Post by Daniel on May 6, 2015 8:05:36 GMT -5
The False Doctrine of “Positive / Negative”
5/09/2006
Jeremiah 6:14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.”
1 John 2:21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
This is an issue which has “stuck in my craw” for a long time. It really bugs me when I hear preachers playing fast and loose with the truth and telling people how they just need to keep a positive outlook and not loose their “happy thoughts” and everything will be fine. This sort of Peter Pan advice (if I may borrow from Billy Joel) reminds me of a series of commercials MTV ran a few years back. One in particular showed a guy in an elevator which all of a sudden starts plunging down out of control. His fear shows on his face but as he begins to listen to the Muzak playing he starts to forget his fear. Soon he’s got a smile on his face and he’s nodding to the music as he continues to plunge to his death…
Listen to just about any sermon today and at some point you’ll hear the benefits of staying “positive” and a warning against being “negative.” The concepts are so intricately interwoven into our culture that they are just accepted as givens. But is that how God wants us to view ourselves, the world in which we live, His Word, and the Gospel? What about the truth?
The Power of Positive Thinking
Just where did the whole concept of “being positive” come from? Those skilled in the art of persuasion throughout the ages have always realized the value of telling people what they want to hear. However, the one man most responsible for it’s insinuation into our culture would be Norman Vincent Peal.
Norman Vincent Peal was a Methodist minister who later converted to Dutch Reformed. He hosted a radio show called “The Art of Living” for 54 years and started the world’s largest religious magazine known as Guideposts. He died in 1993 at the age of 95, but he wrote over 46 books with his most popular one being The Power of Positive Thinking. It was written in 1952 and has sold more than 20 million copies in 41 languages. He was often referred to as “God’s Salesman” and pioneered the integration of Christianity and psychology with a strong emphasis on self-esteem.
Over the past 50 years the principles espoused in The Power of Positive Thinking have been accepted as “gospel” by sales and marketing people in all walks of life. They have proven their usefulness time and time again in persuading people to “buy” whatever they’re selling. As the church became more concerned with pragmatism than the integrity of the gospel, it began to integrate these principles into its approach. For those who have taken this path, the result has been phenomenal growth in both membership and income. That’s good isn’t it?
The Positive Gospel
What are the earmarks of this increasingly popular “positive” gospel? In a nutshell, emphasize the positive and ignore the negative. Tell people how much God loves them, how He wants the best for them, how He wants to set them free to be the person they were meant to be, and best of all it’s all free! God wants you to be influential and important and prosperous! After all, He came “that you might have life and life more abundantly” (John 10:10)! He doesn’t want to take anything from you or deny you anything. In fact, just the opposite… “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32)? He wants to give you “love, joy, and peace” (Galatians 5:22) if you will just receive Him.
The “positive” gospel avoids anything “negative” which might offend people. Don’t say anything about sin and certainly don’t bring up specific sins (1 John 1:10, 1 Corinthians 6:9,10). If you have to mention sin then be sure and soften it by defining it as just “missing the mark”…hey, nobody’s perfect, right? Don’t tell people that if they wish to become a Christian and enter the kingdom of heaven then they must repent (Matthew 4:17, Luke 13:3, Luke 24:46,47, Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, Revelation 2:16). That would imply that there is something wrong with them and that makes people uncomfortable. They didn’t come here to hear about what’s wrong with them. They came here to hear how much God loves them and what God can do for them. If you can’t avoid the word repent, then just tell them it means to “change your mind.” It doesn’t mean that you actually have to stop DOING the things that you know are wrong…just “change your mind” about it! Of course, don’t mention anything about self-denial (Matthew 16:24,25, Galatians 5:17). God doesn’t require you to deny yourself! He came here so that you could fulfill yourself! Be all that you can be! And if you forget everything else, NEVER bring up the topic of God’s judgment (1 Peter 4:17,18, Revelation 20:13, Hebrews 10:31, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 2:18,21-23)! After all, “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).
Does any of this sound like what you’re hearing from your pulpit? I realize that I’m laying on the sarcasm a little thick, but it’s hard not to when such fundamental doctrines that are essential to understanding the nature of God, the world in which we live, and our own natures are completely left out by those who are responsible for leading the rest of us. As Jeremiah 6:14 states, we are attempting to heal people superficially by only giving them the part of the truth which we think they want to hear. There can be no true rebirth or wholeness without the whole truth.
That Was Then This Is Now
I wonder what kind of reaction the Old Testament prophets and great men of God in the New Testament would get in our churches today!
“You know, Isaiah…brother…I’m really picking up on a lot of negativity here. You know, the Bible says ‘judge not’...
continue reading
www.cyshift.com/positive.html
5/09/2006
Jeremiah 6:14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.”
1 John 2:21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
This is an issue which has “stuck in my craw” for a long time. It really bugs me when I hear preachers playing fast and loose with the truth and telling people how they just need to keep a positive outlook and not loose their “happy thoughts” and everything will be fine. This sort of Peter Pan advice (if I may borrow from Billy Joel) reminds me of a series of commercials MTV ran a few years back. One in particular showed a guy in an elevator which all of a sudden starts plunging down out of control. His fear shows on his face but as he begins to listen to the Muzak playing he starts to forget his fear. Soon he’s got a smile on his face and he’s nodding to the music as he continues to plunge to his death…
Listen to just about any sermon today and at some point you’ll hear the benefits of staying “positive” and a warning against being “negative.” The concepts are so intricately interwoven into our culture that they are just accepted as givens. But is that how God wants us to view ourselves, the world in which we live, His Word, and the Gospel? What about the truth?
The Power of Positive Thinking
Just where did the whole concept of “being positive” come from? Those skilled in the art of persuasion throughout the ages have always realized the value of telling people what they want to hear. However, the one man most responsible for it’s insinuation into our culture would be Norman Vincent Peal.
Norman Vincent Peal was a Methodist minister who later converted to Dutch Reformed. He hosted a radio show called “The Art of Living” for 54 years and started the world’s largest religious magazine known as Guideposts. He died in 1993 at the age of 95, but he wrote over 46 books with his most popular one being The Power of Positive Thinking. It was written in 1952 and has sold more than 20 million copies in 41 languages. He was often referred to as “God’s Salesman” and pioneered the integration of Christianity and psychology with a strong emphasis on self-esteem.
Over the past 50 years the principles espoused in The Power of Positive Thinking have been accepted as “gospel” by sales and marketing people in all walks of life. They have proven their usefulness time and time again in persuading people to “buy” whatever they’re selling. As the church became more concerned with pragmatism than the integrity of the gospel, it began to integrate these principles into its approach. For those who have taken this path, the result has been phenomenal growth in both membership and income. That’s good isn’t it?
The Positive Gospel
What are the earmarks of this increasingly popular “positive” gospel? In a nutshell, emphasize the positive and ignore the negative. Tell people how much God loves them, how He wants the best for them, how He wants to set them free to be the person they were meant to be, and best of all it’s all free! God wants you to be influential and important and prosperous! After all, He came “that you might have life and life more abundantly” (John 10:10)! He doesn’t want to take anything from you or deny you anything. In fact, just the opposite… “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32)? He wants to give you “love, joy, and peace” (Galatians 5:22) if you will just receive Him.
The “positive” gospel avoids anything “negative” which might offend people. Don’t say anything about sin and certainly don’t bring up specific sins (1 John 1:10, 1 Corinthians 6:9,10). If you have to mention sin then be sure and soften it by defining it as just “missing the mark”…hey, nobody’s perfect, right? Don’t tell people that if they wish to become a Christian and enter the kingdom of heaven then they must repent (Matthew 4:17, Luke 13:3, Luke 24:46,47, Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, Revelation 2:16). That would imply that there is something wrong with them and that makes people uncomfortable. They didn’t come here to hear about what’s wrong with them. They came here to hear how much God loves them and what God can do for them. If you can’t avoid the word repent, then just tell them it means to “change your mind.” It doesn’t mean that you actually have to stop DOING the things that you know are wrong…just “change your mind” about it! Of course, don’t mention anything about self-denial (Matthew 16:24,25, Galatians 5:17). God doesn’t require you to deny yourself! He came here so that you could fulfill yourself! Be all that you can be! And if you forget everything else, NEVER bring up the topic of God’s judgment (1 Peter 4:17,18, Revelation 20:13, Hebrews 10:31, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 2:18,21-23)! After all, “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).
Does any of this sound like what you’re hearing from your pulpit? I realize that I’m laying on the sarcasm a little thick, but it’s hard not to when such fundamental doctrines that are essential to understanding the nature of God, the world in which we live, and our own natures are completely left out by those who are responsible for leading the rest of us. As Jeremiah 6:14 states, we are attempting to heal people superficially by only giving them the part of the truth which we think they want to hear. There can be no true rebirth or wholeness without the whole truth.
That Was Then This Is Now
I wonder what kind of reaction the Old Testament prophets and great men of God in the New Testament would get in our churches today!
“You know, Isaiah…brother…I’m really picking up on a lot of negativity here. You know, the Bible says ‘judge not’...
continue reading
www.cyshift.com/positive.html
!!
