Non-Combatant Chaplaincy:ย Preserving the Spiritual Mission of Military Ministry
Introduction
There he was in a blood-spattered Humvee. The ring and roar of mortars, bullets ripping through flesh, and yells. The sights unmentioned and horrible. Why was he there? Why was a chaplain there? This essay explores that question.
Specifically, why would a non-combatant be in the military?[1] What is the ethical framework underpinning the non-combatant status of chaplains, and what are the theological and practical principles that guide ministry in military contexts? Even though there is a long history of chaplains serving as non-combatants, some argue that chaplains should be combatants.[2]
If the war is justโif there are good moral grounds for engaging in combatโthen should not the chaplain be the first one willing and able to take up arms and fight? If there is truly just cause, then the chaplain should be willing to lead from the front, right?[3] He or she should not fear death and should have a holy conviction that the war is right.[4]
In fact, Darrell Cole concludes his essay by saying: โChristians who willingly and knowingly refuse to engage in a just war do a vicious thing: they fail to show love toward their neighbor as well as toward God.โ[5] So, why are chaplains non-combatants? Because there areย other important theological considerations. My thesis is that although there is theological warrant for warfare, the chaplainsโ non-combatant status is essential for their role in providing spiritual guidance, moral counsel, and upholding religious freedom within the military. This is the chaplain’s God-given calling, and it must be the focus, not engaging the enemy.ย
Theological Principles
Some argue that in light of Jesusโ command to love oneโs enemies (Matt. 5:38-42) and the value of human life (Gen. 1:26-27), chaplains should not engage in combat. But if that is true for chaplains, why is it not true for all people? What about โBlessed are the peacemakersโ (Matt. 5:9)? That is true. And there are times to make peace by striving to righteouslywage war. How does โturning the other cheekโ (Matt. 5:39) square with warfare? One answer is that Jesus meant individuals should not take the law into their own hands. What about king David being unable to build the temple because he was a man of war (1 Chron. 22:8;ย 28:3)? Chaplains are not serving under the old covenant or building a temple.
The Bible does not say it is wrong to wage war, but it does say to serve in the military justly (Lk. 3:14). So, war is not wrong. But there are a few biblical reasons why chaplains should be non-combatants. First, from a Christian perspective, governing authorities should be obeyed (Romans 13:1-7),[6] and chaplains are currently non-combatants. Although, chaplains are allowed to defend themselves.[7]
The most important aspect of the chaplainโs non-combatant status, however, is the chaplainโs particular calling and stewardship to focus on spiritual fitness. Chaplains can best serve military personnel and the mission by being non-combatants. Biblical stewardship is the calling to be faithful with what God has given (Matt. 25:14โ46; 1 Cor. 4:2) because He owns and gives every good gift (e.g., Lev. 25:23; 1 Chron. 29:11โ12; Ps. 24:1; James 1:17), including our time and talents, and wants them employed to His glory (1 Cor. 10:31). Chaplains have specifically been given the responsibility to provide โreligious support and spiritual careโ which importantly โensures all Airmen and their authorized dependents have opportunities to exercise their constitutional right to the free exercise of religion.โ[8] That is the important calling chaplains should focus on.
Chaplains focusing on spiritual fitness is absolutely vital. George C. Marshall, who among other things served as the 3rd United States Secretary of Defense, said, โI look upon the spiritual life of the soldier as even more important than his equipment. … The soldier’s heart, the soldier’s spirit, the soldier’s soul are everything. Unless the soldier’s soul sustains him, he cannot be relied upon and will fail himself and his country in the end.โ[9]
It should also be considered that military members are literally trained to kill with powerful killing machines. As Samuel Huntington puts it, โThey are specialists in the application of violence.โ[10] It is thus important that they have moral guidance by their side. Chaplains must advise commanders, guide military members, and restrain unjust actions when needed.[11]
Chaplains being non-combatants allows them to focus on their distinct role of holding the all-important spiritual realities before the military, as well as providing for the free exercise of religion. So, the non-combatant status of chaplains facilitates focusing on morals and morale. These are very worthy goals that make sense of chaplains being non-combatants.[12]
Moral and Ethical Framework
Just war theory best captures the teaching of the Bible. It also allows a much-needed moral and rational framework to evaluate military decisions. Just war theory establishes moral boundaries around military conflict by identifying conditions under which warfare is ethically defensible.[13] There are three main considerations: right to go to war, right conduct in war, and justice after war.[14]
Just war theory is an important theological and ethical foundation because, as has often been said and experienced, โWar is hell.โ It should not be entered into casually. Also, human life is incredibly, even inestimably, valuable. There must be strong reasons to allow for violence and destruction. Further, all resources are finite, so their destruction should not be taken lightly.
A realistic view of the world will see the clear persistence of evil, and the government’s moral responsibility to defend its peopleโs lives, property, and social order.[15] The Bible teaches war is, sadly, inevitable in the fallen world (Matthew 24:6-8). What must be asked is how it can be waged justly with minimized destruction.[16] Chaplains have a vast part to play here, and it is another reason why they are non-combatants. Chaplains must reckon with the dark realities of conflict and understand there will be casualties and chaos.[17] In the midst complexity, evil, and gore, they must tenaciously pursue righteousness.
Implications for Chaplaincy Practice
A chaplainโs non-combatant status is important for various reasons. Primarily, it allows them to focus on what they are uniquely trained and equipped to focus on. Chaplains can best support the military mission with Godโs word, rather than with a gun. Aquinas, the eminent 13th-century philosopher, believed chaplains should be non-combatants because he did not want warlike pursuits to prevent them from focusing on their God-given jobs.[18]
The non-combatant status also enables chaplains to function as religious leader liaisons and build relationships with indigenous religious leaders.[19] This has proven especially beneficial in some Muslim contexts. Chaplains are often especially respected for trusting God and not wielding a gun. This facilitates promoting peace and reconciliation.
Lastly, all officers, including chaplains, have sworn (or affirmed) to โsupport and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.โ The chaplain does this in a unique and powerful way. The chaplain does it from the pulpit and with the pen and by providing for the religious expression of all military members. This is a high ideal. And it is worth chaplains going to battle and being shot at, all the while not carrying a gun because we as a nation believe that all people are created equal and have been โendowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.โ One of these rights is the freedom of religion.[20] Chaplains exist, in large part, to help protect First Amendment rights.[21]
Conclusion
The non-combatant status of chaplains is important from a theological and practical standpoint.ย While one may acknowledge the arguments for chaplains as combatants, chaplains should retain their non-combatant status. This status allows chaplains to focus on their unique calling of spiritual guidance, moral counsel, and upholding religious freedom, which are vital for the well-being of military personnel and the success of the mission. Chaplains are to be faithful stewards ofthe gifts and responsibilities given to them, focusing on their primary calling (2 Corinthians 10:4; 2 Timothy 2:4).
The mission of the chaplain corps is spiritual fitness; spiritual resiliency. It is to โnurture the living, care for the wounded, and honor the dead.โ It is not killing the enemy or even defending themselves. That is why chaplains are non-combatants.
We have explored the complex relationship between Christianity and warfare, with a specific focus on the role of chaplains. Some may cite biblical passages advocating for pacifistic peace,[22] but there are times when war is necessary to oppose evil, even while chaplains demonstrate heroism, willing to serve without weapons, to accomplish their important mission of advocating for and facilitating religious freedom and providing spiritual care. Chaplains oppose evil not with a gun but with godly grit.
Why was a chaplain in a blood-soaked Humvee? So, he could wipe up the blood, the tears, and serve for peace as Jesus did. So, he couldโin imitation of Jesusโbring to flesh the hope, calm, and peace of God in a cursed, chaotic world. That is why we have chaplains who do not engage in combat. Their focus is daring love, compassion, and peace. Reminders of the good we fight for.
Notes
[1] Chaplainsโ noncombatant status stems from the Council of Ratisbon in A.D. 742, prohibiting them from carrying weapons (Michael C. Whittington and Charlie N. Davidson, Matters of Conscience: A Practical Theology for the Evangelical Chaplain Serving in the United States Military [Liberty University Press, 2013], 201โ202). โThe chaplaincy, it can be argued, has been alive and well either formally or informally for as long as man can imagine. The chaplaincy is as old as war itself.โ (Steven A. Schaick, โExamining the Role of Chaplains as Non-Combatants While Involded in Religious Leader Engagement/Liaison,โ 1).
[2] For example, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Joseph Friedman, has said, โThe DODโs insistence on unarmed chaplains does not make senseโ (https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/September-October-2023/Pistol-Packing-Padres/). Friedman says, for example, that when a chaplain is in a combat situation the chaplain becomes a tremendous liability to the combatants around him.
[3] Chaplains are spiritual leaders, that assumes people should follow them. But if chaplains are non-combatants essentilly because it is wrong to engage in combat then it follows that no one, not least the miliatry personel looking to the chaplainโs spiritual leadership, should engage in combat. In other words, if combat is morally and biblically wrong for chaplainโs then it is wrong to all people. It is different, however, if the question is one of prudential wisdom and not transcultural ethics.
[4] Chaplain William Emerson is an example here. In fact, Schaick says, โThe Revolutionary War cannot be understood apart from the influence of clergy, many of whom alternated between fighting and preaching for the very freedoms their faith required.โ (Schaick, โExamining the Role of Chaplains as Non-Combatants While Involded in Religious Leader Engagement/Liaison,โ 2).
[5] Darrell Cole, โGood Warsโ https://firstthings.com/good-wars/. He even says, โwar-making, when just, can be a form of loveโ (Ibid.). Jeff Myers simiarly says, โA shameful peace based on nonaction is not to be preferred to a just peace based on action.โ (Should Christians Support Israel?: Seeking a Biblical Worldview in an Impossible Situation, 83).
[6] There is clear warrant for civil disobedience in certain limited circumatances: Exodus 1:15-21; Daniel 3:6; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 6:1-2. But the regular pattern is faithful and grateful obedience: Matthew 22:15-22; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; 1 Peter 2:12-17.
[7] Department of the Air Force Instruction 52-104: 3.2. says โchaplains, as religious personnel, serve exclusively in a humanitarian capacity. Chaplains, therefore, will not engage in activities that could create perceptions of combatant behavior or that compromise the protected status of other chaplains in the field.โ But it also says they โhave the inherent right of self-defense.โ
[8] Air Force Instruction 52-101:1.1.
[9] George C. Marshall, quoted in Donald W. Shea, “A Ministry in the Eye of the Storm,” Army, September 1991, 54.
[10] Samuel Huntington, The Soldier and the State: The theory and politics of civilโmilitary relations, 18.
[11] Jo Brick wisely says that โwhile legal frameworks are important in regulating behavior, the ethical factors and the question โCan I live with myself if I do this?โ are drivers of individual behavior that are more important in complex circumstances. Military professionals must be trained in facing the inevitable dilemmas that arise in the course of military operations. Increasing moral fitness in military professionals is an important means of preventing moral injury. Training in the laws of war is, of itself, not enough. The law is easy; ethics is hardโ (Jo Brick, โThe Military Profession: Law, Ethics, and the Profession of Armsโ in Redefining the Modern Military: The Inersection of Profession and Ethics edited by Nathan K. Finney and Tyrell O. Mayfield (Naval Insitute Press: Annapolis, MD, 2018), 62.
[12] Another important aspect is non-combatant status is supposed to allow chaplains to continue to provide relgious care if detained along with prisoners of war. To retain military religious status, chaplains must belong to a force whose members qualify for prisoners of war status, be designated as exclusive religious personnel, and serve exclusively in a religious capacity. This ability would be compromised if they were to engage in combat which would leave soildeis without much needed spiritual care (Naomi K. Paget and Janet R. McCormack, The Work of the Chaplain (Judson Press, 2006), 45.). One of the problems, however, is that โthe purported immunity granted by the conventions has not been exhibited by U.S. enemies in over seventy-five yearsโ (https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/September-October-2023/Pistol-Packing-Padres/).
[13] See for example Hak Joon Lee, Christian Ethics: A New Covenant Model (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2021), 467โ468 and David P. Gushee and Glen H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), 462.
[14] Aquinas, 1274, 2.40.1. Here are the conditions that must be met before starting a war: just cause: Typically self-defense or protecting innocent people from serious harm, legitimate authority: War must be declared by a proper governing body, right intention: The goal should be justice (e.g., peace), not revenge or conquest, last resort: All peaceful options must have been tried first, probability of success: There should be a reasonable chance of achieving the goal, and proportionality: The expected benefits must outweigh the harm. Here are the rules that apply during war: discrimination (distinction): Combatants must distinguish between military targets and civilians, proportionality: The force used must not be excessive relative to the military objective, military necessity: Actions must be necessary to achieve a legitimate military goal, and no inherently evil means: Some methods (e.g., genocide, torture) are forbidden. These principles guide how wars should end and what happens after the war: fair peace terms: Avoid punishing populations excessively, reconstruction: Help rebuild affected societies, accountability: War crimes should be addressed, and the restoration of rights: Aim to reestablish a just political order.
[15] Lee, Christian Ethics, 467.
[16] โDefenders of the Just War tradition regret that they live in a world where they have to kill human beings in order to restrain evil; that is to say, they regret the Fall. But they find it to be even more regretful for Christians to stand idly by while people are being abused and killed unjustlyโ (Darrel Cole, โGood Warsโ).
[17] As John Keegan says so powerfully, โWhat battles have in common is human: the behaviour of men struggling to reconcile their instinct for self-preservation, their sense of honour and the achievement of some aim over which other men are ready to kill them. The study of battle is therefore always a study of fear and usually of courage, always of leadership, usually of obedience; always of compulsion, sometimes of insubordination; always of anxiety, sometimes of elation or catharsis; always of uncertainty and doubt, misinformation and misapprehension, usually also of faith and sometimes of vision; always of violence, sometimes also of cruelty, self-sacrifice, compassion; above all, it is always a study of solidarity and usually also of disintegration for it is toward the disintegration of human groups that battle is directedโ (John Keegan, The Face of Battle).
[18] Aquinas, 1274, 2.40.2. I disagree with Aquinasโ second reason. He says warfare is โunbecomingโ because those who give the Eucharist should not shed blood, even if they do so in accordance with just war theory. Perhaps this line of reasoning works in a Catholic theological system but not in mine which has a different view of the priesthood.
[19] Schaick, โExamining the Role of Chaplains as Non-Combatants While Involded in Religious Leader Engagement/Liaison.โ This is an important consideration. Donald Rumsfeld once said, โOverall, we are not doing a good job… of trying to include religious leaders to show respect for their faith as part of stability operationsโ (Donald Rumsfeld, keynote address, Eisenhower National Security Conference, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, DC, 25 September 2003).
[20] Protecting this right is vital and we can and should thank God for our freedoms. โDenying religious freedom is a precursor to denying all other freedoms. If the state can put itself in between citizens and God, there is no other part of life within society that the state will not see itself as apt to disrupt and intervene in, either.โ (Andrew T. Walker, Faithful Reason: Natural Law Ethics for Godโs Glory and Our Good, 286). โThe state that recognizes and protects religious freedom is not an omni-competent state, but rather a state that acknowledges the rights of conscience and the prerogatives of the institutions that men and women freely sustain to express and pass on their religious convic-tions. It recognizes its duty to serve, and not to impede, those communities of civil society. Thus the recognition of religious freedom in full is a crucial barrier to the totalitarian temptation that seems to exist in all forms of political modernityโ (Evangelicals and Catholics Together, “In Defense of Religious Freedom, ” First Things, March 1, 2012, https:// http://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/03/in-defense-of-religious-freedom. Quoted in Walker, Faithful Reason, 287).
[21] This does not mean, however, that all religious requests will be granted. Commanders must weigh religious freedom with safty and mission impact. As Andrew Walker has said in reference to general soceity: โRestrictions on religious liberty are indeed legitimate insofar as rightly authorized authorities carefully delineate what harms a religion’s adherents pose to society and does not arbitrarily penalize. Public health and public safety cannot countenance threats to sound order under an absolutized appeal to religious libertyโ (Faithful Reason, 283).
[22] My advocacy of righteous realism agrees with Andrew T. Walker, who says, โChristian pacifism fails to adequately love one’s neighbor. It is an over-idealized ethic that cannot be reasonably pursued in an age marked by sinโ (Walker, Faithful Reason, 272).
*Photo by Eduard Delputte
Our Wealth is a Stewardship, Not Just a Blessing
โOur wealth?โ you ask. โWhat wealth do you mean? You may be wealthy, but I am just trying to scrape by.โ I understand this attitude. And yet, I am one of the richest people in the whole world. In India, for instance, nearly 40 percent of the countryโs 1 billion citizens live on less than $1.25 a day.[1] I bought a soda for more than that, and the white mocha I bought today was… well, even more than that.[2]
In the United States, the poverty level for a family of four is consideredย an annual income ofย approximately $32,000.ย However, from a global perspective, it is estimated that 1 billion people are living in abject poverty, and twice as many exist on less than $3 per day. While statistics may provide insight into this issue, many people believe that the absence ofย basicย necessities to sustain life marks the beginning of true poverty.[3]
We can see from these statistics that though we may not feel wealthy, and in fact may not be in America, we are on a global scale. Today, there are all sorts of good organizations that enable us to give to gospel-focused ministries and churches all over the world. We are accountable not only for our wealth but also for the resources we have at our disposal. Everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required (Luke 12:48), and when over 80 percent of the world lives on less than $10 a day, we must see that we are among those who have been given much.
We who are wealthy (most Americans) are not to set our hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. We are to do good, be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up true treasures for ourselves as a good foundation for the future, so that we may take hold of that which is true life (1 Tim. 6:17-19).
Imagine going on vacation and letting a teenage friend come over to stay at your house and watch over things while you are away. Now imagine that you get back and your house is destroyed, beer cans are all over, and your dog is dead. Do you think you would leave your real estate to him? If you had a business, do you think you could trust him with it? I assume, and hope, your answer is, โno.โ Jesus agrees. He says, in Luke 16:11, โIf then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you true riches?โ The implied answer is โno one will.โ
1 Peter 4:10 says, โAs each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of Godโs varied grace. โ We must use whatever God has given us, spiritual gifts or monetary gifts, to “serve others.โ Note, however, that we are โstewards of Godโs varied grace,โ so we cannot expect our serving to look the same. We will all steward differently depending on how God has graced us, but we must all strive to be good stewards.
The wealth we have is not merely meant for us and our selfish enjoyment. It is meant to serve God by blessing others. Look at Lydia in Acts. She had much, but she used it for the Kingdom of God, not her own kingdom. Look at Joseph. He gave his own burial spot for Jesus, although he did get it back! Look at Mary, who gave her costly ointment to Jesus. They gave not because someone told them to. They gave not only because they were stewards. They gave because it was a natural outworking of their relationship with Jesus. They gave because it was a natural result of their worship. No gimmicks, no games, they just gave–out of worship!
It is also important for us to remember, though, that we do not truly own anything. It all ultimately belongs to God (cf. Deut. 10:14; Lev. 25:23; 1 Chron. 29:11-12; Job 41:11; Ps. 24:1; Ps. 50:10-12; 1 Cor. 4:7; Rom. 11:35). We brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it. Everything we have is on loan from God, and we do not deserve it. What do we have that we did not receive (1 Cor. 4:7)?
We are stewards, and it is my prayer that we would be faithful stewards of all God has entrusted to us. We have been given so much more than so many, so is it not right that when the master comes to collect what is his, that he should expect more interest from those to whom he gave more? God calls us to be faithful with what he has given us. In the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30), the master gave his servants money to invest when he was gone, and he expected a profit when he returned.
The first two servants were good stewards and made the master money, but the last one was unwise. He did not invest the money but instead buried it. The masterโs response to the first two servants was โWell done, good and faithful servant.โ That was not the response he gave to the servant who did not invest what he was entrusted with. The response instead was โYou wicked and slothful servant,โ and then he cast the servant into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We do not want to be the lazy, unfaithful servant. We want to invest all God has given us. We want to hear: โWell done, good and faithful servant. Now enter into your rest.โ
If we are all the more blessed, then we are all the more accountable. Most in America are extremely blessed, thus we will be held to a very high standard. We have been given an investment. We invest and sow, but it is God who brings the increase. Yet it is very much our part to sow and invest; if we do not, there will be no harvest, and we will get paid no reward. However, if we labor and invest in Godโs work and no fruit is found this side of heaven, it will surely be found on the other. God will repay those who sow and invest in His Kingdom. Oโ if only we strived for greater dividends in the Kingdom to come instead of this kingdom.
If we are to be faithful servants of our masterโs money, we must use our, or rather, His money for Him and not us. This flys in the face of what is acceptable in our day, because in our day we โdeserveโ better. The truth is, we donโt deserve better. In fact, we deserve far worse, so it is not as if we are merely commanded to wisely invest our masterโs assets. It should be our delight because of all the grace and love He has shown us. This outlook should change us into men and women who are dressed and always ready with the lights on to open the door for the master when he comes (Luke 12:35-36).
If we have the wrong attitude and do not think the master is coming, or we no longer want to serve the Master, there will be grave consequences. If the servant becomes lax in what the master commanded him to do โthe master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.โ (Luke 12:46). โEveryone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the moreโ (Luke 12:48).
In 1980, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization commented on a simple lifestyle. They said,
So then, having been freed by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, in obedience to his call, in heartfelt compassion for the poor, in concern for evangelism, development and justice, and in solemn anticipation of the Day of Judgement, we humbly commit ourselves to develop a just and simple life-style, to support one another in it and to encourage others to join us in this commitment.[4]
It is my prayer that we would share the same commitment to a simple lifestyle for the glory of God among all the nations. I am not saying, however, that everyoneโs โsimple lifestyleโ needs to look the same. No, I am saying that we all must seek to be worthy stewards of all God has graciously entrusted to us. It is before God that we will be judged, not man (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10).
I believe both biblically and logically, we are called to a simple or wartime lifestyle. The evangelical commitment to a simple lifestyle is honest about the importance of the issue, but does not lay down any legalistic laws we must follow.
While some of us have been called to live among the poor, and others to open our homes to the needy, all of us are determined to develop a simplerย life-style. We intend to reexamine our income and expenditure, in orderย to manage on less and give away more. We lay down no rules orย regulations,ย for either ourselves or others.ย Yet we resolve to renounce waste and oppose extravagance in personalย living,ย clothing andย housing, travel and church buildings.ย We alsoย acceptย the distinction between necessities and luxuries, creative hobbies and empty status symbols, modesty and vanity, occasional celebrations and normal routine, and betweenย the service ofย God andย slaveryย to fashion.ย Where to draw the line requires conscientious thought and decision by us, together with members of our family.[5]
There are no exact standards prescribed, so we should not proscribe them. We should stick with biblical principles. John Stott gives us three โismsโ we would be wise to avoid: โmaterialism (an obsession with things), asceticism (an austerity which denies the good gifts of the Creator), and pharisaism (binding one another with rules).โ[6]
I think a good way to end this is simply to say that we are stewards. I am not accountable to you, and you are not accountable to me. We are all accountable to God. We must all ask what God wants us to do with what He has given to us. We must realize that God calls different people to manage different things in different ways; the Bible is replete with examples of this. The common denominator between all managers is not that they manage the same amount of stuff, but that they are all accountable and must be faithful.
Be faithful.
Notes
[1] This is a little dated. โDream and Reality,โ World, October 9, 2010, by Jamie Dean, 36.
[2] I do believe we can enjoy the pleasures of food and drink with thanksgiving, but that does not mean that we are not to be stewards. Paul said he would refrain from eating meat if it caused his brother to sin (1 Cor.8:13). I am quite sure he would also have refrained from spending an excessive amount of money in order that he could also keep his brother or sister from starving.
[3] โWho Takes Care of the Poor?โ Torch Fall-Winter 2010, by William E. Brown, 3.
[4] Lausanne Occasional Papers: “An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Life-Style” Accessed on February 9th, 2026.
[5] Ibid.
[6] John Stott,ย Issues Facing Christians Today,ย 317.
*Photo byย Alexander Mils
Diane Langberg, When the Church Harms Godโs Peopleย
I really appreciated Diane Langberg’s book, When the Church Harms Godโs People. Sadly, her book is very needed. Here are a few of my favorite quotes:
The body of Christ is called to be like Christ as individuals and as a gathered body of those who are one with him. Anything that does not look like Christ is not the church, even if it purports to beโฆ We, the body of Christ, are called to follow our Head, be like our Head, carrying his light and truth into the world. Outward success, fame, wealth, and large numbers are not the fruit our Lord demonstrated during his earthly ministry. God’s purpose is to create a living body in which God is over and within each of its members as well as its corporate life.
Ministry growth, fame, and money are often taken as proof of God’s presence and work. But if that is true, then Jesus was an abject failure. He who had ultimate power and riches laid them aside. He did not grab onto them. He did not pursue them. They did not govern him. Proof of the presence of God is not found in the accoutrements of power and fame. It is found in likeness to his character.
If you want to be a shepherd/leader who honors God, the first thing you must know is that limitation is required for expansion. Incarnational leadership follows the opposite course of human leadership. Incarnational leadership descends from heaven to earth; it goes from up to down, from expansive to limited, from broad to narrow.
The infinite gathered himself up into a womb. All-Glory laid himself down in a barn. All-Power became a toddler. All-Love was slain. Such limitation is inconceivable to us. We think of limitation as an obstacle to overcome. We fight tiredness, sickness, and slowness. We believe that if we had more time, more energy, more ability, and more money, we could increase the good we want to accomplish. He, who never grows weary, knew tiredness. He, who is infinite and eternal, submitted to the clock. He, who is perfect, bore our sin and our sicknesses. Our God limited himself on all these fronts and more, and the resulting expansion is mind-boggling.
You want to live and work in the name of Jesus? If you want to lead the people of God in a way that expands his work and protects his honor, then you must do so by way of limitation. Restriction is foundational. There must be restriction of the tongue, the desires, the abilities, and the opinions of the self. There must be limitation of your way, your time frame, your speed, and your preference. There must be a limiting of the good, including your mental capacity, energy level, and powers of speech. If you want to lead, you must make yourself like those who are following. You must know their pace, their thoughts, their fears, and their needs.
We have erected beautiful buildings devoted to worship all over the world. We have created stunning music. We have raised up theology schools and trained theologians. Such things are not inherently wrong. But these things are not the church. A1ll these things can be externally beautiful yet become a den of thieves.To all of you who are shepherds: Your goal is not to preserve a church or human organization. Your goal is to serve your Lord and Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Institutions, organizations, ministries, places, systems, and leaders may be part of Christendom, but that does not necessarily mean they reflect the ways of Jesus Christ. Nor is Christendom even the same as the living body of Christ; institutions and leaders can look Christian on the outside but be far away from Christ on the inside.
Church leaders and their followers often point to popularity, number of congregants, growing bank accounts, and particular political views as signs of God’s presence and blessing. None of these are listed in Scripture as signs of Christlikeness.
We often tend to select leaders in the Christian world according to their gifts rather than their character. We are often drawn to leaders whose intelligence, oratory, and social facility overshadow a weakness of character. When a leader is particularly gifted verbally, has a charismatic personality, and is adept with using spiritual language, it is easy to assume maturity and obedience to God. We see gifts and assume the leader’s character matches the image they project. Sadly, there have been charismatic leaders in the Christian world who achieved power and status because of their capacity for public speaking, vision casting, and entrepreneurial capabilities but had hidden character flaws such as lack of integrity or egotistical narcissism. We have watched thriving institutions crumble upon the discovery of ungodly leadership. Spiritual maturity is measured by character, by the fruit of the Spirit of God in a life.
Jonathan Tepper, Shooting Up (a book review)
Jonathan Tepper, Shooting Up: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Addiction,
Author Background
Jonathan Tepper seems like a rather amazing and interesting individual. He grew up as a missionary kid among drug addicts. And yet received the Rhodes Scholarship, which is extremely difficult to get. It is one of the most prestigious and competitive awards, and requires exceptional academic achievement, but also outstanding leadership, character, and commitment to serve others. He earned an M.Litt. in Modern History from the University of Oxford. He is now the Chief Investment Officer of Prevatt Capital.
In addition to the book weโre reviewing, he wrote The Myth of Capitalism, which was ranked as one of the Best Books of 2018 in Economics by the Financial Times. Tepper does not mean that capitalism does not exist, but that monopolies ruin the benefits of capitalism. This is true in regard to large-scale markets as well as the local scale of your internet provider. We need a recovery and appropriate enforcement of antitrust laws to protect consumers and competition itself. So, part of the financial problem many families face is not a problem of capitalism but competition. Much of the apparent competition is an illusion. All the while, companies with a monopoly pay what they want and price how they want. The monopoly wins, and competition and the average American lose.
Introduction
Shooting Up tells the story of the author growing up in a drug slum in Spain, where his missionary parents sacrificially loved and cared for heroin addicts. This eventually led to the founding of a groundbreaking drug rehabilitation center. It tells the true tale of care and dedication in the midst of destructive addiction. It recounts one family’s real and gritty love for the forgotten and left behind. Itโs honest about the harsh realities of the world and the questions and struggles life brings.
If God could part the Red Sea and multiply loaves and fish, why didnโt God heal His faithful followers dying of AIDS? โJesus healed the lepers and raised the dead. He spat into the mud and rubbed it into the blind man’s eyes to heal him. But the Bible stories all seemed like a sick joke when the men and women in the center were dying with no healing in sight.โ (p. 203)
Hereโs my own set of questions: โIf Jesus loves the little children so much, then why did Ollie, Paige, MarieAnne, Torry, Terrance, and others need to die? If Jesus brings transformation, why did Mike steal Christmas presents from his kids to buy drugsโฝโ
Iโve always thought addiction is a microcosm of the sinful world we inhabit. It highlights the effects of sin in high definition and accelerated form. Shooting Up is an honest account of addiction, recovery, and loss seen through the eyes of a young boy coming to grips with the rugged realities we call life. โShooting Up is a quietly devastating coming-of-age memoir that is as unsettling as it is unforgettableโa haunting exploration of belief, belonging, and the costs of sacrifice.โ
The author graciously shared a free copy for me to review. I was immediately interested based on my experience with my heroin addict friends.
Insights and Impact
Overall, I appreciated the real-life story with real-life struggles and wrestling. It reflects the harsh realities we face in life. I also felt compelled to a real, gritty, in-the-trenches with people love. Love like Jesus’ loveโLight going into darkness, the Pure entering putrid. Of course, that’s not the full reality. For when we truly enter into others’ lives, we see how alike we are to them, no matter what we thought before. We see our humanity is their humanity.
Four specific lessons stuck out to meโฆ
1) Incarnation is real and painful.
In the house, there was a plaque with a quote from C. T Studd: โSome want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop, within a yard of hell.โ (p. 6) Thatโs what the Tepper family did. And in doing so, they imitated our Lord Jesus. Jesus had said, โAs the Father has sent me, even so, in the same way, I am sending you.โ The Tepper family listened and incarnated themselves into a diffrent people and culture.
In the incarnation, God entered flesh. โCarnalโ often has bad connotations. Yet, Jesus became in-carnateโin flesh. Jesus is God with boots on, well, sandals. If Jesus were walking our streets today, He would be talking and making disciples of junkies.
Or as Bono from U2 said, โIf Jesus were on earth youโd find him in a gay bar in San Francisco. Heโd be working with people suffering from AIDS. These people are the new lepers. If you want to find out where Jesus would be hanging outitโll be with the lepers.โ (Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost, The Shaping of Things to Come, p. 44).
Sadly, very often we as Christians are ex-carnational. We have a come and see mentality that makes those who donโt know Jesus cross bordersโwhatever those borders areโand be missionaries themselves. That, however, was not the case with the Tepper family. They infleshed the gospel.
The Bible is honest about the brutality of the incarnation. Jesus took on flesh, and His flesh was bruised and battered, and He Himself was tempted (Heb. 4:15). Jesus, the Light, plummeted into our darkness, and the devil threw his worst at Him. When we serve and incarnate ourselves, we should expect no less.
One of the difficult things about ministry, however, is that the whole family is often swallowed up by it. Missionary kids and pastor kids donโt necessarily choose ministry, but they’re still stuck in the thick of it.
โIf your parents are engineers, plumbers, or lawyers, it doesn’t matter one bit to your life, but if your parents are missionaries, it changes everything. You can’t pick your parents, but they get to pick your life. They decide where you’ll live, when you’ll pack your bags and go, and you’ll get roped into their work saving the lost.โ (p. 9)
2) After repairs, there are still scars.
Thereโs a theme of repairing what is broken throughout the book. Repairing furniture, cleaning up buildings, and helping addicts. One of the things the drug rehabilitation center did to stay afloat financially was a furniture repair shop. โWhen the used or abandoned furniture entered through the doorway, the pieces came in with scrapes and dents, disfigured by years of neglect and abuse. The former owners had been unkind to the dressers, wardrobes, and desks. The handles were missing, the mirrors cracked and shattered, and often layers of faded paint covered what had once been solid oak.โ (p. 70)
The men โtook the furniture apart piece by piece, revealing stains and scratches in the wood, and peeling off all the old coats of paint.โ (p. 70) โThey loved taking something others thought was rubbish, cleaning it, caring for it and transforming into something new with sandpaper, varnish and care.โ (p. 37) Maybe the men saw something in the funiture that resembled themselves.
โAs a child,โ the author shared, โI believed that no matter how broken and scarred by scrapes the pieces were when they entered the shop, they could always be restored. Now, though, I saw that although the scratches and scars grew fainter, they were never gone. The woodworm remained hidden, but the ravages of time could never fully be reversed. How easily we are damaged, and how hard to put back together.โ (p. 180)
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has gone, behold, all things are new. But he also said โbefore transformed by the renewal of your mindโ and that we โare being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to anotherโ (2 Cor. 3:18). Transformation takes time, and scars remain. Itโs true of furniture, and itโs true of each of us in this life.
3) There are blessings and perils to education.
The Tepper family clearly valued education, but there are particular perils to education. The author shares that he couldn’t decide on many things about his life, but with his books and encyclopedias, his mind was free to roam where it wanted. โBooks could fit in any backpack, yet they contained entire worlds. They were my magic carpet to change reality and take me wherever I wanted.โ
โBooks filled every corner of our small apartment. My parents had made a study with bookcases that lined the walls from the floor to the ceiling, as my father had when he was growing up. Books were stacked randomly in piles on the carpet like stalagmites. My parents said books had the power to transport and transform you.โ (p. 9)
Education can be a blessing but also baffling. The author quotes Solomon: “For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increases knowledge increases sorrowโ (Eccl. 1:18). โEducation can be a bittersweet experience. For all the joy of discovery, sometimes I wished I were a house painter and had skipped school when I was twelve. I would know how to read, but I might not be troubled by questions of belief. (p. 202)
4) Beauty will break forth from the brokenness.
Very tragically, the authorโs mother got a brain tumor. After her surgery, she was not the same. She took her own life in 2012. She jumped from the rooftop of the drug rehab headquarters.
โWith the added perspective of time, death has made me aware of the preciousness of life, the importance of family and friends, and the overwhelming power of love and memory.โ The author goes on to share, โShattering tragedies have marked my life, but I was always surrounded by a loving family and community. True misfortune and trauma are for those who suffer and are not surrounded by love.โ (p. 266)
Yet, in reading the book, a question replayed in my mind. Why, if God is good, is there suffering? More than that, why doesnโt God protect His own faithful servants from suicide? There are many questions beyond my understanding, but I know God is love. And soon sin, and its chorus of chaos will end, and new creation will resound.
As the author said, โMy mother suffered a great deal, and now she is suffering no more. I hope people will remember what a wonderful woman she was all her life. I never met a kinder, gentler, more selfless person.โ (p. 264)
As Julian of Norwich said, and as is quoted in the book,
All shall be well and
All manner of things shall be well.
That is the Christian hope. We can minister in the dark because the light has come, and soon it will totally overwhelm the darkness.
Favorite Quotes
Suffering itself is meaningless. It is our response to it that gives it meaning, and it is not an easy task to thread the needle of suffering. The answer to suffering is always more love. We can love those who are hurting, and when we are grieving, we can treasure and remember those who have passed.(p. 266)
I could come home in the years ahead, but it would never truly be the same. You cannot turn back the days to the hours of youth and health. Home is not even a place; it is a fleeting state of mindโof innocenceโyou can never go back to. You can never truly go home. (p. 224)
Why was it that some Christians took parts of the Bible so literallyโthe seven-day creation, the flood, and the endless genealogiesโ yet viewed the Sermon on the Mount with its call to meekness, kindness, and love, and the Ten Commandments, as mere suggestions? (p. 117-18)
Suffering itself is meaningless. It is our response to it that gives it meaning, and it is not an easy task to thread the needle of suffering. The answer to suffering is always more love. We can love those who are hurting, and when we are grieving, we can treasure and remember those who have passed. (p. 266)
Every great love story will eventually become one of loss. If we do not love, we will not suffer. We cannot have it any other way. (p. 266)
Hate destroys you, but love transforms us and the world around us. (p. 69)
My mother and father had reason to be proud of all they accomplished over the decades, but not because of the size of the building or the numbers of addicts in the centers. My parents did not set out to create a large organization, seek political influence, or fight any culture wars. They set out to show compassion to one addict at a time. (p. 262)
What a vast gap between knowledge and wisdom! I was no more responsible for my odd, schizophrenic childhood than they were for their normal ones, yet I placed the burden upon them to understand me. It is easier to blame others than to accept our shortcomings and grow. And so I retreated further into my shell. (p. 224)
If only my parents had not taught me how to think, I would not have had the tools to take my own beliefs apart piece by piece and to saw off the branch I was sitting on. (p. 202)
“Thank you, Lord, that while we were stealing from the slot machines last night you didn’t let the police catch us. Thank you, God, for looking after your sheep. Amen.โ (p. 39)
Some Christians were the worst possible advertisements for Christianity. (p. 117)
David shared a room with Timmy, and I bunked with Peter, who was only one year, two months, and one day younger than me. But my parents’ books had a room all to themselves. (p. 10)
Patriotism, Nationalism, and Christianityย
Too often, American Christians come off as nationalistic. What is nationalism, and why is it problematic?
I love America. I served in the Army National Guard for 9 years and now serve in the Air National Guard as a chaplain. I have sworn to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. I do not take this lightly. I deem the ideals in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights, and the freedoms and flourishing flowing from them, as worthy of protection, even calling forth the sacrifice of my life and limbs. So, I would say I am a patriot but not a nationalist.
With anything, definitions matter. The way we define patriotism and nationalism will helpfully contrast them for our purposes. There is a healthy kind of love for country and an unhealthy, biased, and blind kind. There is also a Christian kind of love for oneโs country. As well as a sub-Christian love for oneโs country in which the country plays a bigger role and occupies greater space in oneโs affections, allegiance, hopes, and fears than it should.
Patriotism
Stephen Nathanson defines patriotism as involving:
- Special affection for oneโs own country
- A sense of personal identification with the country
- Special concern for the well-being of the country
- Willingness to sacrifice to promote the countryโs good[1]
It is shown through civic virtues, national loyalty, and contributions to the countryโs well-being. It involves participating in democracy, respecting national symbols, and supporting fellow citizens. Serving in the military or government, voting, paying taxes, obeying the law, and learning about and respecting the country’s history and founding principles are all patriotic. All of these things are good and honorable. There is nothing wrong with being a Christian and being patriotic.
Patriotism does not confuse the city of man with the City of God. Patriotism leaves room for serious criticism of one’s country. Patriotism is not naive.
Patriotism does not mean promoting oneโs countryโs interests under any circumstances and by any means. The patriot can and should recognize a higher moral principle above that of oneโs own nation. A patriot does not need to and must not lose his prophetic voice. A patriot may fight for his country, but also demand that the war is just.
Nationalism
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines nationalism as an ideology that elevates one nation or nationality above all others and places primary emphasis on promoting its culture and interests rather than those of other nations or nationalities. I would further add, from a Christian perspective, that we consider this definition in relation to Godโs Kingdom. Patriotism has its rightful place and perspective within our earthly nation. But with nationalism, the nation occupies a bigger place in hearts, minds, and allegiance than is warranted. โPatriotism that loses perspective and offers our highest loyalty to a specific state is an evil and destructive thing. In essence, nationalism is the imbalanced and distorted form of something that is goodโpatriotism.โ[2]
| Healthy Patriotism | Unhealthy Nationalism |
| America < Jesusโ Kingdom | America > Jesusโ Kingdom |
| Subservient to King Jesus and His policies | Subservient to the President and his policies |
| Ultimately concerned about Jesusโ transnational Kingdom | Ultimately concerned about America |
| Eschatology: Hope in Jesus | Eschatology: Hope in American greatness |
| The fall/problem: everyone are sinners in need of Jesus and His love and truth (right and left) and Satan is set to destroy everyone (right and left) | The fall/problem: The left (or the right) are the problem. If we can deal with them, this nation will be back to its original state (Eden/Promised Land)[3] |
| Savior/messiah: Jesus who fixes the problem of sin, is truth incarnate and thus shows us how to liveโlives of love. And who will ultimately destroy Satan, sin, and death. | Savior/messiah: a strong political leader who will fix what is broken (and remember the other side is what is broken) |
| Loves everyone. Wisely, carefully, and considerately protects America. | Loves America. Brashly and thoughtlessly does whatever it thinks is in the interest of America. |
| Open to critique and correction. Not naive. Prophetic voice remains. | No critique or correction. No place for the prophetic voice. |
Powerful Push Towards Nationalism
Any powerful nation will push towards nationalism. Of course, no nation says, โWe are a variable and artificial entity that sometimes fails in our moral duties, but we want your allegiance in order to increase our power and security.โ Instead, God is often co-opted to bolster the country’s standing in the eyes of the people. That is why people who are nationalistic tend to be religious. A link has been made between oneโs nation and oneโs God.
We see the messianic undertones all over the place, from โObamacareโ to โTrumpRX.โ We can trust the Fรผhrer to provide what we need. The president is my shepherd, I shall not want. The president leads me to prosperity. The President is here; I will fear no enemy.
The immense power, rich history, and traditions of the United States can inadvertently foster nationalistic tendencies. While the story of the United States, on balance, is predominantly positive, this goodness can be perilous. Nationalism becomes alluring when nations possess sufficient strength or goodness to garner deep loyalties.[4] This can facilitate false beliefs and narratives, and promote placing hope where it should not be placed.
Our nation’s โsuperpower status and the longevity of our political system provide a potent seedbed for nationalist ideas. When this is combined with a rather widespread belief that the United States is (or in some cases, was) a Christian nation, nationalism becomes a seductive worldview for Christians.โ[5]
One of my major critiques of nationalism is that it takes something that may very well be good, or even very good, and transforms it into an absolute good.[6] Of course, every culture and nation has some redeemable qualities. And โIt is indisputable that different nations reflect varying degrees of Christian influence in their histories.โ[7]
But no nation is Godโs ideal. No nation will ever bring heaven to earth. That is a utopian concept. The New Jersusalem will come down from and by God from heaven (Revelation 21:2).
The reality is, however, there will always be temptation to place our hope in govermental powers on earth. Christians must remember that Revelation warns us against the sin of nationalism. We must not put our hope in Babylon. Babylon will fall (Revelation 17-18).
Christianity
The only nationalism the Christian should be about is trans-nationalism: Jesus and His eternal Kingdom made up of people from every tribe, language, nation, and tongue. Christianity is transcultural and transnational.[8] Christianity is not America, and itโs not American. Jesus was a Middle Eastern Jewish carpenter who was crucified. โJesus peopleโ have historically transformed culture sacrificially and lovingly from the margins.
Christianity is not about my church or your church, this country or that country; itโs about the whole universe being subservient to Jesus. Jesus is the Boss before whom every being in the entire universe will be made to bow. Jesus is bigger than politics. โThe Christians primary solidarity is not with those who pledge alliagnce to a particular flag but those who confess Jesus as Lord regardless of their nationality.โ[9]
Christianity is political, but it is first and foremost about Jesus reigning in individual hearts and lives; and Jesusโ command is summed up in this: love the LORD (YHWH) with every fiber of your beingโmaterial and immaterialโand others as yourself. Jesus will soon reign on this very earth. Christians are about that political reign not by getting overly caught up in earthly politics, but by ensuring they themselves are following Jesus the King and helping others to see who He is and bow before Him.
People will not bow their head, heart, and hands (and morality) before Him until they know and love Him. Christians are not about outward conformity but conformity from the heart. And that happens through love by the Spirit.
One of the death knells of nationalism is the historical perspective that remembers the transitory nature of nations. Nationalism is short-sighted and wrong in its diagnosis and offer of a cure. Itโs demonic because it distracts from the real hope of Jesus. Nationalism is also deeply off base because, as Brenda Salter-McNeil has said, โCultural difference and diversity was always a part of God’s original plan for human beings. No one culture, people, or language can adequately reflect the splendor of God.โ Nationalism and Christianity donโt go together.
Some people might respondโฆ
Some people might respond: โYour unrealistic or unfaithful talking about all the high-fluent Jesusโ Kingdom stuffโฆ You are unrealistic and should care about America. Donโt you care about our kidsโฝ Donโt you see the moral collapse of the nationโฝโ
First, I do care about America, and I do things for the betterment of America. As stated above, I am in the Air Force. I also vote and carryout other civic duties, volunteer, serve my local community as a pastor and hospice chaplian.
Second, Colossians 3 says โSet your mind on things which are above, not on things which are on the earth.โ This and other Scriptures demonstrate that our first focus as Christians should be Jesusโ eternal Kingdom and our heavenly citenzenship (Philippians 3:20). This positions us to be more profitable people in whatever earthly kingdom we find ourselves.
Third, the hope of America is a person. And that person is Jesus. Itโs not any other person or policy. Itโs not morality. The hope of America is not America. Jesus, thatโs who we all need: His person and policy.
Yes, I know we canโt actually vote for Jesus. Yes, I know the President is not the โpastor and chief.โ But yes, the diagnosis and what we think is the cure for this country radically matters. A lot of people seem to be โpractical nationalistsโ even if they say they arenโt.
Fourth, we canโt piecemeal take Godโs word. Godโs word that says, โthou shalt not commit adultery,โ thus condemning homosexuality and pornography, also says, โlove your enemiesโ and โpray for those who spitefully use you.โ Sometimes political opponents donโt take into account the whole counsel of God or the weightier matters of the law.
How can we hold to the sacredness of the family with one breath but with the next belittle and objectify women or put down people of different nationalitiesโpeople made in the image of God for whom Jesus died? Donโt we get the value of the family and the value of all humans from the same place?
If Godโs word, the truth, is our mother, then the indoctrination of the internet should not be our father. We should keep suckling from the same source, that of love and truth, not one mixed with poisonous lies. We should keep in mind that this worldโs wisdom is mixed with the serpentโs bite of devilish deceit.
The God of moral order is also the God of sacrificial love. We canโt have actual moral order and the flourishing it promises without the accompanying love. Itโs a fool’s errand to think we can have the heads of the quarter without taking the tales’ side too.
Conclusion
So, as a Christian, I do not believe there should be any connection between Christianity and nationalism. I do, however, think there is a clear place for appropriate patriotism.
Patriotism has warrant in Scripture. Patriotism realizes that the freedoms, blessings, and prosperity we have as a nation are a stewardship from God, which is meant to be wisely managed. Patriotism realizes the freedoms we enjoy are not free and they are not just to be enjoyed but leveraged for higher purposes. Patriotism realizes that freedoms are meant to be protected along the lines laid out in the just war literature.[10]
Patriotism realizes that the government is not infallible but is under the higher government of someone higher. Patriotism praises God for the country in which God has placed us, but has no illusions of perfection or the possibility of perfection.[11]
Psalm 23 is not just a funeral poem. Itโs political. YHWH is my shepherd. He leads and I follow Him. He is the great shepherd who shows His love by laying His life down for His sheep. It is HeโKing Jesusโwho brings eternal goodness, prosperity, and flourishing; not any earthly ruler.
โTrust in Him at all times. Pour out your heart to Him, for God is our refuge. Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of airโฆ Power, O God, belongs to You; unfailing love, O Lord, is Yours. Surely You repay all people according to what they have done.โ (Ps. 62:8-9, 11b-12)
Notes
[1] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/patriotism/
[2] Steve Wilkens and Mark L. Sanford, Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives, 62.
[3] โThe supposed antidote for the nation’s ills is sought by a recovery of some golden age within our national history when those things did not exist. Usually, this blessed and right time is not specifically identified, but it often looks a lot like the world the Cleaver family inhabitedโ (Hidden Worldviews, 70). โSeveral problems emerge immediately from this idea. First, when “golden eras” are defined by a narrowly construed set of issues, they quickly take on a mythical character in which all the blemishes of that gilded age are ignored or glossed over. Thus, it is common to hear a desire to return to the Christianity of our founding fathers without recognizing that many of them were deists who talked a lot about God but were hostile toward Christianity. A second problem is that we run the risk of turning God into a vending machine with the idea that he will provide us with the national protection, status and well-being if we behave in proper ways. Finally, our return to God’s favor is generally thought to be orchestrated by political actions that will get us back on the right cultural and moral track. In each case, Christians are tempted to rely on political methods and goals to define our missionโ (Hidden Worldviews, 70).
[4] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives, 65.
[5] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 62.
[6] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 73.
[7] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 75. It should also be noted that โMuch of what we believe to be true, good or just proper manners is not filtered through conscious decision-making processes, but is a matter of absorptionโฆ Greater awareness of differences between cultures can remind us of the relativity of one’s own national traditions, ideas and assumptionsโ (Hidden Worldviews, 73).
[8] โNationalism ignores the transnational nature of Christianity. Perhaps one of the most overlooked lessons in Scripture’s account of Pentecost (Acts 2) is that Christianity is not the sole possession of any particular nation. Instead, God’s new work now transcends old boundaries and encompasses all the nationsโ (Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 75).
[9] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews.
[10] See Eric Pattersonโs book A Basic Guide to the Just War Traditionfor a good book on the subject.
[11] There is thankfulness and humility so there can be, when appropiate, partnerships with other nations.
*Photo by Janay Peters
What is Forgiveness and How Can I Forgive?
The Bible talks about forgiveness frequently. It talks about Godโs forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of others. Forgiveness is important. So, itโs important that we have a good understanding of it.
What does forgiveness mean?
The truth is, we hear many confusing definitions of forgiveness. Yet, to misunderstand forgiveness brings serious consequences.[1]
The main New Testament Greek word for forgive is แผฯฮตฯฮนฯ, and basically means to โlet go.โ Yet, we should know that the best way to determine the biblical meaning of forgiveness is to look at its various uses in the Bible.[2] Thatโs a big errand and not one we will be able to do here. Yet, this study can still be helpful.
There are three main types of forgiveness.[3]
1. Legal or Judicial Forgiveness
โJudicial forgiveness involves the remission or pardoning of sin by God.โ This type of forgiveness โlies at the heart of Christianity and the salvation experience.โ[4]ย This form of forgiveness is contingent on confession of sin (Ps. 32:5; 1 Jn. 1:9) and repentance (Lk. 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31). In the ultimate sense, this type of forgiveness cannot be granted by humans, only sought by humans. This type of forgiveness is the kind that every person must seek. Because there is none righteous, not even one (Rom. 3:10). So, we areย allย in need of forgiveness.ย
There is, however, another sense of judicial forgiveness. That is, to forgive the debt that one owes. Imagine a friend borrows five hundred dollars; it is my right to get my money back. He owes a debt to me. But I can forgive that debt so that he does not owe me.
The Bible says that the wage of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). The debt we owe because of our sin is death and separation from God. Yet, God makes a way for our debt to be forgiven.
Are Christians to grant legal or judicial forgiveness?
First, it depends on what is meant. As we have said, we are not in the place of God to forgive sins which have been committed against Him. Yet, God in His grace and mercy has provided a way of forgiveness. God is both just and the justifier of the one who places their faith in Jesus (Rom. 3:26).ย
Second, God has instituted governmental authorities over us to carry out justice and enforce the law. If someone has broken the law and is sentenced to pay the penalty for their crime, we cannot release them from their punishment. In that sense, we cannot โlet goโ and forgive.
Yet, third, it does seem there is a sense that Christians are, at least at times, to grant legal or judicial forgiveness. This seems especiallyย to be the caseย when Christians are dealing with other Christians. For example, Paul writes in his letter to the Christian Corinthians, โTo have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defraudedโ (6:7)?ย
2. Psychological Forgiveness
โPsychological forgiveness is the inner, personal category of forgiveness, and it has two aspects: negatively, it involves letting go of hatred and personal revenge; positively, it involves extending grace to the offender.โ[5]This is a form of forgiveness that I believe all Christians are called to.ย
It should be realized, however, that letting go of revenge and retribution does not mean letting go of justice or the desire for justice. In fact, trusting in Godโs perfect justice enables us to leave revenge to God (Rom. 12:19). God will perfectly carry out justice even when governmental justice fails. Trusting Godโs justice facilitates forgiveness. We donโt have to avenge ourselves because God is a just avenger (Deut. 32:35; Ps. 94:1-2; Rom. 12:19; 1 Thess. 4:6).
So, โforgiveness does not necessarily remove negative consequences for the one forgiven, nor does it automatically grant trust and reconciliation.โ[6]ย We see this in different places throughout the Bible. In Numbers 14:20-23, God forgives His people of their sin, but that does not mean there arenโt consequences. There are. None of the rebellious adults enter the Promised Land (see also 2 Sam. 12:11; Hos. 3:1-5).
Also, psychological forgiveness is not necessarily felt first; it is often granted first.[7]ย Forgiveness is not just a feeling; itโs a choice. Hopefully, feelings eventually accompany the choice, but forgiveness is a โletting goโ whether or not we feel like letting go.[8]ย
Forgiveness does not mean that one mustย forget. โThere is no such commandment in the Scripture. Forgiveness is not a shock treatment that instantly wipes out memory of the recent past.โ[9]ย Forgiveness is a process. And I also believe it is a provision of God. He helps us to forgive, and He can heal our hurts.
Are Christians to grant psychological forgiveness?
In short, yes, I believe they are. But psychological forgiveness does not necessarily mean things must automatically or ever go back to the way things were.
3. Relational Forgiveness
This type of forgiveness is restorative. It is the restoration of a relationship or reconciliation. This form of forgiveness is always desirable, but not always possible. There are various scenarios in which this is the case.ย Aaron Sironi points out that Joseph, in Genesis 42-45, wisely withheld reconciliation until his brothers acknowledged their sins and expressed true remorse.[10]
โWhen trust is deeply broken, restoration is often a lengthy process largely determined by the changing attitudes and actions of the abuser. Words and tears are not and will never be enough to restore trust. When an abusive person genuinely repents, there is an understanding and acceptance that rebuilding trust will take time.โ[11]
In Luke 17, Jesus says: โPay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, โI repent,โ you must forgive him.โ
First, we should pay attention to ourselves, knowing that we all stumble in many ways (James 3:2). We must realize that โtemptations to sin are sure to comeโ (Lk. 17:1) to us all. We shouldnโt ignorantly and arrogantly think we are immune.
Second, if someone[12]ย sins, we areย to lovingly rebuke them.ย Yet, we must make sure we are not puffed up in pride, and we must make sure we do not have a log in our own eye when we seek to look at the speck in someone elseโs eye (Matt. 7:3-5). We must also realize that some offenses should just be overlooked (Prov. 19:11; 1 Pet. 2:19, 23).ย We shouldnโt make an issue whereย no issueย exists orย where somethingย can be lovingly overlooked.
Third, it says that if they repent, we are to forgive them. That seems to mean if they donโt repent, we are not constrained to forgive them, at least in the relational sense. Though, in the psychological sense mentioned above, I believe we are still to forgive. So, at least some forms of forgiveness are conditional.
But, Timothy Keller makes a good point when he says,
If a relationship has broken down,ย it is always your moveย to initiate relationship repair.ย Matthew 5ย says, โIf your brother has something against you, go to him,โ whileย Matthew 18ย says, โIf you have something against your brother, go to him,โ so it doesnโt matter who started it. A Christian is responsible to begin the process of reconciliation, regardless of how the alienation began. [13]
Notice Romans 12:18 says, โIf possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.โ Sometimes it is not up to us. If people in our lives insist on continued abuse, we do not need to relationally forgive them. In fact, we likely should not. I believe that would be casting our pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6).
Fourth, we are to forgive those who sin against us when they repent, even when they are struggling to defeat their sin. Therefore, we see Christians are to offer relational forgiveness when genuine repentance has taken place (2 Cor. 2:5-11).
Are Christians to grant relational forgiveness?
As we have seen, the granting of relational forgiveness seems to depend on various factors. Is it wise and safe to be in a relationship with the person who hurt you? Have they shown signs of genuine godly repentance and change?
Steps to Forgive
It can be difficult to forgive others. Yet, forgiveness is something God calls us to. So, here are five steps to help us forgive.
1. Understand Godโs Forgiveness
Look at these verses about Godโs forgiveness of us!
- โThe Lord our God is merciful and forgiving,ย even though we have rebelled against Himโ (Dan. 9:9).
- โAs far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressionsย from usโ (Ps. 103:12).
- โWho is a Godย like You, who pardons sinย and forgivesย the transgression of the remnantย of His inheritance? You do not stay angryย forever butย delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion onย us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquitiesย into the depths of the seaโ (Mic. 7:18-19).ย
This is how Keller says it:
We should be in the accused prisonerโs dock, but we put ourselves in the judgeโs seat. But the Lord, who rightly sat in the universeโs judgment seat, came down, put himself in the dock, and went to the cross. The Judge of all the earth was judged. He was punished for us. He took the punishment we deserve. This humbles us out of our bitterness because we know we are also sinners living only by sheer mercy (Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I?).
2. Understand what God says aboutย forgiveness
We must consider what we have already looked at above. In addition, once we have remembered and celebrated Godโs abundant love and forgiveness, itโs good to remember what He calls us to.
- โBe kind and compassionate to one another,ย forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave youโ (Eph. 4:32).
- โBear with each otherย and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave youโ (Col. 3:13).
- โFor if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.ย But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sinsโ (Matt. 6:14-15 see alsoย Matt. 18:15-35).
3. Understand the offense(s) and negativeย emotionsย
If we are to rightly forgive someone, itโs important that we rightly understand what it is we are forgiving them for. Therefore, it is important to clearly think about what they have done and what the result has been. When we know what we need to forgive, we are better positioned to forgive.
4. Deliberately let go of the desire for revenge
We, like Jesus, are to entrust ourselves to Him who judges justly (1 Pet. 2:23). That means we work to let go of a desire for revenge because we know that God will make all things right in the end.
5. Reevaluate the person who hurt you andย discoverย theirย humanityย
We remember that we are all sinners in need of grace. If someone has done something to hurt you, it could be because they have been deeply hurt or because Satan deeply deceived them. Of course, neither of those things justifies at all what they did, but it can be helpful to see their humanity.
What Does Real Repentance Look Like?
This is an important consideration for the person asking for forgiveness, as well as the person granting forgiveness to consider. Genuine repentance is especially important with relational forgiveness. As we saw above, Joseph wanted to see signs of genuine repentance from his brothers before granting relational forgiveness.
So, if someone seeks to genuinely repent, they should:
- Take full responsibility for what they have done.
- Acknowledge the full and extensive scope of what they have done.
- Put boundaries and plans in place to protect the one they have hurt.
- Take active steps to change.
This is what godly repentance looks like that leads to life, as opposed to worldly repentance that leads to death (2 Cor. 7:10-16).[14] People, in other words, are called to bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8).ย
Conclusion
It seems that for the Christian, forgiveness is required in every case. Yet, there are different types of forgiveness. If we forgive what someone owes us, that means we realize we will not exact payment. That, however, does not mean that God will not exact payment. Forgiveness, then, is an act of faith that entrusts justice and retribution into Godโs hands. We can forgive and let things go when we give them to God. God can handle those things.
Notes
[1]ย Aaron Sironi, โFrom Your Heart… Forgive,โ 47 inย The Journal of Biblical Counseling,ย vol. 26, num. 3.ย
[2]ย Seeย Steven R. Tracy,ย Mending the Soul,ย 183
[3] Timothy Keller says, “These are not two kinds of forgiveness but two aspects or stages of it. One could say that the first must always happen, and the second may happen, but that is not always possible. Attitudinal forgiveness can occur without reconciliation, but reconciliation cannot happen unless attitudinal forgiveness has already occurred. (Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I?, 107)
[4]ย Stevenย Tracy,ย Mending the Soul,ย 184.
[5]ย Tracy,ย Mending the Soul,ย 185.
[6]ย Tracy,ย Mending the Soul,ย 182.
[7]ย Jay Adams,ย The Christian Counselorโsย Manuel,ย 67.
[8] Keller says, โForgiveness is often (or perhaps usually) granted before itโs felt inside. When you forgive somebody, youโre not saying, ‘All my anger is gone.’ What youโre saying when you forgive is ‘Iโm now going to treat you the way God treated me. I remember your sins no more'” (Forgive).
[9]ย Adams,ย The Christian Counselorโsย Manuel,ย 64-65.
[10]ย Sironi, โFrom Your Heart… Forgive,โ 51.
[11]ย Sironi, โFrom Your Heart… Forgive,โ 51.
[12]ย Luke 17:3 says โbrother.โ This refers to any Christian brother or sister.ย But seems to apply in certain contextsย to non-Christians,ย as well.
[13] Keller, Forgive, 190.
[14] “True repentance begins where whitewashing (โNothing really happenedโ) and blame-shifting (โIt wasnโt really my faultโ) and self-pity (โIโm sorry because of what it has costย meโ) and self-flagellation (โI will feel so terrible no one will be able to criticize meโ) end” (Keller, Forgive, 149).
Body and Spirit: Christianity and the Importance of Exercise
I recently read David Mathisโ book, A Little Theology of Exercise. It is good and reminded me to finish writing something I started in 2023โฆ
I have been exercising religiously and consistently for the past five years or so.[1] I use both โreligiouslyโ and โconsistentlyโ purposely here. I donโt primarily exercise for aesthetics or athleticism. But because โexercise is of some value,โ as the Apostle Paul says (1 Timothy 4:8).
Some of the values I have seen in my own life: mental clarity, more patience and less anger, self-discipline, less stress (and fewer stress-related canker sores), and less back and knee pain. But thatโs not it. My exercise has been religious too.
Exercise can actually be a type of spiritual discipline and an act of worship when done for the right reasons. Christians need to reject lazy and sedentary lives while also avoiding obsession with fitness and body image. Exercise is to serve the higher purpose of loving God and others well.
Christians know the body is not evil or unimportant; it is a precious part of what it means to be human. So, our bodies are to be stewarded to Godโs glory. By working to keep our bodies healthy, we position ourselves to better serve God and others.[2] Exercise can help us better steward our time on earth.ย
Jonathan Edwards, the 18th-century theologian and philosopher, saw the benefit of regular exercise, although he didnโt have a gym to go to. In the winter, when he couldnโt ride his horse and walk, he would โchop wood, moderately, for the space of half an hour or more.โ[3] I donโt think what we do is as important as doing something. We all have things we gravitate towards. Physical activity is helpful for us.
John J. Rateyโs book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, was also helpful. He shows that exerciseโฆ
- helps with stress
- is especially helpful for those with ADHD
- is very beneficial for recovering addicts; it can assist the fight for sobriety because of how the reward system works in our brains
- helps with mental agilityย
- helps spur the growth of new brain cells
- helps combat anxiety and depression
- helps prevent and heal neurodegenerative disorders
Exercise is important. I love what the Apostle Paul says: โPhysical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to comeโ (1 Timothy 4:8). Of course, the Apostle Paul did not live a sedentary lifestyle.
Paul walked some 10,000 miles on his missionary journeys. So, Paul, although bookish, was also active. Jesus also did not live a sedentary lifestyle. Jesus was a carpenter/masonry craftsman, several of Jesusโ disciples were fishermen, and Paul was a tentmaker.
โRegular human movement has been assumed throughout history.โ But now, as David Mathis said, โWe have cars, and we walk far less. We have machines and other labor-saving devices, and so we use our hands less. We have screens, and we move less. Added to that, in our prosperity and decadence, food and (sugar-saturated) drinks are available to us like never before.โ
We definitely need to hear โgodliness is much better,โ but I think we also need to hear, โphysical training is good.โ This is especially the case because we drive, we donโt walk. We order fish, we donโt hoist them in from a ship. We build more things on Minecraft than with our hands.
It does make sense that our spiritual lives are more important than our physical fitness. But I donโt believe there is some huge separation between the two. Activity helps activate our minds. And the Bible says we are supposed to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and we are to glorify God in whatever we do. The Bible also says that Christians are temples of the living God; that doesnโt mean that our bodies must be marble, but it does mean that we shouldnโt treat our bodies like latrines.
We are embodied beings, not disembodied souls. Our bodies, it is true, are not glorified yet; they are battered and broken, but theyโre not inherently bad. So, letโs exercise for effectiveness and longevity, not self-worth or selfies. God is the one who instills our self-worth (and gave Jesus for us), and being obsessed with selfies is silly.
Notes
[1] Exercise has been a part of my life since about as long as I can remember. I started playing soccer when I was five and remember first being allowed to jog to Fleets Fitness when I was thirteen.
[2] Scripture says to do good to people as you have opportunity (Gal. 6:7), but more and more, if it is difficult to get off the couch, it will also be increasingly difficult to help people. So, I think disciplining ourselves for the sake of godliness (1 Timothy 4:7) can and even should include physical exercise.
[3] The Works of President Edwards.
*Photo byย Mike Coxย
Revelation Is Not Mainly About When the World Will End
Eschatology is not mainly about predicting the end, but about living rightly in light of the end. Revelation does not reveal when exactly the world will end, but it does reveal what the end will entail and whose side we want to be on. As many commentators note, the visions in Revelation primarily confront us with God’s demands and promises, they are not meant to satisfy our curiosity about minute end-time details.[1] Vern Poythress says it this way: โRevelation renews us, not so much from particular instructions about particular future events, but from showing us God, who will bring to pass all events in his own time and his own way.โ[2]
Interestingly, โone in four Americans believe that the world will end within his or her lifetime.โ[3] But America should never be the interpretive lens by which we interpret and think about eschatology. As Craig S. Keener has said,
If today’s newspapers are a necessary key to interpreting the book, then no generation until our own could have understood and obeyed the bookโฆ They could not have read the book as Scripture profitable for teaching and correctionโan approach that does not fit a high view of biblical authority (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17).[4]
There have been many specific failed predictions. Actually, โThe failure rate forย apocalyptic predictions sits right at 100 percent.โ[5] Sadly, sometimes what we think is in the Bible โis actually an indicator of our own biases and pre-conceptions.โ[6] Hal Lindsey predicted the end in 2000. Many believe Y2K would be the end. Harold Camping said the rapture would happen on September 6th, 1994. His radio โstation raised millions to get word of the end on billboards, pamphlets, and the radio.โ[7] One newspaper โestimated that worldwide more than $100 million was spent by Family Radio on promotion of the date.โ[8] For some who had โpinned their beliefs to this date, the failure of Campingโs apocalypse left them lost, with little trust in God.โ They were โdisappointed and adriftโ and for some โthere was financial ruin.โ[9] Thatโs sad and unnecessary.ย
As we study eschatology, we should do so with the world and the scope of history in mind. Remembering intense tribulation has
been present at various times, with great severity and over large areas. We think especially of the Mohammedan invasion in the seventh and eighth centuries which swept across all of the Near East, up into Europe as far as Italy and Austria, across all of North Africa, across Spain and into France. The Black Plague ravaged Asia and Europe in the fourteenth century. The Thirty Years War devastated much of central Europe in the seventeenth century. There have been two so-called World Wars in our twentieth century. For a time each of those seemed to qualify as great tribulation.[10]
Also, โAs for the Antichrist, various ones have been temporarily cast in that role: Attila the Hun in the fifth century; the pope at the time of the Protestant Reformation; Napoleon in the nineteenth century; Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin in the twentieth century.โ[11]
As faithful Christians, we should do our best to present ourselves to God as approved, workers who have no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truthโ (2 Tim. 2:15). We should know the โsigns of the timesโ[12] and we must be faithful and ready for the return of Jesus. But, โbecause the exact time when Christ will return is not known, the church must live with a sense of urgency, realizing that the end of history may be very near. At the same time, however, the church must continue to plan and work for a future on this present earth which may still last a long time.โ[13]
Notes
[1] Craig S. Keener, The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation, 32. Since Revelation is both apocalyptic and prophecy we must understand that its primary purpose is to provide words of comfort and challenge to Godโs people then and now, rather than precisly predicting the future, especially in great detail. Visions of the future are not an end in themselves but rather a means by which people are to be warned and to comforted (Michael J. Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Followingthe Lamb into the New Creation, 41).
[2] Vern Poythress, The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation.
[3] Jessica Tinklenberg Devega, Guesses, Goofs, and Prophetic Failures, 10.ย
[4] Keener, The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation, 30.
[5] Devega, Guesses, Goofs, and Prophetic Failures, 193.
[6] Ibid., 7.
[7] Ibid., 157.
[8] Ibid., 159.
[9] Ibid., 161.
[10] Loraine Boettner, โA Postmillennial Responseโ in The Meaning of the Millennium, 204-05.
[11] Boettner, โA Postmillennial Response,โ 205.
[12] Wars, famines, earthquakes, tribulation, apostasy, antichrist(s), the proclamation of the gospel to the nations, and the salvation of the fullness of Israel.
[13] Anthony A. Hoekema, โAmillennialismโ in The Meaning of the Millennium, 178-79.
We Miss our Way in So Many Ways
I appreciate this quote from Richard Lovelace: โThe goal of authentic spirituality is a life which escapes from the closed circle of spiritual self-indulgence, or even self-improvement, to become absorbed in the love of God and other persons.โ[1]
We miss our way in so many ways. Even our spirituality and self-improvement can be directed to the wrong ends and by the wrong means.
When our attention rests primarily on self, instead of Jesus our Savior, innumerable problems result. Notice the Apostle Paul said, โHim [Jesus] we proclaimโฆ that we may present everyone mature in Christโ (Col. 1:28). It is when our mind, heart, affection, and will are drawn to Jesus that we are more and more transformed into His image.
closed circle of spiritual self-indulgence or self-improvement
Like a Pharisee, we can be so obsessed with ourselves that we miss God and the precious people made in His image.
In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a handsome young man who fell in love with his own reflection. Narcissus drowned while gazing at his own reflection in the water. We, too, can be dangerously focused on ourselves.
โAuthentic spirituality,โ as Lovelace says, escapes the clutches of such navel-gazing to the ideal that God always intended. That is, to be โabsorbed in the love of God and other persons.โ
absorbed in the love of God and other persons
Jesus made it so simple. We need simple. Love God. Radically love God with every ounce of your beingโheart, soul, mind, and strength. And love others.
โThe substance of real spirituality is love.ย It is not our love but God’s that moves into our consciousness, warmly affirming thatย heย values and cares for us with infinite concern.ย But his love also sweeps us away from self-preoccupation into a delight in his unlimited beauty and transcendent glory. It moves us to obey him and leads us to cherish the gifts and graces of others.โ[2]
Augustine said, โLove God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.โ The gravitational pull of the love of God transforms us.
Notes
[1] Richard F. Lovelace, Renewal As a Way of Life: A Guidebook for Spiritual Growth, 18.
[2] Ibid.
What sets Christianity apart? (part 3)
In Part One, we examined the commonalities among world religions and inquired whether they are fundamentally the same. We discovered that theyโre not, and we examined two aspects that distinguish Christianity. In Part Two, we discussed four distinct aspects of Christianity that distinguish it from other religions. Here, we will finish by considering four aspects that set Christianity apart.
7. Positive World Impact
Jesus, a backwater country craftsman, has had an undisputed impact on history and the world. Stephen Prothero has said, โThere is no disputing the influence Jesus has had on world history. The Library of Congress in Washington, DC, holds more books about Jesus (roughly seventeen thousand) than about any other historical figureโtwice as many as the runner-up, Shakespeare. Worldwide, there are an estimated 187,000 books about Jesus in five hundred different languages.’ Jesus even has a country named after him: the Central American nation of El Salvador (“The Saviorโ).โ[1]
Some people would dispute whether Jesusโ impact has been positive. But religion is generally seen as having a positive impact on humanity. This has been statistically demonstrated. That, however, is not to say religion hasnโt also had a negative impact in certain circumstances. We can quickly cite the Crusades and the September 11th attacks to prove that religion is not always applied in a good way. But, generally, religion is a net positive.[2]
Christianity is specifically good for humanity. This is true statistically and historically, which makes sense because I believe Christianity is true factually. Think of the impact Christianity has had on hospitals. Think of the names of hospitals you know of; most of their names are probably Christian. If not, even still, most of them have Christian histories. But itโs not just hospitals. Consider the sanctity of human life, the value of women, health care, education, science, the abolition of slavery, music, literature, art, and charities.[3] For more on this, I encourage you to check out How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin J. Schmidt, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland, or several books by Rodney Stark.
Christopher Watkin even says that โthe reason Jesus’s teaching does not take our breath away is that it has so completely transformed how we think and act already. As Tom Holland reminds us, it is only the incomplete revolutions that are remembered; those that triumph are simply taken for granted. The revolution brought about by Jesus’s teaching and life has triumphed so completely that, religious and secular alike, we take it for granted today.โ[4] So, I believe Christianity had a uniquely positive impact on the world.
8. Salvation by Grace
Muslims believe there is salvation through submission. That is, if you confess and carry out the pillars of Islam, you may obtain salvation. Christians believe that โif you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be savedโ (Rom. 10:9). Christianity is unique because it teaches that salvation is by grace.
This is how Micah 7:18-19 says it: โWho is a Godย like You, who pardons sinย and forgivesย the transgression of the remnantย of His inheritance? You do not stay angryย forever butย delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion onย us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquitiesย into the depths of the sea.โ
Salvation is by grace through faith. Hereโs how Ephesians 2:8-10 says it, โFor by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.โ
It should be understood that โfaith works.โ It does not stay stagnant. As Ephesians 2 says, Christians believe salvation comes through Godโs grace as a gift, but that doesnโt lead to license to do whatever. It leads to a life filled with good works.
9. Exclusivity, Inclusivity, and Equality
Christianity is at the same time the most exclusive and inclusive religion. Christianity says that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, the life, and no one gets to God the Father except through Him (Jn. 14:6); and it says whosoever believesโred, black, white, rich, poor, whoever from whereverโwill have eternal life.
So, on the exclusive side, Christians believe what 1 Timothy 2:5 says, that โthere is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.โ So, there is one way of salvationโMessiah Jesus. Yet, 1 Timothy 2:6 shows us how inclusive Christianity is. It says Jesus โgave Himself as a ransom for all.โ There are no ethnic or cultural requirements.
Christianity is the most global religion. It has the largest number of adherents worldwide. Christianity is followed closely in size by Islam. But I am not making the ad populum argument here. Just because more people say theyโre Christian doesn’t make Christianity true.[5] My point, rather, is that not only is Christianity the biggest religion, it is also the most culturally diverse. Muslims are more monolithic. Though that is not to say they are monolithic.[6] Take, for example, the Christian and Muslim religious texts. Islamโs scripture is only considered Allahโs word in Arabic.[7] Christianity seeks to translate the scripture into the languages of every people, tribe, language, nation, and tongue.
Prothero says Muslims โhave always insisted that the Quran is revelation only in the original Arabic, Christians do not confine God’s speech to the Hebrew of their Old Testament or the Greek of their New Testament. In fact, while Muslims have resisted translating the Quran (the first English translation by a Muslim did not appear until the twentieth century), Christians have long viewed the translation, publication, and distribution of Bibles in assorted vernaculars as a sacred duty.โ[8]
The Christian movement was diverse from the very beginning, ethnically and also socioeconomically (See e.g., Col. 3:11; Gal. 3:28). Christianity is the most ethnically dispersed religion, and Hinduism is the least dispersed.[9] Part of the reason Hinduism especially lacks diversity is because of its caste system. Even while India as a country no longer officially endorses the caste system, its effects are felt.
In contrast, Timothy Keller explains that the cross of Jesus should remove the pride and self-aggrandizement that lead to racial animosity and human disunity.[10] The Bible โinsists on the equal value and dignity of all humans. The first churches united high and low classes, rich and poor, slaves and masters, and people of different racial backgrounds in uncomfortable, boundary-crushing fellowship.โ[11]
Many may contend here that Christianity is unfair or bad because it says that Jesus is the only way. Iโve dealt with that objection elsewhere. But the fact that someone doesnโt like something does not make that thing untrue. We donโt have to like the truth for it to be true. โComfort is important when it comes to furniture and headphones, but it is irrelevant when it comes to truth.โ[12]
Others may object, if Christianity is the exclusively correct religion, then why are there so many world religions? Because we have a sensus divinitatis, or sense of the divine. This is for various reasons. For one, what can be known about God is plain to see, because God has shown it. “For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been madeโ (Rom. 1:19-20). Second, Scripture also teaches and many people attest to having a conscience or the โlaw written on their heartsโ (see Romans 2). Third, people have a sense of the divine because there is a spiritual realm. Most people throughout the globe and throughout history have believed in the spiritual realm. It is chronological and geographical snobbery to assume that we modern Westerners automatically know better.
So, the exclusivity of Jesus does not prove Christianity wrong. Although it may prove unpopular. It does make Christianity distinct from some other religions. Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions hold that there are many ways of salvation (although โsalvationโ may not always be the best term).
Related to inclusivity and exclusivity is Christianityโs view of equality. The Bible teaches the equality of all humans by saying all humans are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). It also explains that we are all equally fallen. That is, we all sin and do wrong things. Lastly, it says that salvation is freely offered to all through Jesus.[13] In a similar way, the Bible shows the worth of women repeatedly, while the Qoran, for instance, is often disparaging of women, many believe, even allowing for abuse.
Naturalism, the belief that no God exists, gives no explanation or reason for equality. People who donโt believe in God or the relevance of God might believe in equality, but their belief is not based on any foundation. The idea of equality is accepted as true without proof or solid reason to believe it.
10. Relationship with God
Christians believe that we can have a relationship with God. This is different from Hinduism, for example. Most Hindus believe that the whole of the universe is itself divine. And most Buddhists donโt believe in a divine being. Folk, polytheistic, and animistic religions mainly seek to pacify the gods. โIslam diagnoses the world with ignorance and offers the remedy of sharia, a law to follow. Christianity diagnoses the world with brokenness and offers the remedy of God himself, a relationship with him that leads to heart transformation.โ[14]
As we saw in Part One, Christianity teaches that God is an eternally relational being. God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden in the beginning, He called Abraham to be His own, and He dwelt in the midst of His chosen people. God, in the form of Jesus, became flesh and lived among His people. Jesus taught His people to talk to God as Father. And we were even told that God dwells in us by His Spirit.
God is immensely relational. And God goes to great lengths so that His people can be with Him. In fact, the Christian scriptures say that Godโs people will live with Him forever.
Conclusion
Christianity is unique among religions due to its Trinitarian Monotheism, belief in Jesus the Messiah who is the incarnate Son of God, and emphasis on His death and resurrection for humanityโs salvation. Christianity is both exclusive and inclusive, teaching that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone but available to all who believe. It offers a personal relationship with God, teaches salvation by grace through faith, and highlights human equality.
Notes
[1] Stephen Prothero, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the Worldโand Why their Differences Matter, 70-71.
[2] โReligion is one of the greatest forces for evil in world history. Yet religion is also one of the greatest forces for good. Religions have put God’s stamp of approval on all sorts of demonic schemes, but religions also possess the power to say no to evil and banalityโ (Prothero, God Is Not One, 9).
[3] โBy far the largest faith-based charity, according to the study, is Lutheran Services of America, with an annual operating revenue of about $21 billion. The study counted 17 more faith-based charities, all among Forbesโs 50 biggestcharities in America, with revenues ranging from $300 million (Cross International) to $6.6 billion (YMCA USA).Almost all the charities are Christian, except for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, with an annual operating revenue of $400 millionโ (Julie Zauzmer, โStudy: Religion contributes more to the U.S. economy than Facebook, Google and Apple combinedโ [September 15, 2016]).
[4] Christopher Watkin, Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture, 372.
[5] It doesnโt even make those people who say theyโre Christian acturally Christians.
[6] Islam has many expressions. It is not monolithic. We are wrong if we think we understand Muslims because we have met one or read the Qurโan. That is a simplistic and false understanding. โIslam is a dynamic and varied religious traditionโ (James D. Chancellor, โIslam and Violence,โ in SBTS, 42.). In the same way, if you have met a Christian and read the New Testament, for example, that does not mean that you understand Christianity. โThe range of contemporary Muslim religiosity varies tremendously. One of the reasons for this is that people understand and โuseโ religion in a variety of ways; that is true whether we are dealing with Islam or Christianity or any other religion.โ (Andrew Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (New York: Routledge, 2012), 311.)
[7] โToday the Quran is, of course, a book. But only about 20 percent of the world’s Muslims are able to read its Arabic, and even for them the Quran is, like the Vedas to Hindus, more about sound than about meaningโ (Prothero, God Is Not One, 41).
[8] Prothero, God Is Not One, 67.
[9] See “The Global Religious Landscape,” Pew Research Center, December 18, 2012, http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/.
[10] Timothy Keller, “The Bible and Race” https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/the-bible-and-race/
[11] Rebecca McLaughlin, Confronting Christianity.
[12] Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, 137.
[13] See Christopher Watkin, ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐ฆ, 116.
[14] Prothero, No God But One, 45.
* Photo by Willian Justen de Vasconcellos
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