A Touch of Humor - Promises, Promises

Do we favor politicians who promise us what we want to hear and avoid saying anything negative? What could be the results of this?

A Voice from the Past - Gregory of Nazianzen

For how can He be sin, Who setteth us free from sin; and how can He be a curse, Who redeemeth us from the curse of the Law? But it is in order that He may carry His display of humility even to this extent, and form us to that humility which is the producer of exaltation. As I said then, He is made a Fisherman; He condescended to all; He casteth the net; He endureth all things, that He may draw up the fish from the depths, that is, Man who is swimming in the unsettled and bitter waves of life.

Gregory of Nazianzen, 330-390 AD, Select Orations, Oration 37, 1 (The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7, Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, translated by Charles Gordon Browne and James Edward Swallow, T & T Clark and Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996, p. 338)

How important is this kind of humility? How can we obtain it?

A Flag We Wave

I am strongly in favor of understanding God's truth and applying it to life. Fundamental to this is understanding doctrinal truth, what God tells us about who He is and what He has done and is doing in the world. But there is a tendency to change these truths into flags we wave to distinguish ourselves from those we disagree with. Far from promoting a deeper understanding of these truths, it can prevent us from really considering them. After all, if I am a part of a group that holds a certain view, if I look too closely at that view and what it means, I might be forced to reconsider it and be forced to leave that organization. This is no idle threat. There was a time I was worried that I might end up holding a position where no denomination would have me. Now it is important to have boundaries. Christianity must mean something if it is to have any relevance at all. If a person no longer believes in anything distinctively Christian, they should be honest and call themselves something else. There are many conflicting ideas about what Christianity is, and it is meaningful for those who have fundamentally different understandings of it to distinguish themselves. But this should be based on a clear understanding of the issues involved and why they are important. But often we can divide over more superficial issues, and these are far more likely to become merely banners and not something we have thought out. Now I seriously question whether many of these secondary things are things we should be dividing over (1 Corinthians 1:10-17; Ephesians 4:1-6; Philippians 2:1-11). But if we do divide over them, they need to be something we understand, not just a banner we wave.

One reaction to this is to throw out or minimize doctrine. But I am convinced this is not the solution. Doctrine tells the truth of God invading history to save His people from their sins. Without doctrine, all we have is a generalized morality. I also believe that even the secondary doctrines can make a difference in our life if they are genuine Biblical truth (2 Timothy 3:16,17; Acts 20:27; Matthew 28:18-20). What I would call for is not less doctrinal understanding but more. I believe we need to have beliefs that we understand and apply, not flags we wave. To do this, we must not throw out doctrine, but seek to really understand it and see how it applies to life. In this, while it is important to stand for basic truth (Galatians 1:8,9; 1 John 4:1-3; Romans 16:17), it would be helpful to allow more freedom on secondary issues. It is hard to really examine and think through truth when you are afraid that if you deviate from the accepted view in the least detail, you must leave the fellowship you are a part of. For none of us know all the answers (1 Corinthians 3:18; 13:9-12; 8:1-3).

Smoke and Mirrors

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

Scripture calls Christians to live in unity (Philippians 2:1,2) and to love one another (John 13:34,35). Yet it is not uncommon to have disagreements within congregations that lead to splits or individuals leaving or just constant struggles. Now there are cases where the issues involved are real issues of doctrinal teaching or of violations of Christian moral standards. We need to deal with these. But the majority of the time we are not faced with such a clear-cut issues.

Based on my experience I would like to make a few observations about these types of situations. There is a method that Satan and his minions use which I will call "smoke and mirrors." While I have seen this at work a number of times, I need to limit my examples to protect privacy. When I was going to seminary, my wife and I had a series of problems. As we worked it through, we found that while we did have some disagreements of substance, much of the problem was really over the meaning of words. For example, I would say something and she would take it in a different way and we would end up disagreeing over it. Also, I once had to resign from the worship team over being "too charismatic." There may have been some real issues involved, but I suspect that much of the issue was over the connotations of the phrase "too charismatic." And the ironic thing is I doubt if anyone involved could have given a clear definition of what that meant.

How then do we avoid this type of thing? It helps to realize that such problems exist, that we are sinful people (1 John 1:8-10) in an imperfect world and it effects our judgment. It also helps to remember that other Christians are imperfect and won't always meet our expectations. And ultimately, we must not be concerned just with our own interests but consider the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-11). This is complicated by the fact we can sometimes confuse our interests with something that looks noble (my ministry, the fate of my church) and act on them under this disguise. Now I am not here trying to excuse clear-cut doctrinal or moral error. But I am suggesting that on the margins there is considerable room for misunderstanding.

It does not help that the present divided state of the church aids this. I can say, "If this church does not do what I want, I will look for another one." And churches can take the attitude, "If someone does not like it here, they can go somewhere else." Now sometimes there are difficult choices that have to be made. But I cannot help thinking things would be better if people had the commitment to at least try to work things out. And they would be less likely to be taken in by smoke and mirrors.

Saving the Institutional Church

The Christian church is the assembly of all true believers in Christ and is Christ's body, through which He works to accomplish His purposes in the world (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:11-16; Romans 12:3-8). To accomplish these purposes, Christ commands His church to be organized (1 Corinthians 14:40; Hebrews 13:17; 10:24,25). This makes sense, as it is hard to accomplish anything in the world without being organized. But the organization is, not the church, but the expression of the church. It is like clothes to the body; clothes serve important functions with respect to the body. But it is the clothes that serve the body, not the body the clothes. Now one problem with organizations is that they can lose track of their original purpose and become focused on perpetuating the organization, or even on furthering the personal interests of its leaders and members. (It is difficult to distinguish between an organization and an institution. An institution is more of a fixed, basic component of society, and an organization becomes an institution when it reaches that status.)   Take government. It is supposed to exist to promote justice and the good of the people who are governed (Romans 13:1-7). But it can very easily be turned to support the perpetuation of its own power and structures. It can then come to serve the personal ambitions of the people in positions of power, even if they are against the interests of the nation as a whole. All organizations and institutions have this potential.

Now the purpose of the church organization is to accomplish God's purposes in the world, but it can too easily be sidetracked into perpetuating itself. Our goal should not be to try to figure out how to rescue or preserve the institutional church in a hostile environment. Rather, the body of Christ should consider how to how to carry out God's purpose in the world and how to organize to express that. This involves proclaiming God's message (Romans 10:14,15; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 1:23,24) and helping those who accept the message to live in light of it (Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 1:28,29; Titus 2:11-14). Involved in this is receiving the seals that openly set us apart as members of God's people (Acts 10:42-48; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Romans 4:11). Ultimately, this should lead to new believers taking their place as part of God's body to themselves be involved in carrying out God's purpose in the world (Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 2:19; 1 Peter 4:9-11). Then as we do what God would have us do, the organization will reflect the organism and the institution will reflect the organization. I am far from advocating nudism when it comes to the body of Christ, but the clothes should serve the purposes of the body and not the other way around.

A Touch of Humor - The Intruder

How should we respond to people who are outside our comfort zone? What can help us do this?

A Voice from the Past - Dionysius of Alexandria

How shall we bear with these men who assert that all those wise, and consequently also noble, constructions (in the universe) are only the works of common chance? those objects, I mean, of which each taken by itself as it is made, and the whole system collectively, were seen to be good by Him by whose command they came into existence. For, as it is said, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." But truly these men do not reflect on the analogies even of small familiar things which might come under their observation at any time, and from which they might learn that no object of any utility, and fitted to be serviceable, is made without design or by mere chance, but is wrought by skill of hand, and is contrived so as to meet its proper use.

Dionysius of Alexandria, 200-265 AD, Extant Fragments II: From the Books on Nature, II: A Refutation of This Dogma on the Ground of Familiar Human Analogies. (Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 6, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, translated by S. D. F. Salmond, Hendricksen Publishers Inc., 2004, p. 85)

Does this still make sense today? What are its implications?