David Steinbach (my father) preached his first sermon last night at Heritage Baptist Church. He has a lot of experience with public speaking and with teaching Sunday School to various age groups, so his first sermon was a whole lot better than my first sermon was!

He preached Phil. 2.12-16, speaking about the Christian’s responsibility to live as lights to reflect the light of Jesus against the dark backdrop of the world.  It’s a careful sermon with many cross-references and clear application.  Listen here.

Please permit me to share my heart on behalf of young Fundamentalists. What really matters to us?

Many of us aren’t nearly as concerned about what a preacher is for or against as we are concerned about how he uses the Word of God to reach his conclusion. If we hear someone argue a logical, biblical case against something that we believe, we’ll let the Word of God re-shape our conclusion. And if we find a logical or exegetical error in that message, we’ll disagree, but we’ll keep respecting the preacher who demonstrates faithfulness to the Word of God but differs graciously on a peripheral stand or position.

What young Fundamentalists are sorely disappointed by is poor handling of the Scripture. If a preacher or speaker argues for the exact same conclusion that we hold, but argues fallaciously or by misreading God’s Word, we’ll note and remember that. Proof-texting, allegorizing and spiritualizing are techniques that irk us, no matter how holy and godly the application may be.

A passion of mine (and of many young Fundamentalists I know) is exegetical precision. Our reasoning goes like this: God promises that his Word will accomplish his purpose (Isa. 55.11); therefore, bending Scripture to any other purpose besides the one revealed in the specific text at hand is twisting God’s Word and breaking his purpose. I think our insistence on context-controlled, Spirit-filled exposition of Scripture is entirely justified (even necessary)!

So what issues matter? We talk a lot about Calvinism and Arminianism, music philosophy, millennial positions, entertainment standards, covenant / dispensationalism, alcohol positions and separationism. Occasionally, we still talk about translations. But those issues are not our hills to die on. We have, however, no intention of compromising our commitment to precise, careful exposition of God’s entire Word and clear, realistic application of it to daily life. Passionate, accurate exegesis and consistent, Spirit-filled embodiment of the Word: that is our desire, our goal and our heart.

Paul shares his heart’s desire for the Philippian believers when he tells them how he prays for them (Phil. 1.9-11). I’ve written the following poem to help us remember what God-glorifying love looks like. Pending the discovery of a suitable melody, I hope that this could be used as a hymn text.

A love abounding in me,
Growing more and more each day,
With knowledge and discernment
Grant to me, O Lord, I pray.
Choosing things that matter most,
That are honest, just and true,
To give You praise, please give me
A love that glorifies You.

A love abounding in me
As I wait for Your great day,
To keep me pure and blameless,
Grant to me, O Lord, I pray.
As I look upon Your face,
Make me pure in all I do.
To give You praise, please give me
A love that glorifies You.

A love abounding in me,
Bearing fruit in every way,
The righteousness of Jesus,
Grant to me, O Lord, I pray.
As Your Son transforms my life
With His glory shining through,
To give You praise, please give me
A love that glorifies You.

© 2009 James Steinbach. All Rights Reserved.

Dr. Dave Doran posted a link to a DBSJ article written in 1996 by Dr. Rolland McCune. Though it’s 13 years old, the article certainly merits the attention of Fundamentalists today.

“Fundamentalists must be doctrinally grounded so that what should be non-issues do not rise to be become divisive turf wars. Some would-be fundamentalist leaders and spokesmen are actually skating near the thin ice of heresy and seem totally unaware of where they are going. Biblical and theological ignorance can rapidly lead to a situation where a non-issue suddenly becomes the big issue and division results.”

McCune, Rolland. “Doctrinal Non-Issues in Historic Fundamentalism.” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 1 (Fall 1996): 184-5.