PHILOSOPHY vs LAW

[choir loft]

After listening to sermons and faux-apologists for decades and after being bored out of my skin, I went to a strange place to find out why.

The Bible.

Why strange you may ask?  It is indeed strange when several major denominations deny the efficacy and divine origins of the Word of God.   It is indeed strange when answers to questions of the heart and soul can be found in its pages rather than philosophical mumbo jumbo.   According to PEW and Gallup polls the number of regular church attendees (regular attendance being measured as one visit per month) fell in 2010 to 40% of 1948 figures.  Statistical projections are that by 2050 the number will fall further to a level of 10%.  The reason for this poor head count is a considered lack of attention paid to the Word of God, specifically the Law.

There are two types of sermon; topical and scriptural.   All sermons fall into one category or the other.  

- A topical sermon is an outline on some subject, usually situation ethics, using secular anecdotes and snippets of scripture to illustrate the main points (usually 3).   Traditionally there are 3 points to every Sunday morning homily, but if a sermonizer is long winded he or she can stretch it out into the lunch hour.  The nauseous pointless droning will end only with a rise in the amount of coughing, wriggling in seats, and low level mumbling or cell phone use.  Most sermons are topical.

- A scriptural sermon uses Bible text as an outline and will proceed from verse to verse explaining one after the other.  Scriptural sermons most often resemble a Bible College lecture in nature.  They can be rather dry, but they will be packed with useful information and inspiring points.

The church problem, as defined by leaders across Christendom, is relevancy.  The oft repeated inspiration for each decade of preaching is how to make the gospel relevant.   Have you ever heard this phrase used?  

The reason the gospel has to "be made relevant" is that God's message is being transliterated into philosophical jargon compatible with secular society - NOT the philosophy of the Kingdom of God.  Modern apologists are only very clever philosophers in that they've made the leap into relevancy before its caught on with every other leader.  

Secular philosophy changes every ten to fifteen years.  

The secular world is engaged in a mad rush from one crisis to another or from one political point of view to another.  For instance, in one decade it may be unpopular to support an unjust war, while in another decade it may very well be popular to support an unjust war.   Nobody is really concerned about justice, only that's its popular or not.  Secular philosophy is never stable and it changes every ten to fifteen years.  It takes five to ten years for Christian leaders to "catch up or recognize" the trends and to formulate a philosophical reply to it.  Consequently they almost always arrive late on the scene.  By the time they figure out how to make the gospel relevant to society, society has changed its attention to another fad or political obsession.

THE LAW as presented in the Bible does not change.  It doesn't change because its based upon unchangeable divine principle, not secular philosophy and trends.  

Unfortunately, most of American Protestantism has openly and overtly declared the LAW is no longer in effect despite Jesus' words and acts and ministry to the contrary.  (Matthew 5:17)  Consequently they neither know the Law or its purpose nor do they understand how Jesus fulfilled it.   Leaders do not know how to understand the Law or to apply it to faith.  

Instead of relying upon the stable unchanging nature of God's Law our churches rely upon the machinations of philosophical apologetics, which are as changeable as shifting sand at the beach at high tide.

It's time to return to a study of the Law.   In these changing times, it is wise to consult something that doesn't change - the Law of God.

that's me, hollering from the choir loft.....

Edited March 6, 2019 by choir loft
clarification & spelling

[Who me]

Part of your problem is in listening to people who think regular church attendance is once a month.

Regular church attendance is every Sunday.

If the surmon isn't relevent to life or the bible ask the preacher why and make the sort of points he should have made.

Do pray for your preachers, both privatly and in public prayer meetings. Pray also for the congragation that they will want the strong meat of the gospel.