Righteous Indignation...

I am angry.

You know, it angers and saddens me when preachers preach without rightly dividing the Word of God.  I just listened to a sermon, that really tickled my ear (note 2 Timothy 4 reference), and then it just tee'd me off.  After a very long intro that was really nice to listen to, he turned to Philippians 2.  Wow, great passage, but the preacher totally missed it.  He either lied (which I highly doubt), or was totally unaware (which is really sad). 

The "lead conversant" said the letter was written to the whole city of Philippi, not specifically to the community of believers.  Did he read verse 1?  "...to all the saints...".  How could he say that?  Did you see the use of "brothers?  The entire context is the body, that's the beauty of Philippians.   This is so obvious, it is not easy to miss.

Then, he talked about chapter 2, and said that Paul was saying..."look, you don't have to acknowledge anything, but if you simply believe in the tenderness and beauty of humanity...if you have any encouragement, or comfort, or sense of community, or any tenderness in your soul, if you are soft person..."  What?  Everyone of those statements in chapter 2 include Christ and are only possible in Christ, and yet the preacher said it was about the embracing and appreciating the human spirit.  He followed up with some good points...but I didn't hear them.

Hank Fortener at Mosaic..sorry dude, you blew it big time.  I love you brother, but next time spend more time in the text before you have your 'conversation'.

This is one of those occasions of righteous indignation.  Right?

Rob