Expressions of Faith

an outlet of encouragement, explanation, and exhortation

Page 21 of 24

“It is said that for money you can have everything…”

May 24, 2011 / / 0 Comments

“It is said that for money you can have everything, but you cannot. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; knowledge, but not wisdom; glitter, but not beauty; fun, but not joy; acquaintances, but not friends; servants, but not faithfulness; leisure, but not peace. You can have the husk of everything, but not the kernel.”
– Arne Garborg

Arne Garborg was a Norwegian writer who lived from 1851 to 1924. The quote is from an editorial for The Weekender Newspaper. Cluny, Alberta, Canada, March 4, 2005, according to Wikipedia. I don’t recall where I first heard it; I got it from my quote file, which has been in the making for quite some time.

On Orientations and Sex

May 24, 2011 / / 1 Comment

The main idea I want to get across here is that “if it feels good do it” won’t work as a way to order life. It is certainly not a reliable standard for Christians and really doesn’t work for anyone else, either – and we all know it!

Every question of Christian theology and living has to be considered in light of God’s story of the world as revealed in the Bible. How one understands this story will drive how one answers questions.

Roughly, the story goes something like this. God created everything, and it was good. The first humans chose not to trust God, and as a result of their rebellion human nature (and the rest of creation) became flawed. All mankind lives in a fallen condition; it impacts every aspect of our lives.

God, true to his character and purpose, took action to correct this situation. He began to form a new people for himself through whom to bless all the peoples of the world, bringing restoration. That people was Israel. With a mission and purpose framed by Israel’s culture and history, the eternal creator God entered into his creation as a man, Jesus. Jesus came to usher in the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom in which life would be lived as God intended all along. He was crucified unjustly, but bore on himself the sin of the world as he died – God’s gift to all who would trust him. Conquering death, Jesus rose and appeared to teach his disciples, after 40 days ascending to be our advocate with his Father while simultaneously sending his Spirit to be present with his people everywhere. Anyone who trusts in Jesus receives a new life from God and is restored into fellowship with the Spirit of God. This Holy Spirit empowers Jesus’ followers to be transformed to be like him. In God’s time, there will come a day when Jesus returns in power to complete the renewal of heaven and earth to the goodness it had in creation. Those who have trusted in him will join him eternally in this new heaven and new earth; and those who have chosen against him will be separated from him and the new creation.

The story is much richer than this brief outline, but this summary serves as a starting point for what follows. This context is important, because according to God’s story, nature as we know it today is flawed. It is “under a curse”. Our natural inclinations and orientations cannot be trusted, because they are distorted by our fallen nature. They may well lead us to actions that are not good. Some of our orientations remain toward what is good, but all are less than they should be. We know this and act as if this were true. Every human being experiences inclinations and orientations that he or she knows are toward what is not good. We know that we must resist them. (I am leaving aside consideration of sociopaths.)

From where do our orientations and inclinations originate? Some are present because we are created in the image of God. These must be trained and disciplined into maturity. Even these good inclinations can be distorted into fearsomely evil apparitions of what God intends them to be. For example, it is good for me to discern the beauty in other human beings. However, I should not allow my appreciation of another’s beauty to lead me into unfaithfulness to my wife or abuse of a minor, among other evils toward which I may experience a “natural” inclination. Similarly, it may be good for me to be outraged at injustice; but evil to allow myself to be controlled by rage even if that rage is inspired by injustice toward one who is weak and innocent. We fall short of what we know to be good.

When we receive new life in Christ, we are newly inclined toward living a life pleasing to our God. We desire to love others and are empowered by the Spirit of Christ to do so. We desire to know God and make him known, and to live as He has called us to live. There remains a struggle between the old life and the new, but over time through a life lived in obedient fellowship with Christ and his people we are changed to be more like Jesus.

Whatever the source of inclinations or orientations toward that which is not good, God has told us that we have them and that we must resist them and follow him instead. God assures us that he will supply what is needed to follow him into good and “flee” from what is evil if we will trust him. In fact, Jesus says that he is and that “all authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to him. It is the Spirit of Christ who is living in us – God’s people – empowering us toward good with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead..)

Christian ethics concerns itself with what we should and should not do, as directed by God. It is not so much concerned with our inclinations and feelings as it is with our actions. Consideration of Christian ethics is necessary because we experience inclinations and orientations toward what is not good. Were it not so, then we could simply act on all of our inclinations and orientations. And it would be good to do so. Instead, we train ourselves (for example) toward faithfulness to our mate, and toward respect and love for others even when we are often inclined toward usurping their place and possessions.

Human society employs the rule of law to enforce orderly obedience to a somewhat minimal set of moral behaviors. We know that some are inclined to act selfishly at the expense of others, so these laws are intended to improve society by protecting the innocent, enforcing a reasonable standard of justice. The rule of law can increase peace, prosperity, health, and order when justly and fairly implemented. As with ethics more generally, these laws would not be necessary if we could simply follow all of our inclinations and orientations. However, no code of law can fully specify the entire range of moral behavior. In addition, there is disagreement about exactly what constitutes moral behavior. Thus, our codes of law are more or less incomplete. We leave more difficult, less widely agreed upon, and less immediately critical moral behavior unspecified by law.

However, as Christians, we strive to “take every thought captive”. We are “transformed by the renewing of our minds” so that we “no longer conform to the patterns of this world”. And so we pursue the good as defined by God without being constrained to only consider what is “legal”. That is, many bad actions are not illegal and some good actions many be illegal in any particular human code of law. No code of law can capture the fullness of life with God; but we have God’s spirit to guide us. With the apostles, we must “obey God rather than men” while respecting the law and authorities when they do not lead us to disobey God.

This reasoning applies to our sexual lives. As a central part of who we are in Christ, Christian ethics applies to this area of life also. At issue is what constitutes the good sexual life according to the biblical story. There is really not too much difficulty figuring this one out. God intends that sex be in the context of a marriage between a man and a woman. It’s not a dating ritual. It’s not a party activity. It’s not something that friends do. It’s not something that you practice so as to be skilled for your eventual husband or wife. And so on. It’s an expression of love in marriage between a husband and a wife with the general potential that children may result. It is an expression of the union of a husband and a wife whom God has joined into one.

Once we’ve worked this out, then for a Christian it becomes a matter of pursuing the good in spite of any obstacles that intervene. Obstacles may come from our nature, from our environment, from the culture in which we live, or be of unknown origin. It is no different in our sexuality than it is in other parts of our lives. We are called towards the good. We have orientations or inclinations toward the good, or toward something else. We are called toward the good in either case. Sometimes it may be that our inclinations and orientations change as we grow to be more like Christ; sometimes they stubbornly and bewilderingly may not. We are called toward the good in either case. All Christians struggle with “natural” inclinations toward what is evil. Christian ethics simply does not give much significance to our inclinations and orientations. Our ethics are given by the teaching of Christ in spite of our well-known inclination toward what is not good. Our inclinations are rooted in a fallen world; Christian ethics are rooted in the moral vision to which we are called in Christ. Christian ethics are not “natural” to any of us! To lay down one’s life to love another is not easy; we must each day do battle with our natural inclinations to love as Christ loves us.

Ultimately, Christian ethics are governed by what will be – by that to which we are called to move rather than by that which we are now. (The fancy way of saying this is “Christian ethics are eschatological in nature”.) This perspective stands in stark contrast to the culture and philosophy of our day. Today’s ethics inconsistently assume that we are determined by our inclinations and that we are obliged to act according to these inclinations. Our culture is inconsistent in this standard because there remain actions which are viewed as wrong in spite of our inclination toward them. I am seriously annoyed by my neighbor’s noisy late-night party as I struggle to go to sleep; but I must not punch him in the nose. There are many examples.

As a culture, we have not yet understood the moral chaos that will ensue when anyone can claim they were simply following their inclinations or orientations into whatever bad actions they wish to embrace. As Christians, we must remain clear that as human beings created in the image of God and born anew by the Spirit of God we are capable of choosing to do what God has said is good in spite of old inclinations to the contrary.

There are many trails to follow from such a topic as this. Not least is the place of the Christian community as a place of both acceptance and transformation. We are called as a family to encourage one another into all good things, without condemnation – humbly speaking the truth in love that we may walk together in the light, bearing one another’s burdens. But those are topics for another time.

Independence and Community

March 8, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Recent experience has reminded me again of a difficult issue. The issue is independence. And how independence intersects with community. Americans, and perhaps westerners in general, value independence. We expect people to “pull their own weight” – to “contribute to society”. And there is merit in that, dignity even. Of course, we make exceptions. We make exceptions for the very young, the disabled, and sometimes for the elderly.

We also make exceptions for the healthy. Sometimes these exceptions are damaging and symptomatic of unhealthy relationships. The fashionable term for these exceptions is “co-dependency”. My point here is not to define this term or explain how to identify when relationships are unhealthy, but rather to note that there are dependency relationships that are unhealthy, and in what I write I am not intending to defend these. It is also my point to say that there are many types of dependency that are healthy, rewarding, and integral to healthy family and community relationships. I am dependent on my wife for many things; I love her and I love our relationship. I would not describe our dependence upon one another as unhealthy or undesirable. It is mutual and good for us both.

The difficult issue is that there are many members of our communities that are deeply dependent on others to live a reasonably healthy and constructive life. This is particularly true in urban areas of Long Beach where there are many group homes and sober-living homes. Many people are dependent in ways that are exceptional or even demanding – sometimes very demanding. This dependency is not balanced. That is, if I am engaged in a relationship with one of these people, I apparently have to give much more than I can ever hope to receive in return. When this imbalance becomes too pronounced or “unprofitable”, it seems that human nature is to cut the relationship off. It’s too much trouble.

Let me give an example or two. There are people with emotional or mental health issues that are very difficult. They are in some way “out of control.” They have difficulty with normal life choices. They are a drain on family and acquaintances. In our ministry at LBFC, we encounter many marginalized people, often homeless, who might meet this description. (Note that word: “marginalized”!) These days, reaching out to the homeless and otherwise needy is “in”. The pattern usually goes like this. A person wants to get involved. They reach out. They discover that a relationship with the person to whom they are reaching out is costly, particularly in time and emotional resources. The first instinct is to work with the person to help them get treatment or training that will enable them to become more self-sufficient. There is a flurry of activity as the marginalized person finds someone who will pay attention to them. This flurry of activity gradually dies down as the well-meaning one who is reaching out concludes either (1) “this person is never going to be independent and I am in over my head!” or (2) “it is going to take a long time and a lot of effort to sort through the problems in this person’s life”. Discouragement sets in. Expectations go unmet on both sides of the relationship, and it fades or crashes.

The (non)solution that our society has adopted is to institutionalize relationships that the “normal” members of society find inconvenient. Mental illness. Homelessness. Unemployment. Criminals. Too often we pay people to keep them from disturbing the rest of us. For good reasons, one of the goals of these institutional relationships is to help the inconvenient person to at least become able to live “on their own” and to function as a “normal” part of society as much as possible. One possible advantage to this is that institutional relationships can be professionalized. Sometimes there are real advantages in this, but I question whether professionalized relationships can ever replace authentic community. (There are institutions that are making a valiant effort at this, with some success. But ask them about budget…)

I also question if professionals can devote the time needed to each relationship. While I’m not the person with the most capacity for this, I can say that I find these relationships very draining. It is hard to manage more than a very few of them at a time, and I need support for even that. Most professionals I know have a case load that leaves minutes per week for each inconvenient relationship. It is possible to make trade-offs and increase here and decrease there, and sometimes effort is valiant. However, if it takes a village to raise a child, how many does it take to “raise” one of these inconvenient ones? What if they don’t show up when scheduled and must be pursued?

It seems to me that there are more than a few people in our society who will never really be “independent” in the way that we hope everyone can be. There are others who can be, but the relational cost to get there will be very high – effort measured in man-years. Our society is generally not willing to foot this kind of cost when it comes to paying professionals. I’m not convinced that it should, if this is a way to avoid personal responsibility for inconvenient community. Whatever you did for the least of these…

In a talk from a recent TED conference, Nicholas Christakis discussed social networks. He ends his talk with “social networks are fundamentally related to goodness, and what the world needs now is more connections”. And that’s just for us regular folks. Where is the church – where are Christians – when there is so much need for community? Where am I?

Many of us live in neighborhoods where the inconvenient are not allowed. NIMBY. In my uncharitable moments I think these should be called “goat neighborhoods”. Goaterhoods? (Is this griping? Or prophetic? Perhaps some of both.) Sometimes it just gets to be too dark for me. I’m looking at the problem, and not lifting my eyes to the Giver of hope and strength.

The cost of community is high. It is not convenient. Giving is, well… giving. And yet, the act of loving others is ultimately life-giving. It changes me. It breaks me. It’s a kind of death. I don’t always like it… Let me rephrase. I don’t like it when I am called to love others… again, and again, and again… seemingly without end. I need breaks. I have to get away and re-charge. Will it always be this way?

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.

Listen to audio from Regent College!

March 8, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Regent College has a treasure-trove of good stuff at their online bookstore. Check it out.. Many classes and lectures and chapel talks are downloadable as MP3 files. I listen to them while I exercise at the Y rather that dying the slow death of exercise boredom or watching ESPN on the elliptical machine’s TV. It’s my post-basketball low-impact fitness regime. You can read about Regent College on Wikipedia also. The class audio comes with a syllabus so you can read the texts along with listening to the lectures. You’ll learn a lot!

The chapel talks are often available as free downloads. They are by faculty and visiting teachers. Many are superb. They’re great as devotionals. Get on the bookstore email list. The sign-up (as of right now in March, 2011) is a couple of items down on the left-had column of this page. They’ll send you nearly weekly links to free lectures and special offers for discounted items. Wait for holidays and sales to get great class audio offers; you can often get 50% off. Stock up over the holidays with the money your mother-in-law gives you! (That’s what I do. Too bad if you’re not married or your mother-in-law doesn’t like you.)

Lest there be any doubt, I am not connected to Regent College or their bookstore in any way. I don’t even know anyone who is. This is a free tip. I did visit Vancouver for a day last summer and drove within a mile or so of the campus on my way to do some sightseeing. Vancouver was lovely and we enjoyed it a lot. But the cheese was expensive. I think that may mean the the US subsidizes cheese more than Canada does. And that’s why I need something constructively high-impact with which to occupy my mind while I’m low-impact ellipticalizing for the sake of cardio.

Your doctrine of inspiration and revelation should arise from the data of the Bible…

March 8, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Your doctrine of inspiration and revelation should arise from the data of the Bible, not from somewhere else. And if the Bible doesn’t fit your doctrine of inspiration and revelation then the problem’s with your doctrine; the problem’s not with the Bible. So change your doctrine. Or adjust it. Don’t abandon it, but adjust it. Think about the question ‘what does it mean that the Bible is inspired and revelatory? Why am I having a problem with this or that theory about process?’

This is a quote of Iain Provan, Professor of Biblical Studies, Regent College. You can read about Regent College on Wikipedia also. The quote is from lecture #5 of Old Testament Foundations near the 21st minute. I’m learning quite a lot from working through this class. On my own, of course! The textbooks are An Introduction to the Old Testament: Second Edition by Longman and Dillard and A Biblical History of Israel by Provan, Long and Longman.

It’s not that I haven’t studied this stuff before, mostly through reading and often assisted by various R.C. Sproul’s lecture series (among others). It’s that having taught through the Bible several times now, I have better questions and a better context to understand what I’m learning. Regent College has a treasure-trove of good stuff at their online bookstore. Check it out.

The Christian life is not a quiet escape…

March 8, 2011 / / 0 Comments

As quoted by James Calvin Schaap in The Professor’s Death Song,” Books & Culture, Eugene Peterson wrote the following comment on the Christian life while considering Psalm 121:

The Christian life is not a quiet escape to a garden where we can walk and talk uninterruptedly with our Lord; not a fantasy trip to a heavenly city where we can compare our blue ribbons and gold medals with others who have made it to the winner’s circle. The Christian life is going to God. In going to God Christians travel the same ground that everyone else walks on, breathe the same air, drink the same water, shop the same stores, read the same newspapers, are citizens under the same governments, pay the same prices for groceries and gasoline, fear the same dangers, are subject to the same pressures, get the same distresses, are buried in the same ground.

The difference is that each step we walk, each breath we breathe, we know we are preserved by God, we know we are accompanied by God, we know we are ruled by God; and therefore no matter what doubts we endure or what accidents we experience, the Lord will preserve us from evil, he will keep our life

I recommend James Calvin Schaap’s article also. Here. It’s a challenging statement of grace.

Ruminating… (Read that article first.) I have friends who are on Megan’s list. Another friend served 30 years for rape. Sometimes grace is hard to find. I can’t say I went out looking for friends with backgrounds like these. What can I say? I value the friend but would prefer their baggage to go away? Probably true. Tax collectors and sinners. Rapists? Shudder.

While I appreciate Eugene Peterson’s comment very much, I wonder if I actually agree with it, literally speaking. I mean, I agree with his point. But I wonder if Christians are called not just to walk the same ground as everyone else, but to seek out those who inhabit the ground where grace is most needed. Walk where no one else wants to tread. As a famous teacher once said, …not my will, but yours.”

How can one reconcile Exodus 20:5-6 with Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18?

November 4, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Colin asks:

I had a question. In verses 5 & 6, as part of the command to not worship false gods, God says “…for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

I’m confused, because in Deuteronomy chapter 24:16 and again in Ezekiel 18, and also when Jesus healed the man who was blind from birth in John 9, it is made clear that children are not punished for the sins of their parents.

The literal Hebrew in Exodus 20 is that the “guilt” (awvone) of the “father” is “visited” (pawkod) on the “sons”. As with many Hebrew words, there is a lot of judgment involved in translating them into English.

The Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18 passages teach that the one who sins is the one who will die for the sin. So, the vocabulary is different between the Exodus 20 passage and the other two. I expect that is significant. The key words in Exodus 20 are the ones translated “guilt” and “visited”. The idea can be that punishment extends to the third and fourth generation or that the guilt of the father extends in its impact to the third and fourth generation.

The way I’ve come to put it together is something like this. The ultimate penalty for sin comes to the one who sins. The ultimate penalty is that which is between the sinner and God, in which sin leads to eternal death and separation from God. So, no one other than the sinner suffers the ultimate penalty for a sin. That seems pretty clear from the Deuteronomy and Ezekiel passages. But sin is not so neat and clean. As a father, I’m all too aware of the impact my sin has on my children and grandchildren. As a pastor, I shudder to think of the wider consequences of falling into any sin that shakes the faith of those whom I have led and taught and shepherded. God created us to live in community, and our sin is a community matter. Community and family ties are there because God has created a world in which it is so. The impact of my sin on the community or family around me is serious, and God says it will be serious right up front. Think of the complaints directed at God by those who proclaim the suffering of the innocent children and others who are “innocent”. Well, God created the world so that people are connected. It is a precondition for love and for good to flow between humans, just as it enables bad things to be communicated. People don’t give God credit for the good that can be transmitted between us in the connected world that he created, but they do blame him for the evil that is transmitted!

So, by God’s design, our sin impacts those around us – even to the third and fourth generation. However, God says that he will personally show love to a thousand generations of those who love him, magnifying the good that can be communicated . One might suppose that “a thousand” in this context means that he never stops showing love to the generations of those who love him; faithfulness and love toward him cannot be stopped. Big numbers like “a thousand” or “seventy times seven” are usually standing in for the idea of “way more than can be counted”. In modern western terms, we might say “never ending” or “infinite”.

There is likely some significance to “third and fourth” generation. This probably is idiom for “and all his living descendants”. Covenants were made between families, not just between individuals. When A makes a covenant with B, their families are expected to uphold that covenant or face the consequences – as families. I think of the young in Jerusalem when it fell. They suffered the punishment that was brought about by the sin of their fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers… and so on. I expect the siege of Jerusalem and its fall took a toll on more than a few who were faithful to God, who suffered only because of the “big picture” of sin in the southern kingdom. And yet, in the ultimate sense of justice, those who were trusting in God would not suffer eternal separation from him, even if they died in the horror of the city’s fall.

That’s how I reconcile it. I wouldn’t pretend that there might not be more to it or deeper things I still don’t grasp; but that’s how I sort it out in my thinking given the whole testimony of scripture and my trust in God.

Does God intend Christians to be healthy and wealthy?

November 4, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Does God intend Christians to be healthy and wealthy? Is the prosperity gospel on target? I say no. Here’s an explanation.

The argument I most often hear for the prosperity gospel is that God loves his people and knows how to give them good gifts. Thus, he gives them prosperity and health. I agree that God loves his people and knows how to give them good gifts. However, what is good?

When Christmas rolled around when I was a kid, the thing I thought about most was gifts. The gifts I wanted were toys, and candy was OK too. However, the gifts my parents wanted me to have were things like clothes or perhaps a Bible. I remember when I opened the gift that turned out to be my first Bible; it was quickly set aside in favor of opening other gifts, hoping for a good toy! My perspective and that of my wiser parents was not the same. I had to grow to appreciate the gifts they knew to be better for me than toys or candy.

Similarly, what gifts does God value for us? According to Romans 8:28-29, the good that God works in our lives as we are called according to his purpose is to conform us to the likeness of Christ. In preparation for eternity, God uses the events of our lives to shape us into the likeness of his son. Another gift that God values is that we come to know him. John 17:3 says that eternal life is to know God, and Jesus whom he has sent. Another scriptural perspective is that God intends us to be “oaks of righteousness” – a display for his splendor and glory (Isaiah 61:3). Similarly, scripture is quite clear that while God cares for us and will provide what we need as we seek first his kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:25-34, he gives us no promise of either health or wealth in this life. Consider Job. Consider many of the prophets. Consider the apostles. Other than Elijah, they all died. Some suffered physical ailments. Most were not wealthy by worldly standards.

So, what can we count on as Christians if we are obedient to God? We can count on coming to know God. We can count on being changed to become more like Christ, displaying the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). And we can count on God providing for us what we need. We can count on God redeeming the trials we face for his good and eternal purposes.

On occasion, when he knows it will not cause us more harm than good and undermine the things he values most in us, God will bring prosperity – even great prosperity. I don’t believe God casually inflicts his people with ill health or physical problems, but he certainly brings great good from such on occasion as he redeems the difficult experiences of those who struggle with health issues. He may choose to heal physical problems when it suits his greater purposes to do so, and give us health. He may choose to let the trials and problems shape us to be more like his Son.

Prosperity in this world and health in this world will both pass away; they will not last into eternity. The things of prosperity in this world will come to dust, as will our present-day physical bodies. In the new heaven and new earth, we will have new, healthy bodies and live in a heavenly city of plenty. The life we build on the foundation of Christ will last into eternity. The life God builds in us will be shaped like Christ and last into eternity.

We Christians need to get over our fixation on toys and candy… er, health and wealth, and seek the better gifts that God desires us to have in this life and in eternity. What trial am I willing to endure to become like Christ and give glory to God? What trial would I undergo if it meant that I came to know God more nearly and clearly, like Job did? What storm am I willing to ride out in order to display peace and joy that passes understanding and brings God glory because it is not based on my outward circumstances?

I trust you, God – but help me to trust you more. The truth is I don’t relish the idea of trials! Something in me still wants the lesser things, even though I can’t lie to myself and claim these are God’s priority or even what is best for me. May His name be honored. May His kingdom come. May His will be done.

A.W. Tozer on refusing life…

October 4, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Here’s a quote from A.W. Tozer that Troy Wong has been using as an email signature lately.

And to expose our hearts to truth and consistently refuse or neglect to obey the impulses it arouses is to stymie the motions of life within us and, if persisted in, to grieve the Holy Spirit into silence.

Do not enter!

It’s about refusing or accepting life. God makes it possible for us to accept life, through Christ, and pays the price of our admission on the cross. Grace!

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