Temptation to Ashes (brothers part 2)

 I read the story of another "christian" that turned away to atheism. It makes me sad. It should make us all sad. Why? Because this whole believers versus non-believers thing is not a popularity contest.  It is not even an "us" versus them, it is an "us", every single last one of us, versus eternity. It is about the very destination of our souls.  It is about whether or not they make it into God's presence in an active relationship or a passive one.  Rest assured they will meet God. I know the non-christian especially the atheist wants to parade these individuals as brave for leaving the oppressive system of religion. 

I have read the wiki guide for how to lead a Christian away from God. The steps are so simple! I have also read Richard Dawkins's God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens's God is not great.  These people so want to convince others that God is not there. They have so much animosity towards him and religion, why? I think Paul answers that question in Ephesians 6.

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

There is a battle going on. There is war going on. Just because we may stop paying attention does not mean that the assault stops. This is similar to the wars across the world that we do not know about; unless it is fresh on the news we may be tempted to think it was resolved or no longer happening.  C.S.Lewis reminds us about this idea in the Screwtape Letters. The experienced demon Srewtape informs Wormwood just let them think that we aren't there. I am not sure if Sun Tzu used this war tactic but it does seem easiest to fight a war if one side is completely unaware. I believe that this is our temptation, to simply just muse and wander why some people, certain people are so evil? Why do they want to destroy God and tear down people?  

We have probably all heard the cry in frustration "I hate people!" If we as Christians are not careful we can fall into this trap of thinking that people are the real problem when they are in fact the mission.  Paul points out that the people are not the problem but the demons. Why do they do this? All we can do is speculate ultimately, but perhaps since they have lost, the only thing they can do is take as many people down with them. The whole not going down without a fight thing, is not so virtuous after-all.

If we forget we are in a war then the call to be strong in the Lord loses urgency. If the call to be strong loses urgency then our shield of faith gets lowered.  As this passage continues on to mention. When the shield of faith is lowered we begin to rely on our own strategies or more realistically not make any. But this is guaranteed to make us fall as the passage mentions; we get hit from the arrows of the enemy.  This is what happens if we do not realize we are in a war. We start to think that perhaps their is no fight, perhaps no faith, and perhaps no God, and perhaps nothing to hold on to. And perhaps we should just walk away, and thus another article is written about a brave soul leaving religion.

When we make this mistake for whatever reason we become a casualty of the fight that we weren't paying attention to.  Sadly a common reasons tend to be "I wanted to stop fighting temptation"  This however has made the battle about something that Christ has already won.  Temptation is very real but we misunderstand when we seem to think that since Christ died for our sins, that holiness means we now have to strive to be perfect. Temptation will always be there, our goal is not to achieve a sinless life, that is part of the blessed hope. Our conduct is important because we are in love with Christ and we want to be like him but we have a different nature and a different advocate now.  The difference is now the Spirit aids us and Christ welcomes us when we fail. If we are doing it for any other reason than we are holding our sword backwards and swinging with the blunt end.

I really think the problem is as Christians we fail to understand balance. This passage is a good example.  It tells us that people are not the enemy but that spirits are, yet we are still to dress in the armor of God. Doesn't the battle belong to the Lord?  Isn't the outcome settled?  Yes and Yes, then why do I need to care about the battle?  Because the Lord calls us to join him in his kingdom. Being in God's kingdom means being a participant.  Yes God died for our sins and we are forgiven and we need to pay attention to our conduct. But if we let one overtake the other we get in trouble. If we only focus on the grace we can slide into license, but equally if we only focus on sin management then we become discouraged and wonder what the point is.  If we can't understand biblical theology in balance then we will always be at odds with some other passage. 

This has sadly left some in a place where they walk away from the faith.  They say I was tired of being somebody I wasn't. It's as if Christianity is about being perfect and they were tired of being a hypocrite. They are half right.  They are hypocrites if they think they should be perfect, because they will never attain it, but the answer is to fall into Christ's loving arms once again after we fail.  Not to walk away. They really just reveal that they did not understand the Gospel.   

But...

Because if we forget who the actual enemy is, we can tend to let the story end here and it is our temptation to quote only verse 10 from Proverbs 24 when this happens.

¹⁰ If you faint in the day of adversity,
    your strength is small.

But let's not forget the counter that God gives in verse 11.
 
¹¹ Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
    hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

We are at war and so are the soldiers next to you, watch their backs. Are we going to leave our soldiers to burn or we will realize we are in a battle and Christians don't leave men behind.

When we hear stories like this we shouldn't shake our heads in judgement but we should return to our knees and fight the fight where the battle is.  Remember Paul's encouragement to the Galatians.

6:1Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5For each will have to bear his own load.
6Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

This is a big part of that laying down your life for a friend thing that thing that Jesus says there is no greater love than. If this doesn't make sense to you go and watch Saving Private Ryan. Let's not leave our brothers to ashes. 

Band of Brothers is also very good. 

thanks 

Wrestling with 1 Corinthians 5

Where is the grace Paul?!

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

3For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

So we judge the person inside the church who claims brotherhood not those who do not. Why? Because we lack grace? No because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Addressing sin in the church is not about legalism it is about maintaining the witness to the world of salt and light. The witness that does not openly condemn the world with words but by our deeds are the unrighteous put to shame. If we allow our good deeds to be clouded by prevailing sin then our message is totally silenced. This is why sin in the church needs to be addressed not because we are loosing our salvation or because we have a poor balance of works and grace but because our testimony is tainted. 

But doesn't Paul like, talk about grace, like, all the time?  Grace is what this man needs from God in order to address his sin. If this man believes that he can change on his own then he misses the point. Paul's point is not to get this man to fix himself but to recognize what he is doing needs correction and that he needs to reach out for grace. This guy is already trying it his own way and he needs the grace of God to help him change, if he will only lift his head. This is Paul saying you have started looking elsewhere and you need to rely on God. 

But doesn't grace mean being nice, why is Paul yelling? He sounds upset.

See we have to let the Bible define grace for us. Jesus actually talks very little of it. Paul gives us most of the information about grace. In Titus 2 he explains that grace enables us to have salvation for sure, but what it does it teach. It teaches us obedience and self-control. It informs out behavior, it enables and teaches us to be Godly. It is not blanket favor that means God looks the other way. 

The problem is we can't see the heart. For someone lost in sin trying to come to God and actively needing grace, he is granted it, but we do not see it when we see someone lost in sin saying they want God but not changing. 

Let's be honest Grace is hard to spot when someone is walking through it and forgiveness is hard to grant. We can't see people's heart but we can see their deeds. It is deeds that spread and influence in the church. Paul is concerned because the atmosphere is one where the people are arrogant and not instead grieved over the sin. The leaven had spread and the testimony was silenced. "Why go to the church? The people there are involved in more vile sin that we are." In other words the Gospel is ineffective. The message is undermined the mission is pointless and we are all wasting our time. At least that was probably what Paul was thinking. 

Thankfully Paul wasn't content to leave it there. He wanted change because there is more grace to go around. There is favor from God that enables salvation and teaches his people Godliness.

Paul absolutely does not want the Gospel of Jesus undermined by the behavior of the church. This is something that we need to take very seriously. This is why it is a big deal when a very prominent Christian leader or any leader falls into moral sin. Their sin has ramifications, their behavior has influence. Their sin speaks about the condition of the church and the condition of the Gospel. Paul is all about about grace, but grace is never supposed to undermine the message. 

Our good deeds are to put the world to shame, not that our sinfulness seems inviting. Because frankly it is not, it is off-putting. Church sin is only appealing to the nominal and hypocritical it is never appealing to the outside world. At least in the sense we think, In fact they love it because it silences us.

Paul speaks about this again in Titus.

 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

Peter says it as well.

16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

Paul is all about grace. Christianity is all about grace, but do not undermine the movement. Do not undermine the message. Do not undermine the Gospel. Let God's grace teach you. 

So where is the grace? It flows down to under-gird his people and the gospel. It does not flow down to help keep the leaven alive to spread throughout the body. The little book of I John is all about this. He is faithful and just to forgive all our sins, so don't for a moment claim that you are without them. 

So Paul has grace for the repentant and harsh words for the hard of heart, but all are forgiven when we humbly come to the mercy seat of God. Grace teaches and enables salvation. 

thanks 

Beat the System

I recently was inspired to listen to my Christian 80's rock again. I always come back to Petra and Stryper as bands that not only had great music, but they had theology that not a lot of today's music seem to be able find.  This is not another blog about Christian music though it is about some of the theology that that music has brought back to mind.

The song Beat the System from the Album Beat the System by Petra 1985. I know that for today this phrase has more along the lines to mean "question authority, and fight the man, resist authority, find a way to circumvent the establishment." But at the time it was more along the lines of fighting the world system of sin.

Not that battling sin is the purpose but doing things as Christ commanded as opposed to simply following after the world. It was that idea of being counter cultural. It was about actively subverting the flow. It acknowledges that to follow Christ is most likely not going to look like what the world is doing. This is the very definition that fills in what Jesus told his disciples they would have to do.

Jesus said that the disciples that follow him will have to bear their own crosses. Disciples who follow understand that he is more than savior, he is Lord.

I don't know about you but the picture I get of carrying a cross is scary and it is not just the death part. See the death part makes sense, Jesus was put to death. Of his disciples James the brother of the beloved John was put to death before the close of the New Testament, he was beheaded. Another disciple that was brought up under the apostles teaching Stephen was put to death, stoned to death. John the baptist was also put beheaded for obeying the commands of God. Herod stretched out his hand and tried to Put Peter to death as well, he escaped. The apostle Paul was stones and persecuted and even appears to have died and rose again in the midst of his mission. Fox's book of Martyrs tells the story of pretty much every other disciple being martyred as well.

In other words taking the call to follow Jesus seriously has consequences. 

When Joe Banks was faced with his own mortality and asked what his interests were he said:  "Courage, courage interests me." Joe versus the Volcano (1990). 

But does courage interest us as Christians, for the sake of the gospel?

It interests me truly, but I find also a lot of fear in my heart. I wonder if for many of us the bigger problem is not the death, that has almost a victorious sound to it. To be able to be counted worthy to die in such a way would be an honor for any Christian, not that I want to minimize the sacrifice at all. But I feel that it is the taking up and carrying the cross part that is difficult for most of us. Are we able to walk through the streets of our own neighborhoods and communities with a sign of death on our backs? Not just that but being ridiculed and mocked and accosted while we do?

If walking down the death march was easy I suppose many of us would do it. The problem is we don't know the time frame from when we start walking to when our death sentence is carried out. Can I live in a world that hates me for standing on truth for a lifetime? Can I live as a pariah in my own community? Now I don't relish at the thought of persecution nor should anybody, but do I live in such a way as to ever invite it?

Do we dare to beat the system or would we rather work as a shadow operatives? Please understand this in not an indictment but a real question that even I have to wrestle with. As the storms are gathering I ask myself am I willing to share my faith, and what that means for a dying and decaying country that wants to throw off all restraint? Am I willing to do this without sitting behind a computer screen? In case you aren't one to read the headlines much, persecution for Christians in this country has begun. It is still only in its infancy, it has to figure out how legally it can do it, but if you are paying attention the wheels are already moving to shut up the voices of dissent that we the Christians have become.

It is ironic because the world system of sin that we are to counter is becoming one with our own system of government. One that wasn't always that way. We are becoming a new Rome. Will we cry out that Christ is Lord and not Caesar? Or will we stay happy behind our closed church doors until the government comes to remove them?

I am not talking about revolution. I already wrote about that, I am talking about what Paul calls not being ashamed of the Gospel from Romans 1.

14. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith."

So ask yourself, ask and pray. Does courage interest you?

thanks

A re-New Hope

Writing straight theology is easy for me, but returning to my personal walk is a challenge. Sometimes I get overwhelmed, sometimes I have to be honest about where I am. These words from the Cure's song Maybe Someday sometimes haunt me.

No I won't do it again, I don't want to pretend
If it can't be like before, I've got to let it end
I don't want what I want, I've had a change of head

I got to let it go and leave it gone,
just walk away, stop it going on
Get to scared to jump if I want too long

Being hopeless is not a place that a Christian should be, but I have to admit sometimes I feel this temptation. I have been tired of being without hope for awhile. So I have to come back and ask God where is the hope? I read 1 Corinthians 2 where it says:

 

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”

I read this and I say "well my eye has certainly not seen nor has my ear heard."  But Paul reminds the Corinthians that he came to them and he decided to know nothing among them except Christ and him crucified. I can write good theology but it means nothing if I can't stop resting my faith in the wisdom of men and instead find solace in the power of God. The power of God. What power of God? 

We don't always experience the power of God the way the disciples did. I know that God gives different gifts to different people. I don't have to worry about not having the gift of healing or of the prophetic. This is not about answering the why's of those questions but instead reflecting on the power that is readily available to us. There is power in simply knowing God. As much as we may want Jesus to be present with us, he said that it was to our benefit for him to go away. He said this because he would send the comforter, the counselor, the companion, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit seems to impart the power for our gifts, but for this discussion he grants access to the very person of God. Jesus was the human God with us, and the Spirit is God with us now. Until we stand in his presence physically again.

The power that is readily available to us is in his resurrection. The other is the power of prayer. He rose from the dead. That means his words are true. Two powers available to me. He is near and he listens. He has risen and my sins are forgiven, not just forgiven but the power of sin that used to enslave my soul has been broken. My soul is free from the bondage that made sin not only my master but my only option. I was an enemy of God condemned to live apart from him. My life was on a track with a one way ticket to hell where I would experience some form of wrath from a Holy God.

The power of God however broke those chains and now I can draw near to him. I am a new creature. I am a new person. I need to learn how to live as this new being, with plenty of old baggage to still sift through. But he has broken my shackles. Because I am no longer a slave to the sin, I am now a son of God. The writer of Hebrews reminds us:

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Because Jesus came as a man and experienced temptations and yet remained without sin he is able to sympathize with us even in our weakness. He understands...

Dear God I need your mercy and grace, help me in my time of need. I am failing in my challenge of belief.

I think of the song from the Cure and how often my thoughts are similar and then I think of a bit of Psalm 42.

 I say to God, my rock:

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10  As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me,

while they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?”

11  Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.

There is real power in God, but then I realize where my eyes have been looking.

And then I remember another Cure song, Trust, and I can hear God's voice echo.

Still the hardest part for you, to put your trust in me

I love you more than I can say, why won't you just believe?

I know that I no longer want to just say that maybe someday it will be different. I know that it won't happen if I leave my hope to my feelings. I have to renew it.

thanks  

Easter Bunnies, Jesus, and Johnny Cash

1 Corinthians 15:14 
"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain."

Without the resurrection our faith is pointless. With the resurrection our faith is everything.

Easter is here again, on Sunday. Easter is great because it means He is risen! I once had to wear an Easter Bunny costume to hand out candy to kids shopping at a local grocery store in Tucson. (I was also Chuck-E-Cheese at Chuck-E-Cheese's) My church used to have sunrise services with camping and egg hunts in the national forest of Tucson. Easter bunnies and eggs of course have little to do with Christ rising again. The tradition started with the Lutherans in the 17th century and functioned in a similar way to Santa Claus. A bunny bringing golden eggs and candy for the good boys and girls before Easter. The eggs and bunny are tied to fertility and newness with spring. As I said before with Christmas the meaning doesn't entirely matter anymore to most people as it simply adds to the celebration of Jesus rising again. 

It causes excitement and points to something bigger than itself. The celebrating is the point as I hinted at before with the Christmas discussion.  It is about what we are celebrating. The eggs and bunnies and chocolate are just a way to add festivities to the day that we celebrate that Jesus has risen and we have an everlasting hope. And Kimberly and I will definitely hide eggs with candy in them for Raphael when he gets older. For now, I will eat his candy and pet the bunny. 

But I will tell him that this holiday is the capstone of the Christian year! This is the day that all Christians remind themselves that Jesus has conquered death. This is the Gospel concluded. In the end death will not have it's sting. This is the Christian hope that one day we will rise again as Jesus did. As Paul reminds us that Christ was the first fruits of resurrection.

This is why Johnny Cash sang quoting the apostle Paul:

Oh Death where is your sting?
Oh grave where is your victory?

And he also sang:

Ain't no grave that can hold my body down

He sang these songs because he understood the message of Easter. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He has validated all his teaching. He is the messiah and he does in fact have the power over death and thus he does have the power to forgive sins. Even though the Pharisees were offended that Jesus was offering something that only God himself can do. This is why the resurrection is so great! It means Jesus was right! It means everything that he said is true! And thus he has the relationship to present us to Father in favorable terms. He himself is also God.  

Easter is the message that Christians are supposed to get to. The good news of the Gospel is supposed to get to the rising from the dead part. This is the content of faith. Who do we say that Jesus is? Our answer is what defines our faith. The Christian answer is he is God in the flesh. He is the mouth piece of God, his miracles attested to his relationship to the Father and his ability to forgive. The resurrection was the capstone of testimony to who he is. His power to overcome death is why we have a world religion following after him.

The resurrection is God's exclamation point on the witness of Jesus. If you didn't believe his message about himself from just the miracles that he performed on Earth, or from his powerful teachings with authority, then believe because not even death could hold him down. He is still alive today. Jesus Christ is not a historical past character, he is an ever present alive deity in heaven. And he is calling.

This is what Easter is about. He is real and he is fantastic! And better yet he is still offering his story to you and to me.  He is still offering forgiveness and a relationship with God. Because he is risen it means Christianity is not simply a movement that honors some long dead dude with cool ideals that we think will work for an ever crappy world.  No, Christians follow a very much alive Jesus Christ who fully suffered and died on a Roman cross in the first century and then on the 3rd day from death rose again to life.  

Do you believe that? That is the question for all people.  

I suppose only those that are interested in a relationship with God will bother to answer. But for those who have answered in the positive, they get to fully celebrate Easter as a remembrance of the amazing miracle that testifies to our very much alive God Jesus Christ.

Easter reminds us of his victory. Easter reminds us of our future. But Easter also reminds us of the world's need.

John 3:16 Says "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son that whosoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life."

The dual message of Easter is that He is risen, that we get to rise also! But also that some won't. Some haven't yet come to terms with Jesus Christ. Some haven't believed. 

Johnny cash sang that death has no sting anymore, that the grave will not hold him down. But for many it does and it still will.  

In our reminder in this day of his resurrection, let's not forget that he has a Gospel that he wants us to share.
Let our excitement of Jesus carry over into an excitement that he offers himself to those out there in the world that need him as well. I believe part of the celebration should be that the Gospel is still readily available.  So as part of the celebration remember we are not still on the earth to simply celebrate but to perpetuate.

So be excellent to each other, party on this day (on Sunday) but share the Gospel, share your Joy!

thanks

With Respect to the Comedian (This is not That)

The timing of this couldn't be better or worse depending on how you think about it. The tragedy in France over a cartoon of Mohamed. Lives lost. This is not that. A Christian will not attack you if you mock Christ. But a Christian may respond, this is that. This was not inspired from France but the comparison is obvious at this point, so why not just get it out there.

Open scene from My Blue Heaven 1990.

(Barney tells a joke and everybody laughs except Hannah)
Hannah Stubbs: I see that it's funny. I have a sense of humor.
Barney: Of course you have a sense of humor. Everyone thinks they do, even people who don't.

I think this situation above is true, so as ironic as it is I wanted to say that I have a great sense of humor. Furthermore Christians have a sense of humor as well; we recognize that the Bible contains many humorous things. Some of those are simply because of the distance of time and culture that they sound funny to us. So sure some things are funny in the Bible. But there is a difference from that, and outright mocking the content and the people who do believe in the Bible.

It's the whole laughing with or laughing at thing. So I do admit I get annoyed when people attack Christianity when there is nobody to defend or at least respond in kind. Especially when it is done from a major platform. So I will respond with the small platform that an insignificant blog allows me...

I recently was watching a comedy bit on Netflix which I do not usually do. But I did and then I shut it off. The host was basically commenting on verses and pointing out how weird and stupid they sound to a modern audience. Now it is a very easy thing to read passages out of context and then comment about how horrible it is or how oppressing it was and how God is a...

I won't go into the specifics because the problem is a fundamental misunderstanding of the text. We didn't even get out of the gate with this one. 

I know an obvious response is it was a joke..but humor does influence, and even jokes communicate a way of viewing the world. A worldview that communicates that to believe in the Bible is ridiculous. While people are free to believe this, I am also free to point out that their understanding about the Bible may be flawed. They can choose not to believe it all day long, but most people are not simply choosing to not believe, they are looking for justifications for not having to choose. My job is then to challenge those justifications and leave them in a place of only personal volition and not excuses. As 2 Corinthians 10:5 says:

⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ

So make your jokes but I will make my reply, so...

As I said it is too easy to anachronistically scrutinize and criticize the Bible. What is not easy to do is actually study it.  To actually learn what it is communicating to the audience when it was written.  For us today we are 3rd party readers and we have to take the time to understand not only the literary context but the world view it is communicating and also the world in which it was communicating to.

I am not saying do not ask questions, please do.

Because it is too easy to judge it on our standards. We have to understand that it was not written to 21st century post Christan America, nor for that matter was it written to 20th century Christian America.  It benefits readers outside of the ancient near east as they approach it humbly and let it speak across time as it is meant to be heard.  That is not to say it does not have some hard things to say to us, it does.  But we cannot simply find offensive verses and then come to conclusions when we are ignorant of the world when it was written and the worldview it is creating.

I say creating because without a doubt the Bible has literally shaped the world.  It happened because it challenged and inspired and caused people to grow.  It drew people into relationship with God.  That is the point.  It may sound archaic to us, but it changes lives for the better. The Bible is God's revelation, so in one sense it isn't going to completely satisfy man, because it is completely other. It is God condescending to our level to communicate something to beings that he created. It is like what Paul reminds his readers in Roman 9 of their place in relation to the maker.

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay?...

Job had a similar epiphany when he wanted answers from God in Job 38.

 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3  Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. 4  “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5  Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6  On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 7  when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 

Now obviously there is the issue of competing worldviews.  The comedian has one, but we must understand the Bible is establishing quite another. God is not simply a character of the Bible, he is God, all powerful, all knowing, all loving. But the Bible gets to define how these work. If you aren't willing to engage the worldview the Bible is communicating then please refrain from commenting. If you want to challenge its view then at least attempt to be credible when you do so, learn its preface.  

Feel free to disagree all you want, but first remember Proverbs 18:13.
He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.
This is a true statement whether you believe the bible or not. 

Next time you reach for an easy mark such as an out of context passage from the Old Testament just because it sounds crazy, ask yourself "Do I understand what I am reading?" As Luke records the Ethiopian Eunuch did in Acts 8. Maybe even pick up a commentary to see if that means what you think it means. Because perhaps as Inigo reminded Vizzini "I don't think it means what you think it means".  Now obviously fact checking is more work, and you are not doing this for theology, this for a bit, so you are not going to worry about fact checking.   

But then I am not going to laugh. Cheap shots are easy but informed humor is clever. 

So yes comedian the Bible is an easy target, and nobody will threaten your life for it, but please study before you speak it will make your comedy better. As it is you sound like a kid who wants to fit in with the cool group, the one that has decided Christianity is out this season. And while it may be true that Christianity is out this season, the conversation still needs to happen among thoughtful individuals.  

Christians welcome comedy but this was not that.

thanks

Antiques and Signatures

So with another year it is always good to try to get on some sort of bible reading plan.  I have started reading Evertte Fox's The Five Books of Moses, his translation of the Pentateuch.  It is very good, with much more vivid and colorful word pictures than a standard bible, but still quite accurate.

But for me, once again it is difficult to read the the opening pages of Genesis without thinking about how sad it is that some Christians do not believe in a literal creation as penned. Some will not see God's signature at the end of the seven days. I know this post may be a bit polarizing but the Bible is quite polarizing anyway so why not at least be on the right side of the hermeneutic.

The earth is old, but how old?  Is it an antique or not?  Did a skilled designer leave his signature or was this a cosmic knockoff?

In answering these questions it seems to me that Christians are simply afraid of the Galileo problem. They don't want to come down dogmatic on an issue that some scientists are actively turning their heads from. Fear of being on the wrong side of history is a bugbear these days. In the 1600's Galileo proved the Earth to circle the Sun and not the other way around, but at that time the church was convinced that it wasn't, the Pope specifically. So there definitely was some egg on the face with that one. But I think biblically speaking, creation is a whole other animal completely, Roarrrr!  But one that is after it's own kind.

Some have tried to use the poetic nature of the opening verses of Genesis to try and hide the fact that the Bible is making the creation account into history. But Genesis is not simply a clever way to communicate a completely different theological truth. If it were, it would undermine the theological truth it is communicating.  The Bible teaches that God is a creator, so why discount its creative narrative? The Bible teaches that man is accountable to God, so why discount that man was created as a direct action on God's part? Moses would be silly to use a metaphorical origin story and then proceed to build actual truth on it. Just because something sounds memorable or poetic does not mean it lacks truth, this is especially true in the Bible. Genre affects how it is read for sure but genre does not change the truthfulness of the passage.

A recent book about the people of the ancient near east illuminated how they were more interested in converting chaos into order and this has convinced many that this was all Genesis was trying to do. While this provides useful background it doesn't mean that order into chaos discounts a creative narrative. The Bible hinges too much of its own account for this to be the case with the creation narrative.

But to shorten the argument considerably it is enough to say that too much theology rests on the bedrock of God the creator. And it is not simply that he did create but the way he created has many implications for biblical truth. A mere metaphor cannot buttress the important doctrines that are built on it. Sin rests in the man Adam whose accountability to God resides in the creation narrative. Redemption and the promise of rescue from the pollution of sin are meaningless without the garden account. If Adam was not the first man then he is not representative for mankind and Jesus coming to die for mankind makes little sense if mankind has not fallen.  So Adam does represent us but he is not representative for another account, else the subsequent acts of the story would crumble under it's own pretense.  

Not to mention Jesus and Paul would be quite wrong in continuing in the biblical tradition to build theological truth on Adam and Eve as actual people.

If God can raise up sons of Abraham from stones why can he not raise up mankind from dirt?  If you want to believe evolution as a Christian then answer the question what other biblical truths are you prepared to lay down for scientists?  I say scientists because I don't believe the Bible and science are at odds.  

The origins account has always been a theological question because we can not go back and observe the phenomena for science to dogmatically say. This is why this debate remains in the theoretical realm. To say evolution is more than a theory is to venture into the area of faith, and that is where the Christian is anyway.

It really feels like some Christian leaders don't want to made fun of. But if we are really prepared to go down that road, at what intersection will we concede to "scientific consensus" that dead men cannot rise again.

Similarly if we are out antique shopping, we should realize it is not for us to try and change the authenticating signature or defining marks to make the item into something more tenable. We simply decide whether or not to buy the thing. Be an informed shopper sure, but stand by your purchase. We are the ones who have to live with whether it looks good in the den or not.

The Bible is never asking for your approval, but it is asking for your decision.

thanks

  

Gratitude and Alignment

With Thanksgiving upon us and with some help from my pastor just recently speaking about gratitude, I had something confirmed that I have been thinking about for a hot minute.

Gratitude is simple but hard.  I could just stop right there but that wouldn't be worth posting so I will continue.  I admit that maybe this is more of an issue for realists/pessimists rather than optimists, but I have found that it is easy for me to look back on my life with gratitude over the difficult things that happened long ago.  Sometimes it is hard to weigh the current good over the current bad.  It is hard to be grateful when I am overly bothered by the difficult. 

Unfortunately bad things sometimes are more memorable than good things, but amazing things are more memorable than all.  The problem is I tend to forget the amazing things God has done for me, and I remember the difficult challenging things.

When I do this I fail to apply Paul's message in Philippians.  I can do all things through him who gives me strength.  This is not a boast for being awesome and getting things done, but a realization that contentment is about focusing on Christ and not on our poor circumstances.

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Thanksgiving is a time to return and look on the good things God has done in our lives, to celebrate them. It unfortunately also reveals how often I simply tend to focus on the bad the other 364 days of the year.

This year God has been impressing on me his activity that I tend to overlook. I needed to recognize God's hand in my life.  Further I needed to decide to recognize God's hand in my life.  I fail to be grateful when I don't choose to recognize God's hand in my life, which leads to my worship of him to be poor. It is a vicious cycle that ends in bitterness that can be hard to come back from. This year God has invited me to enjoy him again, to look beyond myself and see him.

God has blessed Kimberly and I with Raphael, he is worth celebrating more than just on this day of remembrance. Raphael is a way that God has caused me to celebrate the goodness of God when I can't see a clear sky on a dark day.

Thanksgiving is a time of much needed realignment.  Realignment is a much needed practice for gratefulness to take root. This is another reason why Paul calls us to renew our minds in Romans.  In my messes God has graciously allowed me to be able to lift my head and say God is good.

So this Thanksgiving think of the things that God has done for you beyond this simple day of celebration, raise your head and say God is good all year long.


thanks