Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. Psalm 49:7-9 The winter of 2017 has not been cold at all, but it sure has been dark.
The months of January and February at our church have not been kind, death has truly become us. These deaths haven't been the normal cases of elderly people hanging on through the holidays to say thier last goodbye to loved ones - - oh no, most of these deaths have been shocking! A young man who just turned thirty leaving behind three young kids, a dear friend who fought cancer with courage just couldn't fight any longer, and other heart-breaking stories of precious people leaving this earth way to soon. Way too soon. Death is dark, painted in a deep hue of ink black. When it comes to death, none of us have a choice in the matter. Like a Ford Model-T, it only comes in black. It is always dark, mysterious and final - - and it happens to us all. Our options are limited. But somehow we don't really believe this; as one writer says, "It is a curious thing: the human incapacity to imagine finality." We not only are incapable to imagine it, but we have taught ourselves to deny it and even believe we will defeat it. "It won't happen to me. Not yet at least. I have so much to do and accomplish." And then... As you can see I have been thinking dark thoughts of late - - death has forced itself to the forefront of my mind. Some think this is morbid, and unhealthy. In the face of so many friends dying, I find it necessary. I have realized once again what is truly important through contemplating the dark reality of the grave: it matters what is on the other side. Some people don't believe this. People often live with a naive blind arrogance - - they think they can determine and choose the type of eternity they want. Like a car: "I want a 1965 Cherry-Apple Red Ford Mustang", "Not me, I only buy Chevy's - - I am going for a Silverado", "Why not go for the best, a brand new 2017 Jet-Black Lamburgini." You are not the interior decorator of eternity - - you can't go on Pinterest to figure out how you would like your home in paradise. There is only one heavenly architect, and for that matter, one door-keeper. You don't make the rules, he does. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzshe believed the noblest of men was the one who "fights God, and triumphs over Him." H. L, Menchen, a famous American literary critic once quipped, "Christian worship seems to me to be debasing rather than ennobling since it involved groveling before a Being who, if He really exists, deserves to be denounced instead of respected." Those words sound strong and confident, dangerous but courageous words by two rough and tumble men. But they offer no more hope to the dying than the mosquito who forms a rebellious fist before the human hand that is bearing down to smash. We all know a single child's hand has more than enough power to pulverize the scrawny bug in an instant. Cannot the God who made the heavens with the word of his mouth do the same to arrogant men? Just because we desire something doesn't make it true. And just because we claim ignorance (agnosticism) does not make some threat go away. So many people think they can outsmart God - - even though it is He that allows them to live in the first place. As Acts 17:28 so plainly states, "For in him we live and move and have our being." Go ahead, shake your fist at death. Even hold up your middle finger if you would like, some people think that makes them more intimidating. But when death comes, from my first-hand experience these past two months - or should I say these past 20 years - I have found the grave is as furious and unyeilding as a freight train. So then, what are your options? When it comes to death, the grave, and the life beyond what choice do you have? Well...they are the same as if you were standing on the rail-road tracks watching a freight train barrel towards you: (1) You can deny the reality of it. Just turn your back, and start walking while telling yourself that the loud whistle you hear quickly approaching behind you is a nothing more than the poetry of fools. That high-screech sound is made up by superstitious men trying to keep you off the tracks. (2) You can turn toward the train with arms outstretched hoping to stop it's momentum on your own. If you just work up enough courage and concentration, you have everything inside of you to change reality. Charge the train, show it who'se boss, and stop it dead "in its tracks" (No pun intended). (3) Escape. It is very simple: See Hebrews 2:1-3. . . "Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard." and Acts 4:12. . . "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Those are your options. Death is coming, I have seen it.
2 Comments
As many were astonished at you-- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind-- (Isaiah 52:14) Sometimes we forget. At least I do. I forget how wonderful it is to have your eyes opened for the first time. Like the man who was blind for the first 25 years of his life until doctors cured him through a new groundbreaking surgical procedure. Someone asked him, “What was the most striking thing you saw after they took the bandages off? What amazed you?” The man thought for awhile, and simply said, “The color red.” The color red. I have grown use to it. I don't see it like I should...I forgot. There is something else I forgot: The stunning beauty of Isaiah 53. Or should I say the grotesque beauty? Yesterday I was with a man who laid his eyes upon it for the first time, and he was amazed. He needed me to make sense of it for him, but as we unpacked chapter 53, verse-by-verse, he was awestruck. He had wonder in his eyes. Reading this with him, was like seeing red for the first time, blood red. Have you forgotten 53? Let me show you what he saw and how he saw it. Here was our dialogue (CW = Chris Weeks, me. Man = The man who saw): CW: “Have you ever studied how the gospel is written in the Old Testament? Have you ever read Isaiah 53 - it is a prophecy about Jesus that Isaiah recorded on a scroll 700 years before Jesus came to earth. I think it is one of the most important passages in all of scripture.” Man: “Nope, never read it before nor heard about it. And wait...what do you mean it was written 700 years before he came to earth? That is impossible, how can you write about the life of someone before they lived? That’s crazy?!?!?” CW: “That is the beauty of scripture. It is ‘inspired’. Have you ever heard of inspiration?” Man: “You mean when someone motivates you? Like when my coach gives our team an ‘inspirational speech’?” CW: “Nope, inspiration means ‘God-breathed’. God breathed on the person of Isaiah 700 years before Jesus arrived and moved him to pen words that perfectly described the events and purpose of why Jesus came to earth. In fact in Luke 24:44 Jesus said himself - ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”’ Do you see, the Bible is more than merely human stories, they are direct accounts straight from the Holy Spirit of God himself.” Man: “You are joking? That is incredible.” CW: “Well it gets better, let's read Isaiah 53. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. “Let’s stop there and I will ask you a few questions. If this is talking about Jesus, why does it say ‘He was despised and rejected…one from whom men hid their faces?” Man: “Despised means hated. So people hated him, I don't know why they hated him? He didn’t do anything wrong. And I have no idea why they would hide their faces from him, was he a scary monster?” CW: “In a way he was. When he was nailed to the cross, the hatred of men had him beaten to such a degree that it mangled and marred his face in a grotesque form. This monstrous image of the perfect man disfigured is a picture of our sin. He became sin for us. We did that to him.” Man: “Oh wow, I never thought about it. Why would God allow this to happen to his Son?” CW: “Let’s keep reading and you will see why, Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. “Who is the person that smote Christ, and what do you think that means? And why would he do this?” Man: “It says God did it? Huh? Why would God crush his Son? Ohhh...I see, it is for our transgressions and iniquity. You mean God chastised and disciplined him for us? What are trespasses and iniquities, and why would this be a reason to pound your Son to dust?” CW: “Great questions! Trespasses are those times when you ignore the moral and legal lines God set up to protect us. Iniquity is when we actually enjoy ignoring God. And because God is Holy, he cannot look upon our sin and simply ignore it (see Habakkuk 1:13). Holiness requires justice to be done, and because we have trespassed and relished in it - in other words we are sinners by nature and action - we must be judged. But God’s judgment is severe, it is eternal, and a mere human will never suffer enough to pay off their debt.” Man: “WOW! SO JESUS SUFFERED FOR US?” CW: “Yep, and he suffered for us willingly. Look at the next section… All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. I want you to notice something, it says “he opened not his mouth,” “he was silent,” because he knew his job on earth was to die. He didn’t fight God’s will for him, he took it, all of it, for us without complaint. So if you are wondering if God really loves you, remember, Jesus personally volunteered to take your place!” Man: “Ohhhhhhh…(tears softly falling)...I see! I really see! (Quiet for a minute) One more question, is this where the phrase “Jesus is the lamb of God comes from?” CW: “Sure is! Do you know why this animal is used to describe Jesus?” Man: “No, not really?” CW: “In the Old Testament, when a person sinned, they had to go to the temple and present a ‘spotless’ lamb as a sacrifice to take the sinner’s place. The priest would see if the lamb was spotless, if it was the man would place his hand on the head of the lamb as a sign that his sin transferred to the lamb, and the lamb’s spotlessness transferred to the man. After that gesture the priest would cut the throat of the lamb as a visible sign the lamb died in the man’s place. That is what a sacrifice is, a substitution, a stand-in to undergo punishment on another’s behalf. Now how do you think this picture relates to Jesus being our lamb?” Man: “He was killed for me!” CW: “Yep, the red blood that was spilled was seen by God as your blood. So now when God sees you, he sees his Son. His anger at your sin was completely paid for and satisfied when Jesus died. That is why Isaiah 53:10 says this… Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days. God did all of this for you. Does that make sense?” Man: (Eyes tearing up) “Yes…total!” I got to see a blind man receive sight. I was able to wonder about Jesus’ magnificence through another man’s eyes yesterday! Why is it so easy to forget? Fists raised, protesters’ posters threatening violence, vulgarity issuing forth in a harsh tirades, female celebrities touting their fierceness, all the while demanding equality with men and more. Ladies, we hear you, but have you ever asked the question: “Why should you be treated as equal?” This is a very fair question; because the reasons you give may lead you to places you don’t want to go. Equality is an issue of worldview (Weltanschauung), because worldview determines value, and decides what actions are right and wrong in any given society. My opinion is these angry demands for equality are issuing forth from a worldview that will not sustain their demands for long...in fact, if the majority worldview most progressive women are adopting (secularism) is carried out to it’s full extent, there really is no compelling reason for men to treat them as equal. Just this past week Sports Illustrated came out with their yearly swimsuit issue. Model Myla Dalbesio is viewing her opportunity to pose in a skimpy bikini for the first time on the swimsuit issue as a great platform to fight for women’s rights, “For a long time, many people were of this point of view, like ‘Shut up and do your job’” Dalbesio told FOX News. “Now more than ever, it’s important to continue to fight for women’s rights and to use your voice.” But wait a minute, isn’t posing for a male sports magazine something most feminists loathe? Is she really using only her voice here? And I thought the modern narrative for women is now, “We are meant for more than sexual objectification”? Listen to what journalist and advocate for women's advancement, Mary Rose Somarriba, writes, “It’s likely the time of year when female athletes roll their eyes when the SI editors take a break from serious athletics to treat the female body as sexual eye candy. So much for women in sports being taken seriously…Sports Illustrated editors either don’t realize or don’t care that the Swimsuit Issue is an influential driver increasing the sexist carbon footprint, making the world a less welcoming environment for female athletes (not to mention women everywhere) to be taken seriously on merits and performance.” So ladies, who is right, Myra or Mary? Or are we just supposed to simply allow the blatant logical contradiction to remain because they are both women? Because in our world women have the right to have it any way they want it, right? It reminds me of the signs at the Women’s March where one says, “Stop Violence to Women Now!” right next to a sign that says, “We Demand Abortions on Demand.” Ladies, don't you see the contradiction? And you really want men to take you seriously? Credibility and the ability to persuade must begin with a consistent worldview. What is a worldview? By definition a worldview is “a theory of the world, used for living in the world. A worldview is a mental model of reality — a framework of ideas & attitudes about the world, ourselves, and life, a comprehensive system of belief.” Your worldview helps you make sense out of life. It determines what is fair and unfair. It helps lend logical reasoning to your demands. It is what forms convictions. Everyone has a worldview, especially the women who are angry. They believe the world needs to operate in a certain way, or else they will get “Nasty!” So what worldview do they base demands for “equality” on? I believe they only have three basic worldviews to choose from:
I will not include an Islamic Worldview for a few obvious reasons: Most Muslim majority countries, and some Muslim minority countries, say they follow “positive laws and state courts for equal treatment under law for women.” But their definition of equal treatment is nowhere near the same idea of equality that American women are fighting for. There is no real equality in labor opportunity in most Muslim countries nor is there real equal sexual freedom in those countries. And the Muslim countries that use Sharia law, (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen) apply the entire sharia code in legal matters for Muslim women. And under Sharia law, women virtually have no rights as American women are currently enjoying nationwide. BIG 3 So let's look briefly at the three Worldviews to find where true equality should come from. (And by no means is this exhaustive, just general observations)... 1. Materialism: This Worldview starts with the assumption that there is no God to assign value to human beings. Men and women are all equal for the sheer fact that we are the same species, the same evolved animal, homo-sapiens. So simply put, equality comes from our nature - - both women and men are made from the same stuff. In fact, science now tells us gender is conditioned, sexual preferences should be considered amoral (non-moral) choices because as a species, we only know one thing, how to survive. Nothing is off-limits because materialism has no higher moral authority to tell us what is right or wrong. So ultimately progress in our species is a matter of evolving, and advancement is the result of adaptation, and the only equality that evolution supports is the equal opportunity each group has to advance. The only difference between men and women in a materialist world is their plumbing. So if some men seem to get higher paying jobs because of their intellect or ability or even their gender, that’s only nature at work. In a materialist world, what are women upset about? Why do they complain about being treated unfairly? Why don't they shut up and simply compete? Survival of the fittest is about letting the strong win -- if strong men would give in and let the weaker species be equal they wouldn’t be true to their nature. Brute materialism affords no one special treatment. If you are a materialist, why should men even listen to your demands for equality? Let the best “animal” win! Survival at work. Karl Marx says a human being is an economic being, period. So if worth is determined by output, than who cares if you are a man of a woman? Your payment should be based on your output. So if a woman can’t lift us much weight as a man, why should they get paid the same as a man? Why do women sports stars demand equal pay and playing time? In most contests of athletic abilitly, men will crush them every time. The best boys High School basketball team can beat any WNBA team. Where is the argument for equality? Women, in a materialist world, do have one advantage over men...sex appeal. So why do they complain when they are seen as sex objects? Does that not help further the race and assure the sexy women of survival? Materialism has no sympathy for how animals use and abuse each other for personal survival. Maybe this “women’s march” demanding equality is how women have learned to survive? They feign weakness so the stronger species will lay aside their superior strength, like a person laying down their weapon before an unarmed man out of pity; only having that seemingly weak person pick up their weapon to reverse the advantage. If that is what they are doing, kudos to them. But this ruse won't last long. A Materialistic Worldview does not support equality, it favors superiority. 2. Christianity: This Worldview starts with the assumption that there is a God and he assigns value to human beings. Men and women are equal for the fact that we all are made by him, “created in his image.” So simply put, we are equal because God says so. God created both men and women together to fully display his likeness. That is why in Old Testament law, (Genesis 9:5) murder of a man or a woman was punishable with life, because God’s image is priceless. In New Testament teaching, women are co-heirs with men in God’s kingdom (1 Peter 3:7). In Old Testament property laws, daughters are to be included in inheritance (Num. 27:4-9). In New Testament marriage roles, husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and laid his life down for her (Ephesians 5:25). In the Old Testament history women were exalted as valuable members of God’s nation (Sarah, Ruth, Deborah, Abigail, Esther). In the New Testament Mary was chosen to give birth to the Saviour of the World, and throughout Jesus’ life he exalted women to equal and honored positions in the community of faith. Women, under a Christian worldview have clear ground to argue for equality. It is God who says they are to be valued, cared for, protected, and honored (1 Timothy 5:3). But there are some further descriptions of what it fully means to be a noble woman: Biblical womanhood values the life of the baby in the womb (Psalm 139:13-14), a biblical woman is not to be sexually provocative and purposefully seductive in order to cause men to stumble (Proverbs 5:3-5), they are to respect and honor their husbands (Ephesians 5:33), they are to see the home and raising children as a gift they are specifically created to do (Titus 2:3-5), they are not to try to be men (Genesis 3:16 & Deuteronomy 22:5), and of course they are meant to work and find satisfaction in their job (Ecc. 2:24 & Acts 16:14). The Christian worldview has a design for both sexes where each role properly fulfilled brings God’s blessing and peace to the world. Women are equal in worth, but unique in role. The problem for most women in the progressive movement is that Christianity places too many limits on their freedom; it’s too restrictive, that is why they really don't want to fully comply with it. 3. Secularism: This Worldview is strange, it is a amalgamation of both of the previous views, often picking and choosing convictions based on convenience, preference and expediency on an individual level. Secularism by nature is agnostic, meaning the existence of God is not important. However, a general concept of God is quite handy when a secularist wants to co-opt the idea of “equal in created value,” “love wins,” and “stop violence against women.” All of these truths are derived and stolen from the Christian worldview. But that is as far as the secularist female will go with applying Christianity because they don't want to be limited to what the Bible teaches about women and what they are created to be. If they want to have unrestrained sex, eliminate the baby in their womb, and hate men, secularism steals from Materialism’s amoral worldview. No one has a right to tell anyone else what is right, because hey, we are all evolving in our own way. To help hide this obvious flip-flop in worldviews, secularism implements a really cool and flexible philosophy called “postmodern thought” to maintain their contradictions with a straight face: “truth is relative, what may be true for you does not have to be true for me.” So tolerance, accepting and affirming each other’s ideas becomes the highest value of all for the secularist. But this is where their Worldview starts to unravel, and if taken to it’s logical conclusion, postmodernism undercuts their demands completely. Sure they can argue for equality, that is their truth; but can't men argue for women’s inequality as a new truth? If we say every truth is relative, no one is actually right, so no one has the higher moral ground to be listened to. Why should we care about women demanding equality in a secularist world -- and please don't steal arguments from Christianity unless you are willing to go all the way and condemn the killing of the unborn and calling for sex only in marriage! And don't steal from Materialism because a world without God doesn’t care what you think. CONCLUSION So tell me again: why are you equal? I think the answer is obvious, we all know deep down God exists and he wants us to love one another. The women’s movement knows this and is using the Christian worldview as leverage to get their way so they can live in their false secular bubble. But they better be careful...God won't put up with this hypocrisy for long. And God’s harshest form of judgment is letting people have their own way to their own destruction (Romans 1:18-32), Ladies do you really want equality or just having things your own way? Public School is a strange world, a “dystopian fantasy-land” to some, or for others it is a localized social laboratory for experimenting on human rats. I believe looking closely at the cafeteria is a great way we can also study the world in microcosm. Similar patterns of behaviors that take place in the town square also take place on a smaller scale for 50 minutes in your local High School cafeteria. Lord of the Flies vividly plays out each and every day from the time you drop Johnny and Jane off until you pick them up with their backpacks in tow. The Opinion Makers: In the middle of the cafeteria, there it sits: The “Popular Table.” This is command central for all of the day's news, gossip, and rulings on what behavior is or is not considered “acceptable.” Right in the middle of the table are circled the opinion makers with the core being the “Laughing Girls” with their cadre of admirers. The laughing girls laugh because the world revolves around them and for them. Usually this powerful group of girls have been blessed with good looks, acerbic wit, superior athleticism or are from one of “the” power families. This group of girls attract the male admirers like flies: the jocks who pose, the comedians who laugh and mock others, and of course the ever present groupies. Groupies don’t say much, they simply watch, smile and agree. But groupies are important to the laughing girls because they lend credibility and momentum to the populist’s cause. Momentum equals mass plus acceleration... and the opinion makers got it! “Wasn’t that new slasher movie great?” asks the main laughing girl with a commanding smirk. “Yes, of course,” says her admiring friends sitting to the left and right. “Whatever..I’d rather watch the new installment of ‘Fast and Furious”, the cars in those shows are lit!” says the rock-head jock. Men are there for brawn and physical presence not for their logical reasoning powers. The opinion makers rule the school; and everyone knows it and feels it. The Content There is a group that doesn’t care, they just want to be left alone to live their own life. This group is full of people who have lives and families that are vibrant and alive, outside the life of the school. Many of the Content are biding their time for four years, they want to get it over with, and then they can really start living. The Content enjoy the camaraderie of sports, go on vacation with family, are involved in church, have jobs, love to fish, hunt, hobby, or simply like being alone. The Content make up the majority, but they are silent on the happenings and opinions at school because they don’t find their significance in High School life. The Content, also, have no need to set the school's agenda so they let the popular people have their popularity. They let the Popular win during spirit week, decorate lockers and loudly talk to the cool teachers in the hallway. Sometimes the Content feel left out, or considered uncool - - but once they get picked up after school by their parents, they are able to disconnect and breath real air again. The Coy This group is comprised of a hodgepodge of the intelligent, creative and occupied. Often it is split down the middle between the truly smart and talented, and the naively compassionate and theatrical. Let me explain. Coy means “shy” or not needing the attention. They don't want attention for the sheer fact they are consumed in their own world. The popular group doesn’t mean much to them because the Coy have enough support from their own strange subculture of friends and teachers.
The Coy often fade to the background of regular school life, except for that brief shining moment on stage, marching under the lights, or performing at the school’s Talent Show. The Critics This group cares tremendously, but they spend all of their time trying to prove how they don’t. In my day this group was known as the Punk group, more recently they are called the Goth, the Emo’s, the Grunge, the Outsiders. This group likes using mental intimidation on the other groups, and usually they are full of smart, snarky, provocateurs - - often deep down they are broken kids. They strongly dislike the Popular table. They laugh at the Coy, and they ignore the Content. They want to be noticed, so they dress like they don't belong. They do this to prove their point: When you dress weird, people will think you're weird, they will treat you as weird, and then that gives the Critic the right to take offence for being treated as weird. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy! This group is purposely contrary to the opinions of the popular. They see the falseness of the laughing girls, the denseness of the jocks, the slavishness of the groupies, and they disdain the bored uncaring content. And so the Critics go on the attack, all the while feeling superior and justified stewing in their hatred. If you think back, you occupied one of these four tables. Do you remember which group you were in? The Cafeteria Enlarged You may think graduation with a diploma in hand stopped all of this territorial, clannish nonsense...but it didn’t, it only clothed itself in adult attire. If you look closely at the stories online, or the reporters on cable news, or even listen to the banter in the lunchroom at work people still affiliate with the group they always have. The Popular table is obvious, they still are the opinion makers. Some people call them the big 3: Mainstream Media, Hollywood and the New York Times. They set the pace just like the laughing girls did. They determine who and what is cool, they have been blessed with looks, talent, and of course “money!” And they have their unthinking, fawning followers. If you don’t think the way they want you to think they have no problem laughing at you, looking down, enlist comedians who mock and belittle. This group also feels justified in using filth, vulgar comments and degrading anger because they believe they are “right.” Remember, like High School, laughing girls are never wrong. The Content are everyday normal families trying to survive. They pay taxes, raise kids in middle class public and private or home schools, go to church, they want to do their job and be left alone. The problem is this, when they don't speak up the popular table has no problem taking over society’s narrative and make it seem like they are the majority. The Popular are not the majority, they just are the loudmouths who think everyone is still fawning. I will give you one example: Cool Teachers and Uncool Teachers. In my High School, there were the cool young teachers that would often come and visit in the cafeteria. Right away the Popular table would call them over and gush over them. Cool teachers knew the trendy new songs, they laughed at the dumb jock’s jokes, they were cool. The Uncool teachers just taught. The Content and the Coy understood this, but not so the Popular (The Critic still criticized). The uncool didn’t stop by the table, and they rarely graded on a curve. If you flunked the test the uncool teacher rarely budged...not so the cool teacher, just go up and talk to them and they will let you take it over. The Popular table loved them and always picked them as advisors for the class, and had them sign their yearbook. The Uncool teacher walked to his car alone each night just trying to teach. You tell me: Barack Obama, cool or uncool? Catch my drift? And Donald is definately uncool in the eyes of the Popular! The adult Coy are still split: Most of the nerds are running businesses, becoming governors of Michigan, dreaming of new iphone apps to make a million. Nerds rule the world. But you have the other side of the Coy table that are quick to pick up the progressive schtick. They don't know it, but they play right into the Popular groups hands. Just like High School, they weep at the drama of the marginalized...but they often do this while their feet have taken flight off the ground of the real world. Remember, for the Popular, momentum is everything, and the more mass they accumulate, the more power they have. The Critic table is still alive and well, they still like to act like they don't care when they really do. They still are the same group that likes intimidating the other groups, and usually they are full of smart, snarky, provocateurs - - now, deep down they often are bitter adults. They are the ones who get on social media for the purpose of being above the rest of the schleps who argue and take sides. They don’t take sides, they just provoke (which is a side). Remember, they like to act like they don’t care while caring tremendously. And they love it when you get mad at them so they can get mad that you are mad at them. So you see, the cafeteria hasn’t changed. It has only been enlarged. Which table are you on? Just one Content Coy Critic’s opinon!! "And you the arrogant! Puffed up with pride! Ought you not rather mourn?" (1 Corinthians 5:2) My father liked to think of himself as a culinary savant, a seasoned chef and a wizard at concocting new and exciting meals - - he loved experimenting with a variety of foods, recipes, spices, and sauces - - and his kids were his taste testers. Even when we didn't want to be. One particular quiet Saturday afternoon he decided to make a batch of his own homemade bread. He read a recipe out of an old Betty Crocker Cook Book he got for his wedding, and ascertained that he needed to go buy a packet of yeast to make the flour rise. When he came home from the store, he took out a strip of active dry yeast from the grocery bag and mixed it in the dough. "Uh oh," he whispered silently to himself. "What is the matter dad?" My sister Tam asked. "Well, I was only suppossed to use one of the packets and I put in all three." After he rolled the batter into a ball and placed it in a mixing bowl over the warm oven, the dough started puffing up quickly like a ballon. It was really cool at first, but just like a balloon, the elasticity of the bread reached a point where it couldn't expand any more. Eventually the whole batch collapsed in on itself - and there sitting in the bottom of the bowl was a sad sunken glob of gooey yuck. I pinched off a tiny bit and there was a pungent skunky taste to it. It was really bad. Into the trash can it all went. As scripture says, "A little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough", and my dad's failed attempt confirmed that a lot of yeast ruins the batch completely. In God's economy, yeast is his way to describe the workings of sin in the heart of man. It spreads, expands and if not stopped, ultimately ruins the whole person. I have been reading a chilling book for the past few weeks (it is my third time through it) called "Not the Way It's Suppossed to Be: A Breviary of Sin" by Cornelious Plantinga, Jr. My reason for picking this book up again was not for self-flaggelation purposes, as a good Baptist is prone to do; but because I have found that the eradication of sin is one of Luke's major themes throughout his gospel: "Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come." (Luke 17:1) "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations." (Luke 24:47.) Sin is a big deal. It is a big deal to Jesus, and it probably is the biggest deal in your life right now? In Plantinga's book, he details just how insideous and damaging the spreading sickness of sin is. Not only does it pollute God's beautiful world, and ruin his design for shalom, but sin doesn't stop. It is relentless in it's march to destroy. Like yeast, it keeps growing, expanding, and puffing up our human vices into monstrous, terrifying forms. A man may opt to lie, spread innocent mis-information in order to avoid conflict or confusion. But if the tendency to deceive is not nipped at the bud, that same man will eventually be able to swindle himself. Lust indulged may bring the person small bursts of pleasure in the moment, but if not curbed it can take over completely in the form of addiction. Lust matured turns into a gnawing worm that is never satisfied. I have known people to go from a ten year old peeking at soft-porn in thier mother's fashion magazine, to a full-blown 40 year old Peeping-Tom staring in a neighbor's window late at night sitting hidden on a branch in a tree. It is tragic. But maybe the biggest batch of swelling yeast is found in the bloated, skunky bread of envy. I found this section of the book on sin quite terrifying. Listen to a few quotes: "If we trace the fault line, we find that envy is a nastier sin than mere coveteousness. What an envier wants is for another not to have it...To covet is to want somebody else's good so strongly that one is tempted to steal it. To envy is to resent somebody else's good so much that one is tempted to destroy it." "The envious vandal cannot let beauty, riches, or wholeness be. At his worst, he resents anything that is really healthy or flourishing. He'd veto heaven itself if he could - - if he can't have heaven, he can at least raise hell in the lives of others. As Henry Farlie puts it, 'What we are unable to achieve we will bring low...and instead of attacking winners directly, as last resort, we will attack the rules of the game." We see this all the time. It is currently playing out vividly in our politics. The elections have been like death for the losing side, and to admit loss is worse than hell itself. So to keep the germ of pride alive they are now attacking the system that allowed their 'enemy' to gain victory. "Hilary won the popular vote, Trump's victory is a scam!" But that was never how the election game was ever designed to be played? The right betrayed their envy as well when Obama won by challenging his birth, denying his religious affiliation, and even questioning the legitamacy of his votes. Envy will see a shadow of conspiracy lurking behind every bush of truth. God makes it very plain, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." Envy turns the table on this where the sick man "Weeps when others rejoice and rejoices when others weep." The cool German word for this is Schadenfruede, to relish in the misfortune of your foe. Envy is behind every gossip, back-biter, the wicked sneer, the foul-mouthed trash-talker, the grumbler, the victim, the pity-party and even the depressed house-wife who feels like a failure every time she sees smiling faces on Facebook and Instagram. Commercials prod and poke at envy, that is what gets you to buy. And as a society we are now awash in gender envy; if you are born a girl it's not fair if you are excluded in the Boy Scouts. Envy is everywhere! Envy unchecked brings hell to earth. Sin never stops. But you can put a halt on it from growing in your life. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." There will always be a way offered other than giving into sin. This is the verse people use to say "God will not give you more (in suffering and hardship) than you can handle." That is not true, in fact avoiding temptation may feel like death, but it is the one death that brings life everytime. As God says in the Old Testament, "Those who honor me (and abstain from sin), I will honor." Hebrews says, "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." There is no excuse for you to give in. No excuse to want what your neighbor has, no excuse to hate your neighbor for having it. And no excuse for rejoicing when trouble befalls your neighbor and they end up losing it. One last thought on sin: It is easy for celebrities, people at the club who just had a few drinks and even hunting buds in the blind to say, "Go ahead and sow your wild oates once in a while - - that is what makes life exciting." Those people have never been in a counselor's office. Those people have never seen envy cause you to hate your spouse, or lust force you admit you have cheated, or lies that end up getting you thrown out of your job for twisting numbers or stealing from the register. Secrets shared in a pastor's office are testimony enough to see how sin has truly come to kill, steal and destroy. Stop sinning, will you. If you don't, it will only grow. |
Archives
August 2018
|