When I was in college, there was a trendy one-liner from a movie, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” It must be one of the most idiotic statements ever uttered on the silver screen. Forgiveness requires apology.
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was a passionate preacher, something of a firebrand. George Whitefield nicknamed him “Son of Thunder.” Revival was in the air and evangelists like Gilbert preached energetically on the necessity of the new birth. His fellow Presbyterians tried to discredit Gilbert’s Log Cabin degree (a cabin college started by his father) and ban his itinerant ministry. He defied the ban and preached in a neighboring town a scathing sermon titled “The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry.” He labeled his opponents “Pharisee-leaders” and singled them out as being “blind as moles and dead as stones.”
Gilbert’s sermon split Presbyterians down the middle. He formed an association of “new side” churches while his detractors aligned with “old side” churches. The revival of the Great Awakening ran its course and Gilbert later settled into pastoral ministry in a Philadelphia church. He mellowed in the intervening years and preached more conciliatory sermons, apologizing for his judgmental spirit. Rather than examining the spiritual state of others, he advocated reunion with the old side because they were “orthodox in doctrine and regular in life.” Revivalist colleagues accused him of selling out while old side opponents were still wary of his intentions, yet it paved the way for reunion eight years later. How ironic that Gilbert was elected first moderator of the reunited church.
Gilbert was afflicted with a life-threatening illness early in his ministry and was uncertain of recovery. He wrote, “I was exceedingly grieved for having done so little for God. I prayed that God would be pleased to give me one half year more. I was determined to promote His kingdom with all my might and all adventures.” He lived another thirty-five years. I have adapted words from his “Unconverted Ministry” sermon to lead us into prayer: