on Spiritual DE-emphasis

In an age when biblical illiteracy is prominent and the knowledge of God’s Word is decreasing among Christians it is imperative that Adventist educators and pastors provide quality, Biblical messages for the church. Unfortunately, for many Adventists the Bible has become an artifact of the past. Not just among lay people but with the ministers of the gospel too.

There is a tendency for the minister to find sermon material from a plurality of sources including experience, culture, or current events. More time is spent singing repetitive songs with little or no theological weight to create an emotional experience of “worshipping God,” yet no real worship takes place.

The result on the membership is a stifled spiritual experience, Biblical confusion, and indifference to Biblical claims because it has never been made relevant for the individual life of the believer.

Much of what goes on today is not preaching. Not by Biblical standards.

When Paul told Timothy to “Preach the Word” he said it in a context of three things.

“I charge you in the presences of God and Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and his kingdom, preach the Word” (II Timothy 4:1).

In the presence of God and Jesus Christ, preach the Word.

With the seriousness of judgment in mind, preach the Word.

With the coming of Christ before you, preach the Word.

Preaching is serious. The pulpit is not a place for jokes, story telling, crude or rude humor. It’s not even a place to throw out ideas or read into scripture our opinions. The content is the Word. Sure it’s wrapped in a cultural, current, and contextualized package but the content of the package is primarily God’s Word.

Paul said, “Preach the Word.” He didn’t say entertain, tell inappropriate stories to get worldly youth to like Christianity, make crude jokes or use foul language to draw people to the church. Those things don’t work and people are tired of flakey sermons.

Why the Word? Because “the time is coming when men will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (II Timothy 4:3).

Today we are not hearing the right content. We substitute Scripture for anything else to entertain, create hype, or move emotions so people feel like they’ve had a “spiritual emphasis” on their lives.

Don’t preach if you have nothing to offer. It is no wonder today people are spiritually illiterate.

Andrews University Seminary is having a week of Spiritual Emphasis that could be rightly titled the week of Spiritual DE-emphasis. The preacher (term used loosely) had nothing to offer the ministers-in-training. The Bible was never opened, Spirit of Prophecy loosely quoted. Many offensive analogies and stories were told that did not edify. More emphasis was placed on experience rather than the Scripture.

There was more theology in the rocked out, self-centered songs than the rest of the program.

If this is what pastors are being fed while getting their education it’s no wonder that the rest of the church doesn’t know left from right. We are taught to believe that existential warm fuzzies are what worshipping God is all about.

In an age of Biblical illiteracy among Adventist pastors and educators, preaching the Word is a revolutionary thing.