When we look at what is happening to the culture around us, and we recognize that so much of the destruction is avoidable, and we consider also the fact that the people implementing these suicidal policies are not idiots — and indeed exhibit an intelligence of the highest order in other areas, the conclusion appears inescapable. Our problems are spiritual . They are the sort of moral problems that have always afflicted — pardon the use of an anachronism — sinners.
Sinners always want salvation. The damned don’t want salvation — that is what it means to be damned. But sinners aren’t there yet, and so they are always casting about in search of a savior. Of course it has to be a flattering savior, one who will whispering soothing words on the way to the bad place. This is because sinners want to be damned, sort of, eventually. At least they prefer approaching damnation to the only alternative, which is a real Savior, that is to say, Jesus. And their preference stays this way unless a real Savior intervenes.
This is not just true on the individual level — although it certainly is true there. We are social beings, which means that we go to Heaven in groups, and we go to Hell in clusters. Civilizations are what they are because we, within those civilizations, think the same way about things. Among these things we should include the topics of sin and salvation.
Put this another way. There is no way to preach the gospel clearly to an American without also preaching what America needs. And if you are not preaching what America needs, what you are declaring ain’t gonna save nobody in particular. Of course, considering the way many preachers declare the gospel these days, that may be (secretly) the point.
There are any number of ways to take what I am about to say in the wrong way, so I would like to begin with a request that nobody do that. But this will not happen because what I am about to say is inherently confusing. It is because it is self-evidently and manifestly true, and true in a way that brings shame. When men are ashamed, the first and most obvious thing to do is “misunderstand” that which convicted them, and to misconstrue it.
That said . . . we are having Reformed convulsions within the Church about redemptive/historical preaching falsely set over against “application” because we are ashamed of Jesus. Application in one’s personal life might lead people to think that such applications might be possible even if a parishioner were a governor, or a congressman. And who knows where that might lead?
Redemptive/historical preaching, as commended by many today, is like teaching lifeguards how to get swimmers off the bottom of the pool, but to be sure to behave thereafter as though getting them dry and breathing the air presents a constant temptation to moralism. It requires preachers to act as though the first three chapters of Ephesians had been written by the apostle Paul, with the last three chapters being contributed by Dale Carnagie. Gahk.
We are warned in Scripture against that which we are in danger of committing. When John tells his dear children to keep themselves from idols, he tells them this because they might not. We are told to love our wives because there will be temptations to love ourselves instead. And, coming back to the point just made, we are cautioned against the sin of being ashamed of Jesus and His Words. What are those words? They are the words He gave us to teach to all the nations, after we had baptized them. Why are we cautioned this way? Because there will be a temptation for Christians to be ashamed of Jesus, that’s why.
What does the Lord say?
“And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:21-26).
Note first that Jesus said that He was going to be rejected by all the most important graduates of all the most important seminaries. He was going to be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scholars. Anybody who follows Him needs to be prepared for the same treatment — needs to take up his cross. He who tries to juggle saving his life with Jesus will lose his life. Now what does denying oneself entail? Could this possibly include academic reputation? Denominational standing? The right connections at the right publishing houses? To ask the question is to answer it.
And Jesus equates this kind of fearful heart with being ashamed of Him. To say that the words of Jesus apply to absolutely everything — for He is, remember, Lord of all — is a recipe for trouble.
I am not addressing these words to those die hards in that redemptive/historical world who really believe what they have been taught. I am actually talking to those who are situated in such contexts, but who know that what I am saying is true. They know further that the only reason they are keeping quiet is that they would be ashamed to be identified with a position that has had so much opprobrium heaped on it. And believe me, the lordship of Jesus over everything will always have opprobrium heaped on it. Who wants to be a nutter? Keep it respectable, champ. Keep your head down. Read those books, certainly. Enjoy them in your study, friend. No harm in that, but don’t go to extremes. Keep your head down.
The only difficulty is that it is hard to preach with any kind of authority when you’ve got your head down. It doesn’t work that way.
Change the metaphor. Redemptive/historical preaching without application to every aspect of life, preaching without declaring all things subject to the authority of Jesus, is revving the engine with the clutch in. One can be quite a powerful presence in the pulpit. Vroom, vroom.