Learning from James MacDonald
Friday, June 3, 2005 at 12:03PM I spent this week listening to five messages from James MacDonald. James and I are very different. He is a megachurch pastor; I am not. He is not emerging; I appreciate parts of the emerging church conversation. He has an entourage; I do not. Mostly, we differ a lot on style and personality, which really isn't that important.
Here's what I learned from him this week, and why I appreciated him:
1. We are not unique - James loves to confront the church on where it has accommodated culture. He did a great talk on how we are not unique and we need to stop our self-absortion and quest for self-fulfilment. He made some good points here. No matter how much we critique our therapeutic culture, we still carry some of that into our faith. This was a good reminder that it really isn't about us.
2. Don't soften the hard edges - Sometimes you get the sense that we try to soften the hard edges of the Bible. James refuses to do this. I think (and I could be wrong) that some of us have become comfortable challenging churches with hard truths, but we're not as comfortable stating hard truths to the culture at large. We need to be able to do both. I learned and saw this in James' life. He doesn't soften the message for anybody.
3. Don't complicate simple issues - James can be faulted, I think, for sometimes oversimplifying complex issues. I could be faulted, I think, for overcomplicating simple issues. I think I can learn from him.
4. Live what you say - James was talking about personal integrity and holiness. He said that he has filters on his computer and his home TV has a code that only his wife knows. It was nice to see someone talk about this and to admit that he's put stuff in his own life to prevent him from doing things he preaches against.
5. Don't confuse style and substance - James is conservative in doctrine but quite flexible in style. It was good for him to demonstrate that we shouldn't confuse issues of style and substance. The two don't go together.
6. Appreciate those who are wired differently - Despite James teaching that we are not all unique, it's quite clear that James could be nobody else but James. One of the best moments of self-awareness came when he outlined three styles of teaching, and acknowledged that any one style (including his - prophetic and confrontational) needs the others. I was glad to see James realize that he needed others with different styles. This is a good insight for all of us.
7. Communication styles are changing - I don't know what this means, but James is the more old-style tell-it-like-it-is preacher, and isn't primarily conversational. He seems to have a strong following among younger generations. Maybe there is a shift away from conversational speaking styles back to proclamational. This might be a trend worth watching.
8. Love your wife - James gave the best message I've ever heard to men on marriage. It would be hard to walk away and not be challenged in a positive way.
9. Make room for men in the church - James doesn't seem to lack testosterone. He might go the other way, but he made some good points about churches being more feminine than masculine (flowers, sappy songs). Worth thinking about.
I think we can learn from those who are different from us. These are some of the ways I benefited from someone this week who is very different than I am.
Reader Comments (8)
I think I like this guy, surprise surprise. He's gonna make a "killer" Catholic one day. :)
He's gracious towards Catholics, but you may have to convince him on some matters of doctrine. ;)
No kidding! I suspect that I might need to bring along a sledegehammer as well...lol There was a time when I would have relished the fight. Not so much anymore. For the most part, I think that's a more Godly thing. But I have to admit that sometimes I miss all the testosterone laced pandimonium. Call me, "Just another ballplayer for Jesus, with a big ole wooden bat!" ;) Thanks always for your graciousness, Darryl. Paul
Great comments Darry. Almost 4 years ago when God changed my life I found myself listening to Christian radio. James MacDonald and Charles Stanley were the first two radio ministries that God used powerfully in my life and I will be forever grateful. When I heard James I knew I was hearing truth. I loved the tell it like it is style and still do. And the simplicity of the Gospel. The first series I heard him preach on was Seven Words to change your family. It was a great series that I then purchased and our family listened to as we drove to Florida in the spring of 2002. It was the beginning of of change also in the life of my family. We were attending a non denominational church in Burlington at the time and I can remember saying to myself how incredible it would be to have a Harvest Bible type of church in our area. I saw in our church at the time that accomodating of culture and just knew that it wasn't the right way to go. I then heard of how a group of people were meeting together in the summer of 2003 with a view to planting a Harvest Bible Church in the Mississauga/ Oakville area. I was able to get in on just the third meeting they had. Less then 2 year later we look back and see all that God has done. Its been an incredible journey and we know its all God. James is right its not about us its all about Him. I don't think we really have a clue as Christians what God really wants to do through people who are fully committed to Him. Just look around in our community and country, if ever there was a ripe time for revival, we're living in it. You might consider checking out the HBC fellowship Darryl, see if there is common ground there. Anyways, appreciated your comments, have a great week-end.
hey Darryl - found your blog somehow... Thanks for the positive blog on James. I would've said something like "he's just replacing John MacAurthur", but you're right- there is always something to learn....
Tim! Great to hear from you. I am going to start following your blog.
You gotta love it when the church comes together! Good thing Jesus remembers that we are made of dirt...ALL OF US! In our attempt to live out our faith, we here in Westport wrote a letter asking forgiveness of the other churches for taking our differences and preferences into the core of the church and perhaps dividing it. We also allow men to bring their restored cars, trucks, tractors and carriages into their faith with a Show and Shine the 4th weekend of August every year. (it is the same weekend as the town's art show.) It is a work of art to restore a great vehicle, it is a work of God to restore a man.
darryl - well done. great to see you taking some good stuff out of it!!!