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A Reaction to a comment by Bill Maher in Transcendent Man

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Bill MaherA friend of mine, @jimworth, invited me to view a panel discussion featuring Ray Kurzweil which was entitled “Transcendent Man.” The subject of the discussion was Mr. Kurzweil’s documentary of the same title.

As part of the panel discussion, a clip of comments by Bill Maher was included. In the clip, Mr. Maher made the statement that it is wrong for believers to use modern technology to get out their message. He made the seemingly witty comment that “you must choose your century.” The implication is that religion is a relic from the unenlightened past and modern technology should not be used to promote such an outdated message.

I have news for Mr. Maher. Christianity has always outlived its pall bearers. It has done so because Christianity is not a set of beliefs but a relationship. It is a relationship with Jesus Christ who has also outlived his pall bearers.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is living and active.  Since it is living and active, modern communication methods are the perfect media for getting that Word out to the world that needs to hear it. The Word of God contains the good news about Jesus Christ.

One of the themes of “Transcendent Man” is that technology will be able to solve the problems of mankind. I will most likely have another post regarding the panel discussion but until then I would say that given their respective track records, my money is on Jesus Christ and the Word of God having a better effect on man than technology ever will.

I Am Still Ambivalent About Harry Potter

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Keeping some perspective on Harry Potter

Harry Potter StarsI was forwarded a recent article denouncing Christianity Today for not taking a strong Anti Harry Potter stance. While I have had my own issues with some of the writers at Christianity Today and there are things in that CT article with which I do not agree, let’s put all the hyperbole aside and take a deep breath.

If your desire is to remove magic from your kids’ reading list, some of the best literature must be taken away. Need I remind you that Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia and just about every other fantasy novel or series have magic in them? Magic is a staple of the genre. In a previous post in this blog, I made some observations about this genre which point to our need for something bigger than ourselves. There is value in using literature to explore the big questions that confront us. These are question such as, who are we, why are we here and where are we going? These are subjects that fantasy literature explores.

With the release of the first Harry Potter book, some in Christendom began predicting that J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter would team up to destroy the faith every child and convert them to occultic practice. I haven’t seen evidence of this. Before we restart the anti Harry Potter hysteria, let’s find some evidence that the predicted impact is in fact taking place. The burden of proof is on the side of the doom-sayers.

So Why Am I Ambivalent?

I am ambivalent because there are some things in the Harry Potter books that I did not like. Like real life, the good characters sometimes do things that are wrong. They break rules, are sometimes disrespectful and tell lies. In this, Rowling has done nothing more egregious than present heroes that are flawed. Yet, at times while reading the books, I wanted to shout “shame on you.”

To be fair, I should point out that heroes are what they are because they get the most important thing right in a particular situation. Pick any hero from sports, war, history, religion, science or the arts and you will find a flawed individual who did well in his chosen endeavor. While I don’t like the flaws, they are what they are and flaws in book characters are consistent with flaws in real people.

Are the Harry Potter books great literature? I’m not qualified to determine this. I can say that they present a compelling story and force the reader to examine important questions. The Harry Potter books are entertaining and engaging; they do draw you in. Yet, I can’t say that I would watch the movies or read the books again. I have lost count of the times I’ve read The Lord of the Rings but Harry Potter does not compel me back in the same way.

The Harry Potter books are here to stay, which is perhaps an indicator of their quality as literature. Since they are here to stay, why not use them as a starting point for substantive discussion as opposed to using them as a jumping off point decrying the general decline of western culture and Christian influence? The books could be a good starting point for discussion about right and wrong, what is important and the purpose of life.

What do you think?

The Goal of Christian Teaching – Love From a Pure Heart

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Confused About the Goal

Heart

In Matthew 22:37-39 and Mark 12:29-31, Jesus tells us that the two great commands are to love God with our entire being and love our neighbors. The concept is simple but the execution is difficult. Only two commands and if we’re honest, we admit that we cannot keep either one of them on our own.

If these are the two great commands, it seems that every time Scripture is taught, every time a sermon is delivered, every time we worship in song, it should encourage us to the fulfillment of these.

Yet, often we miss the opportunity to reinforce these commands in our expressions on a Sunday. We should come away from worship with a burning desire to love as God commands us to love.

The Goal is Love

The Apostle Paul reinforced love as the goal when he wrote to his protégé Timothy. He writes, “the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)

The goal, the end game, the desired result, the proof that we have progressed is love. What is the source of that kind of love? The source is a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith. Encouraging people to this kind of love should be the goal of every teaching opportunity.

The Path Toward the Goal

From this passage in 1 Timothy, we can see that if our teaching is geared toward developing a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith, that teaching will be in support of the two great commands.

David asks a pair of rhetorical questions in Psalm 24:3, “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?” His response is found in the following verse where he writes, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” In Psalm 51:10, David cries out to God “create in me a clean heart” after confessing his sin with Bathsheba.

A clean heart, a pure heart is required to love as God wants us to love. I am reminded that in 1 John 1:9 we read, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and confession of our sin, we can have a pure heart.

Romans 5:1 tells us that we are not condemned if we are in Christ Jesus. We can have a good conscience if we are waling in the Spirit (see Galatians 5:16). To be waking in the Spirit precludes any behavior that would tarnish our conscience.

The Greek word translated sincere in this verse means literally without hypocrisy. In other words, the faith that is on display is genuine; what is on the inside matches what is on the outside. I should also point out that the value of faith is dependent upon the object of faith. As a Christian, our faith is dependent upon Christ and the reality of who he is.

Conclusion

While not every sermon should have the two great commands as their subject, every sermon should have the two great commands as their goal. Everything that is said from the pulpit should be evaluated by preacher and pew sitter alike in light of the two commands.

My guess is that if we did a better job of this, our churches and our world might be a lot different than they are.

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.

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