I had the opportunity to listen to a sermon online by Paris Reidhead, Ten Shekels and a Shirt from Judges 17. In the sermon, Reidhead asked the question, Is God an end or a means?
He makes the claim that when we present the Gospel as merely a way to escape Hell, we make God a means rather than an end. God becomes a way to make us happy instead of receiving all the glory for salvation. I would recommend this sermon to you. (If you prefer, you can read a transcript of the sermon as well.)
He makes the claim that when we present the Gospel as merely a way to escape Hell, we make God a means rather than an end. God becomes a way to make us happy instead of receiving all the glory for salvation. I would recommend this sermon to you. (If you prefer, you can read a transcript of the sermon as well.)
Comments
A friend of mine pointed me to that message a while back. My reaction was that the speaker had a valid point, but not a valid text. His message had nothing to do with the passage he was preaching from.
And of course, I reacted to his Calvinism, but that doesn't make his point invalid.
Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
I believe you're right that the author of Judges did not have the man-centeredness of 20th century Christianity in mind, but I think the principles are accurately applied. That said, I probably wouldn't go to Judges to preach on modern Christianity, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The amazing thing to me is that he preached this message in the mid-sixties--- and things haven't gotten any better I'm sure!
BTW, believing that God's glory should be primary in salvation really doesn't qualify as "Calvinism."
Hi Mark,
True, but that is not what I objected to. As I recall, Reedhead was quite up front about his Calvinistic theology throughout the message.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
I wasn't listening for any "Calvinistic" references, but I don't remember hearing the "C-word," any mentions of "tulip petals," etc. All I heard was that salvation was for God's glory, not man's benefit. If that's Calvinism, then God give us more Calvinists!