Everyone's An Expert...

 

Blessed is the man who having nothing to say abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact. —George Eliot

It is a mark of the current age that everyone is an expert... in all possible fields of study. Everyone has an opinion and all opinions are considered equally valid. This particularly pains me when someone has a misunderstanding  of biblical truth, yet assumes his opinion is as equally likely as that of someone who is carefully dividing the Word. A careful exegete is always open to clarification and correction, but requires it be based on careful biblical analysis and follow the primary rules of interpretation, not on mere opinion or wishful thinking, wrenching verses out their context and assigning a meaning that was never intended. The primary emphasis needs to be on God's main point, not ours. Engaging in real discourse is always welcome. 

Perhaps nowhere is an uneducated opinion more painfully displayed than in the comments section on amazon. It's not the possession of an uninformed opinion that is the problem, it's the automatic assumption that your uninformed opinion carries any valid weight. Certainly opinions can be held at various levels of understanding. We should all be teachable and open in that respect. We're all learning and the real experts are not always right. But at the minimum, a person should ask themselves the simple question, "Do I know enough about this subject to set myself up as an authority on its analysis?" 

I've started to save some of the worst examples as I peruse through amazon. I'd love to privately take these folks aside and get them thinking about what they have written for all to see. Discretion is an art we all need to learn. Here are a few examples reviewing a classic work of Homer, the Iliad ....

"All the zombies kept telling me to purchase the Iliad and were raving about how intellectual it was. The age of it should have been a first clue. Really a rather boring read that is tripe with inept ideals. Homer Simpson was named after this guy but I believe that he has more insight into the subject matter than the original home boy they call Homer. Good for using to set your coffee mug on and start a fire with in the fireplace, but beyond that it is really a lot of rubbish. I wish Penguin Classics would actually publish classic reading material instead of a lot of blah blah." [Comment on The Iliad] (It would be interesting to hear his definition of "classic"!)

"Seriously. Homer wasn't all that, and I'm so thankful to amazon.com to allow me to give it only two stars. Homer's boring, and he's totally overrated. He's always using the same lines- "bit the dust", "rosy-fingered dawn", "the wine-dark sea", "night filled his eyes", "Achilles swift of foot"- Homer needs to be more original. And what's with the one name- "Homer"- who does he think he is, Madonna?"  [Comment on The Iliad]

The teacher in me yearns to introduce them to Bronze Age history, culture and literary forms, to  the progression in oral storytelling, to the peek we're allowed to have into one of the earliest surviving written story forms. If nothing else, I'd love to help them become aware that time did not begin when they were born, nor is culture exclusively 21st century American. Give me an honest, but humble student any time, one who recognizes they have a lack of information, that life is full of things they can learn. I'd love to meet the young man who wrote this next review. Oh, the discussions we could have! May we all have such teachable spirits!

"ill put my $.02 in here i guess... honestly i didnt like this book much the first time i read it (over this past summer for a 10th grade reading list) i found it boring and at times gory. but then we started reading it again in class and something strange happened, i started to actually understand what was going on and i started to analyze the characters more deeply and i started to almost like it. im not going to go as far as saying id read it again on my own free will cause i definitely wont, but if you read this book read the odyssey as well i liked it better"

.

Is It Remorse or Repentance?

We often confuse remorse with repentance. Without realizing it, we can find ourselves holding to cultural attitudes we've absorbed rather than relying upon God's revealed truth. There is a huge difference between mere remorse and biblical repentance! The language of forgiveness we choose to use can reveal our basic heart attitude. Are you more likely to say, "I'm sorry" or do you confess (Greek: homologeō, literally, "to say the same thing" as God does about it, agree with His view of your sin)  and turn from it, saying, "I was wrong to _____ , will you forgive me"? One requires humility before God and others. The other does not. One is biblical. The other is not. One leads to spiritual growth. The other does not. Let's be very careful how we approach this issue in both our homes and our churches.

Pastor Stephen Davey gives a clear presentation of the difference in his new book, In Pursuit of Prodigals: A Primer on Church Discipline and Reconciliation. While aimed at the level of the local assembly, these biblical truths also apply on an interpersonal level. Our homes are where these God-honoring truths are first learned and practiced! 

____________________________________________________________________________________

Should the discipline of a prodigal accomplish its divine goals, he will publicly and consistently exhibit the evidences of true confession and repentance. Repentance is a change of direction: a confession of sin, followed by the desire to make restitution, rebuild relationships and, in general, make everything right. The evidences of repentance will be:

• Acknowledging his sin honestly (Ps.51:2-3; 1Jn.1:9);
• Discontinuing the sinful behavior which initiated the discipline (James 5:19-20);
• Seeking biblical counsel, if needed, to gain victory over sinful patterns of behavior (Acts 26:20);
• Making financial restitution, if necessary (Luke 19:8);
• Initiating confession and asking forgiveness from all parties involved (Matt 5:23-24);
• Exhibiting a spirit of humility and brokenness, revealing a true work of God’s Spirit (Ps.51:17).

REMORSE	REPENTANCE
Short term	Long term
Involves emotions	Involves emotion and will
Distressed by the consequences	Distraught by his actions
Makes vague resolutions	Makes specific restitution
Wants public attention	Humbly accepts obscurity
Desires immediate return to positions of ministry/authority	Recognizes need to rebuild trust over time
Makes external displays of contrition	Displays internal development and change
Finds fault in how he is treated in the process of discipline	Exhibits submission to the humbling process of discipline
Hesitates to follow counsel in relation to reconciliation/restitution	Initiates action toward restoring broken relationships and making restitution

[via Counseling One Another & Vitamin Z blogs]
[Painting: Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal; click on the photo for a closer look.]


 

Is Your Mind In the Battle? (Part 2)

  'Do not let your heart be troubled; 

you believe in God, believe also in Me.'  (John 14:1)

"Why is it so hard to just find some peace of mind? Well, peace is hard to come by when you live in a warzone. And like it or not you are in a war — a very serious one. This war is cosmic in its proportions. It involves God, humans, angels, demons, principalities, powers, nations, and antichrists.

And do you know where the front of the battle is? It’s in your head. Here is how Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Where is the battle raging? Where your thoughts are. What are the strongholds that spiritually imprison people? Arguments and opinions.

And arguments are not merely strongholds, they are weapons of mass destruction. Adam and Eve (and all of us with them) fell because of an argument. They believed the serpent’s argument and stopped believing God.

That is the deadly essence of sin: not believing God. To not believe God is to ally with Satan, whom Jesus said is “a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth… for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).  You don’t want Satan as an ally. He’s treacherous. He’s out to murder you with lies.

Watch your emotions. They are signals of arguments. Your emotions, which can land on you like vague impressions or moods, are usually responses to an argument. Moods don’t come out of nowhere. When we are angry, discouraged, depressed, anxious, self-pitying, fearful, or irritable, it is likely because we are believing something very specific.

To battle sin is to battle unbelief—or destroy arguments. And in order to battle unbelief effectively, we must press doubts and temptations into specific arguments. What specifically is being asserted or promised to us? Only then can we destroy the enemy’s false arguments with true ones.

The devil does not want us to think clearly about sin. He wants to keep things vague so he can imprison or disarm us. But Jesus wants us to think clearly. He wants us to know the truth because the truth brings freedom:

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31-32)

So as freedom fighters let’s fight against “unbelieving hearts” by exhorting one another every day (Hebrews 3:12-13) to live in the freedom—and peace (John 16:33)—of the truth."

[From: Jon Bloom, "We Destroy Arguments"]

(Earlier post: Is Your Mind in the Battle? (Part 1) can be found here.)

Worldliness - Is Your Mind In the Battle?

"Worldliness, that which makes the ungodly seem normal and the godly seem abnormal (David Wells), can seep in under the door, crawl in through the cracks, and flow in through the vents—all unannounced. This afflicts us when our taken-for-granted habits engender sensibilities (modes of thought, perception, and conduct) that make us less likely to hear God’s voice, to do God’s will, to redeem the time (Ephesians 5:16), and to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12)."  [Douglas Groothuis, in a review of Tim Challies' book, The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion]
["Is Your Mind in the Battle? (Part 2) found here.]

Scrutinize the Spirits

In 1Jn. 4:1-3, the Apostle John, addressing believers ["beloved"], contrasts the difference between the Spirit of God and the spirit of false prophets. He gives two commands (Imperatives):


1. Stop believing in / entrusting yourselves to every spirit.
[Present Tense = progressive, on-going, lifestyle action]

2. Be testing/scrutinizing/analyzing each spirit.
[Present Tense = progressive, on-going, lifestyle action]

He then explains this can be done by examining each spirit's message.

a. One confessing [def: to say the same thing as God] Jesus Christ having come in the flesh
"confessing" = Pres. Tense [progressive, on-going, lifestyle action];
"having come" = Perfect Tense [action which happened in the Past with continuing results in the Present]

b. One NOT confessing Jesus Christ having come in the flesh

He also gives a reason WHY it is necessary for these believers to do this: "because many false prophets have gone out into the world". And he tells them the SOURCE of this false teaching - the spirit of antichrist, which they had heard was coming, and which now, in fact, had arrived.

What is the significance of John's words, penned over 1900 years ago? The spirit of antichrist REMAINS in the world. False messages about Jesus Christ are STILL being promoted. Christians STILL need to stop believing every spirit and STILL need to be testing/scrutinizing/analyzing the messages they are hearing. Within the past five years alone many cults have started claiming they believe in Jesus. But if you analyze their message you will find they are proclaiming "another" Christ, not the One who is revealed in God's Word.

Tragically, many who name the name of Christ have lost their ability to test, to scrutinize, to examine because they no longer know the Truth as it is revealed in God's Word. They may listen to preachers teach about Christ, but they do not have the ability to discern whether or not the teaching is True. They may read books naming Christ, but they do not have the ability to discern whether or not the writing is True. That is because they have abandoned the Truth. They no longer read their Bibles. They no longer read, re-read, meditate, taste, savor Scripture. They may have the indwelling Holy Spirit, but they give Him no Scriptural food to work with.

So my challenge to you who name the name of Christ is to examine yourself. If you find you no longer have a hunger for God's Word, it may be because you have starved yourself and thereby lost your appetite.

A Believer's View of God's Word

I'm not sure where the saying originated, but I hear it quoted from time to time. It's a warning that we should be "worshiping Christ and not the Bible". On one level it sounds quite logical and godly, but behind it is the idea that the two are mutually exclusive. That's not what I see when I read Scripture. Scripture itself tells me that it is "God-breathed" [2Tim3:16-17], that it contains "the oracles", the very words, of God [1Pet.4:11] and that I am to crave it as a newborn baby craves milk [1Pet.2:2]. God's Word reveals God. If we are worshiping Christ, we need to be doing so in Truth, as He has revealed Himself to us. Otherwise we're worshiping a false Christ, an idol of our own making.

John 4:23 "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him."

How then should we view Scripture? Dr. Mayhue's book ["How to Interpret the Bible for Yourself"] gives an edifying summary:

1. A Commitment to Receive It
1Th 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Paul preached an eternal message. Scripture contains the mind and the word and the will of God. It's eternal, non-negotiable, never-changing and absolute. It "is at work in...believers". Those who are "in Christ" need to receive it for what it truly is.

2. A Commitment to Feed On It
Job 23:8-12 "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food."

Job finds himself in circumstances he doesn't understand. He thought he had a good understanding of God, but now he finds himself groping in the darkness. He's trying to find the reality of God in the midst of horrendous circumstances. Where does He turn? He trusts in God's words - and the KEY is that this has been Job's lifelong experience. He didn't wait for disaster to strike. He had received and been consistently and continuously feeding on "the words of his mouth". It was MORE important to him than his daily nourishment! May our souls be satisfied because they've fed on that which is spiritually healthful and worth more than gold. We also need to be consistently and continuously FEEDING on God's Word.

Psa 19:7-10 "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb."

3. A Commitment to Obey It
Num 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

Moses sent 12 men into the land. They all viewed the same scenery, they all experienced the same feelings, they all came back with the same report - there was a tough road ahead. But they were divided in their advice concerning what to do next. Ten concluded it was too difficult and they had better not go. Two, Joshua and Caleb, knew it wouldn't be easy... but concluded that they needed to go because God had said He would be with them.

What does God say about Caleb in the above verse? He calls him "MY servant". The servant of God "has a different spirit" and follows Him fully. God doesn't want a 70% follower, or a 90% follower....He wants a 100% follower! How can we be that? By knowing His Word and obeying it.

1John 2:4-6 Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

4. A Commitment to Honor It
Neh 8:4-6 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose... And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

After the return from the Captivity Ezra read the Scripture to the people. How did they respond to it? They worshiped God. Our response, every time the Word of God is opened, should be worship, for in the pages of Scripture are seen the majesty and the greatness of God. There is only one right response to the living God, and that is to bow down and worship Him. Scripture reveals God! It's a privilege to have it, to know it and understand it, to receive it, to feed on it, and obey it. And one day, God will hold us responsible for it.

2Tim.2:15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

Speculations & Philosophies of False Teachers

Screwtape to Wormwood: "Your man has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to have a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside of his head. He doesn't think of doctrines as primarily 'true' or 'false,' but as 'academic,' or 'practical.' Jargon, not argument is your best ally..."

1 Timothy has quite a lot to say about the danger of false teachers. Timothy was to charge "certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith." (1:3) These people had "swerved" from "a sincere faith" and "wandered away into vain discussions, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions." (1:6-7) Such a one is "puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth..." (6:3-5)

The word for "teach a different doctrine" (1:3, 6:3) is one word in the Greek, a combination of "another of a DIFFERENT kind" and "to teach". This is doctrine "different in kind" from that taught by Jesus via the Apostles, and now written as Scripture. It's not just "another opinion" or "another point of view"; it stands in opposition to biblical teaching.

How often have you heard doctrinal truth being dissed? "Doctrine divides." "I don't bother with minor issues (i.e. doctrines)." "I just love people. I don't beat them over the head with doctrine." Are we even hearing/reading about doctrinal truth... or are we being told "stories", "narratives", "fresh, new meanings"? When foolish men claim they can "prove" Jesus never resurrected, do we think we can "live with" such false accusations without it affecting our "Christianity"?

2Co 10:3-5 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God..."

Cause and Effect

"What is the major error of Christianity through the centuries? Confusing cause with what is effect. You have to get these two straight or you will drift into moralism." Dr. John Hannah

This has been a concern of mine for some time. I believe a recent contributor to this error has been the promotion of Christian "self-help" books & out-of-context Bible studies, which put a heavy emphasis on application and outer "doing", instead of having the focus be on dealing with our inner, heart attitude. I can feel good about my "progress" if I can check off a list of outward actions. It's a lot harder to consistently deal with the sin in my heart.

I've also noticed a trend in some conservative Christian Internet sites placing more and more stress on the outward "dos" and "do nots" of being a good Christian, instead of on our inward sin attitude. These are becoming increasingly vitriolic, and while I admire the desire to be godly and to be holy, I don't admire the spirit in which they are presented, nor the over-emphasis on extrabiblical notions of what makes you godly or ungodly. There's enough of a challenge obeying everything in God's revealed Word, without adding our own extra list of "dos" and "do nots"!

Jesus taught that sin begins in the heart [Mt.15:19]. And that's where we need to deal with it FIRST. When we do that, then godliness is the EFFECT of having a right heart. In Jesus' day the Pharisees were tithing down to the least spice, but their hearts weren't right. [Mt.15:8]

Eph.6:6 says we are to be "...DOING the will of God FROM THE HEART". If I focus on repenting and turning from pride, impatience and an unloving attitude (changing my heart's attitude) - then righteous acts will be the natural EFFECT of having gotten my heart right. But if I focus on outward actions, "dos" and "do nots", thinking they will CAUSE me to be more righteous, then I will be continually frustrated at my inability, and I will fall short.

As Paul reminded Timothy in 1Tim.1:5, "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

Gullibility

You may have noticed that I changed the quote at the top of the blog. The author is a frequent contributor to my fave group, Assoc. for Biblical Research. I found this quote in an article he wrote on their website concerning recent claims made by Robert Cornuke and David Halbrook in their book "In Search of the Lost Mountains of Noah, the Discovery of the Real Mountains of Ararat", in which they contend they can prove Mt. Ararat is really in Iran. http://abr.christiananswers.net/articles/article.html

It turns out that they haven't done their homework with much care, resulting in MAJOR flaws in their conclusions. But that won't stop just about EVERY Christian who buys this book in their local Christian bookstore (having seen it advertised in their favorite monthly Christian magazine) from believing it is gospel truth. Soon they will begin to tell others about it with missionary zeal, without even checking out the efficacy of its conclusions. And other Christians will BELIEVE them without even checking it out! In time, if someone who has a little knowledge in the field happens to point out the inaccuracy of an assertion, they will then defend the book to the point of death, charging the "unbeliever" with persecuting Christians.

If you think that scenario is outrageous... then you haven't been paying attention lately! Something has happened to American Christianity, turning us into The Gullible, who equate every self-named "Christian" book with Scripture itself. Over time, someone who has impressive initials after their name will publicly torpedo the false assertions made in such a book. The National Media will eagerly pick it up as another example of those foolish, silly Christians. That just makes it easier to discount ANYTHING a Christian may present them with in the future... even the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After all, everyone KNOWS how stupid and uninformed Christians are!

How did we get to be this way? First and foremost, we stopped reading our Bibles as the very Word of God. We can't discern error if we don't even know what the Bible teaches! Why did we stop reading our Bibles seriously? Pick one: Listening to the million and one views on Christian radio & TV instead of reading the Bible, reading books about the Bible and not holding them up to the Truth, letting worldly ideas creep in until you can't tell the difference any more, allowing things other than preaching to become the primacy in our worship services, being distracted with the things of the world to the point we're only playing at Christianity (BUT we know how to TALK Christianese), allowing our doctrine to drive our Biblical interpretation instead of vice versa, being too lazy or too distracted to bother teaching ourselves about the world, culture & time of the Bible (resulting in being unable to catch even obvious errors), being affected by our Post Modern culture to the point we forget there IS Truth... I could go on and on...

The thing that is most disturbing about the particular debacle with this book is that before anyone even criticized it, a friend of the authors preempted possible critics by declaring that any disagreements would be spiteful persecutions by jealous Christians! What kind of an attitude is THAT? That alone sets my "spidey senses" tingling!

Let's start reading more critically. Let's get to know our Bibles so well we can pick up on it when someone makes a false statement. [Do you know most Christians don't even LOOK UP the verses cited in books, never mind their CONTEXT? They just assume the author must be correct!] Let's spend regular, progressive time getting to know a little about the world of the Bible. It IS a lifetime quest, but you've got to START somewhere. (I'd be happy to give you some recommendations to head you down the path! ;)