Toby J. Sumpter's Blog, page 69

Why Lady Justice Must Not Come Down for Tea

[image error]I know there has been a fair bit written and said about the Social Justice Statement over the last few weeks, and I haven’t been able to keep up with most of it. But I wanted to throw one more rock into the pack of dogs that has apparently gathered, and hopefully, God-willing, I will hit more than one rabid cocker spaniel.

So let us out with it: the reason why this statement has caused such consternation and the reason why it is a solid pastoral statement for our times is because it understands and maintains the basic biblical principle that justice, in the first instance, is not social at all.

In fact, Biblical justice is required by God not to be social. Justice must not socialize. Biblical justice, in order to be justice, must be completely socially misanthropic. Biblical justice must shun all human society.

“You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.2 “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.3 “You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute” (Exod. 23:1-3)”

Justice is spoiled by socializing. Justice is spoiled by blabbing, by sharing, by gossiping, by plotting, by being tugged, pulled, corralled, cajoled by people.

“You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous” (Deut. 16:19).

Do you want to pervert justice? Then smuggle people into the mix. Do want to blind even a wise man or twist the words of an otherwise righteous man? Then press the consequences of certain decisions into his hands. Get on a megaphone. Call for press conferences. Demand, insult, manipulate, bribe. Get your judges good and socialized. Run them through the gauntlet of Twitter malice, Facebook temper tantrums, a rapacious press, flattering celebrities, roaring crowds, preferably like a strobe light set on random. In the old days, they called this Trial by Ordeal. Today we call this CNN.

“You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor” (Lev. 19:15). Literally, the Hebrew says that we must not “lift the face of the poor or honor the face of the great” in judgment. This is partiality. This is injustice. It is to make judgment based on the faces of the people before you.

Again: “You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s” (Deut. 1:17).

Literally, the Hebrew says “you shall not notice/regard faces in judgement.” Justice is blind. And by extension, justice is also deaf. Justice cannot tell what sort of voice is making the accusation, or what sort of voice is making the defense. Justice doesn’t smell whether the plaintiff hasn’t showered or whether the defendant is wearing costly perfume. Justice must not fear any man’s presence.

So how shall we say this? How about Biblical justice is not social. The judgment is God’s. The deciding of justice has nothing whatever to do with people. It simply weighs. It simply reports. There is nothing social about the scales in your bathroom. You may talk to your scales. You may even curse your scales, and maybe some of your new fangled scales talk back to you (ha!), but in no sense may we describe your relationship to your scales as a social phenomenon. As soon as justice has any measure of socializing, it has ceased to be justice. If justice must see who is being judged, then justice is a prostitute that can be bought. Whatever semblance of justice remains, the Bible calls it partiality.

In the gospels, Jesus is recognized as being a preeminently just man: “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Mk. 12:14). And yes, once again, the Greek actually says, “you do not see the face of men.” Biblical justice is blind. It cannot see male or female, young or old, black or white, rich or poor. There is no sliding scale. There is a fixed weight and measure.

And just in case you needed any sort of evidence for what I’m saying, just take a short peek out your window at the lynch mob that has gathered in our streets over the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. If you want social justice, you are asking for more and more of this. This is social justice gone to seed. This is what Lady Justice looks like when you bring her down for tea and biscuits with the people. And this is what I mean: most biblically-informed Christians do not for a moment actually want what we’re getting in these Kavanaugh hearings, but they are willing to go along with social justice-lite and protest the Social Justice Statement as one-sided or truncated. We don’t want mobs and trial by internet trolls, we just want justice to be informed, a pleasant meet and greet, a down to earth justice, a biblically informed justice that works for good in this world — I mean isn’t that what abortion protests are? Actually, no, not at all. Biblical justice is not social at all. It does not work by familiarity with the crowds, with the issues, with the controversies. It is completely aloof. Yes, biblical justice is good for society, but it is good precisely because it is fabulously quarantined. But if the gospel actually works good into the world, isn’t that some sort of social justice? And the answer Christians need to learn to speak cheerfully into the mic is: nopity-nope.

Wisdom Wears A Hard Hat

[image error]“That Job is a forty-two chapter argument or as much a mud-wrestling throw-down as anything else, is another way of describing how Job is Wisdom Literature. In the Bible, wisdom is not theoretical. Wisdom doesn’t exist in heads, to be published in arcane philosophy journals and parsed and diagrammed by men with sweater vests and pipes (no offense to my sweater-vest-wearing, pipe-smoking readers). If biblical wisdom were a vocation, it would be something like an auto mechanic or a construction worker. Wisdom is a skill, and if wisdom were a degree you would have to get it at the local Vo-Tech school. The very first use of the word “wisdom” in the Bible illustrates the point well. It is used in the book of Exodus, where Yahweh’s “Spirit of wisdom” is poured out on Aholiab and Bezalel in order to equip them to design and build the tabernacle (Ex. 31:2-11, 35:30-35). Having the Spirit meant they were construction workers, architects, and artisans. It meant they knew how to pour concrete, were good with numbers, and could run a machine shop with creativity.”

Job Through New Eyes: A Son for Glory, 11.

 

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While Whistling a Tune by Tom Petty

[image error]A few weeks back I posted a review of Jonathan Merritt’s new book following up on our CrossPolitic interview.

One of the items I mentioned that I have not had a chance to follow up on is the topic of women teaching men. This was one of the items we spent a few minutes on in our CrossPolitic interview, but Jonathan apparently decided to use that method of argumentation that has been more prevalent in sermons than many preachers might care to admit: point weak, shout here.

In the midst of our interview, Jonathan made it plain that he was quite sure that there was only one possible way someone might think that Paul’s admonition forbidding women from teaching men and having authority over them could still apply to Christians today — and that would be through some sort of ludicrous literalism. However, I’m also suspicious that he realized at some point that I might have another, more reasonable argument and so he proceeded to insist that I couldn’t possibly have another, more reasonable argument.

But I would like to lay out why I believe a conscientious Christian can both take 1 Timothy 2 literally and gladly submit to his instructions regarding women teaching men, all while not ending up as a flat-earther or a tinfoil mad-hatter. The key point is that all of Scripture should be taken literally as it is written and in the context of the rest of Scripture. For example, Jesus says that He is the door of the sheep (Jn. 10:7-9), but given the rest of Scripture, we understand that to be a true metaphor with a literal meaning explained in the text: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…” (Jn. 10:9).

Here, in 1 Timothy 2, we have instruction that prayer be offered for all men, and that men in particular are to pray everywhere, lifting holy hands, without wrath and doubting (1 Tim. 2:8). This is followed by instructions for women to adorn themselves modestly and soberly, without gaudy hair styles and flamboyant jewelry, but instead to adorn themselves with good works (1 Tim. 2:9-10). Merritt insisted that if we would take the following verses literally about a woman learning in silence (v. 11) and not to teach or have authority over men (v. 12), then we must take the previous verses about lifted hands and modest adornment literally. Which, shockingly, I do. I do so in fact while casually walking down the street with my hands in my pockets, whistling a certain well known tune by Tom Petty about not backing down.

Merritt was incredulous, and seemed to think that those verses clearly required a man to raise his hands in prayer at all times and in all places, and clearly it also prohibited a woman from ever wearing jewelry or braided hair. Period. End of Story. I can’t hear you! Somewhere in the back and forth (which consisted of more of the back and not so much of the forth), Merritt questioned whether I would be able to pass an exegesis course at one of his respectabiggle seminaries (which is an open question, I readily grant), but I would turn the exegesis question on Merritt: Do we not interpret Scripture with Scripture? Is this not one of the most ancient canons of interpretation? Is not God consistent with Himself? And thus, we find a good deal more in Scripture regarding postures in prayer and worship as well as modesty and feminine adornment.

We find, for example, that sometimes God is quite pleased with his people clapping in praise (Ps. 47), and if this is the case, would it be sinful for a man not to lift his hands at that very moment? Does 1 Tim. 2 require men to only clap their hands while lifting them over top their heads? I offer the modest suggest that it would not be a sin to stop raising those hands in order to clap them. Or when Paul reminds the Corinthians of the appropriate way to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, he says that when the Lord Jesus took bread he gave thanks, giving all the impression in the world that the minister leading the Lord’s Supper ordinarily holds the bread in his hands while saying a prayer of thanksgiving. But what about lifting his hands? Is it a sin not lift hands then? This will come as a radical and revolutionary thought to Mr. Merritt, but I’d say, nah. Lifting hands is an appropriate posture for prayer, and perhaps it is even an ordinary posture for prayer. But the literal meaning of Paul’s admonition is not that every breath of prayer must always and in every place be with lifted hands. It’s primarily an admonition to piety, holiness, and faith. As you lift hands in prayer, let them be holy hands, not hands given to wrath or doubting.

Likewise, the Bible tells us a great deal about feminine adornment and modesty. The Bible recognizes the natural glory and beauty of a woman, and endorses modest adornment that is fitting with godly lives (e.g. Gen. 24:22-47, Ez. 16:12-13, Song of Songs, 1 Cor. 11:15, Tit. 2:9-10, 1 Pet. 3:3). God Himself adorned his bride symbolically with gold and fine linen (Ez. 16), and faithful husbands adorn their wives in imitation of Christ with glory (Eph. 5:25-28). An excellent wife is a glorious crown to her husband (Prov. 12:4). Therefore, costly clothing and braided hair are not always and in every context immodest. But they most certainly can be. Thus, the literal meaning of Paul’s exhortation is that women must not be immodest or gaudy in their adornment, but match their outward adornment with the lasting beauty of godliness, holiness, and fearlessness.

And therefore, when we arrive at the next verses regarding a woman’s silence in worship and the prohibition against teaching men and having authority over them, we should do the very same thing we have done with the previous instructions. We should compare Scripture with Scripture. And what do we find? We find a striking absence of female preachers and teachers in all of Scripture. It is a striking historical fact that there is not one single instance of a female priest in the Old Testament, and the elders and bishops of the Church are explicitly identified as men (1 Tim. 3, Tit. 1). We do find Deborah the prophetess judging Israel. We do find Miriam leading the women singing songs of praise on the shores of the Red Sea. We see Anna the prophetess telling everyone in the temple about Jesus. We see many women serving Jesus, and many others assisting Paul and the churches in ministry. We also see women praying with their heads covered in 1 Cor. 11:13-16, perhaps even in a worship service. So does Paul’s admonition that women learn in silence mean that they may not make a single sound in a worship service? Prepare yourself for this literal interpretation of Paul’s admonition: nope. Women may sing and pray and perhaps other things too, so long as they do so with clear and obvious submission to their callings as women.

And the straightforward meaning of Paul’s admonition stands. A woman may not teach or have authority over men. A woman may not be an elder or pastor, and she may not pretend to be one or even inadvertently act like one. She is to be under authority, and not exercising authority (1 Cor. 11:10). It is shameful for a woman to speak out in church (1 Cor. 14:35). In the end, all the cultural/literal handwaving is silly. Paul’s very next stated reason for his admonition is a thick, immoveable, brick wall: “For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (1 Tim. 2:13-14). Even if the lifting of hands and modest adornment instructions were culturally relative (which I deny), Paul insists that this specific prohibition of a woman teaching a man and having authority over him is grounded in the creation of Adam and Eve. It doesn’t get less culturally relative than that. This is built into the creation of man and woman. Women are not to teach men or have authority over men because man was created first, and because Adam was not deceived. We may not fully understand that reasoning. It may rub our postmodern hairs the wrong way. But that is the Apostolic reasoning and it goes all the down, all the way back.

 

 

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Scripture is a Symphony

[image error]“While we may locate a failure to read and appreciate the book of Job in some kind of underlying unbelief or even some form of scholarly laziness, a great deal of the problem lies in reading the Bible as a whole. For example, the themes of justice, suffering, and mercy are wound through nearly every page of Scripture. Reading all of Scripture as a united and ultimately coherent symphony of movements and alternating modes depends ultimately on a respect of the Scriptural tradition which in turn is grounded in a robust doctrine of inspiration.”

Job Through New Eyes: A Son for Glory, P. 9.

 

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Even All the Scaffolding Serves Him

[image error]“I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:11-13)

To know Christ is to be in the school of contentment. It means learning to be content in whatever state you are in. Paul had been through many classes already: learning to be poor and rich, full and hungry, to be abased and to abound. Contentment is not apathy. Contentment is not stoicism. Contentment does not mean not caring about your circumstances. It does not mean having no feelings. No, contentment means knowing Christ, resting in Christ, being so completely sure of the goodness and love of Christ, that you rest assured that your circumstances are serving Christ’s purposes perfectly.

If Christ is your Savior, then He is saving you to the uttermost. He is saving you through the circumstances of your life. He is Lord of every detail of your life, and so every detail in your life is obeying your Lord for your good. Sometimes life hurts, sometimes it’s scary, sometimes it makes your gut go flop, but if you know Christ, you know that He holds all things together in His infinite wisdom for His glory and your good.

So, what is God doing with your life? Some of you are thinking: boy, wouldn’t I like to know. But if you are a Christian, then you do know. He is doing exactly what it takes to make you into the image of Christ. And that should come as the most comforting news in the world. God is not on autopilot. He is not distracted by anything. He is infinite, and this means that He has infinite care for every detail. And so your task is to trust Him. And Paul actually says this means rejoicing always and in all things. Do not grumble. Do not complain. God is taking you to heaven. He is preparing you for infinite joy. And He is doing exactly what it takes to get you there. So begin thanking Him for all of it, and so learn contentment in Christ.

 

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Better to Marry than Burn

[image error]One place where Christians have sometimes been caught flat footed is in the common assertion that while heterosexually tempted Christians ought ordinarily to seek Christian marriage as part of the solution for their sin, the same principle should not be applied to homosexually tempted people. I have been told this is a set up for disaster, heartache, and pastorally irresponsible. I, in turn, have meekly insisted that the opposite is true: leading homosexually tempted people into singleness is a burden too heavy to bear and a pastoral snare.

Let me begin my stating that I completely agree that encouraging any sinner toward marriage certainly could be a setup for disaster, heartache, and could be pastorally irresponsible. There are some marriages that should not be, yea verily, many that ought not be, including some that are unlawful (e.g. marrying an unbeliever or after unlawful divorce, etc.). And I will add that when the sexual sin is compounded by years of fornication, porn use, or various forms of increased perversion: homosexuality, sexual abuse, incest, pedophilia, etc., the intensity of pastoral care must needs increase at a similar rate. So do not for a moment think that what follows is in any way a defense of being hasty, foolhardy, sloppy, simplistic, naive, or manipulative. Marriage is no automatic fix for anything, and as a general rule who you are prior to marriage will only be amplified upon entering marriage. Marriage is not a magic solve-all or heal-all. God’s law may prohibit and prudence and/or providence may sometimes ultimately prevent marriage.

However, all that said, Christian marriage is a blessing from God, a means of sanctification, and a God-ordained protection against sexual sin.

And that means that unless providentially hindered or lawfully prohibited, sexually tempted single Christians ought to pursue marriage, seeking that blessing, sanctification, and protection against sexual sin. And to my point here: this is true whether that Christian has previously faced primarily heterosexual or homosexual temptations. I’ve received several questions about the number 8 in my alternative Church Review about whether homosexual temptation/sin indicates that someone should be pastored toward Christian marriage or not. I want to argue that the Bible teaches that those who struggle with any and all sexual sin and temptation should be carefully pastored toward Christian marriage.

Romans 1 makes it clear that homosexual desire is at its core a rejection of heterosexuality: “For this reason God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another…” (Rom. 1:26-27). Of course prior to that rejection is a rejection of the Creator God and a refusal to be thankful to Him (Rom. 1:20-21). This genealogy of homosexual sin indicates that homosexuality is a turning away from heterosexuality. Homosexuality does not arise from deep desires to have same-sex friendships. No doubt men and women who are tempted to homosexual sin may have deep hurts and loneliness that arise from broken friendships or strained familial relationships with the same sex. But the Bible teaches that homosexual sin is leaving the natural use of heterosexuality. Therefore, repentance from homosexual temptation/sin includes returning (at least in principle) to a heterosexual orientation to the world and at least discipleship towards marriage. I certainly grant that not all those who repent of sexual sin (of any sort) will be called to marriage. This is why I like the language of being “carefully pastored toward” Christian marriage.

The other text that is crucial here is 1 Cor. 7. “But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1 Cor. 7:8-9).

Denny Burk makes a very convincing case here that the word “unmarried” in v. 8 should not be understood as generically “single” but rather synonymous with v. 11 and parallel with “widows” — that is, a previously married man, a widower. In other words, Paul is not setting “singleness” and “marriage” side by side as two alternate Christian tracks. Paul is rather saying that if you’ve been married previously, you ought not feel like you must get remarried. It’s perfectly fine to remain unmarried for the purpose of giving themselves to ministry like Paul himself (implying that Paul had been previously married).

There are two additional and important qualifiers in 1 Cor. 7. The first is v. 9 where Paul says it is better to marry than to burn. A man who has any sort of ongoing temptation to sexual sin (of any sort) is burning with passion. Now the question often arises, but does what Paul is talking about in 1 Cor. 7:9 apply to those tempted to homosexuality? The short answer is, in principle, yes. In Romans 1, Paul says the same thing: “leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another.” It’s true that Paul uses a different Greek word there for “burned,” but the word is lexically synonymous. What are men doing who turn away from the natural use of women? They are burning with unnatural lust, vile affections. What must they do? They must repent of that lustful burning and return to natural, holy sexuality. Now certainly, the greater the perversion, the greater the need for pastoral counseling, discipleship, and I do not believe that Paul’s admonition means that marriage should be rushed into. Likewise, it certainly may be the case that a repentant homosexual is providentially hindered from being married (no woman will marry him), but this is a cross he must bear not an ideal solution. I see no evidence in Scripture that homosexual temptation/lust is to be considered unique to heterosexual temptation/lust (in this regard). It is better to marry than to burn. Christian marriage is God’s gift and part of the way He protects and delivers people from sexual sin (cf. 1 Cor. 7:5).

The other important qualifier in 1 Cor. 7 is v. 26 where Paul is generally encouraging folks to remain in the state that they were called, but here he finally gets to virgins — those never married, and though he recommends singleness where possible, he says “I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress…” In other words, Paul is not laying down a principle for all times and all places but specifically speaking to the tempestuous socio-political situation of the first century full of persecutions.

Lastly, Paul himself recognizes the potential for his words to become a “snare” (v. 35), and I believe that is precisely what is happening in the celibate/gay Christian movement. Paul is teaching that there certainly are times and places where singleness is to be preferred for Kingdom work, and there are some exceptional individuals who simply do not have the desire, which means they are not burning with sexual temptations. Lack of desire does not include those who would just rather not have to deal with the challenges of marriage and children, all the while struggling to stay pure on the weekends. Sometimes lack of desire for marriage (like a rejection of marriage responsibilities) is sinful. Where there is sexual desire/temptation, Paul makes it clear that people should pursue marriage. I fear that the way it is often articulated in the gay celibate world, it is implied that homosexual sin/lust is so unique that there’s a good chance that Christian marriage is not for you (which the Bible nowhere teaches). How will men who have always been sexually attracted to men be sexually attracted to women? Romans 1 says that homosexual attraction is a rejection of sexual attraction to women. This is one of those places where we need to trust God’s word over all the studies and anecdotes coming at us from the world. Let God be true and every man a liar. Homosexual temptation does not make a person less likely to need marriage; rather, it makes that person more likely to need marriage. Yes, it may also make that person more needful of longterm pastoral care and discipleship, but failure to pastor those people toward the blessing, sanctification, and protection of Christian marriage is a pastoral snare. Far better to generally and carefully pastor sexual sinners toward Christian marriage, even if they are providentially or prudentially prevented from it.

 

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God’s Word is Good Food

[image error]Introduction

You may have heard, but a bunch of us here in Moscow and lots of our friends from all over the place have just begun the Bible Reading Challenge — reading through the entire Bible in nine months, cheering one another on, encouraging one another not merely to get little bites of Bible here and there, but to dive in, to feast, to take second helpings (and thirds). God’s Word is good food. It’s the best food. God prepared it for us, and it’s exactly what we need to grow up strong in Christ. So as we jump in, I want to invite you to join us if you don’t already have a Bible reading plan. And whether you’ve been an avid Bible reader for many years or are just starting out, let the following passages encourage you and challenge you in your Bible reading.

Not By Bread Alone

And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. (Deut. 8:2-3 NKJ)

God’s Word is Sweet

How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Ps. 119:103 NKJ)

Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. 3And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. (Ezek. 3:1-3 NKJ)

A Famine of God’s Word

Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD, “That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD. 12They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, But shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12 NKJ)

Wisdom Has Spread a Feast

Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars; 2She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table. 3She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city, 4“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, 5“Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed. 6Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding. (Prov. 9:1-6 NKJ)

The Word is the Best Milk

As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (1 Pet. 2:2-3 NKJ)

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb. 5:12-14 NKJ)

His Word is Free & Fruitful

Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. 2Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. 3Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you– The sure mercies of David… 10“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, 11So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isa. 55:1-11 NKJ)

Conclusion & Charge

Don’t think about Bible reading like something you have to do. Think of it as something you get to do. Think of it like food, like eating, like a feast that God has spread for you. In the Old Covenant, God’s blessing was pictured in Canaan flowing with milk and honey. But we have milk and honey too – we have the Word of God that is sweeter than honey and the purest milk. And it’s always there flowing for you. Our famine is self-inflicted, but Wisdom has spread a continual feast for the hungry.

So my charge to you is to get in the word. Take up and eat. Take up and drink. This is God’s food for you. It’s better than any meal you could ever imagine.

Every day in the Word is a good day.

A City With Walls: Self-Government & All Governments

[image error]Introduction

We live in an age ruled by passions and lusts. We are cities broken down without walls. As Christians, we need to constantly remember that the source of this anarchy is the heart of man. Unless the heart of man is regenerated so that it can be self-governed by the Spirit of Christ, all other governments will fall.

Various Texts: “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Prov. 25:28). “Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid…” (Acts 24:25). “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-25). “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them” (Ez. 36:26-27).

Deep Water

On the one hand, we know that the “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). And the following verse says that the Lord searches the heart and tests the mind. But this doesn’t let us off the hook. Proverbs says, “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out” (Prov. 20:5). So it really is like deep water in our hearts, but a man of understanding lets down the bucket of God’s Word (Js. 1:25). In other words, the dominion mandate/Great Commission includes our own hearts. If we have been given rule over all creation and commissioned to disciple the nations (and we have, cf. Gen. 2:28, Ps. 8, Mt. 28), this includes self-dominion, self-government, self-discipleship. But this is still an odd and challenging endeavor. How do you look at you? How do you rule you? Or, how do you obey you rightly? This is highly mysterious, but the Bible says that it can and must be done: “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the depths of his heart” (Prov. 20:27). “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23).

Good Hearts & Good Governments

The Bible teaches that this self-government is the first government, the foundational city for all cities. This is self-evident simply by the fact that all governments are made of people: families, churches, and nations. But the point really does need emphasis. You cannot get a just nation from unjust men. You cannot have a pure church made up of impure men. You cannot have a gracious family, if the hearts of the members of that family are not full of grace. Good laws are God’s gift to sinful men to constrain them, but long term, even the best laws will be overthrown by unrighteous men. No amount of outward constraint or pressure can create good men. Out of the heart “springs the issues of life.” Men cannot ultimately be other than what they are in their hearts: “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Mt. 7:17-18). So in the flesh, man is ruled by the flesh and therefore he does the works of the flesh (Rom. 6-7, Gal. 5). “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom. 8:8-9). The central stronghold of rebellion against God and His justice is in the citadel of the heart of man. Christ always conquers that city first and rebuilds it into a new city with walls, governed by His Spirit, to keep God’s law (Ez. 36:26-27). “But judgment will return to righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it” (Ps. 94:15).

Applications

Personal: You may or may not be able to keep rules, but unless you have the Spirit of Christ, you cannot please God. And it is only the pleasure of God that makes obedience a real joy and real freedom (Ps. 16:11). “Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure” (Ps. 103:21). Autonomy means “law unto self.” Fundamentally, this is the great war: between the true God who is Autonomous and every god-pretending heart that demands autonomy. You can never be happy in that state because you are at war with God. Lay down your arms, surrender to Christ, and begin to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). And when you do this, God will give you a new heart, and you will begin to take glad responsibility for your heart and its fruit, not in servile fear but in real joy and freedom.

Family: You cannot rule in your home rightly, if Christ is not ruling in your heart completely. “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor. 11:3). Husbands, you cannot be a good head to your wife if you are not constantly submitting to your head in Christ. If you are unsubmissive to Christ, it doesn’t matter what you say, you are teaching rebellion. “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Parents, you can only teach this discipline and culture of the Lord if you are practicing it. You cannot give what you do not have.

Church: Learning wise rule in the family is directly related to being able to rule in the church: An elder must be “one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?)” (1 Tim. 3:4-5). “Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct… Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:7, 17). An elder is someone who is qualified to watch out for your soul because by the grace of God and power of the Spirit, he has been watching his own soul and the souls in his house. You know this by the outcome of his conduct. And this means you really do need to pray for them, and you need to let them meddle in your life.

Nation: “Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Ps. 2:10-11). This means that a king cannot be wise or rule well apart from the fear of the Lord ruling his heart. “Therefore I exhort first all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and humility” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Paul wrote this in the midst of the Roman Empire, and this is not political apathy. He preached “righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come” to Governor Felix (Acts 24:25). Prayer is political activism because the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes (Prov. 21:1).

 

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A Defense of Building Altars (& the Social Justice Statement)

[image error]There is a place for doctrinal statements, creeds, systematic and dogmatic theology. It is an important calling and crucial to the life and health of the church. But not all theological statements are that.

There is also an important place for polemical statements, pastoral statements, memorial statements, piles of rocks with oil poured over them saying, thus far our God has brought us and we will not forget. These sorts of statements are not cathedrals. They are not oratorios. They are just piles of rocks, words built out of faith for a particular moment, laying claim to God’s eternal word, His presence, His powerful working in history, and our trust in Him here, in this moment.

That’s what I take the Social Justice Statement to be. It is not pristine systematic theology. It is not a cathedral. It’s a simple altar. God-willing, there will one day be a cathedral built here on this spot, staking out a biblical orthodoxy in confessional language on social issues for the good of the Church and the glory of Christ. But that day has not yet arrived. But the faithful build altars until that day, memorials for our children, pointing them to the Word of God, despite the raging of the nations, and the compromise and cowardice and folly of many in the Church.

Let me be clear: I am not accusing anyone who has not signed the Social Justice Statement of compromise or cowardice or consigning anyone to the raging of the nations. I’m simply saying those facts in general are a good reason enough for the statement to be written and signed by many. There may be other factors involved in why someone may not be able or feel comfortable signing. But I did want to answer a few objections here:

1. To those who object on grounds that the Statement’s summary of the gospel is reductionistic: take your qualms up with the Apostle Paul. His summary in 1 Cor. 15 was even shorter and less detailed than the Statement. If Paul can summarize the gospel without mention of the Kingdom or define it without reference to its impact on social or political structures, then so can we. Sometimes, that’s the best summary.

2. The clear point of the Statement was to distinguish between the gospel that must be preached and believed unto salvation at all times and in all places, and the implications and applications, which are important in their own right, but which are not definitional components of the gospel and will necessarily shift in some particulars in various places and times. A man must believe in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, but he need not believe any number of direct and necessary implications of that gospel in his life and in the world, in order to be saved. This is not reductionistic. This is the glorious simplicity of the gospel.

3. The Statement is a pastoral and polemical warning. An author at Kuyperian Commentary, explained that he couldn’t sign the Statement because it implied he needed to warn women working at crisis pregnancy centers that they may be distracted from the gospel. On the one hand, I’ve read the Statement a number of times and find this interpretation of the Statement odd. But even if that’s what the author honestly came away worrying about (and I trust his honesty!), I absolutely do not have a problem having that category in my pastoral file: the category of “pro-life activist who is being distracted from the gospel.” If you don’t have that category in your file, you are not qualified to be pastoring anyone involved in any social activism.

4. In the same article, the author writes: “With Nicholas Wolterstorff, I want to insist, “The church is not merely to wait with grim patience for the new age when the Spirit will fully renew all existence. It must already, here and now, manifest signs of that renewing Spirit.” There is deep and apparently unappreciated irony in this quotation of Wolterstorff, who in the last few years got his new age of the Spirit and Kuyperian theology to manifest in blessing homosexual marriage in the church. In other words, that quotation is exactly the sort of thing the authors of this Statement are warning about. Wolterstorff is a fool (Rom. 1), and people who quote him as an authority on cultural engagement and social issues need to take a long, slow look in the mirror of Scripture to see whether they have imbibed more folly than they may think (Js. 1).

5. What this Statement does well — without filling it out in detail — is ground the gravitational center of any legitimate kingdom work in the proclamation of the gospel that must be believed, Christian worship, and clear exposition of Scripture. If you read carefully, this teaching and preaching of the Scriptures is distinguished from social and political “activism” — even though snap shots or tweets of either one may occasionally sound/look the same (say, preaching through Deuteronomy or preaching the gospel in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic). But this prioritization is the clear New Testament model. The Statement does not deny the good and rightful place of seeking to influence the public square, laws, or culture. It simply insists that this good work is secondary to the work of proclaiming Christ crucified, though which God changes hearts. The work of Christian discipleship will necessarily have social and political impact: husbands who love their wives like Christ loved the Church, masters treating slaves as brothers in Christ, families caring for their own widows, and blind, biblically defined judicial justice, etc. While these may be indicators of changed hearts, none of these can effect a change of heart.

6. I reject the complaint that failure to define “social justice” carefully is a fatal flaw in the Statement. As I stated at the beginning, there is an important time and place for careful definitions and distinctions, but at this point, a general, wide-reaching Statement that links sexually confused identities, gay identity, racial identity, and victim identity as the marks of justification in the current wave of social justice warrior activism is doing a massive service to the Church. People who complain that this combines too many different issues under one heading are contributing to the problem, not helping to solve it. The world is running this “identity” play on the Church on every one of these fronts, and Christians are often the kind of simpletons who are susceptible and vulnerable to pleas to make more careful distinctions, but that itself is often a distraction. Related, some have complained that the term “social justice” has been weaponized against good Christian people working for true Christian justice, but this is like a group of waiters on the Titanic claiming that everybody throwing stuff overboard is weaponizing their attempts to provide good food service to their customers. Yeah, whatevs. If you’ve built your Christian ministry on the foundation of the term “social justice,” that ship is taking you somewhere you do not intend.

7. Finally, I see not a little bit of impatience and resentment in God’s design for cultural change in some of the objections being raised. I’m a postmillennialist, meaning that I believe that the Great Commission will be accomplished before the Second Coming of Christ. I believe the gospel will be preached to all the nations, the nations will come slowly but surely to their knees, confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord, and “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9). I believe the nations will be discipled. I believe this not because we have the perfect utopian political-social plan, not because we’ve figured out how to make people stop being envious or prideful or hateful. It will not be by might, nor by power, nor by law, nor by policy or institutions. No, it will be by grace and by the working of the Spirit. Jesus said that if He was lifted up on the cross, He would draw all men to Himself (Jn. 12:32). I believe that the Great Commission will be accomplished because Jesus purchased the nations with His blood. “Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession” (Ps. 2:8). Yes, there is an important place for faithful cultural, political, and social engagement. Watch me writing this blog post. But the central mission and the central means is proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Yes, discipleship must commence, and we must teach the nations the whole counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation. But Christ is King and He has established His battle plan. It consists of announcing a bloody cross and empty tomb. It consists of water, bread, wine, and Psalms. And yes, this means that God is far more patient than we are, but He knows what He’s doing. Our pitiful attempts to run out in front of Him end up with the Nicholas Wolterstorff’s of the world blessing homo marriage. No thanks. It might seem like short term progress to make treaties with the Canaanites, but I’d rather build altars in the wilderness while we wait for Jesus to give us the land.

 

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The First on God’s List for His Armies to Punish

[image error]“…that Scripture in Jude is a most remarkable one. In the 14th verse onwards, it is said, ‘That the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgement upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him’. Mark here in this 15th verse mention is made four times of ungodly ones: all that are ungodly among them, all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

This is in general, but now he comes in particular to show who these are: ‘These are,’ he says, ‘murmurers’ — that is the very first. Would you know who are ungodly men, whom God when he comes with ten thousand of angels shall come to punish for all their ungodly deeds that they do, and those that speak ungodly things against him? These ungodly ones are murmurers; murmurers in Scripture are put in the forefront of ungodly ones, and it is a most dreadful Scripture, that the Lord, when he speaks of ungodly ones, puts murmurers in the very forefront of all.

You had need to look to your spirits; you may see that this murmuring, which is the vice contrary to this contentment, is not as small a matter as you think. You think you are not as ungodly as others, because you do not swear and drink as others do, but you may be ungodly in murmuring.”

-Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, 138-139.

 

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