Why I Wrote This Book

I had two main goals in writing Preaching and the Emerging Church. First, I wanted to give pastors a tool to judge the preaching advice coming out of the movement. I made my assessment based on the biblical pattern and precepts that support expositional/text-driven preaching (Neh 8:8), which by nature seeks to glorify God, exalt and exult in the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and is guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

My second goal was to show the implications of emerging church preaching for evangelical (expository/text-driven) preaching. Two concluding implications are as follows. First, modeling the preaching ministry of the revisionists will lead to a diminishing of the role of traditional, evangelical preaching. Second, modeling the preaching ministry of the relevants will lead to delighting in the role of traditional evangelical proclamation.

So What?

What significance do these two observations have for the church? The former, having emerged from a low view of Scripture, leads to a culturally driven conversation concerning an unorthodox gospel. The latter, having emerged from a high view of Scripture, leads to a text-driven heralding of an orthodox gospel—one that Jude calls the church to “contend earnestly” for, knowing that it has been “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Furthermore, since it pleases God “through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1:21) and to establish the church as the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15), preaching then is of grave importance to the culture and to the church. As Piper states, “Preaching is God’s appointed means for the conversion of sinners, the awakening of the church, and the preservation of the saints.”

Therefore, choose wisely when discerning over the preaching counsel of the emerging church—for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the proclamation of the gospel, the edification of the church, and the advancement of his kingdom in the context of this emerging yet passing culture.

From Preaching and the Emerging Church, Chapter 11 (pgs. 332-335). Available here.

Preaching & the Emerging Church

This ebook offers a thorough critique and evaluation of the preaching of four leaders of the emerging church movement. Get it here.

Discerning God's Call series: Click | View Series

Radical Insecurity

You can always count on ministry to do at least one thing: provoke radical insecurity.

Nothing provokes insecurity like signing up to follow God's call and doing God's work. Can I really do this? Can God really use me? What if I fail?

A man who is truly called may doubt and struggle with calling at times, but ultimately, he will not be able to walk away from it. His doubts may test his desire for ministry, but they will not destroy his desire to minister. It is important to recognize that doubts and feelings of insecurity are not signs that you haven't been called. People who are genuinely called often go through seasons of doubt and uncertainty. But over time, the sense of calling grows stronger, not weaker.

Ministry or Bust

1 Timothy 3:1 refers to those who "desire the office" of eldership. In fact, this desire could be considered the first qualification of an elder. The man who is truly called to ministry desires it—he does not enter the ministry grudgingly dragging his feet. He enters ministry because he wants to, and feels joy in pursuing his desire to minister. This doesn't mean there isn't appropriate caution because of the high calling of the office, but it means there is an excitement, a joy, and a sense of privilege to be able to serve God in this way.

A true call often comes with an insatiable desire to serve God and his people at all cost. There is a strong sense in the heart that it is ministry or bust.

In a heart call, there is a deep inclination in the soul that says, I must do this or I might die. The called man cannot imagine going into another vocation: he thinks about ministry, dreams about ministry, and cannot shut up about ministry. There is an abiding, relentless desire for the work of ministry that the called man cannot forsake, shake off, or ignore.

Fire in Your Bones

This heart confirmation goes beyond a mere passing whim or initial excitement at the prospect of going into ministry. It is what Spurgeon refers to as "an intense, all-absorbing desire for the work." It is what Newton calls "a warm and earnest desire to be employed in this service…he cannot give it up…the desire to preach is most fervent."

Simply put, the man who is called to ministry desires to be in ministry so strongly that he cannot hold back: it is fire in his bones, like Jeremiah (Jer. 20:7). It is a deep desire to protect and provide for the people of God, like Nehemiah. This heart confirmation is an essential component of the call. However, it is not enough to indicate a genuine call to ministry. A man who is truly called by God also experiences a head confirmation, but more on that in the next post.

Questions to Ask Yourself

As you discern the heart confirmation of God's call in your life, consider the following questions:

• Is God's call in my life internally audible? Do I sense his voice bidding me to serve him vocationally?
• Do I strongly desire pastoral ministry? Is the thought of doing something else with my life unimaginable?
• Do I want to go into ministry in order to make a name for myself, to prove that I am somebody, or to atone for past failures? Am I testing my motives for ministry and asking God to refine my desires and thoughts?
• Do I love people? Do I want to help people? Is my desire to go into ministry mainly about me, or mainly about helping other people by pointing them towards Christ?

To be continued.

Acts 29 Network

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When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
–Proverbs 8:3–4

We often care about other people’s opinion more than we care about God’s opinion. We worry about our status among fellow humans because we fail to grasp our identity in Jesus. When we fear man, we’re vulnerable. (I addressed this issue recently in a sermon about The Parable of the Sower—how fear of man keeps us from bearing fruit in our lives.)

“The fear of man lays a snare,” the Bible says, “but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe” (Proverbs 29:25). Here are eight consequences—snares—that can result from fear of man:

1. Idolatry. When we care about what man thinks more than what God thinks, we turn people into idols that we worship—seeking to please them in order to earn their approval or respect.
2. Ineffectiveness. When we fear man we neglect God’s calling for us and we lose focus on executing the tasks in front of us because we’re too preoccupied with what others are thinking.
3. Lack of love. When we’re overly concerned with “getting it right,” we turn people into projects to accomplish. We withhold our compassion and grow reserved and calculating in our pursuit of people.
4. Fakeness. If you’re overly motivated by the opinions of others, you won’t act like yourself. You’ll be a chameleon, adapting yourself to any situation for the sole purpose of fitting in.
5. Apathy. Fear man and you’ll quit taking risks because of the potential for embarrassment in failure. If an endeavor is unlikely to succeed, you’ll never take the chance. In other words, you’ll never do much of anything.
6. Dishonesty. It’s tough to speak truth into someone’s life because the truth can be painful. If we fear somebody’s response, however, necessary words will remain unsaid because we care more about ourselves (being liked) than we do about the person (seeing Jesus work in their life). This negligence always creates more long-term damage than the hurt it avoids in the present.
7. Isolation. Fear of man won’t let you delegate anything because others might not do a good job (or they might do a better job), which could reflect poorly on your performance and reputation. Fear of man compels you to control everything—even if that means going it alone.
8. Decision Paralysis. When we live out of fear rather than out of the convictions God has given us, we spin in circles unable to move forward.

I invite you to join me in respecting and honoring others and submitting to authority, but also in repenting of our fear of man. Fear and worship are reserved for God. In the end, only his opinion counts.

Find Pastor Jamie on Facebook and Twitter.

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Tim Chester and Steve Timmis present a vision for churches centered on gospel community. Find out more.

Discerning God's Call series: Click | View Series

Pastoral Ministry

Ministry is more than hard. Ministry is impossible. And unless we have Holy Spirit-inspired fire inside our bones compelling us, we simply will not survive. Pastoral ministry is a calling, not a career. It is not a job you pursue to advance a career or a position that is preferable because you like attention. You don’t go into ministry because you liked your youth pastor or because your mom thinks you’d be good at it or to avoid manual labor. I am continually shocked at how many people are trying to do ministry without a clear sense of calling.

So what is a call? What does it look like?

To begin, let’s learn from those who have gone before us.

8 Qualities of a Minister

Martin Luther, the 16th-century church reformer and theologian who helped spark the Protestant Reformation, listed eight qualities that a minister must have:

• Able to teach systematically
• Eloquence
• A good voice
• A good memory
• Knows how to make an end
• Sure of his doctrine
• Willing to venture body and blood, wealth and honor in the work
• Suffers himself to be mocked and jeered by everyone

3 Indications of a Call

John Newton, the 18th-century Anglican clergyman and writer of the famous hymn “Amazing Grace,” noted three indications of a call. First, a call to ministry is accompanied by “a warm and earnest desire to be employed in this service.” Second, a call to ministry is accompanied by “some competent sufficiency as to gifts, knowledge, and utterance.” And third, a call to ministry is accompanied by “a correspondent opening in Providence, by a gradual train of circumstances pointing out the means, the time, the place, of actually entering upon the work.”

Is Ministry Your Calling?

George Whitefield, the 18th-century evangelist, gives this advice for those considering a call: “Ask yourselves again and again whether you would preach for Christ if you were sure to lay down your life for so doing? If you fear the displeasure of a man for doing your duty now, assure yourselves you are not yet thus minded.”

Qualifications

Charles Hodge, the 19th-century Reformed theologian, distinguished between intellectual qualifications, spiritual qualifications, and bodily qualifications, all of which must be present in a genuine call.

Robert L. Dabney, another 19th-century Presbyterian theologian, lists these qualifications:

• A healthy and hearty piety
• A fair reputation for holiness of life
• A respectable force of character
• Some Christian experience
• An aptness to teach

Though these men’s perspectives are culturally conditioned, you get the point: Examination is imperative. Confirmation is required. Calling matters.

As you discern God’s call on your life, consider the advice of those who have gone before. In the next three posts, we will look at three areas that I believe are crucial for discerning God’s call on your life: heart confirmation, head confirmation, and skill confirmation.

To be continued.

Vintage Church

In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more.

Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt seem to prize the Bible more as mystery than knowable, propositional, eternal truths about God and man. If by mystery it means they are acknowledging the glory and ways of God that reigns supremely over mankind’s finitude (Isa 55:8–9; Job 42:2–6), or reacting against the downsizing of God to a mere box of propositions, then fine. But, as Kevin DeYoung’s critique of the movement asserts, if mystery is somehow linked to an “implied doctrine of God’s unknowability,” and used as a way to jettison taking responsibility for the clear truth claims of Scripture, then something has gone awry with how these preachers are interpreting, or to draw from emerging church vernacular, dancing with mystery.

Dancing with Mystery?

For example, Pagitt claims, “Mystery is not the enemy to be [conquered] nor a problem to be solved, but rather, the partner with whom we dance.” He continues, “We are called to show each other the way into mystery.” This may sound postmodern and spiritual, but does it sound biblical? The Apostle Paul, one who proclaimed the words of God (1 Cor 14:37; 1 Thess 2:13), called believers into a meaningful, joyful, hope-centered relationship with God; not by leading them into some vague spirituality or existential maze of mysticism, but rather into the revelation, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of the revealed mystery—the person and finished work of God in Jesus Christ (Eph 1:17–18; 3:1–12; Col 1:24–29).

Get Your Preaching Directives from Jesus

Paul’s teachings did not focus on humanity coming into the way of mystery; Paul’s teachings, according to David Wells, focused on humanity coming to the “knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 2:25; cf. 3:7–8; 4:4). Where did Paul receive such an idea as objective, rational truth, having not lived in the age of enlightenment or modernity? Paul claims to have received his directives from Jesus (Gal 1:12), the full embodiment of truth, who naturally taught truth and established his followers in truth (John 17:17). Jesus himself even ties the believer’s joy to the knowledge of truth: “These things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13, emphasis added).

Preach the Mystery Revealed—Jesus

McLaren and Pagitt, in contrast to Jesus, seem to relish tethering joy to mystery, not knowable truth. Doctrine, dogma, and deliberate truths are out; mystery is in. For both preachers to continue down this postmodern epistemological path, one that Wells claims cherishes a “studied uncertainty,” it might imply (or expose?) that conversing about mystery, as a biblical trait to treasure, is nothing more than an emergent cloak to cover a denial of the knowable “knowledge of truth”—at least as revealed in Scripture and understood (down through the ages) as “God’s perfect knowledge of himself and of all reality.” Mystery is a beautiful thing, but so is mystery revealed, “Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).

From Preaching and the Emerging Church, Chapter 9. Emerging Church Revisionists: McLaren and Pagitt (pgs. 211-214). Get it here.

Preaching & the Emerging Church

This ebook offers a thorough critique and evaluation of the preaching of four leaders of the emerging church movement. Get it here.

In a recent sermon from the Luke Series, Pastor Mark used humor to make fun of legalists and the inclinations to legalism that we all have. He wrote a post on the Mars Hill blog explaining the rationale behind using humor in a sermon this way:

The reason legalism is so insidious and repugnant is that, at its core, it is about us, our team, and our works instead of Jesus. No one, no denomination, and no team is immune from the temptation to pursue their own esteem, righteousness, success, comfort, or power instead of Jesus’ glory and righteousness. So, in this latest sermon we have a good laugh at a lot of religious silliness, and then turn the tables on reverse legalists, who laugh at legalists only to become a new form of legalist.

You can read his whole post at the Mars Hill Blog. Also see the recent post How to Become a Legalist.

Preaching and Mission Connected

Researching Mark Driscoll’s preaching philosophy, I discovered, not surprisingly, that just as he believes preaching cannot be detached from the true church, he also believes that it cannot be disconnected from the church’s mission. How then does Pastor Mark maintain a reformissional focus in his preaching?

Why Do We Resist the Truth?

First, upon discovering the biblical author’s intent, he raises the question, “Why do we resist the truth?” His goal is to predict potential rejection points by the listener with the aim of countering any objections with God’s truth. Then, modeling what he believes to be the scriptural example, he works at understanding the cultural context of his listeners with the intent to communicate these truths in the most effective form. “The gospel,” states Driscoll, “must be contextualized in a way that is accessible to the culture and faithful to the Scriptures.” Therefore, scriptural accuracy remains a must, but so does seeking to be culturally accessible. Contextualizing the gospel in this culturally accessible way will prayerfully enable the preacher, asserts Driscoll, to bring about a “co-opting” of “their cultural hopes” and bring non-believers to see the gospel “as the only answer to their deepest longing.”

Why Does This Matter?

Second, he asks “Why does this matter?” Driscoll incorporates in his messages the biblical mandate for living out the gospel as a missionary from Mars Hill to the city of Seattle and beyond. He counters inactivity by emphasizing the significance of why it matters, both individually and corporately, to be a missional people.

Therefore, Driscoll’s reformissional preaching aim, in his own words, is to connect the message to a “missional purpose for our lives, families, church, and ultimately God’s glory.” Missiological preaching is more than a sermon point shared a few times a year; for Driscoll, missional preaching is the point.

How Is Jesus the Hero?

The final sermon-framing question used by Driscoll to maintain a reformissional focus is “How is Jesus the hero/Savior?” This places the spotlight on the hero of the church’s mission—Jesus. Jesus came as a missionary to culture preaching the gospel and the kingdom of God. Under his authority, preachers live in culture heralding this same message (Matt 28:18–20).

Driscoll asserts, “We derive our authority to preach the gospel to all peoples, times, and places from the glorious exaltation of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus claimed all authority for himself and commanded us to go in his authority to preach the gospel truth.” How serious is Driscoll at embracing this truth? Read his own words: “My answer to everything is pretty much the same: open the Bible and preach about the person of Jesus and his mission for our church.” Thus, for Driscoll, reformissional preaching means lifting up Jesus before the culture as the centerpiece of the Bible, which reveals a unified story that highlights Jesus as the undeniable hero.

What Is Reformissional Preaching?

What then is reformissional preaching? Reformissional preaching is preaching that unpacks the biblical truth, counters the culture’s objections to the truth, reveals the relevance of the truth, and heralds the gospel of the truth incarnate—JESUS—for the conversion of sinners, transformation of saints, and mission of the church.

How about you, pastor? Is your preaching connected to the mission of the church? Is it reformissional?

From Preaching and the Emerging Church, Chapter 7. Mark Driscoll: Reformissional Preaching (pgs. 177-179). Get it here.

Preaching & the Emerging Church

This ebook offers a thorough critique and evaluation of the preaching of four leaders of the emerging church movement. Get it here.

At the recent AMBITION Boot Camp, I sat down with A29 vice president Darrin Patrick to talk about what wisdom he had for church planters and his tips for preaching. I believe he offers some invaluable counsel. Listen. Learn. Tweet.

Darrin Patrick's book Church Planter: The Man, the Message, the Mission will be out this August from Crossway.

How Jesus Made Disciples

Reflections from the book of John on How Jesus Made Disciples.

Missing Any Homiletical Gears?

In my search for a used Jeep at a great price I came across just the right one—well, sort of. It had the right mileage, the right color, the right look, and the right price. Only one problem: it was missing a gear. In my research on the emerging church, I found that some pastors, similar to this Jeep, were either reluctant to engage the homiletical gear of heralding confrontationally, or they were missing it altogether.

Confrontational Preaching Can Be Offensive

For example, in an interview with Preaching, Dan Kimball asserts that a messenger of Jesus cannot just say, "We'll, you've got Jesus wrong. He ain't like Gandhi. That's offensive. He's the Son of God!" His reasoning, he argues, is this philosophy or method of confrontational preaching has the potential to "shut people out." His conclusion implies that it is unfortunate that "a lot of preaching forms have been like that."

Confrontational Preaching Can Be Effective

Ironically, Kimball's relevant counterpart (Mark Driscoll) often heralds in this exact manner—seeing it used by God to bring people into the church by the hundreds, if not thousands. Better yet, Kimball's missionary model, Jesus, likewise used direct and provoking language to expand his kingdom (John 4). His voice through Scripture continues this trend by commanding preaching that by definition will require confrontation, contending, and, yes, what Al Mohler refers to as the "cringe factor" (2 Tim 4:1–5). As D.A. Carson contends, there are multiple examples of confrontation in Scripture, "not only from the ministry of Jesus, but from the ministries of Peter, Paul, John, and others.... Think, for instance of Jude!"

In an attempt to contextualize the message to a postmodern culture, in hopes that non-Christians might come to love Jesus and like the church, Kimball's non-confrontational homiletic might just inadvertently be itching the ears of those he is trying to reach.

Confrontational Preaching Should Be Biblical and Balanced

Therefore in light of Scripture and the role of the Holy Spirit, discarding or diluting this form of preaching might actually be an offense to God instead of an offense to man. As Greg Heisler notes, "The Holy Spirit of God is confrontational, and his conviction is powerful. He will not empower nonconfrontational preaching that waters down the gospel, compromises the Word, and takes sin lightly." Heralding with compassion, love, grace, and kindness is a biblical mandate, but no dichotomy need exist between these homiletical aims and the necessity of timely confrontation and/or purposeful contention. A balance then is called for in preaching that guards against what Brian Chapell refers to as getting "stuck in one gear," or just as detrimental, refusing to engage some homiletical gears all together.

From Preaching and the Emerging Church, Chapter 10. Emerging Church Relevants: Kimball and Driscoll (pgs. 308-312). Get it here.

Preaching & the Emerging Church

This ebook offers a thorough critique and evaluation of the preaching of four leaders of the emerging church movement. Get it here.

An e-book by Dr. John S. Bohannon

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The emerging church movement has significantly influenced contemporary Christianity. Evidence abounds—the creation of blogs, conferences, seminary classes, doctorate programs, and the birth of an entire class of literature. In recent years much has been written to help the church better understand this latest Christian phenomenon. However, a deficiency still exists when it comes to understanding the role of preaching within the movement. Since preaching is God’s appointed means to convert sinners and preserve the church, then an understanding of this movement’s preaching is of vital importance to the church and the culture it serves.

Endorsements

"An absolutely superb treatment. Dr. Bohannon's critique and evaluation is thorough, even exhaustive! It is also judicious and compelling. This book is a must read for those who care about the importance of theological conviction and its impact on the contemporary ministry of the Word. Not all who read this work will agree with his conclusions (I do!), but all will be forced to carefully consider what he says."

—Danny Akin
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

"If you're passionate about preaching and want to discern what preaching should look like in emerging contexts, you'll want to read this book. Bohannon provides the reader an exhaustive and insightful look into the preaching ministry of four of the emerging church movement's most colorful and sometimes controversial leaders. There are things to affirm and others to reject, and now, thanks to Bohannon, we have a helpful tool to help us discern the difference between the two."

—Ed Stetzer
President of LifeWay Research

"Much has been written about the emerging church, but little thought has been given to the preaching of this movement. John Bohannon offers us a thorough taxonomy of the homiletics of the emerging church, showing how the movement's leaders measure up as expositors. In so doing, he offers each of us the opportunity to take the pulse of our own preaching. If the health of the church depends upon the quality of its preaching, we will want to pay attention to this critique."

—Kenton C. Anderson
Professor of Homiletics, ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University; author of Choosing to Preach

Who Is John Bohannon?

John S. Bohannon (Ph.D., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the cofounder and preaching pastor of Water's Edge Community Church in Lake Country, Virginia. He has authored publications on preaching and church planting and serves as an adjunct preaching instructor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. John resides with his wife and three children in Lake Country, Virginia. To learn more about him, visit his blog.