In case you have not noticed, times have changed. In recent news this past holiday season there were multiple news articles and much discussion centered around a song that does not fit within our current context given its content. If you gave this any thought, there is much at stake here and the discussion reflected a number of important cultural shifts. I want to address them here.
1. Truth no longer is connected to its original context.
We no longer determine truth (if we are interested in truth at all) by looking at the origin of anything. Instead, we define truth in our modern sophisticated society by how something makes people feel. So if a song does not fit our current narrative we do not look to the time in which it was written and what might have been different or if the lyrics reflect something other than what it might seem from our point of view, we simply assume that our point of view is truth and evaluate our world based upon the truth we perceive.
The trouble is that the Bible is often looked upon in the same way. We no longer care about original context, or historical understanding. The who's, what's, when's, where's, and why's no longer matter. All that seems to matter is what does the reader think of the text they are reading. And this makes much of the Bible seem antiquated and out of touch with reality.
The trouble with this is that nothing could be farther from the truth. I will consider God true and everything else a lie because I believe in a God who is Truth and His Word that is Truth. So we as Christians need to be careful not to distance truth from its objective grounding in God.
2. The greatest problem in our culture is causing offense.
Everyone seems to get along fine until someone is offended. And keep in mind that the offense does not have to be current. I can be offended that someone might have done something 25 years ago to someone I don't know. But I can only be offended if it hurts my feelings. If I dare call something wrong (objectively) than my feelings no longer matter because I have offended someone else. So, if for instance I argue that life begins at conception, the argument immediately derails because I have offended someone who has had an abortion and I clearly am not considering their feelings.
Again this seems to be innocuous enough, but we have lost the ability to hold contrary sides of a position with dignity and respect. So if I disagree with you, you assume I am not respecting you and our discussion can no longer occur peacefully. This leads to the fracturing of society into "sides". For an example, look at politics. We are now more divided than we ever have been because we cannot hold to ideals or beliefs about what our government should be, we are either Republican or Democrat and either side holds shame to all those who disagree. When we believe that Christians can only be one or the other we are committing the same issue that has caused this culture of offense in the first place by boiling down the person who has some belief into a side and judging them based on the little we know of that side.
The bigger problem with this is that the gospel is an offense to those who are perishing. (see 1 Cor 1) And when those who preach the gospel become a stumbling block to those that do not want to hear it, a silencing will soon follow. We must cause offense for the content of the gospel because the content of the gospel is that people are dying because of their sinfulness. To say otherwise is not true, regardless of how people feel about it.
So as true followers of Christ we must ground truth in the objective reality of God and His Word and we must understand that our gospel is offensive.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
The Importance of Teaching Integrity
As parents we tend to teach our children a lot of things. Many of them we teach intentionally; they learn from us things like how to read and how to speak. They hopefully learn some important life skills and by the time they leave the home they know enough of these things to make it on their own. When they are little we teach differently than when they are older, but as parents we are always teaching. Some things they learn unintentionally. They learn our mannerisms, they learn how to relate to one another and how to pick a spouse from us, even if we do not teach these things directly. One thing that I am grateful for is that my father and mother made a point of teaching the value of integrity.
Integrity is defined by the 11th edition of the Miriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary as, "Firm adherence to a code of moral or artistic values." My father always defined it as making sure that what we do is the same no matter who is looking or if anyone is looking at all. I firmly believe that we need to teach both intentionally and unintentionally the value of integrity. As we do so, there are a few key principles that I would suggest.
1. We found our integrity solely on the Word of God.
Any other foundation or moral code is not worth clinging to, but the one that does not fail and never returns void is worth teaching and clinging to for the rest of our lives. Teach your kids that we make choices not based on our own ideas or our parents ideas, but on what God says. We do not make choices based on what feels right or makes us happy, we evaluate morality based on the Word of God and strive to live accordingly.
2. Integrity does not depend on social situations.
We do not choose to act one way in front of our parents or at church and then act another among our other friends. This is not integrity, this is having two different moral codes (or more for some people). We do not base moral decisions based on where we are at the time, we live with integrity to the moral code of God's Word wherever we go.
3. Integrity does not come naturally.
In fact, we are really built to not show integrity! Our natural selves are built to be moral chameleons. We will, if given the chance, change multiple times to fit our own needs. We will adjust morality and we will adjust our own understanding of the basics of right and wrong before we submit to an authority outside of ourselves. In a very real sense we cannot have integrity apart from Christ. Or I should say that we cannot have integrity based on the Word of God apart from Christ. Our integrity before Christ shows itself in a complete and total allegiance to self and self alone.
4. Integrity is best shown and taught.
It has to be both intentional and unintentional. We need to both talk about it and live it. We need to acknowledge to our children and to our family, and to our friends and even to our church family that we are imperfectly trying to have integrity in all that we do.
5. When integrity is absent . . .
The consequences are enormous. I might even suggest that this is part of the reason that students tend to leave the church at the age of 18. I might suggest it is the reason that people do not see that the Bible or the Church is relevant. It might be a part of the reason so many see the church and its people as hypocritical. When we lack integrity, we lose our platform to speak to a lost and dying world.
So parents, please teach your children by both your verbal instruction and by your actions about the importance of integrity!
Integrity is defined by the 11th edition of the Miriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary as, "Firm adherence to a code of moral or artistic values." My father always defined it as making sure that what we do is the same no matter who is looking or if anyone is looking at all. I firmly believe that we need to teach both intentionally and unintentionally the value of integrity. As we do so, there are a few key principles that I would suggest.
1. We found our integrity solely on the Word of God.
Any other foundation or moral code is not worth clinging to, but the one that does not fail and never returns void is worth teaching and clinging to for the rest of our lives. Teach your kids that we make choices not based on our own ideas or our parents ideas, but on what God says. We do not make choices based on what feels right or makes us happy, we evaluate morality based on the Word of God and strive to live accordingly.
2. Integrity does not depend on social situations.
We do not choose to act one way in front of our parents or at church and then act another among our other friends. This is not integrity, this is having two different moral codes (or more for some people). We do not base moral decisions based on where we are at the time, we live with integrity to the moral code of God's Word wherever we go.
3. Integrity does not come naturally.
In fact, we are really built to not show integrity! Our natural selves are built to be moral chameleons. We will, if given the chance, change multiple times to fit our own needs. We will adjust morality and we will adjust our own understanding of the basics of right and wrong before we submit to an authority outside of ourselves. In a very real sense we cannot have integrity apart from Christ. Or I should say that we cannot have integrity based on the Word of God apart from Christ. Our integrity before Christ shows itself in a complete and total allegiance to self and self alone.
4. Integrity is best shown and taught.
It has to be both intentional and unintentional. We need to both talk about it and live it. We need to acknowledge to our children and to our family, and to our friends and even to our church family that we are imperfectly trying to have integrity in all that we do.
5. When integrity is absent . . .
The consequences are enormous. I might even suggest that this is part of the reason that students tend to leave the church at the age of 18. I might suggest it is the reason that people do not see that the Bible or the Church is relevant. It might be a part of the reason so many see the church and its people as hypocritical. When we lack integrity, we lose our platform to speak to a lost and dying world.
So parents, please teach your children by both your verbal instruction and by your actions about the importance of integrity!
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
I Have Been Rescued!
Every year I try and pick a theme verse for the year, and this year the verse comes from the book of Colossians:
"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Col. 1:13-14, NASB)
I got the privilege of preaching these verses on January 6, the first Sunday of the year. I think that sometimes we here a sermon, or read a devotional, or read a passage of Scripture and we forget that we are to meditate on the Word of God. We hear it, and it goes in one ear, rattles around for a day or two, and then it is gone. I think that there are times when we need to just dwell on a passage of Scripture for a good long time. This is the case with these verses.
I have been rescued. This is another one of those words that we use and really downplay when we use it. We talk about being rescued from a meeting by a phone call. We thank people for rescuing us from boredom or uncomfortable situations. This is not the heart of the word. The origin of the word is the idea of casting something off and discarding it. In other words, we are completely casting off the danger that we find ourselves in. The one thing that is consistent in the usage of the word is that we always need someone else to do the rescuing.
I cannot cast off the darkness myself. I cannot enter the Kingdom of God on my own. I need the help of the Son of God. I need his redemption, I need his forgiveness, I need His rescue.
I also think it is worth noting that in this particular case we are talking about a finished work. Note that it does not say he is rescuing us as if the work of changing kingdoms is an ongoing and unfinished work. If you are saved, you are rescued. It is done. You are now the citizen of a new kingdom and your citizenship cannot be revoked because it is bound to the one whose kingdom in which you now live!
These two thoughts - the fact that I have been rescued and the fact that in the providence of God it is a finished work are worth going over time and time again. Perhaps we can start to re-frame how we look at the world and how we think of ourselves if we begin from the premise that God rescued us. Or perhaps you need to consider that rescue is available through Jesus and place your faith and trust in Him today!
"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Col. 1:13-14, NASB)
I got the privilege of preaching these verses on January 6, the first Sunday of the year. I think that sometimes we here a sermon, or read a devotional, or read a passage of Scripture and we forget that we are to meditate on the Word of God. We hear it, and it goes in one ear, rattles around for a day or two, and then it is gone. I think that there are times when we need to just dwell on a passage of Scripture for a good long time. This is the case with these verses.
I have been rescued. This is another one of those words that we use and really downplay when we use it. We talk about being rescued from a meeting by a phone call. We thank people for rescuing us from boredom or uncomfortable situations. This is not the heart of the word. The origin of the word is the idea of casting something off and discarding it. In other words, we are completely casting off the danger that we find ourselves in. The one thing that is consistent in the usage of the word is that we always need someone else to do the rescuing.
I cannot cast off the darkness myself. I cannot enter the Kingdom of God on my own. I need the help of the Son of God. I need his redemption, I need his forgiveness, I need His rescue.
I also think it is worth noting that in this particular case we are talking about a finished work. Note that it does not say he is rescuing us as if the work of changing kingdoms is an ongoing and unfinished work. If you are saved, you are rescued. It is done. You are now the citizen of a new kingdom and your citizenship cannot be revoked because it is bound to the one whose kingdom in which you now live!
These two thoughts - the fact that I have been rescued and the fact that in the providence of God it is a finished work are worth going over time and time again. Perhaps we can start to re-frame how we look at the world and how we think of ourselves if we begin from the premise that God rescued us. Or perhaps you need to consider that rescue is available through Jesus and place your faith and trust in Him today!
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