Tuesday, September 19, 2017

If I Could Only Hide My Head in the Sand

Most of us have been told that you can't discuss politics and religion in mixed company. As a rule I don't discuss either in a public forum such as Facebook. I regularly engage people in those types of discussions but as a rule I avoid those types of forums because misinterpretation is too easy and they generally degenerate into clichés and name-calling, all of which accomplish nothing of much consequence. 

But today I am going to break that rule. 

Over the course of the last few days my Facebook feed has been overwhelmed with stories of the supposed "Return of Jesus/End of the World." I did a little research and discovered that no reputable Biblical scholar holds this view and that one must turn some truly incredible theological summersaults to even come close to such a conclusion. This conclusion is achieved by mixing numerology, mythology, and such a bizarre reading of scripture that one would have to believe that sitting in the garage makes one a Honda. 

That wonderful bit of intellectual suicide was followed by another friend, a person whom I respect greatly, deciding to debate the role of women in the church....on Facebook. He used a specific passage of Scripture and then threw open the door for "discussion." I read some of the responses, sighed, and then hid the post. There was little regard for the Word in most of the responses and even less respect for differing opinions. 

And then to continue my two days of lunacy....I recently ordered a book from Amazon. I frequently order things from Amazon, the prices are generally lower and I don't have to drive over an hour to the closest Christian bookstore. This was a Christian theology book written by a well-known Christian author. I have developed a practice through the years of reading the endorsements of a particular book as well as the foreword of those books. This particular foreword was written by another Christian pastor and author. The foreword identified the author as an "evangelical superstar" in the very first sentence.

I almost threw the book away. "Evangelical superstar"? Excuse me, but I thought that the only superstar in Christendom was Jesus. But maybe that's part of what's wrong with the church today, we've made superstars out of mere men. The is a very real celebrity culture in Christianity today and it measures celebrity in the same ways the secular culture does. What does it say when a man is trumpeted as "America's pastor" has no theological training and has no real knowledge of biblical doctrine. I would dare to say that Jesus wouldn't be a "superstar" in today's culture...or Paul, for that matter. We have forgotten, either by deliberate choice or by neglect, that Jesus lived his live in the embrace of the outcast, giving his life for those whom others had judged to be unworthy. 

And then, as I listened to a podcast this morning I was made aware of a statement made by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2013. The Archbishop stated "I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven..." (Washington Times, July 26, 2013). I can only shake my head. 

Self-styled "prophecy experts," "evangelical superstars," and bishops who care nothing for the Word of God...what have we come to and where are we going? Without the Word of God the church is nothing more than a country club, which is what many of our churches have become. The Word of God is the plumb-line for our faith, that which all doctrine and teaching is to be measured against. The reason that the church has become so ridiculed and ineffective in our world is because we have abandoned the Word of God, both in our pulpits and in our personal lives. 

God forgive us.

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