Power of Suggestion

It isn’t Christ-following. I’m amazed at what passes for Christian theology today. The message is truly proving to be “foolishness to those who are perishing.” Check this out. The OP has its own issues, such as the “conversion” we may experience while evangelizing. Commenter Matt MC said this: “I think I’m a little unclear though, on your intentions with those last two quotes. Is the evangelist’s “conversion” in question a broadening of perspective, or a recognition that somehow he has been preaching the wrong gospel?”

But I want to focus on the comments. With the advent of the postmodern movement and the much talked about breakdown of modernity (something I don’t see nearly as much of as some say), some mindsets have been welcomed into the church in the name of tolerance or diversity. Try to imagine Jesus’ response to this:

“Do I or you have the ‘truth?’ Are we so arrogant to think our religion is the correct one?[...]I don’t think my religion is any more true than anyone else’s and I have no desire to participate in their ’so-called’ [Isn't the term so-called enough without the quotes?] salvation.”

I don’t think he’d applaud with the audience of The View, I think a parable would follow…one resembling the man who built his house upon the sand. But that’s just me. My question is this: Why would you want to be part of a religious group and follow a religious leader (this being Jesus himself) who claims to hold all truth if you don’t think that’s possible?

That comment was followed by this one:

The biblical text itself contains so many voices, so many angles, and was written in so many contexts, all removed from ours significantly if by nothing else than time, that using it to form a firm confidence in exactly what God is up to feels, well…honestly impossible.

I’d like to see her expound on this statement in some meaningful way. What about those times and cultures and writers is so different from those that we live in now? Are we not still human? Are we not seeking joy and fulfillment? Do we not have family, and enemies, and suffering, and fear, and work, and rest, and everything else? It’s tiring to constantly hear people say, “things were different back then,” and never supporting it with even an explanation. So tell us how the voices, angles, and contexts were different and what that means to how we read the narrative of Scripture.

I also get the impression that she wouldn’t care to look into it further. Maybe I’m wrong about this particular person…maybe she has a passion for historical and sociological study of the ancient Hebrews. Perhaps she has a deeper understanding than I can surmise from her post. But judging from the others I’ve read with similar opinions, they’re happy enough with the doubt cast by their assertions to leave it at that.

What that does, effectively, is take all the burden and worry off of a person…they no longer have to concern themselves with being right, because it’s not possible. Unfortunately, God revealed himself in Christ, and in so doing said that if anyone denied him, rejected him, or was ashamed of him, that Christ would deny, reject, and be ashamed of him on the day of judgment.

Both of these commenters’ statements – that we are arrogant for claiming we can know the truth – are, in essence, being ashamed of Jesus. Jesus said he was “the way, the truth, and the life”, that he was God, that he’d be seated at the Father’s right hand, that all who followed him would live forever, and all who rejected him were condemned. He was exclusive. And in today’s world that’s a sin.

Much like Republicans are distancing themselves from the President to avoid any shame that may come from being linked to his policies, so these “Christians” are distancing themselves from the controversial claims of Christ, and trying to be something a little more palatable for the world today. For their sake I hope they hear the rooster crow and get their butts back to the Master’s feet.