Blog Post #3: If it Looks Like a Duck...

Ezra 4:1-3 “When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”

According to Dictionary.com, syncretism is the ”attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.”

Here’s a taste of what syncretism looks like in the Christian church corporate: a certain denomination (who will remain unnamed), opens their general assembly convocation with a procession of members dressed up as skunks and eagles doing interpretive dance; evangelical churches offer their “secular-ready” sanctuaries for use as public school graduation venues (the church never put up crosses to begin with so as not to offend seekers); Halloween parties and visits with Santa held in fellowship halls; Bible-based youth group junkets to teen conferences that include a selection of “free time activities” such as swimming in the hotel pool or shopping at the local mall, while attendance at Christian small group seminars remain  “optional;” and beer-drenched bingo bashes and charity wine and cheese fundraisers. It’s all about “contextualizing” to the current trends, being “relevant” and  “trying to reach people where they’re at.”

Here’s what it looks like in the church individual: Christians investing precious hours every week in television and facebook as well as wasting time shopping for things they don’t need; families up to their ears in debt and materialism; kids shuffled off to soccer camps and music lessons, while little to no spiritual discipleship takes place at home (that responsibility has been farmed out to the local youth group). Bible reading takes place when and if it can be fitted in.

           Whether in the church corporate or individual, syncretism gains a foothold because someone let it. Lax faith and a desire to be affirmed by the world—not God—or to please personal desires—not God’s—leads to adopting the ways of the world, be it in worship services, statements of belief or how we raise our kids and conduct our marriages.

            Seriously, If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. If we, church corporate and individual, look like the world, behave like the world, and think like the world, then we are the world. We no longer have legitimate status as faithful people of God.

Theologian Bruce Waltke writes, in An Old Testament Theology, that the reason the Israelites refused the help of “the enemies of Judah and Benjamin” ”is because the Israelites were rejecting “beliefs and practices that turn their religion into something other than itself and leads to the ignoring of I AM’s nature and expectations.” They were refusing to allow syncretism to creep in. The Israelites knew from past experience what alliances with non-Jews led to. Not only that, but they knew this offer of help came from “enemies,” and hence, ulterior motives.

            Why do Christians need to be on guard? Because the “world” of secularism, humanism, agnosticism, atheism, etc., will attempt to undermine Christianity because, in the words of Billy Graham, “the Cross is an offense.”

Mark Galli, in a June 10, 2010, Christianity Today article, makes an excellent point when he says, “And why is it that church staff, called by God to enable the proclamation of Jesus' lordship, cannot grasp...that Christianity is ruled by a Lord who has a habit of making people feel uncomfortable and offended because, yes, he demands their unqualified allegiance?”

 For non-believers whose hearts are hardened, or who try to silence the inner conviction they feel when they even think about Christ, the Gospel will offend. Jesus encountered this very situation in John 6:60-67 with His disciples. He had just finished making some pretty strong claims about Himself, to which His disciples responded:

“’This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’

             Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.’ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.

              Jesus didn’t hold back the truth, water it down or wrap it up in an inoffensive package of whateverism. And people walked away from Him. Just like they’ll walk away from us and our churches. Some will even become persecutors or wolves in sheep’s clothing who try to infiltrate the church with a “gospel” more palatable but un-Biblical. They will do whatever they can to intimidate the followers of Christ.

             We can stand up to this, however, in good company with the Israelites whose response to this same sort of taunt was the acknowledgement that “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel.”

           

                                      

Series Blog Post #2: God Has Left the Building

Ezra 3:12: “But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.”

John MacArthur explains the weeping of the elders in this verse as being because the presence of God in His shekinah glory did not preside in this temple as it did in the previous temple built by Solomon. They saw a shell of God, and it made them cry.

            For us today this scenario could play out with a shekinah-less church that gets planted and grows as a counterfeit church, proclaiming a false gospel based on the philosophies and preferences (and sometimes downright atheism) of man. For what else can we call it but atheism when God is reconfigured into something He is clearly not and His Word is not taught or deemed authoritative in a church. As we’ll see in Ezra, the Israelites choosing to live in disobedience and alliance with the ways and worship of other gods puts their faith at risk of extinction, just as it does ours today.

It’s interesting to note the distinction between young and old in this verse. Just as God’s absence wasn’t apparent to the younger Israelites (who had never seen Solomon’s temple), God’s absence in a church or Christian movement—not through any fault of His, but because the church has dethroned Him—isn’t always obvious to the undiscerning, which often includes, but is not limited to, young adults.

The recent emergent church movement “re-imagined” and “radicalized” Christianity under the auspices of being “Christ-followers.” But when you look closely (and yes, I have read the guru, Brian McLaren), the whole movement’s purpose was to raise questions but not seek answers, thus sowing seeds of doubt. Man’s ideas about Jesus were at the center, not Jesus Himself. Not having an answer was deemed righteous. Having an answer: smug, dogmatic and fundamentalist. The goal was not to teach anything concrete, but to revisit everything via an ongoing, never-concluding “conversation.” Kind of like being on Talking Head’s Road to Nowhere.

Thankfully this movement seems to have faded out, as all nebulous bandwagons usually do. But where the emergent “missional” magical mystery tour ends, another bus full of eager discombobulators is sure to leave the station.

Which is exactly what happened to the Israelites. They started out strong, but by the time Ezra is on the scene 80 years later, the Israelites are back to the same old same old that got them into hot water with God in the first place, particularly with some of the men marrying foreign women. God’s law stipulated against such unions in Deuteronomy 7:2-3. So God was not only missing from the temple, He was missing from their lives, but by their choice, not His.

Some Christians have tried to dethrone God via power grabs that put man on the podium. Secularists have tried to remove God from every area of life. For the Israelites, the temple was the center of life! (which is why it irritated their enemies so much!)

Has God “left the building” in Christianity because we have sent him packing? Have we said we’re on His team, but put ourselves in charge? Have we filed for divorce from God the same way a friend of mine did her husband because, though she loved her husband, she was no longer “in love” with him? Do we care more about what top-selling Christian authors and conference speakers have to say about Jesus than what God has to say about Jesus? Does the corporate church revere the Word of God as Holy and as the first and final authority in all matters of life?

           The wisened returnees from exile knew exactly what it is like when God’s glory is present, and what it is like when it’s not. They knew what it means to have God leave the building. After all, they were the ones weeping.

Series Post #1: Having a Backbone

                        Today I begin a 5-part series titled The Book of Ezra: Lessons for the Church Corporate and Individual, which I have written for the Old Testament Exposition course I am enrolled in at Moody Theological Seminary. 

                         What appears here is just the tip of the iceberg of all that could, and still needs, to be said regarding the individual and community inner-and-outworkings of being the church. I pray this series will bless, unsettle, assure, encourage and point each of us to the One who is the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ. 

             

               Ezra 3:2-3: “Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.”

            The Israelites start out strong in the Book of Ezra. In chapter one they are freed by King Cyrus in 538 BC to return to Jerusalem. But not only that, he tells them they can rebuild the temple, aided by the locals who are to donate resources for the rebuilding. In addition, Cyrus returns all of the articles taken from the temple by Nebuchadnezzar when he sacked Jerusalem approximately 50 years before. The Israelites make the approximately 800 mile journey from Babylon safely, and are now beginning to rebuild. And the text says they did this “despite their fear of the people around them.”

            What were the Israelites afraid of? According to John MacArthur in his study Bible, “the settlers who had come to occupy the land during the 70 years of Israel’s absence were deportees brought in from other countries by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. These inhabitants saw the Jews as a threat and quickly wanted to undermine their allegiance to God” (which we see again in 4:1-2).

            But the Israelites rightly ignored them and went about their business.

            One of the issues Ezra will have to deal with, as we’ll see later, is a lack of holiness in the people. But thus far, we see a holy standard being unabashedly met by the Israelites. They stood their ground, knowing from previous experience that once a crack forms in holy obedience, the whole edifice comes crashing down.

            So what or who, as Christians, are we afraid of as we set out to be re-built on the foundation of Jesus Christ? Do we find that we are authentic and praiseworthy of God in our intimate Bible study group, but can’t defend the honor of our Lord when someone attaches His name to an expletive? Do we pray over the condition of a disturbed and at times appalling world and then let our kids attend R-rated films that sexualize women and turn the Lord’s name into a cuss word? Do we pray over our food on a daily basis but not when we are in “mixed company?” Do we allow people to freely state their opinions and life passions but remain silent about ours out of a fear of offending? Essentially, do we talk and act differently with Christians than we do with non-Christians?

             If we answered yes, we are operating out of a fear of others and not a fear of God. It took a decree from King Artaxerxes to stop the Israelites in their tracks. We have nothing even remotely similar in our circumstances to silence us and yet we pull out our blankie and begin sucking our thumb the minute we’re not with like-minded people. Why is it that, as Christians, we allow everyone but ourselves to have freedom of speech and conviction?

             A day may come when that freedom is gone, as has been the case in places that have never experienced freedom of speech or religion. Notice what persecution does in the Bible: it actually grows Christianity (Acts, specifically Acts 8, Philippians 1:12). Notice the kinds of Christians it breeds in communist or other dictatorial countries: Christians who are willing to die or be imprisoned for simply owning a Bible. Christianity under prosecution and persecution tends to thrive. It tends to unleash the conviction in people.

            A Feb. 4 2013 National Review Online article states that in China, “The number of persecution cases increased in 2012, the seventh consecutive year where there’s been an uptick. But despite that persecution, Christianity is thriving in China, winning more and more converts.”

              Or how about this from the Christian Freedom International website:

“Kim Il-Sung-ism, named after the late dictator who passed away in December 2011, is the only acceptable religion in North Korea; all other religions, particularly Christianity, are strictly forbidden. Thousands of North Korean believers have lost their lives from severe persecution or the harsh conditions of prison or work camps.”

And we, in an as yet free country, “struggle” with simply being Christian among those who aren’t? What, I ask myself on a daily basis, is my problem?

The Israelites understood the saying, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”  They were not about to jeopardize the rebuilding of the temple, and thus, their personal, family and community life out of a fear of the non-believers surrounding them. The Scripture says they built the altar and made sacrifices to the Lord. What would that look like for us?

God's "Call" is Already Revealed

     

            Christians often say, “I don’t know what God’s call for my life is,” or “I’m praying God will reveal His will to me.” These statements came to mind this morning as I read Ephesians 4:1-7. Verse one begins with:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

            Let’s stop right here. What is the calling we have received? To be a prisoner for the Lord (notice it doesn’t say “of” the Lord).

Many of us fail to see this essential fact of “calling.” We narrow our definition to the point where sometimes we don’t live out Christ on a daily basis because we haven’t recognized that to live Christ-like--a prisoner for him in all things--IS our call. 

We wonder why we are not living victorious Christian lives. It is because, I believe, we are focused on discerning and praying about our “call from God” when our call from God is not any great mystery; it’s all over Scripture, right under our nose! We don’t recognize it because we have put parameters of time, circumstance and place around it: “Where are you calling me, God?” “Are you calling me to get married?” “When will you call me to Africa? (or maybe you are calling me to China?)” “When will you call me to get married?” “When will You reveal your will to me!”

Can we really expect to land the specific calls if we aren’t even intentional about the general call to a daily Christian life right where, and with whomever, we are?

            So what does being a prisoner for Christ look like? Ephesians 4:2-3 tells us quite clearly:

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

         But God doesn’t stop there: 2 Peter 1:3-11 is a clear picture of consistent, moment by moment living out our call of God:

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Whew! Now I know why we are so preoccupied with praying for God’s call to a place, a ministry or some other future event! It diverts and distracts us from the hard work of living out God’s calling now, as Ephesians 4 and 2 Peter present it.

So now we know what the call looks like and what is expected of us. We also learn, in Ephesians 4:4-6 what we are called to:

 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

         But how do we live it out? Ephesians 4:7 tells us:

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

So we have no excuse. The grace of Christ has already been apportioned to us (“has been given”). The answer to “What is God’s call for my life?” is this: We are to be already living it out.  

Additional verses revealing God’s will for us now:

"It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4

“...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 
1 Thessalonians 5:18

“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” 1 Peter 5:15