Posts tagged faithfulness
An Open Letter to the Qur’an Burning Pastor
0Dear Pastor Jones,
I can appreciate your concern for the falsity of Islam. As John Piper notes, bad theology dishonors God and hurts people, and I can’t think of a theological construct more hurtful, more violent, more angry, more damnable than Islam.
Except for bad Christian theology.
As ambassadors of Christ, we are charged with the awesome responsibility of representing Jesus Himself to the world. None of us is perfect, and so at times even the most well intentioned believer can and will fall short. But since we are His regents, we must be careful not to take God’s name in vain by misrepresenting His will, person, and character. Behavior guided by a warped theological grid will inevitably do just that; the result is damaged hearts, relationships, lives, and even cultures. I know this firsthand by virtue of my own failures.
You have cited the radicality of Jesus as biblical warrant for what you are doing. Granted, Jesus did some radical things. He appointed a tax collector and a Zealot (political arch-enemies) to stand side by side as two members of the close-knit Twelve. He set aside the rights of his office as Rabbi and Lord and washed the feet of His followers like a servant. But most radically, He allowed Himself to be led like a sheep to the slaughter. He refused to revile in return those who beat and cursed him, and though twelve legions of angels were at His command, He allowed Himself to be tortured and crucified cruelly on a cross. He died: for you, for me, and… for Muslims.
He is Yahweh-Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts, but I know in my heart that the teeming throngs of people deceived by Mohammed’s teachings move Him to grief. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should enter into eternal life.
Honestly, I admire your courage; you’re sticking to your guns even though the entire world is frowning upon you and your flock. And I can even understand your desire to “send a message.” We’ve all been wounded by the acts of Islamic terrorists. We’ve all burned with anger as we’ve observed the wanton Islamic violence and intimidation aimed at our people and our homeland. But what you are doing is not love. It is not grace. It is not outreach. It is not redemptive. It is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Your message is actually one of reprisal — in diametric opposition to the Golden Rule.
Jesus’ bravery is demonstrated most clearly not in the overturning of tables in the temple, but in the act of sacrificing Himself for humanity — a race that has shaken its collective fist in God’s face in abject rebellion.
Our government has pressured you not to go forward out of concern for the safety of our soldiers. I beg of you — not merely out of concern for what violence Muslims may commit in response, but fearful rather for the Muslims that could be turned away from their Savior on your account — please desist. There is no shame or cowardice in turning from a destructive or unwise path.
Love believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love NEVER fails. What force, what political speech, what message could be more powerful than that of Christ’s love for everyone? I pray that, in the days ahead, your decisions and actions will be guided by His love and by the clear leading of His Spirit.
Yours in Christ,
Rob
A question of questionable focus
0Our senior pastor preached a very stimulating message today about bearing one another’s burdens (see Galatians 6:2).
In a nutshell, he talked about how Christians often pride themselves on how they don’t “drink, smoke, chew, or hang out with those who do.” There’s an indignation we sometimes feel at the more flagrant sorts of sin that are, shall we say, more colloquial in nature.
Our pastor then posed the following questions:
- How often do those of us who are so very proud of our abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, movies, etc. “fulfill the law of Christ” by bearing the burdens of others?
- If the answer is infrequently, then why is that sin of omission somehow less execrable or more tolerable than more banal forms of carnality?
Tough questions.
As I read the Gospels, Jesus reserved the most stinging rebuke not for the likes of prostitutes or even swindlers like Zaccheus, but the self-righteous prigs of the religious establishment who were high on their own asceticism.
Pharasaism is no substitute for Christlikeness.
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Men of whom the world was not worthy (Heb. 11:38)
1Christians are often derided as narrow-minded prigs who are virulently intolerant of competing ideologies. Many fail to realize that atheistic paradigms have themselves been guilty of gross intolerance and conversion by force.
Tonight, I heard the story of Hin, a Christian who found himself on the wrong side of the Viet Cong when Vietnam fell to communism. He was imprisoned and force-fed a steady diet of Marx and Engels each day. Many are familiar with Marx’s famous quote about religion being the opiate of the masses. Some may not know that Marxism actually views religion as an instrument of oppression used by the bourgeoisie to keep the proletariat under its heel. In Marx’s dialectical synthesis, the victory of the proletariat results in a classless society that is free from the shackles of any faith perspective. This is why people of faith suffer cruelly in communist revolutions and governments; it was also the impetus behind the attempt to reprogram Hin. Stalin’s purgings and the current persecution of the underground church in China are both examples of the practical outworkings of atheistic paradigms.
Atheists frequently take offense at this assertion, which I find both ironic and amusing, since they are wont to derive a certain amount of glee and pleasure from throwing the likes of the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition in Christianity’s collective face. Well, atheism has its own inquisitions and crusades to answer for, and that, my friends, is incontestable. Either way, saying that people who called themselves Christians or atheists committed evil acts doesn’t prove or disprove either worldview. It simply amounts to an ad hominem attack that only serves to tick people off.
In any case, on a day when Hin had finally given up and chosen to let go of his faith, he was ordered to clean the latrines in the prison camp. There, as he toiled in the midst of filth and stench, he saw a piece of paper on the ground. Although it was smeared with human excrement, Hin was able to discern that it had English words printed on it. He took it, washed it, put it in his pocket, and when he was alone that night he read the following words:
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
One of the officers in the prison camp was using the pages of the Bible as toilet paper.
This one page of the Bible was so precious to Hin that he went the next day and asked to clean the latrines. For weeks thereafter, Hin willingly braved his foul daily chore in the hope of finding more of the Scriptures. Every page Hin found was soiled with waste; he cleaned and treasured them all. Eventually, he assembled the entire book of Romans and other parts of the Bible. And there, in that place of despair, a crushing, oppressive, atheistic government’s best efforts to recreate a believer’s heart in its own image were subverted and overthrown by the King of Kings.
I am moved by Hin’s story. I have multiple copies of the Bible. Do I treasure them as much as Hin did? Would I, if I ever found myself in a similar situation, be willing to muck around in human waste just because it might afford me an opportunity to possess a page of the Bible? Is the Word of God that precious to me now?
Here is portion of a message given by one of my favorite Christian authors and speakers, Ravi Zacharias. At about halfway through the clip, he starts sharing Hin’s story. It’s worth a listen:
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Faith under fire
0“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” -James 1:2-4
It’s a sore trial that I’m encountering. Not the sort where my faith is so assailed that I teeter on the brink of apostasy. No, friends, I will never renounce my faith in Jesus Christ. The trial here is this: How radically am I willing to be in obedience to the teachings and example of Jesus? Do I have what it takes to live His Word, even when everything within my soul screams in protest against it? Or will I compartmentalize His teachings, living some but ignoring those too hard or demanding for my comfort?
It is said that we are all on equal footing before the Cross. Sin is sin, and without exception we have all fallen short of God’s glory. Yet God’s love is demonstrated to us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ALL of us — including those who have so grievously wounded me and others I love. If He extends His forgiveness to such people, shouldn’t I do the same?
“Whoever would be My disciple,” the Rabbi says, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
Master, where else can I go? You have the words of life. Though the road ahead looks daunting, I will go where you lead.
Pressed out of measure
0“…we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us….” (2 Cor 1:8-9, NASB)
Father, please forgive me for my pride. I thank you for this feeling I have of being pressed out of measure. I know this is happening to me because you are calling me to put my hope and trust in You, the Resurrection and the Life. Lord, I renounce the trust I’ve placed in myself and my abilities. I am over my head — beyond my strength. And if I am indeed as impotent as I feel, so much the better. You alone are my source, my song, my strength, my deliverer, my provider. Walking through these days is simply a reminder of truths that I forget all too often.
Your Word says that you give grace to the humble. Please accept my prayer as one given by a man broken, discovering humility anew. I need your grace so much right now. I need it always, of course — more than I can fathom — but I am especially aware of my need at this moment.
And now I ask for the power of the One who raises the dead to touch my life. My trust is in You. I will wait for your deliverance.
Thank you, God, for pressing me out of measure. You are a loving Father, and I so appreciate your patient discipline.