Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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What is behind the popularity of Harold Camping?

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Harold Camping and May 21

May 21 Calendar

As many people know, Harold Camping has predicted that the rapture will happen on May 21. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that I will be writing a post the morning of May 22 thanking God for another day.

My purpose here is not to catalog a list of reasons why Mr. Camping is wrong. Others better qualified than I have done this. Many blogs and web sites have pointed out the errors in Mr. Camping’s methodology and Biblical interpretation.

Nor is my purpose here to catalog the teaching of Scripture on the Rapture. Again, others with greater ability have done this well. I can contribute little to the discussion.

My purpose here is to ask several questions which come to mind as I reflect on this prediction. I welcome your thoughts in response to these questions:

  1. What is the driving force behind date setting?
  2. Second, why are so many people believing this?
  3. Is Camping providing an illegitimate satisfaction of a legitimate need?

What is the driving force?

Why is it that people feel the need to predict prophetic events? What is it in humans that causes us to crave this type of knowledge?

The thought strikes me that this goes back to the very first sin. In the Garden, we attempted to seize control of our own destiny, chosing to disobey in an attempt to become like God. In our fallen state, we desire knowledge that is reserved for God.

Pride plays a large role in this. Jesus tells us that no man knows the hour, it seems to me that it takes a large measure of pride to go against this statement and set a date.

The opposite of this is trust in God. This is the lesson of manna, a lesson that I find necessary to relearn often. If I am living in fellowship with God, if I am living in dependence upon him, if I am living as if Jesus can return at any moment, then I do not have to know when he will return. If I do these things, I will be ready.

Why are many so easily led astray?

Some are led astray because they want to have the inside track, they want the knowledge that will get them ahead of the people around them. Again, I would point to pride. If I have knowledge that others do not have, I can feel superior to them.

Another factor is the lack of Biblical teaching emanating from many pulpits in America. If the entire Bible was taught and pastors took seriously the call of God to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12), then there would be fewer people duped by false teachers.

Is there a legitimate need behind this?

I think that there is a legitimate need behind this phenomenon. That need is to be certain of our standing before God. The good news is that we can be assured of good standing with God without setting dates or other false assurances.

Romans 10:9-13 tells us that everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. Jesus himself tells us that he is the way to God (John 14:6). Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, we can be assured of our standing with God.

As a result, we don’t need date-setters or others who promise secret knowledge. We only need Jesus.

Last Thought

Jesus promised to prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3). When the time is right, he will return to take us there. I trust him to know the proper time – whenever it happens, it will be fantastic.

Irresponsible Shepherds Bring Desolation

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Sheep with ShepherdEd Stetzer recently wrote an article regarding the decline of the United Methodists. This decline is not unique to that denomination, other “main-line” denominations share this experience.

These denominations have been in the news for abandonment of standards that held sway in Christendom for 2000 years. For example, The Presbyterian Church USA recently enacted rules that will open up ordination to homosexuals. As bad as this is, I would argue that this failure is a symptom of a larger problem.

The larger problem is the abandonment of Scripture as the authority upon which the Church should build its belief and practice. With the rejection of the inspiration of the original manuscripts, the church has lost her moral foundation. With the claim that Scripture is man-made comes the notion that Scriptural commands and principles can be set aside at will. This is done to the detriment of the church.

The pastors and leaders in these denominations, and those who have trained them, must bear a majority of the responsibility for the decline. By rejecting Scripture, they have also rejected Jesus Christ, no matter that they still use his name. Those who reject Scripture are irresponsible shepherds who are not providing proper spiritual care to their flocks.

Yes, I am aware of the attempts to explain that the Bible doesn’t condemn homosexuality. In their attempts, these shepherds perform exegetical gymnastics to stretch words into meanings that the writers and original readers never would have understood. This ploy has been in play since the beginning and is a variation on the theme of “did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1-7)

I recently read these words in Jeremiah 12:10:

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness. (ESV)

God, through Jeremiah, condemned the shepherds of Israel that led that nation into rebellion against God. As the verse above states, that rebellion turned the Nation of Israel into a desolate wilderness. Rebellion against God and his commands and principles always carries negative consequences. Just as when one is on the top of a sky-scraper, one ignores gravity to his peril.

Later on in Jeremiah 23:2, he writes;

2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.

As in ancient Israel, the shepherds today will be held accountable for what they feed their sheep. James 3:1 tells us that teachers will be held to a higher standard. God has given the gifts that enable the shepherds to lead and he expects that those gifts be used wisely and for good purpose.

The point of this is not to bash the main-line denominations, but to encourage those who are committed to the study, teaching and application of Scripture to stay the course. To care for the flocks that God has brought into your congregations requires that the flocks be fed good spiritual nutrition which can only be found in Scripture. Anything else is junk food at best and poison at worst.

If there is any temptation to stray from accurately teaching Scripture, I’d like to remind you of the words of Peter when asked if he was going to leave Jesus. When Jesus asked Peter if he would leave him, Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68)

The Apostle Paul instructs us to “hold fast to the word of life” in Philippians 2:16.To do so will reverse the decline.

Remember that the drowning man needs a life preserver, not more water.

Pilate – Asking The Question for the 21st Century

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Pilate“What is truth?” is the question that Pilate asked Jesus at the conclusion of his interview. Was this question asked in an effort to push aside what must have been a very uncomfortable meeting? Or, was this a real question, coming from one who had seen and been wounded by the collision of world views and cultures?

In our society, it feels awkward to be asking this question. In many circles it is common knowledge that truth is what can be observed and measured. If we can’t see it or measure it, then it doesn’t exist. Using this definition, God or anything supernatural cannot exist.

Yet, there are so many aspects of our existence that don’t neatly fit into this “reality” box. Where does the sense of right and wrong come from? Is is just a biochemical thingy happening in our brains so that we are conditioned to respond positively or negatively? Is our biochemistry like the OS that controls the hardware? Or, is there something else there that the biochemistry cannot explain?

I remember a co-worker once had a bumper sticker that said, “If you don’t pray in my school, I won’t think in your Church.” She thought this was hilarious and poignant. It is only funny if you believe the underlying assumption that to believe in anything other than what can be observed and measured, is fantasy and illogical.

Where has this assumption gotten us? I am not a fan of labels because often the label means different things to different people, but the label that comes to mind is postmodernism. I am not trained in philosophy, but I take postmodernism to mean a way of thinking that has rejected the notion that man can fix anything (Modernism). Modernism was  a rejection of the idea that God can fix anything. Therefore we now believe that nobody can fix anything or perhaps it is not even broken.

Where in the past, philosophers struggled with questions of virtue and truth, it seems to me that Postmodernism denies that there are any virtues (with the one exception of tolerance of anything but Christianity), and questions whether there is any truth.

Call me an optimist, but I see good news in all this. For all the people decrying organized religion and boldly proclaiming that there are no moral absolutes, I have yet to meet one who lived that way. In every argument beginning from the sandbox, one or both of the combatants are likely to say “that’s not fair.” There is an inherent sense of fairness, or of right and wrong.

Where does this come from if not from God? I’m sure that the atheists will come up with some explanation, they would have to because this moral sensibility is observed in all humanity. Do you think that those who claim there are no moral absolutes would refrain from calling the police after their house has been robbed? Taken to its logical conclusion, a belief in no absolutes would lead to totalitarianism or anarchy.

As the various sources of truth are debunked and debated, there stands Jesus. In John 14:6, he claimed to be “the truth.” You can believe the claim or disbelieve the claim but to deny that he made it isn’t an option. You have to make a choice.

A Celebration of Death? – Response to the Death of Osama Bin Laden

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The announcement of the death of Osama Bin Laden reminded me of a post originally published in February of this year. I have taken the text from that post and added additional comments below.

February 2, 2011:

ColosseumAs we toured the Colosseum  in Rome, the guide  described the events that were staged in that structure over a four hundred year period. There were gladiatorial battles, men hunting animals, animals hunting men, executions and other grisly displays. Each spectacle ended only when one side in the battle was killed or rendered unable to continue fighting.

Our guide made a special point about the fact that they would put sand on the wood floors to allow the competitors and victims to have traction in the midst of the blood that would inevitably flow.

In the 21st Century, we can easily feel superior to these Romans who sat and applauded such waste of human and animal life. We wonder how civilized people could enjoy such entertainment.

Upon further reflection, however, I have to come to grips with the fact that there are many movies and television shows that are just as graphic and grisly as the entertainment in the Colosseum. The fact that real blood is not being shed does not make the acts displayed any less despicable.

What does it say about a society when death and violence are seen as entertaining? What does it say about us as individuals when we can watch graphic violence (even if it is only special effects) and derive pleasure from it?

I’m asking these questions of myself and sharing them with you as food for thought as we consider what is healthy and appropriate for entertainment. Before we condemn the ancient Romans, we should be honest about how much we are like them.

May 2, 2011 Update:

Yesterday it was announced that Osama Bin Laden was killed. Should Christians rejoice in this? I don’t think we should.

Perhaps there should be a sense of relief that a man who pursued evil has been prevented from inflicting further harm. Romans 13:1-7 tells us that governments have been put in place by God to restrain evil. Osama will no longer be a threat and this is a relief.

Yet, I cannot find any evidence in Scripture that there should be rejoicing in this. Ezekiel 33:11 tells us that God does not rejoice when a wicked man dies, neither should we.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:4 that those who mourn will be blessed. Today we should mourn that this death was necessary. We should mourn the evil that that made this death necessary. We should mourn that others will follow in Osama’s footsteps.We should mourn that the tendency toward evil is present in our own hearts.

Yet in our mourning, we should remember that God is in control and is moving events toward his ends in his time. One day all will be set right. Then we will rejoice.

 

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