The Gideons

Do I have a story for you all.

Yesterday (Sunday) I was involved in the worship team at my home church, the Abbotsford Church of the Nazarene. Our Senior Pastor was away on a trip and in place of him, he invited the Gideon's to come and share with us (The Gideons are most widely known as 'the bible people' or for the bibles that are placed in almost every hotel/motel room across North America).

ANYWAYS.

When I first saw the guest speaker, I guess you could say I judged a book by its cover. The guest preacher was at least in his late 60's early 70's, with a proper pin-stripe black outfit, slicked hair and a shiny nametag, with a bible in hand. I immediately thought to myself 'uh-oh'. Now of course it is not in my place to judge, or to bring him down, because he is doing the Lord's work and I fully understand that. But here's the order of events which took place yesterday:

1) After the first set of music, he came up for a 10-min introduction, presenting to us who the Gideons are, what they do and....why you should join them if you are a professional businessman.

My problems with that:
He forced that fact that the GIDEON Bible was the one to use. Throw away your other copies and use the GIDEON version - it has and will save many people from a life of darkness. Why do no other versions meet their standards? I simply do not understand.

And..professional businessman? What about construction workers, janitors, tradesmen? He said and I quote "If you are a professional businessman, tell me one good reason why you cannot join the Gideons ministry?" hrmmm...I can think of lots of reasons.

Thirdly, women in leadership. Not once did he mention women as leaders in the church, single or married. I believe there is a definite place for that, but apparently, they are to be wives to the husband and that's it. Don't ask questions. I myself, was very offended by this, I cant even begin to imagine the way some of the women in our congregation felt.

HIS MESSAGE:

1) He began by telling the congregation that if they wanted to hear the theological exegesis of the Gideons, then tune in to his friend's radio station to gain a better understanding.

Cop-out much? I'm sorry, but I don't think you should be preaching to 200 people about your denominational beliefs, if you can't explain and backup your theology when questions come to surface.

2) He was speaking of seeking holiness, one of the main doctrines of the Nazarene church. But in doing so, we must strip away the old flesh and seek new.

Gnosticism? I believe the body God gave me, is the one he gave me, and for that I am thankful. He kept emphasizing the fact that in order to recieve God's grace and be a true follower, we must overcome our fleshly desires. God gave us the desires that we have, and they're good. God created sex and it is good. Its when we use those desires in the wrong way, when we take the glory away from God, then I believe that is a sin and yes we need to free ourselves from that - but to completely throw them out? I could be very wrong in my interpretation of what he was saying, but this is how it came across to me.

3) At one point in the sermon he shared a story of a child in the Middle-East who had accepted Christ as his Saviour. In his community, persecution of Christians were at a very-high rate and due to this, the child been brutally beaten and crucified by certain individuals. This was definitely tough to take in - but our friend at the Gideons addressed the 'evil-doers' as Muslims. "The Muslims did this, the Muslims." with a very low tone, basically downplaying the entire Muslim population .... so, the entire Muslim community is at fault for this boy's death? He went on to say that the Muslims were in direct opposition of what Christians are here to do and we must stand up and fight for freedom...are the Christians not at fault for anything wicked and wrong?....try the Crusades maybe? But - to classify the Muslim community as our direct enemies I feel was completely wrong. Each man has is own heart, no matter what religion he is involved in. If I wanted to commite a horrible crime or act, I could - would you blame the entire Christian community? I sure hope not. Even throughout the Crusades, there were Christians who did not want to be involved in the slaughtering of people who did not believe the same theology (take a look at some Anabaptist Theology). Again, this is another topic that I could of interpreted very wrong.

This has been a long rant. But, that's why I started the blog. If you find anything offensive or theologically poor please let me know. I'm a student learning and growing to be a child of God - but I do not want to be bringing down the kingdom by writing what I write. Again, let me know. Thank you.

Blessings,

Brad.