Category: Christianity & Culture

What Really Matters in the Lord’s church?

On July 9, 2022

Today’s culture is made up of hierarchies, idols, heroes, and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, those who just aren’t considered that cool. In fact, we are so used to this system of “ranking” that it can even creep into organizations where it most certainly does not belong.

The Lord’s church is not a place for hierarchies. There is no room for human “rankings” in the Lord’s church. In fact, if proof is in order, we need look no further than James:

Jas 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

Jas 2:2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,

Jas 2:3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”

Jas 2:4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Jas 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

Jas 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?

So, you may be thinking, what is this guy on about? Since when does this happen regularly in the church? Well, to that I would say that, indeed, the Lord’s church are some of the finest people on earth. Still, I will give two examples of “issues” that might be problematic to the Lord’s church.

Single people. It is indeed true that there is a stigma about single people in the church. I’m not sure why, since Jesus mentions that this is a possible lifestyle (Matt 19:11-12) and since Paul discusses the fact that being single might even have some advantages (1 Cor 7:31-34). There are many job postings for preachers that list marriage (and often kids) as a requirement for the job. I’m not saying this is necessarily wrong (they are paying the person after all) but it is strange that neither Jesus nor Paul (based on those standards) would qualify for that particular preaching job.
Concern for the World. It is understandable that we are concerned for the world we live in, however, a deeper concern for this world than for the one to come can be problematic. I sometimes feel as if the church thinks that they can “perfect” this world with a few more quality politicians or laws passed. The Bible teaches that God is in control of governments and that this world is wearing out like an old garment, that it is ran by the “prince of the air”, and is going to burn with fervent heat at the end of time. I think we should let go of trying to “fix” the world and embrace and strengthen the church (Christ’s Kingdom). Our brothers and sisters should come before political parties and politicians that promise (falsely) to reform this world.

I hope this article has spurred some thought, and I hope that you will comment below if you have any thoughts on these controversial topics. Have a great week and I’ll talk to you soon!

Jay

Conflict of Interest

By Jay

On May 18, 2022

In Christianity & Culture

I believe we all battle something that is seldom mentioned inside our churches (or in life in general). This thing is there…lurking…and it has an effect on us all. This “thing”, which is the subject of today’s article, is our immense interest in the things of the world and our lack on interest in the things of God.

Now, I understand this may not apply to everyone reading this article, but I do think it applies to me more often than it should. Too often we fail to read our Bibles daily, too often we go though slumps in our study, too often we put the things of the world ahead of the things that concern God (and thus our eternal life).

Think about your media viewing habits for a minute (T.V., books, YouTube, etc.). Do you make more time for television or YouTube than you do Bible study? Do you read more worldly books than books concerning God? If you say “yes” to this question I do not think you are alone. In fact I think that we all face this to some extent. We all sometimes let our earthly interests outweigh Godly interests.

So how can we solve this? Well, I think it starts with taking just a small action towards the Godly and away from the worldly. This is a complicated topic, but here are a few steps I think will help:

Set aside time to read and study the Bible each day.
Attend all of the church services that you can.
Learn to “love” theology, and yes, apologetics (the defense of God’s Word). Apologetics is becoming more and more important as we engage with more agnostic/atheistic secular people in our daily lives.
Push worldly things aside whenever possible. Whether it be the television or the internet. Begin to push away the worldly and embrace the things of the Lord.
I also believe that prayer is often overlooked and that we should all pray for God to help us to keep our interests in the correct (and proper) order.

Finally, remember that this is a process. It will take time to develop new habits and interests. Still, I believe if we dedicate ourselves to the development of these new “Godly” interests our lives will be much richer both now and eternally.

Being One of the Cool Kids

By Jay

On April 4, 2022

In Christianity & Culture

Our younger life might (or might not) have been filled with aspirations to be one of the “cool kids”. These were the children (or young adults) that others looked up to and admired. They were popular, often “funny”, and were able to climb to the top of the social ladder.

Sadly, these kids often used worldly tactics to get this social capital. They were not opposed to making fun of people, using profanity, or insinuating that they were starting to drink alcohol or “smoke weed”. They did whatever was trendy or popular at the time in order to gain prestige and attention in their social circle. The berated those that were outcast by society and worshipped those who were lifted up by society.

Adult life is much the same. One need only watch a sports discussion program, YouTube, TV (in general), the news, or the movies to find out this is true. The internet term “clickbait” is the epitome of someone striving to be a “cool kid”. It means one is doing whatever is necessary to gain attention (even if that means being dishonest).

Many television programs follow this tactic in part or in whole. On these programs you will regularly see people talking trash about others, putting others (who were previously in their corner) down, selling useless products, stripping themselves practically (or literally) naked, and cursing like sailors.

“Cool Kid” Syndrome is Everywhere

In fact, I daresay that one need not even watch television or internet programs to witness this phenomenon. Everyday life is full of “cool kids”, or maybe we should call them “popular adults”. They are at your work, they are in your family, they are throughout society. They are just old “cool kids”.

It does not matter to them that wrinkles have replaced freckles and gray hair has replaced pig tails. They continue the game, after all, they can dye the hair. These people ride the wave of the culture and embrace whatever methods necessary to gain fame, money, popularity, and power. And once they begin it is likely that they never will stop.

This, of course, requires that one ignore what God says about morality. But such is the price of fame. The sad truth is that in order to be popular and accepted by today’s society you will very likely have to sell your soul.

What is the Cost?

Even more disheartening is that the desire for social acceptance and social capital is an unquenchable hunger that cannot be satiated by anything here on earth. If we take this path we will leave this earth with nothing but a tattered and moth eaten soul and we will stand before the almighty God with a hopelessness that cannot be adequately described with words.

So, what is the solution? Look to Jesus for your example. Though He was despised by most of the popular and powerful here on earth, he ended up seated at the right hand of God in heaven. He knew that popularity here was fleeting and futile, and that eternal life was far more important than temporary earthly gain.

The great news is that if we follow the New Testament pattern we too can spend a glorious eternity in heaven. Then, I am sure, that a faint smile of relief will play across our lips as we suddenly realize just who the “cool kids” were all along…

Education and the church

By Jay

On March 2, 2022

In Apologetics, Christianity & Culture

From what I can see the church of Christ and education have had an interesting relationship over the years. Many preachers (and I am one of them) state that the only education needed in ministry is a strong foundation in the knowledge of God’s Word, a desire to preach, and the desire to be a dedicated Christian. These components will lead to experience and skill and thus will lead to a pretty solid preacher.

Still, education can be valuable as well. Brother Thomas B. Warren was a big proponent of education (even secular education) for preachers. He felt that the universities had had education to themselves for too long and that good Christians needed to become a part of the system. I agree, but I also wonder if things have now gone too far for that to (realistically) happen.

I will tell you a story to illustrate my point. I had a professor in undergrad who what blatantly misinterpreting scripture by “picking and choosing” verses and using “the argument from authority” fallacy. What I mean by this is he was taking another professor (who he obviously looked up to) and stating that because this professor said such and such that such and such was “fact”. I spoke up in class and refuted each point that the professor made with scripture. Things did not go well.

Before I get into the outcome of this contention I would like to state that I did nothing that any solid brother or sister in the church could not have done. In fact, I looked many of the verses needed to refute him on my iPad right there in class! So, I am not saying that I’m some kind of Biblical genius who refuted this well educated man. Still, I was able to refute every argument he offered and I did so.

He became VERY agitated and began to yell at me. He said, “Do not insult my intelligence! This man [the professor he was looking up and referring to] has a PhD and has been on the New York Times best seller list!” I basically replied that what the Bible says outweighs any man, as I believe it to be the Word of God. During this “confrontation” the other students in the class were looking at the floor uncomfortably. Still, I continued to refute each false premise (I felt it was my duty as a Christian for the benefit of the other students in the class), and he became even more angry.

After five or six refutations he was literally yelling so loudly that I was afraid other professors (in other classes) were going to intervene. He said many things, that I did not have the expertise to correct this famous professor, etc., and concluded by bellowing “That’s it! Class is over! I cannot be interrupted by someone with such a naive view of the Bible!”

After class I tried to give him a Bible reference card that tells you where to look up various subjects (Plan of Salvation, etc.) in the Bible. He refused to even look at me and told me he did not want my material and to take it with me and then followed me out of class yelling about the “insulting” of his intelligence and my “naive” view of the Bible. He went to the elevator and I took the stairs, I heard his yelling echoing down the hallway until the doorway to the stairs closed behind me.

I tell this story because the situation at public universities is (in my opinion) worsening. I know there are some places where this is likely less severe, but consider that I was at a university in the south! The ability to express views is being limited to that which is “culturally acceptable” and Christianity is becoming less and less acceptable in the university culture. Forget “equality”, we have a power shift (that has been happening for decades by the way) occurring in our public institutions – and I believe it is reaching an unprecedented level. Certain religious and political views are just not allowed to be put forth. This should not be the case.

Now, I understand that freedom of speech has its limitations (see my article here), but I also understand that if atheistic and evolutionary views are being presented in college (as well as views that assert that the Bible is just a book) – then the proper Biblical views should also be allowed to be put forth. This gives each student the ability to choose rationally between the two possibilities and make an educated decision about the future of their lives.

So, what is to be done about this dreadful situation? I think that we have to continue to fight for the equal presentation of both sides of the argument. I am not claiming that teachers should not put forth views, but they should put forth (to their students) all reasonable options. Since the Biblical option is by far the most reasonable option, it should be included in the curriculum of our educational institutions. Since that is not currently the case, I believe that we must educate our young people so that they can fight the good fight of faith in classrooms across the nation…even if professors and teachers claim they are “insulting their intelligence”.