I came across this quote on fb the other day by William Booth: "The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, Heaven without Hell." It got me to thinking. We ARE that coming century. I cannot but marvel at the accuracy of Booth's observation. But, more captivating still is the fruition of each of his concerns. Booth was a British Methodist and founder of the Salvation Army, which targeted the helping of the poor.
The modern Church has nearly perfected itself by eliminating almost entirely the Holy Ghost from its premises. No room here for God. The cleansing has white-washed the walls and emphasizes the human-ness of it all. Now, the emphasis can be on the power of Man and significance of Man's doctrines and on his authority and half-sung songs and illustrious sermons. Now, sin can slither inside, not simply to be overlooked, but rather to be apotheosized as tolerance and godliness. Now, the real power can be Man and not the Holy Ghost. Good grief.
Once we have eliminated the Holy Spirit, other improvements can be instituted. Christianity without Christ is possible---the pastor, the elders, the Board, the people, whatever, can now be our guides and mentors. So much more humane, don't you think. Now, a belief system can be inaugurated with a more flexible God, a more human God. Now, the Bible doesn't have to be our only guide, and we can study and include other spiritual standards. Now, religion can be more open-ended, tolerant, and loving. [Maybe even our pets can be valued as much as our friends.] Good grief.
Forgiveness without repentance? Hmm. Celebrities and politicians have learned to "apologize" for their crimes---to more easily preserve their status . . . and it works in our culture today. Christians today want forgiveness with no price tag---a Heavenly gift with no conditions. Blasted conditions! We need none of that. Surely God is good and loving and Big Daddy enough not to ask us to repent. What an ugly word. How discriminatory is the whole concept of having to "turn away" from something. We humans are so shallow and yet would claim to be God if we could. Good grief.
Regeneration---transformation and rebirth---is too complicated. Let's just sprinkle a head or two or say a word or two in a memorial rite of some kind, baptism will do, and go about our merry way. Let's keep this as simple as possible. God would want that. Right? This concept of a "life-altering encounter with God" must surely be some overly dramatic and Romantic mistake. God is good and loving; He doesn't demand anything of us, does He? He's tolerant, right? Good grief.
We are gasping our way through another election cycle. It's been going on for months and months. It never ends. It's eternity. It's exhausting. It has nothing whatsoever to do with God. [His name is sometimes mentioned in a drooling, insulting aside meant to keep those evangelicals happy.] No one today wants God to be anywhere near their politics. The very idea! Good grief. Without God, politics is completely amoral. The bigger the lie, the better.
The idea of Heaven without Hell suggests the human effort to be known for the tolerance of our love rather than for our convictions. Universalism misses the mark. God's grace and unconditional love for us does require that we choose Him, the Way, over all and anything else. Moderns don't want to do that. Mainly, we want to choose ourselves---our egos and our happiness and our experience---our world view. However, it is a grave mistake of moderns to simply omit God's justice from the Heavenly view. God is good, and God is also just.
Booth referred to all of these as "dangers." Many (most I'm afraid) today would not see them in that light at all, but would even attribute them to progress. Good grief. We are so shallow.
The modern Church has nearly perfected itself by eliminating almost entirely the Holy Ghost from its premises. No room here for God. The cleansing has white-washed the walls and emphasizes the human-ness of it all. Now, the emphasis can be on the power of Man and significance of Man's doctrines and on his authority and half-sung songs and illustrious sermons. Now, sin can slither inside, not simply to be overlooked, but rather to be apotheosized as tolerance and godliness. Now, the real power can be Man and not the Holy Ghost. Good grief.
Once we have eliminated the Holy Spirit, other improvements can be instituted. Christianity without Christ is possible---the pastor, the elders, the Board, the people, whatever, can now be our guides and mentors. So much more humane, don't you think. Now, a belief system can be inaugurated with a more flexible God, a more human God. Now, the Bible doesn't have to be our only guide, and we can study and include other spiritual standards. Now, religion can be more open-ended, tolerant, and loving. [Maybe even our pets can be valued as much as our friends.] Good grief.
Forgiveness without repentance? Hmm. Celebrities and politicians have learned to "apologize" for their crimes---to more easily preserve their status . . . and it works in our culture today. Christians today want forgiveness with no price tag---a Heavenly gift with no conditions. Blasted conditions! We need none of that. Surely God is good and loving and Big Daddy enough not to ask us to repent. What an ugly word. How discriminatory is the whole concept of having to "turn away" from something. We humans are so shallow and yet would claim to be God if we could. Good grief.
Regeneration---transformation and rebirth---is too complicated. Let's just sprinkle a head or two or say a word or two in a memorial rite of some kind, baptism will do, and go about our merry way. Let's keep this as simple as possible. God would want that. Right? This concept of a "life-altering encounter with God" must surely be some overly dramatic and Romantic mistake. God is good and loving; He doesn't demand anything of us, does He? He's tolerant, right? Good grief.
We are gasping our way through another election cycle. It's been going on for months and months. It never ends. It's eternity. It's exhausting. It has nothing whatsoever to do with God. [His name is sometimes mentioned in a drooling, insulting aside meant to keep those evangelicals happy.] No one today wants God to be anywhere near their politics. The very idea! Good grief. Without God, politics is completely amoral. The bigger the lie, the better.
The idea of Heaven without Hell suggests the human effort to be known for the tolerance of our love rather than for our convictions. Universalism misses the mark. God's grace and unconditional love for us does require that we choose Him, the Way, over all and anything else. Moderns don't want to do that. Mainly, we want to choose ourselves---our egos and our happiness and our experience---our world view. However, it is a grave mistake of moderns to simply omit God's justice from the Heavenly view. God is good, and God is also just.
Booth referred to all of these as "dangers." Many (most I'm afraid) today would not see them in that light at all, but would even attribute them to progress. Good grief. We are so shallow.
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