I am stoked that Jared asked me to review his book as well be a part of his blog tour.  You can check out the rest of the blog tour.  There are some great blogs that are part of this tour; and from what I have seen thus far there are great questions and answers.  Recently I had the opportunity to interview Jared.

1. In chapter 3, Jesus the Forgiver, you say that it’s not true “that you can’t forgive an unrepentant person”.  You then helpfully explain the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Would you say that God forgives everyone but is only reconciled to those that trust in Christ through faith and repentance?

No, I don't believe God forgives everyone. I am an old school Calvinist when it comes to the extent of the atonement, so I do affirm the "L" in TULIP. I believe Christ's work on the cross accomplished salvation for the elect. This has less to do with God forgiving all but only being reconciled with some as it does with God's forgiveness being a work begun that he himself is faithful to finish in reconciliation. I guess you could say that when it comes to the elect, I am a universalist. :-) God gets them all.
The logical question from this, of course, is "If God doesn't forgive everyone, why should we?" And there are several answers but the most important one is this: We are not God. We are not perfectly holy and perfectly just. We don't have the right, as God does, to love Jacob and hate Esau. It is our duty to love others as God has loved us: in spite of anything we've done, in the face of constant rebellion, and on the condition of Jesus Christ.

2. Is it possible that your book is the only one in print which contains the word “waaaaambulance”?

Quite possible. Also, I guarantee it's the only Christian book that employs the phrase "burninate the peasants" and suggests one listen to heavy metal when reading the minor prophets.

3. Your book is obviously written for those that are “hip” more so than those that need a “hip replacement”.  How do you speak the language of the culture without being guilty of creating a fad Jesus of your own?  Or to ask that another way: how do I as a youth pastor speak the language of teenagers without creating a Jesus that is merely "safe" for teenagers?

I think there is a line where context becomes content -- the medium becomes the message -- and we just do our darndest not to cross it. I was conscious throughout the book of the danger in the different profiles of Jesus in the chapters of crafting an array of different Jesuses myself, ironically undercutting the point of the book. I address this in the Conclusion. I think what I tried to do is make sure the humor, the sarcasm, the pop cultural references were part of the window dressing, not the furniture in the room. Someone else recently asked me if I was nervous about receiving some of the same criticism Mark Driscoll got from "Vintage Jesus" for being too humorous with Jesus, and while I don't think Mark crossed any lines, I do think my humor steers clear of pushing Jesus buttons.
So to make a long answer short, I think the way we do this is by consciously and conscientiously making sure our language does not obscure or replace our message. And the way you measure this is if your hearers/readers walk way with an unsafe Jesus. If they think Jesus is so cool he doesn't change them, it's cause for concern and evaluation. 

4. What was your favorite chapter to write and why?

My favorite chapters were "Jesus the Redeemer" because I am a storyteller at heart, and I got to play with narratives and the biblical narrative in that chapter, and "Jesus the King" because I got to present some material I have studied a long time and that reflects a paradigm shift in my own understanding of Jesus and the Gospels over the last ten years. I think it's stuff that the Church has neglected for a long time too, so I felt like that one was a really important chapter. (I have since heard that "Jesus the King" is a lot of people's favorite chapter, as well.)

5. The stated goal of your book is to “remove layers of dirt and grime” from twelve different aspects of who Jesus is.  What particular aspect of Jesus do you feel is the most need of “dusting off”?

There's two, and they represent the two extremes the Church vacillates between. Driscoll has been great at speaking against this false dichotomy too, and I quote him from the Piper/Taylor edited collection "The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World" in my book on this subject. It's basically that we either so dwell on Jesus' incarnation -- Jesus' manhood -- that we suffer for lack of enjoying his exaltation, or we so dwell on his exaltation that we lose the joy of the incarnation. I think many churches favor one or the other and lose real pleasure and profit in who Jesus fully is.

I will provide a complete review of the book in late August/early September.  For now, let me encourage you to buy the book.  Thanks for the interview Jared!

I have a young pastor friend that I am extremely proud of. (Not that I’m not proud of my other pastor friends, but this guy takes the cake right now). This is his first pastorate and it has not been a grand experience as of yet. The details do not matter. What pertains to this post is his attitude. The only thing that you need to know is that he is having to endure a dangerous disposition from an influential man in the church. From what it sounds like this is the type of guy that could split the church.

My young pastor friend has decided that rather than leave town he is going to take the bullets for the sheep God has entrusted to him. Rather than being a hireling he is willing to lay down his life for his sheep. This guy is modeling the heart of Jesus: “12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:12-15)

I’ve known, and heard stories of, my fair share of pastors that leave when things get tough within ministry. “These people are not ready to follow my leadership”, I have heard. “I no longer am able to serve with joy”, some have said. “There is no future here”, has been offered. “I do not want to stir up anymore strife, for the sake of the church I will leave”, an admirable sounding excuse. I am sure you have heard some of these as well (or maybe even offered them). They all sound pretty good and may even be legit. Problem is they sound more like the hired hand than the Jesus-type shepherd.

If you are in the ministry for any reason other than seeing the glory of God displayed through the spread of the gospel to the nations then you will flee when the wolf comes. The hired hand looks for comfort. You can’t comfortably kill a wolf, you might even die from it. Jesus did but he took the wolf down with him. He destroyed the wolf through his death not through his comfort.

Whether it is money, ease, fame, pleasure, respect, power, notoriety, selfish ambition, pride, a jewel in heaven, a street of gold, or a really cool Pope hat, if this is your reason for being a shepherd you will run as soon as you see a wolf. Worse yet, you might befriend the wolf. Maybe you’ll cut a deal with the wolf. That way you can keep your title, most of your comfort, and only have to deal with a few sheep getting devoured. But that’s the hired hand. The Jesus-type shepherd isn’t satisfied with only 99. He goes after the lost sheep. He doesn’t sit by and let any of his sheep get devoured even if it means losing money, fame, pleasure, comfort, or the really cool Pope hat.

Pastor, you may have seasons where the wolf isn’t bothering with your sheep. You will have days when you can joyously tend to your sheep. And sometimes you might be called to a different sheep pen. But if you leave your sheep because things get tough then you aren’t a Jesus-type shepherd. One example then I’ll stop meddling.

Take the “I’m leaving because I do not want to stir up more strife, for the sake of the church I will leave”. If you are the one causing the strife then you aren’t being a shepherd anyway. That’d be like a shepherd having mutton for lunch and wearing wool underpants. So, yeah, maybe you should leave. But if there is deep conflict and it is because ungodly people are treating you in an ungodly fashion, or even if there are wolves in your midst...you DON’T leave the sheep at this time. This is when they need the shepherd the most. Take the bullet or rather the wolf bites, that’s your job. That’s why I am proud of my young pastor friend.

The hired hand leaves. The Jesus-type shepherd lays down his life. Which are you?

Also, I know this is not as black and white as I’ve presented it. Feel free to disagree and bring out the other side to this. This is called a “musing” for a reason…

Yeah, I know it’s Tuesday.  I am super busy with camp and trying to prepare the “perfect” sermons to proclaim that Jesus is Enough. 

I have four sermons to preach (as well as write short devotions, team-time devotions, and put a little together for the morning worship services).  I have spent a good deal of time on sermon number one.  It keeps going through revision.  I get it all together and then decide to cut something.  Then I add something else.  Then I cut something else.  The process keeps continuing.  I have even considered scrapping the whole thing and starting over. 

My problem is that I am trying to come up with the perfect  sermon.  I want to be biblically faithful, doctrinally pure, and Christ-exalting.  All of those are noble.  The problem is you cannot preach a good sermon about the sufficiency of Christ while denying it in your sermon prep.  I can put together a sermon that is biblically faithful, doctrinally pure, and Christ-exalting but if it is not accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit then my “perfect sermon” is a “perfect” speech and not a sermon. 

I must remember what Spurgeon said:

“The gospel is preached in the ears of all; it only comes with power to some.  The power that is in the gospel does not lie in the eloquence of the preacher; otherwise men would be converters of souls.  Nor does it lie in the preacher’s learning; otherwise it would consist in the wisdom of men.  We might preach till our tongues rotted, till we should exhaust our lungs and die, but never a soul would be converted unless there were mysterious power going with it—the Holy Ghost changing the will of man.  O Sirs!  we might well preach to stone walls as to preach to humanity unless the Holy Ghost be with the word, to give it power to convert the soul.”  (Quoted from Arturo Azurdia, Spirit Empowered Preaching, p128)

The power of the Spirit and the work of Christ is sufficient to take this jar of clay and house glory therein.  Jesus preached the perfect sermon with every breath he took.  What can I learn from the life of Christ in my preaching.

1. He was radically God-centered
2. He poured into others
3. He spilled his blood for others
4. He was disturbingly real
5. He touched broken people in their brokenness
6. He comforted the broken and broke the comfortable
7. He passionately preached against “religion”
8. He relied upon the Spirit
9. He was Christ-centered
10. He was biblically-saturated
11. He was engaging
12. He was never afraid to stoop
13. He preached among the people
14. He live with those he taught
15. He preached with authority
16. He was Jesus and I’m not

Jesus is sufficient for preachers too.  May I never forget this.

“Ultimately all that will be there in the new, redeemed creation will be there  because of the cross.  And conversely, all that will not be there (suffering, tears, sin, Satan, sickness, oppression, corruption, decay and death) will not be there because they will have been defeated and destroyed by the cross.  That is the length, breadth, height and depth of God’s idea of redemption.  It is exceedingly good news.  It is the font of all our mission.

So it is my passionate conviction that holistic mission must have a holistic theology of the cross.  That includes the conviction that the cross must be as a central to our social engagement as it is to our evangelism.  There is no other power, no other resource, no other name through which we can offer the whole Gospel to the whole person and to the whole world than Jesus Christ crucified and risen.”  (Christopher J.H. Wright, The Mission of God, pages 315-316)

Wow.  I mean seriously.  Wow.  How dare we center our life and mission around anything but the Cross.

A [rooster] was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he espied something shinning amid the straw. "Ho! ho!" quoth he, "that's for me," and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard? "You may be a treasure," quoth Master [Rooster], "to men that prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls." Precious things are for those that can prize them.    From Aesop’s Fables

Is this fable not the story of the unbeliever and the life-long struggle of the believer?  Christ is indeed the pearl of great price and yet we so often desire a “single barley-corn” rather than a “peck of pearls”.  The rooster’s problem is the same as ours; he is living for food which perishes and neglecting the greater treasure. 

Lord, give us hearts to treasure that which is truly treasure.  Give us the faith of Moses that chose to endure suffering for the sake of Christ rather than the fleeting pleasures of sin.  Remove our hearts of stone that can stare at beauty and desire bread for today rather than bread which endures forever.  

A boy bathing in a river was in danger of being drowned. He called out to a passing traveler for help, but instead of holding out a helping hand, the man stood by unconcernedly, and scolded the boy for his imprudence. "Oh, sir!" cried the youth, "pray help me now and scold me afterwards." Counsel without help is useless.  From Aesop’s Fables.

Paul Tripp refers to this as “lobbing grenades of truth”.  I wonder how often and in how many areas we, as the church, do this to struggling believers and unbelievers.  Are there homosexuals dying of AIDS and without Christ that we refuse to reach out to?  Are there poor people that spend their money unwisely that we ignore?  Are there teenagers that we refuse to counsel because of their unwise choices?   

I fear that we often look more like the passing traveler than Jesus.  We are pretty good about exercising church discipline.  But sadly the church discipline that we often exercise is on unbelievers.  We let many that claim to be believers go untouched (so long as they are within our friendly confines, tithe, or at least on our membership rolls) with discipline and we “discipline” those are not even within the church. 

You see Aesop really does well at pointing out the ministry of Jesus here.  Jesus most frequently helped and then counseled.  The only time you really see the opposite is with the religious elite that “don’t need help”.  If we only lob truth at people and scold them in their sin then our counsel is useless.  If we only help people but never counsel them then our help is shallow at best. 

Perhaps, rather than boycotting Pepsi and picketing gay parades we should try to build a relationship.  Perhaps, rather than saying to a poor person we will only give 25% to your electric bill we should give until it hurts us, come alongside the person making poor decisions, and counsel them in biblical finances.

But of course lobbing grenades is far easier.  It is more destructive but at least it takes less out of us than hand-to-hand combat.  I could probably lob 15 grenades to every instance of hand-to-hand combat, but it remains impersonal.   So, which type of ministry do you want with people?  Easy yet destructive or tough yet personal?

"And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him..."

Isn't it astonishing that a hole in the roof does not move Jesus to anger but rather compassion?

Seriously, imagine yourself in this situation. You have been on a business trip (or preaching tour) for weeks on end. Now you are finally at home. (By the way it's probably not Jesus' actual house--more than likely it is Simon Peter's). But the crowd wants more. You know what that feels like; being totally spent with nothing to give--but people still need more. Not only would the crowd be a little draining (and dare I say annoying) but add to all of this some guys climbing on your roof and tearing a whole through the ceiling. (Again, let's not lose the context--this would have been far more "fixable" in Jesus' day, but nonetheless still potentially annoying).
Would you have been annoyed by someone tearing a hole in your roof or would you have been moved with compassion? I would have probably been at least a little annoyed. But then again maybe not, with such an extreme case.

The point is this--being available (as believers should be) is not always convenient. However, if we are to be like Jesus then we cannot afford to be ticked off by large crowds or holes in our roof. The glory of God and the souls of people have to be more important and be our heart's greater affection, or else we will miss opportunities because of the inconvenience of availability.

I realize that I am quite behind on posting past sermons. There are four new sermons on Colossians that I have preached.

The first one is part 2 of Colossians 1:15-20: Jesus, Lord of Reconcilation. It is always neat for me looking back at sermons that the Lord uses (at least in part) in His mighty process of reconciliation. One young lady came to know Jesus the night this sermon was preached.

The second one is Colossians 1:21-23: Must I Endure? In this sermon we consider the doctrine of eternal security (or as we Calvinist call it--Preservation of the Saints). I am indebted to Tom Schreiner for many of thoughts in this sermon. He helps us to see how we ought to heed the warning in this text.

The third sermon is on Colossians 1:24-29, where we consider: Are You a Faithful Minister? This was (is) and extremely difficult text to preach. (At least it was for me). At the beginning of preperation it was one of my least favorite sermons. However, once I began writing it quickly became one of my favorites. If I had it to preach over again I would spend more time on the final point--but until I edit you get the uncut sermon.

The fourth sermon is last weeks sermon on Colossians 2:1-5: Truth Matters. This is another sermon that students responded to. I know for me, considering whether or not I truly believe Jesus to be the storehouse of all wisdom and knowledge, this was convicting. In case you read the sermon and want the answers to the first 13 questions: 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 are true the rest are false. You may disagree with calling 11 false--I mean it to be somewhat tricky.

May God be glorified!

Wednesday's sermon is now available online. Colossians 1:15-17 is an absolutely stunning text in all that it asserts. Jesus is God made flesh. Jesus is the Lord over all of creation. Jesus is the Pre-existent I AM. Jesus holds all things together. That is enough to blow our minds. Yet, as Paul expounds on Jesus being the Lord over all creation in verse 16, the scope absolutely is astounding. Everything was created by the means of, through, and for Jesus Christ.

Why is Mercury closer to the sun than Jupiter? Because Jesus thought that was a good idea? Why was I created? Because Jesus thought it was a good idea. He created me because He wanted to, and he did so for His glory. If that does not give us significance I am not sure what does. EVERYTHING was created by, through, and for Jesus. Truly astounding.

One final thing, did you realize that Jesus was actively involved in knitting Judas together in his mother's womb? In one sense Jesus planted the tree that became the Cross he hung on. He wrote the Passion story. From the rocks under his feet, to the spit that wet his brow, to the blood which dripped from his veins. He poetically wrote the whole thing. Why? Because he wanted to and for His glory. What a mighty God we serve!

There is quite a stir among my Calvinist brethren over the upcoming Jacobus John 3:16 Conference. Rhett from the Reformed Mafia, believes we are being set up for the kill. Tom Ascol continues to have hope. Dr. James Galyon has a very thoughtful response to Steve Lemke.

Frank Turk has an interesting take on the Rick Warren call to Mark Driscoll. (Hey, blogosphere, I just used the name Driscoll and Warren in the same post...can I anticipate 3,000 hits today?)

Great post at The Gate: A Reality Check, It's Not All About Me. (HT: Jared)

How do you apply the gospel to pastoral ministry? This is a phenomenal article by Rich Richardson. Seriously. Read it twice. Then apply.

John Piper offers 6 Apsects of Humility.

The Irish Calvinist (that makes it sound like there is only one guy in Ireland that is a Calvinist, doesn't it), has a wonderful post on Preaching. Here is a sample quote that rips into my small intestine: "Jesus just unfolds the Scriptures...This is a rebuke to those of us who teach and find more power in a pithy quote from a theologian than the precise and power-packed Word of God. Let’s preach and teach as men who are under the authority of the Word. May it be clear when we teach who the authority is. Sometimes contemporary preachers, particularly in the Reformed wing, tread dangerously close to a Protestant Magisterium with all of their appeals to “heroes” of the faith. If you are a preacher, does your word possess authority? If you are preaching the Word then it does. Men, preach to put God on display and make Jesus the hero."

Josh Harris and CJ Mahaney address how a pastor monitors the health of his own soul. Here is a similar article by CJ.

Very convicting statements by Dan Phillips. Here is the foundational point in his article: "Sure, God says to do ___, but I've figured out that that won't work. So I don't have to do it. And I won't. Because I'm too smart."

For those involved in the Purtian Reading Challenge, Timmy Brister offers his monthly biographical on our author of the month. This month is Thomas Watson.

Michael Patton asks, How Many Beliefs Can One Abandon and Still be Called Christian? I'm guessing the magic number is 7, but that's just because God seems to like that number. Maybe you should read Michael's article, it's probably more scholarly than my guess of 7. By the way, this article is really about what doctrines are essential to the Christian faith.

C.J. Mahaney has a wonderful article on preaching in view of the Cross. Here is one helpful quote within the article: "We must never assume the gospel. We must always assume that those we serve need to hear the gospel yet again. Any sermon we preach is incomplete and insufficient until we explicitly reference Christ and him crucified."

Dr. Mohler lists the Top 10 books every preacher needs to read in 2008. (Looks like I need to update my list again).

Frank Turk has entered the discussion on total abstinence from alcohol. See his thoughtful comments here.

Greg Gilbert gives a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that all churches fast from all forms of instrumental music. He has some wonderful thoughts in this article. Here is an excerpt: "I am really afraid that we’ve managed to create a generation of anemic Christians who are spiritually dependent on excellent music. Their sense of spiritual well-being is based on feeling “close to God,” their feeling close to God is based on their “ability to worship,” and being able to worship depends on big crowds singing great music.

Brian, at Voice of the Sheep, has interesting question; "Are Any Called Who Do Not Come?"

Purgatorio has posted a very thought provoking picture. It is of Jesus washing Bin Laden's feet. It asks, Is this a biblical picture.

MacArthur's What Doctrines Are Essential series concludes with part 2 and 3.

Two convictions frame the background for this post. 1) I believe that our ministries should be like Paul's: "I desired to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified". 2) Our primary motivation for preaching Christ should be nothing except His glory. We will deal with the second conviction first, then the deal with first conviction, and lastly attempt to tie both of these together.

When our primary motivation for preaching Christ becomes something other than His glory we get ourselves into many troubles. There are many secondary desires for preaching Christ that are right and good, but when elevated to the place of primary they become deadly. A prime example of this is "winning souls". If our prime motivation is to see people saved, then typically whatever we do to achieve this goal is justifiable. "If it reaches one soul then it was worth it". Therefore, we are taught to waver on unbiblical practices simply because it "won a soul".

Imagine this situation. A large group of teenagers are drawn to an event by motorcycles, appealing music, drama, food, and other teenagers. After a couple hours of cool motorcycle tricks and funny drama we hear a brief sermon. It does have a few Bible verses and a young man tells of how Jesus has changed his life. We are not told much about God. We are told even less about sin. We are certainly not told of what God requires of us. The "gospel" presentation is watered down at best. Then an invitation is given. Scores of students "come forward" to accept Jesus. They are prayed for and then they meet with counselors for about 15 minutes. During this time the counselors try to discern whether or not they are sincere in their "decision". They get some information, call them saved (so long as they are sincere and can repeat a prayer and nod their head at the right time, of course), and then send them back to their home church to get baptized.

Whether you believe that using motorcycles, drama, etc. in church is biblical or not is actually not the greater issue I am concerned with. I fall on the regulative principle "side" and figure that such "evangelistic tools" should not be used in our churches. The regulative principle is not the foundational issue. The foundational issue I am concerned with is the mindset that drives this type of event. Why is the gospel so "watered-down"? Certainly, it is so that lost people can understand it. The central reason for preaching Christ is, in this case, so that souls might be won. Therefore, we can water down the gospel in the hopes that it will be more appealing and win more souls for Jesus. Also, we have to have a way to keep track of these "decisions". Sometimes an altar call is enough; but, sometimes we are so successful that we have to get cards so that we can see "how many people made decisions". My main concern is that the gospel is neutered. My secondary concern is that people go home confused and often with a false sense of security.

This is a somewhat extreme example. Now imagine this situation. You are attending a conference on missions/evangelism. You hear some very startling statistics. You learn that every 1.7 seconds someone dies and goes to hell. (Which by the way is probably a fairly accurate statistic; and this should cause us concern). You also hear about our lack of evangelism. You think back upon your year and realize that you have not shared Christ with nearly as many people as you could have. You are plagued with guilt (and perhaps you should be). Then the speaker tells you a touching story of someone that he did not share Jesus with and blames himself for that person being in hell. You are urged to think of all your family members and friends that will be in hell within 100 years if you do not share the gospel with them. You go home; you are now depressed but have motivation to share the gospel with people. As you wake up the next morning it is still sticking with you, but you still struggle with fear--and now more guilt. Then the next day you are a little more numb. You continue down this cycle until next years evangelism conference and then you are reminded of your failure and vow to do better this time around. You wake up again to failure.

Now imagine this scene. You catch a vision of the majesty and holiness of God. You begin to realize that God is passionate about His glory. You begin to understand that God wants to spread His glory to the nations. Furthermore, you find that God is glorified whether souls are saved or not. Certainly we want to see souls saved; yet we are able to trust in the Lord's goodness and know that the preaching of His Word is a means to spread His glory to the nations. This causes you to realize that every time you share the gospel it is a "success". Your standard is no longer "how many decisions" but is instead "was God glorified". You still are convicted at times when you do not share the gospel. This time, however, it is different. You are not stricken with guilt because you sent somebody to hell. This time you feel a deep sense of conviction because you have valued man's opinion over the glory of God.

Do you see how this serves as a filter? The first scenario would never happen because you would be more concerned about faithfully proclaiming the gospel than about "winning souls". The second scenario would also be done away with. We can still share the statistics. We can still point out our failures to evangelism. But this time instead of being driven to an "I've got to do better" mentality we will be driven to the Cross. We will plead with God to show us more of His glory. We will repent of not treasuring Him over the fear of man. We will rest on His mercy to stir up in our hearts a proper motivation for evangelism. We will cry out for more compassion. We will plead with Him to stir in our hearts in such a way that we treasure His glory more than anything else.

I am not alone in my convictions either. Martin Lloyd-Jones found the same thing was true. As Lloyd-Jones began studying Scripture, and the sermons of many men that had been used by God in mighty ways, he found 5 things in common in each of their gospel presentations:

1. The supreme object of the work of evangelism is to glorify God, not to save souls
2. The only power that can do this work is the Holy Spirit, not our own strength
3. The one and only medium through which the Spirit works is the Scriptures; therefore, we “reason out of the Scriptures” like Paul did
4. These preceding principles give us the true motivation for evangelism-a zeal for God and a love for others
5. There is a constant danger of heresy through a false zeal and employment of unscriptural methods

Did you catch the first one? The supreme work of evangelism is to glorify God, NOT to save souls! Therefore, we see that our primary motivation for preaching Christ should be for His glory! Now why must we preach Christ alone? Why must we preach in such a way that we could say with Paul, I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified?

The reason that we must preach Christ alone is because that is how He is to be glorified. We do not display Jesus as a sufficient treasure when we preach Christ plus something else. If Jesus needs motorcycles to be attractive then He must not be that precious of a treasure. The way we preach Christ displays how much we value Him as a sufficient treasure! There is a great snippet from a Spurgeon sermon at Pulpit magazine's blog today that fits well here; The Importance of Preaching Christ. Spurgeon's central thesis is this: "You [as preachers] have nothing else to employ as the means of good, except the salvation of Jesus, and there is nothing else worth telling."

Therefore, I encourage you to preach Christ. Do it boldly. And do it without ribbons and without bows. And when you are preaching Christ do not do it with the ulterior motive of "winning souls". God will do that work. You preach Christ and Christ alone for His glory alone! Remember the greatest Christmas present came without gift wrapping!