Are You Defending Errors about Christianity?

Imagine if your husband was a good and honest judge who carefully obeyed the rules of law, meting out the correct punishments as laid down in the law, protecting law-abiding citizens and appropriately punishing those who broke the law. 

Now suppose someone wrote a fictional book about your husband and presented him as a cool guy who didn’t really care about the rules, a guy who treated the law-abiding the same as the criminal, making him look permissive and unprincipled.

And suppose when you expressed your concern with this misrepresentation, people assured you it was just fiction and it made people think your husband was a cool guy. Would you be okay with it? 

I wouldn’t. My husband is my closest friend, and I would be hurt to see him misrepresented, even if simply in fiction. And the only person whose reputation is more important to me than my husband’s is my Lord’s. If we are not offended when books and movies misrepresent our Lord, we need to ask ourselves why. 

Let me highlight the importance of accurate presentations of the Lord by sharing what happened several years ago when I wrote a number of articles explaining how The Shack misrepresented the Lord, presenting Him as a cool guy who doesn’t really care about the rules, a guy who treats the Jesus-lover the same as the Jesus-hater, permissive and unprincipled (See Examining The Shack).

Hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe were talking about how The Shack helped them see God in a new light, but it wasn't a true light, and I was surprised how few Christians were concerned.

Many well-meaning Christians were taken in by the captivating story. Some eventually figured out that it was not as good as they'd first realized and quit recommending it. Others refused to believe it had theological errors. And still others said things like, "It's only fiction, and the good outweighs the bad." 

Of course, Paul Young didn't see it as only fiction - he wrote a Bible study to accompany the book. And a few years later he came out with a book explaining his heretical theology.

But the thing that most surprised me about my well-researched review of The Shack was the anger it inspired in some Christians. I share one example below: 

“Get a life. I am an ordained minister who has graduated from seminary, raised in the Assemblies of God, my father was an ordained AG minister, and I am telling you God has better things for you to worry about. Like feeding the poor, defending the widow, orphan and foreigner in your midst and giving a cup of water in His name. The Shack is about love, compassion, forgiveness and hope; not bad themes in this day and age. You sound like the Pharsees [sic] in Jesus' day when he told the story of the Good Samaritan... they decried it! There were no "good" Samaritans! Jesus' story was outrageous, blasphemous and a LIE according to the Pharisees. Good thing Jesus didn't tell that story today...you would blogspot him for lying about God.” 

This pastor who doesn't know anything about my life judged me to be like the unsaved Pharisees who rejected Christ's teachings, and he implied that I was neglecting the poor and needy. And why did he judge me in this way? Because I criticized a book that misrepresented God and the gospel.

When someone attacks those who disagree with them, they prove that biblical principles are not their priority. (See my collection of 1-minute devotions on Christian Speech).

I wonder how this seminary-trained pastor felt a year later when The Shack author came out with a book explaining his view of God as represented in The Shack. In that book Paul Young explained that the cross was not part of God’s plan because any God who would plan the cross for His Son would be a “cosmic abuser.” (See He's Calling God a Cosmic Abuser).

Scripture clearly says God did plan the cross for His Son: Acts 2:23, John 17-18, Colossians 1:19-20, Ephesians 2:13-16.

1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

I believe that makes Paul Young's statements blasphemous. Yet many Christians supported and applauded this man's view of God.

Hopefully, most Christians have seen that The Shack is not a good book, but I use this as an example of how easily Christians can be lead into false teachings. And I bring up another wildly popular series: The Chosen. The Chosen does not have the enormous errors that were found in The Shack, but it does contain some significant errors that most Christians are presently defending. See Be Careful that You Don't Let the Chosen Affect Your Discernment, or the more detailed post Use Discernment When Watching the Chosen, and Why Scripture Refutes The Chosen's "I Am the Law of Moses" Statement.

We must decide who deserves our loyalty. Will we accept half-truths and false teachings about our Lord, or will we defend His name and His character.

I believe that most of my readers are interested in maintaining accurate views of God and Scripture. And we are in a critical time in history when many people are "deconstructing" Christianity and making claims that present God and the gospel in the wrong light. That's why I write about these things, knowing it will bring me criticism but also knowing that those who have ears will hear (Matthew 11:15). Below are some of the things which concern me:

Jesus Calling

The Message and the Passion Translation

The Boundaries counseling methods

Progressive Christian and Ex-vangelical views

Yoga

Universal Salvation

The Hebrew Roots Movement

The anti-Christmas movement

The Self-esteem movement

The KJV only movement

Gay Revisionist Theology

Soft-Core Christians: Biblical Entertainment Standards

Are you Enjoying Popular Pornography?

The Popular Teachings of Joel Osteen