Defenders of the Faith

I have heard one Theologian say that he is a watchdog of God, and as such he cannot help but bark when his Master is attacked. As wonderful as this sounds, I think this is a terrible Theological statement. We are not called to be 'attackers of the faith', but defenders. We are told by Paul to keep our convictions between ourselves and God; not to go attacking others with our beliefs. Jesus tells us to make sure we do not cast pearls before swine, or they will tear us to pieces. We get a clear picture here of the fact that we are to be a light, an example, and a witness. We are not to shove our conviction in other's faces; for one, even if they did what we asked this does not make them Christians, and two, conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit, not ours to do. One that note, God does not desire dogs, he desires sons and daughters. God can defend Himself quite well if He would need to, and we as His children need to realize we are not to go fighting flesh and blood, but the spirit of darkness.

You may ask,"So are we not supposed to witness to people?" Of course we are! This is the function of a Christian. The very reason for our continued existence here on Earth. However, it is not as simple as just shouting in people's faces. Nor is it trying to guilt trip people into joining a church. Although these things may work from time to time, that does not make them the best alternative. You may be able to kill a fly with a shotgun, but that does not mean you should. In the same way, blasting people with the Gospel may hit one or two, but will most likely cause far more damage than good in the area.

In the end, there is no easy black and white line of evangelism. Instead, it is a day to day existence. If our relationship with the people around us does not show them Christ, we should not think that approaching a stranger will help. Oh, it may ease our conscience, we can say we tried, but that is not really what God requires of us. He requires us to be faithful. This is not a 10:00-12:00 every Sunday in Church type of faithful, but a faithfulness in every corner of our lives. It is a painful faithful, one that requires sacrifice and self-denial. It is one that we work with our entire lives here on Earth. That, my friend, is how we are to evangelize. And if we do, then people will come to us to ask of the hope that is in us. Until that time, we are to be faithful in word and deed. If we cannot be faithful in our own lives, how can God expect us to be so in someone else's?

Absolute Goodness?

Often we as Christians assume that when we are faced with a decision there is one absolute perfect choice. We believe that our choices can be ranked as good, better and best.

But is this true? Can all choices be ranked like this? As easy as this would make life, I do not believe this to be the case. I do not think that there is only one perfect answer in every situation. I believe there to be multiple best answers that are all equally good. Now I am not trying to say that we can assume that whatever we do is right, but we would be wise to realize that there can indeed be more than one perfect answer.

How can I be so bold? Well, lets take a look at God's choices. The first thing to consider is that He indeed mades choices. We see references do God's decision-making throughout the Bible. We know that Jesus often chose things in a manner that may seem arbitrary and random. But chose God does. If God is also perfect and absolutely holy then any decision made must also be both of those things. The fact that He has more than one thing to choose from shows that they meet His criteria, namely, perfection and holiness.

But what if there is only one perfect choice? Well, then God is confined to only making those choices, this means that He would have no Freewill. If that is true, then it follows that God has less choice than you or I, less choice than my cat, and less choice than anything He created. That would also mean the things He created had more power than He. This does not make sense, in fact, it flies in the face of what we understand about God.

So what can we apply from this information? Well, we know that there are multiple best answers. As such, we should be very hesitant in judging people we do not understand. We should be unwilling to assume that people who make different spiritual choices are automatically 'less holy' or 'less spiritual' than we are. It is very important that we do not assume that our understanding of perfection is the only accurate one. Many Christians condemn others assuming that their best must also be another person's best as well. This is not our place. Our preference and ignorance should not be our guide in evaluating other people's Godliness. If we doubt someone else's faith, we should do what we should always do; bring it to God in prayer, and act in love.

Age and Conviction

The older we get the more often we find ourselves looking at those that are younger than ourselves and wonder, "Do they really understand what it means to be a Christian? Do they know what all this entails?" We wonder if they really 'get it' or if they are just following along with the crowd.

Is this fair? I don't know anyone else's heart, nor am I really supposed to. But I can look back on my own life and experiences. When I was a child, I did what many children do and 'asked Jesus into my heart.' Now, I know there is a lot of backlash against that phrase, but as a child, I took this seriously. It was perhaps a more simple experience, and I was far more ignorant of Theology and God than I am know, but it was just as much a true spiritual experience before Him. As I continued to grow older, I had more experiences of this nature. I would grow in understanding and maturity and have a deeper understanding of what Christianity and God entail.

This progression continues to this day. I grow and understand more. But the experience with God that I had as a child was no less real, important, or valid because of my lack of understanding then. In fact, I believe that the inverse is more likely true. As a child, I flung myself completely upon God without a doubt of philosophy, theology, or rhetoric. Although I strive in understanding God and being a better Christian, and I find these things very important; the lack of them as a child did not make for a fake Christianity. Indeed, we find that Jesus told us something of this in Scripture. To whom more is given, more is required. We find that this is still true of us. As children, we are given little complex understanding, therefore little is required of us. The inverse is true in adulthood and as we grow in Christ.

So am I saying we need to stay spiritual infants and never have to worry about our faith being a fraud? Not at all, we are to be obedient servants and stewards, and that requires growing up in Christ.

In the end, what I am saying is that children and new converts may not have much understanding or revelation as a mature Christian. This does not make their Christian faith or walk less valid, nor does it discount them as followers. However, it does discount them as leaders of the faith.

Christian Coffee

All the credit for this comic goes to Adam4d Find his comics here. There's some good stuff. :)

Broken

Jesus tells us that He did not come for the healthy, but for the sick. His mission was not to help those who thought they were good enough already, but to help those who knew they were not good enough. We as Christians often try to convert any and all who will listen, but is this the way that we are supposed to work? Is that what Jesus did? Does He expect us to recruit Christians by offering them incentives like the blessings of an easy life, unlimited finances, or perfect ease? Where to we get the idea that we are supposed to win people over? Is it even our business to show them the perks of Christianity?

It seems that in our modern time, we want only the perks for ourselves. Ironically, this is the anti-thesis of Christianity. We are told to follow Christ we are to deny ourselves, to crucify our own desires and flesh, and to constantly practice self sacrificing love.

Is that what we see in Christianity today? If not, is it because we aren't really spreading the Gospel, but instead just telling them that Jesus is God's Son? Even the devil knows that Jesus is the Son of God. That knowledge is not enough to save us; it just isn't. Yet that seems to be all that we hear taught by many people these days. Sadly, some Churches don't even preach Jesus, just self-motivational rhetoric.

So what do we need to do? We need to remember that to come to God requires us to be broken before Him. We have to realize His Holiness, His absolute Perfection and Righteousness and our total lack of anything that comes close. We need to see that its not that we go to God to be 'safe' or 'good enough'. Instead, we need to see that we go to God because the is the only good that really exists. God is our Savior because we need Him to cleanse us, not because we need an escape plan from Hell. We were created for Him, not He for us.

Yet, we need to remember that God loves us. We are not worth it, but still He does. As humans, love is almost always selfish. We want to get something out of loving someone. In this area however, God shows His true goodness in a way all of us can not even really begin to understand. He loves us even though He needs nothing from us; there is not one thing that we can do to help God. He is self-sustaining and absolutely complete. Yet, He loves you. More than you can imagine. This is the most wonderful form of love you or I could possibly contrive or hope for.

So what do we need? We need to realize that God is in fact God. That He is complete in Himself, needing nothing from us. We need to see how foolish we are, how utterly helpless and selfish and greedy we are, how full of ourselves we have become and how abhorrent and vile this truly is. Yet He still loves us so much He would die for us, to reconcile us with Him. In this amazing situation, we need to realize that we have a need for Him, but He does not need us. He still chose to offer us a solution, and that is this; to be filled with Him, to let Him be in us what we cannot be ourselves. For that to work we must surrender fully, not just say a prayer, not just attend a church on Sunday, not just read the Bible and go to Bible study when convenient. We are to give our very lives to Him, and He expects nothing less.

What do we get in return? Him. We get the very God of the universe as our Father. That, my friend, is awesome indeed.

Simplism

Magic in Literature

• Recently a friend of mine asked me a question about the Harry Potter series of books. They were wondering if there was a problem with enjoying such fiction as a Christian, which I find to be an interesting a polarizing topic in today's culture.
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• Now, I haven't read the Harry Potter series, per se, but I have read many books of high science fiction/fantasy that also include magic, wizards, and fantastical situations. And from my childhood I loved these books more than any other style, as they have a great deal of imagination and potential in them. But it does raise an important point. Is the wizardry, magic, or the implications of these enough to condemn these books?
• Well, the easy answer is that some Christian leaders would say yes. But I don't agree with that myself. The lumping together of 'magic' into one category and condemning it is simplistic and ignorant. If the stories of Jesus life were told by people in narrative format, they would refer to His miracles as supernatural (which they were) or 'magic'. People call anything they do not understand 'magic' and that is not the same as witchcraft in the least. Demonic energy exists in our world, but things of a fantastical nature that we do not understand may be called magic out of ignorance, but are not really such.

  Many forms of science were once considered magic. Gravity, electricity, magnetism, and several other sciences were once considered 'magic', yet are not considered so any longer.

  What I'm getting at is that 'magic' in the sense of the fantastic or exotic that we do not understand is often mixed with witchcraft, which we do understand and detest as demonic. Magnetism and electricity did not cease becoming demonic when we understood them; instead, they never were. What makes witchcraft evil is not the fact that we don't understand it, or that it is powerful; but instead that it is indeed directly demonic.

  Now, in literature, we like to use our imagination both as readers and as writers. Since we do not know how we can explain the fantastic or yet undiscovered we call it 'magic'. This doesn't mean that it is evil, or even that the author intends for it to be evil. All it means is that the author is writing about something they cannot currently truly explain; therefore we dub it 'magical'. There is no more evil in a unicorn or pegasus than in a pony. None of the three is demonic, nor were they ever.

  Short answer is that I don't believe that 'magic' in literature is same thing as 'magic' in witchcraft. It is just the unfortunate double definition of one singular term. However, I am a firm believer that we are to do as Paul told the Corinthian church; if it bothers you, don't do it. If it doesn't bother, don't let someone talk you into nonsensical empty religion.

  My main issue that I have with the whole argument that 'all magic in science fiction is evil' is really misdirection from the evil that is in literature and popular entertainment these days. By that I mean the loose, debased morality that is implied by many books, movies, or TV shows. Much of fantastical high fiction has a story constructed to teach a moral, build character, and show the concept of good triumphing evil. On the other hand, many shows, movies, and books may not be visibly 'evil' but teach us that sin like lying to spouses, adultery, lust, murder, and revenge are not just to be tolerated, but are justifiable and normal.
  
  It is disturbing how many of those who condemn things like Harry Potter, LoTR, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Sword of Shannara, or any other high fiction accept other forms of media that encourage un-Godly behavior.
  
  In the end, the important thing to remember is that we all answer to God as individuals. If we feel the Holy Spirit telling us to stop, we need to stop. But if we only feel pressure from people who are condemning us, then we must make sure that we are not just being people pleasers. We are not to cause our brothers or sisters to stumble, however, that applies both to doing and not to doing.
  
  My advice is simply this, pray about it and follow the Lord's leading.