I was having a conversation with a friend the other day who shared with me some things that had been going on in his life. He shared about an experience he had with a home church and how it kind of freaked him out but he couldn't explain the experience that he had in it.
Now I have some personal issues about home churches. I know that not all of them are bad but there are many who have walked outside the lines of the authority God set up in scripture. But this post isn't about certain types of people who gravitate towards home churches. This is about experience.
There seem to be two schools of thought about experience. One is that you must rely and interpret scripture according to your experiences. These people tend to view the Bible as something that will comform to the experiences they have had. The other view is the Bible only is important and experiences don't matter. They seem to basically believe that you just read the Bible and believe what it says and your emotions and experiences have no bearing on it at all.
I personally believe both views are the extreme on the spectrum and can lead to cultish activity. There must be a balance. I told my friend that the best way to stay on the straight and narrow path is not to deny your experiences but to interpret them through the lens of scripture. Don't intepret scripture through the lens of experience.
I think that is where people start going wrong and then they are led by their experiences. So their life becomes a mission to find the next great experience. I do not believe that is honoring to God. I think that is why a bunch of pastors I know kept treking up to Toronto to experience what God was doing there. They didn't take the time to pray see what God wanted to do in their situations. The result was they blew up their churches and hurt many of God's people. Then they blame the people for being stubborn for not willing to accept those experiences.
This isn't the first time I have had this conversation and I know it won't be the last. I believe in order to live a God-honoring balanced life that we must not deny our experiences that we have with God but intepret them through the lens of scripture.
I know some will want scripture to back up my thoughts. I will give you one that has to do with Peter explaining to the council in Jerusalem about what he experienced. Acts 11:1-18. The interesting part is Peter used his experience to back up what the scriptures said would happen. He wasn't looking for proof texts but used his experience and the words of Jesus to prove to them that what had happened was truely of God. Read the text and see for yourself.
Do not intepret the Bible according to your experiences. That will lead you down the wrong path in a hurry. But interpret your experiences through the lens of scripture and your faith will be solid.
Now I have some personal issues about home churches. I know that not all of them are bad but there are many who have walked outside the lines of the authority God set up in scripture. But this post isn't about certain types of people who gravitate towards home churches. This is about experience.
There seem to be two schools of thought about experience. One is that you must rely and interpret scripture according to your experiences. These people tend to view the Bible as something that will comform to the experiences they have had. The other view is the Bible only is important and experiences don't matter. They seem to basically believe that you just read the Bible and believe what it says and your emotions and experiences have no bearing on it at all.
I personally believe both views are the extreme on the spectrum and can lead to cultish activity. There must be a balance. I told my friend that the best way to stay on the straight and narrow path is not to deny your experiences but to interpret them through the lens of scripture. Don't intepret scripture through the lens of experience.
I think that is where people start going wrong and then they are led by their experiences. So their life becomes a mission to find the next great experience. I do not believe that is honoring to God. I think that is why a bunch of pastors I know kept treking up to Toronto to experience what God was doing there. They didn't take the time to pray see what God wanted to do in their situations. The result was they blew up their churches and hurt many of God's people. Then they blame the people for being stubborn for not willing to accept those experiences.
This isn't the first time I have had this conversation and I know it won't be the last. I believe in order to live a God-honoring balanced life that we must not deny our experiences that we have with God but intepret them through the lens of scripture.
I know some will want scripture to back up my thoughts. I will give you one that has to do with Peter explaining to the council in Jerusalem about what he experienced. Acts 11:1-18. The interesting part is Peter used his experience to back up what the scriptures said would happen. He wasn't looking for proof texts but used his experience and the words of Jesus to prove to them that what had happened was truely of God. Read the text and see for yourself.
Do not intepret the Bible according to your experiences. That will lead you down the wrong path in a hurry. But interpret your experiences through the lens of scripture and your faith will be solid.
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