Monday, December 16, 2013

Feeling Good About Doing Good: Another Hit-And-Run Tweet By Piper





Here's Romans 14:22:

Rom 14:22  The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

What does that have to do with feeling good or praise?

This is from an ex-pastor who was supposed to know how to exegete Scripture. Had he wanted to deal with not desiring (pun intended) the praise of others, he should've gone here:

Pro 27:1  Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. 2  Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

In Piper's Hit-And-Run tweet, he does a huge disservice to the text (define what is "good") and give biblical support to say dogmatically "its GOOD to FEEL GOOD". Moreover he applauds the man-centered view of "feeling good" about "doing good". 

Interestingly Matt. 6 would be a good place to rebuke his "brother in Christ" and Desiring "God" Conference speaker, Rick Warren, since Warren violates the command of not proclaiming one's "good" works. We always hear about Warren's "good" works and his "reverse tithing" (such a thing isn't even biblical, btw, but I digress). But here's Warren's Twitter profile:



It says:

"No socks. Loves Jesus & people.Mentors young leaders. Helps the poor, sick & lost thru P.E.A.C.E. Plan. Serves Saddleback. Encourages pastors. Wrote some books
I live in the State of Grace · rickwarren.com"

Elsewhere his PDL website claimed his book was the best selling hard-back book in history (Publishers Weekly)":




Rick Warren himself at World Economic Forum  said in part: "It became the best-selling book...in
English in a world history..it's, next the Bible, the best selling  book.
And It's the most translated book next to the Bible in over a  hundred languages."

~Rick Warren, at World Economic Forum, "Faith and Modernization" Panel, January 28, 2008, Davos, Switzerland

But James Sundquist makes note of the various best-sellers here and PDL doesn't even come close

See what I mean? Self praise, violating the very chapter his friend and "brother in Christ" John Piper just used to admonish seeking praise. Warren lacks no good feelings in his "good works". 

Even the world promotes "good works" because of how it makes them feel (recall the annual call to feed the homeless for Thanksgiving because "it makes you feel so good").

Being touchy-feely and trying to "connect" with God in an experience and/or to gain spiritual insight or maturity is going down the road of mysticism, something Piper has done (recall the infamous Passion conference with Beth More and their Lectio Divina mysticism).  Its  what the Charismatics do, and Piper is a Charismatic (his own recent rebuke to MacArthur's "anomaly claim" about Piper bears that out). 

No, I am not against feelings necessarily, but as a focus  and a way to test one's spiritual condition, I am. Emotions should be based on Truth and focused on Christ and in humility, not how I'm feeling and what I'm getting out of something. We aren't to use emotional experiences as a barometer of one's spiritual condition (see 1John for the tests of salvation).To be led by emotions is very dangerous and keeps our eyes off of Christ where He is seated above. It is to be self-focused instead of Christ focused.

We should rejoice in the person and work of Christ, we should rejoice and be glad in the absolute perfect Scripture and in the Triune God of that Scripture. We should rejoice in our so-great-a-salvation and in our trials. However, those things promote humility--we rejoice because we are ill-deserving of God's goodness. We should not be focused on emotions or over-emphasize them, is all I'm saying. My motive for doing good (biblically defined) shouldn't be my feelings or experience. It should be obedience to the God I serve and love (agape). 

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