First of all, the first indictment,
a practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture, especially in my
denomination, a practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture.
2 Timothy 3.15 and on says, and that from childhood you have
known the sacred writings which are able to give you wisdom that
leads to salvation. Through faith, which is in Christ
Jesus, all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every
good work. Over the last several decades,
there has been a mighty battle with regard to the inspiration
of Scripture. Now, some of you have not been
a part of that battle, but many of us in more liberal denominations
most certainly have. A battle for the Bible. But there's
only one problem. When you come to believe as a
people that the Bible is inspired, you've only fought half the battle.
Because the question is not merely, is the Bible inspired? Is it
inerrant? The major question following
that, that must be answered, is the Bible sufficient? Or do we have to bring in every
so-called social science and cultural study in order to know
how to run a church? That is a major question. Social
sciences, in my opinion, have taken precedent over the word
of God in such a way that most of us can't even see it. It has
so crept into our church, our evangelism and our missiology
that you can barely call what we're doing Christian anymore.
Psychology, anthropology, sociology have become primary influences
in the church. Several years ago, many years
ago, when I was in seminary, I remember a professor walked
in and he started drawing footprints. On the blackboard. And as he
marched them across the blackboard, then he turned to all of us and
said only this. Aristotle. Is walking through
the halls of this institution. Beware. For I hear his footsteps
more clearly than those of the Apostle Paul and the team of
inspired men who were with him and even the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. We have come to believe that
a man of God can deal in certain tiny areas in the life of the
church, but when it really gets tough, we need to go to the social
experts. That's an absolute lie. It says
here in Scripture that the man of God may be equipped, adequate,
equipped for every good work. What does Jerusalem have to do
with Rome? And what do we have to do with
all these modern day social sciences that were actually created as
a protest against the Word of God? And why is it that evangelism
and missions and so-called church growth is more shaped by the
anthropologist, the sociologist and the Wall Street student who
is up on every cultural trend? All the activity in our church
must be based upon the word of God, all the activity and missions
upon the word of God. Our missionary activity, our
church activity, everything we do ought to flow from the theologian
and the exegete, the man who opens up his Bible and only has
one question. What is thy will, O God? We are not to send out questionnaires. to carnal people to discover
what kind of church they would attend. A church ought to be
seeker friendly, but the church ought to recognize there's only
one seeker. His name is God. And if you want
to be friendly to someone, if you want to accommodate someone,
accommodate him and his glory. whether it is rejected by everyone
else. We are not called to build empires. We are not called to be accepted.
We are called to glorify God. And if you want the church to
be something other than a peculiar people, then you want something
God does not want. I want you to listen to Isaiah
just for a moment, chapter 8. Listen to what he says. When
they say to you, consult the mediums and the spiritist who
whisper and mutter. This is a perfect, a perfect
definition or at least illustration. of the social sciences and the
church growth gurus and everything else. Because every two or three
years, all their major theories change. Not only on what is a
man or how you fix him, but what is a church and how you make
it grow. Every two or three years, there is another fad coming down
the line of what can make your church into something super in
the eyes of the world. Just recently, one of the greatest
or most well-known church growth experts said that he discovered
that he was entirely wrong on all his theory. But instead of
turning then to scripture on his knees, broken and weeping,
he goes out to find another theory. They give no clear word. It says
here in Isaiah, should not a people consult their God? Should they
consult the dead on behalf of the living? Should we as churchmen,
as preachers, as pastors, as Christians, should we go out
and consult the spiritually dead on behalf of those whom the Holy
Spirit has made alive? Absolutely not. Absolutely not.