5
Dec
2009

Leaving Jesus Out

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05 Dec 2009

I was recently interviewed by a local newspaper to talk about church planting. I spoke with the reporter for about an hour. I talked about our distinctive emphasis on teaching,  namely, Christ-centered teaching and preaching that brings Gospel transformation. I mentioned expository preaching, and I emphasized that we focus on “prayer and the ministry of the word.” Beside getting one or two quotes right, words like “entrepreneurial spirit,” and “business model” found their way in the piece. I don’t know where they came from! I never used them. I did speak about the administrative aspects of establishing a new work. I am not even so bothered by the words “entrepreneurial spirit” if it were defined carefully. But “business model?” I guess the lesson is, make sure you only just talk about Jesus. I certainly talked about Christ and Him crucified throughout, but there was no mention of Him in the piece. You can read the article here.

About Post Author

Nick Batzig is the senior pastor of Church Creek PCA in Charleston, SC and an associate editor for Ligonier Ministries. Prior to serving at Church Creek, Nick was a pastor at Wayside PCA on Signal Mountain, TN. Formerly, Nick served as the founding pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Richmond Hill, GA and as the editor of Reformation21 and the Christward Collective--sites of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. He frequently writes for Tabletalk Magazine, Reformation 21, He Reads Truth, and the Christward Collective. Nick was also the host of East of Eden, a podcast devoted to the Biblical and Systematic Theology of Jonathan Edwards. You can friend him on Facebook here and follow him on Twitter @nick_batzig

4 Responses

  1. Matthew Holst
    Reply

    Nick

    The problem is that many out there are thinking “Great! that church empahizes an entrepreneurial spirit and has a business model”. Hey, you might even get some business men attending as a result! 😉

    Matt

  2. Stephen Dancer
    Reply

    Nick,
    It reminds us that we may be faithful in taking the opportunities that God gives us but we have no control over the result!

    btw one of your fellow interviewees said there is one church for 2800 people in his locality. You should come to the West Midlands, UK – 1 to 4500! Plenty of room here. Send some of your guys over… 😉

  4. Bob McDowell
    Reply

    Terry Mattingly has a blog-post perhaps relevant to this– Palin’s Pastor Meets The Press. Interesting tips, such as

    **Your 2-hour interview might wind up as a 20-second sound bite.

    **Frequently, “journalists” already have the story in mind and are interviewing you just to mine a quote.

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