By Sam RodrÃguez
21st-century agenda must include reconciling transgenerational differences.
The decision by California’s Supreme Court to strike down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage revealed more than judicial activism run amok. Besides usurping the majority’s will, it exposed what is present even in the evangelical church: the differences of opinion between Millennials (those born after 1980) and previous generations on many cultural issues. Current surveys related to the evangelical community all exhibit a division based on one simple factor: age.
Warren Beemer, president of Third Day Generation Youth Network, confirms the ideological divide: “Many young people in the evangelical community between 13 and 25 years of age see same-sex marriage as a civil rights issue and not as a moral issue. From Will and Grace to Madonna and Britney’s kiss to A Shot at [Love With Tila] Tequila—an MTV program about a bisexual woman finding her love partner—[it] all speaks to the deliberate attempt to change the hearts and minds of an entire generation.”
Hollywood isn’t the only propagandist targeting the younger generation. Public education in California, for example, teaches students that the rights sought by gays and lesbians are equivalent to African-Americans’ struggle for civil rights. “Leaders such as Niger Innis from the Congress of Racial Equality, one of the nation’s oldest civil rights organizations, repudiate the notion,” says Bob Adams of the Alliance For Marriage. “How one can equate over 200 years of slavery ... to the legalization of a sexual act in the privacy of one’s bedroom is beyond me.”
Other issues similarly expose the generational differences. Though most evangelicals 35 and older regard sanctity of life and traditional marriage as bedrocks for the community, younger evangelicals include alleviating poverty and tackling global warming as integral parts of the evangelical 21st-century agenda. Does this mean the end of the movement as a sociopolitical presence in America? Or do the differences signal the emergence of a new movement with a broader coalition and a distinct DNA?
“We’re at a crossroad where we can either split or understand the importance of our core values and build a broader coalition,” says Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law. “The signs are actually promising to recapture the evangelical base, but it’s about transgenerational communication. ... Without abandoning our core values on marriage and life, we can appreciate the fact that the gospel encompasses ... the poor, aging and God’s creation itself.”
Undoubtedly, America still needs an evangelical movement that will serve as a firewall to the egregious usurpers of our core values. Yet unlike past alliances, we must truly represent the mosaic of God’s church in America.
To build such a firewall to thwart the viruses, Trojans and invaders we have today, the new evangelical movement needs to reconcile the kingdom salvation message of Billy Graham with the social-justice transformational spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. We can win the next generation and launch a new Jesus movement if we defend traditional marriage and simultaneously repudiate homophobia, stand up for life, address poverty, preach the gospel of salvation and incorporate biblical stewardship of God’s creation. It cannot be “either-or”; it must be “both-and.” Only a multiethnic, transgenerational, biblically committed coalition can push back on Satan’s charge in our nation.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
A Passion Deficiency
By Jack Hayford
Whether books, technology or copycat strategies, there’s no substitute for divine discontent.
Leaders in the present North American church are being programmed into a fixation on the notion that what we all need to succeed is to somehow find "a better mousetrap." The mind-set produces a relentless quest that pursues endless avenues, such as scouring Internet Web sites, plowing through leadership material and highlighting slogans in the latest corporate motivational book, near-frantic idea/program-hunting visits to high-visibility churches, labored analyzing of contemporary culture and local demographics and diligently processing "makeovers" on everything from the church's platform arrangement to its parking lot signage.
I have no direct opposition to such sincerely sought, purely motivated quests. However, the majority of the time, they at best prove only temporarily useful, and far too often end in providing little more than a cosmetic for a much deeper need. In short, neither durable change nor spiritual dynamic are likely to ever be gained via the labored means of human ingenuity.
Efforts at finding and doing something beget inevitable weariness with having tried so hard and gaining so little. And a lot of pastors find a net result reading, "disillusionment," and sometimes, "despair."
Naturally, I do believe organization, plans, administration and programs are necessary to lead with wisdom and fruitfulness. But, to be frank, I'm becoming less patient these days with the passivity shown toward what I think is most needed by the majority of thinking leaders today: passion (1) in our personal worship of God (then, in the way we lead the flock to do the same); and passion (2) in pursuing an abiding fullness of His Spirit in our lives (then, in wisely drawing everyone in the congregation toward the same experience).
I will never defend wild-eyed fanaticism. Nor am I arguing for passion as, for example, a license to a carnal indulgence of anger when things don't happen fast enough. My plea is not to give place to the shallow, selfish pushiness of self-will erupting or manipulating to "get things my way—now!"
To argue for passion is not to indulge in a proposition that patience is supplanted, and impatience given a throne in your values or mine. But I have found a law of diminishing return where that order of patience is exercised that becomes so placid, so cooled, so bound by reserve that the status quo is never confronted. Whenever I find myself caving in to difficulties instead of opening to new dimensions of God's grace, I need passion, not patience.
Whenever I find I'm surrendering to the situation instead of making a new surrender to God, I need passion, not patience.
I'm wanting to discern and overcome that so-called "patience" that submits to the subtlety of human fear, doubt, passivity or pride—that lying voice that whispers: "Don't get too excited about God or expect too much of Him. Tough it out. Be patient." Because, in fact, the Bible reveals there are times when a divine discontent needs to motivate me—not a patient passivity.
It is passion, not patience, that moved Jesus through Gethsemane's ordeal and paved the way to Calvary (see Luke 22:39-46).
It is passion, not patience, that brought spiritual breakthrough when effort was made to silence the church (see Acts 4:23-31).
It is passion, not patience, that brought Paul to discover grace sufficient for the satanic battle he was waging (see 2 Cor. 12:7-10).
These Bible examples are a prompting to us all to open the doorway to relive those days when the disciples passionately waited on God for the Holy Spirit.
Let me encourage you: Whatever you are going through or whatever your personal challenge, whatever your family trials or whatever your economic circumstances, whatever your physical pain or whatever your wearied soul's tiredness, let us partner together to passionately pursue this principle: If with all your heart you truly seek Him, you will find Him.
That is an order of wholeheartedness that is at the core of our Lord Jesus' desire to ignite our hearts with the flame of heaven's passion and love: "'He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire'" (emphasis mine; Luke 3:16, KJV).
Decades of leading and teaching God's people have not produced in me a reckless excitability, but I have concluded that whatever else, without passion little will be birthed or broken through. "Cool" Christianity will never successfully resist the bonfires of unbelief that intimidate souls, nor the fiery darts of evil assault that rain from today's skies. We can only fight fire with fire.
Whether books, technology or copycat strategies, there’s no substitute for divine discontent.
Leaders in the present North American church are being programmed into a fixation on the notion that what we all need to succeed is to somehow find "a better mousetrap." The mind-set produces a relentless quest that pursues endless avenues, such as scouring Internet Web sites, plowing through leadership material and highlighting slogans in the latest corporate motivational book, near-frantic idea/program-hunting visits to high-visibility churches, labored analyzing of contemporary culture and local demographics and diligently processing "makeovers" on everything from the church's platform arrangement to its parking lot signage.
I have no direct opposition to such sincerely sought, purely motivated quests. However, the majority of the time, they at best prove only temporarily useful, and far too often end in providing little more than a cosmetic for a much deeper need. In short, neither durable change nor spiritual dynamic are likely to ever be gained via the labored means of human ingenuity.
Efforts at finding and doing something beget inevitable weariness with having tried so hard and gaining so little. And a lot of pastors find a net result reading, "disillusionment," and sometimes, "despair."
Naturally, I do believe organization, plans, administration and programs are necessary to lead with wisdom and fruitfulness. But, to be frank, I'm becoming less patient these days with the passivity shown toward what I think is most needed by the majority of thinking leaders today: passion (1) in our personal worship of God (then, in the way we lead the flock to do the same); and passion (2) in pursuing an abiding fullness of His Spirit in our lives (then, in wisely drawing everyone in the congregation toward the same experience).
I will never defend wild-eyed fanaticism. Nor am I arguing for passion as, for example, a license to a carnal indulgence of anger when things don't happen fast enough. My plea is not to give place to the shallow, selfish pushiness of self-will erupting or manipulating to "get things my way—now!"
To argue for passion is not to indulge in a proposition that patience is supplanted, and impatience given a throne in your values or mine. But I have found a law of diminishing return where that order of patience is exercised that becomes so placid, so cooled, so bound by reserve that the status quo is never confronted. Whenever I find myself caving in to difficulties instead of opening to new dimensions of God's grace, I need passion, not patience.
Whenever I find I'm surrendering to the situation instead of making a new surrender to God, I need passion, not patience.
I'm wanting to discern and overcome that so-called "patience" that submits to the subtlety of human fear, doubt, passivity or pride—that lying voice that whispers: "Don't get too excited about God or expect too much of Him. Tough it out. Be patient." Because, in fact, the Bible reveals there are times when a divine discontent needs to motivate me—not a patient passivity.
It is passion, not patience, that moved Jesus through Gethsemane's ordeal and paved the way to Calvary (see Luke 22:39-46).
It is passion, not patience, that brought spiritual breakthrough when effort was made to silence the church (see Acts 4:23-31).
It is passion, not patience, that brought Paul to discover grace sufficient for the satanic battle he was waging (see 2 Cor. 12:7-10).
These Bible examples are a prompting to us all to open the doorway to relive those days when the disciples passionately waited on God for the Holy Spirit.
Let me encourage you: Whatever you are going through or whatever your personal challenge, whatever your family trials or whatever your economic circumstances, whatever your physical pain or whatever your wearied soul's tiredness, let us partner together to passionately pursue this principle: If with all your heart you truly seek Him, you will find Him.
That is an order of wholeheartedness that is at the core of our Lord Jesus' desire to ignite our hearts with the flame of heaven's passion and love: "'He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire'" (emphasis mine; Luke 3:16, KJV).
Decades of leading and teaching God's people have not produced in me a reckless excitability, but I have concluded that whatever else, without passion little will be birthed or broken through. "Cool" Christianity will never successfully resist the bonfires of unbelief that intimidate souls, nor the fiery darts of evil assault that rain from today's skies. We can only fight fire with fire.
Hearing the Hurting
QUOTE: "It’s important for us [pastors] to be in touch with the people we are speaking to and speak in a way that is understandable and bring the relevant, powerful, life-transforming message of the Word of God to them. It’s just something I have interest in. I want to know what people are thinking, what they are facing, what they are grappling with. … One thing I’ve become very aware of in recent days is just how many suffering people there are out there, people that are hurting. It’s been said that if you preach to people who are suffering, you will never lack for an audience. There certainly is a large audience of people who are in pain today." —Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., on how pain has recently changed his approach to ministry after 20 years of his evangelistic Harvest Crusades. Last July Laurie lost his 33-year-old son, Christopher, who served as art director for the church. "It is the most traumatic event of my life," Laurie says now. "It’s changed everything about me. You can’t help but see everything a little bit differently when somebody this close to you dies unexpectedly, especially your child. A parent never wants to outlive their child. I’ve become aware of how many others out there who have lost children, lost loved ones."
Friday, June 19, 2009
Discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls
by Valerie G. Lowe
Considered the lowest surface area on earth, the Dead Sea lies 410 meters below sea level. Located northwest of its shores is one of Israel’s most spectacular, ancient sites—the Qumran caves. Qumran was home to a sect of Jewish zealots who penned what has come to be known today as the Dead Scrolls. The members buried their precious scrolls deep in the crevices of the caves, where they remained until they were discovered thousands of years later. To see the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, click here to watch two videos.http://www.strangmail.com/sendstudio/link.php?M=2955233&N=4448&L=9015&F=H
Considered the lowest surface area on earth, the Dead Sea lies 410 meters below sea level. Located northwest of its shores is one of Israel’s most spectacular, ancient sites—the Qumran caves. Qumran was home to a sect of Jewish zealots who penned what has come to be known today as the Dead Scrolls. The members buried their precious scrolls deep in the crevices of the caves, where they remained until they were discovered thousands of years later. To see the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, click here to watch two videos.http://www.strangmail.com/sendstudio/link.php?M=2955233&N=4448&L=9015&F=H
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Why I Can't Perform a Same-Sex Wedding
By J. Lee Grady
Go ahead: Call me intolerant. I still believe the church must protect the marriage altar.
This past Saturday I stood on a church stage in Gainesville, Fla., and performed a wedding in front of 100 guests. The bride, Christina, was stunning in her billowing white gown. The groom, A.J., was beaming with delight. Tears flowed freely during the ceremony—especially during communion when a talented singing duo performed "The Prayer," the wedding anthem made popular by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli.
Thankfully there were no awkward moments—no fainting groomsmen, lost rings, squawking loud speakers or candles lighting dresses on fire. It was a picture-perfect moment in June, the month we've come to know as ideal for weddings even though summers in Florida are sweltering. I was grateful that I made it through my sermon without crying—since weddings involving friends or family can choke me up.
"Marriage is a holy institution, and the church should keep it that way regardless of where our culture ends up drifting on this issue."
Later that evening, after the decorations were taken down, the rose petals were swept up and the leftover wedding cake was in the freezer, I had some time to ponder the words I spoke to A.J. and Christina when they stood at that altar. I realized why my voice cracked a few times during my sermon. It was because I could feel God's presence in that church. He was smiling on this occasion.
Wedding ceremonies can come in all shapes, sizes and styles—but in essence they are meant to recreate a scene from the second chapter of Genesis, when God took the woman from man's side and united male and female as one. Without the aid of candles and Italian love songs, God preached the first wedding sermon. The Scripture says: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh" (Gen. 2:24, NASB).
That verse provides the biblical pattern for gender, sexuality and family relationships. It has been programmed into the DNA of the human race. Yet today a growing number of people who dismiss the Bible as myth are demanding that our culture exchange God's fundamental truths for a lie. And some mainline churches, swayed by secularist pressure, are opening their altars for same-sex weddings because they don't want to be viewed as intolerant prudes.
While the debate rages over whether states should sanction gay marriage (we can argue about that later), we Christians must cling to three key principles revealed in the first chapters of Genesis:
1. God's nature is revealed through male and female. The true God created men and women because both genders together reflect His image. God's full glory is not evident through men alone, or through women alone. Both are required. That's why Genesis 1:27 says: "So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (NLT).
It is for this reason that gay marriage is totally inconsistent with Christian morality. It is, in essence, a rejection of God's authority as Creator. It is an affront to His holy image. For two men or two women to marry and pretend to enjoy God's blessing on their sexual union is to rebel against created order and to establish an alternative culture without Him.
2. God's kingdom is advanced through heterosexual unions. The Genesis account clearly states that the family consists of a father and a mother (see 2:24). For thousands of years this is how the human race has been perpetuated. It has only been in recent decades that the homosexual community has promoted the acceptance of gay adoption or artificial insemination. And while gay activists may argue convincingly that they can offer compassion and love to children, the Christian community cannot bend heaven's rules to sanction gay or lesbian families. To do so would be another direct attack on the image of God.
3. Marriage was always intended to be monogamous. It's also important to note that Christian morality, at its core, is based on the concept of a committed, faithful, one-man/one-woman relationship. Even though many men in the Bible had multiple wives, the Scriptures never say God endorsed their behavior. Polygamy was never His plan.
Many secularists mock Christians today because, in some sad cases, the same preachers who angrily oppose gay marriage have girlfriends on the side. I would have to agree that a married preacher who is sleeping with his secretary is just as guilty as a man who is involved in a gay affair. In both instances, God's original standard in Genesis has been violated. We need to move past the hypocritical idea that homosexual sin is worse than heterosexual sin. We shouldn't try to excuse either.
Our culture is seeking to redefine marriage in our generation—and they are enlisting politicians to help them. Just last week President Obama wowed many of his supporters by announcing that the month of June—everyone's favorite month for weddings—is now Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. It's sad that our nation's leader—who is modeling faithful marriage—caved in to the pressure to applaud something that God calls an abomination.
Biblical marriage is not two men or two women; neither is it one man and four women (which Islamic law allows), a man and a child or three men and a baby. Marriage is a holy institution, and the church should keep it that way regardless of where our culture ends up drifting on this issue, or what people are allowed to do in a city courthouse. The Christian community must stand on the side of truth, not in a murky middle ground of compromise.
Go ahead: Call me intolerant. I still believe the church must protect the marriage altar.
This past Saturday I stood on a church stage in Gainesville, Fla., and performed a wedding in front of 100 guests. The bride, Christina, was stunning in her billowing white gown. The groom, A.J., was beaming with delight. Tears flowed freely during the ceremony—especially during communion when a talented singing duo performed "The Prayer," the wedding anthem made popular by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli.
Thankfully there were no awkward moments—no fainting groomsmen, lost rings, squawking loud speakers or candles lighting dresses on fire. It was a picture-perfect moment in June, the month we've come to know as ideal for weddings even though summers in Florida are sweltering. I was grateful that I made it through my sermon without crying—since weddings involving friends or family can choke me up.
"Marriage is a holy institution, and the church should keep it that way regardless of where our culture ends up drifting on this issue."
Later that evening, after the decorations were taken down, the rose petals were swept up and the leftover wedding cake was in the freezer, I had some time to ponder the words I spoke to A.J. and Christina when they stood at that altar. I realized why my voice cracked a few times during my sermon. It was because I could feel God's presence in that church. He was smiling on this occasion.
Wedding ceremonies can come in all shapes, sizes and styles—but in essence they are meant to recreate a scene from the second chapter of Genesis, when God took the woman from man's side and united male and female as one. Without the aid of candles and Italian love songs, God preached the first wedding sermon. The Scripture says: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh" (Gen. 2:24, NASB).
That verse provides the biblical pattern for gender, sexuality and family relationships. It has been programmed into the DNA of the human race. Yet today a growing number of people who dismiss the Bible as myth are demanding that our culture exchange God's fundamental truths for a lie. And some mainline churches, swayed by secularist pressure, are opening their altars for same-sex weddings because they don't want to be viewed as intolerant prudes.
While the debate rages over whether states should sanction gay marriage (we can argue about that later), we Christians must cling to three key principles revealed in the first chapters of Genesis:
1. God's nature is revealed through male and female. The true God created men and women because both genders together reflect His image. God's full glory is not evident through men alone, or through women alone. Both are required. That's why Genesis 1:27 says: "So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (NLT).
It is for this reason that gay marriage is totally inconsistent with Christian morality. It is, in essence, a rejection of God's authority as Creator. It is an affront to His holy image. For two men or two women to marry and pretend to enjoy God's blessing on their sexual union is to rebel against created order and to establish an alternative culture without Him.
2. God's kingdom is advanced through heterosexual unions. The Genesis account clearly states that the family consists of a father and a mother (see 2:24). For thousands of years this is how the human race has been perpetuated. It has only been in recent decades that the homosexual community has promoted the acceptance of gay adoption or artificial insemination. And while gay activists may argue convincingly that they can offer compassion and love to children, the Christian community cannot bend heaven's rules to sanction gay or lesbian families. To do so would be another direct attack on the image of God.
3. Marriage was always intended to be monogamous. It's also important to note that Christian morality, at its core, is based on the concept of a committed, faithful, one-man/one-woman relationship. Even though many men in the Bible had multiple wives, the Scriptures never say God endorsed their behavior. Polygamy was never His plan.
Many secularists mock Christians today because, in some sad cases, the same preachers who angrily oppose gay marriage have girlfriends on the side. I would have to agree that a married preacher who is sleeping with his secretary is just as guilty as a man who is involved in a gay affair. In both instances, God's original standard in Genesis has been violated. We need to move past the hypocritical idea that homosexual sin is worse than heterosexual sin. We shouldn't try to excuse either.
Our culture is seeking to redefine marriage in our generation—and they are enlisting politicians to help them. Just last week President Obama wowed many of his supporters by announcing that the month of June—everyone's favorite month for weddings—is now Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. It's sad that our nation's leader—who is modeling faithful marriage—caved in to the pressure to applaud something that God calls an abomination.
Biblical marriage is not two men or two women; neither is it one man and four women (which Islamic law allows), a man and a child or three men and a baby. Marriage is a holy institution, and the church should keep it that way regardless of where our culture ends up drifting on this issue, or what people are allowed to do in a city courthouse. The Christian community must stand on the side of truth, not in a murky middle ground of compromise.
Knowing You
[Story behind the song]
A major Christian conference in the UK had circulated a number of songwriters asking them to consider writing specific material to accompany the Bible readings and teaching at their event the following year. The book of Philippians had been chosen, so in order to begin the process of seeking inspiration I began to read through the book meditatively, asking God to draw my attention to anything which might become the seed of a song. I had come to the famous passage where Paul lists his impressive qualifications, and then dramatically sweeps them all aside for the sake of one supreme aim - to know Christ.
At this point my heart was stirred by the theme of knowing Jesus, and in an attempt to make it a personal song directed to him, I began to experiment with the phrase 'knowing you' as the moment of release of the song. Having written the chorus I set out to paraphrase the key verses of the scripture text into a singable form. This is always a great challenge because of course no translation of the Bible rhymes and scans, and there is always a danger that in shaping a lyrical form something is lost. After all this is the Word of God that we are dealing with!
Eventually, and with some editing input from one of our church leaders, plus some private 'road testing'at my home church, the song was finished. I know of several people who have learned the song without realising where it is derived from and have commented "Graham, I found your song in the bible!".
For me one of the most important things about it is the theme of sharing in Christ's sufferings (in the third verse), and of dying and rising with Christ. Perhaps for this reason the song has featured at funerals as well as in regular worship services. It has found its way into wedding services too where couples wish to express their commitment to putting Christ first in their marriage. 'Knowing You' has rapidly risen to be one of the most popular songs in the UK churches, at one time reaching number 5 in the CCLI chart.
All I once held dear, built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now, compared to this
Knowing you, Jesus
Knowing you, there is no greater thing
You're my all, you're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love you, Lord
Now my heart's desire is to know you more
To be found in you and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All-surpassing gift of righteousness
Oh, to know the power of your risen life
And to know You in Your sufferings
To become like you in your death, my Lord
So with you to live and never die
Graham Kendrick
Copyright © 1993 Make Way Music,
www.grahamkendrick.co.uk
All rights reserved.
International copyright secured.
Used by permission.
A major Christian conference in the UK had circulated a number of songwriters asking them to consider writing specific material to accompany the Bible readings and teaching at their event the following year. The book of Philippians had been chosen, so in order to begin the process of seeking inspiration I began to read through the book meditatively, asking God to draw my attention to anything which might become the seed of a song. I had come to the famous passage where Paul lists his impressive qualifications, and then dramatically sweeps them all aside for the sake of one supreme aim - to know Christ.
At this point my heart was stirred by the theme of knowing Jesus, and in an attempt to make it a personal song directed to him, I began to experiment with the phrase 'knowing you' as the moment of release of the song. Having written the chorus I set out to paraphrase the key verses of the scripture text into a singable form. This is always a great challenge because of course no translation of the Bible rhymes and scans, and there is always a danger that in shaping a lyrical form something is lost. After all this is the Word of God that we are dealing with!
Eventually, and with some editing input from one of our church leaders, plus some private 'road testing'at my home church, the song was finished. I know of several people who have learned the song without realising where it is derived from and have commented "Graham, I found your song in the bible!".
For me one of the most important things about it is the theme of sharing in Christ's sufferings (in the third verse), and of dying and rising with Christ. Perhaps for this reason the song has featured at funerals as well as in regular worship services. It has found its way into wedding services too where couples wish to express their commitment to putting Christ first in their marriage. 'Knowing You' has rapidly risen to be one of the most popular songs in the UK churches, at one time reaching number 5 in the CCLI chart.
All I once held dear, built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now, compared to this
Knowing you, Jesus
Knowing you, there is no greater thing
You're my all, you're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love you, Lord
Now my heart's desire is to know you more
To be found in you and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All-surpassing gift of righteousness
Oh, to know the power of your risen life
And to know You in Your sufferings
To become like you in your death, my Lord
So with you to live and never die
Graham Kendrick
Copyright © 1993 Make Way Music,
www.grahamkendrick.co.uk
All rights reserved.
International copyright secured.
Used by permission.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Don't Get Trapped in Religion
By R. T. Kendall
What people think is the Holy Spirit is often a cheap imitation. Don't be deceived.
Pigeons and doves are in the same family and look much the same. But the pigeon is not the symbol of peace. It was not a pigeon that came down and remained on Jesus. The turtledove--symbolizing the Holy Spirit--is different from a pigeon in interesting ways.
My friend Pete Cantrell is an expert on pigeons and turtledoves. His observations have amused and gripped me. Their relevance to a study of the Holy Spirit is almost astonishing.
"Do you see that pigeon?" he once asked me. "Watch him, he's getting ready to bully the pigeon next to him because it is perched on the spot he wants for himself." Seconds later, I watched it happen.
"I don't see that happening with turtledoves," Pete added. "Doves don't fight."
It seems to me that many of the claims to the presence of the Dove among us are nothing but pigeon religion--a counterfeit for the Holy Spirit. In my own haste I have presumed the presence of God in my life many times--when it was not the Dove after all. Often it has been a pigeon--not the heavenly Dove--that gave me a "religious" feeling. Here's how you can avoid making the same mistake.
Don't Be Fooled by Appearances
When one is preconditioned for a certain manifestation of the Holy Spirit, it is easy to presume the presence of the genuine Holy Spirit when you see that particular manifestation. Take falling down and laughing as examples.
I happen to believe that the phenomena of falling down and laughing have been the authentic results of God's presence in some places. But when one attends a church where this happens a lot, it's likely that someone could easily fall to the floor after being prayed for and that there could be an entirely natural explanation for it.
Several years ago, because I was sitting on the front row, I felt compelled to come forward when the preacher asked all church leaders to line up for prayer in the front. I sincerely hoped that God would come down on me and do whatever He pleased. Seventy or 80 men and women were lined up ahead of me for prayer.
As the preacher prayed for each person, every one of them fell backward into the arms of the "catcher" waiting next in line. Then the preacher came to me. I stood there like the Statue of Liberty. Nothing happened.
He prayed again, then a third time. Had I closed my eyes and been less conscious of standing straight, I suspect I too would have fallen.
I felt sorry for the preacher and wanted to apologize for his embarrassment when I didn't fall. I wanted to go down--I promise you. But I didn't want to be pushed over by a pigeon!
I'm not saying that the Dove did not come down on some, if not all the other people in that line. But I believe that their expectancy was so high and the preconditioning so powerful that a pigeon could have done the same thing.
Pigeons may be present whenever God shows up in genuine Holy Spirit power. On one night there may be a most awesome sense of God's presence.
You may feel it in the worship, in the preaching and in the time of prayer ministry. People may be shedding tears of joy and repentance and laughing and crying. Scores may be converted and many healed.
You can't wait for the next night. That night the same worship group leads with the same songs and hymns. The same preacher takes his text from God's Word. But God chooses not to show up.
The important issue is this: Will the minister in charge have the integrity not to manipulate the people? Or will he feel that to be successful, that night's meeting must appear to be just like the meeting on the previous night? If he thinks that, it is likely he may practice pigeon religion in order to get the same results.
The genuine Dove is like the wind that blows "'wherever it pleases'" (John 3:8, NIV). If one is truly sensitive to the Spirit, he or she must flow with the Spirit as well. And if one is equally sensitive to His absence, that person will honor God's sovereignty and will not pretend.
It takes a lot of courage to yield to the Spirit when He comes in power. It takes equal courage to be unpretentious when He is absent. Both aspects of the Dove can threaten one's comfort zone.
There is nothing like a large crowd to counterfeit the presence of the Dove. A big group can create an expectant atmosphere. Nothing preconditions a leader or a congregation like a church that's filled with people.
If there is a lack of discernment and sensitivity to the person of the Spirit, which is needed all the more at such a time, a pigeon could come down on the heads of everyone present, and no one would know the difference. I fear this has happened many times--and to the best of people.
The initial similarity of appearance between a pigeon and the Dove can even produce a "bandwagon" effect--everyone becomes excited and wants to be "in" on what is happening. This can continue for some time. But eventually one wakes up and comes to terms with the sobering possibility that it was all hype. It hurts when you realize you were taken in and that there was a fleshly explanation for everything that happened.
This can happen at an individual level as well, whether it be through speaking in tongues or through prophetic words of knowledge. If we convince ourselves that God must manifest Himself, we will settle for almost anything.
It is almost as if one says, "Well, if I can't have the Dove, I'll take a pigeon." But if we believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, we ought not settle for the counterfeit.
Don't Manipulate the Spirit
A pigeon can be domesticated, trained and manipulated. A pigeon can be easily controlled and made to conform. Not so with a turtledove.
Nor can the Spirit of God be easily manipulated or controlled: "'The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going,'" (John 3:8). You cannot make the Holy Dove do anything--except when you make it fly away.
Feeling the need to control the Holy Spirit may be one of the greatest abuses of the Spirit. When we begin to feel we can control the will of the Holy Spirit, pigeon religion has moved in. Yet often we continue trying to convince ourselves that it must be the Dove.
The issue is control. Who's in charge? Some people play with the Holy Spirit as if He has no will of His own.
We can fall prey to this when we are praying alone by attempting to do all the talking--thus quenching the Spirit. Or we can read the Bible and do all the thinking. In this way, the Dove does not have a chance to slip in.
The same can happen with public leadership. A powerful leader (even a worship leader or preacher) can sometimes control a crowd with his or her gift and personality. The people out there may not have a clue they are being manipulated.
The problem lies in the fact that one's gift is, in a sense, also one's anointing. God shapes each gift and personality for His glory.
However, not everything that someone with an anointed gift does is Spirit-led. We are under a solemn obligation to follow--not lead--the Holy Spirit. I may have an anointing to teach and preach, but I can get ahead of the Lord. When I do, pigeon religion takes over because I am in control.
Some years ago I talked with a worship leader about his style of leading worship. He admitted he had a gift that enabled him to control an audience.
He could make them do almost anything--clap, jump, sit or weep. When he did this, the people never knew they had been conditioned for a certain response in much the same way pigeons are trained to perform a particular behavior. It is an exceedingly rare worship leader who is utterly sensitive to the Dove and does not get ahead of the Lord.
Pigeon religion is man in control. It is manipulative, usurping the place of the Dove.
The gracious Spirit is gentle and prudent. Like the meek and lowly Jesus, the Dove is neither intrusive (coming when not invited) nor obtrusive (unpleasantly noticeable). He is self-effacing. When He is invited and accepts the invitation, the result takes man out of the picture.
When the Spirit is present, people want to wait on the Spirit. They want to worship, and they let the Spirit do the leading. When this happens, it is an unforgettable experience--one worth waiting for.
The Spirit will not be manipulated. The Dove flutters away as soon as one tries to do this, and the pigeon comes in.
Don't Be Territorial
A pigeon thinks a certain place belongs to him. Pigeon religion is manifested when one instinctively feels he or she has a "corner" on the anointing. This happens when we take ourselves too seriously.
It also happens when we decide we own the franchise on God's enterprise in a particular theological or geographic area. As a result, we struggle against someone else "elbowing in" on our calling, area of expertise or following.
This is a party spirit, a rival or competitive spirit. Because we uphold a particular emphasis, we want to be the sole vanguard for the "party line."
Nothing is more deadly than a rival spirit in the church of God. Take the subject of revival, for example. I think we all agree that there is a heart cry for revival today. I doubt there is any evangelical group or church that is not praying for revival--a sovereign outpouring of God's Spirit that will revive the people of God and result in many conversions.
The problem is, we all want it to come to us! We all tend to see ourselves as having "borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day" (Matt. 20:12). We resent it if God makes others "equal to us"! We want God to bless our efforts, our party line and our denomination.
Therefore we tend to dismiss any report of God's coming down powerfully on anyone but us. We honestly believe it couldn't happen to those who are of a different theological persuasion or ecclesiastical setting.
Not long ago a weekly prayer meeting on the second floor of a civic center in Nairobi, Kenya, centered on revival. A group of a dozen Western missionaries prayed earnestly that God would send revival to Nairobi.
At exactly the same time, 700 Kenyans were praying noisily and worshiping God--and growing rapidly--in the large auditorium just beneath the group of Western missionaries. The irony is, God was answering the missionaries' prayers!
But they could not bring themselves to recognize revival under their noses--for the Kenyans below them didn't represent their party line. Another example of pigeon religion!
None of us has a monopoly on the anointing. Jesus' disciples wanted to stop someone praying in Jesus' name "'because he is not one of us'" (Luke 9:49-50). Jesus stepped in, admonishing, "'Do not stop him...for whoever is not against you is for you.'"
Even Joshua, when he was young and still had a lot to learn, was unhappy when certain people were prophesying without recognized credentials. "But Moses replied: 'Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!'" (Num. 11:29). That is the way God would have us all to reject pigeon religion and pray for the restoration of His honor in the world (rather than just in our own ministries).
The Spirit will do His work--if we don't get in the way. We must not step in where we don't belong or elbow in on the Spirit's territory. For the Spirit to be able to do His work, we must simply be the channel through which He works. If we try to do what He does best, He flutters away.
You may think you are incapable of being deceived by a pigeon. But all of us are as capable of following pigeon religion as we are of following the Holy Dove.
Simon Peter was being led by the Dove when he said to Jesus, "'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'" (Matt. 16:16). Yet just a few verses later Jesus turned and said to Peter: "'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men'" (v. 23).
Our best guarantee against following pigeon religion is an ever-increasing sensitivity to the Dove.
Don't Settle for Substitutes
People possess natural qualities that can appear to be fruits of the Holy Spirit. We need to learn the difference.
A pleasant personality can look like the fruit of the Spirit. There are people who are just simply nice. They are sweet, friendly and cheerful. They are the type of people you want to be around all the time. At times their pleasant personalities can put Christians who have been saved for years to shame.
However, sometimes in their case an aspect of God's common grace is substituting for the Spirit's manifestation. Their pleasantness may have nothing whatever to do with the fruit of the Spirit. Actually, they acted the same way before they were converted.
It can be difficult to convince people like this of their own need to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. But sooner or later their self-righteousness will surface if they haven't been convicted of sin. If you recognize this problem in yourself, I urge you to do two things:
* Thank God for giving you your pleasing temperament.
*Pray harder than ever to be sensitive to sin and to the Spirit.
Emotional maturity can look like spiritual maturity. Some people grow up faster than others, and some develop spiritually more quickly than others. There are many explanations for this.
If a person has developed emotionally in a manner that shows fewer psychological problems, it should not be surprising that he or she appears spiritually mature as well. A person like this may or may not be strong in private prayer, worship and Bible reading but will nonetheless appear levelheaded and responsible compared with a neurotic Christian.
Regeneration and sanctification do not necessarily eradicate damaged emotions that come from abuse or neglect as one was growing up. For this reason a Christian who had severely damaged emotions as a child may struggle in areas in which a relatively unspiritual person does not. The latter may appear to be more godly when this is not really the case.
For some people, then, the appearance of the Dove may not be the explanation for their apparent maturity. Yet these same people are often the ones who get voted into positions of church leadership and who go into full-time ministry.
They are not unlike King Saul--they have the influence but not necessarily the anointing. Pigeon religion is widespread in the church.
The problem becomes even more complicated when ordinary Christians--beset with emotional difficulties but nonetheless consumed with a love for God and His Word--think that their church leaders aren't very spiritual. A recent poll showed that the average church leader spends only four minutes a day in quiet time.
Cultural and intellectual tastes can look like theological maturity. Some people have a head start when it comes to upbringing. They are brought up with poise, elegance and a certain aptitude for intellectual things. They go to the better schools. They have a cerebral framework that others do not have.
When people such as this become Christians, they may take to Pauline theology like a cat chasing a mouse. Does this mean they are more spiritual? Possibly, but not necessarily. There could be a natural explanation.
People who are theologically minded are not necessarily more interested in the things of the Spirit. They often think it is far more important to articulate the implications of justification by faith alone than to be personally filled with the Spirit.
At the other end of the spectrum are people who are more interested in things of the Spirit than they are in the intricacies of theological orthodoxy. But these people are not necessarily more spiritual. They may lack theological training and are therefore drawn more naturally to experiential knowledge than to doctrine.
We must resist the temptation to be judgmental about things that are opposed to our own interest levels. Often what appeals to a believer can be explained in natural terms rather than by Holy Spirit-motivated explanation.
What people think is the Holy Spirit is often a cheap imitation. Don't be deceived.
Pigeons and doves are in the same family and look much the same. But the pigeon is not the symbol of peace. It was not a pigeon that came down and remained on Jesus. The turtledove--symbolizing the Holy Spirit--is different from a pigeon in interesting ways.
My friend Pete Cantrell is an expert on pigeons and turtledoves. His observations have amused and gripped me. Their relevance to a study of the Holy Spirit is almost astonishing.
"Do you see that pigeon?" he once asked me. "Watch him, he's getting ready to bully the pigeon next to him because it is perched on the spot he wants for himself." Seconds later, I watched it happen.
"I don't see that happening with turtledoves," Pete added. "Doves don't fight."
It seems to me that many of the claims to the presence of the Dove among us are nothing but pigeon religion--a counterfeit for the Holy Spirit. In my own haste I have presumed the presence of God in my life many times--when it was not the Dove after all. Often it has been a pigeon--not the heavenly Dove--that gave me a "religious" feeling. Here's how you can avoid making the same mistake.
Don't Be Fooled by Appearances
When one is preconditioned for a certain manifestation of the Holy Spirit, it is easy to presume the presence of the genuine Holy Spirit when you see that particular manifestation. Take falling down and laughing as examples.
I happen to believe that the phenomena of falling down and laughing have been the authentic results of God's presence in some places. But when one attends a church where this happens a lot, it's likely that someone could easily fall to the floor after being prayed for and that there could be an entirely natural explanation for it.
Several years ago, because I was sitting on the front row, I felt compelled to come forward when the preacher asked all church leaders to line up for prayer in the front. I sincerely hoped that God would come down on me and do whatever He pleased. Seventy or 80 men and women were lined up ahead of me for prayer.
As the preacher prayed for each person, every one of them fell backward into the arms of the "catcher" waiting next in line. Then the preacher came to me. I stood there like the Statue of Liberty. Nothing happened.
He prayed again, then a third time. Had I closed my eyes and been less conscious of standing straight, I suspect I too would have fallen.
I felt sorry for the preacher and wanted to apologize for his embarrassment when I didn't fall. I wanted to go down--I promise you. But I didn't want to be pushed over by a pigeon!
I'm not saying that the Dove did not come down on some, if not all the other people in that line. But I believe that their expectancy was so high and the preconditioning so powerful that a pigeon could have done the same thing.
Pigeons may be present whenever God shows up in genuine Holy Spirit power. On one night there may be a most awesome sense of God's presence.
You may feel it in the worship, in the preaching and in the time of prayer ministry. People may be shedding tears of joy and repentance and laughing and crying. Scores may be converted and many healed.
You can't wait for the next night. That night the same worship group leads with the same songs and hymns. The same preacher takes his text from God's Word. But God chooses not to show up.
The important issue is this: Will the minister in charge have the integrity not to manipulate the people? Or will he feel that to be successful, that night's meeting must appear to be just like the meeting on the previous night? If he thinks that, it is likely he may practice pigeon religion in order to get the same results.
The genuine Dove is like the wind that blows "'wherever it pleases'" (John 3:8, NIV). If one is truly sensitive to the Spirit, he or she must flow with the Spirit as well. And if one is equally sensitive to His absence, that person will honor God's sovereignty and will not pretend.
It takes a lot of courage to yield to the Spirit when He comes in power. It takes equal courage to be unpretentious when He is absent. Both aspects of the Dove can threaten one's comfort zone.
There is nothing like a large crowd to counterfeit the presence of the Dove. A big group can create an expectant atmosphere. Nothing preconditions a leader or a congregation like a church that's filled with people.
If there is a lack of discernment and sensitivity to the person of the Spirit, which is needed all the more at such a time, a pigeon could come down on the heads of everyone present, and no one would know the difference. I fear this has happened many times--and to the best of people.
The initial similarity of appearance between a pigeon and the Dove can even produce a "bandwagon" effect--everyone becomes excited and wants to be "in" on what is happening. This can continue for some time. But eventually one wakes up and comes to terms with the sobering possibility that it was all hype. It hurts when you realize you were taken in and that there was a fleshly explanation for everything that happened.
This can happen at an individual level as well, whether it be through speaking in tongues or through prophetic words of knowledge. If we convince ourselves that God must manifest Himself, we will settle for almost anything.
It is almost as if one says, "Well, if I can't have the Dove, I'll take a pigeon." But if we believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, we ought not settle for the counterfeit.
Don't Manipulate the Spirit
A pigeon can be domesticated, trained and manipulated. A pigeon can be easily controlled and made to conform. Not so with a turtledove.
Nor can the Spirit of God be easily manipulated or controlled: "'The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going,'" (John 3:8). You cannot make the Holy Dove do anything--except when you make it fly away.
Feeling the need to control the Holy Spirit may be one of the greatest abuses of the Spirit. When we begin to feel we can control the will of the Holy Spirit, pigeon religion has moved in. Yet often we continue trying to convince ourselves that it must be the Dove.
The issue is control. Who's in charge? Some people play with the Holy Spirit as if He has no will of His own.
We can fall prey to this when we are praying alone by attempting to do all the talking--thus quenching the Spirit. Or we can read the Bible and do all the thinking. In this way, the Dove does not have a chance to slip in.
The same can happen with public leadership. A powerful leader (even a worship leader or preacher) can sometimes control a crowd with his or her gift and personality. The people out there may not have a clue they are being manipulated.
The problem lies in the fact that one's gift is, in a sense, also one's anointing. God shapes each gift and personality for His glory.
However, not everything that someone with an anointed gift does is Spirit-led. We are under a solemn obligation to follow--not lead--the Holy Spirit. I may have an anointing to teach and preach, but I can get ahead of the Lord. When I do, pigeon religion takes over because I am in control.
Some years ago I talked with a worship leader about his style of leading worship. He admitted he had a gift that enabled him to control an audience.
He could make them do almost anything--clap, jump, sit or weep. When he did this, the people never knew they had been conditioned for a certain response in much the same way pigeons are trained to perform a particular behavior. It is an exceedingly rare worship leader who is utterly sensitive to the Dove and does not get ahead of the Lord.
Pigeon religion is man in control. It is manipulative, usurping the place of the Dove.
The gracious Spirit is gentle and prudent. Like the meek and lowly Jesus, the Dove is neither intrusive (coming when not invited) nor obtrusive (unpleasantly noticeable). He is self-effacing. When He is invited and accepts the invitation, the result takes man out of the picture.
When the Spirit is present, people want to wait on the Spirit. They want to worship, and they let the Spirit do the leading. When this happens, it is an unforgettable experience--one worth waiting for.
The Spirit will not be manipulated. The Dove flutters away as soon as one tries to do this, and the pigeon comes in.
Don't Be Territorial
A pigeon thinks a certain place belongs to him. Pigeon religion is manifested when one instinctively feels he or she has a "corner" on the anointing. This happens when we take ourselves too seriously.
It also happens when we decide we own the franchise on God's enterprise in a particular theological or geographic area. As a result, we struggle against someone else "elbowing in" on our calling, area of expertise or following.
This is a party spirit, a rival or competitive spirit. Because we uphold a particular emphasis, we want to be the sole vanguard for the "party line."
Nothing is more deadly than a rival spirit in the church of God. Take the subject of revival, for example. I think we all agree that there is a heart cry for revival today. I doubt there is any evangelical group or church that is not praying for revival--a sovereign outpouring of God's Spirit that will revive the people of God and result in many conversions.
The problem is, we all want it to come to us! We all tend to see ourselves as having "borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day" (Matt. 20:12). We resent it if God makes others "equal to us"! We want God to bless our efforts, our party line and our denomination.
Therefore we tend to dismiss any report of God's coming down powerfully on anyone but us. We honestly believe it couldn't happen to those who are of a different theological persuasion or ecclesiastical setting.
Not long ago a weekly prayer meeting on the second floor of a civic center in Nairobi, Kenya, centered on revival. A group of a dozen Western missionaries prayed earnestly that God would send revival to Nairobi.
At exactly the same time, 700 Kenyans were praying noisily and worshiping God--and growing rapidly--in the large auditorium just beneath the group of Western missionaries. The irony is, God was answering the missionaries' prayers!
But they could not bring themselves to recognize revival under their noses--for the Kenyans below them didn't represent their party line. Another example of pigeon religion!
None of us has a monopoly on the anointing. Jesus' disciples wanted to stop someone praying in Jesus' name "'because he is not one of us'" (Luke 9:49-50). Jesus stepped in, admonishing, "'Do not stop him...for whoever is not against you is for you.'"
Even Joshua, when he was young and still had a lot to learn, was unhappy when certain people were prophesying without recognized credentials. "But Moses replied: 'Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!'" (Num. 11:29). That is the way God would have us all to reject pigeon religion and pray for the restoration of His honor in the world (rather than just in our own ministries).
The Spirit will do His work--if we don't get in the way. We must not step in where we don't belong or elbow in on the Spirit's territory. For the Spirit to be able to do His work, we must simply be the channel through which He works. If we try to do what He does best, He flutters away.
You may think you are incapable of being deceived by a pigeon. But all of us are as capable of following pigeon religion as we are of following the Holy Dove.
Simon Peter was being led by the Dove when he said to Jesus, "'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'" (Matt. 16:16). Yet just a few verses later Jesus turned and said to Peter: "'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men'" (v. 23).
Our best guarantee against following pigeon religion is an ever-increasing sensitivity to the Dove.
Don't Settle for Substitutes
People possess natural qualities that can appear to be fruits of the Holy Spirit. We need to learn the difference.
A pleasant personality can look like the fruit of the Spirit. There are people who are just simply nice. They are sweet, friendly and cheerful. They are the type of people you want to be around all the time. At times their pleasant personalities can put Christians who have been saved for years to shame.
However, sometimes in their case an aspect of God's common grace is substituting for the Spirit's manifestation. Their pleasantness may have nothing whatever to do with the fruit of the Spirit. Actually, they acted the same way before they were converted.
It can be difficult to convince people like this of their own need to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. But sooner or later their self-righteousness will surface if they haven't been convicted of sin. If you recognize this problem in yourself, I urge you to do two things:
* Thank God for giving you your pleasing temperament.
*Pray harder than ever to be sensitive to sin and to the Spirit.
Emotional maturity can look like spiritual maturity. Some people grow up faster than others, and some develop spiritually more quickly than others. There are many explanations for this.
If a person has developed emotionally in a manner that shows fewer psychological problems, it should not be surprising that he or she appears spiritually mature as well. A person like this may or may not be strong in private prayer, worship and Bible reading but will nonetheless appear levelheaded and responsible compared with a neurotic Christian.
Regeneration and sanctification do not necessarily eradicate damaged emotions that come from abuse or neglect as one was growing up. For this reason a Christian who had severely damaged emotions as a child may struggle in areas in which a relatively unspiritual person does not. The latter may appear to be more godly when this is not really the case.
For some people, then, the appearance of the Dove may not be the explanation for their apparent maturity. Yet these same people are often the ones who get voted into positions of church leadership and who go into full-time ministry.
They are not unlike King Saul--they have the influence but not necessarily the anointing. Pigeon religion is widespread in the church.
The problem becomes even more complicated when ordinary Christians--beset with emotional difficulties but nonetheless consumed with a love for God and His Word--think that their church leaders aren't very spiritual. A recent poll showed that the average church leader spends only four minutes a day in quiet time.
Cultural and intellectual tastes can look like theological maturity. Some people have a head start when it comes to upbringing. They are brought up with poise, elegance and a certain aptitude for intellectual things. They go to the better schools. They have a cerebral framework that others do not have.
When people such as this become Christians, they may take to Pauline theology like a cat chasing a mouse. Does this mean they are more spiritual? Possibly, but not necessarily. There could be a natural explanation.
People who are theologically minded are not necessarily more interested in the things of the Spirit. They often think it is far more important to articulate the implications of justification by faith alone than to be personally filled with the Spirit.
At the other end of the spectrum are people who are more interested in things of the Spirit than they are in the intricacies of theological orthodoxy. But these people are not necessarily more spiritual. They may lack theological training and are therefore drawn more naturally to experiential knowledge than to doctrine.
We must resist the temptation to be judgmental about things that are opposed to our own interest levels. Often what appeals to a believer can be explained in natural terms rather than by Holy Spirit-motivated explanation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
