How Did The Apostles Preach?
In our last discussion of this
series it was pointed out that much of the preaching of
Jesus was in direct antithesis to the accepted rules of
successful human relations as embodied in Dale Carnegie's
modern book, How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Let us now consider the preaching of the apostles and other
inspired men of the New Testament era in the light of the
Carnegie system.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter,
having received power from on high, preached the risen
Christ to a multitude of Jews, and the manner and content of
his speech were such that his hearers were "pricked in their
heart" (Acts 2:37). Does anyone honestly suppose that
this pricking of the heart was something similar to a gas
pain, possibly caused by an overexpansion of their feeling
of importance as it swelled nigh unto the bursting point in
response to the blandishments of the apostle's sermon? Read
what he said to them, and imagine the effect of it upon your
own self-esteem if it had been said to you.
Or, take the case of Stephen,
who displayed such a notorious lack of tact that he
alienated his entire audience and so enraged them that his
sermon cost Him his life. Yet he is said by the scripture to
have spoken by the Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:10). Now,
wonder if the Spirit didn't know enough about Winning
Friends and Influencing People at least to enable Stephen to
save his life, not to mention restraining Him from "driving
away" all those "prospects."
The "Errors"
of Stephen
Notice the blunders of Stephen,
as measured by the Carnegie system:
1. He was a debater. He argued
his point, and refused to conciliate. He contradicted the
opponents, and "shot their arguments full of holes." Who
knows? he may have even "proved them to be non compos
mentis." The scripture says:" . . . There arose certain
of them . . . disputing with Stephen" (Acts 6:10).
Now, if Stephen had had the wisdom and tact of many of my
present-day brethren, he would have sat down right then,
saying, "Well, I don't believe in debating; I didn't come
here to argue; disputing a question never does any good, and
about the only thing ever accomplished by debates is to
drive people farther apart. Debating makes enemies; let's be
friends." But instead, poor, crude fellow that he was,
having only the Spirit of God to guide Him, entered into the
dispute with such gusto that"they were not able to withstand
the wisdom and Spirit by which he spake" (v. 10).
2. He criticized their
ancestors, thus assailing their pride of heritage (Acts
7:39-49).
3. He implied that their temple,
the pride and joy of every Jew, was not what they conceived
it to be, a fitting habitation for the God of Jacob (v.
47-49).
4. He told them they were wrong,
and not very indirectly, at that. He flatly accused them of
:
a. Stubbornness—v. 51.
b. Resisting the Holy Spirit—v.
51.
c. Being as sinful as their
ancestors—v. 51, 52.
d. Betrayal—v. 52.
e. Murder—v. 52.
f. Failure to honor a sacred
law—v. 53.
5. He broke the "all-important
law of human conduct." He did not make them feel important.
The net result of his
accumulated bluntness was that his hearers were thoroughly
aroused. That "dangerous spark" of criticism found an
explosive spot in the "powder magazine" of their pride, and
their anger exploded upon Stephen with a ferocity unequaled
even by the murderers of Jesus some time before. Not
bothering to legalize his execution by an appeal to the
Roman authorities, as they had done in the case of Jesus,
they took matters into their own hands, "gnashed on
(Stephen) with their teeth," cast Him out of the city, and
stoned Him to death!
Now, as the life is battered out
of his body by the stones of Jewish resentment, Stephen
looks eagerly toward the heavens where he beholds Jesus
standing by the throne of God and watching the scene, and he
calls out in pitiful agony, "Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit."
Can you envision a disapproving frown on the face of that
Glorified One, and a finger pointing down in accusing
condemnation toward Stephen, as the Savior replies: "Why
should I receive thy spirt, oh thou who hast by the
insolence of thy tongue stirred up hatred against my church!
Knowest not that the fire thou hast kindled this day by the
perverse power of thy witless words shall not be quenched
until many who call upon my name shall have been put to
death by the Jews, and those who remain shall be scattered
as sheep? Thou hast brought reproach upon my kingdom, and
besides this also, thou hast by thy speech hardended the
hearts of those who heard thee this day, so that many of
them may never again give ear unto my Gospel. Their blood
shall be upon thy head, for thou hast driven them beyond
further reach of the word of salvation. Thou shouldst have
known, oh vain man, that even the word of truth requires
adaptation to the feelings of men, lest their pride be
wounded and they turn away their ears from the hearings of
faith. Verily thou hast spoken the words of the Spirit, but
thou wouldst have done well to have translated them into the
more diplomatic terms of men."
What? You can't imagine Jesus
greeting his first martyr with such a speech? Neither can I,
but I have heard dozens of those who claim to be his
followers, and to imbibe freely of his Spirit regarding
their attitude toward the souls of men, express all of these
sentiments toward Gospel preachers who, like Stephen, spoke
the truth too plainly for the taste of some hearers.
The Polish of
Paul
But let's turn to the preaching
of Paul.
Here is a man who unquestionably
demonstrated a knowledge of applied psychology, and who
showed himself, on various occasions, to be a master of the
Carnegie approach—centuries before Carnegie was born. His
personal dealings with men becoming "all, things to all men
that by all means he might same some (1 Cor. 9:22),
his adroit manipulation of men before the Jewish council
(Acts 23:6-10), the skill of his defense before Felix
and Agrippa (Acts 24:10-21; 26:1-29), and of his
address from the castle stairs up to the mention of that
critical word "Gentiles" (Acts 22:1-21)—all reflect
an uncommon genius for diplomacy and tact when such was
expedient to the purpose in hand.
With such a proven ability,
then, to persuade without offense when occasion demanded it,
Paul's apparent disregard of the salesman's approach in the
ordinary course of his preaching is nothing short of
startling. Notice:
In Damascus, he confounded the
Jews with his proofs concerning Christ. He won their
friendship to the extent that they tried to kill Him
(Acts 9:22, 25).
In Jerusalem he engaged in that
nefarious business of debate. "He spake and disputed against
the Grecian jews (Acts 9:29). They, with the
characteristic appreciation of those who have been melted
with sugary words, "were seeking to kill Him."
On Cyprus he showed sufficient
regard for the self-esteem of an opponent to call Him a son
of the devil" and to denounce Him, not too indirectly, as an
enemy of righteousness and a perverter of the right ways of
the Lord (Acts 13:10).
At Antioch of Pisidia he was
considerate enough of the Jews' religion to intimate that
they could not be saved by it (Acts 13:39), and that
unless they believed what he was telling them they would be
regarded as ?despisers," and would "perish" (v. 41).
In Iconium he preached so
inoffensively that there was a plan set afoot to stone Him
(Acts 14:5).
At Lystra he assailed the local
religion as "vain," and besought the people to "turn from"
it. It was here that he was later stoned and left for dead
(Acts 14:15-19). Really Influenced People here.
The Model Speech
on Mars' Hill
Paul's address to the
philosophers on the Areopagus has often been touted as a
model of diplomacy representative of the "psychological
approach," because of his complimenting the men of Athens as
"very religious," and of his quotation from the writings of
one of their own poets. But, let's just see how that sermon
measures up by the Carnegie yardstick:
I. He alleged that they
worshipped God in ignorance (Acts 17:23). (Now that
should really make them beam with smiles of appreciation!)
It will be protested that Paul was merely referring to an
inscription on their own al.-tar-one that they had written
and that they acknowledged, and that therefore Paul's
statement could arouse no resentment. Well, that's good
logic, and it ought to hold, but it won't. Humans just
aren't put together that way. Otherwise Why does, for
example, a Methodist resent a Gospel preacher's calling Him
a Methodist, since that's what he calls himself? And Why
does he resent your inferring to an inscription in his own
book, the Discipline—an inscription that Methodists have
written and that they acknowledge as representative of their
religion? It's the old idea of "I can say it about myself.
but don't you say it to me or about me, and don't you even
say that I said it about myself!" Logical? Of course not.
but remember what Carnegie said: "When dealing with people,
let us remember that we are not dealing with Creatures of
logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion ....
bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and
vanity.',
2. Not only were they ignorant,
but Paul was not. In other words, he knew more than they
did, and he was going to teach them something (v. 23).
Carnegie calls this "a sure way of making enemies." Instead,
he recommends the advice of Lord Chesterfield: "Be wiser
than other people if you can; but do not tell them so."
3. In the midst of a
concentration of temples possibly unequaled for number and
variety in any other city on earth, he boldly asserts that
the true God does not dwell in such places (v. 24).
Could there be any plainer method of telling a man that his
religion is wrong? So Paul has ignored another of the basic
rules for changing people's minds: "Never tell a man he is
wrong."
4. He tells them that they ought
not to do exactly what they are doing: "We ought not to
think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or
stone, graven by art and device of man" (v. 29).
Surely a close student of human relations should know better
than thus to criticize the established religion of his
audience, if he expects the utmost success in Winning
Friends and Influencing People.
5. Again he refers to their
ignorance (v. 30), obviously encompassing the matters
of religion he has just discussed, and be it remembered that
it was their religion he was thus belittling. It would seem,
from the human relations point of view, that he had not
learned "properly to deal with" that most important of
words, "my."
6. He implies that their
ignorant religion is (a) out-of-date (v. 30), (b) not
acceptable to God, (c) incompatible with righteousness
(v. 31), and (d) must be repented of.
7. He warns of God's impending
judgment as a motivation for their repentance, thus
indicating that, in their present state, under their present
religion they are unprepared for it.
8. He represents God, who to
them is a virtual stranger, as issuing commands to them.
("No one likes to take orders"—Carnegie.)
9. After this kind of an
introduction, which, as anyone can readily see, was hardly
calculated to mollify any innate hostility in his audience,
Paul springs upon them a doctrine which is to them so alien
that their reaction to it is largely one of ridicule. We
cannot conclude that Paul was unaware of their opinion of
the doctrine of the resurrection, because he had preached
enough already in the city for his teaching to have become a
topic of discussion (v. 18). Why, then, if he were
trying to make the best possible impression, did he so soon,
so obviously, and so directly introduce this strange
doctrine that was so nearly certain to be a stumbling block
to them?
Why, since he was so capable of
doing so, did he not concern himself for a while with
winning their friendship, and with the discussion of truths
that would be more agreeable to them, and leave the more
disagreeable parts of the word of Christ for their future
enlightenment, after they should have become established as
friends of the faith?
Why, indeed, if it were God's
will that all men should be persuaded to be Christians, did
all the inspired men of whom we have record—and, ultimately,
the Holy Spirit who inspired them — so often and so
steadfastly avoid the most effective means of persuasion,
employing instead a line of approach that almost always
resulted in the making of more enemies than friends, more
dissenters than disciples, more counterworkers than
converts?
Our search for an answer to this
vital question must be reserved for a future study in this
series. Next month: "Common Objections to 'Hard' Preaching."
Preceptor – June 1954 |