Friday 30 June 2017

Theology and Ecclesiology MUST be part of preaching!

There is a certain mood in our day which suggests "drumming things down". A minister friend of mine was criticised once for using too long theological words in his sermon and explication. Perhaps this could be wrong in some circumstances, but my friend rightly explained that if you are ill then you quickly become familiar with difficult words from your Doctor. We must not unnecessarily over-complicate things in the church and neither should we over-simplify things either. The latter is mainly the problem in British evangelicalism! The church needs a full-bodied recovery of theology and ecclesiology in its preaching.

We cannot preach Christ, without also preaching the doctrine of the church! Why? It is because the LORD Jesus Christ is the head of the church and He died for the church. Rev Brian Norton, a friend, mentor and faithful pastor in Durham Presbyterian Church, is now in heaven. But he modelled as a minister an attitude of pouring out his life for the church. Why did he live in this way? It is because Jesus died for the church, and not for projects, he lived as a minister for what primarily counts, the health of the Christian church. We must live for the upbuilding, strengthening and equipping of the true church. Do you live like that as a Christian? Selfishness is culturally acceptable and it is a part of our decadent British; it is an accepted cultural norms. But, we should not be living a selfish life as a Christian, this should not be so amongst the church and professing Christians. Let us live godly, self-effacing and with a servant heart to support the church.

Colossians 1:18 "And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent".

Ephesians 5:22, 24-27 "Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Saviour ... Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish".

Many Christian ministers and churches never mention ecclesiology in their preaching and they show no interest in it. That is often, until problems arise. And problems will indeed arise if the doctrine of the church is not opened up, because spiritual darkness will be tolerated in the church. Ecclesiology is part of the whole counsel of God and it must be preached. One of the best books I have ever preached on was the Book of Titus: a book full of ecclesiology and doctrine. When it is opened up for the people of God it is like "smelling salts".

Let the full light of ecclesiology shine in the church so that Scripture guides our view of church government, our practices in worship (and not our preferences) and our doctrine. This is why we cannot allow women to hold church office as elders, ministers or deacons. Why? The Scripture forbids it. Period. End of discussion, except that we will explain why God teaches thus and so, but we must submit to the Lord's wisdom and not push forward our own wisdom upon the church where it contradicts the plain teaching of Holy scripture.

What about theology? Theology means the study of God. The church must preach God and then we can rightly understand man. The church should fill our thoughts about the Triune God. Where else can this knowledge be found? The Lord Jesus Christ is the theologian par excellence. Why do I say that? Just read the Gospel of John. It is full of theology and the church needs this.

Let us pray for a full orbed recovery of ecclesiology and theology in all facets of the life of the church. So that the life of God can be visibly seen in the church's love for the Triune God.

2 comments:

Chris said...

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (NIV, Galatians 3:26-29)

If we are 'ALL sons' and there is neither male nor female in Christ then I don't see what the argument is about. The feminists may not like the idea of being called 'sons' but this scripture seems to indicate that in Christ there is no gender.

Kevin Bidwell said...

Chris,

We all understand that with respect to salvation that there is neither ethnic diversity, social barriers or gender differences. All are sinners who need to taste the grace of God through the LORD Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. I know that you are not saying that gender differences are wiped though in the church.

As we know from the Bible, the NT teaches on marriage and that there is male and female; a clear gender distinction and there are only two possibilities. For church eldership, only qualified men can hold this office and so on. It appears that Western societies have lost their compass regarding gender and other identity, and now present a most confused fashion of ideas. The church must NOT follow the world's lead, but instead speak with clarity on these matters,

Kevin Bidwell