How the Scandal of Preaching Will Reach Our Postmodern World
By now it is old news that we live in a world marked by postmodernity. In such a world, truth is not something that is outside ourselves, but something that is self-determined. Each of us constructs our own private, personal realities. What’s ‘true’ for you is not ‘true’ for me.
So, how do we break into the lives of people who are immersed in this postmodern reality? How do we reach them for the gospel? Do we find ways to show them how the gospel is existentially satisfying? Do we offer therapeutic entertainment to draw them in?
Nope. Instead, we do the unthinkable in our modern age. We preach.… Continue reading...
Everybody Submits to Somebody: Viewing the Submission Issue in Its Larger Context
In our culture, “submission” is a four letter word. Few are praised in our modern world for subjecting themselves to those in authority over them. On the contrary, the model laid out for us is that we should always challenge and question those who are over us. After all (we think), we know better than they do. We should be in charge, not them. The classic bumper sticker captures it well: “Question Authority.”
There is perhaps no place where this is seen more vividly than the controversy over Eph 5:22, “Wives submit to your husbands as unto the Lord.” Cultural pundits are quick to label Christians as anti-woman or patriarchal … Continue reading...