I don't know...but whose to say? After all He uses us.
Where did this boarderline heresy come from?
It has nothing to do with the whole predestination/free will debate.
Besides my warped sense of humor - it came from a discussion board that I frequent when I get bored. The people on the board
usually promptly annoy me and/or make me mad. One thread that went on for numerous pages was about whether puppets are
appropriate to use in sharing the gospel.
One person persisted in stating that "puppets are irreverent by design." For example: "If you use puppets to proclaim the gospel, even if the message is sound, the delivery violates Hebrews 12:28 because there is a lack of reverence and awe. Puppets are irreverent by design."
Another "brilliant" scholar stated: "Read the account of Nadab and Abihu. God had never told them not to offer strange fire either. He did say however, I will be sanctified! Some things we must just know are right and appropriate because our God is holy and must be worshipped with reverence and awe! We need to think, read the word and figure out what worship with reverence and awe consists of! Must we wait for judgment to know what God desires from HIs people? He has made it known in His word in a million different ways. Trust me, its not puppets!"
Huh?
Oh and in case your wondering....Nadab and Abihu did have strict instructions on what to and not to do - so totally does not fit this discussion...but once again people use the Bible however will best defend their position. Nevermind using proper hermeneutics or theology.
There were a few of us who were defending the method of using puppets. And well...sometimes people could learn lessons from walls - I would
have been more effective to talk to a wall than the couple of people condemning puppets. I continually asked the one person why puppets were
"irreverent by design"...yah - no lucid answer to that question. I said that if you can't use puppets then you can't use microphones, tv's, or
radio's to share the gospel. After all they were not originally created for the gospel...and they are constantly used for "irreverent" purposes.
The response...Puppets are different because puppets are irreverent by design, and thus, violate the scriptural mandate to worship God with reverence and awe.
I quoted 1 Corinthians 9:20-23 " To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it."
"
The response...You are misreading I Cor., if you think Paul is saying anything goes as long as your intentions are good. Followed by:
Puppets are made to be funny on purpose. They are suppose to be funny, entertaining, etc. They are made to be flippant. They are made to be a funny likeness to the thing they are representing. They are irreverent by design. They are irreverent on purpose."
My response: "So funny is irreverent?
Do you know the same God I know? The One who made fun of Herod by calling him a female fox? (Luke 13.32) The One who made a donkey talk? (Num 22 - just try picturing that without laughing!) The One who made the duck-billed platypus? "
Yah...no response to that one.
I could continue - but I will stop. This discussion went on for 12 pages. OyVay. I was really tempted to post these pics that I made in my
frustration...but I figured I might get kicked off the board.
So I leave you with the question....Would Jesus ever have used Puppets?
