After a long week of moderating the snot out of a particular message board, we were finally treated to the sight of a particularly obnoxious member's banning. I won't go into details, most of you who would have any interest probably know the story. But I will say this much: it is nice to be able to use the word "Emergent" again, without it being equated to moral relativism. In addition, it will be very nice to go for two weeks without seeing the word "postmodern" used as a derogatory term.
On a similar note, we were comparing McLaren and MacArthur, and I went through all the trouble of typing up a transcript that I wanted to post it somewhere other than on a messageboard:
McLaren said, "...People ask me, what do I think is the way to Heaven. I have a problem when they ask me this question, because it assumes that the primary purpose of Jesus coming, and the primary message of Jesus was about how to get to Heaven."
MacArthur replied by saying the McLaren was calling everyone that believed Jesus came to save us stupid, and gave an explanation of propitiation, then said, "[Salvation] was the only reason he came. He didn't come to fix life here. He didn't come to eliminate poverty. He didn't come to eliminate slavery. He didn't come to bump people up five notches on the marriage satisfaction scale. [Considering how short life is, you see] how silly it is to think that Jesus came to fix something in somebody's life for the little moment that they live on earth...Look at the life of Christ. He didn't even fix the world that he lived in. He never, ever, basically assaulted, one social institution that was out of whack. Not one. So he never had a social agenda. He cared for people. He fed people, sure, but he fed them once, and he didn't feed them everyday."
He goes on to draw a parallel to welfare, but you can listen to the interview for yourself.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH1yOmij7Q4
I think that's it for the night,
5 comments:
It's a sad little debate isn't it, and I must admit that I basically don't read "christian" books anymore because of all the arguing over the finer points of theology, which don't help me get anywhere in life.
I reckon we need both the McLarens and the MacArthurs. Both their personality types and their modernism and post-modernism are helpful ... if only it would get applied to the best things not "straining out gnats" as I think JC put it.
Love your comment about people using postmodernist as a swearword. :) Cultural myopia (and consumerism) is the reason for the decline of the church, not moral relativism. You're doing the hard work Jeremiah, the deep work, the true work of living in your culture while clinging hard to Christ. You have abandoned pat answers, cliches and 4 Spiritual Laws tracts. You don't have it easy. You are judged harshly by some of your brothers and sisters but still you hold fast.
Sounds like the narrow road to me... :)
Hey Jer, does this have anything to do with the Emergent thread I started on TD?? I got so busy after I started it that I wasn't able to keep up with it.
This post or the whole blog? This post does, in an indirect way...but not the whole blog.
yeah, i meant this post. i started that thread because of your blog, though. did i start something??
Nothing bad. The subject matter of your post needed to be discussed.
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