The Bible is Better Than CRT

The Bible is so much better than Critical Race Theory.

No church cooperative needs that ungodly prejudiced worldview for an analytical tool (SBC).

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB

You don't need bad theories that cause division when you have the sufficient Scriptures!

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7 NASB

My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
James 2:1 NASB
Favoritism is denounced in Scripture.


For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:27-28 NASB
Christians are unified in Christ.

and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, Acts 17:26 NASB 

Since we all came from Adam, we are all related to each other.  

White people are no more guilty than people of other shades of skin. 

There are sinners of every color and culture, and there are sinners in all human governments (so there can be no utopia).  Only when the Lord Himself comes to reign will anyone see a perfect government.

 

Everyone is born a sinner and in need of the Savior.  The station in life any of us was born into, or attained, or was reduced down to isn't as important as our relationship to Christ.

You can't stereotype all people of one color as being rich or poor or "privileged" in the U.S. simply by looking at their skin or ancestry.  Jealousy and bitterness are sinful attitudes. Greed is as well.

Christians should never hate people or seek revenge. Joseph in the Bible ended up helping his relatives who sold him into slavery (though they may have had a hard time believing he forgave them).

Christians today should understand how much God loved us - that when we were yet enemies Christ died for us.  Do we love our enemies, forgive them, and pray for them?   

That is the Biblical example rather than looking back at what our ancestors might have done to each other and trying to retroactively reverse roles.  Who knows what evils all of our ancestors have done?

Ezekiel 18 shows us people are responsible for their own sins.  If a son doesn't do what his father did, then you don't sit there demanding an apology or money from someone not guilty..  

All people are born guilty in the headship of Adam, and people of every ethnicity need the second Adam...that is Christ .... to save us from our own sins and to be placed under His headship.

This time of year many of us remember Jesus coming to earth with love and great humility.

Though He was still God in essence, He humbled Himself taking the form of a slave.  He added on humanity which was a huge sacrifice. 

He became obedient unto death - even death on a cross for rotten sinners like you and me who deserved eternal judgment in Hell.

Do we have anywhere near that kind of love and humility?  No, we do not.

And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
Colossians 3:12-14 NASB

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:25-26 NASB

Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NASB

Gentle Correction

with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
2 Timothy 2:25 NASB

Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Galatians 6:1 NASB

Sometimes people need correction...non-believers and Christians as well (in different ways).

The goal of correction should be reconciliation to Christ, and the method should be loving while standing firmly on the truth of God's Word.

Inside the Church, God has prescribed a method of church discipline.

When the issue that is being addressed is a lack of wisdom in a professed believer, we must be very careful not to be crushing in our attempts to address the person.

Sometimes, there may not be a black and white Biblical issue, even though Biblical principles may apply.  

In such cases, the person may have to learn by life experience and Bible study.

Other times, it may be that a person is not as far along in their spiritual growth process or understanding of Scripture.

It may be that they need time to be refined.

Sometimes people learn through making wrong decisions or by trials that show just how far we still have to go in growing.

Public teaching that is error can be addressed publicly (pastors are to address it in a different way than others...direct confrontation of false teachers and teaching may be needed by pastors elders), but there is a fine line between someone who intentionally leads people astray and someone who is in error who needs gentle correction.

Protecting sheep is good, but the difficulty is to do so without harming other sheep or the reputation of the Church at large.

No matter how error or blatant sin is addressed, someone will be offended.

The difficulty is to speak the truth in love.

It should be the Biblical truth we stand on that they have a problem with - rather than how we say it.

This would be true with dealings with Christians and non-Christians alike.

I have seen many believers unwilling to stay friends with each other when they have strong disagreements, though I believe they are likely all true Christians.

This is true of a number of relationships, so don't take this as being only about one situation.

While secondary separation is sometimes necessary, people needn't be unforgiving and harsh when two people are truly Christian brothers (or sisters).

Patience, love, kindness, gentleness, and forgiveness... 

these are all things that should be what Christians exemplify....even if we can't support the behavior or decisions of someone else.

God has been patient with me.  He loved me even when I was His enemy.  He loves me though I still sin and don't want to.

I'm much like the person J.C. Ryle described who struggles with assurance confusing justification and sanctification though I have knowledge of the difference. 

If God is patient with me, I shouldn't shun others (though there may be some I wouldn't publicly endorse).

True Christians have unity around the Gospel, and we can strongly disagree about some things while letting each other know that we still love each other.

Sometimes our behavior seems to contradict what we say.

One day all true Christians will be in Heaven together.

We'd best remember that.

This post is me digging in and thinking out loud.

May it be of some edification for those who read it.

but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,
Ephesians 4:15 NASB

Is It Unity or Heresy?

True Christians should never accept heresy for the sake of unity.
This was something that I posted on Twitter, as my mind often catapults from something I hear or read earlier in the day.
Sometimes I don't know if it's a critical spirit, or if it's wise discernment.
Still, I do know we need to be Bereans, and my red flags of caution go up when I feel someone may cross the line.

There is more than one kind of unity found in the Scripture.
One is the unity that is bound up in the Trinity, and then there is the unity of believers in the Church.
The unity of believers is very important, but the unity of believers should never be at the expense of salvific and Biblical truth.
There are some important doctrines that we may disagree on (eg. baptism & eschatology) and still be within the true church of God, but some doctrines should necessarily separate.

The Reformers clearly saw the need for holding Biblical truth as more important than unity at all costs....even to being willing to die for Scriptural truth.
Nathan Busenitz of the Master's Seminary said something like this:
What started the Reformation is the question of who is the head of the church and the Scriptures themselves.
Also, he spoke of the Reformation in its being the recovery of the true Gospel.

So, yes, we do need to remember that when unity itself is everything, denominations and churches become corrupt when the leadership strays from the truth.
On the other side there is also a great danger when you say the Bible is the standard, and then don't expositionally teach it.

So, how do we know what we should be unified over or avoid?
Here are a couple of articles that explain some of these:

What are Gospel essentials?

What are fundamental doctrines?

Now, as Christians, we do realize that people are at many levels in the sanctification process, and that some people have not had the advantage of solid Biblical food being taught.
Even good teaching isn't a guarantee of good behavior.
God has to continue to chasten and prune us, until we long for Him more desperately and hate our sin more.
Then, when we see the flippant way people treat God and His Word, we cringe.
When we see our own sinfulness, we cringe.

We do need to have love for the weak, and to desire growth for the immature - realizing we have a long ways yet to go ourselves.
It is easy to look down our noses at those who have less knowledge, but we know this is wrong.
God could be wanting us to be instruments of grace, and to help encourage growth.
Sometimes it seems the more we want to grow, the further away we see the mark of the goal.
Yet, we must keep on pressing towards it in the power of the Spirit.

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  
1 Thessalonians 5:14 NASB

Separate from the World and Unified in Christ

I heard a couple of good messages about Jesus’ prayer given by John MacArthur in 1972 when he was 32 (amazing, huh?), and I decided to share some verses I looked up both from what I heard from that passage as well as others that related to my train of thought. The themes of the verses are to be different (set apart and holy) from the world, and the unity that true believers should have. I will put the links to the 2 messages underneath the verses below.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1, 2 NASB
“Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord.
“AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN;
And I will welcome you.
“And I will be a father to you,
And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
Says the Lord Almighty.
2 Corinthians 6:17, 18
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
John 17:13-17
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:19-23
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
John 17:22, 23
Jesus Prays for Us, Part 1
http://www.gty.org/resources/Sermons/1568_Jesus-Prays-for-Us-Part-1
Jesus Prays for Us Pt 2
http://www.gty.org/resources/Sermons/1569_Jesus-Prays-for-Us-Part-2