God and a Sleepless Night

I was reading Esther 6 today, and once again I was surprised and amazed at the providence of God as evidenced in this passage.  God's power and timing are demonstrated in their perfections in such a way as to protect Mordecai from the evil intentions of Haman.  On the very night before Haman was to ask for Mordecai's killing, the Lord caused the king to be unable to sleep (God did that).  In an attempt to induce sleepiness on himself, he asked for the royal chronicles to be brought to him and to be read.  I wonder how many scrolls there were in the royal library, but the very one that could save Mordecai was chosen (God did that).  Just hours before Haman is to walk into the royal palace to request regal permission to destroy Mordecai, God was preparing the king to deliver Mordecai and the Jewish people (God did that).  And I think it is hilarious how God even used Haman, the hater of Mordecai and the people of God, to honor Mordecai before the people. Humor is all over this!  And God did it all!

Even though God's name is not found in this passage, God is all over this event.  God is the unnamed mover and controller of all events, even to the point of keeping a king from sleeping and the choosing of a scroll to be read to the king.

The providential goodness of God has been such a blessing to me personally over the years.  I cannot think of another biblical truth (outside of the gospel itself) that has given to me more comfort, more strength, more help, and more serenity than to know that God is sovereignly watching over me and taking care of me.  In times of sickness, illness for family members (including a terminal diagnosis of my son), uncertainty about financial resources and life's direction cause times of struggle and pain.  But the one truth that has brought me more calm in anxious moments is that God has chosen me for Himself, and He is watching over me to bring good and glory through my circumstances.  He does not promise ease, convenience, or the fulfillment of personal preferences.  But He does promise to be faithful and true to us, to His promises in Christ, and to His own nature.  Nothing that is eternally damaging can happen to us; all is good seen from the perspective of eternity.  My mother drilled this truth into me as I was growing up, and I have sought to pass it along to my children.

So, no matter what the day may bring, no matter the difficulty or the hardship, God is with us. And God is controlling the events that control us.  Some day, some how, in some way God's glory will shine through my life and experiences.  This is THE HOPE of the providence of God in human life.  Thanks be unto God!  Amen!

A Baby Boomer Advises Generation "Whatever"

"Baby Busters", "Generation X", "Generation Millennium" - I haven't heard what the present generation designation is.  I don't know, I guess I got lost along the way of designating generations, or perhaps we ran out of monikers.  My ignorance may be explained by the fact that I quit reading those Church Growth publications that have articles entitled, "How to Make your Puny Little Church into Megachurch within Six Months - Guaranteed!"  It seemed to me to be fallacious to "guarantee" growth (defined by numbers only) without referencing our use of Scripture and our dependence upon God.  But alas, I digress...back to my point.

I would like to speak today to the "Whatever the Latest Evangelical Generation is Called" Christians, and say, "Be careful what you rebel against and to."  Speaking as the official designated spokesman of the Baby Boomer evangelicals (who promised to get it right since the previous generation had messed everything up - - psst...did you know that every generation when they are in their 20's thinks the previous generation messed everything up and the "up and coming" bunch will straighten everything out; you know, sort of like "A Change we Can Believe in."  Hmmm, we'll see...).  The older I have gotten the more certain I am that the previous generation was not as dumb as I thought, and I was not as smart as I thought at age of 25.  In fact, the older I get, the less likely I am to trust my opinions.  My cultural and ministerial arguments from 30 years ago seem to have lost their fizz.  Is it possible...oh no, I can't believe I'm saying this...that we did not know what we were talking about 30 years ago? As is always the case, the answer to this is - there was some good, and there was some bad. Keep everything in perspective and be humble.

The one thing that continues to gnaw at me is this important fundamental idea - young people and young adults seem have to a built in propensity for rebellion against the bunch that precedes them, but the young folks must be careful what they rebel against and what they rebel to.  In the case of young evangelicals today, the enemy is not the previous generation, traditionalists, or Baby Boomers.  I have heard some young evangelicals speak with such tenderness about lost people, then turn definitely angry talking about the "traditionalist, no-change, stick-in-the-mud" Christians at the local church.  Every time I hear something like this I think of Jesus' command for Christians to love each other and the Apostle John's teaching in his First Epistle that true Christians love other Christians.  Faithfulness and biblical ministry are not determined by reacting against other Christians.  Mainstream Evangelicals for years have tragically determined their beliefs on certain things by reacting against other groups (i.e. "Roman Catholics" and "Pentecostals") rather than simply studying and believing the Bible.

I admit that the previous two generations (an opinion I hold myself, and perhaps no one else) our collective popular evangelical beliefs have been set by Strong's Concordance rather than books on Systematic Theology. If we can't find the word in Strong's, then we assume the Bible has nothing to say on the subject represented by that word.  The upshot of that is that the previous evangelical community became rather somewhat unbiblical in some ways in both doctrine, Christian living, and ministry.  So, here come the new evangelicals to save the day; they are going to show those old codgers how to get it right.  So, they rebel, and what is the chosen battlefield of the new generation of evangelicals?  "Cigar smoking, alcohol drinking, and global warming, and no more hymns in church" - HUH?!  Is this the strategic and important sign of reformation of the modern evangelical church?  Is this what the Reformers meant when they said the church must continue to reform?  I say again to the new evangelicals - please, I beg of you, my dear, precious brothers in Christ, be careful what you rebel against and what you rebel to.  You are setting a course for generations to come.  Your generation will reap a harvest of whatever you sow.  What harvest will come to such unwise decisions such as these?  I will give a passage of Scripture and be done with this diatribe - Galatians 5 says that Christ set us free.  Amen and Hallelujah!!!  Yes, we must not be legalistic or bound in works theology.  But Galatians 5 also says we are free to serve each other in love.  Let's try to use our freedom in Christ for sacrificial love which takes others into account (see Philippians 2:1-8 for the greatest example of this).  Let us seek to be wise, considerate, courteous, and caring with all, including those "stick in the mud" Baby Boomer Christians - yuck.   Amen!

Pulpits, White Coats, and Mystic Entertainers

Where is the power base in a community?  There was a time in early American history when the pastor standing behind the pulpit was the power person in the community (this was probably not as true in the frontier areas).  This was true for two reasons:  first, the pastor was the most educated man in the community, and second, there was an acknowledgment by the community at large that God was sovereign and to Him they were accountable.

But that all changed with the inculcation of scientism which defined the era now known as modernity.  The change began to occur in the late 19th century and certainly became full-blown in the 20th century.  Essentially, science was considered by the community to be the context of truth, and scientism (scientific method based on the assumption that reality is only defined by material nature; this is in contrast to early scientists in Europe who based their scientific method on the created order) became the order of the day.  Thus, the power moved from the man behind the pulpit to the man who wore the white medical coat.  Studies have shown that people today trust those who wear the white medical smock.  Whether or not we realize this, this is the consequence of the effects of scientism in modernity.

But now things are changing again.  The advent of Eastern Religious thought garbed in western ideology (or I should say preferential philosophical desire) resulted in New Age teaching, Post-Modern religious blubbery, and radical individualism (meaning, "I make my own religion, thank you very much!").  Now, who bears the power of the community?  It may be argued, in light of recent developments, that those who become popular through entertainment and media become the voices of truth to the masses.  It is almost as if one assumes that one on television, or anyone in the movies, or anyone who sings songs in the pop culture, becomes suddenly an expert on everything.  And these mystic entertainers tell us what to drive (God forbid that we drive SUVs), and what to eat (i.e. "We must defend the defenseless chickens from that great tyranny known as 'Kentucky Fried Chicken"), and how to save the planet (Lord knows how many times someone tries to make us feel guilty if we don't try to save the planet). These mystic entertainers have become the power-brokers for radical environmentalism and, perhaps, the instrumentation of political and social engineers.

What is a Christian to do in such situations?  First, we must learn what the Christian faith is in its fullest extent.  This is commonly referred to as a "worldview" in the modern era.  The Christian faith says something about ultimate reality (God), the nature of material reality (creation), the nature of truth and morality, the purpose of history (God's sovereign will achieved in the incarnation of Christ applied redemptively in human history through the church and the ministry of the Holy Spirit), and the meaning of death and eternity.  Every Christian can and must be ready to respond to these great questions if they want to present themselves as a logical, consistent, biblical Christian.  Second, the Christian must courageously link himself to the teachings of Scripture for authority and instruction.  The Berean Christians have become model Christians in this regard (see Acts 17) where they even put Paul to the test of Scripture. Finally, we must exercise integrity in living out this vision.  The Christian must resist the temptation to accommodate the spirit of the age (and the pressure of media, political parties, unions, and other organizations) if one is to live an eternal life focus.  As one has quaintly put, "If we marry the spirit of the age in which we live, then we will become a widow in the next."  May God help us to look to the Lord in these things; He is the sovereign of heaven and earth.  Amen.

The Tyranny of the Pseudo-Relevant

One of the great plagues that has come upon the modern American evangelical church (and God forbid that international churches seek to emulate the Christian evangelical church on this point) is the absolute intoxication with relevancy.  Relevancy is the great eleventh commandment that drives the evangelical, ministerial engine.  Everything that is deemed "relevant" is unquestioningly adopted as, well...relevant.  And it is invariably linked with that great text of all texts for ministry, missions, and evangelism...drum roll please..."I have become all things to all men that I might win some", which many cool and relevant Christians who want to be effective in ministry interpret to mean, "I have become relevant in all things that I might win some."

There are two BIG problems with the embedded idea of man-centered relevancy in Christian ministry:  first, relevancy means nothing until we determine who defines what is relevant (and in the case of Christian ministry, God determines relevancy), and second, there is no biblical evidence (and I mean absolutely no biblical evidence) that man-centered relevancy is God's chosen means of reaching people for Christ (perhaps we need to talk about what "reaching people" really means, but that is for another blog entry).

Pseudo-relevancy in Christian ministry asks people what is relevant to them (man-centered), then it modifies its worship, Bible study, preaching, ministry, and service to accommodate this so-called relevancy.  The bottom line is that the unregenerate sets the agenda for the church. Doesn't anyone see a problem with this?!  Can you imagine Lot doing a survey in Sodom asking, "We are going to start a Baptist church in Sodom.  What seems to be relevant to you Sodomites? We want to build a need-meeting ministry at the 'What's Happening Church'.  Our motto is:  'We are a church for everyone!  So, tell us your expectations of our church, Mr. Lost Sodomite."  What foolishness, and yet this methodology is applied every day in the American church in the name of evangelism and "reaching people."

How much we need to hear the voice of God in Scripture calling us to a biblical ministry.  A biblical ministry is declarative in nature.  It declares what God has done in Christ redemptively. It declares that what God has said is true.  Sinners have lost their mental and spiritual balance because of sin.  They are, in fact, dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1).  How can sinners know what is relevant to them? Christ has sent the church with the message of God's redemption in Christ. Let us preach this message with love, with prayer, with tenderness, with gentleness, with tears of compassion, but with bold resolve.  Ours must not be a ministry of the interrogative ("What would you like our church to do for you?").  No, ours is that ministry that bears the authority of being called and sent by God as ambassadors for Him (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

Ties and Blue Jeans

There are a few advantages to being a minister for more years than I would like to recount.  As I count the number of AARP invitations I have gotten in the mail, I am also reflecting on the strange and often bizarre way that church was and is done.

A long time ago in that little church on the hill outside of middle America the trendy motif was the necktie.  Neckties spoke of tradition, reverence, conservative values, and (until the 70s when those awful paisley prints on ties became popular) conservative fashions.  I remember hearing in "yesterday's" church, "We never did it that way before" - the seven last words of the "funding fathers" (and as long as the funding fathers of the church kept the budget balanced, no one dared challenge them).  But then the 60's and the 70's washed over the little church like a tidal wave colored by hippy freedom and libertarian possibilities.  The little church that had nursed itself on evangelical pragmatism intoxicated with a passion for numbers could not resist the "whatever works" mentality of the new era.  Suddenly acoustical guitars were replacing the organ as the primary instrument of melodious accoutrement behind stained glass windows.  In the summer, when the windows of the church were opened, the soft strains of "Cum Ba Yah" could be heard across the valley as the sanctuary choir sang sincerely and sweetly even though they had no idea what "Cum Ba Yah" meant - they traded their "Ebenezer" for latest contemporary chorus.  Suddenly the evangelical landscape was dotted with Christian bookstores selling Jesus t-shirts, bumper stickers; the air waves were filled with Christian music that followed cultural trends, and preachers learned to market the gospel instead of preach the gospel.  The neckties had turned into blue jeans.  Now it was the blue jean era where God was cool, doctrine was out, preaching turned to sharing, and the worst thing a church could do was to not be "cutting edge."  Once, if a young man entered the church with long hair, earrings, a dirty shirt, and blue jeans with holes in them, you would send him to the pastor. Now he is the pastor!

Now church is niched for age groups, life experiences, and whatever seems to be trendy and culturally fashionable.  Now people in the church, wearing their blue jeans and flip-flops, drinking their lattes from Starbucks want nothing to do with neckties or their dad's way of doing church.  Today is the day when anything goes in church except what has been done in church from the last generation.  It is basically a form of modified teenage-like rebellion.  The contemporary Christian scene has institutionalized the attitude of "I don't want to think, act, talk or be like my dad."  One of the most surprising elements of this not-so-impressive trend is how angry younger aged Christians are with anything related to the previous generation.  They despise patriotism to America, the moral and ethical values of their parents, and expository preaching.  They want nothing to do with the established church; church planting is all the rage.  

Of course, nothing is as consistent as change.  The question is, "What does the coming generation rebel against?  What comes from the 'Latte, blue jean, flip-flop' church?"  I'm kind of scared, kind of curious, kind of ready to close up shop.  Some days that little cabin on the mountain looks really, really good.  

Who Needs the Bible?

Unfortunately this is the day when subjective religious experience is the trendy thing.  It is common to hear evangelicals use language like, "God told me", "I got a word from God", and my all time favorite, "the Lord led me to...". Our modern evangelical sensibilities seem to allow for any and all religious experiences validating them because, well...we had the experience!  No one can say anything against our own testimony right?  I am reminded of a man I once knew who humorously called attention to this lunacy by saying, "It must be the will of the Lord; it seems so right to me."  Of course, he said this with a wry smile and a twinkle in the eye.  We could never misread God, could we?  Certainly if we are sincere and totally committed to Christ (and throw in a little fasting and prayer), then God will talk to us directly right?

Being a minister has its advantages, not the least of which is the junk mail I get.  In recent days I keep getting junk email.  Recently I got a piece of junk email designed to excite and scintillate my spiritual senses.  The email promoted a meeting that I just have to attend if I want to be in God's will.  The tease came in the form of seminar titles:  "Direct Encounter with a Supernatural God", "Engaging the Revelatory Voice of God", and that can't miss seminar called, "The Breaker Anointing:  Releasing the Prophetic Breath of God."  Hey, this conference will tell me how to meet directly with God, get a revelatory word from God, and release the power of God's breath through my life.  Hey, when you have all of this, who needs the Bible?

Well, that's the problem.  The Bible now has become the manual for "whatever I want to find there."  I teach biblical hermeneutics in the college setting, and I find students often fall into the fallacy of "The Bible means what I want it to mean."  But students hold no corner on that mistake.  Students must line up behind pastors, youth ministers, deacons, and Sunday school teachers who do this regularly.  In fact, we have been "using" the Bible for years - we call it the priesthood of the believer (i.e. the Bible says what I think it says, and doggone it, nobody better tell me different, because I am a BAPTIST  who believes in the priesthood of the believer!  I'd like to have few words with whoever popularized, but prostituted, that oft maligned doctrine.) Where does the objective, propositional truth of God's Word come into play?  As Baptists get together to "share what the Bible means to me" (when in fact this is often a pooling together of our ignorance), when do we stop to do healthy exegesis of the text?  Doesn't the text mean what the author meant it to mean?  Shouldn't we find out what the author meant by the text before we apply the text to our lives?  I should think so.

Before we close this blog article I would like to lead us all in a prayer (Don't get excited, it's not the prayer of Jabez!).  "Lord, deliver me from trying to get information from You concerning things you have already spoken about in Scripture.  Keep me from such prideful thoughts that I can be absolutely right on everything at any one moment.  Dear Lord, forgive me for thinking I am smarter than the many Christians who came before me and some of who left good confessions, creeds, and biblical resources to help me study my Bible.  And Lord, teach me how to accurately and humbly study the Scriptures with good hermeneutical and exegetical techniques that I may see wondrous things from Your written revelation.  Then, dear Lord, give me the wisdom to see how all of this applies to my life, and give to me the grace to seek to apply Your truth to my life.  And finally, Lord, when I think the next time that I have a new revelation from You, please put cotton in my mouth to shut me up."  Amen

The Importance of Balance in Biblical Interpretation

I suppose there are some important things one learns after 35 years of ministry. Amazing, simply admitting that I have been in ministry for 35 years makes me feel old. Alas, I digress...One of the important observations I have made in these many years of ministry is the vital necessity of balance in biblical interpretation.  

But what do I mean by balance in biblical interpretation?  Balance in this context involves the mature interpretive skill of seeing two related contrasting truths that give a broader, fuller, and balanced understanding of the full biblical teaching on a subject. A good example might be the twin, but distinctive truths, that God wants Christians to trust Him for their financial survival, but He also wants Christians to work hard to earn a living. Both of these truths are in the Scriptures, and they are clearly taught there. One can find Scripture verses that obviously tell us to not be anxious about anything, including money.  In fact, Jesus exhorted believers to not serve "mammon" or money in His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus repeatedly warned about the danger of greed and worldly concern about money (i.e. parable about the sower - see the soil that had thorns).  But the Ten Commandments clearly affirms private ownership in its prohibition on coveting, and Paul commands that one should work hard to provide for one's family.  This Pauline commandment was made in such strong terms that Paul stated if one neglected or refused to do such, then he was to be treated like an unbeliever (1 Timothy 5:8) (WOW!).  So, who is right;  Jesus or Paul? The answer is - both are right.  They are giving two important contrasting (not contradicting) truths that together give a balanced biblical perspective on a vital issue. Jesus was not teaching that the believer should be lazy and not work, nor was Paul teaching that we should not trust God with our financial needs.  Taken together these teachings give a full expression of biblical instruction on these issues.  

Another significant example of this is the role of faith and works in salvation found in both Paul's writings and the Epistle of James.  It sounds like Paul discounts works in salvation altogether, and James discounts faith as a basis for justification.  But a closer observation of both authors reveals that each contributes central ideas regarding the necessity of both faith and works in their proper place in the overarching subject of salvation.  So let me pull some central ideas together that need to be regarded as central to this topic of balance and biblical interpretation.

Warning:  To neglect balance in biblical interpretation not only results in a misunderstanding what the Bible says about the topics involved, it sets the stage for aberrant teaching and ultimately heresy itself.  Every cult I know is partially created because of unbalanced teaching.  It is a requisite that we maintain balance in our understanding of Scripture.

Example:  I saw an example of unbalanced Scriptural study not long ago in a marriage where the husband took the biblical idea of husbandly and fatherly authority way out of proportion.  He used it to dominate over and dictate to his wife and children.  His mistake was that he forgot LOVE, and it was destroying his wife and children.

Suggestions:  So, how can Christians protect themselves from falling into unbalanced interpretations of biblical teaching?

1.  Look for opposite and contrasting truths.  Ultimate truth is so large that it is composed a many sub-truths.  These sub-truths taken together form the large composite of the ultimate truth.  Without a complete view of all sub-truths, one does not get the big picture of ultimate truth. 

2.  Be honest with yourself.  Let's be honest, there are some truths we like and some with which we struggle.  Those truths that seem to be contrasting with our basic personality and emotional constitution are as important as those truths that fit easily within our natural makeup.  When you study the Bible, be honest with yourself and the text.

3.  Listen to other Christians.  We Christians need each other.  Let's listen to each other as we share together the Word of God.  Often we will find that others have a perspective of a passage that we missed and desperately needed.  Not all Christians have discerning insight into biblical passages, but Paul taught us in 1 Corinthians that we are the Body of Christ made up of many different types of members.  We need to listen to each other.

4.  Be humble.  Don't think at any one point in your Christian journey that you understand everything about anything.  Christians are learners (disciples), and we will learn (we should learn) until the day we die on earth.  And in heaven we will continue to learn for all eternity.  Don't become obnoxious by stating or implying that you know it all.  Keep learning!

Summary and Conclusion:  My Systematic Theology professor in seminary years ago used to say he learned much about boats and water when he was growing up in Holland.  He remarked one of the most important things he learned was that it really did not matter which end of the boat one fell off of, he still got wet.  Let's be careful as Christians about extremism in biblical interpretation.  To be faithful to the text of Scripture we must give attention to balance.  Amen!