Avoiding Evil

In the matter of Christian ethics I believe the Bible speaks distinctively to actions of the redeemed with undeniable and irrefutable moral absolutes. It speaks specifically to what is right and wrong and gives a general premise of what God declares as morally right. It does not, however, speak to all issues with the same specificity and general conception, thus leaving some things we deal with as Christians without answers as to whether a particular action is wholly right or wrong. Could there actually be issues that are left up to the believer to decide whether or not it is right or wrong for them to do? Doesn’t that sound just like relativism (what is right for you may not necessarily be right for me and vise versa), which is something that you all know I speak adamantly and strongly against? I admit, yes, there is a twinge of relativism here, but not in the sense of all moral judgments, it is only found within the context of what Paul calls disputable matters. The ethical absolutes found in Scripture destroy relativism at its very premise, but a small amount of relativity seeps in at this particular juncture. I must clarify that I find myself to be a strong proponent of moral absolutes and I hold strong and fast to God’s leadership on the ethical issues we face in society today, as do most conservative Christians. Nonetheless, it is within these boundaries that I find some Christians becoming hard nosed moral police, brutalizing other Christians for not holding to their own sense of right and wrong when dealing with these particular unknowns, or disputable matters.

Since Christianity is seen as one of the most intolerant and belligerent forms of religious expression in America and with conservatives being passionate about the Scriptures and the absolutes it brings forth, it may be hard to believe that within such a group there could be any Christian liberty. Even so, there are practices not covered in Scripture by a moral absolute and there are no commands that forbid these particular actions and therefore there must be some freedom in these areas for the Christian. The problem is, all of them have arguments for and against them. For example, while Scripture prohibits drunkenness (Eph 5:18), and while I think that even an occasional drink of alcoholic beverage is not wise, the Scriptures are still morally indifferent to social or occasional drinking. Do I think Christians should drink? No. But, while I believe that there are plenty of other logical reasons why Christians should not drink such as addiction, impaired judgment, poor witness, it’s a drug and while I believe that people drink for the wrong reasons, which is sinful, I still must conclude that the Bible certainly does not condemn the act of consuming alcohol in itself unless it leads to drunkenness or something else that the Bible speaks against. What is the absolute here? Drunkenness is sin. What is the moral indifference? Drinking small amounts of alcohol but not getting drunk. Other similar issues would be playing cards or poker but not gambling and social dancing if the intent is not sexual arousal or lust. Since there is no absolute here, how can we know whether or not Christians should be doing these things?

Paul enters into a similar situation in Romans 14, only the question is not alcohol or dancing, but it is eating meat that was offered to idols and holding one day special above another. The principles that Paul teaches in this instance are general to all disputable matters.

Accept anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about doubtful issues. One person believes he may eat anything but one who is weak eats only vegetables. One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat; and one who does not eat must not criticize one who does, because God has accepted him… One person considers one day to be above another day. Someone else considers every day to be the same. Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind…Romans 14:1-5

1. Respect your neighbor’s convictions
Let’s face it, there are some things the Bible simply does not discuss and then there are other things that it simply does not condemn. Yet there are people who have specific beliefs one way or the other about certain issues that may simply be arguments from silence. For instance, some would claim that TV is evil or secular music is evil and the Christians who use such things are involved in the work of the devil. However, the Bible does not specifically condemn either and I know many Christians who do watch TV and listen to secular music. Are they evil? No. Like anything else TV and music can be abused and can be used for evil things in which the Christian should use swift judgment on what he or she watches and listens to, but watching TV and listening to music is not inherently sinful. So what do we do? We respect each others belief. I should not look down on the person who refuses to watch TV and that person should not look down on me who chooses to watch it. We must respect each other. Each of us will give an account to God for what we do, why should we criticize each other over disputable?

Therefore, let us no longer criticize one another, but instead decide not to put a stumbling block or pitfall in your brother’s way… For if your brother is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. By what you eat, do not destroy that one for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves the Messiah in this way is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause stumbling by what he eats. It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble… Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. Romans 14:13-22

2. Respond to your neighbor’s convictions
Here is the hard part. As Christians we are quick to point out the easy thing, “Hey you are not allowed to judge me for what I believe and I am not allowed to judge you for what you believe”, and we would like to leave it at that. Paul goes on to further explain what should be done in light of disputable matters. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit trump disputable matters. What I mean by this is; if your actions negatively affect you or your neighbor’s righteousness, peace, or joy, then your actions have become sin. Whereas earlier we said drinking alcohol is not sinful if you do not get drunk, now we see that drinking alcohol can still be very sinful even if you do not get drunk. For instance, there are many people who are deeply offended by others who drink, especially those who come from families with a history of alcoholism and drunkenness, much like my own family. Christians drinking alcohol does deeply offend me, and therefore, for you to drink in my presence or to attempt to persuade me to drink is a sin. Drinking is wrong if you use it to get drunk, to drown your sorrows, to get a buzz, to fit in, and if your use of it offends your neighbor or causes another brother to stumble.

Why? Why should we have to give up things we enjoy so as not to offend or cause someone to stumble? Because it is our Christian duty to build up our neighbor in righteousness over seeking our own self-pleasure. “Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. Each one of us must please his neighbor for his good, in order to build him up.” Romans 15:1-2

What do you think about Christian Liberty? How do you interpret what Paul is trying to say in Romans 14? I’m interested in your opinions.

doughty \DOW-tee (”OW” as in “cow”)\ adjective

: marked by fearless resolution : valiant

Example sentence:
“Guy … is a doughty Swiss immigrant who insists the only cure for illness is fifteen minutes of violent gymnastics followed by a freezing shower.” (Tad Friend, Vogue, January 1991)

Did you know?
“Doughty” is a persevering Old English word. Its earliest form was “dyhtig,” but early on, the vowel changed, and the word became “dohtig.” That was probably due to influence from a related Old English word, “dohte,” that meant “had worth.” By the 13th century, the spelling “doughty” had begun to appear. The expected pronunciation would be \DAW-tee\, paralleling other similarly spelled old words like “bought” and “sought.” But over the centuries, the spelling was sometimes confused with that of the now obsolete word “doubty” (full of doubt), and thus, so it is conjectured, we have the pronunciation we use today

I received a comment on my Atheism post this week and I wanted to reply to it because it is a very stereotypical comment about religion and atheism. This comment contains some of the same arguments and thoughts that many have about this subject and I wanted to address these things specifically. This is a continuation of the atheism discussion from my previous post. Click the link above to read the post and comments for more background information…

” Atheism is the search for truth, whether we like what we learn or not. Believing in a god is believing in ignorance. Athiests (for the vast majority) do not want children to be exposed to things (sex, death, crime) that they cannot comprehend. Although I cannot speak for all Atheists when I say this, I am FAR more understanding in terms of the actions of men and women than any religious being.

I believe Atheism is not necessarily a search for truth, but it is more a search for identity. If you don’t believe in god or any deity then what are you, what do you have? Atheism is just the next thing to grapple onto. I believe when Atheists say “Atheism is a search for truth, whether we like what we learn or not” they are either not telling the truth or they don’t really realize what they are saying. If Atheism was in fact a search for truth and an atheist found some evidence of the existence of a god, would they give up atheism and become religious? I doubt it. Maybe they would. It is certainly possible that an atheists would believe in God after finding proof, but we can’t confuse that belief with saving faith or becoming a Christian. People can believe in God and still know nothing of salvation. It is of my personal opinion that a vast majority of atheists would simply discount any evidence that they didn’t really like and deny any truth that may point to a deity, all the while accepting any truth false truth (as pointed out by Flip) that may disprove the existence of a deity. This is not just a charactaristic of an atheist, we all tend to gravitate towards things that may prove what we believe because we are all plauged with immediate presuppositions. In that case, atheism can become a search for more evidence to attempt to disprove religion regardless of whether that evidence is true or false therefore giving people who do not believe in a deity and people who have no need for a deity something to identify with.

I have heard many self proclaimed atheists say that ”believing in god is believing in ignorance.” I would agree with them. Believing in God is ignorance to a person who is lost and without the Spirit of God. People who are spiritually inept do not and cannot understand the things of God. I don’t expect an atheist to believe in God or understand why I believe in God because I know that without the Spirit of God it is impossible for them. The Bible says this:

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14

This particular commenter says that he is far more understanding of the actions of men and women than any religious being. That is just arrogant non-sense. If that were the case and he had more knowledge than God then he himself would be greater than God and would in fact be God. No wisdom can match the knowledge of God and no strength of man can match the almighty power of God.

”For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” 1 Corinthians 1:25

I write this statements because of the rhetoric being spewn from Bush about how the U.S. must unite to stop evil. Deep down, I think religion had lost it’s true purpose, which is to provide people with strength and courage in times of darkness. To provide hope and encourage good will among humans. What a load. Religion has become corrupt. This war on terror is nothing more than bully-boy tactics at their worst, which wouldn’t be as bad if Bush wasn’t constantly saying that he has God on his side. When you think about, what good has come from religion? War, strife, suffering…anything else I may have missed?

Ever notice how everything is Bush’s fault? If there is something we don’t like, something we want to stand against, something that we don’t agree with then lets talk badly about it and blame it on Bush. The president has become the leading scapegoat of everyone’s garbage. That is lame. If you want to be against religion and if you want to be an atheist then fine, but don’t waffle around your explanation of why you think religion is bad by pointing fingers at Bush.

Now the ”true purpose” of religion has never been to give people strength, courage, and hope. That is an atheistic perception of what religion is. Atheists believe that religion is a creation of man to give humans something to have hope in and to give humanity something to believe in. To them, religion is a foolish fairytale that serves as a proverbial teddy bear to a bunch of insecure humans. They also speak about religion in a general sense, covering any system that proclaims a belief in any deity. Part of the problem with this is that I would agree that some religion is corrupt. All religions cannot be correct, not everyone can be right, and I am of the opinion that religion in of itself has become corrupt. The term religion is a corrupt term that covers a broad spectrum of different beliefs. I believe there is only one absolute truth, only one God, only one Messiah, and only one way to the Father and therefore there is only one “real” religion. The one true religion is in existence because the one true God is in exsistence. There are people who are saved by the one true God and therefore they live their lives to glorify Him and love Him forever. In doing so they show the world that God exists. While that brings hope, courage, and strength to those God came to save, it is unnerving for those who do not know God, so to them religion is foolishness. To the Christian, however, Jesus is their life.

The reason people become Atheists and choose science over religion is because they believe in truth, in logic. Every religion I have heard about is full of contradictions and evil (Christianity, in particular). I am an Atheist, so, according to your logic, that makes me a lonely, sad grain of sand on a seemingly infinite beach. But I don’t feel sad; on the contrary, I feel free as a bird. I wish that all of the world could just drop their religions (or, at the lest, their prejudice for other religions) and help their fellow man. We all need to become A LOT more selfless. Let the Homosexuals have marriage. What’s it matter? You can’t say it’s not normal, because that would mean you believe in the science of biology, and not religion. Religion has no clear opinion on the matter, so let the babies have their bottles.

Again, I would say that the reason people become atheist is because they are lost in a world where you have to be one thing or another to have something to identify with. A person cannot simply be a person who doesn’t believe in God, but instead you have to grab onto something and you have to have a name for yourself, and you have to have others join you in your quest, and you have to call yourself something. Atheism in itself is like religion; it’s just a religion without a deity. It’s an identification of who and what you are and what you stand for as a group. Science and even atheism has its fair share of contradictions. Science contradicts itself all the time, it is constantly in a state of change and finding areas where it was wrong. Atheism is against the very thing it finds itself being, a “support” group meant to provide security and courage in the grouping and labeling of people with like interest and thought.

As with many people who claim to be atheist, this commenter apparently believes that you cannot believe in both religion and science. I would disagree. I believe that Christianity and science fit perfectly together. Science itself tends to prove the Bible right over time; it just needs more time to catch up. Since science is in a constant state of change, one day it will reveal what is true, it just takes time to get there. I think science itself is a valuable asset to Christianity when it is done correctly and seen for what it really is.

Towards the statement by “PRESSED” : you make it sound like atheists are inhuman; we do not want minors to be exposed to sex early on. Everything must be taught in due time. Science is rejected by many religious people because It is, in reality, an anti-god weapon. If not for science, people would still believe that diseases and viruses are caused by an angry deity. Got a tornado on your hands? God’s mad at you. Kill a man? Go beg for forgiveness and your good. With time, science will answer all questions. If that means we find out that, for example, people were created by a god, than I will become a believer. But I will never convert to any of these atrocious religions that exist now.

I don’t reject science and I do not know any religious people who do. I think atheists immediatly think that religious people cannot agree with science, but I think they are leading themselves into false assumptions. The other thing is that I do not believe all bad things that happen are punishments from an angry God, that is another false assumption on the part of many atheists. I agree with the fact that in time science will in fact answer many questions, but it isn’t that easy. Another false assumption is in the atheists belief that if they only had proof then they would believe in a deity. To say you will become a believer just as soon as science answers these questions for you, as if you have something to do with becoming a believer, is a misunderstanding of spirituality all together. When I typed this entry I made some false assumptions. I assumed that belief in God and salvation had to be one in the same and therefore an athiest couldn’t see proof and believe in God. I must clarify. It is possible that someone can believe in God and yet never attain salvation or spirituality. Therefore I believe it is true that an athiest could in fact find proof in science and believe that a deity exists, but that doesn’t necessarily lead them down the road to salvation. “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder.” James 2:19 There is no amount of proof that will cause you to simply become a believer. ”If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” Luke 16:31 There is no amount of proof that will make you believe, not even someone rising from the dead. Belief is in God’s hands, not in the hands of science or proof. Let me restate this. There is no amount of proof of the existence of a deity that will simply lead people to saving faith. The rich man thought that if someone would rise from the dead and tell his family of the reality of hell that they would believe, but that wasn’t the case. Saving faith comes from God and God alone. Can an athiest find proof of God and believe that God exists, yes. Will that make them spiritaually alive and will they come to salvation upon the revelation of the existence of God? Not necessarily.

I finish here by asking one final question: what are all of you getting out of your religions? Think about that while I live a care-free life following the rules of man, and knowing that I will not be doomed to a life of reincarnations, damnation, eternal happiness (even humans need a little strife), or THE DEAD ZONE. Only wonderful nothingness. And if I have lived a fulfilling life, knowing that I’ve made the world a better place, I’ll die with a smile on my face.

If, indeed, atheists believe there is no God and it turns out there is none, then I agree, they can die with a smile on their face. However, if they are wrong, I can guarantee they will never smile again. Life apart from the sustaining creator of the universe is a life in eternal torment. Truth is not found in the minds of men, nor does it dwell in logic or find its foundation in science. Truth is what it is, truth. It doesn’t change, it doesn’t come into existence and then fall out of existence, it exists how it is, like it always has, it is the one foundational absolute that no one can change, it is truth. Life is not about creating it, but finding it. People can believe what they want, and do quite often, but that doesn’t make what they believe right. To believe in truth is to believe in what is solid, what is founded, and set before the beginning of time. Therefore everyone cannot be right, all religions (including atheism) cannot be right, not all of science can even be right. I find truth in what has always been in existence, God Himself the creator and sustainer of truth. God is truth, and in him our existence is real. There is no amount of science, philosophical thought, or human inhibition that will change Gods existence because you cannot change what is founded in real truth.

If you have been a reader of my blog for any length of time then you know of my displeasure with Kansas City, MO. While I have caught flack for saying that I hate Kansas City and while many folks would question my Christianity and my love for Christ simply because I do not like their nasty little city, I still maintain my repulsion of this place. I have written several blog entries about my horrible experiences in KC and tonight I have several new stories to confirm my initial feelings for such a place as this.

Nasty BBQ
First off I hear people constantly praising the BBQ of K.C. Now I have had some excellent BBQ and I have eaten some really good BBQ here in Kansas City, but today we went to a place that served some of the worst BBQ I have ever eaten in my entire life. I paid 10 bucks for some really nasty KC BBQ at a place called The Smoke House. Instead of pulled pork they served large pork slices with some sauce squirted on them and some really dry and disgusting ribs. I was unimpressed.

The Tire Dilemma
Then on our way back the school I find my truck sitting a little crooked. It has a flat. Several of the other guys helped me change the tire in the icy cold, rainy weather and then we went back to class. At 4:30 in the afternoon I drive over to Wal-Mart super center to get my truck tire fixed. After standing in line for about 10 minutes I tell the guy at the register that I need my tire repaired and he said, “Sorry, we are not doing anymore tires today.” Keep in mind that it is 4:30 and their tire center does not close until 7:00. I asked why and he said that they needed to shut it down earlier in order to clean up and get stuff done to go home on time. So they decided to shut the place down two and a half hours early. I stood in amazement. He told me to go out and check with the mechanics to see if they would fix the flat, so I went out to the shop where the guy told me the same song and dance story about shutting down early to get cleaned up so that they could get out of work on time… 2 and a half hours early. While I was out there my friend heard them tell other people that their computer wouldn’t allow them to take anymore tire requests and so they couldn’t do tires anymore that evening. Sounds like a load of stuff to me.

I leave Wal-Mart and drive over to Goodyear. They close in two hours and so I figured I had plenty of time to get in and get my tire fixed. As I walked in, the two guys that were working this evening were standing up front playing with a digital camera, taking pictures of their friends on the other side of the counter. They were laughing and playing around, doing absolutely nothing. It was at this point that one of them said “can I help you.” To which I said, “Can you fix a flat tire for me this evening.” To which he replied, “Not tonight. We have several things that need to be done and it will take all the way up to the time we close to get them done.” I walked out of Goodyear simply perplexed that I got the same exact answer as the people at Wal-Mart.

Next I drive down to Firestone who closes in two hours. Again with the hope that I had plenty of time I walk in and up to the counter. This time the guy grabs his clipboard and walks up to the counter ready to take down my information. I asked him if he could fix a flat tire and he said, “Not tonight, we have several things we need to do and it will take all the way up to the time we close to get them done. Sorry.” Can you believe it! All three places gave me the exact same exuse. Apparently people here are a bunch of lazy bums with no work ethic at all. They would rather turn away buisness than have to work on soemthing two hours before they close.

So I drive over to Mineke and walk in at 5:15. The guy asked if I needed help and I asked him if I could get my tire fixed. He said, “Well, I just closed out my drawer for the evening but I think we could change that for you real quick.” Mineke closed at 5:00 and I was there 15 minutes after five and they had already closed out their cash drawer for the evening and yet they decided to go ahead and fix my tire. Finally, some people with some sense.

It makes me mad that people around here are like that. Rude, lazy, and could care less about whether they help you or not. Where are the managers? Where are the people in charge of these jerks and why aren’t they doing something to improve the quality of their service? Why does the Kansas City area have to have the worst of everything… At least a small beacon of light was found in a little mineke station that had already closed for the evening.

Pressed

I left today to return to Kansas City for another seminary class. This time I am taking a class called Supervised Ministry I. This class teaches us the essentials of finding a mentor, understanding our own theological reflections, improving our communication skills, listening skills, assertion skills, and conflict management skills. I am currently reading the book People Skills by Robert Bolton which deals with communication. Honestly, one of the biggest barriers that I have is a lack of good communication skills. I can write, talk, and think well, however, when it comes to actually relating to others I find myself lacking, as do most other people since the majority of humanity does not know how to effectively communicate. I am certainly interested in the subject of this class, so it should be fun. I will be back home on Wednesday.

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Good news for bloggers and bad news for spammers! We upgraded to the new version of Movable Type. While it does cost money, it comes with a variety of features that I enjoy. The first of these is the ability to hold up any comment from being posted on my site until I give approval of it. This allows me to delete and block all of the spam messages and then approve of other appropriate comments left on my site. Spam will be seen no more, which is a relief to me. The other thing I am fairly excited about is the ability to post things in the future. For instance, I can write an entry and then set it to post sometime in the future. I don’t know how it works, but it should allow me to be gone and still effectively post each day.

The only issue I have now is the unbelievable slow loading time that my blog suffers. Within the past two days I have had several complaints about how slow loads, and I have received several comments from people who were going to read my site but didn’t want to wait. Even on B.E. my site is not loading fast enough for people to read it before the timer comes up and sometimes it doesn’t even load at all. Something needs to be done… I just don’t know what to do yet.

Pressed