Creeds

Doug Wilson has me thinking again. Imagine that. On his blog (at www.dougwils.com, he has some quotes from one of his books about how creeds are inescapable. That got me thinking, so I decided to post a few phrases from my own personal creed for further rumination.

I believe that God is at heart a storyteller, and that He loves suspense, plot twists and happy endings. I believe that He likes the way He has made us including our romance and habits and recreation and work. I believe that He is making the world better. I believe that He loves the material as well as the spiritual, or probably that He doesn't even notice the difference. I believe that He loves His people together as well as individually, thinking of their children as His own. I believe that He hasn't changed. Ever. I believe that He has known what He is doing from the beginning. I believe that He knows what He's doing even now.

And I believe that many other Christians do not believe some of these things, or else we wouldn't disagree about so much.

Evolution

Evolution is quite a funny theory, when you think about it. It points out the best in modern secular unbelief. Consider:

A modern evolutionist does not believe in a Creator because he says it is too far-fetched and mystical. Yet he believes in amoebas turning into dogs turning into men.

A modern evolutionist does not believe in a Creator because he cannot find evidence of such a thing in the laboratory. Yet who has ever seen any of the transformations mentioned above occur? We have more statistical and testimonial evidence of ghosts and extraterrestrial beings than of dogs turning into men.

A modern evolutionist does not believe in a Creator because he claims to work from data rather than from faith. Again, where is the data for such astonishing transfigurations? A man may as well believe in chariots turning into pumpkins, or frogs into princes. At least some folks remember such things happening, if only in their oral traditions.

It seems that we Christians may have something to learn from our modern evolutionist friends, for they have much greater faith than many of us.

There is Nothing Better

There seems to be quite an industry going around the inspirational attitude of making the most of every day, living in the moment, etc. Most people seem to be quite enamored of the idea, but very few people seem to understand how. Yet the question and answer are as old as the earth.

There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight He has given knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God's sight. This too is vanity and stiving after wind. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

Loyalties

To an extent, sin can be thought of as the disorder of loyalties. We sin when we act contrary to a vow or obligation that a loyalty places on us. For instance, when we sin against God, we choose to break loyalty with Him by ignoring His commands in order to satisfy another person, to whom the bond of loyalty should not be as strong. That person may either be ourselves or another. We can sin against people in the same way, too. For example, if a man joins his friends in publicly scorning his wife, he has chosen their approval over his loyalty to her as wife. Looking at it from the other angle then, sanctification is learning how to honor our loyalties.

This is helpful to think through when dealing with enemies. The Lord commands us to love our enemies, and pray for those who curse us. That means that we have a loyalty to our enemies that should be stronger than our own loyalty to ourselves. We must be careful though, that our loyalty to our enemies is not stronger than our loyalty to our disciples, family, friends, and God. That is why it is appropriate for Christ to keep quiet when falsely accused, and to pray for the forgiveness of his enemies, yet to call names and throw insults with the best of them in other circumstances.

Bitter or Sweet?

At a certain moderate theological school a guest lecturer was invited to speak at a public event. This man was a college professor, and a staunch and noted atheist. He spoke for two and one-half hours, attempting to prove that the resurrection of Jesus was false. He went through the tired old arguments involving the opinions of Biblical "scholars" and modern philosophers, and concluded that the tradition of the church was groundless, an emotional fantasy. In keeping with his liberal and collegiate background, he said that Christianity was a viable option among religions, but fell quite short of providing a reasonable worldview for a functioning society, mostly because it was false.

Having been prompted for questions, an old evangelical preacher stood up. He stood silent for a second, then began to speak after reaching for an apple in his lunch bag. In between bites he explained that, although he was a professional minister of this faith, he was not familiar with the philosophers and scholars that the professor had quoted. Nor could he read the Scriptures in their original languages he explained with a full mouth. But he did have a question for the professor. "Here's what I want to know: This apple I'm eating-- is it bitter or sweet?"

The atheist paused for a moment a confused look on his face. He asked the old fellow, with a very patronizing air, "Sir, how can I tell? For I have not tasted that apple."

The white-haired old man looked back and said slowly, with a slight pause for effect, "Neither have you tasted my Jesus."

The crowd sat silent, all eyes glued on the professor for his response. He stared straight out over the crowd, hands grasping the edge of the podium. Then, slowly, a smile crossed his face, and he spoke into the microphone.

"Yes, thank you. That will do nicely. Good day."

Thinking Outside of the Box

Having recently been urged to learn to "think outside of the box", I thought I'd meander on the subject for a little bit, safely inside the box. This browser window's text box, that is.

Wishing to think outside the box is the Buddhist's goal. He hates the box, because the box reminds him that he is a creature. He is not infinite. He is not one with everything. He is limited and finite and weak and creaturely. The box reminds him that try as he may, he cannot be everything, nor good at everything. In short, the box reminds him that while there is a God, he is not it. He hates the box because it is imposed upon Him by the hand of the Creator, whom he also hates.

The Christian must not learn to escape the box- he must learn to love the box. Here is joy and wisdom. If we love the Creator, we must love the creation since it proceeds from Him, which means we must learn to love the creaturely limitations placed upon us. We should greatly rejoice when one of our brothers or sisters has a better idea than ours, for we are not an envious people. We must thank the Lord when we forget something we used to know, for He knows everything and does not forget. When we cannot figure out a problem, we should toast the Lord with a glass of wine and enjoy an evening on the porch.

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor- it is the gift of God. - Eccl 3:11-13

Jesus' Winter

In John 10:23, John records that Jesus was walking in the Temple courts in the winter. He's already established in the previous verse that he's moved to a new time frame, starting with the Feast of Dedication. Why then mention the winter?

I think it connects us to Solomon's dedication of the Temple, for that took place in the seventh month (December, if my facts are straight). Solomon, being the Son of God that he was, is a player in the discussion that ensues, and even gets mentioned once in 10:23. Jesus is dedicating a new Temple and moving in, the Temple of His Body, the Church. He's going to raise Lazarus and then deal with the public for just a little bit more before concentrating on His disciples through the last nine chapters.

I think it's doing a little more though. One of the things Jesus is doing in this section is showing Himself to be the Greater Prophet. There's lots of Ezekiel and Jeremiah connections, and I think this is one. In Jeremiah 36, Jeremiah writes a scroll through his scribe Baruch and sends it to be read in the presence of Jehoiakim the King of Judah. Jehoiakim will not listen and burns the scroll, and God tells Jeremiah that his line will be cut off. All this takes place in the ninth month, while Jehoiakim is at his winter house (Jer 36:22).

And that is what is going on with the Jews in the Temple in John 10. They have rejected Jesus and His signs, and shown that they do not love the Lord. They are prophesied for destruction when Jesus levels the city and Temple. We should notice that He removes Himself from the Temple for good at the end of the chapter, never to return (at least in John's account). The wicked Jews have worshipped their idols long enough, and now God is moving out of His winter home to a new home. But the spring will not dawn for these Jews.