How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14).
I am an expert at rationalizing and justifying my own behavior. I could take this simple statement from Scripture and find a way assuage my guilt because I don’t go and tell. Why is it so hard to obey?
David Platt recently spoke at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Beware, if you listen to this message you will likely experience the “holy destruction” that the Spirit of God can bring. Be prepared for conviction.
Platt presents a clear and compelling message of “What the Gospel Does to Our Hearts.” The truth of the matter, the gospel, when rightly understood, will ruin your worldly way of life.
Are you ready to have your life ruined?
Here are a few memorable quotes. Please watch or listen to the entire thing.
Until the gospel invades our hearts, any efforts to help the poor will be shallow and short-lived; but when the gospel of a Savior who became poor that we might become rich radically invades our hearts, it will radically affect the way we live for the sake of His glory amidst urgent spiritual and physical needs around the world.
The gospel demands radical sacrifice.
Hate your mom and dad, wife and kids; pick up an instrument of torture and give up everything you have. That’s a lot different than admit, believe, confess, and pray a prayer.
Could it be that somewhere along the way we have taken the gospel, the very lifeblood of Christianity out, and put Kool-Aid in its place. What it means to follow Jesus is to give up everything you’ve got.
Jesus is not a good teacher to be respected; He is a sovereign Lord to be obeyed.
‘That Jesus did not command all His followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort only to the kind of people to whom He would issue that command.’
If we take Jesus and twist Him into our image, then even when we gather together in our churches and lift our hands to sing songs to Jesus… we are not worshiping the Jesus of the Bible — we are worshiping ourselves.
The gospel, not guilt, is motivation for giving to those who are in need.
‘God always gives what He commands.’
We have found someone worth losing everything for… Do we believe [Christ] is worth it.
Materialism is not just wrong — it’s dumb.
The cost of discipleship is great… but the cost of non-discipleship is far, far greater. It will cost us to give our resources, money, possessions, and lives in this world. But what if we don’t? The cost will be great for a billion plus people who will go on without knowledge of the gospel while we spend our millions on our buildings, and our programs, and our stuff. The cost will be great for our brothers and sisters in the world who will continue starving while our dogs and cats eat better than them. But the cost will not just be great for them, the cost will be great for us. For we will miss out… in this age and the life to come.
As a recent graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary I cannot express how thankful and proud I am for the godly leadership of Danny Akin. He is one of the main reasons I decided to attend S.E.B.T.S. He has been one of the leading proponents of a “Great Commission Resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention.
In the following video you will see Dr. Akin preach from Romans 12:1-2. While watching this video I was again challenged to give God everything. I don’t mean to use that word “everything” lightly. I want to live for God as a “living sacrifice.” I want to be a dead man walking.
Also, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Dr. Akin preach without notes or a manuscript! Must be a message particularly close to his heart. As you’ll notice, it doesn’t take Dr. Akin but a few moments to teach the gospel and how it calls us to proclaim the gospel to the nations.
He explains Romans 12:1-2 using three words: consecration, transformation, and satisfaction. However, to get to Paul’s point in Romans 12:1-2 one has to understand Romans 1-11. That is the beauty of this message! Dr. Akin walks through Romans 1-11 in a beautiful, succinct, clear manner that does complete justice to the intended meaning of the text.
Here are a few poignant quotes from Dr. Akin’s message:
Why do we need a gospel? Why do we need the power of God? Why do we need to be justified? Why do we need to be saved? The answer is — we have a massive sin problem.
Revelation brings responsibility.
Your salvation was not an accident. Your salvation was not an afterthought. Your salvation was not ‘Plan B.’
God wants your eyes. God wants your ears. God wants your mouth. God wants your mind… God wants your hands and your feet. In fact, God wants all of your body — every single part of it. He’s not interested in most of it. He’s not willing to negotiate and bargain… You can’t give God part of you.
The mind is a very delicate thing that must be brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
The Bible says if you’re not careful, both as a Christian and as a church, we can begin to look a whole lot more like the world than like Jesus.
I find that there are a bunch of stupid Christians… They love Jesus with their heart but they don’t have a prayer of a chance of explaining to somebody what they believe or why they believe it.
[Read a book] that will stretch your mind so that you can think more Christianly day-in and day-out rather than being a surface, sloppy, silly, stupid, Saint – we don’t need any more.
Any system of theology that lessens your passion for the Great Commission and evangelism is a theology not worth having.
In the day and age we live, you can’t be a stupid Christian. You have to be able to think well about the gospel and the implications of the gospel. You have to be able to explain and understand both what you and believe and why you believe. If you don’t read, that’s not going to happen.
For the audio-only version of this message see my previous post on the 20/20 Conference at SEBTS.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the “20/20 Conference” at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. However, the audio and video from each session is now available online. I would highly recommend everyone checking out the messages that were presented.
Matt Chandler spoke via video on Colossians 1 about “Defining the Gospel Clearly.”
Danny Akin described the “Proper Response to the Gospel” based on Romans 12:1-2.
David Platt explained what a “Gospel-Centered Community of Faith” looks like by teaching from Acts 3:1-10.
J. D. Greear clarified some “Cultural Assumptions That Make the Gospel Offensive” based on Acts 4:1-21.
Clayton King demonstrated “Paul’s Witness for the Gospel” in Acts 17:16-31.
As a lifelong resident of Hampton Roads, VA, I have always preferred the scenery of the water (e.g., beaches, rivers, creeks, bays, etc.). Recently I was going through some pictures of my summer in Denver, CO (2004) and was feeling nostalgic for the ice-covered mountains. Denver was such a great city. Some of my friends are planning a move to Denver to plant a church (check out their awesome website). I really enjoyed my time in Denver. It was a very progressive city that had all the accoutrements of a metropolis with the community and charm of a small town. The people were friendly, interesting, and active. While downtown, our team worked with at-risk children, Hispanic immigrants, and the surprisingly large homeless population.
One of the highlights from that summer was a camping trip we took to Rocky Mountain National Park (led by the illustrious and uber-talented James Tealy). During that time I tried my hand at the National Geographic videographer thing… below is a video compiled from that camping trip.
Tomorrow I have the privilege of speaking at a chapel service at a Christian High School. I speak at various Christian schools somewhat frequently throughout the year.
Tomorrow I will be speaking at my high school alma mater. I recognize that many of these students have attended a “Christian” school for many years and their view of life is uniquely shaped by this environment. Tomorrow I hope to clearly communicate the gospel and avoid any hint of “moralistic, therapeutic deism.” My goal is not behavior modification or indoctrination.
Parents and high school students are often asking my advice in regard to their undergraduate education. To those students who are well-grounded in their relationship with Jesus I almost invariably recommend attending a public university.
In my own life I decided to attend a public university for very specific reasons (in no particular order):
1. Quality of education. I have found in my state (Virginia) that public universities have the highest quality of professors and students. My undergraduate institution (The College of William and Mary) carefully selects students who are serious about academics and extra-curricular activities.
2. Campus Culture. Every university and college is different. You have to know what type of campus community is important to you. I wanted to go to a school that offered plenty of educational and extra-curricular activities but maintained a genuine feeling of community. I also wanted regular access to my professors outside of the classroom.
3. Cost. An in-state education is a significantly better value than most private or out-of-state colleges and universities.
4. Exposure. A public university offers diversity in so many ways. Many parents use the teenage years to shelter there kids. I believe it is essential to give young people opportunities to interact with persons who look, think, and act differently. Diversity of thought is essential to understand one’s own beliefs and learning how to articulate those beliefs. A “big view” of the world will combat narcissism, expand access to information, and give a more accurate portrayal of the world. Pew Research Center has found that 57% of United States Citizens have never lived outside of their hometown and 37% have never left their hometown!
A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village: the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and microphone of his own age (C. S. Lewis).
A public education will ideally provide access to a wide range of scholarship and a diverse student body to deal with this common error.
5. Mission. I had been told that sharing the gospel to all people a la the Great Commission was important, but outside of a few short term mission trips in high school I had no real gospel opportunities. All of my friends went to my Christian high school or my church (read: Christian bubble). My undergraduate education was the first time in my life were the majority of my regular contacts and friendships were with non-believers. Sure my Mom was scared of the “sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll” but she trusted me as a mature Christian young man (though she almost peed her pants when I mentioned that I was living in a co-ed dorm). Further, the context of a university lends itself to the free exchange of ideas. I have found few contexts more hospitable to the gospel (the dog park is coming in second right now). Further, bringing the “gospel to the nations” is particularly simple at college because the nations come to you in the form of international students. In addition, the university will help fund your own international excursions via study abroad programs!
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At this point you might ask why I am really writing this post. I minister to parents and teenagers every week and I have noticed a particular brand of “bunker mentality.” It is essential to develop meaningful relationships with non-believers in which to model and articulate the gospel. These relationships cannot happen unless young adults are given opportunities to interact in the “real world.” Many Christians claim to be missionaries but have given up on going to hard places. Most college students in America go to public universities. How will we reach them with the gospel unless we go to public universities? Most of the world’s population lives in large, urban cities. How will we reach them with the gospel unless we go to these cities?
renrutkram 