Selling Jesus: 10 Reasons why I will not be seeing "Son of God"

First "The Passion of the Christ".  Then The History Channel's "Bible" series. Now this happened.

You'd think a movie telling the life story of Jesus Christ would actually make someone like me happy that Jesus is getting some more PR in Hollywood, right?  Dead wrong.

I have vowed not watch this movie just as I have with Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (*a collective gasp is heard from the evangelical community* "Did he really not see it? How is that possible? I thought he was Christian?")  Here are my reasons.

1)It's biblically inaccurate. Just from the trailer I saw Jesus saying and doing things he just flat out never said or did in the Bible. Since when did Jesus invite Peter to "change the world" with Him? Since when was the paralytic man healed outside of someone's home and not dropped through a roof by his 4 friends? When did Jesus tell a huge crowd of people that their hunger for righteousness would be fulfilled through Him? If the two and a half minutes of trailer I saw was already packed with many inaccuracies, I am dreadfully afraid of what the entire movie will be like.

2)Jesus' Character cannot be portrayed.  The unfortunate thing about the Bible is that it isn't written as a screenplay.  It leaves much to be interpreted as to how Jesus carried himself (was he generally outgoing and talkative or did he mostly keep to himself? Did he walk with his chest out or did he try not to attract too much attention?) and how he said things (his tone, inflection, use of sarcasm (if any), emphasis, as well as many cultural things that are simply lost in translation.)  All Jesus seems to do in this movie is stroll around smirking performing miracles with all the flair of cheap parlor tricks as the crowd "oohs" and "aahs".  From the trailer, it seems like Jesus is some upstart young talent out to make a name for himself in the local business, gathering followers to "change the world" with the total end result being he seems like an arrogant, self-reliant, and self determined corporate suit. Actually, I think I saw that movie already: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2357129/

3)Jesus looks too good.  Yet another fair-skinned hipster Jesus who seems to look nothing like the people around him. Can't have Jesus looking like he was actually born in the Middle East now can we (lest we simple minded Americans think him a terrorist...)? But hey, at least they made Peter believable. Is 53:2 describes Jesus' appearance to us as this: "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."

4)It turns Jesus' name into a brand and the Gospel into a commodity. The bottom line is that the only reason you make a Hollywood Blockbuster like this is to make money.  Jesus is a household name nowadays and if you can capitalize on on the "Jesus fans" out there willing to shell out money to see a movie about him you can make a quick buck.  You don't have to care about biblical accuracy or the gospel or even know who Jesus is to make money off His name nowadays. I did find it a bit ironic the trailer showed Jesus flipping over the tables of the money changers in the Temple courts...

5)Would Jesus see this movie? No seriously, would he approve of this? Would you even bring Jesus with you to sit right next to you as you watched it?  Does this movie serve to honor Christ and glorify God, pointing people to the love of God the Father? Would any of the Gospel writers consider this retelling of Christ's life as "inspired" by the Holy Spirit?  I didn't think so.

6)It renders the Bible as just a fictional story for our entertainment.  Without even having seen the movie, I am certain there are parts of the Bible that didn't make the final cut either because they were too boring (Jesus retreating to pray on the mountain alone? Yawn.) or too challenging ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me", "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.", "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell", etc. Basically anything with life transforming power).  "Jesus, I want you to entertain me so that I may never be bored and that means you need to stop making me uncomfortable.  I want palatable, feel good Jesus who says nice things please!"

7)It is absolutely worthless as an evangelism tool because it preaches the wrong Jesus. If this movie is all the exposure of Jesus someone gets in a lifetime then they are going to walk away believing Jesus was someone completely different than who he actually is.  Even if by dumb luck someone sees this movie and decides to give their life to Christ because of it (by dumb luck I mean miraculous intervention by the Holy Spirit), they are going to spend more time correcting misconceptions of who Jesus is when they actually get to meet Him. I've seen it happen too many times where people are introduced to either "Fire and Brimstone Jesus" or "Feel Good Jesus" and decide to follow "him" all the while not realizing who they are following is an impostor who pales in comparison to the Real Jesus. Coincidentally it is the same reason I oppose Street Preachers and the use of tracts. It's quite an awful bait and switch.  Better luck sticking with inviting your friends to Bible study (worked for me!). Some would argue that it doesn't matter so long as in the end they are saved but its akin to choosing to either go 50 rounds with Mike Tyson to get into Heaven or eating chocolate cake. Doesn't matter so long as you are in heaven, right?

8)Jesus Christ Doesn't Need Better Marketing.  For a little over 2000 years people have been coming to trust in Jesus through the written Word of God because in it contains the power of God.  There is absolutely no need to dress up the gospel to make it all fancy, dramatic, and suspenseful to reach a wider audience and spread Jesus. What this movie exemplifies is Christianity in American cultural captivity, the kind of Christianity that tries to keep people in the pews by keeping them entertained with flashing lights, live music, and feel good sermons.  You don't need the Holy Spirit to have successful American Christianity or to make money.  However, if you want to reach people's hearts and transform lives, then you absolutely cannot add to or subtract from God's Word "for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes."  Anything else is just trying to sell you something.

9)It's rather ignorant of the cultural context of Jesus' time. It feels almost very little to no thought was put into getting the historical or cultural contexts right.  I mean sure, you got the Romans and High priests in there, but a lot of it seems so stereotypical or made up.  Of course I would expect anything made by the History Channel to contain actual history anymore, but they aren't even trying to cover it up anymore.

10) It shows crucifixion, but not the Cross.  I'm sure the movie will do well in depicting the historical circumstances surrounding Jesus' death but what it misses is the meaning behind it. I'm going to let David Well explain this one:

There is a distinction between the crucifixion and the cross. The former was a particularly barbaric way of carrying out an execution, and it was the method of execution that Jesus endured. The latter, as the New Testament speaks of it, has to do with the mysterious exchange that took place in Christ’s death, an exchange of our sin for his righteousness. It was there that our judgment fell on the One who is also our Judge. Indeed, he who had made all of creation was dishonored in the very creation he had made. And yet, through this dark moment, this fierce judgment, through this dishonor, there now shines the light of God’s triumph over sin, death, and the Devil. And in this moment, this moment of Jesus’s judgment-death, God was revealed in his holy-love as nowhere else. -(God in the Whirlwind)

Sadly, if you aren't already a believer, seeing this film might cause you to actually understand less about Christ than you did already.

That's my list.  I'm sure I can think of more things, but this will do for now.  Now, what I definitely would see is if someone took a Gospel (let's say Mark) and turned it into a screenplay, following it to the letter, word for word, without adding details, but being both culturally and biblically accurate as an educational tool to help people understand Jesus better and his cultural context.  Until then, I'm just going to keep doing skits and acting out Bible studies in small group (which tends to be way more fun and effective than any movie anyway).

Racial Reconciliation in a Racist Society

rac·ism

ˈrāˌsizəm/

noun

noun: racism

1.

the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

Many people when asked what a racist looks like will point only to things like the KKK member or a Neo-Nazi.  They believe that racism only occurs when people are discriminated against or when hate crimes are committed.  While I do not doubt that these things are inherently racist, they encompass only a small part of what racism really is: a way of seeing the world as being divided into "races" each with defining characteristics. To that end I set out to show that in fact the entire American society in which we live is racist.

 We are brought up and socialized from a young age to see race.  We are taught to believe in the stereotypes that our society and media transmits.  "Asians are like this..." "Blacks are like that..." Those who come to America from other countries are quickly introduced to our race classification system.  A Nigerian coming to America will quickly find qualities and characteristics attributed to him on the basis of his skin color whereas a white Albanian will also find characteristics projected onto her much to both of their confusion.  We forge mental patterns and expectations to how a "white" person behaves and how a "black" person behaves and how "Asians" behave so much so that we coin terms like "Wigga" (A White person "acting Black"), "Twinkie" (An Asian person "acting White"), "Oreo" (A Black person "acting White") to describe them.  I hope that the ridiculousness of such a practice is self evident as the way a person behaves has little to do with their skin color and everything to do with the society in which they found themselves being raised.  A "Black man" born and raised in Japan cannot do anything but "act Asian" (specifically Japanese).  Is he any less of a Black man than an African American kid growing up in the heart of Philadelphia? They have nothing in common but their skin color, but yet are perceived to share commonalities in racist eyes.

I don't want to say that there is no basis for stereotypes, however there are some huge differences between observing patterns or cultural trends and making sweeping generalizations based on race.  "Asians are good at math" is a racist statement.  "Asians tend to do better than their peers in the area of math due to the culture's high value on education" is an observation based on empirical data.  "Black people love soul food like fried chicken and watermelon" is a racist statement.  "Blacks living in the south of the US more prevalently enjoy soul food as part of their historical and cultural heritage" is an observational statement.  Do you see the difference? Anytime we try to attribute any characteristic, whether positive or negative, to a given skin color (i.e. race), we are being racist.

And to tell you the truth, racism affects every single person who can be attributed a "race".  The statement that "White people are ignorant of other people groups" is a racist statement and does much injustice to those "white folk" whom I have known who are aware of their cultural context, especially those who have not grown up in America or have been missionaries to other countries. Of course I, as a Vietnamese/Scottish man, have met my share of culturally insensitive Whites.  However, I have also met my share of culturally insensitive Blacks, Hispanics, Latinos, Asians, etc. to the point where I can say confidently that cultural insensitivity has nothing to do with a person's skin color and more to do with their culture of origin and upbringing. All people, regardless of their own background, hold the capability to be racist and more often than not hold views that would be classified as racist.

Now that we are all on the same page and in the same racist boat (i.e. American society), where do we even start in taking about racial reconciliation because the fact of the matter is if you've ever experienced hurt or injury due to racism, it is more difficult to not think about yourself and the world in terms of race.  When a prominent pastor makes an off color joke that is offensive to Asian people, I find myself hurt not because the joke had anything to do with me or was even directed at me with malicious intent, but I am hurt because I realize "That's how he must see me."  When hurts are dealt to me for no other reason other than my "race", they internalize so that "my race" is now part of my identity, something that brands me as different or deficient or in some cases superior somehow.  We must never forget that "racism" was invented for to sole purpose of justifying the maltreatment and abuse of our fellow human beings in a manner most convenient to their oppressors whether it be in Colonial America or Nazi Germany or South Africa during the Apartheid or even in India's caste system. It's the same psychological wounding as when a child is abused sexually and starts to think of herself as a sexual object because her sense of self is broken.  

It is truly difficult to transcend race categories when you are continually hurt because people continue to view race as something real just as it is difficult for those who have been abused to break out of a victim/oppressor mindset while the abuse is ongoing.  Likewise, those victimized on account of their "race" will go on to view others in regards to their "race" and perpetuate the same faulty worldview that sees race as a valid category for people.  Racial wounds can only be healed when someone comes along and says "Listen, you are more than your skin color.  The amount of pigment in your skin has nothing to do with your personality or your humanity although people have made you feel that way.  You don't have to fit into anyone's expectations of you based on their perceptions of who you should be.  You have likes and dislikes, personality, and style different from anyone else on this planet let alone the same "race".  If anyone tries to tell you what you are or who to be based on how you look, you tell them one thing: 'I know who I am and who God made me to be'"

The only way I see forward towards racial reconciliation is this: We must stop thinking in terms of race.  We all do it consciously or unconsciously in our snap judgments and you know what? That's OK! That's what we've been conditioned to do. What isn't okay is not admitting to it so that we can learn and grow.  Trying to pretend you aren't racist in America is like pretending you aren't a sinner!  We must be humble enough when we hurt others due to racist thoughts to say "Hey, I have to confess that I have always thought [insert race here] were like [insert stereotype here] and I admit that I assumed that was true of you too without even getting to know you.  I am sorry that I did that, but I want the chance to get to know you for who you are."  They may be hurt at first (or already hurt because they are the ones who had the courage to bring it up to you in the first place), but humility and confession leads to reconciliation and understanding. We all must learn to stop ourselves when we catch ourselves making assumptions about others based on the way their skin color looks and then correct our assumptions.  It takes vigilance on our part to weed out racism and to adopt a new pattern of thinking and grace to forgive others when they err.  That is why I believe Jesus Christ is the only one who is the king of reconciliation with grace enough to help us all come to see each other not in terms of our skin color or nationality but as fellow children of God for he is the only one who tore down the dividing wall of hostility that separated us from God and each other.  He alone transforms our hearts and minds so that the only race left is the only one He created "The Human race".

When people ask me what race I am, I don't answer them anymore.  In the world's terms, I am "biracial", but most people when they see me just flag me as Asian.  I grew up in a Vietnamese home and thus have some Asian values and tendencies, but I also have been through the American school system and have many "white" ones as well.  In my neighborhood were many Black and Puerto Rican families.  Being biracial and growing up in a multicultural environment you realize that you are never fully anything and a little bit of everything.  My behaviors are eclectic and mixed, borrowing from every culture I've come in contact with.  My experiences in life are few, but varied.  In any given situation people might say I'm "acting black" or "acting white", but in reality I'm just being myself.  I am not any race. I am John Dao. Pleased to meet you!

Biblical Feminism

In my mind there has been a great tragedy that has taken place in our society under the guise of equality. Our young girls are being told that in order to be successful women they must be independent, make their own money, have a successful career, be sexually assertive/liberated, compartmentalize her emotions but still be tender, raise a family, keep a well ordered house, and have dinner on the table by 5 o'clock. And how have our young men responded to this "We Can Do It" mentality? "Alright, you can do it." 

Somehow as a culture, we have shifted all of our expectations from our sons to our daughters so that they shoulder all the weight and responsibility whilst our sons prolong adolescence simply because nothing is demanded of them. Men have lost their role in society while women do all the work because "it's more equal" this way. What we are telling our daughters is that "you must be men and be women too" and we are telling our sons "Go outside and play while mother takes care of business". Women aren't allowed to feel like women because they are too busy being men also, and men don't feel like men because they are busy being boys. This isn't equal at all.

Before the second wave of women's liberation hit in the 1960s-1980s, women were expected to be in the home while then men worked and attained higher education.  Due to gender bias, men were viewed as having a more important role in society while women were relegated to a more docile and subservient role.  Any life a woman had, she had inside her home but her life revolved around her husband and her family.

The second wave of feminism sought to address this, but in my view has only perpetuated an undervaluing of femininity. To elaborate, second wave feminism sought to push women into the workforce to show that women can compete in "a man's world".  But there is a large and unintended consequence in that the value of a housewife, instead of being elevated in society, was only further diminished.  Women who did not prove their worth by competing with men in the marketplace and chose the subservient role were looked upon as enslaved, as if they are less than women who broke free from the mold.  However, the hidden message is that women must prove themselves equal to men by showing society that they can do all that men can do.  That is how women will become important and equal with men.

Take a step back.  What kind of mentality is this?  It is one which assumes that women are less to begin with and must prove and fight and struggle to become equal.  It is a mentality which states that a man's role in society is more important than the woman's role (traditionally) so a woman must claw her way up the ranks of men to make something of herself.  Who typically has this mentality?  People who have been oppressed and treated as lesser always feel that they must prove themselves, to fight and struggle.  African Americans face this same mentality in feeling they have to make something of themselves in the "White World" and be successful according to "White standards" and African American women twice over.  We as a society today still honor the man's role over the woman's role, its just that we have women competing to be counted equal among men on the man's playing field according the the rules men set up.  It is no wonder women struggle to prove themselves in this arena (though some certainly have succeeded).

The irony is that few men feel like they have the need to prove themselves in the woman's world of running a household, raising kids, or cooking dinner.  If a guy is a stay at home dad, it is usually because it is out of necessity or because he is out of work or maybe out of enjoyment, but never because he wants to prove that he can make it in a woman's world.  Men don't feel the need to be "equal" with women in this arena because we know women just do it better and we're fine with that.  That is why you find studies showing that although more women are entering the workforce, the amount of men staying at home remains virtually unchanged.  Women are performing both roles.

I want to compare women in America (who have historically been oppressed) to women elsewhere who have not been made to feel inferior but instead honored and valued.  Most often in these societies, the men go off together to hunt or build or gather resources, taking most of the day leaving the women the role of cooking, cleaning, and looking after children. This is out of necessity.  The value of the woman in society is unquestionable as without her, the men cannot do their jobs either as they cannot both be home and away (which is expected of women in America to both work and tend the house resulting in much of the household running to be outsourced).  Their value is immeasurable and the differentiation of roles allows their society to function as a whole.  If they did not do what was expected of them, it was life or death.  A woman was resourceful and hardworking, faithful and diligent to the task at hand, responsible, wise, and discerning. A good woman was esteemed by many (particularly her husband) and found pride in her abilities and her work.  If she needed to work to bring in more resources for the family (say selling fish at the market), she did so with pride and with her kids in tow.

And was she docile and subservient? At times when she deemed it appropriate, but never would her opinion not be heard especially when it comes to family matters.  Her husband may make the decision, but always in consideration to her wishes and insight.  She is respected as an authority in her own right and older women are often revered in the community as leaders for their wisdom and guidance.  She doesn't feel the need to prove her importance in society, she knows that she is important not in spite of being a woman, but because she is a woman.  Her femininity is a strength to her, not a hurdle to overcome, and she is empowered and a force in her own right.

Feminism, in an ironic way, has treated femininity as an obstacle rather than something to be affirmed and embraced.  Women are to be respected for what they are, not for what they think they should be.  They shouldn't be made to feel like they have to compete with men to receive esteem and recognition, but instead be honored for the amazing, resourceful, intelligent, wise, discerning, and hardworking people they already are.  As a man, I must apologize for us all in how we've taken women for granted and have oppressed and devalued you.  I am sorry that we've forced you to try and find your worth outside of who you are as women.  You are invaluable to us and we appreciate you deeply.  Through thick and thin, you have been our faithful companions helping us out of sticky situations time and time again. Thanks for being you!

So in short, let's all work to honor and value women for who God made them to be, starting with the ones closest to us. Let's empower women the right way by allowing them to feel the honor and prestige of being a woman instead of only honoring them when they perform as men or only for their looks (another topic that deserves a separate apology).  You women are awesome.  Stay classy ladies!

I want to just leave off with some verses of Scripture which really capture and affirm women. Probably the only time I'm going to quote the Message, but I like their take on Proverbs 31:10-31:

10 A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. 11 Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it. 12 Never spiteful, she treats him generously all her life long. 13 She shops around for the best yarns and cottons, and enjoys knitting and sewing. 14 She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places and brings back exotic surprises. 15 She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast for her family and organizing her day. 16 She looks over a field and buys it, then, with money she's put aside, plants a garden. 17 First thing in the morning, she dresses for work, rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started. 18 She senses the worth of her work, is in no hurry to call it quits for the day. 19 She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking. 20 She's quick to assist anyone in need, reaches out to help the poor. 21 She doesn't worry about her family when it snows; their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear. 22 She makes her own clothing, and dresses in colorful linens and silks. 23 Her husband is greatly respected when he deliberates with the city fathers. 24 She designs gowns and sells them, brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops. 25 Her clothes are well-made and elegant, and she always faces tomorrow with a smile. 26 When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly. 27 She keeps an eye on everyone in her household, and keeps them all busy and productive. 28 Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise: 29 "Many women have done wonderful things, but you've outclassed them all!" 30 Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God. 31 Give her everything she deserves! Festoon her life with praises!

Holiness

I wanted to clear up what I believe to be common misconceptions of holiness. Holiness has nothing to do with what we've done or failed to do, much like our righteousness. It isn't something you can work for nor is it something you can obtain by obeying laws or doing good works.  Being holy doesn't even mean that sin is absent from your life (though for sure holiness puts to death sin in the flesh to make us alive in the Spirit).  So what is really meant by Christians when we call something "holy"?

There exists to us only one thing that is in and of itself holy, and that is the Holy One, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  That is, to say that anything is holy is to point to the Holy One as maker, reconciler, and sanctifier of his creatures.  Thus anything we call holy must in some way gain its holiness from such a Holy One.  The Church is Holy because God is the Holy One in our midst.  Christians are holy because they possess the Holy Spirit who indwells among them.

Paul calls the Holy Spirit a mark, seal, or a guarantee on a persons' life that sets them apart from the world. (Eph 1:13)  That is the definition of Holy, to be set apart for God's purposes and thus obedience (having the mind of the Spirit talked about in Romans 8) to the Spirit is key. Many people believe that since obedience is required for holiness, than being holy is something that you are responsible for but the result of such a theology is something akin to Puritan legalism.  When it is up to us to be holy we will always fall short.  Therefore there must be a reliance on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit because we absolutely cannot obey apart from Him, else the law would be sufficient and Christ's death in vain. Those who possess the Holy Spirit belong to Christ and obey his voice, constantly repenting and returning to Him. The constant repentance from sin is a mark of holiness, not an indication of its absence. Thus the concept of holiness is a relational concept to be understood from how the Holy Triune God relates to himself and to creation.  Holiness cannot be separated from God's work of election, redemption, and sanctification.

Think about those without the Holy Spirit, do they repent and feel conviction? Do they hear the shepherd calling them? They cannot because they have not been drawn by the father and have not repented and received the Holy Spirit. If ever you meet a Christian who is stubborn and rebellious, living in sin and disobedient to the Spirit, truly I tell you he is no Christian. Every Christian knows the voice of Christ speaking through His Holy Spirit and obeys.  The presence of God opposes sin whenever it is encountered, so if a person is holy (i.e. God's spirit resides and  works within them) sin is put to death. This is always the case.  Therefore the difference between a holy and an unholy person is NOT the amount or presence of sin, but whether or not that sin finds its opposition in the holiness of God.  God is for our good and naturally obliterates anything that comes between the creature's life with God.  Sin is opposed to God's work as savior and sanctifier because it seeks to destroy the creature and therefore God opposes it whenever the two meet.  God destroys sin by fellowshipping with humanity.  The other side of God's putting sin to death is bringing us back to life in the Spirit.  It is a constant death and resurrection.

God's holiness does not refer to his being "wholly other" or radically different than anything in creation (though certainly that is true).  People say often that the reason God hates sin and cannot bear it is because of the fact that he is holy.  This is a radical misunderstanding of what is the biblical account.  God does not oppose sin because it offends Him or his coming into contact with sin would somehow defile his holiness. In reality, the holiness of God is the reason why he draws near to us as sinners!  God opposes sin because it seeks to destroy the life of his creation.  God's holiness is not what distances or separates him from us, but what has caused him to condescend to dwell (tabernacle) with his people.  This is seen clearly in Jesus Christ, the perfect image of the invisible Father, who eats with sinners and tax collectors.  This is a God who calls and makes for himself a people to be holy as he is holy.  This is fundamentally a God who seeks to create a Holy Nation by wishing to dwell among his chosen people.  This is God who elects as the Father, saves as the Son, and sanctifies by the Holy Spirit.  Our holiness as Christians comes directly through how our Holy God has chosen to relate to us.  God's holiness does not keep him bound from ever fellowshipping or dwelling with sinners and locking him into pure separateness.  Rather, as the Holy One, God is the one who does not simply remain in separation, but comes to his own people to purify them and claim them as his own.  God has defeated sin once and for all so that it no longer has power to destroy that which God has created for those who are found in Him.  We are holy because we are in Christ and Christ is in us.

In summary, God's holiness has everything to do with God's role as creator, savior, and sanctifier and little to do with our works or the presence of sin.  God convicts us of our sin not so that we can say "Ok, I'll work on that so I can be holier."  It does not depend on us.  A filthy rag cannot wash itself.  God is the one who sanctifies us, he is the one who makes us holy because he is holy.  Galatians 3 makes great reading on this.  Holiness is not grasped through relying on the law but only through faith. It describes how God interacts with his creation.  You are holy if you belong to Christ, no ifs, ands, or buts.  This is really good news!  Consequently, there is no such thing as degrees of holiness.  There is only holy or unholy, no holier or holiest.

Much of the content of this article is through my own personal reflections of Scripture and a book entitled "Holiness" by John Webster.

The Cost of Forgiveness

It is no secret to us that when crimes are committed that someone ultimately has to pay the price.  Retribution is the natural outcome of sin as no sin goes without the notice of a righteous God.  We even see in the end times the angels coming and separating the weeds and the wheat, weeding out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil and throwing them into the fiery furnace (Matt 13:41-43).  Justice will be done as the existence of God demands it. The justice we employ in America is the same retributive justice.  It is a justice that demands the transgressor pay for his actions.


But there is a second side to God as retribution is not his only option.  God is not only just, but merciful, generous, loving, and compassionate.  He is a God who relents at sending calamity and forgives the sins of his people.  But how can this be?  In order for justice to occur, sin and evil MUST be paid for and called into account.  The one who did wrong must be brought to answer for his crimes.  The law demands it.  I demand it!  Evil doers should not get away from the hurt they've caused for that would be more evil than the evil itself.  The man who steals from me or wrongs me must pay me back everything he owes and more!  He is in debt to me until I see fit to release him.  How is it that justice is done when evil goes unpunished?  How can such a God exist, that both forgives transgression and yet calls it into account as to be just?


There was a man who owned a convenience store, and every day he saw a boy come in and take a few snacks, put them in his bag, and walk out without paying.  Eventually he had had enough.  Angrily, he confronted the boy and emptied out his bag, all of the stolen snacks now scattered on the counter.  As he went to call the police to have the boy arrested, the boy burst into tears and cried, "Forgive me please!  I am sorry, I will never do it again!"  Having compassion on him, he put the phone down, reprimanded the boy, and sent him home with one of the snacks.  He never saw him again, but he had a feeling his days of stealing were over.


Now the question is, "Who pays for all the stolen goods?" 

A wise man would answer, "The storekeeper."  


So it is with our Father in heaven, against him and him alone we have sinned (Ps 51:4).  He, in choosing instead to forgive us of all our iniquity, has chosen to bear the penalty on himself.  He is the one who was robbed, but he in choosing to forgive us thieves has bared the cost of it all and gives us for free what we would have gladly stolen.  He sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the cost of all our sin.  On him was the wrath of God laid as he was crushed for transgressions (Isaiah 53:5).  Justice is done because the price has been paid, this time not by the transgressor, but by the one who was transgressed.  To forgive someone, then, is to pay the cost of their sin.


So we see two forms of justice: retribution in which the sinner pays, and forgiveness in which the one who was wronged pays.  Let me take this a step further.  Jesus calls us not to the way of the world, which is retribution, but to forgiveness.  In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus says, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."  In the parable of the unmerciful servant, Jesus says, "Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”"

Having been forgiven, we are clearly not to resort back to retribution as our primary model of justice else God will also treat us according to as our sins deserve and to no longer have us covered leaving us to pick up the tab which we cannot pay (unless it be with our lives in Hell).

Having said this, forgiveness is not easy.  We cannot pay the cost of forgiveness in taking the burden of someone else's sin upon ourselves.  We are not Jesus, nor do we have to be for Christ died once for all sin.  Going back to the parable I told, what if the storekeeper was having a hard time providing for his wife and two young children?  What if business had been bad lately and the creditors were threatening to take his store?  What if what was stolen wasn't just a few snacks, but thousands of dollars?  Who could afford to forgive then?  In fact, is forgiveness even possible with these circumstances?


What needs to be realized is that Christ isn't asking us to forgive out of our own abundance and generosity, but out of His.  In the parable of the unmerciful servant, the servant owed his master more than he could pay back in a lifetime while the servant's servant owed what was probably like 20 dollars today.  It was out of the generosity of being essentially given millions of dollars for free that he was supposed to forgive 20 dollars.  It is out of the grace shown to us that we are to extend grace to others.  God knows our needs and provides richly and generously for all of them so that we are able to forgive in every circumstance.  God provides for us emotionally, physically, materially, spiritually, mentally and in every way possible that which of us can say we have nothing with which to forgive others?  No, God has given us the riches of his grace and it is out of what God has given (not what we have in ourselves) that we give grace.  We love because we were first loved by God, comfort because of the comfort given to us, are generous because God is generous to us and forgive because of the richness of His mercy in forgiving us more than we will ever know.


However, you must understand that forgiveness for this reason is a process.  I am not asking you to go out and forgive the man who abused you growing up or the one who cheated you out of so much immediately.  It is out of the grace you receive that you forgive and if you have not that grace do not even attempt saying the words "I forgive you" without meaning it.  The process of forgiveness first begins with receiving the depths of the forgiveness God has given you.  Spend time with the Lord and as he richly empowers you and meets your needs, you will naturally be able to say, "You know what?  Now that I have Jesus I release you of any obligation of debt that you owe me.  It is nothing compared to what I have in Christ.  Whatever hurt you've caused me Christ has healed so that I don't need you anymore to give me anything.  You are forgiven and may the peace of Christ be with you."  In a sense you are saying, "Now that I have all the richness of Christ, I don't need your pitiful twenty dollars anymore as that no longer will satisfy."  I tell you the truth, you will forgive all sorts of things, even the most painful of things, after spending time with the Lord and knowing the riches of his mercy and glory and the depth of his love and understanding.  After inheriting spiritual wealth beyond your wildest imagination, 20 bucks just doesn't matter anymore.


May God bless this word.
Amen.

Why I love Religion because I love Jesus

This video has been going viral and I can see why.

I've heard the "Christianity isn't a religion, it's a faith" line over and over again as well as the "I don't know about Christianity, but Jesus seems pretty cool", or the "it's about relationship, not rules" mentality that is prevalent amongst younger Christians.  I like these things as tools to opening up religious discussion by dispelling preconceived notions about Jesus and who he is and what he taught.  However, they are also a bit disingenuous.

I believe what is being done in this viral video is a classic case of a straw man argument.  What is being built up and attacked is a rather simplified and slanted view of religion.  I believe what is being addressed isn't religion, per se, but false religion.  Come to James 1:26-27 and see what he has to say on this topic:

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Contrary to what the video states, there does appear to be religion that the Father (and thereby Jesus) accepts and loves.  Religion, as is defined in the video, is self righteous, hypocritical, and self serving.  He isn't wrong in saying Jesus hates these things, but it is a misrepresentation or misconception of what religion, as God has designed it, truly is.

The passage from James reflects the larger passage in Isaiah 1:10-17:

10 Hear the word of the LORD,
   you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
   you people of Gomorrah!
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
   what are they to me?” says the LORD.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
   of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
   in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
   who has asked this of you,
   this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
   Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
   I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
   I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
   I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
   I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
   I am not listening.
   Your hands are full of blood!

 16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
   Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
   stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
   Defend the oppressed.[a]
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
   plead the case of the widow.

Again, we see here two forms of religion, one God rejects and one he accepts.  What is religion that is acceptable to God?  Nothing short of the obedience of his commands and his laws.  To seek justice, correct oppression, defend the orphan and care for the widow and as James puts it "keep oneself from being polluted by the world" are all things commanded by God in his law (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy).  We must make the fundamental distinction between what we call religion and what God calls religion before we can say "Jesus hates religion" with such candor as this video does.

Jesus doesn't hate religion.  He hates its pollution.  We do this every time we make a ritual more about us and the benefit we receive rather than true worship of Christ.  If our obedience is out of fear for our own social status or reputation in the community or is grounded in our own moral aggrandizement before God, we have polluted religion.  The sole purpose behind religion is to spread God's glory through the Earth by the self-transforming power of the Spirit into images of God filled with and reflecting his glory.  God must be glorified for religion to be true.  And no one has glorified the Father more than the Son.  No one has more fully embodied his glory and his image than Jesus.

Jesus didn't come to abolish religion either.  The religion given to the Israelites by God at Sinai had been polluted, however there is no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  The Law wasn't the problem, it was the pollution of the sinful nature, however "what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:3-4)

Jesus understood this, and condemned sin in sinful man and rather than abolish the law, he fulfilled it's requirements for us.  Jesus redeemed religion by redeeming humanity.  However, just because Jesus fulfilled the Law does NOT mean religion and faithful obedience has been done away with.  Just the opposite, as now that religion has been redeemed and that we have been empowered to obey more than ever, how much more are we expected to obey out of love?Jesus equates loving him with obeying his commands so we deceive ourselves if we tell people Christianity is not a religion with rules and moral precepts.  The only thing is that these rules and precepts aren't what we'd expect them to be.  Everyone knows when you go to church that you expect to be exhorted and convicted for half an hour to an hour on the right thing to do, how to live your life, and all your moral failures.  The message of the cross, however, states that you cannot do these things on your own without Jesus.  The message of grace gives us the power to try, the room to fail and the strength to get right back up and try again.  Our goal is no longer to fulfill the requirements of the law to save our souls from Sheol, but only to glorify God through our humble obedience.

Kevin DeYoung also makes comments in response to this video on the "religiousness" of Jesus:

Jesus was a Jew. He went to services at the synagogue. He observed Jewish holy days. He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17). He founded the church (Matt. 16:18). He established church discipline (Matt. 18:15-20). He instituted a ritual meal (Matt. 26:26-28). He told his disciples to baptize people and to teach others to obey everything he commanded (Matt. 28:19-20). He insisted that people believe in him and believe certain things about him (John 3:16-18; 8:24). If religion is characterized by doctrine, commands, rituals, and structure, then Jesus is not your go-to guy for hating religion.

(Source: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2012/01/13/does-jesus-hate-religion-kinda-sorta-not-really/ )

To summarize, Jesus hated not religion, but the sinful expression of it by sinful men.  What he did, then, was to take care of the sin in sinful man.  The Law was only instituted to make sin in sinful man all the more evident, not to cure sin (else there would be no need for Christ to die in the way he did).  Through Christ we have the power for a godly life, now more than ever.  Through Christ are we able to keep the law and all of it's commandments summed up in "Love God and love your neighbor".  Through Christ is true religion possible because only through Christ has grace been given before we even did a thing.  To those who dislike religious rule-following are rebelling against legalism, not religion.  To those who say "It's about relationship with Jesus, not rules" are marketing a view of Christianity that can be seen as false advertising.  Jesus is clear about the cost of being a disciple and the discipline it takes to get better.  Jesus calls the sick, not the righteous, not because he likes to hang out with sick people, but because he wants to help them get better.  He has prescribed a daily regimen of prayer, Bible Study, fellowship, preaching, teaching, evangelism and communion, but much like rehabilitation therapy, they only work if we make sure to keep at it.  Religion has its place and Jesus is at the center of it all.  Jesus doesn't hate religion, he prescribes it and he helps us to do it.  I daresay Jesus loves religion and because I love Jesus, so do I.

If you find this helpful, feel free to repost and share!

The Secret to the Sinless life

Since I became a Christian, I've always believed that sin was an inevitable part of Christian life.  Others have suggested the same, that no matter how hard you try, you aren't going to stop sinning.  However, I've realized there is a difference between impossible and hard to do.  A holy life is possible through Christ alone, but its so  much work I think people just gave up trying, but the Scriptures imply to me it is completely possible in Christ.  If Jesus, being fully human, could lead a sinless life though tempted by Satan, why isn't it possible for me if the same Spirit which lives in Christ lives in me as well?  Yes, Jesus was also fully God, but surely a sinless life can't only be accomplished by fully Man/fully God hybrids?  If that were the case, God could have saved himself a lot of trouble by just making Man/God hybrids instead of just Man.  I feel like people point that out just to give themselves excuse for their sinning (just like I once did).

Here's the hard reality.  If you believe
1) You have been washed by the blood of Christ and are a new Creation in him, the old is gone and the new has come. (2 Cor 5:17)
2) "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." (1 Jn 3:9)
3)We have died to sin through being baptized into Christ's death and are made alive in Christ's resurrection (Rom 6)
4) "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."(2 Peter 1:3-4)

Then there is no excuse for sinning.  Plain and simple.

You might say, "But we're still suffering from the residual effects from the Fall" but Christ has picked you up.  Or you could say "We're still fleshly and are awaiting our spiritual bodies", but Christ, even in his flesh, did not sin.  I for one have run out of excuses for myself.  Should I appear tomorrow before the mercy seat, I want something more to tell Christ than excuses for why I didn't do this or why I did that.  I want to be able to tell Him, "Lord I studied your Word and I tried my best and by your help I have overcome."

Now God is gracious and knows you aren't going to get it right right away, but if God were to come to me and say "John, you've been telling me you are going to start a more consistent prayer life for 7 years now and every year its been a new thing that's come up so you 'Don't have enough time' or 'never got around to it' or it just 'slipped your mind'.  I've been patient and faithful to you, but I'm growing tired of your empty vows to me.  I love you, but you have not committed yourself to me like you have said.  Don't you think its about time?"  There is only so long that God will let you use the training wheels, but eventually you'll need to learn how to ride.

Personally, it wasn't because I was afraid of failing or to scared to try this "sinless life", I just didn't think it was possible or that I could do it.  Recently, though, I began to question my feelings of powerlessness over sin.  The more I read the scriptures the more evident it seems that sin is not an inevitable and that I CAN do something about it!  Just like riding a bike, I was never meant to always be in a state of riding a bit, wobbling, and falling.  I was meant to ride proficiently without falling (and maybe even learn a few tricks)!  However, living a sinless life is impossible to teach yourself and doing it on your own willpower results in failure.  So what is the secret?

We must look at the only human to have ever lived a sinless life, Jesus Christ, for the answer.  Actually, he is the answer.  Those who are in Christ are new creations capable of living sinless lives.  Those whom God gives knowledge of Christ have everything they need for holy and sinless lives.  Christ is the key to transforming our hearts and minds and escaping the corruption of this world.  But Christ isn't magic.  Being in relationship with him doesn't instantly transform you from sinner to saint anymore than being in a relationship with Babe Ruth turns you from coach potato to star athlete.  However, Christ gives you access to his power over sin and death through the giving of his Holy Spirit as your counselor and adviser, your coach and trainer if you will.  However, you must put these resources to good use and apply what they say!  Who has ever heard of hiring a personal trainer and disregarding all their advice and commands?

Becoming a Christian is not for the spiritually lazy or for those who just want an easy way out (of Hell).  Becoming a doctor is hard work and lots of studying.  Becoming a star athlete takes time and dedication.  Living a sinless life is no different.  Just as we make excuses for not eating right or exercising properly, we often make (the same) excuses for not having our spiritual lives in top shape.  However, your spiritual life is of the utmost importance "for physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8)  Being a disciple takes discipline and being holy requires the Holy Spirit.

I want to encourage you if you once thought like I did that a sinless life was just an ideal and was unrealistic.  I want to tell you it is completely possible and that everyone can do it.  I mean everyone for Christ turns away no disciple who wants to learn from him and commit their lives to learning his ways and walking in them.  Such is the path to salvation that so few find because it looks like hard work (because it is).  However, those who find themselves at the end of the path after a long and arduous race will find it the most rewarding experience (as most often is the case when we accomplish difficult tasks).

I want to touch upon something I said earlier.  I said that there was no excuse for sin, and this is true.  We must all face the reality of our sin instead of trying to hide behind our excuses.  However, this is not to say that there is no grace for sin.  Under the Law, those who sinned died with few notable exceptions made by God.  Consequently those who try and live a sinless life by the law will die by the law.  Just picture trying to learn how to ride a bike on a tightrope situated over an active volcano.  There is no mercy if you fall.  But grace gives you a safe place to grow.  Only under grace can we slowly come to realize that the chains we have been bound with since birth have been removed by Christ.  Under grace and the watchful eye of God can we slowly start to realize how free we are to move about. 

However, when bondage is all you've known, a life of freedom is scary and the temptation remains to put the shackles back on because at least is was a life you knew and were familiar with.  Take the Israelites wondering in the desert for 40 years, grumbling the whole time about how they wished they were back in Egypt as slaves.  So to can we be tempted to sin, but we must realize the promised land is much better than the place of bondage.  It is faith in God that he will guide you that gets you through any uncertainty and temptation to go back to your familiar chains.  Remember the promises, and keep your eyes on Christ, and the impossible becomes possible (but you still must step out of the boat, nevermind the raging sea).

These are some of the foundations for living a sinless life.  In the next part, Taking Part in the Life of the Trinity, I will explore some of the core traits and qualities that lead to holy and productive lives.

When Adam Met Eve: Relationship Advice from Genesis

Part 1: Adam and Eve

"The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Genesis 2:18

What a better way to start with ancient relationship advice than with the first couple, Adam and Eve.

It is interesting  to start with the fact that Adam was not alone, technically speaking.  He had all the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and all the beasts of the field to rule over and perhaps more importantly, the unmediated and unadulterated presence of God with him in the Garden.  Should not God be more than enough for Adam?  God doesn't think so.

But what this doesn't mean is that every man needs to be married for "it is not good for him to be alone".  Adam's situation is unlike any others; He is not alone because he has no wife, but because there is no other human being on the planet.  There is no one like him in all the Earth and this is what God realizes when he deems Adam "alone".  Whether or not Adam ever felt loneliness in the garden, we do not know, however in God's foresight and wisdom he circumvents any loneliness that might be had by Adam.

We see for the first time in the creation account that God calls something lo tov, not good.  Dry land?  Good. Vegetation? Good.  Sun, moon, and stars? Good.  Fish and birds?  Good. Land animals?  Good.  Man and woman + everything else?  Very Good. Man alone?  Not good.  Why is this so?

Mary Shelley in the novel "Frankenstein" might have an answer.  The real monster in her book is not the creation, but the creator Victor Frankenstein, who made only one unique creation and abandons him.  The monster is not even given a name and thus robbed of an identity.  The monster at one point refers to himself as "the Adam of your labors" and is intelligent and compassionate but rejected for his appearance.  Lonely due to his rejection and his finding that no one else is like him, he demands that Dr. Frankenstein make him a female counterpart because it is his right as a living being to be happy.  Frankenstein starts the new gruesome project but abandons it, dooming the monster to a life of bitter loneliness, upon which he takes revenge by murdering Frankenstein's own wife.  The monster's sole purpose for living now is vengeance for the betrayal of his creator, certainly not a path God would have Adam walk.

Curiously in both Genesis and Shelley's novel, what is made is not another Adam, but a "helper suitable for him."  God could have easily decided to go with another Adam to tend the garden to help the first if he simply thought it was too much work for one person to handle.  But the  עֵ֖זֶר כְּנֶגְדּֽוֹ he decided to make is both similar and radically different than the first.  The phrase "helper suitable for him" in Hebrew is more of a helper that is his counterpart, his opposite and complement.  This helper is now called "woman", but what exactly does she help Adam do?

Genesis 1:28 contains a blessing that may give us insight, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."  Two things Eve helps Adam with, first, being fruitful and secondly ruling over the earth and subduing it.  Interestingly, these are both things God could have done himself.  Where he made one man out of the dust of the earth, he could have made 1,000,000 to fill it.  Where God gave the right to rule to man and woman, he could have easily ruled it Himself.  Actually, He does do these things through His image in the Earth, namely man and woman.  

A God is inhabits a place in the physical realm only through his image and mankind is that establishment of God's presence in His creation.  Eve acknowledges that it is God working through her body and the union with her husband that bears her children. (Gen 4:1 "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.")  Thus God helps her to do that which she was meant to do (of course Adam helped her to "fill the earth" as well, but his role is downplayed here.)  She realizes intuitively that life does not come out of nowhere.  Even with the understanding we have today that a sperm and an egg create a zygote, we still have no idea why that process should make something that is alive other than that God wills it to do so.  God fills the earth through Adam and Eve. God subdues it and rules over it through Adam and Eve for they are his image in the world.  It is only with this understanding of the nature of Adam and Eve's relationship that we can develop foundational knowledge for how relationships should work today.  Ultimately, Eve's purpose is to help Adam to be an image of God in the world so that together God might work through them to accomplish His purposes for them and His will in the world.

They are of one flesh, one purpose, and animated by the same Spirit.  A woman's purpose is to help her man do what God has called him to do, to be a partner with him in ministry.  The very nature of a marriage relationship is to minister together in a complementary way.  Where one is weak, the other is strong so that as a unit they share only the strengths and none of the weaknesses in ministry.

As a side note, when I say complementary, I do not mean to imply Complementarian in its strictest form.  Nor do I hold to Egalitarian views.  Men and women are not the same, they are complementary as God has made them that way.  However, they are similar enough that Adam, upon seeing Eve, exclaims that she is "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh", instantly recognizing her as one like himself.  Both show the image of God and are equal partners in "filling the earth and subduing it", but take complementary roles in doing so.  I do believe women can teach and preach and that men can run a children's ministry if that is their gifting, but the emphasis is that men and women together are complementing each other as they minister together.  I am not so certain that the Holy Spirit discriminates with his giftings.  Also, men are not meant to rule over women.  This is a result of the fall and indicates that it was not this way from the beginning.  If it were not so, God may as well have said "Because of this the sky will be blue and fish will swim in the sea."  Men and women are of equal standing but complementary roles.  There are naturally some things men are better at and some things women are better at, but when we are dealing with gifts given by the Spirit, one's gender need not apply for it is God doing the work (e.g. men are not naturally better at prophesying than women or vice-versa as God chooses whom He wills to prophesy).

As a son of Adam or daughter of Eve, the lesson here is to find a spouse who complements your calling.  If one is called to be a missionary in Libya but you know your calling to be one as a pastor in LA, it probably won't work out.  If you are a gifted theologian and your wife is a brilliant preacher, you have found a good complementary partner.  Other examples might include:  You play an instrument and your spouse has a beautiful voice, you have a passion for teenagers and your spouse teaches in a high school, etc.  Oftentimes, God puts a man and a woman together for the sole purpose that they might have many opportunities to minister together because it is God who uses his image to minister to the world.

Taken from another angle, Adam and Eve were meant to fill the Earth by procreation and in doing so fill the Earth with God's glory, which dwells in his image.  However after the fall, this original blessing turned into a curse as Adam and Eve's offspring no longer were clothed with God's glory but with wickedness and unrighteousness so that the whole Earth was filled with wickedness (Gen 6:5) that it eventually had to be flooded save for Noah and his family.  Even Adam and Eve who were once clothed with God's glory and felt no shame exchanged it for fig leaves and animal skins.

With the redemption of the image of man by Jesus Christ, all those who are in Him could once again fill the world with God's glory through the bearing of children, although not physical.  A Christian family, as hard as they try, cannot guarantee theirs kids will grow up in Christ as they must make their own decision to follow.  However, once they do, they are baptized and "born again" as spiritual children dead to sin but alive to Christ.  What's more is that this producing of "children" can be done not only by married couples, but by single people as well, and arguably more effectively.  Listen to what Paul says to the Corinthians:

 "14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church." (1 Cor 4:14-17 italics mine)

But married couples today still have the call to bear children who reflect God's glory and are being transformed into his image.  Their ministry is to their own children and to those around them as well.  Even if you do not serve in an official ministry position, if you are married with kids your ministry is to your family and you need a spouse who can adequately help you raise spiritual children both inside and outside of the home.  A man and a woman are always a team and must learn how to work together to accomplish God's purposes for them and God's will in the world.

Is Halloween demonic or sinful?

Halloween's original name, All Hallow's Eve, is the day before All Hallows Day, that is All Saints Day (The same as Christmas Eve).  However, it is true society has taken it and made it into something different (hardly anyone realizes there is an actual holiday after All Hallow's Eve). Trivia:  Reformation Day is also on Oct. 31.

There are as much grounds for saying Halloween is demonic because of what
the culture has made it into as there is in saying Christmas is demonic because it has been corrupted by consumerism, greed and over consumption.  Christmas is a Holiday>Holy Day> Hallowed Day as much as Halloween is a Hallowed day.  (BTW, The Sabbath day is another Holy day)

Is the celebration of Halloween Sin?  Sure, it can be if God is not remembered and honored, but that applies to all things.  However, I think we would go a bit to far in calling this day "demonic" and evil.  We need to understand how evil demons truly are.  They kill, steal, and destroy.  They are murderous liars whose only goal is to lead people into destruction by deceit.  They try to make people forget God and worship them.  You are underestimating the power of demons if you think Halloween comes anywhere close to the realm of the demonic.  If you think Halloween is evil then I doubt you know what evil truly is.  The Holocaust?  The Killing fields?  The Betrayal of Christ? The Fall of Man? Child Sacrifice?  Evil.  Dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating?  Not so much.

If your objection is that you do not awnt to be like the world and celebrate Halloween, then don't! You don't have to celebrate like the pagans do if  that makes you uncomfortable, but Christ did call us to be in the world and not separate from it.  You're not going to see me in satanic  regalia, but if I decide to dress up like Martin Luther so I can hang  out with my non-Christian friends at parties, is that wrong?  Even Jesus was friends with sinners, and Paul became all things to all people so that he might save some.  As a Christian, I feel I am well within the freedom Christ has given me through his grace.  Until we are in heaven, Christians walk the fine line between Heaven and Hell and it is only the grace of God the Holy Spirit that keeps us on that narrow path.

Here's a useful saying I have followed from a preacher I love:  "Whatever is not required for our salvation can be done in the name of ministry."

The Secular is an Illusion

‎"Before God and with God we live without God" - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Link goes to source material)

I've been meditating on this quote by Bonhoeffer and this idea has been formulating in my brain for a little bit.  I am now hashing it out into writing.

Bonhoeffer lived and wrote in an age where the assumption that God exists was not widely held.  The idea that "there is no God" in it's positive affirmations found its roots no sooner than in the 18th century and had its way paved by prominent "freethinkers" such as Marx and Nietzsche and propelled by the theories of Darwin and Freud so that by the time of Bonhoeffer and Nazi Germany the presupposition that mankind was inherently religious was under fire.  The idea that God exists is now questionable where for thousands of years it was never questioned.  

For ancient people until the enlightenment, the question was "Of course gods exist, but which gods do we obey?"  The question of the enlightenment era was "Does God exist and do we have need of him any longer?"  The question of the post-modern era is takes both a step backward and forward at the same time "What does it matter as long as you believe something?"  Bonhoeffer lived at the tail end of the enlightenment era.  If you couple all of this with German Higher Criticism of the Bible calling into dispute the sources of scripture and liberal interpretations with an anti-supernatural bias and to top it off add on the atrocities Bonhoeffer witnessed of Nazi Germany, is it any wonder why he said he was living in a world without God?

It is the same world in which we live today.  It is a world, as Bonhoeffer puts it, that we must live in esti deus non daretur (Even if God does not exist).  The question one might ask Bonhoeffer is "Where did God go that we live without Him?"  Of course his answer being that God didn't go anywhere, we left Him.  "Before God and with God we live without God" is his assessment of a society that lives ἄθεος (literally without God).

This Greek word ἄθεος meant something very different to the ancient Greeks (an indeed most if not all ancient peoples) who did not question the existence of gods.  To the ancient peoples, there was absolutely no such thing as "without God's existence" and to suggest such a thing was untenable.   The very word connotes an impossibility because gods inherently existed without question.  Then why the word?  It was used to denote "godlessness", those who have forsaken the worship of Gods and had fallen into lawlessness.  The term is used by Paul in Ephesians 2:12 to describe Gentiles before their knowing of Christ.  It was common for Jews to describe all other nations as ἄθεοι because God was only near to the Israelites.  In no way does the term necessarily connote or imply that God does not exist.  It describes those who have forsaken God.

So what's my point?  That secular is an illusion as there is nothing that exists that is completely devoid of God.  It exists conceptually but not actually.  To affirm that such a thing as "secular" or "atheistic" exists (in the common vernacular and understanding to mean "without God's existence") means that we affirm there are things that are completely separated from God.  There is not a single thing God cannot use nor a single person who is not made in His image.  Rather I affirm that "the earth is the Lord's and everything in it." (Ps 24:1) and that there is no such thing as "without God" if I understand as the ancients did before me that to be a god is to exist and cause existence.  The only thing worthy to be called a god is a being that exists a se and has life in and of itself.  All things depend on God for their existence, secular and atheist alike and thus there is nothing without God's existence.  So even if God did not exist (esti deus non daretur) we wouldn't be around to ask the question.

This is Anselm's ontological argument which is not intended as a proof of God but as an explanation why the concept of God is self-evident.  He defines God as "a being than which no greater can be conceived".  If we can conceive of God like this, than either one of two things are true:  This great being exists only in our minds conceptually(modern atheism) or it exists in our minds conceptually and ontologically in reality as well (Modern theism).  Because a being that actually exists is greater than one that only exists in our thoughts, God must exist in reality in order to be "that than which nothing greater can be conceived".  Descartes says a similar thing when he states that the the notion of a supremely perfect God who does not exist is unintelligible so therefore existence must be part of God's character (as it is better to exist than to not exist).  While not a perfect proof of God (nor was it ever meant to be), it gives insight into why the word ἄθεος is unintelligible when taken to mean "God does not exist".

To ask the question "Does God exist?" one must first posit a concept of God and if that concept of God does not include existence as a fundamental attribute, it is something less than God.  However if existence is part of God's being inherently, then why ask the question?  If it is not, then what exactly is being disproved?  This is a question to which it is impossible to answer intelligibly with anything other than "Yes".  Moreover, God must exist for it is in his nature to do so.  To conclude God's non-existence or even to conclude "you cannot know and there is no way of knowing" is illogical (or at very least would take a "leap of faith").  This is why the ancients never sought to ask the question.  God's existence is self evident, but his character and identity are not.  Those can only be revealed by the deity.  This is why the ancient question was "Which gods do we serve?"  But again this is all to say without a doubt that "Before God and with God we live..."

So the reality is that we are always "before God and with God" for there is no place that God is not.  God holds the universe together and sustains all things so that even Satan exists by God's own will for nothing is sustained without God's creating and sustaining presence.  Therefore all things that exist must have some proximity to God and constantly be "before God and with God".  However, in the same way Satan can approach God in the book of Job, just because we are in proximity to God does not mean we are in fellowship with Him.  Our bodies may be near him, but our hearts can be far from Him.  In such a way we are "without God"  especially when we live in an ever increasing ἄθεοι society.  (The spread of atheism/agnosticism in the world: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Atheists_Agnostics_Zuckerman_en.svg)

Again we have always lived in a world in which peoples hearts are hardened and their consciousnesses are seared.  There are some, who despite any action God can take, will not turn an repent.  They will perish without ever knowing God and will deny him until their last breath so God has given them up to their mortal desires.

Bonhoeffer goes on in his letter "God lets himself be pushed out of the world on to the cross.  He is weak and powerless in the world, and that is precisely the way, the only way, in which he is with us and helps us."  God does not demonstrate his power to save through powerful displays of force and combat, but through Jesus, the meek and humble servant, beaten and hung on a cross, weak and powerless and forsaken by all.  Indeed God is mighty to save, but the image of Christ on the cross is anything but mighty.  Those who rejected God in Christ and denied that God was God where those who were ἄθεοι even though he was in their midst.  Just as they had no part with God, he had no part with them.  They pushed him out of the world onto the cross, but he came back and is coming back again.  But why is the Almighty powerless among these "atheists"?

We find a clue in Mark 6:4-6: "4Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith." (NIV)

It is not a question if Jesus can or cannot but of will or will not.  Only the faithful are healed and saved.  Why is this so?  Because only the faithful come to Jesus for healing.  You don't go to doctors you do not trust and think cannot help you (needless to say doctors that do not exist).  If you have a deadly illness and you don't believe in doctors, you only have one choice: die.  It is only by faith that anyone is saved. This is why we pray for those who do not know God; We ask God to heal them when they will not ask for themselves and in his mercy he either does or does not.

Finally, I want to look at one last passage, 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

"22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength."

Jews wanted signs because it would point them to the messiah, however even when Jesus did miracles before their eyes, they did not believe.  Needless to say Jesus doesn't waste his time performing miracles as their only goal is to increase faith.  The Greeks were preoccupied with wisdom.  Literally the term "philosophia" means "love of wisdom".  Needless to say, they loved wisdom.

Paul says he preaches Christ crucified, and to those Jews and Greeks who lack faith, Christ is just that, crucified.  He's dead, powerless and weak to do anything.  Not the messiah Jews are looking for and certainly foolishness to the unbelieving Greeks to follow a crucified leader (the cross was a symbol of shame reserved for the worst offenders).  But to those whom God has called, the faithful, Christ is more than crucified; He is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  Ironically he is exactly what the unbelieving Jews and Greeks were looking for but could not find and when they did find him, rejected him.

So in the end if we are used the term "atheist" in the same manner as ancient Greeks and Jews would understand ἄθεοι, all peoples who are without Christ can be termed "atheist", not just those who say that God does not exist.  There is only one God and the only way to be "with him" is through Christ.  Those without Christ are simply put "without God" even though they continually be in God's presence.

So then, we as Christians are tasked to find the faithful and to disciple them, teaching them to obey all that Christ taught.  We live in a world that is "without God", but if we are "with God" and "before God", then we bring God with us wherever we go for he dwells in us.  He is the light that shines through us in the dark places and my friends, this world's a mighty dark place.

The Effects of being Filled by The Holy Spirit

Doing a word search on "Filled with the Holy Spirit" and it's effects, I've concluded one:  Those filled with the Holy Spirit are able to speak to glorify God.

John the Baptist was filled when he was still in the womb and he was a powerful prophet: Luke 1:15

Elizabeth, his mother, was filled and she immediately exclaimed a blessing to Mary and the fruit of her womb, Jesus: Luke 1:41

Zechariah, the father, was filled and praised God and prophesied concerning Jesus and John: Luke 1:67

The Apostles were filled and began to praise God in tongues and Peter began to preach: Acts 2:4-40

Peter, again filled, preaches in Acts 4:8-12

"they [the believers] were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:31 ESV)

The Holy Spirit "poured out" on Cornelius and other gentile believers who then began speaking in tongues and extolling God. Acts 10:45-48

Paul is filled and begins to prophesy against Elymas the magician.  Acts 13:9

These are all the cases I found of "filled by the Holy Spirit" and remarkably, every case has to do with speaking, whether it be in praising God (with or without tongues), preaching, or prophesying.  Everything revolves around the words and their power.  This is not surprising considering the tongue has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21).

The following is taken from a paper written by Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs entitled "Devote Yourself to the Public Reading" (2010) in which he discusses the power of God through his Word.

"God transforms us through the Word. It is a fire that burns away dross (Jer 23:29), a hammer that breaks stony hearts (Jer 23:9), rain that waters crops (Isa 55:10–11), milk that nourishes babies (1 Pet 2:2), food that fills the hungry (Heb 5:12–13), a sword that pierces the heart and battles the devil (Heb 4:12; Eph 6:17), a mirror that shows us our true selves (Jas 1:23–25), and a lamp that illumines our path (Ps 119:105; Prov 6:23; 2 Pet 1:19)...

The story of the centurion illustrates the power of words in general and Jesus’ word in particular: “Just give the order, please, and my servant will recover. I am used to working under orders, and I have soldiers under me. I can say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, or I can say to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; or I can say to my slave, ‘Do this job,’ and he does it (Luke 7:6–8 Phillips). God’s Word has power to create, rule, and redeem.

Concerning creation:
“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made” (Ps 33:6).
Concerning ruling:
“Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Your faithfulness endures to
all generations; you have established the earth and it stands fast. By your appointment
they stand this day” (Ps 119:89–90).
“He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes” (Ps 147:15–16).
Concerning redemption:
“They cried to the LORD in their trouble; and he saved them from their distress; he sent
out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction” (Ps 107:19–20).
We are “born again, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and
enduring word of God” (1 Pet 1:23).
“He gave us birth by the word of truth” (Jas 1:18) which “has the power to save your
souls” (Jas 1:23) by the “washing of water by the word” (Eph 5:26)." (Arthurs 2010)

 Is it any surprise that an infilling of the Holy Spirit (which seems to be able to occur more than once in Peter's case) leads directly to the oral glorification of God?  The only appropriate response to a holy God is worship,  "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  And

"Everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved" (Rom 10:13; Acts 2:21; Joel 2:32),

yet,

"Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"  (Ma 7:22-23)

And who can confess unless the Spirit bids him confess?  Unless the Father draws him near and the Son confirms him, there is no salvation.  Unless the prophesying, praising, and preaching is done by the Holy Spirit working through the unclean lips of men, who can praise God except God alone?  For "I [Jesus] do not accept praise from men" (John 5:41) but only from the Father

"Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." (John 12:28)

and the Holy Spirit

"When the Counselor comes, whom I [Jesus] will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." (John 15:26-27)

So unless we take part in the life of the Trinity, being in close relationship to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we cannot adequate glorify God in the way God deserves to be glorified.  This is why the Spirit fills us again and again so that we may take part in the life of the Trinity and the glorification that takes place there.  And if we are One with Christ just as He and the Father are one, then we too will receive glory by being God's glory, being made in his glorious image.  For

"What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet." (Psalms 8:5; Hebrews 2:6-8)

So if at times you feel an uncontrollable desire to praise God, to preach his word, or to prophesy in his name, take heart!  You have been touched by the Holy Spirit and are not far from the Kingdom of God.  To God be the Glory, forever and ever.  Amen.