The New Bereans

“I’ve heard that before,” or “I already know that,” are frequent complaints directed to young preachers, if interpreted wrongly, such laments have the potential to damage him greatly. These erroneous comments imply that preaching is a form of mere entertainment designed to keep the hearers attention through freshness and relevance. But if the preacher and “church” are only scant entertainment, then the point of preaching has been utterly missed. In Paul’s exhortation to young pastor Timothy he reveals what the true purpose of preaching is

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

II Timothy 4:1-4

The job of the preacher is to preach the word! Not his own thoughts, ideas, opinions nor the latest avant garde heresy. He is not there to entertain, he is there to confront and correct. A much better picture is to view the preacher as a fitness instructor and the people as his class, they all have varied degrees of physical fitness but they all benefit from the exercise. So too with the preaching of the word (provided the preacher is not some godless heretic) every Christian can benefit from hearing the foundational truth’s of scripture addressed repetitiously.

Now, let us consider the critical comments at the beginning from our new point of reference…the Word. Who, in an exercise class, would be likely to object: “I’ve heard about a jumping jack before”, or “I already know about push-ups, they’re boring?” You would likely hear these objections from the pasty overweight gentleman in the back, who lives in his mother’s basement and invests most of his free time into his level 72 death troll on World of Warcraft.

There is much that physical and spiritual fitness have in common. Just as those who desire to be physically fit do not despise the lowly push-up; those who desire to be spiritually fit do not despise repetitive sermons regarding fundamental Christian truths. Here is the hinge on which the entire argument turns; such complaints do not reveal a problem in the preacher, but a  problem in the recipient . . . a hard and calloused heart.  Itching ears which desire to be scratched by the latest thing or newest “truth” do not indicate great spirituality but great carnality.

“And he (Hezekiah) did that which was right in the sight of the LORD according to all that David his father did.  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.”  -II Kings 18:3-4

That which was intended to bring healing from the curse of the wrath of God had become an idol to the children of Israel.  Hezekiah did what was right and destroyed it.  Was the serpent healing anyone of flaming poison at this time?  Not likely.  That which God deemed useful metaphorically had been replaced by itself in a physically limiting sense.

By implication, burning incense meant that the brass serpent had become just another Idol of compromise to the children.  In Hosea, God lamented over a wife whom never verbally or contractually denied their bridegroom, either through covenantal divorce or complete apostasy.  Rather, they continually tried to maintain their connection to YHWH, all the while fornicating with the Gods of Canaan.  Are we much different?  He who has ears to hear!  That which had once symbolized salvation from wrath had become a seal of adultery.  While dumb idols, in and of themselves were just elemental objects fashioned by hands, Paul tells us that when the Gentiles sacrificed they did so to devils. _{I Cor 10:20} I am not entirely positive that a Devil had inhabited Nehushtan, but I would not be surprised to find out that one had.

In the book of Jude, the archangel Michael disputed with the devil over the body of Moses.  I have heard it suggested that one reason could be because Satan wanted to use his body for idolatry.  I cannot be absolutely confident in that assertion, but conceptually speaking I can see the reason behind such a claim.  Whether that is accurate or not, does not negate the idea that Satan often uses physical constructs to hold men sway to his power.

I suspect the Shroud of Turin is not much different.  First of all the word of God only gives us one main physical description of Christ and it is found in the book of Revelation.

It says that His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice was as the voice of many waters. _{Rev 1:14-15} This description of Christ speaks of very many things, and it is not the point of this post to discuss them.  But I think it is significant that this is how the word wants us to visualize our Lord.  Not lying down covered in blood, bruises, and with the shadow of death upon him.  He wants to be known as the God of Judgment, risen and ascended.  Satan does not want to be reminded of this, every time it happens, the bruise on his head grows sore and tender. _{John 16:11}

I wonder if Satan chuckles every time someone pays to see that shroud…for you are then stuck with an image…an image that does not bear any semblance with the reality of eyes which consume with fire.  Pay incense to it (the shroud) if you wish, just remember it could be fornication.  Satan would be much more satisfied if we only remembered Christ in his “bruised” state…Genesis 3:15.  Christian websites ought not to be promoting this.  Unfortunately I have seen more than a few promoting it as if it is a good thing.  However, search the scriptures yourself and see if the Lord is concerned about his grave-clothes.

The internet is vividly abuzz with the supposed “Evidence,” or proof of the resurrection of Christ.  It is obvious that the debate around the shroud of Turin is heating up once again, but my purpose is not to debate the authenticity, or the validity of these claims.  I have not seen the documentary from the History Channel, and to be honest, I have little interest in it.  The fact that this documentary was released so close to Easter is obviously to generate as much hype about it as possible, and who can blame them?  It is great marketing.

However, I have to say that the whole premise of needing a “scientific” proof of the resurrection is symptomatic of quite the consistent modern problem concerning genuine faith.   The Bible proves the point over…and over…and over…and over…that genuine saving faith is not generated in the realm of the miraculous.   Nor is it generated through scientific reasoning.   The wonders of the exodus resulted in most of its witnesses dead in the desert, for when the gospel was “preached, the word did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (Hebrews 4:2)   Elijah saw God consume a soaking wet altar with fire, and soon after he doubted Gods ability to save him from Jezebel.   Jonah saw an entire nation repent at his few words…and still wanted to see them consumed in wrath.  The disciples were told numerous times by their own Lord that He would die and rise again on the third day!  How many of those disciples were twiddling their thumbs outside the tomb waiting for him to fulfill that promise?  Judas saw all the miracles a human had ever had the privilege of seeing, yet he found his guts spilled all over the place for his selfish treachery and wickedness.

If God wanted to give us rationalistic evidence of Himself…he would have done it.  We ought to be FAR more concerned about Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Our lives, when transformed by the resurrection power of Christ, are the only valid proof we need of the resurrection.  If that be lacking, then maybe the shroud will make you feel a bit better about yourself and your intellectual comforts.

But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”

Call me naive or simplistic but I cannot for the life of me understand how someone could claim their plot to overthrow the government is based on scripture.  Christ makes it clear that if his kingdom were an earthly kingdom his servant’s would be fighting to defend it.  I’m not one to believe every single thing the media reports.  But if these men were indeed plotting to murder police officers in cold blood then they are far from Christ indeed.

Nothing Jesus or the apostles taught tells us that murdering civil authorities is good or godly in any way at all.  We are told that we will be persecuted for our faith at times, and our response to persecution is to turn the other cheek (non-violent resistance).  We are not told to overthrow the government in order to avoid persecution, we are told to rejoice in persecution, because our patient endurance in persecution is the most powerful testimony we can share.  If we are fighting to avoid persecution here and now, we are displaying a complete lack of faith,  we are declaring we don’t really believe in heaven by trying to craft our little christian kingdom here and now.

When Jesus stood before Pilate he gave the crowd’s a choice, did they want Barabbas the political revolutionary or Jesus who was declaring a heavenly kingdom.  I am convinced that many self identified Christians today would choose Barabbas again.

James Cameron’s newest film Avatar is taking the world by storm literally.  It tells the story of a future corporation’s pillaging of a planet and the resistance they encounter from the pantheistic alien population (The Navi).

In considering the success of Avatar, one thing strikes me; it’s success illustrates man’s hunger for an authentic solid connection to a real and powerful God. This generation is not hungry for ethics, apologetics, or theories. They want spiritual reality, and they don’t expect to find any of that in church, so they look elsewhere. The Church, who’s job it is to display authentic spiritual reality to the world, has largely become a Christian country club.

The Church’s response to James Cameron’s jaw-dropping, breathtaking, and dauntless sci-fi epic will mainly fall into one of 2 camps.

1. Some will denounce it as evil, say it is opening people up to demon possession, or teaching them Gaia worship. 2. Others will try to put a Christian spin on it , making Angeltar comics, having “How to be an Avatar for Jesus” conferences, or some such nonsense. But neither of these addresses the real issue, the church has drifted far away from true spiritual communion with God.

I can almost guarantee that our response will not be the correct one. Which would be to return to authentic spirit filled Christianity. To stop imitating the world, or finding ways to increase attendance. Instead the church needs to pursue, seek, and serve God. To live lives of simplicity, humility, and prayer. To live a passionate life of love for God and our neighbor. Pouring ourselves out as an offering to God.

Here is the gauntlet that lays at the foot of the Church . . . The fake world and religion of the Navi appeals to people because of their passionate pursuit of, and relationship with their fake God. Which looks much more real and appealing than our fake pursuit of, and relationship to the true God.

I would like to do something a little bit different here.  If you read our blog on any sort of a regular basis, I want to propose a question.  But before I ask it, I want you to commit to praying for a while before you respond.  And make sure that your response is biblical, and is not taken out of context.  If you have time to do this, I think there could be great fruit from the discussion.  Please keep the discussion civil, do not use ad hominem or straw-man reasoning either please.  Wikipedia is a great resource if you are not sure what those words mean.  Also keep in mind that I am fairly confident, at this point, only believers frequent this site.  So there is peace in knowing that this is an in-house discussion, but please do not use that as license to get frustrated.

O.K. here is the question:  What is legalism? As it pertains to Christianity!

Please remember to keep your responses based on scripture as much as possible.  If a side-topic comes up as a result, I will determine if it is worth pursuing in another thread, but please keep it as focused on the topic as possible.  And Austin, you cannot reply first .

The person who responds with the best biblical definition, and I have one in mind, I will send a book of my choosing.  I will wait a few weeks before deciding, based on when the discussion fizzles out.  And Austin can’t win…sorry bro.  If noone defines it as well as I am hoping then the book will go to the individual who contributes the best overall to the structure of the discussion.

One last thought, we are all on equal ground, for “God accepts no mans person.”  Galatians 2:6