As a child I frequently heard dispensationalist terms like premillennial, postmillennial and amillennial. I witnessed adults searching scripture to decide which eschatological stripe they should embrace as their own. The Bible was their final authority.
In my young adulthood, seeker churches made their appearance. The Bible’s definition of the church as the collective body of Christ seemed to be set aside for the greater good of growing the body of Christ.
To satisfy the new priority of making non-believers feel at home in church, worship styles and music became the next great debate. This was labelled an issue of taste rather than substance.
Along the way, churches became accustomed to making decisions without searching scripture. In our market-driven culture, church choices are made on the basis of effectiveness and appeal.
Current issues concern theology, what we believe about God. God is love; we count on it. Does God’s love preclude judgement? Dare we name sin? Are we ok just the way we are? Are people naturally good? Are all people automatically the children of God or must one acknowledge need for Jesus’ atonement to become God’s child? Does God have a moral standard for his children? Can we update the name “Father” for God?
Discussions cite trends and cultural norms. I’ve heard that the Bible is too old to be relevant and too complicated to understand. We are content to be told what God is like by pastors and current books. We experiment with other approaches to spirituality to find God. We eagerly accept disarming interpretations for prickly scripture passages. Wouldn’t it be wiser for us to explore God’s own word ourselves? Last winter I had the privilege of teaching Bible Orientation to adults. The class frequently was punctuated by exclamations of surprise. Who knew that minor prophets describe us and even address financial struggles? The Bible “is useful to teach us what is true” (2 Timothy 3:16 NLT). Let’s read it!
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