Decision or
Delightful Duty
Mega
church pastor Steven Furtick says he's setting "strategic goals in the
areas of attendance, salvation decisions, (and) baptisms.”. That's what Steven
reports on another post in which he shares how God told him that "100
people would give their lives to Jesus" , and before he preached a sex
sermon God told him that "50 people would be saved.
A
staffer at one church talks about their goal of saving "hundreds"
over the upcoming year.
Another
church, on the verge of their upcoming iPod sermon series, says that the 200
people that recently got saved are just the tip of the iceberg this year. How
do they know that? What if God decides to melt that iceberg?
At
Granger Community Church, where church-goers were once asked to make salvation
decisions by coming forward and signing a Davinci painting, 600 were said to
have "decided to follow Christ" this time, but they don't mention
anything about God's role in those salvations.
The
Cool Church mission’s blog points out that 300 made decisions when "Pastor
George spoke". Elsewhere, Pastor Greg talks about 1600 people who got
saved in jail, and makes a special point of mentioning that "I led over
130 to the Lord myself".
A
nursing home evangelist says that he resists boasting about 'decisions' but,
you guessed it, he ends up doing it anyway. Not only that but, he lets you know
that the decisions occurred "due to our ministry".
Another
church says 50 kids decided to let "Jesus be the boss of their life"
through their VBS.
Here's
a pastor that says in ALL CAPS that 6 people made "REAL decisions.” But
just saying they are REAL doesn't demonstrate that they really are[1]
These wild statements,
comments, and “promises” are not restricted to the fringe, or the Emerging
Church, or to mega churches. You find this same kind of mentality right at home
in our own evangelical/fundamental bible, community or Baptist churches. The
average church today bases the eternal security of its membership on a decision
that was made on a certain date.
The Apostle John wrote his
first letter with a distinct purpose of providing “proof” or assurance of
salvation in his readers. He never mentioned “decisions” or “dates” as the
means of obtaining or maintain assurance. The whole body of his letter deals
with the grounds of Christian assurance of salvation. He writes that the
grounds of assurance are found in:
- Defining and Describing true fellowship with God through the Son
- Discerning the truth from error in various conflicts of our faith
- Demonstrating true God-like love for both God and the children of God
- Determining our son-ship, or true Christian faith by the witness of the Holy Spirit
John wrote some pretty deep
and “heavy” things about these topics. He pulled no punches and minced no
words. He was clear and direct as he spoke of the evidence of salvation. There
was no “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” for John. Salvation
was free and it was a gift. Salvation was received by faith. But true salvation
was not guaranteed by a decision but by delightful duty as one worked out one’s
salvation in works in fear and trembling.
How did we get here? Where
did this hellish and demonic idea of decisional regeneration develop? Before we
look at the evidences given by John for the assurance of salvation, let’s
answer this question.
To be continued…
[1] Cited
from “Philosophy of Joel” weblog, dated August 26, 2007 entitled Man Saves Man and Decisions are the Plan
2 comments:
The quotations remind me of a lecture that David Calhoun gave on the Second Great Awakening. In the lecture, Calhoun quoted Finney as saying that there was a scientific method for making converts to Christianity that was as effective and certain as modern agricultural methods for growing wheat. Finney said that all you need to produce wheat is good grain, soil, and water, and that a competent Christian minister could produce Christians from non-believers just as easily.
I am disturbed by Finney's comments, and it seems that the pastors you quote have bought into Finney's mentality. I greatly admire the zeal of these Christians, and I am sure that they love Christ. They are also to be congratulated for preaching the gospel. However, it seems to me that the doctrines of grace and God's sovereignty have been lost here. Reform-minded Christians need to do a much better job of preaching the doctrine of justification by faith alone through grace alone. This doctrine was taught by Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and many Baptists. It is also taught by the Bible. Furthermore, this doctrine is God's answer to Finney and his modern heirs.
This doctrine can be difficult to understand, and it can also be hard to accept. It can make it seem like we have no control over our own faith, and that this is somehow unjust. We need to instruct these Christians gently and lovingly. We need to point out that it is not the doctrines of grace and sovereignty, but rather their denials, that are unjust. If God is not entirely in control of our faith, then someone can fail to have faith, and so be divorced from God, as a result of not having been blessed with a good pastor, or a good small group. And that certainly seems unfair. But, if God is in control of our faith, then we can trust that God will distribute faith in a way that is perfectly just, for God is perfectly just. So much to say! Sorry for rambling.
Just one more thing - let's engage these Christians as our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Another late night for me commenting tonight, Loved the write Gregg, Thanks for the visit and comment.
Have a good day/night.
Yvonne.
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