Polarisation

My name used to be Matt, but people kept walking all over me, so I changed it

The Western world is gradually stripping away the last vestiges of its Judeo-Christian heritage, including Christian influence in the legal system. Christians who hold to the classical definition of marriage, family, gender, and other contentious issues are frequently facing legal action from other parties who find these views objectionable, and out of step with modern societal norms. In a recent debate on social media, we were discussing the question of whether or not Christians have a right to recourse through the legal system in these situations.

One person replied to me by quoting Romans 13, claiming that this passage commands Christians to unquestionably obey all the laws of the land.

A superficial reading of the text supports this interpretation. This is a quote directly from the ESV Study Bible text notes on Romans 13:1-7. "This passage addresses the responsibility of Christians to the governing authorities. They are to "be subject to" (which generally means to obey, cf 1 Peter 3: 5-6) the government because it has been ordained by God. Paul is speaking here of the general principle of submission to government. Several other passages show that God approves of Christians disobeying government, but only when obedience to government would mean disobeying God (see Exodus 1:17, 21; 1 Kings 18:4-16, Esther 4:16, Daniel 3:12-18; 6:10, Matthew 2:12, Acts 5:29, Hebrews 11:23). There were even times when God raised up leader to rebel against the government and deliver his people from evil rulers (Exodus 1-14, Judges 2:16, Hebrews 11:32-24).

You can see this principle in action in the lives of people such as the 19th century abolitionists, Corrie ten Boom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Confessing Church movement in Nazi Germany, as well as the Scholl siblings and the White Rose resistance movement, Martin Luther King in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, Archbishop Romero in San Salvador during the 1979-1982 military dictatorship, and plenty of Christian groups who support asylum seekers.

Not to mention the millions of Christians in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East whose governments persecute them just because of their religious faith.

https://www.commongrace.org.au/organisations_supporting_asylum_seekers

Trumped off

This Sauron meme is obviously directed at current Republican frontrunner (shudder) Donald Trump, and his campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again," whatever that means. 

As is often the case with these memes, there's often a point to it. The prospect of such a dangerous man becoming American president is very concerning. Equally concerning is his high level of support from American evangelical Christians. 

This editorial from The Christian Post is a wakeup call to these Christians before they vote in upcoming primaries, particularly the crucial Super Tuesday contests. 

http://www.christianpost.com/news/donald-trump-scam-evangelical-voters-back-away-cp-editorial-158813/

Well and truly over the rainbow

In the wake of last week's momentous US Supreme Court ruling legalizing same sex marriage across the United States, several of my Christian friends expressed their support for it by superimposing a rainbow flag, the symbol of the gay rights movement, over their social media profile pictures.

Pastor Kevin DeYoung of the Gospel Coalition, has written 40 questions that are addressed to Christians who support same sex marriage. I'd also like to put these questions to my friends. To this list I would also ask them how they would define the noun Arsenokoitai, used by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10.

As I reflect on what scripture says as a whole about marriage and sexuality, it seems to me that any Christian who wants to honour God with how they express their sexuality has only two options. They either marry one spouse of the opposite sex, or stay celibate. I do not see how there is another option, unless I have that wrong.

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2015/07/01/40-questions-for-christians-now-waving-rainbow-flags/

http://biblehub.com/greek/733.htm

Mawkish

The secret of success or happiness is to become a motivational speaker and write your own best selling line of self help or inspirational books that you can flog to the masses at overpriced seminars. The next step is to have your literary agent offer the film rights to a Hollywood studio, and if your work makes it past the development stage, eventually the film version will appear.

Dark Horizons reports that Jack Canfield's Chicken Soup for the Soul series has been picked up for a possible film and television adaptation. Personally, I would have preferred to see a film version of the Chicken Soup for the Soul parody, Chicken Poop for the Soul.

I don't have much time for the self-help movement or motivational speakers, who travel the world giving (usually) expensive seminars on how to achieve success. I can't help but notice that they often seem to confine their speaking tours to affluent first world countries. I know for a fact that one of these speakers has a charitable foundation to assist the poor, but I wonder if he is the exception to the rule.

Rather than paying an exorbitant amount of money to attend one of these seminars, given the choice, I'd rather make a donation to an aid and development agency or some other worthy cause, but only so long as they are not involved in reproductive health.

I offer these comments as a Christian. Western culture seems to emphasize consumerism, individualism, and selfishness. Back in the day an Australian financial services company had an advertising slogan, "The most important person in the world; you." At times this seems counter to the Bible's clear and repeated call to live a life focused on God and generously serving the needs of others and particularly the poor.

http://www.openbible.info/topics/helping_those_in_need

In Old Testament times, the commands in these verses applied to God's covenant people, the nation of Israel, and to the church in the New Testament era. They are not to be taken lightly or disregarded, and should inform our attitudes towards money, possessions, and how we use our disposable income, if we have any.

http://www.chickensoup.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Poop-Soul-Stories-Harden/dp/0671014420

It takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen

Chancellor Palpatine (or should I say Darth Sidious) in Revenge of the Sith; the personification of a liar, manipulator, and an all round nasty piece of work

A friend of mine made a social media posting asking people to compile a list of ten things in society that are blatant lies, but that people still believe anyway. In no particular order, here's my list. It's a random assortment of thoughts that are mainly inspired either by people I have met, things I've read, or Christian speakers I've heard.

1. How I live my life is my business, and I can do what I like if nobody else gets hurt (When you throw a pebble into a pond, it still creates ripples).

2. I come first (Sometimes I wonder if we're becoming more individualistic and less community minded. I hate selfishness. Public transport fare evasion and aggressive driving make me angry. These may seem to be minor things, but to my mind, they reflect a selfish mindset).

3. I have unlimited potential in life and can become whatever I want to be (This is the line that motivational speakers push, and some Christians believe it too. Even though I'm striving to honour God with my life, if I'm not living this supernaturally empowered, transcendent life, does that mean that I'm not walking in the Spirit and that my faith is defective? Even worse, does it mean that I'm not saved after all?)

4. God's highest purpose for me is making me happy (Again, this is problematic for Christians who aren't happy and whose faith journey has been difficult. What about holiness and sanctification?)

5. Don't be friends with down and out people because they'll only hinder you from succeeding in life (I've heard this said from a church pulpit. So much for Christian compassion).

6. Christians should keep their beliefs to themselves (But only if they're conservative and not aligned with progressive and fashionable political or social causes).

7. All Christians think alike (Some non-Christians who are either apathetic or hostile towards Christians seem to think this).

8. Christians blindly follow their leaders and do what they're told without question. (Some non-Christians who are either apathetic or hostile towards Christians seem to think this too).

9. If it feels good, do it (This seems to be the prevailing ethic of contemporary Western society).

10. I'm not responsible for the consequences of my actions (This correlates with the first item on this list).

I humbly offer these comments as a corrective. I write not to judge or browbeat, but to state things that I need to be reminded of myself, striving to grow in Christlikeness and to not be squeezed into the (Western) world's way of thinking.

Compare this to Jesus himself, of whom the apostle Peter wrote, "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." (1 Peter 2:22)

Sanctify my tongue

For the benefit of my reader(s) I submit some of my reflections from chapter 3 of the epistle of James,  verses 1 to 12.

The key thing that James wanted to put across was how important it is to be careful in how you speak. Our words are a good indicator of the condition of our hearts, or our character. This could be good or bad. If we had time we could also do a thematic study and find the same idea put across elsewhere. The first thing you might think of is that it's unChristian to use coarse or obscene language. There's no reason to think it should stop there.

When was the last time you gossiped, spread rumours or slander about others, putting others down, bragged, tried to manipulate someone, exaggerated, complained, used flattery, or lied? None of these things should have any place in a Christian’s life.

We see also that James uses the metaphors of a horse’s bit and a ship’s rudder. Even though both of these things are small, they have great power. Our words are no different. For good or bad, they can influence the course of your entire life, and they also have power over others, with one disclaimer. In no way does any of this support the erroneous idea of positive confession, popular in some Christian circles.

Even so, carelessly spoken words can cause a lot of damage, so this is a stern reminder to us to be careful about what we say, and to choose our words carefully. Speaking of words, James doesn’t mince his words here (verses 5 to 6). The wicked tongue has its source in hell. Satan uses the tongue to divide people and pit them against each other. Like the fire that James writes about, idle words are damaging because they spread destruction quickly, and no one can stop the results once they are spoken. Words spoken in the heat of the moment can cause a lot of damage. Words are like fire. You can’t control or reverse the damage they do.

What James is saying here (verses 7 to 12) is that if no human being can control the tongue, why bother trying? We must learn to control our tongues. But this isn’t something we can do in our own strength. We need the help of the Holy Spirit. We should want him to work in us so that our words will please God.

Our words, whether good or bad, reflect what is in our hearts. Set aside time to come before God and ask Him, are your words those of someone who is walking in the Spirit, whose heart is given over to God, or perhaps you might have some things to sort out with God.