Meet at the Tree

I have recently been reminded of an interesting Bible symbol: the tree. I’m reading about the life of Abraham, and I have noticed how many times a tree plays a part in the account. One of his first stopping points was at a tree near Mamre. He met the Lord there before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He later purchased that plot for his wife, Sarah’s, burial plot which later served the same purpose for him and many of his descendants. There are other important points in the lives of the patriarchs that feature trees also.

That got me thinking about all the other times that trees are mentioned in Scripture. The first mention is the trees in the Garden of Eden. There we have the wonderful tree of life that would have allowed us to live forever in the perfection of Eden had Adam and Eve not broken God’s command not to eat of another tree: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (See Related Posts) It was God’s chosen trees that provided the building material for Noah’s ark. The superstructure of the tabernacle and its utensils was composed of lumber from certain trees chosen by God. Throughout the psalms and prophets, trees often appear in symbolic roles. Paul uses the analogy of the olive tree to picture the grafting of Gentiles into God’s family tree.

The most dramatic tree in the Bible is the one erected by the Romans on which to crucify our Lord and Savior. Legends have sprung from the roots of this tree. Some say that the cross was made from olive wood resulting in God’s curse of the tree to forever be small and twisted so that it could never again be used for execution. Another tale says the cross was made of the dogwood tree. Again, God is thought to have stunted its growth but blessed it with flowers that represent a cross with nail marks on each of the four petals. Surely, these are whimsical thoughts; no one knows for sure what type of wood the cross came from.

Still, the cross of Calvary is without doubt the most significant tree in human history. It was on that tree that the damage done by Adam’s sin with the tree in Eden was rectified. The horror that was inflicted on the Son of God on that tree reveals both God’s abhorrence of sin and His immeasurable love for His creation. We do well to consider both of those emotions when we come to the cross. Focusing on either one alone creates a warped view and diminishes the meaning of the cross.

A. W. Tozer comments on one false view: “All unannounced and mostly undetected there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles…. From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life…. [it] tries to show that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. The modern view is that the new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him!” Tozer explains that this kind of thinking completely misses the whole meaning of the cross. “The old cross is a symbol of death…. The man who took up his cross… was not going out to have his life redirected: he was going out to have it ended!”

On the surface, this sounds terrifying, macabre even. Yet the entire thrust of the Bible is that Adam’s descendants must be slain and reborn as Jesus Christ’s new creation. Those who try to reinvent Christianity as an endlessly happy road to heaven must ignore the clear teaching of the Scripture that to be one with Christ we must become one with His death. In the waters of baptism, we symbolize our death to the old life and resurrection to new life. The Apostle Paul says numerous times that the way to real life is through death – death of the old self. “I died,” he says, “nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me.”

Most Christian churches I have been in display the cross prominently inside and out. Few Christian churches today preach the cross with the fervor that Paul felt. “I decided to know nothing among you,” Paul told the Corinthians, “But Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Ever since Adam ruined perfect human existence with his desire for independence, we have all paid the price. But God told Adam that one day, his offspring would make that perfect existence available again. The unimaginable price God paid to accomplish that, His One and Only Son, was drawn from His infinite, unconditional love for His creation. The only price we are asked to pay is repentance from our reckless independence learned from Adam and faith in God’s gracious provision. We demonstrate that repentance and faith with our death and resurrection pictured in the waters of baptism.

Paul says that we rise from our baptism to live a new way of life. After we put the old self to death, we set a new course on a different road. In his book, In Search of Common Good, Jake Meador remembers the road that C.S. Lewis pictured in the last book of the Narnia Chronicles. The children have reached Narnia after triumphing over evil, and they see a road leading “further up and further in.” Meador comments: “The road will lead to a cross. But only things that die can be resurrected. And so as sure as the road leads us to the cross, it leads us to the eternal city, to the home of the king, to the desire of all nations, to the joy of every longing heart.” It's time to hit the road. Meet me at the cross.

Related Posts: The Knowledge of Good and Evil; Suffering for Righteousness Sake; Why did God do That; For God’s Sake

The Best of Times; The Worst of Times

As Charles Dickens put it in the opening lines of Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” The two cities Dickens wrote about were London and Paris during the French Revolution. It is ancient history to most people today, but – read it again – could anything better describe the current condition or our world?

Massive social changes were taking place at the end of the eighteenth century that Dickens chronicled. The western world found itself in the throes of the industrial revolution. The development of a working class not dependent on the nobility created a power struggle never before imagined. Suddenly, it seemed possible that people could have a degree of sovereignty over their own lives. The Catholic church, which had been attempting to assert control over the Holy Roman Empire through centuries of bickering and battles, was losing its hold on Europe. Although the Protestant Reformation had reignited concern for morality somewhat, large numbers of people were driven by base animal passions as the behavior in Dickens’ Paris and London reveals.

There is a fascinating footnote to the French Revolution. Some Bible scholars believe that the 3 ½ year “Reign of Terror” perpetrated by the French rebels is the fulfillment of the great tribulation prophesied in the book of Revelation. Like most attempts to put flesh on the apocalyptic messages of the Bible, there are some dubious leaps to get there, but you can find parallels. The Old and New Testaments are supposedly the two witnesses of God who lay in the streets for the duration. In addition to banning and burning Bibles, the Revolution erased every religious notion they could, going so far as changing the creation-linked seven-day week to a ten-day replacement. Christian statuary was defaced or destroyed, and several figures of Lady Liberty (popularized by artist Eugene Delacroix) were erected throughout Paris. The mighty cathedrals that had stood for centuries as a testimony to Christian beliefs were desecrated.

In short, the French Revolution was an attempt to completely secularize society. Sound familiar? The American Revolution which preceded the French by slightly more than a decade was fueled by different attitudes. The most important difference was drawing its legitimacy from Judeo-Christian principles. The rights of the people enshrined in the US Constitution were thought to be endowed by the Creator. The freedom to practice one’s religion unhindered by a secular government was one keystone of the document. Christian morality and “civil” behavior were expected, a condition that the French obviously dismissed in their version of revolution.

The Founding Fathers recognized the necessity of morality and education in their effort to create a new society. In a letter written to the Massachusetts militia in 1798, President John Adams wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  In his book, In Search of the Common Good, Jake Meador says, “Adams meant that ways of living together and organizing society presuppose certain things about people and therefore require certain types of people to function well. We can have great political principles and great policy ideas, but without citizens able to realize those ideas, they won’t get us very far. Thus, one way of tracing [America’s] decline into social breakdown is to ask about what methods and practices we have as a nation for shaping people into humble, wise, responsible citizens.”

Unfortunately, the methods and practices we have in American public education today are producing arrogant, ignorant, and irresponsible citizens. These are the worst of times in academic terms. However, with the readjusted balance of power in Washington accomplished in the 2024 Presidential election, the times may be a-changin’. I believe one of the most important things the new Federal regime can do is get the country back to its roots. We have suffered almost a century of progressive policy that has duped people into thinking that government can care for them better than they can care for themselves. You have only to remember the “Life of Julia” ad campaign during the Obama candidacy to see that. From cradle to grave, it was the government that made Julia’s life prosperous.

That progressive, socialist deception is now embraced by a large percentage of Americans. In November of 2024, a slight majority of Americans begged to differ. You might wonder if this is an appropriate subject for a blog that says heaven matters most. I say it is. In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask our Heavenly Father that His will might come to pass on earth as it is in heaven. I have written about this many times. (See Related Posts) I am not promoting Christian Nationalism or some form of theocracy which progressive detractors imply. I am saying that as Christians in a representative democracy, we have the right (duty) to agitate for a government that aligns with our principles. We know that biblical principles applied socially create the best possible society. But in order for that society to prosper, it is as John Adams said: there must be a moral and religious citizenry.

I have been an advocate of Christian schools since the 1970’s. I spent many years teaching and administrating Christian schools, so I know their potential to produce humble, wise, responsible citizens. I believe public schools could accomplish that if they could rediscover their original obligation. Public education was established to teach readin’, writin’, and ‘rithematic, with a fundamental understanding of history and the ability to think clearly. In these worst of times, schools are failing in all of those assignments. The other thing the old rhyme added was “taught to the tune of a hickory stick.” Having spent much of my working life as a teacher, I know that proper classroom discipline is essential to successful education. Modern academic attitudes toward discipline are foolish. Visit the majority of public-school classrooms today, and you will see the spoiled results of sparing the rod.

I honestly believe that if oversight of local public schools was put back in local hands – I mean parents’ hands – many of our problems would go away. The travesty that is public education in America today must be stopped. Toss out the Chromebooks and core curricula and bring back the primers. Unshackle the teachers and return to reasonable disciplinary measures. Disassemble most of the administrative hierarchy that hobbles good teachers. (There are currently more administrative jobs than teachers in America: building administrative staff, district staff, intermediate district staff, state staff, and federal Department of Education staff.) Use the money saved by cutting administrative jobs to pay appropriate wages to classroom teachers. They hold the future of this country in their hands; they deserve salaries commensurate with their responsibilities.

These things and more are within our reach as concerned Christian citizens. If we continue to sit back and watch, we will witness the demise of America. In November of 2024, I think a door of opportunity was opened. I believe America is in the mood for change. If that doesn’t include dramatically changing public education, we will not have enough humble, wise, responsible citizens to carry on the great American experiment. If you believe it is God’s will that America continues as a beacon of hope in the world, then don’t just pray the Lord’s Prayer – live it. Make this the best of times.

Related Posts: Christian Nationalism;  Why Not Try Socialism; ; Obama Isn’t the Problem; The Dumbing of America; Common Core Commonalities; Intended Consequences; Thinking Critically About Critical Thinking; Teachers or Testing