CJ Mahaney - Not Your Average Preacher

It depends on in what "area" you/he means by average.

Mahaney certainly knows how to deliver an emotional presentation. He is far from average with that. He can be quite an exhorter.

In terms of exegesis of scripture he is every bit "average." As others have said, he is the reader of books but not The Book. I don't recall him ever doing an Greek study to find the hidden meaning of things he teaches on which again shows how he is "average" in this sense.

Steve, I have just heard him speak to pastors - so admittedly these are primarily exhortation. I cannot speak to the issue you raise.

I do think it is a bit uncharitable for you to say that he is not a reader of "The Book" - this smacks of nonsense to me and a bit ridiculous.

Thanks for the note.

Reid, I listened to those same messages by Mahaney and Piper at the Resolved Conference. I echo Randy Alcorn's thoughts on those last two talks. They were some of the most Christ-exalting, God-glorifying messages I have ever heard... the "Scream of the Damned"... I wept when I heard both of those sermons. I also thank God for the ministries and callings on Mahaney and Piper. As you know, he has used them greatly in my life.

Steve, I find your comment about Mahaney not being a reader of The Book to be a bit ridiculous. Is it that he doesn't pronounce enough Greek words out loud when he preaches or do you just not like the fact that he typically quotes Spurgeon at length? I find both of those homiletical choices to be quite appealing!

Hey Jonathan,
I have not hit the Piper message yet, but did download it. I pray you are doing well.

I base my comments about Mahaney on a number of messages that I hear. Most of what he does is exhortation which has its place but there needs to be balance.

If you listed to his message about "sovereign grace" he uses very little scripture to support his Calvinistic viewpoint. In most seminaries he would probably get an "F" for exigesis. Again very little scripture was given to support his strong view on there being a "sovereign grace" that elects some and therefore rebrobates others.

My point on the Greek is that he doesn't appear to be doing any in depth study of the scriptures including using Greek work helps to try and get a better handle on the original intent of the scripture. He rather appears to rely on what others write etc. I question whether this is proper for someone in a senior position in a fairly large group.

I was in Mahaney's church for many years (over 15). In the early years he used a lot of scripture to develop his points, but within the last 10 years really stopped using much scripture at all in messages. Steve is right: these days he primarily rehashes what others have written, rather than engaging himself and his listeners with the Word. Quotes from Spurgeon, Piper or other writers appear to be more exciting or authoritative to Mahaney, than the Word itself.

Also, as someone who listened to probably between 500 and 700 Mahaney sermons/discussions over the years, I can attest that he's developed specific oratory skills over the years so that he knows how to get emotional reactions from the listener. Long pauses, long yelling tirades, long pauses with weeping, drawn-out sentences with excessive emphasis on every word - these are all quite impressive to behold as part of a message, but wouldn't do much in terms of persuasion if the same message were read in print.

After sitting for 45 or so minutes, Sunday after Sunday, year after year, I finally realized that I was being vocally bullied into agreeing with Mahaney's points - being worn-down emotionally, rather than being presented with scriptural points that my mind should examine and accept or reject. By that I mean, that I found I was being persuaded to agree with him not because of cogent arguments based on scriptural wisdom, but increasingly because of the intensity of an emotional, theatrical performance that elicited my agreement as "applause."

This may not be apparent in listening to him a few times, but it was apparent to me after years - especially when I began visiting other churches and ministries, and found that CJ's style was quite, uh, unusual.

Keepinstep

I am glad that you pretty much concur with what I am saying about Mahaney.

I left CLC in the early to mid 90's. I remember running into one person who said that one of the big reasons she left was that she got tired of always feeling so bad about herself. The messages Mahaney gave at that time always made her feel so bad. In retrospect I noticed the same thing. It sounds like they have gotten even worse in this respect with the overemphasis on indwelling sin etc.

Maybe the following will clarify what I mean about Mahaney being a reader of books vs. a reader of the book. One person put is this way: Mahaney rarely if ever comes up with an original thought. He just uses other people's ideas etc.

Thus what I am saying is that Mahaney might read a number of books by various authors to get their views on scripture etc. but he does very little research and digging into God's Word to come up with his own thoughts on it. One would expect one in a senior position within a fairly large group like his to do more self study including using Greek helps and other bible study aids to try and get the original intent of Scripture.

As Keepinstep indicated, Mahaney has become quite adept in getting emotional reactions over the years as well as coming across as very likable etc. Adept is an understatement.

Guys, if you don't like a guy's preaching, or preaching evolution that is fine...but you guys are coming close to attacking his motives/character as a person - which we would not welcome here at the POCblog.

Thanks for posting.

Guess you aren't going to post my others comments in response to yours.

Steve, I have not filtered anything - I checked on the back end of my site and nothing is held up.

Not sure what happened. Apologies.

Reid

I am glad you aren't filtering comments. Something must have happened and will repost my comment.

I don't see "coming close to attacking his motives/character as a person" in the comments I or Keepinstep has made.

I would be one to question Mahaney's motives for claiming to be an "average" preacher.

How he could say this when over his career he has preached to a number of large crowds etc? I am sure a number of pastors would be quite happy if they were ever able to draw or preach to the size crowds he has preached to.

Perhaps he is talking about his lack of analysis of scripture but again with the crowds he has drawn at times I question his even thinking he is "average."

"Some time ago he gave a generous gift to the Acts 29 network to faciliate church planting."

Who gave the gift? C.J. gave this gift out of his own personal income? Did it come from CLC or PDI? I don't understand how someone can be "generous" with money that is not their own.