Preaching…

Ryan has a couple of posts that highlight a certain preaching methodology. (Part 1 | Part 2)

It has brought about some really interesting comments. Whatever the case, it has definitely started me thinking.  So is drive by preaching really a demonstration of love?

Looking for love
Just a quick search of the New King James shows me that a few books in the Bible don’t mention the word love. It’s kind of an interesting list, actually.

• Numbers
• Ruth
• 2 Kings
• 1 Chronicles
• Ezra
• Esther
• Lamentations
• Joel
• Obadiah
• Jonah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Haggai
• Malachi
• Acts

The first mention of Love in the Bible is in Genesis 22:2. The last mention is in Revelation 12:11. In light of the conversation, I find it interesting that the word can’t be found in the writings of so many of the prophets (Jonah, Habakkuk, and Malachi most noticeably), or the book of Acts.

In all of the preaching in the book of Acts, with all of the conversions in Nineveh, we don’t read anywhere of anyone telling sinners that “God loves you and have a wonderful plan for your life.”

In fact, the entirety of Jonah’s message was, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4). We read nothing of Jonah building relationships with the sinners in Nineveh. We read nothing of him setting up greed counseling centers. All we see is that one sentence. The result?

So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his thronw and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.

Powerful stuff. How did it come about?
We can pretty much understand from scripture that Jonah was not praying for Nineveh’s conversion. In fact, he was giddy about their impending annihilation! We read in Jonah 4:1, “But [Nineveh's conversion] displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.”

So how did Nineveh’s conversion happen?
We understand that nobody comes to Christ by their own will. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). We also understand that nobody comes to Christ apart from their own will. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

There are a combination of factors in play here in the macrocosmic conversion of Nineveh, just as there are a combination of factors in play in the microcosmic conversion of a single soul.

1. Prayer
   I believe the first step to a person’s conversion is genuine heartfelt prayer to God for that person’s soul (cf. John 14:14, James 5:15, 2 Peter 3:9).
2. Preach
3. Hear
4. Believe
   

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart“, (that is, the word of faith which we preach); that is you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says,”Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.“

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

“How Beautiful are the feet of those who peace the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Romans 10:8-15

The final three steps in the process are all summarized in Romans 10:8-15.

We are all parts of an ongoing chain. We may be the one who prays. We may be the one who preaches — the first time. We may be the person who preaches the gospel and experiences their conversion.

I think that the preacher in the video is being motivated by love. I don’t think that is the way I would approach it, but as Jason is clear to point out in his comments, the gentleman’s stated motivation is clearly loving, and nothing he says is particularly offensive.

It may be one of those situations where the people are complaining so loudly because his words hit close to home. On the other hand, it may also be a situation where they have heard the same thing so many times that their ears are unresponsive. I think this is where the hypocrisy issue comes out clearest. We will never know this side of heaven.

Heavenly Worship

The Apostle Peter tells us of a day “in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul continues this train of thought. “Now if anyone builds on this foundation [Jesus Christ] with gold, silver, precious stones, wood hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

What kinds of works will be consumed by the fire and what kind will be purified through the fire? John succinctly tells us. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

So then it becomes apparent that we are encouraged – even commanded – to keep a loose grip on the things of this world. But why? In reading the book of Revelation, one cannot help but see that the atmosphere of heaven is one of continual praise and worship. God is so worthy of our praise! Worship is how we are called to live our lives. Again, it is not merely a song or a tune so much as it is to be a lifestyle. Without question, it will be our way of life for all of eternity, so should we not give God all the glory both now and forevermore?

While it is true that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10,11; cf. Isaiah 45:23, Romans 14:11), not every soul will do it out of joy. When confronted with the glory of the Lord, we will be able to do nothing but bow down in adoration of the Maker of Heaven and Earth. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). That fear need not be fright so much as reverence.

In His last prayer with His disciples before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed in part, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). We are given the opportunity to be with Jesus right now and to behold His glory. Azariah prophesied, “The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). Seek the Lord now, and it will pay dividends throughout all of eternity!

True Worship

Who doesn’t want to live in the will of God for their life? In the fourth chapter of John, Jesus reveals the kind of worshipers whom God is seeking. So how do we worship God in spirit and truth?

The answer to this question ties in with Hebrews 13:16 where the author, after urging believers to offer the sacrifice of praise to God, reminds us to “not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” James wrote that “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).

Through the prophet Hosea, God said, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). Matthew records Jesus’ use of this verse twice when responding to questions from the Pharisees (Matthew 9:13, 12:7). The Pharisees were some of the outwardly most pious men ever to walk the face of the earth. But their righteousness was simply a veneer to cover up their own iniquities. They did all of the right things to be righteous by the standards of the law but, as Paul wrote to the Romans, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).

Don’t be as the congregation of Jerusalem, of whom God said, “these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts from Me” (Isaiah 29:13). “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him,” (2 Chronicles 16:9). We should be making our very best effort to please Him in everything that we do so that He will show Himself strong on our behalf!