Pensees: Silly Letters Pastors Get

Brother Bob,
Boy do I ever feel for you. I have had 3 people leave my church over the KJV issue. And here is the kicker: I teach and preach from the KJV. I am just NOT KJV Only. I even had a former deacon, who no longer attends my church, attempt to have the church vote to require me to never change versions. I have found that KJV Onlyist do not tend to listen to reason when you are talking to them. Being a former KJV Only person myself, I have started a blog that has some of the arguments that finally convinced me that KJV Only was not a valid position to have. This way, folks can read and digest the information instead of throwing out the same ol’ arguments without thinking through the logical end of their statements.
I am praying for you.
My blog can be found at http://idoyoutowit.wordpress.com/

Merely posting the letter, as it was written, seems to do an adequete job of letting the facts speak for themselves.

Bob:

I am not a pastor but just as a layman I feel fatigued after reading the letter! It is such a pointless argument. After the Lord moved us from a place where this was not a big issue to a place where the issue of KJVO is always near the surface God really worked in my heart about how to deal with it. I am convinced that God does not want me to go looking for a fight with KJVOs. I am also convinced that they will not back me into a corner. My come-back for these types of letters/remarks is, “Show me one doctrine that I need the KJV to believe that the other good translations will not support and I will be with you. Just one!”

Reading the letter, I am led to wonder if the man who challenged this person (prompting the letter) handled the situation in the best possible way. While the authority of Scripture rests not in one translation, I don’t think it is wise to randomly challenge people and attempt to cure them of misguided theology in one intense conversation. A KJVO perspective isn’t learned in a day, and it is somewhat arrogant to assume that it can be corrected in the course of a few minutes. While the letter writer’s bibliology is obviously off, it seems there is at least [i]potential[/i] evidence that the conversation could also have been better handled.

Because I know the value of a pastor’s time, I would not bother to answer this guy directly (unless he is genuinely interested in your church or is a member of your church). Instead, I would answer by having him read a book like “From the mind of God to the mind of man” or “God’s Word in our hands” or Carson’s book on the KJVO issue. If he is willing to do it, then he may not be a fool. If he is not, then he is not worth your time.

I must be an idiot. I totally didn’t pick up on the KJV Only issue. Knowing Pastor does believe we have the complete Holy Scriptures in hand today, I just assumed the guy misunderstood one of our members. Now that I see it’s a “version” thing, it’s a lot clearer.

I grew up in KJV Only church too, and I have genuine affection for it since I learned all my childhood Bible verses in KJV-speak. However, I’ll be forever grateful to my parents who explained, right away, it wasn’t the “only” version. God bless ‘em.

Greg,

It is true that what you say is possible, of course. But considering the same person who wrote the letter asking me to desist from saying I read the Scriptures (a person who as far as I know only has visited once)and suggesting that I may not even be a true believer because of my compromise is the same person who has given us the only account of the conversation he had from with a person from our church, I think it is fair to guess that he may be slightly off the mark on his representation of that conversation as well.

Pastor Wit,

Don’t feel sorry for me. I am so far removed from the controversy that the letter had all the impact on my spirit that a missive demanding my immediate abandonment of wearing anything with the color violet would have had. My wife didn’t even know about the letter until I blogged about it. I got it weeks ago.

I do feel sympathy for people who are in the midst of that conflict, though.

That puts it in a clearer light. I suppose I am thinking of people I have known in congregations I have served in. Having been KJVO myself, I understand the struggles- though I can also recognize the irrationality of the position.

Thanks for sharing that…it certainly gives some insight into some of the pesky things pastors deal with while they are trying to concentrate on more weighty matters.

My reaction was more of a bewildered amusement. I did not participate in the conversation, and I really don’t know who it was that this gentleman spoke with, but I don’t know of anyone who would, in a single conversation, call a fellow believer “arrogant” in the way it was characterized in his letter. I would go so far as to say that the writer of this letter was being deliberately deceptive by coloring the facts in his description. It would have been more intellectually honest to name the man and quote him as directly as possible. But I digress.

I’m a little skeptical about whether the writer constructed this letter on his own, or if he is being “coached” by the same leaders that are peddling this error.

Pat

So I am not the only one that gets letters.

Bob,
It is good to hear that this is not an issue in your church. Through teaching, (much) patience, and attrition (you just can’t convince some people) my church is coming to a better understanding the issue.
Unfortunately, this will probably not be the last letter (or email) that you receive from some well-intentioned believer.

I tried hard to follow this argument … but had a difficult time finding these verses in my “extreme teen” version of “The Message”….