In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)
Do your ears itch?
It seems like so many people have been revamping the Word of God lately, to make it less offensive, or more inclusive, or less intrusive into our personal behavior. Many of the people doing this have been clergy, which is even more disheartening.
Recently, 60 Minutes had a two-hour episode — that alone should be a stark indication of where we’ve come as a society, that a program called “60 Minutes” can run for two hours without anyone noticing the disparity — anyway, they did a story about a popular Christian preacher whose basic message is that God’s going to make you rich; your best days are ahead of you.
In fact, his latest book talks a lot about becoming a better you. He includes seven steps we need to follow, such as be positive toward yourself, embrace the place where you are, and develop your inner life, all ending with a series of action points forming concrete steps to improve your life.
But, as the 60 Minutes interviewer pointed out, there is no mention of Jesus in the book. There is little difference between this Christian pastor and Dr. Phil when it comes to preaching God’s Word.
Some theologians have tried to reintroduce heretical teachings from the second and third centuries as newly-found Gospels. They claim writings like the “Gospel of Thomas” are authentic teachings of Jesus and his disciples.
I’m reminded of the time President Abraham Lincoln met with General McClennan of the Union Army to discuss strategy. He asked the general, “How many legs does a horse have if you call the tail a leg?” McClennan said, “Five.”
Lincoln replied, “Wrong. It’s four. Merely calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one.”
We face the same effect today regarding scripture. Merely calling something a Gospel doesn’t make it one. And twisting the teachings of Christ into some sort of tolerant, multi-religion, get-out-of-hell free card and claiming that it’s God’s Word doesn’t make it so.
Popular Christian, or really pseudo-Christian, theology today claims that Jesus did not rise from the dead physically, he didn’t heal anyone miraculously, and all those prophesies he fulfilled were made up by the Gospel writers who inserted various fictitious events throughout the text to convince people that Jesus actually fulfilled them.
Paul mentions in our reading today from his letter to Timothy that the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, and will turn away from truth to hear what their itching ears want to hear instead.
Do your ears itch?
When I was in the Navy, Sailors told each other all sorts of stories about what happened on various deployments or on liberty. They were called sea stories, and were often far from being true. In fact we used say that the difference between a fairy tale and a sea story was that a fairy tale begins with “Once upon a time…” while a sea story begins with “This is a true story, no kidding…”
Those of us who had been in the Navy for a while knew when we were hearing a sea story. But new recruits who knew almost nothing about life at sea, used to believe every word of those incredible tales.
So when Paul tells Timothy to “continue in what you have learned and firmly believe,” and how “from childhood” Timothy had “known the sacred writings,” Timothy realizes he can use that foundation he developed to discern fact from fiction.
We, on the other hand, are not as fortunate. Hebrew children in Paul’s time had the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, memorized by age 10. And even today, Muslim children memorize the entire Koran in Arabic.
Yet most Christians can’t even name the first five books of the Bible, and I’ve never met or heard of anyone who has them memorized.
Most Christians don’t even bother to read the Bible, and many disregard the Old Testament as being superseded by the New Testament.
I’ve been reading a chronological Bible in a one-year plan. The New Testament readings don’t begin each year until October 18. More than three quarters of the Bible is God’s story before the Gospels!
And many of us are ignorant about it.
That means we can be easily misled by anyone who knows just a little more about it than we do. That’s also the short definition for expert: Someone who knows more than we do about a subject. The less we know, the easier it is for someone to pass themselves off as an expert.
George Barna has published some research on our Bible views and habits.
• Only 42 percent of adults on the West Coast read the Bible during the week. Midwest is 45 percent, with the Northeast having the lowest percentage at 38 and the South highest at just 57. (2006)
• The good news is that two-thirds born again Christians (67%) have read the Bible in the past week, but that still means 1-out-of-3 born again Christians do not read the Bible even once a week. (2006)
• Our education system seems to make it even worse. Of those who attended high school or less, 71 percent believe that the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings compared with 52 percent of those who have graduated from college. (2006)
• Additionally, 86 percent of the people in the United States are “concerned about the moral condition of the country,” compared to 74 percent in 2001. (2006) That should come as no surprise when more than half the country rejects the moral teachings of the Bible.
In Deuteronomy (6:4-9), Moses tells God’s commands to the Israelites:
“Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Do we do any of this? Jews put a mezuzah on their doorposts with this portion of scripture inside it. They touch it and recite that passage, called the sh’ma, whenever they pass through the doorway. I don’t see anything un-Christian about doing this, yet Christians reject this as “some Jewish thing.”
Paul tells Timothy that all scripture is inspired by God, or God-breathed. The word used by Paul is θεοπνευστος “Theopneustos,” from “Theo,” meaning God, and “Pneuma,” meaning breath or spirit. At the time Paul wrote this, he was referring to the writings of the Old Testament, as the Gospels had not been written yet.
Paul says that all scripture is useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. That four-part model integrates holiness into our lives.
In teaching, we establish doctrine, which is declaring what’s right.
In providing reproof, we define what is wrong.
When we make corrections, we show how to change wrong to right.
And by training in righteousness, we’re applying God’s truth to life’s circumstances.
We’re also told to preach the Word, to proclaim God’s message.
If we’re not very disciplined about reading God’s Word, it’s a safe bet that we’re even less disciplined about sharing it with other people.
And notice that Paul says we should “proclaim.” Heralds for the king during Paul’s time were given the authority to go forth among the people and proclaim the message that the king wanted them all to know. It wasn’t a suggestion; it was their job. They were also authorized only to “proclaim” the message, not to negotiate its terms with people who thought the message was too difficult or too harsh. The herald’s duty was to spread the word, and the people’s duty was to hear it and obey. Choosing to disobey the king brought serious consequences.
Paul instructs us to convince, rebuke, and encourage. That means showing people the truth, pointing out what they’re doing wrong, and supporting them in their walk with Christ. We tend to shy away from that idea, don’t we?
We’re afraid that people will steer clear of us if we talk about Jesus, or that they’ll be angry with us if we criticize their beliefs or behavior, so we don’t do it. And we can’t be much encouragement for them to change if they haven’t been told there’s anything they’re doing wrong.
When Paul says the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, I think that time has arrived. The popularity of the DaVinci Code,
Gnosticism, and this Prosperity Gospel are just a few indicators. But the key indicator for me is the vehement hatred toward orthodox Christian doctrine and anything symbolizing Jesus or Christianity.
The fight to remove the cross from a veterans memorial on Mount Soledad is one example. The death of Jerry Falwell was another.
In the days following Falwell’s death, incredibly vile and hateful message flooded the airwaves and the blogosphere. That was pretty much expected. What wasn’t expected was that nearly every Christian leader who said anything nice about Falwell felt obligated to preface their remarks with, “Although I didn’t always agree with what he said or did….”
We couldn’t just praise the guy for spending his entire life trying to follow Christ, to live as Jesus lived and do what Jesus did.
We had to make sure we mentioned the parts we think he got wrong, so that others wouldn’t call us “intolerant” for saying something nice about someone who dared to say publicly that homosexual behavior and abortion are against God’s commands to us.
The most recent example to reach our itching ears came after an interview with conservative columnist and author, Ann Coulter, on The Big Idea. Host Donny Deutsch discussed Coulter’s views as a Christian. Coulter said she believes a Christian America would be a good place to live, and that Christians theologically are perfected Jews.
Deustch, who is Jewish, thought her comments were offensive, and told her so.
Coulter replied, “… I’m sorry. It is not intended to be. I don’t think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe — this is just a statement of what the New Testament is — is that that’s why Christ came and died for our sins. …”
Atheists, Jews, Buddhists, even Christian and Pseudo-Christian clergy have all jumped at the opportunity to blast Coulter for her comments without even looking at the theology or the practice.
Whether we like Counter’s style or politics should have nothing to do with whether what she said is true. She did not advocate forcibly converting all Jews to Christianity or killing those that don’t convert. She said Christians are perfected Jews. So does the Bible.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews 10:10-14 (New Living Translation), tells us:
"For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.
Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy."
The Greek word “teleos” is often translated as “perfect” in English, but has a connotation of “completed” or “matured.” In English, the word “perfect” seems to be associated with arrogance, and that’s not the intended meaning.
Think about this. Jesus was born Jewish. He died Jewish. And as far as I know, he didn’t convert after the resurrection. He was, and is, a rabbi as well as our Lord and Savior.
“Christian” was an insulting term that the Romans used to describe the Jews who continued to follow Jesus after his crucifixion. It means “Little Christs.”
Messianic Jews recognize Jesus as the Messiah, yet they don’t call themselves Christians. They consider themselves completed, or perfected, Jews.
Many Christian clergy have abdicated their responsibility to preach about Jesus Christ being “the way, the truth, and the life.” That’s straight out of the Gospel, John 14:6. One mainline denomination refused to even discuss it at their convention last year.
Think about where we’ve gone as a society, where a Christian denomination refuses to even discuss the divinity of Jesus Christ during their national convention!
And they’re not alone. Another denomination decided that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, despite their use throughout the Bible, were not inclusive enough to soothe the itching ears of their congregations, so at their national convention last year they proposed changing the names of the divine Trinity from “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” to more progressive terms such as “Mother, Child and Womb” or “Rock, Redeemer, Friend.” A political cartoonist added a fourth choice: “Rock, Paper, Scissors.”
In Matthew’s Gospel (28:18-20), known as the Great Commission, Jesus says this to his disciples:
“… ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”
If all religions lead to heaven, why would Jesus have died on the cross?
If truth is relative, and believing in something is more important than believing the right thing, why would Jesus tells us to make disciples that follow him, instead of affirming the value of each person’s faith concept and being tolerant of the other’s belief system?
Why does Jesus ask for a public declaration of faith in the triune God through Baptism, instead of telling us that his death and resurrection will bring everyone into heaven regardless of what they believe?
Ann Coulter spoke accurate Christian theology, and Christians ran away from it faster than the disciples in Gethsemane. Both Conservative and Liberal Christian clergy couldn’t climb the tower of tolerance fast enough to proclaim their lukewarm teachings about Jesus in an attempt to appease anyone whose itching ears had been offended.
For a Christian to actually espouse a portion of Christian doctrine that secular progressives deem intolerant is now the unforgivable sin.
Instead of stepping out of the boat in faith, Christian leaders tossed Christ overboard when the seas got rough. Because some people were offended at being told that Jesus loves them and died for their sins so they could be with him forever in paradise instead of being forever lost, many of them abandoned Christ yet again.
The Gospel offends people. It’s supposed to. When Jesus told his multitude of disciples in John’s Gospel that he is the bread of life, many of them found it hard to accept. In John 6:61-69 we read,
“Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God."
Peter understood that Jesus is the only path to salvation. This doesn’t mean that Jesus can’t save someone if we don’t share the Gospel with them. Our actions or inactions can never limit God.
But Jesus is Lord, and he’s told us to tell others what we have come to know. In other words, he told us to be evangelists. I know that we Anglicans tend to shy away from the “E-word.” But God wants us to do it anyway.
Evangelists spread the Good News, the Gospel. They don’t hide behind the shield of tolerance afraid that they might offend people. Paul tells Timothy, and us, earlier in his letter (2 Tim 1:6-8),
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.
Ann Coulter is not St. Paul. Her main focus is on using sarcasm and outlandish statements to further her own political agenda and to increase sales of her books. But she is also a child of God, like all of us; she also believes that Jesus is the Christ, and is not afraid to tell people about it, which is not like all of us.
We should not distance ourselves from God’s truth, merely because we don’t like the person who said it. Actually, Coulter may be more like St. Paul than I originally thought. Paul was an argumentative, hot-tempered irritant who was prone to carrying grudges and having fits of rage. Read the Book of Acts, especially Paul’s argument with Barnabas over whether Mark should be allowed to travel with them or not.
Paul never had the opportunity to read Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, before starting his journeys. He spoke God’s word and offended a lot of people. He also wasn’t very tolerant.
Rev. W. Kingstone Greenland visited a vacant house with a friend who desired to purchase it. The friend was particularly struck by the beauty of one of the rooms which he wished to turn into his study; but he objected to a cupboard in the corner.
“I will have to remove it”, he said to the architect.
“No, you won’t,” was the reply.
“But I can do what I like if I buy the house,” said the man.
“You cannot do what you like with that cupboard,” answered the architect. “Why not?” he asked, “Is it protected by a clause in the deed?”
“No,” said the architect, “it is not on the deed: it is on the plan. You cannot take away the cupboard without taking down the house; it is part of the main structure.”
So if we take away the Deity of Christ, the statements that Jesus makes in the Gospels, the salvation that he offers us through his death and resurrection, we destroy the whole structure of Christianity. That doctrine is built in. It is central. It is a part of the structure.
Paul has warned us. Our ears will itch. And it’s up to each of us to decide whether we will turn away from the truth to hear the stories that make us feel better, or reach for God’s truth in the stories that will make us be better.
God bless you all.
