School Shootings and the Heart of the Problem

I am in my living room contemplating the school shooting which just happened yesterday in Nashville Tennessee. It was carried out by a woman who had previously attended the small Christian school. She was apparently a 28 year old who was under some sort of care and was expressing herself as a man in social media posts. There will be many who will jump on the transgender issue here. That is simply an aspect of the bigger problem. Our society is pushing for people to be free to express themselves however they want. It is not surprising how in doing this people run into others who do not necessarily accept their position or agree with it. I have positions I hold that are not excepted by everyone. I am a Christian and I believe in and seek to follow moral values which God has laid down in the Bible. Those who don't agree with me don't threaten my beliefs. I am secure in my beliefs and where I stand. This is where the real issue arises. People who have bought the idea that there is no restriction on how they can express themselves, may or may not be ok with people not agreeing with them. This kind of thought and mentality can be found in conservative, and liberal circles as well as Christian and non-Christian. If they are ok with people not agreeing with them they simply walk away. If they are not ok with the lack of acceptance then the freedom to express themselves in whatever way they want can lead to any number of harsh and radically destructive decisions. It can result in a lawsuit against those who don't agree. It can lead them to choose suicide. It can cause them to seek escape in drugs and alcohol. And it can lead them to decide to eliminate the people which they percieve as not accepting them or to do damage to the place or group they percieve as opposing their position. Sometimes it is simply a lashing out at people in general because they feel generally rejected. This is the result of a people abandoning a moral foundation rooted in the morals established by God. This abandonment happens in every area of society, from Christian and conservative to liberal and socialistic. When we as a society embrace an ideal of freedom to express ourselves however we want, even if it is immoral and against nature we find ourselves not experiencing the precieved happiness associated with total freedom. What the shootings, suicides and overdoses show us is we experience an emptiness and destructive hatred. The true answer for this is to turn to the God of the Bible repent of our sins and accept Jesus as Lord of our lives. In Jesus there is purpose, true freedom, and happiness found in the boundaries of God's moral law. I hope readers of this who are not Christians will seek to know what it is embrace a God focused life through faith in Jesus.

Speaking of Heroes

Our culture seems to be enamored with heroes. What is it that draws our culture to embrace the exultation of men. Perhaps it is a deep-seated realization that we are all in need. We all know ourselves and because of this we know we are not sufficient. Turning to heroes is a hopeful reach for the expert the one who is capable. The one who is sufficient in the given situation. Yet heroes fail us again and again. Even the heroes on the big screen are shown to have flaws. Yet there is a hero who will never fail us. He is worthy of our attention and He is sufficient for every situation. That hero is the greatest hero ever and His name is Jesus.

 Jesus example is incredible. He is the creator of the world and has all the power in the world at His disposal. Yet in order to save us He became one of us. He was fully human but also fully God and He demonstrated that by what He did. He healed the sick. He made blind men see. He fed 5,000 people with just 5 loaves and 2 fish. He walked on water. He commanded the wind and the waves. He spoke with wisdom and compassion. He forgave sins. He was mostly rejected by us and yet He still loved us. As He was being crucified by us He prayed that God would forgive those of us who were acting against Him. He rose again by His own power and conquered death. After the resurrection He passed through walls and yet ate food. He was seen by over 500 people and literally flew into the sky. He now continues to rule and reign at the right hand of God on high. One day He will return and establish a new heaven and earth. He is the greatest hero ever and worthy of our greatest adoration and devotion.

Even the other great heros of the Bible point us back to Him. My second greatest hero in the Bible is Enoch. What strikes me as important about Enoch is that God recorded not what he did, but who he was in relation to God. As a matter of fact we really don’t know what he did. All we know is he walked with God and did not see death because God took Him. That would be totally awesome to be such a friend of God that He just takes you to be with Him in glory. Like I said, all of the other heroes in the Bible, like Enoch, point us to Jesus. The only reason Enoch could walk with God and have a relationship with God, is because of what Jesus did on the cross. Even though that event was a long way off, when Enoch walked with God, Enoch had to be looking to the forgiveness that could only be found in the savior. That savior was promised in the Garden when God declared that He would send a seed of the woman to crush the serpents head. Enoch walked with God by faith trusting in the coming hero of heros who would save all of those who put their trust in Him. It would be awesome for God to make us more like Jesus so we could walk with God like Enoch. One more reason to pray earnestly for God to grant us the ability to live a God focused life.

Why Kevin DeYoung is wrong about the family idol

Twitter is really a rough place to post any current issue mulling over in our minds.  With a short number of characters one cannot expect to present a full treatise on a position for all to gaze upon.  But this requires considerable oversight in discerning exactly what it is we wish to post.  With such a small space an ill-chosen word can be quickly misconstrued and the purpose for the post becomes a tangled mess we can only try to unwind.

Recently, Pastor Kevin DeYoung of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC tweeted "One of the acceptable idolatries among evangelical Christians is the idolatry of the family".  Anytime someone wants to flush out a known idol, the unified cry of the brethren should be a resounding "Amen"...so long as it is an actual idol.  Let me pause at this point and clarify an important point.  I am not asserting that people can’t or don’t make family an idol.  Whenever we look to something or someone other than Jesus to be what saves or justifies us then we are on danger ground for potential idolatry.  Are there some in churches that idolize families?  Yes!  But is it as common and acceptable as Pastor DeYoung emphasizes?  I believe the evidence will show this is not the case.  To clarify his statement, much in part to the backlash he received on Twitter, Pastor DeYoung wrote an article for The Gospel Coalition. 

In the article he appeals to the examples he claims of how "...virtually every pastor in America can tell you stories of churchgoers who have functionally displaced God in favor of the family."  He then proceeds to lay out a few real-life examples of how this idolatry plays out.

From a personal perspective, I pastored a church where I did see a few instances of families skipping services on the Lord's Day to meet the recreational desires of their kids.  I say this because I can sympathize with the intent behind identifying a perceived problem.  I am not saying there isn't a point to be made of placing things of lesser importance over Christ and His commands.  Pastor DeYoung is solid theologically and in most areas of orthopraxy, but the question still remains:  Is family one of the acceptable idols among evangelicals today?

Go where the evidence leads

How do we determine if this statement is true?  The answer is a rather simple one...we examine the evidence.  We take a look at the claim made and the facts that are used to support it then determine whether that claim is valid or a strawman.  Unfortunately, Pastor DeYoung does not provide tangible evidence in his short article.  But this is understandable since it was meant to clarify his tweet and not qualify it. 

The problem though is that this is not really something we can gather evidence from without a research survey of sorts.  The only survey of recent that might shed light on this is from The State of Theology.  Statement number 20 words it this way: "Worshiping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church".  58% of respondents agreed with this statement while 30% disagreed.  Could this be the lone smoking gun to claim the family is an idol?  Not really!

First, the assumption of the question presupposes that a proper view of church membership is understood.  The phrase "attending church" comes with a lot of baggage that assumes simply being in the location where the local assembly meets to worship is actually worship itself.  Notice as well that worship is only referenced in regards to doing so with one's family and not with the local church.  A better way of stating this would have been to contend the two locations of worship (at home with your family v. the location where your local church meets) against one another.  While some may believe this is implied, as one who has taken countless workplace surveys in the military I can assure you that precise wording is key to precise results.

Are there stories of families that have weighed church "attendance" against their family events and fallen in favor of the latter?  Yes, just like there are some who have favored against attending church so they can....well...just fill in the blank.  Live in an earlier timezone and the game is one right when services are supposed to start?  Had a long workweek with more overtime than you can bear and Sunday is your only day off?  Lots of studying for those mid-terms that kick off on Monday?  You can literally come up with just about any reasoning that someone would use to excuse themselves from corporate worship on the Lord's Day corporate.

Of course, absenteeism on the Lord's Day for the sake of family isn't the only issue Pastor DeYoung highlights but none can be offered with tangible evidence as to their validity or substantiation as to why they qualify his tweet.  Perhaps what he tweeted was truly more out of frustration from what he has personally seen in recent times in his own pastoring but that alone is not enough.  In fact, I would propose that the evidence proves that the opposite is true of what Pastor DeYoung claims.  The family isn't an accepted idol because most just simply don't care about the family either way.

The facts

Walk into just about any church today and you will notice a plethora of age-graded groups for families to plug into.  Youth Groups, Children's Ministry, Children's Church, Nursery, College Ministry, Elderly Ministry, Singles Ministry, Couples Ministry, etc.  What do most of these have in common?  They are divided by age and separate the family.  The one day out of the week when we should see families gathered together is the one day out of the week that we can't seem to accomplish this.  Let's first look at a typical Lord's Day in most evangelical churches:

Little Susie goes to her Sunday School class down the hall from Johnny's youth room.  Mom and Dad head off to the adult class but not before dropping baby Bobby in the nursery.  45 minutes later they stop into the nursery to wave at Bobby just before saying goodbye again and then pick up Susie from her room.  Johnny's youth discussion is going a little long but they will meet up in the main worship auditorium.  Susie takes her seat and right at 11 Johnny comes walking in.  He sits with the other teens from the youth group but that's pretty normal...he is a teenager after all.  After a few minutes of announcements the Pastor calls the kids up front for a short 3 minute message before they are ushered out to children's church.  Mom and Dad sit together so they can focus on the message while keeping an eye on the door in case a nursery attendant signals for one of them to come change Bobby's diaper.  Bobby stays dry throughout the service.  The doxology ensues and shortly afterwards mom and dad pick up Susie from her children's church room just after grabbing Bobby from the nursery.  The attendant remarks about how sweet he was during his 2+ hour stay with them.  Johnny meets the rest of the family at the car and they are off to lunch only to head back again in 5 hours for evening services (only for mom and dad of course), youth group, children's ministry, and another solid hour for Bobby in the nursery.

So does the family seem the idol in this case?  Kind of hard to see that as a reality when they spend only a total of 5-10 minutes together where the local church meets.  But the evidence doesn't end at the church door, it goes far outside of it.

In 2016 an estimate 887,000 babies were murdered at the request of their parent(s).  The State of Theology survey indicates that 38% of evangelicals disagree that abortion is a sin.  While that number is still disturbing some would say that at least it isn't higher.  However, that does not factor in the 10% of respondents who said they were unsure.  That means that nearly half of professing evangelicals do not want to call abortion a sin.  Nearly half of them are either in favor of murdering babies or apathetic towards it leaving the decision up to the parents as to whether their child deserves to live. 

So does the family seem the idol in this case? But wait, it doesn't end with the slaughter of innocent children.  It goes into the marital relationship as well.

If we took the basic grouping of evangelicals proposed by Pew Research, 28% have been or are divorced/separated.  But the classification of mainline Protestants would add an additional 14% while historically black Protestants would bring in another 9%.  If taken together, the total would bring us to 51% of respondents.  While the specifics of each divorce/separation are unknown the number itself shows a disturbing reality.

So does the family seem the idol in this case?  In any of the three examples, does the family even appear to be the idol?

Deck-plate reality

In the military, particularly those of nautical tradition, the term "deck-plate level" is used to refer to the the practical day-to-day workers of the ship.  They are where the ideas of the command are actually implemented and where reality becomes tangible.  It is here that what is proposed is tested and found to either be feasible or just another idea without merit.  Let's look at the deck-plate reality of the most accepted idol today.

I've ministered outside abortion clinics in Alaska, Virginia, and Tennessee.  I've pastored in church in all three of those states as well.  I've seen countless vehicles with pregnant mothers pull into parking lots for appointment to have a paid assassin and his assistants tear a baby from the womb and place him/her in a disposal bag.  I've witnessed mothers and fathers laughing at the idea of murdering their child, flipping us off as we offer to help them in whatever way they need.  I've seen medical "professionals" escort mothers from their cars for fear that they might hear some grain of truth from us that would plant doubt in their hearts and remove the hitman's ransom that the mother carried in her purse for them.

I've seen these things and grieved.  Grieved so hard at times that all I could do was come home and crash because I was so exhausted.  Worse still, I've talked with people who profess to be Christians and came to these clinics to murder their babies who have no shred of remorse.  They pull into the parking lot with a fish symbol and/or some religious sticker on their car.  "God forgives me", they chant as they angrily assert their sin as though it were pleasing to God.  "My Pastor says abortion isn't a sin", they cry as I ask them the name of the church they attend.  This is the deck-plate reality.  For them, family is most certainly not an idol.

But they are merely a logical conclusion of the real idol that Pastor DeYoung bypasses to attack the strawman in the room.  With no evidence to support his claim, with a few stories from fellow Pastors that may or may not actually reveal an ongoing issue, he unfortunately ignores the fact that many of our churches are promoting the idea that the family is of little to no importance.

I wrote an article addressing a video of parents rejoicing that their kids were going back to school.  Some time before that, I attended a church service where the Pastor noted that school was coming back in session the following week and a few in the assembly replied with a hearty "AMEN" as though their children were a burden they couldn't wait to be free from.  For them, family is most certainly not an idol.

The evidence around us supports the idea that the family is just a weight that anyone burdened with should seek to offload.  It's the opposite of an idol because not only is family not placed above God, family is placed below everything else.

Family is not one of the most accepted idols.  SELF IS THE IDOL THAT IS MOST WIDELY ACCEPTED!!!  SELF drives our churches to create programs that attract parents and provide them an opportunity to drop their kids off for an hour or two to "enjoy" the worship service.  SELF drives families to seek out a local church with all the age-segrgated ministry opportunities you could ever want.  SELF drives us to focus on what makes our lives more pleasing both inside and outside the church gathering. 

SELF drives some professing Christians (a word I use lightly) to stand arm-in-arm with abortionists to murder their babies.  SELF has no qualms throwing in the proverbial towel on a marriage because they are not getting out of it what they want.

Maybe you are reading this and are simply still not convinced that my critique of Pastor DeYoung's assessment if correct.  In that case I would like to leave you with a few short questions to ponder which help to summarize the points made above:

1) What does a typical setting for most families look like in a local church these days? Is the family together in the corporate gathering of the saints?

2) What does that family look like outside of the Lord's Day? Are they functioning biblically with devotional or worship time regularly at the forefront of each day?

3) Where do most evangelicals send their kids during the school year? Public school? Private Christian school? Homeschool?

4) What does the culture reflect back to us regarding what we believe of the family?

5) What do our marriages say regarding our view of the family? Are we consistent in our application of the roles of husband and wife?

6) Is church discipline for neglectful, absent, or even slothful fathers or mothers even on the radar?

7) What does the family's relationship to their extended family look like?

8) What is the overarching understanding of the family's relationship to the local church?

Conclusion

Pastor DeYoung has some great material and is faithful to his calling to shepherd the flock which God has placed him over.  His sermons and other articles carry great weight with many in the Reformed camp and throughout evangelicalism.  In my mind, there is no doubt of his sincerity in what he tweeted and wrote.  But as I browse his own church's website I am met with the same problem I pointed out in one of the thes fact mentioned above.  His church provides numerous ministries that divide the family from one another during the corporate gathering of the saints.  Age-graded Sunday schools, alternative opportunities during the worship service for young children, youth groups, etc. all fit the description I have already mentioned to show us that family is not the idol that is most accepted.

This does not mean that his church is not faithful to the Word.  It does not mean they are not passionately pursuing Christ.  It certainly does not even mean that they are bent on intentionally dividing the family.  What it does mean is that they have bought into the same church model which, for over 50 years now, has undermined the relationship of the family to the local church and fueled the fire of the idol of SELF.

Pastor DeYoung's tweet swings and bats at the air with no evidence to support it in sight.  Can family become an idol?  Yes.  Can your wife/husband become and idol?  Yes.  Can your children become an idol?  Yes.  But again, that is not what he stated.  It is the difference between potential and practical.  What we see today is that family is not an accepted idol among evangelicals because all the evidence points to the contrary.  Perhaps a frustrated Pastor, having seen one too many families in his congregation skip the Lord's Day for other things motivated by their family, needed to vent a little.  Perhaps he was tired of having to find someone to fill in for Sunday School teaching because the usual teacher decided on an impromptu day at Six Flags instead.  Perhaps it was just a combination of years of personal perception and frustrating talks with fellow pastors that finally boiled to the surface.  But none of these actually prove the point asserted and only serve to cloud the issue as we are motivated to attack a dragon that in the end turns out to resemble more of a lethargic salamander.

Idols seek to draw our affection away from Christ.  They seek to replace the affection of our great salvation (Hebrews 2:3-4).  They shift our focus from the Savior to something temporal.  Idols are everywhere and can be constructed out of anything in our lives and hearts.  Warn against making ANYTHING an idol but ensure that if you are addressing an actual one it is based on evidence and not just frustration.  

What is the cure for idolatry?  Focus on Christ!  Focus on Him as Savior and Lord over all.  Turn our eyes upon the resurrected and glorified Jesus Christ who sits even now at the right hand of the Father.  Let all idols be utterly destroyed in our minds and hearts that we may worship the Savior in spirit and in truth.

For His glory,

Adam 

A Flood of Opinions About Noah

The movie Noah by Darren Aronofsky debuts today. There are a wide range of opinions among evangelicals. Eric Hovind of Creation Today offers up 7 reasons NOT to go see Noah. If you follow the logic of the first 6 reasons he gives then you will probably stop seeing movies all together. Living Waters which is a ministry I really like and support most of the time has a real dilemma. They have released their own Noah documentary. They clearly want to capitalize on the movie. So they have a conflict of interest because they want you to watch their movie (Which I would encourage you to take the time to watch). But they have taken a strong stance against Aronofsky's Noah as well. In their most recent post about it they cite Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck is a Mormon. That does not mean that he cannot speak truth but there are good solid Christians who hold a radically different view of this movie then Glenn Beck does.

Answers in Genesis has taken a don't go see it position but they have moderated that with information about how to talk to people who have gone to see it. I think that if you are not going to see it that this is a good position to hold. Perhaps go to their site and learn what you can about the movie so you are equipped to engage people in the culture. Another place to go if you want info to share with friends who have watched the movie is MovieBibleStudy.com they have a Bible study posted for Noah. Perhaps you could get some friends to go through it with you. If you really want to boycott the movie I think Movie Guides suggestion of Othercotting is a good idea. After all the reason Hollywood makes movies is to make money. What you spend your money on is what you are voting for. If the thought of Noah offends you go see God's Not Dead or Son of God. You actually have options this time around unless you are boycotting those as well.

Now all of that being said perhaps the other side of this issue should be considered. Grace Hill Media is a Christian Marketing company that has worked really hard to get Hollywood to open its eyes to the Christian Marketplace. Here is a link to an e-mail they sent me today. It is particularly interesting how many Christians have viewed the movie and endorse it as a worthwhile effort. There is an endorsement video link at the bottom of the e-mail. It is worth watching because you will actually hear from people involved in making the movie. They claimed that the Noah story arc is about judgment and grace.

Movie Guide which I almost always consult when it comes to movie content has 9 articles related to this movie. They point out in one of the articles that Paramount has listened to Christian criticism of the movie. They have added a disclaimer stating that some “artistic license” has been taken with regard to the story, but that the movie is “true to the essence, values, and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide.” The disclaimer also adds, “The biblical story of Noah can be found in the book of Genesis.” Here is a pagan company pointing people to the Bible. Of course Hollywood invest in projects like this in order to make money. Their goal is not to offend everyone. If movies based on the Bible do not make money they simply will not make them.

I am personally not sure that I will see this movie. So why write this article? It seems to me that often there is an unrealistic demand placed on the unsaved world to do Bible things or Christian things in a Christian way. Yet how many of you went to see either of the Thor movies or the Avengers which had Thor in it? Christians will go see Thor, which is a pagan god, but they won't go see Noah? It seems odd that we hold such double standards.

Aronofsky is a Jewish atheist. For some that is enough to not see Noah. But in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 we see God moving in Cyrus the king of Persia. He was a pagan idol worshipping king. God used Cyrus to send the people of Israel back to the land to rebuild the temple. You could say that Cyrus ignited a new conversation with God and about God. I think that there are many people we come into contact with every day who would be interested in having a conversation about God. Noah could be an opportunity to have that conversation. If we turn our backs on a movie like this and only have negative things to say that conversation is never going to happen. Maybe Aronofsky is a type of Cyrus. He could be a man that God is using to open up opportunities for real and important conversations about Jesus our ark of salvation. Perhaps it would be better if we focused less on man and more on our God who moves men - even atheist men - to bring glory to His name in spite of their own plans.

The New Athiest have it Wrong...God's Not Dead

Every now and then you run across something that you just wish everyone could see. I ran across one of those items just the other day. Ravi Zacharias ministries posted a video that is around five and a half minutes long and worth every second. Why? Because in the video we get to hear from a teacher at Oxford in the philosophy department. He talks about how God is moving more then ever around the world and in our towers of higher learning. It is a great video.



But why is this important? Simply because of this. We always need to be encouraged to keep our eyes on our King. He is sovereign and He is active all the time in all areas of everything that is going on everywhere around the world and throughout the universe. Our God is all powerful and He is doing exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think. So be encouraged to live with your eyes firmly fixed on our God and King no matter what may happen to you. Because the relationship that is found in Jesus is eternal and magnificent.

How can a sinful cultures fascination with zombies point us to God?

At church we are currently in a series on Romans. In Romans 11:33-36 Paul talks about how all things are from Jesus and through Jesus and to Jesus. Which makes me ask "all things?" Now I am not a fan of horror movies or books or anything of that genre. As a Christian I think I can justify that by pointing to God's call for us to dwell on things that are beautiful in Philippians 4:8. But I can't help but think that even in the culture's fascination with zombies there is a great reminder for us. I don't know much about zombies but I do know they are the living dead. How can that point us to God. We live among a people that the Bible tells us is spiritually dead (Rom. 8:10, Eph. 2:1). Even though they are spiritually dead they continue to live physically in this world. If nothing else I believe the world embraces the idea of zombies because they are in a spiritual sense like them. And like zombies moving together, they serve their father the devil without even being conscious of it. Rather than simply being repelled by the things in our world perhaps we should ask if the base things we see are perhaps a reflection of what is already in the heart of men. This should make us grateful that we have been made alive in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:11). Perhaps even this could be an entry into a conversation that could help someone come to new life in Christ. This is one more backhanded way our sinful culture can remind us to live a life focused on God. What are some other ways our culture's fascinations point out their fallen state and remind us to look to God?

Super Sins and their Power to Separate us from God?!?

New Year's day and we are setting around discussing how things seem to come between us and God. The problem is not that things come between us and God. Paul asks in Romans 8:35-36 if anything can separate us from the love of Christ. Then he goes through a short list of physical trials and dangers including death. In the next three verses (Romans 8:37-39) Paul declares that nothing can come between us and God. If there is really nothing that can separate us from God then why do we seem to struggle with that feeling of separation?

The reality is that we are really quite prideful. We think of ourselves as somehow needing to do some kind of penance in order to make ourselves right with God. The only problem with that is it makes our standing with God dependent on our ongoing work and not on Jesus finished work. We are living as if our sins are somehow super sins that require more than Jesus' atoning work!

King David in the Bible is called a man after God's own heart. Here is a guy who had big public sins and rebellion within his household. He was so bad he probably would not be accepted at a lot of our churches. Saul his predecessor might not have been a man after God's heart but his house was orderly and his children were loyal to him. Contrary to David, Saul would probably be accepted at a lot of our churches.

What seems to define David being a man after God's own heart is his continual dependence on God. Nothing seemed to be able to separate David from God. When Nathan confronted him with his sin we see repentance and Psalm 51 as a result. When Absalom drove him from Jerusalem he was mocked and cursed by Shimei one of Saul's descendants. In 2 Samuel 16:9-12 his response is one of acceptance of this cursing as if it were from God. In the next breath he sees in the cursing hope that God will repay him good for the cursing he received. Instead of getting defensive at being kicked when he was down, David hopes in God's blessing. Earlier in David's life Saul was hunting him down to kill him. Twice David could have killed Saul (1 Samuel 24:9-12, 26:8-11). In both cases David shows dependence on God to be the one who would avenge him. David's heart seems to always turn to God and cling to Him even if he has sinned. David is dependent on God. In contrast Saul continually did things in his own strength and did rarely showed repentance or dependence on God.

Perhaps the problem when things seem to separate us from God is that we pridefully refuse to depend upon the grace found in the finished work of Jesus. Our actions declare that we really don't believe that Jesus' work was powerful enough for us. Brothers and sisters you are not that great of a sinner, no one is. David really demonstrates what it means to live a God focused life. It might be broken but it is utterly dependent on God. Better to be a broken vessel in my Savior's hands than to be standing on my own in insufficient penance. Let your sin drive you to repentance and your Savior's embrace.