A couple weeks back, Exodus International, a prominent ministry that offered hope for homosexuals who wished to be made straight, called it quits. Exodus president Alan Chambers offered an apology (posted at Christianity Today) that left many Christians scratching their heads, and others lauding him for his humility. The apology was primarily for the negative emotional consequences that many of the program's participants experienced as they tried to divorce themselves from the homosexual lifestyle. However, he went further in addressing the Church as a whole, apologizing for our attitudes towards the LGBT community, while proposing a new ministry to bridge the gap between the two.
Now, I could go on to present my own feelings about his apology, in what ways I thought were positive, and in what ways I felt he went too far, but what I really was struck the most by was the reactions in the comments below the CT news article. A vast majority fell in one of three categories:
1) Those who were offended by his apology, citing Scripture for God's view of homosexuality as sin,
2) Those who applauded him for his loving, accepting attitude towards the LGBT community, and
3) Unbelievers who simply found the argument to be justification for their unbelief.
What I took away from the conversation was how we as the Church find ourselves struggling to find the right balance between love of the sinner and hatred of sin. In our imperfect humanity, we are insufficient in both extremes. Even those of us who hate the sin of homosexuality do not hate it sufficiently, as our Lord does, because we don't hate it for the perfect reason. If we're honest with ourselves, we mostly hate homosexuality because we have no draw to it. We don't understand how anyone could be tempted in such a way. As a sin, it is very unappealing for us. On the other hand, heterosexual lust is something we can relate to. We hate that we struggle with it, but deep down, we really love to indulge that sin. This same love of sin that we hate to love applies to many other things that we give ourselves liberty, and a little grace, to accept in our lives. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we don't make any effort to abstain from these sins, but we're probably a whole lot more forgiving of ourselves when we give in than we are of the homosexual who won't let go of his/her sin.
So how do we hate sin as God hates it? We need to recognize sin for what it does to us. Every sin harms the sinner, and most likely others in the process. God hates all sin because it is damaging to his creation. We are all created in His image, and He hates to see His creation suffer. His hatred of our sin is out of His perfect love for each of us. That applies to those of us who call ourselves believers, just as it does to the practicing homosexual. This perfect love produces perfect hatred of sin. Though many of us who stand for biblical truth are speaking out on the sin of homosexuality, we are incapable of sufficiently hating the sin, because we are incapable of sufficiently loving the sinner. Those of us on the other extreme of the argument, though they base their arguments on love for the homosexual, likewise do not sufficiently love the sinner, because they don't sufficiently hate the damage the sin is incurring on the ones they say they love. God loves us, but that doesn't mean He desires to give us what we want. Our ways are not His, and vice versa.
The point of view that brings this all into focus is that which is shared by the unbelievers. Looking in, they see the hypocrisy of those of us pointing to the sin, pointing out our own sins that we're not sufficiently offended by. On the other hand, their embrace of the sin should be alarming to those within the Church who find themselves agreeing with their godless views. It's a reminder that we need to find the right balance. One of the most quoted passages in the Bible is found in 1 Corinthians 13. The first verse states, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." The comments below the article gave me, as a believer, an unpleasant sound. I fear they are fairly representative of the American Church. I know it doesn't help when the secular news media puts the spotlight on the absolute worst examples of our point-of-view, but there are ways we can improve. We need to be mindful of how we appear in the eyes of the sinner. We need to learn to speak, as Paul said in Ephesians 4:15, "the truth in love." It's a balance that may be impossible to achieve in this lifetime, but I know we can do better. I know we can learn to better love the lost. We need to see them as Jesus saw them. Matthew 9:36 says, "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd." We need to learn to see the lost this way.
As for the unbeliever, (if you happen to be reading this), I'd ask you to learn to extend to believers the kind of grace you ask us to extend to you. I hope you recognize that being a Christian doesn't make us perfect. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness. As insufficient as our love for the sinner may be, our Lord's grace is sufficient for all of us who believe. Romans 5:12-21 speaks of our sin, and Jesus Christ's sacrificial atonement for it. Verse 17 says, "For if by the one man’s (Adam's) offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." I pray that you will one day experience the perfect love of our perfect Lord, despite our imperfect attempts to convey it.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Did God Create Evil?
So where does evil come from? First of all, it's important to understand that God created all things. That doesn't mean God created all actions and intents of the heart. For the English majors out there, He created all nouns, but not all verbs (at least of the voluntary sort). Evil is not a substance. Not even the devil himself is evil in substance. What God did create was free will and the ability to act on thoughts and desires. He created human beings with the ability to make choices on our own, whether good or bad, and a creativity that in a small way reflects His own. We are given a choice with what to do with our lives. We can choose to honor Him or live for ourselves.
Romans 1:18-21 says:
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."
It's clear from the above passage that God's wrath is a result of our choice to reject Him. It goes on to describe how God "gave them up to" a variety of sinful desires and actions. It's important to distinguish between God's "letting them do what they want" and any kind of action that is initiated by God. I think of this all in light of many acts of evil that we've seen in our world, whether it be the bombings in Boston, the 9/11 attacks, or the many school shootings in recent years. God doesn't cause such horrible things to happen. That being said, He does allow us to do evil things, and sometimes those evil choices have tragic consequences for those undeserving.
Now I understand that free will is a foreign concept for many agnostic-types. They would generally reject the idea, arguing that all our choices are the result of random interactions in the universe causing a kind of domino effect. The result of this chain reaction is what you are and how your brain is wired, which determines how you act. For them, our entire existence is "random acts of meaninglessness." You are what you are and there is nothing you can do to change anything about yourself, including your actions. The thing is, if they're right, how can they be so certain? According to their own beliefs, they have no choice but to believe or disbelieve what they do, regardless if it's right or not. And likewise, they can't really blame me for believing what I do. And how can they make any moral judgments? Morality cannot exist without free will. They will likely agree, and say something about morality being some kind of construct of humans to make sense of the world we live in. But nonetheless, they will proceed with decrying the morality of Christianity, and consequently, God Himself. They will question His goodness in allowing evil to exist. For example, they might ask, "If God is good, why won't He stop me from going to hell?" Good question, if you're open to hearing the answer.
The important thing to understand, is that without the potential for evil, there can be no good. Likewise, without the potential for hate, there can be no love. God's plan for humanity is built on a desire for a loving relationship with each of us individually and collectively. Love is meaningless if there is no choice not to love. The very reason for this life is to separate those who truly love God from those who don't (Matthew 25:31-46). Some might believe that mankind ruined God's plans when Adam and Eve took of the fruit in the Garden of Eden, and sin entered the world. No, God had a greater plan in mind. God has a way of working our free will choices to do evil into a greater good. One of the finest illustrations of this point is the story of Joseph and his brothers. Out of hatred, they sold him to Egypt into slavery, but God used him to later save Egypt, and his family the Israelites, from famine. Genesis 50:20 records Joseph's reassuring words to his brothers, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." In fact, the entire narrative of the Bible, from the Fall of Man to Jesus' sacrificial atonement of sin on the cross and subsequent victory over death (the wages of sin, see Romans 6:23) through His resurrection to the promised glory of eternal life with Him in the new world someday, demonstrates how God brings some pretty amazingly good things out of the bad, for those who love Him.
So how does this all work? In the case of Joseph and his brothers, it was very easy to see looking back how God had a plan for him and for all the people whose lives would be saved through his actions. But in most cases, it's not so clear cut. All of us have gone through or are going through various trials in our own lives, and we can't always make sense of the good that God has in mind. I know in my own life, I have my own burdens that I don't understand. The truth is, and this won't satisfy the skeptics, but much of who God is and how He works is a mystery. We, in our finite minds, cannot grasp the infinite complexity of God. Someday, God will reveal these things to us, and we will understand. But for now, there is much we don't. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."
For now, we are called to walk in faith. For that, we should be thankful. Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Without faith, there is no hope of salvation. We can't do enough good deeds to save ourselves. The only way is by placing our trust in Him, that the sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ, is sufficient to save us from our sins. 1 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." God's desire is for all of us to be with Him eternally, but His plan takes into account the fact that many will choose to reject Him. What will we do with Jesus Christ? This is the test of our lives. Revelation 3:20 says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." My prayer is that each of you, if you haven't already, will take the step of faith and open the door. Then you will live to see the amazing things He has planned for you.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Cultural Christianity
As I was preparing to take a test on basic electricity, I read up on reactive power. The material was quite heavy on my brain, but it began to make sense after reading through it a few times. Long story short, when electricity is produced through electromagnetism (how the vast amount of electricity is produced), there naturally arises a magnetic force that pushes in the opposite direction of the flow of electricity, resulting in wasted power. We call this force "induction," and where this force is greater than the forces put in place to counteract it, we say it is "inductive." Lost you yet?
Anyways, I began to look at this relationship as a good analogy for how our culture affects those of us who call ourselves Christians. I've noticed, as I'm sure many of you have, that the Church looks a lot different in different places, depending on the culture of the people in those places. In particular, I've noticed a great deal of difference between the culture of the Church in Fresno as compared to that of the Church in the bay area. Though only separated by roughly 200 miles, it would not be a far stretch to say that the culture of Fresno, by comparison, is a bit more conservative and traditional than the culture of the the bay area. In fact, the bay area is as secular as it gets in the USA. The point I'm making, and where the electricity parallel comes in, is that I see the same kind of force at work in the Church. That's not to say that there aren't exceptions (there are), but the vast majority of churches in the bay area reflect the liberal influence of their liberal culture. That "inductive force" is diluting the truth of God's Word, and diminishing its effective power. And to be honest, that force exists to some degree in the Fresno Church as well.
I think it would be safe to say that all churches around the world have some negative influences from the cultures they exist in. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with there being a reflection of the culture, but it is wrong when that cultural influence results in distortion of the truth, or reshaping the Word of God to fit the culture. I see the Church spreading the lie that the truth is somehow evolving to keep up with the modern world. You'll often hear people talk about certain unpopular passages of the Bible through the framework of "cultural context." This may make sense to understand certain events, or commands that God gave to His people for a finite period of time, but I often hear this being used to explain things that it shouldn't. When we do this, we are essentially saying that the truth is dependent on the culture. I would argue that if the truth is subject to the culture, then the culture is "god." We are also saying that the truth is not absolute. Our god is not the same yesterday, today, and forever. It's up to us, through the wisdom of our culture, to filter the truth out of an outdated document.
My point is that we have it backwards. Have we considered that maybe it's our own cultural context that's out-of-whack? As the Church, we should be set apart from the culture. That doesn't mean physically, or that we shouldn't interact and develop relationships within the culture, but that the world should look at us and see a clear difference. Today, I see the Church giving ground in a tug-of-war battle with the culture.
One of the big issues of the day is same-sex marriage. Along with that is the strong push from the world to be accepting of homosexual behavior. Pressure is on the Church to follow suit, and any church, or Christian for that matter, that calls it out as sin is singled out for public ridicule. The cultural pressure is great, and many churches have given in. In the bay area, it's not uncommon to see rainbow "Jesus fishes" or flags on churches, advertising their welcoming of all lifestyles. A couple years or so back, former CCM singer Jennifer Knapp "came out" in an interview with Christianity Today, and excused her choices by arguing that Bible passages condemning homosexuality were culturally contextual. Many churchgoers feel likewise, and appeal to love and understanding. It all sounds very nice, and besides, why should we care what other people choose to do with their lives? Besides, they're born that way, so there's nothing they can do about it. Why not encourage them to do what makes them happy? Sounds reasonable, right? That appeal to human emotions has been extremely effective because, by nature, we are empathetic. We don't like to be confrontational, or tell people they're wrong. We can't fully separate condemnation of behavior from condemnation of people, and the other side will always feel condemned as people as long as we condemn the behavior. Of course, it's a lie from the devil himself. He's convinced the sinner that the sin is what defines him as a person, and the culture as a whole has followed suit. Not only is sin something not to be ashamed of, but it is something to be proud of in today's America. The ones who are to be ashamed are the ones who don't approve, and most likely, those are the "religious nuts" who still believe that the Bible is the authority on morality.
The way I see it, many of the churches in the bay area are "inductive," giving in to the current of the culture that's pushing them away from the current that flows in the path of the Truth of God's Word. Some are still flowing in the right direction, but their power is diminished. Fearing ridicule, and perhaps struggling with their own culturally affected consciences, they simply avoid taking a stand on controversial subjects. They don't want to ruffle any feathers, and besides, we should be trying to draw the unsaved in to the church, right? If we start talking about sin, making them feel guilty and all, they'll leave and never come back! Or worse, they'll picket outside our doors! So what happens is we end up teaching a muted gospel, which basically says that none of us are perfect, but that's OK. We can trust in Jesus to extend grace for our sins. Never mind calling on anyone to repent of those sins, or pointing out that hell could be just a breath away for those who choose to continue in their own ways. We like to point out that God loves us, and we sing it in all of our worship songs, but we avoid the harsh truth of the consequences of sin. Everyone is glad to accept Jesus as Savior, but who will accept Him as Lord? Have we thought about what that means?
John 1:1-5 says:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
Verses 10-14 continue:
"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
This passage tells us many things. First of all, it tells us that Jesus Christ is the Word. It tells us that Jesus Christ was there in the beginning with God, and that all creation was made through Him. It also tells us that though this world was made through Jesus Christ, most people didn't comprehend Him. Those few who did were born of God, in contrast to the world at large, which was born of the flesh and the will of man. The Word became flesh to make the glory of God understandable to us. He came to us, "full of grace and truth."
We have no problem accepting that Jesus came full of grace, but are we as accepting that He came full of truth? Do we believe all that He said? Sadly, many in the Church today are denying the truth of Scripture. They are chalking up much of it as allegory, denying the historical truths made evident in it. Recently, I happened to catch the last few minutes of the popular Fox News program, The O'Reilly Factor. Host Bill O'Reilly was reading viewer mail in response to comments he had made about much of the Bible being allegorical. The viewer pointed to Jesus' own words relating to Noah and the flood, as well as other Old Testament accounts that are hard for many to accept as history. Mr. O'Reilly simply dismissed the viewer's objections by proudly saying, "it never happened," in reference to Jesus' words. Mr. O'Reilly's nebulous views on the Old Testament necessarily demand him to also have nebulous views on the New Testament where they intersect. He ends up with his own version of Christianity, subject to whatever his own brain can wrap around and accept as true. His "truth" is subject to his flesh. The passage in John 1 tells us that God's Word is true. Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord means that we place our trust in Him. How can you trust Him if you believe He's not truthful in what He said? If you doubt what He said about the past or the present, why should you believe what He says about the future? Why should you have any assurance of your own salvation? If the Truth changes with time, nothing is certain. In fact, God becomes a liar.
I see the influence of the secular world creeping into the Church, as we give ground on Biblical authority to godless philosophies being passed off as truth. The Church is being lured by the lie that to meet them halfway will give us credibility with the culture. By becoming more like them, we will become more relevant to today's world. The truth is quite the opposite. The more we become like the godless culture, the less we have to offer them, and the less we stand apart as something intriguing and counter-cultural. Like the inductive force that pushes against the flow of power, our culture is pushing us in the wrong direction, and our power is being wasted. If we continue to give in, we will eventually flow with it, directly opposing the power of God in our world today. Many in our ranks are already there. Let us instead be the ones to declare the Truth, pushing the culture in the right direction. We can't do that by capitulating. We must lead the culture. We must tell them the Truth.
Anyways, I began to look at this relationship as a good analogy for how our culture affects those of us who call ourselves Christians. I've noticed, as I'm sure many of you have, that the Church looks a lot different in different places, depending on the culture of the people in those places. In particular, I've noticed a great deal of difference between the culture of the Church in Fresno as compared to that of the Church in the bay area. Though only separated by roughly 200 miles, it would not be a far stretch to say that the culture of Fresno, by comparison, is a bit more conservative and traditional than the culture of the the bay area. In fact, the bay area is as secular as it gets in the USA. The point I'm making, and where the electricity parallel comes in, is that I see the same kind of force at work in the Church. That's not to say that there aren't exceptions (there are), but the vast majority of churches in the bay area reflect the liberal influence of their liberal culture. That "inductive force" is diluting the truth of God's Word, and diminishing its effective power. And to be honest, that force exists to some degree in the Fresno Church as well.
I think it would be safe to say that all churches around the world have some negative influences from the cultures they exist in. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with there being a reflection of the culture, but it is wrong when that cultural influence results in distortion of the truth, or reshaping the Word of God to fit the culture. I see the Church spreading the lie that the truth is somehow evolving to keep up with the modern world. You'll often hear people talk about certain unpopular passages of the Bible through the framework of "cultural context." This may make sense to understand certain events, or commands that God gave to His people for a finite period of time, but I often hear this being used to explain things that it shouldn't. When we do this, we are essentially saying that the truth is dependent on the culture. I would argue that if the truth is subject to the culture, then the culture is "god." We are also saying that the truth is not absolute. Our god is not the same yesterday, today, and forever. It's up to us, through the wisdom of our culture, to filter the truth out of an outdated document.
My point is that we have it backwards. Have we considered that maybe it's our own cultural context that's out-of-whack? As the Church, we should be set apart from the culture. That doesn't mean physically, or that we shouldn't interact and develop relationships within the culture, but that the world should look at us and see a clear difference. Today, I see the Church giving ground in a tug-of-war battle with the culture.
One of the big issues of the day is same-sex marriage. Along with that is the strong push from the world to be accepting of homosexual behavior. Pressure is on the Church to follow suit, and any church, or Christian for that matter, that calls it out as sin is singled out for public ridicule. The cultural pressure is great, and many churches have given in. In the bay area, it's not uncommon to see rainbow "Jesus fishes" or flags on churches, advertising their welcoming of all lifestyles. A couple years or so back, former CCM singer Jennifer Knapp "came out" in an interview with Christianity Today, and excused her choices by arguing that Bible passages condemning homosexuality were culturally contextual. Many churchgoers feel likewise, and appeal to love and understanding. It all sounds very nice, and besides, why should we care what other people choose to do with their lives? Besides, they're born that way, so there's nothing they can do about it. Why not encourage them to do what makes them happy? Sounds reasonable, right? That appeal to human emotions has been extremely effective because, by nature, we are empathetic. We don't like to be confrontational, or tell people they're wrong. We can't fully separate condemnation of behavior from condemnation of people, and the other side will always feel condemned as people as long as we condemn the behavior. Of course, it's a lie from the devil himself. He's convinced the sinner that the sin is what defines him as a person, and the culture as a whole has followed suit. Not only is sin something not to be ashamed of, but it is something to be proud of in today's America. The ones who are to be ashamed are the ones who don't approve, and most likely, those are the "religious nuts" who still believe that the Bible is the authority on morality.
The way I see it, many of the churches in the bay area are "inductive," giving in to the current of the culture that's pushing them away from the current that flows in the path of the Truth of God's Word. Some are still flowing in the right direction, but their power is diminished. Fearing ridicule, and perhaps struggling with their own culturally affected consciences, they simply avoid taking a stand on controversial subjects. They don't want to ruffle any feathers, and besides, we should be trying to draw the unsaved in to the church, right? If we start talking about sin, making them feel guilty and all, they'll leave and never come back! Or worse, they'll picket outside our doors! So what happens is we end up teaching a muted gospel, which basically says that none of us are perfect, but that's OK. We can trust in Jesus to extend grace for our sins. Never mind calling on anyone to repent of those sins, or pointing out that hell could be just a breath away for those who choose to continue in their own ways. We like to point out that God loves us, and we sing it in all of our worship songs, but we avoid the harsh truth of the consequences of sin. Everyone is glad to accept Jesus as Savior, but who will accept Him as Lord? Have we thought about what that means?
John 1:1-5 says:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
Verses 10-14 continue:
"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
This passage tells us many things. First of all, it tells us that Jesus Christ is the Word. It tells us that Jesus Christ was there in the beginning with God, and that all creation was made through Him. It also tells us that though this world was made through Jesus Christ, most people didn't comprehend Him. Those few who did were born of God, in contrast to the world at large, which was born of the flesh and the will of man. The Word became flesh to make the glory of God understandable to us. He came to us, "full of grace and truth."
We have no problem accepting that Jesus came full of grace, but are we as accepting that He came full of truth? Do we believe all that He said? Sadly, many in the Church today are denying the truth of Scripture. They are chalking up much of it as allegory, denying the historical truths made evident in it. Recently, I happened to catch the last few minutes of the popular Fox News program, The O'Reilly Factor. Host Bill O'Reilly was reading viewer mail in response to comments he had made about much of the Bible being allegorical. The viewer pointed to Jesus' own words relating to Noah and the flood, as well as other Old Testament accounts that are hard for many to accept as history. Mr. O'Reilly simply dismissed the viewer's objections by proudly saying, "it never happened," in reference to Jesus' words. Mr. O'Reilly's nebulous views on the Old Testament necessarily demand him to also have nebulous views on the New Testament where they intersect. He ends up with his own version of Christianity, subject to whatever his own brain can wrap around and accept as true. His "truth" is subject to his flesh. The passage in John 1 tells us that God's Word is true. Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord means that we place our trust in Him. How can you trust Him if you believe He's not truthful in what He said? If you doubt what He said about the past or the present, why should you believe what He says about the future? Why should you have any assurance of your own salvation? If the Truth changes with time, nothing is certain. In fact, God becomes a liar.
I see the influence of the secular world creeping into the Church, as we give ground on Biblical authority to godless philosophies being passed off as truth. The Church is being lured by the lie that to meet them halfway will give us credibility with the culture. By becoming more like them, we will become more relevant to today's world. The truth is quite the opposite. The more we become like the godless culture, the less we have to offer them, and the less we stand apart as something intriguing and counter-cultural. Like the inductive force that pushes against the flow of power, our culture is pushing us in the wrong direction, and our power is being wasted. If we continue to give in, we will eventually flow with it, directly opposing the power of God in our world today. Many in our ranks are already there. Let us instead be the ones to declare the Truth, pushing the culture in the right direction. We can't do that by capitulating. We must lead the culture. We must tell them the Truth.