“If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen -- nothing else matters.”
— Jaroslav Pelikan
My thesis is that everything we do either culminates in Christ or in hell. Which will you have?
If we are not fixated on Christ, I fear for what our words, our efforts, our good intentions are leading us toward. If we are not fixated on Christ, I fear for what our spiritual words, our "Christian" efforts, our "loving" intentions are leading us toward.
I am writing to my fellow pastors. Some think I am too critical. If I am, it is only because a) the situation is so dire, and b) Jesus Christ is so precious.
You who are so keen on your people "self-feeding": How can you expect people to self-feed if you aren't demonstrating to them week in and week out how savory Jesus Christ is, how delicious the gospel is? You treat the Bible like Bartlett's Quotations in support of your practical tips and then expect people to eagerly find in its revelation a well of living water?
As long the faith, hope, and love you preach is all about realizing our dreams, achieving our potential, or being nice to each other, you are feeding people manna. Good for a day, and eaten, still ends up in death.
What we preach, instruct, and reflect must culminate explicitly in our incomparable, supreme, sovereign Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
1 comment:
So true! It's saddening to witness how many preaching and teaching ministries are so bereft of the centrality, supremacy and beauty of Christ. After listening to a sermon, congregants should go away yearning more deeply for Christ and more passionate about displaying His glory. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that most church members eager for Christ go away with nothing more than shallow "life principles" and a perception of Christ as nothing more than a divine therapist concerned primarily with how we feel about ourselves.
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