The sin of silence and what to do about it

Posted on December 23, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 4 Comments

Recently, a friend handed me a CD on which were written the words “The in of silence.” When he gave it to me, he informed me that it was a sermon and that I would be challenged by it. Perhaps he identified the speaker on the CD when he gave it to me. If so, I wasn’t listening well and did not catch the name. I have no idea about the identity of the speaker.

Some of the things that the speaker said made me think that the audience was made up of pastors. I assume that the speech was delivered at a pastor’s conference or some such event.

I was challenged by the speaker; it was a very powerful message. In it, the speaker built a case that unless the preachers in America start speaking out against the moral decline in our culture, they will have to face the regret of having missed an opportunity. He drew from the experience of German pastors who failed to speak out during the Nazi’s rise to power in the 1930’s.

When the systematic persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany started happening, most of the German church remained silent and turned a blind eye to the atrocities; they committed the sin of silence.

The call to action in the message was that American pastors need to clearly present what Scripture has to say about current cultural norms without fear of what might happen. Issues such as abortion, militant homosexuality, redefinition of marriage, devaluation of marriage and the breakdown of the family should be strongly addressed. Yes! I agree with this, we need to be strong in our proclamation of what Scripture says on these topics.

Here is my concern. Too often, when Pastors have spoken out on these issues, the tone is one of unloving judgment. The message is lost or rendered ineffective behind the anger and condemnation.

I want to remind myself and my readers that we need to use Jesus as our example. In the Gospels, the only harsh words recorded as coming from Jesus were reserved for the religious leaders and those who sought material gain from religious observance. We do not see Jesus spewing words of condemnation on the people who did not know better. To them he simply proclaimed the truth while healing their diseases and meeting their physical needs.

I recently did a study of the letter to the church in Ephesus as recorded in Revelation 2:1-7. This church was doctrinally correct and did indeed speak out against the pagan culture around it. The Ephesians stood strong against those who would lead people into moral chaos. Yet, Jesus had one condemnation against that church. They had left their first love. They has allowed their love of God to decline.

While I agree that the church in America needs to step up and boldly proclaim what Scripture has to say about the moral issues of our day, we need to so so after we return to our first love.

It is possible to be morally and doctrinally correct and be spiritually dead. The world around us will not accept our morality or our doctrine until it accepts our Jesus. We need to return to him with our whole being if we really want to impact our culture. We cannot expect the world to believe our message about Jesus if we don’t live as he did. We cannot impact our culture unless we love the people as Jesus did.

We must return to our first love.

The blessing of mourning – Matthew 5:4

Posted on November 18, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

#5 in the Sermon on the Mount Series

Jesus said this about mourning:

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 (NIV)

In the introduction to his book The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis writes:

“When Mr. Ashley Sampson suggested to me the writing of this book, I asked leave to be allowed to write it anonymously, since, if I were to say what I really thought about pain, I should be forced to make statements of such apparent fortitude that they would become ridiculous if anyone knew who made them.”

In the same way, for me to write about mourning is somewhat presumptuous since I have not directly experienced much in the way of grief or hardship. Yet there is a sense, as we read these words pronounced by Jesus, that they are at least potentially applicable to all who read them.

This is another of Jesus’ sayings which seems contradictory on the surface. How is it a blessing to be in mourning? The ancient philosophers considered mourning to be pointless and like those philosophers, we expend a good deal of energy in trying to avoid mourning.

The Greek word translated mourn indicates grief which is “too deep for concealment.” (Vincent) This mourning is indicative of a grief that is at the core of the griever’s being. This is not mere sadness, but a disruption of life which feels as though nothing will ever be the same again.

Jesus experienced such grief and did not seek to hide it. At the tomb of his friend Lazarus, Jesus wept openly. Isaiah prophetically described Jesus as a “man of sorrows” in Isaiah 53:3. Death was not part of God’s original plan and the sense of loss at death is real and Jesus fully experienced that loss. Since Jesus was involved in the creation process, he is the only human other than Adam and Eve who fully understood the loss brought on by our human forebears’ rebellion.

Like Jesus, we should have some sense of the wrongness of much that happens around us. Death and destruction were not meant to be, they are not part of the original plan for humanity. Injustice, cruelty, theft, abuse and substance abuse are consequences of that first sin and are legitimate cause for mourning.

Unlike Jesus, we have to also mourn over our own participation and failure which propagates the wrongness. When we begin to understand and appreciate our role in bringing it about, it is appropriate to mourn. When a 19th Century newspaper editor asked the question, “what is wrong with the world,” G. K. Chesterton summed it up nicely when he responded to the editor with a two word response, “I am.” We’ve lost the innocence of the Garden and the desire to return to it is imprinted on our souls.

Still, while the mourning is appropriate, how is it a blessing? Mourning becomes a blessing when it is used by God to show us our need for the Savior. No politician, no actor, no pill, no group nor any religion can fix what is wrong with me and my world. It is only when I see my sin for what it is, mourn over it and seek help from Jesus, the only one who can take it away, that I can begin to experience comfort.

Notice that there is no definitive time in which the comfort will be experienced. When someone experiences the death of a family member, to expect them to be immediately comforted in the midst of it would be unrealistic and heartless. The sense of loss is very real and the mourning over this loss is appropriate. We can only stand by and weep, there is no better response.

Yes, as believers we can derive comfort from the fact that our sins are forgiven and that God is actively working in us to repair the damage from the fall. That sense of comfort is like a down payment or a movie trailer. It gives us a glimpse of what is coming. Yet, our comfort is tempered by our slow progress in becoming the person we want to and ought to be.

The ultimate comfort is when our work is done and we are by death or rapture taken from this world. In John 14:2, Jesus promises that he’s preparing a place for those who believe and are in relationship with Jesus. When I look at mountains, wildlife, rivers, and fertile valleys, I wonder how spectacular the place Jesus is preparing will be. If the one who infused nature with such spectacular beauty has been working for 2,000 years on a house, I’m certain that it will be worth the wait.

An Unholy Alliance: Pharisees and Herodians

Posted on June 17, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

An Unholy Alliance

We are moving toward a presidential election year in the United States. As a result, the political pundits are ramping up their efforts to develop a market for their predictions. With this backdrop, when I read Mark this morning, Mark 3:6 grabbed my attention. In this verse there is a simple statement that the Herodians and the Pharisees formed an alliance to see if they could get rid of a common problem. That problem was Jesus.

The Pharisees and the Herodians each sought to partner with and use the other for their own ends. To the Herodians Jesus was a political nuisance; to the Pharisees he was a religious one. To both, he was a threat to their power and influence.

The Politicos

The Herodians were the pragmatic politicos of the day. They were for anything that would allow their patron, Herod, to remain in power. Sound familiar? We have hundreds of modern day Herodians in office today. Purporting to be public servants, they protect their political power often at the expense of the truth and the people they represent.

The Religious Elite

The Pharisees were the religious leaders. Not all of them had wrong motives, but their zeal to appear holy often put them at odds with Jesus. Their legalistic mindset caused them to misunderstand God’s program. They did not recognize Jesus because they were certain of their own understanding of God and Scripture. There is a sense that many of the Pharisees were also more concerned about their power and position than the truth. One doesn’t have to look very hard in Christendom to find such as these today.

The True Church

We know that governments exist because God has granted them authority (Romans 13:1). Yet it is through the Church and not through governments that God chooses to work out his plan for humanity. The church should be very wary of seeking or using political power to advance its agenda.

The church is the chosen instrument of God to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to a world which desperately needs it. It is through the preaching of the gospel that men can be brought into relationship with Jesus Christ. A person who is brought into relationship with Jesus Christ will be changed in the way he lives and ultimately in the way he votes. The church should have this type of indirect influence on the political landscape. She should not seek to have a direct influence by organizing a political pressure group or any other such efforts.

Why? The temptation to use political power for seemingly good ends is a dangerous proposition for the church. Every time the organized church has gained political power, it has gone badly for the church and society. I have written about his before in Thinking out loud – The Church and Political Process.

I am not saying that the church should be silent on the issues facing society today. We should be speaking clearly on what the Bible says on these issues. What I am saying is that as these issues are discussed, the focus should be on commending individuals to submit to the truth of God’s word.

We need to keep in mind that the problem in our society is not a political one, it is a spiritual one. To address the political process without first addressing the core issue of sin is to treat the symptom instead of the cause of the disease.

What do you think?

The Illusion of Security Apart from Christ

Posted on June 3, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Security is Elusive

It is in the best interest of politicians and merchants to maintain the illusion of security. They tell us that if we elect the right person or party into office, if we invest properly, if we follow the prescribed diet, if, if, if . . . then we will experience security.

The problem is that those activities never provide the peace of mind that they promise.

We are heading into a presidential election year, promises will abound. Watch to see how much of the campaign rhetoric is geared toward promises of security. We have governmental departments and programs with “security” in their titles. The entire government purportedly exists to enhance our security as individuals and as a nation. We long for that security and will vote for the people we think best qualified to give it to us.

Since Genesis 3, mankind has been trying to establish his control over his own destiny. Yet, most of a man’s circumstances remain beyond his control. In spite of great scientific advances, we are at the mercy of our environment and other people. Where then can security be found? Is there a source?

Security can be Found

If you take the New Testament documents to be reliable (I do), they show us a good place to start our search for security. In a physical sense, death is the ultimate enemy. If a man proved that he could conquer death, that person might be a good resource in the quest for security.

Death has been conquered by Jesus Christ. His resurrection from death displays his power over death. He promises to provide this power for those who are willing to believe in him an surrender to him.

It is the death and resurrection of Jesus which provides the means whereby death can be robbed of its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55). Jesus also promises to be with us forever (Matthew 28:20). Paul asks the question, “if God is for us who then can be against us?” (Romans 8:31), the implication being that no-one can be against us if we are in Christ.

Why then do I often respond in insecurity? Why does much of the rhetoric of Christendom resound with fear and insecurity? It is because we fail to believe and appropriate the promises that God has given us.

May we go into this weekend believing the promises and living them out. The world needs us to do this.