A Parable in a Pool

So the other day there was this kid drowning at the local pool.  While several could have responded to the flailing, the only one to dive in was this fat, balding man in ill-fitting trunks.  The man did a pitiful belly flop into the pool and then dog paddled over the child and somehow managed to pull him to safety.  The fat, balding, winded man was nothing in comparison to the many that could have saved the child.  There was a handsome guard with his nose buried in a book entitled, “Great Rescues through the Ages-the proper manner and techniques to prevent drowning”.    There were two men on the side arguing about how to best adapt to the water and especially on whether or not to become more like the drowning child in order to reach him.  I could go on, but you get the point.   When I transitioned from being in the broadly evangelical camp into the solidly reformed camp, I heard and I repeated many criticisms about all the things that are wrong with evangelism today.  Many, if not all, those criticisms are valid.  There are often things that are lacking in presentation (but even in these cases, God is using these efforts to genuinely save people).    Nevertheless, just as the fat man in our parable, there are those who are getting the job done, who are out and about with a zeal for souls, while too many others stand on the sidelines.  The question of Jesus that ought to ring in our hearts when we level our scoffing at the “belly flopping” and the “dog paddling” is this, What do you do more than others?

James Savastio

The Reformed Baptist Church of Louisville

Old Testament Prophets in New Covenant Pulpits

Some years ago I noticed a rather disturbing trend among some of my Reformed Baptist friends.  They did not feel like they had been preached to if their consciences were not pressed and if they were not made to doubt their salvation.  Preaching that was encouraging to them and especially that assumed that they were in a right relationship with God was sub par, broadly evangelical, lacking in conviction, and bite. This was as much a problem of the pew as of the pulpit.  I realized at times that I was preaching more in the mode of an Old Testament prophet than a New Covenant shepherd of sheep.  The Old Covenant prophets, by and large, ministered in dark days.  They preached to the consciences of impenitent Jews who fancied that all was well based upon their bloodlines and rituals.  As we come into the New Testament we find Jesus and John and to some degree Peter, Paul, and even Stephen continuing in this prophetic mode as they command repentance for their great evil.  How different this tone, in general is from the epistles of Paul.  In letters meant to be read and expounded in the church, there is the tone brotherly love and spiritual certainty (you are saints, you are loved, you are kept, you have the Spirit, etc).   This is the overall tenor of Gospel ministry and if we are laboring in true churches (full of converted people who love the Lord) then our sermons ought to reflect the people to whom I am preaching.  If I am preaching to New Covenant converted believers as though they were Old Covenant unconverted Jews, then I am not being faithful.

Please do not misunderstand what I am saying.  There is the need for reproof, correction, the pointing out of sin, the exhortation to duty, and there is even a place for sharp reproof when necessary (see Paul’s words to Titus regarding the Cretans in Titus 1:12, 13).   There is at times, the tragic necessity of prophetic preaching in the flock, exhortations to self examination need to be made, the possibility of false professions must not be ignored, but we must bring them in biblical proportion and with a clear perspective on the spiritual state of the Lord’s people.

James Savastio

The Reformed Baptist Church of Louisville

Are you passionate?

It seems that evangelical preachers and writers have become passionate about being passionate. This might be one of the most common buzzwords of the day. We are urged to have a passion for God, to be passionate about winning souls, to be passionate in worship etc. ad nauseum. If you aren’t passionate, you probably are not really living as a Christian should-or so it would seem to be implied. But it seems to me that there is a problem with the use of this language, and it ought to cause us to reconsider our terms.

Today, ‘passion’ is generally thought to be good. It is used to describe powerful emotions, or deep and profound commitment. These things may be very good in themselves. The problem is, however, that we Christians inherit an older sense of the term that is utterly contradictory to anything good.

If you look at most conservative translations of the Bible-for example the New American Standard Version or the New King James Version-you will find that when ‘passion(s)’ is used in the New Testament, it always has a sinful connotation: Romans 1:26 “God gave them up to vile passions;” 1 Cor. 7:9 “It is better to marry than to burn with passion;” Gal. 5:24 “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires;” we are even told in Col. 3:5 “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Isn’t it confusing to preach to people, telling them to be passionate about something good, when all that they read about passion(s) in the Bible is evil? What do they think when they read the scriptures?

And making matters even more confusing for serious minded believers, our Confession tells us that God is “without body, parts, or passions.” This is an important theological point, often misunderstood. While we speak somewhat simplistically of emotions, our tradition spoke more specifically, not about emotions, but about affections and passions. Affections are righteous attributes which have their source within God; passions are unrighteous attributes which have their source outside of God. Our Triune Lord has true affections, but he has no passions. Preachers who understand and subscribe to our Confession should comprehend this point and think through its implications for their communication with their people. Isn’t it confusing to urge people to strive to be passionate about imitating God when we rightly confess that God has no passions?

Language changes over time, this is certain. And it may be that we are witnessing a change in the use of ‘passion’ and its derivatives. But it seems to me that Confessional Christians who are serious about the Scriptures ought to be careful in their use of language. We need to avoid confusion or confusing terms. It might be better for us to refrain from using this term in a positive sense, finding another to replace it. This would avoid the difficulty of telling our people to be passionate even when the Scriptures tell us to mortify our passion.

Are you passionate? Maybe you need to repent!

James M. Renihan, Dean

The Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies

http://www.reformedbaptistinstitute.org