We live in a secular, post-Christian postmodern culture that has left behind the trappings of it's Christian heritage and has no use for God, religion or any real spiritual reality. Well, that's what some people want to believe. And sadly, that's how many people who would call themselves "Christian" live their lives with the exception of one hour on Sunday. But all one has to do is follow the soap opera that is the GOP presidential campaign and you get the idea that religion and religious beliefs do still matter in the public square. Our world is surely multicultural and diverse, and no longer can one assume that everyone sees the Bible as "The Good Book." Nor can one assume that the God that most people do still believe in looks anything at all like the God of the Bible. But the influence of Bible on our culture and on our language is still considerable.
That year marked the 400th anniversary of the release of the King James Version of the Bible. Before 1611, there had been many different attempts to bring the Bible into English, beginning with that of William Tyndale (who was burned at the stake as a heretic for his trouble in 1536). Today, there are dozens and dozens of English translations of the Bible; I have 7 English versions come up whenever my Bible software loads (NIV2011, NIV86, ESV, NET, KJV, NLT, NRSV). But between 1611 and 1901, the KJV WAS the English Bible, and the impact it had upon our history and culture is literally immeasurable.
The video below uses 100 phrases from the KJV in 3 minutes or less (notice the counter in the lower left hand corner). So many common phrases that people, who may have no knowledge of the Bible, use every day are in reality phrases brought into English through the KJV. Give the video a watch... and then pay attention in your everyday speech and notice how many times Bible language is used.
I think the KJV is the second most important translation of the Bible ever done. The most important translation is the one that you and I do (or fail to do) each day as we bring the Bible to life in our lives.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
The Fear of Isaac
Our worship yesterday was centered on the theme “Our Awesome God.” The word “awesome” has been so watered down in our language that many things that are decidedly not awesome are called awesome. There is a website called “Oh My, That’s Awesome” that features are kinds of strange “awesome” things-- like an Android geek tie, a 26 pound gummy bear, an iPig docking station, and an underwater scooter—all guaranteed to be awesome! Of course, none of those things are awesome. God is awesome. Ultimately, ONLY God is awesome. We tried to remind ourselves of that yesterday in our worship.
One of the songs we sang yesterday was the Keith Lancaster arrangement of the Rich Mullins classic “Awesome God.” For years, we simply sang the chorus of this song—“Our God is an awesome God, He reigns in heaven above with wisdom power and love, our God is an awesome God.” But I think the the message of verses are what really let this song point us to the awesome in our awesome God. Here's a cappella version arrangement we used yesterday. Listen closely to verses in middle of the song.
Have we too quickly forgotten that our God is an awesome God? Do we realize there really is thunder in His footsteps and lightening in His fists. Do we believe that "judgment and wrath he poured out on Sodom?" Do we think "It wasn;t for no reason that he shed his blood?" God hasn't become civilized or domesticated; our God is still an awesome God!
Our daily Bible reading today is from Genesis 30-34. In part of this story, Jacob decides that it is time to leave Paddan Aram and return home to face the music with Esau. He is afraid that his father-in-law Laban will not easily allow him to leave, so he sneaks off in the middle of the night with his wives, children and flocks and herds. His fear of Laban turns out to be well founded as Laban rides them down and confronts Jacob in the hill country of Gilead. They spend some time accusing each other of being unfair, but then after the required diplomatic back and forth, they decide to make a covenant. They set up a pile of rocks to represent a boundary between and then they swear that they will not cross that boundary into one another's territory. Laban swears by the “God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father,” actually covering a gambit of different deities. It is interesting how Jacob returns the oath—
Our God is an awesome God. Not awesome like in 26 pound gummy bears. But awesome as in “There's thunder in His footsteps and lightning in His fists.” We need to remember that as we worship. We need to remember that even MORE as we leave worship.
One of the songs we sang yesterday was the Keith Lancaster arrangement of the Rich Mullins classic “Awesome God.” For years, we simply sang the chorus of this song—“Our God is an awesome God, He reigns in heaven above with wisdom power and love, our God is an awesome God.” But I think the the message of verses are what really let this song point us to the awesome in our awesome God. Here's a cappella version arrangement we used yesterday. Listen closely to verses in middle of the song.
Have we too quickly forgotten that our God is an awesome God? Do we realize there really is thunder in His footsteps and lightening in His fists. Do we believe that "judgment and wrath he poured out on Sodom?" Do we think "It wasn;t for no reason that he shed his blood?" God hasn't become civilized or domesticated; our God is still an awesome God!
Our daily Bible reading today is from Genesis 30-34. In part of this story, Jacob decides that it is time to leave Paddan Aram and return home to face the music with Esau. He is afraid that his father-in-law Laban will not easily allow him to leave, so he sneaks off in the middle of the night with his wives, children and flocks and herds. His fear of Laban turns out to be well founded as Laban rides them down and confronts Jacob in the hill country of Gilead. They spend some time accusing each other of being unfair, but then after the required diplomatic back and forth, they decide to make a covenant. They set up a pile of rocks to represent a boundary between and then they swear that they will not cross that boundary into one another's territory. Laban swears by the “God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father,” actually covering a gambit of different deities. It is interesting how Jacob returns the oath—
So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there. (Genesis 31:53-54).Earlier he had referred to God as “the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac” (Gen 31:42). We are used to the Bible speaking of “the fear of God,” but here the name of God is Fear! God is "He who is to be feared." Maybe we have lost some of that sense of "awesomeness."
Our God is an awesome God. Not awesome like in 26 pound gummy bears. But awesome as in “There's thunder in His footsteps and lightning in His fists.” We need to remember that as we worship. We need to remember that even MORE as we leave worship.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Second Fiddle
We know Isaac as the son of Abraham and the father of Jacob-- in fact, that is almost all we know about him. Most of the stories in Genesis about Isaac focus on him as Abraham’s son or Jacob’s father. The story of Abraham is told in Genesis 12-25; the story of Jacob is told in Genesis 27-36. Only Genesis 26 is totally dedicated to Isaac. Someone has said that “second fiddle is the hardest instrument to play.” If so, Isaac was a maestro.
But we do get something of a picture of the personality of Isaac in Genesis 26. Because of a famine, Isaac was told by God to move to Gerar and live among the Philistines. While there, Isaac shows himself to be a chip off the old block in a not so positive sense-- as he tried to pass Rebekah off as his sister rather than his wife because she was so beautiful and that made him nervous (he was afraid the Philistines would kill him to get here. If that doesn't sound familiar, read Gen. 12:10-20 and Gen. 20:1-17. I guess this "she's not my wife, she's my sister ploy worked so well for Abraham (twice) that Isaac wanted to try it?
I want to pick up the story there. Isaac prospered and became so powerful that he was perceived as a threat to the Philistines, so Abimelech asked him to move on. Issac does just that, but every time he dug a new well or uncovered an old of Abraham, the inhabitants of the area moved in and claimed the water as their own. This happened several times, and each time Isaac abandoned his new well and moved on to set up shop at another place. There was nothing more valuable than water to these nomadic people, and Isaac was powerful enough to be a threat to the locals (that's why he'd been asked to move by Abimelech in the first place). One can only imagine what David (the man after God's own heart) would have done if he had been treated that way. David he decided to kill a man and his entire family because he cheated on a sheep-shearing bill (see 1 Sam. 25). But yet Isaac responded by moving on and he kept moving on until he found a place where he could live in peace. Eventually, Abimelech came to Isaac and made what amounts to a peace treaty, and “Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace” (Gen 26:31).
Isaac goes out of his way to seek the way of peace. In a time and place in which wars were fought over things less important than water rights, Isaac chose the way of peace. We don’t know many of the facts of Isaac’s life, and maybe that is because compared with Abraham and Jacob, Isaac life was fairly uneventful. And maybe it was uneventful because he chose to live in peace rather than fighting his neighbors to enforce his rights. And that sounds a lot like what we are instructed to do as Christians—
But we do get something of a picture of the personality of Isaac in Genesis 26. Because of a famine, Isaac was told by God to move to Gerar and live among the Philistines. While there, Isaac shows himself to be a chip off the old block in a not so positive sense-- as he tried to pass Rebekah off as his sister rather than his wife because she was so beautiful and that made him nervous (he was afraid the Philistines would kill him to get here. If that doesn't sound familiar, read Gen. 12:10-20 and Gen. 20:1-17. I guess this "she's not my wife, she's my sister ploy worked so well for Abraham (twice) that Isaac wanted to try it?
I want to pick up the story there. Isaac prospered and became so powerful that he was perceived as a threat to the Philistines, so Abimelech asked him to move on. Issac does just that, but every time he dug a new well or uncovered an old of Abraham, the inhabitants of the area moved in and claimed the water as their own. This happened several times, and each time Isaac abandoned his new well and moved on to set up shop at another place. There was nothing more valuable than water to these nomadic people, and Isaac was powerful enough to be a threat to the locals (that's why he'd been asked to move by Abimelech in the first place). One can only imagine what David (the man after God's own heart) would have done if he had been treated that way. David he decided to kill a man and his entire family because he cheated on a sheep-shearing bill (see 1 Sam. 25). But yet Isaac responded by moving on and he kept moving on until he found a place where he could live in peace. Eventually, Abimelech came to Isaac and made what amounts to a peace treaty, and “Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace” (Gen 26:31).
Isaac goes out of his way to seek the way of peace. In a time and place in which wars were fought over things less important than water rights, Isaac chose the way of peace. We don’t know many of the facts of Isaac’s life, and maybe that is because compared with Abraham and Jacob, Isaac life was fairly uneventful. And maybe it was uneventful because he chose to live in peace rather than fighting his neighbors to enforce his rights. And that sounds a lot like what we are instructed to do as Christians—
But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. (Matt 5:39-40)
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:17-18)We live in a culture that values rights, and we are told that we are to protect our rights above all else. And yet we follow a God that calls us to walk in the way of peace, In fact, we are to seek peace to the point where there are times when are to give up our rights in order to find it. That is the example of Isaac in Genesis 26. That is certainly not an easy thing to do, but then playing second fiddle isn't supposed to be easy!
The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. (1 Cor. 6:7-8)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
On How to Respond to Critics
I'm sure you've seen You Tube video by Jefferson Bethke entitled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” The video was uploaded last week and has become YouTube's most-watched video... and one of it's most controversial. There were several links to this video posted by Facebook friends (I never have to go looking for these; someone always brings them to my attention). If you you haven't watched it, go ahead and give it a look. Then I want to make a powerful point. Actually, it is a powerful point I was pointed to by Rachel Held Evans that Bethke himself makes in response to some of his critics.
Bethke is contrasting faith in Jesus with the kind of religiosity represented by the Pharisees that Jesus condemns in texts like Matthew 6 and Matthew 23. And I get it. It's a good point. So many of us (and Bethke includes his past self here) want to substitute doing religious things (like going to church, which is really pretty easy) for a genuine walk-like-Jesus discipleship (like actually taking the Sermon on the Mount seriously, which isn't very easy at all). And sometimes our religious systems get in the way of actually living like Jesus.
Where Bethke runs afoul of his critics (and they may have a point) is that he uses the word "religion" here as a synonym for the hypocritical and hypercritical ritualism that ignores the heart and the spirit of the Law that Jesus was condemning in the Pharisees. But that isn't how the New Testament uses it. The word "religion" (Greek "threskeia") is sometimes used to denounce the "self-made religion" (Greek "ethelothreskia") that focuses on the "appearance of wisdom" and "asceticism and severity to the body" (Col 2:22, ESV). But sometimes the New Testament uses "religion" to describe the disciple's willingness to control hos or her language, to help the poor and the powerless and to keep oneself "unstained by the world" (James 1:26-27, NRSV). So religion isn't bad; only bad religion is bad. Not only is religion not bad; sometimes even those external rituals (like observing holy days and eating kosher foods) can been good if they help us focus on God... and if we resist the annoying tendency to judge those who don't follow our exact program. There is nothing bad about religion... unless it's bad religion. For the record, I liked Bethke's video... except the part that I didn't.
But none of that is my point. In Rachel Held Evans' Sunday Superlatives 1/15/2012 blog (which is kind of highlight look back at the week on the blogoshere), she points to Bethke's response to some criticism he received for his video. As one who has been criticized (both constructively and otherwise) over things I've written and taught, I wish I could say that I always handled critics with as much grace and humility as does he. But I haven't. We'd have far fewer theological squabbles if we were all as open and willing to learn and as unwilling to depend our turf as is this brother here--
Bethke is contrasting faith in Jesus with the kind of religiosity represented by the Pharisees that Jesus condemns in texts like Matthew 6 and Matthew 23. And I get it. It's a good point. So many of us (and Bethke includes his past self here) want to substitute doing religious things (like going to church, which is really pretty easy) for a genuine walk-like-Jesus discipleship (like actually taking the Sermon on the Mount seriously, which isn't very easy at all). And sometimes our religious systems get in the way of actually living like Jesus.
Where Bethke runs afoul of his critics (and they may have a point) is that he uses the word "religion" here as a synonym for the hypocritical and hypercritical ritualism that ignores the heart and the spirit of the Law that Jesus was condemning in the Pharisees. But that isn't how the New Testament uses it. The word "religion" (Greek "threskeia") is sometimes used to denounce the "self-made religion" (Greek "ethelothreskia") that focuses on the "appearance of wisdom" and "asceticism and severity to the body" (Col 2:22, ESV). But sometimes the New Testament uses "religion" to describe the disciple's willingness to control hos or her language, to help the poor and the powerless and to keep oneself "unstained by the world" (James 1:26-27, NRSV). So religion isn't bad; only bad religion is bad. Not only is religion not bad; sometimes even those external rituals (like observing holy days and eating kosher foods) can been good if they help us focus on God... and if we resist the annoying tendency to judge those who don't follow our exact program. There is nothing bad about religion... unless it's bad religion. For the record, I liked Bethke's video... except the part that I didn't.
But none of that is my point. In Rachel Held Evans' Sunday Superlatives 1/15/2012 blog (which is kind of highlight look back at the week on the blogoshere), she points to Bethke's response to some criticism he received for his video. As one who has been criticized (both constructively and otherwise) over things I've written and taught, I wish I could say that I always handled critics with as much grace and humility as does he. But I haven't. We'd have far fewer theological squabbles if we were all as open and willing to learn and as unwilling to depend our turf as is this brother here--
“I just wanted to say I really appreciate your article man. It hit me hard. I’ll even be honest and say I agree 100%. God has been working with me in the last 6 months on loving Jesus AND loving his church. For the first few years of walking with Jesus (started in ’08) I had a warped/poor paradigm of the church and it didn't build up, unify, or glorify His wife (the Bride). If I can be brutally honest I didn’t think this video would get much over a couple thousand views maybe, and because of that, my points/theology wasn’t as air-tight as I would’ve liked. If I redid the video tomorrow, I’d keep the overall message, but would articulate, elaborate, and expand on the parts where my words and delivery were chosen poorly… My prayer is my generation would represent Christ faithfully and not swing to the other spectrum….thankful for your words and more importantly thankful for your tone and fatherly like grace on me as my elder. Humbled. Blessed. Thankful for painful growth.”I thought his video was good and helpful. But his example here on how to handle criticism and the critics who offer it is extremely helpful. Maybe if we would all follow his example, we'd come a bit closer to living out Jesus' prayer for our unity in John 17.
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Beyond the Storm
Jerry Jones is a man well acquainted with tragedy. No, not the Jerry Jones who is the owner of Cowboys (although he is becoming more and more an expert on tragedy). No, I’m talking about Dr. Jerry Jones the preacher, professor and writer who some of you probably know because of the “Marriage Matters” series that he and his wife Lynn have presented at many churches (including Denbigh via DVD). Dr. Jones has seen his share of professional and church tragedies.
These professional tragedies set the stage for more personal and real struggles of his life. Within a single year his only brother suddenly died of ruptured aorta, two close lifelong friends died unexpectedly and he watched his wife die a slow and agonizing death from cancer.
These experiences led Jones to write a book entitled Beyond the Storm. In this book, he looks at four different storms that we come to face in life– death, terror, divorce, and illness. In the book, different people share their own struggles with the death of a mate, going through a divorce, being the victim of violent crime, and suffering through a long-term illness. The contributors to the book are all very different, but they share:
None of these people come close to suggesting that their taste of tragedy was GOOD-- it is never good to lose a mate, get hurt in the Oklahoma City bombing, get cancer or suffer any of the other tragedies talked about in the book. But all of the contributors agree God was somehow able to use these terrible tragedies in surprising ways to bless them and to bless others for good.
The perspective that allows us to see the working of God within the storms of life only comes with time and distance. But the testimony of scripture and of others confirms that God works behind the scenes within the tragedies of our lives to strengthen and bless us. When we are in the middle of the storm, all we can do is hold on in faith and hope. But we can do that because of our confidence in the God who is sovereign over the storms of life. Even things that are not good can be counted as joy as we wait for God to work His wonders.
The Book of Job (which we are reading this week) ends with God appearing to Job in the storm, and this experience of God puts an end to all of Job’s questions... even though those questions are never answered. Job’s final speech of book acknowledges that there is much in life that he can never understand, and he decides that coming to know the God of the storm is what really matters. The Message renders Job 42:3-5 like this--
- He was fired by a Christian college for his stance (and book) on a controversial issue.
- As an elder at a controversial church, he tried to moderate some issues and ended up as “a man without a church” for a season.
These professional tragedies set the stage for more personal and real struggles of his life. Within a single year his only brother suddenly died of ruptured aorta, two close lifelong friends died unexpectedly and he watched his wife die a slow and agonizing death from cancer.
These experiences led Jones to write a book entitled Beyond the Storm. In this book, he looks at four different storms that we come to face in life– death, terror, divorce, and illness. In the book, different people share their own struggles with the death of a mate, going through a divorce, being the victim of violent crime, and suffering through a long-term illness. The contributors to the book are all very different, but they share:
- An unshakable faith that God was with them through the storms of life.
- The certain belief that they were blessed in some way by the storms.
None of these people come close to suggesting that their taste of tragedy was GOOD-- it is never good to lose a mate, get hurt in the Oklahoma City bombing, get cancer or suffer any of the other tragedies talked about in the book. But all of the contributors agree God was somehow able to use these terrible tragedies in surprising ways to bless them and to bless others for good.
The perspective that allows us to see the working of God within the storms of life only comes with time and distance. But the testimony of scripture and of others confirms that God works behind the scenes within the tragedies of our lives to strengthen and bless us. When we are in the middle of the storm, all we can do is hold on in faith and hope. But we can do that because of our confidence in the God who is sovereign over the storms of life. Even things that are not good can be counted as joy as we wait for God to work His wonders.
The Book of Job (which we are reading this week) ends with God appearing to Job in the storm, and this experience of God puts an end to all of Job’s questions... even though those questions are never answered. Job’s final speech of book acknowledges that there is much in life that he can never understand, and he decides that coming to know the God of the storm is what really matters. The Message renders Job 42:3-5 like this--
I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head.
You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’
I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Get Out of Jail Free?
When someone asked me how I feel about Christianity, I said, “I respect it. My father is a Baptist minister. When I do go to church, I choose a Christian church. But one concern I’ve always had is that Christianity has become a ‘get out of jail free’ card for those who are choosing to live an unethical existence. It doesn’t appear (to me) to be a true, untainted quest for spiritual clarity, but instead appears to be a club that you join if you want to get into heaven.”
I knew a man who was a thief, a liar, an adulterer and even a child molester (in an R. Kelly sort of way. Kelly is another man who went straight to the church for forgiveness, and has many fans in the black church). He did things to others that no decent man would ever do. Yet, he loved to thump bibles against my head to remind me that he’s going to heaven and I’m not. Why? Because of the “Get out of jail free card” he received when Jesus died for his sins. Whenever he did something wrong, all he had to do was pray for forgiveness and all sins would be washed away. And since all sin is apparently equal in the eyes of God (his pastor told him so), his actions were no worse than my own.The emphasis in much of modern Christianity is on “getting saved” and eventually “going to heaven.” And there is an undertone among many that getting saved means “once-saved-always-saved.” Even many who don’t formally drink the Calvinist Kool-Aid seem to come around to an approximation of that viewpoint through the same back door in that Watkins describes above.
Sin is sin in the eyes of God, none of us are perfect, but those who accept Jesus are forgiven. That’s OK as far as it goes, but the leap that many make (like the man in Watkins' example) is to assume that it therefore doesn't really matter that much how we live. My sin is forgiven. God wants me to be happy. God forgives the sins I commit when I ask Him. And so God will take me to heaven when life is over. So I can then pretty live like I want to live and go to heaven as well. So Christianity become a “Get Out of Jail Free Card.”
Paul actually anticipates this modern misconception… and seeks to quash it. He understood that his gospel of grace would be twisted by some. He brings up that possible misunderstanding in two different passages and then both denies the allegation and challenges the alligator (so to speak)—
“But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned. (Romans 3:7-8, NLT)
Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? (Romans 6:1-2)The point of the gospel is NOT that our sin doesn't matter so much. The point of the gospel is that our sin matters so much that it took Jesus’ death on the cross to bring us back to God. And once we are brought back to God, then we must try our best to rise above sinfulness. God was against sin so much that His response was the cross; we must be against sin so much that our response is to live a crucified life. Sin was so horrible that it cost Jesus everything; accepting the cross as God’s remedy for sin must cost us everything as well.
Get out of jail free? If we truly look to the cross, then the last think we will think about salvation is that it was free. And if we can only see the price that God paid for us, then we will live lives so indebted to Him and overshadowed by the cross that they will be transformed and changed.
My old self has been crucified with Christ.It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NLT)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)