Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Archives for 2014

Livefyre Comment System on Attempts at Honesty

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Update from September 2015. I am back to using Disqus. What drove this change is my desire to discontinue the use of the Jetpack plugin. I was using only 30% to 40% of the modules in Jetpack and figured that this blog would be more efficient if I added trusted plugins for the functionality that I need. So to replace Jetpack comments I went with Disqus. The reason I chose Disqus over returning to Livefyre is the simplicity of the interface.

LivefyreMost of the time the changes I make to Attempts at Honesty are minor ones that (to my knowledge) don’t affect the user experience very much. This week I made a change that might be an exception to this. I transitioned from the native WordPress comment system to using the Livefyre comment system.

My point in writing this post is to ask readers to take a minute to write a comment using the new system and give me feedback as to the difficulty of doing so. Is it cumbersome? Will the system make it more likely or less likely that you will leave a comment in the future?

In the past, I tried the Disqus comment system which is what many big name bloggers use. I liked the system but found that it drastically increased my page load speed and forced people to create a Disqus account before they could comment. Because of these two issues, I searched around for another, better system.

I’m finding that with Livefyre, there is a slight increase in page load time, but it is hardly noticeable and the increased capabilities of Livefyre should provide ample reward for the slight increase in time.

One of the things I like about this system is that it integrates with the major social media platforms which may translate to increased traffic. We’ll see . . .

But, please give the comment system a try and let me know how you like it. If the response is overwhelmingly negative, I can easily go back to the native WordPress comment system.

Which are wheat and which are tares?

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Wheat and TaresIn Matthew 13 we find Jesus relating the story of the wheat and the tares.

The master instructed his servants to wait until the end before they remove the tares so that the wheat can come to full maturity before harvesting.

The point that I’ve heard made from the pulpit more often than not is that we should not be surprised by the tares and that there will be unbelievers in the church. While I agree that this is a legitimate interpretation of the story, another thought comes to mind.

My experience is that sometimes there are people who have come to faith in such a gradual way, that it may be difficult to distinguish wheat from tares. What if the delay is not to only protect the wheat but to allow the harvesters to more accurately identify the tares.

I think that in churches we are often too eager to determine who is in and who is out. We are quick to apply litmus tests to faith.

The danger is that it is very possible to have intellectual assent to correct doctrine, but still be without a true relationship with God. Jesus speaks about this at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, when he says, “many will say to me in that day . . .” (Matthew 7:22). Paul encouraged the Corinthians to test themselves to see if they are of the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Notice that they are to test themselves, not test each other.

Yes, I believe that correct doctrine is important. But correct doctrine is a means, not an end. The end goal of correct doctrine is to bring us into deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. If we make correct doctrine the goal, then we will build walls rather than tear them down.

God is in the business of turning tares into wheat. What if the reason that we are not to separate the tares is for the purpose of bringing some of those who have not yet responded to the gospel into the kingdom of God?

Tozer on simplicity

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A. W. Tozer
A. W. Tozer

Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.

If we would find God amid all the religious externals we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity. Now as always God discovers Himself to “babes” and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip down to essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few). We must put away all effort to impress, and come with the guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond.

– A. W. Tozer

What more can I say . . .

Is it really good news?

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Good NewsThe word gospel literally means “good news.” In Greek, the word is euanggelion from which we derive our English words, evangelical and evangelism. So, an evangelical church is one that preaches the Gospel or good news of Jesus Christ.

The question that strikes me this morning is, “are we really offering good news?”

I have been in churches that do a good job of teaching people how they should behave. Sometimes the rules of behavior are plainly spoken; sometimes they are unspoken, unwritten rules that people in the fellowship absorb. Often these churches do a great job of teaching the Bible and holding people to the standards that the Bible promotes.

When I read Scripture, I am overwhelmed with how short I come from living up to the standards I find there. I do not love God with my entire being, I am still self absorbed and petulant with God. I do not love my neighbor as myself. Therefore, I fail in what Jesus tells us are the two great commands. If Christianity is simply a set of rules or a system of morality, I am a miserable failure at it. I can’t live up to the standard.

But that is precisely the danger. We can present Christianity to the world as a system of morality, a code of ethics. The church can come off as a religious Dr. Phil which offers advice as to how to overcome the problems in life through moral excellence.

If Christianity is just a moral system, if all the church has to offer is a cleaner lifestyle, then that is not good news. As C. S. Lewis has pointed out, a man cannot live up to his own standards, so his default position is one of frustration and defeat. If we are simply offering a system of morality and standards of behavior, we are only adding to the frustration. If all we have to offer are rules to live by, we are adding to the burden rather than relieving it.

In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul gives a simple statement of how the Gospel is indeed good news. We don’t have to produce righteousness on our own, nor do we have to clean ourselves up before coming to Jesus. Jesus takes care of it all. In Romans 8:1, we are informed that when we do come to Christ and accept his payment on our behalf, we are no longer under condemnation.

We receive forgiveness we don’t deserve and a status that we cannot earn. That is good news, the best news we can offer. Rather than offering behavior modification we an bring people to Jesus who has the ability to change hearts. In Christ, the words of Ezekiel are true:

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)

Can we, as the church, leave off our moralizing and poor attempts at behavior modification and return to the good news of Jesus Christ? Can we understand that we are not called to reform the political system but to allow God to reform our hearts?

I find it ironic that the sinners flocked to Jesus when he walked the earth and the “saints” were repulsed and condemned by him because they missed the point of his ministry. Too much of what is labeled Christian in my day is unattractive to non-believers because of perceived condemnation. Maybe it is time to reevaluate what message we are proclaiming to see how closely it matches Jesus’ message.

My guess would be that if we indeed act and speak like Jesus, the “sinners” would begin flocking to the Christ that the world so desperately needs.

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