The Current Deception
I finished reading it last night. Armed with a highlighter and a red flair-tip pen, I circled, highlighted, underlined and jotted down notes both in the margins and on the inside fly leaf.
My professional opinion? I hated this book. It was painful to read. The theology is terrible. There is no consistent thread of soteriology. We are merely unfulfilled people, not with a sin problem, but with a fulfillment problem. Apparently, according to the author, we are not in rebellion against God (he does, in his defense, mention we are in rebellion once, but does not tie it in with why or how or what that means for us -- like eternal damnation, for starters -- or how that separates us from Him), we are merely broken people (despite the Bible's insistence we are proud and in opposition to Him, and need to be broken by Him). And our sin? Well, let's just say we are all entangled by destructive habits (no, seriously, I'm not making this up) that Jesus can save us from.
Is someone in a self-destructive relationship cycle? They need Jesus. Not because submitting to Him will mean a regeneration that will put us on our faces before Him and acknowledging that we are creatures who can do nothing BUT sin if left to our own devices, but because He "changes lives". There is nothing more to elaborate on here in his defense, because he didn't give me anything to pass on to you. He did use the word "mystical" in there several times, so maybe that is how he supposes changes occur, but if that were the case he ought to have elaborated so that those who have not been regenerated, and who are reading the book, can at least be aware of what to expect in those who are (completely tongue-in-cheek, mind you).
My final complaint (and, oh, there are plenty, which I ought to categorize as a means of creating a discernment guide as a starting point for those considering reading the book, though I hope others will catch on and greatly elaborate on Hybels' errors) is his re-telling of a story published in Chuck Colson's How Now Shall We Live? I don't know what promted me to pull my copy off the shelf, but perhaps a growing distrust of Hybels' "stories". If he could twist Scripture, what respect would he have for anothers' account? None, apparently. Despite having admitted to taking the story from Colson's book, he apparently decided taking the facts from the book wasn't worth his time. Several facts Hybels reprints were not corroborated by Colson's book. So either Colson got the facts wrong in his book (by insisting Prison Fellowship started the pedicab business instead of an entrpreneurial ex-inmate as Hybels claims is the case), or Hybels chose to print a separate conversation he had with Colson about the story and not cite this conversation instead, though Hybels is explicit about the location of the story: Colson's book.
"Tell me, boys, was it thirty pedicabs, or thirty-five, because that's not a hard number to corroborate."
In short, it was a tiring read of a different story of salvation than what I know to be true. Sin is kept locked in the basement, and Jesus is a motivational speaker with "dreams" who "sees the potential in people." If you overdo your evangelism, you could be responsible for preventing them from ever "coming to Jesus". Shame on those who talk about hell.
Instead, may I recommend
from Reformation Heritage Books?
posted by Marcian @ 8:44 AM
10 Comments:
Intereting review and conmments. The pastor of the church my family and I currently attend, did a sermon last Dec. titled "Why We Need a Savior". The sermon was a joke. Not once did the pastor mention the word SIN. Based on the review of this book, it appears that our pastor put together his sermon based on what Bill Hybels said in his book. I am everything that the reviewer of this book pointed out, was in the pastor's sermon, Of course my wife and I wanted to yell out to the pastor, during his sermon "We need a Savior because of our sin, not to feel good about ourselves" as he was eluding to.
Mike
Right on!
Oh, and I linked you, shoulda done it a while ago...
Thanks, all. It's over. I wasn't given much time to talk; I was talked-at for most of the time. I'm apparently motivated by self, and hurts in my past. And there's apparently very little chance I could have such a grasp on the truth after having such a short walk. Which means I exhibit an arrogant contempt toward leadership.
He spoke a lot about grace. He didn't show much.
You quote: "I wasn't given much time to talk; I was talked-at for most of the time. I'm apparently motivated by self, and hurts in my past. And there's apparently very little chance I could have such a grasp on the truth after having such a short walk. Which means I exhibit an arrogant contempt toward leadership."
Heh. I've never seen before that a person speaking to REAL soteriology was accused of being "motivated by self." That's a first on me. I wonder if they ever LISTEN to the things coming out of their mouths...
As my dad told me, "When they start insulting you, it means they don't have REAL arguments left."
Marcian,
Praise God for your boldness in defending and comfirming the Truth. Keep up the good work!
Brock
You go girl!
Marcian,
Thank you for your post. The simplicity and pureness of the Gospel makes it an attractive target for the wolves, such as Bill Hybels.
Be of good courage and keep contending for the faith. Your treasure is in heaven.
Jim
Sounds like another Purpose Driven ripoff! :-[
I seem to be at odds with your remarks about the book. We are doing a study on it and I guess I must be completely wrong in my view. I like the book. What I am getting out of it is that I am to go outside my comfort zone of being around only Christians and witness to those in need of Christ. Bill seems to me to be speaking to the Christ follower and not necessarily those who don't know Christ. Please correct me if I am wrong in what the book meant to me.
Mark,
The bottom line is that
1. the gospel message is missing from the book. Being that it is actually a very simple message, there wasn't much need to leave it out (in my opinion), especially in a book on evangelism.
2. what Hybels DOES say has nothing to do with the gospel. We aren't looking for that "need" that will fill us. In fact, I'd even debate those who talk about the God-shaped hole in our hearts. Both of those seek to fulfill something within "us" to make "us" complete. The focus is on "us". What Hybels ought to focus on is the message of repentance from sin. We aren't supposed to worry about what we will say when put on the spot. If we know what we have been saved from, we will be able to give an answer to ANYONE who asks about the hope we have: forgiveness from eternal punishment for the crimes we've committed against a holy, just, and righteous God. We won't need to live in 3D; that just distracts from the real issue at hand.
This book is man-centered, not God-centered. It seeks to make the Christian life something easy to make a decision for, something we just agree to. This "technique" does nothing to assure lasting change within a person, because it is not based on the Biblical testimony that God Himself initiates the change within us. And that we are COMMANDED to make disciples. When I was changed, I cannot tell you how much I just KNEW I had a responsibility to tell everyone. I had to warn them. There's nothing in this book about any of that.
Hope that helps.
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