Dakota Community Church
November 16, 2008 (pm)
Confessions of a Misguided Innovator
Begin by reading Ephesians 4:1-16
Ephesians 4:14
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
2 Timothy 4:1-5
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
A tendency to rebel against authority, an exaggerated desire to win the approval of others, and a skewed definition of what it means to be successful; these deadly ingredients combined to create the misadventures of my life and ministry so far.
I think I have been tossed back and forth and blown about doctrinally.
I think a wrong definition of success has lead to a desire to do whatever is necessary to be one of those popular ear scratching teachers.
Tonight I want to share a few of my greatest mistakes and what the Lord has done to bring repentance and new life.
This is not a sermon about me!
Although I am going to use the story of my life as Paul did in many of His epistles I want you to be patient until I share the “rest of the story” which is about repentance, forgiveness, and a renewed passion for the gospel.
What started out as a withdrawal from some of the more extreme expressions coming out of the emergent movement has grown into an examination of my life and ministry that has left me feeling stripped and exposed for a number of errors that I have participated in and promoted.
Tonight I want to discuss three of these false assumptions and what is being done to correct them.
I believe I have been:
1. Wrong on the purpose of Church gatherings.
Acts 2:42
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
These are things Christians are to focus on when they meet togeather.
Ephesians 4:11-13
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
The gathering of the saints is not for those who are “far from God”. The saints gather to be prepared for service, to be built up, and to mature through knowledge of the Son of God.
We are to be sensitive to the seeker but not the seeker that has gained prominence in these times. We are to be sensitive to the One who came to “seek and to save”.
Colossians 3:15-17
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Do these things sound “seeker sensitive”? Does this sound anything like what church services have become in the last 15 years?
Quote:
We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.
- C. S. Lewis
John 21:15-17
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
Was this a word for Peter only?
I think it is a word for all leaders in the church at all times, feed the sheep!
When the sheep gather the primary purpose is feeding of the sheep!
This brings me to the second error which involves what it means to feed the sheep;
2. Wrong on handling the scriptures.
Last spring at one of the meetings of the St. Vital ministerial we discussed how each of us decides what to preach on in our respective congregations. A few have a denominational plan that is loosely laid out for them, but most of us decide on our own.
I was one of the first to share and so I told the truth that I preach topically based on what I believe God is saying to the congregation. I am not sure if the question was directly asked of me now or if I just picked up on it from within the conversation but I came away with this question ringing loudly within me; “If you preach topically based on what you are hearing, how do you ensure that you don’t fall into a rut of covering your own theological hot points while failing to touch on all the scriptures address?”
A couple of the other pastors mentioned exegetical preaching and systematically working through the entire Bible over the course of a year or a couple of years.
This conversation got me searching through my sermons to see how well I was doing providing meat for you to grow on. I was not happy with what I found.
Far too many variations of the same topic.
Far too much proof texting and verse and translation manipulating.
Far too much preaching from my current reading selections.
To my shame: almost no exegesis of full passages in context
What is an example of “proof texting”?
This is when a preacher is trying to make a point but cannot find a scriptural example to back it up. I may be preaching a topical sermon on reducing stress and enjoying life and I want to say that God has a sense of humor. I cannot find a verse that indicates this is true even though I may be absolutely certain that it is; so I use this:
Psalm 2:4
The One enthroned in heaven laughs
“Well what’s wrong with that”, you may be wondering, “it seems to say exactly what you are claiming it does?”
Here it is in context:
Psalm 2:1-6
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.
"Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters."
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill."
See what I mean?
Now that may be a harmless example that could cause very little harm but what about in a case where whole segments of the church begin to believe and hold to as core truth ideas that are based on this kind of mishandling of the scripture.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
I have a coffee mug with this one on it. It is widely viewed within the church that God has a plan for prosperity and blessing for everyone and we interpret that through our North American cultural eyes. This promise is spoken to a specific group of people at a specific time in a specific circumstance.
God has not promised to make every Christian businessman rich. He has not committed to make every church plant a mega church. Some Christians will follow God’s plan and find martyrdom awaits them, some will find persecution, some will live with the poor and downtrodden or in places where North American “needs” are foolish luxuries that are scoffed at. Some who have attributed their success to God will find as the economy takes a turn for the worst that they were living in the right place at the right time and that their blessing had little to do with faith in God.
Some will experience a crisis of faith and some may even turn their backs on God because they wrongly assume that He has failed to keep His promise to them. This is serious stuff!
I have had to repent; it has not been easy to admit.
Why is it important that preachers remain vigilant about being true to the scriptures and their contextual intent?
Men make mistakes.
Men with nothing but the purest of motives still get it wrong and fall into error. Let’s look at our opening text again.
2 Timothy 4:1-5
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
A time will come when sound doctrine will not be endured, when people will only listen to preachers who tell them what they want to hear, myths above truth.
Where does this lead?
Read 2 Kings 22-23
How do the people of God lose the Word of God?
Could this happen again? We are awash in Bibles but if people do not read them and if preachers misuse them and do not preach them, we could be in serious trouble.
Did you ever think that there would be an argument WITHIN THE CHURCH about whether or not Jesus is the only way?
This brings me to my third and final point:
3. Wrong on the wisdom of the elders.
I was born in 1964 to a military man.
I fought with my dad about music, I fought with him about hair style, and clothing choices, I grew up thinking that OLD people were backward and slow to accept change and “PROGRESS”.
I think many of us have adopted this view of the elderly.
On the Simpsons grandpa is a running joke who talks nonsense that is to be ignored.
It has not been different within the church but the scriptures indicate that it should be.
1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
1 Timothy 5:1-2
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
Read 1 Kings 12:1-16
We have started adding hymns to the worship service because we have realized that in many cases our quest for relevance has resulted in throwing out the baby with the bathwater and sometimes leaving doctrinal truth behind altogether.
James Mumford unfolds the story behind the famous hymn of trust, It Is Well.
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blessed assurance control
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul
My sin, 0 the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but in whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 0 my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul
This hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford. You might think to write a worship song titled, ’It is well with my soul’, you would indeed have to be a rich, successful Chicago lawyer. But the words, "When sorrows like sea billows roll ... It is well with my soul”, were not written during the happiest period of Spafford’s life. On the contrary, they came from a man who had suffered almost unimaginable personal tragedy.
Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio’s legal career and business endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords’ only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.
Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need the rest -- DL Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer ’Ville de Havre’ across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: "Saved alone."
On November 2nd 1873, the ’Ville de Havre’ had collided with ’The Lochearn’, an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta clinging desperately to her. Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna was only saved from the fate of her daughters by a plank which floated beneath her unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford’s first reaction was one of complete despair. Then she heard a voice speak to her, "You were spared for a purpose." And she immediately recalled the words of a friend, "It’s easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God."
Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father’s voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.
The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told "her soul is vexed within her", she still maintains that ’It is well." And Spafford’s song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.
His worship does not solely depend on how he feels. "Whatever my lot", he says, come rain or shine, pleasure or pain, success or failure, "Thou hast taught me to say / It is well, it is well with my soul".
Nor does his worship centre on himself He focuses on what God has already done (0 the bliss of this glorious thought / My sin ... is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more) and what God will do in the future ("Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight / The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend").
In fact, Spafford’s worship brings us back to the bottom line: at the end of the day, come hell or high-water, it is "this blessed assurance" that holds us fast.
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
