Appearances Only

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made

religion and asceticism and severity to the body,

but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Colossians 2:23, ESV

Look at nearly any moral challenge and surrounding it you can find a plethora of rules we humans have made up to prevent that moral challenge from defeating us or our culture. While it seems that the Bible does suggest that the role of government has something to do with preventing culture from completely descending into chaotic immorality – I’m yet to find anything in Scripture that would suggest that the government is our solution.

The words at the top of this page are from Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians. After a fairly lengthy warning to them (beginning in 2:8) about not being taken captive by “philosophy and empty deceit,” he finally brings the argument to its intended challenge: your man made approaches to being what God made humans to be won’t work. "Shadow" is not "substance."

He even notes some of their “rules”: “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch.” Take those words literally and out of context and no one can follow Jesus. Everyone reading this little devotion has handled, tasted, and touched something today – if you aren’t doing so the very moment. Three strikes and you’re out.

But you may protest and declare, “No one thinks that’s what he meant.” May be not, but the moment I begin to regulate the Christian faith with rules, I’m doing precisely what Paul makes abundantly clear is ludicrous. It’s fine for government to make up the necessary rules. No doubt, for example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was necessary. But do you really think it stopped racism? The racial tension in our culture is a serious issue right now.

That doesn’t mean the government failed in passing those “rules” about racism. But it does mean that the answer to that problem – or any other moral problem we encounter – is Jesus, not a rule. It means when we let “the rules” do what the gospel is for, we fail. When Paul wrote to Philemon about the problem of the run-away slave Onesimus, who by the way was from Colossae, he says, “I prefer to appeal to you . . . so that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.”

The intent of the gospel, you see, is not to regulate human behavior but to transform human hearts. Rule makers can regulate behavior to the extent they can enforce them. The Gospel can transform hearts in ways that change all of life.

Recently I was in a session focused on helping employees provide more Christ-like service to those around us. We were shown a series of pictures of empty spaces – classrooms, dining halls, coffee shop, ball fields, etc. Then we were asked – as the pictures kept rotating on the screen – how could serving with a Christ-like spirit impact or change each of us – since in a few days those empty spaces will be filled with students.

That is such a great question – and one that every follower of Jesus ought to ask on a regular basis. I wrote down two things: [a] "do this out of transformation, not to meet a performance review;" and [b] "being built up flows out of building others us.”

I think that is actually the very question we should ask ourselves about our own lives, our own communities, our own country, and our own church’s engagement with the world as we know it. Electing a candidate who will enact all the right laws is not our greatest need. Our greatest needs is Christ-like behavior on the part of believers who in turn discover ways to transform culture, not seek to regulate it.

Notice what Paul said – these “rules” may “have the appearance” of power to change the world, but ultimately are “of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

If early Christians, with such limited resources, could “turn the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) in their generation – just think what we could do if we decided to really take the power of the gospel seriously!

Redemptive, Not Permissive

Maybe you remember that old fashioned theological word – propitiation. In many modern translations it gets easier to pronounce, and probably more likely understood, with the phrase “atoning sacrifice.” For example, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) It seems so obvious that it can’t be missed – but atonement has to do with sin.

In Brian Zahnd’s Water to Wine, he describes Francis of Assisi as one who “could uncompromisingly denounce systemic sin, while extending genuine compassion to the people caught in its pernicious web. To be a prophetic witness against systems of sin and a preacher of God’s pardon for sinners at the same time is the peculiar grace at which Francis excelled and to which the church is called.” (Kindle, Location 1484)

In our culture right now it seems that the church is often viewed as excelling at “uncompromisingly denouncing systemic sin,” but not so good at “extending genuine compassion to the people caught in its pernicious web.” I think Zahnd is right when he says that is a balancing act that is not quite as easy as it may seem. 

In my life as a believer right now, it seems as though culture is pleased if we are “preachers of God’s pardon for sinners” but not so pleased if we “denounce systemic sin.” But like noted above about atonement, grace has to do with sin. If it weren’t for sin, atonement nor grace would be on our radar screens. We seem to be living in one of the terrible times in human history where people think killing each other is the proper response to anything that displeases you. Just read the metro section of the Atlanta Journal Constitution most days for all the evidence you need - and Chicago right now makes our city seem amateurish when it comes to horrendous headlines.

In my adult life and ministry contexts, I’ve always valued the need for the church (or a Christian college) to be a redemptive community. But can you be a redemptive community without being clear about sin and the need for redemption? Redemptive communities must call sin what it is – but in a way that offers God’s grace. To merely wink at sin in a dismissive manner makes us a permissive community, but not a redemptive one. Unless I’ve misread the Scripture all my life, if we don’t own up to sin for what it is, the opportunity for forgiveness isn’t there.

The idea of finding the balance between redemptive, but not permissive, is as “peculiar a grace” as is being a prophetic witness against sin as we proclaim God’s offer of pardon. As I read the gospels it seems that Jesus managed to pull off that balance at every turn. “Go and sin no more” or “go in peace, your faith as saved you” are phrases He spoke to some pretty serious sinners. He wasn’t being permissive, but redemptive.

Propitiation. Not the most common word in our religious vocabulary these days, but few words are more needed as I learn to own up to my own sin and help others do the same.

Micah Got It Right!

Back in the day when the fad at camp was to sing “Scripture Choruses,” (not a bad fad by the way) one that I especially remember was Micah 6:8. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.?” (ESV)

The stunning absence in our culture of those basic expectations from God is all the proof we need to realize just how right Micah was. While it would be as easy as taking candy from babies to point to the current presidential campaign and highlight examples of the absence of justice, kindness, and humility – I’m not sure that would be all that worthwhile. I hate to be a cynic, but honestly, do we really expect a person who makes it to that level in the political reality of our world to be just, kind, or humble?

A part of my personal Bible reading for today was Psalm 82. In Tim Keller’s (along with his wife Kathy) The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms, I found this prayer for readers of Psalm 82:

                        Lord, because I live in a relatively comfortable and safe

                        part of the world and society, I am not as sensitive to the

                        needs of the week as you are. Help me to hate the injustice

                       hate and love the poor and needy whom you love.  Amen.  

It is in that “comfortable and safe part of the world and society” where I can quickly forget issues of justice, kindness, and humility. Even as a Christian. Even as a husband and father. Even as an employee of a Christ-centered kingdom mission. Even in the church. I would be shocked if any of the candidates for president read Psalm 82 today. Probably even more shocked if its words convicted their hearts. But that is such an easy rabbit trail to run down, all the while missing how convicting these words are to my heart.

Justice. That’s a huge word not only in our culture, but in Scripture itself. But I think I am on pretty solid ground when I say that in Scripture, justice is deeply connected to God’s concern for the weak, the poor, for orphans, and for widows. Oppressed people break His heart. 

Kindness. Kindness might be as simple as treating people respectfully. It means refusing to associate value with function and assuming that as children of God we are all of great value – Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. Kindness means I operate from the point of view of God’s fellow workers, exercising my gifts in a way that glorifies God not self. 

Humbly. Learning to manage a kind of healthy self-esteem with humility is more than merely challenging. Paul can say “I served with all humility” while in Ephesus (Acts 20:29), and in words written close to the same time say “I was not inferior to those super-apostles,” to the Corinthians. (2 Corinthians 12:11) Perhaps “humble” or “humility” is recognizing our giftedness and using it to the glory of God and not self. And if that is true, it will have huge impact on how I treat those around me – especially those who aren’t at my level in the pecking order of life. 

Justice, kindness, and walking humbly are important words for those who seek to honor God in their lives. That has implications for how men treat women. It has implications for how managers treat employees. It has implications for how middle class people treat poor people. How pastors treat church members – and maybe even for how church members treat pastors! It even has implications for how believers treat non-believers. 

I’ve been thinking for over a week now about the awful, unjust, unkind, non-humble behavior of the guy in Orlando who just decided to kill as many people as he could. I’ve written a half-dozen blog posts in my head and even a few on paper – none of which has or will see the light of day. They won’t see the light of day not because they reflect some heretical idea or weren’t sensitive to the situation. 

They won’t see the light of day because it is so easy – in our quick condemnation of that kind of behavior, as deserving as it is of condemnation – to forget that actually God has called me – as a follower of Jesus, a husband and father, son, brother, employee of Point University, friend, and whatever other relationships that might exist – to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly.

I can do that for the victims of the Orlando tragedy without breaking a sweat - at least at some level. Consistently doing that in my daily walk is a bit more challenging. With Tim Keller I’m going to pray “Help me to hate the injustice you hate and love the poor and needy whom you love.” 

The truth is, that “injustice” or those “poor and needy” might be just around the corner from where I’m sitting right now.