Pastor Alistair Begg Says a Return to “Serious Engagement with the Bible” Is Necessary

September 10, 2024 — Crosswalk.com reports: “Pastor and author Alistair Begg recently lamented the decline of Scripture in congregational life as part of his message at the annual Sing! Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

‘Traditionally, the pulpit was central and visually dominant, not as an expression of the preacher’s authority, but as a reminder of the authority of Scripture,’ Begg said in his message, recalling the awe he felt as a child when the church ‘beadle’ carried the Bible to the pulpit before the service began. 

However, he noted that centrality has been lost in most churches nowadays, The Christian Post reports.

‘Plexiglass, bar stools — why? Well, you’ve got to please the consumers,’ Begg said, referring to the seeker-sensitive style of modern worship spaces. ‘It’s a noble prospect, but there’s an unfortunate symbolism to it.’

According to Begg, the decline of the raised pulpit reflects a broader issue: the diminishing role of Scripture in congregational life. He argued that modern churchgoers typically arrive with a more casual mindset rather than being eager to hear God’s Word. 

‘Instead of coming into worship with the express understanding that all of this begins with God in His glory, people come with coffee in hand, saying, ‘Let’s see if he’s got something good for us today,’‘ he said…”  (What a sad state Christianity is in all the world.  I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;   Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry – II Timothy 4:1-5.)