Hand-Me-Down
Hand-Me-Down
Sitting down comfortably with a fresh can of Bud in one hand and a bag of chips in the other, I was preparing to take myself back in time to 13th century Scotland to watch some Englishmen get pummeled. Braveheart is my favorite movie of all time. As the chair had just started to conform itself to the frame which it was predestined to support for the next three hours, the stinking door bell rang. My eyes moved swiftly to the comer of the room to where my Winchester Model 94 lay propped against the wall. It was Saturday aftemoon. My wife was shopping and the kids were with their grandparents. Logic told me that there could be only one type of humanity knocking at my door disrupting my serenity - a representative from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Again my eyes darted to the 30-30 rifle. Thinking it would be better to answer the door than to start shooting, I begrudgingly got up and looked through the peep- hole.
There they were. Two finely dressed young men holding Bibles in their hands. Dare I answer? Maybe if I just stood there quietly they would go away. What's this? My throat became scratchy. I had to cough. Now! It came out of nowhere like someone was pulling my strings. Rats! My cover was blown. "Sir?" a young squeaky voice called through the door. I glanced back to the television to see the paused frame from the opening scene of Braveheart and let out a tiny whimper. My hand reached for the knob. The door seemed to move in slow motion. The two strange images seen through the peephole now take on human form. "Sir, my name is Joe and this is Tom. We are in your neighborhood inviting people to church. Does your family attend church?" My hopes peaked. Perhaps I could say yes and send them away quickly on their way. After all, I did attend church. In fact I was a teaching elder in the church. I quickly blurted out the response, "Yes!" "Does your church teach the rapture?" he inquired. My mind was racing. What a weird question for a Jehovah's Witness to ask. "Aren't you guys from the Watchtower?" They laughed. "No sir. We are form First Fundamental Hyper-dispensational King James Only Baptist Church." Back in the other room the VCR got tired of waiting. I heard the pause button kick off and static coming from the TV.
"Does your church teach the rapture?" he asked again. I thought I might as well have some fun with these Saturday afternoon killjoys. "Do you mean rapture of the church following a seven year tribulation period climaxing in the second coming of Christ to establish His 1000 year earthly reign in which the Jews will live in the Promised Land and reinstitute the Old Testament sacrifices?" I quipped. "Yes sir," he exclaimed excitedly. "No, I do not," I responded, "and I bet you can't find the word rapture in the Bible." "Yes I can," he said. He opened his King James Version to the concordance section and searched frantically. Cofusion now painted his face. "Why do you believe in the rapture?" I asked. "Well, that is what I have been taught since I became a Christian five years ago. My pastor believes in the rapture. And so did John R. Rice and C.I. Scofield. I'm sure that I saw it in the Bible," he said as he neared the panic stage. At this point I took pity on the young untrained "lay evangelist." I walked outside and shut the door behind me and sat down on the bench my wife had conned me into making.
"Joe," I said, "the Bible does teach a doctrine known as the rapture even though the word is not used." I reached for his Bible and showed him the passage. "But not all Christians believe the same chronology of events as your church does in relation to the rapture. Brother, you have fallen for the same error that marked too much of the church just prior to the Reformation. They believed what they were told and never questioned anything. If you do the same, you make your pastor out to be a pope. I'm sure he's a good man who loves the Lord and would never intentionally lead people astray. But you are called to personal responsibility. The Bible tells us to "study to show thyself approved." Paul even praises the Bereans for checking what he said. Even if your pastor is right, you need to verify it with the Word of God. Do not walk the life of faith depending upon hand-me-down or refried theology."
Joe and Tom let looking like Jimmy Carter after the 1980 election. As I watched them leave, I could not help but think that maybe I was the one who had become complacent. The evangelical church spends most of its time experiencing God or better stated, experimenting with God. In the modern service, the pewsitter has to be titilated and the worship has to be exciting. (Do you realize that if the word exciting did not exist most pastors would lose better than fifty percent of their vocabulary?) I went back inside and no longer had the desire to watch Braveheart. Joe and Tom were just two examples of Christians who knew what they believed but did not have a clue as to why they believed. The Rev. Sun Myung Moon stated in reference to his followers, "I am their brain," and like them most of the laity let others do their thinking for them. They cry, "Don't give us doctrine," a dreaded word in the church. They cry, "Don't talk to us about creeds and confessions. They were written by a bunch of dead guys. And don't give us the Word of God, except if you wrap it in a nice looking paper with scenes from Veggie Tales." Oh, Martin. Maybe all roads do lead to Rome. As I sat there stewing, Hosea's words echoed through my mind, "my people perish for a lack of knowledge."