· "It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict. God's job to judge, and my job to love." uhhh, no.

 

·  "It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict. God's job to judge, and my job to love."  uhhh,  No, and here's why not:

· We preachers think we can say things we know will be interpreted as disapproval of other people's way of life and may likely make other people feel terrible, but we do it claiming that any conviction felt by the listeners must come only from God; our only intention is to love people. So we describe our responsibility as "to love" and God's responsibility as "to convict and to judge". We love the sinner.  God is the source of conviction and judgement. There's a huge problem with this kind of role play. It results in abuse in the name of God. "Hey- It's not our fault you feel bad after what we said! Take it up with God - Maybe you will feel better after you repent and start to see things our way." It also results in discrimination and could even result in violence taken up against others by people who believe that what we preach against, is truly sinful in God's sight, and must be dealt with.

·  If conviction in the human heart comes only through the Holy Spirit, then explain the guilt felt by a woman who is assaulted by an abusive husband. Explain also the sense of guilty sin experienced by children that were constantly told they are no good and bad because they spoke their native language in an Indian residential school. Explain also why Huckleberry Finn felt extreme conviction and in danger of hell-fire when he made his decision to help Jim escape from slavery. Conviction does not just come from God. Conviction, humiliation, guilt – these can be inflicted upon innocent people, like weights tossed onto their stooping shoulders, by preachers.

·  The trouble is, some preachers speak vehemently against others because they do not like or appreciate the social norms other people have. But the preacher declares that they are only telling the truth; their own love is pure, and if what they say convinces or convicts anyone, it must be God at work because conviction and judgement are his domain. 

 

·  I believe a more scriptural view and one more consistent with Jesus' message would be that we are co-labourors with God and the degree of our usefulness to Him in the establishment of His Kingdom is in direct proportion to how well our teaching and preaching line up with His Heart. We are called to admonish, rebuke and exhort but the subject matter had better line up with what Jesus indicated was important to God, and not simply be an imposition of our own paradigms: reflections of the culture we are most influenced by and too readily proclaim as "God's Way". Depending upon when in history various Christian preachers have been born, "God's Way" has been among other things capitalism, communism, slavery, the abolition of slavery, conquest of lands by warfare, emancipation of women, the refusal to allow women to vote, child labour, and a myriad of other ideologies that cover everything from hair length, the wearing of hats, bowling, going to movies, dancing, Sunday shopping, marriage and the right to bear arms.

·  Care is needed I say, lest we become a clanging bell or an irritating cymbal. Or worse, that we (although we blame God for the guilty sensations) lay upon others, burdens of guilt that we are not willing to ease.

·Luke 11:46  "Yes," said Jesus, "what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. NLT 

Not convinced?  Then what would you say if I preached against women cutting their hair, and refusing to wear hats in public?  Many Christians nowadays would smile quietly to themselves, almost embarrassed for me. “That's not in vogue nowadays! Our present culture doesn't have a problem with those things. That preacher is embarrassing to God and the Christian cause!”  Then, what if I were successful - if I convinced the women and they felt real guilt and conviction because they had not been wearing hats? What if their husbands too, were convinced by my preaching and not only agreed, but forced their wives to wear hats and forbade them from speaking in public against the edict? Then many Christians would say I was manipulating them. That is, many Christians here- in the West, in 2015. Christians on the other side of the world or living in a different era may give credit to God for providing the conviction. What? I thought God doesn't change?  God doesn’t change. But the sin preachers rail against does change – admit it, and in the name of Jesus, we preachers have historically laid guilt upon the innocent and threatened them with hell fire because their lives did not measure up to our social ideals. Holiness isn’t about whether or not I smoke or eat shellfish, but more about that later.

·  Well, we better all be careful what societal norms we preach against this year - lest history prove we were preaching our own tastes and were loading burdens (guilt) on the backs of people that the Lord never meant them to bear. After all, our Lord's command is "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you". Matthew 28:20

What Is Missing From God's Appearance In Bethlehem?

The Christmas Story:  Luke 2:8-20  

(Can you tell what's missing?)

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

The shepherds are just ordinary men. Well, not quite ordinary. According to tradition, they would have been a little less than ordinary.  Especially if you are referring to their personal holiness, personal cleanliness, religious education, vocabulary or place in society.

The shepherds were sitting around after a days work. Picture the usual scene nowadays. Mechanics, labourers, hired hands - sitting around having a beer. "That was a f***'n close call today" "Next time the boss comes around, make sure someone a hell of a lot smarter than Joey explains what happened to his f***'n sheep."  Not the sort of conversation we usually insert into Sunday School Christmas plays.

Then suddenly God visits them in their ordinariness to inform them He had not forgotten them.  No wonder they were SORE AFRAID ! But the angel gives them a message that shall be for all people - even them! Then they are given instructions on how to find the Christ Child and after talking it over, they decide to go and visit the manger. They decide to approach the Holy Son of God - God incarnate, the fullness of the Godhead, dwelling in bodily form, the Word become flesh, Emmanuel - God with us. 

What is truly amazing is what is missing from their visit:

-  No instruction to remove footwear.

-  No requirement to wash up to the elbows, or cleanse themselves seven times before entering.

-  Not even a call to repentance!

-  No specific instructions to follow, on pain of death if the instructions are deviated from in the least.

-  No warning not to touch the Ark of the Messiah (the manger he is set in) on pain of INSTANT death.

-  No long list of who may and who may not enter the stable, but simply "which shall be for all people".

God the Son. Not a burning bush or a thundering mountain, but a little baby - The most express image of God He had ever revealed. As if to say: This is what I am really like - and I am here for all people.

Weasel Words: A Quote from Billy Graham

Okay, I don't imagine this post will make me very popular. Not among my evangelical friends anyway. Describing Billy Graham's words as "weasel words" probably won't go over too well with a lot of people. But before you discount me as an apostate and worthy of excommunication, let me preface my blog with this: Thanks in part to the printing press, WordPress, and Facebook, We can quote other people and turn a sound bite into a thesis for our own purposes. Billy isn't writing here to further explain his words, but nevertheless, others use his words to promote a theology that is deceptive and that is what I want to point out.

1. wea·sel words

   noun

   1. words or statements that are intentionally ambiguous or misleading.

   
   





"It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict. God's job to judge, and my job to love."
In other words, We preachers can say things we know will be interpreted as disapproval of other people's way of life and may likely make other people feel terrible, but weasel out of it by claiming that any conviction felt by the listeners must come only from God; our only intention is to love people. So we describe our responsibility as "to love" and God's responsibility "to convict and to judge". We love the sinner, and God hates the sin. God is the source of conviction and judgement. There's a huge problem with this kind of role play. It results in abuse in the name of God. Hey- It's not our fault you feel bad after what we said! Take it up with God - Maybe you will feel better after you repent and start to see things our way.
If conviction in the human heart comes only through the Holy Spirit, then explain the guilt felt by a woman who is assaulted by an abusive husband. Explain also the sense of guilty sin experienced by children who are constantly told they are no good and bad because they were speaking their native language in an Indian residential school. Explain also why Huckleberry Finn felt extreme conviction and in danger of hell-fire when he made his decision to help Jim escape from slavery.
The trouble is, people want to look like the good guy, the nice boss. Such people may actually not love other people, or accept the social norms of people different from themselves; but they want to look good and kind and loving. So they speak vehemently against others, but declare that within themselves, there is not a judgmental bone in their bodies. Their love is pure, and if what they say hurts anyone, it must be God at work because conviction and judgement are his domain.
I believe a more scriptural view and one more consistent with Jesus' message would be that we are co-labourors with God and the degree of our usefulness to Him in the establishment of His Kingdom is in direct proportion to how well our words line up with His Heart. We are called to admonish, rebuke and exhort but the subject matter had better line up with what Jesus indicated was important to God, and not simply be an imposition of our own paradigms: reflections of the culture we are most influenced by and readily accept as "God's Way". Depending upon when in history various Christians have been born, "God's Way" has been among other things capitalism, communism, slavery, the abolition of slavery, conquest of lands by warfare, emancipation of women, the refusal of permitting women to vote, child labour, and a myriad of other ideologies that cover everything from hair length, the wearing of hats, Sunday shopping, marriage and the right to bear arms.
Care is needed I say, lest we become a clanging bell or an irritating cymbal. Or worse, that we (although we blame God for the guilty sensations) lay upon others, burdens of guilt that we are not willing to ease.


Luke 11:46  "Yes," said Jesus, "what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. NLT 

Not convinced?  Then what would you say if I preached against women cutting their hair, and refusing to wear hats in public?  Many Christians would smile quietly to themselves, almost embarrassed for me. That's not in vogue now a days! Our present culture doesn't have a problem with those things. That preacher is embarrassing to God and the Christian cause!  Then, what if I were successful - if I convinced the women and they felt real guilt and conviction because they had not been wearing hats? Then many Christians would say I was manipulating them. That is, many Christians here- in the West, in 2014. Christians on the other side of the world or living in a different era may give credit to God for providing the conviction. What? I thought God doesn't change?  
Well, we better all be careful what societal norms we preach against this year - lest history prove we were preaching our own tastes and were loading burdens (guilt) on the backs of people that the Lord never meant them to bear. After all, our Lord's command is "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you". Matthew 28:20

Lifestyle Management

Is the church today attempting Lifestyle Management? Or are we doing God's work?

"By this, shall all men know that you are my disciples: If you don't smoke, drink, buy lottery tickets or vote for a liberal government."  Actually, although the foregoing is what is often preached, Jesus said something very different.

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

Christian's love for criticizing the actions of other people is part of human nature. Human sin nature. It's an old habit. "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’  Matthew 11:19

Actually, a short while ago, the list of habits that would identify anyone as a non-believer, or at best a backslider, was much longer. Twenty years ago the list included dancing. Twenty five years ago also included shopping on Sundays. Before that it included bowling, playing pool and watching horse races. Interestingly, the list hasn't simply been getting shorter. It's dynamic - it changes with the mood of society; sometimes contrasting with acceptable norms and sometimes duplicating them. A hundred years ago, famous preachers smoked tobacco and had a drink after supper.

Did Christ ask his followers to attempt Lifestyle Management of their neighbours, friends and society?  I don't think so.  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 What did Christ command? Search and see..... not much about drinking. Not much about smoking, nothing about which political party to vote for. 

"Your lifestyle betrays to me your rebellion against God." Have you ever had that sort of sneaking suspicion about other people? Judgement regarding the spirituality or state of salvation of other people must be one of the most important and common themes Jesus taught on. He taught NOT to do it. Yet how often do we raise superior eyebrows and knowingly pass judgement on someone else because they are not living their lives according to the pattern laid down by men, reinforced by the careful selection of scriptures taken out of context?

"Adherence to a certain lifestyle demonstrates to the world that we are trustworthy servants of the Lord. The maintenance of an appropriate public image is important so that the 'work of God' (read: our ability to raise cash) is not hindered." Really? Then I guess what Jesus said about the subject isn't true? (Read John 13:35 again)  Doesn't adherence to a certain lifestyle rather demonstrate to the public that we are clean-cut conservative middle class tax payers? People that can be counted on to support their world view of capitalism tempered with charity?

Is it not rather more important to focus our teaching on actually loving others, regardless of their background or place in society, choice of refreshments or whether they esteem one day above another, or not? I think we should be striving, not for a uniform appearance of "niceness", but that we would be known as a people that teach and live forgiveness; not judging others, but offering assistance to anyone that needs it.  -People would say: Look how they love and receive others! They have no facade of righteousness, but they really care for one another.

Is the Gospel just too gracious... without a few explanatory notes?

We evangelicals have a habit of adding explanations to God’s messages to earth.

1. God says something simple.
2. We know that people will misinterpret it if we don’t add a few conditions and explanations and if we don't do that, we may be liable; implicated in offering a too-simplistic message that might not bring about the correct response in the listeners.

Result - What I call Legally Evangelical:


It's as if we are afraid the legal department in Heaven would disapprove of any short and possibly misinterpreted bible passages or sermons. You know, like the one which inspired Martin Luther (est iustus autem ex fide vivit).   Sadly,  I believe adding to God's message does not mitigate anyone’s liability and it’s not to anyone’s edification, unless the Holy Spirit closes peoples ears to it and allows the hearers to hear only that which He is Speaking.  Take a few examples:

-  Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Legally Evangelical Translation: “Father, help them to realize that what they are doing is wrong, so that they are seriously repentant; desiring in their hearts to be clean and forgiven, so that You, O God, will forgive them if they believe with all their heart that You, O God will raise Me, Jesus, from the dead.”  Even then, we’d feel uncomfortable leaving anyone with such a brief explanation and would load them with literature exhorting them to tithe, attend an evangelical church regularly, pray, read their bible (the correct translation thereof), flee immorality, and perhaps also get baptized quickly before they forget and maybe throw in a doctrine or two about the rapture, or dispensationalism.

Here's another:
- Luke 2:8-14 “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host priasing God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Legally Evangelical Translation: “Be afraid! For Judgement is coming! For behold, I bring you essential information that will allow you to live forever, if you receive it with your heart, the evidence being a transformed life, otherwise it’s proof you don’t believe: For today, in the City of David, there has been born for you who believe, a LORD, who is Christ, that is, the fullness of the Godhead – God, incarnate and He shall save some of you, but not all of you, so don’t get your hopes up! This message is only for Evangelicals.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and may it not be long before He crushes the vile and the sick and perverted, and all the sinners on earth!”

Thanks be to God we did not write the original script!

Does God Forgive The Unrepentant?

Does God forgive the unrepentant?
I just came back from a men's camp. The presenter wanted to assure everyone that God WILL NOT forgive anyone that does not repent.  "God can't forgive you unless you are repentant" is actually how the speaker put it.  Can't ?  You mean, as in, Can Not ?  Weird.

Although it's weird to my ears, it is, unfortunately, not uncommon. The "righteous" who have repented (or think they have) do not very much like the idea of God forgiving anyone who has not been as diligent in their spiritual walk and seeking as they have.

1.  Can't God do anything He wants to do?  Who are we to limit God?

2.  Wouldn't God the Father do as Jesus requested?

"And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, 'Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.' " Luke 23:33-34

According to some preachers, God would have to respond to Jesus:  "No Way !  They are not repentant, I CAN NOT forgive them... sorry about that son, but I have to work within the theological framework I've set up."  Or, maybe, some would explain it this way:  Yes, God forgave them that particular sin (killing Jesus), but he damned them to hell because of all the other sin in their lives - the sins they had not repented of.  Can you imagine the judgment seat proceedings?  ....Mr. Pharisee, I forgive you for crucifying my only begotten son, but I damn you to hell because you never repented of your other sins, nor did you ever testify to having faith in my son. Goodbye.

Better questions may be: Can God restore an unrepentant person? Does God give assurance of forgiveness to an unrepentant person? Can an unrepentant person be useful in building God's Kingdom on earth?

If these questions challenge your thinking, or your hard-wired paradigms, very good. I don't think it is very healthy to possess a cookie-cutter faith.