File under: Bringing Disgrace on Christ and His Church/Dumb Things Christians Do
Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 7:35 PM
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March 2nd, 2010 | 10:54 pm | #1
I have a feeling that this is supposed to be a joke. Like the “Christian Side Hug” video that came out. But maybe it isn’t.
It seems like foolishness, either way.
March 3rd, 2010 | 9:03 am | #2
Yep, it sure does look like foolishness. But I can see in this clip the many testimonies of people who have been healed afflictions and pains in Jesus’ name, which is one of the things Jesus came to do, and what He taught His disciples to do. So, to me, it looks like the kind of foolish things God uses to confounds the wise of this world.
March 3rd, 2010 | 9:08 am | #3
BTW, how many of you have seen people healed in Jesus’ name by doing what you’re doing?
March 3rd, 2010 | 9:48 am | #4
Jeff, I assume you are referring to 1 Cor 1:27? “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;”
He’s talking about individuals, not children’s songs. Additionally the passage is talking about what the world considers foolish, not what is in fact foolish.
But most importantly the passage context makes it clear that the work is God’s work. He is the one that is doing the doing. And why is that made clear? So that no man can boast. Our efforts or what we do isn’t what brings the results.
March 3rd, 2010 | 10:15 am | #5
If God uses foolish things of the world to confound the wise in one context, who is to say that He cannot or does not do so in another? I think it is a principle that is not limited to 1 Corinthians 1.
In this case (the clip is from a revival meeting at MorningStar Ministries in Fort Mill, SC), the work that was done was done by God — healing of affliction and pain in Jesus’ name. Nobody there imagines that it was the simple song and dance that healed those people — they were healed in Jesus’ name by the power of God and in the context of the gospel. It was Jesus’ name, not the Hokey Pokey, that was being lifted up by the people there.
It may seem foolish to you — and to me, too — that God would use a simple little children’s song to bring about healing. It seemed foolish to Naaman that he should have to dip himself in the Jordan seven times to be healed of leprosy. And yet, Naaman was healed through that, and the people in this clip were healed by the power of God through something that seems foolish to us.
Why should we think that God must always do things in ways that do not offend us?
March 3rd, 2010 | 5:39 pm | #6
There is absolutely no way that Hokey Pokey qualifies as bona fide liturgical song. I myself will stick with the Psalms, thank you very much.
March 3rd, 2010 | 6:35 pm | #7
Mr Doles,
Painted your face purple and wearing a tutu would be seem foolish to the world too.
Should we assume that you will be doing something like that at your church next week?
After all, the foolishness things and all that.
March 3rd, 2010 | 6:53 pm | #8
“God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise” does not mean that we should do every foolish thing we can think of. that is non-sequitur. But it does mean that a thing is not necessarily disqualified as being a work of God because it seems to us to be foolish. Again, I point to the testimonies of the healings that took place in Jesus’ name during this exercise as an indication that this was a work of God. The fact that the exercise itself seems foolish does not disprove that.
March 3rd, 2010 | 6:55 pm | #9
David, I love the psalms myself and pray them every day. They are wonderful. But I also make room for healing ministry, sometimes with the psalms, but often not.
March 4th, 2010 | 7:22 am | #10
Not all blessings are for all persons. I’ll take the word of those involved that God blessed them in this instance (and in others as well.) But this is not the way God normally reaches me. Nor has He decided to call me to Himself by me walking on my knees to Spanish shrines, the way others say He has called them. He has made me a different sort of person, one that is not well tuned to some sorts of spirituality. As long as those involved in other sorts of spirituality will pray that God blesses me by means that differ from theirs, I will do the same for them.
March 6th, 2010 | 4:45 pm | #11
I might add here that God used Pharaoh to work out his purposes. But that does not mean that he approved of Pharaoh’s actions, still less that we should imitate Pharaoh.
March 8th, 2010 | 9:48 am | #12
Jeff Doles –
You’re defending the indefensible. Plain and simple: you’re abusing the texts you are ponying up here to make a point which Scripture never makes — and one which Scripture (1 Cor 12-14) is pretty certainly clearly against.
_________________________________
Chris –
As the anti-McCainiac among the team here, let me say that the video is simply great evidence that the lack of real faith in what is broadly called “evangelicalism” is wide-spread, and that hi-jinx like this have replaced liturgy, preaching, prayer, fasting, confession (both credal and personal sin), and humility.
My challenge to Rev. McCain is this: video like this is best served with an explanation of why it is such a disaster, and then what’s the solution or alternative. There’s an obvious spiritual famine evident in this video — one which the advocates for such things and the participants say is a sumptuous feast.
What’s the solution in 2010 to the spiritual error of spectacular enthusiasm?
March 8th, 2010 | 9:30 pm | #13
Wow, Frank, who’da thought that there would be yet another thing we would disagree about? I’m seeing Jesus exalted and people getting healed in His name, and I praise God for that.
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