Christian . . . or Not?

“Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective.”

–Rob Bell

Nearly thirty years ago, Robert Schuller wrote a book called Self-Esteem: The New Reformation. The book did indeed usher in a new "reformation" -- a reformation of anti-biblical, anti-Christian thought that has permeated the culture and effectively turned out a great many Christians in our generation who are anything but a reflection of the very first Christians of the New Testament.

So, can the same terminology used in the First Century to describe Christ-Followers be used today? Has the meaning changed? Have Christians changed?

Rob Bell's ministry is the direct result of Mr. Schuller's "reformation" so you do have to wonder what he's really thinking; and how he defines the term Christian. But when Mr. Bell tells us that the word "Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective," it's easy to agree with the last half of the statement. The word "Christian is indeed a poor adjective as used to describe the majority of mainline churches today. Especially when you consider the message of the New Testament Church and compare it with the message of a great number of today's churches.

But the word "Christian" is also an incredibly loosely used noun ascribed to most churchgoers of our culture. . . Thanks to Mr. Schuller's New Reformation and the resulting Seeker-Sensitive Movement. Biblically and properly defined, however, Christian is a great noun.

It really does depend on how you define "Christian."

Mr. Bell is a prominent leader in The Seeker-Sensitive Movement. Are you familiar with this term? Seeker-Sensitive Churches give their audience what they want -- what they "seek." They "seek" relevant sermons and exciting programs that may or may not have anything to do with Biblical Christianity.

Seeker churches rarely use expository preaching and seldom do they ever bring up redemption, or sin. These are the recurring themes of the Bible, but they are not themes that people "seek." The Seeker Movement is a church "style" that dominates American churches; and it is anything but reflective of the New Testament Church.

I'm not sure what Mr. Bell is trying to tell us in his quote
Because I'm not sure what he means by "Christian."

Christianity, in the hands of these Seeker-Sensitive churches has diluted (and in many cases completely misrepresented) the divine message of Salvation as revealed in the Bible beginning in the Book of Genesis!

Seeker Sensitive churches have replaced the Glory of God with the satisfaction of human beings. They have neglected to teach -- or even understand -- the entire Story of Redemption which unfolds in every single page of the Bible. They have effectively done away with the Word of GOD. Except -- of course -- for it's soundbites: those selected "feel-good," "Jesus-loves-you" verses taken out of context to give the audience what it wants to hear.

. . . 'cause who wants to hear the that we are sinners who deserve Hell?
To be sure, the Book of Romans has been
completely ripped out of the Seeker-Sensitive Bible.

John MacArthur calls the trend "quasi-Christian, narcissism" and it is vividly characteristic of the false teaching we are warned about in II Timothy 3 where we are reminded, "Dangerous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves." (II Timothy 3:1-2)

And because so much of the Seeker-Sensitive Movement has infiltrated our churches, the Church of 2010 bears little -- if any -- similarity to the New Testament Christian Church.

In today's culture, the use, meaning and expression of the word "Christian" is indeed a poor descriptive of a person who has been saved by grace through faith. (Ephesians 2:8)

"Christian is . . . a poor adjective."

Indeed! . . . so how did this all start?

In his bestselling book, Schuller aggressively attacks the Protestant Reformation which began when Martin Luther published The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Schuller writes: "It is precisely at this point that classical theology has erred in its insistence that theology be 'God-centered' and not 'man-centered.'" (1)

Excuse me?? But. . . *WhaT!!??

In an attempt to define this "man-centered theology," Schuller explains, "This master plan of God is designed around the deepest needs of human beings -- self-dignity, self-respect, self-esteem." (2)

Again: Huh??

He goes on. . . "Success is to be defined as the gift of self-esteem that God gives us as a reward for our sacrificial service in building self-esteem in others. Win or lose: If we follow God's plan as faithfully as we can, we will feel good about ourselves. That is success!" (3)

So. . . Self Esteem trumps Salvation??!!
Anything but Biblical, Mr. Schuller.

"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

~ Jesus

Schuller's not done. Perhaps his most preposterous assertion comes when he writes, "Once a person believes he is an 'unworthy sinner,' it is doubtful if he can rally honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ."(4)

Mr. Schuller, do you own a Bible?
Have you read it?

". . . for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God."

~ Romans 3:23

Sadly, this "man-centered theology" is precisely the theology that the Seeker-Sensitive Movement is teaching. And it exists at some level in the majority of mainline "Christian" churches today. Christianity is no longer about Christ. It's all about the seeker.

What does the seeker want?
What does the seeker think they need?
What is truth according to the seeker?
And how does the seeker feel about that?

If you want to be saved, according to this new "gospel," you do not believe yourself to be a sinner. You just "accept Christ" because "God is Love." And -- more importantly -- you can't ever (ever!) tell anyone else that they are a sinner or even mention the word hell!

How distorted that?!

Any minister or teacher who waters down the message of Salvation so that it is less confrontational and more popular, politically correct and appealing to the seekers, is doing one thing and one thing only: promoting a cheap imitation of the Christian life, and corrupting the use, meaning and expression of the word CHRISTIAN.

Mr. Bell's quote is completely dependent on how you define the term Christian.

“Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective.”

–Rob Bell

*~*~*~*~*

"One of our great allies at present is the Church itself.
Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church
as we see her spread out through all time and space
and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners.
That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes
our boldest tempters uneasy.
But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans."

~ Screwtape,
A senior devil, instruction a junior devil
on how to tempt and trap humans.
C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

~ Esthermay V. Bentley-Goossen

© 2010 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

NOTES:
(1) Robert Schuller, Self-Esteem: The New Reformation (Waco, Tex.: Word Publishing, 1982), 64.
(2) Ibid., 71.
(3) Ibid., 76.
(4) Ibid., 98.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This installment of InOtherWords is hosted by Tami
on her blog, The Next Step

12:44 AM | 29 comments | Read More

Walking Away from TruthIn Other Words . . . Refuse to Mourn Sin & You Sacrifice the Joy of Salvation

“Is it possible we could experience the joy of our salvation

if we mourned [over our sin] as if someone had died?
We cannot experience joy without mourning.”

~ Pastor Robert Morris,
from Sermon: “Those Who Mourn Are Happy”

Here's the story:
. . . Jody (not her real name) says she left the church because the pastor preached that you cannot be saved unless you read the book of Romans.

Jody disagreed and just up-and-left. Walked out in anger. She abandoned her ministry in the church, uprooted her entire family and changed churches. And -- of course -- people started talking.

You know how it is in churches.

Before long the story also included this: Pastor told Jody she wasn’t a Christian because she listened to Christian radio. Other rumors were even more absurd. And ridiculous. And completely false.

You know how it is in churches.

Here’s the truth. . . the pastor preached a series of sermons from the Book of Romans and -- as is the case whenever the Gospel of Salvation is presented -- some people were offended and turned resentful.

Instead of accepting the truth of Scripture, some people choose to make a pageant of their pride, they get others all stirred up, and they eventually just leave the church. Sometimes they take others with them. They would rather sacrifice the true JOY of Salvation than to MOURN their own sin and depravity.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

~ I Corinthians 2:14

Sadly, there are many people in churches today who are "without the Spirit." They simply cannot "accept the things that come from the Spirit of God" through Scripture because it is "foolishness to [them]."

. . . See, it's not until we reach the third chapter in Romans that the plan of Salvation is even presented. The JOY comes three whole chapters into the book! It takes the first (l-o--n---g) three chapters to present the problem of SIN and depravity. SIN is the prerequisite to SALVATION. Without sin, what's the point??!!

Lost people do not want to hear that they're sinners! They just want to be "saved." They just want the joy and happiness and Love of God bestowed upon them. They skip the first three Chapters. They never really acknowledge their depravity and sin before God, yet they say they're saved. Are they? Are they really saved? Sometimes people hear the first three chapters -- get angry -- and just walk away.

Until we accept and mourn the fact that we are depraved sinners, we cannot experience the joy of salvation!

The truth is (and most of my readers will “get” this), Jody did not want to accept and confront the fact that she was/is a sinner. . .

No. The pastor did not tell Jody or anyone else -- from the pulpit or anywhere else that you cannot be saved without reading the book of Romans. What he did was [quite eloquently and straightforwardly] explain that. . .

More than any other book in God’s Word, the Book of Romans changes people’s lives. And Satan hates this. Satan is alive and well and kicking with great force in churches where the Bible is opened to the Book of Romans because Satan does not want people to change.

For the most part, Satan does not have a problem with the Bible. In fact, he likes passages about God's great love and acceptance and mercy. . . He likes verses about joy and promises of a full life -- Matthew 11:28-29, John 10:10, John 6:35, John 6:37, Revelation 22:17. Satan likes it when people believe they can be happy and joyful in Jesus outside of true repentance and true salvation.

You must remember that Satan is an angel of light. He is a deceiver. And he can and does use Scripture to deceive. This is why it is so important that we learn to "rightly divide the word of truth." (II Timothy 2:15)

Whenever the Word of God is opened to the Book of Romans, where Real Salvation is available if/when we acknowledge and mourn our sinful and depraved state, Satan always goes into immediate action to hinder and impede the message.

Until we accept and mourn the fact that we are depraved sinners, we cannot experience the joy of salvation!

There is no other book of the Bible which has been so instrumental in changing lives and in impacting the church as Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Most, if not all, of the great revivals and reformation in the history of the church have been directly related to the Book of Romans.

← In 386 A.D., Aurelius Augustine received Jesus Christ as his Savior after reading a passage from the Book of Romans. He went on to become one of the church’s most outstanding leaders and theologians.


A thousand years later, →
Martin Luther wrote, “Night and day I pondered Romans until I grasped the truth. I felt myself to be reborn. This passage of Paul became to me a gateway to heaven.”

← Several centuries later (May 24, 1738 to be precise), a minister named John Wesley wrote this about his study in the Book of Romans: “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins. . . . ”

In assessing the importance →
of the Book of Romans, John Calvin said, “When one gains a knowledge of this Epistle, he has an entrance opened to him to all the most hidden treasures of Scripture.”

← The famous sixteenth-century Bible translator William Tyndale wrote of Romans: “It is the principle and most excellent part of the New Testament... No man can read it too oft, or study it too well; for the more it is studied, the easier it is; the more it is chewed, the pleasanter it is. . . the more it is searched, the precious’er things are found….”

It has been said that Romans will delight the greatest logician and captivate the mind of the consummate genius, yet it will bring tears to the humblest soul and refreshment to the simplest mind.

Until we mourn the fact that we are sinners, we cannot experience the joy of salvation!

And Oh! How Satan hates the Book of Romans!

Satan doesn't mind simple sermons about love and happiness and kindness and living our best life now. . . .

Satan doesn't even mind sermons about Biblical history because he can always use science to confuse people.

But the Book of Romans is primarily a book of doctrine - this is where Satan meets God! It's the battle ground of Scripture. And it answers all our questions:

► What is the good news of God?

► Is Jesus really God?
► What is God like?
► How can God send people to hell?

► Why do men reject God and His Son?
► Why are there false religions and idols?
► What is man’s biggest sin?

► Why is there evil in the world?

► What is the standard by which God judges people?

► How can a person who has never heard about God be held spiritually responsible?
► Who is a true Jew?
► Can any person keep God’s laws perfectly?
► How can a person know he is a sinner?
► Where can people find real peace and hope?
► What exactly is grace?
► Why is living a Christian life such a struggle?

If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, you need to study the Book of Romans. Especially the first three chapters.

"Is it possible we could experience the joy of our salvation if we mourned [over our sin] as if someone had died?
We cannot experience joy without mourning.”

"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of . . . but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

~ II Corinthians 7:10

"Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . ."

~ Matthew 5:3

What is "poor in spirit?" It is the opposite of the haughty, self-assertive, and self-sufficient disposition that the world so much admires and praises. It is the opposite spirit of someone who chooses to walk away from the truth . . . .

~ Esthermay Bentley-Goossen

©2009 the Heart of a Pastor's Wife

This installment of InOtherWords in hosted by Michelle at Because I Love You.

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The False Gospel of New Evangelicalism. . .

A great number of you are keenly aware (some of you zealously) of the diluted and false gospel of mainstream evangelical churches today. Here’s something I’ll venture you do not know:

Did you know that between fifteen and twenty percent of all churches in the United States have forced out two or more pastors? Slightly more than ten percent have forced out three or more pastors!

. . . and did you know that over the last ten years, the primary reason for pastors being forced out of their church was because they refused to “get-in-line” with the
"New Evangelical Movement?"

6:20 AM | 12 comments | Read More

I Keep Hearing this Word Tolerance . . . And in the same context as Agape Love!

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.

But does it tolerate?

Love needs to be based on character, if you know and love God you see He has a lot of character we are in love with. The best thing we can do . . . is to grow in character as listed in 1 Corinthians 13. It’s a love of choice. We choose to love God, He chooses to love us. Love of choice is the most powerful love, God calls that agape love, it’s a love that lasts, we should never settle for anything else between us and God and others. It’s a love that grows. Keep fervent in your love, allow it to stretch and strain as you watch it grow.

~ Wayne Corderio

In I Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul uses the word agape to describe the highest level of love in this world. While it is the kind of love that God expects every true believer to demonstrate in his or her life, the word agape itself describes a love so completely different from what the world offers that it is used in the New Testament only to describe God's love and the love that should flow from the hearts of believers.

In each expression of agape love, we find NO suggestion, reference or insinuation to Tolerance. Rather, we find that agape love underpins and strengthens every other attribute of God, including wrath, mercy, jealousy, anger and righteousness.

But let's back-up to the very beginning of the Chapter . . .

Paul had encountered a group of people in the city of Corinth who were "super spiritual." And Paul was quite unimpressed with them because of their obvious lack of love. Their deficit clearly bothered him and he alludes to this when he writes I Corinthians 13:1:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."

The words "sounding brass" are very important. The word comes from the Greek chalkos which refers to metal. But is wasn't just any metal. It was bronze or copper to which a small amount of tin had been added. This tin caused the metal to have a hollow, empty sound when it was beaten. That is why Paul also used the word "sounding."

So when Paul wrote about a "sounding brass," he was borrowing from the pagan world of Corinth to make his point about super-spiritual people who demonstrated no real love. They were hollow and empty.

Q:
Do you think a comparison could be made between the Corinthians of Paul's day and the "super-spiritual" Christians of 2009 who have adopted the Gospel of Tolerance (in the name of Agape Love), so as to appear god-like and loving and accepting while neither understanding or practicing true Love?

Do you think the First Century Corinthians became "tolerant" of the culture (and thereby accepting of it) because they feared the reputation of being intolerant?

Is it possible that these First Century Corinthians were the forerunners of the "emerging church," the "post-evangelicals," the "postmodernists," the attempt to replot New Testament Christianity into a pluralistic and secular world?

Just wondering. . .
Indeed. . . true Love never fails.
But does it tolerate?

. . . if you know and love God, you see He has a lot of character.

It is, however, a dangerous thing to emphasize one attribute of God at the expense of His Full Character. Love is but one of many attributes . To place Love at the top as a supreme or preeminent quality is not Scriptural.

Yes. We can rely upon, emphasize, and live by the words of 1 John 4:16, "God is love," but in doing so, we forget that:

♥ God is also Truth (I John 1:6,8;2;21).

♥ God is also Righteousness (I John 1:9; 2:1, 29; 3:7).

♥ God is also Eternal Life (I John 1:2; 2:17, 25).
♥ God is also Hope (I John 3:3).
♥ God is also Purity (I John 1:7, 9; 3:3).
♥ God is also Confidence (I John 2:28; 3:21; 4:17).
♥ God is also Wrathful (Exodus 32:9-10; Deut. 9:7-8; John 3:36).
♥ God is also Righteous and Just (Deut. 32:4; Isa. 45:19).

♥ God is also Jealous (Exodus 20:5-6; 34:14)

The Apostle John is a desperately needed voice of Truth in today's pluralistic and tolerant culture. His writing is bold. It is very direct. It is very dogmatic. I don't believe there is another New Testament writer that is as authoritative in his writing. John is committed to absolutes. Committed to black and white. I like him. I like him very much.

John does indeed write that God is a God of Love -- that God loved His Son -- that God loved the disciples -- that God loved the world -- that God is loved by Christ -- that Christ loved the disciples -- and that Christ taught that we should love one another -- and, finally -- that love is the fulfilling of the whole law.

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.

But does it tolerate?

John never slid into sentimentality. John never slid into tolerance masquerading as love. John never tolerated deception. He never tolerated lies. He was always committed to truth. He never tolerated sin of any kind. And in his second epistle (II John), he calls for complete separation from all those people who aren't faithful to the truth. His third epistle says essentially the same thing.

To live the Christian life refusing to acknowledge each and every attribute of God is to invalidate His Divine nature as GOD. To deny the "black and white'ness" of the Gospel is as incompatible in the Christian as it is in God!

To accept that God is loving is one thing. To deny that God is also a God of wrath and anger and vengeance because these qualities just don't match-up with his loving kindness (in our human thinking) is quite another.

No where is Tolerance equated with Love in John's writings. Nor anywhere in the New Testament for that matter!

Yet a great number of Christians have made Tolerance synonymous with Love! A great number of Christians refuse to believe God's Word if/when it contradicts their own rigid belief system. A system rooted in a false understanding of God's Love.

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.

But does it tolerate?

We choose to love God, He chooses to love us. Love of choice is the most powerful love. . .

Absolutely! But regrettably, there is this growing phenomena in today's churches. It's called Tolerance. It masquerades as Love. It is a choice, but the only "power" it hold, is the power to keep church members from knowing and experiencing God's True, Powerful, and Unconditional Love!

It is the fashion in churches today to tolerate just about anything in the name of Christian love lest we “Christians” gain a reputation of being intolerant. And in doing this we have totally sacrificed the spiritual health and maturity of the Church for years to come.

Q: What kind of things do we tolerate?

I think most of my readers can answer that. . .

. . . But I personally believe that most evangelical churches in America have become completely useless when it comes to sharing the True Message of Salvation and the True Meaning of Agape Love because they have chosen to practice Tolerance.

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.

But does it tolerate?

. . . agape love, it’s a love that lasts, we should never settle for anything else between us and God and others.

And over the next few posts, I want to address the Apostle Paul’s words in I Corinthians 13:4-8, where he speaks of love because they are powerful, powerful words. Paul lists fifteen points about the love of God and how it behaves. By peering into these verses, we can determine if our lives are indeed a reflection of this highest level of love.

Please come back!

Indeed. . . true Love never fails.
But does it tolerate?

~Esthermay Bentley-Goossen
© 2009 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

This installment of InOtherWords is hosted by Karen on her blog In Love W.I.T.H. Jesus.

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Conformity. . . In The Church?!

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. "

- Romans 12:2

As soon as you throw out the word 'worldly' you've got as many definitions for it as hearers of it. It's important to know precisely what "worldliness" is.

As a girl, I was taught that worldliness included such things as smoking, drinking, dancing, and playing cards. I never did these things -- was never tempted to do these things -- and I felt good about myself was self-righteous. As I got older and my circle of friends grew bigger, I recognized (in my own thinking) that worldliness also included swearing, going to "raunchy" movies, gossiping, and wearing clothing that were "fashionable" but not necessarily modest.

Fast forward a few decades: Today, my list is full up and sated with far more descriptive behaviors.

But this is not what Romans 12:2 is about. To think of worldliness in only these terms is to trivialize what is a far more serious -- and far more subtle -- problem.

The word "world," in Romans 12:2 is actually "age" (aion, meaning, "this present age" in contrast to "the age to come"); and "do not conform," is a compound word having at its root in the word "scheme."

A re-write of the verse might go something like this:

"Do not let the post-modern culture in which you now live force you into its scheme of thinking and behaving."

In the context of Romans Chapter 2, the Apostle Paul is telling Christians that they need to be changed from within to be increasingly like Jesus. And is doing this, the world's ideas will be of no interest because Christians will be able to test and approve what God's will is.

The chief problem in the evangelical church today is that we have been increasingly conformed to the world's patterns. You name it: music, evangelism, preaching, bible-study, small-groups. . . Everything has to be "appealing" and perceived as exciting and new and refreshing!

In my early thirties, I begin to believe that being a part of "church" wasn't so much about being a new person that had been reborn of the Holy Spirit, but that it had more to do with being in "unity" with others. Or better yet: "Community!"

Unity had been (and still is!) mistaken for Truth. (i.e. what God's Word actually says and instructs us to be doing as true believers.) "Unity" had become synonymous with "Truth." And I believed the lie. (And this was early in the new-evangelical movement.)

For many years, I was uncomfortable with this thinking. I couldn't really pin down precisely why, I just wasn't comfortable in my church. And even more than that: I just wasn't comfortable before Jesus when I was alone -- away from the "Community."

It took many years (of studying God's Word) for me to pin down my awkwardness before Him and understand the Truth. God's Word doesn't really have that much to say about "unity" and "community" in the sense that the evangelical church identifies it today. It has everything to say about how a true believer acts and thinks and shares and interacts with the world.

The post-modern culture had forced me into its scheme of thinking and behaving.

I believed the lies:

I believed that simply fellowshipping with other Christians made me a church-member-in-good-standing.

I believed that plain old Bible-Study was boring and irrelevant to my life. I believed that studying and discussing books written by Christian authors was far more applicable to my life.

I believed that bringing Christian Contemporary Music into the church was relevant because it would draw people who might not otherwise come to church. I believed that playing the old Hymns was a turn-off to non-Christians and they wouldn't come to church if we played them.

I believed that making allowances for people who differed slightly in the way of "Salvation" was okay since they were probably on their way to true salvation by just being part of "Community."

And each of these are ways that the church has tried to be relevant to the culture.

Some churches try really hard to find ways. Some churches have committees just to discuss new ideas.

But each new idea is simply another way that the church has been forced into the world's scheme of thinking and behaving. They are all ways that the Truth of God's Word has been sacrificed in order to get more people to attend church.

Is this the reason we have churches? . . .To get as many people through the doors as we can?

By doing this, the church has created a continuity with the world instead of a separateness from the world. Being separate from the world is commanded in God's Word!

The church - as a body - has become "conformed!"

On a global scale, our post-modern world holds "unity" and "community" as the ultimate goal for world peace. If you understand even a small piece of eschatology, you know there is no "world peace."

But it is this "world peace" mindset that encourages socialism, big-government, multiculturalism , relativism, tolerance, etc. in our culture. These schemes are being pushed on us. Sometimes by the church itself!

Even "Christian" agendas (such as The Purpose Driven Church, P.E.A.C.E , 40 Days of Community, multicultural outreach, etc., etc., etc,.) that define "unity" in the sense of a spirituality that transcends all faiths and cultures are manufactured to usher in a new global community where peace will be achieved by consensus and synthesis. (Wrong!)

I am not a pessimist. Really!

My passion - my calling - my purpose - is that Christians be grounded in God's Word. . . . To understand that God's heart is not necessarily what today's churches are dispensing.

I believed the lie myself for many many years!

The saddest part of telling "my story" is that so many professing Christians just don't "get it." They get angry and indignant when this is shown or told to them.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. "
- Romans 12:2

- Esthermay Bentley-Goossen

© Copyright 2008 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

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