Preaching Truth or Opinion?

Preaching Truth = Watered-down Preaching?

Well, noticed some stones lying around that someone had chucked over…guess I’ll toss ‘em back in hopes that eventually Christians will see the lunacy (and sinfulness) of dividing the Church over silly things.

Seems to be some renewed interest in pointing out how wrong we evangelicals are in our doctrine and methodology.  Nothing new in the content, just some renewed fervor (I probably have a theory why - something like trying to stop a mass exodus).  I’ll just address one of the most commonly thrown ones today (may get to more some other time):

Watered-Down Preaching.  Some toss this stone anytime someone doesn’t preach their same convictions regarding Christian living, and with the same fervor and frequency.  Saying this can lead people to believe that evangelicals have no standards for Christian living.  The truth is that evangelicals absolutely believe and teach that Christian conversion/discipleship involves a transformation of the heart, which results in love for God, which helps shift our desires, which makes living in accordance with God’s Word a super-naturally driven desire for us.  These things are being said in ignorance, or in deceit.

Change of heart, results in change of mind, which results in change of life.  Without change of heart, nothing really changes, and with change of heart, everything eventually does…so we place our primary focus on what changes the heart:  God, the Gospel, Jesus.   We then place a secondary focus on the results that manifest from that (see Ephesians for this model:  Chapters 1-3 FIRST set the groundwork, and Chapters 4-6 get into the resulting effects in the Christian).

But let’s be honest - the real issue some have with us is that we try to preach BIBLICAL standards, and when these don't line up with other's opinions, it can expose the error of pre-conceived, traditional opinion.  Simply put, evangelicals tend to avoid preaching our convictions, preferring rather to preach the Word.  We try to stick with Truth, the Word.  Convictions, the practical application of Truth, does not equal Truth.  Evangelicals freely debate conviction (or avoid debate on them).  Some are willing to die on the hill made of their opinions, even those that have little-to-no biblical support, or even those that have Scripture that contradicts them.

Now that I think of it, maybe “watered-down” is an appropriate term…I think the evangelical message actually is diluted with water:  the Living Water, the water that leaves us quenched, the water from the well that never runs dry, the water that satisfied us to the point that we don't have to keep searching for satisfaction apart from God.  Hope you keep using the term, and when you do, I hope people think of Jesus!

Dang Watered-Down Preaching Again

Watering-down Grace with Consequences.

Recently listened to a sermon online from Genesis 6, and then heard our lead pastor preach from the same passage a couple of weeks later.  The contrast in messages was striking to me.

The sermon I heard online had its main point as Noah somehow earning God’s grace by being different from the world.  Although there were some interesting illustrations to support this claim, it was not supported by the passage (you have to flip the verses around to support it).  The exact opposite message was presented by my pastor:  he pointed out that Noah found grace from God first.  Not only does the passage support the second view, but the generally accepted view of grace in general does as well.  You can’t earn grace.  That’s why it’s called grace. 

There is undoubtedly such a thing as consequences shown in the Bible, and Genesis 6 is indeed a picture of the consequences of living far from God’s plan, desire and wishes (ie, sinful living).  But the passage is also about the unmerited favor God shows to man, and should immediately and ultimately cause the Christian to think of the Amazing Grace that He would later send in the form of Christ.  If we work to stay in the good favor of God, what exactly did man do to earn Christ's sacrifice?

There is nothing wrong with preaching on the consequences of living far from God’s plan, but there is definitely something wrong with destroying the old-fashioned doctrine of Grace.  You can preach them both from this passage without doing damage, but if you water-down grace by diluting it with works, you have destroyed it and have plunged into heresy.

A man-centered interpretation of Scripture can easily lead to this error, which is why you hear some folks ranting over the dangers of this philosophy and application of Scripture.  This is a perfect example.

Biblical Grace = unmerited favor; God giving us something we do NOT deserve or earn, because of Christ’s work.  Do not entertain anyone who messes with that.

Consequences = what we deserve for our actions.  We all deserve the death curse by God because of our inherent sinfulness (even Noah, unless you believe he actually was a perfect man). 

If you want to extoll the value of biblical Christian living in response to the Gospel and as a result of being restored to God, it would pay to stick with Scripture that is actually speaking to that directly…see Ephesians 4-6, and many other passages that help add clarity to Christian living. 

Praying that people who hear heresy will recognize it as such and hold their pastor accountable for unbiblical teaching.