(Nashville, Tenn. – July 10, 2011) – Ascending to the pulpit at Woodmont Christian Church in
Nashville on Sunday, Dr. Fred Craddock looked around at the standing-room only congregation, aisles filled with folding chairs and exits blocked by Disciples gathering to hear him speak.
“There’s no where to run,” he deadpanned, to the laughter of the audience.
A distinguished Disciples author and preacher, Craddock is the Bandy Distinguished Professor of Preaching and New Testament, Emeritus, at Emory University in Atlanta and a highly sought pulpit speaker. He is known as one of the foremost proponents of an inductive style of homiletics which is based on the idea that good preaching is a socializing force which creates community.
He began his talk lamenting that the economic recession has not simply created a deficit of wealth, but a deficit of words as well.
“I went to a church recently which opened up its vault and brought out a word that hadn’t been used in years,” he said. “The word was ‘charismatic’ and it scared everyone to death. So much so, they had to put it back in the vault.”
Craddock asked rhetorically if Disciples felt uncomfortable with referring to themselves as “saved?” He admitted it’s a word you won’t find used very often in the lexicon of many Disciples.
“We’re a ‘Bible people’,” Craddock said. “When all else fails, we turn to the Scripture.” He suggested that in many discussions of the miracles of Jesus, the Bible refers to Jesus’ healing of illness or blindness as someone being “made well.” But in the case of sin, Jesus can “save.”
He told the gathering that when it comes to the full range of words describing peoples’ journeys of faith through Christ, Disciples should not be afraid.
“There was a time in my life I thought that when Christ is present, there is no misery,” Craddock said. “I’ve now come to the discovery that in the midst of misery, there is Christ.”
The 82-year old Humboldt, Tennessee native offered food for thought as he closed his message to the hundreds of Disciples gathered in the sanctuary, many of whom will be wandering the halls of the General Assembly over the next few days.
“As you meet people, you may find someone who will ask you a question which might be inclined to make you snicker, but you may want to think about how you’ll answer it,” Craddock said. “Are you saved?”
By: Mark Drury
