Sunday, December 18, 2011

Review of Christless Christianity

I just finished reading Christless Christianity, by Michael Horton (2008). My pastor once referred to it from the pulpit as 'the most important book of the century.' Challies and others have written great reviews already and it has been around for a while now (3 years). However, writing helps me retain what I have read, so if this is a blessing to you, or if it will cause you to pick up the book, then it is worth my time to write and yours to post a blog on it. Thanks to the BSG (the Bible study at my work) for allowing me to lead a discussion through this book at the tale end of the year. Without having to answer to you I probably would have moved on to another book rather than completing it!

Disclaimer: Horton is a little deep. Keep your dictionary handy and persevere, and your vocabulary will grow and you will be blessed by his teaching. He is a smart guy that it is at times a reach for me to stay tracking with him. Having said that, he is a quote machine! He is a powerful writer and as I will mention, he points the reader to Christ and the Gospel.

Concern

Horton’s concern in writing this book is that Christianity in America is in many churches being watered down. He explains this form of denying Christ is what he calls “Christless Christianity”.

I am not arguing in this book that we have arrived at Christless Christianity but that we are well on our way. … My concern is that we are getting dangerously close to the place in everyday American church life where the Bible is mined for ‘relevant’ quotes but is largely irrelevant on its own terms; God is used as a personal resource rather than known, worshiped and trusted; Jesus Christ is a coach with a good game plan for our victory rather than a Savior who has already achieved it for us; salvation is more a matter of having our best life now than being saved from God’s judgment by God himself; and the Holy Spirit is an electrical outlet we can plug into for the power we need to be all that we can be.

Horton describes today’s Christianity using the borrowed phrase: ‘moralistic, therapeutic deism’, which offers this kind of working theology:

God created the world; God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions; The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself; God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when needed to resolve a problem; Good people go to heaven when they die. Pause to consider much of the teaching you might find on your television on a Sunday morning and you’ll see how apt a description this is. (Challies)

Christ

My favorite thing about the book is the way Horton points us away from ourselves and to Christ and His Word. In walking us through the ills of our Christless Christianity, he masterfully weaves Gospel truth and proclaims the Gospel of Christ.

Christianity announces the Good News that God in Christ has saved us now from the condemnation of the law, has dethroned the tyranny of sin, and has delivered us from Satan’s oppressive regime. But it gets even better: one day this salvation will be consummated in the gift of resurrection, glorification, and everlasting life free of the very presence of sin, pain, evil, and violence. (p 97)

Not only the message but the gospel’s method of delivery itself is Good News. God did not merely speak about the incarnation. Still less did God speak of the incarnation as a general principle for anything and everything that God does in the world. No God actually became flesh, fulfilled all righteousness, conquered sin and death, and in his resurrection inaugurated the new creation as the firstfruits of the entire harvest. A new power regime is afoot in this passing age: the power of life over death, justification over condemnation, righteousness over the dominion of sin. God’s politics is his work: the cross and the resurrection – and the confident expectation of Christ’s return in glory to make all things new.

Characters

In diagnosing the problem with American evangelicalism, Horton does what is unpleasant but necessary: he names names.

As heretical to our post-modern culture as this is, there is a clear Biblical precedent for naming names, calling out those who preach error.  Peter named Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8) and he exposed “the way of Balaam (II Pet.2: 15). Paul named Hymenaeus and Alexander (1Tim. 1:20), Phygelus and Hermogenes (2Tim. 1:15), Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tim. 2:17), Alexander the metalworker (2 Tim. 4:14), Paul had some strong words for the sorcerer El'ymas (Acts 13:10). He even called out the Apostle Peter publicly when the issue was crucial for the Gospel (Gal 2:11-14).

Likewise, Horton discusses Finney, Pelagianism, semi-pelagianism, Gnosticism, the Emergent church, Osteen, Meyer, and Barna to name a few.  The New Testament is crystal clear that we are to be on the alert for false teachers and to test all things holding fast to that which is true (i.e. jives with Scripture). He is quick to point out that the problems with the American church are in all major denominations (including his own). He is not pointing to liberalism as the problem, but rather a lack of theology altogher, a vacuum of truth.

My argument in this book is not that evangelicalism is becoming theologically liberal but that it is becoming theologically vacuous. … We come to church, it seems, less to be transformed by the Good News than to celebrate our own transformation and to receive fresh marching orders for transforming ourselves and our world. … Just as you don’t really need Jesus Christ in order to have T-shirts and coffee mugs, it is unclear to me why he is necessary for most of the things I hear a lot of pastors and Christians talking about in church these days.

Confusion

One helpful aspect of the book is the way it confronts many of the things we hear so often. Things that are just flat wrong. We are confused in many ways in our thinking. Here is a short list:

  • We are called to ‘Deeds not creeds’

  • Christians need to ‘be the Gospel’

  • ‘Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary use words’

  • Are you going to accomplish great things for God?

  • The Gospel is not about rules; it’s about loving God and each other. (p 134)

  • Religion is personal, between me and God.

Call

Horton’s call is to a slumbering church to wake up to its true mandate in Christ.

A genuinely evangelical church will be an evangelistic church: a place where the gospel is delivered through Word and sacrament and a people who witness to it in the world.

Challies points out that Horton is calling the “church to narrow its commission from fixing all of the world’s ills to simply returning to the basics.”

The church as people—scattered as salt and light through the week—has many different callings, but the church as place (gathered publicly by God’s summons each Lord’s Day) has one calling: to deliver (and receive) Christ through preaching and sacrament.

The final chapter is entitled ‘A Call to Resistance’. 

What is called for in these days, as in any other time, is a church that is a genuine covenantal community defined by the gospel rather than a service provider defined by laws of the market, political ideologies, ethnic distinctives, or other alternatives to the catholic community that the Father is creating by his Spirit in his Son. For this, we need nothing less than a new Christian where the only demographic that matters is in Christ.

I love how Challies closes out his review of the book. I could not have put it better, and in my laziness I do not care to.

Through all of this I’d suggest the most important statement in the book may just be this: “It is not heresy as much as silliness that is killing us softly.” This is where the book may be most useful for the conservative Christians who are the audience most likely to read it. All of us can fall into silliness without tossing aside the gospel. We can hold fast to Christian theology, even while allowing silliness and levity to pervade the very fabric of our church. A once-serious institution can become overrun by programs and purposes that slowly erode the gravity and simplicity of the church’s unique calling. This book is a call for the church to return to its biblical foundations and to remain true to those convictions. It is a clarion call and one that Christians would do well to heed. Christless Christianity is an excellent and timely book and one I would not hesitate to recommend to any Christian.

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 Resources

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Wayne Simien visits the BSG

I am blessed to have a Bible study where I work.  Wayne Simien came and spoke there last Thursday.

I got to introduce Wayne, one of my all-time favorite Jayhawk basketball heroes.  Wayne explained why he walked away from a pro basketball career to pursue Christian ministry with Called to Greatness.

Wayne proved to be just a regular guy, completely humble and fun to hang out with.  He shared his testimony of coming to faith in Christ while in college, gave some unique insight into the life of a professional athlete, and encouraged the audience to follow Christ in every aspect of life.  His message is worth listening to; in fact I hope entire families will gather and listen together!  CLICK HERE to download the audio.


Wayne before he spoke to our Bible study group.

Wayne and others from the Bible study, posing by the poster used to promote the 10/20 event.


Friday, September 23, 2011

Do not be deceived. How you live matters.

Three Scriptures warn not to be duped by those who teach you can be a Christian yet live like the Devil.
  • Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8)
  • For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 5:5-6)
  • Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:7-8)

Is there any Biblical basis for a 'carnal Christian' or a 'backsliding Christian'?  Many today teach that once you are 'saved/accept Christ/pray the prayer/walk the aisle' you are guaranteed Heaven regardless of how you live. I believe that salvation is by grace (Eph 2:8-9) and not by any act of righteousness on our part (Titus 3:5). However, if you are a child of God will you not act like your Father?  If you are His, you will bear fruit?

Note the warning in each of these verses. Do not be deceived!  If you claim the name of Christian, does your life bear that out?  If not, what will you do about it?

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

If you can't say anything nice ...

Sometimes the best answer is to say nothing at all ...
  • Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. Proverbs 17:27-28
  • When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. Proverbs 10:19
  • Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; James 1:19

Monday, August 15, 2011

Parenting Seminar Mp3


The Bible study group at my work put on a parenting seminar luncheon on August 4th. The guest speaker was our very own Dan Pentimone, a pastor at Christ Fellowship of KC, who also works with me downtown!


Whether you have children now or plan to in the future, you will benefit from this study!

Here is the advertisement we ran in our company email ...

One of the toughest jobs you will ever face is parenting. With all the influences confronting your children, how do you assure that you have the strongest influence? Join the Bible Study Group in KC for lunch as we discover what the Bible says about this important topic.

  • Do you want children who respect and honor you?
  • Are you preparing your children to face the tough decisions of life?
  • Is it really possible to raise children where you have the strongest influence over them even through their teen years?

Friday, July 1, 2011

Free S.O. album download


I commend the UK artist S.O., the newest member of Lamp Mode. His lyrics are saturated with Christ-exalting rhymes and wrapped in a smooth hip hop beat, professionally produced by Lamp Mode!

You can get his entire album 'S.O. It Begins' for FREE here ... www.lampmode.com/so-it-begins/

My favorite song so far is Highs and Lows. S.O. describes how in his walk with Christ, he goes through painful lows, then like in the Psalms, he looks to Christ and is lifted up.

(So I ask myself) Why are you downcast my soul, hope in the Lord/See Him hanging there on the pole for the filthest thoughts/The most wicked of hearts, He died for you S know it/This is truth, objective how do you then blow/Repentance and faith, bear fruit man show it/Have that cross up in face endure and know Him/Be strong in the grace that’s found solely in Him/Satan will pray tricks by reminding you of your sin/But He died for them all, remember Calvary again/Never let it leave your brain/and things will never be the same/The Lamb of God was truly slain, rose up from the grave though/And justified in His name up the praise go!/Yeah, and that will never change/This that high up on the ride that I better crave/My help and my God who is centre stage/And His Spirit in I no better way/
Download this album and be blessed by it too!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah

Daily Readings with Martyn Lloyd-Jones

June 07


The Lion of the Tribe of Judah


Sin ... entered human life from the outside and it attacked even the Son of God. That I am forgiven is glorious, that I have a new nature is wonderful and still better. But still I am left to face this terrible power that is set over against me, and which strives ever to defeat me ... It has defeated the mightiest and the strongest. It has not hesitated to match its strength even with God Himself. Its subtlety and suggestions meet me everywhere. Who am I to confront such a foe? What is man at his best against such an antagonist? ... Man cannot, for all men have failed ... Is all hopeless? Must we continue to strive and strive in vain? No! A David has appeared and smitten this Goliath; a Jonathan has routed the Philistines again. The Man has entered the lists and delivered the enemy a mortal wound from which he can never recover ...

Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, has conquered Satan. Tried and tested to the utmost, He not only emerged unscathed, but hath 'cast out the prince of this world' ... He has conquered death and the grave and every power that is inimical to man and his highest interests. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed — yea, and not only for Himself, but for us. He offers us His own power and promises to clothe us with His own might. Not only need we not be defeated any longer; in Him we can become more than conquerors over any and every power that may raise itself against us.

These are the problems of the world ... They are exposed in the gospel and they are solved by it. Christ satisfies every need and He alone does so. He has 'done all things well'. The message of the gospel is about Him and what He has done. It is not theory. It works, it is a fact as the lives of Christians of all ages testify. Ashamed of Jesus? A thousand times no!

The Plight of Man and the Power of God, pp. 89-91

About Me

Here is my testimony: mike