I saw a shirt the other day that said, “Jesus is my homeboy”. I’ve seen these shirts many times before, but they still bother me. I know that there’s some truth to the notion that “Jesus is my homeboy” and I’ll get into that truth later, but there are other things implied by this saying that are at best irreverent and at worst sinful.
Two implications of “Jesus is my homeboy” I find especially problematic. First, it seems to me that this saying is used in order to make Jesus “cool”. Instead of obeying him as our Lord – the one who died to forgive our sins and rose to give us new life – we use him as a fashion statement. I suppose someone could say, “C’mon, Jesus himself says that he’s our friend. (John 15:14) What’s wrong with calling him my homeboy?”
But let’s be honest: by referring to Jesus as “homeboy”, we’re not just saying that he’s our friend. If we were trying to communicate that he’s our friend, the shirt simply would say, “Jesus is my friend”. By saying he’s my homeboy, it’s obvious we’re attempting to make him “cool”. What then happens when we discover that the real Jesus hangs a major question mark over all that we say and do? What happens when the real Jesus proves himself to be very un-cool by cultural standards, like when he blesses the meek, prohibits divorce, and commands that we love our enemies? (Matthew 5) Is he still our “homeboy” when he’s not very “cool”?
The second problem with “Jesus is my homeboy” is the implication that Jesus supports us in what we do. The common use of the word “homeboy” refers to someone who’s “got my back” and who’s my equal in this thing called life. But Jesus is not our equal: he is our Lord. Indeed he calls us his friends, but there’s a very important caveat that Jesus places on his friendship: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Somehow I doubt that the makers and wearers of “Jesus is my homeboy” shirts would be willing to add the subscript, “insofar as I obey him”.
Ultimately, the “Jesus is my homeboy” shirts seem to violate the second commandment by using the Lord’s name in vain. (Exodus 20:7) Jesus is not to be used as a fashion statement, nor does he support us in all that we do. Rather, he is our friend if and when we obey him as our Lord. If and when that happens, Jesus promises that he and God the Father will become our homeboys in a way far better than our silly t-shirt slogans imagine: “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John 14:23)
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Jesus: Gift or Example?
Is Jesus a gift or an example? I’ve noticed a tendency within Christianity to divide between Jesus-as-gift and Jesus-as-example. Those who take him as gift-alone speak exclusively of his forgiveness of our sins, while those who take him as example-alone speak exclusively of his love for others that we ought to emulate.
The gift-alone group treats the Christian message as mere information that makes no real change in the human will. It speaks of “forensic justification,” which means that God accepts us as sinners and lets us stay just as we are. The one who sees Jesus as gift alone might feel good about being “accepted” by God, but his life is no different than before he heard about this “acceptance”. (It's worth noting the difference between "acceptance", which lets sin remain, and God's love, which burns away sin.)
In contrast, the example-alone group treats the Christian message as nothing more than a moral exhortation. With no recognition of Jesus-as-gift, we’re left on our own to muster up love for our enemies. This view dismisses the notion of original sin, acting as if we’re all good people who just need the occasional reminder to be nice.
Often the attempt to combine these two views results in a schizophrenic Christianity that’s part Gnosticism and part Pelagianism. “Jesus is God’s gift to you,” says schizophrenic Christianity, “and because of that, you need to go show his love to others.” Obviously, the division between Jesus-as-gift and Jesus-as-example is clumsy at best.
Put simply, this division is wrong. Jesus is indeed our gift, and he is also our example. The inseparability of the two is obvious in John 13, when Jesus washes his disciples’ feet (gift) and then gives us the “new commandment” to love one another just as he has loved us (example). Jesus’ commandment is not a moral appendix to his gift. Rather, the commandment and ability to follow Jesus’ example flow from the very nature of the gift.
Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet signifies a true interior renewal, cleansing us from sin. This cleansing restores the original purity of the human will by redirecting our wills toward love. In theological-speak, that means justification is not merely forensic.
Shortly after the foot-washing scene in John 13, Jesus says that “the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do.” (John 14:12) Jesus’ actions become ours, because his Spirit is living and acting in us. Just like Christ, those who have received the gift of his Spirit will, in turn, do his works: turning the ordinary water of life into the wine of celebration (John 2), giving others the sight of faith to see Jesus and believe that he is the Son of Man (John 9), calling those who are dead in sin back to life in Christ (John 11), and humbly loving others which thereby cleanses them from sin (John 13). Finally, because of the gift of Christ’s Spirit, those who believe will follow his example by laying down their lives for one another. In so doing, they will rise to new life.
So is Jesus a gift or an example? Said differently, is he our Savior or our Lord? I think our answer is obvious: Yes.
The gift-alone group treats the Christian message as mere information that makes no real change in the human will. It speaks of “forensic justification,” which means that God accepts us as sinners and lets us stay just as we are. The one who sees Jesus as gift alone might feel good about being “accepted” by God, but his life is no different than before he heard about this “acceptance”. (It's worth noting the difference between "acceptance", which lets sin remain, and God's love, which burns away sin.)
In contrast, the example-alone group treats the Christian message as nothing more than a moral exhortation. With no recognition of Jesus-as-gift, we’re left on our own to muster up love for our enemies. This view dismisses the notion of original sin, acting as if we’re all good people who just need the occasional reminder to be nice.
Often the attempt to combine these two views results in a schizophrenic Christianity that’s part Gnosticism and part Pelagianism. “Jesus is God’s gift to you,” says schizophrenic Christianity, “and because of that, you need to go show his love to others.” Obviously, the division between Jesus-as-gift and Jesus-as-example is clumsy at best.
Put simply, this division is wrong. Jesus is indeed our gift, and he is also our example. The inseparability of the two is obvious in John 13, when Jesus washes his disciples’ feet (gift) and then gives us the “new commandment” to love one another just as he has loved us (example). Jesus’ commandment is not a moral appendix to his gift. Rather, the commandment and ability to follow Jesus’ example flow from the very nature of the gift.
Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet signifies a true interior renewal, cleansing us from sin. This cleansing restores the original purity of the human will by redirecting our wills toward love. In theological-speak, that means justification is not merely forensic.
Shortly after the foot-washing scene in John 13, Jesus says that “the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do.” (John 14:12) Jesus’ actions become ours, because his Spirit is living and acting in us. Just like Christ, those who have received the gift of his Spirit will, in turn, do his works: turning the ordinary water of life into the wine of celebration (John 2), giving others the sight of faith to see Jesus and believe that he is the Son of Man (John 9), calling those who are dead in sin back to life in Christ (John 11), and humbly loving others which thereby cleanses them from sin (John 13). Finally, because of the gift of Christ’s Spirit, those who believe will follow his example by laying down their lives for one another. In so doing, they will rise to new life.
So is Jesus a gift or an example? Said differently, is he our Savior or our Lord? I think our answer is obvious: Yes.
Friday, May 13, 2011
A Second Run-In
I ran into Thomas again last weekend. If you haven’t heard about my previous run-in, see the post below. I thought I would be able to walk by Thomas again without being noticed, but he spotted me out. Bummer. His message: “Only 14 days left, man.” I said just one thing in response, “Actually Thomas, Jesus tells me that the judgment is tonight.” Thomas: “You’re going to fry for that, man. May 21st, you’re going to fry.”
Thomas didn’t realize that my comment was actually straight from Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:20: “This very night your life is being demanded of you.” I explained the comment to him, but he wasn’t listening. I learned from my previous encounter that this is how Thomas works: all talking, no listening. I didn’t spend much time there, just enough to say that he should read Luke 12.
Last time I came across Thomas, it got me thinking about the error of detaching God’s Spirit from God’s Word. This time, I was more frustrated by the fact that Thomas’ enthusiasm actually has the opposite effect of what he’s intending. Most people see quite clearly that Thomas is wrong, and then they assume that all talk about judgment is equally bogus. This plugs their ears to the true call of Christ to repent and be prepared “for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” (Luke 12:40)
I was left to wonder: If we don’t have the specific date of the Last Day, then how do we not engender laxity? We can’t fall into the error of the enthusiasts, who try to set a date by separating the Spirit from the Word. But nor can we fall into the error of saying there is no Last Day and no judgment.
So what is the Christian message regarding the Last Day? It has many parts, but I’m going to focus on two. First, that Day will come like a thief in the night. No one knows the exact date, not even the Son. The take-home point? Repent, set your faith and hope on Christ, love one another fervently, and be prepared. That’s the first part.
Second, the Day of Judgment hangs over our heads at every moment of our lives. The parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21) remains true: “This very night your life is being demanded of you.” The Last Day is not just some day down the road, but the Day on which all temporal history is taken up into eternity and judged by God. That’s why Jesus doesn’t say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven will be here in 14 days,” but, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)
It is this day and this life that God judges on the Last Day. That – and not because we’ve pinpointed a date – is why the call to repentance and faith is urgent. Judgment is not merely a future event that we can afford to ignore for now, so long as we get serious when we know that it’s really coming. Because every moment of our lives is taken up into eternity and judged, it’s just plain stupid to postpone repentance.
So we don’t set a date, but nor do we ignore the call of Christ to repent. In contrast to these two errors, the Christian life is to be lived in light of the Last Day. With Christ as our foundation, we are to be building our lives on Him. (1 Cor. 3) When this temporal world is taken up into the eternal Kingdom of God, “the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done.” (1 Cor. 3:13) Neither setting dates nor living in laxity, but faithfully building our lives on Christ as that Day draws near: that is how Christianity is to be lived and proclaimed.
I’m tempted to go find Thomas again. Love hopes all things, right?
Thomas didn’t realize that my comment was actually straight from Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:20: “This very night your life is being demanded of you.” I explained the comment to him, but he wasn’t listening. I learned from my previous encounter that this is how Thomas works: all talking, no listening. I didn’t spend much time there, just enough to say that he should read Luke 12.
Last time I came across Thomas, it got me thinking about the error of detaching God’s Spirit from God’s Word. This time, I was more frustrated by the fact that Thomas’ enthusiasm actually has the opposite effect of what he’s intending. Most people see quite clearly that Thomas is wrong, and then they assume that all talk about judgment is equally bogus. This plugs their ears to the true call of Christ to repent and be prepared “for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” (Luke 12:40)
I was left to wonder: If we don’t have the specific date of the Last Day, then how do we not engender laxity? We can’t fall into the error of the enthusiasts, who try to set a date by separating the Spirit from the Word. But nor can we fall into the error of saying there is no Last Day and no judgment.
So what is the Christian message regarding the Last Day? It has many parts, but I’m going to focus on two. First, that Day will come like a thief in the night. No one knows the exact date, not even the Son. The take-home point? Repent, set your faith and hope on Christ, love one another fervently, and be prepared. That’s the first part.
Second, the Day of Judgment hangs over our heads at every moment of our lives. The parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21) remains true: “This very night your life is being demanded of you.” The Last Day is not just some day down the road, but the Day on which all temporal history is taken up into eternity and judged by God. That’s why Jesus doesn’t say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven will be here in 14 days,” but, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)
It is this day and this life that God judges on the Last Day. That – and not because we’ve pinpointed a date – is why the call to repentance and faith is urgent. Judgment is not merely a future event that we can afford to ignore for now, so long as we get serious when we know that it’s really coming. Because every moment of our lives is taken up into eternity and judged, it’s just plain stupid to postpone repentance.
So we don’t set a date, but nor do we ignore the call of Christ to repent. In contrast to these two errors, the Christian life is to be lived in light of the Last Day. With Christ as our foundation, we are to be building our lives on Him. (1 Cor. 3) When this temporal world is taken up into the eternal Kingdom of God, “the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done.” (1 Cor. 3:13) Neither setting dates nor living in laxity, but faithfully building our lives on Christ as that Day draws near: that is how Christianity is to be lived and proclaimed.
I’m tempted to go find Thomas again. Love hopes all things, right?
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Is May 21 Judgment Day?
For the last month, there has been a fellow parked near the Pismo Beach pier with a giant sign on his car: “May 21, 2011: Judgment Day”. As I walked by last week, he offered me a pamphlet. I initially declined, but about a minute later a verse from Mark 13 popped into my head: “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32) I went back for a pamphlet.
I was curious what this guy was selling, especially since Jesus himself says he doesn’t know when the Last Day is. Well, what I thought would be a quick exchange of a pamphlet turned into an hour of wackiness. Here’s a summary. First, the fellow’s name was Thomas. (Ah, the irony of a gullible Thomas.) Thomas knows that the Last Day is May 21st because this date can be calculated from various biblical prophecies. He wasn’t clear on what those prophecies are, but he was good at flipping from verse to verse, reading them hastily and without attention to context, and then shouting “Wooooooooo.” I was a bit embarrassed by his shenanigans, but I stuck it out and continued to talk to him.
I told Thomas that “no one knows” when the Last Day is, and he responded quite matter-of-factly: “You’re wrong.” Well, um, that’s a problem Thomas, because those are Jesus’ own words. I had him refer to Mark 13:32. After he read the verse, he quickly turned to other verses and acted as if these produced some kind of loophole in Jesus’ saying. I wasn’t buying it, so I told him to go back to Mark 13:32. He wouldn’t do it.
Our conversation ended when I said, “No one knows when the Last Day is, not even Jesus himself.” Thomas’ response: “You’re wrong. I do know.” At that point, I told Thomas that between his word and Jesus’ word (and between his pamphlet and the Bible), I believe the latter. As I walked away, he yelled out that I was doomed.
My conversation with Thomas underscored something important for me. Namely, we can’t separate the Spirit of God from the Word of God. The Lutheran Reformers insisted on this – they derisively referred to such attempts as “enthusiasm” – and now I know why. Thomas was an “enthusiast” who was convinced that the Spirit of God had led him into knowing something that the Word of God didn’t. He even went so far as to flatly contradict the Word of God. Jesus: “No one knows.” Thomas: “You’re wrong. I know.”
The Spirit of God does not contradict the Word of God. If any Christian thinks he is being led by God’s Sprit while he simultaneously speaks – or acts – against God’s Word (against Jesus himself), he’s wrong. Don’t be fooled, even if he says that the Holy Spirit “laid it on my heart” to say or do something. That same spirit might also say that “God is doing a new thing”, which indeed has a biblical basis. (See Isaiah 43:19) However, if that “new thing” contradicts God’s Word, it is not God who is doing it.
Jesus is clear in saying that the Spirit does not contradict the Word: “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever He hears, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14)
Ultimately, the error of dissociating God’s Spirit from His Word is something to which all Christians are susceptible. It leads us to all sorts of sins, even as we think that we are being led by the Holy Spirit. “Enthusiasm” is alive and well. For that reason, we ought to keep 1 John 4:1 continually before us: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
I was curious what this guy was selling, especially since Jesus himself says he doesn’t know when the Last Day is. Well, what I thought would be a quick exchange of a pamphlet turned into an hour of wackiness. Here’s a summary. First, the fellow’s name was Thomas. (Ah, the irony of a gullible Thomas.) Thomas knows that the Last Day is May 21st because this date can be calculated from various biblical prophecies. He wasn’t clear on what those prophecies are, but he was good at flipping from verse to verse, reading them hastily and without attention to context, and then shouting “Wooooooooo.” I was a bit embarrassed by his shenanigans, but I stuck it out and continued to talk to him.
I told Thomas that “no one knows” when the Last Day is, and he responded quite matter-of-factly: “You’re wrong.” Well, um, that’s a problem Thomas, because those are Jesus’ own words. I had him refer to Mark 13:32. After he read the verse, he quickly turned to other verses and acted as if these produced some kind of loophole in Jesus’ saying. I wasn’t buying it, so I told him to go back to Mark 13:32. He wouldn’t do it.
Our conversation ended when I said, “No one knows when the Last Day is, not even Jesus himself.” Thomas’ response: “You’re wrong. I do know.” At that point, I told Thomas that between his word and Jesus’ word (and between his pamphlet and the Bible), I believe the latter. As I walked away, he yelled out that I was doomed.
My conversation with Thomas underscored something important for me. Namely, we can’t separate the Spirit of God from the Word of God. The Lutheran Reformers insisted on this – they derisively referred to such attempts as “enthusiasm” – and now I know why. Thomas was an “enthusiast” who was convinced that the Spirit of God had led him into knowing something that the Word of God didn’t. He even went so far as to flatly contradict the Word of God. Jesus: “No one knows.” Thomas: “You’re wrong. I know.”
The Spirit of God does not contradict the Word of God. If any Christian thinks he is being led by God’s Sprit while he simultaneously speaks – or acts – against God’s Word (against Jesus himself), he’s wrong. Don’t be fooled, even if he says that the Holy Spirit “laid it on my heart” to say or do something. That same spirit might also say that “God is doing a new thing”, which indeed has a biblical basis. (See Isaiah 43:19) However, if that “new thing” contradicts God’s Word, it is not God who is doing it.
Jesus is clear in saying that the Spirit does not contradict the Word: “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever He hears, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14)
Ultimately, the error of dissociating God’s Spirit from His Word is something to which all Christians are susceptible. It leads us to all sorts of sins, even as we think that we are being led by the Holy Spirit. “Enthusiasm” is alive and well. For that reason, we ought to keep 1 John 4:1 continually before us: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
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