Making Sense of the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

One of the parables that has confused me, or been obscure in its meaning to me, has been the parable with the vineyard owner who hires the guys to work during the day. The guy who works all day gets the same wage as all the other guys who work fewer hours.

Typically the conclusion is about God’s grace giving us more than we deserve and the thief on the cross makes an appearance.

I don’t know. That conclusion doesn’t cut it for me. If the point is God’s grace giving more than we deserve, why did the first guy not get more?!

How come he doesn’t get grace? He gets robbed.

Yes, there is the point that God is the one who gets robbed by giving the same wage for lesser amounts of work, I see that. God can do what He wants with His stuff, I get that point too.

But still, what about the first guy? Why does he get the same as the last guy? No one answers this question.

I especially ask this question because in another parable talking about reward for service, the Parable of the Talents, each reward is given equal with services rendered. The reward matches the effort. No effort equals no reward; much effort equals much reward.

If the point of the Parable of the Vineyard means the opposite: that less effort equals more reward and more effort equals less reward, which one do we go with?

Are we talking about salvation or about rewards for service?

I read an interpretation of the Vineyard Parable that had an insight I’d never heard before.

In Matthew 20:2, the beginning of the parable, it says, “When he had agreed with the laborers for one penny a day.” “Agreed with” means they had a deal, they told him how much they wanted for their labor and he gave what they asked for.

To all the other guys he hired he said, “Whatever is right I will give you.” They apparently had nothing to do with the wage set; they just trusted the owner would do right. Only the first guys made an agreement.

Their take on the parable is that if you trust God He will give you more. If you ask Him for a deal, if you negotiate the price, you’ll sell yourself short. God gives abundantly more than we ask or think.

He pointed it to the context before the parable (always a good sign when someone points out the context!), which is the last verse in chapter 19, “But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” This is the conclusion of the parable as well, “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen” (Matthew 20:16). This parable is explaining what was said in chapter 19.

Matthew 19 is where the rich young ruler asks Jesus what to do to be saved. Jesus tells him to sell all his stuff and give to the poor. He went away sad. Jesus said it’s impossible for rich men to enter the Kingdom. The disciples ask, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus says all things are possible with God, which presumably means not that rich people will be saved, but that there will be rich people who will give away their stuff!

Then in Matthew 19:27 Peter says, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” Peter is setting the conditions, he wants to know the wage he’ll get for giving up his life to be a disciple. Three verses later is “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.” Don’t worry Peter, I’ll take care of it, seems to be what Jesus is saying. Trust me. You’ll come out just fine!

So, in conclusion! If you go into discipleship or faith with a mindset of, “What will I get out of this?” Don’t expect much because you’ll settle for less that God would give. But if you go into it, doing what is required of you, the Lord will make sure it was well worth your time.

I like this interpretation. It makes way more sense than the simplistic “God’s grace gives more than you deserve” as that wasn’t true for everyone in the parable.

The point instead seems to be along the lines of cutting deals with God. Just trust Him. Setting conditions and preset wages and deals shows a lack of faith, a selfish motive, and insecurity. It’s like a prenuptial agreement! Why are you going into marriage thinking about what you’ll get if it ends? Something aint right.

So, there ya go. Not sure I explained it well, but it makes more sense in my head. Hope it helps!

How the Bible Says to Get Less Stress and More Patience

Everyone wants less stress and more patience. The world says you can get this by earning money with your passions, vacations, material comforts, and the latest “spiritual” sounding solution that cures everything: meditation.

Some of these things might help, in fact, they probably do help many, which is why people do them. But do these things really take care of stress and bring patience, or do they just reward selfishness?

The Bible says believers should not worry and be patient. Most Christians think this patient non-stress comes by repeating a verse. I know many people who repeat a verse to themselves during stressful times as though that will bring the peace that passes understanding.

Again, it might help temporarily, but is that really all there is? I hear lots of talk about “remembering the promises” and so forth, which again is fine, but is our bedrock of peace just from remembering and repeating stuff?

Surely there is more to it!

Indeed there is. The problem is that no one wants to do what the Bible actually says to do in order to eliminate stress from your life and develop patience.

The Bible’s answer is basically summed up like this:

If you want less stress and more patience start by getting rid of all your stuff. Follow that up by loving Christ more than any other human being. Top it off by pursuing righteousness and eternal values.

There is no other way to get lasting peace. All the stuff you own is what is making you stressed and impatient. If I didn’t have money invested in the stock market, I wouldn’t be stressed about interest rates and market measures. If I didn’t own a business I wouldn’t be concerned about the latest laws and taxes foisted upon businesses. If my entire concern in life was the opinion of Jesus Christ and living to please Him instead of trying to please people and keep up with em, I imagine my patience level would go up.

Next time you are impatient or stressed, nail it down to what exactly it is that is causing the stress. More than likely it’s a person or thing, and more than likely, if it’s a person, the person annoys you because they are messing with your things!

The virtues of Jesus Christ are not pick and choose. They are a package deal. There are not multiple fruits of the Spirit; there is one fruit of the Spirit. You start to see them in your life when your life looks like following the Spirit rather than living for things of the world.

If you want the fruit of the Spirit in all its fullness, then stop living for stuff.

“You haven’t sold all you have, so shut up, man.” I hear ya. I’m not telling you to follow me. I’m telling you what Christ said. Matthew 6:24-34. Read it. I didn’t say it; Your Savior did!

We will each have different levels of stress and different things that kick that stress off. In all honesty, owning a business has been massively less stressful for me than being a pastor! Like, not even close.

My measure on these things is not yours. We will all stand before the Lord. When things become overbearing for me, I typically try to eliminate those issues somehow, knowing they have too large of a grip on me.

Make the cuts. Put away childish things. Be a man. Put off what trips you up. Lay aside every weight, not just sin, anything that slows you down.

When you make these cuts and replace them with seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, I guarantee you stress will melt away and patience will replace it, right along with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. They go together and there’s only one way to get em.

Men, Women, and the Bible

There is a lot of confusion in the world about gender today and the church hasn’t done much to help unfortunately. On the extremes are churches that follow the world’s ideas and on the other end are those who use caricatures of macho masculinity and brain dead, servant femininity.

In the middle ground is just a bunch of confusion trying not to get sucked into either extreme.

Sticking with what the Bible says will help, but it requires study and thought.

Viewing Eve as a help meet has given the idea that Eve is here to do a job, a task needs to be done by Adam and Eve came to help him do it. But this seems pretty shallow. Certainly women are more than just brain dead servants of men.

When I was first married I wanted my wife to just say “yes” to my ideas and not question me. My insecurity was riled up when she gave any kind of pushback to my brilliance. But here’s the thing: over time I realized I wasn’t that brilliant and there was this whole other person in my house who could help me be smarter!

It was a revelation!

Help meet can be translated as “help against.” The word translated “meet” in the KJV means before, against, or face to face. Women are not inferior to men, and they do not exist to carry out work for men. Women were created because it was not good for man to be alone, he needed help, someone who could add insight and value to life. Men and women are finite. We don’t know everything. Men and women see things differently. We need to do better at seeing the differences and appreciating them, and also not letting our insecurities tick us off about the opposite gender!

We’re all created to be beneficial, to build up one another. Husbands and wives are here to sanctify each other (1 Corinthians 7:14). When men and women see value in each other, respect each other, chill long enough to not be threatened by each other, we all benefit.

Proverbs 11:22 says, “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.” The word “discretion” is primarily translated as “taste!” Women have taste! I’ve been a man for a long time and have lived with other men and am quite familiar with how men live. Boy howdy, did this world need someone created with some taste!

Women have much to offer; so do men. It’s time we stop hating on one another and start appreciating each other for what we each bring to the table. Women were not created to be beasts of burden for men. They were created to bring some taste, discretion, and judgment into a man’s life. To be face to face, taking on the world together, and helping each other progress toward the Lord.

You don’t have to be married to benefit from a better view of each other. Humility is always a key. Fleshly desire always messes up relationships. With the Spirit I do believe Christian men and women can model something truly beautiful and beneficial. Even if you disagree with the translation of “help meet,” I hope we can all agree to by love serve one another.

What Is A Help Meet? Part Three

I heard some people who claim to know Hebrew say that the phrase “help meet” can be translated as “help against.” The interpretation then would be a benevolent and loving adversary.

Is that interpretation possible? The word “meet” in the Hebrew is only translated “meet” one time. Most of the time it’s translated as before or against. It carries the idea of face to face, in front of. Eve was made to be in Adam’s face! But not as an obnoxious opponent, but as a loving and benevolent partner.

Is the word translated “before” and “against” used in an adversarial way elsewhere in the Bible? That’s our first place to begin examining the possibility of this translation.

I found several. Here are some:

Joshua 5:13—man with a sword stands against Joshua

Joshua 8:11—people of war came before the city of Ai

Judges 20:34—10,000 men of Israel came against Gibeah

1 Kings 20:27—Israel arrayed in battle before Syrians

The word in these verses is meant adversarialy. And clearly not a benevolent and loving adversary! Eve was created as a helpful adversary though; these passages refer to adversaries in combat.

So, the word “meet” can be translated this way, although there is no necessity that it should be translated this way. But it is possible. Based on these verses, I think it’s ok to float the possibility that the benevolent adversary is a possible interpretation.

The next thing to look at is whether the Bible speaks of other relationships in this manner. Here are a couple examples that popped into my head:

1. God and humans

One could make the case that God is a benevolent adversary of people. This is the same God who put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden. He didn’t have to do that, but He was testing, being an adversary. There’s the example of Jacob wrestling with God and being named Israel. God is constantly a loving adversary to the people of Israel, a people who wrestles and struggles with God. You can’t think of this line of reasoning without considering the Book of Job! Certainly God was an adversary there! God is constantly testing and correcting and chastening people. He’s always doing so out of love and for our benefit.

2. Satan and humans

Satan is sometimes called the adversary. There is no love with Satan. He’s not opposing us for our good, to make us better or stronger, but to destroy and kill.

3. Parents and children

Parents and children have an adversarial relationship. Kids are kind of dumb as they are new to this world. Parents have to be loving adversaries, to oppose the crazy ideas their kids come up with for their own good. Kids, as they grow older, often question their parents’ rules, some of which legitimately are weird. This opposition is not done with respect and love many times. Too many parent child relationships skip the benevolence and the love and just become adversarial. God is a Father who chastens His children whom He loves just as earthly fathers do.

4. Friends

Iron sharpens iron. A wise man takes correction and a good friend gives correction. The Body of Believers, the Church, were given rules about church discipline and keeping each other accountable, confessing our sins to one another, reproving and rebuking when necessary, and encouraging each other to do good as the Day approaches.

Most relationships have a loving adversary quality to them. None of us is complete in and of ourselves. Even before The Fall in the sinless garden, it was not good that man was alone. We need help. God provided relationships in our lives for our benefit. People who isolate themselves get weird quick. We need other people to keep us from veering into weirdness.

The Bible presents enough for me to say that translating “help meet” as a benevolent and loving adversary is a possibility. Do you have to take it this way? Probably not, nothing demands you do it, but it’s an interesting theory.

What Is A Help Meet? Part Two

It was not good for Adam to be alone, so God made him a help meet. Help meet can be translated a “help against.” The interpretation of that possible translation would go something like this:

Eve was created to be a benevolent and loving adversary, one who would stand before Adam face to face. If Eve loves Adam, then she wants the best for him. If Adam loves Eve, he wants the best for her. Adam and Eve are one in their relationship, but also because she is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. What’s good for one is good for the other.

Male and female are both in God’s image and reveal things about God’s character. With only one we would miss out on who God is, something would be missing from creation. Together male and female can help each other know God and live better.

Unfortunately, this benevolent adversary relationship hit a snag.

Eve listened to the Serpent and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She did not discuss this with her husband. She did not act out of love. According to the Bible, she acted out of fleshly desire (Genesis 3:6).

Once God confronted them over their disobedience, God handed out some curses, the painful results of their rebellion against the one who gave them life. Note the curse handed out to Eve in Genesis 3:16, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

Here’s where The Fall really messes with this benevolent, loving adversary relationship. Before The Fall the concept of an adversary was beneficial. We hear “adversary” as a bad word with negative connotations, and often it is. But done right, it can actually be beneficial.

But after The Fall the male female relationship will be tough. Your desire will be to your husband and he will rule over you. The same Hebrew phrase is used in Genesis 4:7. “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Sin desires to rule Cain and will rule over him if he doesn’t take care of his first sin immediately. Cain did not, and next thing you know sin had him out killing his brother.

That same phrase is used in relation to Eve and her husband. Eve will desire to overpower her man and her man will rule over her. It’s all messed up. Now the male female relationship is truly just adversarial, almost as enemy combatants. It’s how we see the world acting and talking about males and females today. It’s ugly and helps no one.

Love is hard after The Fall. It might have even been hard before The Fall seeing as how Eve didn’t act very lovingly even then! Now the situation is possible for a woman to be entirely unhelpful to the point God had to put Proverbs 14:1 in the Bible, “a wise woman builds her house, a foolish woman tears it down with her hands.” It’s a sad thing, but happens many times.

The institution of the family is the natural result of a male female relationship. If both male and female love each other and desire to help each other even if it means disagreeing, then the home will be built up. But unwise, unloving people will tear their own families apart.

To me, if we take this benevolent and loving adversary, one who stands before you and has an opinion shared with the intent of being helpful, sounds a lot like iron sharpening iron.

If both male and female are loving and able to talk through the other’s stupid ideas! Then that family has a real shot at making it! But as soon as love leaves and selfishness and fleshly desire takes over, the entire family will be torn to pieces.

Being an adversary is not necessarily a bad thing, it is actually what is needed to make people better. We’ll test that theory next time and see if the Bible carries that idea into other relationships.

What Is A Help Meet?

Genesis 2:18 says it was not good for man to be alone, so God made Adam a “help meet.”

Typically people think God made Adam a helper to help Adam do Adam’s stuff. In other words, Adam was down here doing his man stuff and God was like, “You know, Adam could sure get his man stuff done quicker if he had some help.” So then God made a woman to cook and clean for him so Adam could do his stuff.

Help meet seems to imply inferiority for many people. Eve is sort of Adam’s servant to do the busy work while he’s out doing big, important man things. This is, in fact, the way I’ve seen and heard many people describe Christian marriage. I’ve even seen marriages arranged this way and well, the track record isn’t great. The man is out doing man stuff while the wife is at home feeding kids and doing that stuff.

What’s interesting about this take is that many of these same people celebrate the Proverbs 31 woman, who, if you take the passage literally, rarely ever seems to be at home!

The typical understanding of a help meet is task oriented. Eve was created to help Adam get his work done.

The Hebrew words translated as “help meet” are ayzer and nehghed. I am no Hebrew scholar, let me state that upfront and clearly. I must rely on others who know the language.

The first word ayzer does indeed mean and aid or help. There is little debate over that word.

The word translated “meet,” nehghed, has some nuance. Again, many Hebrew words have multiple meanings. Most of the translations of the word elsewhere in the KJV (this is the only time it’s translated as “meet”) are before or against.

And this is where things get interesting! I heard a guy who knows languages say that the literal translation here could be “a help against.” Or one who stands face to face with you. He then backed it up by quoting a Jewish guy who said the same thing.

They went on to both say that Eve was a “help against” Adam. The way they put it was that she was a benevolent and loving adversary.

Now, the fact that two language guys agree on a thing doesn’t mean they are right! So I began looking into the idea.

The idea they conveyed is that Adam needed someone to bounce stuff off of, like ideas, not rocks. Adam would be better off having someone alongside him who cared for him, but also resisted some of the dumber ideas!

I’ve known guys who despise women and all that women say and represent, and they tend to be pretty stupid in various areas of life. I know for myself how much having a wife, a woman around me constantly, has helped me grow.

And this was the idea they conveyed. Both male and female are in God’s image. Adam alone is not the full image of God. It wasn’t good that he was alone. The male and female approach things differently. We need each other. And I’m not even talking about every female needs a husband or every male needs a wife.

Nope, don’t even need to go there. Paul says he preferred that people didn’t marry (1 Corinthians 7:7-8).

What I’m saying is that if you’re a woman and you don’t think you need men, or you’re a man who doesn’t think you need women; you’re crazy.

This is the problem with today’s feminism. I have a book in my bookstore called “Are Men Really Necessary?” The answer of the female author is, “No, not really.” That’s just dumb. Men are pretty handy creatures.

This extreme feminism has also resulted in a backlash of extreme macho maleness. These guys trample women and despise them. Not good.

Men and women will not be helped by trashing each other. It is not good for us to be apart.

Although it may be fun for a time to be a man who does man things and has a wife who says “yes” to everything and never gives a contrary opinion, I also know it would get boring and I would be more of a moron than I currently am.

I personally have a wife, a woman, who is a good help meet. I know she loves me and I also know she disagrees with many things I say and do. I also love my wife and disagree with many things she says and does. We are working on a relationship where that can be worked out peacefully and for mutual benefit.

It aint easy. It is the source of much male/female difficulty and why there is so much divorce and hatred for the opposite sex.

Perhaps if we understood the help meet concept better it would help us all.

So, is the help meet interpretation as a benevolent and loving adversary biblical? We’ll look a little more tomorrow!

It Is Not Good That Man Should Be Alone

When God finished making everything He said it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Then in Genesis 2:18 He said it was “not good” that man should be alone.

This is an interesting statement. The typical take is that Adam would be lonely and unable to procreate. Certainly these things are part of the deal, but there might be more to it.

“Alone” means apart, separate, only, or alone. Hebrew words can have many meanings and the context lets you know, usually, which one fits best. “Alone” is probably the right one. But I like the idea of apart as well, especially considering what comes before and after.

Before this Adam was naming the animals. None was a suitable match for Adam. He was apart from the rest of living creation.

After this, in Genesis 2:21-23, God puts Adam to sleep, removes a rib, and makes woman. Adam sees her and says “This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.”

There is commonality between the two; they are both human and separate from the animals. Then in Genesis 2:24 God says the man and woman will cleave to each other and be “one flesh.” One flesh clearly means they are not apart anymore!

Male and female were both created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Male and female are clearly different, however. I say “clearly” because they clearly are, but as we know our society today doesn’t always see clearly.

It is quite easy to tell the difference between a male and female biologically. Not difficult at all if science means anything. There are also characteristics and thought patterns that are clearly different. Sure, there is overlap, but there is a male and a female way of thinking and feeling. To deny this is, again, to deny clear, provable, and scientific evidence. It’s weird to even have to qualify that.

Male and female are different. At the same time, both reveal aspects of God’s image. If all we knew was male humans, we would miss out on aspects of God’s image and the same is true if all we knew were female humans. People are finite; God their creator is infinite. In order to reveal all of who He is it took two separate kinds of humans to reveal it.

Unfortunately, much of the differences between male and female have also led to many misunderstanding, mockery, and even hate and violence. This is not a flaw in God’s creation from the start, but rather a result of The Fall (we’ll get there).

After God declares that it’s not good for man to be alone, Genesis 2:18 says that God will make a help meet for Adam. “Help meet” is the King James translation.

I have no idea what you think a “help meet” is or what you’ve been taught about it. But I recently heard a take on it that intrigued me. I want to look at it a little bit and will endeavor to do so. Consider this my long-winded introduction to my main point, which will be revealed in the next few days.

Enjoy.

Jesus Was Heard Because He Feared God

Contemplating the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ is confusing. I do not claim to have it all figured out. No one does. Even the angels are looking into this Gospel that Jesus accomplished (1 Peter 1:12). Angels are smart and have been around a long time and have seen things I can’t imagine. Even they don’t quite get it!

It often seems in the passages where the Bible explains it more, it just gets more confusing. Here’s an example from Hebrews 5:7 speaking about Jesus:

Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared

It would be my opinion that we’re talking about Jesus prayers in the Garden right before His betrayal, beatings, and crucifixion. That’s where He prayed with crying and tears. He prayed to His Father who was able to save Him from the brutal death awaiting Him.

Then there’s this: He was heard in that he feared. Now that’s; wow.

How exactly was He heard? Typically when we think of God hearing our prayer we associate that with us getting our request. Jesus’ prayer was, “Let this cup pass from me.” He prayed to the One who could “save Him from death.” Clearly, Jesus’ main request was to avoid the coming death.

But Jesus was not spared that death. Jesus was betrayed, beaten, and crucified. So, in what sense was He heard? Does it just mean God audibly heard the words and nothing more? God was listening, God heard it, His ears worked?

Well, if you know the totality of what Jesus prayed, He added, “nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.” That was His essential request. And God’s will was for Christ to go through with the betrayal, beating, and death on the cross.

So, Jesus was heard in that He feared, but it didn’t appear to do Him much good! But actually, it was His fear for God His Father that made Him add, “Nevertheless not my will but thine be done.” Christ knew what He Himself wanted, but also had fear (most modern translations soften it and say “respect”) for His Father enough to know that what His Father wanted was best.

Most of us think God hearing us means we will get what we asked for, but that’s not the best way to think of God answering prayer.

If we come to God in prayer with the proper fear, the fear His Son even had for Him (even though “I and the Father are one” and all that Trinitarian stuff was true), then we will know that what we want may not be the best thing. We are free to share our requests with Him, in fact we’re commanded to do so (Philippians 4:6), but we also know our thoughts and perspectives are limited and fallible. I’d rather have God’s will be done than mine. If you fear God, you’ll desire that too.

So, what good did it do Jesus to pray and have His Father hear Him if He had to still go through what He desired to avoid? The next verse seems to answer that:

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him

Here’s another mind blowing aspect of the divinity and humanity of Christ: He learned! I thought Jesus knew everything? How could He learn? The word “learn” here means to learn by experience. It’s not a theoretical understanding, he lived it and knows the very depths of what obedience entails.

Then we’re told that Jesus was “made perfect!” Goodness, it just keeps going with unbelievable statements. The word “perfect” means complete. He finished everything the Father had lined up for Him to do. Everything was accomplished, which is why after His ascension He was seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He has the place of ultimate honor, praise, and delight, all because He did His Father’s will. He did His Father’s will and not His own, because He feared the Father.

I imagine this holds much importance for us and our approach to God in prayer. We’re not here to tell God what to do, to name it and claim it, or be presumptuous. Our prayers are to be offered in the fear of God, knowing that He knows better than we do since we do not know what to pray for as we ought. Most of our requests are based on our fleshly interest and comfort. It seems as though some of what Christ was praying for in getting out of His coming death may have been based on this comfort idea, although certainly had more than that going on.

Anyway, I will probably end up saying blasphemous things if I keep going. This is one fascinating passage that deserves our attention, not only for what it says about the divinity and humanity of Christ, but also about our own human approach to our divine Father.

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

                        –I john 5:14-15

Jeremiah And Christian Happiness

Keeping verses in context is how you understand their point. It’s also how you eliminate simplistic, happy conclusions.

I’m not convinced life is as happy as people make it sound, and I certainly doubt when Christians tell me their life of faith is unspotted happiness. It doesn’t ring true.

I came across a verse the other day that was happy, but it also stood out in its context. Here’s the verse:

Sing to the Lord!
    Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues the life of the needy
    from the hands of the wicked.

–Jeremiah 20:13

How happy and nice! Now for the context. Here are the verses right before it:

But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior;
    so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
    their dishonor will never be forgotten.
Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
    and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
    for to you I have committed my cause.

–Jeremiah 20:11-12

These verses are about wanting God to kill the bad guys. Do some vengeancing, Lord! And here are the verses right after verse 13:

Cursed be the day I was born!
    May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
    who made him very glad, saying,
    “A child is born to you—a son!”
May that man be like the towns
    the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing in the morning,
    a battle cry at noon.
For he did not kill me in the womb,
    with my mother as my grave,
    her womb enlarged forever.

–Jeremiah 20:14-17

Go ahead, make a happy Bible study out of that one!

Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet.” He had a rough gig. The people he preached to were already doomed, the writing was on the wall, they were toast. But individuals could save themselves from the coming judgment, but most refused the offer. Jeremiah was rejected and persecuted because of his attempts to save a few.

It was a ministry doomed to failure. If you look up the phrase “not listen” in the Bible, you will notice that the Book of Jeremiah has the most uses and it’s not even close!

God is so fed up with their not listening, that He says He will no longer listen to them! Don’t bother praying, God won’t intervene. He already showed them how to be delivered, either do that or get toasted.

Jeremiah lived in a tough time, a sad time, seeing the downfall of the people for whom God had done so much. The covenant comes to a crashing halt. Jeremiah weeps.

I find it hard to imagine Jeremiah going along with the modern happy Christianity of our day. I believe he would say with James, “Let your laughter be turned into mourning.”

Lives are falling apart, but we’ve made peace with sin. We not only don’t fight materialism, we’ve all but embraced it and called it “God’s blessings.” Jeremiah would see right through it.

If Jeremiah taught your next Bible Study group, would you return? Would you desire to hear more?

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said there is wisdom in the house of mourning and stupidity in the house of mirth. I’d much rather hear from Jeremiah than any guru hopped up on some notion of happiness.

However, no one wanted to hear Jeremiah even in the midst of in your face sadness, I can’t imagine anyone heeding Jeremiah’s message in our time of affluence and comfort.

We’re missing something. The Bible never once says that happy comfort leads to spiritual growth, or that spiritual growth leads to happy comfort.

What it does repeatedly say is that tribulation leads to spiritual growth and spiritual growth leads to tribulation. Hard to get people out of their happy material life to go hear that message.

So, Jeremiah and his ilk get ignored while judgment stands at the door.

Knock knock.

Faith In God Or Acceptance By People

Each of us desires acceptance. There’s nothing wrong with that desire, but where you turn for that acceptance can produce all kinds of wrong!

If you desire acceptance from people, you will do whatever it takes for their acceptance. You will honor their opinions and fold under their peer pressure.

If you desire acceptance from God, you will do what it takes to get His acceptance. You will honor His opinion and follow His guidance.

You can’t do both.

Here are two passages that make this point:

“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”

–John 5:44

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

–Galatians 1:10-11

Desiring acceptance from people is done by external show. You will follow fashion and fads. The way you talk, act, and look will be shaped by who you desire acceptance from. I’ve seen people do very weird things with their hair and clothes and skin to appear part of some group or another.  

The passage in John, which quotes Jesus, pretty much says if you desire glory, honor, and acceptance from people you cannot believe. That’s pretty strong!

What’s keeping you from faith in God, from obeying His Word? Odds are it’s because you think you’ll look stupid in front of other people if you actually went with it. Everyone knows we got here by random evolutionary processes, only stupid people believe God created the world. Everyone knows various notions of sin are outdated and patriarchal, only stupid people live their life according to an old book written thousands of years ago.

So, to save face, to make sure no one thinks you’re weird, you will reject what God says. Oh sure, you might take some respectable parts of the Bible, the couple verses that seem nice (don’t judge, love one another, care for the sick and poor, etc), but you’ll make sure to define the words the way you want so you don’t have to do anything too radical or fanatical.

You may tell people you believe in God, that you are interested in “spiritual things,” but big whoop! Be specific! Anyone can say general floaty things, but do you believe to the point of obeying what God has said in His Word?

If you want acceptance from the world, you must follow the world. If you follow God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, your life will be transformed. The world will not recognize you. You’ll feel ostracized, out of it, and dumb.

For the short time of life, that will not feel great! But in eternity it’ll feel fantastic.

You have a choice: believe God, His Gospel, and His Word, or be accepted by people and honored by the world. One or the other. What’ll it be?

Were the Founding Fathers Christians?

One of the subjects I’ve gotten pushback on over the years is that I don’t think America was founded by Christians or as a Christian nation.

Many people think America is pretty much Israel Part II and the Constitution and Bill of Rights are another book of the Bible. Many insist that America was founded for religious freedom.

I’ve read quite a bit of history. I’ve also read the Bible.

The actual formation of America was done contrary to biblical commands. People are supposed to submit to their government and pay their taxes. The Revolution was fought so as to not pay taxes and to overthrow the supposedly oppressive regime. This was not biblical to any degree.

I’m usually in the minority among Christians with this viewpoint and people tend to get hostile about the issue enough to generally make me just shut up.

However, I was recently reading a book by Norman Geisler critiquing humanism in all its forms. I’ve learned several things.

The first thing I learned, which has nothing to do with my main point, is that C. S. Lewis is a Christian Humanist and thought the Old Testament was mythology and not to be taken seriously. He thought many of the Psalms were demonic in origin and thought David only wrote one of them. I had no idea.

The second thing I’ve learned is that I’m not alone in my understanding of American history and Christianity. Geisler also does not buy the idea that America is or was a Christian nation. Here’s a quote:

“Contrary to a myth popular among many American Christians, most of the nation’s founding fathers were not evangelical Christians. . . Actually our nation’s founders were largely humanistic (or deistic). Some prominent men in early American history were even anti-Christian. Thomas Paine for example launched a bitter attack on Christianity in his book The Age of Reason. There were few evangelical Christians among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, John Witherspoon being a notable exception. And when George Washington was asked if the United States was a Christian country, he replied that “the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” It is these early humanists who saw to it that our nation is committed to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Those three things are not Christian virtues, but they are solidly embraced as humanistic virtues.

Humanists think that religion gets in the way of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If you don’t think so, feel free to read Geisler’s book Is Man the Measure? It is a fantastic explanation of the dangers of humanism and how we are all part of its satanic lies at this point.

I am grateful to live in America as it has afforded me many opportunities and freedoms I hope to use for God’s glory. At the same time there are many pitfalls, temptations, and dangers wired into its structure. Be aware of them or else you might be one of those who is choked out with the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.

New Testament Christianity is not compatible with humanism, or with American politics. It just isn’t. We are citizens of heaven with a better country and a better King. We live for heaven. Use what you’ve been given here, but be on guard. Don’t compromise. Don’t conform to the world around you. You can’t serve two masters.

Speculating About Methuselah

I remember hearing about Methuselah when I was in Sunday School. Pretty much the only fact I remember is that he was the oldest person in the Bible. There isn’t much else to know about him as the Bible gives little Methuselahic detail.

But that’s never stopped people’s speculations before, why should it stop us?

Methuselah was the son of Enoch, who walked with God and was taken to heaven. Methuselah was so old it is probable he knew Adam, which is cool.

Methuselah had a son named Lamech who had a son named Noah, who built the ark.

Interestingly, if you do the math in the genealogies, Methuselah died the same year as Noah’s flood.

Which raises a question: did he die in the flood? The Bible says no righteous people were outside the ark when the flood came. One would think, if your dad was a guy who walked with God so much God took him to heaven, and your son was the chosen righteous one to preserve humanity through the flood that you were a pretty good guy yourself.

If so, perhaps God graciously allowed him to die shortly before the flood came.

No one really knows and it probably doesn’t matter one way or the other, but it’s fun to think about. I’m kind of bummed I was never told any of this in Sunday School. Then again, I probably was told it and wasn’t paying attention. That is, in fact, the more likely scenario. I accredit some of my spiritual maturity to the fact that I wasn’t paying attention in Sunday School. Less weird stuff to overcome don’t ya know.

Anyway, that’s all. Have a fantastic day.

Bible Reading: Christianity’s Lucky Rabbit’s Foot

I read a book talking about how to be a good Christian. One of the chapters, yes one chapter, was about how you should read the Bible. To put it in context, there were at least 40 chapters in this book. One was about reading the Bible.

Anyway, it encouraged you to read your Bible regularly, which is indeed a good idea. The author promised that the days when you read your Bible will be noticeably better than the days you don’t.

I’ve heard this sort of nonsense before. I find it funny. The only person who says this is someone who does not read their Bible daily.

For many years I have kept the habit of reading my Bible daily. I’ve had many bad days in that length of time. I have never noticed that since I began reading my Bible daily that all my days are better. I suppose, in all fairness, I should have not read my Bible for all those days as well to truly test the hypotheses, but that’s humanly impossible.

Furthermore, the days I most often have skipped Bible reading over those years are days when my schedule is off, typically because I am on vacation or have some other plan. I have frequently found those days to be tremendously enjoyable! Nothing to do with not reading the Bible much to do with being on vacation.

There have also been other days when I know my day will be bad but I read the Bible to help me through. The day is still bad.

Telling people that their day will be better if they read the Bible is the Prosperity Gospel. It’s Health and Wealth teaching. “Do this specific spiritual thing and you will materially be better off.”

If you’ve heard me or read me enough, you know I’m constantly talking about reading your Bible, knowing it so well that you know the context of every verse and can automatically tell if what someone says is consistent with the Bible. I’m all for people reading the Bible, but I’m not for lying and manipulating.

Your day is going to be your day. I guarantee you that a life spent reading the Bible will be more balanced overall, more overly satisfying, but to put it on the daily testable level is goofy. I know many faithful Christians who have awful, painful lives. I know many complete heathen scum people who enjoy themselves quite nicely.

Doing a spiritual thing for temporal, physical payoff is not the point. We read the Bible to know God, to grow in Christ, to understand what we’ve been given in the Gospel so we know how to live. Will it help your life? Undoubtedly. Will it make tomorrow your best day ever? No.

Furthermore, if it were true that simply reading your bible for “only ten minutes a day” actually makes your day measurably better, I’m quite sure more people would read their Bibles daily. But they don’t. Why not? Because it really doesn’t make that big of a material difference that quickly. That’s not how it was designed. There are no promises remotely like it in the Bible.

Yes, a life lived in constant awareness of God’s Word will have certain spiritual benefits, but this does not equate to material betterness.

Don’t fall for the Health and Wealth/Prosperity Gospel lies out there. They have taken over Christianity. If the only reason you are reading your Bible is to have a better day, don’t expect to read it that faithfully because you will be woefully disappointed by the results.

Read the Bible to know God. This life is momentary suffering. We live for eternal rewards, not physical perks. Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Get to work. Your eternal soul depends on it.

Help! I Can’t Stop Judging People’s Doctrine

Hi, my name is Jeff and I’m a theological criticizer.

I have a problem, a serious problem, one I can’t shake even if I want to, and in all honesty, I’m not even sure I want to: I criticize the theology of everyone.

Just today I heard a Christian song. It had the word “grace” in it a lot. It used big words and was doing a fine job of sounding deep and theological. People cry out for new worship songs with doctrinal depth, so I’ve noticed new songs having bigger words in it. The problem is that if you know what the words mean you can tell they are just stringing them together with no real concept what they are talking about. I did not like the song.

I then heard a guy talking and I could tell within seconds he was a Calvinist. Then he kept talking, as Calvinists do, and yup, he came right out and said Calvinist stuff: you can’t believe; God has to make you believe. You can’t do anything good and the only good you do you didn’t do it anyway, God did that through you. Calvinism through and through. I do not like Calvinism.

I read part of a Christian book where the author said they are not disciplined in their writing, they write when they are inspired to. They write in a way like John did on the Isle of Patmos, “Write what you see.” Oh man. The author either doesn’t think John was inspired or thinks she is. Either way I have a problem. I don’t like it when people put their words on par with Scripture, or say stuff like God spoke through them. I do not like blasphemy.

I’m well-schooled in the Bible and I know a fair bit of Church History and various doctrinal camps. I’m well read and have talked to many Christians. I know what people are talking about. I don’t have to think about what I’m hearing to come up with judgments; the judgments are just there. And here’s the thing, my judgments are right.

I know that’s arrogant, but no really, I’m not saying I’m right all the time, I’m saying I knew the guy was a Calvinist before anyone else did because I’ve listened to Calvinists. I heard it and he then went on to say he was a Calvinist. Like, yeah, I know. My judgment was right.

The Bible tells me to test the spirits, so I do. Most of the spirits I hear are wrong. I try to act with grace and composure even while knowing my judgments. I try to not be a jerk and arrogant, but my brain notices stuff and I know where the stuff comes from. I just know stuff. I can’t help it. It’s just there.

Sometimes this gets in the way of my worship. But I can still benefit. Even the author who claimed to be inspired like John the Apostle who wrote Revelation, she said something later that I thought was good (although it was in a quote of another author!). I’m still reading the rest of the book. I give people a hearing even after identifying their particular brand of heresy. I’ve learned to learn from all sources, even if the learning is just coming up with arguments against their stupidity.

But I know I’m too judgy. I know I am and I don’t know what to do about it. My judging has kept me out of trouble. My judging has even helped other people. On numerous occasions I was able to warn others that the person you are listening to is crazy. Later these people would come back to me and say, “You know, you were right, that person was crazy.” Yeah, I know.

So, what to do? Is this the spiritual gift of discernment? Or is this my flesh being too arrogant and proving that knowledge does indeed puff up? I don’t know. But I know I can’t stop, it’s automatic at this point.

Whatever advice you give me about this, I will judge it. I know what verses you’ll use already anyway. It’s nothing I haven’t heard and judged already. You can at least relax and know that I judge my own theology as well. I’ve changed my views on many doctrines because of me analyzing the words coming out of my mouth and realizing I don’t know what I’m talking about. That’s a good thing. It does not prevent me from being corrected or taught.

I do get tired sometimes. Tired of judging and finding fault. But I think the real thing I get tired of is hearing people completely botch the Scripture. I wouldn’t have such a big problem with this if other people said better stuff. So, who has the problem in the end anyway?

We all do. Grace, patience, and love. We all need that. I’ll do my best and you do yours. We’re all in this together. Let’s press toward the mark and mind the same rule and count on God to correct us where we are wrong. I will fight my battles and you fight yours. Deal? Cool.

Read the Bible for Understanding

Although most Christians say their doctrine is from the Bible and the best way to read the Bible is to keep the context, there is still much doctrinal disagreement between Christians. Why is that?

Most people aren’t actually reading the Bible, most are repeating what they heard someone else say about the Bible. Few Christians have read it, even fewer have read it with any kind of understanding what the whole book is talking about.

For many it’s actually impossible. They have been so ingrained with their doctrinal camp that they don’t even see the words in the Bible. Their doctrinal camp has closed their eyes to any verse that disagrees. They know all the loopholes to avoid inconvenient verses. They have their verses that cancel out the pesky ones. When most people read the Bible (when they actually do), they only see verses that back up what they already believe.

Even many who encourage you to read verses in context don’t really mean it. What they mean is, “hear the verses in the context of our interpretation of Scripture.”

To read a verse in context means to hear it according to what the author means. In other words, when you come across a phrase you don’t understand (and you should come across a number of them), ask yourself, “Why is the author talking about this? Why did he bring this up?” Then go back and read until you understand why the author brought that up.

There’s always a reason why. The Bible is very logical and God is trying to be understood. Verses are not to be understood in isolation. Yet most people have doctrinal beliefs and then look up verses in a concordance that sort of kind of support their view and then claim that their doctrines are “biblical.” In reality they are just man-made ideas with a few biblical phrases stuck to them.

Why are those phrases there? They were there before your doctrinal camp was! I imagine Paul and John and Jeremiah meant something when they used those words.

We would be much better served to read the actual words of the Bible and do the work to figure out the overall flow of the book rather than adhering to some guy’s interpretation of the book.

Stick with the words on the page. Read them literally, as if God actually means what He said, and analyze why those words are there. You’ll figure it out with the Spirit’s help. Pray for wisdom and be humble, be teachable, and let the Word teach you.

Why Christians Hate Nietzsche

Many Christians hate things because they think they are anti-Christian when in reality they are just anti-established church.

Christians hate things, not because they know what the thing is, but because they know they are supposed to hate it.

The reason why we’re “supposed to hate it” is often because the established church at some point decided it was evil.

For instance, Friedrich Nietzsche gets a bad rap because he said “God is dead.” There are bumper stickers and t-shirts that say

“God is dead.”

— Friedrich Nietzsche

“Nietzsche is dead.”
–God

Ha! We know that the guy who said “God is dead” must be an atheist scum we should hate.

However, Nietzsche was actually criticizing the church/professed Christians because they were not taking their faith seriously. He came after established churches and denominations. His point is that even Christians act as though God is dead.

He was not wrong, and in fact, remains correct in his observation. Here’s the fuller quote:

“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”

Since we’ve gotten rid of God, we will replace His role with ourselves. Pretty insightful if you ask me.

So, why do Christians hate Nietzsche?

Because Fred was attacking the established church, mainline denominations. Mainline denominations have people in them that the world listens to.

Every year on Easter and Christmas the History Channel and the Discovery Channel have documentaries tearing apart Jesus Christ and Christianity. All through these they have interviews with mainline clergy: Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, all of whom have “PhD” after their names.

People the world respects. The world respects them because they’ve ripped the life out of Christianity and the divinity out of Christ. People then hear the watered down opinions of mainline denominational structures and then go with that.

“Hey, Anglican priest guy with a PhD doesn’t like Nietzsche saying that God is dead. All Christians should hate Nietzsche.” In reality, mainline denominational smart guys hate Nietzsche because he was criticizing them!

Now, in the end, I don’t care if you like Nietzsche or not. I do care why you believe what you believe. Bottom line is: do you believe what the Bible says, or just what some PhD guys in a clerical robe said about the Bible?

Do you believe what the Bible says because you’ve read it and understood it, or do you believe what people told you the Bible says, whether they are clergy or PhD people or not? Trusting the experts is probably keeping you from truth.

Know the Bible, believe it, and show that belief by your actions.

Simplistic, Moralistic Bible Studies and Me

Bible study books with discussion questions are quite popular, but I can’t stand them. The main reason why is because they are one-sided.

Most chapters are short with more time spent answering discussion questions. There is a point the author of the short chapter wants to make. But in order to make it short, only their side is brought up. Chapters have only enough space for the predetermined point the author thinks you need with a handful of proof texts.

Most of the applications (and application is the main part of each short chapter) are moral and simplistic. Typically they are also positive and happy, encouraging you to carry on in your middle class affluent lifestyle with Jesus.

“Love your enemy” might be a chapter. You will have several verses from the New Testament that indeed tell you to love your enemy. Probably something about the Good Samaritan or some other parable will be included.

What won’t be included is the entire Old Testament where Israel kills their enemies. The imprecatory psalms where David wishes his enemies were blotted out of the book of life. There will be zero mention of God, who does love His enemies, but is also the one who casts His unrepentant enemies into hell.

The reason these won’t be brought up is because it would take up too much space to differentiate between the two covenants. It would be too confusing and possibly detrimental to the faith of young believers. Safer and shorter to skip all that and give a one-sided approach.

Then we can answer questions like: When did you love one of your enemies? How did loving your enemy make you feel? How does the Gospel teach us to love our enemies?

None of these questions are bad, they just like, never really help anything. The chapter and questions leave so much unsaid.

In order to really understand how to love your enemy and how unbelievably difficult it is, you have to discuss the Old Testament’s issues and hell. All the stuff left out is what is needed to truly understand the topic.

But, oh well! Next week we’re on to another short chapter about “loving your wife,” which will make jokes about ha, ha women sure are different from men aint they? Silly men can’t even put socks in the laundry basket. How can you love your wife? How does the Gospel show you how to love your wife?

Not once will verses like “unless you hate your wife . . . you cannot be my disciple,” or Paul in Corinthians saying to not live to please your wife but to please the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:29). Nope, you won’t hear any of that. Just a happy little lesson about putting your socks in the hamper because Jesus.

The Bible is a large book. There are few simple answers and plenty of nuance. Discussing the Bible would be way more fun if these books actually used the whole counsel of God and threw in the verses that disagree with their happy, simplistic little points. I’d buy those. But until that happens, I will never voluntarily use these inane “Bible” “studies.”

Israel’s Land and Your Sin

One of the tough parts about reading the Old Testament is all the land descriptions. The Book of Joshua starts out action packed, great stuff. Then it devolves into descriptions of land borders.

Chapter after chapter. It was hard enough getting through Numbers with all the counting of tribal families, Joshua seemed so promising!

I have no idea why God decided to have that written down for all these years. It was His covenant people in their covenant land; it was a big deal for them. Do I need to know border details? I doubt it.

One thing you will notice is that Israel quit. I think that’s part of the problem. As the lands are described there are these little phrases about how the Philistines were still there. The Canaanites were stubborn and wouldn’t leave.

When Joshua died Israel wasn’t done. There was more land God would have given to them if they kept going. But they quit. They never resumed. And as we know the Philistines and Canaanites remained problems.

I wonder how different David’s life would have been if there were no Philistines. Generations suffered because the first generation got lazy.

I wonder how many promises of the New Covenant we are too lazy to get. Makes ya think.

How much sin are we leaving there, not mortifying completely, that will cause troubles for you the rest of your life and maybe for generations?

How much trouble are we storing up for the future because we are failing to act on what God has told us today?

If Israel, the Old Covenant people, are any indicator, I’m guessing it’s quite a bit. It’s easy for us to criticize them, yet remember the things that were written before were written for our learning so we wouldn’t do the same stupid stuff (1 Corinthians 10:6).

Are we learning that lesson?

Spiritual Growth Aint No Fun. Do It Anyway.

The Bible says tribulation leads to spiritual growth. Tribulation leads to patience, experience, and hope. Tribulation helps us, makes us depend on God’s grace, like Paul’s thorn in the flesh did.

Jesus also told us that in this world we will have tribulation. Christians should expect bad stuff and also know that all that bad stuff will work for our spiritual advancement.

Church History also shows us that tribulation is good for the church. Times of persecution weed out pretenders and grows the church.

I can attest in my own life my times of most notable spiritual growth came in times of darkness. Mourning and suffering teach. Pleasure and ease tend to make us dumber. CS Lewis said pain is God’s megaphone. You know in your life your times of most ardent prayer were around pain.

On all fronts we can conclude that tribulation is good for believers.

Unfortunately, tribulation isn’t fun.

Thus, many conclude that spiritual growth isn’t fun. I’ve heard so many Christians say “don’t pray for patience! If you do, God will give you tests upon tests to make you patient.”

So, I shouldn’t pray for patience, a fruit of the Spirit? Asking for spiritual growth invites suffering, therefore, avoid spiritual growth.

Tribulation leads to spiritual growth; that’s why we avoid tribulation like the plague (plagues are tribulation).

Spiritual growth itself hurts. There’s even a term we use for it: growing pains.

Spiritual growth makes you confront your sin, your weakness, your lies and stupidity. Spiritual growth will put things to death in you, might ruin some relationships, will make you stand out like light in a world that loves darkness.

Spiritual growth is no fun. The best way to avoid it is to pursue comfort. Comfort is easy, it demands little if anything, and generally is enjoyable.

We end up fat, lazy, and happy, telling ourselves all our comfort is God’s blessings on us and boy howdy, God must surely be happy with me seeing all the comfort He’s given me.

We invented the Health and Wealth Gospel to console our materialistic comfort.

But our spiritual immaturity is glaring. The church is in pathetic shape. Most Christians have never read the Bible let alone done any work to understand it. Spiritual gifts are neglected. Spiritual fruit isn’t even a big topic anymore, even though it’s the entire proof of a person’s salvation.

Spiritual growth only happens through pain, suffering, persecution, and tribulation. We avoid these things at all costs and our levels of spiritual growth show we’re doing a pretty good job of doing so.

It’s your choice. You’ll grow about as much as you want to. Do what you gotta do.

God’s Timing and Weird Bible Passages

Never underestimate God’s timing. I don’t mean this as a cheap throw away line either, some clichéd response. I mean for real.

In Acts 8 we are told about an Ethiopian who is leaving Jerusalem and reading Scripture in his chariot. The Holy Spirit told Philip to go talk to him right as he was reading Isaiah 53. How convenient that the Ethiopian was reading right at the one spot in the Old Testament where the death of Jesus Christ is most obvious!

Imagine if the Ethiopian was reading the chapter about skin diseases. Philip in his own timing walks up to him, “hey, what’ch’ya reading?”

“Well, I’m reading this thing about the scab on the skin and the color of the hair growing out of it. What’s the deal with the skin disease chapter?”

“Pppbbbt,” Philip shrugs his shoulders. “No idea.”

But nope Philip didn’t show up while Leviticus was being read; he showed up during Isaiah 53. Lucky for him!

I was in pastoral ministry for over 20 years. Rarely did I ever have an Acts 8 moment like Philip. I had plenty of the skin disease moments! What happened with Philip isn’t normative, in other words, it shouldn’t be expected all the time. But there are moments when seemingly amazing timing is involved!

So, what gives? How come so many of my pastoral conversations were not deeply insightful or didn’t seem to lead to any massive spiritual insight? Was God’s timing off?

Nope. You can’t win em all! Some plant, some water, but God gives the increase. God is working in you and in the other people you are dealing with. We are to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us. Our job is to live out that hope so people would ask a question.

It is also possible to quench the Spirit, to not respond as we should. Sometimes we get afraid or embarrassed. Sometimes we hide our light under a bushel so no one will ask about the hope in us. Sometimes the timing is off, not because God messed up the schedule, but because we weren’t ready or submissive to the opportunity.

God has good timing, but you can’t expect every second of every day to be falling into a magical everything is going my way life. That’s not reasonable, nor is it a biblical conclusion. But be faithful to do your part as God’s Word has directed—grow in Christ, produce that spiritual fruit by exercising your spiritual gifts, do good works so you are not unfruitful. Then be ready for the opportunity when the time comes. And hope that you don’t have to explain the skin disease chapter!

Misapplying the Book of Job

Modern applications of the Book of Job are not realistic and miss the actual point. Again, most of modern biblical application is based on self-help, psychology, and humanism. A veneer of happiness covers our applications and belittles the reality of the fight of faith. Job is a classic example.

The application of Job goes like this:

In the midst of your suffering, happily say with Job, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord!”

Happiness has become a virtue in modern Christianity. It used to be fringe, your best life now stuff, but now it’s just Christianity. Happiness is in. Mourning is out. Any degree of sadness is a lack of faith. I’ve even heard some say that negative emotions like sadness and mourning are sins. This is sheer lunacy, and, ironically enough, the opposite of one of the main points of the book of Job.

Job is not about being happy during suffering. The New Testament links patience with Job, so clearly we know that’s one application. But patience is not bemused acceptance. Patience is endurance. Patience is a battle and a race. It’s not some other-worldly, Zen state of living above it with lofty notions carried about on clouds. Patience is slogging it out and going one day at a time.

There are three phrases from the book of Job that make it into every shallow Bible Study on Job:

“The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

“Where were you when I laid the foundation?”

Perhaps running a close fourth is “Curse God and die,” but that one doesn’t get much serious treatment. It should. I’ve seen several marriages fall apart because one person decided to take their faith seriously. Does your love for God pass your love for your spouse? Jesus said it should. But alas, that doesn’t fit into happy Christian marketing styles, so we skip that one.

We are told that when terrible things happen to us, we should fatalistically say with Job, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Get over it. Suck it up. Fatalistically submit to God’s treatment, smile, and quit whining.

I’m always amazed at this application, typically not stated quite as cynically as I just put it! But the idea is always there. “God wants you to be happy. Grin and bear it for Jesus!” The point is there, Job did say it. I’m not arguing the tremendous nature of what he said there. It is amazing. Not sure I’d have come up with that.

Job says this in chapter 1 verse 21. Job says one sentence to his oh so helpful wife in 2:10. His next words are in chapter three. Chapter three verses 3-19 are Job complaining that he was born! He goes on in some detail about how he would have been more blessed if he had died as an infant! I mean, ok, you can talk about patience and stuff, but let’s be real! Yes, Job said a great thing in 1:21. He keeps talking for an entire book though! By my count, Job’s words fill 20 chapters of the book! And, like, read what he said! And this is the main problem with so much of our surface Bible studies: we don’t actually read the Bible. We read the two phrases that back up the happy point the happy teacher wants you to get. Job said a lot of stuff. If you want to understand his point, read all that he said!

The second phrase is in 13:15. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Does anyone know that this is not the entirety of the verse? Does anyone know what the next phrase is? Have you ever studied this verse in a Bible Study, or just had the phrase thrown at you? Look at the verse:

Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless I will argue my waysbefore Him.

Yeah I’ll hope in Him, but we’re gonna have some words! I won’t go down quiet! I need some answers! This is, in fact, one of Job’s primary laments throughout the book: he just wants an audience with God. Can I ask some questions? Make some statements? Isn’t there someone who can go between and sort this out? Because I gotta admit, this doesn’t seem right.

Job is a hurting man. He wants answers. He’s convinced he didn’t do anything that deserve this treatment, and, according to what is revealed, he’s right! Like, that’s not his opinion of himself, that’s God‘s opinion of him! His uprightness is exactly why God chose him to be picked on! Job wants to argue.

Here’s the cool thing the rest of the Bible reveals: we do have a go between. You can pray and Jesus Christ knows our suffering and was tempted in every way like us. The Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf even though we do not know what to pray for as we ought. Suffering hurts. Life can be painful. To tell people that we need to be happy like Job in the midst of it is mind boggling. Read the book, not just the two phrases Bible Study books point out.

This is, in fact, one of the amazing things about the applications of Job. Applications are always about you and your suffering! In other words, when people read the book of Job, they see themselves as Job! No one ever sees themselves as Job’s friends! Yet the very application of the book of Job that most Bible Studies give you is one that sounds a lot like Job’s friends! “Hey, you know, you shouldn’t be whining like that. No one wants to hear it. Suck it up and put on a smile. Cover that pain with clichés and move on.” It’s truly incredible. Job’s friends sinned in what they said, God said that. Job did not sin with any words that came out of his mouth. None of them. He was not wrong for wishing he’d never been born. He was not wrong for wanting to take up his case with God. All of his words were just fine in God’s mind. All of Job’s friends’ words were wrong to apply to Job. Yet the shallow application of this book is always telling people how not to mourn! Fascinating. God had no problem with Job’s questions about Him, but God did have a problem with the friends defending Him! Think on that one!

The third phrase is a quote from God: “Where were you when I laid the foundation?” God’s dialogue basically says, “Yeah, I’m God. I can do stuff. Who are you?” Job takes that as the answer too. He determines to say nothing. All his arguments melt away immediately.

God never explains what was going on. Did Job ever know his suffering was actually a compliment? Have you ever heard an application of this book that says, “You might want to be careful growing in the faith. Two of the most faithful people ever, Job and Jesus, were absolutely throttled. Be careful about having faith, people!” Of course not, but doesn’t that seem like a legitimate point to discuss? It won’t be though because it’s not happy. We like to believe that when we grow in faith we get health and wealth and material blessings out the nose. Funny how the people listed in Hebrews 11 did not get that, most received brutal treatment in this life. This is one of the points of the book of Job: Don’t expect faith to work out well down here. This isn’t the only life!

Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last, He will take His stand on the earth.Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I will see God,

            –Job 19:25-26

Another application of Job is that no one knows entirely what God is up to. You don’t and I don’t. So let’s stop lecturing everyone like we know what’s best for them. Instead, weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice. Keep your lectures and your sanctimonious words spoken into other people’s pain. They aren’t helping. Do something helpful, bear some burdens, and be sympathetic. Life hurts. Be who you’d want near you when suffering hits you, because it’s not far off.

Job is not about you and all your list of health problems God gave you because you’re so strong. Stop already. Job is a real book about real suffering, real confusion, real pain, and real unhelpful counsel! Job says a lot of things that don’t sound patient, happy, or spiritual. His friends point that out constantly. They’d fit in today’s church nicely. We’ve put an impossible standard on Christians in their mourning. I know Christians who were not allowed to mourn. Things did not turn out well for them. Covering pain is not healthy. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a group of people who would surround you with grace, acceptance, sympathy, and love during times of struggle? Wouldn’t it be great if you could be that for others who are hurting? I’ve got news for you: You’re not Job; you’re one of his friends. If you don’t weep with those who weep, you’re missing the point of Job.

Misapplying Esther

Many common applications of the Bible are rooted in psychology, self-help, and humanism. There are two Bible books that are interpreted in this way commonly and send me to the brink of insanity for their complete botching of the point: Esther and Job. Today we’ll look at Esther.

The application of Esther goes like this:

Esther was put in the right place at the right time to deliver God’s people. You have been put in your place and time by God to rescue those in your life as well.

Undoubtedly there is some truth here. I won’t say that God has nothing to do with your life or your place and time. At the same time, the point of the book is much bigger than this.

Furthermore, I know folks who think they are the Guru of All Things and God has appointed them to save everyone. People generally don’t like being around these self-appointed saviors. There are few things harder to take than a-person-who-is-not-Jesus determined to be your God-sent messiah.

The actual point of Esther is about God keeping His covenant. The people of Israel entered into a covenant with God where obeying the law would give them prosperity in the Promised Land. If they didn’t keep it, the land would dry up and reject them until they are taken into captivity. But even in captivity, if they follow His law He will provide for them. Esther lives during the time of captivity. Israel blew their covenant and bad guys have taken over. But according to the terms of the covenant, if they return to God, He will provide for them.

Mordecai does God’s will. He keeps himself separate from the Medes and Persian society and doesn’t bow before Gentile rulers because he only bows to God. His niece goes along with his plan to get her into the king’s house. One thing leads to another, and she is nicely situated for some delivering. The phrase repeated over and over is, “for such a time as this.” The best way to understand any biblical phrase is to take it in context.

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

            –Esther 4:13-14

So, again, here’s the shallow application we hear over and over: Esther is faced with a choice, and to convince her to intercede, Mordecai tells her she was put there by God for such a time as this. You too have been placed by God in your time to save those around you.

Using the context, let’s look at a couple statements just in these two verses.

1. Esther doesn’t want to do this, so Mordecai backs her into a corner. You’re going to die anyway. Note also that he says if you don’t do it someone else will! That’s a huge point. Mordecai knows that God will protect His people; that’s what God does. Esther can be the one who does it, and if she doesn’t, someone else will. This knocks some edges off of the specialness of you modern Bible studies push! He wants Esther to do it because if she doesn’t her whole family will die. Guess who is in Esther’s family!? Mordecai may have some skin in this game!

2. Notice that Mordecai doesn’t say that God put Esther in that place for such a time as this. He said, “Who knows” whether you’ve been put in this place for such a time as this. There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to go forward with it.

If you look at what Mordecai is saying, he’s laying out odds. Esther is afraid if she goes to the king that he will put her to death. Mordecai sys, “you’re going to die for sure if you don’t!” If she doesn’t do anything, there is a 100% chance she’ll die. If she intercedes, there’s a 50/50 chance she’ll die. So basically, it boils down to this: there’s a 75% chance you will die, and a 25% chance you will live. If you do nothing; 100% you’ll die. If you try, it might work. Might as well try for the 25% shot! She did and it worked!

Mordecai puts forth his reasoning in humble terms. He’s not pumping up Esther, God’s appointed vessel of deliverance, he’s laying out odds. If you don’t do it, someone else will. Who knows if you’re the one who can deliver, might as well give it a shot and then you’re family will survive too. Those are not the terms in which our Esther applications are handed out! Oh no! Our applications are mostly about self-esteem and how God needs me and so does everyone else! God actually made me to save you, so shut up and let me save you!

None of that fits with what’s going on in this book. The point of the book is that God will take care of His covenant people with or without you. Want to be part of the plan? Then by faith do your part and see what God does. There’s humility there, not self-esteem boosting, I’m the center of God’s plan of salvation, messiah complex arrogance.

Notice at the end of the book it is Mordecai who is put in the place of actual authority! He became second only to the king. What Esther did was initially out of self-preservation and desperation. The benefits of her actions are that she is alive and her people are saved. Mordecai is the one who works the whole situation. Without his actions Esther never would have ended up in the place she did, she never would have interceded, and he is ultimately the one who gets promoted.

I suppose many in our day would take this as proof of male-chauvinism or something. Patriarchy at its worst! Actually, it’s a picture of our service to Jesus Christ. We obey Christ’s will, we lay down our lives for Him, and in the end He is given the glory. Esther did a great thing and by faith delivered her people from a desperate situation. She gets our praise and our kudos, deservedly so. Ultimately what she did worked for the glory of the one in charge of her, Mordecai. When we serve the Lord, we get to have a place in the honor roll of faith and we will be rewarded for our spiritual work. But ultimately, the praise does not go to us, it goes to Jesus Christ, and we are happy to have had a part.

Esther is not about self-esteem boosting, self-actualization, center of God’s plan, messianic complexes, now go out there and save the world you precious jewel of a person! It’s about humble service, losing your life so that others might gain.