Sermon on Racial Diversity
I’m generally reluctant to make recommendations of books, sermons, etc. for two reasons. First, invariably the work in question has some error mixed with whatever is commendable, or its author has errors in his other works, and any recommendation is usually construed as a recommendation of the errors as well as the good. Second, if enough people know about my recommendation, invariably someone will be offended by it. Please understand, then, that my recommendations are limited.
I heard an good sermon by John Piper via his website: “God’s Pursuit of Racial Diversity at Infinite Cost” (part one | part two). It is the best sermon on race and ethnicity that I’ve heard, if only because it’s the only sermon on race and ethnicity that I’ve heard. For example, as of this afternoon SermonAudio.com offers 78,035 sermons for download. With a few minutes’ search, I was able to find 17 sermons about euthanasia, 19 sermons about head coverings, 20 sermons about the Baptist Confession of 1689, 36 sermons about Iraq, 79 sermons about reprobation, 97 sermons about hurricanes and tsunamis, and 149 sermons about the pope, but at most 4 sermons about race. It seems to me that one needn’t be a liberation theologian to notice that conservative Christians talk about many subjects but are rather silent about race.
Posted 18 Jan. 2006 at 11:58 pm | Permalink
Since the time of my earliest memory I have heard hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of sermons which spoke of the heart of God concerning His love for all men, regardless of the color of their skin or the place of their birth. I heard my first sermons on race, when in Sunday School and Junior Church I heard the wondrous truth of John 3:16 and learned to sing, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.†From those early sermons my heart was set in the course of God’s own thinking. I have in my life and ministry had the joy of laboring with and ministering to children, teenagers, and adults of every color and ethnic background; preaching my own quiet sermons, declaring the love of God for all men. I have also watched my own children and the children and teenagers of our church family preach their own sermons on the love of God’s grace. In the sincerity of their preaching they have not seen “the color of one’s skin, but the content of their character.†The sermons I have heard and preached and watched are the central theme of God’s redeeming love in Christ, delivered by those who have come to know the unbounded love of God.
I believe that these sermons are more beautiful and complete in meaning and result than any forty-five minute sermon could ever be. These sermons are preached in our churches (conservative Christian) week-by-week as a matter of course and conviction.
Two Additional Thoughts: 1.) I believe that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a true American hero and is worthy, because of his life and death, of all accolades that have been thrown at his feet. At a time when our nation was divided factionally and sectionally, more than at any time since the Civil War, Dr. King delivered the healing message of forgiveness, love, and hope. With the turn of his words and truth of his example he helped salve the great wounds of a common people.
2.) While it is true that we as conservative Christians do sometimes too easily dismiss in total those who we disagree with in part, we should be careful to never accommodate those whose teachings, even in part, would enslave people in a system of wrong doctrine. John Piper is such a teacher. His errors are too severe, proportionally, to be accommodated as just a difference of opinion or conclusion.
Posted 19 Jan. 2006 at 5:39 pm | Permalink
I am curious. I have read a little of Piper’s writing, but probably not enough to get a picture of his doctrine as a whole. To what, specifically, do you object in his teaching?
Posted 20 Jan. 2006 at 8:51 am | Permalink
John Piper has written much that is spiritually beneficial: drawing his readers to a closer walk with the Lord because of a more personal understanding of the beauty of His holiness. I have read his works and been broken, challenged, and encouraged. I am thankful for the people he has reached for the Lord and those he has provoked to walk in His marvelous light.
I would not, however, because of the primary sources on which he has built his hermeneutics, recommend his writings or ministry. Those primary sources are the ancient philosophers and the school of Calvin. One should never line themselves up behind the teachings of men, whether it is Kant or Calvin (“Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?†1 Corinthians 1:12-13). To try to align limited human thought with the Word of God, something must be bent, making all conclusions unsound. Such a faulty hermeneutics leads to a faulty understanding of bibliology as a whole, ecclesiology, eschatology, and in some points, soteriology. This is not a small matter. This causes me to wonder how much error we must let sift through our fingers before we are able to hold on to solid truth. How much error will we accommodate?
Posted 20 Jan. 2006 at 7:37 pm | Permalink
Interesting. Thank you. I suppose there IS quite a difference between using extra-biblical materials as primary sources and using them simply as illustrations or referencing (favorably or unfavorably) them as ways others have applied (or misapplied) the Bible. I guess I just haven’t read enough of Piper to know what he draws all of his ideas from.
Posted 23 Jan. 2006 at 8:29 pm | Permalink
I must say that my experience has been different from the first poster. Yes, I grew up hearing songs like “Jesus Loves the Little Children” in church, but I have also heard the people leading those songs tell racist jokes in the halls of the church. Maybe someone else can reconcile a dedication to evangelism with frequent use of the N-word, but I cannot. The hypocrisy does not negate the message of the song, but it might suggest the need for some preaching on the love of God for all people and the meaning of “one blood” in Acts. After all, if numerous church members talked about prayer, but admitted to never praying, a reasonable pastor would conclude that prayer should be addressed. Why not the same on racism?
Furthermore, I reccomend a book–I believe it is by Ken Ham, called “One Blood.” He argues that there is only one Race, the human one for which Christ died, and that the idea of “race” is rooted in Evolution and evolutionary thinking.
The issues surrounding Piper raise more questions than I can answer here–even if I had read enough Piper and was sure what the answers were.
Posted 23 Jan. 2006 at 8:32 pm | Permalink
Also, why do we have all these sermons on Iraq and bad weather? I’m all for patriotism, but just as Jesse Jackson is wrong to turn his churches into a bash-Bush session, too often we conservatives turn our sermons into political rallies. I would rather hear about “Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified.”
Posted 24 Jan. 2006 at 8:17 pm | Permalink
In response to the Bard, I was very sorry to hear of your childhood church memories. It is my hope that your experience is an isolated one. There will always be those who speak and live contrary to the testimony of God’s Word and heart. Sadly, they are false witnesses concering the truth of who God is. The harm they do, before those lost and redeemed, cannot be measured. We would call such people hypocrites. If we are not sincere before God and man, in all, we will in some way, be the same. I am thankful that I have know very few people who have been true hypocrites. Mostly, they are just people like me, who fail and are sometimes inconsistent. When I meet those few people that I cannot abide, I spend time with those who truly love the Lord. The many help me forget the few.
Concerning your comment on hobbyhorse sermonizing - I could not agree more.
Posted 28 Jan. 2006 at 2:34 pm | Permalink
WHEN ITCOMES TO THEOLOGY, I AM A BIBLICIST!!! AS PERTAINING TO ALL AREAS OF CHURCH DOCTRINE, I AM THOROUGHLY AND ONLY NEW TESTAMENT!!
I PRAYERFULLY DESIRE TO SEE EVERY CHRISTIAN AND CHURCH BECOME THOROUGHLY NEW TESTAMENT!!
FOR 55 YEARS I HAVE KNOW THIS JOY AND CONTINUELY REJOICE IN THE BLESSED ASSURANCE GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS GIVEN TO ME IN THIS REGARD. Rejoicing and praising God, Grandad
Posted 28 Aug. 2006 at 5:25 pm | Permalink
Lincoln,
Thank you so much for posting such a wonderful sermon by Piper, of my favorite preachers and a true man of God leading thousands to the Lord. Who can argue with such great work God is doing through this humble man? I believe that Piper is from Greenville, SC too:) Please let me know if you hear any other valuable sermons from Piper. Don’t Waste Your Life is a wonderful book I recently read of his. It is a good read!