A Response To #MeToo, Harvey Weinstein, Al Franken et al., and The Sexual Harassment Tidal Wave

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At the risk of stating the painfully obvious, we are in the middle of a cultural tsunami.  

Droves of women are coming forward to share stories of how powerful men (in the vast majority of cases) have sexually harassed or assaulted them.  It seems each morning people look to the news headlines to see if their favorite actor or politician has been the latest to fall.  For some the reaction is, "I'm not surprised".  For others, the response is, "I can't believe it."  And for most of us, it is a mix of both.

But what do we do in light of this cultural reality into which we have been plunged?

How do we as a culture respond?
How should the perpetrators respond?
How should the victims respond?

I want to offer 5 responses that I find in the life of Jesus and the teaching of the Bible.  

I realize that some who read this don't subscribe to the authority of Jesus or the Bible, and so my request of those people is that you consider the wisdom of Jesus, the Word made Incarnate (John 1:1) and of the written Word - the Bible - and see if there is not merit in what He says.

1. Mourn.  The Scripture clearly calls us to mourn with the hurting and broken-hearted.
Romans 12:5 tells us to "weep with those who weep."  The Lord Jesus Christ Himself wept at the death of His dear friend Lazarus (John 11:35).  When people are harmed or hurt, we are called to enter into their pain and to mourn with them.  I sincerely hope that God has given to each of the victims of sexual harassment or assault someone with whom that person can cry and mourn.  To be in a place of deep pain alone is a great burden, and so I pray that there might be those who can help carry the weight of this pain.  And for those of us who don't know any of the women who have come forward (or don't know any victims in our own circles of influence), it seems an appropriate response to ask that God would move us to mourn with and pray for those who have been hurt - even if it is at a distance.    

2. A Calling to Justice, Mercy, and Humility.  

In the Book of Micah in the Old Testament, God speaks to the prophet Micah and tells him that he and the people should live in a particular way.  This immediately flies in the face of our cultural climate, a climate that says live how you want to and define reality for yourself.  In contrast God tells Micah (and in turn the people to whom Micah will speak) what the 'good life' is.  Micah is told three things: to do justice, to love mercy, and to talk humbly with God.  

We see from this passage that God is not distant from our pain and that He calls us to seek after justice (we will look at mercy and humility later on).  And so people who have done wrong, though there is mercy offered in the person and work of Christ, are to be brought to justice.  And believe it or not, for those who are willing to admit wrong-doing (something often lacking in the response of those who have been accused), receiving justice can often be an act of mercy, a point of turning and transformation.  The point here is that while the Creator of Heaven and Earth offers mercy and grace, He also demands that we carry out justice and not overlook wrongdoing.      

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3. Repent.  The call to repent is all over the Bible.  Repentance is more than just saying, "I was wrong" because that statement merely acknowledges a fact.  Repentance is connected to remorse and change. If a person is repentant, he or she will acknowledge the wrong-doing, understand (in some sense) what the impact of the wrong was, and then turn from this evil.  Repentance implies a turning-around of one's life and actions.  While much of the information about these cases is still coming to light, I have to say that I have seen very little (from what I can read/tell) heart-felt repentance.  Many of the 'apologies' have been couched in a "I'm sorry my actions were perceived this way" kind of language.  This comes across as hedging your bets, trying to say sorry without having it cost too much.  This is not repentance.  I hope we will see more repentance and acceptance of responsibility from the perpetrators.  

4. Acquire Power In Order to Sacrificially Serve. The life and teaching of Jesus are often portrayed as nice, kind, caring, loving.  Yes, these describe a portion of the life of Christ, but the call of Christ is radical.  Jesus tells His followers to give their lives away in order to find true life (Mark 8:35).  He tells people that serving others is blessing (John 13:12-17).  And He tells us that power is given not to dominate and control others, but to serve them, and that the greatest is the one who serves (Matthew 20:25-28).  The ethic of Christ changes the power dynamic - the Christ-follower is called not to use power for self-aggrandizement but for love.          

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5. By the grace of God alone, forgive. This is the hardest point to share because the call is so counter-intuitive, but the case is clearly made in the Bible.  As I noted above, Jesus offered a radical perspective on life.  It was about love and not power, it was about caring for the least-of-these, it was about sacrifice and giving one's life away in order to truly find life.  And at the center of the life of Jesus Christ was forgiveness and love for those who - by any earthly standard - did not deserve it.  We do not have space to venture into the depths of theology on forgiveness from God, the sin of mankind, and so forth. But the narrative of the Bible is filled with this reality: Jesus came to die and offer forgiveness to sinners, and 'sinners' is a descriptor all of us can wear.  Even on the cross, Jesus prayed to God and said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."  About whom was He speaking?  About those putting Him to death, those taunting Him (Luke 23:34).

Who am I - a sinner - to tell the victim of sexual assault to forgive the perpetrator?
I freely admit I have never experienced what so many of these (and other) women have experienced at the hands of others.
I am not the person to tell anyone to forgive.
But Jesus did.  He called us to forgive as we have been forgiven (Matthew 6:5-15).
That kind of forgiveness comes only through a heart that has been changed by the power and Spirit of God (Ezekiel 36:26).  This does not mean justice goes out the window, but it does mean that both justice and mercy can be mingled together.  A heart that can forgive great evil is a heart that has been transformed by God.  And He is a God who is able to change the heart.

(See below to watch Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott - a young girl killed in the Columbine School massacre).        

This is a messy time we are living in.
May God give us to grace to come through it with greater clarity and greater love.

- tC

The Gospel Isn't Good News...

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When you ask someone what 'the Gospel' is, some will tell you that it's a book in the Bible - maybe Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.  But while these are 'the Gospels', the Gospel is the good news (literally it means that - "good news") that Jesus Christ has died for sinner to offer us a way to restore our relationship with God in Heaven.

But here's the catch.
The Gospel isn't good news...unless there is bad news first.

If you came to me and gave me a handful of malaria pills and said, "You can thank me later", I probably wouldn't take them nor would I thank you.  I don't have any need for malaria pills.  I am not headed to a place in the world where malaria is a danger, and I don't live in a state in the U.S. where malaria is dangerous.

But if I was headed to a country in South America where malaria was a real danger, suddenly your gift takes on new meaning.

And so it it with the Gospel.

The Gospel - the Good News of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins - is not good news to a person who has no sin or who doesn't believe in sin in the first place.  So giving the Gospel to a person who sees no need for it will yield little response - maybe a "Thanks...I guess...".

Sin is necessary for the Gospel to be helpful, beautiful, and rescuing.  But the notion of sin is often alien to us today.  The idea that there is a holy and perfect God who has been offended by not just 'some people' but who has been offended BY ME AND BY YOU - that is something many people just don't believe.

This presses back to many questions but one falls on the desk and pulpit of the preacher.  Do people see a need for the Gospel in your preaching?  If they think they are doing quite well and just need a tweak here-and-there, that is exactly what they will look for in your preaching.  But if the full-counsel of God is communicated this will not be the case.  The full counsel of God will communicate not just stories of the Good Shepherd, but of the one who will return looking like this:

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in[d] blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Revelation 19:11-16

   

The Gospel isn't good news if there is no such thing as sin or no such thing as a righteous and holy judge.

But the Gospel is good news for the world, because sin is real and if we are willing to be semi-objective we know that to be true.

The Gospel is good news indeed because sin is indeed real.

- tC

Going To Church - Even Every Week - Doesn't Make You A Christian

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"Ok, now this is getting crazy.  Tim - come on.  I would get it if you said, 'Just going to church once in a while doesn't make you a Christian.  But if someone goes every week to church - really - you really think that person might not be a Christian?"

Yup.

Simple analogy.  People say, "Standing in the garage doesn't make you a car."  Have you heard that one?  Well, think about carrying out the analogy a bit more.  Does standing in the garage for a long time make you car?  Does duration really impact your assessment?  To be honest, if a person stood for a year in the garage saying he was a car, you would likely think even less that he was a car, and you'd probably be more convinced than ever that he was not well.

Church attendance does not make you a Christian.
It might show you are a Christian, but it doesn't have a 1:1 correlation.

Here's some proof from the Bible to back this up.

1. Again - Matthew 7 (see the last post).  Many will say to Jesus, "Lord, look at all we did in Your name" and Jesus will reply "I never knew you."  It fair to say that if miracles (Matthew 7:21-23) were not proof of being a true believer, then certainly going to a gathering at the local church building doesn't make a person a Christian.

2. 1 John 2:19 say this - "They went out from us, but they did not belong to us.  For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us."  The Apostle John shows here that there are people who are actively 'with' true Christians but these people who hang around Christians are not actually Christians.   At least with these people (those who John says left the fold), they showed their true colors and probably knew they were not believers since they eventually left.  How horrendous to stay around believers, think you are a believer, and yet not be.

3. True Christians are people indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) and this changes one's behavior so that this person will bear the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5;22-24).  The reality is that a person can attend a church service every week and yet still not be known by anyone.  Come on - let's be honest.  Who has been in the car on the way to church and then all of a sudden a fight breaks out.  It's not pretty but oh yes - when we pull up to the church building and get out..."Praise the Lord it's a great day.  How you doing Deacon Bob?"  

Why bother talking about this?

You know, I asked myself the same thing.  But here's what I see.
I see people who are actively involved in the church and yet they have no desire for righteousness or, even more so, no desire for Christ.

Now I'm not talking about people in process - we are all in process, I know.

But I'm talking about people who have checked off a little box in their brain that says, "Hey, I'm in church - what more does God want from me?"  This kind of attitude shows a fundamental theological fallacy which is the notion that going to church is 'doing something' for God.  Acts 17:24-25 tells us that we cannot place God into our debt.  As Paul says in that passage, "As though He needed anything."  It also betrays a works-based salvation concept i.e. if I do the right things, God will be pleased with me and let me into Heaven when I die.  This is not from the Bible or from Jesus - this is a man-made concept.  John  3:16 (and many other passages as well) makes it clear that our salvation is a gift given by God's grace alone.

And so I land here.  Going to a church service on Sunday or Wednesday, or Sunday and Wednesday, or Sunday and Wednesday and a special revival on Saturday - none of these make you a Christian.  You can be as pagan as they come and still sit in a pew.

There must be more to truly being a Christian. And there is.

- tC