So, I have watched the video of Brit Hume a few more times (see below), hopefully anticipating that I did miss something that would shed light to me. No such luck. I still think he was pushing a personal agenda for Tiger Woods, telling him that if he chose Christianity he could get back some respect and be forgiven too. WOW! Sounds like a good thing, except it’s not biblical. It is actually what I call situational decisionism, where based on a persons current situation a "decision" is made "for Christ" and they believe themselves to be a Christian. These people more often than not end up back in the same sins the were before their "decision". This happens a lot with people that are in jail, have a major crisis come up and make a lot of vows (God, if you do this, then I will do this for you), during health issues or many other situations where they make a momentary decision to change. It is just not a heartfelt change, it lasts only as long as the situation does, then it's done and they get back to their life.
Now there is a
new clip from Hume in which he says “I don’t regret my statement at all” and then goes on to tell of his “conversion”…… kind of. He speaks of his son’s suicide 11 years ago and how devastating that was, understandably so. I will not make light of that situation in the least and just say that God uses many different means to reach the lost and also in true Christians lives. Make no mistake, there is nothing that happens that does not ultimately bring Glory to God. He said, “Throughout that whole, horrible time I had this sense that God was there for me, that He would rescue me, that He would save me. And He did. In ways that I couldn’t have imagined or expected; His imagination is always greater than ours.”
Hume then goes on to tell of the many cards, emails and words of encouragement he and his family received and the impact that made on him. He also states that in those correspondences he saw the Face of God. He then says something that I have been pondering since I heard it, sounds like something I had said countless times in my life before being truly and radically changed by God: “It was time for me now to face up to the Christian faith which I purported to belong to and try to face up to the implications of what I purported to believe and I have been trying ever since.” Those are some very “Brit-Centric” words there, a lot of self-effort, instead of reliance on Christ.
He then goes on to speak about Tiger and his losses. Not the endorsements or golf tour, but his reputation, wife and family. He says that Tiger is paying a “frightful price” for what he did. Then he makes a very tell, tell comment: “If you think about what Christianity is about, it’s about sinners. And, uh, Christianity is a religion for sinners and that Tiger Woods has an opportunity here and my prayer here would be that he take it.” That single statement turns Christianity away from being God focused and instead man focused. Christianity is not “about” sinners; it is “about” God’s love for us, His redemption, His sacrifice, His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace.
Hume actually does say something I do agree with. “If you’re trying to find the two most explosive words in the English language, they would be Jesus Christ.” He then speaks of a Baptist minister that said he had a “utilitarian” message and that it was wrong. To which he replied, “I don’t understand what he’s talking about”, which may be the first building block of my disagreement with Hume. Jesus Christ is divisive, because He alone is Truth, everything else is false and non-Christians pick up on that. That is why you can say God all day long (because everyone has their own view of who or what God is to them), but the moment you say Jesus, things change. Jesus said that no one comes to the Father except through Him. That leaves out every other religion in the world.
The Baptist minister that Hume mentioned was Welton Gaddy, Pastor for preaching and worship at Northminster Church in Monroe, LA (and also has “Leader of the Interfaith Alliance” next to his photo on the Washington Post website Hume reference). Reading over
Gaddy’s comment I do agree partially with what he says, that Hume was using a utilitarian manner. By this, I assume, that he was saying that Hume was enticing Woods with the hope of forgiveness by the Christian religion, instead of Buddhism. Gaddy is correct in his statement “it (Christianity) is a holistic faith to be embraced and lived. Seeking the easiest form of forgiveness--though such a description of forgiveness in Christianity is woefully inadequate and misleading--is not a reason to become a Christian. The life of a Christian involves far more than a response to wrongdoing.”
Hume is really misrepresenting Christianity. He seems to be emphasizing the religion, rather than the Reason for the religion. I see this played out all the time, be it what Hume has been saying or others that worship the Bible instead of the God that wrote the Bible. I am sure that if you would ask Hume or any of these other people if God were their focus, they would say undoubtedly YES, God is our focus. But actions speak louder than words. Why not say it and live it to begin with? Hume has stated that Christianity can do all of these things for Tiger Woods, but no mention of what Jesus’ redemptive work has done. Lots of “come to Christianity for forgiveness and redemption”, but nothing of Christ’s forgiveness and redemptive work on the cross for us.
As I stated in my first post on this subject, I am sure Hume means well. This does show the state of Christianity in these days. It’s not about Christ anymore, it’s not about the Object of our faith, it is faith in a system, a method, a formula or a certain belief structure. If a persons motive for anything is something other than God, it is sin. Hume is as misguided as most people that sit in pews on Sunday mornings, the teachings of scripture is not there any longer. God’s judgment is taking place and He is removing His Spirit from the world, giving way to these false beliefs, that have a form of godliness, but are vastly different. They have just enough truth to deceive. What better way for Satan to deceive than by using professing Christians?
I make a plea to the few that God leads this way to my meager blog – stop the deception. Cry out to God to empower you to take a stand for Him and the return to what true Biblical Christianity is. Stop turning your head to false teachings that corrupt the Word of God, do not allow people to blaspheme our Father’s Holy Name by saying they are Christians in one breath and in the next spew lies, curses or dirty jokes. Pray that God will rise up His people like never before to stand in the footsteps of saints past like Luther, Calvin, Stephen, Spurgeon, Paul, Whitfield, Edwards and Lloyd-Jones. God doesn’t use extraordinary people He uses people extraordinarily.
