'Headship of Christ under assault' MacArthur says at SBTS

By Garrett E. Wishall

John MacArthur

The doctrine under the greatest assault in the church today, including many sectors of evangelical Christianity, is the doctrine of the headship of Christ, John MacArthur said Oct. 31 in a chapel service at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

MacArthur's sermon was the first of three he delivered as the featured speaker for the annual E.Y. Mullins Lecture Series at Southern. MacArthur, pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif. and president of The Master's College and Seminary, said that ministry approaches that undermine the authority of God's Word deny the headship of Christ over the church.

"Modern liberal theology denies the headship of Christ. The 'seeker' movement silences His rule, substituting His Word with anything and everything else," he said. "You can deny the headship of Christ in the church by removing the only way in which He can rule and that is by the expression of His will, which comes through an understanding of His Word. You take the Word out and you have dethroned the Head.

"The emerging church leaders would probably say that they believe in the headship of Christ and the Bible, but their approach is that the Bible is not clear. As emerging church leader Brian McLaren says 'clarity is highly overrated. Ambiguity is preferable.' According to McLaren, Christ may be the head of the church and He did speak but we have absolutely no idea what He is saying. So why should we bother reading and explaining the Word of God? Anything that takes out of the life of the church the voice of its Head is a rebellion."

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