AMERICAN EVANGELICALISM IS A MENTAL GHETTO--Part IX The Sin, the Outright Hypocrisy of Sensitivity.

SOME INTERESTING DEFINITIONS. (From The New Lexicon Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, copyright 1992.)
sen-si-tive adj. 1. able to respond to a stimulus, sensitive to light 2. able to respond to a very slight stimulus, a snesitive instrument 3. keenly aware of the moods and feelings of others 4. easily hurt emotionally, too readily affected by the feelings or imagined feelings of others in regard to oneself, sensitive to criticism...

sen-si-tiv-i-ty n. the state or quality of being sensitive

sensitivity group n. participants in a therapeutic group designed to promote understanding of personal emotions

sensitivity training n. a program designed to sharpen individual awareness

touch-y adj. 1. apt to be easily offended 2. apt to cause offense, a touchy subject

SENSITIVE OR TOUCHY--A Lesson in Logic, Language, and Lying.
Here's a lesson in human nature, language, and logic all roled into one. Notice definitions, 3 and 4 of sensitive. They're the same except that number four admits the negative side, meaning the same as touchy. We do this all the time. Big boned or fat. Challenged or stupid. Complex or immoral. Mistake or sin. Simpler times or back before we all became self-centered lechers. Teenage struggles or rebellion. Pro-choice or in favor of killing kids. Liberal or socialistic. All these pairs can be used synonomously, but they give quite different vibes, don't they?

There's a difference between denotation and connotation. A word, term, or phrase denotes its dictionary definition. The connotation is quite different, though. Connotation is the subtle, emotive sense that comes along side the word's definition, often connoting moral value.

We choose our words carefully to protect our egos and sooth our consciences. It's human nature. We're sinners and we don't like saying it or hearing it. One needs to look behind the language to what is being said in simple, factual terms. Sometimes it pays to take the time and say the same thing with different words. Sometimes it'll shake you to your toes.

Pro-choice and in favor of killing the unborn both denote the state or quality of being pro-abortion. But their connotations are vastly different. One connotes open-mindedness, freedom, and liberality. The other calls someone a murderer. Look for this sort of thing and your discernment skills will be vastly enhanced.

That's what unbelieving church-goers have done. Self-centeredness of the basest, most immature kind is now called "sensitivity". Jesus said that we're to deny ourselves. MEism says we're to worry ourselves about our self-esteem and that of others. Sensitivity is the attempt to never hurt anyone's sef-esteem. It is the worship of the emotional--the deification of the heart.

God hates it.

Jeremiah said the heart is a liar in 17:9. Now no one can call another a liar because it hurts our hearts. We feel bad and that fact is enough to stop any reproof, except the reproof of the reprover.

SENSITIVITY IN SCRIPTURE.
So, are we ever told in Scripture to be sensitive to the feelings of others. Yes, we are. But it isn't a major theme of Scripture. In fact, valuing another's feelings over their spiritual welfare is often the most unloving thing one can do. Jesus told everyone He met they were sinners in need of repentance to avoid God's eternal punishment. That was His theme. Matthew 4:17. He never went preaching sensitivity. In fact, He hurt so many feelings they killed Him.

The insidious effect of today's emphasis on sensitivity is to squelch factual communication of truth. It stops thought in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment. If sensitivity is all important, then every statement about sin can be trashed because it hurts someone's feelings. Every commandment God has uttered is subject to man's commandment to never hurt the self-esteem of anyone. There is no commandment that can be uttered that can't be objected to under the color of sensitivity. All egos must be protected from the commandments of that nasty, insensitive Hebrew God.

Facts don't matter and thought stops.

And that's the point.

SENSITIVITY HYPOCRITES--The New Pharisees.

Who were the Pharisees? They were those lousy old men who were such white-knuckled Bible-thumpers that they hated Jesus because Jesus wasn't so uptight about following every little thing in Scripture. Right? They were all legalistic. Right?

No. That's a lie.

Jesus said that the Pharisees did two sins in Matthew 23 and neither had anything to do with being too in love with God's Laws or His Scripture.

1. Jesus said the Pharisees were hypocrites, saying things that may be right, but not doing the things they asked others to do. They were hypocrites. He said, "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them."

2. Jesus said the Pharisees enjoyed holding themselves up as superior over others. He said, "And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men..." Holier than thou is now softer than you.
Doesn't that sound like the Mother Superiors of Sensitivity? "You're harsh!" "Don't judge!" "Be sensitive." They judge; you're not supposed to. They judge you for judging them because judging is wrong, unless you're one of them. They're loving. You're not. You just can't measure up. You're just not sappy enough. You're legalistic. They're not. Remember that. It's a law of nature in their world.

The Tolerance-Nazis really are hypocrites, too. And the whole idea is to prevent one from actually thinking. Tomorrow I'll end this series with three examples of the Sensitivity Police and how they act when they think now one's listening. You can decide if they keep their own commandments or not.

In Christ,
Phil Perkins. PS--For a humorous look at these new Pharisees, read here.