Shepherd’s Conference 2009 – Session #7, Phil Johnson

Phil is the Executive Director of Grace To You Ministries. He used Titus 2:7-8 to condemn the use of sexual and coarse language ion the pulpit which is a fast growing trend in the church today. Johnson labels this trend the "pornification of the pulpit". His goal was to answer three questions:

1. What kind of language is suitable for the pulpit?
   
   1. Coarse language has crept into the pulpit in the guise of contextualization, the attempt to communicate with the culture in a manner that the culture feels comfortable with. This is usually justified on the premise that it is necessary to retain and teach the lost. This has resulted in a new trend in the church; a concentration and teaching on sex. Johnson maintained that the newest fad, three years ago, was '40 Days of Purpose'. It has been replaced with '40 Days of Sex".
      
   2. Johnson contends that this type of focus has risen from minds that have been commandeered by and overexposed to smut in all areas of our culture making this type of promotion acceptable.
      
      1. "If your approach to contextualization is to make you fit into a pagan culture, then you have misunderstood Paul's admonition to be all things to all people. In1 Cor 9:22, Paul is cautioning not to violate cultural taboos in preaching the gospel. The gospel is already a stumbling block for the lost; don't make things worse by unnecessarily offending.
         
   3. The text from Titus 2 addresses this.
      
      1. Paul led Titus to Christ. He was in Crete.
         
      2. Crete was in bad shape )Titus 1:10-16)
         
         1. This passage explodes some of the myths of contextualization
            
            1. Paul never dilutes the message or lowers the bar to accommodate the culture (Titus 1;5-9).
               
2. What gifts and behavior characterize a Pastor?
   
   1. Throughout Titus 2, Paul teaches Titus how to behave in accordance with the guidelines of sound doctrine
      
      1. As such, the teaching of sound doctrine is vital.
         
   2. ! Cor 5:11 shows us that we are not to associate or fellowship with those that oppose sound doctrine or are rebellious to the Word of God.
      
   3. In order for our hearts and minds to reflect sanctified behavior, we need to be familiar with, practice and teach sound doctrine.
      
   4. Titus 1:15-16 demonstrates that we are not to fellowship with people who profess to know God but deny them by their behavior.
      
   5. Paul describes the qualities that should be reflected in our leaders and in us as Pastors in Titus 2:2-6.
      
      1. Paul never utters a word about adapting to the culture in order to teach or changing his style to reach the culture.
         
   6. In Titus 2, Paul tells Titus to avoid the shortcomings of the culture. Crete was base, undignified, self indulgent and irreverent (Titus 1:13).
      
   7. Paul encourages sound behavior, teaching of sound doctrine and sound words. Three concepts that are interdependent.
      
   8. He goes on further to claim that our doctrine is not pure if our speech is defiled (Titus 1:16).
      
      1. We should never give the enemies of the Gospel a reason to speak ill of us other than our preaching of the true Gospel.
         
         1. This doesn't mean we strive to be man pleasers. It means, "Don't give them any more ammunition to malign the gospel other than the pure Gospel itself."
            
   9. There are two types of language the preacher and the church should avoid
      
      1. Course, filthy body function related language
         
      2. Blasphemous, flippantly irreverent language
         
         1. Joking about sacred things or using Scripture as the punch line for humor that does not honor God.
            
      3. Boundaries we should never cross in our language
         
         1. Col 3:8, Col 3:16-17, Col 4:6, Eph 4:19, Eph 5:4
            
3. What qualifies a man to be a leader in the church? This is not an exhaustive list of qualifications but should be considered in evaluating the language of a potential leader.
   
   1. Eph 5:4 demonstrates language that should be avoided
      
      1. Filthiness – impurity, indecency, "dirty" words
         
      2. Silly (crude) talk – buffoonery, spicy or lewd talk
         
      3. Coarse talk – dirty jokes, risqué talk
         

Johnson ended with this concept, "we all minister in an ungodly culture. We need to be reverent in our behavior…..can in our speech."