The Problem of Preaching to Felt Needs

Now what does THAT have to do with anything?? This has bothered me all day.

 

Unless you intend to change the meaning of the quote . . .

. . . . follow me a moment.

While Mohler may not be the most liked theologian, his statement should be judged based upon its merit - not upon inference.

And while felt needs might be near you - but, the real purpose in Scripture has always been to save souls from damnation. Feeding the sick, the poor, and healing are works to accompany our mission of spreading the Gospel.

If you feed a man, and he goes to judgement and asks you, "Why didn't you tell me that I was going to hell?"

What do you say? I believe that men of God have one and only one mission to focus upon. Yes, we should address felt needs from time to time, but our only mission is to yank people out of the debt of sin.

IMHO. In this mission, Dr. Mohler gained merit in his position.

 

As for preaching to felt needs, I bet every pastor on this board addressed the Sept 11th trajedy 5 years ago. That was a "felt" need. Surely, the "event" itself was not preached, but passages that could apply were undoubtedly used to bring comfort to hurting people. I do not think that we would be responsible with God's word to just pull out topics that are "felt needs" and preach topically.

 

To bring it closer, we had a young man died over in Iraq about 4 or 6 months ago. You know what I did... And I'd do it again.

Besides, what do you think Paul was doing when he said, "...comfort one another with these words?"

 

You can and never will even meet all he needs of those closest to you.

Hebrews 4:12, " For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

The Holy Spirit will take care of every person listening and in most cases you will never know how or what. The person under conviction, comfort, etc will know witghout a doubt that God was present.

Jesus always addressed the people where they were to get them to a point where they were not yet. He knew the point of commonality to connect with them and then move from there. We see this clearly when he addressed the Sadducees only from the Torah and the Pharisees from the OT.

 

The closest that I've ever come to preaching to felt needs was to preach a message expounding upon a previous message because I had assumed knowledge that was not present, and once we had a guest speaker that was a KJVO, and I had to preach a message confronting the lies he spewed.

 

Wonderfully worded, I've been trying to say this for sometime now.

 

Your post came to my mind during the sermon this morning.
The guest preacher (doctorate from Southern in Louisville) made every effort to accomplish 2. in one message.
Here were his four points that he asked everyone to copy down.
1. God knows everything. Referenced Psalm 139.

2. We don't know everything. Ref. I Cor. 13.

3. God always has our best interest in mind and is always working things
out for our good. Ref. Rom. 8.

4. It's my best option to trust God. Ref. Prov. 3: 5-6.

The preacher emphasized that this was a template that could be fitted over any situation. So yes, I think there can be a sermon that addresses all needs.

Regarding your third point, a great deal of what he said was pointing to God's glory and purposes, rather than being man-centered.

It was an excellent sermon. And I am sure spoke greatly to the congregation, including me.
If that were the only type of sermon ever preached in my church, it would be out of balance. However, if that type of sermon were never preached, that would be an imbalance also.

 

Heb 5:11-14 We have much to say about this, but it is difficult to explain because you have become too lazy to understand. (12) In fact, though by now you should be teachers, you still need someone to teach you the basic truths of God's word. You have become people who need milk instead of solid food. (13) For everyone who lives on milk is still a baby and is inexperienced in the message of righteousness. (14) But solid food is for mature people, whose minds are trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

Wouldnt teaching salvation be the milk of the word. After one is saved then its time to feed the flock the solid food. Teaching salvation to a crowd that is already saved is good every now and then however to focus on it is not what we are to do as christians unless of course we are witnessing to non believers.

 

What is his point?

 

Mohler criticizes Mullins influence and doctrine of soul competency
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor

___An "autonomous individualism" has "infected" the Southern Baptist Convention through the doctrine of soul competency and driven Southern Baptists of the 20th century away from biblical authority, Al Mohler said in a Founders' Day address at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary March 30.
___Mohler, president of Southern Seminary and the SBC's most visible spokesman on national TV, critiqued the influence of E.Y. Mullins, the seminary's fourth president, who served from 1899 to 1928. Mullins was the most visible Southern Baptist spokesman of the early 20th century, a shaper of Baptist theology and the driving force behind creation of the Baptist Faith & Message doctrinal statement in 1925.
___Mohler currently serves on a committee charged with proposing revisions to the Baptist Faith & Message. Those revisions, which have not yet been enumerated publicly, are to be considered by messengers to the SBC annual meeting in June.
___Soul competency is a belief that individual Christians are responsible to God for reading, understanding and living out God's word. It implies that no other human authority can dictate how an individual interprets Scripture or relates to God.
___Both Mullins and Herschel Hobbs, chairman of the committee that revised the Baptist Faith & Message in 1963, called the doctrine of soul competency the most distinctive belief of Baptists. "The Baptist Faith & Message of Southern Baptists is based upon the competency of the soul in religion," Hobbs wrote in a 1971 book explaining the doctrinal statement.
___In his address, Mohler said Mullins turned Southern Seminary and the SBC off the course charted by the convention's and seminary's founders by making personal experience more important than biblical authority.
___"In Mullins' theology, we see a shift from biblical revelation to religious experience as the starting point," Mohler said.


I believe that I am responsible for interpreting the Bible with insights from my Pastor and Christian brothers and sisters. I do not believe that I require a priest (or a Seminary President) to interpret it for me and I certainly don't believe that anyone has the right to define a list of required beliefs. That's what Mohler and the leadership of the SBC have done.

 

Careful, I once said in this forum that we needed to move our people beyond the cross and that statement met opposition. What I meant is exactly what you're saying. We're saved, now what? Do we just stand around the cross or do we learn how to love one another. Shouldn't we go and get others and bring them to the cross? That is the great commission.

Yes Morgan, I believe you are right. There is more to understanding God than just salvation. I believe we are obligated to serve the full meal.

Acts 1:9-11 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

 

Morgan

If salvation is the milk. Then would Jesus crucified be the bottle? Pardon my using euphimisims.

If then salvation is milk, and the Lamb slain is the bottle - are we to only have the milk when we come to salvation? And afterward we are not to have such sweet milk again?



I thought so! It is soooooo good to agree once in a while.

Rev 5:6 "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain . . . "

Maybe ... just maybe ... God will give us steak in Heaven. But, until He changes the diet - let us stick to the milk and to the lamb . . . those two are certain.

 

I don't think so, it's ok to have milk with a meal or with cereal but a grown person should get more substance.

 

Remember that when the Lamb that was slain walks into the room . . .

Go ahead, think up your best line now. Because when He walks in . . . I know you will be just as tongue tied as the rest of us.

What is more than milk? Teaching new believers the faith. What is the Faith? Leading the lost to Christ. What is all of that? The Gospel.

I might be wrong, but I will be just as tongue tied as you will be . . . the difference is - I ain't gonna try to figure out what to say. I will just say, Praise God!