Correcting Unbiblical Preaching

"Disturbed" would be an appropriate word; "disheartened", too.  You know that moment when you realize that what you thought was going to happen, what was going to come out of someone's mouth, simply didn't?  I've replayed the whole episode over in my head a few different times over this past week, even dialoguing with Michael & a couple of friends.  I truly don't understand what went wrong, or - more specifically - why it went so wrong.

Expositional preaching is vital to the health of the church.  Stay with me; you'll see where I'm going.  When a pastor preaches expositionally, he has to deal with a particular text; he can't just land on a topic "by the Spirit's guiding" & then pick out texts that fit his "sermon".  For example, our pastor is preaching through Galatians, verse by verse.  He brings out Scriptures from all over the Bible that shed light on the passage he's preaching, but he doesn't have the option of skipping around.  This keeps the pastor - who is a fallible man - from preaching only the "fun" parts of God's Word or from preaching out of context, & thus distorting the true meaning.  In short, it protects God's people because they're getting all of God's Word - even the uncomfortable parts.

However, when you listen to a pastor who doesn't preach expositionally, as we did last week, you're likely to end up with erroneous "messages from God".  Messages such as:

     -"Don't ask your pastor to pray for you; God tells you to do the praying!";
     -"When Satan comes to your house, tell him to go away, he can't have your family!  In the OT God says that He will fight for His people, but in the NT, He tells us to do it.";
     -"God is waiting to give you what you want!  You just have to pray for it!"

Point by point,
     -James 5:16 exhorts us to pray for each other, which includes pastors;
     -Our sin - not Satan - destroys our families, & Romans 8:13 commands us to put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit, not our own willpower or driving away the devil.  Furthermore, when James tells believers to "resist the devil", it's in the context of submitting ourselves to God; &
     -The gifts that God bestows upon us are in His wisdom & will, as are any gifts that He chooses to withhold or take away.  My first thought (if the above assertion were true) was, "I prayed for Ginger not to die, & she did.  Does that mean that I didn't pray hard enough, wasn't faithful enough, or maybe that God isn't good after all & doesn't love me?"  Of course, none of these are true, but that's the rabbit hole we're in danger of falling down if we believe such nonsense.

Unbiblical teaching is damaging & damning, all the more so because texts that are chosen willy-nilly seem to "prove" the pastor's point.  Of note is the fact that these messages are generally altogether devoid of the mention of Christ & His atoning death, as is any allusion to our sin that required His death.  On the other hand, teaching that is true to Scripture is healing & leads to salvation (Rom. 10:17).  It is robust, proclaiming us to be sinners deserving of God's wrath, but graciously spared & counted righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ.  It's up to us to be discerning enough to tell the two apart.  Not all that claim to be from God actually are.

Humble Orthodoxy

Before coming to the Reformed faith, I lived my Christian life pretty much like I suppose a lot of Christians do. I went to church on Sunday, listened to my CCM radio station & CDs, & read my Daily Guideposts . . . well . . . daily. I loved God & longed to worship Him. Even to this day, death seems so joyful to me, because when that moment comes, I will see my Savior face-to-face. . .& that is a glorious thought! Since I was 15, I've had a true faith in Him, but it was seriously lacking in true knowledge of Him.

Enter Reformed theology. The first sermon from a Reformed pastor that I listened to was on expiation entitled "Jesus Died to Cleanse Our Filth" by Mark Driscoll. I remember cleaning my house while listening to it & having to sit down several times to just listen & cry. The second sermon was "15 Words of Hope" by John MacArthur. I listened to it on the way to AL to meet Michael's family, as well as on the way back. That sermon was my first exposure to expositional preaching, & it felt like breathing for the first time. I'd never heard anything so magnetic in all my life! I had no idea that sermons could bring about such deep understanding of Scripture. In that moment, I realized that the sermons I'd been hearing all my life had only scratched the surface of God's Word. For a few years, I had felt like something was missing in my church's worship service as well as in my own walk with God. I knew instantly that this was it. In short, I'd been drinking milk while unknowingly craving meat. And, boy, did John MacArthur serve up some steak! There was no going back for me.

I wholeheartedly believe Reformed theology to be true to Scripture. I've searched out God's Word & have found all of the Reformed doctrines to be biblical doctrines. But a problem soon arose in my zeal. I became brash & abrasive in defending Reformed theology & correcting erroneous beliefs. Michael has said that those who are new to the Reformed faith need to be locked up for a couple of years until their zeal mellows. This was SO me! It didn't matter who it was, if they espoused a belief that I knew to be unbiblical, I set them straight right fast! Now, there's nothing wrong with correcting error - in fact, it's wrong not to - but it does matter how you do it. And the only word for my manner of correction was harsh. Completely unloving.

It's been more than 3 years now since coming to the Reformed faith. I'm glad to say that God did convict me of my unloving attitudes. I realize now that I don't have to nitpick what people say, & if they are in error that loving correction is godly correction. I also came to the understanding that there are true believers in unreformed churches. None of us have it all figured out, & when we die & join our fellow believers before the throne of God, we'll see just how much we got wrong in this life.  We'll also see the one thing we all got right, by the grace of God:  trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone as our atonement for sin.

So, here are my three main admonitions to my fellow believers:

     1.) Search out the Scriptures & place yourself under men of God who dedicate their lives to presenting God's Word to the flock truly & accurately. (At the top of my list of well-known pastors are John Piper, John MacArthur, & David Platt.)  Commit to holding Scripture, not your personal opinions or feelings, as your measuring stick.

     2.) Be humble. Sometimes, the most loving thing you can do for someone is to show them their error. But, if you do have to correct someone who is in error, do so gently & lovingly, remembering that God is gentle & loving with you & such a spirit honors & glorifies Him. In this same vein, evaluate your own beliefs in light of Scripture, being humble enough to admit when you're wrong & change accordingly.

     3.) Remember that it's okay to disagree as long as both parties support their views with an accurate interpretation & application of Scripture. Just because someone doesn't believe something just exactly as you do doesn't mean they aren't true believers.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. . . . Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. ~ 1 Cor. 13:1; 4-5a

P.S. For anyone not familiar with Reformed theology or the Doctrines of Grace, I will be writing posts on this topic sometime in the near (hopefully) future.  Feel free to ask any questions you may have, though.