Have you never read?

In my reading for my upcoming gospels class I came across the parable of the tenants. This parable of Jesus is recorded in parallel accounts in Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, and Luke 20:9-18. In the story a king is away and leaves his vineyard to tenants. He sends servants to gather the harvest from the tenants but they are beaten, dishonored, or killed. The landowner then sends his son whom the tenants kill. The part of these passages that struck me, though, was the passage Jesus ends with. He quotes from Psalm 118.

22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

It is obvious that the Pharisees and the chief priests were among those that heard these parables because they knew that it was them that Jesus was speaking against. These were the people who took pride in their study of the scriptures. Surely they had read this Psalm. Doubtless they had chanted or sung this Psalm as it is the last of the Psalms sung during Passover, the great Hallel. Notice how Jesus introduces it, "Have you never read...?" Notice the irony. Of course they've read it! They've sung it. They should know it. And yet what Jesus is pointing out is that they missed the point of it.

The point of Psalm 118:22 is that Jesus is the cornerstone, or the head of the corner. He defines where the boundary of the walls will be. He was rejected, though, by the Jewish leaders of his day and sent to death by them.

There were two things that struck me as I was reading this parable of Christ. First, this Psalm is about Him. It had always been about Him. It was about Him for the many years that the Psalm was sang during Passover. It is about Him as Christians sing it today. Second, we need to remind one another that this Psalm is about Him. Just as the Pharisees and chief priests may have read the words but failed to see the Christ standing before them, we can have hearts that are hardened to the true Christ who is revealed in the Psalms. But for those all who have hearts that have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, we can sing in this Psalm of Christ, the cornerstone, but also the rejected one; the sufferer.

For further study, see how the Apostlic writers continued to preach and write about Psalm 118:22. Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:7.

Legalism: a definition

I've recently been thinking about the subject of legalism. I've come to the conclusion that no matter which branch of the body of Christ a person belongs to he will agree that legalism is wrong. Imagine going to hear a sermon and the pastor beginning by saying, "well, I hope everyone is enjoying being legalistic! Today I'm going to preach on why legalism is great". Legalism is generally held in disdain and for good reason. Legalism is contrary to Christianity. The problem I've found, though, is that legalism, while unanimously condemned is not often well understood. I've been thinking for the last few weeks on a good definition. Here's what I've got:

Legalism is one of two things:
1) an attempt at conformity to a good law for a substituted purpose
2) an attempt at conformity to a substituted law for a good purpose

Allow me to explain. Legalism is a word that has at it's root what is "legal" or "lawful". People who are legalistic either pervert a good law into something for which it was not intended OR they begin with good motives but seek to meet proper ends with an improper law. A Legalist person is aware of and concerned about law, though, which the inverse, an Anti-nomian or Licentious person would not. Biblical Christianity, in contrast to both, has an aspect of attempt at conformity to a good law for a good reason.

The Letter and The Spirit

Let's take a law: "You cannot drive over 70 MPH along X stretch of highway". This may be, and for the sake of discussion let's say that it is, a good law. A law has a letter and a spirit. The letter of this law is that it is wrong to drive at any speed greater than 70 MPH. If a person were to drive 70.000001 MPH, he or she would be breaking the letter of the law. Consider, though, that the example law is not an isolated thing. Behind the creation of this law there is an intention of whoever wrote the law. We might say, and for the sake of discussion let's conclude that, the intention, or spirit, of the law is "Do not drive in a way which puts persons or property at risk of harm or damage." This is rooted in the second greatest commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Suppose a man is driving 69.999999 MPH. He is swerving to the left and right as he weaves through traffic. He cuts off a bus full of children. To save a few seconds off of his commute, he drives through a person's front yard and flower bed. Is he obeying the letter of the law stated above? Yes. Is he doing it for the intended purpose? No. He is obeying the letter but not the spirit of the law. He is a legalist by the first definition. His utter contempt for the spirit of the law reveals the wrongness of legalism.

Suppose, now that a young woman desires to protect life and property. She learned from her parents to always drive 10 MPH below the speed limit. As she enters the highway she cautiously accelerates to 59 MPH. As people pass her traveling at speeds of 65 or 68 MPH, she smiles at them but wonders in her heart, "Why are all these people breaking the speed limit?" She finds another car going her speed and carefully paces them, preventing anyone following from going above 60 MPH. Is she being legalistic? This is where we enter the second definition of legalism, and to be completely honest this part is a bit more difficult to see the error. She is keeping the letter of the law. She is even keeping the spirit of the law to some extent. I'd say she is being legalistic, though. What makes it difficult to determine is the idea of Hedging.

Trimming the Hedges

Hedging is, simply, to impose a boundary upon one's self to help prevent transgression. Let's take the speed limit example above. If I decide that to help myself obey the law I will always drive 2 miles below the speed limit, I am building a hedge. Building a hedge for one's self is OK, provided it is for the correct intention (i.e. toward the spirit of the law). Hedges are not a problem so long as they are kept only for one's self. Hedges become legalism when the hedge is substituted for the law. This is portrayed clearly for us in Mark 7:

7:1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash [1] their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. [2] And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches. [3]) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

The elders of the Pharisees and scribes had developed hedges to help themselves obey the letter of the law. Generations later, the hedge had been mistaken for the law it surrounded! We see the horror of this when the Pharisees accuse Jesus of leading his disciples into sin. What a bold thing to do! The Pharisees accuse Jesus, who is God, of breaking the God's law! God is perfect and cannot deny himself. We see the rebuke they receive is well warranted. By replacing God's law with man's traditions, the Pharisees were the ones who were rejecting God's law.

As followers of Christ, we need to guard against confusing our own hedges with God's perfect law. God's law is perfect as we are reminded in Psalm 19:

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, [3]reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; ... 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Since God's law is perfect, we must not substitute our law for His. We must continually trim our hedges to make sure that they do not impede upon the spirit of His law.

The Greatest Commandment

So, how do we ensure that we are keeping the spirit of the law? What is the spirit of God's law? Jesus tells us the greatest commandment, and I do not think it is just another law to add on top of the rest, I think it is the spirit of all of God's law:

Mark 12:

28 And one of the scribes came up and ... asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

All other laws God gives are only extensions of this fundamental law: that God is one and that mankind is to love him wholly. Even the second commandment to love one another flows out of the first. We love one another because we love God. We love God because He loves us.

1 John 4:

19 We love because he first loved us.

A Guardian that is Good

The law is rooted in that we should love God. We know God first loved us because of the gospel. Paul the Apostle was quick to point out that the law should point us to the gospel. The law is good in that it drives us to Christ.

1 Timothy 1:

8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, ... and whatever else is contrary to sound [3] doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

Paul even calls the law our guardian, imprisoning men until they are justified by faith:

Galatians 3:

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

As Christians, we should oppose legalism. It is either a misuse of God's law or a rejection of God's law in favor of man's law. In either case, legalism destroys the laws power to draw us to Christ. If we are not drawn to Christ, we will never have love for God who is a just judge. If we have no love for God, we will be forever doomed to fail at meeting the spirit of the law: to love the holy God with the whole of our being.

on the label "Fundamentalist"

Am I a fundamentalist?

Those of you who have read much of this blog will probably be able to tell me if I am or am not. I'll go ahead and say that I think I am a fundamentalist, and that is why I started this blog post. While writing it, I came across an article, though, that has caused me to think again about the term. In his article, http://www.bidstrup.com/religion.htm, Scott Bidstrup asserts his definition of "fundamentalist" in his first paragraph:

In my view, a fundamentalist religion is a religion, any religion, that when confronted with a conflict between love, compassion and caring, and conformity to doctrine, will almost invariably choose the latter regardless of the effect it has on its followers or on the society of which it is a part.

Well, according to the definition above, fundamentalists seem like heady, heartless people. I can't imagine I'd like such people. How, then can I still hold that I identify myself as a fundamentalist, if the definition is so clear. Well, for one, I hold a different definition of fundamentalist:

It seems to me that the word fundamentalist is tied to the word fundamental. I'll define a fundamentalist as someone who understands, believes, and applies the fundamentals of some set of knowledge, principles, or doctrine.

Allow me to provide an example: There is a textbook called : Fundamentals of Biochemistry. Suppose a professor of Biochemistry assigned this as the text for a class he was teaching. On the first day of classes, one of the new students storms into the classroom, points a finger at the professor and yells "You're a loveless fundamentalist! You're trying to indoctrinate us with your fundamentalist agenda! I'm never coming to class again." Imagine the absurdity of this. The word "Fundamentals" as used in the title of the textbook is synonymous with "basics" or "essentials". This is the same as I use it in the word "fundamentalist". A fundamentalist is someone who understands, believes, and applies the basics or essentials of some thing.

It should be easy to see from my definition how I can hold the word "fundamentalist" without contempt. The word itself is morally neutral. There can be and are good fundamentalists. Consider students of the Biochemistry professor above. Some of them would grow up to graduate and become practicing Biochemists. Now, if these Biochemists are any good, they still would understand, believe, and apply the fundamentals of Biochemistry they learned in college. These Biochemists can be understood to be Fundamentalist Biochemists. There's nothing wrong with this, in fact it is what defines them as being good at what they do if they know, believe, and apply the essential parts of their profession. Thus there can be good fundamentalists. This also shows that it is not the fundamentalism which is necessarily good or bad, but the principles or doctrine which governs this fundamentalism.

I am a Christian fundamentalist. I realize that there are people (even many Christians) who have qualms with these terms in such close proximity. I'd like to ask those people, "Do you not believe in the fundamentals of Christianity?" or, "Does your Christian belief not have anything which is fundamental to it?". I've already asserted in a previous post that I hold Jesus' role as Savior and Lord are essential to Christianity. They are fundamental. It is the fundamentals of my faith which lead me to correct action. It is Jesus who instructs me that I should love.

Mark 12:
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

I am not a fundamentalist who has had his heart surgically removed (thanks to Scott Bidstrup for this vivid picture). In fact, it is the very fundamentals of my faith which have changed my life. I have a heart of flesh and not a dead heart of stone because Christ has made me alive. I know how to love others because God tells me in His word what love is and how to do it. The fundamentals of my faith lead me to love, compassion, and caring. Let's put the "fun" back into "fundamentalist". OK, I had to say it. Aside from the jokes, though, I hold that fundamentals are important... that's why we call them fundamental.

The gospel of ... linux?

My wife and I recently purchased a new laptop. It came with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic. I had decided a while back that I would stop purchasing software from Microsoft when other better (or, more importantly, free) alternatives were available. So, I decided to try linux. I planned to install it in parallel with Vista to allow use of either operating system. Long story short, the install was easy and painless and Ubuntu (the version of Linux I chose) has been pretty easy to use so far.

Once Ubuntu was installed, I wanted to take my nerdiness to the next level. I started looking at the Ubuntu forums. I downloaded a Ubuntu pocket guide and reference by Keir Thomas. It's a fun read, really, but one thing I noticed in the first few paragraphs irked me a bit:

The fact you’re reading this book might mean you already know about Ubuntu, but one or two readers might have bought the Print Edition of this book (or downloaded the PDF) on a whim to see what the fuss is all about. These people might lack specifics, and remain unconvinced of the benefits of Ubuntu. So, I’m going to burn through some precious pages of this slim volume to evangelize and explain just a little.

The author wants "to evangelize" his readers. The root of the word evangelize is the greek word for gospel or good news. He wants to share the good news ... of Ubuntu linux? I realize that linux is good news to a lot of people. It is free. That is great news. It is constantly being made better, has a spirit of community in people that use it, works right "out of the box", is powerful for accomplishing lots of things, and did I mention it's free? This is not the gospel. This, in fact, is terrible news next to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news that Jesus has come to Earth and become human so that He would save His people from their sins is the best news ever. Literally. Ever.

Philippians 3:
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Next to the news that Christ has come, the news that there is a free operating system is like trash... pungent trash. I think this fits with what Jesus said:

Luke 14:

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

I don't think Jesus is negating the 4th commandment, as He elsewhere affirms:

Matthew 15:

4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’

I think that Jesus wants us to love our fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers and sisters. The important thing here is the degree of love. Compared to one's love for God, these other loves should so pale in comparison, that they appear hate. Jesus is showing the degree to which we should regard the first and greatest commandment above the second:

Mark 12:

28 And one of the scribes came up and ... asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?" 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

So, I ask myself as I write this... Is my love for the one God primary to my being? Do I love God with all my heart? Do I love God with all my soul? Do I love God with all my mind? Do I love God with all my strength? Do I love my neighbor as myself? Is my love for God so strong that the love for myself and others like hate in comparison? Do I hate my wife in comparison to the love I have for God?

I have no problem saying that linux sucks in comparison to God. Am I ready, though, to tell myself that I suck in comparison to the God of the universe?

on the label "Evangelical"

Evangelical refers to the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον, which means "good message" or "gospel". Basically, Evangelicals are Christians who believe and proclaim the gospel. Jesus Himself proclaimed the gospel during His life:

Mark 1:14-15
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

So, what is the gospel? As Jesus directed above, it is clear that the gospel is something to be believed. As context for why people should believe the gospel (and repent, or "turn away from their sin") is that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. These words would sound like, "You're out of time, Judgement awaits!". Belief in the gospel is associated to salvation from such a judgement as Paul notes in Romans:

Justified by Faith
Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

Here Paul identifies the key of the salvation is faith. Faith is basically knowledge of a thing, assent that it is true, and trust/assurance that it is true for one's self. So, what is the thing which we must have knowledge of? What is the object of faith? What is it that Christians have faith in?

Faith in God
John 17:
17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Jesus, as he prays to God the Father, reveals that eternal life is through knowledge of God and Jesus Christ. Do you "know" Jesus Christ? The question implies relationship. I have already asserted that Christians know Jesus to be their Savior and Lord. Through knowing Jesus, they come to know God as their father, too. (See Matthew 11:27). But how can this happen? How can a sinful person come to be a child of God, who is just?

The Great Exchange
2 Corinthians 5:
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

In this sentence the key of the gospel is expressed. Jesus was not a sinner (he knew no sin). God the father made him to be sin (imputed the sins of believers on him) so that we might become the righteousness of God (Christ's own righteousness imputed to those who believe). Through faith, all our sins are paid for by Jesus's death. Through faith, God sees us as if we were as righteous as Christ himself. Thus God is perfectly just to accept us, because in His sight, we are His son, thus he accepts us as adopted sons. When we are judged after death, we will be judged righteous and given eternal life through faith.

Evangelicals are very sensitive about the gospel and for good reason. Not only is it the only way to God (Jesus said, no one comes to the Father except through me John 14:6), but great punishment awaits those who would preach a false gospel:

Galatians 1:9
9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Applying the Label
I am an evangelical. I love the gospel. I can have hope because of what Christ has done. This is the good news. There is hope. It reminds me of the bumper sticker. It has the phrase: "Know Jesus, Know Peace. No Jesus, No Peace." I think it would also apply to the idea of hope: "Know Jesus, Know Hope. No Jesus, No Hope." Jesus said firmly, "No one comes to the father except through me". It is not a mere dry theology to talk about the gospel. It is the only way to peace with God.