Hi! My Name is _____, and I’m a non-believing Pastor!?!
Posted on 30. Mar, 2010 by markdoebler in Faith
I have addressed the growing disconnect in America between the label of Christianity and the practice of Christianity. They are NOT one and the same. Roughly 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ, upon whom the Christian faith is built, began this week with cheering crowds and finished the week with jeering crowds that demanded his crucifixion. But as the old saying goes…. YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN! Jesus Christ rose from the grave on that Easter morning and set the Christian faith apart from every other. Christianity has a RISEN, LIVING SAVIOR….not a dead founder.
Those early Christians were literally taking their lives into their own hands to become a Christ-follower. To be identified as a Christ-follower, a Christian, could cost them their very lives. It was a label not to be taken lightly. To become a Christian meant believing something enough to die for it.
Apparently, we’ve come a long way from those early days and that definition.
There is a new book out about PASTORS who no longer believe the faith. I read about it in this article. According to the author of the book, Daniel Dennett, an atheist himself, there should be a new interpretation of theological liberalism because:
“many modern people claim to be Christians while holding to virtually no specific theological content. Dennett suggests that their mode of faith should not be described as “belief,” but rather as “believing in belief.”
Based on the research of this book, this theology of “believing in belief” rather than a true faith is beginning to permeate the pastorate. Several pastors were interviewed regarding their lack of belief. Each minister admitted they no longer truly believe, yet they continue to minister. One, a Presbyterian minister summed up his position this way:
“I reject the virgin birth. I reject substitutionary atonement. I reject the divinity of Jesus. I reject heaven and hell in the traditional sense, and I am not alone.”
WOW!!! How and why would you even call yourself a Christian minister? This flies in the face of everything that IS Christian. The guy has no business being in a pulpit or ministry. However, just as troubling, I find it incredibly difficult to comprehend, or even believe, that a congregation cannot sense the complete disconnect from what their minister is saying and what he believes. It would seem to me that a congregation in this situation has decided to accept a watered-down version of faith (or in this case, a complete lack of faith) from their minister. This is a growing and deeply troubling trend within many churches across America…. easy, non-committal faith. As I contemplate Easter and the teachings of Jesus, nothing could be further from the example he has given us and called us to.
The writer of the linked article comes to this conclusion:
“In other words, some theologians and denominations have embraced a theology so fluid and indeterminate that even an atheist cannot tell the believers and unbelievers apart.”
In a week where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and become deeply aware of his sufferings on our behalf, my heart is heavy that Christianity is becoming for many people nothing more than a job, or a convenient way to make a few connections. Where are the Christians who truly want to lift the name and the banner of Jesus Christ? Is it even possible to reclaim the depth and true meaning of the word or is it a lost cause?
Related articles by Zemanta
- Rejecting Falsehood (new.exchristian.net)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4a3efc3a-38fc-453f-8348-f76868c070b1)
The problem is that we live with 3 levels of conviction. Our personal convictions, our heart convictions, and our core convictions. The personal conviction is what we do with what we believe. The issue here is that 4 people can profess to follow Christ yet each of their lives looks, and acts in direct opposotion to each others. The heart conviction is how we carry what we believe. But the heart is fickle and easily rocked. Core conviction's is what we believe so deeply that we act on it without thinking.
Jesus was the only one to live a intentionally congruous life in all His convictions. Pastors who stand on shaky ground by buying and selling parts of the Gospel for whatever reason, fail in developing Christ as a core conviction for those they shepherd. Good thoughts, and a challenging message that Pastor's need to think about. MacArthur has been beating this drum for sometime, unfortunately the charisma of Bell, Driscoll, and other emergent's drown out his vital voice of discernment.
I really like the breakdown you give of levels of conviction. I think to a large degree, that helps explain the "believing in belief" the author of the book suggested. But as Rick Warren has stated, it's not a belief unless we act on it…. true belief REQUIRES action. We are becoming a faith movement that likes the IDEA of Christianity but not the truth and the meat of it.
This also reminds me how much more intentional we have to become about explaining our terms. Definitions get diluted and changed at a rapid pace and to call ourselves "Christian" no longer holds its historic meaning.
As you, I am deeply concerned with charismatic ministers who seem to be diluting the faith even further. A faith without core convictions can't stand the storms of life.
So true Mark…..recently I was talking with a local Pastor who pulled out the new age argument of, "what is truth?"….. I was floored, and heartbroken because as a shepherd you must know and be able to discern truth.
LOVE what you guys are doing – and how God is working in your lives…Tammy and Amy have great things to say about the 2cc community.
Jason… your last comment got stuck in spam… don't know why. Anyway… I'm just catching this. I'm a little surprised to hear about the "what is truth" comment from another pastor… but I guess I shouldn't be. There are enough so-called "Christian" leaders going in that direction that they have cover.
Did you get a chance to read this article about this very problem? http://markdoebler.com/?p=1893
So true Mark…..recently I was talking with a local Pastor who pulled out the new age argument of, “what is truth?”….. I was floored, and heartbroken because as a shepherd you must know and be able to discern truth.
LOVE what you guys are doing – and how God is working in your lives…Tammy and Amy have great things to say about the 2cc community.