This may be a fluff piece by NPR, but if so, it’s a good one.  It portrays the elder statesman of the South African church at his best.

There were two delightful quotes that I really enjoyed here.  In describing his Jeremiah-like persistence in calling for an end to injustice, Tutu winsomely says, “Well, although we claim we have free will, in some ways God just grabs us by the scruff of the neck.”

And in describing how his prayer life now features fewer petitions and more silent contemplation, the worthy Nobel Peace Prize winner and retired archbishop uses a marvelous analogy,  Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter—you are just there in front of the fire.  You don’t have to be smart or anything.  The fire warms you.”“  A little impersonal, perhaps, but after all, fire is a traditional symbol of the Holy Spirit.

I certainly don’t approve of +Tutu’s support for the gay agenda or his universalistic tendencies, but this is a great interview.  I might even read his book now.

David Handy+

From the excerpt:

We are fundamentally good. When you come to think of it, that’s who we are at our core. Why else do we get so outraged by wrong? When we hear of any egregious act, we are appalled. Isn’t that an incredible assertion about us? Evil and wrong are aberrations. If wrong was the norm, it wouldn’t be news. Our newscasts wouldn’t lead with the latest acts of murder or mayhem, because they would be ordinary. But murder and mayhem are not the norm. The norm is goodness.

I, repectfully disagree.  We were created good and we can still see good, but we have been so twisted by sin that we are no longer good.  We want to be good, but we don’t know how. 

Atrocities happen and they show how think the veneer of civilization is in the human race.  Often our “goodness” or our “civility” are think fascades on our true nature. 

We were not “made for Goodness.”  We were made for God.  God alone is what turns us from a people who want to be good, to a people who are good.

YBIC,
Phil Snyder

“We are fundamentally good.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“No one is good but God alone.” Jesus

“No one is righteous, no, not one. No one understands. No one seeks God” Paul

“No one is good but God alone.” Jesus
“No one is righteous, no, not one. No one understands. No one seeks God” Paul
 

Categorically and eternally true—no, wait—categorical and eternal truth.
However, as erroneous as Bishop Tutu’s anthropology is, he’s onto something in observing that human beings find stories of outrages and atrocities newsworthy.  However, the reality is that merely human efforts to redress or forgive injustice are doomed because of the inherent deficiency of our sin.  Without Jesus Christ, we are incapable of correcting the outrages and atrocities we commit.  All they can do is sensitize us to the appalling crater in our natures that cries out, we think for good, but in reality for the living God.

Desmond Tutu is simply another apostate leading people astray. Sad.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Romans 7:15

This is one of my favorite verses:

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

Why do good works? Not to earn our way into heaven. That would be insulting to our good Lord’s sacrifice. But rather, we are made to do them. It is like that pair of old jeans that fit so well (then fall apart the next time they go through the laundry). We recognize the naturalness of doing good works. However, we do not do good works naturally.

After God made the creation he called it “good”.
After humanity was created God looked and called it “very good”.
(Genesis)
My take is that we are “very good” in that we bear the image of God in that we can relate, covenant, and participate. That is the image of God, albeit that we are now fallen. The image of God is always “very good”, but our sinfulness creates the need for salvation.

God knows Abp Tutu does not need me to defend him; but I have a proposition for you, #5, speaking of good works.  Motivated solely by your faith, spend 20 years at immense risk to the freedom and safety of yourself and your family liberating the majority of your countrymen from an oppressive regime - all the while maintaining a commitment to non-violence, a respect for the humanity of your oppressors, and an abiding love and concern for their spiritual well being.

Then if someone accuses you of apostasy, I will be both bemused and offended.

What a inane remark. Gandhi did all the same things and yet one can’t say that Gandhi was a voice for Christian orthodoxy. Tutu’s past accomplishments have nothing to do with whether he is preaching the heresy of Pelagianism.

It is a great interview.  Three things stood out to me. One is the indelible power of childhood experiences.  A second is the importance of parish priests as role models—his description of the Anglican priest is wonderfully moving. A third is the commendable willingness to change his mind, in terms of his answer to the question whether his relationship with God had changed when he got older.

I also thank the NPR interviewer for the question, which shows real spiritual insight—alas something increasingly rare among those in the media at present.

For me, this was one of those “driveway moments.”  I had taken my daughter to school and was almost back to the house when the interview started.  I sat in the car transfixed until the interview concluded.  The analogy to being warmed by the fire of God was brilliant and apt.  Those who can dismissively, as a first level reaction,  just chuck the Archbishop onto a trash heap of apostasy, knowing about his life and what he has done, are missing a great deal about the value of the man.

Archbishop Tutu is a courageous man who has suffered much and is rightly recognized for these things.

He is also a false teacher who by his defiant rejection of God’s word and acceptance of behavior God has condemned is leading people away from Christ and toward the pit.

His courage and fame only add to the effectiveness of his false teachings. Heretics can be very brave but they are still heretics.

Let me just muddy the waters for a moment. While I am not a great fan of Abp. Tutu, I have noticed how painfully clear his detractors are in throwing the label heretic. That looks to be true. But, I want us all to look for a moment at the REST of that list of people who won’t be inheriting the Kingdom: adulterers, slanderers…go back and you’ll see the rest.  And while we’re at bat, let’s look at what we do with tithe robbers in our churches. Do they get as much attention and anathema as gay folk? Nope. But, apparently all sin is equally sin? Come on. I have never seen people go fishing so much in the gay waters while never thinking to demand to see members’ bank statements. Proof of behavior there, folks.
Yes, call sin what it is….but be sure to look ALL around.
Yes, defend the faith, but be sure in the process to not be fodder for being the one that Christ will hold account “for every idle word”.
Point: Be sure that you’re leading people away from the Pit from all edges (especially the ones that we don’t mention much), not just Tutu’s edge or the “gay edge”.

Hi Choir Stall
“Do they get as much attention and anathema as gay folk?”

I did not know Archbishop Tutu was a noncelibate homosexual. Do you have any evidence for this?

My criticism has nothing to do with his sexuality and everything to do with his false teaching.

No. 11, you illustrate my point vividly.  I don’t think the first item defining the Archbishop’s life is that you (or someone else) takes issue with his theology.  Is your analysis confined to the comments (no. 3) in the interview or is it more comprehensive?

Heaven’s going to be a pretty dull place with only you and me in it, Matt.

What I am referring to, Matt, is that sure confidence that Tutu is a heretic, the sinfulness of gays, etc. gets a lot of attention to the near total exclusion of the rest of those things that Jesus (and later Paul) assured us were equally wrong. Your quick reaction tells me that your radar is preset on a few select subjects, probably to the equal peril of being oblivious to the other edges of the Pit. BTW: Do you look into the bank accounts of your congregation to root out those tithe robbers?  Wasn’t there also something about haughtiness?  Yes, we must declare right from wrong….but be sure that you include ALL of the edges.

Hi Choir Stall,

Oh I think there is more than enough ink in the NT dedicated to sexual sin and false teaching to justify wariness in that area.

And since I don’t see any Archbishops, bishops or priests running around making the claim that greed is good or that gluttony is to be blessed or that selfishness is a virtue, or that the Holy Spirit has newly decided to sanctify lying, I will go ahead and assume that all of these sins are being regularly addressed by leaders and teachers as they should be.

Conversely, there are lots of false teachers running about claiming that sexual sin is good. And so there is good reason to oppose them publicly for the sake of the souls and bodies of those they lead to hell.

As for tithing at Good Shepherd. Nah, we trust our parishioners to give what they commit to give and for members at Good Shepherd a tithe is the norm.

But should one of my parishioners become a pastor and then start to teach that it is okay to lie about how much you give…then I would certainly be ready to call him on it.