“An overpowering surge of ardent pragmatism is sweeping through evangelicalism. Traditional methodology – most notably preaching – is being discarded or downplayed in favour of newer means, such as drama, dance, comedy, variety, side-show histrionics, pop-psychology, and other entertainment forms…since for many the chief criterion for gauging the success of a church has become attendance figures, whatever pulls in the most people is accepted without critical analysis as good".
Power Preaching for Church Growth”, David Eby, Mentor (Christian Focus Publications), 1996, p26
Whatever you may think of that quotation, the fact is that the modern evangelical church is driven in many places by such pragmatism. The working maxim is "if it works, then we can and should use it".
Is that biblical?
Part of the responsibility of the church of Jesus Christ is to be the ‘pillar and ground of the truth’ (1 Timothy 3: 15).
That means that we are to safeguard the deposit of apostolic doctrine passed down through the centuries. In order to know where we are going, we have to know where we have come from. Yes, we are to wrestle in every generation with the biblical text for deeper understanding of God’s word, but we are charged to stay faithful to ancient doctrine and practice, not to innovate. We aren’t mandated to deviate or develop outside clearly defined biblical principles of belief and practice.
What does that mean? Does it mean that we have to meet in subterranean caves for worship like the Early Church? No. Are we to shun technology in the outworking of our ecclesiology and missiology? Of course not.
“C21st communications technology has given us greater power than ever to bring the timeless truth of the gospel to the ends of the earth”
Hard to Believe, John MacArthur (Thomas Nelson) p186
It does mean that we need to go back to first principles when deciding our methodology and doctrine. It means that the Scriptures, and not pragmatism are to dictate our programmes.
Why didn’t the Early Church use drama in evangelism? Come to that, why wasn’t it used by the Reformers, the Puritans, the proponents of the Great Awakening? Why wasn’t it a feature of the major revivals in England and Wales in 1735, 1859 or 1904? Why is it that this generation is so sold on it?
The Centrality of Preaching
We have made the observation that the most theatrical and dramatic age of all recent history is represented by Greek and Roman culture. As a result, in every Hellenised or Romanised city in the scope of the NT, drama as a cultural phenomenon was well known.
Why didn’t Paul use this obviously culturally relevant mode of communicating the gospel?
For this reason: God has ordained preaching – not drama – for the communication of his word, and it is the Bible that declares the mind of God on how the Christian church is to formulate its outreach – not just for the 1st century, but also for every succeeding generation.
“We remain convinced that God's Word provides the timeless defining paradigm for the nature & particulars of pastoral ministry…Contemporary ministry in any generation needs to be shaped by biblical mandates”.
Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry, John MacArthur Jnr and The Master’s Seminary Faculty, Word, 1995, p16
The problem of communicating the gospel in our day is very similar to what Paul faced. Folk with differing worldviews and languages, culture clashes and ideological barriers are all around us. How did Paul communicate in such a setting?
He preached.
If ever there was an opportunity for God to endorse and ‘reclaim’ cultural methods of presenting the truth such as drama, it was in that setting. Paul could easily have slipped on his white gloves or produced his puppets – such things were understood and culturally acceptable. He didn’t. He simply preached in the power of God and the demonstration of the Holy Spirit.
Why? Because it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to spread his gospel. God does not command us to produce dramatic presentations of Gospel themes. He does command us to preach a verbal and logical message persuading men with truth and explanation (2 Timothy 4: 2).
According to Acts 6: 2 and 6: 4, the primary weapon of the communicator is prayerful preaching. Every occasion when men were converted and the NT church expanded, there was an accompaniment of preaching.
God primarily communicates with us verbally and not visually. He does it through ideas, not images. He has given to us the written word, not a series of paintings, sketches or icons. We have a bible of type and sentences, not a pictorial series or a pop-up narrative. It is significant that John 1 opens with Jesus the Word, that Hebrews 1 describes God’s chosen method of self-disclosure as something verbal, and that the power of Christ in the imagery of Revelation 1: 16 is the power of the declared word.
Why? Well, amongst other reasons, because the visual is not specific enough. Words explain and clarify in a way that things seen can’t. With words, we portray the abstract, clarify the complex, and express the profound. They allow specificity and exactness. The apostle Peter reminds us that in Paul’s writing there are things that are hard to understand – imagine explaining the theology of Romans in line drawings or scenes from a sketch! In the modern theological arena, imagine conducting apologetics with beautifully orchestrated dance, breathtakingly melodic music, or panoramic sweeps of landscape as your language. What could you possibly hope to communicate?
Neil Postman is right when he says that:
“…abstractions as truth, honour, love, falsehood cannot be talked about in the lexicon of pictures”.
Amusing Ourselves to Death (Methuen) p73
It is no accident that verbal propositions are God’s chosen vehicle to express himself and his laws. Our God is the eternal Word, his self-disclosure is something spoken, and he has ordained a method of disseminating truth – it is by the plain propositions and anointing of God upon preaching.
Objections to presenting Christ through theatre and drama don’t spring from a frustration with poorly rehearsed and poorly acted gospel presentations, although there are many of those – they arise from a belief that God has made himself quite clear how his work is done.
Biblical history testifies to God’s chosen manner of building his church. Examples such as Ezra, Jonah or Peter at Pentecost, post-biblical times with Wycliffe, Edwards, the Moravians or Calvin, recent times with the itinerant ministries of DL Moody, and Billy Graham, and Luis Palau, or with settled ministries such as D M Lloyd-Jones or John MacArthur, all make the case for preaching.
The argument that drama, mime, or the agency of film is a brighter window on truth than preaching, suggests that God has made a mistake in which medium is most effective for communication. It also begs a question – if it can’t be said in thirty minutes of preaching, using thousands of very specific, carefully chosen words, can it really be said in 10 minutes using less words and much acting? In the case of the Passion of the Christ, can the true thrust of atonement really be captured in subtitles that are drowned by graphic imagery and rapid scene changes?
In the great commission our Lord tells the disciples to go into all the world, baptizing the nations, “teaching them to observe all of the things that I have commanded you.”
“It is significant that in all four NT lists of the gifts which our risen Lord Jesus sovereignly gives his people, the ‘Word gifts’ come first. It is so in Romans 12: 6ff, 1 Corinthians 12: 7ff, 1 Corinthians 12: 27ff, and Ephesians 4: 7ff. We do not have to look to see the reason for this. God has given us minds. He addresses and changes us by way of them”.
Peter White, The Effective Pastor (Christian Focus Publications), p52
When God changes us, he mediates truth through the mind to work upon the will. Although we are emotional beings, God does not effect change by appealing primarily to our emotions. Preaching, unlike drama, involves the communication of the Gospel in a way that patiently convinces, rebukes, exhorts, and teaches (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
Promoting drama as an alternative or supplement to preaching displays a supreme lack of confidence in God’s ordained method for winning his world. He is the same God as he ever was – he is able to do the same work of converting and building his church as in any of the centuries gone by.
We need to trust him.
Next post will carry on with the same theme!