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James' Articles  Thursday, January 26 2012
Jefferson Bethke of Mars Hill Church recently released a short video that has over 15 million hits on YouTube and has started a firestorm of interest. While many have adamantly applauded his remarks which are given in a rhyming ‘rap’, filmed in a contemporary style with the camera darting in and out of the scene, an equal number of people are left standing unsure of ‘what exactly was just said’. My purpose is to shed a very brief light on the words spoken by standing them against the Scriptures so that the audience can decide for themselves if the words carry any authority in regard to the church as a whole. When one hears (emphasis on ‘hears’) something that invokes a desire to quickly respond with a stance of agreement or disagreement, it is advisable to get a transcript of what has been said to read and discern based on observation and educated response. Apologist Ravi Zacharias uses the illustration that we should see ‘through’ the eye and ‘with’ the mind. Likewise, I would say we should hear through the ear and with the mind. The best way to pin the words down for understanding is to read them. Then, all of the pageantry and otherwise distracting effects are removed while the words lie unprotected in their simplest forms. One note of caution – it is equally as dangerous to operate with a hermeneutic of suspicion as it is to mindlessly dive into approval because it ‘feels good’ or ‘sounds right’. When seeking truth in a matter, one must be ready to accept what ever it may be, even if it treads all about our presuppositions. The lyrics will be stated in quotes with generalize statements following. I will preface by saying I will only address statements that have issue with Scriptural authority or that merit clarification. Paragraph 1 “What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion What if I told you voting Republican really wasn't His mission? What if I told you republican doesn't automatically mean Christian And just because you call some people blind doesn't automatically give you vision” When Mr. Bethke uses the word ‘religion’, because of a lack of defining otherwise, he leaves us with the definition in a biblical sense. The Greek word transliterated is ‘thrayskeia’, which is translated as ‘religion’ and ‘worship’. As you can see, this immediately causes some concern in the first line of his monologue, when he states, “What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion?”. If we were to exchange the word ‘religion’ with the word ‘worship’, we probably would have stopped listening right off the proverbial bat. Admittedly, many, if not most words are translated accordingly to the context in which we find them. However, in the Scriptures, ‘religion’ is not categorically a negative word. In fact, only if it is a false ‘religion’ is it deemed bad. Secondly, the introduction of a political observation concerning one party is unadvisable for effectiveness in a setting for his first line. Regardless of where one stands, Jesus did not come to vote Democrat either. While some would point to the ‘religious right wing’ thinking they have the corner market on God, is it not equally true that the ‘liberal left’ thinks it has the monopoly on caring for minorities and the under-privileged? Though the political division clamors for the religious vote, it is a fact that the vast majority of conservative Christian circles have rejected the Democrat party based on the party’s promotion of homosexuality and abortion. The grand exceptions usually are based on racial lines and liberal theology. Nonetheless, some of the most devout agents of religious backing of political agendas are Democrats. One should check the last time a Republican was tolerated to speak from a church pulpit concerning political issues without threats of the church losing their 501c3 (not for profit status). On the other hand, Democrat politicians are openly allowed to speak during a Sunday morning assembly, even to openly call out Republicans by name, without a hint of risk from the IRS. Therefore, it is interesting that Mr. Bethke only speaks of one side of the political equation. What remains in the context of Mr. Bethke’s paragraph is blindness and vision. This largely smacks of the ‘anti-judgment’ crowd sounds, where people state that it is wrong to ‘judge’ others. Yet, we are clearly told it is our responsibility to judge each other (1 Corinthians 5:3, 6, 12; 6:2, 3;), even as Paul calls on men to judge what he has said for truthfulness (1 Corinthians 10:15). Our confusion lies in the difference between judging and judgmentalism (see http://www.ccfwf.org/james__blog/view/1204/judging_judgmentalism for more details). The point is, as Christians, when we do judge/discern, we are often criticized. While it is agreed that self-righteousness has no place in the kingdom, the abolition of stating what is righteous has no claim to the home either. Paragraph 2 “I mean if religion is so great, why has it started so many wars Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor Tells single moms God doesn't love them if they've ever had a divorce But in the Old Testament, God actually calls religious people whores” The next paragraph states that religion has caused wars. This is no more true than stating one can tax a business. As only individuals can be taxed, wars can only be started by people. Moreover , God never condemned the grand temple Solomon built, because its original intent was to glorify Him. So we quickly see it is the motivation that determines whether a ‘huge church’ building is right or wrong. It should be noted, that the statement concerning ‘building huge churches’ while neglecting the poor, in itself is judgmental. Some of the larger congregations have generously funded programs for seeing to the poor within their communities, as well as overseas projects. It is the ‘religious’ who sacrifice, and give of their money and volunteer time for these efforts. Moreover, so often neglected is the theology regarding seeing to the poor. Without going into details, consider how God used severe need to turn people’s faces back to Him. After all, God used severe need to push Jacob and his clan towards Egypt as a crucial part of His plan to set the stage for the Exodus to come years later. It is also unfairly categorical to say that religion per se has condemned ‘single moms’. It is untrue to make this claim applicable to all places and could be resentful to those who have specific ministries regarding these particular issues. Herein lies something much more problematic: 1) It was not exclusively ‘religious’ people God called ‘whores’; it was rebellious people. 2) and to parallel this with the ‘single moms’ line is to assert that ‘religion’ calls all single mothers ‘whores’. This is dangerous and needlessly accusatory rhetoric that could potentially plant seeds of hurtfulness throughout the church. Paragraph 3 “Religion might preach grace, but another thing they practice Tend to ridicule God's people, they did it to John The Baptist They can't fix their problems, and so they just mask it Not realizing religion's like spraying perfume on a casket See the problem with religion, is it never gets to the core It's just behavior modification, like a long list of chores Like lets dress up the outside make it look nice and neat But it's funny that's what they use to do to mummies while the corpse rots underneath” I will only take 2 words from this paragraph to encompass a meaning – “behavior modification.” This is exactly what people need in conjunction with a heart renewed. If the latter happens without the former, it would be like taking the new car that the person has completely neglected and trashed, and handing them another new one, with no direction for care and maintenance. To deny this is to ignore Leviticus, where the first half of the scroll instructs how to get Israel holy and the second half is how to keep her holy. It is the “put off” and the “put on” of Ephesians 4. If we do not change our sinful behavior, that which has been made clean will subsequently be defiled once again. I understand this may differ with some denominational doctrines. However, most would reasonably agree that the renewed heart of a blood-bought Christian will behave differently than before. ‘Behavior modification’ is the fruit of being connected to the True Vine. And make no mistake – the word ‘discipline’ is used in Scripture because it must be a willful effort on behalf of the saved individual. If it were different, we would have no need to train/discipline our walk in Christ. Paragraph 4 “Now I ain't judging, I'm just saying quit putting on a fake look Cause there's a problem if people only know you're a Christian by your Facebook I mean in every other aspect of life, you know that logic's unworthy It's like saying you play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey You see this was me too, but no one seemed to be on to me Acting like a church kid, while addicted to pornography See on Sunday I'd go to church, but Saturday getting faded Acting if I was simply created just to have sex and get wasted See I spent my whole life building this facade of neatness But now that I know Jesus, I boast in my weakness” As much as one might agree with Mr. Bethke’s following statements in this paragraph – without mincing words – yes, he is judging; Acknowledging that while he is being judgmental in some respects (to religion), but in the correct sense to the subsequent matters stated. So own it. Boasting in one’s weakness is a tightrope. Only in the shadow of Christ’s strength to overcome our frailties can be righteous be obtained. When our weakness becomes our badge, even our identity – i.e. my infidelity, my addiction, my temptation, my, my, my; then Christ becomes our co-dependent enabler (in the distorted mind). Most everyone has met or personally acted as one who has willfully sinned on the fire insurance concept that God will not hold them accountable. This is a dramatic error. Salvation was not purchased by the tortuous death of Jesus to leave the individual unchanged. Paragraph 5 “Because if grace is water, then the church should be an ocean It's not a museum for good people, it's a hospital for the broken Which means I don't have to hide my failure, I don't have to hide my sin Because it doesn't depend on me it depends on him See because when I was God's enemy and certainly not a fan He looked down and said I want, that, man Which is why Jesus hated religion, and for it he called them fools Don't you see so much better than just following some rules Now let me clarify, I love the church, I love the bible, and yes I believe in sin But if Jesus came to your church would they actually let him in See remember he was called a glutton, and a drunkard by religious men But the Son of God never supports self righteousness not now, not then” It is fruitless to attempt to hide one’s sin before God. But most have also know those who, as in the prior remarks, have worn their sin as some sort of badge of honor; that somewhere along the way, their testimony of their past became more of their the dramatic part of their story, rather than the redemptive power of Christ’s blood. Therefore, not having to hide it before God is not license to parade it as well. After all, repentance is an about face in our conduct. Now comes the apex of the argument. When Mr. Bethke states that ‘Jesus hated religion’, he makes a monumental mistake. In no place in Scripture will find such a statement. Quite the reverse, one reads in James 1:26, 27; “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Therefore, religion is presented here to be a good thing and endorsed by God in such a way that instruction is given how to have a proper religious attitude. The term ‘organized religion’ even makes a delineation from ‘religion’ in its proper context. To state that religion is something evil is living in the dangerous area of calling that which is good, evil. Moreover, many sincere Christians would answer his question concerning Jesus’ admittance into the buildings where they meet with a resounding “Yes!” In our congregation, we even purposefully named it in the possessive (“Christ’s”) to be a continual reminder whose it was and is. As stated prior, Mr. Bethke to have confused ‘religious’ with ‘rebellious’. Had the men he referred to been genuinely religious, they would not have called Jesus such false names. Paragraph 6 “Now back to the point, one thing is vital to mention How Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrum See one's the work of God, but one's a man made invention See one is the cure, but the other's the infection See because religion says do, Jesus says done Religion says slave, Jesus says son Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see And that's why religion and Jesus are two different clans” Onto the statement “Religion says slave, Jesus says son;” While both statements are relatively true, Mr. Bethke makes a gigantic theological mistake at pitting them against one another. Romans 6:16-23 clearly states that Christians have been purchased at a great price out of one slavery, to be ‘set free’ into another slavery. While this initially sounds contradictory, early Christians completely understood the difference between having freedom under a good master and being abused under an evil one. Our idea of chattel slavery leaves us with incorrect notions about Paul’s illustration. Indeed we are bound (bondage) to Christ when we accept Him as Savior. We are making an open declaration that we are completely surrendering our will to His and committing ourselves to obeying His commands and not our own. Ironically, it is telling in regard to the limited commitment we see in Christians in the contemporary church – but that is for another subject. Paragraph 7 “Religion is man searching for God, Christianity is God searching for man Which is why salvation is freely mine, and forgiveness is my own Not based on my merits but Jesus's obedience alone Because he took the crown of thorns, and the blood dripped down his face He took what we all deserved, I guess that's why you call it grace And while being murdered he yelled "Father forgive them they know not what they do." Because when he was dangling on that cross, he was thinking of you And he absorbed all of your sin, and buried it in the tomb Which is why I'm kneeling at the cross, saying come on there's room So for religion, no I hate it, in fact I literally resent it Because when Jesus said it is finished, I believe he meant it” The search has never been God for man. He knows exactly ‘where’ we are. This what makes the arrival of Jesus Christ so fantastic. God has come to us. Emmanuel. It would be a correct statement to say God is ‘pursuing us’ instead. While salvation is ‘free’ per se to us, it is important to remember that it is not free from cost. See Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s teachings on ‘cheap grace’. And while our salvation is not based on our merits, he who loves Christ will keep His commandments (John 14:21). Just as James said, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). At the end of it, one would be left to think Mr. Bethke had a sincere thought that had more to do with legalism than with religion. However, the danger is twofold: 1) Listeners may be easily mislead. Just as Mr. Bethke has used ‘religion’ erroneously to make his point, others may just as easily trade ‘religion’ out for ‘the church.” As I canvased a number of individuals as to what they thought he was talking about immediately after viewing the clip, I received a number of responses, many of which were skewed. 2) One who speaks in such a manner teaches others, and James warns us of a strong accountability in these matters (James 3:1). Words matter and carry meaning. We must be thoughtful and careful – especially in the mass communicative formats we share in today. May all of our teachings be strictly and contextually biblically based. Then the message will be pure. Mr. Bethke has a great talent and ability for contemporary communication. He also has a great opportunity to set anything straight that might have been off-target. While this will take a tremendous measure of humility, it will be the test of his lifetime. Our prayers are with him to be a strong instrument of Jesus’ righteousness. Wednesday, January 25 2012
Judging Judgmentalism It is commonplace in recent years to hear individuals both in the church and of the world that we should “judge not lest we be judged”. This, of course, is typically taken from our Master’s discourse in what is commonly referred to as ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ (Matthew 7:1). The notion that the church is not supposed to observe anything or anyone and consider whether it is good or evil is, for lack of better phraseology, asinine. Even from a worldly notion that would simply use common logic (on the best of days), to apply the statement as these individuals commonly perceive it to not judge, is to judge a person for judging. In other words, it's a circular argument. As with all passages, context must be determined in order to understand exactly what was being asserted in regard to the speaker, audience, and author. The context in which Jesus is applying this in dealing with those that we would typically call ‘finger pointers’; i.e., those who ‘think themselves to be righteous’ (Luke 18:9) - the arrogant who think they have no fault. The people who are continually pointing out the wrong in others and fail to acknowledge the wrong within themselves are classically ‘judgmental’ by definition. Every contextual situation in Scripture of the call to ‘not judge’ is in dealing with those who are practicing the upturned nose of judgmentalism. However, if we do not judge/discriminate (which has been totally distorted by the world in definition), we are told that we will be ‘tossed about by every wind and wave of doctrine/teaching’ that comes our way (Ephesians 4:14). The apostle Paul addresses this directly to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5. He directly calls for the congregation to ‘judge those who are within the church’ (in the form of a rhetorical question - 5:12) and to ‘remove the wicked man from among yourselves’ (5:13). This is because there is a person inside the congregation that has his father's wife. As you can see, Paul is calling for the people in the congregation to pass judgment. In other words they are to use their minds for understanding what is right what is wrong and not ignore the elephant that is in the room. If we attempt to apply the ‘judge not’ mentality here, then the immoral relationship openly stays in the congregation and no one would be allowed to say anything about the situation at hand. This is the very ‘gun’ that the world (as well as the world within the church) attempts to hold faithful Christians hostage with the threat of being labeled as ‘judgmental’. I am called to judge by the position that I hold. At times I wish it were not so because of the weight of the burden in the criticism that comes from outsiders looking in on me, as well as my fellow leaders. I have been called to judge things that caused my family a great deal of anguish and illness. With much angst I have attempted to be faithful to the Lord in the best of my ability according to His word in the situations. Even the mere recall causes my heart tremble at the severity of the situations. However, for most Christians, this is not unique to the local leadership in which I serve. Most of the critics would buckle under the weight of these crosses many of your leaders carry. And as leaders, we most often perform these tasks ‘behind the scenes’ to draw as little attention as possible and to protect the common flock. Nevertheless, the task belongs to the church as a whole. Whether we ‘like it or not’, we are required to look, consider, and act – in gentleness and agape love (love which always does what is in the best interest of the other person). In fact, this is the definitive measure of what we commonly refer to as ‘Wisdom Literature’ (i.e. Proverbs). ‘My son stop and listen’ means to ‘look before you leap’. Think about the end product, use the telescope – where will this lead. And what we use to measure righteousness and unrighteousness, clean and unclean, the holy and the profane, is the entirety of the Scriptural. Jesus Christ exemplifies this by pointing to the ancient texts on multiple occasions as the verification of our guiding ‘light’. To fail, deny, or practice apathy in the matter of righteous judging shames the very sacrifice of Christ and bows to the throne of cultural tides. In the simplest west Texas terms I can muster; “Through the eyes and heart of the Word, use your head, church.” Keep the Faith (Gal. 3:23), jas Monday, January 09 2012
“that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love,” Colossians 2:2 We love a sense of belonging. We yearn for relationship and yet live so fragmented. I am convinced that this is one of our greatest challenges to overcome in the church. We greet each other well enough and inquire about our health. Yet we tend to walk separate ways and splash back into the rapid current in the rivers of our lives. The overall effect leaves many feeling empty and disconnected, looking for something to fulfill that innate urge for community. The root of this great tree is deep. Our society is not only laced with a subdivision of classes, but an ambition to scratch, claw, and pound its way up to the top of the ever-elusive heap. There many areas that can be observed and critiqued in this regard; for expediency I will examine one. The word career is a relatively new term that gained popularity in the middle and later nineteenth century. It was predominantly used in the sense of a course of professional life or employment that offered advancement or honor. A word used in similar circumstances is “profession” and though it is an older word, it began to take on new meanings when it was detached from the concept of a “calling.” Once independent, the word was given to express the new idea of a career. A calling once meant the reason a person would enter a profession. Within this reason would be the ultimate purpose of functioning within a community and strengthening its basis. I can illustrate this simply by pointing to the one profession or career that is still referred to as being filled by a “calling;” This of course, is the position of what we commonly refer to as “minister” (acknowledging fully that technically we are all ministers). If a person attempts to minister as a J-O-B as opposed to being called, he and his ministry is doomed from the start. Society has twisted the priority though. Now, instead of a ‘calling’ being the motivating force of entering a profession, the profession becomes a career and is no longer obligated to the ultimate good of the community as a whole. It seeks goals on an impersonal and selfish basis. Rather than being a cohesive part of the community, following a profession now typically means quite literally “to move up and away.” The modern professional has subsequently convinced themselves that they have been handed an invisible license to look down on those who aren’t in their rank. The goal then is no longer strengthening the body of people, but to achieve “success.” Presently, the definition of “success” is as volatile as sea-sand and its appetite is insatiable for more that no level achievement will satisfy. The world will continue this pattern indefinitely. However, in the church we find a sanctuary for all peoples, of all nationalities, male or female, slave or free, rich or poor, professional or layman, intellectual or otherwise (Galatians 3:28). In the church we are of one body – the body of Christ Jesus. The field is dramatically leveled and we stand eye to eye, toe to toe, equals in essence. In other words, we have the format for the perfect community. In this body, we are all called – called according to His purpose, which means that we are all doing what is in the best interest of the other person. That in itself is the definition of agape – God’s love. In this community we have been knit together in love. In this New Year, I want to encourage you to strive for things that constitute the kingdom of heaven and realize that our efforts must be in chorus with the body of Christ that resides therein (Matt. 6:3; Phil. 2:3). If you are waiting for your brother or sister to make the first move, perhaps they are waiting on you to do likewise – so be a leader – live the sacrifice (Romans 12:1). Now go spread the word and keep the Faith. jas |