I've only seen the "perfect the way you are" heresy online, thankfully. But make no mistake, seminary is suffering the same collapse as general education.
I'm really into kingdom theology right now, specifically ongoing spiritual warfare and the need to build communities. I tried bringing the community aspect up with my current pastor (an "America is the greatest country on earth" boomer) and he more or less dismissed it. He said every few years in state-wide pastors conference, someone brings that up and everyone else shoots it down because building an interdependent community with a semblance of independence from the world doesn't feel "churchy" enough. The other pastors are afraid they'd lose congregations.
Meanwhile, those same congregations have not a single member under 40. It's a complete failure to pass on a functioning system, let alone spread the Kingdom. I'm starting to resent pastors as a class for their failures.
I help with the youth group at church and they are bombarded with this stuff at school and other places. A lot of younger ppl will say “God loves everyone”. The idea that everything must be condoned is growing rabidly in the church.
God does love everyone--that doesn't preclude him from being dissapointed or meting out justice. A father who disciplines a child doesn't stop loving his child for the duration of the discipline. A father, a good one, attempts to raise his child well because of love for his child, not despite it.
It is a mark of how poorly many children have been raised that they think "God loves me" is a justification to make no attempt at betterment--or that Gods love (being infinite) somehow precludes them from also being sinful.
I've only seen the "perfect the way you are" heresy online, thankfully. But make no mistake, seminary is suffering the same collapse as general education.
I'm really into kingdom theology right now, specifically ongoing spiritual warfare and the need to build communities. I tried bringing the community aspect up with my current pastor (an "America is the greatest country on earth" boomer) and he more or less dismissed it. He said every few years in state-wide pastors conference, someone brings that up and everyone else shoots it down because building an interdependent community with a semblance of independence from the world doesn't feel "churchy" enough. The other pastors are afraid they'd lose congregations.
Meanwhile, those same congregations have not a single member under 40. It's a complete failure to pass on a functioning system, let alone spread the Kingdom. I'm starting to resent pastors as a class for their failures.
I help with the youth group at church and they are bombarded with this stuff at school and other places. A lot of younger ppl will say “God loves everyone”. The idea that everything must be condoned is growing rabidly in the church.
I used to joke that if you love your kids, you'll homeschool them. It's not a joke anymore.
God does love everyone--that doesn't preclude him from being dissapointed or meting out justice. A father who disciplines a child doesn't stop loving his child for the duration of the discipline. A father, a good one, attempts to raise his child well because of love for his child, not despite it.
It is a mark of how poorly many children have been raised that they think "God loves me" is a justification to make no attempt at betterment--or that Gods love (being infinite) somehow precludes them from also being sinful.
Amen. Sadly that lesson goes over the heads of a number of Christians