Feed My Sheep for I Have Five Brothers
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FEEDFEED MYMY 1 SHEEPSHEEP Preaching the Gospel in a Postmodern New Zealand Society John A Haverland 2 Feed My Sheep 3 FEEDFEED MYMY SHEEPSHEEP Preaching the Gospel in a Postmodern New Zealand Society John A Haverland 4 Feed My Sheep © John A Haverland 2000 First published 2000 Reprinted May 2001 This electronic edition produced May 2003 ISBN 0-9582145-1-4 Published by Grace & Truth Publicatons P.O. Box 8979, Christchurch, New Zealand e-mail: [email protected] No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior permission of Grace & Truth Publications. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Cover photograph Pastoral scene from Canterbury, New Zealand Cover & book design by Dafydd Hughes 5 DEDICATION To my parents, for your selfless love, for your Christian example, for your dedication to the church of the Lord. To my wife, Harriet, for all your help in this project, for your loving companionship in marriage, for your willing support in the ministry of the gospel. To our children, William, Joanna, Michael and Peter, who will be part of the next generation; may you live to see a reformation and revival in this country brought about by the preaching of the Word. 6 Feed My Sheep John Bunyan’s “GODLY PASTOR” Now Interpreter led the pilgrim into a private room, and there he ordered his man to open a door. Then did Christian see the picture of a very grave [serious, important] person hanging against the wall, and its features were as follows. This man had his eyes directed up toward heaven, the best of books in his hand, the law of truth was written upon his lips, the world was behind his back; he stood as if he pleaded with men, and a crown of gold hung over his head. CHRISTIAN: What then does this mean? INTERPRETER: The man in the picture which you see is one in a thousand, who can beget children, travail in birth with children, and nurse them himself when they are born. And just as you see him with his eyes looking up toward heaven, the best of books in his hand, and the law of truth written on his lips, this is to show you that his work is to know and unfold dark things to sinners. Similarly, just as you see him stand as if he pleaded with men, and also you notice that the world is cast behind him, and that a crown hangs over his head, this is to show you that, in slighting and despising the things of the present, on account of his love and devotion to his Master’s service, he is sure to have glory for his reward in the world to come. Now I have showed you this picture first, because the man who it portrays is the only man who the Lord of the Celestial City has authorized to be your guide in all of the difficult situations that you may encounter along the way. Therefore pay attention to what I have showed you, and carefully weigh in your mind what you have seen lest, in your journey, you meet with some that pretend to lead you along the right path, while in reality their way leads to death. The picture above portrays John Bunyan as the godly pastor described by the Interpreter. Both the engraving and the text are taken from Barry Horner’s revised edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress. 7 CONTENTS Preface 8 INTRODUCTION 11 PART I: THE NECESSITY OF PREACHING 1 The State of Preaching 17 2 Is Preaching Effective? 21 3 Is Preaching Authoritative? 52 4 Is Preaching Relevant? 71 PART II: UNDERSTANDING OUR NEW ZEALAND CONTEXT 1 A General Historical Overview 93 2 The Influence of Christianity in New Zealand 112 3 The Secularism of Contemporary New Zealand Society 133 4 Loss of Truth in Contemporary New Zealand Society 146 5 Pluralism in Contemporary New Zealand Society 161 6 The Fragmentation of Contemporary New Zealand Society 172 7 Relativism in Contemporary New Zealand Society 181 8 Consumerism and a Loss of Hope in Contemporary 185 New Zealand Society PART III: PREACHING THE GOSPEL IN OUR POSTMODERN NEW ZEALAND SITUATION Introduction 195 1 Preach the Reality of God 201 2 Preach the Truth of the Bible 208 3 Preach the Uniqueness of Jesus as Lord 231 4 Preach the Biblical Doctrine of the Church 239 5 Preach the Absolutes of God’s Law 247 6 Preach Contentment and Hope in Christ 257 CONCLUSION 271 Appendix 276 Notes 284 Bibliography 306 8 Feed My Sheep PREFACE This book is about communicating the eternal truth of the Bible in our present context. I have written it specifically for our New Zealand situation but the analysis and the principles will apply to other countries in our western world. My aim has been to write for fellow pastors who are also called to “Preach the Word” and who want to do that more effectively in this nation; yet I trust this book will be of interest and help to all Christians. I want to acknowledge those who have contributed to this in some way. My thanks, first of all, to my dear wife, Harriet, who supported my desire to begin, bore the time apart without complaint and patiently encouraged me to persevere with it to completion. She has also provided much assistance with typing, proof-reading and the bibliography. She has been “a helper suitable” to me in every way. I am grateful to my father, Gerard, and to my late mother, Johanna, who raised me in a Christian home, taught me the Bible and gave me a consistent example of Christian living as well as much encouragement. While I was a pupil at Middleton Grange School, in Christchurch, Don Capill taught me to think carefully about the relationship between Christianity and the contemporary culture, and the importance of applying what we believe to the world in which we live. For the past seventeen years I have served two congregations, one in Bucklands Beach, Auckland, and another in Bishopdale, Christchurch. The members of these two churches have stretched me in the ministry and have listened attentively as I have sought, with varying degrees of success, to put these ideas into practice in my sermons. Particular thanks are due to the elders and deacons of the Reformed Church of Bishopdale who supported my desire to take up this project and allowed me time to read and write. This book was written as a thesis for a Doctor of Ministry degree through Westminster Theological Seminary in California. I am grateful Preface 9 to Grace Stewart and her late husband, Tom, for financial assistance provided through their Student Aid Award - their generosity made it possible for me to enter the programme and pursue this study. My thanks to Dr. Joseph Pipa who helped me define the subject and who supervised the thesis. In my research I conducted a number of interviews with Christian leaders in New Zealand and had many discussions with fellow pastors in the Minister’s Association in the North West of Christchurch and with another smaller group of ministers in the city. I also had opportunity to present some of this material in lectures to fellow ministers in the Reformed Churches of New Zealand at a ministers’ conference. Feedback and comment from all these forums helped guide my research and shaped and clarified my thinking. In 1996 I sat in on Kevin Ward’s class on “The Gospel in a Post-Christian Society” at the Bible College in Christchurch and benefited from the lectures and the class discussion. A special word of thanks to Paul and Sally Davey for their interest and support all the way, especially to Sally for reading the manuscript a number of times and for her invaluable help and guidance. After it was all written Dafydd Hughes offered to help me publish this book through Grace and Truth Publications so that I can get it to you, the reader. My sincere thanks to him for his willing service and careful attention to detail. Finally, my thanks to the Lord who has called me to be a believer in the Lord Jesus, a son in his family, a husband and a father, a servant of the gospel, a pastor of God’s flock and a preacher of his Word. This book is published with the hope and prayer that it may be useful to pastors, and indeed to all Christians who want to communicate the gospel of the Lord Jesus in our present context. John A Haverland Christchurch August 2000 10 Feed My Sheep 11 INTRODUCTION Every Sunday in New Zealand the vast majority of this country’s inhabitants will indulge in a variety of Sunday activities that range from sleeping off the effects of the previous night’s party to a day out on the harbour or the sports field. A small percentage of the population will forgo these pastimes in order to attend church. This minority will gather in traditional church buildings, modern auditoriums or school halls. For part of the service they will listen to someone deliver a message from the Bible. This person – a minister, priest or lay-person – will probably have spent a good number of hours preparing their sermon. I am one of these ministers. A major part of my responsibility is to preach the good news of the gospel, as it is of every preacher and pastor.