Favorites and Flaws

This Christmas I got a new Bible. It is quite beautiful, with leather binding and room on each page to keep notes. I soon started transferring some of my notes on my favorite verses to my new Bible and that got me to thinking, "Is it really a good idea to transfer these notes? Am I just cutting and pasting my old thoughts, and by that ignoring the rest of the passages?"

I think this is a fair question. We all have our favorite verse, chapter or book of the Bible. We go to them frequently when we need a bit of regularity or to strengthen our conviction on a particular point. However, if we focus too much on what we have already extracted from the verse and build only on our own interpretation or understanding of the passage, we run into the danger of merely creating a man or self centered doctrine. This happens far too frequently in my personal life, I fear.

So how can we avoid this type of problem? Well, one thing that I have started is that I never write in my Bible with ink. This is because my thoughts change, situations change, and also to remind myself that though I may have thoughts and opinions, they are not on par with Scripture. I'm not condemning writing in one's Bible with pen, not at all, but it is just one of those little things I do personally to help remind myself that God is God and I am not.

Another thing that I am trying to work on is reading more than just my preference into my reading. We often come at Scripture with the assumption of what it should say, not what it does say. Being human, this is something we all struggle with. Realizing that we do so is one of the first steps to correcting bias and understanding the message behind what we are reading.

So am I going to copy all my notes into my Bible? I don't know, however, I do know there are some things that I will copy, not just for preference, hopefully, but because these are passages and notes that are relevant to what I teach and speak. In the end, we can do with this what we are to do with all our concerns: we bring it to God  in prayer.

Duck Disaster

My online life has been invaded this past two weeks by the Phil Roberts/Duck Dynasty controversy. For those who don't know, Phil Roberts is a star on the 'reality' show Duck Dynasty, which in turn, is about the company by the same name and the family who runs it. They are conservative Christians who are all about "guns and God." Recently, the father was interviewed by a magazine and gave a short, firm anti-gay statement. He was then pulled from the show and now everyone is up in arms saying his right to religion and free speech was taken away. But was it?

Well, does he have the right to make anti-gay comments? Yes, and he did. He is allowed to, but seeing as his show is owned by a liberal gay-friendly company, they do not agree with him. They do not have to either. So they run into an impasse. He will not back down so they fire him. This is not an attack on religion or free speech, but instead, they do not want to be associated with such ideas as 'gay is wrong'. They did not say Phil couldn't say that, they just said he couldn't work for them then. If a conservative church had an employee, like a pastor, who suddenly said something that was against the grain of the church, like Jesus is just another of many gods, then the church would have the right to fire him, on the grounds that he was misrepresenting their beliefs.

Phil Roberts does not represent what A&E wants to represent. Therefore, they are allowed to let him go. He was not persecuted, nor was he threatened. Phil is allowed to preach all the time on his off time, in other words when he does not represent A&E. But as their spokesperson, they do not want him to be 'anti-gay'.

Personally, I think that A&E are fully in their rights to fire/suspend Phil. Not that I agree with A&E, but I believe they have the right to choose who represents them, just as Christians have the right to choose who represents us as well.

Here's another question: Is Phil being an accurate representation of Christ? This is not one I will try to answer with a simple yes or no. But we need to realize this: being gay is not the sin that condemns people, being a sinner is what condemns them. (see this post for more on our Christian reaction to gay people) What I mean is this, if all the gay people in the world were suddenly "not gay" (if that is possible) tomorrow, it would not grant them all salvation. Salvation is through Jesus, not through being straight. I believe some well-meaning Christians have the idea that being gay is somehow more wrong than being unfaithful as a straight person, married or not. But I do not believe that God views it that way. God tells us that He views lust as adultery and anger as murder. If we draw an imaginary line of 'bad sin' and say that being gay is the 'bad sin' all we are doing is condemning without helping. That is the most unChristlike thing we can do. In the end, pray for your enemy, and love them. That is what we are called to do.

Ice and Storms

This past week, we suffered a massive ice storm. The trees in the area were covered with ice, power went out, and vehicles were covered. Many trees were damaged, and some were even destroyed. The sheer weight of the ice did its work quite effectivly. There is a massive tree in the back yard of the school that was split down the middle and uprooted by the weight of the ice on it. It got me to thinking about our own Christian life and how we are compared to trees.

As you may know, trees that are shallowly rooted often don't stand up to the weather well. We hear about this all the time. But in an area like the one where we live, there are trees everywhere. These trees don't all need deep roots because their roots mix and the sheer density of the forest saves them from most of the damage of the wind. This is very much like our Christian walk. Groups of Christians can indeed lean on each other and thereby stand against trials and temptations in many situations.

But what about sudden terrible things in our Christian life? Death, serious injury, trauma, or some other disaster? These are more like an ice storm than a windy day. Although wind is common and trees grouped together can weather the storm as a group, iced trees must each bear their own weight. They must rely on their own roots too keep them standing. They may loose branches, or they may fall entirely. They may crack, like the tree in our back yard. Other trees cannot help in this situation, only the roots that the tree has already put down. By the time the ice starts to form it is too late to start worrying about their roots. What has grown has grown and whatever is there is all that is there.

In the same way, some temptations and trials we go through are things that other Christians can help us bear, like windy days for trees. However, there are problems and trials that no other person can help us with. These situations are something that we can bring to God and Him alone. The roots we have in Him are what matter at these times. These roots need to be put down before the ice and storms come. If we wait until they are already there it may be too late. Let us lay our roots now, while we have time.