Attempts at Honesty

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Rev. Emily C. Heath: Jesus, Bullies on the Bus and the Rest of Us

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No BulliesReverend Emily Heath recently wrote a commentary on the incident where some boys harassed a bus monitor and posted the video on YouTube. The article can be found here: Rev. Emily C. Heath: Jesus, Bullies on the Bus and the Rest of Us.

I would like to make a pair of points in response to the article.

First, the article purports to be be a Christian response to bullies in general and that instance of bullying in particular. Emily rightly points out that Christians are to be agents of healing and we are called to live above such behavior. I agree with this and applaud it.

My problem is that nowhere in the article does Rev. Heath explain how we can do this. Notably absent is any assessment of the root cause of bullying. That root cause is our sin nature. There is a bully in each and every one of us which can only be conquered through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It is Jesus’ death that makes the way for sin to be subdued. It is our individual taking up of our own cross that allows us to live in the freedom from that inner bully.

While culture, upbringing and peer selection can influence a child’s behavior, these are all external and do not deal with the internal problem. Only God through the work of Jesus Christ can begin transformation and transformational change. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are in need of transformation (Romans 12:2) and that transformation comes as a result of surrender on the basis of God’s mercy.

The second issue I have is where Rev. Emily states, “I want to be clear here for a minute that I am not saying this should become a country of Christians.”

Now if she is saying that she does not want the state to force anyone into claiming Christianity then I am completely with her. I do think that our founding fathers were wise in preventing America from having a state church. Every time the church has gotten political power it has been a train wreck for the church and for the people.

Now if she is saying that she does not have the desire for everyone to become a Christian then I must disagree with her. If we have the Truth, then why would we not want everyone to know it and be liberated by it? Yes, we should honor the wishes of those who do not want to hear our message. No-one should be forced to hear what we have to say. But respecting someone’s boundaries does not meant that I cannot wish them to be other than they are.

Our Gospel is truly good news or it is a false hope. If it is not true, they why should I bother believing it? If it is true, how could I not wish others to share the same joy that I have found? If Christianity is just one more social club or one more religious expression then count me out. If Christianity is just one way to gain spiritual enlightenment I don’t want it. I am not a Christian because it is convenient or easy.

I am a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ truly is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). If he is that then I am compelled to present him as the only way the ultimate truth and the path to life. If he is not then Heaven help us, we have nothing to offer.

What I look for in a church

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I recently had an article published at Till He Comes, the blog of Jeremy Myers. In hindsight, I could have worded the introductory portion of the post better than I did.  Here is how I would like to have written the introduction:

I find myself at a time in life where I am looking for a new church fellowship.

During the time when I was considering leaving my previous church, I began to reflect on what is important in a fellowship. The result of my contemplation of what the church should be and how I should function within it, I came up with the following things that I will consider as I look for a new place of worship.

I had good reasons to leave my former fellowship and I did not make the decision to leave without counsel from mature Christian men that I trust. But, in no way should this be construed as a list of things I found deficient in that church.

No church does all of these perfectly. But if there is not the acknowledged desire to do them well, it is likely that the fellowship will suffer.

The full original article can be found here.

Social media and the need for validation

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Twitter Follow Me BirdI recently read where a social media guru said something to the effect of, “there are two types of people involved in social media, those who want more followers and those who are lying about it.” There is a part of us that wants to be validated by those around us and social media provides a means of numerically providing that validation.

In contrast to this, the Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 1:10, “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” Paul makes a distinction between pleasing men and serving God. The servant must find his validation in his master and not his peers. Christians should find validation in relationship with Jesus Christ and obedience to his commands.

Part of living in community is to refrain from giving offense to your neighbors. There is something appropriate about taking feedback from the people around so that we can know how we are perceived by the community. Those who do not accept this feedback are considered antisocial or worse.

Paul is not saying that he does not care how he is perceived. What Paul is saying is that he cannot let public opinion keep him from following the path laid out for him by his Master, Jesus Christ.

While the desire to be liked may not be inappropriate, if that desire keeps me from doing what is right, it then becomes an improper desire. As a recovering man-pleaser this can be a struggle for me.

There are times when I should speak up and say something appropriate to the situation but remain silent for fear of causing someone to dislike me. There are other times when I have joined in conversation in an inappropriate way so that I better fit in with the group. I can cave in on something that I think is important so that I do not make any waves. I have found that peer pressure does not stop with the end of formal education. I can be side-tracked by emotional bullies.

Perhaps I might make a case that my compromises are small ones, yet they are still compromises and some of them are sin. Paul sets the example by stating that the only thing that matters for the believer is whether or not he pleases God. While we cannot earn our salvation, by being obedient, we can one day hear that coveted blessing, “Well done, good and faithful slave” (Matthew 25:21).

While the drive to be liked, followed or otherwise connected on social media is morally neutral, if it keeps me from being obedient to God, then it is an idol that requires smashing. The same is true of setting up other measures of “man-pleasing” such as church attendance, sermon downloads, etc.

We are called to emulate Jesus in being full of grace and truth. If we compromise on the truth for the sake of popularity or acceptance, we are not being faithful to our call to live as salt and light in a world that desperately needs it.

Discussion question: How do you determine when you are becoming a “man-pleaser?” Please add your thoughts in the comment section below.

Stumbling blocks: how we live matters more than our words

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In my previous post, I mentioned a study by the Barna Group, which documents that 59% of young Christians “disconnect either permanently or for an extended period of time from church life after age 15.” This is a scary statistic and is way too high. You might argue that the number will never be zero, but we should have zero as our goal.

I am not a sociologist and I suppose that to better understand the problem I should read the book that Barna released which adds detail in support of their findings. But I have been involved in the Church since I was born and made some observations along the way. While I never really rebelled or considered walking away from Christianity, I did have my share of questions and struggles with how to reconcile what I thought I knew of God and what I saw in the world around me.

By His grace, at the peak of my questioning, God brought men into my life that could point me toward answers to my questions. It was at that time that I began reading C. S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer and others who supported my faith with Scripture and clear thought. The result was that while I could not reconcile all of the struggles, I at least came away convinced that my faith was reasonable and that the beginning of answers to the tough questions could be found in Scripture and in Christian thinkers. When I say the beginning of answers, I am not suggesting that Scripture is deficient. The deficiency lies in my ability to understand Scripture and go behind it to the mind of God.

Yet, the struggle paid off in a renewed confidence in God and the church (with all her imperfections).

It is normal for young men and women to question their world. It is normal for them to question their parents and ask why a particular belief is held. The injunction in 1 Peter 3:15 to be ready to give a defense applies as much (or perhaps more) to parents as it does to someone witnessing on the street or at work. We need to challenge and be challenged by our children. They should question and parents should have answers.

Yet Scripture provides warnings to parents and church leaders. A pair of Scriptural warnings comes to mind:

  • Psalm 69:6: “May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel.”
  • Matthew 18:6, “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

If we are defensive about inconsistencies in what we say we believe and how we act, we send the message that what is said is irrelevant. Parents have a tremendous responsibility to submit themselves to Jesus Christ for the sake of not laying a snare or stumbling block in the path of their children. “Do as I say and not as I do” has never worked well and never will.

We cannot live the Christian life perfectly (I certainly don’t – just ask my kids), yet if it cannot be seen our lives that we are seeking to live it out in dependence and submission to God, then we give up our credibility and become a stumbling block. Psalm 69:6 declares David’s desire to not be a stumbling block. David does not want to dishonor God by tarnishing God’s reputation.

Jesus steps it up a notch or two and tells us that it be better to be killed than to cause a little one to stumble. This is harsh, but it tells us that God takes parenting and church leadership very seriously and so should we.

Parents and church leaders, the best thing we can do for the next generation is to renounce our selfishness and come to meet Jesus at the Cross in humility and submission. We need to confess where we have compromised and seek to recover the ground that was lost. We want to hear the words of Matthew 25:21, “well done good and faithful slave.” We need to live lives that point to the reality of the Gospel.

Discussion: In what areas have we failed the next generation and what can we do about it?

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