The Spectacle of the Cross

When Paul adds in Philippians 2:8 that our Lord's death was "even the death of the cross", he was not simply adding an inconsequential historical piece of trivia; he was adding a detail with huge redemptive significance. In my message Sunday I highlighted the fact that the Bible goes out of its way to tell us, not only that Jesus died, but also the manner and place in which he died: on a cross.

Check out all the following texts and you'll discover that God is emphatic in telling us that the death of His Son was a public on-a-tree, up-in-the-air, for-all-eyes-to-see spectacle (Acts 5:30; 1 Peter 2:2; John 3:14; Psalm 22:16, 17; Zechariah 12:10; Romans 3:24, 25) . The Romans text actually uses a word (translated put forward in verse 25) which means to "set forth publicly" (TDNT). The NASB translates it "displayed publicly".

As I said Sunday, this public spectacle aspect of the death of Christ has redemptive relevance. That Christ did not die in secret or in an unseen and unknown place is essential to the meaning of his death. Both Deuteronomy 21:22, 23 and Galatians 3:10-14 make this clear. Both these texts reveal that His death on a tree (i.e.-on a cross) was meant to display that His death was an act of God in cursing human sin. Public hanging in execution was different from other executions like stoning. Those who were hung, were cursed of God (Deut. 21:22, 23).

This means that Christ became a curse--indeed the cursed of God--for us. I return to this even though I preached it just this past Sunday, because I want all who heard (and those who didn't) not to forget. Please consider this friends: God the Father and Son agreed that to redeem those loved by God, the Son would bear the curse of God for their sins.

We may find the language shocking and may even recoil as if it somehow overstates the matter, but it is accurate to say that on the cross, God damned Himself in His Incarnate Son so that He might be able to save His elect. These texts go out of their way to teach just that, and nothing less.

Tomorrow I'll give you a couple of quotes along these lines. For today, let's just ponder the matter ourselves. Those who deny or disdain the atoning and penal aspects of the cross (that is, those who deny that Jesus was actually bearing the penalty and punishment for human sin to appease the holy and just wrath of God over that sin) are not merely overlooking an irrelevant side-bar to the cross. They are missing the whole point.

Atonement, the propitiation of a holy and justly angry God, the substitution of a sinless Lamb for a sinful people; all this is the very heart and essence of the gospel. Take these away and we have nothing left. Keep these and we have everything.

O let us weep, and wonder, and be humbled, and be still and quiet at the foot of the Cross. Then let us sing and dance for joy.

Was the Substitutionary Death of Christ Cosmic Child Abuse?

This past Sunday I walked an old path with the folks in my church; the path of the death of Christ, by which He took the curse due to our sins upon Himself, by dying in our place. I meant to add a few thoughts regarding a perspective on the atonement that is gaining footing among some in the emergent church movement and other contexts.

It may be surprising to some that the teaching that God's Son was punished for the sins of others is not popular among many--even many who claim the name "Christian". In fact this teaching, which Christians have long called the substitutionary vicarious, atoning, propitiating death of Christ, is meeting with open horror and disdain.

Some suggest that the idea that God would punish His Son for our sins is equivalent to "cosmic child abuse". Friends, such a perspective reflects at the very least a woeful ignorance of basic Bible truth. For example, one fact that the Word repeats often is that while the death of Christ was God's way of punishing our sins without punishing us, it was not a unilateral act of the Father forced onto the Son. Philippians 2:7, 8 makes it clear that the Son humbled Himself and offered Himself for us. In John 10:17, 18 Jesus tells us that He laid down His life of His own accord.

This simple Bible observation--which any careful reader of the Word can see--makes the charge of "cosmic child abuse" patently absurd. The death of Christ for His people's sins was neither coerced nor forced nor imposed on the Son by the Father. It was a voluntary act of the Son in cooperation with the Father, born out of the Triune God's amazing love for His people. Any who miss this point simply are not reading their Bible's closely at all. Worse they are insulting God, insinuating things evil to the Almighty Father in heaven. At best those who make this charge are missing out on one of the sweeter truths of our faith; at worst they are slandering God out of ignorance.

O my friends: Jesus died for our sins means exactly what it means. We are sinners deserving to die under the eternal curse of God's judgment, but Jesus volunteered to take our place becoming a curse for us. Anything but cosmic child abuse, this is the ultimate expression of Divine love--from the Father to us, and from the Father to the Son in that the Son is now exalted in the place of highest honor to reward His high and infinite sacrifice of love for our sakes.

Let us not slander God with words ill-spoken. instead let us worship God for love beyond degree.

Keep "Faith" out of Science Textbooks!

When my son brought home his 7th grade Life Sciences text book, I was astounded by the following excerpt:

"Could life have arisen from non-living things on early Earth, even though it does not occur on Earth today? The answer is yes."

Since there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support this assertion, I must conclude that the authors of this text-book make this statement "by faith." Faith in a presuppositional framework called "Scientific Naturalism" which insists that there is a materialistic, mechanistic cause for every observable phenomenon. This is philosophical position (materialism), not a scientific conclusion.

Is there any evidence that life began from nothing? "The answer is no!" The scientific evidence we have to date clearly shows that life cannot arise from non-living matter. The Miller-Urey experiments from the 1950's which seemed to hint that it might just be possible are now considered irrelevant by the scientific community. No one can say with any certainty what the atmosphere of early earth was like, or what the "primordial soup" consisted of... unless, of course, they are speaking by faith. Clearly, this text book statement is a "leap of faith."

What the authors, and science educators are really saying is this: "Hey kids, we have no proof that life can arise on its own (in fact, we have proof that it can't), but that doesn't matter! We believe that it simply must have come about on its own, because, you see, unlike the great scientific minds of past centuries, we cannot leave any room for the possibility of a Creator, or any kind of intelligence behind this marvellous world we live in."

This is one parent who is completely annoyed with this kind of double-standard in public education. Will someone please remind these educators that faith is strictly forbidden in the public school classroom!

Of Pageants, Purity, and Moral Incongruities

By now most of us know of the firestorm generated by the Miss USA contestant's "stand" against gay marriage. As I reflect on the fall-out from her apparently faith-based comments daring to say that she was not in favor of gay marriage I'm struck by the moral incongruities and hypocrisies of folks on both sides of this moral debate.

Of course those of us who side with this young woman on the gay marriage issue are quick to notice the hypocrisy of the left as we once again witness the glaring intolerance of those who proclaim tolerance so vociferously. Once again we are confronted with brazen inconsistency among those who want to be accepted by all, but who are willing to accept none who are different from them. The left-leaning voices of our society (at least the ones among them who make the most noise) are--in my judgment--so transparently inconsistent and dishonest at this point, that it is hard to credit them with any integrity or take them at all seriously in these moral discussions. But let's face it: that's old news.

But what I think those of us on this side of this particular debate need to be more aware of is the moral hypocrisy and incongruities of all those who are praising this woman's moral courage, and are tempted to place her on a pedestal of virtue. Something is very wrong here.

I do not know this young lady, nor do I know anything of the validity of her faith claims, nor do I hold myself up as a model of virtue. I am very much aware of my own weaknesses and temptations and sins. But has anyone noticed what is wrong with the picture of recent days? Think back to the news reports you've seen. As the voices have discussed the whole episode what video have we seen in full view of millions? It's been a video of this woman parading her body, with almost nothing on, for countless eyes to see.

For the sake of a prize and fame she has essentially prostituted her body (for any time one uses her/his body in any kind of sexually active or provocative way for personal gain, a form of prostitution has occurred). Millions have seen her body in such a way that only a husband should see. The most charitable judgment we can make about this is that this young woman is astonishingly naive about what she has been a part of. More realistically she is one more example of a cultural set if sins that has permeated the church: lust, unblushing immodesty, mental and physical adultery, pervasive immorality.

Folks, when we can feel moral indignation over one sexual sin while looking at video clips leading us into a different sexual sin, and not even think about the moral incongruities, it's not a good sign. When a young woman in the name of faith can say that something is morally wrong while at the very same time she is doing something which--unless she's utterly naive--she knows is going to cause many who watch to at least be tempted to sexual sin, is almost shockingly hypocritical.

Something's very much amiss friends. We strain at gnats and swallow camels. We attempt to take out specks from others' eyes while planks protrude from ours. This kind of hypocritical moral outrage is just the kind of phoniness that Jesus decries in Matthew 7:1-5 and is also just the kind of "witness" that makes the world crazy with justifiable outrage against us.

Folks: homosexuality is sin. But so is physical and mental adultery; so is pornography; so is immodesty, so is showing parts of the body for others to see, that should only be seen and enjoyed by one's spouse; so is the obscenity of pageants and programs that are little more than peep shows.

The way of purity in Christ charts a different course than all this. What is most troubling to me is the sense that many who profess Christ are not morally aware enough either to know they are walking a far different path, or to care if they do know. God have mercy.

Taking Root Downward and Bearing Fruit Upward

Another Bible turn of phrase that captures my mind's eye and wins my heart is found in 2 Kings 19:30--

And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

Here is a promise of the restoration of the people of Israel, a promise of both depth and fruit. This image of strong, deep, and fruitful living in God and by His zealous grace (2 Kings 19:31) is rich, and it rewards some reflection.

It's been said somewhere that Christianity in America is about 3,000 miles wide and a half-an-inch deep. This may account for why we have so little effect on our culture and neighbors: we seem about as shallow as everyone else! What we need is depth; roots going deep into the things of God, the wonders of grace, the glories of our Savior and Lord.

We need to be people who have tasted and seen the good things of God; people who have beheld the Glory and been transformed by it (2 Corinthians 3:17, 18); people who have thought beyond the cliches and lived in the shadow of the Almighty. If we do not go deep with God, we'll really not go very far for or with God. Fruit upward and outward will be proportionate to roots downward.

There is no easy method for taking root downward. It involves study, prayer, meditation, a renunciation of the world, a love of theology (more precisely, a love of the God revealed through Bible theology), an embrace of suffering as a means of grace and a cathartic for the soul, a welcoming of true probing fellowship with other beievers to help us see the real issues and needs of our inner being, and a faithful attendance to real preaching of God's Word. All this and more sends the roots of grace deeper into Christ and in the end causes us to bear much fruit of holiness, joy, worship and love within.

Take some time today to stay put on some truth about God or grace long enough to have it sink a little deeper into your spirit. Don't be a perpetual spiritual taste-tester who never really swallows and digests. Get hold of some truth and then hang on to it until it gets hold of you.

Go deep with God.

A Sling and a Stone

"So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone" (1 Samuel 17:50.

One of the joys of consistent Bible intake is that you notice increasingly the little turns of phrase that God intends to capture our imagination. Here's one of them: "David prevailed...with a sling and a stone."

That's no inconsequential detail; in one sense it's the point of the whole story. How did little David defeat giant Goliath? With a sling and a stone. That is to say: "David didn't prevail over Goliath at all; God did." The attention is drawn to the means David used in order to make it clear that something/Someone other than David and the means was the real cause of David's victory.

Of course David knew this and made sure that everyone did too when he says in 1 Samuel 17:45-47--

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.

God loves to use slings and stones and borrowed swords because bigger weapons just might tempt us to credit the means rather than the Maker.

So what are your Goliaths? Sin, abortion, secularism, an unsaved loved one, discouragement, an ugly or evil habit, the culture war? You can be sure of two things: God will give the victory, and God will get the glory. And most likely He will acheive the latter by using some small effort, some inconsequential word, some lesser gift, some quiet insignificant act, some otherwise un-noteworthy person to achieve the former.

Let us never despair if it seems that the enemy has all the big guns on his side. For we've got a God whose really good with a sling and an arrow, and He loves to use it.

How Far Have We Fallen?

The following is a letter to the editor that I'll be sending to local and area newspapers. I'd be interested in any suggestions and thoughts.

How Far Have We Fallen?
Now that my town of Toms River holds a dubious place among those hosting an abortion clinic (American Women’s Services, Rt. 37), I find myself reflecting on how the abortion debate has shifted over time. Perusing the AWS website I see that it is “dedicated to reproductive freedom and quality women’s healthcare”, by providing procedures that are “safe, quick, and highly effective”, for the “emptying [of] the uterus”.

This is familiar euphemistic jargon that the abortion industry has used for years. But hidden behind it all is a shift of huge proportions. There was a day when the debate raged over the humanness of the unborn: was it really a human being or merely a “blob of tissue”? There was a day when even abortion-minded folks couldn’t stomach the idea of killing an unborn human, so they argued that the fetus was not really a human at all.

Today the argument over the humanness of the unborn is largely over (except, I suppose, among the few who haven’t seen a high-def sonogram recently, or who don’t know much about the DNA of the unborn). But if that argument is ended why hasn’t abortion ended with it?

This is where real horror should set in. The reason why abortion advocates remain impassioned in their cause despite the evidence of the unborn’s human status is that a conscience plunge has taken place in the wake of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. How far have we fallen? Consider this: in 1973 many pro-choice folks insisted that the fetus was a “blob of tissue” because it was abhorrent to them to think about killing an unborn human. Today many of those same folks will admit the fetus is human and kill it anyway. Consequently, Americans now regularly kill what they know to be human beings, and pretend it doesn’t matter.

Neighbor: this is what happens when humans trample their consciences in pursuit of personal or political agendas. Their consciences harden. Soon the unthinkable becomes acceptable, and the horrific seems a matter of no consequence. Where else might this all lead?

We are on a downward trajectory that should scare us to death. Is anyone out there awake?

Pastor Tim Shorey
Trinity Fellowship Church,
Toms River, N.J.

Following the Nations: A Voice of Repentance

In 2 Kings 17:15, 33 we read:

They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them ...So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

As I read this in my devotional time this morning I was struck with a spirit of repentance and grief. I cannot escape the fact that I have fallen into some of the same sin as ancient Israel: in many ways I have followed the sins of the nations around me rather than being faithful to my God and confronting my culture by leading my neighbors away from their sins.

I know that I posted a series of cultural sins that we're in danger of committing back on March 28th, but this morning the reality of these came to me with greater clarity and precision. The question came to me like this: "Tim, what are the specific ways that you have taken on the thinking and values of the nations rather than the heart of God and ways of truth?"

Here are ten answers God gave to me (these are not at all polished, but are a raw expression of what the Lord said to me by His Spirit):

1. I've subtlely accepted the relativism and a live-and-let-live mindset of the nations as is evident by my lack of urgency in speaking to people of their sins and of their need for the gospel. The fact that I do not leave my house in the morning with one agenda: to speak to as many people as possible of Jesus Christ and of their desperate need for Him, reveals that I've bought into the world's lie that it doesn't need Him.

2. I've subtlely lived a pluralistic/relativistic mindset whenever I've hesitated to say point blank: "Jesus is the only way."

3. I've given in to the world's love of popularity and the idol that image is everything when I've held back in speaking of "Jesus' by name and of people's sins and of God's holiness with clarity and conviction, because I did not want to offend or lose a friend.

4. I've caved in to political correctness when I've been bold in the pulpit but fearful in the marketplace; when I've preached holiness and the exclusive claims of Christ to the choir, but not to the lost.

5. I've embraced worldly materialism when I've neglected needs of the church and kingdom, and have treated luxuries and extras like they were needs and even rights.

6. I've trusted in the city of man and in man's help when I've treated religious liberty as a right to be fought for when in fact Christians throughout time and around the world have not had one bit of it themselves.

7. I've embraced the worldly hedonism of the nations when I've lingered on the advertisement or enticing picture or ice cream buffet or pillow or juicy gossip too long.

8. I've followed the nations distorted values when I've treated the arts and entertainment and pop culture and even high culture as if they were worth a level of attention even beginning to approach the attention I give to personal holiness and specific, bold, sin and cross-saturated gospel witness. When I in all honesty have given more thought to enjoying or even recovering the arts than to the plight of and an active pursuit of the lost never dying souls that I meet everyday, I'm flat out worldly.

9. I've followed the nations when I treat government and politics as if they have answers for human need, and can ever be trusted to "do the right thing". When I devote more concern and care to how to fix the economy or vote for the right candidate than I do to how to reach my neighbor and rescue him from a dreadful eternity, I have--just like the world--valued this life more than the next.

10. I've followed my nation's values when I treat luxuries like multiple health care options, college education, religious liberty, a relaxing night out, snacks between meals, second helpings of food, a new shirt, and another pair of shoes as needs and rights rather than as the flat out excess they most often are.

Folks, I'm not nuancing anything here, I realize. And I realize that a thousand "buts" and qualifications come to mind for each of these points. But I am making a primary point: we are at great risk of repeating Israel's sin, and in truth, we already have. We have followed the nations rather than our God.

Let us repent and mean it. Let us confess our idolatries and turn from them. Let us renounce all that we hold dear and go hard after God as never before.

This is what God expects, and if the Old Testament record shows us anything, it is that God isn't kidding.

Finding a Voice

How do we find a voice in a generation in which all the megaphones seem to be held by those who oppose what is good? This is one of the perplexing questions we face in our times, and for which we need to discover answers. To get our thinking moving, can I suggest a few possibilities which able Christians need to consider:

1. Link up with community ministries like the Open Door here in Toms River, which gives voice to life for women and their families who are in pregnancies unplanned and perhaps undesired. This faithful pro-life voice needs our support and prayer. Their annual Walk for Life is coming up soon. Plan to walk or throw your support behind those who do!

2. Simply speak up. Talk to friends and family and neighbors and co-workers about the issues of life and the sacredness of what it means for humans to be made in the image of God. Don't let people mute your voice with flippant words about this being a private issue. It's no more private than any conversation they might have about the morality of murder. But I warn you: to speak intelligently you may need to study up by reading good books on the topic. And when you do speak avoid being shrill and harsh. Speak boldly, but with love.

3. Write letters to editors. We need able voices contributing to the discourse out there, and usually, well-written letters to editors can get published. Send them along to all local and area newspapers, and see what happens in the will of God.

This is a starter list. I'd love for you to throw in some more suggestions to help us all find a megaphone. What do you suggest?

Culture Wars Being Won

I was in church this morning worshiping with the people of God and here's what I noticed:

- People of every age and therefore generational culture, worshiping together with joy, most of them enjoying varying generational styles
- People of white American, Italian, African-American, Moroccan, Hebrew, European, and Asian decent and culture (and probably more that I'm overlooking) all joining hearts to worship
- People rescued from seriously drug-addicted, alcohol-devastated, violent, criminally guilty, abortion-scarred, abused, divorced, self-righteous, poverty-stricken, well-to-do, educated, and illiterate personal and cultural backgrounds, all loving Christ and living new lives in Him.
- People who like jazz and country and classical and rock and roll and who knows how many other varying music cultures, all singing with one voice
- People, some who are single, some who are married, some who are divorced, some who have children and no spouse, and some with a spouse but no children, and some who have been bereaved of spouse and/or children--all living in a different personal "culture," but all coming together as the family of God with one Father in heaven and Savior-husband for their souls.

In all these case I saw people whose culture and whose lives were being redeemed by Christ, restored by grace, recovered by the power of God. Here were living evidences that some culture wars are being won.

This reminds me that in the end the only real work that redeems people and cultures is the work of the gospel. Cultures do not change by changed laws or political forces at work. Cultures change only as people change, and people change only as they come into contact with the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation.

So whatever else we do let us never forget to proclaim in our times the message of the One who died for our sins and rose from the dead, because in the end nothing so changes people as the gospel of God's saving and changing grace.

Neighbor Love

The war with culture must be engaged not just with words or counter-attack or defense. It must be engaged with love. Christians must connect profoundly to a lost and desperate world with radical love.

I’ve shared a few words from others as I’ve been away this week. Let me add one more citation to stir your hearts to go deeper into the heart and love and imitation of Christ for the sake of our world.

Having written a marvelous chapter entitled “God Incarnate” in his book, Knowing God, J.I. Packer concludes his wondrous teaching on the sacrifice of Christ in becoming one of us with this amazing challenge for us:

We see now what it meant for the Son of God to empty Himself and become poor. It meant a laying aside of glory; a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice, and misunderstanding; finally, a death that involved such agony--spiritual, even more than physical--that His mind nearly broke under the prospect of it (see Luke 12:50, and the Gethsemane story). It meant love to the uttermost for unlovely men, who "through his poverty, might become rich." The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity--hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory--because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.

We talk glibly of the "Christmas spirit," rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of Him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round. It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians--I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians--go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that God might meet them) averting their eyes, and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas Spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians--alas, they are many--whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the sub-middle-class sections of the community, Christians and non-Christian to get on by themselves. The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christian spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor--spending, and being spent--to enrich their fellowmen, giving time, trouble care and concern, to do good to others--and not just their own friends--in whatever way there seems need.

There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things He will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit. "For you know the grace of our Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

O Lord, may they know we are Christians by our love.

Bearing Witness to the World or Becoming Like the World?

I would like to connect to a previous entry posted by Tim entitled Fighting the Culture Within (March 28), as part of an ongoing blog focus on the war against God and Biblical truth surging within our culture. In this entry Tim helpfully described a number of ways that the sinful spirit of the age can find expression in our hearts and flow out through our lives. These sinful characteristics are all forms of the larger problem that the Bible refers to as worldliness, and worldliness is a serious problem pressing in on the followers of Jesus Christ, perhaps in unprecedented ways in our day.

Deeply concerned about this issue, C.J. Mahaney, in Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World, writes as follows:

Charles Spurgeon, writing 150 years ago, nevertheless speaks poignantly to the problem in the church today: "I believe," he asserted, "that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church." The greater our difference from the world, the more true our testimony for Christ--and the more potent our witness against sin. But sadly, today, there’s not much difference. The lines have blurred. The lack of clarity between the church and the world has undercut our testimony for Christ and undermined our witness against sin. In Spurgeon’s words once again: "Worldliness is growing over the church; she is mossed with it."

Are the lines between Christian and worldly conduct blurry in your mind--and more importantly, in your life? To put it another way, is your lifestyle obviously different from that of the non-Christian?

Imagine I take a blind test in which my task is to identify the genuine follower of Jesus Christ. My choices are an unregenerate individual and you. I’m given two reports detailing conversations, Internet activity, manner of dress, iPod playlists, television habits, hobbies, leisure time, financial transactions, thoughts, passions, and dreams.

The question is: Would I be able to tell you apart? Would I discern a difference between you and your unconverted neighbor, coworker, classmate, or friend? Have the lines between Christian and worldly conduct in your life become so indistinguishable that there really is no difference at all?

If the difference is hard to detect, you may be in danger of drifting down the deserter’s path with Demas (see 2 Tim. 4:10). In front of the deserter’s path is a warning sign. It’s 1 John 2:15: "Do not love the world or anything in the world.”

As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ we are called to be salt and light in relationship to the fallen world around us. We should be a true counter culture community living out the reality of our relationship with the Savior, speaking the truth in love as we bear witness to Christ to a culture in rebellion against the infinite-personal God who is really there, and who has spoken to us in the Bible. However, like the Israelites, who were called by God to be a holy nation, but were so often not able to faithfully bear witness to the surrounding culture because they were so much like it, so likewise, today’s church is succumbing to the same malady: worldliness.

As I reflect on this a probing question comes to mind, a question posed by the Savior: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46).

Why indeed.

Our Moment in History

In Tim’s absence he was kind and gracious to ask me to contribute to his blog, and so in connection with recent entries dealing with the culture war and the encroaching darkness squeezing in all around us, I thought I would share some thoughts in this regard from one of my theological and spiritual mentors in the faith, the late Francis Schaeffer. Speaking concerning the rebellion of our culture against the infinite-personal God of the Bible, he had this to say about how we should view this and what our response should be:

Finally, we must not forget that the world is on fire. We are not only losing the church, but our entire culture as well. We live in the post-Christian world which is under the judgment of God. I believe today that we must speak as Jeremiah did. Some people think that just because the United States of America is the United States of America, because Britain is Britain, they will not come under the judgment of God. This is not so. I believe that we of Northern Europe since the Reformation have had such light as few others have ever possessed. We have stamped upon that light in our culture. Our cinemas, our novels, our art museums, our schools, scream out as they stamp upon that light. And worst of all, modern theology screams out as it stamps upon that light. Do you think God will not judge our countries simply because they are our countries? Do you think that the holy God will not judge?

In a day like ours, when the world is on fire, let us be careful to keep things in proper order. We must have the courage to draw the line between those who have compromised the full authority of the Scriptures, either by theological infiltration or cultural infiltration, and those who have not. But we must at the same time practice an observable oneness among all who have bowed to the living God and thus to the verbal propositional communication of God’s Word, the Scriptures. Learning from the mistakes of the past, let us raise a testimony that may still turn both the churches and society around--for the salvation of souls, the building of God’s people, and at least the slowing down of the slide toward a totally humanistic society and an authoritarian suppressive state.

We cannot think that all this is unrelated to us. It will all come crashing down unless you and I and each one of us who loves the Lord and his church are willing to act… to stand up in loving confrontation, but confrontation--looking to the living Christ moment by moment for strength--in loving confrontation with all that is wrong and destructive in the church, our culture, and the state.

What do you think?

Beginning to Think

This morning, Steve's sermon pointed us to the "staggering command to live worthy of gospel" (Philippians 1). My wife and I have recently discussed, with concern, just how short we feel we have come in aiding the development of faith in our children, and a more meaningful commitment to the gospel. Today's message was a reminder of the "staggering" importance of these things.

We arrived home from church today later than usual. Immediately upon entering our home, I found that my 7 year old had turned on the TV, and in the next room, one of our teens was turning on the computer. With less evenness in my tone than usual, I "instructed" them to immediately turn them off. I consider it a failure on my part that such distractions are so readily available in our home.

If our children are to "live worthy of the gospel," surely they must first develop an interest in the gospel. And to develop an interest in the gospel, they must first begin to think about the gospel. YouTube, Facebook, the Phillies, and March Madness (and even Rubik's Cube lately), though there may be a place for such, surely have done more to distract, even numb their minds from better things. We consider ourselves to be "godly parents." Why have I allowed this?

Paul's hope for the Philippians was that they would engage in the same conflict that he himself was involved in. Paul lived worthy of the gospel! He did not allow his mind to be distracted from the gospel, or from the conflict it inevitably brings.

Bishop J.C. Ryle once said, "The cause of true religion has gained a great step in a parish, or congregation, or family, when people begin to think. Thoughtlessness about spiritual things is one great feature of the unconverted. It cannot be said, in many cases, that they like the Gospel or dislike it; for they do not give it a place in heir thoughts."

I used to think the title Ravi Zacharias gave to his radio broadcast was a little peculiar: "Let My People Think." It's making more sense to me now. Jesus himself said that we are to love the Lord our God with all... our mind.

Pastor Steve challenged us to address one thing at a time. Our family is going to take this seriously. Too much time has been lost. I think we may begin by honoring the Sabbath principle better than we have.

Get Ready to Work Hard

Worship is really hard work. That’s one reason why God tells us to love Him with all of our strength. And as we’ve thought on in our church quite a bit of late: listening is hard work too. Here’s a comment well worth pondering as you prepare for tomorrow:

“Preaching is thus a very solemn and momentous enterprise. Both minister and congregation should recognize that their Sunday sermons are the most important and significant events of the week, Whatever else is neglected, sermons must not be…The ministry of the word [is] a co-operative activity, in which the laity [are] to labor to learn just as hard as the minister labor[s] to teach” (J.I. Packer).

I’m not preaching tomorrow. That means that I won’t have the duo role of preacher/listener which I normally have (for before, during and after all my sermons I’m listening too). Tomorrow I will just have the listener role. Then I’ll have the leader role in helping my family do the work of real hearing of what God has said.

I’m planning to worship God with great strength by praying for those preaching and then by working hard to hear the voice of God for the transformation of my and my family’s life. How about you?

Let’s all remember that when the sermon is done tomorrow, our real listening work will have only just begun. That’s when we’ll have to take it home, review it, test it, and then think of how we’re going to apply and obey it. Let’s start praying now that both the one who preaches and the ones who hear will have the strength to work hard at it all for the glory of God and joy of each heart.

Culture War: Risking All against What Is Evil

Years ago I read the following true narrative from Charles Colson’s Loving God. It marked me for life. In posting it for you today, I’m hoping that maybe it will mark you, too.

“In the fourth century there lived an Asiatic monk who had spent most of his life in a remote community of prayer, raising vegetables for the cloister kitchen. When he was not tending his garden spot, he was fulfilling his vocation of study and prayer.

Then one day this monk named Telemachus felt that the Lord wanted him to go to Rome, the busiest, wealthiest, biggest city in the world. Telemachus had no idea why he should go there, and he was terrified at the thought. But as he prayed, God’s directive became clear. He was sure God wanted him to go to Rome.

He arrived there during the holiday festival. The city was bustling with excitement over the recent Roman victory over the Goths. In the midst of this jubilant commotion, the monk looked for clues as to why God had brought him there, for he had no other guidance, not even a superior in a religious order to contact.

'Perhaps,' he thought, 'it is not sheer coincidence that I have arrived at this festival time. Perhaps God has some special role for me to play.'

So Telemachus let the crowds guide him, and the stream of humanity soon led him into the Coliseum where the gladiator contests were to be staged. He could hear the cries of the animals in their cages beneath the floor of the great arena and the clamor of the contestants preparing to do battle.

The gladiators marched into the arena, saluted the emperor, and shouted, 'We who are about to die salute thee.' Telemachus shuddered. He had never heard of gladiator games before, but had a premonition of awful violence.

The crowd had come to cheer men who, for no reason other than amusement, would murder each other. Human lives were taken for the purpose of entertainment. As the monk realized what was going to happen, he realized he could not sit still and watch such savagery. Neither could he leave and forget it. He jumped to the top of the perimeter wall and cried, 'In the name of Christ, forbear!' [That means, "STOP"]

The fighting began, of course. No one paid the slightest heed to the puny voice. So Telemachus pattered down the stone steps and leapt onto the sandy floor of the arena. He made a comic figure--a scrawny man in a monk’s habit dashing back and forth between muscular, armed athletes. One gladiator sent him sprawling with a blow from his shield, directing him back to his seat. It was a rough gesture, though almost a kind one. The crowd roared.

But Telemachus refused to stop. He rushed into the way of those trying to fight, shouting again, 'In the name of Christ, forbear!' The crowd began to laugh and cheer him on, perhaps thinking that he was part of the entertainment.

Then his movement blocked the vision of one of the contestants; so that the gladiator only saw a blow coming just in time. His interruption angered the crowd. They began to cry for his blood. 'Run him through,' they screamed.

The gladiator he had blocked, raised his sword and with a flash of steel struck Telemachus, slashing down across his chest and into his stomach. The little monk gasped once more, 'In the name of Christ, forbear,' and collapsed onto the sand.

Then a strange thing occurred. As the two gladiators and the crowd focused on the still form on the suddenly crimson sand, the arena grew deathly quiet. In the silence, someone in the top tier got up and walked out. Another followed. All over the arena, spectators began to leave, until the huge stadium was emptied.

There were other forces at work, of course, but that one, innocent figure lying in the pool of blood crystallized the opposition, and that was the last gladiator contest in the Roman Coliseum. Never again did men kill each other for the crowds’ entertainment in the Roman arena.”

I wonder: what are we willing to sacrifice to stop the bloodshed today?

Culture War: Praising What Is Good

As an example of positive cultural warfare I’d like to post the following letter from one of our church folks to the principal of his local public high school. This brother has been known to go to school meetings to speak out against various issues like evolution, but this letter shows that he is also willing and eager to speak up when good happens. This is part of being “ready to give an answer with all gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15, 16). It also follows the “see-the-positive-and-commend-it” model of Paul when addressing various pagan and ungodly people (Acts 17:22; 24:10; 26:3; 25, 26). Read and appreciate:

Letter to the Editor (of the school newspaper)
Mr. Holman for Mayor

“On December 17th my wife and I attended the annual Pinelands Regional ‘Winter Concert.’ As the program of music and song unfolded, we were surprised and delighted to discover that this was no mere ‘Winter’ or ‘Holiday Concert’ at all. It was, in every sense, a Christmas Concert!

We congratulate Mr. Holman and Mrs. Sedlak on their selections, which consisted of traditional Christmas Carols and other sacred choral music. There was mention of ‘Christ is born in Bethlehem’ and of ‘God and sinners reconciled!’ Of Jesus coming to ‘save us all from Satan’s power when we had gone astray…’ By the end of the concert, I was definitely ready to celebrate this season of joy! Mr. Holman even invited the audience to join in the singing! All this, mind you, in a public school auditorium!

Thank you, Mr. Holman, for remembering what Christmas means to so many of us--I can’t tell you how encouraged we felt. The situation is not as far gone as I had supposed. Yes, the drive toward secularization threatens to sterilize even this most joyous time of the year, but on this evening my faith was restored.

At one point, toward the end of the concert, Mr. Holman turned to the audience and said, “Merry Christmas…yes we do say that around here!” The place erupted in applause.

After the concert, I personally thanked Mr. Holman, pointing out the overwhelming positive response of the crowd. He too had apparently noticed it, and jokingly suggested that this might be his chance to run for mayor! Go for it Ross! And thanks for reminding us of the reason for the season.”

A letter well written that shows grace and gratitude even in the middle of war; a model worth following. Thanks bro!


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