Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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J. I. Packer on our response to Scripture

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18 Words

This morning I was reading the introduction to J. I. Packer’s book, 18 words. I thought this paragraph worth sharing:

“In form, as I think we all know, Scripture is historical witness to God’s work of redemption which climaxed initially in the incarnation, immolation, resurrection and exaltation fo the Son of God, who is Jesus, and which will climax finally in the eucatastrophe (to borrow Tolkein’s recondite but happy word) of Jesus’ return in shattering glory to make all things perfectly new. Viewed from this standpoint (as viet it we must, else we shall misunderstand it) Scripture is often written off as odd and remote, because its message does not square with what modern man thinks he knows. But in its essential nature, which unhappily not all seem to appreciate, Scripture is quite simply God communicating, God talking, God teaching, God preaching: God telling you – yes, you, with me an all other Bible-readers and Bible-hearers everytwhere – things about Himself which call here and now for faith, worship and obedience; prayer, praise and practice; devoting, denying and disiplining ourselves in order to serve God; in short, our complete conversion and our total commitment.” – J. I. Packer in 18 Words, The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know

This reminds me that the goal of reading Scripture is not the gathering of knowledge for its own sake. The goal of theology should not be understanding for its own sake.

The proper goal of theological study is to better understand God and better understand our proper response to who he is. The proper goal of theological study must be found in the context of relationship.

I have met men who are meticulous in their theological understanding who have left me with the impression that an afternoon spent in dialogue with them would be like a spiritual root canal. I might perhaps gain by the interaction, but I certainly would not enjoy it.

But I have met others, J. I. Packer being one of them, who have demonstrated that good theology leads to good living. Men in this category give me the impression that time spent with them would be profitable and enjoyable.

Any activity that we choose to pursue, theological or otherwise, should move us toward God and toward fulfillment of the two great commands. Either I am becoming more loving of God and my fellow man, or I am becoming less loving.

The difference between the men to whom I am drawn versus those whom I would like to avoid can be assessed with this question, Can I better learn to love God and love my neighbor as a result of interacting with his person?

What happened to man in the fall?

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Question 17Question 17 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What happened to man in the fall?”

The answer given is, “Man fell into a condition of sin and misery.”

You might take issue with the idea of the fall of man as recorded in the book of Genesis. You might not attribute the state of man to sin, but one would have to work very hard to avoid the evidence that man is prone to misery.

As evidence of our misery we can point to:

  • War
  • Suicide
  • Addiction
  • Poverty
  • Disease

In no way is this list exhaustive; these are categories that immediately come to mind and provide ample evidence that something is wrong with us.

The Bible tells us that what is wrong with us is that we have inherited the spiritual dysfunction of our first parents. We are broken as a result of that first sin.

To affect a cure, the doctor must first accurately identify the disease. If the diagnosis is wrong, the course of treatment may actually make things worse.

We have a spiritual problem which requires a spiritual solution. Jesus Christ came to affect that spiritual solution by paying our debt and allowing us to be declared righteous in the eyes of God.

All attempts to deal with man’s sin and misery apart from Christ end up in some form of totalitarianism (religious or atheistic) or hedonism that borders on anarchy. Many tyrants have promised utopias to their followers.

The Bible offers a reasonable explanation of why the world is the way it is. You may not like the explanation. You may choose to not accept that explanation. But the Biblical explanation goes a long way toward explaining why things are the way they are.

Not only does Christianity and the Bible provide an accurate diagnosis, they also provide a proven course of treatment.

 

Never avenge yourselves – A warning to Christian trolls

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Internet TrollReading Romans 12 this morning, these verses jumped out at me:

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:19–21, ESV)

If we take these verses seriously and put them into practice, I wonder if the reputation of the church would be greatly improved in the eyes of those who see us as judgmental hypocrites.

Jesus tells us in John 16:8 that it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict men of their sin. But too often, we take that role on ourselves and feel that we must take a strong stand against what we think are counter Biblical activities. Do we trust God enough to work in a person’s life to bring conviction where it is necessary?

In the internet age, civility seems to be the primary casualty. It is so easy to vent our judgment and hostility to those with whom we don’t agree. Unfortunately, those in the church sometimes share in this trollish behavior. There have been times when I have read social media posts and cringed at the lack of sensitivity to those who don’t share our beliefs.

When confronted, the Christian trolls counter with an accusation of being “soft on sin” which, interestingly enough, is an accusation leveled at Jesus a time or two.

By his life and ministry, Jesus showed us that it is possible to be completely loving to all the people around you without condoning their sin.

We must engage in conversation with others who don’t share our beliefs. In those conversations we are called to stand firm on standards that are clearly taught in the Bible. But we must do this in a way that is consistent with the example of Jesus and the clear teaching of Scripture.

For example, the opening verses of Romans 2 teach me that I need to be extra careful when I confront others on their sin because I am prone to the same errors. How can I look down on someone for stealing when there is greed in my own heart? How can I condemn someone else for their priorities when mine are equally out of order (but perhaps better hidden). If I am to confront, it must not be as a judge, but as a fellow law breaker.

This prompts some questions for us:

  • Can we trust God enough to let him bring conviction where it is needed?
  • Can we be patient, knowing that God will bring that conviction at the right time?
  • Can we err on the side of being loving, having experienced the love that overcomes our own sins?

Nobody likes trolls, Christian or otherwise.

Did all mankind fall?

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Question 16 - Did All Mankind FallQuestion 16 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first disobedience?”

The answer given is, “Since the covenant was made not only for Adam but also for his natural descendants, all mankind sinned in him and fell with him in his first disobedience.”

The fact that we are inherently fallen offends our 21st Century sensibilities. Actually, it offended man’s sensibilities in every age. Along these lines, Malcolm Muggeridge wrote:

“The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact.”

Even a superficial reading of the news provides ample evidence that there is something wrong with man. Stories of war, crime, assault, abuse, neglect and selfishness can be found on every page. We see all around us the effects of the fall of man.

And lest we should be hypocritical in our thinking on this, any reflection at all will provide a man with ample evidence that there is something wrong in his own heart. I suggest that the unending production of self-help books reveals our acknowledgement that we are broken.

The problem with self-help books is that they too often provide means of addressing the symptoms rather than addressing the disease.

It is of no ultimate use to me to control myself to appear that I am concerned about my fellow’s well being when in fact, I am not in the lease concerned about him. It is of no ultimate use to suppress my anger and appear peaceful, when I would really rather have lightening come out of the sky and punish the one who made me angry. By addressing the symptoms, I can perhaps go some way toward improving how I am perceived but unless I address the source, I am one slip-up away from major disaster.

Jesus tells us that it is out of the abundance of the heart that a man speaks. Evil stuff comes out of our mouths because there is evil in our hearts. Unless our hearts are changed, very little about us will be improved, despite our best efforts.

The Christian response is to point out our need for regeneration. We need to have our hearts changed by God. In the book of Ezekiel, God tells us:

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:25–26, ESV)

In the New Testament, Paul tells us:

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” (Ephesians 2:1–5, ESV)

Aside from a work of God in our lives, we have little hope. As we proceed through the remainder of the Catechism questions, additional information on what God has done to provide correction will be revealed. Until then, let me point to the two words highlighted in bold above . . . But God . . .

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