Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Can we stop pointing fingers?

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Finger Pointing
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If we read of the failures of the Nation of Israel in the Old Testament without identifying our own, similar failures, we miss an opportunity for growth. The temptation of superficial worship is universal. Israel struggled with it, churches struggle with it, and I struggle with it. Through Isaiah, God said this to the nation of Israel:

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:11–17, NASB)

The temptation is to feel that if we worship on Sunday (and maybe attend small group), give some money and do our (almost) daily devotions, we have done well. But the problem is that we can do all of this without having our hearts changed and without drawing close to the God we claim to worship. The forms have changed but the tendency toward having hard hearts has not.

Racial tensions have been running high in my country. I assume that the events that have been happening in Ferguson, Missouri are known throughout the world. Based on tidbits of information and our own predispositions, it is tempting to point the finger of blame on a person or group for these events.

But I wonder if things would be different if we, as the church, took seriously the commands at the end of the passage cited above. Have we turned a blind eye to injustice? Have we allowed the ruthless to prevail? Have we done all that we can for widows and orphans?

It has been said that in America, the most racially segregated time is Sunday morning worship. Too often the racial make-up of the local church does not reflect that of the surrounding community. Some of the separation is based on style preferences, but style preference is a lame excuse for the lack of fellowship between believers and congregations.

God said to Israel and is saying to us that it doesn’t matter a whit about the style or intensity of the external forms of worship. It doesn’t matter if we can point to the beautiful church buildings, exuberant worship or motivational preaching. God is not impressed and neither should we be.

God wants our hearts to reflect his heart. What would our world look like if they did? We would probably do less finger pointing and more work to bring healing and reconciliation.

Life as an ambassador

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Ambassador of Light
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When Joseph was propositioned by Potiphar’s wife, he responded by saying,

“. . . How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9)

Joseph had the understanding that he had a responsibility to God to behave according to God’s standards of conduct. His first allegiance was to God. He made the right choice in a difficult decision even though the short term cost was huge.

Fast forward about 1,900 years and there is a guy formerly known as Saul who found himself in many difficult situations. What is remarkable about this is that the Apostle Paul referred to himself as an Apostle (one who is sent) and am ambassador (see 2 Cor. 5:20 and Eph. 6:20).

It is the role of the ambassador to represent a government or king while traveling in a foreign country. Sometimes the ambassador has to represent his king in an environment that is difficult or hostile.

Like Paul, those of us who claim allegiance to Jesus have been given the responsibility to represent Christ in every situation in which we find ourselves. Jesus warned us that we would find tribulation in the world (John 16:33), so we should expect that we will sometimes find ourselves in difficult situations.

My guess is that every one of us has at least one difficult situation to deal with. It may be a family member, coworker, neighbor, church member or even a government. Aside from people problems, unemployment, underemployment, sickness or unfulfilled desires can cause frustration and difficulty.

When faced with difficulty (I admit that I have had relatively few real difficulties) I have a tendency to whine to God about the situation. My default position is one of self-pity and defeat.

Yet, if God is who Jesus represented him to be, then that God desires my well-being and the difficult situation is not an accident. Like Joseph, I may not see the reason for the difficulty while it is happening. I may not even see the reason for the difficulty while I remain in this life. But I can remain confident of two things: Jesus is with me in the difficulty (Matt. 28:20) and the difficulty is not random or meaningless (Romans 8:28).

Let’s return to the idea of being an ambassador. Perhaps part of the reason that God allows difficult situations in our life is so that we can be used to show His love in that situation. Rather than joining in the complaints against the terrible boss, I could work to make the situation better for all, including the boss. Rather than feeling aversion to interacting with a difficult person, I can live as a window that allows the light of God’s grace to shine through. Rather than whine to God about the difficulty, I can ask Him what I am to learn from the situation and ask for strength and wisdom to represent Him well.

I am writing as one who would like to do this well, but has failed so many times to do so. Yet, behind all my failures is a God who is big enough to redeem those failures.

The church is not the only army that shoots its wounded

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Judges GavelI have heard it said that the church is the only army that shoots its wounded. I now know that this statement is not true. It is not false because the church does not shoot her wounded. It is false because the church is not alone in this behavior.

What brought this to mind was all the discussion about Adrian Peterson and his discussions with the NFL. Even after Adrian’s case was resolved in the courts, the NFL commissioner felt pressured to come down hard on Mr. Peterson. The apparent reason for the commissioner to do so was to protect the brand and the image of the NFL in the court of public opinion.

All parties concerned, including Adrian Peterson, agree that his actions in disciplining his son were inappropriate. Also, it seems clear to me that Mr. Peterson did not intend to inflict permanent damage on his son. While his intent was not to harm his son, Adrian was wrong in his actions and it was appropriate for the state to step in and apply correction.

But the public wants more. Because some of the evidence in the case was so widely publicized, the pubic became outraged and lashed out at Mr. Peterson. As a result, the NFL became embroiled in an embarrassing situation because one of its star employees was receiving negative press. Therefore Mr. Goodell, the commissioner, felt pressured to act.

It is right to have the goal of protecting and nurturing the child in this case. My question is how does preventing the child’s father from gaining income help the child? Roger Goodell had suspended Adrian for the remainder of the season, thus denying him the income from playing. This is on top of the loss of income from product endorsements as advertisers dropped any association with Mr. Peterson.

Now, I don’t know the financial arrangements that Mr. Peterson has with the mother of his child. Perhaps Mr. Peterson’s loss of income has no impact upon the child at all. So Adrian not being able to play may not hurt the child, but the loss of income does nothing to help the child.

Should we hold Adrian Peterson to a standard with regard to his parenting style? Yes, we should. Is there a process in place for that standard to be held? Yes, there is. Did the process apply corrective action? Yes, it did. The courts did their job. The evidence was presented in the court system and we have to assume that a reasonable response to the evidence was enacted. The people who made the decision had all the evidence that they thought necessary to render the correct decision.

We need to resist the pressure to make instantaneous decisions based on incomplete information. We are angry and perhaps even hateful to Adrian Peterson based on one episode in his life. I know nothing else about Adrian other than the fact that he is a very talented football player. Yet, the media asks me make such decisions on the little bit of information they provide.

Rather than denunciation and anger, perhaps a better response would be one of empathy and support. I am reminded of Jesus’s statement in John 8, that the one without sin is the only one qualified to cast a stone. I have done and said things that I hope never get the level of scrutiny that Mr. Peterson’s case has gotten from the public. Why should I hold Adrian to a higher standard than I am willing to subject myself to?

It is likely that Adrian Peterson is neither more nor less flawed than the rest of us. We should resist the temptation to assess Mr. Peterson based on a few sound bites and a few pictures.

We should be concerned about the wellbeing of the child AND Mr. Peterson. They are both created in the image of God, the God who reaches out to all of us to bring us into relationship with himself.

What is the source of your glory?

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Glory“. . . for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” (John 12:43, ESV)

What would the church look like if all of us were more responsive to God and less concerned about what others think of us? Let’s be honest, we care about what other people think. We want to wear the right clothes, drive the right car, eat the right foods and we work hard to gain the admiration of our family, friends and neighbors.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be liked and admired, until it comes at the cost of going against what we know God wants us to be or do. If I allow others to derail me from God’s leading in my life, then I have a problem.

Can we be honest about our failure in this? Pastors experience burnout because they are trying to please a bunch of unruly, selfish sheep rather than be obedient to the God they signed on to serve. Those sheep often put unrealistic pressure on those pastors because we are more concerned about our own position, status and comfort than we are about completing the mission that God has given us to make disciples.

It seems to me that if we focus on God and become more responsive to him, much of the garbage that happens in churches would be eliminated. Much of the garbage that happens in families, workplaces and the public square would also be eliminated.

If Christians started living as though God’s opinion is the only one that matters, it would have a huge impact on our social structure.

But what would it look like if I was more concerned about what God thinks than about what people think? Here are some benefits that come to mind:

  • I wouldn’t be defensive when I am wrong about something.
  • I wouldn’t be offensive when I am right about something. I would not feel pressure to prove I’m right.
  • I will be more likely to do the right thing even when it is difficult.
  • I will be more likely to do the right thing even though no one but God is watching.
  • I wouldn’t waste my resources on things with no eternal value.
  • I would be more willing to stand up and say what needs to be said even though it may not be popular.
  • I would be more likely to speak on behalf of God as opposed to promoting myself.
What would you add to the list? Use the comment form below to make your addition.

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