Tag: Ethics

Truth? No Longer Fashionable?


There were a couple of stories in The Age this week about the involvement of Access Ministries in schools. Other than the qualifications of volunteer teachers working through Access Ministries, especially in the CRE program, the chief concern was proselytizing. I guess the idea that proselytizing is unacceptable is based on the idea that everyone’s religion is right to him or her and one has no right to try to convince the other to switch his religious affinity.

I think therein lies the danger of downplaying the emphasis on truth. One should not poke fun at the importance of right and wrong, of truth and falsehood. Too many contemporary Christian teachers want so much to be ecumenical or perhaps more accurately, to accept religious plurality. It has become unfashionable to say “what you are saying is wrong”.  I understand the need to be accepting and to bridge any gaps between groups to overcome differences and achieve a harmonious society but that must be done by accepting differences, not glossing over them or refusing to analyse the truth or veracity of an idea, a proposition or a teaching.

When the focus on accepting each other becomes more important than an examination of whether something is true or false or whether it is right or wrong, then I think that form of acceptance is not one which builds up. Acceptance can become a problem for true construction of a body, instead of a solution. If numbers in church and vibrancy in services are more important elements than people being taught the right stuff, then I also think we have a problem. It is not about how many are responding to church services, it is also about what they are responding to and what church goers are vibrant and excited about. Truth should never be sacrificed or compromised for the sake of being fashionable.

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“Speak Life, Speak Healing”… Hmmm….


“…go, plunge yourself in the Godhead‘s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead…”

That was Spurgeon, as cited by JI Packer.

Recently a speaker in church urged the congregation to shun the issue of right and wrong, but to choose life instead. I wondered about  that. There was a ribbing of the grey matter, of theology. We were asked to opt for life, not the choice between right and wrong.

I thought that was weird. For it is in knowing who God is – knowing what is right and knowing what is wrong about the teaching of God – that we can have life. It is a personal relationship with God and an aknowledgement of His lordhip and sovereignty over us, which gives us life. How can we acknowledge Him and His lordhip if we don’t know basic facts and truths about Him?

Anyway, I’m again grateful I am brought to this spot where I am again given the opportunity to learn and grow in Him.

And another thing…

I was just reading Erickson Millard again and this phrase jumped out at me:

“The idea that God is simply something to be used or to solve our problems and meet our needs is not religion. Such attempts to harness him belong rather to the realm of magic or technology”

I cant help but think of the “name it and claim it” branch of teaching. “Speak healing”, “healing is yours, claim it” and the likes… to me these phrases are a lot like harnessing God to solve our needs or problems. It is as though He is there to be used, so why not use it. It really sounds like magic or technology.

There is something to be said about experiencing God but there is a lot more to be said about knowing our God in all sense, as He should be known.

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