The Castration of Preachers

I shudder at two things: 1.) preaching truth to the point of legalism/religion/moralism, and 2.) preaching grace to the point of licentiousness. Both are equally devastating. The New Testament warns of both. I long to be like Jesus: full of grace AND truth; truth AND grace. The last thing I want, as a pastor, is to produce a church full of self-righteous, legalistic, angry Christians who suffer under a yoke heavier than the one Jesus places on people. I've been that person. I still struggle with that person. He loves religion. He knows his pride is a great ocean, but even still, he has know idea how deep that ocean is. His pride is like a mighty ice berg. You look at what it is above sea level and you're awestruck, confounded, and bewildered. But if he ever saw the rest of the ice berg beneath the sea, he may very well pass out or be overwhelmed by despair. That's what religion does. It leads to either great pride or great despair. And I've been in both places. Praise to my savior who continues to convince that my salvation is all of grace. Praise to Christ for convincing me that I was chosen before the foundation of the earth, that I was predestined and marked out for salvation before I was born. This truth is at the center of the gospel for it demolishes any remnant of pride I have within me. It confounds me. And I quake before the unsearchable wisdom of God. I trust God is using this process to propel me to new levels of grace and love. I trust that God is using this process to show me how indebted I am to my brothers and sisters in Christ - I am indebted to them. Not God. I am not indebted to God because Christ has paid that debt. But in so doing I have become indebted to those he has chosen (Romans 13:8). I trust that God will use this process to humble me, soften my tone, take away any remnants of self-righteous, and never judge, lest I be judged. How could I judge another? I am as vile a sinner as any man. If not for the grace of Christ, I would be lost in the horrible wickedness of pagan revelry (idolatry) or lost in the horrible wickedness of trying to make myself acceptable to God (religion). I see this. I know this.

Yet I am concerned. I am deeply concerned within my spirit. I am, as the apostle Paul described himself to the Galatians: "perplexed". At what? At the current battle that exists today between conservative evangelicals and the emerging church. It's been like a bad nightmare. You fear something is going to happen and then it gets worse and worse and worse to the point where you realize that your fears have finally been realized, though everything within you still wants to deny it. That's how I've felt about this battle. I know that the emerging church doesn't want to call it a battle. I know that sounds too combative. They hate combat. They are sickened by self-righteous fundamentalism that has tarnished the name of Christ. I understand that. I also see some good signs: I believe there is genuine humility in the emerging movement. I believe there are sincere men who desire to reach the lost. Everything within in them is saying, "How can we best reach the lost?" I understand that all-perplexing question. It burns in me continually. I can so identify with Paul who said, "I have unceasing anguish for the lost". I know that many of my brothers in the emerging church have that same unceasing anguish too.

But if they are such advocates for listening and dialog, will they listen to me? I have something to say to those emerging men who hold high the banner of "social justice". I have a question - and my question is this: Am I aloud to be angry? Or maybe the question would be more accurately put in this way: Am I aloud to express my anger? I know we are prohibited from sinning in our anger (Eph.4:26; Psa.4:4), but is it ever sinful to not express your anger, or is it ever sinful to not be angry? I believe it is. I believe it demonstrates a lack of apathy; a lack of zeal that ought to consume us. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not wanting to be angry. I'm not waiting to pounce on people. But, are we to be so "humble" that we are no longer to express any anger whatsoever. It seems that the emerging church has one goal: don't express anger. But is that what Christ has really called us to? Expressionless preaching? Truth is only powerful if it is wrapped in a gentle tone? Again, don't mistake me: no preaching should be obnoxious or condemnatory in the strictest sense. Nor should it be self-righteous or emphasizing law too much. But it seems to me that the emerging church has completely castrated the preaching of the church.

Again, I want to be cautious. I'm not advocating harshness. I'm advocating the obligation to be the expression of God's love, grace, and tenderness; but I'm also advocating the right to be the expression of God's fury, law, and anger as well. Is there no imprecatory nature to our ministry? As David said, "I will sing of your love and your justice (Psalm 101:1). And what of Christ? What fury he demonstrated while on this earth! What conviction he brought! Oh how he made people feel uncomfortable wherever he went! You say, "No, he just made the legalistic, "churchy" people feel that way!" In saying that, however, you're admitting two things: That it's OK to make the church feel uncomfortable and convicted, and secondly you're admitting that you're under his conviction and condemnation since you yourself are "in the church" and are indeed a church person. Having said that, though, I must correct a misnomer among many emerging people: Christ also gave scathing rebukes to the masses as well. Scathing. Jesus is so different from the God we fashion. If we would be soak our hearts in his teachings and life within the pages of the gospels, we would see that he is not always what we assume him to be. He is so different. He is so wonderful and just and mind-boggling. Just when you think you've read everything he spoke, you read something new, or perhaps the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to something new, and you're devastated and filled with joy and wonder once again.

Do you know what saddens me to no end? Do you know what causes me to search the recesses of my heart? Sometimes I wonder how I would have responded to Christ had I lived back then. I wonder if my pride and self-righteousness would have fostered extreme anger toward him. I wonder if I would have accused him of simply seeking glory, as the Jews did (John 5:41). I wonder if I would have a microscope on his life to try and find any shred of sin whatsoever (John 8:46). I wonder if I too would be jealous of the attention he got from the masses. I wonder if I would have wanted to kill him as they wanted to kill him because he told them that God was going to turn save the Gentiles because of the unrighteousness of the Jews? I've always thought that if I lived back then I would have abandoned everything to follow him. I've always thought of how sweet it would be to follow him everywhere. What safety! What excitement! What joy in learning from him everyday all the time. What a thrill it would have been for him to look me straight in the eyes and say, "I love you. Follow me." I long for the day when I will see him face to face! My mind cannot even conceive! But I wonder what decision I would have really made? Maybe I wouldn't have been hostile toward him. Maybe my reaction would have been worse. Maybe it would have been indifference. Maybe he would have said to me, "If you're not with me, you're against me (Matt.12:30)." I don't know. All I know is that as of today, I'm his disciple and I am following him.

But I feel as if preaching today has lost its ability to express the righteous indignation of God. The same righteous indignation that filled Peter when he accused the Jews of crucifying Jesus (though he himself had denied him) in his sermon in Acts 2. The same righteous indignation that filled James when he called his people "adulterous", when he called his people to turn their laughter into mourning, when he accused them of murder. Did James never struggle struggle with loving the world? Did James never suffer from the same sins he so passionately rebuked in his letter? And what of the apostle Paul? Who was he to preach, teach, and rebuke "with all authority"? He persecuted the church! So why did he do it? Simple: God commanded him to. And so he did. And this is the point: We do not preach conviction and rebuke and admonition and guilt and law because we ourselves are sinless or better. We do it because God has commanded us to. And yes we sometimes wonder, "Lord, why? I am just as bad!" But there are some who are commissioned to earn their living by the gospel who are called to tell people that God had "commands that they repent" (Acts 17:30). Nothing humbles you, sanctifies you, convicts you and unveils the layers of religion and self-righteousness within your heart like preaching. Nevertheless, we are bound. We are in bondage to Christ. Woe are we if we do not.

My point is this: We cannot allow the emerging movement to castrate the preaching of the church. We are called to act like men (1 Cor.16:13). Our ministry must have a prophetic passion to it that points in anger as Nathan did and proclaims, "Thou are the sinner!" Not because we deserve to do this, but because we have been commanded to do this. May we too receive the rebuke and conviction of God from others. May we be examples to our flocks of contrition and sorrow over sin. May we confess our sins and admit our mistakes. But may we continue to keep conviction in the pulpit. May we not cave to the fear that we are making people uncomfortable. God give us wisdom and tact, but oh Lord, give us your holy fire as well.