Watch Out!

I can’t help but write what’s on my mind, and at the moment that the problem of anger. A few miles away a teen shot and killed another teen at school last week. I recently thought I might have to break up a fight between two women in the Walmart checkout line. I’ve gotten to where I hate to drive, because either I’m angering other drivers or they are angering me. Anger is not just a problem in the world but in the church too. People say or do things that cause conflict, perhaps intentionally, but often unintentionally—failing to talk to someone, assuming too much, pushing a person out of a job, etc. The color of the carpet, the music, and budget allocations have been known to cause church splits. James wrote,

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:1-3 ESV).

I had always read James 4:2-3 as instruction on prayer, but nowhere does James say that. Rather, might he be saying that if you would talk to the other person you would find no reason to covet and quarrel? So many conflicts could be avoided simply by communicating better. Most of us probably don’t murder or fight, but we’re experts at snide remarks and angry thoughts. Jesus said that “everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:22). I doubt that anyone is innocent under those criteria.

The Apostle Paul wrote,

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these... Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:19-21a, 26).

I find it interesting that his list can almost be divided into two categories: lust and anger. I suspect that most pastors would also identify those as the two biggest areas of sin in their churches. The Apostle John summarized it this way, “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from that Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:16).

Anger doesn’t occur in a vacuum. There is always some underlying cause, and often there are related emotional triggers—pride or shame, fear, jealousy, desire, prejudice, or some combination of those. David Powlison said “sinful anger is an expression of your playing God according to James 4:12. Who are you if you judge your brother? Who are you if you speak evil of him? Well, you are God. You are acting as though you are lawgiver and judge.” We believe we are god of something, so we balk at being dethroned.

Thinking of a recent situation that angered me, I realize it was a result of 1) lack of clear communication of purpose and expectations, and 2) jealousy over losing control of something that I once believed to be my domain (along with some other tangential issues). Some explanation helped, but more necessary is an ongoing surrender of my rights to rule or to judge others who do things differently. I know the world would be better if everyone would just do things my way! God must say the same thing every day about the choices that we make and the ways we try to take over His throne. One day the King will come and remind us all Who is really in charge.

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom... But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:13, 17-18).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Blessed?

Many people like to use the hashtags #blessed or #soblessed when something good happens. I have no problem with that; however, a quick browse of those tags on Twitter reveals some alarming and even blasphemous comments. I will no longer assume that a person saying “I’m blessed” is necessarily Christian. I think there is a bigger issue at stake even among Christians who use the word “blessed” on a regular basis. Psalm 67 says, 

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, Selah, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations… God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him!” (1-2, 7 ESV).

God doesn’t bless us just to make us happy. He blesses us so that He will be known to be God and people will turn to Him in repentance and faith. And God’s idea of a blessing is often far different from our own. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that the blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted (Matthew 5:3-10). When was the last time you told people you were #blessed that way?

Oftentimes, the greatest blessings of faith come through times of trial, pain, and suffering. It is when we are weakest that we realize our need for God, and His unfailing love is all the blessing we really need. Through suffering our faith can be strengthened, our lives can be purified, and our witness can be clearly seen. The Apostle Paul said, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses” (2 Corinthians 12:9b-10a). It’s been said that no one can claim that their faith grew most when life was easy and free from trials, “for the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3).

With that in mind, here are a few blessings in my life:

• I am blessed with periods of depression, for then I remember that life isn’t about the pursuit of happiness.
• I am blessed with times of loneliness, for then I see what the Body of Christ is intended to be.
• I am blessed with singleness, for in isolation I learn to turn my attention to God and His Word.
• I am blessed when God convicts me of sin, because I know it is by grace I have been saved and I’m being sanctified.

Through blessings such as these I am learning to hunger and thirst for righteousness and to pursue purity of heart, and one day I’ll receive the final blessing of seeing God’s face and being truly satisfied in Him.

By all means give thanks for the good things in life, but don’t forget the blessings of suffering as well. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Let’s look beyond the blessings of family, friends, homes, and jobs to the greater spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ alone.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:3-4a).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

One Body

Lately our church has been discussing the biblical basis for church membership and what that should look like. As Sam Allberry points out in this video clip, in Hebrews 10:25 the “opposite of not going to church is encouraging one another.” How can we encourage one another when we have no relationship? How can we obey all the “one anothers” of Scripture if we aren’t actually with one another on a regular basis?

Along those lines, it struck me that the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 says, “Forgive us our debts…” It’s not “Forgive me as I have forgiven others,” but is rather a corporate statement of our need for forgiveness as a Body. (Not that we can’t pray it individually, but that shouldn’t be the only way we pray.) I think inherent within the prayer to “forgive us” is the need for forgiveness between members of the Body of Christ. Just prior to these verses Jesus had said, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (5:23-24 ESV). I don’t think it is inconsequential that the order in Jesus’ teaching is: 1) reconcile to your brother, 2) go make your offering, 3) worship together as the body and confess your need for forgiveness. It is similar to Matthew 18 in confronting a brother for sin first privately and then increasingly publicly if he refuses to listen.

The point is that our actions as individuals do not just impact our own lives but also the Body of Christ. God has joined us together through the blood of Christ, and “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). The sin of one member of the Body effects the rest of the Body, and we need other members of the Body to help us walk in the forgiveness and newness of life that we have in Christ (Romans 6:4). As Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 5, one person’s sin was a bad influence on all of them, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (5:6). Those in the church were told “not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty… Purge the evil person from among you” (5:11, 13).

Obviously some sins are much more visible than others, and some sinners require much more rebuke than others because of their hardness of heart. One person might need to be publicly disciplined while another needs only a quiet word from a brother. It is true that each of us individually can confess to God and receive His forgiveness, but it’s also true that God designed us to live in community. As such, we are meant to be exhorting and encouraging one another in our fight against sin. There is strength in numbers (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

After studying Greek in college, I realized that we need to read the epistles from a corporate mindset. The vast majority are written in the plural, which does not come through in English, and we can miss a lot by reading from a singular, independent viewpoint. First Corinthians 6:19 could more accurately be translated (in Southernese), “Do y’all not know that the body of y’all is the temple of the Holy Spirit in y’all, whom y’all have from God? Y’all are not your own.” Paul isn’t just saying that each of us individually belong to God, though that is true, but that we belong to Him together and we belong to one another as well (1 Corinthians 12:14-20).

I know Christians who see no need to be involved in a church, and there have been times I’ve wanted to disengage as well. But I don’t think that is really an option for anyone who loves God wholeheartedly. He didn’t just adopt us into relationship with Him as our Father, but into a family with one another as brothers and sisters. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15), and many of the commands in Scripture are to be carried out in relationship with one another in His Body. How can we choose to ignore those commands and still claim that we love Jesus?

In Ephesians 5, Paul writes about how we are to relate to one another. He didn’t totally change subjects when he hit verse 22 and started talking about marriage, he simply zeroed in on one type of relationship within the larger context of the Body of Christ. The marriage relationship is intended to reflect the relationship that Christ has with the Church (5:32). Being part of the Body of Christ is not always easy, just as marriage is not easy. It requires sacrifice of time, energy, and personal priorities, “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (5:21), nourishing and cherishing one another “because we are members of His Body” (5:30).

If we think that church is something we can simply add on like a new hobby, we are missing the point. We cannot function as individual parts if we are not connected to the Body. We cannot grow in Christ if we are not involved in the life of His Body. As Pastor Matt said, “We grow together or we don’t grow at all.”

“So as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:4-5).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

National Conference on Christian Apologetics

Here are a few brief notes and links from some of the sessions I attended at the National Conference on Christian Apologetics. I chose several sessions related to biology because that is what my first degree was in and I still enjoy it. It was an encouraging and educational time.

1) God’s Crime Scene: Evidence for God’s Existence from the Fine-Tuning of the Universe- J. Warner Wallace (Cold Case Christianity)

Can the finely tuned systems of our universe be explained by something within the universe? No, there are far too many variables for chance to have created the universe as we know it. There had to have been an outside force that was both purposeful and powerful. The existence of morality implies that the force was also personal. The answer to our questions is not a “what” but a “Who.”

http://coldcasechristianity.com/

2) The Age of the Earth: A Charitable Approach- Eric Gustafson (Southern Evangelical Seminary)

Though there are many areas for disagreement, old earth and young earth Christians should be able to agree on these points:

a) Biblical interpretation- Creation passages are historical rather than metaphorical, though not scientifically precise.

b) Scriptural genealogies refer to real people in real history, but are not necessarily comprehensive (ie. generations may have been skipped). Genealogies are not intended to provide exact details but key people.

c) Death before the Fall- Only humans are endowed with a spiritual nature. No humans died before the Fall; however, animals were most likely mortal from creation.

d) Presuppositionalism- Can non-believers correctly interpret general revelation? God’s general revelation properly interpreted will never contradict His special revelation properly interpreted.

3) It’s Time to Do Biology as if Darwin Had Never Been Born- Randy Guliuzza (Institute for Creation Research)

Darwin essentially said that changes in environments cause changes in organisms, thereby making adaptation externalistic. He said that the changes in organisms were copious, small, undirected mutations over long periods of time. However, ongoing research disproves that theory. A single species without any changes in DNA can adapt different characteristics based on how it senses its own environment through Continuous Environmental Tracking. These changes can take place within a single generation and are predictable, not just genetic drift and survival of the fittest.

http://www.icr.org/article/stick-spider-adaptation

4) The God Who Wants Us to Test Him: Testing Genesis with the Latest Science- Hugh Ross (Reasons to Believe)

From an old earth perspective, scientific research continues to reveal that the order of events in nature corresponds with the order as outlined in the Bible in Genesis 1 and Job 37-39. Previously assumed disparities have been disproved. For example:

• Vegetation fossils have been found which prove that plants existed before animals.
• Fossils continue to show no transition species.
• Continents emerged more quickly than originally believed.
• Genetic diversity of closed populations increase faster than predicted, so we could have all come from two original humans.

The more we learn about science, the more reasons we have to believe the Bible.

https://www.reasons.org/explore/blogs/todays-new-reason-to-believe/read/todays-new-reason-to-believe/2018/06/11/rapid-landmass-emergence-affirms-creation-day-3

https://www.reasons.org/explore/blogs/todays-new-reason-to-believe/read/todays-new-reason-to-believe/2018/06/18/hazy-early-earth-more-affirmation-of-creation-day-4

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

More Than Anything

Reading in the Old Testament recently I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. In 2 Samuel 9, King David asks, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (9:1 ESV). He is introduced to Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who is crippled in both feet. Mephibosheth is invited into the palace and dines at the king’s table for the rest of his life. In contrast, in the next chapter David sends condolences to Hanun when his father, the king of the Ammonites, dies. Hanun’s response is to disgrace the messengers, which leads to a massive battle. If he had received the messengers graciously, he could have avoided a war.

It seems to me that in both these chapters King David was a model of God. He extends grace to two different men—one accepts it and becomes like a member of the family; the other person rejects it and brings condemnation on himself. Likewise God has extended the offer of forgiveness and adoption to all, but we can choose whether or not to accept it. “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:17). “God sent forth His Son… so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).

Mephibosheth is one of my favorite characters in the Old Testament. He knew he had nothing to offer the king. He could barely even get around. He was simply grateful to be honored by David. After a misunderstanding when David temporarily fled the palace and Mephibosheth got left behind, Mephibosheth turns down an offer of land, because all he cares about is that his king has come home (2 Sam. 19:24-30). All he wants is to dwell with the king who brought him into his family.

I think we could all learn from Mephibosheth. It’s tempting to desire the blessings more than we desire God. We feel entitled to certain benefits, and when suffering comes we join Job in trying to argue our case before God (Job 13:3 et al). We aren’t content to eat at the King’s table and enjoy being part of His family. God gives us Himself and we want more! (Check out Natalie Grant’s song “More Than Anything.”) We may be poor witnesses for the Gospel if we seek the gifts more than the Giver. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-5). It is His mercy that matters, not our blessings.

If Christianity were inextricably linked to health, wealth, and other visible blessings, we wouldn’t have any trouble convincing people to join up. But what God offers us is reconciliation with Him and adoption into His family for eternity. That may not sound too appealing to many people. Who needs that when they can have all that they want without having to read the Bible or obey God?

May we learn the contentment of having peace with God. In that way our lives can reflect the glory of the God who saved us in our sin and weakness.

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life” (Philippians 2:14-16a).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Be Still

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10).

In your anxiety, be still and know and I am God.
In your sorrow, be still and know that I am God.
In your joy, be still and know that I am God.
In your frustration, be still and know that I am God.

In your stress, be still and know and I am God.
In your busyness, be still and know that I am God.
In your fatigue, be still and know that I am God.
In your pain, be still and know that I am God.

In your hardship, be still and know that I am God.
In your plenty, be still and know that I am God.
In your uncertainty, be still and know that I am God.
In your work, be still and know that I am God

In your home, be still and know that I am God.
In your leisure, be still and know that I am God.
In your church, be still and know that I am God.
In your country, be still and know that I am God.

When you wake, be still and know that I am God.
When you sit, be still and know that I am God.
When you stand, be still and know that I am God.
When you rest, be still and know that I am God.

When you talk, be still and know that I am God.
When you listen, be still and know that I am God.
When you eat, be still and know that I am God.
When you sing, be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted in the heavens.
I will be exalted in the earth.
Be still and know that I AM.

—God

“Our place of safety is the embrace of the Savior… Blessed be any wind that blows us into the harbor of our Savior’s love! Happy the wounds that make us seek the beloved Physician”  -Charles Spurgeon

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Who Can You Trust?

Recent revelations of the widespread sexual abuse scandals have been disheartening. From the Catholic church, to Willow Creek, to many other less publicized events, the Church as a whole should be mourning the failures of our pastors, elders, and other leaders. Many thousands of people have been wounded either directly or indirectly by the sins of those in positions of authority.

Mark Galli has written of the misplaced loyalty that has led to churches covering up the accusations that arise. I agree with him completely, though I think that beneath that is a misplaced trust in those we hire to lead our churches. The idea of running background checks before hiring is, unfortunately, a fairly new concept. I would hazard a guess that a vast majority of the churches in our country have not done background checks on any of their staff. Added to that is the problem that those checks can only reveal legal actions taken, not accusations made. Reference checks can be helpful, but applicants will only provide references that they trust to say good things. Various denominational structures may make it either harder or easier to obtain unbiased information.

The fact is that sin is all too easy to cover up with minimal effort. It’s not as if we’re all walking around with a scarlet letter on our shirts revealing how we’ve sinned in the past. With the mobility of our culture, any of us can move to another state and start a new life where no one knows of our past indiscretions. It can be hard for pastors and parishioners to really get to know one another when there is constant turnover in church attendance and leadership. Even if a leader admits to prior sins, there is rarely any followup to make sure those sins were properly addressed and aren’t going to recur. In some cases, it’s a bit like putting an alcoholic in charge of the wine cellar.

So, long before accusations of sexual abuse or other misconduct become public, churches have already failed by creating a culture of misplaced trust that is further compounded by a lack of accountability. There seems to be a collective assumption that “If this person says God called him to ministry and he is willing to work for what we can pay, surely he can be trusted to do only what is right for our church members.” We are willfully ignorant of the weakness of sinful men and the deceitfulness of sin. We think that because Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion” (1 Pet. 5:8) that we’ll always be able to see him coming. We forget that “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). We have a very real enemy who will try all kinds of subtle deceptions to cause people to sin and to discredit the work of the church. His efforts to undermine us are often more persistent and creative than our efforts to keep watch over ourselves and one another.

Russell Moore wrote in Acting the Miracle:

“If you see something, say something. That’s what you’ll see on signs everywhere in and around New York subway stations. These signs are part of a public campaign meant to encourage citizens to be on the watch for potential terrorists... Not a single terrorist has been caught as a result of this campaign... The problem, then, is that no one can call in and report suspicious activity because they don’t know what qualifies as suspicious. They don’t know what normal is supposed to look like.

“That’s not only true on the subway in New York City. Part of the obstacle that those of us in Christ face when it comes to growing in holiness is that we ourselves don’t know what normal looks like... And in the midst of all the fallenness around us, what seems to be perfectly normal can, in fact, be sinful. What seems to be perfectly normal, and in some cases even respectable, can be completely overlooked for the sin that it is, simply because one is living around so many other people who have similar sorts of slaveries and bondage to sin such that it doesn’t even seem abnormal” (107-108).

We overlook the sin in our own lives and disregard the possibility of sin in others, because compared to the rest of the world we look okay. We may not be perfect, but at least we aren’t blatantly sinning in ways that others can see. The Pharisees thought they looked pretty good too. Alistair Begg said on Truth for Life:

“No amount of isolation from the bad stuff or the bad people could protect them from the immorality and the idolatry of their own hearts. That is ultimately the folly of any kind of religious system that suggests that... The idea that somehow or another as long as I keep myself externally from the bad stuff and the bad people, I will be fine. Loved ones, we can take ourselves to the furthest point of the universe and lock ourselves in a closet, but we will not there be able to deal with the immorality and idolatry of our hearts” (9/19/18).

Although in Christ we are given new hearts, we still have to work out our sanctification day by day. It only takes one bad choice to make ourselves vulnerable to sin, and if we think that those in ministry are somehow free from temptation we are fools. Everyone needs accountability and church discipline to help us avoid sin and grow in holiness. Russell Moore went on to write,

“All too often, we express our outrage at everything going on ‘out there’ in the world and all the while ignore the wickedness in our own midst. And yet the discipline of the church is designed to reorient our lives and affections. The discipline of the church changes our mission, because it changes the way we see people... being diligent in spurring on toward obedience those who bear the name of brother, knowing that the church is called to love one another and form one another with the Word of truth. In the end, the discipline of the church drives us toward love, because the present of Jesus is in our midst by his Word and Spirit” (118).

If anything good can come out of the church leadership scandals that keep hitting the news, I hope that at least these three things will happen:

1) Make everyone more aware and cautious about trusting people without question. It’s not that we need to go on a witch hunt, but we need to take simple precautions to protect our churches and all who attend them.

2) Take church membership seriously. If we don’t know who “belongs” to our fellowship, how can we pursue the radical love, accountability, and confrontation that Scripture outlines?

3) Give the abused and wounded a voice to speak out. It shouldn’t require a news reporter to uncover someone’s sin. Within the Body of Christ every one of us should have people we know we can talk to who will listen to our story and respond faithfully.

Ultimately, this is not just about any particular church or individual—it’s about the glory of God. When anyone who bears the name of Christian acts in a way that is contrary to Scripture, they are obscuring the glory of God and casting doubt on God’s ability to save and sanctify.

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you [all] who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.