Whose Message Is That? / A Christian Family
Posted by: ba <ba@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
----
Whose Message Is That? by Barry Newton
A Christian Family by Stan Mitchell
----
COLUMN: Hands-on Faith
Whose Message Is That?
by Barry Newton
Imagine going to a Bible class or listening to a
sermon where the Scriptures are never consulted.
Instead, a story like Little Red Riding Hood or
perhaps a current event is used to illustrate a
principle such as: telling the truth is rewarding
or following evil ways will get you into trouble.
While we might agree that these principles are
good, whose message is that? Would it not seem
like the preacher or teacher simply picked out of
the air what he considered to be "a good idea" and
then looked until he found a suitable story to
illustrate his belief?
Possibly you will agree with me that this would be
a spiritually anemic manner to teach a Bible class
or preach a sermon. But what would you think
about someone employing a biblical story such as
Gideon to encourage using "a fleece" to determine
God's will? If this was not the intended message,
then whose message is that?
Is this not methodologically identical to never
even opening the Scriptures? If the message being
taught is simply some notion which the teacher
thinks is worthy, then why even feign that the
message comes from the text? Will not
contemporary stories work just as well?
At least in my mind, there is a huge difference
between using Biblical stories to illustrate a
lesson clearly taught in Scripture and compiling a
bunch of stories to illustrate a principle without
showing that the Bible teaches that principle.
Why?
1) There is no guarantee that the message being
presented will teach what God desires. Is not
such a message based upon whatever the teacher
considers to be a good idea?
2) Does this not obfuscate that the class is not
really a Bible class but actually a diet of the
teacher's own ideas?
3) Even if the teacher has a good biblical
knowledge, how is the student going to grow in
learning how to accurately understand God's Word?
----
Read this article online, tell us what you think,
see who's commenting, click here:
forthright.antville.org/stories/835304/
----
COLUMN: Reality Check
A Christian Family
by Stan Mitchell
"We will not hide them from their children; we
will tell the next generation the praiseworthy
deeds of the Lord, the power, and wonders he has
done" (Psalm 78:4).
On the way home the little boy sat quietly in the
back seat. Then mom noticed he had started to cry.
"Why Johnny, whatever can be the matter?"
"Today," the distraught boy began, "the preacher
said all children should be in a Christian
family."
"So why did that upset you?"
"Because," the little fellow answered, "I want to
stay with you and dad!"
What makes a family "Christian"? There are,
apparently, some families that assume they are
Christian. To this young fellow, his parent's
Christianity wasn't obvious; do you suppose he was
wrong, or do our kids have a pretty good idea
about what is first in our lives?
Who is first in your life? Jesus Christ, you say?
Then do you move your weekly schedule around to
accommodate him at worship and Bible class? When
the heat of summer rolls around, does your
attendance cool off? When someone in church says
something you don't like, do you abandon Christ
and his church? Do you read your Bible and pray to
God daily? Are there habits within your home life
that would contradict your fine words and actions
on a Sunday, such as profanity, alcoholism, anger,
or constant derision directed at the church?
Don't answer those question. Ask them to your
children. They will know. The Lord does, too.
----
Read this article online, tell us what you think,
see who's commenting, click here:
forthright.antville.org/stories/812931/
----
You can help us get the word out. Here's how:
forthright.antville.org/stories/340415/