Explaining Health Care Reform & “Christian” Reflections Thereof [REPOST]
Can the common man understand this health care debate? Is there a particularly Christian perspective on health care? Also, a curious and unexpected memorial to Ted Kennedy. Read on.
[Editor's Note: This is a repost of an article posted in August. It was fairly popular at the time, and in light of the potential difficulties the current health care bill may be facing due to the fight for Senator Kennedy's Senate seat, I thought it might be helpful to post this up again. I'm also posting this to go along with a recent post I put up on my personal blog called "I sort of want this health care bill to die." It has to do with this Massachusetts's Senate race and health care reform. I hope these resources spur your thoughts on these issues facing our country.]
Below is a series of illustrations by Dan Roam and Dr. Tony Jones of Digital Roam explaining the current Health Care system and proposed reforms to that system. This is by far the best explanation I’ve seen. So much so, it is forcing me to break a bunch of my own rules concerning this site and perhaps even give some new freedoms for what I post up here. Take a few moments and look through this series of slides and familiarize yourself with these ideas. Analysis will follow below. A couple of things before you start: I have no idea why this guy calls these “napkins” nor do I know why he says there are only four. Don’t let that distract you too much. The quality is such that I am more than willing to forgive these minor lapses of clarity.
A Theology of Ethics, Truth, & Contemporary Applications
In a continuation of an exchange concerning Slavery in the Bible, some atheist critiques are addressed concerning ethics, the Bible, and modern society.
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[EDITOR'S NOTE: At my personal blog, the long way home, I have been working on a series of posts responding to some old atheist friends of mine on the topic of slavery, ethics, and the Bible. So far: what the Bible says, why I'm doing the series, Philosophy & Ethics, and now, Theology & Ethics. If you want, read the other posts and feel free to get in on the lively discussion. I'm posting this article on this site, because I believe it addresses very real societal and cultural ideas and assumptions that affect our everyday lives and do not just belong to the areas of academia or theology. Let me know if you disagree.]
Objective Truth & Morality
The ideas mentioned in the previous post of transcendent ethical principles (and not simple behavioral norms) and a hierarchy of those principles (and not simplistic applications) within ethics are nothing new to Philosophy. Those enough could show the overly simplistic nature of the usual argument concerning general Christian ethics made when talking about slavery in the Bible. The Bible does not have simplistic do/don’t do ethics. It has consistent transcendent principles that are then wisely and faithfully applied in ways that look differently throughout history. This is the way that ethics works, even on a secular level. But, these are not uniquely Christian. There are ways that Christianity and the Bible uniquely further inform our ethics.
The first thing, and the most important thing I want everyone to get from this post is that neither the Bible nor historic Christianity believes in Objective Morality or Objective Truth. This is an idea of modernism. Modernism redefined “Truth” to mean anything that has a one-to-one correspondence with created reality. An unintended consequence of this mindset was that the only vehicles for Truth, then, became history and science. This meant that anything that called itself “true” had to be speaking in either historical or scientific terms — nothing else. Christians were influenced by these ideas and then began defending the Bible on the basis of these assumptions (best example: Creation “science”). This even seeped into many Christian articulations of Morality (“there is only one set of ‘good things’ people everywhere, at all times, should do”). But this is not the Biblical view of Truth nor Morality. The Biblical view is not that of objective Morality/Truth, but of an objective standard for Morality/Truth. This is such an important distinction. The Bible relocates Truth and Morality as anything that has a one-to-one correspondence with Ultimate Reality — the nature and character of God. This exists outside of created reality (and therefore outside the realms of history and science). In that case art, poetry, stories, myths, and even children stories can now fully be relied upon for truth and moral principles even if they have little or no basis in history, science, or universal applications of the ethical principles. There is an objective standard for Morality and Truth that is now subjectively applied by using wisdom, discernment, discourse, debate, intellectual thought, and engagement — not naive cut and paste applications of the Bible to life.
“An Evolving Creation: Oxymoron or Fruitful Insight?” by Keith Miller
In the first in a series of posts going through the book “Perspectives on an Evolving Creation” (Keith Miller, ed.), we look at the Scientific and Theological justifications for the very idea of an “Evolving Creation”.
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As the title of this essay suggests, it sets the tone for the rest of the book by laying out what exactly the authors mean by an “evolving creation”. Miller begins by defining terms. “Evolution,” as he uses it, “refers to the descent with modification of all living things from a common ancestor. Miller talks of “Creation” as a noun meaning anything “to which God has given being” and as a verb meaning God’s past and present action of bringing things into existence and sustaining them there (closely related to the idea of Providence). In light of these seemingly innocuous, uncontroversial definitions, can we really say that an idea of an “Evolving Creation” is inherently antithetical and contradictory? Miller, nor I, believe this is the case.
I’m Coming Out (Intro to an Evolving Creation)
Can one more voice crying out from the evangelical wilderness make a difference amidst the rising and seemingly never-ending din concerning Science “versus” Faith? I guess we’re about to find out.
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You ever start reading a book and can immediately tell that it is going to be a pivotal book in your life? It hasn’t happened often, but the few times it has, it has indeed proven to be a life-altering experience. I’m feeling that right now.
Almost exactly a year ago, I met my now dear friend Chris Martin (not the guy from Coldplay). We were sitting there at a party (where he first met his now fiancee), and he began telling me about his experiences at L’Abri, a Christian retreat/study center in Switzerland started by Francis Schaeffer. In that conversation Chris told me about a book he had read from during his study. It was a large, poorly-graphically-designed, 525-page collection of essays called Perspectives on an Evolving Creation. It piqued my interest. I immediately purchased the book and am only now getting around to reading it. This is a book I know will affect me for the rest of my life. And that brings me to my secret. It’s something about myself that I have kept hidden from the vast majority of Christians I’ve known. I’ve wondered if/when/how to reveal this to the world. And I think now is the time.
I, Paul Burkhart, am totally on board with Darwinian Evolution.
The Infinite Beauty of Beauty
A nine-month old brain child concerning Beauty and many of its components is finally done being birthed on a blog. Come see…
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In about January of this past year, I received word that seven months from then, in August, I would be giving a message at Epiphany Fellowship on the topic of Beauty, of all things. This terrified me and I immediately began listening to every lecture, reading every article, and checking out every book in the library on the topic to prepare. Then I began working on the manuscript for this message. By the time I finished, I had produced a 43-page manuscript for a 40-minute message. The message answers several questions: Why we long for Beauty? What is Beauty? What Things are Beautiful? and How do we respond to Beauty?
The message went really well, but of course, a lot was cut out of the full manuscript for the sake of time. For that reason, a couple of months ago, I started a series on my blog that went through the various sections of the manuscript in bite-sized chunks, so that others could read it. Well, yesterday, three months after the original message was given, I finished that series on my personal blog and I wanted to plug it to the readers of this site. Below, you’ll find a complete directory of the fourteen parts of the series, along with links to the full audio and original manuscript that the message was based upon. I hope this is helpful and edifying to all of you. Be sure to send feedback, as I hope to build this out even more in the future, perhaps into a book-length project. We’ll see. Enjoy.
REVIEW: “Fearless” by Max Lucado
Max Lucado, a Christian publishing powerhouse, releases his new book today to millions of struggling Evangelicals needing real theology applied to real problems. Does this book address that need?
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Imagine Your Life Without Fear.
That’s the subtitle of Max Lucado’s new book Fearless. A daunting call indeed – sensationalist, even (or that’s the fear, at least). Lucado spends fourteen chapters going through different things that we as humans fear. There includes chapters on insignificance, poverty, death, doubt, and (surprisingly) a fear of God proving your doctrine of Him wrong. He opens each chapter with a story or image that depicts this kind of fear in action, he then describes what this fear is, and then why humans fear this. The last half of every chapter is a presentation of a Biblical passage that addresses this fear and application of it.
As I’ve written before, I was expecting this book to be pop evangelical light fare. No talk of sin, no reference to wrath, no mention of the Gospel, just good ol’ Pharisaical moralism wearing the clothes of Christianity. You know, things like “God says here ‘Do not fear’, so a good obedient Christian shouldn’t fear. It’s disobedience, so if you’re fearing something, you’re disappointing God, and you don’t want to do that, do you? So stop it.” No dealing with real issues, no wrestling with the human heart, just a bunch of spiritual milk, when we all need meat.
The first chapter began to show me I was wrong about Max. He opens up with the account of his brother’s sudden, heartbreaking, painful, death. After that, though, I’ll admit, the first several chapters of this book began confirming that original theory of mine. For example, the first “fear” chapter is about the fear of insignificance. Lucado’s answer? God made you! He doesn’t make mistakes! And because He’s so awesome, and he made you, you can hold your head high and get that promotion or relationship you’ve been waiting for. If you hang your head low, then you won’t get those things! Joel Osteen couldn’t have said it better. This isn’t the Biblical answer. There are many things that God makes that he will willingly destroy. What is the Gospel answer to this fear? Jesus loves His people and His Glory shown in them, so He dies so they can get lost in something bigger and more meaningful than themselves. This gives them purpose and hope in the midst of that poor job and relationship, not necessarily to escape it. Our hope in this is that even in our weakness and very real earthly meaninglessness we can work for the glory and sake of an eternal kingdom. (Admittedly, the “Discussion Guide” in the back of the book gets at some of these issues, but it frustrated me that Lucado wouldn’t go there himself.) This is the way Chapters 2-6 are.
I was so ready for Lucado to prove me wrong and as I read the book, you can see my notes in the margins of my copy grow increasingly frustrated that he wasn’t doing so. His Introduction, and explanation of why we fear these things was so amazing. He understands the human heart so well. Not only that, even unpacking the Biblical passage was very well done. He was explaining Greek, Hebrew, and historical contexts in a way that shocked me. But I just couldn’t understand why the application of that passage kept being so incomplete.
Explaining Health Care Reform & “Christian” Reflections Thereof
Can the common man understand this health care debate? Is there a particularly Christian perspective on health care? Also, a curious and unexpected memorial to Ted Kennedy. Read on.
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Okay, everyone up to speed now? So are there any uniquely Christian thoughts on this? First, of immediate concern for those Christians whose consciences are so inclined to view abortion as a fundamentally political and legislative issue (no sarcasm in that statement, by the way; it’s a totally valid way that the Holy Spirit moves in many believers); in Obama’s most recent weekly address, as he “debunks” various ideas being spread about the reform, he says: “Some are also saying that coverage for abortions would be mandated under reform. Also false. When it comes to the current ban on using tax dollars for abortions, nothing will change under reform.” So apparently (at least from what the carefully phrased political talk) it would seem that these sets of reform do not concern abortion.
So with the one health issue it seems Christians have anything to say something about out of the way (yeah, there was some sarcasm in that one), what else does the Christian have to engage with in this debate? Well, before we get quite there, two foundational things that have plagued my thinking about this:
Let’s play: “Guess Who’s Doctrinal Statement?”
Given just the “Core Doctrines” of a Church, can we evaluate its true Orthodoxy and faithfulness?
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Okay, we’re going to a play a little game I like to call “Guess Whose Doctrinal Statement.” I’ll give you the doctrinal statement of a popular American Church and you all try and think whose it is. Then we’ll reveal the answer and talk about it. Everyone ready?
Okay, here’s the doctrinal statement:
- WE BELIEVE…the entire Bible is inspired by God, without error and the authority on which we base our faith, conduct and doctrine.
- WE BELIEVE…in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to this earth as Savior of the world.
- WE BELIEVE…Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins. We believe that salvation is found by placing our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross. We believe Jesus rose from the dead and is coming again.
- WE BELIEVE…water baptism is a symbol of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ and a testimony to our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
- WE BELIEVE…in the regular taking of Communion as an act of remembering what the Lord Jesus did for us on the cross.
- WE BELIEVE…every believer should be in a growing relationship with Jesus by obeying God’s Word, yielding to the Holy Spirit and by being conformed to the image of Christ.
- WE BELIEVE…as children of God, we are overcomers and more than conquerors and God intends for each of us to experience the abundant life He has in store for us.
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So whose doctrinal statement do you think it is? Is it:
- a. Mars Hill Church (Mark Driscoll)
- b. Bethlehem Baptist Church (John Piper)
- c. Lakewood Church (Joel Osteen)
- d. Mars Hill Bible Church (Rob Bell)
- e. The Village Church (Matt Chandler)
- f. Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps)
- g. None of the above
and the winner is . . . found here.
So what do we do with this?
WTFWJD? | (on Christian cursing)
"Andrew Murray" by Amy Roberts
More Christians of prominence are being “accused” of profanity from the pulpit. How do Christians navigate the increasingly clouding waters of holiness in speech?
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[NOTE: no curse words are used in this article other than some mild "profanity" used in pastor Ed Young's linked video and in one of the linked movie clips]
UPDATE 9/11/09: Patrol Magazine has just posted a great editorial on this topic that I cannot recommend highly enough.
This is a tough topic to write about. I don’t know that I can beat Jon Acuff’s article on Stuff Christians Like, or cause as much of a flurry as pastor Ed Young, but I would like to lend my thoughts to the discussion. By the way, before we start, in the interest of full disclosure: I curse. In fact, probably more than most Christians.
First and foremost: God does call us to purity. To holiness. To right living. Sin should not abound because grace is abundant. Christians are supposed to be pure in contrast to the ways the rest of the world is dark. We are called to look different than “non-Christians” in affection, thought, conduct, and speech and I have definitely failed much in this respect. Words are very powerful. They can bring communities together or tear them apart. This is what Colossians 3:8 is talking about. Paul mentions several things that can hurt others in a relational sense and his final thing is “obscene talk”. Coarse, filthy, and inappropriate statements about others can infect an entire group as much as anger, gossip, or slander, whether or not they use “bad” words. Speech is a precious gift God has given to us and it should be used to His glory and His honor. But, what in humans glorifies him the most? As broken, weak sinners, what is it that God calls us to over and over and over again?
John Piper on Obama & Abortion
by Reform & Revive
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This is a video by John Piper of Desiring God Ministries in Minneapolis Minnesota. This is powerful. I’m still kind of really from it. The are difficult times in which to live indeed.
Thanks go to Ryan Burns for the video.
Unlimited Limited Atonement? | (a discussion)
art by Patrick Benbow
A new articulation of an old idea: a Facebook exchange on the single most controversial tenet of traditional Calvinism.
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This was a facebook message/discussion between a few friends and me on the topic of “Limited Atonement” (the “L” in Calvinism’s acronomical existence). I’m thinking about letting this be the first of a new type of article I’m calling “Orthodoxological”. I’m thinking about trying to write some articles on some of the deepest and seemingly arbitrary and useless doctrines of the Christian faith, and showing how they do in fact necessarily lead to a greater worship of God. Let me know what you think!
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Wickedness, Righteousness, & Changing Culture
“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. . . When the wicked rise, people hide themselves but when they perish, the righteous increase.” — Proverbs 28:1, 28
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Looking at the verse above, we see an interesting thing: wickedness and unity are negatively correlated. When the wicked rise, people “hide themselves.” In other words, wickedness and humanism go hand in hand. As righteousness decreases within a society, people begin to think less collectively and more in terms of self-preservation, self-exaltation, and self-esteem. Why is this? I think there is a principle within humans I’m calling “moral entropy.” The law of entropy is that “all things will move from a state of order to disorder, unless a greater force is acted upon it.” This is the state of all created things, and I would argue it is also the state of the moral state of human beings. Unless a force greater than the wickedness of humans is exerted upon them, people will move ever increasingly to further moral disarray. So what happens when this “greater force” is exerted on humans to such a point that their wickedness begins to perish? Not only does righteousness itself increase, but a righteous people characterized by unity is formed (see. the end of verse 28).
True Spirituality
True Spirituality is different than spirituality. And no, I’m not just trying to be cute.
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I don’t know about you, but too often I divorce spirituality from the Holy Spirit. Now don’t get me wrong, I fully have understood the idea that “spirituality” in the proper sense is a matter between my spirit and the Holy Spirit. But I too often define spirituality as fundamentally being about my spirit. Stirring it up and syncing it up to God. My thoughts turn to thoughts on how to make me “feel the Spirit more”. If I’m honest, I too often think that a healthy and vibrant Spirituality is defined by intense spiritual experience (emotions, gifts, fruits, and such). Now, these things are certainly a product of a vibrant spirituality, but that causes me to seek those things, thinking that if I achieve them, I have been “successful.”
Free Anathallo Hymns to stir your heart
The point here at Reform & Revive is to show the world various expressions from the hearts of believers whose lives have been impacted by the truth of who God is (also known as “Theology”). We share the commitment that right doctrine will (and must) always lead to both right practice and worship.
Nothing I know of best encapsulates this idea more clearly than Hymns. They are some of the most passionate expressions of who God is, but they come from theologically informed minds. The hymns we still sing today are the ones that most resonate with us as expressions from a heart impacted by a clarity of doctrine and vision of the things of God.
That is why I’m putting this post up. The great band Anathallo, recorded an album of hymns a few years back. It is now out of print, so they allow it to be posted on sites and blogs to be given away for free. I just recently put this on my personal blog, so I want to extend this offer to the readership here at Reform & Revive. A free, amazing, album of hymns? Who can resist?
Here’s the link to the post where the album is.
May it stir your affections for Christ ever increasingly.
(more…)
The New York Times on Mark Driscoll
At Reform & Revive, I try to offer only original content, but this was something I couldn’t pass up. A friend and fellow “Westminsterian”, Art Boulet, put a post up on his blog a few days ago containing an article about Mark Driscoll that appeared in the New York Times. I found both the article and the discussion that followed in the comments section fascinating.
A Prayer to Our Great High Priest
I try not to double-post, I really do. But, that being said, I did with this post. As anyone who has perused my numerous links knows, I have a whole slew of blog “Bible Studies” that have seen no action for the past year or so. Until now. I have a newfound motivation and excitement to get a whole bunch of these done, especially in the next month and half or so until school starts back up. So, feel free to keep up with my Burkhart Bible Studies. This is a recent meditation I pulled from my journal for my Hebrews blog.
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.”
–Hebrews 4:14-16
Yeah, I want to be kind of a big deal
I fight with pride a lot. As I was telling a friend today: if you take a guy that is fairly smart, can put disparate concepts together, can talk well, and you make him a Christian, you get something very dangerous. He starts believing the press others say about him and begins to think he is much more mature than he actually is. This is me. My entire life people have set me apart for “something big for God.” Being able to understand and communicate even the deepest truths of God and His Word doesn’t equal maturity one bit. Seminary has certainly been showing me just how independent I try to be from God.
But nevertheless, something does resonate within me when I think about my place on the national/world stage. I feel like I’m being tailored by God for big, visible things out there in the world. I don’t know for sure what this means, and I’m fine with it not coming to pass, but I feel like I’m being prepared for a weight I could not bear apart from prior work by God.
But that’s not the point of this post. Now, like I said, I was grabbing coffee with that friend of mine – a friend who is quite visible on the national and international stage. But he’s been struggling with something recently that really struck me. He pointed out that no person ever used by God for really big things ever did it apart from great levels and displays of suffering. His problem was that he shirks from suffering while seeking comfort – the very thing that is antithetical to what he’s called to. I have a similar problem.
I’m only 22 and I feel like I haven’t suffered much. Some really dark family stuff, spiritual dark months of the soul, and severe emotional pains (loneliness and heartache, mainly), but really no classic forms of real suffering. Yet, in spite of this, God has given me a very developed theology of suffering and God’s Sovereignty within it. This terrifies me. I can not get away from this haunting sense deep in the recesses of my mind that severe trials lie ahead of me. So severe that God needs to prepare me now to survive the pains to come.
In one sense this reaffirms my desire to be well-known, influential, and in front of many people. On the other it sobers me, realizing (perhaps for the first time) what it means to “count the cost.” So perhaps all those that have been praising and building me up for big things in the future have actually been painting a target on my soul for the refining pains and trials of God.
So for those of you out there seeking renown, fame, and exposure. Know that if you really are doing it to God’s Glory, then no servant is greater than his Master, and you should expect nothing less than fulfilling in the body the sufferings of Christ, that His life might be seen through your death for your good and God’s Glory.
Existential Angst of a Life Surpassing Glory
Entering in a new degree thereof
Against one’s will
I will be enabled
To live once more again
Ah, to live!
And give glory to the One who gives glory
To the meek
Of which
I am
Not
Yet . . .
Being thrust to moment to moment
In my life-long “awkward stage”
Into lives I don’t want to
But must,
and will,
for my will
Has been seized
And captured
By another.
Another so beautiful
All-wonderful
Satisfaction of satisfactions
Pleasure of pleasures
Joy of joys
Pain of pains.
Then one lost is now one found
Like the pink head
Of a plastic hippo
Whose heart is blue,
Whose unrenewed mind lies lonely at the bottom
Of a dirty garbage heap.
And the Renewed stands in silent reflection
Amidst the sounds of little children-
The sounds of an innocence they have not.
While dancing in circles swirling in safe adoration
Of a will they have not either
But may. At some appointed time.
As I sit.
In this park.
On this day.
With these thoughts.
On this heart.
And this mind.
Contemplating the eccentricities of a life
Lived with purpose
in the Already But Not Yet.
Sunday Morning thoughts
Lord do I praise Thee at all times? Is that Biblical, even? What is worship? That which declares and proclaims the Glory of God, through treasuring it, I suppose. Could Creation then worship? Could I, even when eating, drinking, and making merriment with fellow embattled saints come to treasure, declare, and proclaim all You Are, Say, and Be – Your Glory? Your Manifold Perfection breaking through my leisure and feast and satisfactions to be ushered in as a herald to Your coming Kingdom already at hand? Does this prose and poetry bring the Reality of You and Your Kingdom that much more into this world? Is this the way you made us – made this system – to work? This whole “Christianity” thing? Perhaps obedience is worship. Perhaps I must end this now and worship. Command what Thou will, and give what Thou commands.
In love,
Your favorite.
Adam Killed A Bird, But Jesus Brought Him Back
Now looking through the glass not dim, Coltrane all around;
he sets a tone of dissonance, rightly now it seems.
For as the beauty clothes me in, a tragedy is found:
woodchips below – a resting place – long for love supreme.
For there he lies with outstretched span, stricken by a car;
afflicted by our fallenness, and smitten by our thorns.
He struggles with the weight of pain, not getting very far.
To stop, release his spirit’s breath – give way to Death’s dark door.
I prayed a prayer, and thought some thoughts, and something in me burned.
Oh I see my Savior, the pains he took! For me: protect,
for prone to wander, weak I am, to that which I once yearned.
Until you did in me and Him- my soul: You resurrect.
Now to show He heard my prayer and strengthen my weak frame,
up pops the bird, into the air. My soul shall do the same.
The “Natural-ness” of God
The Nature of God is the defining Nature against which all things are measured. Let me unpack that a bit. What God loves above all things is Himself. His Glory, His Presence, His Work, and His Son are the things which bring Him the most delight, hence why those who are saved are being conformed to the image of His Son – they must be or wouldn’t be accepted by him. So, at the end of time, everything and everyone will be compared to the Nature of God and He’ll keep that which stands up, and cast away what doesn’t. Believers will be found in Christ (God-incarnate) so they will find themselves with Him forever.
So, it is that which does not exist in accordance to God’s Nature (the defining, upholding, creating, outside of creation thing it is) that is considered sin. That’s why all sin is described by the Bible in “realtive” terms that all imply missing, falling short, or perverting a pre-existent standard. Words like “perverse”, “de-praved”, “fallen”, and “sin” (an archery term meaning to miss the bulls-eye) all show this.
This means that what exists in line with His Nature is the truly natural. This makes the present fallen reality of the world – all things not in line with His Nature – not what’s “natural” but indeed “subnatural,” making the things of God not “supernatural” but the truly “natural.” Everything God does then to break into this world is a matter of justice, restoration, and redemption – a matter of purchasing from darkness to bring to where all was meant to live.
What does this have to do with life as we know and experience it? Simply put, it means freedom. The idea of “supernaturality” creates this sense in us of impossibility, and we proceed to live life out of that notion that God is so “unattainable” for our little wills to obtain. But the truth is more wonderful and terrifying all at once. It’s not that he’s so far above, but it’s the fact that we’ve sunk so low that causes this gap. But though we are trapped in this valley, Christ still descended and did the work required to make us truly natural humans again. This means that in Christ we are more ourselves than we ever were apart from him. We don’t lose our humanity, we gain it. So the fight of this life is to live as you were naturally meant to live.
We must fight the subnaturality of this world to attain that which is truly natural, and in that find the rhythm of life that resonates in the most ancient and basest part of our souls that hearkens to a time in a garden long ago, and in a city that is yet to come.
What Ben & Jerry told me about Jesus
Last night I picked up a new Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream called “Imagine Whirled Peace.” It’s this amazing Caramel and Sweet Cream-swirled Ice Cream with chocolate peace signs and toffee pieces throughout. It was amazing. This morning I saw the top in the trash and it got me thinking . . .
The Ice Cream is dedicated to John Lennon and his song “Imagine” (duh). Other than the twenty-something idealists that plan on saving the world, most people scoff at the Lennon’s notions of no borders, no religion, and “world peace.” Despite my twenty-something-”ness”, I typically fall into the scoffing camp. But why do we? Why doesn’t it resonate with us when people talk of such idealism?
Staring into the trash can, thinking these thoughts, I was reminded of my old roommate. A non-practicing Jew who would say he is practicing (just in the way he deems appropriate right now in this time of life). So, like I said: non-practicing (but I digress). I had a talk with him once about why Jews don’t believe Jesus was their Messiah. I pointed out all the different prophecies and such and he responded by telling me that there was one prophecy – the most important one – that Jesus never fulfilled. He said that the true Jewish Messiah would bring about unprecedented eternal “world peace.” So, as long as there was still warring and killing and death and disease, the Messiah had not come.
I gave the typical response you would expect us Christians to give: a non response that really didn’t help him. I just told him how there was this “already but not yet” dimension to what Christ accomplished, and the “peace” Jesus ushered in (that we can experience now) was primarily spiritual, not temporal. Feeling I had won the discussion, I dropped him off and slept soundly that night. I only realized this morning, over two years later, staring at an ice cream lid in the trash, how incomplete and unhelpful my response was.
Instead of showing him how his presuppositions may have actually been wrong, I simply offered my opinion and said it was right. It was as if Paul walked up to the Athenian leaders on Mars Hill in Acts 17, pointed to their statue to an unnamed god, and said “that’s wrong. Jesus is right. Repent.” No, he meets them on their own philosophical turf and shows how what they believe actually – ultimately – points to Christ. So what would I say to Julian now?
I realized this morning that the problem here is what we lovingly call “humanism”. As is known, it’s the idea that “man is the measure of all things.” Sure, we all have this dream and desire for that which we call “world peace,” but our arrogance comes in our insistence that this “peace” comes from within ourselves – from within humanity. Well, actually, it’s not an outright insistence as much as it is an unquestioned assumption. What if “world peace” would not come from within humanity, but from without? What if Jesus did accomplish achieving perfect spiritual and temporal peace with God, man, and creation? What if this peace were sitting there, within our grasp – within our reach – if we would but take one moment to look outside of ourselves? What if the perseverance of all that is antithetical to peace comes not from outside of us (bio-socio-cultural-economic-historical-political systems and trends), but rather from within us (the total depravity and sinfulness of man that infects us all).
So, Peace has come. Peace has been accomplished and purchased by the only One not infected by that which takes away all our peace. We must simply accept this peace and live freely in it. Cease to “look in ourselves” to find the cure to all ills.
To non-Christians: you are like one with mud on their face and hands that keeps trying to wipe away the mud, but you only make it worse as you strive and try. Christ has taken all the uncleanness that you bear on Himself that you might not anymore. Repent from your love of this filth and believe Christ has the righteousness you seek.
To Christians: peace is yours! Trample not the blood of Christ underfoot as you release the cross from your gaze under the fear of unaccomplished peace. Trust that peace has come to the world, and it is not a political, economical, or philosophical system. It is a man named Jesus. Repent for your seeming need for some part of your peace to come from within yourself and believe that it has come from without. It is done. It is finished. Enter your master’s rest.
Thank God for Whirled Peace.
a clarification, a vision, and a call
I once heard it said that every faith in the world was an Orthopraxy, where “right practice” made you right before God, whereas Christianity was an Orthodoxy where “right doctrine/belief” did. This is incomplete. Most Protestants know right action is inadequate (Rom 2:6, Gal. 2:16), but most evangelicals are told all the time that what you intellectually assent to as you walk down an aisle is what washes your sin and depravity away into the “light of His wonderful face.” But this is not so (Mat. 7:21, Jam. 2:19). Christianity, rather, is an “Orthoontology,” where your “right state of being” is what makes you acceptable to him. Belief and practice are wholly and ultimately inadequate. It is the nature of the being from which these beliefs and practices flow from that matter.
So what on earth, does this have to do with this site and its vision and passion and focus and drive?
Everything.
Reformed Theology begins with the state of being of man (Total Depravity). It says that what needs to change is that state, and man has neither the desire nor the faculties available to him to change himself. He requires then a sovereign act of a Sovereign God to bring that change about. Reformed Theology then ends with the perseverance of that change. As both practice and surety of beliefs may wax and wane at times, the state of one’s being does not change after God has seized it.
But this has implications far beyond the theology of salvation. It means that Christians must have a passion that spills over from this change of being. It means that we must appeal to the whole man to increase their delight in God. It means this site must move from posts on the “Knowledge” of the Holy, to sweeping prose, poetry and musings. From deep theology that reveals who God is to soul-stirring poetry and meditations flowing from men and women forever impacted by their encounters with this revealed God.
These things go hand in hand. A good friend once told me, “you know? The Theologians of the world should be the ones that weep the most.” Let us weep, friends, as we see this God as He has revealed Himself and then get swept up in the beauty and the mystery that can do nothing but call out praise, adoration, and delight.
Join us for the ride. Reforming the mind, while reviving the heart.
Soli Deo Gloria
“to God alone be the Glory”
–paul
Reform and Revive has launched!
Reform and Revive has officially launched. Many thanks to Ryan Burns of GoingToSeminary.com for all of his help in getting this up and running. Expect upcoming posts explaining the mission and the vision of Reform and Revive; and expect to see the list of contributors begin to grow.
Here’s to seeing this world changed by the Gospel of Christ.
–paul
