A Nation of Wimps

Hara Estroff Marano has an interesting article on the Psychology Today web site about how American kids are being so babied, pampered and catered to that they are becoming wimps.  Soft, sissies, fragile little baby boys...

As a dad who is raising young kids at this stage in my life I realize how much of this is happening with kids.  Here is a world of purell sanitizer put on kids after every door knob, pads placed on every inch of the body just to ride a bike, and fear of failure pressed upon kids at every turn in the educational mess of many sectors of public education. Here are a few exerpts:

Behold the wholly sanitized childhood, without skinned knees or the occasional C in history. "Kids need to feel badly sometimes," says child psychologist David Elkind, professor at Tufts University. "We learn through experience and we learn through bad experiences. Through failure we learn how to cope."

Messing up, however, even in the playground, is wildly out of style. Although error and experimentation are the true mothers of success, parents are taking pains to remove failure from the equation.

But taking all the discomfort, disappointment and even the play out of development, especially while increasing pressure for success, turns out to be misguided by just about 180 degrees. With few challenges all their own, kids are unable to forge their creative adaptations to the normal vicissitudes of life. That not only makes them risk-averse, it makes them psychologically fragile, riddled with anxiety. In the process they're robbed of identity, meaning and a sense of accomplishment, to say nothing of a shot at real happiness. Forget, too, about perseverance, not simply a moral virtue but a necessary life skill. These turn out to be the spreading psychic fault lines of 21st-century youth. Whether we want to or not, we're on our way to creating a nation of wimps.

A Nation of Wimps, Psychology Today, accessed 9/9/2006, emphasis added.

This article shows the results of the self-esteem, self-protecting, self-obsessed, self-help, self-inventing society.  The article has very telling statistics of how kids raised in this sort of culture are turning out when they hit the college campus.

I personally do not want to raise a bunch of wimps in my house.  To be honest I am praying two things for my new born son: 1) That he would fear and know the God of grace 2) That he will be tough to hold things down in a fallen and violent world. 

My personal concern is that the coming generations have nothing to die for and therefore they will have nothing to live for.  I long for my own kids to be able to echo that ancient truth:

As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  Philippians 1:20-21

It is a sad fact that the gospel to the modern world is "To live is to be safe, to avoid premature death, and seek self-centered security"  And this will produce nothing but girly-men who will not be able to protect the good in their communities.  Such civilizations will fall. 

Together for the Gospel - Theological and Missional

Mark Dever has a good entry over at Together for the Gospel about the theological and missional implications of the message and methods of gospel ministry.  He is recommending the Desiring God National Conference for those desiring to live out these important matters in our world today.

I sent in the following comment, that I wanted to share with the readers of POCBlog.

Dear Pastor Dever,

Thank you so much for this post. Many of us pastors on the younger side - especially some who are later converts who did not grow up in the church - care deeply about both theology and missiology. There are many young, reformed, theologically driven, and culturally missional guys out there who are influenced by both the confessional/church-health men, and the passion to reach people in their tribes here in America...

Personally, after the many years of frustration reading things from the "emergent" crowd, and being so influenced by guys like Piper and the men of Together for the Gospel, I am thrilled about the coming Desiring God National which is a synthesis of what is theologically driven AND faithfully missional. This is my prayer. I pray that the reformed, confessional, evangelical, missional clans will be united for the gospel in our day.

ESV Bibles worn out, preaching through the text, finding joy in God, humbled by and compelled by the gospel of grace, in love with Jesus, with a knowledge of the the cultural worlds of the souls before us.

This is my hope and prayer.

Reid Monaghan

Anyway, if you can make it to Minneapolis for the Desiring God National, I'll be there...and hopefully at a good Irish pub for dinner on Saturday night...

Do You Like That Hipity Hop?

There has been some interesting discussion in blog world about the nature and propriety of Christian Rap.  Here are a couple of links:

• Bob Kauflan fields a question about rap music here
• Tim Challies, who personally does not like that hipity hop, gives a sort of thumbs up for Christian rap, and asks for others to weigh in.  You can read it here.
• Justin Taylor inteviewed Voice a few weeks back - you can read that here.
  

My comments over at Challies.com are copied here:

This sort of question is usually raised from within the church when genres of music outside the church's cultural mainstream begin to be harnassed and plundered for the glory of God. Can "regae" be Christian since it was made prominent by ganga smokin dudes with dreads? What about Christian punk? Hip Hop? It seems to me that your assessment is correct - music can be aimed towards edification or sin, the glory of God, or the gods of this world...in hip hop that means lyrics can flow towards the gospel, the Trinity, sin, Christ, redemption, etc. Or continue to be filled with pride, ice, rims, female dogs (keeping Challies clean for you), and other stuff full of idolatry evidenced in secular hip hop today. I pray for a flood of the former.

Our brothers like Voice and those from Cross Movement also face some discussion within the African American church, where hip hop can be repudiated by certain people. See the Ambassadors interaction with Ex Ministires for an example. The flash intro on Ex Ministries web site is also insightful. We need to pray for these guys.

Personally, I would highly recommend the Cross Movement (Ambassador, Flame, etc.) as they are doing theologically driven hip hop which is strong in the genre, Christ centered, is courageous, and exhibits biblical depth.

I reviewed Flame's new CD Rewind here. I think we need to see much more of this, not less. Additionally, check out his site for some of the lyrics. Sounds like Hip Hop to the glory of God to me.

 Personally, I love that theologically driven, Christian hipity hop...

Preaching Should NOT ignore culture

I subscribe to the e-newsletter of 9Marks ministry, a minsitry dedicated to seeing churches find biblical health.  Mark Dever leads the ministry, and I am somewhat of a fan. The confessional, gospel-centered, nature of Dever and 9Marks are a needed balance to other influences in my life.   They point me to the Scripture and the glory of God - I love that.  Additionally, I really like the book "9 Marks of a Healthy Church." The cover design (to the right) looks a bit like a For Dummies book, but trust me it is not. 

Anyway, I am not a 9Marks hater, so when I read a quote on their recent newsletter, which seemed a bit of an overreach, I wanted to say something about it.

In the article Plexiglas Preaching, The Devastating Consequences of a Watered-Down Message, Pastor John McArthur lists his 15 reasons against the sermon-light, theologically wimpy, non expositional teaching and how this is bad news for the church.  For the most part, I found some of his assessments helpful.  But, #7 gave me some pause.  I'll explain why after reading it and hopefully reach a middle ground and a good place to stand:

7. It prevents the preacher from fully developing the mind of Christ. Pastors are supposed to be undershepherds of Christ. Too many modern preachers are so bent on understanding the culture that they develop the mind of the culture and not the mind of Christ. They start to think like the world, and not like the Savior. Frankly, the nuances of worldly culture are virtually irrelevant to me. I want to know the mind of Christ and bring that to bear on the culture, no matter what culture I may be ministering to. If I’m going to stand up in a pulpit and be a representative of Jesus Christ, I want to know how He thinks—and that must be my message to His people too. The only way to know and proclaim the mind of Christ is by being faithful to study and preach His Word. What happens to preachers who obsess about cultural "relevancy" is that they become worldly, not godly.

John McArthur,  Plexiglas Preaching, The Devastating Consequences of a Watered-Down Message, 9 Marks Minsitry Web Site - available at www.9marks.org, Accessed July 27, 2006. Emphasis added.

Here is the rub.  Obviously if the pastor is too concerned about culture at the neglect of the word, then he is amis and is perhaps ready to be taken captive by the world.  Point taken.  Yet, if the preacher learns deeply the Bible, seeks in Scripture the mind of Christ, teaches the Bible expositionally, etc. and knows nothing of the people he is trying to reach, or equip the church to reach, the result is, let me say, NOT GOOD.  For instance, everyone agrees that we should preach in the language of the people - in doing so, care is taken to use words, grammar, and sentences recognizable by the people.  In preaching, the pastor must choose idiom, illustrations, etc as he expounds God's Word and makes the meaning known to the people.  To not know the stories of a culture, the questions of a culture, the art of the culture, the things that make a people tick, or ticks a people off, is to not be able to bring the Word to bear on THAT people in THIS time.  Everyone knows this must be the case. 

So I take this quote as a corrective to the over immersed cultural Christian who is worldly, who does not know his Bible, who does not study to seek the mind of Christ in Scripture.  But if some people take this exhortation to mean "ignore the culture" and just read your Greek Bible, I fear the results will be some pretty terrible preaching that does not connect the mind of Christ, the teaching of the Word, with the people sitting/standing in front of the preacher.  I think the nature of McArthur's language - Frankly, the nuances of worldly culture are virtually irrelevant to me, will lead some down this path.  In doing so, he is helping someone remain blind to his own culture, and perhaps putting a stumbling block before someone's preaching.  Culture is not all powerful, nor all determining; God is.  Yet if our goal is to have "worldly culture to be virtually irrelevant to us," I think this is an egregious mistake and we will grow more and more impotent to connect the unchanging word to the changing peoples and cultures everywhere in the world.

Paul's example in Acts shows us he did not eliminate the message to any audience, but rather he choose different modes and ways of communicating the same message. Whether speaking to the Jewish people of the synagogue, the common man of Lystra, or the intellectual on Mars Hill, his message is strong and consistent.  The death, burial, and resurection of Jesus - and a call to repentence...the way he brought this message was different, and this is recorded in the Bible.  So when we communicate to someone today, I think we ought know something about them...in other words, we better know their culture and yet we better not be captured by it.

Our consciences are chained to the Word of God and we become all things to all men for the sake of the same Word.  This is a hard path to find and maintain. May God help his people be faithful to both callings - into and out from the world.

If you have not subscribed to the 9 Marks Newsletter, you can do so here.  As I said, I am somewhat of a fan.

Found this on some Tech Web Sites

 
Engadget put out a story about a Jews for Jesus' tract entiteld "What's Next for the iPod guy." It has made its way to being mentioned on Digg, Gizmodo and a few other tech sites...I'm positive if this is real, but it looks to be from what I am able to ascertain. 

Perhaps this is a great example of a bad attempt at contextualization... 

Here is why this sort of evangelistic tool is not a helpful strategy in my opinion:

1. It clearly will be perceived as being aimed at an individual - in this case Steve Jobs
2. It appears to be an invasion of tech space by outsiders...rather than a wise move to share Jesus with tech people from tech people
3. It is cheesy looking and a bit silly (the ole byte of the apple line)
4. By sharing the gospel story this way, being techie-cute, it trivializes the transcendent importance of the message.
5. It is funny - yes, it is pretty stinking funny.  But would it dull people to actually talking about the Messiah in the future?
6. It may be easily dismissed by those who actually know the Apple story and the tech world.  The apple story has a bit of mythological feel to those who are computer industry insiders. 
   

Anyway, thought it would be worth sharing as an example.  Those T-shirts in the "outreach section" of the Christian bookstore (Got Jesus? Jesus like Resee Cups, etc) ain't no better. 

Relevance? Don’t Get Married...

There is so much blah, blah, blah, blah about Christians being relevant in today’s culture.  The desire to be cool, liked, etc. among some in the Christian universe sometimes gets very silly.  I want to make a few distinctions that may help those wanting to connect the gospel of Jesus with others…so we are not weird cultural aliens from the 1920s nor are we turn coat punks denying the faith in order to be “with it”

First, one needs to look at the word “relevant.”

Relevance

By relevance, usually what one means is being able to connect with the world around you in a way that as culturally and socially acceptable.  However, what sometimes happens is that people become trend followers, jumping from the new, to the hip, to the new hip-hip new.  

We need to be more like the world around us so people will want to “come in” – so they would be attracted to what is going on with the Christians.  Problem is it can all be pretty inauthentic – and to be honest it can get quite weird.   Many times if relevance becomes the only all encompassing goal, syncretism and worldliness usually are following the parade.  The spirit or soul of the world around us can capture the hearts of people so much that we really do not long for the realization of the Kingdom of God.  

Simon Weil rightly said “He who marries himself to the spirit of the age soon becomes a widower.”  The Scriptures also warn us from getting too much in bed with the world.  When we get married to the world – we quickly realize we have married a whore, a union which can turn out to be enmity, hatred towards God.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:4 (ESV)

So what should we do?  First, we have to realize that culture matters.  The language of the people, the forms of a people, the art, entertainment, literature, technology, relationships, patterns of family, of a people really matter.  There are no people who do not live in culture.  Jesus himself became incarnate into a culture – that was Jewish, in a Hellenized world, under the rule of the Roman Empire…

So rather than a people trying to be “relevant to” a culture – we seek a more excellent way.  We desire to bring a gospel driven, kingdom culture to bear within and through the cultures of the world.  This leads us to a slightly different idea than sprinting on the tread mill running after the gods of relevance. A principle long discussed with those in cross cultural mission - that of contextualizaton…

Contextualization

Culture is simply the learned design or pattern of living for a particular group of folks.  It is learned, it is the air we breathe, and the water we swim in…it is the life we live.  We all live in culture…and we need to realize that most of culture is not antithetical to the theological truths and ethical implications of the gospel.  As much as we may not like it God is not absolutely opposed to NASCAR or Football (or Soccer her in America).  As much as we may not like it…biblically, it really doesn’t matter if you use chop sticks to eat rice, or a knife and fork to eat Spam.   Blue grass music or hip hop (yes, both can have eeeevil lyrics, but they also can sing to sweet Jesus as well), wear blue jeans or saris to church.

So the goal is not to create goofy Christian subculture, but to embrace aspects of culture and live modestly there.   In fact, Christians should not ask converts to leave nonsinful aspects of culture to “come out” into whatever sub culture they have created (like a culture where wine at communion will make people “stumble”).  Many times we create culture that is not at all biblical and call people to that rather than to Jesus.  Thou shalt not dance? Uh, I’m still looking for verses on that one.

I recently listened to a message by Ed Stetzer about viewing culture as a follower of Jesus.   Quoting Robert McQuilkin, three paths were highlighted which I will paraphrase the best I can:

• Much of culture we can receive – there is a good thing to the old saying “when in Rome” – not the sinful stuff of Rome, but living in that world.  The apostle said he wanted to “become all things to all men so by all possible means we might save same…I do this for the sake of the gospel (1 Cor 9).  For the sake of the gospel missionaries in China eat with Chinese people in a chinese way…this is not controversial, but it makes some a bit nervous.  Thinking if you have an electric guitar in church, or don’t wear a Western European inspired suit and tie in church, it is somehow worldly.
• Some of culture should be redeemed.  For example, our culture may be a perverted culture in relationship to sexuality.  But that does not mean sex is bad – sex in our culture needs redemption, not rejection.  It needs the context of covenant not “with whoever consents.”  The same might be said for good, dark, beer – it needs the redemption of moderation not the excess of drunkenness.
• Finally, some things of culture must be absolutely rejected.  There are some aspects of culture that are sinful and evil and cannot be adapted or redeemed.  We repent of this and change.  This is true in cross cultural missions, where missionaries rightly opposed such cultural practices as sati, or child sacrifice.  It is true for the church in culture today.  We simply do not have “current hookers reaching hookers for Jesus” or “Misogynist Wife Beaters for Christ” or "Crack dealers dealing so they can witness to drug addicts" – it is on issues of sin where Christians have to hold the lines of biblical truth and not waver – even where there is extreme cultural pressure to punt.  “We’re queer, we’re here, get used to it” – no, we love you, but we can not applaud.  We weep with you and love you – but we cannot go the distance to be welcoming and "affirming".  We will welcome, but we cannot celebrate.  Certain elements in culture are challenged, rebuked, and must be changed in the light of the gospel.  We all need to repent of our cultural junk…including Christian cultural junk that is neither Christian, nor in the Scriptures.  
  

Our goal should be living in our culture, contextual and faithful.  Not punting sound doctrine or the truth of Scripture.  Nor do we marry the world and become an offense to God.  Mark Driscoll’s book Radical Reformission does a good job describing these two extremes with the following equations…

 

[Gospel + Church – Culture = Separatist Fundamentalism]

 

[Church + Culture – Gospel = Syncretistic Worldly Theological Liberalism]

The equation which is a difficult balance would be:

Gospel + Church + Culture = Reformission (missional and faithful, reaching out without selling out)

Another author, Os Guinness echoes a similar call in his book Prophetic Untimeliness – which is to seek relevance with faithfulness – sound easy?  It is not.  Not for sinful human beings at least.  There will always be a great need for wisdom and the leading of the Spirit and the Word.

In that book Guinness recommends a great course for our age.  We must be prophetic to be able to call people to a different life, a different Kingdom, and a different God.  If we become captured by the world we loose our voice to call people to repentance and faith – to follow Jesus rather than the gods of our making.   We need to be untimely in that though we live in culture now, we speak a message from the eternal God.  The Word of God speaks from outside human experience, into our lives in culture and confronts us, shakes us, challenges and redeems us by grace.  We then love differently, we care differently, and we suffer for others for the sake of Jesus.   

This sort of path keeps us on mission in culture, yet faithful to God and the Scriptures.  Sometimes we need a course correction either side.  We are too worldly and are loosing faithfulness or we are too inflexible in things which are cultural that we become dead people who hold right beliefs but are not on mission…

Some of us are joyfully "Not of the world" but need to "get into life with people" for the gospel.  Some of us are too "in the world" and need to be called out. 

It is my prayer that I can be utterly faithful and utterly faithful to reach out to people in a way that connects.  This ain’t easy – in fact we need wisdom to walk this path.

Can we be thankful that we eat at all?

There is an interesting review of the book The Omnivore's Dilemna by Michael Pollan over at Books and Culture.

Like any other people in the enlightened western crowd, Christians too are concerned with being green, organic, and having justice for creation (no comment).

This article is interesting in that it discusses the struggle to eat well as we take "steps back to wholeness." This is very common today as many Christians are seeing salvation as redemption of creation and human beings finding wholeness (not oneness, though some do seem to go that far) in this world. If the Kingdom is NOW and NOT yet, this crowd certainly believes in the NOW part. Salvation comes through creation care, reconciling ourselves with the natural world, all things to God.

Now, I do see clearly in Scripture that God is reconciling "all things to himself" in Christ. Yet, I see a bit of a pendulum swing away from the Christian's hope being in a new creation, and the age to come. I also see a huge place for Christian environmental concern. Not just because it is trendy to be green, but due to the nature of human calling as stewards and vice regents with our Creator in this world. But it seems like our concerns for everything granola and pure is a new form of godliness for some. Granted, I don't want my kids running around in air that remembles a long toke on an exhaust pipe, but I think some can be overly freakish and worried about so many things that they can forget that God is also concerned with souls, concerned with sinners and sin, concerned to redeem our lives to be people who are his possession, eager to do what is good.

Does this include environmental concern? Again, Absolutely! But can we get sidetracked and replace the gospel and the work of the Kingdom with creation care and worrying about whether Chicken nuggest are 13 part corn or 14 parts corn? Again, Absolutely

One thing that we spoiled western people can forget is that we not only get to eat whole foods, or organically grown crops, or a double cheeseburger, or an ice cold Mountain Dew (which chemically is nothing like dew from a mountain - but oh, it is a sweet yellow beverage). We forget the grace that we get to eat at all. In some parts of the world, folks would be overjoyed to eat some hormonally jacked up beef. Overjoyed to eat corn feed animals, and chicken nuggets that have a composition only known to freaky, nerdy, chemist types.

Have a conscience about what we consume in the world...YES. But forget not that it is grace that we have air and food and water at all.

All the environmental, vegan, orgo superstars out there - praise God for you. Just don't hate everyone who likes a bit of red meat from time to time. And all of us, don't forget to say a word of thanks for whatever you cram down your throat tonight. But don't eat too much - that is a sin...one we easily forget.

Some Keen Insight from Young Brother

A friend just recently wrote the following about the Christian way...I found it impassioned and strong...in a good way:

And furthermore, for the umpteenth time, Christianity is not some fluffy relationship with God.  I have a relationship with lots of people--including you, Stacey, Reid, my parents, my brother, and a million other people.  These are entirely different kinds of relationships.  I afford these people different courtesies and that is as it should be.  What makes Christianity special is that it is a specific type of relationship--that of lordship.  "If you confess with your mouth that JESUS IS LORD."  Thus Christianity is not some buddy-buddy, only-if-we-cuddle-afterwards relationship, it the narrow gate.  It is the road to Golgotha.  It is the pearl of great price.   God did not die on the cross to slant our worldview a bit, he died and claimed the right to rule our lives, and we will have him entirely, or we've missed him--just like the Pharisees, just like Felix, just like Herod, just like Nero, and I might add, just like Hitler, who once said that Christianity, "the basis of our full morality," would be under his "firm protection."

I saw a news story that is a great metaphor for the Christian life.  Not too long ago, a van carrying college students turned over.  On the van there were two girls, both blonde, about the same size and weight.  One of them was declared dead, and the other went into a long coma.  The other day (about two weeks after the accident), the comatose one started coming around.  Her family went to see her, only to realize that it was not their daughter.  Their daughter was dead, and another family's daughter, for whom they had already had a funeral, was alive.  This is the illusion we all live under.  In all appearances, the world is alive and kicking, and Christ appears to many is inactive and dead.  But one day the truth will be revealed that Christ is the victor and this current age and is dead on the table and will be both judged and redeemed by the blood of Jesus that covers all sin.  You can live in defiance of God, believing this world and this age to be reality, but it's simply not the case.

Paul said it this way…Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Cor 4:17, 18

You are walking well, young padawan

X-men 3 - The Last Stand

 

Last night my wife, brother-in-law, and I went to see X-Men: The Last Stand at the friendly movie theater.  As a childhood fan of the Marvel Unviverse, the X-men films have been quite interesting to me.  For one, I memorized all the powers and stories of the mutants when I was a kid, so it all comes back very quickly (by the way, Rogue is completely different in the movies than in the comics).  This third installment just opened with the fourth largest box office weekend of all time and after seeing it word of mouth looks to be good.  I have found the X-men story to be interesting for several reasons, and I think it is a continual hit for some of these reasons.  In a unique story, the X-men take us towards some transcendent realities that we all long for.  Some of these mega-themes I find to connect to the gospel of grace quite readily.  I know some of you may be saying that the X-men are burdened by a naturalistic worldview and an overemphasis on "evolution" and its magic mutations.  But I think much more is going on here.  In the saga of the men called X - I find the following themes openly explored

A Longing for Justic and Equality -  How is there to be equality on the earth amidst unequals?  Societies have struggled with this since the dawn of time.  Plato and the eastern philosophies recommend a striated caste system with those suited for ruling, those more highly gifted, are given the keys to a culture.  Unfortunately such systems end of unjustly distributing privilege and power to the neglect of the week and the untouchable.  Others have sought to endow humans with certain intrinsic value due to what they are.  People have different gifts, but the same transcendent value due to their nature.  Western culture has grounded this in the image of God - that uniquely, human beings are different from all other things and share the same image - this alone gives humans value rather than their functioning capacities.  In X3 there is an interesting question asked "How can there be democracy when one man can move a city with his mind?" - Good question.  We know that we must have equality under law, but where is such equality grounded in an naturalistic, evolutionary framework where beings are clearly not equal.  Only the view of man in the imago dei, carefully grounds the invalid and the elite with the same enduring value.

A Desire to Transcend our Limitations - Everywhere on the earth man aspires to be more than he is.  Either through the finely honed development of his body through physical training or the fine tuning of the human mind, people long to escape the limited condition they find themselves in.  We desire to escape death, disease, weakness, and aging.  We desire to find hope that somehow, someday, all we be better.  Different religions offer man a way to transcend his body into an infinite reality.  The Hindu does so by looking inward to a oneness with being in meditation, the Scientologist does so by lying to himself to make himself superior due to the unlocking of the potential of his mind.  What hope does the X-men narrative offer us?  Perhaps, someday there will be a quantum leap of evolution that will take some of us to the point of being super-humans.  We love to think that somehow we will become better - maybe be able to control the elements with our minds, heal our own bodies, or at least pick up and throw really heavy things.  Our desire to be "more" points to an important truth, but reminds us of our deepest enemy.  Some day, in God's timing, we will be made more, glorified in fact, in some way we will be partakers in the divine nature to rule and reign with a great King named Jesus.  Our sicknesses, our weaknesses, and our own deaths will some day come to defeat.  Yet here is the reality, we desire to create this world with our own hands, not waiting for the hand of God.  And here is what we find.  When man attempts to re-create himself to be as a god, he always destroys himself and his neighbor.  All the utopian schemes of our history show that whether by science or political force, the one who tries bring his utopian vision on the masses always brings oppression with his hands.  We are not worthy to be our own masters, but this lesson we are slow to learn.  A self-governing system, where we are suspicious of power residing in one and only one place (checks and balances), where people are governed by truth and morality, yes by God, seems to be the best system we have seen.  All others which are led by self proclaimed super-men always break the backs of the conquered while buckling under the pride and deception of its own regime.  We some day will be changed, with powers exceeding the X-men, but it will be at the revelation of the Sons of God, not at the hell unleashed by the minds of men.

A Clearly Defined Moral Universe -  In the X-men we see good and evil as the categories which separate.  These categories transcend mutant and human with good and evil on all sides of the DNA arrangement.   This goodness seems to transcend the stage upon which the X-men drama takes place.  Ethics are not found in DNA, they are found in the souls of human beings - the one's who watch these movies know that Magneto and his warring, power lustful, ways are not "good" and the self-sacrificing, peace seeking X-men are not "the evil guys."  How do we know these things?  Such is a great clue to the reality of our world.  There is a transcendent fountain of truth and goodness.  From his very character flow to us the categories of right and wrong - without ethics grounded in the very nature of God, we could not watch the X-men and know anything of the story.  For without this reality - we would not know right from wrong and could not sense the drama unfolding before us.   Though there is a scene in X3 where Xavier is teaching young minds "ethics" in a way that leans toward denying the transcendent reality, this quickly passes and the world of the movies is very much the real world.  One in which there is a real evil afoot, one which must be thwarted by those who love what is good.   We are drawn to the X-men's stories for no other reason - we see ourselves on both sides of the battles.  We are the ones who are greedy, power hungry, humans who will oppress the weak and kill our neighbor.  Yet we desire to be more like the good we see, yet we know not how to change ourselves or our world.  Who will deliver us from such a condition.  Superman?  Maybe, maybe a Super-man, one whose sandals we are unfit to tie.  One who died to forgive us for our sins and our demons and give us new hearts to be more like him.  The one in whom all goodness dwelt fully in bodily form.

Enjoy the X-men and take its evolutionary nonsense with an intelligent mind.  You know that a gene mutation does not make a man able to pick up a skyscraper.  But we also should know that the desires of the X-men are not fulfilled in a naturalistic, evolutionary worldview.  Only in the real world that God has made and rules will we be delivered.  For it is in the hands of God that we find transcendence, moral reality, and in the end of all things, there will be perfect justice and peace.

Trust Jesus - rather than the professor or Wolverine.  But enjoy the movie and worship the living God and desire not your children to be mutants.  This is never a good thing. 

Not Mr. Brown's Fault

Whether you are a left-wing Christian or a right-wing Christian, I found an article on Fox News' web site to be an insightful encouragement with the issues surrounding the Da Vinci Code book/movie.  I know if you read Jim Wallis, going over to Fox News will be difficult for you, but it is worth your time.  The article is written by Father Jonathan Morris, a young, fit for TV looking priest.  Really, they didn't pick a fat balding guy for the faith interviews dude.

There are a couple of quotes I find wonderful rebukes and invitations to Christian people: 

Dan Brown is capable of passing fiction for fact because Christians don’t know their faith — what and why they believe. That’s not Mr. Brown’s fault.

I could not agree more.  It is sad that many churches intentionally dumb down their teaching, leave out huge chunks of the Christian story, and teach little to no church history at all.  When the followers of Jesus, in whom are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, distill down the faith in to palatable "how tos" we all lose.  And any sort of teaching tosses us to and fro on the waves of the zeitgeist, the spirit of our age. 

One last quote from the article: 

For Christianity, I predict the net result will be a positive one, despite all the bad intentions of its author. In the hype, Christians will ask themselves what and why we believe. And for this we must not forget to say, “Thank you, Mr. Brown."

I have had more e-mails, questions, phone calls in the last two weeks than the last two years combined.  These are coming from interested, questioning, learning Christians who are asking very basic questions about Christian truth and teaching.  A very good thing indeed.  Yes, many thanks to Mr. Brown.

And I do pray that believers share the real Jesus with real people in our world today as a result of all the Da Vinci Buzz.  I am a bit "Da Vinici Weary" but I am not weary of discussing the New Testament, its four gospels, the person of Jesus, his claims to deity, the reality that his is the unique Savior of all people who place their faith (understanding, assent, trust) in Him.  That song I want to sing long after Da Vinci is a tired rental at the local Blockbuster store.

Here is the Link - 'The Da Vinci Code' A Positive for Christianity

Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World

More information is now up concerning the 2006 Desiring God National Conference.

A new full length promotional trailer is online here.

HT - Theologica

Screwtape is at work again...

I found this to be an enjoying read. This was my first exposure to this author - a very pleasant surprise.

Link: Eric Metaxas: Essay - Screwtape On The DaVinci Code

The Da Vinci Code - Updated

 

On May 19, 2006 the movie based upon Dan Brown's fictional work, The Da Vinci Code The trailer for the film contains the following opening:
 

What if the world's greatest works of art held the secret that could change the course of mankind...forever

Such are the lofty claims of this story. An ancient conspiracy, guarded by intrigue and murder, if revealed to the world would change the very fabric of society. Just exactly what could be such a secret? The Christian faith, the belief of billions on planet earth, is based on a well guarded fabrication that is revealed when a man seeks the truth in renaissance artwork and medieval legends. The book has garnered a huge following and the film will no doubt be a blockbuster success. Ron Howard is directing and Tom Hanks plays the lead role. The production values and cinematic excellence will be high and the story very compelling. From the spending some time on the film's web site today, this project is being undertaken with the highest of quality. It will move people. For those uninitiated with the details of history or the debates about the historical Jesus the story of the Da Vinci Code can be confusing. A fictional work passing for history can be a great fog for people in our day. Many actually "learn" more from films today that responsible history. We must serve our neighbors in such a time as this. This film is a fantastic opportunity for those who follow the biblical Jesus, the Jesus of history, to grow in our understanding of our own faith, its roots, and to share the true account of Jesus with those with whom we live, work and play. I see the following benefits to the conversation which will be had around the film's release.

1. First, the film is a great opportunity to help one mature in our understanding of the historical roots of our faith. So many are completely ignorant of biblical history and the circumstances of early Christianity. It is a great time to study these issues greatly.
2. Second, the film will cause “cultural Christians” and young people to struggle with what they believe and why. This will afford great opportunity for crisis and clarification. Which by God's grace can result in deeper commitment to truth. We will need to love and teach in this context.
3. Third, the film will be a great opportunity, in my opinion, for evangelism – sharing about the Biblical Jesus – not the Jesus of the Davinci Code, but the living Jesus who saves sinners.

Our task then in this season, is to prepare to give a reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15) with gentleness and respect. One mistake many Christians will no doubt make is to be defensive and reactionary to the film; some will perhaps protest. I thought of writing a lengthy engagment with the content of the book, but realized others more qualified have done so. So as we prepare I have the following encouragment for us all:

1. First, read the book - check it out from the Library, buy it used. Read it and read it critically, but realize it is fiction.
2. Read those who understand the fictional aspects and speculations of the book. There are many good books available and several articles on the web. I will list many at the conclusion of this post.
3. If you see the movie talk to your friends and neighbors about the movie. Especially those who do not know the Jesus of the Bible. Don't look to fight, but to clarify, share the gospel of grace.
4. Offer articles to friends (Christian or not) who have questions and are struggling with the content - walk with them in it.

On Church History and the Historical Jesus

• Church History in Plain Language by Bruce L. Shelley - Specifically Chapters 1-16. I think Shelley's book is accessible for laypersons, yet rigorous enough to be a general introduction for all. A must for your library.
• Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?: A Debate Between William Lane Craig and John Dominic Crossan.  Contains the transcript of a debate between scholars as to the identity and nature of Jesus.
• Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus edited by JP Moreland and Michael Wilkins. Interacts with the radical claims of the Jesus Seminar.
  

Recommended Books on the Da Vinci Code

Concise Treatments

• The Da Vinci Code Cracks - A concise article from Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason.  This is a great first read on the issues surrounding the Da Vinci Code.
  
• The Truth Behnind the Da Vinci Code by Richard Abanes.  This work is quick to read and responds directly to passages in the Da Vinci Code.  Very good little reference for those not initiated to the debates which go on scholarly circles.
• Answers to the Da Vinci Code by Timothy Paul Jones.  This is a long fold out pamphlet which is printed on two sides.  It has a very helpful timeline of the first centuries of the Christian movement.  Very helpful.
  

More In Depth Treatments 

• Breaking the Da Vinci Code by Darrel L. Bock Darrell L. Bock is Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He also serves as Professor for Spiritual Development and Culture for the Seminary's Center for Christian Leadership. His special fields of study involve hermeneutics, the use of the Old Testament in the New, Luke-Acts, the historical Jesus, and gospels studies.
• The Gospel Code: Novel Claims About Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci Dr. Witherington is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary.  He offers a scholarly evangelical voice in the historical Jesus studies and has published over twenty five books.

Recommended Web Site

• Jesus and Da Vinci: Who Was Jesus...Really? This site has several excellent links to articles by a wide range of scholars and authors from an evangelical and a Catholic perspective. The abstracts for the articles will give you an idea of each resource.
• The Truth About Da Vinci - Westminster Seminary has offered an excellent site which describes itself as follows: While this site does engage the culture, it will not be blown about by the winds of opinion and will ultimately become a resource for all spectrums of people desiring to find and know the Truth... not only about "The Da Vinci Code," but more importantly, the Divine Truth.
• Jesus Decoded - A Web Site From the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.  Though the site is from a Roman Catholic point of view, it offers some excellent insight.  The video trailer for their TV Special is a great overview.
  

Europe - An Example of Civilization in Decline?

More good news from Europe today from Al Mohler's blog. He has a short piece on marriage in Europe...not good.

LinkMarriage on the Rocks in Europe

The New Yorker on the Gospel of Judas

Aside from its slight dig at inerrancy (and misunderstanding that doctrine) and a humble lean towards the human side of the composition of the gospels of the New Testament, this article is very helpful in understanding of the gospel of Judas and its lack of significance.

I love the closing passage:

Whether one agrees with Jefferson that this man lived, taught, and died, or with St. Paul that he lived and died and was born again, it is hard not to prefer him to the Jesus of the new Gospel, with his stage laughter and significant winks and coded messages. Making Judas more human makes Jesus oddly less so, less a man with a divine and horrible burden than one more know-it-all with a nimbus. As metaphor or truth, we’re sticking with the old story. Give us that old-time religion—but, to borrow a phrase from St. Augustine, maybe not quite yet.

I would only add, the old time religion of the New Testament is the only one that is the Christian tradition. The other odd ball aberrant relgions, be it a mix of NeoPlatonism with the Jesus figure, or a star gazing mystery cult, have all been found wanting. And discarded long ago.

Link - The New Yorker: The Critics: Books

(HT - Tim Dees)

On "New Gospels

With all the buzz surrounding the Gospel of Judas, I found this to be pretty funny...

The Gospel of Brutus: A Revolutionary Revelation About the Real Jesus

I'll have a short post on Gnostic gospels up soon...very short, but lots of friends have been asking questions, so I thought I would throw my stick in the fire. 

Ivy League Faith

This year I have had the privilege to speak to student athletes at Brown University on two occasions.  It has been fun getting to know the crew at Brown and encourage them towards faith in Christ and continued impact on their campus. 

Recently, Jarred Lynn, intern at Brown, forwarded me this story which recently ran on a local Boston television station.  Well done and encouraging.

You can view the video here Cover Story: Religion in the Ivy League

Colson Responds

A couple of months back Mark Driscoll recounted listening to Chuck Colson speak. He spoke of Colson's influence on his life as an early Christian and then posted the following poignant questions for Colson:

• Is Christianity at war for culture?
• Is it beneficial for Christians to speak of themselves in military terms such as war when speaking of their engagement with lost people and their ideas?
• Does the concept of a culture war cause Christians to fight moral and political battles rather than gospel battles?
• Does the greatest threat to Christianity come from forces outside the church, or from inside the church, through leaders who are more like Judas than Jesus?
• Do Christians have the right to continually claim the moral high ground when they are statistically no more moral than the average pagan?

Yours truly responded to the questions earlier here at POC but I am sure Chuck Colson's answers would probably be more interesting.

Just in case you are not sure about that, Colson has now actually responded to the questions over at Resurgence: Chuck Colson 2.0 | Resurgence

On the Culture War | Resurgence

Mark Driscoll poses some good questions about the concept of Culture War over at Resurgence. His contention is that an older generation sees America as a Christian rooted nation and that there is a war for the soul of our country. He poses the following questions, which I want to swing the bat on...though only briefly as I have some work to do! Is Christianity at war for culture? I would answer this with a resounding no. Rather, Christianity is a war for the souls of women and men in cultures. Jesus' mission was to come to purchase men for God from every tribe, tongue, language and people (Revelation 5:9). You might go ahead and say "purchase men from every culture" though I prefer the language of the Bible. The fight is not for the soul of a culture, but rather to see souls redeemed who will then redeem and transform culture to the glory of God.

• We struggle not against flesh and blood
• We want to take every thought captive as Christians making it obedient to Christ
• We want to live a kingdom culture as the church in and through various cultures
• We reject that which is unholy (Phillipians 4) and embrace, participate and rejoice in culture that is not. We desire not to be polluted by the world, but we do not desire to avoid the world.

Is it beneficial for Christians to speak of themselves in military terms such as war when speaking of their engagement with lost people and their ideas? I don't think so, but we must be careful not to loose the fighting language of the Bible. Some of us just point the guns in the wrong direction. We are to fight to put to death our own sin by the power of the Spirit under the grace of God. We are to fight the good fight of faith. We are to man our posts in the church like a good soldier (2 Timothy 2). We are to struggle forward with all his energy that works in us. Paul said that many live as enemies of the Cross of Christ - what should our response be?

• We should see that with tears and know that their end is in the hand of God - not our hands (Philippians 3:18)
• We should not be frightened (Philippians 1:28)
• We should feed, clothe, love our enemies and overcome evil with good (Romans 12:17-21)
• We should preach the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation. (Romans 1:16) Culture is changed when people get changed

Does the concept of a culture war cause Christians to fight moral and political battles rather than gospel battles? Yes, at times this is true - too much energy is spent fighting causes and battles which do not go to the root of the issue. I am in no way pro-life, pro-gay marriage, pro-whatever crazy cause people push in the public sphere. But I also would prefer our energies spent in gospel issues. Now, I think the church should engage all these issues intellectually and in winsome dialogue with our neighbors, but I think we can couch these issues as "political fights" and this does not help us. Scholars and philophers write on marriage and abortion. But put not your trust in princes, but in the living God. Discuss these things in public, but not at the neglecting of Jesus and his gospel that transforms lives. This is a complex issue and question to answer - so I will not add any more trivial words than I just did. We can do better here - and there are others who will offer better advice than me. Does the greatest threat to Christianity come from forces outside the church, or from inside the church, through leaders who are more like Judas than Jesus? Both - the greatest threat is sin, pride, and arrogance of each of us. From within and from without. I am not in the "beat the hell out of the church" choir who sees the church and its leaders as the main problem for every ailment of believers. I am also not in the club that loves to beat on the non Christian as the source of all evil as well. As I see it, God is sovereign and uses all our junk in the end for his purposes. I also believe that the church and the world have sinners abounding in their midst, so there is plenty of crap we all bring. Let me pose some different questions.

• Do Judas like Leaders hurt the cause of the gospel - Oh, Yes
• Do lying professors who distort and suppress the truth in unrighteousness hurt the cause of the gospel - Oh, Yes
• But do any of these thwart the hand of a Sovereign God in his purposes for the church? In the end, no. But woe to those through which these things come. O God may it not be me...dang it, it probably is me. Thankful for Jesus.

Do Christians have the right to continually claim the moral high ground when they are statistically no more moral than the average pagan?" No, Ron Sider's book (though I don't agree with Sider on many fronts) The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience is a good stick for this problem. His findings that biblical doctrine is a difference maker should be a wake up call for all the seeker, doctrine isn't cool, ultra hip, too cool for Jesus, the atonement, and the justice of God crowd. Driscoll, you are leading well in these areas - and you have a big set with some proper boldness...Watch you life and doctrine brother, persevere in them in doing so you will save yourself and your hearers, and readers, and bloggers. Fight the good fight, finish the race ...

--------

The Apologist Must be Compelled…

We have traveled the road together of some necessary attributes for someone to be a defender of the gospel in contemporary culture. First, we said he must be compassionate – he must give a rip about people around him. Second, he must also be curious, a person that will read, listen, think, observe, watch, and participate where he can in the culture around him (note – he should not participate where he participates in sin or is intensely tempted to sin). Finally, we come to the last characteristic of an apologist in our day. She must be compelled. By compelled I mean she must be driven, motivated, moved forward by something great and worthy of pursuit. Something must make it worthwhile for her get out of bed in the morning to share the gospel and connect the gospel to others. What must compel her? I hold it must be the glory of God in Christ, the beauty of the love of God for sinners expressed in the death of the Son of God. The gospel must drive one to believe that God can and does save his sheep (John 6, John 10), that one died for all (2 Corinthians 5), that it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe (Romans 1:16). If we do not believe that Christ is the all consuming treasure of the believer, that he is satisfying to the weary soul, that he alone lifts guilt and sin and death and hell from us, we will not present him to others. We must be satisfied in Christ – and see him as treasure or we will not seek to communicate the gospel of the glory of God to others:

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matthew 13:14 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:1-5 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:22-24

For the believer, the cross must be the jewel of his faith. Where the grace of God is displayed and his mercy revealed to sinful people. When one realizes the work of the cross, to punish sin and turn the wrath of God from us to Jesus, we are put in a humble state of thanksgiving in which we are compelled to move forward in His mission. There is no other motivation but the treasuring of Christ and the display of the Excellencies of God seen in the redemption of sinners that will compel and move us to care enough, be curious enough and sacrifice enough to share the gospel with those who need to hear. ...

--------