Every Text Is a Cautionary Tale

(Goldfinch approaching one of my backyard feeders)

Every biblical text is a cautionary tale.

Every statement is a cautionary tale.

Which means: WARNING! EVERY TEXT CAN BE MISINTERPRETED!

Any text can be cherry-picked and politicized.

In a recent discussion on my views of healing and the Atonement, a responder was concerned that my perspective could slip into a prosperity gospel position. I assured them that I am not into the heretical prosperity gospel.

I am, however, interested in correctly interpreting Scripture, and even language, for that matter.

We must first ask, what is the text saying? We have to be able, as best we can, to get the text right, and not impose, e.g., a Western worldview on the text. (Thus, the hermeneutical question is not "What does the text mean to you?" 

Once we believe we get the text right - e.g., in my case, comprehensive healing is in the Atonement (1 Peter 2:24) - then we simply present it. We present the correctly (we hope) interpreted text without worry that our presentation could be misinterpreted. Because - of course our presentation could be misinterpreted! It is a guarantee that it will be misinterpreted.

This human reality cannot prevent us from putting forth our understanding. If we operated out of fear that our position could be misinterpreted, then we would present nothing.

Every text is a cautionary tale.

(Check out Craig Keener, Spirit Hermeneutics: Reading Scripture in Light of Pentecost.)

Three Podcasts I Listen To

 

                                                    (Moon over Walgreens parking lot, Monroe)

Here are three podcasts I like, and listen to.

Justin Brierley's Unbelievable?. 

Sean McDowell's Think Biblically.

Alisa Childers

"Grace" As the Concrete Manifestation of the Activity of God

                                                   (Sawyer House, Monroe, Michigan)

The theme of the Fall 2010 Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care is "Dallas Willard and Spiritual Formation." I bought it when it came out, and refer to if occasionally. 

I am grateful for Willard and his Kingdom-labors. He is a brilliant philosopher, an excellent writer and communicator, and passionate Jesus-follower. In the area of spiritual formation his contribution is huge.

In the Introduction Willard's definition of "grace" is given. "Grace is God acting in our lives to bring about what we do not deserve and cannot accomplish on our own." (126) That final phrase makes this, for me, compelling.

I know that "grace" has the core meaning of "gift." A gift is, precisely, something I have not earned and thereby do not deserve. But God's grace is also purpose-driven. The gift of grace is given so that God might work through me to accomplish Kingdom-things I could not have done by my own wisdom and strength. In this sense God's grace manifests itself. The spiritual gift of prophecy, e.g., is the divine enrichment of our speech and knowledge so as to share words that are not reducible or attributable to our own abilities.

To only emphasize grace as something done to me is to treat it passively. To add to this the idea that grace "accomplishes" God-things is to see it as dynamic and active. "Grace" is the concrete manifestation of the activity of God in the life of a submitted Jesus-follower.

The Work of the Holy Spirit, in God's People

 

                                                       (Cover painting by Nicole Griffith)

(I make reference to HSRM – Holy Spirit Renewal Ministries. Much of what we have learned about the Holy Spirit has come from Attending HSRM’s annual summer conference, and our association with HSRM pastors and leaders. The following is from my book [co-edited with Janice Trigg], Encounters With the Holy Spirit.)

 

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, IN GOD’S PEOPLE

The Holy Spirit takes us further and deeper into God’s kingdom realities. The Holy Spirit invites us to more growth in Christ. In The Chronicles of Narnia C. S. Lewis describes heaven as a place where our experience is “further up, further in.” The Holy Spirit prepares us for eternity by taking us further up and further into God’s beautiful kingdom, in our pre-heavenly existence. (8)

The Holy Spirit moves prophetically. When the Holy Spirit manifests among us it is not only for our present experience. It can be a preparation for something the Spirit will have for us in the future. In this way the Holy Spirit trains and equips us for ministry in the days ahead.

The Holy Spirit speaks through other believers to strengthen, comfort, and encourage us. That’s what, in the early church in the book of Acts, the variety of Spirit-manifestations were for. How good it is to be part of a Jesus-fellowship where this happens.

The Holy Spirit produces staying power. The presence of God’s Spirit equips us to host his presence every day.

The Holy Spirit comes with healing power. Most of what I know about praying for healing has been acquired through HSRM.

The Holy Spirit builds family. The Spirit creates meaningful, life-giving togetherness. This is why I call our summer events “more than a conference, it’s a family!”

The Holy Spirit desires to conference with the greater body of Christ, and calls us to meet together. For example, one of our summer conference speakers was the leader of the Roman Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Wisconsin.

The Holy Spirit is fully available to children. HSRM teaches the same material to kids who attend the conference, with age-appropriate presentations.

The Holy Spirit assures us that we are sons and daughters of God. In a world where people are struggling to find their identities, even resorting to identity-creation on social media, the Holy Spirit seals us with who we are, in Christ.

The Holy Spirit produces boldness in us.

And, as my HSRM colleague Dr. Clay Ford writes, the Holy Spirit…

… gives us life.

…illuminates our intellects.

…sanctifies our emotions.

…refines our character.

…instills godly values and reverence for God’s Word.

…motivates our wills and empowers our witness.

…moves our hearts.

…enables a relationship of love and trust with God.

…enables us to perceive the spiritual dimension of life and to navigate effectively in it.

…makes God’s presence real to us and inspires our worship of him.

…fills us with love and makes us a family.

 

John  Piippo and Janice Trigg, Encounters with the Holy Spirit (pp. 9-10). WestBow Press. Kindle Edition.

Galatians 1:1-10 - Some Quotes to Understand the Text

 

Here are some of the quotes I referred to in today's message on Galatians 1:1-10. As I prepare for these Galatians sermons, here are the main resources I am using to get the meaning of Galatians right. (HERE.)

Craig Keener - "Galatians addresses hearers who are already believers. Paul’s argument is not against Judaism but against a faction of Jewish believers in Christ… who insist that “Paul’s Gentile converts must accept the Jewish law” if they are to belong to God’s people. The gospel of grace in Christ is supplemented with the system of Moses. This is a gross perversion of the Gospel…   and a totally different message."

Scot McKnight says the heart of the Galatian problem is: "a gospel of grace at war with a gospel that minimizes Christ."

McKnight - "Legalism, according to Galatians, was a religious system that combined Christianity with Mosaism in a way that demanded total commitment to Israel’s law as the climax of one’s conversion to Christ. This “deeper commitment to the law,” according to Paul, was a subversion of the adequacy of Christ’s work and an abandonment of the Holy Spirit as God’s way of guiding Christian ethics. In other words, the legalism of the Judaizers is more than a problem: it has become a new message, a different gospel. It is this implication—that it is a different gospel—that forces Paul to action."

McKnight - "We must be on guard against the idea that every rule or regulation in Christian living is a necessary form of Galatian legalism. Legalism – for Paul - was wrong not because laws are somehow wrong, but because legalism supplanted Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. There are many commands and rules that are helpful; for Christian development." 

Dallas Willard - “Grace is not opposed to effort; it's opposed to earning. Effort is action; earning is attitude.”

Tim Keller - In [Galatians] chapter 5, Paul has laid out two errors, both of which oppose the gospel: losing freedom by seeking salvation through keeping rules (moralism); and abusing freedom by rejecting the idea of rules at all (hedonism)."

Tim Keller - o   In verse 7 [of ch. 1], Paul says that any teaching which adds keeping Mosaic ceremonial law to faith in Christ “perverts” the gospel. Literally, the word he chooses to use means “reverses." This is illuminating. If you add anything to Christ as a requirement for acceptance with God—if you start to say: To be saved I need the grace of Christ plus something else—you completely reverse the “order” of the gospel and make it null and void.

McKnight (again) - "Here we are at the heart of the Galatian problem: a gospel of grace at war with a gospel that minimizes Christ."

N. T. Wright - The true Gospel declares that God’s single, unique action in Jesus has dealt with sin and launched the new age, the new world, the new creation. The rival “gospel” of the newly arrived teachers isn’t about that good news at all. It isn’t a variation on the theme; it is a different theme altogether. It isn’t an announcement that the new age has begun. It is simply a message about how to survive in the old age. And Paul says that anyone who announces such a thing, pretending that it’s the same thing as the genuine message of Jesus, must be under a “ban.” They are the ones, he says, that you should avoid. 

Preaching Through Galatians - My Resources

 

At Redeemer we have begun, on Sunday mornings, preaching through the biblical book (letter) of Galatians.

In studying the text I draw on the following resources. I am immersed in the text, and in these study tools!

The Bible I use is: NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible.

The Greek Bible I use is found at: https://greekbible.com/.

The commentaries I am using are: 

Craig Keener, Galatians: A Commentary

 Scot McKnight, Galatians

Ben Witherington, Grace in Galatia: A Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Galatians

N. T. Wright, Galatians

Tim Keller, Galatians for You

Plus, Ladd's theology, various studies of the apostle Paul (to include what has been called the "new perspective" on Paul), etc.

My Favorite Conversion Song

My favorite conversion, repentance, salvation, rescue, come-to-Jesus song, is Bruce Cockburn's "All the Diamonds."

It never fails, when I listen to it, tears..., thanksgiving..., joy.

Repetitive Worship Shapes Our Hearts and Minds

When "The Lego Movie" came out, Linda and I watched it. The morning after I awoke humming, "Everything is AWESOME!!!" That little song repeats those words over and over... and over. The constant repetition worked its wonders on me.

That is the power of repetition.

Be careful of what you repeat over and over again, because it will get inside you, and become you. (In my college philosophy classes my teaching method is all about getting students to memorize via repetition the correct answers over and over and over again.)

I occasionally hear Westernized linear-thinking Christians mock the repetitive worship found in a Pentecostal church like mine. But the ancient Hebrews were tribal, and tribal worship is repetitive. Repetition is a powerful learning tool, helping God's truths descend from our Western minds into our Hebrew hearts.

N.T. Wright supports repetitive worship. He writes: 

"[S]ometimes, in some traditions at least, the things we sing in church are deliberately repetitive. We use them quite differently: as a way of meditation, of stopping on one point and mulling it over, of allowing something which is very deep and important to make more of an impact on us than if we just said or sung it once and passed on.

Quite different traditions find this helpful: the Taizé movement in France, for instance, uses some haunting brief songs or chants; but you find the same thing in many branches of the modern charismatic movement, where repetition is an essential part of worship.

True, some people find these tedious, and want to get back to old-fashioned hymns as quickly as possible. This may be partly a matter of personality. But it may also be that such people are unwilling to allow the truth of which the poem speaks to get quite so close to them.

Repetition can touch, deep down inside us, parts that other, ‘safer’ kinds of hymn cannot reach, or do not very often."
- N.T. Wright, The Early Christian Letters for Everyone, p. 139

Repetitive worship is not "mindless," but mind-shaping.

Repeat  the truths of God, and be transformed.

Moving From Self-Hatred to Self-Forgiveness

(My backyard - a light at the end of the tree tunnel)

There are things in my past that I wish I would have done differently, words I wish I would have spoken, and words I wish I would not have said. I'm thinking of one of my past failures now. The good news is that I am not hating myself for it. 

If you struggle with self-hatred I recommend Everett Worthington's - Moving Forward: Six Steps to Forgiving Yourself and Breaking Free From the Past. Worthington is Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, and a follower of Jesus.

I can never hear enough about forgiveness. I need it for myself. I need more wisdom in dispensing it to others.

I meet many who cannot forgive themselves from past failures, whether real or imagined. Un-self-forgiveness is a mental and spiritual assassin. Self-forgiveness rooted in God's great act of forgiveness in Christ is liberating.

Self-forgiveness will free you from guilt. "Sometimes guilt arises over unrealistic expectations and standards of perfection that none of us can achieve. When you are able to forgive yourself, that weight is lifted." (Worthington, p. 45)

Self-forgiveness will free you from self-blame. "Self-forgiveness frees you from the chattering, accusing voice in your head." (Ib., 46)

Self-forgiveness will free you from stress-related illness. "Self-forgiveness can improve your health, and here’s why. Holding on to self-condemnation elevates your stress, which has been associated with a long list of physical and psychological harm." (Ib.)

Self-forgiveness can liberate you from alcohol misuse. "Forgiveness of the self might be, for alcoholics, the most difficult type of forgiveness to achieve. But if they were able to do so, it could help control their drinking." (Ib., p. 47)

Self-forgiveness can liberate you from accusation. "By bringing our sins to God and receiving God’s forgiveness, we can then forgive ourselves and we can rest in the knowledge that the accusations of Satan are groundless. If we forgive ourselves, we can silence the oppressive voice of the enemy." (Ib., 47)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for flourishing. "By not being so wrapped up in self-condemnation, you can enjoy more pleasurable and positive experiences." (Ib.)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for focusing on God. "Instead of being wrapped up in condemning yourself for past failures, you can seek God and enjoy that relationship." (Ib.)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for focusing on others. "Self-forgiveness allows you to focus on others, with the goal of helping to meet their needs." (Ib., p. 48)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for health. "Self-forgiveness provides energy and vitality. It supplies both a freedom from the past and a forward-thinking orientation that helps you seek the benefits of exercise, a healthy diet, and energetic work." (Ib.)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for a better quality of life. "Self-forgiveness can matter greatly in enhancing one’s quality of life." (Ib., 50)

Self-forgiveness provides freedom for peace. "People who continue to wrestle with self-blame are unsettled. They find it difficult to exhale and relax. Forgiving yourself will help you live at peace." (Ib.)

Worthington cites empirical studies supporting these conclusions. Why, given the great benefits of self-forgiveness, would anyone choose to wallow in self-condemnation? Why is forgiving ourselves so hard? 

Worthington says there are two kinds of self-forgiveness: decisional, and emotional. 

In the first you no longer seek retaliation against yourself. You choose to not punish yourself for past failings. Instead, you choose to value yourself. 

In emotional self-forgiveness you replace negative, unforgiving emotions with positive emotions toward yourself. "It is emotional self-forgiveness that cools the heat of anger in your heart; it’s what Corrie ten Boom referred to as “the temperature of the heart.” The emotions we use to replace negative, unforgiving emotions are empathy, sympathy, compassion, and love for ourselves." (Worthington, p. 52) 

Why are these things so hard to do?

Worthington cites studies showing that forgiving yourself is different from forgiving others. It is harder. He writes:

"When you attempt to forgive someone else for an offense, you are adopting the viewpoint of the forgiver. The wrongdoer, of course, is someone other than yourself. However, when you try to forgive yourself, you have to operate from two points of view— both forgiver and wrongdoer. Holding contrasting points of view at the same time is a strain. It is hard to bounce back and forth from one perspective to the other." (Ib., p. 54)

In forgiving someone else we are not with them (for the most part) 24/7. But we are with our own selves and thoughts all the time. We can't get away from ourselves. This can make forgiving ourselves harder than forgiving others.

Worthington says self-forgiveness is harder because we have "insider information"; i.e., we know who we really are. "The fact is, we know too much about ourselves. We know that we are capable of repeating the same wrong even when we know how hurtful it is. We also know that, as much as we profess love for God, we are like Paul who wrote: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7: 15). That is, we know the weakness of our will to do the right thing." (Ib., 55)

Self-forgiveness is different and in some ways harder than other-forgiveness because:

1. We live with ourselves 24/7. That is, we live constantly with the one who has hurt us, which is us.

2. We have insider information about our own self that we cannot have when it comes to others.

How, then, can we forgive ourselves? Worthington gives Six Steps to Self-forgiveness. They are: 

STEP 1 - Receive God's Forgiveness

• Go to God for understanding (the task is too big to handle alone)
• Go to God with regret, remorse, and repentance

STEP 2 - Repair Relationships

• Take responsibility (you are not the model citizen you'd like to be)
• Confess to any you have hurt (admitting you're in the wrong goes far in turning things around)
• Make amends through responsible compassion (thinking of others can help you make things right)

STEP 3 - Rethink Ruminations

• It's not necessarily helpful to wrestle with the Almighty
• Adjust perfectionistic standards and unrealistic expectations (Worthington shows how to do this. Getting real about yourself moves the process forward.)

STEP 4 - REACH Emotional Self-forgiveness

• Worthington shows how to move from saying it to feeling it, using the acronym REACH:

1. Recall the hurt. 

2. Empathize with yourself by considering the reasons that you disappointed yourself. 

3. Give yourself the same Altruistic gift you would give other people— understanding and forgiving. 

4. Commit to the emotional self-forgiveness that you experience in order to … 

5. Hold on to self-forgiveness if you ever doubt that you have forgiven yourself. (207)

STEP 5 - Rebuild Self-acceptance

• Live in the truth that you are deeply flawed and also valuable beyond belief

STEP 6 - Resolve to Live Virtuously

• Live virtuously, but give yourself room to fail

And through it all, remember Galatians 5:1 - "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

Alvin Plantinga's Modal Version of the Ontological Argument for God's Existence

 

(I re-post this occasionally, because it is so interesting.  The modal version of the OA bypasses Kant's critique of Anselm's OA, which is that 'existence' is not a predicate.)

Here's one way to state Plantinga's modal version of the ontological argument. argument. (Modal logic uses the three modes of being - possible, probable, necessary.)

1.  God, if he exists, is a necessary being. That is, if God exists at all then he exists in every possible world.
2. It is [logically] possible that God exists.
3. If it is possible that God exists, then there is some possible world in which God exists.
4. If God exists in some possible world then, because he is a necessary being, he exists in all possible worlds.
5. God, then, exists in all possible worlds.
6. If God exists in all possible worlds, then he certainly exists in this one.
7. God, therefore, exists.

Here's another version of this argument.

1. It is possible that a necessarily existing being exists.

2. Therefore, a necessarily existent being exists.