Can Christians Have Heroes?

Iain Murray says we can. In the Foreword to his new book Heroes he acknowledges that "we are all affected by examples, especially when we are young; and figures from the past, rediscovered in their biographies, may influence us deeply" (p. ix). However, a more cynical view of biography has taken hold in our culture, a view that practically disallows presenting people from the past as role models. Murray explains this modern tendency of presenting biographical subjects "warts and all," as though these people were not worthy of emulation. Even in some Christian circles if the biographer doesn't take his subject down a notch, he is suspected of hagiography, "a strange word to use in a pejorative sense" (Murray, p. x).

The Bible frequently refers to believers as "saints." As you may know, the word comes from the Greek word hagios (holy, consecrated to God). Murray comments:

Every Christian believes, with the apostle Paul, that, 'In me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing' (Rom. 7:18). But Paul had not forgotten that confession when he also wrote, 'Be followers [imitators] of me' (1 Cor. 4:16; Phil. 3:17). He knew the grace of Christ was in him, and making him all that he was: 'I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought by me' (Rom. 15:18). This is the focus when examples are held up for us in Scripture, and we see it in Luke's account of Paul. It does not mean that significant faults are to be hidden; but it is the outworking of what Henry Scougal called 'the life of God in the soul' that qualifies chiefly for record and for imitation.... Christ is the author and the finisher of the life of the believer. The faith given, the talents allocated, the spiritual ambition, and the measure of usefulness are all from him. This should rule out any adulation. To recognize heroes is not the same as 'hero-worship'....

That there is a danger of thinking and writing too highly of men I do not deny. It is all because of Christ that 'the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.' True Christian biography should therefore concentrate on what is edifying and for the praise of Christ. (Murray, pp. x-xi)

I agree with Murray. True Christian biography is edifying to us and honoring to Christ. So, do you have heroes? Which ones have been the most helpful to you?

Iain H. Murray. Heroes (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2009)

Can Christians Have Heroes?

George Whitefield, A Preacher with Power

Today is the 294th anniversary of the birth of George Whitefield, December 16, 1714. Last year, Tim Ashcraft wrote a fine biographical sketch of Whitefield that I would encourage you to read. A list of resource on Whitefield is also offered there.

This morning, I opened up Iain Murray's Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace (BOT, 2008) and found a section in chapter two, "Preaching and the Holy Spirit," where Murray draws a comparison between Whitefield and Lloyd-Jones in order to illustrate the necessity of power in preaching. This is penetrating:

There is an obvious reason why preaching too often lacks the ability to hold the interest of those who listen. It is because the word spoken has no more than a fleeting access to the hearer's mind. A statement is briefly heard only to be crowded out by the individual's own thoughts, which he may well find more interesting and pleasant. Thus the twenty or forty minutes of a sermon may pass, with a person in the pose of a listener, yet actually paying attention to very little. In contrast, powerful preaching takes hold of the whole person. It gets within a man. It first arrests the mind and then speaks to the heart, the conscience, and the will. Where this element is present inattention becomes a near impossibility. Skilful oratory and carefully crafted speech can go some way to hold the hearers but it does not command attention in this manner. Powerful preaching penetrates more than the surface of the mind; it does more than merely present teaching; it is capable of causing a moral and emotional earthquake - 'not simply with words, but also with power, withthe Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction' (1 Thess. 1:4).

An eighteenth-century church-goer who was also a shipbuilder confessed that he had often built a ship from stem to stern during a sermon, but when he heard George Whitefield he found himself unable to lay a single plank. The reason for this was noted by another of the evangelist's hearers: 'Whitefield preached like a lion, he spoke as one conscious of his high credentials, with authority and power.' So it was with Lloyd-Jones. His message often carried the conviction that it was more important than any other possible consideration. (pp. 34-35, emphasis mine)

George Whitefield, A Preacher with Power

New: Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace by Iain Murray

When I arrived home after the Thanksgiving holiday I found a package awaiting me from The Banner of Truth Trust (Thank You!). I love receiving books, and was thrilled that this package had arrived safely. I'll comment on the second book I received in anther post. First, I would like to introduce to you the above mentioned title.

Iain H. Murray, Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace. Edinburgh: BOT, 2008. Jacketed Hardcover (cloth), xiv + 274 pages.



ISBN: 9780851519753

I feel comfortable recommending anything that has come from the pen of Iain Murray. He is a fantastic student of great preachers; and, when it comes to Lloyd-Jones, there is a special connection. Murray has already produced a magisterial two-volume biography of Lloyd-Jones (Vol. 1; Vol. 2), but this new volume does not duplicate that material. Rather, Murray's intent in this book is to interact with contemporary criticisms of Lloyd-Jones. Murray focuses on three major topics, namely, 1) the nature of true preaching, 2) the assurance of salvation, and 3) his supposed ecclesiastical divisiveness.

I have only just begun to read this volume, and I am thoroughly enjoying Murray's assessment. Lloyd-Jones was a firm believer in the importance of the local church, especially as the primary means of evangelism. Murray identifies this conviction as one of the six legacies Lloyd-Jones left to us. Murray writes,

He was, of course, sympathetic to every evangelistic endeavour that did not compromise any biblical truth; but he believed that the gospel preached in a worshipping church, and in a local setting, has an advantage over other situations. Here the preacher is not just one man addressing a crowd: he is part of a community of believers who are not onlookers; they are involved; they too are witnesses in whom the Holy Spirit is present. When this is a reality, the incomer is confronted by something that has no counterpart in the world - 'thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth' (1 Cor. 14:25). Something of eternity may be felt on such an occasion: 'Our coming together in public worship should be a foretaste of heaven.'¹

Footnote ¹: [D. M. Lloyd-Jones,] God's Ultimate Purpose, p. 308. When the church suits her services to the taste of the world, however well-intentioned the endeavour, the ultimate result will never be biblical Christianity. (pp. 15-16)

A few lines later, he writes,

From the New Testament times onwards, a vibrant, praying, witnessing church has always been the strongest authentication of the gospel. For ML-J mass evangelism without a recovery within churches was no solution. (p. 17)

This one is going on my "Recommended Christmas Book Purchase" list. In the meantime, I also highly recommend the following handful of articles by our resident Lloyd-Jones "expert," Tim Ashcraft:

• Lloyd-Jones on Ministerial Reading:
• Read Scripture for Personal Nourishment
• Storing Up for Winter
• Reading to Counter Your Moods
• Reading to Balance Your Thinking
• Summing Up
• The Great Ejection (August 24, 1662)
• D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Dec. 20, 1899 – Mar. 1, 1981)
• Listening to Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• Perplexed by God's Dealings?

New: Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace by Iain Murray