a kingdom movement

I commend for your reading, reflection, and planning for action a paper called 'The Movement' by T.M. Moore.   

spiritual royalty

Eph. 3:3-14

For Sunday, July 12, 2009

Proper 10

If the circumstances of life are at the moment making you sad, overwhelmed, confused, or depressed, this passage is a marvelous place to turn.  It starts off by saying that as believers we are blessed in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  Think about this: we are not blessed with many spiritual blessings, but with every spiritual blessing.  We already possess, in Christ, everything we need, not only to cope with life, but to thrive, no matter the circumstance.

The passage goes on to enumerate a number of these spiritual blessings.  We are chosen in Christ before the creation of the world (v. 4).  We are predestined to be adopted as God's sons (v. 5).   In Christ we have redemption through his blood, which means the forgiveness of our sins (v. 6).  I could go on, but you see the point.  Even in these three verses we have more spiritual riches than we could ever know what to do with.  

Let us then not live our lives as harried paupers but rather let us live in a manner appropriate to the riches which we have inherited in Christ.  

the secularization of social assistance

Cezanne, "The Bay from L'Estaque"

The fourth in last question raised in my prior post, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Car Loans" was this: what should the church's response be to the secularization of social assistance programs?

First, we the church ought to call for authentic diversity. False diversity says this: "Any view is okay, as long as it doesn't make claims impinging on the rights of any other view." This is why a Bhuddist like Wayne Dyer can appear in government-funded PBS specials but a Christian cannot. True diversity, on the other hand, says this: "The free market of ideas should be just that: free for everyone."

Second, we the church ought to engage our communities in practical ministry. The biggest social problems are not financial but relational. Who is better positioned than the church to meet these relational needs? We just need to make time for it and get started.

Third, we the church ought to be raising public policy questions. Is it right that Planned Parenthood gets privileged government status but that Right to Life Groups do not? Are massive government social welfare programs helping the poor, or hurting them?

Let's not be embarrassed by our Christian commitment but rather live out this commitment with both tenacity and grace. This Sunday's New Testament reading, 11 Cor. 5:6-17 includes these words: "Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men." May our love, good deeds, and words persuade our family, friends, and acquaintances that we have indeed been touched by a righteousness that is truly wonderful, even as displayed through our own flawed expressions.

compassion and entitlement

The third question I raised in my post "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Car Loans" was this: Have we confused government-sponsored welfare with the Christian virtue of compassion?

Yes.

What? . . . Well alright then, three simple points to justify my answer:

1) Deficit spending is not compassionate because it is stealing from our grandchildren.
2) Financial support ought to be coupled with relational accountability, something the government is not equipped to provide.
3) A government which engages in transferring wealth soon corrupts itself.

Last week the television program "Frontline" noted that at current spending levels Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will consume over 100% of the federal budget at current growth rates by 2050. This is not compassionate: it is irresponsible.

I long to see America return to her former greatness. I want a government that restrains evil and commends the common good. Can't we just eliminate these entitlements? Not practical. But why not say, "We can only do what we can afford."

Is this to say that rugged individualism is the only Christian way? No, but it may well be the most compassionate way forward for America.

Christians and Government

The second question I raised about Christians and government in "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Car Loans" is this: What does the Bible teach, if anything, about the proper role of believers and churches in terms of their participation in civic governance?

I found a very insightful essay that addresses this question entitled "Christians and Government". It's written by a statistician named Darrell Dow. A statistician who can write is a beauty to behold and a joy forever.

After reading the article here are my key takeaways:

• We must remember as believers that governance takes place within several concentric spheres with the most important one being governance of ourselves as individuals. From here comes the focus and power to be redemptive agents of influence in our other spheres of influence.
• The State as an absolute sovereign is a myth: God is sovereign over all.
  
• We are called as believers and as the church to work together for the good of our respective countries.

No single group of people can bless a country as can a group of Christians who are following Jesus in loving obedience together.

biblical teaching on government

What does the Bible really teach about government? I found two resources on the web tonight that seemed worthy to share. The first is Pastor Jim Fowler's topical outline of the Bible's teaching on government. The second is another outline on the Bible and government at a web site called Faith Facts.

This is not to suggest that we can simply commend biblical teaching to a diverse citizenship. Yet what we can do is make appeals to truth and the common good. For example, is it not clear that government is intended to do certain things but not others? For example, government is intended to restrain evil and commend good, but it is not intended to run automobile companies.

The UAW has been given General Motors and Chrysler. Let them make these firms profitable, or let them fail, but I am not interested in seeing any more of my tax dollars wasted.

life, liberty, and the pursuit of car loans

I participated in a conference call last week on Christian Worldview and government. The session raised several profound questions which are worthy of consideration:

• What does the Bible teach, if anything, about the proper role of government with regard to entitlements?
• What does the Bible teach, if anything, about the proper role of believers and churches in terms of their participation in civic governance?
• Have we confused government-sponsored welfare with the Christian virtue of compassion?
• How should believers and the church respond to the secularization of social assistance programs?

While the answers to these questions could form the basis for an entire book, I'd like to take each one this week and attempt to formulate an initial response.

First, what does the Bible teach, if anything, about the proper role of government with regard to entitlements? Whereas the Declaration of Independence declares we are entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" it seems that this has mutated lately into "life, liberty, and the pursuit of car loans."

A fantastic book related to all of this is 'The Tragedy of American Compassion' by Marvin Olasky. Mr. Olasky notes that the great Methodist leader John Wesley, who did so much to minister to the American working class of the eighteenth century, summed up his philosophy this way: "Put yourself in the place of every poor man and deal with him as you would God deal with you."

Olasky then observes insightfully:

The only question might be, how would we want God to deal with us? As a cold official who provides material without love? As a warm sugar daddy who gives without discipline? Cultures build systems of charity in the image of the God they worship. . . In colonial America, emphasis on a theistic God of both justice and mercy led to an understanding of compassion that was hard-headed but warm-hearted. Since justice meant punishment for wrongdoing, it was right for the slothful to suffer. And since mercy meant rapid response when people turned away from past practice, malign neglect of those willing to shape up was also wrong. Later, when ideas of God changed, so did systems of charity, but early on, it was considered right to place sinners in the hands of a challenging economy (p. 8).

I don't think our present approach to social welfare is either hard-headed nor warm-hearted. It isn't hard-headed because we're spending money we do not have. It isn't warm-hearted because we've de-personalized and systematized our approach to the point where the lazy get too much and the deserving don't get enough.

Wouldn't we all be better off if we got state and federal government out of the entitlement business? What if we could return this country to a strong, stable dollar and budgets that lives within their means? I read recently that with all the federal government bailout money given to the financial industry we could have payed off 90% of the existing home mortgages in the country. If we are going to spend the money of our children and grandchildren, why not do that versus what we've done? And why do any of this? It's madness. Wouldn't it make more sense to let market prices clear toxic assets and bad decision-making, and then rebuild based on justice, mercy, and wisdom?

sinners and wickedness expunged?

Sam Francis, "Blue Panorama"

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
For Sunday, May 31, 2009
Day of Pentecost

For this reading v. 35a is curiously omitted. I wonder what it says. "But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more." Ah... Maybe someone thought this one of those embarrassing parts of Scripture better left unreferenced. Yet if we are going to take the Bible seriously we cannot simply cut and paste to suit our fancy.

An unsympathetic reading of v. 35a might conclude that this is a sort of Christian Jihad - a loving faith not yet fully formed. Yet what would a sympathetic reading yield? Let's consider the context. The Psalmist is reveling in the multitudinous works of Creation and a Creator who both gives life, takes it away, and then gives it once again (vv. 24-30). Our author then prays that the glory of the Lord endure forever (v. 31). This may be the key: the problem with sinners and wickedness is that they detract from the glory of the Lord. The Psalmist is not arguing that ardent believers strap on bomb vests to blow up infidels. He is simply praying that the glory of the Lord would fill the entire earth. This entails that sinners and wickedness be no moreand in fact when the new heaven and the new earth are created this will be the state of affairs.

The Christian worldview contends that what plagues Man is none other than his sin and wickedness. There is no other diagnosis that better fits the facts of the violence, depravity, and cruelty we must all acknowledge all around us.

To expunge sinners and wickedness from our Bibles is to expunge half of the gospel's redemptive message. Let us rather face reality as it is: we are wicked sinners offered forgiveness in a matchless Savior. If you are reading this, and have not yet believed on Christ for the forgiveness of your wickedness and sin, may you right now receive Christ's gift of forgiveness and new life.

You will never be the same.