We are in a war for the hearts and minds of our children

Have you ever been engaged in a debate/argument, but only thought of what you should have said after it was long over? Well we all have. And have you ever wondered why some of your favourite speakers are able to defend questions so well? And you have thought to yourself “I could never be like that?” But let’s stop for a moment and think how these speakers got there.

I want to suggest, that they learned to do this the same way that we learn anything else, by trial and error, by failing miserably, and then instead of licking their wounds, they think and pray and try, try, try again. It starts simply by talking, noticing what works and what does not, noticing what gets through and learning from that. I want to say that this works whether you’re right or wrong. But why do I say that?

Jordan Peterson suggests that Hitler learned this way, tapping into the chaos, and rage at the punitive injustice perpetrated by the Allies after the first world war. And I want to suggest that the extreme left is doing the very same thing, quite successfully I might add, with the injustices perpetrated on marginalized groups. Please note I am not saying that the injustices do not need to be addressed. But the way that the left is seeking to address this is not right (pun intended!). In particular part of their multi million dollar funded strategy is called "jamming." And it is working. You may have noticed that the Church has been intimidated into silence! Now the Scripture says “The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him” (Proverbs 18:17). But what if we are not allowed to cross-examine? What I am saying is that the truth will only prevail if we are prepared to fight for it! And if we are to be successful we need to go through the process described above (see also last day's post).

And the church really does need to wake up, because this battle for free speech is not only a battle for the truth, it is a battle for the hearts and minds of our children! In particular the propaganda coming out of the left is affecting our children in a very negative way. Consider the warped and twisted radical sex ed that is being fostered earlier and earlier on our children in the schools. Our children are being encouraged to experiment with all forms of sexuality and to regard gender as a social construct. We need to see where this is going, because there is a lot of evidence that it is leading to pathological confusion. On top of this we knew over half a century ago by Masters and Johnson, that our first sexual experience strongly determines the defining norm of our sexuality.

Father, it seems to me that we in the church have confused timidity with humility. I mean our hero overturned the tables of the money changes in the temple. And so I pray this morning Lord that you will wake up your church and give it the courage to speak the truth in love, the wisdom to do it in a way that brings honour and glory to You, so that many are brought to experience Your extravagant healing love. I will give You all the glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen

Iron sharpens iron revisited

Jordan Peterson, in his defence of free speech which is under heavy attack from the extreme left, tells why we need it, by describing a typical conversation with a dear friend. He says “When you talk it doesn't mean you are right. It means you are trying to articulate and formulate your thoughts like the boneheaded moron that you are. And you are going to stumble around idiotically because what do you know? You are full of biases and ignorance and you can't speak very well, and you're overemotional, and you know you just got problems that you can hardly imagine that are interfering with your ability to state something clearly.

Peterson (who by the way he describes himself as centre-left) does not add as he might, that this process is also hindered by pride, stubbornness, self righteousness and the absolute certainty you are right and your friend is wrong. And it’s worth remarking I think, that this scenario is only likely to take place within your own little bubble of relatively like-minded people! Now it’s very easy for me to see all this in you, in fact I can see this in the whole of the rest of the world. And of course they don’t see it! And when I looked at me, the default is for me is to not see it either! But many years ago I learned to ask myself in this and similar scenarios “What is the probability of me being the only one without these faults?” I answer “Zero,” I mean it, I do! Denial is strong in all of us!

Peterson goes on to say “And so what you do is to do your best to say what you mean, then you listen, other people tell you why you're a blithering idiot and hopefully you can correct yourself to some degree as a consequence of listening to them.” When this process works, it is describing Proverbs 27:17 which says “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” The problem is that we tend to not have very good listening skills, since we are quick to speak and slow to hear (James 1:19). In fact I blew it already this morning and it's only 9:00! And this does not even take into account our (my) propensity to anger.

Father, I want to thank You this morning that You are slow to wrath. Thank You that You are a lot more gentle than Peterson! This stuff is hard to hear! Thank You for your patience and long-suffering with me, and for reminding me of this again this morning. Lord as Your ambassador I want to be patient and long-suffering with others. This is part of the fruit of your Spirit, and is only produced in me, as I centre myself in You day by day. I certainly have not arrived, but I thank You for Your promise that You who have begun a good work in me will bring it to fullness (Philippians 1: 6) in Jesus Name Amen

Tough love

In the context of recovery, an enabler is one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior. For example the spouse of an alcoholic may provide excuses and/or cover for the spouse’s behaviour. Such enabling may be thought to be loving, but it is at least partially responsible for the destruction, so it is definitely not love! Since people who are abused tend to abuse, the leader of a recovery group can be an enabler by not dealing with abuse within the group, be it verbal or otherwise, or sexual harassment and the like. Such behaviour is highly destructive since many times it re-traumatizes people who have already bean traumatized.

There are Biblical ways to deal with this sort of thing, and the goal is always reconciliation where possible. But there are times when it is not, and there are Biblical warrants to know when to put a person out of fellowship. In particular, if the person will not “listen” by which we understand repenting and turning from the behaviour, then the person should be put out (Matthew 18:17; 1 Corinthians 5:5).

In the context of the second reference, Paul tells us why. It is because a little leaven leavens the whole lump (1 Corinthians 5:7). In other words such behaviour is infectious and results in the group being dysfunctional and unsafe. As I say, the goal is reconciliation, and in 2 Corinthians 2:7 we read of Paul instructing the Corinthians to forgive and comfort the now repentant man, so that “he would not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” It is clear that the consequence, the pain of being put out, was the very thing that brought the man to his senses.

Father, there are times when our acting in love may seem like lack of love to others. At such times in my own life Lord, I am grateful that You have been teaching me that what You think about me, is far more important than what others think about me. Still these times of showing “tough love,” are difficult, and I need Your help to be and to act as the man You want me to be. Thank You Lord that I do not have to do it alone, for You have promised wisdom when I ask, and Your assurance that You are with me in Jesus Name Amen

The foolishness of God is wiser than men (2)

I was discussing last day that there are problems with defining good and bad as "Good is helping other people. Bad is harming other people.” I suggested that in famine flooding the market with food too easily bankrupts local farmers, and leads to long-term dependency. I also suggested that the left's political response in trying to help marginalized groups tends to take away responsibility for individual growth. So what are the solutions?

Well for the first case, at least part of the solution is put in a nutshell in the saying “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life time.” So how do we do that? Well one of the charities that I regularly support, is called Opportunity International (OI). It is a micro-financing charity, that has impressed me with the way it goes about things. In particular not only are small loans extended to those showing initiative, but do not qualify for loans from the bank, but OI also brings together like-minded people within a community, trains and follows them up, requiring them to be responsible not only for themselves, but for each other. It works very well, produces jobs and fosters true community. Repayment rates are surprisingly high, which then frees up capital to do it over and over!

In another direction, for $39 Canadian Blind Mission Canada, will restore the sight of a care giver with cataracts in a developing country. And there are many other ways of giving that are not toxic. On the other hand the toxic enablement of the left of oppressed and marginalized groups, is not so easily remedied. It takes one on one costly long term tough love. Sounds like a topic for tomorrow!

Father, thank You for showing me that we need to be responsible for checking out the effects of our attempts of helping others. Thank You too Lord, that You give wisdom liberally when we lack it and ask for it (James 1:5). Continue to open my eyes Lord so that my helping may be helpful and not harmful in Jesus Name Amen

The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men I (1 Corinthians 1:25)

I’m engaged in an an ongoing conversation about good and evil with an old friend who makes no profession of faith. In this context, an appeal to the Scripture does not work, and when pushed he gave me the following preliminary definition. "Good is helping other people. Bad is harming other people." Who could argue with that? Well, the definition can take us so far, but only so far! To be fair to my friend, I should emphasize that it was preliminary.

I have had a book in my hand for several years entitled “Toxic Charity.” it is aimed mainly at the political right, since research has shown that the lion’s share of financial charity is given by people of faith. And the problem is that with the best intentions in the world, our "good deeds" can have unintended consequences. In response to famine for example, it has happened over and over that flooding the market with free food has resulted in the bankruptcy of local farmers. And this results in long-term dependency of those we are trying to help. Some solutions tomorrow.

But unintended consequences when attempting to help happens, not only on the political right, it also happens on the political left. For example consider what the left correctly sees as grave injustices, inequalities and abuse perpetrated on certain marginalized groups. In order to push through political reform to benefit them, the left’s preferred way of helping, more and more of these groups are accorded victim status. And the unintended consequence here, is to legitimize bitterness, and essentially to take away individual responsibility. In other words it’s the blame game all over again! I mean if it’s somebody else's fault, there’s nothing I can do about it right? The truth is never quite that simple! More tomorrow!

Father, this is a really difficult conversation, because both sides regard the other as uncaring. And while this is certainly the case on both sides at times, what is often missing, again on both sides, is wisdom to know how to help and not to harm. And so I pray this morning for wisdom for us all in Jesus Name Amen.

Together house to house… And in the temple

It’s easy to underestimate the need and the power of fellowship. Indeed we are commanded not to neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:24). But in this age where so many of our Judeo-Christian values are under attack, it’s important to have the right kind of fellowship. In particular, the Scripture also admonishes us that we not be squeezed into world’s mould (Romans 12:2). And it’s clear to me, that a large part of the church in order to be thought to be relevant and loving, has lost the balance between love and truth. Love without truth is toxic. On the other hand, another part of the church has become rigid and defensive, holding to truth with not a lot of love. Truth without love is toxic!

This morning’s quote from Acts 2:46, talks about being in accord in small groups (in houses), and in larger groups in the temple. Of course there were no denominations in those days, but it is clear from the teaching on unity, that we need to deal with denominational barriers. At the same time however, there were those in the temple, for example the Pharisees, with whom it was not possible to have fellowship. So they had to be criteria, that formed the basis of the fellowship that were talking about here.

And the context of this morning’s verse gives us these criteria. In particular in verse 42 we are told that they “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” I’m not trying to say that this makes everything black and white, but it’s clear to me that there was great love, and an adherence to the truth as laid out by the apostolic teaching. And one of the things that I have noticed, in trying to interpret exactly what this all means, is the substantial agreement in the faith statements of parachurch organizations (Inter-varsity, OMF etc.). And it seems to me, that in accordance with the principle of iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17), that this substantial agreement came about through the furnace of interdenominational dialogue.

Father, part of the apostolic teaching, is that there should be an openness and vulnerability in church (James 5:26). Without this even church is not safe, and it needs to be if it is to be a hospital for the sin sick. We need your help Father, to come out of our defensiveness, and to be the church militant. Only you can do this Lord, and I cry out to you this morning for you to move your church to be what you call us to be. And I’ll give you all the honour and glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen

Is man good?

It’s a discussion I'm having with a dear old friend, who is very firmly on the left. We are having a civil conversation, and its iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17), as we learn from each other’s perspective. I mean we tend to know who’s bad (it’s the other side), and we tend to know who’s good (it’s us)! Notwithstanding this tendency, I observe another tendency, that is that we tend to polarize on the above question dividing into two camps, the yes camp and the no camp!

Now not everyone will agree with me (surprise), but I think to have the correct theological perspective on this question requires us to hold two things tension. The first (a) is that man is made in the image of God, so there is something intrinsically noble about him (choose your hero), the second (b) is is that mankind is fallen, and the default is for him to act out of his fallen sinful nature (choose your villain). What I am saying is that neither those who say that man is basically good, nor those who believe in the total depravity of man, are holding a balanced Biblical view.

Holding these things together in tension, gives us an advantage when it comes to engaging in meaningful dialogue. I mean if we want the other side to hear us, this will not happen if our attitudes, words and actions reflect a (b) sided view, so that the other side is the enemy! In other words, we can afford dignity to the other person, even if we radically disagree with their views. To say it in yet another way, we need to fight ideas, not people.

Father, it’s so easy to get stirred up by the ideas of the other side which we “know” are wrong. And we need to remember first and foremost that You love the other person, and that that person has value even if his or her ideas, in our opinion, do not. This does not mean to say that we cannot criticize behaviour, Jesus did (Mathew 23:14). But it’s interesting to note that the lion’s share of His criticism was directed at the religious hypocrites. So Lord please burn away any remaining self-righteousness in me, and help my speech to be full of grace and seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6), and I’ll give You all the honour, glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen