Kevin DeYoung's Blog, page 180

See What a Morning

The Silence of God

That's My King!

You've probably seen it already, but some sermons never get old. Goose bumps were made for this.

Lest We Drift Away: A Sermon for Good Friday

Almost everyone has flown on a plane before. So you've all sat through those opening instructions from the flight attendants about what to do in the event of an emergency. They say the same thing on every flight, every day, on every airline. And every day, on every flight, on every airline, almost no one pays attention to the message. I've flown several times in the past couple months and I can't recall seeing anyone looking at the flight attendants or giving one second of thought to what they were talking about. No one pays attention to these instructions.

Why? For a few reasons I think. For starters, the flight attendants look bored out of their skulls. There is nothing in their demeanor to suggest they are very interested in what is coming over the loud speakers. The way they drop the little seat belt down and pull on the strings for the oxygen mask don't exactly scream passion and interest.

Second, almost everyone on the plane has been on a place before. They've heard about the seat cushion as a floatation device and putting on your mask before assisting others. They know they should follow posted placards and that the nearest exit may behind you. Nothing new is ever said. The flight attendants never say, "Your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device, an oxygen mask will drop in front of you, and on this flight only your headrest turns into a parachute and the back of your seat becomes a rocket!" There's nothing new, nothing exciting, so we don't pay attention.

Mostly, we don't pay attention because we don't think it matters. We don't really anticipate the plane crashing. And in the unlikely event that the plane does go down, we figure someone will tell us what to do. If not, we reckon we'll be able to figure it out on our own.

It seems to me this whole experience of listening to flight attendants is eerily similar to church for many of us.

1. We have someone preaching to us who is pretty bored with the whole thing.

2. We've been to church and figure we've heard all the same stuff before. So why listen?

3. We don't think we'll really need to use anything we hear in church. And if we do, we'll figure it out before the end comes.

So we don't pay attention. We hear the gospel a hundred times and we don't think anything of it. We celebrate dozens of Good Fridays and it never makes a difference. Jesus, cross, death, resurrection–it's all just noise in the background of our lives as we try to get our seats to recline and open the tiny bag of peanuts. No one is listening.

But listen to Hebrews 2:1-4.

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

This is one of five warning passages in Hebrews. These five passages are not teaching that genuine Christians can lose their salvation. What they are teaching is that some people with an external connection to Christianity will not in the end by saved. And further, these passages suggest that those who are saved at the end, will be saved by means of these warning. These passages are danger signs that keep the elect persevering to the end.

"We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard"–that's the warning. Sit up straight. Put your feet on the floor. Shut your yap. And listen up. "Pay attention church people! You are in danger of drifting away." Hebrews 6:19 says the promise of God is "a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul." So we've got warnings to the drifters and promises to those who are anchored.

Floating Away

There are a lot of ways to lose your spot on the river of faith. One way is to let yourself move away to another location. The waters get choppy and rough, so you take your boat somewhere else. That happens with the gospel. We ditch Christianity because life gets hard. We drift away because of suffering. Hebrews 10 says "But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometime being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes partners with those so treated." And then verse 35 says, "Do not throw away your confidence." In other words, "You used to be so firm in your faith. But then you got cancer, or someone didn't like you because you believed the Bible, or you started having troubles with your kids. Something hard came into your life and it made you question your faith. You started to wonder if there was any point in being a Christian. Was it worth the cost?" you thought to yourself. So you compromised. You gave in. You pulled up anchor and let your boat float away."

Or sometimes we look for another spot on the river because it seems it more enjoyable. When you first got interested in Christianity it was new and exciting. It gave purpose and order to your life. You liked the fellowship and the people. But then you found out how you were supposed to change. You learned that God, because he loves you, didn't want you to have be a sexaholic, a workaholic, an alcoholic. You realized that following Jesus meant you couldn't live any which you pleased. You belonged to God, and the God of the Bible is not an anything goes kind of God. So, unlike Moses, you decided to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin (Heb. 11:25). You decided to drop your anchor in a sexier port. As a result, even though you call yourself a Christian and you may go to a church once in awhile, you are not in the place you once were. Not by a long shot. You've drifted away.

But there's an even easier way to leave the faith. You don't have to pick up and move somewhere else because of suffering or the allure of sin. You can just drift. If you row your little boat out in the Mississippi River and take a nap for two hours, when you wake up you will not be in the same place. Without an anchor, you will have floated away with the current. That's what happens in life. Hebrews 6:11 says "We desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish…"

Most church people drift away from God not because they meant to, but because they got busy, they got lazy, they got distracted, they had kids, they got a mortgage, a few illnesses came, then some bills, then the in-laws visited for a week, then the mini-van broke down, and before you knew what was happening the seed of the word of God had been choked out by the worries of life.

That's the way it happens for many people. They never dropped anchor, and so they simply floated away when the currents got strong. They used to pray. They used to be interested in the Bible. They used to talk to God. They used go to church. They never woke up and decided "Today I'm going to stop being a Christian. They just drifted. That's why Hebrews 10:24 says "Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching." Some of the Hebrews had checked out, stopped going to church, just floated away from the whole thing.

Listen Up

So what can we do to stop from drifting? Verse one tells us. "We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard." We must keep a close eye on the gospel.

First, we must notice that it is a reliable message. Both of those words are important, reliable and message. The gospel is not the same as asking Jesus into your heart. The gospel is not a program for becoming a better you. The gospel is not a series of ethical commands. The gospel is not an experience of generic spirituality. The gospel is the good news that God so loved the world that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to fulfill the law, to suffer as a man, and to die on the cross, bearing the penalty for sin the we deserved, and being raised on the third day that we might be declared innocent and righteous before God. The gospel is a message.

And it is reliable. Eyewitnesses saw it and passed it on to others who in turn told others. The story of the gospel took place out in the open for all to see. This was no secret, mystery religion. These things did not happen in a cave somewhere. The miracles of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit testified publicly that Jesus was not just another Rabbi or another prophet or another teacher, but he was, in fact, the Christ, the Son of the living God.

We must pay attention to this reliable message, lest we mistake false gospels for the real gospel, and end up believing in the Jesus of good causes, or the Jesus of good coffee, or the Jesus of good examples, or life coach Jesus, or greeting card Jesus, or prosperity Jesus, or positive thinking Jesus, instead of Jesus Christ crucified, dead, and buried for the sin of the world.

The other think we should notice is that this reliable message is the message about a great salvation. I think many church people drift from God because he seems so ordinary. They float away from the gospel because it strikes them as dreadfully boring. They give up on the Christian faith because, like the flight attendant instructions, it seems lifeless, passionless, inconsequential. But Hebrews tells us we have a great salvation.

It's a great salvation because it saves us from a great wrath. The argument in verse 2 is from the lesser to the greater. If the message declared by angels, if the law of Moses given by angelic intermediaries proved to be reliable and disobedience to that law meant punishment, how much more will we face God's wrath if we reject a greater message about someone greater than Moses declared to us by one greater than angels? Parents don't let their kids get away with disobedience, your employer doesn't turn a blind eye when you break company policy, the government will not let you go free when you break their laws, so why should we expect God to let us escape untouched if we neglect such a great salvation.

Jesus is Greater

We must pay closer attention to this message. The Devil doesn't want you to see the details. He wants you to believe that God is the one Being in the universe who doesn't care about justice. But it is not so. We will not escape if we neglect this message. But praise God there is deliverance from great wrath in this gospel message. And just as importantly, there is in this message of great salvation a great Savior.

The whole book of Hebrews is an extended argument for the superiority of Jesus Christ.

The prophets revealed God to the people, but Jesus Christ was the revelation of God himself.

The angels were sent from God to be his ministering servants, but Jesus Christ was loved by God as his only begotten Son.

The old covenant taught Israel the way to God, the truth of the law, and the life of holiness, but Jesus Christ instituted a new covenant in his blood that he himself might be the way, the truth, and the life for us.

The tabernacle made with human hands symbolized God's presence among his people, but Jesus Christ, uncreated, made without human hands, was God among his people.

The kingdom in ages past shook the mountain at Sinai, but Jesus Christ promises a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

The High Priest from Aaron's line offered sacrifices for himself year and year, day after day, but Jesus Christ, our sinless High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, has made a sacrifice once for all, never to be repeated.

The blood of bulls and goats was shed morning and evening, century after century, for the remission of sins, but Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, shed his own blood for the sins of the world, thus securing an eternal redemption.

Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, but Jesus Christ has been faithful over God's house as a son.

Joshua led the people into the promised land, but Jesus Christ alone can give you Sabbath rest.

Abraham was a great man of faith, but Jesus Christ is the guarantor of all that Abraham had faith in.

All these saints and all these things were pointing the way to Jesus Christ, our great Prophet, Priest, and King, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).

We must pay much closer attention to the gospel, to Jesus, and to the cross, lest by an imperceptible current we drift away. Heaven never tires of the cross, and neither should we. The saints in glory never grow weary of the singing the old, old story: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"

Do not let Good Friday pass you by like a set of airline instructions. Fix your eyes on the cross. Not as the place to show us our worth, but to show us the weight of our sin. Not as the pace where Jesus simply felt our pain, but where he bore our penalty. Not as the place where God overturned divine justice, but where God in mercy fulfilled his justice. Not as the place where love died, but where love reigned supreme. Pay careful attention to the cross. Here we see a great salvation, delivering us from a great wrath, revealing to us a great Savior who was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities, that by his stripes we might be healed.

Are You Looking to Explore Christianity?

We've used Christianity Explored in our church for several years. It's a series of videos developed in Britain that walk through the Gospel of Mark. The aim is to introduce Jesus to non-Christians and new Christians. CE has a new website that is worth checking out.

Besides looking sharp, the website has several nice features (this is not a paid advertisement by the way).

The content is delivered through dozens of short videos. The videos are also transcribed for those who want to read the material.


There are three main areas to the site. One part answers the question, "What is Christianity?" A second part contains short answers to tough questions. The third area includes real stories of personal faith.


The site is not mainly about the CE program. Obviously, you can find information about the course, but the site is primarily an evangelistic tool meant to come alongside local churches in their gospel ministry. This is not a CE promo site, but a good resource for introducing people to Christianity.

If you're American, you'll notice most of the videos come with a wonderful accent. Here's one that doesn't (but the content is still good of course).

The 4 P's of Business

Although many readers of this blog are in full time ministry, most Christians aren't. Many Christians inhabit the world of business, a realm that pastors frequently berate and misunderstand. There are dilemmas faced in the business world that go unnoticed by other Christians. Recently I preached a sermon on business ethics from Proverbs that touched on some of those issues.

I structured my sermon around four priorities of business. I can't recall where I first encountered these 4 P's, but they have been useful to me in articulating a concise vision for business ethics.

Here are the four P's in ascending order of importance.

Profit

A profit is what you get when you sell a product (goods or services) for more than the cost to produce it. Products do not have intrinsic value. Beckett Monthly can say that a baseball card is worth $100, but it's not really worth anything unless someone would rather have that card instead of $100. There is nothing wrong with making a profit.

If the system is fair and you're fair, profits show that you are providing people with a good or service they find valuable. In many case, you actually help others as you seek to help yourself. Not all self-interest is selfish.

We know profit is not evil because the woman in Proverbs 31 was commended for making a profit (Prov. 31:16-18, 24). In fact, Proverbs understands human nature and that people are motivated by the promise of material gain (Prov. 16:26). Being rewarded for labor is the way God designed the world. To frustrate that design is to spit into the wind.

Every business that lasts will find a way to make a profit. This is a good pursuit, so long as this pursuit is not ultimate. There are other priorities for the Christian that must be more important than profit.

Product

A Christian aims to glorify God in everything (1 Cor. 10:31). This means Christians in business should design goods and provide services they can be proud of. This doesn't mean Christians only make top of the line products. It means, however, that Christians should seek to provide people with goods and services that add to human flourishing, whether that is a bouquet of flowers, a breakfast cereal, or an investment tool.

We must not draw the circle too tightly around the phrase "human flourishing." Certainly there are some products we know are not worthwhile (e.g., pornography), but in a diverse world there are many ways to "give people what they want" without giving them the idolatrous version of what they want. Just because you hate television doesn't mean there isn't a place for Christians in the industry.

People

Here's the bottom line when it comes to being a Christian businessperson: don't look out only for your bottom line. "Better is a little with righteousness than great revenue with injustice" (Prov 16:8). This may mean you don't close on a sale that would help you, because you're pretty sure it would hurt your customer. Or it may mean you do business in a bad part of town because the neighborhood needs it, even if you won't make much money there.

There are hundreds of ways in which Christians in business should make people a priority. For example, Proverbs tells the rich person not to hold on to all his grain in the midst of a famine (Prov. 11:24-26). You can imagine the temptation to hold on to your surplus until prices rise even higher. But God expects us to put the well being of people above the well being of our margins. In a different vein, Proverbs 26:10 encourages employers to hire wisely. This too is a way of caring for people. Employers have a responsibility to make wise decisions, to manage well and hire intelligently. If they are fools who hire fools, the public will suffer and so will the other employees.

Principles

Christians in business must be true to biblical principles above all else. I see at least three business principles in Proverbs.

First, we must obey the law. "The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice" (Prov. 17:23). There is nothing more important for general economic prosperity than respect for private property and the rule of law. These are the building blocks of social capital and the way God expects us to manage our business.

Second, don't promise what you aren't willing or able to deliver. Proverbs often warns against putting up security for someone else (6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26-27; 27:13). This may not mean it's always wrong to co-sign a loan, because these are probably instances where the security could not be paid (Prov. 22:26-27). But at the very least, the Bible has nothing good to say about putting up security. Better to give the money if you have it or avoid altogether the entanglements of securing a loan. The folly is in promising more than you can deliver.

Third, always tell the truth. "A false balance is an abomination to the lord, but a just weight is his delight" (Prov. 11:1; see also 16:11; 20:10, 23). Christians do not lie, not even in advertisements. We will not bait and switch. We don't cheat, and we won't hide the facts that consumers have a right to know. Note also that buyers can lie, saying "Bad, bad" at the point of a sale, but then boasting as he walks away (Prov. 20:14). No matter our part in the transaction, we must tell the truth.

Conclusion

The four points can be summarized with two general rules:

1) Love your neighbor as yourself. Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer (or buyer) and think how you would like to be treated.

2) Look to Jesus. Not only does he provide the grace for walking in the way of wisdom, he also is the perfect example of putting people before profit and honoring God's principles before his own desires.

Pietism and Confessionalism Round Up

Ligon Duncan started things off with a short post called Bavinck v. Nevin.

Then William Evans weighed in by reminding us that we need Bavinck's warning against spiritual presumption and Nevin's caution against conversionistic piety.

I entered the fray arguing for a confessionalism that is rich in piety and does not shun the good contributions of pietism (part one, part two, part three).

Next came Darryl Hart, who imagined a conspiracy was afoot when my initial post disappeared (I just hit the wrong button on my computer and posted it too soon). Hart went on to explain his disagreements with my posts here and quoted Nevin on revival here.

Back to Ref21, William Evans later argued that the issue is not about pietism and confessionalism as much as it is about different models of piety, one the stresses nurture and one that emphasizes conversion. Good point, and I would argue that churches should nurture faith in their covenant children, while also preaching/teaching in such a way that stresses the importance of heart transformation.

Yesterday Michael Horton posted a great piece that explores the historical dimensions of the discussion. This is a helpful summary:

We desperately need to recover the emphasis evident in a host of New Testament passages that celebrate the gradual, ordered, organic work of the Spirit through ordinary means.  At the same time, the  promise is not only "for you and your children," but also "for those who are far off."  Regardless of whether one is pro- or anti-revival, it's one thing to imagine that one can manipulate God into sending revival by "new measures" and "excitements" and quite another to pray and hope for seasons of greater blessing.  Writers like Iain Murray who speak of revival as the Spirit's extraordinary blessing on his ordinary means of grace stand in a long line of "experimental Calvinism."  If revivalism is antithetical to "the system of the Catechism" (and I agree that it is), it is nevertheless true also that confessional Protestants have often prayed for special periods of awakening and revival.  Pro-revival Calvinists include the Puritans and the great Princetonians (Alexander, Hodge, and Warfield), not just Edwards and Whitefield. So the debate over the meaning and legitimacy of "revival" is in-house.  There is no historical justification for pro-revival or anti-revival Calvinists to write each other out of this heritage.

Then Horton makes three concluding points worth repeating.

1. Regardless of the historical accuracy of our definitions, what we call "pietism" today is different from the piety exhibited in the Reformed and Presbyterian heritage.  To the extent that "pietism" conjures the picture of a personal relationship with Christ and an immediate work of the Spirit over against the public means of grace and ministry of the church, it is inimical to Reformed piety.

2. At least in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition, "confessionalism" is just as unhelpful a description.  I know what it means to be confessional: it's to affirm that Scripture so clearly reveals "the faith once and for all delivered to the saints" that churches can recognize and affirm this faith together across all times and places.  But what exactly is a "confessionalist"?  Typically, this is a swear-word hurled at those who are simply confessional.  However, sometimes it is worn proudly as a label by anti-pietists. If "pietism" sets the inward work of the Spirit over against the external means of grace, "confessionalism"—in some versions, at least—simply reverses the antithesis.  This is a dangerous opposition that is foreign to the Reformed confession.  And that leads to the third point.

3. For some—on both sides of the debate, "confessionalism" is in danger of becoming identified with extreme views that are opposed to the actual teaching of our confessions.  The Belgic Confession treats the marks of the true Christian (faith in Christ, following after righteousness, love of God and neighbor, mortification of the flesh) in the same article as the marks of the true church (Art 29).  Although assurance of God's favor is founded solely on his promise of justification in Christ, "we do good so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and so that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ" (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 86).  Personal faith, repentance, and growth in godliness are enjoined in the Westminster Confession (chapters 13-16).  There is no hint of the public and corporate means of grace being opposed to one's personal relationship to Christ.  It would be ironic—and tragic—if "confessionalism" became identified with positions that are actually inimical to the confessions themselves.  Jonathan Edwards and John Williamson Nevin have become flag-bearers for Calvinistic "pietism" and "confessionalism," respectively.  However, in my view, both are somewhat idiosyncratic representatives of the Reformed tradition.  To move beyond polarization, we need to include more mainstream voices through the ages.

All in all, I would say this is a healthy conversation. I'm glad we're having it.

A Doctrine That Must Be Believed

Charles Hodge:

It is an almost invincible presumption that the Bible does teach the unending punishment of the finally impenitent, that all Christian churches have so understood it. There is no other way in which the unanimity of judgment can be accounted for. To refer it to some philosophical speculation which had gained ascendancy in the Church, such as the dualism of good and evil as two coeternal and necessary principles, or the Platonic doctrine of the inherent immorality and indestructible nature of the human soul, would be to assign a cause altogether inadequate to the effect.

Much less can this general consent be accounted for on the ground that the doctrine in question is congenial to the human mind, and is believed for its own sake, without any adequate support from Scripture. The reverse is the case. It is a doctrine which the natural heart revolts from and struggles against, and to which it submits only under stress of authority. The Church believes the doctrine because it must believe it, or renounce faith in the Bible and give up all the hopes founded upon its promises. (Systematic Theology, Vol. III, 870)

Let every young Christian and every doubting saint pay attention to those last two sentences. Ditto for the pastor who is more ambiguous about the hard sayings of Scripture than he should be. Sometimes we believe what we believe because we are men (and women) under authority. If we want all the promises of blessing, we must accept the other promises too, even if they are less congenial to the human mind and the natural heart revolts against them.

Not One Of, but the One

There is one foundational question each of us must face. By "foundational" I don't mean it is the only question we must answer. What I mean is that this question is so important that if you get this one wrong you are going to get most everything else that really matters wrong. The foundational question is found in all three synoptic gospels. It is the famous query Jesus posed to the disciples at Caesarea Philippi: "Who do you say that I am?"

It may be surprising to some that Jesus even asked this question. The foundation question for Jesus is not "who are your parents?" or "are you openminded?" or "what will you do for me?" The foundational question concerns what you believe. Jesus is interested in faith. He begins with doctrine.

Not too long ago while walking across a bridge near our church I spotted some graffiti underneath the overpass: "I don't need religion. I have a conscience." I can only guess what this spray painter was trying to say, but my guess is he (or she) assumes religion is just a trick for getting people to line up and behave. Religion for him is nothing but a moral code for doing good. And who needs a religious code with all its ritual and institutional trappings if you have a conscience? But the graffiti sloganeer has grossly misunderstood Christianity. The foundational question for Jesus is not "what do I want you to do?" but "who do you say that I am?" Everything flows from a right understanding of Jesus. Not just what he taught or what he did, but who he is.

Initially, Jesus asked the disciples "Who do people say that I am?" (Mark 8:27). In other words, "What are you guys hearing about me? What's the word on the street?" They give three responses. "Some are convinced you're John the Baptist. Others figure you're Elijah. And then there are those who aren't sure, but think you are one of the prophets." That's pretty impressive company. The crowds recognize Jesus to be a man who teaches the way of God, a leader who calls people back to God. They know he does miracles like Elijah, speaks with authority like the prophets, and has a following like John. Not too shabby. To call Jesus "one of the prophets" after four hundred silent years following Malachi is quite a statement.

And yet the crowds are dead wrong. Jesus is not one of; he is the One. Jesus is not a pointer like John, Elijah, or one of the prophets. He is the point. It sounds very lofty to call Jesus a prophet, or a popular teacher, or a wonder worker, or a good man, or a brilliant example, or part of a long line of enlightened figures. But all of these descriptions miss the point. Because in all of them you are saying Jesus is one of (see v. 28). And if you say Jesus is only one of and not the One, you haven't understood him. You don't see who He really is. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16).

You may think you're saying very complimentary things about Jesus when you call him one of the prophets, a great man, an enlightened teacher, but you're not actually complimenting him at all. It's like saying the sun is one of many lights we use to illuminate the house, or that Michael Jordan used to throw the ball around for the Bulls, or that Barack Obama owns a home in Chicago. Those statements are all true. But they are also all false because they don't say enough. The sun is the star in our solar system. Michael Jordan is the best basketball player ever. Barack Obama is the President of the United States. If you don't say those things you're not saying what really matters. By not saying what is most important and most unique you're actually saying something very misleading.

When it comes to identifying Jesus, partial truths that miss the biggest truth end up telling a lie. True, Jesus is a prophet (Mark 6:4; Deut. 18:18). But he is not like John the Baptist. He is not another Elijah. He is not merely one of the prophets. He is the one to which all the other prophets were pointing. So to call him a prophet and nothing but a prophet is to misunderstand at the profoundest level who this man is. If you were to describe your wife as "a beautiful woman among many beautiful women in the world," or "an individual I deeply respect" or "the last, in a long line of women I have loved" would your wife be pleased? Obviously not. You've damned her with faint praise. You've insulted her by demeaning her uniqueness and describing her in terms so much below what she deserves.

So away with all this nonsense that Jesus is like Mohammed or like the Buddha or like the Dali Lama or like Ghandi or like your saintly grandmother. He is not like anyone else. And so we will not pretend to be impressed when others call Jesus a good man or an enlightened figure or one of the prophets. He is not one of, He is the One.

This article first appeared in the April 2011 issue of Tabletalk.

Monday Morning Humor

Now that you've watched the clip (and chortled I trust), let me offer this definitional reminder: satire is a form of communication using irony and sarcasm in which folly and vice are exposed and ridiculed.

It's aim is to make you laugh, then to make you think. It can be done poorly or unwisely, but when done well, it uses wit as a noble weapon. Few Christians have thought carefully about the do's and dont's of satire. More should.

This particular scene is, as the kids say, LOL. You don't have to see it as a blanket statement about the Church of England to see that this is good humor with a point