So as i was looking at a you tube video today, i saw this picture with a crazy caption. The picture was of the LifeWay Logo, and the caption was false teaching. Now you should probably watch this video before reading on. So here is the site...
Man, at first watch this made me so mad listening to what this guy was saying, and to who he was talking about. I mean he was saying that Rob Bell, Erwin McManus, LifeWay, Rick Warren and others and the products and things they say are full of heresy. I was honestly becoming so enraged at what this person was saying, but then i remembered something...
Why get mad and go on the defensive of this guy, why waste my efforts and just bringing up negative perceptions of him. Why judge him and say he is full of lies. Why should i fall into the same scheme as him. Instead, God started filling me with something else, love and compassion towards this person. I started listening to the overall message and it was solid. It talks about how we should test everything against God's word (aka the Bible). I completely agree with that.
For me, before i read these books by all the others mentioned before, i pray God i know everything in here is not golden, but i pray that you open my eyes to the truth and help me grow through reading these books. We as Christians need to remember that the people we hear and the people we read are humans. I would completely agree and say that they are filled by God, and God gives them grace and wisdom and knowledge to write these books. I would go to say that God gives us these resources not as substitutes for the Bible but as a supplement, something to further guide and explain the scriptures. In this video the guy mentions that the reason we cling to these books is because they are so relevant in the times, and i say AMEN. Why would we want to read something that doesn't connect to us? I mean when we listen to people speak we want to hear personal stories to show connection for us to the speakers but most importantly how are lives are in connection with the scriptures.
I fully believe this guy went about putting out his message in the wrong way, but he has a solid message when you see through all the judging and condemnation.
Also, if you wanted to search more through the videos related to this you would see and hear more views that just seem so scared and judgmental. Videos that break up the body of Christ instead of edifying the body of Christ. To be honest, i have learned that in sharing my opinions i am arrogant. So in learning that and applying everything else i have learned this summer, I want to come into discussions, debates, whatever with love and sacrifice... not to be walked on, but also not to be arrogant and judgmental.
And even as i searched some videos and found a guy who is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in D.C., i found myself agreeing with a lot of what he said and then he said something that i didn't agree with and i just remembered what a lady and i had discussed on my flight back to Atlanta... God gave each and everyone of us a brain to figure things out and think on our own. So i was comforted by the fact that i didn't have to agree with everything, that i didn't have to see what some consider evil. That people may call others heretics, false teachers, or blame emergent churches but i can come into this place called life, and be a man of love and sacrifice and get to know God and serve him and his people.
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