“…He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)
“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”
Sir Isaac Newton
The speed of information acquisition is staggering. The Internet has led us to unimaginable heights in the assimilation of knowledge. Huge “clouds” of processing power, available to a select group at the end of the last century, have been unleashed on the public as we near the end of the first decade of the 21st Century. Can one really imagine what the intellectual giants like Copernicus, Galileo, Da Vinci, Newton, and Einstein would have been able to accomplish had they leashed the processing power that the modern man now has on his “smart phone”? The potential would have been enormous. How quickly would Edison have been able to develop a working light bulb, or the Wright Brothers have been able to make a quantum leap in the development of the airplane? Man now seems to be situated upon an information precipice looking across the gorge trying to develop the next span in an effort to further expand his knowledge base. We seem to be upon a never ending journey to uncover knowledge. Each step opens new horizons and new universes in which to explore.
Many of humanity’s greatest thinkers developed their greatest theories because of their devotion to their religious beliefs. Many did so in an effort to uncover the structure underlying Creation. Galileo was a well known and pious Roman Catholic. His castigation by the church grieved him, but did not dissuade him from continuing his quest to reveal the divine behind the scenes working out the creative process. Nor did the prevailing Aristotelian theorists of the church have the least impact upon Galileo’s quest. Galileo knew, as did Augustine before him, that “all Truth is of Him who is the Truth”. Galileo’s observations concerning the movement of the various planets around the star of our solar system provided a basis for a structure of the universe. And where there is structure there is a basis for belief of one who structures, a planner, a creator, a God. This brought life to the Psalmists statement that “the heavens declare the glory of God”.
Copernicus, who gave the foundational ideas to Galileo’s heliocentric theory of the earth’s movement around the sun, was also a devout Catholic whose ideas, formulated well before those of Galileo, proved a valuable foundation for the Gregorian calendar released some seventy years after Copernicus’ death. Yet the two were hailed by historians as devout in their beliefs. Copernicus even earned a doctorate in Canon Law, that law by which the Catholic Church measured all things. To treat these two heralds of the Enlightenment as secular scientists would be an egregious error as calling Magellan the first mate of a New York harbor garbage barge. These two men understood their science in light of their Christian faith. And they were not the only ones.
Isaac Newton, the wrongly proclaimed grand master of the Priory of Sion in Dan Brown’s novel the Da Vinci Code, actually wrote more on theology than he did on physics. His contributions to both science and theology cannot be understated. But underlying all of Newton’s work was his admiration of God. Some of the most oft quoted lines from Newton were, “[the] most beautiful System of the Sun, Planets, and Comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being”. In Newton’s mind there was no line of separation between natural philosophy (the study of science) and theology (the study of God). Natural philosophy, he would say, was just on a recovery mission after the Fall of Man as described in Genesis. It was this act, Newton believed, that separated man from the issue of all Truth – both scientific and theological. As a matter of fact, Newton was of a group of scholars who believed that all natural philosophical knowledge was known to man prior to the Fall. Man, according to Newton, had perfect knowledge of all things earthly prior to his separation from the Creator. Natural philosophy was a method of recovering of that which was lost to man. It is no wonder then that Newton uttered the words above as he described his life quest as an unending shell hunt on the shore of an ocean replete with undiscovered Truth.
South Carolinian, Charles Townes, credited with discovery of the laser beam, believes that both science and religion are on two parallel paths that will ultimately converge into one reality. His understanding of faith led this Nobel Prize Laureate to be awarded the Templeton Prize in 2005 for his work describing the convergence of science and faith. Townes believes that the nature of scientific discovery and religious discovery have similar characteristics – much akin to the process of mediation. One of his notable discoveries, MASER theory, was uncovered in what he describes as a moment of revelation on a park bench in Washington, DC. That moment, he has compared to both Moses and the Buddha experiencing a moment of enlightenment. Townes has been quoted as stating, “Science is an effort to understand what the universe is made of and how it works; religion is an attempt to understand the meaning and purpose of the universe. Understanding how the universe works should give us a good deal of information about what its purpose and meaning is. Science sheds more and more light.” Townes, like many before him, is trying to find resolution between this religious belief and his scientific inquisitiveness. Newton, Copernicus, and Galileo were on the same path.
In many ways, the modern Christian has been silenced in the marketplace of ideas because we are seen as squelchers of knowledge. It is our duty, as Newton expressed, to uncover that which was covered by the Fall of Man – uninhibited Truth as God reveals it to us. We should not be seen by the world as mufflers of scientific discovery, but as those who actively engage the rational minds of today in an effort to understand its meaning and purpose. We should engage new scientific ideas and infuse meaning and purpose, as Townes would hold. In this way we can fulfill the words of the Hebrew philosopher Ecclesiastes: God “has made everything beautiful in its time”.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
A Recent Speech
Let me begin tonight by stating that I am here as a private citizen. I do not represent Greenville Technical College at this event, nor am I here in any official capacity. I am a Christian that just happens to work in the public square. I am a Christian that cannot separate his beliefs from what he has chosen as a profession.
As I was considering my remarks this evening, I thought about how glorious it would be to share with you on some esoteric topic like “does the devil think he is really evil”, or “the role of social media in the current cultural crisis”. Rather than talking with you about one of those topics, I decided that it was better that I speak with you concerning something I really had some level of expertise. I think I want to share with you a more rudimentary issue that I believe lies at the foundations of our current cultural mess.
A few years ago I was conducting some research as to how a person’s faith had an impact on what was taught in the classroom. I interviewed 30 faculty members at 3 different colleges and found that there were 30 different ways these individuals infused faith into what they taught. As a matter of fact, I found that it was not just in the classroom that these people infused their faith. Now, that may not be so surprising to some of you, but I found that it was very interesting.
What I found most interesting was these people shared their faith for one reason and one reason only. It was not because they felt compelled by the Christian mission of the college; it was not because they felt some sort of Christian responsibility; it was not because they felt threatened by an overbearing administration that forced them to do so; it was not even because they thought that God had commanded them to. They shared their faith with their students because they cared. They cared that their faith was propagated to the next generation in a fresh and relevant way. These people shared because their faith was very personal to them and they could not help but share out of who they really were. One man described his sharing as winsome. Another described sharing his faith as weaving the horizontal threads of man’s knowledge with the vertical threads of God’s revelation; these working together to create a beautiful and intricate tapestry of education. I was awe inspired by many of these descriptions. These drove me deeper to find commonalities between various approaches to integrating one’s faith in education. The common thread that I discovered was a deep sense of caring – caring for the student that came into contact with the instructor. But it turned out to be much more than care for an individual student.
I looked up the term “care” and found the definition as being: “a state of mind in which one is troubled; worry, anxiety, or concern.” A STATE OF MIND IN WHICH ONE IS TROUBLED; WORRY, ANXIETY, OR CONCERN.
When I first learned about Dr. Page leaving Taylors First Baptist Church to head up the evangelistic thrust for the North American Mission Board, I sent him a personal email to let him know of my support for him during this time of decision. His response to me was quite telling of what was going on in his mind. He said, “This is a very hard decision for me. Please pray for me.” You see in his mind he was weighing, not the pros and cons of making such a decision, but what God wanted him to do. Frank was exercising care. He had to weigh his care about his present ministry against a broader ministry to which God was calling him. And the two were causing quite a conflict. God was pushing him to see a much broader horizon of effect. Frank was concerned about the church he was shepherding.
You see, that is what care causes. It causes anxiety and conflict. More importantly, it brings about clarity – clarity of purpose.
Now, Care is not a casual feeling or response. It is something that, if it is true, can be the most powerful motivating force known to man. Each of the persons I was researching cared, at some level, for their students. The motivation for that care was what drove them to greater heights of infusing their faith. It was not enough for some of the subjects of my research to relegate their efforts to just the classroom. Many of them used care about their faith to push broader issues at the college in which they worked. Many influenced college wide policies, general education concerns, program directions. Many used it to train other faculty members how to infuse their faith in the classroom. One actually published research on how a student’s ethical decision making was affected by the content of the courses taken.
You see, their level of care caused these faculty members to infuse their faith at all levels of interaction with students, faculty, staff, and administration at the college. I found that the depth of a person’s care about their faith determined the breadth of their involvement in the inter-working of the college.
Let’s turn to the issue at hand this evening – care about infusing our faith in the public square – for my purposes, in education.
We are all concerned about the education of our children in this country. I think it would be crass to think that some people do not care if a child learns to read or write, add and subtract. Some are more concerned and some are less concerned. And they demonstrate that concern by their level of involvement. Let me give you and example. Parent A over here is always at parent teacher conferences and calls the teacher whenever there seems to be a problem with his child’s grades. He is very concerned about progress reports and nine week grades. He makes sure his child is well behaved in school and that he understands that if there is a problem with behavior at school, there will be a problem with that behavior at home. Sounds pretty caring, doesn’t he? Now Parent B does the very same things as Parent A. Yet Parent B sees that not every student has a caring parent like Parent A. Parent B starts to make certain connections that if she becomes more involved with the process, then she can maybe affect positive change for all students and not just her own. Parent B makes sure she is at all the PTA meetings, volunteers for committees to strengthen the school, and even schedules time with the principal to meet about the library not having books that help students make the transition from elementary school to middle school. Parent B not only was elected as president of the local PTA, but is also president of the regional PTA. Parent B is asked to represent the PTA on a committee established by the local school board, and was asked to be the spokesperson at the next school board meeting to report the committee’s findings. Now, I don’t want you to blurt out any answers, but who is going to have the most influence with the principal where her child attends school? My guess is that Parent B is going to be that person.
What if Parent B happens to be someone who is not a Christian; or worse yet a Christian that is not grounded in the Christian Worldview? What if Parent B lives an alternative lifestyle? What if Parent B is Pro-Choice? What if Parent B believes that abstinence education should not be taught as the only way to avoid STD’s?
I would submit to you tonight that it is not that we don’t care as Christians. It is that we do not care enough, as Christians, to get involved with local, regional, and national issues. We have seen, over the years, an erosion of the principles that founded this country. We are discouraged. We think the country is going to Hell in the proverbial hand basket. And why should I get involved? The liberals have taken control. There is nothing I can do to change the system. It is hopeless. Who am I to take on the system? We are not concerned, we are suffering from depression. Concern drives you to action not inaction. Depression drives you deeper into inaction.
I remember the first time I involved myself in the political arena. It was at a local precinct meeting. I attended the Tigerville precinct meeting and before I knew it I was elected to represent our precinct to the Greenville County Republican Party. I wasn’t anyone special. I was just available. I just remember that I was encouraged by a presidential candidate to get involved at the lowest level and make things happen there. I cared enough to get involved in the process. I made a difference. And you can make a difference.
Take for instance the Greenville County School Board. Many people think that decisions are made at school board meetings. Nope, they are not. They are formalized there. In nearly all cases, decisions are made prior to votes at school board meetings. If you want to have an impact on local issues you need to voice your opinions at meetings of the “Committee of the Whole.” That is where decisions are made.
If you want to get on Channel 4 News attend County Council Meetings and cause a ruckus. You will look great on TV, but you will not score any points with County Council. You need to attend committee meetings where decisions are being made – before they are voted on.
The Bible gives us a story about a man who deeply cared for his homeland. This man was Nehemiah. Let me read to you about his concern:
The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name. "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." I was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah’s concern drove him to pray, and then to act. He used all of his resources to gain success in rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. He knew who to approach about his need. He took a chance and made his pitch. And he scored a home run. The king he was serving not only allowed him to go back and repair the wall, but gave him all the resources to do what is necessary. We need to have the wisdom to know how, and where, to voice our care and concern. It is not that we have to take back the country, we must care more deeply about our country than ever before and influence the PTA, the schools, and the school district. We don’t have to be violent, we don’t have to scream, and we don’t have to be mad. We have to care and care deeply about the issues concerning our local communities. We have to become anxious, we have to grieve, and we have to be troubled. When this happens, just like my friend Dr. Page, the result will be clarity of purpose: A purpose that will give us fortitude, a purpose that will give us a drive, a purpose that will change the direction of our communities, our state and this nation.
Two years ago, I visited Jerusalem. And on that visit I witnessed Nehemiah’s accomplishment – the wall that he and his followers built. It stands today in the middle of the Old City as a testament to what can be accomplished if someone truly cares. God can do miraculous things through you if you care deeply enough.
My question to this generation is this: What will be the testament to our level of care if the Lord tarries for 3000 more years?
My question to you is this: Do you care deeply enough about changing our society?
Thank you for allowing me to share some of my thoughts with you this evening.
As I was considering my remarks this evening, I thought about how glorious it would be to share with you on some esoteric topic like “does the devil think he is really evil”, or “the role of social media in the current cultural crisis”. Rather than talking with you about one of those topics, I decided that it was better that I speak with you concerning something I really had some level of expertise. I think I want to share with you a more rudimentary issue that I believe lies at the foundations of our current cultural mess.
A few years ago I was conducting some research as to how a person’s faith had an impact on what was taught in the classroom. I interviewed 30 faculty members at 3 different colleges and found that there were 30 different ways these individuals infused faith into what they taught. As a matter of fact, I found that it was not just in the classroom that these people infused their faith. Now, that may not be so surprising to some of you, but I found that it was very interesting.
What I found most interesting was these people shared their faith for one reason and one reason only. It was not because they felt compelled by the Christian mission of the college; it was not because they felt some sort of Christian responsibility; it was not because they felt threatened by an overbearing administration that forced them to do so; it was not even because they thought that God had commanded them to. They shared their faith with their students because they cared. They cared that their faith was propagated to the next generation in a fresh and relevant way. These people shared because their faith was very personal to them and they could not help but share out of who they really were. One man described his sharing as winsome. Another described sharing his faith as weaving the horizontal threads of man’s knowledge with the vertical threads of God’s revelation; these working together to create a beautiful and intricate tapestry of education. I was awe inspired by many of these descriptions. These drove me deeper to find commonalities between various approaches to integrating one’s faith in education. The common thread that I discovered was a deep sense of caring – caring for the student that came into contact with the instructor. But it turned out to be much more than care for an individual student.
I looked up the term “care” and found the definition as being: “a state of mind in which one is troubled; worry, anxiety, or concern.” A STATE OF MIND IN WHICH ONE IS TROUBLED; WORRY, ANXIETY, OR CONCERN.
When I first learned about Dr. Page leaving Taylors First Baptist Church to head up the evangelistic thrust for the North American Mission Board, I sent him a personal email to let him know of my support for him during this time of decision. His response to me was quite telling of what was going on in his mind. He said, “This is a very hard decision for me. Please pray for me.” You see in his mind he was weighing, not the pros and cons of making such a decision, but what God wanted him to do. Frank was exercising care. He had to weigh his care about his present ministry against a broader ministry to which God was calling him. And the two were causing quite a conflict. God was pushing him to see a much broader horizon of effect. Frank was concerned about the church he was shepherding.
You see, that is what care causes. It causes anxiety and conflict. More importantly, it brings about clarity – clarity of purpose.
Now, Care is not a casual feeling or response. It is something that, if it is true, can be the most powerful motivating force known to man. Each of the persons I was researching cared, at some level, for their students. The motivation for that care was what drove them to greater heights of infusing their faith. It was not enough for some of the subjects of my research to relegate their efforts to just the classroom. Many of them used care about their faith to push broader issues at the college in which they worked. Many influenced college wide policies, general education concerns, program directions. Many used it to train other faculty members how to infuse their faith in the classroom. One actually published research on how a student’s ethical decision making was affected by the content of the courses taken.
You see, their level of care caused these faculty members to infuse their faith at all levels of interaction with students, faculty, staff, and administration at the college. I found that the depth of a person’s care about their faith determined the breadth of their involvement in the inter-working of the college.
Let’s turn to the issue at hand this evening – care about infusing our faith in the public square – for my purposes, in education.
We are all concerned about the education of our children in this country. I think it would be crass to think that some people do not care if a child learns to read or write, add and subtract. Some are more concerned and some are less concerned. And they demonstrate that concern by their level of involvement. Let me give you and example. Parent A over here is always at parent teacher conferences and calls the teacher whenever there seems to be a problem with his child’s grades. He is very concerned about progress reports and nine week grades. He makes sure his child is well behaved in school and that he understands that if there is a problem with behavior at school, there will be a problem with that behavior at home. Sounds pretty caring, doesn’t he? Now Parent B does the very same things as Parent A. Yet Parent B sees that not every student has a caring parent like Parent A. Parent B starts to make certain connections that if she becomes more involved with the process, then she can maybe affect positive change for all students and not just her own. Parent B makes sure she is at all the PTA meetings, volunteers for committees to strengthen the school, and even schedules time with the principal to meet about the library not having books that help students make the transition from elementary school to middle school. Parent B not only was elected as president of the local PTA, but is also president of the regional PTA. Parent B is asked to represent the PTA on a committee established by the local school board, and was asked to be the spokesperson at the next school board meeting to report the committee’s findings. Now, I don’t want you to blurt out any answers, but who is going to have the most influence with the principal where her child attends school? My guess is that Parent B is going to be that person.
What if Parent B happens to be someone who is not a Christian; or worse yet a Christian that is not grounded in the Christian Worldview? What if Parent B lives an alternative lifestyle? What if Parent B is Pro-Choice? What if Parent B believes that abstinence education should not be taught as the only way to avoid STD’s?
I would submit to you tonight that it is not that we don’t care as Christians. It is that we do not care enough, as Christians, to get involved with local, regional, and national issues. We have seen, over the years, an erosion of the principles that founded this country. We are discouraged. We think the country is going to Hell in the proverbial hand basket. And why should I get involved? The liberals have taken control. There is nothing I can do to change the system. It is hopeless. Who am I to take on the system? We are not concerned, we are suffering from depression. Concern drives you to action not inaction. Depression drives you deeper into inaction.
I remember the first time I involved myself in the political arena. It was at a local precinct meeting. I attended the Tigerville precinct meeting and before I knew it I was elected to represent our precinct to the Greenville County Republican Party. I wasn’t anyone special. I was just available. I just remember that I was encouraged by a presidential candidate to get involved at the lowest level and make things happen there. I cared enough to get involved in the process. I made a difference. And you can make a difference.
Take for instance the Greenville County School Board. Many people think that decisions are made at school board meetings. Nope, they are not. They are formalized there. In nearly all cases, decisions are made prior to votes at school board meetings. If you want to have an impact on local issues you need to voice your opinions at meetings of the “Committee of the Whole.” That is where decisions are made.
If you want to get on Channel 4 News attend County Council Meetings and cause a ruckus. You will look great on TV, but you will not score any points with County Council. You need to attend committee meetings where decisions are being made – before they are voted on.
The Bible gives us a story about a man who deeply cared for his homeland. This man was Nehemiah. Let me read to you about his concern:
The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name. "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." I was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah’s concern drove him to pray, and then to act. He used all of his resources to gain success in rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. He knew who to approach about his need. He took a chance and made his pitch. And he scored a home run. The king he was serving not only allowed him to go back and repair the wall, but gave him all the resources to do what is necessary. We need to have the wisdom to know how, and where, to voice our care and concern. It is not that we have to take back the country, we must care more deeply about our country than ever before and influence the PTA, the schools, and the school district. We don’t have to be violent, we don’t have to scream, and we don’t have to be mad. We have to care and care deeply about the issues concerning our local communities. We have to become anxious, we have to grieve, and we have to be troubled. When this happens, just like my friend Dr. Page, the result will be clarity of purpose: A purpose that will give us fortitude, a purpose that will give us a drive, a purpose that will change the direction of our communities, our state and this nation.
Two years ago, I visited Jerusalem. And on that visit I witnessed Nehemiah’s accomplishment – the wall that he and his followers built. It stands today in the middle of the Old City as a testament to what can be accomplished if someone truly cares. God can do miraculous things through you if you care deeply enough.
My question to this generation is this: What will be the testament to our level of care if the Lord tarries for 3000 more years?
My question to you is this: Do you care deeply enough about changing our society?
Thank you for allowing me to share some of my thoughts with you this evening.
The Reason Christianity is Hated
"All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Matt 10:22
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."
John 15:18
Those of us who are Christians understand the message of Christ as being that of love and sacrifice. Jesus commanded us to “love one another”. His message was one of relieving the individual of the burdens of life and replacing them with His lighter burden. Even a casual reading of New Testament accounts of Jesus’ acts leads one to believe that Jesus went about doing good wherever he went.
Consider the following examples: healing the paralytic (Mark 2:1ff); healing the leprous (Mark 1:40ff, Matt. 8:28ff); raising the dead (Matt. 9:18ff, John 11:38ff); healing the blind and mute (Matt., John 9:1ff); rescue of the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11); feeding the 5000 (John 6:1ff).
His teachings also reveal the care and concern He has for the individual: love for enemies (Matt. 5:43ff, Luke 6:27ff); giving to those in need (Matt. 6: 1ff); forgiveness of others (Matt. 6:14ff); telling the truth (Matt. 5:33ff); the value of human life (Matt. 5:21ff); keeping oneself from vice (Mark 7:14ff); passing judgment on others (Luke 6:37ff).
The internal evidence of the goodness of Christianity is unquestioned. And this is without recognizing the “sonum bonum” of Christianity: the elevation of the believer’s soul to right standing with God through the selfless-sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Every act of Jesus illustrates how important man is in God’s sight. Further, Jesus calls us to follow in His very footsteps. Unfortunately that is not how the world perceives our faith. Our actions over the past 20 centuries since Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven have not given the world pause to think the better of us. Rather, in many cases our actions have incited hatred and help invent other religions.
But it is not just the actions of a few well placed provocateurs that have caused immeasurable cruelty in the name of Christ. It is Christ Himself who is the ultimate provocateur in this struggle against evil. Again, the internal evidence of the Christ’s works and words are antithetical to the hatred He has incited. But the hatred persists nonetheless, why?
In reality, the answer is blatantly displayed in the gospel of John. John is observing here an intimate moment during the last hours of Jesus’ ministry here on earth. While in the upper room Jesus speaks to His disciples concerning His death, resurrection and ascension to the Father in heaven. He comments to them that He is going to prepare a place for them so that they can be where He is going. He tells them that they know the way and will follow. Thomas poses the question, “how can we know where You are going, since You have not informed us to where you go?” Jesus’ response resounds in our ears to this very day and it differentiates belief in Him from any other religious figure. He states quite emphatically that, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (Jn. 14:6).” This statement has caused division from that day forth. This statement of singularity differentiates those that follow Jesus from everyone else in the world. Each religion’s claims of exclusivity (or inclusivity for that matter) have to be weighed against this proclamation by Jesus. This statement begs the question of C.S. Lewis who said we must examine the statements of Jesus to determine if He is a lunatic, the greatest liar to propagate the greatest hoax upon humanity, or Jesus is who He proclaims to be (Mere Christianity). But that is another question for another time.
Suppose what Jesus said is true – that He is the exclusive way to God the Father. This would fly in the face of His Jewish brethren and cause quite a fracture in their religious system if it were not squashed. This is indeed what happened resulting in Jesus subsequent trial, beating, crucifixion and death. To the Muslim, Jesus’ proclamation would negate their entire belief system requiring them to “submit” to the requirements of the Qur’an and to the teachings of Muhammad. To the Hindu, Jesus’ words obliterate the need for an entire pantheon of gods and demigods which gives the entire social system impetus. To the Buddhist, the notion of meaning in the afterlife and a pathway there would reduce their system of reaching Nirvana to a heap of philosophical rubbish. The same can be said to be true of every other religion comparing itself to Jesus’ claims. Even today’s overriding philosophy of “many pathways to God” is relegated to the religious garbage heap in light of Jesus’ claims. The better question is why these groups would not hate the Truth as proclaimed by Jesus, since His statement excludes so many from the Kingdom of God. Even though His is a message of love, healing, reconciliation, and exaltation, because of Jesus’ claims of exclusivity there is hatred and derision by those who do not accept, nor understand, them.
How then do we, as Christians, respond to a world so maligned to the Truth we find in Jesus? The logical approach is to “circle the wagons” as a protective measure. But this is not the method Jesus tells us to employ. He says to “go into all the world” to make His Truth known. Many Christians recognize that we are at war with and we must wage this war against the world. The problem is that we have not targeted the true enemy. Many times we see the religious practitioners as the object of our derision. Muslims are not the enemy of Christ, nor are Buddhists, Hindus, or Atheists for that matter. These people are prisoners who need to know the Truth in order to be free of the shackles of their imprisonment. It would be errant to consider them as necessary “collateral damage” in our war against evil. No, these practitioners of religious belief are not the enemy. They are our objective. They are the reason we are at war. Even their religious beliefs are not the object of our hostilities. We must follow Jesus’ example of learning to operate within their system of beliefs in order to reach them with the Truth of Jesus’ message. This must be done in an attitude of care, concern and understanding.
We have an unprecedented opportunity in today’s climate of diversity to move in and out of the canvass of multiculturalism in an effort to explain the Gospel of Christ to the uninitiated masses of other religions. It is incumbent upon us to learn how to develop the skills necessary to convert those who hate our message. But it is their only hope of salvation if we truly believe what we proclaim.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Things Hoped For...Things Unseen
One writer has said "faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen". Things hoped for...things unseen. What then is my greatest hope? Long life, happiness, grandchildren, health, eternal life, world peace? All of these are virtuous, I think.
I want to live to be 100, if my mind is lucid and my body is healthy. I would like to witness what challenges the world has faced, and its leaders overcome, in over a century. Will we make it to Mars in my lifetime? What technological advances will the world make in the next 51 years?
Secondly, can humans actually achieve happiness? Is happiness a worthwhile goal? Or is the pursuit of happiness where we actually find it?
Thirdly, I want to live to see my son have children. I want to know what it is to be a granddad. Some of my friends are already grandparents, and the looks on their faces lead me to believe it is a grand thing to be a grandparent.
I think to have the gift of health is also something we all desire. Moreover, I think maintaining health is as important to those I love as it is to me. Having healthy habits shows love not only for yourself but love for others. At least I hope they want me around for a while.
And world peace is not something relegated to an utterance by those hoping to become Miss America. I really would like to live in a world where there is no fear from the encroachment of terrorists.
Finally, I hope for eternal life. From my previous post I think one can ascertain that I believe in a higher power, I believe that all men (and women) were made by Him. I believe that we are imbued with something of God's substance. And because of that I believe that there is an eternal nature in each person. If I hope for eternal life, I must hope that it is in the presence of God.
If I hope to be eternally in the presence of God, How do i get there? Many people believe there is a way to work ones way into the presence of God. I recently tried my hand at participating in a discussion group. The substance of that discussion dealt with performance based entrance into the presence of God. The leader of the discussion held that we could work our way into heaven. One question he failed to address was how much good work was enough? His response was that we would find out once we got into the presence of God.
Muslims also believe in such a salvation. Buddhists believe in a path to Nirvana that includes separation from the material world. Jews believe the path to salvation is in following the Torah and many ancillary dictates from tradition and Rabbinical interpretations.
But my question remains the same: how much good is enough to get to eternal life? I am not so sure we can ever be so good. I am not so sure we can perform enough good works to get God's attention much less His eternal grace.
I think the question most certainly has to be addressed by God Himself; and I can only find one answer purportedly given by God Himself. Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father except by me" (Jn 14:6). Earlier in that passage Jesus said to trust in God the Father and in Him (Jesus) and He would make a place in heaven for us.
This, and other passages, take the focus off of my personal efforts to attain eternal life. And they place the onus of salvation where it can be given, and if it is given it must be received. If it is received the gift cannot be taken away. Salvation is safest when it is a gift. It is fragile when it depends upon me to maintain it. Under Jesus' plan I don't have to do anything to earn it. I don't have to be accountable for sins past, present, or future. It frees me to love God because he is altogether lovely. A relationship based upon love rather than action. Is that not truly love? It frees me to do for God what He wants of me, not what He requires of me. It does, however, require me to place my hope and trust in Christ for my salvation.
My greatest hope is that not only am I awarded the grace ushering me into eternity with God, but that all might taste of that gift. It is the thing that I hope for and my life is the evidence of things not seen. And I'll hold that thought for next time.
I want to live to be 100, if my mind is lucid and my body is healthy. I would like to witness what challenges the world has faced, and its leaders overcome, in over a century. Will we make it to Mars in my lifetime? What technological advances will the world make in the next 51 years?
Secondly, can humans actually achieve happiness? Is happiness a worthwhile goal? Or is the pursuit of happiness where we actually find it?
Thirdly, I want to live to see my son have children. I want to know what it is to be a granddad. Some of my friends are already grandparents, and the looks on their faces lead me to believe it is a grand thing to be a grandparent.
I think to have the gift of health is also something we all desire. Moreover, I think maintaining health is as important to those I love as it is to me. Having healthy habits shows love not only for yourself but love for others. At least I hope they want me around for a while.
And world peace is not something relegated to an utterance by those hoping to become Miss America. I really would like to live in a world where there is no fear from the encroachment of terrorists.
Finally, I hope for eternal life. From my previous post I think one can ascertain that I believe in a higher power, I believe that all men (and women) were made by Him. I believe that we are imbued with something of God's substance. And because of that I believe that there is an eternal nature in each person. If I hope for eternal life, I must hope that it is in the presence of God.
If I hope to be eternally in the presence of God, How do i get there? Many people believe there is a way to work ones way into the presence of God. I recently tried my hand at participating in a discussion group. The substance of that discussion dealt with performance based entrance into the presence of God. The leader of the discussion held that we could work our way into heaven. One question he failed to address was how much good work was enough? His response was that we would find out once we got into the presence of God.
Muslims also believe in such a salvation. Buddhists believe in a path to Nirvana that includes separation from the material world. Jews believe the path to salvation is in following the Torah and many ancillary dictates from tradition and Rabbinical interpretations.
But my question remains the same: how much good is enough to get to eternal life? I am not so sure we can ever be so good. I am not so sure we can perform enough good works to get God's attention much less His eternal grace.
I think the question most certainly has to be addressed by God Himself; and I can only find one answer purportedly given by God Himself. Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father except by me" (Jn 14:6). Earlier in that passage Jesus said to trust in God the Father and in Him (Jesus) and He would make a place in heaven for us.
This, and other passages, take the focus off of my personal efforts to attain eternal life. And they place the onus of salvation where it can be given, and if it is given it must be received. If it is received the gift cannot be taken away. Salvation is safest when it is a gift. It is fragile when it depends upon me to maintain it. Under Jesus' plan I don't have to do anything to earn it. I don't have to be accountable for sins past, present, or future. It frees me to love God because he is altogether lovely. A relationship based upon love rather than action. Is that not truly love? It frees me to do for God what He wants of me, not what He requires of me. It does, however, require me to place my hope and trust in Christ for my salvation.
My greatest hope is that not only am I awarded the grace ushering me into eternity with God, but that all might taste of that gift. It is the thing that I hope for and my life is the evidence of things not seen. And I'll hold that thought for next time.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Cracks...
We all start by assuming things, do we not? Yes, I understand what assumptions do to people. Yet we all assume certain things to be true; some would say factual. I would say we all operate our lives believing certain things can be counted upon. Some of these assumptions are based on fact, some are based in myth, and some are based in "old-wives tales". But we all operate our lives from the standpoint of something. I remember as a child the old saying "step on a crack...and you break your momma's back". Well, I don't know about you, but I avoided cracks in the sidewalk like they were the plague. I would dodge them in anyway possible. I know that sounds silly, but to a six year old boy, it made perfect sense to me. I assumed that to be true, and I acted in a way that it was true for me in my life.
And people are like that in everything they do. They hear little tidbits of what they think is truth and they incorporate it into their lives. It becomes a part of them. It is folded into how they think, they way they act, and the things they pass on to other people.
Some think that the only objective knowledge (knowledge that is not tainted by underlying assumptions) available to us is derived from scientific research. Not so; even scientific inquiry is guided by underlying assumptions that may be proven, or not. Both inductive and deductive reasoning involve some level of assuming. So, we all display the tendency of placing oneself out on a limb, so to speak, in solving the mysteries of life. Whether that involves science, politics, philosophy, or driving a car.
Think about it. No one has ever seen evolution in operation; no one has ever lived long enough to witness it. What is wrong with us? Anyone with any sense knows you can only trust that which you can see. How many of us have seen a combustion engine actually working? Oh yeah, and when was the last time you saw a US Senate hearing? But we accept (assume) that these activities are happening (some more so than others). Sounds a bit like we act a lot from the standpoint of faith to me...
It seems to me that faith emerges as a core virtue to humanity. Why? Because we operate in an environment where faith is necessary for the operation of life - and not just in the life of a religious people. If you consider any number of activities you find that a mode of operation involving faith. It is as essential to our mental/psychological/spiritual makeup as breathing is to our physiological makeup.
As a matter of fact, we place a lot of faith in our physiological makeup just by emerging from a state of sleep every day, or that we trust our brains to continue connecting with the major organs of our bodies to enable them to perform the functions they perform. From a psychological standpoint we would live lives of paranoia, if we could not count on the involuntary functions of the human body to perform. Can you imagine wondering if your body was going to continue its operations during the night as you slept? Yes, we all exemplify an extraordinary amount of faith each day.
One writer has explained faith this way: it is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Meaning, you cannot always see the object of your belief, but you trust that it is there nonetheless. In some cases you can see traces of its existence, but not a coherent whole that makes it undeniably real and provable. And this is where faith steps in. You sense something is, but you cannot prove it is. You hope something is there, but you cannot touch it. It is just not provable to the human senses. It is beyond the human experience, and somehow you know it is there.
I think of my spirit in much the same way. I cannot prove it is there. I cannot see it. I cannot touch it, but I see traces of its existence nonetheless. I look into the eyes of others and I see something wholly different than what I see in the eyes of those who have no life. The form of a human is so much different alive than when it is dead. Is it the heartbeat that makes the difference? Is it the act of breathing that quickens a life? Is it the brain that enables these functions to operate? No, I think it is so much more. I assume it is there, and I cannot see it. I assume it is there, and I cannot touch it. I assume it is there, and I cannot hear it.
I have never seen God at any time, and somehow I know He is. I know it does not make sense to believe in something beyond this existence, but I do. I see traces of His existence woven in and out of Creation. It is by faith that I acknowledge His existence. Even though in my mind I cannot completely make sense of Him, and His reality, I know He is there. But there are cracks in the veneer of the physical realm that reveal His presence. These cracks are glimpses into the eternal. They are hints of something beyond. These openings give us hope and faith that I am not alone in this world. They reveal a greatness beyond what I can see, touch, smell, hear, and taste. Believe me, it makes all the difference in how one perceives the world.
I must confess, I sometimes side step cracks in the sidewalk to this day.
And people are like that in everything they do. They hear little tidbits of what they think is truth and they incorporate it into their lives. It becomes a part of them. It is folded into how they think, they way they act, and the things they pass on to other people.
Some think that the only objective knowledge (knowledge that is not tainted by underlying assumptions) available to us is derived from scientific research. Not so; even scientific inquiry is guided by underlying assumptions that may be proven, or not. Both inductive and deductive reasoning involve some level of assuming. So, we all display the tendency of placing oneself out on a limb, so to speak, in solving the mysteries of life. Whether that involves science, politics, philosophy, or driving a car.
Think about it. No one has ever seen evolution in operation; no one has ever lived long enough to witness it. What is wrong with us? Anyone with any sense knows you can only trust that which you can see. How many of us have seen a combustion engine actually working? Oh yeah, and when was the last time you saw a US Senate hearing? But we accept (assume) that these activities are happening (some more so than others). Sounds a bit like we act a lot from the standpoint of faith to me...
It seems to me that faith emerges as a core virtue to humanity. Why? Because we operate in an environment where faith is necessary for the operation of life - and not just in the life of a religious people. If you consider any number of activities you find that a mode of operation involving faith. It is as essential to our mental/psychological/spiritual makeup as breathing is to our physiological makeup.
As a matter of fact, we place a lot of faith in our physiological makeup just by emerging from a state of sleep every day, or that we trust our brains to continue connecting with the major organs of our bodies to enable them to perform the functions they perform. From a psychological standpoint we would live lives of paranoia, if we could not count on the involuntary functions of the human body to perform. Can you imagine wondering if your body was going to continue its operations during the night as you slept? Yes, we all exemplify an extraordinary amount of faith each day.
One writer has explained faith this way: it is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Meaning, you cannot always see the object of your belief, but you trust that it is there nonetheless. In some cases you can see traces of its existence, but not a coherent whole that makes it undeniably real and provable. And this is where faith steps in. You sense something is, but you cannot prove it is. You hope something is there, but you cannot touch it. It is just not provable to the human senses. It is beyond the human experience, and somehow you know it is there.
I think of my spirit in much the same way. I cannot prove it is there. I cannot see it. I cannot touch it, but I see traces of its existence nonetheless. I look into the eyes of others and I see something wholly different than what I see in the eyes of those who have no life. The form of a human is so much different alive than when it is dead. Is it the heartbeat that makes the difference? Is it the act of breathing that quickens a life? Is it the brain that enables these functions to operate? No, I think it is so much more. I assume it is there, and I cannot see it. I assume it is there, and I cannot touch it. I assume it is there, and I cannot hear it.
I have never seen God at any time, and somehow I know He is. I know it does not make sense to believe in something beyond this existence, but I do. I see traces of His existence woven in and out of Creation. It is by faith that I acknowledge His existence. Even though in my mind I cannot completely make sense of Him, and His reality, I know He is there. But there are cracks in the veneer of the physical realm that reveal His presence. These cracks are glimpses into the eternal. They are hints of something beyond. These openings give us hope and faith that I am not alone in this world. They reveal a greatness beyond what I can see, touch, smell, hear, and taste. Believe me, it makes all the difference in how one perceives the world.
I must confess, I sometimes side step cracks in the sidewalk to this day.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Why this is important to me?
I have spent my life attempting to answer questions as they come to me. Some are simple; many are complex. But all, I believe, to be important.
But what are the reasons answering questions is important? Why not accept things blindly and move along? We do have experts in almost any field, don't we? We can trust them to lead us in the right direction, can't we? Experience is a great teacher, isn't it? What about our faith? Can we not trust the ancient writings to give us the answers to all our problems? We can have faith in science can't we?
I guess the answer to all these questions is, "it depends". Wow! What a relativistic/postmodern standpoint for me to take, but until I begin answering the important questions in my life, how else can I answer except, it depends? I know what I believe, what I need to understand is why I believe what I believe.
And this is it - my attempt to examine why I believe what I believe.
But what are the reasons answering questions is important? Why not accept things blindly and move along? We do have experts in almost any field, don't we? We can trust them to lead us in the right direction, can't we? Experience is a great teacher, isn't it? What about our faith? Can we not trust the ancient writings to give us the answers to all our problems? We can have faith in science can't we?
I guess the answer to all these questions is, "it depends". Wow! What a relativistic/postmodern standpoint for me to take, but until I begin answering the important questions in my life, how else can I answer except, it depends? I know what I believe, what I need to understand is why I believe what I believe.
And this is it - my attempt to examine why I believe what I believe.
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