Hugging Porcupines and Other Ostensibly Stupid Behaviors

Posted on May 28, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

The Porcupines Among Us

Every church has one or more porcupines in attendance. The porcupine is the person who feels entitled to stand in judgment of the church and often acts in a way that is disruptive to body life through their sense of superiority and entitlement. They are not in open hostility, nor are they doing anything worthy of church discipline, yet they cause problems as a result of their prickly nature.

Dealing with Porcupines

The best response to a porcupine in the wild is to leave it alone and hope it goes away. While we might want our church porcupines to do just that, often they do not. How then are we to respond to the porcupines that refuse to go away?

While the porcupines in our church are not really enemies, Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:38-48 is instructive for dealing with them. Jesus tells us to do some things to our enemies that most people would think are weird or just plain stupid. In response to our enemies, we are called to:

Turn the other cheek
Give more than is asked
Go the extra mile
Love our enemies
Pray for those who persecute us
Greet your enemies (be friendly)
Do all these things perfectly

If this is the response to enemies that are dangerous, what then is the response to the porcupines who are merely annoying? I think that we are to embrace them and welcome them. The problem is that when you hug a porcupine, you’re going to feel the pain of the barbs. Many or most of the barbs will be aimed at church leadership, the very people who are trying to help. It is easy to give up and avoid the porcupine, but that is really not an option.

If we wonder about the wisdom of this, I think that it is instructive to look at Jesus’ interaction with the disciples. They were often slow on the uptake and occasionally abrasive. Jesus did not loose patience with them even when they displayed their worst behavior.

The Benefit of Porcupines

I think that God gives us porcupines for the same reason he gave Paul his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). Without the porcupines, we might loose sight of the fact of our dependence upon God. We might start believing that we have mastered church leadership. We might start relying on our abilities rather than on our Savior.

While we may not really enjoy porcupines, we can rest in the knowledge that God has them there for a purpose and we cannot see the end result. As with the disciples, many church leaders began their Christian walk as porcupines. So do not loose hope. God is not done with the porcupines or us as leaders.

Weird – Because normal isn’t working – Book Review

Posted on May 16, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

A Weird Contest Won

One day I saw a tweet which announced a contest to win a new book called Weird. Since free is my favorite price and the title intrigued me, I decided to check it out. One of the ways to win a copy was to promise to write a review of the book as a blog post.

I promised, I won and now I write.

What Weird is About

In the introduction of this book, in a section called “Weird 101”, Craig gives us an idea of where the book is going when he writes:

After a Tuesday night Bible meeting, I walked alone to an empty softball field. NO matter what it cost me – even being normal – I had decided that I wanted to know Jesus and live for him. I wanted to do life his way and not mine. As I knelt beside the dugout and prayed, I left normal behind and embraced whatever it took – being different to the point of the God kind of weird – to follow Jesus. Something melted within me, and I waled away forever changed, with a sense of God’s grace I can’t describe.

To much of society, an all-or-nothing, totally-in following of Jesus looks weird. This is especially true in 21st Century America where we are taught to look after #1, do things our own way and not take direction from anyone.

Too often the church has worked hard at appearing “normal” to the outside world. We try to do things in the way that corporations, civic groups or social clubs do them. We attempt to rely on programs, marketing and techniques, all the normal stuff.

As Groeshel points out, “normal isn’t working.” The churches and individuals that do things the normal way, do not experience the personal and corporate growth (not measured only in numbers) that God wants to provide.

My Perception of Weird

This book convinced me that I may be weird, but not weird enough.

In the book, Craig discusses the impact that a relationship with Jesus should have on our view of time, money, relationships, sex and values. The discussion has challenged me to reexamine the way I approach these topics.

I appreciated the way Craig issued the challenges, even when my initial gut reaction was that he was going a little overboard. For each topic, Groeschel presented principles that apply and gave some clues as to how this worked out in his own life. Craig does this without giving me the sense that he thinks he has it wired and if we only did it his way, things would be OK. By his writing style and the principles he presented, Craig created an environment conducive to considering new points of view.

This isn’t a how-to book. It does not lay out “x steps to spiritual maturity.” What it does provide is thought provoking analysis of what a follower of Jesus should consider as he responds to the challenges of the surrounding culture. The principles are presented and it is up to the reader to work through the principles to figure out how the principles should be applied in his own situation.

Why You Should Get Weird

Near the end of the book, Groeschel writes:

If you have just enough of Christ to satisfy you but not enough to change you, answer his knock and let him make himself at home with you. You’ve purposefully chosen to leave the broad path. You’re gladly traveling the narrow road. Your journey may seem weird to others, but your destination will be infinitely better than anything a settle-for-normal world can offer.

The number one reason I would recommend this book is that it will challenge you in areas where you unconsciously or unknowingly have imbibed the surrounding culture. These areas need to be exposed to the light of Scripture so that we can be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” (Romans 12:1-2).

This book would be excellent as a small group study resource. The way the material is presented would be conducive to small group discussion.

In Conclusion

Craig Groeschel is right, normal isn’t working. Much of Christendom is disarray and decline. For change to take place, we have to get over our fear of being weird. Weird (the book) is a good place to start.

Weird is available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon in both paper (DTB, Dead Tree Book) and electronic formats.

Pilate – Asking The Question for the 21st Century

Posted on May 12, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

“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.

Standing in the Light – Four Considerations for Defending the Faith

Posted on May 9, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

While Driving this morning, I had a chance to listen to an Apologetics 315 podcast featuring an interview with Peter Kreeft. If you have not subscribed to the Apologetics 315 podcasts, I strongly suggest that you do so if you have any interest in Christian apologetics. Brian Auten does an outstanding job of interviewing apologists in a way that is informative yet avoids technical jargon.

In this particular episode, Peter said something which struck me. He was answering a question about what to do when interacting with someone who is asking questions intended to put off the apologist. In other words, what do you do when someone really isn’t interested in considering the claims of Jesus Christ.

Kreeft’s response was that in being a witness to Jesus Christ, we are not called to win arguments. We are called to “stand in the light.” In other words, we should not be focused on backing the non-believer into a philosophical corner, but should be seeking to be a testimony to the active work of God in our lives.

Shortly after hearing this phrase, I turned off the podcast to think about this phrase for a while. Four aspects of standing in the light came to me.

Jesus, in Matthew 5:14-16 tells us that believers are the light of the world. This light is not self-generated, but is the glory of God shining through us as we submit to him. If I am not shining with God’s light, it is because I am dulling the brightness through my own self-will. As I surrender to God and am conformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:1-2) then I will shine with God’s light.
We are to stand in the light. Thirteen times in the ESV, the phrase “stand firm” is used. For example, at the end of Paul’s list of the spiritual armor, he tells us in Ephesians 6:13 that the purpose of taking up the armor is so that we might be able to take our stand or stand firm. We are not to give ground.
To stand in the light, we are not to run ahead or lag behind the light. In other words, we are to be at a place in our walk with Jesus that we are sensitive to where he is leading. Remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (ESV) Paul did not try to produce growth when his responsibility was only to plant. Be sensitive to the role that God is giving you to play and then do it.
To stand firm implies good footing. This reminds me that Bible reading and reflection are necessary to be a good witness to the claims of Christ. Wrestling with our own doubts and lack of knowledge are also critical to being used by God in the lives of others. If I understand who I am before God and what God has done for me, then I will not get dismayed when the person I am speaking with resorts to argument and ridicule.

I’m sure there are more aspects to this. Would you care to add any in the comment section below?