Conservative Book Talk

I grabbed this short (58 page) work because this is an issue that frames many of the struggles and divisions within American Christian society. For the amount of content, this should be a little cheaper (ahem, Suzette…), but still worth buying (even on impulse like I did).

For the record, I believe that few Christians are properly balanced on this difficult issue. Generally, two sides exist: those who proclaim (like Charles Swindoll) that no one may ever lay specific rules of conduct on a believer except where Scripture explicitly prohibits or demands certain actions. And then it is occasionally debatable…. Then there is the other side that argues for strict adherence to standards and codes of conduct that were common and culturally acceptable in the 1940’s and ’50’s. Any deviation is termed backsliding and a Christian is viewed as “sinful.”

I should probably moderate those statements a bit. I actually think that there are only a few people who hold to either extreme, they are just vocal and everyone around them generally espouses the same view publicly even if they hold a differing view in practice. This problem arises from many areas and Randy Jaeggli does a fantastic job of sidestepping the various causes as these “causes” really only lead to finger pointing. One side claims the other intolerant. The other shoots back that they are remaining “faithful” to the word of God. Who’s right? Well, at that point neither, but for different reasons.

Jaeggli begins by explaining the nature of the controversy and the redefinition of legalism. For the record, a legalist believes that their works will save them or at least incur favor with God. For some reason, those who wish more freedom to do whatever they please have redefined legalists as those who would place restrictions upon others.

Jaeggli then focuses on the role of conscience in the believer’s life. The conscience is not bad; rather, Paul exclaimed that the conscience was good and necessary (repeatedly…). Further, Jaeggli, beginning with a tremendous discussion of Genesis 3, traces the explicit and implicit teaching of the conscience throughout scripture. One point that he makes very coherently is this: a conscience is trained through the regular communication with God and the study of His word.

Finally, Jaeggli ends by proving that liberty and freedom require restrictions. In the US, freedom to own requires an injunction against theft. Freedom of speech has a corresponding injunction that prohibits the gagging of dissenters. For a freedom to exist, some form of restriction must also exist to protect and control the freedom; else, instead of orderliness we would have anarchy.

As a Christian you need to read this book. Come on, it’s only 58 pages and sells for $10 or so. It is a great foundation stone for this controversial and important topic. (The book is a great foundation, but it really was just that, there is so much more to this issue than what was covered in these few pages.) There are some other questions that I have.

* What do we do when two Christians have consciences that disagree?
* In 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 (esp. 5), Paul writes that only the judgment of Christ matters. He ignores the judgments of other believers and non-believers. In fact, Paul goes so far as to say that judgments of believers should wait until the final judgment.
* How do we reconcile that with Paul’s judgment of sin in the Corinthian church? And with Christ’s command that we judge the fruit of people in Matthew 7?

I would postulate these answers, and I would enjoy hearing your responses.

* To the first question, we seek the needs of our brother first: see Philippians 2.
* With regards to the second and third questions, I notice that Christ told us not to judge unless we have properly cleaned our own life. We would be judged within the same manner that we judged others. Therefore, don’t rebuke someone for whining a bit when you whine and gripe incessantly. You get the idea.

Following that, Christ’s command to judge fruits was within the context of false teachers. Taking that to apply to everyone might be stretching it. Mind you, I am NOT saying that you can’t apply it to everyone, but one should moderate it with 1 Corinthians 4.

I would argue that we reconcile Paul’s actions and teaching this way: believers must rebuke other believers who are in clear violation of the explicit teaching of Scripture. For everything else, which are extrapolations and applications of biblical teaching, we don’t judge. How do I know that your definition of long hair on a guy is the correct interpretation? How do I know that mine is correct? How does one clearly define modesty? What one guy considers modest on a woman another guy considers immodest. So who is correct?

Here is my current understanding of this morass of entangling stuff. I will educate my conscience in the Word by studying the Bible and seeking to honor the Lord in all that I do. I won’t worry about other people who do things a little differently unless the Bible clearly and explicitly defines it as sin.

What do you think? And by all means, lets have plenty of believers weigh in on this one. You don’t have to agree with me to have a worthwhile opinion.

Tags: Christian, Christian Conscience, Liberty, Love, Matt Gardenghi, Randy Jaeggli, Theology

(disclaimer of relation: I was so encouraged by the message of this book, as described on their website, that I volunteered to run the Do Hard Things Portland conference tour. And, their father, Gregg Harris, is the founder of the group of churches that I and my family are members of).

This book is the print version of a vision that has been in place for many years in the Harris household. When Alex and Brett were 16, their father sat them down with a heaping stack of non-fiction books and told them to start reading. Most teenagers might see that as a summer of drudgery, but these twins took the book list as an opportunity to learn more about the world in which they (as the future generation) would live. Learning about all the issues in the world today (poverty, economics of scale, pollution, adult-essence, monetary systems, political processes), they began to wonder how other people in their generation (my generation) could cope with it all if we continued to do the stereotypical teenage thing; sleep in and ignore the world issues in favor of celebrity gossip. Then they started a little blog called “the rebelution”, combining the terms rebellion and revolution to get a new meaning; “rebelling against rebellion”. Then it became a website with 5,000 hits a day, then a movement that spawned conferences in multiple countries, then a modesty survey that crashed their internet server with 500,000 views in the first two hours, and now a book.

DO: The teen years are not a vacation from responsibility, but rather, a training ground for future leaders. For centuries, there was no middle ground between “child” and “adult”; once you started looking like an adult, you were expected to act like one. We need to act like the adults we want to become, because, newsflash fellow young adults: we’re adults. And if we want things to be different from the present we must make changes in the present. Young, yes: need to work on competence, yes; freed from responsibility because of the aforesaid, no. “To make changes in your life requires you to make changes in your life.”—Alex Harris.

HARD: Hard doesn’t mean “hard for other people” (i.e., unless you are recovering from alcoholism, staying sober isn’t an achievement. It’s a good thing, but not your hard thing), or “stupid” (jumping off a cliff) . Don’t, however, think that just because its hard (keeping your room clean every night) or big (starting a business) or both (fighting modern slavery) that you can’t. At the same time, there is a place for small hard things (like keeping your room clean, which is hard because you have to keep doing it every day for the rest of your life) and unseen hard things (not harboring anger, or giving in to lust). If God is calling you to do something, whatever it is, pray and do it.

THINGS: They give lots of examples about teenagers (throughout history and today) who used their teen years to the max and reaped the benefit. And of “typical teens” who need to be renewed in their vision for their own lives. What I loved about all the examples was how simple the concepts were, and yet, I could see a piece of myself in each teen they profiled (and they are all real people). Some were cause for rejoicing, others, for disappointment. But each chapter helped me get closer to finding my “hard thing” that God would have me do with my life.

Overall, this was a very easy read that has challenged my thinking on many levels. I honestly didn’t think this book applied to me when I picked it up. I’m a good young adult (not a teen), who is trying to be more Christ-like (not there yet, but trying), living in a Christian environment… so how does “Do Hard Things” apply to me? The answer lies in the question, “what is hard for you?” There will ALWAYS be something that God wants me to do that is hard. “If you always do what you’ve always done you will always get what you’ve always got.” – Brett Harris. God wants the best for us, which will always involve change in my life.

Tags: Alex Harris, Brett Harris, Current Events, Do Hard Things, Non-Fiction, Personal Development, Sincerelyornot

Having discussed the need to read the Bible, period, lets move on to some ways this book has influenced our society in America. Part of what many people decry as “Westernization” is really the outward signs of a Biblical society. The influence of a book is often considered a sign of its inherent value, and most classics claim their status under said auspices. So, a brief overview…

* The “American way”, is based on a Biblical worldview that includes the Ten Commandments, at least in the most fundamental of senses. Cannibalism, acceptable on most Pacific islands, is wrong. Killing one’s wife (legal in Saudi Arabia) is wrong. Stealing (the way of life for the millions of Chinese who produce most of the world’s pirated goods) is wrong. Even the right to private property is implied in the forbidding of covetousness (one’s neighbor’s donkey being included in the list).
* Our holidays are based on Christian precepts and events. If not directly from the Bible, they all trace back to someone or something that is Biblically based (some more obscured than others). Valentines Day, for instance, is in honor of a Christian pastor, Valentine, of Rome. The emperor Claudius had ordered a moratorium on marriages in hopes of bulking up his army; Valentine continued to marry couples and went to jail (and later beheaded). For protecting the sacredness of the marriage union as something God designed (and, through Paul’s letters, commands lustful men to do!), Valentine was later deemed a Saint, and his day still celebrates love and marriage.
* The concept of consumer rights has its roots in the Bible. The Old Testament exposits severe penalties on builders whose work did not stand up; replacing the house, payment of money, even the death penalty…all invoked depending on the circumstance and level of shoddy workmanship.
* Most culture wars are over social norms that originate in the Bible. Interestingly, the party fighting the war is usually in the minority. To take a very small example, pornography; its illegal, and the few people fight for its legalization. But who decided that viewing images which cause lust is wrong? Pornography was illegal long before the internet made it so easy to access, or before we had studies showing how influential it is in starting a criminal career. God, who can see into men’s minds and hearts, obviously knew what He was talking about when lust was called out as wrong in the Bible. Actually, if anyone knows of a culture war that ISN’T related to the Bible, I’d like to hear about it.
* The present election process is, in a way, related to the question of the Bible’s influence in society. Is it normal to elect someone who believes in the Bible (along with a good 40% of the electorate)? Obama and Clinton both claim to be church-going Christians; on the Republican side, Huckabee was a Baptist preacher. Just an interesting thought as you watch the parties this year; we’ve never had a president who didn’t at least claim to be a follower of the Bible and its teachings.

America isn’t a Christian nation, but our most basic social structures were founded on Biblical principles and precepts (not, as is popularly taught in universities today, Grecian ideals), and understanding the Bible is crucial to understanding the culture of our world today. On the front of social influence, the Bible outpaces all other classics. There are many more points on the cultural influence of the Bible than listed in this review, so if I missed anyone’s favorite example, please bring it up in the commentary section (lets see how many we can come up with).

Tags: Holy Bible, Sincerelyornot