Crowds pursued Him. People searched out Jesus even when He tried to get away. Thousands gathered on hillsides and shoresides overlooking the Sea of Galilee to hear Him preach. They could not get enough of His messages. Jesus talked their language – the language of the average man. His messages made spiritual ideas practical and popular … until they didn’t! Jesus dove deeper into spiritual truth. He delved into difficult theological concepts using sometimes mysterious language. The words became harder to understand and accept, so they left Him. It turned out that many disciples were not disciples. They were merely followers who were not interested in learning the words that came from God (John 6:59-66).
OLD FOSDICK …
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) first splashed on to the national stage with his famous sermon in 1922 entitled “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” He achieved prominence as the pastor of the famous Riverside Church in Manhattan, a massive Gothic cathedral with a 74-bell carillon overlooking the Hudson River. John D. Rockefeller Jr personally recruited Fosdick to be the pastor and funded the construction of the cathedral. Time magazine ran a cover story on Fosdick and the church that celebrated the ministry for its emphasis on people’s social needs. The church building housed a gymnasium, theater, dining rooms, and classrooms, all designed to reach the people where they lived.
Fosdick was the epitome of the “felt-need” and “life app” megachurch preacher of the early 20th century. He wrote a famous article for Harper’s magazine in 1928 entitled “What’s the Matter with Preaching?” “Every sermon should have for its main business the solving of some problem,” he wrote. A strong critic of expository preaching, he asked, “Who seriously supposes that one in a hundred of the congregation cares what Moses, Isaiah, Paul, or John meant in those special verses, or came to church deeply concerned about it?”(Victor Parachin, https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2019/06/Lessons-in-preaching-from-Harry-Emerson-Fosdick)
Fosdick called his preaching technique the “project method.” Start with human needs and questions. Meet those needs and answer those questions in the sermon. This is the way to reach people from the pulpit because “there is nothing that people are so interested in as themselves, their own problems, and how to solve them.” (John Bishop, https://www.preaching.com/articles/past-masters/harry-emerson-fosdick-preaching-to-achieve-results/)
AND MODERN PREACHING
Much modern preaching is Fosdickian in methodology. He has won the day in evangelical pulpits across America despite the fact that Fosdick was an avowed liberal theologian. Today evangelical preaching is often man-centered, felt-need focused, and life app oriented. The gospel, when presented, promotes Christ, but the message often has little biblical content or theological framework for a foundation. Fosdick, too, often preached about Christ as a need fulfiller, not unlike much evangelical preaching today.
Preachers strive to be relevant in a post-Christian culture. “You can’t preach expositional sermons today,” preachers claim. “People don’t care about Moses and Paul. They are irrelevant in the modern world. People want to know what will help them solve their problems in the 21st century and answer their questions this week. We need to meet people where they live.” Many of the most popular preachers today echo the thinking of Harry Emerson Fosdick, even if they don’t realize it. Our pulpits today are filled with pragmatic, man-centered preaching instead of biblical, God-centered messages. The Bible is about us, not Him! Messages focus on the solutions to our needs, sanctified by naming Christ and quoting some Bible verses in support.
I did an online, inexhaustive, non-scientific, personal survey of the largest and fastest-growing churches in America . (https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/30-biggest-american-megachurches-ranked/30/) The churches range in average, regular attendance between 14,000 and 43,000. I also checked the websites of other megachurches with well-known evangelical pastors. I found the preaching to be decidedly Fosdickian in methodology with short series of sermons (2-12) focused on the felt needs of the people. The average series ran about four sermons on a theme drawn from the social needs and issues of the day. None preached expository sermons, but most tied their topics to selected biblical texts.
Hope and stability in times of fear and chaos were popular themes. “How to …” sermons were common. There were numerous sermons on loneliness and stress, a sense of worthlessness, or feeling like there is no way out of your problems. Dreaming big, speaking victory to yourself, and dealing with disappointment framed Christianity with positive thinking tips. Sermons about moving the mountains or defeating the strongholds in your life were inspirational. Tackling the skeptics and asking what’s missing in life focused some sermons. The sermons that proclaimed God all emphasized God’s popular qualities like mercy, grace, and love. I found no sermons that talked about themes like repentance, holiness, and self-denial, although some challenged us to love our neighbors. The messages were more about changing ourselves, accepting our humanity, and striving to experience God’s power in our lives.
FOLLOWERS VS. DISCIPLES
Preachers can generate crowds with man-centered messages. Jesus also drew the crowds of followers as long as He met their needs. The crowds of followers lined the road into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, shouting “Hosanna.” One week later, many of those same followers were shouting, “Crucify Him!” Modern preachers can attract followers if we adopt Fosdick’s project method. Start with human needs and questions because people are predominantly self-interested! The result is cultural Christians, not biblical believers, followers, not disciples.
Disciples are learners. That is the basic meaning of the term. They do want to understand what Moses and Paul had to say in the Bible. Christ learners want to learn more than human advice. Disciples of Christ want to know how to think biblically, worship whole-heartedly, and live out Christ’s kingdom values on earth. Theology and sacrifice, dealing with sin, and growing in holiness are important to disciples. So is making more disciples, people who start with God to understand man.
Followers or disciples: which are we producing?
