Prominent pastor and author Alistair Begg recently spoke out against the seemingly understated role of scripture in the modern church, where Christians are coming to worship with a consumerist mindset instead of one focused on the word of God. Begg warned against this trend and urged congregations to return to a sense of “serious engagement with the Bible.”
Begg lamented how the authority vested in the pulpit, reflective of the authority of God, has been watered down to meet the interest of modern culture. “Traditionally, the pulpit was central and visually dominant, not as an expression of the preacher’s authority, but as a reminder of the authority of Scripture,” he began.
The 72-year-old pastor continued, “Plexiglass, bar stools — why? Well, you’ve got to please the consumers,” referring to the continual modernization of churches seeking to become more like the culture around them. “It’s a noble prospect, but there’s an unfortunate symbolism to it.”
Begg continued, illustrating how people come into church with a more casual mindset instead of coming to earnestly seek the word of God and to be transformed by it. “Instead of coming into worship with the express understanding that all of this begins with God in His glory, people come with coffee in hand, saying, ‘Let’s see if he’s got something good for us today,’” he said.
“Expositional preaching gives way to inspirational talks, which gives way to therapeutical endeavors,” he added. Begg further emphasized the necessity of reading scripture and applying it to one’s life, stressing that this decision is not optional.
“I’m not sure that America understands just how deep the problem is, in relationship to biblical illiteracy. You cannot continue to make your journey through life without your Bible, not as a talisman, not as something just to be revered in a corner, but without the Bible as our daily source of knowledge and encounter with God,” the pastor added.
Continuing to speak about the power of the pulpit, Begg said, “Traditionally, the pulpit was central and visually dominant, not as an expression of the preacher’s authority, but as a reminder of the authority of Scripture,” Begg said, recalling the awe he felt as a child when the church “beadle” carried the Bible to the pulpit before the service began.
He stressed to the audience, “There is a correlation between a collapse in our understanding of God and the expressions that are represented in the pulpit. You see, the task of the pastor in coming to the scriptures is not simply to provide information about what the Bible says with a few pointers to take home, fill in the blanks kind of stuff. That’s not the primary objective in the unfolding of Scripture. The desire, the longing of the pastor and the preacher and the people is that we might have a divine encounter with the living God through His Word, that we might meet God, that we might hear from God. … We don’t need to hear what Alistair knows about this or that. We need to hear from God.”
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