What time is it? I have heard a few different interviews with Rosaria Butterfeild over the last several months. Rosaria is the wife of a presbyterian minister who was formerly a lesbian activist and professor of English and women’s studies at Syracuse University. (You can read more about her here, she was also recently featured in a video called “He saves us” made in response to the He gets us ad during the Super Bowl.) In these interviews, she has pointed out repeatedly that as Christians we don’t realize what time it is. What she means is that in response to so many culturally divisive and spiritually damaging topics of our day we still act like we are living in the quasi Christian culture of twenty or thirty or fifty years ago. A couple of examples might help us to understand this point. In terms of thinking about gender and sexuality, many of us are thinking that the argument is over ethics. Meaning is this behavior right or wrong. Or we may be thinking that the debate is about truth, such as is this gender claim true or false. But actually, the disagreement is much more fundamental, because it is about identity. Our response to the sexual promiscuity and gender fluidity of our day must be with the understanding that the true identity of each and every person is found in being made in the image of God as both male and female (Genesis 1:26-27). A second example would be our understanding of racialism or tribalism. For many of us the first thing that comes to mind when we hear the term ‘racist’ is a person who hates and persecutes other people because of their skin color or ancestry. But again this is because we don’t understand what time it is. Racism is now defined in terms of power and oppression. In this way of thinking, the needs of the oppressed should always be favored over the rights of the privileged because the privileged are benefiting from the plight of the oppressed. Our argument cannot simply be personal or inalienable rights because again that misses what time we are in. Rather, from the Bible, we must remember that prejudicial partialism is condemned whether it benefits the rich or the poor (Deuteronomy 1:16-18,James 2:1-13). What these examples and Rosaria’s point about knowing what time it is should help us realize are that often the problems that our lost and sinful culture are bogged down in are not the presenting preversions or the surface sins to which we often react. Rather, we must realize that there are deeper problems which these outward manifestations are revealing. These sins are the result of misplaced beliefs and worship. Human beings are created to be believers and worshippers but when that believing and worshiping nature is corrupted and polluted so that we believe lies and worship false deities then we are left with only emptiness and brokenness (Romans 1:18-32). Now What? So, if we realize what time it is, what should we do? First we need to tell the truth out of love for people and not out of fear or anger. Have you noticed that speaking out against most sins has become labeled as fear in many cases? Words such as “homophobic” are used to refer to those of us who would say that homosexuality is sin. But we are not afraid so why this label? I think it is because our opposition is understood as angry and hateful. Of course, no matter our tone, no one likes being told that they are sinning or that they should repent. However, we must still convey the only salvific gospel of Jesus Christ by calling out sin and commanding repentance out of love for sinners and not anger at sin or fear that we are losing our country or culture. It really does sometimes seem to me that many professing Christians just want the sinners to go back into the closet and out of sight. But we must love people enough to engage them with the life changing and hope giving message of the gospel (Titus 3:1-11). I could give a list here of things that we all know we need to do more. We need to share the gospel more, pray more, etc. But really what we need to do is love more. And loving more means loving enough to say hard things and even risk losing the relationship for the sake of the other person’s soul.
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Wedding Practice We usually think of wedding practice as something you do before the ceremony. But maybe we should think about marriages from the perspective that we are always seeking to improve. A physician or an attorney is said to be practicing their field, not before they enter the occupation, but while they are engaged in the work. In the same way, we, as fallen and sinful people, must be practicing at being better spouses and having better marriages. Maybe you are thinking, “How do we have better marriages?” Well, first let me tell you that affection alone is not enough. What we need is real love that causes us to do the hard things. In the world of real estate the answer is “location, location, location” in the realm of Biblical interpretation or reading comprehension the rule is “context, context, context” and after counseling many couples and a couple of decades of wedded bliss I can tell you that in marriage and relationships the issue is “communication, communication, communication.” Communication is built on two key components. The first key is that content must be expressed. If no message is being sent, then no genuine communication can happen. For us to have better communication, especially in our homes and marriages, we must focus on expressing ourselves clearly and coherently. The other necessary aspect of communication is receiving the message that has been sent. This means practicing good listening skills. If we desire to have more harmonious homes and deeper relationships, then we must listen with the attention and intention to know what was actually said. Sadly miscommunication is at the core of so much hardship and heart ache in many homes and marriages. Using our good communication skills we then must have the confidence and the vulnerability to talk about every portion of our lives. We must communicate to our spouse about our fears, our dreams, and our priorities. A marriage is not a joint venture or a mere partnership but a covenantal unity that cannot be undone or dissolved. In the first marriage in the garden of Eden, Adam said she is my bone and my flesh (Genesis 2:18-24). Also God Himself pronounced them one flesh and the Lord Jesus said that what God has joined let man not separate (Matthew 19:6). But why should we work so hard to have strong marriages? Let me give you three reasons. First, God has given you a precious gift in your relationship with your spouse. Imagine that you were given a delicious pie as a gift from your grandmother. You decide that you aren’t really hungry now so you will save it for later. But you end up simply leaving it in the fridge till it is spoiled and must be thrown out. You received the gift but you didn’t really enjoy the blessing. The Lord has given you a gift but you must enjoy it! Secondly, to not give effort and intention to your covenant relationship is to rob others. Certainly when we do not seek to have God honoring Biblical marriages we are robbing the people in our community, especially our in church, of the testimony that a godly marriage brings. Even more so we are depriving our extended family and especially our children of the blessing of a godly marriage. But most of all we are stealing the covenantal blessings that God gives in marriage from our spouse with whom we have unitied our lives. Finally, we should seek to have strong Biblical marriages for God’s glory. In Ephesians 5, Paul is clear that earthly marriages are a reflection of the relationship between Jesus and His bride, the church. Men we must love our wives sacrificially just as Christ does the church. Wives, you must respect and honor your husband, rightly reflecting the beauty of the church. Christ loves His bride! Jesus gave Himself up to save the church and to make the holy and pure. Let us not fall into the cheap frivolous view of marriage promoted by our culture but rather honor marriage as what it really is the greatest typological picture of the gospel. Let me urge you that if you are far from Christ, He is ready to welcome you when you come to Him with humble repentant faith. He will give you full salvation, sanctification, and ultimately glorification forever! Valentine I was looking back over the posts from previous years and it seems that I have not really written anything themed around the Valentine holiday. I must admit that I am not really all that well educated on the origins of the day that we set aside to celebrate romance and love. However, the true love story is a fundamental tale deep in the heart of all people and cultures. The reason it is so common and shared among all people is because the Lord has written it into His glorious redemption story. Wedding Bells Remember that the first human relationship fashioned and facilitated by God ever was a wedding between the man and the woman (Genesis 2:15-24). God brought the woman to the man as the father escorting his daughter to her groom. The Lord also presided over the establishment of the covenantal bonds. Here in the perfect environment of the Edenic garden, the Lord placed the perfect couple in perfect purity and innocence. In some sense, all our love stories are trying to recapture the reality of the gift of pure love that God had given to mankind when no hint or tint of sin had crept in to defile and deform His precious gift. Think about the way that even our modern western marriage traditions reflect this modeling. The purity of the bride dressed in white gown. The fruitful fertile garden is represented in the floral bouquet. Even naming is represented when the woman takes on the name of her husband. All of these practices may seem to many like old fashioned and meaningless traditions. Certainly they are old but they are not meaningless as they harken back to the beauty of God’s original masterpiece. Arranged Marriages We live in a very emotional and maybe sentimental age. Our concepts of personal autonomy and entitlement cause us to be very arrogant and selfish. This being the case, we tend to think that truest and purest relationships must be the ones with the most freedom. We see this illustrated in many ways in our society. A couple of examples would include that in most of our stories we see so much premarital promiscuity. This is so common in modern stories that most people, even Christians, don’t even notice it. A second example would be the prevalence of pornography in our society. I don’t want to dwell on this point, but much of this is about a person's desire for sexual options that they do not have in real life or physical attention that they are not receiving in real life. All of the above noted realities would make most recoil at the idea of arranged marriages. Now, I am not going to argue here for arranged marriages, but I do want to point out that the three most important marriages ever were arranged marriages. The first one is the one noted above from Genesis 2. Adam and Eve had an arranged marriage. God purposely formed Eve for the forming of this marriage and ultimately through them all other marriages. The second and most important arranged marriage ever is that of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:22-33). Remember that Jesus said that everyone who comes to Him was given to Him by the Father (John 6:37). The doctrine of election is the arrangement of the marriage between Jesus and His bride, the church. The last marriage I would point to is yours. You see, if you are in a biblically legitimate marriage, then that is the marriage to which God’s providence has brought you. I am not minimizing nor excusing sin or suffering. But if God is in control, and He is, then He ordained your marriage. He arranged it. Why? He did it because He has a good intention for you in this marriage. I, of course, can’t tell you what that is. But it is. He also has brought you as a believer to this marriage for the display of love and sacrifice to His church, because all Christian marriages are meant to do that. Finally, your marriage exists for God’s ultimate glory! Envy So many of the problems that we face today in our world stem from greed and pride. We have expectations about how we deserve to be treated. I believe that this sense of justice comes from the fact that we know that we bear God’s image even in our fallen state, and that image bearers should be treated appropriately for the Lord’s sake. The problem is that, since we are fallen, we have abdicated and abandoned the state of righteousness that deserves favorable treatment. In our current sinful condition humanity deserves justice. But we envy those who are receiving something we want or who we think deserve less than us. This sinful attitude does great harm to our relationships with others as we feel mistreated and abused. Even worse, this has destroyed our relationship with God because, even if we would not say it this way, the only one who we could be blaming for our wrongful mistreatment is God Himself. Of course, God is not at fault, but that is what we are implying when our desire gives birth to sin (James 1:12-15). Brotherly Rivalry We see many occasions in the scripture that teach us about this kind of envious sin. One example is in the account of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37. My intention is not to exegete this entire passage here but only to make a couple of relevant points. First, the brothers are predisposed to envy by Jacob’s blatant favoritism. The Bible has much to say about the sin of partiality (Leviticus 19:15; James 2:1-13). It is not true that we owe everyone the same affection regardless of the state of the relationship. And Israel was within his rights as a father to give to one son and not give to all. But it is clear in the text that Jacob was favoring Joseph with a kind of implicit disregard for the other sons. I am not making an excuse for them, only desiring to deal fairly with the account. The brothers are next driven to great anger by Joseph’s disclosure of his prophetic dreams. I think that many of us assume something that the text doesn’t say. Often when I read this I think that I read Joseph as having a smug or arrogant tone. But I don’t think the text supports this analysis. Instead upon careful reading it seems that Joseph is simply reporting dreams that he believes are or could be from the Lord. But as we often do with news we don’t like, the brothers take out their displeasure on the messenger. The point is that the men who were destined to be the headwaters of the individual tribes of Israel succumbed to violent and heartless sinning against their own brother because of their pride and envy. Jacob was plunged into great grief and despair. Ultimately, they were not immediately served by their treacherous sin. If God had not sovereignly appointed Joseph to this saving ministry then they would have perished in the coming famine. Humble Homes Under the affliction of the severe famine that God brought on the world in those days the patriarchs were humbled into seeking relief in the wealth of Egypt. But in God’s glorious providence they not only found food but also that God delivered Joseph and established him as leader over the affairs of Egypt. It was Yahweh’s provision and not simply Egyptian wealth that saved the Hebrew people. As the brothers came in necessary humility to the feet of Joseph, just as he had dreamed, it was not Joseph who was exalted but Yahweh who was vindicated in fulfillment of His great and powerful promises (Genesis 42-45). |
AuthorEddie Ragsdale Archives
May 2024
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