We live in an age in American Christianity where the three basic groups are the fundamentalists, evangelicals, and liberals. Fundamentalists are heavily influenced by Bob Jones University and schools like it. They favor the King James Version to the exclusion of other versions. They favor extreme separatism and totally reject Christian rock. They tend to be dispensational and Armenian, but do believe ion eternal security. They are opposed to lordship salvation.
Evangelicals believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. They participate in ecumenical events, even with Catholics. The favor the older manuscripts as opposed to the majority texts. They are politically active. It was Evangelicals who helped elect and re-elect Reagan and Bush as president.
Liberals believe in a social gospel. They do not believe that the Bible is inerrant. They do not even believe it was meant to be. Their view on whether it is the word of God or not varies. They do not believe it is totally the word of God. The primary purpose of the Bible according to these people is to give us good moral guidelines. They tend to reject Biblical accounts of history and science. They believe that the Bible should not be taken literally.
While I lean fundamentalist, there are several things I disagree with them on. I greatly respect the KJV, and believe it is the best of the English versions. I am not King James only. I enjoy Christian rock and do not believe it's evil. I do believe however, that we must be careful with all forms of music. I do not like the Evangelicals extreme political views or their ecumenicalism. I would not even consider joining with the liberals. So what do I do?
Christians should go on issue by issue. There are however, essential beliefs that true believers have. Jesus is the only way to salvation. Other religions are false. The Bible is 100% the Word f God and is the only guide to life. Salvation is by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) Homosexuality is a vile sin (Romans 1:26-27). Abortion is wrong because God created human life in His image, and taking that life is wrong. In the Bible, abortion is associated with false worship. The false god Molech demanded baby sacrifices. What do we do with other issues?
Evangelicals say there is no such thing as global warming. Liberals say it our moral imperative that we do something about it. While I do not believe that global warming is as bad as liberals say, it is crazy to pollute and not expect bad results. Why can't we reduce pollution? What about big businesses? Why does being an evangelical equate supporting big businesses? Jesus and Paul warned about greed.
We need to think for ourselves. Being a centrist means considering issues without being tied to a particular group. Sometimes you'll agree with the group you associate with and sometimes you won't. Being a centrist means not checking your brains at the door. it means not voting for Bush just because Christian leaders tell you to. It means doing a lot of research and not blindly following a Christian or political leader. We need to be Bereans. I'm asking people to think critically on all issues. Don't succumb to group think. Be a thinker, be a centrist.
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