A Disturbing Metaphor

It’s not an uncommon sight. A Church building of one denominational persuasion or another, parking lot adorned with a couple of busses used for ferrying Church groups around for ministry or entertainment.

These busses are often retired “school busses” and no wonder. I’m sure that the Church gets a great deal on them, and they certainly have plenty of seating capacity.

Sadly though, this picture of former government indoctrination facility transportation being painted over (sometimes only partially at that) and called a “Church bus” is a perfect metaphor for what’s going on inside most of our “Churches” today.

We import pagan doctrines, paint them with religious clichés—only some of which actually have truth to them—and call them “Christian”.

I guess we can’t be bothered to take our ideas straight from God’s Word anymore. Or maybe it’s just because God lived two thousand years ago and didn’t know what life would be like here in the twenty-first century.

(If you can’t detect the raging sarcasm in that statement, then I suggest that you completely and permanently abandon all metaphorical and/or figurative phraseology as a means of articulation. And don’t even think about diplomacy as a career option; you’ll start the next world war.)

No, there’s nothing wrong with a Church getting a good deal on a bus. There is something wrong, however, with getting a “deal” on their doctrine. When a pastor stops after “render unto Caesar…” you’re hearing official State doctrine.

When a pastor relies on what he has been taught in “Bible college”, “divinity school”, or “seminary”, rather than trusting completely in the Word of God to the complete exclusion of all else—including so-called “experts” who deny the plain words from God’s mouth—there is something wrong.

When you have “Christians” who have to justify and explain away portions of Scripture in order to defend their beliefs—often referring to the above mentioned “experts” in the process—you have a problem.

When you have Churches pressuring parents to ignore Biblical mandates regarding family size, child training, and educational decisions, you have a problem.

What can we do about this problem?

First, challenge conventional “wisdom”. Go look at Scripture. Does it really say what you’ve always been told that it says?

What does it say that the Sunday school teacher skips over? Stop rejecting the obvious meaning of a text because of the implications.

Second, speak up. Don’t be afraid to cause trouble. Ask questions and don’t be satisfied with dismissive answers. Challenge beliefs and doctrines. Make waves.

One last note:

Fathers, you are responsible for the spiritual nurture and protection of your family. You cannot delegate that responsibility to someone else. If your “Church” is teaching error, you may need to pull your family out of it. You may have young impressionable children who aren’t ready to take on such a battle. You may have older children whose hearts you risk losing to a youth group. Do whatever you have to in order to fulfill your duty to your family, and disregard the heat that you will inevitably take for it.

Ultimately, like most things, the responsibility for this problem lies with we the people. We’re the ones who have allowed our leaders to get away with the various evils that we bemoan today. (As well as the ones we ought to bemoan but don’t recognize.)

We can pray for revival all we want, but until we stop ignoring God’s Word, we’re not going to see it.