"Yeah, but dude, you're no Spurgeon"

[This is a companion-piece to the post today at Pyro, and to this sermon.]

The best three-word non-explanation explanation I've ever heard, for the phenomenon that was Charles Haddon Spurgeon, is this: freak of grace.

God worked in Spurgeon in a very unique way and, while his faith and core convictions are such as should be embraced and emulated, many of his personal idiosyncrasies should not be. It isn't that they were necessarily  wrong; it is simply that... well, they worked for him. And you and I are not him. Dude, friend, my brother — we are so not him!

So there are a great many things to which, if any mere mortal today were to try them in Spurgeon's name, the title of this post would make a sufficient response. Here are a few examples:

• "I know I'm only 16 and I've only been saved for one year, but I want to get up and preach a sermon. After all, that's what Spurgeon did."
• "I know I'm only 17 and unmarried, and I've only been saved for two years, but I want to pastor a church. After all, that's what Spurgeon did."
• "I know I'm only 20 and unmarried, and I've only been saved for a few years, but I want to be the sole pastor of a major church in a major city. After all, that's what Spurgeon did."
• "I think I'll enter the solo pastorate of a large and growing church without the benefit of the least bit of formal education or apprenticeship. After all, that's what Spurgeon did."
• "I think I'll preach for decades without really becoming adept in Biblical Hebrew or Greek. After all, that's what Spurgeon did."
• "I think I'll focus on preaching isolated texts with no particular progresseion either of a theme or through a book of Scripture. After all, that's what Spurgeon did."
• "I think I'll wait until Saturday to pick my sermon text for the next day. Then I'll enter the pulpit with a sketchy outline that would fit on an index card with room to spare. After all, that's what Spurgeon did."
• "I think I'll wait until Sunday afternoon to pick my text. Then I'll enter the pulpit with a sketchy outline that would fit on an index card with room to spare. After all, that's what Spurgeon did."

See how it works? This, you can try at home.

But doing what Spurgeon did and expecting good to come of it? Nah. Better not.

After all, dude, seriously:...

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