Opus 2012-26, Monday Pulpit: Saints or Sinners?

One of the ignored doctrines of the church is the doctrine of sin.  What is taught often walks close to the precipice of historic Gnosticism.  The Bible teaches clearly that we are born in sin.  We are all guilty. 

(Romans 3:23 KJV)  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

All followers of Jesus must accept this truth.

Some go overboard.  They are so focused on sin that they ignore the fact that once we are washed in the blood of the Lamb we become saints.  Do a quick run through the letters of Paul.  He consistently greets the recipients of his letters as “saints,” not “sinners.” 

This came up at our men’s Bible study last week.  We were sharing and one of the young men who has had a rough walk kept talking about being a sinner and how that was not going to change.  He was not looking for excuses, just repeating what he had been taught by the man who was mentoring him. 

Are we saints or sinners?

Can we be both?

The Bible study is working through I Peter so I did a little searching in First and Second Peter.  I did a word search for the following words:  Sin, sins, sinner, sinners, saint, saints, righteous.  Maybe I missed a word.  Let me know.

It is important that we know our theology and doctrine.  They are important.  It is more important that we know our Bible.  Theologians are men, and women too, I assume.  Doctrine is a human summary.  The Bible is the Word of God.

When Peter talks about sin and sinners it is in the past tense, before we are saved.  He does not use the word saint in the KJV.  He does talk about us being righteous.

Think about it and adjust your vocabulary.  We WERE sinners.  We PROBABLY will sin.  But now we are saints.  I am not comfortable with that, but that is the Bible’s label, not mine.

Am I wrong?  (My wife is not allowed to respond to that question.)

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-25, Practical or Hypocritical?

As a serious Christian I note how often people like to call believers “hypocrite.” Usually I just ignore it but I got to thinking about some of the things I see that might reflect that. My thinking here was stirred by someone pointing out the hypocrisy of the Leatherman tool makers. Whoever was writing said that the Leatherman company does not support the second amendment and goes out of their way to assist the restricters of liberty. Then they pointed out that Leatherman now markets a tool for gun owners and it is a great product. Sounds like hypocrisy to me.

How do I demonstrate hypocrisy? As a teacher I am perfectly willing to accept any pay raises that come my way. At the same time I vote against tax increases and urge others to do so. That seems like hypocrisy.

I think we should do away with compulsory education. I am a public school teacher, lined up at the public trough, sucking down your tax dollars. That seems like hypocrisy.

We home schooled our children. I urge others to do the same. I earn my living in a public school. That seems like hypocrisy.

I think the country would be better off without all the health insurance mandates. When I go to the doctor I work the system the best I can. That seems like hypocrisy.

I could go on but you get the point. I seem to be a hypocrite. I can live with it. I can live with Leatherman’s hypocrisy, too. Business is business and maybe they will make enough money to change their politics. Nah, probably not.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-24, Plow and Crown: Danger, Little People Ahead

The crown-covetous elites don’t seem to realize that peasants have been finding ways around their limitations for centuries.  It has modern applications.  Take for instance the quest to limit the energy used in homes by cutting down on the wattage of lightbulbs.  You may have noticed that your 100 watt light bulbs were downgraded to 95 watts or something like that.  The theory was that you would use less energy and the 5 watts would not make any difference to you.  Wrong.  What I do is get two 57 watt bulbs and burn them both.  Thus I get the light I need to read or work without straining my eyes.  Thus I use more energy that I did before.  Thus your plan to save the Earth is set back.  But since it isn’t really about saving the earth, it is about control, the elites don’t really care.  They passed their bill.  They messed with you.  They  have built their self esteem and advanced the crown.

But, Your Lordship, remember that sooner or later you will be forced to come out into the world that us peasants inhabit.  Beware.  I am not planning on violence.  Remember that the colonists tried to negotiate with King George and Parliament for years and tried to withdraw without bloodshed.  No, I am talking about the things the little people can do.  For instance, don’t insult your waitress.  She will smile and take it.  She will put on a happy face.  In the kitchen she may spit in the soup she has been sent to reheat.  We, the common, learned long ago to not make the voice in the drive thru unhappy.

Think about it.

How many areas of life can the invisible little people, that you deign to notice, touch?  Historically servants are some of the best spies because the Lords and Ladies ignore them like they were not there. 

Little people, be creative.  Find ways to keep your spirits up until enough sheep get worried about the wolves to organize.  As I said, use two lightbulbs instead of one.  Flush the toilet three times.  Shop on the internet and at yard sales.  Barter. 

You get the idea. 

If we can’t vote the suckers out and can’t keep them from their power trips, we can at least rob them of any of the results they claim to want.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-23, Monday Pulpit: Persecution?

During prayer last Sunday the following was offered up, “Persecution against Christians is mild in our country.”  The context was the deadly force being used in the parts of the world with strong Muslim concentrations and how Christians are being brutalized and murdered on a daily basis.  We need to pray for our brethren around the world and agitate with our politicians at home.

But what struck me was the fact that this should be an indictment of the church, not a thankful observation.  Why is there so little deadly persecution?  Let me put it this way, dead lawns don’t need mowing.  There is very little for Satan to persecute.  When is the last time you raised your head above the crowd to take a stand based on the holiness of God?  I stand indicted, too.

They say that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.  The world knows this so they have taken the soft and gentle approach America.  We have been bought off with prosperity and a trust in our material security.  We have been slowly eased out of the fast lane.

I hope we wake up before the wrath of God really descends on us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-22, Spiritual Gifts: Geek

I know that your Bible does not list the spiritual gift of geek.  This is one of the places in which paraphrase could come in handy.  What it does list is the gift of “craftsmanship” (NASB) or “workmanship” (KJV).  This is found in the Old Testament.  It is one of the earliest spiritual gifts listed.  Consider the following:

(Exodus 35:31 KJV)  And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;

We have the ingredients of the New Testament.  We have the Holy Spirit filling people with some things we have seen already, wisdom and knowledge.  If you look a little further down you see teaching added to the list.

(Exodus 35:34 KJV)  And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

So I think we are talking about spiritual gifts.  Here we add understanding and craftsmanship.

Think about how this would apply itself down through history.  You have the person with the green thumb helping the person with bad soil.  You have a skilled mason helping build a house.  You develop a labor saving device.  You help a single mother get her car running or fix her broken toilet.  To this I add the gift of geek.

Let’s face it, many of us are technologically challenge.  We can’t even get messages off our cell phones.  Texting might as well be in Greek, unless we live in Greece, then it might as well be in Turkish. 

And so we have the person who has the gift of designing, applying and using the tools that make our everyday existence better.  Today much of that is in technology.

(Exodus 35:35 KJV)  Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.

This person could held the church reach out through the world through web design or management programs.  They can help the church in outreach.  They can be of assistance to the tech challenged in the congregation.  They can be a witness to those who live in the cyber world. 

We have materials that did not exist in the days of Moses.  We have machines and concepts that would have been beyond their wildest dreams.  In the midst of that we have people who still need to be edified and a church that needs to minister.

If geek is your gift, use it.  Blessings.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-21, Pumice Proverbs: A Chance to Love

The saying, “I don’t remember praying for patience” made me go off on this tangent.

Thank you for 

the Chance to 

Love

I Corinthians 13:5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong {suffered,}

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-20, Should-a-Beens: Toilet Washing Ceremonies

I sometimes wonder how Jesus would have expressed Himself if He came in the 21st century.  Many of the truths He taught and demonstrated were set in a culture we don’t understand.  That does not take away from the truth, and I find the word pictures powerful even today, but I wonder what modern cliches, habits and rituals He would have used.

One that I wonder about is foot washing.  In case you are not familiar with this here are the key verses.

(John 13:4-5 KJV)  He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.  After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

You find reference to this custom all the way back to the days of Joseph in Egypt.

(Genesis 43:24 KJV)  And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.

It was a widely practiced custom that showed courtesy and hospitality.  That is one side of this practice.

The other side was that it was the job of the lowest servant or slave in the house.  It was disgusting to wash feet that had been walking the roads of the ancient Middle East.  You knew you were the bottom of the pecking order if it was your job.

Jesus got up to wash the disciple’s feet.  He was trying to teach them about humility and servanthood.  It is a wonderful picture for the ancient world. 

The image is distorted in our day.  Washing someone’s feet does not have near the stigma it did in the old days.  Taking a basin of warm water, kneeling on a nice carpet and handling a foot that has had a pedicure and has been encased in clean stockings somehow does not convey the level of servanthood that Jesus was teaching.

I think we should substitute toilet scrubbing.  Admit it.  Scrubbing the toilet is probably the bottom level job in a modern home.  It can be gross.  I think that if Jesus had been teaching this today He would have gone under the sink, pulled out the cleanser, rags and pumice stick and got to work. 

If we would do that it would show true humility and servanthood.

I don’t expect it to happen soon.

homo unius libri