Wednesday, January 17, 2007
No, Really, Show Business
I'm not the only one that had a problem with that Out of Ur piece I talked about yesterday. BHT points to a Mere Comments post that is pretty brutal, but makes two excellent points:
The second point is, I think, truly devestating and the one I was more or less trying to make yesterday. Here is an interesting thought. My mind automatically groups Pentecostalism and this kind of entertaining - even if there are large theological distinctions. Both are experiential at heart, and both suffer from the weakness that due to sin, our experiences are not reliable. Both rely on the wind and the earthquake and the fire, but not the still small voice.
What is such a Christian to do when the experience is not present. Does not such make the person rely on the worship service and not the Lord?
Related Tags: faith, experience, Pentecostalism, Christ's example
- Christ's example
- the shallowness of 'experience'
As the piece points out, Christ really was prone to sending people away as much as He welcomed them
Did Jesus really "create experiences," at least in the sense this man means, of manipulating people to keep 'em coming? How does he get that from the gospels? And how does he explain Jesus' habit of saying things that sent people away (cf. John 6 and the rich young ruler episode)?Here's the thing - Jesus relied on His personal attractiveness. Thus He was able to speak harsh truth and remain attractive. We are still sinners and can never have that kind of attractiveness Christ had in this life. But I wonder, is the correct response to our incomplete transformation to hide the fact, or to work towards its completion?
If our Lord was "creating experiences" of the sort for which this pastor invokes his authority, he wasn't very good at it. (The Romans were better.) Judging by the stories conveyed to us in the gospels, Jesus would have failed a church growth course.
The second point is, I think, truly devestating and the one I was more or less trying to make yesterday. Here is an interesting thought. My mind automatically groups Pentecostalism and this kind of entertaining - even if there are large theological distinctions. Both are experiential at heart, and both suffer from the weakness that due to sin, our experiences are not reliable. Both rely on the wind and the earthquake and the fire, but not the still small voice.
What is such a Christian to do when the experience is not present. Does not such make the person rely on the worship service and not the Lord?
Heb 11:1 - Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.When we base our relationship with Jesus on experience, we base it on shifting sand.
Rom 3:28 - For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Related Tags: faith, experience, Pentecostalism, Christ's example
