Some Sound Advice

 

Salt of the earth: Why "seeker-sensitive" and "relevant" can backfire by Weekend Fisher, HEART, MIND, SOUL, AND STRENGTH

"Seeker-sensitive" and "relevant" are the favorite mottos of many people who would make changes to the church in order to bring in more people who are unchurched. I know that "seeker-sensitive" and "relevant" can mean different things to different people. Speaking for myself, what I usually see from "seeker-sensitive" churches is "salt that has lost its savor". If a church makes a conscious effort to be like the world, and comfortable to those in the world, and unchallenging to those in the world, then it is no different than the rest of the world. There is no barrier, now, to those who would want to come -- and there is also no point in coming.

Think about sitting down to eat, and you reach for the salt shaker. If the salt tasted just like your food already tastes, would you bother with the salt? The reason we reach for the salt shaker is because it is different from what our food already tastes like. If the salt were the same flavor as the food, it would have no value to us. (Because some people delight in picking nits, I should mention: I'm not encouraging you to over-do the salt at meals; a healthy diet requires some measure of salt.)

I think that those who want to make the church "seeker-sensitive" and "relevant" by watering down the church's teachings are possibly well-meaning, but are taking the exact opposite direction from what would help. If we want people to reach for us when they want a change from the clearly-broken world, we have to be unapologetically different from that world. We have to be what Christ called us to be: nothing more, nothing less.

Prayer For The Lost By Weekend Fisher

 

Prayer for the lost by Weekend Fisher over at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength

 

Let him see the good in you, and love you for it, and seek it, and follow you all his days. May he see the good in you, and recognize the excellence of your ways; may he set his moral compass by you, and steer a good course by you, and follow you all his days. May he desire the good that is in you, and call himself by your name.

What's The Difference Between Justice And Revenge- By Weekend Fisher

 

What's the difference between justice and revenge- by Weekend Fisher over at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength

 

I heard a challenge question once, asking: What's the difference between justice and revenge? (I think it was on an old TV show.) The answer given was, "One is right, and the other is wrong." The answer was good for a laugh, but it doesn't exactly answer the question. Here are some thoughts towards a fuller answer.

 

Justice aims to restore something: to balance scales, to restore order, to limit evil, to repay a loss. Justice is meant to put things right again.

 

Revenge aims to harm the other person, whether through injury, or financial ruin, or lost reputation, or some other means. 

 

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Ethics- What Makes An Action Good? By Weekend Fisher

 

Ethics- What makes an action good- by Weekend Fisher over at  Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength

 

A college-level course could be spent on the topic of "What makes an action good?" What I'd like to do here is give a simplified overview of the main ways that question has been answered, and then make a few follow-up comments.

 

Q: So: What makes an action good?

1. It fulfills or harmonizes with natural law. (Natural Law)

2. It fulfills an essential moral duty. (Deontology)

3. It will achieve a good purpose. (Consequentialism / Utilitarianism)

4. It is the outward expression of inward virtue. (Virtue Ethics)

5. It fulfills a divine command. (Divine Command Theory)

There's nothing preventing an action from being "All of the above". First, a quick survey of some potential problems of each approach:

1. Natural Law is limited in that all kinds of human actions are not necessarily associated with some sort of immutable natural law. Also, emphasis on some natural laws -- notoriously, "survival of the fittest" -- can lead to some brutal results.

2. The "essential moral duty" begs the question of how we know what that essential moral duty is, and why exactly those duties are good.

3. The utilitarians are the ones for whom "the ends justify the means". It is the only theory that bets everything on being justified by a future outcome. There is a blind spot in that we don't know the future, so the true consequences of an action are not actually known in advance. There is no safeguard against causing all kinds of actual harm in the name of good intentions and hoped-for results. Also, there is such a thing as a method that sabotages its intended goal; that risk is typically not recognized.

4. The outward expression of inward virtue begs the question of what exactly is virtue and why exactly is it good. It has nearly the opposite risk compared to the utilitarians, in that for the "virtue ethics" view, the end result is, in practice, nearly irrelevant. In its weaker moments, it tends toward narcissism; it has a self-congratulatory streak.

5. The "divine command" theory presupposes a way of knowing God and a way of knowing his will. Beyond those hurdles, it then bets everything on the character of God. If God is not actually intrinsically good, then "divine command" is not necessarily intrinsically "good" either. (This last point is not at all academic. Not all religions hold that God / the gods are always intrinsically good. According to some religions, God / the gods may not act out of goodwill or virtue.) 

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An Ancient Teaching About Calling Down Judgment On Others By Weekend Fisher

 

 

In other words watch what you say.

 

An ancient teaching about calling down judgment on others by Weekend Fisher over at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength

 

Sarai said to Abram, "The wrong done me is your fault. I myself put my maid in your bosom; now that she sees she is pregnant, I am lowered in her esteem. The LORD decide between you and me." (Genesis 16:5)

 

So how did that work out for her, calling down God as judge between herself and her husband? In later years:

 

And Sarah died ... Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. (Genesis 23:2)

 

From this the ancient Israelites derived the teaching:

 

He who calls down divine judgment on his neighbor is himself punished first. (Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 16b)

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Loving God With All Our Heart, Soul, Mind, And Strength- Getting The Focus Right By Weekend Fisher

 

Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength- getting the focus right by Weekend Fisher over at Heart, Mind, Soul, And Strength

 

According to Jesus, the greatest commandment is to love God:

The most important commandment is this: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD your God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:29-30)

If that is the greatest commandment, then how do we live it? 

 

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Jesus' Authority At The Temple

 

Jesus' authority at the Temple- The question is really, Who is he- by Weekend Fisher over at Heart, Mind, Soul, And Strength

 

Sometimes people view the Gospel of John with suspicion since it records Jesus saying more directly about himself than the other gospels. "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life" -- those and more of the great "I am" sayings of Jesus are recorded in the Gospel of John. What did the earlier gospels think of Jesus? Would they also show Jesus saying such things about himself?

 

Matthew, Mark, and Luke together record that on Jesus' final visit to Jerusalem, he went to the Temple and cleared out all the vendors; he also taught there regularly. Those who considered themselves in charge of the Temple came to ask him: Exactly what authority did you have to do that? All three of the earlier gospels record that, at this point, Jesus referred to John the Baptist: You tell me what authority he had to baptize, and I'll tell you what authority I had to do that.

 

Why did Jesus starting talking about John the Baptist? Was he changing the subject? No; in all three of the gospels, the people understood his point in asking about John the Baptist : "If we say, 'From heaven' then he will say, 'Why did you not believe him?'" They knew full well that John the Baptist said Jesus' authority was from heaven. So if they admitted that John the Baptist was a prophet, they would have to acknowledge that Jesus was even greater, as John had said. That was why they couldn't acknowledge John the Baptist: John the Baptist testified about Jesus. All Jesus would have to say then is, "Why did you not believe him?" and they knew it.

 

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Essential Bible Verses On Forgiveness

 

Essential Bible verses on forgiveness by Weekend Fisher over at Heart, Mind, Soul, And Strength

1. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. (Psalm 32:2)

2. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

3. The LORD forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases. (Ps 103:3)

4. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)

5. Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

6. There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous who had no need to repent. (Luke 15:7)

7. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)

8. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

9. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

10. The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.(Matthew 9:6)

11. Take heart, your sins are forgiven. (Matthew 9:2)

12. Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. (John 8:11)

What Makes A Blog A Christian Blog- Or A Sermon A Christian Sermon

 

What makes a blog a Christian blog- Or a sermon a Christian sermon- by Weekend Fisher over at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength

 

I have been pondering for some time, "What makes a blog a Christian blog?" and a related question, "What makes a sermon a Christian sermon?" There are many blogs written by Christian laymen and women that I consider good Christian blogs -- and others written by pastors or theology professors that don't seem Christian. And of course vice versa, though that one is hardly a surprise. So the question had been on my mind.

 

I asked for the thoughts of long-time blog-neighbor Martin LaBar because he has written about similar subjects. He was kind enough to respond at length:

 

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Related Articles:

1. What makes a blog Christian?

2. Guidelines for this blog

3. What makes a sermon Christian?

There Are Seven Basic Plots - Or Maybe Just One

 

There Are Seven Basic Plots - Or Maybe Just One by Weekend Fisher over at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength

 

Some people say there are only seven different stories in the world -- though different people have different lists of what those seven stories are. There's the romance, the quest, rags to riches, growing up, defeating the monster, facing death, and rebirth. Or sometimes we define stories by their conflicts: man against man, man against nature, man against God, man against society, man against woman, man against himself, man against destiny.* (We sure enjoy being against things, don't we?) Sometimes we group these stories into broader groups like tragedy and comedy. 

 

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Guys and Dolls- How the missionary is redeemed by the gambler

 

Guys and Dolls- How the missionary is redeemed by the gambler by Weekend Fisher over at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength

 

It's high school musical season again. Have you ever seen Guys and Dolls? I like the unusual plot line: it's one of the few dramas in which a Christian is redeemed by someone she's trying to save.

 

When we first meet Sgt. Sarah Brown of the Save-A-Soul Mission, she is followed by a noisy band. Remember how St Paul says that, when we speak without love, we sound like a resounding gong or clanging cymbal? That's a fitting description of Sgt. Sarah Brown. I have to wonder if her annoying band is supposed to be a nod to St Paul's gong-and-cymbal comments. Her speeches are well-meant but completely loveless. There's not a lot of mercy in them. She's shocked and disappointed that nobody listens. 

 

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