Sound Teaching

“Unless biblical literalism is challenged overtly in the Christian church itself, it will, in my opinion, kill the Christian faith. It is not just a benign nuisance that afflicts Christianity at its edges; it is a mentality that renders the Christian faith unbelievable to an increasing number of the citizens of our world.”

JOHN SHELBY SPONG

It is interesting that mankind continues to try and manipulate the narrative of God. I have seen other quotes from this particular person who claims, no, was even ordained. to be a bishop in the Episcopal church. Many religious attenders fall in line with this teaching. The last part of this particular quote demonstrates the direction many prefer to follow. The idea of inclusion will bring more into the “faith”. Although, this is a false faith. In fairness, I do not have the whole context of what was said but, based on other statements by the same person, I can be fairly certain of his position. Before I dig a little deeper, I should point out that while this is on one end of the spectrum, there are those on the other side of the line that are just as wrong and consider people that don’t espouse their political ideology or nationalism as operating outside of Christian faith as well. There will be some, if not many, that will find fault in this writing. Some might consider it “narrow-minded”. My challenge is to set aside your opinion and even my opinion and let the Bible speak. I want to first open with this thought, this idea about scripture, God’s word, is not a new or enlightened thing. This goes back to the beginning in the garden.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1b, ESV, emphasis added)

So, for the purpose of this writing, we will stay on task with the quote that many aspire to believe. Let’s start with the foundation.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16,17, ESV).

It might be easy to stop here and say something like “wasn’t Paul referring to the “Old Testament?”. I will admit, I thought this way as well until I found that Peter discussed Paul’s letters as scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16). Paul’s teaching on scripture included the entirety of the Old Testament as important (Romans 15:4). Jesus points to The Revelation as critical reading, which includes the letters to the seven churches. There is more to be discovered but we can get a sense that God places a great importance on his word and both the Old and New Testaments are in view. An entire chapter in Psalms is devoted to this topic.

So, why would this person want to point people away from the truths found in scripture? Paul explains it to Timothy in this way,

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:1-4, ESV, emphasis added)

Why else would people want to distort truth? People want to feel good about themselves. They like the concept of church for the social aspect (not just the gathering part but also the ministerial support, good works). I disagree with the idea that “biblical literalism” will “kill the Christian faith”. Scripture is clear that our understanding of God, his holiness, his love, his justice will grow in us as we read and meditate on the Word. The early church was devoted to this concept. Everything the apostles said, they studied (Acts 2:42). Sounds like “literalism” doesn’t it? If it was important to the early church, why would it not be important to the church of today. After all Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Peter says it this way,

“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,” (2 Peter 2:19, ESV)

Paul tells Timothy (as we saw earlier), and us through this letter, that we are to adhere to sound doctrine. But, what about the last part of this quote? Spong considers the idea that the biblical message should be palatable to everyone so that all are included.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13,14, ESV)

There is an entire conversation about what it means to be a Christ follower but, that would lengthen this writing. We will come back to this thought at a later time. For the sake of this writing, Spong believes that the message should be broad (or wide). He caters to the idea that our world should be all-inclusive. Jesus saw it another way.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18,19, ESV)

If Jesus determined that this unacceptance would be the norm, why would we try to push against it. Far too many churches desire to soften the message, make it “seeker friendly” when the entirety of the message is we are dead in our sin without Christ. We don’t just have bad tendencies, we are vile from the beginning. Paul writes that there is no one righteous, no not one but, these aren’t just his words but a restatement of, dare I say it, “biblical literalism”. (See Romans 3:10-12 and Psalms 14:1-3) So what does the Bible say about this worldly alignment? Let’s let Jesus’ half-brother James speak. He was not a believer early on but after the resurrection, became a devoted follower and leader of the church in Jerusalem after Peter.

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:4-6, ESV)

So how should we respond to statements like we opened up with? Well, first, if we desire to be inclusive of the world, we might need to stop and think about James’ warning. Perhaps we might not even be believers. But, past that, we need to be students of the Word, diligent to know the truth. (2 Timothy 2:15). We have to test what is said (1 John 4:1) and proclaim truth as scripture teaches.

If we do not hold fast to Bible and what it teaches, we will easily be carried away by false teaching. John says the spirit is not in us. Let us study the scriptures and have God teach us the truth by his Spirit. Let us walk in step with Christ as true followers. Jesus says, literally, he is the way, the truth and the life. No one can reach God except through him (John 14:6). Unless we come to faith in him, alone, we are on the easy wide road to destruction. 

To the other side, those committed to a political ideology or Christian nationalism, stop and consider that Jesus’ teaching doesn’t hold to this. If we espouse hate towards others, we are not of Christ. John spends nearly an entire letter pointing to this truth. Unfortunately, pastors that point to the gospel as their only message and don’t align with a particular political party find themselves being ostracized by people who claim to represent Jesus. This, too, is harmful to the cause we have been called to. To write in this article about “nationalism” would more than double the length and render this writing as exhausting.

For many of these types of discussions I will typically ask “what is the motive?”. I find, even in myself, that I want to hold on to my ideology or preferences. The “follow your heart” mentality is widely prevalent and pervasive. Yet, the word “Christianity” contains “Christ” and Jesus was clear, we deny ourselves so self-motivation is out. He also says that if we can’t renounce everything, we cannot be his disciples and therefore are not his.

Bottom line, God’s word is truth and in it we find life. If we disregard the word, we do not have any hope. Paul wrote to the church in Rome that faith comes by hearing the word. It would be easy to scan through a disjointed article like this and dismiss it, or take time to find fault but, my challenge would be to examine the scriptures themselves, skip my words and let God speak. Keep things in context as you study. Seek Him while he may be found.

In His Name,

Scott