ChosenRebel's Blog

Tuesday is for Preaching

There is a way of preaching that is all ancient and interesting but powerless and counter productive. 
There is a way of preaching that is all modern and interesting but powerless and counter productive.

Every age has its new temptations and pitfalls to avoid. Ours is no exception. Here’s a great quote from a young voice (Jonathan Dodson) that needs to be heard.  

When we become primarily concerned with church forms—building, music, service, website design—we dip below superficial contextualization into syncretism, blending Christianity with another religion, in this case consumerism. Christian consumerism gives people what we think they want, instead of calling them to what they need: repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Instead of cracking the missional code, many churches have cracked a consumer code, attracting people to culturally bland but comfortable services while occasionally injecting them with the feel-good serum of social justice. But if Jesus Christ is Lord, his lordship should produce particular expressions of the gospel—music with local flavor and gospel-rich lyrics, community that incarnates grace in the neighborhood, culture-making that reflects his grandeur, and fresh language that awakens locals to grace. (Source: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/01/12/be-missional-not-superficially-contextual/ )

Questions:

1. How are you “cracking the missional code” in your preaching week in and week out?
2. How are you expressing the Lordship of Christ in your forms and language?
3. How are you engaging the neighborhood (not just the congregation) in the richness of the gospel?