Or Rush Limbaugh
or Bill O'Reilly or any one of a number of extreme conservative commentators.
It is bad enough
that some parachurch ministries (Focus on the Family being the largest example)
have become politicized and act like an arm of the Republican party thereby losing
much of their credibility when speaking to the world. I hate to see the same
thing happen to your local Assembly of God.
Facebook friends
know that I am not as politically conservative as most of my friends or than of
most AG ministers. I am a long way from being liberal, despite the accusations
of some. My complaint today is not about the views that anyone holds, but
rather the tendency to proclaim them as God's positions.
I've decided
against giving examples here because I don't want to detract from my more
important point, which is this: Christians, especially ordained ministers, are
called to be Salt and Light to the world, not OT Prophets. By trying to do the
latter we forfeit our credibility with most of those whom need to be saved.
At the heart of
the problem is bad theology: (1) Bad theology of the place of the church in the
world. (2) Bad theology of the duty of Christians in the midst of persecution
or in the end times. (3) Bad theology of the office and ministry of the New
Testament prophet.
Subsequent posts
will address each of these topics. A final post will address the effects of our
bad theology and how we can do better. It may take me a couple of weeks to
finish, so hang with me and check back occasionally.
