Well today is the last day of August and it strikes me that this has been one quick summer! I realize that as we get older time seems to speed up for us but still...
In my own life, many of you know that I have been going through quite a bit in the last couple of months. Well while the worst of that situation appears to be over, it is not completely over nor will it truly be over for the next three years! Unfortunately we live in a wicked society, but this gives me all the more reason to be in the Word and remain faithful to my God! I will not sit down to rest from the battle while the enemy indeed seeks to devour the followers of our Lord!
But aside from that quick update, my purpose in writing tonight is to share a brief thought I've had over the last few weeks. As you know from my blog, I have an account with LibraryThing (you can see the widget that shows my books on the right of my posts). Well I have catalogued all my books on theology and am seriously contemplating doing the same for my books on history and my novels. The only thing that has kept me from doing this so far has been that my widget is on this blog and I don't want my books on WW2 or my novels to show up on my blog! But I may do so anyhow and then remove the widget...we'll see. If I do leave it on the blog just don't be surprised when you start seeing Louis L'Amour novels show up from time to time! lol
Back to my thesis here though...on my LibraryThing account I joined a Christian discussion board and over the last few months I have been reaffirmed in my belief that the vast majority of those who refer to themselves as Christians are not truly saved nor do they even pretend to acknowledge that there is such a thing as the Word of God! They act like members of the Jesus Seminar, deciding for themselves what they will and what they will not believe! So many times I have attempted to engage someone in discussion about some theological point, or about some passage of Scripture in the OT and then found out that the person or persons I was communicating wth did not even believe the passage could really be real or have any possible application to our "modern" times. Only one God and one Mediator (Jesus)? Ha! I must be very arrogant to believe such a thing! Homosexuality, abortion, lust...dare I call these sins? Well I must be a very judgmental person! Does the Bible teach what I have declared? No, and if it appears to do so then it is either my misinterpretation or the Bible is wrong on the issue! After all, it was written by mere men, right?
How sad, no? Due to this, I have shaken the dust from my sandals and have decided not to engage in discussion with these groups of people. Does this mean I don't want to stand firm for Biblical Truth? Not at all. But allow me to give you an example of what my thinking is. Back when I was teaching Sunday school, one of my great joys was to present the Scripture and then discuss the passages with people. Not because I thought we could see what we "thought" the passage was saying but because my hope was to teach and to correct misunderstandings that people had about the Word. But what if someone came into my Sunday school class and denied the authority of Scripture? Or denied the doctrines of the Trinity, eternal security, Deity of Christ, etc...? I tell you honestly right now that I see no reason why in
Sunday school we need to pause the teaching in order to address these people who would voice such thoughts. I say set the question aside and meet with the person one on one later on. Sunday school is, as shocking as it may sound, for the teaching of the Believer!
If ever again it pleases my Lord to permit me to teach His Word, I will continue to teach with this foremost in my mind: there are Truth's that must be assumed. What I mean by this is that when I come before a Sunday school, I have the right to assume that those sitting with me acknowledge the basic Truth's of Christianity. For someone to say they are a Christian and deny these is for them to expose themselves for what they are: Non Believers. NOT Christians. For them, I need to present the Gospel and explain to them their need for a Savior. And this I am happy to do one on one with them. But as I've said often before, if the person devoid of faith in Jesus Christ comes into our churches and our Sunday school classes, let them listen in silence and let them ask questions of the pastor and teacher later on. And most of them do...remain silent that is. For it is my experience that those who speak up with their doubts in the midst of a class are those who wish to attack God Himself. They don't really want answers...they want to present their own worldview and mock Christianity! Fine. Let them mock it all they want, just not in the assemblage of the saints!
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2 comments:
Well, let me just say that reading your blog is very interesting and thought provoking for me. I wish that I was able to be in a Sunday school class that you were teaching because you do get into so much more of the Word than I see many other teachers and preachers doing. It's very sad to say that I don't get half as much out of a Sunday morning service that I do from your blogs. Are preachers not really studying the Word? Are they being lazy and just going on a diatribe of their opinions instead of researching and studying? This is what it appears to me and it's so frustrating. So, thank you for your posts! They are definitely a highlight for me.
Val:
I am touched and truly honored that you would think of me this way. What is truly sad is that I am not even what one could call a man well versed in the Scriptures...I depend upon a great many commentaries, concordances, and such things to get ready for a lesson. The reason this is sad is because you have correctly laid your finger on the problem...preachers and teachers are NOT really studying the Word of God! They are studying marketing techniques, or they are focused on meeting so called "felt" needs.
All I know is that I love teaching and while I love to have people think well of me, I'd rather teach the Word as it appears than make it palatable to itching ears. So this is why my poor attempts to teach appear to be much more than what I could possibly make them...compared to those who should be teaching, even such poor efforts as mine seem like deep theology.
That is the saddest charge against today's preachers I can think of!
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