Tag Archive - faith

Health Care Reform Passes the House

March 22, 2010 in The Blog with 10 Comments

I’m sure we’ve all got our opinions about the health care bill, the vote last night, and the political dealings leading up to it. This post is not about that. I just wanted to repost some of my favorite status updates I’ve seen today on Facebook and Twitter.

  • “Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Government in charge? You? Or is it God? Allow Him to lead you today!”  -  Mark MacDonald
  • “I wish the Christian community got as excited about proclaiming Christ as they did about debating health care.”  -  Ed Stetzer
  • “All the cries of fear and woe really make me wonder about the faith of so many American Christians. Is your God not on the throne? Is your hope in God or in politics? Who has your allegiance – Christ alone or Christ plus a political ideology? Which is stronger in you – fear or faith?”  -  Michael Ray Kear
  • “If your passions are more provoked today by this health care plan than they were yesterday by your neighbors going to hell: wonder why?”  -  Russell Moore
  • “God is sovereign no matter how the healthcare vote comes down… ‘In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.’ (Ps 37:10-13)”
  • “I am glad no matter what happens today his treasure will be secure and unchanged tomorrow.”  -  Jared Wilson
  • “Want some cheese with that Whine? [Stop acting like a victim.]“  -  Mike Foster
  • “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading.”  -  Oswald Chambers (via Lee Bezotte)
  • “God is Sovereign, Democracy is Beautiful, America is Amazing and Your Vote Matters! God is Good… All The Time!” – Scott Williams

Got any good ones you’ve found? Post them as a reply!

The Christian Coma

March 2, 2010 in The Blog with 7 Comments

Christians – at least American Christians – seem to mark two milestones in their spiritual lives: Birth & Death. We talk about being “born again”, then we look forward to “eternal life”. (Have I ever mentioned how much I love Christian jargon…)

We say things like “Oh, I remember back before I met Jesus. I was a terrible person.” And, “Just wait til glory, when we’re wearing our robes, have no more sickness, and we’re singing to Jesus forever!”

Who would want that? Seriously, who would hear us talking like this and think it sounds exciting? (Certainly not Jesus) What about this will get the world’s attention? Christianity is a retirement home, it seems.

I’m going to make a new version of the board game “Life” for Christians.  Square one is salvation.  We get to begin playing the game.  We move to the first square, we get our playing piece, and then….    we sit there.  Interminably.  Doing nothing.  Just drawing a card on each turn, and waiting for the one that says, “You’re dead.  Go directly to heaven.”  What a boring game!  Wake up!  Engage!

Don’t get me wrong.  I think heaven is great and all.  I even look forward to it in a way – although I think heaven is entirely different than how most of Christianity portrays it (big shock there, I know), but that is a different topic.

But in our spiritual journey, we go from birth, directly looking forward to death.  How twisted is this?  What if you had a family member that lived their physical life like this?  There is a diagnosis in some children called “failure to thrive”.  It means a baby is not eating, growing, playing, or engaging life like a normal baby.  It is something doctors take very seriously.  I would argue that somewhere between 90-98% of the church has the same condition.

Think of the church (universal – as in ‘body of Christ’) as a family.  Would we be content to have a family like our spiritual family?  We are born, then enter a deep coma until we die.  Whee!!  Nothing like the “abundant life”!  Where is the life?  Where is the growth?  Where is the reproduction?  What about family reunions and casual get-togethers? (read: church and other fellowship)

Christianity costs us something besides our soul.  At least it should!  What about our mind, body & spirit?  Do you ever think (mind) about your faith?  Do you ever physically pursue (body) what you say you believe?  Have you ever felt (spirit) anything?

For many that do bother to leave their beds on Sundays, Christianity is nothing more than consumerism.  “So church, what do you have for me today?”

How much of your time and money is spent on something that has significance beyond your own home?  If you aren’t involved in creating new Christians, or helping other Christians to grow – what exactly is your purpose?  Is it possible you don’t even have one?

Do you really know God?

March 1, 2010 in The Blog with 1 Comment

Are you settled in your faith?

Is your version of Christianity comfortable?

If so, I think this is a problem!  I think that a person devoted to studying the bible will have more questions, not less!

We love to talk about God the healer and God the provider.  But what about the God of wrath, and the God of war? People who believe in replacement theology are happy to proclaim the promises of God that apply to us, but I’ve never heard one of them quote any of the judgments as applying to us.  Some Christians carry around little booklets listing all of the miracles of God that somehow have direct application to them.  But I’ve never seen a desk calendar that shows examples of unanswered prayers for each day.  What about the times Job, David, Paul, and even Jesus called out to God and his mind was unchanged?

Should these things shake our faith?  Does looking honestly at the whole bible make God any less God?

I think we like to believe that God had a personality change somewhere between Malachi and Matthew.  He must have seen some therapist, then decided it was time to be nicer to people

What does it do for you to look at an integrated view of God?  Can you reconcile all of these things?  If you have a happy, “God is on my side and will work miracles at my whim because he promised to” Christianity, life is going to smack you in the face one day and your faith will be shaken.

I’ll put it another way…
If your faith comes because God makes sense to you, your faith is in your understanding, not in God.

But if you have unanswered questions yet still believe, if you see the tension in the bible and do not run from it, then you are “working out your faith” as Paul describes.  This is true faith!  You have actual faith in God, not in some theology.

You cannot do all things

February 10, 2010 in Misrepresenting the Bible, The Blog with 5 Comments

This phrase is up there among the most misquoted passages in scripture. It’s not a long one, so I’ll include the whole thing here:

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13

Almost every occasion I have heard this scripture invoked, it has been vs 13 all by itself. And most people like to quote a combo of KVJ and NIV and say “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” – probably because of the song based on the verse. The only trouble is – as stated, it is simply not true. You have to read scripture in context.

Paul is saying that his life has been very hard. He is also recalling the better times. And he is reminding himself that no matter how bad or good things are, he can make it through with God’s help.

This passage is about contentment, not victory.
It speaks about living life as it comes, not acquiring supernatural powers.
It is not invoking, it is confessing.
It is about endurance, not faith.
It is not a proclamation, it is an affirmation.
It is not speaking of spiritual warfare, but commitment.

Certainly there are verses about all these other topics – but this verse is not one of them.

Life is going to suck sometimes. Jesus even said so! But with his strength, we can carry on. We would do well to use this passage to remind ourselves of that – not to expect some miraculous change.

You cannot "speak things that are not as though they are"

February 8, 2010 in Misrepresenting the Bible, The Blog with 8 Comments

There are scads of beliefs I hear among Christians that just make me itch. I hear “verses” “quoted” with authority, but they are either taken wholly out of context, or simply not found in the bible at all! I have sat and percolated long enough, and can no longer just let them fly by. As Christians, we believe in an absolute truth, and as such we should have a higher standard. If not, we are worse than crazy people forwarding urban legends to everyone in our contact list.

I figured tonight I’d start with one that has bothered me for years, but I’ve heard it in passing a few times this past weekend. It is THE POWER OF THE TONGUE. Oooooooooooh. (Cue dramatic music.) This concept is most commonly found in the horribly disturbing (and heretical, btw) Word of Faith movement. It is also referred to as “positive confession”, “speaking life (or death)”, and other odd phrases. Besides being churchy jargon that sounds impressive in a testimony, it is also wholly baseless and unbiblical. There are no verses that state that we can bring literal life into existence. We are never instructed to “speak life into” a situation. There are also no examples of the disciples doing so. And perhaps most importantly, Jesus never told us to do so!

This doctrine is a very loose patchwork of verses that does not hold water. The phrase that I’m sure you have heard repeated on more than one occasion is that we should “call things that are not as though they were”. This sounds like faith, right? Actually – no. This appears one place in the bible. It is in Romans 4:17 when Paul is identifying God to a Roman audience. He wants to differentiate God from the other gods. Not Zeus. Not Apollo. Not any of the other gods Paul encountered on Mars Hill. The God of creation as recounted in the Jews’ books of Genesis. The God who spoke “let there be”, and there was. This is Paul being very clear with his listeners who knew LOTS of gods. He was making a point. “I’m talking about the God of Abraham. Heard of him? I am referring to the God who calls things which are not as though they were. Know the guy? Yeah – him.” Paul made his point. But the Word of Faith movement has cut the tail end of this verse and has pasted it into lots of other verses that mention the tongue. The trouble is – God didn’t do that. Jesus never made such a connection either. The only biblical references to speaking things into existence make it clear that this is God’s domain – not ours.

One of the cut-and-paste verses popularly associated with the Romans phrase is Psalms 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This is not God instructing us how to get what we want. This is God instructing us how to want what we get. If we truly delight in the Lord, will we really desire anything selfish? No – if truly find our delight in the Lord, that means we are becoming more like him. And if we become like him, what grieves him grieves us. What brings him joy brings us joy. His desires become our desires. Then we will see the desires of our heart because we have a new heart. Jesus expanded on this same principle in Luke 12. In short – don’t worry about food, clothes, or even your very life, because God knows what you need. Seek God’s kingdom, and these things will be given to you. For wherever your treasure is, your heart will follow. Doesn’t that sound kind of like “delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart”? No speaking. No claiming. No positive confessions. Just good old Micah 6:8: “…act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”

So does the bible say anything about the tongue having power? Absolutely! Not that kind of power though. Solomon was a wise man, so he wrote with a lot of metaphors. He described things with flowery language to make an impact. So rather than saying “what you say can make people feel good or bad”, he said “your tongue has the power of life and death!”. Sounds cooler, doesn’t it? And it gets the message across quite plainly. Too many people trying to build a doctrine around Romans 4:17 use tons of Proverbs (and other scriptures) in their cut-and-paste theology.

In case you still have doubts, look at another commonly used verse – Proverbs 18:21 … “The tongue has the power of life and death” Wow! Sounds powerful! Wait – read the rest of it too: “…and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Do you have fruit growing out of your tongue? If you have bananas and limes springing from your mouth, call me! Because to claim that this verse is to be taken literally, you had better be making fruit salad right out of your mouth.

The true meaning is better expressed in Prov 15:1-4:
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly… The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

Makes sense, doesn’t it? How good do you feel after someone encourages you? Doesn’t that bring you life, in a sense? It is invigorating! It affirms us and motivates us to press on! Similarly, how deeply is our heart cut when we are criticized or shamed? Don’t you just feel like dying? It kills our hopes and dreams, and demoralizes us completely.

Yes, the tongue is incredibly powerful. Yes, it brings life or death, but to our souls and to our relationships. We are to make disciples of all nations. We are to encourage one another and care for one another. Doesn’t this require that we speak to one another? How important then is it that we think before we speak? Our prayer should be like David’s “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Ps 141:3)

The power of the tongue lies in its ability to affirm and love in order to initiate and build relationships. The negative potential does not bring physical death to a person, but the end of relationship and the wounding of a heart. This reinforces the entire NT message of the importance of community.

If you think I’m just picking verses that reinforce my interpretation of the tongue’s power, try the following – or search for yourself. The bible is quite clear on the topic. I just didn’t want to take any more space than I already have! Pr. 10:31, Pr. 12:18, Ps. 34:13, Is. 50:4, Col. 4:6, Pr. 10:11, Pr. 18:4, Pr. 12:25, Pr. 13:3, Pr. 21:23.

This concept and teaching is yet another example of what Paul warned us to watch out for in 2 Timothy 4:3-4

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

*** Addition ***

It occurred to me this morning that I missed another popular aspect of this teaching. Since I was a kid, I have encountered people who seemingly live in terror over getting sick. Oddly, they express this as faith. Here’s what I mean:

They take those same scriptures about the tongue having power of life and death, but read it as health and sickness. They use the phrases I mentioned before. They will say “I will not confess with my tongue that I am sick – that is agreeing with the enemy.” Or, “I do not have the flu. I merely have all the symptoms of the flu. I will not claim that.” Actually, you do have the flu. Also, you are silly. Sickness exists in a fallen world. It is not the evidence of having “let something into your life” or the result of a “negative confession”. It is the result of being in a place where viruses, bacteria, fungi and other nasties hang out – namely, earth.

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