“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” - Pr 27.6
“Like a club and a sword and a sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.” - Pr 25.18
“Like a trampled spring and a polluted well Is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” - Pr 25.26
“Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows and death, so is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, ‘Was I not joking?’” - Pr 26.18-19

It’s always difficult to know which one applies, isn’t it? And to whom it applies.

Well, it appears that I have certainly stuck my thumb in more than a few eyes with my post “The Vast Godblog Wasteland.” This was not my intent, although in retrospect I see that it was inevitable.

What follows is a response I made to the charge of being an elitist (and, elsewhere, un-American for supposedly calling for “censorship”). The accused-tried-convicted post is entitled, “VIEW FROM THE PEW Breaking News: A blogsphere [sic] for the elite?” It appears on “A site dedicated to the thoughtful criticism and understanding of contemporary wisdom and folly without judging the motives or intentions of any specific individual. As Iron sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another. Please feel free to understand and then criticize back.” I have encouraged the author to establish a trackback so anyone can read it firsthand.

(I will admit from the beginning that some of the criticisms in the aforementioned post were valid. I also admit that it pushed a few of my many buttons. Self-serving, self-analysis follows: as a counselor, I all-too-often am left to pick up the pieces after someone’s faith is shattered by false teaching. I feel like the guy who sweeps up after the Circus-of-Poor-Theology Parade passes by. So I know I am overreacting. Maybe. But, as one of my profs once said, “God can use your pathology. Well, He’s got plenty to use with me!)

I am posting this to help clarify my intent because I may have offended some who did not understand what I was trying to say. As will become apparent, I take responsibility for that. (I have corrected some typos and changed a word here and there. The essence of my reply, though, I think remains the same.)


David:

Yours is the first negative feedback I’ve gotten, but it is instructive: the positive feedback has been from those who (a) have read my blog frequently, (b) have interacted with me via emails or comments I left on their posts, or (c) both.

After reading your somewhat-scathing review of my post, I realized that I had written with a particular audience in mind: those who “know” me. I completely failed to read my post through the eyes of those who don’t know me. That was a serious oversight on my part.

I obviously should have emphasized some points that (in retrospect) were made only in passing. For example, I wrote regarding the people on my “A” list that “they have either paid their dues and sharpened their skills through seminary, intense personal study, or both.” Paying dues and intense personal study are sufficient - and sometimes superior - substitutes for seminary. Most on my “approved list” have never been to seminary. But they do have good bible study skills and it is evident in their writing, which reflects some scholarship and serious thought.

I’ve been to seminary - twice - and taught as a graduate assistant at Denver Seminary. Trust me: just because someone’s been to seminary does not mean they have something to say or that they are diligent about “rightly dividing the word of truth.” A lot of my own theological study was done before I went to Denver at the age of 33 - oh, so many (20+) years ago.

I regret that I was not more careful in how I said what I said. All but a handful of my friends have never been to seminary or Bible college, but I have learned immensely from them - from their insights into Scripture, but even more through the Christ-like lives they live.

I think your charge of me being an “elitist” is mistaken; I also think your editing of my post accomplished how you wanted to make me appear, not necessarily what I was saying. Clarifying remarks or obvious satire were left out, thus giving quite a different tone to my remarks. Again, I take some responsibility for the mis-reading: if you’re not familiar with me, then you’re going to miss my attempts at dry humor aimed at my own issues. I am sorry that I did not take that into account.

But I am not at all apologetic for trying to raise the bar: many of the embarrassing talking heads for Christendom make ludicrous statements because they have not done their homework. Issues are proof-texted and all Christians wind up getting painted with a wide, dirty brush. I’ll not apologize for wanting to curtail that.

What you call “elitism,” I call scholarship or expertise. Who preaches in your church? Someone trained in bible study methods, or someone who thinks they have found something “new and exciting” based on their own imaginations? The Old Testament and New are pretty clear about being careful what you listen to, testing any messenger who claims to speak for God, and searching the Scriptures to see if these things be so.

If calling for the Blogdom of God to do likewise - and to have a way to identify the more careful scholars out there - if that sort of call is wrong in the eyes of some, then I’m happy to be wrong. I think I have some biblical support for being “wrong” in the eyes and personal opinions of others. Around the world, it has been said, America is known for exporting two things: Coca-Cola and Cults. Think about it: where have most Christian cults originated? The blogosphere only makes the exportation of distortions of our faith that much easier.

Is freedom of speech really a higher value than accurately presenting the nature of God? I, for one, don’t think so. Given the harsh consequences in the Bible for misrepresenting God, it would seem that He is not so big on irresponsible speech, either.

In closing, my purpose in my post was this: to protect young and undiscerning Christians from bad theology and misunderstanding about who God is. If I’m an elitist in your eyes (or anybody else’s), then so be it: “Here I write. I can do no other. God help me” (with apologies to Martin Luther).

Reading it now, there are a couple of points I would add. The first is this: if you needed to have brain surgery, would you go to someone trained and qualified to do the surgery, or just to someone who had a scalpel and a copy of Grey’s Anatomy? Which is more important to you: your physical health or your spiritual health?

I would also include a story about John Wesley that I will try to reconstruct. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I hope it is. Here goes:

John Wesley was once approached by a man who said, “God told me to tell you that He don’t need none of your fancy knowledge and book learning.” “I’m sure that is true,” replied Wesley, “but neither does He need your ignorance.”

We are ambassadors for Christ, entrusted with a gospel of salvation. Is it not worth getting it as correct and accurate as possible? I know we will disagree; I enjoy reading the considered positions of others. I do not have an inspired theology. Because of that, I study and am as careful as possible to represent Jesus Christ as He truly, not how I imagine Him or might want Hiim to be.


2 Cor 1.13