5.01.2005
Association by Guilt
This is a response to a discussion item from one of my groups:
In an earlier post I honed in on the idea of "when have we done enough?" or a definition of what constitutes acceptable performance.This is predicated on the notion that many, many sermons begin withthe premise, "We have not done enough when it comes to personal evangelism. We need to do more."
So by asking, "OK. If what we are doing today is 'not enough' then how much do we have to do before we can say 'that is enough'?" I'm sure you will agree with me that this is a bad question. What you may not agree with is that this questionis a natural segue from the premise of the admontion, i.e. we aren'tdoing enough.
My point is that this is a guilt-mongering tactic aimed at stepping up performance by making people feel badly about their lack of activity.The reason this is an illicit activity or motivational tactic isbecause there is no clearly defined standard of acceptableperformance.
So, to answer your questions...
No, it is not a guilt trip to encourage. It is a guilt trip toDIScourage people who fail to live up to some high performancestandard of what constitutes acceptable Christian behavior becausethey lack the necessary resources for achieving the establishedperformance standard.
Yes, the guilt trip is self-imposed. But it is in impostion that stems from the understanding that NO ONE can sit in such a sermon and say tothemselves, "Well, this doesn't apply to me because I'm doing asufficient amount of personal evangelism." Have you ever been to an evangelism conference or heard a sermon where ANYONE is identified as someone who does enough personal evangelism? We look at people who do an above average amount be we never admit that they have done enough and certainly never more than enough.
As for the Holy Spirit, I thought Jesus sent him as the Comforter tobelievers, not the Convictor. I thought that role only applied to theWorld. Maybe I've missed that. Where in the Bible do we see the HolySpirit's role toward believers as One Who makes us feel guilty for a lack of acceptable Christian performance? I hope you get the notion that I don't think very kindly of ANYperformance-based religion. I think performance is an outworking of an inward transformantion, not something we do to merit God's favor.That's the trouble with beign raised Calvinist, I somehow believe that grace is how we live after we are saved and not just before salvation.
In an earlier post I honed in on the idea of "when have we done enough?" or a definition of what constitutes acceptable performance.This is predicated on the notion that many, many sermons begin withthe premise, "We have not done enough when it comes to personal evangelism. We need to do more."
So by asking, "OK. If what we are doing today is 'not enough' then how much do we have to do before we can say 'that is enough'?" I'm sure you will agree with me that this is a bad question. What you may not agree with is that this questionis a natural segue from the premise of the admontion, i.e. we aren'tdoing enough.
My point is that this is a guilt-mongering tactic aimed at stepping up performance by making people feel badly about their lack of activity.The reason this is an illicit activity or motivational tactic isbecause there is no clearly defined standard of acceptableperformance.
So, to answer your questions...
No, it is not a guilt trip to encourage. It is a guilt trip toDIScourage people who fail to live up to some high performancestandard of what constitutes acceptable Christian behavior becausethey lack the necessary resources for achieving the establishedperformance standard.
Yes, the guilt trip is self-imposed. But it is in impostion that stems from the understanding that NO ONE can sit in such a sermon and say tothemselves, "Well, this doesn't apply to me because I'm doing asufficient amount of personal evangelism." Have you ever been to an evangelism conference or heard a sermon where ANYONE is identified as someone who does enough personal evangelism? We look at people who do an above average amount be we never admit that they have done enough and certainly never more than enough.
As for the Holy Spirit, I thought Jesus sent him as the Comforter tobelievers, not the Convictor. I thought that role only applied to theWorld. Maybe I've missed that. Where in the Bible do we see the HolySpirit's role toward believers as One Who makes us feel guilty for a lack of acceptable Christian performance? I hope you get the notion that I don't think very kindly of ANYperformance-based religion. I think performance is an outworking of an inward transformantion, not something we do to merit God's favor.That's the trouble with beign raised Calvinist, I somehow believe that grace is how we live after we are saved and not just before salvation.
