Beer and Jesus

The title of this article is very purposeful. Alcohol is a hot-button issue for a lot of Christians. There are a lot of opinions out there, and they tend to be held with fierceness.

Unfortunately, usually the conversations are couched in a background of asking this question: ‘what does God command?’ The reason I say that’s unfortunate isn't because commands are bad - it's because what is assumed in the discussion is the Gospel.

I absolutely refuse to do that. You and I both may know the Gospel, but we forget it. We forget it daily. And the moment that any of our obedience comes from something other than the Gospel, it absolutely disgusts God.

So let’s start here: Jesus is God. He became a man, always obeyed God, and was punished by God for our disobedience. He came back to life from the dead and now governs all of creation. He is at work giving people new hearts that want to obey him, forgiving their sins, and causing them to begin to obey his commands. One day he will return to earth to fix everything that’s wrong with it. Everyone who is longing for his return will get to enter into his new creation forever to be with him.

And so, believer, you stand righteous before the Father. You have a new heart. Your obedience is just acting like who God has already made you – and is an act of love.

So when it comes to alcohol, we need to start with this question: how do I, as someone who Jesus has saved, need to act with regards to alcohol so that Jesus will best be honored?

There’s the question we’re addressing. And here’s where we’re going: in this article, we're going to look at Jesus' commands. In, God willing, a follow up article, we'll be looking at the history of the American Church with regard to drinking alcohol.

Command 1: Don’t get drunk.

Easy enough, right? Ephesians 5:18 says, “Don’t get drunk with wine.” The question that people always ask here is, “Well, what does drunk mean?” And that question is usually asked because people either want to get as tipsy as possible without getting ‘drunk’ – or because they want to say that any felt physical effect of drinking is ‘drunkenness.’

Maybe you should go read the context

The problem isn’t drunkenness. The problem is a lack of being controlled by the Spirit – which results in heartfelt glory and thanks being given to God, verbally, in the context of community. So if drink affects what you say and how you feel and think – stop it. Don’t go there. Don’t even get close to it.

Frankly, some of you know that sometimes you drink too much. Maybe you don’t get ‘drunk’ per se – but too much. And you know you do. You need to knock it off. And if you need to stop drinking to do so, stop drinking. God is not cool with you sinning. He doesn’t think it’s funny. It’s damning. Jesus did not die for you to live like an idiot. His death gave you the Spirit, who produces worship to God in you. Live like it.

If that makes you mad, see command 2.

It’s funny, by the way, here, that some Christians say that ‘wine’ back in the day didn’t have much alcohol in it. Really? Then why the constant commands against drunkenness?

Those of you who don’t drink and don’t struggle with drinking too much – fine, good. What, you want a medal? Go do the rest of what the text commands, by the grace of God, for his glory.

Command 2: Don’t worship alcohol.

If you can’t give up drinking because you’re afraid of how people will look at you or because you just like it too much – even if you’re breaking other commandments with it (you know, like not getting drunk) – you’re worshiping alcohol.

Some of you are saying here that you don’t have a shrine to booze before which you bow. God, on the other hand, says every sin at its core is a worship problem -
God isn’t being honored, but something else is in this text. How might alcohol be being honored? By your acting like you trust in it for your happiness – as opposed to trusting God for your satisfaction.

That’s exactly why Paul calls ‘covetousness’ idolatry -

In other words – the moment you want something more than you want God – or for any reason other than wanting God – you’ve made that thing into a god, and you are worshiping it.

And if you can’t run from sinning with alcohol by giving it up, you worship alcohol. If you can’t stop sinning with it, you need to give it up.

Some of you have the opposite problem. You say that Christians should never drink because it will ruin our spiritual lives – or our witness.

As to the latter…. Really? Do you actually know any non Christians? Or maybe you do, and the Gospel you want to share with them is ‘we believe in Jesus and here’s the rules we made up that he wants us all to obey.’

That’s not the Gospel.

As to the former – if you think alcohol will ruin someone’s spiritual life – you are giving it far too much credit. That’s like saying the existence of women causes lust. The problem is your wicked, ugly, wretched, depraved, evil heart – not alcohol. Don’t give it more credit than it deserves. It can be used by wicked people for wicked things. But it isn’t a looming, sovereign, demonic ogre that can possess you.

Command 3: Don’t cause others to stumble.

Or in other words, don’t cause other people to sin. Here are the relevant passages:
Romans 14
1 Corinthians 8-9

Before we get into specifics, I just want to state the goal of some of how this command breaks down... or better, I'll let the Word do it. Click.

The goal is a community where people are loving each other. They’re really interested in each others’ happiness. There’s love and peace and joy between people, produced by God the Holy Spirit.

Okay, so you want specifics? Here are some specifics. If you don’t drink, don’t judge people for drinking. If you do drink, don’t judge people for not drinking. If you don’t think you do either, stop judging people for judging others.

If you drink and you’re around someone that isn’t sure whether they should or not, don’t act in such a way that they are pressured to act against their conscience. If they do, they’re sinning because they think they might be breaking a commandment (even though they’re not), and they’re doing it anyway.

If someone is tempted to get drunk, don’t drink around them.

You are not the judge of other Christians. God is. And God has accepted them into his family based on Jesus’ work and bloody death and resurrection. You have brothers that daily enter into a fight to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus with you. Help them. Don’t hurt them.

And don’t try to get people to act or think like you. Try to get them to see and think of Jesus.

Command 4: Don’t be proud.

Why? Well, because God opposes the proud?
I don’t know about you, but if God’s team captain, I’d rather be on his team than playing against him.

That’s a nicer way of saying that I’d rather be on the side of the all-glorious Creator who controls who goes to Heaven or Hell than against him.

Someone I know once said to me, “I’ve never had a drop of alcohol.” The problem with the previous sentence is that I could’ve easily written, “Someone I know once bragged to me, ‘I’ve never had a drop of alcohol.’”

Well good for you. I haven’t had lima beans in years. Do I get a cookie?

Again, what are we saying here? That your actions are worthy of praise? I’m sorry… you know what… I’m trying to see Jesus, and your glory’s getting in the way – could you move a little?

Some of you are proud that you don’t drink. Stop. Be proud of Jesus. You’re saved by his bloody death – not because you won’t drink a beer.

The opposite’s also true here, though. Some of you are proud that you DO drink. “Thank you, God, that I’m not like those Pharisees who obey rules they made up; but that I don’t make up rules.”

Wow, so let me get this straight – you’re being self-righteous about your lack of self-righteousness? That’s…. amazing. It’s a logical conundrum. A paradox. I’m not even mad; I’m impressed. It’s an amazing thing to be proud of not being proud.

But there’s the deceitfulness of sin for you. Don’t do that. You’re not justified by your lack of rules or your rules, you’re justified by Jesus obeying God’s rules. Love him. Love his people.

Now, here’s another way to be proud. Some of you drink for show. You’re afraid of what people will think if you don’t drink. Or, you want to have Christians see you drink so they think you’re cool, edgy, hip, and not legalistic.

And the kicker is that some of you don’t even LIKE what you’re drinking. You just like being thought of as ‘cool’ or whatever it is.

That is pride, my friend, plain and simple. You do that, and you show that you care about your image – not Jesus’. Knock it off.

Or in other words, repent, and believe in the Gospel. Please.

Command 5: Don’t let others judge you.

I’m getting this from Colossians 2 –


People were judging people in Colossae. They were saying that people didn’t know God because they were enjoying food and alcohol too much – and weren’t obeying rules they made up.

Don’t let people judge you by those standards. Don’t hate people enough to let them go on missing Jesus.

Drinking isn’t Jesus. Not drinking isn’t Jesus. Jesus is Jesus.

So if someone tries to say ‘you shouldn’t’ or ‘you should’ and they can’t point to Scripture, point them to Jesus.

Command 6: Everything needs to be set apart by the Gospel and prayer and thanksgiving.

I’m getting this from 1 Timothy 4:

If you drink – or if you eat food – you need to live the Gospel out. You need to think about your booze or burger in light of the Gospel. You need to pray for God to be honored. You need to thank God for what he’s given you.

Honor God, not what He’s made. Some of you worship alcohol. Some of you worship food. You run to it for pleasure and comfort. Either one.

You need to repent and worship Jesus. Period. No buts. Confess your sin, confess that it’s worthy of hell, and thank God that Jesus died for it.

Command 7: Whatever you do, do it for God’s glory.

I’m getting this from 1 Corinthians 10:31 –

I’m not going to give you the context. Here’s the bare bones issue: you need to stop looking at the particulars of what you can and can’t drink, and ask the question, do you love God? How you doing with that? Could be better, huh?

Every action in every moment needs to be evaluated in terms of intent. Are you doing whatever it is TO glorify God? Not ‘can you’ – ‘ARE you doing it to honor God’?

And to the extent you’re not, run to the cross, please. Run. Don’t try to say you are a good person, or that you’re better than other people, or that your sin is less bad.

So much of what we do, think, feel, and say is worth nothing but the eternal, hellish wrath of Almighty God. And that wrath fell on Jesus in our places. And he lives. And he reigns. So run to him. Ask him for help. Thank him for saving you. And as he creates love in you for him, love him.

So if you don’t drink – make sure you’re doing it BECAUSE you love Jesus.

If you do – make sure you do BECAUSE you love Jesus.

And to the extent that you don’t, run to Jesus.

Homosexuality in the news...

First, eHarmony has been forced to open a site for homosexuals. eHarmony was founded by a Christian, who, as such, believes homosexuality to be a breach of God's Law.

You can read the story here.

Is this the beginning of the government interfering with the Church exercising it's right - yea even duty - to act according to the gospel of Jesus Christ? I admit I'm surprised. Didn't expect this kind of stupidity this soon.

In a related story, Tony Jones, one of the heavy hitters in the emergent (we like to think happy thoughts, just not about Scripture) circles, decided that homosexuality is a-okay.

That story is here.

He says in the story that now his detractors have more ammo to say that he's continued his leftward slide.

Yes, you let go of Scriptural authority, and you will start calling evil 'good.' And you will let people go to hell feeling just a tad bit better about themselves.

Christians and Vulgarity - a Summary - Part V

So we’ve looked at Ephesians 4:29, Ephesians 5:4, and Colossians 3:8. I think it’s time for a summary. I’m just going to make three sections here: don’t – and do – and - how to obey God with your tongue.

Don’t
1) Do not speak as truth about God what Scripture does not teach.
2) Do not say things that will result in bad doctrine or bad behavior.
3) Do not say anything that doesn’t come from love of God and his people.
4) Do not say anything that will cause someone to lust sexually.
5) Do not say anything that will cause someone to desire things of this world – things that aren’t Jesus.
6) Don’t say things that you know will offend people unnecessarily. (Obviously, rebuking sin will offend people – we need to do that.)
7) Don’t say things to hurt people.

Do
1) Do seek to know sound doctrine so you can speak it.
2) Do live speaking to people about the cross of Christ.
3) Do consider what the people you’re talking to need from Jesus.
4) Do guard yourself against lust and greed.
5) Do publicly give thanks to God for the gospel.
6) Do love people from the heart – especially brothers and sisters in Christ.

How to Obey God with Your Tongue
1) Be quick to listen, and be slow to speak. Think before you speak! (James 1:19)
2) Control your tongue - but know you can't because your heart is indwelt with evil. (James 3:1-12)
3) Ask yourself what sort of heart/soul/self your speech reveals. (Matthew 15:18)
4) Admit how grave your soul’s sin is against God – to God and to people (1 John 1:9; James 5:16)
5) Tell yourself about the gospel! The passages we’ve examined occur in sections about how God has given us his Holy Spirit; about how we in Christ no longer are guilty because of Christ’s cross; about how Jesus’ death took away our old rebellious nature and guaranteed our heavenly future.
6) Pray for the strength to love Jesus – and to talk like you love Jesus.
7) Repeat steps 1-6 every day, and as often as your sin requires.

Christians and Vulgarity, Part IV

This will be the last Scripture I talk about on this subject. After that, God willing, I’ll post a summary of what we’ve seen from his book. Some of you are just waiting for this long winded stuff to be over so you can read the summary. I know this, because as I re-read what I’ve written, I just want the quick summary too.

That said, that last verse is Colossians 3:8. In the ESV, God says, “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” Yes, kids, no obscene talk! Question is this: what’s obscene talk?

Well, what’s the Greek mean? It’s a compound word. The second is that classic word ‘logos’ – which refers here not to a particular word you’d use, but to entire speech content – which is made up of individual words. The first part of the compound word means something like ‘ugly’ or ‘unacceptable.’ BDAG, the standard New Testament Greek lexicon, says that it’s speech that is ‘generally considered in poor taste.’ It goes on to talk about the idea that this may include two different things – story-telling involving ‘unseemly deeds’ like adultery; or derogatory remarks.

So BDAG says this verse means either don’t tell stories about shameful, sinful, ugly things – and don’t rip on people.

That sounds good enough, really. How about some context real quick? Colossians 3 is a series of commands where Paul’s just saying – look, Jesus rose from the dead. That means, you Christian, have a different kind of life. Act like Jesus is your King, how about.

And he says that our old person has died. That is to say, that when Jesus died, the part of us that lived in the old, rebellious world, died. So act like that rebellious person is dead.

The rebellious you died. Act like it.

Then, starting in verse 8, Paul tells us what to get rid of. Those things are ‘anger, wrath, malice, slander,’ and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another…”

Notice anything in common here? All of those things are against people. They’re not nice. Ever heard a parent say to a kid, ‘talk nice!’ Yeah, that’s what’s going on here.

Let’s go a little further in the text. God says we have a new life because we’re connected to Jesus – and Jesus rose from the dead. So Jesus’ new life gives us a new life. Here’s a few verses of what God says that we need to do:

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”(Colossians 3:12-14).

In other words, love people. Do it from the heart. The opposite of all those bad things, including ‘obscene speech,’ is love.

Well, where’s this leave us? Paul doesn’t give us a guide for determining what naughty words are in English. And he never says that certain words are ‘bad.’ What he says, is love people with your language. That love starts in the heart – and love doesn’t want to hurt people. Love wants to push them towards Jesus.

So is the S-word wrong? No! The question is – am I loving the person in saying it? It does grate, doesn’t it? The F-word definitely makes people flinch, doesn’t it? The question is, am I using that language to point people away from this rebellious world to Jesus. Am I pointing out how horrible the good things in this world are – compared to Jesus – or am I just mad?

If I’m on the road by myself, and people aren’t driving like I want them to, and I yell ‘shit!’ – do I sin? Yes. I’m not trusting the sovereign God who works everything as he wants it to be (Ephesians 1:11, Romans 8:28, Amos 3:6, Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6, Job 1:21). No one else is hurt by that exclamation if I’m by myself – except my holy God, whose Son died for me – who I apparently don’t trust enough to love me and to control the traffic for my good in knowing him!

Or maybe I’m just saying that knowing him isn’t good enough.

So I don’t love or trust God in those situations. The exclamation is merely the result – and the word is not sin. But my heart has blasphemed my Lord.

And are you more shocked and appalled by the word I just typed out - or by the fact that my anxious, controlling heart worships and serves itself and not its Creator, who is to be praised forever? Oh God, let our hearts be pained by how we fail you!

And this I say with full confidence – and with a good conscience – that everything on this earth is SHIT compared to knowing, loving, and serving Jesus. Everything.

Does that grate on you? It should. And so should everything in this world that distracts you from his service.

Coming next time – a summary of the commands of our Lord in these three verses regarding our speech, if God permits.

The End of the Shack

I actually haven't reached the end of "The Shack."

I've read a tad further - and I've found that the author tells us that God is not angry, nor is he wrathful.

Really.

I think I can show that he's wrong. Click here.

That's 51 verses about the wrath of God, by the way. And I didn't even touch his anger, fury, or any other word for wrath.

Or hate. How about hate. "The LORD tests the righteous,but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence." (Psalm 11:5)

I wonder if Young knows that he's shredded the heart and soul out of the cross of the Christ, my great savior and my God.

"But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace...

"Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief..."
(Isaiah 53:5, 10)

I believe I'm done with this book. Why continue in it? Young creates idols, assaults the sufficiency of Scripture, tears down the incarnation of the Son of God, and maligns God's character - and thus the cross - and the gospel.

I know he means well. And I believe he's my brother. I pray that someone close to him will correct him and bring him under the authority of Scripture and of a Scripture-loving local church.

DA Carson on Deeds of Mercy and The Gospel

Presbyterian post tomorrow, God willing, I'm tired.

But for now - DA Carson, NT professor of awesome, notes two things in answer to this question:

"Granted that we ought to be engaged in acts of mercy, what safeguards can be set in place so as to minimize the risk that the deeds of mercy will finally swamp the proclamation of the gospel and the passionate desire to see men and women reconciled to God by faith in Christ Jesus and his atoning death and resurrection?"

The two are...

"First, it is helpful to distinguish between the responsibilities of the church qua church and the responsibilities of Christians. Some writers flip back and forth between references to "Christians" and references to "church" as if there is no difference whatsoever. But many Christian thinkers, from Kuyperians to Baptists, have argued that if the church qua church is responsible for some of these substantial works of mercy, such works of mercy ought to come under the leaders of the church. It is very difficult to find any warrant for that step in the New Testament. Even before there were pastors/elders/overseers, the apostles themselves, according to Acts, recognized that they should not be diverted from the ministry of the Word and prayer, even by the inequities of food distribution among the faithful, so they saw to it that others were appointed to tackle the problem. Ministers of the gospel ought so to be teaching the Bible in all its comprehensiveness that they will be raising up believers with many different avenues of service, but they themselves must not become so embroiled in such multiplying ministries that their ministries of evangelism, Bible teaching, making disciples, instructing, baptizing, and the like, somehow get squeezed to the periphery and take on a purely formal veneer.

Second, one pastor astutely urged, "Preach hell." Two things follow from this. (1) By adopting this priority we remind ourselves that as Christians we desire to relieve all suffering, from the temporal to the eternal. If we do not maintain such a panoramic vision, the relief of immediate suffering, as important as it is, may so command our focus that we fail to remind ourselves of Jesus' rhetorical question, "What good will it be for you to gain the whole world yet forfeit your soul?" Read the closing lines of Revelation 14 and Revelation 20 when your vision becomes myopic. (2) As long as you are prepared to plead with men and women to be reconciled to God and to flee the coming wrath, you are preserving something that is central in the Bible, something that is intimately and irrefragably tied to the gospel itself—and those who want to shunt such themes aside and focus only on the relief of present suffering will not want to have much to do with you. Thus you will be free to preach and teach the whole counsel of God and to relieve all suffering, temporal and eternal, without being drawn into endless alliances in which people never focus on anything beyond threescore years and ten."

John, Stick to Hunting and Fishing.

Eldredge has just released a new book.

It's about praying for guidance. He says stuff like, 'God, should I go fishing today?' And, according to him, God answers.

I for one, believe the Holy Scriptures are sufficient for every good work. And I don't see this sort of behavior or guidance in them. I see meditation on God's word, the Spirit applying it to our very core beings.

Blogger Tim Challies cites theologian Sinclair Ferguson:

"Christians in an earlier generation rarely thought of writing books on guidance. There is a reason for that (just as there is a reason why so many of us today are drawn to books that will tell us how to find God's will). Our forefathers in the faith were catechised, and they taught catechisms to their children. Often as much as half of the catechism would be devoted to an exposition of the answers to questions like the following: Question: Where do we find God's will? Answer: In the Scriptures. Question: Where in particular in the Scriptures? Answer: In the Commandments that God has given to us.

Why were these questions and answers so important? Because these Christians understood that God's law provides basic guidelines that cover the whole of life. Indeed, in the vast majority of instances, the answer to the question 'What does God want me to do?' will be found by answering the question: 'How does the law of God apply to this situation? What does the Lord require of me here in his word?'"

Here's an article about decision-making. Here. Click it. You know you wanna.

More Shack-alicious and First Impressions of Blue Like Yazz...

I've taken it on myself to start reading pop-Christian literature. I usually don't because, well, there's a lot of really good Bible teaching stuff out there.

Take that as you will.

Anyway, I watched Driscoll on "The Shack" last night, and was pleasantly encouraged to see his analysis was very similar to my own. One verse he drew on that I forgot about was this:

God has said in Romans 1:22-23, "Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things."

Whoops.

Whoops seems a light word when that 'mistake' results in the wrath of God, actually (from 1:18 and 2:1-11).

So I've started reading Blue Like Jazz. First impressions:
1) Miller has an amazing ability to write conversationally.
2) These conversations, so far, have done a great job pointing out the sin of man. He's done an excellent job showing how universal it is. He's done a great job showing how it's rooted in the self - in self-pleasure. He's done a great job showing that infects even the good things we do. He's done a great job in showing that everyone is sinful. Awesome.
3) He does a lot of needless ripping on nameless, descriptionless 'fundamentalists.' I'm not sure that's edifying or loving to certain people in the Church.
4) He makes a big deal out of being a political liberal. Eh, frustrating. I'd never say that being a Christian means you have to vote Republican (at least without some argument from Scripture), but at the same time, I don't like it. I think ALL Christians should have some sort of biblical political ethic - a biblical basis for what they think government should be and how we should interact with it - before engaging in such speech. Both Republicans and Democrats. Let's elevate God's words, not our unfounded opinions. Again, that goes for you all on both sides. Knock it off.

Legalism and "The Shack"

I love the Gospel. I love safeguarding the Gospel. And so when it comes to Gospel-attacking doctrines – those of Rome, some New Perspective on Paul ideas, the replacing of the Gospel with an experience of ‘personal relationship’ without doctrine in some of the emergent or seeker-oriented movements – I get mad.

And I think there’re two good reasons to get mad about that. First, those things are assaults on who the God of all glory has revealed himself to be. They’re attacks on God himself. Second, get the Gospel wrong, and you send people to hell. (Galatians 1:8, 9; Galatians 5:4; Romans 9:30-10:4; 1 John 4:1-3, etc.)

They just go a little more comfortably. And with a few more ‘spiritual experiences’ under their belt.

That said, people like me, including me, can often get really legalistic about doctrine. What I mean by that is this: we have a situation in which God has spoken into the world. We are to believe what he says. To refuse to believe what he has said is rebellion.

So wrong doctrine isn’t merely the result of poor exegesis – it’s the result of sin.

That said, some of us doctrine hounds expect the intensity and soundness of our arguments to change people . We want to shake their shoulders and shout, “Why don’t you GET it???”

We forget two things. 1) Assuming the person’s a Christian, they stand forgiven before God. 2) Again, assuming the person’s a Christian, we’re forgetting that the Holy Spirit is working on their hearts in varied degrees in different areas.

And so we can get legalistic. Expect perfection out of people, etc. That’s bad. We need to treat people in light of Jesus’ sovereignty. Sometimes I forget that.

So when I picked up the new book “The Shack,” having heard about it, I was ready to give it the benefit of the doubt. I was ready to find Scripturally sound, edifying ideas expressed in it. Did I?

If you don’t know the story, a man’s kid dies, and he gets an invitation from God to have a chat. And the first thing that we see is that this guy had gone to seminary, where he learned that God had stopped speaking with the Scriptures - which is CLEARLY wrong according to what the book says.

Now, I don’t know why that mention is even there. Why the need to rip on people who are trying to learn and teach God's word? Why is there a need to tear down those who know more about the Bible than we do?

And then why the need to take a pot-shot at people who believe the canon of Scripture is closed - and that it alone is authoritative and sufficient for Christian life? It’s not necessary in the plot. I’m confused.

Well, and mad. I do think the Bible is sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So does God, by the way.

So the dude goes to the shack and meets the Trinity. All three persons of which are manifested physically. God the Father’s a black woman, and the Holy Spirit is an Asian woman who reminds me of Lucy Liu.

So here’s the beginning of the big problem with the book – it’s an attack on the nature of God. John 1:18 and 1 John 4:12 both say “No one has ever seen God.” 1 Timothy 6:16 says that no one has ever seen – nor can they see – God the Father. That’s because, as Jesus said in John 4:24 – ‘God is Spirit.’

So first, The Shack represents God in a way that Scripture does not represent him. Not only does this strongly imply that the picture of God that Scripture gives isn’t good enough, it also paints a picture of God that isn’t Scriptural.

The second commandment of the ten is that there should be no images of God (Ex. 20:4). Paul preaches in Acts 17:29 that we should not think of God as something we could fashion or imagine. Remember: the ancient Israelites were punished in the desert not because they worshiped some random calf god – it was because they made an image and called it God – the LORD (Ex. 32:5). And God had not represented himself that way.

There were consequences from the hand of God the Almighty. How is creating a picture of God that Scripture does not give us not idolatry? This is serious business. Read Deuteronomy 4-5. Deuteronomy 9:12-14. Psalm 106:19-20 tells us why this is so significant – God has showed us how glorious he is by what he has spoken in his word (see also Deut 4) – to make an image is to rob him of his glory.

That’s kind of a ‘duh’ statement. Images exist to show off the things of which they are images!

So a false image results in false glory. And false glory is a false god, results in false worship, and is altogether a different religion.

And if God is physical, then we’re talking Mormonism - or a very similar heresy. Well, except for the Mormons’ (recently recanted) racism. And at least the Mormons get it right and refer to God as masculine since, well, the Bible does.

So yeah, there’s that. So then there was a discussion in the book of how limited human freedom really is – by circumstances, environment, experiences. Good insight. I was ready for good at this point...

And then – THEN – there was an orthodox definition of the Trinity in these pages! I was surprised! So pleasantly. I think I praised God.

And then the author proceeded to mock that definition as useless. I don’t know if he’s ignorant of the fact that my brothers and sisters in Christ of old died for that definition. I don’t know if he’s ignorant of the fact that that definition comes out of Scripture. And so he’s calling something Scripture teaches about who God is – useless.

I do hope this isn’t intentional.

Somewhere along the line, Jesus clumsily drops and ruins dinner. Whoops. Then the ‘Father’ and ‘Spirit’ make fun of him.

“And let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 10:28, 29)

Hm.

There’s something that’s really insidious that this book implies, though. Consider these Scriptures: John 1:14; John 1:18; John 14:1-11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-3.

Jesus himself is the image of the Father. He is the full revelation of all of the glory of God. The New Testament is the record of his words and activities on earth, and as Hebrews says, the consummation of God revealing himself to humanity (until the end – 1 John 3:1-2).

To commend to us – to even suggest – another image of the Father – is an affront to the sufficiency of Jesus, an insult to the incarnation – and at the very least, a misunderstanding of who Jesus even is – and thus what knowing God is.

I’m sure the author didn’t intend this; but this book is destructive. It replaces the Father with an idol, true worship with false, and the sufficiency of Jesus with – the book "The Shack" itself. It is at best dangerous for our knowledge of God and true worship, and at worst, heresy.

I haven’t yet finished the book. My wife’s a little ahead of me in it. She tells me the author assaults the idea of hierarchy in the Trinity. No big surprise. Not heresy, but wrong.

I haven’t yet got to the author explaining the problem of evil, which is the purpose of the book. If his explanation is anything like his picture of God, then I fear it. Perhaps at a later date I’ll throw out there the Bible’s answers to the problem of evil.

This book raises the question – is Christian fiction okay? What about Pilgrim’s Progress? What about The Chronicles of Narnia?

There’s a big difference. Those two works are allegories. They do not purport to represent God as he actually is; but rather, give analogies for understanding things expressed explicitly in Scripture. They do not presume to speak for God.

Please, do not waste your time with this book. Spend your time with Scripture – and see how God reveals himself – and reveals himself fully – in the person, the man Jesus Christ. Know him thus, and worship him.

Social justice is just alright.

There's been a lot of talk about social justice recently within Evangelical Christian circles. Notably, a lot of this talk has come from people who are - or lean - to being Reformed, theologically speaking.

I think that's in large part a good thing. If we just look at the commands of our Lord, we see an intensity in his commands regarding taking care of peoples' physical needs. And these folks - the ones who are often touting the need for social action on the behalf of Christians - are often talking about it in the context of seeing people hear about and submit to Jesus.

That's good.

Here's the bad - social justice is often talked about as if it is part of how the Kingdom of God is expanding. It's not. The Kingdom is in no way physical now. Look here.

The Kingdom is the reign of Jesus as sovereign Lord of the universe. And he reigns in souls. That reign affects the outside world - but homeless shelters will be destroyed when Jesus comes back. So will soup kitchens. So will houses you've built for the poor.

Those things are good. And they are some effects of the Kingdom. But they are not the Kingdom.

Now... is this just semantic, theological nit-picking? No. Here's why. The poor, oppressed people that you help do not enter the Kingdom without hearing and believing the Gospel. They get judged by it. The don't enter the Kingdom of Heaven; they enter hell.

Taking care of the poor is good. It's the effects of the Kingdom. Or in normal language, it's merely obeying the King's laws. But the Kingdom is only expanded by Jesus' actions, through the Holy Spirit's activity in the preaching of the gospel, in the unseen souls of people.

And one day that faith will be SIGHT! And those of us in Christ will have what we wait for.

Look here.

Christian Joy

Current Christian experience of joy is a real, Spirit-produced happiness based on what the future holds. This contradicts current Christian practice at times, which often asks – how can I be happy now? And in asking that question, it asks for changes in circumstance or emotion or experience.

The problem is this: if you come to Christ, you will suffer. You will have to die. You will have to kill stuff in you that you like. You will have to choose to hate things you love. And God will cause that. But only if you want him more than you want self – which is a want only he can produce. And it’s a want that’s based on what is promised in the future – the very presence of God – secured by what was accomplished in the past – Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Believe in hell.

I've been thinking about hell a lot, recently. I don't really know why; I just have.

I mean, it is a good thing to think about. It's quite real, and quite a lot of people are on their way there.

Perhaps it's because of a sermon I was listening to about missions - about how every single individual in literally hundreds if not thousands of unreached people groups are going there. Yeah. Every individual. Because you need to believe to be saved and hear to believe.

So for instance, every individual that's part of the Nung people, who live in the highlands of Vietnam - every one of them is on their way to hell.

Sobering, isn't it? And yet we've got things like 'Red Letter Christians' now. "We've got to pay attention to all these commands to take care of the poor," they say. True, true. Of course they're forgetting why those commands are there to begin with... to point us to our world's dire need for a Rescuer...

Or the emergents, who say we have to 'reach' the culture by getting them to 'experience' God - always of course outside of the means he's told us to use. And beyond that, reach them with what? So they can have a spiritual experience... and still go to hell?

Or the doctrine hounds, who attack everyone 'til there's no one left to attack, then turn on their own - if not for a trifle of bad doctrine, then for a trifle of bad ministry philosophy. I think forgetting that their own philosophies and preaching is imperfect...

And then there's me - am I moved to love the people who surround me? Who scan my food at the grocery store? Who I see at the gym? Who I'll sit next to on a plane ride? Who I pass on the way to the parking lot of my apartment complex? Am I moved by the fact that they'll get - save for God's intervention in Jesus - precisely what I deserve... forever?

Am I praying? Am I speaking? Am I loving?

Am I forgetting that it's insanely unloving to help take care of what someone feels like they need without trying to help them escape hell?

Am I moved by a love for God that longs for his name to be adored in every corner of the world?

Do I think, live, and feel like he deserves that? And that that is the great goal of all creation?

God showed us what love is by rescuing us. Now he calls us to fill his role as lovers of this hellbound humanity.

O my God - that we would honor you and show your love to a rebellious world! Not simply because it's right - but because you're worth it and have caused us to desire that all glory be given to your name!