mgpcpastor's blog

From the Valiant For Truth blog, a pastor’s reflection on listeners who want to leave a sermon having heard the Gospel referenced, but who really want a list of things to do and not to do.

I once had a colleague tell me that a wealthy businessman and member of his congregation privately approached him and said, “I am prepared to donate a lot of money to the church, but I have this one condition. Please stop talking about Jesus so much and just tell me what I need to do. Give me a list each week of things I can do.” The pastor was somewhat discouraged but at the same time bemused at how anyone could ask him to stop preaching about Christ. I know, the first thought that likely comes to mind is that this preacher was only talking about Jesus and never offered points of application in his sermon. This wasn’t the case. The preacher was solid—he preached Christ and applied the text. The problem wasn’t with the preacher but with the church member.
I think this man’s request, while perhaps foolish, expresses a common desire among people in the pews. We want to hear about the grace of the gospel, but we also want a checklist. We want the preacher to give us a list of things to do so we can go home, check off every item on the list, and walk away with a sense of accomplishment. “Husbands, love your wives as Christ has loved the church.” Ok, grace of the gospel, check. Love my wife, check. Wash the dishes, check. Use soap, check. Dry the dishes, check. Put them away (in the right place—this is for you, wife of my youth), check. Am I sanctified this week? Check. Check lists give us a sense that we have fulfilled the demands of the law and that we’ve grown in our sanctification. The problem with checklist spirituality is, however, that there is no list exhaustive enough to cover every demand of the law in every circumstance in life, whether in word, thought, or deed.
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If my colleague had taken the bribe (that’s what is essentially was) and given his church lists of things to do, his church coffers would have been fuller, but his congregation would have been spiritually impoverished. They would have failed to see that they needed Christ, above all else, and that only Christ can give us the wisdom we need to know how to pursue sanctification and how to apply the gospel to every facet of life. Spiritual lists can be helpful at times, but never think that just because you’ve checked off the boxes that you’ve somehow exhausted the depths of the demands of the law. Seek Christ in whom are hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Read the whole article here.