"THE JESUS YOU CAN'T IGNORE", by Dr. John MacArthur

Dr. MacArthur hit the ball out of the park with this book!  Starting with the introduction, MacArthur brings hard-hitting and in-your-face theology as it pertains to defending the gospel agains the errors of post-modern weaknesses.

The premise of the book is that "Jesus is often portrayed as a pacifist, a philanthropist, or a docile teacher.  Some prefer the meek and mild Jesus who heals the sick, calms fears, and speaks of peace and goodwill.  These things represent a portion of the Messiah.  But tragically, too many have never been exposed to the rest of him" (quoted from the back cover).  MacArthur sets out to prove to his readers that Jesus was more often confrontational when truth was under attack, and that we, too, must not be afraid to defend truth.  In fact, he asserts that there are times when it is "Wrong to be Nice".

LIKES: I truly enjoy the hard-hitting nature of this book.  So often, Christians are seen as insensitive when it comes to positions on truth.  We are labeled "intolerant" if we don't receive all views as simple variations of truth.  In this book, however, MacArthur encourages believers to take a firm stand against false doctrines and errors because "nothing is more thoroughly evil than false religion, and the more false teachers try to cloak themselves in the robes of biblical truth, the more truly Satanic they are." (p.11)  Christians are also told that we must "not judge, lest we be judged".  But MacArthur attacks this heresy head-on, stating, "in order to obey that command ("do not cast your pearls before swine"), we have to know who the swine and dogs are.  So an underlying assumption is that we must judge carefully and biblically." (p.145)

DISLIKES: The only thing I really disliked about this book is that the chapters are extremely long, averagine approximately 25 pages.  Even the introduction is 19 pages long!  The issue I have is not the amount of content, but that the content is packed into long chapters.  Although there are subdivisions within the chapters, even the subdivisions are quite long.  If you're someone looking to fill down time with reading a good book, just be sure you have lots of down-time if you're looking to fill the space with this one.

OVERALL OPINION: Overall, this book is a keeper and will remain on my bookshelf.  If you like Dr. MacArthur's hard-hitting style, you'll love this book.  It will encourage you to not only defend your faith before skeptics, but to defend the truth of the gospel that is missing even among Christian circles.

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ARGUMENTATION IN DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL:

Yesterday afternoon, a program on a Christian radio station in the Detroit area featured a segment where the host asked listeners if they agree with him that liberals are not as patriotic as conservatives.


The host played a clip of a liberal talk show host complaining about how much he and the American people have had to endure Lee Greenwood’s song, “God Bless the USA”, since 9-11. Using this clip as his springboard, the Christian host stated emphatically that liberals are not as patriotic as conservatives, and asked his listeners to call in with opinions.

I called in with an opinion and waited on hold for my turn.

When just the second caller voiced his opinion, what ensued was not pretty. This caller emphatically, even vehemently, disagreed with the host. What was supposed to be a polite and fair discussion of opinion turned rapidly into a two-way argument. It was ugly. Both threw out slams against the other’s position. Each was angry at the other. Realistically, it accomplished nothing…except for increasing every listener’s blood pressure. The 10-minute banter concluded only because the host was “up against a hard commercial break”.

My turn followed the break. But I changed my mind about what to say.

I told the host that as I listened to the argument, I couldn’t help but think that this was a Christian radio station and the argument did absolutely nothing to advance the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I told him, in fact, that I think he got exactly what he wanted, which was not to persuade anybody of the power and truth of the gospel, but to engage a staunch liberal in a political argument.

Oh, the host won the argument hands down. No doubt about it. The caller didn’t stand a chance. The host knocked it out of the park, factually speaking. But what did he really win? What point did he prove? Instead of Jesus Christ being glorified in a God-honoring conversation hosted by a Christian program and host, another soul was sacrificed on the altar of American politics.

Please don’t misunderstand my point: I am not saying we cannot talk about anything that has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, God, the bible, theology, etc. I simply think – and this has long been my view, and it’s growing more concrete as I pay more attention – that Christians have grown far too dependent on changing the world via political revolution rather than gospel revolution.

I think we can – and should – engage in all sorts of political, economical, and social dialogue, but we have to always be reminded about HOW we argue or express our views. People are paying attention; the world is paying attention. They know who professes the name of Christ and who does not; they know who’s “religious” and who is not. I’m often guilty, but I know I still must be on guard. While 1Peter 3:15 typically applies to answering people who question our faith in Jesus Christ, I think the principle also applies to this kind of conversation: have an answer, but be careful how you do it.

It is my opinion that this kind of staunch, bull-headed argumentation should be primarily reserved for defending the truth of the gospel against false teachers, not for defending political points of view.

THE GOSPEL - IT'S NOT JUST FOR GETTING SAVED:

John 1:12-13: “…but to as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

In working through memorizing John 1:1-16, I was stricken with awe and wonder as I meditated on the above-stated verses. The idea has been tumbling around in my mind for quite some time: the gospel is not just for unbelievers, but for believers as well. It’s not good for only saving sinners, but for changing saved saints. I see in this snippet a plea to at least three types of people: (1) the discouraged believer, (2) the prideful believer, and (3) the unbeliever.

(1) To the discouraged believer: You can rest assured that amidst your discouragement, you remain steadily gripped in God’s powerful hand, and He will never let you go, for nothing can deliver out of His hand (Deut 32:39). The life and spiritual journey of a believer is marked with seasons of peaks and valleys, highs and lows, joy and sadness. Yet, we can be assured, as the parable of the soils (Matt 13:1-23) teaches us, that it is God who sows the seed, God who tends the soil, and God who makes the seed grow. The reason you are saved is because of God’s great love for you, a sinner who was His enemy, to be reconciled to Himself. The price tag for giving you life was the death of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. He loves you not because of the Cross; He loves you: therefore the Cross. Jesus Christ cried out in agony from the Cross, “I am forsaken!” so that you will never have to. The price for you HAS BEEN paid and is complete: remember John’s words, “you WERE born”. Your salvation cannot be taken away! Take heart, for you ARE a child of the King.

(2) To the prideful believer: You believe God has blessed you because you have lived a more righteous life than the next person, but the Cross tells us that you are righteous only by the grace of God extended to you. You received Christ not because you tilled your own soil, or planted your own seed, or made yourself grow. It is God who is the gardener, and your salvation is a result of only His work in you. You are no more special than the next guy, and you are no more preferred than the next woman, for we were ALL enemies of God when Jesus Christ extended grace to us from the beams of the Cross. You were saved, not by your good works, but by God’s grace (Eph 2:8-9, Titus 3:5). Don’t be puffed up in yourself, for your righteousness is like muddy rags to God. Be humble, for God has adopted you as a child according to His perfect will.

(3) To the unbeliever: If you are reading this, it may very well be that God has been – and is now – tilling and working and tending your soul for the reception of His word. There is still hope while you have breath in your lungs. As you are mired by sin, there is One who has paid the penalty for sin. Receive Him, for He has borne the heavy, condemning wrath of the Father so you don’t have to. Then, you will be called His child, adopted into His family. Be saved, for God has extended the offer to you to be His child made perfectly clean in His sight because of the Cross.