AMERICAN EVANGELICALISM IS A MENTAL GHETTO--Part I

Is your church a mental ghetto? If you attend an Evangelical "church", you almost certainly attend a mental ghetto.

Insulted? Let me explain what a ghetto is. A ghetto is a place where lots of poor people live together because it's easier to simply stay poor than to clean up, do job interviews, take a job, and get out of the ghetto. And it's all made possible because the government will pay you to stay poor. Similarly, Evangelicals are biblically illiterate because it's easier to stay stupid than to do the hard work of study. And the pastors are like the government enablers who keep our ghettos populated. Instead of teaching the Bible in depth, it's easier to give emotion-packed, feel-good pablum, than to actually spend hour upon hour alone in the study. And it's easier to let the folks go along in mediocrity than to force them to learn about the God they claim to love but don't even know. If I get a welfare check why work? Just the same, if my pastor and "church" accept my biblical ignorance as par for the course, why study?

Turn on the TV and order a pizza.

Let me give you an example of what I mean by the mental ghetto. This was found on one of the blogs on my blogroll. It is by a "Zac Poonen", a prominent Evangelical preacher. Here it is: "The gift of 'tongues' was a perfect gift. God has not changed His mind about the gift, for He never changes."

That was his argument against the idea that the gift of tongues isn't for today--because God never changes. This is juvenile. Of course God doesn't change, but that doesn't mean He never changes the way he deals with men. For instance, we aren't under the Old Covenant. (And I believe that biblical tongues could happen today.) He went on to claim that Acts 2 was the first time believers were filled with the Spirit, evidently unaware of Exodus 31, Samson, and John the Baptist, to name a few.

Did you know that Acts wasn't the first time in Scripture believers were filled by the Holy Spirit? If you're an Evangelical, almost certainly not.

I could go on and on, but if you think you're biblically informed, see how you do on a little quiz:

1. Name the ten commandments.

2. Who is the first person whose faith was explicitly mentioned in Scripture as counting for righteousness?

3. In Matthew 7:1, Jesus said, "Judge not that you not be judged." Does this command forbid judging when read in context?

4. The Scripture says God is love. Does the Bible ever say God is truth?

5. The word "church" is translated from the Greek "ecclesia", meaning "assembly. When did God first have an assembly?

6. The Scripture calls the assembly a bride. Does it say this more in the Old Testament or in the New Testament?

7. When was the practice of tithing first mentioned in Scripture?

8. On what day of the week did the early Christians first worship?

9. When was the first New Testament church building built in the Bible?

10. What tribe did God name to serve in the tabernacle?

I will put the answers in the comment thread.

There are several words translated in the New Testament as "fool". The one that most describes the Evangelical "church" is "aphron". It means someone who is purposely mindless or unthinking. It comes closest to what I mean when I say the "church" is ignorant. I don't mean ignorant in an innocent way. I mean ignorant in the most derogatory sense. I mean what Paul meant when he spoke of suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. I have coined the word "aphronism" from the Greek "apron". I needed a word that has only one meaning. Ignorance can be innocent or it can be the kind of ignorance to which Paul referred in Romans 1. It's a perniscious ignorance that is on purpose. "Aphronism" is my word for that. An aphronist is one who practices aphronism and he is aphronistic.

Coming in AMERICAN EVANGELICALISM IS A MENTAL GHETTO--Part II:
Breadth of the problem in three places.
1. Schools.

2. Pulpit.

3. Pew.

Depth of the problem in four categories.
1. Biblical ignorance.

2. Ignorance in general knowledge.

3. Ignorance in how to think.

4. Ignorance about the biblical command to practice precise thought.

Coming in AMERICAN EVANGELICALISM IS A MENTAL GHETTO--Part III:
Mental Ghetto or Swamp of Emotions. Objective truth or feelings. Study the Bible or have devotions.