JOHN MACARTHUR: EVANGELICALS CHALLENGED TO PREACH BOLD, HARD TRUTHS

In a piece from Christian Post we read:

In a climate where dogmatism is the new heresy, many evangelicals have backed away from bold preaching while “freely imbibing” the spirit of the postmodern age, says one well-known minister. 

“It seems that zeal for the essential doctrines of biblical Christianity has become virtually as unacceptable among evangelicals and post-evangelicals as it always has been in the world at large,” John MacArthur writes in his newly released book, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore.

The evangelical movement used to be known for two nonnegotiable theological convictions – one of them being the absolute accuracy and authority of Scripture, and the other being Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation.

But today, evangelicalism has become an “amorphous monstrosity” where practically every idea is brought to the evangelical table for discussion, MacArthur says… Before writing his book, MacArthur – pastor of the nondenominational megachurch Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif. – read through literature representing “postevangelical” points of view.

What he found was a common theme in all the books that suggested Christians need to be less militant, less aggressive, less preachy and less sure of their own convictions in order to reach unbelieving people in a postmodern culture.

But that’s not the way Jesus proclaimed the Gospel message, MacArthur points out. A far cry from the methods employed by preachers today, Jesus preached with a bold, blunt, unvarnished directness that even his disciples had a hard time listening to, the evangelical author highlights… (Online source)

And this foolishness would be a perfect example of what MacArthur is talking about concerning the postevangelical approach rooted, as it is, in a rejection of the final authority of Scripture and a fear of certainty.

As would the following from Peter Rollins, a leading theologian in the egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church—currently morphing into Emergence Christianity—(EC), and a good friend of the Elvis of Emergence Rob Bell:

Belief should not be read as empirical certainty. Belief is more than this, it involves doubt, commitment, hope, faith and desire (Online source)

HT: Zachary Lind

See also:

JAY BAKKER, RADICAL LOVE, AND HOMOSEXUALITY

JOHN MACARTHUR: EXISTENTIAL NEO-ORTHODOXY DENIES SOLA SCRIPTURA

THE EMERGING CHURCH HIGHJACKING EVANGELICALISM

THE EMERGING CHURCH SOWING ITS NEO-ORTHODOX CONFUSION ON SCRIPTURE

THE NIGHTMARE BEGINNING FOR MAINSTREAM EVANGELICALISM

TEST THE SPIRITS: STUDY IN 1 JOHN 4:1

IMPACT OF APPRISING MINISTRIES