Thinking-Christianly

Sometimes adversity smashes our confidence. In the midst of the broken pieces we look for signs of God, and wonder where he is. In some of the most stressful situations in the Bible, God speaks with the greatest optimism.

Jeremiah was beaten and imprisoned because of his message. The rulers did not want Jeremiah telling anyone that the nation would be taken captive by Babylon. In Jeremiah 29 God predicts that a captivity of 70 years will take place. In the midst of this horrible news is an amazing promise. Jeremiah 29:13 states, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

This is not a seeking that takes place when the birds are singing, the economy is humming along well, and the lives of the Jews are tranquil. It’s a seeking that takes place when everyone has had family members die in war, or through starvation. It’s a seeking when a population has been brutalized and their oppressors have mocked the notion that the God of Israel even exists.

But in those moments, God insists that the heart that turns to him will find him. He’s not as far away as some would think. He meets us in our greatest failure and pain. And when we deserve it the least. Perhaps that’s part of what makes God’s grace amazing.

It’s increasingly popular for followers of Christ to claim that they receive direct revelation from the Lord. This is probably the result of the spirit of individualism coupled with a desire to be intimate with God. Unfortunately, this method of revelation produces as many bibles as there are believers. Each one has a list of personal truths that they receive independently from scripture that is added to their personal definition of revelation.

This practice is not new. It existed in Jeremiah’s day, where it seems every Jewish leader of note had a word from God to share with his friends. In those days, this direct revelation was called an oracle rather than a word, but he principle is the same.

Jeremiah is instructed to speak out against this practice in Jeremieh 23:36. It reads: “But you must not mentioned ‘the oracle of the Lord’ again because every man’s own word becomes his oracle and so you distort the words of the Living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.”

When every intuition and every subjective idea becomes part of the word of God, it’s impossible to hear truth through all the noise. So God says, “Stop. Enough!”

We would do well to separate our inklings, our suspicions, our private messages, our spiritual instincts from the true and eternal revelation of God. The more we rely on private revelation, the farther we drift from the unchanging truth that God has provided in his word.

Evangelicals tend to camp out on verses. We take a word or a phrase and throw a spotlight on it. It’s not unlike an editor in mass media looking through a lengthy presentation and pulling out what seems to him or her to be a great sound bite.

When someone extracts a fragment from what we say and runs with it, we can correctly object that they are missing out on the larger message. When we do this with God’s word, we are sometimes not so considerate.

This came to mind as I was reflecting on the context of John 3:16. We are right to celebrate the generosity of God and the offer of life thorugh Christ. If there ever was good news for a morally corrupt race, this is certainly it! However, the news isn’t all positive, as the context demonstrates.

Jesus adds in John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (NIV) Jesus reminds us of two things we forget when we focus only on the gracious gift of himself in verse 16. He reminds us first of all that condemnation is our normal state. We were condemned before the gospel came to us. As part of a fallen race we live all of our lives as condemned prisoners on death row. Having been judged by the perfect standards of God, we are guilty and rightly sentenced to death.

Secondly, Jesus reminds us that even if we believe in many true things, a failure to believe in the sufficiency of his work on our behalf leaves us in our doomed state. We can embrace concepts like fairness, justice, moral purity, and altruism. In the end such affirmations are powerless to rescue us. They cannot change our condition before a holy God.

I fear that we often present a message that implies that trusting in Jesus will make your life better. Though that is true, it misses the point. Becoming a Christ-follower is the only way to secure any kind of pardon at all and avoid the condemnation we deserve. Any other response on our part falls short of rescuing us from the death row on which we are born.

Injustice seems so prevalent in this age of moral shortcuts. You or I could spend our whole lives addressing one small segment of cultural decay–pornography, taxation that penalizes marriages, social laws that erode character, education without ethics, etc. It’s easier to ignore injustice than to respond.

I’m challenged by Proverbs 25:26. “Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.” Ouch. Looks like indifference is not an option.

You’ll find a new link on my blog. It’s for Mark D. Roberts. He’s the Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, and an author of many solid books. He writes thoughtfully about some of the cutting-edge issues that Evangelicals deal with today. His writing is extremely well documented and gives you links to many other great resourses–both books and web sites.

Mark graduated from Harvard and does some teaching at Fuller seminary. He’s engaging, and on top of many of the issues facing the church today.

Check out his site. I think you’ll find it stimulating. It’s www.markdroberts.com

An interesting page from USA Today (5/21/07) showed up in my box thanks to Ken Regan. It discusses the evangelical presence in politics and the expectation that a candidate be a Christian before evangelicals vote for him or her. The writer, Dan Gilgoff, wonders if Fred Thompson has a chance if James Dobson is uncertain as to whether or not he is a Thompson is a true Christian.

The notion that Christians should only support one of their own in politics does not seem to reflect the spirit of the Bible. Scripture acknowledges that God is sovereign over all mankind, and can use those who submit to him and those who do not. One key example is God’s prophecy about Cyrus (a Babylonian ruler) in Isaiah 44:28.

The other problem with this kind of thiking is that it fails to distinguish between a co-belligerent and an ally. An ally is someone you are fully united with, whose fate you share. Such is the bond that followers of Christ are to have with one another. But a co-belligerent is someone with whom you agree on a particular issue. You may not share identical world views, and may even disagree about who Jesus is, but on one or more issues, you stand with each other. Social issues might include taxation, gambling, the protection of unborn life, etc.

Since elected civil leaders are not called to be priests, but to carry out public policy, those who call themselves believers should not demand a religious litmus test. Being a co-belligerent on significant issues with a prospective candidate may result in a wise choice.

The other day I had an interchange with an individual who quoted an email from a woman in her early 30′s who criticized Christians for being judgmental. She asserted that Christianity is flawed because it makes moral judgments on others.

The problem with this objection is that it is self-contradictory. The author of the email is making a personal judgment call against Christians. She charges them with being judgmental, while doing the same herself. When Christians don’t meet her arbitrary standard, they receive criticism. When they offer a standard for others to consider or follow, they are to be criticized.

You can’t have it both ways. Either there are objective standards of conduct that can be discussed–and even debated–or everyone must retreat to silence, since any value judgment is flawed. But that alternative never satisifes. Even the greatest antinomian makes judgment calls because we all assess life as we live it.

In any case, the charge of judgmentalism unravels because it condemns itself.

How do you describe the life of someone like Jerry Falwell?

Most of us never met him personally, so our contact is limited to the edited soundbites or interviews on television, plus contact with those who may have met him, read from his limited writings, or been involved with his church or university.

I must admit that most of my impressions come from the media, which makes them suspect right away. But for what it’s worth, here are some things that catch my attention.

1. Jerry Falwell had boldness. He was one of those personalities who spoke his mind and didn’t bother to linger long and hard on the ramifications of his words.
2. Jerry Falwell had confidence. I don’t think he would have been the easiest person to work for. He strikes me as a person who would give you a choice between his way and the highway.
3. Jerry Falwell believed in the truth of scripture. While he and I would probably have found some ponints of disagreement, his belief that God’s word was the basis for his teaching and ministry was unshakable.
4. Jerry Falwell sought to influence the next generation. His focus in recent years seemed to be his university, and the equipping of men and women with a biblical worldview to bring to their generation.
5. Jerry Falwell believed in bringing values to culture. He did not assume that any kind of private religion was appropriate, but that the values of scripture belong in the marketplace as well as in the personal study. Most of his controversial moments came when he dared to challenge the culture to consider biblical values.

What impressions do you have of him? I’d be intrigued to learn more from someone who met him personally as well.

If you want to see an interesting interchange between Christiopher Hitchens, who is one of the new breed of atheist writers, and someone on the other side, check out Christianity Today’s website. It offers an email exchange between Mr. Hitchens and Douglas Wilson.

It’s fashionable today to assume that God is no longer in the business of judging cultures and nations. We don’t see AP Newswire stories about prophets and plagues of locusts or fire and brimstone falling from the sky. Some therefore conclude that God (a) doesn’t care; (b) is powerless to do anything; or (c) is waiting for some big even when the damage will be immense.

This kind of thinking assumes that God’s judgment comes only in several predictable flavors, and is still in the future. A closer look at scripture might suggest otherwise. Rather than limiting judgment to cataclysmic events foretold by prophets, the Bible suggests that judgment can fall in more subtle forms as well.

For example, the book of Judges describes eight cycles in which the nation of Israel drifted from God, fell into decay and oppression, and then begged for deliverance. The soundbite description of that period was, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

In this particular period, the judgment of God came in the form of the natural consequences of sin. There was more sin, more decay, more disorder, and greater vulnerability to outside forces. Israel was neither respected nor feared. Men of noble stature disappeared from the land. Things fell apart.

25 years ago Chuck Colson described this form of jugement saying, “Our passions and lusts are insatiable; the more we continue to indulge them, the more they imprison us. Unrestrained Licence can only lead to bondage.” (Christianity Today, 8/6/82, p. 20.) Sin is naturally destructive. It carries within it the penalty of decay, disillusionment, and meaninglessness.

If we as a culture are under the judgment of God, we are also receiving great mercy. Perhaps God is still honoring prayers like Habakkuk 3:2. In any event, it’s worth considering that judgment may be the slow corrosion of good as well as the quick annihilation of evil.