GOD'S POLITICS? PART VI

GOD'S POLITICS? PART VI

"WE MUST OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MEN"

Alright, so I've been promising for awhile now that we would have at least a day devoted to the topic of civil disobedience. Not that I think there are many of you just chomping at the bit to be civilly disobedient, but I don't think you can really address the topic of "God's Politics" without discussing the issue. After all, the Bible's statements about the role of government don't seem to allow much room for lawbreaking:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (Romans 13:1-2)

And yet, didn't the early Christians resist the law that told them they must worship Caesar? Chinese Christians today resist the laws of their land by smuggling in illegal Bibles all the time don't they? Converting to Jesus, according to law in Saudi Arabia is punishable by death, yet are there not still some Arabian Christians (at least in hiding)? These folks were and are by definition being disobedient to the civil authorities. How do we reconcile this disobedience with what we read in Romans 13?

The answer is found in one little verse in Acts 5:39. In this story, Peter and John are dragged before the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin for preaching Jesus' name. The Sanhedrin demanded that the Apostles stop preaching Jesus at once, to which Peter and the Apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men." That's it, and yet the implications of this verse have been far reaching. For the Apostles and us, it would be disobedient to God to stop preaching Jesus' name, and so because the law of God is higher than their law, the law of God wins out. So here's the principle: If the governing authorities ever call you to do anything that is called sin in God's word, than you have an obligation to resist them.

(Now I have to give a word of caution here, because people define "sin" in all sorts of ways and use this verse to pull all sorts of shenanigans. As much as we may not like taxes, we are to "pay what we owe" to the government; the government is not forcing us to do something sinful by telling us to pay taxes ( you may have sinful thoughts spring up in your heart when you see how much they're taking from you, but that's another issue entirely :). If the government tells you that a certain kind of weapon is now outlawed, then you must get rid of the weapon. If you believe it's an encroachment on your freedom, then work to get someone elected into office that will work to make it legal again. This is the way it works folks.)

That being said, what does Christian civil disobedience look like then?

Let's say you were a Christian woman living in China and the authorities tell you that you must abort (murder) your baby because the child is female (this is real by the way, the real law of the land known as the "one child only" policy), what would it look like to put this principle of obeying God rather than men into practice? Of course, it would mean a refusal to abort.

Let's say a society demands that you treat black citizens as less than human, by forcing them to drink from different fountains, go to different schools, and sit in different seats. As a Christian who believes all men are created in the image of God and are therefore completely equal, you have an obligation to "obey God rather than men," so what would that look like? Now things are getting a little more sticky and complicated. According to federal law in this country, you can protest. You can organize rallies and speakers to come and speak against the injustice; you can refuse to shop at stores that would segregate against people because of the color of their skin; you can vote for politicians that will work to end this injustice through legislation.

Let's say you're a Christian living in Germany in the 1930's and you see Hitler come to power. Slowly but surely he reveals just how evil his plans are for Jews, for Gypsy's, for Gays, for Catholics, etc., etc. What do you do? To sit by and follow the laws of the land, you are allowing a tyrant to kill millions. There is no free speech and so if you try and organize a protest, all of you will be arrested. The vote is completely rigged in Hitler's favor; you can't obey this government's laws that tell you all Jews must be handed over, taken away to "worker camps" i.e. death camps. As a Christian, how do you obey God rather than men in this circumstance?

Tomorrow, we'll show how three different people involved in World War II answered this question, and hopefully through their stories gain some more insight into how it is we "obey God rather than men."

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING FROM CHRIST...GROWING IN CHRIST....GOING WITH CHRIST....

GOD'S POLITICS? PART V

CHRISTIANITY AND CULTURE

Before going any further, I wanted to make sure and clarify something I said in the previous post. I gave as an example of the Kingdoms colliding the Glenn Beck conference held this last weekend. Now, let me be clear: I am not commenting on Beck's politics, or for that matter his opponent's politics. That's not my job. What I am commenting on is the idea of the conference itself. The idea of the conference was that what this country needs is "religious revival" in order for things to change. I don't disagree with this sentiment; a true spiritual revival is a good thing.

The part I think we Christians need to be wary of is what the components of this "religious revival" are. If the country merely has a "religious revival" but that revival is not centered on Jesus Christ (not some vague God figure, not some Great Ethic, but the Jesus of the Bible), than as Christians we are placing our hope in something that isn't Biblical. Here's the point: As Christians we shouldn't be concerned with making Muslims better Muslims, or Mormons better Mormons, we should be concerned with converting Muslims and Mormons to Christianity. True spiritual revival has to start with the True Spirit.

Now on political matters, as an individual citizen, I may partner up with Muslims, Mormons, Wiccans, etc, etc, for what I believe is the common good of society. We may all agree that Euthanasia is wrong and therefore band together politically to stop it. But this is not religious revival, it is neighborly responsibility. Remember, Two Kingdoms.

Alright let's move on:

Historically there have been 4 ways the Church has related to the Culture (by default this includes the State). Each has their strengths and weaknesses as we shall see. They can be summed up in four words: Conquer, Conform, Collapse, and Contribute

1. Conquer- In this view, the Church sees the State as something to rule over. This view is best epitomized by the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the European States throughout the Middle Ages. However, it certainly was not started by them; it has always been a temptation for the religious to take over the State. After all if this is God's world, than His people should rule over everything, right? Those with this view in America are constantly calling for the Church "to take this nation back for Christ!" or some other slogan. The Religious Right and the Religious Left often fall prey to this view, believing if they can just get the right legislation passed, the right person in office, etc. than it will alleviate society's problems. The problem with this view of course is that the Church is never once in the New Testament called to "take back a culture for Christ." It's called to preach the Gospel to all creatures, but not to pass legislation. If a culture is taken back for Christ, it is because individuals of that culture are being saved by Him and having their hearts changed by Him.

2. Conform- The second view of culture is most often seen among Liberal Protestants (when I say Liberal here, I'm not talking about their politics, but their theology) and it is that we must conform to our culture. In this view, the only way the Church is seen as "relevant" is if it looks like, talks like, and acts like the culture around them. Rather than preaching Biblical standards and norms, this group preaches the culture's standards and norms. In this way of course the Church loses it's distinctive as salt and light. Unfortunately, this has become more of the norm for Evangelical churches of late as well. It's one thing to be relevant with our music, clothes, etc., but the message is unchanging.

3. Collapse- The third view has been to collapse from the culture, or to say it another way, escape. This has been the chosen view of "Fundamentalists," or Quakers. We dress different, we listen to different music, we completely disengage from the evil world. Unfortunately, this again ignores the call for Christians to be "in the world, but not of the world." We can't escape, but rather must influence, inspire, and actively seek the best for our neighbor, unbelieving and believing.

4. Contribute- Finally, the fourth view of Christians and Culture seeks to find the balance. This is the Two Kingdoms view, which we have laboriously gone over. In this view the Christian contributes to society through his/her good works. We make music, make films, produce art, eat at restaurants, work hard, vote, watch other's kids, etc. all for the benefit of our neighbor. We do this as a citizen of wherever we live. On the other hand, in our relationship to God, we passively receive His grace and mercy, His gifts through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our relationship there is based on faith alone. Remember: Two Kingdoms.

Tomorrow, we finally talk about Civil Disobedience as Christians, and then we move on to specific World View Topics...

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

God's Politics Part IV: When Kingdoms Collide

GOD'S POLITICS? PART IV

WHEN KINGDOMS COLLIDE

Last week we closed our devotions by stressing the distinctions between the Two Kingdoms: The Kingdom of God and The Kingdom of Man. The Kingdom of God ruled by Jesus Christ is entirely based on mercy, grace and faith. It does not dispense blessings to us because we are good, but rather because Jesus is Good. This Kingdom advances not by sword, but by the preaching of the Gospel. This kingdom takes slaps on the cheek and turns the other, walking the extra mile in service to the enemy. This Kingdom, as Jesus said, is not of this world. Therefore, Paul can pronounce that while we're here still in the body, we are "strangers and aliens" on earth, citizens of a new country (Phil. 3:20, Hebrews 11).

And yet, we are still in the body and are a part of the Kingdom of man as well. Our primary citizenship is in the Kingdom of God, but we hold dual citizenship as members of the human community. We are (at least everyone in this audience) citizens of this country, the United States of America. In this country, as citizens, we have the privilege (responsibility) to vote for our elected leaders, advocate for certain policies (which may mean peaceful protest), and to follow the laws laid down in the land. As Americans we have certain inalienable rights. We have a system in place that is designed to protect those rights (Bill of Rights and Constitution). This kingdom is to be led by justice, not mercy, according to Romans 13. It punishes and rewards based on motive and behavior.

Now throughout history in the Church, one of our Achilles heels has been to seek power in the Kingdom of Man by merging both the Kingdom of God with the Kingdom of Man. This has NEVER (let me say that again in case you missed it: NEVER) worked out well. I don't have time or space to delineate all the ways in which the Church, being caught up in "building the kingdom of God on earth" has utterly failed! The Crusades, the Inquisition, most of the Middle Ages are all examples of the Church and the State being co-mingled. What has been the result? No religious freedom, forced conversions at the sword, and a turning of Christ's kingdom on it's head.

There are two dangers with the Church being so mingled with the State:

1. No Justice- If the Church seeks to carry out the ethic of The Sermon on the Mount (Turn the other cheek, love your enemy, etc.) through Government, than any sort of Justice system really can't work. After all the Judge needs to "not condemn" and "turn the other cheek." So then government no longer can enforce law. We've seen this when Judges grant clemency to someone who is clearly guilty of a crime. We are rightly outraged, because Justice is not served. As a society, we must have justice. But the reality is, the Church's temptation when getting into the seat of political power has never been to enact a system of grace anyway. They weren't consistent with their own doctrine. No, no, no, the next danger is in actuality what happens...

2. No Grace- Our default mode as humans is to believe that everything in life (even heaven and hell) is dependent upon our works. Therefore, when the Kingdom of God becomes the Kingdom of Man, it almost always defaults toward punishment and justice as it's tool. The commands from Jesus about turning the cheek are almost completely ignored. As the two kingdoms collide, the Church becomes confused about it's message and pretty soon is only preaching morality, justice, and behavior modification.

This temptation to merge the Kingdom of God with the Kingdom of Man still goes on today from the Left and the Right. Jim Wallis and his Sojourners magazine just Christianizes the latest theory of the Left on how to build a heavenly place here on earth. Last weekend from the Right, a Mormon led hundreds of thousands of Christians in a revival tent meeting! I can't think of a single news outlet I read that made sure to tell us that Beck was a Mormon, rather he was deemed the "new leader of the Conservative Christian movement." (This by the way is a direct quote from a CNN story found here.) We need to be very careful here: Working with Mormons to end abortion is good; working with Mormons to "bring spiritual revival" is bad, since, well, we worship two different gods.

Russel Moore in an article about Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" conference states it this way:

Too often, and for too long, American “Christianity” has been a political agenda in search of a gospel useful enough to accommodate it. There is a liberation theology of the Left, and there is also a liberation theology of the Right, and both are at heart mammon worship. The liberation theology of the Left often wants a Barabbas, to fight off the oppressors as though our ultimate problem were the reign of Rome and not the reign of death. The liberation theology of the Right wants a golden calf, to represent religion and to remind us of all the economic security we had in Egypt. Both want a Caesar or a Pharaoh, not a Messiah.

I urge you to read the rest of this article, because it deals with our strong temptation to mingle the Two Kingdoms (which was on full display at the Restoring Honor conference). Folks, America is not the Promised Land, it never was and it never will be. The Promised Land is outside of this world, where Christ is building a "place for us." I love America, and I still think by far it's the greatest country in the world, but the Kingdom of God it is not! We need to do our best to try and distinguish between what our role as a Citizen of America is, and what our role as a Christian in the Kingdom of God is. The Church must never baptize any political party, particular policy or particular person as being God's party, policy or person. We live in two different worlds at the same time; we are "in...but no of"...

More on this topic tomorrow, as we discuss how a Christian should view culture, and yes, as I keep on promising, a delineation of when it's okay to practice civil disobedience...

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Erick

Our Response to His Grace

Luke 17;11-19- Gratitude from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

GOD'S POLITICS? PART III

GOD'S POLITICS? PART III

VIEWING GOVERNMENT FROM A BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW

Today we continue on in our series seeking to gain a Biblical understanding of Government. So far we've established what the primary function of Government is, namely, the peace and protection of it's law abiding citizens from those who would seek to do them harm. We have begun to see at a bare minimum, our responsibility as Christian citizens to the governing authorities as well. We are to submit ourselves to them, serve them and honor them. Yet, we have also seen how the Kingdom of Man is not the Kingdom of God. God rules over them both, but in two entirely different ways. The Kingdom of Man punishes and rewards solely on merit, the Kingdom of God rewards solely by Grace through faith in Christ. One is ruled by Justice and one is ruled by Love.

Well now the question comes, what shall we do when the Kingdoms collide? How far does our submission to the Kingdom of Man go? What if the Kingdom of Man calls us to do something contrary to the Kingdom of God? We'll begin dealing with some of these questions today by looking at Matthew 22:15-22:

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

vs. 15-17: It is really amazing how politics can make strange bedfellows (and how things have always been that way!). Here you have two groups of people that couldn't have been more opposed to each other in every way,yet who in this instance (and only this instance) are united. Which groups am I talking about? The Pharisees and the Herodians. Let me explain: The Pharisees were the doctrinally orthodox, Jewish representatives of "the People." As the voice of the Jews, they came to Jesus as haters of "the denarius tax." Why? Because the denarius tax, although very little in amount, was essentially a tax imposed on the Jewish people for no other reason than the privilege of being occupied by Rome! The people of Judea hated (!!!) this tax, in a similar way to our forefathers in America hating the tax on tea; revolutions had actually broken out over it!

On the other side, you have the Herodians. They were followers and loyalists of King Herod. Herod was of course loathed by the Jewish population, but he was Rome's man for the puppet government of Judea. The Herodians obviously were in favor of such a tax on the people of Judea, since it would after all support Herod and Roman interests.

In this instance both Herodians and Pharisees are united by one common goal: Trap Jesus. If He just says, "Yes, you must pay the tax," then he'll lose the common folk of Judea. If he says "No, the tax is unlawful and unjust," he'll have the Roman government after Him. What is God's Politics on the matter? Jesus gives a brilliant answer that satisfies no ideologue, left or right!

18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

A denarius had inscribed on it a picture of Caesar's face. On it there were three things written about him: "Caesar Son of God." "High Priest." "King." Sound familiar? Here Jesus is confronted with someone (Caesar) who claims to be what He (Jesus) actually is! Can Government take that place?

Jesus asks an interesting question: Whose "likeness" and inscription is this?" The word likeness is where we get the word "icon." We might translate this word "image." Whose image and signature are on this coin? Who owns this money? (Literally, the money of Rome, all of it, was actually Caesars. All money the people had came from Caesar's own personal chest!). Of course the people answer, "Caesar's."

"Render (pay what you owe) to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," Jesus says. What does one owe to the state? Taxes? Yes. Obedience? Yes. Submission? Yes. But not all things are Caesars! Only those things that are Caesar's are we to render to him.

God on the other hand has not just stamped a coin with Him image, but our very own persons! We are created in His likeness and He has put His signature all over us. He owns us. Here's what Jesus is saying: The state can have many things in this life from you, but it cannot have the true YOU! You may give money to Caesar, but your obedience is ultimately to God and His Word. Anything that would contradict God and His Word you must not do, because that's not Caesar's realm; he doesn't get to rule that sphere of life.

So now we've determined that indeed there is a distinction between Caesar's kingdom and God's kingdom. How does the Christian live in both at one and the same time? Next week on Tuesday, we'll tackle that topic...

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

Luther at his finest

The first words of a sermon (even before the reading of the text!):

"So that those of you who were not in church today may worship our Lord God and not turn into totally irrational animals, let us listen to the Holy Gospel.."

- Fourteenth Sunday After Trinity 1533

GOD'S POLITICS? PART II

1 Peter 2:13-17

We are in the process of examining what God has to say about government and it's role in our lives (for that matter, our role in it's life!). Today we take a look at 1 Peter 2:13-17.

13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

The Government's Call:

Once again, just as we needed to find the historical context for Paul's writing in Romans, we must do the same with Peter. And once again, we find that he was most likely writing during the reign of Nero, a scoundrel of a ruler. He is writing actually to people that have already faced persecution and suffering for their faith (the major theme of the whole letter is how to deal with this "unfair" suffering when it comes).

Vs. 13 and 14 begin by showing us once again the primary calling of Government: Protection and peace for it's law abiding citizens; punishment for it's disobedient citizens. This responsibility is given to them by God. Notice the contrast between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Man. The Kingdom of God does not punish or reward people based on behavior, but sheerly by grace through faith. The Kingdom of Man punishes or rewards people solely on the merits of their behavior. Yet, the Kingdom of Man is still ruled by God, just in a different way than He rules His spiritual kingdom.

Gene Veith states it this way:

God rules his earthly kingdom by power; He rules His spiritual kingdom by love. God's earthly kingdom is under the Law; His spiritual kingdom is under the Gospel. Christians are citizens of both kingdoms.... In the spiritual kingdom, they are passive recipients of God's grace. In the earthly kingdom, they are active for God in the tasks of their vocations. Christians must function in both realms at once, so that they are "in, but not of" the world.

So the Government's responsibility is to execute justice, not to dispense mercy. It's supposed to reward those who do good, and punish those who do bad.

Well then, what's our responsibility as Christians to the Government? Peter gives us 3 verbs:

1. Subject- As members of a particular society with a particular set of laws, we are to subject ourselves to the Government's rule of law. Now, as we will see later in our discussion, there are times where we must rebel against the Authorities, but in general, this is to be the rule and norm for life.

2. Serve- Paul refers to the Government as "God's ministers" (literally deacons or servants). They're supposed to serve us, we also serve them. Again, we shall go into how far this "service" is allowed to be forced on us in the future, but in general, we are to serve those above us, because through serving them, we serve God's agents of justice.

3. Honor- Finally, we are to show our Leaders respect and honor. I know this is hard for us American's that have been raised to believe that criticism of Government officials is inherently "patriotic" (is it really "inherently" patriotic?). Peter's not saying one has to think the Emperor's a great guy, but he is saying that we need to respect the office that God gave this person pure and simple. Even a President's greatest critics in this country, will shake his hand, and refer to him as "Mr. President." As Christians we must do the same.

What then is the hoped for result of this attitude towards Government? "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people." The goal is that outsiders would be brought to glorify God through the behavior of His people. You have to remember that in the beginning, Christians were seen by the Empire as subversive. The Person they worshiped, Jesus Christ was referred to as their King! Because they had no temple, no idols, and no high priests, they were known as Atheists. (That's right, you Christian were known as an Atheist! Everyone else worshipped many gods, but you're God was raised in heaven, and you worship by His Spirit and Truth.) So it was, and still is, imperative for the Christians to prove that they are not threatening the government at all, because frankly, their true Kingdom is somewhere else.

Tomorrow, we examine Jesus statement, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" and begin to deal with the question of when Christians can and should (if ever?) rebel against the Governing authorities.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Erick

GOD'S POLITICS?

We'll probably spend a number of days seeking to apply our world view to the realm of politics. The reason is that the subject is incredibly complicated (to say the least)! Throughout history there have been huge books written on the issue by the best of scholars, and yet things are still muddy; much disagreement abounds. Instead of debating the different theories of the Christian's relationship to the State (at least for now), let's go to the primary source (the Bible) and see what it tells us about the Government's role:

Romans 13:1-7

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Before we interpret this passage, we have to take a moment to understand the historical time in which Paul was writing. Most likely, when Paul wrote this letter the Emperor Nero was ruling in Rome. Any student of history can tell you that Nero was not a good, admirable man. As a matter of fact, he caused great persecution to come to the Church; he seems to be the one responsible for eventually martyring both Peter and Paul, crucifying Peter upside down, and beheading Paul.

In light of this, we might expect to hear a call to Christians to rise up and fight this unjust, oppressive ruler. Instead we read this...

vs. 1- "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."

Me: "No Paul, don't you understand? Nero is a scumbag!"

Paul: "Be subject to him."

Me: "Paul, why?!!!????!"

Paul: "For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God".

vs. 2- 4: "Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer."

The governing authority has been appointed by God; you resist them, and they have the right to come down upon you with the sword (the law). They are His servants "for our good"! The goal of the government is to enforce justice, protecting it's citizens from lawbreakers and criminals, keeping the peace (much more on this later, as defining this is complicated)

vs. 5-7: "Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed."

Since the Governing authorities are servants of God, when we submit to them we don't just do it for the sake of avoiding the penalty of the law, but "for the sake of conscience." That is to say, through our submission to the governing authorities, we are truly serving God. Therefore, we owe this God established institution our taxes, our respect and our honor.

Well, if you have read this through, you probably have a lot more questions than answers. Yes the Bible does tell you that paying taxes is a good thing! Yes the Bible does tell you that the government is appointed by God! Yes the Bible does tell you to respect your leaders! Yes the Bible does say God gives authority to the Government to come with the sword!

Over the next week or so, we'll dig into other passages of Scripture dealing with Government and we'll seek to answer questions like "When is civil disobedience appropriate?" "What's the distinction between what the Church does politically, and what the individual Christian does politically?" "Where does Government's role end in our lives?" and much, much more.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Erick

Why No Christian Worldview?

In our last devotional we sought to do some basic defining of what a Christian world view is. Our world view is formed by what we believe to be true about life. We gain these beliefs from the Bible's teaching. From this foundation, we build a cohesive, integrated system of thinking about all things. Our World View as Christians is one that is logically consistent. That is to say, we don't live with contradictions.

Only 9% of professing Christians have a Christian world view. They indeed do live with contradictions between what they profess to be true about life and how they actually live. For example, to take a heated issue at the outset, a Christian confesses that all human life is created in the image of God. Because of this human beings have infinite value. Yet, a significant percentage of these same people may not see abortion as fundamentally immoral. There is a disconnect between what they say believe (Life is infinitely valuable because it's created in the image of God) to how they actually live (life is no more valuable than a decayed tooth). Obviously, there will be much more on this subject in future devotionals.

Why? There could be many reasons listed for the disconnect, but below I'll mention three:

1. COMPARTMENT RELIGION- That is, we attend Church on Sunday, hear from the Bible for a half an hour or so, and then the rest of the week, never open it up again. Meanwhile, we watch TV, listen to the radio, surf the internet etc. and all of these media are sharing a world view with us, whether we're conscious of it or not. Without knowing it, we find ourselves being more influenced by our culture's view of things than God's view of things. What's the solution? READ YOUR BIBLE! It doesn't mean no TV, no radio, no internet, but as you participate in these things, be always thinking about what you are being told through them and how they measure up to the Bible's teaching on the subject.

2. NON-THOUGHT- It sounds sort of simplistic, but it's true. Most of the time our lives are so busy (with things worthy and unworthy) that we just don't take the time to make the connections in our mind. But what does Jesus command us to do? "Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and ALL YOUR MIND." Think, think, think...

3. SIN- Both of the previous points are obviously related, but the ultimate reason we have faulty thinking in our world view is because we're sinners. The Bible often declares the life of the sinner as "blindness." Even after we become Christians, we still suffer from blind spots that must be exposed. However, sometimes these blind spots are extremely uncomfortable to deal with, and so for our own comfort, we just "don't go there." Thinking Christianly may force us to examine our friendships, the things we watch, our politics, etc. It will force us to change behavior, that frankly we really like participating in.

The goal of a Christian world view once again is stated in Romans 12:1-2 and ought to be how all of us think of our lives in Christ:

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Tomorrow, we'll discuss how the Christian ought to think about politics addressing the question, "Does God have politics?"

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Erick

Follow the Leader...

Luke 17;1-10- Being a Follower from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

(BTW, this video should work on I-Phones, I-Pads and other mobil devices now)

What's a World View?

"A recent nationwide survey completed by the Barna Research Group determined that only 4 percent of Americans had a "biblical" worldview. When George Barna, who has researched cultural trends and the Christian Church since 1984, looked at the "born- again" believers in America, the results were a dismal 9 percent."

- Del Tackett

What is a "Worldview" anyway?

Well the answer to that question is really pretty simple: It sounds like what it means. At it's most basic form, a worldview is just the lens through which someone looks at the world around them. David Noebel states it this way: "It's any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world and man's relations to God and the world." (emphasis mine) Every single person in the universe has a worldview, because every single person views the world. But not everyone has the same worldview because the lenses they look at the world through are different.

As Christians we are called to look through the lenses of the Bible's teaching (the ultimate source of truth) in order to interpret what happens around us properly. The more familiar one is with the word of God, the more they will look at the world through what God says about His world. As Romans 12:2 commands, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

What are some of the aspects of a Christian worldview?

1. God is Triune (God is three and one)- This means the Christian God is a relational God. Therefore we ought to value relationship (more on this in the future).

2. God is Creator- He created the universe (s) and everything in it/them. Therefore, He rules all. Nothing is outside His sphere of power.

3. Man is created in the image of God - No other creature on earth has this distinction. Therefore we believe man is more significant than any other created thing in God's order (definitely more on this topic to come in the future)

4. Man is fallen- Mankind chose to rebel against God. This rebellion is called sin. Therefore, we are not surprised at men doing unspeakable evil towards one another.

5. Absolute truth exists- Being that God is the final authority for truth, whatever He reveals to be true is true. Therefore, certain thoughts, words and deeds are right and others are wrong.

6. Jesus Christ is God/God's Son- Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh.He suffered and died for our sins, but triumphantly rose from the grave. This same tension is found in the Christian's life as well. Therefore, we know that God is not high above our problems, but knows firsthand exactly what they're like.

7. Salvation is a gift- God graciously saves sinners who trust in Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Therefore, we see God through the lens of "perfect love which casts out all fear."

8. The Bible is the Word of God- As the word of God, the Bible must be true (properly interpreted in it's historical/ grammatical context). Therefore, we find out what we believe is true and false, right and wrong about the world from this Bible. Where the Bible is silent on an issue we look to the Bible's overarching principles for understanding on how to think about an issue (for example the Bible doesn't say anything about bio-technology, but can we still think about the subject from a Christian/Biblical perspective?).

All of this world is God's world. There is none of it about which God does not have a say. What is He saying?

Next week on Tuesday, we'll take up the issue of why so many Christians don't tend to have a Christian Worldview and maybe, just maybe dive into our first topic....

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Erick

The Difference Between Those In Heaven And Those In Hell

Luke; The Greatest Story Ever Told- Between Heaven and Hell from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Why it's inconsistent to be a 'Pro-Choice' Evangelical

True Faith

Hebrews 11- True Faith from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Is It Live or Is It Memorex?

More and more large multi-campus churches are relying on video feeds of their preaching pastors during the sermon portions of their worship services. Instead of actually being in the building with the person preaching you could be miles away watching a video feed of the sermon.

Here is a short blog post from CNN regarding this new phenomenon:

People listening to their pastor preach on Sunday morning may now ask a question that no one has ever asked before: Is this live or is this on tape delay?

More pastors are using high-def videos, and even holograms, to beam their Sunday morning sermons to remote "satellite" churches that belong to their congregation, as I detail in a story today.

They are pastors like Rev. Ed Young, senior pastor of Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas. Young broadcast videos of his sermons from his “mother” church to other congregations in Texas and even one in Florida.

Young says he doesn’t think parishioners who watch his video-projected sermons at other locations are being short-changed:

I don't think you lose a thing. I would argue you could see me better when you're at a venue made for screens.

Yet the Rev. Thomas Long, a nationally recognized authority on preaching and author of "Preaching from Memory to Hope," says something is lost when preachers beam in their Sunday morning sermons:

There's something about embodiment - that the person who delivers the sermon is actually there - that's important. It's important in the same way that someone physically visits someone in a hospital or buries a loved one - they don't fax it in.

We live in a culture that’s becoming more visual. Are pastors like Young just taking advantage of existing technology or is there something vital about a pastors being physically present when they preach?

What is your reaction? Do you resonate more with Rev. Young or Rev. Long? Why?

HT: Mark Driscoll

Learning from Criminals: Shrewd Stewardship

Luke 16;1-13- Learning from Criminals; Shrewd Stewardship from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Social Media: What's the use?

I really do like much of what the "Social Media" revolution has brought us. Through e-mail we can send out quick notes to people instead of letters, saving paper and the cost of stamps. Through blogging we are linked to untold numbers of articles, pictures and videos that we never would have known existed otherwise. Through Facebook many of us have "re-connected" with old friends, and maybe even made new acquaintances. Through Twitter we can see what all our favorite celebrities, politicians and friends are up to at that very second. I participate in all of these things because like I said, "I really do like much of what the 'Social Media' revolution has brought us."

That being said, Social Media also can be a HUGE waste of time. We can spend half our day sifting through junk e-mail or responding to unimportant e-mail. Blogging can easily turn into the rantings of mad men (that no one besides him reads), with hyper critical analysis of everything and everyone. Facebook can consume a person with games, constant narcissistic status updates (Example: "Heading to 7-11 for a bagel, yeah, that's how I roll." To which the first comment should be: "Who cares?"), even silly debates in the comment section of someone's post. (Frank Admission: I'm not picking on anyone in particular here except for myself; I have played the annoying games, posted incredibly self-exalting stuff, and debated people all in the alternate universe of Facebook). Yes, social media is ultimately media. It's not something inherently bad, nor is it inherently good. It is media that we can use for good or use for bad.

As a Pastor I use Facebook and Twitter to quote Scripture, or link to articles by thoughtful Christian writers. I send out sermons on video, and will make announcements to my Church body about upcoming events. Social Media is useful that way. It can be a small part of Pastoral ministry.

But there are things I just can't do through Social Media that are absolutely essential to serving the sheep. I can't hold the hand of the suffering through Social Media ("Sorry I didn't visit you in the hospital, but I did send you a message via Twitter."); through Social Media I can't see facial expressions so all I can do is "take a person's word for it" (That can be very deceiving. What they are writing may not be what they are saying). I can't hug a person, or counsel a person; I can't speak the Word into their lives at just that right moment, nor can I pray with them.

No matter how much media we have come between us, ultimately the calling of the Christian is to be next to and live with people; real flesh and blood people face to face. The model is Jesus: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us...." Helmut Thielicke commenting on the importance of the Incarnation said this:

“Jesus Christ did not remain at base headquarters in heaven, receiving reports of the world’s suffering from below and shouting a few encouraging words to us from a safe distance. No, he left the headquarters and came down to us in the front-line trenches, right down to where we live and worry about what the Bolsheviks (Communists) may do, where we contend with our anxieties and the feeling of emptiness and futility, where we sin and suffer guilt, and where we must finally die. There is nothing that he did not endure with us. He understands everything.”

Social Media is fine. Use it. Ultimately though use it in a way that shows we're like our Media-tor Jesus Christ, who indeed did come down, got his hands dirty and in the process saved the world.

D.A. Carson's 'The God Who is There'

This looks like an interesting series:

The God Who Is There - Part 1. The God Who Made Everything (Preview) from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

The Two Lost Sons (Part II)

The Prodigal Father Part II (The Older Son Type) from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

The Two Lost Sons (Part I)

Luke 15- The Prodigal Son (Younger Brother Lostness) from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

The Gospel Coalition 2011

Last year me and my buddy Tony got to go to The Gospel Coalition biennial conference in Chicago. Tim Keller, D.A. Carson, John Piper and a whole host of others preached through 2 Timothy, and needless to say, it was quite remarkable. So I was thrilled this morning when I saw that they have just announced their next conference in 2011!

The Conference will be held again in Chicago (Downtown), and this time their will be over 50 speakers from all different denominations being brought in to talk about how to preach Christ from the Old Testament (Professor Soenksen are you interested yet?). The title of the conference is, "They testify about me: Preaching Christ and the Gospel from the Old Testament," and the dates are April 12-14.

Check out the video below as Tim Keller and D.A. Carson talk about what to expect at this year's event:

When a newspaper posed the question "What's Wrong with the World?" G.K. Chesterton wrote a brief letter in response:

"Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours, G.K. Chesterton."

- from Tim Keller's "The Prodigal God"

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

-Paul (1 Timothy 1:15)

Luke 14:25-35

Everything and Nothing: The Cost of Being Jesus' Disciple from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Dan Gilbert's Theology of the Cross:

Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was not happy with Lebron James after Thursday night's ego-fest (oops, I mean "announcement") that Lebron would be joining the Miami Heat. In a bit of a ranting letter to Cleveland fans, he shares his contempt for Lebron's disloyalty, laziness, etc. etc.

However, what stuck out to me was Gilbert's picture of the cruciform life. He says of Lebron,

"Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that’s simply not how it works."

I have no idea who Dan Gilbert is, what his faith is, and what exactly he meant by his statement. But I do know that his point is that this life will inevitably have suffering before our final glory. And Jesus said, "You cannot be my disciple unless you pick up your cross and follow me."

A Culture of Distraction

I've been thinking a lot lately about distraction (that is, for as long as I can focus on the subject before getting distracted!) I have noticed in my own life, with the more social media (blogs, facebook, twitter, e-mail, etc., etc.,) that I have never been more busy doing nothing. Now, obviously, I don't think any of these things are sinful or wrong in it of themselves (I'm blogging now!), but oh how good we are at perverting all things, twisting them into something that hurts, rather than helps, ourselves and others.

With this in mind, I came across a quote from Pascal with commentary by Peter Kreeft onJustin Taylor's blog last night. Why do we have so much distraction? That question is answered rather marvelously:

Here is the line from Pascal:

I have often said that the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.

Kreeft writes in response to this:

We ought to have much more time, more leisure, than our ancestors did, because technology, which is the most obvious and radical difference between their lives and ours, is essentially a series of time-saving devices.

In ancient societies, if you were rich you had slaves to do the menial work so that you could be freed to enjoy your leisure time. Life was like a vacation for the rich because the poor slaves were their machines. . . .

[But] now that everyone has slave-substitutes (machines), why doesn’t everyone enjoy the leisurely, vacationy lifestyle of the ancient rich? Why have we killed time instead of saving it? . . .

We want to complexify our lives. We don’t have to, we want to. We wanted to be harried and hassled and busy. Unconsciously, we want the very things we complain about. For if we had leisure, we would look at ourselves and listen to our hearts and see the great gaping hold in our hearts and be terrified, because that hole is so big that nothing but God can fill it.

So we run around like conscientious little bugs, scared rabbits, dancing attendance on our machines, our slaves, and making them our masters. We think we want peace and silence and freedom and leisure, but deep down we know that this would be unendurable to us, like a dark and empty room without distractions where we would be forced to confront ourselves. . .

If you are typically modern, your life is like a mansion with a terrifying hole right in the middle of the living-room floor. So you paper over the hole with a very busy wallpaper pattern to distract yourself. You find a rhinoceros in the middle of your house. The rhinoceros is wretchedness and death. How in the world can you hide a rhinoceros? Easy: cover it with a million mice. Multiple diversions."

Confirming this thought are the words of Romans 1, that we by nature "suppress the truth in unrighteousness," always looking for something to draw us away from standing naked before a holy God. But it is just there, naked, with all our warts, imperfections, distractions, and sin, that we must stand before God. And it is just there, that in Christ, we hear the precious words of the Gospel: "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

The Law would say focus all your mind, all your heart, all your soul and all your strength on loving Me and loving neighbor. Christ says, "You have not, but I have."

Now before faith came, you were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was your guardian until Christ came, in order that you might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, you are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.