Last week Bev and I drove past a church building. A sign boldly proclaimed "Jesus came to earth so you can go to heaven". I wonder if anyone at the church took the time to place that scripture against the words of scripture. I am sure that most Christians will be surprised to discover that the Bible never makes this kind of statement. I am not saying that the statement is false, however, there is not Biblical basis for this statement.
I am convinced that much of our understanding of the gospel is shaped, not by the scripture but by our tradition. I find it amazing that people who insist that they adhere to the Bible hold to so many beliefs that are extra Biblical. (However, beware if you challenge the validity of their beliefs! You will be attacked and ridiculed)
Perhaps this is no more evident than in the Christmas carols we hold dear. Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the plain. Where in scripture do we find the angels singing at Jesus birth? It came upon a midnight clear... How do we know that the night of Jesus birth was cloudless? ...no crying He makes... Why should we assume that the baby Jesus did not cry?
The most dangerous aspect of our extra-biblical beliefs occurs when we present them as foundational biblical beliefs. It points to a deeper issue - an issue of creating our own doctrines and then cloaking them as biblical. I realize that it is easier to create doctrinal paradigms that fit our desires than it is to wrestle with the difficulty of the scriptures. Yet if we persist in holding to doctrines based not the scripture but on our tradition or our own ideas, we are in danger of creating a false gospel that causes us to miss the point entirely.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment