Saturday
Jan222005
In the Spurgeonic tradition
Saturday, January 22, 2005 at 2:03PM
About a month ago, I was reading a sermon by Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers of the 1800s. I noticed that the sermon was preached at London's Crystal Palace. I'd forgotten what that was all about, so I did a bit of research. It turns out that Spurgeon preached to crowds of up to twenty-four thousand people at this venue without a microphone. This led to some articles on his use of various buildings. The decision to use these buildings was not a conventional one:
Objections by the traditional Victorians were, of course, raised from every corner. That would be
Reader Comments (5)
Are you somehow tying this into your emerging church defence?
Jacob: To be honest, some of the criticisms got me thinking about this. But it does have wider implications. When the whole emerging thing is over, I think we'll still be dealing with these same questions.
I remember being an apologist for Christian rock/metal during the 80's. Ran into a lot of weak arguments concerning styles of music and clothes that could glorify God. Personally I was reached for Christ through this movement; as a result I try to "give a bit of grace to those who are trying to contextualize our calling". Those on the cutting edge need to be careful that their methods and goals are not driving their theology. Methods, strategy, programs, structure (to a certain degree) are fair game - theology is not.
Jacob: Well said. I couldn't agree more. The only place where I think that theology is fair game is where we conclude it has departed from the Biblical pattern. That is happening in some cases, just as it did during the Reformation. I agree with you, though, that theology should drive practice, not the other way around.
Darryl I started checking out a web site that has his sermons available http://www.spurgeon.org/mainpage.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.spurgeon.org/mainpage.htm I'm just starting to read his stuff and think its great. Talk about boldness. I did a devotional about the Parable of the Sower at the mission we are serving at and read his sermon about it as I was preparing. It was awesome, he tells it like it is and wasn't afraid to challenge. I'm looking forward to reading more. God obviously blessed his ministry in a huge way. I think its what is desperately needed in churches today, boldness and a getting back to the basics of the essence of the Gospel. And prayer. God has to be in the center and in so many places we have lost that and man is in the center. And so much of the gospel message has been watered down. I can't remember right now who it was that said that the gospel proclamation has become so watered down that even the non elect can't reject it.