“I get much more out of yoga and meditation than I ever get out of a sermon in church.”
It seems to me that the attitude of modern Christianity is one of “No one is going to tell me what to do”, and the same mindset is why the Bible is often left to gather dust on the coffee table, since Scripture is just chock full of God’s authority, requirements for service, and guidelines for holiness.
In many a discussion with friends/family I’ve heard such responses as “We can throw verses at each other all day and accomplish nothing”, “I’m waiting for God to convict me about that” and “You can make the Bible say whatever you want it to”. People reveal how little they want to know Truth when they make such statements, IMO. This is definitely a day of ‘every man doing what is right in his own eyes’.
In many a discussion with friends/family I’ve heard such responses as “We can throw verses at each other all day and accomplish nothing”, “I’m waiting for God to convict me about that” and “You can make the Bible say whatever you want it to”. People reveal how little they want to know Truth when they make such statements, IMO. This is definitely a day of ‘every man doing what is right in his own eyes’.
You’ve hit on multiple problems there.
There’s the hermeneutical issue: the perception that it’s impossible to really know what the Bible teaches.
Then you have a problem with the doctrines of the Spirit and Scripture: the perception that what the Book says is not the issue, rather what my inner light tells me.
And then there’s the whole obsession with “Christian liberty”: don’t you dare tell me I have to give something up.
Probably the deepest problem is just the widespread evangelical (and fundamentalist, too) accommodating (encouraging??) of the “it’s all about me” attitude. My satisfaction is the measure of all things… and preaching doesn’t help me like this helps me, so end of story. With music or entertainment of any kind, it’s “I like this, end of story.”
Pretty far cry from take up your cross and follow Me.
There’s the hermeneutical issue: the perception that it’s impossible to really know what the Bible teaches.
Then you have a problem with the doctrines of the Spirit and Scripture: the perception that what the Book says is not the issue, rather what my inner light tells me.
And then there’s the whole obsession with “Christian liberty”: don’t you dare tell me I have to give something up.
Probably the deepest problem is just the widespread evangelical (and fundamentalist, too) accommodating (encouraging??) of the “it’s all about me” attitude. My satisfaction is the measure of all things… and preaching doesn’t help me like this helps me, so end of story. With music or entertainment of any kind, it’s “I like this, end of story.”
Pretty far cry from take up your cross and follow Me.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Discussion