Basically, all idolatry is the human rejection of God's Deity and the finality of God's moral authority. The rejection of objective truth includes a rejection of the Bible as truth and as the word of God. If the preacher/apologist is to be heard, more than preaching the Word will be needed.
Stephen offers an apology for Jesus that is grounded in the story of God's revelation (Acts 7:1-53). The preacher who has confidence in God's word will have no doubts about the ability of God's word to be defended against a doubtful world. There he is in the cage, and here come all the soldiers of the army to fight for him.
Like the apologetic preachers of the past, Keller harps on the gospel. Keller's "third way" calls his hearers to be engaged in the gospel message and to be changed by the gospel. Therefore he who wishes to be the friend of the world makes himself the enemy of God.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Jesus was bold in preaching against the desires of the flesh and preached in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:27-30. Faithful preaching of the Bible is also a commitment to the flesh of those who listen.
Lance Quinn also points out that this kind of discipleship is evident in church culture and in both Testaments of the Bible. The Bible is careful to show that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). The church is God's instrument for impacting the world with the life-changing and life-giving power of the gospel.
S. Lewis on Appropriate Views of the World Views of the World
God-honorable preaching must be directed to the whole person with the whole view of the Bible. Christianity Worth Believing, writes Pagitt, “the story of the gospel is so much better than the legal model suggests. Joel Osteen is one of the most famous and popular preachers in the world today.
Spong bridges the gap by presenting the God of the Bible without reference to biblical texts. Of course, this is a short list of those who have adopted secular worldviews instead of adhering to the worldviews of the Bible. Interestingly, most of the preachers and teachers listed above would claim to be faithful to the Bible.
Thus, followers of a naturalistic worldview, for example, are worshipers of a false god and need to be introduced to the true God of the Bible. This is about exposing the idols that people have and breaking their resistance to the truth of the gospel. It is not enough for the sermon to live entirely in the world of the Bible.
According to Stott, "The true preacher is both a faithful steward of God's mysteries (1 Cor. 4:1, 2) and a fervent herald of the good news."6. The objective truths of God's Word are told with confidence and clarity and are applied to the world of the preacher and his hearers. Finally, Stott's book shows a shortcoming when considering postmoderns because it does not emphasize the role that the preacher's life outside the pulpit plays in the communication of the gospel.
They must be shown that the Bible has authority in the life of the man who preaches the Bible. Stott does not emphasize the role of the preacher in the preaching of God's word, and yet the Bible places much more emphasis on the formation of the preacher than on the formation of a sermon. In chapter two, titled "Obligations of the Sermon," Chapell emphasizes that truth is not a sermon.
Rather than limiting the application, Lloyd-Jones argues “that the preaching of the Word and the calling. Preachers must dismantle idolatrous worldviews and work to clearly communicate the holistic nature of the gospel.
CONCLUSION
Worldview preaching must be confrontational and must take place in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul longed for the Colossians to grow in their faith, fully rooted in the Christian worldview, but he was aware that such a change would require the work of the Holy Spirit. When preachers imagine the real challenge of preaching a worldview, they will recognize the necessity of dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Consequently, a change of heart is necessary, and such a change can only be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is necessary for conversion, and it is not limited to inner change. The presence of a Christian worldview is evidence of the activity of the Holy Spirit in a person's life.
Finally, the Holy Spirit is an absolute necessity in preaching a worldview because being filled with the Spirit is necessary to model a Christian worldview. According to Paul, sanctification and the Christian life depend on the indwelling of the Spirit (Gal 5:16-26). If the message is to be preached using the objective nature of the gospel and its subjective action in the lives of believers, then the preacher must shape the Christian life for his listeners.
Postmodernists want to see evidence of the Christian worldview before considering its value or validity for their own lives. The preacher must challenge secular presuppositions and show the consistency of the biblical worldview to explain life. If the minister tries to enter hostile territory with the message of the gospel through worldly preaching, he must be aware that preaching is spiritual warfare.
Worldview preaching also serves as a platform on which to build the discipleship ministry of the local church. The pastor's goal, after all, is not to bend his own authority, but to proclaim the authority of God's Word. Postmodernists need to see the gospel woven into every aspect of a pastor's life to dispel their suspicions of hypocrisy.
