Churches Offering Mud Pies Instead of Ocean Vacations

At my home we sometimes receive direct mail advertisements from large area churches. One received last week promoted a new "teaching series" that will start in January. Asking about the possibility that we could make choices from which we "would still be benefitting from 5 or even 10 years from now," the ad promised a "new teaching series on what it means to build a life that lasts."

Lasts. Even as much as 10 years from now. This is the message that this church has to offer?

Reading the mailer, I could not help being reminded of C.S. Lewis remarks in his address, "The Weight of Glory." Lewis was contrasting the Christian hope with secular alternatives that proved human longing to often be too short sighted, but his message nowadays would seem to strike even some Christian ministries between the eyes. Lewis said:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

There is something horribly sad about a church offering a 10 year benefit when Christ in fact offers eternal life. We are in the midst of a cultural celebration of the incarnation, when the God of glory who created all of the universe took on humanity and lived and died and rose in order to bring about forgiveness of sin, victory over death, and eternal life.

Eternal life. That is far better than a 5 or 10 year return. I think I will pass on the mud pies.

Boring Worship

Recently, I heard an acquaintance -- someone I like, if he happens to come across this -- say that he had recently started attending a new church. Smiling broadly, he said that the church's worship was boring -- and that he loved it.

I am not completely without sympathy for the thought. It is unfortunate that many Christians seem to value enthusiasm more than orthodoxy, and boredom seems to be regarded as a far greater sin than unsound teaching or practices to the many. Those of us with concerns about doctrinal lapses are accused of nitpicking, but lulls in the worship experience are inexcusable.

Thus, admiring worship practices that value biblical standards more than energy levels is an understandable reaction. Christian worship is an expression of fealty to God, not to the values of our entertainment culture.

Yet, our reactions may take us too far, and they deserve challenge. We should not forget that the church, in worshiping, is proclaiming the most momentous news known to man. We do not have to work to generate excitement over mundane matters; rather, our proclamation addresses the God of creation and redemption, the reality of sin, justice, mercy, and forgiveness, life and death, heaven and hell. Nothing can be of greater importance.

That the Triune God who created all things planned and accomplished my eternal redemption through the death of the Son is mind boggling truth that cannot bore anyone that understands it. If our proclamation of such news makes the glorious mundane, perhaps we are doing it wrong.

Further, while we do have an account of a worshiper falling asleep in worship in the Book of Acts, one nevertheless cannot say that the preaching of the New Testament is boring. In fact, it addressed lives so vigorously that it was used of God to spark dramatic conversions while also resulting in vehement denunciations. Both believers and unbelievers responded vigorously to Christian proclamation.

I am thankful to be part of a tradition that rightly upholds faith in a sovereign God -- sovereign over all things. Belief in divine sovereignty does not justify a seeming fear to be interesting, nor does the over wrought emotionalism of some rightly result in a stoic response. The Bible is a gripping book that confronts us with momentous realities, both joyful and painful. Our worship should reflect that.

Compartmentalizing Sin

I am in the midst of reading Ron Chernow's biography of John D. Rockefeller. Like many other readers, I first became acquainted with Chernow's writing through his spectacular biography of Alexander Hamilton. I have since read his works on U.S. Grant and the house of Morgan. All of his writings reflect thorough research and solid writing and are well worth reading.

Rockefeller's religion plays a significant role in Chernow's understanding of the titan, as the place of religion in Rockefeller's understanding of the world and his place in it provides valuable insight into the thinking and actions of the man. From childhood and throughout his adult life, Rockefeller was a devout Baptist, attending services regularly both when at home and while traveling. His choices of houses of worship reflected religious conviction, rather than social status, and his understanding of religion seems to have shaped the values that prioritized his personal life. Unlike many of the other robber barons of that age, Rockefeller doted on his wife and children. While his lifestyle certainly was that of someone of wealth, he disliked ostentation and lived below his means. His children had no idea of how wealthy they were, and he engaged in numerous exercises intended to teach them the value of hard work and generosity.

For the most part, Rockefeller also treated his employees well. While he was anti-union, for the most part he had good relationships with those who worked for him. His philanthropy, particularly over the final three decades of his life, was remarkable.

For all of that, Rockefeller is known to history for his ruthlessness and questionable ethics with regard to his competitive business practices. Rather than seeing this as an inconsistency, Chernow sees this outcome as an outgrowth of his "Baptist" religious sentiments that permitted this kind of compartmentalization. I put "Baptist" in quotes, for I think that Chernow emphasizes the Baptist nature of Rockefeller's religion, when in fact he could have spoken more broadly of it as "revivalistic" religion that is in view. Rockefeller had religious commitments that focused mostly on pragmatic concerns and behavioral change. As such, he had no use for doctrines such as original sin or detailed understandings of the atonement. Thus, it was easy for him to see that God had a plan for his life -- which involved making lots of money through doing good by bringing oil to the world. If God's plan for your life is to build your business, then your enemies -- business competitors -- are God's enemies. This leads to a sort of Manichaeism that becomes the justification for ruthless dealings with those enemies.

Of course, Rockefeller was neither the first nor the last to compartmentalize religion for his own gratification or to ignore sin where one doesn't wish to find it. All of us are probably guilty of this to one degree or another, and we see it in the public sphere on a regular basis. It is sometimes noted that Christians who are political conservatives tend to focus on individual sins, especially sexual ones, while those who are political liberals give more attention to social evils. Neither side really displays an effort to develop a robust understanding of sin that will lead to the sort of self-examination and social criticism engaged in by Augustine of Hippo, as but one example. In fact, our understanding of sin tends to be self-justifying while condemning those with whom we disagree.

A recent pop culture flare up puts this on display. I don't watch reality television, so I would ask reader indulgence if I get some details wrong, but it seems, according to media accounts, that in this year's season of one of the dating reality shows there was a flare up between a young man committed to sexual purity prior to marriage and the female lead whose tilting at windmills involved sexual positions. While critics of the man pointed out his arrogance and lack of consideration, one might also have asked why a vocal Christian would even be involved with a television program with premises that entail dehumanizing people by reducing their real lives to entertainment, arguably a violation of the sixth commandment. Meanwhile, the young woman declared that her self-expression and commitment to loving were consistent with her own commitments as a Christian, but her understanding of Christianity seems to have confused Jesus with D.H. Lawrence. In spite of that, she seems to have won the media argument, which is not surprising given that our culture wishes for Jesus to be more like D.H. Lawrence, and no one on either side wanted to hear that enjoyment of reality salaciousness might be dehumanizing.

What all of these people lack is a full orbed understanding of sin that does not reduce the Law of God to a set of check boxes for affirming our own goodness. In reality, the Law is a devastating reflection of the character of God, devastating because it relentlessly exposes the vast chasm between God's character and ours. Fortunately, Christianity also points to a Christ who by His death and resurrection justifies the wicked, thus offering hope for those who see behind the banal efforts at compartmentalization and minimizing and instead turn to Christ who comes in grace to the ungodly who believe. Freed from condemnation, the Law can then become our friend, as its revelations point us to ways that we can root out sin and learn to live as God would call us.

That is the message of hope that the church should offer. Not one that papers over feelings by a lack of forthrightness regarding sin, but one that sees the dark, gritty realities of the human hope and proclaims hope in the merciful work of Jesus Christ.

"The Heart of the Thing"

"Where some see the cross as superstitious foolery or a stumbling block, others see grace and sublime love. For us, the glory and joy of Easter Sunday is only made possible by the anguish of Good Friday."

-- Peter Wehner, in an excellent opinion piece in the New York Times under the headline, "What it Means to Worship a Man Crucified as a Criminal"

Christian Waffling on the Sixth Commandment

The Sixth Commandment. That is the one that says, "Thou shalt not kill."

Most Christians recognize that Jesus spoke about understanding this commandment expansively. In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord declared that anger or hate against a brother violates the commandment  (Mt. 5:24ff). In many evangelical pulpits, the Sixth Commandment will be referenced with regard to abortion, which is an application of the text that is justified given the belief that abortion involves the taking of a human life.

The Westminster Larger Catcheism, in questions 134 -- 136 sets forth positive and negative requirements from the Sixth Commandment:

Q. 134. Which is the sixth commandment?

A. The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.

Q. 135. What are the duties required in the sixth commandment?

A. The duties required in the sixth commandment are all careful studies, and lawful endeavors, to preserve the life of ourselves and others by resisting all thoughts and purposes, subduing all passions, and avoiding all occasions, temptations, and practices, which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any; by just defence thereof against violence, patient bearing of the hand of God, quietness of mind, cheerfulness of spirit; a sober use of meat, drink,  physic, sleep, labour, and recreations; by charitable thoughts,love, compassion, meekness,gentleness,kindness; peaceable, mild and courteous speeches and behaviour; forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and forgiving of injuries, and requiting good for evil; comforting and succouring the distressed and protecting and defending the innocent.

Q. 136. What are the sins forbidden in the sixth commandment?

A. The sins forbidden in the sixth commandment are, all taking away the life of ourselves, or of others, except in case of public justice, lawful war, or necessary defence; the neglecting or withdrawing the lawful and necessary means of preservation of life; sinful anger, hatred, envy, desire of revenge; all excessive passions, distracting cares;immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and recreations; provoking words, oppression, quarreling, striking, wounding, and whatsoever else tends to the destruction of the life of any.

 

I thought about the Westminster Standards and their understanding of the Sixth Commandment back in December when I received a fundraising letter from the largely faith based Texas Home School Coalition. That organization used the example of a Texas representative that they lamented was a Republican that supported a measure that would enable the vaccination of children temporarily in the care of Child Protective Services. The Coalition thought that recipients of the letter might wish to make a substantial donation to counter this "type of opponent we're up against" putting family rights "under assault." The letter asserted the right not to vaccinate to be a "family's God-given right" and added that "nothing is more sacred."

 

Nothing is more sacred than the right to take actions that result in death and disablement of neighbors. The statement is blasphemous on its face.

 

Yet, such thinking is sadly not unusual in this day, and pastors and church leaders, fearful of controversy, fail to take stands against the anti-vaxxer movement, which has and will result in the loss of life and in permanent disability.

 

Those that follow the anti-vaxxer movement closely know that there are two versions of it on opposite poles of the political spectrum. That is, there is a left-wing version of it largely comprised of young affluent, liberal families. At the other end, the movement has gained popularity with some who have children who either home school or attend private Christian schools that may not require validation of vaccination records. While these two groups of disparate people often do not know one another, they rely on the same sources of junk science and faulty logic. The result is that diseases that had been on the verge of eradication two decades ago are now making a come back, endangering children and adults with compromised immune systems.

 

While the anti-vaxxers are loud, they are a small minority. However, their visibility among some evangelical groups has provoked silence among Christian leaders that should know better. Think of it this way: most people realize that there are members of churches that access internet pornography, and pastors are quick and correct to apply the Seventh Commandment and Jesus' teaching about lust in pointing out that this is sin to be repented of. However, there is largely only silence with regard to the community dangers posed by the anti-vaccination movement.

 

Full disclosure: while I think that we most should be concerned about children threatened by this movement, I should also mention that I, myself, am endangered by it.

 

While I received all of my childhood vaccinations recommended when I was growing up, medical treatment for my particular form of cancer wiped out my immune system in 2016. I have since been re-vaccinated with all of the innoculations I am allowed to receive, but ongoing medical treatment that keeps me healthy also prevents me from receiving live vaccines, which includes vaccination for measles, mumps, and rubella.

 

Thus, my well being relies on the herd immunity that anti-vaxxers often deride. The lack of community valuing of the lives of others places me at risk. While it is true the measles is not fatal the majority of the time, the idea that its re-entry into our society poses no risk is simply untrue, as this woman's article reminds us. In addition, I would note that I am a 55 year old man with a weakened immune system. Should I catch the measles, it likely would not be a terribly good thing. I contemplate the possibility that with improved treatments I could very well survive cancer and be killed by the measles.

 

I used to be a member of a church where multiple anti-vaxxer families with children also were members. While their presence was not the reason I left that church, I must admit that it entered my thinking. To be fair, I never talked with the elders about my concern, though I suspect that doing so would not have been well received. In any event, without wanting to be paranoid about it, the reality is that going to any crowded place with known opponents of vaccination carries a certain amount of risk. I now think about measles outbreaks when planning vacations or going to sporting events or other public spectacles. Bangladesh and Portland, Oregon are now, for me, dangerous places that I probably should stay away from.

 

Thou shalt not kill. When the church takes the Sixth Commandment as seriously as the Seventh, her witness as to the sweep of God's law will be more consistent.

Thou Shalt Not

After reading the Ten Commandments in church this morning, our pastor commented that anyone who believes that they are keeping all of them should read the comments of Jesus about their meaning in the Sermon on the Mount. That was a helpful thought.

Over the last several decades, numerous well meaning Christians have advocated for the posting of the Decalogue in a variety of public places ranging from courthouses to public schools. Rarely, though, have such Christians seemed to pause to question how readers will understand that document apart from any context. Indeed, many people, both Christians and not, seem to read the commandments rather narrowly and use them as a set of check boxes to measure one's self against. Thus, if I didn't worship another god this week or swipe something that doesn't belong to me, I'm good on numbers one and eight.

Of course, Jesus, in the aforementioned sermon, interpreted the commandments much more expansively -- indeed, fearsomely so. The commandment against adultery is not violated only by the actual physical act of unmarried sex, but by lust. The prohibition of killing is violated by hate. If all ten are teased out in this way, who can stand?

Consistent with the way that Jesus spoke about these, the Reformed confessions and catechisms tend to approach the Ten Commandments as a set of summary statements into which every biblical or ethical duty, both positive and negative, can be categorized. Thus, for example, the Heidelberg Catechism provides the following on what is required of us by the Sixth Commandment ("Thou Shalt Not Kill"):

105. Q. What does God require in the sixth commandment?
A. I am not to dishonour, hate, injure, or kill my neighbour by thoughts, words, or gestures, and much less by deeds, whether personally or through another;[1] rather, I am to put away all desire of revenge.[2] Moreover, I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself.[3] Therefore, also, the government bears the sword to prevent murder.[4]
[1] Gen. 9:6; Lev. 19:17, 18; Matt. 5:21, 22; 26:52. [2] Prov. 25:21, 22; Matt. 18:35; Rom. 12:19; Eph. 4:26. [3] Matt. 4:7; 26:52; Rom. 13:11-14. [4] Gen. 9:6; Ex. 21:14; Rom. 13:4.


106. Q. But does this commandment speak only of killing?
A. By forbidding murder God teaches us that He hates the root of murder, such as envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge,[1] and that He regards all these as murder.[2]
[1] Prov. 14:30; Rom. 1:29; 12:19; Gal. 5:19-21; James 1:20; I John 2:9-11. [2] I John 3:15.


107. Q. Is it enough, then, that we do not kill our neighbour in any such way? A. No. When God condemns envy, hatred, and anger, He commands us to love our neighbour as ourselves,[1] to show patience, peace, gentleness, mercy, and friendliness toward him,[2] to protect him from harm as much as we can, and to do good even to our enemies.[3]
[1] Matt. 7:12; 22:39; Rom. 12:10. [2] Matt. 5:5; Luke 6:36; Rom. 12:10, 18; Gal. 6:1, 2; Eph. 4:2; Col. 3:12; IPet. 3:8. [3] Ex. 23:4, 5; Matt. 5:44, 45; Rom. 12:20.


When reading this, it is important to remember that these are the Ten COMMANDMENTS, not the ten aspirations. Seeing the commandments in this way not only delivers me from self-righteousness, it radically defines me as a sinner who regularly violates the commandment against murder. Again, we could take the same approach to all ten. If this were the end of the scriptural message, I would be left without hope, but thankfully the story does not end there. Having delivered from the delusion of my own righteousness, the end of the law is to point me to Christ to whom I must flee, as he alone is a Savior of sinners.

Having been delivered by Christ, I am promised that I am no longer under a potential sentence of condemnation (Rom. 8:1). However, this does not mean that the law no longer has relevance. It no longer condemns me, for Christ by his death suffered the penalty in my behalf and set me free. Now, this law, still as commandments, provides a guide showing how I am to live as one who has been delivered.

The law delivers me from self-righteousness, but not to a newly found self-righteousness. Rather, it drives me from self-righteousness to a glorious dependence on the accomplishment of Christ.

God Knows How to Humble Us

A few months ago, I attended a conference held by a church where I had filled the pulpit a few times a while back. An elder at the church recognized me, and we chatted briefly.

During the conversation, he laughed and said, "I hope you aren't offended by this, but I remember the car you drive better than I remember your sermons."

I laughed. I wasn't offended, but internally it hurt a bit.

Then, he said, "You drove a Porsche, right?"

No, I have never owned a Porsche.

Of course, by now I am feeling rather awful. He remembered my car better than my sermons, but it turns out he didn't remember my car.

God has a way of showing us that we are less than we thought we were.

Books Read 2018

 

This is what I read in 2018. Every year I plan to read more fiction. Perhaps 2019 will be the year.

Fiction

1.       Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
2.     Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
3.       Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot

4.       Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, In the First Circle

5.       Scott Turow, Testimony

6.       Scott Turow, Reversible Errors

7.       Alexander Solzhenitsyn, August 1914

8.       Scott Turow, Identical 

Non-Fiction 

9.       Rosaria Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert

10.   Committee on Christian Education of the OPC, The Book of Church Order of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church

11.   Sam Quinones, Dreamland: the True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic

12.   Fred Sanders and Scott R. Swain, Retrieving Eternal Generation

13.   David van Drunnen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms

14.   Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology

15.   Candice Millard, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey

16.   Ben Sasse, The Vanishing American Adult

17.   David Murray, Jesus on Every Page

18.   Athanasius, On the Incarnation

19.   David Bentley Hart, Atheist Delusions: the Christian Revolution and its Fashionable Enemies

20.   Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition

21.   Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments

22.   John H. Walton and J. Harvey Walton, The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest: Covenant, Retribution, and the Fate of the Canaanites

23.   Erik Rifkin and Andrew Lazris, Interpreting Health Benefits and Risks

24.   Cornelius van Til, Christian Apologetics

25.   Meredith G. Kline, Kingdom Prologue

26.   G. Hart and John R. Muether, With Reverence and Awe: Returning to the Basics of Reformed Worship

27.   Ron Chernow, Grant

28.   James Bannerman, The Church of Christ, Vol. 1

29.   Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., Resurrection and Redemption

30.   Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible

31.   A. P. Martinich, The Two Gods of Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes on Religion and Politics

32.   James Bannerman, The Church of Christ, Vol. 2

33.   Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther

34.   Stuart Robinson, The Church of God as an Essential Element of the Gospel

35.   Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes with a House Key

36.   James K.A. Smith, You Are What you Love

37.   Carl Trueman, The Creedal Imperative

38.   Thomas Bergler, The Juvenilization of American Christianity

39.   Todd Bordow, What Did Jesus Really Say about Divorce?

40.   Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

41.   James E. Dolezal, All that Is in God

42.   David Vandrunen, God’s Glory Alone

43.   Joel R. Beeke, Overcoming the World

44.   Wallace W. Marshall, Puritanism and Natural Theology

45.   H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture

46.   Corey Miller, Lynn K. Wilder, Vince Eccles, and Latayne C. Scott, Leaving Mormonism

47.   David VanDrunen, ed., The Pattern of Sound Doctrine: Systematic Theology at the Westminster Seminaries

48.   Walter Isaacson, Leonardo Da Vinci

49.   E.J. Young, Thy Word Is Truth

50.   Anthony M. Coniaris, Introducing the Orthodox Church

51.   James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: the Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World

52.   Bob Woodward, Fear

53.   Edmund P. Clowney, The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament

54.   W. Robert Godfrey, Reformation Sketches

55.   Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Philip Moeller, Paul Solman, Get What’s Yours: the Secrets to Maxing out your Social Security

56.   Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology: Volume 1, Theology

57.   Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

58.   Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology: Volume II, Anthropology and Soteriology