Wednesday, June 15, 2005
That's A Mouthful!
Transforming Sermons points to a post from Peter Bogert at Stronger Church.
The divide is between those that seek God as an aid, and those that seek to submit themselves to God. Christianity is, in many ways, and by worldly measures, succeeding better today than perhaps ever before in American history. Much of what is going on is exciting and wonderful, and certainly is at least part of what the church and Christians should be doing. But I find myself feeling uncomfortable, in charismatic terms "I have a check in my spirit."
I think Peter has hit on the reason why I feel that way. So much of the success that I am seeing uses Christianity as a tool, as opposed to being a tool for Christ. Think about it
A few posts ago I used an illustration from Ramesh Richard's book Preparing Expository Sermons. On page 22 he provides a sermon outline that apparently was something he actually witnessed. The sermon involves nothing about the original meaning of the text, how the author would have intended it to be understood, or how the original readers would have understood it. Richard states that it is simply moralistic preaching, disconnected from any textual authority.I think the two approaches to preaching that Peter contrasts here may define the great divide in the church today. I don't think we are divided any longer by denominations or theological schools -- those distinctions exist, but they are just that -- distinctions, not divides.
I don't believe that this kind of treatment of Scripture is that uncommon. Especially in devotional-type preaching or speaking, we are inclined to look for "deeper" insights. Such insights often convey good moral lessons, even ones that sound very spiritual. But as Richard points out, they lack textual authority....
...Some may protest that it is the right of the Holy Spirit to reveal these "insights" to us. Right? Sure, I'll go along with that. But I don't think he uses that right. Despite what our "every promise in the book is mine" individual-American mind thinks, the Bible is not a personal love letter from God. It is a book written to a community, teaching the same thing to every individual of the community. Certainly there are applications to a passage that strike us differently, but let's realize that what we are reading is already the product of the Holy Spirit. Frankly there is enough there to hold us accountable and guide our lives and thinking without having to bend the meaning of the text to "get something personal" out of it.
The divide is between those that seek God as an aid, and those that seek to submit themselves to God. Christianity is, in many ways, and by worldly measures, succeeding better today than perhaps ever before in American history. Much of what is going on is exciting and wonderful, and certainly is at least part of what the church and Christians should be doing. But I find myself feeling uncomfortable, in charismatic terms "I have a check in my spirit."
I think Peter has hit on the reason why I feel that way. So much of the success that I am seeing uses Christianity as a tool, as opposed to being a tool for Christ. Think about it
- Contemporary worship music makes the worshiper feel good when it should call him/her to account
- Mega-churches permit anonymity when Christianity encourages accountability
- We 'accept' Jesus when the important question is does He accept us?
This divide is not modern, it's as old as the church, but I think it is more stark today than perhaps at any time since the Reformation. Which side of the divide are you on? Which side do you want to be on? Which side is your church on, and how can you help it move to the correct side?
