Christians and Culture, Being Radical in Our Faith by Loving as We are Commanded

Radical, it is defined as being very different from the usual or ordinary, or, in some cases, extreme. We as Christians are being urged and encouraged, pushed and prodded to be radical...radical in our Christianity, or to be radical Christians. A couple of books come to mind that encourage this radicalness; and they are Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and Radical by David Platt. There seems, in some areas, to be this push, this rush to be radical in our faith by being radical in our love; but if we take a step back, and really look at this topic from a biblical perspective we see that we are already radical if we are living and loving as the Scriptures tell us to.

We are talked to about radical love, we are urged to be radical in our love, but to love like we are commanded in the Scriptures is a radical (being very different from the usual or ordinary, so in a sense contrary to the usual or customary) love. This love as laid out in the Scriptures is the antithesis of the affections, the love of the world. The world does not operate in the sphere of biblical love, so for us to simply be and do what the Scriptures say is to be radically contrary to what we see in the culture, whether it is American, African, Asian, Australian, European, South American, or even Canadian.  Living out the love we are commanded in Scriptures will radicalize our life and behavior against the cultural norm in any culture in any time.

The prevailing love in any culture is always and has always been self-directed, self-promoting, self-serving, self-focused, self-fulfilling, self-pleasing; truly being an all about self love. So when the love of the Scriptures is lived out in the midst of the culture, it truly goes against the grain of the cultural norm.

For example, let's take the greatest commandment, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. To love God like this is to take the love you have for self, and place it all, direct it all on the Lord God. This is radical, this is very different than the norm; and is, in fact, extreme, as it goes against the stream of the all encompassing self love that exists in every culture, by replacing that self love with an all encompassing love for God.

Next, let's look at the second greatest commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves. This love does no wrong to a neighbor as it does not covet what is his (How many wars have been fought because of this?), treats him/her as we would want to be treated, is not arrogant towards him/her, does not lie to him/her, does not malign or slander, does not gossip, does not return evil for evil, but gives a blessing instead. In short it puts everyone on the same level as the self. Again, pretty radical for the self-vaunting, self-esteem at all cost culture, not just in our land but in every country.

Finally, let's look at the third commandment on love, the commandment from Christ to love one another as he has loved us. This is a command for Christians and it is a command to follow the example of Christ and to love other Christians in the same way and to the same extent as He loved us. How did He love us?  To the uttermost as He gave Himself up for us as a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma (Ephesians 5:1-2, Galatians 2:20). To walk in--to live in and live out--this kind of self-sacrificial love is contrary to, and would be considered extreme in every culture. It was extreme in the Greek and Roman culture of Christ's time, which was why the Greek word for this kind of love, agape, was so scarcely used.

So for us to be radical, we must simply, faithfully, and consistently live out the Christian life as it is presented in the Scriptures. This is what radicalizes the Christian and the Christian subculture within whatever culture they find themselves. Our faith, rightly lived, is radical, is extreme, is not the normal or usual way to be and live in the culture of this world. So let's don't worry about being radical, or being crazy or extreme in our love. Instead let's pursue being the best Christian we can be by loving God, our neighbor and the brethren with the love that He has lavishly poured out within our heart (Romans 5:5).  That will make us radical in whatever culture we find ourselves. 

Stop It, Enough Already, Man Up and Fess UP

I almost always keep quiet regarding Christian personalities and issues (unless it is false teaching), as it is too easy for it to turn into self-righteous character assassination or internet gossip.  However, I am out of patience with those who supported and promoted Mark Driscoll remaining silent, unrepentant, and unapologetic.

Too many pastors, young and older, were influenced by him.  Too many people were damaged and savaged by him.  The cause of Christ was wounded because of him, all while the warning signs were there and were not hidden; and those who supported him and promoted him have remained silent.

Unfortunately, we are now subjected to this puff piece interview of John Piper.  Yes, what John says in this interview is true, but it makes him look like the wise sage now that the carnage is over, while ignoring his association and promotion of Mark Driscoll.  This piece provides cover for him by letting him address, from a distance of time, what happened without calling him to take responsibility for his part in the victory against the church he says Satan has had in this situation.  It allows him to take the the "high, noble, and wise ground" as if he had nothing to do with it.  John Piper is one of the main reasons Mark Driscoll had a national following, and for John to continue avoiding the responsibility for his fomenting of Mark Driscoll's reputation is unconscionable.  For The Gospel Coalition to do the interview and air this piece is just as unconscionable.

John and The Gospel Coalition, for the sake of the church you say you love and its unity, come out boldly and admit your part in the Mark Driscoll debacle.  It would go a long way toward healing and the restoration of trust in your ministries and motives.

See the interview below by following the link below.

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/reflections-on-mark-driscoll-and-the-mars-hill-implosion

Truth and Right Thinking

For as he thinks within himself, so he is...

Proverbs 23:7

The Bible tells man what to think, how to think, and why to think. It tells us of the benefits of right thinking and the consequences of wrong thinking. It presents the foundation of right thinking, which is the knowledge of God Himself, and the corresponding knowledge of man himself.  

The Bible is the foundation for right thinking because it presents to us the truth about God, and the truth about God becomes the mirror and backdrop from which we learn the truth about man, which is the truth about ourselves. We will never know the full truth about ourselves until we know the truth about God; and an important facet of knowing the truth about God is the belief and its consequential acceptance of what the Bible says about Him.  

Truth is reality, what is real, as compared to what is imagined, desired, or fantasized. The Bible presents life and existence (now and eternally) as it really is, not as we want it to be. The Bible presents God as He really is, not as we want Him to be or imagine Him to be. The Bible presents man (all of us) as he really is, not as we want him to be or imagine ourselves to be.

For a man to be right before God and to right with God, he must first think rightly about God and rightly about himself. Only the truth of God, found in the pages of the Bible can lead a man to the path and down the path to be right with God. God has given us the Bible for just that purpose, as He wants us to be right with Him.

Do you want to be right with God? Do you want to think rightly about God and about yourself? Then turn to the Bible, for it is there that you will find the foundation for right thinking, the truth.  

Speaking the Truth in Love about Unconditional Love

• The first section below is a post on a blog concerning Rob Bell's belief concerning homosexuality over at the Gospel Coalition website, and below it is my comment.  If we as Christians are going to engage in these discussions/talks/conversations/debates, then we must speak the truth and speak it in love.  The truth is confronting enough, and should be applied properly.  Shouting contests, name calling and inflammatory statements are not only not Christlike, they are futile. Far too many Christians follow the tactics of the unsaved.  Only truth will win the day, and we must speak it in love for it to be at its most powerful and apologetic.
  
  @Joyce by Mike
  The difficulty with your argument is that some people understand those passages differently. They would assert that the (few) passages in the Bible that mention homosexuality do so in the context of forced submissiveness, as opposed to a mutually affirming, loving relationship. Many Christians believe that the overarching narrative of the Bible, especially Jesus, is primarily to love God and love your neighbor. Within that narrative the love for your neighbor is more important than your neighbor’s sexuality.
  So here’s my question for you: Why does this matter so much? Rob Bell’s affirmation of homosexual relationships seems to bring out a strong negative emotive response in so many people — why? What if you personalize the issue? Gay people are not some faceless group; they are family and friends and neighbors and colleagues. The dichotomy Christians face is that Jesus calls us to love our neighbors with a love that does not condemn (cf. the woman caught in adultery), and yet our neighbor may be carrying on in activities that we believe to be sinful.
  If we have a friendship with someone who is gay, and if that friendship is the kind of relationship where we hold each other accountable, only then have we the freedom to talk about things like whether one’s homosexual relations are God-pleasing or not. But for anyone else, we are called to love unconditionally just as God does.
  
  My Response to Mike
  
  

  1. Mike,
     You don’t get a get out of jail free card because you “understand” the passages differently. They are plain, within the context.
     
     The issue is not loving unconditionally. God does not love unconditionally, if He did then there would have been no need for Christ to die; and why would God put His Son, and why would the Son go through, that grisly horrendous death and suffer the wrath of God, if His love was unconditional? Unconditional love is not loving us just as we are, but loving us in spite of who we are and in spite of our enmity with God (Romans 5:6-8). If things were okay between God and man, man would not be the enemy of God (Romans 5:8, 1:30) and there would be no need of reconciliation (Romans 5:10-11, II Corinthians 5:18-19).  If God loves people just as we are (unconditionally) then there would be no need for man to be born again or made new (II Corinthians 5:17, John 3:3-7). The unconditional love that is offered in John 3:16 is only for those who place their faith in Christ. Do a word study, just in the NT, and see who are the objects of God’s wrath. If God loves unconditionally, then there would also be no reason for wrath, for any sin no matter how heinous.
     
     Additionally, if I truly love someone then I will tell them the truth…not condemningly, but truthfully (Ephesians 4:15). True love does not bash anyone, homosexual or heterosexual, but it also does not shrink back from declaring the truth to them. The truth is that you cannot continue/practice a sexually immoral lifestyle (homosexual or heterosexual) and be a Christian (See I John). However, the gay community has labeled anything that is said to them that is contrary to their lifestyle as hate speech, homophobia, etc. The most loving thing we can do is to speak the truth, but we must speak it in love, and not use it as as a cudgel. As it says in Proverbs 27:6 “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. A true friend speaks the truth, and as Christians we should speak the truth to others as we would want them to speak the truth to us (Matthew 7:13).
     
     Finally, for the context, I mentioned Romans 1:30 above. If you follow the train of thought from verse 18 through the end of the chapter you will see that homosexuals are specifically mentioned and then it goes on to list them among those who hate God in verse 30. Are those who hate God, and therefore are His enemies under the wrath of God? Yes, all of them. But God does offer them salvation, the deliverance from the wrath to come (Romans 5:9, I Thessalonians 1:9-10) if they will repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15, from the lips of Jesus Himself).
     
     Finally, why have I used so much Scripture? Because Jesus says this in John 12:48 “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word that I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.” And what is the word Jesus spoke? The Scriptures, all of them (I Peter 1:10-12), as He is the Living Word (John 1:1, 14).
     So what is the most loving thing I can do for you? Tell you the truth as I just have, not my truth, but God’s truth; and urge you to go to the Scriptures for your wisdom and not depend on the prevailing sentiment of the day, but on the eternal unchanging word of God.

Our Own Opinions?

Our own opinions will never lead us to holiness, 

and without holiness none of us will see the Lord.

Righteousness, the practical out working of holiness,

is not culturally determined, but biblically prescribed.

God, through the Scriptures, has revealed to us

His moral standards.  These standards are absolute

and unchanging because their Author is Himself

absolute and unchanging; unlike our own opinions.

The Scriptures and Relevance

What makes the Scriptures relevant to our life

is our application of them to our life.  It is in

our obedience to the Word of God that the truth

of the Scriptures is applied to the situation which

we find ourselves in. 

Show me someone who says the Bible is not

relevant, and I will show you someone who does

not know the Scriptures nor practices the Scriptures.

So if you want to make the Scriptures relevant to
your life, learn them and obey them.

Action and Confirmation

Our actions will either confirm our unbelief,

or confirm the validity our faith.

The Gospel and Good Works

What is the relationship between the Gospel and good works/social justice ministries/mercy ministries?  This is one of the current intramural debates among Christians.  Paul actually addresses this issue in his epistle to Titus. The phrase good deed(s) is used six times in this short letter, and after dealing with the issue of establishing order-appointing elders-refuting and silencing false teachers (yes, they all go together), he emphasizes the role of good deeds in the life of the believer and therefore the life of the church.

In 1:16 we see that there are those who profess Christ but whose deeds deny him, and Paul calls them detestable, and worthless for any good deed.

In 2:7-8 Paul exhorts Titus, as the spiritual leader, to be an example of good deeds, which along with purity of doctrine, dignity, and soundness of speech, will put the opponents of the gospel to shame and give them no reason to malign Christians.

In 2:14 we see that Christ redeemed us from every lawless deed so that His people would be zealous for good deeds.

In 3:1 we see that we are to be in a state of readiness/preparedness for every good deed.

In 3:8 we see that we, as Christians, are to exercise thought in engaging in good deeds, and that these deeds are good and profitable for men.

In 3:14 we see that we must be in the habit of/accustomed to engaging in good deeds that meet pressing needs, so that as Christians we will not be unfruitful.

It is obvious that engaging in good deeds is a key theme in this book, something that Paul, speaking on behalf of the Lord, views as important. And if you follow the flow of thought concerning good deeds (from 1:16-3:14) you will see that deeds will either be contrary to and therefore contradict our doctrine and profession, or they (good deeds) will concur with and therefore confirm our doctrine and confession.

In reading this epistle we see that those who are not Christians are worthless for any (truly) good deed. We see that for Christians good deeds adorn the doctrine we preach, put the opponents of the gospel to shame and causes their maligning to fall flat. We see that, as Christians, we are to have a passion for goods deeds, to be always ready and prepared for good deeds, and are to thoughtfully engage in good deeds. These good deeds are beneficial to men, not just Christians but to men in general; and in performing these good deeds pressing needs will be met, and we will not be unfruitful (in other words, God will take them and use them for His glory...compare with John 15:1-11).  As Martin Luther said, "Justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone."

Paul doesn't define what these good deeds are...probably because He knows that Christians who have a heart for good deeds and give careful thought as to when, where, why, and how, will not only be guided by the Holy Spirit in their endeavors; but through the Spirit will also be given the opportunities for them as well, as the Lord always matches God-given desires with God-given opportunities (see Psalm 37:3-6).

I don't think there is a tension between good deeds and Gospel proclamation...they do go together. How can you love someone enough to give them the gospel to meet their spiritual need, and not be moved to provide for their physical needs, or vice-versa?  Doing one without doing the other tears the heart right out of the Gospel.

As is always the case, the Scriptures give us the mind of God concerning these issues.  So instead of debating one another, let's get busy and stay busy doing all that the Scriptures tell us to do.

A Word from Francis Schaffer

If you have not read any of Francis Schaffer, you should. He was probably the greatest prophetic voice in evangelicalism in the last century. Even though he has been with the Lord for a number of years, his is still a prescient voice today...maybe because he had his finger on the humanness of evangelicals and their weaknesses, but nevertheless his voice still rings true, and issues he pointed out are still with us today.

I read his last book, The Great Evangelical Disaster, in 1984, the year he went home. It was one of the defining books that I have read, and I have been re-reading it the last few weeks. I am going to quote some of it as he draws the book to a conclusion, as it hits the church where it lives today.

"We need a revolutionary message in the midst of today's relativistic thinking. By revolutionary or radical, I mean standing against the all-pervasive form which the world spirit has taken in our day. This is the real meaning of radical....We need a young generation and others who will be willing to stand in loving confrontation, but real confrontation, in contrast to the mentality of constant accommodation with the current forms of the world spirit as they surround us today, and in contrast to the way in which so much of evangelicalism has developed the automatic mentality of accommodation at each successive point.....the evangelical accommodation has constantly been in one direction--that is, to accommodate with whatever is in vogue with the form of the world spirit which is dominant today. It is the same world spirit which is destroying both church and society. Balance must be considered constantly. But the accommodation we have been speaking of has constantly taken the form of giving in to the humanistic, secular consensus which is the dominant destructive force of our day.'

'It does seem to me that evangelical leaders, and every evangelical Christian, have a very special responsibility not to just go along with the "blue-jean syndrome" of not noticing that their attempts to be "with it" so often take the same forms as those who deny the existence or holiness of the living God.  Accommodation leads to accommodation--which leads to accommodation..."

A true prophetic voice is timeless. This was written in 1984, but we see the same issue alive and well in the church today. As Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun." We see the same accommodation today, as so many pastors/churches/Christians have fallen into the "we must be relevant to the culture" trap. The pursuit of relevance has led to accommodation. It is only when we are truly counter cultural, truly radical to the culture that we have any true impact. We are not salt and light by accommodating the world spirit of our times, but only when we are stopping the corruption of the world spirit, and exposing the corruption of the world spirit can we call ourselves truly radical; and you cannot be relevant and radical at the same time. 

I would recommend that you read this book.  Think about what Francis Schaffer has to say, and see how he recaptures the true meaning of living the radical Christian life.

Hatred of Christ

He who hates Me hates My Father also.

...but now they have both seen and hated

Me and My Father as well.  But they have

done this to fulfill the word that was written

in their Law, "They hated Me without a cause."

John 15:23-25

Nowhere is the awful depravity of fallen man

more evidenced than in his hatred of that which

is pure, lovely, good, and holy.

A. W. Pink

Why NOT the NIV

As many know, I have had a long bias against the NIV, as I feel it has dumbed the Scriptures down, and numbed the reader from the punch that is provided in the Greek language.  Yes, I know for some it is easier to read, but making something easier to read should not be the litmus test for any translation of the Scriptures.  Accuracy and communicating as close as possible what the author really said should be the litmus test for any and all translations.  And that is the problem with the dynamic equivalency method of translation. 

Dr. Jim Hamilton gives a wonderful example of the difference between the dynamic equivalency and the formal equivalency methods, and why the dynamic equivalency is inferior.  See the link below.

http://jimhamilton.info/2011/06/29/dynamic-equivalence-the-method-is-the-problem/

When to Apply Matthew 18

In the latest issue of Themelios, Don Carson has an article on the proper application of Matthew 18, especially in light of how much it gets thrown around in the blogosphere these days.  Follow the link:

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/publications/36-1/editorial-on-abusing-matthew-18