Posted by
CCC5 on Sunday, October 29, 2006 11:01:52 PM
Providentially, some of the events that pointed to the great divide in the Christian faith today were addressed in our Reformation Sunday Service this morning.
First some background. Earlier this week, Hugh Hewitt interviwed Andrew Sullivan about his new book--a book that appears to contain some theology and presents quite a distaste for those of us who are orthodox and hold to the inspiration of Scripture. While Hugh was dogged in his questioning, he was never rude and was only trying to elicit information about Mr. Sullivans faith and background in order to put the content of the book in perspective.
Mr. Sullivan's responses can only be described as defensive, angry, and at times abusive. My reaction as I listened was mostly sadness, as the realization dawned that Mr. Sullivan, like millions of Americans and Western Europeans has tried to remake Christianity into a system that removes a just and Holy God from His rightful place--holding His creatures accountable for every sin we commit against Him.
Fast forward to our service this morning. If you can picture a conservative, Bible believing Lutheran Church singing A Mighty Fortress, Crown Him With Many Crowns, reading Luther's morning prayer and liturgically confessing sins and receiving forgiveness. Now the sermon. Over the sound system came the rancid voice of Bob Dylan singing The Times They Are A Changing. Hardly Lutheran--hardly Christian--hard to listen to! (sorry Hugh)
Pastor Demel went on to point out that in Luther's time, the Church proclaimed a God who delighted in sending people to Hell. An angry, scary God ready to punish at a moments notice. Luther's (along with Calvin's) great contribution was his rediscovery of the Gospel--God's great gift of His Son who took all of our sin on Himself and now offers us eternal life through trust in Christ's work on the Cross. Sadly, 500 years later, the times have changed to the point that nobody is scared of God anymore. Many people I encounter and I would think Andrew Sullivan falls into this category, "worship" a God who happily gives them a big pat on the back for trying hard, or being better than the next person. That is not the God of the Bible who is still Holy but also merciful through His Son.
My goal in this post-to thank Hugh for a great interview, thank James Lileks for a great parody after the interview and to encourage anyone who reads this to read the Bible. The truth is there and it isn't a-changin!
The transcript and audio of Hugh's interview are availabe a Hughhewitt.com. I encourage you to hear that and the Lileks bit afterward. And include Andrew Sullivan in your prayers.