the reluctant leader

Seven Deadly Sins of the Pulpit

I was digging through an old notebook this morning, looking for notes on Ephesians 1 for my sermon this weekend at Bethel Franklin. I did not find what I was looking for, but I did find piles of vintage Steve Murrell sermons. This blog is a summary of a sermon I preached at Victory-Manila in November, 2004. Not sure where the original idea come from, but I think it was inspired by a conversation with Rice Broocks.

__________

It is increasingly common today to hear parts of the gospel proclaimed. The same was happening in the early church. In Acts 20:26,27 Paul says to the Ephesian church elders, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you.  For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the WHOLE WILL OF GOD. (Acts 20:26, 27)

Unlike many modern preachers, Paul refused to edit out the difficult parts of the message. He insisted on preaching the whole gospel.

In 604, Pope Gregory wrote about the "Seven Deadly Sins" which included pride, gluttony, envy, lust, anger, greed, and laziness. In the spirit of the Pope's top seven, here's my list of "Seven Deadly Sins of the Pulpit." 

1. PREACHING CHRIST WITHOUT THE CROSS. No cost Christianity. Paul determined to know and preach nothing except Christ and Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). Today it seems we preach everything but Christ and the cross, causing many to live as enemies of the cross (Philippians 3:18).

2. PREACHING SALVATION WITHOUT SANCTIFICATION. No change Christianity. So many claim Christ today with no evidence or change in their lives, and the pulpit is at least partially to blame.

3. PREACHING DECISIONS WITHOUT DISCIPLESHIP. No commitment Christianity. I know we are getting crowds and decisions, but are we making disciples?

4. PREACHING LOVE WITHOUT LORDSHIP. No compliance Christianity. Jesus is Lord, and because He is Lord, he heals, delivers, provides, and saves.  

5. PREACHING PROSPERITY WITHOUT PURPOSE. No cause Christianity. God blesses us so that we can be a blessing.

6. PREACHING BLESSING WITHOUT BIRTHRIGHT. No covenant Christianity. Esau threw away his birthright and still expected a blessing. It does not work that way. If we want the blessing, we must accept the covenantal responsibilities that go with the birthright. 

7. PREACHING REVIVAL WITHOUT REFORMATION. No transformation Christianity. We are called to be salt and light, to impact individuals and cultures, families and nations. The gospel is supposed to be transformational.

I have certainly been guilty of all of above at different times in my life as a preacher. As I have matured, hopefully, I'm being more and more faithful to preaching the WHOLE WILL OF GOD. How about you?    

 

Misguided Attempts at Personal Holiness

From dress codes to movie bans to hair length regulations, our religious world is rife with sincere but misguided attempts at personal holiness. Do we really think holiness is about external behavior, human effort, and religious rules? Apparently we do. Even though the Bible teaches the exact opposite.

Old Testament leaders were supposed to tell all the people to "be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." (Leviticus 19:2) My quick comments on that verse...

1. BE HOLY... The Bible tells us to be holy, not to act holy. Holiness is a state of being. It is something we are, not something we do. Internal not external. Being not doing. Fish swim because they are fish. Birds fly because they are birds. Christians avoid sin because they are holy. Swimming does not make one a fish. Acting holy does not make one a Christian.

2. BECAUSE I AM HOLY... We are to be holy because of who God is, not because of who we are or who we want to become. When the motivation for our holiness is to win God's favor, relieve our guilt, or impress our pastor, it is not real holiness. Real holiness is God-centered not man-centered. It is about Him, not about us.

So, what am I trying to say? The same thing the Old Testament leaders constantly said: whether you have long hair or no hair, whether you watch or boycott movies, whether you wear a suit or shorts to church, you should be holy because God is holy.

Believing in God is Not Enough

Last Sunday I started a sermon series on the Apostles' Creed. This ancient baptismal confession begins with I BELIEVE IN GOD...

Most people in the world today believe in God. But, do they believe in the God of the Bible, or a god of their own making?

Following are some statements by people who BELIEVE IN GOD.

"I believe in one God. I don’t believe in religion. I don’t believe in Christians or Muslims. I think it’s all the same God, and I don’t believe in Hell. But as far as God, of course I believe in God." -Jay-Z

"I believe that there are many paths to God, or many paths to the light. I certainly don’t believe there is only one way." -Oprah

“Sometimes I believe in God, sometimes I don’t. I think it’s 50-50 maybe. But ever since I’ve had cancer, I’ve been thinking about it more. And I find myself believing a bit more.” -Steve Jobs

“I believe in Jesus, I believe in God, I’m very spiritual, I pray. At the same time there isn’t one religion that doesn’t hate or speak against or be prejudiced against another racial group or religious group or sexual group. I guess you could say I’m a very religious woman who is confused about religion.” -Lady Gaga

Jay-Z, Oprah, Steve Jobs, and Lady Gaga all BELIEVE IN GOD. But is belief in God enough? I don't think so. And neither did James who wrote, You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that---and shudder. (James 2:19)

The demons James writes about not only believed in God, they believed in the true God, and they believed the truth about God. Yet, despite their belief, they were still demons.

Likewise, many today who BELIEVE IN GOD still live like demons. Belief, even right belief, is not enough. Believing in God simply qualifies a person to be a demon.

Belief or faith is one side of a two sided coin. The other side of the coin is repentance. Faith is turning to God. Repentance is turning from sin. We can't do one without the other. And that's why mere belief in God is not enough.

So, the question is not simply do you believe in God, but have you turned from sin and turned to God?

 

 

Three Controversial But Important Topics We Must Address

Pastors and ministers have countless topics to address and an unending stream questions to answer, but none are as important in 2012 as these:

1. The Exclusivity of Christ - Are all religions equal? Are there many paths to God? Or is Jesus the only way to God as stated in John 14:6? ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.")

2. The Authority of Scripture - Is the Bible trustworthy, or flawed? Is the Bible authoritative, or merely suggestive?

3. The Sanctity of Marriage - Does marriage still matter? Is marriage exclusively between one man and one woman? Is it ok to redefine marriage to fit in with contemporary cultural values?

These questions will not go away. If we don't address them, someone else will.

Are You Serving God the Old Way or the New Way?

There are basically two ways to serve God:

1. "The Old Way of the Written Code" (Human effort, good works, religious duty)

2. "The New Way of the Spirit" (Grace, faith, power of the Holy Spirit)

Paul, a very religious man, finally figured out he had spent his entire life serving God the old way, living by the written code. He then tried to explain his new revelation to the Romans. "We have been released from the law so that we serve in the NEW WAY OF THE SPIRIT, and not in the OLD WAY OF THE WRITTEN CODE." (Romans 7:6)

This is one of those either/or things, not a both/and thing. We can't do both. We can't live the old way and the new way at the same time. We either trust in God's grace or we trust in our works. We either trust in what God did for us or what we do for him. Either/or.

I know you are serving God, but are you doing it the old way or the new way?

 

 

 

A Judgment Day Blog

Reading Romans on my early morning Nashville to Minneapolis to Calgary flight... (I hate early morning flights!)

In chapter 2 Paul writes about what many modern preachers are afraid to talk about: JUDGMENT.

Sorry, but the J word is all over the Bible, so we can't just ignore it and hope it is edited out of the next translation. We must preach it, teach it, tweet it, blog it, prepare for it, and help others prepare for it.

Romans 2 teaches us four facts about God as Judge and about Judgment Day.

1. No Excuses Accepted.
"You, therefore, have NO EXCUSE..." (Romans 2:1)
I've heard and created lots of really good excuses to disobey and dishonor God, but none will ever be good enough.

2. No Escape Possible.
"...do you think you will ESCAPE God's judgment?" (Romans 2:3
No one in history has ever escaped God's judgment. And no one ever will. Not me. Not you.

3. No Favoritism Extended.
"God does not show FAVORITISM." (Romans 2:11)
It does not matter how popular you are, how much money you have, who you are related to, or who owes you one - none of that helps on Judgment Day.

4. No Secrets Unknown.
"...God will judge men's SECRETS (Romans 2:11)
You know that thing you did and got away with and no one else on the planet knows about? God knows.

Are you ready for J Day? Pastors, are you helping people get ready?

"Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear." (1 Peter 1:17)

What is the Source of Corruption and Evil in Society?

Our modern victim culture teaches that people are corrupt because society is corrupt. In other words, people are products of their surroundings. Good societies produce good people. Evil societies produce evil people. We are not at fault. We are basically good people in bad environments. We are victims.

While that idea makes us feel good about ourselves, it is the polar opposite of what God's word teaches. Consider Genesis 6.

Verse 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence (Why was the earth corrupt and violent? Read the next verse...)

Verse 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, FOR ALL THE PEOPLE on earth HAD CORRUPTED THEIR WAYS.

Did you get that? The earth became corrupt because the "people had corrupted their ways." Societies are corrupted by corrupt people, not the other way around. We are not victims of corruption; we are perpetrators of corruption. We are the root cause.

If God wanted to put an instant end to evil and corruption in the world all He would have to do is kill every man, woman, boy and girl. Get rid of the source and the corruption problem is solved.

We are the reason for all corruption.

We are also the reason He came to earth in human flesh, lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death, rose from the grave and now offers the free gift of eternal life.

Thank God for the gospel that frees us from the temporal chains and eternal consequences of our own corruption.

A Thanksgiving Blog: Where Are the Other Nine?

You know the story. Luke 17. Jesus meets 10 lepers. Leprosy in the Bible times was an incurable disease, dooming its victims to a life of poverty, rejection and hopelessness.

According to Jewish Levitical law and cultural tradition, any time lepers were around normal people they were supposed to broadcast their problem by shouting "unclean, unclean."  But the 10 lepers in Luke 17 broke the rules, and rather than shouting their problem, they shouted the answer. 

And, Jesus healed them. He didn't heal all lepers, but he healed the 10 who broke the religious rules and shouted the answer. 

Here's the strange, but sadly familiar part of the story. Only 1 of 10 returned to say "thanks."

Only one. 1. Uno. Isa. Satu. Une. Eins. Een. واحد. ένας. אחד. один. एक. 하나. ひとつ. หนึ่ง. ONE! 

Jesus ends the Luke 17 story with a question: Where are the other nine? We are not told where they were, but we can speculate. One was busy at work. Another was at his kid's soccer game. Some were on the testimony circuit, telling everyone what Jesus did for them. But only 1 made time to return to Jesus and give him praise and say thanks.

Like the 10 lepers, I was a hopeless case, until Jesus made me clean and whole. But too often I am more like the 9 than the 1. I am too busy to return and say thanks. I get so busy telling the world what he did for me, that I have no time to daily return to Him and say thanks. Does this sound like you? Not good.

In America this week is a holiday we call Thanksgiving, a day to overeat and watch American football. And hopefully a day to say THANKS to God for all He has done for us.

Final thought. Be the 1. Not the 9. Not just on Thanksgiving. Every day.

 

Sometimes You Have to Break the (religious) Rules

While driving to the office this morning, both local sports radio talk shows were talking about Tim Tebow's technical problems. (Note to non-American readers: Tim Tebow is an American football player. American football is a game where the ball is thrown and caught with the hands, and should not be confused with international football where the ball is kicked with the foot.) It didn't matter that Tebow's team won the game. The talking heads only talked about the problem: Tebow's passing accuracy.

When it comes to problems, everyone has an expert opinion. Just listen to talk radio, water cooler conversations and presidential debates. Yea, we love to talk about the problem. The topic doesn't matter - politics, poverty, parenting or passing fundamentals - experts about the problem abound. But unfortunately most have little to say about the solution.

One of the most hopeless problems in New Testamant times was leprosy. It had no cure and therefore left its victims in a hopeless situation. Jewish religious and cultural tradition taught those with leprosy (and other infectious skin diseases) to SHOUT THE PROBLEM. 

“Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp. (Leviticus 13:45,46)

Lepers were required to "live outside the camp" in isolation from the rest of society. And, if they ever happened to get near another human, they were supposed to shout their problem: "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!"

Most church people have that "shout the problem" thing down pat. We're good at identifying and shouting about our problems. The same way lepers of old shouted "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!" we love to talk about our problems: "Bad marriage! Bad marriage! Lousy job! Lousy job! Rebellious kids! Rebellious kids! Boring sermon! Boring Sermon!"

Jesus encountered lepers several times. They all had hopeless cases. There was no cure for their problem. They were rejected and lonely, left to beg. And when they had human encounters, they were supposed to shout their problem, "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!" 

But twice Jesus encountered lepers who broke the rules. They did the exact opposite of what their religious tradition expected of them. Rather than shouting the problem, they shouted the ANSWER!

"Lord, if you are willing, YOU CAN MAKE ME CLEAN." -LUKE 5:12

"Jesus, Master, have pity on us." -Luke 17:13

These two shouted the answer, and these are the ones Jesus healed. What about you, do you shout your problem or do you shout God's answer?

 

NOTE: This blog is a summary/preview of my Thanksgiving sermon that will be preached this weekend at Bethel Franklin as part of our "Living by Faith" series. 

 

 

 

What We Can All Learn from Joel Osteen

Sitting in Tokyo airport, about to change planes on my way from Manila to Nashville, and I'm thinking about Joel Osteen, his message and his critics... and his Dad.

I'm not a big fan of Christian TV and I have never read a Joel Osteen book, but I did watch ten minutes of Bro Joel last night in Manila as I was packing for an early flight to Nashville. He was preaching to thousands in a huge baseball stadium. I know it is easy for preachers, pastors, bloggers and self-appointed theological watchdogs to criticize Joel for his comments about Mitt Romney"s Mormonism and other not-quite-orthodox statements, but that is not what this blog is about. I want to tell you what I like about the man and what we can all learn from him.

Last night was the fourth or fifth time I have watched a portion of a Joel Osteen sermon. Every time I have heard Joel preach on TV, at some point he mentions his dad, the late John Osteen. He not only mentions his dad, he honors his dad. I don't know if he honors his dad in every sermon he ever preaches, but he has honored his dad in every sermon I have heard him preach.

And that's what I like about Joel. He aways honors his dad. Maybe that is why it seems to go well with Joel, and maybe that is why Every Day is a Friday for Joel and Victoria.

“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” --Ephesians 6:2