Watch That Tone

Reformed Christians such as myself sometimes scratch their heads at statements like this:

“They spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed.” (v1)

If God is absolutely sovereign (which he is – Ephesians 1:11), and only grants true repentance and faith to those who are “appointed to eternal life” (which he does – Acts 13:48, John 6:44, Romans 8:29-30), then why does the “manner” in which we preach matter? If, from eternity past, God has appointed an elect people to salvation, then nothing we do – nor the manner in which we do it – can alter that.

This is both a true statement to make, and also an erroneous path of reasoning. God has ordained both the ends and the means. From eternity past, he may have determined that you would become Prime Minister. In that sense, he is the primary cause of your political success. But there are also secondary causes. You needed votes, for example. But each one of those votes was also ordained by God, as the means of you being elected. We may find that your seventy-thousand-and-fourth vote was cast by an Indonesian lady who learned about you at the polling booth on voting day. In fact, God ordained the pebble in her shoe that slowed her progress, meaning she would meet the lady at the booth, who was only there because her son had to stay late at school, which only happened because he had caused trouble in class, which he only did because he hated the teacher, an emotion which had only begun the day prior, and that because of a misunderstanding. (Please take a breath if, for some odd reason, you happen to be reading this aloud).

Seen in this light, it is no contradiction at all to hold (a) that God ordains who will believe, (b) that God also ordains the “manner” of preaching that is effective at engendering such belief in those who will believe, and (c) that therefore, it is incumbent upon Christian apologists to develop that “manner”.

The “manner” referred to is explained in v3 – “speaking boldly and with reliance upon the Lord”.

To speak boldly means to assume the centre, to give the truth candidly, and without concern for how it will be received. Speaking in this way, you rely upon the Lord, the Holy Spirit, who will use your words as he sees fit. It’s not up to you to dress the gospel up in a bowtie so that the unbeliever will smile when he sees it. He’ll probably just laugh.

So, watch your tone.

Now, the phrase “watch your tone” is frequently no more than a weapon used to silence men who have allowed the oh-so-dreaded poison of testosterone to infect their “manner” of speaking. It comes across (can you believe it) authoritatively, and with conviction. How awful!

When I say “watch your tone”, I am asking men to take the nose rings and pink hair out of their voice. Speak with conviction. Stop trying to be “nice”. Quit fearing what the little old ladies of both sexes will think if you say what you mean. And if it turns out that you’re wrong, be just as unflinching in your apologies.