"This may offend some, but shouldn't if you truly love Christ. One of my students recently asked me what church I belonged to. The talk switched to different denominations.A I want you to know. I don't care if your Baptist. Methodist, Lutheran, etc. I don't care if you use the ESV. NIV, KJV or another version.B I don't care if you like conservative Christian musicC or contemporary. What I do care about do you preach Jesus.D And what he had done and what he can do. I don't need a list of do or don'ts, let the Bible speak for itself and let the Holy Spirit change people. I don't need to hear about politics or social injustices, but what Jesus can do.E Thank you for letting me rant."
This was posted by an old friend on FB. While I understand 'where he is coming from' on this, I wanted to use it to comment on why I both agree and disagree with him. I guess this is the 'Bible Teacher' side of me that just never quits, LOL.
Taken as a whole, his heartbeat is, in my opinion, quite right: It is crazy just how much Christians get all hung up on what might be considered 'incidentals.' But there are several aspects of his 'rant' [as he calls it] that I think bear closer scrutiny for the serious-minded Christian. I write this because it provides a good opportunity to realize that even in our 'social media' postings it matters what we say…AND how we say it.
A. The denominational issue does matter simply because those that embrace some of the teachings of their denomination are actually embracing heresy, and that ALWAYS matters to the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, many among the Lutherans believe in baptismal regeneration. Baptismal regeneration is serious error, leading many into perdition.
1. This is not, of course, to suggest that anyone that is embracing Lutheranism [or another denominational structure] is not a Christian. But the suggestion that such things are irrelevant is very dangerous.
2. Many denominations practice baby baptism. Lutherans are just one such group. It is, of course, practiced by Catholics, Episcopalians, Presbyterians. Others that do so include Methodists, Congregationalists, Anglicans [Church of England], and Nazarenes.
3. We certainly have reason to believe that infant baptism has been the doorway into everlasting perdition for millions. Thus, it cannot be dismissed lightly.
B. The concern about the Bible translation a Christian uses cannot simply be set aside as though it is insignificant. Many, many English translations contain enormous amounts of serious error that cannot be swept aside as being unimportant.
1. But the real issue has to do with the underlying manuscripts [Hebrew OT and Greek NT] that are translated into English. Let's look as an example at the Greek manuscripts that underlie the English translations. The modern English translations translate entirely different Greek manuscripts than the translators used in translating the NT of the Authorized [KJV] Version.
2. In simple terms, this means that even if the English translations are accurate in translating the Greek manuscripts they used for the NT, what they were translating was in many, many, many cases quite different from the Greek manuscripts used by the translators of the AV. It is translating essentially DIFFERENT books altogether!
3. Furthermore, the two primary Greek manuscripts used by modern English translators [Aleph and B] do not agree with each other in THOUSANDS of places! How can a Christian that uses a modern English translation, then, have confidence that what he holds in his hands is actually God's Word?
4. Finally, unable as that Christian MUST be about the authenticity of the Greek manuscripts that underlie his NT, how can he align his life with it?
C. The statement that the kind of music a Christian listens to is irrelevant is also very misleading. While I have no business 'lording it over' any Christian's preferences in music, I cannot simply dismiss it with a wave of my hand.
1. Our musical preferences are a fairly accurate barometer of the spiritual quality of our relationship with Christ. For example, those that embrace so-called Christian 'Rock Music' betray the reality that their hearts have not come away from the world that Christ repudiated by His sacrifice of Himself for us.
2. Even leaving that particular issue aside, there are questions that remain.
a) How much of my 'preferred Christian music' is a blend of my Adamic nature with my new man in Christ? A great deal of what is referred to as 'contemporary' Christian music is almost entirely man-centered, focusing upon how being a Christian makes me feel, etc.
b) Much so-called 'old time gospel' music [or Southern gospel] is to a large extent filled with similar themes as country music, but acceptable because a 'Christian theme is added.
c) It is NEVER a matter of needless concern. It matters to the Christ we worship.
3. Frankly, even many old-time hymns need to be scrutinized more closely by serious Christians and churches.
a) For example, consider this verse from the hymn "Immortal, Invisible." To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small, In all life Thou livest, the true life of all. This is a favorite hymn for many Christians, but this verse literally teaches Pantheism, the pagan doctrine that God lives in every living thing [trees, mosquitos, roaches, etc.].
b) Another example [there are many of these]: The song many have loved for years, "I Believe."
I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows;
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows.
Every time I hear a newborn baby cry, or touch a leaf, or see the sky,
Then I know why I believe.
I believe that even in the darkest night, a prayer is heard;
I believe that Someone in the great Somewhere, hears every word.
Every time I hear a newborn baby cry, or touch a leaf, or see the sky,
Then I know why I believe.
· This song does not honor the Christ of the Bible at all, relegating faith to simply believing in some greater Being that could be a Hindu deity, etc.
D. It does matter that a preacher 'preaches Jesus,' as he says. But just because a man preaches 'Jesus' does not at all mean that the Jesus he is preaching is the Christ of the Bible. There are thousands of Christs being preached all over the world.
1. Paul identified this emphatically in 2 Corinthians 11:4 when he said, "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached…"
2. Any church that preaches Galatianism [supplementing Christ] is not preaching the Christ of the Bible.
3. Other forms of preaching 'another Jesus' would include:
a) Preaching Christ as our great 'Problem-solver.'
b) Preaching Christ as the way to a 'successful life.'
c) Preaching Christ as the great 'Lover of all Mankind,' but ignoring His role as the Absolute Lord.
d) Etc., etc., etc.
E. This brings up my fourth concern: the seeming dismissal of 'politics or social injustices' as relevant areas of serious Christian concern. To dismiss these things out of hand is to literally ignore centuries of Christian impact upon human culture.
1. Any preacher that preaches the biblical gospel as though social issues are the only concern of the churches or of serious Christians is errant, to be sure.
But there are many, many church 'programs' that fail in serious outreach simply because they do not meet the lost folks exactly where they actually are. To do so will demand meeting them in the midst of their culture, and acknowledging their everyday concerns. This is SOCIAL!
a) Nevertheless, churches persist in door-knocking and tract-giving as though Christ is ONLY honored through such things. Where are the soup kitchens of the crisis pregnancy centers, or drug rehab programs in the churches???
b) Do we avoid these because they demand too much of us. Or are 'too expensive?'
My hope in posting this is simply that it might stir any serious Christian that reads it to exercise greater caution in expressing his/her concerns about how Christianity is being propagated via social media. It DOES matter not only what we say, but how we express it.
I am convinced that my old friend and I would have almost no differences of opinion about the concerns he voiced. Having spent my life seeking to clearly state biblical Truth with circumspection, I can honestly state unequivocally that I emphatically agree with his concerns, but caution everyone about how such concerns are voiced publically.
cp
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