Proclaimer Blog
Words, words, words
My third book I've waded through this week is The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor and published by Crossway (2009). The ISBN is 978-1-4335-1049-6 and I see that Amazon have it for £8.99. It's essentially the edited contributions from the September 2008 Desiring God conference and I have to say I found it (with one or two minor exceptions) thoroughly uplifting and helpful. This is the one this week (so far) which has really grabbed me. Unusual, because conference books don't always work – this one, though even includes edited transcripts of the panel discussion at the end – and even these, somehow, work in a book!
Apart from the discussion, there are six chapters:
- Paul Tripp: War of words about our words and our hearts
- Sinclair Ferguson: James 3.1-12 – sound like the conference exposition
- John Piper: Is there Christian eloquence?
- Mark Driscoll: How sharp the edge – all about controversy (or should that be controversy, it is a US book after all 🙂 ? )
- Daniel Taylor: Story shaped faith
- Bob Kauflin: What happens when we sing?
If you've read some of Tripp's other stuff you won't be surprised by either some of his illustrations (it's the apple tree one again) nor his sometimes-slightly-annoying use of long personal illustrations, but these minor faults aside, there is a gold mine here – as with much of his material. Problems with our words, he says (and we all have them) are problems with our hearts and we must not convince ourselves they are anything less.
"All of us are tricked into thinking our words aren't really that important because they fill all those little mundane moments of our lives. Maybe that's exactly why they are profoundly important. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but you only make three or four really important decisions all your life. Most of us won't be written up in history books. Several decades after you die, the people you leave behind will struggle to remember the events of your life. You live your life in the utterly mundane. And if God doesn't rule your mundane, he doesn't rule you, because that's where you live." (p24).
He then goes on to show (much like in Winter's book) how we convince ourselves that the problems lie outside of us rather than within; but there is grace to convict and change us. A good chapter – which helpfully leads into what seems to have been the conference sermon by Sinclair Ferguson.
His exposition of James 3.1-12 which he then expands into a study on words from the whole of James and which is then itself expanded into the context of the gospel is a great example of a conference preach. I don't think you would preach this way in a church setting necessarily – but for a pastor's conference it's ideal and I found real conviction here about my words. It includes 20 great resolutions (in the style of Jonathan Edwards). Later on in the discussion, Piper recalls how he found the sermon both uplifting structurally (!!) and in his heart to which I say a hearty 'Amen!' I think this one chapter is worth the price of the book even though you get the conference audio and video for free here. Here's a taste:
"The most important single aid to my ability to use my tongue for the glory of Jesus is allowing the Word of God to dwell in me so richly that I cannot speak with any other accent. When I do, the result is' teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing…and…in words or deed doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father' (Col 3.16-17)" (p64).
Piper was next with a rather curious chapter which turned into a feast! He ponders at the beginning the worry he has reading 1 Cor 1.17: 'Christ did not send me to baptise but to preach the gospel and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.'
"I dread nullifying the cross, and therefore it is urgent that I know what this eloquence-cleverness-wisdom of words is – so I can avoid it" (p67)
Unsurprisingly, Piper deconstructs eloquence rather, well, eloquently. He establishes that there is a bad eloquence and also a Christian eloquence – which is desirable. It serves a useful purpose:
- keeping interest
- gaining sympathy
- awakening sensitivity
- speaking memorably
- increasing power
(Not surprisingly, there is a little section on the eloquence of Jonathan Edwards!). It's a good chapter and helpful reading for every preacher.
Mark Driscoll's chapter is, in essence, about what it means to feed the sheep and shoot the wolves – and how far one should go in doing the latter. I guess how you view this chapter will depend on what you think of Driscoll – but I found it a useful analysis. He roots it in the life of Luther (always a good model?) and shows how shepherds have this dual purpose in this ministry.
"[True] some Christians are always angry and won't stop fighting. But it is equally true that some Christians are rarely angry and won't start fighting. The former are always renounced while the latter legion gets away with perennial cowardice in the name of nicety…..Discernment is knowing what time it is. Courage is doing what the time requires. While not every church needs a Martin Luther [or a Mark Driscoll?], more than a handful of denominations could use a good shooter because the wolves have the sheep praying to the demon gods of other religions while encouraging the rams to have sex with the rams and the ewes to have sex with the ewes." (p93).
Unmistakenably Driscoll! But even if you don't agree with how far he pushes things, there is no doubt that he has a strong argument that, biblically, pastors are use words both positively and negatively. Page 100-104 contain seven prayers that every congregation should pray for their shepherd, and I want to print this out and give it to ours.
Chapter 5 is the weakest. It is based on the session of Daniel Taylor, professor of Literature at Bethel University in St Paul (one of the twin cities). Titled "Story shaped faith" it essentially shows the place of story in the lives of humans: life is lived through story; God reveals himself in story, not propositional truth. Even where propositional truth exists it is rooted in story, so:
"There are very few propositions in the Bible and in life generally that do not originate in and depend upon stories (p111) and Propositions are shorthand for stories…the proposition stands in for the stories, but the propositions also depend upon the stories for their ultimate significance." (p110).
I can see what Taylor is saying, up to a point. The whole Bible is rooted in God's story. Nevertheless, his analysis doesn't always do justice to the various genres of the Bible which, sometimes, are simple propositional truth: and, moreover – as Mrs R. wisely pointed out to me – these stories themselves are often used (for example in the psalms) to teach propositions – so perhaps it is a false analysis to say one is superior to the other. Interesting stuff, but not ultimately as rewarding as the rest of the book.
Bob Kauflin's chapter is superb (even if you don't agree with him on what worship is). Analysing music and words he rightly rejects music that supersedes the Word and music that undermines the Word and says we must aim for music that serves the Word. He robustly defends the place of singing in the lives of God's people and argues that God gave us this remarkable gift to serve the Word:
- singing can help us remember words
- singing can help us engage emotionally with words
- singing can be a powerful demonstration of unity
"For instance, singing, rather than reciting the words to Amazing Grace enables us to stretch out and think more carefully about what we're singing. Likewise, the chorus to It is well gives us plenty of time to consider and enjoy the peace that God alone can bring to our souls. The music helps us engage with the words. The…music matches what we are saying. It's a peaceful, calming setting and the music swells to this appropriate climax of trust; it is well with my soul." (p128)
The two final chapters are the aforementioned panel discussions which have occasional nuggets, including Piper on which battles we choose to fight (p140) and some good material from all the speakers on penal substitionary atonement.
Tremendous! I shall be hawking my copy around the office.