Joe Pursch
The Cultural Chaos in Which We Preach
As I approach preaching to our congregation on the subject of The Reliability of The Resurrection tomorrow, a crowd undoubtedly containing a number of modern unbelievers, I struggle with the knowledge that my hearers will come steeped in a stew of suspicion regarding my Gospel. This is because we dwell in a world that has morphed into a hostile place for anyone who claims to be a Divine Truth Teller. To wit, consider the following summary of the situation by the author of Christianity on the Offense:
“Secular humanists believe that all religions were created by people. They consider people, rather than God, supreme in the universe. Their worldview seeks to push religious thought and life to the outer perimeter of human concerns—if not eliminate them altogether.
Contributing secular humanist philosophies include the following.
Evolution. The belief that life came into existence accidentally through natural, random processes over immense periods of time without the aid of a Higher Being. There is no God.
Materialism. The belief that all of reality is material (matter). Nothing spiritual or nonmaterial exists. Immortal souls or spirits do not exist; no mind exists independent of the brain. Even our thoughts can be reduced to chemical and neurological processes. There is no God.
Naturalism. This philosophy asserts that the universe is all there is and ever was and that all within it operate according to eternal, universal, unchanging natural laws. All of reality can be understood in terms of natural processes. There are no supernatural beings or supernatural events such as miracles and answered prayer. There is no God.
Postmodernism. The traditional form of secular humanism is rapidly evolving—especially in academia—into a new worldview that rejects objective truth and reason. In postmodernism, absolute truth is non-existent. “Truth” is subjective in that it is directly related to one’s cultural beliefs and experiences. Pluralism and relativism are the foundational presuppositions of postmodernism.”
The Complete Confidence in Which I Preach
“Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. ” Acts 13:48-49
Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. I recently counseled a female college student who wanted to reject Christianity because she felt she hooked up sexually with so many guys that God couldn’t possibly forgive her. Well, that’s not a new problem for God, actually. Augustine lived in the city of Milan in 360 A.D. where he was influenced by the preaching of the great Bishop Ambrose. Increasingly Augustine felt great conviction, but for him Christianity seemed impossible because since his mid teens sexual lust had dominated him. He felt hopeless about conversion. At a low point he heard a voice on the other side of a garden wall singing, “Pick up and read. Pick up and read.” Someone had left a New Testament nearby. When he opened the book his eyes fell on Romans 13:13, 14: “Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality. … But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”. Instantly, faith in God’s power surged into his fallen heart. From that moment he was a convert by the grace of God. Before he died Augustine left the church a legacy of 5 million words written with quill on parchment. “Augustine shaped the history of the Christian church,” notes John Piper. “His influence in the Western world is simply staggering. “I’m Joe Pursch. For more, go to transforming moments.com.
How Shall We Then Preach?
I read Christian family commentator Laura Higgins this morning on the voice of the church in the culture. She said this:
“We live, and move, and have our being in a culture that Neil Postman described as a place where “imagery, narrative, presentness, simultaneity, intimacy, immediate gratification, and quick emotional response” reign supreme and where “logic, sequence, history, exposition, objectivity, detachment, and discipline” resonate little. This means that those who can create compelling stories that pack an emotional punch will win the hearts and minds of Americans. Those who must rely on logic, exposition, and objectivity are at a distinct polemical disadvantage.”
If this is true, are we as communicators facing a requirement to re-craft how we communicate, the very process of how we preach? Many in the postmodernist “anti-preaching movement” would insist so. Or should we instead take this as a call to consider returning to Biblically sourced, expositional preaching precisely because of how God has structured His Word. I don’t know about you, but my Bible is full of imagery, narrative, and intimacy when I understand it as a collection of stories from the heart and mind of a pursuing Creator. And as to immediacy? Well, the brooding presence of the Spirit over every preaching moment should assure any Bible teacher of that. He can break through anytime, anywhere His Word is opened, with life changing influence.
Legacy Building and Pastors
I’ve been thinking lately about the trade-offs that we make in ministry for the sake of appearing more productive and successful. All too often, quantity takes precedence over quality, and in this highly competitive age the outward appearances of success that are calculated to enhance the reputation of the pastor often become of greater importance than the abiding consequences of his ministry. To put it another way, it’s so easy in this growth driven age to emphasize growing numbers over growing members. Take a moment and reread that last sentence, and ponder the subtle point.
If we understand that pastors have a primary ministry of equipping believers to become more wholly devoted followers of Christ, then the measure of any ministry is the maturity of the congregation. Or as a recent pastoral leader has said, “You measure a man’s ministry, not by how many people he stuffs in the building, not by how many people he reaches, but by how Christ-like his people are.” It’s as simple, and as challenging, as that.
As I have conversations with people who are looking for new senior leaders for their churches or enjoy dialog over coffee with pastors who are struggling with a sense of value in their current ministries, I become more convinced every day that this paradigm of impact is a very important thing to be clear on. Are shepherds responsible and successful only when they drive clear numerical results in their churches? Or are they most successful when the people God has placed within their ministry have become more deeply like Jesus Christ, be they large or small in number? I’d like to believe that Christ-likeness is the ultimate goal. And of course, Christ-likeness is a work that only the Spirit can do, using the supernatural impact of the Word of God brought to bear on lives by a godly and gifted individual.
The striking thing about much of the current information involving faith-related leadership is the huge variety of sources this thinking is coming from. Leadership experts are drawing their ideas from across the spectrum of perspective, from business schools and social commentators to pollsters and motivational stars. This content can often be helpful, but sooner or later the thoughtful Christian leader cries out “I’ve got variety in all this, but what I need is clarity. Clarity with certainty. In a phrase, Biblical Clarity.”
Clarity like this on the subject of leadership only comes when we trace our leadership concepts through the counsel of the Scriptures. As leaders, we need leadership insights that are not just related to the Scriptures, but sourced in them.