This discussion over methods and terms has been bubbling under the surface for a good while now. A younger generation of pastors look out at the state of evangelicalism and are rightly concerned that many people with cultural Christianity in their background cling to assurance they are saved despite an overwhelming lack of evidence of genuine conversion. It’s no surprise that some pastors are blaming the methods and terms that became prevalent in the previous generation. That’s why we hear a pastor like David Platt consider a phrase like “asking Jesus into your heart” to be “dangerous” and “damning.”

The response to this critique has been to trot out the biblical and historical precedent for using such terminology. That’s not hard. The idea of “receiving Christ” is all over the New Testament. It is certainly a part of the good news that we are not only in Christ, but that Christ is in us. Pastor Steve Gaines’ rebuttal to David Platt, for example, focused on the biblical preponderance of such language and how it offers a full-orbed view of what takes place when a sinner places faith in Jesus Christ.

A Global Perspective

The first time I questioned the legitimacy of expressions like “ask Jesus into your heart” was when I was a student in Romania. Several Romanian pastors challenged the use of such terminology. They considered it to be another example of the American tendency to water down the nature of true repentance, and they recommended the use of such phrases only if fully explained. They saw these expressions as distinctively “American” and worried that they did not give sufficient weight to the idea of surrendering one’s life to King Jesus in repentance and faith.

Though some in the Southern Baptist Convention want to make this a debate between Calvinists and non-Calvinists, a broader perspective shows that this is part of an ongoing conversation between Christians in the U.S. and Christians in other parts of the world. The pastors I knew who had concerns with this language were not Calvinistic at all. Still, they were afraid of creating false converts and offering them false assurance. It ought to at least give us pause that many Christians in other parts of the world are uncomfortable with this terminology.

The Real Issue is False Assurance

At the end of the day, the conversation about “the sinner’s prayer” and “asking Jesus into your heart” is not really about the legitimacy of such methods or the biblical justification for using expressions like “having a personal relationship with Christ” or “receiving Jesus.” I believe that properly understood and explained, any of these methods and terms can be used, to good effect. And I bet David Platt would have no problem at all with the careful way that Steve Gaines explains what it means to “receive Jesus.”

The real issue comes down to finding our assurance in these methods and phrases. False assurance is when a pastor says, either explicitly or implicitly, “as long as you walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, or asked Jesus into your heart at some point in time, you’re safe.” It’s the kind of false assurance that doesn’t take into account a Christian’s fruitfulness (as Jesus commanded us to) and tries to convince tares they are wheat. The debate is not really about the usefulness of a sinner’s prayer, but the grounding of one’s assurance in a particular moment in time where one felt remorse for sin, regardless if true repentance was present or later evidenced.

Growing up in independent Baptist circles, I recall how much emphasis was placed on the moment of conversion. Revival speakers would come into town and scare us as teenagers, telling us, “If you don’t remember the when, the where, the how, and the who of when you got saved, you’re probably not. So come down and get it settled today!” Multiple baptisms were good for the evangelist’s PR and dozens of teens getting re-baptized made the church feel good (“Look what God is doing in our young people!”).

Despite the hype, I never got re-baptized. I couldn’t articulate all the reasons why this was wrong, but I knew something wasn’t right. It felt like the shenanigans of these revival speakers put way too much emphasis on a moment in time and not on a life of fruitful faith.

True Conversion

This conversation about our methods and terminology in evangelism is an important one. I just hope that people who share a lot of the same concerns will understand the common ground they have and not impute mistakes to one another.

To my young pastor friends, we are often more apt to express concern about the precision of evangelistic language than we are to celebrate the passion of evangelistic outreach. Let’s not impute the excesses of revivalism to everyone who uses terms that are familiar within that stream of evangelicalism.

To my older pastor friends, please don’t assume that those who critique shallow evangelism are necessarily criticizing you or your ministry. And don’t think that young guys are gun-shy when it comes to evangelism, afraid to call people to personal faith and repentance, or have a problem with a moment of conversion.

Again, the issue is one of false assurance. No pastor wants to stand before God and find he offered false assurance to someone who showed no signs of genuine repentance and faith. We all ought to tremble at the thought.

Meanwhile, is it biblical to ask Jesus into your heart? Absolutely. We ought to say more than this when we evangelize, and our main focus ought to be on the biblical terminology of repentance and faith, but surely it is proper to speak of receiving Jesus.

Let’s just make sure we explain our terms and phrases so that the nature of true repentance and saving faith is communicated clearly, boldly, and graciously. I hope that’s something all of us can agree on.

The great project of our generation is to reclaim biblical Christianity as the Church. This will inevitably involve standing up and articulating with far more precision exactly what Christianity actually is.  It has become almost a trite statement in recent years that our culture has abandoned the Christian faith.  This actually is not my greatest concern.  My greatest concern is that those of us who are pastors and leaders have ourselves forgotten the gospel.

Rescued from Isolation:

Pastor, I’ve got good news for you: you are not alone! By God’s grace there are other pastors just like you on the other side of town, and profound blessings await if you simply make a habit of meeting together for lunch. That obvious truth is easy to overlook. I certainly ignored it for too long.

Reality TV and Religion Give Birth to Top Baby Names:

“Celebrity naming is just about the exposure and about everybody hearing that name at the same time,” Wattenberg said. “It’s not about the fame, it’s about the name.”

Religion continues to have a big influence on baby names, but with a twist.

Jon Acuff Misses Sunday School:

Dear Sunday School,

Wow, where do I even begin? It’s been so long since we last talked. Fifteen years at least. I used to go see you in college on the Sundays I would go to church. There you were, faithful and true. No jumping around during the week for you. Like an old friend, you were always waiting for me in the same spot each week. At church, spooning right up against the service.

I could double dip.

I could knock out both at once. Church and Sunday School were the perfect team, like chocolate and peanut butter, frog and toad, Kim Kardashian and a professional athlete/Kanye.

On The Exchange this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. CST, I will be joining Dr. George Guthrie and Philip Nation for a conversation about the importance of knowing the overarching story of the Bible. Dr. Guthrie is the author of  Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understanding and Living God’s Word, one of the most helpful, accessible books on hermeneutics I’ve come across.

George has also been influential in the development of The Gospel Project, particularly the second and third volumes (Winter 2012 and Spring 2013) which provide an overview of the Bible in 26 weeks. The two of us worked together on choosing the appropriate passages and how to incorporate some of the Bible’s more important themes into the lessons.

Here are some topics we’ll be discussing:

1. Why is Story an important entry point for teaching people the Bible?
2. What are examples from Scripture that demonstrate why it is important to know the whole Story of Scripture?
3. What are tools that can help people grow in their understanding of the Story?
4. What can churches do to draw people into the Story of Scripture? What forms of training are helpful?
5. What dynamics in church culture of the past half century have fought against people understanding the grand Story of Scripture?
6. What dynamics in culture generally have fought against people understanding the grand Story of Scripture?
7. What are the pay-offs for churches that embraces a long-term strategy to teach their people the Story of Scripture?
8. How can we describe the relationship between the “Old” and “New” Testament parts of the Story?

Click here for more information on Read the Bible for Life and here for more information on The Gospel Project.

Click here to watch live this afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

Nine tips/suggestions for how me might approach our consumption of food more thoughtfully and Christianly…

Consternation over Ben Carson, Evolution, and Morality:

If Emory University professors want to argue that evolution has no ethical implications, they are free to make that argument. (I wonder how many of them actually believe this.) But, if they do, they need to recognize that they are not just arguing against “benighted” anti-evolutionists, but they also are arguing against many of their cherished colleagues in evolutionary biology, including Darwin himself.

7 Marks of a Good Theologian

What’s a Homemaker Really Worth?

Allow me to suggest two simple reasons why homemaking isn’t esteemed by our culture. First, there is a general ignorance of what homemaking entails. And second, more importantly, we don’t value children.

In an age described by J. I. Packer as “a mile wide and an inch deep,” the blogosphere has become a place where critical thinking and sharp analysis are celebrated. I know firsthand. I am often pointing people to thoughtful book reviews, incisive critiques of theological developments, and pastoral warnings against compromise. I’ve posted a number of critiques myself.

Yes, I realize that some of the greatest authors and thinkers have been critics. Mark Twain was masterful in his critical commentary. And G. K. Chesterton was a critic who is celebrated even today, when the books and people he critiqued are largely forgotten.

But these kinds of critics stand out because they were always about ideas bigger than their own critiques. Twain had a wit that forced people to take him seriously. And Chesterton’s marvelous sense of humor infused all of his critiques with such joy that one wanted to be conquered by his logic and reasoning even if people ultimately rejected his position.

(Furthermore, both Twain and Chesterton were creators too. They gave us Huck Finn and Father Brown.)

Notice how that statement reads. Spurgeon doesn’t condemn the man who points out the church’s imperfections. After all, he himself did that… often! He condemns the one who takes pleasure in criticizing. The difference is instructive. It concerns the heart. Spurgeon recognized the difference between a critical mind (incisive, analytical, fair-minded) and a critical spirit (delighting in exposing the flaws of others, quick to judge, dismissive and proud).

By God’s grace, I now ask for the Lord to speak to me through His Word – no matter who is preaching or what the sermon is. And without fail, God does. The sermon may not be completely tied to the text, biblically faithful in all its particulars, or well illustrated, but God can use it. And thank God He does! Otherwise, how would those of us who preach ever have the confidence to open up the Word and deliver a message?

There will be times of confrontation. There will be times to call into question your brother’s words and actions. (Paul’s confrontation of Peter comes to mind.) But that was a big deal. Peter was denying the gospel with his actions. The stuff we get worked up about is usually not that critical.

But the Evil One would love nothing more than to infect such a movement with a critical spirit, to have us be theologically minded at the expense of mission-driven rather than having our theological acumen drive us toward mission. It’s a small jump from engaging in critical thinking to having a critical spirit.

I’ve made that jump before. Too many times. And I don’t want to go there again.

We will not critique our way to gospel-centered revival.

I hope it’s clear why I would say that baptism should precede church membership. Baptism is a public identification with the Trinity. That’s what Jesus means when he speaks of being baptized “into the name” of Father, Son, and Spirit. When you are baptized, you are saying, “I’m with them!”  You are putting on the team jersey.

The 4-Question Meeting: You Can’t Be Brilliant Alone

A successful meeting ensures the right people are invited and the material is presented as effectively and judiciously as possible. It is respectful of your time and enables you to contribute in a meaningful way or makes you smarter. Too often this is the exception than the norm, which put me on a quest to identify a quick process to improve the odds.

Lenin’s Death Remains a Mystery: Doctor Suspects Stalin

Dr. Lurie said Stalin might have poisoned Lenin despite this assurance, as Stalin was “absolutely ruthless.”

Dr. Vinters believes that sky-high cholesterol leading to a stroke was the main cause of Lenin’s death. But he said there is one other puzzling aspect of the story. Although toxicology studies were done on others in Russia, there was an order that no toxicology be done on Lenin’s tissues.

So the mystery remains.

Same-Sex Marriage Makes a Lot of Sense:

Same-sex marriage makes sense if you assume that the individual is the center of the universe, that God—if he exists—is there to make us happy, and that our choices are not grounded in a nature created by God but in arbitrary self-construction. To the extent that this sort of “moralistic-therapeutic-deism” prevails in our churches, can we expect the world to think any differently?

How could I stand here
And watch the sun rise
Follow the mountains
Where they touch the sky
Ponder the vastness
And the depths of the sea
And think for a moment
The point of it all was to make much of me?

Cause I’m just a whisper
And You are the thunder and

I want to make much of You, Jesus
I want to make much of Your love
I want to live today to give You the praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I want to make much of Your mercy
I want to make much of Your cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of You

And how can I kneel here
And think of the cross
The thorns and the whip and the nails and the spear
The infinite cost
To purchase my pardon
And bear all my shame
To think I have anything worth boasting in except for Your name

Cause I am a sinner
And You are the Savior

This is Your love, oh God
Not to make much of me
But to send Your own son
So that we could make much of You

For all eternity

- Steven Curtis Chapman

Do not flinch because the lion roars.
Do not stop to stone the devil’s dogs.
Do not fool away your time chasing the devil’s rabbits.

Do your work.

Let liars lie.
Let sectarians quarrel.
Let critics malign.
Let enemies accuse.
Let the devil do his worst.

But see to it nothing hinders you from fulfilling with joy the work God has given you.

He has not commanded you to be admired or esteemed.
He has never bidden you defend your character.
He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood (about yourself)
which Satan’s or God’s servants may start to peddle,
or to track down every rumor that threatens your reputation.
If you do these things, you will do nothing else.
You will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.

Keep at your work.
Let your aim be as steady as a star.
You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted, slandered,
wounded and rejected, misunderstood, or assigned impure motives;
You may be abused by foes, forsaken by friends,
and despised and rejected of men.
But see to it with steadfast determination,
with unfaltering zeal,
that you pursue the great purpose of your life and object of your being
until at last you can say, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.”

- Anonymous

“Before the tree, Adam enjoyed sex without knowing that Eve was naked.”

Adam was one dumb guy.

In 1059 Anselm made his way to the Benedictine abbey of Bec in Normandy.  The following year Anselm entered the abbey.

He shouldn’t have waited so long to knock.

“The power of Christ could not be overcome by Satin’s power of death.”

That 800 thread count is a killer.

“The issue of baptism is as old as itself.”

I had no idea.

“Mary was conceived through the Holy Spirit, which caused her to be pregnant with Jesus.”

In this spectacular variation on the immaculate conception, Mary was pregnant before she was born.

“Bernard wrote for a wider audience than Anselm—who wrote only for rational people.“

Who did Bernard write for, morons?

“Capitalization has led society to be market driven.”

I would not have guessed that using higher case letters would have this effect.

Martian Luther is the theologian of justification.”

Yes, he is out of this world!

“I believe hat eschatology matters….”

This student either left out the “t” in “that,” or he is referring to the infamous sombrero rapture, which as you might guess, is the last event in the Mayan calendar.

1. Ten Attributes of a Humble Leader

2. What Is Better? (Must Read!)

3. President Obama, Same-Sex Marriage, and the Future of Evangelical Response

4. Three Things J.D. Greear Learned Through the Process (of passing Amendment 1)

5. Have You Misplaced Your Fear?

6. What Sermon Prep Really Looks Like

7. The Challenge of Christian Journalism