Sunday
May232004
The nine lies of today's church
Sunday, May 23, 2004 at 5:44PM "Ask Jesus into our heart" is not in the Bible. Neither is "Give your heart to the Lord", or repeating a "sinner's prayer". These practices do not exist in Scripture at all. The subject of salvation is the most important subject in the Bible and we are being lied to about it. These doctrines are a total fabrication. They were invented to make salvation "quick and convenient". Many church members today who are relying on these things are clearly not 'saved' at all.This and eight other lies found through David Finch.
Reader Comments (7)
Strom is often over the top, but he's on the mark in this quote. The Apostle's doctrine called, even commanded, people to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus for salvation. This represents biblical conversion.
I have issue with much of what was said. First is that it is easy to say what is wrong. But he gives no answer to the lies. With Bible Colleges I think that it is true that you do not need a degree to be a pastor you just need to spend much time with Jesus (just like Paul, Mark, Luke Barnabas) Also after Paul's conversion one can trace a serious amount of more time spent studying. His seventh point is completely wrong because though not wanted certain groups claimed they followed Paul and followed John. I just feel that as Dr. Victor Shepherd said before you critique you first need to have something at least as good. He just tore down without building up (sorry for the blabber Darryl)
I'm struggling with any reply, or else I would post it to my blog. Many of his points are good. Many are childish. It's hard to separate them and not toss out the good with the bad.
As always, one is free to agree or disagree with the author on any or all of the ideas expressed. That one disagrees is a good thing... at least it shows that one is thinking, instead of blindly accepting everything one is told without question. I, too, disagree with some of what Strom says, (about tithing and labels, for example) but he does make some excellent points. If one reads the book and other material contained on his web site, (again, critically!) Strom expands on some of his arguments and in some cases makes them more palatable. The issue for me, is that there ARE so many (too many?) people for whom Strom hits the nail squarely on the head. I, and many like me, find the local church irrelevant to my daily life. It either does not address the issues we face on a daily basis; is not prepared to deal with those issues; blames US for having to face those issues, or is so legalistic that there is no room for compassion. Yes, I have been hurt by some people in the local church. But, that is not the reason why I have chosen to seek fellowship outside of the institutional church. I have been hurt by people outside of church, as well, and I don't simply lock myself away from all contact with people because they have hurt me in the past, and will probably hurt my feelings again some time in the future. I am NOT bitter. I have chosen, (Yes, it is a choice; a sometimes very difficult choice to implement) to forgive, and the freedom that forgiveness brings, both to me and the other party, is actually very wonderful. I, like Strom, find too much humanism; too many programs; too much (my) kingdom mindedness as opposed to (His) Kingdom Mindedness; too much emphasis on the size of the congregation and/or the collection plate; too much politicism, and too many doctrinal arguments over unessential issues. Too little Gospel; too little real repentance; too little Compassion; too little Mercy; too little Grace, and definitely not much Love.
I should have added that I learned more about Compassion, Mercy, Grace, Forgiveness and Love from my Mother than I ever learned in church.
I think it's a point well taken and that it should pause us to give our motives thought. In my busy-ness of life, I often find myself making a plastic Jesus that fits "my" plans and not necessarily His. "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" resonates in my ear as I find little time to meet with other believers or attend church. I wonder where others would say my treasure lies....
I still think you're blatantly disobeying God by not belonging to a local church Arthur. The church's degree of conformance to what you want to see (which seems pretty good to me by the way)has nothing to do with whether or not you should obey. So you can see that for me it's hard to respect your opinion at this point. Anyone can smash a window.