Interview
Jerry Bridges
by Art Azurdia
Art Azurdia: Given your extensive travels, how would you describe the present condition of the American evangelical scene?
Jerry Bridges: I am not sure I am qualified to answer because most of the churches I get into are top notch congregations very committed to the Bible. I don’t think I have a well-representative view. However, based on articles I read and the perspectives of others for whom I have great respect, I would say that at best we are drifting. Of course, there are happy exceptions to that, but overall I think I would have to say that the evangelical church in America is drifting.
AA: Drifting away from what foundation?
JB: Drifting away from the Bible. The Bible in some places is suspect as far as its inerrancy is concerned but even where inerrancy is affirmed the Bible is not considered relevant. People are not going to the scriptures. There is more emphasis on how to live a successful life here in this temporal world - how to be a good parent, how to do this, that, and the other. That is the main emphasis today. And even in churches that would affirm the importance of God’s word, there is almost no gospel. I listen to a lot of sermons and I hear very little gospel.
AA: To what do you think that can be attributed? What has contributed to this neglect of the gospel?
JB: I think it’s a mindset that the gospel is only for unbelievers . . . that once you trust Christ you don’t need the gospel anymore. And so when I teach I demonstrate to the class through quotes going all the way back to John Owen, through the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries stopping with B.B. Warfield where they emphasized the necessity of the gospel for Christians. Somewhere in the early part of the 20th century we clearly lost that emphasis. The first hint of its resurgence is found in Dynamics of the Spiritual Life written by Richard Lovelace at Gordon–Conwell in 1978.
AA: Absolutely!
JB: So there was this barrenness, and I suspect it was due to the modernist/fundamentalist debate. They lost sight of the gospel and the fundamentalists took the theological and moral high ground, becoming very self-righteous. Of course, when you’re self-righteous, you don’t need the gospel because the gospel is only for sinners. Even though I’m a saved sinner, I am still a practicing sinner which means I must preach the gospel to myself everyday. But if you’re looking down your nose at other people then you don’t recognize your own need for the gospel. So that’s my suspicion; that is where it started. I was born in 1929 so I grew up in that era. The first 15 years of my ministry could be described as an “ought-to” ministry. I was always saying, “you ought-to do this.” Thankfully, by God’s grace, I recognized the error of my ways. Now I would like to describe it as a “want-to” ministry. I hope people “want-to” to obey because they have been motivated by the gospel.
AA: As you have thought about this throughout the years, how is it that fundamentalism preserved the Bible and simultaneously lost the gospel?
JB: I think that they had the theology: the virgin birth, inerrancy of scripture, and so on, but it was easy to fall into the trap of preaching against what the modernists (that is what they were called in the early days of liberalism) were saying. They became puffed up and theologically self-righteous, losing sight of the gospel. They still preached the gospel evangelistically for maybe five minutes at the end of the sermon and only directed toward the unbeliever. But in those days it was a moralistic message. Now it’s only a “how-to” message. It’s not even moralistic anymore.
AA: Are there signs of real encouragement? Do you see things that lift your spirit? Are there indications of good things going on?
JB: I think there is a renewed emphasis on the gospel. I love the sermons of preachers such as Tim Keller because they are very direct, challenging the New York culture, with the gospel woven throughout in a seamless manner. I consider this a very encouraging sign.
AA: That’s the Ed Clowney influence.
JB: Oh, yes. I think it’s like a small cloud on the horizon. It is small but, nevertheless, it is there. I think the resurgence of reformed theology has also encouraged the resurgence of the emphasis on the gospel. So that’s what I am looking for; it is what I am passionate about.
AA: Well, throughout the years you have written and preached a great deal about the grace of God. A couple of your books were compulsory readings at our church for leadership training. In your mind, what are the underdeveloped aspects, or even distortions, of God’s grace that distinguish the thinking of Christian people?
JB: Well, I would say the biggest distortion of God’s grace is thinking that God’s grace lets me get away with a few things. I asked a Campus Crusade guy, “If you were to interview students on your campus and ask them ‘What is the grace of God?’ what would they say?” I thought his answer was classic. He said, “Grace would be God cutting me some slack.” Others may not express it that way but that’s the feeling. It’s basically taking the last half of Romans 6:14 where Paul says, “Sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law” but completely ignoring the phrase “sin shall not have dominion over you.” People say, “Its okay, pastor. We are not under law but under grace.” This is a gross misunderstanding of the nature of grace.
