23. Imagination and Evangelistic Preaching
Imagination and Evangelistic Preaching
All preaching should be evangelistic. No matter what the content of the sermon, the intent must be to magnify Christ and tell people what He did for them on the cross. Regardless of our text or theme, we must preach Jesus Christ. When you read Paul’s epistles, you soon discover that he was able to relate the cross of Christ to the most practical matters of life: giving (2 Cor. 8:9), forgiving (Eph. 4:32), citizenship (Titus 3:1-8), brotherly love (Eph. 5:2), and the love of husbands and wives (Eph. 5:25). The message of the cross is both good news for lost sinners outside the church and good spiritual motivation for saved sinners inside the church. We never outgrow our need for the story of the cross.
Some of God’s people have the gift of evangelism (Eph. 4:11), but all of us in ministry should “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5). The Spirit wants to empower all of us to be witnesses to and for Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8), for it is Jesus Christ that sinners need to know.[1]
The images of the evangelist in Scripture help us understand the plight of the sinner and the ministry of the believer. According to Proverbs 11:30, Christians are to be hunters who “win souls.” The Hebrew word translated “wins” (laqah) is used nearly a thousand times in the Old Testament and primarily means “to take, to seize, to snatch,” like a hunter capturing game. It’s used to describe Absalom “stealing the hearts” of the Jewish people (2 Sam. 15:6) and the harlot “capturing” her prey with her alluring eyes (Prov. 6:25). Proverbs 11:30 isn’t suggesting that we use violence to win lost souls but rather that we exercise skill and practical wisdom, just as a hunter does in catching game. We must use the right bait if we hope to catch our prey.
When Jesus said to Saul of Tarsus, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14), He may have been suggesting that Saul was like a raging animal as he persecuted the church, “breathing out murderous threats” (Acts 9:1). We noticed the spiritual significance of animals when we surveyed Psalms 22 and 32 (chap. 11), and it’s worth noting that Paul described himself as “a violent man” in his unconverted days (1 Tim. 1:13).
Along with the image of the hunter is that of the fisherman, an image that we discussed in chapter 13 when we looked at the familiar phrase “fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). Satan “baits the hook” with attractive temptations (James 1:14, where “enticed” [deleazo] carries the image of “luring with bait”), and we must be wise to find the right approach when “catching” the lost. However, we must take care not to present the Gospel in such a way that we resort to trickery and flattery (1 Thes. 2:1-6). There are presentations of the Gospel that are unworthy of the Gospel, and we must avoid them. Witnessing is not the same as “Christian salesmanship.”
The evangelist is like a shepherd who searches for a lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7; Matt. 18:11-14), or a woman who searches for a lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). The sheep was lost because of heedlessness, for sheep are stupid creatures who easily go astray; but the coin was lost because of somebody’s carelessness. “Lostness” for the sheep meant being away from the flock, away from the place of safety and care; but for the coin, “lostness” meant being “out of circulation” and therefore without value. When we’re apart from Christ, life is wasted; but when we belong to Christ, life is invested.
It’s worth noting in Luke 15 that, though the shepherd searched for the lost sheep and the woman for the lost coin, the father didn’t go looking for his wayward son. He stayed home and waited; and when the boy returned, he ran and welcomed him (Luke 15:11ff).[2] The son was lost because of selfishness and willfulness, and the father waited for him to “come to his senses.” The parables in Luke 15 seem to balance divine sovereignty and human responsibility: God searches for the lost sinner (Luke 19:10), but the sinner must also say, “I will arise and go!” The imaginative evangelist, meditating on Luke 15, can discover many truths about what it means to be lost, what it means to be found, and why being found brings so much joy.
The image of the harvester is found frequently in Scripture and we’ve noted many of these references in our survey. The Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 are foundational texts for an understanding of the “harvest” image. If the human heart is like soil, then it must be prepared for the seed. If the Word of God is like seed, then it must be planted before it can bear fruit. Jesus makes it clear that when the Word is received and understood, then the heart is changed and starts to produce fruit. The harvest image also reminds us that the laborers must work together (John 4:34-35; 1 Cor. 3:5-9). There’s no competition among people who have a burden to reach lost sinners. God assigns the work, God gives the increase, and God gets the glory.
Zechariah 3:2 and Jude 23 combine to picture the evangelist as one who pulls people out of the fire.[3] In order to succeed, the hunter and fisherman must exercise wisdom and skill, the shepherd must have courage and determination, and the farmer must be patient and wait for the harvest; but the “fireman” must sense the urgency of the situation and take risks in order to save lives. Lost sinners are already condemned (John 3:18), but God in His mercy has postponed the executing of the sentence.
Images of Heaven and Hell
One of the questions troubling the church today is whether or not a God of love would condemn lost sinners to an eternity of punishment. The images Jesus used of hell included fire, worms, darkness, separation, and pain (Matt. 5:22; 13:42, 49-50; 18:8-9; 22:13; 25:30, 41; Mark 9:42-50; Luke 16:19-31), images that are found in the prophets (e.g., Isa. 66:24) and the writings of the apostles (2 Thes. 1:8-9; Rev. 20:10). The word “Gehenna” that Jesus used referred to the garbage dump outside Jerusalem in the valley that had once been used for the sacrifice of little children to pagan gods. Hell is an eternal garbage dump where the waste of the universe is deposited.[4]
Now, this awful fact of eternal judgment shouldn’t make God’s people happy, because it doesn’t make God happy (Ezek. 18:23, 32; 33:11). Rather, the reality of hell should motivate us to examine our own hearts to be sure of our relationship to God;[5] the fact of hell should make us want to share the Gospel with as many lost people as possible. No matter how unattractive they may be to the world, saved people are “God’s workmanship” (Eph. 2:10) and will never be thrown on the trash heap. No matter how attractive and successful lost people may be in this world, they will be eternally rejected like common rubbish.
But how does the concerned preacher address the subject of hell from the pulpit today? Does the vast unsaved public take hell seriously?[6] Perhaps not, and for several reasons. For one thing, theological liberalism and religious illiteracy have so diluted both the seriousness of sin and the reality of divine wrath that the man or woman on the street, untaught and unconcerned, prefers not to worry too much about hell. They agree with the immigrant who wrote on a wall at Ellis Island, “Why should I fear the fires of Hell? I have been through Ellis Island!” This caricature of Satan and hell is prevalent in the media today, and things caricatured aren’t usually taken seriously. A popular comedian was sure of laughs every time he said, “The devil made me do it!”
Another factor in the modern rejection of hell is the injustice that people witness in their world. Good people suffer and evil people prosper, and the legal loopholes are large enough to provide escape hatches for the biggest offenders. “Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne.” If God isn’t exercising His holy justice in this world, why should we worry about justice in the next world?[7]
There’s a sense in which modern science has contributed to the modern abandonment of a belief in the existence of hell. The psychiatrist may tell us that we’re basically victims of our upbringing and not responsible for what we do. Therefore, we’re not subject to judgment. We’re only bundles of hidden desires, woven by our parents and teachers and other influential people in our lives; and if anybody’s to blame, they are. Then the evolutionist tells us that we’re basically animals and that only the “fit” survive; so if we do “evil” and still survive, it must be good. Personal responsibility, accountability, and morality end up on the scaffold in the name of scientific progress.
Some people have abandoned the idea of eternal judgment because of the way they’ve heard it preached. While fear is certainly a legitimate tool of learning, it must be balanced with love. Parents warn their children about the dangers of busy streets, fire, poisons, and electricity; and they give these warnings to their children because they love them. Furthermore, parents will do everything they can to encourage their children to obey. God’s warnings of judgment certainly come from a heart of love; but if that love is rejected, He has no other alternative but to punish. Let us never preach about hell as though we’re glad people are going there!
Furthermore, let’s not preach about hell in such a melodramatic fashion that we go beyond the simple statements of Scripture, which are vivid enough without our embellishment.[8] The liberals have accused the orthodox of majoring on “the temperature of hell and the furniture of heaven”; and for some preachers, the accusation may be true. But the images of eternal punishment used in Scripture speak of realities so terrible that every sane person would want to avoid them, and the images of eternal blessing describe joys so gloriously magnificent that every sane person would want to experience them. Every major doctrine in Scripture impinges in some way on the facts of heaven and hell, so the doctrines can’t honestly be avoided and certainly shouldn’t be diluted.
Whenever in a sermon we deal with eternal judgment, we must imaginatively anticipate the objections that will arise in the minds of our listeners. “What about God’s love?” (His love is a holy love.) “Surely judgment won’t last forever!” (Do you want heaven to be temporary?) “If I were God, I wouldn’t allow hell to exist!” (Would you want justice to exist? And are you sure you see sin the way God sees it?) “But what about the Cross?” (The Cross shows that God loves sinners but also that God hates sin. The Cross reveals the sinfulness of sin.) “The existence of hell seems to say that God is defeated.” (No, the existence of hell shows His omnipotence; for only an all-powerful God could give human beings the responsibility of choice and still accomplish His great purposes.) In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis reminds us that “the doors of hell are locked on the inside.”[9]
Images of Salvation
The pictures of salvation in Scripture are many and varied, and they offer the preacher numerous opportunities to present Christ to lost sinners. To cite but a few, trusting Jesus Christ is like: walking through a gate (Matt. 7:13-14) or a door (John 10:9); enjoying a bountiful feast (Luke 14:16-23); coming home to love and plenty (Luke 15:11ff); taking a drink of water (John 4:13-14; 7:37-39); receiving a gift (Rom. 6:23); taking a bath (1 Cor. 6:9-11); depositing money in a bank (2 Tim. 1:12);[10] or putting on a change of clothes (Luke 5:36; Isa. 61:10). Each of these pictures, and many more that I didn’t cite, can easily be related to life today to help the unbeliever see the reality and simplicity of salvation.
Let’s take the image of the strait gate and the narrow road that Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:13-14).[11] Except to people in rural congregations, the picture isn’t a familiar one; for very few city dwellers use footpaths through the fields. But the message is clear even if the image isn’t familiar: you can’t go to heaven on your own terms. When you trust Jesus Christ, you must leave behind all the baggage that you’ve been carrying, because it won’t fit through the gate. This fact implies both joy and pain: joy, because we can get rid of the sins that have burdened us; pain, because we must repent and forsake the things that we think we enjoy and need.
The question that Jesus doesn’t answer is, “Where is the narrow road located with respect to the broad road that leads to destruction?” Are the two roads parallel so that, as we “march to Zion,” we see people going in the opposite direction and we try to win them? Or does the narrow road run right down the middle of the broad road, so that believers have both opposition and opportunity as they travel toward heaven? I opt for the second interpretation. I can’t prove it by exegeting the passage, but it seems to agree with what the Bible teaches about the believer’s relationship to the world. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
It doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to picture the two roads in contemporary terms. What would happen on a modern superhighway if a driver decided to cross the median and start driving in the opposite direction against the traffic? Or suppose this driver entered the highway on the exit ramp and refused to pull over or turn around? I’ve read about confused or inebriated persons who have done just that and have caused fatal accidents. Jesus tells us, however, that on this road going against the traffic is the way to save your life!
Most of us resent the person who runs up the down escalator or tries to go to the rear of the airplane while the passengers are trying to get out. Going the wrong way on a one-way street is not an unpardonable sin, but it comes close to qualifying. As we walk down the middle of the broad road, we meet lost people face to face; and our task as witnesses is to warn them that the map they’re using is all wrong and the destination they’re heading for is named Destruction.
“Imagineering” a text means trying to see it in a contemporary setting and identifying in it images that speak to people today. We must take care, though, in presenting this contemporary image (i.e., the superhighway), that we don’t abandon the original image or alter it to suit our purposes, because we’re preaching God’s Word and not our own ideas. The modern equivalent is the point of contact for the text and never a substitute for the text.
Take, for example, the image of receiving a gift (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:8; Rev. 22:17). Most people are acquainted with offers of “valuable free gifts” through mail and media promotion, and most people are suspicious of them. Why? Because by the time you do everything the promoters ask you to do, you end up with a “gift” that’s cheap in value but expensive in cost. Is God’s offer of salvation that kind of a scam? If eternal life is a free gift, who paid for it? What must I do to receive it? Will God ever ask me to give it back? Only rooting our discussion in God’s Word disposes of these problems.
There’s nothing wrong with presenting the good news of the Gospel in pictures. After all, the first announcement of the Gospel involved a good deal of imagery: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Here we see pictured two enemies, two families, and two wounds, images that are repeated frequently in the Bible and climax in the Book of Revelation.
The theological vocabulary of the Bible abounds in pictures. Justification takes us into the law court where the criminal is declared righteous. Redemption belongs to the slave market where the helpless chattel is purchased and set free. Atonement, adoption, imputation, ransom, reconciliation, and remission can all be identified with everyday images in the Bible world. Our task is to help our listeners see these images, understand them, and then apply to their own situation the spiritual truths that the pictures reveal.
In seeking to win the lost, our Lord used imaginative approaches that took advantage of circumstances (John 4), criticisms (Luke 5:27-39), interruptions (Luke 12:13-21; 14:15-24), and even national observances (John 7:37-39). The creative preacher and witness can do the same.
“The Possible’s slow fuse is lit by the Imagination.”
“We have all become so scientific that there is but little room left for imagination. This, to me, is most regrettable, because imagination in preaching is most important and most helpful. I am very ready to agree that it can be dangerous; but imagination, let us not forget, is a gift of God.”
“If you would learn to write, ’tis in the street you must learn it. . . . The people, and not the college, is the writer’s home.”