Thursday, May 17, 2012
Christians Are Not Stupid
Peter Enns writes on Al Mohler:
But I keep returning to one undeniable fact. We are called to make people better. That is our ministry. Not just to salvation, but to be God's agents in improving people, not just out of poverty or want, but out of intellectual laziness.
The bottom line question is this - Does the church play to the lowest common denominator or does it attempt to move the definition of such higher?
A while back, I wrote this on my political blog:
Rev. Al Mohler holds strong views on the Bible, what it means to read it correctly, and how taking the Bible seriously requires one to reject evolution.Prior to reading this, I knew that Mohler was pretty fundamental in his views, but I had not idea he was a young earth creationist. WOW! Said Enns:
Mohler’s rhetoric is spiritually harmful because it is intellectually untenable.I like Enns formulation here, there is "comfort" in such simplicity. Once the commitment to Christ is made, it is indeed easier not to think than to engage.
[...]
These are Christians who at some point have felt a comfort in the simplicity and crystal clarity Mohler claims to offer, but have begun to see that their insulation from other perspectives has become spiritually debilitating.
These are people who know they are not serving God by remaining intellectually insulated, and that refusing to look afresh at their own theological systems when the need arises does not please the God of truth.
These are people who do not want to choose between a life of intellectual integrity and Christian faith.
And they do not need to.
Those in that predicament need to hear that there are many—many—thoughtful, mature, knowledgeable, committed Christians in the world, who work and think deeply in these very areas of Bible and science, and would quickly part company with Mohler’s point of view, without shredding the gospel in the process.
But I keep returning to one undeniable fact. We are called to make people better. That is our ministry. Not just to salvation, but to be God's agents in improving people, not just out of poverty or want, but out of intellectual laziness.
The bottom line question is this - Does the church play to the lowest common denominator or does it attempt to move the definition of such higher?
A while back, I wrote this on my political blog:
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found….”Mohler appears to have answered the "Now What?" question with a stern command to "Don't ask." So what ask in the first place?
But found for what? A man shipwrecked on a lifeless desert island can be “found” by the next guy to get shipwrecked. I guess it’s nice to have company while you die of starvation and thirst, but I cannot help but think there has to be more to this finding thing than just having company in our distress. Yet too often in Evangelical churches throughout America, the narrative they preach never extends beyond the simple salvation message. It never asks the question “Now what?”
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