Isn’t it time that we call out the culture and media on the spiritual untruths that flourish? Jesus was manly and not a wimpy meek and mild wuss.
To be called “wimpy” is no compliment. It means “a weak, ineffectual or insipid person.” Here of late I noted a couple pastors using the term — about other pastors or other Christians.
James Garlow, of Skyline Church in California, in our February CE Interview, accused other pastors of “spineless wimpish-ness” when it comes to some aspects of this country’s political life. In a chapter in his Outrageous Truth…7 Absolutes You Can Still Believe, Robert Jeffress of FBCDallas, devotes a chapter to “Wimp-Free Christianity,” saying “I’m sick and tired of wimpy Christians …and they’re all around us.”
It does seem that many pastors are afraid to call out people on biblical untruths. They want to be nice and inoffensive. Where are those with the courage of their convictions in this world where more often we “wimp-out”?
In my business I see a fair amount of dubious scholarship. There was one new book (I don’t wish to give it publicity) that the release says “presents a new perspective on traditional religious teachings, turning away from the dualism that creates separation, guilt, shame and fear and turning instead toward the principle of Oneness or non-dualism.” Huh?
I asked two men with doctorates in theology what they thought the book was about. Said the first one:
“I’m not sure what this is but I can assure you that it isn’t Christian. I suspect that this is one of those New Age religions that are trying to use traditional Christian terms in order to get Christians interested in buying their book. What they end up doing is distorting the Christian faith to the point that it is unrecognizable. I think this is exactly the type of ‘spirituality’ that people like Tim Keller and John Piper, of whom I’m a big fan, are trying to warn everyone about.”
The second theologian was less polite. Certainly not wimpy: “WOW, what a bunch of … ” he started out. “At first glance there appears to be a rejection of the biblical revelation but rather just a collection of wisdom writing. I also get the feeling that there is no real Jesus but a symbol of what we could be like. It is another attempt in my thinking to steer people away from the truth to what appears to have some truth and some sense into nonsense.
Without a doubt it is a blending of Christianity with Buddhism and a couple other isms. Finally this ‘higher consciousness,’ saving the world, lets the cat out of the bag that Jesus is not the only ‘way, truth and life.’”
The other week CNN’s Piers Morgan put the question directly to Lakewood Church’s Joel Osteen, “Is homosexuality a sin?,” and to Osteen’s credit, he didn’t duck. Osteen had this to say: “Yes, I’ve always believed, Piers, the Scripture shows that it’s a sin.” There goes the gay vote for Osteen, but no Pastor Wimpy here.
Another theme that gets up the hackles of many is the question, “Is there a Christian nation?” Robert Hull is professor emeritus of New Testament at Emmanuel School of Religion in Johnson City, TN, and wrote a thoughtful piece on it, saying at the end: “Many Christians are dismayed at the loss of vital cultural and moral standards in the U.S., and are tired of the open mocking of Christian teachings often heard in the mass media. So am I. The separation of church and state does not mean the silencing of moral and religious convictions in the public square, even in politics.
“We Christians – in high places and low – should earnestly do all within our power to commend the Gospel and the Christian way in hopes that those who see and hear us will also become believers, but not so that America will become (or ‘again’ become) a Christian nation.”
You can argue with his conclusion, but not with his conviction. The church at large is pushed left and right, up and down, by the culture and media, and we say, more often than not, nothing. One writer says we are “culpable for our cultural corruption” in our silence. A lot of the blame, Doug Giles says, is on “the limp-wrist Christian media.”
“Yep,” Giles says, “I condemn Christian TV, Christian radio stations and Christian publishers that have the power and the audience to pump truth to the masses but have instead chosen to peddle spiritual candy rather than the unvarnished verities that the church and our nation need.” Ouch!
COMMENTS? RON@CHURCHEXECUTIVE.COM
