James is Okay with Me

Luther famously referred to James as "an epistle of straw". Many assume this meant he didn't like the Epistle when, in fact, he went on to say, "I praise it and consider it a good book, because it sets up no doctrines of men but vigorously promulgates the law of God." It was, to Luther, not as valuable as other books because "it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it" where other books in the New Testament "show you Christ and teach you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know."

Me? I like James. Oh, I suppose, like Luther, not as much as some of the others. While Paul is immersed in doctrine and explanation, James is saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Paul gives us piles of "why" and then says, "Therefore ..." James basically says, "Do this." But James packs so much "do this" in so small of a space that it's just so rich.

Take, for instance, his first chapter. There we find that we should face trials with "all joy" because they produce maturity (James 1:2-4). We learn that God gives wisdom, so just ask (James 1:5-8). There is this fascinating thing with the poor and the rich, where the poor will be exalted and the rich humbled ... and both should glory in it (James 1:9-11). Seriously ... glory in humiliation? That's what James says under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (and in perfect harmony with "count it all joy when you face trials"). There is a blessed promise that those who persevere will receive the crown of life (James 1:12). James, in the face of modern "spirituals", defines religion "that is pure and undefiled before God" as a good thing (James 1:26-27). He urges us not to deceive ourselves by hearing and not doing the Word (James 1:22-25). There is that glorious instruction so rarely heeded, "Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger" (James 1:19) and the wondrous claim that every good thing you have came from an Immutable Father (James 1:17).

Perhaps one we need badly today is this one in the middle of the chapter.

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death (James 1:13-15).

It has been from the beginning our habit to blame others for our failings (read "sin"). It was Adam's first response: "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate" (Gen 3:12). There it is, plainly in the lap of God. Eve was gentler, saying that it was the serpent. We tend not to say, "It was me." But if you are a believer, "buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Rom 6:4), here's what the Bible says about you and sin: "One who has died has been set free from sin" (Rom 6:7). Get that? You're dead to sin. So, by what method does sin raise its ugly head (as it surely does) in the believer's life? It's not that woman God gave you or the serpent. The devil didn't make you do it. Paul says, "Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness" (Rom 6:11-13). How does sin occur in a believer's life? You choose it. You submit yourself to it. You let sin reign. You are lured by your own desires. As you give way to those desires, they give birth to sin. As James says elsewhere, "Brothers, these things ought not be" (James 3:10).

And just think. That's only the first chapter. Loads and loads of practical pointers, important issues, genuine applications of truth. Okay, so maybe James can be ... meddlesome. Maybe he's a little too pointed to suit some of us. I mean, seriously, all that stuff about faith producing works and the dangers of the tongue and drawing near to God can get a bit pointed. Especially his thing on fights among believers.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God (James 4:1-4).

Ouch! That can hurt when so many of us are specifically aiming at friendship with the world as a good thing. And, like before, we're pretty sure that conflicts in our midst are always caused by that other guy, certainly not me! So, yes, maybe James cuts too close to the bone for real comfort, but there is a lot of good stuff in there. I think I'll keep it in my Bible.

God and America

"God bless America." That's the prayer, even from those who are practical atheists. You know those kinds. They're the ones that give lipservice to a belief in God but live like the devil. Even they want God to bless America. And, let's be honest, I'd like God to bless America as well. Well, sort of.

Eric Holder -- you remember him ... he's the guy who directed the Fast and Furious scandal of the government giving guns to cartels and then turned around to help lead the move to remove guns from Americans -- announced on Saturday that the federal government will expand the recognition of same-sex marriages (as if such a thing actually exists). He called it the civil rights movement of our time. Various states have voted to ban the practice -- California did it twice -- but the Supreme Court made it a matter of "equal rights" and there are now 14 states and Washington D.C. that allow it and lawsuits either ongoing or pending in almost all other states. Only 6 states remain with uncontested laws against the oxymoronic same-sex marriage concept.

Russia is in trouble with the U.S. because they have laws against homosexual propaganda and practices, so President Obama has seen to it that openly gay athletes and delegates have been sent to the Winter Olympics. "One of the things I'm really looking forward to," he said, "is maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bringing home the gold or silver or bronze."

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error (Rom 1:22-27).

Some have suggested that homosexual behavior is the bottom rung, the last of the evils people can produce. It isn't. Beyond the abandoning of men with women and women with men there is "a depraved mind' (Rom 1:28) that leads to a list of sins (Rom 1:29-31). The worst is when "they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, [and] they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them" (Rom 1:32). They "not only do the same" but give "hearty approval".

Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived. As a nation we are demonstrating the exchange of God for the worship of the creature and have taken to ourselves the lusts of our hearts to impurity. As a society we have refused to recognize God and exchanged the truth for the lie and have taken to ourselves degrading passions and indecent acts along with the due penalty. As a country we are demonstrating the depraved mind with all manner of sinful practices that we not only perform, but embrace and encourage. It's the bottom rung of the sin ladder.

In Revelation 6 there is the account of the opening of the seven seals. There we read,

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging ... those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev 6:9-10)

In my relatively short lifetime there has been a marked decay in the American moral fabric. Divorce, sexual promiscuity, drugs, growing hostility to the principles upon which this country was founded, attacks on religious freedom, the rise of feminism over males, the full embrace of homosexual behavior, the dismemberment of family and marriage ... the list goes on and on. Things are not getting better. God bless America? We may still want it and we may still pray for it, but I cannot imagine it happening without the judgment of God first. It's harder and harder for me to ask God to bless a nation that turns colder and more hostile toward Him. God plans for a Final Judgment of all people at the end but God judges nations temporally. Perhaps it's time for God to judge America, not bless her.

Love in a Vacuum

The latest religious classification on the scene is the "Nones", those people who are "spiritual but not religious". This isn't really that new, I suppose. Indeed, sincere Christians for decades have been complaining, "Christianity isn't a religion; it's a relationship." Why? Well, because religion has a bad name. Religion is structure and dogma and buildings and all that stuff. Never mind that the Bible defines religion (James 1:26-27). (Note: James defines religion as a positive thing.) So we want to avoid all that structure and all that doctrine and just be ... spiritual. You know, "I can worship God best on a mountaintop rather than a church building." Oh, so spiritual, isn't it?

Except it's not what the Bible says.

So we're baling out on church in droves. Barna suggests that some 23% are unattached to church, another 15% are intermittent ("under-churched"), 3% are not attending except, perhaps, for an occasional house church, and another 3% mix church with home church. Only 56% of those calling themselves Christians actually attend church. From there it only gets worse. Religionfacts.com claims that in Vermont only 24% of the entire population attend church. The national average is 42%, with Alabama rated the highest at 58%. When you consider that 33% of the world's population is identified as Christian, those numbers are even smaller. And from there it only gets worse. Churchleaders.com says that a head count of actual church attendance in 2004 put the percentage of church attendance at 17.7%, far below the reported 40% from Gallup's report. Let's face it; going to church is not really very popular today.

Consider, though, the words of our Savior ... you know, the "Christ" in "Christian" ... the One we claim to be following:

By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (Joh 13:35).

Now, isn't that interesting? Apparently our idea in our enlightened age is that we have every capacity to love the brethren ... without actually spending time with them. We don't meet them for worship. We don't involve ourselves in their lives. We don't gather for fellowship. We do it all ... in a vacuum.

Jesus is depicted as walking among the local churches (Rev 1:12-13, 20). He is said to have given Himself up for the church (Eph 5:25). Indeed, Jesus said, "I will build My church" (Matt 16:18). And we, apparently, are comfortable telling Him, "You go with that. You walk there; we won't. You give Yourself up for her; we don't have the time or the inclination. You build it; we won't come."

Paul wrote of the Body of Christ and our gifting by the Spirit, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1 Cor 12:7). "That's okay, Paul," we seem to reply. "I'll keep it for myself." "But," Paul protests, "the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you'" (1 Cor 12:21). Paul said that the gifts are given "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:12-13). And we nod and say, "That's fine for you. I can be more spiritual in my living room, thanks."

Hebrews tells us, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near" (Heb 10:23-25). Today we see growing numbers of self-identified Christians who see no value in the confession of our hope, in stirring one another to love and good works, or in not neglecting to meet together. We're much smarter than that. We're much more spiritual than that. We've figured it all out. We now know how to love God and the brethren in a vacuum. So who is fooling whom?

The Latest Scandal

Someone sent me this. It's not entirely accurate, but humor is often used with inaccuracy to make a point. See if you get it.
________
Bob: “Hey Jim, did you hear about the Obama administration scandal?,
Jim: “You mean the Mexican gun running?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “You mean SEAL Team 6?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Obama saying the average family would save $2,500 on their premiums?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Forcing businesses to violate their religious beliefs by paying for drugs that abort the unborn?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Violating the rights and sanctity of our Churches?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Spending $634 million on a website that doesn’t work?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Obama calling for an increase in our debt when he lambasted Bush for the very same thing?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Obama having NSA spy on 124 Billion Phone Calls in One Month?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Saddling our kids with $17 trillion in debt of which they can never get out of and will not have as good a life as we have?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Bailing out Detroit after decades of corrupt Democratic management?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “You mean the State Dept. lying about Benghazi?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “You mean voter fraud?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Intentionally trying to hurt Americans during the sequester?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Blocking veterans who secured our freedoms from their monuments but giving the green light for Illegals to use Monument Mall?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Denying school kids the ability to tour the White House but still spending lavishly on his parties?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “You mean Obama saying we can keep our insurance and doctors if we wanted to?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “You mean the military not getting their votes counted?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “The NSA monitoring foreign diplomats?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “You mean the use of drones in our own country without the benefit of the law?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Giving 123 Technologies $300 Million and right after it declared bankruptcy and was sold to the Chinese?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “You mean the president arming the Muslim Brotherhood?”
Bob: “No the other one:.
Jim: “The IRS targeting conservatives?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “The DOJ spying on the press?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Sebelius shaking down health insurance executives?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “You mean Obama spending $3.7 Trillion on Welfare Over Last 5 Years”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Giving SOLYNDRA $500 MILLION DOLLARS and 3 months later they declared bankruptcy and then the Chinese bought it?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “The NSA monitoring our phone calls, emails and everything else?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Millions of Americans losing their health care coverage?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Forcing Americans to include coverage in their insurance policies of items they do not want?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Ordering the release of nearly 10,000 illegal immigrants from jails and prisons, and falsely blaming the sequester?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Denying Arizona the right to protect its borders?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Providing weapons to Syrian rebels many of whom apparently are Al Queda”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “The president’s repeated violation of the law requiring him to submit a
budget no later than the first Monday in February?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “The 2012 vote where 115% of all registered voters in some counties voted 100% for Obama?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “The president’s unconstitutional recess appointments in an attempt to circumvent the Senate’s advise-and-consent role?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “The State Department interfering with an Inspector General investigation on departmental sexual misconduct?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “Clinton, the IRS, Clapper and Holder all lying to Congress?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: “The President using nearly $1 trillion dollars of stimulus money to fund his cronies?”
Bob: “No, the other one”
Jim: “You mean Fast & Furious?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
Jim: ”I give up! …Oh wait, I think I got it! You mean that 65 million low-information voters who don’t pay taxes and get free stuff from taxpayers and stuck us again with the most pandering, corrupt administration in American history?”
Bob: “THAT’S THE ONE!”

Inflammatory Rhetoric

You see? This is what I am talking about when I talk about inflammatory rhetoric. Here's the headline:

Pat Robertson: Ken Ham Needs to Stop Interpreting Bible Literally

And here's the truth. Pat Robertson apparently disagreed with Ken Ham's arguments with Bill Nye regarding the age of the earth. Without even trying to defend Robertson's viewpoint, what he really said according to the article was "that Ham was using incorrect information from Bishop James Ussher, who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries, and based his creation date on his 'knowledge of the Bible, the ancient Persian, Greek, and Roman civilizations, astronomy, ancient calendars, and chronology'." Whether or not Robertson is correct, what he did not say was "Stop interpreting the Bible literally." What he said was that the Bible doesn't give an age of the earth so don't make it a matter of biblical arguments. If we were to be most accurate, Robertson told Ham to not add to the Bible. Nothing about taking it literally. Perhaps it could be argued that he told Ham to take it more literally. And clearly Robertson is not a Young-Earth Creationist. But he did not tell Ken Ham to stop interpreting the Bible literally despite the headline claim that he did

Inflammatory rhetoric. Nothing more.

Fathers

Empire wrote a piece for a Father's Day issue about 10 Movie Father Figures Better Than Real Dads. All were not fathers. There was Obi-Wan to Luke Skywalker, Alfred the butler to Bruce Wayne, Uncle Ben to Peter Parker, and more. Because, as we all know, real fathers just aren't that good. Last year the Atlantic ran an article titled Why Do So Many Father-Daughter Movies = Feisty Kid + Bumbling Dad? Hugo Schwyzer points out that Disney's movies have a string of failed fathers from the over-protective Neptune in The Little Mermaid to the mindless dad in Cinderella all the way to "crazy old Maurice" in Beauty and the Beast where the daughter became the thinking, wise, authority figure in the family. Since then we've mostly had heroic kids and inept but lovable fathers.

But it's not just Disney. Has no one ever noticed that the Toy Story series includes no fathers? Finding Nemo certainly does, but he's quite a bungler who, thanks to his brave son, eventually gets better. Most cartoon fathers are failures. So are most other father figures in the movies. Some might point to Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird as a good Hollywood father. Maybe. But he's distant and permissive and I would personally recommend against imitating Atticus. Others have suggested Captain Von Trapp from The Sound of Music as a good father figure, but, as it turns out, the real Von Trapps complained that their father was not the cold and disconnected father of the movie, but actually a warm and loving father. That's interesting. So a warm and loving father doesn't sell?

The Atlantic had an interesting article about The Distinct, Positive Impact of a Good Dad. It is interesting because it is from the secular magazine, because it is in contradiction to the rising argument against the value of fathers at all (even in their own magazine), and because it takes a positive view of fathers. W. Bradford Wilcox argues that fathers physically play more with their kids and in a more physical way which teaches them that biting, kicking and other physical violence is not acceptable, encourage risk which teaches them to embrace challenges and become independent, protect their children with greater size, strength, and aggressive appearance that keeps predators away, and have a distinctive disciplinary style that tends to be firmer and more confrontational which gives their children a sense of his authority. Studies, have shown that good fathers make large differences in delinquency rates, teenage pregnancy, and depression.

Fathers are important. All this is well and good. That is, it is backed up by studies and science and all. But the truth is that God has ordained fathers as the key point in a family. He calls Himself "Father". Not mother, parental unit, or any such thing. Not doting aunt, kind grandmother, or friendly grandpa. Father. Fathers are important ... and we seem to be missing it. Fathers are called by God to bring children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph 6:4). "Now wait a minute," I can hear some saying, "that's the church's job" or "that's my wife's job" or whatever other entity you may claim. But God laid it at the feet of fathers. Fathers are not to provoke their children to anger (Col 3:21; Eph 6:4). They are to show compassion to their children (Psa 103:13). "Oh, now, just a minute," I can hear again, "that's definitely the mom's job." Well, sure ... but the Bible claims it is also the father's job. Like Joshua (Josh 24:15), fathers are to set the spiritual course of their home. One of the arguably least accepted commands is that a father who loves his son is required to discipline his son (Heb 12:5-10). Notice that this particular text is not speaking about discipling, but chastising as a method of training. Fathers are to follow God's explicit command to teach God's Word "diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise" (Deut 6:6-7). Odd. He didn't say, "Let the schools do it" or "the churches" or "your wife" or "Sunday school" or anyone else. Nor did He say, "On occasion, why not have an outing and talk about these things." Fathers are responsible to teach their kids all that God commands and to do it ... let's see ... sitting, walking, lying down, and getting up. I think that just about covers all the time.

The failure of fatherhood is an aim of Satan, no doubt. But the failure of fatherhood in our society is a direct result of the failure of fathers to be what we ought. Without an example at which to point and say, "That's what it's supposed to look like," we're left with bad examples and warnings and, finally, irrelevance. These things ought not be. We cannot fix all fathers. We wouldn't expect that to happen anyway. But you and I -- Christian men, fathers -- can work on our little corner of the universe. We can teach our kids. We can discipline our kids. We can walk with our kids and disciple them. Paul warned, "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim 5:8). That provision is not merely an income. It is for physical needs and spiritual needs and social needs and emotional needs. It is the job of fathers. We need to step up. We need to model the Father to our families. We need to take the responsibility that God has called us to. No more excuses.

Clanging Symbols

Maybe you remember this from 1st Corinthians.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Cor 13:1).

No, I didn't mispell "cymbal" in the title (although I did misspell "mispell" there -- were you paying attention?) I'm not talking here about speaking in tongues. I'm talking about the symbol of words.

Words, you see, are not real. Words are symbols for things. Words are the tools we use to communicate thoughts and reality. They are symbols of a shared concept that we can use to transmit ideas. Here, let's see if I can explain clearly. If I were to go to, say, a farm in Russia and talk to a farmhand there, we would both be using words, but neither of us would understand the other. You see, words have to have a common concept for them to be significant. The words I used connected with reality in my heads, but not the same reality as his. In order for words to mean something, they have to share the idea in both heads. Conversely, thinking there is a shared reality can be just as confusing. Here, a silly example. Say I don't know what antipasto is. So someone says, "Antipasto?" Now, not knowing the word, I figure I can decipher it from what I know. So, let's see ... "anti" means "against" and "pasto" is apparently a reference to pasta, so I tell him "No" because I'm not against pasta. Of course, he was offering me an Italian dish of meats and vegetables and such. So I thought there was a shared understanding and answered accordingly, but I was wrong. And communication failed ... again.

As it turns out, our world is full of this "failure to communicate". We're full of these "clanging symbols". We're talking at each other and we even think we're getting across what we intend, but we are actually speaking different languages. We speak of "love" as if it has a shared meaning while all along we know that it means one thing regarding food and another regarding a mother and another regarding a spouse and ... well, lots of things. But we use it and assume we're all on the same page. We debate marriage while we mean radically different things by the term, but no one is noticing because, after all, we're using the same symbol.

Next is the evolution of language. "Make love to me" meant something different in 1940 than it did in 1970, but you'll miss that if you're not paying attention. One author assured us that we need to be in a sexual relationship with God. "Where in the world do you come up with that?" the protests came. "Well," she said, "the Bible says we are to love God, and that's sex, isn't it? And surely you agree that we are to know God ... in a biblical sense, right? And even Jonathan Edwards wrote about intercourse with God. So, clearly I'm in the right!" Sigh! Two people separated by a common language. All kinds of evolution of language going on there. "Love", "know", "intercourse" ... it's a mess. (And why is it that so many words and phrases have evolved to mean "sex"?) Not paying attention to how language evolves produces a failure to communicate -- clanging symbols.

Then we lapse into specialized language. We know, for instance, that we are justified by faith. By that we mean that we are declared righteous by God as a result of faith. So, what did Jesus mean when He said, "Wisdom is justified by all her children" (Luke 7:35)? That's a different use of the term -- a more common use. "Justified" means "right", and wisdom is demonstrated to be right by the results. But "justified" is just going to throw us off because of the specialized language I call Christianese. So when Paul says that Abraham was justified by faith apart from works and James says he was not justified by faith, but by works, those who are not paying attention will sit around and scratch their heads. Maybe they'll cry "Foul!" and call it a contradiction. Maybe they'll ignore one ("So, you see, works have nothing to do with it!") or the other ("There, see?! We are saved by works!"). But it takes someone paying attention to language and context to figure out that Paul is talking about coming to a faith that saves and justifies and James is talking about a faith that is demonstrated to be real ("justifies") because it produces works. Same word, different meanings. Clanging symbols.

We here in the late 20th century and early 21st century have decided not to bother with the effort. Here, let's try this! Let's declare that people who believe God's Word about homosexual behavior being a sin are haters! That ought to solve that problem. Not with truth, but with rhetoric. Clanging symbols. Let's say that the ones who believe the historical, longstanding, traditional, biblical definition of marriage are narrow-minded, hateful bigots. That remedies that problem, not because it's true, but because the language will turn people to our position without the truth. Clanging symbols. And we Christians ... we often don't do much better. We'll use handy little catch phrases like "feminazis" and "libtards" and "demokrats" to point out that our opponents aren't merely wrong; they're evil. This may, in fact, be true, but we don't do it with words -- valid, reasoned arguments explaining why and how. We do it with clanging symbols.

I'm tired of it. I'm tired of the inflammatory rhetoric that bypasses all discussion and aims at simply burning the opposition to the ground. I'm tired of the abuse of the language in casual conversation that ends up annihilating key issues like marriage, morality, love, sin, the Gospel. I'm tired of the noise (on both sides) that refuses to address the issues and, sadly, to speak the truth in love. But, I suppose, that's to be expected. Our "clanging symbols" for "truth" and "love" don't mean much anymore, do they? So what would I expect? I would expect that Christians, taught by the Holy Spirit to "all truth" (John 16:13) and led by a God of love (1 John 4:7, 19), would know better. How about you? Are you a fan of clanging symbols?

He is us

I'm convinced that a prime problem in our society today is men. Yeah, yeah, I know ... I'm sounding like a man-hating feminist. Don't worry. That's not where I'm going. Let's consider the job description from Scripture.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body (Eph 5:25-30).

This passage is immediately following the one so very many discount. You know ... "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord" (Eph 5:22-24). That one. "Oh, it's mutual submission," they assure us, by which they mean "We don't actually have to submit." (Make sense out of that if you will.) But this passage here doesn't even get a blink. Yes, husbands need to love their wives. ("Oh, it's mutual love, so we don't have to do it," says no one ever.) I actually am more stunned by these commands to husbands than the pitiful "submit" command to wives. Oh, you think it's easy stuff, guys? Look at what God is commanding.

Love as Christ loved the church. Sacrificial. Death to self. Without any concern about return. Oh, no, we're not doing that.

Sanctify her. How? "By the washing of the water with the word." Guys, check yourselves here. Are you washing your wife in the word? Are you actively seeking her sanctification? Are you working to make her holy and blameless? Really? Or are you just letting her go on her own. She'll do fine. Maybe you think she's farther along that trail than you are. But you'll notice that nothing in the text allows for that response.

Love her as you love your own body. What a command! I mean, we're all pretty good about feeding ourselves. We all make sure we have what we need and most of what we want. But are you as diligent at making sure to meet her every need and many of her desires? Do you even know what she needs and desires? Because that's the standard you're required to meet. Nourish and cherish -- that's what it says. Or are you one of those macho husbands who are quite sure that "cherish" is too girly, too emotional, not fit for a manly man? If that's the case, you're not following God's commands for husbands.

And I've got a news flash for you, husbands. There's more ... much more.

I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ (1 Cor 11:3).

"Oh, yeah," I can hear it now, "we're really down with that." Oh, really? It has been my experience that most of us err on one side of this equation or the other ... or more. First, is Christ your head? According to this, that's the starting point. And with Christ as head, are you leading your wife? Many of us guys have backed out. Too much conflict. Too much flak. A product, as it turns out, of the original sin. God promised, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you" (Gen 3:16). Now, maybe you missed the significance here. That concept of desire being for her husband doesn't mean she will desire her husband. It's the same phrase found in the next chapter where God told Cain, "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it" (Gen 4:7). That is, sin's desire was for Cain. Sin desired to consume him, to rule him, to remove his control of himself. God ordained that men would be head of the home, but sin makes wives contest that ruling. So lots of husbands abdicate. Others retaliate. Instead of headship, they seek lordship. There aim is to overpower their wives rather than be the head, to nourish and cherish, to sanctify. Two errors on two sides of a coin.

Here's one that comes at you sideways. You don't see it coming because women are too busy protesting, but look at what it says to husbands:

The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church (1 Cor 14:34-35).

While women are complaining about, "Hey, what's all this about keeping silent??!" husbands are quietly ducking the "ask their own husbands at home" clause. Because, you see, the demand is that you guys be ready at all times to answer all questions that your wife may have. Are you ready for that? Then you're not prepared to obey, are you?

One command to husbands that we often reject out of hand is this one:

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered (1 Peter 3:7).

"'Understanding way'? Seriously, what man understands women?" No, we'll actually use that as an excuse to defy God! He said to do it. We chuckle at our own humor and refuse. "Show her honor." Well, we might ... when she shows us honor. But no such clause is found in the command. We absolutely refuse to obey the commands for husbands to treat their wives right and then wonder why our prayer lives are not so good.

And that's just husbands. We are not being what God commanded us to be as husbands. We are not loving our wives sacrificially. We are not washing her with the Word. We are not working at our God-given task of sanctifying her, leading her to holiness and blamelessness. We are not nourishing her and cherishing her. We are not providing leadership, taking responsibility, understanding our wives, giving them honor. We bemoan the sad state of marriage these days without even giving a nod to the fact that we're the ones God holds responsible. And all of that without considering the leadership of the church (which God has ordained to be male) or the massive, catastrophic failure of fathers to teach, train, and disciple their children. Instead, we stand here telling God, "It's that woman You gave me" and thinking we've formed a proper excuse for our Treason.

Men are not the only problem. Sure. It's much, much bigger than that. But God has ordained that men be responsible in the marriage, in the home, in the family, and in the church. Given that this fundamental component of society is in such massive disarray, it makes sense that we are the ones that will bear the brunt of God's judgment for our failure to even consider stepping up to the commands He has given us. So we will point to feminists and socialists and godless atheists and the courts and the Congress and ... well, anything but us. Sure, they're all problems. But let it begin with us, because that's where God places first responsibility. Looks like we have some really, really big logs in our eyes to take care of before we start complaining about a faulty president or whatever other problem we're seeing. Until you're rightly loving and sacrificing for and leading and teaching and sanctifying and understanding and honoring and nourishing and cherishing ... whew! ... your wife, don't even bother pointing fingers at the liberals. We have met the enemy, and he is us.

Christ and His Bride

We all know (at least those of us who read His Word) that the Bible talks about the Church as the Bride of Christ. We all know that we will all, some glorious day, take part in the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. This isn't a singular topic; it comes up more than once. It's important.

One place this comes up is in Paul's explanation about the roles of husband and wife in Ephesians.

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church (Eph 5:31-32).

Yeah, we got that. Good stuff. Well, maybe. Because in our day the biblical roles of husband and wife are in question. When Paul writes, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands" (Eph 5:22-24), today's church is responding, "No, we're not going to do that. We're going to switch to a 'mutual submission' thing where everyone submits to everyone and discard the entire historical, traditional, orthodox understanding of this passage." Of course, that's not as bad as today's world which says, "Well, now, wait ... exactly what is a 'wife'? I mean, it might be a girl, a guy, or even both ... or neither!"

Now, perhaps you can begin to see a problem. The Bible is delighted to speak about Christ and His Bride. God presents in His Word the Marriage Feast of the Lamb and the glorious union of His Son and His Son's Bride. It is a magnificent vision. But between the world and those who call themselves God's people, we've managed to strip off almost any meaning to the concept. Have you ever wondered why it is that marriage is in such disarray these days? Here's why. Have you ever questioned why marriage is under such attack these days? This is the reason. We're looking at a key component of biblical theology and we're debating the morality of homosexual behavior and egalitarianism while Satan laughs and works at dismantling Christ and His Bride.

Look at that Ephesians passage again. This is important, nay, critical. There are two types mentioned in Ephesians 5:22-33. (There is actually a third in Ephesians 6:1-3, but that's not the point here.) The two are "wife" and "husband". According to this passage (as opposed to "according to history" or "according to my opinion" or "according to those who hate gays" or "according to you sexist pigs"), there is a wife as a type and a husband as a type. We see this when it says "as". "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord." "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church ..." These are comparative terms. Wives are to respond to their husbands "as the church submits to Christ". Husbands are to treat their wives "as Christ loved the church". Do you see that? In other words, there is something more going on in God's design for marriage than a guy and a girl getting together for a happy life. These two are playing out God-given roles in a God-designed play. The husband is in the role of Christ and the wife is in the role of the Church. Now, when I say it, I'm sure you can see it because we hear of "Christ and His Bride" and there it is again. Husbands are designed by God to represent Christ and wives are designed by God to represent the Church. They are designed to respond to each other in those roles.

So we see that a wife is to submit to her husband as to the Lord, in the same way that the Church submits to Christ. We see that a wife is to respect her husband in the same way that the Church is to respect Christ. Please note: Our English translations don't capture this quite right. The original language down in verse 33 is translated "let the wife see that she respects her husband", but the actual word for "respect" is phobos -- fear. This word shows up repeatedly in the New Testament when referring to our view of God. We should fear God. It's in Romans 3:18 where "there is no fear of God before their eyes". It is used in 2 Cor 7:1 where we are commanded, "let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God." It was said of the church in Acts that when it was "walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied" (Acts 9:31). Paul said, "Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others" (2 Cor 5:11). Wives, respect your husbands in the same way that we are to fear God. Why? Not because he's a scary guy, but because that's how the Church is supposed to relate to Christ.

And we see that a husband must love his wife as Christ loved the Church. This isn't a small thing. It is sacrificial as Christ gave Himself for her. It is without regard to return because Christ gave Himself despite the fact that every one of His disciples fled. Nor is this giving of yourself random. It is for a purpose. There is her sanctification. There is her washing by the water with the Word. Husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. Let's face it, guys -- that's a lot of love. It is to nourish and to cherish her. She is one with you. You are to be the head, the responsible party. This doesn't include lording it over her. Remember the model -- "as Christ loved the Church". But in an understanding way, showing her honor (1 Peter 3:7), you are to be Christ in your home both as leader and as servant.

It's no coincidence that marriage is under attack today from multiple angles. The feminists want to undermine it. The concept of "until death do us part" is out the window. The homosexuals want to redefine it. But it's not the feminists or the divorce advocates or the homosexuals who are at the bottom of it all. It is the Enemy. So effective is this attack that most of us don't even see how it is undermining Christ and the Church and our view of that relationship. That's because the earthly image God intended for us to have on hand is so tarnished that we not only don't see it, we protest against it. Brothers and sisters, these things ought not be. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church. Wives, submit to and respect your husbands as the Church submits to and fears Christ.

Happy or Holy?

What's more important? Is it more important to be happy or to be holy?

Take, for instance, marriage. I'd be willing to bet (if I were a betting man) that you didn't choose your spouse based on his or her ability to lead you to holiness, did you? I'm relatively certain that you chose a spouse who you believed would make you happy. If you were really a good person, you also believed you could make your spouse happy. (Consider, for a moment, the utter irrationality of the proposition. No one has the capacity to make someone else feel ... anything. Just a thought.) It wasn't holiness you had in mind; it was happiness.

You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy (Lev 19:2).

How about work? How many of us pick a job, a career, a place we spend at least a third of our lives with holiness in mind? We may have a few things going on there, but none of them are likely holiness. Fulfillment, perhaps. Satisfaction. Maybe, if nothing else, enough money to be happy. But not holiness.

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him (Eph 1:4).

Then there are other relationships. We don't choose our family, but we do choose who we will spend our time with. We choose our friends. We choose who we hang around. How many of those choices are driven by a need to be holy?

... Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (Eph 5:25-27).

We could keep this up all day. There is stuff. Stuff we buy. Stuff we want. Stuff we accumulate. Stuff we love. Stuff we lose. Stuff we enjoy. Stuff we weep over. How much of our stuff relates to our holiness? Or is it just for the purpose of happiness? There is suffering. Everyone knows suffering is bad. Or is it? I ask because the Bible seems to disagree. James says it leads to perfection (James 1:2-4). Peter considered it a privilege to suffer (1 Peter 3:14). Not us. We're looking for comfort, for ease, for happiness. Comfort is a big one for us. That's our aim. "Be ye comfortable as your Father in heaven is comfortable." That's our motto. Or maybe some of us are wiser. We seek wholeness. Or peace¹. God? He seems to have a different aim in mind for us.

Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24).

As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor 7:1).

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14).

Hey, I think I'm seeing a pattern here! How about you?
________
¹ I'm not referring here to the peace that God provides. I'm talking about the peace that Bill Cosby referenced when he told the story about whining children. "Parents," he concludes, "are not interested in justice. They're interested in peace." That peace -- the cessation of conflict. God's peace is the cessation of conflict with God.

My Father's Eyes

I was walking the other evening and was struck by the amazing sunset. The mountain to the west was in stark silhouette against the setting sun. Behind and above were swirling clouds of red and orange and yellow floating in a blue sky. Truly spectacular. I thought, "I wish I could catch that with the camera." But I couldn't. You know how it goes. You take the picture and it's okay, but it doesn't really compare to the real thing. The camera doesn't really capture what the eye sees.

On my way to work the other morning it was a similar thing. It was dark and the moon was just rising above the eastern horizon. One of those "fingernail of God" moons, you know? I was thinking, "How could I capture that on film?" Because I knew I couldn't. Someone could, I guess, but the settings and the timing and the equipment and the f-stop and aperture and lens and ... well, it was all too complicated for me to think about. But I noticed that my eyes weren't having any problem with it. The street lights weren't blocking out the moonlight. Despite various city lights around, I could pick out stars on this clear morning. Any motion would have been terminal for such a photograph, but my eyes kept everything in focus at 60 miles per hour on the freeway. Amazing.

I've been known in the past to indulge in a video game or two, but one genre I've never liked is the first-person type. For those who may not know, it's the one where the screen shows what you would be looking at if you were actually there. I've never liked them because, frankly, they don't work. You see, when I walk around I have nearly 180° of vision, but on the screen you have maybe 5°. Something coming at me from the side is impossible to see, where my eyes in life would pick it up. I once asked an optics guy about this. I mean, the eye and the modern digital camera are basically the same, aren't they? No. The eye is better by vast margins. We still can't get anywhere near it with our technology.

When I was in high school one summer I had an injury that kept me from swimming with the other kids at camp. So I was sitting out on the grass looking at a hillside across from me. I sat there and counted 64 different shades of green before I finally gave up. According to The Physics Factbook, the human eye can distinguish between 10 million colors. Incredible when I can't tell you the difference between mauve and dusty rose ... but I can see it.

All of this sounds random, I know, but it's not. I'm talking about the eyes my Father designed for humans. They illustrate His incredible design. They speak of His wondrous care for us. They declare His creativity and genius and glory. What's really cool, though, is as I viewed the visual splendor and mused over the amazing eye, I was able to think, "I know the architect!"

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well (Psa 139:14).

Cleaning the Pulpit

It is clear from too many sources that there are still pastors today who are unclear on the rules of the road, so to speak. They aren't "with it", up to date, savvy. They don't understand what is expected of them and, well, not expected. So let's see if I can help clean out some of the clutter and trash you might still find in a few pulpits today.

The old time religion was all about sin. You know, "Repent, heathen!" and that sort of thing. Modern churches are moving away from that kind of thing. Preaching about sin is just, well, irritating. It alienates the audience and pushes people out the door. What you want to do is preach a friendly (and necessarily short) sermon. Maybe a homily or something. Not all that stuff about sin, you know. I mean, sure, Jesus talked a lot about sin. He said something about "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:1-5) and rambled on about how "lust is adultery" (Matt 5:26-28) and "hate is murder" (Matt 5:21-22), but that was then and this now. Go easy on the sin thing.

Another vestige from those "fire and brimstone" days is ... fire and brimstone -- Hell. Many preachers today have figured out that this is not a topic worthy of the pulpit. It makes people uncomfortable. It might push people away. No one likes the subject at all. This is something that you may have ideas about, but they should not come out of a preacher's mouth on a Sunday morning. Just because Jesus spoke more graphically of Hell than anyone else and ranted about torment and judgment and all that is no reason why a Christian preacher needs to do the same. Trust me, if you want numbers in the pews, you'll skip this topic.

While we're talking about things that push people away, consider the subject of exclusivity. Seriously, is there anything more arrogant than "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" (Act 4:12)? And where would you get the idea that no one comes to the Father but by Jesus? It's all too ... narrow-minded. No loving God would reject a well-behaved, non-Christian fellow simply because he picked the wrong savior. All roads lead to Rome, you know, and preaching exclusivity is just a way to eliminate congregants.

Oh, and, listen, before we leave that whole "sin" and "Hell" thing that you should avoid, there's another in the same boat. Whatever you do, avoid the subject of wrath. Any wrath. Wrath of God. Don't let the sun set on your anger. The Bible says, "God has not destined us for wrath" (1 Thess 5:9), so let's not even go there. Jesus didn't mention "wrath". Why should you? I mean, sure, Paul did (Rom 1:18; 2:5,8; 3:5; 4:15; 5:9; 9:22; 12:19; Eph 5:6; Col 3:6) and maybe you'll find it in Revelation (something like 12 times) and in Hebrews a few times, and, of course, sprinkled liberally in the Old Testament, but surely that's no reason to bring it up in your pulpit.

Look there's an easy way to clean these kinds of things out of your sermon. There is one nasty word that appears too often in too many conservative, narrow-minded, poorly-thought-out Christian preaching that, if eliminated, would make everyone feel much better. The word is "obedience". Look, it sounds like dog training or something. We all know that Christianity isn't about obedience. It's about love and about grace and about mercy and about liberty. Sounds like Pharisees to me. Not all that legalism or telling people what to do. Well, maybe Jesus mentioned it once or twice. Okay, He said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15). He said, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love" (John 15:10). He said, "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:19). And I suppose it might be similar when He commanded, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matt 28:19-20). But, look, is that any reason to make obedience an issue?

So, let's recap. Sin, Hell, wrath, obedience -- avoid these things. And by no means should you bring up anything about exclusivity. Or anything else that sounds judgmental. "Judge not", you know. Now, it may be argued that you're cutting out a major portion of what Jesus taught and it would, in fact, be true, but at least you're not alienating people and that's what Christianity is all about, isn't it? I mean, surely you're not going to suggest that it's about following Christ, are you? Here, let's make this easy. Since all that stuff is in the Bible and so much of it ought to be avoided, maybe you should just avoid the Bible. Many are already there. Get with the program!

Just don't call it "Christian".

Sufficient

For quite some time now we've seen a resurgence of the assault on the reliability of Scripture. I'm not talking about skeptics and atheists. Of course, they deny it. I'm talking about those within Christendom, those who call themselves Christians. Some of them argue that the Bible is not reliable, but a "nice to have". Others argue that the Bible is certainly reliable, but not inerrant, as if the two are separable. I mean, if it is reliable but not without error, how is it reliable and who gets to determine where the errors are? The Bible claims to be "God-breathed". As such, it would be given by God and superintended by God and must, by definition, be without error. It isn't, then, a question about the Bible, but about the reliability of God.

Today, however, there is another specter raising its ugly head. This, too, is growing in Christian circles. It's not about the reliability of Scripture, but the sufficiency. Is the Bible enough? The question comes in various forms. There is the well meaning, soft form where people ask, "Why wasn't God more clear in His Word?" The idea is that it's hard to understand (which isn't necessarily false) or, worse, not clear enough to give us what we need today. The intermediate version is a bit stronger. It comes from mainly the Pentecostal circles. They offer new revelation, new words from God. They write books like Jesus Calling and give compelling stories of people who have been to heaven and back. I'm not talking about insight here. I'm talking about new, even sometimes overriding revelation where God tells them something that counters the Bible and we have to listen because you're not supposed to touch the Lord's anointed. The harder form is a complaint about the age of Scripture. You know how it goes. "You know," they will tell us, "the Bible was written long before the advent of such things as modern science or even modern understanding of humans, so it isn't well-suited in today's world to today's problems." They will point to such facts as the new classification of "homosexual", for instance, that didn't exist prior to the 20th century. "How could the Bible address the notion when no one even thought of it before?" So, they argue that it doesn't even address the question and we need to change our views. Very common is this notion that the church needs to change and that our strict adherence to Scripture is foolish in light of science and psychology and all the new stuff we have on hand.

As it turns out, the Bible disagrees. And while some argue that the Bible never says it is inerrant (because, after all, it doesn't), it turns out that the Bible claims to be sufficient. David wrote:

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward (Psa 19:7-11).

That term, "perfect", doesn't simply mean "the pinnacle" or "right in every way". It means "complete". It means literally "entire". Nothing lacking. Sufficient. But David doesn't stop there. He references every aspect of the Word of God. There is the testimony, the precepts, the commandment, the fear, and the rules of the Lord. All of it. And all of it is to be more desired than gold. "In keeping them there is great reward." There is no more robust, clear statement of the sufficiency of Scripture.

What does it mean when we say that Scripture is sufficient? Well, first, let's look at what we do not mean. We do not mean that there are no other sources of information. The Bible doesn't give a handbook of traffic laws. It doesn't offer instruction for doing algebra. It doesn't tell you how magnets work. Other sources would be used for these. And the Bible clearly addresses some other sources as useful and necessary. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to "guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13), so we need the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. Teachers are often discussed in the Bible (e.g., 1 Tim 3:2; 6:2; 2 Tim 2:2; Titus 2:1,3), so teachers are necessary. And we are commanded to encourage one another (1 Thess 5:11,14), to bear one another's burdens (Gal 6:2), and to "consider how to stir up one another to love and good works" (Heb 10:24-25), so we need each other. The Sufficiency of Scripture does not mean there is nothing else involved.

What then? It means that the Bible is sufficient for the task God gave it for. It reveals who God is. It tells us how to relate to one another. It teaches us how to live, how to "do church", and how to worship. Scripture, as God's perfect revealed Word, becomes our authority in matters of faith and practice. It does so because it is sufficient to do so and because God gave it for that purpose. Paul wrote, "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom 15:4). Jude describes Christianity as "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 1:3). It means that all we need to know God and live the life He intended is in there.

Is the Bible difficult to understand? Sure, at times. But that doesn't make it insufficient. And we are to "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15), so instead of complaining about the difficulty, perhaps we ought to get to work. Does the Bible tell us how to drive a car? No, but that doesn't make it insufficient. In fact, the Bible does tell us to obey the authorities that God has put in place (Rom 13:1-2) and to love your neighbor (Matt 22:39), so it would appear that we already have the makings of a pretty robust set of principles for driving, don't we? And I would suggest that this is true in far more cases than you may realize. Maybe if our approach was more like David's, we might have a more positive view of the Sufficiency of Scripture. He said, "O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Psa_119:97). At least, it would be a good start.

Christianity vs Evolution

There is, in Christendom, a debate over origins. While hardcore Evolutionists will ridicule Christians who take the Bible at face value and will, on the other hand, deny that Evolution tells us anything about origins (because we will always ask, "But ... where did it all start?" and they will tell us "It's not about origins! It's about origins of life."), many voices in Christianity are arguing that we need to give up our silly "God created everything" perspective and especially any notion of a young Earth and surrender to ... Science because, after all, Science has proven that the Bible is wrong. No, that's not quite fair or right. While skeptics will say it, Christians are saying that a literal understanding of the Bible in this case is wrong. Go to another view. So the quesion is "Is a Bible-believing Christian required to accept the Young-Earth view?"

I would want to start with a couple of very important cautions. First, it won't work to reject a biblical position based solely on a perceived conflict with Science¹. If your primary motivation for the question is "We're colliding with Science", then it's a wrong-headed question. Don't bother. It can be perfectly okay for Scripture and Science to disagree, primarily because the nature of Science is to be in flux. As should be abundantly clear to the casual observer, science is always finding out that what they knew for certain was actually wrong and new discoveries change it. So I wouldn't be too quick to jump on the "Run for your lives! Science and the Bible disagree!" bandwagon.

Second, it won't work to reject scientific input on the basis of a poorly examined, woodenly literal use of Scripture. It has been argued, for instance, that when the psalmist says, "the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved" (Psa 96:10), it is biblical proof that the Earth is stationary and everything else orbits around it. Come on. Be reasonable. This text does not require that either Science or the Bible is wrong. It requires that you not be so rigid in your reading.

Both errors, then -- either rejecting a biblical interpretation simply because Science says so or rejecting science because of a misguided understanding of Scripture -- ought to be avoided. If your aim is to synchronize the Bible with Science, your aim will be a failure because human Science is rooted in human understanding and we already know that Natural Man is futile in his thinking (Rom 1:21) and the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9). If your aim is to defend your view of texts simply because it's your view and Science is not to be trusted, then you'll likely have to simply stop paying attention to any rational discussions on any related subjects, become a Flat-Earther, and go away.

Having offered these warnings, I wanted to look at the question. The suggestion from Christian quarters is that it is entirely possible to reject the biblical account as an historical piece and accept it just as mythology, as allegory, as imagery without actually telling the real events. "That way," they assure us, "you can accept both Evolution (with a capital "E") and creation." Well, okay ... or is it?

Here's the problem. The Bible itself has critical functions rooted in the Creation story. The rest of the Bible all speaks of Genesis as historical. The first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles is an extensive list of family lines beginning with Adam (1 Chron 1:1). Luke traces Jesus's lineage back (through history) to a supposedly actual Adam (Luke 3:38) (and then back to God ... surely He is not mythology, poetry, allegory, is He?). Romans 5 refers to Adam as the one who introduced sin into the world and is the type to which Jesus is repeatedly contrasted in Paul's "one man" series where "one man" (Adam) brought trespass and "one man" (Christ) brought life and so on. Paul writes, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor 15:22) and bases his much debated prohibition of women leadership in the Church on the order of creation ("For Adam was first formed, then Eve ...") (1 Tim 2:12-15). Jude assumes that Enoch was "the seventh from Adam" (Jude 1:14). If, as it turns out, there was no Adam, the least we can conclude is that all of these writers were mistaken because, after all, there was no Adam. Remove the historical Adam and you remove all sorts of biblical realities. Then there are the other links to the concept. God told Moses that Israel was to "honor the Sabbath and keep it holy" because "in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth" (Exo 20:8-11). Was God mistaken? Or just misleading? And the entire "Sabbath" concept plays a big role in Scripture. Just to name a few problems that arise if we relegate Genesis 1 and following to mythology or allegory.

I think it is a possible mistake to stand on a 6,000-year-old Earth as a biblical fact. The Bible doesn't say it. Why should we? I know that some of the things we've taken for certain in Christendom were, after careful examination, mistaken, like those who argued that the universe revolved around us or those who said that the world was flat (which was a much smaller number than we were led to believe). Conversely, placing one's faith in Science over Scripture is a dangerous thing. Determining truth by what modern science is telling us is questionable even in science. I mean, how many times have they changed their minds on whether or not coffee or wine or eggs are good for you? How many "known facts" proved to be false? Well into the 20th century science believed that there were canals on Mars. And how recently did they vote out Pluto as a planet? Didn't they just change from "a pending ice age" to "global warming" to "global climate change"? So why are we going with a worldview that itself claims to be in constant flux for our determination of what is or isn't true?

The Bible has clear statements on the origins of the universe and the origins of life. Beyond the clear statements, there are theological ramifications. Before you decide to jettison a historical Creation story, consider the implications. Converting Genesis 1 to "allegory" or "myth" has the reasonable capability of destabilizing the rest of Scripture and, consequently, Christianity itself. Think long and hard before you choose that path.
________
¹ I capitalized "Science" because in today's world, even for some Christians, it has become a sort of "god" (or, for some, an actual god) that determines Truth and demands Obedience.

Learning from Hell

Hell is not a popular topic. Indeed, over the last half-century or so it has grown more and more unpopular. The historical, traditional, orthodox version of Hell -- you know, that concept of eternal conscious torment for eternity -- has become the first offense for many "deconversions", people who claim to have been Christians and then reject Christianity. It has become the prime objection of many who are quite sure that "I could never believe in a God who sends people to Hell."¹ Even those "in the faith", those who seem to be otherwise well connected to biblical reality, are balking at the point of Hell. Rob Bell made headlines back in 2011 with his book, Love Wins, where he denied the biblical reality of Hell², but he wasn't the first ... or the last. Big names like John Stott, Clark Pinnock, Greg Boyd, and N.T. Wright all reject this version of Hell.

The problem, of course, is that it is, frankly, pretty awful. As it turns out, it seems that everyone who rejects the traditional orthodox version of Hell start from this position. "It is really, really horrible ... so it just might not be." The skeptic from that starting point will reject it all. The less skeptical will find a "workaround", some handy method to opt for Universalism -- "Don't worry; everyone gets saved in the end" -- or for annihilationism, the version where everyone who doesn't end up in Heaven simply ceases to exist.

Of course, defending this view from Scripture over against Scripture is pretty tough. All of what we learn about Hell in the Bible we learn from the New Testament, and most of what the New Testament teaches us on the topic comes from the lips of Jesus. Did you know that? Not Paul. Not Peter. Jesus. John speaks of "the lake of fire" (Rev 20). But it was Jesus who gave us the most extreme descriptors. He referred to "gehenna", the local trash heap that burned continually (Matt 5:22), "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43), "eternal fire" (Matt 18:8), the "hell of fire" (Matt 18:9), the "worm" that "does not die" (Mark 9:48), the "place of torment" (Luke 16:28), "outer darkness" (Matt 8:12), and "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt 13:42)³. Now, I know that many try to turn all this into a temporary event that results in annihilation, but when John writes, "The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night ..." (Rev 14:11), it's pretty hard to hang your hat on annihilation without simply dismissing "they have no rest".

The traditional, historical, orthodox, biblical version of Hell is without doubt one of the most unpleasant concepts to our minds. Even we who believe in it because, frankly, the Bible (and, therefore, God Himself) demands it are repulsed by the idea. I have never seen any representation of Hell that appears to be too extreme in the torments it depicts. And the fact that most of the descriptions are symbolic suggests not that it isn't as bad as we might think, but rather that it is far worse than we can imagine. So, given that Jesus taught it and the rest of Scripture concurs, what's good about Hell? After all, if God is good and Hell is His idea, there must be some value to it.

The Problem of Sin

When we think of sin, we think of "doing bad things". This is one of our objections to eternal torment. I mean, why would transgressing God's rules on a short-term, temporal basis result in eternal damnation? Seems like overkill ... without the "kill". The problem, of course, is that we don't get it. First, complaining that we only did the crime in a short lifespan is like arguing that the murder only happened over a matter of minutes, so the killer shouldn't have to serve more than that for his crime. Time is irrelevant. What is? The magnitude of the crime. So we all understand that the punishment is determined by how grave the crime was, not how much time it took to commit. So what does Hell tell us about the magnitude of the crime? It is eternal, deserving of everlasting torment. That's big. In truth, sin isn't a violation of rules, but an affront to the Glory of God, an eternal concept of its own. It isn't "doing bad things"; it's Cosmic Treason against the Most High God. At this point, if you're thinking about it properly, you might begin to realize that an eternity of torment isn't sufficient to pay for the violation. Hell, then, tells us that the problem of sin is much bigger than we realize.

The "Bad News"

Without bad news, good news is irrelevant. Telling me, "Good news! There's air out here!" is pointless if there was never any fear of there not being air out there. And if there is anything at all about which we are deeply concerned as Christians, it is the Good News. So if the Universalists are right, the "bad news" is ... "Well, never mind. Everyone gets saved, so go on about your business and be happy." Not much. If the Annihilationists are right, it's only slightly more. "The bad news is that after a lifetime of sinning without coming to faith in Christ ... you'll stop being." Now, I can tell you that this isn't such a bad thing. I can tell you this because during the largest part of all history I was not ... and it didn't bother me much. Okay, at all. So if my punishment is to cease to be, that's not particularly pleasant, but it's much better than that "eternal torment" thing. Whew! But if the historical, traditional, biblical, orthodox version -- you know, the one described most by Jesus -- is true, then the "Bad News" is huge. This problem with God that our sin has brought about is far worse than we can even imagine, and the consequences are far worse than we can guess. It's a bad thing. Consequently, the Good News of the salvation offered by Christ is conversely bigger than we could ask or think.

The Magnitude of God's Glory

Here's something you may not have considered. If Hell is the just reward for those who transgress God's glory, what does that say about God's glory? If Heaven is the place where we dwell in eternal light and life in the presence of God's glory, what is Hell? You see, as it turns out, the worse Hell is, the larger God's glory is displayed. If the punishment fits the crime and the crime deserves eternal torment, how big is that crime? How big is God's glory? If the punishment for violating His glory is eternal fire of any sort, His glory must be far greater than we can imagine. And all the little glimpses here, all the biblical texts and personal experiences and deep imaginings of His marvelous glory pale in comparison to the reality.

Hell is bad. It is biblically a place of eternal torment apart from God. It is far worse than we can imagine. But it has positives. It tells us that sin is worse than we thought. It tells us that the bad news is worse than we imagined. But it also tells us that the Good News is far, far better than we dreamed, and that our God's glory is beyond comprehension. Indeed, if Hell is understandable, then God's glory isn't that big of a deal.

It is my suspicion that the problem of Hell is not a problem of justice or even a problem of biblical warrant, but a problem of a failing to see the magnitude of sin and the just reward of violating an eternal God. It appears not to be a biblical problem, but a personal one. It appears to be another case of "not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man" (Mark 8:33). You know, if God is good, if the Holy Spirit properly informed His people since He was sent to lead us into all truth, and if the Bible can be trusted.
________
¹ Bertrand Russell, famous atheist, wrote in his essay "Why I Am Not a Christian", that since Jesus taught Hell, he was not a good moral teacher.

² Rob Bell has gone on to reject other biblical concepts since, so I use the phrase "seem to be otherwise well connected to biblical reality" advisedly. In fact, it appears that many who start off rejecting the biblical Hell end up rejecting a lot more of historical, traditional, orthodox views of Scripture.

³ References for these descriptors are singular. Actual references are multiple. There are lots of places Jesus says these types of things.

The Right to Rights

The UN has spoken. We have, since 1948, a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Don't miss the signficance. If it is a human right, no one has the right to cross it. If it is a privilege, it can be removed. It is injustice to take away someone's innate rights. So when you read through these universal human rights, you might become alarmed because most of us weren't aware that these were human rights

Take, for instance, this one.

Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

We would nod and say, "Yes, this is clearly a human right." Is it? For instance, Paul classified himself as a "servant" (Rom 1:1; Phil 1:1; Titus 1:1) (as did James, Peter, and Jude). More accurately, it is a "bond-servant", a doulos, referring to, you guessed it, a slave. That would mean that Paul and James (and the like) lost their human rights. Further, if "servitude" refers to being ruled (as the Bible indicates is the case for wives) or lacking the liberty to determine one's course of action (which is often the case of every human being on the planet) or to work imposed as punishment (as in the case of prisoners), then we have a world rife with human rights violations, much of it at the behest of God.

How about this one?

Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Really? Everyone? Really?! Because, as we all know, the unborn have no right to life. As Governor Cuomo indicated, the view itself is not welcome in New York. And, seriously, exactly what is meant by "security of person", because many of us live lives without security of person. That's a violation of a basic, universal human right?

Connected to that, I particularly like this one.

Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

I like it because the whole debate of "person" was the point of Roe-v-Wade and the non-personhood of the unborn. Apparently the UN disagrees with Roe-v-Wade, right? No??

Did you know that democracy was a right (Article 21)? Did you know that Unions are a violation of human rights (Article 23)? Did you know that paid holidays are a human right (Article 24)? (No, seriously, it's in there.) Then there's this bombshell from Article 25: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family ..." Wow! It is a right. If someone does not have a "standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family", his rights are being violated. So when Paul wrote, "If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either" (2 Thess 3:10), he was commanding a violation of universal human rights.

Look, I'm not trying to downplay human rights. I think we do indeed have some. I'm just warning about seizing more than we actually have. When we begin to view life through the eyes of entitlement and rights, we become horribly ungrateful. Then we begin redefining things. We could redefine, for instance, "slavery" as "whatever makes you feel enslaved" and it would be a violation of rights to be stuck in a workaday world and someone would owe us an income. We already redefined "everyone" to cut out "the unborn". And our sense of anger -- anger, you see, is a product of a perceived violation of rights -- will grow proportionally to our growing sense of rights. I'm not saying we have no innate human rights. I'm warning about grabbing some we don't actually have (as, for example, demonstrated by God's treatment of humans) and about allowing them to become a problem for you. Life, you see, is a privilege. You'll be much better off if you view it that way.

The Idolatry of Sex

Some time ago I wrote about The Theology of Sex. This suggests that there is a theological component to sexual relations -- a "God" aspect. Indeed, I argued that there was. This suggests another possibility. If there is a theological component to sex, is is possible that a wrong view of sex results in or from idolatry?

Well, maybe.

I would suggest, however, that most of our sexual problems -- sins, lusts, etc. -- result from exactly that. Here, let me explain.

We are God's creation made to enjoy Him. As the Westminster Catechism puts it, our chief end is "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Now, if "enjoy Him forever" is in view here and we're talking about God, it would seem to me that this would be some magnificent, all-encompassing, perfectly fulfilling, end-of-the-question enjoyment.

And yet ... we want ... something ... more. Now, how is that? Well, it has been said that humans are idol factories. We turn them out regularly. Oh, sure, we might avoid the wooden ones or the metal ones, but those other ones seem inescapable. We'll substitute self in a heartbeat. Pride, power, money, fame, lust ... oh, wait ... lust! Yes, that's one very common idol.

And that's where I was headed. According to some studies, some 43% of Internet users view pornography online. A Pew study last year found that 12% (25% of men and 8% of women) of Internet users admit to looking at porn online. Now, what that simply means is that 66% of respondents are liars. It's a problem. It's a big problem. And it's not going away. It's not even being addressed. And that's just the pornographic aspect. There's the fact that 41% of babies born in America are born to single mothers (and if you want to have a broken heart, start looking at the age and race statistics). According to the CDC, the births to unmarried women sent from 18.4% in 1980 to a peak of 41% in 2009, and our current 40.7% represents a decrease to that peak. Oh, yeah, we have a problem.

What is this problem? We've managed, in claiming to be wise, to become fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the creation. We have managed to worship the creature rather than the Creator. Sex is a prime example. What is it that is typically in view? "Sexual fulfillment". They need to "feel whole". It's about chemistry, about identity, about love. Large numbers (they tell me) have sex without even any real pleasure. There are other motivations. There is power and there is self-image. There is naughty and nice. There is personal satisfaction (as opposed to "performance anxiety"). There is connection. There are lots of reasons for the urgency of sex.

And when you think about it, most of it is either explicitly sinful (like pride and lust) or simply a refusal to worship the One who made us. We are seeking to find in sex (when you strip out the sin, obviously) what God has offered in Himself. And we seek it with such passion that it cannot be called anything but worship. Idolatry (1 Peter 4:3).

Odd, isn't it? God wants us to have Himself as our ultimate fulfillment and He gave us love, marriage, and sex as a gift. Not to replace Him, but as a gift. And we replace the Giver with the gift. We think we need fulfillment in sex and identity in sex and relationship in sex and He offered that as a gift, not as a god. Kind of makes it a problem, doesn't it? It should be a glorious gift from a heavenly Father between two people who are enjoying God and, as a consequence, can be completely satisfied with one another. Now, more often than not, it's an occasion for some sin or another. We can't fix that in our world, but perhaps it's something that we should address in ourselves.

Bad News - Good News

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth (Rom 1:18).

I've long seen this verse as foundational to the problem of sin. God's wrath is in view. It is against men. The specific problem is ungodliness and unrighteousness that is caused by the suppression of truth. Recently some new insights struck me.

First, some clarification on "the wrath of God". It's not a subject we like to examine. But it is biblical, repeated, serious, and necessary, for without bad news, good news is not good. So what does Paul say here about the wrath of God?

Paul commands elsewhere, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice" (Eph 4:31). Two words that we might see as synonyms: "wrath and anger". What's the difference? Well, the first is thumos. The imagery of thumos is that of heat boiling to a peak and then subsiding, a fiery burst that then trails off and ends. Typically translated "wrath" (among other things). The second is orgē. This version of wrath refers to "long passions", to a stretched out anger. It is a lingering indignation, a disposition to anger. It is typically translated as "anger", but might be "indignation" or "wrath"¹. It is this latter that is in Romans 1:18. It refers to a disposition, a character trait, a long-term underlying hatred for sin, a permanent indignation against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.

Then there are these two words. How alike are "ungodliness" and "unrighteousness"? I mean, aren't they basically the same thing? Almost. Not quite. There is a distinction. "Ungodliness" refers to a breech of God's commands as they relate to Him. In 10 Commandments terms, it would be "no other gods" and "no idols" and "no taking the name of the Lord in vain" and the like. "Unrighteousness" would be the rest. It would be the violations of God's commands on how we should treat each other. Or in terms that Jesus used, "ungodliness" would refer to our failure to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." "Unrighteousness" would refer our refusal to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt 22:36-40). Now, as a matter of natural consequence, one follows the other. That is, when we fail to consider God in our lives, our thinking, our choices ("ungodliness"), we will necessarily fail to act righteously in the rest of our behavior ("unrighteousness"). But perhaps you can see the distinction. The bad news, then, is that God's long-term, settled, righteous indignation and hatred is revealed from heaven against our refusal to honor God and our refusal to live righteous lives. That's a problem.

The other new item I just noticed (although now I think it's so obvious that I should have seen it long ago ... and many of you likely did) is this phrase, "suppress the truth." I've always thought of it as "covering up", "ignoring", "not paying attention to", that sort of thing. That's not what's in view here. The word is "suppress". It is a word that means literally "to hold down". It might be to retain something or to hold it back or even to restrain something (like sin, perhaps), but it is not passive. It is active. It is not merely ignoring or hiding the truth. It is holding it down. Truth keeps popping up and we keep pushing it back down. Truth rears its ugly head and we deny it and hide it and cover it up and say, "No, you didn't see that!" "So," they say, "does your Bible actually say that homosexual behavior is a sin?" (as an example)². "Yes!" you will assure them. But others will say, "No! It doesn't say that at all! It isn't talking about homosexual behavior! It's ... umm ... talking about idolatry and ritual behavior! It's talking about those who act sexually contrary to their nature! It doesn't say what you think it says!" "But," we will reply, "it is unavoidable that every reference to homosexual behavior lists it as a sin and that the Church has always understood those texts to mean that it is a sin and that the language is plainly understood to speak of that behavior as sin." "No, it isn't!" Not merely ignoring -- suppressing. Or perhaps we should use the first example. "Did God say ...?" followed by "You shall not surely die ..." (Gen 3:1-3). Suppression of truth about God that led to all kinds of unrighteousness.

Of course, if you read on, you find that the truth that is first suppressed is the truth that God implants in all human beings regarding His nature (Rom 1:19-20). "So they are without excuse." That's our first problem. And if you read further, this leads to all sorts of problems, the first of which is "they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened" (Rom 1:21) and it all spirals down from there³.

The points to remember, then. God is actually wrathful. This anger is a permanent hatred for sin, an indignation against ungodliness and unrighteousness. By these we mean the violation of God's character and a consequent failure to live correctly with those around us. This problem of God's wrath toward ungodliness and unrighteousness is not due to ignorance, but an active suppression of the truth that God has made plain about Himself. Now, perhaps, you can see why we need a Gospel, some good news. Without it we are rightly in deep trouble.

But, oh, how sweet is that Good News when you realize how bad the bad news is! To recognize yourself as rightly deserving of this divine wrath and then, justified by faith (Rom 1:16-17) ... it seems like it couldn't get much better than that. But it does!
________
¹ It should be somewhat chilling, then, to read Revelation 14:9-10, where the angel warns that anyone who worships the beast "will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of His anger". Both are in view and both are simultaneously present. It is when both are at work that "he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb" (Rev 14:9-10). Scary stuff.

² I know. Almost everyone, pro-homosexual behavior and con, understand that the Bible does indeed hold the position that it is sin. Most who favor the behavior do so be simply rejecting the Bible's view. I'm referencing here those who choose instead to subvert it.

³ Sin rots the mind.

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

Talk about obscure. My wife and I recently watched a movie with that name. The movie title comes from Song of Solomon where it says, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes" (Song 2:15). The idea is to suppress heretics before they can damage young believers, a warning about allowing false teachers among new converts. Okay, fine ... but how does that connect to the movie?

It's a 1945 movie starring Edward G. Robinson as Martinius Jacobson, a Norwegian immigrant surviving in Wisconsin circa 1944. His relationship with his daughter, Selma, played by Margaret O'Brien, is the key topic. Other primary characters include his wife, played by Agnes Moorhead, the local newspaper editor (who is almost always called "Editor"), portrayed by Nels Halverson, who loves the town but is seeking desperately to get into the war and his love interest, the new town school teacher, Frances Gifford playing Viola, who loves Editor but hates the town and longs to get away.

The story is actually fairly straightforward. Poor people during tough times. Some not so nice, others very nice. Selma and her playmate terrify their parents when they get in a tin bathtub and get swept down a rain-swollen river. They're okay. The local young girl who the teacher is working hard to get into school but can't because the girl is emotionally disturbed and has a domineering father dies suddenly. That's sad. The "rich" neighbor, Mr. Faraassen, has a sudden catastrophe when lightening strikes his new barn, burning it to the ground and resulting in the loss of his prize livestock. The townsfolk, spurred on by little Selma who gives the family her own pet calf, rise up to assist them. And the new teacher decides she loves Editor and the town.

All fairly straightforward, except for one little scene. Editor and Viola are standing off as the funeral procession for the young girl goes by. Neither takes part. Viola explains that she couldn't stand to be around the hypocrites who were cruel to the girl in life but mourn her death. "People ought to be kind to other people," she says. Editor makes a keen observation. "You were kind to her," he says. "So why aren't you being kind to the people who weren't kind to her?" She's a bit chagrined. And then the killer line. Editor goes on to say, "You're pretty quick to demand tolerance. Where do you draw the line for giving it?"

Wow! Is that kind of thinking even allowed in Hollywood? Would America hear it today? I doubt it. Is it only this fictional, small town newspaper publisher that will see the clear consistency of such a concept? Probably so.

(And I still don't know how the movie title connects to the source text.)

Life, the Universe, and Everything

The song asked, "What's it all about, Alfie?" It's a question a lot of people ask. What is the purpose ... of life, the universe, and everything? I can tell you without possibility of error that I know the answer.

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen (Rom 11:36).

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Col 1:15-17).

So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God (1 Cor 3:21-23).

The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it (Psa 24:1).

Are you detecting a pattern? Is there a consistency here that offers a clue to the answer? Or is it just too blatant to miss?

According to Scripture, Jesus made it all (e.g. John 1:1-3; Col 1:16). Beyond that, Jesus sustains it all.

"In Him all things hold together" (Col 1:17).

"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings" (Heb 2:10).

Did you get that? Yes, He created it all, but it wasn't a "create and then let run" approach. It wasn't a wind-up clock that He set in motion to run down. He created and now sustains. If He was not actively sustaining the universe, nothing would currently exist.

And then there's the final point. Beyond Creator and Sustainer, He is the Purpose, the owner, the point. "From Him and through Him and to Him are all things," Paul said. He's the starting point, the One who maintains it on its course, and the endpoint of all things. What's the point? What's the purpose? Why are we here? The answer in God's Word is Christ. The End.

Here's what struck me in considering all this. Jesus owns it all. All. Now, how often do we complain about what we have? How often do we complain about how we're being treated? I'm thinking primarily about God here. How often do we complain to God about how He's treating us? We're pretty sure we deserve better. We're quite confident that a child who dies or a loved one that gets cancer or a home that burns to the ground is a bad thing. Why didn't God do something? It was ours and now it's gone. That child, that spouse, that precious possession was ours and we've lost it.

May I remind you (because I need the reminder), that's not yours. It doesn't belong to you. Nor are you the point. It's not about you. And to you brave fathers and husbands and intrepid mothers and wives, you are not the one keeping it going. You may feel like it all depends on you. It doesn't. It is our natural sin-tendency to seek to be like the Most High. It is all His, it is sustained by Him, and He is the point. You and I are not. So "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matt 5:16). That would be the point.