Comments on Andy's Study: Driscoll, British Preachers and all that

Full recording including contextual introductory c...

2012-01-17T22:19:14.069-08:00

Full recording including contextual introductory conversation;
Download:
http://media.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/a2f28d73-4770-4e0b-b255-7ac5ef1ec0e0.mp3

Web feed:
http://www.premierradio.org.uk/listen/ondemand.aspx?mediaid={B568EE6E-C425-4285-BCE0-BE1CF6A6DF31}

Mark's comments:
http://pastormark.tv/2012/01/12/a-blog-for-the-brits
" ... The interview in question had nearly nothing to do with the book or its subject matter, which in my understanding was supposed to be the point of the interview. "
" ... a host of questions that were adversarial and antagonistic ... "

Have a listen for yourself.

Full discussion here:
http://whatyouthinkmatters.org/blog/article/driscoll-on-britain-offensive-wrong-or-neither

Nick - I agree that British evangelical preaching ...

2012-01-17T13:01:28.404-08:00

Nick - I agree that British evangelical preaching can be a bit on the dull side and those of us preaching and teaching preachers need to try really hard to model and teach communication that is not only orthodox but also compelling in its call for transformation in line with God's Word.

I think we have to be careful though not to confuse personal challenge with what I'll loosely call "shouting". So, for eg, Tim Keller is a profoundly challenging preacher but he does it pretty quietly (for an American!).

The danger of 'ticking the boxes' isn't confined to a sermon's orthodoxy. I know churches where people are only really happy if they leave feeling properly "beaten up" by the preacher but I have to say that often it doesn't produce a noticeable increase in godliness! "Challenge" can become as much of a tick box as soundness - something we approve of but don't actually do anything about.

Such, of course, is the hardness of the human heart; which is why effective preaching will always be, in the end, a work of the Spirit.

Thanks for your helpful comment! Blessings. Andrew.

What is so often lacking in so much sound reformed...

2012-01-16T12:34:43.140-08:00

What is so often lacking in so much sound reformed preaching is passion and fire in the belly. It is so "sound" yet so lacking in personal challenge. How often are we really confronted from the pulpit and dare I say called to repent of our hardness of heart by the application of the word? all to often people exit the building saying "that was a good word" meaning it ticked the orthodoxy boxes but failed to get under the skin of the hearer.

I suspect MLJ and Spurgeon might be closer to agreeing with the Driscoll spectrum of compelling preaching than we might care to imagine.

Thanks for this measured response, Andy. I have ju...

2012-01-16T03:31:08.200-08:00

Thanks for this measured response, Andy. I have just discovered your blog as I've been following the Driscoll controversy. I concur with many of your reflections in the second part of your post, and find some of the responses - in particular Krish Kandiah, who is normally a very measured and patient man - to be largely unnecessary and uncharitable.

Anyway, cheers, and I look forward to reading more.

In Christ,
Michael

Hi Andrew, thanks for your blog post (and also ju...

2012-01-15T14:25:13.442-08:00

Hi Andrew,

thanks for your blog post (and also just to say Hi! - I was a student at UoL from 2007-2010 and remember you coming along to CU a few times to speak!).

I was entirely ignorant of this interview and the controversy it has caused until about half an hour ago, but in regard to the subject manner (and without speculating as to what Driscoll thinks), I think that part of the problem is that good speakers in the UK aren't really sought but recycled. There is a bank of several speakers (who are generally very good, I hasten to add!) which isn't really being expanded. If an event wants a good speaker, they normally go to this bank to be guaranteed of getting a good and doctrinally sound sermon. This, to be fair, is wise, as in a high-profile event you don’t want to get any heresy (!), but occasionally, risks need to be taken and sometimes you need to "separate the wheat from the chaff" as it were. Perhaps, as a result, we are being too cautious?

Despite being an increasingly secular country, there are still quite a lot of Churches in the UK. Of these, few are evangelical and even fewer are sound, but I think there are far more sound, bold and passionate speakers than meets the eye (compared with how many there seem to be when you judge by how many are in the "public christian eye"). Maybe better networking might help to spot them.

Independent Churches who don't belong to large organisations e.g. the FIEC, or who don't have direct links e.g. with UCCF or with events e.g. NWA, Keswick are little known, and their speakers even less so (I would guess). This area of the Christian scene in the UK to which Mark is referring might be helped if new speakers were sought out more than they have been in recent years. Sure, it might be risky, but God has chosen people to spread the Gospel and "many hands make light work" – those hands (or mouths) need to be found!

Sorry Alice - yes I should have been clearer there...

2012-01-13T05:57:42.652-08:00

Sorry Alice - yes I should have been clearer there. I think the Birmingham conference was the first time he said it and the Christianity questionner picked up on that.

So appreciate this post Andrew. The blog Mark has ...

2012-01-13T05:17:18.560-08:00

So appreciate this post Andrew. The blog Mark has written seems to be specifically in response to an interview by Justin Brierly (from Christianity Mag) rather than stuff said at a conference.

I've felt very sad reading the delighted tweets triggered by this controversy written by Christians who seem to despise one another. It's good to read something measured and thoughtful and I'm really glad you wrote it. Thank you!