Statutes of Liberty

"...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." - 2 Corinthians 3:17

One of the more controversial elephants in the auditorium centers on the subject of Christian liberty. Obviously the bible speaks about this in many places in the New Testament. Just look up the word "liberty" or "freedom" and see what God says on the subject. Contrary to the opinion of many true believers, the Bible is not a book of divine rules and regulations designed to rob mankind of their "fun".

Yes, there are codes of conduct for the believer. God doesn't tell us to avoid sexual misconduct (for example) because he's a prude or a fuddy-duddy. He has reasons for his "rules". His reasons are simple; He wants to keep us from destroying ourselves emotionally, spiritually and physically. That said, the reaction many people have toward those who engage in activities that are in direct opposition to these codes of conduct is usually to condemn. I'll give you an example.

In my second pastorate we lived in the parsonage next door to the church. Late one evening a middle-aged fellow showed up at my door asking for the pastor. At the time I was quite young (28 years old or so) and he was shocked to see such a young man in the position. He proceeded to tell me about his past which included homosexuality. I could tell he was nervous confessing his past to me and by his own admission expected me to dismiss him as a "sinner". His point to sharing all of this was his desire to find a church home that would not judge him for his past sins and welcome him with open arms into the beloved fellowship of Jesus Christ.

He informed me of several pastors he had visited with prior to our meeting and the reception was less than warm once he got to the homosexuality part of his tale. So, he was surprised when I responded to his confession with a simple question. I asked him if he was still involved with that lifestyle to which he answered "no". With that I informed him that he was more than welcome in our church and as far as I was concerned his confessed sins were no worse than the sins of anyone else in the church, including my own.

He joined our church and became an important part of the family there. Of course, not everyone in the church was eager to welcome him once his past was made known (over time; I didn't just get up and read his mail to the congregation). Homosexuality carries a certain stigma that is difficult for many believers in Christ to get around. But, I believe that particular sin is no different than any other sin; sin is sin after all. More importantly, what is past is past and God is not in the business of punishing us for our past sins. He's in the business of forgiving, forgetting and granting us freedom from sin.

Unfortunately, many of God's people aren't tuned into this particular thought process. As we have already explored on the program and in this blog there is a great deal of unjust judgment attached to Christianity and the damage done by this attitude is literally incalculable.

I believe very strongly in the freedom afforded us by Jesus Christ. Let's be clear though. God doesn't give us liberty to sin (Romans 6:15). Just because we're saved and on our way to heaven doesn't give any of us a blank check to go into "the world" and go crazy. God's codes of conduct have multiple reasons not the least of which is to protect our representative testimony to the world. As a representative of the Kingdom of God it isn't good form to get wasted on Saturday night and go to church on Sunday. That's not liberty.

No, the liberty God offers has more to do with our relationship with Him. Far too many evangelical Christians have strict rules attached to their ministries that actually places followers of Christ into bondage. As Paul wrote to the Romans, the Galatians and practically anyone who would listen to him, we are no longer under law but are instead under grace. Dress codes, ministry methods, musical restrictions and many other man-made rules have no place in the church. Sadly, many of God's people cannot see the difference between God's code of conduct and man's attempt to regulate those codes. The legalism produced by this man-made regulation often surpasses that of the Pharisees and Saduccees of Jesus' day.

We're going to be tackling the issue of Christian liberty on this week's show (barring another Baylor football preemption). I hope you'll tune in and participate in the discussion.

Until then, stay tuned true believers...

HERE COMES THE JUDGE!

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." - Matthew 7:1-2

I don't believe there is anything more damaging to the body of Christ than the social plague of ungodly judgmentalism masquerading as spiritual discernment and warfare for doctrinal purity. After a lifetime of church attendance and 20 years of full-time pastoral ministry I can tell you there is nothing more destructive than a judgmental Christian on the warpath. God help anyone who falls into the cross-hairs of one or (God forbid) a group of self-appointed judges.

I have witnessed the persecution and near-crucifixion of many true believers of Jesus Christ simply because their philosophy, doctrinal beliefs and/or methods of ministry did not line up with the orthodoxy of the mainstream Christian methodology. The primary reason for the denominational divide that exists within Christianity is due to the judgmental reactions of those who believe their interpretation of scriptures is flawless. Many believers listen to a sermon, not like a hungry sheep ready to feast on the mana from heaven, but like a movie critic waiting to see if there's anything said by the speaker that can and will be used against them in a court of public opinion.

Ungodly judgment is a difficult thing to self-diagnose because the root of this malady is pride. It's tough to identify pride in ourselves; so much easier to pinpoint that flaw in someone else. That's why Jesus' instruction on ungodly judgment in Matthew 7 concludes with the famous beam and mote analogy. Unfortunately, this teaching is generally ignored in favor of the more popular Jude 3 clause wherein we are commanded to "earnestly contend for the faith". It is so much more fulfilling to attack those whom we perceive to be in error than to do any self-introspection to see if there be any wicked way in me (Psalm 129:34).

There are legions of saints who profess their love of Christ yet have somehow missed the point of some of his most basic teachings. The core of Jesus' teachings is unconditional love for each other in spite of our class, color or creed. As believers in Jesus Christ we are all equal in God's sight (Galatians 3:28) yet to hear many believers of Christ tell it, we're only equal if we agree on every jot, dot and tittle of the Word of God as well as the methods and practices of our denomination of choice. This belief system is what divides us and it is absolute man-made garbage of the highest order.

I asked the question in my last blog and radio program concerning Joel Osteen. I started the radio show with the leading question "Is Joel Osteen a heretic?" We got more callers in that 90 minute program than any show we've done to date. I definitely opened a can of worms with that topic and I got a whole host of answers to that question.

The point of asking that question was not to crucify Bro. Joel nor to give people airtime to roast a popular televangelist. It was to shine the spotlight on this epidemic of judgmentalism. I'll tell you the truth, God is not a fan of opinionated people who base their judgments on emotion or intellect rather than the leading of the Holy Spirit.

You see, there is a GODLY form of judgment that God's people are commanded to utilize. (1 Corinthians 6:1-5) This form of judgment is founded not on man's understanding of scriptures or uncontrolled emotions but on the wisdom of God. Peter did not judge Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 based on his own intellect or wisdom but on the leading of the Holy Spirit. I fear there are far too few truly Holy Spirit filled judges running the asylums and they are running people out of the church in droves.

God's people need to learn the difference between godly and ungodly judgment. We need to pay more attention to the instructions of Christ and his followers about unconditional love and unity of the brethren. We need to understand who our real enemy is and stop sniping at each other from our denominational towers. The real target for our weapons of warfare are not carnal, but spiritual and most of those weapons are designed for our personal battles with our true enemy, not to use on each other.

The final thought I want to leave you with is to simply say it is not your job to separate the goats and sheep. That's God's job. Learn your role in His kingdom and stop trying to do God's job for him. Jesus' disciples had to learn that one as well. (Luke 9:49-50). God is the only one with the authority to separate the tares from the wheat; not you or I. If we would focus more on keeping the beams and motes out of our own eyes I believe we'd have less division, less denominations and less people leaving the Body of Christ due to the thoughtlessness of others.

I can hear the arguments already. What about the TRUTH?!? There are false prophets who need to be identified and run out. I repeat, where are the scriptures instructing any of us to be the vehicles of a false prophet's departure? God told us to identify them and stay away from them, not to be the judge, jury and executioner of the Kingdom of God. God knows how to handle those who are intentionally and deliberately twisting his word for their own gain. He's a big God and can handle that problem without our help.

We are to speak the truth in love; not with the love of being right but the love of the saints. We are to love one another MORE than we love ourselves. We are to edify, strengthen and encourage one another as fellow believers in Jesus Christ, REGARDLESS of denominational affiliation or doctrinal belief system. That is the primary teaching of Jesus Christ and that is what I believe and teach.

We need less judges in our churches and more lovers. We see the product of judgmentalism in modern Christianity today. I wonder what the landscape would look like if we were to just love one another like Jesus does...

What Is A "Heretic"?

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. - 1 John 4:1


About a year ago I got into an interesting discussion with a brother over whether Joel Osteen was a heretic or not. This conversation came hot on the heels of his comments concerning Mormonism. He was being interviewed by Chris Wallace from Fox News when he was asked the question, "Is a Mormon a true Christian." Joel's response was, and I quote, "Well, in my mind they are. Mitt Romeny has said that he believes in Christ as his savior and that's what I believe so I'm not the one to judge the little details of it so I believe they are."

The brother I was talking to was adamantly calling Joel Osteen a heretic of the highest order. I asked him what actions had Joel undertaken to earn this label of "heretic". He responded with shock and dismay that I would even ask such a question. Clearly Joel was a heretic because his comments on Mormonism contradicted those of the clearly taught Word of God.

I asked him to define the word "heretic" for me. His definition, I am sure, is the same definition that many people have for this word. To most Bible-believing, church attending, evangelical, fundamentalist Christians a heretic is anyone who wrongly divides the Word of God and preaches something in error. In other words, every time someone stands behind the pulpit of any church in the world, they'd better have their doctrine and theology right or else they'll be branded a heretic.

Now, I don't disagree with the need for preachers to know their stuff; obviously that is a vital component of Bible preaching. But, if someone preaches or says in an interview something that doesn't jive with our understanding of scriptures does that automatically make them a "heretic"? To many church going Christians, the answer to that question is an overwhelming "YES!"

This line of reasoning is one of the foundational reasons for the division in our churches. I can remember the series of sermons preached by my pastors lining out all of the doctrinal differences between all of the "Christian" denominations and why everyone else was wrong except our particular brand of Christianity. I'm sure those same sermons were preached in other denominational churches branding our group as heretics too.

To listen to most church attendees, there are a lot of heretics running around this globe spreading their lies and half-truths and bringing ruin to the Body of Christ. I submit to you that the real cause of the division isn't due to all of these so-called heretics, like Mr. Osteen, but rather, and many people won't like this statement, the chief cause of the division in the church is the ungodly attitudes and scriptural ignorance of most church attendees...including pastors.

Allow me to define the word "heretic" for you. The word appears one time in the KJV in Titus 3:10 and is spelled "heretick". It comes from the greek word hairetikos and it means: schismatic, factious, a follower of a false doctrine.

Now, there are two words in that definition that we don't use anymore; "schismatic" and "factious". Both of these words mean essentially the same thing; divisive. The understanding of this Greek word was that a heretic was someone who knowingly and intentionally manipulated people as well as the scriptures in order to bring division and chaos to a (supposedly) unified body of believers. This speaks not only of the actions of the individual in question but also his motives. That is why we are instructed to "try the spirits" of the speaker in question rather than try them intellectually or even doctrinally. After all, what if your understanding of doctrine isn't flawless?

We live in an age of literally tens of thousands of denominations all claiming to believe in the same God and all reading from the same book. We are divided on so many levels that it is impossible to list them all. I've been to churches where the congregation was divided up in social cliques and the warfare between these factions (someone who creates factions would be called "factious" by the way) was obvious. What I am saying is there is much more to being a heretic than what most people are aware of.

I do not believe Joel Osteen to be a heretic. I don't see him as a harbinger of deceit and division in the body of Christ. What I do see is a young minister who doesn't have all the answers who is caught up in the wind of his growing ministerial fame and who is adept at playing the political games that have infiltrated far too many of our churches. None of these flaws make him a "heretic"...they make him human. And as a human being Joel Osteen, like the rest of us, is subject to making mistakes.

His comments on Mormonism were wrong, plain and simple. Mormon doctrines are not the same as the doctrines of Jesus Christ. You don't have to be a theologian to see that; just read their book. Joel's comments displayed his ignorance of Mormonism's teachings but they don't make him a schismatic, factious follower of false doctrines. Now, if Joel got into his pulpit one Sunday and began teaching the doctrines of Joseph Smith then he would be guilty of heresy. Making mistaken or ignorant statements is regrettable and can cause some confusion and damage but how much more damage has been done by some of the brethren who rush to judgment based on little study, even less prayer and no godly wisdom. How much division has been caused by the ignorant and judgmental among us?

Are there false prophets and heretics among us? Absolutely. How does one discern who is a heretic and who is simply mistaken? 1 John 4:1 gives us some instruction on this. We need wise men and women of God who understand the principles of "trying the spirits" instead of self-taught armchair theologians who have just enough Bible knowledge to be dangerous. Most of all, we must be careful who we play the heretic card on. I know I've made mistakes and preached things out of ignorance that I later found to be untrue. That is part of the process of growing up in Christ; we all make mistakes.

Making mistakes doesn't make any of us heretics; it just makes us wrong. People who are in error don't need snap judgments and ostracizing labels. They need loving correction. Joel Osteen, by his profession of faith, is a brother of mine. If I hear him say something in error my first response is to pray for him to receive some loving correction. That's what we all need and I am thankful that we have a God who is the master of lovingly correcting us...

...because we all make mistakes.