{"id":158,"date":"2006-10-06T17:20:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-06T21:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=158"},"modified":"2013-06-28T15:45:14","modified_gmt":"2013-06-28T19:45:14","slug":"the-smell-of-perfumed-assemblies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=158","title":{"rendered":"The Smell of Perfumed Assemblies"},"content":{"rendered":"
Just today I came across a used copy of Karl Menninger’s Whatever Became of Sin?<\/em><\/a>\"\"<\/em> This is one of those books I have often heard about but never read. So I opened it to have a glance. A previous owner had placed a note in the front pointing to a poem on a certain page. The poem, printed below, is a searing critique of the modern Western church as it is typically practiced. I think it is a good word for us to hear headed into the weekend.<\/p>\n
\n
“The Smell of Perfumed Assemblies”<\/div>\n
By Elmer F. SudermanHere they come,<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
my nonchalants,<\/div>\n
my lazy daisies,<\/div>\n
their dainty perfume<\/div>\n
disturbing the room<\/div>\n
the succulent smell<\/div>\n
seductive as hell.<\/div>\n
Here they are<\/div>\n
my pampered flamboyants,<\/div>\n
status spolied, who bring<\/div>\n
with exquisite zing<\/div>\n
their souls spick and span<\/div>\n
protected by Ban,<\/div>\n
their hearts young and gay<\/div>\n
decked in handsome cliche,<\/div>\n
exchanging at my call<\/div>\n
with no effort at all<\/div>\n
worship for whispering<\/div>\n
God for gossiping,<\/div>\n
theology for television.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Baptized in the smell<\/div>\n
of classic Chanel<\/div>\n
I promote their nod<\/div>\n
to a jaunty God<\/div>\n
Who, they are sure,<\/div>\n
is a sparkling gem<\/div>\n
superbly right for them.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There they go<\/div>\n
my in-crowd<\/div>\n
my soft-skinned crowd,<\/div>\n
my suntanned,<\/div>\n
so so elegant, swellegant,<\/div>\n
natty, delectable,<\/div>\n
suave, cool, adorable<\/div>\n
DAMNED!<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Meninger continues:<\/div>\n

Yes, damned. Saved by grace perhaps. Certainly not helped by my cowardly silence. A word of reproof? A suggestion of sin? A confrontation? The parable of the rich young ruler? Something to disturb the Country Club coziness and complacency of my perfumed assembly? Dare I? (pp. 202-03)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two points need to be made. First, we must indeed speak the difficult word, point out sin and call for repentance. We must not allow ourselves to become merely advocates of a cultural religion blessing the people in our narcissistic pursuit of self-fulfillment. Faithfulness to the Scripture will not allow us to do so.<\/p>\n

Secondly, though- neither must we allow ourselves to be self-righteous “condemnation-mongers.” Let us first confess that the convicting words of the Bible speak not simply to “them” but to “us.” They wield the scalpel of God’s words most effectively who have themselves known its bite.<\/em> Furthermore, while the Biblical message begins with confrontation and the call to repentance, it does not end there. We must be clear and sharp concerning sin. But, if we leave people there we have failed to preach the gospel. Having exposed sin, let us clearly, passionately point people to the cross, where damned people like us can find forgiveness and the power to change.<\/p>\n

The gospel requires both notes: judgment and hope, rebellion and redemption, sin and forgiveness. Either one is diminished by the absence of the other. Let us then sound forth both with vigor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just today I came across a used copy of Karl Menninger’s Whatever Became of Sin? This is one of those books I have often heard about but never read. So I opened it to have a glance. A previous owner had placed a note in the front pointing to a poem on a certain page. …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘The Smell of Perfumed Assemblies’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=158"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3687,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions\/3687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}