================================================================

Monday, April 21, 2008

Why, What, & How

Ezra 6:21 (NIV) says, “So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate [the Passover], together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.” This verse tells us that the Israelites, in order to seek the LORD, had separated themselves from the unclean practices of the Gentiles.

The way some preachers present the Gospel, you could think that the only distinction between believers and unbelievers is to be found in the heart, where, of course, it cannot be found by human eyes. But this verse in Ezra states plainly, what can also be found throughout the whole of Scripture, that there must also be a distinction in practice. In other exhortations, I have endeavored to clarify and illustrate this basic principle – “The attitude of the heart affects the action of the hand” (as I put it), or “Theology flows out your fingertips” (as Pastor Douglas Wilson puts it), or “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (as our Lord Jesus Christ puts it: Matthew 15:19).

So, between those who are the people of God and those who are not, distinctions must be maintained not only in the why but also in the what (not only in the heart but also in the practice). The afore-mentioned preachers, even though their preaching may not always clearly yield this perception, will generally concede this truth, at least, to some extent; although, I still doubt that such concession is as comprehensive as it ought to be. But even less is the extent to which they will concede the following: that there also needs to be a noticeable distinction in the how (the way that we do what we do). We must have Christian reasons for what we do; we must do Christian things; and we must do them the Christian way.

From the New International Version of Deuteronomy 12, we observe the following: In verses 2 and 3, the Holy Spirit inspires Moses to command the people to destroy everything associated with heathen worship upon conquering the promised land. Then, in verse 4, he says, “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.” (emphasis mine) So with that, let’s begin an investigation of the Holy Scriptures for evidences of this principle of distinction, specifically as it applies to worship.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Seeker-Sensitive Ark-Bearing

The first part of 1 Chronicles 13, by quoting some highlights, can be summarized as follows: “David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, ‘If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers …. Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, ….’ The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people. … They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. … When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he did there before God.” (verses 1-4, 7, 9-10, NIV) Then in chapter 15, we read, “[David] prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, ‘No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before Him forever.’ … [David] called together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: ….” He summoned their chiefs and “said to them, ‘You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke our in anger against us. We did not inquire of Him about how to do it in the prescribed way.’” (verses 1-2, 4, 11-13, NIV, my emphasis added)

When preparing this exhortation, I was intrigued to observe that, in I Chronicles 13, we are told specifically that “David conferred with each of his officers” (v. 1) about bringing up the ark of the covenant and that “The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people” (v. 4). Before noticing that, I had thought of pretending to read the passage something like this, “David desired to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. So he ordered that a poll be taken of those people within a particular demographic range to determine the most popular and effective way to transport a sacred covenantal ark. The results of that study showed that most people between the ages of 15 and 55 felt most inspired and motivated whenever they observed a covenantal ark traveling on a cart being pulled by a team of oxen. … And, as you know, the results were tragic.”

The idea being, of course, to ultimately show that God was not displeased with just what was done, even with the supposed good intentions, but how it was being done –- that the focus of our worship should be more than what we’re doing or why, but also how. And even though the irreverence with its consequence was most clearly exhibited by one individual, the corporate body still bore responsibility. But there is no need to misread the text; for the actual Scripture Itself seems to hint already at the correlation between disaster and seeker-sensitive ark-bearing.

You Are What You Believe

Have you ever observed the following interesting comparisons and contrasts about some of your friends and acquaintances? You have some who, as you have acutely observed from time to time, seem to have some unusual theological perspectives, yet they appear to have a very Godly home, a great desire for the truth of God's Word, a bountiful love for the things of God, and a healthy appreciation of God's world. Then you know others whose theology much more closely aligns with your own, and yet their walk with God seems ... well, ... let's just say that you have some concerns about the direction in which some of their current trends may be taking them.

Hhmmm.... It's pretty easy to see what I'm getting at, isn't it? Now don't start running through all your reasons for ignoring the obvious. Don't tell me about how "Life's more complicated than that," or "It's the attitude of the heart that matters," or "God cares about the motivation behind my friends' behaviors more than the behaviors themselves," or that "Only eternity will show who was pleasing God and who wasn't."

Ignoring obvious truths usually coincides with also subscribing to pragmatic alternative falsehoods. Such falsehoods might be summed up in statements like "Unity means not focusing on those areas of disagreement with my brother," or "If it's not an absolute worthy of becoming a test of fellowship, then it's not worth arguing over," and other such similarities to the world's perspective on tolerance.

Are you willing to sacrifice your marriage, your children, your congregation, or your country for the sake of avoiding argument? What if your Christian brother is right and you're wrong about a particular doctrine? If you really love truth, shouldn't you be gratefully desirous of what he could teach you? If you really love your brother, shouldn't you be desiring greatly that he would benefit from what you could teach him? If you are convinced of what you believe, then a poor argument from your brother should only solidify your convictions. But if your beliefs currently stand upon a weak foundation, well then ... perhaps that's really why you're avoiding debate.

Just in case the big point here is in danger of getting missed, let me state plainly: What you believe affects what you do. What you do affects what you and those around you become. What you become – what you are – has everything to do with the whole purpose for which God created you.

Friday, April 04, 2008

words

words –
air ascends, across the vocal strings, past the lips –
light
words again –
world
more words –
life

Word –
Breath descends, across the ages, past the chasm –
Light of the world
Word –
world consists in Him
Word –
Life eternal
“The Word became flesh”
2-26-08