To Whet Your Appetite: 05/20/13

20 May 2013

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To Whet Your Appetite: 05/13/13

13 May 2013

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Guess who’s back. Back again. Guess who’s back. Tell a friend.

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Is It OK For A Christian to Doubt?

10 May 2013

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doubtI am hearing more and more Christians say, “I am struggling with doubts. Is that sin? Is it OK for me to doubt?”

My answer is always, “It depends.”

They ask because it’s a common thing to hear in the church that doubt is forbidden. They’ve heard that the second doubt about God or the Bible pops in your head you need to crush it like a pre-teen boy hunting Whack-a-Moles. In some ways, I understand why this was taught. It’s a lot easier to tell someone to just believe than to actually have to grapple with their thoughts. Or maybe they were afraid the doubt would transform into a foaming-at-the-mouth atheism. Better to squash it now. But the problem is when a genuine question about God comes along (Why would a loving God command killing all the Canaanites in the Old Testament? If Jesus was God, how could He die on the cross? What’s a holy kiss and where can I get one?), it is construed as rebellion against the faith. Why can’t you just believe?

Forbidding doubt will kill questions. Killing questions births a faith that doesn’t know why it exists. They “just” believe. But when an intellectual argument against their faith comes, they are left in the street naked without answers. Or when a horrific tragedy strikes their lives, they have no anchor to keep them from drifting. They always just believed. Now they see their faith for what it was—hollow. This is why so many Christians go off to college, get hit with every ideology under the sun, and walk away from their faith.

We need a new way to think about doubt and questions; one that acknowledges the dangers doubt can pose but also the benefits doubt can give.

DOUBT CAN BE BENEFICIAL

Doubt that’s beneficial is one that looks for answers—looks for truth. You know an answer is out there. You’re not trying to undermine two thousand years worth of prayer, scholarship, and theology. You just want to know.

This doubt is extremely beneficial because Christians aren’t supposed to “just” believe. The Christian faith is one that’s grounded in evidence—in facts. The Gospel is not just a collection of truths but it’s a description of a historical event. Real people in real places. There’s an abundance of evidence to support our faith. We shouldn’t be horrified of doubts, as if every time a young believer asks a question on hell an angel loses its wings. Instead, we should confidently answer their questions and help them through their doubts.

If you don’t know the answers, figure them out yourself. If you’re having doubts, answer the doubts with Scripture. We should know why we believe not just that we believe. “Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter. 3:15). If someone asks you why you believe what you believe, would you be able to answer them?

Doubt can be helpful but only if you desire the truth. Don’t doubt for doubt’s sake. Wrestle with your doubt so you can know God. Doubt can be the seed of faith. If we truly want the truth, our faith will be stronger for it.

DOUBT CAN BE HARMFUL

Doubt that’s harmful is one that looks for anything but the answer. The truth was given to you but you’re unwilling to accept it. So you go looking for something else or believe there is no answer at all.

If we’re truly seeking for truth, then we should be willing to accept the answer even if we don’t like it. But we humans are fickle beings. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3). They didn’t like the truth because it didn’t hit their sweet spot, so they went searching for cheap substitutes.

You don’t like the idea that people who reject Christ go to hell? We’ll work something out.

You don’t like the idea that homosexuality (or any sexual expression outside traditional marriage) is a sin? I have just the thing for you.

You don’t like the idea that being a disciple of Christ means you have to die to yourself and your desires? You can have your best life now.

This kind of doubt isn’t a wrestling for truth. It’s unbelief. A refusal to believe the truth you see before you. This kind of doubt doesn’t strengthen faith—it undermines faith.

I do believe doubt and questions should have a place in the church. I love hearing people work through the Bible and wrestle with what it says. That means our brains are working. That means we’re trying to figure out what it means to love the Lord with all our mind. But in the middle of our doubting, remember Christ is standing there waiting for us to touch the holes in His hands. We just have to be willing to see Him.

God Doesn’t Care About Your Dreams.

4 September 2012

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Dreams (the life-goal kind, not the Inception kind) are sacred in America. They are the scriptures of Disney and the mantras of kids and adults everywhere. We ask children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and exhort them to “Dream big! Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.”

Even for Christians, many see dreams as paramount to living a life for God. High-school and college ministries encourage their students to create “bucket lists” (a list of things to do before you kick the bucket) and taught to go on journeys to “find themselves.”

(Let’s transition before I pass my quotation-mark quota)

This dream stuff, it’s all nice talk and makes you feel good and motivated to take on the world armed with nothing but a spork, but what does the Bible have to say about such things?

The God of Our Dreams

Outside of the prophetic and/or apocalyptic kind, the Bible does not have really anything to say about the American kind of a dream—the kind where you have a desire and you dedicate all your mental and material resources to attain said desire.

But this is what the Bible does say about our lives:

  • We are to die to ourselves (Matthew 16:24-25; Galatians 2:20). When you become a Christian, life is no longer about you but Jesus. Your desires, your goals, your views no longer matter—only Christ’s.
  • We are to glorify God in everything we do (1 Corinthians 10:30; Philippians 1:20). Whether you are eating, drinking, sleeping, studying, running, talking, playing, preaching, or working, it should all be done in a way that shows how great Christ is—not you.
  • Our identity is now found in Christ (Ephesians 1:1-14; Philippians 1:21). Your identity is not found in your family, what you do, your social status, your career, or anything else but Christ.
  • God wants us to be content with just having Him (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Philippians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 6:6-16). If we need anything other than Christ to fulfill us, it is an idol.
  • Life will not be comfortable as a Christian (John 16:33; James 1:2; 1 Peter 4:12). Because Satan, the world, and sin are all against us, we must not be surprised when a fallen world acts like a fallen world. Hence, the need to be content with Christ and not temporary comforts.
  • God has His own plan for our lives (Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 29:10-12; James 4:13-15). We may have an idea of what we want to accomplish in our lives, but God is working out His own thing in and through us.
  • God’s plans are working out our highest good, our holiness (Romans 8:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:3). We have a limited idea of what good is. God understands what is better.

God’s Dream for You

So what is the conclusion from all of this?

In the grand scope of things, God doesn’t really care about your dreams at all. He cares much more about you.

If this is God’s main concern for us, then it should be our’s also, but too many times we are focused on other things. Our idea of good is too small—children believing that temporary pleasure surpasses eternal ones. We have no idea what we are talking about.

More important than getting that degree, that job, that relationship, that position, or that experience is that we would learn to treasure Christ above everything.

If that is not your main concern, then when your dream is taken away, you will become angry with God because He took away your idol. God does not enjoy rivals.

Also, if your dream is the end all but you die tomorrow, having never accomplished your dream, does that make your life an unfulfilled one? A failed one? Only if the purpose of your life was to accomplish your dream.

I’m sure the disciples had other plans before Jesus came crashing into their lives. Paul was an up-and-coming star of the Jewish religious world. Peter was a fisherman. Matthew had a lucrative career. I don’t think they had imprisonment, torture, and execution on their bucket list. But if they had gone on to do their own thing, the Gospel may not have spread throughout the world and we might not be believers today.

Desires and plans are not a bad thing in themselves—if they are not sinful, course. But understand that God has a habit of shattering human plans. Don’t let yours get in the way of what He is doing.

Awkward Men and Biblical Sisters

29 August 2012

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Side Hug: The Christian approved way to hug a woman.

The Bible really only gives three different ways a man ought to relate to women: mothers, sisters, and a wife. Paul exhorts men to treat “older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Timothy 5:2).

Men, you may notice that there is no category of “potentials” or “neutrals.” If they are not your wife, then they are your mother or sister in Christ, that’s it. And so for all men (especially single men), you need to treat the young women around you as you would treat your very own sister.

Normally, 1 Timothy 5:2 is used by leaders with the intent to keep men from lusting after the women in the church and from messing around with them sexually. Most of the conversations take place like this:

Youth pastor: You would never undress your sister with your eyes, right?

Young men: Gross!

Youth pastor: You would never make-out with your sister and so hinder her walk with God, right?

Young men: That’s so wrong on so many levels!

Youth pastor: That’s what happens when you lust after or commit sexual acts with your sisters in Christ.

(All the young men shudder in fear)

It is great to pursue purity and that is definitely one of the desired effects of Paul’s writing to Timothy, but too many men miss the big picture that Paul is trying to communicate.

Instead, they overcompensate.

When they interact with a woman, eyes are on the ground or sky—it’s “Hi. Bye.”—and then back to business. Heaven forbid that they have a conversation with a woman. Their fear of being smitten (or smote) by God—as opposed to being smitten with a woman—ends up manifesting itself as awkwardness and cowardice. They possess the right heart to avoid sin but the end result is a very selfish attitude.

This is not how real brothers treat real sisters.

A real brother not only treats his sister with all manner of purity but loves her at the same time. He loves her through seeking her highest good. He talks to her. He protects her. He encourages her. He builds her up. He has a friendship with her. He serves her. He sets an example for her. He points her towards Christ.

A good brother isn’t consumed with fears of sinning with or against his sister. He really doesn’t think about himself at all. He simply—and purely—finds joy in giving his sister the best.

Translate this over to the church. Christian men, both married and single, need to realize that we have been adopted into a family that in many ways is more real than even our earthly family. Because of that, we have a lot of sisters.

Yes, these sisters need us to treat them purely, but it needs to be so much more than that. A Christian man should be able to seek the best for every Christian woman he encounters. He should be able to love her as Christ loves her.

Instead of walking around thinking about baseball stats to push out impure thoughts, Christian men should focus on protecting those women. We should care for them, encourage them, have friendships with them, and serve them. No ulterior motives. No seeking anything in return.

Doesn’t mean you are the flirty guy. It doesn’t mean you become best friends with every woman in the church. What is does mean is that you are committed as a man to protecting the spiritual well-being of the women of the church.

Now, that means different things for you with different women. Sometimes, you can be close friends. Sometimes, you need to keep your distance.

But don’t be perverted, awkward, or afraid, instead ask yourself always, in every interaction, am I pointing her towards Christ?

Diluting the Wine: Watering Down the Gospel

8 August 2012

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This is why Paul resolved to know nothing else but Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2):

There is a way of “doctoring” the gospel in much the same manner. A little truth is given up, and then a little more, and men fill up the vacuum with opinions, inferences, speculations, and dreams, till their wine is mixed with water, and the water none of the best. Many preachers—and I speak it with sorrow—have built a tower of theological speculations, upon which they sit, like Nero, fiddling the tune of their own philosophy while the world is burning with sin and misery. They are playing with the toys of speculations while men’s souls are being lost.

C.H. Spurgeon (An All-Round Ministry: Addresses to Ministers and Students, 10-11)

The NCAA’s Monday Justice

24 July 2012

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Monday was a day for justice.

First, James Holmes—the movie theater mass murderer from Friday morning—had his first day in court. But since much more is to come of this, I am going to focus on another case of Monday justice, the NCAA’s sanctions against Penn State.

Punishment had already being thrown (and even more yet to come) at the many individuals involved in the horrendous cover-up of Jerry Sandusky’s sexually abusive acts. Nothing had yet been levied toward the institution that facilitated all of this cowardly evil—the Penn State football program. That’s where the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) comes into play. The NCAA is the regulating body of all the major universities’ athletic programs. As such, the association felt compelled to discipline Penn State for its negligence.

Slate lists the sanctions as being:

A $60 million fine, a four-year bowl ban, and the vacation of all wins dating back to 1998.
The penalties also include the loss of 20 scholarships per year over four years and a five-year probationary period. The NCAA likewise announced that any current or incoming football players will be free to immediately transfer and compete at another school, a decision that is sure to deplete the Nittany Lions squad moving forward.

The severity of such a penalty is unprecedented but the situation prompting them is also unprecedented. Previously, all of the NCAA’s sanctions towards a university athletic program had been because of “cheating” in its various forms. That all changed on Monday.

Many have already asked, what right does the NCAA, a body that is supposed to focus on athletic violations, have in disciplining a program that had not “broken” any NCAA rules? Every right. They had every right, because Penn State had neglected to protect the children, allowing a monster to continue in his rampage unseen, and instead opted to protect a football giant-of-a-program and a football god. The NCAA had the right to judge this sports program because the program had gone too far.

Penn State had created a world and culture in which the highest good was not loving God and loving your neighbor, but loving your team and loving to win. You cheer for your team. You adore your team. You protect your team. You die for your team.

But to be honest, this is not just a Penn State problem. What happened there was bound to happen sooner or later somewhere else in some other form because we all kind of let this happen. As Americans, we have created a culture of football, sport, and celebrity that is larger than life—larger than God.

Our team, our coach, our star can do no wrong and how dare you for suggesting otherwise. If the situation had occurred in Eugene, I shudder to consider how our university, football program, and community would react.

Next time you attend a college football game, look around, and try to prove me wrong. They are worshiping.

I am speaking from experience; in the past I have been caught up in this hysteria too. Don’t get me wrong, I love football but we have taken this too far in the name of championships and bowl games. And it doesn’t just have to be football. Any time we elevate something above morality, truth, and God, we are setting ourselves up for trouble.

May this Penn State situation be a wake up call to the rest of the nation that football is not more important than a human life—than a child’s well-being. This is precisely the message the NCAA is trying to send to the other institutions of this country.

“Football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing, and protecting young people,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said. Let us hope he is right.

Outside Penn State’s football stadium was placed a 7-foot tall bronze statue of Joe Paterno—the former winningest coach in history, the coach who should have done more. It has now been torn down by the university.

Let us make sure that we tear down our idols too, lest we fall with them.

To Whet Your Appetite: 07/20/12

20 July 2012

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  • To continue in Christianity’s quest for good music, the blog Mere Orthodoxy has a good post on one band that is creating beautiful things, Gungor.
  • A humorous little story from D.A. Carson on why recognizing authorial intent when reading the Bible is so important. Summary: a postmodern reader actually does care about authorial intent when they are the author.
  • How do we persevere when faced with extreme challenges? Wesley Towne shows that you do that by keeping your eyes on the finish line.
  • The Gospel Coalition has compiled a series of updates on many current events happening around the nation that are affecting Christians.
  • Voddie Baucham writes that the same-sex marriage movement is actually not the same as the black civil rights movement at all.
  • John Piper and Tim Keller, arguably the two brightest minds in Christianity Today, have a video discussion about justification, sanctification, and the dynamics of faith.
  • A new study has linked sexual behavior among adolescents to their exposure to sexual content in media.

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