they can re-enter the camp. It is the same God who punishes his people repeatedly, severely, and dramatically who also promises that he will not “forsake them utterly” (Leviticus 26).

One of the first things we see as we come to Leviticus is that we must come without seeing God according to the caricature of God: in the Old Testament, God is angry; in the New Testament Jesus has softened him up.

Furthermore, DEVIATION is still DEATH: either our own, for our sin, or else Christ’s, for our sin. And, while grace is most completely demonstrated in the person and work of Jesus Christ, Leviticus shows us that even in the sacrificial system of the Old Testament and the penalty of death for law-breakers, God was showing his grace to people who did not deserve it.

9January2012

The Great Tribulation that was? Paradigm change in Mark 13

Written By robfaircloth

In Mark 13 — Jesus’ Olivet Discourse — we are told about ‘great tribulation,’ persecution, wars and earthquakes and famines, the ‘abomination of desolation,’ and the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great glory. We are told of an event in which the son is dark, the moon doesn’t shine, stars fall from the sky…

Surely, this is ‘end times-‘, Armageddon-, ‘Left Behind’-type stuff, right?

Maybe, but at least it dealt with things that the original hearers would experience. Giving us the most trouble is Jesus’ time reference that ‘this generation’ would not pass away and that the ‘gospel must be preached to all nations.’

But sometimes the apocalyptic langauge obscures a more fundamental, and much more dramatic, truth about what is going on with the destruction of the Temple.

Through the time of Jesus, the nations and people in them that wanted to access the one, true God had to do so by coming through His people, Israel, and specifically the Temple. This is why God engineered into the Temple the ‘Court of the Gentiles,’ so that the nations could come and give proper worship to Yahweh. This is why, as a result, Jesus was so angry that Israel’s religious leaders had effectively shut out the nations from Temple life by making the Court of the Gentiles a sanctified bazaar. The Temple, which represented access to God for all nations, had become Israel’s self-serving private religious club.

If the Temple were then to be destroyed, as Jesus indicated in the parable of the fig tree and the Olivet Discourse, and if God’s promise to give to Christ people from all nations, peoples and tongues were still in effect, those nations should know how to come to Yahweh without a temple in Israel.

Those nations would be told, in effect, that their access to God is no longer through a particular people, no longer through a specific city, in a specific building, but their access to Yahweh is now through a Man, who was killed but now lives, never to die again.

Those nations touched by the Roman Empire, many of which we see represented at Pentecost, would have known that Israel’s God had established his temporal abode at the Temple in Jerusalem. It was those nations that missionary Paul asserted had been reached with the gospel in his lifetime, those nations to which the ‘gospel must be preached’ before the Temple destroyed.

Must now the gospel be preached to all nations before Christ returns the final time? Perhaps, and probably, when we consider the frequent dual-fulfillment of prophecy that Scripture gives us.

But don’t neglect the impact of Jesus’ teaching about first-century events. The message to the Gentiles before the destruction of the Temple was that they could still come to Yahweh, but now through the mediation of the Son of Man, whose regime was confirmed in glory when the last vestiges of the old were confirmed in 70 AD.

7July2011

Save-less, life-less faith

Written By robfaircloth2 Comments on Save-less, life-less faith

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him. … So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:14, 17 ESV).

This is the point at which many think that James and Paul are at odds, because Paul says that we are not saved by works but by grace through faith. It is one of the reasons that Martin Luther considered James to be an “epistle of straw.”

But James and Paul can be reconciled, if not altogether easily. Their reconciliation is not easy not in the sense that their respective positions on faith and works are inherently opposed, but in the sense that reconciling them requires close attention and thought.

One means of reconciling them is to consider the error they were addressing. Paul addressed the problem of people believing that they were made right with God by their works, to which he responded that we are, instead, saved by faith alone. James addressed the problem of people believing that they need not do anything as alleged believers in Christ, to which he responded that instead, saving faith motivates actions.

This view of faith and works has prompted the slogan “we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.” This is not trite sloganeering, but a true reflection of the spiritual reality.

Our works cannot save us. But once we are saved through faith by grace, that grace-filled and grace-empowered faith will produce works. According to James, a “faith” that has no works cannot save — that is, a faith that does not produce works did not truly save — and is dead.

The specific example James gives is that of how the alleged believer responds to someone who needs clothing and food. A faith that provides nothing for the one in physical need, but only says — even in super-spiritual, Bible-quoting, sanctimonious language — “be warmed and be filled” is not true faith, and the one who says it is not saved.

What good, after all, is a faith that has no works?