Disappointment
Reading recent posts regarding former Northland teacher, Joe Zichterman, left a disappointing feeling for me. For starters, that Zichterman would swing from fundamentalism to emergent church movement is a startling reminder that unless one is anchored to absolute truth, we should not be surprised that he is drifting with the currents of the day.
I don’t think the decision to switch was an idea that came about the previous night but a series of decisions and concessions that brought about the ultimate move. If that be the case then the last couple of years spent at Northland were a rather unethical time considering he teaches contrary to truth. I was at the Heart Conference when he gave a workshop that refutes the Church Growth Movement of which he is now a part of. Two things cross my mind – either he lacks credibility in his research in that he could not distinguish between facts and otherwise, or he denies his actual research in order to join CGM.
What disappoint me more is the cross-swords between bloggers in the Sharper Iron forum. Of the 20 pages I read, most if not all did not bother to state why it was wrong for Zichterman to switch camps. All I gathered was motive questioning, postmodernist mindset and shallowness of discussion. None I observe offers the biblical reasons why Zichterman has gone to the deep end. That was disappointing and does not augur well the current state of fundamentalism. One was saying that Zichterman is growing – but into what? It’s like saying we’re glad that he is seeing the light – but then it was not the light at the end of the tunnel but an oncoming train. So should we be glad that he is seeing the light? No. absolutely not.
Emergent theology is an unbiblical mindset and fundamentalists ought to have been able to state clearly the objections – scripture based and is consistent in applying the biblical principle of separation. Unfortunately I don’t see in that particular blog.
Waiting for more light to be shed about the incident
