Christ and Common Sense

Thoughts from a Central Valley Pastor

Category: Church (Page 2 of 3)

Weekender Review

November 19, 2021 /

The 9Marks Weekender started on a Friday afternoon with a warm greeting, laughter, and a loaded question. The pastor asked each of the thirty leaders to answer the question, “When were you saved?” Some people struggled to give a detailed answer, while one man gave us the place, date and time of his conversion. He had been listening to a program when God showed him his sin, brought him to repentance and belief in Jesus Christ as his Savior! What a dramatic way to start out the conference. 

After passing the initial Q&A session we were welcomed upstairs to a great meal and the warm hospitality of the church family at Bethany Baptist in Bellflower, CA. At around 7 pm we made our way to a large room for the Elder’s meeting. We had been warned that the meeting might go past midnight, so I got some extra snacks and caffeine and found my seat. 

We started the meeting by singing accapella for all five stanzas of a favorite hymn. As soon as we finished singing, the pastors started praying and they didn’t stop until all the members in the church had been prayed for. One of the pastors got on his knees while the other two stayed seated. Each of them had a copy of the church directory. It was evident that these leaders had been praying for their people. They went person by person and prayed deep, informed prayers for each of them. It was impressive to see how detailed and recent their prayer requests and praises were. As I listened to them praying I couldn’t help thinking about the parable of the Good Shepherd who left the ninety-nine to go look for the one lost sheep. The shepherds at Bethany Baptist know their sheep by name. They know how to pray for them and it was clear to see that their love and concern for their people. 

After praying, we took a quick break and then jumped back in for the Member Care portion of the meeting. This was when one of the pastors surprised us by sharing a recent personal struggle in his life. He asked the others to pray for him. They did so and also gave him some accountability questions to consider. The pastors told us there are 117 active members at the church. They use the Member Care time to talk about people in the church who are troubled, hurting, or in need of accountability. They did a great job of assigning each need to either a pastor or someone who was close to the person. By doing this they were able to make action items to help care for the church family. 

After discussing Member Care and New Members the pastors delved into finalizing the budget for next year. Having worked through church budgets before I found the process to be efficient and pastoral. They had been reading a book on church budgeting together as a pastoral team and I could tell it had an impact on how they tackled the church finances. 

At around 11:30 pm, the pastors told us the meeting was done, at least for us. They told us they were going to have a private meeting to finalize some things in preparation for the next day. I was glad our part of the meeting was over, but I couldn’t help to think about all the work those pastors put in to help shepherd the people of God. I had already been with these men for seven hours and I could tell they modeled the theme verse of their church, 1 Thessalonians 2:8, “We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” 

The conference continued with this same atmosphere of pastoral care and intentional church life from Saturday through Monday morning. The conference covered many topics including church government, church history, pastoral strategies, membership, and church discipline. These Weekender conferences are put on periodically in different churches around the country. If you are interested in more information you can find it at https://www.9marks.org/events/. 

Marks of a Healthy Church pt. 2

November 19, 2021 /

The topic of healthy churches is one that concerns all believers in Jesus Christ. The Christian does not exist independently of other believers. At a minimum, every Christian is to gather with others to hear the preaching of God’s word, to pray and share the love of Christ, and to take part in communion and baptism. As a result, all churches need to provide the opportunity for these things to take place. We would applaud churches doing these things, but if the church family is to be a healthy church, they will need to foster other areas of service to God as well. 

This week I am continuing a series on 9 Marks of a Healthy Church. They are taken from Pastor Mark Dever’s book of the same name. Last week we looked at the need for: 1) Expositional Preaching, 2) Biblical Theology, and 3) the Gospel. This week we are going to look at the next three marks of a healthy church: 1) Conversion, 2) Evangelism, and 3) Church Membership. 

1. CONVERSION: Healthy churches need to provide clear teaching on conversion because if they don’t, the church will be full of those who have not understood what it means to be a committed follower of Christ. Mark Dever explains biblical teaching on conversion in terms of God making a dramatic change in someone’s life. Conversion is a work of God bringing someone to a place where they see the holiness of God and the reality of their sin. Every Christian needs to accept that God needs to change them by cleansing them of their sin and bringing them out of spiritual darkness into spiritual light. Dever emphasizes Paul’s description of conversion in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

2. EVANGELISM: Evangelism is the mark of a healthy church because it is one of the main ways Jesus expects the church to pursue his final command to “Make disciples of all the nations.” (Matt. 28:19-20). Mark Dever defines evangelism as a call to “proclaim… the good news of salvation in Christ, to call them to repentance, and to give God the glory for regeneration and conversion.” All believers should seek to share the good news with others, and they should do so with conviction, with a sense of urgency, with joy, with the Bible, and with prayer. A healthy church family will encourage its members to share the truth of Scripture with others, and the church will provide training on how to do so. 

3. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Church Membership is a mark of a healthy church because it demonstrates that people are committed to the local body of Christ and also helps the leadership of the church provide oversight for a specific group of people. Dever emphasizes that the church is not a building. It is “a local collection of people committed Christ, to regularly assemble and have his Word preached and obeyed, including Christ’s commands to baptize and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.” If people make the commitment to become members to a church, it contributes to the health of the church because it means the church is carefully considering who is being admitted to its membership. This helps to maintain the purity of the church and makes it possible for the church to remove anyone who is persistently opposed to living the way God commands. Dever describes church membership in a positive way as “the opportunity to grasp a hold of each other in responsibility and love.” 

Marks of a Healthy Church

November 7, 2021 /

Later this month I’ll be going to a local church event called a “Weekender.” The 9Marks church network is hosting the event for pastors and church leaders who want to see the inner workings of how a healthy church is run. I had no idea “weekender” was even a word until a pastor friend told me about it a couple years ago. He said the training he received was one of the most helpful and practical events he had ever attended. So when I saw there was one within driving distance, I jumped at the opportunity. 

I’m looking forward to going to this weekend church event because it is a hands on, full-immersion experience of a behind-the-scenes look at a healthy, biblically-sound church. The 9Marks website says, “We encourage pastors and church leaders to attend because, just as every Timothy needs a Paul, so every church needs a model.” The apostle Paul certainly believed in modeling healthy Christian living. He wrote, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil. 3:19; 4:7 ESV) 

The 9Marks Weekender starts on a Friday night and runs all the way to Monday morning. Some pastors and church leaders come from out of state to have their questions answered about how to run a healthy church. The weekend includes attending elder meetings, which would normally be closed to outside eyes and ears, and teaching sessions that include practical, biblically-based insight into how to run meetings, prepare sermons, and lead the local church. 

You may be wondering why is it called a 9Marks Weekender? The reason is because it is hosted by a network of churches called 9Marks. Back in 1991, a pastor named Mark Dever wrote a letter to a church in Massachusetts encouraging them to pursue “nine marks of a healthy church.” It was so well received that it was developed into a book and then into a network of churches that all make a commitment to these nine marks. 

Now, you must be curious about what they are. You may be asking, “What makes a healthy church?” The book Pastor Mark Dever wrote doesn’t claim that the list is comprehensive in any way. It doesn’t say that these nine marks are the most important part of the church. It does say the book “focuses on certain crucial aspects of healthy church life that have grown rare among churches today.” As I list them for you today, I thought it would be helpful to expand on each of them with a series of articles focused on modeling a healthy church. The nine marks are Expositional Preaching, Biblical Theology, The Gospel, Conversion, Evangelism, Membership, Church Discipline, Discipleship, Church Leadership. 

I don’t have the space or time to write about each of them now, but over the coming weeks I will address two or three at a time with the aim of helping us all become more discerning in knowing what a healthy church looks like. We all know there is no such thing as a perfect church, but we can all appreciate churches that are trying to search Scripture and understand how God wants them to function. After all, Jesus Christ is the one who said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:8). There is no better way to learn how to be the church than to follow the guidelines he has given us in His word. 

A Christian Celebration on October 31

October 30, 2021 /

More and more Christians are celebrating Reformation Day on October 31st. Reformation Day is a holiday celebrated around the world that commemorates the day in the year 1517, when Martin Luther, a German priest, reportedly nailed a list of religious concerns to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. One reason we believe he posted the list on October 31st was because he knew many people would be coming to the church the next day, which was All-Saints Day. Martin Luther knew the list, called the 95 Theses, would cause a stir, but he had no idea it would lead to a wide-spread religious movement referred to as the Protestant Reformation. 

The Protestant Reformation started from a desire for Christians to see the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) reformed. At the time, the church allowed funds to be raised by selling something called an indulgence. In his book A Modern Guide to Indulgences, Edward Peters describes an indulgence as “a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins.” The RCC taught that an individual could reduce the punishment for a specific sin by doing certain things, such as reciting a prayer, visiting a holy place, or performing an action the church declared could pay for sin. These indulgences were official documents that attested to the punishment for sins being reduced. 

By the time Martin Luther served as a priest, there was wide-spread abuse of indulgences. They were being sold to the ignorant masses who were taught salvation came by works, not by faith. The indulges raised funds that helped build massive cathedrals. Martin Luther was keenly aware of these abuses and so in 1517 he decided to voice his concerns. While reading the 95 Theses, it becomes clear that Luther’s main concern was to show that the Bible did not teach salvation through buying indulgences. He wrote, “Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.” 

Martin Luther’s actions on October 31, 1517, are remembered today largely because of the printing press. Someone took Luther’s 95 Theses and began printing it on a press that was likely modeled after the Guttenberg press. Luther’s writing was circulated far and wide, and the Roman Catholic Church was compelled to address his complaints. The situation became more and more concerned with Martin Luther’s belief’s about salvation being by faith alone. This all culminated in a dramatic court case, called the Diet of Worms (a gathering that took place in the German city called Worms), where Luther was ordered to renounce all his writings. He refused, and as a result he was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church. 

The story goes on to have a happy ending for Martin Luther. He realized the Bible does not forbid clergy to marry, and so in 1523 he married Katharina von Bora, a former nun, and had six children with her. He went on to do groundbreaking work in translating the New Testament from Greek into German, and with the help of the printing press distributed God’s word to the masses.

His life was filled with controversy because of his beliefs. Many today do not agree with everything he wrote and said, but if you study his life and work you will come to understand what he believed because he was a man of conviction and faith. His convictions regarding salvation and theology were at the heart of the Reformation. 

He did not invent the Five Solas of the Reformation, but he would wholeheartedly agree with them: Sola Gratia – Christians are saved by Grace Alone; Sola Fide – Through Faith Alone; Solus Christus – In Christ Alone; Sola Scripture – According to Scripture Alone; Soli Deo Gloria – For the Glory of God Alone. 

I hope you will join us in celebrating God’s work in human history this year by celebrating Reformation Day on October 31st. 

Faithful Love, Sacrificial Love

September 24, 2021 /

The bible tells us that love should be defined by the agape love that God showed us when he sent Jesus Christ to earth to die on the cross for our sins (1 John 4:10). I often think of His supernatural love for us when I hear stories of people sacrificing for each other. That was the case when I read the story of Jean-Pierre and Bernadette Adams’ remarkable commitment to their marriage vows. 

When Jean-Pierre and Bernadette Adams were married in the late 1960s they had no idea how strongly their love for each other would be tested. The couple was living in southern France when Jean-Pierre suffered a knee injury at a soccer training event. He went to a hospital and was advised to get surgery to fix the injury to one of his tendons. During the surgery, a complication arose that put him in a coma that lasted thirty-nine years.

By the grace of God his body was able to survive for all those years, and it was also the grace of God that allowed his wife to care for him during that time. 

The first fifteen months of the coma were spent in the hospital. Bernadette made sure to watch over him there, even though she was also caring for their two young children. She was advised to place her husband in a nursing home, but she loved him so much that she said, “I don’t think they knew how to look after him, so I said to myself: ‘He will come home’ and I’ve looked after him ever since.”

They moved to their home and Bernadette began round-the-clock care for her husband. From the start of the day until Jean-Pierre fell asleep she would care for all his needs. Even after he was asleep, she would need to turn him in the middle of the night. In one interview she said, “Sometimes when the night goes badly, I’m up for the whole thing.” 

Jean-Pierre had played professional soccer for several teams in France, including the national team, with 22 appearances. When this tragic event occurred, many of those in the soccer community rallied to help him. They helped pay for his home to be customized with amenities that would make life easier for him. Through it all his wife was constantly there for him, ready to keep her marriage vows to him. 

There have been times when she has been asked about euthanasia. In one interview she responded this way, “It’s unthinkable! He cannot speak. And it’s not for me to decide for him. What do you want me to do—deprive him of food? Let him die little by little? No, no, no.” Her commitment to loving him continued until September 6 of this year, when Jean-Pierre passed away.

As I have reflected on this story I have been amazed by the picture of love that it represents. Bernadette’s love was sacrificial, selfless, faithful, kind, and compassionate. Her desire to care for him was grounded in the commitment she made when they were married fifty-two years ago. 

The picture of faithful love that is contained in marriage is so powerful because it comes from God. He is the one who gave the institution of marriage to humanity at the creation of the world. The idea that two people would sacrificially love each other for their entire married life is just a small glimpse of God’s love for us. Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus gives us the ultimate definition of love in marriage. Paul wrote, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 

The agape love that God has for the lost was perfectly illustrated when Jesus was willing to die on the cross for our sins. We are amazed at Bernadette’s sacrificial love for her husband, but that love is just a shadow of the love that Christ has for us. I am amazed by her story of faithful love because it reminds me of Christ’s love for us. May we never stop being amazed by how he proved his love for us on the cross. May we never take his love for granted, and may we be motivated to love others with the same love that he showed us. 

Interviews mentioned in the article were taken from the following sources: https://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/04/football/football-jean-pierre-adams-coma/index.html; https://gentlereformation.com/2021/09/18/for-better-for-worse/. 

The Bible and Global Warming

September 24, 2021 /

In 2006 Al Gore starred in a documentary called “An Inconvenient Truth.” In it he made the unsubstantiated claim that there is a strong scientific consensus that the earth is warming primarily because of human activity. His argument was that as more humans populate the earth, more carbon dioxide is created in the atmosphere, which results in higher temperatures around the world. The documentary used sensationalized images to create a sense of doom and gloom that gave people a justification for regulating human activity on the earth. Global warming activists have used this theory to curtail human innovation, placing the environment as a higher priority than the needs of people.

There are many scientific theories surrounding global warming, and scientists around the world are far from reaching a consensus on the issue. The Answers Research Journal published a paper in 2010 that proves this point. It is titled “A Proposed Bible-Science Perspective on Global Warming” and it reveals there are many scholars who disagree with Al Gore’s theory on global warming (https://answersresearchjournal.org/bible-science-global-warming/). The issues related to global warming are more complicated than is often presented in the media. Instead of reducing the issue to sensationalized images of polar bears floating on icebergs, the discerning reader needs to study the science behind many issues including glaciers, carbon dioxide, climate, and temperature. The Christian reader also needs to look to Scripture to make a determination about this issue. 

As a Christian, we are called to be discerning about issues that are presented to us (1 John 4:1). We are called to look to God’s word to understand how to live a godly life here on the earth (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Many Christians are unaware that there are passages in Scripture that address the theories presented by global warming. I will just focus on two main passages. 

The first issue that the Bible addresses is that, contrary to global warming activism, humans take priority over the environment. In Genesis chapter 1 God creates man and woman in his image and gives them this command, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Humans are thus commanded by God to rule over the world that he created. The environment is not more important than human life. Instead, human life takes highest priority, and the rest of God’s creation comes second. 

The second issue the Bible addresses is the destruction of the earth. Global warming activists predict massive flooding and a dramatic disruption of the atmosphere. However, the Bible makes it clear that God already brought a global flood that destroyed the earth with water, as described in Genesis chapters 6-7. God destroyed the earth because of the unprecedented level of wickedness that existed on the planet. 

After destroying the earth, God reestablished human life through Noah and his family and made a promise to Noah that He would never again destroy the earth by water (Genesis 9:11-17). God gave the rainbow as a sign that “never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Gen. 9:11). God further promised in Genesis 8:21-22, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

The last sentence is especially relevant to the theory of global warming. God’s word states that the earth’s atmosphere will continue to function according to God’s design until “the earth remains.” 2 Peter 3:10 says, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” This means that God has already established a time when the earth will be destroyed, not by water but by fire at the time of Christ’s return, and then the earth will be remade (Revelation 21:1). We need not fear the doomsday predictions of global warming activists because the Bible already tells us that God will determine the end of the earth, not human activity. Instead, we must listen to God’s word and ask ourselves, “Are we ready for Christ’s return?”

Four Restraints Against Evil

September 24, 2021 /

One of the best messages I heard this last year was an explanation of how God has given humanity four restraints against evil. The reason I thought it was so memorable was because of its biblical clarity and timeliness. It was a timely message because this last year has been filled with the most disruption to our society that I have ever experienced. The message brought clarity because it showed how the Bible explains what happens to a society when God’s societal restraints have been removed. 

Pastor John MacArthur has preached on these four restraints on several occasions. I was able to find a manuscript of his sermon from February 22, 2015. This article is a summary of that message. 

The first point of the message is that the greatest evil in the world is sin, which resides in the heart of every human being. God’s work makes it clear that all humans are born into sin (Rom. 3:23). Jesus said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.  For from within, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, wickedness, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting, and wickedness, as well as deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.  All these evils proceed from within and defile the man.” (Matthew 15:18-19 ESV) 

In order to protect against the wickedness of the human heart God has given each human a personal restraint called the conscience. The conscience allows every person to know right from wrong because God has written the law on the hearts of all people (Romans 2:15). Romans 1:18-23 explains how God is just for judging people for their thoughts and actions because each of them has a conscience that tells them there is a God and that there is right and wrong. 

Humans are able to twist their God-given conscience in two ways. They can create a new morality and convince themselves it is right. We can clearly see this with the issue of abortion. People are trying to convince themselves that the mother can choose one life over another. The other way to twist the conscience is by rejecting God’s law that defines right and wrong. This can be done by teaching people to ignore their conscience. This is why we hear our society proclaim that “Guilt is bad” when guilt for sin is actually the result of a keen conscience. 

If someone has a twisted conscience, then they have removed the restraint of their God-given conscience, and they feel free to commit all kinds of evil against themselves and others. 

The second restraint against the human propensity towards evil is the family. One of the reasons God gave marriage to humanity was so people would be born into families where the father and mother would invest countless hours into training up the children so they would have a keen conscience that would guide them the rest of their lives (Deuteronomy 6). MacArthur put it like this, “The family is the divinely-given institution for formation of restrained sinners, who by multigenerational morality and wisdom with instruction and discipline in love develop into good citizens who benefit others, enjoy God’s creation, and are thankful to Him.”

If a society begins to see the degeneration and failure of families, then that society will see the rise of wickedness in society because the restraint against evil has been weakened.

The third restraint is civil authority or government authority. God has ordained governments to have authority on the earth so that they will punish bad behavior and encourage good behavior (1 Peter 2:14). The main purpose of human institutions is to enforce moral behavior. The government as an entity is used by God to protect citizens from uncontrolled chaos and anarchy. 

There are many examples of countries descending into chaos when the government is removed. I worked in Albania several years after the country descended into anarchy in 1997. Many of the police and military in the country left their posts, and for a short time the country was governed by “self-rule.” The Bible records a similar time in the book of Judges when it says, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) 

The fourth restraint is a spiritual restraint. It is the restraint that true, biblical churches bring to the evil in society. These churches are a restraint against evil in society because they are filled with people who teach the truth. Pastors of these churches proclaim how people can be saved from their sin. These are the churches that the gates of hell can not overcome because through the gathering of believers and the preaching of God’s word, people are changed from sinners into saints (Romans 10:9-10). 

Pastor MacArthur’s message was a sobering one. Over the last century our country has been on a trajectory to remove these four restraints from society. If families are broken, then people will not be taught the natural restraints found in a nurturing home. If the government becomes corrupt, then morality will not be enforced. If the country is filled with false churches, then people will not be restrained spiritually from their sin, and the country will descend into chaos. 

Thankfully, God has made his promise to believers in Matthew 16:18 when Jesus said, “I will build my church.” We can have hope knowing that he is in control. As Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” 

Standing Firm

September 3, 2021 /

Earlier this year I wrote an article arguing that the local church is essential. No matter what the government says, God’s word makes it clear that believers are called to continue gathering together for fellowship (Hebrews 10:24-25). The government can tell Christians to stop stepping over the entrance of the church, but if the government decides to draw that line in the sand then they are the ones who have over-stepped their God-given jurisdiction. Romans 13 makes it clear that God ordains governments to reward good behavior and to punish bad behavior. But we must not forget that God is the one who ultimately defines what is right or wrong, not the government. As Christians, we must never forget that gathering together to worship God is always good. 

The County of Los Angeles did not agree with that last statement and so in August of last year they sued Grace Community Church for refusing to enforce Covid-19 guidelines such as in-person meetings, wearing face coverings and physical-distancing requirements. The church immediately sued the state and county for restricting their constitutional rights for religious freedom. 

Many Christians were confused about who was in the right, the state or the local church? Now the issue has been clarified considerably. Just this week, the LA County Board of Supervisors recognized they could not force churches to follow the health departments guidelines. The

board voted to pay the church $800,000 for legal fees (half will be paid by the county and half by the state). In total, the county will end up paying $1,350,000 in legal fees for suing the church. The board released the following statement, “After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that some public health safety measures could not apply to houses of worship, resolving this litigation is the responsible and appropriate thing to do.”

I would completely agree with that statement. The county learned an expensive lesson about over-stepping their jurisdiction. The first amendment clearly states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” As Christians we are to respect and uphold our country’s laws, but if they ever go against the law of Christ, as revealed in Scripture, then the outcome is simple. We must always obey God’s law over human law or run the risk of sinning against our conscience. 

That issue of conscience also came into play with pastor James Coates and the Alberta Health Services (AHS) in Alberta, Canada. You may remember that he was put in jail because he could not agree with the stipulations of bail, which required him to stop leading his congregation. He knew, before God, that he had to stay in jail because he could not willingly agree to stop preaching the gospel. 

On April 7, 2021 the AHS requested local law enforcement to seize the property of GraceLife Church. When church members continued to occupy the building the AHS ordered triple fencing to be placed around the entire campus. This did not stop the church from meeting. Instead, they found secluded locations where they could meet without being disturbed by the government. 

On July 1, 2021 the church was able to move back onto their property because the AHS rescinded the restrictions that had previously been placed upon them. Pastor Coates sued the health department, but in June a judge dismissed the case stating that James Coates’ religious freedom rights had not been violated. Pastor Coates plans to appeal the decision. 

Covid-19 has forced Christians around the world to confront their fears. Do we fear God and his command to continue gathering together? Do we fear a virus? Do we fear the government? 

The leaders of Grace Community Church and GraceLife are to be applauded for standing firm in the face of opposition. Their conviction to gather as the local church will always be a cherished belief of true believers. Throughout history Christians have continued to meet in times or war and plague and states of emergency. The apostle Paul gave us the right perspective when he wrote, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) 

The Myth of Critical Race Theory

August 3, 2021 /

Many people refer to Derrick Bell as the father of Critical Race Theory (CRT). He worked tirelessly to promote a racially driven philosophy of law during his tenure as the first African American professor at the Harvard School of Law (1971-1990). He wrote books and articles. He spoke at conferences and even staged protests to seek to legitimize CRT in the American consciousness. Those who agreed to the presence of systemic racism in the United States were said to have “woken up” to the endless oppression of minority groups. Those who disagreed were dismissed as narrow-minded racists. 

One political scientist named Adolph Reed Jr. heard Derrick Bell speak at a Harvard conference in 1991. He remembered that Bell made the audacious claim that African Americans had made no progress in society since the end of the Civil War. Mr. Reed dismissed Bell’s comments as “more a jeremiad than analysis.” A jeremiad is a “long, mournful complaint” made against a perceived injustice. In Bell’s case his complaint was negated by the fact that he was a tenured African American Harvard professor. 

We shouldn’t be surprised that Derrick Bell’s teaching was lacking in logical clarity. You see the philosophy he believed in did not require it. Critical Race Theory is not like other social sciences that encourage analysis and critique. No, CRT is the opposite of analytical. It is subjective. It does not try to explain why something exists. It merely declares that systemic racism is real and then looks for ways to support it. Common sense is not needed with CRT. The only sense that is needed is one that looks for racism under every stone.  

The Oxford dictionary of Critical Theory defines the theory like this, “The word critical should thus be understood to mean the opposite of analytical. It refers to a set of concepts whose reach is always greater than their grasp. Critical Theory is interested in why human society failed to live up to Marxist enlightenment and became what it is today, unequal, unjust and largely uncaring.” This pessimistic perspective on society feeds off a victim mentality. As long as people buy into the myth of the oppressed and the oppressor it can survive, but when the bubble of critical theory bursts, the subjective foundation of CRT crumbles. 

The apostle Paul warned the church in Ephesus about false teachers who would promote “myths and endless genealogies.” He warned Timothy that they “do not understand either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.” (1 Timothy 1:7 ESV) The Bible reveals CRT to be a myth because the Bible teaches all humans belong to one race, the race that God created in His image (Genesis 1:27). If proponents of CRT would accept the bible’s unifying outlook on humanity then the divisive worldview of CRT would come to an end. 

When Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) coined the term “critical theory,” Darwinian thought was very much in vogue. Race was not seen as a social construct, but as a scientific category that separated one group of people from another. Geneticists did not know that 99.9% of human DNA is shared by all humans, regardless of differences of skin color or ethnicity. The myth of racial division was maintained because people had been taught to think in terms of the color of their skin and not the content of their character. 

Thankfully, geneticists are now calling for “race” to be disbanded as a category. Michael Yudell, a professor of public health at Drexel University in Philadelphia wrote, “It’s a concept we think is too crude to provide useful information, it’s a concept that has social meaning that interferes in the scientific understanding of human genetic diversity and it’s a concept that we are not the first to call upon moving away from.” 

As with any myth, there comes a time when truth makes it fade away. I for one am tired of people referring to each other by the color of their skin. We need to realize race is not a helpful category for humans. Darwin had no problem referring to people by their skin color because he thought certain people came from chimps and others from gorillas! He promoted referring to people like animals because he thought that is where we came from! 

I won’t be surprised if evolutionists continue to use racist terminology to describe people, but Christians should not. According to the Bible, there is only one race, the human race. We believe humans are made in the image of God! Let’s honor Him by referring to his creation in an honorable way. That will help bring an end to the myth of Critical Race Theory by reminding everyone that we all come from one race, the race of Adam and Eve! 

Guardians of Marriage

June 25, 2021 /

You’ve probably heard the statistic that 50% of Christian marriages end in divorce. I’ve always questioned that statistic because it does not line up with the almost 20 years of experience I have had working in churches. I have always known biblical churches as communities that guard and protect marriage. I’m often encouraged by the decades of faithfulness that are illustrated in the marriages in our churches. It’s not just one generation of faithfulness. You can see multiple generations who are able to enjoy the fidelity of marriage the way God intended (Genesis 2:24-25). 

By the grace of God, I can attest to the benefit of multi-generational marriage faithfulness in our family. My dad’s parents were married for 63 years. My mom’s parents for 56 years. My own parents remained faithful to each other for 33 years before my mom was taken to be with the Lord in 2011. If you add my own marriage to the mix, then the result is 166 years (and growing!) of God’s blessing. 

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Proverbs 18:22, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and receives favor from the Lord.” There is a special blessing for those who keep their marriage holy as God intended. The Bible is also clear that there will be consequences for those who fail to stay true to their vows. Hebrews 13:4 says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” 

Many Christians today forget that Jesus said, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” (Mark 10:11-12) That alone can motivate some to seek marriage counseling to strengthen their relationship because if they get divorced, Scripture says they should not remarry. 

As my wife and I raise our kids we want to make sure to let them know of the importance of choosing a spouse. Our boys need to make a believing woman be their first priority in marriage. Our girls need to pray for God to provide them with a man of God who will love them the way Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). If Christ’s return comes late enough in the future, then our prayer is that our children will get married and have decades of marital bliss, the way God intended. 

« Older posts Newer posts »

taking the road less traveled

I've been to 30 out of 217 countries

© 2024 Christ and Common Sense

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑