Borrowed Light

Political Outrage and the Kingdom

February 3, 2015Nick Horton

With each passing day the news looks more grim to the Christian living in America. News stories seemingly multiply of Christians who are fired or sued for their faith. Gay “marriage” marches forward state by state as judges legislate from the bench. The demise of the world we thought we knew is now taking shape before us, like a figure emerging from the fog.

Our hearts burn with indignation as sin marches like legion across the land. We yell from the rooftops that these things are sinful! They are an affront to God! Yet our fellow citizens continue marching down this path of destruction and heavenly rebellion. Radios blare with scorn and ridicule. Blog articles are written decrying the end of America. “How could this happen,” they ask. “We need to fight! We must take back America! Don’t let the (insert supposed foe party or movement here) win!”

Is this what we’ve become? People armed with the greatest news in the world have nothing more to do than shout as they’re firmly shooed out the door?

“It’s a lot easier to be indignant than broken-hearted.” Dr. Albert Mohler

When I heard the quote above a few days ago, from the mouth of Dr. Mohler as he gave an address on cultural engagement, I was immediately convicted. I’m an American son, a patriot. I have Army generals and foreign war veterans in my lineage. I’m related to men who stormed Normandy France to defeat Hitler and free Europe. They didn’t fight for THIS America, I thought.

Yet, before all of those things I am a Christian. I belong to God and have a heavenly citizenship in his Kingdom. I am an Ambassador for Christ whose purpose now is to herald the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How should that line up with my love of my earthly home? Just as Dr. Mohler said; broken-heartedness.

America is not what it was 50 years ago, or even 20 years ago. As Franklin Graham said this past weekend, that America is gone and it’s not coming back. I’m broken-hearted for that. Not only for my desire for a nation who held to a more Biblical view of morality, at least publicly, but also for the rampant flourishing of sin.

It’s ok to be outraged and indignant over sin. Though, I must ask, are you indignant because they have sinned against God or because they don’t follow the rules as you understand them? When Dr. Mohler said the above, I was convicted that my heart was outraged over sin because folks did things I thought they shouldn’t do. It wasn’t primarily because they had sinned against God.

Heart Shift

Should we fight for religious liberty and laws that reflect Biblical morality? Yes. Biblical Morality is what God decrees as his best for our good. His law is what is best for our flourishing, regardless of whether someone believes in him or not. However, let’s not be another cog in an outrage machine that runs constantly. Political talk seems to live and thrive on outrage. Politicians corral a vote based on carefully crafted outrage. They manipulate the heart like a guitarist moves the strings of his guitar. A little pressure here or there, and you get a certain note. Let us not be pawns in their game.

Your heart, if you are in Christ, has been changed. You have been freed from sin and are now servants of Jesus Christ. You are no longer under the law but under grace. Your desire should be for the repentance of unbelievers, and for their faith to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Your heart has been shifted from bondage to righteousness, to the One who secured that righteousness for you.

Sin is outrageous. It is horrific, vile, and disgusting. It is an affront against God. Let’s stop fooling ourselves that everyone else’s sin is worth being indignant about, and ours alone merits grace. Watching your nation and thus your friends and family disintegrate into sin and lawlessness is terrible. It’s heart-breaking. Don’t let the world, the flesh, and the Devil lead you into indignation and keep you there. Be indignant over sin, but progress forward to it breaking your heart. Indignation, unfocused, leads to sinful anger. Indignation, focused on the holiness and goodness of God, leads to broken hearts and tears over the lost. We are called to go into all the nations, teaching people of Christ, and baptizing them when they believe into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There’s no time to sit in our chairs and boil over with anger about this thing or that thing. Incidentally.. remember when He said “ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:22 ESV)

Seems like constant anger and outrage is sinful.

Remember what the writer to the Hebrews said?

“But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:32-36 ESV)

How does that sit with outrage? It doesn’t. When you’re persecuted, rejoice!

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12 ESV)

Today in Blogworld 02.03.15

February 3, 2015Mike Leake

7 Rookie Mistakes New Leaders Make

Yep. I think I still make some of these.

Modesty, #ChristianCleavage and Me

This was much more funny when I thought it was written by Aaron, but Emily Armstrong gets to the heart of modesty.

When Your Church is In Trouble: Tell the Truth, Face the Future

I think “telling the truth” is a difficult step. Honestly, at times it is difficult to even discern the truth when trying to understand the complexity of a dying church.

10 Pointers for Young Preachers

These are helpful.

You’ve gotta love childhood wonder:

The Emotionally Mature Church

February 2, 2015Mike Leake

In his book, The Happy Christian, David Murray asks these probing questions:

If someone who had never encountered Christianity before wandered into your church or your home, what would be the greatest impression made upon him? If he had to sum up in one word the mood of the worship, prayers, and sermons of your church or the conversation at your family meal table, what would that word be? What if he was asked to describe your church or faith with either a negative or a positive symbol? (Murray, xxiii)

If you are like the majority of believers Murray believes we’d have to confess that most would give our church and our faith a negative symbol. For Murray the problem is that believers aren’t exuding joy as we should.

After reading this quote from Murray my mind immediately went to one of my favorite Christopher Wright quotes:

…the language of lament is seriously neglected in the church. Many Christians seem to feel that somehow it can’t be right to complain to God in the context of corporate worship when we should all feel happy. There is an implicit pressure to stifle our real feelings because we are urged, by pious merchants of emotional denial, that we ought to have “faith” (as if the moaning psalmists didn’t). So we end up giving external voice to pretended emotions we do not really feel, while hiding the real emotions we are struggling with deep inside. Going to worship can become an exercise in pretence and concealment, neither of which can possibly be conducive for a real encounter with God. So, in reaction to some appalling disaster or tragedy, rather than cry out our true feelings to God, we prefer other ways of responding to it. –(Christopher J.H. Wright, The God I Don’t Understand, 52)

For Wright the problem is that we do not have an authentic language of lament. If Wright were answering Murray’s question I wonder how he would respond? Would he disagree with Murray’s assessment? Would he say that the problem isn’t that we have too little happiness in church but that we don’t have enough lament?

I don’t know Wright’s answer but I know my own. I believe both Murray and Wright are correct. When we lose the language of lament and happiness it is because we have lost a depth to our relationship with God.

Lament is not godless bickering. Neither is happiness a godless smile. True lament and true happiness are God-centered. It is out of the depths of my relationship with a loving God that the voice of lament rises up when things are not as they ought to be. And it is out of that same place where true happiness rises above our sorrowful circumstances.

When we move away from the God-centeredness of the Psalmists we also move away from their ability to experience the full range of healthy emotions. If you don’t have a place for lament in your Christianity then you are missing something in your understanding of the Lord. Likewise, if you don’t have a place for legit Christian happiness there is a hole in your gospel.

Therefore, let us draw near to God where we’ll find the confidence in Christ to lament and to smile.