The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-20, titled "Questions and Answers--Part 48." A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. Copyright 2001 by John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.
Question
First of all, I have to preface this by saying you have always very, very bold in the way you preach and I have appreciated that. I only hope you can appreciate the boldness with which I ask this question. John, my question is, thirty years ago you started teaching [here]. I’m just curious, have you changed in any of your stances or interpretations--anything biblical, or maybe the way you might have said something? Let’s face it, you probably have offended some people, and you know, maybe a better word is “convicted” some people. But, I’m just curious, are there any changes in your stances or interpretations?
Answer
That’s a very good question, and I’m glad you asked it. Let me answer it this way: I have not changed my theology because I had the benefit of great training under my father who had a sound and right approach to scripture. I had great training in my seminary experience. I sat under men who had the right understanding of scripture. Some of the men that taught me in seminary are now teaching in the Master’s Seminary, and have from the beginning-Dr. Rosscup, Dr. Thomas. So, I was benefited by not having to sort out and figure out everything on my own once I got into the ministry, which would have probably produced many more changes.
There have been very few times when I actually have changed something. I remember one Sunday night I preached on why the antichrist will be a Jew. And somebody came to me after the sermon and said, “You’re wrong.” (This was very early in my ministry here.) He sent me back to the scripture and so the next Sunday night I preached on why the antichrist will be a Gentile. I still couldn’t make up my mind, so we left both tapes in there for a while-you could have your pick. But, I’ve come to believe that the antichrist will be a Gentile.
There have been just a couple of occasions like that. But I would say what might appear to people to be changes really is a refinement. I would say I’ve always believed what I believe, but as you grow older and as you deal more with scripture, it becomes more refined. So, I might go back and I wouldn’t say it that way anymore; I would be more clear. There would be a few things that I would change. There have been a few interpretations of a passage that, through the years, we’ve gone back and changed the tape or eliminated something, but nothing of major proportions.
Occasionally on a Sunday, I’ll say something in a sermon and ask them to pull it out because I didn’t say it clearly or I misspoke; I said something that was the opposite of what I meant by throwing in a “not” or something like that. But, for the most part, the theology that I was raised on and trained on and taught has stood the test of all the years of exegesis. It is true that it has been greatly refined, and I am now much better able to articulate it.
I think where that may show up most dramatically is in the fact that I’ve never had to pull any of my books back and take material out of them. And as you heard this morning, I think I’ve written around 80 books, and if you add study guides and things….a lot more than that. But I’ve never had to go back and throw anything away. There have been a few interpretations-maybe of matters in Revelation or prophetic matters-that I might see a little differently now than I did years ago, when maybe I was a little more prone to let the headlines mess with my exegesis than I am now. For the most part, the theology has stood the test of time.
With regard to the matter of offending people, that’s only a problem to me if I am the offense. It’s not a problem to me if the Word is an offense, because it is; that is the way it is. If people are offended by the truth, then I have fulfilled my responsibility. If they’re offended by me, then I need to repent. I want to speak the truth in love; I don’t want to be the offense. But, I understand that people who believe error, people who believe the lie, people who don’t understand the truth or aren’t committed to it, are offended by it-I mean, certainly in the culture in which we live today. The basic idea is that you have to tolerate anything and everything that anybody and everybody believes.
People ask me all the time, “Is it hard to be so bold? Is it hard to be dogmatic?” And the answer is no, it’s relatively easy because I don’t speak my own words. If I come and teach the Word of God, then I have to let the Word of God say what it says. So, I don’t wrestle with “How is that going to affect me? Are people going to like me? Am I going to be popular? Am I going to make enemies?” That never comes into my mind-literally, it never comes into my mind! I never think like that. All I think about is what is the truth here, and I don’t think “well, this is truth, so let me crank up ten decibels and really get this across.” I don’t think about technique. I don’t think about the style of my preaching or whether I yell or don’t yell or whether I try some kind of theatrical enhancement to make a point. I just love the truth-I get passionate about the truth-it’s the truth that compels me, and if the truth is an offense, then it needs to be an offense, you know what I’m saying?
It’s like a doctor… If you go to the doctor and he tells you you’ve got cancer-you don’t like it-that’s an offensive statement-but if it happens to be an accurate diagnosis, it’s really the important thing for you to hear and then you have to deal with it. You know, I don’t like to have enemies; I don’t choose to do that… But those people who don’t want to hear the truth have a problem not with me, but with the source of the truth. I hope that answers the question-very good question…..thank you.
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Answers" by:
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