Thursday, May 1, 2008

More on "Which Jesus" are you following

This is an example of how Jesus and His message get convoluted.



Catch some of what Ms. Lamott said... (she's a Sunday School teacher btw)...
"If you want to make God laugh tell her your plans."
"God is so wild...that even Dick Cheney will get into heaven." (If she gets to decide who makes it I sure want to get on her good side...But I'm curious as to why she selected Dick Cheney as the ultimate shocker on the streets of gold?) "But he'll be sitting by a Muslim"...
"There's one mountain but many, many paths..."

But maybe she got this one right (especially if God was watching this show), "I think God maybe rolls His eyes...".

18 comments:

Andy Lawrenson said...

She's written a theological book but admits she's not so smart when it comes to theological issues.
Her final statement made things clear up for me,
"I'm from San Francisco." LOL

The Pastor of a Small Rural Church said...

Ey yi yi.... that about sums it up for me.

Julie

marcia said...

Yup...a great example :) Thanks for sharing! The optimist in me wants to think maybe this will propel some people to read The Book, and not her book...and will discover the straight scoop!

CFHusband said...

I think it would amaze most conservative Christians (pastors included) to learn just how many people in and out of the church share her theological views...

So, what can we learn from this?

TerryKM said...

I've been in more than one church where people like her were the teachers and trying to get them removed got me into SO MUCH trouble.

Anonymous said...

I just read my first Lamott book. (Traveling Mercies)

It is very, very foul.

At first, I struggled while thinking about it. My head was saying, "Well, she says that she is a Christian. Only God can judge the heart. Who am I to say if she is following Jesus."

As I thought further, though, I realized that her Gospel focused mostly on Justice and taking care of the earth.

While I agree that Christians should care about justice for the poor, the orphaned, the widow, the oppressed, and while I agree that we should also be excellent stewards of our earth...that is not the crux of the Gospel. The Gospel is Jesus Christ, HIM (gender identification all caps on purpose) crucified, dead, and risen again - for the forgiveness of our sin - for the purpose of reconciling us to God for all of eternity (relationship.)

I had to conclude that for all of her strivings and searchings, Ms. Lamott has still not found Jesus, but instead has found a concept that is masquerading as him.

So very, very sad.

May we all be discerning...not only with what we believe, but with what we broadcast about Christ to a watching world.

Holly Johnson

Barb said...

Wow.

Andy Lawrenson said...

Nate - I'm not surprised.

Christy said...

I like what Andy says in his first comment. You don't have to be Oprah to spread this stuff around. Like Nathan said, it is surprising even though you know it is all around. It is really heart wrenching to know that people don't have a close personal relationship with the One that is able to cleanse us from our sin.
Christy
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sharpcrew

CJolly said...

Which translation of the Bible tells of one mountain and many paths??!! Give me a break!

It is sad that she is a Sunday School teacher. I hate the thought of children looking up to her as an authority.

Lady Eli said...

After reading the comments, I had an awful thought. What do we, the parents, know what is being taught in Sunday school? We assume becuase we go to church and the pastor, youth pastor, and senior pastors are all very good, and we like the way they teach that the sunday school is taught the same way. Technically it should be. But those pastors that we like so much aren't teaching that class. We, the parents, are in church listening to the pastor. We really know only what we see from the worksheets that come home and with talking to our kids. But kids don't tend to remember everything when you ask them. They remember the exciting points. Unless, it happens to be the most inopportune time to blurt out something. Like mommy ate some candy or donuts to the blood doctor when you are getting your Diabetes tests done. How do we check to make sure that we, the parents, are doing the right thing by our children? If she is a sunday school teacher teaching children, Did the parents know her views before this clip?

Rick Lawrenson said...

At NHC we have an "open door" policy for parents to sit in and observe their kids' classes at any time. In fact, we encourage it, but rarely do parents take us up on it.

And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Once folks get to know us, they realize that our beliefs are taught consistently throughout the entire church, top to bottom.

In fact, you can't become a member of our church without subscribing to our doctrinal beliefs. And since only members are allowed to teach, that consistency is safeguarded.

Obviously Ms. Lamott's church is far more liberal in allowing a very universalist theology.

Lady Eli said...

That's one of the reasons we go to the NHC, although we haven't become members, is the open door policy. Also, I made it my business to know the people who work in the nursery. I trust them to take care of my children and I like them a whole lot. But at the same time I did my homework before we started going and my mother-in-law had alot of influence.

Rick Lawrenson said...

Actually I can't imagine a church saying "No" to a parent who wanted to sit in a Sunday school class!

So that's not the issue. It really goes back to the church's belief system. Ms. Lamott is likely teaching what her church accepts as legit. I mean, it's not like she's secret about it!

Christy said...

Jason and I watched her last night on Colbert. She definitely needs to go back and read the fundamental truth about Jesus in the Bible. He is the ONLY way, the truth and the life. I think she forgot that.

Michelle Jamie said...

I think this is a depiction of what is really happening in people today. We are loosing the ability to think things through. We believe anyone who has written a book, just because they wrote a book. Or because some influential person has said that person is someone worth listening to and acting on what they are saying.

RiLes said...

Whoa whoa whoa...she says she's a presbyterian?!?! Last time I checked, at least in the PCA, God is not on a mountain where there are many paths to get to him....sheesh. That's a scary thought to think she's a teacher as well...

Rick Lawrenson said...

Key words there Riles are "in the PCA". As in most denominational "families" you've got those on the left, right and in the center.