Creating Followers

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about for quite sometime. Why does it seem that the Christian community is on the trailing edge of creativity? Or, to put it another way, why is the church taking its cues from popular culture?

It seems that in the desire to be all things to all people, we have stepped back to see what the world will do, then try to emulate the mainstream pop culture in an effort to be relevant. The flaw, in my opinion, is that it belies who we are as christians, who we are in Christ and most importantly, that Christ is in us. Is it not the God of and the Creator of the universe that has taken up residence within us? The Spirit of God who is able to create something from nothing is supposed to be our driving force, is it not? Then, if we agree this is true, why would we wait and see what trends the world will follow, and then follow the world? Shouldn’t following Christ, or if you prefer, being led by the Spirit, lead us to the cutting edge of creativity?

I, for one, thank it should. Especially in the engagement of the culture, whether through the arts, or evangelism or what ever we do, we should be the most creative subculture within our society. I pray you are challenged, as I have been, to lean wholly on the Lord and not on our own understanding when seeking to reach into the mission field that surrounds us.

Long Over-due Post

Yeah, I know its been a while. But, I have a life away from the computer. So there.

I am surprised that none of my four readers noted the strawman in Dan's argument. That is to say, substituting what he percieves to be "pure and without error" for what God precieves as "pure and without error". Then again, Nadab and Abihu of Num 3:4 had a simalar error.

High Tension Wires and Common Grace

A couple of days ago, Dan Edelen of Cerulean Sanctum got me thinking with this post. In it he deals with the doctrine of Imago Dei in relation to the doctrine of total depravity, and his inability to reconcile the two satisfactorily.

In his post he list four possible solutions along with reasons why they can't be right. I believe his number three comes closest to how I see things.

#3 Total Depravity is total; however, the Imago Dei remains but is tainted in such a way that nothing pure comes from any of it.

His critique of this position is as follows,

#3 is problematic because one could argue that there are things that Man creates that are perfect or at least profoundly good that would argue against taint. For instance, in what way is Handel's Messiah "imperfect" as a piece of music? Or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata? One could say that in order to be perfect, those works would have to appeal to all men at all times in all places. But is that the true test of perfection? Yes, the instruments used to play those works may not be in perfect tune, but the idea of those works as they existed in the minds of those composers would mitigate that issue.

The other problem about #3 is asking the other side of the perfection issue: In what way are those works tainted by sin? Yes, their creators are tainted by sin. There's no reason to believe that Beethoven was ever a born-again Christian, so this muddies the water further, since the Moonlight Sonata is sublimely beautiful. There is evidence that Beethoven wrote that piece in mourning for an unrequited love affair with a married woman, so his motives for writing it are questionable. But the greater question of the purity of the work as a work unto itself remains.

The gist of the argument is (and correct me if I'm wrong)thus we as fallen man are totally depraved, dead in sin. Not mostly dead, but all dead. Specifically spiritually dead. Furthermore,
since Imago Dei is contained within the immaterial part of man rather than the material part. Hence, death to spirit means death to the image of God.

I don't agree with the premise, let me try to illustrate while maintaining the metaphor. Here in the suburbs, we have quite the population of opossums. They don't know when to cross the street. I usually see a couple a month that have lost arguments with passing cars. It is not a pretty sight, but it still looks like an opossum. Sure the little guy's not as tall, and seems to have spread himself a little thin, but he's still recognizable.

So, I would say, yes, we are totally depraved. That is nothing in us is untouched by the fall, all aspects of creation have been perverted as a consequence of that event. Even twisted in death the indelible marks of our Creator show through. I suggest that this is part of the common grace given all mankind. To the glory of God.

tags Journal Devotional Bible Theology Doctrine Christian

Stating the Obvious

Ok, I have lost count of how many times the people grumbled, contended or otherwise whined about the conditions in the wilderness, while reminiscing about the good ol' days in Egypt. Not that I'm going to start the stone throwing. Are we not all men off like flesh? I know that I have, on occasion, looked back fondly on my good ol' days, forgetting what a wicked task-master sin was. Forgetting for a moment how gracious and kind my new task-master is to me.

I notice that their complaint comes from being in the wilderness. A situation brought on by their own unbelief, namely the fear of men and their own perceptions of their chances of success. How many times have I found myself in the midst of the consequence of my own actions?

This time after their offering of whine, God sends "fiery serpents" among the people, and some died. It seems that tragedy sometimes helps us see the sin in our lives and motivates us to repentance. As always, God is faithful and provides a way of salvation.

tags Journal Devotional Bible Theology Doctrine Christian

Second Question, Second Answer?

Continuing with the second question of my Hero To Zero post. I wondered, Why does Moses state "shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" Does the "we" include God? Or just Aaron and himself? The short answer is, the "we" does not include God. I say this because of God's response to the situation. God states to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel" As we see in Numbers 20:24, that Aaron was being gathered to his people" because he "rebelled" against the command of God. In, Numbers 27:14, we read of Moses being Gathered to his people for the same reason. I think this makes a strong case that when we deviate from the revealed will of God, we are acting in "unbelief" and there by not treating God as holy in the sight of His people. So, how did these two great leaders stray from the course, disqualifying themselves from entering the promised land? It seems to me that they neglected to credit the power of God to this miracle. How often are we, leaders included, tempted to recognize our part in the working out of God's plan as the indispensable part? Thereby creating dependence on ourselves and our God given talents, rather then God and His sovereign hand. Think about your preaching, your evangelism, your apologetics, are you also tempted, I surely am.

tags Journal Devotional Bible Theology Doctrine Christian

First Question, First Answer?

Why did Moses disobey? It seems to me, that every time the Israelites set up camp, they figure they should be in the promised land. This has been going on for a number of years, and quite frankly, I think Moses is fed up with it. I find it notable that God wasn't burning with wrath, ready to smite the people before Moses intercedes. God is silent until Moses and Aaron fall before Him. Then, before these men of God can speak, God gives them instructions on how He will use them to bless the people. I can't count the times I've wanted to have explicit instructions from God. I realize, even with clear guidance, how easy it is to trip over my own sin nature. I believe the words spoken by Moses, "Listen now, you rebels" shows his heart, that he thought the sons of Israel needed a verbal b-slap. I think this shows how easily we can insert our own will in to God's plan, which in turn leads us into further sin. Thankfully, even as we might fail, God is good, and He continues to provide.

tags Journal Devotional Bible Theology Doctrine Christian