This week, my wife Vicki, daughter Sarah and I are at the beach. I often joke that I know God wants me to live on the beach, but for some reason He hasn’t yet provided the place! I even think about what it would be like to be the lawn maintenance person at the condo complex where we spend a week each summer in return for a rent-free place to live.
Sunday, we attended an open-air worship service just across the street from the beautiful St. Joseph’s Bay. If I knew the bishop for the northern district of Florida for the United Methodist Church, I might get my name on the list for appointment to Port St. Joe. There’s a running joke among my family and co-workers as to whether or not I will return from the week at the beach. Actually, I’m not sure it is ¬all that much of a joke!
I don’t know what it is about the ocean – but it has a kind of “tidal influence” on me. I always want to come back and revisit the scene. The particular beach we visit in the summer is just that – beach. Nothing else. Nestled on the Gulf of Mexico along Florida’s “forgotten coast,” it is like stepping back in time. (I’d tell you where it is, but I don’t want to start a stampede!) Just beach – sand, water, waves, shells, and whatever else comes along with the ocean.
In His conversation with Job, God Himself uses the ocean to point out to Job the distinction in actually being God and in thinking you might be as smart as God. Here is what God says:
“Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb?—
when I made the clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,
and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?” (Job 38:8-11,NRSV)
The regular, pounding presence of the waves of the ocean are as fascinating as watching the flames of a fireplace on a cold winter night. I don’t know how much Job understood about the influence of the gravitational pull of the moon on the habits of ocean tides, but you don’t have to know that in order to understand that the ocean is a powerful system. Yet God has set the boundaries – “here shall your proud waves be stopped.”
Walking along the seashore, I eventually will always remind myself, “there is a God!” It isn’t that I spend most days doubting that – but just that the reaffirmation that somewhere there is One capable of saying to the sea, “thus far shall you come, and no farther,” can be a healthy reminder that whatever issues you and I may experience in life, if God can set the boundaries of even the oceans, then He can surely handle the issues of our lives.
When you think about all the “power issues” that infiltrate our lives, often the church and God’s Kingdom, it makes you wish that occasionally God would show up like He did for Job and declare, “here shall your proud waves be stopped.”
Until He does that – which He has promised to do one day in the reappearing of His Son Jesus – perhaps a trip to the beach occasionally would do us all some good!
28 July 2011
16 July 2011
Becoming!
Today is another one of those days that I walk around wondering “Why do I get to do this?” The “this” I’m thinking about is hanging out on the campus of Point University (formerly Atlanta Christian College) with students – both returning students and new students – and watching them interact, register, serve, and even have a little fun while new freshmen register for classes in the fall.
One of my opportunities in this whole process is that I get to speak at the early Saturday morning devotion that begins the day we call Link. I always use the same text and have the same basic message – though it comes out in different forms, with different stories, and the like each time. My guess is that students who work with student development at Point University could repeat the sermon’s main point pretty well.
The text I use is the story Luke tells about the time Jesus was invited to lunch at the home of Simon the Pharisee – Sanctimonious Simon is what I call him. If you remember the story (Luke 7:36ff) an immoral woman comes into the dining room and has a life-changing encounter with Jesus. The primary message of that text – at least from my study of the story – is that Jesus is not all that interested in who we are (Simon, though is quite proud of who is is) but He is very interested in what we can become (which seems to be the immoral woman’s interest).
The whole Christian college thing can be a bit intimidating! That is especially true for new students who must come to events like our Link wondering if they will fit in, are they spiritual enough, is everyone there perfect, and all the other baggage that Christian colleges have allowed and sometimes perpetuate about themselves. I’m so grateful to be a part of a Christian college that takes Jesus to heart and is more concerned about what these young adults entrusted to us can become, rather than being overly focused on who they are!
Walking around what is a nearly all-day event, I am thrilled at the current students who are here helping out. Not too long ago they were new students, and I suspect wondering whether or not they would fit in. Now they are using their gifts and talents in welcoming new students to this community of believers determined to transform the world.
But I’m also thrilled at being surrounded by new students. You can tell by looking at them that this new experience of being a college student has created some questions, maybe a little stress. My guess is that at least some of them are wondering about whether or not they will fit in.
We have a few “Sanctimonious Simons” at Point University, but thanks be to God that they are the exception not the rule. But we have lots and lots of people – faculty, staff, administrators, and students – who aren’t so much living in the pride of who they are as they are excited about what God is doing on this campus and in their lives. It’s hard to believe that I get to be a part of all of that!
As I told new students and parents this morning – you don’t have to be perfect to enroll in Point University. And that’s a good thing, because if you did, there would be no one to teach you once enrolled! But we are intentional and unapologetic that Point University is all about “pointing the world to Christ.” As one of our billboards in the metro-Atlanta suggests, we want to “transform our culture for Christ.” Some of these students will end up doing that in vocational ministry, and for that I rejoice. Many of them will do that in a wide variety of occupations and with people that those in ministry have little opportunity to influence. For that, I will rejoice.
Having been involved in the life of this kingdom outpost for 35 years, I’ve never been more convinced that God is moving in the life of our school and that more than any of us can imagine or dream is about to happen.
Administrators have been, for some time now, working on a to-do list as we plan our move to West Point in July 2012. That list is massive, but I think, to borrow a little language from Luke in the book of Acts – it’s “multiplying.”
One of my opportunities in this whole process is that I get to speak at the early Saturday morning devotion that begins the day we call Link. I always use the same text and have the same basic message – though it comes out in different forms, with different stories, and the like each time. My guess is that students who work with student development at Point University could repeat the sermon’s main point pretty well.
The text I use is the story Luke tells about the time Jesus was invited to lunch at the home of Simon the Pharisee – Sanctimonious Simon is what I call him. If you remember the story (Luke 7:36ff) an immoral woman comes into the dining room and has a life-changing encounter with Jesus. The primary message of that text – at least from my study of the story – is that Jesus is not all that interested in who we are (Simon, though is quite proud of who is is) but He is very interested in what we can become (which seems to be the immoral woman’s interest).
The whole Christian college thing can be a bit intimidating! That is especially true for new students who must come to events like our Link wondering if they will fit in, are they spiritual enough, is everyone there perfect, and all the other baggage that Christian colleges have allowed and sometimes perpetuate about themselves. I’m so grateful to be a part of a Christian college that takes Jesus to heart and is more concerned about what these young adults entrusted to us can become, rather than being overly focused on who they are!
Walking around what is a nearly all-day event, I am thrilled at the current students who are here helping out. Not too long ago they were new students, and I suspect wondering whether or not they would fit in. Now they are using their gifts and talents in welcoming new students to this community of believers determined to transform the world.
But I’m also thrilled at being surrounded by new students. You can tell by looking at them that this new experience of being a college student has created some questions, maybe a little stress. My guess is that at least some of them are wondering about whether or not they will fit in.
We have a few “Sanctimonious Simons” at Point University, but thanks be to God that they are the exception not the rule. But we have lots and lots of people – faculty, staff, administrators, and students – who aren’t so much living in the pride of who they are as they are excited about what God is doing on this campus and in their lives. It’s hard to believe that I get to be a part of all of that!
As I told new students and parents this morning – you don’t have to be perfect to enroll in Point University. And that’s a good thing, because if you did, there would be no one to teach you once enrolled! But we are intentional and unapologetic that Point University is all about “pointing the world to Christ.” As one of our billboards in the metro-Atlanta suggests, we want to “transform our culture for Christ.” Some of these students will end up doing that in vocational ministry, and for that I rejoice. Many of them will do that in a wide variety of occupations and with people that those in ministry have little opportunity to influence. For that, I will rejoice.
Having been involved in the life of this kingdom outpost for 35 years, I’ve never been more convinced that God is moving in the life of our school and that more than any of us can imagine or dream is about to happen.
Administrators have been, for some time now, working on a to-do list as we plan our move to West Point in July 2012. That list is massive, but I think, to borrow a little language from Luke in the book of Acts – it’s “multiplying.”
13 July 2011
The Power of Words
I’m a self-confessing word nerd. Sometimes, as recently as earlier today, I find myself looking up a word, only to still be “reading the dictionary” 10 minutes later! But, in defense of my love of words, it was God who made humans with this amazing capacity to use words to say things, to be told things – to communicate. It is even possible for God to use words to communicate to us (Isaiah 55:8-11) and for us to communicate with Him (see the Book of Psalms).
Words have what is sometimes called marked and unmarked meanings. The whole process of interpreting everything from the article about the Braves game yesterday in today’s paper to the Bible itself. Our political culture seems to be in constant banter about how the words of the Constitution are to be interpreted.
I think I have at least one friend among the writers of Scripture when it comes to be a word nerd. In Ephesians 4:29, tucked in among a whole slew of descriptive phrases about the behavior of those who follow Jesus, Paul says, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” (NASB) Unless I’m reading those words incorrectly, if a word doesn’t edify, it isn’t wholesome.
That’s not, however, how this particular collection of words are often used. A friend in ministry told me about a youth minister who overheard an elder in the church say a naughty word, when a wrench he was using to fix a door closer slipped and he banged his knuckles pretty badly. This particular elder was a godly man - known far and wide for his generosity and his willingness to do whatever needed to be done. At the time of this incident, he was actually funding the rent on a gymnasium for the youth program of his church that wasn’t budgeted at the time.
While I’m not suggesting that he should have said the word he said as his knuckles hit a sharp edge and started bleeding profusely, it wasn’t the worst word I’ve ever heard. The youth minister was quick to point out that the church shouldn’t have an elder who used “unwholesome words,” quoting this very verse.
In less than a week, the whole church knew that an elder had said a bad word – despite the fact that the only person who heard it was the youth minister. The only way that could have happened is that the youth minister let others know.
Whose words were “unwholesome?”
In Miroslav Volf’s The End of Memory, he points out that even by remembering things incorrectly, we end up bearing false witness against another person. When we say those over-stated memories out loud, we use “unwholesome words.”
The point isn’t that words don’t matter – even words that in our cultural setting are viewed as “bad words.” I’m not advocating that it is appropriate for Christians to speak crudely and in impolite ways. But I do think it is possible for a person to never use one of the “four letter words” we identify in our culture as crude and impolite, but still have an “unwholesome” vocabulary. We don’t have to use four-letter words to be guilty of not edifying others with our words.
May our words be signs of the grace of God – both “marked and unmarked.”
Words have what is sometimes called marked and unmarked meanings. The whole process of interpreting everything from the article about the Braves game yesterday in today’s paper to the Bible itself. Our political culture seems to be in constant banter about how the words of the Constitution are to be interpreted.
I think I have at least one friend among the writers of Scripture when it comes to be a word nerd. In Ephesians 4:29, tucked in among a whole slew of descriptive phrases about the behavior of those who follow Jesus, Paul says, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” (NASB) Unless I’m reading those words incorrectly, if a word doesn’t edify, it isn’t wholesome.
That’s not, however, how this particular collection of words are often used. A friend in ministry told me about a youth minister who overheard an elder in the church say a naughty word, when a wrench he was using to fix a door closer slipped and he banged his knuckles pretty badly. This particular elder was a godly man - known far and wide for his generosity and his willingness to do whatever needed to be done. At the time of this incident, he was actually funding the rent on a gymnasium for the youth program of his church that wasn’t budgeted at the time.
While I’m not suggesting that he should have said the word he said as his knuckles hit a sharp edge and started bleeding profusely, it wasn’t the worst word I’ve ever heard. The youth minister was quick to point out that the church shouldn’t have an elder who used “unwholesome words,” quoting this very verse.
In less than a week, the whole church knew that an elder had said a bad word – despite the fact that the only person who heard it was the youth minister. The only way that could have happened is that the youth minister let others know.
Whose words were “unwholesome?”
In Miroslav Volf’s The End of Memory, he points out that even by remembering things incorrectly, we end up bearing false witness against another person. When we say those over-stated memories out loud, we use “unwholesome words.”
The point isn’t that words don’t matter – even words that in our cultural setting are viewed as “bad words.” I’m not advocating that it is appropriate for Christians to speak crudely and in impolite ways. But I do think it is possible for a person to never use one of the “four letter words” we identify in our culture as crude and impolite, but still have an “unwholesome” vocabulary. We don’t have to use four-letter words to be guilty of not edifying others with our words.
May our words be signs of the grace of God – both “marked and unmarked.”
11 July 2011
Are The Liberal Arts Liberal?
That question could also be phrased, “are there conservative arts?” Do left-wingers study in liberal arts schools and right-wingers study in other kinds of schools? What about the “moderate arts” – where do you go to school to get that kind of education? Would there be a school where I could go and get an education in the “fundamentalist arts?”
It is an odd thing that for some followers of Jesus, any idea that has the word liberal attached to it is automatically assumed to be from the pits of Satan worship! That might explain why any survey you see suggests that among conservative Christians, the percentage of income given to the work of the Kingdom is so paltry. After all, Paul uses the word “liberal” in describing the giving practices mentioned in 2 Corinthians 8. Here’s what he says, “We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift.” (2 Corinthians 8:20, NIV) Can’t imagine how the conservative, Bible-believing translators of the NIV allowed that word to slip into the translation!
We live in an age where it is difficult to keep up with the “arts and sciences” well enough to be able to communicate the Christian gospel in an effective manner. It’s one thing to be able to parrot someone else’s interpretation of Scripture, but a whole different thing to be taught to think for yourself and be given the tools to direct that thinking. The broader our education (think liberal arts) the more likely we are to avoid spending life as a parrot and learn to think, study, evaluate, and come to understanding.
Many Christian colleges, born in the reactionary approach to education of another age, have moved more and more in the direction of “liberal arts” with a healthy dose of good, quality, biblical education in the mix. That produces graduates who have more potential than can be adequately measured to change the world in which we live.
It’s one thing to be biblical. I’ve spent most of my adult life helping students discover how to discover for themselves the meaning of Scripture. The compliment I like to hear most is “he teaches me to think.” But one can be biblical to the core, and if you don’t understand the world in which you have been called to serve God, you aren’t likely to communicate that biblical message. An education that is broad enough to include literature, science, history, the social sciences, the humanities, psychology, education, communication, languages, and the like – as well as biblical and theological disciplines – is most likely the kind of education that prepares one for a life-time of service in the Kingdom of God. It produces graduates who can be both biblical and relevant.
The global culture of the 21st century can’t be influenced by those who see “biblical and relevant” as an “either/or” proposition. It must be “both/and.” What better way to create the “both/and” than in a good, solid, and broad approach to education?
Sometimes I hear people suggest that the reason Christian colleges have moved more in the direction of the liberal arts is because we have more and more students coming who want a good Christian education, but don’t plan on a vocational ministry as their goal in life. While I think that is true, and good – it is only part of the story. The move to liberal arts isn’t a move to bad theology, no theology, watered down theology, or any of the other negative terms that often get thrown in that direction. It actually is a move that prepares those who plan on vocational ministry in ways that are good, godly, and essential in terms of preparing young adults for a life of serving Christ – no matter their vocational goals. It also provides the opportunity to give students in a wide variety of vocational choices a solid biblical and theological foundation.
On the spiritual formation pamphlet that we use at Point University – and have been using for the five years I’ve served in my current role – we say this:
Every student at Point University will see the importance of integrating faith and vocation.
This means that we strive:
• to practice the idea of the priesthood of all believers;
• to see vocation, regardless of what it is, as mission;
• to learn how to effectively bear witness to our faith in any setting, without being overbearing;
• to learn in every classroom setting the relationship of the subject at hand to our faith; and
• to ensure that no student graduates without having been exposed to the ideal of integration of faith and vocation.
But we also realize that a part of our core mission is to prepare young men and women for ministry-connected vocations. Here’s what we say to that reality:
Some students at Point University will sense that they are called to ordained ministry.
Thus:
• some will find themselves in church settings as preachers, worship leaders, education leaders, spiritual formation facilitators, student and children’s ministers, administrators, etc.;
• some will find themselves in global settings as missionaries, campus ministers, church planters, relief workers, educators, health workers, etc.; and
• some will find themselves in parachurch settings such as colleges, seminaries, camps, convalescent centers, orphanages, relief agencies, urban ministries, campus ministries, etc.
For the life of me I can’t see how that is somehow to be viewed as deserting the mission! Counting my four years as a student and now 35 years as a faculty/staff member, I’ve been at this school for over half of its existence. I’ve seen more changes than I can count. One of those changes is that I’ve never seen as many students committed to transforming the world as I do right now.
Some of them come here wanting to play sports, and end up in ministry or some other vocation with a solid biblical foundation. Some come wanting a business degree and end up doing campus ministry. Some come because their parents see us as a reform school – and end up being transformed by the community that makes up this campus as it lives out the Jesus story in inviting fashion. Some come thinking that they want to be in vocational ministry, only to discover they really aren’t wired for that and can more effectively serve God is some other vocational choice. Thank God the broader approach to education gives them that option!
It really is about mission – not style of education. If Christian colleges should have embedded in their reason for existence the desire to transform the world – then Point University is on mission!
It is an odd thing that for some followers of Jesus, any idea that has the word liberal attached to it is automatically assumed to be from the pits of Satan worship! That might explain why any survey you see suggests that among conservative Christians, the percentage of income given to the work of the Kingdom is so paltry. After all, Paul uses the word “liberal” in describing the giving practices mentioned in 2 Corinthians 8. Here’s what he says, “We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift.” (2 Corinthians 8:20, NIV) Can’t imagine how the conservative, Bible-believing translators of the NIV allowed that word to slip into the translation!
We live in an age where it is difficult to keep up with the “arts and sciences” well enough to be able to communicate the Christian gospel in an effective manner. It’s one thing to be able to parrot someone else’s interpretation of Scripture, but a whole different thing to be taught to think for yourself and be given the tools to direct that thinking. The broader our education (think liberal arts) the more likely we are to avoid spending life as a parrot and learn to think, study, evaluate, and come to understanding.
Many Christian colleges, born in the reactionary approach to education of another age, have moved more and more in the direction of “liberal arts” with a healthy dose of good, quality, biblical education in the mix. That produces graduates who have more potential than can be adequately measured to change the world in which we live.
It’s one thing to be biblical. I’ve spent most of my adult life helping students discover how to discover for themselves the meaning of Scripture. The compliment I like to hear most is “he teaches me to think.” But one can be biblical to the core, and if you don’t understand the world in which you have been called to serve God, you aren’t likely to communicate that biblical message. An education that is broad enough to include literature, science, history, the social sciences, the humanities, psychology, education, communication, languages, and the like – as well as biblical and theological disciplines – is most likely the kind of education that prepares one for a life-time of service in the Kingdom of God. It produces graduates who can be both biblical and relevant.
The global culture of the 21st century can’t be influenced by those who see “biblical and relevant” as an “either/or” proposition. It must be “both/and.” What better way to create the “both/and” than in a good, solid, and broad approach to education?
Sometimes I hear people suggest that the reason Christian colleges have moved more in the direction of the liberal arts is because we have more and more students coming who want a good Christian education, but don’t plan on a vocational ministry as their goal in life. While I think that is true, and good – it is only part of the story. The move to liberal arts isn’t a move to bad theology, no theology, watered down theology, or any of the other negative terms that often get thrown in that direction. It actually is a move that prepares those who plan on vocational ministry in ways that are good, godly, and essential in terms of preparing young adults for a life of serving Christ – no matter their vocational goals. It also provides the opportunity to give students in a wide variety of vocational choices a solid biblical and theological foundation.
On the spiritual formation pamphlet that we use at Point University – and have been using for the five years I’ve served in my current role – we say this:
Every student at Point University will see the importance of integrating faith and vocation.
This means that we strive:
• to practice the idea of the priesthood of all believers;
• to see vocation, regardless of what it is, as mission;
• to learn how to effectively bear witness to our faith in any setting, without being overbearing;
• to learn in every classroom setting the relationship of the subject at hand to our faith; and
• to ensure that no student graduates without having been exposed to the ideal of integration of faith and vocation.
But we also realize that a part of our core mission is to prepare young men and women for ministry-connected vocations. Here’s what we say to that reality:
Some students at Point University will sense that they are called to ordained ministry.
Thus:
• some will find themselves in church settings as preachers, worship leaders, education leaders, spiritual formation facilitators, student and children’s ministers, administrators, etc.;
• some will find themselves in global settings as missionaries, campus ministers, church planters, relief workers, educators, health workers, etc.; and
• some will find themselves in parachurch settings such as colleges, seminaries, camps, convalescent centers, orphanages, relief agencies, urban ministries, campus ministries, etc.
For the life of me I can’t see how that is somehow to be viewed as deserting the mission! Counting my four years as a student and now 35 years as a faculty/staff member, I’ve been at this school for over half of its existence. I’ve seen more changes than I can count. One of those changes is that I’ve never seen as many students committed to transforming the world as I do right now.
Some of them come here wanting to play sports, and end up in ministry or some other vocation with a solid biblical foundation. Some come wanting a business degree and end up doing campus ministry. Some come because their parents see us as a reform school – and end up being transformed by the community that makes up this campus as it lives out the Jesus story in inviting fashion. Some come thinking that they want to be in vocational ministry, only to discover they really aren’t wired for that and can more effectively serve God is some other vocational choice. Thank God the broader approach to education gives them that option!
It really is about mission – not style of education. If Christian colleges should have embedded in their reason for existence the desire to transform the world – then Point University is on mission!
06 July 2011
Skubalon
Our sexual nature is – to say the minimum – complicated. If we want to cast blame for that reality – and I’m not suggesting we should – we have to blame God. He, after all, is the One who made us “male and female.” We’ve been confused about what that reality means for most of human history.
It shouldn’t be too surprising that the history of humankind is littered with story after story, describing our sexual identity, behavior, and morality. We don’t have to look beyond the text of Scripture itself to see these brutal but real phenomena. From Abraham’s dishonesty about the role Sarah plays in his life to Solomon’s innumerable wives and concubines, with David’s indiscretion tucked between, the very heroes of the Hebrew Bible seem to battle their sexual identity, behavior, and morality regularly.
What has always seemed a bit odd to me in all of this is that it is so easy to be unmoving and unforgiving about the sexual discretions of those whose behavior is different (we think worse) than ours, but completely understanding of what is more “normal,” which mostly means is something we either have done or people we know and love have done.
As clear evidence of that, think about the current trend among conservative Christians to promote some sort of legal definition of marriage that is clearly a “one man, one woman” definition. At the heart of those trends is a level of discomfort with homosexual behavior, and the idea that a legal definition of marriage will at least be a way of “taking a stand.”
I’m very comfortable thinking that marriage is, as intended by God, “one man and one woman.” But I’m not sure, if we are serious about taking a stand for God, that such a definition of marriage is adequate. Shouldn’t we add “committed to each other for life?” Jesus Himself said that God “permitted” divorce because of the hardness of our hearts, not because it could be included in the definition of a biblical marriage. That we never hear that from those who would have believers join forces and manipulate the federal or state governments we live under to include the idea that marriage is “one man, one woman, one time” in the definition, seems to suggest that our concerns here are more in the context of anti-homosexual behavior than they are “defense of marriage.”
Oddly, we tend to ignore what Jesus Himself said about divorce and remarriage, while making an issue out of something to which He never directly speaks. In case you’re wondering, I know about the “exception clause” in Matthew and I know about the comments in Romans 1 Paul makes about homosexual behavior. I’ve read and studied Paul’s comments about marriage in 1 Corinthians 7, and his seeming option to remarry because an unbelieving spouse leaves his or her partner later in that chapter. I’m neither attempting to suggest that a divorced and remarried person isn’t fit for the kingdom, nor am I attempting to suggest that homosexual behavior is an acceptable approach to our sexual natures.
It just seems a bit more complicated than getting the church to sign petitions, pass ballot initiatives, and outlaw any kind of marriage that isn’t “one man and one woman.” How is it that we are relatively comfortable with what often is a kind of “serial polygamy” approach to divorce and remarriage, but unbending on homosexual behavior? Again, no attempt here to throw divorced and remarried people out of the church, or to merely wink at homosexual behavior as acceptable.
But, if we are going to decide that some state or federal law can save the world if we can get a “defense of marriage proposal” made into law, then shouldn’t we aim for it to be a reflection of God’s ideal, and not our own cultural, religious version of God’s ideal? And while I’m at it, what in the world makes us think that a law passed by a state legislature or the federal congress can actually accomplish God’s ideal in the first place? For crying out loud, God gave Israel some rather direct laws, and it was still necessary for Jesus to come and redeem us. Can we somehow outdo God here?
Vicki and I have been married to each other for almost 38 years. We have been absolutely faithful to each other for those nearly 38 years and I don’t see that changing. We are “legally married,” and have the Florida marriage certificate to prove it. But that legal document has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to be a faithful husband to her. I promised God, her, my family, and a church full of friends that I would be faithful until death parted us. No piece of paper signed by a probate court judge could ever trump that promise.
Sometime I hear people trying to define “sexual immorality” in all sorts of ways. Of course things like adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, and the like get on the list. But when it comes to our sexual natures, humans are far too creative for there to be a list which covers it all. It seems to me that a better approach is that we define “sexual morality.” That’s easier, shorter, and less likely to be misunderstood.
It is this simple: sexual morality is either a healthy, fulfilling, loving relationship between one man and one woman committed to each other for life; or a life of celibacy. That really is God’s ideal. I have to wonder what difference it would make if followers of Jesus were better known for proclaiming God’s ideals on the subject than people who pick and choose from the list of immoral behaviors. If I were gay and thinking about the whole following Jesus thing, I’m pretty confident some preacher type would have to answer my question about why my particular sexual misbehavior was worthy of exclusion, but other kinds of sexual misbehavior weren’t.
In 1 Corinthians 5, the chapter in Paul’s epistles that addresses the most egregious kind of sexual misconduct (“of a kind that is not tolerated even among the pagans” 5:1), Paul makes it clear that his concern is not that the Corinthian believers isolate themselves for sexually immoral people in the world, but that sexual misbehavior not be accepted among believers. (5:9-13) Unless I’ve completely misread those words, his point seems to be that the church has no right to demand that non-believers abide by our values. There is a sense in which it seems that to do so gets it backwards. Clearly some of the believers at Corinth had interesting pedigrees – spiritually speaking. (6:9-11)
Paul has a kind of confidence in the Christian gospel that suggests any life can be changed. “Such were some of you” (6:11) leaves no doubt. But unless we find a way to engage sinners – homosexuals and heterosexuals who haven’t lived up to God’s ideals – we will never know whether or not the gospel has that power. We won’t even have a chance to declare it.
It shouldn’t be too surprising that the history of humankind is littered with story after story, describing our sexual identity, behavior, and morality. We don’t have to look beyond the text of Scripture itself to see these brutal but real phenomena. From Abraham’s dishonesty about the role Sarah plays in his life to Solomon’s innumerable wives and concubines, with David’s indiscretion tucked between, the very heroes of the Hebrew Bible seem to battle their sexual identity, behavior, and morality regularly.
What has always seemed a bit odd to me in all of this is that it is so easy to be unmoving and unforgiving about the sexual discretions of those whose behavior is different (we think worse) than ours, but completely understanding of what is more “normal,” which mostly means is something we either have done or people we know and love have done.
As clear evidence of that, think about the current trend among conservative Christians to promote some sort of legal definition of marriage that is clearly a “one man, one woman” definition. At the heart of those trends is a level of discomfort with homosexual behavior, and the idea that a legal definition of marriage will at least be a way of “taking a stand.”
I’m very comfortable thinking that marriage is, as intended by God, “one man and one woman.” But I’m not sure, if we are serious about taking a stand for God, that such a definition of marriage is adequate. Shouldn’t we add “committed to each other for life?” Jesus Himself said that God “permitted” divorce because of the hardness of our hearts, not because it could be included in the definition of a biblical marriage. That we never hear that from those who would have believers join forces and manipulate the federal or state governments we live under to include the idea that marriage is “one man, one woman, one time” in the definition, seems to suggest that our concerns here are more in the context of anti-homosexual behavior than they are “defense of marriage.”
Oddly, we tend to ignore what Jesus Himself said about divorce and remarriage, while making an issue out of something to which He never directly speaks. In case you’re wondering, I know about the “exception clause” in Matthew and I know about the comments in Romans 1 Paul makes about homosexual behavior. I’ve read and studied Paul’s comments about marriage in 1 Corinthians 7, and his seeming option to remarry because an unbelieving spouse leaves his or her partner later in that chapter. I’m neither attempting to suggest that a divorced and remarried person isn’t fit for the kingdom, nor am I attempting to suggest that homosexual behavior is an acceptable approach to our sexual natures.
It just seems a bit more complicated than getting the church to sign petitions, pass ballot initiatives, and outlaw any kind of marriage that isn’t “one man and one woman.” How is it that we are relatively comfortable with what often is a kind of “serial polygamy” approach to divorce and remarriage, but unbending on homosexual behavior? Again, no attempt here to throw divorced and remarried people out of the church, or to merely wink at homosexual behavior as acceptable.
But, if we are going to decide that some state or federal law can save the world if we can get a “defense of marriage proposal” made into law, then shouldn’t we aim for it to be a reflection of God’s ideal, and not our own cultural, religious version of God’s ideal? And while I’m at it, what in the world makes us think that a law passed by a state legislature or the federal congress can actually accomplish God’s ideal in the first place? For crying out loud, God gave Israel some rather direct laws, and it was still necessary for Jesus to come and redeem us. Can we somehow outdo God here?
Vicki and I have been married to each other for almost 38 years. We have been absolutely faithful to each other for those nearly 38 years and I don’t see that changing. We are “legally married,” and have the Florida marriage certificate to prove it. But that legal document has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to be a faithful husband to her. I promised God, her, my family, and a church full of friends that I would be faithful until death parted us. No piece of paper signed by a probate court judge could ever trump that promise.
Sometime I hear people trying to define “sexual immorality” in all sorts of ways. Of course things like adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, and the like get on the list. But when it comes to our sexual natures, humans are far too creative for there to be a list which covers it all. It seems to me that a better approach is that we define “sexual morality.” That’s easier, shorter, and less likely to be misunderstood.
It is this simple: sexual morality is either a healthy, fulfilling, loving relationship between one man and one woman committed to each other for life; or a life of celibacy. That really is God’s ideal. I have to wonder what difference it would make if followers of Jesus were better known for proclaiming God’s ideals on the subject than people who pick and choose from the list of immoral behaviors. If I were gay and thinking about the whole following Jesus thing, I’m pretty confident some preacher type would have to answer my question about why my particular sexual misbehavior was worthy of exclusion, but other kinds of sexual misbehavior weren’t.
In 1 Corinthians 5, the chapter in Paul’s epistles that addresses the most egregious kind of sexual misconduct (“of a kind that is not tolerated even among the pagans” 5:1), Paul makes it clear that his concern is not that the Corinthian believers isolate themselves for sexually immoral people in the world, but that sexual misbehavior not be accepted among believers. (5:9-13) Unless I’ve completely misread those words, his point seems to be that the church has no right to demand that non-believers abide by our values. There is a sense in which it seems that to do so gets it backwards. Clearly some of the believers at Corinth had interesting pedigrees – spiritually speaking. (6:9-11)
Paul has a kind of confidence in the Christian gospel that suggests any life can be changed. “Such were some of you” (6:11) leaves no doubt. But unless we find a way to engage sinners – homosexuals and heterosexuals who haven’t lived up to God’s ideals – we will never know whether or not the gospel has that power. We won’t even have a chance to declare it.
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