Keeping Up Appearances
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23:27-28)
If you’ve listened to biblical teaching for long at all, you are probably very familiar with this passage and its context. Jesus is building the case for the coming judgment against Israel that will leave the holy nation forever desolate. The horror of the impending destruction is emphasized by the sudden turn of the text from condemnation to grief, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...."
It is much more comfortable to talk about the significance of this passage in its first century context than it is to consider its application to our own lives. That is especially true for those of us who were raised in a tradition that teaches a works based salvation. That belief ultimately leads to a practice of keeping up appearances and reminds us that contemporary Phariseeism is no better than the old variety.
Few of us would be willing to share the dark corners of our lives with other believers. Often, we won’t even acknowledge them to ourselves or before God. This is a dangerous practice that causes us to take further steps to protect our secret. Nothing is hidden from God, but we do hide from one another.
It is only a short step from hiding those secrets, to denying them. Because we do not confess them, we dress ourselves in self-righteousness (at least publicly) so that others would never see our true condition. The sad consequence is, the more we continue this practice the more we find it necessary to hide reality from our own eyes and the eyes of others.
The 1992 movie, "Death Becomes Her" was a humorous look at this side of our nature. Perhaps you saw it. It starred Goldie Hawn as Helen, Bruce Willis as her husband Ernest, and Meryl Streep as Madeline, the third corner of the triangle. Ernest (a mortician) becomes infatuated with Madeline and ultimately divorces Helen to marry her.
Helen goes berserk and ends up in a mental institution where she does poorly until she, taking a counselor’s recommendation the wrong way, decides to eliminate Madeline.
She re-enters their lives as a svelt successful author and gives the appearance of befriending both. She persuades Ernest to kill Madeline but the plan goes awry when, after a fatal fall caused by Ernest, Madeline rises from the dead to find the two discussing how to handle the situation.
She appears with a shotgun and blasts a hole through Helen’s torso. Shortly thereafter Helen also rises and they both realize they have taken the same potion which would keep them alive. They had been warned to take care of their bodies. Now they understand that even though they live, their bodies are dead and unable to heal.
They blackmail Ernest into using his professional skills to tend to their physical appearance with paints, putty, etc. Following his untimely death the two spend their lives doing repairs on each other with much less skill and greatly inferior results. They outlive all their friends and are condemned to an existence that no one could want.
So much for the review, the story is a good illustration of what happens when we think we can deal with the death problem of our old nature. It may take decades before we realize the hopelessness of attempting to beautify that which is dead and disgusting.
We may occasionally do a respectable job fooling others, but we fool ourselves if we imagine that God doesn’t know our true condition. Like Madeline and Helen, we should quickly realize we can’t tend to our own problem. Just looking in the mirror would be too painful. Instead, we look at one another and quietly assure ourselves that we look better than others.
Worse yet, rather than hold one another accountable in the love and compassion God has given us, we choose to excuse and overlook the ugliness that ungodly conduct causes lest we be confronted with the realities of our own lives.
The truth is, even a cursory examination of our own lives does not affirm the image we tend to have of ourselves. Until (and this is an important until) we tire of the game and allow God to confront us with reality, we keep searching for a substitute.
Once we have been granted the vision to see Christ as our only substitute, we can never again be satisfied to rationalize our condition to God, others, or ourselves. Outside of Him, we are in a pitiful state. Indeed, death becomes us.
Just painting up the old carcass will never do. It is still dead. This old flesh just isn’t worth the effort. God grants us what we need according to His grace towards us in Christ. It is a spiritual work. It is an inner work which expresses itself outwardly. It is life.
We no longer need to play games. Like Paul, we can acknowledge that we are, in the flesh, sinners. We can by God’s grace overcome that which weighs us down so that righteousness rules in our lives more and more. We can accept each other "warts and all" as we struggle to live out our high calling in Christ.
We can cease using euphemisms for sin (like "warts") and call it what it really is. We can empathize with the struggles of others because we agonize over our own. We can encourage one another without excusing sin, because we refuse to make excuses for our own offenses before God. Living out relationships in that atmosphere will bring about a real healing ministry that believers long to receive.
Most of us who have lived a number of years as Christians have gone through dark times: times of rebellion if we are honest. Our lives resound with praise that in those times God did not abandon us but was faithful to bring correction where it was needed. Godly discipline is a painful thing, but it is far more to be desired than to be neglected by Him.
What a glorious thing it is to realize that when God looks our way, He sees Jesus. My daily desire is expressed in a simple prayer, "Lord, may your vision of me in Christ, be the reality of my life as I live in your world today."
What Difference Does It Make?
Having started a serious study of eschatology about four years ago, I gradually came to the decision that a fulfilled view is best supported by scripture and history. As I continue to share what I have learned with others, one question arises again and again, "What difference does it make?"
That’s a question that deserves a well thought out response so, here goes.
A proper view of eschatology is important first because we are to be diligent students of God’s word. It is careless, at best, to relegate any significant teaching of scripture to the category of "It really doesn’t matter." God has revealed His truth to us and it is incumbent upon us to exercise due diligence in understanding that truth.
It is never acceptable to say, "I could be wrong on [name your topic] but I’m comfortable with what I believe and don’t want to be bothered with other views.
As believers, we have a duty to join one another in the pursuit of understanding and obeying God’s truth. Disregarding or minimizing any part of it is quite simply, poor stewardship.
Understanding biblical eschatology is important because it shapes our worldview. It makes a huge difference whether we see biblical prophecy as having been fulfilled or yet to be fulfilled.
The issue is not simply a matter of when does the Bible say Jesus would "come again." His "coming again" is tied to several related events which cannot be divorced from one another: namely 1) the proclamation of the salvation of believers, 2) the judgment of Israel (the end of biblical Judaism) and 3) the establishment of the kingdom (those are broad headings with several sub-headings).
While dispensationalists see the kingdom as yet future, amillennialists and post-millennialists understand that the kingdom was established in the first century. The dispensationalists rightly conclude that these major events occur in the same time frame. However, they fail to see how they all occurred in the past and so they still hold to a future fulfillment.
Amillenialists and post-millennialists are forced go through significant biblical gymnastics to demonstrate that the kingdom was established but is still to come. This is a position that scripture clearly does not teach. The coming of the kingdom of necessity meant the passing of old covenant Israel. The type had to give way to the anti-type. Either it did or it did not. We can’t have it both ways.
So, someone has to wrong, or to be blunt, someone has to be teaching error. If one view is correct, the others of necessity are wrong. If I am wrong, I want to know it and will be most appreciative to those who correct my understanding. I’ve been waiting for that correction for three years and I know others who have been waiting for it for decades now.
Sadly, my experience tells me that most Christians are willing to accept a situation where some or all of us not only maintain but teach error. While it is true that scholars have debated these issues for generations now, that does not excuse a lack of diligence on our part. It is indeed the rare individual who will take the time to seriously investigate this subject and many others. I am convinced that in time our understanding will continue to increase if we are willing to be diligent.
Back to the point, failure to study this issue forces us to accept one position or another as a matter of tradition instead of doctrine. When we place our trust in tradition we follow a dangerous path.
Traditions are not to be treated lightly because they frequently have a basis in truth. Nonetheless, it is imperative that we exercise diligence to avoid allowing tradition to be practiced as truth.
If we see biblical prophecy as yet unfulfilled, we challenge the truthfulness of Christ, the apostles, the first century believers, and the scripture itself. They all proclaimed these events would happen in that generation. To arrive at a different conclusion, one must insist that words don’t mean what they say, and to do that is to render the text undiscernable. In short, words can mean whatever the reader wants them to mean (that by the way is the essence of the idealist view of prophecy).
If biblical prophecy is unfulfilled, we still wait for our salvation even as the Jews awaited the proclamation on the Day of Atonement. We have no certainty that Christ’s sacrifice has been received by the Father. Further, there has been no final revealing of the sons of God and there is still hope for those who trust in the Law for their righteousness.
Those who see the events as future see the sun setting on mankind. While that can stir evangelistic zeal, it breeds an escapist mentality. Such a mindset was proper as judgment fell on Jerusalem. Those Christians were told to flee lest they suffer the fate that was about to fall upon the city.
They did escape but those instructions were not for us. In Isaiah 9:6-7, the prophet writes: " For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."
If, as amillennialists and post-millennialists agree, the kingdom has come, our perspective changes significantly. Not only are we entrusted with the continuing proclamation of the good news in our generation, we are charged with the furtherance of the kingdom of peace, justice and judgment.
In our time, many Christians have rejected any meaningful acknowledgment that the kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of the Lord and His Christ who reigns forever. Failing this duty, mankind periodically cycles through dark times, and it will continue to do so until believers get it right.
The Jews looked forward to a time when God’s order would reign supreme in the world around them. Due to their own weakness, that order never even reigned among them much less encompassed the world.
Today, we have so spiritualized the kingdom of God that most Christians deny it has real significance on earth. That is clearly due to an improper view of eschatology. If the kingdom is not now, we are at the mercy of the world’s system. On the other hand, if we live in the kingdom, the world’s system is being transformed into a better place than mankind has ever known. The historical evidence demonstrates that the world becomes a better place to live as the knowledge of Christ and His kingdom spread.
If you still think the study of last things is inconsequential, spend a few hours and read the New Testament again with "fulfilled" glasses on and you will see that it makes a tremendous difference.
While you’re at it, make a list of all the scriptures which speak of last things or set the context for them. Write them down! I think you’ll find the result to be compelling if not overwhelming.
Does it make a difference if the kingdom is present or future? As one detractor confessed some months ago, "Durn tootin’!"
Just War
Not since the Viet Nam conflict has there been such a protest of American involvement abroad. It would be inappropriate to refer to that conflict as war since war was never declared by Congress. Big Brother Sam thought it proper to assert his power without any legitimate authority and thousands of young Americans died. The financial cost and the loss of human capital is staggering to the mind.
Many of us lived through those years and it is hard to comprehend the fact that we are now on the brink of repeating that error. It will cost us billions of dollars but our technology pretty much guarantees that the number of lives lost will be minimal – at least on our side of the equation.
It amazes me to see Christians rushing to support this action largely because there is a professing Christian at the helm. Bill Clinton was a professing Christian, but most conservative Christians would have opposed the present venture if he was in charge. Why the difference?
This country historically held the view that as long as others left us alone, we’d leave them alone. It didn’t take long until the empire builders began to hold sway and now the fruit of their vision is being witnessed.
It is illegal for America to go to war without a declaration of war from Congress. Congress has had plenty of time to declare war and still does. To date it has chosen not to even entertain the idea. Colin Powell should be making his pitch to the Congress, not the United Nations. How then is it possible for the President to unilaterally order troops into battle?
The ruse is allowed to continue because under the U.S. Code (not the Constitution), the President is allowed to take such actions when a state of emergency exists.
It comes as a surprise to most Americans that we have lived in a perpetual state of emergency for decades! An emergency is a situation which catches you off guard and for which you are may be unprepared. It may require extraordinary action quickly to address the need of the moment.
The situations the president seeks to address today can in no way be classified as an emergency. We’ve known about Iraq’s "weapons of mass destruction" for years. In fact, we gave them to Iraq! Now that they have those weapons, we use them to justify attacking another sovereign country. That’s incredible!
Our system of government does not allow this kind of behavior but our elected representatives are again demonstrating that they have no regard for the law of this land.
"Just war" is being redefined to allow preemptive strikes against nations that have never attacked us. Now it is enough that they have the potential to do so. It’s okay for us to have the potential to attack them, but their possession of such weapons makes them evil. Of course, most Americans have no problem with that hypocrisy because we see ourselves as the good guys in the world community. Believe me, the rest of the world does not see us that way; and with good reason. We’ve meddled in their affairs far too long. The entangling alliances have been as detrimental to foreign countries as they have been to our own.
As individuals, we are free to engage other countries as we choose. If we want to be mercenaries for those who want Sadaam out of the picture, we have the right to do so. However, the federal government has no legitimate power to enter into such a conflict.
All my life, folks have made a playful twist on the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you - BUT DO IT FIRST!" Sadly, it appears that many of the people of this country have taken seriously what was offered in jest. We can hardly expect God’s blessing when we so disregard His law and our own.
The root of the problem is in our churches. We have forgotten who we are. The blame lies clearly with pastors across the land who, being in love with their check, preach what folks want to hear instead of what needs to be said.
Phillip Vollman doesn’t fit this description as pastor of Shiloh Christian Church in Leroy Township, Ohio. In a video I viewed recently, he pinpointed the problem as what he called PTA (permanent testicular atrophy). That’s good for a chuckle but it says a lot. Where are the men? Where is the faith, courage, and conviction to stand up for what is right regardless of the cost? It doesn’t appear often in pulpits on Sunday morning (or any other time for that matter).
God demands justice. We are about to engage in an unjust war which will cost this country dearly in terms of God’s favor. We’ve already lost a great deal of that capital and we can’t afford to lose more. Where are the men of God who will stand to oppose this act and insist that we do things lawfully?
The Apprentice’s Journal
"Be prepared." I learned The Boy Scout motto reading "Boy’s Life" long before I became a Scout. That simple lesson has impacted my entire life in ways that the vast majority of the public doesn’t grasp.
It isn’t just a nice catch phrase, but one piece of wisdom that comprises the lifestyle taught through Scouting. A scout is "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent." I write that list from memory after all these years because they were life-shaping for me. Of course, you realize that all these attributes have biblical origins and that itself is no accident.
No, this isn’t a piece about the benefits of Scouting. It’s a peek through the keyhole of my life that allows you to see part of what makes me tick. It will also help you understand what motivates me to share the following.
In the months leading up to January 1, 2000, I spent a great deal of time, energy and money, encouraging others to prepare for potential problems related to the Y2K issue. By God’s grace, that was largely a non-event. Nevertheless, it was a wake up call to many people including me. (Over)
Realizing just how unprepared our family was to deal with an emergency, we committed ourselves to staying prepared. There are many reasons for that decision, but the most compelling are 1) so that we would not be a burden to others 2) so that we might be able to help others in Christ’s name. Emergencies become opportunities for Christian service, if we are prepared.
I encourage you to prepare your family in this way. If you don’t know where to begin, contact the Red Cross and at least get their instructions for basic preparedness that will help get you through the first three days of an emergency.
We live in unsettled times, but we need not live in fear if we educate ourselves and prepare. During the preparation for Y2K, many Christians took the attitude that they weren’t going to prepare because God would take care of them. I hope that doesn’t describe any of you!
It is foolish to think that we can ignore the warnings that God gives us and then rely on Him to be our bell boy when things go wrong. He is trustworthy, but He does expect that we will be diligent in making provision for our own families. Scripture teaches that kind of diligence and most Christians practice it in other ways (insurance, investments, etc.). However, most recoil at the thought of making preparations for
natural disasters, true national emergencies, or other possible situations which might leave their families without the essentials of daily life.
Perhaps it is just denial that causes such apathy in this regard. However, in my own case it was caused by pride and dependency upon civil government to meet my emergency needs. I became convicted that it was my duty to prepare first and depend on others second: mutual preparation makes mutual dependency possible.
Because we are to depend on one another, especially in times of need, it is incumbent on each of us to prepare. It is extremely selfish to rely complacently on the preparation of others while making no preparation to help others or yourself.
My prayer is that we will be spared any serious fallout (slight pun intended) from the present confrontation. However, things continue to heat up and I am persuaded that we will attack Iraq. It is indeed possible that Iraqi operatives are in this country and we could see serious reprisals.
Get informed and be prepared. You should not let fear rule your life, but neither should you be complacent in this regard. Prepare now. Sooner or later God will allow you to use your resources to serve Him and others. ~ Jim