Hate Crimes, Sex, and the Love of God

A fantastic and thoughtful post by Douglas Wilson. I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts on it, especially the distinction he draws in how we respond to sin in terms of failure vs. rebellion.

Are You a Respectable Sinner?

Over the weekend, I finished up Jerry Bridges' book Respectable Sins. Though the title may seem a bit odd (it was a great conversation starter with some of my co-workers), the premise of the book is much needed and incredibly useful. As the church today fails to miss a beat in condemning the grievous sins of society, Bridges challenges Christians to take a hard look at the less-obvious, but all-too-serious sins we tolerate in our own lives - our own "respectable" sins. Anger. Bitterness. Envy. Pride. Judgmentalism. You won't hear fiery polemics on these topics like you will about abortion, sexual immorality, or Godlessness, but they are alive and well in our lives, made all the more dangerous by their insidious nature. By treating them as "respectable," we often are blind to their devastating effects on our spiritual walks.

After introducing his premise in the opening chapters, Bridges examines several of these sins in detail chapter-by-chapter, examining how they often pop up in our lives and what we can do to battle against them. The book is incredibly disarming, showing self-styled "good people" like us just how much we still struggle with sin - and how easily we even give up the struggle and accept some sins as normal. This could be an incredibly depressing topic to explore if not for the pastoral heart that Bridges writes with. His lifetime of wisdom and gentle demeanor overflow out of every page. What could be a shattering condemnation instead has a hopeful tone, as Bridges constantly exhorts us to put our trust in the grace of Christ - both for our salvation and our sanctification. He is honest about his own failings, and offers extremely practical advice for overcoming the stumbling blocks of sin.

I can't recommend this one highly enough. It's a fairly quick and easy read that is well-suited to careful and prolonged study. One could easily read through the book in an afternoon, but I found I benefited greatly by spreading it out over a few weeks, deliberately meditating on each chapter. I think this book would be especially useful as part of a small-group study (in fact, the back of the book contains information about ordering study guides). There's not one person among us or in our churches that couldn't benefit from this challenging, yet ultimately encouraging book. Give it a read.

So I Had a Bad Day

Note: The song of the above video should be listened to while reading this post. It really sets the tone, and it will be stuck in your head for the remainder of the day. You're welcome. Also, I am not responsible for any flashbacks to season 5 of American Idol that you may experience while listening to this song. Some things are better left in the past, I know. Ace Young is one of them.

Tuesday was a really crappy day. Everything, it seemed, was stacked against me and conspiring to drive me crazy. I won't get into the details. They're really not all that important. What is important is what I learned about myself in the process. In the event that it's helpful, here you go. File these away for your next bad day.

1) My "niceness" is frail. I tend to be a pretty laid-back, easygoing person. I am often complemented for being "nice." However, it took a surprisingly short time on Tuesday for me to turn into a total jerk. I carried an attitude for most of the evening that necessitated several apologies to my wife on Wednesday morning. Looking at how little had to go wrong to make me feel like I had license to act however I wanted with no regard for others was a humbling window to just how much selfishness I have in me.

2) My focus is often misplaced. The scary part is that this can happen without me noticing it. Never in a million years would I have told you that I was too attached to my barbecue grill, but - as I noted yesterday - when it wasn't working right, I became incredibly stressed and upset. It was a strong reminder to just how easily I fall into the trap of buying into what this world deems important - namely, stuff.

3) Grace is enough. Though we say we're dependant on grace, I think far too often we, perhaps even subconsciously, tend to think that our goodness has something to do with our standing before God. When we're doing well spiritually, he accepts us, and when we're doing poorly spiritually, he pushes us away. This is a lie. The reason that we have a right standing before God is because he chooses to look past our sins and look upon the free gift of righteousness we have because of Jesus. Our acceptance is not merit based, or we'd all be screwed. I realized this as I apologized to Heather on Wednesday, and her forgiveness was quick and complete. I didn't deserve it, but there it was, a little microcosm of the forgiveness that the Father has bestowed on us by grace through faith in Christ.

In the sports world, they say that sometimes you learn more in defeat than you do in victory. God used my bad day to teach me some powerful lessons about grace and sanctification in my life. Even my sin served to give him glory. Shall I go on sinning that grace may abound? Of course not! But I hope and pray that the next time the camera don't lie and you're ready to sing a sad song just to turn it around, you'll realize that though we all are great sinners, Christ is a greater savior.

Is Smoking Sinful? Part II - A Response to R.A. Torrey

Last month, I commented on Tim Challies' reflections on whether or not smoking is sinful (he, and I, conclude it is not necessarily). Today, Challies linked to an article on The Scriptorium by R.A. Torrey that takes the opposing view, and I feel it does so with poor arguments. Torrey offers a clear, well-presented 5-point outline of his case, so I'd like to respond on a point-by-point basis.

First. Tobacco costs money and does the one who uses it no good and the money that belongs to God is squandered. Many professedly Christian men spend as much money every year on tobacco as would support several native workers in China or India or Africa.

Yes, tobacco costs money that could be used for other purposes. So does a piece of cheesecake, a ticket to a football game, a nice pen, and the bow tie Torrey wears in his (very cool) sketch picture. Like tobacco, none of those things produce any good, save for personal enjoyment. Yet, nobody is railing against the inherent evils of desserts, attending football games, collecting fountain pens and wearing ties. Unless one is going to advocate a strict asceticism (which seems to be contrary to a well-balanced view of Scripture, especially considering my recent study of Ecclesiastes), then this argument doesn't seem to hold up, as it's not applied with consistency across the spectrum of the Christian life.

Second. Tobacco is physically injurious to at least the overwhelming majority of those who use it. Some it hurts more than it does others. Many a minister’s life has been shortened by the use of tobacco. Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost and we have no right to do anything that impairs their health or strength.

Replace tobacco with cheesecake or cheeseburgers and that statement holds equally true. I would wager good money that more ministers have their lives cut short from the effects of cholesterol and heart disease than lung or throat cancer. Yet no one is saying that a man with a fondness for Sara Lee or Hardee's isn't "going all-out" for God.

Third. The use of tobacco is a filthy habit. It cannot be made anything but filthy. Some are not so filthy as others in their use of tobacco but every tobacco user sooner or later becomes more or less a filthy person, and we are specifically commanded in the Word of God to “Cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh.”

This one makes little sense to me. Define filthy. Is Torrey talking here about the smell of cigarette smoke (which I dislike as well)? What is his criteria for saying that "every tobacco user sooner or later becomes more or less a filthy person?" When Paul said to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh," I don't think that's quite what he had in mind.

Fourth. No person can use tobacco without infringing on the rights of other people. A man who smokes pollutes the air about him for at least 20 feet in every direction and forces others to breathe this polluted air. The man who chews, disgustingly defiles walks and floors and streets with his tobacco juice. Many a husband poisons his wife and his children with the fumes of his tobacco. The head of an institution for the care of sickly children in a British city told me that the overwhelming majority of the children that came to them for care came there because they had been poisoned by the fumes of the tobacco with which their fathers had polluted the air in the rooms in which they slept. The use of tobacco is one of the most selfish of all habits. The tobacco user, even the most careful, seems to become more or less oblivious to the rights and feelings of others.

I can sympathize with his points here, having worked for four years of my life in a restaurant before Louisville's smoking ban. I've never smoked a cigarette in my life, but I'm sure that I smoked countless packs secondhand while waiting tables. However, one isn't necessarily infringing on the rights of others when one smokes. I enjoy one or two cigars a year. I smoke them outside, on my porch, in the company of friends who are also smoking them. Sure, many smokers show no consideration to others - but that is a fault of the smoker, and not a necessary consequence of smoking.

Fifth. No man in our day can use tobacco with out losing his influence with somebody. We could give specific instances of men who in many respects are men of extraordinary power who have lost their influence, and who have done positive harm to the cause of Christ, by their use of tobacco. Every out and out Christian desires his life to count to the uttermost for God and will not do anything, no matter how innocent in itself, which he has reason to think will rob him of an ounce of influence for God with anybody. If one will stop to candidly think of it, he must know that the use of tobacco will rob him of the influence with some whom he might and ought to reach and help.

To this, I give two points in response. First, I believe that Torrey grossly exaggerates this concern. I know many Christian men who smoke (in moderation), and I can say emphatically that none of them have lost their gospel influence because of it. If anything, I've found that lost people are more apt to listen to a man who calls sin what Scripture calls sin and nothing more than a man who harps on a pet list of sins that are foriegn to God's Word. Secondly, who are we going to lose influence with? The most likely group would be Christians who believe that smoking is a sin. Does their disapproval necessarily mean that we should stop what they disapprove of? Many professing Christians would tune me out because I don't use the King James Bible or may not wear a suit and tie on Sunday morning. Should I change my convictions to placate them and avoid losing my influence? Does their disapproval make my behavior sinful?

In all, I think that Torrey's argument falls flat on every point. Scripture nowhere condemns smoking as sinful. If you feel that it is unwise to smoke, then that is a perfectly commendable personal conviction - but it is a personal conviction, not a Biblical mandate. Do you have concerns with Torrey's thoughts? With mine? Join the discussion in the comments.

Watch Yourself, Because Your Kids Are

Zach Neilsen posted this quote from Douglas Wilson on parenting...

“The story of child rearing is almost wholly about imitation. We do good or ill, and the young ones follow in lock step, no matter how much we talk and point elsewhere. They are designed that way…

This inescapable imitation should be listed as a means of growing in grace. Parents often jest about their children being ‘means of sanctification,’ suggesting that child rearing is often a trial. But the situation is much more serious than a passing trial. Given the way children have to imitate parents (or whoever fills that role), one cannot just coast passively, selfishly, like we often do through tough times. Our tiniest daily responses in front of the kids constantly mold and chip away at their persons. Children are a means of sanctification because they are daily adopting their parents’ characters, virtues and vices and all. This is a blessing when we are faithful, but it’s a frightening mirror when we see our own sins growing in them. With kids around, we can’t just move slowly on our own growth. We have to grow in grace for the sake of the kids. If we don’t, then we can become a curse to them and their children.” - Douglas Wilson

Is Smoking Sinful?

Tim Challies takes up a thoughtful examination of that question. I think he hits on a lot of good points here, and examines things fairly. My conclusion is pretty similar to his - no, smoking is not necessarily sinful, though an addiction to it could be. The Bible has nothing to say about the subject whatsoever, so I would have major concerns with someone who would say that it unequivocally is sinful - that is the territory of legalism. Can good arguments be made against smoking? Sure - though Challies shows that these reasons aren't as airtight as they might seem when viewed with consistency across the spectrum of the Christian life. In any regard, it's a good article to get you thinking about how we define sin. Check it out, and if you've got thoughts on the issue, let me know in the comments.

Sola5 Wednesday Recap - 10/1/08

This weekly topic is an effort to recap the Wednesday night Bible study I teach at Sola5, my youth group. I hope it serves to help us all in contemplating the ceaseless riches of God’s grace as revealed through the Scriptures.

Last night, our study of the Gospel of John came to an event to which it’s been building for 50 lessons – our study of John 19 and its depiction of the crucifixion of Christ. Throughout the book, Jesus has been emphasizing to us the incredible importance of this moment, forecasting his own death repeatedly and telling his followers, “my hour has not yet come.” This “hour” he spoke of was the time when he would give his life for the redemption of humanity from sin. Jesus’ death and resurrection are the most important events in all of Christianity – and in human history. Thus, it is important that we take the time to carefully examine what they mean. Last night, we did exactly that with the cross – examining how it puts our sin on full display. After all, the suffering Christ endured is a direct result of our sin. We even changed the way we do things on Wednesday nights in order to snap our minds out of routine and force us to focus. We entered and exited our study time in silence and spent time meditating on songs that focus us on the cross (such as David Ward’s update of Albert Midlane’s “Look Unto Him”). My wife and another of our youth leaders read aloud Psalm 38 and Isaiah 53 before I said a word. Everything we did, we did to force ourselves to confront the brutal reality of the sin that dwells within each of us, in order that we can more fully appreciate the amazing grace we’ve been given.

We’re confronted first with the brutality of sin in verses 1-16. As John recounts Jesus’ beating and condemnation by Pilate, he focuses us on two things. First, the horrible brutality that Christ endured. His readers would have shuddered at the thought of a Roman flogging. John tells us that Christ is so badly beaten that Pilate, hoping the Pharisees’ bloodlust has been placated, simply stands Jesus before them and exclaims, “Behold the man!” – or as we might have put it, “Look at him! Is this not enough?” However, the Pharisees scream for more, for Christ to die. Yet, as John highlights Christ’s brutal suffering, the second thing that he highlights is that his suffering is for us. Repeatedly, Pilate’s belief that Jesus was guiltless is mentioned. Jesus himself tells Pilate that the only authority Pilate wields is that which the Father has given to him. Jesus is doing this all for a divine purpose, and that is to save his people from their sin.

Next, as Christ dies upon the cross in verses 17-30, we see the curse of sin. We see his physical suffering as he is nailed to the cross and breathes his last, yes, but the details mentioned are mentioned to take us to the reality that Christ was not just dying, but he was bearing the curse of God for sin on our behalf. First, the very mention of execution harkens back to the words of Deuteronomy 21:22-23. Then, there are the curious details mentioned – the soldiers’ gambling for Jesus’ clothes, his thirst, and the fact told to us in the other gospels that Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These details are to remind us of prophecy written long before about the one who would deliver us from sin, in particular Psalm 22. Christ’s death took the curse, the wrath of God that we rightly deserve and bore it in full. When we look at the anguish of the cross, we see what our deeds have earned.

What our deeds have earned is death. In Christ’s death, we see the finality of sin, highlighted in verses 31-37. John relates to us that the Romans broke the legs of those crucified to hasten their death, but when they came to Jesus they found that he was already dead. In order to be sure, one of them pierces Christ’s side with his spear, causing a gushing of blood and water. This fact demonstrates that Jesus was in fact dead – his heart had likely ruptured resulting in the pooling of fluid in his chest cavity. John understood that this signified certain death, and he shows us by emphasizing the truth of what he’s reporting, attempting to cut off any who would suggest that Christ never actually died, but only passed out. As the truth of Christ’s death is hammered home, we are forced to reflect on the finality of sin. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death – a horrible and final judgment made all the more terrifying by Jesus’ remarks in Matthew 10:28. The end result of our sin is our being eternally cut off from the goodness of God. Hell is real (Jesus talked about it more than any other Biblical figure), and from it there’s no going back.

All of that takes us to our final realization – the hopelessness of sin. In verses 38-42 Jesus is put in the ground. Essentially, they have his funeral. To us, the crucifixion is always tinged with hope, because we know the rest of the story – we see the glory of the resurrection. However, put yourselves in the shoes of the disciples. What must that intervening Saturday have been like? Imagine the hopelessness of thinking that the one who promised peace with God was destroyed. That hopelessness, that despair, is where we find ourselves in our sin – powerless to do anything to make things right with God. Our only hope is the beautiful reality expressed in Ephesians 2:1-10 – that God has saved us by his grace because of Christ’s sacrifice. If you don’t know that hope, I implore you as earnestly as humanly possible to seek it at the cross. Christ stands ready to save. As Jonathan Edwards put it, he has “flung wide open the floodgates of mercy.” If you are walking in that hope, then I pray that you will look the horrible, monstrous reality of your sin squarely in the face, that you might realize the incomparable scope and power of the amazing grace of our Lord.

Sola5 Wednesday Recap - 7/16/08

This weekly topic is an effort to recap the Wednesday night Bible study I teach at Sola5, my youth group. I hope it serves to help us all in contemplating the ceaseless riches of God’s grace as revealed through the Scriptures.

Last night, we continued our “You Asked for It” summer series by examining a couple of very complex questions about the nature of sin. One of my students submitted two questions that we rolled into one study – Was sin already in the world before Adam and Eve’s actions at the fall (since they were already tempted and had thought about sinning), and did God create sin? To answer the questions, we spent the bulk of our time in James 1:12-15, but also moved around a bit to see the surprisingly complex answers to these questions.

In James’s passage, he makes some very plain statements (as he does so well!) about the nature of sin and temptation. In verse 12, we’re told that temptation is not purposeless. James says that there is blessing in remaining true under trial, and his follow up comments in verse 13 indicate that when he says “trial,” he at least partially has temptation in view (and of course, what are trials but opportunities for temptation? – temptation to doubt, to reject God, etc.). Yet James says that temptations are part of the process that builds us into the image of Christ, preparing to receive the crown of life. Many times when I’m facing temptations of various kinds, I wonder to God why he can’t just remove the desires altogether and make life easier. However, his words to Paul keep ringing in my ears – “my grace is sufficient for you.” God does things in and through us during times of trial and temptation that simply wouldn’t be the same in ease and comfort.

After establishing that God uses temptation to build and strengthen us, he makes certain to clarify explicitly that temptation doesn’t come from God, but from us. Did God create sin? The short answer is an emphatic and conclusive no. When we feel tempted to turn away into sin, we’ve got no one to throw the blame at but ourselves. James says we are tempted when we are dragged away by our own desires. We already have everything we need to be the worst sinner imaginable inside of us. As one of my favorite college professors, Dr. Charles Draper, said, “There is nothing that you are not capable of given the right circumstances.” My students agreed with me that James really couldn’t have been clearer in verses 13 and 14. God is in no way tainted by or responsible for sin and temptation. Thus the short answer to “did God create sin?” The long answer was more complex, and we’ll return to it shortly.

In verse 15, James gives us a look at the process of sin’s generation, allowing us to see that temptation itself is not sin. Basically, temptation is when we come to the fork in the road and see multiple paths before us, one of which we know to be wrong. Seeing that path isn’t sin. Seeing its temporal appeal isn’t even necessarily sin. Sin happens when we make the decision to walk down that path and reject God’s truth. I say “make the decision” because Scripture is very clear that it’s entirely possible to sin with no outward actions whatsoever (see Matthew 5:21-30). I don’t have to actually act on sinful desires to sin, I just have to dwell on them. This helps us to understand the first question asked, “Where does sin begin?” Sin begins in between temptation and action when we seek that which is wrong.

Finishing here, we’ve gotten at least basic answers to both of the questions. However, to say emphatically that God didn’t create sin requires some more careful thought. After all, if we say (as we often do at Sola5) that God is in total sovereign control of all things (even human actions), and sin is a part of the world, isn’t he somehow responsible? To understand why we can say no, we looked at three different relevant Biblical examples – Genesis 50:15-21, Isaiah 10:5-19, and Acts 2:22-23. In each of these examples, we’re told that God has ordained the ultimately evil actions of people (selling of Joseph into slavery, Assyria’s destruction of Israel, the crucifixion of Christ), but that the responsibility for these evil actions is fully and totally upon the ones who willingly committed them (Joseph’s brothers, the Assyrian king, the “lawless men”). It was God’s plan from before the world began that Christ would be killed to save his people from their sins. This is not plan B, and God’s not thinking on the fly. However, the people who mocked, beat, and executed Christ were acting wickedly, and they alone are responsible for their actions.

Now, do I understand how these two realities (God’s sovereign plan and true human responsibility) can both be true simultaneously? Nope. I don’t understand the fullness of who God is or how he operates, and I never fully will. Think of it this way. Do you have a dog? Guess what – your dog will never fully understand what it’s like to be you. Doesn’t matter how carefully you explain it to him, he’ll never fully understand. Why? Because you’re an exponentially more complex being than he is. Now, of course he can understand some things about you – that you care for him, enjoy his company, and will provide for his needs. How does he know these things? Because you’ve revealed them to him in a way he can understand (you feed him, play with him, etc.) Now, if you’re an exponentially more complex being than your dog, God is an infinitely more complex being than you. There are some things about him that you will never fully understand – but what he does reveal to us we should believe and celebrate. Thus, my willingness to accept as true realities I can’t necessarily reconcile in my mind.

Perhaps after such a deep doctrinal exploration, you’re wondering why this stuff even matters at all. You’ll never fully figure out God, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. If we love him like we say, we should want to know all that we can about him and celebrate that deepening relationship. Why dwell on sin? Because the cross of Christ is about sin, and if we have a cheap and shallow view of our own sin than we’ll have a cheap and shallow view of the cross. If your sin is small, your savior will be small. Don’t be afraid this week to look your own sin in the face and rejoice in the grace that God has given to finite, fallen creatures such as us by his great love.