The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
December 13, 2009
In
This Issue:
Suit
Yourself OR Believe the Bible
by
Steve Klein
The
Door of Hope
by
Randy Harshbarger
Suit Yourself OR Believe the Bible
We've been saying for some time that many of our religious neighbors treat religion like an all-you-can-eat buffet. They take a lot of what they like and leave the rest. A report released this past week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life confirms this assessment. Many religious Americans are like diners piling their plates with Italian pasta, Mexican burritos and Chinese egg rolls and then having American apple pie for dessert; they mix and match religious beliefs to suit their own tastes. That may not be a bad approach when it comes to eating, but when it comes to religious beliefs it just will not work. It's bad enough when so-called Christians pick and choose just what they want from the Bible to suit themselves, but now many are picking and choosing from other religious sources as well.
Associated Press writer Eric Gorski summarized the Pew Forum report as follows:
"Though the U.S. is an overwhelmingly Christian country, significant minorities say they hold beliefs of the sort found at Buddhist temples or New Age bookstores. Twenty-four percent of those surveyed overall and 22 percent of Christians say they believe in reincarnation, the idea that people will be reborn in this world again and again. About 1 in 4 Americans believe in Eastern or New Age ideas, including reincarnation, which is part of Buddhism and Hinduism; yoga as a spiritual practice; spiritual energy in things like mountains, trees and crystals; and astrology. . . Roughly 3 in 10 Americans say they have felt in touch with someone who has died - up from 18 percent in 1996."
D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion, said the results illustrate what he calls the "playlist effect" in contemporary American religious practice. "The way we personalize our iPhones, we also personalize our religious lives," he said.
Gorski cites Maryann Bogus, age 59, of Kingsport, Tennessee, as typical of many suit-yourself-believers. She was a participant in the Pew Forum survey, attends an evangelical church, and believes in reincarnation even though her church teaches otherwise. "My daddy told me that a long time ago, and it stuck with me because he believed it, too," she said. Her belief in astrology and spirituality in nature and yoga are things she picked up from "watching TV and listening," she said. She also said that she does not see any conflict with her Christianity.
So, here's a woman who claims to be a Christian. Her beliefs about life after death come from her father and her beliefs about astrology and yoga come from watching TV. We suppose that the reason she sees no conflict with her Christianity is either because she's ignorant of what the Bible teaches on these subjects or because she's just chosen to ignore what the Bible says in favor of something that is more palatable to her. It certainly reminds us of Paul's prophecy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."
To be clear, the Bible teaches that reincarnation is false. The statement in Hebrews 9:27 that "it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" cannot be reconciled with reincarnation. In fact, all that the Bible has to say concerning life, death, judgment and eternity contradicts the notion that an individual lives many lifetimes on this earth. A person can choose to believe in reincarnation, but if they do, they do not believe the Bible.
Similarly, a person can choose to believe that there is spiritual power in the stars, the mountains or the trees, and they may even choose to consult or have spiritual communion with such while claiming to serve the Lord, but the Bible plainly condemns these practices. The Lord is against "Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops" who also "worship and swear oaths by the LORD" (Zephaniah 1:5).
It may be that television shows like The Ghost Whisperer or Medium lead one to believe that the answers to life's mysteries can and should be found by contacting the dead, but if you believe that you don't believe the Bible. "And when they say to you 'Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' Should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19).
Our problem today with suit-yourself religion is not much different from the problem in Israel in Jeremiah's day. The Lord described it this way: ". . . for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me" (Jeremiah 16:12). In every aspect of our spiritual lives, we can choose to suit ourselves or we can choose to listen to God. We can't choose both.
-- Steve Klein
"And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope..." (Hosea 2:5). The story of Hosea is a sad one. It is a story of sin and apostasy. Hosea, the prophet of God, married a woman by the name of Gomer. In doing so, Hosea was obey-ing a commandment of the Lord. They had two sons and a daughter. Their names were special and provided lessons for the people of God. They were children of whoredom and Gomer was a daughter of the age. She had been influenced by the idolatry and immorality around her. It is out of this beginning that a story so shocking and horrifying was told by Hosea.
Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea. While sad, that story was not uncommon in an age of adultery and fornication. The Lord told Hosea to take Gomer back; in doing so, he paid 15 pieces of silver for her. This was half-price for a slave. Hosea in effect, rescued Gomer from the auction block. Through this experience with Gomer, Hosea learned a lesson about God and His love for the apostate children of Israel. Through his own tear dimmed eyes, and with a broken heart, Hosea could then call Israel back from sin and ruin.
God suffers when His people are unfaith-ful. God does not delight in those who die in sin. All of earth's sorrows are upon the heart of God. Jesus Christ understands when we hurt (Hebrews 4:14-16). Since God is love (1 John 4:7-8, 16), He suffers when His "loved ones" suffer. God has chosen to love man and, when we sin, His heart is broken. Jesus wept for the people of Jerusalem (Matthew 23:28). Sin brings agony to the heart of God. He suffered because of what sin does to us.
Sin also defeats the purpose of God's love. Sin spoils, stains, and blinds man as he turns from God. If God could deal lightly with sin, He would not be God. To sin is to turn from what God desires of us as His children. When we sin, we must repent. To refuse is to say in effect that we do not care about God's efforts to save us.
God loves the sinner in spite of the sinner's sin. God hates sin, but it is in love that He appeals to each one. Thank God for His loving kindness. In spite of Israel's sin, God still loved her.
The Lord wants us to be restored to Him. The ninety and nine are safe, but where is the one who is lost? God makes no compromise with sin. He longs for the sinner's return. God so loved to make it possible for one to be free of sin and as its condemning consequences. How hard it must have been for Hosea to take Gomer back. God loves us, but hates our sin!
Sin has no door of hope. Only the Lord can provide the way of salvation. Will we take it?
-- Randy Harshbarger
Via Power Talk. Lexington, Kentucky