Beyond a Veggie Tales Gospel: Russell Moore on a Christ-Centered Understanding of Scripture

What's missing from our Bible studies and Sunday School lessons? It could very well be Jesus, according to Dr. Russell Moore.

In his must-read Henry Institute commentary, the SBTS dean builds the case for a Christ-centered understanding of the Bible. Not stopping at the Bible, Moore contends that we are to see everything, including "galaxies and quasars and blue whales and local churches," as existing for Christ's glory.

From "Beyond a Veggie Tales Gospel: Why We Must Preach Christ from Every Text," Moore begins in his usual anecdotal style:

Have you ever seen the episode of Veggie Tales in which the main characters are martyred by anti-Christian terrorists? You know, the one in which Bell Z. Bulb, the giant garlic demon, and Nero Caesar Salad, the tyrannical vegetable dictator, take on the heroes for their faith in Christ. Remember how it ends? Remember the cold dead eyes of Larry the cucumber behind glass, pickled for the sake of the Gospel? Remember Bob the tomato, all that remained was ketchup and seeds?

No, of course you don't remember this episode. It doesn't exist--and it never will. Such a concept would be rejected out of hand by the creative minds behind the popular children's program, and the evangelical video-buying public wouldn't hand over the cash to buy such a product. It would be considered too disturbing, too dark, for children. Instead, the Veggie Tales episodes we've all seen are bloodless. They take biblical stories, and biblical characters, but they mine the narrative for abstractions--timeless moral truths that can help children to be kinder, gentler, and more honest. There's almost nothing in any episode that isn't true. But what's missing is Jesus.

As evidenced by the shallowness of our pulpits, Moore states, "Whenever we approach the Bible without focusing in on what the Bible is about--Christ Jesus and His Gospel--we are going to wind up with a kind of golden-rule Christianity that doesn't last a generation, indeed rarely lasts an hour after it is delivered." This explains the paper-thin VBS Gospel and Sunday School discipleship handed down from the last generation of evangelicals, one that continues to pervade our churches as it's latched on by this generation.

Moore argues that understanding the biblical narrative is much like understanding the film The Sixth Sense after already knowing the plot. "If I were to see the movie now, I would see the same film that everyone else saw at its release, but I would be seeing it with the mystery decoded. I would notice patterns and themes. I would see where the story was going." Moore explains:

The same is true of the storyline of Scripture. The apostles announce that a great mystery has been revealed in the gospel of Christ Jesus--a mystery that explains the "whys" of everything from the creation itself to the existence of the nation of Israel to the one-flesh union of marriage. What God has been doing in His universe for all these millennia, Paul tells the church at Ephesus is not accidental or haphazard. It is part of a blueprint, a purpose "which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph 1:10). Paul tells the church at Colossae of Jesus that "all things were created through Him and for Him" and that "in Him all things hold together" (Col 1:16-17).

Moore brings the commentary to a conclusion showing why it's "damning" to abstract biblical truths or principles from Christ and His relation to them. "It is because, apart from Christ, there are no promises of God," he writes.

The people in our pews can go to hell clinging to Bible verses abstracted from Jesus. One can read the message of Psalm 24: "Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully" (Psalm 24:3-4). Perhaps the Pharisee that Jesus mentions had this verse in mind when he stood in the Temple, next to the repentant Publican. Perhaps the Pharisee--and his successor on the altar at First Baptist Church--can say, "Thank you God that I can approach you with clean hands and a pure heart." That attitude is damning.

It is damning not because it is not true--it is. It is damning because there is only one Man who can stand before the holiness of God, only one Man with a pure heart and clean hands, only One who is the righteousness of God. If I pretend to come before God apart from Him--as though this text and a thousand more like it applies to me outside of Jesus Christ--I will only find condemnation. But, hidden in Christ, this promise is my promise. When I cry out with the Publican, "Have mercy!" and find myself in Christ, then everything that God has promised to Jesus now belongs to me.

The Christian Church has been entrusted with more than a Veggie Tales Gospel. It's to our everlasting shame that many in our culture conceive of evangelicalism as a movement toward morality, that is, that Christians are calling people to merely external, moral reform. Sadly, the culture is right in its assessment because many in our churches do see Christianity as just that--a morality movement. This is so because it is precisely what church-goers are taught from their pulpits and in their Sunday School curriculum.

Whenever Bible-based religion becomes more about personal morality than sinners coming to understand mercy, that religion desperately needs Jesus. Just ask the Pharisees.

"They went out from us...": Intellectual Dissatisfaction Leads to Apostasy

Reclaiming the Mind Ministries is dedicated to equipping the laymen of the Church, namely for apprehending and affirming sound, orthodox theology--something of which modern-day evangelicalism is in great need. In the organization's April newsletter, Michael Patton, RTM Ministries president, addresses the issue of those intellectually unsatisfied leaving Christianity.

In the article, "Leaving Christ(ianity) - A Christian Epidemic," Patton traces the symptoms that inevitably arise when the harder questions concerning the faith are left unanswered in the context of the local church. Focusing on a particular young lady who had formally renounced her faith, Patton writes:

Ignorance. Pity. Shame. These are all good descriptions of what she thought of Christianity. But the primary description that I felt coming from here was “betrayal.” She had been betrayed by the Church because they duped her into a belief not unlike that of the tooth fairy. When she discovered this betrayal, no one had a valid answer or excuse. So she left. She is now an unbeliever—a soon-to-be evangelistic unbeliever.

Patton writes further about "the epidemic of unbelief among our own," noting he has developed a fascination of the subject over the years. Citing data revealing 65 to 94 percent of high school students stop attending church after graduation, Patton ponders the first step of a person's drift into unbelief.

The question that we must ask is a very simple one: Why? Why are people leaving the faith at this epidemic and alarming rate? In my studies, I have found that the two primary reasons people leave the faith are 1) intellectual challenges and 2) bad theology or misplaced beliefs.

He continues by articulating the five steps into adamant, self-aware unbelief that expresses itself in evangelistic skepticism. The five steps are: 1) doubt; 2) discouragement; 3) disillusionment; 4) apathy; and 5) departure.

As one who didn't begin asking the tough questions till after becoming a believer, Patton's examples in his description of discouragement have been the source of the most personal discouragement. For step two, Patton explains:

This is where the person becomes frustrated because they are not finding the answers. They ask questions but the answer (or lack thereof) bring them to discouragement. Their church tells them that such questions are “unchristian.” Their Sunday school teachers say “I don’t know. You just have to believe.” Others simply say, “That’s a good question; I have never thought of it before,” and then go on their way on their own leap-of-faith journey.

During the disillusionment stage, the person then feels betrayed once the leadership of the church--ones who they might have seen as mentors--fails to make an attempt to honestly and adequately answer their inquiries. Pattons states, "In their thinking the intellect has become illegitimized and the church is therefore an illegitimate contender for their mind."

Once the person is comfortable enough in their unbelief to leave stage four (apathy), their sense of betrayal leads them to feel a moral obligation to rescue others from the deception.

Of course, Patton affirms that those who abandon the faith, such as the young lady to whom he'd spoken, were never real Christians to begin with. First John 2:19 says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us" (ESV).

Patton recalls the young lady's word from that conversation: “I don’t really even care what you have to say to me. I just don’t believe anymore and there is nothing anyone can do about it." This is typically the point of no return, according to Patton, who then rightly asks, "How was she a part of the church for so long without the church engaging her on these issues?"

Everyone will go through the doubt phase. Everyone should ask questions about the faith. If you have not asked the “How do you know . . .” questions about the message of the Gospel, this is not a good thing. We should be challenged to think through these questions early in the faith. The Church needs to rethink its education program. Expositional preaching, while important, is not enough. Did you hear that? Expositional preaching is not enough. It does not provide the discipleship venue that is vital for us to prevent and overcome this epidemic. We should not fool ourselves into thinking that it does.

Indeed, did you hear that? "Expositional preaching is not enough." While some of us may not agree with that statement or on a solution to counter the allowance or cultivation of unbelief to persist among those in the church, we would all agree these issues need to be given serious attention. Matters of propositional truth are at the heart of the Christian faith and to leave epistemological issues unsettled is to lay a shaky foundation for the heavy truth claims that make up Christianity.

As Patton puts it, the Church has been on "an intellectual diet for the last century" and we're suffering its effects. With hearts of unbelief, sinners are inevitably going to attempt to "exchange the truth about God for a lie" (Romans 1:25). It's a sad day when the Church due to laziness and misplaced priorities makes unbelievers seem justified in doing so.

Calvinism DVD Viewing Party

Please excuse my delay with this announcement, but after discussing an ideal date with Isaiah and Lloyd, we wanted to extend an invitation to everyone on the blog (and spouses) to watch the epic production Amazing Grace: The History & Theology of Calvinism.

The viewing party will take place at Isaiah Ruffner's house on Saturday morning, May 17. Running appoximately four hours and 15 minutes, we look to start the DVD around 10 a.m. We encourage all who can to be there. I can almost guarantee you will not be disappointed with the quality and thoroughness of Amazing Grace. The DVD will be a source of tremendous encouragement during a trying time as our home church faces such an assault on the truth.

Plan to spend your morning and afternoon at Zai's. With the DVD not only being long, we are hoping for an adequate amount of time for discussion (if that's possible when discussing the Doctrines of Grace) following the viewing. When talking with Lloyd and Zai, I did hear the suggestion to order pizza.

Please RSVP by leaving a comment on this post. And remember, only those who are willing and able to come will be there, but whosoever is welcome. Well, consult Zai first should it begin to look like too much of a crowd (Zai, feel free to provide any further information or instruction).

Produced by the Apologetics Group (now The Nicene Council), Amazing Grace consists of three parts: the history of the debate, the Scriptures on TULIP, and evangelism in light of God's sovereign purpose to save the elect. Here's an excerpt from the product description:

Rich in graphics, dramatic vignettes, and biblical analogies, Amazing Grace — The History and Theology of Calvinism also features many of the finest reformed thinkers and pastors of our time: Dr. R.C. Sproul, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Dr. George Grant, Dr. Stephen Mansfield, Dr. Thomas Ascol, Dr. Thomas Nettles, Dr. Roger Schultz, Pastor Walt Chantry, Dr. Joe Morecraft, Dr. Ken Talbot, Pastor Walter Bowie and Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.

Come learn what the great Baptist preacher C.H. Spurgeon meant when he said, “…to deny Calvinism is to deny the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

A Calvinist's Conversion

The following lines are from Charles Spurgeon's autobiographical account of his conversion. I have retained all the original grammar, spellings, and uniqueness that make up Spurgeon's style. Pay particular attention to the last sentence.

"If I had listened to the Arminian theory, I should never have been converted, for it never had any charms to me. A Saviour who casts away His people, a God who leaves His children to perish, is not worthy of my worship, and a salvation which does not save outright is neither worth preaching nor worth listening to.

I recollect the time when I was afraid that Jesus would never save me, but I used to feel in my heart that, even if He did not, I must love Him for what He had done for other poor sinners. It seemed to me, as I read the wondrous story of His life and death, that if He refused me, I would still lie at His feet and say, 'Thou mayest spurn me, but Thou art a blessed Christ for all that; and if Thou dost curse me, yet I can only say to Thee that I well deserve it at Thy hands. Do what Thou wilt with me; but Thou didst save the dying thief, and Thou didst save her out of whom Thou didst cast seven devils, and if Thou doest not deign to save me, yet Thou art a blessed Christ, and I cannot rail at Thee or find fault with Thee, but I lie down at Thy feet, and worship Thee.' I could not help saying, once, that, even if He damned me, I would love God because He was so gracious to others. One text of Scripture especially cheered me; I lived upon it for months. I felt the weight of sin, and I did not know the Saviour; I feared God would blast me with His wrath, and smite me with His hot displeasure! From chapel to chapel I went to hear the word preached, but never a gospel sentence did I hear, but this one text preserved me from what I believe I should have been driven to--the commission of suicide through grief and sorrow. It was this sweet word, 'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'"