Honest Skeptic or Stubborn Scoffer? — Analysis of the Resurrection
Are you an honest skeptic or a stubborn scoffer?
– A historical analysis of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was either the greatest event in human history or else a cruel hoax. Where do you stand? As the apostle Paul wrote (1 Cor 15:14): “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” But if he is risen . . . well, that changes everything, if you have the sense to think it through.
Let’s stipulate that Biblical Christianity rises and falls on the historical truth of the resurrection. That’s what this booklet is about: to help you get over whatever intellectual barriers you have so you can come face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ — your Creator, your Judge, and hopefully (if you choose) your Saviour. You may have additional “intellectual” barriers associated with evolution, the origin of evil in the world, what happens to people who never hear the Gospel, etc. Those are easily answered, but outside the scope of this short booklet.
The discussion below is from the following viewpoint: Take the presupposition that the New Testament record is the inerrant, inspired word of God. And then observe whether all the evidence conforms to this foundation, or doesn’t. (It does.) Is this record internally consistent? Does the behavior of the parties involved conform to common sense and human experience? How do the Gospels, the eyewitness testimonies of the four evangelists, serve as a foundation for the early history of Christianity — namely, could the historical events pertaining to the early churches in the first two centuries have any other explanation but that the New Testament record is true? And, not least, do the sum of the parts, and the whole itself, have the “ring of truth” that would serve to transform the life of an individual in the 21st century, as we read of the lives revolutionized in the 1st?
This tract is written for the reader who is seeking truth, and not for a determined scoffer. If you care about the meaning of your life and the certainty of your death and judgment to come, then begin by investing some time in reading the accounts of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as found in the last few chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — 4 eyewitness accounts that transformed the world. Then read a few chapters of Luke’s account of the history of the early churches in the New Testament book of Acts.
By the way, the “textbook” for this mini-course is the King James Bible. Don’t be satisfied with watered down, error-ridden modern translations. The KJB is the only English translation you can trust. We could prove that to you, but that’s another course!
If you’re still a scorner at heart, I don’t expect you’ve read even this far. Until you open your mind a bit, there is no hope, as the Bible repeatedly attests. “A scorner seeketh wisdom and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.” (Prov 14:6) It is the Lord that “giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” (Prov 2:6) The promise is made to all persons of all ages: “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” (Is 55:6) The Lord himself implored, “Seek, and ye shall find.” (Matt 7:7) If the Bible is not true and there is no Saviour, then there is no hope for anyone and life itself is short, mean, and pointless.
But what if God’s word is true? What if there is, indeed, “technology” to overcome death? What if the exclusive license for that technology is in the hands of Jesus, God manifest in the flesh. Is it not worth a few hours of your time to explore and see if there is a God who will keep his promise — namely, that if you seek him, you will find him? At the end of this booklet we will explain to you what you must do if you come to believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not enough, of course, just to believe in the manner of intellectual assent. If Christ is risen, that must change everything. And you have a decision to make. But first let us turn to various evidences for the resurrection and objections raised by scoffers.
1. Did the disciples steal the body?
This objection was dutifully recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, that the idea of a theft was “commonly reported among the Jews.” The absurdity begins with the picture of a band of terrified disciples, having lost their leader (Jesus) to the public horror and humiliation of Roman crucifixion, quickly regrouping and creating a deception to convince the world that Jesus was risen. After scattering in fright the night before the cross, they now somehow sneak past a band of soldiers to roll (noisily) aside a huge tombstone, and steal away the body.
The practical difficulties are not the main issue, although they should suffice to discredit this charge. The truly unbelievable part of this scenario is the moral character on display throughout the New Testament, in the actions and writings of the very disciples who allegedly create a new cult based on a lie. These men condemned deceit and created a church culture of utter selflessness and honesty. Honesty to the point of yielding their own lives to torture and murder in the years following. Men do not die for something they know to be a lie. Men will indeed die for a lie, such as Islamic suicide bombers. But for the disciples (not just the eleven, but the hundreds who claimed to see the resurrected Christ), to avoid martyrdom, all they had to do was admit that they had been lying. They had every motivation to recant their claims, including loss of family, friends, livelihood, home, health, and life. And no credible motivation to persevere unto death, since they knew whether Christ was truly risen or not. These circumstances are unprecedented in history.
Ultimately, the character of the disciples was just an imperfect reflection of their Master, who walked with them for three years. Jesus affirmed to them repeatedly that He and the Father were one. The Jewish leaders understood that Jesus claimed deity. They tried to kill him several times before he willingly yielded to the cross. Importantly, Jesus told his disciples that he would rise from the dead. This was the preeminent sign that he attached to his life on earth. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, his entire life’s testimony would be negated, and it is incredible that his followers would create a new cult from the ashes of a false teacher.
In short, without a resurrection, there would have been no Christianity, no New Testament, no Bible, and the last two thousand years of world history would have been entirely different.
2. Did the Jewish or Roman leaders steal the body?
Let’s dispense with this one quickly. To destroy the credibility of Peter, James, John, and the rest of the disciples, and to squash the new movement at its start, Jewish or Roman leaders had merely to produce the body or circulate the facts of its relocation. By the way, the historical record is vacant of any objections to the fact of the empty tomb. The problem is in the disposition of the body. That leads us to point 3.
3. Why was Jerusalem the focal point of this new religion?
Why not in the friendly neighborhood of Galilee — the spiritual home base of the Lord and his disciples? If the resurrection were a scam, nothing would be harder than to make the case publicly and at the risk of liberty and life in Jerusalem, within a tee shot of the garden tomb. And what of that tomb . . .
4. If the resurrection was bogus, why wasn’t Christianity split?
In the three plus years that Jesus preached in Israel, there were many thousands that followed him from venue to venue and loved his teaching. Multitudes would have been grateful for his healings and compassion. Even if you discount the healings, it is undisputed by historians of all stripes that Jesus had enormous impact on the minds and hearts of the people of Israel. So then . . . if a small cabal formed to claim that a resurrected Christ was behind their leadership, would not many — probably a majority of those thousands mentioned above — have continued to love the memory of Jesus and his teachings, while simply disbelieving the claims of Peter, etc.? The garden tomb would doubtless have enjoyed many pilgrimages to commemorate the life and unfortunate death of Jesus. Rumors of alternative burial sites would have abounded. But there is no record in history of any such splits among the early Christians. The testimonies of the resurrected Christ were evidently so powerful that they overwhelmed any possibility of an alternative faith based on the life of Jesus. In fact, we find the miraculous events recorded in the book of Acts to represent stamps of God’s approval on the testimonies of the apostles.
It was only in the centuries to follow, right on up to modern times, from the gnostics of the 2nd century to the denominational modernists of the last few centuries, that we see splits over the virgin birth, deity, and resurrection of Christ. In the times of the eyewitnesses, church faith, doctrine, and polity were unified on the simplicity of the Biblical record.
5. Maybe Jesus didn’t die on the cross.
No serious student of history and of Roman crucifixion takes the so-called “swoon” fantasy seriously. The scourging that Jesus suffered before he was forced to carry his own cross was sufficient to have killed most men outright. The prophet Isaiah reports that “his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.” The beatings, the scourging, the crown of thorns, climaxed by the bloody horror of crucifixion — it is simply not credible that Jesus survived the cross. The Romans were indeed experts in meting out death. Please re-read the Gospel accounts. The spear in the Lord’s side produced water and blood. The heart’s sack was already distended with water, a clear indication of death before the soldier thrust his spear.
Admittedly, Pilate was a touch surprised that Jesus had died as soon as he did. Crucifixion was intended to be drawn out as miserably long as possible. But it was Jesus who “gave up the ghost.” He laid down his life when the sacrifice (for you, for me, for the world) was “finished.” The Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves crucified that day to accelerate asphyxiation and death. They merely used the spear to doublecheck in the case of Jesus. If this band of soldiers was somehow incompetent up to that point, the spear settled the issue.
A Biblical aside . . . Note that there were three hours of darkness before the final moments of life. That period was doubtless when Jesus became sin itself, and the wrath of God was visited upon him. The darkness is a kindly veil over what was truly the most horrific period in the universe’s history — when the eternal Son of God suffered hell on the cross for the sins of those who put him there: you and me.
But back to the physical. Suppose that somehow he survived all that no man could survive. How did he recuperate from such deadly wounds to unwrap himself from many yards of tightly bound cloth, head to foot, and escape from the sealed tomb? And in such a pitiable state, how did he fool his followers into thinking that he was resurrected, when he would have required help beyond any conceivable medical technology to recover his strength? And then what — did he hide out until he died, while his disciples risked their lives to spread the lie that he ascended bodily to heaven?
6. Were the disciples a likely group to overturn the world?
Note first that the eleven were unanimous in their testimony. Considering the danger (remember that their leader had just been crucified), isn’t it interesting that there were no defections? (Judas Iscariot was out before the crucifixion.) And then quickly a band of 120 were in fervent prayer together. And then 3000 converts in a day, and then thousands more, to spread, as Frank Morrison termed it: “Only from an intensely heated center of burning zeal could this vast field of lava have been thrown out from a tiny country like Palestine to the limits of the Roman world.”
What a motley band, including simple fishermen, a tax collector, and women of various reputations. We know these people better than we know anyone in ancient history, including kings. These lives were utterly transformed, as were the lives of those who believed their testimony in the years ahead. Over the next three centuries the Romans instigated ten distinct decades-long periods of intense persecution, while the churches grew stronger and stronger. The first major Roman persecution, under Nero and just three decades after the resurrection, was launched not because of threatened Christian insurrection, but because of mere refusal to worship the emperor as a god. Persecutions were systematic and widespread, attesting the pervasive spread of the Gospel. Yet ancient writings (by enemies of the Christians!) admit that the believers were loyal citizens, honest, monogamous, and kind to one another.
The New Testament doctrines center on the love of God manifested through the cross of Jesus Christ, the victorious resurrection, the preaching of this Gospel, and the love of the brethren for each other and for their neighbors. Christianity did not spread through the sword, as Islam did centuries later, and continues to do so today. The Gospel has always spread through the love of God shone through the lives of the followers of the carpenter born in Bethlehem.
The character of the apostles is reinforced by the bald openness of the New Testament accounts. We see the lives of these men displayed warts and all: Peter’s impetuousness, anger, and actions provoking rebuke from the Lord; Thomas’ embarrassing doubts; the cowardly flight of the eleven upon the Lord’s arrest; and the painful details of Peter’s three denials. James, the Lord’s half-brother, was once one of the skeptical siblings of Jesus. But after the resurrection, we see him born again and taking the principal leadership of the church at Jerusalem. If the Bible were merely of man, the flaws of the founders would be covered up or at least “spun”! Compare the revisionist histories associated with the founders of Mormonism, the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses, and especially Islam.
Christianity did not suffer significant weakening or corruption until Constantine married it to paganism and established it as the state church. That produced far more trouble over the centuries to follow as the Roman Catholic Church came into existence in the 4th and 5th centuries, and in turn began to persecute the true Bible-believing local churches. By the way, the crusades launched by the pagan Roman Catholic Church against Islam (and vice-versa) were fully matched in intensity by the persecutions of the RCC against true Christians for the next 1500 years after Constantine. But back to our main topic . . .
7. Perhaps it was a small plot and the rest can be explained by emotionalism.
Please take the time to study the book of Acts carefully, especially chapters 2 and 17. An emotional following might have been more credible with a launching point in Galilee, as already suggested. But the Jewish center of the universe, Jerusalem, demanded much reasoning and, dare we say it, proof, to create converts. Peter’s sermon in chapter 2, of which we most certainly have the barest outline, is a reasoned argument based on Jewish history and Scripture. Furthermore, if there was any doubt about the tomb being empty, or any serious challenge to the credibility of the disciples, the results would have been failure at best, or imprisonment and death at worst.
Turning to Paul in Acts 17:22-31, we see him making a case for God — the one and only Creator — to a mix of atheists/evolutionists and multi-theistic pagans. Throughout Paul’s ministry we see him reasoning and disputing, working to turn the minds of intelligent men and women to the true God. (Acts 18:4, 17:16-17)
8. Just who was Paul, once Saul of Tarsus?
Glad you asked. As you read the book of Acts and the letters of Paul in the New Testament, you’ll see a highly educated Roman citizen, and yet a zealous Pharisee, of the strictest Jewish sect, a hater and persecuter of the Christians, and a murderer by his own admission. His confrontation with the resurrected Jesus Christ, as recorded in Acts 9 and amplified in chapters 22 and 26, produces a 180 degree turnaround. Paul becomes the lead missionary for the western world, suffering repeated persecution and ultimately giving his life for the testimony of the resurrection. Paul’s conversion must be explained by the skeptic. His legacy is merely the rapid growth of the Christian churches in Asia Minor and Europe during the 1st century.
Two young, well-connected British philosophers of the early 18th century determined to attack the foundations of Christianity, specifically the resurrection of Christ and the miraculous conversion of Paul. Gilbert West committed to undermine the resurrection through extensive historical analysis and Lord Lyttleton explored the case of Paul. Meeting after some time had passed, they sheepishly (and disturbingly) admitted to each other that they had come to conclusions opposite to their presumptions. In 1747 West published the book Observations on the History and Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. On the flyleaf he quoted “Blame not before thou hast examined the truth.”
9. Isn’t it “unscientific” to believe in the resurrection?
It is true that medical science has no means of reviving a body dead for three days. And that no one outside of the records of Scripture has seen someone so revived. Science is the application of known physical laws to observations in the present. Science involves hypothesis, experimentation, modeling, and synthesis to establish theories and laws that allow us to make sense of this present world. Operational science, however, does not claim to embrace all truth for all time. There are no laboratory instruments, for example, to measure truth, beauty, morality, and all those qualities that make human life meaningful. More importantly, man’s operational science says nothing about the Creator God who made this universe. If you have a fundamental difficulty in believing the resurrection, you likely disbelieve Genesis 1:1 . . . “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Given Genesis 1:1, why is it so inconceivable that God could raise the dead? And given the reality of God as presented in the Bible, why imagine that God has no purpose in his creation? In fact, God invested you as a living soul, made in His image, so that you might live with him in fellowship and glory forever. If you choose.
By the way, arrogance is inbred in the scientific community. The simplest of all physical systems is the hydrogen atom — one proton and one electron. Yet there is no scientist, no PhD, no Nobel prize winner who can tell you just what that electron is doing in that atom. Quantum theory gives us a probabilistic method to make some useful predictions, but the theory is certifiably incapable of specifying what is really going on between the two particles. At the other end of the complexity scale, consider human consciousness. After over a century of intense research, no one has a clue how interactions of neurons, synapses, and the configuration of the brain relates to the “blueness” you perceive when you look at the sky. Or worse, your awareness that you enjoy the blue sky. Could it be that mind — and by extension soul and spirit — go beyond the pitiful limits of human science?
10. Is the resurrection credible to intelligent, well-educated people?
The resurrection of Jesus Christ, not to mention the rest of his life, is the most vigorously investigated topic of ancient history. The greatest of scholars have examined it and many have been converted from skepticism to an active faith in the risen Lord.
Simon Greenleaf, the distinguished professor who put Harvard law school on the map in the 19th century, has been called the greatest authority on legal evidences in the history of the world. When he tackled the case of the resurrection, he concluded without reservation that the event was historical and the Gospel accounts utterly reliable.
Frank Morrison was a British lawyer who set out to write a book repudiating the resurrection. During his research, he became a born again believer, and published the book Who Moved the Stone? to recount his personal transformation and the evidence that convinced him. Lew Wallace similarly intended to write a book to deny the deity of Christ and eventually published the novel Ben Hur, defending the Biblical accounts.
In recent times, Lee Strobel, a skeptical and cynical investigative reporter, was challenged by his newly converted wife to apply his talents to see whether the Bible stands up to reason and criticism. Strobel was first impressed by the awesome changes (for the better) that came over his wife through her conversion. That prompted him to follow the same path that Morrison, Wallace, and many others have taken through history. Strobel became a Christian and has published several books in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints.
This author, too, was once an atheist, a determined skeptic, certain that the Bible was fantasy and that life was to be lived only for self-gratification. When challenged as a young man with the transformed lives of a Christian family who befriended him, he was open to explore the foundations of Biblical belief. He became a Christian whose faith has only been strengthened as he eventually acquired five academic degrees, including a Ph.D. in engineering, and enjoyed a long and successful career in scientific research.
11. Finally, is the resurrection relevant to you?
Perhaps at this point you are willing to believe “the facts” of the resurrection, and the truth of the New Testament record itself. Is that enough? No — intellectual assent just adds to your accountability before God. You see, if you truly believe, your life will change. If you believed that your house was on fire, you would flee. Now, if you truly believe that you are a sinner, one heartbeat from hell, you will do whatever you need to do to escape.
Consider this — in the next 24 hours, your heart will beat about 100,000 times. You don’t control one of those heartbeats. When you die . . . and that’s guaranteed . . . where will you be? Heaven? Hell? Or are you foolish enough to think that you (mind/soul/consciousness) have no reality apart from your present flesh? If you “believe” that, you enter into a contradiction immediately: the atoms of your brain have no capacity to reason. How is it even possible for you to decide between truth and error, logic and illogic, right and wrong? Let’s at least assume that there is a YOU, and you can find out what the truth is about the greatest question facing any man, woman, or child: What lies beyond your death?
What are the facts of your case?
You are a sinner in rebellion against the God of the universe. God is holy, just, and righteous, and must punish sin. Does a good judge let a convicted murderer go free just because the murderer asks sweetly? A good judge must deliver judgment. Read the sermon on the mount (Matthew chapters 5-7) to see whether you stand innocent or guilty in God’s courtroom. Have you been angry without cause or called someone a fool? Jesus pronounces you a murderer at heart. Guilty multiple times? Then you are a serial murderer on God’s books. Murderers are condemned to hell.
Ever tell a lie? Liars will have their part in the lake of fire (Rev 21:8). Ever look on a woman with lust? Pornography is included. Jesus calls that adultery. Adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9-11).
Face it: You have broken God’s laws thousands of times and you deserve hell. You might say, “Hell — that’s pretty severe, isn’t it? It doesn’t sound reasonable.” God didn’t create hell for you and me, but for the devil and the angels that rebelled against him (Matt 25:41). Satan’s sin was simply rebellion — wanting to “do his own thing.” When you sin against God, thousands and thousands of times, you are in the same rebellion. If you die in your sins, you share the devil’s eventual fate. Why should you get any other consideration? God holds together the very atoms of your body (Col 1:17) while you use those atoms to sin against him.
Here is some good news, the very Gospel itself: God loves you so much that Jesus died for your sins, becoming sin itself on the cross. He paid the penalty for your crimes, satisfying fully the infinite justice of God himself. Jesus was buried, then three days later rose from the dead, proving that he is the very source of life, and has power over death.
Your only way out is to humble yourself, confess your sins to God, repent (turn from your sins, seeing them as rebellion against God), and trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. If you repent and believe, God will save your soul, give you the gift of everlasting life, and write your name in his book of life. Your sins will be cast into the depths of the sea, to be remembered no more. You will begin to live a life in service to Jesus Christ, a life that shows the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God, who will take residence in your body. This fruit includes love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. When you die, you are assured an instantaneous trip to heaven, to the very presence of the Lord. You will escape the fires of hell, your only alternative.
Are you willing to let Jesus be Saviour and Lord? It’s a package deal. There is no “fire escape” without a change of heart. Repentance includes a willingness to let God begin to change your mind and heart. You see, we have no strength in our flesh to put away the sin out of our lives and live righteously in a wicked world. We need the power of God to change our desires, give up our addictions and fleshly desires, and add good things to our daily lives. Does salvation end temptation and make you perfect? No, in this flesh we will always battle temptation. But salvation puts you on a different road, one that leads to life. Right now, you are on the broad road that leads to eternal destruction.
What is it going to be? “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Is 55:6-7)
Please contact us if we can be of help to you. Not one of us came to the Lord without someone sharing the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s just what we want to do with you. Jesus wants you to be “born again” into his family. Once you are, he will never leave you nor forsake you. If you come to Christ, we want to meet you and befriend you as the brother or sister you are to us, once you too, are part of the family of God.
Bibliography
1. King James version of the Bible
2. Frank Morrison, Who Moved the Stone, reprint of the 1930 edition, Faber & Faber, London, 1971.
3. Josh McDowell, The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1999.
4. Simon Greenleaf, The Testimony of the Evangelists, Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, 1995, originally published J.C. & Co., New York, 1874.
5. Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1998.
6. D. James Kennedy, Why I Believe, Word Books, Waco, 1980.
- Dr. Dave
Friday, April 18, 2014
Kyle Ford's "The Sinner's Prayer, Four Spiritual Laws, Romans Road, and Other Heretical Gospels" (From NeedfulExhortation.blogspot.com)
Friday, December 13, 2013
The sinner's prayer, four spiritual laws, Romans road, and other heretical gospels
Christianity in America is plagued with multitudes of religious lost – people who are convinced they are saved, but they bear no spiritual fruit. Their lack of fruit demonstrates that they are indeed still lost. (Matt. 3:10, Matt. 7:19). This is a bitter truth that every Christian in America needs to acknowledge before they will even have a chance to help those around them. Just as important, we must identify the root cause that is filling churches with many false converts. This root cause is easy to see: churches have silently replaced the Biblical gospel with watered-down, easy-on-the-ears, but heretical messages. This problem is maintained by an anti-biblical church structure that perfectly houses the religious lost that it creates. This is no coincidence. It's a well-planned system that could only come from the mind of Satan. I've talked a bit about church structure in previous posts. Now, I want to take some time to expose the heresies that are all too common and then discuss how to minister to others in this type of environment.
We'll start with the basics. Among other places, the gospel is defined in 1 Corinth. 15:1-4. The message is that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. Great news! So far so good – practically everyone gets that part right, even cults. Now, our response to the gospel message, or how we receive it, is by repenting of our sins and putting our faith in Christ (Mark 1:15, Acts 3:19, Acts 26:20). Adding or removing anything anything from the gospel makes it different, makes it 'another gospel', which is condemned in the strongest language (Gal. 1:6-8). This is how heresies are born. You take the gospel and add the keeping of the OT law, good works, baptism, etc. Or, in the case of fundamentalists and evangelicals, you add a sinner's prayer or remove repentance.
The Sinner's prayer is a heresy which promises that you can be saved by asking God for forgiveness or “asking Jesus into your heart”, typically by praying a modeled prayer. Let's be clear. You will not find these ideas anywhere in the Bible. Sinners are always called to repentance and faith. There's nothing wrong with expressing repentance toward God in prayer (Luke 18:13), but the error comes when people are assured that they are saved when and if they recite the prayer. In other words, this modern heresy promises salvation as a result of reciting a ritual prayer, not by repentance and faith in Christ. To make my point, let's look at an example developed and used by Billy Graham published on the Billy Graham Library's website (from the section 'prayer' at the bottom of the page):
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.
A few lines after this it goes on to mis-apply Romans 10:13 to suggest that anyone who prayed this prayer is now saved. It all sounds good, doesn't it? But faith and repentance are about actually trusting in Jesus and turning from your sin, not just saying that you will. To suggest that this prayer is sufficient for salvation is to accept lip service where Christ demands the substance.
The sinner's prayer can also be used without suggesting that it saves, but why would you? The prayer does nothing to help bring them to salvation, they need to repent. If the repenting sinner wants to pray, let him, but don't push it. Putting undue emphasis on a prayer can make the issues unclear, and you can make someone believe the prayer is important for their salvation even without explicitly saying so. This is especially true today. Maybe you don't tell the sinner a prayer will save him, but he has probably already heard that from several other pastors throughout his life. So, when you try to witness to that false convert and place the same emphasis on the prayer, he'll assume you're in the same boat. In short, using a sinner's prayer does nothing good, and is almost guaranteed to do some harm. So, if you really don't believe that a sinner's prayer saves, then stop doing it.
The "Romans Road" and "four spiritual laws" methods of sharing the gospel exemplify another type of heresy popular in conservative churches. The main problem of this heresy is that the gospel is proclaimed with little/no discussion of sin, and the need for the sinner to repent is either downplayed or neglected entirely. Yet, in the Bible, God makes it clear that repentance is absolutely necessary for salvation (Matt. 7:21, Mark 1:15, Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19, Acts 26:20). Let's look at some specific examples of this heresy.
The four spiritual laws can be found on the campus crusade website. In short, the four spiritual laws neglect the Biblical focus of sin/justice/hell/repentance/new birth and focus instead on “God has a wonderful plan for your life...you need Jesus so you can experience God's plan.” Sin is presented as a mere inconvenience that prevents the flow of blessings and is never properly defined. Repentance is almost completely neglected. Sure, there's a little cartoon at the end about Christ-directed vs. self-directed life, but their description of sin and repentance is so vague that it is practically useless to any sinner. Contrast this with the preaching of John the baptist, who called out specific sins and told men exactly what they needed to do (Luke 3:8-18). It wasn't just John, Jesus and the apostles did the same thing throughout the NT. So, instead of using the four spiritual laws, use God's laws (the 10 commandments are a great place to start) and show sinners their guilt, that they deserve judgement and hell, and that they need to repent and trust in the savior that died for them.
The Romans road is a very similar approach. Though older and more traditional, it's no better than the four spiritual laws. This approach relies on quoting several verses from Romans without their context. There are some variations, but let's look at the Sword of the Lord's website – a popular fundie resource. The shallow presentation of sin is similar to the four spiritual laws, but the Romans road is even worse because it mischaracterizes the nature of sin. At least the evangelicals talk about sin as a personal choice. In the Romans road, the fundies just talk about how you inherited Adam's sin nature. Too bad. How exactly are you supposed to repent of a sin nature? This description misleads sinners from gaining any concrete understanding of their personal, willful sins. The reality is that they must repent of their personal sins, not just the concept of sin, nor a supposed sin nature. Of course, they wouldn't know that anyway, because the Romans road doesn't even mention repentance at all. Therefore, the preacher robs the sinner of information they need to be saved. This road is just a spiritual dead end.
Now, given the nature and pervasiveness of these major errors, how can you minister to those around you? Realize that the number of religious lost is astounding, more than anyone would like to admit. From years of experience in preaching the gospel one-on-one, I estimate that less than 2% of Americans can give even passable responses to basic questions about the gospel, salvation, and the new birth – things that are necessary for salvation. If you don't believe me, approach some strangers or those lazy people at your church and ask them the following questions:
1) “Can you tell me how to get to heaven?” Probably the best response you'll get on this one is “believe in Jesus”. While not necessarily wrong, this answer is awfully incomplete. They should show some understanding of repentance in their answer to the rest of these questions. If not, they fail the test. Anyone who claims to have been saved for longer than a month certainly should be able to use the word “repent” without prompting.
2) “How is it that Jesus is able to save you?” they should have at least a basic understanding of substitutionary atonement – You are guilty of breaking God's law, but Jesus died in your place.
3) “What changed when you were saved?” Honestly, they should light up at this point. Every real Christian will have at least one story to tell that is very dear to them: loss of desire for formerly loved sins, a new hunger for the Bible, unexplained love for Christians, etc. They should be able to mention something like this which would demonstrate that they had a very real transition from darkness to light. If they have to think about it, you're looking at a lost religious person.
4) “So what are you doing for the Lord these days?” Maybe they're not making the best use of their time, but they should be doing something. Going to church, staying away from sin, reading the Bible, etc. doesn't count. That's no-brainer stuff that we do for ourselves. A person who does nothing for Christ is demonstrating that they do not really know Him (Matt. 3:10, Matt. 7:19-23, Matt. 25:23-30). Can someone recognize their sin and guilt, be saved from death and hell, then move on and not sacrifice and serve their Lord out of love? I don't buy it. There should be a desire to help and reach out to others that manifests itself somehow, ideally by sharing the gospel with others. Expect others to put up strong resistance to this one, as it cuts to the core of what is important.
As mentioned before, familiarity with the major errors that infect churches today is critical in order to minister to others. If you aren't willing to recognize the problems with a sinner's prayer or Romans road, you'll never ask the hard questions that are necessary to get through to the religious lost. This is not just theory. I seriously challenge you to ask the above questions to people around you. If they can't answer these simple questions about the gospel and the new birth, then it is evidence that they do not know Biblical repentance and faith. Treat them like a lost person until they prove otherwise. Specifically, share the Biblical gospel with them. Take away their hope in their superficial religious rituals, declare their need for repentance, and demand that they show the fruits of repentance. Be warned though, this simple Biblical practice will likely cause your friends and your church to turn away from you. But more importantly, you will have a chance to make a difference in their lives, and you will be following in the footsteps of Christ.
We'll start with the basics. Among other places, the gospel is defined in 1 Corinth. 15:1-4. The message is that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. Great news! So far so good – practically everyone gets that part right, even cults. Now, our response to the gospel message, or how we receive it, is by repenting of our sins and putting our faith in Christ (Mark 1:15, Acts 3:19, Acts 26:20). Adding or removing anything anything from the gospel makes it different, makes it 'another gospel', which is condemned in the strongest language (Gal. 1:6-8). This is how heresies are born. You take the gospel and add the keeping of the OT law, good works, baptism, etc. Or, in the case of fundamentalists and evangelicals, you add a sinner's prayer or remove repentance.
The Sinner's prayer is a heresy which promises that you can be saved by asking God for forgiveness or “asking Jesus into your heart”, typically by praying a modeled prayer. Let's be clear. You will not find these ideas anywhere in the Bible. Sinners are always called to repentance and faith. There's nothing wrong with expressing repentance toward God in prayer (Luke 18:13), but the error comes when people are assured that they are saved when and if they recite the prayer. In other words, this modern heresy promises salvation as a result of reciting a ritual prayer, not by repentance and faith in Christ. To make my point, let's look at an example developed and used by Billy Graham published on the Billy Graham Library's website (from the section 'prayer' at the bottom of the page):
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.
A few lines after this it goes on to mis-apply Romans 10:13 to suggest that anyone who prayed this prayer is now saved. It all sounds good, doesn't it? But faith and repentance are about actually trusting in Jesus and turning from your sin, not just saying that you will. To suggest that this prayer is sufficient for salvation is to accept lip service where Christ demands the substance.
The sinner's prayer can also be used without suggesting that it saves, but why would you? The prayer does nothing to help bring them to salvation, they need to repent. If the repenting sinner wants to pray, let him, but don't push it. Putting undue emphasis on a prayer can make the issues unclear, and you can make someone believe the prayer is important for their salvation even without explicitly saying so. This is especially true today. Maybe you don't tell the sinner a prayer will save him, but he has probably already heard that from several other pastors throughout his life. So, when you try to witness to that false convert and place the same emphasis on the prayer, he'll assume you're in the same boat. In short, using a sinner's prayer does nothing good, and is almost guaranteed to do some harm. So, if you really don't believe that a sinner's prayer saves, then stop doing it.
The "Romans Road" and "four spiritual laws" methods of sharing the gospel exemplify another type of heresy popular in conservative churches. The main problem of this heresy is that the gospel is proclaimed with little/no discussion of sin, and the need for the sinner to repent is either downplayed or neglected entirely. Yet, in the Bible, God makes it clear that repentance is absolutely necessary for salvation (Matt. 7:21, Mark 1:15, Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19, Acts 26:20). Let's look at some specific examples of this heresy.
The four spiritual laws can be found on the campus crusade website. In short, the four spiritual laws neglect the Biblical focus of sin/justice/hell/repentance/new birth and focus instead on “God has a wonderful plan for your life...you need Jesus so you can experience God's plan.” Sin is presented as a mere inconvenience that prevents the flow of blessings and is never properly defined. Repentance is almost completely neglected. Sure, there's a little cartoon at the end about Christ-directed vs. self-directed life, but their description of sin and repentance is so vague that it is practically useless to any sinner. Contrast this with the preaching of John the baptist, who called out specific sins and told men exactly what they needed to do (Luke 3:8-18). It wasn't just John, Jesus and the apostles did the same thing throughout the NT. So, instead of using the four spiritual laws, use God's laws (the 10 commandments are a great place to start) and show sinners their guilt, that they deserve judgement and hell, and that they need to repent and trust in the savior that died for them.
The Romans road is a very similar approach. Though older and more traditional, it's no better than the four spiritual laws. This approach relies on quoting several verses from Romans without their context. There are some variations, but let's look at the Sword of the Lord's website – a popular fundie resource. The shallow presentation of sin is similar to the four spiritual laws, but the Romans road is even worse because it mischaracterizes the nature of sin. At least the evangelicals talk about sin as a personal choice. In the Romans road, the fundies just talk about how you inherited Adam's sin nature. Too bad. How exactly are you supposed to repent of a sin nature? This description misleads sinners from gaining any concrete understanding of their personal, willful sins. The reality is that they must repent of their personal sins, not just the concept of sin, nor a supposed sin nature. Of course, they wouldn't know that anyway, because the Romans road doesn't even mention repentance at all. Therefore, the preacher robs the sinner of information they need to be saved. This road is just a spiritual dead end.
Now, given the nature and pervasiveness of these major errors, how can you minister to those around you? Realize that the number of religious lost is astounding, more than anyone would like to admit. From years of experience in preaching the gospel one-on-one, I estimate that less than 2% of Americans can give even passable responses to basic questions about the gospel, salvation, and the new birth – things that are necessary for salvation. If you don't believe me, approach some strangers or those lazy people at your church and ask them the following questions:
1) “Can you tell me how to get to heaven?” Probably the best response you'll get on this one is “believe in Jesus”. While not necessarily wrong, this answer is awfully incomplete. They should show some understanding of repentance in their answer to the rest of these questions. If not, they fail the test. Anyone who claims to have been saved for longer than a month certainly should be able to use the word “repent” without prompting.
2) “How is it that Jesus is able to save you?” they should have at least a basic understanding of substitutionary atonement – You are guilty of breaking God's law, but Jesus died in your place.
3) “What changed when you were saved?” Honestly, they should light up at this point. Every real Christian will have at least one story to tell that is very dear to them: loss of desire for formerly loved sins, a new hunger for the Bible, unexplained love for Christians, etc. They should be able to mention something like this which would demonstrate that they had a very real transition from darkness to light. If they have to think about it, you're looking at a lost religious person.
4) “So what are you doing for the Lord these days?” Maybe they're not making the best use of their time, but they should be doing something. Going to church, staying away from sin, reading the Bible, etc. doesn't count. That's no-brainer stuff that we do for ourselves. A person who does nothing for Christ is demonstrating that they do not really know Him (Matt. 3:10, Matt. 7:19-23, Matt. 25:23-30). Can someone recognize their sin and guilt, be saved from death and hell, then move on and not sacrifice and serve their Lord out of love? I don't buy it. There should be a desire to help and reach out to others that manifests itself somehow, ideally by sharing the gospel with others. Expect others to put up strong resistance to this one, as it cuts to the core of what is important.
As mentioned before, familiarity with the major errors that infect churches today is critical in order to minister to others. If you aren't willing to recognize the problems with a sinner's prayer or Romans road, you'll never ask the hard questions that are necessary to get through to the religious lost. This is not just theory. I seriously challenge you to ask the above questions to people around you. If they can't answer these simple questions about the gospel and the new birth, then it is evidence that they do not know Biblical repentance and faith. Treat them like a lost person until they prove otherwise. Specifically, share the Biblical gospel with them. Take away their hope in their superficial religious rituals, declare their need for repentance, and demand that they show the fruits of repentance. Be warned though, this simple Biblical practice will likely cause your friends and your church to turn away from you. But more importantly, you will have a chance to make a difference in their lives, and you will be following in the footsteps of Christ.
Josh Stone's "What Is Christianity?" (From Josh's Blog)
What Is Christianity?
NOV 8TH, 2013
Or maybe, what is it to be a Christian. There are many popular slogans today, “It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship,” for one example. Maybe being a Christian is going to church. Maybe it’s a set of ideas you’ve committed your mind to. Maybe it’s hallmark activities, like reading the Bible, and going to church instead of watching the Super Bowl.
But I look at it a little differently. Theologically, it’s following Christ – repentance and faith, new birth, life in Christ. But I’m not talking about systematic thinking here. I mean, “What does it feel like to be a Christian?” In this post, I present some rambling about what this means. I hope it makes any sense at all.
A relationship
I’ve always heard people say this one, but it bugs me. “Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship.” But James 1:27 tells us what pure religion is. Shouldn’t we avoid trite little sayings that seem to disagree with a perfectly good Bible verse? If we consult a dictionary, relationships are a way to describe how two things are connected. A religion is the service and worship of God.
As a Christian, I’m connected to God, but so is a non-Christian – it’s just a different kind of connection. We might call the connection I have that of a Father and son. Corporately, Christians are the bride of Christ. That’s another kind of connection. A non-christian has something more like that of the cop and the criminal. Or at least, Creator / creation. For that matter, can you think of a religion that can’t describe itself as a relationship with God? (if not, you’re suffering from something called “group think”) In any case, using a flexible word like that to sum it up is silly. If it could mean anything, then it probably means nothing.
So stop picking on people who use the “r” word. It has a much better definition, anyway.
A lifestyle
Lots of people go to church buildings regularly, and this is an evidence that they’re christians. But you don’t find church buildings in the Bible, so it’s really just a cultural thing. In fact, most of the things people typically point to are not things that fundamentally make someone a Christian. They really just represent a cultural lifestyle. Church buildings, services, pews, devotions, radio stations, potlucks… lots of things that don’t make you a christian.
I think the classic argument about this perspective is that spending the night in a garage doesn’t make you a car. But that really sells this argument short. What we’re really talking about is people who can’t see past the cultural trappings of christian faith, as implemented in the culture, and find the consuming fire inside.
As a house-church proponent, I’ve seen this vividly with people who will mentally assent to the ideas of New Testament ecclesiology, but still refuse to let go of their cultural lifestyle. Many people will agree that church buildings are not biblical… but they still want to go to one. They’ll agree that employing a senior pastor, a paid professional, is frought with temptations and abuses, but they still want one. If they didn’t go sit next to 300 people this weekend, they won’t feel like a christian. And those same 300 people wouldn’t think a person’s still a christian if they gave it up.
The cultural expression of a christian community is just a shell. There ought to be a core inside, which is really the whole point. The shell is just an interface, to borrow a nerd metaphor. But the people I’m talking about – they’re like someone who eats M&Ms for the candy shell, and doesn’t even realize that there isn’t a chocolate center anymore.
If you peel back the layers of your christian experience, and find out that there’s no chocolate in the middle, you need to find something else. Otherwise, you’re settling for something that’s not the real thing.
An experience
Have I offended you yet? Sorry if I did. I told you I’d be rambling though. If you’re still reading, there’s another one that needs to be added to the list. I met a guy not long ago who says he had a vision of Jesus giving him a hug in a restaurant. And that’s why he’s a christian.
OK, you might think that sounds like an anomaly. But this isn’t just a pentecostal or charismatic thing. It’s not just a modern thing. It’s all over the place, and it’s right here in river city too. It’s trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with E, and that stands for ‘sperience.
Let me give you a Bible-thumpin’, independent, fundamentalist example. This is just to show that it affects even the most conservative of circles. I love sermons. And I don’t want you to miss how much… I collected them. I have thousands. I figured once that before I got married, I had heard over 10,000 sermons. It helped that I was a camp counselor for six years – maybe that was cheating – but nevertheless it’s true.
The way I saw it, a sermon was a message from God, and it was just about the most spiritually exciting thing you could do. But one day, someone asked me to name the 10 most influential sermons I’d ever heard. Out of the 10,000, I think I could list… I don’t know… three? He then asked me to name the 10 most influential people. I couldn’t just name 10 – And then I did the same thing with the 10 most influential books. They just kept coming, and I couldn’t decide (well, you really only get 9 anyway, since the Bible is #1, right?).
As fun as a good pulpit-pounding (nay, pulpit-kicking!), hell-fire, and brimstone sermon is, when you get right down to it, there’s usually not that much there. And it really doesn’t stick. Sometime, try to make a diagram of what’s in a sermon, and it’ll surprise you. There are much better ways to communicate, and much better ways to learn (even a regular lecture has a higher information density).
And it’s the same thing for the praise band. The faith healer. The vision in the restaurant. If you tie your spiritual identity to something that feels awesome, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. Feelings fade quickly, and have to be renewed tomorrow. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.
So if your christianity revolves around the pulpit, or the altar call, or the music (let alone the tongues, the healing, etc.), search your soul, and see if it’s really doing all that you think it is. You may realize it doesn’t make as much difference as you think.
At least one alternative
I want to challenge every professing christian to the most profound adventure you can imagine. At least, that’s the way I think of christianity. It’s the greatest adventure. And if you find yourself in a milieu that doesn’t match that description, cut the cords and start adventuring. Here’s how you do it.
As a christian, you are a special agent. Sometimes, you function as a diplomat – an ambassador for Christ, representing Him to the world. At other times, you are a spiritual infiltrator, like when you preach the Gospel in the synagogue (the way Paul did). Sometimes you’re a warrior on the front lines, like when you’re passing out tracts or trying to figure out how long is too long to argue with an atheist. And maybe occasionally, you’re internal affairs, rooting out corruption and abuse. If this isn’t christianity to you, you might not have it figured out yet.
Also, other christians are real people. They aren’t hands to shake between the songs and the offering plate or targets for your multilevel marketing scam. They’re right sometimes, and they’re very wrong sometimes. And they probably think you’re wrong too. But they’re worthy of the sincerest love and sympathy, all wrapped up in one. Look around at the christians that you know… do you know these things about them? (Oh, and exclude anyone that you’re related to; that’s cheating):
How did they become christians (what’s their testimony)?
What did they think about last week’s sermon?
What is the most important doctrine that they have wrong (guaranteed that there is one)?
How about the least important doctrine they have wrong (these are sometimes fun)?
What do they do on Saturdays?
Do they need help with anything?
Would they go witnessing with you if you asked?
If you can’t answer these questions about your fellow christians, you don’t know them. And I’d argue that you’ve missed the chocolate center for the candy shell.
Yes, christianity is an adventure. This is the most apt metaphor I can think of. Imagine an adventure that you’ve heard of… what things happen in adventures? The hero loses sometimes. People are lost. Battles are fought. Sometimes there’s victory. You go places. You do things – usually of the “interesting” variety. You will be confronted with adversity, challenges, and probably a little evil here and there. You can rescue people. Others depend on you, and you can show your mettle. And usually, you end up getting home in the end. And winning.
You should be scrabbling to get better all the time, hoping that you’ll be prepared for the next step in the adventure. When you encounter an obstacle, you should defeat it. Soundly. With such finality that the next time you hit that obstacle, you won’t even notice. To succeed in this adventure, you need to know where you are, and where you’re going. You need tools. Skills. Heart. And you might have to do it alone, because I can guarantee you that you won’t find many people that will be willing to cast off the pithy sayings that excuse their inaction; the cultural trappings that distract them from the white-hot, burning, consuming passion of the christian adventure; and the trite experiences that keep them locked into spiritual baby-hood.
If this isn’t a picture of your christian life, ask yourself if you wish it was. My experience so far is that it’s apparently very hard to move past those things that hinder. But if you are willing to admit to yourself that christianity is more than almost anyone around you thinks it is, then put feet to it, and do something. Go witness to someone. Challenge 10 of your christian friends to join the adventure (if you find one that will, you’re probably lucky blessy). And regardless of what happens, mix it up until it works.
Recommendations
Join the battle – pass out a tract or argue with an atheist. Nothing will prompt spiritual growth like being part of God’s plan.
Figure out what you really believe, and toss it out if you can’t find it clearly in the Bible somewhere (especially with the cultural practices thing)
Bug other people sometimes, because the worst case is that they rebuff your attempts and they keep coasting. Best case, they join you in the adventure.
Take people seriously. Rebuke someone only because you love them, and really want to help them. Listen to what they say instead of throwing trite sayings and formulas at them.
Email me (yakovdk@gmail.com) because… well… I wouldn’t mind knowing!
NOV 8TH, 2013
Or maybe, what is it to be a Christian. There are many popular slogans today, “It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship,” for one example. Maybe being a Christian is going to church. Maybe it’s a set of ideas you’ve committed your mind to. Maybe it’s hallmark activities, like reading the Bible, and going to church instead of watching the Super Bowl.
But I look at it a little differently. Theologically, it’s following Christ – repentance and faith, new birth, life in Christ. But I’m not talking about systematic thinking here. I mean, “What does it feel like to be a Christian?” In this post, I present some rambling about what this means. I hope it makes any sense at all.
A relationship
I’ve always heard people say this one, but it bugs me. “Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship.” But James 1:27 tells us what pure religion is. Shouldn’t we avoid trite little sayings that seem to disagree with a perfectly good Bible verse? If we consult a dictionary, relationships are a way to describe how two things are connected. A religion is the service and worship of God.
As a Christian, I’m connected to God, but so is a non-Christian – it’s just a different kind of connection. We might call the connection I have that of a Father and son. Corporately, Christians are the bride of Christ. That’s another kind of connection. A non-christian has something more like that of the cop and the criminal. Or at least, Creator / creation. For that matter, can you think of a religion that can’t describe itself as a relationship with God? (if not, you’re suffering from something called “group think”) In any case, using a flexible word like that to sum it up is silly. If it could mean anything, then it probably means nothing.
So stop picking on people who use the “r” word. It has a much better definition, anyway.
A lifestyle
Lots of people go to church buildings regularly, and this is an evidence that they’re christians. But you don’t find church buildings in the Bible, so it’s really just a cultural thing. In fact, most of the things people typically point to are not things that fundamentally make someone a Christian. They really just represent a cultural lifestyle. Church buildings, services, pews, devotions, radio stations, potlucks… lots of things that don’t make you a christian.
I think the classic argument about this perspective is that spending the night in a garage doesn’t make you a car. But that really sells this argument short. What we’re really talking about is people who can’t see past the cultural trappings of christian faith, as implemented in the culture, and find the consuming fire inside.
As a house-church proponent, I’ve seen this vividly with people who will mentally assent to the ideas of New Testament ecclesiology, but still refuse to let go of their cultural lifestyle. Many people will agree that church buildings are not biblical… but they still want to go to one. They’ll agree that employing a senior pastor, a paid professional, is frought with temptations and abuses, but they still want one. If they didn’t go sit next to 300 people this weekend, they won’t feel like a christian. And those same 300 people wouldn’t think a person’s still a christian if they gave it up.
The cultural expression of a christian community is just a shell. There ought to be a core inside, which is really the whole point. The shell is just an interface, to borrow a nerd metaphor. But the people I’m talking about – they’re like someone who eats M&Ms for the candy shell, and doesn’t even realize that there isn’t a chocolate center anymore.
If you peel back the layers of your christian experience, and find out that there’s no chocolate in the middle, you need to find something else. Otherwise, you’re settling for something that’s not the real thing.
An experience
Have I offended you yet? Sorry if I did. I told you I’d be rambling though. If you’re still reading, there’s another one that needs to be added to the list. I met a guy not long ago who says he had a vision of Jesus giving him a hug in a restaurant. And that’s why he’s a christian.
OK, you might think that sounds like an anomaly. But this isn’t just a pentecostal or charismatic thing. It’s not just a modern thing. It’s all over the place, and it’s right here in river city too. It’s trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with E, and that stands for ‘sperience.
Let me give you a Bible-thumpin’, independent, fundamentalist example. This is just to show that it affects even the most conservative of circles. I love sermons. And I don’t want you to miss how much… I collected them. I have thousands. I figured once that before I got married, I had heard over 10,000 sermons. It helped that I was a camp counselor for six years – maybe that was cheating – but nevertheless it’s true.
The way I saw it, a sermon was a message from God, and it was just about the most spiritually exciting thing you could do. But one day, someone asked me to name the 10 most influential sermons I’d ever heard. Out of the 10,000, I think I could list… I don’t know… three? He then asked me to name the 10 most influential people. I couldn’t just name 10 – And then I did the same thing with the 10 most influential books. They just kept coming, and I couldn’t decide (well, you really only get 9 anyway, since the Bible is #1, right?).
As fun as a good pulpit-pounding (nay, pulpit-kicking!), hell-fire, and brimstone sermon is, when you get right down to it, there’s usually not that much there. And it really doesn’t stick. Sometime, try to make a diagram of what’s in a sermon, and it’ll surprise you. There are much better ways to communicate, and much better ways to learn (even a regular lecture has a higher information density).
And it’s the same thing for the praise band. The faith healer. The vision in the restaurant. If you tie your spiritual identity to something that feels awesome, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. Feelings fade quickly, and have to be renewed tomorrow. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.
So if your christianity revolves around the pulpit, or the altar call, or the music (let alone the tongues, the healing, etc.), search your soul, and see if it’s really doing all that you think it is. You may realize it doesn’t make as much difference as you think.
At least one alternative
I want to challenge every professing christian to the most profound adventure you can imagine. At least, that’s the way I think of christianity. It’s the greatest adventure. And if you find yourself in a milieu that doesn’t match that description, cut the cords and start adventuring. Here’s how you do it.
As a christian, you are a special agent. Sometimes, you function as a diplomat – an ambassador for Christ, representing Him to the world. At other times, you are a spiritual infiltrator, like when you preach the Gospel in the synagogue (the way Paul did). Sometimes you’re a warrior on the front lines, like when you’re passing out tracts or trying to figure out how long is too long to argue with an atheist. And maybe occasionally, you’re internal affairs, rooting out corruption and abuse. If this isn’t christianity to you, you might not have it figured out yet.
Also, other christians are real people. They aren’t hands to shake between the songs and the offering plate or targets for your multilevel marketing scam. They’re right sometimes, and they’re very wrong sometimes. And they probably think you’re wrong too. But they’re worthy of the sincerest love and sympathy, all wrapped up in one. Look around at the christians that you know… do you know these things about them? (Oh, and exclude anyone that you’re related to; that’s cheating):
How did they become christians (what’s their testimony)?
What did they think about last week’s sermon?
What is the most important doctrine that they have wrong (guaranteed that there is one)?
How about the least important doctrine they have wrong (these are sometimes fun)?
What do they do on Saturdays?
Do they need help with anything?
Would they go witnessing with you if you asked?
If you can’t answer these questions about your fellow christians, you don’t know them. And I’d argue that you’ve missed the chocolate center for the candy shell.
Yes, christianity is an adventure. This is the most apt metaphor I can think of. Imagine an adventure that you’ve heard of… what things happen in adventures? The hero loses sometimes. People are lost. Battles are fought. Sometimes there’s victory. You go places. You do things – usually of the “interesting” variety. You will be confronted with adversity, challenges, and probably a little evil here and there. You can rescue people. Others depend on you, and you can show your mettle. And usually, you end up getting home in the end. And winning.
You should be scrabbling to get better all the time, hoping that you’ll be prepared for the next step in the adventure. When you encounter an obstacle, you should defeat it. Soundly. With such finality that the next time you hit that obstacle, you won’t even notice. To succeed in this adventure, you need to know where you are, and where you’re going. You need tools. Skills. Heart. And you might have to do it alone, because I can guarantee you that you won’t find many people that will be willing to cast off the pithy sayings that excuse their inaction; the cultural trappings that distract them from the white-hot, burning, consuming passion of the christian adventure; and the trite experiences that keep them locked into spiritual baby-hood.
If this isn’t a picture of your christian life, ask yourself if you wish it was. My experience so far is that it’s apparently very hard to move past those things that hinder. But if you are willing to admit to yourself that christianity is more than almost anyone around you thinks it is, then put feet to it, and do something. Go witness to someone. Challenge 10 of your christian friends to join the adventure (if you find one that will, you’re probably lucky blessy). And regardless of what happens, mix it up until it works.
Recommendations
Join the battle – pass out a tract or argue with an atheist. Nothing will prompt spiritual growth like being part of God’s plan.
Figure out what you really believe, and toss it out if you can’t find it clearly in the Bible somewhere (especially with the cultural practices thing)
Bug other people sometimes, because the worst case is that they rebuff your attempts and they keep coasting. Best case, they join you in the adventure.
Take people seriously. Rebuke someone only because you love them, and really want to help them. Listen to what they say instead of throwing trite sayings and formulas at them.
Email me (yakovdk@gmail.com) because… well… I wouldn’t mind knowing!
Dave Stone's "The Board: A Biblical Model of 'You'" (From TruthReallyMatters.com)
The Board: a Biblical model of ‘you’ – 4/15/14
“The Board” is a brilliant little movie, just 32 minutes long, produced in 2008 by Bethesda Baptist Church of Brownsburg, Indiana, along with Uptone Pictures. The setting is a conference room, specifically a “Board Room.” The six board members are Mr. Mind, Mr. Conscience, Mr. Memory, Mr. Heart, Mr. Will, and Mr. Emotion. The meeting is called to discuss and vote on both “new” and “old business.” The most contentious piece of “old business” is to decide what to do about Mr. Mind’s friend, Ray, who has been challenging them with the Gospel.
“The Board” is a Biblical model of any human being, anyone made in the image of God . . . like you or me. In fact, since I don’t believe our main character’s name is ever actually mentioned, let’s call him “Dave.” In the film, Dave’s Board members interact in ways that I think are quite representative of the way you and I struggle over tough issues, particularly over the life-changing decision to repent and follow Jesus Christ.
Why do I call this a “model”? Models are incredibly useful, as long as they correlate reasonably well with reality, in terms of explanation and prediction. We all use models. For example, I have a model in my mind that I use to go to the grocery store. I visualize a turn here, a turn there, then go straight until I see a stop light, turn at the first entrance, and voila, I’m there. It’s a simple model that neglects thousands of details about the actual journey, for example, the many houses, businesses, and open fields I pass by, bumps on the road, whether the temperature is in the 70s or the 90s, and the infinite variety of typical traffic conditions. What I keep in my head is a simple representation of how to get there. And it works, so the model is useful.
All of science and engineering is based on modeling. If I design a simple low frequency electronic circuit, I model the design mathematically, doing calculations about how the resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transistors will interact. I don’t care about the color of the transistor packages or the weight of the resistors. More significantly, I don’t care about the capacitance of the resistors or the inductance of the capacitors. But if I try to operate this design at very high frequencies, my neglect of spurious capacitance and inductance will certainly produce unexpected behaviors – perhaps even failure. So in a “good model,” I need to take into account what’s important and understand what I can happily leave out for simplicity’s sake.
In my career, I did a fair amount of computational modeling, particularly in the area of laser physics. When I built a good math model, it produced outputs that matched experimental data. A good model allows the scientist to get a “feel” for what’s going on, to understand the “physics” of the situation. The model can then be trusted to predict new situations and even to allow investing in a physical prototype. An optimum model is one which uses as few variables and equations as practical, and yet represents physical reality “well enough.” All significant modern engineering projects are modeled thoroughly before they are built, including electronics, bridges, skyscrapers, fighter aircraft, or a deep space probe headed toward the outer solar system.
The most complex system known to man is himself, not just the nano-technology of cellular life, but the human mind / brain. To help us understand ourselves and to make useful predictions of how we behave in various circumstances, requires some kind of model. Secular psychology offers bogus models that assume an evolutionary / animal past, overly simplistic mechanistic constraints from brain chemistry, and a rejection of the ideas of soul / mind / spirit. Additionally, they abhor and scoff at any idea of a personal God who makes us morally accountable for our thoughts, words, and deeds.
“The Board” offers a simple, yet effective and, more importantly, Biblical model for what goes on inside. I won’t make the effort here to proof-text the validity of “The Board’s” model. If you’re a student of the Bible, you’ll recognize it. I do note that the Bible is filled with metaphors . . . simple models . . . to help us understand much about the very character of God Himself. Jesus is described at times as “the door,” “the light,” “the life,” “the way,” “the Son of Man” . . . among many other descriptors. Jesus is not literally “a door.” Yet the metaphor helps us to understand something vital about our opportunity to find God.
A metaphor is an extremely simple model. A model is a very complex metaphor.
I won’t give away key plot elements, but I will make some analytical points about what impresses me both in the film and in the Biblical model. Mr. Mind, for example, is the member who insists that Ray’s evangelistic challenge be dealt with. Mr. Emotion is horrified. The prospect of becoming a “Jesus freak” would derail his desires for pleasure and fun in life. “You’re asking us to give up everything that makes us happy!” Mr. Heart and Mr. Will want the issue tabled yet again . . . far better to ignore the issue than face up to making a yea / nay decision. Mr. Heart rationalizes, suggesting that Ray has ulterior motives. Heart doesn’t address Mind’s logical points, but resorts to insults, impugning Ray’s character.
But Mind makes a compelling case based on Ray’s arguments from history, prophecy, and morality, using God’s law and the reasonableness of Judgment. Conscience chimes in with support. You see, Conscience has “seen the light,” which has re-calibrated and re-sensitized his recognition of good vs. evil, particularly in view of Memory’s report of many of Dave’s specific sinful activities.
It becomes clear that Heart is the de-facto Chairman of this Board. He’s the one that must be swayed. If he converts, Emotion and Will will certainly follow. One thing the film gets spectacularly right is that the Board must be unanimous. Mind and Conscience may be utterly convinced of the truth of the Gospel, but a stubborn Heart will leave Dave lost and on his way to Hell. I have had this experience many times when sharing the Gospel with the lost. I call it “traction” when I can see that the individual “gets it.” He understands that he has sinned against God and will face Judgment. He understands that his only recourse is Jesus Christ. He understands what repentance means and how his life will certainly change with the new birth. Yet nothing happens. Even though he understands everything he needs to understand, his Heart and Will, fueled by his ranting Emotion, DON’T WANT TO CHANGE.
In Matthew 13, His disciples ask Jesus why He speaks to the crowds in parables at times. He explains, “Because they seeing, see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” He goes on to quote Isaiah, specifically, “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” The Lord is pointing out the willful corruption of the heart of the determinedly lost. The key word is “lest.” It’s not the parables that prevent conversion, and it’s certainly not the Lord! God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So whose fault? It’s the gross corruption of the individual’s heart, who DOES NOT WANT TO UNDERSTAND, “lest” repentance follow and sins be forsaken.
In Dave’s case, Mr. Will is offended at the accusations by Conscience, as if Will has to share any blame. After all, Will asserts, “My job is to do what this Board gives me the authority to do!” This is not strictly true in real life, of course. (I think the film missed this point by just a tad.) A weak Will may fail to move even if Heart has the right inclination. A strong Will, on the other hand, can help Heart and the rest of the Board embrace repentance and faith.
As the case gets more contentious and the arguments swing in Mind’s favor, Heart appears to capitulate, but reluctantly. Conscience doesn’t buy it. If Heart really believes, “Things are going to have to change around here!” Heart cries out, “I DON’T WANT TO CHANGE!” Aye, there’s the rub! The Heart rules, whether for good or evil.
The arguments get more personal from this point, penetrating the walls, the fierce defense mechanisms that Heart has constructed over the years of Dave’s life. Finally, Heart yields . . . IN AGREEMENT. He sees reality, he sees himself, he sees who Jesus Christ is. The walls are down. Emotion comes to himself. Will is ready to move as soon as Heart casts aside his . . . (I won’t give this one away. It’s quite clever!)
The Board is unanimous. It turns out that there is a large, regal chair at the head of the table, which we haven’t seen before. This chair has been empty. But no more. The Board has a new member . . . a new Chairman.
Regarding “The Board” as a model . . . I find it useful to explain the types of reactions I get to the Gospel message when I engage in 121 evangelism. It is often easy to get someone’s Mind engaged. The challenge is to get all six members of the Board to confront reality. Biblical evangelism (as discussed much on this site) employs God’s laws, confronting specific sins to challenge Memory and Conscience. God’s certain Judgment to come provokes Emotion to a quite rational fear. Now fear cannot save, but fear can provoke the Board to seek a solution, an escape. The Gospel itself, with a clear exposition of the Cross and the substitutionary atonement, is reasonable to a rational Mind, a Mind not perverted and closed by a warped Conscience and a determinedly rebellious Heart.
The glorious Biblical truth of the meeting of love and justice at the Cross satisfies a Mind who is looking for a solution; in fact, it satisfies such a Mind that this can be the ONLY solution. Realization of God’s love moves Emotion and opens the Heart. Will is eager to act on truth that leads toward freedom from addictive sins and a new life . . . indeed, eternal life. The Heart sees that fulfillment is only possible by uniting the Board with a new Chairman, a Chairman who knows the future, whose very character defines love, who is completely in touch with reality because He invented reality, namely the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s the case when the new birth occurs. Usually, it doesn’t. One or more Board members, usually the Heart, remain stubborn. As a lost sinner ages, the Heart’s stubbornness only grows and the rest of the Board’s members grow more and more surly. Precisely the same types of individuals who will give me a good hearing while in college will, a few years later, walk by me with a sneer, having rejected the Gospel with prejudice, and will despise it all the more as each year goes by. Lost sinners don’t get sweeter with age. If you do 121 work, you know what I’m talking about.
When sharing the Gospel, it’s useful to have a Biblical model in mind. Christians who don’t will mistakenly interpret mental assent as an indication of conversion. The poorly discerning evangelist observes a pattern of sinful acts from a professing Christian and excuses it, not understanding that Mind, Heart, Will, Conscience, Emotion, and even Memory must be converted. Memory, too? The members of a lost man’s Board are corrupt, including Memory. Memory gets increasingly selective, often re-inventing personal history to allow self-justification.
I could multiply examples, but you get the idea. Multitudes of professing Christians have contentious, conflicted . . . unconverted Boards. When you see evidence of that, tell the guy what the problem is: He is lost, unsaved, unconverted, unrepentant. It’s up to him to make a new Heart and a new spirit, as in God’s plea to lost Israelites in Ezekiel 18:30-31. Our “Board” model refutes Calvinism, by the way. There is nothing “irresistible” about God’s grace. The Lord does not take the “Chairmanship” until the Board is unanimous.
With regard to your responsibility in the Great Commission . . . You’ve got to help, being sensitive to the internal struggle of the lost sinner. The religious lost will not figure it out for himself. If you don’t tell him, who will?
“The Board” is a brilliant little movie, just 32 minutes long, produced in 2008 by Bethesda Baptist Church of Brownsburg, Indiana, along with Uptone Pictures. The setting is a conference room, specifically a “Board Room.” The six board members are Mr. Mind, Mr. Conscience, Mr. Memory, Mr. Heart, Mr. Will, and Mr. Emotion. The meeting is called to discuss and vote on both “new” and “old business.” The most contentious piece of “old business” is to decide what to do about Mr. Mind’s friend, Ray, who has been challenging them with the Gospel.
“The Board” is a Biblical model of any human being, anyone made in the image of God . . . like you or me. In fact, since I don’t believe our main character’s name is ever actually mentioned, let’s call him “Dave.” In the film, Dave’s Board members interact in ways that I think are quite representative of the way you and I struggle over tough issues, particularly over the life-changing decision to repent and follow Jesus Christ.
Why do I call this a “model”? Models are incredibly useful, as long as they correlate reasonably well with reality, in terms of explanation and prediction. We all use models. For example, I have a model in my mind that I use to go to the grocery store. I visualize a turn here, a turn there, then go straight until I see a stop light, turn at the first entrance, and voila, I’m there. It’s a simple model that neglects thousands of details about the actual journey, for example, the many houses, businesses, and open fields I pass by, bumps on the road, whether the temperature is in the 70s or the 90s, and the infinite variety of typical traffic conditions. What I keep in my head is a simple representation of how to get there. And it works, so the model is useful.
All of science and engineering is based on modeling. If I design a simple low frequency electronic circuit, I model the design mathematically, doing calculations about how the resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transistors will interact. I don’t care about the color of the transistor packages or the weight of the resistors. More significantly, I don’t care about the capacitance of the resistors or the inductance of the capacitors. But if I try to operate this design at very high frequencies, my neglect of spurious capacitance and inductance will certainly produce unexpected behaviors – perhaps even failure. So in a “good model,” I need to take into account what’s important and understand what I can happily leave out for simplicity’s sake.
In my career, I did a fair amount of computational modeling, particularly in the area of laser physics. When I built a good math model, it produced outputs that matched experimental data. A good model allows the scientist to get a “feel” for what’s going on, to understand the “physics” of the situation. The model can then be trusted to predict new situations and even to allow investing in a physical prototype. An optimum model is one which uses as few variables and equations as practical, and yet represents physical reality “well enough.” All significant modern engineering projects are modeled thoroughly before they are built, including electronics, bridges, skyscrapers, fighter aircraft, or a deep space probe headed toward the outer solar system.
The most complex system known to man is himself, not just the nano-technology of cellular life, but the human mind / brain. To help us understand ourselves and to make useful predictions of how we behave in various circumstances, requires some kind of model. Secular psychology offers bogus models that assume an evolutionary / animal past, overly simplistic mechanistic constraints from brain chemistry, and a rejection of the ideas of soul / mind / spirit. Additionally, they abhor and scoff at any idea of a personal God who makes us morally accountable for our thoughts, words, and deeds.
“The Board” offers a simple, yet effective and, more importantly, Biblical model for what goes on inside. I won’t make the effort here to proof-text the validity of “The Board’s” model. If you’re a student of the Bible, you’ll recognize it. I do note that the Bible is filled with metaphors . . . simple models . . . to help us understand much about the very character of God Himself. Jesus is described at times as “the door,” “the light,” “the life,” “the way,” “the Son of Man” . . . among many other descriptors. Jesus is not literally “a door.” Yet the metaphor helps us to understand something vital about our opportunity to find God.
A metaphor is an extremely simple model. A model is a very complex metaphor.
I won’t give away key plot elements, but I will make some analytical points about what impresses me both in the film and in the Biblical model. Mr. Mind, for example, is the member who insists that Ray’s evangelistic challenge be dealt with. Mr. Emotion is horrified. The prospect of becoming a “Jesus freak” would derail his desires for pleasure and fun in life. “You’re asking us to give up everything that makes us happy!” Mr. Heart and Mr. Will want the issue tabled yet again . . . far better to ignore the issue than face up to making a yea / nay decision. Mr. Heart rationalizes, suggesting that Ray has ulterior motives. Heart doesn’t address Mind’s logical points, but resorts to insults, impugning Ray’s character.
But Mind makes a compelling case based on Ray’s arguments from history, prophecy, and morality, using God’s law and the reasonableness of Judgment. Conscience chimes in with support. You see, Conscience has “seen the light,” which has re-calibrated and re-sensitized his recognition of good vs. evil, particularly in view of Memory’s report of many of Dave’s specific sinful activities.
It becomes clear that Heart is the de-facto Chairman of this Board. He’s the one that must be swayed. If he converts, Emotion and Will will certainly follow. One thing the film gets spectacularly right is that the Board must be unanimous. Mind and Conscience may be utterly convinced of the truth of the Gospel, but a stubborn Heart will leave Dave lost and on his way to Hell. I have had this experience many times when sharing the Gospel with the lost. I call it “traction” when I can see that the individual “gets it.” He understands that he has sinned against God and will face Judgment. He understands that his only recourse is Jesus Christ. He understands what repentance means and how his life will certainly change with the new birth. Yet nothing happens. Even though he understands everything he needs to understand, his Heart and Will, fueled by his ranting Emotion, DON’T WANT TO CHANGE.
In Matthew 13, His disciples ask Jesus why He speaks to the crowds in parables at times. He explains, “Because they seeing, see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” He goes on to quote Isaiah, specifically, “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” The Lord is pointing out the willful corruption of the heart of the determinedly lost. The key word is “lest.” It’s not the parables that prevent conversion, and it’s certainly not the Lord! God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So whose fault? It’s the gross corruption of the individual’s heart, who DOES NOT WANT TO UNDERSTAND, “lest” repentance follow and sins be forsaken.
In Dave’s case, Mr. Will is offended at the accusations by Conscience, as if Will has to share any blame. After all, Will asserts, “My job is to do what this Board gives me the authority to do!” This is not strictly true in real life, of course. (I think the film missed this point by just a tad.) A weak Will may fail to move even if Heart has the right inclination. A strong Will, on the other hand, can help Heart and the rest of the Board embrace repentance and faith.
As the case gets more contentious and the arguments swing in Mind’s favor, Heart appears to capitulate, but reluctantly. Conscience doesn’t buy it. If Heart really believes, “Things are going to have to change around here!” Heart cries out, “I DON’T WANT TO CHANGE!” Aye, there’s the rub! The Heart rules, whether for good or evil.
The arguments get more personal from this point, penetrating the walls, the fierce defense mechanisms that Heart has constructed over the years of Dave’s life. Finally, Heart yields . . . IN AGREEMENT. He sees reality, he sees himself, he sees who Jesus Christ is. The walls are down. Emotion comes to himself. Will is ready to move as soon as Heart casts aside his . . . (I won’t give this one away. It’s quite clever!)
The Board is unanimous. It turns out that there is a large, regal chair at the head of the table, which we haven’t seen before. This chair has been empty. But no more. The Board has a new member . . . a new Chairman.
Regarding “The Board” as a model . . . I find it useful to explain the types of reactions I get to the Gospel message when I engage in 121 evangelism. It is often easy to get someone’s Mind engaged. The challenge is to get all six members of the Board to confront reality. Biblical evangelism (as discussed much on this site) employs God’s laws, confronting specific sins to challenge Memory and Conscience. God’s certain Judgment to come provokes Emotion to a quite rational fear. Now fear cannot save, but fear can provoke the Board to seek a solution, an escape. The Gospel itself, with a clear exposition of the Cross and the substitutionary atonement, is reasonable to a rational Mind, a Mind not perverted and closed by a warped Conscience and a determinedly rebellious Heart.
The glorious Biblical truth of the meeting of love and justice at the Cross satisfies a Mind who is looking for a solution; in fact, it satisfies such a Mind that this can be the ONLY solution. Realization of God’s love moves Emotion and opens the Heart. Will is eager to act on truth that leads toward freedom from addictive sins and a new life . . . indeed, eternal life. The Heart sees that fulfillment is only possible by uniting the Board with a new Chairman, a Chairman who knows the future, whose very character defines love, who is completely in touch with reality because He invented reality, namely the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s the case when the new birth occurs. Usually, it doesn’t. One or more Board members, usually the Heart, remain stubborn. As a lost sinner ages, the Heart’s stubbornness only grows and the rest of the Board’s members grow more and more surly. Precisely the same types of individuals who will give me a good hearing while in college will, a few years later, walk by me with a sneer, having rejected the Gospel with prejudice, and will despise it all the more as each year goes by. Lost sinners don’t get sweeter with age. If you do 121 work, you know what I’m talking about.
When sharing the Gospel, it’s useful to have a Biblical model in mind. Christians who don’t will mistakenly interpret mental assent as an indication of conversion. The poorly discerning evangelist observes a pattern of sinful acts from a professing Christian and excuses it, not understanding that Mind, Heart, Will, Conscience, Emotion, and even Memory must be converted. Memory, too? The members of a lost man’s Board are corrupt, including Memory. Memory gets increasingly selective, often re-inventing personal history to allow self-justification.
I could multiply examples, but you get the idea. Multitudes of professing Christians have contentious, conflicted . . . unconverted Boards. When you see evidence of that, tell the guy what the problem is: He is lost, unsaved, unconverted, unrepentant. It’s up to him to make a new Heart and a new spirit, as in God’s plea to lost Israelites in Ezekiel 18:30-31. Our “Board” model refutes Calvinism, by the way. There is nothing “irresistible” about God’s grace. The Lord does not take the “Chairmanship” until the Board is unanimous.
With regard to your responsibility in the Great Commission . . . You’ve got to help, being sensitive to the internal struggle of the lost sinner. The religious lost will not figure it out for himself. If you don’t tell him, who will?
Kyle Ford's "Spiritual Warfare in Evangelism" (From NeedfulExhortation.blogspot.com)
Friday, April 11, 2014
Spiritual warfare in evangelism
One of my passions in life is to share the gospel with the lost and to stir up Christians to do the same. I truly believe there is no other activity we can do on Earth which is more dear to the heart of Christ. However, if you're doing it Biblically, you can guarantee that you'll be on Satan's radar too. Preaching the gospel to the lost is an act of spiritual warfare and Christians should be aware that much of the fear and nervousness they feel about witnessing is normal, and should be expected. To make this point and give tips on fighting through it, I'd like to share my recent experience. Hopefully, if you read this and find yourself nervously sitting on an evangelistic fence, this will encourage you to hop off the fence and join the fight!
For a week, I had planned a time to do some evangelism on the UIUC quad. This is nothing new. It's been my favorite 'fishing hole' for years, and though I'm out of practice due to the long winter, I've surely done this more than a hundred times before. Yet, as I'm gathering my tracts before I leave, I'm overcome with a wave of nervousness. This is nothing new either, but is as strong as I've ever felt, forcing me to take a deep breath before I push myself out the door.
As you go through these feelings, you should immediately recognize them as spiritual warfare. You're going out there to steal members from Satan's family – of course he's going to fight! The demons tend to use the same tactics. They're predictable, but can still be very effective. They'll pull on every desire, weakness, and heart string that will take you away from your destination.
As temptation arises, the thoughts enter my mind as I drive toward the campus. “You're really tired, should just go home and rest.” “You're sick, maybe you can push through, but you'll feel even worse later.” “You're alone again. Who could blame you for quitting?” Wherever the thoughts originate from, I swat them aside and try to push through some prayers for strength and wisdom. I feel my chest tightening the whole time.
In times like these, you have several weapons at your disposal, and it pays to be prepared. Prayer is always a good option, but don't just wait until you're in the battle. You know the fight will happen, so pray beforehand as well. Scripture is great for encouragement and conquering temptation. Read it and memorize it. Songs can help as well – yet another reason to know some strong hymns. There's no magic formula for each situation, you must simply fight on. The Lord never promises to completely remove temptation, but he does promise that we will be able to handle it and that there will be a way out.
As I park my car, I'm hit with a wave of strong and completely irrational fear. I can't find it in me to open the car door. I pray a little more, then sing to myself a few lines of “Lord, send me anywhere”, a hymn that has often comforted me. I ask myself out loud, “Is your love for Christ so weak that you can't overcome this?”. Now it's on. There's no way I'm going to let a challenge like that stand. I collect my tracts, get out of the car, and walk toward the quad. On the way there, I see my first face and the crippling fear melts away instantly, replaced instead by love and concern, surely a mere fraction of a shadow of what Christ has for these lost sinners. I smile and cheerfully hand him a tract, “hey man, a free gift for you.” The next couple of hours are enjoyable and relatively easy.
I've found that this pattern repeats itself almost every time that I go out to preach the gospel. As I've talked to others who share the same convictions and act upon them, they report the same struggles. Though preaching the gospel is incredibly enjoyable and rewarding, there's nearly always a huge up-front energy barrier that must be overcome, usually in the form of fear/nerves. To be clear, as a scientist, I've done important presentations to superiors, public speaking at conferences, etc. Those things are work – not as enjoyable as sharing the gospel, but there's less fear associated with those things. However, when it comes to doing this thing that I really enjoy, there's a huge barrier of nerves/fear before I get started. Isn't that interesting? This can only be explained by spiritual warfare. Recognize this, and fight back! As I related in my story, the biggest struggle is overcoming that initial barrier, but it gets easy after that. Remember, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Finally, I recommend taking some time to debrief after you are done. This is obviously useful with regards to content (What objections were raised? How can I handle them better? What do I need to study? What verses should I memorize?), but it's also useful when it comes to handling spiritual warfare. Sometimes you won't be able to see the whole picture, but often you can. For example, you'll likely find that spiritual battles are more intense than normal if you are about to walk into a big opportunity. As you begin to recognize these trends, it teaches you to fight harder, recognizing that if the enemy is opposing you strongly, it might mean that this is a particularly important battle. In the example that I gave above, it turned out that there was a softball game that just ended, so there were many more people at the quad than normal. I was able to have several conversations, one which ended in great clarity, and hand out ~150 tracts, several times more than I'm able to do on an average day at the quad. That's certainly a good cause for the devil to want to keep me away from there. Was it the number of tracts? Or maybe the conversation with a pair of professing Christians where I pointed out that they are obviously not yet converted – and related their need of repentance, faith, and the new birth. Maybe both. Most of the time, you won't know how much difference your efforts will make, but the stakes are heaven vs. hell! If you could make that kind of difference, even for just one soul, would that not make every battle worthwhile? The point is, recognize the enemy's tactics, and don't forget what you're fighting for!
In conclusion, I've related this personal story with some commentary in the hopes that it will be an encouragement to others who are struggling through the same thing. Really, we have it quite easy in America, let's make use of our freedom. From the immature Christian struggling with the idea of sharing the gospel with strangers, to the battle-hardened elder, may we all be refreshed in our understanding of the importance of this great battle, and be encouraged to work harder for the Lord.
For a week, I had planned a time to do some evangelism on the UIUC quad. This is nothing new. It's been my favorite 'fishing hole' for years, and though I'm out of practice due to the long winter, I've surely done this more than a hundred times before. Yet, as I'm gathering my tracts before I leave, I'm overcome with a wave of nervousness. This is nothing new either, but is as strong as I've ever felt, forcing me to take a deep breath before I push myself out the door.
As you go through these feelings, you should immediately recognize them as spiritual warfare. You're going out there to steal members from Satan's family – of course he's going to fight! The demons tend to use the same tactics. They're predictable, but can still be very effective. They'll pull on every desire, weakness, and heart string that will take you away from your destination.
As temptation arises, the thoughts enter my mind as I drive toward the campus. “You're really tired, should just go home and rest.” “You're sick, maybe you can push through, but you'll feel even worse later.” “You're alone again. Who could blame you for quitting?” Wherever the thoughts originate from, I swat them aside and try to push through some prayers for strength and wisdom. I feel my chest tightening the whole time.
In times like these, you have several weapons at your disposal, and it pays to be prepared. Prayer is always a good option, but don't just wait until you're in the battle. You know the fight will happen, so pray beforehand as well. Scripture is great for encouragement and conquering temptation. Read it and memorize it. Songs can help as well – yet another reason to know some strong hymns. There's no magic formula for each situation, you must simply fight on. The Lord never promises to completely remove temptation, but he does promise that we will be able to handle it and that there will be a way out.
As I park my car, I'm hit with a wave of strong and completely irrational fear. I can't find it in me to open the car door. I pray a little more, then sing to myself a few lines of “Lord, send me anywhere”, a hymn that has often comforted me. I ask myself out loud, “Is your love for Christ so weak that you can't overcome this?”. Now it's on. There's no way I'm going to let a challenge like that stand. I collect my tracts, get out of the car, and walk toward the quad. On the way there, I see my first face and the crippling fear melts away instantly, replaced instead by love and concern, surely a mere fraction of a shadow of what Christ has for these lost sinners. I smile and cheerfully hand him a tract, “hey man, a free gift for you.” The next couple of hours are enjoyable and relatively easy.
I've found that this pattern repeats itself almost every time that I go out to preach the gospel. As I've talked to others who share the same convictions and act upon them, they report the same struggles. Though preaching the gospel is incredibly enjoyable and rewarding, there's nearly always a huge up-front energy barrier that must be overcome, usually in the form of fear/nerves. To be clear, as a scientist, I've done important presentations to superiors, public speaking at conferences, etc. Those things are work – not as enjoyable as sharing the gospel, but there's less fear associated with those things. However, when it comes to doing this thing that I really enjoy, there's a huge barrier of nerves/fear before I get started. Isn't that interesting? This can only be explained by spiritual warfare. Recognize this, and fight back! As I related in my story, the biggest struggle is overcoming that initial barrier, but it gets easy after that. Remember, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Finally, I recommend taking some time to debrief after you are done. This is obviously useful with regards to content (What objections were raised? How can I handle them better? What do I need to study? What verses should I memorize?), but it's also useful when it comes to handling spiritual warfare. Sometimes you won't be able to see the whole picture, but often you can. For example, you'll likely find that spiritual battles are more intense than normal if you are about to walk into a big opportunity. As you begin to recognize these trends, it teaches you to fight harder, recognizing that if the enemy is opposing you strongly, it might mean that this is a particularly important battle. In the example that I gave above, it turned out that there was a softball game that just ended, so there were many more people at the quad than normal. I was able to have several conversations, one which ended in great clarity, and hand out ~150 tracts, several times more than I'm able to do on an average day at the quad. That's certainly a good cause for the devil to want to keep me away from there. Was it the number of tracts? Or maybe the conversation with a pair of professing Christians where I pointed out that they are obviously not yet converted – and related their need of repentance, faith, and the new birth. Maybe both. Most of the time, you won't know how much difference your efforts will make, but the stakes are heaven vs. hell! If you could make that kind of difference, even for just one soul, would that not make every battle worthwhile? The point is, recognize the enemy's tactics, and don't forget what you're fighting for!
In conclusion, I've related this personal story with some commentary in the hopes that it will be an encouragement to others who are struggling through the same thing. Really, we have it quite easy in America, let's make use of our freedom. From the immature Christian struggling with the idea of sharing the gospel with strangers, to the battle-hardened elder, may we all be refreshed in our understanding of the importance of this great battle, and be encouraged to work harder for the Lord.
Shepherd's Goad Facebook Page
Recently I started a Facebook page for Shepherd's Goad, and I've been using that outlet to post other articles relevant to Christianity. If you have not seen the page, please, visit it and subscribe.
My intention is to use the page as an extra venue for other Christian writers. It should also serve to cause Tim and I to contribute more on this site in the future. That being said, I am going to add the articles I've posted on Facebook this week. Enjoy.
My intention is to use the page as an extra venue for other Christian writers. It should also serve to cause Tim and I to contribute more on this site in the future. That being said, I am going to add the articles I've posted on Facebook this week. Enjoy.
Monday, April 14, 2014
The World Is Ending, Part Whatever: The Blood Moons
Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now
the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and
save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
– Isaiah 47:12-13.
The world is coming to an end in the next 6 months! Or,
wait, didn’t it already come to an end a few times in the last few years? I
thought it ended on December 21, 2012? No, that can’t be right. Harold Camping
said it would end before that, I think. That still can’t be right. It had to
have ended in 2000 with all of that Y2K hubbub. This time, though, it’s
definitely coming to an end. Mark Biltz and John Hagee said so, and they’ve
both got the Bible to prove it, so it must be true.
According to Biltz and Hagee Joel 3 is warning mankind of
the world’s end. Central to their argument are verses 14-15, which state, “Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the
valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining.” From this passage Biltz’s book, Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs unfolds. He links
past blood moons to historical events such as the Spanish Reconquista, which
expelled both Jews and Muslims from Spain, the modern re-establishment of a
Jewish nation in Israel, and Israel’s defeating the Arab onslaught in 1967. He makes
what seems to be a compelling case. Why not? God is in control of the heavens,
so why wouldn’t or couldn’t He use heavenly signs to tell us about the future?
In fact, the Bible even tells of such heavenly signs throughout its pages. But
does that mean that what Biltz, and subsequently John Hagee, have to say is
correct?
The Bible does indeed have much to say about consulting
celestial bodies, but none of it is good. Consider what God had to say about
such practices in Deuteronomy. He condemns the person and the practice of
consulting the heavens in 4:19, 17:2-5, and 18:9-12. Notice, specifically
Deuteronomy 18:14 – “For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened
unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God
hath not suffered thee so to do.” God was against such prognostication, and
called it divination.
Divination is the practice of divining. Divining is
popularly known as water witching. It comes from occultic practices stretching
far back into ancient pagan cultures (See Dave Hunt’s Occult Invasion for one of the best documentations on this
practice). Divining was heavily mixed into occultic practices that also used
astrology. In other words, it is satanic. God condemned the diviners. He
further went to great lengths confounding the diviners (cf. I Samuel 6:2,
Isaiah 44:25, Jeremiah 27:9, Jeremiah 29:8, Micah 3:7, and Zechariah 10:2).
God did not intend to speak through the sun, moon, and
stars. Such attempts to find God’s direction in the stars is the definition of
Astrology. Consider that the Book of Daniel has all but one mention of
astrologers in the Bible (cf. Daniel 1:20, 2:2, 2:27, 4:7, 5:7, 5:11, and 5:15.
The only other mention is Isaiah 47:12-13 quoted above). This should be
eye-opening in that Daniel was in Babylon, the creator of Astrological
practices. The Chaldeans put great emphasis upon astrology. So too did the
Medes and Persians that followed the Babylonians. For that matter, any study of
the Ancient and Medieval worlds reveals that mankind was greatly affected by
heavenly occurrences. God, however, warned against such thinkers and their
thinking.
But all of this seems to have been lost among many modern “Christians.”
They look for signs, and believe anyone, who in God’s name claims that the
Bible points out these signs. Multi-millionaires have been made upon such
claims, because modern American Christianity comprises immature, spiritually
blind, bankrupt, Bible illiterates. Don’t be the child tossed to and from,
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness. If you are, you will be deceived by those lying in wait for
gullible, foolish you.
There is hope. The Bible tells us to study to shew ourselves
approved. Don’t be a shamed workman. Prove all things, hold fast that which is
good. Be spiritually discerning, because the spiritual man does indeed judge
all things. Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but wise. Understand the times.
All of these commands are biblical. All of them profit in that they, through
knowing God and His word, serve to protect us from the charlatan and the hireling,
who only serve to make money off of foolishness. BE NOBLE! EXAMINE THE
SCRIPTURES! Even if it is the Apostle Paul telling you something, we still have
a requirement to search it out.
On that note, some readers may start claiming that the Bible
does talk about the Sun’s darkening, the Moon turning to blood, and the Stars
falling from the sky. The Bible pronounces such statements when regarding end
times events. I agree. It does. What must be understood, however, is the order
of end time events. First, understand this – “For Jews require a sign, and the
Greeks seek after wisdom:” (I Cor. 1:22) But Christ said this to the Jews
seeking a sign “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and
there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he
left them, and departed.” (Matthew 16:4 cf. Matthew 12:39) These Jews were
seeking for their Messiah, and they missed Him, because they were looking for
signs instead of looking for Him.
Christ finally did give signs about His coming in Matthew
24-25. These chapters are Jewish in context, and understandably can and are
often mistaken to be about the Rapture of the Church. They’re not. They’re
about Christ’s Second Coming. They’re about His establishing His earthly
Kingdom. They fit entirely within the context of the Old Testament Day of the
Lord, which was prophesied about throughout the Major and Minor Prophets. All
of those signs do and will occur before Christ returns and establishes His
earthly kingdom.
Nothing has to happen before the Rapture occurs. The Bible’s
comments about the Church being raptured are much different than the comments
about His Second Coming. The Rapture can occur at any time. It was likened unto
a thief in the night (I Thess. 5:2) It begins the Day of the Lord, but this day
is not just one 24 hour period. In context the “Day of the Lord” so mentioned
here begins with the Rapture and ends with Eternity. It is in a greater context
than those proclaiming “Beware! The Blood Moons are Coming!”
In light of such an imminent return, the truly called out should be
busily endeavoring to warn men of sin, their need to repent from sin, turn to
Christ, and make disciples who will go and do likewise. Anything else is a
waste of time.
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