Attitude, Apostasy and Disillusionment
Posted: Thursday, January 28, 2010
by Phillip Ross
Pilgrim Platform
Christians whose motto is "Positive and Encouraging" will never express the content of 1 Corinthians 11:17 -- or ever consider those aspects of the biblical message that disturb or offend anyone. They know that people want encouragement and do not want chastisement, so they pander to the former and ignore the latter. The problem with such "positive thinking" is that its criteria for evaluation is not the content of a particular thought or idea, but one's own feelings about it. It is based upon a purely subjective criteria and tends to eliminate any thought or idea with which one is uncomfortable. In short, positive thinking is not based upon objective reality, but upon one's own subjective desires and feelings.
Paul went on to say that they did not gather "for the better but for the worse" (1 Corinthians 11:17). The gathering together of selfishness magnifies selfishness, just as the gathering together of selflessness magnifies selflessness. In other words, their attitude -- that complex union of beliefs, feelings and values that each of us bring to all that we do -- was not in proper alignment with Christ. Something was wrong with their worship. An unchristian attitude was undermining their worship.
An instructive definition of the word "attitude" pertains to flying aircraft. The attitude of the plane is its position in three dimensional space relative to a frame of reference, usually the horizon. The point is that the attitude of the craft indicates its position regarding a frame of reference. Applied to people, a person's attitude is that complex union of beliefs, feelings and values that are derived from the person's frame of reference, from God who is our ultimate frame of reference. Thus, attitude is always an expression of one's faith, one's faithfulness or faithlessness, where faith is understood to be an expression of one's position with regard to Jesus Christ. Our attitude is a reflection of our beliefs, feelings, values and disposition to act in certain ways. The way that we act is the fruit of our attitude. All of this is to say that attitude is a spiritual matter.
Paul notes that when the Corinthians gathered together as the church there were divisions among them, or so Paul was told. Someone noted divisions among the Corinthians and reported that observation to Paul. Was it true? Paul thought that it was, at least in part. I would even speculate that Paul hoped that it was true because Paul knew that the Corinthians were guilty of immorality and apostasy -- at least some of them were. So, if there were divisions among them, then perhaps all of them were not guilty. I imagine that some of the leaders had fallen from grace, yet a group of believers continued in faithfulness. Thus, the divisions in the church were for Paul a mark of hopefulness.
This insight comes from reading verse 19 back in to verse 18. Verse 19 reads, "there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized." This is a very interesting verse because it suggests that, while Christians are to seek unity among believers, the churches will always have various kinds of divisions, schisms and heresies because God uses those divisions to grow and sanctify His people, to help them grow in faithfulness and understanding. This suggests that, while identifying schism and heresy are important matters, the process of such identification cannot -- should not -- be shut down by banning the discussion of various perspectives within the churches.
No one enters into Christian faith as an orthodox believer. We are all guilty of sin and are inadequate to the task that Christ has called us to. We cannot be Christians in and of ourselves, but must rely upon the presence and power of the Holy Spirit through regeneration and lean upon the witnesses of history. In addition, no one reaches perfect sanctification in this life, which means that we continue to grow as Christians all our lives. And Christian growth is a double edged process. We grow "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:13-14). We grow in faith and obedience that leads to ever increasing maturity. Because life in Christ is eternal, growth in Christ is also eternal.
The other edge of Christian growth and maturity involves the process of disillusionment. In Christ we are increasingly disillusioned of our sins, errors and false ideas. J.C. Ryle said, "The man whose soul is 'growing,' feels his own sinfulness and unworthiness more every year. He is ready to say with Job, 'I am vile,' and with Abraham, I am 'dust and ashes,' and with Jacob, 'I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies,' and with David, 'I am a worm,' and with Isaiah, 'I am a man of unclean lips,' and with Peter, 'I am a sinful man, O Lord' (Job xl. 4; Gen. xviii. 27; xxxii. 10; Ps. xxii. 6; Isa. vi. 5; Luke v. 8.)."
Growth in grace produces an increased sensitivity and repulsion to sin, particularly one's own sin. The more people grow in grace, in faithfulness and obedience to Christ, the more they are aware of and disgusted by sin. I suspect that this is part of the generation gap that seems to exist perennially between the young and the old. The process of Christian growth is the process of stripping us of our illusions and false ideas until we come to full agreement with God's perfect knowledge.
Consequently, it is not enough to ban thinking, reading or discussion of aberrant theological views in the church. Everyone comes to Christ with all sorts of spiritual illusions and false ideas. It is not true that people are instantly stripped of all their false ideas upon regeneration. Rather the disillusionment process begins with regeneration as we see that we have been wrong in various ways and willingly acknowledge our errors and repent of our sin. However, that is not the end of the process. It is the beginning.
The job of church elders, then, is to engage people in theological discussion in a way and manner that convinces people of God's truth, not merely tagging various arguments as schismatic or heretical, but by providing convincing arguments that eliminate lingering false ideas in the minds of believers. Those who cling to their false ideas and beliefs in the face of God's truth will leave the congregation either from a lack of support or from the suggestion or request of the elders. God's Word always draws the faithful and repels the unfaithful through theological clarification.
The process of sanctification through discussion and clarification plays an important role in the life of the church. A lively, healthy church will not refuse to discuss aberrant ideas and/or theologies among its members, but will eagerly engage and defeat such ideas -- not by bullying those who believe wrongly, nor by the use of power politics to shut them down, but by the superior arguments of God's truth, and with patience, perseverance, discipline, wisdom, discernment and instruction (Psalm 86:11).
The goal of reaching perfect sanctification in Christ cannot be reached apart from the process of growth that leads to it. To short-circuit the process for fear of where it may lead evidences a failure of faith in the power of Christ to persevere with His people and to bring them into all truth.
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