Saturday, April 30, 2011

Reflecting on the Ten Commandments - Introduction

There's a detail I have to explain here at the outset. There are two different common enumerations of the “Ten Commandments”. They both refer to Exodus 20, but divide one commandment from another differently at two points. In the enumeration used by Catholics and Lutherans (and possibly others), Exodus 20:4-6, which forbids making and worshiping idols, is regarded as explanatory of verse 3, which forbids having other gods. On the other hand, Exodus 20:16 and 17, which, respectively, forbid coveting and forbid coveting a list of items are separated into two commandments. The enumeration I'll be using, common among many Protestants (not my reason for using this enumeration, though), considers Exodus 20:4-6 to be a separate commandment from verse 3, and considers Exodus 20:16-17 to be one commandment, with verse 17 providing examples to explain verse 16. As a child, growing up in a Lutheran church, considering Exodus 20:16 and 17 to be two separate commandments didn't make sense to me. And if you think about Exodus 20:3 and Exodus 20:4-6 as circles in elementary school Mathematics Venn Diagrams, the two circles intersect substantially, but not entirely. Exodus 20:3 forbids having other gods, whether physical idols or gods not represented physically. Exodus 20:4-6 forbids idols, whether of other gods, such as in Egypt or those used by the Canaanites, or physical representations of the true God.

Well, that was long-winded! Why am I doing this? First, while Christians' salvation does not depend on keeping the law, right and wrong did not change. And if Christians truly love God, disobeying Him is something they should desire to avoid, because of that love. Second, and to me oddly, basic teaching about right and wrong seems scarce in some Evangelical circles.

In succeeding posts, each about one of the commandments, I'll include the relevant verse plus Martin Luther's Small Catechism explanations (http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php#tencommandments - which seemed rather good to me when I was learning the Ten Commandments) along with my own comments. Since I haven't written these reflections in advance of this post, I won't promise these to be daily or not to publish other blog posts between.

The Christian Faith Is a Lifestyle

Some Christians - nominal believers and real believers - don't get that they can't compartmentalize their faith into a my-religious-life compartment and a the-rest-of-my-life (i.e., my-real-life) compartment. Having different rules for different compartments of life is a recipe for incongruity and hypocrisy. Many Christians latch onto a part (or perceived part) of Christianity and ride that hobby horse to the neglect of the whole of the Christian faith. For real believers, it's what I call error-by-emphasis; for nominal believers, it's Cafeteria Christianity, picking what one likes (real aspects of Christian teaching or baptized personal views) and leaving behind the rest (things like sin, redemption and personal need for salvation are almost always left behind).

An example of error-by-emphasis that I think is pervasive among Evangelical Christians is a fairly tight focus on the basics of sin, redemption and salvation. It's not an error-in-fact; what is taught is true. The problem lies in what is not taught or given little emphasis. Fundamental things, like what God says is right and wrong, what God says is justice - essentials in practical everyday life - are much less taught, leaving believers to do what they think to be right.

This latter problem was brought home to me a while ago when I realized that I had failed a Christian friend. He was a new Christian and was in a serious dating relationship. He moved in with her. I assumed he realized that this was not right, until, some months later he mentioned that he had been reading his Bible and had come to realize that what he was doing was contrary to what God said was right. Soon after, they realized that she was pregnant, and they got married (there's much that I'm leaving out for the sake of brevity). I should have known better, or at least known enough to say something, but I really did not realize that he had never learned what God had said about sex outside of marriage. The Ten Commandments (in age-appropriate detail) had been part of my upbringing from elementary school and for some reason I didn't imagine others' upbringing being that much different.

A time came a year or two later when I was in a similar situation with a Christian friend who was taking his relationship with a girlfriend too far. That time I did say something. It still didn't go well, but I had the satisfaction – very small, because of how it all turned out – of not having failed my friend.

In reflecting on my church experiences up to that time and the decades since, I've realized that basic foundational things like what God says is right and wrong receive insufficient attention in Evangelical circles. Teaching the basics of salvation is necessary, it's truth. The problem isn't untruth but imbalance.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Kingdom of the World's Beatitudes

While I'm posting about my recent reading, I found this gem in Robert C. Girard's 1979 book, Brethren, Hang Together. As a commentary based on the Beatitudes on what the world values (attitudes that invade churches!) he wrote these Kingdom of the World's Beatitudes:

Blessed (to be envied) are those who are completely adequate and strong, who never display weakness or personal spiritual need
... for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the positive, light-hearted, and those who never cry
... for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the aggressive, demanding and cocky, those who know and claim their rights and advantages
... for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who desire the glory of power, goods, success, and acclaim
... for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the organizers, motivators, and manipulators of people, who have their corporate growth objectives clearly in mind, who see people as a means to reach their objectives, and will not be distracted from their "higher work" by personal involvements with misfits or cripples
for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are those who are careful in their commitment to God, not to become too "other worldly"
... for they shall see God.
Blessed are the fighters and scrappers, who knowing they are right, tear all who disagree with them to shreds, and noisily separate from those who are "wrong"
... for they shall be called the sons of God.
Blessed are those of whom all men speak well, with whom the world is comfortable
... the kingdom belongs to them.


One of Girard's themes in his book, which was about small groups in churches and spiritual leadership, was relying on God to work in and through His people.

A Bit More on Augustine & Education

I'm good at saying 3/4 of what I had in mind ...another aspect of his moral-spiritual concern about education is that something that God created - knowledge and human capability to learn - was/is corrupted or truncated into something far less than what God intended. If he didn't say it somewhere explicitly - very possible, from what little I've read - he definitely would have agreed with the idea that evil, or much of it, was something good distorted.


Augustine's Confessions is written in a manner - it's like a public prayer of confession to God - that some readers, even Christian readers, might find trying. I'm finding it interesting, though, and insightful regarding human nature. I don't anticipate making a habit, though, of frequent blog posts about Augustine.


Just a short quote ... we imagine Maria Montessori or John Holt to have been education pioneers?


... free curiosity has greater power to stimulate learning than rigorous coercion.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Knowing to Walking

This idea came up last evening in our home group. As I mentioned yesterday, knowing is one thing, living what you know is another. Two of the scripture passages in what we discussed were from Psalms 119 and 1. Afterward, three words stuck out to me as capturing the process: Learning, Meditating, Living. The first is obviously necessary. One can't consciously live something one doesn't know. And "Living" is the point at which knowledge has become integrated into one's life. Meditating on scripture - whether intentional study/focus or less formally mulling over something, thinking of its meaning, implications and what it would look like in practical life.


I've recently started reading Augustine's "Confessions". In the part about his school days, he speaks of his experiential disconnect between education and being a good person. Taken carelessly, one might think he was arguing, eloquently and skillfully, against education. His actual meaning is the moral outrage of the two - being educated and being good - being separated. His ideal would be to be both, but in an either-or choice, being good is better. It's sad - a token of mankind's deep flaw, sin - that our society doesn't "get" this, some fifteen centuries later, making the same simplistic choice of education the mind but not the heart.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Stuff 'n' Such

It's been a couple of days since I last posted. There's much happening here at Soapy Villa.

I've known this for over a week and suspected it well before, but for the first time in this century, possibly in 2 decades or more, my weight is under 300 pounds. And, thankfully, well under 300. So some clothing items that had migrated to corners of my closet and dresser drawers have reemerged to regular usage, and I've even done some clothes shopping (BTW, my beloved wife is having "problems" of similar kind and magnitude).

I've also been preparing for this week's home group. I like teaching, but that isn't really the focus of our church's home groups. The big focus - rightly so - is on "encouraging each other" through fellowship. It is this kind of setting and ministry environment that Christians can discover, develop and exercise the spiritual gifts God has given them. Still, there is preparation to do.

The latter has brought to the fore for me the tension between knowledge and walking. There's a lot regarding Christianity and the scriptures that one can know. And, strictly speaking, one need not be a believer to know spiritual "stuff". Looked at another way, the requirements to be a believer are not high - acknowledge God, believe one has acted wrongly in God's eyes, understand God provided reconciliation and forgiveness through Jesus, and put one's faith and trust in what Jesus did. On the other hand, learning to live and actually living the Christian life is a lifetime endeavor. The bottom line is that knowledge is important and good, but the critical thing is how much of what one knows one is living.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Meditation for Easter Sunday

Sometimes, when you know a story really well it is difficult to realize what the people were feeling and experiencing as they went through that "story". It wasn't a "story", it was their life. So it is with Easter. We know what happened: Jesus had risen from the dead; the various people discovered and reacted to what they saw in their various ways. As day was dawning that first Easter morning, several women left their homes and headed for a tomb outside of Jerusalem. They weren’t going there anticipating any great surprise or joy. They were going there to perform the customary funerary tasks for a beloved friend that had been left undone two days earlier. They anticipated at least one obstacle, a large stone blocking the entrance of the tomb, but went hoping to find some one willing to aid them by rolling it aside.

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12, NASB)


Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18, NASB)

Coming to the tomb, the grieving women expected to see its entrance blocked; it isn’t clear whether they knew a guard had been placed there by the Jewish religious leaders and Pilate. Arriving, they found a mystery. The stone had been rolled aside (no mean task, as it was large and was resting in a depression to keep it where it had been placed) and the entrance to the tomb was wide open. Walking in, they found it was empty! Coming out, mystified as to what happened, they found themselves in the presence of two “men” in bright white clothing (this was before the age of modern washing detergents!), who told them very incongruous, astounding, things. Alarmed, excited, probably only half understanding and less than half believing what they had been told, they ran and told the Disciples. A similar scene was replayed with Peter and John. Of all who came to and went from the empty tomb that morning, probably only Mary Magdalene, having seen and spoken with Jesus, fully understood and really believed Jesus had risen from the dead.

It would be easy to criticize Jesus’s followers, but then, we know the story. We imagine hindsight to be 20-20. These followers of Jesus had just come through the mental horror of seeing their beloved Master cruelly executed! Jesus’s death was excruciatingly real to them. And they had been living in fear of the prospect of being next! And now … an empty tomb? … two mysterious “men” saying Jesus was alive? They just could not wrap their minds around all of this in an instant! Knowing "the rest of the story", we know Jesus soon appeared to them, they became convinced that He was again alive, and after Pentecost these very ordinary people started on the task of turning their world upside down. Just so. But their initial shock and disbelief were entirely natural. Had we been in their place we probably would not have responded much differently.

Were this but a neat story about a cool moment in history, we could be justified in asking, “So what?” Well, indeed! Why is Jesus's resurrection so very important? Paul explained:

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:16-24, NASB)

The resurrection of Jesus is not merely important in the Christian faith. The resurrection is at the very core of the Christian faith, of the redemption Jesus accomplished. No resurrection, and Jesus was an usually pleasant, sometimes profound, but seriously deluded dead guy. The resurrection was the triumphant culmination of the redemption Jesus accomplished. More than that, the resurrection is a promise, a prototype of believers’ future resurrection … to eternal life with God.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Meditation for the Saturday Before Easter

Looking at the four Gospels, here is what they have to say about the time between Jesus’s burial and the morning of the following Sunday:

Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I am to rise again.' "Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone. (Matthew 27:62-66, NASB)

It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. (Luke 23:54-56, NASB)

That’s it! Of the four Gospel authors: two, Matthew and John, were among the Twelve; Mark accompanied Peter, another of the Twelve, and may himself have been an eyewitness to at least some of the events; Luke, a Gentile living at the time in Asia Minor, tells readers that he had sought out and spoken with as many eyewitnesses to Jesus’s life as he could find. So the Gospel writers were either eyewitnesses or drew from eyewitnesses' accounts (probably both). Yet that is all the Gospel writers had to say about that awful day after the crucifixion.

Granted, it was a Sabbath, but they had just gone through what had to have been, individually and collectively, one of the most traumatic days of their lives. Then again, maybe that near silence is a mute testimony to the intense sorrow, mental anguish and fear through which they just been wrenched . It’s not easy, in modern terms to describe what being a religious teacher’s disciple meant. It was like being an apprentice, and even more. Disciples lived, ate and slept their teacher’s life and teachings. Jesus had been the Disciples’ lives for some three years, and he had just been brutally executed. His women followers were practical and loving (and maybe a bit more courageous!) in the midst of their sorrow. Jesus had been buried in haste because of the impending start of the Sabbath, so they prepared according to their customs to do things rightly and properly on the following day.

The action of the Jewish religious leaders in the aftermath of the crucifixion is interesting. This had been their great moment of triumph over a man they feared would upset their applecart, ruin their lucrative racket. And here they were, acting out of fear while hiding behind an absurd pretext. Jesus’s Disciples were a scared and intimidated lot, not likely to attempt the sort of deception the religious leaders claimed to fear. Perhaps they really feared something …

... much more.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Little People, Little Things

Sometimes I think we Christians get caught up in the image and accomplishments of "heroes". To be sure, some amazing things have been, and will be, done. But have we thought about who some of those people were and whether they thought at the time that what they were doing was remarkable? Consider Jesus's disciples. Four were professional fishermen - nothing wrong with that, but one doesn't ordinarily think of such folk as world-changers. Another was (eek!) an IRS agent; a third was a political would-be revolutionary. These were"ordinary" people. Consider the believer, Ananias, who delivered Jesus's call to ministry to Paul. He was not a high church official, not a pastor, wasn't even identified as having any particular ministry. Ananias is simply identified as "a certain disciple".

Little things ... one never knows how and by what means one affects others' lives. A cousin "kidnapped" me to a Young Life meeting when I was a junior in high school. While I had been raised in a church - a good one, honestly - I was still trying to run my own life. I wasn't faring, at that point, too well and academics aside, I don't know how well I would have done in college. That night changed my life. Nothing spectacular about the meeting, but that night I gave Jesus control of my life and haven't regretted it or looked back. I doubt my cousin ever knew how her "little" act affected me (I lost track of her when she graduated that year, and after I graduated from high school I moved 800-900 miles away for college).

We Christians don't need to strive to copy one of our Christian "heroes". Every one of us is unique! But if we are content to be "simple" "certain disciples" faithfully doing the "simple" things God gives us to do God can use those "simple" things to have great consequences into eternity.

Meditation for Good Friday

Then the whole body of them got up and brought Him before Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King." So Pilate asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered him and said, "It is as you say." Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no guilt in this man." But they kept on insisting, saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place." When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time.

Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate. Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.
(Luke 23:1-12, NASB)

Answering again, Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?" They shouted back, "Crucify Him!" But Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify Him!" Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus ), to bear His cross.

Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. It was the third hour when they crucified Him. The inscription of the charge against Him read, "THE KING OF THE JEWS." They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. [And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with transgressors."] Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross !" In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, "He saved others ; He cannot save Himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe !" Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him. When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" which is translated, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, "Behold, He is calling for Elijah." Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down." And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. \When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
(Mark 15:12-41, NASB)

As provincial governor Pontius Pilate had two basic tasks: keep things peaceful; extract money for the empire. Needless to say, accomplishing those would also aid his own considerable political ambitions. Neither was easy. Judea was not exactly rich, and the Jewish people were not exactly welcoming of Roman rule. It was common for Roman governors to be less than respectful of conquered peoples, but Pilate didn’t even know when he was treading on Jewish toes until trouble resulted. Pilate's reflexive imperialistic pride prevented him from being effective as governor. Consequently, as Roman governors – typically political climbers – went, Pontius Pilate was a mediocrity. But he wasn't stupid.

Pilate saw through the fluff and noise of the flurry of accusations, but he didn't want more trouble. When the accusers mentioned that Jesus was a Galilean, from an adjacent province, Pilate thought he spotted an opportunity to pawn off a thorny decision on the ruler of that province, Herod. This Herod wasn't Herod "the Great" who had tried to kill Jesus some time after His birth. After Herod the Great died, Emperor Augustus didn't trust any of Herod's to replace him as king, so Herod's kingdom was divided four ways, with this Herod, Antipas, getting Galilee. Herod Antipas wasn't much better than his father, having killed John the Baptist to fulfill a rash promise to his daughter. However, Herod Antipas was a greater weasel than was Pilate. Herod toyed some with Jesus, didn't get the amusement he wanted, and sent Jesus back to Pilate for judgment. It speaks to the character of both Pilate and Herod Antipas that freeing an obviously innocent man wasn't on either man's political radar screen.

In the crucifixion of Jesus, both Pilate’s disdain for those he governed and his mission of keeping the peace came into play. To be fair to him, I think the Jewish leaders pushing for Jesus’s crucifixion knew of and played on his imperative to maintain order. Pilate knew what was up, that Jesus was innocent of any crime against Rome. At the same time, here was a riot or even a revolt in the making at a time Jerusalem was filled with Passover celebrants, so his disdain for an insignificant subject and his political ambition led Pilate to overrule any latent sense of justice he may have had and instead try to placate the mob.

Crucifixion, as perfected and practiced by the Romans, served several purposes. It was painful and horrible, and depending on available time, materials and the sadistic skill of the executioners, could extract tens of hours of excruciating pain from the person being executed. Did I mention the Romans' cruelty and sadism? Crucifixion was done publicly, and was reserved for non-citizens, reminding conquered peoples of their place in the Roman world. And it served warning to would-be rebels and people inclined to make a career of banditry that the price of failure and capture would be excruciatingly high.

The crucifixion process was designed to inflict pain and use the executed person’s natural strength and survival instinct to prolong their pain. It started with what Mark called scourging. This alone would probably suffice to cause the person’s eventual death; if medical attention was received and the person survived, they would be horribly disfigured and disabled, so severe were the injuries inflicted. Carrying the crossbeam to the place of execution prolonged and broadened the scope of the public spectacle while taking the person beyond exhaustion. On arrival, the person would be seized (not gently!), arms stretched and fastened to the crossbeam; if nailed, the spike was placed at the base of the wrist, where every movement would inflame the nerves, causing explosions of pain. The crossbeam was then lifted onto the upright beam and the legs similarly fastened. The cross was then lifted upright and the base of the upright beam was slid into a hole that held the cross vertical. Needless to say, this was not done gently, and the jolt of the upright beam sliding into the hole and hitting bottom was just one more moment of agony for the person being executed. That person was now suspended in a position where the mere process of breathing happened at the cost of excruciating agony. The person could inhale, but could only exhale at the price of excruciating pain to their wrists and ankles, compounded by exhaustion and spasms in their arm and leg muscles. Thus began a slow process of exhaustion, pain and suffocation that could last, in the extreme, 2 or more days. If time was limited or they got bored, the executioners could hasten the end with a simple, painful expedient. The one crucified was only able to exhale so as to draw their next breath by pushing against the ropes or spike with their legs; the executioners took away that ability by breaking the person’s legs. The process of suffocation soon ended the person's agony. This was done to the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus.

Why?

Mankind has this problem ...

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23, NASB)

It's a pretty serious problem ...

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23, NASB)

Mankind was in a hole, unable get out on our own. Foretold to our first parents, God sent - nay, became - the solution:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, NASB)

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB)

(F)ixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2, NASB)

Jesus, God the Son, willingly, even gladly, paid the horrific price necessary that those who believe in Him and what He accomplished could live a life in relationship with Him and spend eternity with Him.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Meditation for Maundy Thursday

OK, I’ll admit it. Despite growing up in a traditional Lutheran church, I had to look up the word “Maundy” (I did know how to spell it, though). Basically, “Maundy Thursday” means “Foot-Washing Thursday”. Onward …

Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples." The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. (Matthew 26:14-19, NASB))

Judas has become an almost world-wide metaphor for a betrayer. To the best of my understanding, though, Judas violated no law. He got paid what amounted to 5 weeks’ wages to identify a certain person to the authorities: there were no false accusations, no perjury was involved. It was “just” an economic transaction. Judas got something he valued; the authorities got something they valued. The greatness of the betrayal wasn’t that a crime was committed, as none was, to the best of my understanding. Nor was the greatness of the betrayal in the number of people betrayed or the social position of the one betrayed. It was WHO Judas betrayed.

But why would the Jewish leaders need Judas to finger some one with whom they’d been debating for much of the past week? I don’t think darkness fully accounts for the need (it was full moon, Passover being always at full moon), though that may have played some part. My opinion is that the leaders didn’t want to risk an encounter with any crowd that might be present. They sent minions who may not have known Jesus at sight, and they did not want their purposes frustrated or exposed prematurely by a case of mistaken identity. Also, western artworks to the contrary, Jesus was probably a Jewish “everyman” Whose outward appearance was unremarkable.

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter." Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, "Not all of you are clean." So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.” (John13:3-16, NASB)

Hence the name, “Maundy Thursday”. Various denominations have understood this command differently. Some literally do this, annually (e.g. Grace Brethren). Others understand the command as referring to the kind of love, forgiveness and service Christians should extend toward each other in the course of daily life and fellowship. Without arguing with those who practice literal foot-washing, I think the latter is Jesus’s point, one He made, clearly, while doing the foot-washing and later that same evening. The disciples didn’t get it the first time, and maybe not even the second time. But were they so very dumb? I wouldn’t claim I'd do any better!

When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes." And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" And they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing. And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called 'Benefactors.' But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.” (Luke 22:14-26, NASB)

Here, as the culmination of His life approached, Jesus took the time to define real leadership. I think plaques with this passage should be hung on every wall of every pastor's or other church official's office and over every door into those offices! I also think supervisors and managers in the business world would likewise benefit from reflecting on Jesus's description of true leadership.

Taken literally or metaphorically, in foot-washing Jesus had demonstrated for His disciples what real Christian leadership was to be - serving those who are being led. Having just gone through several days or conflict with arrogant "leaders," Jesus's demonstration must have been doubly poignant! We've had 2 millennia to practice and get this leadership concept down, so how are we doing? My answer would have to be that I've known and know of some good servant-leaders, but lordly leaders have been too common in church history and now. Too often, this imperative from Jesus has been gamed and weaseled into near meaninglessness! And I do not have any single group in mind in saying that!

I won't go into the Transubstantiation – Real Presence – Symbols debate. Better and smarter Christians than I have disagreed and debated that issue for centuries, and it would be a distraction in this context. I do think people of all three (two-and-a-half?) understandings could learn from each other. What Jesus did that night is interesting. The bread and the wine Jesus used were not brought there for His special use to institute Communion. Jesus used things already on hand from use in the Passover meal. Jesus didn’t totally break with Judaism and institute something utterly new, utterly foreign to it. He did something new, to be sure, but using what existed. The alienation between Jews and Christians these past too many centuries is a tragedy, utterly unnecessary, an estrangement in which Christians (and people using the name “Christian”) have played by far the larger part, in my opinion. The Christian Bible has the older Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. Has anyone else noticed the curious fact that ~75% of the Christian Bible is the Old Testament? In churches that practice more formal catechesis, the Ten Commandments are part of the core "curriculum". Thus, Christianity is, as taught by Jesus and the New Testament writers, a fulfillment of Judaism. The bread and wine Jesus used in the now-famous “Last Supper” is a "small" further illustration of this.

Meditation for the Wednesday Before Easter

For a couple of days various factions among the Jewish leaders had sent their brightest and best to try to entrap Jesus and expose what they imagined to be His ignorance, and possibly entangle Him with the Roman authorities. Such a challenge was the context for today's passage. Here, Jesus turns the tables (an apt metaphor in this context!) on the Jewish leaders:

For they did not have courage to question Him any longer about anything. Then He said to them, "How is it that they say the Christ is David's son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."' Therefore David calls Him 'Lord,' and how is He his son?" And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation." (Luke 20:40-47, NASB)

In one "simple" question, Jesus hit them at the heart of their theology, the identity of the Messiah for Whom they supposedly waited, and accomplished with that one question what they had been trying to do to Him for days. It is rather apparent that they hadn’t thought of the curiosity Jesus asked about, or at least didn’t know the answer. It is likely that they would also have known that Jesus was descended from David, making their answer all the more perilous to their authority - they could blow off their scriptures or affirm something supportive of Jesus's authority. One can easily imagine their embarrassment, which Jesus swiftly compounded with His advice to His disciples. In all this contest over authority, the Jewish leaders saw Jesus as a danger to their power, their racket. They seemed to imagine that He was either a bomb-tosser, who would destroy without replacing their racket, or one who would try to muscle in on their racket. They couldn’t imagine that Jesus was neither and that, while their racket would be destroyed, He would not be the destroyer and He would establish something greater that was not to be a racket.

It was bad enough, from the viewpoint of the Jewish leaders, that Jesus sprang a trap on them. Compounding it was Jesus's very pointed, very public, warning against the hypocrisy underlying their pretentious piety. That was the last straw!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Meditation for the Tuesday Before Easter

The Jewish religious leaders were persistent and it is likely that they didn’t really respect Jesus, even as an adversary. And why should they? Jesus was a nobody, a Galilean bumpkin from a tiny obscure village, while they were the centers of Jewish theology. They didn't go to "seminary," they were the "seminary." So they tried to set a trap for Jesus, baited with flattery:

The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor. They questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But He detected their trickery and said to them, "Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?" They said, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were unable to catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent. (Luke 20:19-26, NASB)

The trap, as they conceived it, was that the Law of Moses made no provision for the Jewish people paying taxes to foreign rulers. To them it was a perfect trap, as they themselves had no principled answer. If Jesus answered that it was lawful, He had contradicted the Law and justified a much hated burden. On the other hand, if Jesus said that paying Roman taxes was not right then they could report Him to the Roman authorities as agitating against Roman authority. They thought they had Jesus in a trap! Jesus schooled them by pointing out that Jewish taxes were to be paid with Jewish money, while the money with which Roman taxes were to be paid were Roman coins. Jesus swatted the gnat they were straining using the swatter of their own fashioning; the business of the money-changers Jesus had driven from the temple was to change Roman money into Jewish money for those who needed to pay the temple tax.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Meditation for the Monday Before Easter

Later on Palm Sunday and continuing into the week a clash of authority ensued that was, for the Jewish religious leaders, a fork in the road. They could repent and “lose everything”. Or they could harden their hearts, send Jesus to the cross, and retain what they had (not knowing they would lose it in some 40 years). On entering Jerusalem, Jesus launched an attack on the high priest’s family’s lucrative money-changing and animal-selling monopoly-racket:

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN." And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying ?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF'?" And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there. (Matthew 21:12-17, NASB)

These leaders who should have been teaching and caring for God's flock saw that flock as their own, to fleece and abuse. When Jesus came back the next morning, the chief racketeers were still somewhat cowed by the high regard the people had for Jesus. Not yet ready to risk open conflict, they tried to intimidate Jesus into backing off by challenging his authority:

When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?" Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?" And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' "But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet." And answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know." He also said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. (Matthew 21:23-27, NASB)

Jesus had trapped the would-be trappers, but it was like a battle of wits in which the leaders were the ones who were unarmed. Jesus well knew their authority and power and its temporal limits; He also knew something they did not want to contemplate, His own vastly greater eternal authority. He gave them lots of “outs,” chances to change their course; ultimately their anger and violence would unwittingly fulfill His chosen destiny and purpose.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Weaker Members of the Body

Well, I'm sitting at the computer living an illustration of 1 Corinthians 12:20-26:

So now there are many members, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.” On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential, and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity, but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another. If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a member is honored, all rejoice with it. (NET)

As I sit here, my left heel is immersed in ice water. Why? My left heel bone has a relatively tint spur that can irritate the Achilles tendon. when the irritation gets really bad - like 3 or 4 weeks ago - walking is really difficult, and every other step is really painful. The ice water acts as an anti-inflammatory, and I'm doing the soaking right now to keep the irritation under control.

So, a tiny bump on a small bone - a bump that shouldn't be there, but is - can make it difficult and really for a full-sized human to walk (and do all the things that require walking, standing and balance). Paul's illustration is so vividly apt! There is no insignificant member in the Body of Christ! And when one member doesn't//can't do its job the whole Body suffers and can't do what it needs to do as well as it should!

Learning and Living and Being

I spent some time yesterday and the day before writing and compiling some, hopefully, helpful information for our church home group. I was reminded of a curious thing while doing so. Information about the Christian faith and the Bible is pretty readily available and not very expensive in terms of $$, though quality can vary. Without diminishing the value of information and truth, the truly challenging thing - and costly, though not necessarily in terms of $$ - is making God's truth real in our lives. It's one thing to know something; it's quite another to live what one knows. It's one thing to learn information; it's a much more difficult process to build what one has learned into one's character. The making doing one's life and the rebuilding of character requires the work of God and the fellowship of God's people.

Palm Sunday Meditation

Today, “Palm Sunday,” is the beginning of Holy Week in Christian tradition. It is the commencement a sudden total reversal of public reaction to Jesus under the nudging and urging of Jewish religious and political leaders. On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem to loud public acclaim, including the laudatory waving of palm branches from which the holiday derives its name:

After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, saying, "Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. "If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' you shall say, 'The Lord has need of it.'" So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They said, "The Lord has need of it." They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it. As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road. As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting : "BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD ; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest !" Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!" (Luke 19:28-40, NASB)

It was, for Jesus, much less joyful. He knew where He was headed, what would soon happen to Him and what would happen in just 4 decades to Jerusalem. The coming week was the culmination of His purpose in life. But the sadness He expressed was not focused on Himself:

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." (Luke 19:41-44, NASB)

Thus, Jesus knew and foretold what would happen some 40 years later, the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple and its populace. The description of this event, written by the eyewitness Josephus, is painful reading.

So Palm Sunday is a grace note of triumph leading into a symphony of pain. Yet, from another perspective, that grace note led off a triumphal concert lasting into eternity.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Easter Week Meditations - Intro

Getting straight to the point, what is this set of meditations and what am I hoping to accomplish? I was raised, from an infant, in a Christian church. The basics of the Easter story have long been familiar to me. Sometimes familiarity can lull one into thinking one knows what there is to be known of that which is familiar. Am I unique in this? I'm thinking ... probably not. So I'm hoping to tear back a bit of the veneer of familiarity that dulls our understanding of these events and help us see and understand these familiar people as real people, who had real thoughts, feelings and motives by providing some historical and cultural context, showing the continuity in the flow of events and trying to get into the likely thoughts and feelings of the people within what they knew at the time and were experiencing. And now to start ...

Judea and Jerusalem in the time of Jesus's life in Earth were not happy places. Judea was part of the Roman Empire, and the Romans were not benignant rulers. Romans considered themselves superior to those they conquered. In both the conquest and the ruling, conquered territories were seen as places to be plundered and exploited. While not particularly prosperous, Judea was very important to Rome. First, it was a crossroads for trade from the east and south. Rome was dependent on trade for much that it needed and even more that it wanted. Second, Judea was in the border area with the Parthian Empire. Corresponding roughly with modern Iran and Iraq, the Parthians had stopped Roman advance to the east, and at one point briefly pushed the Romans back, all the way to the coasts of modern northeast Syria and Lebanon. The threat of war was a constant of life, with Judea being a potential battleground and an area through which troops and supplies would necessarily move in the event of war.

So the Roman grip on Judea and Jerusalem was not loose. Adding insult to the injury, Jerusalem was not the provincial capital. That honor belonged to the recently enlarged artificial port city of Caesaria.

As mentioned in the Gospel accounts, the death and resurrection of Jesus happened around the time of Passover. The Jewish religious calendar, given in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16, could be roughly grouped into spring and autumn observances and festivals. Passover, with the week-long Unleavened Bread immediately following, started the series of spring festivals; First Fruits was observed at the start of harvest, with Pentecost 50 days later. For observant Jews, participation in Passover and Pentecost were mandatory. With Jewish people being scattered all over the Roman and Parthian Empires, going to Jerusalem annually wasn't practical for many. Those so situated usually observed religious festivals locally with other Jewish people. They had the goal, however, of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at least once in their lifetimes, for Passover particularly. Such a pilgrimage being a significant undertaking, the custom was not to just stay for the 8 days of Passover and Unleavened Bread, but to stay from Passover through Pentecost, 2 or 3 months. This means that Jerusalem at the time of Jesus's death and resurrection and of the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) had tens or hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world in addition to its normal population.

From the viewpoint of the Roman rulers, the Passover season was an annual time of tension. Despite their religious purpose, people are people, and "situations" could occur. Of course, the crowds of people carrying substantial amounts of money - on which to live during their months of pilgrimage - attracted robbers and thieves. And people who chafed at Roman rule and sought opportunities for acts of rebellion could find the crowds of pilgrims useful to camouflage their presence and activities.

So Jesus's last public acts and preaching and His death and resurrection took place in a very complex and volatile context.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Mission & Leadership & Me, Oh My!

I've been "preparing" for the start of our home group for 3 or 4 weeks, mostly re-reading several relevant books and talking with Becky (my wife). Two things that I've long known have become really clear and relevant, raising a sort of paradox.

Taken in reverse order, it is important for me, to some degree, to be prepared. To some degree, I can't share what I don't know or know how to do//be. But, Part 1: Christian leadership is serving, not lording it over people. My "job", my service, is to help and encourage people to grow and excel. But, Part 2: in simplest terms, I can't do it. My best efforts will fall short of what each person and the group as a whole need. And I have needs and am still learning. Part 2A, the good news, is that the Holy Spirit will see to it that people's and the group's needs are met ... if I trust and let Him ... if we as a group trust and let Him.

In Matthew  28:19 & 20, Jesus gave His disciples and the church it's mission - to make disciples. In John 13:1-17, Jesus demonstrated and defined Christian leadership. In Acts chapters 1 and 2, Jesus promises and gives the power and ability necessary for real leadership and to carry out that mission. Mission, leadership character and the Spirit's power form a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Lose one of the parts and what's left falls well short of what Jesus intended.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Accusations Addendum & Starting Something New

I'm good at saying 3/4 of something and then thinking of what I left out sometime later. So, let me say that being wary of and checking out false accusations does not mean no accusations against Christian leaders will be true. They are still human beings, fallible, with weaknesses. Taking that thought a step further, what then? It's said that Christians are the one army that shoots rather than trying to heal its wounded. I think that's something worth working on! Christians need to be willing to work with - and this does happen, thank God! - leaders who have fallen, repented and want to work toward being restored to ministry.

The something new ... tonight is the first meeting of a new home group in our church ... at our home ... which we will be ... (eek!) ... leading. It's cool to read about the value of small groups in a church. Our church isn't unique in placing such an emphasis on small groups. Two of the books I recently re-read, Brethren Hang Loose and Brethren Hang Together were written about a church in Arizona that, starting in the late 60s, made small groups the core of their church. It's wonderful to have been in a functioning small group - thanks John, Sandy and the gang! Now, while it's not huge in the context of church history, we're going to lead a small group. We're excited, and just a bit awed, to be starting to serve God and His people in this new way. Since I've broached this topic online, I need to add: the "laundry" of our home group, "dirty" or "clean," will stay in the group and not appear here.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

When Christian Leaders Are Accused of Something ...

... BE CAREFUL
In a discussion forum recently I exchanged posts with a person who claimed that a pastor of a large church in the Pacific Northwest had said something that would encourage abuse against wives and children. An alarming claim, to be sure, and awful, if true. "If" is one of the biggest words in the English language! I've learned to be reflexively skeptical of such claims until I can verify what was said, in context.

The person making the claim supplied a url for a blog post with the quote from the pastor. The quote in the blog was brief, but the blogger described the context to which the pastor had been speaking. The quote and the contextual information sufficed to show that the person who claimed this pastor had encouraged domestic abuse had misrepresented the pastor entirely. I did a very few minutes' further research, and found a video clip of that pastor addressing a congregation that he assumed included at least a few abusers. He was direct and blunt in denouncing domestic abuse!

Before accepting as true - let alone repeating - an accusation against a Christian leader about something they "said", always check: whether they said it at all; what the context was; what clarifications or retractions may have happened later. Frankly, this should be done for anyone, not just a Christian leader. But US society is becoming increasingly hostile to Christians and Christian leaders, and false accusations and misrepresentations against Christian leaders are becoming common.

Scripture addresses this kind of situation:

Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. - 1 Timothy 5:19 NAS

The phrase, "two or three witnesses," appears several times elsewhere in scripture, in contexts that point to the seriousness of the principle involved.

On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. Deuteronomy 17:6

Two or three witnesses were required to convict some one of crime where the punishment was death.
 
A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. Deuteronomy 19:15

Two or three witnesses were required to convict some one of a crime.
 
But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. Matthew 18:16

Two or three witnesses were required to throw some one out of a church.
 
This is the third time I am coming to you. EVERY FACT IS TO BE CONFIRMED BY THE TESTIMONY OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES. 2 Corinthians 13:1

Two or three witnesses were required to throw some one out of a church.

First, these show that God is concerned about both false accusations and mistaken claims. Second, God applied the, "two or three witnesses," principle to serious situations - capital crimes, crimes and church discipline. An accusation against a church leader is a serious thing. If true, it means the leader's ministry is effectively "over" (with restoration being possible, of course). If not true - whether a malicious false accusation or a careless mistake - an innocent leader, his family and those ministered to will all be hurt.

I'd love to say Christians, even leaders, are above things like malice, jealousy and misunderstandings. Sadly that isn't the case. So Christian people need to be careful when we hear claims that a leader (or an "ordinary" follower!) has done something morally wrong or acted (or taught) contrary to the Christian faith.

Monday, April 11, 2011

My Recent Reading and My Limitations

The past month or two I've been reading a bio of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and several books about church traditions and small groups. The latter are books I first read in the mid- and late-70s. Both have made it vividly clear that my limited experiences and understanding limited how much I got at the time from reading those books and also Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship.

As an illustration, one of the little nagging issues that I've puzzled over for something like 30 years is how a passage like 1 Corinthians 14:26 could happen, even in a Pentecostal or charismatic church:  When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification (NASB). It was only recently that I reached the conclusion that passages like this or Ephesians 5:19 or Colossians 3:16 are only fully practical in small group settings. Wow! Brilliant conclusion, right?! Then this weekend, reading Robert C. Girard's 1979 book, Brethren Hang Together, I find he said pretty much the same thing.

I read it 30+ years ago, I just wasn't ready to understand the significance of what he said. O wonder what other blinders I have on, due to my lack of experience and understanding (or because of my experiences and misunderstandings).

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Woo Hoo! I Exist!

Starting at the very beginning (a very good place to start) ...

Who am I? As the blog name suggests, I'm Pete. I'm a Christian, a husband, a Dad.

What will I talk about? Things that bore me, right? Well ... about things that interest me - Christianity, news/politics, books, history, for starters. In about a week I'll be starting something for Easter week, and I may post something  'twixt now and then, but this will do for now.