Crying On Christmas Day
A lot of us know the cheery and upbeat Christmas song, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Many people don’t know Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s story and poem behind it. Longfellow heard the bells ringing out from a nearby church on Christmas Day, 1863, and heard the happy chatter of the crowds and composed his poem. But the world seemed anything but peaceful and cheery. It was shattered. He had recently lost his second wife to a fire, the Civil War was raging, and his son had just been wounded in battle.[1]
Longfellow said, “How inexpressively sad are all holidays!” “Perhaps some day God will give me peace.”[2] The song versions of Longfellow’s poem don’t capture the bleak despair he was facing but the Civil Wars version comes close. Here are the two last verses of the poem:
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!”Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, goodwill to men!”
Many bow their heads in despair and say, “There is no peace on earth.” Many people are sad on Christmas Day for various reasons—whether death, divorce, or some other devastation—but sadness is no stranger to Christmas.
Other than “It’s A Wonderful Life,” most Christmas movies are silly, not very serious, and not sad. But the original Christmas story, the true Christmas story, is anything but silly. Jesus was born in an animal troth and was thought by many to be an illegitimate child.
The very reason the Bible says Jesus had to come to earth is sad. Jesus’ very name means, “the Lord saves.” And that is indeed what Jesus came to do, save His people from their sins and the sad situation they had gotten themselves into.
Jesus came into the brokenness and blight of the world. As the Christmas song, “O Holy Night,” says,
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend.
He knows our need— to our weakness is no stranger.
Jesus can sympathize with us (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus understands death and devastation, not just in the way that He knows everything as God, but by experience. Since human beings are made of flesh and blood, Jesus Himself became flesh and blood (John 1:14; Hebrews 2:14), and is acquainted with the stress and sorrow we face.
We don’t always have to be happy-clappy at Christmas. Rather, the Bible says:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:1,4,7).
More Christmas songs than you might realize, understand our plight and pleas for rescue. Here are a few lines from one of my favorite songs, “O Come, O Come Immanuel”:[3]
…free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
…Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight
…open wide our heavenly home
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery
…O come, desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease
And be Thyself our King of peace
We don’t know the exact timing of Jesus’ birth, but it would be fitting if it was a dark cold night. This world is often dark and cold. But Christmas is about Jesus coming into that cold black darkness, relating to us, and bringing life, light, and warmth. In Jesus, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isaiah 9:2).
The reality is, that Christmas is about light in darkness and hope amid grief. But Christmas is not lite, and it’s not just about laughter and “ho, ho, ho.” The Bible tells a gritty, realistic story about this broken world. But it also gives hope. It gives:
a bell ringing out in the silence
a light in the midst of darkness
snow silently falling on the black muddied earth
sunrise cresting the top of the trees
reminders that there is change
a new day ahead.
The Bible says that God does not sit idly by, but rather enters the fray. Christmas proves that God so loves the world. We may not always feel light, but He gives the offer of life. When we feel heavy and hollow, He offers to lift our load and give purpose.
Longfellow was sorrowful. His life was shattered. But what if Jesus came to earth to be shattered so that one day you could be mended and whole? And what if He promises to help pick up the pieces and make a masterful mosaic?
What if, in our muddled mess, Jesus the Messiah came? Came to love us and help us heal? What if He loves us? And says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden. Come to Me, I have walked the weary road of life, I get it, I understand your strife.” Jesus says, “Come to Me, all who are empty and exasperated. I will give you rest for your souls.”
May God bless each of you this Christmas and in time, help you make a beautiful mosaic out of the shattered shards of life.
Notes
[1] He lost his friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne, around a year later.
[2] See “I heard the bells on Christmas Day.”
[3] Immanuel means “God with us.”
Photo by Abigail
What is Christmas about?
Christmas is about the coming of the Christ. But, what does “Christ” mean? And why does it matter?
The word Christ comes from New Testament Greek. The Greek word is Christos (Χριστός), and it translates the Hebrew word Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ). Great. But what does Christ/Messiah mean? The simple answer is that Messiah means “anointed one.” But there is much more behind the meaning of the word Messiah than just “anointed one.” The Old Testament in various ways and in numerous writings promises that one would come and fulfill various promises. So, the expectation for the Messiah cannot be captured if we think it just means “anointed one.” It does mean that, but that is not all it means.
Do you know what a “honey-do-list” is? Have you ever seen one? I currently have a few things on the list: fix the leaky faucet, refinish the chair, and paint my son’s bedroom. A “honey-do-list” is a checklist of expectations. My wife, Leah, gave me a list and expects me to get everything done on the list. I am glad my wife is understanding and gracious, so the list isn’t very long.
As we think about the Jewish expectations for the Promised One, we are looking at a “honey-do-list” of sorts. We see from Scripture and history the “honey-do list” was not as small and understanding as my wife’s. The Jewish people had a huge list. And different people had different lists, but any list would be difficult to check off.
I think of the messianic expectations like water and oil. You don’t expect them to go together. How can the promised one be a king (2 Sam. 7:12-13; 1 Chron. 17:11-14) and a servant (Is. 52:13-53:12)? “One like the son of man” (Dan. 7:13) and also “Everlasting Father” (Is. 9:6)? How could the promised one suffer and die for His people and yet bring an eternal righteous reign? You don’t think of those things as going together. But sometimes things that you wouldn’t think go together, work quite nicely.
You wouldn’t think oil and vinegar make sense together. And you probably wouldn’t initially think it would make sense to have bacon with anything! It’s good enough on its own, right? But if you add spinach, candied pecans, cheese, oil, and vinegar (transformed into salad dressing), the bacon is elevated, and maybe even a little healthier.
If unexpected combinations result in delicious food, how great would the impact be on a spiritual level? A king who is also a servant?! Someone who has all power but is also all good? We don’t often think of these combinations, but if they could happen, it would be amazing.
The expectation presented in the Old Testament for the Promised One seems almost impossibly diverse. How could any one person fulfill the many expectations? How could it make sense for the “Ancient of Days” (Dan. 7:9, 13, 22) to be a descendant of king David (2 Sam. 7:12-16; Is. 11:1; Jer. 23:5-6)?
The New Testament authors, over and over, argue that Jesus is the Promised One, the long-awaited Messiah, who fulfills the prophecies, patterns, pointers, and promises of the Old Testament (2 Cor. 1:20). He will crush the serpent of old (Gen. 3:15) and lead the way back into Eden, He will bless all the nations of the earth, and He will set up His righteous and eternal Kingdom.
The messianic expectations appeared to be nothing more than unrelated and random shards of glass. But the New Testament helps us see they all work together to form an astounding, almost unbelievable, stained-glass picture of Jesus, the long-awaited, promised Messiah. That’s why understanding what Christ means matters. Without understanding the expectations for the Messiah, we’re left with broken glass, rather than a breath-taking mosaic.
Regarding prophecy, there are several Old Testament passages we could consider. I’ll give the Old Testament reference and then the New Testament reference.
- His appearance will be disfigured (see Isaiah 52:14 and Matthew 26:67).
- He will be despised and rejected (see Isaiah 53:3 and John 11:47-50).
- He will take sin upon Himself (see Isaiah 53:4-6, 8 and 1 Corinthians 15:3).
- He will be silent before His oppressors (see Isaiah 53:7 and Matthew14:60-61).
- He will be assigned a grave with the wicked and the rich in His death (Isaiah 53:9 and Mark 15:27-28, 43-46).
- He will be a descendant of king David (see 1 Chronicles 17:11-14 and Luke 3:23, 31).
- He will be born in Bethlehem (see Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:1).
- He will be preceded by a messenger (see Isaiah 40:3-5 and Matthew 3:1-2).
- He will have a ministry of miracles (see Isaiah 35:5-6 and Matthew 9:35; 11:4-5).
- He will enter Jerusalem on a Donkey (see Zechariah 9:9 and Matthew 21:7-9).
- His hands and feet will be pierced (see Psalm 22:16 and Luke 23:33).
- He will be hated without reason (see Psalm 69:4 and John 15:25).
- His garments will be divided and lots will be cast for them (see Psalm 22:18; John 19:23-24).
- His bones will not be broken (see Psalm 34:20 and John 19: 33).
- His side will be pieced (see Zechariah 12:10 and Jn. 19:34).
- He, the Mighty God, will be born (see Isaiah 9:2-7 and Matthew 1:23; John 1:1-3, 14).
Christmas—the real meaning of the season—is about Christ, the fulfillment of God’s promises, and all the many things that means.
Photo by Jakob Owens
Is Christmas True?
Is Christmas true? Or should we assume Christmas is just a fairytale like Santa Claus?
Our starting places or assumptions have a big impact on the way we weigh evidence. For instance, in Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird the correct verdict could not have been given in that context (i.e., Maycomb’s racist white community) because people excluded the possibility that anyone other than the black man, Tom Robinson, was guilty. Despite the strong evidence that Atticus Finch put forward, Tom was still convicted. Why? Because people were prejudiced against the truth. The people’s a priori assumption, that Tom was guilty because he’s black, led them to not honestly look at the evidence and pronounce the correct verdict.
This sadly still happens. It happens in the court of law and it can happen when people consider evidence about Jesus too. But, if God exists and wants to be born as a baby, as Christmas says, then certainly God can do that.
The Bible says Christmas is true. It even says the “star” guiding the Wisemen is true. Are there actual reasons for believing in the historical accuracy of Christmas? I believe so. But will people openly weigh the evidence?
Honestly, there’s a lot to look at. Here I’ll just share two pieces to consider.
Jesus’ Biographies
Although the Gospel accounts in the Bible may not be exactly like our biographies today, they really are biographies. Or they certainly claim to be. They purport to give actual history about Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible has four historical biographies about Jesus, often referred to as the Gospels.[1] Two of them explicitly claim to tell us what Jesus actually did and said, and they claim to be based on eyewitness testimony (Luke 1:1-4; John 21:20-24). And so, Justin Martyr, a second-century Christian writer and philosopher, referred to the Gospels as “the memoirs of His apostles.”
This is what Luke says:
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught (Lk. 1:1-4).
Luke is basically making the claim to be a journalist or historian.
The Gospels place themselves in a historical context. They don’t start with imaginary elements. There is no “once upon a time.” Instead, they give us identifiable time stamps. They say things like: “Augustus was emperor of Rome,” “Quirinius was governor of Syria,” “Pilate was governor of Palestine,” “Herod was king of the Jews,” and “Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Sanhedrin” (e.g., Matt. 2:1; 27:2; Mk. 15:1, 43; Lk. 2:1-2; Jn. 19:38). These were not made-up people or made-up positions. They repeat historical realities because the Gospels claim to be historical documents.
Many of the events that the New Testament writers wrote about were well-known. The Apostle Paul could tell king Agrippa: I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped your notice, since these things have not been done in a corner(Acts 26:26). The early Jesus followers did not follow cleverly devised myths about the Lord Jesus Christ but claimed to be eyewitnesses (2 Pet. 1:16).
C.S. Lewis knew a lot about legends and he didn’t think the Gospels read like legends. In Lewis’ own words: “Now, as a literary historian, I am perfectly convinced that whatever else the Gospels are they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend and I am quite clear that they are not the same sort of thing.”[2]
The “Star” of Bethlehem
Matthew’s telling of the story of Jesus includes a lot about a “star.” But if you read the account, he says things about the “star” that do not make sense if he is talking about a literal star. The way he describes what the “star”[3] does would not make sense unless he was knowledgeably aware of the peculiar movements it made. The star was “His star” and it “rose,” “appeared,” “went before them,” and rested “over the place where the child was.”
The sign in the heavens convinced the Babylonian magi—the NASA of the day—to pay a visit to Jesus. They were aware of the Jewish promise of a coming King and what was transpiring in the sky made them think something very significant was happening.[4]
What did the Wisemen see? This would be super random to include in a story about Jesus unless the writer knew it to be factual and significant. Otherwise, the writer could have said something simpler: “a bright and mysterious light shown down on the blessed child.” Instead, the author describes the movements of a beautiful comet, something like the Great Comet of 1811. The potential issue with describing something so seemingly outrageous is that it’s visible to a lot of people. Many people could have come forward and said there was never anything in the sky like that. But that didn’t happen. Instead, later on, Origen rightly identifies the “star” as a comet.
Here’s what Origen said (circa 248):
The star that was seen in the east we consider to have been a new star, unlike any of the other well-known planetary bodies. Yet, it had the nature of those celestial bodies that appear at times, such as comets…. It has been observed that, on the occurrence of great events, and of mighty changes in earthly things, such stars are apt to appear, indicating either the removal of dynasties or the breaking out of wars. … There is a prophecy of Balaam recorded by Moses to this effect: ‘There will arise a star out of Jacob, and a man will rise up out of Israel.’
Ignatius said (circa 105), “The light from this star was inexpressible, and its uniqueness struck men with astonishment.”
So, unless this event with the Wisemen and Comet happened, what would one gain by fabricating the story? The Babylonian Wisemen would not be popular with the Jewish people. The Babylonians took Jewish people into exile and were idolaters and the Wisemen were seen as magicians who practiced sorcery against the LORD’s command (Deut. 18:10–12; Mal. 3:5; Gal. 5:19–21). And so, the God/child receiving charity from such people would probably not be seen positively.
If your premise is that the whole story was fabricated and made up to fool people, why would the author have risked claiming such a visible and verifiable phenomenon? On the other hand, if you look at Matthew as a historical work, there’s nothing that should be excluded outright. For one, Matthew certainly gets king Herod’s personality right. The historian Josephus recorded what a gruesome man Herod the Great was. He put his favorite wife to death as well as three of his sons and killed other family members too.
The slaying of the 15 to 35 babies, known as “the Massacre of the Innocents,” referred to in Matthew 2 may not be mentioned in other surviving historical accounts but it is in keeping with what we know of Herod.[5] And again, why mention this historical datum if it wasn’t accurate? Wouldn’t it be possible as the account of Jesus circulated for someone from Bethlehem to hear about the account of the massacre? Wouldn’t the story of Jesus be on unstable footing if just one lie was found out? Why then would the author take such risks?
Imagine I wanted to lie and make you think I’m good at baseball. There are all sorts of ways I could do that. I could say, “I’m really good at baseball.” I could say, “I played college baseball.” But the more specific and fantastic I get about my lie the higher the risk. If I say, “I played baseball for the Yankees” you’re going to have lots of questions and you’re probably going to seek out verification. A nondescript lie is a lot safer and can still accomplish my purpose of making you think I’m good at baseball. The claims about Jesus are not like that. They are distinctive. They—especially in the first century—are falsifiable.
The biographies of Jesus go beyond saying “Jesus was good at baseball,” and even beyond saying “Jesus played shortstop for the Yankees and batted cleanup.” They give loads of information that could have been found to be false but were never proved to be false. Again, why include so much fantastical false information? And remember, the Jesus movement didn’t take decades to form.
Anyhow, I’m trying to stop writing… There are many reasons to believe Christmas is a true story. We’ve very briefly considered two.
Notes
[1] Gospel means “good news.” In Greek, it is euangélion (εὐαγγέλιον) and it is where my daughter, Evangelina, gets her name from.
[2] C.S. Lewis, “What are we to make of Jesus Christ?,” 169 in God in the Dock.
[3] “Star” here is the English translation of the Greek word aster (ἀστήρ), and it’s where we get our English word “asteroid.” Aster can refer to various lights in the sky.
[4] See Colin R. Nicholl, The Great Christ Comet: Revealing the True Star of Bethlehem (Crossway: Wheaton, IL, 2015).
[5] Remember the infant mortality rate would have been high in that day and the massacre was all boys aged two and below so the number would have likely been relatively low for someone like Josephus to report
What if we believed Jesus was Lord, not just Savior?
What if church were different? What if we believed Jesus was Lord, not just Savior? There was a long debate on this very topic. It’s known as “the Lordship controversy.”
It is true that faith alone saves, but the real genuine faith that saves is never alone. If Jesus is Savior, He is also Lord (Eph. 2:8-10). We prove Jesus is our Savior by showing that He is our Lord (Matt. 7:21; Jn. 8:31; 15:8). He is no Lord if He does not reign. We indeed struggle and we strive as we follow our Savior. In Christ Jesus, we are all simultaneously saints, sinners, and sufferers, seeking to conform our likeness to Jesus.
But I fear that we as contemporary Christians have picked over what is known as Christianity and have taken what we think agreeable and ignored what we consider unpleasant. It is much the same way that a two-year-old eats. The child eats what it feels it will enjoy and pitches everything of seemingly no value. The problem with this is that any baby on its own will not eat as it should and will, therefore, become malnourished, sick, and run the risk of death. I fear this is a problem in the US Church today.
A survey The Barna Group conducted in 2006, found that
“Faith commitments sometimes play a role in what people do – but less often than might be assumed. In comparing the lifestyle choices of born again Christians to the national norms, there were more areas of similarity than distinction… In evaluating 15 moral behaviors, born again Christians are statistically indistinguishable from non-born again adults on most of the behaviors studied.”[1]
This should not be the case. 1 John 2:3-6 states,
“We know that we have come to know [Jesus Christ], if we keep His commandments. Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps His word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.”
James, similarly, tells us, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (1:22).
Jesus said, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I tell you?” (Lk. 6:46). If Jesus is Lord, and He is, He demands and deserves our full allegiance. We are commanded by the Lord Jesus to make disciples, it’s not an option. That’s not all though. We are told to teach the disciples to observe all that Jesus has commanded. We’re called to do much more than make converts, we are essentially commanded to multiply little Christs.[2]
Notice also that the Lord, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, has said, “Teach them to observe all that I have commanded them.” He didn’t say, “Teach them to understand everything I have commanded them.” Obedience is first. We often get that backward. We often focus so much on understanding every little jot and title that we don’t have any time or energy left to do what our Lord has given us to do.
When I was in Army boot camp and the drill sergeant told me to do something, I did it. I did it quickly. I didn’t ask why. I didn’t ask for a definition. I just did it. And I screamed “Yes drill sergeant! Moving drill sergeant!” I listened and I obeyed. The drill sergeant deserved and demanded respect and it was given. The drill sergeant was the boss and so there was obedience.
Jesus is the boss for whom every being in the entire universe will bow. He is the Creator, we are creation. What He says, we must do. Jesus is the Lord, not just the Savior.
Notes
[1] “’Born again Christians’ are defined as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents are not asked to describe themselves as ‘born again.’” The Barna Group, American Lifestyles Mix compassion and Self-Oriented Behavior, February 5, 2007. From: http://www.barna.org/donorscause-articles/110-american-lifestyles-mix-compassion-and-self-oriented-behavior on 6-15-10.
[2] Many passages tell us to be like Christ. For example: Matt. 16:24; 19:21; Jn. 13:14-15, 34-35; 17:18; 20:21; 1 Cor. 11:1; Eph. 5:1-2; Phil. 2:5-11; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Jn. 2:6; 3:16; 4:9-11.
Transforming Church Growth: From Addition to Multiplication
What if church were different? What if we grew exponentially instead of by addition?
Upwards of 80% of church growth is actually transfer growth.[1] We rearrange the furniture on the Titanic quite a bit, so to speak, but we’re not moving a whole lot of new people into the lifeboats. We’re adding some but we’re not multiplying very much.
The early church exploded, it didn’t merely add. Larry Hurtado gives this estimate on the exponential growth of Christianity: “One thousand Christians in 40 AD, about seven to ten thousand by 100 AD, about two hundred thousand or a bit more by 200 AD, and by 300 AD perhaps five to six million.”[2] There was a time when Methodists were growing at an outlandish pace. In 1776 Methodists made up just 2.5 % of religious adherents but by 1850 they were up to 34.2 %. Explosive growth has happened at various times throughout church history. How can it happen again in America?
First, we need to think super simple and super small.
You may be familiar with the story of the inventor of the chess game. As a reward for his invention he was offered one free wish as his reward by the king of India. As a most ‘modest’ reward, he wished just for a kernel of rice on the first square of the chess board to be squared (multiplied by itself) for every section of the chess board—64 sections in all. That will mean two kernels on the second square, four on the third, sixteen on the forth, and so on. The king, who had initially smiled on it, thinking that he would get off lightly, simply could not grant the wish. He would have to produce 26 kernels of rice, which is 2,223,372,036,000,000,000 kernels, or 153 billion tons of rice.[3]
We must do all the Bible things a church has to do but not all the modern American things, it doesn’t have to do. Simple things can spread quickly, but complexity bogs down. Also, disciples disciple, consumers don’t.
Second, trust that the Spirit has endowed the church body and individuals with various gifts to build up the body. Every Jesus follower has God the Spirit within them. They have latent potential. When Jesus’ followers work with others in the body, the body grows. It builds itself up in love. All the markings of a Jesus movement are contained in one church body. Just as, “In the seed the whole tree lies coiled, and in the tree, there lies the potential for the production of countless other seeds. In the tree is the full potential of the forest.”[4]
God has gifted His people. We go in the confidence of Jesus the Lord who has “all authority in heaven and earth” (Matt. 28:18). We go with the power of the Holy Spirit, the Helper, who is with us and for us. We don’t need huge budgets and fancy buildings. We need to lean into all that God has already provided. It is more than enough. When we overly rely on buildings, budgets, and human wisdom, we often emphasize our power, and not God’s, and thus don’t see explosive growth. As D.L. Moody said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to God.” What if we raise up an army of men and women who set their faces like flint and put their hands to the plow?
God never promised to bless our innovation or entertainment. He said sow, and then we’ll reap. It won’t always be “sexy,” in fact, it will often be scary, but that’s the work our Master has told us to be about.
The Jesus movement was not exponential, at first. By definition, nothing is exponential at first. But, if we actually focus on disciple-making, and not injecting Christians with consumerism resulting in lethargy and atrophy, a movement can happen.
We see a pattern of multiplication in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. God says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28). God says to Abraham, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore”(Gen. 22:17). We see a call for multiplication in Acts (1:8) and we see that multiplication happening: “The church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (9:31).[5] Thus, later in Revelation, we see “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev. 7:9-10).
Paul was about the multiplication of the Church and sacrificed to see it spread. Paul multiplied himself in others to facilitate the multiplication of the Church. Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1 cf. Acts 20:18ff; Phil. 3:17; 1 Tim. 4:12; Titus 2:7-8; Heb. 13:7; 1 Pet. 5:2-3).[6] Thus, Paul taught men, like Timothy, who would be able to carry on and teach others (2 Tim. 2:2). Paul’s desire was not to merely preach but to make many disciples. That was Paul’s consuming toil and struggle (Acts 14:21 cf. Col. 1:28-29). He sought the strength of his disciples and not merely their salvation (Acts 14:22; 15:32-41; 16:5; 18:23).
A church is never meant to be about that one church, it is to be about the Kingdom of God, the Church. So, the church is to pursue multiplication because it is a mere embassy of the Kingdom, it’s a local outpost. But, the church is about the Kingdom, and Kingdom expansion.
Notes
[1] Ken Sidey says, “research that shows that more than 80 percent of all the growth taking place in growing churches comes through transfer, not conversion” (“Church Growth Fine Tunes Its Formulas” https://www.christianitytoday.com/1991/06/church-growth-fine-tunes-its-formulas/ see also David Dunlap, “The Myth of Church Growth,” Current Thoughts and Trends, 8/6, (June 1998), 7).
[2] Hurtado, Destroyer of the gods, 3.
[3] Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways, 208.
[4] Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways, 206.
[5] “There must have been hundreds of churches in the small cities and towns throughout this large region, but all of them together can be called a “church” (Gk. ekklēsia, singular in the earliest and best manuscripts of this verse, though some later manuscripts have the plural). The NT can apply the singular word “church” to the church meeting in a home (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19), in an entire city (1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1), in a large region (as here), or throughout the whole world (1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 5:25)” (ESV Study Bible note on Acts 9:31).
[6] Robert L. Plummber, “Imitation of Paul and the Church’s Missionary Role in 1 Corinthians” in JETS 44/2 (June 2001) 219-35. This article demonstrates that individuals are called to imitate Paul in his witness for the gospel. However, Paul did not expect “bland uniformity” (235) because people are entrusted with different stewardships.
Can someone who committed suicide still go to heaven?
Can someone who committed suicide still go to heaven? Is suicide unforgivable? How could someone trust Jesus for the next life and not trust Jesus to get them through this life?
My Friend’s Story
I’ve done a few funerals for friends who committed suicide. It doesn’t get easier; they were people I loved and tried to help. I was devasted when they died.
I could share many good stories about them. But I’ll focus on “Steve.” Steve had grit and determination. He had stubborn persistence and a strong work ethic. His work ethic was seen, for example, when he worked through a sandstorm on a mission trip. I remember many talks with Steve about the Lord. Steve professed faith in Jesus and shared the good news of Jesus with others even when he had a lot he was going through. He had a kind smile and a compassionate heart.
Steve, however, was also struggling. He was fighting to hold on to hope and to hold on to life. I visited him in a hospital after a suicide attempt a few weeks before his passing. I came into his room, and he was sleeping. A nurse was in the room with him, and I asked her if I could wake him. She said it was fine. So, I woke him up. I remember his sleepy smile… We talked for a little bit, and I asked him what he thought about God and what he thought God thought about him. He said, rather weakly, “I still think He loves me.”
Steve said with every suicide attempt, he’d pray: “God, if this isn’t Your will, protect me.” I told Steve that he did not have to ask God’s will in this regard. God had made it clear it is not His will that he take his own life. The Bible says, “Thou shall not murder.” The Bible also tells you that you are a precious treasure made in His image (Gen. 1:27). And God has demonstrated His love for you. He didn’t just say it, He showed it.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He did something about it, He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal and abundant life.” The Bible says all that and the Bible says, that in Christ Jesus, you are God’s workmanship, God’s work of art, that He prepared beforehand for good works (Eph. 2:10). I encouraged him that God has good works for him to do. “God has a purpose for your life… God can use your struggles to help others…”
We also read Isaiah 61:1-3 together:
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.”
Steve was in a dark place. There was a deepening darkness over him. Even while many people were striving to help him, regular people in his community and professionals. Yet, he was still in turmoil.
Steve should not have taken his own life. But I’m thankful that our sins and struggles do not nullify Jesus’ saving work. The mortal sin, the one unforgivable sin, is the sin of not trusting Jesus for salvation. Yes, suicide is a sin but so is selfishness. If I selfishly speed on the highway and get struck by a semi-truck, my sin at the time of death does not in any way negate the salvation of Jesus. I praise the Lord that even when we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself, He cannot deny His own character (2 Tim. 2:13).
Our World is Broken but Jesus was Broken for the Broken World
I want to say a few things about death, suffering, and the difficult complexities we face. Ecclesiastes, an Old Testament book in the Bible, says, “It is better to go to a funeral than a feast. For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart” (7:2). That is a strange thing to say. But it is true. Because it is at a funeral that we consider things that we would not consider at a feast.
So, why death? Why suffering? For us to consider those questions, we need to go all the way back to the very beginning…
We all experience loss and grief. But it wasn’t meant to be this way. We sense that don’t we? We know death does not feel right. It feels foreign and wrong. Because it is. The Bible explains the origin of death and confirms it wasn’t meant to be this way. When God made the world, He made everything and it was good, even “very good” (Gen. 1:31). Why then is the world no longer completely good? Why is their death, suffering, mental illness?
The first humans, our ancestors Adam and Eve, dwelt in perfect fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden but after they sinned, they were separated from God (Gen. 3). In that same chapter, there was relational conflict as Adam and Eve blamed each other and the curse of suffering and pain was introduced. And so, Romans 8 says that the whole creation is groaning. This world was once a paradise, but it is a paradise that got polluted and poisoned by sin and so in life, we experience both great joys and great sorrows. We live in a broken world. A broken world in which sadly the second leading cause of death for persons aged 25-34 is suicide. Death is an unnatural thing that even in the best of circumstances causes great grief. It causes grief and is unnatural because it was not part of God’s original good design.
So then, is there any hope or help? Praise the LORD there is! Even in Genesis 3:15, it’s foreshadowed. Jesus! Jesus will crush Satan, sin, and death. Christianity acknowledges the emptiness and brokenness of the world and offers hope, newness, and abundant life. Jesus shared in humanity’s pain and suffering and He provides the redemption and restoration we need.
Why could someone who trusted Jesus for the next life not trust Him to get him through this life?
Why could someone who trusted Jesus for the next life not trust Him to get him through this life? Because this world is broken, and we are broken. Thankfully, however, sinlessness does not save us. Jesus saves us.
The Bible speaks to the difficult subject of suicide and many other difficult topics. We have examples in Scripture and history where saints have sometimes struggled with depression and wanted to die. Jonah, Elijah, and Moses each asked God to kill them (Num. 11:12-15; 1 Kings 19:4; Jonah 4:1-11) and Jesus Himself was tempted by Satan to take His own life (Matt. 4:4:5-6; Lk. 4:9-11). We know that Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses because, as Hebrews 4:15 says, He was tempted in every way that we are, yet He never sinned.
God has a heart of a loving father for us. He knows life is hard. He knows sin has deeply ruined the world and wrecked our bodies in many ways. God gets we’re broken, and He longs to fix us, that’s why He sent Jesus. Jesus came for the suicidal.
In the song, “It Is Well With My Soul,” we’re reminded that through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, all those who trust in Him have their sin—all their sin—paid for. The song says, “My sin, not in part, but the whole, was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.”
Jesus saves. So, can someone who committed suicide still go to heaven? It depends. Did they trust Jesus for salvation? That’s the question.
Photo by Emma Steinhobel
Religion and Obligation – But I don’t want to obey?…
People often don’t like religion because they don’t want to obey
A lot of people react to religion and want nothing to do with it. Not because they’ve considered its truth claims but because they feel it is constricting. Interestingly, we got our modern English word “religion” from the Latin word religio meaning “obligation” or “bond.”
So, it has been recognized for a long time that religion is binding. The question is, why? Why should anyone obey a religion?
If the religion’s truth claims are accurate then there would be a good reason to obey. Otherwise, I’m not going to be bound by a religion just because that’s what my grandma believed… No. If you’re going to tell me what I can do and not do, you better offer some good reasons why I should listen.
God demands obedience
1 Kings 8:60-61 says, “The LORD is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD.” It is admittedly a big claim that “the LORD is God,” and He alone. But if that claim is true it seems to make sense that the LORD could demand obedience.
So, the question it seems we need to answer is not: “Should I obey?” But: “Is it true?” A lot of times it seems we’re tempted to go at it a different way. We’re tempted to think: “I don’t want to obey, therefore I won’t consider if it’s true.”
We can see the ridiculousness of that thinking when we apply it to a different context…
Imagine you’re driving on the highway with me. I’m going 95 when the speed limit is 70. You’re concerned because you know there are often speed traps in the area. Also, you don’t want to die. So, you say, “Perhaps you should slow down. There could be a speed trap.”
I, however, am rather content with the speed I am going. But you see a police car ahead. You very kindly warn me: “Um, that’s a police car… See it?! He’s right there! Slow down!”
But I don’t listen. I want to drive fast so I ignore the possibility of a cop car.
Religion and obligation
Ignoring information that might be pertinent because we want to do what we want to do might be problematic. Just because we don’t want there to be a cop to enforce the rules does not at all mean there is no cop.
I understand people not wanting to be obligated by a religion. We all naturally want to be in charge; we want to do what we want to do. We want to be God. But we can’t be God if God is God.
If God is, then God is in charge. He is God. If the religion is real, it necessarily leads to obligation.
That brings up the very important question: “Is God?”
Can an outside hand reach into the fishbowl of our universe?
Can an outside hand reach into the fishbowl of our universe?
Newton, a scientist that also happened to be a fish, was a keen observer of the ecology of the fishbowl. He was surprised to observe regular patterns in his fish universe. But he did.
For example, Newton observes that food daily falls upon the surface of the water at the same time each day. It is a law of nature. It’s just the way the world is.
Newton observes other natural phenomena like the temperature of the water. He further notes that each death of a goldfish results in a distant flushing noise and then in reincarnation of that goldfish. Newton, awestruck by his discoveries, publishes his findings in his magnum opus entitled Fishtonian Laws.
Many read his groundbreaking work and are convinced that the laws of the fishbowl are unassailable. After all, the patterns observed have always been that way and so always will be that way. No outside source can act within the fishbowl. The reality is food appears every day and as a goldfish dies, a new one appears. That is the unbroken chain of events we observe. That is the way it’s always been. How could it be different? Who or what could act on these laws of nature?
We are in a closed system; the aether of the universe—in which we live, move, and have our being—is constrained by an invisible force. There is an unknown unobservable wall that keeps us from knowing what is outside nature, what is outside the physical universe. There is no way for us to know the metafishbowl.
In the post-Fishtonian world, there were still whispers of the metafishbowl—of the supernatural hand of God—but most of those stories were dismissed as baseless dreams. After all, even if there were a God that set up the fishbowl, he no longer acts in the fishbowl. Such a being is wholly other and transcendent and would not care about lowly fish.
Everything just goes on swimmingly by itself. We shouldn’t expect an outside hand, right?… There is no reason to think an outside being or force could act within our world.
Or, does something smell fishy about this story?
If God created the universe, what created God?
We, as sentient and at least somewhat intelligent humans, exist. That’s not debated by most people. How, however, did we get here? Where or who did we come from? And if God created us, who or what created God?
Panspermia
Some have speculated that we got here through panspermia or even directed panspermia.[1] Panspermia is the hypothesis that microorganisms were seeded to our planet through meteoroids, comets, asteroids, or even from alien life forms. That just moves the question back. Where then did life come from (to say nothing of matter)?
Interestingly, some have speculated what it would take for us to seed life to another planet by blasting off a rocket with microorganisms onboard. Some believe we could carry out a “Genesis” mission to an uninhabited planet within 50 to 100 years.
Of course, the mission would require a lot of really smart people working in coordination with a lot of really smart people. And it would cost a lot of money and use things like ion thrusters and really advanced robots. So, starting with life and intelligence, it may be possible to seed life to other planets (assuming they are fine-tuned to support life). But again, this just pushes the question back and proves the need for intelligent design.
Multiverse or many worlds hypothesis
Another hypothesis to explain the origin of life on earth (specifically intelligent life on earth) is the multiverse theory.[2] Yes, this should remind you of all the crazy stuff that happens in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This theory is interesting and problematic for a number of reasons. It’s more science fiction than fact.
- It is, by far, not the simplest explanation. This is problematic (see: Occam’s razor).
- It’s nonsensical. One could then postulate that there is a near-infinite number of you, or of Loki. Loki was a cool show but the questions multiply as the “Lokis” multiply.
- There’s nothing that we have observed that would lead us to logically conclude that there is or is likely a multiverse (it seems, rather, that those arguing for this position are just frantically trying to get away from the reality of the existence of God[3]).
If God created the universe, what created God?
Here are the options:
- The universe somehow sprang from absolute nothingness completely on its own.
- The universe inanimate has existed eternally and that something somehow exploded and eventually led to the life forms we have now.
- The universe was created by a powerful and eternal Entity.
Each of those options is honestly hard to fathom. Which makes the most sense?
The universe somehow sprang from absolute nothingness completely on its own.
This is not something we really observe. In our experience and observation, something does not come from nothing. If even a simple pool ball is rolling on a pool table we assume it was set in motion by something. We don’t assume it moved although no force whatsoever acted upon it (What about quantum particles?[4]).
There’s a story about a scientist making a bet with God. The scientist bets God that he can create life. The scientist grabs some dirt and sets off to work. When a voice from heaven said, “Get your own dirt!”
“It is a vain hope to try to give a physical account of the absolute beginning of the universe. Not only must the creation event transcend physical law, it must also,… transcend logic and mathematics and therefore all the scientific tools at our disposal. It must be, quite literally, supernatural.”[5]
The universe has eternally existed.
If the expansion of the universe were an old VHS video that you could reverse, you’d see the contraction of the universe into an infinitesimally small singularity—back into the nothingness from which the universe sprang.[6] Thus, the Big Bang actually matches with what Scripture says. That is, the universe—all the matter that is—came into being at a finite time, ex nihilo, out of nothing.
The universe has not existed eternally.
The universe was created by a powerful and eternal Entity.
It makes sense to say, doesn’t it, that anything that begins to exist must have a cause of its existence?[7] I think that makes a lot of sense. I mean a pool ball on a pool table isn’t going to move unless someone or something causes it to move.
This is especially the case when we consider the extreme fine-tuning necessary to allow for life, especially intelligent life. “On whatever volume scale researchers make their observations—the universe, galaxy cluster, galaxy, planetary system, planet, planetary surface, cell, atom, fundamental particle, or string—the evidence for extreme fine-tuning for life’s sake, and in particular for humanity’s benefit, persists.”[8]
God is the Uncaused Cause, the Unmoved Mover. God is. He is the Creator.
But then, who or what created God?
Anything that begins to exist must have a cause of its existence. The thing with God is, He did not begin to exist. He has always existed. Therefore, He needs no cause or creator. He is the Creator.
“The Cause responsible for bringing the universe into existence is not constrained by cosmic time. In creating our time dimension, that agent demonstrated an existence above, or independent of, cosmic time… In the context of cosmic time, the causal Agent would have no beginning and no ending and would not be created.”[9]
This is, in fact, what the Bible says about the LORD God. It says, “the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth” (Is. 40:28) and it says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1 cf. Ps. 136:5; Is. 45:18; Col. 1:16).
The universe has not always existed. Instead, “the universe was brought into existence by a causal agent with the capacity to operate before, beyond, unlimited buy, transcendent to all cosmic matter, energy, space, and time.”[10]
God revealed Himself to Moses as: “I Am who I Am” (Ex. 3:14). God is the One who Is. He is the Existing One. He is the One who is beyond and before time and matter. And as such, He is able to create time and matter.
If God’s existence doesn’t need an explanation then why should the universe’s existence need an explanation?
“This popular objection is based on a misconception of the nature of explanation. It is widely recognized that in order for an explanation to be the best, one need not have an explanation of the explanation (indeed, such a requirement would generate an infinite regress, so that everything becomes inexplicable). If astronauts should find traces of intelligent life on some other planet, for example, we need not be able to explain such extraterrestrials in order to recognize that they are the best explanation of the artifacts. In the same way, the design hypothesis’s being the best explanation of the fine-tuning does not depend on our being able to explain the Designer.”[11]
How should we respond to the One who created the universe?
That’s a big question. But, I’ll take it further, how should we respond if the Christian understanding of God is correct? What if the Programmer coded Himself into the program like the Bible talks about?
If what Scripture says of the Creator entering His creation is true, as I believe it is, then I think it clearly follows that we should be amazed and submit to the One who has shown Himself to be the Lord.
We must all, however, make that choice on our own. I can’t make it for you. But I, for one, am awed and astounded that the Creator would enter His creation to rescue His creation.
Not only that but the Creator was crucified (see Col. 1:15-20). As Jesus was making purification and propitiation for sin by bearing our sin on the cross, He was simultaneously upholding the universe by the word of His power (Heb. 1:2).
How should we respond to the One who created the universe and yet loves us?! I believe we should respond in reverent worship:
Notes
[1] E.g. Francis Crick, Life Itself: Its Nature and Origin (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1981).
[3] “The many worlds hypothesis is essentially an effort on the part of partisans of the chance hypothesis to multiply their probabilistic resources in order to reduce the improbability of the occurrence of fine-tuning” (J.P. Moreland & William Lane Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview [Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2003], 487). Ironically, “the many worlds hypothesis is no less metaphysical than the hypothesis of a comic designer” (Moreland & Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, 487).
[4] “There is no basis for the claim that quantum physics proves that things can begin to exist without a cause, much less that [the] universe could have sprung into being uncaused from literally nothing” (Moreland & Craig, Philosophical Foundations, 469). Even if one follows the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics, “particles do not come into being out of nothing. They arise as spontaneous fluctuations of the energy contained in the subatomic vacuum, which constitutes an indeterministic cause of their origination” (Ibid.). This very brief explanation is helpful: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/quantum-field-theory-what-virtual-particles-laymans-terms-javadi/ and also see: http://atlas.physics.arizona.edu/~shupe/Indep_Studies_2015/Homeworks/VirtualParticles_Strassler.pdf
[5] David A. J. Seargent, Copernicus, God, and Goldilocks: Our Place and Purpose in the Universe, 114.
[6] A better illustration would actually be a balloon losing its air. When considering the expansion of the universe it’s amazing to consider that eventually the universe will grow dark because the speed of the expansion of the universe will eventually be too great for us to observe our cosmic surroundings.
[7] “Everything restricted to the cosmic timeline must be traceable back to a cause and a beginning” (Hugh Ross, Why The Universe Is The Way It Is, 132).
[8] Ross, Why The Universe Is The Way It Is, 124. See e.g. Hugh Ross, “Fundamental Forces Show Greater Fine-Tuning” https://reasons.org/explore/publications/connections/fundamental-forces-show-greater-fine-tuning, Fazale Rana, “Fine-Tuning For Life On Earth (Updated June 2004)” https://reasons.org/explore/publications/articles/fine-tuning-for-life-on-earth-updated-june-2004, and Seargent, Copernicus, God, and Goldilocks, 121-127.
[9] Ross, Why The Universe Is The Way It Is, 132.
[10] Ibid., 131.
[11] Moreland & Craig, Philosophical Foundations, 487.
*Photo by Tyler van der Hoeven
In the shelter of the Most High
Sunday morning in church we were looking at Luke chapter one and my attention was drawn to verse 35. The angel said to Mary, “the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”1
This phrase brings us to Psalm 91 verse 1: “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. “
If we go on and read the entire Psalm. We have some serious food for thought regarding the present situation we are in regarding COVID.
“For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease” (v. 3).
“Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness” (v. 6).
“No plague will come near your home” (v. 10).
“The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me” (v. 14).
There are many other promises in this powerful Psalm but the one regarding disease and plague stands out. These promises are contingent on sheltering in the shadow of the Almighty.
So does this mean no true believers in the Almighty will get COVID? We know this is not true. Many believers have contracted COVID and been healed—100% recovery rate. Some recovered on this planet in this time and space and others are now experiencing the ultimate recovery and healing—instant healing—in eternity. In thinking of a friend with COVID, he will be healed; it is a confirmed fact, one way or the other he will be healed. The Almighty has said so—Psalm 91 ends with the final and ultimate shelter: “and give them my salvation”.
So what does it mean to shelter in the shadow of the Almighty? To me sheltering in the shadow of the Almighty means being always conscious of God’s presence and “shadow” around me. He is always there and by faith, I see His shadow. He has said, “I will never live you nor forsake you.”
Isaiah put it this way, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God in the eternal Rock” (Is. 26:3-4).
To abide in the shadow of the Almighty means to have our heart, minds, and faith fixed, fastened securely to the promises of the Almighty. Not fixed ultimately on medical science, our insurance policy, the government, our diet and health regiment, a vaccine, but fixed on the Almighty.
My prayer for all of us this season will be that we are sheltering under the Almighty—not mainly sheltering in place but under the shadow of the Almighty.
1 Using the New Living Translation for all of this.
in X 