The prophet Jeremiah was called by God to provide object lessons to the Nation of Israel to confront them on their rebellion. In Chapter 27 of the book that bears his name, we find that Jeremiah was to make a wooden yoke and put it around his neck as a symbol of the upcoming servitude of Israel to Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon.

In Chapter 28 we read that one of the false prophets, Hananiah, took the yoke off Jeremiah, broke it, and proclaimed that Israel would not be conquered by Babylon and would not go into exile.

Here is the exchange between Jeremiah and Hananiah:

“Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the LORD: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron.”

(Jeremiah 28:12–13, ESV)

What a fitting metaphor for western society at present.

We have thrown off traditional norms that resulted from a Judeo/Christian world view. The established boundaries of marriage and family have been declared to be too restrictive. We have elevated personal freedom as a priority over responsibility to others, the most extreme example of this being the acceptance of abortion as a normal means of improving the quality of life.

But are we any happier as a society? Have the new-found freedoms brought personal peace? Based on the angry rhetoric from those who most loudly proclaim freedom from limits, I struggle to see that we are indeed happier.

Perhaps we have exchanged what has been perceived as a yoke and exchanged it for a collar of iron.

What do you think? I’d love to have you express your thoughts in the comment form below.

In the last few weeks, I heard news stories indicating that two well known and highly visible Christian figures have announced that they have in some measure walked away from their faith in Christ.

That anyone would walk away saddens me and has caused me to think about a proper response. For what it’s worth, my train of thought is outlined below.

These defections highlight the need for the church to be honest and open about the difficulties in applying Scripture to the world around us. There are things that we struggle to understand. But, in some segments of the church, raising honest and valid questions is discouraged.

Two categories of such questions come to mind.

The first category contains questions that are inherently difficult because we are finite creatures trying to comprehend the infinite. The question, “how can a loving and all powerful God allow evil in the world?” is a question that falls into this category. The question can be answered, but not simply. And we need to acknowledge the difficulties surrounding it. The questions in this category are difficult because the answers are nuanced and hard to understand.

The second category of questions are those that are difficult because they are counter cultural and offend our sensibilities. An example of a question in this category could be, “How can we accept Biblical teaching on marriage and the family in light of the way western culture is moving?” This question is not difficult because what the Bible says is hard to understand, it is difficult because it is hard to accept.

It should not surprise us that prominent people struggle in their faith. And in our everything-in-the-open social media culture, word gets out very quickly when popular people announce their struggles.

So how should the church respond to those who walk, or are walking, away?

First, keep in mind that the story is not over. Looking at many of the heroes of the Bible, we might question their hero status based on a snapshot taken during one of their periods of failure. God has not stopped working and prodigals are welcome to return.

Second, in light of the potential return of the prodigal, it would be wise to continue praying for those who seem to have walked, or are walking, away.

Third, Jesus warned us that there would be tares among the wheat so we should not be surprised if some (even in leadership) declare themselves to no longer orthodox in their belief.

I mention the third thought reluctantly because too often someone who expresses doubt is written off as not ever having been in the faith. Caution is required because only God and the person know if he is in the faith.

Honesty demands that we admit our struggles to work out our own faith. Real faith is at times a gritty mess and we all face difficulties in our beliefs. My experience is that God remains faithful even when we are faithless, as Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:13.

Feeling doubt and even expressing doubt does not automatically disqualify someone from being relationship with God. If it did, the number of believers would be really, really small.

What do you think? I’d love to have you express your thoughts in the comment form below.

I have recently begun to understand that there have been times in my life when I pretended that I was displaying grace, but it was not grace. It was cowardice masquerading as grace.

There are times when the lone, contrary voice needed to be heard and mine was silent. There are times when it would have been right to confront and I failed to do so.

As a poor excuse, I would point to the fact that I don’t understand group dynamics very well, and a properly worded response often comes to me several minutes too late to be helpful. Moses’ response to God in Exodus 4:10 resonates with me, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to our servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

The point is that I cannot let fear of saying the wrong thing force me to be silent when something needs to be said. Nor can I allow either the fear of rejection, or even the certainty of rejection, to prevent me from speaking out.

The fact that ten spies chose badly did not prevent Caleb and Joshua from saying what Israel needed to hear. They spoke out and were commended by God for doing it.

I have noticed that there are times in church leadership where unity and uniformity get confused. It is possible to have unity even when not everyone in the group shares the exact same view on an issue. Bringing unity out of diversity is a difficult and sometimes lengthy process. It takes a secure leader or leaders to allow differing opinions to be heard and considered.

But even when there is pressure to conform, the contrarian voice sometimes needs to be heard. Perhaps, in the future, by God’s grace and if he so leads, cowardice will be overcome and that voice will be mine.

One thing we learn from Scripture is that we are not defined by our failures.

What do you think? I’d love to have you express your thoughts in the comment form below.