A Christmas Reflection

Posted on December 24, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

This reflection was triggered by the end-of-year issue of World Magazine which lists the prominent deaths that occurred in 2016. Every news magazine does a similar feature every year and I suppose in previous years I read them with some form of detached numbness.

What was different this time was the understanding that while we may lament the loss of a prominent celebrity, each person in the list had family members that have lost brothers, fathers, uncles, etc. (or their female equivalents).

Perhaps it is because several families in my church have recently encountered unexpected deaths that this edition of World magazine impacted me in this way. But reflecting on this and my own experiences in 2016, have combined to make this Christmas seem different to me.

If Christmas is only about giving gifts, attending parties and generating warm feelings about the people around us, it has very little to offer in response to the very real and intense suffering of those who have experienced such loss. My guess is that the families that have experienced the untimely deaths would gladly exchange every Christmas present for the rest of their lives to have their beloved back.

Into this chaos, God send a baby. As Christians we recognize that baby as the second person of the Trinity, God who became man. God not only sees our plight, but has come down to live among us to effect the cure.

The cost of that cure was for Jesus, the god-man, to experience our sin and experience our alienation from God so that we could then be reconciled to God. The babe in the manger came to die so that we can experience new life.

So Christmas does provide an answer to the suffering we see around us. Paul tells us in Galatians,

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4–5, NASB)

I do not mean to indicate that reflecting on the real meaning of Christmas removes the pain of loss for those who have experienced it this year. We are not so silly as to think that reflecting on the ultimate victory over death that was won on the cross, removes the pain that we experience now. Separation from our loved ones is and always will be painful.

But it should give us a glimmer of hope that the pain and loss did not take God by surprise. He experienced the pain of the loss of his own son, and he stands beside us as we experience the pain. The same Jesus that wept over the grave of Lazarus, weeps over every loss we experience. The writer of Hebrews tells us:

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14–16, NASB)

Jesus has experienced the human condition. And the result of his experience is that he is an effective intercessor for us before the Father. We have a listening ear in Jesus who understands the difficulties we are encountering.

So while we enjoy the gifts that we give and receive this Christmas, let us be continually mindful of the greater gift that lends his name to this holiday. Without him, all our celebration this season would be nothing more than whistling in the dark.

Value vs. Talent

Posted on March 21, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Jesus told the story of a man who went away and gave three servants money to work with while he was gone (Matt. 25: 14-30). The idea is that each servant differed in his ability to handle the money so they each got a different amount to work with. But, they were all required to produce gain from the amount they were given. All three of the servants had value but they had different talents and abilities.

All through the Bible, we are taught that man (in the collective sense – men and women) gets his dignity from being created in the image of God. So every human being has value in the eyes of God. This is the reason for laws which protect people from being killed or mistreated.

The problem is when we confuse the difference between a person’s value and their talent.

Two errors that result from this confusion:

We assign different value to people based on their abilities.
We make the assumption that because we are all of the same value, then we should all have the same abilities.

It seems to me that Western culture leans more toward the first error. We put talented people on a pedestal. As evidence of this, I would point to the tendency of actors and musicians who have achieved notoriety for their craft, then think themselves able to make pronouncements in the public arena on subjects they know little about or have greatly simplified to the point of misunderstanding.

When the second mistake is made, it is thought that no-one should have more resources than another. In socialistic societies, it becomes the government’s responsibility to be a bulldozer to level the economic landscape.

But, when we maintain the correct distinction between talent and value, we understand that people will have differing abilities and as a result, different accomplishments. From the Christian perspective, we understand that it is God who has given varying abilities to people for purposes that he does not always reveal to us.

For example, while I consider myself of equal value to Bill Gates, it is readily apparent that Mr. Gates has abilities that I do not possess. I do not have the vision or the talent to create a computer operating system. Mr. Gates has been well paid for creating something that has proven to be a benefit to society. I would not be able to write this blog post were it not for the invention of the personal computer.

This also applies to the church. God has given different gifts and abilities to members of the church. The discussion in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14 centers on the Corinthians misunderstanding of this. They valued the “supernatural” gifts above all others and put those who possessed such gives on a higher standing than the rest of the church. Paul wrote the letter to them as a correction to this error.

A proper understanding of value vs. talent also frees us up from jealousy.

Not only should we be freed from jealousy by this understanding. We should also be freed up to celebrate the diversity within the church. We can celebrate the God who gives men and women the ability to teach and to lead. We can celebrate the God who gives talent to those who lead us in musical worship. We can celebrate the God who allows some to gain notoriety while others of us remain unknown to the larger world.

Every person is valuable in the sight of God, but we are not equally talented. Let us make this distinction clearly and avoid the errors that result from confusing talent and value.

Saint Augustine on Felicity

Posted on May 15, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

In The City of God, St. Augustine writes of the elevation of Felicity to the status of a goddess. On the value of felicity as something to be sought he writes:

Felicity, however, is certainly more valuable than a kingdom. For no one doubts that a man might easily be found who may fear to be made a king; but no one is found who is unwilling to be happy.

Later he writes:

But if Felicity is not a goddess, because as is true, it is a gift of God, that god must be sought who has power to give it, and that hurtful multitude of false gods must be abandoned which the vain multitude of foolish men follows after, making gods to itself of the gifts of God, and offending Himself whose gifts they are by the stubbornness of a proud will. For he cannot be free from infelicity who worships Felicity as a goddess, and forsakes God, the giver of felicity; just as he cannot be free from hunger who licks a painted loaf of bread, and does not buy it of the man who has a real one.

Now, in 21st Century America, we are unlikely to encounter anyone who is tempted to erect a statue to the goddess Felicity. Yet, we are in danger of worshipping felicity. Happiness seems to be the primary goal of many we interact with on a daily basis.

The church is not immune to this worship of happiness. The “name it, claim it” version of Christianity places happiness as the primary goal of the Christian life. In fact, in the extreme versions of this brand of the “word faith” movement, lack of happiness is understood to be a sin or a defect in belief and worship.

But, as Augustine points out, felicity is a gift to be enjoyed, but not a primary goal in life. We are to worship the giver of felicity, not the gift.

On mites and absolute value

Posted on September 28, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

Assigning value

This morning I thought of the story of the widow and the mites (King James Version) she gave to the Temple treasury. The story is found in Mark 12:42-44:

“A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.'” (NASB)

Those of us who have heard this story before may think of this story in a monetary framework. The rich man gives millions but it doesn’t amount to the same level of giving as the widow who gave all she had. Maybe it is only me, but I gravitate to evaluating the gift based on a percentage of net worth. In this type of thinking the evaluation is reduced to a simple math problem.

God’s economy

However, I think that this understanding does not go far enough. The point I take from this is that God’s economy works on an entirely different value system.

We rightly think about doing great things for God, but perhaps we get confused in our understanding of what constitutes greatness. For example, it may be that the addict who learns to face his past while remaining sober has done more in the Kingdom of God than the talented preacher who draws thousands on a Sunday morning. The man caring for his wife with dementia may be doing more than the CEO of a world relief organization. We think in numbers and measurement. God thinks about the heart and commitment.

Careful in your judgment

We must be very careful when making judgments about the value of people to the Kingdom of God. Jesus expressed the same concern when he said:

“But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:10–11, NASB)

The King is the one who knows the real, absolute value of his subjects. We should be concerned that in our jockeying for position we slight one who will fare better when it comes time to receive rewards.

In the end, the only question we should ask is “am I doing all the God has called me to do.” Honesty requires that I answer this in the negative; I fall short of what I am called to do. Therefore, I should work first on getting my own life in order before standing in judgment of someone else.

We need to learn to appreciate the mites that are given in genuine worship. When we do, we are drawing nearer to the mind of God.