Author Archives: geoffsnook77

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Lessons from Lions not named Aslan

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I like good stories. Most people do. And when they are true, that makes those stories only that much better. Relevant magazine reported a story of a young Ethiopian gal abducted from her home and forced to marry some crazy dude from another village.

The girl, who had been missing for a week, was the captive of seven men who had beat her and intended to marry her. But before they could seriously harm her, three lions appeared and—holy moly, can you even believe it?—stood guard over the girl until she was found by police. Government authorities suspect that the girl’s crying reminded the lions of mewing cubs and they took her under their incredible golden paws until they were certain she was safe.“They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest,” Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo said. “If the lions had not come to her rescue, then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage.”

This story is quite amazing, and amazing for a number of reasons.

First of all, Lions and humans are literally enemies. 

Despite a recent crackdown, hunters kill the animals for their skins, which can fetch $1,000. Williams estimates that only 1,000 Ethiopian lions remain in the wild. 

There obviously aren’t many lions left because people have killed them. You wouldn’t be surprised for Lions to return the favor. And obviously they have. While The Grey depicted inaccurate repeated wolf on human predations (glad for the opportunity to use that word!), The Ghost and the Darkness actually told the true story of two lions regularly killing numerous railroad workers in Africa.

Next, because there aren’t too many lions left, what are the “chances,” of lions, much less three friendly lions, happening upon this crying gal?

Here are some more thoughts on this amazing story.

1.) My parents visited South Africa and learned of another group of three lions killing prey and bringing it to their crippled brother lion to eat. These top notch predators didn’t not actually believe in “survival of the fittest.” Darwin must have been ticked. So these Ethiopian trio of lions are not the first “thoughtful” (can we say that in regards to animals?) lions out there. Who knows how many of them are forgetting what they are supposed to do, and are saving rather than killing?

2.) Obviously this is amazing because wild animals, outside of dolphins don’t tend to intervene and protect folks. The wolf will always chase the lamb. And so will the lion, although at this point I’m beginning to hold that with less certainty. Regardless, this present order of things will not always be present. And that is God’s present to us, and to Himself, for His glory. The old order will pass away and the new will come. Indeed in Revelation 21:5, at the onset of this completed heavenly order coming down to earth we see John explain 

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

The newness has already begun, and will be completed one day. In addition, Paul also reminds us in II Cor 5:17

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

The ministry of Jesus through his life/death/resurrection and his concomitant ministry through His disciples is evidence that the new order has already broken into to the old order. Now we experience the overlap. But such an intrusion from of this “new creation” should encourage us that things will not always be the way they are. The devastation of bombing and accidental explosions is not the way things will one day be. While I’m still hesitant to allow my 2 1/2 year old to go up and pet a lion the way he would a big yellow lab, I recognize that day is coming. Indeed, there is evidence even now, albeit small, that the new order of things has already impacted even the animal world. I think these two trios of lions “testify” to the presence of this new order, again in seed form, having already broken through.

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When in Rome….don’t tolerate the intolerant

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Many people have blogged, spoken, or written about the intolerance of tolerance. D.A. Carson actually wrote a book titled The Intolerance of Tolerance. Now I’m not totally sure how Carson uses the phrase-though I’m inclined to agree with him since I love him as an author-but how I use it is as follows: all views are accepted as valid with the lone exception of a view that doesn’t recognize all views as equally valid. In other words, you can believe whatever you want on any issue, so long as you don’t consider your view as the exclusive correct, valid, moral, right, view. Practically speaking, if you hold to any exclusive view on Jesus, or marriage, you are not tolerated. Your voice is not a welcomed voice in the cultural, personal, facebook, or most any other kind of dialog. 

I first tasted this intolerance of tolerance while in college on foreign study in Italy in 1999. And it was the ironic juxtaposition, or maybe even overlap of the same worldview 2000 years apart that really opened my eyes. According to our professor Richard Prior (no relation to the comedian/actor), the Romans were a very religiously tolerant people. When they conquered folks, they brought with them some Roman decor like bathhouses and public amphitheaters to spruce up the place. Privately they  put Emperor “bobble-heads” in each home (ok I don’t have documentation on that one, but its possible…). But religiously, folks were allowed to worship their own personal gods. Maybe even their own personal Jesus too. Yet there was a limitation on this tolerance. They didn’t tolerate in the intolerant Christians when Jesus wasn’t so personal. Christians recognized the Emperor as the head of the government, but not Lord, and certainly not God. And that’s where they got into trouble. Many refused to offer this “emperor worship” or make a sacrifices to him. They would be tolerated if they went against their consciences and worshiped some yahoo one day a year.

The “intolerant” Christians were then persecuted for such “intolerance.” If they were tolerant like the rest of Roman society, then they too would be tolerated. Yet Dr. Prior never recognized his own hypocrisy, since he embraced the same view 2000 years later. If you claim to hold to an exclusive truth of any variety, you will not be welcomed ’round these parts. And we weren’t. And in Rome, 2000 years later, the attitude, at least among our group, hadn’t changed too much. What had changed instead was their opportunity and authority to act on such intolerance. 

Dr. Prior didn’t come up with this view, nor did it arise with post-modernity; he simply bought into the Roman view of tolerance and intolerance toward Christians or others with an exclusive truth claim. When in Rome….

There is nothing new, not even the intolerance of tolerance, under the sun.

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Not as free as a bird: Reflections on a dove stuck in my garage

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This weekend a bird flew into our garage. That’s OK with me. I’m happy for birds to come and go as they please. As long as they go. But this one stayed for a while. Both garage doors were up, but he kept flying around in circles and continued to come back to where the garage doors lay when they are in the up position. It didn’t make sense. He kept trying and trying and trying, but would not fly low enough to go free. And then he just gave up. After I discerned him to be out of the garage, he showed up again the next day when the property appraiser showed up (I’m assuming wildlife ups the home value a bit, right?). Again he did the same thing. It flew around in a circle, but never low enough to actually fly out of the garage. He was stuck yet again.
 
Then the property appraiser led me to the real identity of the bird. What I had thought was a pigeon was in fact a dove. And then it all made sense. I confess I don’t know much about doves, but the word on the street is that they fly erratically. They don’t fly straight, but are pretty much all over the place. Silly and senseless. They don’t go from here to there, but from here to there and then back to here. This bird ended up going nowhere, flying all over the place, but never to the right place (the huge opening), and so ended up in the wrong place. 

It reminded me of the story of Jonah, at least a little bit.

Jonah’s name means “dove.” That’s no accident. Jonah is all over the place. He heads to Spain but ends up near northern Iraq, the very place he was trying to avoid. In some ways, Jonah was like that bird. Even though he may have sensed and tasted some sort of faux freedom, all he was ultimately doing was flying all over the garage. It seemed like freedom but in the end, it was slavery.

I really wanted this bird to experience the freedom a bird should experience. The freedom that a bird is created for: to fly in the sky. Birds aren’t made for garages. But this bird just didn’t get it. Just like Jonah. And it kind of made me sad (I’m not a dove hunter). Freedom awaited it, but freedom it refused. It wasn’t a free bird. Just like Jonah. 

Freedom for the bird is flying where it has been created to go. Freedom for man/woman is not absent of restraint but presence of opportunity. Now that’s not all that freedom is, but I think that’s the part that James brings to the conversation.
 
But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. 

Properly understood in the context of belief in the gospel, the law offers freedom, not slavery. Slavery is flying around senseless in a garage like a dove, but freedom is following Jesus experiencing the life he designed for us.

And it was also a good reminder to consider non-Christians like doves trapped in a garage. While not dismissing their culpability, I should be quick to remember how sorry I felt for this silly and senseless bird. Many people are flying around in circles going nowhere, not tasting true freedom. May we be saddened before we become angry with them. Sadness leads to prayer and moving towards them in love. Anger leads to judgment and separation.

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Some thoughts on processing depression, medicine, and the gospel

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Saturday I received the terrible news on my twitter feed that Rick Warren’s beloved 27 year-old son took his own life. Hopefully most of us will never know that the feels like; hopefully we can only empathize from a distance and speculate. Yet such tragedies happen to children who may truly believe the gospel and to parents who may truly believe the gospel. Tony Dungy, I would imagine, has probably tried to reach out to Warren, since he knows exactly what it is like to lose a son to suicide.

There will probably be a plethora of thoughts and blogs coming out today. So I’ll just consider this my contribution, as someone who has battled with depression.

State vs. Trait Depression/Anxiety

Warren’s own words are that his own son struggled with depression almost from birth. Sometimes there are easily observable situations which can trigger such depression. Sometimes these aren’t so easily observable, but nevertheless are there. This is “state”depression/anxiety. Something, some event, person, crises, or series of events/crises/persons have led to such depression. It seems from Warren’s opinion, that this was more of “trait” depression/anxiety. For such folks, no true joyous event or circumstance shakes you out of it. There is nothing which triggers it. It is just there.

Power of the Gospel?

I believe the gospel has power to deliver us from the punishment of sin, enslaving power of sin, and one day the total presence of sin. There are undoubtedly folks who end up experiencing bi-polar depression who through faith experience very few debilitating affects. But I feel it is dangerous to assume this to always be normative. There are many others who will battle with debilitating depression their entire lives. Some may succumb to ending their lives. Some may go seriously insane. 

One well known hymn writer William Cowper went insane while trying to compile a hymn collection with his friend John Newton.

Did he not believe the very words in his own hymns which have offered Christians today such comfort? Why should we sing them if he didn’t?

Was there something wrong with the gospel or his faith? Obviously, in a black and white world, those are the only two conclusions. But obviously we don’t live in a black and white world. We live in a world stained with sin, which only makes things more complicated. Sin muddies the water. And even though we (us today) didn’t start the fire technically, we live in a world still ablaze with the curse of sin. 

Folks do die of hunger. Christians do. Proverbs is not life’s little promise book, that guarantees if you have faith, then _______ will happen. Even training up your child…. Folks commit suicide even though when they believe the gospel. Do they believe it fully? No, but thank God he doesn’t require perfect faith (Mark 9:24). Mental illness is real, and Christians are not immune to it. We live in the fallen world as well, even as we experience redemption living under the Kingdom and reign of God.

Ed Stetzer used to live in a black/white world until his first pastorate. He writes

The first time I dealt with mental illness in church was with a man named Jim. I was young and idealistic – a new pastor serving in upstate New York. Jim was a godsend to us. He wanted to help, and his energy was immeasurable. He’d visit with me, sing spontaneously, pray regularly and was always ready to help.

Until he was gone.

For days and sometimes weeks at a time, he would struggle with darkness and depression. During this time, he would withdraw from societal interaction and do practically nothing but read Psalms and pray for hours on end. I later learned that this behavior is symptomatic of what is often called bipolar disorder or, in years before, manic depression.

I prayed with Jim. We talked often about the need for him to take his medicine, but he kept asking God to fix him. Eventually, at his lowest point and filled with despair, he took his own life.

Medicine isn’t necessarily evil

Just because people have been over-prescribed drugs to numb pain doesn’t mean that all medication is bad. Sometimes it may be helpful for a season of life. Sometimes it be helpful and needed one’s entire life. Because the church (and this is a good thing) is willing to reject the world’s first solution for all pain, it can sometimes throw the baby out with the bathwater. In every season, turn, turn, turn, I think there is a time where medicine can be helpful. It has helped me. Not as a first resort but as a last resort, I believe there may be a season. Turn, turn, turn….

Medicine isn’t THE cure

Medicine isn’t THE cure. In fact it may not even be A cure. I would imagine Rick’s son was on medication. But medicine can help some of the chemical issues, at least for a season, SO THAT one can focus on the liberating truths of the gospel and comfort it provides. The world views medicine as THE solution. If it doesn’t work, go find another medicine. But I think a more responsible form of action is the option of potentially supplementing the real hard work of gospel dynamics (believing/applying the gospel to your specific situation) with medicine. Supplementing and not replacing. Medicine cannot replace regular repentance and belief but must serve to aid it.

Counseling

There are thought patterns that many folks often develop which are simply unhealthy. But you might not recognize these thought patterns by simply reading your bible and hearing good sermons. Trained Christian counselors/psychiatrists/psychologists can sometimes bring these things to light. And in turn, folks can see real change.

For instance, from a very young age, I always assumed the worst would happen, and then hope to be surprised by a better outcome. If not, could the question then turned to, “Well, can I deal with it?” That is why I was sick before every track meet even though I was virtually guaranteed of winning my almost every 800 meter race my senior year in high school. But this coping mechanism doesn’t work with things more important than track meets. Can one deal with Hell? Nope. That type of thinking needed to be jettisoned. That type of thinking cannot be jettisoned overnight but it takes community, and sometimes professional community.

Link betwixt depression and creativity

There seems to be a connection with creative brains and depression. I don’t have stats to prove this, but simply examples of people I know. Very creative comedians like Robin Williams deal with mental illness, and in fact, such ” manic states” can often be times when their best “material” comes to them. In additions, numbers of artists I’ve interacted with have also been folks one could recognize as “depressive.” Think about or check here to read about the aforementioned William Cowper.  It’s by no means a one-to-one, but it seems to me there is probably some connection betwixt the two.

Don’t wast your depression/anxiety
I’ve alluded from the pulpit, on my blog, and in one-to-one settings (that’s how the Aussies’ speak instead of saying “one-on-one”) to struggling with depression. You’d be surprised how many people have gone through the same thing but aren’t willing, confident, or just won’t  come forward until you take the first step. Not only that, but if you struggle in this area, you have wisdom that others who haven’t struggled in this area, frankly, will never have. That doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer, but you have more. They may possess a “normative” perspective on depression (what they may gather by searching the scriptures and studies). They may have possess a “situational” perspective of depression (what they can see and observe in the world). But they lack the “existential” perspective (how one experiences depression). You have much to offer.

Jesus experienced a despair of which depression is only a foretaste

All Christians have a Savior who has experienced the ultimate gut wrenching sense of the world crashing down upon Him. It might be that most people don’t know the trouble you’ve seen, but Jesus does.

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Why I think we need more Christian coaches

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Redeemer will be making its bi-annual trek to the Modgnik (Kingdom spelled backwards) retreat in a week and half. I’m thankful for the few students attending and for our two leaders willing to sacrifice their time and sanity for a weekend of discipleship, fellowship, fun, and shared experiences with some teens.

I’m a little saddened that we we don’t have more youth going. The culprit is not apathy. The culprit is athletics, at least in part. Now retreat attendance isn’t mandated from Mt Sinai. I get that. Christian parents of athletically involved children may never be able (although that’s probably getting loose with the language) to send their youth on retreats simply because of year-round sports. Now they may raise their child to fear the Lord and use their athletics to bring honor to Jesus. I get that (I wonder how many retreats Tim Tebow went on..?) and have seen people do it.
 
But I really don’t see this athletic issue going away. If anything it will get worse, as coaches demand more and more. And parents demand more and more, hoping for scholarships to reward their investments.

Yet I do think there is a solution, or maybe just a band-aid. But band-aids still help stop the bleeding. I think we need more Christian coaches.

Several of my youth couldn’t go on this fantastic retreat because the coach wouldn’t let or want them miss a game or a track meet. At the least, the youth didn’t want to disappoint their coach. That was simply not an option.

Yet what if the coach would simply say, “Go on that retreat, as that is actually more important than you running or playing baseball.” What if he would be counter-cultural and say such a thing? Wouldn’t that be amazing? Since kids and parents either are not willing or don’t feel such a conviction, this is probably the only way kids in athletics will be able to participate in such “extra-curricular” activities.

Now compare this with a Christian friend of mine, a track coach. He has prayed for his “trackers” to approach him with gospel-centered questions and the Lord has opened the door for good conversations. What would happen if a kid requested to miss one track meet or one baseball practice in a season?

We really do need more Christian coaches. I’m thankful for those out there and hope to see more.

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Liam Neeson’s "Rebel-Yell" vs. Robet Duvall’s "Servant-Yell"

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Yesterday I blogged about the move The Grey and mentioned a saddening, but powerful, as well as biblically accurate scene depicting Liam Neeson shouting expletives at God demanding him to reveal Himself and do something at that moment.

Several sermons ago in my “I See Tree People” on Mark 8, I gave an example from one of my favorite movies The Apostle. Robert Duvall is also shouting to and at God. Contrary to the shouting scene in The Grey, I used it positively. In fact it is actually quite a refreshing scene.

I’m going to compare these two scenes/activities because I think there is a right and wrong way to yell at and pray to God. 

1.) Before you yell at God for whatever reason, it is always good to believe that He exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him.  I just ripped that off from whoever wrote Hebrews 11:6  

 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Robert Duvall’s shouting match already assumed God is there and is a rewarder of those who seek Him. His problem is that he just couldn’t see why God let his wife run off with the previously declared “puny” minister of youth and then kick him out of the church they both started. He believes but doesn’t see. He believes but is also having trouble believing. Whenever there is doubt mixed in with faith, we need to bring that doubt to Jesus. I personally think that mixed faith can be offered to our Heavenly Father in the form of yelling and shouting. 

But there is a difference between this prayer-yell and Liam Neeson’s yelling at God. Liam’s character doesn’t come from a posture of struggling belief. Instead it arises from a skeptics stance demanding God to prove Himself. Quite a different thing altogether.

Does God ever hear the prayer of skeptics? Well yes, because many people pray for faith to believe and are granted that faith to believe. But if you are not convinced, even with mixed-up faith, that God is there and is a rewarder of those who seek Him, I don’t see how you have any ground from which to stand up and yell. Better to be on the knees asking God to grant faith, even if you’re not sure you even believe He exists, then to stand and yell in judgment.

This isn’t from Mt Sinai but from the Valley of Geoff’s Personal Conviction.

If you believe, or even believe/doubt, God can take your tears, questions, and even shouts. Probably not a good idea to throw in cuss words, but I think he can even take those words and do something with them. If he can turn wailing into rejoicing he can turn cursing into blessing.

2.) Just because we raise our volume don’t assume that means God will respond quickly. Might work with our kids, but doesn’t “work” with God. Neither prayer scene concludes with an “answer” or even a conclusion from the Lord, but what each does with the non-response speaks volumes.
In The Grey, Liam Neeson’s character gives God about 25 seconds to act. In The Apostle, Robert Duvall is up all night praying/yelling at God. Loudly and “longly.” When we yell or pour out our hearts to God, we may not see an immediate response. That’s OK. That was David’s experience. And because our Heavenly Father denied Jesus’ cries of being forsaken on the cross, we don’t need to fear silence forever. But silence doesn’t mean He isn’t there or doesn’t care, as interpreted incorrectly in The Grey.

3.) Yelling at God needs to be grounded on His promises. If you don’t make a cheer-leading squad or get the raise you want, you could yell and pour out your heart. If you are a child of God, you can yell at God like any stupid kid. But we see a bit more sofisticated and sanctified yelling from Duvall. He yells in accordance with God’s promises. Jesus promised peace to his troubled disciples in John 14 and then reminds them of this when he revisits them after his resurrection. At times peace can be as elusive as former WVU receiver Tavon Austin in the open-field. Our peace comes and goes. And when it goes we can bring to our Heavenly Father’s attention: “You promised Father…..” Duvall is yelling for something God has already promised where as Neeson is demanding God do something He’s not promised to do. It’s better to yell, “God give me peace because I don’t have it now and you promised!” then to yell, “God give me a better job because I know that is a true need of mine and you promised to meet all needs!” If you’re yelling at God, I think we should probably yell over things He has specifically promised to give us-but for some reason has for a season withheld the current existential blessing of such promises. And by the way, one thing I’ve learned is that God has nowhere in His Word promised perfect peace in this life this side of heaven. 

Billy Idol sings about a “rebel-yell” and Liam Neeson shows what one looks like. But Robert Duvall, gives us a great picture of a “servant-yell.” I hope this has encouraged you in your own prayer-yelling.

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Insights from the movie The Grey

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The Miami heat are on a 26 game winning streak. That’s somewhat impressive but lost in all the media hype is the fact that this Sunday marked the longest preaching streak of my young “career” at 4 weeks in a row. Now Lord willing this will pale in comparison when our new church plant gets going, but some people have begun to compare these two amazing streaks (at least one person has….). 

Yesterday I alluded to a movie where a band of Alaskan plane crash survivors are picked off one by one by a pack of wolves. The movie is called The Grey. It is a quite disturbing film, but one also jam packed with deep existential questions and competing philosophies.

One of the closing-though not final so this is not a spoiler alert-scenes depicts a hardened and formally agnostic Liam Neeson yelling at God, if He’s there, to do something, deliver him, and reveal Himself. He releases a number of expletives directed at God, not referring to Him as a father, but as Mother ________ (and we’re not talking about the mother hen gathering her chicks imagery-Matt 23:37) demanding that he prove Himself.

The scene is moving. It really is. He has just uttered his first prayer in the movie crying out to Jesus to help him with a task and Jesus says, “no.” You want to hear an answer. At least I did. It seems, “Ok God, here’s your chance!” But there is no response from the heavens. Perhaps God doesn’t respond to expletives? After all, everyday there are crazy winged creatures flying around His throne declaring Him, “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isaiah 6). 

Perhaps, but the answer is much more complex than that. And much more simple. Now I don’t know the director’s intent, but this non-reponse from God is actually quite biblically consistent. I don’t think this director leaves us with a movie devoid of God. There is much more than the plethora of “f-worded terms of endearment” behind God’s non-response. Here are a number of them.

1.) Jesus never responded to “prove yourself” demands. He didn’t do it with Satan. He didn’t do it with folks who demanded signs. That is just not how He rolls in the bible, so we should not think it should be any different in the real world, or in the cinema for that matter.

2.) Miracles in and of themselves, never, by necessity, lead or have led to a person believing in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Never. When Lazarus was raised from the dead, the Pharisees saw that miracle and wanted Jesus dead. Immediately. They wanted Lazarus dead too! But it is not just a Pharisaic response, but also a Gentile response. In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas heal a crippled lad. The country folks don’t turn to immediate faith in Jesus, but consider Paul and Barnabas to be Hermes and Zeus respectively. They can barely stop the locals from offering sacrifices! Likewise, God speaking audibly or doing a crazy miracle today will not make anyone by necessity, become a Christian. Data has to be interpreted through the grid of a worldview. A “proof” of God’s existence doesn’t make someone repent, rest upon on Jesus’ finished work on the cross. Miracles were/are never sufficient in and of themselves to produce saving faith.

3.) God has already revealed himself in Creation and Conscience. According to the bible, the existence of this physical world tells some of the story. Psalm 19 reminds us that the heavens declare God’s glory and something about Him.  Romans 1 reminds us that the existence of the invisible God can be discerned from the visible world. Ecclesiastes 3:11 explains that God has put the idea of “eternity” in the hearts of men.

4.) God has already revealed himself through the person of Jesus, who is the “image of the invisible God.” Now of course only one generation in a small part of the world actually laid eyes upon this Jesus. But those eyewitnesses of his resurrection didn’t just risk life and limb to spread this news, all of them lost life and limb with only one exception. Regardless if you believe Jesus is who he says He is, God’s answer to the demand he prove Himself will always be the same: I already have. Don’t miss it.

 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high….Hebrews 1:1-3

So when you’re tempted to demand God prove Himself, and then base your faith upon whether He does or doesn’t prove Himself to you satisfactorily, remember He already has proved Himself in Jesus.

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Obama’s take on the pope, gospel, and children of God

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Well the moment that we’ve all been waiting for: we have a new Pope. Of course I should say “we” because I believe the head of the church is Jesus. However, I’m much aware of the need for accountability structure and thankful for the biblical standard of Presbyterianism which places the final human authority at a General Assembly level (a la Acts 15). That way there isn’t one dude who can stop the buck, or a panel of several dudes like some denominations nowadays have. But I mean no disrespect to other church polity, nor do I desire to debate it now. Simply an ADD moment!

And when I say “we,” I should admit that I’m glad that if there must be a Pope, that he is a Jesuit. I’m the product, for better or worse, of Jesuit High School education. Yet Jesuits in my experience in my Tampa high school seemed more concerned about education than Jesus, so maybe this is not such a good thing?

And when we say “we,” we should also realize that many American Catholics consider the pope to have the same authority as the King or Queen of England. So who knows what this even means for Catholics?

But Obama chimed in with his take on the selection of a new Pope. His concern was not so much the country of origin but the origin of his actions. Sounds good so far. In an interview, he offers his take:

My hope is based on what I know about the Catholic Church–and the terrific work that they’ve done around the world and certainly around this country helping those who are less fortunate–is that you have a pope who sustains and maintains what I consider the central message of the Gospel. We treat everybody as children of God. We love them the way Jesus Christ taught us to love them.

Forget whether or not the Catholic church in general (I’ve come across Catholics who can articulate justification through faith in Christ better than Protestants) has strayed from the central message of the gospel. Just consider what Obama posits as the central message of the gospel: “We treat everybody as children of God. We love them the way Jesus Christ taught us to love them.” 

Hmmm……I guess I can understand why Obama’s faith has led him to approve what he does. If everyone is a child of God, and Jesus taught everyone to love each other as though they are children of God, then I can see how his hermeneutic lands him where he ends up. But I see at least two problems with such a hermeneutic (principle of interpretation).

1.) Not everyone is a child of God. Entrance into the family of God depends upon faith in Jesus. 

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-John 1:11-12

You have to be adopted into God’s family. This is not something you are born into. Jews (“his own”) rejected Jesus and are therefore not God’s children. Jews and Gentiles who receive Jesus, have been granted the right to become God’s children.

 ….the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:2-3

Notice that we are naturally children of wrath. Such is what the Ephesians were. Such is what all Christians at one time were. Getting together and singing “we are the world, we are the children” brings out the warm fuzzies in all of us. But it just doesn’t really change our status. But the good news is there is a supernatural work of God wherein he doesn’t leave Christians as children of wrath.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved-Ephesians 4-5

You see that to treat everyone as a child of God is not Jesus wants us to, primarily because not everyone is a child of God.  

2.) How does Jesus tell us to love children of God? How does Jesus tell us to love those who aren’t?

Well to quote one poet, “let me count the ways.” Or you could probably go as simple as Jesus’ words in reciting the 2nd greatest commandment: love your neighbor as yourself. We don’t love everyone as children of God. We can’t. I tell my wife who is a Christian that everything will work out for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28). You’ve probably heard that a zillion times. But it would not be very loving to tell my neighbor who isn’t a Christian, who hasn’t yet been called (he/may certainly be at one point, and to that end I pray!), that everything is working out for his good. That’s tantamount to offering a deceptively acidic band-aid that will hurt the wound and not heal it. And if my friend who is a Christian is willfully ignoring Jesus’ commands, the loving thing to do is to rebuke him. But I will never rebuke my friends who aren’t Christians. Again, what good does that do? So we can’t love everyone as children of God, for if we try to do that, we really won’t be loving them very well.

But Jesus reminds us in this commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. Now that applies to everyone, Christian and non-Christian. I owe them love. The same kind of love I naturally give to myself. So the specific way I demonstrate love for my neighbor will be determined by his/her relationship to God, and of course numbers of other factors like how well we know each other, his/her needs, his/her maturity, etc….

God showed mercy on me when I wasn’t a child of God, so am I not compelled to show mercy on those who aren’t children of God? Of course! Just because I don’t see them as children of God doesn’t mean that I withhold love. On the contrary, I’m motivated to give more!

I think the Catholic church, which Obama seems to be referencing here, does some good things when it comes to loving neighbors and assisting the poor. Yet it is important to distinguish between children of God and children of wrath. Not because you don’t love the latter, but because you do. You can’t love the same way or you will do harm. Instead, love unbelievers like you would want to be loved. Not agreeing with every issue, but respecting them as people along with their right to disagree.

In summary, the central message of the gospel is that God is reconciling a sinful alienated people and world to Himself through the Savior Jesus Christ. But if you want to get on that train, you must repent from sin and self-trust and place your hope in Jesus. Jesus is calling out, in the words of the 1990’s rap song, “Come on ride that train. And ride it.”

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A Downton Doubting Thomas? That would have been a good idea this time

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Downton Abbey season 3 has ended some time ago and I’m now beginning to wonder whether or not Duck Dynasty will end up taking its place. I almost feel anachronistic blogging about it, as though I’m writing about “that movie” that just came out called Star Wars. Will it rebound and once again charm the nation across the pond or will it go the way of the Titanic? Regardless of whether or not season 4 will be worth watching, one thing the bloody season finale cannot take away are the number of fantastic illustrations Downton which preceded it. One of my personal favorites came from my least favorite person on the show: Thomas.

Always the schemer (reminds me a bit of Genesis’ account of Jacob I guess in that regard), Thomas hatches a plan to that will get him really rich, really quickly. He soon realizes after the War, that if he buys up all kinds of cooking supplies, Downton will, ironically, then be dependent upon this servant. Apparently a black market deal, with a man who only met in some shady place, is exactly what he’s been waiting for. 

After stockpiling his goods, he offers the head cook a chance to give them a test run. The cake or sufflet or truffles or corn-dogs (I can’t remember which one) doesn’t turn out the way its supposed to. We now know from Papa Johns that better ingredients means better tasting pizza, or better tasting anything for that matter. And the reverse is also true. Bad tasting ingredients make for bad tasting cake or corn-dogs. 

Figuring that the flour or sugar might have been spoiled, Thomas goes to his warehouse only to find his worst nightmare has come true. When opens the sack of flour, or sugar, or sack of whatever, he finds that it is instead a sack of just white plain stuff. It is not what he spent every last dime of his money on. He’s been tricked. This mystery con-man didn’t deliver the goods he promised.

Thomas’ desperate moment of truth was worth the price of admission. Well at least for me.

This is simply a wonderful portrayal of Satan’s deceptive work. Thomas, like his name-sake in the gospels, actually should have doubted this time. But like Adam and Eve, he got duped.

Sin is so often disguised as something profitable, that is worth the payout, worth the risk. And for a season it can deceive. But it never delivers. In the end, all we are left with is worthless ingredients that can’t even make a tasty corn-dog (and that’s saying something.) 

Sin promises the world, but in the end has nothing to offer. It dupes. It cheats us. It leaves us empty and disappointed and yet we come running back to the same place and say, “What else do you have that I can waste my money, time, life, and hurt my relationships with?” Pretty nuts.

But a more vivid picture of sin must lead to a more vivid picture of a Savior. Sin is this irrational, this stupid, this terrible, this wasteful. And yet we are told by another, “Come all who are weary and heavy laden, for my yoke is gentle and my burden is light.” That’s Jesus talking if you hadn’t heard that before.

Unfortunately for Thomas, he wasn’t broken and just went to back to “business” and schemed his way back into servant-hood. Let’s not waste our sin but come back to the one died for people who regularly get taken to the cleaners on bad “business” deals.

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Gifted folks and doubters come to the same place

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Yesterday I had the privilege of preaching on probably my favorite passage in the bible. If you want to listen to “Take these broken wings” (named after the Mister Mister song, not the Beattles song), here is the link. Mark 9:14-29 depicts a man deeply struggling to believe Jesus can and will heal his child. The kicker is that the man already gave the disciples a shot and it didn’t work. So cue the unbelief, plus the unbelief that may have already been present. The hope of the passage is that Jesus isn’t offended. He doesn’t run, shun, or gun him down. Instead he says to the father, “Bring the child to me.” And when the situation only gets worse with the demon making the kid squirm like a fish out of water, the doubt hits an all time high. Yet Jesus stays around, he doesn’t run, gun, or shun. The man prays to Jesus, “I believe, help m unbelief!” And immediately Jesus answers. How cool. I’ll never get tired of this passage. Ever. Because I feel like I always need it. 

One thing I couldn’t get into with the sermon based upon time was the curious answer as to why the disciples couldn’t cast out the demon. It’s the simplicity of the answer that is so confusing: “this kind can be driven out only by prayer.” So the big dog demons take prayer, while the other ones simply require the invocation of Jesus name? Did the disciples not pray? 

We’re not privy to all the information, and I read two different commentaries which in essence provided two different explanations. Here’s my take and its application today.

The disciples regularly cast out demons. Regularly. They were gifted at tossing out demons. They could have put that on a resume (I’m sure it would have been helpful for some job back then…..). But I think Jesus is telling them that giftedness is no substitute for completely dependent prayer. For complete dependence. Now He is not trying to get them to deny their giftedness-provided that they realize where the gifts come from-for that is false humility. Instead he is reminding them that giftedness alone will only get you so far. Your ultimate strength will never be found in your own gifts or abilities but in complete dependence upon the power of the Spirit. Zecheriah reminded Zerubbabel, “Not by might or power but my Spirit. (Zech 4:6) I think Jesus is doing the same thing here when he privately teaches the disciples. 

What I’ve come to really appreciate about this passage is the juxtaposition of unbelief and perhaps over-confidence. We take both our unbelief and our skills/gifts to Jesus in dependent prayer. Can you do something with our gifts? Jesus says yes. Can you do something with our lack of faith, doubt, and even lack of gifts? Jesus says yes.

Gifting gets you somewhere but there is always a cap. Even faith gets you only so far, as there is a cap on that too. Whether you feel like you have lots of faith or numbers of gifts, remember the source of both is Jesus. Don’t forget to come to him in dependent prayer. And even when you think its too late, remember, it is not.