GENUINELY CHRISTIAN YET PRACTICALLY AGNOSTIC (2)

I perceive there will be superior value to the topic if I personalize it. So, I am writing to Christians today. This is a cue, an incentive to a segment of the Christian community.  In the earlier critique I expressed an opinion that we may be living like practical agnostics. It's possible. We are not 'practical' agnostics in the sense of being 'almost' agnostic or virtually agnostic. Of course not, because we do genuinely believe in the large constructs of Christian truth. Rather, during the weekdays, we have minimal explicit contact with God. While the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are factual within our theological framework, we are out of touch. We know that prayer is the network that links us with the divine, but prayer takes time and discipline. We know when we are honest with ourselves that we apply both time and discipline to online social networking, to watching our favourite TV shows, and to daily exercise.  So, we must admit we are slackers. We have not prioritized prayer.

An agnostic is characterized by uncertainty. While we believe in the merit of prayer, we may be uncertain about the effectiveness of prayer.  Possibly, our journals contain slim accounts of answers to specific prayers. We do not doubt God's ability to hear prayer, or to respond to great challenges. We are uncertain that God will answer our request. Our asks have been made before without a response. We don't want to be disappointed any further. Our request seems so trite and selfish so we hesitate. Strangely we are not open and transparent before God who is all knowing.  We worry about a job, about money, about our children. We struggle with our sexuality, with addictions, with attitudes and moods, but we refer none of these to God because we have not successfully integrated our theology with our lives on planet earth. The incarnate Jesus spoke to his Father, and advised us to call God Father. Father loved us (humanity) so much he gave us Jesus.  Jesus came here to do what he needed to do to provide a relationship for us with himself and the Father.  Jesus assured us that in his physical absence he would not leave us comfortless, but rather he promised to give us another comforter, divine like himself, namely, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not only with us but inside us, where character and spirituality are developed so that we can reflect the image of God, that is, be Christlike.      

(I will pursue this subject for in a few posts in the days ahead)

THEOLOGICAL BANKRUPTCY in church should be a concern to us.

Across the spectrum of church affiliations and denominations the church population is becoming theologically bankrupt. That's my assessment and also the result of surveys. It concerns me.  Several observations leave me disturbed for Christ's church and the believers who comprise His Bride.

Church and Christian life disassociated from theology for many people.

Today I heard a pastor assert that over the past 14 years at his church, 20 couples who were married there, have divorced. It breaks his heart. There can be numerous factors is such staggering dissolution but try this one on. Theology is often considered to be academic and intellectual and unrelated to the 'more important' church activities and weekday programs. This assumption means theology is meaningless to so much of life. The life of God is road blocked. If a relationship with God (theology) is foundational and drives a life and service and other relationships, surely the word about God is relevant and needs to be well-defined and understood. Theology and the average person should be synonymous and not relegated to seminaries. Truly daily linking to, yielding to and loving God in his sovereignty, sanctity, purity, holiness and power will affect all of life inside and outside church.

Eisegetical preaching and teaching (application) is trumping truth.

It is troubling that pastors, Bible class teachers, and spokespersons often lack training and gifting needed to let the Bible speak. It is the difference between eisegetical and exegetical interpretations of scripture. Eisegesis reads into the text whereas exegesis extracts and draws out from the text. What does it mean to you rather than what does it say? A text is not understood solely by answering what it means to me. We may force God's word to say something unintended when we seek to make it meaningful rather than to disclose what it means. That's why Christians are struggling and divided over the acceptability of gay and lesbian lifestyles and living together before marriage, and so many other controversial issues.

Exclusive association of worship with music.

One's life should be worship, the whole of it. It is concerning enough when Christians believe that worship applies only to one hour on Sundays. A step further and theological reduction is demonstrated by our terminology when worship is equated with only the music portion of that hour. We begin with a time of 'worship,' that musical portion led by a 'worship' leader or pastor. Followers of Jesus who are not fully devoted 24/7 may result from compartmentalizing something as basic as worship.  

Christians unfamiliar with their Bibles.

We have all witnessed the shift from text-based learning to image-based learning at home, in school, and now in church. Beginning with acetate projections and then PowerPoint, the technology has an unfortunate unintentional outcome of dissuading people from knowing where in the Bible the projected texts can be found. People do not know their Bibles very well. Shallow Bible knowledge, and thin preaching leads to superficial faith.  Less than 20% of professing Christians have a biblical worldview, according to a Barna survey. Less than 50% of them believe Satan is real, or believe in absolute moral truth. Only 62% believe Jesus was sinless.

What do you think can be done about this? What needs to take place in homes? What shifts must occur in churches? What disciplines must individual Christians adopt?

BEGGAR WITH A NEW CAUSE

Unable to use his legs, he sat daily in a heavy pedestrian route near the temple gate where he asked people for a handout.  If he sits at the door of your congregation's meeting place, what will you and your friends do?

Recently filled with God's Holy Spirit, overwhelmed really, yet at the same time supernaturally endowed with power of which Peter and John were unassumingly assertive, they met a disabled man one day. As they came near, he requested something from the two men. Peter commanded his attention. Their eyes met. Peter said, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up on your feet and start walking." Peter took the unsuspecting man's hand and helped him to his feet. As he stood he found he could bear his own wait. His first steps took his breath away with joy. He began to high step, to jump, to dance in circles around the men, to gasp, shout, scream with excitement and he cried, cried out praise to God and walked with Peter and John through the temple gate to the place of worship. 

 

Scores of people witnessed this spectacle and many more rushed to the scene and stared incredulously at Peter and John and the vertical beggar.  Peter and John were certain that there was available power to heal this man, and now with similar assurance Peter fearlessly questioned the Jewish audience about their obvious assumption that by some weird divination or hocus pokus, these disciples had healed the man. Peter immediately denied that their own power had affected this healing of a lifelong incapacity. Then Peter daringly cited the Jewish crowd with an offense so shocking that humiliation would cripple them with guilt. He told them that this beggar had been healed by putting faith in the name of the righteous and holy man called Jesus. This Jesus was the same person whom the Jewish community had disowned and killed. However, Peter and John were among the many who had observed Jesus alive after the crucifixion. He who was the very author of life had himself come back to life after giving it up. This indictment intensified when Peter told them that God, God of their fathers, that is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the patriarchs they revered, endorsed Jesus as Messianic Saviour and honoured him now in heaven. Their burden may have been too much to bear had Peter not conceded that their crime was the result of their ignorance of the truth that Jesus had been sent to suffer and to die to atone for human sin. For a time, Jesus was remaining in heaven waiting for authorization to return when he will restore everything. But now, Peter said, "You need to repent of your sin, turn in faith to God so that your sins are wiped out, and the times of refreshing that follow will include you."

So the question posed to me today by the Holy Spirit is, "What about the woman living in the unit beneath you, who is an emotional, relational, medical drug-dependent cripple? Are you responding to her with the faith-filled assurance that when you tell her not give up, rather to get up and be whole, she will take your hand and stand up. And later when she experiences with unquenchable joy the entirely healed life she has been given, will you speak boldly about Jesus to her awestruck family and friends?"

The other question to me is, "Or, will you be too timid because your theological training and teaching and christian culture and your friendships influence you to disrespect supernatural interventions?"

The narrative comes from Luke, the writer of the account in Acts chapter 3.

ITS NOT ABOUT PERFORMANCE

The fundamental truth of Christian faith is God’s grace and what Christ has done for us - which is, everything. Too many preachers, communicators, writers are still harping on an exaggerated moralism, spouting off about intensifying your devotion - "Try harder, do better." It’s a preoccupation with performance. No, No. Stop it. Of course, take your faith seriously, but don’t get off track theologically. Christian faith rests on the love and sacrifice of Christ not our love for him. It’s not all about us. It’s about him.

DEHISTORIZING THE OLD TESTAMENT

Don’t bother reading this unless you have the time and the interest. The theme is, ‘Why would you Ignore the Old Testament?’ Some Christians disparage the Old Testament.

Christians have generally regarded the Old Testament as God’s Word and have often found pleasure in Proverbs and spiritual inspiration in Psalms. Christian preachers worthy of the calling have confirmed their proficiencies by drawing profound applications from Old Testament historical narratives.

Many Christians today are dismissing the Old Testament because they find parts of it morally offensive or quite bluntly, irrelevant.

THE POSTMODERN MIND AND THE CHRISTIAN

A large percentage of people today have a naturalistic worldview and a relativistic morality. For them truth is perceptual and subjective rather than objective and absolute. Experience and observation determine whether something is true or false, and that renders a variable reality, which differs from person to person and culture to culture.

CHALLENGING THE ONE WAY STREET

Christianity avows its uniqueness and asserts that it does matter what a person believes. In fact, speaking of absolute truth, Jesus Christ declared himself to be the Truth: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6, NIV). Postmodernism denies Christ’s claim to be the truth. Postmodernists do not believe that there is only one way to the Father and/or to heaven. Christianity’s claim to uniqueness is interpreted as conceit and intolerance. In the modernist’s mind, all religions, faiths and philosophies are of equal legitimacy. Who are you going to believe? And why?