"I AM God!"
Yeah, you remember that line from the 1993 movie "Malice". Alec Baldwin played a crooked doctor wanting to get rich quick. He and his co-hort, played by Nicole Kidman, were going to swindle an insurance company out of millions of dollars. In a pre-trial hearing, an attorney for the insurance company asked him if he had a "God complex". Dr. Jed Hill, played by Baldwin, replied with all the arrogance a human can muster:
"You ask me if I have a God complex? Let me tell you something, I am God!"
Do you know anybody with a God complex? We'll come back to that in a minute.
I had read "The Christian Chronicle" article on-line about the "unity" discussion that went on at Freed-Hardeman, and yesterday my hard copy of the Chronicle came in the mail and I read it again. One of the things that jumped out at me this time was when Ralph Gilmore from Freed described David Faust from the Christian church as his brother in Christ but then added:
"we are not in fellowship because of one big, obvious thing."
I would agree with him that there is one big thing that IS obvious, but probably not the thing he was referring to.
Here is the part that caught my attention.........did you notice that Gilmore recognized that Faust was "in Christ" and "a brother"? Hmmm........so let me get this straight. Christ accepts and fellowships Faust, but Gilmore won't. God accepts Faust as His son, but Gilmore won't fellowship with him. Maybe Gilmore knows something God doesn't? How does one NOT fellowship someone God does fellowship? Maybe we need to ask Gilmore the same question the attorney asked Dr. Jed Hill. With their actions, many answer that question the SAME way Dr. Hill did! When pride, arrogance, and love for a tradition get in the way of fellowshipping a brother that is in fellowship with God, something is terribly terribly wrong. It reminds me of Jesus's words in the sermon on the mount: "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."
Jim Shelton has just come from 15 years at Freed to teach at Harding. He had an interesting take on this whole discussion on his blog. I am going to link it to you here, but you will have to scroll back to Wednesday Oct. 25th to read his insightful perspective. Here is the link:
http://jimshelton.blogspot.com/
In closing, I ask again............how can we have higher standards for fellowship than GOD? Is that not scary to you?
May God forgive us.
7 Comments:
Perhaps we think that God is to soft!?
But you raise important questions and issues David.
I still am waiting for Gilmore to explain why he is not willing to give up his Sunday Schools for the sake of Christian unity with those whom such offends their conscience. I would love a rational reply.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
David, you identified the sin that causes anyone to have a "God complex"--pride. Even our best Christian teachers are not immune to the ravages of that sin.
I recently read an interview with a 95-year-old Greek monk who has spent his whole life studying God's Word, fasting, praying, and doing manual labor. He is renowned as a very wise man. He, too, identifies pride as one of the most pernicious sins of man.
Thinking of a phrase my mother used to use, "Sin has many vessals, but a lie is the handle that fits every one of them," I am tempted to substitute the word "pride" for "lie."
Visit my blog: www.purgatorypenman.blogspot.com and give your thoughts on the subject.
David it is scary, but it is not uncommon.
I wonder if our problem isn't with the way we use the word "fellowship".
for some it just means eating together or social time (which I think can be included)but as you are saying, Biblically Speaking, fellowship is being connected with God and Jesus. And we are connected with anyone else who is right with God.
I am in fellowship with christians in China, scripturally speaking, even though I have never been there and don't have plans to soon. At the same time, there may be christians in my area that I am in fellowship with as the Bible describes it, but because of conscience, I might not do certain things with them
in all the unity debates, we are saying "fellowship" but we are really talking about the social aspect, being in the same room or building, or cooperating on certain things.
defining terms is always important, I love Dr. Gilmore (had him as a teacher, I am a Christian college bigamist (FHU and HU); but as a philosophy professor experienced debater, I think he should define the terms better before have a debate
I loved my two years at Freed but I am always glad I left. I like Ralph when I was there, he was always seen as one of the more progressive teachers. Doesn't that put things in perspective for you?
I know one of Gilmore's daughters pretty well. Once when I was visiting Campbell St. (church he was preaching at) and sat in on his class, he pretty much said that it would be okay for women to baptize because the person doing the baptizing wasn't important. I can't remember the text off the top of my head...nor to I have a Bible near me. But, isn't that interesting. Some people choose to be "progressive" about one area, but not another.
Howdy,
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