Eric Mason & Lecrae Discuss Extremes of Legalism & Syncretism
As for whether certain cultural practices are demonic, Mason said Christians need to discern whether any “redeemable components” exist. For example, hip-hop isn’t fundamentally demonic because we also have Christian hip-hop, and it’s possible to respect your ancestors without worshiping them. “You don’t have to make a Christian version of something that’s in the world to make it redeemable,” Mason added, but “if God says something’s off-limits, it’s off-limits.”
Admitting “the wrestle is real,” the pastor discussed his tension about being involved with a Black fraternity. He encouraged Christians to watch for “a check in your spirit,” noting, “If God is influencing you to denounce anything that’s not necessary in your life…denounce it.”
The modern-day church has two extremes, according to Mason. One side features “super legalistic” people on “witch hunts,” while the other is “syncretism, where they’re trying to say there’s no harm.” Both extremes, he said, “need the gospel.”
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Referencing 1 Corinthians 2 and Hebrews 5:11-14, Mason said believers must use discernment about their liberties and be consistent. “Don’t pick and choose what your obedience looks like when you utilize these principles [about] these things being fundamentally flawed,” he said. Otherwise, Christians wouldn’t be able to use the dollar bill, because it features occult symbols.
Lecrae Asks Eric Mason To Analyze Black-Theology Tik-Tok
Next, Lecrae played several social media clips, with Black influencers discussing theology. “We can argue religion after we free…’cause we ain’t even free,” one man said. Criticizing Black men who “get the white Jesus chain,” that influencer continued, “That’s why we teach the Black man…you are God.”
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In response, Pastor Eric Mason said, “I think it’s funny that he’s saying, ‘Don’t choose a religion until we’re free, but then he presents a religion.” Jesus wasn’t white, but Master Fard Muhammad [the founder of the Nation of Islam] was white, Mason said, “so who really has the white man’s religion?”
Another clip featured someone saying that many people who claim to be Christians don’t live with “Christ energy.” He and others like him have a “reductionistic view of Jesus Christ,” Mason said. By contrast, “We got a big Christ, and he’s pretty complicated,” the pastor said. “He’s loving and he’s wrath…He’s merciful and he’s mighty.”
Mason added, “We reduce Jesus to the Jesus we like the most…and if we love, then we say Jesus is just love, which he’s way more than that.”
