Being God's Child: Event or
Process? Rubel Shelly
Rubel Shelly: Much of the division among Christians is over key events
of Christian experience. For example, some churches practice what is
called "closed communion." They restrict participation in the Lord's
Supper to those most like themselves. They invite to the communion
(i.e., fellowship) meal of bread and wine
only those who hold membership in their own denomination or only those who have already received baptism or only those who subscribe to certain
articles of faith. That is a fact. Only KEY events
are worth either preaching or perverting. Probably most postmodern
preachers of denominations don't believe that Christ was born of a
virgin or was God in the flesh and therefore resurrected. What shall
we do? Can those who reject this KEY doctrine of the Christian
religion fill the pulpit of Bible beleivers without sowing discord?
There is nothing evil with people picking with whom they will spend
that one spirit-evacualted hour of the week. First, let us note that Dr.
Shelly always seems to have "Wine on the Mind." The Holy Scriptures
which he "narrates" as inspired makes a pointed effort to identify
the Passover "stuff" as The Fruit of the Vine. And Passover meant
that any leaven or product of leaven was excluded from the house.
However, Rubel has already declared that he will "take liberties"
with John as John "took liberties" with Christ Rubel Shelly:
At certain times and
places in Christian history, one had to submit to an examination of
his or her faith by a person or panel of church officials prior to a time of
communion. Those judged
worthy to participate were then given a token that would be presented
at the communion table. Wouldn't this have been a
wonderful time to honestly admit that the old "churches of Christ"
put a stop to that nonsense. Or did that have to wait for post
modernism? Dr. Shelly forgets that the
Restoration Movement
came into existence because Thomas Campbell was threatened with
excommunication for permitting another BRAND of Presbyterians to
participate in the YEARLY COMMUNION. The sacrament of
Holy Communion was precious to colonial Presbyterians (and to members of other Christian churches).
Presbyterians followed the Church of Scotland practice of
"fencing the
table"--of permitting
members to take communion only after being examined by a minister who
vouched for their spiritual soundness by issuing them a token that
admitted them to the celebration of the sacrament. The custom
continued in some Presbyterian churches until early in this century.
The tokens shown here were used in the Beersheba Presbyterian Church,
near York, South Carolina. Rubel Shelly: There is also a great deal of division over
baptism. Because of certain New Testament texts about the relationship of baptism to
Christ or spiritual rebirth or remission of sins, baptism has
typically been associated with membership in the Christian community and/or
salvation. Depending on the mode (i.e., sprinkling, pouring, immersion) involved or
one's age (i.e., infant, young child, adult) at baptism, a given
believer or group might not honor a person's baptism. That is assuredly profound:
baptism is SUPPOSED to
create division. It is
the division point where we are MARKED as the children of God. The
view that Christianity is supposed to have everyone at peace in a
community or commune as one big family is not even postmodern: it is
anti-Biblical and anti-rational. Jesus said: Whosoever therefore
shall confess me before
men, him will I confess
also before my Father which is in heaven. Matt 10:32 But whosoever shall
deny me before men, him
will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Matt 10:33 Think not that I am come to
send peace on earth: I
came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mt.10:34 For I am come to
set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against
her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. Matt
10:35 And a mans foes shall be they
of his own household. Matt 10:36 He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not wMatt 10:37orthy of me: and he
that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
This simply means that
Christianity is counter-cultural: you cannot baptize pagan practices or color them
Christian. Being baptized was the confession which those in love with
the culture could not
afford. Why? Because
being a Christian guarantees that your TEMPLE will be a little
building with no charismatic music or other feature to attract anyone
who is not in love with Christ proven by devotion to His Word and
populated by people who have no slight urge to be applauded.
The CHRISTIAN SYSTEM is a
body of believers engaged in SPIRITUAL WARFARE. Dr. Shely wants to make the sheepfold
big enough to hold everyone. One of his "sister" churches in
Nashville tried that and found out that they invited the wolves in to
consume the sheep. Sure, heaven must be total unity but we are not
there and faithful Christians will never be applauded or endorsed by
popular attendance. Perhaps the Christian
Warfare is just too tough for those who would make church into a
pagan system of "worship" which strokes everyone's pleasure
spots. Now, to the moderns, the New Testament texts are about all that we have to define the purpose of baptism.
Through the use of NARRATIVE THEOLOGY, Rubel transmorgafied the
exodus as the terminal condemnation of Israel into the BAPTISM OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT and A PATTERN FOR CHRISTIAN WORSHIP AND COMMUNITY
(commune). However, the Word of God rests where it has always rested
and it will say the same thing when Postmoderns are exposed to utter
ridicule like pagans who observed days and believed that the old
world passed away and was reborn. Baptism means to thoroughly
wash or totally immerse: therefore, pouring is pouring and
sprinkling is sprinkling but they are NOT baptism or a burial. They
are not figurative of the death and burial of Christ and therefore
are not baptism. Baptism is the conscious, repentant effort of one able to believe in Christ, die to self
and submit to the NON WORKS act of baptism. Rubel Shelly:
She might be excluded
from membership in a given church. Or she might be judged to be
unsaved. The Pharisees were POST MODERN but Jesus was a
MODERN. Therefore, as MODERNS we have to subscribe to CHRISTIAN
teachings in order to be a CHRISTIAN or DISCIPLE. One CERTAIN New Testament
verse has a CERTAIN Jesus issuing a direct command which has not been
rescinded by postmodernism: And he said unto
them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15 He that
believeth and is
baptized shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:16 Until our time most of Christendom has believed
that the gospel reaches beyond seven core facts about Jesus. Any good
news is gospel and freedom from doctors of the Law was part of the
gospel Christ preached as He "unloaded" those under the clergy burden
of "spiritual anxiety created by religious ritual." Popular religious
rituals don't work unless you "damage the goods" and sell pain as
gain. Paul said that salvation, meaning
DELIVERANCE, is where God delivers us into the Kingdom belonging to
the Son. That is, we are INCLUDED when we obey Christ: Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: Col.1:13 Jesus said "my
words are Spirit and Truth." Therefore,
those who DRINK OF HIM have His Spirit. If we are baptized according
to that ONE SPIRIT then we are baptized into one body and are therefore
MEMBERS of Christ: For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one
body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free; and have been all
made to drink into one
Spirit.
1Co.12:13 When the Spirit of Christ leads us to baptism
we receive the gift of A holy spirit which
means that we discern the Word according to 1 Peter 3:21. This means
that those who have not requested this new consciensiousness at
baptism are not part of the
family and we have no right to declare
that they are. This is the obverse side of the JUDGMENTALISM
coin. The JUDGMENTAL DECISION should be to ignore
what level of the "circles of membership" one is and just teach the
Word as an elder would HAVE to "teach that which has been taught" to
be a shepherd of the flock. Christ fully come in the flesh is denied by the
Shelly teachings about a "family of gods." If Christ is not the
ANOTHER COMFORTER as He promised in John 14:16-18 and people can
claim that they have the ONE/THIRD Godhead living in and instructing
their minds, then that denies that the Godhead indwells Christ fully.
If Christ is the Spirit of Truth then we should not expect that the
Holy Spirit "person" is going to teach us other than what Jesus
taught. Therefore, we are "stuck" with the original
verses about baptism and being a Christian rejoices in that fact. Not
too many are going to believe that postmoderns have a BETTER method
of salvation just because it attracts a huge crowd of seekers of
smooth things. Jesus promised to be with two or three but one doubts
that He will be with two or three thousand. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 2:9 And ye are
complete in
him, which is the
head of all principality and power: Col 2:10
> In whom also ye are circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Col 2:11 > Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith
of the operation of
God, who hath raised
him from the dead. Col 2:12 We are not saved by RAW FAITH. Rather, faith
trusts in the Operation of God to save us when we rest in him by
obedience. The FAITH is in the OPERATION OF GOD. In
Luke we see how one REJECTS the operation of God: But the
Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves, being not
baptized of him. Luke
7:30 And you, being dead in your
sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,
having forgiven you all trespasses; Col 2:13 To quicken together is "to
reanimate conjointly with or figuratively: quicken together with.
Therefore, Paul says that we are INCLUDED IN CHRIST when OUR faith is
in the OPERATION OF GOD. The old "modern" view would be that those
who have not been baptized are NOT INCLUDED in Christ. To say so does
not mean that WE EXCLUDE. If you write off the EPISTLES
as the product of SIFTING through philosophy and Paul's own personal
agenda then you may be trying to CONVERT from faith in the OPERATION
OF GOD explained only in the Bible to listen to one who has been
"selected and trained by the sovereign grace of God" to be a LOCATED
EVANGELIST. MOST of history's PREACHERS
have been postmodern in also denying the Word of God. Therefore, this
is the same old attempt to destroy the ANVIL of history with the
LAUGHINGLY-OBSCENE views of Postmoderns who even make fun of it
themselves. However, we have the
prophecy of baptism, the type of baptism in
Christ death, the teaching of Christ, the teaching of Paul and the
teaching of all pre-Zwingli or Baptists views based on Calvinism
INCLUDING the saved as the baptized believers. Rubel Shelly:
This sort of thing --
identifying a single
event or ceremony as the badge of Christian identity and spiritual
kinship -- is fully
consistent with modernity. It provides a formula for including some and excluding
others. It draws a clear
line between those deemed worthy of acceptance and those to be left out of the community. I'm not at all sure this is how
things worked in the earliest days of the church. In the snip of scissors, the
umbilical cord is cut and we are INDUCTED into an indendant life. One
will go on to school but it is all made possible by a quck snip.
Every change of status--and the new birth is a change of
status--involves a certain defining STEP. One does not ooozzzeee into
life. We have noticed that in the
postmodern world it has been popular to "infiltrate and divert" to
change the church into a "theater for holy entertainment" or a "venue
for Rock and Roll."
That deliberately sows discord knowing that the old owners will not
remain. Therefore, to add unbiblical practices which forces people to
leave EXCLUDES THEM FROM MEMBERSHIP in the new style
worship. How is driving people out of
community any better? In the OLD MODERN world before
the Bible got stripped of all but the CORE of seven facts ABOUT
Jesus, WE didn't include or exclude. Rather, we just relied on the
Spirit's message through Paul--whom moderns
still believe wasn't confused--who told us how one is INCLUDED and by
WHOM we are included. And you also were
included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a
seal, the
promised Holy
Spirit,
Ep.1:13NIV Don't stop too quickly: we are included when
we HEAR but we know that salvation is not by a one-step process
called hearing.
"Saved before baptism"? Then saved before
the Spirit. The Mark is: Sphragizo (g4972) sfrag-id'-zo; from 4973; to stamp (with a
signet or private
mark) for
security or
preservation (lit. or
fig.); by impl. to keep secret, to attest: - (set a, set to) seal up,
stop. The promise is: Epaggelia (g1860) ep-ang-el-ee'-ah; from 1861; an announcement
(for information, assent or pledge; espec. a divine assurance of
good): - message, promise. And Peter told people old enough to sin, to
hear and to believe what the promised mark is: Then Peter said
unto them, Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of
sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost. Acts 2:38
For the
promise (g1860) is unto you, and to your
children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our
God shall call. Acts 2:39 Those who were baptized were INCLUDED by the
Lord because they were both baptized and saved in accordance with the
only DIRECT COMMAND from Jesus. And yet "hearing" is a discrete STEP because
you cannot continue without hearing the Word. Can we logically say
that those who have never heard the gospel are INCLUDED IN CHRIST and
therefore are our brother or sister? And they,
continuing daily with one accord (unanimously) in the temple, and breaking bread from house to
house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Acts
2:46 Praising God, and
having favour with all the people. And the Lord added (Included)
to the church daily
such as should be saved. Acts 2:47 The one accord allowed them to SPEAK THE
SAME THINGS because they spoke or sang "that which is written." The
discord possible from diverse musical backgrounds could be solved and
unity exist if the assembly or synagogue was a school of the Bible.
Here is a direct "musical" command: For whatsoever
things were written
aforetime were written
for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Rom 15:4
Now the God of
patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: Rom
15:5 That ye may with
one mind (unanimously) and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Ro.15:6 The claim to being postmodern is to claim to
teach CONTRARY TO THAT WHICH IS WRITTEN. This is self evident when contemporary songs
are put on a par or rather superior to the "songs" composed by Christ
the Spirit. Modern or post modern, the proof is in the pudding and if
we sing Twila Paris we repudiate Jesus and if we use a "musical
mediating team" then we refuse to let Jesus mediate the Word for us.
That is indisputable. Therefore, rather than ONE ACCORD the
postmodern preachers deliberately sows discord because of their
irrational views are MORE IMPORTANT than the Words of
Christ. Even the postmodern Pharisees grasped that
allowing themselves to be baptized even unto a carpenter made them
pledge to follow the carpenter as master teacher. NO ONE is included as a DISCIPLE until they
die to self and submit to the MASTER TEACHER. Therefore, Christ INCLUDED us
in the ONE BODY at the time and place of Baptism. Those who deliberately reject baptism
reject the counsel of God and CANNOT be, if Scripture has any
meaning, a Child of God. By definition, a SON follows the instruction
of a FATHER. The ONE ACCORD as family
existed in the Jerusalem church ONLY among the baptized believers
because those who were not baptized REJECTED THE COUNSEL OF GOD for
their lives. Therefore, Rubel Shelly is
wrong about the UNITY IN DIVERSITY in the early church. Rubel Shelly:
In a postmodern world, lines of demarcation are a bit more
blurred than they were in the period of
modernity. And in its most extreme forms,
that blurriness is a bad thing. No action is really good or bad; everything is
relative to a culture or circumstance. There is no ultimate distinction between truth and
error; you have your truth, and I have mine. In these extreme forms
of postmodern relativism, Christianity is neither better nor worse
than Islam or Buddhism, agnosticism or atheism. One should remember,
however, that moral and epistemological relativism was embraced by modernity as well. Rubel
Shelly:
He (John) takes the sort
of liberty you and I
have encouraged this
church to take with the
slavery, redemption, wilderness trek, and other aspects of Exodus. Rubel
Shelly: I
think they were
responding to time
and place by writing
what they wrote.
They had their
own personal, theological, pastoral, and evangelistic purposes in mind when they planned and wrote
these documents that survive
to us in the New Testament. In the interplay of their free
wills and the direction
of the Holy
Spirit, they
came up with an answer
to their version of the
question to put to you a few minutes ago. They had to strain
the story of Jesus through philosophical sieves. They had to create
and clarify special
terms. They
made
entrance into their
circles a matter of "enlightenment" as reflected in peculiar vocabulary and
interpretations. In the
meanwhile, the
core
gospel has
survived two millennia now in its
narrative form of
telling the big
story through
collections of little ones about Jesus. Sure. The Core Gospel defines the epistles which claim to be inspired to
be sifted by philosophy and the personal agenda of the writers. There
really is nothing new in POST MODERNISM. If Scripture can be
"narrated" to fit the times or persons, then don't we say that
Scripture is neither good nor bad but depends on HOW IT FITS
ME? Any bluring of the record is
simply the most ancient heresy. "True for Me" IS the meaning of
Narrative Theology. In the end, those who reject the "modern" conclusion that TRUTH OUT THERE exists independant of
Me are usually written
off as afflicted with having the head stuck in the belly button. The
insanity is confirmed as suspected when postmoderns believe that they
can construct an ideal Jubilee-like society which cures all ills.
Wish that it could be but the true believer knows that he is living
in a world almost entirely hostile to Christ unless He can be
"colored" in a "respectable" form. What we believe is that the
demarcation is between what some of Rubel's friends identify as the
old CHRISTENDOM
ERA and the
new
Post-Christ, virtual
pagan or witchcraft era. You might want to click to see
how Lynn
Anderson and others speak of the SPECTACLE OF WORSHIP.
What Rubel Shelly identifies as the OLD,
DELITERIOUS MODERN WORLD was B.S. (Before Shelly). As a rider of the
Pope's harlot call for THE ATONEMENT in the Jubilee, many preachers
got caught up in the old pagan superstition labeled as Y2K and
believed, like one postmodern told me that "Truth got sucked up into
a black hole" and we are looking for NEW TRUTH. Well, the Virgin of
Quadalupe didn't materialize to kill all of the pagans and masons
according to one VISION, but once you deny the TRUTH of God He sends
you strong delusions. Rubel Shelly:
The healthier side of postmodernity's rejection of rigid formulas in favor of blurred lines of distinction
is not difficult to see
and appreciate. Blacks and whites,
rich and poor, scholars and illiterates, citizens and refugees -- all
can have a seat at the same table of opportunity. There will be less
class consciousness. There will be fewer acts of unjust
discrimination and intolerance. Jesus made baptism a rigid formula for those
who hear the Word. There is no way to put a meat tenderizer on that
CORE DOCTRINE of Jesus and His gospel. Rubel and his friends substituted a PARADIGM to
replace old PATTERNS. But adopting synonymns will not make changes.
Rubel's "rubber wineskin" is just as rigid as the old "wineskins"
because it EXCLUDES those who don't believe that Christianity is a
pluralistic commune. The fact that blacks have a seat at the table
is based 100% on the Blacks TAKING the rights guaranteed by the
constitution and the Word of God. One doubts that those who claim that
schizophrenia is part of being MAD in the postmodern "paradigm" had a
jot or tittle to do with the blacks TAKING their rights. There is
nothing in any postmodern's WORLD VIEW which will allow a non-Phd to
teach in the seats of "higher learning." Therefore, the "scholars"
have carved out one of the most MONEY DRAINING ghettos which excludes
those who preach the Dictum that God commands, examples and infers
and any disciple should long to catch the Mind of God. One suspects that there is as much SPIRITUAL
slavery in postmodern churches where, like the towers of Babylon,
their giving and living are ordered around a ministry system to keep
them occupied in a FAMILY or COMMUNITY diluting the church by
minimizing education. Rubel Shelly:
Within the context of
Christian discussion, I am encouraged rather than frightened by what
I have called the "healthier side of postmodernity's rejection of rigid
formulas." It could very well
move believers in Christ away from institutional models of church to an organic
model. Christians might think less
about institutional religion and more about the body of Christ, less
about denominational
distinctions and more
about organic ties to one another. "Not too long ago, intolerance
meant rejecting or even persecuting practitioners of other religions. Not any more.
"Now, intolerance means questioning the validity of any aspect of
another's religion. To the majority of
Americans below fifty today, questioning the truthfulness of another's
religious views is
intolerant and morally offensive. "This prohibition against
differing with other's
viewpoints is
postmodern.
The Postmodern Method: Religion Jim Leffel and Dennis McCallum
An institutional model can be
found in any mega-churches which preach the social gospel and have a PYRAMIDAL
MINISTRY SYSTEM like that which God cursed Israel with when they
rejected Him as their King and Teacher. A mega-church cannot exist as
an organic or family relationship. We have heard of one church which
fired the vocational deacons and turned their work over to HIRED
MINISTERS (deacons) with a berth on good ship lolly pop for a
MISSIONARY IN RESIDENCE. Such churches cannot exist without being
almost 100% an institution. Some even do commerce as Scribes of
sellers of books. An ORGANIC
model is a group who ASSEMBLES which means SYNAGOGUES. They come
together to preach Christ in the supper and to make church into A
SCHOOL OF THE BIBLE. All of those programs destroy the true church as
an educational institution. It is an alive organizm because they
allow Christ to be the head of the body. It is reasonable that one is NOT frightened by
one's own view of the Bible as totally sifted of historical fact.
However, when Shelly has John writing ONLY AT THE INSISTENCE of
the Ephesus Presbytery, he is using the POST MODERN VIEW. In the
evaporation of ethics in the post-modern 90s it is not considered
wrong to rearrange historical and biblical facts to make a
point: Do you grasp what POSTMODERNS do
to the MODERN and ANCIENT documents just to claim that the gospel of
John was in part inspired by and VALIDATED or given the imprimatur by
the PRESBYTERS in Corinth? And that proven FACT means that we
VALIDATE our own version. But if the FACT is not a FACT then the
conclusion is FALSE. Adding -2 and +2 comes up as 4 and this
gives us authority to hear those unspoken words of Jesus. However,
John York stutters but
claims IF SO then-------- "I know that's a bit of
overkill on something quite insignificant! But
there are other double
meanings here that are
significant. IF #
1: What if the
testimony that is
true, that to which "we" bear witness does goes beyond John to his original audience --
IF # 2: and even to us? IF # 3: What if the many other things done by Jesus
not written in this book are to be
heard as the
ongoing
activity of Jesus
in the life of those Spirit-filled followers? If you are a MODERN you might think that
this is dishonest, but postmodernism allows us to BLURRRRR the truth
of God and make the terminal sin of Israel in the Exodus into a
pattern for Christian worship and community. You might call it MAD but schizophrenic
postmoderns call it MAGIC! The millennium is here, we can disregard
the "Christendom era," and we can write our own SCRIPTURE to fit our
own times. Eve did that in the garden when attacked by a musical
enchanter. Rubel Shelly:
If that should happen,
we might learn to think, speak, and live more as the church did in
its early history than it has of late. If it should happen, we just
might be more like Christ's original vision for his
church. That is a fact but that will
empty all of the PROFESSIONAL roles unless they are willing to GO and
preach "that which has been preached." Without the clergy with turf
to protect it would be possible for diverse opinions to meet together
to synagogue or read and discuss the word of God. However, when you FACILITATE
the introduction of pagan worship teams then those who follow Paul's
direct commands are DELIBERATELY EXCLUDED from being part of the
"family." Alfred
T. DeGroot claimed that
those who took liberties with the Bible were called CHURCHES while
those who followed the Bible were SECTARIANS. He can, with a straight
face, pervert the Word just to make his point. The "original" church had
no located evangelists. The "preachers"
were the Pastor-teachers which were recognized to be the Spirit
Equipped elders and deacons who didn't get a salary. Restoring that
would solve MOST of the division. And for who was permitted to
take communion we think that the EARLY church will not validate the
conclusion that WE are exclusive because we exclude those whom Christ
excludes: Justin Martyr:
Baptism Chapter XIV.-Righteousness is
Not Placed in Jewish
Rites, "By reason, therefore, of this
laver of
repentance and
knowledge of
God, which has been
ordained on account of the transgression of God's people, as Isaiah
cries, we have believed,
and testify that that
very baptism which he
announced is
alone able to
purify those who have
repented; and
this is the water of
life. But the cisterns which you have dug for yourselves are broken and
profitless to you. For what is the use of that
baptism which cleanses
the flesh and
body
alone? Baptize
the soul from
wrath and from
covetousness, from envy, and from hatred; and, lo! the body is
pure. The church was primarily for
members who never took the communion with musical elevator music in
the background. Non members were excluded. Justin Martyr: -Administration of the Sacraments. But we, after we have thus
washed
him who has been convinced and has
assented to our
teaching, bring him to the
place where those who are called brethren are
assembled, in order
that we may offer hearty prayers in common
for
ourselves and for the
baptized person, and for all others in every
place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the
truth, by our works also
to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an
everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. [No clergy prayer leaders here.]
There is then brought to the
president of the brethren
("to that one of the brethren who was presiding.") bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; The early church assemblies
WERE NOT tools of evangelism. While outsiders were invited to the
assembly, some held it to be sinful to sing hymns to God in the
presence of unbelievers. Others almost always had the members go into
a private room to eat the supper. Justin implies that the evangelist
goes out and teaches. Only after he has been baptized is he part of
the assembly. Rubel Shelly:
In particular,
what if -- in good biblical and postmodern
fashion -- we thought of salvation more as a process than an event? What if we understood spiritual
transformation as something that takes place over time rather than instantly? What if we used biblical figures of
speech like "pilgrimage" and "birth" rather than "church member" and
"getting saved"? Postmoden and biblical must
be an oxymoron. Jesus said "go make disciples."
Therefore, baptism must be seen in the normal proselyte or commercial
baptism. In order to
become a DISCIPLE of John the Inventor to learn his trade, you first
have to AFFIRM or justify the teacher. If you refuse that POINT
ACTION John doesn't speak to you. In the Biblical world you
could not begin that process without baptism. Jesus won't let you hear His
Word until you ask Him for a co-perception at baptism.
1 Peter 2:21 says that baptism
is where our bodies are washed and we REQUEST a clear conscience or
consciousness from God. That word means to become a CO-PERCEIVER.
And in 2 Cor. 3 Paul told the Jews that the veil would not be removed
until they TURNED TO CHRIST. Therefore, any DISCIPLING
process BEGINS with one
small step: if you
don't pledge to keep secrets, the CIA doesn't take you as a DISCIPLE
and your PROCESS of "salvation" never gets off the ground. ALL action
begins with a discrete step but because we are not brain surgeons
when we sign up for the course does not mean that we can be accepted
in the family of brain surgeons just to prove that we are broad
minded. In the same way, Jesus said
that BAPTISM is the mark of
discipleship and whatever preachers decide, Jesus says that HE
will not take you as a disciple if you REJECT
THE CONSEL OF GOD FOR YOUR LIVES. And why should He. And Y2K doesn't
change God's mind. If one doesn't go through the
CIRCLES OF MEMBERSHIP of the Purpose Driven Cult or the Willow Creek
Cult, one is accepted as a dues paying member just like any COMMUNITY
CHURCH. However, none of them, including Rubel Shelly, will allow
you FULL fellowship and the key to the pulpit at the Holy Place until
HE has certified you as
NOT gonna teach against musical worship teams as Christ's replacement as the "mediator
between man and God." Or in Rubel's word, "lead you into God's
presence." And postmodern ecumenical
sentiment will not pull any wool over the Christian Church's eyes:
they will accept Rubel in fellowship AS LONG AS Rubel CERTIFIES their
instrumental music practice OK. Rubel's brand of ecumenical buddy
bonding ALWAYS leads to the Christian Church confiscating the
property and EXCLUDING the old owners from teaching against music on the
grounds that NOW, that would be sowing discord. We have some first
hand proof of that. Rubel Shelly:
In other words, what if
we retrained ourselves so that we no
longer looked to a single event like the sinner's prayer, immersion,
or a church vote to validate someone's status
as a Christian but to
the direction and tone of his life over time? What if we looked for
direction rather than perfection in one another's spiritual
life? Jesus told the Apostles to go
preach the Word and to Make Disciples by
Baptism and Further teaching the WORDS of
Jesus Christ. Thes DISCIPLES (students) were
known as Christians or Christ followers. Therefore, only a baptized
believer is a CHRISTIAN. If the "church" is a synagogue
where Jesus, the ONLY Teacher, instructs us in twos or threes there
will be no LINES drawn. Paul defined the assembly as
the synagogue in Romans 15. This would solve the intrusion of extra
Dionysiac or Orphic "music" to bring down the presence of the gods.
Then, all kinds of diverse opinions could meet in the SCHOOL OF THE
BIBLE. There, everyone can glorify God with one Mind and one MOUTH by
using "that which is written." Only when "church" is ritual
temple must lines be drawn to protect the PULPIT from vipers.
Lumping the sinner's prayer and
a church vote with immersion puts them on the same par but immersion is commanded
by Jesus and practiced by the apostles but the other COMPARABLES have
no Scriptural foundation. Therefore, the ploy of
rejecting the sinner's prayer and voting into membership DOES NOT at
the same time reject IMMERSION. The reactionary conservative
and the radical liberal are obverse sides of the SAME COIN. The once
urge to exclude now wants to include. As Chico would say: "Not my
job." However, even Rubel will continue to teach until HE is
convinced that a disciple has SATISFIED his requirements to be a
voting member controlling his salary. Most churches don't presume to
make that judgment but continuing to teach implies a process of
growth. We believe that the Bible calls that sanctification and not
salvation. No church looks for
perfection but everyone
has and ASSUMES the right to decide who will be authorized as a
teacher. Church leaders were awake in the modern era, have heard all
of the stuff the post moderns have and will not fall for the sucker
bait that a CHURCH SOCIETY has no right to limit its membership. Dr.
Shelly's COMMUNITY or FAMILY OF GOD should suggest that not everyone
can become a member of a FAMILY except by birth or adoption.
We are aware of none of the old
rotten "modern" churches of Christ which makes a test of who can
attend, who can sing, who can pray, who can listen to announcements,
who can take communion, who can eat potluck, who can work on behalf
of the property or anything Rubel's straw man assumes. What everyone
does and what Rubel does is to decide who will be authorized to teach or serve. Even then, most churches take
the new member's word that he is a "member." You simply cannot be a
CHRISTIAN and reject the counsel of God as Rubel seems to do with
every "counsel" but his seven CORE facts: And all the people
that heard
him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. Luke
7:29 But the Pharisees
and lawyers rejected the
counsel of God against
themselves, being not baptized of him. Luke 7:30 Justify: Dikaioo (g1344) dik-ah-yo'-o; from 1342; to
render (i.e. show or
regard as) just or
innocent: - free, justify (-ier), be righteous. Jesus not only said that the
DOCTORS OF THE LAW reject the counsel of God but they are active
EVANGELISTS in taking away the key to knowledge. Therefore, Jesus
fired them all.
Rubel Shelly:
After all, I've known
some people who have been baptized but who use God's name in profane
ways or abuse
their children or mouth and model racism. Is the event of their
baptism enough to offset their way of life? I know some baptized people who
take God's name in vain by repudiating the ONLY record we have of the
MIND OF CHRIST which Paul identified as THE HOLY SPIRIT (1 Cor. 2). I
know other baptized people who TAKE AWAY the property of other
churches and brag about it. However, that says nothing against
baptism. If every person on the earth
were baptized, and every person took the Lord's name in vain that
would not change ONE JOT OR ONE TITTLE of the inspired Scripture. To
claim that the post modern view as a product of philosophers bull
sessions changes the WORD OF CHRIST is a bit of madness as
postmoderns sometimes confess. And there are lots of PM joking about
PM on the internet. Unfortunately, some preachers have too much time
on their hands and just lap up any garbage current view and make it
into a MONEY MAKING MACHINE. Rubel Shelly:
Is church membership
sufficient to compensate for moral and spiritual failure? On the
other hand, I know people whose baptism is defective on my
understanding of the Bible but whose passion for God and uprightness
of character left no doubt that they were light-years more spiritual
than I am. Should I judge them to be lost? Doubt that God's grace is
sufficient to cover any defect in their theology while praising it to
offset my pride or selfishness? Only Christ adds us to the
church. I'll bet that if Satan met at the coffee shops and bull
sessions, all of us would mark him as the most saintly person in the
world. How can Dr. Shelly identify who is what? He might batch with
friends who do SPIRIT SPEAK but Jesus would probably identify the
vocational preacher who hates baths out packing food for flood
victims as spiritual. He sure fooled the doctors of the law on the
first trip! "Spiritual" relates to the WORD
of Christ because the MIND OF CHRIST is the Holy Spirit. And Jesus
said "don't look at the flesh: my Words are Spirit and Life."
Therefore, one who plays dice with the Words of a Holy God can have
no SPIRIT and certainly does not have A holy
spirit. Jesus didn't say, "Go judge
hearts." He said, GO preach the gospel and Paul never put people
through a TEST OF SPIRITUALITY before he began preaching. Jesus
preached to the clergy as did Peter. It is JUDGMENTALISM to decide
who is or who is not a Child of God other than the test laid down by
Jesus and practiced until Zwingli. The task of Rubel Shelly is
to PREACH THE GOSPEL which includes more than seven facts about
Jesus. Then, with this GOING AND PLANTING we can trust God to give
the increase. That will free the FAMILY to
develop all of the junior males to become pastor-teachers who are
less likely to soak up the latest fad and therefore sow less
discord. They don't train you to be a
warrior until you enlist. But enlisting doesn't make you a
warrior. Note: Only summaries of the lessons in this
series will appear online in text format. The full content of each
sermon will be available in audio format. http://faithmatters.faithsite.com/content.asp?CID=48139
C.
Bruce White: Madison's Use of Sweet's Kregg Hood's material (Tithing,
Tongues, raising the dead?)
