Lets picture it like a basketball court. At one end or baseline you have "Truth". At the other end you have "Error". At half court you have the line at which you cross from truth into error.
TRUTH
Now you might rightly say anytime you leave truth you are in error. I would agree with you in principle but the problem is in real life Christianity we are left with a lot of grey (the sign gifts - for today or ceased, predestination vs. free will, what Heaven is like, what Hell is like, home churches vs buildings, end times etc) which won't be answered until we get to Heaven, so in this world, we will define the whole backcourt as truth.
I would label the baseline truth. This is "Old Time Religion" - the kind I grew up with 50 years ago and what my parents believed and their parents believed. This consists of 4 tenents regarding the Bible
#1. The Bible is without error and written by God through men that were inspired by the Holy Spirit
#2. The Bible is the complete all sufficient guide for life. It interprets itself and is relevant always.
#3. The Bible is a reliable scientific and historical document
#4. The Bible is God's word and is Holy. It is to be treasured and revered.
From what I have observed, here is the shift in the baseline
#1. The Bible has some errors because it was written by men but God oversaw it to make sure the message is true.
The buzz word here is story. You see it in books, in sermon series, etc. and the underlying message of this is "don't get bogged down with the minutia of the Bible. What is important and true is the story of redemption." I understand this and agree somewhat but I fear the underlying message of this is - not all the details of the Bible are error free but the underlying message is.
#2. You must understand the culture and times of the books of the Bible, not to mention Greek and Hebrew to rightly interpret the Bible.
In other words don't believe everything you read because what might have been true then may not be true today; or it says something different in Hebrew or Greek. Here is the problem with this - then the Bible truly is not open to the common man, and the common man is the one who Christ appealed to back then and appeals to now. What we are saying is that the educated man has a corner on knowing God. I've been on enough mission trips to know that this philosophy is coming from the tree of knowledge and is saying that you need outside sources to interpret the Bible. This is a very dangerous shift from the baseline. The buzz word here is cultural.
#3. The Bible wasn't meant to speak authoritatively in areas of science and history and you must understand writing style.
The buzz word here is poetry. In other words, if you understand the writing style (same objection as #2) you would see for example that the Genesis creation account was a poem and was never meant to be taken literally.
#4. Worship God not the Bible
OK, but why even say this unless you are apologizing for the Bible. Plus, God and His Word are pretty inseparable if you ask me.
So what I see happening over the last 50 years is a shift in the baseline as seen in the diagram below. Let's say it has gone out beyond the arc out to the white line.
Now I have to ask- why the shift? I've come up with 3 basic answers but there may be more. Here are my three.
1. Freedom to sin - This is a common one with youth. As soon as you hear a teen, who can't tell you if the Sermon on the Mount is in the Old or New Testament, pontificating about the cultural differences of then versus now - you know they are either planning on having sex or already have. "That part about not living together - that was the culture back then. What is a piece of paper anyway?"
2. Wanting to fit in - This is especially big in academic cities or Blue states. Who wants to look like a fool, anyways. We all want to look smart, educated, contemporary - not a fundamentalist, Bible thumping Neandrathal. Unfortunately, Jesus warned us a number of times that we aren't going to fit in.
3. To Win the Lost - This is a legitimate , to be commended, yet misguided reason. The thought is that if unbelievers are like metal shavings on the opposite end of the court, the closer we move the magnet to them (without going past half court) the more we are going to bring to our side.
I got a glimpse of this kind of thinking on my flight home last week. I was sitting next to an elderly woman who goes back and forth to Japan and Australia as a missionary. She asked me what denomination I was in. I replied, "Southern Baptist." She then proceeded to tell me how Southern Baptists had hurt evangelistic efforts in her area because they had insisted a few years back that all Baptist missionaries sign a doctrinal belief statement, but in good conscience a number of missionaries could not sign the part about women not being allowed to be pastors so these people left the missionfield. Yet she said she works with a church that ordains homosexuals because "the bottom line is winning people to Christ. Right?"
Is it?? Question- what is wrong with this stement; "The reason I exist is to win people to Christ". ? Answer - Going back to the beginning, take Adam and Eve (if you believe in them).. Did they exist to win people to Christ? How could they - there were no people! They, like us exist(ed) to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. (Eph. 1:12) Then, once we come into a relationship with God, we live to proclaim His praises. (1Peter 2:9) We can't "win people for Christ". Only the Holy Spirit can do that. We just carry His powerful presence into a lost world and proclaim His greatness and let God to the rest. When Paul came to Corinth he had no cleverly invented schemes, he just came with simple truth and God's power. When the Israelites left Egypt "many others (Ex.12:38) accompanied them." Did the Israelites become more like them to reach them? Far from it; the people saw God in their lives. When Jonah brought revival to Ninevah, did he soften the gospel or become like them? No! A fishy smelling, vitiligous, alopecious, foreigner who probably spoke a different language just said, "repent or you will perish." The power of God swept over them and they were saved. Did Paul change anything to reach the Phillipian jailor or did the disciples become socially acceptable on Pentecost? No; people thought they were nuts! In 1Cor 14:24,25 Paul says that when unbelievers come into your church, they will be won to Christ by the forth telling of the Word and the power of God seen in the believers' presence. We don't need to bring the theological line to them!
But you might say, Paul says, "I've become all things to all men that the gospel may be preached." That is talking about watching NASCAR with an unsaved neighbor even though you hate it. That means going to a shooting range with an unsaved NRA neighbor even though you are a staunch gun-control advocate. That might mean going to Steak and Shake with a lost person even though you are a vegan. It doesn't mean if I teach them Hell isn't literal they might bite. It doesn't mean if I say the flood happened locally 4 billion years ago and man came from monkeys then faith might become palatable. That's not how people were saved in the Bible and that isn't how they are saved today.
Not only that, but how far are you willing to go with the compromise? Eventually there is no way to get around that there is just one way to get to Heaven and that is Jesus and if you reject Him you aren't going. This is untolerable to the natural man. Even in Jesus day, John the Baptist was a tea totaller and purified himself from sinners and they said he was crazy. Jesus went to all the drunken parties to reach sinners and they said He was a lacivious carouser. No matter how far toward error you take truth, it won't be palatable to unbelievers until you cross midcourt.
In conclusion let me make a few closing points.
#1. Those who have shifted the baseline are still believers. Frankly they believe and have accepted the story which is necessary for salvation. Therefore embrace them, love them; let the world see the love we have despite theological differences and say "that is only possible through something supernatural."( John 13:35) That's why I didn't argue with the lady on the plane. The last thing people need to see is Christians fighting. I watched Terminator Salvation on the flight and was thinking that Christians fighting is like human beings fighting and killing each other while they needed everyone to fight against the machines. (OK, only sort of like that)
#2. To those who have shifted the line- why?? You might say" this is the baseline and the Ol' time religion is in error". OK, examine your motives for why you believe as you do. If they are pure, ask, "How much more can I change without shifting into error? Can I deny the virgin birth? Can I deny the miracles? Can I deny the resurrection? Where do I cross the line?" You see, my fear is, if the line has shifted this far in 50 years, will it be across midline in another 50?
#3. Teach the Ol' Time Religion to your kids. To those of you who are on the new baseline, is that what you taught your kids? Are they still following Christ? Really? Be honest. You see, if you teach your kids the conservative traditional view of the Bible, if they drift they will only drift to line 2. If you teach them line 2, when they drift they will drift to midcourt or beyond. It is like setting up guardrails well before the ravine. In dating, if you set your limits at holding hands, if you drift you kiss. Big deal. But if you set your line at petting and you drift.... well you get my drift.
