The Two Sides of Kindness

Posted on September 28, 2013 by parklinscomb

Kindness is not a topic that you are likely read too many posts about. It seems just sort of—well, bland. “Yeah, yeah, practice random acts of kindness, blah, blah, blah.” But for Christians it is a rather important virtue to both possess and continually cultivate. It is part of what could be called the Christian uniform of love (Col. 3:12-14), which identifies the Christian wearer as being part of God’s people, the church. Indeed, kindness is listed as one of the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23). However, while Christian kindness is very similar to kindness as the world may perceive it, it also has some differences.

Christian kindness is modeled after God’s own kindness—”You shall be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44, 45 / 19:2 / 20:7 / 1 Peter 1:16). And as God’s kindness is demonstrated in the blessings He gives to both the evil and the good, so Christian kindness will show itself in blessings and benefits toward others in word, deed, and attitude. And as disciples of Jesus, we must do more than just believe that it is important, we must practice it regularly. We are not afforded the luxury of saying, “Yes, I know I should be more kind, but it’s just not me.” It isn’t an option we may choose or refuse. We must be doers of the word and not hearers only, who deceive themselves (James 1:22).

Having said this, however, I must also point out that Christian kindness isn’t always bunnies and flowers—the typical perception of the world. Like God’s own kindness, Christian kindness must be more than merely “random”; it really should be quite deliberate and purposeful. “Random kindness” tends to be both self-serving (“I can feel good about myself, and maybe someone saw me and will think well of me.”—like many “philanthropists”) and enabling, but Christian kindness, like the Christian love from which it springs, has another’s best interests at heart. Where I’m going with this train of thought is this: true kindness also has a hard edge. It knows when “No” is the appropriate response to a request, and it knows when to speak up, even if it might be misperceived as being unkind. And it is this last matter that I’d like to especially address in this post.

As Christians we are sometimes fearful that what we say even in a perfectly correct and appropriate sharing of God’s own words will hurt someone’s feelings—and that would be unkind—and being unkind wouldn’t be Christian—so we don’t say anything. I have personally witnessed a number of Christians being “shut down” by an accusation from a lost person that what they were saying was not very kind, not very Christian. Their easily bruised feelings are held up like a shield or “King’s X” to “save them” from hard spiritual realities of their lostness, or their error, or their perversion, or their condemnation, or their eternal destination if they don’t repent.

Now, I’m not saying or even implying that some of these harsh realities aren’t shocking, terrifying, and even offensive (Matt. 11:6; Gal. 5:11; and 1 Pet 2:8). Of course, nobody likes to hear that they are wrong or that they could be condemned to Hell. But is it really kindness to allow someone to continue  doing something, unwarned, that will end in their eternal condemnation? To put it another way: At what point does “kindness” turn into neglect and the self-interested fear of displeasing people? I would respectfully submit to you that the greater kindness, the Christian kindness, a courageous kindness, is to humbly and sincerely “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).

The same kindly intended Gospel lessons that Paul taught in synagogues from Damascus to Corinth brought some to Christ and some to offense in every town he visited—the same fire that hardened the steel melted the wax. In another situation, Paul realized he was risking offense, when he strongly warned the Galatians about the dangers of false teaching: “So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?”(Gal. 4:16).  Perhaps he made some enemies, but he also rescued others from the false teaching that would have condemned them (Gal. 5:4).

Parents are very familiar with this principle. What should we do, were we to find a toddler walking around with a loaded gun, or a container of drain cleaner? Surely, we’d try to take it away immediately. When a child is wandering into a street (busy or not), we would probably yell at them, and certainly stop them and pick them up. But what if the child began kicking, screaming, and crying, as they are wont to do—their tender feelings hurt because they can’t have something they think is OK, harmless, and fun? Kindness would still demand that we keep the dangerous things away and keep them out of the street, right?

So it is, when folks are lost, standing in danger of losing their souls. Now we can’t exactly take sins out of the hands of the lost, but the principle remains the same. Christian kindness demands that we warn them: that we call the sin a sin, that we tell them just what the Lord Himself has stated is the consequence of their behavior. Of course, we might inadvertently hurt their feelings—but we might also save their lives; because, by the way, these things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Let me give you an example. The apostle Peter ran the risk of hurting feelings, when he preached the first Gospel sermon and said, (Acts 2:36) “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.” And he did hurt their feelings: Acts 2:37 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’” It was the piercing of the heart that moved them to repentance and obedience. Sometimes the only Christian thing to do is risk hurting someone’s feelings.

Please do not misunderstand. It would never be Christian to deliberately and gratuitously hurt someone’s feelings. This is not what Peter, Paul, and other early Christians intended to do. Such a thing would be the exact opposite of Christian kindness. But Christian kindness will sometimes require the courageous taking of a risk of speaking the truth in love.

So, be kind, but also be courageous.

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Tell Me About the Christ, Part 3

Posted on September 20, 2013 by parklinscomb

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been looking at some of the important biblical teachings about the Christ—the theological term for this study is Christology. We first considered the Christ in His eternity and Godhood, before the creation of the world. Next we looked at important facets of His days in human flesh. Today we’ll look at the post-resurrection Christ. There’s much to learn and it may just cause you to want to bow in humble awe, confession, and adoration—Philippians 2:10, 11.

  • Ascended to Heaven
    Christ’s ascension is an often overlooked part of teaching about Christ; but it is not just a fact, it’s an important fact! Luke describes it in Acts 1:9, “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” It was another proof that He’s the Christ; was a cause for sending the Holy Spirit (John 16:7); and it was the basis of the miraculous gifts (Eph. 4:7-13). The ascension also shows 1) t that he earth is not the realm of Christ’s Kingdom (contrary to both Jewish expectations of His day and pre-millennial expectations our day); 2) the exact manner of His return (Acts 1:10,11); and 3)  that we have an Advocate in Heaven for us.
  • Sitting at the right hand of the Father
    And where did He go? Jesus tells us in Mark 14:62, but Stephen confirms it (Acts 7:56) “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” The right hand is the place of favor, and Jesus at the right hand of the Father is proof that 1) He was pleased with the Christ’s successful accomplishment of His mission on earth and 2) Jesus really was the Christ, the Son of the living God.
  • Now ruling as King of the Kingdom of Heaven
    Contrary to many modern teachings, the Kingdom has indeed come (Mark 9:1 / Col. 1:13 / Rev. 1:6) and Jesus is the King of it, sitting on the throne of David (Acts 2:25-35). Paul stated, (1 Corinthians 15:25) “For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.” And thus He is truly and authoritatively able to say, Matthew 28:18 “…All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
  • Our High Priest
    But He’s not just our King. Hebrews 3:1 describes Him this way, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession…” And what great blessings come from this! Just consider: 1) He intimately understands our struggles as humans (Heb. 4:15,16), 2) He approaches the true “Mercy Seat” with His own holy blood to procure real forgiveness for us (Heb. 9:12), and 3) He is the only one authorized, necessary, or even capable of mediating (the purpose of a priest) between us and the Father (1 Tim. 2:5). If you’re a Christian, you have a friend in a very, very high place, indeed!
  • Returning on the Father’s timetable
    While He was still “in the flesh”, Jesus promised that He would return again at the end of time (e.g., John 14:3 / Matt. 24:29,30 / Matt. 16:27 / Matt. 26:64). The apostles taught it (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:23) and the early church believed it (e.g., 1 Thess. 5:2). The timing, however, will be a surprise, belonging solely to the Father: Matthew 24:36 ““But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” And it will be the beginning of great changes.
  • Will raise all the dead
    For example, at the time of His return, Jesus Christ will also raise all the dead—John 5:28, 29 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”  For anyone who gives any thought to it, this will be jaw-dropping display of power—though it will be “nothing” for the Christ who created us all from nothing anyway.
  • And He will judge all men
    Jesus told us, (Matthew 25:31, 32) “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats…” Here is the perfect Judge: the One who is both God and man—He is both omniscient (no deed can be hidden from Him) and He experientially knows what its like to be a man. The One who personally suffered and died to redeem us—and the One we are personally rejecting, when we disbelieve and disobey.
  • Then hand the Kingdom over the Father
    Paul tells us that after the resurrection, (1 Corinthians 15:24) “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.” Paul explains why in 1 Corinthians 15:28, “When all things are subjected to Him [Christ], then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”
  • Being the lamp of the New Jerusalem
    The apostle John gives us this glimpse into Heaven in Revelation 21:23, 24, “And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.” Men are not given any further information beyond this “event horizon”—the information being way above our IQ and pay-grade—but the Father and the Christ will be the light, joy, life, and guides forevermore.

Imagine! The eternal God, the Christ, the very Creator, coming to earth to live among men, suffer in every way as a human, redeeming us, and living in the spiritual realm waiting on God the Father’s decision to come bring us home to Heaven! To improve on Pilate’s quote, “Behold the God/man!” The thoughtful believer can hardly speak for awe, amazement, love, wonderment, and even befuddlement! What inexpressible lovingkindness coming to such unworthy creatures! And yet…there are still some who keep a heart of doubt, disobedience, and rejection! Which side do you find yourself on? What will YOU do with Jesus?

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Tell Me About the Christ, Part 2

Posted on September 14, 2013 by parklinscomb

Last week we began a brief study of the Christ with a look at what the Scripture says about Him before He came into this world as Jesus of Nazareth. The world, including even the religious world, has some pretty off-target ideas about Him, but Christians can know that truth about the Savior by reading the Bible. And when it comes to the incarnation, the “enfleshment” of the Christ, the amazement, the accomplishment, and the glory blow the mind, leave us with a profound sense of humility and awe, and leave us with some important things to apply to our lives.

He emptied Himself to become a man
And it starts with something startling—an emptying! It is Paul that reveals this amazing and wonder-filled truth in Philippians 2:5-7 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” While it is true that mankind is made in the likeness of God, even so, this is a gargantuan step down—from un-temptable to temptable, from a glorious to being “like one from whom men hide their face…despised”, from divine invincibility to human frailty, from command giver to command obeyer, from immortal to mortal, from living in perfect holiness to living in the midst of all the corruption and sin of this fallen world, and so much more. What great, magnanimous grace it was to take such a dizzying step down from Heaven to Mary’s womb and then to a stable in Bethlehem! Sometimes we marvel Christ’s humility at the foot-washing scene of John 13, but much more amazing is the Christ’s emptying of Himself to become a man. It’s something to think about next time our pride starts to get in the way of doing right.

All the fullness of Deity dwelt in Him
But just because He emptied Himself, He was not any less God. Paul tells us Colossians 2:9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,” While men are souls in the likeness of God which have been clothed in flesh, Jesus was God Himself clothed in flesh! This made Him 100% man, while being 100% God, too. There were some in the late first century and second century (and there are still some) who had difficulty wrapping their minds around Jesus’ being God and man. They claimed that He was an illusion, a visible spirit or “emanation” that left no footprint in the sand, when he walked on the beach. But John testifies strongly, 1 John 1:1-4 “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life…” We shouldn’t wonder too much at this; our own essence as men is really spirit—we simply inhabit a fleshly body. So, Jesus also being in essence a spirit (though exalted in the highest degree possible), also took on flesh through the miraculous virgin birth.

Jesus knows about suffering and temptation
Because of the fact that Jesus is both fully God and man (also see Hebrews 2:14-18) He knows intimately and experientially about suffering and temptation—Isaiah 53:4 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried…” This fact carries wonderful comfort, encouragement, inspiration, and help for us as weak human beings—God knows! God really knows—not just in the academic, cerebral, head-knowledge sense of knowing—what it is like to be you. He knows what it’s like to be sick, to stump your toe, lose a loved one, to be young, to feel oppressed, and so much more. The Hebrew writer tells us (Hebrews 4:15) “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” Never believe the lie that God just can’t know how you feel; He really has been there and done that.

He came to seek and to save the lost
But Jesus the Christ didn’t just come to see what it’s like to be human—like a divine slumming adventure—He came with a real, crux-of-human-history mission. Luke 19:10 quotes Jesus as saying, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Were it not for what Jesus taught, how He lived, His unbelievably heroic death on the cross, and His resurrection, we’d have no hope. At all. Do you know your mission? Billions in the world either have no purpose for their lives or have a mistaken mission—making money, living it up, blowing people up in the name of your god, etc. And sadly there are thousands of disciples of Christ living as if they don’t know what their mission is. Sometimes it’s complex—family responsibilities, sharing the Gospel, serving in the church, service in the community, being a light in your corner of the world, etc.—but our mission always centers around His continuing mission to seek and to save the lost. Got mission?

Resurrected
The last facet of the Christ’s incarnation is His resurrection. His mission continued after His sacrifice on the cross. Though you might think that death would be the end of Christ’s incarnation, there was still one more thing to accomplish in “the flesh”. Paul explains it this way: 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 “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.” His resurrected flesh is a our guarantee and model for our own flesh’s resurrection.

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Tell Me About the Christ, Part 1

Posted on September 6, 2013 by parklinscomb

What do you know about the Christ? It’s one of those things that we sort of take for granted, but we’re living in a world unlike what we’re used to that is among other things challenging even the basics of Christianity. Even groups that cast themselves as “Christian” (mainline denominations, not just fringe groups) are teaching that Jesus is little more than a great religious man in history. In such a world we need to be reminded of who the Christ is.

The next several posts will talk about the God-breathed truth we can know about Christ. Of course, because it’s a bulletin article, it can hardly cover everything; but give the hope is that it will be a good place to start. And we’ll start with His “pre-incarnation”—His existence before He became a man.

  • Pre-existence with God the Father
    Although some religious groups describe the Christ as being a lesser, created being, the Bible proclaims Him to have existed before anything else along with God the Father. The Christ is deity and has all the nature of deity, including being eternal—no beginning and no end—never created. For example, Jesus prayed to the Father, (John 17:5) “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” And we can also note (in a verse we’ll quote again for a different reason, John 1:1, 2) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” There’s an important point here: If the Christ were the beginning of creation (as some groups teach, misunderstanding Col. 1:15), He could not have been in the beginning with God.
  • Equality with God the Father
    Jesus is made of the same “spirit-stuff” as God, the Father. Paul tells us clearly about His nature, (Philippians 2:5, 6) “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” The apostle John also tells us through inspiration, (John 1:1, 2) “In the beginning was the Word [referring to Jesus, John 1:14), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” There are a couple of crucial things to notice here: 1) The Christ’s very nature is God (that is, He is composed of the same “God-stuff” as God the Father) and 2) He is completely equal with God the Father. 
  • The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world
    God anticipated that man would sin before He ever created the world, and before the world was created He had planned on redeeming us. And Peter tells us that Christ was chosen as the key figure in man’s redemption (1 Peter 1:20) “He [Jesus] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” Paul, then, tells us that we were chosen in Him (Ephesians 1:4) “For he chose us in him [Jesus] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight…”  And John’s Revelation puts the who thing together: (Revelation 13:8) “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”
  • Greater than the angels
    Although angels in the Old Testament are often called “sons of God”, this is actually a Semitic idiom for any spiritual, angelic being. The writer of Hebrews makes absolutely sure that no one misunderstands this point, when he writes, (Hebrews 1:5, 6) “For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”? And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”” The Christ is no angel, He was, is, and will always be deity!
  • Creator
    “Who created the earth?” The usual answer is “God.” And that’s correct, but we often are thinking of “God” as God the Father. The truth of the matter is that it was the Christ, who was actual Creator of the universe. Paul makes this plain in Colossians 1:15, 16 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him.” And as the Hebrews writer speaks of the Christ, he says, (Hebrews 1:2) “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” The Christ is the actual Creator.
  • All things hold together
    The Christ, however, is not just the Creator, He is also the sustainer, the “glue” of the universe. As Paul finishes talking about Christ’s creative role (Col. 1:15,16), he then goes on to speak of His sustaining role in holding the universe together, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17). No small wonder that there was an earthquake as He died on the cross—the Great Sustainer had just bruised His heel (Gen. 3:15)!
  • Old Testament appearances
    But Jesus birth was not the Christ’s appearance in the pages of the Bible. As Joshua privately contemplated the great task of conquering Canaan a “stranger” appeared to him and the following event happened: Joshua 5:13-15 “Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.” Likewise the Christ may have also appeared in the story of Haggar running from Sarah, the appearances to Moses, a theophany that came to Manoah, and manifestations to Isaiah and Zechariah.

The major point here as we reflect on these multiple references to the pre-existent Christ is that Jesus is no mere man; He is no mere angel; He is not a creature of any kind; He is God. He is part of the eternal God; the One who created EVERYthing, the One who was chosen to be the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, and the one in many ways that seems to be the Father’s interface with the material world even before His incarnation—rightfully worshipped by men and angels.

And wonder of wonders, He clothed Himself in flesh to learn, to obey, to suffer, to be tried, to be tempted, and to experience everything we experience—and redeem us. More next week.

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The Green Beans of the Christian Life

Posted on September 2, 2013 by parklinscomb

I was amazed many years ago to find out what Weight Watchers at the time was suggesting for a diet. Green beans! Tons of them! “How in the world could that be good for a diet? Is there some special fat-melting ingredient found in this food?” I thought. In time, of course, I found out that there was nothing especially fat-melting about them; the reason for this diet requirement was to fill the dieter, so that the dieter wouldn’t have any room left for the high calorie stuff. “Ah-ha,” I thought, “now that makes good sense.” And it makes good sense in other areas of life, too, I’ve discovered.

Paul told the Ephesian brethren (Ephesians 4:22-25) to fill their lives up with good deeds…

“that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

And then he followed up with the beginning of a list of examples…

Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.”

Get it? Laying aside the old self isn’t enough; you have to put on a new, Christ-like self. Putting it another way, it’s not enough to simply tell yourself, “I won’t sin, I won’t sin, I won’t sin!” All you’re thinking about it is the sin—and the probability is that you’ll eventually give in and fall into it. The better approach is to do the good, Christ-like, positive deeds as substitutes to the sinful—or in other words, “fill up with green beans”, the good stuff.

The Bible is full of commands and examples of good things to do. Christianity was never about just staying away from the sinful deeds. Jesus was no monk cloistered away from the world, so that He wouldn’t be tempted to do evil. On the contrary, He was fully engaged in the world we all live but FULL of good works, righteous deeds, uplifting words, good examples, faithful attitudes, and compassionate miracles. And strong, meaningful, sanctified (purified from sin deeds) Christianity follows Jesus in His goodness-filled living.

So what are those good things, the green beans of our spiritual life, that can fill our lives with goodness, so that no room is left for wrongdoing?

    • Personal Bible reading, studying
    • Time spent in prayer for others (have you seen the length of the list of needs in our congregation?)
    • Church Bible studies
    • Being a regular attender at all of the church’s assemblies
    • Visits of encouragement (phone calls, cards, or physical visits)
    • Helping older members of the congregation with things around the house
    • Helping neighbors (and as a by-product, possibly getting opportunities to share the Gospel)
    • Teaching or helping teach a children’s Bible class (and all the work that this entails)
    • Going on short-term mission trips (domestic or abroad)
    • Working with the teens
    • Fellowship opportunities with other Christians including hospitality
    • Church work opportunities like MNFM, VBS, benevolence work, GAD
    • Hospital visits
    • Mentoring of young people

Are you tired of just reading the list? That’s sort of the idea. But just think of the spiritual growth and the “putting away of sin” that such activity would generate in your life! Personal, full-tilt engagement with the good deeds found in the Bible (both with the church and apart from the church’s official activities) not only helps the church grow, not only helps us grow, but it also crowds out the old habits of sin. Someone has put it well, “If we were to do all the good things the Bible tells us to do, we wouldn’t have time to do the sinful things!”

Are you serious about wanting sin out of your life? Fill you life with the “green beans” of full-on, involved, committed Christianity; and watch the old sinful habits melt away like those unwanted pounds.

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Looking for a Silver Lining

Posted on August 1, 2013 by parklinscomb

A couple of weeks ago I came to the church office to find that we’d been burglarized. It was mostly computers that were stolen; thankfully, the thieves left us our external hard drives. Nevertheless, the following week or so has kept me busy: talking to police, insurance people, church members, and even to some TV folks; keeping tabs on the losses (that I’m still discovering); replacing and setting up replacement equipment; and taking care of usual ministry.

But now that the biggest rush of activity is passed, I’ve had time to reflect on a few things that this incident brought to the fore.

Christ’s coming like a thief

As mentioned earlier, computers but not external hard drives were taken. This was good for some of us who were backed-up. This wasn’t as much of a blessing to others of us who were not backed-up. And if you weren’t backed-up—sorry, no do-overs. Should we have had an active alarm system? Yes, and we’re looking into that now—but it’s too late to prevent the previous break-in, and there’s no do-overs. If only we’d known that we were going to be robbed! We could have backed everyone up, we could have alarmed the system, put up lights in the dark corners of the property, etc. We should’ve known that this could happen. But the burglary is already done, and there’s nothing to do about it now but grieve the losses.

Similarly, Christ’s coming will be unexpected and there will be no do-overs. Well, let me slightly alter that last statement: Christ’s coming is expected, we do know that it will be happening. It’s only the specific date and time that won’t be announced. And once it happens there will be no do-overs, no “king’s X”, no “I really intended to…” excuses. There’ll be nothing to do about it but face the judgment and grieve the eternal loss.

It’s just material stuff

There’s another time Jesus mentions thieves: Matthew 6:19, 20 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.” As grieved and violated as the theft causes us to feel, the truth is that it is only stuff that is doomed to decay and theft anyway. I feel that way about electronic stuff anyway—that all my work can be too easily vaporized or wiped clean by a power outage, disk crash, electro-magnetic pulse. But the stark truth is that “temporary, corruptible, and steal-able” is the nature of this world (paper, coin, plant, animal, mineral, human, or digital), and we do well to not invest ourselves too much in them. They are, in the end, the food of rust and moths, or if they last very long, will be taken by someone else—not even the Pharaohs’ pyramids belong to them anymore. The only things from this world that will last—the only things—are the faith, obedience, generosity, kindness, courage, benevolence, love, and faithfulness we invest in eternity, our treasures in Heaven.

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Standing for 1st Century Christianity in the 21st Century — #3

Posted on July 30, 2013 by parklinscomb

We may complain a lot about trying to live a 1st century Christian life in the 21st century—there are so many new temptations that we have to contend with, so many cultural differences, so many challenges that we believe the 1st century apostles and New Testament writers never anticipated. Blah, blah, blah! It is high time that we read the history books of the ancient world and understand that it was plenty challenging for 1st century Christians to practice 1st century Christianity; and everything that we deal with today, 1st century Christians dealt with a form of it—sometimes in spades!

Do we have to deal with religious and cultural diversity? The Roman, pagan world had tons of diversity. The Roman Empire embraced peoples from modern day Iran to modern day Britain and all their cultures and religions with them. Everyone expected everyone else to put up with the other religions and when any sort of religious unrest or intolerance reared its head, it was quickly and decisively squashed. In the reign of Caesar Claudius the Jews were expelled from Rome for a time (c. AD 49-51) over religious riots about a certain “Chrestus” (sic)  between Jews and Christians (see Seutonius’ Lives of the Twelve Caesars and Acts 18:2). Is “ecumenism” and denominational union socially expected and politically correct? Welcome to the 1st century world!

But we live in a post modern world, where claims to absolute truth is rejected and we an embrace of everyone’s “truth” is encouraged. Again, welcome to the 1st century world! Post-modernism is really just ancient paganism. Remember this biblical exchange?

John 18:37, 38 “Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and *said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.”

Pilate’s response was no mere throw-away line. Every street corner philosopher (and there were plenty of them) had a “truth” to sell—everything from Socrates and Plato to Epicurus and the Stoics to the eastern philosophies like gnosticism. Every god was “true”, every philosophy had its own value, and the politician who could buy the best poets (yes, the poets sold their services to propaganda machines) had the best political positions for the public good. And Christianity of the 1st century was preaching, John 14:6 “…I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

But we live in such an immoral world that even religious institutions have begun to promote immoral behavior! Yes, welcome, once again, to the 1st century world, where the gods behaved like soap opera stars and sometimes like porn stars. Where “sacrifices” and religious ritual often included sexual activity of various orientations. Where the gods couldn’t care less about morality, but were instead concerned primarily or only about whether they’d be “fed” (via sacrifices) or not. And Christianity was “competing” by calling for real righteousness, justice, and morality!

But we also live in an age of entertainment and where worship needs to have enough flash and pizzazz. People are expecting you to give them a show that will help them feel like they are in the presence of God! Welcome to…well, you’ve sure gotten it by now. The 1st century religious world was full of pageantry, show, images, smoke, and majestic music. They even paid engineers to rig the temples and the idols to perform wonders and miracles for the public to bolster their faith in the gods—sometimes to let the gods “actually” speak. All of these things were in direct competition with Christian worship services of the 1st century.

The 1st century also had plenty of gender equality among pagan “clergy” and goddesses! The 1st century had lots of religious eye-candy with idols and icons and gorgeous temples! And the pagan world was quick to oppress and persecute Christianity for its counter-cultural beliefs!

And no doubt (sarcasm alert) Peter and the other apostles gathered in a worried conclave, when they found out just how out-of-step Christianity was with the rest of the world  to hire a consultant group of pollsters, cultural critics, and futurists; and after “much study and prayer” came up with an “improved” Gospel message—one that didn’t offend, one that was progressive and “with it”, one that would be more relevant to the world. Or not! Mostly not.

Don’t misunderstand me. I do realize that Paul taught that we need be Jews to the Jews, Greeks to the Greeks, etc. (1 Cor. 9:22), but Paul never sought to change the Gospel or the pattern of the church. Here are a couple of samples of Paul’s teaching about that…

  • Galatians 1:8, 9 “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
  • 2 Timothy 1:13 “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”

But getting back to the main point, can anyone who has ever read 1 and 2 Corinthians really think that we don’t face the same problems as the 1st century? The same calls for relevancy to culture, to adopt a new hermeneutic (Hellenism and nascent gnosticism in their case), to be less bold about the truth of the Gospel, to be less judgmental about sin, and to create a better or more interactive “worship experience”. Yet the constant call was to stand firm:

  • 1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:15 “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”
  • 1 Peter 5:9 “But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”
  • Ephesians 6:11-15 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;”

For there are 21st century challenges against God’s patterns, against the inspiration and authority of Scripture, that oppose the 1st century, the biblical, kind of leadership of Christ’s church, that claw away at the biblical model of involvement, the priesthood of all believers, in convincing and motivating the next generation to keep to the old paths, to sharing the “Old, Old Story” to a world craving novelty and something different, modern challenges to morality, gender roles, and propriety for 1st century Christians — both men and women, to keeping the saved saved, to raising up godly, spiritually-minded young people, challenges to godly transformation rather than worldly conformity — BUT WE MUST STAND FIRM!

Rather than constantly taking the culture’s temperature and trying to gauge what they want, we need to take courage and provide them what they need for eternity. We need…

  • …less sociology and more “Bible-ology”
  • …fewer cultural studies and more Bible studies
  • …fewer futurists and more “eternalists”
  • …less concern about being relevant and more concern about convincing men of the relevancy of the truth to their souls
  • …less worship experience and more true worship
  • …less discerning of trends and more discerning of the pattern
  • …fewer polls and more souls

Is it possible to stand for 1st century Christianity in the 21st century. Not only is it possible, it is necessary!

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Standing for 1st Century Christianity in the 21st Century — #2

Posted on July 12, 2013 by parklinscomb

Our last posting gave thought to a stronger than usual pressure in our modern world to change God’s church, His moral standards, and His ways. However, we had also noted that rather than these being extraordinary and unprecedented times, there is plenty of evidence in Scripture that pressures to change God’s pattern have assaulted God’s people before. Perhaps the most strongly worded New Testament proof that this is a recurring problem comes from Paul’s rebuke against those who would change the Gospel in the first century, (Galatians 1:8, 9) “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

But changing God’s way was an Old Testament problem, too; and there are things that we can learn from those older inspired stories. We’re reminded twice in the New Testament that there is much to learned in the histories of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

One of the more applicable stories to the question of changing God’s pattern—though not often studied—is found in 1 Kings 12, the story of Jeroboam. The united kingdom of Israel under the rule of the house of David was dividing. This was not because of the young arrogance of Rehoboam, as some assume. Rather it was of God (1 Kings 12:24) because of Solomon’s sins (1 Kings 11:11). And this handing over of the lion’s share of the kingdom to Jeroboam wasn’t intended to be a temporary transfer; God made an astonishing promise of security and legacy to Jeroboam…

1 Kings 11:37, 38 “I will take you, and you shall reign over whatever you desire, and you shall be king over Israel. Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.”

God was promising to Jeroboam a house like David’s, if he’d obey! After God made a promise like that, you’d think that Jeroboam would be feeling pretty secure and safe. But instead, he let his fears get the best of him…

1 Kings 12:26-28 “Jeroboam said in his heart, ‘Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.’ So the king consulted…”

There’s more to v. 28 that we’ll talk about later, but I wanted to stop at the word “consulted” for just a moment. Jeroboam feared that the people were going to leave him and return to Rehoboam—not too different a fear from modern church leaders today. So he “consulted”—again, not unlike a lot of church leaders today. I’m not sure who exactly he consulted with. Political advisors? Religious experts? Ancient sociologists? An ancient version of the Pew Poll or Gallup Poll? If only he had consulted with God instead! But the bottom line here is that fear of the people leaving created great pressure and temptation to change God’s pattern.

And Jeroboam caved in to the pressure and temptation. What did he do? A few things you might recognize as having some modern parallels…

1 Kings 12:28-32 “So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.”

Jeroboam changed a few things about the religion of Israel, found in the Law of Moses, to keep his people from leaving…

  • Two golden calves—a concession to eye-appeal. These idols were not, by the way, the worship of pagan gods; they were supposed to represent the one true God. But the one true God was really out of sync with the times; He offered no eye-appeal and commanded that there be no images of Him. The golden calves offered a little “pop” and “flash”, something for the eye to behold. It would definitely be a crowd pleaser.
  • Changed the places of worship to Bethel and Dan—a concession to convenience. This served Jeroboam politically, since the northern tribes wouldn’t be mixing with the southern kingdom; but making the destination for the major holy days shorter would be a “hit”, since the trips to Jerusalem from the northern tribes would take several days and several shekels to travel by foot. Traveling to Dan or Bethel wouldn’t be “too much”, as Jeroboam put it.
  • Instituted “high places” for worship—another concession to convenience. To make any kind of offering to God under the Mosaic Law, one had to travel to Jerusalem. This was really out of step with the rest of the pagan religious world which had “high places” with altars in every village and town. With Jeroboam’s introduction of more convenient local high places, an offering to God could be made in a matter of an hour rather a matter of days.
  • Opened up the priesthood to any Israelite (not just the Levites)—a concession to inclusivity. This move was politically advantageous, too, by 1) marginalizing the Levites and their religious objections and 2) getting greater political support from a wider constituency. This system was, after all, less arbitrary and more egalitarian.
  • Changed the dates of the “Feast of Tabernacles”—another concession to convenience and also to economics. The Feast of Booths falls right in the middle of the harvest of grapes, dates, figs, and olives. It likewise fell right across the beginning of plowing and planting of wheat and barley. Putting the Feast of Tabernacles a month later took some of the economic pressure off of farmers. I can almost hear Jeroboam’s press secretary announcing “an innovative policy that reflects ‘real world’ production realities to assure real economic progress for the average working man.”

Anyway, add them all up and they became what was known as the infamous “sins of Jeroboam” mentioned 14 times in the books of 1 & 2 Kings; and worse, they led to the later adoption of outright paganism in less than a century. If only Jeroboam had acted in faith, his kingdom would have been great, and Israel might be been spared a terrible punishment.

And there’s something here for us to learn. Today the hue and cry is similar, fearing that people will leave. And while this is a legitimate concern, it is never one that is properly addressed by offering entertainment and eye-candy, by offering greater convenience, by appointing leaders not authorized by God, or by introducing any other change to the pattern. Rather, it is addressed properly by shepherds, teachers, and preachers actually following God’s pattern of teaching, discipling, exhorting, encouraging, equipping, exampling, correcting, and disciplining.

And this isn’t the only example that we can find in Scripture…

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Standing for 1st Century Christianity in the 21st Century

Posted on July 9, 2013 by parklinscomb

American culture (and most of western culture) is one that prides itself on being advanced, thoroughly modern, progressive, and sophisticated. If we’re not changing, innovating, and tweaking things, we are stagnant, old-fashioned, or losing ground. We hold in contempt or pity those countries, societies, or groups that don’t keep up with what we consider to be the leading edge, because change (it is thought) is always better, always to be preferred, and always good—that’s why we mistakenly call any kind of change “progress”.

For this reason, Christians live in times of great pressure to advance, be thoroughly modern, be progressive, and be sophisticated. Many wannabe religious sociologists read the current polls and offer dire warnings to churches about the need to come into the 21st century before we fall so far behind that we become “irrelevant” to our modern world and begin losing our membership by the droves—let alone fail to grow numerically. Worship services, it is argued, need to reflect our “entertainment culture”—more flash, more laughter, more applause. Sermons need to always be encouraging, positive, non-judgmental, and above all short. The music of worship needs to catchy, upbeat, fresh, transcendent, and instrumentally electrified—rock and pop are preferred, please. Our messages must become politically correct; sins as defined by the Bible, must be soft-pedaled, and the new morality must be be pushed as the official stance of the faithful. Words like discipleship, sin, Hell, and judgment must no longer be spoken; while words like spirituality, love, inclusion, and feelings have become the new “legal tender” of religious people. And many a church leader has quaked in his shoes at the grim prophecies of these poll-inspired “prophets”, and obeyed the call to change! “After all,” they say in their own defense, “these are extra-ordinary, unprecedented times!”

Yet, the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New, virtually chants, “Stay with the pattern.” The Scriptures tells us again and again to follow God’s pattern or type:

  • some calling us to be imitators (1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”)
  • and disciples (Matthew 28:19 ““Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,”),
  • others calling us to hold fast (1 Corinthians 15:2 “by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.”)
  • and stand firm (Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”)
  • to teachings (2 Thessalonians 2:15 “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”),
  • practices (1 Peter 5:12 “Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!” ),
  • and faith (Revelation 2:13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”),
  • still others charging us with doing what other churches had been taught to do (1 Corinthians 16:1 “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.”),
  • and still more warning us not to stray from the original teachings (Galatians 1:8, 9 “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”).

You can barely turn to a page in the Bible where it isn’t commanded, praised, or exhorted that we should not change course from God’s patterns, forms, and ways.

And if this last statement is true (and it is), it tells us something that you may not have thought about: the modern pressure to modernize is anything but unprecedented! That is to say, there have always been pressures for God’s people to change, to be more “relevant”, to leave God’s pattern behind, and to come into the modern age—whatever century it might be. But God’s command is, and always has been “stand firm”.

For the next couple of postings, I’d like to talk about a couple of the precedents to the call for God’s people to change course and leave God’s pattern.

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The Marriage Covenant

Posted on June 14, 2013 by parklinscomb

I’ve heard people joke about it before, but never really heard anyone speak about it seriously. Yet, there it was on the radio being seriously discussed like it was a desirable, workable possibility—contractual time limits for marriage, an end point for marriage other than “until death do us part”.

The rationale? “People live a really long time, these days; it’s not unusual for people to be married 40, 50, and 60 years these days. And when marriage was “invented” people didn’t usually live but to 40 about years old and weren’t married for more than perhaps 20 years. Now that we live so long, we have the time to change, grow, morph, become someone new; and we oftentimes outgrow an old relationship that we entered into into our 20’s.”

When I hear such nonsense, I’m reminded of a movie line (a near-quote, anyway) out of Her Alibi as the main character explains the reason his ex-wife divorced him, “She said she needed to grow. I thought she was full grown, when I married her.” The problem, seriously, isn’t about growth.

The problem is a fundamental misunderstanding of, or ignorance of, or even wanting to ignore the meaning of covenant; and marriage is a covenant (Malachi 2:14). Covenants are a kind of agreement or contract, but one far, far more binding, life-long in duration, and requiring far more from those that enter it than any paper contract or handshake agreement that someone might make under ordinary circumstances. Covenants are essentially the making of family through incorporating someone not in your immediate family into your immediate family. Adoption, for example, is a covenant, and helps to illustrate the nature of covenant. Adopted children are considered as much the children of the parent as the naturally born children—having an inheritance with natural children, loved like natural children, having all the responsibilities and duties of natural children, and being children of the parents for their whole lives. And marriage is a covenant (the making of family), too, with its own special set of responsibilities, duties, and loyalties—and equally as durable as any adoption, because durability is the nature of family, of covenant. Marriage cannot be modified any more than sonship/fatherhood or any other family relationship.

As 21st century Christians we must be careful not to embrace the world’s ever-changing and sinful values and views. The world has chosen to try to redefine marriage significantly in the past several years: “Open Marriage”, same-sex marriage, leadership changes in the family, and now time-limited marriages. We have new (we think) ideas about what makes marriage good, beneficial, and viable—thrill, romance, deep friendship, etc. Thinking that marriage is an invention of human society, mankind comes to the wrong-headed notion that humans can modify it as they see fit without harm or sin. But they are terribly misguided.

Marriage is not a human institution or convention, it is a God-made covenant which we have no right to modify outside of the parameters that God has laid down. It is God who has set the ground rules, men have no right to alter, tweak, or change the “deal” that God has set down.

  • It is only between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:18ff)
  • The husband is the head of the wife (Ephesians 5:22-33)
  • Husbands and wives must love one another (Ephesians 5:25 and Titus 2:4)
  • Sexual expression is permissible, encouraged (Genesis 1:22), and a rightful expectation (1 Corinthians 7:2-5)
  • Sexual expression is exclusive to one’s husband or wife (Exodus 20:14)
  • Its duration is as long as they both shall live (Romans 7:3)
  • Divorce is allowable only for the cause of adultery (Matthew 5:32)

There are other parameters that could be listed here, but the main point is that we must pay attention to and obey God’s laws for marriage, even when the rest of the world says something different. Men and women may argue that it just isn’t working for them; but when you cut through the baloney, the problem isn’t in marriage the way that God created it—it works just fine. The problem is that God’s parameters don’t fit their desires, and it tells them that they’re wrong. Men in their “wisdom” may not understand why, but rightness or wrongness doesn’t lie in whether or not we can figure it out; it lies in the fact that God has said it.

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