State of the “Church” Address 2008-2009

Prophet Elhanan

Prophet Elhanan

Member
State of the “Church” Address 2008-2009​

Some common problems are facing the believers of today that have plagued us for the past several years it seems. This is the issue of spiritual ignorance. This covers biblical illiteracy, lack of moral fiber, and personalized theologies. The common hang ups seem to be lingering so long that they are beginning to define this generation of saints.
Biblical illiteracy has been on the rise since parents relinquished their rights and responsibility of educating their children to others. This caused a vacuum of knowledge to occur which began to take on ideas and influences from multiple sources, the government and “social weavers” being the two main factors in this. “Social weavers” are affectionately called such because of their grand plans to design and reshape a society in a more favorable image, favorable in their eyes of course. These people are unmistakable. They loudly and boisterously announce to everyone the wrongs and injustices of their lives. About half of these people have no clue what a good alternative to the evils they see are but they are none the less determined to end it. The other half are full of “great ideas”. The gladly proclaim to the world the proper was to conduct themselves and unmercifully demand this rigorous lifestyle on others even if they refuse to live by those standards themselves. Now government in itself isn’t necessarily bad, but it is extremely influential, and very easily corrupted. This makes it a very untrustworthy institution and one to be kept extremely limited. Sadly our time does not have place for this and our government has grow in conjunction with our tolerance of it. Here is where the two groups blend. The social weavers have a tendency to gravitate toward educational institutions, and the government controls those institutions. This is either because of their ability to question/or obey, their inability to actually do but ability to teach, and the promised position of power allotted from the school masters chair. This was the breeding of the perfect storm for the believers. Now not only where our children being removed from the foundational institution of the family but it was being replaced by the largely more secular one of the public school. Churches were now the primary source of spiritual education and the government the primary source for traditional education. This divided the two and unintentionally segregated the two. Children where being taught to compartmentalized “real education” at school and “stories” at church. The training of new believers was put to nearly a complete halt with this shift creating the generation of “emotional giant and intellectual midgets” (Bayles) we currently live in.
The lack of moral fiber spread from all of this to give us a cynical, perverse, and rude generation which I am a part of. You see the reason I am aware of these facts is because I was a product of them. I understand how someone can say things like, “who cares if they die, they are jerks anyway”, “those people deserve to go to hell”, “what is truth anyway? Isn’t everything just our own opinions?” and much more of the sort. The morals of our generation has been shelved and replaced with disconnect. T.V. shows are more easily accepted as simply satire and thus given a moral get out of jail free card because of its unserious nature, as if comedy has no intent of perceived truth behind it. I will refrain from naming any of these shows by name but it is safe to say any family guy or real American dad that watched these daily shows would write a report on their anti Christian nature and tendencies without hesitation. Sadly these things do not sting us any more and as I heard in chapel years ago “the bride of Christ has forgotten how to blush”. Although many generations are to blame for this failure it is none the less the responsibility of each one of us to correct this ship before it sinks.
This brings us to our final point our very own customizable Jesus…
Hurry though supplies are unlimited. He bends, He bows, He agrees with any thing you tell Him, and is exactly what you want Him to be. CATION: customizable Jesus is not sold in stores and does not the saving power and original Jesus. Customizable Jesus may contain parts that are inaccurate and easily swallowed by small children. The makers of Customizable Jesus (you) will be held entirely responsible for any eternal outcomes that result from its use.​
… This sadly little analogy is far too real. I’m not talking about the Jesus action figure either. This is who we believe Jesus to be. It has become almost impossible to say the name Jesus and not have a personalized version of Him skew the conversation. This gets to our responsibility in the matter. We need to seek wisdom, the kingdom, truth and the will of God in His Word. Starting on this path will not necessarily result in us finding the answers per say, but it will result in those answers being supplied to us from God. This is the point of discipleship so often missing in our ministries. This relational aspect of Christianity brings a more holistic view of spirituality into light. If we will simply take the Gospel as a whole and refuse single issue theology we will start to see this erosion begin to go stop and the repairs can begin. Thank you for taking the time to read this. God bless and please feel free to comment.

-Proph.
 
Thanks for the food for thought.

I don't think I agree with most of your assessments - but I haven't thought them through to any extent yet. I'll not go into it unless you want to discuss differences.

Quick question: where did you find the term "social weaver"? I have never seen it as a sociological or generational term - only as the type of bird or in a loose networking context. I'm just curious.

God bless you as we approach the new year.
 
Social Weaver is just a term I have heard from time to time in the religion department at my college. It is used rather loosely and not in any real official manner. Sorry for the confusion.

Thank you God bless you as well.

-Proph.
 
I liked how you didn't name any shows by name...Ha. But what stung more was the fact that I could tell. I cannot find one reason to argue with what you have said.
Joey.
 
I would like to comment but I think a little more detail would be needed. For instance what do you mean by bible illiteracy. Do you mean that ppl no longer read the bible or do you mean that ppl no longer understand the bible. Secondly do you suggest that parents are increasingly responsible for teaching there kids about the theology of the bible or the moral and social implications of being a Christian person. Second what is your evidence of the connection between social weavers (nice word picture BTW) and the various declines in Christianity that you have connected them with. I am not trying to be biligerent it is just US Christianity is a very unique beast and I find it hard to grasp. I mean from outside looking in the US appears to be an increasingly divided society between increasingly hard line fundamentalists and the rest of the country. Your comments seem to speak against both positions a little (which I think is needed) but I am not sure if that is what you mean. Are you suggesting Christians in the US moving toward a more legalistic fundamentalist and frankly militant position is a good or bad thing or are you suggesting the secularization of general US society is a bad thing. Sorry for my lack of understanding I just think this is an interesting topic and I would like to comment but wanted to understand a bit more.
 
Let's see, Ill just re post the questions and post an answer to help from making a big alphabet soup and to keep from confusing myself. :)

“I would like to comment but I think a little more detail would be needed. For instance what do you mean by bible illiteracy. Do you mean that ppl no longer read the bible or do you mean that ppl no longer understand the bible.”

Well biblical illiteracy covers a bit of both. I see far fewer churches/families having Bible classes and discussions than there should be. It is also not placing a real priority in our development by our leadership. This causes laziness in reading the scriptures and our quality and quantity of time in “study” is diminished.

“Secondly do you suggest that parents are increasingly responsible for teaching there kids about the theology of the bible or the moral and social implications of being a Christian person.”

Yes. Absolutely 100% with out a doubt. Deuteronomy shows a very clear biblical model for parents teaching and training there children in the faith. This spiritual development was not left up to any other institution besides the parents. This should NOT mean however the church should play a passive role but instead one of support for this most basic cornerstone to society, the family. I would like to point out no where in the Bible do you ever see children being taken away from their parents to receive any training/education. This is a product of John Dewey the founder of public schools. He also was a well known atheist. In fact he was a cosigner to the humanist manifesto.
( http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/manifesto1.html ) Parents need to teach their kids both. What it means to be a Christian socially and good sound theology.

“Second what is your evidence of the connection between social weavers (nice word picture BTW) and the various declines in Christianity that you have connected them with. I am not trying to be biligerent it is just US Christianity is a very unique beast and I find it hard to grasp. I mean from outside looking in the US appears to be an increasingly divided society between increasingly hard line fundamentalists and the rest of the country. Your comments seem to speak against both positions a little (which I think is needed) but I am not sure if that is what you mean.”

Here is the divide (as I see it at least). We have people that believe in taking responsibility for their actions, themselves, and for the well being of their families. On the other hand you have people who see themselves as “especially deserving” or they are always seeking others to support them. The second group here acts this out in several ways, but for now let’s stick to the point. The evidence is incentive. As people loose personal investment in ANY thing they become less interested and involved. These “social weavers” are supporters of a more hands on approach by secular institutions and thus create a lack of incentive. This cycle is facilitated by uninvolved parents and an overly controlling government. This combination has lead to kids being raised by Caesar and parents wondering why their kids come home like Romans. (Baucham) Obviously the divide is very fluid and not a hard definite one by any means. So each case may be considered uniquely, but the general truth still stands.



“Are you suggesting Christians in the US moving toward a more legalistic fundamentalist and frankly militant position is a good or bad thing or are you suggesting the secularization of general US society is a bad thing.”

I think Christianity is moving toward a more disconnected model, kind of the opposite extreme of Legalism in a way. It is VERY bad as previously mentioned in the above comment. As far as the secularization of the culture is concerned, well, let culture worry about itself. Although secularization may actually present great opportunity for Christians I see it as a doctor would a patient. Just because the opportunity to do surgery is made by letting my patient swallow a pen does not mean I should try to prevent him from doing so.
We need to focus on changing individuals and let the rest come in time. More personal investment in discipleship and evangelism as opposed to huge “anti this” rallies are needed. A culture war is going on but the battle is fought most effectively in individual relationships not huge organized national movements. (Although I’m not against those at all)

“Sorry for my lack of understanding I just think this is an interesting topic and I would like to comment but wanted to understand a bit more.”

-Your questions where well put. I hope my answers were as well.


-Proph.
 
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