Sometimes, Christians get so concerned with what's right and wrong, we lose our humility, said one Washington pastor and author.
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(Photo: New Attitude Conference)Thousands of young Christians attend the 2008 New Attitude conference at the Kentucky International Convention Center on May 24-27, 2008.
"We think that we see what's right and therefore we become self righteous thinking 'I am clever enough to know this. I am clever enough to figure this out," said Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
Over the last four days, some 3,500 young adults engaged in the study Scripture while leaving the self righteousness at home. The young Christians traveled to Louisville, Ky., for the 2008 New Attitude conference to focus on "God's Word" and take up "humble orthodoxy" – believing, living and representing biblical truth with humility.
Joshua Harris, who founded New Attitude, wanted the thousands to experience the power of sound doctrine "and the fact that truth really changes your life."
"We never want to assume the Gospel," Harris cautioned. "We always want to go back to and focus on the reality that Jesus died for our sins. We want to hold fast to those truths of the Christian faith .... But at the same time, we want to be humble."
Agreeing with the combination "humble orthodoxy," Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a preeminent evangelical, stressed the need for sound biblical teaching but reminded believers of how they have come to know the truth claims of the Gospel.
"We need to say 'we are sinners saved by grace who know the truth not because we're so smart but because God has spoken to us," Mohler said.
This year, in addition to its speaking sessions, New Attitude featured its first ever Q&A session, bringing Mohler to the hot seat to answer live questions on almost any topic asked by conference attendants.
Over 60 people eagerly lined up to microphones to ask questions but detailed answers by Mohler gave time for only eight questions.
"Should we be wary of postmodern ideas and their effect on the church?" a female attendant who identified herself as Bethany from Louisville, Ky., asked.
"Yes," Mohler said directly.
Postmodernism can be helpful, Mohler said, acknowledging that it helps people understand there is a diverse world of worldviews and not everyone shares the same "social system" as Christians.
On the other hand, postmodernism is pernicious, he commented.
"It can produce a wrong kind of intellectual humility that eventually says there is no truth we can know," the prominent evangelical leader noted. "It denies there is a great universal truth to which we are accountable and to which we can know."
Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church called it arrogance to deny the truth claims in the Bible.
"God's been really clear in the Bible. So for us to be vague on something God has been clear about, that's not humble. That's arrogant. It's arrogant of us to put our own ideas as if they're better than God's," Dever emphasized in an earlier interview. "Really believing the truth is humble of us, it's surrendering ourselves to Him."
Other questions New Attitude attendants posed during the conference included the issue of homosexuality, the inerrancy of the Bible, and the distinction between the Bible and other religious books. Continue >>
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Comments
leeloo11400 --
You are absolutely right... I can always use a little 'humble orthodoxy.' I wish I could recant my post. I wrote this after reading a rather negative article on 'Christian Conferences'. These things roll through town like the carnival, and more often than not are full of the same milquetoast teaching and purpose-driven emergent heresy. My younger sisters-in-law attend as often as they can, and I watch their convictions to be separate and holy from the world disintegrate. It is heart-wrenching. Sometimes I am guilty of being judgmental before I really investigate an issue.
Mat. 6:33 - But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
wrhalver --
I am completely with you on this one. I think maybe the reason it stands out is because people are trying to make us say that homosexuality is ok, and it is just the way some people are. People (Christian and non-Christian alike) still know that adultery is wrong (mainly because they have had to deal with it and realize how hurtful it is) and aren't trying to force it on anyone by saying that everyone should be ok with it, but I think we have forgotten (for sure with what I have been reading on these comments) that we are all sinners (sexual and otherwise).
arron.e --
What is wrong with renewing our commitments? Conferences or churches, they are all there so that we can come together to worship. I applaud these young men and women for going. Perhaps you need a little bit of "humble orthodoxy" you speak as if you are the authority and that the rest of us just don't get it.
brethics, are you sure reformers are Amillennialists? if so, they agree with the following: Amillennialism is a belief largely characterized by the supposition that the literal return of the Messiah and the 1000 year reign is not true. There is instead a "messianic age" with the rule of the church body politic, or in more extreme cases, no millennial reign of Jesus Christ at all. Amillennialism lends itself to a diminishing of the Judaic birthright as firstborn of the chosen of God. There are inherent and implicit replacement doctrines as the church "replaces" Israel, and in essence “replaces” even Jesus himself on earth, becoming a self-ordained Christ-in-Proxy. Because the Church in this view sets itself in the stead of both Jesus and the Jewish nation, this position leads to the denigration of both. Christ becomes of time and history (or ethereally out in a heavenly realm) and therefore is no longer greatly involved with earthly happenings. The Jewish nation becomes a nation which God has dispossessed because of their rejection of the Church's messiah and therefore their lack of inclusion in such, as well as their lack of recognition of the Church's birthright. In other words the Church in utter Amillennialism does not look forward to a literal return of Christ, but rather brings in a "church age" making proxy decisions for the Messiah. Instead of a millennium of the reign of Christ on earth, there becomes a "Messianic age" with a church and its figureheads as ushering in a utopian age, reinterpreting scripture in terms of church-initiated doctrine and dogma. This is the millennial perspective of most Calvinists and reformed theologians. By the way, many theologians at the very top of the Calvinist totem pole are avowed Preterists who believe that all Bible prophesy has been fulfilled.
Wow... another conference. It is too bad that these issues have to be dealt with in a conference rather than being taught from the Bible, from the pulpit, within the church. From the topics covered, to the Q&A session, these are things that my brothers and sisters no longer stumble over because of sound, exegetical teaching by the power of the Holy Spirit from the pulpit in our small church, and from within the homes led by humble, strong Christian fathers. It is all so simple, yet Satan is no finished with distracting us and leading us away from the Church. I'm sure the humble-orthodoxy conference was a good thing, but I just feel that it is too bad we have come to this.
Wow--everyone here is demanding humility from each other.
So, having seen this, I must ask: What is the difference between “playing ‘church’” and “playing humble”? Both “plays” involve the same basic mentality, no?
HUMIL'ITY, n. L. humilitas.
1. In ethics, freedom from pride and arrogance; humbleness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth. In theology, humility consists in lowliness of mind; a deep sense of one's own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin, and submission to the divine will.
There's nothing wrong with preaching somethings wrong if it's wrong.
Dear DRJ,
Before you label all of these other believers, you should really try to get your information correct. First of all, most Calvinist/Reformed people tend to be amillenial rather than post-millenial. Furthermore, John MacArthur is a Dispensational Calvinist, which is entirely possible since Calvinism deals with soteriology rather than eschatology. Second, I know that at least some of these men are specifically amil rather than postmil in their eschatology. Third, neither amillenialism nor postmillenialism have a distinctive belief about all eschatological prophecies in the NT being fulfilled in 70 AD - that would be preterism. Fourth, I hear Reformed people talk about Satan all the time. All orthodox eschatological positions (Dispensational, classic premil, amil, and postmil) believe that Satan is still active on the planet and influences people. It is important to debate these points in love - but PLEASE get your facts straight before you accuse brothers. Then you will be able to speak truth in love, rather than just spouting misinformation.
I applaud this effort! Christians are generally theologically weak, which is asking for trouble with all the "Christian" trends out there, including Contemplative Spirituality, the Emerging Church, "Your Best Life Now" and most of what one watches on TBN. We need to put God's Word back where it belongs in our churches again: as the "rule of faith" against which all trends are measured.
"We're not saying that homosexuals are sinners sexually where others are not," he said. "We're saying it's a sexual sin clearly identified in Scripture as one that needs to wake us up to the reality of sin, one that is against nature."
This conference sounds like it has tremendous potential to reach out to the Christian youth. We can only pray that at least a few of the thousands that attended will return home with greater strength and seriousness to serve the Lord.
But I am remain concerned about the message of homesexuality that Christians continue to hear. Adultery and Fornication are no less dangerous to the Kingdom of God.
We maintain a division against churches that are Pastored and attended by homosexuals, but encourage forgiveness for all others.
I pray that our church leaders will think about this as we teach this New Attitude to our youth.
The classic dispensational stance of reformed theologians (Calvanists) is Post-Millennial. The damning effect of this heretical view is that it places the completion of all Biblical prophesy at A.D. 70. Post -Mil people believe that everything that appears in the apocalyptic teachings of Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John occurred in the first Century. Post-Mil people do not believe in the rapture of the church, the great tribulation, nor the second coming of Jesus to establish His thousand year reign on earth. Instead, they believe that with the dispersal of the Jews after the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 marked the end of Israel as God's chosen people. THey espouse that the Christian Church has taken the plase of Israel as God's chosen vessel. More specifically, they believe that the Jews are no longer part of God's plan of salvation. They believe that Jesus has already returned - not personally, but in the form of the church as a type of Christ-in-proxy. They believe that the church is now ruling the earth during this current time called "the Church Age." They beliieve that during this church age, Satan and his demons have been chained. This is why you will rarely, if ever, hear a reformed preacher teach about (or even mention) Satanic influence. Instead, they believe that people are totally depraved (and without the influence of the evil one!). John Piper, Al Mohler, and most if not all of the other members of the Sovereign Grace Ministries are Calvinists. They believe that God created all but a very few members of mankind without the ability to even choose to accept His grace. In other words. God created the vast majority of mankind strictly for the purpose of burning alive in hell forever. They will burn, not because they rejected Jesus, but because God created them without the ability to ever accept Jesus. When questioned about their horrible accusation against God, they simply say that, as horrible as it sounds, they do not question God's sovereignty. I recommend that anyone who wants to know the truth about the religious leaders that you revere, just check their credentials. It's very easy. They will not deny anything I have written about them. Therefore, it is not slander, labelling, or mean-spirited...it is simply the truth.
Let us cease and desist on labelling Dr. Mohler or anyone else. The point of this conference, and I applaud the leaders, is that we are supposed to be humble in our faith. Jesus was never arrogant; nor should we be. To be completely humble we need to leave the judgments behind and learn to really love our brothers and sisters. Whether we agree with them is a great deal less important. One of the marks of Baptist tradition is something called soul freedom. The short explanation of this tenet is that we are able to discern and interpret Scripture individually. We are responsible to God for what we do with our understanding. Paul said it all best. "Faith, hope, love and the greatest of these is love." As an American Baptist and seminary graduate my understanding of this passage is that we are to have faith, live with the hope of the truth of the gospel, and love unconditionally as Jesus did. Blessings to you all.
I am glad to see this conference, there are too many Christian Pharisees. I was also guilty, having pride in my knowledge I would push what I considered "right doctrine". Now don't get me wrong, doctrine is important. However, too many Christians squabble over minor issues that are of little importance.
I don’t often read the comments on Christian Post anymore, the ego, pride, and lack of love really irritates me. Ironically, this thread is no different.
“One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-31)
"Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions." (Romans 14:1)
"And the Lord’s slave must not be a fighter but kind toward all, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance and then knowledge of the truth and they will come to their senses and escape the devil’s trap where they are held captive to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:24-26)
If we don't "spout off" about what we believe we can love people sacrificially all the way to their own damnation. That's not love. Being nice to someone's face, and serving someone's temporary/physical needs without telling them how to live a life alive in Christ (and avoid an eternity of torment) is not love.
Jesus served people, but He also pointed out their sin and led them to repentance and truth. People accused Him of a lot of things, but arrogance was not one of them. He spoke the truth with authority, and demonstrated humility with service.
Is it arrogant to call someone arrogant? I don't buy this truth-claim stuff it sounds like someone saying "I'm right and you're wrong" rather than loving someone as Jesus teaches us. Sounds alot like religion. Why not just love people sacrificially and forget about spouting off what we believe. Isn't that the freedom that is the good news? Isn't that truly humble? Why does there have to be a caveat on this humble orthodoxy?