Standing in Judgment

It is common for Christian leaders to view the modern church and modern Christians with contempt, particularly in the United States. Now it is not my purpose to deal with all the specifics involved here, but there is an underlying attitude  that needs to be addressed. Scripture makes it clear that we are to correct those involved in specific sins and doctrinal errors (Galatians 6:1; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Matthew 18:15-17). (There is also an attitude of gentleness required in those who correct, but that is another subject.) It also clearly calls us to preach against falsehood (2 Timothy 4:1-4; Ephesians 4:11-16; Acts 20:27). But Scripture condemns a certain type of judgment (Matthew 7:1-5; Romans 14:4; James 4:11,12). We are to correct identifiable sins, but we are to avoid making an over-all judgment of the person. Paul says he does not even judge himself (1 Corinthians 4:3,4). This does not mean he does not examine himself for particular problems to correct (1 Corinthians 11:31,32; Psalms 139:23,24; 2 Corinthians 13:5,6). But he does not try to determine his place before God. Only God, who knows the heart, can give a correct final judgment (1 Corinthians 4:5; Romans 2:16; 1 Timothy 5:24,25). Also, we are told we will be judged based on the standard we use to evaluate others (Romans 2:1; Luke 6:37,38; James 2:12).

Now I do not want to discourage the correcting of specific errors or the call for specific improvements in the present Christian church. But much of the generalized criticism would seem to fall under what is forbidden by Scripture. That does not mean I want to deny that the current church has its failings. All ages of the church have had problems. (If we examine the New Testament epistles, we see this was true from the very beginning.) But is it really my place to decide how our age rates? Is it not more important to address the specific problems we see and let God make out the final scorecard? And could it be that part of the problem is unrealistic expectations? We look for the kind of perfect church that will not exist until Christ returns (Ephesians 5:26,27; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Revelation 19:7-10). Yet we are all still sinners and have not arrived at perfection (Philippians 3:12-16; Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:25). Now I do not want to justify sin or discourage realistic work for the improvement of the present state of the Christian church. But I think that a generally cynical attitude is not helpful for this but actually makes it harder. When people perceive you are looking down on them, they find it hard to hear what you are saying. And it is easy to build up an attitude of superiority that prevents us from reaching people (John 7:49; Luke 15:27-32; Matthew 9:11-13). Then we become part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

A Touch of Humor - Delegation

Should we keep doing thing just because we have always done them? How should we decide what to keep?

A Voice from the Past - Ignatius of Antioch

There is only one Physician -
Very Flesh, yet Spirit too;
Uncreated, and yet born;
God-and-Man in One agreed,
Very-Life-in-Death indeed,
Fruit of God and Mary's seed;
At once impassable and torn
By pain and suffering here below:
Jesus Christ, whom as our Lord we know.

Ignatius of Antioch, 35-98 AD, Epistle to the Ephesians, 7 (Early Christian Writings, translated by Maxwell Staniforth, Penguin Books, 1968, pp. 77,78)

What does this tell us about how our Lord Jesus Christ was understood from earliest times? How is that relevant to us today?

Should We Try to Christianize the World

Should we try to Christianize the world or at least our nation? At first glance, the Scripture does not give us much encouragement that the world will come over to our side. In fact, we are told that to love this present world is to make ourselves enemies of God (1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4; Romans 12:1,2). We are also told not to be surprised if the world is hostile to us and opposes us (John 15:18-21; 16:1-4; Matthew 10:17-25). Nor are we encouraged to expect that a positive situation will be found when the Lord comes the second time (Matthew 24:21,22; Luke 18:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-7).

But we, as Christians, are called to promote that which is good and just (Galatians 6:9,10; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:13-15). We are called to help the poor and the oppressed (Matthew 25:31-46; Isaiah 58:6,7; Luke 10:25-37). And we are told God has empowered us to accomplish His work in the world (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 3:5,6 ; Psalms 127:1,2). If we are to be advocates for what is right and merciful, we cannot sit idly  by and allow injustice without trying to change it.

Now I am convinced that the acceptance of nominal Christianity by western civilization was a foxhole conversion. The Roman Empire was falling apart, and they were looking for something to hold things together and turned to God. There were good things and bad things that came out of this situation. But once things got better, we began the process of slowly deserting Him. There have been a number of movements to turn our culture back to God, but though they slowed the decline, it continued. It is certainly possible that we may once more turn back to God as a society. But I see no assurance that we will. But we need to trust God to bring us through whatever happens (Proverbs 3:5,6; Psalms 46:10; Romans 4:17-22). And we need to ask if one of the reason we want to Christianize our culture is so we can be comfortable and not have our faith challenged. Determined working for good in an imperfect world is to be encouraged. But the idea that taking a few steps or passing a few laws will produce a truly Christian society should be avoided. Further, we need to recognize that we are back in the place of the early church, as Christians in a pagan society. We need to let go of the past and rebuild again from where we are. For only the return of the One who will rule as King will transform us or this world into what they should be (Romans 8:19-25; Philippians 3:20-21; Revelation 21:4).

God's Leading

Re-Posted from "Meditations of a Charismatic Calvinist Who Does Not Speak in Tongues"

 Does God guide us, or are we left to our own wisdom? And how do we recognize God's leading? Now God is in control of all things (Ephesians 1:11) and causes all things to work together for good to those who are called by Him (Romans 8:28). He has prepared certain good works beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10), and the Spirit's leading is based on our being sons of God (Romans 8:14). I would therefore conclude that God guides every genuine child of God. This is a fact and is not dependent on my feelings or on my figuring it out. Nor does the fact God leads us mean it will always be easy, but it does mean He will go through troubles with us (John 16:33)

Now sometimes God allows us to feel that He is leading us, but knowing His leading is not just based on our feelings. On the contrary, while I believe God can use our careful weighing of the facts or circumstances or feelings to lead us where He wants us to go, I do not believe we should trust in any of these. Nor do I believe we should direct our lives based purely on what makes sense to us from a human point of view. Rather, we should trust in God that He will direct us to where we should be. And in any situation we must prayerfully ask whether something is indeed God guiding us or our imagination. But we need to do so with the confidence that God is in control of our life and will direct us where we need to be. I remember walking into a church for the first Sunday and hearing the pastor say that he was not going to be in charge of the Sunday School and maybe someone who just walked in the door was the person for the job. I felt like God tapped me on the shoulder and told me I was the one. As it turned out, I was. But I still approached the situation with caution and let God bring everything together, rather than jumping in too quickly based on my feeling. But it did direct me.

Now I want to make it clear that the main thing is obedience to God's revealed will (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Though even when we do disobey He can arrange things, like He did for Jonah, to bring us back to the right path (see the book of Jonah). But my concern is for those who honestly want to obey God but are afraid if they do not have the right feeling or use the right method they will miss God's direction in their lives. Or they may come to trust in their feelings or the method rather than God. For I am convinced the reason God does not give us a formula to determine His leading is we must not come to trust the formula rather than Him.

Following Biblical Examples

There is a common tendency to take Biblical examples as commandments. In fact, there are many teachings and practices that have been derived this way. But is this legitimate? The Scripture says that God commands what He intends to command and it is wrong to add to it (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:5,6; Matthew 15:8,9). Nor is there any basis in Scripture for seeing an example, even a repeated example, as a commandment. There are four cases in Scripture where God split bodies of water (Exodus 14:13-31; Joshua 3:14-17; 2 Kings 2:7-14). Does this mean that if we truly follow God, He will split a body of water for us? I would therefore conclude that, while an example can illustrate a clearly taught Biblical principle, it does not constitute a commandment. The exception to this is that examples can show us what is allowed, but even there we must be careful, so as not misconstrue something that is simply mentioned to have occurred or is a special case as being universally allowed. I am convinced that God is not shy: the things He intended to command, He commanded, at least in principle. I do not see evidence that He left us obscure commandments to be strained from Scripture based on our human intellect.

I am convinced that much of what is taught today in terms of church government and ministry procedures is based on examples rather than the clear teaching of Scripture. Such examples may be useful in illustrating principles, but what God does not command, He leaves free. In connection with this, there is a danger of putting the early church on a pedestal and regarding them as a perfect church. If you read the New Testament epistles, you will see the early church struggled with the same kinds of problems we have today: false doctrine, carnal behavior, and a tendency toward various extremes. We are faced with the Corinthian's carnality. The departure of the Galatians from the gospel. The Thessalonians quitting their jobs and living in idleness in view of Christ's immediate coming. The Colossians entertaining false doctrine. And many more problems. Looking at the early church may be useful, as they may not have had as much time to depart from the apostles' teaching as we have. But they are not the standard for perfection. This does not mean we are necessarily required to change our current organization or procedures, but we should recognize they may not be the only right way to do things. Now this does leave us a greater ability to adapt to current circumstances, but we should beware of the idea that it will make a major difference. If this were an important issue, God would have commanded it. Rather, we should shift our emphasis away from these things and focus on the things God really does teach and command. I would therefore encourage basing our behavior on the clear commandments and principles of Scripture, rather than trying to draw precepts out of examples.

A Touch of Humor - The Optimist

How can we avoid having a cynical attitude about what goes wrong in this world? How can we avoid falling into the same errors over and over again?