Articles

A FOLLOWER LIKE THE FOUNDER

Earlier in the year at the National Prayer Breakfast, our president in response to recent Islamic terrorists' slayings admonished Christians not to get on their "high horse." His reason? Christians had their Crusades. More recently, at the White House Easter Prayer Breakfast in the aftermath of the recent slaying of 147 Christians in Kenya by Islamic terrorists, the president spoke of the "less-than-loving" expressions made by Christians. This latter remark was made after calling attention to Jesus' example of love and mercy and our responsibility to emulate Him. This was a declaration of the total lack of hate and violence in the Founder of Christianity. The president's contrast of the less-than-loving expressions by some who call themselves Christians made in the context of the true nature of Jesus, Christianity's Founder, although probably unnoted, begs the unintended conclusion that there is no connection between these acts or words of unkindness of so-called or erring Christians and true Christianity as exemplified by its Founder. It is easy to discover what kind of behavior Jesus advocates. One needs only read the Sermon on the Mount: "Resist not evil; turn the other cheek; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you," etc. In the first speech above, the realities of the historical context of the Crusades aside, this diversion from the atrocities of contemporary Islamic terrorists to the atrocities of many centuries past Crusaders reveals two important things: 1. If, as was being purported, these Islamic terrorists do not represent true Islam, why, in the comparison, are the Crusaders to be taken as representative of true Christianity? 2. Although Islamic terrorists' killings can be historically connected to the life and words of Islam's founder, Mohammed, any killings or terrorist activities of so-called "Christians" can never be linked to the life and words of Christianity's Founder, Jesus. The fact is many Islamic terrorists appeal to the historical life and words of Mohammed as their mandate for their atrocities. No "Christian" terrorist, inquisitor, or Crusader, can accurately justify his actions by claiming he is only following the historical life, words, and example of Jesus. This leads to a broader point: Whether recognized or not, a true follower of a religion is simply one who follows the words, teachings, and example of its founder. None is a true follower of Islam if he does not follow Mohammed. None is a true follower of Christianity if he does not follow Jesus. When I was growing up, an oft sung song in our church was "To Be Like Jesus." The question of conversion aside, I am only a true Christian if I follow the words and example of Jesus, Christianity's Founder. May I be a follower like the Founder.

IT ISN'T WHAT WAS DONE TO JESUS

The scene of Jesus' being beaten with a whip in the movie Passion was over six minutes long--a long, long time in movie minutes. I have heard many sermons--and have preached a few--going into detail over every part of Jesus' crucifixion. I think the unintentional effect of such movies and sermons is that attention is diverted to what was done to Jesus on the cross from what Jesus did on and by the cross. I am struck by the fact that the Gospel writers noted very few particulars of the act of the crucifixion: There is no mention of spikes, hammers, difficult breathing, bodily damage, details of suffering, etc. More attention is given to what the soldiers did to Jesus' garments than what they did to His body. Movies and messages extensively describe Jesus' being nailed to the cross. All four of the Gospel recorders simply said, "They crucified Him." It may be because the readers of their time had seen Roman crucifixions and needed no detailed narrative of the procedure or the sufferings it entailed. However, that would not account for what we today should take from the inspired record. That leads me to believe that the writers who shared with us the execution of Christ may have placed a different emphasis on Jesus' passion and suffering than we place on it. Not going into the details of Jesus' crucifixion, the Gospel writers saw the significance, not so much in what Jesus suffered, but in why He suffered and what He accomplished by what He suffered. Please understand. I do not wish to take anything away from the horribleness of what Jesus suffered. In fact, it is those extensive, detailed retellings of Jesus' crucifixion that lead me to a deep appreciation of how much Jesus suffered for me, on my behalf. Knowing the gory details increases our affection and gratitude for the One who went through all of that for us. However, Jesus was doing more than just suffering on the cross. Paul, perhaps the greatest proclaimer of the cross--ever, realized this "...Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Col. 2:14-15). Paul doesn't describe how the nails pierced Jesus' hands but how those nails removed the list of God's laws we were indebted to keep but had not, could not. He doesn't write of how the evil powers of darkness ravaged Christ on the cross, but how by the cross Jesus conquered every evil power. The demons swarmed around the cross gleeful over what Jesus was suffering and too late recognized what He had done to them by His suffering. Isaiah in his pictorial prophesy (chapter 53) of the cross didn't focus on how deep, how festered, how painful the wounds, but that by them our transgressions were taken away. Certainly, with sad wondering I can gratefully contemplate the awful, painful wounds from which His life's blood flowed. However, my greatest focus and contemplation should be on what His blood does; it cleanses from all unrighteousness. It isn't what was done to Jesus. It is what Jesus did by what was done to Him.

Llamas and Jesus' Prayer

Although here in Ohio this week we were briefly teased by Spring, one morning there was a heavy frost. Up the road from our home there is a property with llamas penned adjacent to that house. On that frosty morning, as I was driving down the road and coming upon that residence, I saw in the distance in the morning sun these splotches of white moving across the yard. Drawing closer, I realized that the white was a heavy coating of frost on the backs of the llamas. My first reflexive response was, “Poor llamas; all that cold ice on their backs.” Then it hit me, “Poor nothing. They are really insulated against the cold. I wonder why they don’t make llama coats? Perhaps, they do.” The llama’s wool coat so insulates the animal that not even enough body heat escapes to melt the frost on its back. These llamas had spent the night out in the cold, not in a barn. Yet, the cold had not gotten to them. The frost on their backs was proof of that. The cold had not gotten past the outer layer of their fur. All of this reminded me of an old adage: Being sanctified from this world isn’t being isolated but insulated from it. Jesus in His prayer for His disciples of all ages was, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” (Joh 17:15). We are in a world that, if it gets into our hearts, will weaken our love for God, cool our passion for Him, corrupt our desires, and, ultimately, kill our spiritual life. The answer is not withdrawal and isolation from the world. We could not be the salt we are to be in the world if we withdraw from it. We would not be in a place where we were “holding forth the word of life.” Jesus not only prayed that His disciples not be taken out of the world, He prayed that He was sending them into the world. The answer isn’t isolation but insulation. The answer is not to build a compound in remote Wyoming and cut ourselves off from the world. The first way to be insulated from this world is to have a different nature. Jesus twice in His prayer noted that His disciples were not of this world—they had a different nature. A llama is insulated against cold because the nature of a llama is to have wool that resists cold. One truly born again has a new nature that resists this world. That new nature does not want this world. Then, there is the keeping power of Jesus. Jesus points out in His prayer that of all those, the disciples, that the Father had given Him, He had lost none except the one that didn’t stay with Him—Judas. Stick close to Jesus. He will keep you from the world and the world from you. Then, as Jesus noted that His disciples would not be withdrawn from but sent into the word, He prayed that they might be sanctified. Sanctification is a real experience. In root meaning sanctification is about separation, or could we say insulation. The sanctification Jesus had in mind wasn’t the separating the disciples from the world, but the world from the hearts of the disciples. They might be in the world, but their hearts were separated from it. I live in this world not clothed in llama’s wool, but surrounded by Jesus’ prayer. The world can’t get through that.

AMERICA: A HOLLOWED HULL

The Saint Foka was the Russian ship in the early 1900's that delivered one batch of arctic explorers seeking to travel to the North Pole, and later, serendipitously, rescued another, the only two marooned survivors of a different, failed arctic exploration expedition. One of those two, a navigator, Albanov, kept a thorough diary from which I learned the following: The Saint Foka had found it almost impossible to escape the ice pack because she had run out of coal. Although Albanov and his companion had been rescued, they and the whole crew were in dire danger of yet not surviving. Trying to take advantage of any open lead in the ice and break through to navigable waters, the crew began to dismantle parts of the ship to feed the engine. They burned the planks of the steerage decks and the forecastles. They even burned the blubbery bodies of walruses they had shot for food. Then, they sawed up the mast and jibs for fuel. Next consumed were the coils of rope, extra sails, and the very mattresses they slept on. Soon, they were tearing apart the cabins and ripping out the ship's supporting beams to feed the engine. My mind could not help but think of America's current condition: The beams that supported the ship against the crushing ice and badgering waves were gone. The cabins that sheltered the men from freezing winds were gone. No one from the outside set the ship on fire. From all outward appearances the ship did not appear to be burning. But, being burned it was. We are out of coal. We are sacrificing every principle and resource to try to keep things going. Our very debt has consumed our supporting beams and cabin planking. At first glance, America appears to be the powerful ship she has always been. But, inwardly, she has become a hollowed hull. The stores of economic and moral fuel are gone. The beams are burned.The supports are consumed. The partitioning walls have been removed and incinerated, and there is nothing to keep out the evil. America's crew did it to their own ship. None can fault the Saint Foka's crew's seeking to survive. She had no options. We willfully watched the spiritual, economic, and moral stores run out. We did nothing to replenish. We took trips we needed not take. Ours was not an arctic exploration but a pleasure cruise. We burned in the fires of hedonism and lofty, self-righteous ideas of "equality" every beam of godly principles; we removed every moral boundary that partitioned us from invading evil forces. We might have begun on a pleasure cruise, but we are headed into worse than a crushing ice pack to a darkness deeper than any arctic winter's twenty-four hour nights.We've nothing left to burn. Fortunately the Saint Foka escaped the ice just before destruction, and the survivors were saved by another ship. In the past, we have been the rescue ship of the world.We have no ship to rescue us.We cannot rescue ourselves. We are out of fuel. Wait! There is another ship. We used to sing of it in a now antiquated hymn. "The Gospel Ship." It is truly our only hope.

"Why does this escalator not work?"

This week my older son and I took the Historic Tour at Mammoth cave. Most of the way, trekking just behind us, was a mother with two girls, one around two and the other around four. These two girls kept a running, animated conversation going with their mother that often amused us. Near the end of the tour is a room of the cave that is around 200 feet tall. To climb out of that chamber, there is a tower of a great number of stairs. The tour group followed the guide up the stairs. Many were growing winded, when about half way up I heard one of those girls behind me ask her mother, "Mommy, why does this escalator not work?" I laughed. The mother gave an interesting answer: "Well, escalators usually quit working when the power goes out. When there is no power, the escalator stops; it quits moving." She paused and then stated, "But this is not an escalator." I laughed again. The tour guide had competition. The rest of the way out of the cave I thought on this daughter-mother dialogue. Some would ask, "Why does the church not work?" "Why does my Christian faith not work?" There are two reasons. First, they may have stopped working because the power has gone out. There is no power. The second reason might be "But, it's not an escalator." It isn't a true church. It isn't a true faith. It isn't a true Christianity. We could not expect those stairs in the cave to move us upward. The stair tower was not an escalator. Many are expecting their Christianity to "work" when they have never fully trusted Christ, surrendered their lives wholly to Him. Others find that church has made no difference in their lives. It hasn't "worked" for them. In some cases it is because that church isn't the Church. It has resorted to social dynamics, entertainment appeal, and a message modified to accommodate our modern culture's consensus. For those winded on the staircase, it would, no doubt, had been of great relief to discover that they were truly on an escalator and that the power would shortly be turned back on. If we are the true church and have a true faith, there may be times of struggle and difficulty, when things don't seem to be working; but, we can pray for, believe in and expect the promised power of the Spirit, the power of the resurrected Christ, will soon be restored. This faith in Christ is an escalator! It will take us from the depth we have descended, out of the darkness of the pit, up into the light and beyond.

INSANITY AND IMMORALITY

It was something I said without really thinking it out, but, even after reflecting on it, I am convinced that it is true. Just a perusal of Drudge Report's headlines, had left me reeling with incredulity: I had read comments made by top political leaders and thought, "I cannot believe they said something so convoluted-and they are our chief leaders." Then, I read of reports of truly bizarre behavior and thought, "I can't believe anyone would do that." These weren't exceptions in the news; they were the rule. Thus, when preaching one past Sunday night, I said, "Our nation is being inundated with insanity and immorality, and the two are inseparable." Upon contemplation, I am more rather than less convinced that this statement is true. I believe that America has literally been driven insane by her immorality. (I do not use the word insane in anyway disparagingly of those who suffer true mental illness). It is an uncomfortable analogy, but historians have looked back on some major historical personalities, artists, rulers, leaders, etc., who began to act maniacally insane and have concluded that their insanity was caused by diseases brought on by their promiscuous, immoral lifestyles. I am not suggesting that those who contemporaneously are saying such insane things have such a disease that comes specifically from promiscuity. I am suggesting that, when one jettisons the moral absolutes given in God's Word and written on humanity's hearts, he will begin to think, reason, and believe with a skewed, awry craziness. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord also results in morality; thus, wisdom is linked with morality. Oh, no doubt, an immoral person can be very clever, very intelligent. Yet, without morality, he will begin to think off kilter to reality. Listen to or read the news this week. You will hear even some of our nation's top leaders say such insane things that bear no resemblance to reality, common sense, or, even, reason. Such remarks have risen from the pool of our culture's immorality. Too often Christians have been charged with being primitive, unthinking, saying and doing crazy things because of what they believe. Not so. If the principles that Christians believe, if the morality Christians espouse, if the absolutes to which Christians adhere were adopted and followed, wise, workable, winning things would be said and done. What the Word says and what conventional wisdom says are often diametrically opposed. One is insane. I know it isn't the Word. If you told the average television-raised non-believer today what you as a conservative Christian believe, he would look at you and say, "You're crazy. Insane." Really? Take a look at our world. Now, who is insane?

I BELIEVE JESUS LOVES THIS CHURCH

"I do not believe that the president loves America," so said former NYC mayor Rudy Giulianii this week. He drew his conclusion from his assessment of the things the president has said and done over the years of his administration. I will leave the validity of the mayor's remark to your own powers of observation. And, that is just the point: One can truly tell by observation whether or not a person loves something. Observe a human with his pet, an employee with his job, an automobile owner with his vehicle, a gun owner with his weapon, a husband with his wife or wife with her husband, a president with his country, a Christian with the Church, and you can tell whether or not one loves that object. It is the last example that I want to pause and reflect upon. The criticisms of our country by the president has led Mayor Giuliani to conclude he must not love our country. We are living at a time when the criticism of the Church has grown into a constant, incoming fusillade. Disturbingly, much of the criticism is being launched, not by enemies of Christianity, but by "Christians" themselves--former pastors and church leaders, church members, and those raised in church. Reflective self-examination with the intent of improvement is noble. Criticism with the purpose of dismissing, demeaning, demonizing is malicious. The first can be done with and because of love. The last only reveals a lack of love. I think of a renowned "minister" who came to fame as a pastor of a church who now belittles the Church while yet claiming to be a spiritual leader. I also think of many on a local church level who constantly find fault, pick apart, arrogantly harangue the body of which they are or have been a part. Almost always, those who speak such dismissive, condemnatory criticisms are those who have most benefitted from that local church (or could have had they been receptive). The point is, although they would insist it is only a particular local church or body they are faulting, they do not love the Church. A husband that loves his mate is not blind to her faults. But, his love governs his response to them. An American that loves his country is not ignorant of her historical and contemporary imperfections, but he loves who she is beyond those blemishes. He does not characterize her by her failings but by who she really is. Whether country, spouse, or church, any can cobble a list of faults together and build a case of dislike and disdain. But, if one loves country, spouse, church, he could compose a weightier itemization of reasons for appreciation, admiration, and gratitude. (One criticizes what he is not committed to.) One thing is for certain: Jesus loves the Church. "...Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" (Eph 5:25). Christ better than any knows the church's faults and doesn't hesitate to point them out (Rev. 2 & 3). Yet, in everything He says or does, you can tell He loves her. I can say emphatically, "I believe Jesus loves this Church." It really shows.

ONE SPLOTCH OF BLACK

I am not sure just why its title is "Fifty Shades of Grey." There is no grey about it; it is black, darkness. In fact, there are no shades about it either; it is ALL black, total darkness. Grey is a lightening of black. No doubt, this book is a part of a wider satanical conspiracy with willing human accomplices to lighten the darkness, to make it appear more acceptable. Perhaps, the "fifty" before the "shades" reveals the slow incremental acclimation, the gradual becoming accustomed to darkness. All that is just my musing. I am not suggesting any of the above was in the author's conscious intention in choosing the title. I realize that "Grey" is the last name of the main male character. Interestingly, his first name is "Christian." I'm sure there is no sacrilegious authorial intention in the selecting "Christian" as the name of a main character in a plot of such sordidness. "I'm sure" expresses a bit of incredulous sarcasm. The book became a best seller in spite of its prose being so inferior. Beyond just denouncing and rejecting the book on that basis, why has there not been a protesting outcry against the book (and subsequent movie) proportionate to its popularity? I am not speaking of an outcry from the Christian community--there have been voices raised from that quarter. I am speaking of an outcry from the liberals of our land. Certainly there have been a few voices, but they have been drowned out by the overall silence of the media's lack of repudiation. My question is why the hypocrisy? The liberal agenda feigns to include championing women's rights, speaking out against abuse of and violence against women. This book is filled with such. Also, liberals cringe at the language of Scripture and the Church advocating that a wife's role is godly submission to her husband; yet, there is no general outcry against the twisted, perverted submission showcased in the book. But, what should the Christian response be to this and all literary expressions shaping and reflecting our times? The Christian response should first be, not just a verbal or written expression of repulsion and disgust of the filth--as it were, a cursing of the darkness. The Christian response to "Fifty Shades of Grey" and all darkness is to "let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven." That is not something that should just happen within church and home but in the world of school, work, commerce, etc., in which we are engaged. That light is the light of righteousness, purity, true love, grace, mercy, knowledge of the holy, etc. It is not just the light of beliefs we mentally ascribe to or truths we voice but of the life we live. One thing is for sure, if a "Christian" reads the book or watches the movie, there is no light there. Darkness may accept grey but light never will. Our light should shine so brightly that by contrast, "Fifty Shades of Grey" can be seen for what it truly is--total darkness, one big splotch of deepest black.

IT IS WHAT IT IS

In my personal notes I have begun a list of sayings I detest. These are ubiquitous modern clichés one keeps running into in conversations. I think on the top of my list is "It is what it is." My reasons of disliking it? I believe it expresses nihilism, acceptance, and apathy: First, "It is what it is," to me, smacks of nihilism in that it conveys that what happens in our existence is meaningless, and we just might as well jettison any beliefs that try to make sense out of what happens. At one time, folks believed existence is what Providence decreed or permitted. Now existence is believed to be what happens by random fate. Secondly, the statement implies acceptance, or more pointedly, resignation. "It is what it is," is used, when stating the obvious, to imply helplessness. The expression is saying, "This is the situation and nothing could have or can be done about it." "Live with it." This excludes a God that can intervene. It voids a belief that things can be other than what they are, that they can be altered. It also implies that nothing could have been done differently for things to have turned out differently. One is to just accept the hand life has dealt him. What secular determinism this is! Finally, "It is what it is" expresses apathy. Things have meaninglessly happened, and there is nothing to be done about them; so why care? Why should I be moved by, concerned about, affected by, or emotionally invested in trying to do anything about "what is"? Much time could be spent contrasting the phrase, "It is what it is," with the teaching and tone of the Truth of Scripture. However, let's just lay one Biblical expression next to "It is what it is"--"The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord" (Psa. 37:23). Contrast those two statements. If you think that I am making too much of or misunderstanding the popular idiom "It is what it is," my response is, "It is what it is."