Tullian Tchividjian|9:44 am CT 11-05-12
Moralism Vs. Jesus-Centered Preaching
A number of years ago, Kim and I were having dinner with Tim and
Kathy Keller and Kathy said, “Most preaching these days is M.O.T.S. preaching.”
Kim said, “What’s M.O.T.S. preaching?” Tim answered, “Moral of the Story
preaching.” To read and preach the Bible as if it were fundamentally about us
and what we should do is to miss the point of the Bible entirely.
Tim explains the difference between a moralistic reading of the
Bible and a Jesus-Centered reading of the Bible:
We have said that you must preach the gospel every week-to edify
and grow Christians and to convert non-Christians. But if that is the case, you
cannot simply ‘instruct in Biblical principles.’ You have to ‘get to Jesus’
every week.
For example, look at the story of David and Goliath. What is the
meaning of that narrative for us? Without reference to Christ, the story may be
(usually is!) preached as: “The bigger they come, the harder they’ll fall, if
you just go into your battles with faith in the Lord. You may not be real big
and powerful in yourself, but with God on your side, you can overcome giants.”
But as soon as we ask: “how is David foreshadowing the work of his greater
Son”? We begin to see the same features of the story in a different light. The
story is telling us that the Israelite’s can not go up against Goliath. They
can’t do it. They need a substitute. When David goes in on their behalf, he is
not a full-grown man, but a vulnerable and weak figure, a mere boy. He goes
virtually as a sacrificial lamb. But God uses his apparent weakness as the
means to destroy the giant, and David becomes Israel’s champion-redeemer, so
that his victory will be imputed to them. They get all the fruit of having
fought the battle themselves.
This is a fundamentally different meaning than the one that
arises from the non-Christocentric reading.
There is, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible: is it
basically about me or basically about Jesus? In other words, is it basically
about what I must do, or basically about what he has done? If I read David and
Goliath as basically giving me an example, then the story is really about me. I
must summons up the faith and courage to fight the giants in my life. But if I
read David and Goliath as basically showing me salvation through Jesus, then
the story is really about him. Until I see that Jesus fought the real giants
(sin, law, death) for me, I will never have the courage to be able to fight
ordinary giants in life (suffering, disappointment, failure, criticism,
hardship). For example how can I ever fight the “giant” of failure, unless I
have a deep security that God will not abandon me? If I see David as my
example, the story will never help me fight the failure/giant. But if I see
David/Jesus as my substitute, whose victory is imputed to me, then I can stand
before the failure/giant. As another example, how can I ever fight the “giant”
of persecution or criticism? Unless I can see him forgiving me on the cross, I
won’t be able to forgive others. Unless I see him as forgiving me for falling
asleep on him (Matt.27:45) I won’t be able to stay awake for
him.
In the Old Testament we are continually told that our good works
are not enough, that God has made a provision. This provision is pointed to at
every place in the Old Testament. We see it in the clothes God makes Adam and
Eve in Genesis, to the promises made to Abraham and the patriarchs, to the
Tabernacle and the whole sacrificial system, to the innumerable references to a
Messiah, a suffering servant, and so on.
Therefore, to say that the Bible is about Christ is to say that
the main theme of the Bible is, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah
2:9).
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