The Christian Parody, Part One

In my last post, I quoted A. W. Tozer’s lament that the church is not producing real Christians. He suggests that the modern church is a parody of true Christianity. That raises a question for concerned believers: what needs to change so the church does produce real Christians? A couple years ago, I published an article called “Despising the Down Payment” giving what I believe is a general answer. If you don’t have time to follow the link to the article, I will summarize what I wrote. There are too many people in otherwise good, Bible-preaching churches who have no idea what it means to live in the spirit (or Spirit).

Before I get into the meat of the issue, I should explain why I put the capitalized version of “spirit” in the parentheses. The Koine Greek of the New Testament did not use upper- and lower-case letters the way we do in English: no capitals to begin sentences or signify proper nouns. The original text was written in all upper-case letters. For this reason, it is not always possible to tell whether the author was referring to the proper noun indicating the Holy Spirit, or whether he was speaking of the human spirit. Only the context can give us a clue. For this reason, when I suggest that many Christians don’t understand life in the spirit (Spirit), either meaning is possible.

Another subject needs some explanation before I get to the specifics of what needs to change for the church to begin producing real Christians. There is an ongoing debate among Christian thinkers whether humans have two or three “parts” to their being. I say “parts” in quotes, because I think humans are one whole being, but we exist in three aspects. The most obvious part of a human is the body. Everybody has one. The Bible recognizes this reality in many different ways. For example, John says when Jesus became flesh, He pitched His tent with us (literally “tabernacled” with us”). Paul says we live in a “tent” of a temporary nature. One day – our resurrection day – we will get a new “tent” suitable for our eternal home.

Paul is quite emphatic that the new body we inhabit in our resurrection is different from the one we have now. He calls it a “spiritual body.” The Apostle John says that he is not sure what form that body will take, but he is sure that it will be like Jesus’ resurrected body because, as he says, “We will see Him as He is.” I take this to mean that while we are living on earth, we have a body suitable for this planet. When we are resurrected, we will be given a body that is suitable for the new environment – whatever that is. I recall that in His resurrected body, Jesus was able to ascend directly into “heaven” in front of His disciples. He was able to appear in locked rooms, communicate, then disappear. Although He could tell Thomas to put his hand in His wounds, He also said that He was going to be seated at His Father’s right hand. That’s a pretty special kind of body!

So, the body – current or future – is a clear feature of human existence. What is less clearly defined is the “inner man,” the immaterial human existence which has unique properties as well. I am of the opinion that there are two different, distinct “parts” or aspects to the inner human being. I believe we are composed of both soul and spirit in addition to a body. It is my opinion that the Bible teaches that we are a spirit; we have a soul; we live in a body.

Some theologians disagree with me; they think soul and spirit are the same. I find too many Scriptures in the New Testament that contrast soul with spirit to believe that they are the same. Paul says soul and spirit war against one another. How could they war against one another if they were the same? James says soul wisdom is earthly and demonic whereas spirit wisdom is “pure, then peaceful, gentle, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, nonjudgmental, without hypocrisy.” Can soul and spirit be the same if one is demonic and the other is comprised of all those good things?

I have written elsewhere about the many other differences between soul and spirit. I will simply say here that several words in the New Testament which seem to apply to a part of our being which is variously soul, flesh, mind, will are contrasted with something else the Bible calls “spirit.” One of the most dramatic is found in 1 Corinthians 2:14 where Paul says the “soulish” man cannot receive the things of the spirit. Paul goes on to say that these “spirit” things are “spiritually” judged. Given the context in the Corinthian passage, I believe Paul is saying that our human souls (flesh) need to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Until that happens, we cannot understand God’s Word fully.

I like to use an analogy to explain this. I suggest we are born with an AM radio receiver. This is our legacy from Adam.  Unfortunately for us, God transmits on the FM band. Until we receive the new broadcast band from the Holy Spirit, we cannot hear what God is saying. We can read the words, but we cannot understand their true meaning. Once we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit (the new birth), we get the FM reception we need to clearly hear what God is saying.

After Paul’s insistence that spiritual awareness is crucial, he goes a step further. He says that deeds done in the flesh (aka soul) will not pass muster on judgment day. Only those deeds done in the spirit will be acceptable to God. There are numerous ways the Bible commends spirit life: walk in the spirit, be led by the spirit, pray in the spirit, worship in spirit, be filled with the Spirit. If a church is not making these things a priority, I wonder if it is making real Christians. I wonder if our deeds are "wood, grass, and straw." In my next post, I will suggest some ways that might be changed. For now, listen to Tozer again: “The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection.” A spiritual revival will put an end to the Christian parody.

Bunny Season

Changing the name of Resurrection Day to Easter is a subtle ploy of Satan to disguise biblical truth. The debate over where the word Easter comes from is intense. While linguists disagree whether it goes all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia, or that it stems from Old English, the modern associations prove its seductive nature. Unless you understand the word’s origins, you will be puzzled by the connection of bunnies and eggs with the celebration of Easter.

While Cadbury’s clucking Easter Bunny is hilarious, the subtle message is missed by most people. Whatever its derivation, Easter has links to sunrise and Spring. Sunrise signals a new day; Spring is a time of new growth. In ancient religions, the sun was worshipped as the harbinger of another day of life; the goddess of Spring (whatever her name) was worshipped for bringing fertility. Because rabbits are notoriously procreative, they are symbolic of fertility. Eggs are the repository of new life, so they came to symbolize fertility as well. Enter the Easter Bunny.

Before you start clucking your tongue and accuse me of being reactionary, I will say that there is nothing wrong with commemorating the women’s visit to the empty tomb at sunrise. Those who do that in the Christian context are not worshipping the sunrise; they are worshipping the Son who rose. The sacrifice of a pre-dawn awakening to gather with other believers and honor the risen Christ is laudable. Following that with a breakfast of hot cross buns can be a tasty reminder of the Cross of Calvary and the Bread of Life.

I have a bit more difficulty with churches that hold Easter egg hunts for children. I get it. Lure kids with candy and tell them about Jesus. There are probably children somewhere who came to a saving knowledge of Jesus after an Easter egg hunt. Probably. All things to all people that I might save some, Paul said. My concern is that we risk diluting the gospel message when we pair it with a pagan message. Syncretism has been the death of many sound doctrines over the centuries.

I worry that this observation by A. W. Tozer is still true today: “It is possible for a whole generation of professing Christians to be victims of poor teaching, low moral standards and unscriptural or extra-scriptural doctrines, resulting in stunted growth and retarded development. It is little less than stark tragedy that an individual Christian may pass from youth to old age in a state of suspended growth and all his life be unaware of it!” It is a biological fact that growth is an indication of life. No less is growth the best indication of spiritual life.

Believers are not always whisked into God’s presence when they come to Christ (like the thief on the cross) because there is still work to be done. The first work is the life-long labor of being conformed to the image of Christ. While it is true that we instantly become a new creation at the point of our baptism into Christ, we are not fully formed by any means. The Bible often refers to new Christians as babies. We must grow up. We have the responsibility and the joy of learning more of who God is and what He wants of us.

The second work God requires after He saves us is to spread the Word. We often think of this as evangelism – telling the unsaved about God’s saving grace. That is part of it. The other part is the building up of the Body of Christ. One of the reasons we are commanded not to abandon regular gatherings is that we need to be taught what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We can do that on our own with a Bible on our laps in our living room. But God put gifted people in the Body to help us grow in our faith. We can also experience growth by rubbing shoulders with more mature believers.

This is only possible if you have a church that is promoting growth. Tozer laments, “The fact is that we are no longer producing saints. We are making converts to an effete type of Christianity that bears little resemblance to that of the New Testament. The average so-called Bible Christian in our times is but a wretched parody on true sainthood!

“Clearly, we must begin to produce better Christians! We must insist on New Testament sainthood for our converts, nothing less; and we must lead them into a state of heart purity, fiery love, separation from the world and poured-out devotion to the Person of Christ. Only in this way can the low level of spirituality be raised again to where it should be in the light of the Scriptures and of eternal values!”

The Easter Bunny is a wretched parody of the Resurrected Christ. When the movie, The Passion of Christ, came out, it reminded millions of Christians that before the wonder of the Resurrection there was the horror of the Cross. You can’t have the former without the latter. When we celebrate the empty tomb, we must remember that above it was the shadow of the cross. There is a reason that the sun went dark for three hours before the light could shine from the tomb. The darkness of sin – my sin, your sin – was borne by Jesus on the cross. The empty tomb guarantees our eternal destiny. I don’t see any of that in the clucking Easter Bunny.

Related Posts: The Book of Hezekiah; 2020 COVID Easter

The Book of Hezekiah

There’s a kind of running joke among Bible students when you remember something you think is Scripture but can’t remember where it is. You say it’s in Second Hezekiah. The joke, as any serious Bible student knows, is that there is no Second Hezekiah; there’s no First Hezekiah either. But really, Hezekiah should have his own book. He was one of the best kings Judah ever had, right up there with David and Solomon – actually, better than Solomon. (Read 2 Kings 18-20)

This might seem like a strange post for Easter week, but bear with me for a moment. When Hezekiah took the throne in Jerusalem, the ten northern tribes, known then as Israel, were being devoured by Assyria. In 722 B.C., Samaria was taken, and the people were deported into several foreign countries. As was the common practice, people from those other countries who had previously been conquered by Assyria were brought in to take over the land. They brought with them their “home” gods. Assyria was happy to let them do that because if they their loyalties remained fractured, the would be easier to subjugate. This also explains why the Jews in Jesus’ day considered the Samaritans unclean.

The Assyrian’s arrogance was clearly displayed when their army besieged Jerusalem, and they boasted about their victories over all the other gods. Hezekiah prayed for God’s deliverance, and the Lord showed His superiority by driving off the Assyrians and slaughtering most of them. Those who made it home murdered the arrogant king, probably because of his disastrous campaign at Jerusalem. That pretty well ended the Assyrian empire because Babylon was on the rise.

Back in Jerusalem, Hezekiah contracted a terminal illness. Again, he prayed, and through Isaiah, God provided miraculous healing and granted him fifteen more years of life. However, when Babylon sent emissaries to Hezekiah, he misread their intentions and showed them all the treasures of Jerusalem. This was clearly a set-up by God as He intended to use the Babylonians to punish Judah in their near future. Isaiah chastised Hezekiah for his foolishness, and he prophesied the coming captivity by Babylon.

That is the end of the “book of Hezekiah.” It shows that Hezekiah was a man who knew what it meant to serve God with his whole heart. Sadly, his son and grandson were two of the worst kings Judah ever had. They desecrated the temple and led the nation into idolatrous practices that God said were worse than the Amorites He had driven out of the land before them. There was a brief respite under “Good King Josiah” (another of Hezekiah’s sons) whom God favored because of his goodness, but it was all downhill after him. Eventually, God did what Isaiah warned and allowed Babylon to defeat Judah and carry all but a few of her people into captivity.

The prophet Isaiah foretold the captivity, but he is also the writer of some of the most graphic Messianic prophecies. Isaiah 53 is well-known for its Suffering Servant prediction. We are finally at the Easter message. As I wrote in my previous post, the Jews completely missed the Suffering Servant messiah because they wanted a conquering warrior messiah. What they didn’t realize (because God kept them blind) was that it was through the messiah’s suffering that the conqueror would arise – literally. If we don’t take great care to understand this situation, we might make a mistake opposite the one the Jews made. We might be led to see only the conqueror and forget the sufferer.

The celebration at Easter reminds us of the price Christ paid for our sin. Without the cross, there is no forgiveness of sin. Without the cross and its subsequent grave, there is no resurrection. Without the resurrection, there is no power in the Messiah. The path to power was through suffering and death. Adam’s sin which was passed on to all humans had to be paid for. The Old Testament sacrificial system reminded the Jews daily that sin required an atoning payment. Without the shedding of blood, they were told, there is no remission of sin. Jesus made that blood payment on the cross.

Prior to carrying His cross to Golgotha, Jesus instructed to His followers to take up their cross. This is a bit of a mystery since He knew that His cross would pay for all sin; so, what is our cross for? It says in Second Hezekiah (gotcha!) that we won’t get resurrection power unless we pay for it with our death. Okay, that verse doesn’t exist. What the Bible does say is that those who are in Christ have in them the same power that raised Jesus from the grave. How does one get in Christ? Paul says we are buried with Christ in baptism – we die – to be raised from the water a new creature.

That new creature has new responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is to fill up the afflictions of Christ. What? No! Yes, despite what the prosperity preachers try to sell, the New Testament teaches by prediction and fulfillment that believers in Christ will suffer. But that’s okay. Because we have already died to sin and have risen with Christ, we have eternal life within us, and we know that in the end, we win. Jesus’ resurrection power takes us through the waters and the fire toward our ultimate destiny: being seated with Christ in the Heavenly Jerusalem.

So, take a page from the book of Hezekiah this Easter season. Learn what God wants from you; then, take up your cross. If it leads to suffering as crosses often do, don’t worry. The same God who worked miracles for Hezekiah, the same God who raised Jesus from the grave, that same God lives in you if you are in Christ. Even though death is inevitable, that’s covered too. When we shuffle off this mortal coil, we put on our new bodies and enter Jesus’ presence. And then we get to meet Hezekiah!

Related Posts: A Week to Remember; Meet at the Tree; Why Did God do That?; What’s the Deal with Ninevah; True Lies

Bruised and Beaten

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely, he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:3-5 KJV)

 

A.W. Tozer says, “For our iniquities and our transgressions, He was bruised and wounded—and Israel’s great burden and amazing blunder was her judgment that this wounded one on the hillside beyond Jerusalem was being punished for His own sin! [The Jews] thought He was smitten of God. [The Jews] thought that God was punishing Him for His own iniquity [because they] did not know then that God was punishing Him for [their] transgressions and [their] iniquities.” Because the Jewish leadership was blinded to the true mission of their Messiah, they applied their narrow understanding of righteousness to the situation and murdered Him.

Tozer continues his discussion of Isaian’s prophecy saying, “For our sakes, He was profaned by ignorant and unworthy men!”^[1] To be profaned is to be violated, to be desecrated. The Jewish leadership that drove Jesus to the cross definitely violated and desecrated Him. When we bow under the weight of profane words spoken by ignorant and unworthy men in our generation, we mistakenly assume that we are being violated. That is not the case; it is Jesus Christ they profane in ignorance if in fact we are righteous in our actions. Jesus said we are blessed when men persecute us “on account of me.”

Paul wrote many times that we have new lives, a new self, after we rise from the waters of baptism. We are told to put to death the old self and walk as new creatures. That walk, done properly, means we are living in Christ. More than that, we live as Christ. Paul told the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We need to be “living letters… known and read by all people.” As Jeff Vandersteldt says in his book, Gospel Fluency, it is not enough to know the gospel or speak the gospel; we must live the gospel if people are going to believe it.

There are many incidents in the Old Testament that show the contrast between living as if we believe God is with us versus just believing God exists. After the kingdom split into Judah and Israel, Moab rebelled against Israel, refusing to pay their historic tribute. The Jews formed an alliance, and they set off to attack Moab. They ran out of water. They wisely called for a prophet of God who told them to dig trenches which God would fill for them. They did; He did. They went on rehydrated to win a decisive victory over Moab except for one, last city.

The king of Moab barricaded himself in the city, and in a last desperate act sacrificed his son to his god, Chemosh. The Israelite alliance was so frightened by this monstrous display that they feared Chemosh would triumph over Yahweh. They fled. After miraculously getting water in the desert, after defeating the Moabite army, when there was only one city left to complete their victory, they fled. They didn’t trust their God, Yahweh. If that were the only time Israel failed to trust God, it would still be significant. Sadly, it is only one of many times the people whom God chose refused to believe He would save them.

They could have remembered their own history and taken heart. Time and again, God had delivered them from their enemies. One dramatic example occurred at Jericho when the Israelites took the city by following God’s orders: march around it as prescribed and the walls will fall. Joshua led them to do as they were told; the walls fell. Another beautiful example of trusting God against all odds is found in the record of David’s defeat of Goliath. Tens of thousands of Israel’s warriors stood shaking with fear at the taunts of the giant from Gath. David heard his blasphemy and set out against him with his sling and five smooth stones. One stone, straight to the forehead of Goliath was all he needed. That is living like you believe God is with you.

Going back to Isaiah 53, the “healing” we receive from Jesus’ death is release from our sinful old self and the rebirth of a new self being formed in the image of Christ. It is no coincidence that the word for “healing” is the same word used for “saving.” In the context of Isaiah 53, it makes perfect sense to see the metaphor fulfilled. The purpose of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary was cosmic in nature; it brought to completion the eternal plan of God to redeem His children from their bondage to sin initiated by Satan’s deception. The Cross represents nothing less than a world-shaking paradigm shift that returned the Earth to its rightful master, tearing it from the grasp of the deceiver.

 

Elsewhere, Tozer said: “The heart that learns to die with Christ soon knows the blessed experience of rising with Him, and all the world’s persecutions cannot still the high note of holy joy that springs up in the soul that has become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit!”^[2] R.C. Sproul comments: “The Incarnate Christ is no longer walking the earth…. Yet the threatening power of His holiness is still felt. Sometimes it is transferred to His people. As the Jews at the foot of Mt. Sinai fled in terror from the dazzling face of Moses, so people today get uncomfortable in the mere presence of Christians.”^[3]

If you are living for Jesus and getting bruised and beaten (metaphorically speaking), remember that He said the servant is not greater than his Master; he promised that His followers would suffer injustice on His behalf. Paul called it filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. The bruises and beatings are the proof we are living as Jesus. Show me the bruises.

Related Posts: Is it the Devil or is it God; Digging Trenches; The Knowledge of Good and Evil

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^[1] A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Evenings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2015), 107.

^[2] A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Evenings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2015), 109.

^[3] R. C. Sproul, The Holiness of God (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1993), 99.

Words That Hurt Me

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” So says the popular children’s rhyme. I think everybody understands that the little ditty is an ego defense mechanism; words can hurt – a lot! The best defense is not to pretend there’s no damage from hurtful words. Nor is retaliation the correct response. As Jesus’ followers trying to become more like Him, we can find examples in Scripture to guide us to a proper attitude.

One good example of how to react is found in 2 Samuel 16. When David’s son, Absalom tried to steal his father’s throne, David fled Jerusalem in fear of his life. A member of the tribe of former King Saul, Shimei, cast insults and literal stones at the fleeing king David. David’s friends wanted to thrash him. David said to let him be. Then when David returned as king after Absalom’s death, Shimei admitted his sin. David forgave him and allowed him to live peacefully in Jerusalem. (Later, Shimei did get his comeuppance in God’s time.)

When a certain town spoke ill of Jesus’ ministry, His disciples wanted to call down fire from Heaven. Jesus rebuked their violent intentions. He basically told them to let it be. Jesus knew there was much more vicious disrespect coming His way. His personal response to being rejected was to offer forgiveness to the very people who had sent Him to the cross. He predicted that the same kind of treatment would beset His followers, and He recommended that they follow His example. Jesus said we earn God’s blessing when men persecute us for doing what is right. If we hunger for revenge, we are reminded by Paul (quoting Moses) that vengeance belongs to the Lord.

Sometimes, those closest to us are the source of words that hurt. Parents’ words can cause life-long damage if they are not dealt with properly. I was the source of hurtful words when I made some ill-advised remarks to my son many years ago, and although I have regretted them and apologized to him, he still bears the pain of my words. I wrote some things of a political nature in my blog several years ago, and my daughter, who has a different view of things, took offense. Words from those we love can hurt worse than sticks and stones.

I have been the recipient of hurtful words. I had a prolonged debate with a friend about the Scriptural prohibition of homosexual behavior. (See “Clobber the Argument”) My brother in Christ read the same passages and suggested an interpretation that is diametrically opposed to mine. He went so far as to say I am doing the Devil’s work by denouncing homosexual behavior. One of us must be right and the other wrong. What do we do? Take it to the church, you say. Done. He has thousands of moderns who favor his interpretation, and I have millions from throughout church history who favor mine.

I could be hurt by my friend’s words, but I am not. I am quite certain that I am right, and he is wrong. I must ask myself if it is arrogant of me to say I have the mind of Christ on this. My friend would say it is. I wrote once about the difficulty of distinguishing arrogance from confidence. They can look identical on the surface. The Bible tells us that our faith gives us confidence; it also says we are to speak the truth in love. Sometimes it is difficult to see how to speak the truth without hurting someone. I don’t think keeping silent is the right approach if the truth needs to be spoken, but when and how to speak are not always easy to discern.

So, what is the end of the matter? If you are the hurt party, follow Jesus’ lead and let the words fall like water off a duck’s back. Let God take care of any necessary consequences like He did with Shimei. If your words have hurt someone else, first be certain that they needed to be said, and if not, apologize. If they were necessary, confirm that they were spoken in love and not for some selfish motive. It would be well to remember Peter’s words of advice to us when hurtful words are spoken on account of our righteous deeds. Give the “offended” party the reason for your words but do it with courtesy and respect demonstrating a clear conscience, so that if there is any shame, it will fall on them not you.

Living like Jesus is no easy thing. When it gets really hard, we must remember that Jesus, the only perfect human, faced the same difficulties. His task was a bit easier since He knew what was in the mind of His detractors, and He had a perfect grasp of His Father’s will. But Paul said if we remain in the Spirit – the Holy Spirit who Jesus promised would come to our aid – we can have the mind of Christ. The words that are meant to hurt us will be neutralized. Any hurt caused by our words will be among those things that work together as God’s good will for those who love Him. Whether my words hurt or help, if I am faithful to line them up with God’s Word, His promise in Isaiah prevails: His Word will accomplish His purpose. As for sticks and stones and broken bones and words meant to hurt you: listen thoughtfully; speak truthfully.

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