Sandy Simpson, writing on www. deceptioninthechurch.com, has had a crusade against many fellow Christians since many years, among them all people involved in the World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People. Only now I happened to see his comments on the Kiruna WCGIP in 2005. Simpson seems to try to impress his readers by lengthy articles, full of quotes. But in spite of his very hard and, in fact, unloving criticism of good, evangelical Christians trying to reach their own peoples with the Gospel, he builds his arguments on loose sand. I wonder form where his "knowledge" of the Kiruna meeting comes. He was not there, I know, being one of the organisers. I doubt whether he has been on any WCGIP.
Simpson builds his criticism on two quotes. The quotes are taken totally out of context. Any Bible reader knows that you can even make the Bible say the most terrible things by selective quoting. Of course, you need the context. Simpson does not have the context since he was not there.
He does not even have quotes. The two Kiruna "quotes", which makes him condemn Terry LeBlanc as well as Gavriel Gefen (whom he supposes has not read the NT lately) are taken from a blog of one of the participants. Thus the quotes are not necessarily literally quotes but the impressions of one participant of what two people said. The blogger does not even state she is quoting exactly. Sipmpsons sand to build on is very losse indeed. To give another quote: "Don't build your house on a sandy land".
And then, Simpsons arguments against the stated quotes are not too good as well. Terry LeBlanc sees a need for indigenous theology. So do I and many others. But Simpson says there are no different theologies. I would say: take another look into what theology is. Of course there are different theologies in different contexts, and there need to be. Simpson has apparently not seen the fruits of what Terry and others are doing. I have.
Simpson condemns even Gavriel Gefen "and his messianic Jews" for being back in the synagogue. He quotes Gal. to strengthen his case, a beautiful example of making short out-of-context quotes serve your own case. A dangerous thing to do. But Paul does not anywhere forbid a Jew to be a Jew and to be in synagogue. He fights the víew that the jewish Law be put on the non-jewish Christians as a burden. He says we are free from the Law but he himself was in the synagogues and even in the temple. He even circumcized a person, even if he saw that was not demanded by God, the circumstances made it a wise thing to do.
I can't help wondering. Pastor Simpson seems to be a zealous man, wanting to take the battle for Christs sake. I can admire that. But why, why putting all this energy in battling against his fellow Christians, instead of putting that energy into preaching the Good Word to those who are in need of it?
Gavriel I know as a wise man, wh
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2 comments:
Thank you for clarifying the above. I also wonder why someone would take that much effort in attacking fellow Christians. I also see that sites such as deception in the church can take quotes out of context. It can certainly cause a lot of confusion.
Re: Those who put the “post” in “apostasy”
The sheer volume of internet sites established to keep people from wandering into error is astounding. Of course, they focus upon the perceived doctrinal differences between scripture (the author’s interpretation) and the ministry being charged with apostasy. Christians are slicing and dicing each other to death over whether laughter can be “holy” or not. The most sheep-like person I’ve ever seen is accused of being a wolf because he claims that he can teach anyone to hear GOD’s voice. Five-fold ministries abound in ten-fold waves of backlash. As always, prophets are scorned. Apostles are fashionable, though many say they went out of style with GOD 2000 years ago. Who is right? Who is wrong?
“Why do you call me Lord, Lord? And not do what I tell you?” “Feed my sheep.” “Preach the gospel to the ends of the earth.” “Feed my sheep”. “Heal the sick.” “Feed my sheep.” “Raise the dead.” These are the directives of Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s a lot easier to criticize others of not doing GOD’s will and not seeing things “scripturally” than to take responsibility for doing the basics. Doing what GOD tells us is not just about sin. It goes far beyond sin. It is about lives. Our lives. Our neighbors’ lives. It’s about our human race. It’s about Christ’s Kingdom on earth.
The next time some sanctimonious bastard accuses his brother or sister of apostasy, find out how many people he has preached the actual gospel to. How many healings he has participated in. How many starving people he is feeding (with food, not with bullshit). How many he has seen raised from the dead. If these fruits are there, go ahead and give him a listen about the lesser important items on the agenda of the Kingdom. He might have something worth listening to. Then again, he might not.
Keep your focus on what the Master said we should do. Sure, He warned us about false prophets, and the spirit of anti-christ. And it’s everywhere you look, trying to take your attention away from the basics:
Preach the gospel.
Heal the sick.
Raise the dead.
Feed my sheep.
Don’t get me wrong. There is apostasy out there. When a high official of the Presbyterian Church, USA can ask the question “What’s the big deal about Jesus?” and still keep his job, we know that apostasy abounds. But apostasy has always abounded.
How many have you seen raised from the dead?
I’m still waiting for my first.
I live in a Christian culture that is awash in criticism, and bankrupt in Power.
Just Another Critic
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