Last week I wrote a post entitled, “This I Used to Believe‘. Which was inspired by a recent broadcast from NPR called This I Believe. I planned on it being a Meme, but it doesn’t appear that anyone has taken me up on my offer. Today’s post is going to elaborate on last weeks post. I had a few questions both in the comments in on Facebook about what I wrote and I would like to deal with those here.

This I Now Believe:

1. I used to believe it was my job to judge others, but now I believe that I can only judge myself. Jesus spent so much time correcting the thinking of the Jewish Elders. They had a law and used it to condemn one-another, Jesus taught them (and us) that the law was really meant to be used to judge ourselves. Today, we use the New Testament “laws” to judge others… I can’t help but think that maybe Jesus intends for us to use those “laws” to judge ourselves.

2. I used to believe that a pastor was a paid position, but now I believe that there is no Scriptural support for paying a pastor a salary. I have dealt with some of this in previous posts. After studying Scripture, considering context, and reconsidering my previous position, I have come to the opinion that it is more of a hinderance than a help to pay a pastor a salary. I am not saying that people are wrong or sinning by taking part in this activity just that from my studies I do not believe it is a best practice.

3. I used to believe that the SBC was the most Scriptural denomination, but now I believe that the SBC is equal to all other denominations. The SBC has positive traits about it and negative traits about it. Some things the SBC does are more inline with Scripture than other denominations, and others are way off base. Afterall, the SBC is run by men and with men comes error. By the way, it is not my intention to pick on the SBC in this post… but the SBC is the one denomination that I have the closest affiliation with and know the most about.

4. I used to believe that women were not qualified to teach men, but now I believe that women are both qualified and capable of teaching men. Truth be told, I do not have a fully formed opinion about what Scripture (esp. Paul) is teaching us in regards to women and men. I have read compelling arguments on both sides. I currently lean towards the idea that women are not forbidden from teaching men – for at least a couple reasons. First, in Christ there is neither male nor female (Gal 3:28). Second, I have been taught and blessed by many women, especially my wife.

5. I used to believe that it was a sin to drink wine/alcohol, but after reading Scripture I realized that not only is wine/alcohol not forbidden it is condoned and actually encouraged in some instances by the Father and Jesus! (Deut. 14:26, Prov. 31:6, John 2:1-10) The only thing that is ever condemned in scripture regarding alcohol its misuse.

6. I used to believe that God had called me to become a vocational pastor, but now since I believe that is it a hindarence to receive a salary from those people that you lead, I believe that God may have called me to be a pastor, but one who works with his hands – just as Paul gave us as an example. (Acts 20:34-35, 1 Thes. 4:11, 2 Thes., 2 Thes. 3:7-11)

7. I used to believe that Christians go to Heaven when they die, but now I believe that Christians go to Paradise when they die. I believe there is a difference between the two. I have a hard time seeing any place in Scripture that indicates that any Christian goes to Heaven after life. I could be completely wrong, but my studies have led me to believe that when we die we go into a place of Paradise (perhaps a place of non-Paradise for non-Believers)… then at the End of Days we will be judged, the new Earth will be formed, and we will forever abide on the new Earth with Jesus.

8. I used to believe that maturity came from going to all the church services, but now I believe that many Church-goers are very immature in their walk with Christ. Not because they don’t want maturity, but because they are never given an opportunity to grow. Sure we give them programs to join and Bible studies to attend, but real growth comes from following Jesus, by encouraging one-another, edifying one-another, teaching one-another. I see a lack of growth in today’s church structures because there is usually only a few men who are given the opportunity to follow the “one-another” commands in Scripture.

9. I used to believe the Bible was inerrant and infallible, but now I believe that the Bible is neither inerrant nor infallible. I have wrote a series about this in the past. But let me try to sum up my position here. The Bible is a collection of works, scripts, and manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have errors, misprints, different words/layouts, etc. When we look at all of this evidence we are only ~99% sure of the content of the NT and ~95% sure of the content of the OT. Many would say, “Yes but the remaining % does not effect our Theology”. To which I would respond, fine – but it’s still not a perfect document. In order for something to be considered inerrant and infallible, it needs to be perfect. Our Bibles without translation are not perfect and our Bibles with translation are even less perfect. I believe that Scripture is inerrant and infallible – we don’t have the original manuscripts, but we do have the Holy Spirit to help us and guide us. If we stopped relying on an imperfect document and started to rely on a perfect God to teach us, then perhaps we’d be much better off.

10. I used to believe that the SBC believed that the Bible was inerrant and infallible, but now I believe that like many denominations the SBC interprets and translates certain verses to suit their theology. We all do it, we want to believe something so we use the Bible to justify that belief – whether it is in context or not. When we do this though, it goes against any statement of belief about the authority of that document. We are what we eat, in a sense.

11. I used to believe that worship meant singing a few songs about God, but now I believe that worship comes from following and obeying God. We truly worship when we do what he has asked us to do. Don’t worry though, this could be by singing… but it may also be by feeding the homeless, being a good steward, etc.

12. I used to believe that people went to Hell because of their sins, but now I believe that Scripture never once says that people go to Hell for their sins. In fact, there is Scripture that says that Jesus covered the sins of the world. Why then do people go to Hell? The single verse in Scripture that talks about why people go to Hell says that people who are not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life are cast into the Lake of Fire. Is that because of their sin or because of their rejection of Christ as Savior or perhaps something else?

13. I used to believe that Scripture taught us to tithe, but now I see that the tithe was a system for the Jewish nation. They had a class of priests who were not allow to own any possessions. The Jews also had a sin problem. To deal with these two things, the Jews had to make a sacrifice and the priests ate that sacrifice. But Jesus was the final sacrifice and he summoned the Kingdom of Priests (us). It seems rather absurd to me to think that we need to continue the practice of tithing, when the problem of sin has been dealt with and since all believers are Priests.

14. I used to believe that fellowship happened by sitting next to others without any interaction, but now I believe that fellowship happens when we consider one-anothers needs, when we encourage one-another, when we teach one-another, etc. Fellowship is not running around pews for 30 seconds trying to shake as many hands as possible. Fellowship is much deeper and much more meaningful.

15. I used to believe that going to seminary made me a better Christian, but now I believe that going to seminary only made me more knowledgeable (and not necessarily about the ways of Christ). I am very grateful for the education I received from The College at Southeastern. However, it did not make me a better Christian, it did not make me more important than the other Children of God. Although, before I went, I truly believed that it was important and required to be a good Christian. Since then, I have learned that God’s expectations are not often the same as man’s expectations.

So, I hope you enjoyed my two meme’s. If you would like to do your own, I would recommend combinding them into a “This I Used to Believe… This I Now Believe” format. If you decide to to this, then please post a link in my comments so that I may read them. I look forward to hearing from you.

Our local NPR station has a weekly segment called, This I Believe. This past Friday they had a different edition called. “This I Used To Believe.” This made me think about the things that I use to believe. So I’m going to try and start a meme! This is completely optional, I’m not going to tag anyone, but I would like it if you all wrote their own and asked their readers to write one (and so on). If you do write one, please let me know so I can read yours!

So, this is what I used to believe:

1. I used to believe it was my job to judge other people’s sins.
2. I used to believe that a pastor was a paid position.
3. I used to believe the SBC was the most Scriptural denomination.
4. I used to believe that women were not qualified to teach men.
5. I used to believe it was a sin to drink wine/alcohol.
6. I used to believe that God had called me to become a vocational pastor.
7. I used to believe that Christians go to Heaven when they die.
8. I used to believe that maturity came from going to all the church services.
9. I used to believe the Bible was inerrant and infallible.
10. I used to believe that the SBC believed that the Bible was inerrant and infallible.
11. I used to believe that worship meant singing a few songs about God.
12. I used to believe that people went to Hell because of their sins.
13. I used to believe that Scripture taught us to tithe.
14. I used to believe that fellowship happened by sitting next to others without any interaction.
15. I used to believe that going to seminary made me a better Christian.

Well these are 15 things that I used to believe. So please, if you’re reading this, I’d love to read some of the thing that you used to believe. Post them up on your blog and leave a link in my comments. I hope you enjoyed this list!

The other day I was talking with someone about church, priorities, friends, families, obligations, etc. As a Christian I know a lot of people who attend Church services on a regular basis. They are the type of Christian the Pastor usually gloats about, the ones that are “there whenever the doors are open”. Basically what everyone thinks you should be doing to be a good Christian.

But what if “going to church” gets in the way of your priorities, your friends, your family, or your obligations? The person I was talking to said something like, “It’s almost like we put church before God.” Of course, what they meant was the act of going to services versus living a life of Worship.

The question is, are we denying the right things when we decide to go to a Church service on Sunday mornings? Perhaps instead of going to a Sunday morning church service, we should go to a food pantry or visit people in the hospital. Instead of going to choir practice, stay home and have relationship-building-fellowship with your neighbors.

I am by no means perfect at putting God first in my life but these are some things I have been thinking of lately.

Today a friend of mine sent me a link to Voddie Baucham’s blog post called “Call to Dunkirk“. The Call to Dunkirk is a call for all Christians to remove their children from public school and start homeschooling (or maybe private Christian schooling).

Here is the video:

The video starts by comparing the U.S. Education system to Nazi Germany (hence the Call to Dunkirk a battle in World War II). The absurdity does not end there, these are my two favorite quotes from this video:

If you ask me, we need to march some more, and the first place we need march is right out the front door of those Christ-dishonoring, academically inferior, soul-killing government indoctrination centers… – Voddie Bauchman

First, referring to public schools as “academically inferior” is opinion at best… many brilliant people have come out of the public school system. Second, referring to public schools as “soul-killing government indoctrination centers” is hardly Chirst-honoring. I went to public school, my soul has not be “killed”. In fact, I was saved while I was in college.

the scripture unambiguously teach that the education of children belongs to the family with the assistance from the church, not government, particularly at the K-12 level… – E. Ray Moore

Moore is completely off on this. The Scriptures do not “unambiguously teach” this doctrine. In fact, the Scriptures never even mention K-12!

If I were to judge, strictly by this video, I would say that these people have a bigger problem with trust in God and Scriptural inerrancy than they do with public school. To me, this video does not portray the Love of Christ. It instills fear into the watcher – which is not from Christ. It is also judgmental and absurd in its logic.

Please share with me your thoughts on this video, whether you agree or disagree. I am not against home-schooling at all. I am against this extremist position that purports lies and fear, instead of love and fairness.

Just my thoughts.

A long time ago I had a conversation with a close friend and pastor. We were discussing discipleship. Since then, I have encounter a number of people of who have been frustrated with their discipleship. One in particular, a pastor, has expressed deep frustration that his flock does not desire to follow. Thinking about all these issues and looking back at what Jesus did has really made me question what we call discipleship. Traditionally it seems like we spend much of our time, energy, and resources trying to make disciples out of people who do not really want to be disciples.

Consider these points:

• As far as we know, Jesus never tried to convince the Pharisees that he was their savior. He merely told them the truth and let them decide. When they rejected Jesus, he pointed out their hypocrisy.
• When people came to Jesus asking to follow him, he told them how hard it would be. Some of them left and he didn’t try to get them back. In fact, he expected them to leave and used it as a lesson.
• Nicodemus followed Jesus. He recognized Jesus by the life that Jesus lived, not because Jesus asked Nicodemus to join him or any sort of “cause”.
• Jesus never had any official discipleship programs, he spent a lot of time talking to potential disciples, walking with potential disciples, eating with potential disciples, and teaching potential disciples. Some of them continued to do these things with Jesus.
  

So what are we producing, if not disciples? Judging from many things I have seen and read over the past couple years, it seems like we a producing angry people. Angry because they feel like they’ve been deceived. Some of them have been promised a changed life, but instead were taught Christian doctrines and precepts. We’ve produced Apathetic people. Apathetic to the gospel, to the Church, and even to Jesus. We’ve produced people with false-security. These people went to all the classes, they attended all the services, and followed all the rules, little do they know that these actions won’t save them. There are probably other types of people that we have produced but I think Jesus had a phrase that best sums up these false-disciples, “White Washed Tombs”. On the outside, they look brilliant, pure, and white… but on the inside, they are filled with death.

Who are our disciples? Our disciples are the people who truly follow us… and hopefully watch us truly follow Jesus. Jesus did not force people to follow him, he did not even try to prevent people from leaving him, his disciples were those who recognized him as savior and could do nothing but follow. Basically, Jesus shared his life with everyone, those who shared it back were his disciples.