"Much of Christian "evangelism" uses guilt and fear, it brings people into a state of apprehension through intimidation and fear. The belief systems that are most likely to mislead you ridicule reason & good judgement, man's mind is not celebrated as part of good judgment and a gift to be used." -Carol Forsloff
These quotes remind me of all the teachings that tell you that you can't trust yourself/your heart, that you have to be an academic expert to hear from God or to understand the bible. Particularly it reminds me of the abuse of the old testament scripture, Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Hebrews 10:22 says, "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in the assurance that trust brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience." Our hearts are clean. We do not have the deceitfully wicked heart mentioned in Jeremiah 17:9. We have the Spirit of God in our hearts. Our hearts are, as Luke 8:15 says, "good and noble." The Christian heart is not deceitfully wicked! God has already created a clean heart in those who trust in Him.
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who cries “Abba! Father!” (Philippians 4:6)
The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5)
When Christians are taught that they have wicked hearts that cannot be trusted they will reject the voice of God for the voices of deceived or deceitful men, false doctrines, guilt, shame, & fear. God has poured His love into our hearts! Think about that. The self-affirming voice that religion calls pride is often the voice of God loving our hearts. The heart of every Christian cries out “Abba! Father!” but because people have subjected themselves to the poisons of man-made religion (sermons, pastors, churches) they don't trust their hearts because their hearts are demonized as if the Spirit of God had never came into them. Messages that are sin conscious, that speak of Christian turning from sin, confession of sin, God convicting of sin are all things that keep your mind separated from trusting God. They cause you to live as if the cross has no power and the Spirit has no presence.
If you could trust that God can faithfully speak to your heart why would you need mediators & sermons? You wouldn't & that is why it is always the preachers who are telling you that you can't trust your heart & you have to be leery when thinking you've heard God's voice. The bible says in 1 John 2:27, "You have God's anointing & you don't need any men to teach you." Have you ever met anyone who actually believes that verse? Do you only see people running to preachers, pastors, & authors instead of God when they have questions? That is because those people believe their hearts are wicked & cannot be trusted to communicate with God. Teachers can be beneficial but God does not need men to teach you, He can do it Himself. God says, "Seek me and you will find me." It is easy to find Him. He is always with you.
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Showing posts with label preaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preaching. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
How Sermonizing is Not Shepherding & More..
There is no biblical evidence of a sermon (non-interactive monologue)
being "preached" to a group of Christians in the New Testament. What we
do see is open participatory meetings where "each one" has songs,
teachings, revelations, etc (1 Corinthians 14:26). Thinking every time
the word "preach" is used in translation of scripture it means "preach a
sermon" is making an assumption not based on study. There is no such
thing as a "pulpit" in the New Testament. Today's type of "preaching" is
based on the traditions of men & misapplications of old covenant
scripture.
I don't think the Word of God "should be preached" among Christians as most people understand preaching (sermonizing). The traditions of men are an inferior substitute to the ways of God. I've heard preachers admit in sermons that sermons/monologues/lectures are the least effective form of communication/teaching but then blame the audience for not remembering sermon material. That would be like a coach intentionally training his team in the least effective way possible & blaming the team for being lousy.
To me there is a big difference between preaching & teaching. I don't consider an impersonal, non-interactive relay of information to be teaching. If you research the uses of the word preach & teach in scripture you'll see that preaching (usually meaning proclaiming or announcing) is something done for Non-Christians to make them aware of the gospel. You'll see that there are times that "preaching and teaching" are mentioned together hinting that they are separate things.
While I am aware that teaching does happen in churches, the sermon is something that falls short of the biblical idea of teaching (you could call biblical teaching discipling). While it could be called preaching (proclaiming) it is something we never see done in a Christian assembly in scripture. There are countless ways that sermonizing is harmful to the body. The message that always points back to the love of God & the finished work of Christ (the true gospel) will prevent most of that harm from occurring. The sermon, in most churches, is touted as the essential "main-event" of the normal Christian life. When it is touted as such that is one of its most harmful elements because its non-interactive & impersonal nature actually stops people from relating to & loving one another, instead it forces them into silence.
Sermonizing is Not Shepherding
We never see "preaching" associated with "shepherds/pastors" in scripture either. We hear that shepherds "feed the flock." What is feeding? Is feeding throwing food into a large crowd & never knowing if anyone in the crowd catches and eats anything? Where is the evidence that someone was fed? It is assumed that because you spread the seed that people are fed. Sermons don't accomplish feeding. The only type of feeding I would say a sermon does is like that of a grocery store. If people come in and appropriate the food they can feed themselves from it. Throwing food at people's mouths (ears) to me is not feeding. When I think "feeding" I think of how one would feed a baby or a small motherless animal. I would consider The Great Shepherd Jesus' interactive & personal discipling to be feeding.
Seeing-over a crowd when you preach is not the same as overseeing (teaching & guarding). Hebrews 13:17 says that overseers (the same thing as pastors/elders) are "those who are alert to the condition of your lives." You can't be alert to some one's condition when you aren't even relating to them. Sermons are non-relational. Sermons don't accomplish shepherding in any sense. The sermon itself does not accomplish biblical shepherding. When something is preached to a passive crowd it is all on the crowd to pay attention and feed themselves. It is no different than watching a sermon on television. People can learn from those but that doesn't mean "Televangelist Whoever" is shepherding them. There isn't shepherding it is just a relay of information.
In Ephesians 4:11, the only time shepherds is used for people other than Jesus and literal shepherds, it calls them shepherd-teachers. Shepherding does involve teaching & fellowshipping is essential to shepherding. If there is no relationship between someone & their pastor/shepherd it is impossible to be shepherded. Shepherding is personal & relational. Sermons are just as personal on TV as they are in person. Based on my study of scripture I would say that sermons do not accomplish shepherding in any sense from the shepherd's standpoint. While people can and do learn from sermons, preaching a sermon is not shepherding at all.
Church Service is Extra-Biblical
While the preacher speaks people have to be quiet & listen. It literally stops people from relating to one another for that time frame, which is the majority of the time they spend assembled together. One another relating cannot be done during a sermon. To share Christ in us with one another is the most important part of the Christian life, it is what scripture calls God's eternal purpose. So if the sermon is the "main event," building one another up etc. is less important & to most not even part of the normal "church experience."
Announcing testimonies, praises, & prayer requests does not accomplish most of the one anothering spoken of in scripture. Announcing good things (you could biblically call this "preaching") is beneficial but it is still not relational.
Typical Sunday morning church meetings go something like this,
Greet each other very briefly (usually with cliché greetings); Announce your testimonies, praises, & prayer requests to the congregation; Sing and don't talk to each other; Listen to the sermon and don't talk to each other; meeting over.
The elements & time managed structure of the meeting "actually stops people from relating to & loving one another." When the church comes together it has "better things to do" than sharing Christ in us with one another. You can hope that somehow the sermon or another element has inspired people to love & relate but overall the meeting itself does not even allow it to happen during its duration.
Example overrides information. What you do in practice is what people take as truth more so than your words. This is one of the things I mean when I said, "the gospel stops most of that harm from occurring" because in practice information from a sermon is touted as more important than relationships. Why? Because relating is something you are supposed to do outside of the meeting. 40 minutes or so is given to a sermon & maybe 2 minutes given to a meet & greet.
So the "church service" is an event to attend like a concert. The modern church service is something extra-biblical. This type of meeting, including the sermon, is not endorsed or even found in scripture. It bears almost no resemblance to the assembling talked about in 1 Corinthians 14 & Hebrews 10. Sure it can be beneficial but the traditions of men are still an inferior substitute to the ways of God. This Sunday morning church service is touted as the main event of the normal Christian life (often with the sermon as the primary portion of the service) but it is an extra-biblical substitute for genuine relationships & relational meetings where everyone can contribute. Meetings that are led by Christ the Head instead of led by programs, preparations, & preachers.
Related Posts
Community vs. Prescriptions
How "Preach" is Used with Bias in Translating the Bible
Love One Another
In Context: "Forsake not the assembling.."
In Context: "Forsake not.." & "I can do all things.." Revisited
Growth in Christ Through Relationships
Mistranslation of Words in The Bible
I don't think the Word of God "should be preached" among Christians as most people understand preaching (sermonizing). The traditions of men are an inferior substitute to the ways of God. I've heard preachers admit in sermons that sermons/monologues/lectures are the least effective form of communication/teaching but then blame the audience for not remembering sermon material. That would be like a coach intentionally training his team in the least effective way possible & blaming the team for being lousy.
To me there is a big difference between preaching & teaching. I don't consider an impersonal, non-interactive relay of information to be teaching. If you research the uses of the word preach & teach in scripture you'll see that preaching (usually meaning proclaiming or announcing) is something done for Non-Christians to make them aware of the gospel. You'll see that there are times that "preaching and teaching" are mentioned together hinting that they are separate things.
While I am aware that teaching does happen in churches, the sermon is something that falls short of the biblical idea of teaching (you could call biblical teaching discipling). While it could be called preaching (proclaiming) it is something we never see done in a Christian assembly in scripture. There are countless ways that sermonizing is harmful to the body. The message that always points back to the love of God & the finished work of Christ (the true gospel) will prevent most of that harm from occurring. The sermon, in most churches, is touted as the essential "main-event" of the normal Christian life. When it is touted as such that is one of its most harmful elements because its non-interactive & impersonal nature actually stops people from relating to & loving one another, instead it forces them into silence.
Sermonizing is Not Shepherding
We never see "preaching" associated with "shepherds/pastors" in scripture either. We hear that shepherds "feed the flock." What is feeding? Is feeding throwing food into a large crowd & never knowing if anyone in the crowd catches and eats anything? Where is the evidence that someone was fed? It is assumed that because you spread the seed that people are fed. Sermons don't accomplish feeding. The only type of feeding I would say a sermon does is like that of a grocery store. If people come in and appropriate the food they can feed themselves from it. Throwing food at people's mouths (ears) to me is not feeding. When I think "feeding" I think of how one would feed a baby or a small motherless animal. I would consider The Great Shepherd Jesus' interactive & personal discipling to be feeding.
Seeing-over a crowd when you preach is not the same as overseeing (teaching & guarding). Hebrews 13:17 says that overseers (the same thing as pastors/elders) are "those who are alert to the condition of your lives." You can't be alert to some one's condition when you aren't even relating to them. Sermons are non-relational. Sermons don't accomplish shepherding in any sense. The sermon itself does not accomplish biblical shepherding. When something is preached to a passive crowd it is all on the crowd to pay attention and feed themselves. It is no different than watching a sermon on television. People can learn from those but that doesn't mean "Televangelist Whoever" is shepherding them. There isn't shepherding it is just a relay of information.
In Ephesians 4:11, the only time shepherds is used for people other than Jesus and literal shepherds, it calls them shepherd-teachers. Shepherding does involve teaching & fellowshipping is essential to shepherding. If there is no relationship between someone & their pastor/shepherd it is impossible to be shepherded. Shepherding is personal & relational. Sermons are just as personal on TV as they are in person. Based on my study of scripture I would say that sermons do not accomplish shepherding in any sense from the shepherd's standpoint. While people can and do learn from sermons, preaching a sermon is not shepherding at all.
Church Service is Extra-Biblical
While the preacher speaks people have to be quiet & listen. It literally stops people from relating to one another for that time frame, which is the majority of the time they spend assembled together. One another relating cannot be done during a sermon. To share Christ in us with one another is the most important part of the Christian life, it is what scripture calls God's eternal purpose. So if the sermon is the "main event," building one another up etc. is less important & to most not even part of the normal "church experience."
Announcing testimonies, praises, & prayer requests does not accomplish most of the one anothering spoken of in scripture. Announcing good things (you could biblically call this "preaching") is beneficial but it is still not relational.
Typical Sunday morning church meetings go something like this,
Greet each other very briefly (usually with cliché greetings); Announce your testimonies, praises, & prayer requests to the congregation; Sing and don't talk to each other; Listen to the sermon and don't talk to each other; meeting over.
The elements & time managed structure of the meeting "actually stops people from relating to & loving one another." When the church comes together it has "better things to do" than sharing Christ in us with one another. You can hope that somehow the sermon or another element has inspired people to love & relate but overall the meeting itself does not even allow it to happen during its duration.
Example overrides information. What you do in practice is what people take as truth more so than your words. This is one of the things I mean when I said, "the gospel stops most of that harm from occurring" because in practice information from a sermon is touted as more important than relationships. Why? Because relating is something you are supposed to do outside of the meeting. 40 minutes or so is given to a sermon & maybe 2 minutes given to a meet & greet.
So the "church service" is an event to attend like a concert. The modern church service is something extra-biblical. This type of meeting, including the sermon, is not endorsed or even found in scripture. It bears almost no resemblance to the assembling talked about in 1 Corinthians 14 & Hebrews 10. Sure it can be beneficial but the traditions of men are still an inferior substitute to the ways of God. This Sunday morning church service is touted as the main event of the normal Christian life (often with the sermon as the primary portion of the service) but it is an extra-biblical substitute for genuine relationships & relational meetings where everyone can contribute. Meetings that are led by Christ the Head instead of led by programs, preparations, & preachers.
Related Posts
Community vs. Prescriptions
How "Preach" is Used with Bias in Translating the Bible
Love One Another
In Context: "Forsake not the assembling.."
In Context: "Forsake not.." & "I can do all things.." Revisited
Growth in Christ Through Relationships
Mistranslation of Words in The Bible
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
What is the correct way to speak against sin?
Disarm the shame it causes by telling of God's love and His removal of sin as an issue between God & men. That is the gospel, and as people walk with our truly loving Father they will become more loving towards others and themselves. God's kindness causes us to change our minds about the way we see things and how we live life (Romans 2:4). God incites the change and we cooperate with Him to bring about the change. Acts 3:26 tells us "God raised up Jesus and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your sinful ways."
Aside from knowing that Jesus took away sin a consciousness of sin doesn't do anyone any good. If you see people being hurt confront the person who is causing the pain (Paul did this a lot in his letters). If the person is hurting himself follow the Spirit's guidance and offer the him help, reasoning with him as to why what he is doing is harmful. Love keeps no record of wrongs. God doesn't count sin against anyone (2 Corinthians 5:19) but He still protects the people He loves. Jesus didn't run through neighborhoods screaming "Stop sinning!" That doesn't work, love works, God is love.
Aside from knowing that Jesus took away sin a consciousness of sin doesn't do anyone any good. If you see people being hurt confront the person who is causing the pain (Paul did this a lot in his letters). If the person is hurting himself follow the Spirit's guidance and offer the him help, reasoning with him as to why what he is doing is harmful. Love keeps no record of wrongs. God doesn't count sin against anyone (2 Corinthians 5:19) but He still protects the people He loves. Jesus didn't run through neighborhoods screaming "Stop sinning!" That doesn't work, love works, God is love.
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