Old Paths Paved

I’ll admit, I visit SermonAudio every day. Who can resist listening to some of the greatest preachers of our generation at the click of a button? Never before, in the history of the Church has there ever been such an abundance of good preachers at our fingertips. Surly we are a blessed generation. We do not need to travel to the Isle of Lewis to hear David P Murray, or to Grand Rapids to hear Joel Beeke, or to Holland to hear Paul den Butter, or to Greece to hear Terry Atkinson. “Shut in’s” can readily be fed by the preaching of the Word where they might have little feeding otherwise. Those who are isolated in remote parts of the globe can hear the heralded Word, day by day, and week by week without travel or high cost. How often I have personally been blessed in my early morning walks, by the preaching of others through my MP3 player! What a wonder that the Internet, much like the Gutenberg press of the Reformation, would be a tool in the hand of the Lord in feeding His Church.

And yet as I have pondered the blessings of the “on-line sermon” I have also become aware of a few detractions.

The Minister has, as his first calling, the immediate needs of his own flock set before him. Act 20:28 says, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Lloyd-Jones discouraged the publishing of a sermon for reading for two practical reasons. First, he believed that each message belonged not to the whole universal Church, but to the immediate flock before the Preacher. The message was designed for their edification and up-building, and conversion, not for others. The sermon comes as a prayerful answer to the needs of a particular flock. It is a letter of love to them (as it were), from the Holy Spirit, by the agency of a personal pastor. Secondly, Lloyd-Jones did not like the printed sermon because it inclined the preacher to develop his sermons for publication and not for preaching. To him this killed the sermon as a unique specimen of divine agency. And this poses a real danger to the minister who has one eye on his flock, and one eye on publication. Invariably he becomes tempted to preach beyond his flock, and preach for the masses.

Likewise, with the “on-line sermon” I think there is a temptation for the preacher to forget who the Lord has set him among. It opens up the real danger of thinking too much of one’s own ability, and succumbing to the notion that our pulpit ministry deserves a wider audience. Now it should be understood that certain men do deserve a wider audience simply because they are brighter lights who’s gifts should be shared with as many as will hear them. However, there are many preachers on SermonAudio (for example) that ought not to be there in my opinion. Their sermons are more a demonstration of weakness in the pulpit than strength. Yet because the technology is accessible, for some reason they feel it ought to be used so others can hear them. This comes, I believe, from an overinflated sense of self, and one’s own ability. The truth is, the Christian Church has been furnished over the centuries with “blue collar” pastors (I use such a term respectfully). I include myself in this category. We are not an overly gifted sort, but we have been entrusted with the care of 50, or 100, or 200 souls with the tools we have been given. This makes us useful in hand of the Lord in a specific way. We are not the brightest lights in the catholic Church, yet we have been entrusted to care as shepherds over a specific flock. And the Lord blesses this isolated work. What makes us think that others, beyond our sphere need to hear our words? I wonder if ambition, pride, and the ready availability of publication creates in many, an unhealthy desire to go beyond what rightfully belongs to a very select group of hearers? I refer back to Act 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.”

From this vast “publication of mediocrity” stems another problem in my mind; the dissatisfaction that arises from the discovery of the truly gifted preacher. How many times have I visited with a member of some congregation, and heard him laud the preaching of an “on line” preacher and lament that his own Pastor was not more like him. Imagine listening to Sinclair Ferguson or Maurice Roberts all week on the drive to work and then sit under the ministry of a blue collar preacher on the Lord’s Day? We should recognize that the “on line sermon” has the potential of creating an apatite in the church for only the best in the pulpit. “Why can’t our Pastor preach with more fire and passion? Why can’t he plumb the depths of a passage like Rev. _______?” At this point we find a depreciation of the ordained gospel ministry in our midst, and unwittingly, Christ’s own work among us. Further, it has the potential to encourage the hearer to find a better preacher than the one we have, or even consider staying home.

Am I suggesting we stop listening to the great preachers of our day? God forbid! We do however need to be able to identify some of the pitfalls of this technology as well as the blessings. Each congregation that has a minister, has him in Providence. As such, he is a gift from the Lord whether he has 1, 2, or 5 talents.

Just some thoughts to ponder.

Many people who read this blog, and know of my recent migration from Scottish Presbyterianism to Continental Reformed, have asked me why I would make the switch. And further, why the Free Reformed Churches? To which I answer:
When the Apostles Creed confesses “I believe an holy catholic church, the communion of saints”, the confessor ought to think for a moment exactly what this means. We have a tendency in our denominationalized world to compartmentalize our Christian experience into an “us vs. them” mentality. To be sure, denominations are needed in our day, (as a convention of man) to identify like-mindedness in the Gospel. However, we should be willing to put into practice what we confess in the Apostles Creed, and recognize Christ’s Church is greater than our own imediate frame of reference.
Recently, at the 2006 Synod of the FRCNA, as the brethren were determining the results of my Colloquium Doctum in Executive Session, I had the opportunity to visit with Dr. Gerald M. Bilkes PRTS in the library of the Dundas Church. As we chatted, he said something that resonated in my own heart regarding the catholicity of the Church. Referring to his time spent on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, he opined, “that the people in Stornoway were saying the same things we say, just with different words”. He went on to express his delight in a unity of doctrine and practice that transcended national and denominational bounds, reaching to the very essence of the Gospel. How true this is! As I compare the ethos and doctrine of the Free Reformed Churches with historic Scottish Presbyterianism (ala, the Westminster Divines, the Erskines, Boston, etc) I hear the catholicity of truth expressed in synonymous words. Surely this what is meant by the Apostles Creed?
So why did I switch? I didn’t! I simply moved to another part of the Lord’s Vineyard where the same work is being done. I feel called to the flock in Lacombe. They are dear children of God, and sheep without a shepherd. The Lord has knit our hearts together in Gospel love through the unity that is found only in Christ. It is my desire in the gospel ministry to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He is the only Saviour of guilty sinners, and the only hope for a lost and dying world. It is my prayer that the Lord would allow us in Lacombe to cast a large net, and draw into the kingdom many sinners saved by grace. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast”(Eph 2:8, 9).
To conclude, I moved to this part of Christ’s Vineyard because in the Free Reformed Churches, I see Christ’s bride. Not unblemished, not unspotted, but a desire to be holy and pure. I see them, “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3). This is my desire as well. I am humbled to be in the company of the FRCNA. We are at home. May the Lord give us all a desire for a Reformed catholicity, with like-mindedness, for His own glory.