The prevailing notion of truth in the Western Culture of the 21st century, is that it has about the same rigidity as a trampoline. Everything is “fudgable” and should we insist on some objective basis for truth we are running the risk of being insensitive to millennials’ “feelies”.
For the Christian preacher, his task is not simply to dialogue, discuss, or even debate; his task is to declare God’s Word. This means that he is asserting that the message he brings has its authority outside of his own fancies. He speaks as one persuaded that what he speaks is truth and it is true because it is God’s Word.
Greyfriars Hall stresses the importance of not only piety and boldness, but it must be rooted and grounded in the sacred Scriptures. All of life is addressed by the Bible. So, we drill into our students the fact that all our thoughts, actions, words, and sermons must be subject to the scrutiny of the Word of God. A wise Puritan put it well when he said:
Preach the truth. Take heed of giving your own dreams and fancies in God’s name. All is chaff, except the pure word of God. Oh stamp not God’s image on your own coin! We live in high-flown times: many people are not content with truths which lie plainly in the Scriptures; and some, to please their wanton palates, have sublimated their notions so high, that they have flown out of the sight of the Scripture — and unawares run themselves, with others, into dangerous errors! Make not experiments upon the souls of people, by delivering what is doubtful. Better feed people with sound doctrine, though it be a plain meal — than that you should, with an outlandish dish, light on a wild gourd, that brings death into their pot.
Preach the Truth, Man
In this interview, Pastor Douglas Wilson and Ben Zornes discuss why this is so important and how we undertake to train men for the ministry with this as their understanding!
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