Congregations in church have become enormous. Some churches have had to go to multiple services to accommodate all the people that come. The church I pastor has one service on Sunday morning. When I see churches growing, I get excited and get nervous at the same time. The excitement I feel is because of the possibility that people are coming to Christ and growing in their faith.
However, I get nervous too. I think about the verse in Matthew 7:14 that says, “the way is hard that leads to life, and those that find it are few.” And so I ask this question to myself,
“If Matthew 7:14 is true, then why and how are so many churches growing?”
If it is because the lost are coming to an authentic relationship with Christ, then PRAISE GOD! But, if it is because the message is being altered in some way, then, are those attending these growing churches truly regenerate? The answer is clearly “yes” some are regenerate and “no” some are not regenerate. But, what can we do?
This troubles me, because I don’t ever want to be responsible for false conversions. I understand that we have to leave the results to God and be faithful. But I do not believe this erases and excuses the responsibility to not get the message right.
We do not need to preach about things that are self-help exclusively. (meaning topical sermons). The White Horse Inn made a statement one time that I find extremely helpful. They said that a question you should ask yourself when you are listening to sermons is,
“Did Jesus have to die for that to be true?”
Meaning, if the content of the sermon is just leadership principles (or any other topic), but Jesus didn’t have to die for them to be true, then the sermon wasn’t about Jesus, and the pastor missed the point. Or, if the content of the sermon is about husbands or wives, but the pastor never mentioned Jesus, then the sermon, (while I’m sure it can be helpful around the house) is insufficient.
The issue at stake here is sufficiency. Meaning the Bible is sufficient, within itself, to save sinners and teach us how to live for Jesus. Most conservative pastors will affirm inerrancy, infallibility and even sufficiency; however, pragmatically, when it comes to ministry, many do not actually practice the sufficiency of Scripture. The bulk of their sermons throughout the year are topical. This can be problematic.
Besides a blatant disregard of 2 Timothy 4:2 (“preach the Word”), what occurs are people who do see some level of life change (and this is the tricky part), but are either (1) not truly justified and have changed their life out of sheer will power, thus they are still going to hell, but now they just sin less or (2) justified, but not actively involved in sanctification and they remain spiritual babies.
What is the answer?
Expository Preaching.
That answer scares some pastors and some congregations. That is because they think expository preaching equals boring. Sometimes it does. But sometimes topical preaching equals boring. (I’ve heard my fair share) PREACHERS MUST NOT BE BORING! They must draw in the interest of their listeners. They must never preach over their heads. They can’t just tell stories all the time. (But tell some) They can’t just tell jokes all the time, though humor is ok sometimes, I believe. They can’t just be charismatic and not teach the Word either. They should point people to Jesus, preach the Word, be interesting, exciting to listen to, and be passionate.
Now, the best possibility for high levels of REAL life-change to happen can only come most assuredly by expository preaching. This is how God has ordained it to be. The Word is what changes people. The Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12). The Word is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible does not say it is the pastor with the Word, (though I believe God has ordained preaching) but it is the Word that does these things. So, pastors, preach the Word and see life change happen. Do not preach self-help and short-cut the system. That is the essence of sufficiency being redefined.
