Say what?!

Have you ever read one of those passages in the Gospels where Jesus is explaining something or interacting with someone and he makes some statement that seems to be completely out of no where, or completely unrelated to the topic at hand? Well I had a question posed to me at work this week and the passage in question had one of those lil statements, and after i worked through it and finally understood it; i came to the conclusion that in those situations it is that enigmatic statement that is probably the key to understanding, interpreting, and applying the passage.
So wanna know what i figured out? (don't hold your breath Jim, you already have this one sorted out) The passage in question can be found in Matt 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-22; or Luke 18:18-30. There is one phrase in these passages that seems completely out of place, or at least at the hight of randomness, and it comes right at the beginning of the conversation between Jesus and this really rich, important dude.
"Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone" (Luke 18:19). Well lets see Jesus... umm you are God, and at the very least you seem to be doing some really good things like heal people and take care of people. So yeah, I would probably call you good too. What does that have to do with this whole conversation about entering the kingdom of God?
Come to find out; EVERYTHING! What is the purpose of this story? What is Jesus trying to teach and reveal to us in this interaction? Well how does it end? It ends with the important, wealthy guy walking away upset, Christ saddened, and everyone else confused. But why did the important dude leave upset? Well because he was apparently stinking rich and liked being that way.
Jesus tells our friend, that in order to inherent the kingdom, you need to keep the law. Our friend positively replys he has done this. We all smile sarcastically at the naeivity of our friend... DUDE! no one can pull that off... but Jesus doesn't argue this point with the fella like we all want too. He lets him have that point, and makes one more stipulation. Take everything you have, sell it off, give it all to other people in need, and the come follow me. Ahh yes, the deal breaker...
But why didn't Jesus argue the whole keeping the law point?
Well He was/is God, so he had a perfect understanding of the situation and our boy's heart. He knew just as well as we did that this really important dude didn't keep the law like he said, but what else he knew was that the issue with this guy wasn't keeping the law as much as it was a divided heart.
This guy was trying to do it on his own. Our important friend was setting up his own standard of good (which was no doubt way low) and nailing it every time. Jesus knows this and as soon as He hears the word "good" out of the rich guys mouth, he cuts to the chase. Our boy's standard of good was off. It was a man made standard. The rich guy was all about situations that he could benefit from with as little cost as possible. Jesus simply begins by stripping away this false standard and laying his royal flush of sorts right out on the table.
God demands perfection and radical commitment to His cause. No one can be a part of His kingdom and still run their own kingdom on the side. We all want it Good, but the standard that we have set up for good is soooo much lower than what it should be. This guy is no different. He wanted in, but he wanted in on his terms. God's terms didn't seem good to him. This isnt any different than what He asks of every other person when they are confronted with the exclusivity of Christ.

Whats the app here? Let's answer a few questions and see if that helps us understand.

First: What was our boy looking for? A way in on his terms. R U?

Second: Do you really believe that God is good? Then by definition God's way would always be the best.

Third: Where does all good come from? Well the theological answer is God. So when you begin to think about this whole interaction; if the rich, important dude would have stopped and paid attention to what Christ says at the beginning, (you know the part where no one is good but GOD) then the rest of the conversation would have never happened. The only reason he was rich was because God was so very good he blessed this guy. Our problem is that we as human beings get hung up on the good things we are blessed with and miss out on what is really good, or best!

If we enjoy stuff like this w/o submission to God's authority and rule, imagine what it might be like if we did submit to God's authority! There is a whole new (eternal) world of good that we haven't even touched.

So you gonna keep eating the knock off brand of chips, or are you gonna eat some Lays Wavy Potato chips? Both good, but one is better than the other and we all know it.

(One more note while I am thinking about it. If you live in America, the EU, or any other 1st world nation you are so stinking rich its not even funny. I don't care if you only make 25k a year, compared to the rest of the world you live like a king!)

I dream of...

...Jeannie

...Falling

...being naked in public

...specific revelation?

I will admit to the top 3, but the 4th; not so much. So i had this conversation today... Actually i opened my big mouth when i knew better and got into a long, worthless, waste of oxygen debate on whether or not God still speaks to His children in dreams. I say "still", because the first obvious observation on the discussion is that the Old and New Testament are full of recorded dreams that God used to communicate any number of different things as general as the rise and fall of a nation to specific as "there will be a guy showing up to your house, he has killed Christians in the past, he will not be able to see, you will heal him, he will be a great man of God..." (obvious paraphrase)

So why not now? Why can't we expect God to reveal things to us in dreams now? Obviously the question is not about ability. The fact that He has, and that He is God makes it more than possible. Not that anything is hard for God, but if you had to rank dream weaving on a scale of difficulty for God, I doubt it makes the top 1 billion.

So the question becomes need and purpose, wouldn't you agree? God does nothing simply to do it, all things are in His sovereign control for the purpose of working out His perfect will. The answers to need and purpose will give us the best idea of whether or not it in fact happens.

Lets start with need first...

Does God need to reveal anything to human beings? YES! The biggest being that we are created, our original parents sinned, they represented every last one of us, we all die because of sin, we cannot have a relationship with God because of sin, God had to fix it, He did fix it, we have a way to fellowship with God, it is an exclusive way, and once we begin that path, it is narrow and there are expectations that God has for those He has redeemed, oh and finally in the end God turns out to be the winner and rules forever...
Cool thing is, He reveals all that too us and so much more than we can ever grasp or understand in that thing we call the B I B L E (yes thats the book for me...) The Bible is God's revelation of Himself to man. In that Bible God, through a human author (which is so amazing it makes my head hurt) said this; and i quote... " His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. " And if you aren't sure what he is talking about finishing reading the rest of the chapter... He is talking about truth. Ahhh what is truth? The Bible tells us that too!

So in this revelation that God has so graciously (seriously, He didn't have to reveal a freaking thing to us!) reavealed to us, He makes it clear that what He has revealed should be enough for us lil ol human beings while we live our lives out here on earth. So He did need to reveal himself to us, YES! and HE DID!

Does He still need to? Well i guess that depends. Do you believe that what the Bible says is correct? Yes?

GOOD!

Well then if the Bible claims sufficiency, then its safe to say that's all we need. Here is my problem with saying that God still uses dreams to reveal specific revelation to human beings... That implies that this direct revelation given to you was so important that God had to give it to you and you alone, and that also implies that what He had given you before this (the Bible) wasn't enough by itself. Honestly there is no way to resolve it! Trust me i have thought it through and tried! You can't say that the Bible is completely sufficient and all you need and in that same breath claim that God is revealing things to you directly that are specific to you and your situation and not already revealed to you in the BIBLE! HE HAS NO NEED TO DO SO IF WHAT HE GAVE YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE WAS ALL YOU NEEDED! (sorry im still worked up)

Second issue: Purpose

What would be the purpose in direct revelation apart from scripture? If there is no need, then there is no purpose. I realize that is sort of a straw man argument, but if you really think about it, the only real issue is need. If there is no need, it undermines purpose. God does everything for a reason. If you want to argue that He doesn't; do me a favor and stop reading my blog, you're wasting what little time you have left before eternal judgment. God had a very specific purpose every time He revealed himself directly to a human being. If you go back and read those amazing OT stories of Joseph, Jacob, Abram, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, you can see the need and purpose for why God did what He did. If they had had the Bible in the form we have it today, they wouldn't have needed it, and most of them had a better understanding of what little they did have then we will ever have of the whole thing that we have.

The reason this is such an issue for me is because I LOVE the Word of God!! And I HATE anything that would cast doubt or call into question the Word of the Almighty! It is the most precious possession we have, and as post New Testament believers we are blessed beyond measure with what we have. I can't imagine what Moses, Daniel, David, or Nehemiah would have done to have what we have!

The sad thing is... and we all know it... we waste it. We take it for granted. I am so spiritually rich and yet i act just like the Hilton sisters in all their glory. Spoiled as can be and dumb as a rock...

God forgive me...

Bull...

Did you ever play that card game... you know the one... you always called it "BS". The one where you lie about what cards and how many you are putting down... I always did love that game. And I honestly think, if my flawed memory serves me not so well, it was the thing that actually got me thinking about the topic I came across tonight in an email i got from a friend.

First thing I want you to do is check the video out. The man in the video is, in my humble opinion, a very godly, intelligent, and respectable person. I am also guessing that after you watch the video, you will read the article that comes along with it.

My question is this: Who do you agree with? Who's response do you think is out of line? Honestly I want to know.

And, just because I can, I'll add my 1.5 cents... (its my blog anyway)

Shockingly enough for those of you who know me, I agree with Dr. Tripp, and I am irritated by Steve Camp's response. What Dr. Tripp is doing is applying what the Bible teaches (theology) to life (practical theology). He is making a great point about what makes things sinful or wrong. He didn't refer to it in the video, but the first thing that comes to my mind is the Sermon on the Mount. This is what Christ was doing for His audience. He was explaining what is most important. THE HEART!! Words are meaningless by themselves! I can use the most PC, Vanilla, Unoffensive words in the world and express the most vile, foul, sinful things possible.

While I agree with Dr. Tripp, I guess the only thing I would do to maybe help our more easily agitated and irritable brothers and sisters to enter into the waters of practical theology with less reactionism would be to replace the use of the word he chose with the word ass.

Why ass? you ask. Well its even better for making the point, because even my KJV only friends have to admit that this word has changed in acceptability and usage as far as culture is concerned. Notice all the non-authorized versions have since left that term for a beast of burden out.

Alright, lets hop in our little time machine and head on back to 1611 shall we... If i was conversing with any of my good friends, born again or not, and i referred to my pack mule as my ass no one would have batted an eye at me. So far so good, eh? Ok well lets keep it going. Lets say that as my ass and I were trotting along with my friends, we have a run in with a rather unpleasant fellow who felt that my friends and i were taking up too much of the road on with our asses. As a way to express my displeasure and unloving feelings for this man's response I referred to him as an ass in conversations with my friends as we continue the journey.

What made one usage any different than the other. The word itself is culturely acceptable, right? Fast-forward 397 years... replace my friends and i riding donkeys with mountain bikes, and the word ass with donkey. Do you see the difference, or lack there of?

Lets be honest, in most circles i run in, if i were to refer to a donkey or mule as an ass it still wouldn't go over so well, now would it. And i don't! Not because the word has since become sinful and I shouldn't use it, but because the culture I live in dictates that it isn't appropriate for me to use that particular word in a public setting. (Now I may refer to my friend as an ass in jest, but it will only be because i am 100% sure that he and i are on the same page on what matters, and the situation and all that, which would be another whole post) The word isn't the issue. The word is a marker that helps me to understand and navigate the culture i live in, so that I can be as effective as possible in my proclamation of the Gospel, both in my speech and my life.

Why are we as Christians either so afraid of culture that we detach and lose influence (i.e. modern science/nameless and countless other bastions of faith that have disproportionately large populations compared to their impact on the local culture and community) or so enamored with it that we adopt it and begin to change our theology to fit in with it (i.e. the emgerant conversation/seeker-sensative movements).

Where's the freaking balance!?

Sneaky Christians?

So i was listening to this chapel message by Mark Discoll the other day and he was talking about a lot of different things that had to do with his involvement in the Emergent Church movement, and his eventual break with those that are at the head of this monster know as "The Conversation". In the course of his discussion he brought up the point about how we as Christians should interact with the world around us. How we should present the truth and so forth. He referred to Mars Hill in Acts 17, and using the example of Paul he stated that we as Christians should be subversive in our interaction with the world and how we share the Truth. In essence what i understood him to say (and I'm gonna go back and have another listen cause it was that good) was that the Truth never changes, but we have to know who we are talking to, and that depending on our audience, our message may SOUND different or look a bit different, while the truth itself is never changed. ( I may not even be doing such a hot job of explaining it, so you may want to listen for yourself. Its from the Convergent Conference 2007)

Anyway, this is something that I have been really rolling around in my mind A TON.

I guess the basic question that i am left with is: "How much does our presentation of the Gospel change when we deal with different audiences?" How do we contextualize the truth without compromising its integrity? It has to happen. That is obvious. The obvious would be in extreme cases like my boy Nathan and his wife Emily who have gone to China. The way that he will explain the truth of Christ will be SO MUCH different than what he is used to in some ways. It has to be, he is in a completely different culture! The context of life is way different. They're commies for cryin out loud!

BUT...

How much? How far? Is that what is wrong with so many of our efforts to reach people? Have we lost touch with culture? (And if you think that is a good thing, read Acts 17 again... Paul was in touch with the culture there in Athens.) I wonder... is it really as sharp of a razors edge as it seems to be?

And the answer is...

Don't over think it... (mom) :) It's simple, or at least it seemed to me to be that way from what I remember from the story of Abraham. OBEDIENCE! But what motivates this obedience? Why was it that Abraham was so committed to this YHWH character that had him uproot his family and move to the boondocks?

For one: Love. Look at what YHWH promises Abe. Land, Nation, and Blessing on the entire world thru ol' Abe. God shows all this grace, blessing, and favor to Abe, and he understands that the least he can do is obey when he is asked to do something. Don't believe me... go back and ready thru Genesis again and look at some of the crazy things that Abe was asked to do.

For two: Fear. YHWH can and should very well strike fear into the heart of anyone who truly understands (as much as is humanly possible) who it is they are dealing with. Abe had that figured out too. Don't think so? Go read Genesis again my friend.

It really should be what motivates us all. Think about it. When we sin, its because either we've forgotten what Christ did for us on the cross and all that He gave for us... OR ...We have forgotten all that Christ suffered on the cross as He became the object of God's hate of sin.

I know there is a ton more here that i could dig into, but maybe I'll just get you started instead.

-Grace-

Back by Popular Demand!

Ok, so maybe not, but at least I will satisfy the 2 of you that have inquired about my lack of posting.

I don't really have a lot on my mind at this point, but I thought I would share a question with you that I had my Sunday School class ponder this past week. We have been working our way through Romans. ( I know! I think its cool too!) We were finishing up chapter 4 and discussing the whole deal of justification by faith.

For the sake of time I am going to have to leave a lot of the background work and reading to you, but anyway we boiled the discussion down to one main issue. What saves people? The answer is easy, right? Altogether now... FAITH! YAY!! So thats it... man that was easy... but then you start to think about the whole issue that is raised in Chapter 4. If I am justified (made positional perfect/righteous before God) then why the heck would I worry about doing what is right all the time. (Because if we are all honest, most of the time doing the right thing is usually the harder of the 2 options we are pondering at that particular time.)

So the question then becomes: "If I am justified by Faith, then what is my motivation for doing what is pleasing to God?"

So what's your answer? Leave it in the comments, BUT you can only answer the question from Romans 4. Let's see what ya got!

Why Unicorns and Jesus have nothing in common...

Did I get your attention? Well this blog post got my attention, and here is my stab at a response. I have read through the entire thing at least twice, some of it more than that. The reason I decided to take the time to respond should hopefully be obvious by the time I'm done. So my suggestion first and foremost is go read it for yourself. That way you can see that as much as possible I am trying to be honest with what I read, and I'm not trying to rape any context or anything violent like that. So with all that said...

If you're like me, when you started off reading you feel there is some real possibility for the subject matter and all. Believe it or not, i like the unicorn idea, and the whole opening section. I agree as well that there is a HUGE issue with how Christians deal with Atheists. I agree that the Atheistic movement and "The Brights" and all that seem to be a branch of Atheism that is interested in an evangelism of its own... thats scary itself. Anyway, yeah we as Christians seem to have a hard time dealing with these people.

I even agree with Mr. Peacock's first main point about understanding that Atheist don't believe in God and keeping that in mind when you talk with them.

BUT...

The second point that he follows up that first one with and pretty much all subsequent points that follow are in some serious need of critical thought and biblical wisdom. Consider some of the following quotes from that section. (These should just be for refreshment, because I am sure you already read it for yourself)

"They're not wrong - no more than you are in asserting that your faith in the tenets of Christianity are all you need to live your life."

I believe it is at this point that the author really reveals a lot about themselves. If you read the quote in context you get a better idea of the issue here... The author is dealing with the main issue that ultimately all evangelism comes down to. ABSOLUTE TRUTH! Where do we find it? Is it a fact? How do we know? etc... The last statement in the same section confirms that this is the issue at hand.

"It's crazy to buy something you can't prove exists, isn't it?"

So what we are really arguing over or talking about, or whatever you want to call it, is Faith. You put your faith in science as an Atheist. You say you don't need faith because Science is all about fact and what you can know and doesn't deal with things that can't be proven, and yet it deals with the origin of man and universe, which is completely unobservable by man, and so therefore in the purest since of the word, cannot be science. Not to mention the whole paragraph smacks of post-modern ideology.

So True, atheist don't need to believe in God, but they still need faith...

Next issue. Consider the following paragraph that describes the typical response to a conversation about God, faith, religion, Christ, etc.

"When you did any of those things, did you notice an eye roll? Did the person groan? Did they shift in their seat and, at the very least, say they would go (or research what you just said, or give the matter some thought) and then never got back to you?These techniques probably feel natural to you. They feel like you're sharing the good news of your faith and the joy it brings to your life, and it probably feels great to share that joy with others."

It is right after this that he compares your effort to talk about Christ with an Amway sales person.

My question is this; Who's problem is it that your conversation about the truth of Scripture is making them uncomfortable? Consider Christ's own words in John 15:18-19. Should we not expect that response most of the time, no matter if they are an Atheist or not?

Then there was this idea, and seriously I loved it...

"Again, try to put yourself outside of your own perspective and into the shoes of your intended audience. You're interrupting their time and space to bring them a message you feel is important. And sure, you have the right to choose your faith and the right to free speech, but as GK Chesterton said, to have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it. And ultimately, "You need to hear this because I need to say it" is the ultimate in self-serving causes... And if you're serving yourself, you certainly aren't serving God."

Right on! We better make sure we have the right motives for why we do what we do! But shouldn't love motivate us to tell everyone we know and have opportunity to talk with, that they are wearing the cross-hairs of God's Wrath squarely on their shoulders. "Naw man, you're cool... that just looks like a huge set of cross-hairs. God isn't really that worried about what you're up to." That could be the most unloving thing i could ever think to do to someone.

I also take issue with the paragraph where the author blames this "interruption tactic" evangelism on the rise of Atheism in our world. I would purpose (as my elder at church Dr. Marks has already done) that the reason the Atheistic movement is in such blossom, is that as a whole, Christians have written off science, and higher thinking. Instead of trying to become as educated as we can and interact with them on their level, we have tossed the baby out with the bathwater. Be honest, as a whole, Christians are a pretty uneducated lot. Do i believe in creationism? YES! That doesn't mean i shouldn't learn as much as i can about how the scientific data that we have points to the truth of Scripture about creation. Instead, we give all that data and evidence, and allow the atheist to do what they will with it, completely unopposed. Shame on us!

Although there is much more that i take issue with in this post, there is only one more that i will deal with here. (maybe i'll finish it up later in a part 2! that will keep all 4 of you on the edge of your seats, won't it?)

What is the goal of evangelism? Pretty basic question to ask if you want to talk about it right? Well here is Mr. Peacock's answer:

"And the goal is to get people to follow the teachings of Christ and live a Christ-like life, right?"

Well, no actually i would disagree. The goal I believe is to expose people to Christ, and then pray like crazy that God will actually change their hearts so that they will be able to understand and apply truth, and then they will be able to follow and live Christ. Consider Paul's words here in I Cor. 1:22-24. We can do nothing to change a person's behavior. We want them to come to a deep and real understanding of the Truth of Christ and the power of His resurrection. Only then, through the power of the Holy Spirit will they be able to live and follow Christ. While you're at it take a gander at Romans 6.

Really what scares me, is that most all of us could read that post and at some time or another in our day or lives would totally agree with it. It looks good! But like my mom tells all her students; its like an ice cream Sunday with just the smallest amount of poison. That's how the Enemy is most effective.

Keep your guard up!