Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Crowds and compassion

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The Crowd

Jesus, seeing a crowd of people had compassion on them. Mark sets the scene in the opening verses of Chapter 8:

“In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. “If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”” (Mark 8:1–3, NASB)

The Physical Need

Crowd
Photo credit: brixton

There are two needs of which Jesus is aware concerning the crowd. The first one is that the crowd had nothing to eat and had been following Jesus for three days.

It is likely that many of the people were hungry when they began following Jesus and they were hungrier still after three days. There was a very real and very urgent need for food.

The danger we have as the church in North America is that we can assume that the government will take care of the needs of the people around us. After all, we might argue, isn’t that why we pay taxes?

While programs for the needy may be a staple of 21st Century politics, there are still great needs that we can meet if we only open our eyes to see them. Like the disciples, we sometimes need someone to point out the opportunities because we are often conditioned to look past them.

When we see a crowd, too often we see an inconvenience. Jesus saw the crowd as an opportunity. In this particular case, it was an opportunity that he did not miss and the result was the physical need of the crowd was met. They were fed.

The Spiritual Need

One of the constant sources of embarrassment to the theologically conservative churches is that sometimes those liberals on whom we look with theological disdain do a much better job of meeting the physical needs of the people around them.

Yet, to only meet the physical need is to miss an opportunity for greater good. If we are right in our belief that our choices in this life have eternal consequences, then we need to be sure to use every opportunity to address the spiritual need of the people around us.

To be smug in our theological correctness without reaching out into the community is contrary to the example of Jesus. Jesus met the physical need as a means of building a bridge to address the spiritual one.

At the very least, we can be praying for the crowds of people we see. Jesus’ words in Matthew 9 are good encouragement:

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”” (Matthew 9:36–38, NASB)

The Provision

In John 6:45, following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus informs his hearers that He is the bread of life. It is easy to see the need for physical bread, perhaps less so for our spiritual needs.

We, as the church, need to offer physical bread in the form of meeting the community’s physical needs. We also need to offer Jesus as the spiritual bread that will satisfy the inner longing for relationship with God.

We can do neither if we do not engage the crowd.

Let’s not overstate the case – Another cliche to avoid

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The Cliche

There is a phrase that has been said so many times over the years that it has become a cliche. That phrase can be seen in the picture to the right which shows a church marquee that says, “No God, no peace; know God, know peace.” This church is not the first to use this cliche, nor will they be the last.

It strikes me that this phrase is an overstatement at best and a falsehood at worst. My intention is not to call this church on the carpet but to examine what this phrase is saying and why I think in the end the phrase is not helpful.

The Overstatement

Church Cliche

I am in agreement that a relationship with God puts me in a better position to live at peace. To know the God of the universe and to know his plan for me should provide confidence that no matter what happens, my eternity is secure. My security is then based on my knowledge of who God is, not based on my own ability to change or grow.

Yet, we see that much of the experience of the saints over the years has been internal and external turmoil. Even a casual reading of the Psalms shows the Psalmist’s anguish at his own sin and the sin of others. I know men and women of God who live exemplary lives who are torn with family strife, financial stress and health issues. While they may experience joy in the midst of their trials, what they are experiencing would be difficult to describe as peace.

Jesus tells us “blessed are those who mourn.” It is right to be realistic about where we are; God has much work to do in us and in our world. The statement that a person will experience peace by entering into relationship with Jesus may not be immediately true. I believe that relationship puts us on the path to peace, but peace is not an immediate benefit.

The Fallacy

To the best of my knowledge I am in excellent health, yet I could have a cancer or some other medical condition that has not yet displayed symptoms. In other words I may be confident and at peace about my good health even though an unknown evil is working to bring my peace to an end. I may have a medical need about which I am unaware and I might be at peace in spite of my impending doom.

In the same way, non-believers who have never considered eternity and spiritual reality may be completely at peace in their physical comfort. To say that those who do not know God have no peace is not always true. There are those who don’t know God who are at peace with themselves and with others. They do not know any reason for discontent. Again I would point to the Psalms where the writer complains that those who do not know God are fat, dumb and happy while the saints are suffering.

The peace they experience without God is a transient one; it will not last. So it is our job to explain the temporary nature of that peace and make them aware of the large spiritual reality.

The Result

The church in the picture is trying to reach out to the community with this sign. I applaud them for this. Their motives give every appearance of being right in doing so. Yet to an increasing percentage of our society, this phrase will make no sense. It has become a cliche and perhaps should be abandoned.

What do you think? Is this phrase helpful in 2012 or has it become a cliche?

Truth is an arrow and the gate is narrow

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The Culture

Over the last week or so, I’ve tweeted about several stories regarding proposed or approved concessions that the “main line” denominations would make to the prevailing culture. For example is this one:

As Rev. Emily Heath writes in that article:

For Christians in the mainline Protestant denominations, this has been an interesting summer. First, the Presbyterian Church (USA) rejected an amendment that would have opened the church up to blessing same-sex marriages. Then, less than a week later, the Episcopal Church approved a new liturgy to bless same-sex unions and also affirmed the ministry of transgender clergy.

The PCUSA rejection of that amendment was a narrow victory for those who desire to stay true to Scripture.

The Truth

While Rev. Heath and others are euphoric over these monumental changes. I am reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13–14, NASB)

Truth is Narrow
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Truth, is by its very nature narrow. The description of an object is always narrow as compared to what it is not. I have on my wrist a watch, it is not a hammer or a motorcycle or a puppy or a yacht. It is one thing and there are an infinite number of things it is not.

When the New Testament uses the word homosexual, the Greek word from which it is translated is a very graphic term which describes a sex act between men. You can work around this all that you want, but it is the homosexual act that is condemned. The word means one thing and no amount of wrangling of words can make it mean something different. The definition is narrow and specific.

Furthermore, Jesus himself tells us that marriage is between a man and a woman. According to Jesus, it is for the purpose of being married to a woman that a man will leave his father and mother.

Some would see support for homosexual union in an argument from silence because Jesus does not specifically speak against same sex pairing. Yet I would argue that the silence cuts the other way because Jesus specifically identifies a union between a man and a woman as the relationship that God ordains and God blesses. Nowhere can you find any such blessing for a homosexual union. So the argument that Jesus was silent on homosexuality is a sham.

The definition of marriage is narrow. I understand that for those with same sex attraction, this is very difficult. Yet, the difficulty does not relieve us of the burden of proclaiming the truth.

All sin is condemned in Scripture. For example, the Bible condemns religious pride. Those of us who have grown up in the church can look down on others who have less knowledge of Scripture and Christian principles. Scripture condemns this pride and I am wrong when I practice it. When I am proud, no excuse or explanation will make that pride less wrong.

We cannot lightly set aside the clear teaching of Scripture just because we have a desire and a  proclivity toward a certain behavior. Whether it be pride or homosexuality, we cannot aquiesce into acceptance no matter how much pressure there is from inside and outside the church.

The Gate

As Bob Dylan so eloquently tells us, “Truth is an arrow and the gate is narrow that it passes through.”

The Truth hurts all of us, but the wound is ultimately for our benefit if we are willing to yield.

What is that to you? – A lesson from C. S. Lewis

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The C. S. Lewis Quote

The Weight of GloryWalter Hooper writes this anecdote in his introduction to The Weight of Glory about an interaction he had with C. S. Lewis:

‘I told Lewis that I was tempted – very strongly tempted – to tell Our Lord that I thought it monstrously unfair that He should allow the naughty old atheist to seemingly go on forever and yet let Lewis, who was only sixty-four, come so close to the point of death. ‘Mind you,’ I said, observing Lewis’s face cloud over, ‘I haven’t actually said it in my prayers, but I’ve come pretty close.’

And what do you think our Lord would say to that?’ Lewis said with a discouraging look.

‘What?’

‘What is that to you!’

Anyone who had read John 21:22 – Our Lord’s rebuke to St. Peter – will recognise Lewis’ application of it in this instance.

Mr. Hooper goes on to write that Lewis would do what he could to improve a situation but trust the outcome to God. Once he had trusted it to God, Lewis would not give it another thought. In other words, Lewis had a good sense of boundaries and where his responsibility was at an end.

The Lesson

This is a lesson that I struggle to learn. Too often I stew about things over which I have no control. Sometimes it goes beyond stewing and I try to affect change in a situation where my input is not required or wanted. I should have already learned this lesson because it always goes badly when I go beyond the boundary.

At it’s core, my inability to know my boundaries stems from a lack of faith in God. I lack faith either because I distrust God’s goodness or I doubt his desire to make this situation right. When I worry about thongs which are beyond my control I show the weakness of my faith.

“What is that to you?” is the correct question to ask.

If God allows a bad situation that is beyond my ability to fix, what is that to me? If someone else gets a reward or position that he did not deserve, what is that to me? If a candidate for whom I did not vote gets into office, what is that to me? If someone says something about me that is not true, what is that to me?

Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6 that God will complete what he has started. We also learn from Paul’s experience of the thorn in the flesh that God uses circumstances to teach us what we need to learn to progress in holiness.

Do I really trust God or do I merely pay him lip service? When I try to affect change outside of my God given sphere of  responsibility, then I prove that I am doing the latter.

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