faith for faith

Periodically, someone like a Pat Robertson or a Harold Camping will say or claim something that is so absurd and so ridiculous that it garners the attention of the national media and sends a collective shiver down the spines of the more sane persons who call themselves Christians. Because what has been carelessly spouted out by these persons are untruths and shine a negative light on Christianity, we are disgusted, outraged, and regretful that these persons decided to choose the Christian religion as the stage on which they showcase their tendencies toward lunacy.

And I believe that it is good and right to feel a certain sort of disgust and outrage when such persons say such things. Often when they do, they skew the truth, promote falsehoods, and lead others astray in the process. But as with all areas of life, I think that the motivations behind our disgust, outrage, etc. must be tested to show whether or not they are right in and of themselves and promote the truth. For though one reacts to the negative act of one, that reaction is not necessarily positive. In fact, it is probably more often the case that the negative acts of a person inspire and produce negative acts in another.

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The true light, which enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:9-13).

In this section of John’s Gospel, we see that the apostle is already defining and clarifying some terms that he is going to be using throughout his Gospel. And the apostle is not shy about his usage of terms, and he uses them in such a way that, though they can be interpreted different ways when standing on their own, they can only have one interpretation in their context.

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From observation and experience, I believe it is safe to presume that ingrained in every human being is a desire to do something great with our lives–to make our short stint in this world count for something. Perhaps greater than the fear of death is this fear that we would have finished our lives unnoticed by the world and that our very existence would be forgotten by most soon after we die. For while we all know that we are mortal and that we shall all die (be it ten years or sixty years from now), many, if not all, of us feel that if we can be remembered for something after we die, we will achieve some sort of immortality in this world.

And while we who are Christians profess our immortality to be vested Elsewhere, we are certainly not exempt from this desire to be remembered in this age. And while our ambitions might be sanctified to some degree when compared to those of the world, the underlying desire is the same—to be remembered on this earth after we have passed from it.

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With the ferocity for which it is argued, it is not difficult to surmise that the matter of Christian Giving is not a light one. And more often than not, when the subject is brought up in Christian circles, Christian Giving is synonymous with the tithe, i.e. ten percent of one’s pre-taxed income given to one’s local church. It is a principle that has been with many churches for a long time, and as such it has been one that has become foundational and nearly irrefutable. Many churches have been so enamored with the tithe that it has become to them as unquestionable as the deity of Christ, his virgin birth, the Trinity, etc. Therefore, when questions are raised which offer the slightest hint of opposition to the antiquated ordinance, the church arms itself as it would against heresy and casts the labels of rebellious and liberal upon those who would seek to understand Christian Giving in a different manner.

And as such, it matters very little that opposition against the principle of the tithe is brought with the desire for biblical fidelity, for it is to them foundational and irrefutable. Therefore, for those who seek to establish a biblical pattern of Christian Giving with their own lives that is not necessarily opposed to tithing (that is, not opposed to tithing for the sake of being opposed to tithing without Scriptural warrant) but is desirous to live lives that accord with God’s Word in all matters of life including giving, the battle is for them an uphill one. For it is not (in many cases) a matter of “Let us search the Scriptures for understanding,” but it is rather a matter of “Why do you break the traditions of the elders?” And as such, one might quote and discern Scripture till he blue is in the face, and yet he will gain little ground in the battle for common understanding.

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It is hard fact with which to come to grips, but it is such a fact nonetheless. Having grown up in the South where there is without a doubt a Christian religiosity that pervades the culture, one is hard-pressed to see where Christianity begins and where the culture ends. And though it is clear that it is not the entire culture that consists of this Christian influence, there is a strong subculture that calls itself Christian, speaks words that are Christian, and believes that it is Christian, though its Christianity is oftentimes in conflict with what seems to be the Christianity of the Bible.

And discerning this is terribly difficult task, especially when you have been brought up in such a culture. And to make things all the more difficult, there is not a black and white line that distinguishes the two, for there are within this Christian subculture many who are indeed in Christ and who serve him as best they know how in the mindset in which they have been raised. They, including myself, have been brought up hearing the name of Jesus Christ, the stories of his life, the teachings from his mouth, etc., and they follow these things according to the manner which their predecessors followed them, and their predecessors before them, and their predecessors before them.

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Contrary to popular belief, indifference with regards to politics in the United States is not an easy position to hold. For if you express your position as thus to the non-Christian you are labeled as “un-American” and “ignorant,” and if you express it to a Christian you are labeled as “uncompassionate” and (gasp) “liberal.” And despite your greatest efforts to point your position to what you believe is its Scriptural foundation, you will be charged with misapplication since the United States is not governed by a dictator or a monarch, but it is “governed by the people.” And since citizenship in the United States means that the people are the government, then everyone, including Christians, are obligated to be actively and outspokenly involved in the political system.

And while I can sympathize logically with the sentiment that every American citizen ought to be involved in politics if indeed the American government is controlled by its citizens, I cannot help but wholeheartedly believe that the American government is not the government we believe that it is. For we are spoon-fed from the time we are old enough to hear that we live in a democracy–a government by the people and for the people. We are bombarded with the ideals of the Founding Fathers expressed over two hundred years ago, and we are taught to believe that what they expressed in ideals existed then when they first spoke them, and they exist today in our present government. And regardless what might happen on Capitol Hill or what might be signed into law in the Oval Office, we hold fast to the belief that the process at its core is democratic (i.e. citizen driven) and it is for the sake of each person’s inalienable rights (whatever that is).

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Why is a new year so alluring? Is it because some miraculous event takes place when the clock strikes midnight and January 1st chimes in? Is it because there is some fundamental shift in our thoughts and actions that characterize the change from the previous year to the next? Does nature subject itself to man’s calendar and thereby spring from one season to the next? The answer to all of these questions is an obvious “no,” and if it were not for the dropping of light-colored balls and the ticking of second-hands on clocks, we would scarcely know that anything had happened from one moment to the next.

Why then is a new year so alluring? It is so, I believe, because of the desire ingrained in every human being for renewal, for a second chance, for a do-over. For the end of every year is a natural call for retrospection on that year, and everyone of us, being the imperfect creatures that we are, are filled with happiness for the good things accomplished and, more significantly, regret for the things that we did not accomplish and the things at which we failed. And since all of us fall short far more than we succeed, the end of the year marks the end of a failed chapter in our lives, and the new year marks the beginning of a new chapter filled with possibility for change.

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When we think upon the declaration of Romans 8:28, namely that, “For those who love God, all things work together for good,” its implications are staggering. “All things work together for good, you say? Do you mean all things?”

Well, when we think upon the all things in Romans 8:28, we must understand it in its context. The apostle Paul is speaking there particularly of the suffering of the saints, manifesting itself in tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, danger, nakedness, and death (v. 35). These things seem to come to the saint from external sources, such as from those whom the apostle labels, “Life and death, angels and rulers, things present and things to come, powers, height and depth, and everything else in all of creation (vv. 38, 39). None of these things, the apostle says, “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 39).

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Is it arrogant to claim that Pelagians (definition) misunderstand the Gospel? Yes, it is as arrogant as claiming that Catholics distort the Gospel, that the Jews missed their Messiah, and that Muslims do not serve the God of Abraham. It is arrogant in a day of post-modern tolerance, where truth is relative to the individual and where truth thereby is non-existent.

And how have Pelagians misunderstood the Gospel? They have done it by misunderstanding the bad news of humanity’s condition. For if good news is going to exist, bad news must go before it, and if extremely Good News is going to exist, extremely bad news must go before it.

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After it was dark one evening, a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus. He was a ruler and a teacher of the Jews, and his coming by night to speak to Jesus reveals a bit of the sincerity of his heart behind his coming. For while the rest of the Pharisees were notorious for conspiring together and then questioning Jesus during the day so as to attempt to trap him in blasphemy, Nicodemus came at night to Christ so that he would not to be seen by the other Pharisees and associated with their trickery.

Upon coming to Jesus, Nicodemus said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (Jn. 3:2). Nicodemus’s confession to Christ is an astounding one, and it places him in direct opposition to his Pharisee brothers. Yet, despite the greatness of Nicodemus’s confession, Christ does not respond to his confession with a “Thank you,” or a “You are right,” or even the response he gave to Peter upon his confession, “Blessed are you!” Christ does none of these things but seems to ignore the Nicodemus’s statement altogether.

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