Toby J. Sumpter's Blog, page 62

The Evangelical Grievance Industry

I want to hit the #wokechurch problem one more time, and I want to do so by answering one question and re-asserting the creeping problem. 

First, the question: are people – particularly pastors – who are spending time teaching against the social justice movement, wokeness, #metoo, REVOICE, et al spending their time well? Are we in danger of building an “anti” culture? Are we in danger of merely being against stuff? What about building a positive vision of mercy ministry, care for orphans and widows, gospel outreach, and cultivating the good life? 

The answer is simple: Christians, and Christian pastors in particular, must do both. We must be like Nehemiah and his men. We must build and fight. We need to wield swords and trowels. If you put down your sword, you cannot defend what you are called to build. And if you put down your trowel, you are not building anything worth defending. So this means singing Psalms and keeping Sabbath, and this means pressing for the protection of the unborn, testifying to the truth wherever God gives you a platform. This means adopting orphans and opposing those who create orphans, who abuse orphans, who profit off the perpetuation of fatherlessness. How can you say you love orphans if you stand by and watch the wicked abuse them? Or worse, how can you join forces with those who exploit them?

What do I mean? Let me answer that question by turning to my second point and returning to the point of my original post about the #wokechurch being surprised by Abraham having slaves.

At least a few of those who objected to my original post, drawing the connection between Abraham and Jonathan Edwards, did so by insisting that the slavery of the ancient world was significantly different from early American race-based chattel slavery. These are brothers who affirm the inspiration and authority of Scripture, but apparently believe that the racism endemic in American slavery sets it in an entirely different category, and therefore they believe Abraham is a red herring. But this is a terribly slippery slope exegetically. I certainly grant that the Word of God must be wisely applied to new historical and cultural circumstances. I also grant that the law of God in particular must be translated to new contexts, interpreting all of Scripture by Scripture and in the light of Christ. I also grant that some modern realities are not directly addressed by Scripture and therefore must be addressed through the wise application of Biblical principles. However, to argue that a particular historical manifestation of slavery is unique and therefore not addressed by the Bible’s many prescriptions and instructions on the institution of slavery is a terrible mistake. And it leaves a gaping hole in the Christian Church’s flank, particularly right now when Militant Sexual Perversion is exploiting this very weakness.

Let me demonstrate.

Well known “Christian” homosexual apologist Matthew Vines says, “In the ancient world, homosexuality was widely considered, not to be a different sexual orientation or something inherent in a small minority of people, but to be an excess of lust or passion that anyone could be prone to if they let themselves go too much… The concept of sexual orientation, and of same-sex orientation in particular, didn’t exist in the ancient world. The English term “homosexual” was not even coined until the end of the 19th century. And so translations of these words that suggest that Paul was using these distinctly modern concepts and categories are highly suspect…The Bible never directly addresses, and it certainly does not condemn, loving, committed same-sex relationships. There is no biblical teaching about sexual orientation, nor is there any call to lifelong celibacy for gay people…”

Do you follow what Vines is saying? He’s saying that in the Bible and in the ancient world, homosexuality was only envisioned as a lustful promiscuity and overindulgence and elsewhere he adds violence and greed and idolatry to the vices previously associated with homosexuality. Vines argues that the Bible and ancient world did not know that some people are born gay, that some people are “naturally” oriented homosexual. “The Bible never directly addresses… committed same-sex relationships.” 

This is the exact argument some are attempting to use against applying what the Bible says about slavery and master-slave relationships to how we analyze American race-based chattel slavery. They are essentially saying, the Bible never directly addresses race-based chattel slavery. Ancient slavery and early American slavery are apples and oranges, two very different things. 

Where does this leave us? Matthew Vines shows us the way: “Romans 12 tells us to “honor one another above yourselves…rejoice with those who rejoice,” and “mourn with those who mourn.” Hebrews 13:3 says, “Remember those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” How fully have you absorbed, not just the existence of gay and lesbian Christians, but the depth of the pain and the hurt that their own brothers and sisters have inflicted on them? Does that pain grieve you as though it were your own?”

Matthew Vines, having (apparently) dispatched all the Biblical passages that speak directly to homosexual sin, urges Christians to apply other biblical passages to how Christians ought to view homosexuals, specifically appealing to their grief and pain. And this is the same play being run on the Church by the race-grievance hustlers. Don’t you see their pain? Don’t you see the grief of our black brothers and sisters, how they have been abused and mistreated and hated? 

And this brings us full circle to the opening question: Aren’t we supposed to love the outcast, welcome the orphans and widows, care for the poor? Yes, we are. And this is why we must actually defend them from their abusers. The woke-scam and the #metoo monkeyshines and the REVOICE racket are the spear tips of some of the greatest enemies of true mercy and love in our world today. Remember, this is the ploy of the devil to keep sinners in the prisons of their guilt and shame, lull them into the drugged sleep of despair, and bundle them all off to Hell. And the devil comes as an angel of light. The devil comes offering freedom, safety, meaning, deliverance – and it’s a shiny lure: “mercy” with hooks, “love” laced with poison. 

No lover of Christian mercy can make peace with any of this. You cannot say you just want to take the good parts of the devil’s deal, you just want to work with the good parts of the social justice dungeons, the helpful parts of the sexual confusion captivity. No, the gospel sets men free. The gospel makes no peace with the devil. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. What fellowship has light with darkness? To buddy up to the woke world is to join forces with the slave masters of the 21stcentury. Their whips are guilt and shame, and their prison cells are called reparations and activism. 

How do I know this? How do I know that the woke gospel and #metoo and the REVOICERS are modern slavers? How do I know that they are the modern slave traders? Because they are not setting anyone free. All they bring up are the grievances, the debts, the guilt, the shame, the pain, the hurt, and all they do is whine, complain, demand, and accuse. I can tell they are slavers because of the whips in their hands, because of the dead glaze in their eyes, because everyone who goes with them gets bitter and cold. I know they are slavers because they leave people in their sin, and then they write books and produce movies and hold conferences where they make millions off the grief and misery of their victims. Welcome to the Evangelical Grievance Industry.

But I know what the true gospel does. It sets men free. It sets women free. The gospel is good wine, the best food, like laughter that won’t stop. The gospel is a feast. The gospel is clean air. The gospel is gladness all the way down in your bones. Yes, there is a great deal of good work to do. There is a great deal of evil and injustice to overcome. But to know Jesus is to know the One who has already overcome the world. To know Jesus is to know the one who has already conquered sin, death, and the devil. To know Jesus is to know that bitterness is an enemy and accusations are from the devil. To know Jesus is to rest in His victory, His forgiveness, and His justice. The gospel sets men and women free to forgive those who have wronged them, to love their enemies, and to repent of their own sins gladly. That is the mercy of the gospel. And that is the only mercy that actually does any good.

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Prov. 27:6).

Photo by JJ Jordan on Unsplash

Why the Bible Ain’t Woke

Introduction
So I caused a little Facebook/Twitter disturbance yesterday when I pointed out that by the current trends many Christians may be surprised to find out that Abraham owned slaves. I suggested maybe a committee be formed to study the matter and bring back an appropriately remorseful report or perhaps at the next Big Eva conference Q/A panel discussion, the question could be raised as to whether we ought to quote Abraham anymore in our sermons. Then Facebook and Twitter discussion ensued.

The point of this and why I think it worth pointing out is that conservative Bible believing Christians really are backing themselves into untenable corners. Somewhat more liberal Christians see the corners and are far more clear. They see the options: either we must admit that the Bible is “immoral” by modern woke standards or else we must abandon old school notions of biblical authority. And several folks on Twitter were kind enough to point those options out – opting for looser standards of biblical authority themselves.  

What the Bible Says
Of course one reasonable question in return would be: but didn’t lots of Bible characters do bad things? Just because a Bible character does something, we don’t hold that up as an example to emulate. Description is not the same thing as prescription. Take Abraham’s shacking up with his female slave, Hagar, and trying produce an heir that way – not exactly his shining moment. So right, this isn’t a blank check to write for anything somebody in the Bible did. But my point is that specifically with regard to buying, owning, and inheriting slaves, the Bible has quite a bit to say prescriptively and explicitly permits, regulates, and even implies in at least one place that owning slaves can be considered a material blessing from God:

“The LORD has blessed my master [Abraham] greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys” (Gen. 24:35).

Likewise, later in the law, “And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have– from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves” (Lev. 25:44-46).

And the New Testament echoes this basic stance: “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven” (Col. 3:22-4:1).

What is particularly striking about this portion of Colossians is that this letter was sent by the hand of Tychicus and Onesimus (Col. 4:7-9). Onesimus was a runaway slave who had met Paul and been converted to Christ, and Paul was returning him to his master, Philemon, who was a Christian and a member of the church in Colossae. So Paul wrote what he wrote in general to the whole church in Colossae, Christian slave owners included, and then on top of that, he wrote a personal appeal to Philemon in the book of Philemon which was almost certainly hand delivered by his runaway slave, now converted, Onesimus. A careful reading of Philemon reveals Paul clearly requesting that Philemon forgive Onesimus and receive him as a brother, with the clear implication that Philemon set Onesimus free, but Paul does not command Philemon to do so or demand it immediately. In other words, while Paul makes a play on the principle of justice, alluding to a debt that Philemon owes him (Phlm 19), that play itself suggests Paul understood that Philemon had some legitimate claim on Onesimus. But regardless, Paul makes it clear that Onesimus’s freedom is not a matter of absolute justice and therefore Paul did not consider it appropriate to make that decision himself. Rather, he recognized Philemon’s right to make that decision willingly (Phlm 14). 

Standards of Woketudeness
Now, if you don’t yet see how the Bible ain’t woke, you’ve clearly not been paying attention. By modern standards of woketudeness, Paul is so unwoke, he probably thinks Samson and Jephthah were heroes of the faith. But this is the point: the Bible clearly teaches that owning a slave, inheriting a slave, even buying a slave was not in itself sinful, evil, wicked, or necessarily wrong. This is not to say that slavery was good, ideal, or not attended with all kinds of sin and evil. But if the Bible is our standard, then we must receive it and submit to it as it stands, not as we wish it might have been. So my point in the original tweet is that it is simply not enough to note that Jonathan Edwards, the puritans, or the founders of Southern Seminary owned slaves. Far more work must be done to demonstrate that these men sinned in their treatment of their slaves. And furthermore, even where sin can be clearly demonstrated, there must be a bright and shining light of demarcation between disqualifying sin and the endemic sins of the human race. We must not pretend to be more holy than God. So for example, Hebrews 11 clearly lists a number of heroes of the faith that would have a hard time getting jobs at a modern conservative Reformed church or seminary. No asterisks, no footnotes, no qualifications: Samson, hero of the faith, Jephthah, hero of the faith, David, hero of the faith, and of course Abraham, hero of the faith – should we be quoting those men in our sermons and why has no one seriously asked this question yet? But the Holy Spirit’s authoritative appraisal of those men is faithful– flaws, warts, and all. That ain’t woke, bro.

Why This Matters
But this is why all of this matters: When we have conservative Bible believing Christians seriously entertaining the question of whether it is appropriate to cite fathers in the faith due to the mere fact of slave holding, we have joined forces with the enemies of gospel civilization. What is the standard by which we are judging? The standard is clearly not God’s word. The standard is worldly sentiment, humanistic whims, the muttering woke-priests of our American high places. And when we are in the process of exchanging God’s standard for a human standard, we are always necessarily in the process of exchanging God’s salvation for a human attempt at salvation, which is like exchanging a working parachute for six bricks in a briefcase. Moral codes and moral standards expose sin, expose failure, and then the follow up question in the face of sin and failure is always, what shall I do to be saved? The woke gospel is a false gospel because while it still frequently names the name of Christ (at least in conservative circles) it is in the process of subtly replacing Him. Like the Judaizing movement, it won’t be all at once, so it’s Jesus plus social justice, Jesus plus racial sensitivity, Jesus plus special rights for sexual minorities, etc., but when you add anything to the finished work of Jesus to make you right and clean and holy and just, you are denying the sufficiency of His saving grace. Sure, Jesus died for your sins, but you also need to get woke. You don’t really understand the gospel until you take remedial sensitivity training from one of our trained specialists. And if you refuse to do that, we’re not even really sure you’re a Christian.

Why Abraham Applies
Last thing: one of the points of pushback I received on Twitter was the claim that American race-based chattel slavery was something entirely different than what the OT or NT envisioned or sought to address. American racial sin, the claim goes, was so much worse and therefore Abraham’s slaveholding is irrelevant to Jonathan Edwards – there is no moral equivalence. But this misunderstanding is itself the propaganda of the woke gospel (and its Enlightenment predecessors). American racial vainglory and animosity was wicked, evil, disgusting. Full stop. And the lengths to which our forefathers went to justify the perpetual subjugation of fellow members of the human race based on skin color was atrocious, especially when done with Bible verses. And this is because the logic and efficacy of the gospel is all about setting all men free. But the fact of the matter is that we have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to understanding the nature of slavery throughout the rest of human history. The very real American racial sin (as well as all the other atrocities) attached to our institutions of slavery does not hold a candle to the brutality, violence, bloodshed, and ethnic and racial hatred that filled the centuries and millennia prior to the founding of the American colonies. The world of slavery that existed in Abraham’s day was far less humane, for more ruthless than anything Harriet Beecher Stowe could have imagined. Likewise, Greek and Roman slavery was far more cruel and degrading of human beings on a mass scale than the general climate and worst abuses of the Confederate States. In other words, the permission and regulation of slavery in the Bible did so in far more horrific circumstances than America ever saw. In the ancient world there was no such thing as human rights. While there were most certainly cruel and wicked men and cruel and wicked laws in the South, there was still a broadly Christian conscience that was pricked by abuses (even if frequently dulled and hardened as well) that was completely non-existent in the ancient pagan world. And our modern sentimentalism is simply a naïve and romantic myopia that does not fathom just how far we have come since Christ came. None of this justifies the real American horrors involved in the trans-Atlantic middle passage, the slave trade, murder and rape, the separation of families, Confederate hubris, and the Jim Crow aftermath. God damn all that and good riddens to it all. This is why Abraham’s situation really does apply to Jonathan Edwards, and if Jonathan Edwards is on the chopping block so is Abraham, so is Paul, so is Jesus.

Conclusion
This current social justice inquisition – and that is what it is, is built on a “gospel” that is every bit as false and tyrannical as the Roman Catholic beast that Protestantism gutted five hundred years ago. And this is because that beast, that reoccurring monster in human history is the false promise of human power, human works, human attempts at justification and reconciliation. But when man is in the driver’s seat you can never be sure you’ve done enough, never be sure you’re good enough, never be sure you’re clean enough, never be sure you’ve actually put things right. So you have to virtue signal a little more, bow and scrape before the cultural idols a little more, cross yourself and read another article, share another podcast, like another post. And you flatter the high priests and mince your words all the while afraid, terrified that you might still be a bigot, might still be a racist, might still be defiled, unclean, impure, and tainted by your ancestors.

So as a minister of the gospel, I call on you to stop it. In the name of Jesus, drop it. This grievance hustle is disgusting and shameful for those who name the name of Christ. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Full stop. No condemnation. No guilt. No shame. Nothing more to do. You are forgiven. You are covered in the perfect righteousness of Jesus – His perfect obedience, His sinless life, His perfect justice. There is no striving, no scraping, no grasping, no demanding, no condemnation. No condemnation at all. 

The death of Jesus is the death of all slavery because it is the death of all animosity, all hatred, all pride, all vainglory, all guilt and shame, all prejudice and envy because in the cross of Jesus every tribe, every tongue, every nation has been put to death, has been publicly executed for their crimes against God and man. You are dead. You have already died. Your crimes have been paid for. The justice for your sin was exhaustively satisfied without any remainder. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because Christ was condemned for all our sin. He was beaten for our hatred. He was mocked for our vainglory. He was abandoned for our cruelty. He was spat on for our insolence and pride. He bled out for the sins we tried to cover up. He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

There is no other way out of this mess except by the cross of Jesus, except by Jesus Christ crucified for sinners. And therefore, if we would have the cross of Jesus, then we must have His Word expose our sin truthfully and nothing else will do. Female words cannot expose our sin, black words cannot expose our sin, male words cannot expose our sin, white words cannot expose our sin. Only God’s word can lay us bare and expose our sin in all of its blood-sucking mess, and only God Himself can say the word and make us clean and declare us free forever. There is no other hope, no other cleansing flood, no other perfect justice, no other reconciliation, no other Name by which we must be saved.

Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

The Gods in the Headlines

So there’s been another shooting. Well, that is to say, there’s been another shooting that the high priests of our land would like to use to make a point, probably several points, several sharp points in your back. There are shootings all over the world all the time. For example, over 300 people have already been shot in Chicago in 2019. This is not to make light of any of them, but simply to point out the fact that news is always selective. We don’t have time to report on, much less digest everything that happens in the world. So the news, such as it is, attempts to prioritize and select the most significant, the most important news. And in order to do this, they must have a standard to judge significance by and this is of necessity a moral ordering that shuffles and sifts the data of each day. You cannot judge what is good, bad, horrific, or monumental from a place of neutrality. Of course to honestly report on a news story, there ought to be impartiality to facts, honesty about the truth, and so on, but that commitment is itself a moral commitment to a certain standard of justice and honesty, goodness and evil. In other words, editorial decisions are always and necessarily religious in nature. There be gods in the headlines and their clerics write and chatter enthusiastically.

So there’s been another shooting, this time in New Zealand. Two mosques were targeted by (apparently) a lone Australian gunman, leaving fifty people dead and another 35-40 wounded. And the prophets and priests arrive on the scene to deliver their homilies and sermons, pronouncing, denouncing, proclaiming, declaring, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. And this really is inescapable. We are people, human beings created in God’s image, and so we naturally want to understand. We hunger for meaning. This is a built in feature, not a bug, but in our attempts to explain, to connect the dots, to answer the question “why?” we reveal our moral and religious convictions, we pay homage to our gods.

Some immediately explained the catastrophe as driven by white nationalism, others describe the disease as xenophobia, Islamaphobia, and probably homophobia. Of course technically speaking a “phobia” is a mental disorder, and there are treatments for that, but I digress… Others blamed such disparate characters as Chelsea Clinton and Donald Trump (for different reasons, we presume). The term “eco fascist” and “eco terrorist” were also thrown about as possible explanations. And others wondered quietly or out loud, as the case may be, whether the violent history and celebration of jihad within the Muslim religion could have anything to do with the shooting. The New Zealand Prime Minister immediately announced that new, tougher, and stricter gun laws would be immediately in the works, and a number of the woke prophets fell on their faces and praised her holy name.

But just notice how the explanations come flying in. And depending on your convictions some of the explanations seem reasonable and others seem outrageous. Why do people do what they do? And more specifically, why do people go on murderous shooting sprees? What is a reasonable way of explaining the causation? But in order to answer that question you have to assume or believe in a certain theory of causation, an overarching worldview that generally explains what makes people tick. These beliefs, these material circumstances, or these moral offenses cause people to go on murderous rampages. In this case, the shooter apparently wrote down why he thought he was doing what he was doing, an 87 page manifesto, but even that we are told by some was a deliberate and ironic attempt at “trolling” the media. Is this an attempt to discredit the shooter’s own self-awareness? Regardless, the many memes and celebrities named in the shooter’s manifesto appear to be an attempt to discredit some, or else an attempt to invoke a public response, catapulting the shooter/shooting into even greater notoriety. While the shooter manifesto has apparently been scrubbed from the internet, initial reports said that the alleged shooter claimed he was an admirer of everyone from Maoist China to Candace Owens. Apparently he was not a big fan of Donald Trump or Environmentalism and certainly not Muslims.

The usual food fight breaks out with these events, some decrying guns, others denouncing “thoughts and prayers,” still others doubling down on “thoughts and prayers,” others talk of buying more guys, others blame politically correct immigration policy, the meritocracy, white privilege, and still others denounce all of the “politicization” of the shooting and insist that we simply mourn with those who mourn.

But the primary point I want to make here is the fact that this shooting was politicized from jump. According to Open Doors, an online Christian persecution data base, every month, an average of “255 Christians are killed, 104 are abducted, 180 Christian women are raped, sexually harassed or forced into marriage, 66 churches are attacked, 160 Christians are detained without trial and imprisoned.” An average of 66 Christian churches are attacked every month. For example, over 30 Christians were gunned down by Muslims in Nigeria just last Tuesday. In church. And the media said what? The point is not that the Muslim lives in New Zealand don’t matter, the point is the manifest hypocrisy. The point is that we are having an alien worldview, another religion shoved down our throats.

Some stories support certain narratives better than others. The leftist/socialist narrative is the evil of Christian civilization. Many have been taught that the Roman Empire was essentially drugged into the dark ages through the superstitions of Christianity. Illiterate monks and sexually repressed priests ran a racket on the rank and file of humanity for about a thousand years, keeping them in fear of eternal damnation while living in luxury and opulence — all in the name of God — all while suppressing the creative and inquisitive Galileos of the world. And then came the Crusades, wars in the name of God, violence against Muslims, raping and pillaging in the name of God. Then came the “wars of religion,” and the industrial revolution, the old racket “reformed” into a rapacious capitalistic spirituality, penance transformed into entrepreneurship, the coffer of indulgences transfigured into the coffer of indulgence. Many have been taught to believe that the Protestant Reformation was nothing more than a peasant revolt, a slave revolt, the have-nots plundering the haves, as the wealthy monasteries of England were pillaged by the conveniently Protestant nobility. And into this sad, superstitious greed-fest arose the enlightened and benevolent Nation State, the incarnation of the will of the people, pure democracy, the revolutionary humanistic spirit surging toward the eschatological vision of a marxist utopia.

On the other hand, Biblical Christianity affirms the goodness and inescapability of social hierarchy: fathers, husbands, pastors, magistrates, judges, nobles. Biblical Christianity affirms the goodness and necessity of fixed, transcendent law and morality. Biblical Christianity roots true liberty in the spiritual freedom won for us in the sacrifice of Christ — that because of man’s moral rebellion against his Maker, man is everywhere enslaved by sin and death, and that these chains forge societal chains: debt slavery, prison slavery, chattel slavery, statist slavery, and every form of violence and coercion — the slavery of death. And for this enslaved world Christ died on a Roman cross, a formal and public execution by the political and religious principalities and powers, in order to expose the utter bankruptcy of the wisdom of man and to display the wisdom and power of God in saving sinners.

The world hated God’s Christ then, and the wicked rulers paid the first witnesses of the resurrection to lie about what they had seen. The establishment hates the gospel of Christ because it reveals every man and woman to be a sinner, a self-righteous, self-seeking liar and tyrant. We dress up our immorality and call it social justice. We whitewash our tombs, and call ourselves woke. We keep the outside of our cups clean, but we are corpses and defiled, enslaved and enslaving. But when Christ was lifted up on the cross, He became sin for the sinful in order that sinners might be justified, washed clean, and set free. Justified, forgiven, and free men and women embrace their callings in this world, serving others gladly and sacrificially, confessing their sins, forgiving others, keeping their word, working hard, caring for those in need, but they do this as the free nobility of Christ. They do this out of gratitude not by coercion. They do it because they are compelled by love and grace and joy in Christ. They love God’s law and God’s world because they love the God who made them and saved them.

And because of all of this Biblical Christianity is essentially conservative — and I’m not talking about any particular policy or position or political party — I’m talking about a particular stance in this world: the goodness and necessity of Gospel Reformation as opposed to various strains of immediatism and coercive, violent revolution. The Kingdom of God is yeast leavening the loaf, a mustard seed growing into a great tree, a small stream growing into a swelling river flowing out to the ends of the earth — it is gloriously transformative, but its power surges from the reality of regeneration — God saving sinners and filling them with His Spirit by the proclamation of the gospel, the proclamation of Christ crucified for sinners, not political activism, not lever pulling, not elections, not protests, not brute force.

The fact that the world still hates this God, this gospel, this forgiveness, this freedom, this way of Reformation is a testimony to its potency. The world still hates this Christ and conspires together against the Lord and against His Christ because His Christ is the deathblow of all humanistic power. Some hate Christ and His gospel intentionally, consciously, overtly, but for many it is only instinctive, unconscious, a subtle hatred and repulsion in bits and pieces, largely unaware of how the dots actually connect. They hate our “thoughts and prayers” and maybe they don’t really understand why they do — it seems childish and sentimental, it’s a bunch of hocus pocus, but also because it largely represents what many have been educated to see as the very cause of all the unrest and violence.

So these are the major narratives, the worldviews, the major “religions” in conflict: statism vs. Christianity. Christianity teaches that sin is the root cause of all the violence and hatred. Statism teaches that “extremist” ideologies are the cause of the violence and hatred. Related to this is a thoroughgoing materialism — everything is reducible to matter, chemicals, possessions, money, guns, sex, power. And therefore more statist education, more social services, more gun control, and ever creeping restrictions on the “cause” of all the violence: Christianity. But Christianity thrives in trenches, thrives in the graveyard. As Chesterton said, “Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.”

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Read Your Bible

“All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth forever” (1 Pet. 1:24-25).

One of the characteristics that marks Christian wisdom is the constant appeal to God’s word. The latest studies, the latest trends, the latest rage – may or may not be helpful – and chances are good that it’s not, but God’s word stands forever. 

And you can tell who you are trying to please by whose word you pay most attention to. Whose word has been on your mind? A news story eating at you? An article on the financial markets, a supreme court ruling? A new diet or health concern or something about vaccinations? Maybe a hard word from a friend or family member? Something your boss said – good or bad? The words that you hold on to, the words that you share the most, talk about the most, think about the most are the words you are trusting. And the words that you trust are a pretty good litmus test of who you most want to please.

The words of man are like grass. The best words of man are like a really great flower, faded and gone in a few days. But God’s word is pure, like silver tried in a furnace, purified seven times. His word is perfect, converting the soul. He statutes are always right, rejoicing the heart. His commands enlighten the eyes. The words of man are vanity and covetousness. They are empty and grasping and fading. And the approval of man is the same. But God’s word is fixed and sure, settled in heaven. His faithfulness is to all generations. His words are sweet, like honey. His words are a bright light, like the dawning of a new day. And when we seek His Word, we seek Him, and we always find Him trustworthy and true.

Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash

Rejoicing Sets a Table

In the Old Covenant, God repeatedly commanded Israel to keep the feasts, to offer their tithes and sacrifices, and to eat and drink and rejoice before the Lord with their families and neighbors, the strangers, the fatherless, the widow in their midst. In fact, the command to rejoice is so tied to the festivals and worship of God that the command to rejoice almost seems synonymous with worship and feasting. If God commands his people to rejoice, the connotations are clear: rejoicing is feasting and worship before the Lord. 

It’s no accident that Jesus commanded His people to celebrate this meal in remembrance of Him. And when the early Christians gathered together to commemorate His death and resurrection, they celebrated with this meal. Biblically speaking, rejoicing is always around a table with family and friends and with as many of our neighbors as will come. 

So what are we doing at this table? We are rejoicing. What is this whole service of worship? We are rejoicing. What is this day that we are marking and celebrating? It’s the Lord’s Day, the Christian Sabbath, the day Jesus rose from the dead, the day He finished His New Creation work and rested, having made all things new. This is our feast day, our festival day, our day of rejoicing. 

This is why we worship weekly because we are commanded to rejoice always. The Christian feast is a continual feast, a weekly feast, a feast that marks the beginning of every week. Is this a festival week? Does this week begin with a feast? Why yes it does. Every week is a festival week in the Christian calendar. Every week is marked by the Lord’s Day, by the Christian Sabbath, by rejoicing in Christ. And therefore the invitation to this joy is an invitation to take this joy with you. Let this joy mark your tables today and throughout the week. Let this joy mark your words, your conversations in the car, your work, your lives. 

So come, eat and drink: your sins are forgiven in Christ. Come eat and drink: our Savior lives and all things are made new. Come, eat and drink, and rejoice. 

Come and welcome to Jesus Christ.

Photo by Kelsey Knight on Unsplash

You Are Here to Remember

Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. The fourth commandment is a command to remember.

But the Bible teaches us that we are embodied creatures and therefore the act of remembering must be embodied and embedded in our lives. In the fourth commandment, God commands us to remember in time. We are to mark our days and weeks in certain way in order to remember. Time is what tempts us to forget, but time is meant by God as an aid to remember. This is why God created the sun, moon, and stars: to divide the day from the night and to be for signs, seasons, days, and years – to rule over day and night – to be reminders. 

What do we need to remember? In Exodus 20, Moses says that Israel must remember the Sabbath in order to remember that God created all things in six days and rested on the seventh day. In Dt. 5, Moses says that Israel must remember that they were slaves in Egypt and the Lord brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. In the New Testament, Jesus gave us the Lord’s Supper, and He commanded us to give thanks and share bread and wine in order to remember His death and resurrection until He comes again. 

So what are you doing here? Why are you here today? You are here to remember. You are here to remember that God created you and all things. You are here to remember that God is not only your creator but also your redeemer, your savior, your Lord and your King – that He delivered Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and now He has also delivered you from the guilt of sin and the power of Satan and death, by the blood of His Son. You are here to remember that Jesus is risen from the dead. You are here to remember that your sins are forgiven. You are here to remember that all things are being made new. You are here to renew covenant, to remember the Sabbath, to gather with your people, to worship with the saints of God, to rest in His grace and rejoice in His love.

You are here to remember.

Photo by Laurentiu Iordache on Unsplash

Despising the Shame

Heb. 12:1-3, 13:9-13

Introduction

In a recent article entitled, Shame Storm, a writer chronicles how true and false accusations of wrong doing combined with the internet and social media have mixed together to create storms of shame: One person commented on a situation, “I think nobody has quite figured out what should happen in cases like his, where you have been legally acquitted but you are still judged as undesirable in public opinion, and how far that should go, how long that should last.” The author continues: “No one has yet figured out what rules should govern the new frontiers of public shaming that the Internet has opened… Shame is now both global and permanent, to a degree unprecedented in human history. No more moving to the next town to escape your bad name. However far you go and however long you wait, your disgrace is only ever a Google search away.”

We live in a world that has become shameful– literally, we have done shameful things, we feel shame, we are afraid of being exposed, and we are frequently driven by avoidance of shame. But the Bible speaks to this situation, and the gospel is good news and good courage for this.

The Texts: Shame first enters the world in the Garden of Eden in the sin of our first parents: “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons… And [Adam] said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Gen. 3:7, 10). Shame is the feeling or fact of exposure – the visceral, frequently physical sense of disgrace, defilement, dishonor, humiliation, or embarrassment. If guilt is the objective fact of wrong doing, shame is the subjective feeling and the public exposure of that fact. When Aaron led Israel to worship the golden calf, they did so naked to their great shame (Ex. 32:25). Shame is something that covers people like a garment or covers their face (Job 8:22, Ps. 35:26, 44:15, 69:7, 83:16). It’s a spoiled reputation, a despised status, blot, filth, a mark of folly that is seemingly impossible to remove. Think of Joseph not wanting to put Mary to open shame, supposing she had sinned to become pregnant with Jesus (Mt. 1:19). Shame is the private and public humiliation of being wrong, the removal of respect and glory (1 Cor. 11:6). And yet our texts say that we are to look unto Jesus, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2). He endured such contradictions against Himself, that we are to remain resolute and confident (Heb. 12:3). We are to establish our hearts with grace, going to Jesus outside the gate, bearing His reproach (Heb. 13:9, 12-13). 

The Grace of Shame

In the first instance, if we are to rightly despise the shame, we must welcome a certain sort of shame. How does Paul say that we are to establish our hearts with grace? Not by diverse and strange doctrines and not by eating meat (Heb. 13:9). What does he mean? He means that you cannot establish your hearts by doing respectable religious things – he’s talking specifically about priests and Jews trying to trick grace out of the sacrificial altar in Jerusalem after Jesus has come. Of course, at one time that altar did point to Jesus, our sacrifice for sin, but those sacrifices could never actually take away sin, and now that Jesus has come, turning back to the Old Covenant was worse than useless. 

But the temptation here varies through the ages: it’s the temptation to respectability, various and strange and new doctrines and fads. The Jews had a nice building, formal sacrificial liturgies, and an inner circle inside the camp, inside the gate. The carcasses of the sacrificial animals were burned outside the camp (Heb. 13:11), and so that is where they also crucified Jesus, outside the gate (Heb. 13:12). And that is where God’s grace is found, outside the gate, where Jesus was nailed to a tree, hung up naked for all to see, mocked and jeered, until our sins were paid for, until God’s justice was completely finished. In the beginning, God killed animals and covered Adam and Eve’s shame, and in the fullness of time, God laid the wrath of His justice on His own Son and covered all of our shame forever. It is the grace of shame to cause us to know our sin, to know our nakedness, to drive us to the cross of Jesus, despising the shame of owning our sin. 

I remember years ago when I was teaching, I called a parent to report something about their student. In the course of the conversation, I was not completely truthful, and when I hung up the phone, I knew immediately that I had lied and needed to put it right. I called back a second time, and proceeded to apologize for a good half of my lie. Upon hanging up a second time, I was thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed as I proceeded to call the parent for a third to finally tell the entire truth – and I’ve never done that again! Shame drives us to deal with our sin, but shame also teaches us to hate sin, to stay far away from sin. This is the grace of shame.

True and False Shame

But in a fallen world, rebellious sinners who refuse to repent of their sin must do something with their shame, and so they embrace it. They call evil good and good evil, and they glory in their shame (Is. 5:20, Phil. 3:19). They rejoice in their shame; they are shameless and proud of their shame. “Who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked” (Prov. 2:13-14). They are “raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 1:13). “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you” (1 Pet. 4:3-4). 

The logical end game of refusing the message of true shame for sin is a complete reversal or inversion of glory and shame, calling good evil and evil good, to the point that you are evil for not joining in with them in their evil, for not rejoicing with them in evil. And the goal is to make you ashamed. The goal is to make you feel bad about confronting their sin, for not endorsing it. And so this is also what it means to “bear His reproach” outside the camp (Heb. 13:13). They falsely accused Jesus. They said He was a blasphemer and rabble-rouser and traitor. They condemned Him, crucified Him, speaking evil of Him. They sought to shame Him, and therefore they will seek to shame all who would follow Him (Jn. 15:18-19, 1 Jn. 3:13). This is what Peter and John faced when they were beaten and rebuked: “they departed from the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:41-42). 

Conclusions

The first application is the straightforward invitation to have your shame covered by Jesus. And you must be entirely covered. When Jesus came to wash the feet of Peter, Peter was apparently embarrassed, ashamed to have the Lord wash his feet, but Jesus said to him: “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me” (Jn. 13:8). And Peter immediately got the point and asked for the full bath. The same is true for our shame. Unless Jesus covers you, you have no part with Him. Jesus has white robes for everyone who comes to Him, but you must come (Rev. 3:18). This invitation is for all sinners and all sin, but it is particularly for the sins and filth that you think cannot be covered: the shame of sexual sin, the shame of abortion, the shame of divorce, the shame of wayward children, the shame of being fired from your job. He even covers the shame of things that are not necessarily our fault — not being married, not having children, not accomplishing the great things you said/thought you would. Take it to Jesus, He’s waiting outside the camp.

The second application is that whatever Jesus has covered with His blood and righteousness is utterly blameless, and you must not give a wit for the accusations of the Devil or the shame-weaponizing of the world (Col. 2:14-15, Heb. 2:14-15). When Peter and John rejoiced to suffer shame for the name of Jesus, they did not cease to preach and teach Jesus Christ. So too, when you are privileged to suffer shame for the name of Jesus, do not cease to walk with Jesus. Do not slow down. Do not hesitate. If you have been forgiven, then learn to teach transgressors the ways of God, so that sinners will be converted (Ps. 51:13). “And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed” (Joel 2:26-27). 

Do not grow weary, lay aside every weight, and fix your eyes on Jesus, who despised the shame for you.

Photo by Wil Stewart on Unsplash

God’s Sign of Hospitality

This table is God’s sign of hospitality to us and all men. The Word calls us to this table. The gospel calls us to fellowship with God and one another. It calls us to reconciliation in Christ, through His broken body and shed blood for our sins. 

But this table is the Lord’stable, the Lord’sSupper. This is not your table or my table. This table does not belong to CCD or Christ Church or the CREC or to reformed Presbyterians. It belongs to Jesus. This means that everyone Jesus welcomes into fellowship with Him is welcome here. We do not have the right to fence our table more strictly than Jesus because it is not our table. 

So who may come to this table? All who have been baptized and profess faith in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of sins and are not under church discipline. If you are a baptized believer and you have been walking in unconfessed sin you must come, but you must come and lay your sin down. If you come in hypocrisy, the Lord of this table will deal with you. You cannot come intending to continue in your sin, intending to cover up your sin and leave here under the blessing of God. And if you really aren’t sure, I would urge you to talk to me or one of the elders about your situation. 

But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus welcomes sinners to His table. You do not need to wait until you are all cleaned up to come to His table. You do not need to go figure everything out before you can come. Jesus is the only way to be cleaned up; Jesus is the only way to untangle the knots of sin that we create. And Jesus is here. 

Do you want to be clean? Then come and welcome to Jesus Christ. Do you want the sin in your life untangled and put right? Then come and welcome to Jesus Christ. Do want to learn how to love the strangers around you wisdom, as you have been loved in Christ? Then come and welcome to Jesus Christ.

Reformational Abolition or Cautions for the Abolitionists

I have a great deal of respect for the men and women on the front lines of abortion ministry. My respect goes back to one of my earliest memories: when I was a little kid, I remember my pastor announcing to our church that he was flying to Atlanta to participate in an Operation Rescue protest. He said he was planning to peacefully trespass with hundreds of others, planned to be arrested, and he was doing so in order to proclaim the gospel in the face of the murder of the unborn by abortion. That was a wonderfully startling moment in my young heart and mind – awakening me to the great evil of abortion and the conflict in our own land. I had immense respect for him then and I still do to this day. I have participated in Planned Parenthood protests, walks for life, and anyone who has followed my work on CrossPolitic ought to know that I and my cohosts have not been shy about the urgency of ending abortion, pressing pro-life politicians to do justice, and seeking to encourage and support all sorts of biblical efforts to end abortion.   

At the same time, there is considerable debate over how successful and effective mainstream pro-life work has been over the last 40 years. Have our lobbying groups and politicians pushed for the greatest gains? Has there been any cowardice in our ranks, any apathy, or worse – any gaming of donors – trumpeting insignificant legislative “gains” as fundraising ploys? I raise these questions tentatively and cautiously because it really isn’t easy or fun to be on the front lines of working for the end of abortion, and I believe that many are actually sacrificing much to end abortion. I want to be very careful about “friendly fire,” accidentally firing on friends who have done much to stand for truth and justice. For example, I would hate to cast any aspersions on the Roman Catholic woman who led the March for Life in my home town for many years, having attended it every single year since the very first year right after Roe v. Wade. That is certainly not the only way to protest abortion and it may not even be the most effective way, but she should not be accused of apathy or cowardice or playing to her donor base. Not hardly. But we would also be foolish not to think that our motives and incentives cannot get tangled up with sin. If Paul could tell the Ephesian elders that wolves would come in among them, then certainly, we may ask probing questions of our pro-life movement. Perhaps the greatest accomplishments of the movement over the last 40 years have been the multiplication of crisis pregnancy centers, offering ultrasounds, baby supplies, adoption information, and biblical, pro-life counseling to people considering abortions, literally all over the nation. And these accomplishments should not be minimized in the slightest. And yet, on the legal front it seems at times that mainstream pro-life organizations have settled into interminably long games of incrementalism at best, sometimes described by the frustrated as the mere “regulation” of abortion at worst.

A year or so back, Pastor Doug Wilson and I posted a few rounds of dialogue with some other brothers in favor of “Smashmouth Incrementalism,” and I want to re-assert that cause perhaps with an additional moniker, “Reformational Abolitionism.” 

What do I mean by “Reformational Abolitionism?” I mean that I stand with my abolitionist brothers with regard to the end goal: the complete abolition of abortion in our land as soon as possible. I am also an abolitionist in the sense that I support legislation being proposed at every level that would immediately criminalize all abortion from conception on. While many incrementalists oppose these bills for fear of further setbacks if/when such bills are overturned in the courts, I believe we should run all the plays. Good quarterbacks do not only throw “hail marys” and neither do they only do handoffs or short passing plays. Good quarterbacks run all the plays. So for example, I support Idaho Representative Heather Scott’s bill that would return Idaho to its pre-Roe law code, recognizing the intentional taking of all human life, from conception on, as murder. And I’m very appreciative of some of her creative talking points, pointing out Idaho’s willingness to defy the Feds on the 2ndAmmendment, as well as various loopholes in Pro-life legislation that the Roe v. Wade decision itself pointed out. And I would urge the Idaho Right to Life folks – even if they don’t want to run this particular play – not to discourage it in any way. 

And this leads to the “Reformational” part. I differ with some abolitionists who oppose incremental progress toward the end of abortion. Christians should never be satisfied with mere “limits” or regulations – partial-birth abortion bans or fetal-pain bans, even “heartbeat” bills are not the end goal. But a smashmouth incrementalist like myself still welcomes and supports such baby steps. If every life matters, and a bill will save even one more life, I thank God for it. And I don’t buy the shrieks from some that insist that my support for limits somehow makes me guilty of the remaining bloodshed. If I see a feasible way to save three lives from a burning building, I’m not liable for the deaths of other people I couldn’t rescue. And it’s not more faithful or courageous to leave those three people to die because I couldn’t save them all. At the same time, all of our efforts really do need to be steps toward the clear and explicit goal of completely abolishing abortion. I support every form of forward momentum, and we should never be satisfied until the job is done. 

But loving the body of Christ means that Jesus gives different gifts by His Spirit to different believers. Some believers pray for the end of abortion. Some believers are running legislative plays. And some believers are homeschooling six kids and teaching them to love and serve God all their days. That’s faithful and courageous pro-life ministry too. And some believers are putting Psalms to music for the church to sing because worship is warfare. It is not apathy to abortion to spend your days teaching in a classical Christian school. It is not apathy to abortion to build a successful business on Christian principles so that you have weight to throw around in your town, so that you have influence, so that you can support godly measures, so that you can employ families who will welcome children into their home and provide for them. Reformational Abolitionism recognizes how God works through many different means to bring transformation to society. He works through churches and families and businesses and worship and evangelism and schools and the arts and protests and the courage of lesser magistrates — all of these things, with the gospel at the center, to disciple the nations and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. The gospel is like leaven. It took 300 years for Rome to bow the knee to Jesus. But it did bow the knee. Jesus, Paul, and the other apostles were smashmouth incrementalists, Reformational Abolitionists.

I am also a Reformational Abolitionist because I oppose revolutionary and violent means of accomplishing the goal of abolition of abortion. On July 29, 1994, a man named Paul Jennings Hill approached an abortion doctor and his body guard and opened fire with a shotgun, killing both. Hill had been an ordained minister in the PCA and OPC before being defrocked and excommunicated for espousing his views on the justification of violence in his efforts to end abortion (and “Amen” to the OPC/PCA for their discipline). Hill was convicted of murder by the state of Florida and later executed by lethal injection. Hill went to his death insisting that his actions were judicious and lawful and biblically justified. But I believe that what Hill did was evil, murderous, and the state of Florida did justice when it executed Hill. 

While the Paul Hill shooting might seem like one random act of violence, the rhetoric of some abolitionists is not nearly careful enough. In a recent video from “Free the States,” which can be found on Rep. Heather Scott’s website, the voiceover narrates the story of slavery abolitionism, arguing for the right of states to nullify unjust laws (so far so good). While I do believe there are important analogies that pro-life Christians should gladly point to (e.g. the Dred Scott decision was a Supreme Court decision that was ultimately determined to be unjust and unconstitutional and it was overturned, as Roe v. Wade will be one day), there are also important distinctions that need to be made, lest modern day abolitionists find themselves defending the Paul Hills of the world. For example, the “Free the States” video states that slavery is a sin, period. But the Bible says no such thing. The video says that the abolitionists insisted on “immediate” abolition and when the federal government refused to “repent,” the matter was turned over to the “court of public opinion” and – amid images of burning buildings and civil war battle fields – the narrator concludes: “the necessity of abolition becomes a reality.”

The logic here is straightforward and dangerous. So for example, what does this video (and its makers) make of the abolitionism of John Brown? In October 1859, John Brown led a failed armed raid on the federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia and was for hung for murder, insurrection, and treason. Incidentally, the US Marines who arrested John Brown and brought him to justice were led by none other than Robert E. Lee. The language and imagery of the “Free the States” video would seem to support vigilante “justice” and violence like that of John Brown. The logic would seem to demand it. Biblically speaking, slavery is a pervasive and unfortunate result of the Fall of man into sin, and is therefore regulated by Scripture, requiring humane treatment of slaves, with the clear implication that as the gospel works through cultures, it sets men free both spiritually and (gradually) physically (e.g. Ex. 21, 1 Cor. 7:20-21, Eph. 6:5-9, Philemon). The Bible clearly condemns all manstealing, kidnapping, rape, racial prejudice, and prohibits the returning of runaway slaves, and requires opportunities to gain freedom, which had the States obeyed and enforced, it would certainly have put a significant damper on the particular travesty of American race-based chattel slavery. But if this video’s strain of abolitionism is to be embraced, the murder of babies is a far clearer, far more heinous evil than American slavery ever was. Despite the real horrors that accompanied American slavery, it was nothing compared to the 60 million babies we have dismembered since 1973. The point being, if armed insurrection and vigilante violence is seen as heroic or justified for ending American slavery, you are necessarily insisting that Paul Hill was a hero and his act justified and calling for similar acts.

But that is the way of revolution– that is the way of violence and anarchy, and it is antithetical to the gospel. Yes, there are times when armed revolt is justified (War for Independence, anyone?), but the Bible is clear that individuals are only allowed to use force or violence in cases of self-defense, and then only sparingly (Ex. 22:2-3). Only magistrates are authorized to use the sword and then only in submission to biblical principles of justice, what has historically been called a “just war” (Rom. 13:1-7). 

So, to my abolitionist brothers, I want to urge you to keep the gospel and the church central. Babies were being aborted in the first century, and the apostles did not make ending abortion the headline of their letters. All murder was certainly condemned, but the gospel of grace was preached and churches were established with elders in every city, building safe havens from the violence of the world, with the express goal of discipling the nations. If you are not a member of a local church, in submission to qualified elders who practice Biblical church discipline (Mt. 18, 1 Cor. 5, Heb. 13:7, 17, 1 Tim. 3, Tit. 1), you have no business expecting God to bless your abortion ministry. In the midst of Roman horrors, Paul preached Christ crucified and established churches. This is God’s way of transforming societies, through individuals being forgiven of their sins, living in discipleship communities, building families, loving their neighbors, singing the Psalms with joy in their hearts, and over time being blessed with influence and authority. This is what we call “reformational” living – the sort of reformational living that results in the abolition of abortion and many other societal evils over time.

Let’s run all the plays cheerfully and boldly, and rejoice at every victory along the way, every bit of forward momentum. It’s all part of the battering ram on the gates of Hell. Just because each and every swing doesn’t bust through the gates doesn’t mean we aren’t making progress, doesn’t mean God isn’t pleased. Keep your hearts clean from all sin. Confess your sins, forgive one another, submit to godly elders, and keep fighting. We are the pro-life generation. With enemies like Governor Cuomo in New York, it’s utterly clear that we have them on the run. 

Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash

Loving the Stranger

Heb. 13:1-6

Introduction

Hospitality is one of the basic Christian duties. It is a central duty because it embodies the gospel of Jesus. At the same time, because it ought to embody the gospel, it is worth thinking through carefully so that we are not thoughtlessly embodying a false or distorted gospel. It’s striking that in the context of urging Christians to practice hospitality and visit prisons and remember the afflicted, Christians are also warned about fornication, adultery, and discontent (Heb. 13:1-6).

The Texts: Paul says that Christians are to pursue or literally “persecute” with hospitality – the word “hospitality” is two Greek words that mean the “love of strangers” (Rom. 12:13). Peter says that we are to love one another in the church, and be “hospitable” to one another without grumbling (1 Pet. 4:8). In Hebrews, it says not to neglect hospitality (Heb. 13:2). In the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus commends the sheep who took in the stranger, for doing it unto the least of these my brethren was doing it unto Him (Mt. 25:35). Elders and pastors are to set the example for Christians by being hospitable (1 Tim. 3:2, Tit. 1:8, cf. 1 Tim. 5:10). These commands are rooted in the Old Testament law: “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex. 22:21). “And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Lev. 19:33-34). “He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Dt. 10:18-19). 

Boaz & the Moabites

Perhaps one of the greatest biblical examples of hospitality is found in the story of Ruth, where Boaz married Ruth, the Moabitess, at great sacrifice to himself for the good and blessing and protection of a “stranger” in the land, a foreignwidow. One of the lesser known genealogical facts of the Bible, that really should get more airtime, is the fact that Rahab the Harlot was the mother of Boaz (Mt. 1:5, Ruth 4:20-21). Boaz knew how to love a stranger sacrificially because his own mother had been the recipient of such sacrificial love. But there is actually quite a bit more to the story. Moab was one of the sons of the incestuous unions of the daughters of Lot (Gen. 19:35-38). The sexual sin continued in the family: Even though Balaam failed to curse Israel when he was hired by the king of Moab to do so, the women of Moab successfully seduced many of the men of Israel (Num. 25:1), bringing God’s curse in the form of a severe plague that was only averted by the well-aimed javelin of Phinehas (Num. 25:7-8). Likewise, it was during the days of the judges that Eglon King of Moab oppressed Israel and was assassinated by Ehud (Judg. 3). So, hold all of this together: it was within living memory that many Israelite men had gone to the Moabite red light district, and it was within living memory that Israel had been oppressed by the Moabites. And it was in thosedays, during the judging of the judges, that a destitute Moabitewoman shows up in Bethlehem. There would have been plenty of talking going on in town – and a certain bit of it was wise and godly talking. 

Strangers & Strange Women

One of the famous warnings of Solomon in the book of Proverbs regards the “strange woman.” “To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words, which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God” (Prov. 2:16-17). “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (Prov. 5:3-4). We may note here that the OT routinely uses two different words for strangers (one for immigrant, one for pagan), but the NT sometimes uses the same word for both, inviting this comparison. Solomon knew well from personal experience the dangers he warned of: “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites, of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love… And his wives turned away his heart” (1 Kgs. 11:1-3, cf. Dt. 7:1-4). This same principle is repeated in the New Testament: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?… And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord” (2 Cor. 6:14-18). Likewise, “ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (Js. 4:4). So on the one hand, God urges His people to love strangers, to welcome them into the covenant of God, to feed and clothe them. But on the other hand, God repeatedly warns about being assimilated to their ways (Heb. 13:4-5). Jesus was/is a friend of sinners and prostitutes, precisely because He refuses to be drawn into their sin and insists on them leaving their sin behind. There is no neutral, common ground where Christians and non-Christians may meet and discuss matters “objectively.” After the Fall, our “common humanity” is sinful and rebellious, and God’s common grace restraining our evil does not erase the fundamental antithesis. We are enemies with all unbelief, and all unbelief must surrender to Jesus. So this is Christian hospitality; this is the gospel embodied in love for strangers. 

Conclusions

These principles have a number of applications in a number of different directions: entertainment, friendship, learning from pagans, marriage, and evangelism. In the early church one of the images the church fathers used to describe how Christians should interact with pagan culture was the “war bride” law (Dt. 21:10-13). God prohibited men acting on impulse in the middle of war (as is common in pagan warfare) and required that if a man wanted to marry a captive woman, she was to shave her head, trim her nails, put off the clothing of her captivity and be allowed to mourn for a full month before he could marry her. The church fathers said this was a good analogy for sorting through pagan cultures since the gospel has come to cast down strongholds and take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). The “strange woman” needs to be naturalized or assimilated into Israel, and this cannot be done impulsively or thoughtlessly, and she must leave behind her pagan gods and cleave to the God of Israel, like Rahab did, like Ruth did.  

A caution and an encouragement: Remember that it is a fundamental Christian responsibility to provide for those of your own household first (1 Tim. 5:8). Many Christians in the name of mercy ministry/hospitality/evangelism sacrifice marriages and children on the altar to this strange god. But the first rule of Christian hospitality is to create no new orphans or widows or strangers. In other words, the first strangers you are called to feed and clothe and love are the ones living in your own house. The encouragement is that as you do this well, your family will be spiritually thriving, and you will be practiced in hospitality and ready to give to those in need.

The ground of all of this is the gospel: “That He might reconcile us to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity…Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19). Christian hospitality is an overflow of this grace, of this fellowship, and therefore it is fundamentally His work through us. 

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