Haiti - A Way to Help

There's obviously a lot that could be said about Haiti now. For example, if I find the time, I'd like to look at why Pat Robertson is at the very least an idiot, or at Luke 13:1-5 and the context which leads to it, which in this instance the topics happen to overlap with the first point.

But for now, I just want to inform you of a way to help in Haiti. My pastor first wrote about his passion here, explaining (correctly) that the first priority in giving aid as Christians is to help our brethren. To that end, Harvest is partnering with Mars Hill out of Seattle in a new venture - Churches Helping Churches. Every penny that is donated will be passed through directly to churches in need in Haiti (or wherever the next disaster or persecution outburst strikes); Harvest and Mars Hill are eating all the administration costs to ensure that all gifts go to the intended recipients.

So please, give as you're able, and give as you're willing to sacrifice. God has blessed us materially beyond comprehension - let us use our blessings to bless our brothers in their time of need.

Complete and Discuss

OK, here's a new little challenge for you. I'll start a verse, see if you can complete it without looking it up. Then feel free to discuss the implications. We'll start with an easy one, something Jesus said. Ready?

"Those whom I love, I...."

Did you get it? What do you think?

Look here if you get stumped, or see the context here.

Unofficial TeamPyro Insane Comment Rant O' The Year Contest

I'd like to take a moment and announce a new semi-running feature: the insane comment thread rant contest, focusing on the comment threads over at TeamPyro. Those guys do a great job unapologetically expounding God's word, and of course whenever that happens it brings out some real wonderful responses, the type that deserve to be brought to light more than buried in a comment thread. The type that provides a great lesson on how not to argue if you wish to be taken seriously.

Every couple of weeks someone will just go on a rant which is completely devoid of coherent thought, or completely misrepresents scripture in a particularly amusing way, or otherwise was written on a typewriter in a shack in Montana. When that happens and I remember to get around to it, I'll reproduce it here for posterity and maybe add some comments on why it's so bad. Then if you want to be taken seriously, just don't write your comments like that. Think of it like How to Write Badly Well, only for theology comment threads.

Our first entry for 2010 comes just two days into the year. Well done. It's a response to this post by DJP, in which he lays out some basic theology on how our plans and God's sovereignty intersect. This prompted a beauty of a rant from (new?) commenter 'healtheland' which gets our year in insanity off to a strong start (at 9:29 AM, January 2!). Some of the great elements of a terrible comment that get squeezed into this one rant include:

1) Start off with a horrible interpretation of scripture, and a passage that's especially hard to misinterpret at that! Somehow the clear teaching of Matthew 6 becomes something opposed to "act wisely and trust God's sovereignty". Ooooookay.....
2) An appeal to "ethnocentric" issues, because somehow what God says is different based on where you live or something.
3) The horrible interpretation seems to become horrible application, as he insinuates that there's something holy about just wingin' it through life and/or living in abject poverty and stone age conditions. Shane Claiborne would be proud.
4) Politics! Can't have a good insane rant without bringing in completely-unrelated political issues now, can we?
5) Katrina (?!?)
6) R-rated Movies and Blackberries
7) A passive-aggressive accusation that all Christians in the West (except the author, of course) are worldly, syncretistic pagans

Wow. Not a bad start. I give it a 6 points for awful handling of scripture, +2 for the attempted appearance of political neutrality, +1 for being so Claiborne-esque, a solid 9. It'll be tough top that one, but I'm sure it'll be done. If nothing else, we'll have our monthly update from Russ the Reformed Charismatic, which is always nice, and I'm sure someone else out there will step up to the plate. The gauntlet has been thrown down, and the trolls are getting their keyboards ready. Let's rock.
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First, I would have liked to see your analysis attempt to deal with Matthew 6:24-34. Also, there is an ethnocentric issue here, as the preoccupation with planning is far greater in modern western cultures than they are in other times and places, where people are much less likely to have the idea that they have very much control over their lives or circumstances, where lives do not move according to schedules (except for very rudimentary agricultural ones), and even their very concept of time is different. And yes, the culture that produced the Bible - one where wars, plagues, droughts, famines, etc. were very capable of altering best laid plans - is a lot closer to those than it is to our modern, technologically driven American culture. (Keep in mind: the very reason why paganism, animism and spiritism were such a snare to those in Biblical times was the FALSE promise of being able to impose a spiritual system of control over uncertain and chaotic lives. But where those cultures relied on the false gods of heathen religions, our culture has its own idols: our economic, political, military and technological systems. And yes, Christians are very much wedded to those. Witness the ferocious anger of so many Christians at Obama's threats to change our economic, military and cultural traditions. And yes, there was similar anger directed at George W. Bush.

A classic example is the "conspiracy theory" stuff. Rather than admitting the temporary, precarious nature of things, it is far more easier for one group of Christians with a foot in this world to believe that Obama is weakening our economy and throwing open the door to terrorists on purpose. And on the other hand, Christians of a different political stripe would rather believe that George Bush allowed black people to die in New Orleans because of some alleged racial animus rather than admit that there is only so much a government can do when a historic hurricane like Katrina strikes such a vulnerable area. While people may have legitimate grievances with the ideology and competence of Bush and Obama, the main point is how "the American way of life" is idolatry and how so many American Christians are heavily steeped in it.

Well, most of the Christians in the world cannot afford such delusions, because most Christians now live in the third world, with daily lives not much different from those who lived in Israel at the time of Jesus Christ. And while those Christians still have to deal with the very strong temptations of their traditional local primitive religions - especially when they are syncretized with Christianity - they do not have to deal with the temptations associated with Blackberries and daily planners and our own Tower of Babel-esque myths that we have so much power, influence and control within our own borders and exert it throughout the world.

Worldliness is a huge enemy, and in order to prevent being esnared by it, Matthew 6:24-34 and Romans 12:1-2 are vital. So many of us Christians view "worldliness" as listening to rock music or watching R-rated movies (or, as it were, patronizing "Christianized" versions of those forms of entertainment), but it really goes much further and deeper than that into a person's entire values and worldview.
http://healtheland.wordpress.com

Resolution Time

Round about this time, people make their resolutions for the upcoming year. Most likely by now you've seen people axing about it via facebook status, or you've been dragged into a "what's your resolution?" conversation. It's just the way we are - the promise of a new year holds out hope that things will change for the better. So we resolve to do things better this year than we had in years previous.

Many of us make resolutions about how we'll take care of our bodies. We resolve to eat better, to lose x pounds, to join a gym and work out four times a week. Some of us decide we're going to really focus on improving relationships - we resolve to spend more time with our kids, or pay attention to our spouses, or get to know the neighbors. Sometimes it's a resolve to finish that long-dormant project, to read certain books, to take work more seriously, to stop wasting so much time reading stupid blogs, whatever. This season provides a convenient opportunity to look back over the past year(s), see where we'd like to improve, and feel like we can get a fresh start. We resolve to do all sorts of things that we think will make us better people.

With this thought lurking in the background, something I read in the gospel of Luke grabbed my attention. Consider this rebuke Jesus laid on the Pharisees:

While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you." (Luke 11:37-41)

The Pharisees would have been masters of the new years' resolution game. Frankly, we're nothing but rank amateurs compared to them. They followed the minutiae of the law and their traditions to the tiniest detail. As we see in this and numerous other examples, they fully believed that their observance of self-improvement rituals made them righteous, and they despised those who didn't live up to that standard. If there was something that could be done to make them look more holy, they'd do it, and condemn those who didn't.

And yet as Jesus rebukes them, we can see that they were missing the point entirely. They were living out their rules and ceremonies, yet were internally wicked, merciless, greedy, adulterous, idolatrous, wretched sinners. What they needed was not another ritual, another rule to follow, another behavior to improve. They needed to be changed from the inside out. They needed to be born again, to repent, to love God and fall on his mercy and rely on his grace and live in faith. They needed to repent of their sin and trust in Jesus alone as the sovereign creator and lord of all. If that interior change were to occur, if their self-righteous, prideful rebellion was transformed into humble faithful submission to God, their exterior actions would be truly holy.

I wonder how many of us fall into the same trap as the Pharisees. How many of our resolutions are based on the goal of making ourselves better people by improving our behavior - ignoring the fact that our hearts are stubbornly rebelling against our creator? How does it help us to lose twenty pounds, quit smoking, or limit our TV intake if we persist in rebellion against God, refuse to come to Jesus in faith, and fail to be so overwhelmed by his grace that it overflows in joy and love and mercy to our fellow man? Modifying a behavior does me precious little good if I am still dead in sin and condemned to forfeit my soul.

Behold, now is the time of the Lord's favor. Now is the time of salvation. Stop fooling around with things that are temporary, and pursue what is eternal. Lay aside the silly resolutions, and get right with God! Hear and respond to the blessed invitation God spoke through his prophet Isaiah:


Come, everyone who thirsts,
   come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
   and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
   and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
   hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
   my steadfast, sure love for David.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
   a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
   and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
   for he has glorified you.

Seek the LORD while he may be found;
   call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
   and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
   and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
   and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy
   and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
   shall break forth into singing,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
   instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the LORD,
   an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Monuments to Failure

Since I work in the construction industry in Chicago, I've with some interest followed the saga of the Chicago Spire. This magnificent structure will, when completed, stand over two thousand feet tall! Situated right on the lakefront, this building will dwarf the Sears Willis Tower, Trump Tower, Hancock Building, Aon Center, and all the other massive skyscrapers this beautiful city has to offer. It will be the tallest building in the US by far, and may be the tallest in the world.

The excitement over this spectacular project hit a fever pitch in July of 2007, when ground was broken and the massive foundation was being dug. The foundation extends more than eighty feet deep into the ground, the sort of undertaking required to support such an enormous tower. More than two years ago the excavators started removing dirt by the truckload, leaving a spectacularly huge hole in the ground to make way for a ginormous concrete pour.

Today, two and a half years later, there's nothing at the site but a spectacularly huge hole in the ground. Oh, and a small fence to keep people from falling in.

What happened? From the start this project had problems securing funding, and really never should have begun. They never even got to the point of hiring contractors for anything other than the foundation - nobody who could handle something of this scope was willing to commit to such an unfunded and poorly-conceived project. But they pressed ahead and started the foundation work, dug a big hole, poured some concrete, and just figured they'd raise the rest of the money as they went. That didn't work so well, and the site's been dormant since May of 2008. Then that little housing/economic/credit crisis hit, and suddenly lending $2.4 billion to build mega-expensive high rise condos in a city that's already oversaturated with crazy-expensive high rise condos seems like an even worse idea. So the project is now essentially dead, and everyone who's done any work for it is suing to get whatever they can from the funds previously raised.

I worked at several sites nearby, close enough to see the Spire site from higher floors. When riding the lifts up the side of the building, it's fairly common for someone to point out the big hole in the ground with a sarcastic quip about how great and wonderful the Spire is, and how it's blessed everyone who's associated with it. At other sites around the city, it's become a laughingstock, a sort of mutual joke that no matter how bad things are at this site, at least we're not working the Spire. The project was poorly conceived and started without adequate preparations, and now it's become a source of derision and mockery, and a disaster for everyone who bought into it.

I couldn't help but think of the Spire this morning as I read this in Luke 14: For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’


The Spire project began foolishly, and the cost so far has been tens of millions of dollars wasted, countless hours of time wasted, and a big, mockable hole in the ground. Those who pressed on with this short-sighted silliness are ridiculed, and rightly so. But the disaster they've left in their wake is infinitesimal compared to the disaster Jesus warns about - people who make a start of following him, then quit.

One of the worst products of the American church has been an easy-believism which fails to take the demands of Jesus in the gospel seriously. Jesus condemns this unserious view of his call to discipleship, and declares those who make a profession of faith but don't follow through to be a disaster worthy of mockery. Yet so much of popular American evangelicalism seems geared towards producing and encouraging such spurious confessions. Our evangelism produces 'decisions' which affect no change in the person; we proudly proclaim that "five hundred people received Christ!" at an event, yet a month later only a handful are anywhere near a gathering of God's people. We speak of people who "are Christians but not living anything like it", and encourage people that their salvation is secure based on what they said at one time in the distant past, even as their years of subsequent living deny Christ with every word and deed. (Obviously I hold to the fully-biblical doctrine of eternal security, but utterly denounce the bastardized version of it which removes from it any notion of sanctification or perseverance.) Those who began without counting the cost and turned back are encouraged as if they are going to heaven rather than called to repentance and real, persevering, disciple-making faith.



I'll close by asking you to compare the message of the easy-believe church with the demands Jesus places on all who would follow him. This is not for a super-special level of disciple beyond the regular believers; this is the bare-level commitment of all who would be saved. Here's what Jesus had to say:


Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

A Most Severe Remedy

You can tell a lot about how serious a disease is by the severity of the treatment. You would never consider amputation for a broken wrist, but for a gangrenous arm that threatens your life, it's a distinct possibility. Some chemotherapy drugs are so dangerous that if a few drops are spilled a hazmat unit must clean it up. Yet people willingly have them injected into their veins, because it's the only chance they have to stop the cancer. But if you just have a cold? No thanks, I'll take my chances with the illness. The severity of the remedy you're willing to undergo is proportional to the threat of the disease.

So then, what does it say about us and how sick we are when Jesus tells us that "You must be born again"?

There is no cure for our disease other than complete renewal. Each of us is so completely sinful to the very core of our being, nothing short of total regeneration will save us. No moral program, no good that we can do, no accomplishments or philosophy or religion or intellect or wealth or power, none of it can purify us from our sin and make us righteous before a holy God. We are so desperately sinful, there is nothing - nothing! - we can do to get better. The only remedy is to be born again, completely made new by the grace of God.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7)

Have you been born again to faith in Jesus Christ? There is no question more vital, more urgent than this. The stakes are eternal - on one side is the hope of eternal life, on the other is eternal damnation. There is no other way. Which side are you on?

Are you sure? Tragically, there are many who are under the delusion that they are genuinely born again simply by claiming to be, despite all evidence to the contrary. Few things could be more tragic than having false assurance. So how do you know? What does it actually mean to be born again, and evidence could there be that you are - or aren't? Check out this short but powerful book (available free online) about what it means to be born again. Dig into scripture to see what it says about those who are God's children and those who aren't - 1 John or Ephesians are great places to start. And examine yourself for the signs of the newness of life which regeneration brings. If you truly are born again, boldly proclaim the gospel in word and deed. If not, repent and believe. Nothing you can do could ever be more important than this.

Felix's Folly

I just finished reading through Acts, and was really struck by this passage. It describes Paul's interaction with Felix, the Roman governor of Judea. Felix was married to a Jewish woman and was at least somewhat familiar with "the Way". Paul had been imprisoned and was under Felix's authority, and Felix decided to check into this newfangled Christianity he'd heard about.

After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, "Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you." (Acts 24:24-25)


Fascinating. Felix couldn't wait to hear about this Jesus fellow and all the neat things he did. I bet he really enjoyed hearing about God's love, and all about grace, and how he works all things for good to those who love him, and maybe even about heaven. Oh, how interesting and intellectually stimulating and compelling all this was! Felix may have even been emotionally moved and felt downright 'worshipful'.

And then Paul had to ruin it by bringing up that pesky "righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment". Once the inescapably personal demand for repentance and warning of God's wrath came, Felix was outta there. Not very seeker-sensitive there, Paul.

Obviously Paul did the right thing in preaching the whole counsel of God, the whole gospel. What good would it do to entertain Felix with stories about Jesus, to tickle his itching ears and satisfy his curiosity, if he was never called to true faith and was left dead in his sin? How many of our churches need to follow Paul's example here and resist the temptation to entertain the lost, stop leaving the call for repentance unspoken for fear of offending them and driving them away, and boldly preach the whole gospel?

But this isn't about them. It's about us. You, and me, and everyone who sits in the pews on Sunday and listens to the word of God being proclaimed and expounded. What do we do with it? Do we enjoy it as long as it's an entertaining story, or intellectually stimulating discourse on God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, or a message about God's wonderful promises to his people - and then, like Felix, check out when the demand to repentance and holiness comes? Do we receive the message only until it personally challenges us to get rid of our hidden idolatries, root out our pet sin, and actually obey God by living in radical love? Are we content to soak up the fascinating knowledge of all the deep things of God, so long as it leaves us completely unchanged?

What do we do with a message like this? We can be happy to learn about the theory of being lukewarm, acknowledge the theoretical need to repent, and gain some conceptual understanding of honoring Jesus rather than making him vomit. Or we can examine our lives for evidence of lukewarmness, repent, and live to glorify Jesus. Like Felix, many choose the former. How about you? How about me? We know the truth - what will we do with it?