I just read Terri's blog on the hypocrisy of one Piper's defenders and a big boy blogger here. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who sees the hypocrisy on multiple levels.
This double standard is nothing short of bullying those of us who have for years, sought to stand for the Truth without apology, wavering, and favoritism.
I've noted in this post how "shrill" and emotive the apostles were regarding false teachers.
People, the enemy is in the camp already! The wolves, offered by "shepherds" ARE TEARING THE SHEEP TO SHREADS! And yet you think its not important enough to wage war? I see loyalty to theological circles and personalities, NOT to CHRIST AND HIM ALONE AT ALL COSTS.
Showing posts with label Phil Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phil Johnson. Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Piper: Promoting "Evangelical" Fads
"I do think he’s deeply theological. He’s a brilliant man. He wouldn’t have the church he does or the Peace Plan, or all the influence he does and of course the greatest sentence in the Purpose Driven Life is the first one isn’t it? It’s not about you, it’s about God. The Glory of God. So I don’t think he’s emergent. At root I think he is theological and doctrinal and sound.” ~Piper from the audio
It seems inconsistant with what Johnson himself said a few years ago about Rick Warren:
Excerpts:
But let’s set the critiques aside for a moment. Even if we had no bone to pick with the content or the underlying philosophy of The Purpose Driven Life—is this a really the kind of book that deserves to be the best-selling evangelical work of all time? Is there anything profound or original or exceptionally brilliant about the content of this book? Is it great literature, or especially superb Bible teaching, or excellent theology made understandable in simple terms? It’s none of those things. The extraordinary success of this book stems from a very clever marketing scheme that targeted a specific market at the most opportune time. It hit the shelves at a moment when the evangelical culture was ripe for fads and stampedes.
In The Purpose Driven Church, he says this:
At Saddleback Church we’ve . . . tried to recognize the waves God was sending our way, and we’ve learned to catch them. We’ve learned to use the right equipment to ride those waves, and we’ve learned the importance of balance. We’ve also learned to get off dying waves whenever we sensed God wanted to do something new. The amazing thing is this: The more skilled we become in riding waves of growth, the more God sends!
Ah! so that’s why we have this proliferation of fads. Evangelicals have gotten so skilled at surfing the latest fashions that God just sends more and more of them. And they get bigger every time.
Today’s fad may seem benign enough if you don’t care much about biblical discernment. Rick Warren says he just wants to meet people’s “felt needs” and insists he wants to remain biblical at the same time. Where’s the harm in that? But that philosophy is wrong and unbiblical, because it’s contrary to Paul’s clear command in 2 Timothy 4, to preach the word and refuse to cater to the itch of people’s “felt needs.” Meanwhile, all these fads are moving us further from our evangelical commitment to the principles of sola fide and sola Scriptura.
End quote.
Its ok that Piper promotes the very fad and anti-biblical philosophy he just repudiated some years back? Is it right to defend a man behind a pulpit who consistantly, repeatedly, and defiantly offers false teachers? Does this not show a lack of biblical doctrine and practice, wisdom and discernment?
Perhaps its all mere opinion, including unfaithfully preaching the word and parading around a false teacher. So its not so much unbiblical or wrong, but just different?
It seems inconsistant with what Johnson himself said a few years ago about Rick Warren:
Excerpts:
But let’s set the critiques aside for a moment. Even if we had no bone to pick with the content or the underlying philosophy of The Purpose Driven Life—is this a really the kind of book that deserves to be the best-selling evangelical work of all time? Is there anything profound or original or exceptionally brilliant about the content of this book? Is it great literature, or especially superb Bible teaching, or excellent theology made understandable in simple terms? It’s none of those things. The extraordinary success of this book stems from a very clever marketing scheme that targeted a specific market at the most opportune time. It hit the shelves at a moment when the evangelical culture was ripe for fads and stampedes.
In The Purpose Driven Church, he says this:
At Saddleback Church we’ve . . . tried to recognize the waves God was sending our way, and we’ve learned to catch them. We’ve learned to use the right equipment to ride those waves, and we’ve learned the importance of balance. We’ve also learned to get off dying waves whenever we sensed God wanted to do something new. The amazing thing is this: The more skilled we become in riding waves of growth, the more God sends!
Ah! so that’s why we have this proliferation of fads. Evangelicals have gotten so skilled at surfing the latest fashions that God just sends more and more of them. And they get bigger every time.
Today’s fad may seem benign enough if you don’t care much about biblical discernment. Rick Warren says he just wants to meet people’s “felt needs” and insists he wants to remain biblical at the same time. Where’s the harm in that? But that philosophy is wrong and unbiblical, because it’s contrary to Paul’s clear command in 2 Timothy 4, to preach the word and refuse to cater to the itch of people’s “felt needs.” Meanwhile, all these fads are moving us further from our evangelical commitment to the principles of sola fide and sola Scriptura.
End quote.
Its ok that Piper promotes the very fad and anti-biblical philosophy he just repudiated some years back? Is it right to defend a man behind a pulpit who consistantly, repeatedly, and defiantly offers false teachers? Does this not show a lack of biblical doctrine and practice, wisdom and discernment?
Perhaps its all mere opinion, including unfaithfully preaching the word and parading around a false teacher. So its not so much unbiblical or wrong, but just different?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Piper: its all about Me
Watcher's Lamp blog pegs Pipergate well:
"What John Piper conveys is his confidence in his personal ability to qualify Warren's theology by asking theological questions. John Piper apparently believes that he is immune to deception because of his theological brilliance.
Smugness is revealed when John Piper laughs when he says "I’m gonna need help to know why I should feel bad about this decision." It seems pride may be blinding John Piper's discernment. "
He goes on to say:
It seems pride may be blinding John Piper's discernment.
"So I made a list"
"I think Rick Warren meant it when he began the Purpose Driven life with “It’s not about you."
"I could even tell you other things he said he’s not but that… that might offend uh… too many people."
"I… I’m uh… I’m uh… I need … I’m gonna need help to know why I should feel bad about this decision. (Laughs)"
Read more here.
(Does anyone else think he's sounding a lot like Warren here?)
I wonder, if Piper was shown how horrific the PDL book is and Warren's myriad of quotes of heresy, would he still promote him as a friend, Reformed, and "theologically deep"? I say yes, because there's never enough evidence for a skeptic. Note that he put the burden of proof on everyone else. The thing is we've already proven the heresies of Rick Warren and PIPER HAS NOT LISTENED ALL THESE YEARS!
Other lesser known pastors have done their research and came to a completely opposite conclusion than Piper regarding Warren: he is not only NOT theologically "deep", but he gives a false gospel. What does Scripture say about such a person? Welcome them to the pulpit? Warmly greet them? Defend them as brothers? It says such a man is ANATHEMA. It says DON'T EVEN GREET such a man, for to do so is to partake in his wicked deeds. (Gal. 1:8-9; 2John 9-11).
When Phil Johnson gets snarky and calls us "shrill" and "hysterical" its godly (and then he quotes a HERETIC, Doug Wilson, about needing to calm down so we don't have to "breath into a paper bag"! A heretic telling the sheep to simmer down, that there's nothing to worry about? The Serpent Speaketh!), but when we rightly deal with his pal Piper, he calls us "insulting" and that we need to be respectful toward Piper. I guess we aren't worthy of respect from Johnson. Its ok for him to insult us---we're nobodies in his eyes. I'm so glad God uses the weak, the insignificant, the uneducated, the feeble, to display HIS glory and power.
This is the sin of favoritism James talks about which God condemns without qualification:
Jas 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory... 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?Jas 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Insert "the one who has a seminary degree" or "the one who is a famous pastor" for "the one who wears fine clothing" and you see the issue is just as relevant today as it was back then.
See what it would look like:
Jas 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory... 3 and if you pay attention to the one who is famous and a seminary graduate and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the unknow and uneducated man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
I don't like inserting words into Scripture, but I do it to visually demonstrate the issue of the sin of favoritism. Its easier to write off if one thinks its merely about the rich vs. the poor. But its MORE than that. Its about favoring a group or person over another, which is evil according to God.
Rom 2:11 For God shows no partiality.
Gal 2:6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)--those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
And of elders: 1Ti 5:20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.
Partiality or favoritism is the issue of sin here--no matter if you are talking about rich vs. poor, educated vs. uneducated, inner circle of the elite vs. outside the circle and not of the elite.
"What John Piper conveys is his confidence in his personal ability to qualify Warren's theology by asking theological questions. John Piper apparently believes that he is immune to deception because of his theological brilliance.
Smugness is revealed when John Piper laughs when he says "I’m gonna need help to know why I should feel bad about this decision." It seems pride may be blinding John Piper's discernment. "
He goes on to say:
It seems pride may be blinding John Piper's discernment.
"So I made a list"
"I think Rick Warren meant it when he began the Purpose Driven life with “It’s not about you."
"I could even tell you other things he said he’s not but that… that might offend uh… too many people."
"I… I’m uh… I’m uh… I need … I’m gonna need help to know why I should feel bad about this decision. (Laughs)"
Read more here.
(Does anyone else think he's sounding a lot like Warren here?)
I wonder, if Piper was shown how horrific the PDL book is and Warren's myriad of quotes of heresy, would he still promote him as a friend, Reformed, and "theologically deep"? I say yes, because there's never enough evidence for a skeptic. Note that he put the burden of proof on everyone else. The thing is we've already proven the heresies of Rick Warren and PIPER HAS NOT LISTENED ALL THESE YEARS!
Other lesser known pastors have done their research and came to a completely opposite conclusion than Piper regarding Warren: he is not only NOT theologically "deep", but he gives a false gospel. What does Scripture say about such a person? Welcome them to the pulpit? Warmly greet them? Defend them as brothers? It says such a man is ANATHEMA. It says DON'T EVEN GREET such a man, for to do so is to partake in his wicked deeds. (Gal. 1:8-9; 2John 9-11).
When Phil Johnson gets snarky and calls us "shrill" and "hysterical" its godly (and then he quotes a HERETIC, Doug Wilson, about needing to calm down so we don't have to "breath into a paper bag"! A heretic telling the sheep to simmer down, that there's nothing to worry about? The Serpent Speaketh!), but when we rightly deal with his pal Piper, he calls us "insulting" and that we need to be respectful toward Piper. I guess we aren't worthy of respect from Johnson. Its ok for him to insult us---we're nobodies in his eyes. I'm so glad God uses the weak, the insignificant, the uneducated, the feeble, to display HIS glory and power.
This is the sin of favoritism James talks about which God condemns without qualification:
Jas 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory... 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?Jas 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Insert "the one who has a seminary degree" or "the one who is a famous pastor" for "the one who wears fine clothing" and you see the issue is just as relevant today as it was back then.
See what it would look like:
Jas 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory... 3 and if you pay attention to the one who is famous and a seminary graduate and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the unknow and uneducated man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
I don't like inserting words into Scripture, but I do it to visually demonstrate the issue of the sin of favoritism. Its easier to write off if one thinks its merely about the rich vs. the poor. But its MORE than that. Its about favoring a group or person over another, which is evil according to God.
Rom 2:11 For God shows no partiality.
Gal 2:6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)--those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
And of elders: 1Ti 5:20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.
Partiality or favoritism is the issue of sin here--no matter if you are talking about rich vs. poor, educated vs. uneducated, inner circle of the elite vs. outside the circle and not of the elite.
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