What is the Christian Life?

What does Christian living look like in the everyday world? Mark Roberts is offering his perspective on the answer to that question in a series of blog posts presently at seven installments. Mark is a good writer, a clear thinker, and a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. I hope that you'll check out what he has to say.

A great quote from the third installment of Mark's series:

Christianity is based upon God’s revelation in history. Though God often whispers in our hearts when we are quiet enough to listen or moves our hearts when we make them available to him, our faith does not rest upon our subjective perceptions. It stands upon the rock of God’s self-revelation throughout the ages, a revelation that is recorded in Scripture.

Did you catch that? Christian faith is about the Word of God.

But don't be confused about what that means. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus of Nazareth, the ultimate self-disclosure of God is the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God--and normative for Christian faith--because it faithfully, trustingly records God's self-disclosure, first to ancient Israel and ultimately to the world through Jesus Christ.

Everything recorded in the Old Testament led to Jesus.

Everything in the New Testament either tells us about what happened when Jesus, God in human flesh, came to the world, then died, rose, ascended, and sent God the Holy Spirit to help us lead the Christian life in this world and in the world to come.

The Bible is the Word of God because it comes for those us who live the 21st.-century world as the cradle, the tomb, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and the place where we get the clearest view of God and God's intentions for us. The Bible shows us Jesus, the Word of God. He, in turn, is "the way, the truth, and the life" as Jesus Himself says. In the Bible we get a view of Jesus and it is connection with Jesus that makes the Christian life possible.

This is why Mark Roberts is absolutely right: Anyone, Christians already or non-Christians examining Christian faith as a possibility for their lives, is well advised to explore the Bible's witness about Jesus, the Word of God, to see what the content and contours of that faith might be.

Read Mark's series. I think that you'll enjoy it.

From Rich Bordner, on marriage...

I don't know much about what else this Better Living commenter says over on his blog. But I love the post from which these lines are taken:

...There is no such thing as "the one." Whoever you marry...well, s/he becomes "the one" when you say "I do."

"Well, maybe I didn't marry 'the one.' Maybe I married the wrong person and my soul mate is still out there."

Nope....sorry Sparky. She became your "soul mate" at the altar. You'd better take your man pill and stop sniveling about your "real soul mate" still out there.

My late Uncle Carl gave me similar advice when I was in my teens. I think that he was right. Go to Rich's blog and read the whole thing.

You also might be interested in checking out some posts I've written here on related topics:
It's Time to Dethrone Romance
Thoughts from Valentine's Day, 2006
God and Our Sex
The Deep Descent to Coarseness
How Will I Know?

Brief Look at This Sunday's Bible Lessons

This Sunday at the congregation I serve as pastor, Friendship Lutheran Church of Amelia, Ohio, we begin a three-part series on Christians and Work. The first installment of the series will be built around two Biblical passages: Genesis 2:4b-9, 15 and Second Thessalonians 3:6-10. To help folks prepare for worship and hopefully help others who read Better Living, here are a few introductory thoughts on the two passages.

Genesis 2:4b-9, 15
4bIn the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; 6but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— 7then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

8And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

15The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

A Few Comments:
1. This is part of what appears to be the second of two creation accounts which open Genesis, the first book in the Old Testament. The first account, starting at Genesis 1:1, begins with a promordial flood and over a period of six days, culminates in the creation of human beings. In this account, God creates from a desert or a wilderness, causes water to spring up, and humans are the first creatures God creates from the unpromising sand.

2. The fact that the there appear to be two different accounts of creation at the beginning of the Bible shouldn't throw us off. The Bible is God's Word to us, but given the infinite distance between His intellect and our capacity to understand, that Word is nonetheless His baby from His perspective. In both accounts, in ways that we can understand, God wants to convey the simple fact that He created the universe and made humanity for a special relationship with Him and His creation. For more, see here.

3. Some scholars insist that Genesis 2:4-25 actually describes events that should be seen as sequentially following the events recounted in Genesis 1:1-2:3. I'm skeptical of that view.

4. V. 15 demonstrates that it was always God's plan for the human race to, like God Himself, work. The human call is to take care of creation. In all our vocations--at home, at school, or on the job, this is part of our call. Far from being a punishment, work is central to what we human beings are to be about. It imbues us with dignity and purpose.

Second Thessalonians 3:6-10
6Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. 9This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.

A Few Comments:
(1) The apostle Paul established the church in Thessalonica, the capital of Macedonia (Acts 17). As The New Oxford Annotated Bible (Revised Standard Version) explains:

Here [Paul] preached in the synagogue for three sabbaths, proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, and proving from the Scriptures the necessity of his death and resurrection (Acts 17:3). Some Jews were convinced; many of the Greeks who had been previously attracted to the religion of Israel were also persuaded.

A thriving new ministry ensued. Eventually however, many Jews in the city became perturbed with a movement that incorporated Jews and non-Jews (Gentiles). This group "accused [Paul] of sedition (Acts 17:7) and aroused such a disturbance that Paul and Silas were sent away by their friends by night..."

Paul's continuing concern for the spiritual development of the congregation at Thesslaonica caused him to maintain contact. The letter that appears as First Thessalonians in our New Testament was written in the early 50s-AD. Many scholars believe that Second Thessalonians was written the following year, 52-AD.

(2) Paul has traditionally been held to be the letter's primary author, although because of divergences in vocabulary and its understanding of the end times (eschatology), that's questioned. But the differences aren't so great as to make different authorship necessary. It should be pointed out though that in ancient times, it was thought perfectly legitimate for persons who belonged to a school of thought established by a rabbi to correspond in the rabbi's name.

(3) Like most of the New Testament letters (epistles), this one was written in response to specific issues that had arisen in the life of the congregataiton, in this case the congregation in Thessalonica. As The Archaeological Study Bible points out, there were three big issues addressed in Second Thessalonians:

On the one hand, these believers were enduring in the faith despite persecution (2Th 1:4). On the other hand, some had become frantic about the return of the Lord (ch. 2), while others had taken to living off the largesse of their fellow believers (3:6-15). Paul wanted to set the record straight.

How Christians Might Think About the 2008 Presidential Election, Part 1

Last year, I wrote a series of posts on How Christians Might Think About the Immigration Issue. The purpose wasn't to proscribe a particular stance on this political hot potato. Instead, I wanted to present some Biblical faith lenses through which Christians might want to consider US immigration policy.

In this series, I intend to do the same thing while considering the upcoming presidential election. That we need to begin thinking about an election that's some twenty-one months away is indicated by the fact that, sadly, the race is already on in a very public way. Even now, candidates are seeking our support. And they're doing so aggressively, engaging in much more than laying the groundwork of their campaigns or courting contributors. They're in the thick of seeking the support of voters and volunteers right now.

I won't tell you how to vote. One reason for that is that I don't even know how I'll vote, especially since there's no way of knowing who the nominees will be. But another and more important one is that I would be loathe to suggest that any candidate is more Christian or more preferred by God over others in the race.

So, lens #1: The Bible teaches that we should care about what happens in government. Our active concern becomes a means by which we can share the love of Jesus Christ with others.

The apostle Peter says:

For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. (First Peter 2:13-16)

Peter was writing to Jewish Christians facing rejection and at least the possibility of rejection because of their faith in Christ.

Politically, of course, these believers were subject to the Roman Empire. From time to time, the Empire was known to lash out at religious groups whose beliefs were at variance with Rome's worship of multiple deities. In time, of course, Christians would be subjected to widespread and violent pressure to renounce their belief in Jesus as the one true God and King. The latter belief--in Jesus as King--was seen by the authorities as a threat to the rule of the emperor.

Christians have no interest in insurrection or political power plays. Jesus told Pilate, the Roman governor who sentenced Him to be executed on a cross, that His kingdom was not of this world.

What Christians are interested in is sharing the Good News, whether in their words or actions, so that all who renounce sin and entrust their lives to Jesus Christ can receive forgiveness of sin and everlasting life with God.

That's where Peter's words come in. As is true today, those who weren't part of the Church to which Peter wrote, suffered from all sorts of misconceptions about Christ, the Church, and Christians.

I've told the story before of meeting with one couple, she a lifelong Christian and he a guy who had barely been around Christianity his entire life. The woman announced that her husband had some problems with the Church. I smiled and told him, "I do too. Why don't you give me your list first? Then I'll tell you what I don't like." He answered, "I don't like the way they blow up abortion clinics." Apparently, news reports about people who claimed to be Christians and perpetrated violence at clinics where abortions were performed were all this guy had to go on when judging what Christian faith is all about.

As citizens, candidates, and voters, we Christians have an obligation to behave in such a way as to dispel the myths and misapprehensions and yes, the evil done by some in Christ's Name. Baptist pastor Gerald Mann says that one of the primary missions of Christians is to clean up the bad reputation given to God by other Christians.

The call to love God and to love neighbor given to Christians by Jesus isn't a call to a vague sentiment of favor for either God or neighbor. It's a call to active, respectful living toward God and others. We're called to live lovingly even when we feel neither sentimental or favorable toward anyone but ourselves. Concerned citizenship, including familiarizing ourselves with issues, candidates, and platforms as well as voting, and doing so without rancor, disrespect, or prejudice, is among the ways we can express love for neighbor.

Christians live in social orders, under civil authorities. By conducting ourselves honorably, paying our taxes, and exercising civic responsibility, we put the lie to notions that Christians are "so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good." Those Christians who are involved as citizens--including engaging in thoughtful conversations, Christian and non-Christian about who our next Presdient should be--earn the opportunities to fulfill our highest callings as Christians: sharing Christ with those who experience our love, rationality, earnestness, and concern.

Peter says this in another place:

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light...(First Peter 2:9)

The Bible teaches that we should care about what happens in government. Our active concern becomes a means by which we can share the love of Jesus Christ with others.

[Next installment: Another reason why Christians should care about the upcoming presidential election.]

[THANK YOU TO: Andy Jackson of Smart Christian for linking to this post.]

[THANKS ALSO TO: Rick Moore of Holy Coast for linking to this post.]

"Harriet is believeable as a Christian because she's flawed."

That's Jan of TheViewfromHer writing about Harriet Hayes, TV's sympathetically-drawn Christian character. Read the whole thing.

As the bumper sticker says, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."