Good Cop Bad Cop: Bristly God vs. Affable Jesus

A young adult once told me that she loved to pray to Jesus, but she had not yet been able to pray to God. I asked her what she meant, and she verbalized what many are afraid to say: “Jesus is nice, but God scares me a little bit.” At first I thought her theology of Jesus was off. Clearly she did not realize that Jesus is God. But that wasn’t it. She realized that the Bible taught that Jesus is God. She just didn’t like the Old Testament (OT) version of God.

Now, you may be shaking your head at this new Christian’s sense of it. But the reality is, many people have felt this tension. How can Jesus be so affable while the God of the OT seems irascible?

This perception of God has actually become quite popular. But I don’t think that it takes a full view of God, nor a full view of what the Bible reveals about him. It starts with two wrong assumptions:

1. Even though we may understand that Jesus is God, we often think of him as something lesser than God. But Jesus declares that “I and the Father are one” (Jn. 10:30). He says that anyone who has seen him has seen the Father. (Jn. 14:9) The Bible teaches that God was pleased to have “all his fullness dwell in [Jesus]” (Col 1:10). If Jesus is God, then it makes no sense to think of the OT God as crabby, and the NT God as friendly.
2. We often feel that in the OT God was severe and in the NT God is full of grace. But the Bible teaches that God “is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) God doesn’t change. He is constant. So to think that he went through a metamorphosis from the OT to the NT is not optional. Both grace and justice are revealed in God in the OT and the NT.

The importance of all of this is that in the Gospels we see God up close and personal in Jesus. We get a closer look. We get to know God better! The one that sometimes seems fearsome and all-powerful is also gracious and loving. The reverse is also true. The Jesus we may view as affable is also severe and full of justice. He is the one described in the future as a “rider on a white horse…a conqueror bent on conquest” (Rev. 6:2)!

So as you meditate on Jesus, try to realize the fullness of who he is. And when you read the OT, see the arrows that point toward him. This fuller understanding of God will inform your reading of the Scriptures and shape your beliefs on everything.

Marriage: "like" or "love" ?

I’m doing a wedding this weekend. In preparation, I came across this powerful verse from an underrated book of the Bible. “For love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” (SOS 8:6-7)

About 50% of all marriages end in divorce.

Look at what the passages says about love again: it is as strong as death, and it burns like a blazing fire, it cannot be quenched, it cannot be swept away. If this verse is true (and it is), and it is also true that half of all marriages split apart, then what does that say about love in marriage? Frank Sinatra sang that Love and Marriage go together like a horse and carriage. But do they? Because if they did, then marriage statistics would be much more positive.

I think we have to conclude that the kind of love described in this passage does not exist in many marriages. A lesser form of love is a replacement, one that rides on feelings, life circumstances, and outward conditions. But it is not a love “as strong as death.” It is not a love that burns like a blazing fire. It is a fickle kind of love, that is better described by the word “like.” It is swept away by the pains or desires of this life.

One of the saddest things about divorce is the children that it often leaves behind. In many cases, these children often feel abandoned by one of the parents, most likely their dad, and the wounds cut deep. They often feel like it was their own fault. Sometimes they are simply confused by it all. It takes years for these wounds to heal, and in my opinion, they can only be fully healed with a relationship with God.

If you are divorced and you are reading this, my objective is not to discourage. God grants second chances—new beginnings. And if you are a child of divorce as I am, I hope that you know the healing that God gives through his Son. And let all of us who are married continue to allow God to grow the love that we have with our spouses. The one we merely began on our wedding day. May it truly become a blazing fire. Don’t just settle for “like," strive for love.

More wounds of the fatherless - a true story

When I first met Kaye* she was in pretty bad shape. She refused to stop cutting herself on her arms and legs. Mainly she would use pins so that the marks weren’t as obvious to her teachers and friends. She told me that she cut in order to relieve the pain of her real life. She was so angry. She was angry at God, and she was angry at people. But mostly, as we talked over the next few months, she was angry at her father.

Like many people, Kaye suffers from a “father wound.” Her father left her family when she was young, took another wife, and never looked back. Kaye couldn’t figure out how to be “daddy’s little girl” again. She could not get him to look at her the way he once did when she was little. She could not get him to notice her at all. Now, it seemed, he was caught up in his new life, caught up in himself. Caught up in his new family. Like so many others, she felt abandoned, hurt, replaced, rejected.

The night she tried to kill herself I was called into the hospital to see her. She couldn’t put words to why she hated herself so much in that moment. She just felt the pain that welled up inside her. I remember meeting her mom for the first time that week, and seeing the tears in her eyes as she talked about her daughter. She didn’t know how to make things right. She was still trying to fit the pieces of her own broken life back together. Kaye’s dad didn’t visit her that week. He never called. He was never heard from. More pain. More anger. The cycle of being fatherless.

Kaye has had her ups and downs throughout the years that followed that night. At times she has been able to see the love of the heavenly Father through Jesus. She has also felt the loving embrace of a church community. She has even sensed what spiritual adoption might look like—the real-time acceptance of a Father who is always present. But she has not been able to fully embrace this reality. She has not allowed herself to be fully embraced by Him. Perhaps it seems too good to be true. Perhaps she feels too vulnerable. Perhaps that Father may end up hurting her like her earthly father did.

I keep a case of pins in my desk drawer that Kaye gave me years ago. She gave them to me on a day of surrender. I keep them to remind me of the pain of the fatherless. I keep them because I know that Kaye’s story is not over yet. The Father’s love is too big and too grand to let her go. His love is relentless. His love is overwhelming. His love is enacted in Psalm 147:3 as the one who “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”!


*of course this is not her real name

Is Doubt a Virtue?

This morning I read in my devotions about Barnabas. He has three descriptions in Acts 11:24. Three reasons why he became particularly qualified for the ministry that needed to be done. But before I remind us of what they are, what do you suppose would be the top 3 qualifications for a ministry leader today? Wouldn’t the postmodern virtue of doubt be among them? This virtue goes something like this: Hold onto what you believe loosely, because it is arrogant to believe with 100% certainty. Certainty is only befitting for IRS agents, referees and raging fundamentalists. The thought is, Christians should communicate more like the local weatherman. Watch what you say, since there’s about a 50% chance that you may be wrong.

But the three descriptions of Barnabas are 1) that he was a good man (high character) 2) that he was filled with the Holy Spirit (doubtful of his own abilities, relying on God instead) and 3) that he was full of faith. Full of faith. Lots of good old fashioned certainty of what he could not see or touch. I love this. I also love how the guys in the book of Acts are continually described as “bold” in the way they communicated the truths of God. Could it be that the culture of doubt we have created is not as biblical or healthy as we believe it to be? Why is there such certainty about this postmodern dogma of doubt? Could it be creating “believers” with squeamish faith? People are left with no assurance—always wondering if they are on the right track. Sounds to me like a recipe for losing one’s faith completely.

Way back in 1959, the English writer G.K. Chesterton seemed to foresee our postmodern fear of certainty. In his book, Orthodoxy, he said that it was good for a person to be “doubtful of himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. We are on the road to producing a race of men too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.” Ouch. If he’s right, we have a problem. Let us all become more like Barnabas: embracing humility in our view of ourselves, but certainty of our faith in God!

the wounds of the fatherless

In his book, Fatherless Generation, John Sowers uses the same stats I have seen regarding the social science of growing up without a father. Sowers is the new head of the Mentoring Project, which is the organization that Donald Miller founded to help alleviate the fatherless epidemic in our society. Sowers reminds us that fatherless homes account for:


• 63% of youth suicides

• 71% of pregnant teenagers

• 90% of all homeless and runaway children

• 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions

• 85% of all youth who exhibit behavior disorders

• 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger

• 71% of all high school dropouts.

• 75% of all adolescents in chemical abuse centers

• 85% of all youths sitting in prison

Take a moment to let these stats sink in.

The breakdown of earthly fathers with their children here on earth is linked to the breakdown between us and God. Jesus came to earth to “show us the Father” (Jn. 14) and restore our relationship with Him. Every time a child is left without a father by abandonment, death or neglect, a “father wound” is opened up. This wound leads to all kinds of problems and pain apart from the healing that Jesus brings. This healing comes by really having a True Father who adopts us into his family.


Unfortunately, many people on this planet are still suffering the effects of fatherlessness. I stumbled across a video blog the other day that brought tears to my eyes. It was a very popular teenager blogger who wanted to address father’s day for those who don’t have a father around. He entitled the video: “happy father(less) day.” He was trying to be funny and cute. He had cutouts of himself dressed up like his mother, trying to fill in for not having a dad—playing catch and learning how to shave. But when the blogger tried to conclude the video in person, he could not do it with the same silliness that he intended. He started crying, and thanking his mom for doing the best she could to fill in for not having a dad. What struck me most was what followed. There were over 77,000 comments. Some were about him crying on YouTube, some were silly, but most were short stories about feeling exactly how he does. “I know just how you feel, my dad left me when I was 4.” “I know just how you feel, my dad left us when I was 6.” “We found out my dad cheated on my mom.” “My dad died when I was a baby, I never knew him.” On and on and on these comments went. The tears were welling up in my eyes as I read them. It was as if, for a brief moment, I was feeling the weight of all the pain of all the fatherless children, in all of the world. It’s what Jesus feels for you and me all the time.


So if you’ve stumbled over this post, and you have tears in your eyes too, you’re not alone. I know just how you feel. But more importantly, so does Jesus. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up every wound (see Psalm 147:3). But the question remains: What is my part to play in the fatherless epidemic?

The Apples and Oranges of Rob Bell

Rob Bell is talking about heaven in hell in his new book “Love Wins,” and is revealing much of his beliefs from the book in various interviews online and on TV. In fact, I think he is approaching Charlie Sheen level of media blitzing. I have always admired Rob, but I have concerns about some of the views he has voiced in these interviews.

I would summarize my concerns this way: If I told you I had an apple, that I love eating apples, and you said “Oh yea? What’s that apple like?” And I say: “This apple is awesome. It’s orange, juicy, seedless, and this particular apple only grows in Florida.”

You would say, “Ummm, are you sure that’s not an orange?”
Rob Bell is saying that he believes in the same Evangelical “apple," but he consistently describes it as something else. Here are some specific beliefs I heard from Rob (the “apples”), but also how he described those beliefs (the “oranges”).

The Apple. Rob has been asked if he is a universalist. Does he believe that people will eventually end up in eternal life with God, even if they don’t believe in the name of Jesus. He repeatedly says no, he is definitely not a universalist.
The Orange. Rob goes on to describe salvation as a “wide stream,” that we will be surprised at how many people and what kind of people will be in heaven. He goes so far as to say that people who end up in hell will still have a chance at salvation long after they die.

The Apple. Rob has been asked if hell is a “literal” place. By this, Christians wonder if hell is a destination of judgment as described by the Scriptures—a place that God has designated for those who resist his offer of new life through Jesus. Rob says, yes, it is!
The Orange. When Rob goes on to describe hell, he consistently describes it as something humans create in the here and now. It is a “hell on earth.” It is the hell we create when we are prejudiced, or unjust, or abusive. We create our own hell, and it is our own judgment. We choose not to go to heaven, because after all, Rob says, a racist person would never want to be in heaven anyway with all those different races.

The Apple. Rob has been asked if Jesus is still the only way to God, and therefore to heaven. He has said yes, of course! Jesus is the only way.
The Orange. Rob then begins to describe Jesus as a “mechanism” that is used to get to God. It turns out this “mechanism” can come in various forms (his example for the Jews is Moses striking water from a rock). People of various religions and beliefs may be coming to God through Jesus’ mechanisms, but these may look very different from what many Evangelical Christians would call a “personal relationship with Jesus.”

The Apple. Rob Bell has said that he is “not a theologian” in fact he said that he is not even a “smart guy.”
The Orange. Rob Bell is on a campaign to change the way people think about one of the most critical elements of Christianity: the nature of salvation through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross. In fact, Rob may very well be the most influential and dynamic theologian for younger Believers living today.

Thoughts?

Are you living in the light of God's Adoption???

A friend of mine and fellow blogger recently posted about the surprising power of seeing herself as a daughter of God. Notice I called her a fellow blogger, as if I regularly posted something of significance to read *cough, cough*.

Nevertheless, I have been thinking about the very same theme for my own life since God put us on a journey of adoption. Except not the daughter part. The adoption process has brought a very tangible and constant reminder of what God, through Jesus, did for me. In a very real sense, those who put their trust in Him have been adopted. Everything about us changes. We once were fatherless, and now our Father is the most powerful, most loving, and most resourced of all the fathers. We once had no inheritance, but now we are promised the riches of the King of all the kings. Our identities were once insecure: who am I really? We once felt small, petty, wondering what we were about, where were headed. But now we have been given Roots. We know exactly who we are, and it is grand. We are sons and daughters of the most High and Lofty God. His eternal life pulses in our hearts.

My biggest change in perspective lately has been to make these theological and abstract truths much more concrete and actual. I always thought of my spiritual adoption as merely theoretical. It’s true, but what does it really do for me. But lately I am living in the light of a new reality: God has literally and actually adopted me. His Fatherhood supersedes my literal and familial history! My trepidation, anxieties, fears, insecurities, and general feelings of smallness have been enveloped in His massive hands. He is smiling down on us and gently asking: do you realize what I have done for you, my child? My son? My daughter?

My biggest question for Christ-followers is this: are you living in the literal reality of your new status as an adopted son or daughter of God? Or are you just looking at is as hypothetical? What a difference this fact has on our everyday lives! For example: when you walk into a new setting with people you perceive to be somehow “above” you, the reality starts to set in: my Dad is the King of all the kings. I am his son and am deeply cherished. I have all of His resources at my disposal through prayer. Notice how your behavior begins to change! Now realize this is no cheap mind trick or feel good self-help technique. I’m talking about the fundamental reality that is at the heart of a changed identity in Christ and simply believing it in a deeper and more literal way.

I mean check out what God says in his Book!
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:4-7, NIV)

Notice it doesn’t say: you are LIKE his child, it says that you ARE his child.
Time to start living like it!