Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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When labels are (mis)applied in the church

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Name LabelWe like to categorize other people by applying labels to them. Liberal versus conservative, rich versus poor, informed versus ignorant, interesting versus boring, popular versus nerdy, the list of possible categories is inexhaustible. Politicians use this tendency to categorize to their benefit by trying to portray themselves in a popular category while casting their opponent as the opposite.

There is  danger in carrying this drive to categorize people into the church. In the church there are to be no such categories; we are all equal when we come to the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Yet in some churches, people are categorized and labeled. People can be labeled as troublemakers, critics, backsliders, emotionally unstable, emotionally repressed, etc. Positive labels such as leader, teacher and supporter can also be applied.

Applying labels to people becomes a problem when it prevents them from growing into their God-given ministry potential. This is especially true when the labels are applied based on erroneous or incomplete information. Stephen Covey relates the story of the boys on the subway to illustrate how easy it is to misunderstand another person’s situation and actions.

One day on the subway, while quietly reading a book, Stephen was interrupted by two wild children that got on with their father at a subway stop.

The children were out of control, jumping up and down, running loudly through the subway car.

The father seemed not to notice or care that his children were misbehaving and disturbing commuters…

Stephen approached the father and wanted to scold him for not controlling his children and teaching them respect for others…

The father agreed, and sighed sullenly, saying “yeah, I just don’t know what to do or say to them. We just came from the hospital where their mother died from a random assault….”

I have seen people who have made suggestions get labeled as troublemakers. I have seen people who identify problems get accused of being divisive. On the flip side, I have seen those who are successful in business get tagged as church leaders despite their spiritual immaturity.

Church leaders must resist the temptation to label and categorize people in their congregations. Remember Paul’s words in Galatians 3:28:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (NASB)

Look at the Disciples that Jesus picked. Among them was a terrorist, a traitor, two brothers with anger issues, a fisherman with a tendency to say the wrong thing and a thief. The man that wrote much of the New Testament was a murderer. Jesus trusted this rag tag bunch to found his Church, people we would likely write off as being of little help.

The point is that if someone is causing a problem in the church, that problem should be addressed without labeling the person. God deals with our sin without labeling us, who are we to refuse to do this for others?

A test for idolatry

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Farm GateGod is in the idol smashing business. Scripture and experience show this to be true. Much of the Old Testament is taken up with the story of Israel falling into idolatry and God confronting that idolatry through the prophets and the judgment of the surrounding nations.

The first two of the Ten Commandments deal with the issue of idolatry:

“You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:3–4, NASB)

Few of us in Western Civilization literally bow down before an image and practice what we would consider idol worship. But that does not acquit us from the charge of idolatry. The decent into idolatry is subtle and can go unnoticed.

How then can we know when we are falling into idolatry?

When you find yourself thinking, “if only I had _____, then I would be happy,” it is likely that you are falling victim to idolatry. The blank will be filled by different things at different times, but if it is a person, place or thing other than God, it is idolatry.

Why would God be so hard on those who succumb to idolatry? I believe it is because God understands better than we do that the person, place or thing to which we look for fulfillment will eventually disappoint and frustrate us.

In a fallen world, things break or get used up, places have their bad points and people will eventually disappoint you. Even the best of us experiences failure, bringing disappointment to those we love. For this reason, God seeks to reorient our focus on himself, because he is the one person who will never disappoint us.

Perhaps this is why Jesus tells us that those who mourn are blessed. When we understand that creation is fallen and we participate in and contribute to that fallenness, mourning is the proper response. A line written by Wendell Berry about his farm illustrates this.

“My aim has been to go against its history and to repair the damage of other people. But now a part of its damage is my own.”

When we have this proper sense of mourning, then it will be less likely that we will fall into idolatry. With this corrected perspective, it will be easier to realize that God is the only person who will never disappoint us. Perhaps this is why the Apostle Paul tells us that “when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.” (1 Corinthians 13:10)

May the perfect come soon.

When the heavens are silent

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Stormy Heavens
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While Jesus ascended to Heaven the angels said to the Disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?” (Acts 1:11) This is good advice that we sometimes fail to follow. We stand waiting, looking to Heaven for guidance and sometimes it seems that all that is returned is silence. We pray and wonder if anyone is listening.

Evangelicals often join in with secular news media in ridicule of those who find the image of Jesus in a piece of toast, the Virgin Mary in a salt stain or some other manifestation of divine revelation. Yet, the desire to hear directly from God remains. We can laugh all we want about how gullible these people seem to be but if we are honest, we must admit that it would be so much easier if God contacted us directly to let us know how to proceed.

Why would a loving God seem to allow us to muddle on so when it would be much easier if he just sent a prophet or an angel to spell out how we should go about life?

One thought that strikes me as I consider this question is that the danger in granting our wish for direct intervention is that we might then view God as a glorified vending machine. Our desire is to put in the requisite coins, push the proper button sequence and get what we want. Scripture and experience indicate that God does not work this way.

Perhaps his silence is sometimes intended to teach us that he is in control. What better way to learn obedience than to struggle on doing the right thing even when there is no apparent payback? Like the Karate Kid, we may not see how the discipline of waxing cars will pay off in the upcoming tournament. If we are doing the right thing only to get an immediate reward, disappointment is a very real possibility. Nowhere in Scripture is such a reward promised.

Scripture teaches us that there is a reward for obedience, but that reward may not come in this life. The author of Hebrews 11 tells us that all of those listed in what is sometimes called the “Faith Hall of Fame” operated with the understanding that the payoff was not to be expected immediately. They were desiring “a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).

Be encouraged that even when God seems to be far away, even when all the wrong people seem to be reaping rewards, even when we get a bad result from doing the right thing, God remains in control. God may be silent, but he is not unobservant. He may not be seen, but he sees.

If we are discouraged, we should lengthen our view. Near sightedness will cause us to give up hope prematurely. Doing the right thing always pays off in the end. Remain steadfast and unmovable (1 Corinthians 15:58).

The accusation of lying – what politics reveals about our need for truth

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LiarIn a social climate where a majority of people claim to believe that truth is relative, I find it curious that one of the most effective accusations leveled at a political opponent is that of lying. We have partisan “fact-checkers” who masquerade as neutral agents in an effort to bolster these claims. Both sides accuse the other of lying or of intentional deception.

I am not shocked that politicians lie or embellish the truth; we have several millennia of evidence to substantiate this claim. I am not shocked that opponents would loudly condemn the lying. What shocks me is the ease in which the accusations are leveled and the effectiveness of the accusations in achieving political gains.

If truth is relative, as our secular philosophers would argue, then why get all worked up over a few flip-flops, falsehoods or misrepresentations? Why should it matter that the candidate says whatever he thinks will get him elected? Is this not Darwinism in action? Is this not a legitimate means of political survival?

Yet the fact that accusations of lying do change people’s perception is an indication to me that there is a dichotomy between what people claim to believe and what they really believe. The mantra of current secular religion is that tolerance is the ultimate virtue. No-one has the right to denigrate the truth claims of another. We are told that there is no ultimate right or wrong. In our age, the only time when tolerance is not appropriate is when someone makes an ultimate truth claim.

In this moral and intellectual climate, why then do political groups so loudly denounce lying?

I believe the reason is that we have an innate sense of fairness. We do not have to teach this fairness to children. Without prompting, children loudly protest, “that’s not fair!” My experience has shown that children come wired with that sense of fairness. It’s part of the base package and not an option.

In this election season, when you hear accusations of lying and deception between political opponents, reflect on the innate sense of fairness that you possess. Then ask yourself if that sense of fairness is more than just a preference for a particular idea or ideology.

The Apostle Paul tells us that even those who do not acknowledge God have “the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them” (Romans 2:15, NASB)

Could it be that the Apostle Paul identified the reason why the accusation of lying is so effective? Is there a standard by which we innately know we should live? Is that standard written on our hearts by God?

These questions are of greater significance than who is put into office in November. The election has temporal consequences but these questions have an impact on eternity.

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