The basis of Your Belief System
 When
my parents were teens back in the 1920s television was
something out of Buck Rogers. To think people would
one day have both sound and pictures broadcast and received
via “air waves” was practically beyond belief. The
majority of rural people did not have electricity and
indoor plumbing, so how could they realistically consider
TV? Add to that the modern internet. What would they
think today about this worldwide, almost limitless source
of information and communication? Well, we have indeed
come a long way, and like most new inventions TV and
the web have both their advantages and its disadvantages.
Read on and see how this fits into our religious belief
systems.
Slick Preachers
and the Health and Wealth Message
To classify
all television/internet evangelists as charlatans is
not only a very inaccurate statement, but is flat-out
wrong. Only heaven itself will reveal the positive
impact modern media have had on getting the gospel to
multitudes around the world. Reputable men whose sole
purpose is to tell a dying world of our living Redeemer
are worthy of our financial support and prayer. God
has given them both the calling and the talents necessary
to go where most others cannot go, and this they do
without complaint.
The other
aspect of this inquiry, however, has to do with those
with questionable messages, motives and methods. Television
has been the edge many charlatans needed in order to
deceive millions and bilk them out of their money.
Without TV and the internet many of them might have
lived and died in obscurity. But as a result of being
able to be seen with expensive suits, coffered hair,
costly studio sets, flashy music and all the other trimmings
that go with such programs many of these so-called evangelists
are living in the lap of luxury at the expense of gullible
viewers.
They often
preach what is commonly called a “health and wealth
gospel”. They tell viewers that God wants them to be
healthy and rich; that God does not want them to experience
difficulties and that He created all the good things
in this world to be enjoyed by His people. I have known
otherwise intelligent people to be taken in by these
messages. You see, this kind of thing might work here
in America, but it would not in most other places in
the world. Try this kind of prosperity preaching in
the killing-fields of Sudan or in the leprosy-filled
ghettos of Calcutta and see how long you will have an
audience.
Most of
us know of Reverend Ike and his affluence. One of his
radio ads said: If you want pie in the sky by and
by, then you don't want Reverend Ike. But if you want
pie ala-mode with ice cream on top, then listen to Reverend
Ike every Sunday morning… Further, “...he owns
a fleet of Rolls Royces (a different color for every
day of the week, appointed in mink), diamond rings,
expensive suits, and multiple mansions…” His messages
keep repeating that “...poverty, a lack of luck,
poor health, etc., are the result of incorrect attitudes,
a lack of confidence, a lack of faith and a failure
to get in touch with the "presence of God within
each of us." (Wikipedia, Rev. Ike, cited 15
Oct 08). “Luck” is never part of a Christian’s life.
The fact
that this is totally unbiblical does not seem to matter
to Ike’s adoring fans because they send millions so
he might enjoy his lavish lifestyle. They do not want
the truth about life here and now as Christians. They
become awestruck and mesmerized by the message and the
messenger. Their fantasies are about a lifestyle like
that of their mentor and they dream of materialism.
There is no thought to what God has said about these
and other matters.
The point
is the people who fall into this kind of claptrap are
going to sources other than the Word of God to establish
their belief system. They are captivated by the assurance
of health and wealth now and develop spiritual tunnel
vision. Their end is usually that of victims.
History and
Discovery Channels
Nobody
enjoys history more than me, and because of this the
History and Discovery Channels are on quite often at
my house. Until, that is, they present something on
the life and person of Jesus, the search for the Ark
(both Noah’s and the Ark of the Covenant), Sodom and
Gomorrah and other biblical topics. The reason is they
are most often biased in their presentation and dead
wrong in their conclusion. Discovery is much the same
as they focus on science, technology and history.
Unfortunately,
many Christians get at least a portion of their spiritual
belief system from these sources. Whether teaching
a Sunday School class, a group of kids at summer camp
or even while greeting people at a prophecy meeting
I am at times confronted by a person ready to argue
some new understanding about a person or event mentioned
in the Bible based upon some newly revealed “proof”
they saw on a particular TV program. This proof might
be totally unbiblical and absolutely ludicrous, but
it has credibility in the mind of my new acquaintance
because they “saw it on the History Channel”. Sometimes
I stand there almost in disbelief, not because of what
was said on the TV show, but because there standing
before me is a supposedly mature Christian who has fallen
victim to the lie. For some reason they do not understand
that we believe what God has said, and if archaeology,
or any other scientific discipline, corroborates it
we can say good; but, if science is either silent or
contradicts what God has said we believe it anyway based
upon faith.
As an example,
recently Valerie and I watched a part of one of those
shows where they were searching for biblical Sodom.
The viewer was left with the feeling that the biblical
account was all wrong, that Sodom, if it had ever existed
to begin with, was destroyed not because of homosexual
perversion but because of their lack of love and kindness
toward other people. The Bible is virtually always
presented as being wrong on these programs, and they
produce seminary doctors with testimony and opinions
to back up such a conclusion. What a circus!
Well, what
about the seminary doctors?
Here is
another potentially dangerous basis for a person’s belief
system. Theological education at the doctoral level
is no small accomplishment and is not for the academically
squeamish. A lot of time and hard work are required,
and the financial pay at the end of it all is not that
great. I once heard Dr. William Brown, former president
of Bryan College, jokingly say he certainly won’t go
through the tribulation because he had already spent
his seven years in tribulation at Dallas Seminary.
Certainly not a reflection on the school; just a description
of the life of a seminary student.
Yet, for
all the good that comes from such endeavors many modern
seminaries are staffed by liberal academics whose sole
intent, or so it seems, is to discredit the Bible.
From such professors comes the Jesus Seminar. This
is a group of about 150 scholars who vote on the accuracy
of what Jesus said or did as recorded in the Bible.
They use colored beads to cast their vote on the acceptance
or rejection of portions of scripture. The sad thing
is that so many preachers come out of schools that have
been deeply influenced by this kind of theological malfeasance.
Each Sunday they stand before people who are mostly
biblically illiterate and deliver some of the most heretical
messages one might hear. As a result people buy into
this stuff without opening their Bibles to check for
truthfulness as did the Bereans (Acts 17:11). False
teachers will give account for their deceit, as biblically
illiterate pew-sitters will give account for their laziness.
In a conversation
over breakfast recently a friend asked something about
the rapture and the tribulation period. I asked him
if he was aware that his denomination rejected such
texts and that its schools taught replacementism. I
think he was unaware of it for two reasons. First,
his preacher never talked about prophetic texts. They
were too hard to understand and caused difficult questions
to be raised. Further, such texts tend to divide people.
Secondly, he studied the Bible for himself. His belief
system was based upon what God said about all matters
and he did not really pay much attention to the denominational
authority in the pulpit. Good for him!
In the
end when science, seminaries, TV, the internet, the
Jesus Seminar, etc. all become dust hoary with age the
infallible, inviolate and eternal Word of God will still
be here. And there will not be one scratch or dent
left by the assaults of humanity and its best and brightest.
Everybody has a belief system, and it comes by choice.
Do not be misled by evangelists, TV writers, internet
bloggers or the professional “clergy” class if their
teaching is not biblical. Their religious philosophy
is quite simply not worthy to be the foundation of your
belief system. DLM
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