November 2007 Archives
At The Resurgence, Leland Ryken suggests that attacks on the Bible from outside aren't really the issue:
The Bible has gone into eclipse in the evangelical world through sheer neglect. The enemy is within. The attacks from the outside are almost irrelevant. The Bible has been replaced by other things in the pulpits of evangelical churches, and church members tend to view the Bible as it is viewed in the church service. The evangelical church has only itself to blame for its well-documented biblical illiteracy. Several trends have gone hand in hand--the eclipse of expository preaching of the Bible, the loss of dignity in worship, in music, and in Bible translations, and the triumph of the modern media (including an obsession with entertainment) in the lives of Christians.
Is consumerism an issue in the church? Scot McKnight is not convinced.
Bill Kinnon, though, has a list of things he's looking for in a church. "Like I said. I’m a consumer. Oh. And a sort of a Christian. If you build this, I will come. Or so you’ve been told." His entire post is worth a read. Commenting on this post, he says, "Sarcasm won over grace."
Michael Haykin writes a thoughtful post on our tendency to depend on models for what God alone can give:
As D.A. Carson, whose life and writings have been a tremendous inspiration to me personally, has rightly said: “We depend on plans, programs, vision statements—but somewhere along the way we have succumbed to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning.”
From Oswald Chambers:
When we say, "What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating person, and what wonderful insight!" then what opportunity does the gospel of God have through all of that? It cannot get through, because the attraction is to the messenger and not the message. If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet Jesus says we are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32 ).
From a chapter, written by Premkumar D. Williams, in Everyday Theology:
..models pore over their portfolios, singers over their music videos, and preachers over their sermons Yes, we can do these for Christ's sake, but when this involves advertising, programming, management, and leadership of a large number of people responsible for a variety of activities all geared toward creating the best impression on the visitor, there is a tendency to control the process so as to guarantee the product. This can tempt one to squeeze the Spirit out of the scene and lean on the dynamics of performance.
