Ashamed
of the Gospel by John F. MacArthur
This
review is
a bit of a departure for The Baptist Page. John MacArthur
is not officially a Baptist (though we are convinced
he is one of those baptists with a little "b").
What he writes about, however, in this book is of
supreme interests to Baptists and all believers. Using
the Down-Grade
Controversy involving Charles Spurgeon and the
Baptist Union of London, MacArthur paints some stark
and disturbing parallels between the tenor of the
church one hundred years ago and today.
Chapter
One, Christianity on the Down-Grade, makes the case
of the whole book. Simply put, MacArthur sees the
modern pragmatic marketing of the church as a vindication
of everything Spurgeon warned of a century ago. We
are beseeched not to allow this down-grade to continue
in our day. This is not a demeaning of modern methods
as much as it is an admonishment not to abandon the
main thing, the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Chapter
Two, The User-friendly Church, follows both Spurgeon
and the early chapters of the book of Acts. Those
who are enamored with church marketing techniques
advocated by George Barna and others will not be comfortable
as they read these pages. Both Spurgeon and MacArthur
have seen the problems with our "felt-needs"
approach to presenting the Gospel.
The
following chapters of Ashamed of the Gospel
remind us of Spurgeon's fears. He saw the church becoming
enamored with entertainment and frivolity while gradually
moving away from the preaching of the unvarnished
gospel of Jesus Christ. Chapter Eight is most important
because it identifies the theological foundations
of the problem. As Charles Finney and others moved
away from the sovereignty of God and toward a pragmatic
approach to calling people to salvation, the church
has rushed headlong down that slope Spurgeon warned
of.
This
book has been out for a while but needs to be read
today. Spurgeon had the pulse of his century as MacArthur
does of ours! Read one chapter from Ashamed of
the Gospel called Spurgeon
and the Down-Grade Controversy here on-line
and then get the book.
Ashamed
of the Gospel by John F. MacArthur (Crossway
Books), 1993), hardcover, 254 pages.
John
F. MacArthur is pastor of Grace Community Church in
Sun Valley, California and president of the Master's
College and Seminary.
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Spurgeon
Himself
blamed the conflict for his death ... He told friends,
"The fight is killing me." ... He had not
sought a fight. But refusing to compromise what he felt
were biblical conviction, he could not avoid the controversy
that ensued." (p.xix)
What
the church was
flirting with in Spurgeon's time became an infatuation
in Tozer's. It is now an obsession. Worse yet, the forms
of entertainment now used in church are often completely
secular - devoid of anything Christian. (p.
69)
The
church is not a
lodge recruiting members. It is not a pub for the neighborhood.
... It is not a country club for the masses... It is
the body of Christ .. The Church's only legitimate goal
is "the equipping of the saints for the work of
service, to the building up of the body of Christ..."(p.
83)
If
church history teaches us
anything, it is that different times and different societies
do not require different messages. Those who preach
anything other that the unadulterated gospel forfeit
the power of God in their ministries.(p.
134)
When
the people of God seem weakest,
look again. Jesus is still building His church. The
original plan is still in operation. Modern times do
not threaten His sovereign purposes. The circumstances
of our troubled world do not alter His design. And no
matter how corrupt and worldly the visible church has
been or may become, Jesus Christ is still building His
church on the original, sure foundation of apostolic
teaching and ministry. (p. 177)
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