Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

31 October, 2006   comments: (0) Postmodernism   Is "Deeds Without Creeds" on The Ballot? - Part 1 Voting month is upon us here in America once again, and although I won't be covering politics on Old Truth, I will be running a series of weekly attack ads against a pseudo-Christianity that emphasizes deeds without doctrine. With greater unity as the aim, many church leaders today are campaigning against the incumbent Christianity which understood Christian living to be based on biblical truth. Each Tuesday of this month, we'll be examining the nonsensical notion of a referendum vote for "religion without theology", "good works without head knowledge", and "action divorced from truth". The referendum isn't real, but then again - either is the assumed freedom to separate these things from one another. Stumping against this campaign, Michael Horton today explains how this thinking is already a hanging chad in church history. A Google search of one of the most popular Emerging Church websites uncovers numerous pages discussing the need to be socially proactive in the worldwide AIDS crisis and in fighting hunger abroad. That same website compares the contemporary use of "dogmas and creeds" to putting an old patch on a new wineskin. The site speaks of creeds as being something belonging to dead religion. If you've followed the social activist and U2 rock star Bono in the news, you've likely noticed similar sentiments. It's a message that sounds Christian enough, being delivered by a pop-icon. That may explain why Bill Hybels invited Bono to speak at his church's leadership summit. In his introduction to a recent White Horse Inn program, Michael Horton addressed "The New Reformation of Deeds Rather Than Creeds" campaign that is being promoted through Rick Warren's P.E.A.C.E. plan: In our day there is a lot of attention given to deeds over creeds. In a recent article in the Orange Country Register we read this: The Saddleback church's pastor has a P.E.A.C.E. plan which aims to propel a second reformation of works, not words, for his changing Christian church. He is famous (some say infamous) for retiring the fire and brimstone formality of his Southern Baptist forefathers. In it's place he pioneered a sunny laid back California relatability, transforming church from an old fashioned penance into a contemporary celebration. Faith, he tells the crowd, springs from making manifest the Christian message of redemptive love; faith springs from works (essentially). ... He is here (we read on) to unveil the P.E.A.C.E. plan - his missionary movement to, if not save the world, then at least - reshape it. He calls it a new reformation in the church of God and a new church awakening in our world. The reporter goes on to say that in Warren's Christianity, past arguments over doctrine are subsumed by agreement on incontrovertible causes. The divisiveness of words, gives way to the unity of works. A number of years ago, I remember meeting with the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches. He told me that the old WCC slogan of "doctrine divides service unites" had proven unworkable after many decades. Actually he said it's the other way around; even when we reach agreement on the meaning of the Apostles Creed, unity falls apart when we talk about political, social, economic, and cultural causes. We know where the WCC has ended up, although it began as a trans-denominational evangelical missionary movement, which attempted to wed evangelicalism to social concerns. Despite it's good intentions, the assumption that continually makes evangelicalism a seedbed for liberalism is that doctrine is made secondary to life (Christian living). Today, evangelicalism is far less divided by doctrine (doctrine is generally treated with indifference) than by the particular ideology that cultural transformation should take. Hence, "deeds not creeds" has already been tried many times over and has simply lead to ungodly divisions and strife over secondary issues about cultural transformation. While church history and contemporary experience exhibits evidence of wrangles over doctrinal precision that do not lead to the peace and purity of the church and it's mission, the church has also demonstrated that it can find plenty of other things to fight about when it looks away from Christ. Over our next several Tuesdays, we'll go back in Church history even further, to hear how deeds not creeds campaigns have been around for a long time. In the end we'll discover that there is no way to separate doctrine from Christian living. So don't bother looking for a creedless-Christianity on the ballot, it's not a liberty that the bible gives us. If you find yourself in a church that thinks it's an option, it may be time for you to cast a vote of a different kind - by finding a church where the Word of God is central. Related Resources and Information: Listen to the rest of that White Horse Inn program (online / free) Read another article by Michael Horton on this topic. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks of the relevancy of doctrine to our lives Charles Spurgeon: Doctrinal errors lead to errors in practice Audio Clip: Love for Christ requires love for doctrinal truth Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.510   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism