The Faith of a Friend

I think that I am one of those people who inadvertently has a sign on his back that says, "Ask me for a ride."  I have a long track record of being out in public (at the gas station, the grocery store, etc.) and being approached by someone in need of a ride.  There must be something about my 6'3'', large frame that communicates that I am a safe person from whom to get a ride, because I've given rides to a lot of strangers over the years who have asked me for one out of the blue.

One of these rides that I've given stands out in my memory: several years ago I was at the old Har Mar mall in Roseville, and I saw a man walking through the parking lot.  He asked me for a ride, and I obliged.

"Where are you headed?" I asked, after he had gotten in the car and I learned his name was Alex.  "Caribou Coffee," he said.  And then he let out a long sigh and said, "I'm going to meet a friend of mine there and tell him that this whole Christianity thing just isn't working for me."  (Hello, providence?)

It wasn't a long drive to the Caribou, but in the brief time that I had with Alex I learned that he had fallen on some very hard times, even struggling with homelessness.  He had a friend, however, who had been witnessing to him and encouraging him to believe the gospel.  But even in spite of Alex's attempts at faith, his physical circumstances had not changed much, and he felt that if he became a Christian, then his physical circumstances would improve - his life would get better and he would stop struggling so much.  That didn't happen, however, and so Alex was on his way to meet with this Christian friend to tell him that "this whole Christianity thing just isn't working for me."

I was able to give him some brief words of encouragement, pray for him, and then drop him off at Caribou where he would go on to have his conversation.  I never saw him again, and I didn't have any contact information for him.  I have no idea how that conversation went or where he is now in his spiritual life and growth.

I do know one thing for sure, however: this man had a friend who had a great faith, and who was doing everything he could to bring that man to the feet of Jesus.

We see this same kind of friendship and dedication in Luke 5.17-26, when a man's group of friends bring him to see Jesus, but are unable to access him because of the large crowd that is present.  The man had a physical condition that left him paralyzed, and his friends were hoping that Jesus could help him.  Doing their best to fulfill their mission, they get creative and actually go up on the roof of the house and lower the man through the roof until he's right in front of Jesus.

These friends are the kind of friends we all want, and hopefully, want to be to others.  These friends believed in Jesus, and they knew that he could help their friend - both physically and spiritually.  They knew that Jesus had the power to heal him, and they knew that Jesus had something else this man needed: the power to forgive sins.  And so, they did everything in their power to get their friend some face time with Jesus.  Even when they hit a roadblock and their "Plan A" wasn't successful, they moved on to "Plan B" and got creative in order to find a way to get this man to Jesus.

When Jesus sees everything they've done to arrange this encounter, he responds in a very strange way.  It says in Luke 5.20 - "And when he saw their faith, he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you," (emphasis mine).  That's odd, because Jesus appears to forgiven the man's sins on the basis of his friends' faith.  This is not the pattern that we see in scripture.  Instead, what we see in the Bible is that an individual is always saved by grace through his own faith, not the faith of someone else.  No one is saved on account of someone else's faith.  You can't be saved because your mom and dad believe the gospel, nor can you be saved because your friends are Christians.  God is calling each one of us - individually - to repent and believe.  Although Jesus is moved by the faith of these friends and the lengths they went to in order to arrange this meeting, they are not the cause of this man's salvation.

But we should not miss the overwhelming power of the faith of a friend as displayed in these verses.  God will reward the faith of those who believe with every ounce of their being that if they can just bring a friend or relative to the feet of Jesus, he will save them.  God uses faithful friends to accomplish his purposes on the earth, including the salvation of people he has chosen to redeem.  God sees the intensity of our desires for others to be saved, and he rewards our faith.

The man that I described earlier obviously had a faithful friend that was attempting to get him in front of Jesus.  So far it hadn't been too successful, but this friend was clearly believing that God could save Alex, and he was working and operating in that belief.  God had so far seen this friend's faith and desire for Alex to believe the gospel, and God had orchestrated times and places where Alex could hear the gospel and believe it.  God even set up that meeting between Alex and his friend and Caribou.  God works through faithful friends.

Are you a faithful friend?  Do you have a desire to bring your friends and relatives to the feet of Jesus, and are you willing to get creative about how you will do that?  Are you willing to work hard and maybe pursue some unorthodox avenues to make it work (like digging through a ceiling and lowering your friend through it?).  Be a faithful friend, and do whatever it takes to bring people to the feet of Jesus so that they can encounter him and receive the healing they need.

Plausible Arguments

This past Sunday (and this coming Sunday, Lord willing) I had the opportunity to fill the pulpit at Riverview.  My text was Colossians 2.1-8, in which Paul warns the Colossians against believing the various false teachings that were circulating in their religious culture.  Paul tells the Colossians that he is struggling for the sake of their doctrinal and practical purity as a church, and he says that he's struggling so that "no one may delude you with plausible arguments" (verse 4).

In the Colossian religious culture there were various false teachers who, more or less, subscribed to traditional Christian ideas and theology.  They just added minor differences or made a twist here and there to add some different teaching that added a little spin to what the Colossians already believed.  The problem is that just a little twist to the doctrine of salvation can lead to heresy quite quickly, and it appears that this is something like what was happening in Colossae: minor twists to core doctrines that were leading the Colossians astray.

The difficult thing about "plausible arguments" is that they are often couched in very reasonable and rational terms.  Or they might be delivered in ways that appeal to emotions so as to persuade the hearer because his or her heart strings are being tugged at.  Furthermore, it's possible that people were arguing very sincerely for their particular slant on orthodox theology, and it's always difficult to argue against someone who sincerely believes what they believe.

But none of the aforementioned ways of arguing for a particular point are objective means of determining truth.  Arguments can seem logical, but be completely fallacious; appealing to emotion is also fallacious.  Just because something tugs on my heart strings doesn't make it true.  Nor does sincerity determine truth.  Someone can sincerely believe what they believe and still be very wrong (such as sincerely believing that 2 + 2 =5).

We can probably appreciate Paul's warning against being deluded by "plausible arguments" after having watched the three presidential and one vice presidential debates.  Each man has an agenda that he spins with every word that comes out of his mouth.  There are plenty of half-truths and distorted facts that serve to support each candidate's position.  Candidates also try to persuade voters by tugging at their heart strings and by conveying to voters the fact that they sincerely believe the thoughts and ideas that they are espousing.  In order to balance out the half-truths espoused by the candidates, the media has seen fit to take upon themselves the position of "fact-checker," although I question even the fact-checkers' ability to determine truth.  They are likewise arguing from an interpretation of the "facts."

Probably the most prominent issue in which I have personally heard people attempting to delude others with "plausible arguments" is in the debate surrounding the gay marriage amendment.  But before I explain further, let me say that I don't believe that people intend to delude, or to espouse "plausible arguments" when they present their case, whatever it may be.  That is, I believe that people actually think what they say, and they truly believe their arguments are based on truth and fact.  I don't think people realize the ways in which they are persuaded by emotion and fallacious logic.  I've covered this before on this blog.  To be sure, this is a problem that everyone has - we all have reasons for believing and thinking the way we do, and some of those we have arrived at objectively, and some are more inherent and based on the ways we have been raised, and our particular worldview.  The challenge, then, is to be able to realize these influences to make our thinking as objective as possible.

When it comes to homosexuality and the same-sex marriage discussion, it is my opinion that both sides appeal to emotion when making their points, and that appeals to emotion are the foundation of why people think the ways they do on this issue.  This is not a good place to argue from for either side.

Case in point: a Facebook friend of mine from high school posted the below this past Sunday (I've removed all names and photos).

As you can see, the post generated quite a stir, producing a total of 39 "likes" and 120 comments as of 10:00 AM this morning.

This is an argument based on emotion, even though the Poster claims that it is not his opinion, but is instead a "fact."  The person who wrote this is appealing to emotion by labeling all those who would support the marriage amendment as being discriminatory.  Whether or not this is true is, at this time, irrelevant.  The fact is, the foundation for his argument an attempt to shame people into believing what he believers.  He doesn't realize it but he is, to put it in biblical language, attempting to delude others with his plausible argument.  Furthermore he even admits that this is an issue that he feels strongly about, furthering his motivation to propagate his ideas.  In order for this to be a legitimate argument, he needs to show how voting against same sex marriage is indeed discrimination, and that said discrimination is an inherently bad thing, of which he accomplishes neither - not in the post itself nor in the 120 comments that follow (trust me, I read through all of them).  My purpose in examining this post is not to either agree or disagree with the sentiment expressed therein, but to show how this is not a good way to argue a position or promote an intellectually honest pursuit of truth.

So then what should Christians do?  Paul's focus in Colossians 2 is on finding truth in Christ, and not in man-made arguments that always come from some personal agenda or set of influences (including my own).  The only objective means of discovering truth is the word of God, and this is where Christians should look to find truth.  In other words, "What does the Bible say?"

Certainly my Facebook friend and several in the comment thread would fire back that my interpretation of the Bible is likewise influenced by my own agenda and influences, to which I would answer, "Absolutely, yes."  To deny this reality would be intellectually dishonest, and would be to turn a blind eye on my own propensity to argue from emotion, to use fallacious logic, and to hold on to wrong beliefs because of my sincerity in believing them.  I fully admit that I am not an objective standard of truth.

But the word of God claims to be an objective standard of truth, and it either is or it isn't.  And even if my interpretation of it is flawed and influenced by my own sinfulness, at least I have something objective to fall back on.  This means, however, that we need to be aware of our tendency to delude others with plausible arguments even when we argue from the Bible.

I think one of Paul's main messages in this text from Colossians 2 is this: don't be confused or persuaded by emotion or fallacious logic, or just because someone believes something sincerely.  Instead, as yourself this question: What does the Bible say?  If we are looking for truth, and especially in light of our own propensity to twist facts to suit our own preferences, at least we are starting in the right place when we go to scripture.  And the more we realize and know about our own tendency to twist things to fit our own agenda, the more we can fight that tendency in ourselves as we search for truth.

Where's the Tolerance?

I fight a continual battle with my Facebook account.  I am friends with several people I went to high school with, and a lot of them don't share my political views or religious beliefs.  There's nothing wrong with that necessarily, but it does mean that they clog up my feed with vulgarities and extreme political views that mock my own.  When I see these posts, I basically have two options: 1) ignore it, which sometimes feels like validation, or 2) reply to what I see, which almost always sparks a fruitless Facebook argument, which I can't stand.  I suppose I could just chop these folks off my friends list (I'm not a fan of blocking people - if you're going to cut off all communication with a person, why be friends with them?).

Case in point: there's a guy I went to high school who has extreme liberal political views.  He's also an atheist and rags on Christianity quite frequently.  I couldn't be silent, for example, when he said on his feed that anyone who holds to creationism should be arrested.  Seriously.  This spawned a long debate that went nowhere, of course (mostly because he seems to not be able to respond to my objections).  And just last week he posted a video of Bill Nye the Science Guy talking about how not teaching evolution to children is harmful to them.  I simply commented that the strength of the argument comes into question when Bill Nye the Science Guy is your only reputable source.  My high school friend responded with accusatory language and called me names.  You see my dilemma?

Anyway, today I logged on to my FB account and saw this comment (I've removed all the names).  I literally had to read it twice to make sure it said what I thought it said.  The irony and hypocrisy of this comment is unbelievable:

Later this evening I plan to post, "Hey man, where's the tolerance?"  That should lead to a fun discussion.

Six Degrees of Sovereignty

The title of this post refers to the so called "Six Degrees of Separation," whereby one can connect himself or herself to anyone by way of relationships with six other people.  My post refers to the sovereignty of God, however, and not separation, or even Kevin Bacon.  Actually I got to thinking about all of the things God must have planned and enacted in order for something to come about.  God does things throughout history that have the exact ramifications he desires, even if it is just one small link in a chain that extends for centuries.  In other words, God had this exact moment in mind when he did X, Y,  and Z centuries ago.  He knew exactly what would happen, and exactly what a particular decision or event would lead to.  I've thought about this in a couple of different ways today, one of which is personal and another was shared by some friend's at tonight's Bible study meeting.

Exhibit 1: I got to thinking about this this morning at Norm Glewwe's funeral.  Earlier this week I had been talking to my mom, who was particularly sad about Norm's passing.  Norm and his wife Barb were some of my parent's first friends at Riverview when they started coming to the church almost 40 years ago.  In fact, my mom said, they may not have even stayed at Riverview had it not been for their friendship with Norm and Barb.  This got me to thinking about how many things were "riding on" the relationship that my parents had with the Glewwes when they first attended Riverview.  Basically my whole life was influenced and formed by Norm Glewwe's faithfulness to befriend my parents and make them feel welcome at Riverview.  Had he and Barb not befriended my parents almost 40 years ago they may have gone to another church, befriended other people, and my life's story would have unfolded in a completely different manner.  This wasn't dependent upon Norm, though, but on God's sovereign choice.

It's easy to overlook these small details as coincidences or things that "just happen" (I mean, people hit it off and become friends, and as a result go to church together - what's the big deal about that?).  That is, we can often think that small things like someone befriending someone else and their subsequent attendance at a particular church just happens.  Not true.  God had it planned that way.  Speaking for my own life story, God intended that Norm and Barb befriend my parents, that they join Riverview, have kids, and that their third child grow up to become a minister in that very church.  How many things did God have to nail down in order for that to happen?  Certainly more than six.  It must be an astronomical number of things that God orchestrated to bring me to where I am today.  And God used Norm Glewwe in that process.  Praise God for that.

I mean, if you look at the numbers, it gets pretty crazy pretty quickly.  God had to give Norm the exact life experience he had in order to bring him to a place where he was at Riverview when my parents came, down to the mundane details of making sure Norm's alarm clock went off at the right time that morning, and that he drove a particular speed to get to church on time.  God had to orchestrate my parents' lives in such a way as they came together, got married, and eventually visited Riverview, where they then met Norm and Barb.  To think that God had a hand in the minute details of every little thing in the lives of those people, and in the lives of the people they interacted with, and in the lives of the people they interacted with, and so on, and so on, becomes a process that I can't wrap my mind around.

Exhibit 2: A couple in our Bible study have been trying to buy a house for some time now.  They recently found one they liked in Northfield that was a bit out in the country.  Northfield is a good distance from the church and the rest of their Bible study friends.  When I first heard about their intentions I was a bit worried: would they continue to come to Riverview?  To Bible study?  I certainly didn't want to sever relations with them.  They resolved to continue to attend Riverview and Bible study in spite of the distance they would have to travel.

Time went on and it turned out that the house deal in Northfield fell through, so this couple had to search elsewhere.  They ended up buying a house in South St. Paul, very close to where they currently live.  This also means that they're basically within five minutes of the church and their Bible study friends.  Tonight at our small group meeting they shared that they wanted to praise God for his provision of a house for them, and that they have realized that their not getting their first choice of the house in Northfield was God's sovereign direction and blessing on their lives.  They shared that, even though they resolved to continue attending Riverview and Bible study with people from the church, that they probably wouldn't have done so, just because of the challenge of traveling all that way.  They saw this as God telling them they needed to be at Riverview and to continue with their small group.  Also, by living in South St. Paul they'll be close to all their friends and family.

Two things here: first of all, how many things did God have to do to make that house in Northfield fall through to force the couple to look for another house?  Imagine what he had to do, literally throughout history, in order to make this house not work out for this couple, thereby keeping them close to the people who care about them and who are in the process of growing with them.  God must've been involved in the lives of the real estate agents, loan officers, other buyers, etc.  All of this God did to bring this couple to where they are today.  It's mind-boggling.

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."  Proverbs 19.21.  There are so many reasons to praise God for his sovereignty, and I unfortunately miss many of them simply because I'm not looking.

Thoughts On My First Wedding

This post's title needs a bit of explaining. I've only been married once, and I plan to keep it that way. The first wedding that I'm referring to is one that I officiated. Ken Marz and Sarah Heckathorn tied the knot today and I was privileged to be the one to be a part of it. Truth be told, I only did the vows, ring ceremony, and pronouncement (the easy stuff). Another minister did the message. I just basically had to find some vows to use and a traditional ring ceremony. No problem. The biggest concern I had was just not messing it up during the ceremony. All in all, it was a pretty cool experience, and I'm glad to have been a part of it. Thanks to Ken and Sarah for having me be a part of their wedding.

After the wedding I stopped at a local gas station to get some stuff I needed for my Sunday School class. The clerk noticed that I was dressed up, and actually asked if I was going to a wedding. I told him that I already had been. He asked if I was then on my way to the reception (it was about 5:30 PM). I told him that was already over too. He was in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the reception was already over at such an early time. But I guess that's what happens when you have a pretty "tame" ceremony. One without booze or dancing (not that there's anything wrong with those things; I just think it was a neat testament to the convictions of the couple - so kudos to Ken and Sarah for that).

My systematic theology prof at Sioux Falls told a neat story about a minister he knew who began each wedding ceremony he conducted by having the bride and groom sign the marriage certificate, hand it to him, and then he threw it on the floor and said, "Now that we've rendered unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, we will render unto God that which is God's." He did this to underscore the fact that a marriage is first and foremost a covenantal relationship that finds its meaning in the eyes of God, and not in the eyes of the state. His point was, yes, the state says you are married, but what does God say? The spiritual significance of marriage is much more important than the legal significance.

That little story stuck with me, and I've thought about it quite a bit. I really like it. I told Ken and Sarah that I was going to make a similar distinction when I did their vows. I wasn't as dramatic as to throw the marriage certificate on the floor, but I did make sure to mention that the important business was about to take place (making a covenant with and before God), and that the unimportant business (signing the marriage certificate) was just that - unimportant. I don't think the significance can be overstated.

All in all, it was a good experience, and I'm looking forward to repeating it many times in the future.

Trusting God

I had the opportunity to preach the message at this morning's worship service at Riverview. Pastor Wick was out of town, and I was happy to fill in for him.

The text I chose to preach on was Joshua 11.1-9. I've posted about this text before, but I've been thinking about it a lot, and hence decided to preach on it when I got the chance.

I think the main message of the narrative is to trust God, and that we don't need things in life like horses and chariots because we have God. One of the points in my sermon is that we tend to trust God only to an extent, and we usually have a backup plan just in case God doesn't come through for us. The only problem with this line of thinking is that having a backup plan is not complete and absolute trust. It's only partial trust. We sometimes don't trust God to provide for us, so we tend to take matters into our own hands...just in case.

My biblical example of this was 1 Chronicles 18.4. David acquires 1,000 horses and chariots by way of winning a battle, and he decides that he trusts God enough to hamstring 900 of the horses and leave 100 horses to be used with chariots...just in case. Why not hamstring all 1,000 horses? Why leave 100 left over? I think it was so he had an insurance plan, just in case God didn't come through for him. Did David trust God? Yes, but not totally. For whatever reason, David felt that he needed a backup plan.

Now, I've been thinking about something that didn't make it into my sermon (I didn't include it in the sermon because I didn't want to cause confusion, or leave any matters unresolved): if we are supposed to trust God for everything, how do Christians justify things like insurance or retirement accounts? Why don't we say, "I am trusting God to keep me healthy. And if I do get sick, I will trust God to find a way to cover my medical costs." And why don't we ever say, "I am not going to save or invest for retirement. I will trust God to give me what I need to live, and I will invest the money I would have saved for retirement into the kingdom now." If we believe that God will provide and care for us, and supply all our needs according to his riches in glory, then couldn't someone suggest that the same should apply for things like insurance and retirement savings?

There are two answers to this question, I think. Here's what I would say: 1) Yes. We should trust God with things like our health, covering health care costs, and retirement savings. For some, it could definitely be a matter of conviction, and they should do as the Spirit leads. I know a couple from our church who recently canceled their health insurance for this very reason. They felt convicted that having health insurance was detracting from their total dependence upon God. For them, canceling their health insurance was the right thing to do. I totally support them in their decision. In fact, their faith is an encouragement to me.

2) The second way I would answer this is that we could say that things like insurance and investing for retirement are God's means of providing for us. In this sense, we trust God by using the methods that he has so graciously provided to us.

Either way you look at it, it's got to be a personal decision that comes as a result of much prayer and searching of the scriptures. For some, it would be a sin to depend on insurance and retirement saving. For others, not so much. I, myself hold a life insurance policy worth a significant amount of money. I feel that God has provided my family with this policy as a way of providing for my family if I were to die. That being said, I am not currently saving for retirement, nor do I plan to start, unless God were to change my thinking dramatically (Is there a conflict there? Maybe. After all, what is saving for retirement if not an insurance policy? I need to ask God to show me what to do with that.). Personally, I feel that doing so would violate my trust in God's provision. I also think there are much better things I could be doing with my money besides putting it away for a period of my life that is far from guaranteed. I may not even live to retirement, so why save money for something I don't even know is going to happen (I think there's some biblical support for this line of thinking, too)? But that's just me. And I don't think that I can universally apply that line of thinking to all Christians. Nor can my friends at church tell other people that they need to cancel their medical insurance or they're not trusting God. God is a personal God, who deals with all people individually where they're at.

What it really boils down to is all Christians humbling themselves, searching the scriptures, and determining for themselves - with the Spirit's guidance - what trusting God looks like for them. For some people it may be no medical insurance; for others it may mean not saving for retirement; for some it might mean giving half of their paycheck to the church; for still others it might mean having a mother quit her job to stay home and homeschool her kids while her husband goes to work to provide. Who knows? If you want to know how you can trust God more, just ask him, and be open to how he will lead. It might not be easy, but it will definitely be worth it. And God is certainly trustworthy enough for you to cast your cares on him.

The Wounds Of A Friend

Ecclesiastes 7.5 says: "It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools."

This verse was played out, almost literally, in my life this past week. I was planning on attending a concert in the near future, when a friend (and brother in Christ) told me I needed to re-examine whether or not that was something I should be doing as a follower of Jesus. The issue comes in that this was not a Christian band, and the band has a bit of a reputation for being kind of harsh and foul-mouthed. So then, his "rebuke" for me (I consider it to be an encouragement) was that I should think seriously about whether or not this was the kind of activity that I should take part in, both as a Christian, and as an example to those around me. After a bit of thought I concluded that he was right, and I thanked him for looking out for me as a brother. So in this case, his wise rebuke literally kept me from hearing the song of fools.

Proverbs 27.6 says: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy."

This verse inspires an interesting and accurate picture: nobody ever likes to be rebuked or told they are wrong - it's just not a pleasant experience - it hurts one's pride. But that's kind of the point: the realization that it is indeed your pride that is wounded makes you change the way you think or act and realign yourself to a more Christ-like way of life. And so, the rebuke of a friend - while difficult - ultimately leads to a more disciplined, godly life. And for that, I am thankful.