Two-Timing Theology
This article is from thekingdomcom.com. It asks a great question, one which I would also like to know the answer to:
"... I personally don't want to have to pick through a bunch of rancid humanistic philosophy to get to the bits of good theology that might be buried in most of these trendy preachers preaching.
Why do we so readily want to accept, tolerate, embrace the preaching of two-timing theology?"
Two-timing Theology
Even this clock will be correct two times a day, but how many of us would rely on it?
Then I must wonder why we rely on such a system in our approach to God & the Bible? Why do we espouse such outlandish concepts as "don't throw the baby out with the bath water"? A better comparison of how we are being told to pick through the bad theology often being put forth today is not the baby/bath water analogy but it is the broken clock analogy. How convincing would it be for those same people who use the baby/bath water analogy to say, "Don't throw out the broken clock because it will be right sometimes"? How many of us would give a hearty amen to that kind of mentality?
Perhaps the reason we are more likely to agree with the baby/bath water analogy is that no one wants to picture a baby being thrown out, but how about the broken clock? I personally don't want to have to pick through a bunch of rancid humanistic philosophy to get to the bits of good theology that might be buried in most of these trendy preachers preaching.
Why do we so readily want to accept, tolerate, embrace the preaching of two-timing theology? Much of the theology being espoused today is simply a rehash of classic socialism where we Christians are being told we ought to be more concerned with the material & physical well-being of our fellow man. It is more akin to John Lennonism than Christianity.
Jesus didn't come to preach social welfare. He came preaching, REPENT & BELIEVE but in our current climate that is the last thing you often hear coming from the lips of preachers. Instead, they preach how "Jesus loves you & has a wonderful plan for your life". The plan is that these people REPENT & BELIEVE, that is the Gospel & if we aren't preaching THAT then we aren't really preaching the Gospel.
People can speak of "love" & "compassion" all day long but as long as they are simply trying to clean up the outside of peoples' lives, they don't really care about love & compassion. It is the eternal state of people with which we should be concerned.
Perhaps someone will claim, "Yes, but we think we should address the daily situation of people first before they will receive the Gospel".
I ask, where do we see that methodology in Scripture? When Jesus originally sent out the disciples, He told them not to even take any provisions & that they should rely on the charity of those receiving the Gospel. (Mark 6:7-10) There would not even been ability to carry out a Social Gospel even if the disciples wanted to -- they didn't have anything to give to the poor & down trodden EXCEPT what they were commanded to give them -- THE GOSPEL.
Lastly, any charity you see in the N.T. from Christians was NOT from Christians to non-Christians but was mutual help among the brethren. They weren't helping pagan widows. They weren't going to visit pagan persons in prisons.
This is what is wrong with the Church today. We have been told for so long that our mission is to minister to the pagans that no one has been ministering to the Body of Christ. It would be comparable to seeing the disciples taking extremely "loving" & "compassionate" care of the bodies of the thieves on the cross while leaving the Body of Christ to rot in the open air.
It is time to get back to ministering & encouraging the Body of Christ, believers instead of trying to save the world through socialistic syncretism.
[Amendment]:
Some people have taken this article to mean I am implying we shouldn't care for non-Christians. They even referenced the "Good Samaritan" parable from Luke 10:30-37. Interesting enough it was not the Samaritan that was lying along side the road, but merely a certain man. Being a Samaritan was to be an outcast, thus it was the outcast helping the certain man. The point was, the others that passed by thought they were too good to help. This article IS NOT advocating that Christians are too good to help others.
As a matter of fact, most of the world's original hospitals, universities, & charities were started by Christians. The point of this article was that we Christians are often told to purposely wander along the road looking for that certain man to help & yet leaving our house (the Christian community) uncared for. What does the Bible say about this?
1 Timothy 5:8
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
If God puts your path to cross the path of a certain man lying in the road, by all means help -- but at the same time, we ought to be "providing for our own & especially for those of our own 'house'".
"... I personally don't want to have to pick through a bunch of rancid humanistic philosophy to get to the bits of good theology that might be buried in most of these trendy preachers preaching.
Why do we so readily want to accept, tolerate, embrace the preaching of two-timing theology?"
Two-timing Theology
Even this clock will be correct two times a day, but how many of us would rely on it?
Then I must wonder why we rely on such a system in our approach to God & the Bible? Why do we espouse such outlandish concepts as "don't throw the baby out with the bath water"? A better comparison of how we are being told to pick through the bad theology often being put forth today is not the baby/bath water analogy but it is the broken clock analogy. How convincing would it be for those same people who use the baby/bath water analogy to say, "Don't throw out the broken clock because it will be right sometimes"? How many of us would give a hearty amen to that kind of mentality?
Perhaps the reason we are more likely to agree with the baby/bath water analogy is that no one wants to picture a baby being thrown out, but how about the broken clock? I personally don't want to have to pick through a bunch of rancid humanistic philosophy to get to the bits of good theology that might be buried in most of these trendy preachers preaching.
Why do we so readily want to accept, tolerate, embrace the preaching of two-timing theology? Much of the theology being espoused today is simply a rehash of classic socialism where we Christians are being told we ought to be more concerned with the material & physical well-being of our fellow man. It is more akin to John Lennonism than Christianity.
Jesus didn't come to preach social welfare. He came preaching, REPENT & BELIEVE but in our current climate that is the last thing you often hear coming from the lips of preachers. Instead, they preach how "Jesus loves you & has a wonderful plan for your life". The plan is that these people REPENT & BELIEVE, that is the Gospel & if we aren't preaching THAT then we aren't really preaching the Gospel.
People can speak of "love" & "compassion" all day long but as long as they are simply trying to clean up the outside of peoples' lives, they don't really care about love & compassion. It is the eternal state of people with which we should be concerned.
Perhaps someone will claim, "Yes, but we think we should address the daily situation of people first before they will receive the Gospel".
I ask, where do we see that methodology in Scripture? When Jesus originally sent out the disciples, He told them not to even take any provisions & that they should rely on the charity of those receiving the Gospel. (Mark 6:7-10) There would not even been ability to carry out a Social Gospel even if the disciples wanted to -- they didn't have anything to give to the poor & down trodden EXCEPT what they were commanded to give them -- THE GOSPEL.
Lastly, any charity you see in the N.T. from Christians was NOT from Christians to non-Christians but was mutual help among the brethren. They weren't helping pagan widows. They weren't going to visit pagan persons in prisons.
This is what is wrong with the Church today. We have been told for so long that our mission is to minister to the pagans that no one has been ministering to the Body of Christ. It would be comparable to seeing the disciples taking extremely "loving" & "compassionate" care of the bodies of the thieves on the cross while leaving the Body of Christ to rot in the open air.
It is time to get back to ministering & encouraging the Body of Christ, believers instead of trying to save the world through socialistic syncretism.
[Amendment]:
Some people have taken this article to mean I am implying we shouldn't care for non-Christians. They even referenced the "Good Samaritan" parable from Luke 10:30-37. Interesting enough it was not the Samaritan that was lying along side the road, but merely a certain man. Being a Samaritan was to be an outcast, thus it was the outcast helping the certain man. The point was, the others that passed by thought they were too good to help. This article IS NOT advocating that Christians are too good to help others.
As a matter of fact, most of the world's original hospitals, universities, & charities were started by Christians. The point of this article was that we Christians are often told to purposely wander along the road looking for that certain man to help & yet leaving our house (the Christian community) uncared for. What does the Bible say about this?
1 Timothy 5:8
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
If God puts your path to cross the path of a certain man lying in the road, by all means help -- but at the same time, we ought to be "providing for our own & especially for those of our own 'house'".
posted by kennyo at 5:51 AM
1 Comments:
James 1:27
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
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