{"id":21346,"date":"2020-10-28T18:29:12","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T23:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=21346"},"modified":"2020-10-28T18:29:32","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T23:29:32","slug":"the-pastor-said-no-we-dont-believe-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/the-pastor-said-no-we-dont-believe-the-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"The pastor said, “No, we don’t believe the Bible.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do you call me \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 and do not do what I tell you?\u201d (Luke 6:46)\u00a0 \u201cIf you know these things, blessed are you if you do them\u201d (John 13:17).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Show us what you do and we can decide for ourselves whether you believe the Bible.<\/em><\/p>\n

My friend Kristin was commenting on meaningless questions some of our Facebook friends suggested should be put before pastor search committees (our previous article). Most, she said, are useless because they presuppose the answer.<\/p>\n

Asking a search committee \u201cDoes your church believe the Bible?\u201d is meaningless, because they\u2019re all going to answer in the affirmative, and you\u2019re no better off than had you not asked it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait a minute,\u201d Kristin said, interrupting herself. \u201cI just remembered a time when my pastor answered that differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It was the time of year, she said, when visitors traipsed through their Boston church, all seemingly in search of a church that met their (ahem) high standards.\u00a0 Many are young adults, she said, often with impossibly strict demands.<\/p>\n

An 18-year-old visitor approached Pastor Daniel Harrell and asked rather crudely, \u201cDoes this church believe the Bible?\u201d Daniel was thoughtful for a moment, then said, \u201cNo, we don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The youngster had heard what he wanted to hear and walked out, never to return.<\/p>\n

Note: He was being facetious, class.\u00a0 Please note that.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Later, the pastor related this incident to his leaders.\u00a0 He said, \u201cThe only answer to that question that makes sense is to listen to what we preach and observe what we do. Make up your own mind. No other answer suffices.\u201d<\/p>\n

After all, in defense of Pastor Daniel, to say \u201cyes, we believe the Bible\u201d is as meaningless as asking someone if they have embezzled company funds or committed adultery. They will almost always answer, \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 Anyone who would do such a thing has no trouble lying about it.\u00a0 Likewise, anyone who compromises in teaching the Word will not hesitate to say they believe the Bible.\u00a0 (Note:\u00a0 Dr. Daniel Harrell is presently Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today<\/em> and he still believes the Bible.)<\/p>\n

Some questions are pointless because the answers will be worthless.\u00a0 The evidence, the proof, is in the individual\u2019s life and conduct.<\/p>\n

Watch my life and you will know what I believe.<\/p>\n

But let’s admit the obvious here: Many churches clearly do not believe the Bible.<\/p>\n

A church does not believe the Bible if\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013if it does not practice what Scripture teache<\/strong>s.\u00a0 \u201cMy little children, let us not love in word and in tongue (only), but in deed and in truth\u201d (I John 3:18).<\/p>\n

If they are not practicing it, they do not believe it. Period.<\/p>\n

They head to the lawcourts to settle their disputes? They do not believe the Bible.\u00a0 They welcome addicts and adulterers into their pulpits since, as they say, \u201cwe\u2019re all sinners\u201d and \u201cwho are we to judge?\u201d\u00a0 They do not believe the Bible.\u00a0 They love the people of the world more than they do those of their own denomination with whom they disagree on doctrinal issues; they do not believe the Bible.<\/p>\n

\u2013-if it condones unbiblical practices<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

My friend was interim pastor of a church that had an unmarried couple living together as husband and wife while in leadership positions. When he took that interim pastorate, the deacons assured him they would deal with that situation.\u00a0 Some months later, it was becoming apparent that the leadership was afraid to face the couple and had no intention of dealing with the matter.\u00a0 So, my friend resigned.<\/p>\n

That church does not believe the Bible, regardless of what they say or teach.<\/p>\n

The church which has made the pastor a lackey and put the deacons in charge of the heavy lifting (i.e, major decisions) does not believe the Bible.<\/p>\n

Our Lord said, \u201cWhy do you call me \u2018Lord, Lord\u2019 and do not do what I say?\u201d (Luke 6:46).<\/p>\n

\u2013it rationalizes the miracles and spiritualizes the resurrection.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nothing identifies a liberal (by which we mean \u201ccompromising\u2019) church quicker than this.\u00a0 To such a church, the miracles were not really supernatural but natural events the unsophisticated people of the First Century did not understand, them being stupid and ignorant.\u00a0 And the resurrection was not actually meant to be understood as having actually happened on a physical plane\u2013us being stupid and all\u2013but was merely a divine teaching fraught with spiritual applications.<\/p>\n

Give me a break. Why don\u2019t they just admit they are pagans and let it go at that?<\/p>\n

\u2013I\u2019m tempted to say a church does not believe the Bible if it does not teach all the Scripture. But that needs clarifying\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not all Scripture has the same food value.\u00a0 The New Testament is more important for believers than the Old.\u00a0 The Gospels are more important than the epistles.\u00a0 The Epistle to the Romans is of greater value than any other epistle.\u00a0 And while the intricate details of tabernacle construction or the symbolism of priestly garments carry wonderful teaching for God\u2019s people, none of that is as urgent as the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 The pastor who majors on the New Testament and the sweep of God\u2019s history through the Old Testament while preaching little about the prophetic elements in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation, has my vote.\u00a0 (I say this knowing full well that some will disagree.\u00a0 They are surely entitled to their position and I respect that. Whether they will love me and those who agree with the above and show us the same respect remains to be seen.)<\/p>\n

Calvinists believe the Bible. Arminians believe the Bible.\u00a0 They just disagree on what it means.\u00a0 We must never confuse differences of interpretation with denial of the Word.<\/p>\n

Once in a while, when an online magazine posts an article of ours on a controversial subject, some critic will jump in to say \u201cMcKeever does not believe the Bible.\u201d\u00a0 The other day one said, \u201cMcKeever must be a pessimist who has soured on life.\u201d I smile at both.\u00a0 No one who has ever sat under my ministry believes either of those.<\/p>\n

Listen to my preaching and watch my life, then decide.\u00a0 Or, if you want a shortcut, ask my wife or my children.\u00a0 Whatever they say, you may take to the bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do you call me \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 and do not do what I tell you?\u201d (Luke 6:46)\u00a0 \u201cIf you know these things, blessed are you if you do them\u201d (John 13:17). Show us what you do and we can decide … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-50-year-perspective-on-ministry","category-scriptures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21346"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21363,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21346\/revisions\/21363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}