There is a pastor whose Twitter feed I occasionally read, but I shouldn't, because it absolutely drives me nuts. A large portion of my reaction is tied to my own issues, I'm sure, but I see in his broadcasts an almost pathological intention not to mention Jesus. And as I thirst for Jesus, I notice this withholding lots and lots of places everywhere else.
I have been and always will be doggedly suspicious of pastors who rarely (or never) mention Jesus.
John Piper says, "What we desperately need is help to enlarge our capacities to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ."
We ministers of the gospel -- and Christians at large -- can fumble this commission in three main ways:
1. We speak in vague spiritual generalities. Love. Hope. Peace. Joy. Harmony. Blessings. All disembodied from the specific atoning work of the incarnate Jesus and exalted Lord. It all sounds nice. It's all very inspirational. And it's rubbish. He himself is our peace. He himself is love. He himself is life. He does not make life better. He is life. Any pastor who talks about the virtues of faith, hope, and love, with Jesus as some implied tangential source, is not feeding his flock well.
2. We speak Christ as moral exemplar. We tell people to be nice because Jesus was nice. We tell them to be sweet because Jesus was sweet, good because Jesus was good, hard-working because Jesus was hard-working, loving because Jesus was loving. This is all well and good, but you could substitute "Mother Theresa" or even "Oprah" for "Jesus" and essentially have the same message.
3. We avoid the real problem -- sin -- and therefore either ignore the real solution -- the cross -- or confuse its meaning. In many churches, not only is sin never mentioned -- Joel Osteen, for instance, flat out says he doesn't like to talk about it basically because it hurts people's feelings -- the cross is rarely mentioned. And when the cross is mentioned, because we don't want to talk about sin, it becomes instead the great affirmation of our special-ness, rather than the great punishment for our unholiness. The cross becomes not the intersection of God's justice and mercy but the symbol of God's positive feelings about our undeniable lovability.
In all of these instances, and others, people are inspired and enthused, but they are moved about God's recognition of their own awesomeness, not about the glories of Christ. The capacity is enlarged with our growing self-esteem.
Even angels long to gaze into the life-giving riches of the gospel of grace. We prefer to drink deeply from the well into which we're gazing -- our navels.
Pastors, inspiration sells. But only Jesus transforms.
4 comments:
Wonderful post. I have some of the same observations.
Ironic that our obsession with avoiding sin ultimately causes us to avoid Jesus, and in so doing, we give sin amazing staying power in our lives.
Guilt and shame were easily the primary driving forces of my life until Jesus started me on my Gospel-scandalization process, which ironically has included tons of exposure to my own depravity. We try to do this end-run around sin by not talking about it, when really talking about it, in light of Jesus, is the only way to avoid "feeling bad about ourselves" forever. It's the only thing that offers resolution to the guilt we (rightly, until taken away by Jesus) feel.
Preach it, brother! You were clearly in the flow when you wrote this one...
thank you so much for this post. I have been pastoring a local church for 16 years, and i really believe that Jesus is the missing ingredient, not only in our sermons, but also in our prayers, speech, and sadly our thoughts.
being thirsty for Jesus is the single best place I have ever found to be!
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