Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 112

Increased Persecution in China, and What China’s Digital Dictatorship Could Mean for Christians

For years people have told me, including some who’ve read my novel Safely Home, that there is no more persecution of Chinese Christians. True, compared to earlier decades, religious persecution in some parts of China has not been as extreme. In some places there may be little or no persecution. Local officials may look the other way, even if they suspect Christians are meeting illegally (as most Christians in China do).

In other cases, whereas Christians were once jailed for assembling without permission, they may now be ostracized and prohibited from holding significant positions of influence in government, education, or business. So the severity of their persecution is decreased but still very real.

However, in other places, Chinese Christians have continued to experience extreme persecution. In fact, it’s likely that more Christians in China are currently in prison for their faith than in any other country. Reports from unregistered churches continue to confirm that thousands of Chinese Christians are still imprisoned for following Jesus, and many are still beaten and abused in prison.

When I visited China and was doing background research on Safely Home, a Chinese Christian told me, “Somewhere in China, the sun is always shining, and somewhere the snow is always falling.” In other words, there’s always freedom somewhere and persecution somewhere else.

It is still illegal to teach children under eighteen about God and Jesus. It is still illegal for three or more believers to gather for religious purposes without government approval. A large percentage of Chinese Christians are part of unregistered illegal churches—remaining underground because they recognize only Christ as Lord, and they refuse to allow the atheistic government to control their churches. (A recent Breakpoint commentary, about Chinese pastors taking a stand for Christ, included these statistics on the number of Christians in China: “…the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life counts 67 million Christians of all kinds—35 million independent Protestants, 23 million Protestants in government-sanctioned churches, and 9 million Catholics. Other estimates go even higher.”)

It’s common for Americans, whether unbelievers or believers, to visit China, attend services at a registered church where people carry state-printed Bibles. Often they return home saying, “The persecution is gone. I didn’t see any.” But what portion of China does a visitor actually see?  Visitors rarely go to the still illegal unregistered churches where there is complete freedom of worship and preaching.

They rarely visit the countryside, where much persecution takes place. They will not be given an audience with persecuted Christians. Believers will not step forward to share their stories with visitors who are escorted by or traveling under the favor of government officials.

Visiting a few cities in China and declaring “I saw no persecution” is naïve—why would you expect to actually witness it? And even if you visited an area where there actually was no blatant persecution, it would be silly to conclude on that basis that the huge nation of China is all or even mostly that way. What would you think if someone from China visited the USA and went home saying “America is hot” or “America is cold”? The most they could accurately say is “I visited Phoenix in July, and it was very hot,” or “I visited Minneapolis in January, and it was very cold.” It depends on where you go and when. Whether there is persecution in China depends on where and when.

However, recently a number of reports coming out of China indicate that persecution of Christians is increasing overall:

Raid on Zion: Beijing authorities shut down prominent unregistered church

“Chinese authorities officially banned one of the country’s largest unregistered house churches, Beijing’s Zion Church. Two days later, authorities detained senior pastor Ezra Jin and other Zion leaders, the latest move in the government’s recent crackdown on Christianity.”

Group: Officials destroying crosses, burning Bibles in China

“China’s government is ratcheting up a crackdown on Christian congregations in Beijing and several provinces, destroying crosses, burning Bibles, shutting churches and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith, according to pastors and a group that monitors religion in China.”

China Mulls Major Restrictions on Online Ministries

“Chinese Christians have one month to tell their government what they think of proposed new rules that ban the sharing of prayer, Bible reading, baptism, communion, and other forms of religious activity online.”

Christians resist as officials attempt to break into Dali Church

“Approximately 100 agents from the religious affairs and public security bureaus attempted to break into Dali Church, located in Zhengzhou, Henan, on the evening of Sept. 9.”

(On a related note, see this article about the Chinese oppression of the minority Uighur people, including a small number who are Christians.)

And there are other troubling developments, including China’s plans to create a digital dictatorship. Citizens will be monitored 24 hours a day using a vast network of cameras and facial recognition technology, and issued “social credit” based on their actions and those of their family and friends. The Chinese government wants to have this operational by 2020 and says, “It will allow the trustworthy to roam freely under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.” Those with high scores will get better treatment in society, including cheap loans and better jobs and opportunities, while those with low scores will be effectively locked out of society and unable to travel or get credit.

You really must read this article to understand where China is at and where it is headed in terms of a technological dictatorship. It seems obvious that among those most likely to suffer are believers who are part of house churches and will be increasingly unable to hide from the prying eyes of a government determined to control them. 

Let’s stop being naïve about persecution in China, and let’s continue to intercede for our Chinese brothers and sisters who will likely face more difficult trials in the days ahead: “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).

See also How to Pray for the Persecuted Church as well as Randy’s novel set in China, Safely Home.

Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash

Understanding Who God Is, and Who We Are, Makes Pride Unthinkable

I’ve been reflecting on pride and humility recently. Here are some thoughts:

When we’re prideful, we make God our opponent: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).

There are many things wrong—not to mention ludicrous—with making God our opponent, but the most obvious one is this: it’s a battle we can never win.

Last spring during track season, I watched Jake, one of my junior high grandsons, shot-put. He’s an excellent athlete. But suppose my grandson thought he was good enough to challenge the 2016 Olympic shot put gold medalist. Ironically, that gold medalist was Ryan Crouser, who attended my high school, a mile from my house, the same school two of my grandsons will go to. In fact, Crouser competed on the same field Jake now does. Jake has no illusions about doing so, but my 14-year-old grandson challenging the reigning Olympic Gold medalist would be far less laughable than any of us challenging God!

Since God says He opposes the proud, anytime we’re proud we may as well hang a sign around our necks that says, “Take me down, God.” Because the Bible clearly says that’s exactly what He will do. And we will be powerless against Him.

Whenever we walk in pride, we are a fall waiting to happen: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). In contrast, God promises the humble that He will give them grace. Pride makes God our foe; humility makes God our friend who pours grace out on us. Instead of exercising His power against us, God wants to give His power to us, and He does that in proportion to our realization of our weakness without Him (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Not only our attitude, but also our actions will demonstrate whether pride or humility is at work in our lives. God is the Audience of One, ever watching, ever knowing. Knowing this will make us acutely aware of our sin and weakness, and humble us accordingly—and then, if we ask Him, He will give us abundant and overflowing grace.

Puritan John Flavel said, “They that know God will be humble; they that know themselves cannot be proud.”

The way to be humble is to take a good look at God and then a good look at yourself, and notice the difference. When you see Him as He is and yourself as you are, the very thought of being proud or arrogant should be absolutely laughable.

May we as followers of Christ consciously pursue humility and not allow Satan to get an inroad in our lives. When we are praised, we should give praise to Christ, not just to appear humble, but to actually BE humble.

A 3-minute video I recorded on pride and humility:

A short article on pride and humility: True Leading Is Serving 

And here’s a biblical study on pride.

Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash

Why We Don’t Need to Be Anxious and Worry

Worry is the product of high stakes and low control, coupled with expecting the worst. There’s no greater enemy of happiness.

There’s a subtle aspect to worry: if we care, we think we should worry, as if that will help somehow. In fact, worry has absolutely no redemptive value. When good things are happening, we’re worried that bad things will come. When bad things happen, we worry that worse things will come.

Jesus asked, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” (Luke 12:25, NIV). Nothing is more impotent than worry, and nothing so robs us of happiness in Christ.

Just after instructing us to rejoice in the Lord, Paul writes in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything.” Worry is a killjoy. It specializes in worst-case scenarios—in contrast, God tells His children there is much that should make us rejoice:

He has already rescued us from the worst, which is eternal Hell.
Even if something terrible happens, He’ll use it for our eternal good.
Often bad things don’t happen, and our worry proves groundless.
Whether or not bad things happen, our worry generates no positive change.
The cause for all our worries—sin and the Curse—is temporary, and will soon be behind us. Forever.

My son-in-law Dan Stump, married to my daughter Angela, is a junior high math teacher in Portland. Angie is director of women’s ministry at their church, Gresham Bible Church. GBC is a great church, where Vergil Brown is the lead pastor. Dan Stump sometimes preaches there on Sunday mornings. (So I have two sons-in-law, both named Dan and both excellent Bible teachers. I recently featured Dan Franklin’s podcast on “The Problem with ‘Speak Your Truth’” on my blog.)

A few weeks ago Dan Stump preached one of the best messages on worry I’ve ever heard. I highly recommend you listen to it.

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

Scripture Invites Us to Praise God through Singing

Recently, feeling a weight about Nanci’s fight with cancer, I also felt a great need to sense God’s presence and joy. The Lord led me to Psalm 100. When I read verse 2, which says “come before Him with joyful songs,” I realized I rarely sing to Him in my quiet time.

So to get help for this I called up one of Nanci’s and my favorite songs, In Christ Alone. As I sang along, both the song and the sight of thousands of twenty-somethings at the Passion Conference led me into profound worship. I did in fact sing to Him a joyful song.

This is the song I watched and heard and sang. God used it in my life. Following the song is the very short and very powerful Psalm 100, as well as some more verses about how singing can be a means to praise God. I hope this might encourage you too.

Psalm 100, For giving grateful praise.

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Scripture is full of references to people singing joyfully to the Lord. At every feast and celebration, in public and private worship, singing filled the air:

Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. (Psalm 5:11)
Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! (Psalm 47:1)
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips . . . for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. (Psalm 63:5, 7)
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 12:6)
Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! (Isaiah 44:23)

John Calvin, apparently a student of nature, commented on the last verse, “The little birds that sing, sing of God; the beasts clamor for him; the elements dread him, the mountains echo him, the fountains and flowing waters cast their glances at him, and the grass and flowers laugh before him." [1]

May we do the same!

For more on the subject of happiness, see Randy’s books Happiness and God’s Promise of Happiness, the devotional 60 Days of Happiness, and his DVD series Happiness 101. 

[1] John Calvin, Calvin: Commentaries (London: S.C.M. Press, 1958), 60.

Photo by Michael Maasen on Unsplash

A Dice Game, a Harley Davidson Motorcycle, and a Delightful Story about Generosity and God’s Providence

Today’s guest post is by our dear friend Diane Meyer, who tells a great and fun story that really fits with the character of our generous, delightful God. Most giving stories I hear don’t involve a dice game and a Harley Davidson motorcycle. But that’s what makes this one so unique.

However, the principles behind it don’t just apply to a game of chance. For instance, someone could start a business, set up a fireworks stand, or try to sell blankets, jewelry, a painting, or a piano and predetermine that 100% will be given to the Lord. And if God ends up surprising them and blessing the business or the sale abundantly, all the better!

Nanci and I love Diane and her husband Rod, who are precious beyond words. I just smiled as I reread this story, because it is so the two of them, and so God to surprise and delight us while blessing others. Rod and Diane are living examples of Hebrews 10:24, which says: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

Thanks, Diane, for sharing this story at my request! —Randy Alcorn

George Latus of Latus Motors Harley-Davidson in Gladstone, Oregon has been running a dice roll motorcycle giveaway for 20 years. Basically, you have to roll six giant dice that each have a Harley logo on all sides except one, which has a letter. The dice spell out Harley if all laid out letter side up. They were allowing the first 400 people to try to roll the complete word. It’s next to impossible. Most people don’t even have a letter come up. The chances to win were approximately 1 in 375,000.

Before Rod and I went to the dealership that morning, we prayed together. We told Him we know He is in control of everything, even a dice roll. We told Him that if we won, we would donate all the funds from the bike, which retails for $20,000, to specific ministries.

When it was Rod’s turn, he got the first letter. We cheered because, yay, he got a letter! But Rod knew after the first roll that God was doing something. Then boom, boom, boom—one letter right after the other.

When Rod won the bike, it was a pretty big deal. This is the first time anyone has won, so everyone there was astounded and happy. And when some of the guys at the dealership found out Rod was donating this bike, he went from being a kind, well-liked guy to being a guy they don’t quite understand and who might be a little off his rocker!

But to be honest, I’ve dragged my feet about writing out this simple story. Our desire is to make Christ known, and I don’t want it to seem all about US. Because it so is not. Another reason is that it never felt like our money to give. So how is that giving? It wasn’t sacrificial because God provided it by having Rod win the dice roll.

Still, it was fun and exciting to be there, knowing without any doubt that God laid out each dice for Rod to win, so we could give that money to ministries. It was so moving to pray specifically and then have Him answer in such an obvious way. He is with us! He loves us! He has a plan for us!

Although we’ve known all our money and assets come from God (especially in our business, where we thank Him for each job coming in and for how He has grown our business), this situation has made it even clearer. ALL our money and possessions are from God. Each client who calls, the lunchmeat on our sandwiches, each breath we take—all are specifically and thoughtfully from God. The rolling of each dice, as it landed on the needed letter, just highlighted this truth for us and reminded us of His daily providence: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

So when Rod rolled and won, there wasn’t a moment’s hesitation about what would happen. We believe God had Rod roll those dice and win because He knew what we were going to do with it.

Some of those who know us brought up the fact that we still have debt to pay off, as well as some house projects that need attention. They questioned whether we should give it all away. But we had prayed beforehand. How could there even be a question about what we would do with the money?

The ministry that Rod is heavily involved in is called Black Sheep Harley Davidson for Christ. Their purpose is to bring the church to the unchurched. As unorthodox as it sounds, our mission field is the Harley Davidson dealership, being a part of the HOG (Harley Davidson Owners Group), going on rides with them (poor us!), and basically establishing friendships and serving in whatever capacities we can.  (In this picture, Rod is doing a boot shine. It’s an opportunity to get up close and personal with bikers and gives them a chance to chat.)

Earlier this summer, the Black Sheep were allowed to start a small biker church AT THE LATUS DEALERSHIP before the Sunday rides. A few of the Black Sheep had prayed for a long time for this to happen, and they were finally able to set it up. And the dealership is even advertising for the biker church on their website and Facebook page.

A few nights after the giveaway, there was a Rose City HOG meeting, which we’re part of. It was a packed house and Rod was asked to come up and share about winning. He explained how we prayed beforehand and had promised the money from the bike would go to various charities if we won. He said he knew God had allowed this to happen. There was loud applause when he finished.

Other things have happened since the giveaway. One HOG member that we’ve been friendly with asked Rod why we don’t pray as a group before rides together. Rod said he didn’t want to push anything on people. But this man said, “Well, I’d like it if you could lead us in prayer before rides. I’m going to bring it up at the HOG meeting.”

There are so many other, small stories about individuals whose lives have been influenced by what has happened there recently. Giving away this bike isn’t just about the money. It has shown everyone, from the people who work at the dealership day in and day out and to the HOG members, someone who loves Jesus and loves them. Rod is being salt and light and also being a friend.

The bike was never ours from the get-go. God made it crystal clear it was His. The money has been a tool to make God known—not just for the various charities that the money is going to, but also for those watching and being a part of the giveaway. It seems as if the impact of Rod winning the bike, and being obedient to give it away, was as valuable as the money itself. It was incredibly fun to watch and be a part of.

And another thing happened: Rod was at a bike night in Gladstone, where hundreds of people gathered to see their bikes, eat, listen to music, buy Harley stuff, and visit. A motorcycle tire dealer was there and the big raffle prize was a new set of motorcycle tires. Rod was just talking to some guys about how he had another month or two left on his tires and would need a new set.

I’m sure you know what’s coming, but Rod’s name was called and he won. He didn’t even hear his name; but everyone else did!

So that could be the end of the story—sweet, Rod won some tires he needed. But it’s making us think....why? It could just be that God loves Rod and is gifting him with the tires. We’re sure that’s part of it.

But there’s more. We’re certain. People are now coming up to Rod and literally rubbing his belly hoping for luck.

He’s having amazing opportunities to explain that it’s not luck. He brings up the omnipotence of God and a verse we never thought to memorize: “We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall” (Proverbs 16:33). He tells them how God is present in every detail of our lives. We’re praying daily for God to bring opportunities to share the Lord with people.

To sum it up: when we have seen God’s hand SO clearly, and knowing He had a plan for those funds, well, it is just plain exciting! Which would we rather have: a 2018 Harley Fat Bob which will literally deteriorate and rust, even if we never rode it, OR the chance to have front-row seats as we pray over that money and watch what miraculous, life-changing, heart-softening, eye-opening, soul-shattering things God can do for His eternal glory? You know what we chose. Joyfully, and happily, with no second guessing or hesitation. We are blessed.

Like Diane says here, there is nothing like the joy of giving. In fact, Jesus said it best: “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving” (Acts 20:35). People may admire your “sacrifice” and then you think, “Wait, how can this be a sacrifice if we’re getting so much more from giving it than if we had kept it?”

May we all experience the life-giving joy of generosity! —Randy

For more on money, stewardship, and giving, see Randy’s books The Treasure Principle, Managing God’s Money, and Money, Possessions, and Eternity.

The Problem with “Speak Your Truth”

My son-in-law Dan Franklin is teaching pastor at Life Bible Fellowship in Upland, California. Dan is married to my daughter Karina, and the father of three of my grandsons, but that’s not the main reason he’s one of my favorite teachers. He was one of our speaking pastors at my church for years, and I really miss his teaching. (But since he speaks more at the church he’s at now, I’m able to hear him more online, and that’s my consolation!) In this video (and the transcript below), Dan talks about the problems behind the phrase, “Speak your truth.”  

Listen to what Dan has to say. —Randy Alcorn

“Speak your truth.” That’s a phrase that has become common in popular culture over the past year. It was perhaps most popularized by Oprah Winfrey at the 2018 Golden Globes when she said, “Speaking your truth is the most powerful weapon we all have.”

I’ll let the cat out of the bag early on in this post. I don’t think this phrase is helpful. I don’t think Christians (or anyone, for that matter) should use it. But I don’t simply want to say, “Don’t say it!” I want to explore the assumptions that have made this phrase our culture’s calling card. By looking at two problems with the phrase, we can examine ourselves and see how much we have adopted these cultural assumptions, even if we don’t use the phrase, “Speak your truth.”

Problem #1:

This phrase tells us that we are our own source. To speak your truth is to assume that the there is some truth that you yourself possess. It assumes that each person is his or her own source for truth and authority. This leads us to believe that no one else has the right to correct us. No one can tell us what to think, what to believe, or what to say. After all, we’re just speaking our truth.

Those of us who are Christians believe that truth is not something within us, but something outside of us. We believe that there is objective reality and objective morality because there is a God who has set reality into motion. We believe that Jesus Christ is the way and the truth and the life. We believe that there is truth out there, and the truth does not change based on our perception of reality.

In fact, we believe that the truth is something that confronts us. My perception of how safe it is to cross the street matters very little if a car that I didn’t see runs into me. My view of reality will not change the truth of the car’s presence. In a similar way, Christian belief is centered not on a subjective idea, but on a truth claim about an event. At the core, we believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. If he wasn’t, then our message is false. If he was, then we must take Jesus seriously. But either way, my belief (or disbelief) in the truth does not change reality.

Problem #2:

This phrase feeds our narcissistic idea that the world is anxiously waiting for us to weigh in. When Oprah Winfrey said, “Speaking your truth is the most powerful weapon we all have,” she was speaking in reference to women who tell their stories about sexual harassment and assault. To Oprah, these women are speaking their truth. I would argue that they are speaking the truth, not their truth.

It may be a truth that most others are not aware of, but it is an objective truth about something that actually happened (assuming that the story that they tell is true). Very few of us would say that these women should stay silent. We all should champion them exposing the truth so that evil actions are held accountable and so that future women don’t become victims of the same behavior. This “truth” is certainly worth being spoken.

But, for many, speaking their truth means speaking their opinion. It is not speaking truth to say, “I think we should abolish private property,” or “I believe every citizen should own a gun,” or “All Trump supporters are just secret racists.” Those are not truth statements. Those are opinions. Now, we all have a right to our opinions, and we have a right to provide support in order to convince others that our opinions are good. But voicing these opinions is not the same as contributing truth to a conversation.

Social media indulges the narcissism that dwells within each of us by telling us that the world is awaiting our opinions. We can begin to believe that it is our obligation to bring our voice into the nebulous space of Facebook and Twitter. We owe it to others to “speak our truth.” This feeds a dangerous delusion. Often, when I am considering weighing in on a hot topic on social media, I pause to ask myself, “Has anyone asked for my opinion on this subject?” If they haven’t, I then ask myself, “What will be contributed by these words that I want to say?” If I can’t see a good outcome, I opt to stay out of it.

Certainly, there are times when we need to speak up. But James 1:19 instructs us, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Instead, most of us speak quickly and angrily before taking the time to listen. As believers, our calling is to “not let any unwholesome word come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). Our calling is not to air our grievances whenever we feel like it but to weight our words carefully and speak up when it will be helpful.

And it is vital that we don’t waste our words by “speaking our truth,” because this often distracts from the world hearing the clear gospel message. If Christians are clogging the airwaves with constant opinions about guns and taxes and politicians and pop stars, people will have a hard time seeing that Jesus’ life and death and resurrection are our central message.

We believe that God not only spoke the world into existence but that he has provided redemption for the world and adoption for all who place their faith in Jesus. This message should be our calling card. And we should minimize other noise that distracts from this. If we embrace the idea that the world is waiting for our opinion on every subject, we feed our pride and we distract from our message.

As a final thought, our words matter. Some might be thinking, “Who cares if someone uses the phrase ‘Speak your truth’? They’re just words.” Words are how we communicate to the world and they are how we reinforce our view of reality to ourselves. This is why in James 4, James calls Christians not to say, “I am going to go to this city and do business,” but to say, “If the Lord wills I will live and go to this city and do business.”

James is not simply calling believers to use spiritual language. He is calling believers to embrace the truth in such a way that we speak with accuracy about the fact that our plans are utterly dependent on God’s providence. In the same way, “our truth” is not something that is real or important. Our opinion may or may not matter, depending on the situation. The truth, especially the central truth of the gospel, is the message that ought always to be on the forefront of our minds and our tongues.

For more on about truth, see Randy’s devotional Truth: A Bigger View of God's Word.

Photo by Ilyass SEDDOUG on Unsplash

Grace Means Christians Should and Can Live Differently than the World

This article by Greg Morse is vitally important. Its message, which has been on my heart a long time, is this: on the one hand, it’s true that we are sinners saved by grace, meaning for now we are still sinners:  “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). On the other hand, when we talk about how normal sin is, suggesting it’s inevitable that we as Christians sin, we are really missing something vital about Christ’s empowering grace. I’m glad Greg addresses that here. —Randy Alcorn

Sinners, Saints, or Hypocrites: The Lies We Spread About Grace

Article by Greg Morse

“In my experience,” the cynic began, “I have found most Christians to be hypocrites who do not live up to their professions.”

“But certainly,” the pastor replied, “being a Christian does not mean we’re any better than unbelievers. We are still just as sick as anyone — we just have found the doctor. Remember, Christianity is not about morality. It’s about grace.”

And so it goes.

From Bible studies to personal evangelism to explaining the moral failures of our leaders, the indistinctness of the Christian is trending these days. How many of us have comforted our neighbor (or one another) with a reminder that the sinner in the church is little different than the sinner outside? “We are all broken,” it is assured. “We are all miserable failures,” is the refrain. To hear it from some, a mere profession of faith is the only real difference between the church and the world.

‘All About Grace’

In an effort to protect the grace of God from works righteousness, some tend to minimize talk of good works altogether. Christianity isn’t about morality. It’s about grace. Now, the gospel — and specifically justification by faith alone — is most certainly about grace and not works, lest grace no longer be grace (Romans 11:6). We love that we are saved by God’s grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Every saint in glory will sing, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”

But this “it’s all about grace” talk goes wrong when we say that the amazing grace that saves the Christian doesn’t also make him distinct from the unbeliever in love, action, and speech. When we go out of our way to discount the grace of good works in the Christian life, we betray how little we really know of grace.

Nothing on this planet is like it. It is the most precious jewel we can receive. The sweetest thing our souls can taste. The loveliest lyric our mouths can sing. But it is never a powerless thing.

God does not have a type of saving grace that, once given, leaves its recipient unchanged. Saving grace not only justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5) but trains us “to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11–12). God himself is at work in us by his Spirit (Philippians 2:13). And this grace is a more effective teacher than Dr. Phil or Dr. Seuss or any other teacher in the world.

Same-as-the-World Christianity

But the doctrine of same-as-the-world Christianity tells us something different: that those who have found the doctor are no healthier than those who have not. Or, in the other rendition, that those beggars who have found the bread stay just as malnourished as the starving world. But patients who tell us that they have seen the medic, while also confessing they are still no different from those miserable souls in the waiting room, let us all in on the secret that they are either lying or need to find a new doctor.

The watching world makes this connection all the time. Our critics regularly tell us that they turn away because such and such professor is a hypocrite. What they mean cannot be missed: the Christian, who, like other acquaintances they have met, is a liar, a cheat, a drunk, a grouch, or a gossip, sullies their profession to have found the heavenly Doctor.

To even many skeptics, following Jesus entails honesty, integrity, love, goodness, kindness — which is more than our pastor was willing to confess. It is no wonder then, why, after trying to woo the sick man into the hospital wing by showing him patients just as infirmed as he, the onlooker passed without interest. The great Physician is blasphemed among unbelievers because of such hypocrisy (Romans 2:23–24).

Christians Will Be Different

“We are the same as the world” is not the Christian motto. We do not champion a powerless grace. To do so excuses the idle in the church to ignore holiness. It belittles the power of the gospel to save sinners from their sin. And it dismisses the work and power of the Holy Spirit to make us holy. It tempts us to take our lamps down from atop the hill, normalizes the loss of our saltiness, and removes shining stars from a morally vacuous sky. We do not need more wicked-as-the-world trophies of his pardon. We need men, women, and children who were wicked as the world but are now trophies of his power.

And why can we expect Christians to behave better than our seemingly upright neighbors?

1. We are born again.

“Born again” is not a brand name for Christians who take their faith a little more seriously than the mainstream; it is a God-wrought miracle in every true believer. In real time and space, God creates a new creature from the old (2 Corinthians 5:17), transfers us from the demonic realm to his Son’s kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13), and raises the spiritually dead to life (Romans 6:4). He gives new affections, new loves, new joys. Sin becomes odious. Holiness becomes attractive. We become servants of joy with a new mission and a new King.

No longer are we imprisoned in the line of Adam. No longer do we live according to the flesh and its desires. No longer are we bad trees bearing rotten fruit. We have traded sin’s harsh slavery for the freedom of bondage to Christ and righteousness (Romans 6:20–23). We are heirs of life, heirs of glory, heirs of the world to come.

2. We have the very power of God in us.

With new birth comes almighty power. Peter lets us in on one of the most scandalous truths for Christian living: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).

Christians have all we need, in every circumstance, at every moment, to live a godly life. God himself dwells in us (Romans 8:9–11) and is at work in us (Philippians 2:13). In Christ, we are powerful. We are finally free to conquer pornography. Finally free to say, “No!” to lying, stealing, and laziness (Titus 2:11–13). We are not left helpless to lie around and booze all day — we have the might to renounce every and any temptation through the Spirit that dwells in us (Romans 8:13).

We have the very weapon of God in hand: his word. The very presence of God in us: his Spirit. And the very army of God to war with us: his church.

3. We gladly live for Another’s glory.

It is wrong to assume that only our failures can be the proper backdrop to highlight his grace. I struggle; he forgives. I screw up; his grace is exalted. I morally vomit on the floor; he cleans it up. Christ is glorified as the janitor.

To this, Paul asks, and answers, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” (Romans 6:1–2). And Peter confronts it by saying, “The time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry” (1 Peter 4:3). In other words, we have already sinned enough. Our backdrop is already plenty dark enough to showcase the diamond of his grace. Now we pay no more debts to our former lives but pick up our mats and walk in newness of life. Our fruit, not our failures, proves that we are his (John 15:8).

Saints on the Mend

Sickly saints that are on the mend give glory to the Doctor and instruct others to go to him. To profess to have found him, and bear no change, is to cast a shadow on the name of Christ and the power of his Spirit.

Christians should be distinct from the world in how we live. Yes, should is different than always are. We all have cause to sing, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” Sanctification can be painfully slow. What we speak of is not perfection but a new power, a new purpose, and a new direction.

But even when the Christian stumbles, as we all do this side of glory, we are not content to make peace with belittling God. We do not settle at home in our sin. “We’re all human” is not our excuse. We are not satisfied to wander from our Savior. When we fall, we will roll to our knees, plead for grace’s pardon and power, get up, and continue on our way.

We have a mantle to carry. Our Savior has worked a mighty change in us. We are to be his hands and feet. We are to march together on the enemy’s gates. We are to bear witness to a watching world. We are a city on a hill to live as citizens of the world to come. Let’s embrace this, not explain it away. Celebrate this. Be jealous for it. Ask God to help us live more boldly, taste more salty, and shine more brightly.

This article originally appeared on Desiring God and is used by permission of the author.

For more on this subject, see Randy’s devotional Grace: A Bigger View of God’s Love.

Photo by Thomas Evans on Unsplash

Charles Spurgeon and the Importance of Consistency with Scripture in Theology

I think Charles Spurgeon comes as close as anyone I’ve read to articulating what Scripture as a whole reveals. Sadly, though I attended both a good Bible college and a good seminary, I never read Spurgeon or learned anything about him. I’d been a pastor for ten years before I discovered him, and then I couldn’t get enough of him. The Bible oozed out of his pores, and he let Scripture be Scripture, rarely twisting it to fit his theology. (One of my books on Heaven, We Shall See God, contains segments from his sermons on Heaven, so about 60% of the book is Spurgeon. It was one of my favorite books to work on, since I extracted my favorite portions from many of his messages. One day I’ll meet him and say, “Don’t know if you realized we were co-authors. There really wasn’t any way I could ask your permission!”)

Spurgeon demonstrated the importance of consistency with Scripture over consistency with one’s preferred theological leanings. He advised, “Brethren be willing to see both sides of the shield of truth. Rise above the babyhood which cannot believe two doctrines until it sees the connecting link. Have you not two eyes, man? Must you needs put one of them out in order to see clearly?” [1]

Spurgeon maintained that no man-made theological system is authoritative. He said, “My love of consistency with my own doctrinal views is not great enough to allow me knowingly to alter a single text of Scripture. I have great respect for orthodoxy, but my reverence for inspiration is far greater. I would sooner a hundred times over appear to be inconsistent with myself than be inconsistent with the word of God.” [2]

While the Bible is God breathed, theological systems are not. They are valid not to the extent that they’re self-consistent but to the degree they’re consistent with Scripture.

Spurgeon didn’t try to reconcile paradoxical doctrines (like the ones I write about in hand in Hand: The Beauty of God's Sovereignty and Meaningful Human Choice). He said, “That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other….These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity.” [3]

He warned against attempting to solve, by means of shortsighted logic, every apparent biblical problem: “Men who are morbidly anxious to possess a self-consistent creed,—a creed which they can put together, and form into a square, like a Chinese puzzle,—are very apt to narrow their souls.… Those who will only believe what they can reconcile will necessarily disbelieve much of Divine revelation.” [4]

Spurgeon never apologized for his Calvinism, but first and foremost he was about following Jesus and being faithful not to just some, but to all of God’s Word. He said, “I wish to be called nothing but a Christian; but if you ask me, do I hold the doctrinal views which were held by John Calvin, I reply, I do in the main hold them, and rejoice to avow it.” [5]  

I appreciate that he said “in the main,” meaning that he felt the freedom to disagree with Calvin when he believed God was saying something different in His Word. I have read Arminian theologians, including those I disagree with, who are equally devout and committed to Scripture. Spurgeon’s sentiments should be true of Calvinists and Arminians and every Jesus-follower. If we disagree in our theology, let us disagree with complete commitment to accepting all that Scripture says, not just the parts that best fit our backgrounds and preferred theology.

Notice what God says about HIS word that He does not say about my words or yours:

“Rain and snow fall from the sky.
But they don’t return
    without watering the earth
that produces seeds to plant
    and grain to eat.
That’s how it is with my words.
    They don’t return to me
without doing everything
    I send them to do.”

Isaiah 55:10-11, CEV

[1] C. H. Spurgeon, “Faith and Regeneration” (sermon 979, March 5, 1871, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington).

[2] C. H. Spurgeon, “Salvation by Knowing the Truth” (sermon 1516, January 16, 1880, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington).

[3] C. H. Spurgeon, “Sovereign Grace and Man’s Responsibility” (sermon 207, Royal Surrey Gardens, August 1, 1858).

[4] C. H. Spurgeon, “Faith,” in An All-Round Ministry: Addresses to Ministers and Students.

[5] C. H. Spurgeon, The Autobiography of Charles H. Spurgeon, 1834–1854, comp. Susannah Spurgeon and Joseph Harrald (Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, 1898), 1:176.

Cultural Relativism, Even in the Face of Human Sacrifice

Relativism dominates the thinking of most educated people (which means sometimes that uneducated people are morally smarter). The “it all depends” morality, controversial fifty years ago when called situational ethics, denies the existence of any objective standards of right and wrong. What’s wrong for one person, so it insists, may be right for another. One uses internal, not external, standards to judge morality.

People who say they believe in such a shifting ethic, however, constantly make moral judgments. They may defend abortion or euthanasia or homosexual marriage, but they decry rape, environmental exploitation, genocide, and child abuse. Why? On what basis? Which of those issues, given enough time, will they also change their minds about?

How ironic that the September 11, 2001 attacks came when American moral relativism had reached a peak. Some people, who on one day emphatically denied the existence of moral absolutes, on the next day spoke against those “absolutely hideous evils.”

Twenty years ago, while teaching a college ethics course, I read an account of a university professor who’d discovered that half of his students had received photocopies of the final exam and cheated on the test. Ironically, the professor was an outspoken advocate of moral relativism. The professor felt outraged at his students’ behavior. But why? Shouldn’t he have congratulated them for living out the very moral framework he had taught them?

This man, like all of us, innately recognized moral absolutes. The fact that his worldview couldn’t account for them should have prompted him to seek an alternative.

This commentary on Breakpoint reminds us that cultural relativism is still alive and well:

A Tower of Skulls: Cultural Relativism Meets Human Sacrifice

By  Eric Metaxas & G. Shane Morris

“Hey, don’t judge.” We hear those words a lot. But it takes real commitment to say them while staring at 130 thousand murder victims.

Imagine walking into the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan in the year 1519. Situated on an island in the middle of an ancient lake where Mexico City now stands, Tenochtitlan was spectacular, even in a region known for its pyramids and plazas.

But what really caught the attention of the Spanish conquistadors was the tower of human skulls that stood in front of the temple of the Aztec gods. Known as Tzompantli, this gruesome structure reportedly contained the skulls of some 130 thousand victims of human sacrifice, performed to ensure that the sun would continue to rise and rain would continue to fall.

For many years, historians considered Spanish tales of the Aztec tower of skulls exaggerations or fabrications, invented to justify the conquest of Tenochtitlan two years later. That is until 2015, when archaeologists began finding skull fragments under a Colonial-era house in Mexico City.

They have now uncovered hundreds of intact skulls of people who were neatly defleshed and decapitated. Archaeologists are piecing together a picture of a city built around ritual slaughter on an unimaginable scale. They estimate the Tzompantli was over a hundred feet long, forty feet wide, and fifteen feet tall. And as new victims were sacrificed regularly, it was always freshly-stocked. If anything, the old stories fell short of just how monstrous this monument to Aztec religion was.

Now, you’d think we could all agree that human sacrifice is a horrific evil. But the author of the Science Magazine article about this tower of skulls begs to differ. Lizzie Wade took to Twitter to chide her readers for not seeing things from the Aztecs’ perspective!

The people who built the Tzompantli, she writes, saw the skulls of their victims as “seeds they planted to insure the existence of future generations of people.” She continues, writing that human sacrifice may seem “weird and violent and gruesome to our Western colonial gaze. But don’t for a second think that’s the only way to see it, or the ‘right’ way to see it.” What’s so fun about archaeology, she concludes, is “trying to understand a worldview that is fundamentally, deeply different than the one we have been trained to think is natural and right. Try it sometime.”

Wade’s tweet storm should help us understand a worldview that is fundamentally, deeply different, but it’s not the worldview of the Aztecs. It’s the worldview of cultural relativism, which rejects ultimate claims about right and wrong, good and evil, and insists that everything—even the immorality of human sacrifice—is culturally relative. Those from one culture shouldn’t condemn those from another culture where right and wrong are different. Or that’s the idea.

The problem is Wade doesn’t seem to believe it herself. Her tweets are peppered with remarks about “colonial oppression and destruction,” giving the impression that she won’t judge Mesoamerican human sacrifice, but she’s perfectly willing to judge the Europeans who put an end to it.

Now obviously, the behavior of Spanish conquistadors was indefensible. That’s not the point. The point is it’s impossible to live as a consistent cultural or moral relativist.

We know there’s absolute and universal right and wrong. The Bible says it’s written on our hearts. It is the basis of all just laws, and the reason why we rightly condemn everything from the ritual burning of Indian widows on their husband’s funeral pyres, to the Holocaust. Evil is evil, no matter which culture it comes from.

More than this, when Christians look at a tower of skulls, we don’t have to pretend to see the “seeds life.” We know the One behind universal right and wrong, who chose to become a victim and sacrificed His own life, once for all, in answer to the towering and universal problem of human evil.

Copyright 2018 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission

For more on this subject, see Randy’s devotional Truth: A Bigger View of God's Word and book If God Is Good.

Image: John Carter Brown Library [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Will We Work and Have Jobs in Heaven?

Genesis 2:15 tells us, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Work wasn’t part of the Curse. The Curse, rather, made work menial, tedious, and frustrating (Genesis 3:17-19). Because work began before sin and the Curse, and because God, who is without sin, is a worker, we should assume human beings will work on the New Earth. We’ll have satisfying and enriching work that we can’t wait to get back to, work that’ll never be drudgery.

God is the primary worker, and as His image bearers, we’re made to work. Jesus found great satisfaction in His work. He said, “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17). We create, accomplish, set goals, and fulfill them—to God’s glory. Our work will be joyful and fulfilling, giving glory to God. “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him” (Revelation 22:3). (Work will be refreshing on the New Earth, yet regular rest will be built into our lives.)

Even under the Curse, we catch glimpses of how work can be enriching, how it can build relationships, and how it can help us to improve. Work stretches us in ways that make us smarter, wiser, and more fulfilled. Work in Heaven won’t be frustrating or fruitless; instead, it will involve lasting accomplishment, unhindered by decay and fatigue, enhanced by unlimited resources. Our best workdays on the present Earth—those days when everything turns out better than we planned, when we get everything done on time, and when everyone on the team pulls together and enjoys one another—are just a small foretaste of the joy our work will bring us on the New Earth.

Because there will be continuity from the old Earth to the new, it’s possible we’ll continue some of the work we started on the old Earth. We’ll pursue some of the same things we were doing, or dreamed of doing, before our deaths. Of course, some people’s jobs won’t exist on the New Earth, among them dentists, police officers, funeral directors, and insurance salespeople. What are now their interests or hobbies may become their main vocations. Others might continue working as they do now, as gardeners, engineers, builders, artists, animal trainers, musicians, scientists, craftspeople, or hundreds of other vocations. A significant difference will be that they’ll work without the hindrances of toil, pain, corruption, sin, and exhaustion. It will be the best we have experienced in our most fulfilling work, without any of the worst.

I share some related thoughts in this video, an excerpt from the Eternity 101 DVD series:

Photo by Daniel McCullough on Unsplash