If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
(James 1:5-8)
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God... First, we are all in this position. Relatively speaking. There is such a gulf of wisdom between God's wisdom and my wisdom. I will never have arrived, fully wise and needing no further instruction. I should always find myself in this verse. And in this verse I will always find the solution. Petition the One who can help.
...who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him... God will reject no one who truly seeks him. If we ask for wisdom and really mean it, he will give it. He gives wisdom to the one who murdered Christians (Paul), to the one who is late to the show (the thief on the cross), to the one who doubts (Thomas), and to you and me. Our sins do not bar us from obtaining this wisdom because our generous God is a forgiving God. He chooses not to find fault where he could. This verse is a promise worth banking on. In my poverty of wisdom, God delights and promises to give.
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. What would the nature of a non-believing request be? It would be a mouthing of words, an incantation thrown up to luck. God is not glorified by that. If there is no belief, my request means nothing. It is no longer a request if I don't think I am talking to someone who is listening.
What is needed is any faith at all. Small faith can pray. It can lay hold of God and bank on a promise. Small faith can recognize encroaching doubt, and small faith can recognize even its smallness. Small faith realizes that if I am the author of my own faith, it is liable to be snuffed out in the rough wind.
But faith is faith. A mustard seed pinch of it will do. It is not about how big my faith is but about how big my God is. As soon as faith realizes this, to look outward, to look upward, to look anywhere other than inward, it takes root and holds and banks on promises and glorifies God unto salvation.
I need to believe enough to think that God is God and that God is listening.
I do not think this verse means that we can never have doubts. Look at Thomas. Look at Peter. Look at anyone honest who has been a Christian for awhile. Having doubts does not mean we do not believe in God and that we do not love God. We cannot control our doubts, but we can control how we react to them. If someone challenges our faith in God, we may suffer a moment, but how do we react? Do we re-approach God in prayer? Do we talk with other Christians? Do we seek out the wisdom of those who have provided answers for the hope that is within us? Or do we cower and allow the flame of faith to be extinguished?
I think this verse means that doubt ruins the asking and works through the request like a poisonous leaven. Let's say I believe in God and that I ask him for something, but I doubt whether he is listening or wants to answer. Let's say I am questioning his goodness or his wisdom for some particular situation. That doubt will be the lens through which I view my circumstances, instead of faith. As things happen to me, my belief in God and in the power of prayer will latch on to the fact that God will answer. I know enough to know that God may not answer in a way that I initially wanted. But faith lays hold of Romans 8:28 and recognizes that God is wiser. Having Romans 8:28 in my heart is like a strong balancing weight for my ship as the waves come. Lacking it leaves me at the mercy of the storm, always second-guessing and wondering whether God is up to something or if he even cares. I must pray believing things like Romans 8:28.
That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. Being double-minded. I do not really think this means going back and forth between believing in God and not believing in God. The category we are working with is someone who thinks they might receive something from the Lord. We are saying that he will not. I think that instead of mere belief, we are talking about commitments of the heart. We want to have our cake and eat it, too. We want to hold on to some particular sin and still receive the blessings of God without repenting.
God is asking us to put away our double-mindedness. He wants our whole selves. He wants us to burn our idols to the ground, to cut our ties to our own ways of finding peace and joy and security. He wants us to cast ourselves fully on him, to burn our ships. To have no more to do with sin. All this for our good.
I have found that when I stop scheming and worrying and planning, when I sit down and read God's Word unhurriedly, when I read it believing-ly, God draws near to me. I cannot control God, but I can control myself. And when I draw near to God, he draws near to me. (Save the discussion about who draws first for another time and recognize the fact that nothing is more important in this moment than that I run to God! That I draw near to him by any means possible! Oh Spirit, draw me into prayer and fellowship. Let me know the sweetness of fellowship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!)
May God help us pursue him single-mindedly, without doubting. Oh, that we might go through life confident in the grace and goodness of God because the cross really happened. Jesus really was God. He really died for my sins. He really rose. Many saw him, testified about him, recorded it for later generations. God really loves me! That fact is the greatest fact that I will ever know. Oh that I would know it more.
I feel with great power the prayer of the man who said, "I believe, help my unbelief." This man addressed his request to the right place.
Soli Deo gloria!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Justice
What do we do when we are wronged?
The very existence of this question is a symptom of the type of world we live in. We do not live in a world of innocence. We live in a world that creaks and groans because of the Fall.
It is when we have been wronged that we feel most strongly that there is such a thing as Right and Wrong. There are behaviors that really are objectively reprehensible, not just that the majority of humans at the present time happen to be displeased by it. There is a real Right and Wrong. At bottom we all know this. We know this especially when we are on the receiving end.
Romans indicates that God has written his law on our hearts. He indicates that through nature we know God and are responsible to him. Through the dark desires of our heart we suppress the truths that we naturally know... so that we can chase down those dark desires. The atheist knows God, yet has suppressed that knowledge. Coming to know God, for the atheist, will be less like a dispassionate agreement at the end of a syllogism and more like a delighted/terrified, "Of course!"
When we have been wronged, we are driven to the acknowledgement of Right and Wrong, and we are driven to acknowledgement of the Law Giver, the Creator. And when we are on the receiving end, we ought to realize that God also is on the receiving end. Yet, because of his holiness, his love, his exclusive claim on the other person, God receives the hurt and the sin with far greater magnitude and capacity than we are even able to. Those sins that break your heart and cause you pain also break God's heart and cause him pain, but because of who he is, he sees and knows the iniquity to depths that we cannot. God's heart aches for the repentance of sinners with a gravity we cannot yet know.
The cry for justice, the cry to be be vindicated is Biblical. The Psalms are drenched with it. The Holy Spirit in our hearts will have us cry out against the brokenness in this world. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Deliver us from evil! We live in a world where this cry, this prayer, really means something.
What do we do when we are wronged?
Do we take vengeance? No. As Christians and as humans we are not that sort of people. Shall we allow the wickedness of others not merely to hurt us, but also to effect a transformation of our own hearts and souls into something decidedly ugly. Vengeance is not ours to take. May we find a refuge against this worst sort of infection! Evil cannot overcome evil in the end. Ultimately only good can do it.
Law exists, courts exists, the police exist - imperfect though they may be - to see justice done as much as possible, to provide a way out besides retaliation. All these things exist because we live in a broken world. But thanks be to God that they do exist! They now provide a shadow pointing to a greater reality. They provide a present means for us to approximate the true justice of God.
The God who has laid the law on our hearts is powerful and desirous to see justice done. Yet he is patient. And in the end - as the Christian view of things holds - there will not be a single unequal balance. All that is crooked will be laid straight. Those who stand and shake their fists at God and at man now will bow either willingly, or they will be made forcibly to bow before the Judge of perfect holiness and goodness.
When I am wronged, I entrust the other to God's justice. I pray for justice now. May God see fit to use the system in place now to provide what may be provided. But if we get it wrong, we can trust that he will not. Trust in the character and faithfulness of God is what allows me to endure.
Now how do we understand the crazy command to love and pray for our enemies? We cannot do away with this command and act like it didn't exist. Yet, how can we bear to obey it? Enemy-love is so foreign to our nature.
And yet, what we must realize is that my very own injuries toward God, my own iniquities toward God, my own lack of thanks and trust are greater than anything anyone has done to me. If you step on an ant, you don't feel guilt over it. But if you ran over a child, you couldn't contain your grief. Because there is such a huge difference between the ant and the child. If you punch some guy in a bar, you may get sued. If you try to punch the President, you may get a lot more than you bargained for. The latter is a far more serious offense. Because of the difference, the level between the two.
The difference between me and God is infinite. An offense against God is far worse than an offense against me. When someone has wronged you, do you also ache over the fact that God has been wronged?
I have wronged God! I have made him my enemy. I have lacked thanks. I have lacked prayer. I have tried to captain my own ship. I have disregarded his law! I have committed the same sins over and over and over. I have allowed anger to overcome me. I have held others guilty for offenses that I have committed... that I continue to commit. I have betrayed the one who has given me breath and life. I have lived for my own life and happiness and glory. And I have fallen far short of the glory of God. And my wages - what I deserve for this - is nothing other than death. There are not enough ages to pay the debt that I have owed against the infinitely holy and good God who is really there. My record shows that I have been an enemy to God.
And yet, the cross!
Before I loved God, before I pursued him... he pursued me. He loved me! The cross is the measure of this love. When I doubt God's love for me, I look to the cross. Jesus absorbed all the righteous wrath of God that was due to me when he shouldered that tree and breathed his last. He climbed Calvary and shed his blood for me knowing the mess that I would make of my life. I have nothing to boast of except the grace of God in the face of the Jesus who died and rose to pay for my sins.
God's love overcomes his enemies.
But his love does not negate his justice. Jesus' cross fulfills God's justice. Having passed over the sins of man for ages, the cross was the answer to why that patience did not negate his holiness. By rights Adam and Even should have been toasted at the tree of their disobedience. Yet God's patience allowed a greater revealing of his glory by making the way for Jesus' greater obedience at a tree...
To love enemies is impossible in our own strength. But nothing is impossible with God.
God welcomes those who repent. So should we. If we expect God to forgive us, we must forgive. We are called, I believe, to love and desire the repentance of those who have wronged us. And this does not negate the cry in our heart for justice. But what it means is that when the other has repented, we must see that justice has been done in the cross. The nearly-unbearable weight of being really wronged must lead us to magnified view of what Jesus has really accomplished, what his cross really means. It is no small thing! Reconciliation is costly.
When we are wronged, we are in good company. When we are wronged, Jesus has allowed us to share something with him. Imagine the weight of the world on his shoulders, all those who betrayed him, who accused him falsely, who did not give him justice... Jesus suffered all injustice so that justice and mercy might truly meet in his reality.
We await a Judgement Day. We pray. We hold on. We rely on the Holy Spirit who is with us. We work for justice. We pray for justice now. We forgive. We love. They will know us by our love.
The very existence of this question is a symptom of the type of world we live in. We do not live in a world of innocence. We live in a world that creaks and groans because of the Fall.
It is when we have been wronged that we feel most strongly that there is such a thing as Right and Wrong. There are behaviors that really are objectively reprehensible, not just that the majority of humans at the present time happen to be displeased by it. There is a real Right and Wrong. At bottom we all know this. We know this especially when we are on the receiving end.
Romans indicates that God has written his law on our hearts. He indicates that through nature we know God and are responsible to him. Through the dark desires of our heart we suppress the truths that we naturally know... so that we can chase down those dark desires. The atheist knows God, yet has suppressed that knowledge. Coming to know God, for the atheist, will be less like a dispassionate agreement at the end of a syllogism and more like a delighted/terrified, "Of course!"
When we have been wronged, we are driven to the acknowledgement of Right and Wrong, and we are driven to acknowledgement of the Law Giver, the Creator. And when we are on the receiving end, we ought to realize that God also is on the receiving end. Yet, because of his holiness, his love, his exclusive claim on the other person, God receives the hurt and the sin with far greater magnitude and capacity than we are even able to. Those sins that break your heart and cause you pain also break God's heart and cause him pain, but because of who he is, he sees and knows the iniquity to depths that we cannot. God's heart aches for the repentance of sinners with a gravity we cannot yet know.
The cry for justice, the cry to be be vindicated is Biblical. The Psalms are drenched with it. The Holy Spirit in our hearts will have us cry out against the brokenness in this world. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Deliver us from evil! We live in a world where this cry, this prayer, really means something.
What do we do when we are wronged?
Do we take vengeance? No. As Christians and as humans we are not that sort of people. Shall we allow the wickedness of others not merely to hurt us, but also to effect a transformation of our own hearts and souls into something decidedly ugly. Vengeance is not ours to take. May we find a refuge against this worst sort of infection! Evil cannot overcome evil in the end. Ultimately only good can do it.
Law exists, courts exists, the police exist - imperfect though they may be - to see justice done as much as possible, to provide a way out besides retaliation. All these things exist because we live in a broken world. But thanks be to God that they do exist! They now provide a shadow pointing to a greater reality. They provide a present means for us to approximate the true justice of God.
The God who has laid the law on our hearts is powerful and desirous to see justice done. Yet he is patient. And in the end - as the Christian view of things holds - there will not be a single unequal balance. All that is crooked will be laid straight. Those who stand and shake their fists at God and at man now will bow either willingly, or they will be made forcibly to bow before the Judge of perfect holiness and goodness.
When I am wronged, I entrust the other to God's justice. I pray for justice now. May God see fit to use the system in place now to provide what may be provided. But if we get it wrong, we can trust that he will not. Trust in the character and faithfulness of God is what allows me to endure.
Now how do we understand the crazy command to love and pray for our enemies? We cannot do away with this command and act like it didn't exist. Yet, how can we bear to obey it? Enemy-love is so foreign to our nature.
And yet, what we must realize is that my very own injuries toward God, my own iniquities toward God, my own lack of thanks and trust are greater than anything anyone has done to me. If you step on an ant, you don't feel guilt over it. But if you ran over a child, you couldn't contain your grief. Because there is such a huge difference between the ant and the child. If you punch some guy in a bar, you may get sued. If you try to punch the President, you may get a lot more than you bargained for. The latter is a far more serious offense. Because of the difference, the level between the two.
The difference between me and God is infinite. An offense against God is far worse than an offense against me. When someone has wronged you, do you also ache over the fact that God has been wronged?
I have wronged God! I have made him my enemy. I have lacked thanks. I have lacked prayer. I have tried to captain my own ship. I have disregarded his law! I have committed the same sins over and over and over. I have allowed anger to overcome me. I have held others guilty for offenses that I have committed... that I continue to commit. I have betrayed the one who has given me breath and life. I have lived for my own life and happiness and glory. And I have fallen far short of the glory of God. And my wages - what I deserve for this - is nothing other than death. There are not enough ages to pay the debt that I have owed against the infinitely holy and good God who is really there. My record shows that I have been an enemy to God.
And yet, the cross!
Before I loved God, before I pursued him... he pursued me. He loved me! The cross is the measure of this love. When I doubt God's love for me, I look to the cross. Jesus absorbed all the righteous wrath of God that was due to me when he shouldered that tree and breathed his last. He climbed Calvary and shed his blood for me knowing the mess that I would make of my life. I have nothing to boast of except the grace of God in the face of the Jesus who died and rose to pay for my sins.
God's love overcomes his enemies.
But his love does not negate his justice. Jesus' cross fulfills God's justice. Having passed over the sins of man for ages, the cross was the answer to why that patience did not negate his holiness. By rights Adam and Even should have been toasted at the tree of their disobedience. Yet God's patience allowed a greater revealing of his glory by making the way for Jesus' greater obedience at a tree...
To love enemies is impossible in our own strength. But nothing is impossible with God.
God welcomes those who repent. So should we. If we expect God to forgive us, we must forgive. We are called, I believe, to love and desire the repentance of those who have wronged us. And this does not negate the cry in our heart for justice. But what it means is that when the other has repented, we must see that justice has been done in the cross. The nearly-unbearable weight of being really wronged must lead us to magnified view of what Jesus has really accomplished, what his cross really means. It is no small thing! Reconciliation is costly.
When we are wronged, we are in good company. When we are wronged, Jesus has allowed us to share something with him. Imagine the weight of the world on his shoulders, all those who betrayed him, who accused him falsely, who did not give him justice... Jesus suffered all injustice so that justice and mercy might truly meet in his reality.
We await a Judgement Day. We pray. We hold on. We rely on the Holy Spirit who is with us. We work for justice. We pray for justice now. We forgive. We love. They will know us by our love.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
A Few Good Men
I have recently watched "A Few Good Men." It was the first time that Nicole saw it. She really like it. I want to draw a parallel.
The marines within the movie are intense. They are fanatical. About what, a character asks? About being marines. One of the main lines of argumentation in the movie is that the two lower-ranked marines should not be held responsible (or as responsible) when they performed a code red because they were ordered to do so. Tom Cruise brings out the absurdity of marines disobeying direct orders. It doesn't happen. It can't happen.
Jack Nicholson eloquently and angrily makes it evident that he lives on the front-lines, in a dangerous world where a misstep could mean lost lives. Therefore, on that basis, orders are not options. Admittedly the hierarchy was corrupt in this instance (and will often be to varying degrees in real life). Yet, the picture of absolute obedience, loyalty, and honor is instructive.
No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (2 Timothy 2:4) Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of god... (Romans 1:1)
We ought to see ourselves as servants and soldiers of Christ. This means that we pledge immediate, full, unconditional obedience to God. We exist to execute his will, to make him known, to glorify him by obeying him.
I think that the true nature of our situation is much nearer to Nicholson's wartime picture than we realize. We live in a universe at war. Souls hang in the balance. Evil is moving and acting. God is opposing evil in all its forms, and we are either with him or against him. Humility and truth calls us to recognize that evil rests in ourselves as well. But the Bible would have us deal with ourselves with war-like violence, cutting off the offending hand, plucking out the offending eye. Our lives are short. They are important. They are meaningful in this battle because God has chosen for it to be that way.
Therefore, when God gives orders, he means for us to follow them. Sluggish obedience is disobedience. Our obedience to God should not come at the end of a weighing of options in which I am the one in control - as if God's orders had to go through me. This type of obedience paints a poor and unworthy picture of our infinitely worthy and faithful God. Unlike Nicholson, God never gives a bad order.
I have chosen to write about this, after a long time off blogging, because I have been helped by this picture and how clear it is. I have struggled mightily with different indwelling sins. And I have sought to establish my heart in the Gospel, and I have sought to fall more in love with God, and I have dwelt on his forgiveness. I do indeed think that his love precedes our love.
The Holy Spirit through the gospel applied to my heart generates a love and faith that produces true obedience and repentance.
But to sit and wait to feel in a Gospel-mood or to wait until I feel like I am appropriately in love with God before obeying is horrible. I think the Gospel is how it works.
But I don't think - when I am faced with some temptation to sin - that I ought to sit around juggling the gospel in some detached intellectual fashion. And I know from experience that it is possible to do that. I have let love for God and his love for me become a detached intellectual game, and that does not produce holiness or repentance. It is God himself who does that. And because God is God, I owe him all my allegiance.
Therefore, the appropriate posture in life is to have my ears perked to the walkie-talkie. To be a little on edge watching the horizon for danger. To be ready in a moment's notice to do exactly as God has commanded because he is my superior. Because God is God, because he is love, every command to obey is for my good and is shaping for me an immeasurably wonderful future for him. When God calls us to a place, he provides for us there.
There is a relaxation and a relief that comes with a predetermined posture to unconditionally obey. It is a relaxed and holy attentiveness. This happens because we are becoming the sort of person who flees temptation instead of dancing around it. I know that even if I forget that particular verse, God demands that I not sin, that I must flee. God goes with me. He gives speed to my feet.
This may seem like an awkwardly lopsided post. But I am at peace with that. If you read different parts of the Bible, different parts emphasize different things. If you only read certain passages, you may sound like an Arminian. If you only read other passages you will sound like a Calvinist. If you only read Song of Solomon, who knows what you would sound like. A very strange romantic, I suppose.
Let me conclude simply. We obey God because we love him because he first loved us. Yet it is a love for God to obey even when that obedience doesn't yet feel like it is coming from love. I would rather be seen a sprinter than a tapdancer when the devil comes knocking at my heart's door.
The marines within the movie are intense. They are fanatical. About what, a character asks? About being marines. One of the main lines of argumentation in the movie is that the two lower-ranked marines should not be held responsible (or as responsible) when they performed a code red because they were ordered to do so. Tom Cruise brings out the absurdity of marines disobeying direct orders. It doesn't happen. It can't happen.
Jack Nicholson eloquently and angrily makes it evident that he lives on the front-lines, in a dangerous world where a misstep could mean lost lives. Therefore, on that basis, orders are not options. Admittedly the hierarchy was corrupt in this instance (and will often be to varying degrees in real life). Yet, the picture of absolute obedience, loyalty, and honor is instructive.
No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (2 Timothy 2:4) Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of god... (Romans 1:1)
We ought to see ourselves as servants and soldiers of Christ. This means that we pledge immediate, full, unconditional obedience to God. We exist to execute his will, to make him known, to glorify him by obeying him.
I think that the true nature of our situation is much nearer to Nicholson's wartime picture than we realize. We live in a universe at war. Souls hang in the balance. Evil is moving and acting. God is opposing evil in all its forms, and we are either with him or against him. Humility and truth calls us to recognize that evil rests in ourselves as well. But the Bible would have us deal with ourselves with war-like violence, cutting off the offending hand, plucking out the offending eye. Our lives are short. They are important. They are meaningful in this battle because God has chosen for it to be that way.
Therefore, when God gives orders, he means for us to follow them. Sluggish obedience is disobedience. Our obedience to God should not come at the end of a weighing of options in which I am the one in control - as if God's orders had to go through me. This type of obedience paints a poor and unworthy picture of our infinitely worthy and faithful God. Unlike Nicholson, God never gives a bad order.
I have chosen to write about this, after a long time off blogging, because I have been helped by this picture and how clear it is. I have struggled mightily with different indwelling sins. And I have sought to establish my heart in the Gospel, and I have sought to fall more in love with God, and I have dwelt on his forgiveness. I do indeed think that his love precedes our love.
The Holy Spirit through the gospel applied to my heart generates a love and faith that produces true obedience and repentance.
But to sit and wait to feel in a Gospel-mood or to wait until I feel like I am appropriately in love with God before obeying is horrible. I think the Gospel is how it works.
But I don't think - when I am faced with some temptation to sin - that I ought to sit around juggling the gospel in some detached intellectual fashion. And I know from experience that it is possible to do that. I have let love for God and his love for me become a detached intellectual game, and that does not produce holiness or repentance. It is God himself who does that. And because God is God, I owe him all my allegiance.
Therefore, the appropriate posture in life is to have my ears perked to the walkie-talkie. To be a little on edge watching the horizon for danger. To be ready in a moment's notice to do exactly as God has commanded because he is my superior. Because God is God, because he is love, every command to obey is for my good and is shaping for me an immeasurably wonderful future for him. When God calls us to a place, he provides for us there.
There is a relaxation and a relief that comes with a predetermined posture to unconditionally obey. It is a relaxed and holy attentiveness. This happens because we are becoming the sort of person who flees temptation instead of dancing around it. I know that even if I forget that particular verse, God demands that I not sin, that I must flee. God goes with me. He gives speed to my feet.
This may seem like an awkwardly lopsided post. But I am at peace with that. If you read different parts of the Bible, different parts emphasize different things. If you only read certain passages, you may sound like an Arminian. If you only read other passages you will sound like a Calvinist. If you only read Song of Solomon, who knows what you would sound like. A very strange romantic, I suppose.
Let me conclude simply. We obey God because we love him because he first loved us. Yet it is a love for God to obey even when that obedience doesn't yet feel like it is coming from love. I would rather be seen a sprinter than a tapdancer when the devil comes knocking at my heart's door.
Friday, November 9, 2012
A Roadmap for a Pilgrim - Part I
One metaphor - among many possible ones - that may be used to describe my faith journey is that of a pilgrimage. One day I will die, and I will have done something with the days between my birth and death. What path will I have walked? No one can walk it for me. Will I have gone somewhere that mattered, seen and done things that mattered? What guidance is there for this journey? I hope that describing my journey will help you on yours.
On my journey I have discovered some things, become convinced of some things, and they guide my steps. I am convinced that God is real. I am convinced that he created the world and us in it. Therefore, we are not an accident and there is real purpose and meaning beyond what we would just make up for ourselves. In other words, there is a real destination in this journey, and I am not left to walking aimlessly. While I stop and enjoy the sights and sounds and smells of real life, I can do that just as well and meaningfully while I am actually on my way somewhere.
The ultimate destination is heaven and it also is not heaven. The ultimate destination in life is God himself, which is the real reason for wanting to get to heaven. He is both our companion on our journey, the one who sets and guides our steps, and he is the destination. The question is often asked, which is more important - the journey or the destination? I think, in life, this is a false dichotomy because at the heart of all reality is knowing, loving, and therefore glorifying God, and the journey and destination are both shaped by this. God is both the means and the end of all things. We get to know him progressively, and in his wisdom he has chosen for us to know him now in part, to learn to trust him on this journey, and eventually to dwell with him and enjoy him in far greater measure in his New Creation forever.
Who is God? Such a big question. In humility we realize that even if we are able to say true things about him, our minds are so finite and may only scratch the surface of this question. Though we may be able to say some true things - and that is better than saying nothing at all - we yet realize that this is a question we may never exhaust, even if we have forever to try.
Who is God? I give the Christian answer of which I have become convinced. It is also with humility that we recognize that we are not the first people to ask and answer these questions with wisdom, and so I turn to the Westminster Shorter Catechism for help with the answer. "Question 4: What is God? Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." All that is good flows from God and is an expression of an attribute that he already holds in perfect fullness. God alone holds them all in perfect balance so that in his justice he is loving, in his eternality he is fully present, in his grace he is truthful.
Technically I have just answered the question, "What is God?" and the prior question, "Who is God?" presupposes some things and leads us into deep Christian mystery. God, as he reveals himself in his Word, is a person, a "who" and not an "it". We are told that humans were created in his image, which means that in some important ways we are like him, even if he is on a whole other level. God has thoughts, feelings, and a will. He is a rational, moral, intelligent being. He makes plans and he enters into relationship with other persons. God, though deeply mysterious, is much more like another person than he is like some invisible cosmic soup or like the Force from Star Wars. (In some ways we might prefer a cosmic soup because that makes God impersonal and robotic, and we wouldn't worry much about offending a robot, but I for sure worry about doing things to offend my wife - another person that I am in relationship with and to whom I am accountable.)
But the mystery only begins there. God also reveals himself as three-in-one. We use the word Trinity to describe this mystery. The Trinity is a doctrine that seeks to sum up these revealed realities, upholding each without denying any of them: 1. There is one God. There is no one like God. 2. The Father is God. 3. The Son is God. This is Jesus. 4. The Holy Spirit is God. 5. The Father is not the Son. 6. The Father is not the Spirit. 7. The Son is not the Spirit. This is enough to explode our heads.
The Nicene Creed is an orthodox consensus historically, and from the earliest expressions of Christianity we see a grappling with this mystery.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
There is more to deal with in the creed than I have gotten to yet, but before we move on, what practical effect does it have on our belief that God is a Trinity instead of just one person alone? Before anything else existed, God existed. There was nothing outside of himself to which he had to conform because everything that is not God was brought into existence by God. All notions of justice, love, mercy, gravity, beauty come from God himself. So before he created the world, was God bored and lonely? No! God, from eternity past, has been in relationship with himself. The love that we feel for each other is a shadow and an echo of the great, unsearchable, infinite, boundless love that the persons of the Trinity have had for each other from before time began. The doctrine of the Trinity means that love is at the heart of reality. Love has always existed. The story of our world is a story of created people being drawn into an eternal love story. God was not lonely. God was not needy. God does not depend on us. But he loves us. The doctrine of the Trinity has massive implications for the purpose of our world and our own individual lives.
So God chose to create man. But man, when given the choice, chose rebellion. We did not want God to run our lives. We wanted to run our lives. We did not want to be told what to do, what to think, how to live. The tragic irony is that God loves us, is wise, and always gives us what is best for us. But we rebel anyway, thinking we know better.
The Bible describes sin as a falling short of the glory of God. God is glorious. He is worthy. He is holy, holy, holy. He is absolute, in control, Creator. All things were made by him and for him. Things work right when they are giving him the glory. Sin is a declaring, knowingly or unknowingly, that God is not all-glorious, that he is not really good or satisfying or ultimate.
Sin also is not just a bad mark or a tally in the wrong category. Sin is a hurt against another person because God is a person. It is possible for us to grieve the Spirit. What are the consequences of sin? The first and worst is that our fellowship with God is broken. Sin is bad because everything is about knowing and loving God, and sin takes us away from that. The second is that sin requires a punishment. We have broken the moral law. The third is the subjection of creation to futility. Everything now groans as if broken. Death has entered the world, and things decay. People get cancer. Earthquakes happen. Our world needs to be fixed.
What sin does is put us in the position of needing a Savior. The Old Testament is the story of God providing hope for a Savior, prophesying his coming, calling and leading a wayward people through whom the Savior would come. The New Testament is the completion of the story in which Jesus comes. Jesus is God incarnate, the eternal Son become man - fully God and fully man. Jesus has a brilliant but short career as a teacher, preacher, prophet, and healer because ultimately all those roles were subordinate to his ultimate purpose. Jesus came to die for the forgiveness of sins. Again from the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe that in Jesus forgiveness of sins is possible. More than that, I believe that the good news is not simply that I am forgiven but that I am restored to relationship with God, that I am adopted in the family of God, that my destination is restored, that I have purpose, that God walks with me on this journey, that he is restoring this broken world, that I get to be a part of that, that eventually we will have a new creation that no longer buckles under the burdens of death and decay. Anyone may believe in Jesus and receive this. No matter how horrible your sins, you may be forgiven. We must simply repent and believe. This is grace. It is free. Jesus, on the cross, became and took your sin, swallowing the cup of wrath that you and I deserved so that we wouldn't have to. He allowed his fellowship with the Father to be broken so that we might enter into it. Our debt has been paid and erased. That is the Good News.
I have attempted to sketch out a brief roadmap of historic Christianity, perhaps emphasizing some things that have seemed especially important to me lately. I could have turned - and maybe should have turned - each of those paragraphs, or even each of those sentences, into its own blog entry. There is so much here to explore, so many stones unturned. The length of this forces me into multiple entries. Oh well.
I write with pilgrims in mind - questioning and probing pilgrims. My next entry will deal with why I believe and what my story basically is. So it will be more autobiographical. Finally, I plan a third entry detailing different resources and ideas that I think would be helpful for someone wanting to learn more about Christianity.
Thank you for your time and consideration! May God bless you.
On my journey I have discovered some things, become convinced of some things, and they guide my steps. I am convinced that God is real. I am convinced that he created the world and us in it. Therefore, we are not an accident and there is real purpose and meaning beyond what we would just make up for ourselves. In other words, there is a real destination in this journey, and I am not left to walking aimlessly. While I stop and enjoy the sights and sounds and smells of real life, I can do that just as well and meaningfully while I am actually on my way somewhere.
The ultimate destination is heaven and it also is not heaven. The ultimate destination in life is God himself, which is the real reason for wanting to get to heaven. He is both our companion on our journey, the one who sets and guides our steps, and he is the destination. The question is often asked, which is more important - the journey or the destination? I think, in life, this is a false dichotomy because at the heart of all reality is knowing, loving, and therefore glorifying God, and the journey and destination are both shaped by this. God is both the means and the end of all things. We get to know him progressively, and in his wisdom he has chosen for us to know him now in part, to learn to trust him on this journey, and eventually to dwell with him and enjoy him in far greater measure in his New Creation forever.
Who is God? Such a big question. In humility we realize that even if we are able to say true things about him, our minds are so finite and may only scratch the surface of this question. Though we may be able to say some true things - and that is better than saying nothing at all - we yet realize that this is a question we may never exhaust, even if we have forever to try.
Who is God? I give the Christian answer of which I have become convinced. It is also with humility that we recognize that we are not the first people to ask and answer these questions with wisdom, and so I turn to the Westminster Shorter Catechism for help with the answer. "Question 4: What is God? Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." All that is good flows from God and is an expression of an attribute that he already holds in perfect fullness. God alone holds them all in perfect balance so that in his justice he is loving, in his eternality he is fully present, in his grace he is truthful.
Technically I have just answered the question, "What is God?" and the prior question, "Who is God?" presupposes some things and leads us into deep Christian mystery. God, as he reveals himself in his Word, is a person, a "who" and not an "it". We are told that humans were created in his image, which means that in some important ways we are like him, even if he is on a whole other level. God has thoughts, feelings, and a will. He is a rational, moral, intelligent being. He makes plans and he enters into relationship with other persons. God, though deeply mysterious, is much more like another person than he is like some invisible cosmic soup or like the Force from Star Wars. (In some ways we might prefer a cosmic soup because that makes God impersonal and robotic, and we wouldn't worry much about offending a robot, but I for sure worry about doing things to offend my wife - another person that I am in relationship with and to whom I am accountable.)
But the mystery only begins there. God also reveals himself as three-in-one. We use the word Trinity to describe this mystery. The Trinity is a doctrine that seeks to sum up these revealed realities, upholding each without denying any of them: 1. There is one God. There is no one like God. 2. The Father is God. 3. The Son is God. This is Jesus. 4. The Holy Spirit is God. 5. The Father is not the Son. 6. The Father is not the Spirit. 7. The Son is not the Spirit. This is enough to explode our heads.
The Nicene Creed is an orthodox consensus historically, and from the earliest expressions of Christianity we see a grappling with this mystery.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
There is more to deal with in the creed than I have gotten to yet, but before we move on, what practical effect does it have on our belief that God is a Trinity instead of just one person alone? Before anything else existed, God existed. There was nothing outside of himself to which he had to conform because everything that is not God was brought into existence by God. All notions of justice, love, mercy, gravity, beauty come from God himself. So before he created the world, was God bored and lonely? No! God, from eternity past, has been in relationship with himself. The love that we feel for each other is a shadow and an echo of the great, unsearchable, infinite, boundless love that the persons of the Trinity have had for each other from before time began. The doctrine of the Trinity means that love is at the heart of reality. Love has always existed. The story of our world is a story of created people being drawn into an eternal love story. God was not lonely. God was not needy. God does not depend on us. But he loves us. The doctrine of the Trinity has massive implications for the purpose of our world and our own individual lives.
So God chose to create man. But man, when given the choice, chose rebellion. We did not want God to run our lives. We wanted to run our lives. We did not want to be told what to do, what to think, how to live. The tragic irony is that God loves us, is wise, and always gives us what is best for us. But we rebel anyway, thinking we know better.
The Bible describes sin as a falling short of the glory of God. God is glorious. He is worthy. He is holy, holy, holy. He is absolute, in control, Creator. All things were made by him and for him. Things work right when they are giving him the glory. Sin is a declaring, knowingly or unknowingly, that God is not all-glorious, that he is not really good or satisfying or ultimate.
Sin also is not just a bad mark or a tally in the wrong category. Sin is a hurt against another person because God is a person. It is possible for us to grieve the Spirit. What are the consequences of sin? The first and worst is that our fellowship with God is broken. Sin is bad because everything is about knowing and loving God, and sin takes us away from that. The second is that sin requires a punishment. We have broken the moral law. The third is the subjection of creation to futility. Everything now groans as if broken. Death has entered the world, and things decay. People get cancer. Earthquakes happen. Our world needs to be fixed.
What sin does is put us in the position of needing a Savior. The Old Testament is the story of God providing hope for a Savior, prophesying his coming, calling and leading a wayward people through whom the Savior would come. The New Testament is the completion of the story in which Jesus comes. Jesus is God incarnate, the eternal Son become man - fully God and fully man. Jesus has a brilliant but short career as a teacher, preacher, prophet, and healer because ultimately all those roles were subordinate to his ultimate purpose. Jesus came to die for the forgiveness of sins. Again from the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe that in Jesus forgiveness of sins is possible. More than that, I believe that the good news is not simply that I am forgiven but that I am restored to relationship with God, that I am adopted in the family of God, that my destination is restored, that I have purpose, that God walks with me on this journey, that he is restoring this broken world, that I get to be a part of that, that eventually we will have a new creation that no longer buckles under the burdens of death and decay. Anyone may believe in Jesus and receive this. No matter how horrible your sins, you may be forgiven. We must simply repent and believe. This is grace. It is free. Jesus, on the cross, became and took your sin, swallowing the cup of wrath that you and I deserved so that we wouldn't have to. He allowed his fellowship with the Father to be broken so that we might enter into it. Our debt has been paid and erased. That is the Good News.
I have attempted to sketch out a brief roadmap of historic Christianity, perhaps emphasizing some things that have seemed especially important to me lately. I could have turned - and maybe should have turned - each of those paragraphs, or even each of those sentences, into its own blog entry. There is so much here to explore, so many stones unturned. The length of this forces me into multiple entries. Oh well.
I write with pilgrims in mind - questioning and probing pilgrims. My next entry will deal with why I believe and what my story basically is. So it will be more autobiographical. Finally, I plan a third entry detailing different resources and ideas that I think would be helpful for someone wanting to learn more about Christianity.
Thank you for your time and consideration! May God bless you.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
The Meaning of Marriage - Chapter 1 Notes
Nicole and I have started up a discipleship group for the late summer and early fall with our friends from Tech, Chris and Sam Cassidy. (And my brother and his fiance will hopefully be joining us.) We wanted to do something on marriage. I have never done such a d-group. Therefore, we talked over some prospective books, and we landed on "The Meaning of Marriage" by Tim Keller. If you have followed my blog, you will know that Keller is one of the number that I trust because I believe he has a heart to be Gospel-centered, and he is quick to point people to Jesus in ways that help us fall more deeply in love with him on the spot. He also, as a disciple of CS Lewis, is a keen observer of the human heart and situation. I look forward to hearing his wisdom on marriage, and I pray we will be able to digest it well and apply it, and your prayers would be appreciated toward this end.
I have used this blog for different purposes at different times. I started out wanting to write down things that Nicole and close friends and family might read. Then, I enjoyed writing, so I have used at as an outlet simply to glorify God through learning the craft of writing. And having my readers in mind, I also have tried to point people to books and videos that I think are good. My purpose over the coming months is to digest this book publicly and give a sort of Spark Notes of the chapters. Specifically, I think this will be helpful to members of my d-group as a quick review of past material, but as always, I want to make it public to you in case God might be pleased to use it in your life, too. So let us begin....
Chapter 1 - The Secret of Marriage
"Marriage is glorious but hard." Talks on marriage tend to be sentimental, but the reality shows it to be at times very confusing and difficult. No real marriage is simply a fairy tell come true. But marriage is important to God, since he created it. Knowing another in marriage is like knowing God - it is difficult but rewarding. It is worth it.
Statistics show "an increasing wariness and pessimism about marriage in our culture", especially in young adults. Chris Rock captures this generation's perceived predicament: "Do you want to be single and lonely or married and bored?" This predicament lead many to the poor solution of cohabitation with a sexual partner. Why? Society assumes that 1) most marriages are unhappy, and 2) living together improves the chance of making a good marriage choice. We must find someone we have chemistry with. Keller wants to challenge these assumptions and point to a better and Biblical view of marriage.
Research runs counter to some commonly held assumptions. Cohabitation prior to marriage actually increases the likelihood of divorce - it does not seem to be the solution. Though the divorce rate is high for our society, it is quite low for well-educated, religious people coming from intact families who marry after 25 without first having a baby. Marriage also helps people financially in the long run. It provides stability through life's obstacles and accountability to be wiser and less selfish with money and other things. Marriage matures character. The research agrees with the Bible that marriage is good, even very good.
In spite of this evidence, young adults believe most married people are unhappy. Filmmaker Dana Alan Shapiro created a film about couples who had broken up and understandably reached a grim view of relationships: "it is extraordinarily hard though not completely impossible for two modern persons to love each other without stifling one another's individuality and freedom." This pessimistic feeling is pervasive.
Nevertheless "... surveys tell us that the number of married people who say they are 'very happy' in their marriages is high - about 61-62 percent - and there has been little decrease in this figure during the last decade... two thirds of those unhappy marriages out there will become happy within five years if people stay married and do not get divorced." In our society the benefits of divorce have been oversold and the benefits of marriage undervalued.
To sum up everything so far: modern society has a low view of marriage and its ability to bring happiness, though evidence shows it to be good, even if it is hard.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where does our pessimism about marriage, in spite of the evidence, come from? Keller answers... "from a new kind of unrealistic idealism about marriage, born of significant shift in our culture's understanding of the purpose of marriage." The first two views about marriage's purpose were the Catholic and Protestant views. "Though different in many particulars, they both taught that the purpose of marriage was to create a framework for lifelong devotion and love between a husband and wife. It was a solemn bond, designed to help each party subordinate individual impulses and interests in favor of the relationship, to be a sacrament of God's love (the Catholic emphasis) and serve the common good (the Protestant emphasis)." Marriage creates character, creates social stability, and creates the best environment for raising children. How, then, does modern society's view of marriage differ from these original emphases?
The Enlightenment brought a shift from finding meaning in duty to finding meaning in personal fulfillment through freedom. It was a shift from self-denial for the sake of loving another to the maximization of emotional and sexual fulfillment. "In this view, married persons married for themselves, not to fulfill responsibilities to God or society." Again, "the Enlightenment privatized marriage, taking it out of the public sphere, and redefined its purpose as individual gratification, not any 'broader good' such as reflecting God's nature, producing character, or raising children." What was a public institution for the common good became a private arrangement for individual satisfaction. "Marriage used to be about us, but now it is about me."
With this more self-actualized view of marriage's purpose, the search for the perfect "soul-mate" has arisen. Men have generally been seen as commitment-phobic, and a 2002 studied confirmed this and listed reasons for why men delay marriage. The most important reason according to the study is that men are waiting to find the perfect soul mate, someone who is "compatible". There are different definitions of compatible. For instance, Keller would say that he and his wife share many common threads and passions and feel like "kindred spirits" - they are friends. But this is not exactly all that compatible means today.
Physical attractiveness and sexual chemistry are very important. First, we want a spouse who is hot and will meet our sexual needs and wants. But surprisingly, compatibility was even more important than this for guys, and it is basically defined as a "willingness to take them as they are and not change them." Guys want someone who will easily fit into their life. We do not want to be asked to change for someone.
In contrast to this definition of compatibility, traditionally marriage has helped to "civilize" men. It is the place where boys become men. This entails change. (I can attest to this.) Today, men would rather cohabit to have access to sex and retain the freedom to look for a better partner; there is generally less pressure to change. While the idea is popular that the most "masculine" men do not do well when hemmed in by marriage, traditionally marriage has been the place where men become truly masculine, where it is defined more along the lines of self-mastery. "Sexual restraint rather than sexual prowess was once the measure of a man."
It is not only men who have moved from their traditional view of marriage. Keller sums up the situation like so: "Both men and women today want a marriage in which they can recieve emotional and sexual satisfaction from someone who will simply let them 'be themselves'. They want a spouse who is fun, intellectually stimulating, sexually attractive, with many common interests, and who, on top of it all, is supportive of their personal goals and of the way they are living now." Yup. We want someone who is low maintenance, pulled together, and will supplement us quite nicely. We are idealistic.
Let's sum up where we are: Though marriage was traditionally about loving another, honoring God, and benefiting society, it has become an idealistic search for a basically perfect someone who will help us to find our own self-fulfillment with the least call to change.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keller points out the irony of how this idealism about finding our perfect soul mate has contributed significantly to the pervasive pessimism we see. Unrealistic expectations frustrate the searchers and the searched for. How can we hope to find such a person? and, How can I ever become such a person? Pornography and popular media contribute to the problem. Many guys delay marriage because they are looking for the combination "soul mate/ babe".
"Older views of marriage are considered to be traditional and oppressive, while the newer view of the "Me-Marriage" seems so liberating. And yet it is the newer view that has led to a steep decline in marriage and to an oppressive sense of hopelessness with regard to it."
Some people have become so adept at spotting flaws in their potential spouses that they continually delay marriage. John Tierney concludes that these people may have turned up their "flaw-o-matic"s in order to stay alone and therefore safe. We want too much out of a marriage partner, including someone who will demand basically nothing of us. Many are afraid of love; it means the loss of individual freedom, autonomy, and fulfillment my own way. But to love is better than to not love. In the end we are pessimistic about love because we are too idealistic (because we are basically selfish).
.... Okay, so I have shared several thoughts now into what has become a long post. I am skipping some stuff before the end of the chapter, but I wanted to end here. Suffice it to say, Ephesians 5 and the creation accounts give a strong Biblical view of marriage in contrast to what it has been made into by our society, and the rest of the book will spend time drawing out the implications of the Gospel for marriage. Marriage is an analogy of Christ and the Church, so the more we understand the Gospel we will understand marriage. The better we understand marriage, the better we will understand the Gospel.
Soli Deo gloria!
I have used this blog for different purposes at different times. I started out wanting to write down things that Nicole and close friends and family might read. Then, I enjoyed writing, so I have used at as an outlet simply to glorify God through learning the craft of writing. And having my readers in mind, I also have tried to point people to books and videos that I think are good. My purpose over the coming months is to digest this book publicly and give a sort of Spark Notes of the chapters. Specifically, I think this will be helpful to members of my d-group as a quick review of past material, but as always, I want to make it public to you in case God might be pleased to use it in your life, too. So let us begin....
Chapter 1 - The Secret of Marriage
"Marriage is glorious but hard." Talks on marriage tend to be sentimental, but the reality shows it to be at times very confusing and difficult. No real marriage is simply a fairy tell come true. But marriage is important to God, since he created it. Knowing another in marriage is like knowing God - it is difficult but rewarding. It is worth it.
Statistics show "an increasing wariness and pessimism about marriage in our culture", especially in young adults. Chris Rock captures this generation's perceived predicament: "Do you want to be single and lonely or married and bored?" This predicament lead many to the poor solution of cohabitation with a sexual partner. Why? Society assumes that 1) most marriages are unhappy, and 2) living together improves the chance of making a good marriage choice. We must find someone we have chemistry with. Keller wants to challenge these assumptions and point to a better and Biblical view of marriage.
Research runs counter to some commonly held assumptions. Cohabitation prior to marriage actually increases the likelihood of divorce - it does not seem to be the solution. Though the divorce rate is high for our society, it is quite low for well-educated, religious people coming from intact families who marry after 25 without first having a baby. Marriage also helps people financially in the long run. It provides stability through life's obstacles and accountability to be wiser and less selfish with money and other things. Marriage matures character. The research agrees with the Bible that marriage is good, even very good.
In spite of this evidence, young adults believe most married people are unhappy. Filmmaker Dana Alan Shapiro created a film about couples who had broken up and understandably reached a grim view of relationships: "it is extraordinarily hard though not completely impossible for two modern persons to love each other without stifling one another's individuality and freedom." This pessimistic feeling is pervasive.
Nevertheless "... surveys tell us that the number of married people who say they are 'very happy' in their marriages is high - about 61-62 percent - and there has been little decrease in this figure during the last decade... two thirds of those unhappy marriages out there will become happy within five years if people stay married and do not get divorced." In our society the benefits of divorce have been oversold and the benefits of marriage undervalued.
To sum up everything so far: modern society has a low view of marriage and its ability to bring happiness, though evidence shows it to be good, even if it is hard.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where does our pessimism about marriage, in spite of the evidence, come from? Keller answers... "from a new kind of unrealistic idealism about marriage, born of significant shift in our culture's understanding of the purpose of marriage." The first two views about marriage's purpose were the Catholic and Protestant views. "Though different in many particulars, they both taught that the purpose of marriage was to create a framework for lifelong devotion and love between a husband and wife. It was a solemn bond, designed to help each party subordinate individual impulses and interests in favor of the relationship, to be a sacrament of God's love (the Catholic emphasis) and serve the common good (the Protestant emphasis)." Marriage creates character, creates social stability, and creates the best environment for raising children. How, then, does modern society's view of marriage differ from these original emphases?
The Enlightenment brought a shift from finding meaning in duty to finding meaning in personal fulfillment through freedom. It was a shift from self-denial for the sake of loving another to the maximization of emotional and sexual fulfillment. "In this view, married persons married for themselves, not to fulfill responsibilities to God or society." Again, "the Enlightenment privatized marriage, taking it out of the public sphere, and redefined its purpose as individual gratification, not any 'broader good' such as reflecting God's nature, producing character, or raising children." What was a public institution for the common good became a private arrangement for individual satisfaction. "Marriage used to be about us, but now it is about me."
With this more self-actualized view of marriage's purpose, the search for the perfect "soul-mate" has arisen. Men have generally been seen as commitment-phobic, and a 2002 studied confirmed this and listed reasons for why men delay marriage. The most important reason according to the study is that men are waiting to find the perfect soul mate, someone who is "compatible". There are different definitions of compatible. For instance, Keller would say that he and his wife share many common threads and passions and feel like "kindred spirits" - they are friends. But this is not exactly all that compatible means today.
Physical attractiveness and sexual chemistry are very important. First, we want a spouse who is hot and will meet our sexual needs and wants. But surprisingly, compatibility was even more important than this for guys, and it is basically defined as a "willingness to take them as they are and not change them." Guys want someone who will easily fit into their life. We do not want to be asked to change for someone.
In contrast to this definition of compatibility, traditionally marriage has helped to "civilize" men. It is the place where boys become men. This entails change. (I can attest to this.) Today, men would rather cohabit to have access to sex and retain the freedom to look for a better partner; there is generally less pressure to change. While the idea is popular that the most "masculine" men do not do well when hemmed in by marriage, traditionally marriage has been the place where men become truly masculine, where it is defined more along the lines of self-mastery. "Sexual restraint rather than sexual prowess was once the measure of a man."
It is not only men who have moved from their traditional view of marriage. Keller sums up the situation like so: "Both men and women today want a marriage in which they can recieve emotional and sexual satisfaction from someone who will simply let them 'be themselves'. They want a spouse who is fun, intellectually stimulating, sexually attractive, with many common interests, and who, on top of it all, is supportive of their personal goals and of the way they are living now." Yup. We want someone who is low maintenance, pulled together, and will supplement us quite nicely. We are idealistic.
Let's sum up where we are: Though marriage was traditionally about loving another, honoring God, and benefiting society, it has become an idealistic search for a basically perfect someone who will help us to find our own self-fulfillment with the least call to change.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keller points out the irony of how this idealism about finding our perfect soul mate has contributed significantly to the pervasive pessimism we see. Unrealistic expectations frustrate the searchers and the searched for. How can we hope to find such a person? and, How can I ever become such a person? Pornography and popular media contribute to the problem. Many guys delay marriage because they are looking for the combination "soul mate/ babe".
"Older views of marriage are considered to be traditional and oppressive, while the newer view of the "Me-Marriage" seems so liberating. And yet it is the newer view that has led to a steep decline in marriage and to an oppressive sense of hopelessness with regard to it."
Some people have become so adept at spotting flaws in their potential spouses that they continually delay marriage. John Tierney concludes that these people may have turned up their "flaw-o-matic"s in order to stay alone and therefore safe. We want too much out of a marriage partner, including someone who will demand basically nothing of us. Many are afraid of love; it means the loss of individual freedom, autonomy, and fulfillment my own way. But to love is better than to not love. In the end we are pessimistic about love because we are too idealistic (because we are basically selfish).
.... Okay, so I have shared several thoughts now into what has become a long post. I am skipping some stuff before the end of the chapter, but I wanted to end here. Suffice it to say, Ephesians 5 and the creation accounts give a strong Biblical view of marriage in contrast to what it has been made into by our society, and the rest of the book will spend time drawing out the implications of the Gospel for marriage. Marriage is an analogy of Christ and the Church, so the more we understand the Gospel we will understand marriage. The better we understand marriage, the better we will understand the Gospel.
Soli Deo gloria!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Journey Through Proverbs - #1
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth -
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
I have chosen as one of my projects for the summer to sink myself deeply into the book of Proverbs. I do not think I am wise, but I want to be. My heart has a vision of a life steered rightly by God's insight into the way things really work. The earlier I get a book like Proverbs into my bones, the better for the outcome of my life. My life will be more eternally useful for having so invested it.
Additionally, I want to benefit readers of this blog. I know that I am given to writing lengthy posts, so one of my goals is to cut down the length and increase the frequency. I plan on taking chunks of 4-8 verses at a time and giving thoughts. This should take me through the summer and maybe into the Fall. Please join me in pursuing wisdom.
Above in bold I have written Proverbs 1:1-7. These seven verses serve as an introduction to the book. They give clues as to the genre and how the book should be read. Solomon is the primary author; Solomon preferred wisdom to riches, and God abundantly rewarded him with both. Therefore, in addition to the fact that this is the Word of God, we know we are listening to the voice of a man that God had made truly wise as well.
What are the purposes of this book? What does it mean to accomplish? The hearer is meant to grow in wisdom, which may be defined as skill in the art of godly living. This wisdom goes hand-in-hand with and grows from increasing knowledge, which might be defined as seeing God's world increasingly from God's perspective. This wisdom and knowledge is meant to be intensely practical (instruction in wise dealing), but also intellectual (increase in learning, understand proverbs, sayings, riddles). The results in a person's life should be the formation of a lived-out character and virtue (righteousness, justice, equity, prudence); therefore, growth in these things will be good for the individual, but those around the individual will also be blessed through him as he grows in wisdom.
Who should hear and read these words of Solomon? A variety of types of people are explicitly named here, but we might also reach beyond those explicitly named to conclude its universal usefulness for everyone if they come willing to really listen. First, we have the simple; these are people who are not particularly wise or intelligent, but they are not yet identified with the wicked or foolish. These are people who simply need guidance. Second, we have the youth. We may view the book of Proverbs as the sayings of an older man to a younger man. I see myself here, still young, hoping to set my course along a sure path of God's wisdom. Third, we see the wise and understanding. Those who have wisdom are in the good position of realizing there is still more to learn. Indeed, as we will see over and over again, teachability is one of the primary virtues given by this book, even for those who already have some measure of wisdom.
The first verse having given the author and title, the next five verses giving the purpose and audience, we turn now to verse 7, which may be taken as the theme and overriding principle of the entire book.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Knowledge apart from fear of the LORD is but a shell and a shadow of the real thing. This sets the tone and the attitude for reading Scripture and seeking wisdom in the book of Proverbs. We do not seek a knowledge of good and evil and wisdom apart from God, but we see everything in light of the God who is big enough and holy enough to warrant our fear. Knowledge does not rest independently in us. We are not our final authority. Fear of the LORD frees us to seek truth in humility, and it is fear of the LORD that guarantees the application and not mere assimilation of knowledge; for the proper end of wisdom and knowledge is godly application, or else it is useless and a means of pride and intellectual self-justification. There is no such thing as neutral knowledge.
We also see the fool introduced here as the one who despises wisdom, and he is set up against the one who fears the LORD. It is the fool who has no fear before God. My prayer for myself and for you is that we would be brought back by God's Spirit to a holy and proper fear of him for the sake of his glory and for our good in the seeking and application of wisdom.
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth -
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
I have chosen as one of my projects for the summer to sink myself deeply into the book of Proverbs. I do not think I am wise, but I want to be. My heart has a vision of a life steered rightly by God's insight into the way things really work. The earlier I get a book like Proverbs into my bones, the better for the outcome of my life. My life will be more eternally useful for having so invested it.
Additionally, I want to benefit readers of this blog. I know that I am given to writing lengthy posts, so one of my goals is to cut down the length and increase the frequency. I plan on taking chunks of 4-8 verses at a time and giving thoughts. This should take me through the summer and maybe into the Fall. Please join me in pursuing wisdom.
Above in bold I have written Proverbs 1:1-7. These seven verses serve as an introduction to the book. They give clues as to the genre and how the book should be read. Solomon is the primary author; Solomon preferred wisdom to riches, and God abundantly rewarded him with both. Therefore, in addition to the fact that this is the Word of God, we know we are listening to the voice of a man that God had made truly wise as well.
What are the purposes of this book? What does it mean to accomplish? The hearer is meant to grow in wisdom, which may be defined as skill in the art of godly living. This wisdom goes hand-in-hand with and grows from increasing knowledge, which might be defined as seeing God's world increasingly from God's perspective. This wisdom and knowledge is meant to be intensely practical (instruction in wise dealing), but also intellectual (increase in learning, understand proverbs, sayings, riddles). The results in a person's life should be the formation of a lived-out character and virtue (righteousness, justice, equity, prudence); therefore, growth in these things will be good for the individual, but those around the individual will also be blessed through him as he grows in wisdom.
Who should hear and read these words of Solomon? A variety of types of people are explicitly named here, but we might also reach beyond those explicitly named to conclude its universal usefulness for everyone if they come willing to really listen. First, we have the simple; these are people who are not particularly wise or intelligent, but they are not yet identified with the wicked or foolish. These are people who simply need guidance. Second, we have the youth. We may view the book of Proverbs as the sayings of an older man to a younger man. I see myself here, still young, hoping to set my course along a sure path of God's wisdom. Third, we see the wise and understanding. Those who have wisdom are in the good position of realizing there is still more to learn. Indeed, as we will see over and over again, teachability is one of the primary virtues given by this book, even for those who already have some measure of wisdom.
The first verse having given the author and title, the next five verses giving the purpose and audience, we turn now to verse 7, which may be taken as the theme and overriding principle of the entire book.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Knowledge apart from fear of the LORD is but a shell and a shadow of the real thing. This sets the tone and the attitude for reading Scripture and seeking wisdom in the book of Proverbs. We do not seek a knowledge of good and evil and wisdom apart from God, but we see everything in light of the God who is big enough and holy enough to warrant our fear. Knowledge does not rest independently in us. We are not our final authority. Fear of the LORD frees us to seek truth in humility, and it is fear of the LORD that guarantees the application and not mere assimilation of knowledge; for the proper end of wisdom and knowledge is godly application, or else it is useless and a means of pride and intellectual self-justification. There is no such thing as neutral knowledge.
We also see the fool introduced here as the one who despises wisdom, and he is set up against the one who fears the LORD. It is the fool who has no fear before God. My prayer for myself and for you is that we would be brought back by God's Spirit to a holy and proper fear of him for the sake of his glory and for our good in the seeking and application of wisdom.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Luke 24:44-53
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
(Luke 24:44-53 ESV)
Let me run through this with some of my thoughts. Pardon my rambling; I pray you are blessed.
To God alone be all the glory!
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
(Luke 24:44-53 ESV)
Let me run through this with some of my thoughts. Pardon my rambling; I pray you are blessed.
“Every word of God proves true” (Proverbs 30:4). Everything promised either has been
fulfilled, or God is bringing it to fulfillment according to his wise and
sovereign plan. God is trustworthy in
what he speaks, and he is powerful enough to accomplish his promises. The word “must” in verse 44 carries weight
and speaks of God’s covenant-keeping character.
The Old Testament scriptures – like the New - are ultimately
about Jesus. He is the interpretive
key. These scriptures were written
hundreds of years earlier, but Jesus is bold enough to claim that the Law, the
Prophets, and the Psalms speak primarily of him. Look back to the previous parts of this
chapter or back the Sermon on the Mount.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and
earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is
accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18) It is
also instructive that in John’s Gospel our Lord is referred to as the incarnate
Word – not that he is the Bible, but that his very presence is the ultimate
revelation of God to man, and in him all truth and all reality and all that has
been previously promised is summed up. “And
he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians
1:17)
This truth helps to ground me by helping me to realize that
ultimately the Bible is not about me, but about Jesus with me as a background
player in his bigger Drama. Knowing that
the Bible does not revolve around me gives me a breath of fresh air in my
interpretive method; I do not read the Bible as a glorified self-help
book. No! The meaning of the text is determined by the
Author, not by me. I agree with
postmodernists that all truth is interpreted, and we must account for the
influence of the reader in that interpretation.
Nevertheless, we affirm that if God is real, his interpretation is the
correct one and is the one we are really after if possible. We trust that if God did not even spare his
own Son, he will not leave us in the dark as to the truth if we seek it with
humility. God does not mean to be
misunderstood by those who would seek him in true faith.
The disciples’ minds were opened by Jesus to understand the
Scriptures. Therefore, previously they
did not understand the Scriptures.
Certainly this does not mean that they had no knowledge or familiarity
with them, but they lacked understanding.
The conclusion here is that there are wrong interpretations of
Scripture. In the case of the Pharisees,
there can be careful and detailed interpretations of Scripture, which include a
strict obedience, that are still damning in the end; their adherence to the Scriptures
did not open their eyes to the One the Scriptures pointed to, and indeed, they
ended up conspiring to kill him!
Today, we do not need
to content ourselves with mere familiarity with the Scriptures or with vacuous
talk of them, but we desire the sort of understanding that the disciples were
given. We want truth and meaning, not
merely misinterpreted fact. We must
interpret the whole Bible, not merely the New Testament, in terms of
Jesus. And we must interpret our whole
lives, not merely the Bible, in terms of Jesus as well. There is not a square inch of existence that
does not ultimately belong to him.
“…he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” They did not open their own minds. They needed the help of another. Jesus was pleased to perform this opening of
their minds. Humility requires that we
see ourselves in a similar position of inability apart from Christ. If we are to see anything aright, we need to
see it through eyes opened by him and for him.
Jesus summarized the
Gospel concerning himself to his disciples in verses 46 through 49. What is this Gospel? Christ, the Messiah, suffered and died. He rose from the dead. Again, this is not a program for
self-improvement or enlightenment; it is a declaration of news, very good news! It is a declaration of something that has
been done for us that we could not do, but that we desperately needed
done. If this dying and rising is
relegated to a corner, or if it is taken as a mere symbol and not an objective
historical reality, it is no longer news.
It becomes a sort of symbolic juice to rev up our emotions to improve
ourselves or the world or something else.
This, I believe, is one of the distinguishing factors of Christianity -
that it is rooted in a history of God’s acts consistent with his character, and it
is not first a sort of philosophy of life, though it has much to say about how
we should live.
Jesus gives his Gospel a missionary emphasis. Repentance and forgiveness of sins are to be
proclaimed everywhere. That means that
everyone needs this message. Salvation
is found in the name of Christ alone. As
Christians, we are God’s primary means of that vital proclamation, and we should take
that responsibility as seriously as Christ did, which involved his own dying. Indeed, verse 48 says that the disciples are
witnesses of these things. This is a new
and fundamental part of their identity.
And it is a fundamental part of ours, too. If what we carry to the world is news, rooted
in historical events that have radical implications for our present and future
condition, our posture must be that of joyful herald. News is meant to be heralded! That is what preaching is. That is what evangelism is. Repentance is not a popular message, but it
is the one we must carry. While salvation
in Christ’s name is counter to the pluralistic spirit of our age, let us yet declare
with Paul that we are unashamed of the Gospel which is the power to save.
(Romans 1:16)
Jesus sends the promise of the Father and power from on
high, which we realize is the Holy Spirit.
Christ goes away so that another may come.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and
you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) The
disciples are instructed to stay in the city to wait. It is our inclination to plan and act in our
own power and self-sufficiency. But the
glory belongs to God, and the work belongs to his Spirit working in us and
through us. We are in a hurry, but God
in his sovereignty is not. Sometimes God places his
people in the desert for forty years. It
is clear that God’s mission is dependent on his Spirit’s power to accomplish
it and not our ingenuity or urgency.
Just as Jesus died and rose, he also ascended after blessing
his disciples. What should our response
to these things be? I think we should
join with the disciples in worship. The
crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are not mainly doctrines to be picked
apart and analyzed. First, they are bare
historical facts about the actions of a God who loves us and acts on our behalf, and the
upshot of all of this is worship. We
should be inspired to worship our glorious God.
And the aroma of that worship should be infused with great joy (verse
52). We should be the most serious and
most joyful people in the world. Others may
see that as an oxymoron, but we know that it is not! It is one of the most beautiful truths in the
world. Jesus walked the path to the
cross for the joy that was set before him, and we walk this life with all its
difficulties for the joy set before us.
Our joy is God himself, and he is greater than any sorrow. With the ascension, we know that he is alive
and waiting for us, and more than any other thing that we wait for, we await
his presence as our true reward.
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