A Little Leaven got a little more mean spirited today. They have a pop quiz to tell if you are a “real” Christian like them or a fake one. The last question was particularly annoying. It goes:
Question 4 – (This is the toughest one. Be sure to read all the options before you answer.)
This picture depicts a poverty stricken African child infected with the AIDS virus. He will be dead within the year.
Which message do you think he needs to hear the most?
A. Learn How to Have a Dream Family
B. The Gospel According to the Beatles.
C. How to discover his life’s purpose.
D. How to Live Your Best Life Now
E. Overcoming Dysfunctional Relationships
F. How to have an iLife.
G. That Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for his sins and that he needs to repent and believe the gospel.
(The correct answer is G. If you got this one wrong then we REALLY need to talk. Have your Christian friends contact us and we’ll schedule an intervention for you.)
It seems that the critics think we can do only Either/Or. My answer is “None of the Above.”
How about being a little more edifying like saying something like, preach the gospel (answer G) and help the child out with his medical needs? True Christian faith is not a multiple choice quiz. True Christian faith is living out the Gospel.
The message that child needs to hear is our faith in action that is consistent with the words of the Gospel.
![Image of The Prodigal God (An Unabridged Production)[2-CD Set]; Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Jl6fhDLxL._SL75_.jpg "The Prodigal God (An Unabridged Production)[2-CD Set]; Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith")
30 Comments(+Add)
Its getting pretty ridiculous out there.
Could anyone really look at a starving child or someone dying from a horrible disease and tell them “repent” and think that is all Jesus would do? It the message is only “repent”, then I for one want nothing to do with that type of thinking.
They make the correct point (What shall it profit…) but using an AIDS child to buttress your point and by implication attack others is unseemly.
I would ask two questions:
A. Is that child chosen?
B. If he could be why are you not selling everything to go tell him?
I guess there can be only one reason, you’re all talk and fall incredibly short of the plumbline you’ve marked – like the rest of us. Welcome to the club, have a seat!
I sense a samaritan analogy coming on…nevermind.
It’s kinda like talking to my dog. He just looks at me like he’s hearing a hi-pitched noise and then begins to howl because it hurts his ears.
None of the above?!?! Are you nuts? You actually are offended by the gospel itself and its proclamation?
The AIDS kid, like ALL of us needs to hear that Christ died for our sins and that we should repent and believe the gospel.
Ya’ll need to read your Bibles.
1Cor 15:1-4 Â Â ”Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”
See what I mean!
Simon, I do read my Bible. All of it. Every year. Thanks for the concern. If you would like a detailed prayer list of how you can hold my family up email me and I will send it to you.
Simon thanks to link to biblegateway.
For your reference I submit the following.
25On one occasion an
stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26″What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27He answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”
28″You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29But he wanted to
so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36″Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Where does Jesus say repent? Help me out cause I missed it. I checked KJV it’s not there, NASB nope, Message nope, NKJV nope, etc… I think Jesus just said “Love God” “Love Neighbor”
When you go through your bible check out how many times Jesus met the need first then said “now go and sin no more”. I thinkyou’ll be surprised. Then after that find out how many times Jesus told the people he helped “don’t tell anyone about me”. Then after that see how many people Jesus healed without Jesus never once saying believe in me first. Thanks for the advice on my bible reading I think I understand it pretty well. Gotta long way to go though!
Finally; for anyone to pretend that the above article is some how honoring to God makes me sick.
Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Simon,
See the title of post? Its not either/or. You don’t either preach the gospel or feed the starving kid. You do both. So unless you’re here to defend the idea that good works are not part of following Christ, quit slandering your brothers and sisters by implying they deny the preaching of the gospel.
Simon,
“None of the above?!?! Are you nuts? You actually are offended by the gospel itself and its proclamation?”
Tell me what sin that a starving child has committed… and I will then tell you that the injustice that has and is committed on that child is as important to God as salvation itself… in fact it is a part of that very salvation…
Have you not read in YOUR bible that you claim we do not read the words of Isaiah?
1:15-17
” When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
You seem to fail to see that Jesus Kingdom is now… it is not some spiritual pie in the sky MacArthurite twist, but Jesus healed the sick and fed the hungry… and interestingly hid the Gospel of the Kingdom in parables!!!!
Yet, tell me in all honesty if you are laying on the road dying from loss of blood… would you care if I came to you and proclaimed Jesus and told you to repent? You would not… you would say, “Hey stupid i am dying here and will die in those sins if you do not do something NOW!” Failure to act will cause loss of life now and eternal life later… failure to love others will cause even more eternal damage.
Again, Jesus own words stated as He quoted Isaiah and used the same understanding of Justice:
Matt 23:23
” “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
It seems you want to neglect the justice, mercy and faithfulness of doing what God commands (to take care of orphans and widows comfort the sick and dying and proclaim the Gospel) and just proclaim the gospel at the others expense… That is what Paul states is being a crashing cymbal or a banging gong! For without love, the Gospel means nothing… for Love is the core of the Gospel… or do you not remember John 3:16?
Again, you admonish us to read our bibles.. yet in your response I see you lack even the rudments of knowledge of what you think is the Gospel.
Blessings,
iggy
Yes, Iggy, but still let us never minimize the message even as we go about giving cups of cold water in Jesus name. The gospel is good news, the things you mention are the works of Jesus. Both of them can be used of God in a redemptive process.
But the Great Commission is “Go and preach”, but as we go we do the “greater works” to show Him as we preach Him!
Tim,
I am the author of the Pop-Quiz and this site has misrepresented what I wrote in that quiz.
I never said that it was an either or.
The question in question was “Which message do you think he needs to hear the most”
Only point of the Pop-Quiz is a comparison of messages.
You guys have changed the subject.
I’ve contributed much of my time, treasure and talent over the years to caring for orphans in Mexico and the homeless in Long Beach, California.
I do not teach nor advocate a compasionless Christianity.
This post and this discussion is a Red Herring.
Repent.
Chris R.
I’m not sure why you addressed it to me as I was responding to Simon, but I do find it interesting that you don’t have “give the kid a sandwich” as an option.
Rick,
The cup of cold water can be the message…
~ Jesus
Sometimes we need to be quite and let God speak to the others heart… for it is He Who changes a mans heart… not our words…
Often we forget that those who are perishing cannot understand unless the Holy Spirit opens their hearts and minds.
1 Cor 1: 17-21
I think that often we think we must “save” the person… instead of leading them to the Savior… to preach repentance when someone needs kindness… is most often an act of futility… but to give kindness gives a door inside the other person… and in that God can work by His Power.
I am not saying we never talk… but that sometimes just talking may not do anything, but loving action can lead to being heard.
Be Blessed,
iggy
Chris R,
You get used to it! It happens to me and my emerging friend all the time… but when we say anything we are told we are just whining…
So welcome to the club! LOL!
Be Blessed,
iggy
Chris R,
BTW after reading your post and quizzes… I think you are also misrepresenting many others…
In fact the bible does say a lot about sex… and other things… the books of Corinthians deal a lot about sex…. yet you think that talking about Godly sex in a “sexed up” culture is wrong? Then Paul was wrong to address the issue in the scripture he wrote concerning the issues he faced in a city of temple prostitutes.
This is just one of many “contexts” you are placing in other context… of course they do not work there… as I would not preach to an Muslim who was holding sword to my neck about how he can have a better sex life with his wife (or wives for that matter)… to build straw-men and then place them in different contexts is really dishonest and rather silly….
Again, it is hard to take you and other serious when you come and state “you misrepresent us” as you seem to care little of misrepresenting many others….
Again,
be blessed,
iggy
Chris R-
I just thought that it seemed inappropriate to use someone’s suffering in a quiz that was in many ways, supposed to be satirical.
If a child in your congregation was dying of cancer, would you use him to make a funny joke, even if there was some sort of spiritual lesson to be learned?
Jesus took death very seriously. The small group I lead was reading Matthew 14 last night. After Jesus finds out John, Jesus cousin, is beheaded, Jesus tries to get alone, which fails because all the people want to be around him. Later in the chapter, after he feeds 5K men, he does get that chance.
In John 11:35, Jesus wept while comforting Lazarus’s sisters.
Someone else’s suffering is not something to make a joke of, even if there is some spiritual message that you feel you need to teach.
And yet you used the pain and suffering of a child to make your self-righteous point of how on “target” you are with your faith.
Would it had been better if I had used a picture of fat overweight american kid on the couch playing video games?
Everyone, every where, whether they are rich or poor, healthy or sick is a sinner who will face God’s judgement.
The church has been given the message of preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins to all people.
Luke 24:46 and Jesus said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations,
Those are Jesus’ words, not mine.
The MOST important message that African boy with AIDS can hear is precisely what I put in the quiz.
I invite you to read an article I wrote entitled Repentance:The Ultimate Message of Love
http://www.extremetheology.com/2007/04/repentance_the_.html
The question is, will he really hear it as he’s dying and you’re doing nothing to help him? Or is he more likely to really hear it when those who claim to be following Christ feed and clothe him first?
Is the African boy, slated to die within the year, below the age of accountability?
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Your “quiz” was nothing but a clanging cymbal…
Was the boy baptized as an infant? If so he’s safe anyway.
And what if he’s a Christian already? You don’t mention his state of salvation. I’m sure if he is already a believer, hearing the Roman Road one more time will really comfort him.
Christ R,
Funny that part of the gospel you are still missing in that extremely long post… was that as Jesus preached the Gospel, he had compassion and:
1.Healed the sick
2.drove out demons
3. feed the hungry… both a Jewish crowd and a gentile crowd
It seems that Jesus did the works and spoke the message…
and what was that message… “follow me”… in order to do that one must stop what they are doing and focus on Jesus…
You are turning repentance into a “works” while it is meant as a point of realization that we are at the total mercy of God… and then humbled to accept His grace by faith for our salvation… which is none of works.
One must be careful… true repentance is not a works… it is realizing we are dead in our sins and need a saviour! With that realization can be tears or remorse and tears of joy… so repentance is not just about feeling badly for our sins and confessing them all to God… can’t you see that if that is the type of repentance you are stating, that it is works?
Blessings,
iggy
Be blessed,
iggy
This, “Really, really funny. Especially the “intervention†part. Who says discernment ministries can’t be funny and discerning at the same time?” was offered by one commenter on Slice about the quiz.
I replied that nothing was funny about Christians being beheaded, crucified, eating by lions, or starving kids dying from aids but my comment didn’t get posted. That was 24 hours ago.
It actually would have been better had you not written a “quiz” to prove how much more spiritual you are than all of us (emergent, relevant, arminian, “hip”) apostate Christians.
Chris R (not to be confused with me) I just finished reading your article. We don’t disagree Repentance is the most important message to preach.
Would you not agree that your “quiz” was tacky? I mean what were you hoping to accomplish?
I’ve been in a lot of churches and I’ve never, I repeat never, heard a pastor say you don’t need to repent. More so I don’t think I really need to hear a repentance message every week from the pulpit. Do you? Don’t you want preaching on how to love your wife better? Or how to be a better father? Or friend? If someone isn’t preaching fire and brimstone every week does that making him apostate? If someone has a different view on tattoos, drinking, smoking or even *gasp* homosexuality does that make them “watered down” christians? Have you cornered the market on truth? Do you find any gray areas in scripture?
Most of the non-christians I know don’t believe in Hell or Heaven so which message should I preach? Repentance to someone who doesn’t believe in Heaven or Hell or God or Jesus is a false argument. How do you suggest I share with them the Love (read repentance offered) by Christ when they don’t even believe in him?
“They will know you are my followers by the love you have one for another”
So maybe it would benefit the kingdom if you would stop using your platform (blog) to attack those who you differ with. Rather use it to preach the ultimate message of Love.