Convenient Christianity

While visiting friends in Virginia I was asked what I thought was the biggest problem within the church. The answer came to mind with ease. I believe it is lack of community. In American we are ingrained with two principles that are pervasive in our culture. One of these principles believes that I am an independent individual. My voice is just as important as anyone else. I am a part of a democracy so my opinion has equal weight in any situation. Therefore I have no responsibility to follow or support those with whom I have a difference of opinion. The support of the community and the commitment to others is dependent upon how I feel not upon my relationship to the community, body of believers, or the church fellowship I choose to join with. This way if I do not “feel” that I agree with something, I can walk away with no thought of what that might mean to others. The second grows out of the first. My perceived needs supersede all others. What’s in it for me is all that matters. Therefore, if my perceived needs or even wants are not met I am free to look elsewhere. My commitment is a matter of what is convenient for me and my family.

Paul uses an obvious illustration in 1 Corinthians 12 of the body to help us understand the way a group of believers is to function. A term we often use to describe the fellowship or church we are apart of. We are a part of the Body of Christ. It should seem pretty easy to figure out that the members of the body are dependent and supportive of the other parts. Paul makes it clear that we all have different functions, gifts, and abilities. It doesn’t give us the impression that the body votes to see if the hand will swat the mosquito or if the eye will water when assaulted by dust. Feet do not decide that they disagree with the direction of the body and wander off to join another body. After all three feet over there would be better than two over here besides this body doesn’t appreciate me so off I go. If you are not very biologically oriented God has that covered as well. Peter uses the illustration of a building and we are the living stones that make up the building, 1 Peter 2:5. A building, by the way, that is to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So if you are into building instead of biology the picture is one of mutual dependence and support. Each stone has a responsibility to the other stones to hold them up, be held up or support the ones next to you. If you start pulling stones out of a wall it is only a matter of time before it collapses. All those unique misshaped stones placed together by the Master’s hand produces a building that is a marvel to behold and brings glory to the builder. A crumbling wall brings recognition only to the destroyer of unity and the ministry of the “Spiritual Building”. Our good old American independence has fractured the Building and crippled the Body. We become ineffective and isolated broken stones. After over 40 years of following Christ I have seen more church splits that I would care to remember. Out of them all I can think of 2 that involved a Biblical basis, the rest were simply unhappy people who did not get their way. Their commitment to themselves outweighed the commitment to the local Body of Christ. Thus they departed after making sure their dissatisfaction was well know no matter who it hurt.

Now I know this is not new. Every book in the New Testament contains instruction on how to get along and gives clear evidence that followers of Christ have always had this problem. The record of Hebrew history from Genesis to Malachi yields the same conundrum. We just are so self centered we do not get along. My need, my way, my opinion, my choice of color for the nursery is all that matters, and if I do not get it the leadership is oppressive and I will move on. Commitment is hard to fine in much of what is called Christianity. It has been this way for all too long but it seems to have become magnified in my generation. Our commitment is tied to convenience and personal feelings rather than the needs and support of those around us. So corporate worship is based on what fits into my schedule. Baseball, ballet recitals, birthday parties, jobs and a plethora of activities often take priority. Plan an event, be it a picnic, outreach, workday, plans to help someone move or fix a garage roof for a needy family and the response is “if I have time’ or I don’t know if we will be there it depends on what comes up.”  "If it is convenient and doesn’t interfere with the rest of my life I will be a part of the Body that day. But it depends on what else I might want to do". Again I understand and know of the sports schedules and all the events the world puts on days of worship but perhaps it shows where our commitments really are. God is gracious, God understands. Way more than the little league coach. If we are late Billy won’t get to play. God’s grace gives me the freedom to be with the Body of Christ at my convenience. God will just have to wait until after the season is over.

Families can be more demanding than coaches, at times. So family events are scheduled for Sunday at noon, or 11:00 AM and don’t be late for the birthday party, anniversary, graduation, Christmas dinner etc. etc. We don’t want to offend and say “Sorry, but we are committed to the Lord and our church family so we will get there as soon as we can. Our time of Worship each week is a priority for our family. Maybe we could have the party at 2 instead of 12?” But, no, we don’t want to make it inconvenient for the family, "Thank God I believe in Convenient Christianity and a God of grace who requires so little of me." Sometimes I wonder how “lukewarm” our faith is becoming.  

Are You Under the New Covenant?

The past weekend focused on the most important event in human history. The death, burial, and resurrection of  our Lord Jesus Christ. Many gathered together on Thursday or Friday night for the breaking of bread and the sharing of the cup as our Lord instructed us to. Many as well quoted from Luke 22:20, where Jesus tells His disciples that, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood." Or perhaps I Corinthians 11:25 where the Apostle Paul gives the same quote in reference to this memorial given us by the Lord. II Corinthians also gives mention to the new covenant which is "Not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life". Again in Hebrews we read of this new covenant, which made the old covenant obsolete (Heb. 8:13). Also that Jesus is the mediator of this new covenant (9:15 and 12:24). But just what is this new covenant? It is founded in Messiah. Kistemaker explains that he old covenant at Sanai has ended. Meaning that the Mosaic Covenant or Torah has been done away with. (Kistemaker, Hebrews pg228 Baker). The New Covenant of grace is a popular explanation for this new covenant. F. F. Bruce is clear on this opinion."The age of the law and the prophets is past; the age of the Son is here, and here to stay" (Bruce Hebrews NICNT pg 179 Eerdmans). Multiple others would agree. They proclaim that the New Covenant is a Spiritual Covenant based on grace and not the Law. The old is past and the new has come.

It should be pointed out that these commentators also recognize that the writer to the Hebrews is quoting Jeremiah 31:31. This is the predictive promise that a new covenant is coming. And it could be argued that this is indeed a spiritual covenant. But is the popular view actually what the Scriptures say? Are Kistemaker and Bruce accurate in what they perceive to be true? What would the readers of this Letter to the Hebrews have understood when the writer quotes Jeremiah and speaks of a new covenant? I believe the readers to be either Hebrews or those very familiar with the teachings of the Hebrews as in the Word of God reveled to and recorded by His people. That being the case they would have known that Kistemaker, Bruce, and others did not need to guess at what the New Covenant was. They did not need to impose their theological understanding on the text to come to the conclusion that the Law or Torah has been done away and replaced with a nebulous law of the Spirit. Jeremiah took the time to tell us what the new covenant is, at least the one that God was instituting. And not only that but the writer to the Hebrews even took the time to quote the rest of Jeremiah's thoughts so we would not miss the point. (See Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Hebrews 8:8-12) .Jeremiah indeed says, "Behold the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah 'not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them', says the LORD." So Jeremiah is clear that a time is coming for a new covenant. But what will be the difference compared to the old? Jeremiah goes on to tell us, "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD; I will put My law (Torah) in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD', for hey all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I shall forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." Now this has yet to come in all its fulfillment but most would agree that forgiveness and a new covenant is active today. However, Jeremiah's clear promise and prediction from God is overlooked or creatively explained away. God promises to write Torah on their hearts and to place it in their minds. Those under the New Covenant will become Torah observant and obedient from the inside out.

So what does that mean for those of us how desire to follow Messiah and be obedient to His call today? What do we do with Torah? What do we do with the directions and instructions God has given His people as to how to live? We do know that Messiah's sacrifice was effective, once for all. That the sin offering has been given and accepted by God the Father. One could argue that part of the sacrificial system has been completed but that is only a small part of Torah. As I have persuaded this journey of seeing God's revelation in a more integrated fashion a common reaction to the word Torah or Law is one of near anger. I am told "The Law is gone. Grace is here. The is no place for the Law for it was completed by Jesus and has no bearing on my life," Then what is the promise of Jeremiah and the confirmation of that promise in Hebrews? "Torah will be in my mind and on my heart". By the power of the Spirit of God I will be obedient. Something Jesus, John, Peter, and Paul, to name a few, have instructed me to do. Something the Spirit prompts me about when I am not. My thought is that God keeps His promise even if I don't want to believe Him.

There are many believers in Messiah who believe that Jesus will come and take them away before the Great Tribulation described in Revelation. Others disagree. If the rapture is true would God leave behind those of a differing view? There are those who believe our salvation is secure and cannot be lost while other believers feel you can lose it. Will God take it away if they are mistaken and they were secure after all? God's promises are true whether we believe them or not. We may discuss and disagree over lots of things that we find in God's Word but it doesn't change what is true. What if Jeremiah is true, that God will place Torah in our minds and on our hearts so we obey by the power of His Spirit from the inside out. What if we become Torah obedient not by attempts of our own power but through His power, as Jeremiah predicted. Have you ever seen someone or perhaps had this experience yourself that upon committing your life to Christ you no longer take God's name in vain. Suddenly you can't look at another as your spouse now means more to you than you remember. Stealing and cheating really bother you. You have compassion for the poor, you want to know God's word and to be with His people. Did you know those are all instructions in Torah? Much of what we do as Christians, much of the moral fabric woven into our lives is all Torah compliant. Just because you may not want to believe that God's Law, His Torah, has anything to do with your life of grace and freedom in Christ doesn't negate the promise in Jeremiah and Hebrews. God is placing Torah in your mind and on your heart and empowering you by His Spirit to walk in obedience whether or not you think it is true. God's promise is still true.     

The Dangers of a Christian World View

How can one say that there is danger in a Christian Worldview? Shouldn't we as followers of Christ have a view of the world that is compatible with His view? My thought is that what we really need is a Biblical Worldview more than a Christian one. The question asked is, "What is the difference?"A cursory look with a web search will demonstrate that, for most, there is no difference. However, a closer look shows, with a few exceptions, that they are viewed the same because both focus on the New Testament and the instruction given primarily in the Epistles. The focus is on how the "Church" should live in this present world. The instruction and discussion is on how to implement Christ's teaching in a world hostile to and in opposition to the teachings of Jesus. There is some reference to the core of the Torah, usually the Ten Commandments, but by and large the focus is on the Church and how we should live in the Church age. Little thought is given to the need for an integrated approach to the Testaments. The Old is simply a document to help support the New with some illustrations and applications. What is understood as New Testament teaching only has some overlap with the Old, for it is assumed that the New Testament has updated information and a clear understanding of Grace and redemption in Jesus that the Old Testament lacks. Lacking an integrated view of  the Revelation God has given us of Himself leads us into misunderstanding, and even error, as we have lost the foundation of what is given us in the Gospels and the letters. We end up with a skewed view of what we are to do, for we are told that the Law or Old Testament has been done away with and we now live in the Age of Grace. We forget that the early church was predominately Jewish. That Jesus and all the Apostles were Jewish. That they were trained to be Jewish Rabbis, and that Jesus never violated any Old Testament Commandment; that was also the goal of His disciples, even Paul who did "nothing against our people (the Jews) or the customs of our fathers" (Acts 28:17). The New Testament is a thoroughly Jewish document, and unless we accept that to be true, we will draw mistaken conclusions.

For example, look at the translation of Mark 7:19. Following a discussion over ceremonial washing of hands, which Jesus turns into a discussion of obedience from the heart, Jesus makes the point that food does not make you impure; it is behavior that makes you impure. He uses Commandment Number Five, "Honor your father and mother", to make the point that finding ways around Torah is to violate God's Word. He tells the disciples, "It [food] does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, purging all foods". Jesus is simply speaking of the obvious digestive process. He goes on to list a variety of activities that defile people. It is not eating with ceremonially unclean hands which would have made the food ceremonially unclean. But our "Christian" worldview is not content with that simple illustration. The New American Standard Version translates the end of the verse "(Thus He declared all foods clean)". The New International Version is even more explicit, "(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean)". This is their translation even though the word Jesus isn't in the text. The "Christian" Worldview believes that all dietary laws have been done away with as we are "free from the Law", so they read that into the text. But if we consider the Bible as a whole, we know that Jesus is a Jew speaking to Jews and is a young Rabbi, who, we are told, never sinned and so never violated Torah. That being true, Jesus would never have suggested to the Jews that the Law of Moses no longer applied. Dietary laws were and are what it is to be Jewish. Jesus would have lost all credibility if He were telling the Pharisees that Mosaic Law, Torah, no longer was valid for the Jews. The reference Jesus makes to the Fifth Commandment becomes meaningless if He then states that this part of the Mosaic Law no longer applies. All the Jewish Law would then be suspect. So looking at the text, even in translating the text, the Christian Worldview imposes an end to dietary regulations that is not there and does not need to be. We miss the point that a follower of Yahweh lives a life that is different from the world and flows from the heart of obedience rather than fear. We have done what the Pharisees had done, changed the rules so they do not need to apply. We tell Jews that to accept that Jesus, Yeshua, as their Messiah they must stop being Jewish. Give up the Torah that instructed them in what to eat and when to rest. To convert to a Christian Worldview and give up their Biblical Worldview that would integrate both Testaments as one revelation of God.

As we are less that a week away from Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday let me drop another challenge for you to consider. In Matthew 27:46, and Mark 15:34, the Gospel writers record Jesus quoting the first phrase of Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?", which, in our Christian Worldview, has led to the development of an entire theological teaching on the separation of Jesus from the Father, ideas on God and sin and a plethora of pages in commentaries to try to explain what in the world this could mean. Yet if we apply a Biblical Worldview, seeing scripture as integrated with a bit of a Hebraic thought, we might remember that there are no verse breaks at this time and that the Chief priests, the Pharisees, the Scribes and members of the Sanhedrin, were well familiar with the Psalms and with Psalm 22. They would have done what we do with passages we know. If I said to you, "For God so loved the world........." most would be able to complete it with "that He gave His only...". Those at the cross would have done the same thing we do. They would have completed Psalm 22. If this is true, then the cry of Jesus is one of anguish, but also of victory, perhaps even a bit of taunting, for the Psalm ends in great victory. Even in His death Jesus wins. "A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the LORD to the next generation, they will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born that He has done this" (Psalm 22:30-31). Take a minute and read the whole Psalm and see what I mean. Maybe in trying to fit the event into a Christian Worldview we have missed the Biblical Worldview that put Messiah Jesus in charge even in the horrific events of His crucifixion. Maybe there is some obvious victory in the cry we have misunderstood to fit our Christian Worldview.             

Which Day?

You may have memorized Psalm 118:24 without realizing it. I remember it from my early days as a believer when we sang it at youth group. Had that nice guy - girl echo thing. Perhaps you did as well, "This is the day, This is the day, That the LORD has made, That the LORD has made, We will rejoice, We will rejoice, And be glad in it, And be glad in it, etc. A verse to remind us of the presence of the Lord and His involvement in every day of our lives. How often I have heard a worship begin the service with this verse calling us all to rise and sing praise for "This is the day that the LORD has made so let us rejoice and be glad in it!". Not a bad thought, but have you ever put the verse in context? The previous verses, 22 and 23 are quoted by Jesus in Matt. 21:42, Mk 12:10, Lk 20:17 and found in Acts 4:11 in Peter's message and again in Peter's First Epistle 2:7. These are also verses you may be familiar with but never tied them to the previous verses. Psalm 118:22 & 23 read, "The stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." The day we rejoice in is not just any day; it is the day the Chief Cornerstone is exalted and His Kingdom is established. It is the day Jesus, Yeshua, Messiah conquered death and made life possible for all of us. In confronting the Pharisees and the Scribes, Jesus knows that they have rejected him. He tells the parable of the vineyard owner who goes away and leases His vineyard out to other caretakers. At harvest time he sends a series of servants to collect what is His due and these servants are mistreated and killed. The understanding is that these are God's Prophets. Check out Jeremiah if you miss the abuse point. As a final gesture the Lord sends His own Son to collect saying, "Surely they will respect My Son." But He is also abused and killed. From this story Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22 & 23. The clear inference is that He, Jesus, is the rejected stone who will become the Chief Cornerstone. And as we approach the celebration of His resurrection, it is indeed "Marvelous in our eyes".

Now the little chorus and the quote to begin a Worship Service is not wrong, per-se, but is, perhaps misleading or at least is inadequate in our understanding. WOW! This is the day that the Stone the builders rejected became the Chief Cornerstone! And it is marvelous in our eyes! This phrase, this verse has eschatological implications about the Kingdom of God. It is not just any day, it is THE day that the Lord has made for Messiah to be accepted after being rejected. 1 Peter 2 ties this to Isaiah 28:16 to remind those who follow Christ that we will not be put to shame and those who believe in the Chief Cornerstone, in Messiah, "Are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His Marvelous light" (2:9). The day of His resurrection shows that death is done, it has no hold over those who believe, it has no sting, it has no victory. Because of the victory of the rejected stone we have the opportunity to begin Kingdom living now with the expectation of its fullness to be yet realized. Popping Psalm 118:24 out of context makes for a nice little jingle, but it robs us of the rich meaning of the call to rejoice in Messiah's victory. Perhaps Resurrection Sunday is the one day we can quote this verse with great joy. But perhaps we need to quote verses 22 &23 with it for "The Stone the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone. This is the LORD'S doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it."