Archives for July 2016

The Glory of Reproach

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19 NAS).”

Whose Favor?
No one likes to be called an idiot, and certainly no one wants to be hated. And Scripture tells us, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold” (Proverbs 22:1 ESV). But, the value of a good reputation also depends on who holds the favorable opinion. The praise of some folks we can do without. In fact, we are known as much by the kinds of people who oppose us as by the company we keep and the people who hold us in high regard. Whose favor, then, do we seek in a world hostile to God?

The Reproach of Christ
Consider the reproach endured by Christ in His earthly ministry and ask: for what crime did the Creator of the universe earn such disgrace? Was it His perfect character when He healed the sick and raised the dead, gave eyes to the blind, legs to the lame, and food for the hungry? Was it His life-giving truth that others might share in His eternal happiness? The crowds admired His words and power as they chased Him about the countryside to see His miracles. But, when they saw their would-be savior from the bondage of Rome bleeding under the power of Rome, they shouted for His death. With the exception of His crucifixion, never did a more horrible scene of reproach and humiliation appear on the stage of history. “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11).

Beauty in the Furnace
Yet, from the overflow of His infinite love, He willingly embraced shame and death for the eternal benefit of His enemies. And even as the disgraceful affair exposed the depth of human corruption, it could only highlight the infinite excellence of Christ. The beauty of His love and holiness glowed white in the fiery furnace of His reproach and death. The world’s rejection of Christ and Scripture dims none of their glory, as the scorn of holy perfection points to wickedness in the observer, not defects in God or His revelation. God’s world and Word bear the clear marks of the power and excellence of their Creator and Author. To view the Gospel as foolish, to interpret Scripture according to naturalistic assumptions of unbelief, or to fail to love God for His infinite goodness reflect a fallen heart, not defects in God’s truth. “Let God be true though everyone were a liar” (Romans 3:4).

Dimming the Light
Thus, when we face the hostility of an increasingly evil world, we should never seek the favor of God’s enemies by altering or ignoring the more offensive aspects of His truth. Of course, we need to be careful how and when we speak, for “the wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness” (Proverbs 16:21 ESV). And, as saved by the infinite grace of God, love and humility should always adorn truth and our interaction with people in need of Christ. Yet, we have been called to deliver the King’s letter, not rewrite it to avoid the sneers of those who reject its contents. We dishonor God and hurt those in need of Christ by diluting its life-giving medicine, or adapting it to unbelieving assumptions about God and the world. And when our method and message become acceptable or favorable to those who oppose the glory of Christ and the Gospel, it may be that the light we shine is obscured or tainted by darkness. “The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted” (Proverbs 29:25 NAS).

Reviled and Blessed
We have been adopted and united to the One who bore our shame and punishment to gain our eternal happiness. Therefore, “if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God” (1 Peter 4:16 NAS). “But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled” (1 Peter 3:14 NAS). As we exalt our Savior and Forerunner in the growing darkness, God will encourage our hearts as the glory of Christ shines in and through us. “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14 NAS). So, when we are tempted to make Scripture and its historical accounts acceptable to an unbelieving culture to avoid their rejection and disdain, we should consider whose favor we seek: “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17 ESV). Indeed, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets” (Luke 6:22-23 NAS). May God gives us grace to bear His reproach, to the praise of His excellence and the good of those in need of forgiveness and eternal life in Christ.

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Art, Space Junk, and Ultimate Beauty

Many, many moons ago, a company where I worked built a new multi-million-dollar facility in a large and popular business district. The wings of the new building wrapped around a beautiful courtyard with well-groomed flower beds, trees, benches, and a path that wound its way past an assortment of sculptures.

Modern Sculpture
The trees and flowers were traditional, with great design, symmetry, color coordination, and life, while the artwork was decidedly modern, bearing marks of random and eccentric license, with a dash of the absurd. Of course, the latter may have been the point. I recognized one the objects as having been outside the art building of the university I had attended a few years earlier. “The Chair,” as we affectionately called it, was a block of cement or stone fashioned into what looked like a square bean bag or crude throne, though I never saw anyone sit on it. Somehow it found its new home in the courtyard. One piece, which some affectionately called the “Lincoln Log,” showed great skill in the display of unclad images in a brown cylinder that resembled, well, a very large Lincoln Log. A Michelangelo it wasn’t, but neither did it deserve the unfair label of “space junk,” as I called it, given I knew very little about space junk.

The budget for the art collection was large, so I imagine the piece with the granite rocks sitting on a rusted metal frame conveyed something beyond what it looked like and fetched a pretty penny. It was simple enough, and anyone with a drill and some bolts could have attached the rocks to the frame, but few could have done so and sold it for a large sum of money. It seems I had underestimated the artists.

A Worldview Barometer
My reflections on the courtyard followed a recent reading of Francis Schaeffer’s How Should We Then Live, a brilliant examination of the importance of the Christian worldview in the history of Western Culture, how we arrived with our present culture, and how the loss of our bearings as created by God in His image finds expression in the arts.[1]

While I have yet to fathom the beauty of modern art, I can appreciate it as a cultural barometer, a statement of philosophy or worldview. In The God Who Is There, Schaeffer tells the story of John Cage, a modern composer who attempted to write, play, and direct “music” according to his worldview of a random chance universe. The result was either noise or silence. Cage was sometimes booed after performances and even had an orchestra hiss at him when he took his bows at the conclusion of a concert. Schaeffer observed that when people booed his work they booed the logical conclusion of his worldview of a chance universe “as it [struck] their ears in music.”[2]

People love symphonies precisely because they do not reflect the worldview of a universe founded on and operating according to random chance. They like beautiful art, flowers, and anything aesthetically pleasing for the same reason. I believe that as we grow in our awareness of the genius and beauty of God displayed in His works, even as corrupted by The Fall, we will become less attracted to art and music that reflects a fractured and fallen worldview. Beauty, like goodness, is ultimately determined by God as that which most closely resembles His beauty. And the more we love God, the more we love the things that reflect His excellence.

The Ultimate Standard of Beauty
As believers, then, we should resist the temptation to relativize culture, including art and music, as if all forms are equal. Appreciation may lie in the beholder, but beauty lies in resemblance to the beauty of God and His handiwork. A Bach concerto written to the glory of God with great skill and genius is superior to a drunken Karaoke bit with an equally drunk garage band. A Michelangelo surpasses in genius and beauty the playdough creations of a three-year-old, even if we love them as created by our kids. When kids grow up, however, we should expect their art to mature along with them.

Some things more closely resemble the beauty of God and His works, while others reflect our fallen nature and immaturity. Determining where one ends and the other begins in art can be difficult, but the difficulty in no way implies that all things equally reflect the beauty of God and His creation. Therefore, as we strive to conform our thoughts and actions to the holiness of God, so in our art and music we should strive to more closely portray the excellence of God’s beauty as reflected in His character and works.

[1] Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1976).

[2] Francis A. Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, in Francis Schaeffer Trilogy (Wheaton: Crossway, 1990), 76-78.

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Why Does Power Corrupt?

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[1]

Written in 1887, the words of Lord Acton ring proverbial by the witness of history and experience. On a grand scale, great power does seem to create great tyrants. Even religious authorities and institutions tend to act worse as they amass greater power. On a more mundane level, compare the treatment you receive from someone who must compete for your business versus that from a monopoly or government agency where you have no choice or recourse. We could multiply examples ad infinitum. So why, then, does power have such a negative effect on people?

An Original Problem
To answer this important question, we need first to briefly examine “original sin,” our innate tendency to evil that began with our legal participation in the sin of Adam as he stood and fell in our place. Some reject the doctrine or struggle with how we can justly be punished for something we did not physically do. Yet, we all affirm Adam’s fall every time we sin, and Scripture teaches we are born with a sinful bent: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me,” cries the Psalmist (Psalm 51:5 NAS). Moreover, “all sinned” in Adam; and by his one sin we all “died,” were judged and condemned, and were “made sinners” (Rom. 5:12,15,16,19). Indeed, “There is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10 NAS). Thus, we are born into the world with the need to be “born again” (John 3:3-8).

A Universal Problem
Additionally, our universal tendency to sin as soon as we are able points to a universal heart defect.[2] Yet, when theologians point to the sinfulness of mankind as evidence for original sin, opponents cry foul. For instance, a contemporary of Jonathan Edwards and opponent of the doctrine, wrote, “We must not take the measure of our health and enjoyments from a lazar-house [hospital], nor of our understanding from Bedlam [insane asylum], nor of our morals from a gaol [jail].”[3] In other words, don’t ignore the good and point to a small group of bad apples to represent the whole of humanity. Edwards admitted that people often behave quite well, but added that the fallen heart is best understood when we consider the many hindrances to its sinful display, including negative consequences for bad behavior, rewards for right behavior, and the grace of God that restrains sin and produces good in people. Remove these things and you will have a more accurate picture of the heart.

To illustrate, pick a city, maybe New York, Philadelphia, or Los Angeles. Then, turn out the lights, abolish all laws, penalties, courts, and jails, and send away the police. Moreover, remove every constraint, every negative consequence for bad behavior, every reward for good behavior, including the positive influence of the Spirit of God for good, and you will have evidence aplenty for original sin and the fallen nature of humanity.

The Deeper Question
Now, consider the question, does power corrupt? If we mean by this that power makes people more prone to arrogance, ill treatment of others, despotism, and tyranny, most would likely agree that it does. “The poor man utters supplications, but the rich man answers roughly” (Prov. 18:23 NAS). But, if by the question we mean, does power corrupt a good heart, the answer is no. More power to a good heart produces more good works, while more power to an evil heart produces more evil works. God has infinite power and He always uses it for good, while Satan has great (but limited) power and always uses it for evil.

Opportunity and Consequences
What, then, accounts for power increasing evil behavior in people? For one, more power to a fallen nature provides greater opportunity for its expression by removing restraints and negative consequences. In this sense, power corrupts. For example, consider why we make harsh comments on the internet that we would never say to someone’s face, or why we act better standing in line with others than when driving unrecognized on a busy highway—anonymity eliminates accountability, embarrassment, and a great deal of negative fallout for poor behavior. This also explains why the loss of shame is so destructive to a culture; it removes a critical deterrent to bad conduct as people care less about how they act.

Briefly consider why Hitler and the National Socialists (“Nazis”), as well as Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot did such horrific things. Unless someone had a bigger and better military and was willing to use it to punish their behavior, they did whatever their wicked hearts desired because they perceived little to no negative consequences. They assumed they could get away with it—even before God, whose existence they conveniently denied. Without delving into the many ways wickedness justifies itself before the judgments of our God-given conscience, every evil act in history, when restraints to bad behavior are reduced or removed, vindicates Scripture’s description of the fallen heart.

And if you need more evidence, imagine the outcome of giving children whatever they want, whenever they want it, without discipline and instruction about right and wrong. You will soon have a headache and a great deal more evidence for original sin.

Conclusion
Power “corrupts” because we are born corrupt, and because power gives the opportunity and impetus to act without fear of negative consequences. Power merely allows a pre-existing condition to appear in a more obvious, forceful, and destructive way. This explains why God withdrawing His grace to allow people to do whatever they please comprises one of the most terrifying judgments in Scripture. Left to our own devices, we will sink to lows we never dreamed possible. May God preserve us from such a fate as we run to Christ and abide in Him. And should He bless us with greater responsibility and service, may He grant us humility and grace to resist the temptation to petty arrogance, for “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6 NAS). “Power belongs to God” (Psalm 62:11 NAS), but it is “perfected in weakness….for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9,10).

[1] http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/165acton.html, accessed 7-7-16.
[2] Jonathan Edwards, Original Sin, Yale Works, 3:136ff.
[3] John Taylor, quoted in Jonathan Edwards, Original Sin, Yale Works, 3:109.

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Made Beautiful: The True Story of Royal and Loyal Love

The birth of the universe set the stage for the history of the world in the drama of redemption, with God as its author, producer, and director. The carefully designed scenes reveal the genius, power, and goodness of their Maker, even as they reflect the curse provoked by the rebellion of their first inhabitants. And while Adam’s children enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and provision of good things, they dwell in deep spiritual darkness, the fruit of their apostasy.

In the fullness of time, however, the Light of the World pierced the gloom, taking center stage to rescue the object of His love. Disfigured and disgraced by sin, she was an unseemly and unsightly thing, an object of wrath, with nothing in her appearance, countenance or character to stir the affections of a holy God. Hopeless and helpless, she stood doomed to eternal death under the righteous judgment of her Creator. But that was about to change.

From a fountain of infinite goodness and mercy, overflowing with love for the unlovely, her noble Deliverer came with flesh to be broken and blood to be spilled to rescue His precious bride. He would meet her debt to love and obey her Maker with perfect fidelity, and pay to the full the penalty for her rebellion and adultery. Unlovely she would be made lovely, unworthy she would be made worthy, and naked she would be clothed in a regal gown of the Savior’s righteousness. As His bride she would radiate the beauty of His holiness, acquired for her at infinite cost that she might love and be loved, that she might adore Him who adored her from eternity.

As her Beloved left the earthly stage for a time to prepare their heavenly home, He sent the Pledge and Promise of His undying loyalty. The time passed quickly, and precious in His sight was the day her dying died and she arrived safely at her heavenly home. Fashioned and fit by the beauty of her Redeemer’s holiness, she was ready to take the hand of her Beloved. Hope stepped aside as the bride and Groom embraced to enjoy each other forever.

The old stage was replaced as the curtains parted to display the new, where holiness and happiness adorn every scene. Gone are the sun, moon and stars by the light of God’s glory. New are the unending encores of a bride and Groom enraptured in their mutual love and beauty. Filled to overflowing forever will be the joy of the bride by the sight and embrace of the infinite excellence of her Savior, Husband, and God.

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