Pastors, continue to clean up your language

I liked my sermon this past Sunday. I thought it was laid out well, adequately prepared for, and delivered with sufficient passion and competence. Don't get me wrong, I am not bragging since it is a rarity that I actually like my sermons. I am a very harsh self-critic. Still, despite my "success" there were noticeable weak points. I still get too wordy in the opening (consuming precious sermon time), am prone to lose my train of thought, or forget to include material that helps tie my points together. I am, after all, still a novice.

But in my last Sunday morning sermon I said something that, upon further reflection, is possibly theologically wrong. During the invitation (a rarity in my sermons) I asked the hearers to examine their hearts and come forward if they desired a relationship with God. Speaking on Romans 9-12 (with its strong emphasis on election), I indicated that many are called, but few are chosen. I told them that God was calling all sinners to repentance, but he only chooses his elect. I asked the audience to look deep within and determine if God had chosen them for eternal life.

Now, at this point my Arminian friends will cry foul. Fair enough. Just understand that I try, above all things, to be uncompromisingly biblical. If a text "sounds" Arminian, I let it sound Arminian. If it "sounds" Calvinistic, I let it sound Calvinistic. Though I am a committed Calvinist, I believe we should let Scripture speak for itself and do my best not to force a particular passage into any "system". While some may take offense at what I presented above, know that I do not.

It is what I said next that bothers me. I told the people that if they felt drawn to Jesus that means they are one of God's elect. There is a degree of truth in that statement, but it is a simplistic statement, and simplistic statements are always prone to misunderstanding and misapplication. A chief problem is that the language smacks of God-speak; that is, it assumes a God's-eye view. The statement also offered potentially false assurance. What if someone felt "drawn to Jesus" in a mystic or formalistic sense? What if they felt drawn to him because they feel "like a better person" for going to church? According to my statement, they could then rest assured that they are indeed one of God's elect. I would like to think that the rest of my sermon made clear the radical demands that Christ makes upon his followers, and perhaps I am over analyzing my statement.

However, as a minister of the Gospel I do feel the massive weight and responsibility of accurately communicating the faith "once for all delivered to the saints". In the pulpit there is no room for overly simplistic or vague statements. If we are clear on nothing else, we must be clear on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pastors, continue to work on "cleaning -up" your language--constantly making it more accurate, more precise, more biblical. We have been chosen for just this purpose.