Discount Discipleship

“You lack one thing,” said the Lord Jesus to his wannabe disciple. “Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Oops. Remember now, Mark says Jesus loved this fellow. Whatever we might think about the effectiveness of the Lord’s method of qualifying potential followers, we would not accuse him of making it too easy on them. Sorrowful and disheartened, the man went away without accepting the offer. He had “great possessions”, and he returned to them.

Would you have taken the Lord up on that deal if it cost you your lifestyle and status for the rest of your days? I’m not sure what I would have done. I’m glad salvation wasn’t offered me with a price tag on it.

Nothing Beside Remains

Doug Wilson has a little encouragement over at his blog for Christians worried about the US election next week.

That would not be me. No fussing and fretting in this corner. I can cheer for a particular outcome I believe to be best, pray for it and even get emotionally invested in it without spiraling into depression if in the end it doesn’t go my way.

That’s either the work of the Lord in conforming me to Christ-likeness, or else years of Buffalo Sabres fandom finally paying off. Both are character transforming, though probably not quite to the same degree.

However it shakes out, we are in for interesting times as we head into the new year.

Anonymous Asks (326)

“What’s the difference between contentment and stoicism?”

I was recently thinking through how believers ought to deal with change. Denial is obviously not a Christian option, though it’s a very natural one. Intransigence is also generally unhelpful; there are situations in which no movement is good movement, but these are rare. Stoicism is a third common reaction to change, even among followers of Christ.

Oh, we wouldn’t call it that. Most of us haven’t read the stoics to know what they believed.

Wrath Revealed

Billy Graham once asked, “Is AIDS a judgment of God?” He then answered, “I could not say for sure, but I think so.” Allegedly, he later apologized and retracted the tentative connection. Big surprise. I’m sure he got major heat for that line.

The wrath of God is a concept usually identified with flood, fire, famine or pestilence on such an epic scale we may attribute them to little else. When fire falls from heaven, for example, it’s difficult to come up with a more convincing explanation than “God’s angry”, especially when a prophet calls it only seconds earlier.

119: Beth

It’s one thing to intellectually acknowledge the benefits of regular Bible reading and meditation. It’s another to actually do it day in and day out. That requires a consistent application of the will. Those who make the word of God their daily companion will reap the benefits of it. Dabblers, dilettantes and occasional readers will not.

On to section 2 of 22 in Psalm 119, where each line begins with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which looks like this: בּ. It is pronounced “bet” rather than “beth”. Put it together with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and you get “aleph-beth”, from which we get “alphabet”.

The influence of Hebrew on the individual units of the English language is not profound, but its overall impact is considerably greater, as discussed here.

Too Hot to Handle: Getting Reoriented

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

Tertius drew my attention to this three-year-old blog post written by a self-described “twenty-something Christ follower” who says he is same-sex attracted.

That makes him a member of a small but disproportionately influential group. Infogalactic has this survey of the various attempts made to measure the demographics of sexual orientation. The numbers are all over the place, but nowhere do they exceed 5% of the population.

The Foulness is Downstream

I like to fish.

I’m very fortunate. In the town where I live, a river runs nearby. It starts above the town, and it meanders its way through, coming out at the far end and continuing for some distance. I live in the upstream end, very near the river. In a few moments I can be out fishing on any summer’s day; and the fishing is pretty good. The river’s clean, flowing and healthy.

On the Beauty of Limitations

The obsession with unlimited freedom of choice that we considered in yesterday’s post is nothing new. Mankind has always desired to dine from a menu of infinite possibilities. The apostle Peter even writes about false teachers who invaded the church of the first century, defied spiritual authority, and drew off followers after themselves. What was the attraction of such men? “They promise them freedom.”

Ooh, look, more options!

On the Removal of Limitations

Some people reject the Christian faith without ever giving it a proper hearing. The distractions of the world keep them from ever getting around to it. Some reject the faith because the way it is presented to them makes it unappealing. Others understand what they are hearing, and even see the appeal, but refuse to give up a besetting sin to which they are in thrall and so come to Christ.

These are reasons I understand, though I don’t agree with them.

Anonymous Asks (325)

“Is it a bad sign when lots of people leave a church in a short period?”

You cannot judge the value of a cause by its worst day in the public square, and you cannot judge the spiritual state of a church by the number of people spilling out its doorways, never to return. A great deal more information is required to pass judgment intelligently than simply “people are leaving”. We need to understand why they are leaving, or else our conclusions will be mistaken.

Departures may be an indicator something is wrong with the shrinking church. Equally, departures may indicate serious spiritual deficiencies in those making their way to the exits.

Off the Rails

“I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is … a reviler …”

To say churches these days are full of unhappy people would be saying way too much: some are, some are not. To say most churches have their resident sourpuss, however, is no exaggeration. Spend a year anywhere and you will almost surely meet at least one man who disagrees with everything his elders are doing and can’t wait to tell you all about it. The question is this: When does a man’s personal unhappiness with his local church reach the point where his congregation is better off without him?

That one’s a little harder.

119: Aleph

Hebrew proverbs frequently involve line pairs, with the second line being some kind of restatement of the idea expressed in the first, or else providing a contrast, clarification or correction to it. In an extended series of these, such as we find in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, context is generally irrelevant, though there are occasional exceptions. The subject may change twenty times in the course of a chapter.

Too Hot to Handle: Will Science Survive Our Politicized Culture?

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

The Autumn 2016 edition of City Journal is home to a lengthy but remarkably even-handed piece entitled “The Real War on Science”, in which author John Tierney points out that it’s actually Progressives rather than right-wingers who are holding science back.

Tierney reveals that academia has become what he calls a “monoculture”, much like the media, that is in danger of losing public trust because so many scientists insist on mixing politics with their jobs.

Tom: We’ve documented this trend here a number of times, Immanuel Can. [Way too many times to link to, in fact; click “science” in the topic sidebar on our main page to view all our articles on the subject.]

If There Were No Christians

Nag, Nag, Nag …

My friend WiC has been after me for some time to publish a list of the things Christians have achieved for modern, Western society and for the world in general. I think he has the idea that it would be handy for many of us to have easy access to such a list. And I have stalled as long as I can. Lest he wear me out with his insistent asking, I am now capitulating to his request. I trust his conviction that many of you will find it helpful will prove true.

Bleak, But Necessary

Billy Graham founded Christianity Today in 1956. For years, the monthly magazine was a living room staple in my parents’ home, pretty much the gold standard of popular evangelical credibility.

Andy Stanley heads a 23,000 person megachurch in Atlanta and is credited with making Christianity relevant and comprehensible to a new generation. I have friends who watch him … er … religiously.

Rick Warren wrote a bestseller that led many to the Lord.

Beth Moore has sold millions of books and is quoted more often than any other Christian woman these days.

Russell Moore? Well, Russell seemed to ooze grift since I first heard his name, so I can’t speak to his purported accomplishments in the evangelical world. Maybe he’s the outlier.

Balancing Complementary Truths

Learning to live biblically requires we cultivate the practice of maintaining complementary truths in balance with one another. It is insufficient to establish rules for life from a single proof text while ignoring other relevant passages that may modify, limit or otherwise contextualize it. We need to ensure we have considered the whole counsel of God on a given subject, rather than simply grabbing an outlying verse that appears to give us clear direction only when taken in isolation.

So what about multi-generational households? Is this allegedly-biblical practice something Christians should consider?

Anonymous Asks (324)

“Why should we restore a brother caught in a transgression in a ‘spirit of gentleness’?”

A gentle spirit is appropriate to restoration. Paul gives us one reason right in these first few verses of Galatians 6: Because you or I could so easily make the same error. “Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted,” the apostle writes. He adds, “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

“That would never have happened to me” is dangerous thinking, and it makes you useless at the job of helping a fallen brother learn to stand again.

What Does Your Proof Text Prove? (33)

Greg Koukl at Stand to Reason is trying to clear up confusion on the subject of humility in a recent post.

He’s responding to a preacher’s comment that “Humility is the one virtue that if you think you have it, you don’t.” He thinks that’s a mistaken notion, in that it’s both disheartening and textually inaccurate.

Let’s see if Greg’s reasoning stands up …

119: Introduction

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible by any metric you might choose.

In English, it’s 176 verses and approximately 2,445 words long (depending on your translation). The English verse divisions reflect a highly regular underlying structure based on the Hebrew alphabet, with each of its 22 sections made up of eight pairs of ideas. All eight verses in each section begin with the same Hebrew letter, and the letters are in order.

It is probably the most carefully crafted chapter in the entire Bible.

Too Hot to Handle: Heretics Aplenty

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

According to Shane Morris of The Federalist, a LifeWay Research survey of 3,000 people found that significant numbers of Americans who identify as Christian actually embrace ancient heresies.

Tom: The survey results confirm my own prejudices, Immanuel Can. I’ve been reading for years that upwards of 80% of Americans claim to be Christian, and I’ve never been able to buy it. You can’t convince me Roe v. Wade has been law for the last forty-plus years because of 20% of the U.S. population.

Do you find the general public level of knowledge about Christianity surprising?