Thanking God for this?

The Beast has a story about the churchification of the Super Bowl. Well, whatever it takes to bring in the faithful, one supposes. But it’s the opening paragraph that caught my attention:

The people of New Orleans have a lot to thank God for. After a devastating flood, their city is rising again. Mardi Gras season has begun, with no less than 20 parades this weekend. And the beloved New Orleans Saints have finally, after 40-plus years, made it to the Super Bowl with a chance to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Having lived in New Orleans, I can attest that Mardi Gras is not God-friendly. Sort of the opposite, in fact. It is idolatry, the worship of Dionysos and Eros. The parades are fun, I’ll give them that. But there’s lots of things that are fun that God would rather we not do.

As for God blessing New Orleans through the success of the professional football team, that’s laughable. Pitiable, actually, that any one truly believes that God has an interest in pro football. An interest in the players, of course: they are His children, after all. But a particular team?

That’s the flip side of some idiot preacher claiming that God punished New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. And just as ignorant of God’s sovereignty and might. Could God cause a particular team to win? Of course it’s possible. But why would He do so, when New Orleans, like Indianapolis, like the entire world, is the province of Satan?

I’m fairly certain that God will watch over the righteous, and punish the wicked. In His time; not ours. But not through the result of a mere game. Even if it is our modern version of bread and circuses.

Pat says the darnedest things

Pat Robertson does say the darnedest things, and he’s not at all like those cute Art Linkletter tots.

But, regardless of how we view Robertson, there is something cursed about Haiti. Just compare the Dominican Republic, with an estimated per capita GDP $8,200 in 2008. Haiti, on the west side of their shared island of Hispaniola, has an estimated per capita GDP $1,300 in 2008.

Could this stark difference be the result of Spanish versus French overlords? Possibly, but both were greedy imperial masters; both lost huge empires in the New World to the Anglo Saxons. Could it be that God has cursed Haiti and blessed the Dominican Republic? I suppose that is also possible.

But, speaking as a Baptist, we are taught that this world, in its entirety, is the province of Satan. Haiti’s poverty and the Dominican Republic’s prosperity do not necessarily mean that one is cursed and the other blessed by God. As a Reformed Baptist, I also believe that mankind is a sinful lot, prone to deviltry — with, or without, an actual personage we call “Satan.”

Finally, while I do believe that we, each of us, will be judged at the end, that judgment is made by God. Not by me, or thee, or Pat Robertson. In the here and now, our duty as Christians is to love, help, and pray for the people of Haiti.

And, as they say, let the record show that Robertson’s ministry is, actually, doing all three of these things. Even if daft Uncle Pat says the darnedest things.

Peer pressure

Fifth graders have been receiving Gideon bibles at their school in Tennessee (story here). Handed out by their teacher, with the admonition that the kids weren’t required to take one. Yet being called up, in class assembled, row by row. Think there might be some peer pressure?

The ACLU, natch, has challenged this bible distribution as being unconstitutional. As a Baptist, my first reaction to this story was: what can possibly be wrong with handing out God’s Word? And to that hot, unpleasant place with the ACLU. On reflection, though, I have to agree with the ACLU on this one: religion must never be forced on anyone, least of all a child.

No, the children weren’t forced to take Bibles. Technically. Yet peer pressure is a powerful thing, and if all of your schoolmates take a bible, then you will too.

Again, as a Baptist, I stand for soul liberty. Likewise, as an American I stand for never, ever, having an agent of the state hand out a sectarian tract.

Even one I revere.

Easiest; hardest

Ann Coulter may not be a sophisticated theologian. She is also known to treat writing as a literary version of cage fighting: no holds barred. Her column today provides a rousing defense of our common faith.

Her column is in response to the frothing at the mouth moaning of so-called liberals in response to Brit Hume of Fox News. Yes, the very same Dread Pirate Roberts Fox News, that according to liberals eats babies and runs over innocent dogs. Brit had the temerity, in an opinion piece, to suggest that Tiger Woods might be a better man if he became a Christian.

Now I don’t particularly care what Tiger Woods does, except I’m with Brit: any one who truly converts to Christianity is a gain for peace on earth. And Ann’s column is both funny and true. Her tag line captures a vital truth:

Christianity is simultaneously the easiest religion in the world and the hardest religion in the world.

I can attest that Christianity is both of these things: easy; hard.

Ann nails the easy part:

In the no-frills, economy-class version, you don’t need a church, a teacher, candles, incense, special food or clothing; you don’t need to pass a test or prove yourself in any way. All you’ll need is a Bible (in order to grasp the amazing deal you’re getting) and probably a water baptism, though even that’s disputed.

The hard part? Christianity is also the hardest religion in the world, she writes,

because, if you believe Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead, you have no choice but to give your life entirely over to Him. No more sexual promiscuity, no lying, no cheating, no stealing, no killing inconvenient old people or unborn babies — no doing what all the other kids do.

We all sin, and no one likes to be told they are sinning. Therein lies one reason why those who are not Christian accuse us of hypocrisy, and worse, when one of use suggests, correctly, that Tiger Woods (and everyone else) would be better off as Christians than not.

“there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”

Jesus himself reminds us that he did not came to save everyone, regardless their behavior or character. Yes, he did come for all humanity; there was never any question (or should not have been) that it made no difference to God in human form what your race was, your ethnicity, or any other attribute.

Paul got it, in his letter to the Galatians, chapter 3:28:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

True, true. But does this mean that all, each and every one of us, is saved? No.

From the very start of the Gospel, we are warned that “peace on earth” that is promised to arrive with our Messiah is conditional. Luke 2:14:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Now, Scripture, and Jesus himself, are very clear as to what it will take for God to be pleased. Jesus, God incarnate, tells us in Matthew 22:

37…”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Needless to say, many of us don’t live up to these two great commandments. Just in case any of us think that we can skate and slip into heaven regardless, be advised: ain’t gonna happen, friends. God knows.

The final result is given, among other places, by Jesus in a parable in Matthew 13:

47″Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

There are strong opinions among Christians as to how we are saved, faith alone (sola fide), works, some combination thereof. And, has God predetermined from the beginning who among us shall be saved?

While I may believe this (I do; I’m an unrepentant Calvinist), I also don’t believe it matters in the here and now. We should all live our lives as though we have been predestined for heaven. And that includes not counting on faith alone, but knowing that faith can and will inspire works of charity.

Can we change what God has ordained? Not hardly. But wouldn’t this be a better world if we all acted as though we were saved?

Tradition?

The Latin, or Tridentine Mass was standard in the Roman Catholic Church for centuries, and grew out of the use of Latin in Rome as the vernacular. Before very long after the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 312, it had become more or less standardized in much of Western Europe.

The Mass was changed by the Second Vatican Council some 45 years ago, leaving many angry traditionalists in its wake. It is not hard to find many so-called conservative Catholics who find the trends in the Roman Church since Vatican II to be, pick your adjective, bad, ugly, and, worst of all, not traditional.

From my personal experience, the Latin Mass is a beautiful thing, and hymns sung in Latin, especially Christmas hymns, so much more inspiring. But, here’s my sticking point: if the Roman (or any other Christian) Church truly wished to take tradition back to our Savior, all liturgies would be conducted in His language: Aramaic.

Alternately, if traditionalists wished to conduct services in the language of the Apostles, would they not be in Greek?

The point? Tradition is a good thing, and, in the case of the Tridentine Mass, can result in a truly awe-inspiring experience of the risen Lord. But let’s not get wrapped up in our own linens, and lose sight of the essential purpose of the Mass: to join in the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

I’ve got it on good authority that He understands Latin, English, or any other language used to celebrate Him.

Merry Christmas, or, if you must, felix Dies Nativitatis.

God’s lesson through Ezekiel

The prophet Ezekiel can be a hard read for those who live in our current-day Sodom and Gomorra. Here is but one example of what Ezekiel tells us, with great authority (Authority, actually). Ezekiel 37:21-24:

Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land…

Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

The Christian believer can take away two principal thoughts. First, the literal one, that God has promised the Jews the land of Israel. Which, in Scripture, we know to be everything from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean.

For Christians, there is no consensus that any particular land is ours, but we may infer that the entire earth should be under one king, Jesus Christ. Emphasis on the “should,” and, of course, how we get there is to be by moral suasion and persuasion, not force of arms. God will draw those to Christ whom He would; the best we can do is spread the Gospel and “make straight the path.”

For those who think that America is the new Israel, and there are not a few who do, Ezekiel provides a strong reminder that we shall not defile ourselves with “their idols, nor with their detestable things.” Oops. As Peggy Noonan reminds us, we have become rather vulgar in our pursuit of happiness.

My take on our popular culture is that we are heathen; we lust after gold and trinkets; we idolize entertainers and professional athletes. Are there many good people who do none of these things? Of course. But, taken as a whole, we are not God’s chosen people; America taken as a whole does not at all “walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.”

No nation ever has been, or can be, perfect. Just as no human person can be or has been. Only Christ is, and our imperfection is exactly why Israel failed under the Law, and why we have hope, as individuals, for salvation.

The Manhattan Declaration

What does it mean to be a Christian in today’s world? Does it mean “go along to get along?” So many of us, me included, are in that camp, or have been.

To be Christian is to sin, but, as a comedian has probably said, feel guilty as hell about it. That said, it is useful now and again to have a worthy group of Christians remind us of what we should be about as we wander in the Devil’s Domain, a/k/a the world.

Hence, the Manhattan Declaration:

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Words to live up to. Words that might sting, especially among our elected lords, who seem to believe that they have taken over from our Lord.

Stonewall’s faith

From Stonewall Jackson, a faith we might all profit from emulating (via Christianity Today):

My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time of my death.

Events of the past week, in which yet another Muslim has wreaked havoc on unarmed men and women, gives us the ugly reminder that it is only those with the faith and grit of Stonewall Jackson that will see us through.

Think that the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Casey, will? With his elevation of “diversity” as being more important than the troops under his command? I think not.

Tribes

Rabbi David Novak has some bracing words for those who believe that Judaism is exclusively tribal, whereas Christianity may only be meaningfully called universal:

[Conrad] Black’s second error concerns the present state of the Jews and Judaism. What does he mean when he says “Judaism, though close theologically, is more tribal and philosophical than spiritual”? I assume he means “tribal” to be the antithesis of “universal.” Some Christians still do like to think of Christianity as a “universal” religion that is much wider and all-embracing than narrow “tribal” Judaism. Yet one could make a very good case that Judaism is as universal as Christianity, and Christianity is as tribal as Judaism. Judaism is universal inasmuch as Jews can live their Judaism anywhere in the world (though always best lived in the Land of Israel), and anyone can become a Jew who is willing to accept the kingship of the God of Israel (who is also the Creator of the universe) and pledge himself or herself to live according to the commandments of the Torah as taught by ongoing Jewish tradition. And Christianity is as tribal as Judaism inasmuch as those Christians baptized in infancy are as much born into the Christian people (the Church as an extended tribe) by virtue of their Christian parents as I was born into the Jewish people by virtue of my Jewish parents. In fact, the tribal notion of birth being how one is joined to one’s people is so strong in both Judaism and Christianity that both traditions consider converts to be “born again” rather than just being individual volunteers. Moreover, unlike a voluntary association, one cannot “check out” or be “kicked out” of either the Jewish people or the Christian Church, whether a native-born or naturalized member thereof.

As a born-again Christian and a Baptist, I believe that one can not be born into Christianity as a mere function of your birth.

One must choose Christ; that choice must be made by one who is capable of making that choice. God may choose an infant for future salvation (I am a Reformed Baptist); the infant is not capable of choosing God. Your parents, your village, your country, can not make that choice for you. If they do, then your Christianity is just as tribal as traditional Judaism. No more, no less.