Week after week I stream. Day after day I download. I love to listen to our online church. Its open 24-7. I am thankful for all the self-named ministries that offer free MP3s or a hi-quality wma stream. I am grateful for all the preachers who remind me week after week that last year they had over a million downloads. Yep, I was one or two of those downloaders. There is good preaching out there. Ravi Z. RC Sproul. Mark Driscoll (sometimes). John McArthur. Papa Chuck. John Piper. Rob Bell. Others. All free. Amen to that.
Yet, as we consider the office of the modern Pulpit, we can't help but notice the $. The shiny black cars. The big brass plaques. The well-tailored suits. (Most of the men listed above do not have this personna.) Undoubtedly, some do pursue the Pulpit out of selfish ambition. Some preach because their names are in neon. Others preach because of the second home and the third car. Some preach for the applause of the nation. Some preach because they want to do nothing else.
As Paul said in his letter to the Phillipians, "Some, to be sure, preach out of envy and strife...and selfish ambition rather than pure motives."
But then Paul said something shocking.
"What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed and in this I rejoice. Yes..I will rejoice."
Paul was imprisoned. In more than one way, his hands were tied. Surely he must have had a strong rebuke for those selfish ministers. Surely he had the apostolic rod ready for the back of the envious preacher. But his hands were tied. It was enough for him to get this letter out. And this letter said, "I will rejoice."
Shocking.
Paul's statement teaches two concepts.
One. We know the local body needs to be pure. Selfish ambition and greed are not the qualities of its leaders. 1 Timothy 3. However, the local body is not going to put a stop to all greed. Its not going to put the brakes on all selfish ambition - especially outside of its own fellowship. Where the church can judge itself it should. But where it cannot, it must rejoice. Week after week, weak men proclaim a strong gospel. Week after week, the redeemed flow into the city of God on the powerless preaching of a powerful gospel. Let us rejoice. If we have the power to get the sin out of the camp, then let us do so. If not, then let us trust God.
Two. The power to save is really in the Gospel. Not the man. Not the perfect church. Not the clever message. Its the Gospel. The selfish man may be "talking to the Hand" on the Day of Judgment even while his message has saved hundreds. Amen to that. Praise be to the God who saves people when I talk. Praise be to the Christ who rescues souls even when the kerux-er is steeped in sin. Paul is not rejoicing in what is wrong but what is right. The saving message of Jesus.
Compare Phillipians 1 with Galatians 1.
In Galatians, then so-called brothers were preaching a different "gospel." A non-gospel. Paul said to let them burn. They came with ill-motives and a poor gospel. Let them burn. I dare say, Paul was pissed.
In Phillipians, the gospel of salvation in Christ is intact. Some of the preachers are envious, selfish and greedy but the gospel is the real deal. This is not a Maalox moment for Paul. He rejoices. He doesnt rejoice in the sin but in the salvation of souls. Hey man, at least Christ is being preached.
Some of the blatant self-promotion on the internet is enough to make you lose yesterday's meatloaf. But you know what? I am often encouraged by the messages and apparently (so says one preacher) so are millions of others.
I can't condone a limo and a neon sign but I will stand and say "Praise God" at the preaching of the Gospel of our Savior.
Done rambling.
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13 comments:
Point 2 is good. Am i the only person who's stomach grumbles when i hear the expression "I led such and such" to Christ" ? Or "he's a good man who's led many to the Lord."
Yes these people are vessels, but the emphasis is quickly placed on ME leading and not the Holy Spirit leading. All these forumals, three step, roman road programs, leave my stomach hurting. I feel like i'm cheating someone when i share with them some 4 spiritual points salvation plan. Are we making God a contract where you just sign your name after you hear the message?
But as Paul says, and you wisely put, we rejoice because the gospel is preached.
Anyhow,
Miss you j.
I have a lot of new toys. =)
Peace
Matt
MWC in full effect!
Man, you have to Skype me and give me the lowdown on the new toys!
Every Christian has some sin that hinders their proclamation. Yet, God is faithful. Along with ambitious pastors, there are undisciplined missionaries, cocky short-term workers, lazy pew-packers, bitter old women, and apathetic old men. But somehow the message gets through. I feel sick too when someone goes to "share the gospel" and busts out the 4 Spiritual Laws pamphlet. Ouch. But I have to admit, after the 4 laws, I've seem some say The Prayer To Ask Jesus Into Your Heart. Thank God they (one one day later)had faith and repentance unto salvation even though their first exposure to Jehovah was a hokey handout. I feel your pain.
Well, I hope you and Danielle are doing well. I miss you too, man. Sundays at the too expensive coffee house are just not the same with out you. :(
Talk to you soon.
Love, j
We listened to Charles Stanley every night at 7 when we lived in Atlanta. I got fed a lot, in spite of that huge commercialized empire of a church that he heads up. But then, I was hearing it over the radio waves in the comfort of my l.r. and not sitting in the "sanctuary"/ t.v. studio with cameras all around.
As for Ravi, I love, love, love to hear him preach!
I don't believe everything Paul says is right just b/c "Paul said it", but I do agree with him on the point that at least the gospel is being preached, etc.
The hardest thing for me to stomach about the 21st century preacher thang is not that sinners/really messed up folks/even possibly hypocrites are doing the proclaiming, but that the church accepts it as a high-paying "career" and that able bodied young men are using their spiritual gifts (?) to rake in the dough.
Anyways, there's my two cents. (or is it worth 25 cents? After all, writing is my gift . . . ; )
I too have seen the 4 laws, romands road, and the bridge between the gap effect the lives of many.
It just makes my stomach tumble.
Anyhow, i'm currently in the process of creating my own evangelical three step approach to massive market and get rich.
Gotta pay for college somehow.
Paul would still be rejoicing. =)
LOL, Julie!
I pretty much believe it because "Paul said it." But that's only for those who believe in that whole apostolic authority thing. :)
But I hear ya. Too many young bros. using their gifts ta get paid.
Hey Matt,
Why not shoot for a two-step kingdom entry program? Anyway, for all your efforts at distributing the good news, may God bless you with that holy kind of "daily bread" poverty.
I guess my main point was that I don't agree with how most people equate the words of Paul with the words of Christ. To most people, if Paul said it Jesus might as well have said it. That's just tradition, not from the scriptures.
I guess I haven't really pondered the apostolic authority thing much. I do understand that Paul had a very unique encounter with Christ and was personally given a mission by him. I understand that he had the spirit of Christ in Him and had some authority in the church. But I also see him as a man who had faults, and actually had trouble getting along with people at times . . . he parted ways with people over disagreements, if I recall correctly. Not everyone agreed with everything he said back then either.
Here you can see Paul making a distinction between revelation from God and his own opinions:
1 Cor 7
10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.
40 In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
Anyways, not trying to open up some big old can o'worms, just getting opinionated like the rest of you theology heads. :)
Thanks, JDT.
One of the tendancies of the "anti-institutional" movement is to (to use the ol' cliche) "throw the baby out with the bathwater." But this neither wins friends nor influences people. Inveritably, someone notices the missing baby. :)
There are obvious problems. Often the most notable is the clergy arrangement. I think as long as they'll stand still, people can take shots at them all day. However, there is more to our existence than potshots.
I like to listen to the A.I.'s preach. Its funny to hear their ramblings about the institutional church. Seriously. However, as soon as their hour is done, I flip the channel and listen to the very man they were just bashing. Why? Either I am just that hypocritical or the bashed preacher is actually serving up some meat. Some good gospel.
I just want to be faithful to the Gospel by siding with it...in its various presentations and locations.
This goes for any number of things.
I've seen people become legalistic over homeschooling. To the point that if their Christian brother decides to public school his kids, he must have left the flock. I've seen people become legalistic over Christian tunes. Christian books. Christian nations. Christian educations. (Never Christian Action Hero Cards though, praise God.)
I am realizing that God accomplishes His will in many arenas of life. We need to rejoice when we see the gospel make an appearance. Anywhere. On the other hand, I too, have no desire to see God's word peddled or mishandled by the ego of some standup guy.
In my old age I am beginning to understand that God is doing more than I give Him credit for. There is more to rejoice about than I realize.
j
P.S. Until I see Julie with a proper head-covering, I will just pretend she didn't write those mean things about Paul. :)
Just want to say "amen" to the things that Jason said. Could not have said it better, my friend. But the admonition to us from Christ's messenger, Paul, is to watch your life and doctrine closely for in so doing you will say yourself and those who hear you.
That's right, Sean.
hey jw.
just read your sermon. oh how i long for the days when you thought that if a person were to speak on a radio program about christ, or go on short term mission trips, they were going to hell. looks like paul really got a hold of you the way he did to peter. looking forward to more insight.
sherryl
I don't remember those days, Sherryl. I do remember thinking that those things were wrong (in their ultra-pragmatic use) but I'm not sure I was ever ready to see someone burn for a radio show. But I'll admit, I am much more at peace with what goes on in the kingdom. This is not because everything is hunky-dory but because God is God.
I feel honored to have yet another reader. Now I am up to 4 counting myself. :)
Hey John,
I am glad that you asked these kinds of questions.
By movement, I don't mean to imply that the anti-institutional church is a "movement" like the Hippie Movement. However, there is a distinct movement from the traditional system to something else. This also constitutes a "movement." I suppose that the word "movement" is neutral. I meant it that way. I guess there are good movements and bad. Some of the AI movement is good, other parts are not. I know your fellowship is right on.
As I consider what I have heard taught by the Pro-Really-Good-Fellowship group (of which I would like to count myself a part), I hear and read "alot" of preacher/system/building bashing. By comparison, there is probably more of this same bashing inside the traditional system. Just log on to any mainstream Christian Forum. Hey, I have been known to bash, eh? The "missing baby" that I was referring to is the "good things" that are happening. For instance, the gospel preaching. Another example is here in China. The only Christians that I have met that were converted by foreigners were converted by Baptists, CofC, Campus Crusades and others. As much as I may resist many of the methodologies, I have to admit God is using (as screwy as it is) the traditional system. Or rather the faithful in it. The really ironic thing is that those groups returned to their pretty buildings and the Chinese converts are in the House Church.
You are exactly right about the clergy arrangement. The problem is how they are arranged. It accomplishes very little of what God intended in the church! Some do preach the gospel. But as for the day to day, house to house, life-sharing, building up the saints for works of service, pushing the church to faith in Christ and repentance toward God....well that is missing. So it seems. This is a notable problem.
When I said, "I like to listen to the A.I.'s preach," I was misleading you here a little - to be dramatic. It is actually hard/rare to find these type of materials on the net...for all the reasons you mentioned. I made it sound as if I was listening to a weekly program. Sorry. I am a big fat liar. :) I do stumble across things occasionally. Mostly reading though. Not listening. The Indianapolis church has the most "listenable" material.
Blogging does seem to be a bit disjointed. But I really like it. Its nice to write a little. Respond a little. I get on everyday to see what you are up to. Sometimes twice. :)
Maybe Skype is not the way to go. It seems buggy. I never see you online. :(
Hope we are friends again. Heehee.
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