Ending Abortion With the Law of Love

There is a massive movement of evangelists at current to Abolish Human Abortion, not just to outlaw it, but to criminalize it. I agree completely that abortion is murder: those who perform abortions, get abortions, and are accessories to abortion are guilty of murder and should be prosecuted. In fact I wrote a position paper in 2006 anathematizing the USAF's consideration to fund abortions through Tri-Care, and I went so far (to start conversation within the class) as to call for the UCMJ to make abortion a punishable offense under Articles 118, 119, and 133.

But, the legality of abortion is only a symptom of a much greater problem. If abortion were 100% illegal and punishable by death tomorrow, as it should be, the world would only be a little cleaner on the outside, but inside, it would still be filled with every manner of filth and sin. A symptom would be gone, but the root cause, the root corruption would be un-phased.

Consider the abolition of slavery in the United States starting in the early 1800s and culminating in 1863. Now, I am completely against racial slavery (compare: The Doctrine of Slavery), but the abolition movement is not the godsend which it is so often credited with. In fact, I would rather say it has made some things worse, and the abolition of slavery, and the continued farce of the "End-It" movement, do what Peter said of false teachers, "They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption (2 Peter 2:19)."

The abolition of slavery was done by law, it ought to have been perfected with the gospel. I will explain this in a moment. First though, the Bible does not use the word "slave" only for the first century or to be thrown out when our superstitious secularism warrants, "Slaves, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust (1 Peter 2:18)." "Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord (Colossians 3:22)." "Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven (Colossians 4:1)." "Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it (1 Corinthians 7:21)." Slavery exists today throughout the world, and nonetheless in America, and will until Christ returns. Slavery was not wrong because it is slavery, but because it was abused, it was racial, it required kidnapping, and many masters were unjust.

Had slavery been perfected by the gospel, then the nation and the world would be in much less bondage than they are today. In a perfect postmillenial world (one that does not exist and will never exist), where the gospel had been preached and believed and obeyed in America, slavery would have ceased to be the stain on the humanitarian history of these United States. Had the gospel been preached, fair treatment of slaves exhorted, and the refusal to partake in purchasing slaves who had been kidnapped or treated like cattle, then the manselling trade and the Middle Passage would have ceased to function. Imagine this, the Hannibal, a slave ship, deemed a pirate ship by an 1808 law prohibiting the importation of slaves, anchors in Mobile Bay with 692 slaves aboard. The average price per slave is $10.50; but Christian slave-owners, seeing the abysmal conditions on board, and finding that not a single slave was willingly indentured, refuse to pay $10.50 else they be in support of this illegal and immoral practice (Similarly, and a complete aside, supporting pornography, even only through your cable-internet bill, enslaves and destroys thousands of young people each year). What would happen next? At the very least the Hannibal would not carry any more slaves to the New World, for there is no profit in it, nor would any other ship. Perhaps the captain of this ship, in order to recoup some cost, would drastically reduce the price of slaves, in which case Christians desiring to show the grace of Christ might buy them to set them free (Compare This Story), or to act as just and fair masters. In either case, the gospel would rectify the slave trade without prohibition and without promising freedom only to deliver greater slavery.

For there are two sets of laws in the world, the worldly prohibiting kind which are rarely obeyed and frequently broken (do not steal, do not drink and drive, do not murder babies), and the heavenly law of love (love your neighbor as yourself). The law of love is so encompassing and perfect that it need not prohibit violence or racism, because if you love someone, you will seek their highest good and ignore superficialities. The law of love demonstrated in slavery would have benefited everyone far more than the Emancipation Proclamation. The law of love is infinitely more capable of ending abortion than any legislation. A mommy who loves God and their baby will not destroy that baby or the image of God being knit together inside of them. A daddy who loves his child will stand up and be a man and honor Christ in protecting life and raising that child in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

An evangelist preaching the gospel indiscriminately to a crowd will (Lord willing) impact the lives of far more people than preaching focused messages at the abortion minded. Instead of fighting the symptom at a murder clinic, gospel preaching ought to start by addressing the root cause, a sinful heart which leads to fornication, disregard for life, and murder. In my ministry towards youth, allow me to boast for a moment, I know that it is more productive to ensure that little girls never need to consider an abortion and to teach them to love and obey Jesus and give them a hope in the Living God, than to try to ward them off at a moment of great despair and hopelessness.

A famous evangelist once compared addiction ministry to a playground near a dangerous cliff. Children regularly fell down the cliff, some were killed and others gravely injured. One response, the addiction ministry response, was to build a hospital at the bottom of the cliff in order to minister to those who had fallen. The other response, the gospel ministry response, was to put a fence and warning signs up to warn of impending danger. Beloved, which works better? The one that ministers to the effect, or the one that ministers to the cause.

The current abortion ministry and abolition movement are treating symptoms of sin, and while they are doing some good, the greatest good is to be done in full time gospel ministry, in treating the wicked heart which brings forth sexual immorality and murder. A girl converted to Christ in middle-school will never consider an abortion. A high-school boy who determines to honor Christ by waiting for his future wife will never pressure someone into taking RU-486 or be an accomplice to the murder of a baby. An abortion doctor who has no patients will have to resort to finding a second job.

It is a commendable thing to be against abortion, and to call it what it is: cold blooded murder. But beloved, just as the abolition of slavery did not abolish slavery, neither will the outlawing of abortion end abortion. The law has a way of awakening our nature to break that law, but Christ is the cure for the rebellion and fallenness of humanity, he alone has the ability to replace a wicked heart with a sanctified heart.

And finally, and probably most harshly, the abolition of slavery has done innumerable damage to the nation, not just to one people-group, but all who are enslaved without knowing their captivity to the devil. Christ came to set the captives free. A person who does not recognize their enslavement does not seek an Emancipator. The outlawing of abortion without a strong gospel presence will condemn many more people than are currently condemned. As harsh as it is to say, a child murdered is guaranteed instant Heaven by their faith in God (Matthew 18:3) and the faithfulness of God (Matthew 18:14). A child who grows up in a pagan culture is condemned by the sins of their fathers. Adrian Rogers once made the excellent point that fixing atrocities without the preaching of the gospel is only, "making the world a nicer place to go to Hell from."

Preaching the gospel faithfully to all men will result in fewer abortions and make famous the name of the One who is able to save to the uttermost all of those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. So beloved, I implore you to focus on the cause of abortion, and not the symptom of abortion, that you minister to lost sinners in your church, in their schools and universities, in the park, at the mall, at festivals. Wherever people may be found, preempt the need for abortion ministry by proclaiming Christ and him crucified.

The Disappearing Bible

Introduction

The year is 2,347BC, the ground is still soggy, but plants are starting to spring up left and right, grass is thriving in the new topsoil, and little baby animals frolic in the bright sun. New mountains rise majestically above the plain, in the far distance a thunderclap announces a rain storm, which quickly gives way to a perfect rainbow.

In a tent supported by gopher wood scaffolding, a wise old man studies the scriptures with his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. He ensures they are well versed in the Genesis event, in the fall of mankind, the promise of a Redeemer born of woman, the increasing reprobation of mankind and of warnings ignored, the call to their father to build an ark in the midst of dry land, and the wrath of God coming when no-one on earth expected it. Above all, they knew that God was a gracious God and one who kept covenant with all those who trust in him. From these three men, all of the people of the whole earth were dispersed (Genesis 9:18-19).

The Bible Lost

The year today is AD2011, over 4,300 years have elapsed since that faithful man Noah instructed his sons in the scriptures. Then they went out throughout the whole earth, splashed to the four corners of the compass with their languages confused. Today you can go throughout this terrestrial ball and find people who today have utterly no recollection of the God who deluged the world in wrath, but chose to save just eight of their ancestors. Today legends and traditions and mysteries abound of a monotheistic Creator God who accepts atonement, who flooded the earth, and/or who is the first cause and self-existent one, but the details are lost, his name is veiled, his character is blurred, his communication is less than a memory, and his salvation is unknown.

How can there be so many nations, tribes, and tongues who descended from Shem, Ham, and Japheth who are ignorant of the God of their forefathers? Was it because God forgot them? No, for he promises to save a saint from every one of these peoples, even writing his first Gospel accounts to them, Matthew to the Semites, Mark to the Hamites, and Luke to the Japhethites. Then it must have been that the knowledge of God was lost by some hapless teachers in the past, those who felt that transmitting the Word of the Living God, the very words of eternal life, was not important, and by so doing condemned both themselves, and their hearers.

Not Many of You Should Become Teachers

Jesus tells us that the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. An ancestor of every person on that broad way at some time in the past knew how to find the narrow path, but failed to teach it. They led their entire progeny down the wrong road and great will be their destruction.

This is why James, the brother of Jesus, says so emphatically, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1) One bad teacher can condemn an entire church, an entire city, an entire people group. There is no more overpaid or overappreciated person than the one who teaches little ones to sin by ignoring the Bible. Truly Jesus was clear when he said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

The teacher who fails to teach the Bible, or fails to teach it faithfully, is setting themselves up for a great fall, and are doing immense damage not only to themselves but also to the souls of those whom they teach and those whom those will teach and so on.

You Ought to Be Teachers

The Apostle says to the Hebrews, “by this time you ought to be teachers”, speaking to a group of Christians who had been saved for some time, who had heard much truth and been instructed in the basics of the faith (Hebrews 5:12-6:3).

I am finding a sad trend in my area of people who read their Bibles, but don’t take them seriously and who certainly don’t tell others about what they’ve read. They read their Bibles through such a lens of tradition that they are not transformed or even interested in being transformed. They read verses like Matthew 22:7, Hebrews 1:9, and Revelation 14:10-11 and refuse to believe that God hates anyone or that Hell is eternal conscious torment inflicted by him. Others claim that free-will is the running theme of the New Testament, yet don’t realize that the word is never used in the New Testament, or that the Bible is violently against the concept. Others read the Bible to find the promises of health, wealth, and happiness, or trying to puff up their own self-esteem by overemphasizing their worthiness to save. They are much more interested in what the Bible means to them, than what the Bible actually means.

I am not lying one bit to say that these genuinely read their Bibles often. One recent conversation I had was with a young lady, a homosexual and communist advocate, who is on a strict reading plan of a chapter a night. But they perish for lack of knowledge, no-one has ever taught them how to read their Bibles or what the main theme is, no-one has ever confronted them in their errors.

Beloved, if you are a Christian, if you know what the Bible says, and you know how to rightly exegete a passage, declaring what the original author intended, then you ought to be a teacher. If you can’t do all of those things, then you ought not be a teacher, you should run from that role. Dan Phillips, author of the excellent book, The World-Tilting Gospel, gives the best advice, “Scripture meant one thing before you were born, means the same now, and will mean the same, should you die. Preach that meaning.”

Strive to Speak For God

Perhaps, dear Christian, you do not feel called to teach, or you do not feel equipped, or you just plain don’t want to. Then I call you to submit to the command of the Bible, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” (1 Corinthians 14:1) Prophesy in the Old Testament occasionally dealt with new revelation, but more often than not was an exhortation to love God and love your neighbor, repenting of sin. Prophesy in the church deals exclusively with speaking for God out of the closed canon of the scriptures. When you quote John 3:16 or Romans 5:8, you become a prophet, because you are speaking for God.

Not only so, but as a herald and priest of the King (1 Peter 2:9), you ought to love to proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of the darkness into his glorious light. You are commanded to strive for the ability to speak for God faithfully and with love.

And beloved, in so doing, you will perpetuate the words of eternal life, your students and hearers won’t be left in the dark as to who God is, what he demands of humanity, and how he is saving a remnant from every nation, tribe, and tongue by sending his Son to be the propitiation for their sins. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

Conclusion

Your church, your city, your people group is potentially only one generation away from complete spiritual darkness, all you have to do is fail to teach the Bible. If you claim to be a teacher in any capacity, then for the love of Christ and his church, teach that he has made himself known and can be known in perfect fellowship through the power of his resurrection revealed in the inerrant and infallible words of the Bible. Please do not face a stricter judgment by failing to teach the love of Christ, but open up your Bible and proclaim it in Spirit and in truth, living it in deed and in truth.

In an age when Bibles are available in every hotel, at every book store, in any library, for free at any festival, online in every translation and with an overabundance of explanatory notes, handheld in most phones, the Bible is being lost to future generations for lack of solid teaching. I beg you to not be guilty of condemning future generations by not caring enough about God’s Word or the message of the Word Incarnate to teach it faithfully and put your love into action.

Beloved, preach your Bible, declare the truth of Christ and him crucified, stand on the firm foundation of scripture; I pray you will, and I pray that the audacious words of Paul will be true of you, “Devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation, to teaching…Practice these things, immerse yourself in them…Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:13,15,16)

Do Something

It was the walking dictionary himself, Charles Spurgeon, who said so masterfully, “Do something, do something, do something.” He was expressly talking about soul winning, motivating his people to put their talents into use to take the gospel of life to a dying world.

His command to do something was purposefully ambiguous. He didn’t say, do open-air preaching, he didn’t say, do friendship evangelism, he didn’t say, do go pass out gospel tracts, he didn’t say, do help at the homeless shelter, he didn’t say, do work in the orphanage, he didn’t say, do be an overseas missionary, he did say, do something. Spurgeon was, and is, a man who motivated men to work towards the goal of soul winning, and one of his greatest gifts was recognizing that his gifting was not the only gift given, his ministry was not the only ministry, and his method(s) of evangelism were not the only methods of evangelism.

Unfortunately, in Christendom today we have seen this recognition of a myriad of gifts forgotten, and many of the most popular ministers today are forcing their ministries and pet-projects on their followers, even when their followers are not best suited for these tasks. I won’t name names, not for the sake of sparing feelings, but because I don’t want you, dear reader, to think that there are only a handful of ministers making this mistake. If you read today’s most popular books you will be told that you must be a missionary to unreached people groups, you must be fighting the sex-slave-trade, you must be digging wells in third-world nations, you must be adopting half a dozen orphans, you must be giving all of your possessions to the poor, you must be going on short-term missions trips to provide disaster relief…you must look precisely like the one you’re reading, or you’re doing it wrong.

After reading a recent book I was wondering, am I really being as useful as I can be in my current role in the midst of a slipping Bible Belt? Is my time best spent working amongst students who are, in majority, utterly consumed with the world and so inoculated to Jesus Christ through powerless free-will messages that most will die in their sins having never realized that there was enmity between them and God? Should I listen to one or more of these Pharisaical commands to cross land and sea to fight great evils in other lands? The Georgia community has the gospel, am I really being effective toward the fact that, “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14)?

These questions were heavy on my mind this past week, but by the grace of God, the gospel is self-correcting, for Paul prayed for his friend Philemon, “I pray that in the sharing of your faith you become effective for every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ” (Philemon 6). On Sunday we went into our Samaria (Acts 1:8), which is a town about twelve miles away, Marietta, and shared the gospel with probably about fifty people. The age range was 11 (a former attendee of our church) to probably 65, and not a single one of the people I talked to personally showed any understanding of the gospel of grace, though most professed at least some understanding of the Bible.

My young friend and brother, Grant, shared the gospel with three students roughly his age, one of whom had been to church earlier in the day, another who was a Buddhist. These three all professed their own goodness, utterly clueless to the fact that Christ came to seek and save the lost. After Grant did a fantastic job sharing the gospel, the Buddhist was still adamant that she would be reincarnated. I took a moment to show her that every religion says if you’re good, something good will happen to you when you die, but I pointed out that as a self-admitted liar, thief, blasphemer, and murderer at heart, if reincarnation were true she would not be coming back as anything good, nor would anyone, for we have all sinned and the thoughts and intents of our hearts are only evil continually. These students went away thinking; realizing that the King himself stepped out of Heaven to rescue them from their assured condemnation, for it is appointed once for a person to die, and then the judgment. We could go to Tibet to find Buddhists, but we've found them in our own backyard speaking our own language.

A little while later we approached a group of late-teens and began to take them through the good person test to show them their standing before God. A young lady, probably 17 or 18, came up right at the end of the test, and wanted to know what we were talking about. I gave her a condensed version of the good-person test to bring her to the point in the conversation that we were at. Long before I could get to the gospel, these girls attempted to justify themselves as better than me (and most likely they are better than me), asking questions of my past, and then they turned inward willing to give up some sins, but not others. The young lady who walked up late took control of the conversation, saying, “I’m willing to repent of lying and stealing, but what about lesbianism, I’m not going to repent of girls.” I’m not sure that she was sincere, or just looking to shock us, but it’s pretty hard to shock me (I work with students weekly) and I instead gave her the test in Matthew 5:27-28, asking her if she had ever looked with lust on someone she was not married to. Her haughty countenance disappeared. Another girl asked, “So, we’re hopeless?”

One of my favorite verses recently for evangelism is Ephesians 2:12, it exactly says that we are hopeless. I explained to them that we are indeed without hope, nothing we can do can rectify the danger we’ve put ourselves in through rebelling against God, by blaspheming his name by operating as images of God yet showing all of creation that God must be a liar and adulter, because the images of God are liars and adulterers. This thought sunk in and they were more than ready for the gospel at this point. I asked what God had done in love so that they can be forgiven? A young lady who had previously professed to be a drug-user, spouted out, “He gave his Son.” She had probably heard that before, she may have even said it before, but you could tell by the look on her face that she was understanding it for the first time. I gave a synopsis of Christ’s life and death, and resurrection, and two of them looked surprised when they heard that Jesus was God in the flesh. It was truly a joy to tell these contrite young people that while we were without hope or God in the world, he willingly gave himself up to die on a cross in their place to reconcile them to God. What happened next was not just a “thank you for talking to us,” it was a series of serious questions from them asking how to partake in the forgiveness, righteousness, and reconciliation offered by Jesus Christ. They all promised to go home and read their Bibles, one girl said she had tried, but couldn’t even get through Genesis; I encouraged them to read the Gospel of John first to understand who Christ is, why he came, and why it is important for them. Had we instead gone to Haiti, we would have missed the opportunity to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to this group of pierced, tattooed, drug-using, sexually active high-schoolers.

On Sunday we talked to professing Baptists, Pentecostals, Catholics, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists, Hedonists, youngsters, seniors, men, women, boys, girls, civilians, marines, drug-users, homosexuals, gluttons, drunkards, and even a girl who very likely was a prostitute. There is no lack of ministry in this world, I encourage you to find a place to serve, to do something.

Beloved, I have a gift for talking to students, I have the ability to easily approach them, strike up a conversation, and present the gospel in terms they understand. I will not stand here and tell you that if you are not ministering to this lost and dying generation that you are wrong, I will not tell you that if you have gone to Haiti or Tibet or anywhere and shared the gospel that you are wrong, or if your ministry is elsewhere, I will not tell you are wrong. The only way I will tell you that you are wrong is if you are doing nothing to preach this true gospel of forgiveness of sins.

Beloved, I will tell you to do something. Find a place where your gifting fits, something you enjoy, something you are good at, and preach the gospel. For the end will indeed come when this gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, but it also will not come until every saint of Christ comes to repentance. These future saints live in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth, both literally and figuratively in how those relate to your location. So be preaching the gospel in your capacity, with your gifts, demonstrating the love of a Saviour who loved you first, not forcing your ministry on others, but finding needs and filling them, proclaiming the excellencies of Christ to a lost and dying world, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of God.

Do Something, Do Something, Do Something. – Charles Spurgeon

Redeeming the Time

One of my favorite teachers growing up was my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Sanchez. Mr. Sanchez was unabashedly religious, I cannot judge his message because I was unregenerate then and for more than a decade later, but I do remember him openly speaking about his Baptist church and the conversion of his Jewish wife to Christianity. What I do remember is that he loved life and loved his students. I don’t remember anything explicitly that I learned in fourth grade, except for this one thing, a quote Mr. Sanchez quoted often,

“Anything Worth Doing, is Worth Doing Well.”

I would credit this one statement above anything else I learned in school as making me the person I was and even am. This statement carried me through nearly straight A’s in high school, it made me a competent mechanic by sixteen, it allowed me to have some hotrod cars and motorcycles, and it carried me into the Air Force where I was able to do some amazing things. I must note that while this statement drove my adolescence, it was also greatly reinforced by the work-ethic of my father who lived this statement out in his own life.

Where this statement fails, is that it doesn’t give any objectivity towards what is worth doing. I took this motto and pointed it as much at sin as I did towards vocation. I know by experience as well as instruction that the Apostle Paul is correct when he says, “The age is evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Now that I have met the Ancient of Days, the Sovereign of History, I am much more concerned with doing everything worth doing well. And this is magnified all the more by how evil the age is, which Paul tells us to watch how we operate in the world,

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. – Ephesians 5:15-16

I am certainly a great sinner in this area, that though I use a lot of my time wisely, I also squander just as much of it. Recently this has been my great point of conviction and an item that I am working to correct. For one example, I have been working on my doctorate now for six months, and have yet to finish the first class. I recently, with the grace of the Seminary, reordered my plan of completion and hopefully will, along with this command in Ephesians, make the best use of my time.

Do not confuse this with busyness though, we are not to just use our time, but to use our time for the best purposes, making the light of Christ visible as we have been called to awake and rise from the dead. The current age is evil, I notice in many areas that people are able to surround themselves in all sorts of activities that are certainly not their best use of time. Phil Johnson recently made an amazing point on why Open-Air Preaching is so obnoxious to the culture, “People have always been offended by it, because it tends to confront them with the truths they least want to think about at precisely the moment they are trying to do something to avoid thinking about things like eternity and accountability to God.” I believe it is exceedingly prevalent in our culture to cocoon ourselves into activity so we don’t need to stop and think about whether we’re being good stewards of our time, afterall, when I was even more guilty of this sin than I am now, I could think, I did so much surely it had to have been worthwhile.

But that is not at all a biblical viewpoint. In fact, at least two different biblical examples point to people who were doing a whole lot, but weren’t well received by Jesus; for sake of brevity I’ll only give you the addresses (Matthew 7:21-23, Revelation 2:19-20).

How then do we redeem the time? The Apostle Paul, in his second letter to Corinth, gives the best advice in this battle for our usefulness, explaining that we ought to do just what he does, “we take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This requires more thinking, it requires knowing why we are doing things, it requires us considering whether things are sinful, righteous, or even indifferent. Stopping to think seems like such a waste of time in our fast moving culture, if you don’t think so, turn on a TV or Radio, they are experts at removing dead air, making sure you never have to think about what you’re seeing or hearing. This impacted me recently as I was watching an interesting show in the History Channel, which I intended to think about after it was over, but the very next show enthralled me so much that I completely forgot about the last show. It was not I who had captured my thoughts, but by the media which I was watching.

Therefore, we must think more on our actions, we must be considering where our affections are pointed, we must strive to point every thought towards obedience in love towards Christ. The Bible is more than clear in many places that sin starts in the heart. Murder doesn’t just happen, it is born in disdain, moves to dislike, towards hatred, and finally manifests itself in action. So then must our love begin in our thoughts, taken captive to Christ, and pointed outwards for good in action. Jesus says that out of our mouths, our hearts profess.

Before conversion our curse words and insulting speech show a sick and sinful heart, after conversion we are privileged even to preach the words of eternal life. We can even look at our words to determine the affections of our hearts, as Jesus said, “on the day of judgment people will give account for every idle word they speak…” (Matthew 12:36). I have so much work to do, such an idol to kill in my time wasting; taking every thought captive to obedience to Christ.

But I give thanks to God, who sent his Son, who made the absolute perfect use of his time, who never spoke an idle or careless word, was the epitome of obedience to his Father, and yet who died in my place to redeem me from this present evil age, who was raised and makes the Christian’s labor never in vain. So then, please join me in repenting of idleness, of time wasting, of careless thoughts, and so much useless action.

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. - Colossians 3:17,23-24

Let us press forward towards Christ, repenting of every sin which weighs us down. Let us walk wisely in the light. Let us forever remember that we have only one life, and it will soon be past, and only what is done for Christ will last.

Let us redeem the time, for the days are evil.

Lyrical Bible Teachers

I have been noticing a trend within youth groups which perplexes me at best, concerns me at worst, and all around saddens me. Before I go farther let me say that this post is not directed at any one student, but is a wide reaching problem spanning more than one church and youth group.

The trend which is forming is a student populous who knows Bible concepts without knowing they are derived from the Bible. For example, recently I quoted 1 Thessalonians 5:5, calling Christians “children of the light.” I did not give the scripture reference nor make mention that the concept was scripture derived, and one student, a godly young man, was excited because he thought I was quoting Lecrae. Likewise a while ago a student quoted Chris Tomlin on their facebook, “And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us. And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?” The comment that went along with the lyrics lauded Tomlin’s lyrics and the impact they had on the student. I couldn’t help but respond with the fact that the lyrics certainly were impactful, but that I was impacted the most when the Holy Spirit spoke them through Paul in Romans 8:31. The student was unaware of the scriptural basis of the song.

And before I judge without first judging myself, look at Psalm 73:25-26, I have this passage memorized…sort of…because the version I have memorized is the version by Shai Linne when he says, “Whom have I in Heaven but you? The earth has none I desire but you. My flesh and my heart may fail, however, the Lord is my portion forever.” Beautiful, right? But it’s not an exact quote of the Psalm and leaves out and changes several things. It gets the point across perfectly, but someone could very easily miss the fact that this concept is not unique to Shai Linne, but is derived from the scriptures.

And this is not limited to godly concepts, for example, Tomlin has one of the worst songs in Christendom with “God of this City” which is a quote of 2 Corinthians 4:4 and is a title of the Devil, and the song mingles more than one demonic concept with the True and Living God. But a biblical illiteracy combined with a popular culture medium leads to students and adults who swallow every bit of teaching in these songs.

And this leads me to a scriptural admonition, which I don’t believe any artists have put into song, because doing so would confront them with one of the most terrifying verses in scripture (which I’ll post in a moment). Let me quote a different passage first, this from the New International Version of the Bible, which here is not a perfect translation, but does catch something which most translations miss,

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit…
- Colossians 3:16

Teach through songs; the KJV says it similarly that the church should be teaching in songs. If our song writers and singers are teachers, then this leads to that oh-so-terrifying verse,

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
– James 3:1

This passage goes on to say that the teacher leads the whole direction of the body of the church, like a tongue in a mouth or a rudder on a ship. I have long been telling students that when they open their mouth and speak anything pertaining to God, they become a prophet, not in the futurist sense, but in the “Thus saith the Lord...” sense; the words which proceed will determine whether we are true or false prophets. The Israelites in the Babylonian exile went so far as praying that their tongues would fail them in their mouths if they spoke apart from God’s kingdom (Psalm 137:6).

To rein this thought back to my original point, isn’t it amazing that these teachers are presenting deep scriptural truths to students in memorable ways? Indeed it is, every student who went to Summer Camp this year knows, through the teaching of Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels, that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17). But I have this great fear that these teachers are failing their students in a major point: they are failing to point them at the Word of God. These neat scriptural truths apart from knowing they are scripture are breeding a generation of students who look for revelation about God apart from the scriptures. This is exacerbated by a growing Gnostic trend in Christianity to hear from God apart from his Word.

Correcting these problems are more difficult than just pointing them out. Through a proliferation of bad songs on every manner of Christian radio, the next generation will be raised on scriptural snippets without knowing the greater context or even that there is a greater context. At the risk of offending many, it is to this effect that Todd Friel warns of the “Satan for the Whole Family” music which permeates the entire FM-dial. On any given station you can be privy to the perfect theology of Stuart Townsend one minute, and then be led into Sabellian heresy in Philips, Craig, and Dean the next, and then returned to gorgeous lyrics from the health-wealth-and-prosperity culture of Hillsong United.

It was to this effect that I installed iPod compatible MP3 players in our shuttles so that teachers have control of the teachers teaching their flock. But even this is not enough, and it has come more and more to my attention that music must be exegeted itself in order to ensure students know why the lyrics are good and what their source is.

For example, look at Lecrae’s “Children of the Light”, in there he gives one of the coolest summaries of scripture I’ve ever heard, he states, “I’m…qualified to light up a world of darkness.” Certainly an amazing truth of God’s people, but is it just because Lecrae says so that we know it, or does it come from somewhere else? Teachers should take a moment to examine favorite songs and then explain the truths behind them, or if necessary, to refute them. In Lecrae’s case we see that we are children of the light (1 Thessalonians 5:5), we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), we are called to “Awake o sleeper! And arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:14), and there is a definite call to the Christian to bring that light throughout the world where the darkness will flee (Isaiah 60:1-3, John 1:5, John 3:19-20).

All of this to say, we must spend more time teaching the Bible, in context, and not just snippets of theology in song. Our teaching should be done, in part but not in whole, in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, ensuring that the audience is pointed towards the absolute truth of God’s Word, and the Christ revealed in those words. Aberrant theology in song will be judged with great strictness, and many musicians ought to flee from the teaching position which they are utterly unqualified to hold. Pastors and teachers must be sure that music is edifying and understandable, and that students are not merely following a trend or theology because it is on Christian radio.

Zeal Without Knowledge

For Radical Together Click Here

Introduction

I like David Platt, I think he is an awesome preacher and has done a lot of good, I think he is a Christian and is on the narrow road to life. I hope and pray I can have the impact he is having on many. I pray that he will continue to preach the gospel and will impact the kingdom for many years to come.

That said: I do not think David Platt is a Pharisee, but Radical is Pharisaical. I do not think David Platt is a bad communicator, but Radical is horrendously written. I do not think that David Platt is a heretic, but Radical contains some outright heresy. I do not think David Platt should be thrown out into the flaming fires of Gehenna, but Radical should.

I do not think I would be exaggerating to say that there was something on just about every page of this book that made me cringe. David Platt, I believe, employed too much hyperbole to make his points and this pushed this book far outside of orthodoxy and usefulness. I agreed with a few of Platt’s starting presuppositions, but quickly I rejected his applications. This review will largely ignore the last chapter, “The Radical Experiment” which could be quite a good chapter but is tainted by my knowledge of the rest of the book.

This article will address four major points, the first being the focus of God’s gospel as compared to Platt’s gospel, second the American Dream and how Platt’s book has not destroyed it but replaced it, third is Christ’s emphasis on poverty and Platt’s emphasis on poverty, and fourth will conclude with Platt’s poor Bible reading as evidenced by his mystical heresy and bad hermeneutics.

The Emphasis of the Gospel

First Peter 2:9 describes the effect of the gospel, that we are chosen, holy, priestly trophies and ought to proclaim Christ’s wonderful character and works. I believe that Platt believes this, but Radical doesn’t preach it. If you look on page 88, Platt presents a radically small view of Jesus Christ,

He would intentionally shun titles, labels, plaudits, and popularity in his plan to turn the course of history upside down. All he wanted was a few men who would think as he did, love as he did, see as he did, teach as he did, and serve as he did. All he needed was to revolutionize the hearts of a few, and they would impact the world.

It all sounds rather pious, but Jesus didn’t attempt anything or need anything, he told these few men that apart from him they could do NOTHING. A Christian does nothing apart from Christ getting the glory for doing the work, Christ doesn’t need anything to impact the world.

But Platt needs to deemphasize sovereignty in order to present the Christian who saves the world of their own accord. I start with this point because it definitely makes me the most mad. There are three clear purposes in Platt’s book for spreading the gospel, first men spreading God’s glory, second to save the poor, and third for the humanistic purpose of getting people into Heaven. None of these remotely is intertwined with the other, and it’s almost like Platt is preaching three sermons unwittingly and not realizing that they he has failed to relate them.

The idea that the emphasis of the gospel is placed on men manifests itself rather strangely, and, if I didn’t know Dr. Platt’s normal self, connivingly through the utter unbiblical cornerstone of the book that, “God really is in the business of blessing his people in unusual ways so his goodness and his greatness will be declared among all peoples.” (p.67)

So the emphasis of the gospel is apparently to show salvation to all peoples…(p.66) Go back to Peter’s purpose, he calls us a people for God’s own possession to declare God’s glory, not to be a “conduit of God’s blessings to all the peoples of the earth.” (ibid)

It is a minor distinction, but Platt’s emphasis of the gospel is quite different than Christ’s. Platt overemphasizes this point to the exclusion of all else, for example, the local church is overlooked, holiness and sanctification are wickedly missing, and ultimately it is quite unbiblical, despite Platt asking a poorly written rhetorical question, “It all sounds idealistic, I know. Impact the world. But doesn’t it also sound biblical?” (p.83)

It does sound idealistic, but it doesn’t sound biblical. The Apostle Paul points out that he was called to a specific people, the Hellas, which is not the word for Gentiles/Nations as Platt either misunderstands or doesn’t care, but is the Greeks. (p.74) Platt sends his hearers outside of the country to the whole world, yet ironically includes a beautiful story of a man doing much good in New Orleans, which is totally out of character with the rest of the book. (p.96)

And we see ministers like Jeremiah (zero converts), Noah (seven converts), and Christ (one-hundred-twenty converts) who really did little to accomplish Platt’s goals, but did much to accomplish God’s goals. This plays out awkwardly in the making of disciples, Platt seems to think it is a lifelong endeavor (p.93), while many in the Bible are made disciples after a sermon. And the “teaching them to obey” gets a sentence (ibid), which is perhaps why Platt’s emphasis is so radically different from God’s in this book.

Replacing the American Dream

There is no doubt that the American Dream is idolatrous and unbiblical. Platt does well to point this out. But instead of killing the American Dream and substituting biblical teaching, Platt tweaks the American Dream and reemphasizes purpose over materialism. I could argue quite effectively that Radical is still the American Dream because I’m pretty sure the dream was taught to me that as long as you’re happy then you’re successful.

Platt’s mere reemphasis is expounded most clearly on page 160 when God’s will is described as taking the gospel to those poor lost Algerians. This is somewhat different from God’s genuine will for your life, which is your sanctification. Granted, your sanctification may lead to you going to the Algerians, but when Platt removes/ignores the middle-man “holiness” he is not doing anyone any good.

The American Dream rejects slavery, and so does Dr. Platt. (p.92) Ironically God does not. (1 Peter 2:18ff) Platt allows for the American hermeneutic to bastardize the plain reading of scripture, and worse yet he uses his false dichotomy to call his readers to follow his radically wrong interpretation of the Bible. (See my article on slavery: http://trustobey.blogspot.com/2007/07/doctrine-of-slavery.html)

The American Dream is not killed in Platt’s book, it is minorly redirected and America becomes the hero delivering the gospel to all people who have a right to hear it, who deserve not to live in a slum, and deserve to live. (That’s humanism, if you didn’t catch it, see Platt p.108) This accomplishes two radically wicked goals, first Platt removes Christ and the Holy Spirit from his efforts, and second he makes the creature the goal of the church’s efforts and utterly ignores the Creator. This is summed up radically on page 163, “If these clinics were used by God to lead someone to Christ, then it was all worth it.” (That one statement condemns Jeremiah’s entire ministry.)

Platt has safely and effectively substituted his dream for the American Dream, giving people a goal which they can devote their entire lives to which is not God. (p.140) It was rather sneaky, ingenious, and seemingly it has been very effective.

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

The major goal of Platt’s efforts is alleviating global poverty. There are numerous things wrong with this, not just that it takes the emphasis off of local poverty, or that Christ said the poor would always be with us, but that being poor and destitute is not a sin and is not always something to be rescued from. James calls the rich to rejoice in their humiliation, Christ said it was impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven, and he affirmed that those poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom.

I am certainly not rejecting the idea that the poor should be taken care of, but I am rejecting the idea that the poor should be taken care just because they are poor. The Psalmist said he would rather watch the door of Heaven than dwell in wickedness, I would rather live in a slum with God than a mansion without. But Platt misunderstands this point radically, even going so far as to misquote Luke 18:22 on page 117, utterly ignoring that there is great treasure in Heaven for the one who becomes poor for Christ’s sake. And Platt uses that passage as his favorite proof text for selling stuff and giving it away, when the context of this passage is clearly not one of stewardship, but of soteriology. Christ was showing the man that his money would keep him out of the kingdom, and that what he would lose in repentance was nothing in comparison to what he would gain in Christ.

Here is where Radical gets Pharisaical. Jesus stated, “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.” Platt ties up this heavy burden of needing to sell everything, yet he himself fails to sell everything and give it to the poor. He justifies his own command wickedly by living on less…but that is not at all keeping with his interpretation of the necessity to sell everything and give it to the poor. I’m pretty sure this is what Ananias and Saphira died for.

Mysticism and Bad Hermeneutics

There is a terrible and wicked pandemic sweeping Christianity, the idea that God is going to speak to you personally. This personal revelation is known as mysticism. Platt falls for this heresy and promulgates it by saying that not everyone is called to sell everything and give it to the poor, but that God might call you to sell everything and give it to the poor. (p.120-121) This is godless and unchristian.

God will speak to you only through the Word, he will not vocalize (pp.121, 213) his personalized plan for your life to you. This is a terrible heresy, because it causes people to stop reading their Bibles and start listening for a voice that either will not come, or will come by a guy who looks a lot like Christ but is very unlike him. (2 Corinthians 11:14) By Platt preaching this godless heresy of mysticism he causes his reader to fail to follow biblical stewardship plans, to stop striving for holiness, and to forget to seek to glorify God in everything they do. I hate this heresy and so does God.

Small mistakes show Platt’s poor planning and follow-through in this book, such as his statement that Matthew 28:19-20 is Christ’s last command (p.92), when clearly there as a command given the morning Christ ascended into Heaven. (See Acts 1:4) On page 198 Platt uses language that a Modalist would be comfortable with, “He sent himself…” but I’m fairly certain Platt is a devout Trinitarian. These small mistakes, added to blatant theological errors, permeate the book.

Platt somewhat covers his tracks with the use of endnotes instead of footnotes or parenthetical notation. This is partly just plain bad writing, but is also a nifty way of hiding poor biblical application. This must be remembered in the misquotation of Luke 18:22 where Platt leaves off the purpose of his command to sell everything, but the reader has to dig to even know which verse he’s misquoted. On page 226, endnote 11, Platt admits to using a verse out of context, yet how many readers would realize that? And using soteriological verses to support stewardship concepts has led to Platt straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel (albeit a small camel), because he radically downplays grace and introduces a mild form of legalism through applying Luke 18 to stewardship.

And this all plays out most damnably in Platt’s application, that this radical lifestyle should be true of everyone. What makes him think that someone who won’t volunteer at the homeless shelter in Birmingham will sell their Mercedes and volunteer at the homeless shelter in Mozambique? Why does David Platt’s “thing” have to be my “thing”? Are not some called to be evangelists, others pastors, some teachers? Are there not poor in our own backyard that we ought to be radically helping? Shouldn’t we disciple those in our churches before we disciple those in other churches? Isn’t Christ worthy to be praised whether or not he saves anyone?

Ultimately this book is a fantastic example of the hermeneutical failing of eisegesis, or smashing your own beliefs into the Bible. God does call his people to be radical and to do radical things, but not at all in the way which Platt describes.

Conclusion

The emphasis of the gospel is God’s glory, this is accomplished in many ways, all of which are through the church being sanctified trophies of grace, ministering through the proclamation of Christ’s excellencies. It is not going to the nations, albeit that is a minor part of it. The American Dream is damnable, but so is a Christianity without Christ at its center. The poor will always be with us, and we must ensure our motive is to exalt Christ and secure eternities before we save bodies and exalt men. And finally, the Bible says what it means and means what it says, we cannot and should not edit it to support our own radical goals, no matter how pious they seem. God speaks only through his Bible and speaks to all believers equally; there are no secretive meanings to the superspirituals among us.

Radical is poorly written, unbiblical, legalistic, and contains a fair amount of heresy. I pray that Dr. Platt will recant this ungodly work and write a more balanced and biblical call to Christian zealousness, one that accounts for radical holiness, love, purity of doctrine, and Christlike living and preaching. Hopefully Platt will in the future start from a biblical viewpoint and never again try to make the Bible support his own unchristian beliefs.

For more information on humanism, I ask you to listen to Paris Reidhead’s crowning work, “Ten Shekels and a Shirt”. http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=710081423448

And for more information on mysticism, I recently wrote, http://trustobey.blogspot.com/2010/04/mystics-in-our-midst.html

It has been said that the United States is the greatest exporter of heresy in the world, and Platt’s book with its weird mystical leanings and excessive humanism is sure to continue that tradition for at least the next generation.

Please don’t partake in it; instead, read your Bible, discover your gifting, and minister in a way which promotes holiness and proclamation of the gospel. If you are able to learn Burmese easily, then go to Burma. If you are terrible with children then don’t be a youth minister. If you can stand on a soap-box and articulate the gospel and you don’t mind looking like an idiot, then join me at KSU sometime soon. If you don’t know Christ or his Bible, then keep your mouth shut. For believers, in everything you do, know that Christ is your Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, and that his decree will be accomplished with or without your help, but that he calls for obedience in any number of ways. Don’t feel guilty that you still own a car and aren’t getting shot at by freedom fighters; rather love God, then glorify him through your thoughts, words, and deeds. Whatever you do, don’t let it be said your efforts were apart from Christ.

On Stewardship

In Acts Chapter 4 we see a utopia of Christianity where everyone is taken care of, possessions are sold, and wealth is distributed so that none has need. It all sounds wonderful, until you realize this is a radically disobedient church which is utterly ignoring a direct command from Jesus Christ to GO into the world.

Within days this church is beset by sin and arguing (see chapters 5 and 6). God, in his mercy and reproof, scatters a large number of this church to the nations by only executing a few.

And it all culminates with this utopia becoming a desperately poor blight on Christian stewardship. (See Acts 11:29)

For you see, if you are a blacksmith and your brother is hungry and you sell your anvil to buy him food, then you satisfy an immediate need, but shortly both you and him will be hungry and in need of support. Without an anvil, you are no longer a blacksmith and subsequently you have no source of income. We have no record of the church in Antioch ever entering into the socialist mindset of Jerusalem, and we see that they are the first to send support to the bankrupt church in Judea.

What a fantastic parable it is in Matthew 25:14ff where Jesus leaves his disciples with talents (specifically here: money); two of which do fantastic things with what they are entrusted, one whom fails to do anything and proves to be a very bad steward. Missing from this parable is the servant who either steals the money for himself or donates it to someone else. The response to the one who at the very least was able to return the money was, “'You wicked and slothful servant!” and of whom it was commanded the angels, “Cast that worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Imagine then what the response will be to the one who gave the talent away.

As “Social Justice” (aka, wicked and slothful government) becomes more and more prevalent, let the church realize that there is absolutely no command to sell your field and give it to the poor. God has instead blessed you with an abundance so that you may give out of that abundance.

Use your God-given talents and possessions to minister to your brothers and sisters in need, to care for the widow and the orphan, but do not do so to the point that you yourself become the destitute one in need of help.

Read 2 Corinthians 8-9 and do your best not to become the disobedient church in Jerusalem, but rather be that church in Corinth, Ephesus, Antioch, and Philippi which gives out of abundance to support the work of the ministry in word, deed, truth, and action.

I pray that in this your zeal stirs up many. May you not be worthless.