When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner my Mom’s cooking is unrivaled. One of my favorite dishes is her candied yams. With absolute care and expert precision, she adds the essential ingredients such as brown sugar, marshmallows and walnuts – and a few hours later the oven yields the incredible result. Now imagine if someone were to open the oven door while my Mom was away, and begin to add ingredients that do not belong in the recipe like anchovies, ranch dressing and pickle juice. The end result would be drastically different. In fact, the dish would be completely ruined.
The church of Colossae faced a similar contamination. The problem was syncretism, combining ideas from other philosophies and religions with Christian truth. The resulting heresy later became known as Gnosticism, emphasizing special knowledge (gnosis) and denying Christ as God and Savior. Not unlike the church of Colossae, today’s Church struggles with the conglomeration of New Age philosophies and religious pluralism.
Combating this devious error, Paul stresses Christ’s deity, his connection with the Father, and his sacrificial death on the cross for the sins of the world. Only by being connected with Christ through faith can anyone have eternal life and only through a continuing connection with him can anyone be justified before God. “But now [God] has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel” (Colossians 1:22-23a). With clarity and passion, Paul teaches Christ is God incarnate and the only way to forgiveness and peace with God the Father.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
biblical authority - FAQ and halogen church's responses
1. What is biblical authority?
As the written Word of God, the Bible is the supreme and final authority in faith and practice. It functions as the norm which the church’s tradition, reason, and experience must serve. Its authority is established in the believer’s and the church’s life by the testimony of the Holy Spirit—the same Spirit who inspired the writers of Scripture and who now converts and makes holy those who listen to Scripture. The Bible’s primary purpose is to confront us with the Word of God in the person of Jesus Christ through whom God’s grace and truth are definitively revealed (John 1:14, 17).
2. How does biblical authority relate to the question of authorship?
All Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but this does not mean that the human authors were God’s passive robots nor that God dictated to them what they wrote. In a way that goes beyond human comprehension, God was at work in the process of writing the documents that make up our Bible: divine revelation was incarnate in human words, much like the mystery of the person of Jesus Christ who was fully divine and fully human. Just as Jesus of Nazareth astounded people with his authority when he spoke (Matt 7:28-29), so God speaks authoritatively through Scripture with its variety of human authors, cultural expressions, and literary genres.
3. Why does Rev. Izzy Matos preach from the TNIV (Today's New International Version)?
There are four reasons this edition of the Bible is chosen.
1) Word updates: Some of the improvements in the TNIV text are simple word changes that reflect contemporary English terms. For example, the "sixth hour" is accurately translated as "noon" in the modern understanding of time (Mark 15:33); 2) Gender: Without exception, the TNIV retains gender-accurate, masculine terminology for references to God. This is a theological understanding and commitment that the CBT, standing in concert with the Church throughout the ages, considers inviolable. There are passages in the TNIV, however, in which the contemporary English rendition used to refer to men and women has been translated to accurately reflect the original language, context, and understanding. Where the NIV previously used "he," "man," or "men" to indicate all people, the TNIV, in many cases, renders these passages as "person," "people," or other terminology that reflects the meaning of the original language. In no cases do these updates impose upon or change the doctrinal impact of Scripture; 3) The contributors to the TNIV are some of the most well-respected scholars in the world; and 4) The TNIV is a strong translation that takes into account the most recent scholarship on the ancient manuscripts.
4. Is the Halogen Church associated with any denomination? (To what part of the Christian family do we belong?)
The Halogen Church was founded in 2004 as the third service of Light and Life Christian Fellowship, a Free Methodist (Wesleyans) church. Rev. Izzy Matos became the lead pastor of the Halogen Church in 2007 and his leadership reflected an "interdenominational" presentation of the Gospel Message, with strong adherence to Messianic Judaism and Wesleyanism respectively. The Halogen Church presents itself as a local body of Christ that is both evangelical and ecumenical, and the Theology remains the heart of its Wesleyan and Holiness theological heritage.
5. How does Wesleyanism inform our understanding of biblical authority?
John Wesley believed in the “authority” and “sufficiency” of Scripture for “all things necessary to salvation.” These affirmations reflect the “Thirty-nine Articles” of Anglicanism (1571), which influenced the Methodist “Articles of Religion” (1784). Wesley was Anglican, and his Methodist movement affirmed the primacy of biblical authority. He also affirmed the genuine—albeit secondary—religious authority of church tradition, critical thinking, and relevant experience for reflecting upon and living out Christianity. Over time, this fourfold understanding of religious authority became known as the “Wesleyan quadrilateral,” which includes Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. But the quadrilateral considers scripture the final authority in matters of Christian beliefs, values, and practices. Thus, Wesley agreed with the Protestant Reformers with regard to sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”) as being the final religious authority. The Halogen Church embraced this Wesleyan heritage in the development of its “Statement of Faith.” In addition, the church drew upon ecumenical language from the National Association of Evangelicals’ “Statement of Faith,” which describes Scripture as “the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.” The term “inspiration,” of course, comes from Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16), and “infallible” reflects the “Westminster Confession” (1625), a Reformed confession. Their usage preserves centuries of Protestant and ecumenical understandings of the nature of biblical authority, and delimits both modernist and fundamentalist innovations in describing Scripture. Modernist and fundamentalist understandings of biblical authority are thought to be more dependent upon the Enlightenment than upon Scripture itself. The Halogen Church continues to be informed by Wesleyanism as well as by ecumenical Protestantism in its understanding of biblical authority. The 2006 “Position Statement on Evangelical Commitment” states: “Reflecting our Wesleyan-Holiness heritage, we consider right living important along with right belief. We seek truth primarily through Scripture and integrate other sources such as reason, tradition, and experience.” Scripture represents the University’s primary religious authority, but it is a complex understanding, which integrates the best hermeneutical tools in interpreting Scripture. Although Christians may advocate simple faith, Wesley never understood it to be simplistic. If biblical authority is to be relevant today, then it must be promoted in ways that both conserve and progress in its understanding, assessment and application of Scripture.
6. What is distinctly evangelical about the Halogen Church?
One answer to this is that our church’s statement of faith is a solidly evangelical affirmation that directly reflects the language of the National Association of Evangelicals’ statement of faith. While this is true, the better answer to this question is that each staff member and leader approaches his or her discipline with the three concerns that have characterized evangelicalism since its beginning: 1) the desire to discern the truths of Christianity (orthodoxy); 2) a search for how we might best apply those truths in our callings (orthopraxy); and 3) the aspiration to experience transformation and encourage Christ-likeness in others (orthopathy).
7. How does your church leadership seek to instill a love of the Scriptures in the ethos of the congregation?
Everyone loves a love letter, especially when the receivers of the letter know that the sender is magnificent and beautiful. The Bible is more than a letter; and God the sender exceeds our ideas of magnificent and beautiful, but this only means more reasons to love the Bible. We believe that our church participants grow in love for the Bible when they learn what it says about God and His people, when they understand the witness to God's unconditional love, and also when they learn about how the cherished gift of Scripture came to our hands. It is both the story in the Bible and the story of the Bible that inspires love for the Bible. We therefore tell both stories in ever deepening stages throughout the journey of our members. At the same time we do not neglect to share how God has touched us and continues to do so through the gift of Scripture so that our church participants may know of our own love for the Bible and the personal quality of our devotion.
8. How does the academic study of the Bible differ from devotional study of the Bible?
Within the Wesleyan evangelical tradition that the Halogen Church represents, all forms of Bible study, whether academic or devotional, take place within a commitment to the inspiration and authority of the Bible. However, the academic ways of studying the Bible that we emphasize in our sermons, seminars and classes ask different questions of the Bible than devotional study does and use different methods to answer them. While devotional uses of the Bible focus directly on how the Bible can build up our spiritual lives and our relationship with God, academic study asks literary, theological, and historical questions that increase our understanding of the Bible, God, and its worldview. In the sanctuary and in the seminar room, we critically employ different approaches to biblical interpretation in order to strengthen our grasp of the meaning and significance of biblical passages in their original context, in Christian history, and in our lives today. In this way, the understanding of the Bible we gain by using scholarly methods enhances and deepens our devotional study of the Bible.
As the written Word of God, the Bible is the supreme and final authority in faith and practice. It functions as the norm which the church’s tradition, reason, and experience must serve. Its authority is established in the believer’s and the church’s life by the testimony of the Holy Spirit—the same Spirit who inspired the writers of Scripture and who now converts and makes holy those who listen to Scripture. The Bible’s primary purpose is to confront us with the Word of God in the person of Jesus Christ through whom God’s grace and truth are definitively revealed (John 1:14, 17).
2. How does biblical authority relate to the question of authorship?
All Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but this does not mean that the human authors were God’s passive robots nor that God dictated to them what they wrote. In a way that goes beyond human comprehension, God was at work in the process of writing the documents that make up our Bible: divine revelation was incarnate in human words, much like the mystery of the person of Jesus Christ who was fully divine and fully human. Just as Jesus of Nazareth astounded people with his authority when he spoke (Matt 7:28-29), so God speaks authoritatively through Scripture with its variety of human authors, cultural expressions, and literary genres.
3. Why does Rev. Izzy Matos preach from the TNIV (Today's New International Version)?
There are four reasons this edition of the Bible is chosen.
1) Word updates: Some of the improvements in the TNIV text are simple word changes that reflect contemporary English terms. For example, the "sixth hour" is accurately translated as "noon" in the modern understanding of time (Mark 15:33); 2) Gender: Without exception, the TNIV retains gender-accurate, masculine terminology for references to God. This is a theological understanding and commitment that the CBT, standing in concert with the Church throughout the ages, considers inviolable. There are passages in the TNIV, however, in which the contemporary English rendition used to refer to men and women has been translated to accurately reflect the original language, context, and understanding. Where the NIV previously used "he," "man," or "men" to indicate all people, the TNIV, in many cases, renders these passages as "person," "people," or other terminology that reflects the meaning of the original language. In no cases do these updates impose upon or change the doctrinal impact of Scripture; 3) The contributors to the TNIV are some of the most well-respected scholars in the world; and 4) The TNIV is a strong translation that takes into account the most recent scholarship on the ancient manuscripts.
4. Is the Halogen Church associated with any denomination? (To what part of the Christian family do we belong?)
The Halogen Church was founded in 2004 as the third service of Light and Life Christian Fellowship, a Free Methodist (Wesleyans) church. Rev. Izzy Matos became the lead pastor of the Halogen Church in 2007 and his leadership reflected an "interdenominational" presentation of the Gospel Message, with strong adherence to Messianic Judaism and Wesleyanism respectively. The Halogen Church presents itself as a local body of Christ that is both evangelical and ecumenical, and the Theology remains the heart of its Wesleyan and Holiness theological heritage.
5. How does Wesleyanism inform our understanding of biblical authority?
John Wesley believed in the “authority” and “sufficiency” of Scripture for “all things necessary to salvation.” These affirmations reflect the “Thirty-nine Articles” of Anglicanism (1571), which influenced the Methodist “Articles of Religion” (1784). Wesley was Anglican, and his Methodist movement affirmed the primacy of biblical authority. He also affirmed the genuine—albeit secondary—religious authority of church tradition, critical thinking, and relevant experience for reflecting upon and living out Christianity. Over time, this fourfold understanding of religious authority became known as the “Wesleyan quadrilateral,” which includes Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. But the quadrilateral considers scripture the final authority in matters of Christian beliefs, values, and practices. Thus, Wesley agreed with the Protestant Reformers with regard to sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”) as being the final religious authority. The Halogen Church embraced this Wesleyan heritage in the development of its “Statement of Faith.” In addition, the church drew upon ecumenical language from the National Association of Evangelicals’ “Statement of Faith,” which describes Scripture as “the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.” The term “inspiration,” of course, comes from Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16), and “infallible” reflects the “Westminster Confession” (1625), a Reformed confession. Their usage preserves centuries of Protestant and ecumenical understandings of the nature of biblical authority, and delimits both modernist and fundamentalist innovations in describing Scripture. Modernist and fundamentalist understandings of biblical authority are thought to be more dependent upon the Enlightenment than upon Scripture itself. The Halogen Church continues to be informed by Wesleyanism as well as by ecumenical Protestantism in its understanding of biblical authority. The 2006 “Position Statement on Evangelical Commitment” states: “Reflecting our Wesleyan-Holiness heritage, we consider right living important along with right belief. We seek truth primarily through Scripture and integrate other sources such as reason, tradition, and experience.” Scripture represents the University’s primary religious authority, but it is a complex understanding, which integrates the best hermeneutical tools in interpreting Scripture. Although Christians may advocate simple faith, Wesley never understood it to be simplistic. If biblical authority is to be relevant today, then it must be promoted in ways that both conserve and progress in its understanding, assessment and application of Scripture.
6. What is distinctly evangelical about the Halogen Church?
One answer to this is that our church’s statement of faith is a solidly evangelical affirmation that directly reflects the language of the National Association of Evangelicals’ statement of faith. While this is true, the better answer to this question is that each staff member and leader approaches his or her discipline with the three concerns that have characterized evangelicalism since its beginning: 1) the desire to discern the truths of Christianity (orthodoxy); 2) a search for how we might best apply those truths in our callings (orthopraxy); and 3) the aspiration to experience transformation and encourage Christ-likeness in others (orthopathy).
7. How does your church leadership seek to instill a love of the Scriptures in the ethos of the congregation?
Everyone loves a love letter, especially when the receivers of the letter know that the sender is magnificent and beautiful. The Bible is more than a letter; and God the sender exceeds our ideas of magnificent and beautiful, but this only means more reasons to love the Bible. We believe that our church participants grow in love for the Bible when they learn what it says about God and His people, when they understand the witness to God's unconditional love, and also when they learn about how the cherished gift of Scripture came to our hands. It is both the story in the Bible and the story of the Bible that inspires love for the Bible. We therefore tell both stories in ever deepening stages throughout the journey of our members. At the same time we do not neglect to share how God has touched us and continues to do so through the gift of Scripture so that our church participants may know of our own love for the Bible and the personal quality of our devotion.
8. How does the academic study of the Bible differ from devotional study of the Bible?
Within the Wesleyan evangelical tradition that the Halogen Church represents, all forms of Bible study, whether academic or devotional, take place within a commitment to the inspiration and authority of the Bible. However, the academic ways of studying the Bible that we emphasize in our sermons, seminars and classes ask different questions of the Bible than devotional study does and use different methods to answer them. While devotional uses of the Bible focus directly on how the Bible can build up our spiritual lives and our relationship with God, academic study asks literary, theological, and historical questions that increase our understanding of the Bible, God, and its worldview. In the sanctuary and in the seminar room, we critically employ different approaches to biblical interpretation in order to strengthen our grasp of the meaning and significance of biblical passages in their original context, in Christian history, and in our lives today. In this way, the understanding of the Bible we gain by using scholarly methods enhances and deepens our devotional study of the Bible.
Friday, April 22, 2011
impacting faith
Sharing our Story in light of the Christian Story
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
- Luke 4:18-19
What is Evangelism? However trivial or obvious this question may seem, the fact is many people are confused as to what the word "evangelism" actually means. To many, both believers and non-believers alike, "evangelism" is a scary word. It is even a condescending word. Regrettably, but perhaps fairly, evangelism has been given a bad reputation. To non-believers, evangelism is coercive, manipulative, and judgmental. To many believers, evangelism is embarrassing, theologically complicated, and condemning. The word carries with it many negative connotations that people must wrestle with in order to get to the true beauty behind this wonderful word. Yet once understood, evangelism opens a new perspective of Kingdom work in which a Christian can joyfully and truthfully share what the Lord has done in and for him or her. In short, evangelism is the process of communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ, through both words and actions, to those who have not heard it or who have not yet responded positively to it.
There are those who think relational evangelism is important but "not for me." The truth is, whether or not you score high on a spiritual gifts inventory or strengths assessment in evangelism, if you are a Christian you ARE an evangelist! Every Christian must recognize he or she is commissioned to preach, that is, proclaim the Good News of salvation. We are bridge-builders through our personal testimonies and Christian witness. We all have wounds. Those who have been healed by God's loving power have a story: Christ healed these wounds, which have turned to scars, and every scar is a bridge to someone's broken heart.
We just finished an evangelism campaign at Halogen, which set out to encourage our church family to faithfully do what they are already appointed to do, evangelize. One of our goals was to help people conquer their fears in sharing faith. In spite of how people have misused this word, true evangelism begins with a story. Our story. This involves being real, authentic, genuine and unashamed to tell the world how the Lord found, saved, healed and commissioned us. Then, we share how our story, how we were pulled out of the muddy waters, fits in with the story of God redeeming humankind through Jesus Christ.
So do not be intimidated or turned off by the word evangelism. Rather, embrace your call to share faith, ask the Lord for a sense of urgency to tell the world the good things God has done in and through you, and be used in powerful ways to introduce people to the One who will heal and save and reconcile them to God, Jesus Christ.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
- Luke 4:18-19
What is Evangelism? However trivial or obvious this question may seem, the fact is many people are confused as to what the word "evangelism" actually means. To many, both believers and non-believers alike, "evangelism" is a scary word. It is even a condescending word. Regrettably, but perhaps fairly, evangelism has been given a bad reputation. To non-believers, evangelism is coercive, manipulative, and judgmental. To many believers, evangelism is embarrassing, theologically complicated, and condemning. The word carries with it many negative connotations that people must wrestle with in order to get to the true beauty behind this wonderful word. Yet once understood, evangelism opens a new perspective of Kingdom work in which a Christian can joyfully and truthfully share what the Lord has done in and for him or her. In short, evangelism is the process of communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ, through both words and actions, to those who have not heard it or who have not yet responded positively to it.
There are those who think relational evangelism is important but "not for me." The truth is, whether or not you score high on a spiritual gifts inventory or strengths assessment in evangelism, if you are a Christian you ARE an evangelist! Every Christian must recognize he or she is commissioned to preach, that is, proclaim the Good News of salvation. We are bridge-builders through our personal testimonies and Christian witness. We all have wounds. Those who have been healed by God's loving power have a story: Christ healed these wounds, which have turned to scars, and every scar is a bridge to someone's broken heart.
We just finished an evangelism campaign at Halogen, which set out to encourage our church family to faithfully do what they are already appointed to do, evangelize. One of our goals was to help people conquer their fears in sharing faith. In spite of how people have misused this word, true evangelism begins with a story. Our story. This involves being real, authentic, genuine and unashamed to tell the world how the Lord found, saved, healed and commissioned us. Then, we share how our story, how we were pulled out of the muddy waters, fits in with the story of God redeeming humankind through Jesus Christ.
So do not be intimidated or turned off by the word evangelism. Rather, embrace your call to share faith, ask the Lord for a sense of urgency to tell the world the good things God has done in and through you, and be used in powerful ways to introduce people to the One who will heal and save and reconcile them to God, Jesus Christ.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
what about people who have never heard?
As a Christian, from the earliest days of my giving a defense for my faith in Jesus Christ, I have been asked countless times, "If people need Jesus in order to be saved, what about people who have never heard about Jesus?" Let me begin by saying I think this is a good question, a fair question, and deserves a good response. Throughout the years I have attempted to articulate my thoughts on the matter, sometimes successfully while other times not so much.
Working through our Evangelism series at Halogen, I have found myself facing this question again, this time not by any one person in particular, but by the biblical text itself. In having the audacity to write a sermon on the Heart of God, I have been confronted with a question from the most popular verse of the Bible, "If God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, surely He loves those who have never heard of His only begotten Son. But what does that mean for such people?"
So, can a person who has never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ be saved? In studying John 3:16-21, I read a well articulated answer to this question. In his commentary on the Gospel of John, F.F. Bruce treats this question with compassion, while staying true to essential doctrine and the Word of God. Bruce writes:
"No explicit mention is made here of those who have never had the opportunity of believing in Christ, those on whom the light in its fullness has never shone. But John's words probably unfold the principle of their judgment too. As the eternal Word came to men and women before becoming incarnate in Christ, so it is with the light of God. If men and women are judged by their response to the light, they are judged by their response to such light as is available to them. All true light is in some degree and effulgence from him who is the light of the world. Those who accept the partial light that is available to them will gladly accept the perfect light when it shines on them. Those who refuse the light, in whatever fashion it shines on them, pronounce [judgment] on themselves."
F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John - Introduction, Exposition, and Notes, 92.
Working through our Evangelism series at Halogen, I have found myself facing this question again, this time not by any one person in particular, but by the biblical text itself. In having the audacity to write a sermon on the Heart of God, I have been confronted with a question from the most popular verse of the Bible, "If God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, surely He loves those who have never heard of His only begotten Son. But what does that mean for such people?"
So, can a person who has never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ be saved? In studying John 3:16-21, I read a well articulated answer to this question. In his commentary on the Gospel of John, F.F. Bruce treats this question with compassion, while staying true to essential doctrine and the Word of God. Bruce writes:
"No explicit mention is made here of those who have never had the opportunity of believing in Christ, those on whom the light in its fullness has never shone. But John's words probably unfold the principle of their judgment too. As the eternal Word came to men and women before becoming incarnate in Christ, so it is with the light of God. If men and women are judged by their response to the light, they are judged by their response to such light as is available to them. All true light is in some degree and effulgence from him who is the light of the world. Those who accept the partial light that is available to them will gladly accept the perfect light when it shines on them. Those who refuse the light, in whatever fashion it shines on them, pronounce [judgment] on themselves."
F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John - Introduction, Exposition, and Notes, 92.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
the problem of evil
Below is a good article on God and evil written by Dr. Norman L. Geisler. It is an apologetic helpful for discussions with those who are being kept from faith as a result of the difficult juxtaposition of an all-powerful, all-loving God and undeniable evil. I must add that I wish Dr. Geisler used "Satan" rather than "Lucifer." In addition, some verses may be somewhat out of context and a few statements are made prematurely with need of more support. Nevertheless, Geisler raises 9 good points for discussion.
By Dr. Norman L. Geisler
The topic of evil offers many on-ramps to preaching powerful sermons and proclaiming the gospel. The opportunity is perpetually ripe because people constantly have questions they would like answered. As we articulate answers to a specific audience, our speech should “always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Col. 4:6). As preachers, we face audiences asking questions such as:
* If God created only good things, then where did evil come from?
* What caused Lucifer to commit the first sin when there was no sinful tendency in him or anyone tempting him to sin?
* If God knew Lucifer, and later Adam, would sin, then why did He create them?
* If God is the author of everything real, and sin is real, how can we avoid
concluding that God is the author of evil?
* Why does God allow innocent suffering?
* If God is the Creator of the natural world, then why does He allow natural
disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes?
* Why do bad things happen to good people?
* If God is all-powerful, why doesn’t He intervene and stop the evil in this world?
* If God is all-loving, why is there a hell?
More Questions Than Answers?
Frankly, there seem to be more questions than answers. But the Bible commands us to be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). To be honest, there was a time when I was not prepared to answer these questions, either. However, after 50 years of pondering them, I have discovered some things that satisfy me. In the hope that others may be helped, too, I have compiled a great many insights and answers in my recent book, If God, Why Evil? It attempts to respond to all of these questions and more in a simple, biblical, and reasonable way. Below is an abbreviated compilation that I hope preachers will find of great benefit and use in their sermons.
The Atheist’s Dilemma
Let me begin with the first public debate I ever had with an atheist. He brought the question up, as they usually do: “If there is a good God, then why does He allow all the evil and injustice in this world?” Having read C. S. Lewis, I was prepared to respond: “If you are claiming there is injustice in the world, where do you get your moral standard of justice? If there is an absolute moral law, then there must be an absolute moral Law-Giver.” His reply was so frank and to the point that I hardly knew what to say. He confessed, “I don’t have any absolute moral law by which I know there is evil in the world. My judgment is simply based on my own benign moral feeling.”
C. S. Lewis's response to this idea is worth pondering: “My argument [as an atheist] was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust. A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. . . . Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too …” The fact is that either the atheist’s argument presupposes God as the moral Law-Giver, or else the argument that God “allows” evil and injustice collapses.
Evil Cries Out for God
Rather than cry out against God, evil actually cries out for God in at least three ways. First, as just observed, we have no way of knowing something is really evil unless there is a God who established the moral law by which we can judge it to be evil. Second, as every pastor knows, the only real help when someone is suffering comes from God. To whom else shall we turn—He has the words of eternal life (John 6:68). When this life is fading, the only real comfort is the hope of eternal life. As the apostle put it, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
Third, the only realistic expectation that there will be an end of evil someday is that Christ has already defeated it. Hebrews declares of Christ that “he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). The apostle John saw the completion of this process when he wrote, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).
If God Created Only Good Things, Then Where Did Evil Come From?
If God is all-good and if He created only good things, then where did evil come from? How can evil come from what is perfectly good? Long ago, St. Augustine answered this by noting that one of the good things God made was free choice. It is good to be free. We all enjoy it. No one marches against freedom. Even if someone did, he would be enjoying the good of his freedom to do so. But if it is good to be free, then evil is possible. We cannot be free to love God unless we are also free not to love Him. We cannot be free to praise God unless we are also free to curse Him. So evil began when a free creature (Lucifer) used his good freedom to will the good of the creature over the good of the Creator.
What Caused Lucifer to Sin?
What caused Lucifer to use his freedom to sin against God? It certainly was not God, since He tempts no one (James 1:13). Further, there was no other sinful being in existence, tempting him to sin. Neither was his nature imperfect, for God made every creature good. What then was the cause of Lucifer’s sin? Very simply put, it was Lucifer himself. A free action is one that is self-caused; that is, caused by oneself. It can’t be caused by another, for in that case they would be responsible for the sin. Nor can it be uncaused, for every action has a cause. Nothing cannot be the cause of something. This is a fundamental law of all thought: “Nothing comes from nothing; nothing ever could.” But if Lucifer’s prideful act of rebellion against God (1 Tim. 3:6) was not caused by another or uncaused, then it had to be caused by himself.
But If God Is All-Good and All-Powerful, Why Is Evil Not Defeated?
This raises another problem, one that has not passed the notice of unbelievers. When Lucifer sinned, why didn’t God nip it in the bud? Why didn’t He stomp it out? In short, if the God of the Bible is all-powerful, He could defeat it. If He is all-good, He would defeat it. But it is obvious to all that evil is not defeated. (Just watch the evening news or look around your neighborhood.)
Evil is everywhere. This is a painful dilemma for a Christian since, unlike Rabbi Kushner, we cannot say as he did: “If we can bring ourselves to acknowledge that there are some things God does not control, many good things become possible.” And, “Are you capable of forgiving God even when you have found out that He is not perfect…?”
In short, we cannot agree with Rabbi Kushner that God is not all-powerful or that He is not all-good. For how would we know God was not perfect unless we had some ultimate standard beyond God by which we could measure Him and know that He falls short? And if there were, then by its very nature this Ultimate Good would be God, and the one falling short would be some sinful creature. Further, the Bible declares emphatically that God is “the Almighty One” (Job 11:7) and the “Lord God Omnipotent” (Rev. 19:6). Further, He is all-loving; indeed, “God is love” itself (1 John. 4:16).
Rather than evil defeating an all-good, all-powerful God, such a God guarantees the ultimate triumph over evil. For if He is all-good, then we know He wants to defeat evil. And if He is all-powerful, we know He can defeat evil. And if evil is not yet defeated, then we know for sure that it will one day be defeated. Its defeat is guaranteed by the nature of an all-good and all-powerful God.
What About the Holocaust?
Even with the expectation that evil will eventually be defeated, we still cry out with the prophet: “How long, O Lord?” Few events have stirred hearts more than the Jewish holocaust. Yet as horrible as it was, it does not cry out against God’s goodness or existence. As one holocaust survivor declared, “It never occurred to me to question God’s doing or lack [of doing] while I was an inmate of Auschwitz. …I believe my faith was not undermined in the least. It never occurred to me to associate the calamity we were experiencing with God, to blame Him at all because He didn’t come to our aid. Why? Because we owe our lives to Him. If someone believes God is responsible for the death of six million…he’s got his thinking reversed. We owe God our lives for the few or the many years we live, and we have the duty to worship Him and do as He commands us.” Job said after severe calamity had struck him, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21; Deut. 32:39).
A few years ago, when forest fires ravaged homes on the East Coast, I saw a man standing in the rubble of his home being interviewed on a network TV news program. When asked for his reaction to the loss of virtually everything he owned, he replied: “I have my life, I have my wife, and I have eternal life. What more could I ask for?” The poet put it, “God is good when He gives supremely good, nor less when He denies [it]. Even crosses from His gracious hand are blessings in disguise.”
As for why God has permitted so much evil for so long, we can only ask: Who would know better than an all-knowing Being? As for us finite creatures, we must be content to know: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God” (Deut. 29:29). But we do know that the all-loving and all-powerful God is also all-knowing and that He sees “the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10). In our waiting, God is “longsuffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Why Earthquakes, Tornados, and Tsunamis?
Why does God permit such horrible disasters? My response is this: “There were no earthquakes, tornados, or hurricanes in the Garden of Eden, and there will be none in the new heaven and new earth. The reason there are such things in between Paradise Lost and Paradise to Come is that “sin entered the world by one man [Adam] and death by sin” (Rom. 5:12), and as a result “the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:20-21).
God Never Wastes a Tragedy
Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him to Egypt as a slave, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive” (Gen. 50:21). C. S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Although God does not cause the evil, nonetheless, He is working in the evil to bring about a greater good.
This is not the best of all possible worlds (Voltaire’s Candide), but it is the best of all possible ways to reach the best of all possible worlds. The truth is that we can’t get to the Promised Land without going through the wilderness. God permits evil in order to defeat evil. He allows lower evil to produce the higher good.
No Pain, No Gain
We can’t achieve patience without tribulation or forgiveness without sin. Hebrews informs us: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11). James wrote, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James. 1:2-3). Even if our suffering is lifelong, Paul reminds us that “this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).
I am well aware that in this feeling-oriented culture, where many go to church because it makes them feel better, that these words may seem harsh. But the stark truth is that God is more interested in our holiness than in our happiness. There is no verse in the Bible that says, “Be happy, as I am happy.” There are verses that declare, “Be holy, as I am holy” (Lev. 11:44-45; 19:2). Yes, God is more interested in our character than our comfort, and He has been known to sacrifice the latter in order to achieve the former.
Not only does God’s justice demand that sin against the Eternal One has eternal consequences, but His love demands that He respect the freedom in the free creatures He has made. Surely, an all-powerful God could guarantee that all will be saved. Then perhaps it would make it all worthwhile.
Unfortunately, being all-powerful does not solve the problem, since God is also all-loving. God cannot force people to believe in Him contrary to their will. C. S. Lewis captured the essence of the problem when he wrote: “When one says, ‘All will be saved,’ my reason retorts, ‘Without their will, or with it?’ If I say, ‘Without their will,’ I at once perceive a contradiction; how can the supreme voluntary act of self-surrender be involuntary? If I say, ‘With their will,’ my reason replies, ‘How, if they will not give in?’”
So God is patient and offers plenty of time for all to repent, but no amount of time will convince the recalcitrant. As Lewis said elsewhere, “There are only two kinds of people in the end; those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell chose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell.”
By Dr. Norman L. Geisler
The topic of evil offers many on-ramps to preaching powerful sermons and proclaiming the gospel. The opportunity is perpetually ripe because people constantly have questions they would like answered. As we articulate answers to a specific audience, our speech should “always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Col. 4:6). As preachers, we face audiences asking questions such as:
* If God created only good things, then where did evil come from?
* What caused Lucifer to commit the first sin when there was no sinful tendency in him or anyone tempting him to sin?
* If God knew Lucifer, and later Adam, would sin, then why did He create them?
* If God is the author of everything real, and sin is real, how can we avoid
concluding that God is the author of evil?
* Why does God allow innocent suffering?
* If God is the Creator of the natural world, then why does He allow natural
disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes?
* Why do bad things happen to good people?
* If God is all-powerful, why doesn’t He intervene and stop the evil in this world?
* If God is all-loving, why is there a hell?
More Questions Than Answers?
Frankly, there seem to be more questions than answers. But the Bible commands us to be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). To be honest, there was a time when I was not prepared to answer these questions, either. However, after 50 years of pondering them, I have discovered some things that satisfy me. In the hope that others may be helped, too, I have compiled a great many insights and answers in my recent book, If God, Why Evil? It attempts to respond to all of these questions and more in a simple, biblical, and reasonable way. Below is an abbreviated compilation that I hope preachers will find of great benefit and use in their sermons.
The Atheist’s Dilemma
Let me begin with the first public debate I ever had with an atheist. He brought the question up, as they usually do: “If there is a good God, then why does He allow all the evil and injustice in this world?” Having read C. S. Lewis, I was prepared to respond: “If you are claiming there is injustice in the world, where do you get your moral standard of justice? If there is an absolute moral law, then there must be an absolute moral Law-Giver.” His reply was so frank and to the point that I hardly knew what to say. He confessed, “I don’t have any absolute moral law by which I know there is evil in the world. My judgment is simply based on my own benign moral feeling.”
C. S. Lewis's response to this idea is worth pondering: “My argument [as an atheist] was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust. A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. . . . Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too …” The fact is that either the atheist’s argument presupposes God as the moral Law-Giver, or else the argument that God “allows” evil and injustice collapses.
Evil Cries Out for God
Rather than cry out against God, evil actually cries out for God in at least three ways. First, as just observed, we have no way of knowing something is really evil unless there is a God who established the moral law by which we can judge it to be evil. Second, as every pastor knows, the only real help when someone is suffering comes from God. To whom else shall we turn—He has the words of eternal life (John 6:68). When this life is fading, the only real comfort is the hope of eternal life. As the apostle put it, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
Third, the only realistic expectation that there will be an end of evil someday is that Christ has already defeated it. Hebrews declares of Christ that “he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). The apostle John saw the completion of this process when he wrote, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).
If God Created Only Good Things, Then Where Did Evil Come From?
If God is all-good and if He created only good things, then where did evil come from? How can evil come from what is perfectly good? Long ago, St. Augustine answered this by noting that one of the good things God made was free choice. It is good to be free. We all enjoy it. No one marches against freedom. Even if someone did, he would be enjoying the good of his freedom to do so. But if it is good to be free, then evil is possible. We cannot be free to love God unless we are also free not to love Him. We cannot be free to praise God unless we are also free to curse Him. So evil began when a free creature (Lucifer) used his good freedom to will the good of the creature over the good of the Creator.
What Caused Lucifer to Sin?
What caused Lucifer to use his freedom to sin against God? It certainly was not God, since He tempts no one (James 1:13). Further, there was no other sinful being in existence, tempting him to sin. Neither was his nature imperfect, for God made every creature good. What then was the cause of Lucifer’s sin? Very simply put, it was Lucifer himself. A free action is one that is self-caused; that is, caused by oneself. It can’t be caused by another, for in that case they would be responsible for the sin. Nor can it be uncaused, for every action has a cause. Nothing cannot be the cause of something. This is a fundamental law of all thought: “Nothing comes from nothing; nothing ever could.” But if Lucifer’s prideful act of rebellion against God (1 Tim. 3:6) was not caused by another or uncaused, then it had to be caused by himself.
But If God Is All-Good and All-Powerful, Why Is Evil Not Defeated?
This raises another problem, one that has not passed the notice of unbelievers. When Lucifer sinned, why didn’t God nip it in the bud? Why didn’t He stomp it out? In short, if the God of the Bible is all-powerful, He could defeat it. If He is all-good, He would defeat it. But it is obvious to all that evil is not defeated. (Just watch the evening news or look around your neighborhood.)
Evil is everywhere. This is a painful dilemma for a Christian since, unlike Rabbi Kushner, we cannot say as he did: “If we can bring ourselves to acknowledge that there are some things God does not control, many good things become possible.” And, “Are you capable of forgiving God even when you have found out that He is not perfect…?”
In short, we cannot agree with Rabbi Kushner that God is not all-powerful or that He is not all-good. For how would we know God was not perfect unless we had some ultimate standard beyond God by which we could measure Him and know that He falls short? And if there were, then by its very nature this Ultimate Good would be God, and the one falling short would be some sinful creature. Further, the Bible declares emphatically that God is “the Almighty One” (Job 11:7) and the “Lord God Omnipotent” (Rev. 19:6). Further, He is all-loving; indeed, “God is love” itself (1 John. 4:16).
Rather than evil defeating an all-good, all-powerful God, such a God guarantees the ultimate triumph over evil. For if He is all-good, then we know He wants to defeat evil. And if He is all-powerful, we know He can defeat evil. And if evil is not yet defeated, then we know for sure that it will one day be defeated. Its defeat is guaranteed by the nature of an all-good and all-powerful God.
What About the Holocaust?
Even with the expectation that evil will eventually be defeated, we still cry out with the prophet: “How long, O Lord?” Few events have stirred hearts more than the Jewish holocaust. Yet as horrible as it was, it does not cry out against God’s goodness or existence. As one holocaust survivor declared, “It never occurred to me to question God’s doing or lack [of doing] while I was an inmate of Auschwitz. …I believe my faith was not undermined in the least. It never occurred to me to associate the calamity we were experiencing with God, to blame Him at all because He didn’t come to our aid. Why? Because we owe our lives to Him. If someone believes God is responsible for the death of six million…he’s got his thinking reversed. We owe God our lives for the few or the many years we live, and we have the duty to worship Him and do as He commands us.” Job said after severe calamity had struck him, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21; Deut. 32:39).
A few years ago, when forest fires ravaged homes on the East Coast, I saw a man standing in the rubble of his home being interviewed on a network TV news program. When asked for his reaction to the loss of virtually everything he owned, he replied: “I have my life, I have my wife, and I have eternal life. What more could I ask for?” The poet put it, “God is good when He gives supremely good, nor less when He denies [it]. Even crosses from His gracious hand are blessings in disguise.”
As for why God has permitted so much evil for so long, we can only ask: Who would know better than an all-knowing Being? As for us finite creatures, we must be content to know: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God” (Deut. 29:29). But we do know that the all-loving and all-powerful God is also all-knowing and that He sees “the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10). In our waiting, God is “longsuffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Why Earthquakes, Tornados, and Tsunamis?
Why does God permit such horrible disasters? My response is this: “There were no earthquakes, tornados, or hurricanes in the Garden of Eden, and there will be none in the new heaven and new earth. The reason there are such things in between Paradise Lost and Paradise to Come is that “sin entered the world by one man [Adam] and death by sin” (Rom. 5:12), and as a result “the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:20-21).
God Never Wastes a Tragedy
Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him to Egypt as a slave, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive” (Gen. 50:21). C. S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Although God does not cause the evil, nonetheless, He is working in the evil to bring about a greater good.
This is not the best of all possible worlds (Voltaire’s Candide), but it is the best of all possible ways to reach the best of all possible worlds. The truth is that we can’t get to the Promised Land without going through the wilderness. God permits evil in order to defeat evil. He allows lower evil to produce the higher good.
No Pain, No Gain
We can’t achieve patience without tribulation or forgiveness without sin. Hebrews informs us: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11). James wrote, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James. 1:2-3). Even if our suffering is lifelong, Paul reminds us that “this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).
I am well aware that in this feeling-oriented culture, where many go to church because it makes them feel better, that these words may seem harsh. But the stark truth is that God is more interested in our holiness than in our happiness. There is no verse in the Bible that says, “Be happy, as I am happy.” There are verses that declare, “Be holy, as I am holy” (Lev. 11:44-45; 19:2). Yes, God is more interested in our character than our comfort, and He has been known to sacrifice the latter in order to achieve the former.
Not only does God’s justice demand that sin against the Eternal One has eternal consequences, but His love demands that He respect the freedom in the free creatures He has made. Surely, an all-powerful God could guarantee that all will be saved. Then perhaps it would make it all worthwhile.
Unfortunately, being all-powerful does not solve the problem, since God is also all-loving. God cannot force people to believe in Him contrary to their will. C. S. Lewis captured the essence of the problem when he wrote: “When one says, ‘All will be saved,’ my reason retorts, ‘Without their will, or with it?’ If I say, ‘Without their will,’ I at once perceive a contradiction; how can the supreme voluntary act of self-surrender be involuntary? If I say, ‘With their will,’ my reason replies, ‘How, if they will not give in?’”
So God is patient and offers plenty of time for all to repent, but no amount of time will convince the recalcitrant. As Lewis said elsewhere, “There are only two kinds of people in the end; those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell chose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell.”
Thursday, January 20, 2011
the parable of the shrewd manager
Recently, a friend from church shared with me a question one of her co-workers raised concerning the parable of the shrewd manager in Luke. Namely, is Jesus encouraging us to be deceitful? This is a fair question, especially since several apparent problems (including the issue of ethics) within this passage have attracted a surplus of interpretations.
One Commentator, John Nolland, provides a succinct summary. Nolland states, “The worldly-wise steward has shrewdly appraised the situation that confronts and threatens him and has moved quickly to situate himself to best advantage for the future. Would that those who know the truth of the Christian gospel could see things so sharply and as effectively align their actions to the situation that confronts them!” (Word Biblical Commentary 35b, 796)
In short:
Jesus is telling his disciples to be “street-smart”. Learn how the world works, while remaining true to the Kingdom of God of which you are a citizen, and use the means of the world to bless people, especially those who cannot repay you. It would behoove Christians to recognize that the wealth of this world will not be found in the next life, but that which one will find in the next life, provided he or she has chosen to live rightly in this present time, is much better, incomparable. For the wealth of this world rots, can be stolen and will ultimately be consumed by fire.
Yet does Jesus telling his disciples to be “street-smart” as it were, carry the connotation of being “dishonest”? A closer look at this passage would reveal that Jesus does not tell his disciples to be dishonest, nor is dishonesty praised in this passage. Rather, prudence is praised, “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.” Note the narrator, Jesus, calls the manager dishonest, whereas the reason he is commended is not his character, but his actions.
The underlying impression is simply this: money corrupts and cannot be made equal with God in terms of our allegiance (cf. 16:13). Therefore, it is best to give money away, specifically to those who cannot reciprocate that gift (e.g., almsgiving or in our context, giving to those who are "lower" on the socio-economic status totem pole, and becoming their equal or “friend”). A further way to understand this act of giving is found in the incarnation. Jesus left his high place of heaven, emptying himself, to be among us in human likeness (cf. Philippians 2:5-8), ultimately giving his life on our behalf.
The manager, a person of the world, was dishonest and used wealth to make friends so they would show him hospitality in return. Conversely, the people of the light, Christians, should not be dishonest. Instead, they should use wealth to bless people in this present age without the need or desire of having wealth returned because their reward is in the age to come.
A Short Commentary (with the help of Joel B. Green and John Nolland)
Building up to this parable has been Jesus' teachings on hospitality and rejoicing when one finds what has been lost, in which one shows hospitality by hosting a party in order to celebrate. Moreover, the chapter that precedes the parable of the shrewd manager is based on the Pharisees' complaint that Jesus welcomes sinners (thus is hospitable toward the "unworthy"). According to Green, the theme of the narrative in chapter 16.1-9 is the “appropriate use of wealth to overstep social boundaries between rich and poor in order to participate in a form of economic redistribution grounded in kinship” (NICNT, 589).
Jesus' story of the shrewd manager is not so much allegorical inasmuch as the rich man does not personify God. This story is birthed from the way the world works, so to speak. There are two named characters. The first is the rich man. At this point it is good to keep in mind Jesus has already pronounced misfortune on those who are rich (cf. 6:24). The rich hope and find their security in their wealth (cf. 12:16) and practice giving only in terms of reciprocation with their social peers, while disregarding those of lower status (cf. 14:12; 16.19-22). The second is the manager whom, according to Green, in the Roman context is either a slave or a freedman with access to his master's wealth and possessions. Furthermore, the manager acted as the rich man’s agent in business affairs. The importance of knowing this in order to understand the passage comes clear in the crisis anticipated by the manager in verses 3-4. The manager realizes, "Oh no, I'm about to be fired and that will be the end of me!” For him, being fired means a forfeiture of his once enviable social status, with the consequence that he has to turn to either physical labor or begging, which ultimately means he will become "unclean and degraded," an “outcast,” on the margin of society. What is more, he will no longer have a roof over his head.
Why is this happening? Apparently the manager was wasting his master's possessions, or "squandering", which basically means being very irresponsible with the wealth that had been entrusted to him. Perhaps a point to take away from this, though it may be somewhat of a stretch, is an assessment of what we are doing with the gifts, talents and blessings that have been entrusted to us. In any case, the manager, having weighed his options, does not want to beg or labor because he is too proud and too weak. Therefore, he wants to do what he can to be "welcomed" into other people's homes. Again, we see the topic of hospitality.
The rich man is indeed wealthy because so many people owe him so much and no doubt the interest just makes them go further and further into debt (like credit card companies perhaps?). Therefore, by the manager reducing their loan agreements so generously, he has done these people a significant favor (can you imagine someone saying your school loans went from $100,000 to $20,000!). And, because he is still manager at this point, the agreements with the debtors are legitimate. In this way, the manager has entered into his own relationship with the master's debtors, who perhaps themselves have some wealth, or at the very least the means of helping him get on his feet. He has shown support to them and, in return, can expect them to reciprocate by extending to him the hospitality of their homes.
Point of view is vital in understanding the next two verses (8-9). The master commends the manager for his shrewdness, even though the narrator, Jesus, has identified the manager as “dishonest.” I know, crazy, right? But consider the fact that the master does not commend the manager for dishonest, but for his prudence in business affairs. Jesus uses the phrase, "children of this age," or in some translations, "people of the world," implying the need for people of the light to understand how the world works and use it to their benefit.
The world is characterized by faithlessness and wickedness. “That Jesus can speak of a manager as one who is commended by one of his own generation, of his own worldly kin, for his having prudently taken advantage of the systems of this world and as wicked is therefore not surprising” (Green, 593). The people of the light, on the other hand, would live in accordance with Kingdom principles, not worldly ones.
If they, people of the light, did understand the ways of the new age to come, how would this be manifest in their lives and actions? Simply put, they would use "dishonest wealth" to "make friends" in order that they might be welcomed "into eternal homes". Wealth, or mammon, is characterized as “dishonest,” similarly to the manager. Both belong to this present age and world. In speaking of its demise, Jesus insinuates that mammon has no place in the age to come (cf. 12.33).
In telling his disciples to “gain friends for yourselves,” Jesus’ audience, and Luke’s readers, would have picked up on social conventions deeply embedded in the Greco-Roman world, whereby friendship and economic considerations were intertwined. Friends in Roman antiquity might be "superior," "equal," or "lesser," depending on their relative resources. Using money to gain friends, then, refers simply to the social reality: The exchange of money created, maintained, or solidified various forms of friendship. As my good friend Dave Stein often says, “Money makes the world go ‘round.” Thus verses 4-7 show the manager using his master's wealth to gain friends who would later repay him with hospitality.
Jesus counsels his disciples to make friends by using wealth, or mammon, to be sure, and this might take the form of giving to those in need or the more specific form of canceling debts. But Jesus provides no basis by which his followers might come to expect reciprocation from these friends. Luke records Jesus teaching his disciples to practice giving without expecting anything in return (6:32-35). Almsgiving exemplifies genuine social solidarity between rich and poor, who act toward each other as equal friends.
Conclusion
One question Nolland raises is, “Do we who have at least in theory the perspective created by a knowledge of Jesus as Christ and Lord have the incisiveness of insight to see as effectively through to the heart of the matter and the incisiveness of action to follow through with what is required?” (Nolland, 802)
The whole idea behind this parable seems to be pointed at the nature of what so often goes on in the world of business and money. The ethics are low to say the least. What should attract our attention as readers of this passage is that the manager wisely assessed the situation in which he found himself, and acted to save himself. The challenge Jesus poses is for us as Christ’s disciples to have the wisdom and shrewdness to recognize and seize the opportunity that exists in the midst of threat. In the immediate context, the threat and opportunity are those created by the ministry of Jesus. However, beyond this parable challenges all of us as Christians to be successful as the worldly wise to do the best with what you have. Act in accordance with Kingdom principles and execute solid and shrewd judgment.
Interpreting this parable, as difficult as it may be, is best accomplished through the challenge posed to the Christian juxtaposed the person of the world. That is to say, if only the Christian were as eager to be righteous as the man of the world is eager to gain wealth and security, what an effective kingdom worker he or she would be!
One Commentator, John Nolland, provides a succinct summary. Nolland states, “The worldly-wise steward has shrewdly appraised the situation that confronts and threatens him and has moved quickly to situate himself to best advantage for the future. Would that those who know the truth of the Christian gospel could see things so sharply and as effectively align their actions to the situation that confronts them!” (Word Biblical Commentary 35b, 796)
In short:
Jesus is telling his disciples to be “street-smart”. Learn how the world works, while remaining true to the Kingdom of God of which you are a citizen, and use the means of the world to bless people, especially those who cannot repay you. It would behoove Christians to recognize that the wealth of this world will not be found in the next life, but that which one will find in the next life, provided he or she has chosen to live rightly in this present time, is much better, incomparable. For the wealth of this world rots, can be stolen and will ultimately be consumed by fire.
Yet does Jesus telling his disciples to be “street-smart” as it were, carry the connotation of being “dishonest”? A closer look at this passage would reveal that Jesus does not tell his disciples to be dishonest, nor is dishonesty praised in this passage. Rather, prudence is praised, “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.” Note the narrator, Jesus, calls the manager dishonest, whereas the reason he is commended is not his character, but his actions.
The underlying impression is simply this: money corrupts and cannot be made equal with God in terms of our allegiance (cf. 16:13). Therefore, it is best to give money away, specifically to those who cannot reciprocate that gift (e.g., almsgiving or in our context, giving to those who are "lower" on the socio-economic status totem pole, and becoming their equal or “friend”). A further way to understand this act of giving is found in the incarnation. Jesus left his high place of heaven, emptying himself, to be among us in human likeness (cf. Philippians 2:5-8), ultimately giving his life on our behalf.
The manager, a person of the world, was dishonest and used wealth to make friends so they would show him hospitality in return. Conversely, the people of the light, Christians, should not be dishonest. Instead, they should use wealth to bless people in this present age without the need or desire of having wealth returned because their reward is in the age to come.
A Short Commentary (with the help of Joel B. Green and John Nolland)
Building up to this parable has been Jesus' teachings on hospitality and rejoicing when one finds what has been lost, in which one shows hospitality by hosting a party in order to celebrate. Moreover, the chapter that precedes the parable of the shrewd manager is based on the Pharisees' complaint that Jesus welcomes sinners (thus is hospitable toward the "unworthy"). According to Green, the theme of the narrative in chapter 16.1-9 is the “appropriate use of wealth to overstep social boundaries between rich and poor in order to participate in a form of economic redistribution grounded in kinship” (NICNT, 589).
Jesus' story of the shrewd manager is not so much allegorical inasmuch as the rich man does not personify God. This story is birthed from the way the world works, so to speak. There are two named characters. The first is the rich man. At this point it is good to keep in mind Jesus has already pronounced misfortune on those who are rich (cf. 6:24). The rich hope and find their security in their wealth (cf. 12:16) and practice giving only in terms of reciprocation with their social peers, while disregarding those of lower status (cf. 14:12; 16.19-22). The second is the manager whom, according to Green, in the Roman context is either a slave or a freedman with access to his master's wealth and possessions. Furthermore, the manager acted as the rich man’s agent in business affairs. The importance of knowing this in order to understand the passage comes clear in the crisis anticipated by the manager in verses 3-4. The manager realizes, "Oh no, I'm about to be fired and that will be the end of me!” For him, being fired means a forfeiture of his once enviable social status, with the consequence that he has to turn to either physical labor or begging, which ultimately means he will become "unclean and degraded," an “outcast,” on the margin of society. What is more, he will no longer have a roof over his head.
Why is this happening? Apparently the manager was wasting his master's possessions, or "squandering", which basically means being very irresponsible with the wealth that had been entrusted to him. Perhaps a point to take away from this, though it may be somewhat of a stretch, is an assessment of what we are doing with the gifts, talents and blessings that have been entrusted to us. In any case, the manager, having weighed his options, does not want to beg or labor because he is too proud and too weak. Therefore, he wants to do what he can to be "welcomed" into other people's homes. Again, we see the topic of hospitality.
The rich man is indeed wealthy because so many people owe him so much and no doubt the interest just makes them go further and further into debt (like credit card companies perhaps?). Therefore, by the manager reducing their loan agreements so generously, he has done these people a significant favor (can you imagine someone saying your school loans went from $100,000 to $20,000!). And, because he is still manager at this point, the agreements with the debtors are legitimate. In this way, the manager has entered into his own relationship with the master's debtors, who perhaps themselves have some wealth, or at the very least the means of helping him get on his feet. He has shown support to them and, in return, can expect them to reciprocate by extending to him the hospitality of their homes.
Point of view is vital in understanding the next two verses (8-9). The master commends the manager for his shrewdness, even though the narrator, Jesus, has identified the manager as “dishonest.” I know, crazy, right? But consider the fact that the master does not commend the manager for dishonest, but for his prudence in business affairs. Jesus uses the phrase, "children of this age," or in some translations, "people of the world," implying the need for people of the light to understand how the world works and use it to their benefit.
The world is characterized by faithlessness and wickedness. “That Jesus can speak of a manager as one who is commended by one of his own generation, of his own worldly kin, for his having prudently taken advantage of the systems of this world and as wicked is therefore not surprising” (Green, 593). The people of the light, on the other hand, would live in accordance with Kingdom principles, not worldly ones.
If they, people of the light, did understand the ways of the new age to come, how would this be manifest in their lives and actions? Simply put, they would use "dishonest wealth" to "make friends" in order that they might be welcomed "into eternal homes". Wealth, or mammon, is characterized as “dishonest,” similarly to the manager. Both belong to this present age and world. In speaking of its demise, Jesus insinuates that mammon has no place in the age to come (cf. 12.33).
In telling his disciples to “gain friends for yourselves,” Jesus’ audience, and Luke’s readers, would have picked up on social conventions deeply embedded in the Greco-Roman world, whereby friendship and economic considerations were intertwined. Friends in Roman antiquity might be "superior," "equal," or "lesser," depending on their relative resources. Using money to gain friends, then, refers simply to the social reality: The exchange of money created, maintained, or solidified various forms of friendship. As my good friend Dave Stein often says, “Money makes the world go ‘round.” Thus verses 4-7 show the manager using his master's wealth to gain friends who would later repay him with hospitality.
Jesus counsels his disciples to make friends by using wealth, or mammon, to be sure, and this might take the form of giving to those in need or the more specific form of canceling debts. But Jesus provides no basis by which his followers might come to expect reciprocation from these friends. Luke records Jesus teaching his disciples to practice giving without expecting anything in return (6:32-35). Almsgiving exemplifies genuine social solidarity between rich and poor, who act toward each other as equal friends.
Conclusion
One question Nolland raises is, “Do we who have at least in theory the perspective created by a knowledge of Jesus as Christ and Lord have the incisiveness of insight to see as effectively through to the heart of the matter and the incisiveness of action to follow through with what is required?” (Nolland, 802)
The whole idea behind this parable seems to be pointed at the nature of what so often goes on in the world of business and money. The ethics are low to say the least. What should attract our attention as readers of this passage is that the manager wisely assessed the situation in which he found himself, and acted to save himself. The challenge Jesus poses is for us as Christ’s disciples to have the wisdom and shrewdness to recognize and seize the opportunity that exists in the midst of threat. In the immediate context, the threat and opportunity are those created by the ministry of Jesus. However, beyond this parable challenges all of us as Christians to be successful as the worldly wise to do the best with what you have. Act in accordance with Kingdom principles and execute solid and shrewd judgment.
Interpreting this parable, as difficult as it may be, is best accomplished through the challenge posed to the Christian juxtaposed the person of the world. That is to say, if only the Christian were as eager to be righteous as the man of the world is eager to gain wealth and security, what an effective kingdom worker he or she would be!
Friday, January 7, 2011
perspective on spiritual focus
You handle the depth of your relationship with God. Let the LORD handle the breadth of your Kingdom work for God.
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