There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. ~ 1 John 4:18

In a recent conversation, my father-in-law asked me, “What do you think about the Russian invasion of Ukraine?” I thought for a few minutes and then said something like “Vladimir Putin is a cagey character who might be bluffing, as he has done in the past. If he invades Ukraine, it is motivated by fear.” Whatever the circumstances; whether it is a one-on-one interaction or an international affair, fear is the root cause of violence. The passage above plainly states the remedy to fear and its cause. 

        Love cancels fear. Therefore, the absence of love causes fear. Fear is a natural response to any threat to one’s self interests. As a primal instinct, fear helps us to stay alive in the face of real, violent danger, like a hiker who rounds a bend in the trail and suddenly looks into the angry eyes of a grizzly bear. Thanks be to God who, after casting humanity out of Eden, instilled these impulses for self-preservation. 

        Again, let us consider the implicit message of the apostle’s statement. While they lived in Eden, the people did not need to fear. Sin caused them to fear - “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10) After doubting God and acting in their self-interest, the people knew fear. Doubt weakened their love for God when they wondered if God would always fulfill their desires. Sin and fear would go hand-in-hand in the world outside Eden ever since.

        Satan, the originator of Sin, was the most glorious of the angels in the LORD’s divine council. He rebelled against the LORD and led a third of heaven’s hosts to destruction. Why? Because the LORD’s glory out shown Satan’s and he feared he would lose social superiority, not being content to influence only a third of his fellow creatures. Who can say what caused Satan’s fear? Does he deeply feel self-loathing, inadequacy, and vanity? Obviously he does, but where did that start? Was Satan, then called Lucifer, genetically flawed? If so, how’d that happen? Why would the LORD create him that way? Some day, we can ask the LORD if we dare, for it is His prerogative to withhold whatever He pleases because we are also mere creatures and the LORD is the Creator. 

        Satan’s fears, vanity, anger, and lust gave birth to the Sin that caused Cain to kill his brother Abel. Subsequently, and for the same reasons, humans have harmed each other in very personal and global ways throughout history. Feelings of inadequacy and pride result in broken relationships, tension, and chaos that range from general dis-ease to riotous violence. Fear breeds envy and enmity between classes and cultures, political ideologies and religions, modernity and tradition, and countless other differences. It causes some to dominate and others to cower. It is the root cause for invasions, wars, national, regional, and local incivility, and schism in the Church. If not checked, fear leads to strife, and ultimately panic that devolves into total chaos. Therefore, take a moment now to recall such things in your life’s journey and try to discern the fears that caused them. I’ll wait…

        The theme passage for today assumes the reader already knows how Jesus opened the way home to Eden. Through Jesus, the born-again Christian Believer receives the Spirit of God, which is the essence of love. The love of God cancels the power of Sin so that one only needs to embrace it and allow it to override fear and its terrible consequences. Humility, grace, and mercy naturally diffuse the onslaught of vanity, anger, and lust. Therefore, one can reason that Christians who submit to fear, whatever the cause, are not perfected in love. The tricky thing is to exercise humility, grace, and mercy intentionally to curb vanity, anger, and lust. But intentionality results from awareness and repentance that are surprisingly uncommon in the Church. Violent words and deeds often occur in the local church and fear causes pain, even there. We are all on the Way of sanctification, that means the perfecting in love mentioned by John above. It stands to reason that we will succumb to temptation from time to time, but without a concerted effort… 

        If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 1-3)

        Let us pray together that the Father’s house would be a place of prayer that overflows with the LORD’s love.

Christians and Government

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ~ Romans 13:1

Here’s a challenging passage. In fact, the entire topic (vs. 1-7) leaves little room for doubt about Paul’s meaning. What then, dear Christian, are we to make of it? Especially when we see so much corruption and contempt among our national leaders? What are we supposed to do when we see and hear things that show decaying civil liberties and substantial moral depravity? When feelings legislate and judge more than facts? Is the inherent godliness of our ancestors forgotten? What should an American Christian do about all of it? 

My walk with the LORD and His Word has led me to certain unchanging truths. I’ve realized that God is the source of cosmic order and the Enemy delights in chaos. I understand God hates oppression, while generosity and humility please Him. Pride is the essence of Sin and sanctification is one’s intentional pursuit of holiness, or communion with the LORD through the Holy Spirit. As sanctified Christian Believers, we are Christ to the world. Now, with these truths in mind, let us approach the verse above again. 

Paul and Peter (see 1 Peter 2:13) are exemplars of the sanctifying process of the Spirit, and government authorities subjected both to oppression and injustice. Yet, both encouraged, no, commanded their followers to submit to civil authorities. How can that be? Well, it helps to understand the words used in the original texts of their letters. They both used the Greek, hupotassó, to express their meaning. It is a way of saying, “Don’t contribute to the chaos and oppression” and “Help government serve the God of cosmic order.” Therefore, they did not say hupakouo, “unconditionally obey and join in oppression and chaos.” A sanctified disciple of Christ joins Him in affecting change that affirms the LORD’s cosmic order and love.

Paul’s relationships with religious and government leaders, as described in Acts, offer a clue to his method. His good manners, respect, and compassion made Paul influential in ways that served the Kingdom of Christ. The benefits are incalculable as One whose broad view and timeless strategy constantly bear fruit. Here’s another of the truths I’ve learned from the Word: “Every appointment is divine until it’s not.” By this I mean God communicates via all means, seen and unseen, so the person we chat with has the potential to be a messenger - until it becomes clear they are not. Civil discourse is a means of grace when Spirit-filled Christians calmly and graciously take part. 

So, is there a place for civil disobedience, protesting, and lobbying on the Christian journey? Craig Greenfield of Alongsiders International says in his blog, “This is nothing particularly new. As far back as the book of Exodus, the Hebrew midwives refused to carry out the Pharoah’s repugnant order to murder newborn babies. The first people who sought to worship Jesus, a trio of spiritual gurus from Asia, deliberately disobeyed the orders of King Herod, a criminal offense punishable by death (the first recorded act of civil disobedience in the New Testament). Many of the disciples ended up in prison. As Christians, the law cannot be our ultimate moral guide. Slavery was lawful. The holocaust was legal. Segregation and apartheid were legally sanctioned. Many of today’s laws are created to protect corporations rather than people.” (https://www.craiggreenfield.com/blog/romans13governmentmandates)

I plan to engage in relational evangelism with civic leaders and respectfully engage in civil discourse for the sake of cosmic order and ending oppression. I pray you never witness me acting violently or promoting chaos in the name of a cause. But, If I choose to defy oppressive systems and the cruelty and discord they generate, then I accept the cost. What about you?

Super Bowl Sunday

“they rushed with one accord…” ~ Acts 19:29 

“The meek shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5

  These two verses seem fitting for the midweek before Super Bowl Sunday. One speaks to the other as a weak offensive line inherits the earth when a strong offensive line rushes with one accord. Two teams of gladiators will meet before a colosseum filled with millions of spectators as every pursuit of the flesh will be on display and for sale. America’s unofficial holiday will bring family and friends together to eat, laugh, and play around television screens and all without any underlying religious connotations. It’s the perfect secular holiday!

On Sunday, Christians will attend worship services in the morning and most will leave after an hour or so, greeting pew neighbors and saluting the pastor as they go out the door. Some will attend Sunday school classes with friends, and a few will continue their Christian conversation at brunch or dinner. Online worshipers will follow similar patterns in their remote locations. Many of the same people will spend the afternoon preparing for the big broadcast. Later, they will spend several hours being bombarded with expensive, carefully crafted entertainment and marketing. They will give themselves over to dozens of influences that will shape buying plans and cultural assertions.

My shrewd readers already know where I’m going because we just arrived. However, just in case anyone missed it, I will dive a little deeper. Again, most Christians who regularly attend church services will habitually spend about an hour gathering with acquaintances to sing, listen to prayers, listen to preaching, and receive sacraments. Typical church congregations and their leaders will not experience carefully crafted, expensive marketing pitches and, therefore, will depart with minimal motivation to change habits and cultural ideologies. If they do not go home to partake of the Super Bowl secular holiday traditions, they will probably fall under similar ubiquitous media influences for several hours.

Let’s consider the messages to be heard on Sunday afternoon and evening. You will witness nationalism, puritanism, inequity, greed, and avarice. Images that normalize immorality or at least present an inaccurate perception of American culture will incessantly flash across your big, flat screen TV. Stimulating ideas will stir your subconscious mind, urging you to indulge the flesh. Young, physically fit men and women will compete for your praise and adoration and spectators will celebrate violence that ranges from subtle forms of brutal combat to suggestive images of women. The sporting event and its various components are eerily similar to those found in ancient Greece and Rome. The marketing and entertainment will praise youth and vitality while ignoring stability and wisdom. A few highly charged messages will manipulate your emotions so that you feel exactly what the advertiser wants you to. A half-time show will scream at a very specific audience, which should say much about who the NFL is trying to influence and why. After the game, conversations will attempt to unpack sports, culture, and entertainment messages for days and weeks to come.

It may seem that I am ranting and railing against something and maybe even complaining about shallow Christians here. I can assure you it is not my intention. I only hope to assist you in growing a biblical Christian worldview. Shallow, habitual Christians return to churches week after week, and they help to pay the bills. They are not devoid of the Spirit and they do not leave empty of influence. But many, many Christians do not attend to their sanctification, and that is a real shame. Sanctified Christian Believers consider the cost of discipleship daily. They welcome the Spirit’s influence and consistently invest more time and energy into the Body of Christ and His Kingdom. They do not cruelly reject pagans and their pleasures, but view them through a different lens. With open eyes and minds, sanctified Christian Believers observe, ask questions, and engage others. When expensive empty pursuits leave the flesh wanting, the Believer leads by example and offers grace. Their marketing campaign is subtle and takes longer than 30, 60, or 90 seconds to complete. Jesus said, “'For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ and ‘the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:35-36; 40) 

Enjoy the food, family, friends, football, commercials, and entertainment this Sunday and then use the knowledge you gain to be a witness like the Apostle Paul in the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.…” (Acts 17:22-24)

The Untamed God

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ~ Galatians 5:16

    There’s an amusing, alliterative proverb I like that says, “Weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether you like it or not.” Essentially, the incoming winter storm is just another thing we humans cannot control. It should be an all too familiar state of being for the survivors of the  early 20s. History informs us that every generation experiences events that remind worshipers of progress, that some things are untamable. We must endure the wild, raging forces as they roar through our lives and then deal with the aftermath as best we can. 

     C. S. Lewis portrayed the LORD as the lion, Aslan, in his book “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”. Lucy said of Aslan, “He is not a tame lion” because Lewis wanted us to know that while Aslan is a good lion, one should be at least a little afraid of him and approach him with cautious respect. Lewis meant for his readers to approach the LORD the same way. We must understand the LORD is unquestionably good, but that does not suggest He is soft or tame. The Lion of Judah is not a tame lion, so we must live with the tension between our LORD’s immeasurable might and grace.

     Modern Christians living in first-world countries easily succumb to the temptation of thinking human ingenuity and the cult of science can solve every problem, cure every malady, and resolve every conflict. The LORD’s creation regularly presents humanity with opportunities to say, “I don’t know.” If your umbrage is bubbling up because I said, “the cult of science,” let me explain before you boil over. Science, in and of itself, is an excellent thing. It is another word for critical thinking, a skill that I regularly promote. Science is the pursuit of truth and understanding, and true scientists are thinking explorers whose work of enhancing human existence is laudable. Unfortunately, many people imagine lab-coated geniuses who, like mountaintop gurus, have all the answers. In their minds, the priests in long white coats embroidered with the name of their benefactors move about the temple, methodically manipulating instruments, bubbling glass vessels, and writing in mystic codes on chalkboards. Sound a little cult-like?

     Theologians and religious authorities throughout history regularly establish themselves and their cults by offering answers that God won’t give and by creating systems that suggest the LORD can be tamed and trained. Human responses to natural phenomena over the centuries usually credit a pagan god often referred to as mother nature - Guia, the god of the earth while, blaming the LORD for His lack of intervention. The irony is remarkable, considering humanity’s long history of atrocities. We think “It’s not nice to fool mother nature” but trying to control the LORD is an honorable institution called religion. How on earth can we be so naïve when we can’t even get the people we live with to do what we want? Could science, government, or religion prevent global conflicts, holocausts, and famines? These are all products of a fallen world under the influence of a fallen, lesser god we call Satan.  

     Our LORD, like Aslan, cannot be tamed, even as He is amazing, majestic, and frightening in all His glory. Who are we to question the LORD’s action or inaction? Why should we think the LORD owes us anything? By now, the LORD has done more than we deserve and all for love’s sake. Because of the LORD’s love, we are forgiven, though we don’t deserve it; The LORD welcomes us in His home, though we are unworthy, because God the Son said, “Father, forgive them;” He changes our inner being from perishable to imperishable and enhances us beyond our ken with His Holy Spirit. Christian Believers are the fortunate recipients of unmerited favor who, despite the world’s evil and endless hardships, live with constant hope and deep inner joy. 

     When the storms leave people frustrated and shattered, it will not be self-appointed lesser gods in government, religion, and science of answer the cries for help and hunger for answers from an untamable God, people made in the image of the unseen God will hold their hands, clean up their mess, feed and shelter them, and suffer on the cross with them. The one who goes to do as Christ has done; the one who serves as His hands, feet, mouth, heart, and mind will be the LORD’s answer.