Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Judging the judge: You cannot have it both ways

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JudgeOne of the objections raised against Christianity is that the God of the Bible is a vengeful deity who commanded Israel to practice genocide as they conquered the land of Canaan.

As a Christian, I would be the first to admit that some of what I read in the Old Testament (OT) makes me uncomfortable. There are things in the Bible that offend my 20th Century sensibilities. Yet we must look at the context of that command and understand it in its historical setting.

In the instances where Israel was commanded to wipe out an entire population, that command resulted from the evil that was being practiced by the soon to be conquered people. One of the most detestable practices was that of child sacrifice. God chose to eradicate the people to contain the evil.

On the other hand, another argument against belief in God is based on God’s apparent inability to contain or eliminate evil. People struggle with seeing the love of God when bad things have happened in their own lives or in the lives of others. The question is framed something like this: “how do you expect me to believe in a God that would allow the Holocaust to take place?”

But we cannot have it both ways. We cannot on the one hand complain when God steps in to eliminate evil and then complain when he does not. We cannot be the final arbiter of determining the justice (or lack thereof) of God.

The original attack on God’s credibility came in Genesis 3 when Satan asked the question of Eve, “did God really say?” There is always a danger when we assume the authority to stand in judgment of God.

God created humans as moral agents with the ability to choose well or choose badly. That ability to choose has not been rescinded and we get it wrong much of the time. If God changed the world so that none of us could choose to do wrong, we would all then become automatons.

The fact is that I choose badly every day. There is not a day that goes by where I do not have an inappropriate thought, say something that is hurtful to others or fail in some other way.

This does not eliminate the so-called “problem of evil.” We will never fully understand how the justice and love of God can be simultaneously if effect. Depending on our point of view, we will often be uncomfortable with what God allows or doesn’t allow.

So the question then becomes, am I willing to allow God to vanquish the evil in my own heart? Am I willing to admit my own finitude? Am I willing to worship a God who sometimes makes me uncomfortable? Am I willing to allow God to be the judge and trust that he will get it right?

Are you?

Let’s maintain some perspective

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Tantrum

While I support the Biblical definition of marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman for life. I also think that we need to maintain some perspective when debating this issue.

Homosexuality is a symptom and not the disease. It is a symptom of unbelief as is every other sin that the rest of us commit. We all, Christian or non-Christian, gay or straight, sin. There are no exceptions to this according to St. John (1 John 1:8). Paul tells us in Romans 1:18 that apart from Christ, we suppress the truth in unrighteousness. We hold down the truth under the surface of unrighteousness in order to drown it.

Does homosexual marriage have negative consequences? I believe it does. But so does a marriage with an alcoholic spouse. We have abusive marriages. We have marriages that are so geared toward financial success that the children are neglected. There are many ways to make marriage less than it ought to be. Some “Christian” marriages are as dysfunctional as homosexual unions. This understanding does not justify homosexual marriage, but it should give us reason to clean up our own mess before we start throwing stones at others.

The solution to the ills of our society will never be a political one. Politics seeks to change people’s behavior, not their hearts. Politics and government may achieve external conformity, but it will never bring unity.

It is the business of the Church to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. That good news tells the story of how Jesus can free us from bondage to all sin, sexual or otherwise. We are all in need of that freedom. If we start living in that freedom and lovingly reach out to those who desperately need it, then we have the beginnings of real change in our society.

But this change comes at a cost. The cost is that we have to acknowledge our own unbelief and pride, humble ourselves and admit that we have the same need of a Savior as those on whom we look down. If God has the power to save a ragged lot like us, then he can reach into society and change anyone.

We should stand on our convictions and unapologetically teach what the Bible teaches on every issue, including that of homosexuality. But we need to do this in humility. We need to let those to whom we teach know that we have not got this all worked out and that God has a lot of work left to do in us, reclaiming the damage done by the fall of Adam.

Instead of pointing at others as the cause of societies ills, we need to first come to terms with our own contribution to the chaos.

If we do this, we will earn the right to be heard.

Unbelief and its consequences

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In Numbers 20, Moses is commanded by God to speak to the rock to initiate a flow of water to meet the Israelites needs.

In a fit of anger, Moses instead strikes the rock and the water gushes forth. God responds to this action by telling Moses, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:12)

In Moses’ previous episode of bringing water from a rock, he was commanded to strike the rock. So what is the big deal about Moses doing it the same way the second time? Isn’t God’s reaction a little extreme?

The short answer is no, God’s reaction is not extreme even though my initial reaction is to think so.

Faith and UnbeliefMoses’ problem is also my problem, I struggle to believe God and act on that belief when He tells me something. God identifies Moses’ problem as lack of faith when He says, “because you have not believed . . . ”

I have observed in myself and others the tendency to do things in our own wisdom and relying on our own talents. Often, a train wreck ensues.

When I was young, much of  the church withdrew from the surrounding culture. We looked different and were often identified by the things we could not do. The church was intentionally out of style. The church stood firm on trivial issues like men’s hair length and women wearing pants. We successfully conveyed the message that those from the surrounding culture were not welcome in our church unless they cleaned themselves up to look like us.

Because withdrawal didn’t do anything good for the church or the culture, Evangelicals then tried to change the culture through political action. Political action succeeded in allowing the church’s detractors to portray Christians as right wing extremists who are determined to take people’s freedom away. This thought is with good precedent. Every time the church has gotten political power, it has gone badly for the church and the surrounding culture.

I do not see either of these responses modeled in the New Testament. If the Apostle Paul was so inclined, he could have found many things about the Roman government worthy of criticism, yet such criticism is noticeably absent from Paul’s letters.

Nor do we see Jesus withdrawing from the surrounding culture. Jesus interacted with everyone, religious or irreligious alike. He encountered the culture where it was at and shined the light on that culture.

When the church responds badly to the surrounding culture, it is an indication of lack of faith, a demonstration of unbelief. Like Moses striking the rock, we can lash out at the people around us in unrighteous anger. Or, we can withdraw and refuse interaction with those who need our message the most.

The third way is the way of Jesus. We are called to lovingly interact with the culture. We should not condone those aspects of it that are contrary to Scripture, but should acknowledge that we all fall short of God’s standard. It never ceases to amaze me that the only group that hated Jesus was the religious right. The sinners and others who acknowledged their need flocked to Jesus and were accepted by him.

This third way is sometimes messy. Some people will misunderstand. Yet this is what we are called to do. It takes faith and obedience working together to do this.

We would do well to emulate the one who we claim to worship. Acting in unbelief does have consequences. Just ask Moses.

What do you think? Your comments are encouraged and appreciated.

Rosaria Butterfield on Difficulty in Life

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“Outside of the Lord, life is a very treacherous ordeal. Proverbs teaches this when its author Solomon writes: ‘the way of the unfaithful is hard’ (Prov. 13:15). Of course Christian life is hard too, but it is hard in another way, in a way that is at least bearable and purposeful. Christians can lay hold of the meaning and purpose and grace of suffering and truly believe that all things, even the evil ones, ‘work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28). A life outside of Christ is both hard and frightening; a life in Christ has hard edges and dark valleys, but it is purposeful even when painful.”

 

-Rosaria Champagne Butterfield in The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert

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