I have learned what offends me.
I'm trying to get back into the habit of going to bed earlier than 4am and it's not going well. My latest exploit of staying up late involves watching a TV special on NatGeo. "Pint-Sized Preachers."
It's a show about the lives of several child preachers and the relationships they have with their congregations. The 'preachers,' some as young as three, are taken around the country to whatever congregation will have (read: pay)them and then told to 'preach' to the congregation. What would ensue would be an emotionally manipulative, theologically shallow, and un-Biblical charismatic experience.
Most of these children do not have a solid understanding of the Bible, nor do they understand the high calling that ministry entails. And while that in itself should give one serious call for alarm, it is not the source of what offended me.
In one segment the producers interviewed a child preacher once he had grown up. He confessed that the entire reason his parents had their 'ministry' was to make money. Because of the manipulating of the congregation, many would give freely to these so called faith workers.
Don't get me wrong. I believe pastors should be paid. I'm going into ministry myself and I surely hope to get paid. But what was going on here was the same thing that happened in Jesus' day with the religious leaders.
Many of the harshest words that Jesus had were for the religious leaders of the day. Matthew 12:33-37 calls out these leaders for preaching an impure doctrine and living unholy lives while calling themselves righteous. Indeed, their condemnation is just, says the Scriptures. All of Matthew 23 is about this.
That is what offends me. When someone who claims to be a Christ follower and yet either uses the message of the Gospel for their own advancement or twists it to cover up their own sin. I hate that.
I don't get offended by people who believe differently than me. I don't get offended by non-Christians living in sin and being OK with it. After all, can those that don't know Jesus be expected to act any differently? Lost people will act like lost people.
But those that claim to be forgiven by Jesus and then use that claim to sin makes me furious. Absolutely furious. Truly, those that are unrepentant will surely taste the wrath that they believe they are escaping by their piety.
Let's give some examples.
Matthew 21:12-17 Jesus calls those that cheat worshipers out of their money a "den of robbers."
Matthew 23-Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites for putting impossible spiritual burdens on followers but never following them themselves.
Ephesians 5:11- Paul tells the Ephesians they are to have nothing to with the immoral sons who deceived God's people because the wrath of God is upon them.
James 3:1- James says that very few people should become teachers because God will judge them even more strictly than everyone else.
And this is just in Scripture! Think of all the swindlers, cheaters, liars, and offenders that you have seen in your life that claim their sin is in the name of Jesus. Does it anger you like it angers me? Do you feel misrepresented by these public displays of 'faith?' And you know know who they are.
Television evangelists with their 24 hour phone-a-thons to fund their private jets. Ministers who blame their wives for their own affairs. Preachers who claim hiring prostitutes was something that God told them to do. Manipulative pastors who take advantage of the naivety of hurting women. Charismatic tongue speakers with no regard for Biblical instruction. All of these unrepentant. All of these sinning boldly in the name of Jesus.
That is what offends me.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
But I Don't Want To!
I just finished reading Erasing Hell by Francis Chan, and it really made me think about how I view God. For example, it asks the question whether or not I can believe in a God that can create people just for the purpose of sending them to hell in order to show His power.
And you know what? I don't want to believe that! I don't want to believe that there are people on this planet that are going to hell just because God wants to show how great He is. That doesn’t seem fair to me. It doesn’t even seem right really. Well, and the book does a great job of showing this, God’s sense of justice and purpose is not the same as mine.
The Bible passage this comes from is Romans 9. Basically, it’s a chapter explaining that because God has a higher purpose in mind than just what we want, He can do things His way to accomplish what it is that He sets out to do.
This brings to mind a lot of questions but the biggest one is about your view of God. Specifically, how high is your view of God? What I mean by that is, how supreme do you think God is? If you think that God does what humans want, then you have a very low view of God. If you think that God has final say so in everything that happens, then you have a high view of God.
In order to explain the proper view of God, Paul uses the example of a potter and some clay in Romans 9:21-24. Can some clay say to the potter that is making it how it should be molded? No! The potter is in charge. If the potter wants to make one lump of clay into a vase to put roses in and another lump of clay into a discs to shoot with a shotgun, then that is entirely in his right as the potter.
It’s the same way with humans. God has made some to experience redemption and salvation, while others He has made to experience His wrath and destruction. And so it is not whether or not DO I like believing in a God who does this, but, as Erasing Hell talks about, CAN I believe this.
Can I believe what the Bible says is true? Can I take what it says as truth? Even the tough parts and the passages that I just don’t want to believe? Yes. Yes I can. I know I can because of what I have seen God do in my life. I can believe the parts about God’s sense of justice because His wrath is equal with His love. God loves me and cares for me. I trust Him to do what He declares is right because His justice is true, unlike mine which is perverted by sin.
I am selfish, prideful, and arrogant. So I submit to the King whose authority is absolute. And even though I don’t have a clear view of God’s justice and love, I trust that my King will reveal these things to me.
And you know what? I don't want to believe that! I don't want to believe that there are people on this planet that are going to hell just because God wants to show how great He is. That doesn’t seem fair to me. It doesn’t even seem right really. Well, and the book does a great job of showing this, God’s sense of justice and purpose is not the same as mine.
The Bible passage this comes from is Romans 9. Basically, it’s a chapter explaining that because God has a higher purpose in mind than just what we want, He can do things His way to accomplish what it is that He sets out to do.
This brings to mind a lot of questions but the biggest one is about your view of God. Specifically, how high is your view of God? What I mean by that is, how supreme do you think God is? If you think that God does what humans want, then you have a very low view of God. If you think that God has final say so in everything that happens, then you have a high view of God.
In order to explain the proper view of God, Paul uses the example of a potter and some clay in Romans 9:21-24. Can some clay say to the potter that is making it how it should be molded? No! The potter is in charge. If the potter wants to make one lump of clay into a vase to put roses in and another lump of clay into a discs to shoot with a shotgun, then that is entirely in his right as the potter.
It’s the same way with humans. God has made some to experience redemption and salvation, while others He has made to experience His wrath and destruction. And so it is not whether or not DO I like believing in a God who does this, but, as Erasing Hell talks about, CAN I believe this.
Can I believe what the Bible says is true? Can I take what it says as truth? Even the tough parts and the passages that I just don’t want to believe? Yes. Yes I can. I know I can because of what I have seen God do in my life. I can believe the parts about God’s sense of justice because His wrath is equal with His love. God loves me and cares for me. I trust Him to do what He declares is right because His justice is true, unlike mine which is perverted by sin.
I am selfish, prideful, and arrogant. So I submit to the King whose authority is absolute. And even though I don’t have a clear view of God’s justice and love, I trust that my King will reveal these things to me.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Brain Lapse on Jazz
So seeing how it has been six months since last posting, I doubt anyone is still out there in cyberspace that is checking in on my "cob-web" blog as a certain Prof. Mondo has been known to call it.
Anyway, I am in the middle of re-reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, and I cannot get over some of the reviews some critics are leveling at it. Mark Coppenger in a lecture blasts it with eleven points that cheapen the spiritual journey of Miller. Because in truth that is what the book Blue Like Jazz is: a spiritual journey.
But for a moment let us say that it is more than that. Let us say it is a critique on the spiritual nature of Christianity and therefore a critique on the “main stream” (whatever that is) Christians by its deconstructing of the lifestyles and choices of "right wing" fundamentalists. Miller does a fine job of showcasing classic theological ideas, such as depravity, original sin, redemption and then applies those ideas to modern social structures, and actually the beliefs presented in Blue Like Jazz have their basis in the same doctrines held by the “right wingers" he is criticizing. Because the problem here, I believe he is saying, is not what we believe, but how we have applied those beliefs to social structure. There are two points that Miller addresses with his book.
Now this is where the critique comes in. First, for those who have concerns about the book, the focus of their criticism has been the idea of Christian Mysticism as replacement for Christian Spirituality, and it is here that I think that they miss the point. Truthfully, I think that what the world calls Christian mysticism, Christianity calls Spirituality. When a Christian says that there is a transcendent force within them guiding them to righteousness and holiness, the world calls it mysticism; however, we as believers know that as the Holy Spirit. So I think that by the world labeling Christianity as a mystic religion, it is just glancing at the grander picture the Bible is painting with the Holy Spirit.
Second, the larger point that Miller makes in his book is that the social rules that we have created about what a Christian should believe should not be the guiding rule of what we should believe. Actually it should be opposite. What we believe as Christians should dictate how we act socially.
In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul confronts this very issue by dealing with meat that has been sacrificed to idols. Some Christians, knowing that the meat had been sacrificed to idols could not eat it because they felt it violated their conscious. Other Christians could eat the meat free of conviction. So what is the line that has to be drawn? It all comes down to grace for Paul. What measure of grace has God given you in which to interact the world with?
Let me give you an example. In Blue Like Jazz Miller several times mentions that he would go out with his friends and drink a beer. Now, here in the South where I live, that is taboo. If you are a Christian, according to our social rules, you do not drink beer. Now Biblically, there is not any scripture that prohibits drinking, only drunkenness.; however, for many here, drinking is a hindrance. In the same way that the early Christians would not eat meat that had been offered to idols but some could because of the grace given to them, there are some that can drink and it not be a hindrance because of the grace given to them that they interact the world with. Mr. Miller appears to be one of the latter.
At the center of this idea of how we should interact with society knowing what we do about Scripture is 1 Corinthians 8:9 which states, “But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” That is the line that is to be drawn. We cannot use our liberty to cause others to stumble, because that would be sin. We seek edification of the Church and our brothers in Christ(1 Corinthians 14:12). This being know, it is not society that should define how we act as Christians but God’s Word. Miller’s Blue Like Jazz makes the reader confront their beliefs on spirituality and discern for themselves if how they interact with the world is based on what society tells them or what the Bible says.
Anyway, I am in the middle of re-reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, and I cannot get over some of the reviews some critics are leveling at it. Mark Coppenger in a lecture blasts it with eleven points that cheapen the spiritual journey of Miller. Because in truth that is what the book Blue Like Jazz is: a spiritual journey.
But for a moment let us say that it is more than that. Let us say it is a critique on the spiritual nature of Christianity and therefore a critique on the “main stream” (whatever that is) Christians by its deconstructing of the lifestyles and choices of "right wing" fundamentalists. Miller does a fine job of showcasing classic theological ideas, such as depravity, original sin, redemption and then applies those ideas to modern social structures, and actually the beliefs presented in Blue Like Jazz have their basis in the same doctrines held by the “right wingers" he is criticizing. Because the problem here, I believe he is saying, is not what we believe, but how we have applied those beliefs to social structure. There are two points that Miller addresses with his book.
Now this is where the critique comes in. First, for those who have concerns about the book, the focus of their criticism has been the idea of Christian Mysticism as replacement for Christian Spirituality, and it is here that I think that they miss the point. Truthfully, I think that what the world calls Christian mysticism, Christianity calls Spirituality. When a Christian says that there is a transcendent force within them guiding them to righteousness and holiness, the world calls it mysticism; however, we as believers know that as the Holy Spirit. So I think that by the world labeling Christianity as a mystic religion, it is just glancing at the grander picture the Bible is painting with the Holy Spirit.
Second, the larger point that Miller makes in his book is that the social rules that we have created about what a Christian should believe should not be the guiding rule of what we should believe. Actually it should be opposite. What we believe as Christians should dictate how we act socially.
In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul confronts this very issue by dealing with meat that has been sacrificed to idols. Some Christians, knowing that the meat had been sacrificed to idols could not eat it because they felt it violated their conscious. Other Christians could eat the meat free of conviction. So what is the line that has to be drawn? It all comes down to grace for Paul. What measure of grace has God given you in which to interact the world with?
Let me give you an example. In Blue Like Jazz Miller several times mentions that he would go out with his friends and drink a beer. Now, here in the South where I live, that is taboo. If you are a Christian, according to our social rules, you do not drink beer. Now Biblically, there is not any scripture that prohibits drinking, only drunkenness.; however, for many here, drinking is a hindrance. In the same way that the early Christians would not eat meat that had been offered to idols but some could because of the grace given to them, there are some that can drink and it not be a hindrance because of the grace given to them that they interact the world with. Mr. Miller appears to be one of the latter.
At the center of this idea of how we should interact with society knowing what we do about Scripture is 1 Corinthians 8:9 which states, “But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” That is the line that is to be drawn. We cannot use our liberty to cause others to stumble, because that would be sin. We seek edification of the Church and our brothers in Christ(1 Corinthians 14:12). This being know, it is not society that should define how we act as Christians but God’s Word. Miller’s Blue Like Jazz makes the reader confront their beliefs on spirituality and discern for themselves if how they interact with the world is based on what society tells them or what the Bible says.
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