Not too long ago Dan and I were watching a World War II classic, “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” I have seen the movie a couple of times but there was something in the movie that I had not paid attention to before. As the British colonel Nicholson and his men inspect what the Japanese had completed, one of the men states that the bridge is going to have to be moved down river where there is bedrock. The Japanese had built the pillars of the bridge on sandy ground; the bridge would fall with the first heavy load. That got me thinking.
For the last several years, we have dealt with individuals who have left fundamentalism citing that it is “too harsh”, “too hateful”, “too….”. To be honest, I really can’t argue with them. I, too, have been victim of the “do as I say, not as I do” crowd; those Christians who are more focused on the do’s and don’ts, than they are on the people they are dealing with. These Christians are more focused on how they look on the outside rather than the on the relationship they have with Christ on the inside. I have seen on more than one occasion a woman treated with disdain because she came to church in a pant suit, a teen ostracized because they were dressed in goth attire, or a man ignored because he was disheveled and smelled. These that have left their “roots” have gravitated to the complete opposite. After all, if what they grew up with was “wrong”, then the complete opposite must be “right.” Now they propagate the philosophy of “love.” When you try to talk to them about standards, Bible versions or doctrine you hear in return something to the effect, “We don’t worry about those things now; those are non-issues for us. We interpret those things differently than you. We just need to love people to Jesus.” In other words, “Love can build a bridge… to Jesus.”
While that sounds nice and sweet…. and loving, these believers are just as wrong in their “enlightenment” as their brothers and sisters in Christ who major on the minors. In order to be in either of the groups the individual is ignoring the WHOLE counsel of God in the Bible. There is BALANCE in all Scripture. There must be discipline and doctrine in the Christian walk just as much as there needs to be love.
But the whole “come as you are,” mega-church movement, which first championed the “love” philosophy that so many fundamentalists are now adopting, is a failure. Why? Just like that bridge in the movie, it was built and created on a weak foundation. Several years ago, following the release of the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry at Willow Creek, the founder of this movement, Bill Hybels, stated, “We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”
So, what is proposed to correct this? Greg Hawkins, co-author of the book, Reveal: Where Are You?, gave this summary, “Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.”
While it is admirable that they want to change, and I believe there are just as many fundamental churches that need to change, the “rethink,” “informed by research” and “rooted in Scripture” aspects of the statement bothers me. The plan for the “dream to really discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet” is already written. It is already planned. We don’t need to “rethink” or “research” anything. We need to LEARN it.
I have been reading through the New Testament and came to 2 Peter 1 when something struck me that I believe goes along with the above. (Bold and underlined added for emphasis.)
2 Peter 1:4-10: 4Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
8For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
But there is even more. To temperance we are to add patience. We are to handle trials calmly, without complaint; we are to manifest forbearance, or tolerance, when under stress or strain. To patience we are to add godliness. According to Webster-dictionary.net, this is defined as careful observance of, or conformity to, the laws of God; the state or quality of being godly. Then, we are to add brotherly kindness. The Greek word for “brotherly kindness” is transliterated “philadelphia”. It describes that we are to have love toward our fellow Christians. Finally, we are to add to brotherly kindness charity. Charity is defined as a benevolence or goodwill toward humanity, a generosity toward those who are poor or in need.
Hmmm. To faith we are to add doing right and not doing wrong. We are to increase our knowledge of the Bible. We are to live our lives with moderation and restraint. We are to calmly handle our trials and show tolerance for others. THEN, we are to show love toward our fellow Christian and love to those who are in need.
It seems to me that there are many of us who have our “religion” all wrong. Some have stopped on the front end of the list and only focus on the do’s and don’ts – virtue. Others have skipped to the end of the list and only focus on love – charity. Both are wrong.
Where are knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness and brotherly kindness? Since when is it okay to pick and choose what it is that we will or will not do according to God’s Word? We cannot continue to cling to our pet passages.
It is time to get back to the Bible so that we can hold fast to the truth of the whole counsel of God’s Word. Make sure your foundation.
