Blog Archive: 2017
effetely Blog List: 2017
http://echem-eg.com/2022/05/17/epeec-2022/ 91. 1/1/17: Impossible People
92. 1/15/17: Reality Matters: Van Til’s Apologetic Part 2
93. 2/1/17: Mentoring Up
94. 2/15/17: A Rumor of Angels
95. 3/1/17: On the Education of Children
96. 3/15/17: The Virtues of Skepticism – Mitch Stokes on Apologetics
97. 4/1/17: Where the Conflict Lies
98. 4/15/17: Undeniable
99. 5/1/17: Revival & Revivalism
100. 5/15/17: Five Views on Apologetics
101. 6/1/17: The Parable of the Winning Football Team
102. 6/15/17: The God Who is There
103. 7/1/17: A Warrior’s Diary: Part 1
104. 7/15/17: Amazing Truths
105. 8/1/17: A Warrior’s Diary: Part 2
106. 8/15/17: The Sum of All Philosophy
107. 9/1/17: A Warrior’s Diary: Part 3
108. 9/15/17: Just how smart is God?
109. 10/1/17: How do you recognize a Christian?
110. 10/15/17: Longing to Know
111. 11/1/17: Whom do you trust?
112. 12/1/17: Why all the RAGE in America today?
113. 12/15/17: You can’t just flip a coin!
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91. Impossible People
January 1, 2017
”I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. And already, Frodo, our time is beginning to look black. The Enemy is fast becoming very strong. His plans are far from ripe, I think, but they are ripening. We shall be hard put to it. We shall be very hard put to it, even if it were not for this dreadful chance.”
Why is the ground so hard, so stony? Or perhaps we’re past that already. The great revivals of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries may well correspond to seed falling on good ground . . . much seed falling on much good ground. The Wesley and Whitefield revivals in Britain and America, the explosion of Baptist churches in Virginia and the Carolinas, the Baptist and Methodist camp meetings and circuit riding preachers, the Finney revivals, the urban prayer meetings before the outbreak of the Civil War, the battlefield revivals during the war among both Union and Confederate troops, the Moody revivals in America and Britain, the explosion of missionary societies, the European revivals with James Stewart before the outbreak of WW2, the northern logging camp revivals throughout the first half of the 20th century . . . yes, much good ground and many seed sowers, not just the ‘notable’ preachers who get biographies written about them, but multitudes of unnamed ‘little’ evangelists, simply born again men and women who faithfully sought souls and preached the Gospel, finding many hearing ears.
Let’s work backward through the parable of the seed and the sower, but forward in time. American evangelicalism in the 20th century prospered – materially – and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choked the word, which has been unfruitful . . . spiritually. Yes, many churches have been built, including the megachurches of the last two decades, but the ‘Christians’ look much like the worldlings, their leaders deliberately using worldly marketing and entertainment techniques to build their ‘ministries,’ which are anything but. As in the parable, unfruitfulness means lostness. No life change, no holiness, little Bible knowledge, no burden or practice of personal evangelism by the ‘laity’ . . . means no salvation.
Moving forward, although there is much overlap (the parable applies throughout history, all four types represented at every given time), the stony soil allows the occasional seed to spring up briefly, but with no root, and so it withers away. In the absence of real persecution, a false convert may profess a shallow faith for a lifetime, with no purifying test, going through the ‘Christian’ motions, which his culture permits. Multitudes may attend their megachurches and make considerable noise on Sunday. Noise must mean the kingdom of God is present and multiplying.
Yet I think that we, today, are mostly in the final stage, the beginning of the parable. America is the way side and what little seed is scattered finds not even stony soil, but hard packed clay, and Satan’s devils snatch it up before it can possibly take root. Most Americans, even evangelicals, do not recognize the Gospel of salvation. Ask a random evangelical churchgoer if she is saved and, if so, how, and you are likely to get a strange answer. Ask for evidence and you’re likely to get no answer. (“I go to church on Sunday” doesn’t count.)
Why is it like this? Is it possible to go back to a time when most Americans had a measure of respect for Biblical Christianity, or at least understood something of the difference between a Christian and a secular worldview? I note that the IFB crowd (Independent Fundamental Baptist) continue to promote their scheduled revival meetings and a culture of revivalism. I visited an IFB church a few years ago right after they had concluded a ‘revival meeting.’ I asked one of the old deacons what had changed, including whether the membership now had a zeal to reach out to the lost. He was nonplussed. That’s a question that isn’t asked, I gathered. He mentioned that there was another revival meeting scheduled six months down the road. I asked if that was because the recent one hadn’t worked. No answer.
I recently read a book by Os Guinness, Impossible People: Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization. His analysis of where we are in the culture wars and how we got this way is relevant to how we, we little individual Christians, can live in the world but be not of the world, and how we can reach out to a lost world with some insight regarding the soul-destroying pressures they face, pressures different in quantity and quality than ever before in human history.
Caveat: Guinness has some blind spots. Who doesn’t? He tends to see all of Christendom as Christianity, and so apparently has little discernment regarding lost tares among saved wheat. He also has a Roman Catholic view of history, and so laments the centuries long Inquisition and other persecutions of the RCC as if ‘we Christians’ are culpable. He therefore doesn’t see ‘The Trail of Blood,’ the ever present stream of Bible believers through the ages that prospered spiritually while suffering physically at the hands of the RCC. From a proper Biblical and historical point of view, the RCC and much of the Protestantism that is its illegitimate offspring, is part of the ‘other team,’ which also includes atheism, Islam, the cults, etc.
Nevertheless Guinness, who apparently has a basic evangelical embrace of the Gospel of salvation by faith in Christ, and an understanding that discipleship occurs at the level of the individual believer – which is clearly why he writes the book – has useful insights. My recommendation, as always, is to pluck the choicest food from the smorgasbord and leave behind what is less savory.
Guinness’ primary theme is that modernity so overwhelms the individual, particularly in the West, that he has become immune or oblivious to the Gospel more so than at any time in world history. Modernity includes not only the anti-Biblical philosophies of modernism and postmodernism, but also the modern environment of media, infrastructure, transportation, and the pressures of marketing, over-connectedness via social media, and the modern stresses on career and family. As some say, “everyone is everywhere” in this age. Everyone is beset by everything and by every idea that pops up anywhere in the world.
The recent American election season is notable for how politics has become the national religion, to non-Christians and Christians alike. Media reporters and pundits are the rabble rousing prophets and priests, contending for politicians who aspire to be the pagan gods of this age. Does anyone, even the most fervent evangelicals, care what God thinks about the mess America has become? If your favorite politicians win, do you see God smiling on this nation? The author selects some historic quotes that speak to the tendency of man, when he excludes God, to make politics the center of our lives.
”Man must . . . venerate the state as a secular deity.” – Georg Hegel
“Man is free only if he owes his existence to himself . . . Philosophy makes no secret of it. Prometheus’ admission ‘I hate all gods’ is its own admission, its own motto against all gods, heavenly and earthly, who do not acknowledge the consciousness of man as the supreme divinity.” – Karl Marx
“One who is himself a god needs no religion; he is divine in himself. He must not bow his head . . . The more man lives in his artificial man-made reality amongst man’s structures and machinery, the more strongly he receives the impression that he is the creator of his own existence.” – Emil Brunner
There is irony in that last thought. Most young people who revel in their tech prowess . . . using cell phone apps . . . don’t actually know how cell phones or networks actually work. Supermarket checkout clerks couldn’t tell you how the laser diode in their hand works. Most IT professionals don’t really understand the hardware or the software that makes the internet work. Not to mention, that most people who drive cars couldn’t describe the thermodynamics of an internal combustion engine. Self-deceit abounds. A tiny, tiny minority actually design and build the ‘stuff’ of modernity, cleverly enough so that multitudes can use it transparently. Yet the multitudes see this technological age as a reason to overthrow the wisdom of the ages, especially Biblical wisdom. And so we have thousands of abortions daily, over fifty sexual identities to choose from (at last count), broken marriages, hatred between racial groups and political groups, increasing violence in the streets, terrorism on the increase, and no hint of solutions for any of it.
”Judgment in history falls heaviest on those who come to think themselves gods, who fly in the face of Providence and history, who put their trust in man-made systems and worship the work of their own hands, and who say that the strength of their own right arm gave them the victory.” — Herbert Butterfield
The starkest conflict in the West is between militant atheism / secularism / humanism / evolutionism . . . and Christianity. Although atheists are still a minority in America, they dominate academia, education, and news and entertainment media. At times, however, some admit the bleakness of their worldview . . .
”We are more powerful than ever before, but have very little idea what to do with all that power. Worse still, humans seem to be more irresponsible than ever before. Self-made gods with only the laws of physics to keep us company, we are accountable to no one. We are consequently wreaking havoc on our fellow animals and on the surrounding ecosystem, seeking little more than our own comfort and amusement, yet never finding satisfaction. Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods, who don’t know what they want?” – Yuval Noah Harari
Yet secularist ideas infest our culture, hammering the consciousness from infancy to old age, deceiving multitudes who despise such old-fashioned ideas as a God who both judges and redeems, but also intimidating Christians into quietness and timidity lest they dare to swim against the flow.
Guinness’ term Impossible People refers not to the masses going with the flow, but to those Christians who stand against the pressures. During the Roman Empire’s prime, Pliny the Younger advised Emperor Trajan that Christians should be executed solely for their tenacity and intransigence. “Whatever the nature of their admission, I am convinced that their stubbornness and unshakable obstinacy ought not to go unpunished.”
Could American evangelicals be so accused? Silly question. Guinness: “Only rarely in Christian history has the lordship of Jesus in the West been treated as more pliable or has Christian revisionism been more brazen, Christian interpretations of the Bible more self-serving, Christian preaching more soft, Christian behavior more lax, Christian compromise more common, Christian defections from the faith more casual, and Christian rationales for such slippage more spurious and shameless.” Where are the impossible people? When Jesus returns, will He find faith on Earth?
The world that Christians once knew has gone . . . and gone forever. Among the many pressures, we are immersed in an incessant pluralism of pagan ideas and behaviors. Pagan? The Adversary is working hard to return the West to the paganism of the pre-Christian world. Consider the ‘triumphs’ of societal change in the mainstreaming of sexual permissiveness, fornication, adultery, divorce, abortion, homosexuality, and euthanasia. The ancient Romans would see our culture as perfectly normal. The early churches preached against such paganism, calling it sin and calling for repentance. Paganism lost its dominant hold, but it’s back.
In more recent history, the communities that saw conversions and revival upon the visits of Whitefield or Finney or Moody may have been sinfully wicked, but there was a quiet not possible in today’s world, a quiet because everyone was local, not everywhere via media, a quiet in which reflection and conviction could take hold, a quiet in which a seed could take root and go deep. To some degree this cultural quiet persisted in the West until the 1950s, but no more. Yet I see in IFB publications a desperate hope to return to the 1950s, which you can observe quite readily if you visit an old-fashioned IFB church. The evangelicals, on the other hand, hold hands eagerly with the world, embracing its music and its fashions and its alleged nonjudgmental ‘tolerance’ to attract worldlings without confronting them on sin, judgment, repentance, and the consequential fruits of the new birth.
No, the old cultural Christian consensus is gone forever. We live in a historically old, but somehow freshly pagan culture, and the truly born again Bible-believing Christian is going to stand alone, or at most with very few compatriots.
In the political sphere we see the misunderstanding of the conservatives. There, too, we aren’t going back to the 1950s. Yet conservatives act and preach and punditize on the defensive, as if there is something to hold onto. No, the culture is pagan. The government is pagan, the schools are run by pagans, as is education from K to grad school, along with the news and entertainment media. There is nothing to conserve!! Go on offense! There is nothing to defend! And so with Gospel preaching. Go on offense. The pagan philosophies of our age that destroy babies in the womb and refuse to recognize the differences between a man and a woman, are not in touch with reality. Point that out. The consequences of pagan worldviews – whether atheistic anti-God or pantheistic ‘god is everywhere’ or ‘we’re all gods’ – are all around us. Just pick some dysfunction in society. It’s built on a pagan lie.
But we humans can choose to be atheists or Buddhists or Mormons or even Calvinists who insist that no one has any choice at all. Guinness observes that God created man with a capacity for freedom, freedom even to defy his Creator, and talented enough to destroy each other and the planet we live on. He quotes physicist Paul Davies, “Truly we should be lords of the universe.” Millennials seem particularly afflicted by this conceit, yet I have yet to meet one who is so lord-like as to give up sleep for a week, or food or air, or the necessity of bowel function. In truth, we humans are not lord-like at all.
We’re more like rats in a rat race. Guinness: “We now live in a world of speed, stuff, and stress and under the relentless tyranny of the ‘urgent now.’” Ambition and greed drive the young lords and lordettes of our culture, who become slaves to time juggling and multitasking, “all Darwinians now, living under the daily threat of ‘the survival of the fastest.’”
There is no time to think, not to mention reflect, in a modern world that “requires more careful discernment than any previous age faced by Christians in history.” The urgency of ambition and the immense variety of distractions (new apps every day!) protect the lost from any consideration of the Gospel . . . not to say that there are hardly any Christians at all who try to share the Biblical Gospel. The Adversary has succeeded brilliantly, discrediting Biblical truth via media before our children even hit school age, and from then on it’s continual indoctrination in evolution, self-esteem, and the pluralism of sexual licentiousness and a vast array of modernist and post-modernist ideologies.
Guinness sees global connectivity . . . “we can now see everything in the world as it happens and we can now reach almost anywhere and everywhere in twenty-four hours” . . . as a challenge that Christians should take on. “We must raise our game, too,” he exhorts, so “the Christian community can stretch around the world more extensively and effectively.” He’s wrong about that. That’s mega-church and mega-ministry thinking. New Testament evangelism and discipleship is designed for the 1-2-1. Western evangelical and fundamentalist culture has excluded the 1-2-1 in favor of superstar leaders and megabuck facilities. Guinness cites – favorably – the example of Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in California, which is the stereotypical example of how to make multitudes of false converts, exalt the megastars, and get in bed with the world.
As Guinness affirms later, “Jesus’ stamp of authority is the final word for Christians who would follow Jesus faithfully.” Why not take Jesus’ words to heart across the board and provoke individual Christians to be individual evangelists and individual disciple-makers, making the small fellowship the core of Christian experience and the mission of that fellowship the Great Commission? No, modernity infects evangelicalism with lust for bigger, better, snazzier, funnier, louder shows, facilities, and activities. The world looks at this and sees just another competitor for attention, time, and money . . . and consequently never encounters the Gospel eyeball-to-eyeball.
‘Church’ and ‘faith’ are merely members of a “dizzying array of choices.” “From breakfast cereals to restaurants and cuisines to sexual identities and temptations to possible sexual arrangements of all types to self-help techniques and philosophies of life, we are offered an infinite array of choices, and the focus is always on choice as choosing rather than choice as the content of what is chosen. Just choose. Simply choose. Experiment. Try it out for yourself . . . Choosing is all that matters. Truth, goodness, and authority are irrelevant . . . you are the sovereign chooser . . . until all choices seem the same and each one shrivels into insignficance.”
Whatever. The hardest thing in 1-2-1 evangelism is provoking the lost fellow to care. I can get many to agree intellectually on the issues of sin, judgment, etc. But his life in modernity dulls his care. Whatever. So the Christian – the evangelist – dare not pussyfoot around, try to sneak up on someone, try to win him winsomely to himself. No, no, no. Just give it to him straight. Show him that – at least – YOU CARE!! Don’t just show him quiet compassion. Show him some passion. Is there anything else under the sun worthy of any passion in comparison with the Gospel? The stakes are infinite, right? Make sure he knows this before you leave him . . . and leave him with tracts that punch.
Guinness sees liberalism – unbelief – in Protestant denominations and in emergent evangelicalism as institutional suicide. As an example, he quotes a well-known Christian marketing consultant (!): “It is also critical that we keep in mind a fundamental principle of Christian communication: the audience, not the message, is sovereign.” Is it any wonder that churches should be filled with lost people, one heartbeat from Hell? If the audience is sovereign, they will demand that their ears be tickled. If not, there are competitors down the street who will be glad to do so.
I see one aspect of this tragedy as I search (quite actively) for Christians who would be interested in learning to do 121 evangelism. There are some truly born again believers in gelly churches. But they’ve been slurped up by that passive ear-tickling culture, assured that they are already ‘good Christians’ because they show up, shut up, and pay up, and their leaders, when asked (and I’ve asked), actually despise what they call ‘confrontational evangelism . . . We don’t do that around here.’ Rather, invite your neighbors to church, to events, so our superstar clergy can dazzle them with the unique spiritual gifts that God (apparently) doles out only to such super saints.
Evangelicals want to get along with the world. They identify with Lot, who enjoyed the benefits of living in the affluent burb of Sodom, working his way up to a leadership position. Under pressure, however, when Lot tried to stand up for something, his worldly peers despised him and his own family didn’t take him seriously. 21st century America needs more like John the Baptist. You won’t find any in evangelical churches, or even IFB churches – IFB ‘prophets’ talk big within the walls of their temples, but you won’t find them on the street. For one thing, just look up the addresses of a sampling of IFB churches. You’ll find them in the burbs, not in the inner city.
Why is this the toughest generation ever? Modernism has always been around – anti-God, anti-Bible philosophies buttressed by evolution. It’s still pervasive, of course. Post-modernism goes a step further and may snidely admit, “Ok, that may be true for you but not for me, so . . . whatever.” But modernity doesn’t even bother with the issue. Whether it’s the pressure of modern life or the distractions readily available, there’s just no time or energy for thinking the deep thoughts. The evangelist has to fight hard to grab attention. This is possible, but it’s not for wimps. If you’re not bold, you’ve got to emulate boldness, at least. If you do get a convert, modernity will fight discipleship every moment.
Guinness sees the spiritual war behind the scenes. The successful wicked politician isn’t energized entirely by himself. Scripture is clear about the demonic powers and principalities who motivate the relentlessness that we see in the enemy’s camp. Have you noticed that conservatives and Christians aren’t as relentless as their adversaries? Yet Christians have available a much greater power, the Holy Spirit, who also commands twice as many angels as there are demons. But God gives us the responsibility to seek His power. He gives us awesome responsibility along with spectacular freedom of choice. If we just muddle along, we lose. Salvation is secure for the true believer, but the battle for the souls of our relatives, neighbors, and all others in our community rages on. We can let others go to Hell without a warning or we can try. When we swap stories around camp fires during the Millennium, I want to have something to talk about. Don’t you?
Guinness has some optimism left. “It will not be easy to recover the gigantic scale of the biblical view.” But he falls short of proposing battle tactics. In the evangelical world, it’s all about big churches and bigshot leaders, speakers, and authors. The multitudes of ‘laymen’ and ‘laywomen’ are there to fund the programs and, if they’re really motivated, to stay informed by reading the latest books and going to conferences. But New Testament evangelism has always been 121. Who is pushing that?
It must be done eyeball-to-eyeball. We have the right message which matches the reality of human life on this Earth. There is no other message of hope. False religions offer false hope, in one way or another denying sin and its consequences and painting a bogus picture of who God is and what eternity holds . . . and who we are in relation to God. The Biblical worldview matches reality at every point. We can point that out. Atheism means life is meaningless. The atheistic world of protons, neutrons, electrons, and forces is small, knowing nothing of love, justice, meaning, hope, and beauty. People are just clods of dirt in the worldview of the atheistic scientist. But in truth, human beings are free agents with mind and will and conscience and hopes and dreams. God’s world is infinitely large and varied with an eternal future. Hope matters. Point that out.
Christians must disciple their own children. The established churches won’t help. Their programs just eat up time and energy and distract from what you need to do . . . teach them truth and how to contend. By the time she is 18 years old, if a Christian girl has contended 121 with a thousand or several thousand unbelievers, sharing the Gospel and refuting their silly objections, she will find no intellectual or philosophical surprises in college life and beyond. How many parents are training their children in the Great Commission, to face the ‘best’ the world and its Adversary has to offer? Don’t just ‘stand.’ Go!
Guinness agrees with my point, but doesn’t envision the battle plan. “The modern church still includes too many nominal Christians, and . . . we are seeing a growing biblical illiteracy in the church today.” Any individual Christian family can fix this for themselves and can be helpful to any other family who is interested. Study. Pray. Share the Gospel. Contend. Encourage. Repeat. Otherwise, the children of the nominals will become nones, the fastest growing demographic segment in American religious life.
If all around you continue down the broad road of complacency, don’t go along. Don’t join. Don’t give money. Don’t go along to get along. Be a John the Baptist. Be Bunyan’s ‘Christian’ who wouldn’t quit. Be impossible. Yes, be lonely. But it’ll be all right. There’s a better country farther along the narrow road.
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
92. Reality Matters: Van Til’s Apologetic Part 2
January 15, 2017
Both Parts 1 and 2 are now found in the Evangelism section of this site. Click on . . .
Van Til’s Apologetic Parts 1 and 2
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93. Mentoring Up
February 1, 2017
This blog is now in the Discipleship section. Click on . . .
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94. A Rumor of Angels
February 15, 2017
In German folklore a young fellow once lived who was distressed that he never seemed to feel horror like his compatriots did at times, and so he subjected himself to all sorts of gruesome experiences in an attempt to evoke such feelings. Modern man seems to have the opposite goal of unlearning any conceivable metaphysical terror. The secularization of society generates an abhorrence of the supernatural, the demise of God applauded by all who despise thoughts of Hell beneath and Heaven above. (Consider the timeless and unreasonable popularity of John Lennon’s song Imagine, long after its release in 1971.)
So suggests Peter L. Berger, author of A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural, a short book published in 1969. I thought it might be interesting to visit the perspective of someone who, fifty years ago, was in the midst of violent societal upheavals, a sociologist who wondered what the next few decades would hold. Nearly fifty years later, we can evaluate whether the trends he saw would grow or diminish.
Berger was a Professor of Sociology at Rutgers U. when he wrote the book. He has the refreshing capacity to see his own field’s limitations: “. . . enough has been said to justify the suspicion that sociology is the dismal science par excellence of our time, an intrinsically debunking discipline that should be most congenial to nihilists, cynics, and other fit subjects for police surveillance. Both theological and political conservatives have long suspected just this, and their aversion to sociology is based on a strong instinct for survival. I am not interested at the moment in pursuing the question of whether sociology should, in a well-run society, be forbidden as a corruption of the young and as inimical to good order.” Amen and amen.
Nevertheless, working from within his dismal community, Berger, as a professing Christian observing society’s theological trends, affirms that “theology must begin and end with the question of truth.” And truth is the issue of our day, a day of vicious ideological conflicts in politics, culture, and religion, conflicts driven by worldviews, all of which lay claim on truth . . . yet truth is and always has been narrow and jealous (in the best possible sense).
Berger observed that traditional religious beliefs in America had become empty of meaning, not just in the general population, but among many churchgoers. In the last 50 years this trend has only accelerated, “the supernatural as a meaningful reality is absent or remote from the horizons of everyday life of large numbers . . . who seem to manage to get along without it quite well.” Typical evangelical church life has been driven by seeker-sensitive, market-driven methods, producing the megachurch phenomenon of the last two decades, and has little relation to the supernatural . . . in my opinion.
In 2005 when we moved from the hinterlands of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Rockford, Illinois, I discovered that the largest and fasting growing ‘church’ in the area was a Bill Hybels spinoff, which promoted itself as “a new way to do church.” The “new way” featured a rock and roll ‘worship team,’ theater seats in a large darkened auditorium, a casually dressed winsome speaker, and a series of monotonous low-rent ‘praise songs.’ They couldn’t use that promotion for long, however. Everyone ‘does church’ that way now. When my wife and I do ‘field trips’ to small evangelical churches, we see the same pattern, writ small. We spent a couple of hours with one such pastor, who regaled us with his desire to follow the Hybels pattern to climb the megachurch heights like others have done. He had no interest in the nuts and bolts evangelism and discipleship that we suggested could be of help. And so his small congregation, perhaps 80 on Sunday morning, mostly middle-aged and elderly folks, spent a million dollars on a new auditorium and sound equipment, to compete with all the other megachurch wannabes in the area. It was sadly amusing to us that when one traditional hymn was sung at the end of the service, suddenly the room was filled with the enthusiastic voices of all the people, especially the older folks who have been robbed of the joy of singing serious hymns with adult content and substantive melody.
Berger calls them a cognitive minority, the remnant of serious believers in a secularized culture, those who have a worldview significantly different from that of the majority culture. I was asked recently why so few in America get truly born again today and why so few of the truly born again are interested in spiritual growth – on the Biblical pattern – which requires the opposite of the passive experiences of modern church culture. I’m convinced that the answer is that the ‘churches’ have slurped up both categories. The occasional lost fellow who is searching for meaning and ‘gives God a chance,’ finds an evangelical church that entertains him, strokes his ego, and gives him false assurance that if he becomes a nominal ‘Jesus follower,’ he’ll be good to go . . . his life doesn’t need to change and he can make better choices to spruce up his marriage, his business, and his habits. The truly born again fellow gets slurped up, too, perhaps sitting right next to the lost fellow in their theater seats, and is assured that if he ‘shows up, shuts up, and pays up,’ that he is a solid American Christian . . . especially if he is one of the small cadre that shows up once a quarter on a Saturday morning to box up lunches for the homeless or sweep up the leaves of the elderly. (You might check out my Blog #3 in the 2013 archive to go deeper on this.)
Berger applies his principles across the board to evangelicalism, traditional Protestantism, and even Roman Catholicism. I’ll restrict myself to what I see as applications to evangelicalism. He observes that life for the cognitive minority is uncomfortable, not so much because of repression or intolerance, although that is on the increase for actual Christians in America today, but because the majority refuses to accept the minority’s beliefs as knowledge. If evolution is factual knowledge, you see, then creation is myth. As an intransigent member of the minority, I know that the reverse is true, of course.
The minority viewpoint is therefore on the defensive, which I observe throughout evangelicalism (and fundamentalism, too). Playing defense is annoying, though. It’s much more fun to play offense and score points. In this ‘game’ however, offense is the Great Commission. Evangelicals despise what one local megachurch pastor terms confrontational evangelism, which simply means walking up to someone, striking up a conversation, and sharing the Gospel with him. Even more horrible, apparently, is handing a Gospel tract to a lost individual in the hope he might read it and think about his lost spiritual condition. Horrors! So old school! No, we must entice them to our rocking worship service and win them through the winsomeness of our most winsome stage performers so they can be winsome too!
Berger sees the cognitive minority as continually buffeted by social and psychological pressures, socialized, in the evangelical application, to passivity and timidity. The ever-dwindling minority who, when they dare, work to emulate the prophets of old, like Isaiah: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins,” are marginalized and even shunned. Berger sees the result as a theological crisis, because the Biblical pattern is so despised and so rarely represented that it loses plausibility. You can literally go ‘oh-for-ten-thousand’ in offering the Gospel via tracts and 121 witness, regarding a life-altering response. Overseas, this is not the case. I am encouraged by many accounts of the Gospel taking hold and spreading where Western secularization has not taken hold.
Berger saw that secularization produced a crisis in Judaism similar to that in Christianity. Many would say that Judaism is a matter of practice, rather than driven by ideology. “The practice is, however, rooted in a specific cognitive universe without which it is threatened with meaninglessness.” Without the supernatural, what is Passover really all about? The original Passover, of course, was entirely invested in the supernatural. Berger suggests that despite all sorts of traditions and loyalties, both in Judaism and Christianity, apart from the supernatural, religious practice “takes on the character of religious history. People may like museums, but they are reluctant to live in them.” I note that modern evangelicalism has detached itself even from traditions, ever morphing to chase the latest market-driven ploy. Consider how many churches in the last several years have publicly trumpeted a series on sexuality. Hey, that will bring the crowds in, they figure. But then you’ve got to top that the following week.
The cognitive minority has a couple of basic choices in its response to secularization. It can go along to get along, showing the world that we’re not really any different from ‘everybody else.’ That’s what the evangelicals have been doing since Berger’s time. But accommodation, Berger points out, leads to cognitive contamination. “The crucial question then is, ‘Who is the stronger party?’” The world is, of course. The Biblical truth is that believers will always be in the position of remnant.
The alternative choice for the cognitive minority is to stick to its guns, “supernaturalism and all, and the world (literally or otherwise) be damned.” That’s what the fundamentalists do. Visit a lot of IFB churches and it’s like taking a time machine to the 1950s. Sticking to your guns is easier if you establish a culture of ‘us vs. them,’ a fairly closed culture, emphasizing 2 Cor 6:14-18 almost every week. Now, the doctrine of separation from the world that Paul teaches is just right . . . of course. But the fundamentalists distort and diminish the principle by a focus on such trivial matters as haircuts and suits / ties, and insistence on Old Testament temple tithing to build their own temple facilities and fund the salaries of their own priests . . . yes, the ‘pastors’ in IFB churches function very much as a priestly class with special access to God.
Berger notes that the opposite of cultural defiance is surrender and various denominations have done just that, buying into theological liberalism. Unitarians, along with many Episcopalians, United Methodists, and others have focused themselves entirely on ‘this-worldliness’, in order to be relevant, and expending money and energy on various give-away programs, whether shoes for orphans or cheeseburgers for the homeless. The evangelicals are following closely behind. Every evangelical church we’ve visited in the last few years focuses most of its outreach toward the bottom 0.1% of the economic bell curve. This outreach is almost exclusively physical (clothes, food, etc.). If the Gospel is in mind at all, it apparently gets transmitted by osmosis. What about the remaining 99.9% of the community? To Hell with them . . . literally. I’m not cussing. That is the actual consequence of the abandonment of the Great Commission by American churches.
I must point out, as I’ve done on occasion before, that the charitable programs of these churches amount to a small fraction of 1% of their resources. Facilities and salaries come first and take the lion’s share. And few . . . few indeed . . . of evangelical church members are brow-beaten into giving anything close to 10% of their income. (If they did, facilities and staffs would grow hugely.) For the ‘laity’, big houses, big cars, and big screens come first. It’s amazing that such little contributions fool American Christians into thinking they are doing great things for God. If temporal charity is the mission, why not sell the buildings, let the pastoral staff get real jobs, and put your money where your mouth is? Build city-wide house church networks, just like the 1st century Christians did! Furthermore, by today’s evangelical philosophy, the ‘best’ Christians who serve God the ‘most’ will be those that have enormous incomes and donate much. How can a blue collar worker compete at all, spiritually, with someone who is making six or seven figures? My point is that the ‘system’ makes no Biblical sense. It is hypocritical and internally inconsistent.
Berger believed that the challenge to Biblical faith from the physical sciences is far less dangerous than that of the human sciences. He is underwhelmed by those of us who stand on a literal Genesis, for example. The main threats he saw are from historical scholarship and psychology.
Secular historical scholarship, beginning in the 19th century, worked hard to chip away at Biblical texts, turning history into myth and legend and narrative, refusing to see the complementarity of the Gospel accounts; rather, insisting that differences necessitate contradictions. When you’re committed to an anti-Biblical secularism, that’s the mindset. I’ll add that the modern versions of the Bible are sourced from such philosophy, continually re-sorting which Hebrew and Greek texts to use, and employing mushy translation approaches to produce the vast array of English Bibles in use today. It’s such a mess that most evangelical churches discourage people from bringing a Bible to their services. The ‘preacher’ will be using whatever combination of versions he finds useful to fit his message, anyway.
Psychology deepens the challenge, ‘explaining’ why people need religion. Freud, for example, asserted that religion is a gigantic projection of human needs and desires. The combination of secular history and psychology work to utterly destroy theology in “a veritable vortex of relativizations.” No absolutes, no foundations, no doctrines . . . everything is relative except the firm pronouncements of scholars and psychologists.
Sociology is built on history and psychology and, when applied to building the modern church, does its destructive work well. Berger considers a minister who wants to find out how well he’s doing, so he distributes a survey. Responses indicate that most of his people don’t seem to have heard his preaching at all. They agree and disagree with things he’s never said. He’s disturbed and conducts more research. Some of the people have views that have little to do with what he or his church teach. Others think that he’s just providing some moral instruction for the children, while he thinks he’s proclaiming the Gospel. While he wants to impact the congregation’s social and political views, many want him to stay away from that and merely edify their family life.
Berger reports (in the 1960s) that “a good deal of the work in the sociology of religion begins as market research undertaken on behalf of religious organizations.” This is precisely what has contributed to the modern megachurch movement. ‘Churches’ have been built on market research and do, indeed prosper . . . in numbers, in income, in prestige, in fabulous facilities. What does all this have to do with the Great Commission and the New Testament pattern for the churches . . . a pattern designed by God? Nothing.
Once a successful movement gets rolling along, one of the fundamental propositions of the sociology of knowledge takes over – Group Think! We tend to obtain our notions and views about the world from others around us. The more pervasive the notions, the more plausible they are. Powerful psychological pressures are brought to bear by ‘the group’ to encourage us to conform. It’s a nonlinear process. Standing against the flow is no fun at all, unless you’re a contrarian, perhaps. Maybe that’s my problem.
Berger does a brief review of modern theological history. He sees Protestant liberalism growing in the 19th century, up until World War 1, driven by secular anthropology (evolution). The mood was driven by confidence in the rationality and perfectibility of man. The horrors of the war ended this optimism and brought aspects of utopian liberalism into disrepute, although the basic premises persist today.
The 1960s featured some theologians who promoted a moral mood of “Enjoy, enjoy!” in sync with the hippie rebellion of the Vietnam war years. Simultaneously, Jean Paul Sartre (atheist, existentialist) encouraged commitment to world transformation via revolution. I see both of these elements in evangelicalism today, in the feel-good passive experiences of church life and the micro-commitment to social justice programs. (Micro? Yes, when you allocate less than 1% of your resources.)
Berger decries such “mood theologies” that come and go with cultural trends. Unfortunately, he doesn’t see the simplicity of basing theology and practice on the Bible. Too easy! He thinks a solution can be found by discovering signals of transcendence within life’s experiences. These are phenomena within our ‘natural reality’ that appear to point beyond that reality. That’s ok, in my view. I would suggest such signals as the obvious design of the nanotechnology of life, the fossil record that shows distinct kinds, the awesome sedimentary rock record as evidence of the Genesis Flood, the ancient prophecies that point to the restoration of Israel, and the incredible and timeless practicality of Biblical instruction for marriage, child-raising, and conducting business.
Berger suggests some others. Man’s fundamental trust in reality, in order, is perfectly consistent with the God of the Bible. This is an appropriate presuppositionalist argument, of course. Liberalism / atheism cannot rise above philosophical chaos . . . if we only ‘think’ and act via materialistic brain chemistry, then reason and logic are missing. Berger: “To assert it (that reality is ‘in order’) is itself an act of faith . . . In this fundamental sense, every ordering gesture is a signal of transcendence.”
Such ‘ordering gestures’ include the establishment of a household through marriage, which speaks to commitment, investment, hope, and purpose for living. Note how the Adversary so viciously attacks this institution in modern times. Another is the reassurance by a mother to her child who wakes up fearful in the night hours. When mom says, “Don’t be afraid – everything is in order, everything is all right,” is she lying? In the Christian worldview, she isn’t. In atheism, she is. In atheism, “The final truth would be not love but terror, not light but darkness. The nightmare of chaos, not the transitory safety of order, would be the final reality of the human situation. For, in the end, we must all find ourselves in darkness, alone with the night that will swallow us up.” Genuine reassurance, love, hope . . . exist only in God’s reality. If, as according to Freud, such faith is a childish fantasy to grow out of, then what’s the point? Life is tough and then you die. Deal with it.
Berger insists that the parental role is not based on a loving lie, but is a witness to the reality of man’s situation under God. Indeed, parents must model God’s love, God’s laws, God’s justice, and God’s promises to their children. Dad, mom, if you don’t teach your kids the moral law and the consequences for breaking it, how will they learn of sin and judgment and their need for the Savior?
Interestingly, Berger sees play as transcendent. “Joy is play’s intention.” In a game the rules of reality are suspended. In a football game, for example, what a linebacker can do to a running back would not be socially acceptable in other circumstances! That’s not the Golden Rule! In play we suspend reality for a time. It’s as if we’re “stepping not only from one chronology into another, but from time into eternity . . . When adults play with genuine joy, they momentarily regain the deathlessness of childhood.”
Berger observes that when little girls play hopscotch in the park, they are absorbed in their game, separated from the world, which has effectively ceased to exist. I have noticed myself, in meetings where Christians take joy in fellowship, it’s as if the world’s troubles have been suspended, no sickness, no debt, no pain . . . can’t we just stay here and not go back to that world where trouble happens? In Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian arrives at the lodge named ‘Beautiful’ and enjoys sweet fellowship with the young ladies Prudence, Piety, and Charity. The picture is a perfect type of the (ideal) New Testament church, wherein we find safety, fellowship, encouragement, and restoration before we hit the dangerous road yet again.
Play goes too far for many, however. Professional athletes become commentators, trying to live their entire lives in ‘play.’ Fans invest untold time and emotional energy in watching others ‘play.’ How foolish.
Berger properly sees “man’s unconquerable propensity to hope for the future” as a transcendent signal. Our existence is always tied to future plans and hopes and fears. We work to get to the weekend and to get to retirement so we can ‘play.’ We court to find a spouse to get married to have kids to teach them to do the same for their future. But what is hope but a God-given drive to find Him? Without a hope for resurrection there is no hope at all.
Another transcendent indicator is the argument from damnation. Berger notes that moral outrage is the only adequate response for certain offenses. He discusses the Nazi war criminals as cases in point, Adolf Eichmann in particular, who was a principal actor in the Holocaust. Berger: “There are certain deeds that cry out to Heaven. These deeds are not only an outrage to our moral sense, they seem to violate a fundamental awareness of the constitution of our humanity. In this way, these deeds are not only evil, but monstrously evil.” Without God and absolute morality, though, what is a heinous act against another but merely molecules in collision? Berger: “Deeds that cry out to Heaven also cry out for Hell.” Yes. In reality, in the Biblical worldview, the persecuted have assurance that justice will be done, that God will weigh every thought, word, and deed and deliver judgment righteously . . . for the redeemed, that was completed at the Cross. For others, Judgment lies ahead. Paul’s 1st epistle to the Thessalonians is an assurance to a persecuted church. The passage on the rapture in chapter 4 is specifically offered for hope. Hope is real, but only in God’s creation.
Berger has definite views on apologetics, prefering an inductive or evidential approach as opposed to a deductive, presuppositional approach. As I’ve explained in other blogs, I would disagree with him on this. In fact he proposes a weak version of evidentialism, repudiating the approach of inerrancy and evidences concerning the historical veracity of the New Testament documents. Rather, he wants people to look at the Gospel accounts as a simply human record, but search through the human experiences there recorded to find discoveries of transcendent truth. Blah! That leads simply to the mysticism of today’s emergent movement. You can’t get to any definite answers . . . you wind up standing on sinking sand.
What I like is his desire for open dialogue, to put different religious systems on the table for examination. For example, he believes that attempts to blend Christianity and Buddhism are based on ignorance, because these are contradictory systems. Berger advises protagonists of different worldviews to be open and clear about their systems so that the undecided can examine their options. Such dialogue was more common in Berger’s time. In my own lifetime I’ve seen a huge shift from open discussion and polite debate to a refusal to engage, with post-modernist anger erupting at anyone who would dare to make declarative statements. People get locked into whatever wacky worldview slurps them up in their youth, and henceforth despise discussion. This is not universal, of course, but in the West it is the trend. I’ve experienced it in my own efforts in 121 evangelism over the last 40 years. Berger affirms that the search for truth should be paramount, especially in dialogue concerning ultimate issues. I love such dialogues, but they are harder to find today.
In the author’s concluding remarks he hopes that consideration of signals of transcendence will lead to a rediscovery of the supernatural and, accordingly, victory over triviality. Modern culture is nothing if not consumed with the trivial. The issues of Life, Death, Heaven, and Hell must grip the mind and heart of anyone who is not overcome by apathy, which is why I ask that question when I offer a tract to someone . . . “It’s about the big issues – Life, Death, Heaven, Hell – do you ever think about the big stuff?” Happily, I often get a serious answer to this question, even from a complete stranger I met just ten seconds before. So there is hope if you can provoke someone to simply pause for a moment and transcend the trivial. Try it this week. Give someone a chance.
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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95. On the Education of Children
March 1, 2017
This blog is now found in the Discipleship section of this site. Click on . . .
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96. The Virtues of Skepticism – Mitch Stokes on Apologetics
March 15, 2017
This blog is now found in the Evangelism section of this site.
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97. Where the Conflict Lies
April 1, 2017
This blog is now found in the Evangelism section of this site.
Click on . . .
Where the Conflict Lies
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98. Undeniable
April 15, 2017
This blog is now found in the Educational Notes of the Short Course in Creation / Evolution.
Click on . . .
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99. Revival & Revivalism
May 1, 2017
In the Fall of 1787 three students at Hampden-Sydney College met for prayer on Saturday afternoons in the woods a short distance away. Anticipating rain one weekend they decided to risk using one of the College rooms to meet. Although careful to sing and pray with suppressed voices, their fears of interruption were realized. Someone overheard and soon a noisy mob began to thump at the door, whooping, swearing, and threatening vengeance if they did not forbear once and forevermore.
“We had to cease, and bear the ridicule and abuse of this noisy riot, which could not be quieted until two of the Professors interfered and ordered them all back to their rooms . . . In the evening the College was rung to prayers. When the prayers were ended, Mr. Smith demanded the cause of the riot, and who were the leaders in it. Some of the most prominent leaders stepped forward and said, there were some of the students, who had shut themselves up in one of the rooms of the College, and began singing and praying and carrying on like the Methodists, and they were determined to break it up. We had nothing to say; we were not absolutely certain that we were justifiable in introducing such exercises in College without first obtaining permission to do so.”
But Professor Smith was overjoyed at this first evidence of a spiritual concern among the students. He rebuked the complainers and announced, “I rejoice, my young friends, that you have taken the stand you have; you shall not be interrupted in your meetings for the future. Your appointment next Saturday afternoon shall be held in my parlour; and I will be with you, conduct your meeting for you, and render you all the assistance you may need.”
The next Saturday the Professor’s parlour was full and the weeks following brought the entire student body out along with folks from the neighborhood, requiring use of the large College Hall which was filled up, too. Reports indicate that “fully half of the students in the College appeared deeply impressed, and under conviction for their sins,” plus many from the neighborhood. Prayer meetings multiplied and John Blair Smith gave himself to preaching in the College and in multiple congregations.
“Every other business appeared for a time forgotten in the all-absorbing interests of religion . . . by the commencement of the year 1788, there was a general awakening in Prince Edward, Cumberland, and Charlotte counties. The professors of religion awaked as from sleep and put on the armour of godliness; some declared themselves convinced that their former profession had been a lifeless one and professed conversion anew.”
In the Fall of 1788 Smith’s father, Robert, an old preacher converted under George Whitefield’s work in 1740, observed the fruit a year after the beginning of this revival and wrote about the young people in these now life-filled congregations: “When they go to sermons or societies, they commonly go in companies, either conversing on spiritual subjects or singing hymns. When they arrive at the place of worship, they enter the house and sing hymns till the minister enters. Such sweet singing I never heard in all my life. Dear young Christians, how engaged, how heavenly, how spiritually and innocently they look and speak. I have seen an hundred wet cheeks, some deeply penetrated with convictions, some fainting with love-sickness as it were, in the Savior’s arms, and others rejoicing for the day of God’s power and grace, all under the same sermon. The rejoicings were much among some old disciples.”
That’s a short description of a genuine revival. Prayer is evident at the beginning, conviction of sin is real, phony professing Christians get saved and lives change, and the changes last. I’ve taken that account from Iain Murray’s wonderful book, Revival & Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858. Murray writes from his Presbyterian and Calvinist perspective, but works with some diligence to follow the threads of Methodist and Baptist revivals, too, during that century. His concerns show up in his title, distinguishing genuine revivals as a work of God from revivalism which refers to man’s efforts at stirring up evangelical enthusiasm without any lasting work of the Holy Spirit.
I’ve written a fair amount and read a great deal about revival and revivalism. It seems there are two camps on what causes revival, camps at extreme positions with hardly anyone in between. Murray’s camp is rooted in a Calvinist view of sovereignty, that since salvation is wholly of God with no contribution from man, revivals happen when God makes them happen, period. At the other extreme we find Charles G. Finney in the 19th century and John R. Rice in the 20th century who insist that revival will happen when Christians (even one by himself) will meet the conditions that God demands, and so it is really up to us.
The first view can tempt to complacency or even fatalism and a general discouragement about personal evangelism, and the second view tempts to manufactured, even scheduled efforts to drum up revival, as many IFB (Independent Fundamental Baptist) churches affix ‘revivals’ to their calendars once or even twice per year. For an IFB perspective on 19th century revivals, you might try James Beller’s book, The Soul of St. Louis: A Historical Narrative of Revival in the Gateway City, or his more extensive work with a national perspective, America in Crimson Red: The Baptist History of America.
I could say that I’ve concluded that the ‘cause’ of revival is somewhere between the two extremes, but I know it just ain’t so. It’s not a linear, 1-dimensional spectrum. I’m certain that revival is nuanced, complex, multivariate. I’m sure it includes willful (free will) prayer and yet it includes a ‘spirit of prayer’ that God visits on certain people in particular times and places. I’m sure that revival involves God working bigger, cleverer, more effectually than ‘normal,’ but also that He finds one or more Christians who truly care for souls and choose to do something about it. I’m confident it involves the complex nature of the ‘harvest field’ of a community or a region or a nation, which may look either ripe or hard to us, but has a dynamic that only God can see. I’m sure it involves spiritual warfare, not just demonic efforts to prevent the birth of revival, but also relentless ploys to hinder, diminish, and corrupt.
Indeed, Murray, as much as he despises ‘Finney-ites’, honestly admits that revivals did occur under such efforts. Beller, too, records great and fruitful works among the Calvinist Baptists, not just the Biblical ones. I won’t get into the back and forth of the criticisms levied by one camp against the other, of the ilk of, “Yeah, maybe some people got converted over there, but there was a lot of corrupt fruit, too!” Heaven will render surprises for all. What I do want to focus on is the historical fact of much revival in this country, up until the last few generations. Hey, folks, since the mid-twentieth century, there just hasn’t been much evidence of genuine revival . . . in this country. Church planting, yes. Big city-wide evangelistic rallies, yes. Megachurch growth, yes. An explosion of TV, radio, web, and multi-media ‘ministries’ . . . and conferences, and rallies, and books, and DVDs, and courses, and certificates and ad nauseam, but real revival? No.
Have I got the answers for making revival happen in America? I mean anywhere, even in a neighborhood, let alone the nation? No. I’ve got lots of speculation, but I won’t foist that upon you. What I encourage you to do is merely to start looking at the history of the subject, because it speaks to a Christian culture and a Christian quality of spiritual life that is simply nonexistent today.
So . . . in this essay I’ll proceed to pull some nuggets from Murray’s book that I’ve enjoyed. I hope you do, too. And if you haven’t looked at the topic much, find some of my other relevant essays on this site, about Nettleton and Finney, about Rolfe Barnard, about John Sornberger (“Giants of the Northern Pines”), about D. L. Moody and Lillian Trasher. And buy the biography of James Stewart, written by his wife, Ruth. Then ask me for more references.
Samuel Davies, a Presbyterian pastor in Virginia, wrote a letter in 1752 to the Bishop of London to deny accusations that he was working to build dissent against the Church of England in the colony, as revival grew in his region . . . “I have not exhausted my zeal in railing against the established clergy, in exposing their imperfections, or in depreciating their characters. No, my lord, I have matters of infinitely greater importance to exert my zeal and spend my time and strength upon – to preach repentance toward God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ; to alarm secure impenitents; to reform the profligate; to undeceive the hypocrite; to raise up the hands that hang down . . . These are the ends I pursue and if ever I divert from these to ceremonial trifles, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.”
Here we see a second always-present element in revivals . . . a clear message of repentance and faith aimed at salvations that transform lives unto holiness. I particularly like the phrase “to alarm secure impenitents”! That sounds rather blunt and confrontational, doesn’t it? No sneaking up, no implied ‘relational evangelism’ was part of Davies’ playbook.
Davies does provide an assessment for the Anglican bishop on the condition of the Virginian clergy, that they seem “stupidly serene and unconcerned, as though their hearers were crowding promiscuously into heaven, and there were little or no danger; that they address themselves to perishing multitudes in cold blood, and do not represent their miserable condition in all its horrors; do not alarm them with solemn and affectionate warnings . . . that their common conversation has little or no savour of living religion . . . that instead of intense application to study, or teaching their parishioners from house to house, they waste their time in idle visits, trifling conversation, slothful ease, or at best, excessive activity about their temporal affairs.”
I thought for a second that this might be a prophecy about 21st century evangelicalism. My wife and I visit quite a number of evangelical churches. The pastors – without exception – behave and teach as if everybody’s ok, everyone is saved, no issues, just gonna try to get you to follow Jesus a little better so you’ll be a little happier, a little healthier, come on and lighten up, life is good, huh? Have you noticed that the pastoral playbook apparently requires frequent comments to show how current he is in sports news, as if “Hey, I’m just a regular worldly guy like anyone else!” Have you noticed how the online biographical sketches of the pastoral staff include how much they like hiking, playing basketball, and watching movies? Why do they try so hard to convince the world that they are completely of the world? Are they afraid someone might suspect them of having ulterior motives, perhaps a spiritual bent that could turn serious? But perhaps they’ve convinced themselves.
Genuine revivals of the late 18th century broke out among Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists, but the message had to be Biblical for the Holy Spirit to work powerfully. Nathan Bangs, a Methodist historian wrote about the Wesleyan evangelists in America, “While they held, in common with other orthodox Christians, to the hereditary depravity of the human heart, the deity and atonement of Jesus Christ, the necessity of repentance and faith; that which they pressed upon their hearers with the greatest earnestness was, the necessity of the new birth, and the privilege of their having a knowledge, by the internal witness of the Holy Spirit, of the forgiveness of sins, through faith in the blood of Christ; and as a necessary consequence of this, and as naturally flowing from it, provided they persevered, holiness of heart and life.”
Getting your sins forgiven was valued and new converts were unashamed to manifest holiness of heart and life. Today it seems even the paid clergy don’t dare to pretend they seek after holiness. And telling someone he’s a sinner who needs forgiveness . . . way too judgmental! Is there any mystery about why there are no revivals in America?
Despite all the crusades and ministries and media in modern times, I personally am aware of only two events which fit the character of the revivals of yesteryear. I know an old retired pastor who was a student at Wheaton College in 1948 when a revival broke out among the student body. Many souls were saved, prayer meetings multiplied, classes were cancelled, and a new spirit took over the college for an extended period of time. I also know an old retired evangelist who saw one genuine revival in his lifetime in a small town in Kansas in 1982. Souls were saved throughout the town, the local church grew with new and lasting conversions, relationships were healed, and the sin industry suffered.
But I know of only those two events since WW2. There may be more, but I’ve never heard of them. Do sinners get saved today in America? Sure. Thank you, Lord, for saving me, not as part of a revival, but simply because one Christian decided to befriend me and tell me the truth. I know the Lord sent that friend my way and I’m glad he was obedient. But revival in the historic sense? Nope, never seen it.
Methodist revivals in 1775 – 1776 include this report: “The multitudes that attended on this occasion, returning home all alive to God, spread the flame through their respective neighborhoods, which ran from family to family: so that within four weeks, several hundreds found the peace of God. And scarce any conversation was to be heard throughout the circuit, but concerning the things of God.”
And another: “I had gone through about two-thirds of my discourse and was bringing the words home to the present – Now, when such power descended, that hundreds fell to the ground, and the house seemed to shake with the presence of God . . . we saw nothing but streaming eyes, and faces bathed with tears; and heard nothing but groans and strong cries after God and the Lord Jesus Christ . . . we could only say, This is none other than the house of God! This is the gate of Heaven!”
There was controversy over ‘wildfire’ in the revivals of the 18th and 19th centuries, including uncontrolled displays of emotion and converts who didn’t stick. Sure. Satan works hard to hinder and corrupt. Yet many, many revivals showed lasting results, with repentance that bore fruit and Christians that stuck and grew to maturity. Where is this happening today? In Asia, I understand that revival lives, but not here.
The War of Independence (1775 – 1783) benefited the Baptists in the South in that it ended their persecution at the hands of the Anglican establishment. Speculating in land acquisition and in new trade opportunities increased wealth. Unfortunately, the new liberty and prosperity cooled their zeal. “Nothing is more common than for the increase of riches to produce a decrease of piety. Speculators seldom make warm Christians . . . The love of many waxed cold.” Today in America prosperous churches with wealthy congregations dot the landscape. Wealthy? How many church members do you know that don’t have a car, air conditioning, a big screen TV, cable and internet, and so much food that weight gains have to be fought with special diets and fitness club memberships? Today’s ‘middle class’ is far richer than the tycoons of the 19th century.
The late 1780s saw a new wave of revivals in which Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians shared buildings and enjoyed a common witness, “where such co-operation had been scarcely known.” Francis Asbury, a well-known Methodist circuit rider wrote in a journal entry, “The Baptists go ahead of the Methodists in this settlement: if it be well done, it matters little who does it.” John Witherspoon wrote, “There are few surer marks of the reality of religion than when a man feels himself more joined in spirit to a truly holy person of a different denomination than to an irregular member of his own.”
Years ago an IFB evangelist thought that a group of students at a seminary he was associated with would benefit from a seminar on creation vs. evolution that I was happy to provide. The school’s president, however, refused the opportunity because I wasn’t a long-term card-carrying member of an IFB church at the time. Now, the IFB culture makes a more public stand against associating with those not of their ilk, yet I have found the same separation barriers among many groups of evangelicals . . . they are just sneakier in drawing the lines. This applies to churches and to parachurch ministries. One creation ministry was interested in using me as an occasional speaker until I mentioned that my Bible of choice when I speak – merely for my own use – is the KJV. Any other version and there would have been no problem.
Hey, people can do what they want, of course, and I’ve got plenty to do already. But today there is scarcely any thought about a God’s-eye view of a community, whereby He might not be as pleased as the local clergy to see the rabid competition in communities to launch new temples on corner after corner.
In a recorded sermon by David Rice in 1803 on the state of the ongoing Kentucky revival, the character of the Christians involved was noted: “They seem to me to have a very deep and affecting sense of the worth of precious immortal souls, ardent love to them, and an agonizing concern for their conviction, conversion, and complete salvation . . . This love, this compassion, this ardent desire, this agonizing, this fervent pleading for the salvation of sinful men and for Zion’s prosperity, far exceed any thing I have ever seen.”
This is yet another key element in genuine revivals, the love of Christians for the souls of men and women. It’s not about a bigtime speaker, it’s not about eloquence. The Gospel message must be clear. There must be fervent prayer. And Christians need to care. The greatest revival in the nation’s history began with a small noon-time prayer meeting in September 1857. Jeremiah Lanphier – just a guy like you or me – quietly organized a prayer time in the lecture room of a church on Fulton Street in Manhattan. The first week six attended. The next week twenty, and the following, forty. The schedule changed to daily, more rooms had to be found, and meetings multiplied across the city.
In March 1858, Burton’s theater with a capacity of 3,000 was filled, as were many New York buildings like printer’s shops, fire stations, and police stations. Tracts were printed and scattered that emphasized the power and influence of the Holy Spirit for regeneration, sanctification, and gifts necessary for spiritual work. James Alexander, one of many local pastors swept up in this ‘layman’s revival’, wrote: “Study I cannot, being run down by persons, many of whom I never knew, in search of counsel. The uptown prayer meetings are very sober and edifying. I am told the general tendency in all is to increased decorum. The openness of thousands to doctrine, reproof, etc., is undeniable. Our lecture is crowded unendurably – many going away. The publisher of Spurgeon’s sermons, says he has sold a hundred thousand. All booksellers agree, that while general trade is down, they never sold so many religious books. You may rest assured there is a great awakening among us.” Notably, these prayer meetings spread across the nation, a great and merciful work of God’s grace before the onset of the destruction of the Civil War. We see similar timing in the European revivals that James Stewart witnessed in the 1930s, before WW2.
I would gladly trade a guarantee for another 20 healthy years of life in exchange for a certain homegoing in six months, if I could but be in the midst of a genuine revival for those six months. I don’t expect that, of course. So what good does it do me to have a level of discernment that is admittedly depressing at times, seeing the emptiness and frivolity of what passes for ‘Christianity’ among American churches? Well, discernment doesn’t cheer me up. It does serve to keep me from wasting my life on frivolities, on cheering and supporting the local shows, the so-called worship services of the evangelicals and the so-called revival meetings of the fundamental Baptists. With whatever moments of life and resources the Lord is gracious to provide me with, I can keep plodding along, give someone a chance by handing him a tract with a clear Gospel challenge, keep writing what I see as simple truth just in case someone out there might find it helpful, and trying to encourage another believer or two out there to plod along in his or her community. I cannot think of an alternative to simple plodding in this place and time. If you can, let me know.
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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100. Five Views on Apologetics
May 15, 2017
This essay is now in the Evangelism section of the web site.
Click on . . .
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101. The Parable of the Winning Football Team
June 1, 2017
“Hey son, you played great tonight. Two rushing touchdowns! Fantastic.”
“Thanks, dad. The main thing is, we won.”
“Winning is what really matters, isn’t it? I mean, sure, play fair, give it your best, but in the end, winning ugly is far more satisfying that losing pretty.”
“If we had lost, that locker room would have been depressing no matter how many touchdowns I scored.”
“So would you like to hear the Parable of the Winning Football Team? It’s based on literally thousands of true stories.”
“Sure, I’ve never heard that one. How does it go?”
“OK, you try to figure out what the parable is really all about as we go along . . . Once upon a time there was a brilliant young football coach – we’ll call him ‘Coach’ – who wanted to build a big and powerful football program that would give him success and fame across the nation, even around the world.”
“This is a pro team he wants to start?”
“Yep. He found it easy to raise a lot of money from wealthy donors because Coach was quite a winsome guy.”
“Winsome?”
“Smart, funny, persuasive, easy to get along with, the kind of guy who seems he’s going far and you just want to be part of what he’s doing. With enough money Coach gets a first class stadium built and hires a big, professional staff and, of course, he works hard at recruiting the best players.”
“He’s not constrained by draft picks?”
“No, his players are all volunteers from the people in the area, especially from the big crowd that comes to the games. But since the players are all volunteers, they insist on deciding what positions they play. Some like to play free safety, a few are willing to try out at defensive tackle or linebacker, a good number like kicking and punting, but hardly anyone wants to play offense. In fact, the few who do volunteer for offense insist on playing quarterback. Nobody wants to carry the ball because you could get hurt doing that.”
“Whoa, dad, that’s crazy. You can’t build a football team like that.”
“You don’t understand. This is going to be a hugely successful team! But I haven’t told you the best parts yet. Most of the volunteers, the most talented ones, choose cheerleader or marching band. Others, not the ‘star’ types, volunteer for equipment manager, concessions, ticket sales, ushers, parking lot duty, trash removal, clean up, and so on.”
“Look, dad, at some point they’re going to have to field a team and play a game! What happens then?”
“Game days are terrific. The stadium is filled with energized fans. The band revs them up and the cheerleaders are great at getting everyone’s attention. They’re pretty and dress the part. There are even little activities organized for some of the fans before the game starts, with facilitators leading discussion groups on the fine points of football strategy, how football can change your life, and people even give testimonies about how much they love the game.”
“Uh, I’m starting to get the idea that this parable isn’t just about football, is it?”
“Hey, it’s a PARABLE! So pay attention. The activities and the food and the music keep right on going after the game starts, so there aren’t many people too concerned about what’s going on, on the field.”
“Which I’m guessing isn’t too pretty, right dad? With hardly anyone playing offense and with nobody wanting to block or carry the ball, they’re not going to score any points.”
“Sure, but the defense isn’t quite so bad. It slows down the other team’s offense, occasionally, so they don’t score too quickly, some of the time.”
“But the scoreboard! Don’t the fans get depressed when the team gets further and further behind?”
“Ah, good question. The scoreboard doesn’t record points for either team, but it does track the number of fans in the stadium, the size of the staff, the budget, the number of hot dogs eaten . . . in fact a lot of hot dogs are given away outside the stadium to people who can’t afford a ticket to get in. The more hot dogs given away, the bigger the cheers. At the end of the game, the team gathers up its used shoes and uniforms and gives them away, too. That makes the crowd go wild!”
“What about the team’s Owner? Isn’t there an Owner who has something to say about this madness? Why would he even hire a guy who doesn’t know football?”
“Oh, the Owner is VERY interested, but he lives in a distant land. He didn’t hire Coach, but the Owner is willing to let him try. After all, there really isn’t any other team in this city. He tries to get through to Coach . . . in fact the Owner wrote the most brilliant book on the subject ever written, How to Play Winning Football. That book includes records of incredibly successful teams of the past. Coach has a copy, but doesn’t pay it any attention, although he does refer to it quite often. In his heart he knows that he’s a lot smarter and a lot more relevant than the Owner who wrote his book a long, long time ago. After all, in this culture, you’ve got to play relevantly!”
“But the Owner tries to communicate to Coach?”
“Yeah, but Coach doesn’t pick up the phone when he sees who’s calling. After all, he’s ‘Coach’!”
“What about the end of the game?”
“Well, when time runs out, Coach and his team congratulate the other team. There’s nothing to get upset about, after all. Everyone had a good time. Coach then puts on the best part of the show. He talks to the fans for about 30 minutes, stirring their hearts about the game, its history, its meaning. He’s a funny guy and he often has the crowd in stitches. He teaches the fans how they can be good little amateur football players during their busy week, when they can fit it in. When he’s done, everyone goes home, smiling, satisfied, looking forward to next week’s game. Seeing how it’s going, Coach feels a warm glow about all the tickets, the hot dogs, the smiles . . . even how gracious he was to the enemy team. They’re not so bad, after all.”
“That’s it? Ok, dad, what’s it all mean? I can’t imagine anything in the world like what you’re talking about.”
“Really? The team is the church, a super-successful megachurch, that is.”
“No way!”
“Way. Coach is the Senior Pastor – he’s the star. What he says, goes, but he’s dependent on a lot of volunteering and a lot of cash. The actual game, where ‘real points are scored,’ is the harvest field. The players are Christians who may try to preach the Gospel to the lost – and score eternal points, that last – or they may choose not to try. Some small fraction of the volunteers opt for defense, for teaching the children some Biblical truth so the enemy, the Adversary, doesn’t score them for his kingdom. But no one wants to play offense.”
“You mean they would rather do anything, including giving away hot dogs and clothes to the poor outside the stadium, rather than engage in battle on the field.”
“Yes. There was once a fellow who attended a game and was horrified to see the pitiful state of the offense, and so volunteered his services to Coach. He was a running back by experience and offered to not only carry the ball, but also train any of the volunteers who would like to learn.”
“Coach must have been overjoyed, right?”
“It seemed so at first. He seemed quite receptive, but ultimately declined the offer. Running the ball was just so ‘offensive,’ so contrary to the team’s culture.” **
“Ok, I get it. Maybe Coach felt that his winsome talks would be enough.”
“Maybe, but you won’t find that in the Owner’s book.”
“What about the cheerleaders, and the band?”
“Entertainment is the very heart of the weekly experience. And the entertainers, wow, do they get a rush with all those eyeballs on them! It’s clear the thinking is that if you can put on a good enough show, then the world’s shows won’t be as attractive. Of course this is fallacious, because the world can always outperform the church when it comes to pleasing the flesh, feeding the emotions. When the church walks in sync with the world’s style, a young person’s flesh gets fed continually . . . he or she won’t give up the ‘real’ entertainment that the Adversary offers up. You might recall that Lucifer (Ezekiel Ch. 28) was designed for musical brilliance. Brilliance can be applied for good or evil. But to call this show ‘worship’ . . . I think somebody is in trouble with God.”
“Nobody seems to notice that the team is actually losing, huh.”
“Well, the scoreboard records all the ‘positive’ stats, like money spent and seats filled and hot dogs consumed. Nobody really cares whether any sinner actually repents, trusts Christ, and is born again, producing a changed life that stays changed . . . and holy. There is no stat for holy. The Owner’s book refers to such things, but Coach is selective in his quotes, staying away from ‘downer’ verses that speak to sin or judgment or the true meaning of the Cross.”
“Coach is going to be in big trouble when the Owner comes back to town, isn’t he?”
“I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. (James 3:1, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 17, Jude 11) It’s not Coach’s team, after all, and the Owner promised to return, in power (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).”
“What if you want to ‘play the game’, but can’t find a team that will let you play?”
“Great question! If you read the Owner’s book, you’ll find out that as soon as you walk outside your door, you’re on the playing field with the ball already in your hand. As you carry the ball, you may find someone else who wants to join your team. Believe it or not, you don’t need a stadium or cheerleaders or a band . . . or even hot dogs. Now if you’ve got a hot dog in your hand, and you see someone who is hungry, by all means give him the hot dog! And give him the Gospel, too. No ‘points’ for the hot dog, though. Hot dogs don’t last long, do they? But salvation is a gift that lasts forever. If he takes that gift, you’ve got another teammate, too.”
** This particular anecdote is based on true events, experienced several times by the author.
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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102. The God Who is There
June 15, 2017
This blog is now in the Evangelism section. Click on . . .
The God Who is There – Francis Schaeffer on Apologetics
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103. A Warrior’s Diary: Part 1
July 1, 2017
This piece begins a fictional serial, based on experiences I’ve had, coupled with speculation about what might be happening ‘behind the scenes’ – in the spiritual realm. Those elements are purely speculative, of course, but represent hopefulness on my part. (My thanks to the imaginative novels of Randy Alcorn and Frank Peretti for some of the ideas penned here.) You should not view the main character, Steve, as ‘me’, but if you know me, you might suppose that he’s a guy I might get along with quite well.
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This time has been refreshing, joyful, a time to celebrate, a time to reacquaint with my fellow warriors, a time to revel in the very presence of my Master. Yet my desire burns within me once more, as it has so many times in the past. I yearn for service in the battle below. I and my compatriots sense that the time is short, and I most certainly want to be engaged when the conflict reaches its climax.
This last assignment was precious, oh so very precious. What a privilege to serve this precious saint, called by many of his countrymen, ‘The Gentle One.’ Yes, gentle in demeanor, soft-spoken and compassionate in sharing the Good News with those who would hear, but . . . the heart of a lion! With courage and determination rivaling the best of my clan, he kept me very busy, because my Master led him into much danger, and the Adversary fought hard to end The Gentle One’s service prematurely, before he had finished his course.
Our battles led us from his little village in Qinghai province into the western provinces, across the Tibetan and Nepalese borders, even into Kashmir and India. The Gospel took hold in village after village, small house churches growing and spreading their joy, new converts walking the mountain trails and wading streams to spread the Good News yet farther. The Gentle One’s own children hiked eastward, over the mountains into the heart of his land’s tyranny, giving their lives while still in their prime, but not before many repented, even Party leaders, becoming witnesses of Elohim’s grace to others.
Opposition was fierce, of course. I and my clan had to be diligent as the Enemy’s troops employed every trick possible, at times trying to distract and entice a misstep on a steep mountain trail, at other times working openly to stir up Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist or even Communist leaders to harass, to persecute, or to arrest . . . even to brazenly attempt open murder. The Gentle One’s prayers, and the prayers of his many brothers and sisters, filled us with our Master’s strength, until my charge finished his good fight . . . finished brutally by knives of hatred, just outside a small home, after winning his very last convert, a widowed mother.
As we were saying our farewells, just moments ago, a portal opened nearby, a ‘portal of rejoicing.’ This dear saint and I, along with several of his new found family, along with others of my clan, rejoiced to see that reborn mother use the Bible the old evangelist had given her to explain the story of redemption to her oldest daughter, whose heart also broke in repentance and faith . . . and another child entered the Kingdom.
I left him in his good company, among those who greeted him at his homecoming. I then reported to my Commander. Magnus’ expression was unreadable, his demeanor all business, as usual.
“Well, Janus, are you ready for your next assignment?”
“Yes, Commander. My spirit is well refreshed. Such great victories for our Master in the East! I am eager to engage. The time must be short, indeed!”
“That, of course, is not for us to know . . . yet I share your anticipation. But there must be more souls to rescue before the Wrath of the Lamb is visited on the realm below.”
“Please, sir, end my suspense. Where shall I serve?”
“All right, Janus, your assignment is to be Guardian to an aged saint by the name of Steve Bukowski.”
“That sounds Polish . . . Polish American?”
“Yes, Steve resides in a town outside the American city of Chicago.”
Distress overwhelmed me at this news. “Commander, have I offended? Please, tell me what I’ve done to warrant demotion? Was The Gentle One’s death premature after all? Did I fail to protect him?”
“No, by no means! Your service was exemplary. Did not our Master encourage you with His appreciation?”
“Well . . . yes, yes, I’m sorry to react so quickly. But America . . . America is a backwater in this war. Nothing seems to be happening there. Our work in Asia is so . . . so glorious! I was hoping . . . Commander, why did you choose this assignment for me?”
Magnus paused, then simply explained, “Your assignment is from Elohim . . . directly.”
This was . . . if not unprecedented, at least very unusual. “Yes, Commander. I abase myself. You need explain no more . . . unless you wish to . . .”
My Commander laughed and said, “I wish I had more to tell you, yet I have but little more guidance.”
Magnus went on to detail the logistics of my assignment, including the point that Steve’s existing Guardian, Kamilo, would transition to detached service in the Chicago area. I have served with Kamilo a couple of times before, but it has been several centuries since we spent much time together. As my meeting concluded, I assured my Commander that I would give my assignment all of my devotion and energy. He smiled, assuring me that he had utter confidence in me.
Moments later I entered Earth’s atmosphere, conscious of the watchful gaze of the Adversary’s scouts. They are quite vigilant to track the comings and goings of my clan. I met Kamilo for our handoff on top of Steve Bukowski’s commuter train on its way into the city. Kamilo was in a hurry, having just been informed that his service was needed on the city’s South side, so our meeting was short. He promised to give me more background when things got a little quieter, hopefully in the early morning hours of the coming days.
I entered the passenger car to find Steve scrunched into a window seat. The car was packed with commuters, although Steve wasn’t working for a paycheck anymore. The old fellow’s carry bag rested on his lap, looking a bit heavy for his modest frame. He was not impressive to look at, but I’ve had enough experience to know that appearances count for little.
Examining him closely, I can sense fatigue from a night of little sleep. I would learn that he suffered considerable stress and nearly sleepless nights in anticipation of his forays into the city. He looks worried, even nervous. Yet his face has a determined expression on it as he silently prays, prayers forwarded on to me to inform my responsibility to protect him in his work, and to guide him to those who respond to the Spirit’s drawing.
The train stops and Steve moves with the alacrity of a much younger man, bounding down the passenger car’s stairs, walking quickly, weaving rapidly through the terminal’s crowds to get to the street. The fatigue is gone. His prayers are for safety, for energy, for wisdom, for boldness, and for the Spirit to work in hearts.
Immediately outside the terminal on the busy sidewalk, Steve picks out a Hispanic lady, offers her a tract, smiles, and says, “Good morning! Here’s a free gift.” When she takes it, he says, “God bless you,” and moves east along Madison Street. Along the way to his first destination, Chicago’s Daley Center, Steve is able to give tracts to at least 30 people, targeting mostly laborers, but an occasional ‘suit,’ although ‘suits’ rarely accept, usually pretending that the old fellow does not even exist.
I see my first sign of the enemy while waiting for the light to change at Clark and Dearborn. The corner directly across the street, the northwest corner of the block occupied by the Daley Center, is Steve’s objective, to catch the multitudes of people headed toward the courthouse in the early morning. The demon avoids getting too close to me, leery of my sword gleaming in the sunshine, but simply zips in and out of a taxicab in the traffic moving south on Clark, a hundred yards north of us. What mischief . . . ?
The light changes, with Steve eager to be first across the street, anxious to plant himself on the opposite sidewalk to offer tracts to the gaggle of pedestrians that will follow him across. The traffic heading south on Clark screeches to a halt, except . . . that taxicab runs the red light . . . Steve has already stepped off the curb . . . I grab his shoulder and whisper a strong impression: “WAIT!!”
The old fellow freezes, sees the cab race by just a few feet in front of him . . . trembling, Steve looks heavenward, says aloud, “Thank you, Lord!”, then quickly takes his next step, now in the midst of the pedestrians crossing the street.
The next couple of hours go by quickly. I’m advised to guide Steve in making sure that particular individuals . . . even suits . . . are offered a tract. He’s able to get several people to stop and talk. It’s clear that it’s easier to give tracts to, or to engage in conversation with the poor rather than the rich, the plain rather than the lovely, the black or Hispanic rather than the white. Steve goes after everyone he can, but when he has to choose one over another, he prioritizes by his experience.
One encounter is notable. I see my brother-in-arms Kamilo once again, guiding in our direction a black fellow in his late twenties. Ah, this is why Kamilo raced off to the South side. This encounter was planned by Elohim. I see several enemy warriors circling us, but Kamilo brandishes his sword boldly, and we are sure that we can keep the enemy at bay for the next few minutes . . . precious minutes.
Steve: “Good morning! Here’s a free gift – something to stimulate your mind!”
Kamilo gives me a quick brief and I observe that Leon hesitates, then stops as he accepts the tract. So Steve presses on . . .
Steve: “It’s a story about the big issues – life, death, Heaven, Hell. Do you ever think about those things?”
Leon: “Uh, sure . . . yeah, all the time.”
Steve: “So here’s the big question: If today is your last day on Earth, and you die, where will you be after that?”
Leon: “Uh, I . . . don’t know. Heaven, I hope. But my life is so messed up now . . .”
Steve: “What’s going on?”
Leon opens up about his busted marriage, his drunkenness, his little girl whom he never gets to see anymore. Steve shows him much sympathy and compassion, but works to get past the surface issues.
Steve: “What are you doing to make it right? What’s your plan?”
Leon: “Got no plan. Theresa’s better off without me . . . It hurts, man.”
Steve: “What if you could make it right? The first thing is that you’ve got even bigger problems than you told me. You’ve got to fix those first.”
Leon: “What’re you talkin’ about?”
Steve: “Everything you told me – that’s sin in your life. You’ve hurt your wife and your baby girl, but more than that, you’ve offended God. You’re one heartbeat from Hell and I don’t want you to go to Hell, man. God wants to forgive you and he wants your wife to have a godly husband and your daughter to have a godly daddy. You’ve got to repent, trust Christ, and get right with God. THEN AND ONLY THEN . . . you can get God’s help to make things right with your family. He’ll help you. Don’t you want God’s help?”
Leon: “Sure . . . yeah, sure, but how?”
Steve proceeds to go through the law with Leon, showing him what his sins really are in God’s sight, explaining judgment and Hell, then shares the Gospel with the young man, finally concluding with . . .
Steve: “. . . Look, Leon, your part is simple – repent, turn from your sins, trust the Lord Jesus Christ. He’ll give you a new heart, a new spirit. Life changes. You follow Him – His way! Then you’ve got grounds to pray for your marriage, your family. And then you’ve got something to show your wife and daughter. Then you can teach them to know the Lord, too. So what’re you gonna do?”
Leon: “Uh, man, I know you’re right. I’ve gotta think about this.”
Steve hands him some more assorted tracts, and shows him the phone number and web site printed on each one. (The old fellow built a web site to give people a place to follow up. I’ll have to review that material this evening.) Then he exhorts Leon to call him, but mostly exhorts him to repent and trust Elohim today, no delay. Leon is clearly under conviction as he walks away. Steve prays briefly for the young fellow, then turns to get eye contact with the next pedestrian . . .
Steve: “Good morning! Here’s a free gift – something to stimulate your mind!”
Kamilo gives me a thumbs up as he departs, sticking close to Leon, determined to fend off the enemy as the Spirit works on the man’s heart. Later on, on the train ride home, I’m given a portal into Steve’s thoughts as he thinks about his encounter with that lost soul, wondering whether he did his part well enough, fighting discouragement while hoping that he hears back from him, but offering one more prayer, asking his Lord to ‘stay on Leon’s trail.’
. . . In the months to follow I would learn from Kamilo, now assigned to Leon full time, that the Spirit brought other events and witnesses of Gospel truth into the young man’s life, finally provoking conviction whereby he cried out for forgiveness and mercy, leaving the broad road to destruction to walk the narrow path of righteousness and life . . . the path of a saved man, born again to serve the Master. Leon – sadly – never thought to call Steve, which would have been of great encouragement, but they will meet again at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb . . . along with the rest of Leon’s family, who embraced the new man he became, AND embraced the Savior for their own . . .
Through the rest of the day, Steve moves to various locations, ‘hot corners’ with busy pedestrian traffic, especially the corners of State and Madison, one of the historically busiest intersections in the world. One notable encounter . . . An elderly lady responds with enthusiasm to Steve’s opening line, quickly identifying herself as a fellow believer in the Lord Jesus. It’s clear to me that Steve’s discernment is quite mature, recognizing promptly in her signs of the new birth. With others who claim conversion, I’ve noticed, he presses them for evidence. America, apparently, is filled with churchgoers who are unregenerate.
But this Christian lady is both encouraged by and an encouragement to the old man. He asks her if she would commit to handing out some tracts while she goes about her business downtown. She eagerly accepts a stack of 75 tracts as she departs and, as she walks up State Street, begins to pass them out. Seeing this lifts my charge’s spirit joyfully as he watches for a few moments, before he turns to smile at the pair of suits approaching . . . deciding to try a variation.
Steve: “Good afternoon, gentlemen! I have a free gift for you, designed for intellectuals. Do you qualify?”
Hah! That worked. It won’t always, I’ll learn, but at least those two have a chance they would never otherwise have.
. . . As the sun sets, Steve walks slowly back to Ogilvie terminal, emptying his bag, once filled with 2,000 tracts, by the time he enters the station. Folding himself into a single seat in the upper deck of the passenger car, he shows his exhaustion . . . but also contentment. Reviewing the events of the day, he concludes that about a dozen of the people he talked to showed ‘traction’ – some visible indications of conviction. I hear him ask the Lord whether he has done well, fighting discouragement again, but always concludes with a prayer that the Master use the tracts, use his witness, and work hard to save souls . . . whether or not Steve sees results himself.
The old man has seen evidence of several conversions over the years, but this is a different world from what I’ve recently experienced in Asia. I’m sure that Steve Bukowski would be amazed to experience just a fraction of what The Gentle One saw in his life. But he will have his own stories to tell in the ages to come. I see now why I have this assignment. This part of the harvest field is a far different challenge and the Master’s laborers have quite different obstacles. I will have to learn fast to protect this servant and to encourage his faithfulness.
. . . . . To be continued . . . . .
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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104. Amazing Truths
July 15, 2017
Children born blind or otherwise disabled in Tibet are often treated cruelly. Some will openly curse or spit at them publicly. The documentary Blindsight shows a woman shouting at two blind children who stumble against her in the street: “Look out, morons. You deserve to eat your father’s corpse.”
Why? Worldview makes a difference. Buddhists believe in karma and a circular conception of time, in which such kids are reincarnations of people who misbehaved in a previous life. In that documentary a child speaks to this: “It’s because of my bad deeds in a previous life that I’m blind in this one. It’s what’s written in my karma.”
The Biblical view of time is linear. From Genesis 1 and the creation of the universe and man, through the history of the world with a focus on the Messianic line, to an assured prophetic future culminating in the final judgments and a glimpse into the ages to follow, time flows relentlessly in accord with God’s plan. Christ was once offered on the cross at a particular point in space / time / history. The antithesis of this concept is circular time, “that you and I wheel round and round in a temporal circle, or spiral, until or unless we somehow manage to escape from it.” Consider Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day, doomed to relive the same day until he shaped up.
The quote above, along with the Tibetan anecdote, is from Michael Guillen’s book, Amazing Truths: How Science and the Bible Agree. Guillen is a physicist, which is what intrigued me enough to buy and read his book, considering that physicists who write on Christian apologetics are a rare breed.
Overall, I find Guillen’s perspective flawed, naïve, and unsavory. He sees science and the Bible in conflict, unfortunately he thinks, because “science and Scripture have both participated significantly in advancing the ball of human understanding. Each in its own way has helped us to score objective truths.” But it’s not science and Scripture that are in conflict; rather, it’s atheists employed as scientists who pretend that their expertise in the practice of the scientific method gives them authority to make pronouncements entirely outside the realm of science.
For example, the scientist / engineer can analyze the operational characteristics of an Indy race car, what fuel / air mixtures are optimal for various conditions, how quickly the vehicle accelerates in certain gears, how quickly the tires abrade, etc. Science is all about measuring, weighing, and counting, to analyze combustion chemistry, or the physical mechanics of the drive train, or the frictional forces between tire and track. What science cannot do is to explain the origin of the race car via naturalistic mechanisms. Duh. Really, what story could an atheistic scientist spin that you would believe, that attempted to explain the existence of an Indy race car via geological, environmental, and random chemical processes? It’s obvious that a race car is designed, intelligently, with function and purpose.
In the realm of life, biochemists work to understand the incredibly complex processes featured in cellular metabolism, reproduction, and intercellular communication. Yet biochemists have no . . . zero . . . zip . . . nada . . . explanation for the origin of living cells, which are far, FAR more complex than Indy race cars or even supercomputers. Similarly, astronomers count galaxies and stars and planets, measure their velocities, record their spectra, etc., but when they spin yarns about a naturalistic origin for the universe . . . out of NOTHING . . . in which a Big Bang turned NOTHING into our incredibly well-ordered universe of galaxies, with trillions of stars and planets in beautiful orbits, they aren’t doing astronomy . . . they are fantasizing.
Guillen sees science and religion as alternative methodologies for finding truth. In so doing, he works to compromise Biblical truth with atheistic origin fantasies. Rather, he should see God’s word as concretely foundational, establishing principles of truth and rational thought that allow man to employ the scientific method to count, weigh, and measure aspects of our physical universe so we can love and thank our Creator, and employ such knowledge via engineering to make our lives more comfortable and productive. Additionally, it’s obvious . . . so obvious . . . that a Biblical worldview goes FAR beyond counting and weighing to establish the vital issues of life, including justice, integrity, honesty, love, hope, meaning, relationships, etc. Science is built on top of foundations of the Biblical principles of man as a rational person, who finds purpose and meaning in exploring God’s creation, employing logic which is foundational to mathematics, and ethics which is essential to judgment and integrity in analyzing and reporting the results of scientific measurements. All those italicized words reflect concepts upon which science is built. Science is not able to exist without those foundations. Science is servant, not master.
Why does Guillen, as representative of many others in evangelicalism, miss the Biblical perspective? In short, he’s been conned by the atheistic, materialistic establishment, who have convinced him to be a Big Banger and a theistic evolutionist, and so he has to find a way to make peace between God and an atheistic worldview. Sorry, Michael, there is no peace.
Nevertheless . . . Guillen offers some useful nuggets that we can enjoy from within a Biblical perspective. That’s what the rest of this essay is about.
The Biblical perspective of linear time is essential to science, built into equations and theories which allow us to make sense of all kinds of physical processes. Linear time is built into Newton’s laws of mechanics, used to track stars, satellites, and race cars. Linear time is foundational to Maxwell’s equations for electromagnetics, the Navier-Stokes equations for fluid flow and heat transfer, and Schroedinger’s equation in quantum theory. These differential equations allow expert counters and measurers (scientists) to predict the next solar eclipse, to design a laser to produce a specific color and power output, and to validate the performance of an HVAC system.
What can the differential equations associated with the scientific method not do? The most brilliant counters / measurers cannot tell you what you will be thinking tomorrow, or whether you ought to tell your boss a lie, or whether your life has any meaning.
One thing I do like about Guillen is that he’s not a Calvinist: “Heaven is not a gated community. It is open to everyone . . . Heaven is a choice, not a chore.” Also, he quotes: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” True equality, a concept not subject to the scientific method, must include an opportunity to trust the Savior.
Guillen uses some physics concepts as metaphors for the spiritual. What is a photon? Is it particle or wave? Or both, or neither? A photon, like an electron, has characteristics like waves, but also like particles. Analogously, the Bible teaches us that we are both flesh and spirit, with the two in contention. Shall I love light or darkness, shall I exhibit arrogance or humility, shall I show love or selfishness? In the end will I enjoy eternal life or eternal death?
God, however, is spirit, infinite in knowledge and power, eternal and unconstrained by space and time, unchanging. Man, however, is tied to the physical and finite in knowledge, power . . . everything.
What about Jesus? The Jews see him as a man, and often as a troublemaker, maybe a misunderstood rabbi, anything but Messiah. The Muslims see Jesus as a prophet subordinate to Muhammad. Buddhists see Jesus as an enlightened man, while Hindus have a variety of perspectives, with Jesus perhaps one of many (small ‘g’) gods. Mahatma Gandhi said that Jesus “was one of the greatest teachers humanity ever had.” Those that see Jesus as a good teacher have not, apparently, read His words in the Gospel accounts. He didn’t leave open the possibility that He was merely a nice guy, a good teacher. Jesus was as judgmental as God and declared His identity as one with the Jehovah revealed in the Old Testament. Jesus was fully God and fully man. And He still is!
Jesus called Himself “the light of the world.” Another Guillen analogy: We know from Einstein’s theory of special relativity and a myriad of experimental verifications that time slows down for objects traveling close to the speed of light. For light itself, time must slow to a complete stop. “Light and light alone inhabits a realm where past, present, and future have no meaning because the three exist all together and at once.” Intriguingly, two high energy photons can collide and out pop two ordinary particles, a positron and an electron. Alternatively, a positron and an electron in collision will disappear and out pop two high energy photons. Light is special.
In Scripture, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
(I like the analogies that Guillen explores. I can enjoy his book as a creative devotional . . . not an apologetic.)
Guillen sees the light metaphor as revealing a truth in line with modern scientific thought, that God’s identification with light is consistent with light’s special standing independent of time. Psalm 90:2, for example: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Guillen: “God existed before he created time. For the Judeo-Christian God, as for light, there is no past, present, or future. They are all one and the same to him.”
It’s not that God exists in linear time from eternity past to eternity future. He’s outside of that. Linear time is for us. We look back, we look around, we look to the future. But God is “I am.” Yet in a moment in space-time / history, God’s ‘I am’ nature entered into linear time, and in analogy to photons of light turning into tangible particles, God the Son took on flesh in Nazareth (later born in Bethlehem). The universe changed. Jesus is one of us in linear time, forever, while at the same time God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is the unchanging ‘I am.’
Got that? Easy, huh? Now, when we die, our spirit (immaterial) separates from our decaying body (particles). In the resurrection, the believer’s spirit is reunited with an immortal body, in fellowship with Jesus who also inhabits an immortal, resurrected body. How can anyone not want to investigate whether the Gospel might just be true?!?
What about evil? For Guillen (and me) that’s a consequence of free will. Creation will be cleansed from evil . . . in God’s eyes, that’s already happened, we just haven’t witnessed it yet, because we’re stuck in the timeline. When Jesus proclaimed, “I have overcome the world”, He said that the night before the cross. Yet He ‘was’ already present in eternity future.
Our present perspective should be taken from Paul (Eph 5:8): “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.”
Each chapter of Guillen’s book deals with a unique and interesting physical phenomenon. The only other one I’ll mention in this review is quantum entanglement, which Einstein derided as “spukhafte Fernwirkung,” which means, roughly, “spooky action at a distance.” Yet in recent years it has been verified experimentally a number of different ways.
The idea is that two subatomic particles, electrons for example, may be closely associated inside an atom, then fly apart, quickly increasing distance, even miles or light years between them. In their initial association their net spin was zero, with one spinning say, clockwise, and the other counterclockwise. (Every electron can and must spin in one or the other way . . . I am simplifying a bit, admittedly.)
A well-verified aspect of quantum theory is that until you measure the spin of one of the electrons, it exists in a probabilistic superposition of both spins. When you actually measure it, though, you’ll find it in one spin or the other. The oddity of quantum theory, which is truly a fundamental characteristic of the way God designed the universe, is that the electron you select is truly in a mixture of both spins, until you measure it.
So you let the entangled electrons separate to a huge distance, then measure the spin of the first. Aha! It’s clockwise. If you measure the spin of the second just an instant later, that one is counterclockwise . . . as if the measurement of the 1st was communicated instantaneously, FAR faster than the speed of light, to tell the 2nd that it should reveal itself to be CCW. You see, because each electron is in a true mixture of the two spin states until you measure it, if you had waited a bit to measure the first electron’s spin, it may have turned out to be CCW. Then, measuring the 2nd an instant later, that spin would have been CW. Spooky, huh?
Like I said, this effect has been verified experimentally, mystifying scientists who have been quite accustomed for the last century to the speed of light as an absolute speed limit, via Einsteinian relativity. Which is still valid! We can’t communicate FTL (faster than light), but entangled electrons or photons can.
Guillen sees quantum entanglement as an analogy to God’s ability to communicate instantaneously, without delay. When Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, he suddenly hears God’s voice, commanding him to stop. Any delay would have been unfortunate.
God’s voice can emanate from . . . anywhere, anything. God spoke to Moses from a burning bush, with no indication of time delays during the dialogue, in contrast to the speed-of-light time delays we see on the TV news, during an interview between parties in distant cities. (Some of that delay is electronic, of course, but electronic delays are, in fact, speed-of-light delays in electromagnetic propagation within material devices.)
Saul of Tarsus heard the voice of the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, apparently coming out of nowhere . . . omnidirectionally, perhaps, “as if the very molecules all around were behaving like loudspeakers.”
Indeed, God is omnipresent and can intervene whither He wills. His very words sit on our bookshelf and can be illuminated by the Holy Spirit, who is not only omnipresent, but indwelling for the believer. We don’t need a burning bush – that was good for Moses, and it’s good that we have the record of it, but apparently once was enough to make the point. We don’t need to be struck blind on the road to Damascus; Saul of Tarsus was a fairly hard case and, apparently, needed such a startling intervention. Far better for us if we get the message quietly, gently, and precisely . . . and then act on it.
Guillen observes that when we obey God’s word, it’s analogous to two identical tuning forks. Strike one and the other vibrates sympathetically. The second fork must be in tune with the first, though. The out-of-tune fork doesn’t notice when the first fork vibrates its message. It’s an impressive demonstration, though, to set a bunch of forks, all in tune, arrayed around the primary fork.
That’s what Christians should be, in tune with God and, therefore, in tune with each other. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17) Find God’s truth (that’s easy). Speak it to others (that’s easy, too). If they get in tune, the message spreads and harmony grows.
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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105. A Warrior’s Diary: Part 2
August 1, 2017
This continues a fictional serial, first posted as my blog of July 1, 2017. If you haven’t read Part 1, I encourage you to do so to provide context for Part 2. I’ll reiterate that the fictional events portrayed here are based on my actual experiences.
The last several weeks have been surprisingly busy . . . and challenging. It is evident that the Adversary’s agents focus their attention on those Christians in America whom they consider to be the most dangerous, namely those communicating a clear and Scriptural message to the multitudes of lost souls in this land. My charge, Steve Bukowski, usually makes one or two trips per week to downtown Chicago. It’s not just the intensity of the street evangelism that wears him out; it’s the spiritual battle itself, the enemy working to hinder and discourage, or trying to inflict sickness or provoke a disabling or even lethal accident. One of my jobs is to prevent or deflect such attacks. I must not fail.
It usually takes Steve two days to recover after each trip, even when his work goes smoothly. On the surface one might think that a day of handing out tracts and engaging in 1-2-1 Gospel presentations would be light work. If done lightly, it just might. Yet the old man gives his best for every individual who talks with him, and he works hard, using a variety of small but clever tactics to get those hurrying by to accept tracts.
Today I’ve enjoyed working again with an old friend, Leto, assigned to the fellow partnering with Steve today. Jack was able to get a week day off from work to join Steve on the train ride from Des Plaines. He’s a young man, still learning how to share the Good News, yet has plenty of enthusiasm for the work. It’s been a pleasure to listen in on their fellowship, their mutual encouragements and exhortations, which started the moment they greeted each other on the train station platform this morning. Leto greeted me at the same time.
The warrior’s thunderous voice would have terrified the mortals nearby if they had ears to hear: “Ho, Janus! Into the fray side-by-side again after so many years!”
I replied, “Hail, Leto! I sense trouble ahead of us today. What news do you bring?”
“Indeed,” he said. “I’ve been briefed that several encounters today will be critical. Many of our brothers have been assigned to guide lost souls to cross paths with these two saints. Here are the specifics . . .”
Leto proceeded to give me times and locations in the city for us to expect Spirit-ordained encounters, then concluded with, “Of course we can expect opposition. The enemy’s scouts have noted our preparations and are tracking our comrades. They are marshalling forces to keep their children within their own fold.”
I nodded, responding, “I expected as much. The last two days have been difficult here . . . the usual stuff, like car trouble and sleeplessness, but more poignant attacks, too, in the form of relatives causing trouble . . . plus a couple of ‘Christians’ he knows who demanded help on a quite trivial matter today. Wisely, he declined. The old saint has learned that such opposition is an indicator of blessings in the battle ahead. So he was not deterred.”
“I, too, have had my hands full this week with trouble in Jack’s life. I’m pleased his older friend warned him accordingly, urging him to pray that neither the world nor the enemy would hinder their ability to reach today’s battlefield. I sometimes wish that our forces could operate unseen to our opposition. Our movements, unfortunately, allow the enemy to focus his attack on both ends, to keep the evangelist away from the hearer . . . ah, the train is about to pull out. I’ll ride atop, if you like, if you would prefer to set watch inside.”
. . . . . a few hours later, mid afternoon, at the southeast corner of the Daley Center . . . . .
“Hey, Jack, how’s it going?” Jack had just walked over after a very busy hour of work a block west of us, in front of City Hall.
“Good, Steve . . . lots of great 121’s. Just finished talking to a guy who got under real conviction. I’ve got hope for that fellow. He promised to read the tracts I gave him and said he’ll give us a call soon. But there’s this crazy lady that stood across the street from me, yelling and cussing at me, acting really weird . . . I decided to get out of her line of fire and see how you’re doing.”
“Yeah, she was over here a while ago, across the street, cussing at me, too. I think she’s demon-possessed.”
“Really? You know, it seems she got really loud just as that guy was opening up about sins in his life.”
“What’s interesting,” Steve said, “is that she acted like she wanted to cross the street to get into my face, but she just couldn’t do it. I think we’ve got some protection today, Jack. She doesn’t look like much . . . what do you figure, 5 foot 4, maybe 40 years old, overweight. But I’m glad she can’t cross the street.”
Indeed, Leto and I have kept her at bay, despite the foul rantings of several of the Adversary’s agents urging her on, shouting vile words into her ears, which then came out of her own mouth. I was compelled to use my sword to send one of them to the Pit, the one determined to push her across the street to accost Steve physically. I gave her a quick shove back onto the sidewalk, then overcame her tormentor. Seeing their comrade cut asunder, the vapor of his demise disappearing into the air, the others backed off, content for the moment to fill her mind with hate.
The demons in the West do not seem to match the prowess of those in the East that I battled so recently. It is clear the enemy concentrates his forces where the war rages most hotly. But the enemies I’ve faced these last several weeks are diligent and furious enough, working hard to keep America docile, deluded, and complacent.
“Hey, Jack, that tour bus is stopping . . . it’s full of young people. Let’s hit them with tracts.”
Steve and Jack walked quickly over to meet the stream of high school students heading toward the Daley Center’s south entrance, Jack hurrying to catch those in the lead, Steve moving to intercept the middle of the flow. With warm smiles from the evangelists and a new surge of energy, along with a bit of encouragement from Leto and myself, all 46 students accepted tracts, plus the two teachers escorting them!
I’ve been impressed with the variety of tracts the redeemed ones use, some designed by Steve, all of them with attention-grabbing colors and graphics. Steve has been training his partner, pointing out that when tracting a crowd, a big variety of tracts is advantageous, especially with young people. After the first teenager in this group accepts her tract, the ones following are eager to see just what they’re getting, noticing that each one is different, which provokes curiosity about the tracts their peers received. By peering into the building, I observe that in the minutes to follow, after they pass by the two evangelists, many of them trade the tracts with each other, thereby reading multiple Gospel presentations, all with different ‘hooks’ to grab their attention. Excellent!
The youngsters disappear into the building, each with a written message of eternal opportunity in his or her very hands, but two young fellows trail behind, intrigued by Steve’s effort to engage them in conversation. Steve is enthused, because these boys have questions . . . they think the questions should stump the old man, but his responses penetrate to the conscience, as he turns the hypothetical into the personal, challenging them on their sins, their lives, their hope (or lack thereof) for facing God.
Jack stands close by, listening in until the guys depart, each with several additional tracts in hand. At that moment, we hear yelling, screaming . . . tires squeal . . . the busy intersection is gridlocked. The devil-possessed woman stands in the center of the crossing, yelling curses at the top of her lungs, screaming her anger and frustration. There must be two thousand pedestrians within sight and sound . . . all frozen in place and staring, plus hundreds of cars backed up on both busy streets.
Two police officers run quickly from their security post on the east side of the Center, vainly attempt to reason with her, then grapple with her, hoping to pull her out of the street. Amazingly, they fail, not able to see the devilish forces that energize her thrashing arms and legs. It takes an additional three officers to wrestle her to the ground, handcuff her, and drag her into a police van, which quickly speeds away. The buzz of hundreds of conversations fills the air, marveling at what just happened, but then traffic begins to flow again and the urbanites go about their business.
Jack observes, “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like that before!”
Steve nods and says, “Jack, I think we should feel really good about this . . . and thankful! Praise God! If the Adversary is stirred up that much, we must be doing some good today!”
. . . . . The next Tuesday evening in the living room of a large residential home just outside Des Plaines . . .
Steve is on one of his ‘field trips’ . . . He signed up for this ‘fellowship group’ meeting after visiting a megachurch ‘worship service’ on Sunday morning. I must be careful to put that in quotes. The old man’s annoyance was palpable, although well hidden from those around him. Yet he endured the anemic worldly music, as a necessary prelude to the winsome presentation given by the ‘senior pastor.’
My assessment of the message tracked with Steve’s. The speaker spoke truth, but nothing that the large audience really needed to hear. I surveyed the large auditorium, packed with over 2,000 people. I had the pleasure of greeting a few of my fellow warriors . . . sadly, too few. The evidence of the indwelling Spirit rested upon just a handful in the auditorium. Nothing the others would hear in the sermon would provoke them to question their eternal destiny. The ones already secure in their salvation likewise would hear nothing to impel them to urgency, to reach out with the saving Gospel to the lost multitudes around them.
I asked one of my brothers, Crispin, why there were only five warriors present, since I could count a full fifty of the redeemed in the crowd. He explained that there was so little to do that each warrior could easily track ten of these saints. The opposition was light, after all. Once the enemy had established their program here, its best warriors could move on to other fields. Crispin then urged me to be quick to ask for assistance if I needed help . . . any help at all! So I explained what my charge was doing there, and suggested that he and his brothers work to guide certain saints to intersect with the old man’s path.
Accordingly, Steve was pleased that several middle-aged and senior saints greeted him after the service, giving him the chance to make his pitch. Unfortunately, the responses were uniformly disappointing.
As Steve headed toward his car Crispin said, “I’m not surprised, of course. We know these people. That’s why we call this group ‘Ichabod* Megachurch.’ Several of them once had some fire, but they are far too comfortable now. That’s why we’re all on short term assignments. We have to rotate in and out of these guardianships, lest we be tempted to discouragement. But I have to ask . . . your charge has not been led here by the Spirit, has he?”
I replied, “No, but he’s determined to find someone of like mind, someone who has some fire for the battle. Elohim has not discouraged the old man. His efforts are permitted and some good may come. He does seem to make some of these saints uncomfortable, at least.”
Steve’s real objective is this Tuesday night fellowship group. He had learned that this group of adults was most active in the charitable outreach activities of the church and therefore might be receptive to his pleas . . . after all, the church web site was quite explicit in proclaiming their desire to spread the Gospel.
The ages ranged from 30 to 75, several couples plus two divorced single men and a couple of widows. After introductions for Steve’s benefit – the new guy – he was asked if he would share something about himself and why he decided to visit the small group.
Steve went into his pitch . . . “I’ve been blessed to be retired from the paycheck for some years now, even before my wife went home to Heaven, to be able to use my time to reach out with the Gospel. There are such great opportunities around the Des Plaines area, or by taking a short train ride into Chicago! I’ll give you an example or two. A good friend and I went downtown last Thursday . . .”
Steve went on to talk about the tracts he uses, handing out a wide variety to the group members as he talked. He told about the young atheist college student he met outside DePaul University, how he challenged the young man’s materialist worldview, eliciting questions and an openness to Steve’s presentation of the Gospel. He then told about the three Roman Catholic nuns who accepted tracts, despite an unwillingness to engage in conversation . . . making the point that tracts give people a chance even if you cannot engage them. He talked about the gangbanger who admitted that he was a murderer in a recent gang war, but found the young fellow eager to open up, eager to hear that there is a God who forgives . . . contingent on repentance.
(My brothers are tracking that young fellow, who seems to be under conviction. He could bring many into the Kingdom if he repents.)
I noted that Steve was careful to avoid mentioning the demonic manifestations he saw. He judged that might be a bit too much for this group to handle.
Steve closed his pitch with this: “So I’m looking for someone . . . anyone who can walk and talk. I noticed that everyone here walked in and talked to me, so you all qualify! I’d love to have any of you join me for a day downtown, or ‘ride shotgun’ with me knocking doors near here, or . . . if that’s too much to start, then let me come along on one of your charitable outreaches. I know you all believe that Jesus saves. And it’s great to reach out to the homeless with meals . . . and all the other great projects you do . . . but as you help someone physically, I’d like to be there to share the Gospel with each one you help. And if you’d like me to coach you so you can do that, too, compassionately, efficiently . . . it’s not hard at all to learn to do this . . . I’d love to teach anyone who wants to learn, or just needs to refresh, if you used to do personal evangelism. So what do you think?”
Well, that provoked a lot of discussion, some of it quite positive . . . “Well, that’s great Steve! That must be your special gift!” . . . Some of it condescending . . . “You know, we’ve kind of got a different way of doing things here. We don’t want to scare people, after all.” . . . Some of it defensive . . . “Oh, that’s not for me. I’m into building relationships with people. In fact, that’s what our Pastor tells us to do, build relationships.”
Steve worked hard to be affirming. For example: “Absolutely! Let’s build relationships. I just want to make sure that during the relationship, the Gospel is shared and, if the ‘relationship’ is just a quick stop to pick up a meal, it’s easy to use that one-minute relationship and share some Gospel truth right then, especially since a lot of the people you help, well, you might never see them again.”
It was obvious that Steve was getting traction with no one. The group’s host moved quickly to other topics, including a rehash of the elementary Sunday morning sermon. Steve had to stifle several yawns. The only other interesting element occurred when one of the men asked for prayer about his live-in mother-in-law. Bill and his wife were greatly stressed by friction in the home due to the woman’s grumpiness, quick temper, interference with the children . . . and so on.
Steve couldn’t help himself: “Is she a believer?”
Bill: “What do you mean? Of course she is! She comes with us to church most of the time.”
Steve: “Sure, I’m sorry I don’t have more background here. I’m just asking whether she was ever actually born again. Whether she trusted Christ at some point in her life and she gave strong evidence for it.”
Bill: “Well, sure, I guess so. I’m not going to get judgmental about her.”
Steve: “What I’m suggesting is that the behavior you describe is that of a lost person . . . no fruits of the Spirit . . . you know, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness . . . It could be the best possible way you could help her, and yourselves, is to tell her face-to-face that you’re concerned that she’s never actually known the Lord . . . that she needs to be saved . . . that that’s the real problem.”
Bill blew up at this, speaking angrily, “Hey, I’m not gonna cram religion down her throat!! What do you know about it, anyway?”
Steve decided to let it drop and was quiet until the meeting ended. Everyone was polite to him as the meeting broke up, but the old saint knew with perfect clarity that this field trip was over. I could hear him thinking, “It will be good to get out on the street again this week and talk to some honest gangbangers.”
*Ichabod – See 1 Samuel 4:21
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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106. The Sum of All Philosophy
August 15, 2017
This essay is now in the Discipleship section. Click on . . .
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107. A Warrior’s Diary: Part 3
September 1, 2017
This concludes a fictional serial, first posted as my blog of July 1, 2017 and continued in Part 2 on August 1, 2017. I encourage you to read Parts 1 and 2 first, to provide context. As I have before, I’ll mention that many of the events in this serial are based on some of my actual experiences.
Steve was encouraged this morning to receive a phone call from a fellow who found one of his tracts in a beer carton after returning from the grocery store. The tract provoked some conviction, so Steve reiterated the Gospel message over the phone and asked Larry if he could drop by and visit with him . . . and Larry’s live-in girlfriend and their one-year-old baby.
Worry darkens the old fellow’s face once he looks up the address, a large apartment complex in one of the city’s housing projects . . . a crime-ridden neighborhood. Steve finally sighs and offers a prayer for protection. My call for assistance generates an eager response from Crispin and Philo, who join me as Steve drives into the parking lot behind Larry’s building.
“Hail, Janus! Expecting some trouble today?”
“You seem a bit too hopeful, Crispin. Not busy enough?”
His partner, Philo, answered first: “Not busy at all! Our assigned saints seem oh-so-content just drifting through their days, piling up lucre, watching ‘the show’ on Sunday, filling their precious moments with entertainment and . . . trivialities! And Crispin and I each have ten of them to guard!”
Crispin interjected, “Guard? Hah! They are no threat to the Adversary, so his troops pay them no attention!”
I replied, “Well then, perhaps you can assist me more often. Steve, here, seems to enjoy poking a stick in the enemy’s eye every day! But to answer your question, no, I don’t expect any trouble in particular, but this neighborhood has a concentration of enemy forces, and they are not likely to ignore us while the evangelist works to reach this young couple. Here’s what I need you to do first . . .”
My brothers in arms raced ahead to secure the apartment, arriving just moments before several enemy warriors sought entry. Their scouts had long since discovered our approach, but were unable to deduce our specific destination, and which human souls were at the crisis point. And so Crispin and Philo quickly forced them away from the dwelling before they could stir up trouble between Larry and Janet.
I escorted Steve to their door, my sword flashing to deter any direct attacks on the old evangelist. The young couple invited Steve inside and the three of us secured the perimeter. The enemy departed, but only temporarily.
. . . . . It never gets old, listening to the glorious message of redemption. Steve opened his heart to Larry and Janet, challenging them, instructing them, pleading with them to repent and trust the Savior. About halfway through the hour of discussion, we were joined by another warrior.
“Aegeus, what brings you here?”
“Greetings Janus! And Crispin and Philo! I just received orders to guard these three souls. The Spirit brings conviction to their hearts even now. They will require protection in the days ahead. On my way over, though, I observed our enemy recruiting a gang of thugs, who congregate even now in the parking lot below. When the evangelist departs, I will join you if trouble develops around him.”
Philo did fine work in quieting the infant, distracting her with toys, finally inducing her to take a nap – voluntarily – right there on the living room floor! Great job, Philo! Larry and Janet are clearly under conviction. They accepted additional tracts from Steve, along with the gift of a well-marked Bible. I am confident we will be returning here in the days to come.
Steve walked down the stairs with a spring in his step, knowing he had done well. I can hear his prayers for the three precious souls, prayers for their protection and for Elohim to ‘stay on their trail,’ to bring the conviction that leads to repentance and saving faith.
We four warriors leaped ahead of the old man, knowing what awaited below. We were outnumbered six to four, but our steel rang against theirs, driving them off, but only after dispatching two of them to the pit, the damnable shrieks of their demise stabbing fear into the four survivors. But they had, indeed, stirred up trouble before our arrival.
Steve opened the stairwell door, shielding his eyes against the early afternoon sun, to discover seven strapping youths leaning against his car, laughing derisively, all eyes focused on the old fellow. He made his mind up instantly, and stepped boldly toward the gang members.
“Hey, guys, how’s it going? I was hoping I’d get a chance to talk to some young folks today! First, I’ve got some gifts for you all. Something to stimulate your mind.”
The arrogance on the young faces dissolved into confusion as Steve dug a stack of Chick tracts out of his pocket and pressed them into the hands of the young men, one of them asking, “What’s this?”
“These are really good stories, about the big issues in life, you know, life, death, Heaven, Hell. Nothing more important than what’s going to happen to you when you die. And none of you, or me, know whether today is your last day on Earth. So what do you think? If you died today, where would you be . . . Heaven or Hell?”
One of the fellows looked Steve right in the eye and declared, “Hell . . . for sure.”
Steve: “I appreciate your honesty. Because of sin, right? You know how many sins it takes to go to Hell?”
By this point most of the fellows showed real discomfort at the unexpected turn of events. Five of them drifted away, while Steve pressed the law, the coming Judgment, and the Gospel into the hearts and consciences of the fellow who engaged with him, along with his younger brother.
Philo took his leave, returning to the apartment upstairs. We three stood guard over the evangelistic encounter and were quickly joined by an old friend and comrade, Petros, assigned just moments ago to the two brothers, who listened so intently now to the truths the evangelist shared with them. It seems that our company of warriors is growing more quickly.
. . . . . a couple of days later . . . . .
Steve’s occasional partner, Jack, called last night, concern in his voice: “What do you think, Steve? Tomorrow is the only day I can get off work this week, but the forecast – it’s horrible! Storms all day, all over the metro area.”
Steve: “I’ve been praying about that. I’m convinced we should go anyway. Bring your rain gear. Who knows? Even if we just catch a few people on the sidewalks, maybe the Lord has someone special He’s working on.”
Jack: “OK, OK, I’m glad you said that. I do want to go. We’ll just trust the Lord whatever the weather is like.”
Thunderstorms erupted over the Chicago area, indeed over the entire region for hundreds of miles, but the two determined evangelists fought through the wind and the rain to board the train. Jack’s guardian, Leto, and I saw no evidence of the enemy. We came to understand that many of the Adversary’s troops had redeployed to other cities for the day.
Just as the train slowed down in its approach to the terminal, Steve exclaimed, “Whoa! Look at that!”
Jack: “It’s clearing up! There’s some blue sky there, right over downtown!”
Steve: “I think . . . God just gave us a weather miracle, buddy.”
Jack: “Praise the Lord!”
Leto and I scanned the horizons . . . high winds and torrential rains everywhere, except downtown Chicago. The streets were still slick with the morning rain, but not for long as the sun shone brightly through the rapidly disappearing clouds.
What a wonderful day this is for Elohim’s work! The two laborers discovered a crowd of at least a thousand high school students, waiting outside an event center. Once they succeeded in getting the first few teenagers to accept tracts, it was easy to get the rest of the crowd to do the same. Leto and I kept whispering in the ears words like, “I wonder what everyone’s getting. I’d better make sure I get one, too.”
Steve: “Wow, that was great. You know, I was tempted to bring a lighter load of tracts today because of the rain. I’m glad I filled our bags. I wish I’d thought of bringing even more. We’re going to use up these 4,000 with hours to spare.”
Jack: “I guess that means we should concentrate even more on 121s.”
Steve: “I agree. Let’s really focus on getting people to talk today.”
The two wore themselves out through the rest of the day. Steve’s last one-to-one, as the sun set and darkness fell across the city, was with a 30 year-old suit, taking a smoke break outside his office tower. The fellow opened up as Steve shared the glorious old story of redemption, eventually admitting . . .
“You know, I’ve been playing along with you, just for fun, but . . . I mean I already know everything you’ve been saying, but now . . .”
“Something’s going on in your life, isn’t it?”
“(Sigh) . . . My dad is a Baptist preacher. He and my mom . . . they’ve been praying for me my whole life. I haven’t talked to them in years. I know what you’re telling me is true, the Bible, Heaven, Hell . . . everything. I just haven’t cared. Uh . . . meeting you today is like someone is trying to . . .”
“To get your attention? That’s exactly what this is. God is giving you one more chance. Look, you don’t know if today is your last day on Earth. If you know you’re a sinner and you’re accountable to God and that He demands that you repent . . . you’d be crazy, absolutely insane to do anything else . . . today, right now, in fact.”
They talked a few minutes more. Steve left the young man with tracts and a final exhortation to trust Christ, and that he should call his parents without delay to encourage them when he does. As Steve and Jack headed toward the train station, we greeted a fellow warrior, just arrived to watch guard over the young lawyer, as he tossed the rest of his pack of cigarettes into a trash can and then, with a determined look on his face, re-entered his office tower.
The two evangelists rejoiced much, although completely exhausted, on the train ride home. Remarkably, just as they entered the train terminal, lightning cracked high above and rain began to pour down, thunderstorms long held at bay finally breaching the unseen barriers around the city center.
Steve and Jack found a diner after debarking the train, enjoying the fellowship of the day’s labor. They left a good tip along with a tract for the waitress, as customary. Leto and I simultaneously received guidance, which we acted upon, but to no avail. The Spirit moved on the two men, but they were unduly focused on getting home and getting to bed. But we continued to work as Steve drove away from the diner to take Jack home. About a mile down the road . . .
Steve: “There’s something wrong. I can feel it.”
Jack: “Uh, you too?”
Steve: “We should have talked to that waitress. Leaving a tract wasn’t good enough.”
Jack: “I felt that, too. But I figured . . .”
Steve: “Yeah, that we’d already done plenty today. OK, let’s go back and see if we can catch her by herself.”
As soon as the car was turned, Steve sighed . . . “Yeah, this is right. The Lord must be working on her and we’re the ones to bring the message.”
Jack: “Yeah, and I’ve got a strong conviction that it’s me. Let me take this one, OK?”
Upon their return to the diner, they were relieved to find the waitress momentarily free from her duties.
Theresa: “Did you boys forget something?”
Jack: “Yes, we forgot to be an encouragement to you. That Gospel tract we left for you – did you happen to read it yet?”
Theresa: “Um, funny you should mention that. Yeah, it was interesting. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about God, like what I should teach my two little girls. I just don’t know where to start.”
Jack: “The first thing about knowing God is that you’ve got to be part of His family, born again into God’s family.”
Theresa: “What does that mean, anyway, ‘born again’?”
With compassion and fervor Jack went on to explain the Gospel to the young woman, just as two other warriors arrived, promptly reassigned from their tedious duty overseeing a handful of megachurch saints. Their enthusiasm is palpable, anticipating the battle, hopeful for new victories.
Twenty minutes later the two men drove away once again, but with fresh joy. We were able to keep other potential customers away from the diner until they finished their encounter, finally praying with the young mother, praying that she would open her heart, repent from her sins, and trust her Savior, and then lead her two little girls to do the same. I wish they could see the privilege that we had, the reassignment of our brothers-in-arms indicative of the Spirit’s foreknowledge of her new birth in the hours to come. The hopeful rejoicing of the old man and the young man in the car was just a shadow of the certain rejoicing about to commence in Heaven above.
…..…………… a few years later ………………….
A large crowd already filled much of the Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. Steve’s eyes scanned anxiously, hoping that his older brother had already secured seats. The drive around the Beltway was far more stressful than the old man had anticipated. But we’d finally made it. There he is, standing and waving, overwatched by his warrior. Jeff is clearly a lot more excited to see Steve than is the rest of his party. Northern Virginia, where Jeff lives, is also home for his wife’s sizable clan, a dozen of them also deciding to attend the annual ceremony on Memorial Day.
Steve waves back and moves quickly through the milling crowd. He had been delayed several times on this trip to spend time with his brother, with one startling evangelism opportunity after another. Steve senses what I and my comrades also sense, that the Spirit is moving profoundly. With Steve arriving behind schedule, the brothers determined to meet at Arlington.
Jeff’s health is failing, a variety of ailments traceable to his service in the Vietnam War, where Steve also fought many years ago. As Steve draws near, I can hear Cindy’s whispered admonitions to her husband.
Cindy: “I hope you’ve told him not to ram his religion down everyone’s throats again.”
Jeff: “That was years ago. Besides, you know that I’m a Christian just like he is.”
Cindy: “Don’t remind me. But at least you’ve made peace with my family by not talking about it anymore.”
Jeff: “It’s just that I care – not only for them, but for you. This is probably the last time Steve and I will get to spend time together . . . until Heaven. Cindy, I wish you . . .”
Cindy: “Don’t even start! You can believe that stuff if you want to, just leave me out of it!”
The brothers’ reunion is sweet. Tears flow as they hug tightly. Steve finally recovers enough to whisper, “Wouldn’t it be great if it were today?”
Jeff: “Yes, yes indeed . . . except for . . .”
Steve: “No progress, huh?”
The in-laws and their relatives are polite enough, but show no warmth in response to Steve’s greetings. Cindy’s father points out that the program is about to start, so further conversation should be deferred.
………………..
The old ceremony is heart-stirring, as always, the speeches given honorably, the music quite soul-stirring. The brothers find it all the more joyous because they have an assured hope, a firm expectation of a better country, a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Afterward, Steve and Jeff led their group to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, determined to wait for the next changing of the guard. Jeff cautioned their grandchildren on expected decorum – especially silence.
Steve: “I’d like to say something, too, before we get there, especially for the young ones. This tomb holds the remains of several soldiers, who gave their lives to defend this country. Nobody down here knows their names, but there is one who does know, and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, those soldiers aren’t anywhere near here. Their remains are, but who they are, their souls, their spirits, their persons, do live somewhere today, either Heaven or Hell.
“The very existence of graves is about hope. Pagan religions often burn their bodies, but we bury ours because God has promised to raise up the dead again, those who are His children, to everlasting life, and those who have rebelled against Him will have their own place, called ‘The Lake of Fire.’ If my brother here, Jeff, your granddad, dies before the Lord returns, he will live again in a brand new body that never gets sick, that will never die. He wants you . . . and I want you . . . and everyone here, to know the Lord Jesus as Savior, so we all can have joy and fellowship on the New Earth and the New Jerusalem, forever, all part of a family that will never see sorrow again, no more goodbyes, no more tears.
“Hey, everyone, I can see that you don’t appreciate me going on like this, but KNOW THIS: Jeff and I love you all, yes Cindy, you too. We don’t want to lose you. But you’ve got to choose . . . My dear wife . . . I miss her so . . . but I’ll see her again . . . OK, that’s all I’ve got. Let’s go watch the soldiers do their thing.”
Steve wiped tears from his eyes as the group arrived at the Tomb, a few minutes before the changing of the guard. The current guard’s routine was solemn and impressive. I could see the children move their lips, silently counting as the soldier marched, 21 steps back and forth, the loud click of his heels punctuating his turns, the M14 gleaming in the Virginia sunshine.
The oncoming guard approached with the relief commander. I was pleased to see the young man accompanied by a brother-in-arms, Hadrian, who greeted me pleasantly. His assignment, Sergeant Frank Hutchins, had worked hard through the difficult screening process to earn his post, hoping against hope that he might enjoy a unique privilege, something which he had never breathed to another living soul. (Note: Within the American military the only posting more difficult to obtain is Astronaut.) What Frank prayed for is that he would be on duty, in Arlington Cemetery, right at the moment that . . .
The relief commander shouts out, “Pass on your orders.” The on-duty guard replied, directing his message to Sergeant Hutchins, “Post and orders, remain as directed.” To which Frank replied, “Orders acknowledged.” Frank stepped forward to take the watch . . .
What’s this . . . An alert! . . . No, THE ALERT!!! . . . Hadrian’s eyes lock to mine, just a moment before . . .
Hundreds of spectators shriek in fear as the ground shakes and rumbles thunderously throughout Arlington. A moment later, thousands of simultaneous explosions deafen human ears as beams of light streak vertically from as many gravesites, including the Tomb before us, rent asunder in a heartbeat. The relief commander crumples to the cracked pavement, like so many in the stunned crowd.
One Tomb guard drops his rifle, but Sergeant Frank Hutchins lets his M14 down softly . . . a smile overtakes his face as he looks toward the sky.
Cindy’s expression isn’t one of terror, rather of horror. She grabs her husband by the shoulders, screams at him, “NO, JEFF, NOOOOO!!! . . . IT CAN’T BE!!!”
Jeff’s gaze, like Frank’s, is skyward, along with Steve’s. In a twinkling of an eye, Cindy’s scream is cut short. Her hands grip tightly onto . . . air. More streaks of bright light . . . just a few this time. I and my brothers-in-arms streak skyward, too.
………………………
The reunion of the Lamb with his Bride in Earth’s upper atmosphere . . . it’s not for me to write of that. Afterward, on the quick transit to the ‘sides of the North,’ where the New Jerusalem awaited its new inhabitants, Steve notices my presence at his side.
Steve: “I should know you, shouldn’t I, sir.”
Janus: “Call me Janus. I am a fellow servant, along with all those who keep the sayings of the Word. I know you well enough. It’s been a privilege.”
Steve: “I’ve sensed help, protection, a watchguard . . . so many times.”
Janus: “The battle has raged fiercely, although you’ve just seen its shadows. I have the privilege now of showing you around, introduce you to others who have served with you and with your brothers and sisters. But look . . . we arrive at the Gate. A crowd of the redeemed await. Perhaps you recognize one . . .”
My voice is drowned out by the old . . . no, old no more . . . by this vibrant saint’s shouts of joy as he rushes into the embrace of the dear wife of his youth, her face, like his, now awash with tears. I whispered to both of them . . .
“Take your time. There’s time now for every good thing.”
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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108. Just how smart is God?
September 15, 2017
This essay is in the Creation / Evolution Short Course section. Click on . . .
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109. How do you recognize a Christian?
October 1, 2017
This essay is now in the Discipleship section. Click on . . .
How do you recognize a Christian?
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110. Longing to Know
October 15, 2017
When I taught courses in physics and engineering, occasionally a student – one who didn’t know me well – would ask a question clearly designed to ferret out what would be on the next exam. “Is this topic really important?” or “Are we going to be responsible to know this?” or, more blatantly, “Is this kind of problem going to be on the next exam?” I would always react firmly. “Everything I discuss in this course is really important or I wouldn’t waste my time and your time on it!” or “If you’re going to be an engineer, you’re going to be responsible for everything you do!” or, more blatantly, “You should know that that question offends me. I’ll never tell you what’s going to be on the next exam. Study everything! And quit whining!”
On the other hand, I love questions from students who want to learn something because they want to know more, because the subject interests them, because they know that knowing more is the stuff of life.
So how do we learn things? How do we know what we know? That’s a branch of philosophy called epistemology, usually a topic for the dry textbooks of courses in which students only care about what’s on the next exam. Epistemology doesn’t have to be dry, though. Hey, it’s important to know why and how you can have assurance on all kinds of beliefs, from whether you can trust the airline to get you to your destination to whether the Earth actually travels in an elliptical orbit around the Sun, to whether God exists and life has any point to it.
Such is the subject of Esther Lightcap Meek’s 2003 book, Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People. I love this book! She (EM) fulfills her promise . . . this is a highly readable book for all those of us who were smart enough to avoid subjecting ourselves to formal courses in philosophy. It’s written with a definite feminine touch and that’s particularly rare for any work in philosophy or apologetics.
A definition from her book: “Knowing is the human act of making sense of experience, connecting the dots. It is shaping a plethora of details in and around us, alongside us and ahead of us, in pursuit of a pattern. We access the pattern by struggling to look through the details to a farther focus. A successful effort transforms the clues we rely on.”
EM: “Know is a success word: when we use it we imply that we were successful at getting the truth right.” If I say I know my wife is at the fabric store, it implies a certainty that I would have to revise if I get a call from her to find out that she took the shorter trip to WalMart and didn’t need to go to the mall after all. Knowing, therefore, is real to us and extremely useful, but not infallible in practice. But what good is a truth claim that turns out to be false? We want to be sure about our title’s claim for the house we buy and we want to be sure that the aircraft’s pilot and the maintenance crew are reliable. The stakes can be huge and yet we make decisions every day based on knowledge that is certainly not infallible.
We make vital decisions regularly on the basis of knowledge that we acquire in a very different way from the truth claims of logic or mathematics. Knowing is more complicated than that, and that’s the theme of EM’s book. Knowing is a very human process. It’s messy, it’s varied, and that’s just the way life is. How this couples into theology, into the foundations of our Christian faith, is worth thinking about.
Here’s a messy example from my own life . . . I spent a lot of years learning how to hit tennis balls. I was a fairly accomplished amateur. I really knew how to hit a tennis ball. But how? Did I solve equations for conservation of energy and momentum, calculate trajectories, estimate the ATP burn rate in my muscles, do an optimization analysis of spin and speed and direction to insure winning the point? Of course not. You have to learn a lot to hit a tennis ball well, but this knowing is not entirely reducible to words. Similarly, how do you know you can trust someone close to you? Do you prepare a spreadsheet and weight events in your relationship, generating a ‘score’ that measures trust? No, it’s a complex and holistic process with innumerable variables.
With all the variables and uncertainties in knowing, should we default to skepticism, that we can’t know anything at all, that truth doesn’t exist? Or to postmodernism, where truth is entirely personal? No, nobody lives that way. To get through life, to earn a living in the real world, to develop relationships, to become more skillful and more successful, EM points out that we have to know quite a lot!
Many philosophers through the ages have insisted “that knowledge is limited to what can be put into words and justified. We think of knowledge as statements and proof.” If so, scientific discoveries would never take place, which depend on leaps of intuition and recognition of patterns quite un-verbalizable. And if we had to start with logic, math, and physics, no one would ever learn to hit a tennis ball. EM observes that logic and propositional statements have their value – enormous value – but are only a component in the much vaster realm of human knowing, which goes well beyond the realm of strict logical certainty.
EM uses as one of her key models those 3-D computer-generated posters that, on the surface, look like a jumble of colors and random shapes. But if you move your face away from the picture and keep your eyes’ focus beyond the surface, an entirely different pattern emerges, like dolphins swimming. The instructions suggest getting close to the image and then moving away slowly. To succeed you trust the people who prepared the instructions and who generated the image. You allow yourself to be taught. And yet we struggle to ‘get it’ – at least I do. But if I doubt the existence of the hidden image or don’t care enough to try, I won’t see it.
The key to learning to see the hidden image is to get past the particulars, the details on the surface. When I was a youth learning to play center field, I had to learn the particulars of getting a quick jump off the crack of the bat, tracking the ball in flight, running without my head bobbing too much, using my right hand to cover the ball when the glove closes over it . . . but I only became good at playing center field when I got past the particulars and ‘just reacted’ to get that ball racing toward the gap.
The application to apologetics is clear to me. Detailed evidences for the Christian worldview are innumerable, including the information content of DNA, the sedimentary rock layers and fossils revealed in the Grand Canyon, the clarity of objective morality, the existence of rational thought and personhood . . . To make these evidences compelling to the unbeliever, he must see the deep pattern, the holistic Christian worldview, that God is a personal Creator, that we are accountable, that sin corrupts and destroys, that justice is necessary and that a Savior is vital.
The atheist tries to fit any evidence you offer right into his mythological evolutionary worldview. Even if he can’t do that sensibly, he’ll live with mysteries and contradictions, because he is committed to the overall myth. The solution is to present him with the only possible coherent worldview, the Biblical, to enable him to see how evidences fit coherently. To get saved, he’s got to reject his false worldview entirely, admit he’s been wrong about everything, and embrace the truth of the Gospel, from Genesis to Revelation. If he’s open to learning, open to knowing, the ‘hidden pattern’ will pop out and he will see enough so that he can make the high stakes choice. He can stake his eternity, quite rationally, on the Gospel, without coming anywhere near a logical or mathematical proof.
Back to EM’s definition . . . He will connect the dots to see the overall pattern of God’s truth. The evangelist gives him the instructions, including Creation and the Gospel and whatever evidences might benefit most helpfully. The dots, the evidences, help him to see the pattern, and the pattern helps him make sense of the dots. He is transformed by seeing the pattern and, seeing the pattern, the evidences are transformed in his mind, so he can see the overwhelming significance of everything in God’s creation, including the purpose of his life in God’s world.
When you see the dolphins, you might exclaim, “Oh, I see it!” My own conversion experience had just such moment, after months of discussions, reading, investigation, and consideration of evidences. Yet there came a point when ‘the pattern’ lit up for me and all the evidences fit. The experience was overwhelming and extremely personal. I cannot to this day articulate what ‘it’ was that convinced me, yet the pattern lit up with all the dots connected. Then, knowing that it’s all true, and Jesus is who he said He is, I trusted Him. My knowing transformed me. The Lord Jesus Christ transformed me. Life changed.
EM calls this personal process integration. In mathematics the process of integration in calculus involves adding up an infinite number of particulars. The result (for a definite integral) is just one number – a unique conclusion that ties all the particulars together. In systems engineering, integration is the process of designing to insure that all components and subsystems fit together and operate as a coherent unit.
EM: “Once we have seen the dolphins, we continue to integrate from subsidiaries to maintain our grasp of the focus. We can lose sight of the dolphins and then have to struggle to regain it. What causes us to lose sight of the dolphins? Looking at the surface features of the page and no longer looking through them.”
This is a metaphor in the Christian life for doubt and discouragement, losing sight of the pattern, God’s will for His children. Maturity is to continually integrate the particulars of life into a life serving the Lord. Don’t focus on the details. Yes, we must deal with the details, but our focus must be on the big picture.
No matter how good you are at playing tennis, if you start focusing on the mechanics, the mechanics of footwork or stroke production or follow-through, you can freeze up, miss the shot badly or lose confidence horrendously. If you want to play ‘in the zone’, then focus on the pattern, clobber the ball, and win. EM: “The act of knowing is the human’s skilled coping with the world through achieving a coherence, an integrated pattern, a making sense of things, that opens the world to us.”
EM prefers to talk about ‘human acts of knowing’ rather than knowledge. She cites the example, “My car needs a new power steering pump.” Her declaration stems from the tingling alarm that spreads over her body as the steering wheel stiffens up. Her knowing grows as she hears her mechanic’s diagnosis. She knows enough to act, to drive to the service station, in trepidation all the way. When the mechanic delivers her once-again functional car to her, she knows that she did make the right call and did the right thing. Her knowing is validated. She took responsibility for her knowing and suffered some risk in the trip to the shop. She paid a small price – in her bank account – but reaped satisfaction. It’s all quite personal and, yes, tied coherently to the real world of atoms, molecules, pumps, and safe driving.
I see a vital application to apologetics. The evangelist shares the real world with the sinner and knows that the rebel – even in his determined rebellion – knows certain things. In shining a light on what the sinner knows about creation, justice, sin, purpose, meaning, etc., keep it personal. The hearer will not know what you are teaching him until he embraces it personally, involving his own conscience, heart, and will, integrating the truths about the real world and the real God you declare to him. It’s a blessing that we don’t really have to teach the skeptic or the religious lost fellow entirely novel facts and ideas. Despite twenty years of evolutionary indoctrination, for example, the skeptical college student knows that he is more than brain chemistry, that an objective morality exists about murder, rape, fornication, lying, etc. You just have to light up his conscience with what he already knows about himself and the world and focus on his personal accountability and the consequences for his beliefs and actions.
Acknowledging the personal components of knowledge is not the death of truth. All truth is of God. All creation is from Him and God’s very character defines the truth of morality, shared by every image-bearer. It’s the personal components of knowledge that connect us to God’s reality and enable a relationship with Him. Truths offered impersonally are akin to tools closed up in a toolbox. It’s only when you take the hammer in hand and drive some nails that you feel its functionality and see the value of what you can accomplish with that tool. So it is with spiritual truth. Exhort the sinner to pick it up and use it to change his life and his destiny. When he knows the Gospel is true, he will act on it and it will save him.
EM asks, “How can you come to know anything at all?” She quotes a text she uses (I don’t have the reference) to teach critical thinking, in a section on scientific reasoning: “A hypothesis is a free creation of the mind used to structure the evidence and unveil the pattern that lies beneath the surface.” That’s good, but how do you go about generating a free creation of the mind? In ancient Greece, Meno asked Socrates, “How will you look for something when you don’t in the least know what it is?” How do you even get started?
Whether it’s writing poetry, or solving a new physics problem, or looking for a Christmas gift – you’ll know what you want to get her when you see it – how do you start? EM: “The knower-to-be relies on sensed but as yet inarticulable clues. At the time he uses them as clues, he is not yet able to put into words what the clues are.” All knowing is the result of skilled human effort.
Even in formulaic approaches, as taught to students regarding the ‘scientific method’, defining the problem, collecting data, deciding what data points are valid, testing hypotheses (not to mention creating them in the first place), and drawing conclusions – all these ‘formulaic’ elements have intensely subjective components. The skill to exercise this subjectivity well, derives from experience, from patterns recognized in developing those skills. This takes time. We don’t always realize how much of our past knowing contributes to the skills we use today. We tend to think of knowing as something that occurs in a moment of time. We often realize in a moment that we have learned something, but that moment often comes at the end of a process that we might not even be aware of.
Learning Biblical truths is such a process. After all these years of reading and studying the Bible, I still learn new things every week. How is that possible? God’s word has subtlety and depth, of course. But Scripture is intended to be accessible, and profitable for both novice and senior saint. When I see something ‘new’, it’s only because I have been integrating patterns for decades that enables me to find another layer in the onion that I was not aware of. It’s a wonderful experience!
Why is learning a struggle and why do some know a lot more than others? EM suggests that caring is a major factor. When you’re severely ill, you tend not to care about anything at all. As you get better you notice that you start to care again about the details of daily life. A healthy mind naturally cares enough to integrate the patterns around her, “to make sense of experience.” The best knowers “will be the ones passionately struggling to make sense of the prospect of knowing God . . . Your longing sustains your effort.”
God commanded man to have dominion, to be God’s steward over the world. We have been designed with a compulsion to develop creation and, in order to do so, to make sense of it. “We as humans are compulsive carers. Human acts of knowing are care-born integrations by which we extend ourselves into the world, shaping and developing the world as we go.”
If we find ourselves merely drifting through life, taking care of business perhaps, but not caring to learn, not actively seeking to know God, not submitting to our inborn compulsion to do something fruitful in this world, then we’ve missed the point of our very existence. I meet lost people who may assent to the truth of the Gospel to some degree, but they simply don’t care. Sin is just too easy. I meet professing Christians who drift for years, even for decades, but apparently have no gumption. What are they doing?
Integration is not deduction. In deduction you go from statements called premises towards a conclusion statement. In a properly deductive argument, the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises. Here’s a classic . . .
Premise: All men are mortal.
Premise: Socrates is a man.
Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.
Such reasoning is deemed to be the pinnacle of rationality. On the other hand, integration links apparently unrelated particulars into a pattern that makes sense beyond what you can easily put into words. “The integration transforms the clues, even as it transforms our selves and our world. Where there was an inscrutable surface in a Magic Eye puzzle, now dolphins swim in an underwater paradise.”
Since integration is not deduction, is integration irrational? No, the inferential process of integration allows us to reach true conclusions without exhaustive information. That’s powerful! “Logical inference is too impoverished a procedure to capture the grand thing that is going on in the act of knowing.” As a teenager I didn’t need to know everything about physics to know that I wanted to major in the subject and then pursue a career in it. But I had integrated well enough to make the conclusion and act on it. I didn’t need to know my prospective wife exhaustively to decide to marry. And I didn’t know God or the Gospel exhaustively or by a complete set of premises to know truly that I needed Jesus as my Lord and Savior . . . I acted on what I knew and my knowing transformed my life and my eternity.
So integration is not irrational at all! It’s transformational. “Knowing is the responsible human struggle to rely on clues to focus on a coherent pattern and submit to its reality.” How about people who know wrongly? What about atheists, Roman Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, and Calvinists? Are they not transformed by what they know? Indeed, what you think you know may transform you, but your purported knowledge is simply not in correspondence with reality. Heart, emotions, and will combine with mind and conscience to choose how you integrate, what you decide to know. Reality matters and discernment starts with God’s word . . . no substitute.
Strong emotions, even religious experiences do not warrant integration that connects to reality. “For example, all of us have known moments of glory, brushes with transcendence, whether in sports or in music, mountains or sunsets, creative acts, childbirths, or acts of heroism. Those experiences have a bodily dimension to them. We are caught up, transported. Something in us cries out for transcendence.” That’s why God gave us His word as the foundational standard. God’s revelation must be the ground upon which integration occurs. When we do that, it is possible to experience God in ways consistent with His design for our relationship with Him. I have talked to lost people who had religious experiences that overwhelm any consideration on their part of what Biblical truth is. I believe that this is one of the Adversary’s most effective tricks.
Esther Meek’s book is rich with insights. In this essay I’ve surveyed – and very roughly at that – about half of the book. I’ll finish up in the next blog.
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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111. Whom do you trust?
November 1, 2017
Growing up, we all learn that the Earth is roughly spherical, it spins about its axis, the moon orbits the Earth, and the Earth orbits the Sun. How do we know that? For many years, and perhaps for most people it’s all of their lives, we know these things because we believed those who told us. We accepted them on the basis of their authority, as parents, teachers, or voices in the media.
Out of curiosity, some look for empirical evidence, looking around, noticing the curve of the horizon, the phases of the moon, the consistency of seasonal changes . . . all of which fit into the model we were taught when young. Some few dive deep into astronomy or astronautics or geophysics and immerse themselves in data and analysis that builds such well-grounded confidence in the model, that challenges from a flat-earther or a modern day accolyte of Ptolemy’s epicycles would appear just as foolish as the fantasies of evolutionists.
We can never escape a trust in authority as part of knowing. “We bristle at the word authority . . . We never can remove ourselves totally from a matrix of authority . . . Not to decide, not to trust an authority, is to decide, to submit to another authority,” writes Esther Lightcap Meek, author of Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People.” This essay is Part 2 of my review of Meek’s perspectives on epistemology, the branch of philosophy that deals with how we know what we know.
Some authorities we learn to trust, mom and dad for example, hopefully. If we want to learn how to golf well, we would be wise to trust Jack Nicklaus to teach us, if he offered. Yet we learn to trust most news sources somewhere between ‘not at all’ to ‘maybe, but with a grain of salt.’ During my Air Force career, I was amazed to discover that what I thought were quite reputable news sources, when they reported on some Air Force program that I was intimate with, they always got something significantly wrong.
All of us some of the time, and many of us most of the time, at least as children, fall for authoritarianism, the “compelled or thoughtless submission in the absence of any felt sense of trustworthiness.” Government tyrannies and cults promote policies and doctrines by the submission of their subjects. People will stick with a cult or even a ‘mainstream church’ despite a degree of mistrust of the people who make the rules. In talking with many Roman Catholics over the years, it’s striking how much they disregard, even disrespect their church’s leadership, yet remain loyal subjects. Their current leader, their alleged Vicar of Christ, Pope Francis, openly avows socialist and globalist policies which are, in turn, openly opposed by conservative pundits who are loyal Catholics. Fascinating.
Yet we do trust the knowledgeable authority of our auto mechanic, our doctor (hopefully), and the fellow who leads our Bible study. That last fellow, though, should be the first to insist that you learn to examine by Scripture everything he teaches. If there isn’t an absolute authority, on what ground do we stand? Do we just go by feelings?
Meek: “When it comes to knowing God, I trust what the Bible says. In fact, I trust it to tell me what I’m feeling as well as what it leads to. You’re wishing you had your neighbor’s boat? That’s coveting. Don’t do it, or if you do it, expect to be miserable, and expect it to lead to further trouble.” God’s words give us true perspective on knowing reality. Sin fights against reality. It hurts us, it hurts others, it offends God whose reality is open to the understanding of those who stand on His word.
I recently had a spirited discussion with a Pentecostal fellow who is fully invested in his church. He hosts a small group in his home and he teaches a large group of 2nd to 6th graders every Sunday. I asked him to describe to me how he teaches the subject of salvation to the children. He couldn’t answer, other than some vague ideas about helping the kids to “develop a relationship with Jesus.” I persisted, asking how a child begins a relationship with Jesus, whether his teaching would involve issues of sin, Hell, repentance, faith, the new birth, etc. I worked to rephrase the question several times; for example, asking how he would respond to a child who asks, “How do I know I’m going to Heaven when I die?”
The fellow never could give me a straight answer – he knew it, too. It was clear to me that he didn’t understand the Gospel or how to teach it. When it became clear to him that he couldn’t answer what I thought was the ultimate softball question for a mature Christian with teaching responsibility in a big church, he got angry, and with great emotion declared that he didn’t want to talk about the subject, that his spirit was grieved.
That’s the ultimate ‘out’ for the serious Pentecostal. Strong feelings are evidence of the leading of the Holy Spirit. How dangerous is that? In our discussion it was evident that he didn’t know his Bible well, even on some elementary issues. But why should he study the Bible? If the Holy Spirit is continually leading you by feelings, who needs to study? Pentecostalism, at its worst, is an existential leap into a feelings-based faith, disonnected from a Biblical foundation.
In a debate between two Pentecostals, the first one to declare, “The Holy Spirit gave me this!” . . . wins! How can you possibly refute that? The next time I get into such a discussion, I think I might try that, leading off every point with, “God told me . . .” Before my encounter with this fellow started, his wife told me an anecdote about how they named one of their children. She told her husband, “God gave me the name …….” He apparently wasn’t happy about it, but she was the first one to use the winning words!
Meek: “The God who claims the right to interpret my experience does not expect me to trust Him blindly. The best authorities appeal to us across the whole spectrum of human experience and knowing. They are rational, testable, and practical. In the Bible, God calls His people to obey, but He also has given mighty acts as empirical testimony, such as making a path through the sea for the deliverance of the Jewish slaves from Egypt, and raising Jesus from the dead. And then He invites us to live in relationship with Him and taste for ourselves the benefits of it. I trust Him because I find Him trustworthy.”
But feelings can fool you. I wonder how many Pentecostal (and other kinds of) preachers have suffered sexual scandals because their feelings were so intense they were sure their desires must be from God. How could they not be? Look at the size of our ministry, etc. No, Scripture always trumps feelings.
False presuppositions can make you miss what’s right in front of you. Why didn’t the pair of disciples recognize the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emmaus? They knew that dead men don’t rise. Whoever that guy was, it couldn’t possibly be Jesus. “Their perception was blinded.” But when they saw Jesus break bread and give thanks, their eyes opened, in touch again with reality, a reality that included the resurrection of the One who promised He would rise again. That reality assured hope and guaranteed ultimate victory for them and for every believer since. Recognizing God’s reality transforms your life. The reality of the Resurrection changes everything, not just for an eternal future, but for today. Today we live. Today counts. Let’s do something today. What we assuredly know affects every aspect of our lives, today.
And similarly for Paul on the Damascus Road, for Peter who had spent an entire night casting empty nets, and for anyone who dares to prove God by humbling himself, repenting from known sins, and trusting Christ. “Is it reasonable to expect that a person who comes to know God would experience little transformation?”
“Knowing is the human act of making sense of experience, connecting the dots. It is shaping a plethora of details in and around us, alongside us and ahead of us, in pursuit of a pattern. We access the pattern by struggling to look through the details to a farther focus. A successful effort transforms the clues we rely on.”
Meek’s continual emphasis is on the human aspect of knowing, which goes far beyond simple logical inference or ‘proofs’ of the mathematical or legal varieties. “It’s as if the thing is staring sarcastically down at us, as a 300-pound defensive tackle might, as it says to us, ‘You want me to take a coherence test?” When we deal with reality honestly, simplistic ‘proof’ tests are superseded. Logic and probability and statistical inference have their place, but most of life is a complex human interaction involving mind, heart, will, memory, conscience, and emotions. It all works together, whether we perceive reality rightly or wrongly. If we get it right, there is genuine satisfaction . . .
“Successful focal patterns are simple and beautiful and consistent and fruitful.” That is, they are if what we know connects with reality, a reality grounded in God’s design for us, so that we can be fruitful. What good is it if you know something that isn’t helpful? Are you expert at fantasy football? So what?
The patterns we see around us in the world, in our relationships, and within ourselves allow us to know God, though we cannot see Him. Even the wickedness and the tragedies in the world enhance our knowledge of God, because we know that His patience leads many to repentance, and His return in the Second Coming will set things right. As our heart yearns for peace, for righteousness, for restoration, we know that our heart’s desires are God’s, also.
It’s difficult to express truth claims verbally at times. The patterns of reality are so much richer, so much more multidimensional, than we can typically put into linear language. But we must try. Going to school, learning math, writing an essay to make a point . . . all help to fine tune our skills in expressing truth, and expressing truth is essential if we are to make a difference. Language is how you transport your thought into another’s mind. A key to doing this well is to recognize the limitations of language. I note that any principal doctrine in the Bible is given multiple times and in different ways. We have four accounts of the Gospel, for example. Another is the extraordinarily rich use of metaphors in the Psalms to express notions of God’s power and mercy and grace. Why not just say, “God is great!” No, to touch our hearts with a deeper appreciation of God’s greatness, He inspires His prophets to give us many perspectives.
Our confidence in our expression of truth claims increases as we live them. As a boy, I really loved acquiring a new baseball glove. The smell of the new leather – a slice of Heaven on Earth! I imagined all sorts of imminent truth about how that glove would enable me to make great catches. I literally slept with it the first few nights. Yet over the next several years, as I broke in that glove, used it, understood it so very experientially . . . well, whenever I was out in center field, I was one with the glove. If I missed a catch, it wasn’t the glove’s fault. If I made a great catch, nobody said, “Hey, way to go, glove!” Yet my glove was more precious to me than the happy day I first put it on.
Now, truth is objective – it certainly is to God. And we, as believers, are to have the mind of Christ, at least striving in that direction while we walk in this flesh. “The moral is that reality is so rich that we had better talk together if we are to stand a chance of figuring it out . . . each of us, situated as we are at different vantage points with respect to the real, can contribute unique insights. We should expect that working together will give us a fuller picture. And that’s where articulating and justifying our beliefs together comes into play, relying judiciously on authoritative guides, expanding our horizons, and increasing our grasp on the real.”
If, for some reason, as a youth, I had to borrow someone else’s glove, it wouldn’t have felt right. I would snatch for that flyball with some uncertainty. He wouldn’t have liked mine either, even though it was PERFECT – perfect for me. Together, though, with our own gloves, we can make a great team, with our own skills, tools, and perspectives on how to use them.
Meek argues that centuries of Western philosophy have ingrained the idea that for knowledge to be certain, the personal “must be minimized to the point of elimination. We have glorified an impersonalism and called it objectivity. And while it is right to avoid subjectivism, conclusions skewed away from accuracy by a warped outlook, we have attempted to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.” No, an impersonal framework for knowing is unworkable, and not actually part of the human experience. If you insist on impersonal objectivity for the great issues of life, you’re trying to let yourself off the hook.
One simple application of this idea is the multitude of false converts, one heartbeat away from Hell, who intellectually assent to the Deity of Christ, His sacrificial death on the Cross, and the historical fact of the Resurrection. Many attend church weekly and sing songs affirming these facts. But they are lost until they engage as persons with these truths, immerse themselves, see the Cross as the consequence of personal sins, and the Resurrection as the only personal hope, with all its intellectual and emotional and heart-gripping reality. Get the point? An objective Gospel doesn’t save. Saving truth must be embraced by the entire person, entirely, and then lived.
“The human experience regularly requires and appraises the risk of commitment to truth, to the rightness and wrongness of action.” Esther intervened with parental authoritarian power in her daughters’ lives to insist on piano lessons. She would not brook complaints. Eventually, she overheard her youngest daughter tell someone that mom’s policy ‘had worked,’ meaning that they all like music and enjoy their skills. Mom exulted at this, that the risk of her decision to guide their lives, had paid off. Mom took the responsibility. Mom took the risk, weighing the expense, the friction in relationships, the long drudging path. A parent acts on her beliefs, committing to her experience, her knowledge, and how her commitment affects lives.
Meek has a wonderful way to describe presuppositional apologetics, without ever coming close to using such a term. It might seem that there’s a backwardness to integrative pattern making. Most tend to think that we can start with a lot of particulars and then reason toward a pattern, as from premises to a conclusion. That’s the gist of classical or evidential apologetics, piling factoid upon factoid to make the case on creation vs. evolution, the historical validity of the Resurrection, etc. But “in a profound and curious way, the pattern comes first. It does not come first in time. But it comes first in priority, and then the moment of integrative success has a kind of retroactive power . . . in working retroactively, the pattern serves normatively, after the fact, giving the clues their status and meaning as clues. We allow it to interpret our experience. We submit to its reality.”
This is quite a brilliant way to make the point. God wired us for presuppositional apologetics, for standing on His self-attesting word to interpret all of reality, where the world came from, what our place is in it, who we are, that we need a Savior, and so on. The pattern explains everything! All the particulars fit the Biblical pattern and fit no other pattern. (See my many essays on apologetics in the Evangelism section of this site if you want to dive deeper.) God also wired lost humanity . . . all of us at one time or another . . . to respond to a presuppositional approach, to recognize that the Biblical worldview coheres with reality and unbelief doesn’t. So don’t throw factoid bricks, one at a time, at the skeptic. Throw the whole house at him, the whole worldview, and show him how his worldview is not in touch with reality, not even in touch with the way he lives each day. (My apologetics and evangelism essays provide many examples.) When we talk with a lost fellow, we must recognize that the particular factoids we might see as strong evidence will be resisted, unless we can show him how the particulars fit a pattern.
Patterns – worldviews – can be wrong. Most are, yet held tightly. Particulars that don’t fit are categorized as mere puzzles or anomalies. Evolutionism and Calvinism, for example, are filled with such puzzles. We can detect mistakes when our mind and our conscience are sensitive to disconnects with reality. For example, the information packed into DNA and cellular structure shows that bio-reality is all about design, not random chemical chance. Similarly, the reality of our free will, living moment by moment with choice, all consistent with God’s character in Scripture and our God-given conscience . . . shows that the Calvinist doctrine of Unconditional Election / Unconditional Damnation contradicts reality.
Meek points out, interestingly, that Columbus thought he had reached Asia. Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen, but what he thought he had discovered was dephlogistated air. He initially thought that the candle went out in its sealed space when the air was full of phlogiston, not because it was depleted of oxygen. Copernicus did get it right that the planets orbit the sun, but he would have been shocked to hear that the orbits are elliptical, not circular. “It took a century of worldview change to accommodate this insight of Kepler’s.”
Yet we can credit these fellows with real discoveries, cohering with part of reality, despite some mistakes. Progress is good, not an all-or-nothing thing. Meek cites psychiatrist David Burns, in his book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, who describes ‘cognitive distortions’ that tempt us. These include: all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, jumping to conclusions, labeling, personalization, etc.
Example: “I didn’t get an A-plus on this project, so I am worthless,” is an example of all-or-nothing thinking. Just naming these fallacies can start one on a healthier path, thinking more realistically. Just turn on the TV news and watch the reporters and pundits commit fallacy after fallacy. Closer to home, most disputes among family members will be rife with such silliness. One way to look at these problems is that they represent unwarranted pattern making. You can teach yourself, discipline yourself, to make better patterns from the particulars of daily life, or theology, or politics, or whatever.
“The integrative effort is successful to the degree that it lays hold of an aspect of reality . . . But conceptions gone bad are keys that lock doors, obscure vistas, and disconnect us from the world.” It’s the believer’s mission, one who is firmly tied to God’s word . . . and lives it . . . to help others see the pattern. The Christian who loves God longs to know Him better, longs to make relationships on Earth better, and longs to help others do the same. But you’ve got to care. Caring is the first thing. (1 Cor 13)
There is much more to say about Esther Meek’s insights, but I’ll conclude with her mention of C. S. Lewis, who recommended “the reading of old books,” in an essay by that title. He observes that every age in history is blind to its own assumptions. You can mitigate this problem by reading books from a different era. Even though old books may exhibit the blindness characteristic of their own age, the blindness may fall into different areas from your own. We can correct our own mistakes by considering the perspective of others. Maturity includes growing in the skill of knowing whom to trust. Ultimately, we have firm ground with Scripture, the ultimate judge of the writings of mere sinners.
It seems clear to me that in this generation, more than any other in history, people, particularly the young, consume media blind to the prejudices of our age. It’s a sick diet. The consequences include more strife, more anger, more violence, more stupidity and fallacies, and above all, more false worldviews. With a world tied together instantly by media, sick and destructive ideas show up on screens all through the day. The Biblical worldview, held by fewer in the West than ever before, is a lifeboat in a raging sea of secularism and immorality.
Yet we still have the lifeboat! We can still offer the Gospel lifeboat to one individual at a time. We can still give someone a chance today. Why not do just that? Help someone to know the One who declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Knowing Him is more than the world itself.
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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112. Why all the RAGE in America today?
December 1, 2017
When history repeats itself, it’s not necessarily caused by the foibles and frailties of humankind. Our susceptibilities to temptation are certainly in play when trouble gets stirred up, but a deadlier and larger game is in play today. The political havoc in our country since the beginning of the 2016 election campaign has much in common with the late 1960s. This is not just a natural cycle that occurs every 50 years.
Francis A. Schaeffer was a philosopher, theologian, pastor, and author whose Biblical worldview lit up his understanding of the cultural and political trends of the 20th century. His book The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century was first published in 1970, but he edited it a bit with some updated insights when he published his Complete Works in 1982. In this essay I summarize the key points of chapter 2 of the book, entitled “The International Student Revolution.” See if you agree with me that Satan is employing the same playbook now as he did 50 years ago, to destroy souls and undermine freedom in our country.
Student revolts boiled up in 1964 at UC Berkeley in two forms, as Schaeffer analyzed it. First, the free speech movement enabled students of diverse points of view to engage politically on their own campus. The other element, though, the hippie movement, demanded autonomous freedom. Anyone in authority was labeled ‘fascist’ . . . sound familiar? Some of these students dropped out of society, as long as their allowances kept coming.
Schaeffer also cites a smaller, short-lived third stream, the filthy speech movement, which featured grabbing the microphone and shouting four-letter words. These idiots succeeded in mainstreaming foul-mouthed comedy and the relaxation of standards in TV and movies.
How did the evangelical church respond? Christian leaders tried to plead with the young people to maintain conservative standards and traditions of decency. We see that today, too. Instead of standing on Biblical principles, Christians who engage in political debate invoke traditions in 1 man / 1 woman marriage or traditions in modest dress or decent language or public prayer or whatever. In effect they have stepped off their foundation and engaged with the God-hating left by leaving God entirely out of the debate. When you do that you default to your feelings vs. their feelings, and your traditions vs. theirs. Who’s to say who is right, whatever that means?
The issue is always, Is God there and is the Bible the revelation of God to man? If God is there then we have a sure foundation for every topic from abortion to tax policy. Abortion: Every individual is made in God’s image (Gen 1:27) and God-given human life worthy of protection is already there in the womb (Ps 139:13-16, Jer 1:5, Lk 1:44). Tax policy: God means for us to enjoy the fruits of our labor, not for government to confiscate our earnings to build political power (Eccl 5:18, Prov 31:15-16 and many others). Welfare policy: Charity is the responsibility of individuals and churches (Prov 31:20, Lk 10:29-37, Acts 4:34-35, 5:4, 1 Cor 16:1-3). Border policy and law and order: God ordains nations to protect the innocent from criminals (Romans 13:1-7).
The Christian must start with God’s words and apply God’s principles for all things in this life (2 Pe 1:3-4). Most Christians don’t do this. They get involved in debates on the Devil’s terms, invoking feelings and traditions and some vague morality without foundations.
The secular conservative is not our friend, fellow believers. He may be a co-belligerent on some issues, as Schaeffer would say, opposing abortion or confiscatory tax policies. But he’s not on the same team! There are only two teams, the Lord’s and the Devil’s. The secular conservative debates a bit more in touch with reality than the deluded liberal does, but he denies the foundation for all TRUTH, just like the liberal. The Christian conservative gets enamored with secular conservative pundits and thereby forgets what life is all about.
Jerry Falwell Jr. was recently interviewed on a Fox News morning show. He had about five full minutes on camera and opined about several political issues of the day. Not once did he invoke a Biblical principle to gird his opinion! He argued just like a secular conservative, as if God doesn’t exist.
Schaeffer calls the Christian to be revolutionary, “as Jesus was revolutionary against both Sadducees and Pharisees” . . . namely, the establishment. True Christians are extremely rare in America today. Only a fraction of the membership of evangelical or fundamentalist churches are actually born again, and only a very small fraction of them act like it. Most are content with modern church life, content to show up, shut up, and pay up. Who is contending anymore? Who will follow the prophet Isaiah? “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” (Is 58:1) You can hardly find any American Christians who will knock on their neighbors’ doors or strike up conversations on the sidewalk to share the Gospel. God’s call to Isaiah goes well beyond that. But Christians won’t even follow Jesus in the Great Commission. How can they not?
Schaeffer reports on a notable debate in his time, in which hippie guru Timothy Leary spoke warmly on the virtues of psychedelic drugs and the great future ahead in which everyone is abolutely free. Allen Ginsberg shrewdly replied, “But Tim, somebody must make the posters.” And then there’s laundry, and plumbing, and agriculture . . . reality gets in the way.
In the political realm the movements of the 1960s led inevitably toward an establishment totalitarianism. Schaeffer: “Please repeat the term establishment elite in your mind until the term is permanently stuck there.” It doesn’t matter whether today’s deep state is populated by Democrats or Republicans. Government grows, taxes rise, morals decay, and politicians pander to their constituents with words, but govern by another agenda, an agenda in sync with globalism and the coming rule of the antichrist.
The anarchists of the 1960s were happy to blow everything up because they imagined that things couldn’t get worse. Many of those radicals became university professors in later years.
Today’s anarchists are just as violent and just as determined. Schaeffer cites radical events at the U of Wisconsin, Columbia U, and the Sorbonne in Paris. One of the French student leaders spoke over French radio. Another student called in to make a comment, asking for a chance to speak in opposition, pleading, “Give me a chance to speak.” The answer: “No, just shut up – I’ll never give you a chance to speak.”
And so today the conservative voices on campuses are silenced. Conservative speakers are refused opportunities to speak even when invited by students – notably at UC Berkeley. Conservative student leaders are stalked and beaten. A recent editorial in the Princeton U student newspaper opined that free speech should not be available to conservatives.
Hey, Satan’s first choice is always totalitarianism. He will foster corruption when he needs to, but his preference is always the control the North Koreans have over their people, torturing or killing anyone in opposition.
So, do news reports about the suppression of conservative speech make you angry? Why aren’t you rather distressed about how rare a Gospel witness is on these campuses? Why not take a group from your church and, instead of going bowling, grab a handful of tracts, walk onto a local campus, and give some students a chance to be saved?
Schaeffer observes that many college students live in a halfway house, so to speak. They don’t believe what their parents believed and would not defend their parents’ views to their peers, but neither do they have a foundation for their own beliefs, which are malleable, subject to peer and cultural pressure.
I recently had a somewhat contentious conversation with a 30 year-old born again Christian whom I’ve known for many years, but only with occasional contact. He came through the public school and state university system and is committed to the evangelical church culture.
Having bought into the so-called ‘social justice’ narrative of the left, he sees racism everywhere, and overwhelmingly interprets the problem as white racism against blacks. It was fruitless for me to argue that the left’s narrative is hyper-exaggerated in order to stir up trouble for political reasons, so I eventually asked him why racism is wrong. He just felt that it was, finally insisting that racism is hatred. So why is hatred wrong? Well, it makes people miserable and causes trouble.
I pointed out that racists, whether white or black or whatever, are typically quite happy and self-righteous in their hatred. So what is the young fellow’s solution? In particular, what is he going to do to help? Well, he talks to people to point out the problem. But why should they change their opinions, their feelings? Aren’t their feelings as good as his? Who can judge?
I eventually suggested that he was arguing just like an atheist and / or a postmodernist would. He’s got no foundation and that’s an abysmal shame because he claims to be a born again Christian. For example, how many races are there from a Biblical point of view? Somewhat sheepishly, he agreed that there is only one (Acts 17:26). And the only hope for man, individually and collectively, is regeneration by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, the Savior of all descended from the first Adam (1 Cor 15:45) . . . that’s all of us.
I exhorted my young friend that if he really wants to help someone, he must share the Gospel. Sharing his opinions and his feelings apart from the Gospel is worthless. Convert the soul and the Holy Spirit will convert the heart. To my friend’s credit, he accepted the rebuke. He knows that Christians should share the Gospel, but had never connected the Great Commission to the issues of society. But there is nothing about life that makes sense without a Biblical foundation.
So when a race debate starts, don’t jump in on one political side or another. Don’t rely on the panel of conservative pundits who don’t have a clue about the reality of spiritual warfare. Rather, cry aloud, spare not, declare the truth that there is only one race and all of us need the Savior. (Paul expands on this issue in Romans 5.) All Christians are supposed to know this stuff, but few Christians are boldly vocal . . . in the public square! The Sunday School class and the pulpit don’t count!
Schaeffer warns that the campus movements are meant to be a pattern for society. “What we have going on is a war, and those who are being attacked are often oblivious.” The end of this game: “Whether it is a left-wing elite or an establishment elite, the result is exactly the same. There are no real absolutes controlling either. In both cases, one is left with only arbitrary absolutes set by an authoritarian society or state, or some elite, with all the modern means of manipulation under its control.”
What freedoms we have left can disappear rapidly. Hey, Christian, what are you doing with your freedom to speak?
Schaeffer sees three alternatives for a nation to take when it rejects the Gospel. The first is hedonism, which works all right as long as you have just one man. But two hedonists who meet each other on a log above a swift stream have trouble. With everyone working to maximize his self-esteem and his personal pleasure, we see an explanation for much of the tumult in America today.
The second alternative, if you deny absolute truth and absolute morality, is the dictatorship of the 51 percent. If the majority rules, constitutions and laws are no real help. Whoever is voted into power can do what he likes. Schaeffer: “The courts are making sociological law.” Nothing has changed since Schaeffer’s time. Judges decide what they like and use cultural trends as justification.
Where does this lead? If Hitler had a majority mandate from the German people, did he have a right to kill Jews? Is it ok today to kill unborn babies as long as a majority, or a majority of judges, say it’s ok? The checks and balances designed into the founding of the United States, along with a Constitution that is difficult to change, were a deliberate strategy to defuse the tyranny of a majority. See Isaiah 33:22, which speaks to the foundation of tripartite government.
The third alternative is an elite or a dictator, “some form of authoritarianism wherein a minority, the elite, or one man tells the society what to do.” The U.S. courts have embraced this approach, along with President Obama, whose executive orders often went beyond what the Constitution and the laws allowed.
In the 1970s Schaeffer saw a huge block of people that many called the “silent majority,” which was, and still is the most powerful voting block. But it consists of two unequal parts. It includes Christians who live by the absolutes of a Biblical worldview, but the far larger portion consists of those who want to coast on the practical, peaceful, orderly advantages of a Christian culture, yet have no basis for their desires. Most churchgoers fit this majority within the silent majority. Within evangelical and fundamentalist churches a very small minority, in my view less than 5%, orient their lives, day by day, in a deliberate intent to follow Biblical principles.
The values of this majority, according to Schaeffer, are affluence and peace at any price. They will compromise liberty if affluence is threatened. “They are no closer to the true Christian than was the hippie community and the New Left. In fact, they are probably further away, for they have no values that deserve the name values. Affluence and personal peace at any price as the controlling factors of life are as ugly as anything could be.”
Votes may easily swing back and forth between liberal and conservative based on promises of more or less personal peace and affluence. “The danger is that the evangelical, being so committed to middle-class norms and often even elevating these norms to an equal place with God’s absolutes, will slide without thought into accepting some form of an establishment elite.”
And that’s where we are today. Consider the enormous and vitriolic attention paid over the last year to government policies on health care and taxes. Sure, it’s important enough to get it right. But whether we take home a few bucks more or less, to make that the ultimate issue in American hearts and minds is to lose sight of everything important in life. For example, amidst all the daily energy expended on such topics, about 3,000 babies get murdered every day, gangs murder each other along with innocents in America’s cities, and moral scandals erupt again and again. And the Christians let their neighbors go to Hell without a warning. It’s the Devil’s game to distract Christians from what’s important by enticing us into political competitions between competing elites.
But you’ve got to take a side on these issues, right? No, you can favor the same outcome that the secular conservative favors, but you’re not on the same team. In despising Biblical principles, your favorite pundits seduce you into playing their game, one man’s opinion vs. another. Isaiah 58:1 never comes to mind. And then your sons and daughters, never grounded on Biblical truth, will aspire to join either a leftist or a conservative elite when they grow up. Your children must see you . . . repeatedly . . . invoke Biblical principles at the start of all serious discussions.
Schaeffer: “We must act upon, witness, and preach this fact: What is contrary to God’s revealed propositional truth is not true, whether it is couched in Hindu terms or traditional Christian terms with new meanings.” The 1st century Christians paid a price for speaking about the true God and proclaiming sin and judgment and repentance and faith in a literally resurrected Christ. Today, evangelicals use a lot of ‘god’ words and ‘love’ words, while avoiding words about sin and judgment, but what they mean never gets them into trouble, because they are going with the cultural flow, not against it.
Schaeffer concludes his chapter with a plea for the churches to be real communities where truth is made clear and relationships are real, deep, and loving. He and his wife, Edith, made that work in a practical way at L’Abri, their Swiss home that functioned much like the house churches of the 1st century. I heartily recommend Edith Schaeffer’s book, L’Abri, on how they got started and what God did with them in Switzerland. You will be blessed as you read their story.
Francis Schaeffer pleads for the churches to exhibit such community, but they have designed their programs to prevent it! Watching the weekly show and engaging in an occasional group activity, like most evangelicals and fundamentalists do, doesn’t come close to God’s design for the New Testament church. You can read my ‘church’ essays in the Discipleship section of this site if you haven’t thought about whether modern churches are churches at all.
Schaeffer was still optimistic in his day. “We do not need 51 percent of the people to begin to have an influence. If 20 percent of the population were really regenerate Christians, clear about their doctrines, beliefs, and values, taking truth seriously, taking a consistent position, we could begin . . . to have a vital voice again in the midst of our community.” Since the Christian foundation has been removed from our culture, Schaeffer warned that either the left or the conservative establishment will dominate, “in order to give at least an illusion of what the people want concerning material well-being.”
Schaeffer warns the Christian to avoid taking sides in the keep-God-out-of-it political debates. “We must not opt for one as against the other just because it seems to give a little peace for a little time. That is an enormous mistake, because both are equally non-Christian and eventually both will be equal in smashing out the freedoms we have had.”
Schaeffer’s dream of a 20 percent regenerate population may have seemed within reach once upon a time. I’m convinced that less than 2 percent of Americans are born again and less than 1 percent of those actually work practically and diligently at living by Biblical principles. But any one of us, any Christian, can make a difference in the lives of both the lost and the saved in his community. It always gets back to the mandate of the Great Commission. Give the lost a chance by speaking a clear Gospel message and encourage the Christians around you to do the same, and to live in a way that correlates with their witness.
It’s not complicated. You can do it today. Speak some truth. Give a tract. Call a Christian and tell her you’re praying for her. Tell someone else how you thank God for the blessing she’s been in your life. Make the day count in several ways. Just do it.
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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113. You can’t just flip a coin!
December 15, 2017
Two brothers (we’ll call them Dizzy and Daffy) inherited an old, run-down house. Some of their deceased parents’ belongings were worth selling and there were a few pieces of furniture and other sentimental items worth removing. The basement, however, was filled with junk and clutter that would be awkward to dispose of.
Months drifted by and no effort to sell the house was made. The insurance bill came due. Dizzy was incensed that the premium was so high. He was convinced that the insurance company had been taking advantage of his parents. Dizzy called the agent and chewed him out. Then he went ahead and paid the bill.
Both Dizzy and Daffy removed their favorite items over the course of several trips. They both lived a few hundred miles away. They eventually held an auction and got a few thousand bucks out of the house’s contents. But the basement was still filled with junk – which included lots of boxes of such things as old clothes.
Six days later the house burned down. The insurance company affirmed it was a total loss. A state fire marshal and a private investigator hired by the insurance company declared that the fire was arson.
Dizzy claimed the full replacement value on the policy – plus a few grand for the the contents. But he repeatedly declined to provide an inventory of those contents. Dizzy and Daffy both made some strange and misleading comments during this period. It also turned out that Daffy had been in town until about the time the fire had been set.
The insurance company refused the claim. Dizzy and Daffy hired a lawyer and sued. I got called for jury duty and had the privilege of hearing and judging the facts of the case.
The Bible has a lot to say about judgment. In addition to the Final Judgment, there is considerable wisdom regarding the day-to-day discourse between folks and, particularly, between folks and their rulers. Of the latter two categories, the Lord Jesus had this to say in His sermon on the mount (Matthew 7:1-5):
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
In what ways are we to avoid judging someone else? This passage plus the context of the rest of the Bible gives us a number of answers:
- Don’t try to judge the motivations of the heart – that’s God’s province.
- Don’t stereotype an individual based on one event.
- Don’t presume that his sin is somehow ‘bigger’ than yours.
- Don’t make your opinion or choice of style into a ‘law’ that others should obey.
- Don’t think or act in a spirit of revenge.
- Don’t foment hate in your heart.
- Don’t gossip or otherwise speak evil of others.
- Don’t judge hypocritically.
- Do judge properly, discerningly, righteously.
- Do judge so you can be helpful.
- Don’t forget God’s mercy on YOUR OWN miserable life!
It is interesting that God cautions us that we can expect to be judged by others at least to the standard by which we judge others. In fact, this is the system of laws and judicial processes by which Americans live together. We depend on our Constitution and a system of laws to protect us from the whims and self-centered judgments characteristic of despotic forms of government. It is tragic to observe the degradation of these historic American virtues today, as government agencies are used to target political opponents and as establishment politicians violate laws with impunity, protected by their powerful peers.
In the civil case of Dizzy and Daffy vs. the Large Insurance Company, I was interested to observe all the sour expressions in the jury pool and, especially, the grumpy looks on those who were selected for the jury. One woman answered attorneys’ questions in a way that clearly indicated she would be biased for one of the parties. The presiding judge looked disgusted, but had no recourse but to excuse her.
Our judge was very gracious, but firm. In our presence he directed the bailiff to advise the sheriff to contact everyone who had failed to show up for jury duty. He said that no-shows would be required to provide him a letter explaining their absence. If the letter wasn’t satisfactory, a night in jail was likely. Whew! I’m glad I set my alarm clock properly.
More significantly, the judge advised the jury pool that our service was a small price of citizenship to pay for the privilege of being an American. Without a civilized legal system, disputes would likely be settled in favor of whoever can hire the biggest thugs, which is the culture in much of the world. Sometimes, of course, the biggest and smartest thugs of all rise to political power, even within a constitutional system. If they do so by ballot, the citizenry gets the government it deserves. If the people remain docile as the thugs consolidate power and destroy freedom, there is no hope. Thugs are not just those in political power, of course. They can dominate major media outlets and take over the faculty of most universities. Once an anti-Christian / socialist / atheist majority control a university’s faculty – or the teachers’ unions of public schools – it may become impossible for a conservative, not to mention a Bible believer, to get hired.
Extending the Judge’s point . . . Jurors, in effect, become the rulers over a very restricted set of facts and issues affecting a very small group of people. Their authority is limited, of course. In addition to the Judge, a systematic appeals process exists to minimize unfairness. Does it always work perfectly? No, but you do the best you can. Ultimately, no matter what the design of your justice system, the achievement of justice depends vitally on the integrity of the people involved. If too many are ignorant or apathetic or corrupt, we’re in trouble.
A juror – as a judge or a ruler – has a responsibility mandated by God. Romans chapter 13, verses 1-7, leaves no doubt that God is intimately connected with good government. I include verse 8 because that principle, if embraced by everyone, would simply do away with the need for a court system.
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
God does not take kindly to being kicked out of government, as the political left has worked religiously to accomplish, and largely succeeded. God created government! Government is an instrument of judgment against criminals. In civil matters, government provides processes and judges and jurors to settle disputes. As part of the American system, citizens have responsibilities that must be borne seriously and should be borne graciously. Under God, you can’t just flip a coin to settle a dispute. You must judge righteously. John 7:24 . . .
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
God promises His followers the ability to do just that . . . he that is spiritual judgeth all things. (1 Corinthians 2:15) But without an absolute morality, based on the reality of God’s creation and the God-given conscience he has given us, justice is easily missed, or deliberately perverted. We are able to judge righteous judgment because God has put His law in our inward parts and written it in our hearts . . . Jeremiah 31:33.
Since government derives from God, rulers are subject to God’s judgment. Psalm 2 describes those rulers who would defy God in attempts to create a godless system of government. God literally laughs in derision at such temerity and warns the “judges of the earth” to “serve the Lord with fear.” The alternative is inevitable destruction, which will come fully to pass during the Tribulation . . . which may not be that far away. King David of Israel received a direct admonition, 2 Samuel 23:3 . . .
The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
Given a belief in God, it would seem suicidally stupid for a ruler to defy Him. Such stupidity is typically correlated with oppression. Proverbs 28:16 . . .
The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor: but he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days.
Godless government is naturally oppressive. The world’s history teems with examples of despotic rulers given over to covetousness. Consider Syria or North Korea today, or Saddam Hussein’s wealth before he met his end. The destruction or starvation or genocide of their own people is of no consequence to them, as long as they can maintain power. In our own recent history, consider the hundreds of millions of dollars that poured into the Clinton Foundation while she was Secretary of State, plus the hundred million dollars of personal wealth she and Bill amassed from ‘speaking fees.’ But in their worldview, which denies God’s very existence, who is god in their eyes? They are. As long as the rulers are comfortable, the sufferings of the oppressed or the end of personal freedom for the ‘little people’ are quite irrelevant.
On the personal scale, when we are called to judge our neighbor as part of our responsibilities of citizenship, we stand in God’s place. How could we possibly take this lightly? Someone is watching (Proverbs 17:15):
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.
Which gets us back to Dizzy and Daffy. After two days of testimony and arguments, our jury of seven began its deliberations. Our duty was to render a verdict based on the preponderance of the evidence. Only a criminal case requires the test of beyond a reasonable doubt. Circumstantial evidence has weight. I observed among several jurors a reluctance to believe that Dizzy and Daffy could be so stupid or so wicked as to try to get away with arson and insurance fraud. After all, these were educated fellows, they dressed nicely, and had good haircuts. (At least by the time they arrived in the courtroom.)
After two hours of discussion, which often strayed into emotional arguments, all minds were made up. Five favored the plaintiffs. I was one of two favoring the impersonal Large Insurance Company. The Judge had determined that with a jury of seven, however, five-to-two constituted a verdict. The two of us, at least, were able to convince the five to settle on a reduced monetary figure, closer to the true value of the house, just a fraction of the replacement value. The brothers never had the slightest intention to rebuild the house, anyway – and that was a policy condition regarding the replacement value.
Was justice done? I don’t know. I thought that the preponderance of the evidence indicated arson by Dizzy and Daffy. But I could be wrong. Neither the insurance company nor the cops had a ‘smoking gun.’ If they did, there would have been criminal proceedings. Also, the company representative did not do a good job on the stand. Neither did Dizzy and Daffy, but I was sure that their professed naivete, confusion, and innocence in the areas of selling houses and comprehending insurance policies was feigned. They had had years of experience as landlords over a dozen rental properties!
On days like that, I actually can look forward to the Final Judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14) . . .
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
God has the books ready, for every arsonist, for every corrupt politician, for every academic who scoffs at his student’s faith in God. Thankfully, I won’t be judged for my own . . . quite often corrupt . . . works. In trusting my salvation to the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, my sins have been covered up, washed away, cast into the depths of the sea, and my name has been written in the Book of Life. I hope yours is, too. I guarantee that you don’t want your book opened, your details on display.
- drdave@truthreallymatters.com
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