I Bring You Fire!

Before I begin, let me first make a disclaimer. First, believe it or not, I actually do take sin seriously. Where do you think the injustices of the world come from? Second, I believe that Christians are dead to sin, and called to live new lives (Romans 6:11). Jesus says many times that we need to repent. Third, as I wrote last week, I believe Jesus took the curse of death (both physical and spiritual) upon Himself on the Cross, and broke that curse with the Resurrection so that we will have eternal life. I'm just an amateur theologian, but I think that counts as substitutionary atonement.

Now, having said all that, I think this video has got to be the most overly dramatic, self-righteous, legalistic piece of garbage ever. I don't know who this Nate Pfeil is, but in this video he makes Mark Driscoll look like Barney.



I only made it half-way through, so I don't know if it gets any better. But here are my beefs with this, judging by what I've seen.

First, the part when Nate says God smiled as He poured his wrath upon Jesus. This kind of preaching makes it sound like God beat the crap out of Jesus against His will, like a drunken dad who beats his children. But based on what I've read in the Bible, I believe Jesus voluntarily went to the Cross out of His love.

Second, the part where he rants about movies with profanity and nudity. It makes it sound like if you like R-rated movies, you're a bad Christian. Well, as a guy who likes Natural Born Killers and Blue Velvet, I guess I'm screwed!

Now that doesn't mean that all Christians should watch R-rated movies. I was talking to a friend last week who said she sometimes struggles with impure thoughts, so she fast-forwards through movie love scenes. Everyone has their own struggles, so I say if something triggers you, you should stay away from it. Beer isn't sinful in and of itself, but if you struggle with substance abuse you obviously shouldn't drink. It's the same concept.

Third, from what I've seen in this video, Nate mentions nothing about the Kingdom of God, which is the alternative to the things of this world. And to me, if you only preach about hellfire and damnation, and don't mention anything about the Kingdom, you're not going to get a lot of converts. People need to know there is an alternative to the sins of this world. There is a new way to live, reconciled with God and other people. And that's what led me to give myself to Christ. It wasn't because preachers scared the hell out of me (pun intended); it was because I learned there was another way to live.

If we want to be better witnesses for Christ, I think we should look at the way He preached the Kingdom. He was very clear that we need to repent, but He also spoke about God's grace. It was costly grace, but still grace nonetheless.