I GET LETTERS asking me if I’m a Bible-believing, born-again Christian.
The question usually comes with a sermon.
Take a listen to excerpts from an email I got yesterday from the husband of a lady who, earlier in the day, asked me to unsubscribe her from my blog. (By the way, every blog article comes with an option to unsubscribe yourself. It’s harder for me to do it for you. But I did this for the lady.)
Hi, my wife has read a book of yours and I kinda thumbed through it and have a couple questions if you don’t mind. I’m wondering what your testimony is about your born-again experience with Jesus Christ. You present information in the book that is contrary to the Bible text. For instance, the subject of Hell. Jesus preached on Hell on many occasions and clearly warns us about this horrific place.
I noticed you present “scholars” opinions but never say where you stand. That is a problem for me. As a born-again believer, we must make a stand, or we are no different than the world. The different views you present are exactly what a lot of unbelievers believe, so they could walk away from your book feeling good about it, rather than be introduced to the person of Jesus Christ.
I’ve read your bio and some other things but still do not understand your refusal to stand for what you “portray” you believe….Have you had a true experience with the Lord Jesus, or is this just your job?
Hi to you, too.
I’m a born-again Christian.
I got the hell scared out of me by an evangelist when I was eight years old. He preached a sermon about hell that I’ll bet you would have liked. When I got home, Mom heard me crying in the bathroom. I told her I didn’t want to go to hell. She prayed with me and helped me invite Jesus into my heart…so I wouldn’t have to go to hell. Whew.
I grew up in rule-minded evangelical churches that told me what to believe, whether I believed it or not.
- Bowling was a sin because booze was served there.
- Movies were bad because Hollywood was sinful.
- Dancing…don’t even think about it.
What in the dickens were you supposed to do to take a gal on a date? No wonder gals got pregnant in the back seats of Buicks. What else was there to do?
When I went to seminary and began studying the Bible for myself, I realized that many of the rules I had been told to live by where nothing more than pastoral pet peeves.
Also, I discovered that some theological teachings weren’t as black and white as I had been taught.
One Nazarene pastor told us in a membership class that you had to be entirely sanctified to get to heaven. Nazarenes teach that entire sanctification is a second work of God’s doing, after we get saved. It’s kind of like Salvation-Plus. Get saved. Then get holy. I went to a Nazarene seminary and discovered that none of the scholars I came across believed what my pastor had said.
To be blunt, I got tired of preachers telling me what to think. Just as I get tired of “news broadcasters” telling me what they think.
Just give me the facts and let me think for myself with the brain God gave me. That’s what I do. That’s what I encourage my readers to do.
In my books, I don’t usually take a position on disputed topics. I report what Bible experts have to say on the subject. And I leave it there. The readers get to decide which argument, if any, tracks with
- scripture
- church tradition
- their personal spiritual experiences
- and the common sense God gave them.
(For the record, I just described what scholars call the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. Google it.)
Not all Christians believe there is a hell like the one the evangelist terrorized me with when I was a boy. But other Christians interpret the Bible teachings about hell in a way that tracks with how it has been preached since at least the time of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). He was a Massachusetts pastor who terrified his congregation with a sermon called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” A sampling:
- “There is no want [lack] of power in God to cast wicked men into Hell at any moment.”
- “They deserve to be cast into Hell.”
- “They are already under a sentence of condemnation to Hell.”
- “And you children that are unconverted, don’t you know that you are going down to Hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of God that is now angry with you every day, and every night?”
I’m not a preacher.
I’m a news reporter who covers the Bible beat. I’ll tell you what the Christian Bible scholars say, and I’ll tell you why they say they say it. But I’m not going to tell you who I think got it right.
Often, I have no idea who got it right.
I’m following Jesus as best I can. I study the Bible and help teach a Sunday School class in a United Methodist Church. I think for myself. I recommend that other Christians do the same.
I write for readers who have questions and open minds. I don’t write for people who think they have all the answers and their minds made up.
It’s my niche and my deep desire.
If I were working at a job just to make money, I’d be a lawyer, a politician, or a plumber who works weekends.
Really enjoyed this blog. Great post
Thanks Sarah.
I know you got a kick out of this Steve. As for me, I just hope they bought the book!
Well, I know they bought at least one. I hope they can find a way to read it in spite of me.
I love all your books. and I love how you present all the facts. I have been to churches where the pastor preaches his opinion and I just hate that. You are right. I have a brain, give me the facts and I’ll figure it out. That’s all part of the learning. God Bless you and the work that you do for all of us believers.
Thanks Debbie. I went to lots of churches like that.
Steve — if you were to die tonight and you stood before God and God were to ask you why should I let you into my Heaven — what would you say? LOL
Thank you for your blog, your honesty, your love for your readers, your humility, and your non-judgemental spirit. It’s hard going through life with a neon sign always blinking in one’s brain “Error….Error.” I discovered that Evangelicals do not have the handle on everything.
If it wasn’t for your books — there would be a group of people who would never open a Bible — much less study it — because of how they have been treated by the Church or heard things that have never been thought through.
I too am a Born-Again Christian (Regenerated is more Biblical) and know all the right answers that that person is looking for! Thank you for trusting God enough to allow His Spirit to guide your readers. By the way, you mean a lot to me personally and I love you even when my Neon Blinker goes off!
Thanks, Wayne. I’m glad to have a regenerated Christian in my herd.
I’m glad you answered your calling. I’m certain the world already has more than enough people who know so much more than the rest of us and feel strongly that their interpretations are flawless. Thank you for what you do. May God encourage and bless you greatly whenever you face opposition.
Thanks Francie.
Stephen, this is one of the more interesting of your blog posts. I do not entirely agree with your unhappy reader but must admit, do not entirely disagree, either. You are different from most bloggers in that most of them offer rather forceful personal opinion. Also, your training and background gives you a credibility which somebody like me would not have.
Were you presenting yourself as a pastor, I would be commenting differently. With them, I have been more than a little bit uneasy with the current tendency to not want to make anyone unhappy. It is good, as far as it goes, to say that we all should make up our own minds concerning what we believe. However, most of us are not Biblical scholars, many do do even have a working knowledge of what is in the Bible. To me, this lays a responsibility on clergy to instruct and guide us. If there is a person sitting in the pews new to Christianity and unaware, then whoever is pastoring that congregation doggone sure should make them aware of the dangers of sin and Hell, and the consequences of foolish living. If that offends anyone, then so be it. But again, as a blogger, you have a greater leeway, in my view, and readers should realize that.
Thanks, Tom.
I don’t have a whole lot of confidence in preachers, and none when it comes to them telling me how to understand the Bible.
Many preachers I’ve known are not much more biblically savvy than many of the laymen in my Bible study class. And most preachers are terrible public speakers and God’s natural remedy for insomnia. (My pastor is a rare exception.) But I digress.
Sure, preachers should preach and teach the Bible stories and ideas…and rattle some cages when necessary. But it’s our responsibility to do our homework and to think things through for ourselves.
Preachers are free to tell me how to live my life. But it’s my life to live, and my decision with God’s help to decide how to live it. Sometimes I’ll take the preacher’s advice. Sometimes I’ll just sit there and roll my eyes.
Steve,
I roll my eyes at some of the things I used to preach as a preacher. As the saying goes, I was sincere, but sincerely wrong. Intention is important, but it is not truth. The funny thing is, now I am Catholic, and of course know everything (ha!) and have no need for instruction. OK, not true. Catholics do have the Magisterium but there is still room to have an open mind (and sometimes, having an open mind to investigate with the Magisterium has to say, too). I am so glad I am allowed to explore. Perhaps something is true, but in what WAY is it true? I am so glad I get to explore with my Spirit-led Protestant brothers and sisters. I like exploring- but it still comes down to Jesus and me, and Jesus and me in relationship to everyone else. I have to think I will never get it ALL correct, and maybe no one else will either, but thank God for His grace and mercy and love which sustains us, carries us over the hurdles, and points to HOPE in the person of Jesus Christ. Lord, draw us closer to You.
My goodness, Peter, that’s good stuff. Especially for a former preacher.
Some readers wonder what Christians use as an anchor if they don’t take the Bible as literally as the more tradition-minded folks do.
Our anchor is the Rock. Not Dwayne. But Jesus. His life and ministry provide us with a model of behavior. His Spirit gives us the courage and power to act like we’re God’s kids, and to project the family resemblance.
“I’m a news reporter who covers the Bible beat. I’ll tell you what the Christian Bible scholars say, and I’ll tell you why they say they say it. But I’m not going to tell you who I think got it right…..I write for readers who have questions and open minds. I don’t write for people who think they have all the answers and their minds made up.”
I LOVE IT! Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
“Trust those who seek the truth, but doubt those who say they have found it” – Andre Gilde
Steve,
Good answer!
As I have said before, you make me think, then I have more questions so I need to research/study/read more.
That’s what a good teacher does.
Thank you
Thanks, Dianne. It’s good to put on a thinking cap.
The Holy Scriptures are the ultimate authority. Your books help the readers to understand the Bible and the context in which each passage was written. They have helped me. For that, I thank you!
Thanks, Gary.