Mind Boggling Arguments
I am starting to believe that we need to spend some time teaching some logic skills in our churches. What has brought this thought to my mind? I guess it is the number of people who continue to make confusing decisions and choices that are just mind boggling to me. Today I heard that one of our Family Bible Study classes plans to do a study by Max Lucado. Now, there is nothing wrong with that in and of itself. The problem is that this same class has been upset about our current church wide study because many believe it is based on the teachings of Rick Warren. When I hear this, I have to shake my head to try and make some sense out of their reasoning.
You see, Rick Warren is a Southern Baptist pastor. Our church is Southern Baptist. Max Lucado is a Church of Christ pastor. Rick Warren teaches solid Southern Baptist principles. Max Lucado teaches solid Church of Christ principles. Again, nothing is wrong with Max Lucado or his denomination. After all, the Church of Christ came about as a split from the Baptist many years ago. But why would a Southern Baptist Bible study class prefer Max Lucados' teachings over those of another Southern Baptist pastor?
I am convinced that many Baptists have simply believed the falsities that have been spread about Rick Warren. Many people do not like the fact that Rick is a very successful pastor. His church (Saddleback) has over 20,000 attenders each week. Satan continues to attack him and his members because Satan hates to see God's people succeed. But what has Rick done to anger fellow Southern Baptists? He preaches that his members should welcome sinners into the church. He teaches how the church should be focused on five Biblical prinicples. His ministry statement focuses on three aspects of Christianity (worship, ministry and missions). None of this is stuff that Rick made up. It is all Biblical. Rick explains in his first book that he took what First Baptist Dallas did under the direction of Dr. Criswell for more than 50 years and found a way to structure it to meet the needs of the high tech neighborhood around Saddleback.
Our church has chosen to create our own program based on the same Biblical principles that Dr. Criswell taught and that Rick Warren teaches and that thousands of other Christ-centered churches teach. We chose to make our mission statement focus on the words "Celebrate," "Connect" and "Commit." This has led many to claim we are trying to be like Saddleback. While we are not trying to emulate Saddleback, why is that such a bad thing?
Today in worship I realized that a hymn written in 1969 (long before Rick Warren was preaching) used the basic principles that we are now teaching our church. What hymn? "To Worship, Work, and Witness" written by Henry Lyle Lambdin (number 389 in the 1991 Baptist Hymnal). Now, how could Henry Lambdin have come up with this all on his own without hearing Rick Warren preach? How is it possible that he came up with the same idea without Saddleback exisiting? Could it be that Henry and Rick read the same book? These ideas are not their own, for they come from the Word of God. Whether your church focuses on "worship, work and witness" or "celebrate, connect and commit" or whatever, we must all learn to recognize the truth from God's Word and not attack our own who are doing a good work. Many Christians desperately need to try using logic to understand how Satan is using them to attack God's servants and leaders.
You see, Rick Warren is a Southern Baptist pastor. Our church is Southern Baptist. Max Lucado is a Church of Christ pastor. Rick Warren teaches solid Southern Baptist principles. Max Lucado teaches solid Church of Christ principles. Again, nothing is wrong with Max Lucado or his denomination. After all, the Church of Christ came about as a split from the Baptist many years ago. But why would a Southern Baptist Bible study class prefer Max Lucados' teachings over those of another Southern Baptist pastor?
I am convinced that many Baptists have simply believed the falsities that have been spread about Rick Warren. Many people do not like the fact that Rick is a very successful pastor. His church (Saddleback) has over 20,000 attenders each week. Satan continues to attack him and his members because Satan hates to see God's people succeed. But what has Rick done to anger fellow Southern Baptists? He preaches that his members should welcome sinners into the church. He teaches how the church should be focused on five Biblical prinicples. His ministry statement focuses on three aspects of Christianity (worship, ministry and missions). None of this is stuff that Rick made up. It is all Biblical. Rick explains in his first book that he took what First Baptist Dallas did under the direction of Dr. Criswell for more than 50 years and found a way to structure it to meet the needs of the high tech neighborhood around Saddleback.
Our church has chosen to create our own program based on the same Biblical principles that Dr. Criswell taught and that Rick Warren teaches and that thousands of other Christ-centered churches teach. We chose to make our mission statement focus on the words "Celebrate," "Connect" and "Commit." This has led many to claim we are trying to be like Saddleback. While we are not trying to emulate Saddleback, why is that such a bad thing?
Today in worship I realized that a hymn written in 1969 (long before Rick Warren was preaching) used the basic principles that we are now teaching our church. What hymn? "To Worship, Work, and Witness" written by Henry Lyle Lambdin (number 389 in the 1991 Baptist Hymnal). Now, how could Henry Lambdin have come up with this all on his own without hearing Rick Warren preach? How is it possible that he came up with the same idea without Saddleback exisiting? Could it be that Henry and Rick read the same book? These ideas are not their own, for they come from the Word of God. Whether your church focuses on "worship, work and witness" or "celebrate, connect and commit" or whatever, we must all learn to recognize the truth from God's Word and not attack our own who are doing a good work. Many Christians desperately need to try using logic to understand how Satan is using them to attack God's servants and leaders.
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