The Sin of Uncertainty

God is merciful to those who have doubts. The Christian faith is not scared of uncertainties. There are tough questions we all wrestle with and Christianity provides answers. Faith though does not start with doubt, but with trust in who God is and what he has said. Faith seeks to understand while knowing that some things we will never know. There are limits on our knowledge, but we can know many things rightly as image bearers. While we may have questions, faith doesn't elevate uncertainty as a virtue. Faith doesn’t build entire systems of thought around post-modern uncertainty.

Recently, I was on a panel discussing the inspiration and authority of Scripture. Inspiration is a core belief of the Christian church because without it there is no foundation for knowing anything at all. Without it, we quickly drift into prideful uncertainty. Without a high view of Scripture, we look at uncertainty as a sign of humility. We elevate uncertainty in the face of clear revelation as a virtue.

Uncertainty makes sense for unbelievers. Without God, there is no way to make sense of his world at all. Without God, there is no foundation for truth, knowledge, or meaning. Without God, man ironically becomes certain in our uncertainty. But what I found on the panel discussing Scripture was uncertainty praised and embraced by those who have a clear word from God.

The uncertainty of the world must not be shared by Christians. Not only does God exist, but he has revealed himself in Scripture so that we can know him. In Scripture, God gives us a written record of propositional truths to build our lives upon. To look at that revelation and respond with smug uncertainty is sin. It is akin to the three-year-old who puts his fingers in his ears and pronounces, "I can't hear you!" Uncertainty in the face of revealed truth is not humility. It’s defiant arrogance. It’s sin. When Christians accept such thinking, they are leaning into the sinful attitudes of our day.

God gave us Scripture so that we may have real knowledge of him and have that knowledge with certainty. The Bible repeats this idea again and again. Luke writes "It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught" (Luke 1.3-4). Peter echoes this certainty in his second letter as he stresses certainty is rooted in the Scriptures. He writes, "And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1.19-20). These are two of dozens of examples where the Bible directs us to itself for certainty. Christian, praise the Lord that he has not left you to yourself but has in his mercy spoken so that you may rightly know him!

Doubt isn't the problem; it's how we handle doubt. Lack of understanding isn't the problem, there are hard parts of the Bible difficult to understand. Faith knows this, but faith seeks understanding through trusting God and wrestling with our doubts. Again, this is why God gave us his written word, that we might know him in a saving way with a humble certainty. A certainty characterized by a reliance on God, not our intellectual prowess. A certainty grounded in God's own words, not our experiences. A certainty which is humble enough to submit to the authority of God's word. A faith which knows that certainty in uncertainty is not humility; rather it is sinful arrogance. All of this is based on the truth that God has spoken to his creation in the Holy Scriptures. Christian, build your life on this and be certain that you can know God rightly through his word. We must reject today’s certainty of uncertainty by submitting to the authority of God’s Word.

By: Levi J. Secord

Commonly Misunderstood Passages: Jeremiah 29 and Seeking the Good of the City

There I was sitting in a meeting talking about how churches can best reach our post-Christian world. We discussed things churches can do differently to reach a world which appears to want nothing to do with Christian truth claims. This is an incredibly important discussion to have and how we answer this reveals much about our theology. The church exists to glorify God and to reach his world. As we continued in the discussion the leader said it was a good thing the church was no longer a major influence in the culture, and that we shouldn’t fight to regain any prominence in society. To support this, he cited Jeremiah 29:4-7 , a passage written to Israel while in exile in Babylon. The passage reads:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’

Anyone who knows me well, knows I am not good at biting my tongue. I’m working on it, but in a room full of pastors I relish the opportunity for discussion and lively debate. So I dove in head-first by voicing my reservations about his reasoning. At the end of the discussion, neither one of us changed our minds, but it was illuminating. It appeared the leader was applying this passage with little thought of how things have changed from the time of the exile through the work of Christ. How can Christians apply a passage about the exile of Israel without first considering how the work of Christ has changed things?

Sadly, Jeremiah 29:4-7 is quoted ad nauseam today as a model for how Christians should live as exiles in our world. Is this passage telling us to keep our heads down and wait out our time of exile as Israel was called to do? What does it mean to “seek the good of the city” in light of the work of Christ? It is true Christians are both sojourners and exiles, but is that status a one-for-one with Israel in Babylon? I do not believe so. The foundational changes Christ wrought for his people must shape how we view life as exiles who await his return. Let’s turn our attention to rightly understanding this passage in light of Christ.

In order to rightly apply this passage we need to examine the original context, the context of the Church, and then ask how we can seek the good of the city today.

Understanding The Original Context and Ours

What is the original context of Jeremiah 29:4-7? There are several important items we should note to understand what is happening in this passage. First, why was Israel in exile in the first place? God sent them into exile as a punishment for breaking the covenant. After generations of warnings and sending the prophets to call the people back to faithfulness, God finally sent Babylon to destroy Israel and to take the people into captivity. This was a punishment, or curse, for breaking the covenant. God told the people they would be in exile for seventy years. The people receiving these words had just been punished by God by being sent as captives into a foreign land.

Second, why are the people of Israel commanded to settle in Babylon and to get used to it? In the preceding chapter in Jeremiah, we read there were false prophets telling the exiles God was going to set them free early (Jer. 28.4). In Jeremiah 29:4-7 the prophet tells the people to ignore these false prophets. Jeremiah reminds Israel they will be in exile, as a punishment, for the full appointed time. This is very important, the context of this passage is that Israel is in exile as a divine punishment and that punishment is not going to be cut short. How then should they live? Accept the punishment of God by settling in the city. This is how they can show repentance for their sin. Israel’s exile is very different for those who are now exiles in Christ.

What is the context of the church as exiles in Christ? Are we in exile today in the same way Israel was? Clearly not. There are two key differences, both of which are tied to the work of Christ. First, our status as exiles is not the result of our unfaithfulness, rather we are exiles because of Christ’s faithfulness. We are exiles in Christ, not in Babylon. We are not exiles as a result of punishment, but because Christ took our punishment. The importance of this difference cannot be overstated. These two forms of exile are fundamentally different. One is a punishment and one is a blessing.

Second, Christ has commanded his people not to wait out our time of exile, but to be an army seeking to take over this world through preaching the gospel. Christ commands his exiles not to stay in the city but to go out into the world and make disciples (Matt. 28:16-20). This is another massive difference between Israel’s context and ours. Our exile is one on mission, it is not a timeout. The job of Christian exiles is to preach Christ’s kingdom as ambassadors (2 Cor. 5.20). We represent another kingdom during our exile, a kingdom that is invading this world because our King is victorious. Our job is to call those who are not a part of our kingdom to convert! This is fundamentally different than Israel’s job to wait for their punishment to end. The difference is we are now in Christ who now has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28.18). We are in his victory.

How To Best Seek the Good of the City

Understanding the original context and how our circumstances have changed in Christ helps us to better apply this passage. So how can Christians “seek the good of the city” today? First, we do so not by retreating or admitting defeat, but by proclaiming the kingdom in every corner of the world. Christ is the Lord over all things and he commands his people to go. The good of every city is not found in post-Christian defeatism, but in realizing there is no such thing as being post-Christian. Christ is King of kings. He rules over every city whether they recognize it or not. The good of the city is found in greater Christian influence, not less. It is the job of the church to refuse the bunker mentality and to instead advance the kingdom by declaring the gospel message—Christ is God’s chosen King who defeated sin and death and who now reigns at the right-hand of the Father.

Once we understand that through his death and resurrection Christ dethroned the rulers of this world, then we can see how different our circumstances are from Israel in Babylon. Israel was defeated by their enemies because of their sin. The church’s enemies have been defeated through the faithfulness and power of Christ. This reality is essential for what it means to be an exile in Christ today. If we really desire the good of our lost cities, then we must refuse the temptation to admit defeat. How can we be defeated if we are in Christ and he is both victorious and ruling over everything? He is King of kings and Lord of lords. We must seek to be his ambassadors who teach the world to obey everything Christ has commanded (Matt. 28:19). Israel’s job was to sit and wait, our job is to go and tell the world who Christ is and what he has done. This is what it means to be an exile in Christ.

By: Levi J. Secord

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Evangelicalism's Obsession with the Toy Aisle

Every time my family and I go shopping my son asks, “Can I go look at the toys?” I usually smile back at him and say, “If you listen and obey, then we can go look at the toys.” It’s predictable, like clockwork we end up in the toy aisle. This time of year my son’s desire to see the toys is even greater. It is understandable, Christmas is around the corner and he is a child who is infatuated with the wonder of toys. Hopefully there will come a day when he has outgrown the toy aisle. When his interests will shift because he will have grown up and will have more mature interests. Some adults though never do mature and end up living in their parents basement till their 35.

This illustrates a massive problem in the American church—we love the toy aisle and we refuse to grow up. While there are many faithful churches out there, they tend to be the exception, not the rule. The evidence is all around us.  A recent study, the State of Theology, demonstrates that American evangelicals do not even know the basics of the Christian faith. When speaking to friends involved in Christian education I repeatedly hear that far too many Christian college students enter higher education without knowing the basics of Christianity. If graduating students and adults who have been in the church for most of their lives don’t know the fundamentals of the faith, what are they learning from all those hours spent at church?  Where are we failing?

There is plenty of blame to go around. Many local churches are too busy trying to be the next big thing to take the time to actually disciple people. The desires of laypeople are also a problem; many look for churches which are hip and trendy instead of faithful. These two problems feed off of each other, Christians want shallow churches and many churches are too willing to accommodate the desire. As Christians, we should want to mature in our faith (1 Cor. 3.1-3), but that is much more difficult than watching a light show and fog machine every Sunday morning. The problem is one of desire, of what we treasure, of what we expect from a church. We desperately need to grow up and leave the proverbial toy aisle behind.

Below are four changes American churches and Christians need make if we want to mature and leave the shiny toys behind.

1. We need worship, not concerts. Walk into the average large church, especially mega-churches, and you are not likely to find the congregational voices as the main instrument during the worship songs. I am all for worship being done well, with quality musical instruments. Yet, what our services are lacking is not musical skill, but participation from the congregation. Why? Our worship services have become concerts. They are spectacles, sideshows, and performances. The congregation is encouraged to be passive and to receive entertainment instead of being led to worship God.  This focus on performance and entertainment may draw a crowd, but it does so at the expense of worshiping God—the whole reason we exist. This epidemic is also seen in the content of our songs. Recently my wife and I were at a service at another church, and the pastor made a comment about how great the worship set was. At that point, I leaned over to my wife and said, “Worship? The most common word used was me!” If that was worship, then it appears we were worshiping ourselves instead of God! Our songs, like our worship services, are focused on us instead of God. God is often an afterthought in our worship services. If this accurately categorizes our worship, is it any wonder that so many Christians know so little about God and his word?

2. We need preachers, not comedians and story-tellers. To be clear, I am not against a well-timed joke to make a rhetorical point or a story which actually helps to illuminate an important point. That is all good as far it goes. But the core job of the pastor is to preach the word of God. Our job is to say, “Thus says the Lord.” Again, in many evangelical churches, the speaker is more of an entertainer than a preacher. They can hold our attention with interesting stories and funny jokes, but there is no real substance to what they say. God and his word have become an add-on to the message. The cookie-cutter messages are often predictable: start with a funny story, introduce a problem, sympathize with our condition, sprinkle in some bible passage (out of context), offer some self-help, have a few more more stories/jokes, and end with an altar call of some variety. It’s predictable, sad, and self-focused.  

   About seven years ago I was sitting in a mega-church and I listened to the Lead Pastor describe how his church was really good at getting people in the door and getting them to confess Christ. The problem? They couldn’t seem to get people to take the next step, to grow. They couldn’t get them to take their faith seriously. He lamented that they couldn’t figure it out. I sat their befuddled because the truth was staring him right in the face—you get what you subsidize. They placed no importance on actually teaching from the pulpit, only on entertaining people and growing numerically. What do you think that teaches people about the content of the Christian faith? What does that teach people about they should live as Christians? Perhaps their entire model was the problem? That thought apparently couldn’t be entertained as they have tens of thousands of people in their services every week. Simply ignore the fact most of them aren’t growing, don’t know the basics of the faith, and just check-in and check-out every week. I wonder what the problem could possibly be?

3. We need the gospel, not therapeutic self-help. This point ties in with the content of our messages and our songs. What we teach, what we emphasize matters. Did Jesus come so that we will have better communication, love lives, marriages, families, and self-worth? No. Surely some of those things can come by the grace of God and by walking in wisdom, but Jesus came primarily to purchase a people for himself as he was directed to do by the Father. This is the heart of the Christian message, not seeking self-help or feel good emotions. Christ came to do his Father’s will, to obey unto death, to defeat his enemies and to rescue those in slavery to sin. He came to call us to repentance and faith. He came to call us to die to ourselves and follow him, not to discover how great we are. The church is suffering because we are so distracted by the false allure of the toy aisle—self-help, self-esteem, and therapeutic feelings. Much of evangelicalism has a small or distorted understanding of the gospel precisely because it has made the gospel about us instead of Christ. The fault is at the feet of our teachers who are distracted by shiny toys and who are too busy building their own kingdoms.

4.  We need to seek God’s approval, not the world’s. This really is the heart of the matter. Much of our childish behavior is linked to our desire to be liked by the world and to be like the world. We mask this truth by saying we want to be relevant or we want to reach the community, but in the process we start to look, act, and think just like the world. The church is most relevant when we offer an alternative to the world. We reach more people when we are different.  When we seek the approval of the world, we start to look like the world. Then we become truly irrelevant because the church becomes a redundancy to the world. We cannot seek both the approval of the world and God at the same time. We can only serve one master. It will either be God or the world. Right now, we care way too much what the world thinks of us.

If we hope to change the troubling trends of American evangelicalism we are going to need to leave the toy aisle d behind and grow up. This won’t be easy, but it is possible through humble faith and repentance. If we will humble ourselves as both churches and individuals to seek out real worship instead of concerts, real preachers instead of comedians, the gospel instead of therapeutic nonsense, and to seek God instead of the world there is both hope and the power to grow up in the faith.  In fact, when we do this, God will honor our faithfulness, and by his power people will grow up into maturity.

By: Levi J. Secord

Commonly Misunderstood Passages: An Eye for an Eye

The other night Emily and I were watching a police television show. In it there was a man who was caught committing murder and who sought to justify his actions. He argued he had the right to kill this individual because her actions led to the death of his daughter.  It was at this point the man further defended his actions by pointing to the Bible, more specifically the teaching of an eye for an eye. I was not surprised by this plot twist because it is an overused tactic in Hollywood to mock Christianity. The pervasiveness of this strawman tells us more about how little people know about the Bible than it tells us about the Bible itself.

We find this phrase, an eye for an eye, in several parts of the Bible. Its first appearance is found in Exodus 21.23-25, “But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” What does this text mean and why is it so commonly misunderstood?

 The Common Misunderstanding

Like how its use in the above TV show, people often twist this text by suggesting it endorses personal vengeance. The misunderstanding is so widespread even Gandhi is attributed as saying, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” In this way, it is suggested the Bible is backward, out-of-date, and even barbaric. Now it is easy to see why people who know little of the Bible would misunderstand this teaching, but nonetheless the Bible does not promote personal vengeance. In fact, it condemns in multiple places.

It appears in Jesus’s day people the same misunderstanding existed, ““You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt 5.38-39). The twisting of this text was so prevalent Jesus decided to hit it head-on. Yet it is the very fact Jesus did this which makes it more troubling that so many people mistakenly think the Bible promotes personal vengeance.

 Since this passage isn’t about personal vengeance, what is it about? Is an eye for an eye a good thing or a bad thing?

 What an Eye for an Eye Actually Means

The passages of Scripture which command an eye for an eye must be understood in their context. What most people miss is that these commands are not addressed to individuals, but to the government. It is a guideline for proper punishment in the legal system. This is the farthest thing from personal vengeance. To put it plainly, the command for an eye for an eye is not a license for the individual to seek vengeance but it is a guide for the juridical system when punishing crimes.  This is what the Israelites, and many people today, get wrong about this passage. Individuals are not to seek justice on their own, rather we are to trust God to punish evildoers and one way he does that is through the government (Romans 12:14 -13:12).

Not only is this command not given to individuals it is also not about exacting an exact pound of flesh from criminals. An eye for an eye is about the limiting punishments given by the government to criminals. It means the punishment must fit the crime. The severity of the crime dictates what a just punishment would be. Essentially this command outlaws cruel and unusual punishment from the government toward its citizens. For example, a government should not punish speeding by amputating the driver’s lead foot. Why? It would be an unbalanced punishment for the crime. Such a punishment would not serve justice but it would rather be an act of injustice.

Why is such a command important? Because our hearts, both as individuals and as governments, often seek out retaliation by increasing the pain done to us on those who did it to us. You put one of us in the hospital, we put one of yours in the morgue. The government is just as prone to seek vengeance as individuals are. Exodus 21, and passages like it, command judges, courts, and governments to seek equitable punishments for individual crimes. In this way justice is accomplished. Justice cannot be accomplished if the punishment does not fit the crime. An eye for an eye leads us to justice, not vengeance. In this way, an eye for an eye is a good thing and it is a cornerstone of a just society.

 Conclusion

Justice is important as it flows out of the very character of God. It is why he has established governments who are to punish evil doers and reward the righteous. In that capacity governments are told not to over, or under, punish crimes. When they do either of these the people suffer. God in his grace has given us commands on how to seek justice, but we must seek to understand his word in its context. In today’s world it far too easy, and popular to twist what God has said. An eye for an eye is not something to be embarrassed about or something to dismiss. Rather, it promotes justice and limits the punishment of crimes so that they do not become cruel and unusual. With all due respect to Gandhi, without the command of an eye for an eye governments will inevitably moves toward either anarchy or tyranny. In this way, an eye for an eye is a good thing and it is a cornerstone of a just society. Without it we stand to encounter worse problems than worldwide blindness.

 By: Levi J. Secord

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Commonly Misunderstood Passages: Do Justice, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with God

This is the second post in a series on commonly misunderstood Bible passages. Previously I discussed Psalm 46.10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” You can read that here. It is important Christians strive to rightly handle God’s word (2 Tim. 2.15). Where God has spoken, it is important we listen carefully. It is also important we do not put words into God’s mouth. We do not have the authority to add to his word or to take away from it. This series is meant to help us to handle God’s word with the respect it deserves. My goal is to deepen our understanding of God and his word by examining it closely on its own terms. Today we will look closer at Micah 6.8, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” This is a very popular passage, yet its popularity is at least partly due to our misunderstanding of it.

The Common Misunderstanding

The final phrase of Micah 6.8, do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly, is seen everywhere today. I have seen it on mugs, t-shirts, posters, web graphics, and even bumper stickers. This is not surprising as the topic of justice, especially social justice, is very popular. Micah 6.8 is something of a rallying cry for Christians who identify with the social justice movement. Justice is something Christians should think more about, but they do so biblically. Micah 6.8 is often associated with the modern social justice movement. It tied into ideas like wealth and privilege distribution as well as many socialistic public policies. Is this what Micah 6.8 is really about? No, not even close.

The misunderstanding stems from confusing terms of mercy and justice found in this passage. One prominent pastor described this passage as a command to live justly. That’s fair enough, but he then argued that the following commands to “love mercy” and to “walk humbly with God” is how justice is accomplished. Here is the problem, is loving mercy a part of justice? I do not believe so. It should be obvious that Christians are to love mercy. We are people saved by mercy. Mercy is not the problem. The problem comes from how mercy and justice relate to one another.

Here is the root of the problem with how this passage is understood—it confuses mercy and justice. If mercy is a necessary part of justice, then mercy is something we are owed. If we are owed mercy, then it is not mercy at all. In the most basic sense justice is receiving what we are owed. Conversely, mercy is receiving good when we are not owed it. This distinction is not only important to preserve the meaning of the two terms, but it is also important for our understanding of the gospel.

If mercy is something we are owed, then we lose the gospel. The good news of Christ is that God has shown mercy through Christ. If God owed us salvation then salvation is not by grace. The gospel is so great because God gave us the exact opposite of what we deserved. He forgave those who deserved justice. The wonder is magnified because God also satisfied his justice by sending his Son to die in our place. At the cross mercy and justice meet. If we confuse mercy and justice, then we lose the glory of the gospel.

What Micah 6.8 Actually Means

The problem of getting to the right interpretation of Micah 6.8 is furthered by poor English translations. The phrase, “love mercy” is actually only one word in the Hebrew (hesed). This term is often translated as God’s steadfast love. It is a word used throughout the Old Testament to refer to the unique love God has for his people. God’s love is faithful and it lasts forever. This is the word we find often translated as “love mercy.” But that is not what the word means. The HCSB translation gets this right, “Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

The idea is that God’s people act justly when they love and practice faithfulness to their covenant with Him. The context of Micah helps to further demonstrate that this passage has faithfulness in view, not mercy. This book is organized in such a way that God presents his case against Israel. They have broken the covenant and this is what led to their judgment. Immediately before Micah 6.8 God contrasts his own faithfulness with the unfaithfulness of Israel (6.3-4). Then he calls them to return to the covenant, but this return cannot come by mere sacrifice (6.6-7). What is needed is faithfulness to the covenant. This is why the word hesed is used. This word draws their attention to the faithful love God has poured out on them through the covenants. This word stands a call for them to return to the covenant and mirror God’s faithfulness. This is what just living looks like.

There is more to the context which also shows us this is about faithfulness and not mercy. In answering what they must do, God reminds them he has already told them what to do! Look again at the first part of verse eight, “Mankind, he has told what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you”. So he has told them, but where did he tell this? God here is pointing back to the terms of his covenant. So God then quotes from Deuteronomy 10.12, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul”. Micah 6.8 quotes Deuteronomy 10.12 which is about faithfulness, not mercy. Micah 6.8 is a call to love God by being faithful to the covenant he established with Israel.

Conclusion

So how do we live out justice? We do so by loving God, keeping his commands, and following his covenant with us. This is what Micah 6.8 is about. It is a call to obey the moral commands of God and honor his covenant.

When we understand Micah 6.8 correctly we do not end up confusing justice and mercy. While mercy is a wonderful reality, it is not a requirement of the gospel it is not an outworking of justice. Rather just living is found in faithful obedience to God.

By: Levi J. Secord

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