Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Paths of Righteousness for His Name’s Sake

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Paths of RighteousnessIn Psalm 23:3, King David writes, “he leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

While there is benefit to me in walking a path of righteousness, my benefit is not the primary purpose of God’s leading me. David points to God’s reputation and God’s purpose as the reason for the leading.

This is freeing and challenging at the same time. It is freeing because I am not responsible for the outcome, I am only responsible to go where I am lead. God will take care of the rest.

This thought is challenging because the consequences of not following are great. Not that I can thwart God’s plan by being disobedient, but I will miss out on the blessing of being used by God if I do not follow.

I am writing this post from a men’s retreat where the speaker shared about some personal tragedies in his life. When he was going through the tragedy, he had no idea how that experience would be used by God in the future. With hindsight, the speaker was able to share how those experiences prepared him to be used to touch the lives of others who had experienced a similar loss.

Somehow I need to keep in mind that both the good and the bad experiences are allowed into my life by God for his purpose and his glory. God or bad, the experience should cause God’s name to be glorified. This will keep me from being overinflated by the good things and from being decimated by the bad.

Soli deo gloria

What CSI Tells Us About Our Desire for Truth

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CSII recently read a post by Jill Carattini of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. In the post she discusses the reason for the popularity of forensic criminal science dramas on television such as CSI, NCIS and Bones.

The shows center around the desire to find out what really happened to the victim and to bring the murderer to justice. The investigators are driven to solve the mystery through scientific investigation.

What is behind the popularity of these shows? Jill sees part of the answer to this in the need to find truth in the midst of the cacophony of opinions that are in the market of ideas. She writes:

In a world where truth is subjected to the murkiness of taste and opinion, the attraction to a self-evident, one-dimensional truth is understandable. All the lofty humility of the abstract pluralist cannot beautify the noise of a million clashing voices and truth claims; eventually, we grow weary of the end product and seek a less polluted scene. In the words of the illustrious detective Joe Friday, “All we want are the facts.”

This seems right to me. When I have watched these shows, I want the truth to win out and I want the bad guys caught. I assume that this is also true for other viewers and at least a partial explanation of the popularity of these shows. For one hour my world becomes increasingly ordered and the truth is determined and acted upon as the drama is played out.

But where does this desire for truth and justice come from? Apart from the Judeo Christian world view, we are taught that there is no absolute truth; each of us has to make up our own truth. If this anti-god philosophy is true, why then would we care if the truth about a particular murder is found out? What difference does it make? Why invest any energy and resources into solving it?

Could it be possible that in spite of the anti-god bias of much of our educational system, we still desire ultimate truth? We are told that the world is grey. Do we want black and white, right and wrong, good and bad?

I think we do. Perhaps the popularity of these dramas highlights the disconnect between our stated philosophy and the way we live. Even those who most vociferously denounce moral absolutes will call the police when they find they have been robbed. We can’t live as if truth doesn’t matter.

The problem in western society is in determining which truth is the one that we will follow. Science, as it is taught us in the public schools, tells us that the truth can be determined without the aid of God or the Bible. We are taught that the Big Bang started a chain of events and random mutations that resulted in humans living on a planet perfectly suited to their existence. If we are the products of random events apart from any supernatural aid or governance, then we are free to choose our own morality and it is up to humans to determine what is right or wrong.

On what basis then do we condemn Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson or Bernie Madoff? On what basis is my truth better than Herr Hitler’s if we are products of time plus chance? Herr Hitler did what he thought was right for himself and for his country. Yet, with the exception of those whose minds are clouded by hatred of the Jews, Adolf Hitler’s actions are universally condemned.

Perhaps the popularity of dramas like CSI is a clue that we desire absolute truth, and we can find comfort, for one hour at least, that someone is in control and truth will win out.

For those of us who are Christians, we follow the one who claimed to be The Truth. If you are open to it, I suggest you examine his claims. The end result is way better than just catching the bad guy.

Ed Stetzer – Legalism, “The Help,” and a “Woman’s Place”

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I haven’t seen “The Help”, it really didn’t seem that interesting to me. But I like what Ed Stetzer says in this blog post and offer the link for your edification. Legalism is dangerous and inhibits spiritual growth.

Ed Stetzer – Legalism, “The Help,” and a “Woman’s Place”.

A Real Sense of Community

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CommunityA few days ago I read a story about a man with 100,000 Twitter followers who took his own life. I know nothing about his history or the reasons behind the suicide. But I am struck by sadness that none of the 100,000 “friends” was close enough to prevent this tragedy.

I often hear that social media is intended to build a sense of community. I suppose it does to a limited extent. I read certain blogs and have some knowledge of the writers. We can comment on each other’s blogs. In a very limited fashion, we could call that community.

Yet isn’t a real community supposed to prevent tragedies like suicide? Shouldn’t a following of 100,000 people have at least a few that would be close enough to know when something is terribly wrong?

Because of my interest in blogging and the church, I find articles which present social media as a platform for church growth. But as this tragedy illustrates, social media connection may not equate to real growth.

The church is a community and fellowship of the redeemed. We are a bunch of imperfect people who are brought into relationship with each other because of our individual relationships with Jesus Christ. We bring dysfunction and ignorance and God uses the community to work these problems out of us.

Social media can be a tool to build community, but let’s not think that a large on-line following is a real community. We still need to worship together, break bread together, study together, perhaps even argue with each other if we want to be a real community. Real community can be a messy business because there are times when each of us is a mess.

The church should be a place where flawed people feel accepted and air their struggles. Each member should feel valued and have a sense that the community suffers when one member is suffering. We should know each other well enough to know when something is wrong.

This type of community may not prevent tragedies like the suicide mentioned above, but it should minimize their occurrence. Real community provides real help to those who seek it.

Let’s focus on being a real community and not be satisfied with a sham based on follower counts.

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