life, liberty, and the pursuit of car loans

I participated in a conference call last week on Christian Worldview and government. The session raised several profound questions which are worthy of consideration:

• What does the Bible teach, if anything, about the proper role of government with regard to entitlements?
• What does the Bible teach, if anything, about the proper role of believers and churches in terms of their participation in civic governance?
• Have we confused government-sponsored welfare with the Christian virtue of compassion?
• How should believers and the church respond to the secularization of social assistance programs?

While the answers to these questions could form the basis for an entire book, I'd like to take each one this week and attempt to formulate an initial response.

First, what does the Bible teach, if anything, about the proper role of government with regard to entitlements? Whereas the Declaration of Independence declares we are entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" it seems that this has mutated lately into "life, liberty, and the pursuit of car loans."

A fantastic book related to all of this is 'The Tragedy of American Compassion' by Marvin Olasky. Mr. Olasky notes that the great Methodist leader John Wesley, who did so much to minister to the American working class of the eighteenth century, summed up his philosophy this way: "Put yourself in the place of every poor man and deal with him as you would God deal with you."

Olasky then observes insightfully:

The only question might be, how would we want God to deal with us? As a cold official who provides material without love? As a warm sugar daddy who gives without discipline? Cultures build systems of charity in the image of the God they worship. . . In colonial America, emphasis on a theistic God of both justice and mercy led to an understanding of compassion that was hard-headed but warm-hearted. Since justice meant punishment for wrongdoing, it was right for the slothful to suffer. And since mercy meant rapid response when people turned away from past practice, malign neglect of those willing to shape up was also wrong. Later, when ideas of God changed, so did systems of charity, but early on, it was considered right to place sinners in the hands of a challenging economy (p. 8).

I don't think our present approach to social welfare is either hard-headed nor warm-hearted. It isn't hard-headed because we're spending money we do not have. It isn't warm-hearted because we've de-personalized and systematized our approach to the point where the lazy get too much and the deserving don't get enough.

Wouldn't we all be better off if we got state and federal government out of the entitlement business? What if we could return this country to a strong, stable dollar and budgets that lives within their means? I read recently that with all the federal government bailout money given to the financial industry we could have payed off 90% of the existing home mortgages in the country. If we are going to spend the money of our children and grandchildren, why not do that versus what we've done? And why do any of this? It's madness. Wouldn't it make more sense to let market prices clear toxic assets and bad decision-making, and then rebuild based on justice, mercy, and wisdom?

sinners and wickedness expunged?

Sam Francis, "Blue Panorama"

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
For Sunday, May 31, 2009
Day of Pentecost

For this reading v. 35a is curiously omitted. I wonder what it says. "But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more." Ah... Maybe someone thought this one of those embarrassing parts of Scripture better left unreferenced. Yet if we are going to take the Bible seriously we cannot simply cut and paste to suit our fancy.

An unsympathetic reading of v. 35a might conclude that this is a sort of Christian Jihad - a loving faith not yet fully formed. Yet what would a sympathetic reading yield? Let's consider the context. The Psalmist is reveling in the multitudinous works of Creation and a Creator who both gives life, takes it away, and then gives it once again (vv. 24-30). Our author then prays that the glory of the Lord endure forever (v. 31). This may be the key: the problem with sinners and wickedness is that they detract from the glory of the Lord. The Psalmist is not arguing that ardent believers strap on bomb vests to blow up infidels. He is simply praying that the glory of the Lord would fill the entire earth. This entails that sinners and wickedness be no moreand in fact when the new heaven and the new earth are created this will be the state of affairs.

The Christian worldview contends that what plagues Man is none other than his sin and wickedness. There is no other diagnosis that better fits the facts of the violence, depravity, and cruelty we must all acknowledge all around us.

To expunge sinners and wickedness from our Bibles is to expunge half of the gospel's redemptive message. Let us rather face reality as it is: we are wicked sinners offered forgiveness in a matchless Savior. If you are reading this, and have not yet believed on Christ for the forgiveness of your wickedness and sin, may you right now receive Christ's gift of forgiveness and new life.

You will never be the same.

the kingdom of God

Apotheosis of St. Ignatius
Andrea Pozzo, Late 17th century
Church of St. Ignatius, Rome, Italy

Acts 1:1-11
For Sunday, May 24, 2009
Ascension Sunday

What mattered most to Jesus during his last 40 days on earth? Just as Luke ended his gospel with Christ's ascension so does he begin his sequel, the Book of Acts. In the first chapter we learn that Jesus was with his disciples for 40 days between his resurrection and ascension. What mattered to him? The kingdom of God (v. 3). "He spoke to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."

"Well, good, that matters to us too," thought the disciples. Their country was a mess and they were out of power. Sound familiar? So their question to Jesus naturally followed: "Lord, is this when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" That Jesus was going to do this was a foregone conclusion: it was just a matter of when.

Jesus' first response addresses the question on the level which the disciples were asking: "It is not for you to know the times or dates . . . (v. 7)." There are Christians who are convinced they have figured out the time and dates of Christ's return. We'll know the millenium when we see it, but just as 'the kingdom' didn't mean what the disciples assumed it meant, so 'the millenium' may mean something different than what we presume.

Jesus then moves to a much deeper level of consideration regarding 'the kingdom'. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses, starting right here in Jerusalem, and extending to the very ends of the earth." This response makes clear that the kingdom of God is so much more than a mere political consideration. It is a matter of the Spirit and of mission. The mission for which we have been empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is not to establish a Christian nation here in America but rather to establish the kingdom of God among every nation of the earth.

This is not to say we ought not seek to have a redemptive influence in our own country. I have been astounded of late to watch our government's profound hesitation to make moral judgments while at the same time having no hesitation about dictating the kind of light bulbs I'm allowed to put in my house.

Yet as much as this matters to me, and ought to matter, what needs to matter more is the mission of God to proclaim his kingdom to every nation of the earth. What matters to God is not whether America is a Christian nation, but whether people from every nation of the world are being redeemed and reconciled to him. Jesus did not die on the cross and rise from the dead so that America could become a Christian nation but so that people from every tribe, tongue and nation could come together around the throne of heaven.

This Memorial Day weekend, let us Americans indeed love our country, for it is a profound blessing given to us by God. Yet let us not lose sight of the blessing at once more profound and more enduring: the kingdom of God.

the impact of Jesus' final moment

Luke 24:44-53
For Sunday, May 24, 2009
Ascension Sunday

How would you like to have been present during Jesus' final moment on earth? This is what Luke is writing about in these verses and the impact is profound.

First, the impact of Jesus' final moment is profound because Jesus used the occasion to open their minds so they could understand the Scriptures (v. 45). As fellow believers in Christ with those first disciples our minds have been opened as well.

What is key to understanding the Scriptures? First, that everything must be fulfilled (v. 44). There is profound continuity between the Old Covenant and the New, with the cross as the nexus toward which the Old Covenant points forward and from which the Old Covenant can be fully appreciated looking back.

Another key to understanding the Scriptures is to grasp the essence of the gospel. What is the gospel? Repentance and forgiveness of sins. To repent means to take responsibility for something and turn away from it. Believers are those that have taken responsibility for their own sinfulness and turned from their former sinful way of life. Forgiveness of sins points to the the core problem every human being has: the God-shaped void in his heart. Sin may take the form of either willful disobedience of God or passive disregard for God, but spiritual separation from God is the result nonetheless.

Today's evangelical church still preaches forgiveness of sins but may not adequately explain what sin actually is. Nor does it give sufficient attention to the priority of repentance. The invitation of the gospel is nothing other than this: repent and be forgiven.

Second, the impact of Jesus' final moment is profound because his final act was one of blessing (v. 50). Jesus lifts his hands to bless his disciples the way a pastor lifts up his hands in benediction. At this precise moment Jesus is taken up in a cloud into heaven. Luke writes that the disciples "worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." Imagine the profound impact of having Jesus be lifted into heaven at the precise moment he is standing before you with his hands raised blessing you.

As believers in Christ this is the blessing we have inherited. Things are not only going to turn out okay, but things are going to turn out wonderfully. Jesus hands of blessing remain over us just as they were over the heads of his first disciples.

May the Ascension of Jesus impact us as profoundly as it did his first disciples, by opening our minds to the Scriptures and bringing the blessing of Jesus over the rest of our lives.

Image: Ascension of Christ, 1461, Mantegna, Andrea (1431-1506), Florence, Italy.

the prospect of posterity

Salvator Mundi - Savior of the World, Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)

Psalm 22:25-31
For Sunday, May 10, 2009
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B

What a stark reversal between the beginning of this Psalm and its end. It goes from, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" (v. 1) to "Posterity will serve him . . . they will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn" (vv. 30-31). What accounts for this dramatic about- face?

The answer is the cross, on which Jesus himself quoted verse 1 of this Psalm, and then 3 days later secured the posterity in view at this Psalm's end.

"The poor will eat and be satisfied (v. 26)" How painful it is to have insufficient food, or even to have been in relationship with those who have been in this circumstance. Russian pastors have confided in me that they've fasted for a week at a time so that their kids could get enough to eat. How grateful I have become for every meal which God puts before me. Physical hunger is serving here as a simile for spiritual hunger. Are you hungry spiritually? Has the latest Tony Robbins series left you less than fully transformed? Maybe what you need is something deeper, like the forgiveness, reconciliation, and redemption of the gospel.

Psalm 22 goes on to say that "all the ends of the earth will turn to the Lord." I experienced a turning to the Lord of people in Siberia. We like to say of this part of Russia, "It's not the end of the earth, but you can see it from there." That the Psalm then mentions "all the families of the nations" does not mean that every family on the planet will be saved but rather that no tribe that has ever existed will fail to be represented. There will be Huron Indians worshipping together with Wisconsin Cheeseheads. This is one party I'm glad I won't miss.

As believers we live with the prospect of posterity. Praise be to God.

divine appointment

St. Philip the Apostle, Albrecht Durer, 1516

Tempera on canvas; Uffizi

Acts 8:26-40
For Sunday, May 10, 2009
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B

The story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch is one of the most famous divine appointments in the entire Bible. Philip is directed by an angel of the Lord to go south from Jerusalem down toward Gaza where he encounters a high-ranking Ethiopian official (who may or may not have also been a eunuch), who just happens to be reading a Torah. Philip asks a wonderful question that any of us can use in our own ministries: "Do you understand what you are reading?" The official responds, "Not entirely. When Isaiah says, 'He was led like a sheep to the slaughter', was he talking about himself or someone else?" Philip then begins with that very passage of Scripture and tells this official the good news about Jesus.

While this was self-evidently a divine appointment the real focus of this entire chapter - Acts 8 - is the divine appointment God has given to us to reach the nations for His glory. At the beginning of the chapter a man Saul is persecuting the church. This self-same man goes on to become a champion for Jesus among the Jewish people. Then the world's mother church, Jerusalem, is scattered under intense persecution. Yet this merely results in Philip doing miracles in Samaria and enthralling that key city with the the good news of Christ. Next Philip is directed to this Ethiopian official, and suddenly a large portion of Africa has just opened to the gospel.

As the Jerusalem Christians were scattered by their circumstances, to where have adverse circumstances scattered us today? Might this be our Samaria? Is there someone to whom God is directing you today, whether through an angel or otherwise? As Philip was for the Ethiopian official, maybe today is the day that you can ask someone, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

As Christians we are divinely appointed to bring the message of Christ to every people of the world. Let us give ourselves to our Father today wherever we find ourselves and move expectantly toward ministering to everyone with whom God grants us opportunity.

what is this thing called love?

Claude Monet, 'Banks of the Seine'

1 John 3:16-24
For Sunday, May 3, 2009
Fourth Sunday of Easter

John, the beloved disciple, was closer to Jesus than anyone, even among Jesus' most intimate circle of Peter, James, and John. Is it any wonder then that John writes so frequently about the power and significance of love? He knew what it was to be loved by Christ. He was Jesus' best friend, and learned firsthand what love really is: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ layed down his life for us (1 John 3:16)."

If we have been truly loved then we cannot help but pay this forward to others: "And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." John's follow-on question brings this into crystal clarity: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?"

John says that love expresses itself not in words but in actions and in truth. He goes so far as to say that the way we know we are really Christians is by the actions and truth by which we live. Does your heart ever condemn you? Then let your loving deeds and your commitment to live the truth give you rest in God's presence. You aren't perfect, but you are authentic. Well done!

How would you like to receive from God anything you ask? All you have to do is obey his commands and do what pleases him. What does he command? "Believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us." As you believe, and as you love, you will then experience the blessing of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. "And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."

What is this thing called love? How desperately our family, friends, and spheres of influence need a living and breathing answer to this question. Let the Spirit within you be your guide.