It’s Broken

This is a difficult time.  Not just in the US but in several places overseas.  I just read a Facebook post from an acquaintance that shared an article from an independent organization named after a major denomination.  It was a one-sided piece that was presented as a reasoned examination of pastors losing their ministries because of politics.  To suggest that the country is divided, would be an epic understatement, polarized may be more accurate.

I meet weekly with Christian leaders in Morocco, Cameroon, and Ethiopia – more accurately I am scheduled to do so.  In Morocco, while weekly I hear of new believers, the underground churches are meeting, knowing that they could be arrested for doing so.  In Cameroon, a country that has the potential to be both an economic and spiritual gateway to both the French speaking and English-speaking countries in the area since the country is bilingual, one language group is attempting to overrun the other, thus destroying one of their greatest advantages.  In Ethiopia the government controls access to the internet shutting it down to keep people from communicating.  Thus, my comment about being scheduled to meet with a leader there.

It seems that regardless of one’s political leaning today, everyone is either frustrated or angry.  Larry Crabb always said that frustration was the result of a blocked goal, and that anger was the result of a continually blocked goal.  The corollary was that Biblical goals could not be blocked.  As I have pondered that over the years and rubbed his thought against the Scriptural data I believe he is correct.

So, what do we do with all of this?  There are several passages that come to mind that may be of help, consider:

• Psalm 46:2 – 3 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Hebrews 13:8 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Psalm 118:8 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Jeremiah 17:7 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Matthew 6:33 (here @ BibleGateway)

Regardless of what is happening in the country or the world, the Lord does not change.  The Lord can be trusted.  The world cannot be trusted.  It is broken.  All its systems are as well.  Our charge is to cleave to Him and invite others to do so as well.

Kindness and Truth

In Proverbs 3:3 (here @ BibleGateway) we are told about the importance of kindness and truth.  The combination of truth with kindness is a tough balance.  One is charged to be truthful while at the same time being kind in the process.

Looking at the verse more closely, the word translated “do not let” is imperfect, which suggests the action is still continuing or in process of accomplishment.  In this context it would seem that Solomon is suggesting an ongoing action.  So that we are continually to prevent kindness and truth from leaving us.

How we are to prevent that is described in the next two clauses.  The verb translated “bind” is imperative.  It is a command.  Both are to be bound around our necks.  Similarly, “write” is also an imperative.  Kindness and truth are to be both on our neck and heart.

“Neck” (Hebrew גַּרְגֶּרֶת) only appears 4 times in our Bibles, all in Proverbs 1:9 (here @ BibleGateway), 3:3 (here @ BibleGateway), 22 (here @ BibleGateway), 6:21 (here @ BibleGateway).  One of the lexicons in its definition of גַּרְגֶּרֶת states, “there may be an associative meaning of the throat being close to the center or the inner being or self¹.”   Another, referencing all four of the usages states, “the part of a human or animal that connects the head to the rest of the body².”   Yet another presents ַּגַּרְגֶּרֶת as a synonym for  רֹאשׁ head, נֶפֶשׁ soul, and לֵב heart³. 

“heart” (Hebrew לֵב) in contrast is in our Bibles 593 times.  All the lexicons have some form of defining heart as inner man, mind, will, and heart⁴.  

The parallel use of these terms can be taken as a Hebrew parallelism this emphasizing the need for kindness and truth to persist in the character of the people of God.  And, or, considering the second definition of neck above the connection of the head to the rest of the body; that kindness and truth will inform not only the way we think, our rational selves, but also the core of our being and beliefs, our heart.

I like both.

If one studies 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus as a unit, we notice that Paul immediately calls both men into conflict with false teachers.  However, in 1 Timothy 1:12 – 16 (here @ BibleGateway), Paul shares a bit of his testimony.  He shares that though he was a false teacher, in that he not only denied Christ as the Messiah but also as the Son of God.  He also persecuted the church.  He was one of the people with which he is calling Timothy and Titus into conflict.

Then in 2 Timothy 2:24 – 25 (here @ BibleGateway), Paul echoes Proverbs 3:3 in that we are to approach those who are false teachers, teaching truth, without quarreling, with patience and gentleness.

Think about that, in approaching people that way, the Lord may grant repentance to one who will have an impact like Paul.

  ¹James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

  ²The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017).

  ³David J. A. Clines, ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press; Sheffield Phoenix Press, 1993–2011), 374.

  ⁴Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 524.

Loose End – Part 3

Yesterday we continued to think through the issue that Wilberforce and Osborne both wrote about 206 years apart.  An issue that persisted throughout those 206 years and seems to persist today.  That is the seeming apathy to the Lord’s exhortation to abide in His Word.

Yesterday I shared the idea that reading books about the Bible, listening to messages about the Bible, watching programs, going to classes about the Bible, is not the same as being in the Bible.  I have done and still do all those things.  I have a ThM, which was 128 hours of class and untold hours outside of class, and that does not count the courses I took in Greek and Hebrew before I got to seminary.  I’m sitting in an office that has every available wall lined with full bookcases and there are 20 or so boxes of books in storage.  All of those things, books, programs, classes are helpful, but they cannot and are not supposed to be the major input of our Biblical lives.

All of those, as good as they are, are filtered through the study and experience of others.  As good as those others are, their work is not inspired.  We need to be in the Word of God ourselves, before we pick up a book – say we are studying Ephesians.  We need to do an overview, analyze each section, and then summarize what we studied.  Then and only then we are ready to look at some secondary source.  If we engage in the secondary source first, what we see will be channeled toward what the teacher, author, or speaker saw.

There is another challenge though.  For the most part, churches regardless of their tradition, have not done a good job of equipping those in the community with the skills needed to study the Word for themselves.  Ephesians 4:11 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway), outlines succinctly what the ministry of a local church is to be.  The leaders are tasked to equip those in the church to do the work of the ministry.  Did you catch that?  The leaders are not supposed to do the work they are to equip the saints to do so.

That may be the source of the problem.  Seminaries, at least the ones I am aware of, do not focus on training pastors to equip.  They are focused on exegesis, hermeneutics, exposition, and homiletics.  That is, in a normal person’s words, technical study, interpretation, explanation, and proclamation.  Thus, most pastors do not equip, they proclaim.  Again, that is good.  I have listened to thousands of messages and have benefited from them.  But the primary input, the most help I have gotten, has been from personal study, personal engagement, wrestling with the text of the Bible.

I learned how to do that, not from classes – while there were some classes that helped in the sense that they suggested methods or tools of which I was not familiar.  Rather, it was from individuals who showed me how to do the work and gave me feedback on what I saw and how I explained it.  It is that interaction, that back and forth, what Paul refers to in Ephesians 4:16 (here @ Bible Gateway), as “being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body…”  Classes do not equip.  Practicing what a class teaches, under observation by someone who knows and is mastering or has mastered the content and gives feedback and constructive criticism – that is what equips.

It seems to me that is what we need in our churches.  I have heard there are some that are doing this.  I am working at doing so in my church.

Loose End – Part 2

Yesterday we started to probe the issue that both Wilberforce and Osbourne spoke to around 206 years apart.  Today we will consider some of the implications of what we examined yesterday.

The conclusion yesterday was that if one does not engage in the activity that Christ exhorts, the implications are dire.  That conclusion is driven, in part, by John 8:31 (here @ Bible Gateway).  As we saw, if one is to be a disciple of Christ, one must abide in His Word.  The import of that is if one is not abiding in the Word, then one is not a disciple.  

In an earlier post we examined 1 Peter 2:1 – 3 (here @ Bible Gateway).  The passage is a complex conditional statement.  Essentially it says that if one has tasted the kindness of the Lord, that is has fully experienced His kindness, then that one will long for, hunger for, not be satisfied without the Word of God.  Would it not be the case then that if a person does not have a hunger for the Word of God, if they are not pursuing learning it, studying it, reading it, would it not be reasonable to conclude that they have not tasted the kindness of the Lord?

In Luke 6:46 (here @ Bible Gateway), Jesus asks a rather penetrating question.  “If you call me Lord, why do you not do what I say?”  Isn’t the implication there that if one is not doing what Christ says, He is not their Lord?  

I have been engaged with more than one church’s small group project.  One of the consistent challenges is getting the groups to engage personally, individually in the Word of God.  Many are quick to read “Christian” books, or watch “Christian” videos, or focus on fellowship, but to read secondary sources is not the same as reading the Bible.  

I have been asked to review two study Bibles.  I have done one, and the other is in the que.  Both are chock full of notes and reference material.  When I was new to the faith, the Scofield Reference Bible was the main Bible that people carried.  It too was chock full of notes and reference material.  Full disclosure I have at least four Study Bibles.  I don’t use any of them.  Why?  The notes and reference materials are the work of man.  They are not inspired.  The text of the Bible is inspired.  Hebrews 4:12 (here @ Bible Gateway) does not say, “For books about the Bible and the notes in your study Bible are living and active and sharper than any two edged sword…” you can fill in the rest.

It is confusing to me why the Lord allows this.  He states that His word will not return void, Isaiah 55:11 (here @ Bible Gateway).  It seems like, many, if not most, of those claiming to be in the Body, have chosen to abandon His Word.  Chosen not to abide instead to depend on proxies to apprehend the Word of God.  This seems to have resulted in an ineffective and anemic Body.  I don’t know why this persists.  But the quotes from Wilberforce and Osborne indicate that it has for the last couple of hundred years.

The Holy Spirit inspired His Word, all of it.  It reflects God’s nature and character, 2 Peter 1:1 – 4 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Peter in 2 Peter 1:16 – 21 (here @ Bible Gateway) compares having the Word of God to his experience seeing Jesus transformed on the Mount of Transfiguration.  But, we have trouble getting believers to engage personally in it?  Why?

I have some thoughts on that I will share in the next post.

Loose End

In June of last year, I shared two quotes, one by William Wilberforce, the other by Grant Osbourne.  As noted in the post, the quotes were 206ish years apart and yet essentially dealt with the same issue.  In that post I said I would share my thoughts on those two quotes.  In reviewing my journal and the blog just now, I realize I never did.  So here goes…

If I were to synthesize the two quotes the common issue seems to be that there is a tendency in the community of faith to not take the need to work at understanding or studying the Bible as necessary for every believer.  There seems to be a prevailing sentiment that after I come to Christ, I’m done with work in terms of knowing Him.  Sure, I will listen to the occasional message and may read the occasional Christian book, but actually dive into the Word of God for myself?  I wouldn’t know where to start.  Anyway, that is the job of the pastor and teachers.  They need to study and tell me what to think.

In the previous paragraph I referred to the community of faith.  Why?  This issue prevails from Genesis to Revelation.  The people of Israel abandoned the Word of God.  There were times of renewal.  Each time the Word was found and read to the people and the people tore their clothes and repented.  But abandoned the Word again in short order.

In Jeremiah 23 (here @ Bible Gateway) the Lord reveals His attitude toward this type of behavior.  The prophets were not sharing the Word of God with the nation.  Rather, they were sharing their own dreams and ideas.  God did not like that.  It is worth your time to read the chapter.

In the New Testament over and over the importance of the Word of God is emphasized.  Perhaps the section of Scripture that is most telling is John 15:1 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway).  In that passage John repeats the Greek word μένω (meno) 11 times in those 16 verses.  The word is variously translated abide, remain, continue, dwell.  We are exhorted by the Lord to abide in Him and have His Words abide in us.  In John 8:31 (here @ Bible Gateway) the exhortation is to abide in His Word to be His disciple.  Both statements in John 8:31 (here @ Bible Gateway) and John 15:7 (here @ Bible Gateway) are conditional.  The construction of the sentences indicate that it is not certain that those who heard or read will actually fulfill the condition of having the Words abide in them or abide in His Word.  The implications of not doing what Christ exhorted are dire.

This is getting longer than I intended when I started.  So I will finish it in the next post or so.  Stay tuned.

Peter’s View of the Bible – Part 2

Continuing to look at 2 Peter 1:16 – 21 (here @ Bible Gateway).

As I pointed out yesterday, this is the second of 4 passages in which Peter underscores the importance of the Word of God.  The passage is four sentences, 16, 17 – 18, 19, and 20 – 21.  I mention that because as we read and study our Bible, we should remember that while the paragraph is a unit of thought sentences are the building blocks of paragraphs.  Unfortunately, the chapter and verse divisions many times break up both paragraphs and sentences.  If we do not pay attention to that, we can focus on a part of a sentence and miss the point the author is making.

Verse 16
In this verse Peter is both substantiating why he is reminding his readers and setting up the contrast to the false teachers that follows in chapter 2.  He didn’t make up what he is sharing about Jesus, he was an eyewitness.  Specifically,…

Verses 17 – 18
Peter was present at the transfiguration of Jesus.  This shows up in our Bibles in Mark 9:2 – 8 (here @ Bible Gateway); Matthew 17:1 – 8 (here @ Bible Gateway); and Luke 9:28 – 36 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Peter state that Jesus received honor from God the Father, and there was a verbal affirmation of Jesus from God that Peter, James, and John all heard.

Verse 19
Peter declares that the result of hearing this verbal affirmation is the validation of the prophetic word.  Because of this, we are to pay attention to the Word.  Makes sense, but Peter does not stop there.

Verses 20 – 21
Peter emphasizes that no prophecy is a matter of an individual’s interpretation.  This is a tacit repetition of verse 16, Peter didn’t make up what he is sharing about Jesus, neither are the prophets.  Rather, the Holy Spirit move these men to speak from God.

Notice the parallel.  On the mountain of transfiguration, the verbal affirmation was from God.  In the written prophecy, the written Word, the Holy Spirit inspired men to speak from God.  The validation on the mount was from God, the written prophecy is from God through the Spirit.

Peter is comparing his experience on the mount to our experience when we engage in the written Word of God.  Both are from God.  This view of Scripture is a repetition of Peter’s first strong statement about the Word of God in 1:4 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Through the promises of God, which we find in the Word of God, we become partakers of the divine nature.  We encounter God in the Scripture as Peter encountered Him on the mount.

Peter’s View of the Bible

Since 2008, so for the last 12 years, 2 Peter (here @ Bible Gateway) has been the focus of all of the workshops I have done whether half-day, 10 day, or anything in between.  When we come to the exercises that include 2 Peter, I do them along with the participants.  As a result, I have studied 2 Peter, literally, hundreds of times in the last 12 years.  Additionally, the Tuesday morning group I participate in just finished a detailed study of the book.

One of the themes that runs through the book, is the elevation of the Word of God.  Peter has a high regard for God’s Word.

Twice in both chapters 1 and 3, Peter emphasizes the importance of the Word of God for us as believers.  For this post we will focus on the second passage in chapter 1, 16 – 21.  There is a lot in these six verses.  Take some time and read through the passage, shoot, read the whole letter, it is only 61 verses.  Make as many observations on 1:16 – 31 as you can and then come back to the post.

So if you read the whole letter you saw that this passage sits between Peter’s declaring his diligence to remind his readers of what they already know and his warning of the certainty of the rise and multiplication of false teachers.  1:16 – 21 serves at least three structural functions in Peter’s thought.

First, it substantiates, gives the reason, why it is important that he reminds his readers.  Second, it presents the reason that Peter is sure of what he proclaims.  Lastly, it sets up a vivid contrast with the false teachers that he describes in chapter 2.

Think through that.  We will further unpack this section in tomorrow’s post.

Resisting Falsehood

Truth is resisted.

You may have experienced this either by personally resisting truth or by having one resist you as you shared truth.  There is another level to resistance.  The enemy of the Lord resists truth in any form.  He is a liar and the father of lies.  So where there is falsehood, he is there.

2 Timothy 2:24 – 25 (here @ Bible Gateway) gives us instruction on how to confront falsehood.  A bit of context, in 1 Timothy (here @ Bible Gateway), 2 Timothy (here @ Bible Gateway), and Titus (here @ Bible Gateway), Paul calls his proteges into continual conflict with false teachers.  It is one of their main purposes as leaders.

What we find in 2 Timothy 2:24 – 25 (here @ Bible Gateway), is Paul’s prescription for confronting falsehood:

• Be kind
• Be able to teach truth
• Be patient when wronged, read resisted, ignored, or worse
• Be gentle in correction of those who oppose you

That is our assignment.  Note that we are not responsible to change the liar’s mind.  Note that it is God that does that.  He grants them repentance.  He grants them the ability to acknowledge and embrace the truth.

It is not about how well we cast our argument.  Rather, it is if God engages with that person.

Our only assignment is that outlined above.  We speak truth in kindness, with patience and gentleness.  The Lord is responsible for the impact of what we say.

Remember, the resistance to truth is unceasing.  Therefore, our assignment to meet is as Paul outlines is as well.

Benefit or Not

Jeremiah 23 (here @ Bible Gateway) is a chapter to which I have referred a lot in this blog, 23 different posts.  There are a couple of other passages I have referenced more often, but this one is important.

Note Jeremiah 23:32 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Look at what the Lord is against:
Those who prophesy false dreams – you could read prophesy proclaim or preach
Those who lead people astray with those false dreams
Those who boast recklessly

The phrase that floors me is that these people, who are not sent by God, do not furnish the slightest benefit too the people.

In contrast, verse 28 (here @ Bible Gateway) states that the leader should be sharing the Word of God with those in his charge.

The benefit of what we share with our family or those whom the Lord has put in our orbit to help is not our ideas or thoughts, like the false dreams of the prophets, that does not provide the slightest benefit.  What does have benefit is the Word of God.  The onus seems to be on me to engage, abide in the Word to the extent that it is natural to share what I have seen to my family or others I have been given the privilege to help.

That may seem obvious.  However, I have witnessed and experienced Christian meetings and seminars in which there was little or no Bible content.  If I am reading Jeremiah 23:32 (here @ Bible Gateway) correctly, those meetings and seminars did not have the slightest benefit.

Personally, I want to make a difference.  It seems to be what the Lord wants of me.  If I want to do so, it seems clear that I must saturate myself, John calls it abide, in God’s Word.

Earmarks of Apostasy

If you have spent any time in Jeremiah (here @ Bible Gateway), you will note that, from the way we normally measure success, Jeremiah’s ministry was not a success.  However, it is not our normal measure that counts.

Look at Jeremiah 18:18 (here @ Bible Gateway) for a minute – note that if you haven’t been with Jeremiah for a while, I would recommend spending some time with him.  It was a privilege a couple of years ago to be able to study the book four times in succession.  On one of the overviews as I was reading the book for the second or third time, I began to weep.  It seemed I was reading a commentary on the current state of the Church.

In 18:18 (here @ Bible Gateway) notice the list, priest, sage, and prophet.  That is a partial list, a subset of a longer list that includes kings, rulers, princes, priests, prophets, sages, and the people.  Some form of that combination appears about 25 times in the book.  In all but one or two cases the reference to the group is negative.  It is negative in the sense that the leaders of the people, the first six on that list, have abandoned the Word of God for their own ideas, visions, and dreams.  Chapter 23 (here @ Bible Gateway) is God’s analysis and unfiltered opinion of their behavior.

Back to 18:18 (here @ Bible Gateway), these leaders are plotting together to discredit the one person in the book who is holding fast to God’s Word.  They are sure that they are right that they have the law, the appropriate counsel, and the divine Word.  However, we know from the rest of the book, they do not.  They have substituted their ideas or perhaps read their prejudice into God’s Word.

The result?  When the people are called to repentance, there is no foundation for repentance because their leaders have fed them on lies and not the Word of God.

We are starting a new year.  But we are dealing with this old problem still.  There are many in leadership who have abandoned the Word of God for their own agenda.  I am not thinking primarily of secular leaders but of those who are identified as Christian leaders.

Issues on which the Bible is clear have been called into question and we see churches embracing the world’s view rather than staying with what the Bible says.  Sure, it makes them more acceptable to their communities, but having compromised on one issue, it becomes much easier to abandon the next.  So we see ordained homosexuals, churches are embracing more than one gender, translation committees are changing the translation of Greek and Hebrew to be more acceptable to non-Christians, Churches and Christian organizations are placing women in authority over men, the list could go on…

One of the ways one can tell that there is a problem with a position is the amount of ink that it takes to explain why the Bible doesn’t really mean what the words say.  The more books, articles, blogs, etc. that are written explaining away, say 1 Timothy 2:12 (here @ Bible Gateway), you can bet there is an agenda driving that volume.

The other sign is the same thing that happened to Jeremiah.  Those who have taken a position counter to the Word of God attack, attempt to discredit, and get people to ignore those who still hold positions that are stated in the Bible that they don’t like.

Some things do not change.

Dealing with Suffering Biblically – Conclusion

For the past three days we have looked at dealing with suffering from Peter’s perspective in 1 Peter (here @ Bible Gateway).

We have seen that Peter sees what we go through in the Christian life under the umbrellas of both God’s foreknowledge and great mercy.

Further we have seen that the anchor or focus of our lives, in order to persevere in suffering to the glory of God, is the sure inheritance we have in heaven and the salvation for which we are protected.

The main idea here is, contrary to some current teaching, our focus is not to be on our time here, rather it is to be on eternity.  All suffering here is, by definition, temporary.  As we are reminded in James 4:14 (here @ Bible Gateway), our lives, our time on earth is a vapor.  It is critical then that we focus on what we have been promised by the Father through the Son and Holy Spirit, an imperishable inheritance and a certain salvation.

There are other passages that support this understanding of 1 Peter:

• Psalm 139:2 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway), The Lord knows our thoughts and word before we have or say them, scrutinizes our path (He analyzes our path as closely as a civil engineer would use a nested sieve to analyze aggregate in a concrete mix.), He covers us up behind and before and puts His hand over us (we are protected by His grace).

• James 1:2 – 4 (here @ Bible Gateway), trials, suffering, produces endurance.

• Romans 5:3 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway), we exult in our tribulations producing perseverance, proven character, and hope.

• Hebrews 11:39 – 40 (here @ Bible Gateway), those in the Faith Hall of Fame did not receive what was promised, because like us, it is in eternity we receive the inheritance and salvation

Further the testimony of the lives of the saints in both the Old and New testaments describe lives that are difficult and yet faith that is focused and informed by trust both in the foreknowledge of God and His great mercy.

It is my hope this series has challenged you to think and encouraged you at the same time.  I would welcome any comments about how you have processed this.

Dealing with Suffering Biblically – Anchor

For the last couple of days, we have looked at 2 Peter 1:1 – 9 (here @ Bible Gateway) to see how Peter begins to instruct us in dealing well with suffering.  We have seen that all that Peter is covering is under the umbrella of the foreknowledge of God.  Further, we have looked at the actions of the Lord and the purpose of those actions.

Today we will consider the means He has provided to navigate suffering well, for His glory.  First though, look at 1.3 (here @ Bible Gateway).  You will note that there is another “according to” in the text.  If you will review the first post were we considered the Greek word κατὰ (kata) we have here another criterion, standard, or norm – in other words, an umbrella under which we, in this case, are caused to be born again.  So, the two operative umbrellas for this letter are the foreknowledge of God and His great mercy.

What then do we have to make it through suffering?

In verse 4 (here @ Bible Gateway) we are promised an inheritance.  In verse 5 (here @ Bible Gateway) we are protected for a salvation.  Note when we will realize both the inheritance and the salvation.  The inheritance is reserved in heaven and the salvation will be revealed in the last time.

Wait!

I am experiencing suffering now!  However, Peter is telling us that the means to glorify God through that suffering is to focus not on the suffering but on the promised inheritance and our certain salvation for which we are protected.  There is not a sense here that the suffering will be lifted.  It may be.  But that is not the promise.

We are to trust the foreknowledge and great mercy of God, knowing that He has promised an inheritance and that we are protected for a certain salvation.  It is not the suffering, it is the promise of eternity to which Peter directs our focus.

Verse 13 (here @ Bible Gateway) reinforces this focus.  As do several other sections of the first three chapters.

Consider this, ponder it, let me know how you are processing it.  We will conclude this tomorrow.

Dealing with Suffering Biblically – Context

Yesterday we began to look at a Biblical view of suffering.  The conclusion was that all that Peter addresses in his letter is under the umbrella of the foreknowledge of God.

Moving on.

Consider the actions of the Father cataloged by Peter in 1:1 – 9 (here @ Bible Gateway):

• We are chosen (1:1) (here @ Bible Gateway)
• We are caused to be born again (1:3) (here @ Bible Gateway)
• We are protected (1:5) (here @ Bible Gateway)

Then consider the purpose of the Father’s actions:

• We are to obey Jesus Christ (1:1) (here @ Bible Gateway)
• We are to be sprinkled with Christ’s blood (1:1) (here @ Bible Gateway)
• We have a living hope (1:3) (here @ Bible Gateway)
• We have an imperishable inheritance (1:4) (here @ Bible Gateway)
• We have salvation (1:5) (here @ Bible Gateway)

Peter then notes that our response to these realities is that we greatly rejoice (1:6) (here @ Bible Gateway).  However, in the same sentence he, for the first time, brings up the topic of suffering.  He brings it up in a conditional clause.  The original is treated differently in the various English translations.  Note, that when you see differing treatments of a verse, it is a clue that you need to dig deeper into what the text says.

In many of the versions the text is rendered “if necessary,” this may be a bit weak.  The construction is a first-class conditional sentence which means that for the sake of argument it is assumed that what is stated is true.  So, Peter is assuming that they are going to be experiencing suffering.  The further context of the letter would seem to support that conclusion.

That is enough today, consider in 1 – 9  (here @ Bible Gateway) what is it that Peter suggests is the anchor to persevere well through suffering.  We will, perhaps, finish this tomorrow.

Dealing with Suffering Biblically

In the past few weeks much of my time in study has been in 1 Peter (here @ Bible Gateway).  There are several threads that permeate the book.  Many of them combine to form an encouragement for Peter’s readers to handle suffering well.

In the past couple of years, I have been privileged to serve believers in Morocco, Cameroon, Togo, and Ethiopia.  A few days after I left Ethiopia there was a riot that resulted in the deaths of over 75 individuals, additionally Christians have been murdered by Boko Haram in the northern part of Ethiopia in the past few days.  In one of these countries the rise of Islamic fundamentalists has resulted in believers being more and more cautious to attend underground churches.

In all of these countries and many other in which I have either engaged or spoken with those who have firsthand knowledge, a brand of “Christianity” is widely taught that promises that if one comes to the Lord, one will have a life of prosperity, will be healed of all disease, and essentially be protected from suffering.

A cursory reading of 1 Peter (here @ Bible Gateway) would suggest that those who promotes that brand of “Christianity” have not read Peter’s work.  Consider 1 Peter 1:1 - 9 (here @ Bible Gateway).

Verse 2 (here @ Bible Gateway) begins, in most of the translations some form of “according to the foreknowledge of God.”  The phrase “according to” is the translation of the Greek word κατὰ (kata).  In his work, Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament, Murry Harris tells us that “κατά specifies the criterion, standard, or norm in the light of which a statement is made, an action is performed, or a judgment is passed.”  In other word it is the domain under which action is taken or something happens.

In the immediate context consider what Peter says happens “according to the foreknowledge of God,”

• Chosen (this is at the beginning of verse 1 in the Greek)
• Scattered
• Residing as Aliens

In fact, the placement of this at the beginning of 1 Peter (here @ Bible Gateway), indicates that all of the topics that Peter touches on in this letter are under the umbrella of God’s foreknowledge.

We will start there.  Spend some time working through the text and observe what else Peter says.  Look for the other use of kata in this passage and consider how it works with the usage in verse 2 (here @ Bible Gateway).

I will continue this in tomorrows post.

The Source of Chaos

This afternoon a man with whom I have both served overseas and worked through the various methods of Bible study covered in the seminars.  We talked for about an hour.  The subject was one about which I have some relatively deep convictions.

My friend had spoken with a Christian leader about the type of study I have been sharing on 4 continents.  That is Inductive Bible study.  Essentially this type of study has four elements and essentially four questions.  They are Observation, What does the text say; Interpretation, What does the text mean; Correlation, What other parts of the text shed light on this portion; and Application, What does the text say that I need to do.

The leaders response to my friend, while not totally surprising, was extremely disappointing.  He told my friend that it was the wrong approach to scripture.  He said that my friend should be going to his pastor to listen to what the pastor says and then go to the Word.  There is so much wrong with that last sentence, I literally could write a book about it – oh, I did.

I am trying hard to resist listing all of the Bible passages in which that statement is in conflict.  If you were to scan this blog you will find most of them.

But I want to go in a different direction.  In Deuteronomy 28 (here @ Bible Gateway), Moses is nearing the end of his life.  He has led the nation to the edge of the Promised Land for a second time.  He cannot enter.  In the first 14 verses (here @ Bible Gateway) Moses tells the people the benefit of following the Lord.  In 15 – 68 (here @ Bible Gateway), he warns them of what will happen when they disobey.  Look at Deuteronomy 28:28 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Disobedience, not following the Lord, results in madness, blindness, and bewilderment of heart.

Something that is crystal clear in the Bible is the Lord’s command, expectation, that we each, individually, embrace, engage, and abide in His Word.  Unfortunately, the leader to which my friend spoke, is not unique.  His tribe is legion.  Rather than following the command of the great commission, these refuse to accept the clear assignment of Ephesians 4:11 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway) with its implications.  Rather, they set themselves up as the expert, the professional, and place themselves between those they serve and the Word of God as the arbiter and dispenser of truth.

Is it any wonder then that in the Church today, there is madness, blindness, and bewilderment?  Chaos.

Dealing with the Hard Stuff – Part 2

In the last post we started working through how to deal with passages that seem to either contradict other parts of the Bible or else contradict what I currently believe.  I suggested that we needed to start with the question, “Why do you believe what you believe?”  The second question is significantly more important.

The second question is, “What do you believe about the Bible?”

It may seem odd to use this query in dealing with difficult issues, but it is a foundational question.  Here’s why:

• If you believe that the Bible is the work of men rather than the work of God, then you will be less inclined to take it as authoritative.
• If you accept that there is a conflict in the Bible you will be less likely to look hard beneath the surface to attempt to understand that there is not a conflict.
• If you believe that God changed the way He thought about things throughout the writing of the 66 books, then you will be looking for ways to explain that some of the things that are hard or else are not culturally popular in your time no longer apply.
• If you believe that the Bible is one of the things that informs what you believe, along with the teaching of your community of faith, or some other theological work or commentary, then you will be inclined to place those sources on equal or similar footing with the Bible.  Thus diminishing the impact of the Word on your thinking.  This would apply as well if you were to go to experts, via either recorded messages, articles, or books to resolve the struggle.

If you give it a moment’s thought, you will see clearly how your perception of the Bible will directly impact how you respond to and resolve difficult or confusing issues you may encounter in the Bible or in your journey as a follower of Christ.

Let me suggest that there is only one view of the Bible that the Bible allows.  It presents itself as the Word of God.  It presents itself as inspired by God in the original autographs.  That is, each pen stroke that was made was inspired by God.  As such it is without error, without contradiction.  It is authoritative for those who are following Christ.

It is the case that we do not any longer have the original autographs.  However, we have an embarrassing amount of historical and archaeological support for the Greek and Hebrew that is used in the production of our versions, translations, and paraphrases.  So, those of us who are reading in languages other than Greek or Hebrew, can be confident that we have a reliable source to study.  There are some caveats to that last statement but they are outside the purpose of this post.

So the starting place for dealing with difficult, hard stuff, is twofold:

• First, what do I believe and why?
• Second, do I accept the Bible as authoritative in attempting to understand and deal with the difficulty?

Starting with any other positions will guarantee arrival at the wrong destination.

With those as a starting point, next we will look at how to proceed with challenges…

Dealing with the Hard Stuff

I have been traveling and sick for the best part of this month, so this is a later than I had planned follow-up to the last post of last year.  I have been thinking about this quite a bit.  The issue, the question I posed in the last post, has some far reaching implications; not only for each of us personally, but also for the health and unity of the Body.

The question was, what do you do with passages that seem to conflict with what you believe?  The answer to that may begin at a different place than you might expect.  It begins with another question or two.  The first is, why do you believe what you believe?  How did you come to the positions that you have?

One of the first courses one takes in seminary is called Prolegomena, it is a word that takes about a semester to learn to say and is not all that useful in polite conversation thereafter.  The word is a derivative of a Latin word that in turn was borrowed from the Greek.  It means prolog or introduction.  In systematic theology it is an introduction to theological method and possibly a survey of the divisions of the system.

For me it was probably the course out of the 128 hours I took at the seminary that had the greatest impact.  In learning the process of theological method one thing became crystal clear, I did not have very good reasons, or foundation, for the things that I not only believed but for which I had argued and fought.  It was at the same time humbling and stunning.

Much of what I believed, up to that point, were things that I had been taught, things I had read, or things that I had picked up from either sermons or messages I had listened to on cassette tapes.  Now, at the time I had been in and had been leading Bible studies for nearly 14 years and I had served on the staff of a Christian organization for nearly 10 of those years.  Regardless, I realized that when it came to difficult or controversial passages, I tended to either force the Bible to fit into what I already “knew” or else I would find someone who had written on the subject that “agreed” with what I already “knew.”

While I had developed the skills that I needed to engage in the Bible in a way to deal with issues correctly, I skipped steps, or else did not really know how to use the tools I had in a way that would deal with the challenge without bias.

Looking back on discussion and controversies in which I have experienced or observed over the past 40 or so years, it seems that many times, actually more times than not, we in the Body seem to handle issues that challenge our understanding in the same way that I did.

So as we start down this path of looking at how to handle difficult, seemingly contradictory passages or concepts, perhaps we need to start with a personal inventory of sorts.  Perhaps ask yourself:

• Why do I hold the position that is being challenged?
• Do I have a solid, comprehensive understanding of what the Bible says about the issue, or have I based what I think on the work or opinion of others?
• Do I know how to validate either what I believe, or what is being suggested that challenges my belief?

Think that through and I will continue with some other thoughts on this in the next post.

Speaking At Our Church

For the past several days I have been preparing to speak at our church.  That is one of the reasons that there has not been a new post.

You may want to watch this.  I am covering 2 Timothy 3:10 – 4:8 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Some of this has been written about here.  But this puts most of it together.  Click here to hear and watch the message.

Look forward to any comments you may have.

Dead Serious

Choosing to engage with others in sharing God’s Word with them is dead serious.  Read Numbers 25:4 (here @ Bible Gateway).

The serious aspect of this – check that – the dead serious aspect, is that the leaders had abandoned the Word of God.

Rather than leading the people to the Lord through His Word, the leaders led them to worship false gods, idols.  The same theme permeates the book of Jeremiah (here @ Bible Gateway).  The climax of that behavior is recorded in Jeremiah 23 (here @ Bible Gateway).

As leaders, and note that as believers all are leaders, the core of what we share with our families, our friends, those in our communities of faith, and those outside the faith with whom the Lord allows us to share the truth, is His Word.

James 3:1 – 2 (here @ Bible Gateway), 2 Timothy 2:15 (here @ Bible Gateway), and 2 Timothy 4:5 (here @ Bible Gateway), support and remind us of this.

Sure there are really good Christian books as those that are really bad.  The Word of God, however, is always good.  It is always appropriate.  It is always true.

In this age there are many who are claiming to have the truth.  They are promoting themselves over the Word of God.  Churches and organizations that were once effective in spreading the Word of God, have abandoned it.

That is dead serious.

Not Void

Isaiah 55:11 (here @ Bible Gateway) is a passage to which I return often.  I have written about it often here.  Many times I couple the verse with Hebrews 4:12 – 13 (here @ Bible Gateway).  It has been, and it still is, my belief and conviction that God’s Word does not return void. 

In part I have been applying that by getting men into the Word and allowing the Word to work in their lives, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  My conviction and experience is if men get in the Word and I get out of the way, the Lord will lead them into truth.

Problem.

I read a lot.  Theological journals and some scholarly works are part of that reading.  I benefit from reading those – caveat: my primary time for input for my walk with God, is time with Him in the Word, I read the journals to understand what they are dealing with, but I do not accept anything I read without validating it Biblically.  The challenge I have encountered in reading these is that I find men who are “scholars” who are espousing some incredibly unbiblical positions.

How does that align with the Word of God not returning void?  How does that align with the Word being piercing?  Why are they not led into truth?

Thinking and praying through this over time I think an answer may be emerging for me.  You may already have figured it out.  But, I am a slow maze learner.  The last portion of Isaiah 55:11 (here @ Bible Gateway) states that the Word won’t return, “Without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

If the Lord’s purpose in a person’s life is to draw them to Himself, the Word will do that.  If it is His purpose to push them away, the Word will do so.  It is His purpose that is important, not mine.

It is a further reminder to me, a rebuke, that I am not in control.  It is His Word, His ministry, His gospel, His choice that matters.  He determines what is void and what is not.  My role is to still get men into the Word and get out of the way and let Him do with them what He desires.