Evangelizing The Evangelical: 'Give And It Will Be Given To You' (Luke 6:38)
As a former Evangelical, I wanted to start a new series called "Evangelizing The Evangelical" to help confess "the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3) to those who believe the things that I once believed.
After all, the thought of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering from a lack of assurance due to a conscience that is never really comforted by their good works "In Jesus' Name!" let alone their own perceived "stage of sanctification" brings back far too many bad memories.
It makes me think about how I wish I would've been exposed to the Lutheran faith a lot earlier in life (the complete Lutheran confession of the faith and not some cheap imitation Lutheran-In-Name-Only substitute) and how that would've made all the difference given the Biblical, Christ-centered focus.
In other words, it would've been great to have been taught not just who Martin Luther was and what he did, but what makes being a Lutheran different from all the other confessions and denominations of the Christian faith so that I knew why it is we believe, teach, and confess what we believe, teach, and confess.
Without being anchored to anything historical and orthodox, I was left to drift off on my own toward what I thought was the "True Jesus Christ" and the related "True Christian Life" as portrayed by contemporary American Evangelicalism, but in reality was anything but (Matthew 15:14; Ephesians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:3-4).
So, that's a quick explanation about why this series was born. I can't think of a better entry for our next installment in such a series than to take a closer look at something Evangelicals completely misinterpret and burden hearts and minds with.
It's so sad how often this one single verse is so often used to justify the Televangelist's so-called "ministry" in support of a "Name It, Claim It" and "Word of Faith" false doctrine (a.k.a the perverted "Prosperity Gospel").
Plus, like the good Pastors have said, it turns God into Santa Claus and teaches that His good gifts for you are dependent on how "good" you are in your life as a "new creation in Christ" in response to Him now that you're living as a Christian.
The problem is that "Pop American Churchianity" has used this verse to also preach and teach that your own personal happiness is what's most important in life and that God desires for you to be happy at any cost and above all else.
The problem is that the only ones hearing the Gospel these days are the non-believers while the converted Christians hear nothing of the Gospel, but only the Law once they become baptized, saved believers in Christ Jesus.
As my Lutheran Study Bible notes...
This is the true "better life" promised to us by the Gospel and marked more often by pain and suffering and not puppy dogs and ice cream.
In a Lutheran layman's terms, this is the kind of Bible study that I wish I had been exposed to some 10 years ago, because perhaps then I would've been able to avoid sailing the "Works Righteousness Waters of American Evangelicalism" for as long as I did (almost making a shipwreck of my faith; 1 Timothy 1:19) before I came to rest upon the "Saved By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone, In Christ Alone Shores" of the catholic, historic, traditional Confessional Lutheran (a.k.a. orthodox Christian) faith.
NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism a little over a year ago. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and point us back to) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray (James 3:1). Finally, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that category since I was a "Lutheran-In-Name-Only" at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. In addition, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by common Evangelical concerns/criticisms that aren't that big a deal for us Lutherans. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Finally, please know that any time we engage in commenting on and/or interpreting a specific portion of the holy Scriptures, it will always follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible unless otherwise noted. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Grace and peace to you and yours!
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After all, the thought of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering from a lack of assurance due to a conscience that is never really comforted by their good works "In Jesus' Name!" let alone their own perceived "stage of sanctification" brings back far too many bad memories.
It makes me think about how I wish I would've been exposed to the Lutheran faith a lot earlier in life (the complete Lutheran confession of the faith and not some cheap imitation Lutheran-In-Name-Only substitute) and how that would've made all the difference given the Biblical, Christ-centered focus.
In other words, it would've been great to have been taught not just who Martin Luther was and what he did, but what makes being a Lutheran different from all the other confessions and denominations of the Christian faith so that I knew why it is we believe, teach, and confess what we believe, teach, and confess.
Without being anchored to anything historical and orthodox, I was left to drift off on my own toward what I thought was the "True Jesus Christ" and the related "True Christian Life" as portrayed by contemporary American Evangelicalism, but in reality was anything but (Matthew 15:14; Ephesians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:3-4).
So, that's a quick explanation about why this series was born. I can't think of a better entry for our next installment in such a series than to take a closer look at something Evangelicals completely misinterpret and burden hearts and minds with.
AUDIO: Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller Responding To Evangelical Proof Texts
"Give And It Will Be Given To You" (Luke 6:38)
Luke 6:38 (ESV) give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
It's so sad how often this one single verse is so often used to justify the Televangelist's so-called "ministry" in support of a "Name It, Claim It" and "Word of Faith" false doctrine (a.k.a the perverted "Prosperity Gospel").
Plus, like the good Pastors have said, it turns God into Santa Claus and teaches that His good gifts for you are dependent on how "good" you are in your life as a "new creation in Christ" in response to Him now that you're living as a Christian.
The problem is that "Pop American Churchianity" has used this verse to also preach and teach that your own personal happiness is what's most important in life and that God desires for you to be happy at any cost and above all else.
The problem is that the only ones hearing the Gospel these days are the non-believers while the converted Christians hear nothing of the Gospel, but only the Law once they become baptized, saved believers in Christ Jesus.
As my Lutheran Study Bible notes...
We can never outgrow our good teacher, who by grace judged and declared us not guilty while we were yet dead in our sins. His grace in our lives -- measured, pressed, and shaken -- always runs over.
This is the true "better life" promised to us by the Gospel and marked more often by pain and suffering and not puppy dogs and ice cream.
In a Lutheran layman's terms, this is the kind of Bible study that I wish I had been exposed to some 10 years ago, because perhaps then I would've been able to avoid sailing the "Works Righteousness Waters of American Evangelicalism" for as long as I did (almost making a shipwreck of my faith; 1 Timothy 1:19) before I came to rest upon the "Saved By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone, In Christ Alone Shores" of the catholic, historic, traditional Confessional Lutheran (a.k.a. orthodox Christian) faith.
NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism a little over a year ago. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and point us back to) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray (James 3:1). Finally, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that category since I was a "Lutheran-In-Name-Only" at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. In addition, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by common Evangelical concerns/criticisms that aren't that big a deal for us Lutherans. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Finally, please know that any time we engage in commenting on and/or interpreting a specific portion of the holy Scriptures, it will always follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible unless otherwise noted. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Grace and peace to you and yours!
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Thank you for visiting A Lutheran Layman! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question since we do not exercise censorship. We've seen a similar policy with other blogs and it's worth repeating: Please act as if you're a guest in my home, and we'll get along just fine. I think anyone would agree that the kind of back-and-forth that is characteristic of blogs/chat forums and social media is becoming tiresome for all of us. Still, we should confess, edify, and love (and contend and defend when needed). Bottom line? Search the Scriptures! Apply Acts 17:11 to anything and everything you find here and, if you do happen to disagree with something you find here (which is certainly ok), or think I'm "irresponsible" and "wrong" for writing it, then please refute my position by supporting yours with Scripture and/or the Confessions. I don't think that's an unreasonable request, especially for those who identify themselves as "Christians" here, right? Besides, Proverbs 27:17 tells us "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" and 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." If you have an opinion that's great, I welcome it, but try to support it using God's Word. I mean, if the goal here is to help us all arrive at the truth of God's Word (myself included), then it should be easy to follow through on this one simple request (I'm talking to all you "Anonymous" visitors out there). Grace and peace to you and yours!