When a horse is hooked up to a plow or a wagon, the farmer will place a blinder over the head of the animal, blocking the side view and forcing the horse to look forward. This helps the horse focus on the task at hand and keep it from getting distracted by events happening on either side.

Sometimes in life it is good to have blinders on – for example, it is good to keep ourselves focused on Jesus rather than getting distracted by things of this world (i.e. wealth, fame, pride, food, etc.). However – and this is a HUGE “however” – most of the time blinders are bad.

They are bad because they are basically blind spots in our lives – places or areas that we a) either don’t know about or b) are unwilling to address.

The solution to these blinders is to have someone call out the blind spots and make them known. The “someone” could be the Holy Spirit, a friend, pastor, mentor, parent, spouse, child, family member or a stranger. In my experience it is usually a combination of all of the above…

The main question, though, is not who calls out the blind spots – the question is what we are going to do with the information. Are we going put the blinders back on and pretend that we didn’t ‘see’ anything? Ignorance, they say, is bliss.

Yet, to do this is to essentially ignore our King. We are to live in the light of Jesus and not walk around in the darkness of our own blinders and ignorance.

Continue reading Blinders →

Liberals.

To some folks this word sums up all that is that is wrong with the world. It is the ‘liberals’ in the government that are destroying our nation… it is the ‘liberals’ in the church that one must be watchful for as they are the “wolves in sheep clothing” Jesus warns us about.

Yet, what exactly is theological liberalism?  What is it that has people in the church scared?

Or, to rephrase the question, are we using the term ‘liberal’ a little too, well, liberally? Perhaps we are calling folks a ‘liberal’ when they simply differ from us in some minor points and not on the big issues?

I, myself, for example, have been called a ‘liberal’ by folks who disagree with my stance on taking care of the environment. Or, for that matter, on my belief that women can serve at any level within the local church (yes, that means they can be pastors and preachers).

But do those beliefs make me a ‘liberal’?

To a fundamentalist perhaps…but in the history of theology, no – it does not.

The reason for this is that theologically speaking a ‘liberal’ is one who has believes that doctrines of Christianity should be subject to the consensus of modern thought.

Continue reading Are We Using The Term ‘Liberal’ Correctly? →