You may have heard a while back about a survey that indicated most American Christians believe that there is more than one way to heaven. The survey’s methodology was questioned and, as a result, it has been redone. The results did not change.
here is seminary president Al Mohler’s take.
And here is seminary student Todd Burus
Dr. Mohler says, in part:
As I told USA Today, this report reveals that a good number of those who attend evangelical churches either misunderstand or repudiate the Gospel. The New Testament reveals not only that Jesus claimed to be the only way to the Father [see John 14:6] but also that the Gospel of Christ is the only message that saves [see Romans 10]. This claim has been central to evangelical conviction — at least until now.
I am confident that much of this confusion can be traced to the superficiality that marks far too many evangelical pulpits. The disappearance of doctrinal understanding and evangelical demonstration can be traced directly to the decline in expository preaching and doctrinal instruction. A loss of evangelistic and missionary commitment can be fully expected as a direct result of this confusion or repudiation of the Gospel.
This new survey should be received with great concern. Will it awaken today’s generation of evangelicals to the catastrophe before our eyes?
Todd Burus says in part:
This begs the question, at what point do we stop calling these people Christians? When we say “Most Christians” and when the society critiques “Most Christians,” it is now clearer than ever that they are not actually talking about Christians in the first place. They’re talking about people who wear the clothes of a Christian, but work for someone else. They’re talking about people who apparently don’t have anything better to do on Sunday morning (oh wait, they probably aren’t going to church, which explains our attendance numbers) and people who feel guilty for calling themselves what they really are, functional universalists (or atheists, since they seem to believe in no god I know of).
Why has this happened? Which came first: the denial of Scriptural authority and the inerrancy of God’s Word, or the abandonment of actual biblical Christianity? When did we become so self-assured that we lost the fear of God?
I don’t think I have anything constructive to say about this right now. Honestly, I’m shocked and appalled and a hair short of just really ticked off. I get so tired of people going around calling themselves Christians and then believing crap like that! If you wonder why Christmas is better called X-Mas and you are more and more likely to be shot trying to buy a Nintendo Wii than you are to hear someone talk about the birth of their savior and actually mean it, try these numbers on for size. This is sad, but unfortunately, it’s only sad because it confirmed what we’ve known all along.
I hope this motivates all of you, as it does me, to be more evangelistic and more adamant about the truth, the biblical truth, than ever before.
what is your reaction?
I agree with both of these men. This goes along with what you’ve been saying about teaching exactly what the bible says. Expository teaching…my favorite kind. The thing that jumped out at me in Burus’ note was, “When did we become so self-assured that we lost the fear of God?” That needs to be right up there with the teaching of grace. How can we truly understand the breadth of grace when we don’t have a fear of God? When we don’t know what God expects? How holy He is? I think we come to understand grace better as we become more intimate with God and lose our self-assurance in the fear and awe of our Holy God.
Thanks Michelle. I think you are right. I think of Isaiah’s reaction to God in Isaiah 6:5 and Job’s reaction in Job 42:1-6 and Peter’s reaction in Luke 5:8 and Daniel’s reaction in Daniel 10:8-10.
Those men felt some awe in the presence of God.
Well, on the risk of sounding superficial, doesn’t he (Todd) know that “xmas” is just an abbreviation from the Greek letter chi, the first letter in christos? I don’t consider it PC at all.
He does have a point though, about how desensitized we’ve become in this instant gratification society.
There are a number of other things I could say, but this small space doesn’t allow for it.
Hey Melody. Good to hear from you. Don’t hold back. just stretch that comment box right on out.
Well it’s just that what I want to talk about would be worth a whole debate. Like biblical inerrancy and schools of Christian thought such as Arminians and Calvinists.