on rebelution

Tom Pryde highlights this site in a recent blog: Rebelution

In their ‘about‘ page, the writers of this blog describe the concept of what they are trying to do. I like some of what they have to say. This particular quote is interesting:

This change has really taken place over the last 100 years. To give you a brief historical overview, prior to the beginning of the twentieth century there were only two categories of age: childhood and adulthood. But the reforms of the early 1900s, outlawing child labor and mandating education through high school, created an unnatural and new category of age that we know today as “adolescence.” Even though young people still had all the desires and capabilities of adults, the opportunities and responsibilities of adulthood were delayed for four years or longer.

These opportunities and responsibilities have been replaced with relative idleness, and really, indulgence. Instead of serving as the launching pad of life, the teen years are seen as a vacation from responsibility. It’s crippling our generation. We call it the “myth of adolescence.”

Aside from wondering if these young men would advocate the abolishing of child labour laws and mandatory high school (probably not), I think they are saying something good here. Young people need to be serious about life and Christianity and quit goofing off.

However… while I note that Tom expresses some misgivings about their name, “Rebelution”, he also says this:

In short, the Rebelution is a kindred spirit with NeoFundamentalism, just a generation apart. Rather than discourage it, I want to encourage and promote any Christian young person that strives for a godly rebellion against mediocrity and worldliness, against the low expectations of a worldly culture – even against a worldly christian culture. This is one way rebellion can be a very good thing!

Ahh… Tom…

That line makes me sort of nervous about NeoFundamentalism, although I am sure you knew that I am nervous about it anyway. If you go to the Rebelution site, one click will take you here, to a page about “The Rebelution Tour”, a conference put on by the young authors of Rebelution and their father, the pastor of Household of Faith Community Church.

From there you can go to the statement of faith pages for this church. [Three pages, I have linked to the first one.] This is where I start getting even more uneasy. Here, for example, is their doctrine of inspiration:

THE SCRIPTURES – We accept the Bible, consisting of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, as the written Word of God. The Bible is the only essential and infallible record of God’s self-disclosure to mankind. It leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Being given by God the Scriptures are both fully and verbally inspired by God. Therefore, as originally given, the Bible is free of error in all that it teaches.

Is it just me, or is that a waffly kind of definition of ‘infallibility’ that you can drive a truck through, pummelling ‘verbal plenary’ and ‘inerrant’ to death? I think so, but I could be wrong. Notice how they give lip service to inerrancy with ‘free of error in all that it teaches.’ Isn’t that a code word for allowing error in a place the Bible isn’t actually teaching something, like say, in the area of science?

Next is an excerpt from their doctrine of the Spirit:

EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT

Though the Holy Spirit may be resisted, grieved, and quenched by our sin and unbelief, by God’s grace He readily fills all who thirst with God’s love, joy, peace, wisdom and power. In this way He also imparts to His people supernatural gifts for the edification of the Body and witness to the world. All of the gifts of the Holy Spirit described in the Bible are still available for us today. They are vital for the mission of the church, and are to be desired and used within the guidelines of Scripture.

So… charismatics? Notice this one:

Elders, Deacons & Ministry Gifts in the Local Church
The ascended Christ has given gift ministries to His Church (including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) for the equipping of Christ’s body for works of service. Thankfully, these gifts continue to function. However, the closed canon of Scripture now fulfills the place of authority originally held by its authors.

There are apostles today?? And then on the Lord’s supper:

The Lord’s Supper: As with water baptism, the Lord’s Supper is to be partaken of only by those who are genuine followers of Christ. This ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s body and the New Covenant sealed by the shedding of His blood on behalf of His people. It is to be observed repeatedly throughout the Christian life as a sign of participation in the atoning benefits of Christ’s death. As the believer partakes of the Lord’s Supper with an attitude of faith and self-examination, he remembers and proclaims the death of Christ, receives spiritual nourishment for his soul, and signifies his unity with other members of Christ’s body. A common misunderstanding has been that this ordinance can only be effectively served in formal services by officers of the church. In the Bible we find believers often “breaking bread from house to house” (Acts 2:46). We therefore encourage all our members to rejoice in the priesthood of all believers by serving and partaking of the Lord’s Supper with one another whenever and whereever desired.

Do you feel comfortable with unordained individuals going from house to house officiating at communion? I don’t. And then this on ‘consummation’:

THE CONSUMATION – The Consummation of all things includes the visible, personal and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of those alive in Christ into glorified bodies, the judgment of the just and the unjust, and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth. In the Consummation, Satan with his hosts and all those outside of Christ will be finally separated from the benevolent presence of God to justly endure eternal punishment in hell, but the righteous, in glorified bodies, shall live and reign with Him forever in heaven. Married to Christ as His Bride, the Church will live in the holy presence of God, giving Him unending glory by praising and enjoying Him forever.

So… Amillennialists?

And Tom, the phrase in your blog that makes me uncomfortable is “kindred spirit”. I don’t know. I just don’t feel too kindred with them, except that I think they are orthodox enough to be brothers in Christ. But they are in serious error as well. “Kindred spirit”? I don’t know.

I just know that I couldn’t give that kind of endorsement myself.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3