If Hosea Prophesied in 21st Century America

Hosea’s story is a bleak one. God calls him to marry an unfaithful woman. It’s often debated whether or not she was unfaithful when God called Hosea to marry her, or if she turned that way. The answer to that question probably made little difference in the day to day workings of Hosea’s home. His wife was unfaithful. Period. There are clues to the text that his children aren’t really his, and likely they weren’t model Israelite citizens.

Hosea isn’t fundamentally about Hosea. It is about God. But God’s story is told through the deep pain of Hosea. This prophets life would not have been rosy. I cannot imagine what it would have been like to be married to Gomer. Or to raise troubled children that are not your own. There faces everyday reminding you of your wife’s unfaithfulness. I do not have personal experience with this. Hosea did. And it shaped his message.

That truth has me wondering what would happen if Hosea were a prophet in the 21st century. Before I give my analysis I must confess that I am not a cultural guru. I do not have a Ph.D in postmodern thought. Nor did I pay attention in my college sociology class. But I am “in the trenches” ministering to adults and teenagers in the 21st century. And it seems to me that in our culture if your message is somehow shaped by your personal experiences then it is in the realm of subjective and not objective. It is tainted.

I wonder then what people in the 21st century would say when Hosea says, “you play the whore, O Israel…”

“Bitter much?”

“Come on Hosea, we know you’re just hurt by what is going on in your home life. You’re being too sharp because you’re carrying over the hurt that your harlot wife has caused you. You’re looking for somebody to blame for your pain and trying to spiritualize it by calling us harlots and saying it is a metaphor for how Yahweh feels about us.”

The power of Hosea’s metaphor would be dismissed. His message is shaped too much by his own personal situation. Therefore, Hosea’s truth might work for him or for other people that are struggling like He is, but it is not for everyone. “You can’t call the entire nation a whore just because your wife is one, Hosea.”

For Today

But Hosea was telling objective truth. And he was doing it through his very real personal pain. You better believe that Hosea was impacted by his home life. But Hosea isn’t fundamentally about Hosea. It’s about God. And God is using Hosea’s story to tell His own. God is using the subjective story of Hosea to proclaim His objective truth.

The 21st century preacher finds himself in a difficult spot. The culture tells him that he must be real and he must be authentic. Which is helpful and solid advice. But inevitably the more real the preacher gets the more easily what he is proclaiming can be dismissed. The preacher’s message is effected by the preacher.

I am not saying that the preacher has a license to change the objective truth of God’s Word. Far from it. But what I am saying is that God can use my subjective life story to proclaim His objective truth. The message isn’t tainted because the messenger is deeply impacted by the message. It’s tainted if doesn’t impact the preacher. 

Taking God's Word Seriously

"Contemporary spiritualities must be recognized as a form of temptation. The question they raise, as Barth rightly suggested, is whether the Church is able to take its own revelation seriously. For what these spiritualities do is invite the Church, theology, and faith, 'to abandon their theme and object and become hollow and empty, mere shadows of themselves'."

-David Wells, Above All Earthly Powers, page 160

Compromise is Stupid When Truth is Known

Compromise can be a good thing. Compromise is especially necessary when partners have conflicting desires in marriage. However, compromise can also be synonymous with selling out the gospel. A quote that Steve Camp referenced made me think of this. Campi quoted Jay McInerney as saying, "The good life is the middle way..." What a wonderful summary of postmodern thought. In one sense I actually agree with the quote. In another sense I disagree with it from the core of my being.

I agree that compromise (or the middle way) can be a good thing. When no clear answer is spelled out in Scripture then compromise is a wise way to go. If my wife wants Burger King (and enjoys their slow service and gross food) and I want Taco Bell (with its luscious Chicken Bacon Ranch chalupas) then a compromise (you decide what that would be) is a good option. Theologically speaking, if there are issues in Scripture that are somewhat unclear and not very close to the gospel then perhaps compromise is a good idea. There are quite a few hills that are not worth dying on.

On the other hand when truth is known compromise is stupid and morally repulsive. Christians believe Jesus is the only way to God. Nobody else does. Compromise in this regard would not be a virtue but tantamount to abandoning the faith. Now, the pomo will tell us that truth cannot be known, therefore, the "good life is the middle way..." As believers in the God that calls believers to worship Him in spirit and truth, we cannot sell out to such garbage. God has clearly revealed Himself in Scripture. There are things that can be known, and known absolutely. On these matters refuse to compromise.

Compromise can be appealing. After all is it not easy to be "unified" when we all seek the middle ground? But, unity for the sake of unity is no virtue. If unity is not unified around the truth of Christ then it stands just as opposed to God as the people in Genesis 11. Brothers and sisters, there are things that we must NOT compromise on. The good life is not the middle way, it is the narrow way.

One last thing. There is a difference between compromise and cooperation. Take the debate in the SBC over those darn Calvinists. I would consider myself on the Calvinistic side of the debate. To me compromise is not an option. My Arminian friends would probably say the same thing. The truth is compromise for either side would be (in the opinion of each) a sell out. Therefore, in these situations the call is not to compromise it is to cooperation. It is having a "self-sacrificing conformity to a shared vision" and cooperating despite our differences. Compromise is stupid, cooperation is not.