Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 32

How Transgenderism, Homosexuality, Abortion, and Hook-up Culture All Devalue the Human Body

Note from Randy: Today’s guest article is the second in our series on gender confusion and sexuality. It’s based on a presentation that Professor Nancy Pearcey gave at Cairn University related to her book Love Thy Body. Nancy is brilliant; she used to co-author with Chuck Colson, one of my heroes. The premise of her presentation is insightful: many of the cultural issues of our day, including transgenderism, actually have a very low view of the human body. (I asked EPM staff member, Stephanie Anderson, who edits my blog, to write the rest of the introduction to this article. She did so, and I agree with it 100%.)

Consider one trans youth who says in a video interview, “There’s so much trans hate in the world right now, and I’m so done with it.” The interviewer asks, “Where do you personally feel that hate is coming from?” At first the response is, “Most places…but especially the government.” The interviewer then pushes the youth to answer more specifically: “In your own life, where would you say you feel the hate the most?” The answer: “I feel like… I kind of internalize a lot of the hate, so it feels like it mostly comes from myself at this point.”

Though the video was shared by “Meme’nOnLibs,” and the person who re-posted it says, “This is hilarious,” it’s quite sad. Here is a youth who has bought into lies that promised happiness, fulfillment, and a source of identity, but in truth only deliver bondage, deception, pain, and ultimately, self-loathing of one’s own body and mind.

How much better is the Christian worldview of the body; as Nancy puts it, “Christianity provides a high view of the body in its approach to all of these issues.” As you read Nancy’s article, consider how the Biblical message differs from the false worldviews of our culture.

Love Thy Body: Sexual Truth for a Secular Age

The following is an abridged transcription of Nancy Pearcey’s two-day presentation to Cairn faculty and staff during the annual faculty workshop in August 2021.

After high school, I went to Labri, the ministry of Francis and Edith Schaeffer. This was the first place that I encountered apologetics and the first time I encountered Christians who talked about there being valid arguments, reasons, evidence, and logic supporting Christianity. Schaeffer’s form of apologetics spoke to postmodern young people—including myself—in a way that no other apologetics did, and he heavily influenced my own approach to apologetics.

This influence is evidenced in my book Love Thy Body. I wrote the book because while the secular culture speaks highly of body positivity, they actually have a low view of the body. This is surprising for most people. They think if you don’t believe in God and the physical material world is all that exists, then you would expect that person to have a high view of the body. So surprisingly, it’s just the opposite, and it’s consistent across the many cultural issues of our day: transgenderism, homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, and even hook-up culture. Even more surprising for most people is that Christianity provides a high view of the body in its approach to all of these issues.

Transgenderism Devalues the Body

Out of all of the topics I’m going to cover, this is perhaps the most obvious example of a low view of the body. Transgender activists explicitly say that your gender identity has nothing to do with your biological sex and that being biologically male or female is not part of your “authentic self.”

A BBC documentary says, “At the heart of the debate is the idea that your mind can be at war with your body.” And of course, in that war, who wins? The mind wins. Philosophers sometimes picture this war using the metaphor of two stories in a building. It was Schaeffer who introduced this metaphor to the evangelical world. In the lowest story is what we know by science, and in the upper story, we put anything that cannot be known empirically. Applying this to the transgender debate, biological identity
is in the lower story and personal sense of self or gender identity is in the upper story. It’s perfectly possible, then, for your gender identity to actually contradict your biological identity. This leads to fragmentation and self-alienation.

This fragmentation is evident even from the language they use. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation defines “transgender” as “a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the sex the doctor marked down on their birth certificate”—as if it were an arbitrary choice instead of an observed scientific fact. But the Christian ethic rests on a positive view of the body, because we know we have a good God who made the world with intentionality and purpose.

Homosexuality Devalues the Body

Even my homosexual friends agree that on the level of biology, anatomy, physiology, and chromosomes, males and females are counterparts to one another. That’s how the human sexual and reproductive system is designed. To embrace a same-sex identity, then, is to contradict that design. It’s to say, “Why should the structure of my body inform my identity?” ”Why should my biological sex as a male or female have any say in my moral choices?” We need to help people see that this is a profoundly disrespectful view of the body. It pits the mind against the body and says it’s only the mind and feelings that count. Christianity gives an ethic that overcomes that inner division, that split in the sense of self in the body. It leads to self-integration instead of fragmentation. It leads to an inner sense of holism and unity.

My book Love Thy Body is full of personal stories. So let me give you one of my favorite stories. Sean Dougherty was a man who grew up identifying as exclusively homosexual. But today, he’s married to a woman, has three children, and is a Christian ethics professor. He explains, “I stopped defining my identity by my sexual feelings, and I started to regard my physical body as who I was. My goal was not to change my feelings, which rarely works. Instead, my goal was to acknowledge what I already had, a male body, as a good gift from God. And eventually my feelings started to follow suit.” In other words, he acknowledged his embodied existence as fundamentally good. And that’s really the question at the heart of this debate: Do we live in a cosmos operating by blind, purposeless, mindless forces, or do we live in a cosmos created by a loving Creator, which is therefore fundamentally good?

Christians are making a positive case that biblical morality respects our biological identity. The biological correspondence between male and female is not some evolutionary accident. It’s part of the original creation that God pronounced very good.

Abortion Devalues the Body

We usually talk about sexuality issues separately from the life issues of abortion and euthanasia. But there is an underlying worldview—namely a devaluing of the body—that connects them.

A few years ago, an article appeared by a British broadcaster who said she had always been proudly pro-choice until she became pregnant with her first baby. She said, “I was calling the life inside me a baby because I wanted it. But if I hadn’t wanted it, I would think of it as just a group of cells that was okay to kill.” To her credit, she realized that that didn’t make sense. So she began to research the subject. She concluded, “In terms of science, I have to agree that life begins at conception. But perhaps the fact of life is not what’s important. It’s whether that life has grown enough to start becoming a person.”

Do you see how the concept of a human being has been split in two? Professional bioethicists agree that life begins at conception. The evidence from genetics and DNA is too strong to deny it. So how do they get around the science to support abortion? They argue that you can be “human” at one point, but not a “person” until sometime later. They argue that merely being human is not enough to qualify for legal protection. The fetus has to earn the right to life by becoming a person, usually defined in terms of mental abilities, some level of self-awareness, cognitive functioning, and so on. Once the concept of personhood is separated from biology, there is no objective criteria. It becomes completely arbitrary. Every bioethicist draws the line at a different place, depending on their own private views, values, and personal preferences.

You can see how this view can easily extend to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Secular bioethicists say that if you lose a certain level of cognitive functioning, then you are “only a body.” You’re only in the lower story (to use this two-story diagram), and at that point, you can be unplugged, your treatment withheld, your food and water discontinued, and your organs harvested. Being human is no longer enough for human rights.

That view implies a divided concept, a fragmented concept of what it means to be human. It also asserts that the body itself has no particular dignity or value. On the other hand, the pro-life position is holistic, not fragmented. It says the body itself has meaning and dignity and is part of who you are. You can’t separate them.

Hook-Up Culture Devalues the Body

Once again, the way to understand the secular understanding of sex rests on a divided concept of the human being. It rests on the assumption that sex can be purely physical, cut off from the whole person without any hint of love or commitment. Young people know the script all too well, even if they don’t really like it.

In my book, I give several very poignant quotes from college students like Alicia, who says, “Hook-ups are very scripted. You learn to turn everything off except your body. You make yourself emotionally invulnerable.” She’s almost verbally describing the dualism with the line separating who you are physically from who you are as a full human self.

Critics of the hook-up culture, which includes a lot of Christians, often will say it gives sex too much importance, but in reality, it gives sex too little importance. In Rolling Stone magazine, a young man said in an interview, “Sex is just a piece of body touching another piece of body. It is existentially meaningless.”

The hook-up culture expresses the mentality of a worldview that says your body can be treated as purely physical, driven by physical impulses and instincts. No wonder it’s leaving a trail of wounded people in its wake. People are trying to live out a secularist ethic that does not fit who they really are. Even science shows the interconnection of body and person with the discovery of hormones like oxytocin and vasopressin. These are hormones that are released by sexual activity, and they produce a feeling of connection, a sense of attachment. They are sometimes called bonding hormones. A UCLA psychiatrist says, “You might say we are designed to bond.”

How should Christians respond? In all of these cases we should ask, “Why should we accept such an extreme devaluation of the body?” Christians have a wonderful opportunity to show that a biblical ethic is based on loving your body. The Bible’s high view of God’s created order is one reason that it truly is good news. Francis Schaeffer used to say the message of Christianity doesn’t start with salvation; it starts with “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” and, therefore, this creation has great value and dignity. We are called to honor our body, to respect our biological sex, to live in harmony with the Creator’s design, and to recognize that the body has intrinsic purpose and meaning.

The article originally appeared on the Cairn University website , and is used with their permission and the permission of the author.

Final note from Randy: If you’d like to hear more from Nancy, see her interview with author Alisa Childers.

One last point: unfortunately, without understanding a biblical theology of the body, sometimes Christians also subconsciously have a negative view of the human body. “Christoplatonism” is a term I coined to refer to how Plato’s notion of a good spirit realm and an evil material world hijacked the church’s understanding of Heaven. From a Christoplatonic perspective, our souls occupy our bodies like a hermit crab inhabits a seashell. Because of Christoplatonism’s pervasive influence, we resist the biblical picture of bodily resurrection of the dead and life on the New Earth, and we forget that Jesus died to redeem both our souls and our bodies. Here’s the appendix from Heaven on this topic, as well as my article Our Most Destructive Assumption About Heaven.

Photo: Pexels

Humanity Is Made in God’s Image, Male and Female

Note from Randy: When we were both speaking at an apologetics conference some years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Christopher Yuan, who is an author, speaker, and instructor at Moody Bible Institute. We quickly became good friends. I read a lot of books, and his Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story is on the shortlist of most important books I’ve read in the last decade.

Christopher covers sex and gender in his newly released The Holy Sexuality Project video series for parents/grandparents and their teens/preteens. There is a great need at this cultural moment for parents to disciple their children and teach them God’s truth. That’s why I’m incredibly grateful for his wise, Christ-honoring voice.

This first guest article in our series on gender, written by Christopher, provides an important foundation for understanding gender from a biblical perspective.

He Made Them Male and Female: Sex, Gender, and the Image of God

By Christopher Yuan

Is “gender” a social construct? Should male or female be a matter of personal choice? Are there more than two “genders”?

Ten years ago, these questions were unheard of apart from English and Women’s Studies departments at secular universities. But as peculiar and even sacrilegious as it may sound, many people today would say yes to all three. Maybe your kindergartener has a playmate being raised “gender neutral.” Or your coffee shop is starting to use name tags with “preferred pronouns.” Or a bit closer to home, you might have a family member who is “transitioning.”

Although the modern West has lost its boundaries and celebrates a plethora of so-called gender options, how should Christians understand and critique today’s concepts of gender in light of Scripture? We begin with understanding, and not conflating, four categories: sex, gender, norms, and callings.

Sex: Male and Female

The term sex has a couple of definitions. It can refer to the act of sexual intercourse or the categories of male and female. For this discussion, we’re focusing on the second definition.

Sex as male or female is an objective, binary classification. In this sense, sex refers to divisions based on reproductive functions. Many today, however, claim that sex is not objective but arbitrary. For example, some assert that sex is “assigned” at birth. This is simply untrue. The sex of a newborn is observed physically by the baby’s sex organs and confirmed genetically through a DNA test.

But what about people who are “intersex”? Does this exceptionally rare condition (by all counts, one in thousands, not hundreds) prove sex is nonbinary and on a spectrum? No. Intersexuality is a biological phenomenon where an individual may have genital ambiguity or genetic variance. In human biology, however, anomalies do not nullify categories.

Gender: Self-Perceptions

The modern notion of “gender,” on the other hand, is a quite recent invention and is more difficult to examine. Unlike sex, gender is a category that exists objectively only in the realm of linguistics. It doesn’t point to anything tangible. Instead, “gender” now is being used to refer to a psychological reality independent from biological sex. It’s the subjective self-perception of being male or female.

At present, this psychological concept of “gender” is essentially being enforced linguistically, with demands to use preferred pronouns and newly chosen names to match self-perception rather than objective truth. But this is how minds are changed — by first changing language.

Given that sex is objective and gender is subjective, you would think we would value conforming one’s subjective ideas to objective truth. Instead, the opposite is true: our culture now values altering the objective, physical reality of our bodies to accommodate the subjective impression of ourselves.

Most people’s self-perception is congruent with their biological sex. For a small percentage of others, it’s not. The mental distress from this dissonance is called gender dysphoria — a psychological consequence of the fall. Some choose to identify as transgender male-to-female or female-to-male, in essence elevating psychology over biology.

However, this new form of dualism separates mind from body and elevates self-understanding as the determiner of personhood — hence the neologism gender identity. The truth of the matter is that sense of self at best describes how we feel, not who we are.

Norms: Cultural Expectations

But some assert that male and female are actually determined by culture. This categorical fallacy is a conflation of male and female with the separate classification of masculinity and femininity. Masculinity and femininity are behavioral characteristics associated with being male or female. Admittedly, these social norms can sometimes be shaped by our culture and expectations.

For example, in some parts of the United States, being masculine frequently means being rough, tough, unemotional, and inartistic. For some, the quintessential all-American man might be a rugged, loud, and bombastic football player or construction worker. Yet in many other places, these two examples would not be considered masculine, but barbaric!

Who says a man can’t be artistic? Jubal was “the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe” (Genesis 4:21). Moses led Israel in a song of victory over Egypt (Exodus 15:1–18). David was skilled at the harp, and wrote numerous psalms (2 Samuel 23:1). He also assigned men to be musicians in the temple (1 Chronicles 25:1–31).

Who says men cannot be emotional? Many of the prophets, such as Ezra, Nehemiah, and Jeremiah, were not afraid to express their emotions through public tears (Ezra 10:1; Nehemiah 1:4; Lamentations 1:16). Even Jesus himself wept publicly (John 11:35). Strong emotions are not reserved for women only.

King David was known for having a heart after God. He’s famous for his brave exploits — first as a shepherd boy when he fought lions and bears to protect his sheep, then as a youth who defied the giant Goliath, and later as a warrior-king. But David was known for also being sensitive and intuitive, exhibiting traits that macho culture would view as inappropriate for a “real man’s man.” Had David grown up today as a young boy playing the harp, some kids may have teased him for being a sissy.

Callings: Manhood and Womanhood

Does this mean there are no distinctions between male and female? Instead of looking for cues primarily from society, we must look to Scripture. Cultural norms for male and female may be shaped by society, but God’s word communicates that men and women, while being equal in value, are also distinct in their callings. We identify this distinction of calling as biblical manhood and womanhood, a category the secular world doesn’t acknowledge.

In the creation account, God creates the woman to be the man’s “helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). The word helper (Hebrew ‘ezer) does not denote a person of lesser worth or value. In fact, ‘ezer occurs 21 times in the Old Testament, and 16 of these refer to God as Israel’s help.

“Fit for him” (kenegdo) communicates complementarity — both similarity and dissimilarity. Adam and Eve are both alike as human beings and also not alike as male and female. God intends for the woman to complement and not duplicate the man. This difference of calling is God’s design from the beginning.

The apostle Paul exhorts husbands to love their wives “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25) and wives to submit to their husbands “as the church submits to Christ” (Ephesians 5:24). These distinct callings are vital in marriage, the church, and other realms as well.

More Than Biology

In the first chapter of the Bible, God creates the heavens and the earth, and fills the earth with living creatures. The crown of creation is adam, or man (humankind). And among all the various human characteristics, God highlights one in particular: male and female.

Genesis 1:27 conveys an undeniable connection between “the image of God” and the ontological categories of male and female. This verse consists of three lines of poetry, with the second and third lines structured in parallel, communicating a correlation between God’s image and “male and female.”

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Being created in the image of God and being male or female are essential to being human. Sex (male and female) is not simply biological or genetic, just as being human is not simply biological or genetic. Sex is first and foremost a spiritual and ontological reality created by God. Being male or female cannot be changed by human hands; sex is a category of God’s handiwork — his original and everlasting design.

As hard as anyone may try to alter this fact in his or her own body, the most that can be done is to artificially remove or augment body parts, or use pharmaceuticals to unnaturally suppress the biological and hormonal reality of one’s essence as male or female. In other words, psychology usurps biology; what I feel becomes who I am. When denying this physical and genetic reality, we allow experience to supersede essence, and more importantly, the image of God.

Sola Experientia

As Christians living today in baffling times, we must recognize that the world confuses and conflates these four categories. The world will suggest that masculinity is a social construct (which it may be in part but not the whole) and then assert that male and female is also a social construct — which it emphatically is not.

The ultimate question is: Where should Christians place their emphasis when engaging in discussions on this topic? Transgenderism is not exclusively a battle for what is male and female, but rather a battle for what is true and real. Christians cannot simply nod and smile politely in the face of damaging lies.

Postmodernism, coming out of romanticism and existentialism, tells us that “you are what you feel.” Thus, experience reigns supreme, and everything else must bow before it. Sola experientia (“experience alone”) has won out over sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”).

But God is saying, You are who I created you to be. The truth is not something we feel; it is not based on our self-perception. In fact, Scripture tells us that the fallen heart “is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). We can’t trust our own thoughts and feelings, so we need to submit them to God because we can “trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:4).

I refuse to place my psychology over my biology, and as a Christian, I refuse to put either above Scripture. I am who God — who makes no mistakes — made me to be. So who am I? Who did God make me to be?

I am created in the image of God, and I am a redeemed Christian man. Nothing more. Nothing less.

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

Photo: Pexels

Our Cultural Confusion over Gender and Sexuality

The Church’s Opportunity to Speak the Truth with Love and Clarity

Over the last six months, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and reading about gender confusion, which is sometimes called gender dysphoria. This is an issue of immense importance that we cannot wish away. It has become inescapable, and we and our children and grandchildren will be forced to come to terms with it.

In the decades long history of our website and in the 16 years we’ve had a blog, we have never done what we’ll be doing these next three weeks. We are going to feature a series of guest blogs all related to gender and sexuality. We will look at gender as God’s creation, gender confusion as part of the Fall, and listen to wise voices that can guide us as to what we need to believe and do to walk as God wants. We will seek to please Him and avoid the landmines of a lost and deceived culture. While I am providing intros for each guest blog, they are written by others. This first one, an introduction to the series, is by me.

In the early 1980’s, while still in my late twenties, I began researching my first book, Christians in the Wake of the Sexual Revolution, which was released in 1985. I was alarmed at the degree of sexual immorality I knew of already as a young pastor. (A revision of the book was later re-released under the title Restoring Sexual Sanity.) That book took a toll on me, especially the parts related to children. I vividly remember weeping as I prayed for my daughters while they slept, because of the direction of our culture and all the evils of pornography and sexual abuse they and other children would have to face in their lifetimes.

What I didn’t know, however, is that I would live to see my children’s children growing up in a culture which attempts to teach them that someone is a boy or girl depending on what they want, and decide to choose, regardless of the prior choice of God and biology.

Here’s what I wrote in the introduction of that first book. Forty years later it has come to fruition in ways even more radical than I anticipated:

The sexual revolution has fostered a barnyard morality that robs human dignity. It has resulted in people being seen and treated as sexual objects rather than sexual subjects. It has left us a nation of technological giants and moral dwarves. Millions now live under the burden of sexual expectations and pressures to perform in a prescribed manner. Victims of the tyranny of the orgasm, they feel that unless their sexual experience is what they see in the media—where everyone is effortlessly erotic and every encounter is comparable to nuclear fission—they’re being robbed, or they’re not a real man or a real woman.

Instead of a spontaneous expression of other-oriented marital love, sex has become a self-oriented, goal-oriented obsession—an object of endless analysis, comparison, experimentation, and disappointment. Like the end of the rainbow, the ultimate sexual experience is always sought, but never found. No matter how hard we try, no matter how much we pay to surgically alter our bodies, we are left pathetic creatures, different in degree but not in kind from burnt out prostitutes standing on street corners.

Our modern sexual openness is endlessly pawned off as healthy, emancipating, and long overdue. But is our preoccupation with sex really a sign of sexual health? Who talks most about how they’re feeling? Sick people. Who buys the books on car repairs? Those with car problems. Who buys the drain cleaner? Those with clogged drains. Who thinks about, talks about, and buys the most books about sex? Those with sexual problems.

…The more we say about sex, the more we herald the new liberating sexual doctrines, the more we seem to uncover (or is it produce?) a myriad of sexual problems. The harder we try to drown these sexual problems in a flood of new relationships, erotic magazines, novels, movies, and sex education literature and classes, the louder and more persistently our sexual problems cry out for attention…

The more we have sought fulfillment apart from God, the further into the sexual desert we have wandered. Throats parched, lips cracked and bleeding, we are nomads in search of a sexual oasis that forever eludes us.

Galatians 6:7 says it perfectly: “Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

We have turned our backs on the Architect, Engineer, and Builder of human sexuality. We have denied His authority and ridiculed His servants. Our glands as our gods, we have discarded His directions, burned His blueprint, trampled on the ashes, and, like rebellious children, stalked off to do sex our own way. And we are reaping the results.

As pervasive as the sexual revolution was and is, I wasn’t really prepared for the fact that it would not be content to only keep pressing the borders of sexual perversion. In fact, it has led to fundamental and anti-scientific denials of gender reality. It didn’t occur to me that this sex-crazed culture would increasingly come to embrace the belief that people have the right and power to choose their gender. Or that some parents and teachers would encourage children to take hormones and have surgeries to mutilate their bodies in an attempt to artificially change their own biology. Even fifteen years ago, who would have predicted that so many educated people would actually be saying, “You are the gender you choose to be, no matter if your body says otherwise”?

The world is looking for answers to spiritual and moral questions. God’s people don’t have answers for every little thing, but we do have the answers for many big things revealed to us in His Word. They are not easy answers, but they are real ones. For the sake of our children and our culture, may God empower His Church not to doubt, hold back, apologize for, or dilute the answers He has given us. I hope you find this series helpful.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

“Haven’t you read,” [Jesus] replied,  “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’  and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5)

Photo: Unsplash

Studying God’s Word Will Change Your Life

It’s a great mystery that the Bible is an increasingly neglected book. Some who check social media, texts, and emails multiple times a day think nothing of going day after day without reading God’s Word. That’s why we are spiritually starved and lack the discernment to know what’s true and what’s false.

There is no virtue in having a Bible sit unread on a shelf or a Bible app sit unused on your phone. A Bible does us no good as long as it remains closed. Charles Spurgeon said, “If you wish to know God, you must know his Word.”

Luke makes a profound observation: “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).

They searched the Scriptures—probing, not just skimming. And they searched them daily. (People died to get the Bible into our hands; the least we can do is read it!) And their searching God’s Word daily was a sign of noble character. Unless we establish a strong biblical grid, a scriptural filter with which to screen and interpret the world, we’ll end up thinking like the world. We desperately need not only Bible teaching, but group Bible study that explores the text and applies it to daily life.

My wife Nanci was a huge believer in not just Bible reading, but Bible study. She always surrounded herself with Bible study tools, both in her own time with God, and when writing and editing Bible study lessons for our church women’s ministry. It’s amazing how much time she and the women on the team have invested over the years in preparing these lessons, including many hours of direct study of God’s Word. It was very enriching for Nanci, and fun to see her at the dining room table day after day with open Bible and reference books.

After reading The Joy of Fearing God by Jerry Bridges, Nanci wrote in her journal:

I must study and know God.

I must respond to my awesome God.

I know He loves me.

I know I love Him, and I want to express it.

I want to trust this awesome God who has revealed Himself to me.

I thank Him for His provision, His protection, His guidance, and His compassion.

I will choose to trust Him!

Studying God’s promises is a treasure hunt resulting in great happiness. Some of the precious gems lie right on the surface; others require digging deeper. When we go to God’s Word, the joy of discovery awaits.

Nanci often quoted Psalm 119 in her journal. It has 176 verses, all of which allude to God’s Word and most of which celebrate its truth. Meditating on God’s Word brings us light, wisdom, and joy. “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word” (Psalm 119:16).

Spending time with Jesus, by consistently and regularly reading His Word and praying, is an action we control. The choice may sometimes be difficult, but it is not impossible. It is a conscious action that allows us to renew our minds with the truth and to live well. But instead of fixating on the hard work of spiritual disciplines, focus on the great payoff of delight and finding “great spoil” in God’s Word (Psalm 119:162).

Scripture confronts sin in our lives, prompts us to obedience, and gives us delight in Christ. We need to go to God’s Word, open it, read it, meditate on it, and learn to delight in it. It will make us better, deeper, and happier people.

In this interview with author and speaker Jen Wilkin, she talks about the state of Bible literacy and how we can improve it, and shares how studying the Bible changed her own life. I hope it’s a help and encouragement to you.

Photo: Unsplash

As We Pray for and Support the People of Maui, We Anticipate the Coming Eternal Paradise

It’s been over three weeks since there were multiple fires on the island of Maui, including a devastating fire that destroyed historic and once beautiful Lahaina town. Please continue to pray for the thousands of people who have been affected. Because of dear friends freely opening their home to us for decades, Nanci and I often vacationed on Maui, getting to know and love people who live there, and sometimes speaking in churches.

It breaks my heart to see the burnt ruins of some of Nanci’s and my favorite places in Lahaina. But that doesn’t even begin to compare with the trauma experienced by the people who actually live there, and the extent of their heartbreak. Many have lost loved ones and friends, and others lost homes and businesses. Imagine the number of people who are out of work.

The official human death toll was 115 as of Wednesday this week, but an unknown number of people are still missing. CBS News reports that roughly 1,000 people are estimated missing by the FBI. It is hard to escape the conclusion that a number of these may have died. Even without counting the unknowns, this was already the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century.

Pray especially for the faithful Jesus-loving churches on Maui. The two I’m most familiar with are Hope Chapel in Kihei and Harvest Kumulani in Kapalua. Pray that they will continue to be a light to the people, a refuge and place of safety as they reach out to needy people in the midst of such loss.

Harvest has set up a Maui relief fund and Hope Chapel, Kihei has also set up a fund to help victims of the fires. EPM has sent funds to help Maui churches serve the needy. If you wish to give and for us to choose on your behalf where we think donations are most needed, we are glad to do so. To give online, select “Relief Fund” on our donation page. Or, if you wish to send a check, mail it to EPM, 39065 Pioneer Blvd., Suite 100, Sandy, OR 97055, and put “Maui fires” on the memo line. As always, 100% of what’s given to our special funds goes to the designated need, and online donations to our relief fund will go to Maui through September 30, 2023.

Ben Prangnell, lead pastor at Hope Chapel, wrote this week:

Here on our campus, we have received and ministered to over 500 families through our Donation Center and Kokua Fund to help them in this time of great need. The physical supplies and financial help are accompanied with a listening ear and prayer. There have been many tears shed and prayers offered with the hundreds who have been helped and ministered to.

…God has positioned us to meet great physical and spiritual needs and respond very quickly to those in need. Hope Chapel is here and committed to be the hands and feet of Jesus until he returns. The reality is that in the not-too-distant future, the media’s attention and the support from the government and national agencies will diminish. What then is left to stand with those who need it most? It will be the churches of Maui and those who partner with us to care for our island community.

And here’s a video and update from Greg Laurie with Harvest, showing side by side footage of Lahaina before and after:

We shot these 2 videos, placed side by side to show the utter devastation of the fire here in the city of Lahaina.

I knew every square inch of this little town, and I had my favorite haunts. It so sad to see it gone. Worse than that, is the loss of human life, with many still… pic.twitter.com/cneLT3toaP

— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) August 29, 2023

Last week I received an email from Warren & Annabelle’s in Lahaina, a place Nanci and I loved. We went there four times over the years to see their illusionist and card tricks show which was always hilarious. I will never forget Nanci, as well as our friends the Keels and Norquists who went there with us once, laughing uncontrollably.

The owner wrote, “One third of our employees lost their homes, their cars and their possessions. All of them now have no job or source of income and their lives have been shattered. It is heartbreaking.”

When I sent that email with a photo after the devastation to my son-in-law Dan Stump, he said, “It’s a gut punch.” Gut punch is the right phrase. For me, it’s been a reminder of what we know as believers, and yet so easily forget: that this world as it is now, under the Curse, is not our home. Not even close. “The present form of this world is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31). 

A far better world will be our eternal home, and I think we will always have precious memories of times in this world. But I realize now I had presumed that until Jesus takes me home to be with Him and Nanci, and all of God’s people, I would always be able to go to Lahaina and walk the streets and go into those shops. I thought I’d still be able to eat a cheeseburger in Paradise and Kimo’s, and look over at Warren & Annabelle’s and be flooded with precious memories of being in that town with Nanci and our daughters and their families, and dear friends we’ve vacationed with. The memories are still there, but the same physical places that stirred the memories are not and never will be again.

I would not at all be surprised if there is a New Lahaina on the New Earth, and who knows—perhaps some familiar places there will be recreated. In any case, it’s a powerful reminder to set our mind on things above, to live with one foot in this world that is passing away, and one in the world with untarnished beauty that will never pass away.

Meanwhile, God gives us glimpses of paradise. I am grateful for every glimpse I ever got with Nanci. And one day it will no longer just be glimpses. It will be our actual lives, without separation and loss and evil and pain. Eternal life, and countless new and resurrected worlds in the New Heavens no human being set eyes on in this life. That doesn’t just keep me going. It fills my heart with happiness.

Thank you, Jesus.

Photo: Unsplash

Hell Might Just Be the Most Unpopular Subject in the World (and Sometimes in the Church)

The evil of rebellion against God entered the universe through Satan, who dreamed of autonomy and of exalting himself above God. He sinned by desiring more power than God had given him.

Satan’s objective is evil and suffering—exactly what the Messiah came ultimately to defeat. From the beginning, God planned that his Son should deal the death blow to Satan, evil, and suffering—reversing the Curse triggered by Adam and Eve’s sin, redeeming a fallen humanity, and repairing a broken world.

We might think that a good and all-powerful God should disarm every shooter and prevent every drunk driver from crashing. But if He did, this would not be a real world in which people make consequential choices. It would be a world where people were happy to do evil as well as put up with evil, feeling no incentive to turn to God or to consider the gospel or to prepare for eternity. They would live with no sense of need—and then die, only to find themselves in Hell. Short-term suffering serves as a warning and a foretaste of eternal suffering. Without a taste of Hell, we would neither see its horrors nor feel motivated to do everything possible to avoid it.

Heaven and Hell represent God’s eternal two-part solution to the problem of the righteous presently suffering and the wicked presently prospering.

Jesus and Hell

In the Bible, Jesus spoke more about Hell than anyone else did. He couldn’t have painted a bleaker picture.

Jesus referred to Hell as a real place and described it in graphic terms (see Matthew 10:28; 13:40–42; Mark 9:43–48). He spoke of a fire that burns but doesn’t consume, an undying worm that eats away at the damned, and a lonely and foreboding darkness. Christ says the unsaved “will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12). Jesus taught that an unbridgeable chasm separates the wicked in Hell from the righteous in paradise. The wicked suffer terribly, remain conscious, retain their desires and memories, long for relief, cannot find comfort, cannot leave their torment, and have no hope (see Luke 16: 19–31).

Jesus’ words tell us plainly that Hell is a place of eternal punishment—not annihilation. Annihilation is an attractive teaching compared to the alternative—I would gladly embrace it, were it taught in Scripture.

On the contrary, Jesus said, “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). Here in the same sentence, Christ uses the word “eternal” (aionos) to describe the duration of both Heaven and Hell. Thus, according to our Lord, if some will consciously experience Heaven forever, then some must consciously experience Hell forever.

Since Jesus taught the reality of eternal Hell, who are we to think ourselves too loving to believe there is such a place? Do we think we are more loving than Jesus? Do we think we should trust ourselves or our culture rather than Him?

Hell as Justice

Sometimes we cry out for true and lasting justice, then fault God for taking evil too seriously by administering eternal punishment. But we can’t have it both ways. To argue against Hell is to argue against justice.

When speaking of what a terrible notion Hell is, people talk as if it involves the suffering of innocent people. That would indeed be unjust—but the Bible nowhere suggests that the innocent will spend a single moment in Hell!

Even if we acknowledge Hell as a necessary and just punishment for evildoers, however, we rarely see ourselves as worthy of Hell. After all, we are not ruthless dictators or serial killers or raging terrorists. Yet we are utterly unqualified to assess how sinful we are. “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). We’ve never been anything other than sinful. If not for the testimony of God’s Word, as well as the conscience God has put in his image-bearers, we might have no clue of our sinfulness. Guilty people can always rationalize sin, but Hell exists because sin has no excuse.

Hell is morally good. Why? Because a good God must punish evil. That sounds like nonsense to Hell-hating moderns, but it makes perfect sense once we recognize and hate evil for what it is: an egregious offense against an absolutely righteous Creator.

If eternal Hell seems disproportionate punishment, it is precisely because we have no sense of proportion about what it means to sin against an infinitely holy being.

If we better understood both God’s nature and our own, we would not feel shocked that some people go to Hell. (Where else could sinners go?) Rather, we would feel shocked—as perhaps the angels do—that any fallen human would be permitted into Heaven.

We may pride ourselves in thinking we’re too loving to believe in Hell. But in saying this, we blaspheme, for we claim to be more loving than Jesus—more loving than the One who with outrageous love took upon himself the full penalty for our sin.

Good News

Our culture considers Heaven the default destination. (When did you last attend a funeral in which a speaker pictured the departed in Hell?) But since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14), none of us will enter the presence of an infinitely holy God unless something in us radically changes. Until our sin problem gets resolved, Hell will remain our default destination. And that sin problem can be resolved only through faith in Christ. Only then will we find the doorway opened into Heaven.

Here’s a summary of what God calls the gospel or “the good news”:

Sin has terrible consequences, but God has provided a solution: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Jesus lived a sinless life (see Hebrews 2: 17–18; 4:15–16) and died to pay the penalty for our sins (see 2 Corinthians 5:2 1). On the cross, he took upon himself the Hell we deserve, in order to purchase for us the Heaven we don’t deserve. When he died, he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). This is the Greek word for canceling certificates of debt; it meant “paid in full.” Jesus then rose from the grave, defeating sin and conquering death (see 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, 54–57).

How many routes can take us to the Father in Heaven? Peter declared, “Salvation is found in no one else [but Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). That’s an exclusive statement, but Jesus made it. Do you believe him?

No Christian has the right to claim on his own authority that Jesus is the only way to God. It is Jesus himself who claimed this. He was either right or wrong. I can trust in myself and think “well, I wouldn’t send anybody to hell for eternity” and “I wouldn’t make just one way people can come to God.” But my opinion doesn’t matter, since I’m not God! If Jesus was and is God, we had better trust what he said, not what we would prefer or what our culture thinks!

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). To believe in Him, is to trust Him, to embrace Him, to give ourselves over to His lordship.

Free Gift

Righteous deeds will not earn us a place in Heaven (see Titus 3:5). Christ offers us the gift of forgiveness and eternal life: “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17). If you haven’t accepted this gift offered by Christ—at such a great price to him—what’s stopping you?

“To all who received him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

If you get it right about Jesus, you can afford to get it wrong about secondary issues. But if you get it wrong about Jesus, in the end it won’t matter what else you got right. 

More Resources

Here are several videos I’ve done on this topic, for further study:

The Reality of Hell (2 minutes)

Is Hell Just? (2:40 minutes)

What’s the Purpose of Hell? (3:27 minutes)

Will There Be Degrees of Punishment in Hell? (3:08 minutes)

Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife: A Conversation with Sean McDowell (1 hour 6 minutes)

Answering Tough Questions About Heaven with Sean McDowell (1 hour 4:37 minutes)

I have chapters on Hell in my books Heaven and If God Is Good (see Hell: Eternal Sovereign Justice Exacted upon Evildoers, chapter 29 of If God Is Good). And I have one Hell scene in most of my novels, each a bit different than the others.

Photo: Unsplash

Ways Parents and Grandparents Can Pray for Children as They Head Back to School

Note from Randy: These are some thoughtful back-to-school prayers from Melissa Kruger with The Gospel Coalition. May they serve as reminders to pray for the children in our lives. Sometimes it's the only thing we can do for them. But it’s always the best thing, since God is on the throne, and our power is so limited.

Melissa writes, “Amid all the hustle and bustle of a new school year, one of the best ways we can prepare our kids is by praying for them. A few years ago, I ended the summer by reading through the Psalms and Proverbs. As I drank in the wisdom of these two books, I put together a list of Scriptures to help me pray for my children as they headed back to school.”

I pray that my children would understand their need for Jesus and rejoice in the good news of the gospel. “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death” (Ps. 68:19–20).

I pray that my children will love learning, that their hearts would seek to understand the world you’ve created. “The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly” (Prov. 15:14).

I pray that as they learn about your world, they would behold the majesty of your glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge” (Ps. 19:1–2).

I pray that you would surround them with friends who make wise choices and encourage their faith. “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20).

I pray that their teachers would be wise and gentle. “The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. . . . A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit” (Prov. 15:2, 4).

I pray that they would work with diligence and put forth their best efforts. “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (Prov. 13:4).

I pray that they would be thoughtful with their words and respectful in their replies. “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things” (Prov. 15:28). 

I pray that you would free them from the pressure of trying to be like everyone else, instead instilling in them the confidence to know they’re uniquely made by you. “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well” (Ps. 139:14).

I pray that they would receive correction well. “The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence” (Prov. 15:31–32).

I pray that they would share their faith with others. “They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom” (Ps. 145:11–12).

I pray that when they do what’s wrong, they would bear consequences that lead them to repentance. I pray that when they do what’s right, you would bless their obedience that they may learn to love your ways. “The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways” (Prov. 14:14).

I pray that your Word would be on their hearts and in their minds as they learn. “Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD” (Prov. 16:20).

I pray that they would be kind to others. “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor” (Prov. 21:21).

I pray that you would give them the grace of self-control. “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls” (Prov. 25:28).

I pray that your grace would rest upon them. “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Ps. 90:17).

I pray that you would protect them from all evil. “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?  My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life” (Ps. 121:1–2, 7).

More than anything else, may their lives glorify you. “I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever” (Ps. 86:12).

O Lord, hear our prayers! Amen.

Download the PDF of these prayers. The Gospel Coalition is also offering a back-to-school sale on resources for parents and churches.

Photo: Unsplash

Will There Be Technology in Heaven?

A reader asked our ministry, “Will people have technology in Heaven?”

Technology is a God-given aspect of human capability that enables us to fulfill His command to exercise dominion. Something in the human constitution loves to create, tweak, experiment, and play with machinery. This isn’t a modern development; it was true of ancient people as well.

We will find harps, trumpets, and other man-made objects in the present Heaven. What should we expect to find on the New Earth? Tables, chairs, cabinets, wagons, machinery, transportation, sports equipment, and much more. It’s a narrow view of both God and humans to imagine that God can be pleased and glorified with a trumpet but not a desk, computer, or baseball bat. Will there be new inventions? Refinements of old inventions? Why not? We’ll live in resurrected bodies on a resurrected Earth. The God who gave people creativity surely won’t take it back, will He? The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29).

In this two-minute video, I share some thoughts about technology to the glory of God.

When God gave Eden to Adam and Eve, He expected them to develop it. He’ll give us the New Earth and expect the same of us. But this time we’ll succeed! This time no human accomplishment, no cultural masterpiece, no technological achievement will be marred by sin and death. All will fully serve God’s purposes and bring him glory.

On this earth, we seek comfort and invent ways to get it. On the New Earth, comfort may seek us. It may be built into the environment so that our efforts can be spent on other concerns. Of course, we’ll have the technological knowledge and skills to control our environment, so if we can make ourselves more comfortable, we will.

If mankind had never sinned, would we have invented the wheel and created machinery? Certainly. On the New Earth, shouldn’t we expect machinery made for the good of mankind and the glory of God? On the New Earth people might invent machinery that could take us to the far ends of the New Milky Way, to other galaxies and beyond. Why not? Is this notion more unthinkable than it once was to imagine sailing a ship across an ocean or flying a plane across the world or landing a spacecraft on the moon? Because people in this fallen world have extended their dominion beyond our current Earth, might we not expect people on the New Earth to extend their Christ-exalting reach into the new universe?

With advanced science and technology, it seems we will build far greater things on the New Earth than we can on the old. Paul Marshall points out, “The Bible never condemns technology itself. . . . It does not make the modern distinction between what is ‘natural’ and what is ‘artificial.’ Both are seen merely as aspects of what is ‘creational,’ a category that includes both the human and the non-human world in relation to each other.”

Even under the Curse, we’ve been able to explore the moon, and we have the technology to land on Mars. What will we be able to accomplish for God’s glory when we have resurrected minds, unlimited resources, complete scientific coopera­tion, and no more death?

Browse more resources on the topic of Heaven, and see Randy’s related books, including Heaven and The Promise of the New Earth.

Photo: Unsplash

John Piper on Why We Confess Our Daily Sins

Note from Randy: While we have a settled once-and-for-all forgiveness in Christ, we also have a current ongoing relationship with Him that is hampered by unconfessed sin. We should keep short accounts with God. When we sin, we should confess immediately, relying on God’s grace and mercy for forgiveness. Otherwise, we’ll become desensitized and go another step further before our dulled conscience objects. Delayed confession is the next worst thing to no confession.

Ask Pastor John is one of my favorite podcasts, and I encourage you to listen to it. The following is an excerpt from the episode All My Sins Were Canceled — So Why Continue to Confess?

Since we are conformed to Christ progressively and not all at once, therefore Christians are going to sin. There are no sinless Christians in action. “If you say you have no sin, you’re a liar,” John said (see 1 John 1:8–10). What should our attitude be, then, toward our ongoing acts and attitudes and words of sin?

No genuine Christian who loves Christ can be cavalier about the very thing Christ died to abolish — namely, our sin. That would be one mistake we could make: we could be cavalier in our attitude. “Well, he died to forgive them all, so they don’t really matter, because they’re all covered by blood.” No true Christian talks like that about his own sin.

But the other mistake would be to panic and feel that with every sin, there needs to be a new redemption, a new sacrifice, a new penance. …“I have to pay something, right? I see it. I have to pay something. I have to make this right.” That would be a great mistake. The payment was perfect. You can’t add to it at all. You can’t add to your sin-covering at all.

Instead, what the New Testament says, in 1 John 1:9, is this: “If we confess” — and I’m underlining that word confess. Repentance or penance might not be the most helpful word here. Just stick with John’s word. Confess means “agree with,” “see it the way God sees it,” “feel about it the way God feels about it.” So John says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So confessing is not a payment. It is simply an agreement with God that this was an ugly and unworthy thing for me to do, and I’m ashamed of it. I’m sorry for it. I turn from it. I embrace the finished, complete, perfect, once-for-all work of Christ afresh. I rest in it. I enjoy the fellowship that he secured.

By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source:  desiringGod.org

Photo: Unsplash

A Two-Point Checklist of Christlikeness

John 1:1, 14 tells us Jesus is full of two things: grace and truth.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Not “full of patience, wisdom, beauty, compassion, and creativity.” In the list there are no commas and only one conjunction—grace and truth. Scripture distills Christ’s attributes into a two-point checklist of Christlikeness.

The baby born in a Bethlehem barn was Creator of the universe. He pitched His tent on the humble camping ground of our little planet. God’s glory no longer dwelt in a temple of wood and stone, but in Christ. Jesus was the Holy of Holies.

But when He ascended back into the wide blue heavens, He left God’s shekinah glory—that visible manifestation of God’s presence—on Earth. We Christians became His living temples, the new Holy of Holies (1 Corinthians 3:16–17; 6:19).

People had only to look at Jesus to see what God is like. People today should only have to look at us to see what Jesus is like. For better or worse, they’ll draw conclusions about Christ from what they see in us. If we fail the grace test, we fail to be Christlike. If we fail the truth test, we fail to be Christlike. If we pass both tests, we’re like Jesus.

A grace-starved, truth-starved world needs Jesus, full of grace and truth.

What does this hungry world see when it looks at us?

Surprised by Grace

First-century Jewish culture understood truth far better than grace. Grace comes first in John 1:14 because it was more surprising.

When Jesus stepped onto the world’s stage, people could not only hear the demands of truth but also see Truth Himself. No longer fleeting glimmers of grace, but Grace Himself. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, NASB).

When God passed in front of Moses, He identified Himself as “abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). The words translated love and faithfulness are the Hebrew equivalents of grace and truth.

Grace is a delightful, fragrant word.

It intrigues.

Attracts.

Compels.

Dazzles.

It also confounds. It’s as though God said, “You know about truth. It’s taught in synagogues every Sabbath. But let Me tell you about grace...”

The Old Testament teaches the fear of God, spelling out the horrendous consequences of disregarding truth. It presents truth relentlessly.

There’s certainly grace in the Old Testament—lots of it—but it was overshadowed by truth. The Pharisees, God’s self-appointed gatekeepers, never emphasized grace. Christ’s hearers had seen truth in the law of Moses, but it was Christ who gave them their first clear view of grace.

The law could only reveal sin. Only Jesus could remove it.

Achieving Balance

Today, many of us embrace truth but need a heavy dose of grace. (Spend ten minutes on social media if you need an embarrassing eyeful of examples.) Others talk about grace but forget their need for a heavy dose of truth.

Truth-oriented Christians love studying Scripture and theology. But sometimes they’re quick to judge and slow to forgive. They’re strong on truth, weak on grace.

Grace-oriented Christians love forgiveness and freedom. But sometimes they neglect Bible study and see moral standards as “legalism.” They’re strong on grace, weak on truth.

When I invited a lesbian activist to lunch, she hammered me for an hour, telling of all the Christians who’d mistreated her. She seemed as hard as nails. I listened, trying to show her God’s grace, praying she’d see the Jesus she desperately needed. She raised her voice and cursed freely. People stared. But that was okay. Jesus went to the cross for her—the least I could do was listen.

Suddenly she cried and sobbed—broken. I reached across the table for her hand. For the next two hours the story spilled out, of her heartsickness, her doubts about the causes she championed. I told her about Christ’s grace.

After four hours we walked out of that restaurant, side by side. We hugged.

In our conversation, truth wasn’t shared at the expense of grace, or grace at the expense of truth.

With only one wing, birds are grounded. Likewise, the gospel flies only with the wings of both grace and truth.

The apparent conflict isn’t because grace and truth are incompatible, but because we lack perspective to resolve their paradox. The two are interdependent. We should never approach truth except in a spirit of grace, or grace except in a spirit of truth. Jesus wasn’t 50 percent grace, 50 percent truth, but 100 percent grace, 100 percent truth.

Countless mistakes in marriage, parenting, ministry, and other relationships result from failures to balance grace and truth. Sometimes we neglect both. Often we choose one over the other.

It reminds me of Moses, our Dalmatian.

When one tennis ball was in his mouth, the other was on the floor. Large dogs can get two balls in their mouths. Not Moses. He managed that feat only momentarily. To his distress, and our great amusement, one ball or the other spurted out onto the floor.

Similarly, our minds don’t seem big enough to hold on to grace and truth at the same time. We go after the grace ball—only to drop the truth ball to make room for it. We need to stretch our undersized minds to hold them both at once.

A paradox is an apparent contradiction. Grace and truth aren’t really contradictory. Jesus didn’t speak truth and suddenly switch to grace. Jesus constantly and permanently engaged both. And so should we.

There is always one answer to the question of what Jesus would do: He would act in grace and truth.

Tim Keller wrote, “'Truth’ without grace is not really truth and ‘grace’ without truth is not really grace.”

Truth without grace breeds a self-righteous legalism that poisons the church and pushes the world away from Christ. Grace without truth breeds moral indifference and keeps people from seeing their need for Christ.

Jesus doesn’t need publicity agents; He wants followers. Attempts to “soften” the gospel by minimizing truth keep people from Jesus. Attempts to “toughen” the gospel by minimizing grace keep people from Jesus. It’s not enough for us to offer grace or truth.

We must offer both.

Adapted from Randy’s book The Grace and Truth Paradox .

Photo: Pixabay