Eric's thoughts

Alright, so I've already quoted this guy on an earlier post on our desire for a political savior, so now quoting him again may cause you to think that I have a man crush on him. That's okay, I guess (in some sort of weird way), because Voddie Baucham's answer to the question of "How can a powerful, loving God allow bad things to happen?" is so profound that I had to put it in my next post.

We all have asked it, been asked it, and thought about it. Some of us try not to think about it, or dodge the question all together. If God is so powerful and loving then why would he allow bad things to happen? And although his response is not complete, it leads us put things in proper perspective and gives us a better question to ask.

Check out his response at a "Desiring God" conference hosted by Jon Piper to a question that seems to trip us all up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD1yv4J6ohE

And by the way, I assure you that I do not have a man crush on him. Well, maybe a little one.

It seems that a huge stumbling block for many when it comes to Christianity, as I talk to people, and read many blogs, is how could a loving God be so judgmental and send people to hell? And while the answer, "people send themselves to hell" might work in some cases, it really feels like a cop out answer and appears to be giving God (and us)an easy out, after all, one could easily say, "Why would a loving God allow somebody to send themselves to hell?"

Maybe posing a different question is better. Timothy Keller writes in his book The Reason for God of a conversation he with a woman after a church service. He writes, '"Why are you not offended by the idea of a forgiving God?" She looked puzzled. I continued, I respectfully urge you to consider your cultural location when you find the Christian teaching about hell offensive.” I went on to point out that secular Westerners get upset by the Christian doctrines of hell, but they find Biblical teaching about turning the other check and forgiving enemies appealing. I then asked her to consider how someone from a very different culture sees Christianity. In traditional societies the teaching about “turning the other cheek” makes absolutely no sense. It offends people’s deepest instincts about what is right. For them the doctrine of a God of judgment, however, is no problem at all. That society is repulsed by aspects of Christianity that Western people enjoy, and are attracted by the aspects that secular Westerners can’t stand.

Why, I concluded, should Western cultural sensibilities be the final court in which to judge whether Christianity is valid? I asked the woman gently whether she thought her culture superior to non-Western ones. She immediately answered “no”. “Well then,” I asked, “why should your culture’s objections to Christianity trump theirs?”'

To think that our Western culture has cornered the market on what is right and good is ludacris. The fact is that Christianity offends every culture at some point or another. It would have to, because culture is ever changing, and God is not.

Am I the only one? I know we have all seen “those people” on the street corner. Many with the cardboard signs reading, “Hungry, just lost my job”, “Help! Can you spare some change?” Or perhaps one of the more honest signs that I have seen, “Why lie? I need a beer!” After all that is what they are after anyway, right?

We all see them, but does anyone else react like me. I drive by, sometimes hoping not to be caught sitting at the red light ten feet from them on the corner, then I may end up making eye contact and in a moment of “weakness” pull out a dollar bill and hand it over. Maybe, I make sure that my window is up, so they don’t get the wrong idea and expect that I may give them money. After all, who knows what they are going to use the money for? And I can sure justify not giving any money because, Lord knows, I don’t want to be an enabler. I can even quote a verse, “He who doesn’t work shouldn’t eat”, to make me feel more spiritual. And I’m way too busy to buy some food and take it over, besides I’m struggling as it is.

Am I the only one? I don’t know, maybe I’m being a little too transparent here.

In this way, I believe my seven year old son may be the greatest example of a Christian I have ever seen. He is not perfect by any means, just spend the afternoon with him and you will see that. However, several months ago he challenged the way I feel about these people. Sitting in the back seat of my car he read one of those signs that said “hungry”. Intrigued, he asked a great question, “Why don’t we help that man? We have food and I have some money in my piggy bank.” It’s one thing for me to justify it to myself, but to my son? I had no good excuse. We drove to the nearest Burger King, parked the car, bought a Whopper meal and walked over to one of those people.

We came to find out that one of those people actually has a name, Daryl. And although his theology is off, he is a man that loves Jesus (he actually started “evangelizing” me as we walked over with his burger).

I have since had a few conversations with our buddy, Daryl. And every single night my boys will not let me forget to pray for him.

Jesus has definitely given my son a huge heart for the poor. He has even rubbed off a bit on his younger brother, as it has become a regular occurance that when both my boys see a person on the corner, they want to help.

And as a grown man, I want what he has, but I’m sure I’m not the only one.

One of my favorite (and most challenging) teaching series that we have ever done for high school students was a series we did this past fall, in which we titled "Grey". In this series we talked about what many consider to be biblical gray areas (even the spelling of grey seems to be a gray area). Things like cussing, alcohol, and tatoos, to name a few.

A verse that I have heard quoted many times in reference to gray areas is 1 Thessalonians 5:22, "Abstain from every form of evil." In other words, a traditional take has been, as a Christian I am not to give any hint of wrong doing. Well, I guess that sums it up. Or does it?

Check out respected Biblical scholar, Dan Wallace's, take on that verse in context.

http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2008/02/19/avoid-every-appearance-of-evil/#more-598

After watching a little bit of the political debates this past weekend, trying to understand their current positions, listening to several of them say, "the people are not interested in them attacking one another, they just want to hear about the issues", (to be honest, I was more interested in listening to them attack one another) and trying to gain some insight as to who I will vote for, I was reminded about something I've read recently concerning what some might call, Christian America's search for a political savior.

In his book, The Ever-Loving Truth; Can Faith Thrive in a Post-Christian Culture? Speaker/Author, Voddie Baucham, writes that a political savior is not coming. This view "assumes that a person with that kind of prophetic edge could be elected to a national office." He goes on to write, "... this view assumes that such a candidate would be right in imposing his or her will on the nation. I find it interesting when ideas come across the news with which we (Christians) disagree, such as the Ninth Circuit Court decision that the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance were unconstitutional, Christians cry foul. Why? Because we believe it is wrong for a three-person panel to dictate such things to the masses. I agree, but I must pose a question: What makes regulating our behavior any more appropriate when a 'godly' president does it under the ideal of saving us from pagan immorality by imposing his will on us? The truth of the matter is that we believe such a president would make it easier for us (Christians) to live our lives."

He makes a good point.

Should we vote by our convictions? Absolutely! Should we be looking for a political savior? Absolutely not! Besides, we already have a Savior, and his name is Jesus Christ.