Practical Questions

1. Is this way of presenting Christ calculated to impress on people that the gospel is a word from God? Or is its tendency rather to distract attention from the author and authority of the message to the person and performance of the messenger'

2. Is this way of presenting Christ calculated to promote or impede the work of God in people’s minds? Is it going to make people think and think hard about God and about themselves in relation to God'

3. Is this way of presenting Christ calculated to convey to people the doctrine of the whole gospel? Or will it hurry people on to the demand for faith and repentance without having made it clear just what they need to repent of or what they ought to believe'

4. Is this way of presenting Christ calculated to convey to people the application of the whole gospel? Or is it likely to give an inadequate, distorted impression of what the gospel requires'

5. Is this way of presenting Christ calculated to convey gospel truth in a manner that is appropriately serious? Or is it so light, fun, and casual that hearers will have a hard time taking it seriously and will regard it as a pick-me-up for life’s misfits?

Your Father Loves You by James Packer, (Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986), page for July 30