I walked into our church a few weeks ago anticipating a wonderful time of worship and teaching (as always). Our pastor is one of those rare men who actually teach the Word of God, so you can imagine my surprise when he opened his sermon with a Bill Hybels (aka Willowbrook) DVD segment and the announcement that we were going to be doing a Hybels Evangelism Bible Study called, "Just Walk Across the Room."
I was not happy, and the only place I wanted to walk was down the aisle and out the door of the sanctuary.
Granted, Pastor enriched this Evangelism 101 with several Bible lessons that were missing from the original Hybels monologue (surprise!), but this "meat" is not included in the adult Sunday School classes (also going through the same study).
You have to see these video clips to actually believe them: Bill Hybels shares the wisdom of his evangelism experience by illustrating how he led his millionaire friend (and fellow yacht-owner) to the Lord.
I kid you not.
Example after example of Hybels rich friends and all their happy sailing times . . . solid, practical examples of how to be a "Christ-follower" according to Hybels, who will not use the word Christian or any other religious term. And your average, everyday Christian is supposed to relate to this? Hybels never even takes off his sunglasses! What kind of Bible study is this?
As I'm sure you've guessed, we will be sitting down with our pastor shortly to let him know that Hybels considers his mentor to be none other than Robert Schuller. I find myself getting angry when I think of all the damage these men have done to the body of Christ with their compromise and people-pleasing theology. It's Schuller and Hybels and Warren and their buddies that have led the mega-church mania, and the thought of six more weeks of listening to him is discouraging.
4 Comments:
No offense, Jill, but I have never understood the reluctance of telling the preacher he has erred. I don't mean jump up and disrupt the sermon... even by storming out in the middle of it. There are biblical protocols for dealing with error...
Paul corrected Peter, you know.
It's one thing to sit in waiting for the slightest misspoken word... it's another thing to help a brother who is about to lead his congregation down a wrong path.
Just remember, as priests in the kingdom of Christ, you are just as much a priest as he is, you just have different callings and ministries.
And yes... I have been asked not to return to Churches for pointing out what the pastor was unwilling or unable to face at that particular point. Comes with the territory.
We are seed planters in the sense that we plant seeds that will grow if the Living Water is allowed to quench them... with believers the same as unbelievers. And in the end it is their personal choice whether or not the Holy Spirit is allowed to bring in a harvest from the seeds we plant in the lives we touch.
The trouble with truth down here in this realm of untruth is that sooner or later we "enlightened" folk succumb to our own reasoning.
The Bible is quite specific about this. There is a way that seems right to a man but the end is the way of death. When Jesus commended and later condemned Peter in Matthew 16:15-23 note the juxtaposition cited by Jesus in both. The things of God versus the things of man.
1 Corinthians 2 goes into this with more depth. Pastors a only human. So are we. And that simple fact we sometimes forget. I would be bold and say that 100% of the time when we get our ire up... it is simply because we have forgotten the fact that we are only human (or that whoever wronged us is only human).
Humility is the path. The Holy Spirit is our Guide. The Lord Jesus is our destination.
To live justly.
To love mercy.
To walk humbly with our God.
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