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Archives for December 2015

The Call for Compassion: Be Wise and Beware

Compassion is a beautiful word with great biblical connotations, a word that should characterize every believer in Jesus Christ. Indeed, it characterized Christ’s earthly ministry. As such, however, it has great potential for abuse and manipulation. One need only look to the “compassion” that destroyed urban families, created a perpetual underclass and voting bloc, demoralized and created dependency on taxpayer money, and treated people as if they are less intelligent and less capable than others. Some compassion is merely lip service to further a political agenda for power and control, and only has life because well-meaning but naïve people support such policies under the power of the word “compassion.”

So, when you hear the clarion call for compassion from those who oppose Christ, His church, His Word (Scripture) and the principles and values it teaches, be wise and beware, lest you find yourself supporting something contrary to the principles and purposes of God.

In recent weeks several Christian writers have expressed agreement with the president’s plan to settle thousands of Muslim “refugees” in the United States, an action consistent with policies of the last 7 years granting unprecedented numbers of Muslims entrance into the U.S. under various programs.

But, for all the appeal to “compassion,” has such compassion been similarly extended toward Christians and Yazidis suffering enslavement, rape, crucifixion and all manner of cruel and murderous punishments? Amidst the incoherent policies of the U.S. at work in the Middle East, one thing is apparent: the interest of indigenous Christians and non-Muslims is not a priority. Indeed, they are being exterminated, while only a trickle (less than 1%) are being resettled in the U.S. They were not a priority in Egypt when our administration supported the Muslim brotherhood, and were not a priority in Benghazi when our own people were left to be murdered. The actions of the present administration have not been favorable to Christians and biblical principles internationally or at home. Indeed, our freedoms as Christians to live our convictions and speak forth the truth are under attack from many sides. The implementation of the present call for “compassion” will only hasten the attacks and our loss of freedoms.

Perhaps we should also regard the call to preach and teach the Gospel, love and protect our neighbor, and extend compassion to those being enslaved and butchered, a compassion that extends into eternity. Consider a few thoughts.

First, the U.S. has historically been a launching pad for the Gospel around the world. Christians have the freedom and context to raise money and send missionaries to extend temporal and eternal compassion to multitudes in the name of Christ. Our nation has been the most compassionate in this regard. Increasingly, however, that ability is being lost. Indeed, we are approaching the point where Christians could be prosecuted for “hate speech” for preaching the truth and opposing false religion (it has already begun). What happens to our ability to love our neighbor across the seas when the Gospel becomes a crime at home? How many will suffer the negative effects, both here and abroad? What happens when we can no longer elect those who oppose the encroachment on our freedom to live according to our convictions and bring the life-saving message of Christ and the Gospel? Do we not see the policies of open borders and Muslim immigration as related to increasing a certain voting base, a base that typically votes for a party and politicians whose policies are increasingly opposed to our freedoms as Christians?

Second, does it love our neighbor to put them at greater risk to be the victim of terror? We may tweet “Je suis Charlie” in support of free speech, but it has been lost in many countries, is being lost throughout Europe, and people are being murdered to stifle it. Do we love our neighbor by facilitating the same scenario in our country? Are we not called to protect our family and neighbor?

Third, showing compassion to a wounded enemy soldier on the battlefield in a war is a far cry from inviting the opposing army into your city. We are to love and seek the salvation of our non-Christian friends and neighbors, but we are not to destroy our ability to do so in the process.

Fourth, many of the lawless policies being promoted by the current administration will lead to great damage to us and our neighbor, both temporally and eternally. Do we really want to find ourselves on the side of those destroying our country and therefore our neighbor under the guise of “compassion?” Are we really that naïve? Additionally, people saying constitutional protections of Americans extend to non-Americans desiring to enter the country are uninformed or lying. Immigration into the U.S. has been stopped many times, sometimes for decades, and because of beliefs inconsistent with core American principles (to wit, Nazis were not allowed into the U.S. for years because of their beliefs). Entrance into the U.S. is a privilege, not a right, and one that should only be extended to those in whole-hearted agreement with freedom of speech, the American way of life, and constitutional rule.

Fifth, Christian missionaries have been ministering to non-Christians for centuries in closed and open countries. There are alternative ways to extend compassion to refugees in the Middle East, without aiding those seeking to destroy our freedoms and our country, including policies that don’t create refugees in the first place. Perhaps the surrounding Muslim nations could step up to the plate?

Much more could be said about the incompatibility of Sharia law and a constitutional republic, the history and teachings of Islam, etc. But part of our call for compassion includes the call to expose and resist the sirens’ song that seeks to destroy us, our family, and our neighbor. Jesus said we will know people by their fruits, and we have plenty of fruit to question what opponents of Christianity are currently promoting. “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Mt. 10:16). We live in perilous times and need to love Christ with a healthy dose of godly wisdom that we might continue serving Christ for His glory and the eternal benefit of our neighbor. May God give us the grace to wisely navigate treacherous waters without falling prey to the abuse and manipulation of “compassion.”

Click here to download a PDF of this article.

© 2015 Craig Biehl, author of God the Reason, The Box, The Infinite Merit of Christ, and Reading Religious Affections

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    Is It Okay to Complain Against God? (Part Two)

    In Part One we observed that crying and complaining to God, as well as casting our cares upon Him, are privileges purchased for us by Christ. God understands our needs and weaknesses and responds to our cries with great compassion. But, we asked, does God’s care and compassion give us license to complain against God, who is perfect in power and goodness, who always acts in perfect righteousness and desires the best for His people? To answer the question we turned to the experience of Job, who’s intense suffering eventually gave way to his questioning the righteousness, knowledge, and goodness of God, to the extent that he even accused God of favoring the wicked. We come now to God’s response.

    Job Goes to School
    At long last, however, God answered Job, but not in a manner he or we might have expected. “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding” (Job 38:1-4). After two more chapters of God schooling Job on the proper attitude toward one’s Creator, God gets to the heart of the matter.

    ‘Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.’ Then Job answered the LORD and said: ‘Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.’ Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: ‘Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?’ (Job 40:2-8).

    Ouch. Couldn’t God have gone easy on poor Job? After all, Job’s suffering was extreme and he suffered because he was righteous. Perhaps no one, before or after Job, had better cause to complain against God. Satan had insulted Job and God by attributing Job’s righteousness to mere pragmatic selfishness. Job loved God for what he could get and nothing more, went Satan’s argument. Thus, to prove Satan wrong, Job suffered. But Job was oblivious to this. Wouldn’t that justify Job’s complaint against God just a little bit? Apparently not.

    God’s Greater Purpose
    God was educating angels and every soul who would read of Job’s experience (Job 1:6-2:7). Job knew nothing of his role as God’s spiritual object lesson, but as created by a God of perfect righteousness who had greater purposes than he understood, Job had no right to question the goodness or righteousness of God. Nor do we. In the end, Job learned his lesson.

    Then Job answered the LORD and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:1-6).

    God proceeded to bless Job more in the end than prior to his suffering. What’s more, Job now has all of eternity to bask in the infinite blessings of God, while saints yet to arrive in glory learn eternal lessons from his relatively short life and suffering. God answered Job and we reap the benefits.

    Job’s Lesson for Us
    God, however, does not always confront our complaints as He did with Job. Sometimes He puts up with our foolishness for a time or until we learn our lesson the hard way. But, God’s patience toward our tantrums is not approval. God bears with a great many things in His beloved children, just as He is slow to reveal His wrath toward a blaspheming world. He is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7). Yet, anger or complaints against God are never justified, however patient God may be with us. What legitimate charge can created and fallen people bring against a God of perfect righteousness? We do best to trust His perfect character, even as we cry out to Him in our troubles. Our good and loving God will always do what is right.

    Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Click here to download a PDF of this article.

    God the Reason: How Infinite Excellence Gives Unbreakable Faith by Dr. Craig Biehl

    © 2015 Craig Biehl, Adapted from Craig Biehl, God the Reason: How Infinite Excellence Gives Unbreakable Faith, Carpenter’s Son Publishing, 2015.

     

    Pilgrim's Rock Blog Post by Dr. Craig Biehl - Job - Is It Okay to Complain Against God? Part Two
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      Is It Okay to Complain Against God? (Part One)

      Have you ever been angry and disappointed with God, or questioned His goodness in the midst of deep and dark struggles? Have you ever been so disappointed with God’s response to your prayers that you wanted to give Him a piece of your mind? After all, He knows our weakness and is big enough to take it, right? But, does God understanding our weakness give us the right to complain against Him? Moreover, can it ever be proper to complain against our Creator? Let’s see…

      He Hears Our Cries
      God is good. “His work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4). “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you” (Psalm 89:14). And in the end, “He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity” (Psalm 98:9). And from His love and care for His children, He calls us to cast all our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). To Him we may cry in our troubles: “Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy” (Psalm 64:1). “I pour out my complaint before Him; I tell my trouble before Him” (Psalm 142:2). God welcomes our cries for help and understanding. He responds with great compassion to our needs and weaknesses:

      Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:9-11)

      Asking the Right Question
      Our question, then, does not concern our freedom to cast our cares upon God or to bring to Him our cries and complaints, for Christ purchased for us that marvelous privilege. Our question concerns the right to complain against God, or to question His wisdom, goodness, or righteousness in His governing the affairs of the world and our personal circumstances. Put another way, can we as created, sustained, and dependent on God for all things complain against a God of perfect power and goodness, who always acts in perfect righteousness, who always desires the best for His people? Or, can finite and fallen people sit in judgment over the source and standard of all righteousness?

      Have You Considered Job?
      To answer our question, we turn to Job. After all, if anyone had the right to complain against God it was Job. Used by God as an example to His adversary the Devil, Job suffered because He was righteous. And suffer he did, with great personal loss and intense, prolonged physical suffering.

      Early in his agony, Job did well in accepting God’s rule and righteousness: “Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times” (Job 9:2-3). But, time and pain wore on. And as we all know how our physical suffering challenges our spiritual demeanor, so Job eventually resorted to criticizing God for causing and ignoring his plight. He sought an audience with God to argue his case against Him.

      Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked? Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees? Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man’s years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand? Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether (Job 10:3-8).

      Job’s complaints not only increased as his suffering lingered, he turned to questioning the righteousness, knowledge, and goodness of God. He even went so far as to imply that God favored the wicked! But was Job right in this? And even if he was not, would God not grant Job the right to his accusations given the depth of Job’s agony and his ignorance of the cause of his suffering? Our answer will come in Part Two.

      Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Click here to download a PDF of this article.

      God the Reason: How Infinite Excellence Gives Unbreakable Faith by Dr. Craig Biehl

      © 2015 Craig Biehl, Adapted from Craig Biehl, God the Reason: How Infinite Excellence Gives Unbreakable Faith, Carpenter’s Son Publishing, 2015.

       

      Pilgrim's Rock Blog Post by Dr. Craig Biehl - Job - Is It Okay to Complain Against God? Part One
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