I want to share a few quotes from The Heart is the Target: Preaching Practical Application from Every Text by Murray Capill. This portion of the book is well worth the cover price. I was reading the book in an effort to sharpen my preaching. Yet, this lesson went far beyond tips and tricks.
The chapter “Preaching the Kingdom” begins with a confession:
“A few years ago, I presented a paper at our annual preachers’ conference entitled, “Confessions of a Pietistic Preacher.” I made five rather frank confessions. I confessed to a tendency to preach the gospel of an individual salvation rather than the gospel of the kingdom, a tendency to address sin in the individual but not sin in society, a tendency to gravitate toward texts about personal spirituality but not texts about social justice, a tendency to set forth a vision for the church but not a vision of the world, a tendency to preach a narrow view of worship and ministry rather than an ‘all of life’ view. It’s not that I always preach in this narrow way, but it can easily be my default setting.” (page 175)
Capill goes on to say:
“Pietistic tendencies may incline us to gravitate toward texts about personal spirituality but not texts about social justice. There has been a tendency over the last 150 years for personal spirituality to be the concern of evangelicals and social justice to be the domain of liberals. You go to an evangelical church to hear sermons on faith, repentance, prayer, love, joy, service, giving, evangelism, healthy relationships, personal integrity, God’s grace, God’s power, and God’s Providence. You go to a liberal church to hear sermons on family violence, the victims of AIDS, oppression of the poor, environmental issues, and the concerns of the marginalized.” (page 181)
One could argue with the labels “evangelical” and “liberal” but I find this generalization to be well-founded. As an evangelical who runs in evangelical circles, I’ve heard it with my own ears and witnessed it in my own preaching.
Capill then drops the hammer: “But then you turn to Amos. He speaks against the false piety of a people who pray and sacrifice but do not love justice and mercy.” (page 181)
Here comes the needed correction:
“It is clear from Scripture that evangelicals cannot neatly separate personal spirituality from social responsibility. The two go together. The liberal’s fault is to talk about social issues without bringing the ultimate hope of healing and salvation through Christ. The evangelical’s fault is to speak of salvation and healing in the lives of individuals and not to apply that to addressing the social issues of the day. The gospel should instill in us an agenda to proclaim and enact the good news of the kingdom to the poor, needy, alienated, lonely, widows, and outcasts not only in word but also in deed.” (page 182)
This thought still echoes in my brain. I’ll let it continue to echo until it settles in my bones.
Jeff Gravens 