Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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Lightning Bugs, Smiles and a Loving Creator

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I woke up early this morning and looked out the window. The lightning bugs (fireflies for those of you who live outside of Pennsylvania) were putting on a spectacular show. There were more flashes than a Super Bowl halftime show, without the old guys singing or wardrobe malfunctions.

I am thankful that our Creator made lightning bugs. They are unnecessary but enjoyable. I remember as a boy, catching them, putting them in jars and watching the jar as I fell asleep in my bedroom. I think that God delights in children enjoying the chase and capture of these bugs.

For those of you who deny God I ask what evolutionary purpose do lightning bugs serve? Why would blind chance come up with something that is so entertaining and beautiful? Do you really want to attribute them to an impersonal force?

Lightning bugs speak to me of a loving Creator that wants us to be delighted with his Creation. The humor and beauty that he infuses into creation are like bread crumbs that are to lead us on the trail to himself. Lightning bugs are like getting a note from God, saying “I hope you enjoy these, I made them just for you.”

May we never grow too old to take delight in lightning bugs.

Salt or Dirt, Make a Choice

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Salt PileIn Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells us that we are the “salt of the earth.” In Luke 14:34-35, the theme of salt is picked up again

“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus is saying that if you remove the flavor from salt, it becomes dirt. Therefore every believer wants to be salty and maintain flavor.

The problem comes in when I try to be salty on my own. My experience is that when I try to generate saltiness, I end up peddling repackaged dirt. I do not have the ability to generate saltiness on my own. Salt in food enhances the flavor. On the other hand, dirt in food is just annoying. I want to be salt and not dirt.

One of the downsides to growing up in a Christian environment is that I can get very good at playing the game and making things look better than they really are. I can become phony by appearing more holy than I really am.

“How are you?” “Fine.” “You?” “I’m good too.” The kids could be on drugs, the IRS could be knocking at the door, the mortgage company could be about to take the house away, but still things are “fine.” If you have been in the church for more than a few weeks, you have probably witnessed a thousand variations on this same theme of fake “fine.”

We as the body of Christ have to get past all this phony nonsense and do a better job of being real. Like the Velveteen Rabbit, we should be on a quest to become real to the world around us. If we do, the warts, struggles, shortcomings, rebellion and pride will show through at times and we I need to learn to be OK with that knowing that Jesus loves us enough to get us past it into something better.

The only way I can become not-phony is to understand my helplessness and to rely on the Holy Spirit to make me salty again. Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a list of the characteristics of one who is yielded to the Spirit. This is the salt that the world needs. Against this there is no law.

Lord, make us salty to a world that needs the flavor and preservation that only you can provide.

Fighting The Wrong Enemy

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FightI read this morning in Mark 9:40, that whoever is not against us is for us. These are the very words of Jesus Christ but often forgotten by those that bear his name. We expend energy in fighting other believers and ignoring the real enemy.

Too often doctrinal litmus tests are developed to see who is in and who is not. We spend effort dividing over Bible translations, pet doctrines, music styles, dress style, building style and other non-essential issues.

The King James Only crowd think us reprobate because we read and teach from a “modern” translation. The reformed people have great sport bashing the dispensationalists. The dispensationalists retaliate with derision for reformed eschatology. The list of reasons to divide is seemingly endless. These are a few examples of the disputes within the community of those who take the Bible seriously and seek to live out what it says.

This post is not a plea to water down or soften or eliminate a hard stand on what the Bible says. We do not need to compromise what we believe. There are passages which speak directly to the issues of today and we need to uncompromisingly teach them.

There are groups which have beliefs that are clearly in conflict with Scripture, usually recognizing other “sacred” books which are necessary for understanding the Bible. We are not to compromise on doctrine, nor should we cease to point out the error in these false religions. Jesus is not saying that all interpretations of Scripture are equally valid.

I think that the point Jesus makes in this verse is that we are to concentrate on fighting the real enemy and stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone who is willing to join us in the battle, whether we agree with them on every doctrinal point or not.

My guess is that when the battle is finally over we will all find out that our own knowledge was incomplete and some of the people we bashed along the way had as much truth as we.

Anyone who is bringing people into relationship with Jesus Christ is our ally. Anyone who is pointing people to Scripture as the foundation for belief and practice is our friend. Those who are not against us are for us.

What do you think?

An Unholy Alliance: Pharisees and Herodians

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An Unholy Alliance

We are moving toward a presidential election year in the United States. As a result, the political pundits are ramping up their efforts to develop a market for their predictions. With this backdrop, when I read Mark this morning, Mark 3:6 grabbed my attention. In this verse there is a simple statement that the Herodians and the Pharisees formed an alliance to see if they could get rid of a common problem. That problem was Jesus.

The Pharisees and the Herodians each sought to partner with and use the other for their own ends. To the Herodians Jesus was a political nuisance; to the Pharisees he was a religious one. To both, he was a threat to their power and influence.

The Politicos

The Herodians were the pragmatic politicos of the day. They were for anything that would allow their patron, Herod, to remain in power. Sound familiar? We have hundreds of modern day Herodians in office today. Purporting to be public servants, they protect their political power often at the expense of the truth and the people they represent.

The Religious Elite

The Pharisees were the religious leaders. Not all of them had wrong motives, but their zeal to appear holy often put them at odds with Jesus. Their legalistic mindset caused them to misunderstand God’s program. They did not recognize Jesus because they were certain of their own understanding of God and Scripture. There is a sense that many of the Pharisees were also more concerned about their power and position than the truth. One doesn’t have to look very hard in Christendom to find such as these today.

The True Church

We know that governments exist because God has granted them authority (Romans 13:1). Yet it is through the Church and not through governments that God chooses to work out his plan for humanity. The church should be very wary of seeking or using political power to advance its agenda.

The church is the chosen instrument of God to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to a world which desperately needs it. It is through the preaching of the gospel that men can be brought into relationship with Jesus Christ. A person who is brought into relationship with Jesus Christ will be changed in the way he lives and ultimately in the way he votes. The church should have this type of indirect influence on the political landscape. She should not seek to have a direct influence by organizing a political pressure group or any other such efforts.

Why? The temptation to use political power for seemingly good ends is a dangerous proposition for the church. Every time the organized church has gained political power, it has gone badly for the church and society. I have written about his before in Thinking out loud – The Church and Political Process.

I am not saying that the church should be silent on the issues facing society today. We should be speaking clearly on what the Bible says on these issues. What I am saying is that as these issues are discussed, the focus should be on commending individuals to submit to the truth of God’s word.

We need to keep in mind that the problem in our society is not a political one, it is a spiritual one. To address the political process without first addressing the core issue of sin is to treat the symptom instead of the cause of the disease.

What do you think?

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