We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming …
I had planned to post another Jesus Descent essay today, but as I was running on the treadmill this morning I couldn’t get the question of “why?” about the series out of my head. Why spend so much time on this? Why is it even important? When I flipped on the Mac this morning, I had an email that raised the issue so I thought I’d dish out a comment or two about it and return to the series tomorrow.
“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” Colossians 2:6, 7 (NASB)
In many Pentecostal and Charismatic circles, even today, there is not much of an emphasis of living out the content of Colossians 2:6 and 7. I don’t know in how many services I’ve heard, “It’s all about Jesus. Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! That’s all you need to know. Just Jesus!” Usually when that is said, everyone starts Amening, clapping, dancing, or praising the Lord or whatever. While emotions aren’t bad, these have a shallow foundation.
When I was about to graduate from Bible school, I, like everyone else, had begun making post-graduation plans about ministry. Frankly, I thought I had more natural gifts than some of my schoolmates so I thought I wouldn’t have a hard time making a go of it and I let a lot of people know it. (yeah, I know, pretty prideful and immature) I was “goin apreachin”. Hey, I knew Jesus and that’s all I needed to know, right?
About a month or so before graduation, I went to a church meeting where this little old woman of God was supposed to speak. I had never seen her before, but I was told that she had this direct connection to the throne like no one else had. When she preached that night, there was that inarticulate something about her that was just divine. Though she wasn’t over 5 feet tall and looked frail, you felt as if Elijah had come back from the dead. At the end of the service, she and some other preachers said that they would pray for those who wanted prayer. I didn’t have anything particular in mind and I was pretty casual about it, but I went up to the front because … well … she was Elijah. (yeah, I know, immature) When I got up there, she looked up at me and said in the sweetest little grandmother voice, “Would you like for me to pray for you?” I told her, “yes” and she put her hand on my forehead.
I don’t know if any of you remember Vavoom from Felix the Cat, but he’s got nothing on Ms. Elijah. As she spoke over me, every hair on every part of my body stood straight up and I could swear that some gale force wind entered the building. She vavoomed:
“You say, ‘I’ve got more natural talent than others and you think that qualifies you!’ You say, ‘I’ve got what I need and I will go out now!’ You will not go out! You are not ready! You still need training and you will continue to train and not go out until I send you out!”
I went back to my seat sweating and trembling so much that I couldn’t see anything; everything was bouncing up and down and I had to hold on tight to the seat so that I would fall out of it. That lasted until the next day. I don’t know that I’ve ever experienced the fear of God in my life like I did that night. (Don’t tell me that the gifts of the Spirit are not operating today.)
After I was able to drink a cup of coffee without spilling it, I thought that I had, maybe, another year or two before I’d be sent out. I had no idea that it’d be twenty. But over those twenty years, I’ve learned some truths from Him that I never would have learned in a ministry or seminary setting. One of those truths is this:
Facts Are Paramount.
I’ve learned this through law practice and I didn’t learn it overnight. In any given legal case, the facts rule and all of my legal arguments, maneuvering and downright good personality are a distant second. Many times I’ve been commended by either the judge or opposing counsel for my “great arguments,” only to apologize to my client minutes later for losing because “we didn’t have the facts.” Facts are supreme and the best kept secret in the legal field is that the lawyer’s argument really makes up only about 10% of the difference of a case.
So what does this have to do with the Jesus Descent series? The purpose of the series is not to one-up some famed theologian or to debate some atonement theory. It is to show you an important part of the redemption story. The Plan of Redemption is a real-life reality drama. It is the story about how the second person of the Godhead emptied himself of all of his glory to come and rescue us. This story contains facts, facts of prophecy, facts about his coming, facts about his life, facts about his crucifixion, his ascension, and facts about his descent into hell and his suffering there. It is when we understand the facts, what they truly are, their contours, their textures, and their implications that we become “firmly rooted and established” in him and in the faith. Personally, I don’t care what it means to be a Calvinist, Baptist, Evangelical, Arminian, or what the latest ideas of atonement theory are. I care about redemption facts. It was with those facts that the early Christians could say, “Light that fire and make it quick so that I can go to see my Lord.”
So while I may bring Wayne Grudem, Richard Hays, E.W. Kenyon, or even my cheesy theologian to the table, it’s “Just the facts, ma’am.” If you can wade through all of the stuff to see just another glimmer of who He is and just what He’s done for us, then I’ve accomplished my aim.
[Note: Most sermons today do not revolve around the Lord or the redemption story, but around us; what we’re going through, what this means to us, yada, yada, yada. They usually use scripture as mere tie-ins to the preacher’s own suppositions, conclusions, or opinions about some vague notions about God and us. Sermons based upon the rock of redemptive facts are much harder to preach because they require huge investments of time and prayer both of which seem to be in short supply these days. See for yourselves if this is true.]
Just a few thoughts:
1) Love the story of “Elijah” and you. It makes you a little vulnerable, but it was a great story on so many levels, it would take too long to talk about. Thanks for taking the risk to share it.
2) The Dragnet Gospel (just the facts ma’am) was the corpus of the early church’s preaching. The Apostles attested to a story to which they were the witnesses. What you said about efficacy in the law court applies. Perhaps if we preached more about the facts and less about pop psychology (amongst other trivia) we would see more power. The cold hard facts of a man rising from the grave, truly challenge the sinful human heart (at least Paul thought Christ and him crucified was a worthy concentration).
3) Don’t know that I can pedal with you on your note. I may be taking you the wrong way, but I almost hear the strains of the all to common chorus singing the virtues expository preaching arising from careful exegesis. The problem is that not one example of preaching in the NT follows that pattern. Not Jesus, not Peter, not Stephen, not Paul, not whoever preached the very long sermon that is Hebrews. Nothing against that type of preaching, but I could never agree that it’s the only way to do so.
4) I have really enjoyed your posts in the short time I have been in the blogosphere. The subtitle of the blog is definitely apropos.
Addendum
Peter, did you ever think of drawing a cartoon character to go with the persona of the “Cheesy Theologian.” Could be a lot of fun. I can only imagine his antics.
SLW, thanks for the comments. Frankly, the Lord dealt with me about being “professional” (or “vulnerable” if you look at it that way) shortly after I began this blog. My Gethsemane posts were the hardest to publish. Compared to #3, everything else is really a piece of cake. We tend to forget that Paul prayed with tears and he let his readers know it.
“Expository preaching” these days is a loaded term. It conjures up thoughts of a scintillating line-by-line thoroughgoing (read: “thrashing”) that includes history, biography, grammar, punctuation, theologians on the right and the left, yada, yada, yada. (I seem to be using that a lot). I wouldn’t survive in that atmosphere. My idea of expository preaching is exactly what we see with Peter using David’s psalms, Paul using Habakkuk 2:4 in Galatians and Psalms 18 and 69 in Romans 15, or the Hebrews writer using Psalms 110 or 40. Stephen’s sermon is also a good example. That’s what I try to mimic here.
Cheesy theologian? I’m already talking to NBC.
I really like your style and format. I appreciate your ‘just the facts’ approach. If folks would stick to the facts there would be a lot less confusion w/in the body of Christ.
Cala, thanks for the comment. If I can relate our redemptive facts in ways that my readers “get” them and, in turn, save them from those dreadful theological treatises that I have to read myself, I’m doing pretty good.
Peter,
I’ve really enjoyed your articles……..just found your website recently.
I may have a tender spot but it seems that you have something against the church in general. I may have interpreted you wrongly; if sorry forgive me. While I know that there is a lot of garbage preaching out there, I still believe in the church (the body of Christ). I believe there are tons of great preachers & pastors around the world.
Again, I’ve really enjoy you teachings & look forward to reading much more.
Blessings Mike
Mike, thanks for the comments.
Like you, I love the Body of Christ and personally know of a great many folks who are “great preachers and pastors.” On our site we list a few great churches and ministries and would list a lot more if we had the space.
Let me speak, however, to your comment that I might “something against the church in general” with just a couple of personal thoughts.
A few years ago, a pastor-friend of ours mentioned the fact that a large number of Word, charismatic, and pentecostal churches don’t even mention the name of Jesus during their Sunday services let alone have the focus on him. Over the course of time, we can bear witness to that testimony. Even in the “Word of Faith” camp (depending on how you want to define that) there is little mention of Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection or NT scripture (much teaching centers on OT scripture). To us, many, if not most, preachers in the Word/Charismatic/Pentecostal camps have wandered from the fundamental truths of the NT Word, such as the realities of redemption, divine healing, gifts of the Spirit, and so on. Part of our mission/ministry is to build upon the foundation of those who have gone before us, such as the Charles Prices, E.W. Kenyons, John Lakes, and Kenneth Hagins, who contributed so much light to those fundamentals.
In Kenneth Hagin’s Plans, Purposes, and Pursuits, he relates a vision of Jesus that he had in 1987 (whether one believes that he had a vision is beside he point because the gist of the teaching is square on). In that vision, Jesus tells Hagin that he blesses the Body as much as he can, but he is limited if the Body doesn’t follow his scriptural plan for walking in the Spirit. One concrete example given in the vision is applauding the Lord. Jesus flatly tells Hagin, “Applause is not praise.” Today, a Full Gospel church that doesn’t applaud the Lord is a rare phenomenon. The question is whether we should endeavor to find and follow his scriptural plan for the Body or just carry the attitude that as long as everybody has a smile on his face and says, “Praise the Lord!” we should be satisfied. Here on this site, we’ve opted for the former.
Peter
Thanks for the insight. And I agree we all must do a better job with the truths you have so greatly explain and with Jesus as the Head of this body; I know that it will line up. I believe we are in a time that things are being brought to light and the church can see where we need to be. It’s like when the Apollo 11 spacecraft went to the moon. They made course corrections every 15 mins. (approx) to get to their destination, the moon. Most of us just thought, they took off, pointed towards the moon & they got there. Keith Moore says & I agree the most important quality we must have is to be “teachable.” So, it’s a great website that you have & lots of opportunity to be taught.
In Christ Mike
Mike,
Thanks, again, for the comments. Let me add just one further thought/note.
In some Full Gospel circles, there is a tendency not to question any kind of teaching or goings-on because that, somehow, exhibits doubt. We’ve never seen it that way. Romans 10.17 speaks of faith coming from a word of God/Christ and we believe that the “hearing” involves an intelligent grasp of what that word actually is. Consequently, we sift everything to find whether it is actually grounded in scripture or just someone’s ideas. We’ve been given a tremendous Gospel that we are instructed to preach accurately. While we might miss it here or there, we’re endeavoring to stay on that moonshot line.
Thanks again for reading and for commenting.