The Unclean Vessel: April 2009

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A Good Question: Part Two

In a political discussion I recently,(probably smugly,) trotted out my usual quote of Romans 13:1-8:

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities..."

"Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority?
Then do what is right and he will commend you."

A gentleman replied:

"Is it being suggested that 6 million Jews (not to mention the 5 million or so non-Jews) had nothing to fear from their govt (Rom 13:3)? How about the 20 million under Stalin / Lenin or the 30 million under Mao?

I am sure, based on the blanket application of this scripture, that these combined 60+ million folks had nothing to fear from their respective governments."

- R.F.

To answer this question will strike at the heart of what a person's main priority in life is built around. If the core of your being is built around serving yourself and Christianity is just the covering that those ambitions are bound within, your response to bad government has to be to effectively look out for your own interests. That's not monstrous, but is really pretty normal.

A rational person so motivated will join with others of like mind and seek to protect their core interests and advocate for changes which will better serve, protect and advance themselves. Even great altruism is often a reflection of a person serving their perception of their best interest. It happens everywhere, everyday and is the philosophical basis for structures as diverse as democracy, capitalism, political parties and tupperware parties.

However the Bible presents a diametrically opposite foundation for a believer's life. A believer is to forget themself and use this life to advance God's interests. And it logically progresses that God's interests are served by obeying God even to the loss of the individual's life. This is highly abnormal, truly extreme and isolating. This will push a person to the fringes of the world and even that is used by God as an additional witness to His power, His Love and His forgiveness.

The person serving themself, in the face of a governmental threat, must respond with obedience or civil or uncivil disobedience in that proportion which will advance their best interest. The path to maximize those interests follows this decision tree:

1) Obey the government when it serves your interests.
2) Obey the government when it diminishes your interests as long as the expected punishment for disobedience is greater than the expected cost of obedience.
3) When the expected cost of punishment is less than the expected cost obedience, disobey the government.

If a person is serving God then they are intent on obeying God and the decision tree is very different:

1) Obey God and the government when they are compatible.
2) When God and the government's instructions are in conflict, obey God and then submit yourself to the government's prescribed remedies for disobedience, (even if it costs you your life.)

It's not easy to watch this process play out. In Scripture we see people submitting themselves time and time again to this process of offering their life in obedience to God's will:

Daniel in the Lions' Den.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace.
Queen Esther appearing to the King without Prior Summons.
Jesus on the Cross.

Each of these is a witness to a time when a person offered up their life to obey God. And the Bible also makes mention of many others whose lives were forfeit through this same process. It really all comes down to who and how you will serve!

Atheist
Serve Who? Self
Serve How? My Way
The Result: Damnation

Christian with Reservations
Serve Who? God
Serve How? My Way
The Result: Sows Confusion

Unreserved Christian
Serve Who? God
Serve How? God's Way
The Result: Brings Glory to God

AND NOTE: If there is no disagreement between God's Word and the goverment, the person founded on serving themself will react and behave in the same manner as a believer. Heck you can fill churches with people founded on self interest who walk talk and sound exactly like people who are founded on obeying God. But when the government and God's Word begin to diverge, things start to strain. Those preserving self will begin to seek ways to maximize self-interest while those built upon service to God will begin seeking those ways in the changed environment that advance God's Will.

Christians often don't like to hear this, but then, that's another post...

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A Good Question:

The recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document regarding "right wing extremism" was a topic of conversation. [Some contend that DHS is saying that people with conservative beliefs are being classified as "terrorists." I think there's more to the document than that and that we conservatives are deliberately blowing it out of context for political theater, which I don't like.] However...

In response I,(probably smugly,) trotted out my usual quote of Romans 13:1-8:

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities..."
"Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority?
Then do what is right and he will commend you."

Shortly after, I received the following reply from a gentleman I had not yet met:

"Is it being suggested that 6 million Jews (not to mention the 5 million or so non-Jews) had nothing to fear from their govt (Rom 13:3)? How about the 20 million under Stalin / Lenin or the 30 million under Mao?

I am sure, based on the blanket application of this scripture, that these combined 60+ million folks had nothing to fear from their respective governments."

- R.F.

Now THAT is an excellent question! As a conservative from rural areas where right-wing militias are prevelant, this topic of "Christian Response to An Ungodly Government" has come up frequently and sometimes has resulted in tragic consequences. This topic really deserves a posting and I'm going to do one next, but first we have to get one thing straight.

Before we can address any particular policy, government position or Christian response, the first question you must have answered is the most important:

"Am I willing to do what God's Word tells me to do?"

I believe the correct and complete answer to this question is "Yes." If there are any qualifications or reservations or "Yes, buts..." you will stumble on this issue and be succeptible to Satan's influence.

Are you willing to do what God's Word tells you to do?

If the answer is "Yes!" then proceed to the next post. If the answer is anything else, you have much more important issues to resolve beyond those involving our government and I recommend you spend your time on that issue instead.

Apology

Toward the end of yesterday's posting, I originally had the following text:

"These points remain:

Faith Without Works is Dead.
Faith without Truth is Error."

"Faith Without Works is Dead" is a commonly quoted portion of James 2:26*.

"Faith without Truth is Error" is just me talking. This morning I was appalled when I saw what I had done: I never intended to place my ideas alongside or with equal emphasis to God's Word. This must never be.

The post has been changed and I sincerely apologize.

_{* "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
- James 2:26 KJV}

Monday, April 27, 2009

Beliefs at odds with my beliefs...

I learned a big lesson when I was a kid.

My parents were, ("Were"? Heck! Make that "are"!) right wing conservatives. In the 1970's my parents had several friends who were died in the wool, card-carrying devotees of "Brother John Birch." Those folks believed that the communists really were behind every governmental action and that a master plan for the destruction of America was in the works. I heard this stuff a lot and generally have to say that at that time I "drank the Kool-Aid" when it came to those beliefs.

One day a friend from one of these families was at my house and we were discussing [Strong, deep voice here:] "The impending communist menace"!

He knew this stuff inside out. We were discussing Minnesota's gun registration laws and how it was the first step toward [Again, strong, deep voice here:] "...confiscating our weapons and enslaving us!"

(Ouchie! Don't want that!)

Listening to this stuff (and believing what I was being told,) my first bias has always been toward action. I said, "Hey! Let's get some oiled cloth and take some of our guns and bury them in boxes out in the forest! That way, when the government comes they won't be able to get all of our guns and then we can defend ourselves!"

`Seemed pretty reasonable to me at the time. (It still does if you accept their premises.)

I'll never forget the look that my buddy got on his face when I said that. He just stopped and looked at me with a look that said, "What the heck is wrong with you?!"

As he stared at me, I had one of those "ah-ha!" moments of revelation: He doesn't believe a single word he's saying!

It really put me back on my heels.

Suddenly I understood that talking about that stuff made him feel smart. It was a way to irritate people he didn't agree with and find common ground with those he liked. It was interesting to him, but when it really came down to rat killing, he didn't believe what he was saying. It was a ghost story he told for titillation, kicks and gratification. He believed that anyone who would actually act on those beliefs was disturbed. (And today I agree with him on that score.*)

However, thinking back to that time, I've asked myself, "Where do I make good theater of my Christian beliefs and yet where would I really never consider acting?"

Discussing Christ at Work with a supervisor? A Director? A stockholder?
Selling a car, (a house, a retirement fund,) for money to fund missionaries?
Becoming a missionary?
Becoming a missionary where Christians are persecuted?

What do I refuse to surrender?
Which loved ones or comforts do I think of as “mine” rather than “God’s”?

The dose of skepticism I learned that day has come back to me time and time again about me. How about you?

_{* Tragically, a guy named Timothy McVey never got the message in time.}

Beliefs and Actions...

I've often said that you can tell what people really believe by reviewing their actions rather than their words. For example, when teaching Sunday School classes I use the example:

"If I told you that I believed that a meteor was about to land on this building how would you assess the credibility of the threat? Before looking at my background in meteor-science, the first thing you want to look at is how I act.”

“If I claim a meteor is about to hit the building, but I'm also laughing and joking and taking my time and not really doing anything about it, you would be rational to question my sincerity. However, if I am panicky, distraught and pleading with you to leave the building as I'm obviously fighting the urge to flee the building myself, it might be rational to step out of the building as you made further assessment of the potential threat."

Actions vs. Beliefs: It is a problem that pops up in many areas. We are often guilty of dismissing that fact. For example, cult members can often be seen to display a higher agreement between their actions and beliefs than many others who are dialed-in to the Truth of Jesus. "Conviction of error" and “deception in good faith” are issues that had already emerged in the second century and were addressed by St. Irenaeus in Against Heresies. These issues are still around today.

A person’s actions cannot be used to gauge the Truth of their beliefs. Actions can only argue toward or against sincerity. It is normal to find cult members rigorously applying their cult’s teachings in their lives. This commonly leads to the fallacy we hear so often that “Group X must be following the Truth because look at what good/sincere/happy people they are!”

You can gain invaluable insights into what a person truly believes by observing their actions, but it has no bearing on the accuracy or foundation of the beliefs they are following. To discern Truth requires God's Word and God's guidance.

Our heart’s first excuse regarding this topic will always be to consider the most hypocritical person we know. (Unfortunately, in our minds, that will rarely be ourselves.) To thoroughly consider this topic we should apply the test of analyzing our own actions before looking at others...

These points remain:

Faith Without Works is Dead.
- James 2:26

Faith without Truth is Error. How God deals with that issue is an issue that probably touches upon each and every one of us. All scripture indicates that God's nature will resolve these issues with Truth, Grace, and Love. Praise God that Jesus never said, "Have ye therefore perfect doctrine!".

Shouldn't we, therefore, live a walk of Grace and Truth?

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

They Pulled Me Back...

It was a little modular building that was being used for a Police station. Just a little trailer.

I was 17 years old and I'd been caught stealing from a vending machine. I was 17 years old and mad as hell at the whole world. My folks had moved our family across the nation at the beginning of my Junior year of High School, which just poured buckets of gasoline on an already raging teenage fire.

To add insult to injury I'd been suspended from school for a week because of the theft and it just happened to be the day before my Grandparents (that I worshipped) arrived from driving across the country to visit. My grandfather was a retired State Policeman and Prison Warden. I'd been stealing from that machine for six months, but they had to catch me then. The shame was too much.

And now it's Saturday morning and my parents and I are sitting in a meeting with the Chief of Police to discuss "what we're going to do about..." ...me.

I looked at my parents. They'd been so angry when I told them what I'd done. I'd been making their life hell to the very best of my ability for a long time and now I'd shamed my father in front of his whole family. They were listening to the Police Chief.

Police Chief Terry Ringey was talking about the options I faced and the implications for age and criminal records and so on. I looked at my Dad, "the enforcer". He was strict, proud, tough and demanding. I'd never been able to measure up to what he wanted from me. Now I was dragging him down into the mud with me. I knew this wasn't going to go well.

Chief Ringey turned to me and asked me if I understood the gravity of what I had done. I told him that I did and that what I had done was wrong and that I was sorry. Yes, I would take whatever punishment would be needed to set things right...

Then the Chief turned to my parents and what came has left me stunned to this very day. My Mom and Dad had tears in their eyes.

Then they were explaining to Chief Ringey how they were standing behind me and that they'd help to make things right as Chief Ringey saw fit.

I don't know what was said next. I just remember sitting there stunned, watching my parents mouths move and being dumbfounded at the realization, "They still love me. They haven't given up on me."

I shoplifted one time after that, but afterwords I considered the thought of my folks learning about it and that I'd let them down. I took the item back to the store, told them what I'd done and I apologized to the owner. Thank you God, that he didn't press charges anyway.

People never knew that my life was saved that day in a little trailer being used as a Police station. If God had given me lesser parents, I would have been lost.

And I would have been lost, but God gave me parent's like Him.

Oh Happy Day!

The year is 2013.

The 2008 Elections and the social/athiest agenda in the first year of the Obama administration finally pushed Christians over the line. People had enough and it finally coalesced into action.

No longer pacified by vague promises Christians united and organized on a scale heretofor unseen in American politics. The congressional midterm elections of 2010 were a triumph as social and economic conservatives swept office after office in a mass elevation of values-motivated candidates.

And not just being elected, but really leading! The 2010 congressional session was one of the most contentious, bitterly fought sessions as laws were overturned and sweeping new statutes were passed. When the dust settled, the following legislation had been enacted and Christians woke up to a new day in a shining America!

Tough new laws banned pornography and strengthened safeguards so that youth would not be exposed to indecency.

The "Family Hour" was reinstated in broadcasting and obscenity and indecency were brought under strict control during key viewing periods.

Abortion was banned in all cases except when the pregnancy would endanger the life, the actual physical life, of the mother.

Corporate prayer was readmitted to public schools.

School curricula were redesigned to include creationism and intelligent design alongside evolution and to exclude sex education and the distribution of contraceptives.

Homosexuality was no longer treated as a protected civil right with special protections for it's practitioners.

Courts and public buildings could freely display the ten commandments, nativity scenes, holiday decorations and the word "Christmas" was restored to public spaces.

And so much, much more!

2013 is a time when America has been restored to Americans! Yea!!!

And during the 5 years the church spent organizing, funding and promoting this extrememly important political agenda, millions of beloved people died and went straight to a sinner's Hell because they never heard the gospel in their hour of need. We were so busy working on public policy that we didn't have the time spread the Gospel Message of "God's Love for the Lost."

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
- Romans 13:1-7 NIV

Politics operates like a pendulum... ...Hell is forever.

We Have An Enemy...

I’ve always been a little leery of the way many Christians handle the topic of Satan. Sometimes I see an overt focus on Satan which distracts us from keeping our eyes upon Jesus and other times I see people treating the topic, (or even the enemy!) with disrespect. With Satan, I've felt that humility, caution and faith are the only way to go on this topic.

The Bible says that for this time, (this earthly time of our lives,) we are less than angels, though we will be made higher than them through our adoption as God’s children through Christ. The book of Jude indicates that insubordination of our betters is an issue that matters to God:

”In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.
- Jude 1:8-10

I take Satan very seriously. And I do so by invoking Christ and seeking His intervention to address Satan’s schemes. Because the Bible also promises that our enemy is coming for us!

“I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
- John 10:7-13

How often do we condemn those who have been taken captive for the symptoms of their captivity? And yet Christ promised Peter that when he turned back there would be a role for Peter in serving Jesus.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
- Luke 22:25

By the Grace of God alone, we stand.