Lausanne and the Evangelical Undermining of Sola Scriptura: Watering Down the Word

http://evangelicalfocus.com/magazine/4929/Bezalel_and_Oholiab_Artists_and_craftsmen

This article is not unique. In fact there are dozens just like it produced on a daily basis. I've repeatedly addressed these issues in my writings and yet since there are so few who seem willing or able to provide the necessary critique I feel compelled to keep doing so, hoping that someone will stumble upon it, or that this time it will 'click' with someone.

It needs to be understood that while the article appeals to many, and many Evangelicals and even Confessional people (who ought to know better) will agree with it... the doctrines it contains represent a functional denial of Sola Scriptura. It denies the Sufficiency of Scripture and thus even while these folks are undoubtedly well meaning and even sincere in their professed allegiance to Scriptural authority they are nevertheless laying flawed and crooked foundations.

Music, drama, art and dance are not ways to promote the gospel. Paul and the other Apostles taught a Word-based Gospel that was to be promoted through the foolishness of preaching. To resort to these other methods is a denial of this principle and ultimately undermines the authority of the Word and the principles by which God has chosen to communicate the Gospel.

The older generation's reservations regarding these forms were not due to cultural hang-ups or stodgy traditionalism. They were rooted in principle or at least were at one time. It was when the principle was lost and the resistance was reduced to an empty form that the innovations were allowed to take hold.

These newer methods are little more than gimmicks. Some leaders are motivated by an extra-Biblical pragmatism and having failed to grasp, reflect upon or even look into the meaning and application of Sola Scriptura, they are simply following the crowd. Others attempt to make a Biblical case. Justification is found for them by a variety of flawed hermeneutical methods. Some appeal to Old Testament passages that are wrested from their context. Symbols and types that point specifically to Christ and thus are God-ordained, inspired and exact are used loosely and improperly as a means of promoting artistic license. Others wrongly interpret the nature of Christ's parables and believe he was opening the door to illustrative and innovative means of communicating. On the contrary, a closer read of the gospels reveal the parables were meant to obfuscate and confuse. They taught spiritual truths and thus were only comprehensible to those led by the Spirit.

An appeal to Bono of U2 does not make the case, in fact I find such an appeal to be disturbing, even tragic. Whatever one thinks of Bono and U2, he is not someone that should be looked to for doctrinal guidance or even wisdom and the world would hardly be the worse if it had not been graced by his music. A great deal could be said about Bono and while I will grant he is perhaps a more 'interesting' example of a pop star, I do not believe him to be exemplary in any way shape or form. His charitable work is to be commended but further examination of his finances and ethics reveal him to be something other than what many Evangelicals have made him out to be.

To compare Bono's 'unconventionality' with the nonconformity of the prophets is, sorry to say... sacrilegious. The prophets were types of Christ, ordained by God and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Their non-conformity was revelatory and typological. The Lausanne-connected author of this piece has gone astray and his appeal to Bezaleel and Aholiab demonstrates his deeply flawed understanding of not only the Redemptive-Historical flow between Old and New Testaments but the Bible in general.

I do not even agree that the Tabernacle/Temple demonstrated the Lord's goodness to all the people around them. If anything it was a proclamation of judgment, a warning, a call to repentance. There was life to be sure but only found in repentance and conversion. This idea of art and artistry as an appeal to beauty and goodness... an attractive gospel is at great odds with the gospel of offense the New Testament teaches. Nowhere does the Scripture suggest that beauty is to be employed as a marketing tool.

The author means well I'm sure but he is woefully misguided and bad theology has led to a warped understanding of the Scripture, of worship, of the Kingdom... which becomes all too clear in the author's biography and ultimately these errors lead to a distorted view of God Himself.

Is he just utterly a deceived? Is he a Christian? That's not for me to answer but I will say this, he's on a very bad road, a road that can lead to compromise on a scale that is tantamount to apostasy. We're not discussing election and predestination here. Those concepts play a part in our overall understanding and they provide a great comfort... but the comfort is only for those who are persevering, who express an obedient faith, who are being sanctified unto obedience. The Scriptures are replete with warnings, warnings against failing to persevere and warnings concerning false doctrine, Judaizing and being seduced.

Bad foundations produce weak and flawed structures that will not stand up when assaulted by storms. The war is real. Souls are at stake. This teaching is dangerous and needs to be exposed and understood. The doctrines represented in the article do not uphold Scriptural authority but at every point work to destroy it. I do not hate the author but I hate the theology that motivates him. It is not in accord with the doctrinal order of the Apostles and thus it must be condemned.