More on Christless Preaching...

Peter Bogert and I spoke more about Expositional/Christ-Centered Preaching in the last few posts at his site. This is really good foundational stuff for me to hash through.

I guess what I have problem with are a few minor details with Michael Spencer's "On Christless Preaching" article. First, let me state that I agree with his general direction that we should preach Christ. What I disagree is his blanket condemnation of sermons in which he deems "Christless": (1) "Sermons based entirely on Old Testament stories", (2) "Sermons that teach lessons and principles", (3) "Sermons dominated by personal narratives", (4) "Sermons about moral and cultural problems", (5) "Sermons that talk about a vague and undefined 'God'", and (6) "Sermons in which Jesus is a minor character".

Here is the thesis of my argument: Since M.Spencer have stated that...

"Scholars have long recognized the difference between "kerygma" and "didache" (proclamation and teaching) in the New Testament, but they also ecognized that Jesus was essential to both. The Gospel message--everywhere it occurs--is a proclamation/application of who Jesus is and a proclamation/application of what he did for us. Didache and kerygma are both the application of the Lordship of Jesus to the Christian, the church, family and society."

Therefore, I would propose that atleast the sermons of type (1) "Sermons based entirely on Old Testament stories", (2) "Sermons that teach lessons and principles", and (4) "Sermons about moral and cultural problems" could be valid "didache", especially when you take into the context that the sermon's audience was the people who are already committed to the Lordship of Christ. Unless you can evaluate the greater context of how a church balance its "kerygma" and "didache" on its sermon diet over a course of time, you won't be able to evaluate "if your pastor preaches a Christless sermon" or not. Knowing the make-up of the audience also helps in the evaluation.

Now, let's back it up with Scripture. Paul instructed Titus about teaching his church this way:

"But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people..." (Titus 2:1-11, ESV)

According to that, wouldn't Titus instruction to the older men, older women, younger women and younger men be anything but type (2) sermons? Wouldn't his specific concerns to the slaves be type (4) sermons? And since the New Testament wasn't fully completed at this time, wouldn't his basis for instruction on "the word of God" be type (1) sermons too?

What I see is this. Christ is the cornerstone of all our preaching and teaching. Even if we won't mention Christ name in a sermon, or if we didn't talk about salvation in a particular text, our teaching still can be "in accordance with sound doctrine". As they say in exegesis, "the context determine the meaning."

Pastor Peter Bogert offered me his series on Wisdom for analysis. I read through them and I think he preached solid Christ-Centered sermons, even though he offered plenty of "life principles" suitable even for a synagogue. Here's what I see...

• January 2, 2005: 1 Samuel 17 - The Kid Who Saw Things Clearly It's about David seeing God clearly in his battle with Goliath, introducing the topic of wisdom. It's a type (1) sermon with no mention of Christ, and the final exhortation for the Christian community to seek wisdom could be used equally to a Jewish audience.
• January 9, 2005: Proverbs 1 - Where Wisdom Begins It expounds on the "fear of the Lord" as the source of wisdom. The Gospel was presented at the end of the message when pastor Peter tied in Christ as the widom of God but the foolishness to the Gentile.
• January 16, 2005 - Proverbs 2 - You've Got To Want It It's about we need to take ownership in our pursuit of wisdom. It's a type (2) sermon with no mention of Christ, and the exhortation for the Christian community to in the Word at the end could be used equally to a Jewish audience.
• January 30, 2005 - Proverbs 3:5-6 - The Wisdom Of Well-Placed Trust It's about wisdom come from "trust in the Lord with all your heart". The Gospel was presented since it concluded with our need to trust in Christ.
• February 6, 2005: Proverbs 4:20-23 - The Wisdom Of A Heart Under Guard It's about the importance to guard our heart. Even though it's a type (4) sermon which adressed a lot of cultural and moral problems, it was back-up with Jesus teaching on the subject of the heart.
• February 13, 2005: Proverbs 5 - The Benefits Of Misplaced Passion This is my favorite sermon in the whole series because of its satirical nature. The Gospel was presented at the conclusion with the offer of forgiveness from Christ to those who had fallen to temptation, especially in sexual sins.
• February 20, 2005: Proverbs 6:16-19 - God Hates?? This sermon speaks about who God is and the sins He hates. The sermon mentioned Christ in the conclusion as "if you follow Christ, then get rid of these".
• February 27, 2005: Proverbs 8 - Rewinding And Playing It Again This message on the Lady of Wisdom repeated a few key themes before in the series: Trust God, Stay in the Word, etc. It concluded with invitation to trust God's greatest wisdom: Christ.
• March 6, 2005: Proverbs 9 - In The End, It's Up To You It's the conclusion of the whole series in which several calls for responses were made. The Gospel was presented in the invitation made to seekers to receive Christ.

There you have it - from the whole series above, one can examine the context and determine that Peter Bogert was teaching life-principles for his congregation to follow God. Sometimes Christ was mentioned, sometimes not. Sometimes the Gospel was presented, sometimes not. Sometimes the message even applicable to a Jewish/Judaism context, most of the time not. But the over all thrust was clearly there: "so that in everything [the community of the people of God] may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people..."

Once again, when we are through with the dialetic approach from different angles, I think Peter and I are talking about the samething, the same coin with different sides.

What do you think?

[Update]

Poor Peter who got pestered by me. He left me this concise answer:

"One of the the keys to making it a Christ-centered sermon is talking about the person's relationship with God as the basis for their behavior."

Ahah! That made a lot of sense.