Response to Piper’s “20 Reasons…” Part 2

This is a continuation of my comments on John Piper’s “”20 Reasons I don’t Take Potshots at Fundamentalists”.

Questions 6 – 10:

6. They have backbone and are not prone to compromise principle.

This is an admirable trait, if and only if, your principle is based on truth and not an imaginary land of milk and honey that you will only see when you die. Otherwise, your principles reject science, logic and reality. Not exactly something to brag about.

7. They put obedience to Jesus above the approval of man (even though they fall short, like others).

They are stubbornly obedient to who they think Jesus is, while ignoring or condemning those other Fundamentalists who think differently. How can you really be obedient to Jesus when you can’t interpret what He or His apostles said? For instance, Christians can’t agree on baptism (mode, age, and what it means), the Lord’s Supper (what it means, frequency, etc.), what is necessary for salvation (faith, faith plus works, faith plus baptism), whether salvation can be lost, whether divorce is possible, whether God is sovereign in all things or just some things, etc. The Bible is so clear and Jesus spoke with such perspicuity that one estimate gives over 30,000 Christian denominations in the world! So tell me, how can you be obedient to Jesus?

8. They believe in hell and are loving enough to warn people about it.

And if I believe that you will spend eternity in agony if you don’t worship the Flying Spaghetti monster and I preach to you about it, am I being loving? Maybe in my mind I am, but warning and scaring a person about a delusion is hardly a loving thing to do. (Yes, I know they think it is real. No proof – Just that faith thing.)

9. They believe in heaven and sing about how good it will be to go there.

Is it good to believe in a mythical world that can be seen only when you are dead and to spend your life hiding from the real world in return for a mythical reward when you die? (I tell you what. For the mere gift of a life of serving me, I’ll sell you this piece of land that you will only be able to see when you die. Do I have a deal?)

10. Their “social action” is helping the person next door (like Jesus), which doesn’t usually get written up in the newspaper.

They will help the poor and downtrodden only if it doesn’t interfere with the money needed to run their mega-church and provide stadium seating, coffee bars and top notch musical presentations. And when they get to the poor heathen next door, the only requirement is that they listen to them drone on about how great Jesus is and how you will go to hell if you don’t believe like them. Encouraging?