On Calvin and Oprah (re-posted from Jan. 10, 2009)

What doth Calvin have to do with Oprah?  Well, not much, but I think Oprah can provide a helpful pallate by which to apply Calvin's principles regarding Christianity and culture.  In what may turn out to be a "best hits" series of publican chest posts, here's an old post where I tried to make some applications of Calvin's distinctions between common and redemptive grace.  Here goes:

  In 2.2.12-16 of Calvin's Institutes I believe one finds a most instructive treatise on the relationship between Christianity and culture.  Calvin posits that at the fall, man (and he means the entire human race) lost all his ability to be discerning regarding spiritual matters.  A fallen man is one who cannot understand correctly the things of the kingdom of God.  As Calvin writes, "[man] is so banished from the Kingdom of God that all qualities belonging to the blessed life of the soul have been extinguished from him, until he recovers them through the grace of regeneration."  However, Calvin also affirms that vestiges of the image of God remain in all people.  This includes what Calvin calls the natural gifts, or the light of reason.  This was not entirely lost at the fall, although it was polluted.  As only Calvin can put it, he says, "in man's perverted and degenerate nature some sparks still gleam.  These show him to be a rational being, differing from brute beasts, because he is endowed with understanding.  Yet, secondly, they show this light choked with dense ignorance, so that it cannot come forth effectively."

Thus, Calvin asserted that the distinction must be made between two kinds of understanding.  The distinction is this:  there is one kind of understanding of earthly things; another of heavenly things.  Calvin writes:  "I call 'earthly things' those which do not pertain to God or his Kingdom, to true justice, or to the blessedness of the future life; but which have their significance and relationship with regard to the present life and are, in a sense, confined within its bounds.  I call 'heavenly things' the pure knowledge of God, the nature of true righteousness, and the mysteries of the Heavenly Kingdom.  The first class includes government, household management, all mechanical skills, and the liberal arts.  In the second are the knowledge of God and of his will, and the rule by which we conform our lives to it" (italics are mine).

At the end of the day, Calvin is saying that both Christians and non-Christians live in the world together and both live under the common curse, but both also live under common grace.  Non-believers can be gifted greatly and manifest extraordinary skill in cultural endeavors that benefit all mankind, believer and non-believer alike.  This is a gift of God's common grace.  I praise God that a non-believing surgeon was able to spare my life and take my appendix out.  He was gifted by God in common grace and he uses his skill for the common good and the noble cultural enterprise of medicine.

Yet for all this common good,  Calvin is quick to note that when it comes to spiritual matters, the unregenerate are "blind as moles!"  Yet we must not let this fact cause us to ignore their earthly knowledge.  Calvin waxes about these spiritually blind moles saying, "let that admirable light of truth shining in them teach us that the mind of man, though fallen and perverted from its wholeness, is nevertheless clothed and ornamented with God's excellent gifts.  If we regard the Spirit of God as the sole fountain of truth, we shall neither reject the truth itself, nor despise it wherever it shall appear, unless we wish to dishonor the Spirit of God" (italics mine).  I believe that a proper understanding of common grace should be very liberating for Christians.  It is ok to learn from and genuinely desire to gain insight into earthly matters from non-Christians.  I just had this experience while back in Nebraska over the Christmas break. 

I had certain questions about living expenses in Omaha.  Some of the most helpful, instructive information was garnered from two non-Christian friends of mine about the housing market, energy bills, groceries, etc.  Their current unbelief in Christ doesn't mean they are not wise in other matters.  I heartily amen Calvin when he states, "If the Lord has willed that we be helped in physics, dialectic, mathematics, and other like disciplines, by the work and ministry of the ungodly, let us use this assistance.  For if we neglect God's gift freely offered [to us] in these arts, we ought suffer just punishment for our sloths."

Which brings me to Oprah.  As some of you may know (or those willing to admit they watch Oprah may know), Oprah is having her "best life" series all this week on her television program.  Yesterday, she had on Dr. Laura Berman to talk about the issue of sex.  The topic was how to have a revived and/or healthier sex life. 

I believe Dr. Berman, under common grace, had some wise advice.  No she didn't mention the bible once.  And no, she didn't discuss any of the biblical principles regarding sex.  And no she wasn't concerned about glorifying God in sex.  But was her presentation entirely void of truth?  I don't think so.  In so far as much as sexual issues apply to all people, she had wisdom.  After all, it’s not just Christians that have sex.  So although Christians may have a different end in mind with their  sex life (the glory of God) and though we may have a different starting point regarding our view on sex, when it comes to the means, I think there can be commonality here.  Unbelievers, at some level, want to have healthy sex lives even though they may not have the same end in mind as we do.  But when it comes to some of the nuts and bolts of our sexuality, unbelievers take their socks off just like believers do.  In keeping with Calvin's principles mentioned above, I think Christians then may be free to garner wisdom about something like sex from a doctor on Oprah, in so far as much as they remain in accordance with biblical principles.

So was everything she said helpful?  No.  I think she did present some stuff that would not be wise for a Christian to do in their sex life.  Was it all bad.  Well, no.  I think she offered some helpful tips regarding making sex a priority, how to communicate better about sex in your marriage, and yes, even how to keep it interesting.  Again, I am not saying one should throw out Christian principles.  I think the light of supernatural revelation as contained in the 66 canonical scriptures should always be used to evaluate human wisdom's.  Yet, insofar as human wisdom is not in contradiction with scriptural principles, as Calvin says, we would be dishonoring to God if we did not seek to gleen what we can from those teachings in the world.  Although we didn't get to see the whole series, I am sure there were helpful tips on finances, eating habits, etc.

 One other observation is that it was helpful to see this stuff on Oprah and not being preached from Joel Osteen's best life pulpit.  As I affirm with Calvin when it comes to spiritual matters, the ungodly are completely blind.  When it comes to things of God and salvation, Oprah is a moron.  There is no wisdom there.  All is veiled to the stone heart regarding heavenly things.   This is knowledge only revealed by God through his special grace shown to those who believe in him.  This is knowledge that the church speaks on and must boldly proclaim. 

Oh how I need to hear gospel sermon's.  I need to know how a wretched worm like myself is justified before a holy God.  I need to know about the law and the gospel.  I need my faith to increase by the due use of means, the sacraments.  And you can be darn sure, I won't tune into Oprah to find about that.

Two Dates

There are now two more chances to see Kite Pilot perform this summer.  Here you go:

Friday, June 3:  Barley Street Tavern, 9pm, $5
w/ Well-Aimed Arrows, Techlepathy

Friday, June 17th:  The Waiting Room, 8pm, $7
w/ Betsy Wells, Plains

If you have to choose one, go to the Waiting Room on June 17th.  Betsy Wells is a fantastic local band that is having its CD release party.  Their stuff is really good, and they are starting to get recognition outside of Omaha.  Hope to see some folks make it out.

Do Yourself a Favor

During my recent excursion to the rust belt, I had the great privilege to see Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo play to a packed out audience wanting to hear some great guitar music.  And that's exactly what we got.

I had never heard of these cats, and they blew me away completely.  Do yourself a favor and check out this youtube clip, and perhaps buy one of their records.  Fantastic stuff.

Big News for Stone Brewery

For those interested in all things Escondido, check out the great news from Stone Brewery.

It was the de facto Westminster Seminary student lounge in my day.

The End of the World, or the End of Oprah, or Both?

I can't figure out if Harold Camping's Bible code also foresaw America's favorite pastor calling it quits around the same time as the second advent.  For some people, I imagine the two events are equal in substance.  Even right here in Omaha, NE the local news is featuring stories on how Oprah has changed people's lives in the heartland throughout the years.  Although there aren't any billboards for the end of Oprah, people are just as much, if not more worked up about the end of her show than the possibility of the end of all things.  Which, is how it probably should be given Camping's track record.

Believe it or not I have posted about Oprah on here before, and I plan to repost those thoughts soon.  So at the end-of-all-things-Oprah, I find myself reflecting on this phenomenon.  She has been called America's spiritual leader for several years now, and I really think that is pretty accurate.  If you watch her show, it is amazing the advice she has about better living.  There is great stuff a lot of the time.  She's had on doctors to talk about eating right and living right.  She has on child experts to talk about parenting children of all ages.  She has on sex experts to talk about bettering the bedroom.  She has on financial gurus who offer sage financial advice.

If you want to live a better, more fruitful life now, Oprah is the place to turn. I know me and my family have surely benefited from her stuff.

However, the sad thing is that Oprah is so often regarded as pure religion for some folks.  After all, if life is about getting better everyday and in every way then Oprah seems godlike.  After all, she gave Dr. Oz his start.  She knows how to improve life under the sun.

But the reality is that life under the sun is not all the life there is.  The essence of true religion is not becoming a better person, or improving one's self, or finding treasure and success on planet Earth.  Yet, that is what the essence of every major religion teaches, except for Christianity.

The true Christian religion doesn't start with our plight as humans, but God's revelation of himself and his purposes.  As it turns out, man's problem is that he chose self-improvement (eating the apple that would 'open eyes' and 'give knowledge') over God-glorification.  Instead of fulfilling the task that God promised would bring about eternal blessedness and everlasting abundant life, mankind went the way of existential therapy and listened to the voice of a creature they could see, took something tangible they could eat, in order to earn something that just seemed more practical and visibly beneficial.

Which is why God's mercy is insane.  Instead of dishing out justice right then and there like he should have.  He clothed his two naked enemies, sustained them, and even though he cursed them, he also promised something grand.  He promised that he was going to send a messiah to save the world from its ruined life now, unto the blessed life later, even though no one deserved it.

And the Messiah wasn't what anyone expected.  A lowly carpenter from some small, irrelevant town.  Jesus Christ came and lived as an exile.  He was a pilgrim on this earth.  He was the second Adam who did what our first father Adam failed to do.  He fulfilled all the works that God wanted man to do.  He never disobeyed God.  And can you believe it!  Even though he was perfect and did everything perfectly, his life from a human standpoint, stunk.  He was not wealthy, he did not marry or have kids, he did not establish equity for his family, he was hated in his own hometown, and he was ultimately sentenced as a criminal.  Yet that is the perfect life.  Living under a curse means our best life now is that of the cross, that of pilgrims.  But yes, the foolishness of God will always confound, confuse, and piss off the wise of the world.  It runs roughshod against good sense and human reason.

Which brings me back to Oprah.  She has great common sense and common grace wisdoms that she has given to the world.  Indeed, her show has changed lives in a penultimate, temporal sense.  Which is great.  But it is not the substance of Christianity in any sense.  She does not dole out redemptive, supernatural grace like God does.  And I don't think she claims that necessarily.  But I know folks that idolize the Oprah thing in a very religious way, and they wonder why the church isn't as nice, friendly, and relevant as Winfrey.  It may be due to false teachers like Camping spending millions of dollars that could go to the poor on poo-poo.

Perhaps this is why people would be more worked up about Oprah ending even if they thought Jesus was returning tomorrow.  How relevant is Jesus when it comes to home improvement and having healthy life rhythms?  Well, you don't need Jesus to have those things necessarily.  People live well and yet they die in sin, a tragedy.  Jesus reconciles people to God, forgives every sin, and is the messiah that can redeem the lowliest sinner.  But the Christian Life is not a call to financial security, and leave-it-to-beaver life vibrations.  It doesn't of course mean that Christians won't have that.  I am not denying sanctification (even though I would quibble with how its conceived of a lot of times).  Quite frankly though, Christianity is a call to suffering and death.  The Bible says you will suffer if you love Jesus.  It also says he will give you everything you need, which means if you don't have something right now, you don't need it.  Jesus is relevant then for eternity, and thus perfectly relevant for the present for those with faith to see.

So if the world ends on Saturday, Harold Camping was still wrong for trying to guess the day (didn't Jesus say that no one knows the day nor hour except the Father?), and Oprah Winfrey should be missed but not for the reasons that a lot of people will miss her.

And whenever Christ returns, it will be a glorious day.  For he is going to ransom all those who are trusting in him by faith.  The pilgrims will finally be perfected before the world's eyes, the martyrs will be vindicated, the poor in Christ will receive their treasures in heaven.  All will be made right by Jesus.  He will bring about the life improvement that no eye has seen nor any ear heard (which is why we shouldn't think that we participate in building that kingdom in our common cultural endeavors).  This should sober up our expectations about life here, while at the same time it should increase our zeal to worship the savior as a church in the way he has promised to bless, and to bear goodly fruit wherever we are as people.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

On Driving, among Other Things

My driver's license recently expired so I found myself at the DMV today taking the written driving exam.  I failed the test once, and so today was the re-take.  It dawned on me that none of the instructions for the test say that one cannot use the driver's manual during the test.  So, I used the manual the entire test, looked up the answers, and passed!  No one seemed to mind, and I kind of felt sheepish for not doing it in the first place.  The flower_pot reminded me however that in California, things were different.  It was a written exam, to be taken with a pencil, and conducted by a human proctor who did not allow the manual to be used in our recollection.  Here in Omaha I took the test on a computer, with no proctor (although the five workers were 5 feet behind), no pencil, and no idea how irrelevant the questions were that I would be asked.  Do I really need have the fine rations for illegal passing memorized in order to legally and appropriately operate my vehicle?  Must I really be quizzed on the truth or falsehood of whether or not high winds effect all motorists?  I dunno.  I digress.  It was all a little weird (par for the DMV course right).  If I was not supposed to use the manual, mea culpa.  What can I say, my high school teachers really taught me to read directions...

OTHER THINGS:


*I love this Kevin DeYoung post.

*I think this video is hilarious (ht:  oldlife)

*Will the world end this Saturday?  It happens to be our 6th wedding anniversary, Camping didn't consult us.  At any rate, all Dundee minded folk should check out the spring fling going on, even if the world ends.  The Amsterdam crew got to pick the bands which means no grampa cover bands this year.  Some great local talent is playing.  Details here.

Celebrity Sightings (of a youtube kind)

In case your in Omaha and you think you see the two girls from First Aid Kit, the Swedish duo who has that viral youtube clip of their Fleet Foxes cover, you aren't crazy.  Ran into em' the other night.  In town doing their new record.  Great tunes and voices.  Hope they enjoy Omaha.  

KELLER AND THE ABSORBING COSTS OF FORGIVENESS

I have been profiting in my walk with Christ recently by reading through Tim Keller’s new book King’s Cross.  It is basically Keller’s meditations on the gospel of Mark compiled from his years of preaching through the book.

Probably the most powerful section I have read so far has come in a part dealing with forgiveness.  Keller crystallizes much of what I have thought this past year and a half as I have had to work through some major forgiveness issues in my own heart.  What Keller describes has been my experience.  True forgiveness, that is, wiping the slate clean even though you have been blatantly wronged, will always cost.  And in true forgiveness, you have to absorb the cost of being wronged.  You can’t forgive without suffering.  When someone robs you of reputation, happiness, opportunity, etc., justice has been violated and there is a debt created, and there are only two things you can do.  Keller says:  

One thing you can do is to try to make that person pay:  You can try to destroy their opportunities or ruin their reputation; you can hope they suffer, or you can actually see to it.  But there’s a big problem with that.  As you’re making them pay off the debt, as you’re making them suffer because of what they did to you, you’re becoming like them.  You’re becoming harder, colder; you’re becoming like the perpetrator.  Evil wins.  What else can you do?  The alternative is to forgive.  But there’s nothing easy about real forgiveness.  When you want to harbor vengeful thoughts, when you want so much to carry out vengeful actions but you refuse them in an effort to forgive, it hurts.  When you refrain, when you forgive, it’s agony.  Why?  Instead of making the other person suffer, you’re absorbing the cost yourself.  You aren’t trying to get your reputation back by tearing their reputation down.  You are forgiving them and it is costing you.  That’s what forgiveness is.  True forgiveness always entails suffering.

This is right on the mark.  Jesus has forgiven perfectly and he suffered the ultimate price for it.  As Christ followers, we are called to that same kind of forgiveness.  We will not be able to perform this forgiveness perfectly in this life, but we are called to increase in our holiness in this area.  And wow, how easy it is in our society to think that forgiveness is simply forgetting and moving on.  Keller shows clearly that when sin occurs against you and you have been wronged, there is a debt and someone has to pay.  To truly forgive means you absorb that debt.  Your reputation, your happiness, and your life opportunities suffer as a result.  But this is a suffering that God sees and will be faithful to bless in His time.

May Christ’s bride grow in grace through it’s Christ-like forgiveness.  Giving up its perceived reputation, influence, or relevance if it has to.  Indeed, this is how our savior forgave, he gave everything up and was falsely accused and put to death.  He was wronged and he had the power to repay, but instead he absorbed the cost of our trespasses against him so that we wouldn’t have to.  Amen.

Has Church Left the Building?

 At least in Rev. Stephanie Alschwede’s mind it sure has.  The Omaha World-Herald ran this piece the other day about a United Methodist Ministry that is seeking to challenge the way people think about church.  It is admittedly an effort that Alschwede said is aimed at bringing younger people into the United Methodist Church, the 3^rd largest denomination in the United States. 

The national campaign titled Rethink Church has then produced literature that asks the questions:  “What if church was less about Sunday, and more about the other days of the week?”  and, “What if church wasn’t just a place we go, but something we do?  What if church wasn’t just a building, but thousands of doors, each opening up to a different concept or experience of church?”

The answer of course to these “what ifs” is to attend all the activities that First United Methodist is putting on in Omaha.  First United Methodist is trying to showcase what a different kind of church looks like on the ground.

My first thought was that it is encouraging to see people thinking about church at all.  However, I am not so sure that what we need is a rethink campaign.  I am not convinced that the average person has thought a lot about church period, thus I don’t know if there is a need to re-think it. 

I am also astonished just how old and stale this kind of thing is.  People have thunk, and re-thunk church since God created it.  Most recently in the American context we have had the liberal social gospel of the early 20^th century rethinking, and then we have had the emergent crowd rethinking, and the missionals thinking that they are re-thinking.  So the cycle continues and the Methodist church out my window is taking up the rethinking marketing niche. 

What they have come up with then is good ol’ fashioned social gospel.  They partner together with people of all faiths (even people with the faith of unfaith), and do good works in the community planting gardens, restoring blighted areas of the metro, caring for the poor and elderly, etc and calling that church.

The problem as I see it, isn’t with the good works done in the community.  Omaha has endless social justice programs, half-way houses, soup kitchens, etc., all done by all kinds of groups, both Christian and non-Christian.  Which is great, but its just not explicitly Christian work.  Christians should want to participate in these things right alongside their non-Christian neighbor.  I for one love my liberal Christian friends, and my liberal non-Christian friends of all stripes, and I love to do common good works together.  But that’s not the issue.

The issue then is what is the church for?  Is it to administer God’s common grace or his special redeeming grace?  Is the church primarily about our activity as Christians, or is it crazy to think that church is about God’s activity towards sinners in Christ?  Is church primarily about what we do everyday but the Lord’s Day?  Can we “live” church?

I do wonder sometimes if these kinds of efforts are due less to principial ecclesiological concerns and more to the average frustrations with church life like:  It is boring.  It is too divisive.  It is not relevant enough to my life, my needs, and my circle of friends.  Why doesn’t the church pay attention to my cultural proclivities and tell me how to navigate my life situations?  Why are these church people so not with it? 

Fact is this.  The kingdom of God is as Jesus says, “not of this world.”  Christ was given the opportunity to transform culture.  First by Satan and then by Jesus’ own crowds.  Both times he turned down the offer.  He could have taken over the Roman empire.  Instead, Jesus told people to pay taxes to Caesar.  The self-same tax dollars that would pay for the salaries of the guards that drove the taxpayer’s nails through Jesus’ innocent wrists.

The church is called by God to make disciples by authorized ministers preaching God’s Word, administering the Sacraments and church discipline.  That is the church’s mission.  That is the purpose for which God created it, to be an embassy of other worldly redemptive grace, not this worldly common grace.

Its articles like these that make Mike Horton’s observations on chruch all the more relevant, plausible, and sustainable.  Mike has observed that churches today suffer from “mission creep,” which is a term copped from the Washington Post regarding civil matters.  Mission creep is “the expansion of a project or mission beyond its original goals, often after initial successes.”

The American evangelical church suffers from mission creep.  This article on the Methodists is a prime example.  The church in our day constantly seems to be emphasizing the wrong things.  Good works are not the gospel.  Partnering with social justice groups is not the work of the church.  The kingdom doesn’t come by making a strip club into a community center, nor is that redeeming culture.  May God turn the turning of his church and constantly bring Her back to his Word.  May his ministers proclaim the truth boldly.  May his church recover the mission from the missional movement and the like, and move forward in greater humility, harmony, and faith.  And then may the church members be fed enough on Sunday so that they can have the courage to talk to their neighbors and love on them, and be light wherever God has placed them.

The church isn’t a building.  But the church is a place (and thus needs a place) where God feeds his sheep on His Day with His Word, water, bread and wine.  Consequently, the people of the church go out into the world the other days of the week and should seek to be courageous witnesses of their faith, to the their neighbors, in the way God gives to them.  But we cannot collapse the biblical distinction between the institutional church and her functions, and the church as organism and her Christian liberty to love neighbor in the way God apportions to each member.

A New Reformation

 “Churches today stand in need of a new reformation.  There is no need to rehearse the statistics here.  Evangelicalism in the United States is plagued by ignorance of Scripture and confusion concerining the nature of the human plight and its solution in the gospel.  Worship, church life, and outreach are determined by the whim of the market, just as the Word was buried under medieval innovations.  At the same time, many Reformed and Presbyterian churches seem content to live off of the capital of the past, without having to return for themselves to the streams that fed the great renewals of apostolic faith and practice in the past…Like children, we need to ask even the most basic questions anew, in the light of the specific challenges and opportunities in our own age.  We are not caretakers of a cemetery or guardians of a heritage, but ambassadors of the ever-living and ever-active King in heaven, sent into our families, neighborhoods and actions with the live-giving message of Christ.  We cannot take this inheritance for granted.”

Celtics Last Stand

Tonight the Boston Celtics play game 3 against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.  At first, this may seem to not be such a big deal in a seven game series.  But in actuality, this game is it for the C's this season, and for the Big 3 era.

There are only two things that can happen:  1)  Either the Celtics make the biggest turn around in the Big 3 era and come back to eliminate the Heat and advance to the finals (beating the bulls in the process).  Or 2)  The Celtics lose to the Heat, and have a disappointing end to an awkward, disappointing season.  If they turn it around against the Heat, there is no way they will lose in the next series.

But here's the deal.  Danny Ainge was wrong.  The trade for Kendrick Perkins has proven to be an epic failure.  People must remember, not only was Perk traded, but so was Nate Robinson, Luke Harangody, and Marquis Daniels.  The difference maker with all of these guys is the locker room atmosphere and the energy they brought on the court.  Chemistry wins championships.  And these guys had it.  Nate Robinson and Luke Harangody are young and brought a ton of energy to the aging Big 3.  In addition, Perk is only 26 himself and grew up with the Celtics and is a premier defender and garbage man in the low post.

I am the biggest Celtics fan North of 72nd Street here in Omaha and mark my words:  The Celtics won't be in the finals this year.  Or, if they make it to the finals this year, it will be better than last year's comeback run, and would have to make them go down as one of the best Celtic teams in history.  What can be the "x" factor?  Our hope really lies in the oldest player in the league and largest player to ever play the game who makes his return tonight.  That's right, if Shaq has any left in the diesel engine, we could see history.  Something tells me though that he is toast.

Danny Ainge blundered, and tonight can only go one of two ways.  If the Celtics tank, only Danny Ainge is to blame, and if they win, credit goes to Doc Rivers.

MTI wrap-up

Big thanks to all the guys in the MTI preaching class, and to the OPC for putting it on.  This past week was really too much fun.  We learned a bunch, got to sit under amazing men of God (Big thanks to Bill and Pete for their time, and pouring themselves into us), and got to enjoy rich fellowship with one another.

So to Dave Cornette (hope the back starts feeling better, and sorry you got mugged), Dave Graves, Francis, Travis, Ken, Joel, and Luis.  Press on and preach on.

Also, thanks be to God for Mt. Rainier on a clear day.

Tulip Fields in Mt. Vernon

Going out to see the blooming tulip fields in the western part of Mt. Vernon, WA.  It is the talk of the area.  The annual tulip festival is going on and its sunny out.  Stoked.