See Him As He Is

As you've noticed, the frequency of posting on Civics News has taken a nose dive. A few posts ago, I mentioned that I'd been working on a new project. It's time to finally launch that new project! Beginning October 18, I will begin a lecture series at Grand Valley State University entitled, "As He Is" (a phrase taken from 1 John 3:1-2).

Why the change in my extracurricular efforts? I've come to realize that the fundamental problem in Christianity is how we perceive God. The reason we put our trust in political princes and in coercive government, the reason we believe in war and torture, the reason we believe in using legislative force to compel people to live a certain way economically or morally, the reason we struggle in our faith, and the reason many non-Christians rightly disregard the Christian faith...it all comes down to our picture of God. Do we believe in a coercive God or a God of love? When we say we believe that "God is love" do we REALLY believe that or do we still cherish misconceptions of God even in Christianity?

Because...what we believe God to be like...will determine everything for us. We tend to become like that which we admire and worship. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us … when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:1-2

There's so much more to say. One short post announcing this new project can't communicate the realizations that have come in the past year or two, which have been germinating and growing. I'm considering a second book on the subject, namely, a book on the character of God, what we believe he's like, and how this impacts our actions and beliefs (political and otherwise) to expand on these themes.

But, for now, I am excited to respond to the call to preach the good news about the character of God, to tell as many people as I can about what kind of person God is--that he is entirely trustworthy and that he is love with all the radical implications that truth carries with it. Inside and outside the church, we need to hear this good news, this gospel. It has changed my life over the past two years, and I can't wait to start sharing it with others.

So check out the new (very basic) website, and add it to your favorites; I'll be posting stuff there from time to time and hopefully posting audios from the "As He Is" series.

The most urgent need of humanity--inside and outside the church--is that we will finally See Him As He is. That we will finally be introduced to our Creator in his true and scarcely understood character. If the knowledge hits you like it hit me, it's going to change everything for you. Enjoy the journey of seeking the truth about God.

Scott

Temple Cleansing and Book Burning

I have now heard multiple Christians defend the Koran burning plan as being an acceptable thing for Christians to do, and thought I'd address their argument formally.

Two arguments that I've heard multiple times are as follows:

1. Since Jesus cleansed the Temple, it follow that Christians should burn the religious books of other faiths.

This line of reasoning is easily countered. Jesus was speaking truth to power against those in his own religion. Doing something drastic to send a message to those in your faith community who are misrepresenting God might be needed at times. But toward the lost sheep whom God is seeking to save, we ought to have an attitude of patience, love, servitude, and we should have the singular focus of showing them the gospel. I would consider supporting a Christian pastor who was making a dramatic statement about radical elements within Christianity.

2. Since "A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly" (Acts 19:19), this justifies the plan to burn Korans.

There is an obvious and fundamental difference between the Acts incident and the present one. In Acts, people burned their own old religious documents as a token of their conversion. If this pastor was leading converted Muslims in a service where the newly converted Christians burned their old religious books, that would be comparable to the Acts situation, but this passage doesn't support what the pastor had called for in the least.

[I should add an addendum to this brief post. While I find the plan to burn Korans to be abhorrent, I want to make it clear that any human being has the natural right to destroy through fire or whatever method his/her property. A Christian or any person has the political right to purchase religious books and burn them. Though it is hateful, there is no such thing as a "hate" crime. Hating is not a crime. It is a crime in heaven, but please don't let the outrage over the Koran burning controversy lead to support of hate speech legislation.]

Burning Korans

Which of these just doesn't belong?

• "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." -John 13:35
  
• "Love your enemies" -Matthew 5:44
• "The Most High...is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." -Luke 6:35
• "Let's do about the most offensive and mean thing possible (short of assaulting or killing them, which we're doing, too) to those Muslims who don't know the love of Christ, and let's burn the book they believe to be holy."

Followers of Christ: Please get the message out to the world that such things are not of Jesus, but of Satan. My goal is not to assess or judge the people at this church where they're planning to burn Korans. But it must be stated clearly for the world to hear that the spirit behind their actions is not of Christ.

[By the way, I do agree that Islam is a false religion and teaches a very dark picture of God. Just like violent so-called Christianity, Islam sadly misses out on the truth about God. But that doesn't mean we should kill them or deliberately offend them by burning Korans. We should love them, serve them, and show them what God is like as revealed in Jesus.]