Trees and Talks and Towns

Tags

Christianity, Creation, Culture, Ideology, Reality, Social Media, World, Worldview

The podcast Mortification of Spin features a pair of orthodox Presbyterians and their guests discussing various issues. Last week’s episode had some very helpful observations about the rocketing advance of the sexual revolution in recent years, particularly the issue of transgenderism.

One of the areas brought into the discussion was how our technological developments interface with this whole issue, not only with the dissemination and reinforcement of ideology, but with the way our use of technology affects our ideas of personhood.

Social media, for instance, has its uses. I’m using it right now, for its wonderful possibilities as communicative tool. But it also has tremendous dangers, and seems to me increasingly used as a tool of ideological reinforcement. This is important for all of us to consider, but especially for parents raising their children in this tech-saturated world. Parents: are you attentive to not only what your teen might be doing on social media, but what social media might be doing to your teen?

The confluence of technology and gender ideology is, in part, that both threaten to uproot us from reality. We use the tools of technology, and we can use them profitably; but we need to be deliberate about keeping our fundamental connection with the real world, with God’s good creation, with the people and places and things that form the real context of our earthly sojourn. Transitory though trees and talks and towns may be, they are the real things of life, the real world in which God has begun to unfold renewal towards eternity.

Vain Aspirations and Kingdom Culture

Tags

Abortion, America, Christ, Christianity, Culture, Culture War, God, Idolatry, Pluralism, Poetry, Prophecy, Religious Left, Secularism, Society

            For the inauguration of President Biden a few weeks ago, a poem was read by Amanda Gorman, Youth Poet Laureate, entitled, “The Hill We Climb.”  Leaving literary criticism to others, I wish to reflect upon a single line in the poem: “Scripture tells us to envision that, ‘everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.’”

            The Scripture is Micah 4:4.  Here the prophet is describing divine deliverance in the last days, and the context is extremely significant: what the “Scripture tells us to envision” is the exaltation of the one true God, figured in the elevation of His holy mountain (v.1), and the universal dissemination of the knowledge of God (v.2), and—in such context—universal peace and prosperity (vv.3-4).  It is, indeed, a wonderful eschatological vision, and we would do well to envision it.

            But it is not a vision consonant with the cultural headwinds of contemporary America.  The glories of the prophesied epoch are both consummated by and built upon the exaltation of the one true God; God’s glory founds, surmounts, and surrounds all the delights of the age to come.  The prophesied peace and prosperity does not crown a culture of pluralistic idolatry—there are other prophecies for that (e.g. Micah 5:10-15).  Sitting under one’s own vine and fig tree (v.4) comes together with a universal pursuit of God’s will, “that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths” (v.2).  It is absurd to envision this future while—to allude to just a couple of policy objectives of the incoming administration—denying God’s design for humanity and destroying innocent human life in the womb.

            That is the great dissonance that echoes behind the selective appropriation (?!) of the divine promises in the context of idolatry and immorality.  As reported by Alexandra Desanctis in National Review, “Sponsoring a Flag at Today’s Inaugeration Sends a Donation to Planned Parenthood.”  Does a civics that alludes to the worship of Molech reasonably expect the blessing of Yahweh?

            The proper application of this observation is to remember that eschatological vision prescribes present faithfulness.  Micah 4:4 in the context of America today is a call to repentance.  The age to come comes by the glorious work of the child born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), not by any labors of ours, and certainly not by secular pluralistic ideologies.  There is a present foretaste and an ultimate fulfillment of this promised peace and prosperity—for all who will have it.  But, for a culture chasing idols, all such aspirations are vain.

            For those who will have it, there is another culture, within and without the cultures of this world; there is a kingdom ever advancing, life-giving, loyal and good.  For those who belong to that kingdom, and hope to inherit its promises, it is imperative to live in its culture.  Without withdrawing from the world, while still pragmatic in politics and active in society, the people of God can inhabit the culture they long for in the present.  That, I suggest, is the way forward in 2021 and beyond.

Sojourners and Slander

Tags

Christianity, Justice, Liberalism, Progressive Christianity, Righteousness, Truth

I was first exposed to Sojourners at college, and my impression of them has always been negative. It was the obvious disingenuousness of the whole thing that irked me; why should such an overtly leftist publication pretend to be bipartisan? Were they fooling anyone? What had such messaging to do with the Christian faith, and why should it be promoted at a Christian college? Maybe the fact that I was studying rhetoric made me especially attuned to the duplicity of ‘GOD IS NOT A REPUBLICAN…or a Democrat.’

Sojourners is still around, and nothing on their website suggests a Christian centrism. They seem quite sold to the left; maybe they don’t pretend otherwise anymore. As such, they present a compelling picture of how putting politics in the center makes us vulnerable to buying into the culture’s lies.

Case in point, an article that caught my eye a little while back: “#DEFUNDTHEPOLICE BECAUSE THEY WON’T REFORM THEMSELVES“, by Chanequa Walker-Barnes. It addresses issues of police brutality and reform, with the headlined perspective of supporting the defunding (possibly even abolition) of police. A careful analysis might draw attention to the one-sided argumentation about a complex issue, and a theological analysis might address the basic naivete of thinking that fallen humans can do without law enforcement (as an aside, the writer is a professor at McAffee School of theology, for whatever that may indicate about that institution).

But I will highlight a single statement, and the point that can be drawn from it: “We live in a militarized police state wherein law enforcement officers view themselves as our overlords and conquerors rather than as servants and protectors of the public.” Unless Walker-Barnes is utterly ignorant of the diverse reality of American police, that statement is slander. Even if Walker-Barnes is ignorant of the American police forces, it is difficult to believe that the editorial team at Sojourners is so ignorant; and, barring this vast ignorance of reality, they have willingly published a slanderous accusation against the police force. But perhaps the editors can defend themselves with a ‘the views in this commentary do not necessarily represent the views of Sojourners‘ disclaimer? No. They highlighted this very statement of Walker-Barnes’ article on the sidebar so that readers could tweet it.

What place has slander in a Christian publication? None. But that is what happens when worldly ideologies infiltrate and influence your thinking.

An instructive warning for Christian institutions, and even churches, in America today.

Again–Chaos, Control, or Christ

Tags

America, Christ, Christianity, Cultural Engagement, Culture, Culture War, Jesus Christ, Politics, Race, Secularism, Security, Society

The many grim headlines that have met us in recent days point to a nation caught in the tug-of-war between chaos and control, and remind us that we are in this dilemma because we, as a culture, have rejected the Lordship of Christ. We encounter grievous injustice, and try to deal with it with all the resources of pagan or secular worldviews; the results are what we see unfolding.

There can be no doubt that self-consciously Christian societies have often failed to live up to their own principles. But what should be noticed is that these failures were a contradiction of their principles, not an accordance with them. That means that such a society would have within itself the resources to address its failures with repentance and reconciliation. There is a divine standard of justice, pure and glorious, to which all men stand accountable; there is an identifiable spiritual root to all injustice, sin in the human heart; there is a means of challenging wickedness with the gospel of Jesus Christ, of calling sinners to repentance and of seeing change, reconciliation, healing, and love that transcends boundaries.

But a secular or pagan society–and are these different things, or only different names?–does not contain within itself the resources to address injustice. That is why the efforts to address it turn towards chaos or control. The way of Christ has been excluded from the start, in pursuit of freedom from God. But freedom from the Righteous One will never mean righteousness, nor true freedom. A society that rejects the God who is the divine standard of justice cannot be expected to arrive at justice in its social dimensions.

The solution to our situation is neither revolution nor authoritarianism. It is conversion. The price of a just and peacefully society is repentance. Repentance of what? Many things. But, in the first place, of our secularism. If we will not have Christ, it is control or chaos. If we do not want chaos or control, we must turn to Christ.

Transitions

Tags

America, Coronavirus, COVID-19, God, Mercy, Pandemic, Prayer, Race, Reconciliation

Well, a lot has happened since my last blog post.

As a word of explanation, my family has undergone a major transition: new town, new home, new church. All of this has been wonderful, but it’s remarkable how much things have changed in the past couple of months.

Of course, this coincides with a major transition our whole nation and our whole world has been going through. The coronavirus pandemic has brought horrible death and suffering, and dealt an economic blow to people’s livelihoods that will perhaps not be fully realized until this is over.

On top of that, our nation has been grappling with the evil of our long legacy of racism, and the dark consequences of that, which show up in a number of ways. The horrible injustice done to George Floyd has led to unrest and destruction that will surely increase the suffering of the poor in these communities. If this, too, is a transition, we cannot see from here what the end result will be.

May God have mercy on us. May He, the great Healer, lift our world out of the grip of this disease. May He, the great Reconciler, grant us the mercy of repentance, reconciliation, justice, peace, and a brighter future to come. May He, the Lord of life, stir revival in our nation so that we will have His love for one another.

May He turn this dark transition to our transformation.

Easter 2020

Tags

Christianity, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Easter, God, Holy Week, Hope, Jesus Christ, Life, Pandemic, Resurrection

This Easter finds us in strange circumstances, isolated during a time of fear and uncertainty. It may seem like there is a shadow over our celebration, when we are unable to gather together and sing the hymns of the resurrection, to exchange the joyful yearly greeting, “He is risen!” “He is risen indeed!”

But for these very reasons our Easter faith must be especially dear this year. It is in the depths of winter, when all is dead and bitterly cold, that we long most fervently for spring. The days we lay a-bed sick make us long for good health we otherwise take for granted, and the great sorrows of life strip away all of the distractions that numb us, and fill us instead with sweet and desperate hope for the life to come.

That hope is the joy of Easter, the wonderful promise of resurrection, of unfading newness beyond all the loss and weakness and grief of this world. For our longing for eternity is not a vain wish of the human heart; it is an echo of God’s original design in our souls, and it points us to the wonderful salvation that God offers in Jesus Christ. This high and holy day sweeps away all darkness and gloom with the triumphant proclamation of resurrection life.

Jesus is alive—now, today, and forevermore. Jesus has risen from the grave, conquered death, and He offers life and freedom to all who come to Him. This is the message of Easter, the perennial proclamation of gospel hope to a world of uncertainty and sorrow.

How wonderful the news on that first Easter Sunday, when the women came to the sepulcher expecting to find Jesus dead and buried, entombed in stone. Instead, two angels met them, and said, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!’” (Luke 24:5-6, NIV). And in this resurrection, we have a living Savior, and the promise of resurrection to eternal life for all who trust in Him.

Take heart, for it is Easter. He is risen! Risen, indeed.

Tuesday Tea-ology, 04/07/20

Tags

Authority, Celebrities, Celebrity Culture, Christianity, Cultural Engagement, Faith, God, Holy Week, Jesus Christ, Lordship, Pop Culture, Society, Truth

What does Luke 20:1-8 have to do with Miley Cyrus?  Find out on today’s Tuesday Tea-ology!

Really Urgent

Tags

America, Christianity, Culture, Episcopal Church, Faith, God, Gospel, Humanity, Jesus Christ, Liberalism, Life, Progressive Christianity, Redemption, Salvation, Theology, Truth

Writing a couple days ago about the call of the gospel involved expressing that the gospel call is urgent.  It matters whether or not people hear the message of Christ, and whether or not those who hear believe; it matters because there is judgment to come, and where you stand in the day of judgment depends entirely on whether or not you are in Christ.

This is the perennial scandal of the Christian faith.  True Christianity will always be scandalous to the world, though different aspects of the faith will be scandalous in different times and places and cultures.  But the exclusivity of the gospel message is a perennial scandal, because it stands against every worldly ideology and religion, and because it is at the irreducible core of the Christian message: eternal life is found in Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ alone.  You have to place your faith in Him if you are to be saved.

This claim is denied not only by avowed secularists, but by some who claim to be Christians.  I came upon the website of a liberal Episcopalian church in San Francisco, noteworthy (among other things) for how they use their sanctuary for a popular yoga program–the sentence “Colorful mats cover the labyrinth, the aisles and even the altar” has a certain resonance with 2 Kings 16.  I saw that they had sermons online, audio and transcripts; I wanted to see what their preaching was like, but didn’t want to give it a lot of time.  I needn’t have been concerned; my sampling suggests that, in keeping with typical liberal practice, their sermons range from fairly brief to very brief.  Given their beliefs, brief is probably for the best.

So here is a sermon from “The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clements Young.”  He’s the dean of the cathedral and has a Doctorate of Theology from Harvard, so no one can say I’ve chosen a straw man.  His text is John 3:16-17…and if you say, ‘Why just through verse 17? …aha, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

John 3:16 is quite understandable a beloved passage, a one-verse encapsulation of the gospel.  Dr. Young, in his short message, says a number of things, some of them good.  But things get particularly suspicious about halfway through–manuscript page 3, that is–when he turns to examine Jesus’ reference to the bronze serpent, a story detailed in Numbers 21.

The Israelites were complaining against God, and the text says, “Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them” (Num. 21:6, NIV), but Dr. Young says “God allows poisonous snakes to come among them”; perhaps the change from God’s direct action to divine permission is unintentional.  But stranger is Dr. Young’s assertion that “In both this exodus story and the Gospel of John sin is less a punishment from God than it is a self-destructive human choice.”  Well, yes, the sin of the Israelites is a self-destructive choice–and if that’s all he meant, that’s one thing, but we’re still going to have to grapple with Romans 1–but the punishment from God is clearly present: they chose to grumble against God, but God sent the venomous snakes.

Dr. Young brings this back to John 3, which is good, and Jesus’ statement that “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up” (Jn. 3:14).  But this is Dr. Young’s comment:

“In this world which is poisoned by envy, greed, fear, betrayal and death – Jesus promises that we can be healed by experiencing him near to us in our suffering, and the hope that we have for the resurrection”.

Is that all Jesus promised, His nearness in our suffering?  Why no mention of the atoning significance of His death upon the cross?

After this suspicious beating-about-the-bush about the wrath of God and atoning work of Christ, Dr. Young makes his last point quite clearly:

“My last point has to do with what my friend Matt Boulton calls the “anti-Gospel.” Gospel means good news and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is really good news for all people, not just Christians. It is the message that God does not condemn the world, but always reaches out to save us even when our choices have led us disastrously astray. But somehow many Christians warp Jesus’ words into an anti-gospel which is a message of contempt and exclusion.”

The Gospel, for Dr. Young, appears to be a message of universal salvation.  Faith in Christ is not necessary, and those who say that it is are guilty of promoting “an anti-gospel which is a message of contempt and exclusion.”  This is the rhetoric of the religious left, where ‘inclusion’ is good and ‘exclusion’ is bad, and where the other side is regarded as showing hatred or contempt.  But how does this message square with the very text of Scripture being expounded?  Dr. Young quotes John 3:16 in its entirety, so he has right there before him that the verse says “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  It does not say that Christ gives life to everyone; it says He gives life to those who believe in Him.

How does Dr. Young deal with this?  He doesn’t, really.  He emphasizes that the text is saying this is a demonstration of the way God has shown His love:

“The Greek doesn’t mean to emphasize “how much” God loves us but instead shows us the character of God’s love, that God loves us in this way, through not even withholding his own son. The point is not that Jesus only saves the few who believe, but like the Israelites looking at the snake, everyone is healed by God through Jesus.”

Like the Israelites looking at the snake?  But it wasn’t all of the Israelites who were healed by the bronze serpent–it was only those who looked at it.  In the same way, it isn’t all people who are saved by Jesus, but only those who believe in Him.  The parallel seems to work rather against Dr. Young than for him.  Can he really justify such a shaky interpretation in the face of the clear teaching of the biblical text?

He can try.  Here’s the clincher:

John confirms this interpretation and writes, “God did not send his son to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn. 3).

He’s quoting John 3:17, a wonderful verse about God’s love.  Jesus came to save.  God sent His Son to be our Savior.  And, if this verse was all we had to work with, we might conclude that it teaches a universal salvation, regardless of whether people know Jesus or not.

But this verse doesn’t stand alone, and a basic principle of biblical interpretation is that verses must be interpreted in context.  The verse before it, verse 16, says that it is those who believe who are saved.  What about the verse that follows?

And this is why it is so interesting that Dr. Young stopped with verse 17.  Now, I can’t read his mind.  Maybe he forgot what verse 18 said.  Maybe he just didn’t have time to bring it up.  But it is awfully interesting that he didn’t mention the verse that says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (Jn. 3:18).

So we have an Old Testament parallel and two clear assertions that a response of faith is required in order to receive the life Christ offers, sandwiching the ambiguous verse that Dr. Young tries to use to nullify the clear message.  It is overwhelmingly obvious that Dr. Young has misinterpreted the Scripture, and has done so in a way that shows either a remarkably careless disregard for the context or a deliberate desire to twist the message of the gospel.

He wants to do away with the exclusivity of the gospel.  In the process, he has thrown out the urgency of the gospel, for a message of universal salvation is not a message that anyone needs to hear; and, if heard, it is a message that perfectly suits the individualistic self-determination of the (post)modern west, because it means that how you choose to live your life doesn’t really matter in the end.

Can Dr. Young’s own charge be reversed?  Is he guilty of teaching an anti-gospel?  I think so.  Maybe he teaches that people should repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus, but he doesn’t preach that such is necessary in order to be forgiven and receive eternal life.

The true gospel is urgent, because it proclaims that God’s gracious offer of life is found exclusively in Jesus Christ, is received exclusively by faith in Jesus Christ.  You need this gospel, and you need it now.

And you may have it, no matter who you are, no matter what you have done.  Turn from your sins and place your trust in Jesus Christ, who died for your sins and rose from the dead to bring you life.  Accept His mighty hand reaching down to draw you to Himself.  Be cleansed, forgiven, made whole, adopted as a child of the Most High.

The time is now.

 

Imagine that (again)

Tags

Atheism, Celebrities, Celebrity Culture, Cultural Engagement, Culture, Eschatology, God, Ideology, Naturalism, Secularism, Socialism, Society, Theism, Theology, Worldview

…a postscript to my ruminations a few days ago on the celebrities singing John Lennon’s “Imagine”, and the song’s message of despair.

In that earlier post, I noted in passing the hypocrisy of super-wealthy celebrities singing a song that contains the line “imagine no possessions”. Upon further reflection, I think that dissonance reflects one of the basic fallacies of the song and its misunderstanding of naturalistic, materialistic ideology.

For the song suggests that embracing a naturalistic and materialistic ideology—rejecting religion, with its metaphysical notions of heaven and hell, of transcendent morality and judgment and eternal hope—thus “living for today”, will help us break down the barriers and “live as one”. This is, ostensibly, the future that those promoting this ideology dream of.

Now, let us assume that the celebrities singing this song hold to such a naturalistic and materialistic ideology—they are atheists, who believe that this world is all we get, and intend to live for today. This may not be true; I’m not very knowledgeable about celebrity news, and for all I know Gal Gadot et al may claim to believe in God; but the public testimony of this song is that they don’t, so let us suppose that to be the case. Ostensibly, they are “living for today”, they dream this dream.

But they are not sharing their possessions. Oh, I don’t doubt they give to charitable causes; but they keep vast amounts of personal wealth for themselves. They make no effort to “live as one” with the people of the world. Apparently “a brotherhood of man” is not their dream, after all?

Why should it be? This is not a simple matter of hypocrisy—singing the song is, but living a lavish lifestyle isn’t. Naturalistic materialism provides no moral impetus. “Living for today” is perfectly consistent with living selfishly. Transcendent morality and eschatological hope, on the other hand provide a profound foundation for charity.

Of course, many Christians fail to live out the faith, sometimes infamously; because our sanctification is incomplete, we are all hypocrites to a greater or lesser extent. Still, we should see clearly, and here is the key difference: selfishness and greed are hypocrisy in Christians, but are perfectly consistent with an atheistic worldview.

Therefore, if in fact selfishness and greed are bad, then atheism is wrong. If there is good, there must be God.

Imagine that…

Tags

Celebrities, Christianity, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Culture, Eternity, Faith, Heaven, Hope, Jesus Christ, Life, Pandemic, Peace, Salvation, Society, Truth

The pandemic has called up a variety of responses, some of them more helpful than others.  “Keep Calm and Wash Your Hands” is sound advice.  But is there a deeper message we might speak to this time of fear, danger, uncertainty, and death?

Actress Gal Gadot got together with a number of other celebrities, producing a little video that was promoted by major media channels.  The idea of serenading the world in a time of crisis was a kind sentiment, and good for morale; the content of this particular serenade was awful.  Gadot says that the time of isolation has got her feeling philosophical, and says that she heard of another serenade she heard, of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

Gadot then begins the song, which is picked up by numerous celebrities as described here.  The song is a naïve humanist fantasy, imagining a world where the elimination of nations, private property, and religion leads to perfect unity and peace.  The hypocrisy of a group of celebrities singing a song that contains the line “Imagine no possessions” is staggering, but not nearly so troubling as the rest of the vision for mankind they exhort us to imagine.

“Imagine there’s no heaven…No hell below us,” the song suggests, as though the loss of a sense of eternal destiny will encourage generosity and the brotherhood of man.  “And no religion too” it later adds, as though the loss of transcendent morality and meaning will contribute to world peace.  The song’s diagnosis of the human condition is profoundly flawed.

But, more importantly, it is a delusion.  We are being asked to imagine a world that simply does not and cannot exist–a world without God and without hope.  It is a comfort to know that Lennon’s vision can never be realized; even a global atheistic socialist state could do nothing about the fact that there is a heaven, there is a hell, and there is a God whether humans acknowledge Him or not.

In a time of crisis, we need to be reminded of the profound truths that define our existence in this life and in the life to come.  That is what has been lacking in so much of our society’s response to the pandemic, and it is the opposite message of “Imagine.”  On the contrary, this is not a time to daydream, but a time to wake up.

Memento Mori, says the ancient Christian tradition–remember that you have to die.  A pandemic should serve to remind us that life is finite, and all too often short.  Life is serious, and meaningful; but it is serious and meaningful because there is a life to come.  There is a God above, there is a heaven and there is a hell.

We have had national calls to prayer, and that is very good; but they ought to be accompanied by national calls to repentance.  It would be a tragedy if concern about the pandemic moves us to wash our hands, but not our hearts.  It would be a travesty to pray one moment for God’s deliverance, and the next moment to sing “Imagine there’s no heaven…and no religion too.”

I am not a prophet, to claim that COVID-19 is God’s judgment on us for x sin.  But every disease is a consequence of the fall, and a reminder that we live in a fallen world.  And every such reminder urges us to wake up and look to the wellbeing of our souls and of the souls of others.  God sent His Son to bear the sins of the world, to take away the curse and bring us the offer of eternal life by faith in Him.  And God offers, to all who will receive the gift of life in Jesus Christ, a future more wonderful than we can possibly imagine.