Stuck on Stupid, part 2
Is there a cure for being stuck on stupid? There has got to be a cure, as I can’t believe that being stuck on stupid has to be terminal. So, what needs to be done?
I’m convinced that, first of all, a nearly complete blackout of Christian media is part of the cure. There is no doubt that the likes of Copeland, Hinn, Parsley, Crouch, etc., while titillating to the ears (after all, don’t we just love anointed shouters?), contribute nothing to discipled, disciplined Christian living. All that they can do is entertain us with a ‘holy’ patter designed to separate us from our money to pay for their air time and luxuriant lifestyles.
I read a statistic that the Jehovah’s Witnesses tell their converts as a warning to them to be sure to continue to read their Watchtower magazine faithfully. The JW’s own studies show that if a JW stops reading the Watchtower and reads only the Bible, he will ‘backslide’ and depart from the JWs in less than a year. This is a deadly warning to them.
For Christians, this has a parallel. If I were a betting man, I would be willing to bet that if a Pentecostal who is stuck on stupid will give up their Copeland, Hinn, etc., that within a year, they would be on the road to healthy Christian living. Give up their literature, their tapes, their conferences, their prayer/appeal letters, their overpriced trinkets, etc.
Turn off the so-called Christian media and spend that time reading the Bible. Read books by Christian writers whose lives and ministries have demonstrated a hunger for God, and whose materials have stood the test of time, like A. W. Tozer, William Booth, Watchman Nee, Charles Finney and Andrew Murray.
Read biographies of Christians who have served God with their entire lives, such as martyrs and missionaries.
So what would this accomplish? Two things. First, like an alcoholic who starts going to AA, he would avoid contact with the poison that has ruined his life. A Christian avoiding the Woofers and Tweeters of Christian media is like an alcoholic going on the wagon. No more of the intoxication that poisons.
Second, this will give the Christian the big picture, the view of the Church and of history, from Christ until today. This will give him the solid meat of the word and whet the appetite for real teaching. Only when that derelict who has stumbled into AA, who has gotten cleaned up, who had gone on the wagon, begins to start eating healthy food does he begin recover and to regain his health.
So the beginning of the road back for a Christian stuck on stupid is to repent, and turn away from the very source of Stupid, today’s ‘Christian’ media.
I’m convinced that, first of all, a nearly complete blackout of Christian media is part of the cure. There is no doubt that the likes of Copeland, Hinn, Parsley, Crouch, etc., while titillating to the ears (after all, don’t we just love anointed shouters?), contribute nothing to discipled, disciplined Christian living. All that they can do is entertain us with a ‘holy’ patter designed to separate us from our money to pay for their air time and luxuriant lifestyles.
I read a statistic that the Jehovah’s Witnesses tell their converts as a warning to them to be sure to continue to read their Watchtower magazine faithfully. The JW’s own studies show that if a JW stops reading the Watchtower and reads only the Bible, he will ‘backslide’ and depart from the JWs in less than a year. This is a deadly warning to them.
For Christians, this has a parallel. If I were a betting man, I would be willing to bet that if a Pentecostal who is stuck on stupid will give up their Copeland, Hinn, etc., that within a year, they would be on the road to healthy Christian living. Give up their literature, their tapes, their conferences, their prayer/appeal letters, their overpriced trinkets, etc.
Turn off the so-called Christian media and spend that time reading the Bible. Read books by Christian writers whose lives and ministries have demonstrated a hunger for God, and whose materials have stood the test of time, like A. W. Tozer, William Booth, Watchman Nee, Charles Finney and Andrew Murray.
Read biographies of Christians who have served God with their entire lives, such as martyrs and missionaries.
So what would this accomplish? Two things. First, like an alcoholic who starts going to AA, he would avoid contact with the poison that has ruined his life. A Christian avoiding the Woofers and Tweeters of Christian media is like an alcoholic going on the wagon. No more of the intoxication that poisons.
Second, this will give the Christian the big picture, the view of the Church and of history, from Christ until today. This will give him the solid meat of the word and whet the appetite for real teaching. Only when that derelict who has stumbled into AA, who has gotten cleaned up, who had gone on the wagon, begins to start eating healthy food does he begin recover and to regain his health.
So the beginning of the road back for a Christian stuck on stupid is to repent, and turn away from the very source of Stupid, today’s ‘Christian’ media.
posted by Bro. Pelajus @ 12:13 AM
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