Santa-god and Psalm 44

He's making a list,And checking it twice;Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice.

Good little boys and girls can be assured that if they are good then Santa Claus will bring them presents.  But the bad little boys and girls had better shape up because Santa Claus is coming to town and these little sprouts are going to have hell to pay.  No toys for these little minions they’ll be getting coals and spankings or at best that nasty fruitcake. 

If Christians are faithful then God will bless them.  He will give them presents like peace, prosperity, and healthy relationships.  When we turn our back on biblical principles this is when we are robbed of peace, prosperity, and our relationships become fractured.  But we can be assured that if we are nice rather than naughty the Lord (who sees us when we are sleeping even) will reward us well. 

You can extend this to a national level and say that when a nation is faithful to the Lord by allowing prayer in schools, keeping 10 Commandments and nativity scenes on the courthouse lawn, and making sure that our money mentions God then we will have prosperity, increased jobs, a better economy, and all the things that our good God-fearing nation would desire.

Now before I make my point it is important that you do not hear what I am not saying.  I think God does ultimately desire peace, prosperity, and healthy relationships, and ultimately I believe those will belong to those that are faithful to Him.  God does bless obedience.  Obedience is a good thing.  But… 

How does the above mentioned Santa-god fit into Psalm 44? 

The logic of Santa-god and Psalm 44

In verses 1-8 the sons of Korah remind the nation of the power of God displayed in their history.  They remind the people that if they are to have victory and salvation it will come through the Lord and not their own efforts.  Verse 8 ends with, “In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever”. 

For the first eight verses it sounds like Santa-god is standing on pretty solid biblical grounds.  If we were using logic it would look like this:

(A) As he has shown in the past, God blesses those that are faithful
(B) The Sons of Korah are being faithful
(C.) Therefore, the Sons of Korah will experience God’s blessing

But that is not what the equation looks like in Psalm 44:9.  Instead it is this:

(A) As he has shown in the past, God blesses those that are faithful
(B) The Sons of Korah are being faithful
(C.) “But you have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies”. 

Instead of “blessing” the people experience tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword.  They are “sold for a trifle”.  They have become a “laughingstock”, their face is “covered with shame” and they have become like “sheep for the slaughter”. 

Perhaps I am simply forgetting the other equation.  Certainly their situation is a result of their unfaithfulness.  This must be their equation:

(A) God punishes iniquity and does not bless those that are unfaithful
(B) Those living in the days of the sons of Korah are not being blessed
(C.) Therefore, the sons of Korah must be unfaithful

The only problem with that “loophole” is that according to Scripture the sons of Korah have not been “false to your covenant”.  They have not turned their hearts away from the Lord.  They have not departed from the ways of the Lord.  They aren’t talking sinless perfection here, they know they aren’t sinless; but they have remained faithful to the covenant.  And yet, “for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered”. 

Romans 8 and Psalm 44

It is interesting that Paul quotes Psalm 44 in the midst of Romans 8.  Honestly it seems like a weird (almost self-contradictory) place to quote Psalm 44.  At the end of Romans 8 Paul is asking the question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”  He then lists all those really bad things like tribulation, danger, sword, etc. and then quotes Psalm 44.  Why?

Paul is looking back to Psalm 44 at the experience of the sons of Korah and instructing us that believers will face mockery and suffering; such is, as Schreiner notes, the “lot of Christians”.  Believers will suffer and it is not because they aren’t being faithful or that they aren’t having enough faith but precisely because God loves them. 

In the midst of Psalm 44 the congregation is invited to join the psalmist in praying for the Lord’s redemption.  Romans 8 is no different.  It is placed there with Psalm 44 to infuse us with hope that in the midst of suffering and difficulty we can take heart that there is no place so low where the love of Christ does not reach the believer.  The suffering that we experience is not necessarily a sign of the Lord’s disfavor but is perhaps a sign of his profound love and grace.

Somehow the pain of Psalm 44 or Romans 8 is not divorced from the depth of God’s love.  This experience is not meant to separate us from the Lord but in actuality the banner that is placed over-top of this suffering is “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”. 

Not just conquerors.  More than conquerors.  To conquer it would be to get through something, to achieve victory over it, to slay it.  At the end of “conquering” this suffering would be a statement like, “whew, I am really glad that is over”.  But the text goes further than merely conquering.  It says more than conquerors. 

“More than conquerors” means that somehow God turns horrible things like suffering and death into good.  Those that are “more than a conquerors” would say things like, “that was really difficult and I would not necessarily desire to go through it again, but it has deepened my relationship with Christ, increased my capacity for joy, and brought me into a greater conformity with Christ.” 

The problem with Santa-god  

There are many problems with the Santa-god moralism that wears the mask of concerned Christianity, but I want to quickly note three.  The first and perhaps the worst is that he rips us off by distracting us with fleeting pleasures.  With Santa-god the goal to obedience does not become greater conformity to Christ, greater enjoyment of God as God-belittling sin no longer distracts us from relishing the Lord.  With Santa-god the goal to obedience is a bigger house, cheaper gas for your car, and more gold buried in your backyard.  What a rip off.  God offers eternal pleasure of infinite joy.  I’m not buying this shoddy promise that Santa-god is promising. 

Secondly, if we take this on a national level Santa-god causes lots of fighting.  If Santa-god looks at us as a nation to see if we are being naughty or nice then those darn liberals not letting baby Jesus silently sleep in the courthouse lawn are causing me to be put on that naughty list.  I’ll fight these loser to the death because they are robbing me of the fleeting pleasures that Santa-god is promising us if we would only be good. 

Lastly, Santa-god creates moralism in the midst of brokenness instead of shining a light on the only source of hope.  The message of Santa-god to a suffering sinner is simply, “repent, get up out of the mess, and do better next time”.  He offers moralism as the solution to brokenness.  But not Jesus.  Jesus offer complete redemption.  Jesus whispers to the suffering, “nothing is going to stop me from loving you”.  He comes into the midst of brokenness, changes our hearts, and while he still calls to repentance he also infuses our hearts with hope, love, and grace to accomplish the task He calls us to fulfill. 

Individually and corporately we need Jesus.  We cry out with the sons of Korah, “Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!” But we, as the sons of Korah could only know partially, know that Jesus Christ did “rise up” and he has redeemed us for the sake of His steadfast love!  And we know now that there is nothing that can separate us from His love.  Our crying now is for the not-yet to become the already! 

Moral Superiority?

Found this today from Preaching Today and found it interesting enough to share:

"It ought to be possible to live a Christian life without being a Christian," laments Roy Hattersley, a columnist for the U.K. Guardian. An outspoken atheist, Hattersley came to this conclusion after watching the Salvation Army lead several other faith-based organizations in the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina.

"Notable by their absence," he says, were "teams from rationalist societies, free thinkers' clubs, and atheists' associations—the sort of people who scoff at religion's intellectual absurdity." According to Hattersley, it is an unavoidable conclusion that Christians "are the people most likely to take the risks and make the sacrifices involved in helping others."

Hattersley also notes that this pattern of behavior goes beyond disaster relief:

Civilized people do not believe that drug addiction and male prostitution offend against divine ordinance. But those who do are the men and women most willing to change the fetid bandages, replace the sodden sleeping bags, and—probably most difficult of all—argue, without a trace of impatience, that the time has come for some serious medical treatment.

"The only possible conclusion," says Hattersley, "is that faith comes with a packet of moral imperatives that, while they do not condition the attitude of all believers, influence enough of them to make [Christians] morally superior to atheists like me."

-----------------------

What do you think?  Are Christians “morally superior” to atheists?  Is this even a helpful quote?  How would you use this in a sermon?

Rise of the Pharisees: Keeping the Keys

I am convinced that Pharisaism is alive and well (or perhaps dead but still causing a stink).  I fear that one place it happily takes up residence is in my own heart.  To try to detect Pharisaism in the corridors of my heart (whether in the hidden recesses or obvious for all to see) I thought it wise to study Matthew 23.  I hope to post a series of reflections on each of these woes.  I want to consider where I struggle with Pharisaism and perhaps suggest where it could be stinking up the church.  Today we will consider…

Keeping the Keys, Shutting the Door

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.”  Matthew 23:13

For the most part I am not guilty of what Jesus is condemning here.  The fundamental thing being addressed in this passage is rejecting Jesus and encouraging others to do the same.  The Pharisees vigorously opposed Jesus and his message and distorted it with their own competing claims.  This shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s face.  They refused to enter themselves and by their example they discouraged broken and downtrodden people from coming to their much needed redeemer. 

I’m not guilty of intentionally encouraging people to reject Jesus.  But there is something about the Pharisee’s heart that can be present in mine: a keeper of the keys mentality.  This mentality stands at the gate of heaven with a set of keys and assumes it has the responsibility to decide who goes in and who stays out. 

This is where it gets confusing.  If I read Matthew 16 correctly all those that stand in line with the apostolic message of the gospel do hold keys to the kingdom.  Part of the role of the church is to decide, as best we can, who is in and who is out.  This is what church membership and church discipline is.  (Before you decide to disagree read The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love and then come back to me).  We have to be careful not to reject this “keeper of the keys” thing outright.

However, there is a heart attitude that I sometimes see in myself that is Pharisaical.  It’s the attitude that has a long list of what is required to truly be called a Christian and acts with an ungracious spirit towards those that don’t fully match the list.  It’s a heart that has certain levels of spirituality based upon certain doctrines held.  The “majors” on the list are all of the things that I hold dear and the “minors” are all the things that I don’t care to address in my own life. 

Theological Triage

This is not a simple issue.  Dr. Mohler engages this issue when he calls for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity. His central thesis is that there are some things that are essential for being a Christian, some things are essential for being in the same local church, and some things are differences that can be held by those in the same local body. 

In my opinion, this is a helpful way of thinking, though some have disagreed.  A Keeper of the Keys mentality makes third-tier issues first-tier issues and refuses to fellowship with those of a different theological bent. 

I have to be honest and say I am still working through these issues.  I am growing in learning to place the non-essentials in their proper perspective.  There are third-tier issues that I hold strongly and I think that they have an impact on first-tier and second-tier issues.  So, it is tough for me sometimes to make certain that a majority of my passion lies in first-tier issues instead of being relegated to third-tier. 

I have to ask myself am I more passionate about Calvinism (third-tier) or that Jesus alone saves (first-tier)?  Calvinism will get blog traffic, generate attention, and sell books.  The Trinity probably won’t generate much attention.  And at the end of the day that, I think, garnering attention is the motivation behind the keeper of the keys mentality.  It is rooted in a deep desire to be noticed, to stand out, to look like an authority, to have it all together. 

Do I reserve my greatest amount of effort and passion for the “main things” or am I most passionate about the “differences” that really come down to no more than pride?

The Face of Moralism

What will it take for America to see and experience a revival?  Or any nation for that matter? 

How you answer that question determines whether or not you are a moralist or gospel-centered. 

Every day I get emails or read articles from well-meaning Christians that say we need to get God back in America.  Of course what they mean by that is that we need to get pray back in our schools.  Let’s not let those liberal rascals take God out of schools—besides that’s why schools are getting shot up.  The reason that our government is becoming increasingly corrupt is because the 10 Commandments are not on the front lawn.  We’ve taken God out of the courtroom.  We need to repent as a nation and get God back on our side.

Add to this the abominable sins of abortion, homosexuality, and pornography.  If we get rid of these atrocities then we will be in a position to receive revival.  If that is your vision of revival then you have missed the gospel. 

Did you realize that this statement, “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”, was leveled against a people that did everything we just described?  The Pharisees held the 10 commandments in high regard, they taught prayer, they fought against abortion, homosexuality, and a ton of other vices such as pornography.  So, if that is your vision for taking back America for God then it’s a vision that God Himself considers an abomination. 

Please do not misunderstand me.  God is not pro-abortion, His view of human sexuality has not changed, He still hates pornography, He upholds the 10 Commandments, and loves to hear the prayer of His people.  That’s not the point. 

The point is that God is in the business of “ransoming people for Himself from every tribe and language and people and nation” through Jesus.  And as He ransoms people He (not we), “make them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”  He is not in the business of simply making us better people. 

So, I ask do you stake the hope for America on our moralism and response to the Law?  Or do you stake the hope for America on the gospel of Jesus Christ that rescues, redeems, and restores gays, lesbians, porn-addicts, mothers that have had abortions, unrighteous judges, corrupt politicians, and even moralists? 

When I talk about moralistic therapeutic deism in the coming days this is in part what I am talking about.