Categories
Christian Living

What is Your Spiritual Litmus Test?

Most Christians Carry Unexamined Criteria that Others Must Agree with Before They’re Accepted

I was once interviewed for a volunteer position at my church. The pair of interviewers cranked through a series of pre-assigned theological questions to determine my supposed worthiness to lead.

For some queries the answers were straightforward; others, not so much.

On these tougher questions, instead of responding with simplistic answers, I shared a more complex perspective, one packed with more questions but backed by biblical support.

I answered with shades of gray, but my inquisitors wanted black and white responses. I knew what they wanted to hear, but instead I was honest.

I suppose that in a sense I should have responded with the religious equivalent of political correctness.

For my candor I earned a one-on-one meeting with the senior pastor. He had five areas where he sought clarification. We worked through the first four without issue; he accepted my grayscale answers.

Though I don’t remember what it was, the fifth area was problematic. As he drilled down I realized I was at a tipping point. If I gave the pat answer he wanted to hear I was in. If I vacillated, I was out.

I wanted to serve my church in this capacity and, more importantly, I felt God had called me to do so—more succinctly, he told me to.

With only a tinge of guilt I gave the easy answer that would assure my acceptance. Pastor smiled and shook my hand. I was in. I passed his spiritual litmus test.

We all have spiritual litmus tests. Though I try not to, I know I do. So do you. Of a larger concern, churches have their litmus tests, too. These litmus tests are why our world is saddled with 42,000 Protestant denominations.

After all, if we agreed on everything there would be no reason to take the unbiblical step of separating from one another, of dividing the church that Jesus prayed would experience unity.

While most everyone draws a spiritual line in the sands of theology that cannot be crossed, none of this should matter.

Whether it’s disagreeing about baptism, communion, which version of the Bible is best, the song selection, pews or chairs, the color of the lobby, or even if men need to wear ties to church, Jesus wants us to be one.

Unity is more important than theology (and personal preference). That’s what matters most.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Bible Insights

Why We Shouldn’t Argue Over Theology

When Paul writes to his protégé Timothy, he instructs Timothy to warn the people not to quarrel over words. Isn’t that what most theological debate is, people arguing about words?

People who claim to follow Jesus end up arguing about the meaning of certain words.

They build their own theology around their understanding of these words and then reject everyone who thinks otherwise.

This is the primary reason why the world has 42,000 Protestant denominations.

People who should know better quarrel over words and then storm off in a huff to form a new denomination of people who think just like they do.

Don’t they read what Paul wrote? He says quarreling over words “is of no value” and “only ruins those who listen” (2 Timothy 2:14).

Later on he says to not “have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments,” which only “produce quarrels” (2 Timothy 2:23).

This isn’t the first time Paul tells this to Timothy. In Paul’s first letter of instruction he talks about false teachers and their “unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words.”

The result is “envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions” (1 Timothy 6:4).

So we must stop fighting over words. The Bible says to. Nothing good ever comes of it.

Isn’t quarreling about words the source of our theological debates and divisions? We need to stop arguing about theology and instead unite to tell the world about Jesus.

Can you think of a theological debate that wasn’t a quarrel over words? How should we treat those we disagree with?

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

Why We Need Diversity in Our Churches

Diversity Is Not Disunity

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. said the most segregated hour in the United States occurs on Sunday morning. Based on my experience in visiting more than 52 churches his assessment is still painfully true.

We need more diversity in our churches.

I long to attend a diverse church, one with racial diversity, ethnic diversity, socioeconomic diversity, and even political diversity. Oh, and one more, I desire a church with theological diversity. What a messy, beautiful place that would be.

But until we embrace diversity in how we view God, we have little chance of realizing these other types of diversities. Diversity starts with God, but we’re not doing our part.

Instead we congregate ourselves with people who see God exactly as we do, who practice faith in the same manner and think our particular brand of Christianity is the best. We assume we are right, and everyone else is wrong.

We may not say this with words, but we show it through our actions. This puts a narrow view on Christianity, whose worldwide adherents number around two billion.

As a result we go to church with people who look, think, and act like us. And if someone doesn’t fit our mold we kick them out, either directly or indirectly.

We tell them to leave or suggest they “might be more comfortable at a different church”—when really it’s our comfort we are most concerned with.

Other churches aren’t so forward. There the act of exclusion occurs with subtle effectiveness. We simply ignore those who hold different understandings of God, how we worship him, and our role as his followers in the world.

We give them a smug, holier-than-thou shunning.

Instead we need to embrace our differences in belief; we need to seek theological diversity. Not everyone practices his or her faith in the same manner, and not everyone worships God as we do at our church.

Not everyone sees the same things when they read the Bible.

The guardians of theology claim we need to agree on some essentials. Then they make a list, but their list doesn’t matter. The only thing their “essentials” accomplishes is that it moves the line that segregates us.

If we are talking about Christianity, there is one essential: Jesus. Everything else is secondary. The way we worship God doesn’t matter.

The songs we sing, the instruments we play, the clothes we wear, the version of the Bible we read, and the way we pray aren’t relevant.

How we interact with the world, view baptism, interpret the end times, comprehend the Holy Spirit, and practice communion doesn’t matter. In our faith essentials nothing should truly matter except for Jesus.

After all, Jesus is the Christ and we put his title in our name when we call ourselves Christians. Now we just need to act like Christians, people who follow Jesus.

But until we embrace our theological differences we will never achieve any significant degree of diversity, not racially, ethnically, socioeconomically, or politically.

Until we become theologically diverse we will remain segregated on Sunday morning.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

Interfaith Dialogue

A Good Thing Versus a Slippery Slope That Threatens Our Faith’s Essence

I’m a huge advocate of Christian unity and an equally huge opponent of denominations. After all, denominations are the antithesis of unity. Think about it.

Virtually all denominations resulted from disunity: of disagreements over things that didn’t really matter, of not getting along with one another, of saying “it’s my way or the highway.”

The solution is for all Christians to focus on our commonality in Jesus and not let anything else divide us. It’s that simple.

Now, what about other faiths? What should our reaction be to them?

Interfaith dialogue is a great start; it certainly beats not talking.

I recently heard a missionary explain that interfaith dialogue isn’t about sinking to find the least common denominator between two faiths; instead it’s about sharing who we truly are, of fully embracing one another.

Then I shared this idea with some ministers. They were shocked; in their experience, interfaith dialogue is always about finding the least common denominator. They didn’t see how it could be any other way.

I think the key is perspective. If we go into interfaith dialogue seeking to find the least common denominator, we will surely find it and likely find the experience disappointing.

However, if our goal is to mutually share who we fully are in our respective faiths, then true communication will take place and understanding is poised to occur.

When interacting with people of other faiths, we need to communicate our differences, not cover them. That’s when understanding can take place. While we don’t need to agree with one another, we do need to respect one another.

If we approach interfaith dialogue with a least common denominator attitude, then it does indeed become a slippery slope.

However, if we seek to share the totality of our respective faiths, then greater understanding and increased respect is the likely outcome.

And that’s a good thing.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

What Does Christian Unity Mean To You?

Let’s All Get Along

Why can’t we all get along? Living in peace and harmony are lofty goals that most everyone agrees with. Aside from wacko militants, no one says, “I want to live in constant conflict with my neighbor and quarrel with those around me.”

No one seeks to start a fight with others, be it verbal or physical. And if an argument or brawl does erupt, they usually feel terrible about it afterwards.

Similarly, when it comes to church, most people say they want the same thing. They advocate Christian unity: seeking peace and harmony, while avoiding conflicts and fights. They want to get along. Right?

Friend Unity

But I suspect what most Christians really mean is they want unity with people who think, believe, and act like them. What about those who act differently or think the opposite? Do they really want unity with them? I fear not.

What they really mean is they want everyone to come around and embrace their point of view. That’s what Christian unity means to them, but that’s actually friend unity and nothing more.

True Christian Unity

Jesus desires true unity for his followers—all of us. He even prayed for it, that we would be one (John 17:21). I firmly believe God will one day answer Jesus’ prayer for unity; but at the present, we are still waiting.

Through the centuries, Jesus’ well-meaning, but misguided, followers have argued with and killed one another over theology, ideology, and alleged heresy.

One idiotic example is a church that split over whether or not men needed to wear ties. Really.

Christian unity means accepting and embracing those who think, believe, and act differently. And the breadth of our thoughts, beliefs, and actions is wide.

Christian unity sets our focus on Jesus and nothing else should matter. Beyond that is to love everyone, Christian or not, the way Jesus loves us.

That’s what Christian unity means to me. May I pursue that and model that. Will you join me?

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

Thoughts on Issues of Race

Are We the Same or Different?

I’m so excited to guest post on a friend’s blog—and I hope you’ll find it worth your time to read it! (To make it easier, I’ll try to keep things short.)

It won’t take long for you to notice that my writing style is different from Grace’s. She writes as the free spirit she is, full of passion and spilling her heart without hesitation—or reservation. My writing is…

read the rest of my post.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

Why Can’t Christians Get Along With Each Other?

It’s a shocking stat, but there are 42,000 Christian denominations in the world!

Yes, the church that Jesus started is currently divided into 42,000 factions. Notice I didn’t say Jesus’ churches (plural), but Jesus’ church (singular).

How do I know Jesus intended there to be only one church? Quite simply because he prayed we would be one, just as he and his father are one.

Jesus even said why he wanted us to be as one: so that the world would believe. Succinctly, our unity maximizes our witness.

The implication is our disunity—our disagreements that have divided us into warring denominations—serves to weaken our witness.

Our divisions and petty squabbling over theology and tradition, lessen who we are, what we stand for, and why we’re here.

Oh, how our disunity must grieve the God we claim to serve.

As Christians, why can’t we all get along? That’s what Jesus wanted and that’s what he prayed for. Let’s ditch our divisions and unite for the sake of Jesus—so that the world may know.

Our factions and denominations don’t matter, Jesus does.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Bible Insights

We Often Criticize What We Don’t Understand

Once Jesus drove a demon out of a man. The man had been mute, but when the evil spirit was exorcized, he began speaking.

The people should have been in awe of the power Jesus displayed. They were not.

Instead they chose to be critical. Some questioned the source of his power and others insisted he does another miracle as if the first wasn’t enough.

Things aren’t much different today. When someone comes along with a variant understanding of God, lives life in a different manner, or walks with a greater degree of spiritual power, the common response is criticism.

People tend to fear what challenges their status quo, to vilify what is different. They criticize what they don’t understand. It was done to Jesus two millennia ago and it’s still being done today.

Instead of looking for what makes us different, the better response is to focus on how we are the same. Pursue unity; avoid division. Celebrate diversity and embrace variation.

I think that’s what Jesus would want us to do.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 10-12, and today’s post is on Luke 11:14-16.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Bible Insights

The Connection Between Unity and Language

It is interesting how the Old Testament of the Bible is often in contrast with the New Testament.

For example, in the story about the tower of Babel, God confuses the people’s languages and since they can no longer communicate, they scatter.

He did this because they were working together; their goal was so that the world would know them.

Fast-forward a couple of thousand years and we hear Jesus praying for unity—hat his followers would be one. His goal was so that the world would know God.

A few weeks after this, at Pentecost, language differences were temporarily overcome, with people hearing about Jesus in their native tongue.

Although Jesus’ prayer for unity goes far beyond supernaturally restoring what was lost at Babel, it was a start.

But Jesus’ ultimate goal was that his followers would be one, thereby not hampering the spreading of their faith.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

A Failure to Understand the Book of Jude?

I’m doing a series of posts about the short and often overlooked book of Jude. Jude’s letter is a warning, almost a rant, about ungodly people who are in the church.

Among their sordid characteristics, Jude says that they “speak abusively against whatever they do not understand.”

That seems to be an accurate description of what I often hear when people talk about others who hold differing spiritual perspectives.

This is perhaps most pronounced within Protestantism, with its three major divisions and 42,000 disparate denominations. (See my posts about unity for more info.)

This idea of speaking against what is not understood not only occurs from within the major religions, but also between them.

It seems that many Christians fear Muslims, but I understand that many Muslims also fear Christians.

While there are historical reasons behind this (consider the crusades, for instance), the main cause today is a lack of understanding about the beliefs and practices of others (setting aside the radical fringe that is found in every group).

As an alternative to speaking against what is not understood, is Paul’s encouragement to “speak the truth in love.” That beats hateful rhetoric every day.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.