Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

Home Archives for God

Going against the flow

Posted on Written by Leave a Comment

Swimming UpstreamIn reading the book of Isaiah, I get the sense that with the advent of electronic media, we have improved the speed of communication but not the quality of the content. Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun and this passage confirms it. Isaiah describes a nation that is in the midst of political turmoil. Sound familiar?

Here is the situation. The Kings of Samaria and Syria are threatening Jerusalem. The King of Judah is considering an appeal to Assyria for aid against these two kings. Isaiah speaks out against this proposed alliance and gets accused of treason.

Isaiah 8:12–15 (ESV)

12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

I would like to make a few observations on this text:

  • Speaking out against current political wisdom should not be viewed as conspiracy or treason. The error in that day, as is the error in our day, is to ignore God and rely on human wisdom. In current society, there is a drive toward eliminating any reference to God in public discourse.
  • The result of conventional wisdom is fear. A survey of political talk radio (left or right) in America demonstrates this. Both sides teach that if the other side gets or keeps power, certain destruction will result.
  • The faithful are not to give in to this fear or be in dread. God has not abandoned us or surrendered control.
  • If the faithful focus on God and are obedient to him, he will be our protection.
  • A majority of people in the culture will not understand this perspective and will view it as treason against the state.

The bottom line for me is that I choose to stay away from political speech that is designed to engender fear. My hope cannot be in the federal, state or local government. We cannot solve our problems without the help of God. We, as believers in the God of the Bible, need to be willing to stand firm and not give in to the fear that conventional wisdom engenders. We need to go against the flow.

I believe that the only thing that can save this nation from the death spiral that Rome and other great civilizations have experienced is a revival, a return to worship of the God of the Bible. The faithful need to place their hope in God alone and pray for revival or the speedy return of Jesus. I’m OK with either of these.

Maranatha

Technorati Tags: revival,politics,turmoil,maranatha,talk radio

Wanted: A Point of Reference

Posted on Written by 1 Comment

Traffic LightWhen you are sitting at a stop light in your car and see motion out of the corner of your eye, there are two responses. The first is to push harder on the brake pedal and the second is to look at a lamp post, building or some other stationary object to see if your car moving.

To gauge your own movement requires a fixed object as a point of reference.

In the same way, ethics or morality are only valid if there is some point of reference by which behaviors can be compared. There can be no discussion about ethics if there is not a shared moral code by which to judge.

If you start with the premise that there is no God and all that we see is a result of time plus chance, then statements about morality and ethics can only be expressions of preference since there is no basis on which to declare any particular behavior right or wrong.

It appears that a majority of those who espouse the mantra that “there are no absolute values” have not thought through the implications of this belief. If there are no absolute values, then there can be no real discourse to solve conflict. Conflict would then be resolved by the stronger dominating the weak. Do moral relativists really want to live by the evolutionary code of survival of the fittest? If this premise is true, on what basis would the Columbine shooters or the Virginia Tech shooter be condemned? Were they not doing what their DNA told them to do? Were they not pursuing what they thought was the best course of action? On what basis would Hitler or Stalin be condemned? Were they not doing what they thought was best for their respective countries?

Thankfully, these men have been almost universally condemned, but on what basis?

Tim Keller makes the point that if you start with a premise and the results are not in accordance with observed reality, the premise should then be reexamined. We can observe that a majority of people do not live as though there are no absolute values. We collectively value human life. We define some behavior as criminal and punish those who pursue it. Observed reality is that we do define some behavior as wrong, therefore the premise must be wrong.

There is something in humanity that seeks to know where to draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Naturalism cannot explain this, nor can it provide a means of drawing that line.

But, if we start with the premise that we are here as a result of a creator God and that He has revealed to us universal principles by which we should live, then we have no problem explaining the desire for standards. In addition, such a God provides the point of reference by which the standards can be established. The premise of a creator God seems to better explain observed human behavior.

Actions speak louder than words

Posted on Written by Leave a Comment

megaphone2 “Actions speak louder than words” is a proverb whose over use sometimes masks the truth it contains. I read in Genesis 15:6, that Abram (soon to be Abraham) “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” In Habakkuk 2:4, it says, “righteous shall live by his faith.”

All through Scripture we find that faith ( belief) and righteousness (action) are tied together. What we do comes as a result of what we believe. Therefore, what someone does is a good indication of what they believe.

For most of us (or perhaps I am only speaking for myself) this is a mixed bag. We have areas where our correct belief leads us to good practice, and then there are areas where our belief is week or misguided and we flip-flop like a fish on the dock.

For example, most of the time I am confident in God’s love for me and that confidence spills over into my relationships. When I have this confidence, I have freedom in relationships and I am not devastated if criticism comes my way. Then there are other times when I lack that confidence and I hear criticism in statements that are not intended to be critical.

The point of this is that the phrase “actions speak louder than words” should be used not so much for assessing others as for assessing myself. When my actions are not what I like them to be, I need to be honest about what belief (or unbelief) is underlying those actions.

One of my favorite prayers in Scripture is found in Mark 9:24 where a father cries out to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” This a pretty good starting place for positive change.

Advice from Hollywood

Posted on Written by 2 Comments

Hollywood SignYesterday I read Psalm 1:1.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.” (ESV)

Growing up, I was taught that this verse is speaking about choosing friends and situations to avoid: those who are wicked, those who are overt sinners. “Don’t hang out with worldly people,” is the short version.

The thought struck me that this should be applied not only to choosing friends, but also to choosing the media I consume. Even though a film, song or show may not be enticing me to overtly sinful behavior, am I being sucked into a world view that is contrary to Scripture?

In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul tells us,

12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.

While there are media choices that are clearly wrong, there are many about which discernment needs to be practiced.

For example, the sin in the Garden is primarily that of valuing self over God, precisely the sin that is lauded in our culture. Put yourself first, have it your way, you deserve the best, control your own destiny; these are some of the messages that come at us every day.

The point of this is not to lay down hard-and-fast rules about what media is safe to consume. The point is that we need to remain vigilant in exercising discernment about which particular media items are harmful. What trips me up might be OK for you and vice versa.

But how do we choose? I think that Paul gives us a clue in Philippians 3:8–11,

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Those media items that cause me to deepen my relationship with Jesus are helpful. The rest are rubbish. It goes without saying that rubbish is not to be consumed.

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama