Not Apostolic
One thing we might take away from last Sunday’s sermon is this: the “Hell-first” version of the gospel is not apostolic. None of the apostles, as far as I can read, tried to convince their listeners of hell, damnation, an angry God, sin-counting, or a Dante’s Inferno with Satan as the living Captain of Industry down there. None of the apostles had the devil getting bigger headlines and more inches than the Savior.
I think it is safe to say that the “hell-first’ message was an invention of the Middle Ages and not at all what any of the apostles preached. Therefore we can safely banish it from our repertoire of gospel messages.
Anybody agree? Disagree? Any challenges? Anybody out there?
The Goepel Crank
Jim
ReplyDeleteAre you crazy? Sin counting is what makes the world go around. If we didn't have that, who would we blame for all of our problems? Where would the fear come from that drives us to see ourselves as better than others?
If we didn't have that, well, we might actually love each other! We might see ourselves as lost sheep in need of a good shepherd and we might believe that what God does is more important than what we do!
Dave Fletcher
Of course you are right, Dave. What was I thinking?
ReplyDelete-Crank
I don't know about the Middle Ages, but I do know that Jonathan Edwards preached hellfire in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and that was part of the first Great Awakening in America, when people experienced the Holy Spirit in a powerful revival. Maybe preaching hellfire isn't necessary, but maybe sometimes it's the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI think that hell is something necessary to preach about, but it should NOT, in ANY way, be the main thing in your sermon. We should be focusing on the main point here. Jesus.
ReplyDeleteLamar makes a great point about the "Great Awakening." I know the "Angry God" sermon of Edward's is often held up as the model for his teaching but I have many and many a Edward's qote that focussed solely and only on the grace and love of God. He was more balanced than we give him credit for, I think.
ReplyDelete- Crank
Damnation was not neglected in the preaching of the Apostles. Acts 2:40, Acts 3:19, Acts 7:53, Acts 8:20, for example. But their preaching also emphasized the salvation of the Messiah, as in Acts 8:12, Acts 2:38, Acts 3:26.
ReplyDeleteThe message is two-fold. After all, if nobody is lost, then nobody needs a savior, do they?