MacArthur Exhorts the Church to
Be Engaged in the Battle for Truth
Commentary
by Scott Lamb
A book usually has to be released before it
gets talked about. Makes sense, right?
Not
so with The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age
of Deception by John MacArthur. This book had
people talking months ago. Would it be another Ashamed of the Gospel? Would MacArthur
again call out by name those within Evangelicalism who diminish truth in favor
of crowd-pleasing methods and theology? Would this be the bomb on the
Emergent/Emerging battleground?
What MacArthur actually
does is to exegete the book of Jude,
with special emphasis on verses 3-4, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to
write
to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you
exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered
to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly
men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God
and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jude wrote with urgency, knowing that false
teachers within the church (apostates) were wrecking spiritual havoc among
Christians. MacArthur defines apostasy as, “Soul-destroying
error that arises from within the church.…It speaks
of abandonment, a separation, a defection- the abdication of truth altogether.”
And where is the spirit of apostasy most found in today’s Church?
Postmodernism
MacArthur believes
postmodernism warps the way Evangelicals think and talk about truth. No longer
is truth conceived as that “which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
Instead, “hermeneutical humility” trumps all concern for biblical orthodoxy.
Now, what Christian would disagree with this
teaching from Jude? Let me be clear –
the vast majority of MacArthur’s book is a Bible study, and his understanding of Jude is impeccable.
If
MacArthur is correct in his understanding of Jude’s message (the danger of apostates
and apostasy), is it wrong to actually give some concrete examples from current
Evangelical life? If he has correctly diagnosed the spirit of the age as being “a
tendency to dismiss the possibility of any sure and settled knowledge of the
truth,” then should we turn a blind eye to those within Evangelicalism who
embody such a spirit?
Does MacArthur
name names? Yes. With various degrees of criticism, he mentions Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Chris Seay,
John Armstrong, Rick Warren, Donald Miller, and Doug Pagitt.
MacArthur says their ministries emphasize theological
minimalism and a downplaying of divine truth as the real foundation of the Church.
He says, “Bible teaching, even in the
best of venues today, has been deliberately dumbed-down,
made as broad and as shallow as possible, oversimplified, adapted to the lowest
common denominator- and then tailored to appeal to people with short attention
spans.
On some points, MacArthur
would give an example of theological error within Evangelicalism without
actually using the person’s name. For example, he says, “For at least a decade
now, Evangelical best-seller lists have included a steady stream of works by
authors and musicians who deny the doctrine of the Trinity. They hold to a
distinctive version of modalism.” Everybody
knows MacArthur is talking about author T.D. Jakes
and musical group Phillips, Craig, and Dean, but he doesn’t actually drop their
name in.
Again, MacArthur
notes a preacher’s misuse of Acts
26:2, “I think myself happy”, and says, “This man pulled out the phrase ‘I
think myself happy’ and preached a sermon on the importance of positive
thinking in the midst of adversity!…That preacher had corrupted the intent of
Paul’s inspired words because he was using the verse out of context to teach an
unbiblical doctrine.” Now, who do you suppose would preach a sermon about
“Thinking yourself happy”? Joel Osteen is the preacher, but his name is not
given.
My point in mentioning this is that if you
add up all the criticism MacArthur gives to specific
Evangelicals, you have to see that MacArthur is
actually very reserved in his comments. He could have documented and discussed
for an entire chapter each of the men listed above. He chose instead to spend
the bulk of his book talking about Jude,
and allows the reader to make the application in their own setting. Let the
timeless Word of God do the work – this is excellent.
This method serves the Church well, for
although the men who are mentioned above are ‘leaders’ within Evangelicalism, I
doubt that any of them have set foot in your local church within the last
month. So, it is not these men themselves in the flesh, but their ideas,
theology, and ministry example which pose a danger to our own local churches.
And so, the work of discernment and “Fighting
for certainty in an age of deception” is the task of the local church. Pastors
must do this work in their own ministry. Elders, deacons, Sunday school
teachers, fathers and mothers – we must all be engaged in “The Truth War” right
where we are at.
MacArthur says, “One
of the main lessons of Jude’s epistle is that Christians must never cease
fighting. We cannot pretend error is no longer worth battling in our
generation. We should not imagine that the enemy has finally shifted into
retreat mode. The war against the truth goes on continuously, unrelentingly, on
multiple fronts- and it always has.”
I found this book to be both provocative and
helpful. The provocative part is the timeless message of Jude itself, calling us to be bold in our confrontation of error and
explanation of truth.
W. Scott Lamb is a pastor
with Providence Baptist Church in South St. Louis County, MO and a regular
columnist (Truth in Art) for the MetroVoice. He and his wife Pearl enjoy the challenges and
pleasures of raising their four sons. Feel free to contact Scott at www.truthinartblog.com.
