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Taking Captive Every Thought: Book Review
Ashamed of the Gospel, by John MacArthur
Reviewed by John Gratner
The 20th century has been a turbulent time for the Church in America. Many changes have taken place and many church services would not even be recognized as such by most 19th century preachers. As we press forward farther into the 21st century we need to look back to the Bible and conform ourselves to it by God's grace.
John MacArthur's Ashamed of the Gospel is a worthwhile investment in redeeming your time. It speaks of the contemporary church and exposes just how much it has become like the world in its desire to entertain and draw large crowds. This is a helpful book in its call to come back to the truth the scripture which we need to be conformed to. MacArthur makes some excellent points, though at times he make a few sweeping generalities that do not hold true in every instance, that we ought to heed as not only a church body but individual ministers of the gospel. MacArthur seeks to champion the cause of the uncompromised proclamation of the gospel in its true biblical form and meaning--an issue worthy of our attention and review of our practice.
I quote two portions to possibly whet your appetite:
One recent best-selling evangelical book warns readers to be on guard against preachers whose emphasis is on interpreting Scripture rather than applying it. Wait a minute. Is that wise counsel? NO, it is not. There is no danger of irrelevant doctrine; the real threat is an undoctrinal attempt at relevance. The nucleus of all that is truly practical is found in the teaching of Scripture. We don't make the Bible relevant; it is inherently so, simply because it is God's Word. And after all, how can anything God says be irrelevant (2 Tim. 3:16,17)? (82).
[The Disciples'] confidence was shattered. Their hope was waning. Ominous signs were threatening them. And they must have been very confused and very concerned. It was in the context of all this that Jesus reassured them, "I will build my church." He wanted them to know that this was no variation from the original plan. Nothing was lost. The program had not changed.
We can derive comfort in our own time from those words. No matter how beleaguered, persecuted, martyred, rejected, maligned, poor, or ignoble the true church may seem, the Lord will not abandon His chosen ones. When the people of God seem weakest, look again. Jesus is still building His church. The circumstances of our troubled world do not alter His design. And no matter how corrupt and worldly the visible church has been or may become, Jesus Christ is still building His church on the original, sure foundation of apostolic teaching and ministry.
When Jesus said, "I will build My Church," He gave the strongest possible guarantee of the Church's ultimate success (176-177).
This is a profitable book written about something quite relevant, the primacy of the gospel; a book well worth reading that should provoke some deeper thought on the subject. This should be important to us as a church in this time of change while we are being called back to the Bible.
© 2000 John Gratner
Taking Captive Every Thought [1] [2] [3] [4] // Book Reviews
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