Learning From Lincoln’s Quotation of Jesus

Mike Leake

I’ve always been a tad annoyed that Honest Abe gets credit for something that Jesus said. Lincolns’ was a famous speech in 1858 on the topic of slavery. His argumentation was that the popular sovereignty, advocated by his opponent Stephen Douglas, was impossible given the recent Dred Scott case. The nation would either have to be all slave or all free. If the nation remained divided it would topple.

I know there is much debate about whether or not Lincoln was a believer. I’ve heard compelling cases on both sides. But what I do know of Lincoln is that he knew his Bible. In fact, I believe this is part of the reason why this “house divided against itself” quote is now more attributed to Lincoln than Jesus. Lincoln was so steeped in the Bible that he’d speak it’s language without bothering to quote it. Stephen Mansfield explains:

He could tell when someone misquoted the Bible and usually offered chapter and verse for where the correct words were found. He worked phrases from Scripture into his daily conversations with such ease that often his listeners did not realize until later he had mentioned a dozen verses from the Bible in a single visit with friends. (Mansfield, Lincoln’s Battle with God, Location 2688)

Does that rebuke you? I know it does me. I wonder how often my language is more shaped by pop culture than the Bible. Do I quote movies “with such ease” that folks don’t even know that what I said was from a 90’s comedy? Am I more like Bunyan/Lincoln that if you pricked me with a pen I’d bleed Bible? Or would Wayne’s World and The Office bleed out?

And I wonder if there is another point in here somewhere too. That if Lincoln really wasn’t a believer all the Bible knowledge in the world isn’t doing him much good now. I’m sure that Satan is quite masterful at quoting the Scriptures (out of context and without proper worship, of course).

As I ponder this little tidbit form the life of Lincoln it’s an encouragement for me to follow Lincoln in his devouring of the Scriptures. I want to be sure that I know the Bible so well that I speak it’s language. I don’t want to just speak theological terms or that I’m at home in theological conversations, I want to be heavily steeped in the language of the Bible. Secondly, I don’t simply want to master the Word and know the Bible. I want to be mastered by the Word. I want every word of God to shape every bit of my being.

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Today in Blogworld 12.12.16

Mike Leake

How Does a Pastor Fight Through the “Preaching Hangover”

Here are 5 suggestions to help pastors get through their Monday morning blues.

Women and Sexual Temptation

I really appreciate this article. It’s a neglected issue in so many churches.

The Problem of Public Profanity

“People who don’t care about what others hear from them are really not caring about others.” Much to think about here.

Wondering if You’re the Next Pastor to Fall

This is helpful, and honestly needs a more broad discussion.

This is Mark Dever talking about contextualization in preaching:

Keeping Christ in Xmas

Mike Leake 2 Comments

I’m a pastor and a writer. I write the name of God, the word Christians, and the name Christ over and over again. Over the years I’ve used an abbreviation for each. For Christians I draw a simple “Jesus-fish” (or an ichthus or ichthys to be official). For the name of God I write a theta (looks like this: θ) and for Christ a chi (Looks like an X).

One particular day, many moons ago, I was doing some planning for Christmas with a group of students. I did what I always do—wrote Xmas on the board. I went on my merry way the rest of that evening, preaching Jesus to students, hanging out for a bit, and then going home. Little did I know that I had committed quite the blasphemous act that would label me in the eyes of a couple as a youth pastor who didn’t respect Jesus. I had committed the unpardonable sin of trying to take Christ out of Christmas.

Now granted, there is a bit of a “war on Christmas”. Those who do not believe in Jesus desire to keep the holiday without the holy and so they will change the words just a bit. Personally, I’m fine with not trying to force the name of Christ on unbelievers. That day is yet to come and in the mean time it is probably best to not create a culture where we teach people to play nice and fake it just to seemingly make Jesus happy. But that’s another article.

For many believers writing “Xmas” is not meant to be an offense to Christ. It’s simply an abbreviation because the Greek word for Christ is Χριστός. Notice the X? That’s all it is. Just an abbreviation.

Now some might say, “Well, isn’t it a bit blasphemous to not care enough about God to go through the extra work of writing out the whole thing?” I suppose one could have that particular conviction, but it would not be one shared with the early church. The story of the Jesus-fish is one of abbreviations. Ichthus is the Greek word for fish. Ichthus became an acronym for Jesus and his work.

I= Ἰησοῦς (Jesus)
ch= Χριστός (Christ)
th= Θεοῦ (of God)
u= Υἱός (Son)
s= Σωτήρ (Savior)

Jesus Christ, the son of God, our Savior.

Again, the early church didn’t have an issue with abbreviating the names of God/Christ and so I don’t either. So, Merry Xmas! (Pronounced “Christmas”).

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Photo source: here