When We Are Not in Vogue

We live in a culture in which Christianity is no longer respected. How should we respond to this? We could respond in anger, demanding the respect we think we deserve. Or we could react in desperation, trying frantically to return to a place of respectability. Or we could trust God. God never promised that society would always be on our side; in fact He predicted the opposite (John 15:18-21; 16:1-4; Matthew 10:16-39). But God also tells us that He will accomplish His purpose in the world in spite of this opposition (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 3:6,7). God also promises us that we can trust Him to face what we need to face in our lives (Proverbs 3:5,6; Psalms 127:1,2; Romans 8:28). But God never promised that we would always be admired by the world around us. That was never His intent.

Who Is in Control?

Does the world sometimes seem out of control? Does your life sometimes seem out of control? But more importantly, who should really be in control? Too often the answer we would prefer, if we really examine ourselves, is that we want to be in control ourselves. But as we look at the world around us, especially from the Christian point of view, it seems to be careening out of control. But God says that He is in control (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:28; Isaiah 46:10). Further, He says He is at work building His church (Matthew 16:18; 1 Corinthians 3:6,7; Colossians 2:19). He is also at work in our lives to accomplish His purposes (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 3:5,6; Colossians 1:28,29). The problem is that this does not always involve what we want and what makes us comfortable. Sometimes it means going through times of hardship (John 16:33; Acts 14:22; 2 Corinthians 4:17,18). But we need to trust Christ to bring us through the difficulties, both in ourselves and in the world around us. Even if what happens is not what we want.

The Long Haul

Sometimes it is easy to base our lives around one great spiritual experience in the past. I do not want to minimize such experiences. God told the Israelites to remember what He had done for them, whether it was the deliverance from Egypt (Deuteronomy 7:18,19) or the splitting of the Jordan (Joshua 4:6,7). But it is possible for us to hold on to past victories and not go on with God. God is in the process of transforming us into the people He wants us to be (2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13). This is pictured as an ongoing growth process (Philippians 3:12-16; Hebrews 12:1,2; Colossians 2:19), which involves a continuous effort to advance in the things of God (1 Timothy 4:7-10; Hebrews 5:11-14; Romans 12:1,2). Not that we can do anything without the Spirit of God working in us (John 15:5; Romans 7:18; 8:8), but He calls us to be involved in working this out in our lives day by day (Titus 2:11-14; Colossians 1:28,29; Galatians 5:16). And not to just rest on past experiences.

The Power of the Resurrection

Paul wanted to know the power of Christ's resurrection (Philippians 3:10). What does this mean? The one thing it clearly does not mean is a life without problems. Paul immediately follows "knowing the power of the resurrection," with "knowing the fellowship of Christ's sufferings." To understand this, we need to understand what the power of God is for. We are told our adequacy is from God, who has made us adequate as servants of the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 3:5,6). God is not someone we draw on, like the Force in Star Wars, to accomplish our purposes. Rather, we are His instruments (Romans 6:12-14) to accomplish His purpose in the world (Ephesians 2:10). It is then we will know His power working in our lives (Colossians 1:28,29).

In Defense of Rituals

Are rituals in the church a good or a bad thing?  The Old Testament is full of rituals, but the New Testament puts the emphasis on worshiping in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).  But this shift to heart attitude rather than rigidly prescribed ceremonies does not mean no ceremonies are appropriate (note baptism and the Lord's Supper).  Rather, even beyond the sacraments we see a number of symbolic actions, such as laying on of hands (Acts 13:3; 28:8), anointing with oil (Mark 6:13; James 5:14), and bowing (Ephesians 3:14; Matthew 28:17). Also, the simple fact is we always have some kind of ritual involved in corporate worship. The question may be how well it is thought out, as well as what particular elements you are willing to allow, but not whether there is some fixed procedure involved.

There are reasons why we shy away from any kind of ritual.  There are those who those who, contrary to Scripture (Colossians 2:16,17; Galatians 4:9,10), have tried to impose their precise rituals on others, even to the point of arguing over the date of Easter and over how many fingers one should cross oneself with.  But isn't forbidding various rituals the same thing (Romans 14:1-12; Colossians 2:20-23)? Also, we are not simply to go through the motions of worship (Matthew 6:1-18; Malachi 1:10). But I have found one can go through the motions no matter what type of worship one engages in. The issue is one's attitude, not the form.

Is there, then, any point in ritual? I am convinced there is. It engages the worshipers on a number of levels and encourages them to be involved in the worship and not just to be spectators. Therefore, if it is not rigidly prescribed and not done in a mindless manner, it has its place in legitimate worship.

Do You Have to Be Cold-Hearted to Be a Calvinist?

Do you have to be cold-hearted to be a Calvinist? Or does it just help?  To deal with this we first need to ask, What is the point of Calvinism?  As I see it, this is that though we were sinners and in rebellion against God so that we would not have come to Him if left to ourselves (Romans 3:10-12; 8:8; John 6:44), God chose to bring us to Himself (Ephesians 1:4-11; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:29,30).  The point of this is the greatness of God's grace and the realization that there is absolutely nothing we could do to contribute to our salvation.  Far from being a reason for pride, it is a reason for humility, and the description given of those He chooses is hardly a basis for boasting (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).  Therefore, it should cause us to have compassion on those still enmeshed in the darkness of sin.

But there is a danger here of making God's choosing into an abstraction totally divorced from the fact of the fall and the price of redemption and of seeing God as choosing between people as casually as a socialite chooses outfits.  We need to recognize that God is beyond our understanding (Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 3:18; Isaiah 55:9), and we cannot fully comprehend how God's sovereignty fits with human responsibility or  how or why God chooses.  But He did not have to save anyone, and He paid an enormous price to do it (Romans 5:6-8; 8:32; John 3:16).

Calvinism can be confused with Stoicism, which says life is tough and God made it that way because He wants us to be tough. Rather, the Christian says life is tough, so we need to realize we cannot deal with it ourselves, but must trust God.  (Note that the original Stoicism had no clear idea of a Fall, which distorted their idea of God and the world.)  Calvinism is also confused with psychological determinism, which says our behavior is completely the result of our heredity and environment. But it is one thing to say our behavior is controlled by a personal God and another to say we are merely the result of background influences.  Psychological determinism leaves us in doubt as to whether we can know anything at since all our thoughts are the result of irrational causes.  It also can leave us looking at other people as just mechanisms determined by their programming.

All these misconceptions can influence Calvinists or be read in by opponents. Also, Calvinism in our culture, and in some parts of the Christian church, carries with it a considerable stigma.  Therefore, only those who have or who develop considerable determination and strength of conviction can hold to it.  Such people may be perceived, fairly or unfairly, as cold-hearted.  Sometimes you produce what you perceive in people.  But to be kept in perspective, predestination must be considered in connection with the Fall and redemption.

Knowing God

What does it mean to know God? What does it mean to know any person?  I like to think I know my wife. Now you could know a considerable amount about her by launching an FBI investigation and finding out facts about her.  But you would not know my wife.  On the other hand, if you asked me questions about my wife and I could not answer any of them, you would wonder if I really knew my wife.  It is not enough just to know the facts about God; the demons do that (James 2:19).  But we cannot really know God without knowing about God (Jeremiah 9:23,24).  Knowing God, therefore, refers to knowledge gained in relationship.  Now the only way to genuinely know God is to come through Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:8-11), who paid the price for our sins (1 Peter 2:24,25) and offers salvation based on faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8,9).  But we are called from there to increase in the knowledge of Him (Colossians 1:10). This involves an increase in the factual knowledge of God in the context of relationship and leads to, not just knowledge, but obedience (1 John 4:6,7).  It is this kind of knowledge, both factual and experiential, that we are to grow in.

Leap of Faith?

What is faith? It is one of the most variously defined words in the world. In fact, there are so many different versions of what it is that it is clear if one is correct, many others are not. More importantly, what is the Scriptural definition? First and foremost, faith is faith in God (Hebrews 11:6) and not other things (Psalms 20:7; Isaiah 42:17). Also, faith is not against reason (Scripture gives reasons to believe; see 1 Corinthians 15:1-11), but against sight (2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 1:1). We need to have faith to believe God's promises even if we do not currently possess them (Romans 4:18-21). Faith is therefore not faith in faith or a leap of faith into darkness, but reliance on God, whose truth we know.

We are also promised great things through faith the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20), which is a seed known for its smallness. Now certainly, the presence of faith is relevant (Matthew 13:58), but the chief word for doubting in the New Testament is a strong word "to waver". It pictures someone actually fluctuating back and forth between two opinions (James 1:6-8), not someone who has an occasional doubt pass through their head. One example of God's graciousness, even when our faith is imperfect, is Acts 12:1-19. Herod Antipas puts to death James the son of Zebedee and throws Peter into prison. The church calls together a prayer meeting to petition God for Peter's release. So God sends an angel, who rescues Peter from prison. Then Peter goes to the house where they are praying for his freedom and knocks on the door. And when the maid runs into the gathering and tells them Peter is at the door, they do not believe her. It is only when Peter, after much knocking, is let in that they recognize it is really him. I am convinced God often does things for us in spite of our imperfect faith.

I am therefore convinced that faith is not a mental exercise; it is not a state of mind we work up; it is not an indefinable experience that flies in the face of reason. It is, rather, our imperfect reliance on the promises of God, even though we do not see them now. And if we have even a spark of a real faith, God will meet us there.

Trust in Horsemen and Chariots

It seemed the reasonable thing to do. The Israelites were faced with the Assyrians, the chief superpower of the day. It made sense to ally with the Egyptians and trust them to supply the military resources needed to fight the Assyrians. But God rebuked them from trusting in the resources of the Egyptians rather than trusting in Him (Isaiah 31:1-9). What are we trusting in? Our great programs, our organizational ability, our clever advertising? Francis Schaeffer once asked the question, If God were to come and remove from our Bibles every reference to the Holy Spirit and prayer, how would our life be different? Would this make a difference, or would we just go on living the way we did before because we never really put much stock in these things anyway. Sometimes I wonder if we have not followed the rest of our culture in totally discounting the supernatural, if not in principle, at least in practice.

Psalms 46:10 has been used to suggest that we should stop in the middle of our daily pursuit and recognize God is God. This is a good application, but it does not really fit the context. Rather, we are told that when the world is falling apart around us, we need to realize God is God (Psalms 46:1-3). We have no idea of the historical context of this psalm. But the picture I get is of the king of Judah running up and down upon the ramparts of the city, making sure his archers are ready here and the gates are secure there. Then there comes in the midst of His hurry the divine interruption, "Stop and know that I am God." Do we really believe that God is God? Do we live like it? Or would we rather trust in horsemen and chariots.