Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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I don’t have the chutzpah to pick up the first stone

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I have heard it said that chutzpah is illustrated by the man who kills his mother and father and then pleads to the judge to let him off because he is an orphan. In other words, chutzpa is that behavior that knows no self limitation.

This evening a friend sent me a link to a web site which denounced Church A for associating with a man who associates with Group B. The author knows beyond a shadow of doubt that Group B is apostate and therefore Church A must also be apostate because they associate with someone who associates with Group B. I’d give you a link to the web site, but frankly it’s not worth reading.

The author of the web site condemned a whole bunch of people because of who they associate with. There was no indication that those condemned were leading people astray. There was no evidence presented that they were teaching heresy. They were condemned solely on the basis of association.

This reminds me of many of the encounters that Jesus had with the religious purists of his day. They condemned him for hanging out with disreputable people on a regular basis.

I’m not saying that what we believe doesn’t matter. I’m not saying that Scripture isn’t narrow and that the Gospel is not a narrow gate. Yes, Scripture is the truth and any belief that deviates from Scripture should be repented of immediately.

My point is that Jesus, not the self-appointed doctrinal policeman, is the gate-keeper and Jesus will know who is in relationship with him.

Jesus said to the would-be judges of his day, “he who is without sin should cast the first stone.” As I read the judgmental web site this evening, this phrase kept rumbling through my head. Who has the chutzpah to ignore his own sin and condemn someone else? Is that what we are to be about?

Can we stop with the condemnation of others and teach the truth? I know that the author of the web site in question is trying to be helpful. I have every reason to believe that he intends his work to be used to build up the church. Yet to me it seems rather to pull down than to build up.

How much damage does it do to create confusion where it need not be? How harmful is it to call someone’s character into question based on flimsy evidence? It seems to me that these tactics do more harm than good to the body of Christ.

I’ve heard it said that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Can we agree to teach the Bible without compromise? Can we strive to preach “Jesus Christ and him crucified”, as the Apostle Paul did?

My brother who wrote the article meant to do well but his words and the seeming emotion behind them hurt me. I was not encouraged, I was not built up, nor was I instructed in the truth of Jesus Christ. I was drug through the mud.

And in spite of this type of stuff, we wonder why the world thinks that the church is useless. Shame on us, we should know better.

Jesus said that the world would recognize us by our love. He did not say that the world would recognize us by our doctrinal purity. Love must be the priority.

Seven Types of Robbers In The House Of Prayer

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House of Prayer“My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers” is a statement of Jesus found in Luke 19:46. He made this statement in response to those who were selling animals and changing money in the Temple.

In my lifetime, the church has done a pretty good job of preventing the sale of animals and banking transactions from taking place on church grounds. On the surface, we have followed the teaching of Jesus in this regard.

As I reflect on this statement, I have an increasing level of discomfort about how well we’ve done in following the principle behind the statement.

What are robbers? There are two aspects of a robber that come to mind. The first is that he is not concerned about what is right and what is wrong. The robber is willing to take what is not his.

The second is that he is acting on his own behalf and not concerned about the welfare of others. The robber satisfies his own needs at the expense of another.

We don’t sell animals and we don’t cheat people by making them exchange their money. That’s good, but there are other ways we can emulate the people condemned by Jesus. We can keep the letter of the law while violating the principle behind it.

The principle is that we are to be about our Father’s business which is that of reconciling a hurting world with the loving Father. We are to be about His business and not our own. But, too often on a Sunday morning, our involvement is all about what is good for us and not what is pleasing to God and beneficial to others. If we do not come to the church meeting with the right motivation, we can then become like the robber.

We become like the robbers when we:

  1. Are More concerned about attendance than spiritual growth
  2. Are more concerned about appearing holy than being holy
  3. Are manipulating people into giving money rather than depending upon God
  4. Are more concerned about the buildings and the campus than the people, the true church
  5. Are more concerned about being served than serving
  6. Are more concerned about our reputation than God’s
  7. Misrepresent God to the people who need him most, causing them to walk away feeling condemned

So, instead of smugly reading this passage and patting ourselves on the back for not allowing commerce to take place on church grounds on Sunday, let’s look at the real business that we are to be about.

The ancient Israelites missed the point of Temple worship and if we are honest, we sometimes struggle to stay on track. We live in a culture that encourages us to live for self first.

We need to allow God to show us where this selfishness has corrupted our worship and practice. The proper response then is to repent and allow God to bring change.

Because of wrong belief and practice, we’ve abandoned a lot of spiritual territory to the Enemy. It’s time to begin the battle to take it back . . . before it’s too late.

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?

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