A Royal Priesthood

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation… - 1 Peter 2:9

 The above verse is one of those scriptures that brings me both joy and sadness. Joy in that we were chosen by God, in Christ, to be priests in his kingdom. The bible makes no distinction between clergy and laity and only sees one class of believers. The only mediator we have being given is Jesus, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus”. What an amazing privilege it is we have being given!

    Yet at the same time I feel sadness in that the majority of the church has gone the same way as Israel. Let’s rewind approximately 1400 years to a time when the Israelites had just miraculously left Egypt and were sitting at the foot of Mount Sinai. Shortly before receiving the Ten Commandments (plus change) from God these words were recorded in Exodus 19:5-6

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel”. 

  Sounds familiar doesn't it? To cut a long story short, the people were afraid of God’s presence and told Moses that he should rather speak with God on their behalf and they would listen to and do whatever he told them (19:8, 20: 19). It reminds me of the story of Israel later on asking Samuel for a king. Gods response was to give the people what they wanted. He added that they had not rejected Samuel but rejected Him as the one to reign over them (1 Samuel 8:7). 

Has the church not done the same thing today? Rather than seek God together, we elect a man on our behalf to tell us “what saith the Lord”. Just as Israel wanted to be like the surrounding nations, the church wants to be like other religions and has set up a man over them. Let me be clear here that Moses is not the bad guy in Israel’s story. Likewise, most pastors are doing the best they can in the situation that the church has put itself into. This is simply a plea for the church to not be a shining example of how the Pareto principle works (where 80% do 20% and 20% do 80% of the work). He has made us, all of us, to be both kings and priests to His God and Father (Revelation 1:6). Think about that.

The anointing which you have received abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. – 1 John 2:27

Alternatively, you can give up the intimacy, the relationship and the abiding and tell someone else that they should rather do it for you and that you will be happy to follow along with the do’s and do not’s handed down to you. But do so aware that you may wind up the same way that Israel did.

Two disturbing articles about hell

Last week I read two rather disturbing articles on hell which you can go and read for yourself over here and over here. The two posts could not have been any further apart from each other theologically, the first one making a case for a God that seeks to personally torture people forever and ever purely because He is holy and good (huh?) while the second called for a Christianity where hell is completely done away with which I assume implied universal reconciliation for all of creation. You have to feel for God sometimes, people like to fight with Him when bad things happen in the world and He is seemingly absent or does not intervene. Yet at the same time when we speak about a day when God will judge the wicked people get angry about that as well.

So while I am sure that I will get 1 view for every 1000 those 2 articles managed; I would like to briefly critique both of them anyway while offering up an alternative as well.

In the first post Tim Challies goes beyond just championing the eternal conscious torment view of hell but actually reasons that “If you want a God who is good - truly good - and if you want a God who is just and holy, then you must have this God, this God who condemns people to suffer the eternal torments of hell” which Tim goes on to explain as infinite torture at the hands of God himself.

The article tries to back itself up with scriptures such as Matthew 10:28 and 25:46 (which both actually support annihilationism) and Acts 10:42 (which speaks nothing of what judgment is or looks like but rather of who the judge is). It becomes clear really soon that the author is imposing his own personal views onto the texts and from there in it only got worse as it moves completely away from scripture and into the land of assumptions. One example is when the writer reasons that because God is infinite any sin against him accrues an infinite debt so one personal call from your company phone is worthy of eternal torture.

While Jesus looks pretty awesome in the article the Father comes off looking just the opposite. In fact, in Tim’s theology Father and Son couldn't be any more different from one another. The Father demands eternal torture while Jesus freely offers forgiveness. Tim says that God’s holiness demands that He remain separate from sin and those who commit sin must be kept out of his presence. Note that He also stated that it is God who tortures the wicked in hell? I don’t know how he gets around this reasoning and I also don’t know what he thinks about God being omnipresent but more importantly, what does it say about the holiness of Jesus? The friend of sinners who hung out with all of the wrong kinds of people looks a lot like the Father who sought out Adam and Eve in the garden after they fell to me but bears little resemblance to the Father depicted in Challies article.

There are other confusing statements made in the post as well, when Tim says that “sin demands eternal punishment” he really means that “God demands eternal punishment”. The Father is the punisher while Christ is the redeemer calling for eternal love and joy. In his view God the Father and the Son share none of the same attributes but rather make up a yin yang kind of a godhead . If it was discovered that a man had chained up some of his children in his home basement and had tortured them there for several years it would horrify people and be worldwide news. If that same man claimed that he had done it because he was good and holy we would be even more disgusted and say that he does not know God. Yet so many people preach a God who is like this (but far more extreme in method and duration) than our hypothetical psychopath and yet we call it good?

A Christianity without hell

The second article that I read dared to imagine Christianity without hell. ‘Imagine’ is the key word here as there is so much scripture that speaks of punishment and judgment in the afterlife which one could point to. I can appreciate the author’s comments that the gospel of Christ has been damaged by “those in positions of power within the institutions of Christianity (who have) have methodically, relentlessly, and with great art used the doctrine of hell to exploit the innate fear of death that is harbored by one and all.” Christianity, as the author states, has made a lot of people rich by praying on people’s fear of hell but to throw the baby out with the bathwater carries severe consequences which should be considered.

It is wishful thinking to assume that love will eventually persuade all of creation to fall in line. Lucifer knew God in a way that we cannot imagine but pride corrupted him so who is to say that the stubborn hearts of men will act or any differently than his did?

The biggest red flag for me in Taboola’s post though was the statement, “A Christianity without hell would be largely unevangelical, since there would be nothing to save anyone from”. This reasoning is not concerned with sanctification and does not recognize that man is spiritually dead, corrupt, perishing and in need of saving from other things. It concerns itself with escaping punishment but not with repentance, that is to say, a turning away from ungodly things and seeking after righteousness. It does not acknowledge that eternal life is only found in Jesus who alone is immortal (1 Timothy 6:15-16) and it does not realize that the restoration of all things does not equate to the survival of every living being.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life but the  wrath of God abides on him. - John 3:36

And this is the testimony; that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; and he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. – 1 John 5:11-12

The truth is that the doctrine of hell has been distorted and abused but it should not take away from the fact that the bible does speak of a lake of fire and anyone whose name is not found written in the Book of Life will go there, this is the second death (Revelations 20:14-15). They do not go there to be tortured for eternity because the goal of judgment is to do away with evil that Christ may be all in all and that creation can be “very good” once again.

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no such power. – Revelation 20:6.

Beware of dead guys

The living dead are all around us infecting the brains of their unsuspecting victims... But I am not talking about zombies here but rather about those who have passed away while their ideas, philosophies, recordings and writings continue to influence us today. To state the obvious upfront, some people in their lifetimes influenced society in a very positive way while others did not. To know the difference is of the utmost importance; especially when we delve into the world of theology. So our focus here in this post is on the people who may have infected us with some bad doctrine.

This post was prompted by a discussion I was having with a friend a while back who is deeply concerned about false teaching in the church today as we all should be. There is no shortage of voices and opinions out there seducing us with sugar coated poo cakes. The church is weak, confused and being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine that blows past its creaky, wooden doors. Things were no different in the early church either as we read in letter after letter how Paul, John and the rest of the Beatles (just making sure that you are paying attention) addressed false teachers and exhorted other believers to hold firm to the true gospel and to the traditions that were once delivered unto the saints. So yes, just like back then, while there is an abundance of bad teaching out there today I think that there are also a lot of voices sounding the alarm bells as well which is a good thing.

But what about the dead guys? Very few people out there today seem to be discerning when it comes to things that were established in mainstream Christianity 100 years ago, 500 years ago, 1000 years ago or 1700 years ago…We can spot the modern wolf a mile away because his words are contrary to what has already been established in our minds. But it is far more difficult to spot the wolf that infiltrated the church years before we were born and by the time we started listening to preachers on a Sunday these ‘new ideas’ were already being taught as tried, tested and accepted old truths. Men like Augustine and Calvin both contributed greatly in certain areas doctrinally but they both strayed from Jesus and the apostle’s teachings in places as well. When something has been accepted as fact for centuries or even millennia it can be incredibly difficult to look at it objectionably again. Who knows how often we end up reading things into scripture that it never intended to say or endorse?

This is why it is important to read about the men, especially the theologians, who have shaped the church for the past 2000 years and this is why it is important to try to read the bible without imposing any preconceived ideas that we have (which is close to impossible unless you grew up in a cave) onto the text. As for me, I admit that I see dimly as through a dirty glass and my understanding is just as likely as anyone's to have being influenced by the world that has shaped me up to this point. So what is the solution then? Seeing as you will certainly read and hear things from a certain preconceived perspective, I have decided that if I am going to be wearing lenses it will be those of the rabbi who once died but was raised again. I will ask “does this glorify God or someone else?”, “Does this point to Christ or man?”, “Does this lead to life in Him or to death?” or “Does this make God look more like man or like Jesus?”

Beware of dead guys, unless they are pointing you to the Risen one; chances are they may be out to feast on your brain.





*The image at the top of this article was taken from http://www.comicvine.com/forums/rpg-9/zombie-vineverse-665344/

There is no such thing as a Christian Fundamentalist

As recently as six years ago I was a self proclaimed phundamentalist (spelt with a ‘ph’ because there is no fun in fundamentalism). It was my way of trying to set myself apart from the wishy washy Christianity portrayed on TV and in all the bestselling books. I saw myself as someone who was more serious about his faith and did not endorse their self centered messages. I later came to loath the fundamentalist tag as well though as it boxed me in with the loveless and proud folk who were labeled under the same banner (although to be honest a fair bit of that had rubbed off on me as well). Nowadays; I no longer believe that there is such a thing as a Christian fundamentalist. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a fundamentalist is “A form of religion, especially Islam or Protestant Christianity, which upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of scripture”.

I think what we have in certain Christian circles today would be more accurately described as “Modern Pharisaism”. They have a certain set of beliefs and practices that one must adhere to in order to be accepted; but these beliefs and practices are highly selective and do not seem to apply to all of scripture. To provide you with some examples, let me share a few things that, should they not be taken literally, would hardly raise an eyebrow amongst the fundamentalist groups I know of.

 Two things I require of you…Remove falsehood and lies from me; give me neither poverty nor riches-Feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny you and say, “who is the Lord?”. Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of the Lord. – Proverbs 30:7-9

The one who has two garments should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same. – Luke 3:11

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:33

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is more profitable for you for one part of your body to perish than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.- Matthew 5:29

The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? - 1 Corinthians 6:7

These are all powerful verses. But those signs of love, sacrifice and character do not seem to be as important to fundamentalism as say ones intellectual position on the age of the earth, or what translation of the bible one uses or what one believes about the end times (To be nice to fundies they do emphasize self discipline and holiness a lot as well). Here is another one from Matthew worth mentioning too as I don’t feel it holds much weight in fundamentalist circles.

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”. – Matthew 5:44

Most fundamentalists cannot even love or speak well of other believers when they are in disagreement let alone bless their enemies.

In the end; I think that fundamentalism (and I am talking about those people under the label and not the mythical creatures that actually do interpret all of scripture literally) is about trying to preserve a certain view of scripture because their faith is built on a specific interpretation of the bible rather than on the person of Christ. Obviously creeds, doctrines, intelligent reasoning and preserving the truth are important and I am in no way suggesting here that they are not vital to ones faith and walk.We should all pursue truth and wisdom but build those things on Christ who is the foundation in whom those things are found. Otherwise, if we take the fundamentalist position, we find ourselves forced to defend and hold onto our preconceived ideas regardless of how nonsensical they are because when they are challenged it feels as though Christ himself is being attacked.

I think Paul nailed it in Galatians 6 when  Eugene Peterson paraphrased his words regarding ‘Christian Pharisees’ as “They want an easy way to look good before others, lacking the courage to live by a faith that shares Christ’s sufferings and death. All their talk about the law is gas. They themselves do not keep the law! And they are highly selective in the laws that they do observe. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast of their success in recruiting you to their side. That is contemptible!

Don't be a fundie. Be a Christ follower.

A Non violent solution in a violent situation.

Someone recorded and posted this video of a guy verbally abusing a woman before kicking out at her. Watch how a mysterious stranger comes to her aid and non-violently puts an immediate end to the situation.
I am not sure if his method will always work this well but it may come in handy if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.

A Church Beyond Imagination

A brother and friend of mine has written a great book on the Ekklesia and I am happy to be able to share it with all of you. I met him about 5 years back, not long after I had started out on a similar journey to the one that he had been on for a number of years already. His experience with house churches proved extremely helpful to our fledgling group as well as other home fellowships that had started up in South Africa. Please feel free to download the PDF "A Church Beyond Imagination" by clicking on the image at the top right of this page.

If you enjoy it, I would love to hear from you. Enjoy.

Against all Odds

I love autobiographies. I still read a lot more books about theology but autobiographies are kind of where the rubber meets the road and you get to see what faith and a transformed life look like in the real world. The book which prompted this post is about a guy called Joe Tarasuk and his journey from cocaine addict and seller to being under the influence of a cult leader to serving jail time and finally to finding freedom in Christ. It is a fascinating look into a dark world that not many people have experienced (or am I just naive?). Joe recalls his journey from bondage to freedom but also that of his wife’s struggles with her own addictions. It is easy to recognize the dangers of hard drugs but there are addictions that are not as obvious but can be just as dangerous to us. Ordinary people can get addicted to things like alcohol and sex or as is the case in this book, pain medication. The consequences of abusing these kinds of things can be just as destructive as hard drugs even though they are all legal.

What makes this story inspiring is the sheer honesty Joe shares with his readers. Rarely is the Christian life portrayed as a journey of learning to crawl before one can walk and learning to walk before you can run. It also gives hope that anyone can still turn their life around. If a guy with a reading disability who once found himself in a rubber room who struggled with a cocaine addiction and was facing a very lengthy prison sentence can find freedom then anyone can. I am not really a fan of most of the pastors or books that get mentioned (the ones who I knew about anyway) in this story but in a sense I appreciated the fact that my spiritual family is bigger than the group of people who think like I do in every way and that God works outside of that.

All money raised from the sales of Against all Odds goes toward the CrossRoads Freedom Center which is a ministry started by Joe and his wife that helps people who are going through similar struggles to what he went through. You can check out the book over here.