There’s a lot wrong in this video …
There are many biblically incorrect statements in the video below. There are also some biblically correct statements. Take four minutes and watch it …
I’m not going to make this post about the right and wrong points made in the video. I will speak to the context of the video with a larger view.
I think this video captures much of what is broken about the church today. We have dummied down biblical truth to rhymes and platitudes. The average Christian — and too many church leaders — don’t have a biblical theology or even a biblical worldview, are ignorant of biblical doctrine, routinely fail to differentiate biblical truth from platitudes printed on a calendar, are happy to simply be spiritual hipsters, have embraced culture, and kissed corporate concepts of leadership.
Yes, there’s a lot wrong with religion, but scripture actually says Jesus did not come to destroy religion. Yes, grace should permeate Christian churches, but so should obedience.
And yes, there’s a lot wrong in the church. But the church is still the bride of Christ; it is still the family of God. It is Christ’s church and not ours.
Maybe if we extract all the culture we’ve loaded into it, got serious about being followers rather than worshiping leadership, and actually opened our Bibles and applied its truth without adding to or taking away from it, we could be the church God wants us to be.
Like the church in the New Testament.
I’ve pursued that for more than a couple decades, and will continue to do so.
How about you?
Scotty
January 16, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Maybe you need to do a video of your own Scotty. Along the lines of this one but speaking only biblical truths and concepts – omitting or correcting the wrong stuff. One of my great sadnesses is that I never had a chance to study theology – perhaps I should now that I am retired. I still look to leadership for leading although I do keep an ear open to the Lord. His still small voice still gets through to me – most of the time, so I am not completely devoid of theological guidance. Trouble is we need truths put out in an easily assimilateable format – like video.
What say you?
January 16, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Chris, I agree with you that the church could benefit greatly from better materials made available to it. Over the years I've reviewed materials from most all of the Christian publishers out there … there are some very good things available, but I've been confounded as to why so much helpful material is missing. I've never understood why some quality series of materials for discipling and helping Christians mature spiritually really isn't available. You have to pull together a hodge-podge of things, and that's cumbersome. I did write a two-year children's curriculum in the 90's, as well as numerous youth and adult materials Group Publishing was interested in, but I simply didn't have the time to work with a publisher with the ministry demands I had at the time. But, of course, we're talking about tools, resources, and we look to them too much because the local church too often fails to do its most basic work of discipling. If the local church carried out its biblically mandated role, and leaders equipped the saints (which is a primary responsibility), what is lacking in materials would be less important … it would be made up for in followers discipling followers.