The world of social media can be an amazing tool for the Gospel, fellowship, and staying connected with long-distance relationships. However, social media, just like every other worldly creation, also comes with worldly baggage. For many of us, we did not have time for much thought when we created a Facebook or Instagram account. It was just the next step to becoming an adult, or it was our way of keeping up with the times in an ever-changing age. So, to our detriment, social media has simply become the norm. However, the danger of this approach is that it robs us of the crucial time needed to evaluate some of the pitfalls social media brings to a believer. Around this time two years ago, I found myself reaping the bitter fruit of social media’s negative side effects in my life. It was during this time that I made the decision to shut down my primary social media accounts indefinitely. After over a year and a half of “social distancing,” life’s demands called me back to reactivate these accounts. While my profiles may seem to have picked up where they left off, my perspective could not be more different. In that time, I found sin and temptation abounding openly through what we would often call “normal practices.” So, it is my intention that this post offer a starting point for thinking Biblically about how we approach the platforms of social media. Here, I have offered three pitfalls I found to be the most plain since my return. Again, this list is not exhaustive. It is meant to cause us to pause before posting, so that we may not defame the name of Christ in our culture’s attempt to glorify self. #1. Narcissism may be a characteristic of social media, but it should not characterize a Christian. Narcissism, rightly, is never socially acceptable. In a public setting, if someone were to spend hours talking about and showing other people pictures of themselves, the public would cringe. However, social media has created an environment where talking about yourself, posting pictures of yourself, showing people your outfits, and taking pictures of all of the trendy things you do, is normal. For years, I spent the majority of my time consumed with trying to take attractive “selfies.” The time and embarrassing amount of angles and poses I went through is never something I wanted anyone to see.When I returned to social media a few months ago, the idea of taking a “selfie” to me seemed grossly selfish. So, what changed? For the first time in my life, as I had spent time away from the realm of social media and tried to see what Scripture had to say about it all, I could not help but take these words to heart: “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” (Prov. 27:2) “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” (2 Cor. 11:30) “So that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” (1 Cor. 1:31) “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jer. 9:23-24) There clearly is no compatibility between the life a Christian ought to live, and the life of a narcissist. And yet narcissism seems to fly under the radar of our discernment. Why is this? I think the answer is obvious. It is hard to find issue with what we are comfortable with. It is about time that we examine this idea that Christians should treat social media the same way everyone else does. Is it necessary that people know that I think I look good? Should I openly seek the affections of my followers? Why is it important to me that I show everyone how proud I am of the things I do? These are some of the questions Christians should be asking, instead of how good our lighting is. #2. Social media is not an excuse to be unloving. Not only is it easy to grow prideful in our boasting, but also it can blind us to the damage we are doing to our brothers and sisters. While it may be culturally acceptable to boast of our successes and love of material things, a Christian is to follow in the footsteps of Christ--a humble servant. We are to love our brothers and sisters in the way that Christ teaches us to love. Scripture defines love in this way: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant...” (1 Cor. 13:4). The problem I found in myself was often a lack of discretion or consideration of others. In posting about my life, I neglected to think about how I may be more of a stumbling block than a helper. One may argue that he has a right to use social media in any way he likes, however, Scripture is clear about how we are to use our freedom in Christ. “But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak,” (1 Cor. 8:9). We often fail to realize that many of our believing followers may be struggling with temptations to idolize materialism or other fleshly desires. Our posting could be a source of agonizing struggle for a brother or sister who struggles in this way. We could easily be sending the wrong message through our frivolous posting. #3. Virtue signaling is not a virtue. This one was an unexpected problem. Again, in a normal social setting, talking about the good deeds one does may be seen as tacky. However, social media approaches this topic without any caution. Upon scrolling, it is easy to see profile picture banners, posts, and birthday fundraisers full of public virtue. While not all of these posts look for the accolades of the masses, they call for caution. I try to be careful not to assume false motives with posts, however, I would like to remind us to examine our hearts behind our posts. It can be far too easy to fall into the trap of trying to show others just how “good-natured” or virtuous we are. Scripture gives us this warning: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 'Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.'" (Matt. 6:1-5) Concluding thoughts Although I have been reluctantly pulled back into the realm of Facebook and Instagram, I am grateful for my insightful respite. Taking the time to weigh my daily practices to Scripture’s truths has helped me to realign my values and come into social media once again with a more firm foundation.
I am now much more equipped to resist the pitfalls of narcissism, apathy toward my brothers and sisters, virtue signaling, and many other patterns I found myself steeped in. My prayer is that everyone would take the time to reevaluate what our culture finds normative. What you may find is that some of those cultural norms are not so normal--or godly--after all.
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This series was written as a guest post for Redeeming Productivity.
To read the series, follow the link below: https://www.redeemingproductivity.com/category/personality-tests/ For more helpful resources on productivity as Christians, check out the full website here. Reagan Rose does a great job providing thought-provoking commentary as well as helpful resources from others in this area. PART I
With the new year approaching, I am sure there will be many pastors and friends alike who will say things like “2020 is my year for breakthrough!” or “My victory is coming in 2020!” It never fails that the coming of a new year seems to symbolize a myriad of prophetic promises to people such as healing from diseases, financial prosperity, salvation of loved ones, or specific “yeses” to prayers. Sometimes these declarations of seemingly large faith come from a pastor’s new year kick-off sermon where he might declare over your church some sort of revival (as per his special revelation from God). And yet, sometimes these big claims for the miraculous are a misguided theology that says that God promises every Christian the ability to call their blessings into existence at any time. The new year just seems to be the most convenient time to do it. Whatever the case may be, these widely used proclamations are offensive to the Gospel, and often lead to entitled hearts that are unable to cope with grief or abound in any and all outcomes and situations. But from the very words of the apostle Paul, with Christ, we ought to find contentment in whatever God’s sovereign plan is for our lives. I would never say that this task is an easy one. As we have seen recently, a couple from Bethel Church in Redding, California have recently lost their two-year old, beautiful daughter, Olive. One could not imagine such a grief over such great loss. However, instead of finding peace before God over the circumstances, they seek to fight the plan of God, to tell him “no!” because they truly believe it is the will of God that their daughter be resurrected from the dead. The mothers’s Instagram reads: (Warning: This quote may be unsettling or disturbing to some readers.) “We’re asking for prayer. We believe in a Jesus who died and conclusively defeated every grave, holding the keys to resurrection power. We need it for our little Olive Alayne, who stopped breathing yesterday and has been pronounced dead by doctors. We are asking for bold, unified prayers from the global church to stand with us in belief that He will raise this little girl back to life. Her time here is not done, and it is our time to believe boldly, and with confidence wield what King Jesus paid for. It’s time for her to come to life.” In desperation, this couple places all of their hope in something Scripture never promises. This is a sure way to find ourselves disappointed or angry with God because these kinds of commands put God in a debt He never owes. At this time, there are many helpful resources on this situation that I will link below, so I find no need to add to the clarity already provided from so many faithful men of God. However, the trend of demanding God fulfill our wants and desires (no matter how natural or consequential they are in our lives or others’ eternal well-being) is at best, foolish, and at worst, dangerous. So what can we do to fix our eyes on Christ for contentment instead of these faulty promises? We can interpret Scripture accurately. This means, instead of reading a passage and applying it however we feel it fits in our lives or specific situations, we can start by looking carefully at the surrounding context. With the illumination of the Holy Spirit, context is one of the most important considerations when searching for the correct interpretation of Scripture. Pulled out of its context, a verse can mean anything the reader desires, and many times it is not what God intends. This is exactly how people can demand things of God that He never promises: take a verse here and there and make it form a desired result, disregarding the original meaning of each verse. As we enter into the new year, we need to be grounded in the foundation of hope that Scripture lays for us, but bad Bible interpretations often cause us to place our hope in places it does not belong. When trials of various kinds come steadily in the new year, may these truths bring true comfort and hope.
It is a common passage of Scripture that sports teams pull out in the middle of a tough game: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” While it is an encouraging text, to be sure, this verse is actually not about Christ helping us accomplish our goals at all--that is, unless the goal is to remain faithful to the Lord in all circumstances. In speaking on this passage, Joel Osteen says, “But Scripture makes it plain: all things are possible to those who believe. That’s right! It is possible to see your dreams fulfilled. It is possible to overcome that obstacle. It is possible to climb to new heights. It is possible to embrace your destiny.” However, if we investigate the context just a little bit, we find these words to help us understand what this verse is actually about: “for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Clearly, from the immediate context, this verse is Paul giving glory to God for his contentment. Paul, having lived through the advantages of Jewish heritage, the advantages of being recognized and honored among Christian churches, and also having endured intense pain and suffering, is reminding the church in Philippi that Christ gives him the strength to continue in his ministry of sharing the gospel and instructing the early churches. It does not mean he had the strength to do whatever he wanted to do. In this text, he is saying that no matter the circumstances, horrible or wonderful, Christ gave him the strength to carry on. And this is a wonderful hope. In fact, when we twist the words of Scripture, we lose the powerful truth we were meant to hope in: that God is sovereign, controlling every aspect of our lives, and giving us strength to persist in our faith through every circumstance we face. In 2020, God promises that He will continue making us more like Christ through anything we walk through. 2. God does not promise that our temporal pain leads to eventual earthly gain. Before I continue, I must clarify that this is not speaking of eternal rewards we will see after our resurrection, which is promised. “Earthly gain” in this sense refers to a reward we are promised to see at some point in our time on this earth. The most popular verse used to shout this fallacy from the rooftops (or Christian coffee mugs) is Jeremiah 29:11, which says “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” The first question that should be asked when a verse like this is quoted out of context is, “who is the ‘you’ referring to in the text?” Similar to eavesdropping on a conversation between two people, where you are simply the on-looker, it should be assumed that “you” is talking about the other person in the conversation. If I were eavesdropping on a proposal, it would be a little silly to assume “will you marry me?” was directed at me. Context gives me enough of a clue to know that the proposal was, in fact, intended for someone else. Now, that may be a simple principle, but applied here, it goes a long way. In the context of Jeremiah 29, this statement is a promise made to the Israelites who had survived exile (v. 1). Already, knowing this, should make us hesitant to apply it directly to us modern-day Christians. In fact, this verse is literally talking about the plans God had for Israel to be restored after being under God’s punishment. God used the prophet, Jeremiah, to tell them that he had a great plan for them and that they should not despair over their current situation. God was not going to leave Israel in ruin. This is the meaning of this verse. Period. We can bridge the gap (with Scripture I might add) and make it apply to us as Christians, but only on principle. God did not say this quote to me about my earthly prosperity, and He did not say this quote to others about their earthly prosperity. While it may be true that God has plans to give us a future and a hope, this verse is not what tells us that truth. We get that truth from other verses that do directly apply to us (see Eph. 1:4-5). And after a careful reading of Scripture in its appropriate context, we understand that the “prosperity” and “good” promised from God is not referring to temporal things we so often claim over our lives or the lives of others. Before the new year, Rod Parsley, a prosperity preacher under World Harvest Church in Ohio, says that "if you lost something in 2019, God is about to give you joy in 2020." Previously in his "30 Days to Your Breakthrough!" program, he fleshes out this kind of idea that future earthly prosperity is coming to those who have experienced hardship. This program reads: "Have you lost something today? Maybe it has been a lost child...a lost relationship...lost money. Steve Munsey joined Dr. Rod Parsley today to ask you this question...WHAT HAVE YOU LOST? Get ready to receive it back in the next 30 DAYS. In fact, hear this word from the Lord: 'You're going through, Regardless of how the enemy of your soul may be attacking your peace and your joy. I want you to know that when the enemy has a plan to take you out, god always has a plan to keep you in.'" The plan Parsley and his "ministry" have here is that this prophetic word is activated through "sewing a seed to demonstrate [your] faith that God will release His supernatural harvest into [your] life in the next 30 days." The idea here is that we if we scratch God's back, He'll scratch ours by taking away our hardship. In this kind of theology, God's purpose in suffering is for some earthly gain to come about. This is false. Our hope is found in this: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Pet. 4:12, emphasis added) Scripture does not promise our deliverance from trials or suffering before death, however, we are promised much more than this. We are promised to be conformed to the image of Christ, and an eternal glory far surpassing our own understanding at the end of this life. 3. God does not promise that our family members will be saved. I have spent enough time at the altar calls of prosperity preachers to know that one of the hardest things for Christians to accept is the rebellion of a loved one against God. As it should be hard! Whether it be a spouse, a son, a daughter, or a parent, watching someone walk away from the Lord is never easy. In an effort to appease the desires of the heart (no matter how justified those desires may be), Christians often resort to a name-it-and-claim-it false doctrine. I have seen the weeping mothers and fathers at their church altars, brazenly demand of God that he fulfill what he promises. While praying for the salvation of family members is pleasing to God, demanding things of God he does not promise is offensive and only brings false hope. Proverbs 22:6 is a commonly misused verse when commanding God to save our children. What Christians so often fail to take into account is the genre and context of the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is a book of wisdom literature written as godly advice to live wisely from a parent to a child. These verses are not promises, they are an act of God’s grace to give us principles to live by. For instance, “lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth,” (Prov. 10:4), is not a promise that working hard will always bring about wealth; it is simply a wise principle to live by. In addition, it is important to note as well that there is no promise in Scripture that a family member has a special ability to control the outcome of their loved ones. While it is a privilege to pray for those we know and love around us, God does not give us spiritual control over the lives of others. In the same way that we cannot command the weather to change, we cannot command God to save people. We can petition Him humbly, and at times, desperately, but there is no guarantee that it is in His sovereign plans that all of our prayers be answered with a “yes!” This may be one of the most sensitive refutations to make because no one wants to burst the bubble of someone in deep pain and grief over the waywardness of a loved one, however, it needs to be said. Expecting God to save our loved ones simply by relation violates what Scripture teaches about man's responsibility for his own sin before God. In the same way that we are not automatically cast off for being related to unbelievers, we are not assured salvation for our relationships. While the Bible teaches that a woman may win over her unbelieving husband with godliness, it is not promised (1 Pet. 3:1). Parents should train their children in righteousness because Proverbs says it is wise, but it is not guaranteed that doing everything right will save them. Sarah Walton says it this way, "The truth is, while we must teach and train our children, and put boundaries in place, we have no control over their hearts. Ultimately, God alone can fill their hearts with a love for Christ and open their eyes to see the beauty and glory of who he is." Trusting in the sovereignty of God is the only way we have any hope at all. If we had a hand in saving people (apart from being broken instruments used to convey the message of Christ), no one would be saved. In addition, no matter how much we love our family members, we need to be careful of thinking that they deserve to be saved. We ought to plead with God for their salvation while being wary of thinking our love for our children is what makes them qualified to be elect. Our hope is not in one day being reconciled to our friends and family in Heaven, it is being reconciled to God along with our newly given brothers and sisters in Christ. Scripture says, "While [Jesus] was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matt. 12:46-50) Jesus's blood is thicker than family ties, and that should bring us joy as we see that no familial ties can save or condemn us! Concluding Thoughts: Coming into the New Year, being unsure of what may come our way, we can count on suffering. It is an inevitable part of the Christian life that we will suffer. To view suffering as wholly horrible however, is short-sighted. As we enter the new year, I would encourage us all to ground ourselves in true hope in Christ. True hope is looking at Paul’s imprisonments, Stephen’s stoning, Job’s suffering, and Christ’s crucifixion and seeing Paul’s resurrection, Stephen’s resurrection, Job’s resurrection, and Christ’s return. For the suffering we face at this present time does not compare to the glory that is to come (Rom. 8:18). When we squirm against God’s plan for our lives and the lives of others, it is like pushing back a heavy wave. And we will find no contentment with our eyes focused on what we want or we think we or others deserve. So, as 2020 comes before us (if God so allows it to come), here are a few verses that give us true Hope: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4) “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Cor. 4:17) “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil. 3:8-11) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Pet. 4:12) “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12) “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Rom. 8:35) “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” (Ps. 119:71) As I conclude this brief reflection on truth for the coming year, I pray that we would be like Job. In his life, though he was faithful to God, he experienced the pain of physical afflictions, an unbelieving spouse, children who were tragically taken from him, financial downfall, and rejection of friends. This story alone gives us hope, not in what Job received at the end of his life (though he received everything back, we know his new children could not replace his older children), but that God never left him. His faith in God was strengthened in ways only affliction could have brought him. When I think about this narrative, I think about verses like the ones above, and I praise God for his faithfulness to strengthen us in trial. So, as we enter 2020, let us meditate on the true promises, not the shallow earthly lies. For your further meditation and consideration, here are the words to one of my favorite hymns: "I asked the Lord that I might grow In faith and love and ev’ry grace, Might more of His salvation know, And seek more earnestly His face. ‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray, And He, I trust, has answered prayer, But it has been in such a way As almost drove me to despair. I hoped that in some favored hour At once He’d answer my request And, by His love’s constraining pow’r, Subdue my sins and give me rest. Instead of this, He made me feel The hidden evils of my heart And let the angry pow’rs of hell Assault my soul in ev’ry part. Yea, more with His own hand He seemed Intent to aggravate my woe, Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, Humbled my heart and laid me low. “Lord, why is this,” I trembling cried; “Wilt Thou pursue Thy worm to death?” “’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied, “I answer prayer for grace and faith.” “These inward trials I employ From self and pride to set thee free And break thy schemes of earthly joy That thou may’st find thy all in Me.” May we find our all in him. Happy 2020. Other helpful resources: Al Mohler Costi Hinn Reagan Rose We know them as the artists in the church, the painters, the musicians, the writers, the graphic designers. They are typically the ones who stand out in the pews of our churches for their odd style choices or expressions of praise and worship. Maybe you see them in the sound booths or behind a guitar on the music team. They are easy to spot, but not always easy to get along with.
By nature, creative individuals have a tendency to seek individualism over conformity. In the world, this may work out well and even bring great success, however, in the Church, when conforming to the image of Christ is a must, and unity with the Body is required, how does a creative reconcile these contradictory things? These are the questions I hoped would be answered in The Gospel Coalition’s recorded session from their 2018 West Coast Conference. The talk is entitled, “Is the Church where Creativity Goes to Die?” Check it out here. This event was a talk including two big names in evangelical circles, J. Ryan Lister and Thomas Terry. Lister is an author and associate professor of theology at Western Seminary. Terry, a name more well-known among the creative folk, is the founder and proprietor of Humble Beast as well as an elder of a church in Portland. After listening to this talk a few times over, what I found was concerning on a level that deeply grieved my spirit. For background purposes, I would encourage you to take a listen to the talk linked above, however, this session is not one I would recommend for any Scriptural insight. In between furrowed brows and inquisitive looks, I found myself whirring around at the statements being made by two people in positions of influence in evangelicalism today. It was this poor handling of the topic that sparked a desire in me to study more on the issue. I have personally struggled in recent years to reconcile my love of creative expression with my love for God’s people. After reflection on this talk, my own experience, and Scripture’s authoritative guidance on the issue, I have decided to offer a brief few points to consider on the topic of creatives and the Church. I pray these considerations would be helpful.
This is the same train of thought that leads to emotional manipulation in Gospel presentation. The idea is that if we could just hype up the perfect scenario, we could conjure a response from the hearer that the plain Gospel itself could not. There is a lot of talk in this session about the church not viewing the Gospel as big enough to reach creatives, but it seems in their approach that they themselves are the ones guilty of this offense. To be clear, the issue of creatives and the church comes down to the place of creativity in a weekly worship service, not the Gospel’s far-reaching ability as these men have made it seem. In the eyes of many evangelicals, church services need to cater to the world in order for the church to reach the world. The content of the Gospel is no longer relevant enough--we have to package it in a way that is palatable to the culture. While it may be a silly illustration, I have often thought of this issue from the perspective of owning a dog. When a dog is sick and needs medicine, his owner may need to disguise the medicine by slipping it into the dog’s food. We often treat the Gospel in this way to unbelievers. The problem is that our creativity may get them to tolerate God, but never worship Him. No dog can be tricked into worshipping his medicine. It is understandable that preaching the Gospel in a world that hates God is a lofty task. We may be tempted to find ways to control the situation, leaving the supernatural work of God out of the equation. Ironically, many of the same churches that teach about miraculous healings and signs also neglect the fact that someone coming to saving faith in Christ is a miracle. They will work extremely hard to take God’s work out of the Gospel, relying on their own ability to create the perfect environment for an emotional altar call. What these men in this session fail to acknowledge is that salvation is nothing we can conjure, and being dead in sin is certainly nothing our creativity can overcome. To be raised from death to life is not a work of man, it is a work of God. Scripture speaks of man’s depravity and the Gospel’s power in these ways: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14) “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44) “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8:7-8) “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12) “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom. 1:16) 2. Being a “creative” cannot be an identity. The main issue with creatives is not on the creative level, but rather the spiritual level. A person who refuses to be separated from art for the sake of the body of Christ is a white-knucked idolator. However, as this post from The Gospel Coalition makes clear, people identify as a “creative,” as if it is an inseparable part of their being. If the church does not accept how a creative wants to freely express himself or herself, the church is somehow not accepting of the person. Scripture is clear about our identity being found in Christ: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20) To be charitable, Terry may not have intended to speak of being a “creative” as an identity. Nonetheless, it is important to note that placing the label of “creative” before the label “Christian” is a major sign that priorities need to be examined. 3. Is creativity a spiritual gift or mere talent? It is a common trend in well-meaning encouragement to label things as Scripture does not. We, too often, use “gift” flippantly as if synonymous with “talent.” Part of this may be due to pragmatics (i.e. an attempt to utilize the talents of church members for an upcoming event), but this misconception leads to much bigger issues. First of all, if someone is good at public speaking or making speeches, this does not make them gifted at preaching. A simple look at Steven Furtick of Elevation church shows that charisma and eloquence cannot make up for a lack of Biblical discernment and accurate interpretation of Scripture, two things sound preachers should possess. Instead of hearing the Word of God, congregations hear spiritual pep-talks unguided by Scripture. It is an unfortunate problem in evangelicalism today in which unqualified people become leaders in churches simply by calling their talents “gifts from God”. “It is my spiritual gift” has become a type of trump card to fulfill whatever role one’s heart desires in the church. In Lister and Terry’s talk for The Gospel Coalition, there is a clear inconsistency in their definition of a spiritual gift, which is not without consequence or confusion. They claim that creativity is both a gift, yet also a requirement for pastors who desire to shepherd the creatives in their congregations. If this were to be true, there are many questions. Firstly, in this instance, would a pastor then be required to exercise a spiritual gift of creativity, or is this simply speaking of talent? Side note: Whatever the case, the implication from this talk is that in order to adequately disciple the flock, a pastor must appeal to his creative audience. While Lister and Terry may claim Paul to be a poet, therefore necessitating creativity in pastors, there is no clear Biblical grounds for this kind of assertion (1 Cor. 2:1). Pragmatism may suggest this conclusion, but it does not come from Scripture, and even threatens its sufficiency. Our model for the church is to come from a careful understanding of Scripture, not clumsy definitions and desperate pragmatism. While this may seem too specific an example, it is important to make the distinction between gifts and talents for the sake of the order of the church. One of the biblical definitions of a spiritual gift is something used for the edification of the Body (1 Cor. 12). Even though every spiritual gift may not be listed in Scripture, we can rule out talents that would glorify or edify self. Paul, in addressing the Corinthian church on spiritual gifts, even makes the point that speaking in tongues is not meant to be a private prayer language, as some today may suggest, because that would not be edifying to the body (1 Cor. 14:1-5). In an effort to discover and use our gifts in the church, we should be much more hesitant to slap “spiritual gift” on talents and interests. The consequences of hasty labeling leave room for great error in our ecclesiology. 4. You are not entitled to your creativity. If talks like this are indeed the barometer for Christian thought on this topic, there needs to be a further discussion on the self-centeredness of evangelical theology. In other words, not everything is about you. What I am not saying is that feelings and emotions do not matter--believers should come alongside one another to help bear with one another in their weaknesses, including emotionally. We should always be patient with the struggles of others in the Church and help them in their battle against sin. However, this gentle handling of emotions turns to coddling when there is no calling out of sin. If we are not careful, emotions can lead us to twist Scripture to justify sin. We will start to believe the lie that maybe we are uncomfortable emotionally because the plain reading of the text is not so plain after all. Pretty soon, we have deconstructed the text until we have justified our sins, giving us a false sense of comfort in something the Word of God never says. This kind of interpretation of Scripture is used heavily in this talk from TGC as well as the methodology of churches all around the United States. The church service is being abused for self-indulgence rather than self-sacrifice all in the name of Scripture. We rip verses alluding to the creativity of God in creation out of context and throw them into whatever context we like. Without a framework for interpreting the Bible accurately, we can make the Bible say anything we want it to say. And here, we see a prime example. When the Bible tells us to count our brothers and sisters as more important than ourselves, we tell the Bible that we are entitled to what makes us happy, despite what others think....because God is creative. What many evangelicals fail to understand in the local church today, is that we are not entitled to what makes us happy. Be it creativity, pub crawls with the boys, or meat sacrificed to idols, our freedom in Christ is actually slavery to our brothers and sisters (Gal. 5:13; 1 Cor. 10:23; Rom. 14). The point of the local church is not to accommodate for all of the ways each member desires to express himself or herself. The local church is about God. It may seem like an obvious point, but based on the attitudes of church members/seekers and talks like TGC’s, it should be a red flag that there is “distrust” and “tension” in churches when they ask people to lay down their desires. Church is not the place to get a “fix,” and if that causes a rift between you and the body of Christ, the problem is not with the body, it is with the stubborn selfishness of the individual. This talk highlights the problem that giving people a space to express themselves individually in a church service is messy. Anyone who has done any amount of ministry on a stage understands the temptation to bask in the glory of one’s abilities. We are all well-aware of the reality of temptation to pride, yet this seems to be one of those sins we are slow to care about in the context of the church service. Every Sunday, platforms meant to be used to lead the congregation in unified worship to God, are being defiled with the stench of self-servitude in the name of creativity. As the talk astutely points out, “God doesn’t want or need our art.” Yet, because it makes us happy, who cares what God wants from us? We are doing our...best? Voddie Bauchum, at a recent conference on the Sufficiency of Scripture, cleverly explains this kind of “normative principle” to which many churches today ascribe. He tells the story of a man who loves his wife and loves watches. So, in showing his love for his wife, he gets her the thing he loves: a watch. The wife is less than enthused. The point is that if we love God and want to please him, we should not make a service dedicated to HIS worship about us and our preferences. 5. Creatives need discipleship. This is not just a point about creatives, but it seemed necessary to make the point that creatives are not a special case that need Scripture taught in any special way. If the Word of God is as sufficient as it says it is, why would it not speak to creative people? Many pastors and mature believers in the Church feel they are ill-equipped to help the saints in their own congregations. Sessions like this one are partly to blame. Pastors are hearing a never-ending list of “twenty billion things you need to know about *insert cultural problem here*.” It is no wonder that pastors do not feel equipped for the work of shepherding their flocks! Pastors need to know what the Word of God says. They need to devote their time studying how to exegete Scripture, not the culture. As is the case with any and every individual in the local church, creatives need to be discipled, and the best way to do this is to teach them the Word. A creative will learn how to differentiate selfish ambition from using their talents to glorify God by studying and being convicted by Scripture. The Word of God is creative enough to hold their attention; it does not need a creative pastor to be effective. Concluding thoughts… It is my desire that the Church not be deceived by false ideologies. While this talk may seem harmless, this is merely one example of a system of thinking, a worldview, that does not come from Scripture. I would encourage every one of my readers to evaluate everything to the Word of God. It is through the Word that we understand that creativity needs to die for the sake of the Body of Christ. On our own time we can be creatives, just like on their own time others can be golfers, chess-players, or carpenters. A worship service should be about God, and it should be our pleasure to lay down our paint brushes to sing a song in unison with the Bride to Him. After all, is he not deserving? Have you ever caught yourself thinking or saying something along the lines of, “I wish that the Bible did not say this,”? In our words, we may say that we love Scripture, but practically-speaking we show little fruit. Our love for the Word can be selective and, in effect, we are saying that we do not actually love all parts of Scripture.
We live in a culture that is hostile to the Word of God, and sometimes we allow the culture to plant seeds of hostility in our own hearts without even realizing it. While there are compatibilistic traits to Scripture (i.e. God’s sovereignty and human responsibility), Scripture never contradicts itself. To pick and choose which pieces of God’s revealed Word we wish to love is not only offensive, it is inconsistent. When the world around us attempts to redefine terms like “goodness” and “compassion,” those of us who lack a firm trust in the Word of God begin to impose these foolish understandings on Scripture. The authority and measure of the truthfulness and loveliness of Scripture is then at the mercy of the culture, not God. It is in these subtle ways, our love for Scripture is undermined, leading to the sadly all-too-common statement: “I wish the Bible did not say this…” If this is a statement you relate to, or you have heard many times from Christians, I encourage you to keep reading, as this is merely a symptom of a dangerous epidemic in our churches today. For the extent to which we do not love the Word of God in its entirety is the extent to which we do not love God. While I do not intend to make this piece about correct interpretive methods, it is important to understand, also, that this same warning could be applied to being careful to understand Scripture rightly. The moment we make Scripture interpretation about finding comfort in God’s approval of our own ideas, we miss the point. Scripture is supposed to change us, not make us comfortable in our own sin. It is to conform us to the image of Christ, which means we must die. Christ must increase and we must decrease. Scriptural Considerations: I must admit that I was not prompted to write any of this on account of my offense at someone else saying these things. It was after reading Romans 7:22 that I was convicted of my sin and prompted to study more on the topic. “For I delight in the law of God” Paul says. The NASB reads, “For I joyfully concur with the law of God.” The context is even more telling as Paul is speaking of the conflict of the inner man versus the outer man. Paul shares the struggle of living according to the law, but still he writes that he not only agrees with God’s law, but that he is in “joyful” agreement--that he “delight[s]” in the commands of God. I offer as a consideration how often we wish that God’s law did not condemn certain lifestyles or practices. As we may be tempted to think of what Scripture calls “sin” as something that “is not harming anyone,” we must consider Paul’s attitude toward his very own fight against sin. Paul writes in verse 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” The diction found in this passage illustrates well the nature of sin--not as an innocent thing we should tolerate, but as a wretched thing that, apart from Christ, leads to death. As we read Romans 7:22, it is clear that delighting in and joyfully concurring with God’s commands is a fruit of salvation. I understand that this is a lofty thing to ask, but just because something is difficult does not mean it should not be done. If this is something you may struggle with, it is important to take seriously how your worldview may be infiltrated by worldly thinking. Another verse to consider on the issue is Proverbs 8:13, which reads: “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.” Not only are we to delight in God’s Law, which is perfect, we are to hate evil. In our culture today, evil is a relative thing. There is a spectrum dictated by society that says “this is bad, but that is much worse.” The danger of taking this approach from the culture is that many things God calls “evil” are not even included on the worldly spectrum. In fact, it is more likely that the Christian’s disapproval of said evil would be condemned before true sin would be identified as such. While all of this may be deeply convicting, we should not despair. Scripture also gives us many assurances in our fight against the culture’s worldview. John 15:18-24 reads, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.” While these verses may seem self-explanatory, there are two assurances I want to highlight in light of our topic. First of all, it is obvious, but important to note that the world hates Christ. We can take comfort in the fact that we are not only in the greatest of company, but also not wrong by virtue of the world’s hatred of us. It is tempting, for the sake of relief from the ridicule or persecution of the world, to give up and side with the world for once. But imagine for a moment of the inverse--the unrest of the soul in knowing that the world loves you, but Christ hates you. After knowing the Truth, we should understand and tremble at the thought of being an enemy of God and a subject of His wrath. And let us remember the sweetness of that hour we first believed, that we may recall the overwhelming kindness of God in our lives. Being hated by the world is a part of being united with Christ, and a small price to pay for such a treasure as this. Secondly, we should listen and be humbled to these words of Christ: “A servant is not greater than his master.” There is a pride that often may exist among Christians--a moral pride--in which we truly believe that somehow our political correctness makes us somehow more compassionate, kind, or correct than God’s very Word. It is a slippery slope that begins with a timid reticence on the topic of God or His Word in the culture and ends with an appeasing answer like, “I hate 1 Timothy just as much as you do.” We ought not think ourselves more highly than God, who wrote 1 Timothy. If Christ himself was hated so much, we should find comfort in being so hated. Even Peter himself can attest to the dreadful remorse of denying his association with the Lord Jesus. Oh that we would learn from Peter’s weakness that we may not attempt to hide our allegiance with Christ when it is most controversial! As I conclude, I find it fitting to include one final piece of assurance. As the world continues to diminish the holiness and goodness of God in any way possible, it is important to dwell in the safety of the Word of God. In the Word of God we find all the assurance we need that God is compassionate, kind, and merciful. When the world reminds us of the harshness of God’s Law, may we be reminded of the full image of God: “Oh taste and see that the LORD is good” (Ps. 34:8) “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36) “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Ps. 86:15) “Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.” (Ps. 78:38-39) “And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” (Ex. 33:19) So What about it?I would not call myself a pessimist. My husband is a realist and I, more often than not, find myself on the side of the optimist. I grew up a Disney kid and still have trouble telling myself what my husband is so keen to remind me of--that my life is not about pursuing my dreams. So it may come to surprise you that when people use the words “whimsical” and “Christianity” in the same sentence, it makes me “triggered.” In other words, it makes me very angry. Now, I must admit that the words in and of themselves are not bad. However, when used to characterize our outlook on life, we walk the dangerous line of misplacing our hope, misplacing our priorities, and misplacing our trust. We even run the risk of being a bad example of Christ to the world. From one dreamer/feeler to another, here are three things you should consider before selling out to becoming a “whimsical” Christian. #1. In life, the bad is not always out-weighed by the good."What a cheap, short contentment we would have if all we had to cling to were our broken dreams that will never really come true in this life. " In Disney narratives, someone is discontent with life and somehow finds a way to overcome the obstacles keeping them from being happy--whether that be from finding true love to finding acceptance. Sometimes it is finding relief to the unfortunate circumstances the characters have been subjected to. The problem with this narrative is that it assumes that one day, pain ends. But what about the day that it does not? What do we say then to cancer and death? Lifelong suffering and poverty? Never escaping that bully at school or the ridicule for looking or thinking differently than everyone around you? The Apostle Paul knew a lot about great suffering. People had attempted to murder him several times (Acts 9:29); he was stoned and left for dead (Acts 14); he was beaten with rods as people uttered death threats to him, telling him he did not deserve to live (Acts 16-22); he received 39 lashes on five separate occasions (2 Corinthians 11:24), and he was imprisoned for preaching the good news that Jesus came to save sinners (2 Timothy 2:9). Before his likely decapitation by the Romans, he says these words: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8) The diction Paul uses to describe his life-at-a-glance is not compatible with the choices of words many Christians use to describe their lives as Christians. He uses the phrase “poured out as a drink offering,” a metaphor often found in Scripture in reference to sacrifice. He describes his life as a “fight,” and a “race” with phrases like “kept the faith.” In these words we find a sense of enduring through great struggle. While it is unlikely that these “whimsical” Christians would use words such as these to describe their lives, maybe you’ve heard a few speak to verses like this one. However, many times their solution to this level of suffering is simply to draw attention to the good things in life--as if the good is promised to out-weigh the bad. But how “good” is defined here is key. What “good” things keep their heads up? Simply saying that the “good” outweighs the bad is not exactly anti-Biblical, but what is deemed “good” here is the difference between sound and false teaching. A standard rule of thumb to use when discerning false teaching from Biblical teaching in these areas is to ask yourself the question: am I being challenged to find my contentment in the world or in God? The Apostle Paul gives us the inspired example for how a Christian is to endure suffering and the disappointments of this life we live. Even while he led an agonizing existence (as mentioned above), we see him exhorting other Christians to think of life in these ways: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18) “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) “For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” (2 Corinthians 1:5) In all of the experiences of Paul, he points us to Jesus, reminding us that all of the suffering we endure on this earth will pass away when we pass into eternity. That when we die and are resurrected, if we are in Christ, we will find a reward for fighting the good fight of faith. According to Paul, the answer to my aforementioned question of “where am I being challenged to find my contentment?” is in the hope set before us through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Because Jesus suffered, our suffering is temporary if we accept his gift of salvation for us! What a cheap, short contentment we would have if all we had to cling to were our broken dreams that will never really come true in this life. At the end of the day, Paul is a testament to the falsehood of living our Christian life in a “whimsical” fantasyland. Which leads me to my next point. #2. We cannot live our lives from emotional high to emotional high."Life is not about adventure." When I first was engaged, my now-husband and I had a huge argument over the fact that I thought he was boring sometimes. I had these illusions of grandeur that our lives would be characterized by “adventuring” and “fun.” I had just spent the summer traveling Europe and living the dream and I guess that I had not fully allowed reality to set in. I know what I am about to say may burst someone’s bubble, but it is better that you hear it from me now than hear it from someone else far too late: Life is not about adventure. “Whimsical” folk will tell you that anything can become an adventure if you just keep a light-hearted attitude. While I agree that your attitude about things can make situations more or less tolerable, some situations are just not going to be light-hearted. The Bible is clear that there is a healthy way to grieve and lament: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” (An excerpt from Psalm 22) This Psalm was even quoted by Jesus himself as he was dying on the bloody Cross, taking on the wrath of God in our place, though he himself was innocent. Christians have a reason for the hope that is within them (1 Peter 3:15), but if we constantly use our social medias and our language to boast about how fun Christianity can be, we are giving a false reason for our hope, and therefore can offer the world nothing. Part of the appeal of Christianity is that we are realistic about life’s struggles. We call out this fake idea that we can jump from emotional high to emotional high to keep us afloat. And we give the world REAL. HOPE. Not the promise of a fun life with Jesus as our captain on the S.S. LAUGHTER. While I look forward to the day that we can laugh and never fall ill, I know that that day is not today. #3. Christian authors and speakers sometimes sound more like motivational speakers than sound teachers."We love the sensation we feel when we’ve just had our ears scratched like dogs--and we don’t even care how we get it scratched or who is doing the scratching." It’s a “tale as old as time,” some might say! Godly people have always struggled to keep their eyes on the truth and away from the shiny toy dangled right in front of their wandering noses. The Bible says it this way: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,” (2 Timothy 4:3). We even sing about it in church when we call ourselves out on being “prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love!” But we love it. We love the sensation we feel when we’ve just had our ears scratched like dogs--and we don’t even care how we get it scratched or who is doing the scratching. But as Christians, we always have to stay on guard to these kinds of teachings. I just recently watched a video of a woman speaking at an event at Bethel’s “church” in Redding, CA. I say “church” loosely because they do not teach what the Bible teaches. During the video, I noticed that this trendy woman speaking knew exactly what to say to get the crowd of women to make their ooh’s and ah’s. Her delivery was impeccable and her timing was spot-on. The problem, however, was that she was spewing nonsense. Her words were barely cohesive! But she had a way about her that gave her listeners a feeling or a sensation. When they walked away from that talk, boy did they feel something. At Bethel, they call this the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, that’s called a deceptive tongue. Now I know that Bethel may be an extreme example to some of you, but there are even people in evangelical circles who use their charismatic talents and likeability to gain followers! I have stewed over this for a long time after reading Love Does by Bob Goff. Now, I am not saying anything about Bob Goff’s personal character, however, I am saying that he has a certain likeability about him that makes him the perfect instrument to distract Christians from what the Bible really says. Oftentimes, he takes certain points about “loving” people like Jesus loves people, but what draws people to follow him is not his Christology. If that were the case, people would read their Bibles more often. No, his following comes from his story-telling and his lifestyle of “whimsy.” A professor at Moody once wisely told our class that many Christian authors are popular, not because people want their teaching, but because people want what they have. And Bob Goff is no exception. He tells stories of spending grandiose amounts of time on an island in Disneyland, and planning grand proposals for strangers with his wealth. What person wouldn’t want to live that kind of life?! I met a man driving across the country in a banana vehicle he built himself, but I would not necessarily follow him for advice on Bible interpretation and Christian living! But this is the danger of personality-cults today! There are a lot of people who can play our heartstrings well, who can make us laugh with glee, who can inspire us to pursue our dreams and wish on falling stars. But is that the life that God asks us to live? A life of searching for fun stories to tell at parties, or snapshots that liven up our instagrams? No, friends. It’s not. And while we can dress it up with a few verses here and there, the truth is that doing what Jesus says in loving people won’t always make for a funny little story. For a lot of people, Paul included, it meant harsh persecution and intense suffering. So let’s turn off the laughing gas, guys. It’s making us lose our sense of sound judgment. Now, what I am not saying is that Christians can’t have any fun or that there are no joyous times of celebration. In the Christian life, there can be a bit of whimsy! For as serious of a guy my husband is, even he will take a break from studying to dance me around the kitchen to Jack Johnson while I’m doing the dishes. But our lives are not characterized by it. I’ve learned a lot from him on how not to idolize fun and adventure. And it has opened my eyes up to the theology of suffering found all throughout the Bible. Lots of crazy things can happen in life, and having a positive outlook on life more often is a great step if you think that you grumble too much. But, our anchor should always be the hope we have in Jesus and not a desire to find satisfaction or some emotional high from doing fun activities and acting goofy. Being whimsical for whimsy’s sake is not pleasing to God. It’s distracting. PS: I have been working on a musical project that deals with mental illness and the lies I used to believe about life as a Christian. I am excited to get those songs up online as soon as I possibly can, but for now, I thought that this chorus I wrote summed up what I have learned about this topic and what Paul says about it in Romans: I still remember the moment that I came to true, saving faith in Jesus Christ. It was a complicated thing, growing up in church, labeling myself as Christian, and paying my respects and “honor” to God through singing, giving, and evangelizing. I remember asking Jesus into my heart in children’s church with a leader, I walked down the carpeted aisle to the altar to pray the sinner’s prayer (even more than once because I just was not sure that I was still saved the next week). I was taught never to utter the words, “oh my God,” but never imagined that every day I was taking the Lord’s name in vain, vandalizing the name “Christian”. Proclaiming Christianity, boasting worldliness, proud of my wickedness, self-righteous in my “ministry” at church. One part of me believed that I was innately good enough to be saved. In my pride, I believed that serving at church three times a week was proof of my salvation. That my emotional experiences during worship was true heart transformation. I was charismatic and a promising specimen for a full-time minister in my future, whatever that meant.
But another part of me, the deeper part, the part that was the easiest to suppress, believed that I was the worst sinner alive. I knew that my faith was ankle-deep and frankly, unable to keep me afloat. I would vacillate between over-confidence in my flesh, trusting that God would save me because I was somehow talented or useful to him, and overwhelming fear that my faith could not carry me through to the end. Because if the ball was in my court to choose him or my sin, I would choose my sin. Every. Time. A slave to wickedness. Nothing in me desired after righteousness, but there was a lot of me that desired applause and validation for putting on the show. But the truth was that if it was just God listening to me lead a congregation in worship, I wouldn’t have chosen that over theatre at school. If it was just about my convincing abilities or my outward appearances or usefulness, then of course a part of me believed that I could manipulate God to think I was a good person in the same way I had manipulated everyone around me. But God does not look at those things. God looks at the deepest thoughts, the most vile intentions, the selfish motivations. And that. Scares. Me. Fast forward to getting saved, I was forever changed when I fully trusted in Christ’s righteousness over mine. When salvation was no longer dependent on my goodness, I knew it was attainable, and that was the best news I have ever received in my life. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I ran down the hallway of my grandparents’ house and burst into my dad’s room. I could not stop talking about this amazing thing I had just learned that was so different from anything I had ever heard before. But it was Calvinist. Growing up believing the Arminian views by default, I did not GET the Gospel because a part of the Arminian version of the Gospel is that there is some small part (no matter how small or nuanced that part may be) of me that has to be different than the sinners sitting next to me. Why is it that I would choose God and they would not? And in a true evaluation of my own heart, I knew that I was no better than they. I was weak. As if I needed more evidence of this, I was diagnosed with chronic depression and severe anxiety. I was borderline agoraphobic for about half a year and my weakness was on display in what seemed like every waking moment. All of the confidence I had once boasted in within my flesh was taken away from me. But all along, I lifted up my humble cry, “Jesus, you are all I’ve got.” Watching him carry me through the highs and lows of my own imbalances strengthened my faith in him even more. That even in my weakness, yes even then, he is strong. I do not share this part of my testimony with many simply because testimonies are not always the appropriate time to argue doctrine. But the doctrines of grace are so near and dear to my heart. And without them, I would not be a believer in what Jesus Christ did for me today. So it is with great love for these doctrines and great pain that I say that we Calvinists need to do a bit better in stewarding this amazing understanding of God that we have. I am just as guilty of perpetuating the issues that I am about to address, so please do not hear this plea as a distant criticism, but as a repentance of the former things in my own life. My hope is that in these things that I had to experience the hard way, I can help another brother or sister avoid the same pitfalls, if the Lord should will it. So without further adieu, here are a few propositions I would like to make. #1. Let’s use articles as starting points. Articles are incredibly helpful in starting what should be a long journey of discovering the truth about a topic. For me, when I was first trying to understand the doctrines of grace, I relied heavily on articles and podcasts by people like John Piper, John MacArthur, and the men and women of The Gospel Coalition. I was in a unique place where I had no idea what to study, but had all the desire in the world to learn. While reading articles was a great way to get me acquainted with the hot topics in systematic theology and evangelical pop culture, I did not quite understand the purpose of articles (which ended up coming back to bite me). What ended up happening to me is that I started to rely on the articles and pop-level readings of my favorite pastors and teachers and did not develop what the Bible calls being “skilled in the Word of righteousness.” I could answer a lot of tough questions with the wisdom from podcasts like “Ask Pastor John,” but could not go to Scripture (save a few select verses my favorite pastors would use) to defend the doctrine that I was being taught. Being exposed to doctrine through TGC and Desiring God is helpful in many ways because as a new believer, we all have to start somewhere. But if all we have is an “article”-level understanding of our beliefs, we are functioning as immature believers according to what Scripture teaches. Maturity comes from understanding Scripture and training in how to discern it for ourselves through practice. So how does this pertain to Calvinism? Well, a lot of times as Calvinists (or Reformed or whatever title you would prefer to give the doctrinal stance), we are challenged by opposing viewpoints with Scripture that does not necessarily show up in a “TULIP” briefing. Not only is it important that we be able to address our brothers’ and sisters’ doubts and questions about our views, but it is also important that we be able to settle these issues in our own hearts and minds so that we develop a deeper understanding of the Word of God. Granted, some things are meant to be mysteries and we will not always understand everything perfectly, but part of the glory of our Bible is it’s clarity. We should always seek to have clarity on these confusing “trouble verses.” Many times when engaging in conversations with non-Calvinists, we are often going to be up against someone who has probably read a simplified article about the Five-Points. It is important that we engage in these conversations, not as a carbon copy of the easy-to-read John Piper article on Calvinism, but as someone who has studied the Scriptures and tested these beliefs just as much as our Arminian friends. Articles are meant to start a conversation and explain things in a succinct format. Conversations, however, are not meant to be this way. Studying, also, is not meant to be this way. We need to understand these things on a much deeper level than what an introductory article can offer us. #2: Take more of a “biblical theology” approach to studying the doctrines of Calvinism. What I do not want you to misunderstand here is that I do not value systematic theology. I do, very much. However, interpreting the Bible simply systematically can create blind spots and sometimes even an apathy to the verses that do not explicitly help our “system” of thinking. Systematic theology is great for allowing us to take a topic and put all of the key verses we have about it in a box that we label according to our conclusions. The problem with only doing this to inform our interpretation is that it does not take into account the real time revelation of these topics throughout redemptive history. For example, the doctrine of election is a theme we find in both the Old and New Testaments. However, if we look at the story of redemption from the beginning of Genesis all the way through to the end of Revelation, we will notice nuances that we may not understand simply from a systematic approach. We may even begin to ask harder questions like “How is the election of the nation of Israel specifically different from the election of believers in the New Testament?” When we build our theology on a topic, taking a biblical theology approach allows us to build upon the idea in the order in which God has revealed it to us throughout history. It helps us to understand the verses on these topics in their direct context, giving us a much fuller picture of the doctrine itself as it unfolds in real time. This practice, however, is not for the faint of heart. When we begin to study Scripture as it unfolds, we begin to ask questions that are not easily (or quickly) answered. And just as Jesus was misunderstood by some who studied the Old Testament writings, we may find ourselves struggling to reconcile teachings between the Old and the New Testaments (much like the Jewish believers did). But this struggle is also why I love biblical theology! Unlike systematic theology, biblical theology asks us to walk through the revelation of God step by step with the historical forefathers of the faith. It not only broadens our perspective from modern-day Christian to first-created man and the first Israelites called out of the world, but it also shows us that God’s plan of redemption, while culminated in the coming of Christ, started before our existence. Before we existed, God was working in amazing ways, calling on real people, and revealing himself intentionally. When we divorce topics from the narrative of God’s revelation it is easy to miss the important ways in which God chose to reveal the doctrines we cherish today. When we look at doctrines (like the doctrine of election) systematically, we often walk away with sound definitions and answers to our questions, which is a great thing! However, from there, if we were to examine these doctrines in the stories recorded for us in Scripture, we will walk away with a greater appreciation for God and what he has accomplished in all of time and in all types of situations. As a student studying the Bible full-time, I wrote a lot of papers on topics in theology. But to date, the hardest and most rewarding paper I ever wrote was a biblical theology on the doctrine of election, centered on the exegesis of a parable in Matthew about the marriage supper of the lamb. Talk about intimidating! I spent hours upon hours in the library, piling up every book I could get my hands on--from Genesis to Revelation. After all of my studies, when it came time to write my paper, I had trouble cutting my paper down to twelve pages from over twenty! I could not believe how much Scripture talked about election and the different ways words like “called” and “chosen” were used. By the end of it all, I looked at my paper to turn in and thought to myself, “I will never look at ‘election’ the same way again.” And I was right. While I am not saying to write a twenty-page paper on a doctrine of Calvinism to turn in for a grade, I AM saying that taking our time to sit in the tension of Scripture more often will broaden our understanding of the doctrines of Calvinism we already love and believe. This, in turn, will help us engage with non-Calvinists in a more helpful way by addressing more parts of Scripture. As we go through the narrative of Scripture, we learn not to ignore the hard parts that do not fit our systematic theology, but rather we learn to read them in light of their context. And remember: God himself chose the perfect context to illustrate and demonstrate his attributes. So let’s not ignore the narratives he gave us! #3: Engage in conversations with people who disagree with you. While I did not understand soteriology completely (who does anyways?), I was bold in what I believed about salvation being completely in God’s hands and not my own. In some ways, I was admittedly too bold. Instead of being humble about my views, I chose to be angry with people who disagreed with me. Because there are a lot of people who blindly believe from the Arminian standpoint, I tended to believe that everyone who disagreed with me simply had not read their Bibles. I was wrong. I quickly realized that it was not a matter of ignorance for everyone, but that some people, genuinely, had thought about it, and had not come to the correct conclusions. (Now, I understand that the language I am speaking in may seem arrogant because I say things like “I am correct about this and people who disagree about this are wrong.” I will talk about why I speak like this in my final point.) It is important that we are being sharpened in our beliefs constantly, and sometimes God uses people who disagree with you to either rebuke your bad theology, or strengthen your good theology. When I first met my now husband, one of my biggest fears was that he was not a Calvinist. We both had a similar background of false teachings, but on this one issue we had to agree to disagree. He was the first non-Calvinist that I had met who actually knew what his Bible said about the issues at hand. I remember him bringing Hebrews 6 to my attention and me having to collect myself in trying to explain away a passage that I had prematurely ignored. While I accused Arminians of ignoring large texts in Scripture, I had not realized that I had been doing the same thing! As mentioned earlier, I could define TULIP and give the “article” version of an explanation, but talking to a real person with real convictions about it required a depth that I was not prepared to give. I was happy to stay in my ignorant, puffed-up knowledge bubble, but I was unknowingly being selfish. I was blessed with being introduced to this truth and rather than try to talk to others about it, I chose to be angry and dismissive. Rather than try to learn more about it--not just for myself, but also for the benefit of others--I chose to smugly stay at surface-level. Thankfully, this man meant a lot to me and God began to reveal to me through conversations with Jake that I was not as solid on these doctrines as I should have been--especially for how much I believed them to be true. While it was not all me and my convincing (wink wink) arguments that ultimately swayed him to agree with me, I am thankful looking back that we have gone on this journey together in testing our biases to the Word and continuing to grow in our understanding and belief in these doctrines. #4: Do not be afraid to stand firm. A lot of people will say that Calvinists are cold and mean. They will equate what you believe with false presuppositions they have about Calvinism that are really just over-simplified versions that do not account for what you know and love about the doctrines of grace. You may be accused of many things you know that you are not, but do not allow those false accusations to make you bitter or reconsider your views. Just like with many things in today’s day and age, people will arrogantly cling to their ideas of Calvinism without a clue. They will mock the truth about God and call it gross or evil. They will say blasphemous things in which they will be held accountable like “I could never worship a God like yours.” And I am sadly talking about Christians. They refuse to accept the truth. We live in a society today in which truth is relative to the individual, so saying things like “I believe this, and you are wrong,” is seen as arrogant. But I want to explain to you why this is not so. What God’s Word says is truth. While there may be different interpretations of Scripture, not every interpretation is correct. When we read Scripture, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, using sound interpretive and hermeneutic principles, our goal is to come to the most accurate conclusions possible on what God’s Word is telling us. The Bible is understandable, clear, and 100% true in its contents. When we gain understanding and knowledge from the Word of God by using the correct means, what we have is truth. I believe in the doctrines of grace because I believe they are TRUE. This means that I believe that Arminianism is a false teaching that does not represent the God of Scripture, the Gospel preached in Scripture, and the state of fallen humanity as explained in Scripture. I am not arrogant for saying these things because my authority is not my own. However, I am indignant about these things because just like any false teaching, they have the potential for Satan to deceive. The difference in understanding God’s complete sovereignty in salvation was the difference in me believing the true Gospel. While I understand that not every person is like me, I know that I am not the only one Satan deceives with whisperings that we are not good enough for the Gospel to save us. I understand that the more reasonable Arminians do not say that salvation is explicitly contingent on our innate goodness (and the purpose of this article in particular is not about going into detail about the subtle dangers of Arminianism), but the problem, while subtle, is big enough to distort the Gospel we have been entrusted with. While it may be an unpopular opinion these days, it is important that we do not downplay our major disagreements for the sake of “unity.” There are many things we can agree to disagree about, and while this may not be an issue of orthodoxy necessarily, it is a HUGE deal. How we interpret these subtle doctrines dictates how we preach the Gospel, how we view our sin, and how we view our ability to save ourselves. For a believer who knows his or her own weaknesses, this makes all the difference in the world. So don’t be afraid to stand firm in what you believe about the doctrines of grace. You can be humble in knowing that your knowledge of these things does not come from you while still being confident enough to stand up for God’s truth found in Scripture. In a final note, my husband had an important point of observation from the perspective of someone newly embracing the soteriology of the reformed. So, in light of his wisdom, I wanted to dedicate this last point to his credit. #5: Embrace the wonder and mystery of Calvinism. One of the common misconceptions about Calvinists is that we have our soteriology down pat and that there is absolutely no room for awe and wonder at the mystery of salvation. While I know this is untrue of many (myself specifically), I think it is important that we make more of an effort to show others that while we believe in a system, we also believe that there is no way to put our God in a box! A pitfall we often unknowingly fall into is trying to define the mysterious nature of salvation. We try to use what Scripture explicitly says to argue in areas where Scripture is silent (i.e. the EXACT order of salvation, what the mystery of God’s will entails). Sometimes it can be interesting to attempt to wrap our minds around these difficult doctrines, but let’s not allow our attempts to distract from what we KNOW Scripture says. Admit when you know something is true but cannot adequately explain it. Marvel in that. Enjoy the infinite God we serve with awe and wonder. I think we will be doing that for a while so we should get used to it, eh? Thanks for musing with me. Until next time y'all. Statement on social justice & the Prosperity gospel?The Social Justice Gospel: The New Prosperity Gospel
This post is not written lightly. My heart is heavily weighted by the reality that the very voices in modern evangelicalism that brought me out of the snares of the Prosperity Gospel by God’s great grace and mercy have released me into the snares of a new form of moralistic therapeutic deism disguised as the Gospel: the Social Justice Gospel. What I do not want you to hear is that I reject personal responsibility for loving others more than we love ourselves (Phil. 2:3). Part of the quicksand that is opposing this ideology is that it so disguises itself as Scripture that denying it is a quick way to be labeled as anti-Christ and stubbornly committed to a conservative political party over my identification with Christ. I can assure you that these two things could not be further from the truth. And I challenge you to listen to my warning as one who cares deeply about the preservation of the true Gospel above any other thing in this world. Why I care… My motivation to vehemently oppose this new ideology stems not from a desire to be in the good graces of the Republican party, but from a desire to save people from the fallacy that we can have one foot in the world and one foot in Christianity. Colossians speaks sharply of our death to this world and the importance of rooting ourselves in Christ so as not to be taken captive by the things we have died to: philosophy, empty deceit, human tradition, and the elemental spirits of the world. In other words, what the world imposes on us has no application. We live according to Christ as our head, growing with a growth that is from God. The world cannot condemn what Christ has saved, though it may proclaim our treason to their kingdom of worldliness. I also come from a deep understanding of the damage of false gospels. I grew up in a prosperity-preaching, name-it-and-claim-it church and the amount of people deceived into a life of moralistic captivity still makes my stomach turn. It was by the grace of God that I heard the true Gospel preached in a sermon by Pastor Matt Chandler of the Village Church in Texas and immediately gave my life to Christ. Since then, I have been impassioned with keeping the Gospel untainted by worldliness and have found myself often indignant in issues of deceptive teachings. This is why I cannot sit back any longer and allow my own brothers and sisters to be deceived. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) As many Christians are familiar, moralistic therapeutic deism (MTD) is a huge problem in our culture rooted in Judeo-Christian values. One cannot grow up in the United States without at least once hearing the word “God.” So while Atheism is oftentimes a rebellion against this assumption of God’s existence, many others opt for the MTD option in which they can keep the things they like about God and throw out what they do not. Albert Mohler, in quoting Christian Smith, outlines five common beliefs in MTD: “1. ‘A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.’ 2. ‘God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.’ 3. ‘The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.’ 4. ‘God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.’ 5. ‘Good people go to heaven when they die.’” (albertmohler.com) While the leading voices in modern evangelicalism would refute these ideas profusely, many of them do not realize that their disproportionate teachings on social justice are often compatible with these kinds of worldly assumptions. Allow me to give some examples:
The Prosperity Gospel I recently watched the great documentary called “American Gospel,” which attacks the issues in the Prosperity Gospel being preached. What I ascertained based on the film and my own experience in churches that preach these false messages is that teaching anything that detracts from the Gospel as a means to appeal to fleshly desires is damaging and pollutes the beauty and glory of the Gospel. Here are a few observations I have made as a comparison between the Prosperity Gospel (PG) and SJ Theology:
While it is obvious to most evangelicals that the PG emphasizes this, as made clear in the documentary, apparently it is not so clear in how evangelicals teach about social justice. The premise of social justice is that the world needs to be reformed so that everyone has the same access to health-care, wealth, and happiness--whatever the individual deems that to be. A problem with these two perspectives is that they both distract from the security of the Gospel and demand that we keep one foot in the world. In the PG, our hope is predicated on our own ability to muster up enough faith to call God into action to provide a respite from the effects of living in a sin-filled world. In SJ Theology, our hope is predicated on the ability within ourselves to make the world a better place and give ourselves the benefits of prosperity through the means of the government. Whatever happened to learning to abound in poverty and riches (Phil. 4:12)? In these two camps, with Christ not ALL things are possible (Matt. 19:23-30). Some things we have to make happen for ourselves if we want it badly enough. 2. The PG and SJ Theology both teach that if bad things are happening that seem out of your control, it is probably your fault. In the PG, the bad things could mean sickness or financial problems and if these things are not going right for you, it is because you did not have enough faith and therefore need to repent and pick yourself up by the bootstraps and be better. In the SJ movement, the bad things are inequity in the world, people uncomfortable in your worship services, and a multitude of other things that are getting in the way of people having good things happen to them. According to SJ Theology, these bad things are happening because you are doing something sinful that you cannot even recognize because it is subconscious. The expectation, like the PG, is that you will repent of these bad things that you did not know you were even doing and you will pick yourself up by the bootstraps and be better. In both cases, there is a false call to repentance, a measure of ungodly guilt, and the expectation that if you conform to their teachings and do better, all things will get better in the world. 3. The PG and SJ Theology both use Biblical passages as analogies for modern social problems and throw out the main purpose for which they were written. Whether it is misusing Isaiah 53 to say “by Jesus’s wounds, claim your healing right now,” or misusing Ephesians 2 to mean that Christians justify racism and do not even know it, the problem is that we miss Christ and the glorious truths in the Scriptures when we read our own agendas into it. When we misinterpret the hostility in Ephesians 2 as the racism between ethnicities instead of as the relationship between the human and God, we miss the wonderful point Paul is making when he says that we are no longer condemned by the Law, but that we are at peace with God. We cheapen Scripture when we use an illustration on the Gospel for an illustration on social change that is clearly not in the context of the passage being taught. 4. The PG and SJ Theology both champion successful people who are not Christians as moral leaders for Christians to follow. We have seen it for years. Televangelists like Joel Osteen are promoted by prosperity preachers as examples of the success possible for Christians who have enough faith to pull themselves out of an average life. Martin Luther King Jr. is championed by SJ Theologians as the image of Christianity even though he rejects key components of the Christian faith including the resurrection. While we can be immensely grateful for the common grace of God to bring our brothers and sisters out of the bondage of slavery in our nation--including using a Pseudo-Christian like MLK--we should not base our lives on the life of a man who rejected the true Christ. Concluding Thoughts For a long time I have wrestled with the undermining of the Gospel seen through the Social Justice Movement in evangelicalism. The same people I loved to turn to about Scripture have dedicated a disproportionate amount of their time to preaching racial reconciliation as opposed to the reconciliation we find through Christ to God. While I affirm in a body of believers that prejudice against someone for the color of their skin is sinful and should be dealt with, the type of social changes required in the SJ Theology are not found in biblical categories and require more conversation than a quick jump to conclusions proposed by the world. I signed the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel very soon after it came out, not because I am unsympathetic to victims of real evils in the world, but because I am unsympathetic to false gospels. It pains me to know that anyone is treated unfairly because of the color of their skin or bullied because they struggle with understanding their gender. But the solution is not to team up with the world to teach people how to be morally good. The solution is for people to be saved. The Gospel is not forcing people into molds to make life better. The Gospel is that individuals are responsible for repenting of their own sins and for turning to Christ for grace. The Gospel is not that we seek to fill quotas in our pews of gender or ethnicity. The Gospel is that Christ is building his Church and the Holy Spirit is what dictates the “quota.” The Gospel is not marching in the streets to proclaim racial and gender equality. The Gospel is walking the streets proclaiming that this world is going to pass away and if you are reconciled to God through Christ, you will not face the wrath of God because Christ took on His wrath in your place, became sin, and clothed you in his righteousness. There is no other Gospel. Because nothing else could possibly be “good news.” |
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