Babies
and Bath Water
We
have an old saying here in the UK – “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath
water.” A good sense of its meaning would be to say, “Don’t get so tied up with
side issues as to miss the main points altogether.”
We
get so tied up preaching an easy Gospel that we forget to even mention SIN.
Preachers so very rarely mention sin, preferring instead to say mistakes,
missing the mark, weaknesses, or even errors of judgement. All these are
pseudonyms pointing to one thing – SIN. Another
thing preachers avoid like a plague, is the word ‘repentance’. Where is
salvation without repentance – turning away from your SIN? (there’s that word
again).
This
Sunday, our pastor preached on SIN. People were weeping and turning back to God
– repenting their own sins and getting right with the Lord. It was so
powerful!! And the sermon wasn’t a Gospel sermon – it was about “Blessed are
the merciful . . . . .” Doesn’t that
tell you something about preaching the Word rather than preaching your
interpretation of it or watering God’s Word down a bit. “Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against
quarrelling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.” (2 Tim 2:14)
You
see Pastor didn’t throw baby out with the bath water. He preached the full
meaning of his topic. He didn’t confuse things with side issues. He preached
the whole issue. We cry for mercy because we have sinned.
Many
churches really do try to keep to the script but, actually, many preachers
throw the baby out altogether and only preach the bathwater – they omit the
point altogether while concentrating solely upon the side issues.
Are
the majority of churches just 'going through the motions'? Do they really reach
out into their community - or is it just paper justification of their
existence? Has the church thrown the baby out with the bathwater?
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