A Half-Baked Idea

This post is meant as a simmering pot, to help me think as I write these thoughts down. Hopefully they will make sense to anyone reading (especially you, Brando, once you get home and everything).

Today I saw a link for this video game: http://www.biblearcade.com/games.htm (Brando, I can’t get the hyperlink working…). For those who may not know, this game is a complete copy of Bejeweled, an immensely popular game is quite fun and rather addictive. The premise of Bejeweled (and, consequently, this knock-off game entitled Jewels of Sinai) is that you have to match up three like objects in a sea of other objects. It’s fast paced and kept me playing the few times that I have played it.

I’m going to be very simple with my language here. Why must there be a Jewels of Sinai? It is essentially the same game, except that instead of a simple game with no plot (as if there needed to be one) there is a game attempting to teach a bible story. Pardon me, but since when do we need a bible story in such a game? Will it teach anyone anything deep about God as they furiously click to gain points and lead God’s people to Sinai? Does that question even need to be answered?

What I see here is a trend that seems to be emerging in Christian merchandise, especially Christian video games (think this game about Moses: http://www.thedeliverancegame.com/?gclid=CPTNzsaXwooCFRssVAodx2W2kQ ). It’s the trend that says that all the world’s media must be evil, so as Christians we must make replicas that take out the trash and keep the good. This was the case with the movie Facing the Giants (which, by the way, I did not see because I heard from multiple sources that the acting was atrocious).

Now, hear me carefully. I do believe that Christians should produce art. In times past, some of the most beautiful artistic works were made by Christians (a la Milton’s Paradise Lost, Augustine’s Confessions, or Lewis’ works). However, recently this Christian Industry Machine emerged, promising a plethora of artistic talent, but by Christians. Whereas before the Christians were fine with working from a “secular” publishing house, now Christians must be a part of CCM if they are to be a “Christian” musician. Now Christians are to be under a Christian publishing house. Now Christians must only listen to “Christian” music (as if music were saved), read “Christian” books, watch “Christian” movies, and play “Christian” video games (where “Christian” is described as coming from a publishing house, record label, movie maker, or game developer known as “Christian”).

This doesn’t exactly sound like in the world but not of it. I would argue that the art that these “Christian” venues often promote is second-rate, often merely aping some secular style rather than being truly fresh or original. That’s a sweeping statement, but I believe it can be backed up by many examples (for which I don’t have the time…Brando, have a few?). One example is “Christian” music, which is often simply a re-packaging of a secular artist’s style.

I lament this state of things. Why did the shift occur? Why do we now have a “Christian” market, instead of Christians in the market? Why do we have a “Christian” Music Industry, instead of having Christians in the music industry? Why are there now “Christian” game development companies making the same game as a good secular game, instead of Christians making a brand new, fresh, and innovative game that will blow people away.

Art reflects our Creator and Savior. Why should we settle for having a “Christian industry” that promotes art that doesn’t reflect as much of God’s revealed glory as, oftentimes, the skill of the secular artists do? It sickens me that Christians are not at the forefront of culture. Why are we in the back, bemoaning the terrible culture that is emerging from those evil secular people? We, as representatives of Christ, should reflect Him and His glory through skillful, creative art better than non-Christians. We have a reason to other than self-glorification. We have Christ to exalt! What a waste it would be if we backed away from the world and created our own bubble of art, instead of creating art that glorifies God and shows His majesty to all around!

Those are my thoughts, raw and unedited. If they do not make sense, I apologize. This post is like raw material. It may form the basis for many posts. Brando, if you see this while you’re in San Fransisco and you have a minute, give me your thoughts…

Chrisitan Nolan

David Waiting on God

One of the most exciting stories in the Bible is the Israelite king Saul’s pursuit of the future anointed king of Israel, David. David is getting more and more fame in Israel, and Saul, who has already been told that he is going to be replaced as God’s anointed, begins growing jealous of David. He attempts to kill David a few times, forcing David to go on the run.

Now imagine being David. You have been told that you are to be the next king of Israel. You have defeated a giant, and are praised by the people for being a champion. However, your king’s jealousy is forcing you to go into hiding for your very life. Most people in those circumstances would kill their pursuer if they got the chance. After all, isn’t he the anointed of God? Shouldn’t he be the king of Israel anyway? It is obvious that Saul is living an unrighteous life, and does not honor God. So shouldn’t he be dealt with?

David answers this question with a resounding “no!” He refuses to kill Saul, and grows very angry with those who take life and death into their own hands later. His idea seems to be “God has promised that I will be king, so I will leave the timing up to him.” What amazing trust in God! I know I am tempted to take circumstances into my own hands on a regular basis. “Hasn’t God called me to something else? Why should I wait before seizing this opportunity – it is there for the taking!” However, I believe that God does not always call me to immediately seize an opportunity just because it is there. I need to proceed cautiously, and see if there are good reasons to wait. I also need to be patient if God closes doors that I think should be opened – he has a plan for this. Just because God is calling me to something does not mean that I am to do it this instant – God may have good reasons for me to wait. May I be patient with God’s plans for my life, especially when I feel he is going slowly. God always has a reason, and that reason is for my good.

Joint Heirs and Some More Brother Stuff

Chris,

You would be right in saying that the marriage relationship is used a lot more than the relationship of brothers. However, that language is there, and I believe it is helpful to examine what is meant by any metaphor in the Bible. After all, God created us, and designed relationships to teach us something about him, and when the inspired Word of God calls attention to a particular relationship, we should look at it. Also, the picture of Christ going before us in death and resurrection is a good find! This is indeed something that husbands and wives don’t experience (or at least, aren’t guaranteed to experience).

While thinking about other passages that talk about our relationship to Christ, this one came to mind (Romans 8:12-17):

12 So then, brothers, [4] we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons [5] of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Now at first, this just seems to be stating “yeah, we are brothers with Christ”, and it is saying that. However, the term fellow heirs would have sounded very different to Roman ears than it does to modern Western ears. When we talk about heirs to a throne, we typically think of the English and French kingships, where an heir was a biological son – thus, calling someone “fellow heirs” with Christ is talking about a family relationship. Now, thankfully, this IS the picture – we are brought into God’s family, and he treats us as such. However, to a Roman mind, another picture would have also came into picture. Royalty back then wasn’t hereditary. This makes reading Roman history an interesting experience filled with much unnecessary drama – the lack of a clear succession plan caused a lot of headaches for the Empire, as there was a lot of fighting and weakness as a result of this plan. The closest the Emperors ever got to solving the problem was the Roman institution of adoption. In Roman times, adoption could happen among two people of similar ages – a grown Emperor could adopt someone who was around his age, and this person would be immediately brought into the family, and an heir would be clear. I’m not sure if this practice was adopted before or after the Apostle Paul wrote, but this would have informed early Christians reading the text. In this case, God would be the emperor, and he would have adopted his children into his family, placing them with Christ. The adopted weren’t second class sons – they were on equal footing with the biological sons (and were sometimes considered more legitimate – they were chosen heirs, the heir the Emperor had given his blessing to). There were even cases where two Emperors were declared, with two heirs to replace them. (This tended to devolve into chaos, but that was a legal possibility that Romans did not find strange in any way.)

What a strange thought! We are considered fellow heirs with Christ – loved by God and Christ, and we will rule with him! We don’t deserve this rich honor, but God has granted it to us – praise be unto his name!

The Little Dude

At the intense behest of my brother, I decided to post.

So, I am the little brother. What does this mean? Well, first off, I could totally take him now (ok, so maybe it’d be a close fight). So, the parallel between Christ and the church is compared to an older brother to a younger brother? Ok.

Before I make any other comments, however, I will first say that the Bible uses the covenant of marriage to speak on Christ’s relationship to the church far more frequently than the image of Christ being a big brother is used (look up Ephesians 5:22-33 for one such example).

However, I do think that the idea of Christ’s being a big brother is helpful to show some nuances of the relationship.

First off, one patently obvious thing about the big brother/little brother relationship is that the big brother goes before the little brother. The big brother has experienced the parts of life that the little brother often has to wait to go through. For example, my brother drove before I did, he shaved before I did, he went through puberty before I did, he went to college before I have, and he’s had a full-time job before I have. This means that, when I consider colleges, I seek his input. When I will think about a job offer, I will ask his advice, because he’s been through the job interview process. This idea of the older brother going before the younger is an not found in the marriage picture, but it helps because, as the author of Hebrews points out, Christ can sympathize with us because He has been tempted in every way. Even more strikingly, He has died before us, and is the firstborn from the dead (note the use of firstborn from the dead, which clearly implies that others will follow). In this way, Christ has gone before us in a way that none of us have. Much like an older brother, he can say “I’ve been there. I’ve died, and I’ve risen.” Now, it’s not exactly the same, because we are not atoning for the sins of the world (nor could we), but we will die, and those who have trusted Christ will rise from death, much in the same way Christ did.

This aspect is one completely unique to the image of a bigger brother. Unlike protection, in which the husband (or Christ) is called to protect the wife (or the Church), the idea of Christ going before us is only found in the brother picture.

Most other aspects have already been covered by Brando, and I need to get some Latin homework done!

The Big Older Brother

Romans 8:28-30
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; ³⁰and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

John Piper’s Sermon on Glorification.

You’ve got to actually hear Piper preach this message, because I can’t find the phrase “big older brother” anywhere in the abbreviated manuscript. I have to admit, hearing that phrase from Piper was a bit shocking to me – not the theological seriousness that we normally attribute to him. However, Romans 8 DOES say that he foreknew us so that Christ could be the firstborn among many brothers, so there IS something to this thought. What can we learn about Christ and us from his being the firstborn among many brothers?

Well, much like marriage, the sibling relationship can say something about how Christ relates to us. I’m the “big older brother” in my family. While I’d love my brother to talk about how this relationship looks to him (after all, he’s in our position – the younger brother), I know my older brother responsibilities can reflect weakly how Christ relates to us.

1. Protection. Christ is our protector, and it is my responsibility to protect my brother and sister. (Especially my sister.) I am to defend their honor, and I am to protect them physically as well. While my younger brother would probably be a better protector than me now, Christ will always be in this role.

2. Role model. Younger siblings love and pattern themselves after older ones. My brother especially wanted to be just like me when he was young – he wanted to spend time with me, and be just like me. My sister and I would talk about life, and I know she was also looking to my experience. Again, this is a responsibility – I have to realize they want to emulate me, and be sure to be a good example. Even now, I am looked to for advice in their lives. Just like my siblings look to me, we are to look to Christ. We know we can imitate him perfectly – he never sins, never does anything not worth emulating. While we cannot do everything he does (and in fact, shouldn’t do some things because he is God and we are not), there are things we can follow his example

3. Love. I love seeing the child-like love that a young kid has for an older sibling. They want to be everywhere that their brother or sister are, sometimes to the annoyance of the older sibling! My little brother in particular wanted me to play with him all the time – which wasn’t always what I wanted. However, it teaches us how we should approach our big older brother, Jesus. We should approach him with a childlike love, that just wants to be around him, learn about him, and do things with him. And, unlike me and my selfish desires, our big older brother will never turn us away if we truly desire to know him.

Samson – Stupid or Arrogant? (Or Both?)

As I continue through the book of Judges, I have finally gotten to the story of Sampson. Sampson defines the phrase “interesting character”. He is chosen before birth as a Judge for Israel, and his parents raise him as a Nazarite – one set apart by God. However, he quickly proves to be an ungrateful cad – he marries a woman who is a part of the very nation God wants to get the Israelites out from, he touches dead bodies, a clear violation of the vows that God had instructed him to take, and he is recorded as having sexual interest with three different women, and having sex out of wedlock with two of them.

Now, we all know what happens when he meets the third woman, Delilah. Delilah, in the pay of Samson’s enemies, keeps trying to get his secret out of him. He lies to her three times, and each time, the weakness he suggests is tried on him. Now I know that at this point, I would walk away and have nothing more to do with this woman – everything that I’ve told her has ended up in the hands of my enemies!

However, Samson incredibly TELLS her his secret, and then allows himself to fall asleep in her house. You keep yelling at the text, saying “Samson how STUPID are you, anyway?!”

After thinking about it, though, I think that Samson wasn’t stupid. No, he had a far worse problem, one that all of us face. Samson was arrogant.

Samson never gave the source of his power, God, much thought at all. From Judges 16:

When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Samson wasn’t naive. He knew his information was getting into the hands of his enemies. He’s been judging Israel for 20 years – this likely puts him somewhere between 35-40 years old. He wasn’t the smartest person in Israel, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew that Delilah was selling him out, and yet he tells her. Why?

1. Sex. Samson wants to keep having sex with her, and she’s going to dump him if he doesn’t tell her. Sexual desire can make you do strange things.

2. Arrogance. Samson had ALWAYS defeated his enemies. He has torn gates off of cities. He has defeated 2000 Philistines at once. His strength had never left him. So, he begins to take it for granted. He assumes that this is his own power, not God’s gift, and he never counts on God taking it away. Remember – it wasn’t that that hair had magical power – it was the fact that the hair was the most visible symbol of his dedication to God. His cutting it off was a signal that he was forsaking God – he was no longer identifying with the God who had given him everything, he was assuming that he would have his strength no matter what.

Samson identified cutting off his hair as a weakness, and he revealed it last. However, there is no indication in the text that he or his parents had ever been told that shaving off his hair would cripple his strength – only that he was to be a Nazarite, and that he was to obey God’s commands for Nazarites, which included keeping his hair long, not drinking wine, and not touching dead bodies. After a prolonged period of arrogant disobedience of God’s commands, including portions of his Nazarite vows, God decides to judge him. While Samson knew this was something in him that made him special, he did NOT think that disobeying God in this way would bring God’s judgement.

Notice Samson’s words: “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” His assumption is that everything is fine. He doesn’t think that cutting his hair off will weaken him. He surely knows that it has been cut off, because every other time he told Delilah a bogus weakness, it was tried, and he broke free. He knows that if he has a secret, this is it. However, he doesn’t think that God will leave him over this. God proves Samson wrong here, though, and leaves Samson – leaving him to judgement at the hands of his enemies.

This gives me pause. Everything I have received is from God. I know this to be true, but I have arrogantly done things in my own strength on many occasions. This is a sobering reminder that God may leave us if we begin to think that the things he has given us are coming from our own talents and efforts.

Lusts of the Flesh

Between Two Worlds has been doing a series on the Lusts of the Flesh with David Powlison. He’s discussing how our own desires betray us, and how the things we want are mostly worldly, sinful things. In question 1, he addresses our misconception of the word “lusts”:

But the term “lust” has become almost useless to modern readers of the Bible. It is reduced to sexual desire. Take a poll of the people in your church, asking them the meaning of “lusts of the flesh.” Sex will appear on every list. Greed, pride, gluttonous craving, or mammon worship might be added in the answers of a few of the more thoughtful believers. But the subtleties and details are washed out, and a crucial biblical term for explaining human life languishes. In contrast, the New Testament writers use this term as a comprehensive category for the human dilemma! It will pay us to think carefully about its manifold meanings. We need to expand the meaning of a term that has been truncated and drained of significance. We need to learn to understand life though these lenses, and to use these categories skillfully.

One of the things that opened my eyes to the biblical meaning of the word “lusts” and the meaning it has of “desires” was taking German. In German, the word “lustig” is an adjective that describes something desirable – saying that something is “lustig” is equivalent to saying “that’s great” in English. After seeing this word, which was surely related to our word lust, I realized that the meaning of the word “lust” in English was much broader in the past – that it didn’t include just sexual desire, but the things that make us feel good – the little idols in our lives. The “lusts of the flesh” are any desire that can be traced back to our fallen nature. In other words, these lusts are all our desires for anything less than God – which is a sobering thought, really. We can’t just read about the lusts of the flesh and write them off as something we are conquering because we have our sexual desire under control – rather, the lusts of the flesh are something that we fight our entire lives, whenever we encounter a choice between obeying God and obeying the flesh.

Gibeonites, Canaanites, Hardened Hearts, and Softened Ones

Joshua 9 starts out as follows:

As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes.

Notice the contrast here: the kings of the Canaanites don’t think to sue for peace, even though the book of Joshua has established that they are afraid of these people. Everyone in Canaan is afraid of the Israelites, and of their God. However, only the Gibeonites approached Israel in a meek fashion, seeking peace from them. All the other nations responded in a hardness of heart: Gibeon responded by immediately placing themselves under Israel. They deceived them, yes, and that was judged. However, Gibeon grasped something the other nations did not – this God could not be overcome by force. They had a proper fear of God, and even in their deception, they respected God enough to not try to conquer his people, but to approach them and put themselves at their feet. Interestingly enough, had they approached God in humility, they may well have been spared without being forced to be servants. God even looks out for them later – in making sure justice was brought for them when Saul had committed injustice against them years later. Also, notice how they take their punishment – they accept it as just, and are grateful to have been spared from destruction at the Israelites’ hands.

The other kings, however, hardened their hearts before God, and fought against him – and they were utterly destroyed in battle. God gave them over to the Israelites, and their peoples were no more.

Let us approach God with humility, and not a hardened heart. If God rewarded a deceitful people who had at least recognized that he was a God worthy of our fear and contrition, how much more will he reward us, if we approach him with humility without deceit. I hope to never approach God with a hardened heart: may I never again approach him as someone I can successfully oppose – someone I can force MY will on. No, God’s will is supreme – it will be fulfilled no matter what. The best reaction I can have is to voluntarily follow God in everything, rather than opposing him in favor of what I think is best – a course of action that will ultimately lead to destruction.

God Speaks Today

John Piper heard the voice of God last Monday. This piece gave me a new appreciation of the gift that God’s Word is. What an amazing thing that God has given us a means by which we can know what he says! We can know God’s very words, and not question whether or not we made them up. We can KNOW that God is saying something, and that we should listen.

Praise God for His Word, and that this Word can be counted on, despite our subjective impressions. He has given us a written Word that does not change, rather than speaking to us in a way that we may doubt whether or not he really has spoken to us.

Creation Groans

Romans 8:18-25:

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

I’ve been listening to John Piper preach on suffering from Romans 8, and its been very good. I was thinking today . . . those of us in climates in which there is a winter get to watch a yearly renewal of the earth as spring arrives. I think I can speak for just about everyone when I say that we all long for spring to arrive. Right now, everything is dead. The trees are bare, or have dead leaves. The ground is brown and lifeless. We are all waiting for the redemption of creation which is the spring, when everything bursts forth with life. Flowers bloom, trees blossom, and the ground becomes green again. The best part is that this is all under a month away. No wonder we anticipate it!

Now, think about what Paul says here. The creation as a whole suffers now. It is under a curse. It is like the dead of winter – that part without snow before the springtime. The part we all hate. It groans. We wait eagerly for our new bodies. We wait for the glory that will be revealed to us – the glory of a new creation, one that will dwarf what we now know.

No one likes the dead winter. It grates on everyone after a while. Right now, we all know spring is coming. We just need to patiently wait. What an awesome picture of God’s renewing activity in creation as a whole? Ever since the fall, creation has been plunged into futility – a groaning in which bodies break down into sickness, a time in which we are broken. We cannot serve God as we ought. We suffer pain, sickness, and ultimately death. However, the spring is coming! We need to patiently wait, as Paul says, for we hope in something that we do not yet see.

Right now, I can’t see the oncoming spring. There are few signs that anything is changing except a few early buds on the trees. But even here, we see another picture of God’s kindness in his fallen creation: for is not the spring’s return like seeing a flower blossom in the midst of a seemingly futile creation? God is working! He is on the move, and despite the suffering in this world, spring will come! God will renew his creation, and as John Piper has been pointing out on his Desiring God Radio podcast, we are going to need new bodies to be able to take it all in! Our current bodies are NOT going to be good enough. Praise God!