Who’s Up (again) for An Honest Reading? John 6:37-40

image Theological discussion in various venues often pits one position of belief against its opposites. Supporters of one position or another like to issue proposition statements of the form ‘If they would give _____ an honest reading’, ‘once I gave ______ an honest reading’,’ you can’t read _________ honestly and still believe’ or various other permutations that are meant to couch the idea that your position is unsupportable in the light of clear interpretation. In other words, the veiled inference is that theological presuppositions have colored your interpretation of the text and if you would put them aside and engage an honest reading of the text, you would certainly see the validity of the opposing position. Let’s see if that’s a valid argument…

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”  (Jn 6:37–40)

A Text Without a Context May Be a Pretext

We closed our discussion yesterday with a brief discussion of the necessity for recognizing context in interpreting biblical texts. In all cases, we want to avoid the interpretive error of proof texting which, unfortunately, has become a substitute for sound exegesis. In our pursuit of an honest reading, let’s have a look at the context in which this passage occurs, starting from the immediate and moving outward.

Continue reading “Who’s Up (again) for An Honest Reading? John 6:37-40”

Who’s Up for An Honest Reading? John 6:37-40

image Theological discussion in various venues often pits one position of belief against its opposites. Supporters of one position or another like to issue proposition statements of the form ‘If they would give _____ an honest reading’, ‘once I gave ______ an honest reading’,’ you can’t read _________ honestly and still believe’ or various other permutations that are meant to couch the idea that your position is unsupportable in the light of clear interpretation. In other words, the veiled inference is that theological presuppositions have colored your interpretation of the text and if you would put them aside and engage an honest reading of the text, you would certainly see the validity of the opposing position. Let’s see if that’s a valid argument…

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”  (Jn 6:37–40)

Given the earlier promise of Jesus recorded by the Evangelist John in 3:16-17, the power of the good news that brought many to believe in Samaria recorded in 4:39, and his repetition of the earlier promise for any who believe spoken in 5:24, an honest reading of this passage leads the reader to two conclusions.

Continue reading “Who’s Up for An Honest Reading? John 6:37-40”

Psalm 73 – It is Good to Be Near God

image But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.

For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.

They are free from the burdens common to man; (Psalm 73:2-5a)

We rarely hear of the Seven Deadly Sins within our Protestant tradition but we intuitively know that envy is not good. Whether it be the Ten Commandments, selections from the Proverbs, or passages such as Ephesians 4:17-32 being preached, we have undoubtedly been warned against the subtlety of the sin of envy. All sin starts in the mind as we toy with it, roll it over in (what we think is) a safe, hidden environment. The psalmist reflects on this game we all play, allowing the envious fantasy to play about in our minds while, at the same time, dismissing the danger.

What danger? The peril inherent in the truth we know but avoid; the step from thought to action is the shortest of all of our strides. We lose our foothold when envy makes itself at home in our thoughts.

Envy, for the Christian, is an especially challenging issue because the enemy preys on our sometimes immature sense of fairness. Our hearts are tempted to look upon the riches, health, and ease of life the ungodly enjoy and compare it to our struggles or relative poverty and ask, how is this fair God? Why do those who express an open malice toward God appear to have riches that remain out of the grasp of the believer?  The psalmist expresses our moments of doubt well;

This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth.

Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. (vv 12-13)

We’ve all been there. We may have even expressed it out loud. Some have stepped over the line to create their own ‘fairness.’ Our hearts have been led astray but Spirit has brought the majority of us back from the edge. Our faith has been renewed as the eventual destination of the wicked becomes clearer in our sight and we realize that nothing is worth the separation it creates between ourselves and our Father.

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,

I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. (vv 21-23)

We have faith into eternity, it lasts beyond the next few weeks, months, or years. The Spirit gives us a glimpse of eternity and the wisdom to understand that it is better to be close to God and know His glory forever rather than to enjoy material wealth now and separation later. Doubts approach us from all directions but we give them no harbor. The Lord is our refuge.

Grace and peace to you.

image Bright Star

Psalm 72 – May The Whole Earth Be Filled With His Glory

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The close of the second book of the Psalter concludes with this doxology:

Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

Praise be to his glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Amen and amen. (Psalm 72:18-19)

Our sense of forever is tempered by our fleeting existence in this world. Forever for us is the next forty or fifty years. We might have some small sense of what it will be like for our children to live on past our moment but our scope still remains limited.

Recognizing our limited historical frame of reference, we seek to have a positive effect on the world while we are here. The prayer at the center of this psalm is for the strength of the king, that he might have a positive effect and bless the people under his care. As we read these verses through modern eyes we find them strange without a human monarch that rules our lives. For the Christian however, we can see glimmers of the glory of our Holy King, Jesus.

Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.

he will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.

The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness.

he will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy;

he will crush the oppressor. (vv 1-4)

Are we faithful to pray for these qualities in our human leaders? Do we seek to embody them in ourselves?

 

Grace and peace to you.

image by lel4nd

We Band of Brothers

imageBefore opening John Eldredge’s updated edition of Wild at Heart I thought about the changes that have occurred in the lives of men since I read the first edition back in 2001. The landscape of the world has changed. We confront enemies that threaten our families in new and devious ways, we stare at meltdowns in our finances and worklives that are often beyond our control, and our increasingly fragmented relationships have left us more alone than ever. The definition of what it means to be a man, especially a man who is a servant of God, has become more difficult to grasp than ever before. It is an ideal time for the rediscovery of this book.

Eldredge has generated a fair amount of controversy over the years from those who find either his battle against the weakening of men or his theological underpinnings to be questionable. I won’t delve into his theology here except to say that he is not the heretic that some would like to make him out to be. John can occasionally pull a verse out of context in support of his point but he does not do violence to the Scriptures in doing so. Likewise, when Eldredge is bound for burning by those who see him defying Sola Scriptura by saying that God may speak through a movie or song or even the adventure of a climb, he is innocent as was Paul who wrote of all creation being revelation in his letter to the Romans.

Wild at Heart is Eldredge’s call for men to be men rather than the little boys that the culture encourages us to remain through its stereotypes. This man is a man of responsibility, one who takes seriously the call of God on his life. The Wild man is a man who fights for the heart of his King (to borrow a McManus illustration) and remains loyal despite the setbacks that he encounters. Perhaps due to a deficit of modern archetypes, the author leans on bigger than life imagery to incite and arouse the hearts of men to this loyalty. What man is not stirred by the Shakespearean words of Henry V at Agincourt about his band of brothers far more than a Tweet reporting a new coffee flavor at Starbucks?

I enjoyed this book much more as I read this new edition. I don’t attribute this the new or edited content as much as the decade of scars I have accumulated since its first perusal. As we have watched the fading influence of the Promise Keepers, men’s ministry has likewise fallen from favor in the Church at large. Perhaps this new volume can ignite a new movement of men; grown men with their hats on forward, grown men with a deep love and respect for their families, and a growing reverence for their King.

 

I am grateful to Thomas Nelson Publishers who provided this complimentary copy for review.

Who Gets a Pass?

Not too long ago, the Seattle Pastor and his cohort successfully lobbied to have a book withdrawn from the marketplace because the authors had committed the crime of utilizing the Ninja paradigm to title the book and organize their leadership ideas. This application was deemed offensive because it made use of racial stereotypes and the kerfuffle that arose became quite the cause-celebre’. Since then I’ve noticed that numerous far more blatant Asian stereotypes have made appearances without notice by this group. Now I’m puzzled by what earns a pass and what does not?

Miley Cyrus Slant Eyes

Never a group to miss instances of Caucasians making ‘asian eyes’, I’d like for someone of this lobby to explain why Challies’ mocking of the Thai server’s language pattern in this tweet gets a pass:

http://twitter.com/challies/statuses/13737260432

Anyone? (insert crickets chirping) Anyone?

In the School of Prayer Day 31 – Pray Without Ceasing

imageBe joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Th 5:16–18)

And with this, our schooling is over. The Teacher has led us from infancy to adulthood in our practice of prayer and now sends us, diploma in heart, out into the world to minister in His name. We recognize that prayer is more than just petitioning for our needs and wants, it is our connection to the source of life that guides our move each day. Our communion with our Lord directs our prayer (and therefore our life) into alignment with His will. We the saints submit our plans to His.

Prayer for us is more than a quickly mumbled thanks at supper time nor is it a minute or two on Sunday morning. It is practiced with every breath. We train ourselves to be in constant communion, knowing His immediate presence and being in conversation with that presence from moment to moment as we make our way through the day. We are His servants and rely upon His guidance to interact with those who surround us. We seek the way, convey personal needs, and intercede. We pray without ceasing.

Grace and peace to you.

image noemajiriod

Psalm 71 – Be My Rock of Refuge

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Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God,

till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.

(Psalm 70:17-18)

This prayer issues from a psalmist who finds himself on the back side of his journey and who is looking over his shoulder at those who are just taking their first footsteps on the path of the God follower. The elder knows that his enemies will mistakenly see him as vulnerable and weak because of his advanced age but he is also aware that they do not see God’s hand on his life. The psalmist pleas for Yahweh’s continued shield over him to serve as both protection and a revelation of the divine presence that surrounds him.

Balancing the petition for rebuff of the enemy is the psalmist’s continued praise and attribution of glory to the Lord. The praise emanates from deeper than the surface; despite the struggles that God has allowed in his life, the psalmists insists that God is fully and wholly good.

Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,

you who have done great things.

Who, O God, is like you?

Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again;

from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. (vv 19-20)

Oh, that we would continue to praise God despite our circumstance! Though we might might be long in years or just placing our foot onto the path, to know, really know, that despite the roadblocks, snares, and setbacks that God is with us and to praise him is our greatest calling. We cannot be fooled by our eyes or other senses, God is good and worthy of our praise in every moment. Will my lips close for the final time with this prayer on them?

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you – I who you have redeemed.

My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long,

for those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame and confusion. (vv 23-24)

Grace and Peace to you.

image by Luke Scowen

In the School of Prayer Day 30 – The Priesthood

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As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
(1 Pe 2:4–5)

As our training at the foot of the Master comes near to its conclusion, the time comes to assume the mantle of priesthood that is to be the burden of all of His believers. The ministry of intercession takes on a new importance and requires a more mature reverence than we possessed prior to our tutelage. It is our highest privilege and the clearest sign of our nearness and likeness to Him.

The priesthood makes nonnegotiable demands. You no longer live for yourself; you live for God and with Him. Your walk is in holiness and purity, not the worldliness of our previous life. You have been separated by the grace of your Father, called aside to serve Him and His people. We don’t view this burden as impossible to bear, it is a light yoke upon our shoulders and a pleasure to carry.

Consider carefully whether or not you are willing to offer yourself for this work. The surrender that it demands is nothing less than the complete giving-up modeled by Jesus. It is for those that view their salvation as more than fire insurance. It is a calling to God’s side to campaign with Him. What a privilege.

Grace and peace to you.

image Nick K

The Calvinist Canard of Honest Reading

imageLike an AM radio signal, the amplitude of the eternal rhetorical war of theology is ratcheted up and wound down by adherents of a particular camp. A recent campaign of bomb throwing posts ignited an insignificant skirmish that left no dead but encouraged the chest thumping of one group to rise to deafening levels. The posts were of the typical ‘Arminians are Pelagians (Sovereignty deniers, Grace deniers, Works lovers, Depravity diminishers, et. al. ) who probably put catsup on their hot dogs’ offerings that regularly appear on this particular blog and, unsurprisingly, generated sound pressure in the echo chamber of Townsend-Blackmore-Young proportions. Continue reading “The Calvinist Canard of Honest Reading”