Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Monday March 19, 2007

Could we forget last weeks non-sent letters? It's a long story, but I was blessed in spite of grueling days on a pew. As I age the pews, in this case lovely new individual chairs at Cornerstone Baptist in Union City, get harder.

While pigging out on the grand sermons, and being much more at ease than in earlier years, I did pick out a few gems to write about and hopefully ever so briefly, charge your batteries.

One loquacious expounder of the scriptures, Dr. Ben Townsend, a dear preacher who has gone through enough pain for an entire fellowship, right in the midst of mind boggling, seat numbing oratory let loose with this:

"The reformation was over when the artist became more popular than the subject of their art."

Francis Schaefer uttered or maybe wrote these words of profound wisdom and I am grateful to Ben for bringing them into the thirsting lobes of my brain.

Ben's idea was that history is repeating itself as preachers become more popular than Jesus.

Why is this? It could be that Ben's subject, 'The Stigma Of The Cross' a three hour treatise on the gory subject that is largely missing from today's preaching. We get instead a bad dose of pablum on How To Grow With No Effort. We have reached the age predicted by William Booth in the 19th century, it is upon us and we know it not. We do have a "Christian" faith with no cross, salvation with no repentance and heaven with no hell.

In our day religious calisthenics are more popular than Jesus. The Jesus of the gospels is missing from our churches. The Galilean would have us take up a cross of shame and through His power turn it into an emblem of true righteousness, a symbol of glory. In our time 7/8ths naked Hollywood women wear the cross as part of their gaudy jewelry collection. Our churches are arrayed with crosses of gold, silver, polished wood, and all sorts of materials that do away with any concept of rugged. In fairness an entire generation of 'church' going 'Christians' have no concept of self denial as the entire Christian world is geared to their comfort. Comfort? Comfort in the same sentence with the cross of horrible death? Please.

I read a flyer just this week of a Christian Camp for training young people. This Christian Basic Training camp offered all the comforts of the Christian Hilton. Hilton Basic training for persecution, for Castro type concentration camps? More like preparing for the life of ease, the one thoroughly condemned by Jesus!! I like the story of the missionary in China who responded to a group of young do gooders (Spell check keeps trying 'goobers,' could be right)! who wrote that as soon as he built roads for them, they wanted to come and help. He wrote, "If you need roads, I do not need you."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2007 Use with credit.

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