The Gospel Coalition

As I continue to work on my next book entitled Unfashionable (slotted for release in April 2009), I’ve been buying and reading some excellent books that will stimulate my thinking and provide me with some help. One of the books that I am currently reading is a provocative book by Dick Staub entitled “Too Christian, Too Pagan” (Zondervan 2000). His thesis is that if you truly follow Jesus you will seem “too pagan for your Christian friends and “too Christian for your pagan friends.” Here are two quotes from the book that I read last night which I thought were excellent:

Most of us want to make a difference in our circle of influence, yet we feel woefuly inadequate to take Jesus into our world. There are two equal and opposite reasons for this. In my observation most Christians are either too Christian or too pagan. The Christians who are “too Christian” are very comfortable within the Christian sub-culture but are ill at ease when in the world. On the other hand, Christians who are too pagan are at ease with the world but fail to integrate their faith into their everyday life.

The Christian who is too Christian doesn’t love the world enough to enter fully into it, and the Christian who is too pagan doesn’t love Jesus enough to make a difference while there. Yet as disciples we are supposed to live out our calling in the world because Jesus commanded us to go into the world as a loving and transforming presence.

Mike Cromartie, Vice President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, was once interviewed by Modern Reformation magazine on the relationship between Christians and politics. You can (and should!) read the whole interview here.

In this article entitled Obama Provides A Way for the Evangelicals to Redeem Themselves — Following the Bush Disaster They Foisted on the Rest Of Us, Franky Schaeffer (son of the late Francis Schaeffer) once again proves that he loves being a contrarian.

“Sanctification is not by ‘works’ but by a continuous re-orienting ourselves to our justification. So sanctification is not moralistic. Yet it takes enormous effort (so it is not quietistic.) When we feed on, remember, and live in accordance with our justification, it mortifies our idols and fills us with an inner joy and desire to please and resemble our Lord through obedience. But the feeding on, remembering, and living in accordance—takes all our effort.”

This recent article by Mike Horton is one of the most provocative, insightful articles I’ve read in a long time. He says:

Sociologist Christian Smith has done extensive research revealing that the spirituality of America’s teens is best described as “moralistic, therapeutic deism.” In fact, other sociologists have come to similar conclusions concerning older generations as well. So while evangelicals are often quick to launch public protests against “secular humanists” for diminishing the role of God in American society, it would seem that the more likely source of secularization is the church itself. I am not claiming that evangelicalism is “atheistic” or even “deistic” in principle, but that in practice it is losing its interest in God and the grand story of his saving work in Jesus Christ.

He uses this true story as an illustration of his point:

Several years ago, a mainline theologian told me of his experience at an evangelical megachurch. He was visiting his children and grandchildren during spring break and then Easter Sunday arrived. Nothing visibly suggested that it was a Christian service, but this distinguished theologian tried to reign in his judgments. There was no greeting from God or sense that this was God’s gathering. The songs were almost exclusively about us, our feelings, and our intentions to worship, obey, and love; but it was not clear whom they were talking about or why. He concluded, “Well, evangelicals don’t really have a liturgy. They put all of the content into the sermon, so I’ll wait.”

His patience, however, was not rewarded. Although it was Easter, the message (with no clear text) was on how Jesus gives us the strength to overcome our obstacles. Lacking even a benediction, this theologian left discouraged. He had come to an evangelical church at Easter and instead of meeting God and the announcement of a real victory over sin and death by Jesus Christ, he encountered other Christians who were being given fellowship and instructions for making their own “Easter” come true in their life.

Pressed with leading questions by his son-in-law as to his reaction to the service (like, “Did it touch your heart?”), the theologian broke his silence: “I assume you’re trying to ‘evangelize’ me right now,” he said. “But there was no ‘gospel’ anywhere in that service that might convert me if I were unconverted.” He concluded, “Not even in the most liberal churches I’ve been in was the service so devoid of Christ and the gospel. It’s like ‘God who?’”

Read the rest of the article here.

Mike Wittmer (author of the excellent book Heaven is a Place on Earth) has a new book coming out in October entitled Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus is not Enough. It addresses concerns about some (especially emergent church people) who stress orthopraxy to the neglect of orthodoxy. He addresses some of the critical doctrinal issues on which there’s been some re-engineering. This is his concern: 

Evangelicals who reject the narrow fundamentalism of previous generations are in danger of over-correction. Don’t Stop Believing is an urgent call for both right practice and right belief. Our concern for social issues must not diminish the core doctrines of our faith. We must not stop believing.

As his previous book proved to be, this one looks like another tour de force.

As always, a J.I. Packer interview is “Packer-packed” with wisdom and insight. In this one he says:

We are inclined to believe that God exists for us, God is waiting for us, God is there to make us happy. But in the gospel, God does not play the role of a butler. In the Gospel we are told that God, the Creator who made all things for his own praise and glory, has gone into action as mankind’s redeemer. We human individuals are impotent of spiritual response, that is, response to God in any shape or form; but God first of all sends us a Savior to make atonement for our sins, and then he sends the Holy Spirit to change our hearts and make us willing to see and respond to Christ.

Read the rest of this interview here.

Read his answer here.

The list below is taken from Daniel Wray’s booklet The Importance of the Local Church, published by The Banner of Truth Trust.

1. Look for a church where there is a strong emphasis on Bible teaching and the application of biblical teaching to daily life. The local church should follow the model of the apostles who taught both objective truth, and also how believers were to live from day to day. For example, compare Ephesians, chapters 1-3, with chapters 4-6. A pastor should be `apt to teach’ [1 Tim 3.2], and should labour in this work [1 Tim 5.7; 2 Tim 3.16-4.4]. Look for a church where the pastor does this. Avoid a church that has given this work over to women, contrary to the New Testament’s clear teaching [1 Tim 2.12; 2 Tim 2.2]

2. Look for a church where worship is reverent and biblical. Beware of churches that entertain people more than they worship God, and which introduce elements into worship which are not taught in the Bible. The basic elements of true worship are: Prayer [Matt 6.9-13; Acts 2.42, 4.23-31]; reading and exposition of Scripture [1 Tim4.13;2 Tim 4.2; Eph 4.11, 12]; singing [Matt 26.30; Eph 5.18-20; Col 3.16]; offerings [1 Cor 16.1, 2; 2 Cor 8 and 9; Prov 3.9; Phil 4.18]; confessions of faith [1 Cor 15.3-5; Rom 10.9, 10]; the Lord’s Supper [Matt 26.17; 1 Cor 11.23-29]; and Baptism [Matt 28.19; Acts 2.38]. Seek a church where these elements are given full attention, without being pushed to the side by other things.

3. Look for a church where `the love of the brethren’ is evident [John 13.34, 35, 15.9-12; Eph 4.29-5.2; 1 John 4.7-5.2]. This, of course, is not something which is always readily visible to the occasional visitor. Remember that such love grows in the environment of a commitment to a local church, and it manifests itself in actions as well as words.

4. Look for a church where discipline is practised in accordance with Scripture [Matt 18.15-17; 1 Cor 5]. (See my booklet, Biblical Church Discipline for details).

5. Look for a church which demonstrates the Lord’s compassion for the lost by works of evangelism and mercy [Matt 9.36-38, 14.14; Mark 6.34; Luke 10.25-37].

6. You are duty-bound not to affiliate with any church which denies any of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, such as are summarized (for example) in the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed; and in such passages as Romans 1.1-6, 1 Corinthians 15.3-5. The churches of Christ are clearly responsible to uphold God’s truth; therefore this is a vital criterion when choosing a church [see 1 Tim 3.15; 2 Tim 1.13, 14, 2.2; Jude 3]. A true church will place a strong emphasis upon the importance of truth.

On the other hand, let us remember that love for the truth should not exist in isolation from love for people, especially those of the household of faith [Gal 6.10]. Sometimes one will encounter churches which are strict in their adherence to theological orthodoxy, while neglecting love and works of evangelism and mercy (as mentioned in paragraphs 3 and 5). Seek a church which is trying to practise all of these virtues together. We should be as zealous for love and mercy as we are for truth, and vice versa.

7. Recognize that there is no such thing as a perfect local church. Neither the pastor, nor the other officers, nor the people can be expected to please you in every particular. Nor should you be surprised to find inconsistencies even in good churches.

In this article, John Seel examines why the fashion of Abercrombie and Fitch is so popular among 18-23 year olds. He writes:

A&F is an interesting case study in Christian discernment. For it serves as both a window on the nature of advertising and a mirror on the soul of American youth. Abercrombie & Fitch is not about clothes. Or ultimately about fashion. Instead, A&F offers its buyers the experience of stepping into the fantasy world of adolescent dreams, unlimited popularity and carnal pleasures. Here the beautiful people belong.

Read the rest of John’s article here.