Category: Philosophy of Ministry

A Timely Quote for our Day

On January 27, 2008

In Christian Culture, Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

“We must have the full message. . . ‘deliver the whole counsel of God’. . . . It starts with the Law. The Law of God … the demands of a righteous God, the wrath of God. That is the way to bring men and women to conviction; not by modifying the Truth…. We must confront them with the fact that they are men and that they are fallible men, that they are dying men, that they are sinful men, and that they will all have to stand before God at the Bar of Eternal Judgment….And then we must present to them the full-orbed doctrine of the Grace of God in Salvation in Jesus Christ. We must show that no man is saved ‘by the deeds of the Law’, by his own goodness or righteousness, or church membership or anything else, but solely, utterly, entirely by the free gift of God in Jesus Christ His Son. . . . We must preach the full-orbed doctrine leaving nothing out-conviction of sin, the reality of Judgment and Hell, free grace, justification, sanctification, glorification. We must also show that there is a world view in the Bible … that here alone you can understand history-past history, present history, future history. Let us show this great world view, and God’s Eternal purpose…. Let us at the same time be very careful that we are giving it to the whole man … the gospel is not only for a man’s heart, that you start with his head and present Truth to it … Let us show that it is a great message given by God which we in turn pass on to the mind, to the heart, to the will. There is ever this danger of leaving out some part or other of man’s personality… Let us be certain that we address the whole man-his mind, his emotions and his will.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones The Weapons of our Warfare, 1964, pg. 21-22

Gospel-Centered Prayer – Tim Keller

By David Westerfield

On October 1, 2007

In Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

Prayer and the Gospel – Tim Keller

(Original): http://www.redeemer.com/connect/prayer/ … ospel.html
(Archived): http://www.westerfunk.net/archives/theo … %20Keller/

Gospel/Christ-Centered Teaching Philosophy

By David Westerfield

On September 23, 2007

In Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

Great quote by Tim Keller:

“At the heart of Redeemer’s ministry and its philosophy of preaching to post-modern audiences is the conviction that ‘the gospel’ is not just a way to be saved from the penalty of sin, but is the fundamental dynamic for living the whole Christian life–individually and corporately, privately and publicly. In other words, the gospel is not just for non-Christians, but also for Christians. This means the gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A to Z of the Christian life. It is not accurate to think ‘the gospel’ is what saves non-Christians, and then, what matures Christians is trying hard to live according to Biblical principles. It is more accurate to say that we are saved by believing the gospel, and then we are transformed in every part of our mind, heart, and life by believing the gospel more and more deeply as our life goes on.”

The Protestant Church in America Would Do Well to Listen to Luther

By David Westerfield

On July 6, 2007

In Christian Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

“Paul had preached the Gospel throughout Galatia, founding many churches which after his departure were invaded by the false apostles. The Anabaptists in our time imitate the false apostles. They do not go where the enemies of the Gospel predominate. They go where the Christians are. Why do they not invade the Catholic provinces and preach their doctrine to godless princes, bishops, and doctors, as we have done by the help of God? These soft martyrs take no chances. They go where the Gospel has a hold, so that they may not endanger their lives. The false apostles would not go to Jerusalem of Caiaphas, or to the Rome of the Emperor, or to any other place where no man had preached before as Paul and the other apostles did. But they came to the churches of Galatia, knowing that where men profess the name of Christ they may feel secure.”

– Martin Luther in his commentary on Galatians Chapter 1.

In this excerpt, Luther compares the false teachers in Galatia with the Anabaptists of his time during the Reformation, who were not willing to take the Gospel to the hard places (the Catholic provinces in Europe as he states), but rather desired to congregate with other Christians only. It is clear, at the very least from Luther’s assessment, that the Anabaptists’ actions of not going to the hard places with the Gospel, as he says, parallels that of the false teachers in Galatia. I’m not knowledgeable enough to say whether or not Anabaptists were indeed false teachers (they were definitely at the very least synergists, which says a lot), but I also don’t necessarily agree with everything Luther said either. Regardless, this is off topic … you could call the Anabaptists unwillingness to go to the hard places with the Gospel the “Reformation Christian Bubble” I guess, just as we have our own in America, which is why this amply applies. It is very tempting to only surround ourselves with believers. But it is in my opinion the modern church in America should listen to Luther when he says believers who only congregate together and do not go out into the world with the Gospel (the workplace, areas where unbelievers congregate, bars, the big cities vs rural areas) where there is hostility towards the Gospel and God’s glory, are paralleling the actions of the false teachers mentioned in Galatians. If these actions continue, we risk becoming totally irrelevant in our society, at which our culture will further digress into even more depravity. Those believers who totally separate themselves from society are not willing to be scorned for their faith in Christ. It is apparent by their actions. Instead they become puffed up with pride that they may somehow be polluted by worldliness if they go to those places, when really this is an excuse to escape persecution at the hands of those who hate the Gospel. At the heart of this belief system is legalism, the idea we are approved by God because of our works. And isn’t it ironic this is the very heresy Paul is refuting in Galatians, that had entered the church there by false teachers? I’m being sarcastic, it’s not at all ironic, because beliefs and actions go hand in hand.

I constantly hear preachers, teachers and others within our Christian culture who condemn the actions of unbelievers (many times yelling at them in public; still not understanding how a heart changed by Christ can do this) and have not the Christ-like courage to befriend them, be kind to them in Christ, in order to share the Gospel, in order that they may be restored to the glory of God through the Gospel by the work of the Holy Spirit. Instead these professed believers publicly persecute unbelievers by calling them names, bashing them with the poison of asps that is on their lips. I read one quote recently on a comment to a blog from someone stating, “As a Christian, I’m sick and tired of this Babylonian culture around us!” Well, let us love this “Babylonian culture” by entering their lives and preach the Gospel to them then! Many professed believers are quicker to condemn the actions and behaviors of unbelievers than preach the Gospel to them. But just as Paul says in Romans 10:13-15, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how are they to 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?” In His High Priestly prayer to the Father in John 17:15, Jesus prays, “I do not ask that you take them [the disciples] out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” And then He goes on to say in verse 18, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” So our calling is not to remove ourselves from the pagan culture surrounding us, but to enter it and embrace these people as those who need the Gospel desperately, without which they are lost forever, and share it with words and actions, by entering into their lives, no matter how messed up it may be.

Might I remind all of us as well, that we as believers need the Gospel just as they do, everyday, for progression in our faith in Christ. We do not start with the Gospel and then “move on” by trying harder. Rather we start, progress and finish with the Gospel. Just as we gave up on our works when we came to faith in Christ, so also we lose confidence in ourselves and abilities and look to Christ more and more for these things, provided in the cross. Even as believers, we are broken sinners in need of restoration and healing that can only be found in Christ and His work for us, not through “trying harder” to become moral. Everyday, we need a spiritual heart-change by the Holy Spirit to turn from sin and replace it with Christ. Believers and unbelievers alike are sinners. Is the believer better than the unbeliever even after being saved? No! Then what is the difference? The grace of God alone making us to differ, not that we earned it or merited it at all, but based upon His own purpose and grace to us in Christ purposed from the foundation of the world, He has made us alive spiritually to see the truth of the Gospel and beauty of Christ. May He do the same to our unbelieving friends! May we take this wonderful message of salvation to those who are in bondage and captivity to the work of Satan by loving them with the Gospel at the expense of ourselves and our comfort, even though our culture may be detestable. And of course the world is morally detestable … how do you think the perfect Son of God felt everyday of His life on earth submerged in a world of sinning? Do you not think it vexed His soul on a scale we cannot even fathom? And yet who did He hang out with the most? The “Sinners” and “tax collectors”, the “Samaritans”, those considered to be on the outside of the faith as professed by the Pharisees. He poured Himself out even unto death in obedience to the Father to bring people to Himself, to deliver us from the wrath of God by His blood! May we have the same mind as that of Christ by taking this message of the cross and redemption thereby to those within our culture, even if it injures us! May we enter culture, not reject it, for the sake of Christ and His Gospel.

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” – Romans 1:16

What Would Happen If …

By David Westerfield

On June 12, 2007

In Christian Culture, Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

… Massive persecution came to the evangelical church in America?

I just wonder. And I think Matthew Henry nails it right on the head how it would go in his commentary on Matthew 24.

“They were with us, but went out from us, because never truly of us, 1 John ii. 19. We are told of it before. Suffering times are shaking times; and those fall in the storm, that stood in fair weather, like the stony ground hearers; Many will follow Christ in the sunshine, who will shift for themselves, and leave him to do so to, in the cloudy dark day. They like their religion while they can have it cheap, and sleep with it in a whole skin; but, if their profession cost them any thing, they quit it presently.”

“When persecution is in fashion, envy, enmity, and malice, are strangely diffused into the minds of men by contagion: and charity, tenderness, and moderation, are looked upon as singularities, which make a man like a speckled bird. Then they shall betray one another, that is, “Those that have treacherously deserted their religion [namely faith in Christ, that was really no faith at all], shall hate and betray those who adhere to it, for whom they have pretended friendship.” Apostates have commonly been the most bitter and violent persecutors. Note, Persecuting times are discovering times. Wolves in sheep’s clothing will then throw off their disguise, and appear wolves: they shall betray one another, and hate one another.”

Many walk with Christ as long as He grants them the fleshly desires of their hearts, and when trial comes, they scatter to the four winds and even begin to persecute those they were once apart of. Church history is packed with examples. I hope that people would not quit their profession of faith, obviously, if persecution arose. But I must, I have to ask myself in this Christian culture we live in, how many would still confess Jesus, or forsake Him for good, in the face of massive persecution of the church, should it ever come to America? Think of the total context of the world, outside of America, where Christians are currently being persecuted. America is in the minority of total Christians. Christians are being tortured RIGHT NOW in the Middle East, in Asia, in Africa. Increasingly, true believers are getting snuffed out in Europe in the form of progressive legislation and prevalent relativism. Christianity is now, what, 2% in England? And what trends are started in Europe are sure to follow here.

We have it great here, every Sunday is “fun church” and we are not in need or want of anything really, physically speaking. Preaching is cheap, watered-down, and one inch deep in most churches. Enough to get you a little self-affirmation, and warm-fuzzy that you’re on the right path, even if you may not be. But would you hear the same sermons preached in the midst of awful persecuting warfare in America? Or in fear of authorities coming in and arresting you for gathering to worship? Sunday is not just “moral day,” and then you go and live your life without any regard to the glory and praise of Christ! We put on a happy face at church, but as a people, inside we are rotting from sin that reigns and goes totally unchecked. We are a culture of white-washed tombs in my estimation. I witness students who have everything, and it is a curse. Many who have everything, that once professed Christ, have now gone out in the world, succumbed to the pleasures of sin, and abandoned Christ. May He be merciful to bring them back to Him, for they are unsaved! Their rejection has exposed the content of their trust in Christ. It is null.

Unbelievers I speak with in our culture think Christians are some of the most arrogant, prideful, unloving, inhospitable people in the country. This characterization is wrong for many, obviously, but the stereo-type, unfortunately is true for many others. Some atheists are more loving than professed Christians! What is wrong with that? If you see the love of Christ in the cross, how can you act the way you do to unbelievers? What does this say to the world? We are clean on the outside, using botox to make ourselves look younger, driving our fancy cars, in our extravagant houses, taking our lavish vacations to wherever. What would Paul say to us as a church, “the Church at America,” where we are a witness and representatives of Christ to an increasingly paganizing culture, if he saw the extravagant life-styles of professed believers here? I think he would chastise and rebuke us just as he did the Corinthians for succumbing to the pleasures of their culture. It seems that we have made so many worldly idols Christian virtues.

Even in times of financial struggle, or trials of various types (what we consider trials of “monumental” proportion), we are setup really, really well here. Pure, almost perfect water. An absolute abundance of food. Luxury transportation, public transportation. AC, heat, beds, showers, a just and equitable government, the best health care in the world. Quick responding police, fire, and medical services. Gated communities. Low unemployment rates. Good paying jobs. And granted, all of these things are inherently good in themselves and blessings, sure.

But even blessings themselves can be curses in the eternal sense; when the sinful human soul has too much available to setup as an idol, it becomes the very wool that is pulled over our eyes to blind us from the gospel truth, the shockingly sovereign glory of God in the cross, the very truth needed to sustain the soul when blood-thirsty mad-men drive through neighborhoods with machine guns, killing children in front of parents, chopping off arms, orphaning children, creating famine, torturing to death, destabilizing entire regions, etc. We are the most pain-sensitive culture in all of history (I’m absolutely not discounting myself, one of the biggest weenies concerning pain, I preach to myself just as much as anyone on this).

And I wonder … in cultures past, those who professed faith in Christ even in difficult countries where it became increasingly volatile, forsook Christ when the pressure rose: how many more now would forsake Him in the most pain-sensitive culture in history, way better than the best of those other cultures that were fairly difficult? How many professing Christians would be willing in the church to part with their luxury homes? Their Lexus’? Their excellent private education for their children? Their gated communities? Their country clubs? I’m just not so sure. I mean again, I obviously desire that all who profess faith in Christ would indeed continue and not apostatize, but realistically, I’m not sure that most would continue and not reject Christ for good. I fear for many in the American Christian culture for their eternal state, though obviously I cannot know. And even putting such a thought out there as this exposes me to getting chastised by those in the church, hitting nerves with people who fit this very profile. This is how pain-sensitive we are.

What is the solution to such a light, watered-down version of Christianity we are saturated with that could not possibly sustain such a blow of persecution I’m describing? A solid, fundamental, Biblical return to the whole realm of Gospel change in the life of believers, from beginning to end. But this must start with leaders of the church, not the lay people merely. If you preach and teach things that are light and fluffy, stroking egos and making your congregation feel good all the time, without pounding away at difficult realities as well, what do you expect to reap? A Christianity about as thick as a sheet of paper, that will get blown away when trials of monumental proportion come. And it will come. No one thought Rome would fall, and it did.

The Gospel affects every facet, every corner of life. Could it be possible the church could not live so extravagantly for the sake of witnessing to the world with our actions as well as our words and love, that we do not stake our ultimate hope in material goods and services, but in the future glory of Christ to be revealed on the Last Day? In America, it seems we have an assumption, that this is “God’s country,” that He owes us the right to all the extravagance we have. And if anything gets in our way, we curse Him. Pure arrogance. This is of the world, and not of Christ. May we return to the God of grace and may He prepare us for such persecutions should they come, that we may ultimately love Christ more, even now. And even if we are not persecuted on the scale I speak of, may He prepare us for the seasons of personal suffering we are sure to undergo, as Christ has promised, that we may even rejoice in those sufferings to the glory of Christ, because they are producing in us a glory that far outweighs anything the world can offer! Eternal life and joy in our Beloved Savior!

Motivating People to Obey with the Mercy of God Instead of Law

By David Westerfield

On June 6, 2007

In Christian Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

All religions in the world, except for authentic Gospel Christianity, states that what you do determines your outcome. Their motivation to get you to obey and be moral is the law. Do this, do that and as a result you will get a good outcome. God Himself says this in the Scriptures, “Do this and live,” but He also says that we are unable to fulfill His law (Romans 8). The law is a burden, a weight that no one can successfully and perfectly uphold because of our sinfulness. It has morally incapacitated us. Christianity is totally the opposite though of every other religion. When Paul writes to various churches in the New Testament, there is a specific way in which He directs them on how to live their lives in accordance with the law. Instead of starting out his letters right out of the gate with law, “Do this, do that, to please me and please God,” he starts out his letters packed with theology, packed with the mercy of God to undeserving sinners. For the longest time when I was in high school and read his letters, I did not quite understand what he was doing. It seemed he started out his letters with no common theme other than speaking about the inner workings of God and salvation. It appeared so convoluted and confusing … that is until I saw the purpose of doing this. Instead of motivating his readers to walk in a manner God demands by trying to rouse their wills, that they may set their wills against sin and obey the law (which as Romans 8 clearly points out, in the flesh we are unable to do anything of worth or value before God), he rather starts out with the wonders of the work of Christ, the nature of God, His characteristics, how we were saved, etc.

Why though? There is a simple reason; instead of trying to motivate his readers with law to obey God, he motivates them with grace and mercy found in the cross. For example, Romans chapter one through eleven is basically all theology. There are some exhortations to obey God, but for the most part it is Paul’s dictation about the story of redemption, starting man’s corruptness and condemnation and then presenting the remedy, faith in Christ crucified. Then in chapter twelve, how does it start?

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Paul is saying, under the context of the mercy of God, in view of having your souls purchased by the wonderful work of Christ on the cross, in view of having been elected to salvation through the work of Christ before the foundation of the world, offer yourselves to God in obedience. Keep the work of Christ at the forefront of your minds and in doing so, obey God. In fact this is the only way you will even begin to do what God demands of you in the law. Stare into the person and work of Christ in the Scriptures and in fellowship with Him in prayer until you are changed from the inside out by His Spirit to do what He demands of you.

In addition to Paul’s exhortations to obey the law using the mercy of God as a backdrop and motivation, in First Peter chapter one, Peter starts out with exhortations of theology, about how we were saved, with praise to God for this work for us.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Peter then in verse 13 through 16 states:

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.'”

Through faith in the blood of Christ, He has removed all obstacles between you and God, you are finally fully acceptable to the Father. There is no more religious running or moral toiling you have to do to get on God’s eternal accepted list. “It is finished,” just as Jesus stated before His death on the cross. Christ’s work is perfectly accepted by the Father as payment on our behalf to ransom us from eternal death. This is the motivation for obeying the law of God. Now no longer is it merely a duty to obey, it is a delight for the children of God and brings great joy, because we want to glorify the one who purchased His people with His blood! Mercy is the motivation for obeying, not law. Law points out our inadequacy before God, mercy points out our accepted state through the work of Christ on our behalf, and now in view of this, we obey!

The Cambridge Declaration: Why is it Important?

By David Westerfield

On February 23, 2007

In Christian Culture, Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

http://www.alliancenet.org/partner/Arti … 64,00.html

In the modern church in the West, there has been a large shift away from believing core, essential, orthodox truths and a turn to adopt the methods of the culture to try and reach the culture for Christ. In the process, Scripture and its divine authority gets put on the shelf, collecting dust. While this may seem wise on the face to try to reach the culture with modern cultural ideologies and techniques, what ends up happening is that the church becomes so indistinguishable from the world that it no longer possesses the doctrinal distinctiveness it needs to spread the Gospel with clarity that people may be saved. This is very dangerous, 1) because you begin coddling people into the church that may never be converted (because of the indistinguishable, worldly message being preached), all the while assuming they are converted because they take the name “Christian,” and 2) the light of the Gospel gets snuffed out because of worldly doctrine being taught, and 3) ultimately God’s glory is suppressed as a result (Romans 1:18-19).

The Cambridge Declaration is simply a modern reassertion of core, essential doctrines that must be affirmed by every believer. In fact, they are really not speaking of anything new, but reasserting the very doctrines the Reformers themselves recovered from the dead Roman Catholic church. This statement basically goes through the Five Solas of the Reformation, explains them, and then applies them to the modern crisis the evangelical church in the West is facing. And the crisis is that we are on the verge of becoming totally irrelevant to our culture (just as it has already happened in Europe to a great degree, what is it now, 2% confessing Christianity?)

Emerging Church: Driscoll About Sums it Up

By David Westerfield

On February 9, 2007

In Culture, Philosophy, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

“…the Emerging Church is the latest version of [theological] liberalism. The only difference is that old liberalism accommodated modernity and the new liberalism accommodates postmodernity.” – Mark Driscoll

I can appreciate what the Emerging Church is attempting to do in reaching people with the Gospel in order that people may be saved. I respect their analysis of the modern church growth movement and agree with pretty much all of their criticisms of it. However, something very dangerous has entered the church now. Though it seems so palatable and sensible, it really has deadly poison behind it, even if the main leaders of it don’t intend for it to be this way. to illustrate what this is like, here’s an analogy. If you begin a journey in a straight line, but are off by just one degree when you start, by the time you go the distance it takes to arrive at your intended destination, you are actually very far away from where you wanted to be.

And so it is again with the emerging church, just as it has happened time and time again in the history of the church. What Driscoll is saying in his quote is that the theological liberalism that widely entered the church in the 20th Century was initially an attempt by men to reach the “modern” culture with the Gospel by lopping off miracles and any supernatural quality that makes Christianity what it is. So they threw out the resurrection, substitutionary atonement, and a host of other core, orthodox doctrines. And they failed miserably in their original mission, because in order to meet the culture they adopted the cultures philosophies and ideas, and integrated them into their teaching. It was a disaster. Entire books were devoted to defending historic Christianity, one most notable work by a man named J. Gresham Machen, entitled Christianity and Liberalism. Highly recommended!

And so the Emerging Church is now doing the same thing liberalism did in the 20th Century, but philosophies and ideas of the culture have changed since then. Therefore in order to accommodate the culture, the Emerging Church is becoming a part of the culture by saying we can’t really know anything for sure, that all ideas are on the table, and they are lopping off huge chunks of doctrine essential to the orthodox Christian faith. And just as liberalism was a disaster for the church in the 20th Century, so now the Emerging Church will be a disaster. It is the new liberalism for our post-modern culture. Though there are many genuine believers in this movement at the present time, and I do not want to totally discredit the work that God has done through it, eventually, this will result in a great many people being led away from the Gospel. As John Piper has said, “Adjust your doctrine – or just minimize doctrine – to attract the world, and in the very process of attracting them, lose the radical truth that alone can set them free.” We now live in a post-modern world where truth is relative. And if we adopt this idea and try to fit it into and read it into the Scriptures (eisegesis), our culture who needs the Gospel so desperately will have no Gospel when they come. The Gospel consists in doctrine.

You cannot ultimately reach the culture with the Gospel on a large scale by becoming apart of the culture, adopting the cultures philosophies and ideologies. Instead, we are to go out into culture and lovingly confront them with Gospel, showing them how the Gospel itself can meet the very things they are searching for outside of Christ, knowing that God has the power to work through the foolishness of what is preached.

Os Guinness says this about how the church is beginning to address th culture on so many fronts: “By our uncritical pursuit of relevance we have actually courted irrelevance; by our breathless chase after relevance without faithfulness, we have become not only unfaithful but irrelevant; by our determined efforts to redefine ourselves in ways that are more compelling to the modern world than are faithful to Christ, we have lost not only our identity but our authority and our relevance. Our crying need is to be faithful as well as relevant.”

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Related, but more funny than serious:
http://purgatorio1.blogspot.com/2005/11 … ng-if.html

Why Postmodern Thinking Cannot be Adopted into the Church

By David Westerfield

On May 8, 2006

In Philosophy, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

Eros Spirituality Vs. Agape Faith by David F. Wells – Excellent!

The philosophical nature of Postmodern thought can essentially be described as this:

“In postmodernism the intellect is replaced by will, reason by emotion, and morality by relativism. Reality is nothing more than a social construct; truth equals power. Your identity comes from a group. Postmodernism is characterized by fragmentation, indeterminacy, and a distrust of all universalizing (worldviews) and power structures (the establishment). It is a worldview that denies all worldviews (“stories”). In a nutshell, postmodernism says there are no universal truths valid for all people. Instead, individuals are locked into the limited perspective of their own race, gender or ethnic group. It is Nietzsche in full bloom. (CIM)”

(Quote from Monergism.com – Postmodernism)

So if this is true of postmodern thought, how in the world can this possibly jive with the absolutes presented to us within Scripture? Well, it can’t. And that’s why the Emerging church in particular is doomed to fail in its endeavor. It does indeed have legitimate beefs with the modern day church, and is itself a revolt against many of the problems that I also see within the church. But it has swung out to another extreme. In order to reach the postmodern culture of our time, the Emerging church has adopted postmodern thought as a way to make Christianity more palatable, but this is just not possible. “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.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) If we are preaching the Gospel in its true Scriptural light, why would the word of the cross be folly to those who are perishing unless they deny the truthfulness of what is stated (thus implying the word of the cross is true)? But if we are preaching a relativistic Gospel (and thus a false Gospel) what truth is there to deny? What is faith in Christ except that you are stating His Gospel is indeed true? And so how can relativism be reconciled with the Gospel? It cannot.

Postmodern thought states that there are no absolute truths, and yet the Bible is the entire unfolding of God’s absolute truth. These two approaches to the world and man cannot be reconciled. One is divine, the other is secular and worldly, self-focused. Postmodernism/Relativism is just another philosophy of the age spun out by the world to deny the true God. So why would we want to adopt thinking along these lines? Paul warned the Colossians not to be taken captive by any philosophy or empty deceit in Colossians 2:8. Speaking of absolute truths within Scripture, Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There are no other alternatives.

Truth is not dependent on the individual or what he perceives as reality, a notion that makes self the center of the universe. No individual defines for himself what is right or wrong. They may think they do, but they will think differently when standing before the judgment seat of the eternal God. But rather truth is based on God, who He is, and what He’s done. God defines reality, He alone defines what is true, because He is truth. And He defines right and wrong. For an individual to say “I define my own truth,” is the same as saying he is his own god. We are saved by Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone. There can be no “other” way. If someone denies this truth, then so be it, he must answer to God. But there are not multiple ways to God, as if truth were based in the individual. In speaking to the Jews, Peter states in Acts 4:11-12, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

In adopting the current philosophy of the age, the Emerging church is self-contradictory in that the very thing it wants to offer, namely salvation through faith in Christ and hope of eternal life in Him, is the very thing it cannot successfully offer, because to offer the Gospel is to imply the truthfulness of it. And as believers, we cannot waiver on the truth of the Gospel. The Gospel is not relative truth, it is absolute.

So what’s the answer to addressing our postmodern culture? A full, unbridled recovery of the Scriptural Gospel within the church, that we may bring it to our culture and that many may be saved through the “foolishness of what we preach,” by the power of God alone. (1 Corinthians 1:18-24) We must reaffirm all of the truths of the Gospel within Scripture, lest the church become even less effective in its witness to our culture than it already has. The answer to the problems the Emerging church sees within the larger evangelical church is not to adopt another secular philosophy in its place, but rather go back to the core of our faith, Christ and Him crucified, and corporately state the doctrinal truths of Scripture. We must return to the Gospel, and by the power of God exhibited through the cross of Christ, not be swayed by the empty deception and philosophy of the world that will not cease to rise and fall until all things are made new by God.

We must stand firm for the cause of the Gospel, for the truthfulness of it, in order that God’s name would be glorified, and that many would be made sons of the living God, by the power of God through the cross. If the church in any way adopts the ways of the world, how can it possibly be effective in its witness for Christ? We must not adopt a dead, fleshly, worldly way of thinking, but rather preach Christ, Him crucified and risen for sinners that have infinitely offended Him, and through that message the power of God through the Holy Spirit can transform the most hostile of sinners.

Other Resources pertain to this:

The Spirit of the Age and the Reality of the Risen Christ – John Piper
Emerging Church – Monergism.com

Moralism: The Current Philosophy of The Age

By David Westerfield

On December 20, 2005

In Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

Christ vs. Moralism by John W. Hendryx

Within our “Christian culture,” more and more there seems to be a rise in the number of people believing in a moralistic, worldly version of Christianity instead of a Christ-based, Biblical version, abandoning belief in Him as the only Savior and Lord, and instead relying on their own behavior change. They simply view Christ as a good teacher or good example of how a person should be devoted to God. In addition, they believe their works in some way get them in better with God somehow, as if the death and resurrection of the Son of God were not payment enough that they would have to add something to it. This couldn’t be further from what Christianity is all about. The point of the commandments is not for us to show our moral strength and superiority, but to show our inability, that we can never fulfill the law of God to the T, just as John Hendryx says in this blog entry. It’s about taking your eyes off yourself, what you can do or what you can’t ever live up to, and seeing that Christ is the one who has fulfilled all of this. He is the Son of God, the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, come in the flesh, born in a filthy feeding trough. He lived a perfect life, submitted Himself in obedience to the Father, where He was beaten and ultimately crucified for the sins of any who would believe in Him. And He then rose three days later, conquering sin, death, and hell. If you think you can give God something comparable to Christ and His work, you are putting the finite up against the infinite. Our works don’t even begin to compare to Christ’s work on the cross and nothing we could ever do would ever be enough to satisfy the wrath of God as the death and resurrection of His own Son. It’s all about Jesus Christ, taking our eyes off ourselves, our spirituality, our works in both the positive and negative sense, forgetting about ourselves altogether, and fully looking to Christ as our all in all, our great King, Savior, wondrous maker, the one who desires to give you life, eternal life in Him, offering pardon from the wrath of God that we all deserve because of our sin. Consider these things and look to see if you are falling in the trap of a moralistic endeavor to win God’s favor, and turn to Christ, leaving yourself and your works behind, embracing the Son of God as your Lord and Savior.