Sermon of the Week: The Loss of the Profound

This week’s ACCC Sermon of the Week is from our 2011 Convention by Dr. John McKnight, pastor of Reformation Bible Church of Darlington, MD.

This is a challenging message addressing a significant problem in churches today, The Loss of the Profound.

 

“There is such a thing as the profound, that has its root and nature in the One who is awe-inspiring” (9:20)

 

“You could not name anything about God that is not profound” (13:30)

 

“Our culture is prone toward trivializing the profound while at the same time enlarging the trivial” so that what is profound and meaningful is shrunk down to insignificance, while that which is trivial is swelled to a level of importance it should never possess (15:00)

 

“The loss of the profound is but one facet of the loss of God-consciousness” (26:00)

 

“The sad fact is that in our fundamentalist circles there has been a dismantling of the profound” (27:25). Examples:

 

1. Silliness on church signs
2. Jokes made about the sacred (“there is not one thing funny about hell; not one thing”)
3. The salvation of a soul (“there has developed in fundamentalism a host of salvation rituals, and if one goes through those he is considered saved” by virtue of going through such sacraments)
4. The sentimentalization of the gospel (expressing the profound aspects of the gospel in a cutesy manner to get kids to make a decision)
5. When “secondary” doctrines are made “primary” doctrines in operation and practice, the effect is to diminish primary doctrines (by doing this churches can think that Christianity does not go beyond their own group, missing the fact that there are three categories of doctrines: those essential for salvation, those necessary for obedience and holiness, and those interpretational in nature)

What should we do about this? Our worship of God and ministry of profound truths must be characterized by:

 

1. Dignified Simplicity
2. Joyful Sobriety
3. Reverent Enthusiasm
4. Humble Boldness