Progressivism ≠ Evolution

I’ve been very busy and emotionally taxed and so I have not expanded the discussion from the post immediately preceding this one: “Progressivism in Churches”. However, two very pointed comments were offered, both of which are worthy of further evaluation.

My atheist Internet acquaintance and perhaps even friend gave an opposing comment while my brother in Christ gave a supporting comment.  In order to make this further examination of the issue easier, I will include the two comments here.

Canadian Atheist said...

     NA, religion either evolves with society or it dies. Christianity is dying. Young people are leaving the church in droves, women are as well. Pretty much every Christian sect is losing numbers well below the increase in population. Mormonism is a significant exception. Atheism and agnosticism are growing at a phenomenal rate and has already engulfed most of Europe.

     My latest blog post looks into this in a bit more detail. I invite you over to have a look. :)

Gary Cepek said...

Paul,

     Your post's presupposition is that a person's faith is personal, yet it's origin and maintenance is not of the person himself, but through and only through the Means employed by YHWH Theos. No individual is capable of Christian faith, even though every individual is capable of reason. Therefore faith exists only where YHWH Theos' Means are taught and applied as He has given them. You observe that the exercise of human reason in understanding and applying what faith believes moves them further from the faith.
This presupposition is unreasonable but totally Biblical.

     Canadian Atheist observes that religion either evolves with society or it dies; particularly this is true of Christianity. His observation is reasonable but totally un-biblical. He correctly stands by his reason. That's because faith is not reasonable.

I have points of clarification and correction to declare in response to both comments, even though I am actually in agreement with Gary, even full agreement.  I do have points of clarification, however, for Gary’s points.  I also have some friendly points for my Canadian friend’s comment.

Gary’s point that faith is not reasonable, is true from the perspective of the fallen and corrupt reason with which we approach what we observe and try to examine these things.  But faith is not truly unreasonable.  It is actually reasonable to the very highest degree.  For the first two people, those who were created in the image and likeness of God and walked in the fullness of knowing Him in His Holy Communion, faith made perfect sense.  Faith and trust in their loving Father was the only reasonable perception.  Before the couple chose to enter into the knowledge of Good and Evil, they knew only the goodness of their Father and His will.  They had no false notions of free will, because their wills were truly one with God’s will.  And so they were truly happy and content.  They basked in the true freedom of the unity of their wills with the perfect will of God.  They knew no deviant ways.  For them there was only the one way, and it was perfectly good.

But then came the tempter to them and they turned from the faith in which they had been created to look to a deviant way of thinking.  They looked to the way of Evil.  They then became one with Evil and became separated from Good, for Good is of God.  Their response was unreasonable.  They chose to walk away from the freedom and light into the bondage and shadows of darkness and confusion.  Never again would they be free to live without having to consider whether their actions and choices are good or evil.  Never again would they be free to look to their reflections and see themselves as God had created them.  Now they experienced shame.  Now they experienced self-doubt.  Now they experienced fear of every sort.  Now they tried to hide from themselves and especially from the One who is truly Good.

But even now, faith is still genuinely reasonable.  Even the pseudoscientists have to admit that faith is good, although they know not where faith originates nor upon what it clings.  But faith is entirely reasonable.  It makes perfect sense, that is, when one encounters that which is to be believed and trusted.

For example of the use of reason regarding faith:

     And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.  (Acts 17:10-12)

It is this reasoning that is regenerated in the heart from above that becomes the new will and the new mind and the new life of the regenerated believer and of the believers together as the Church.  They embrace one Way.  They hear the one Truth.  They share in the one Life.  They know of one Baptism, one Lord, one Faith.  They partake of one holy meal together.  They are inhabited by the one Spirit.  They are made to be one body together, the body of Christ, the Church.

My Canadian friend speaks from a perspective of atheism and agnosticism.  Agnosticism is a-knowing, or without knowledge.  Atheism is a-goded, or without god.  These are really one in the same, the religion of the world.  These actually include all of the religions of the world, save the true knowledge and Communion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Canadian speaks from the perspective of the world, which includes most who imagine themselves to be Christians.  Sadly, there have never been very many true Christians in the world.  The Scriptures always speak of the true Church as a remnant and a tiny flock.  Thus, the witness that is observed in the world is usually a corrupt and false witness.  Therefore, the observation that religion must evolve to survive is falsely presumed.  After all, this is what is observed in most of the churches and church bodies.

But this notion of surviving through evolving is entirely untrue, even for the worldly religions.  This can be seen most clearly when one realizes the fact that what is really described is not evolution but devolution.  When a religion is compromised to conform to society, that religion devolves until it completely disintegrates and is absorbed into the ways of the society.  The identity that was once clearly proclaimed and professed and lived is eventually lost.

This notion of setting aside the things that differentiate the religion from the rest of society as a move toward survival is like saying that a planet that breaks up into smaller pieces when colliding with an asteroid is survival.  Far from survival of the planet, what occurs is total disintegration into an asteroid belt.  It is no longer a planet.  The planet has ceased to exist.  It works the same way with religions.

This is even more pronounced with regard to those who profess to be the Church.  When churches and church bodies surrender their doctrine and practice, breaking up the unity of the faith and communion, they cease to be the Church.  The true Church, the true body of Christ, does not die.  However, the pieces that become separated from the body do die.  They are no longer untied with and alive in Christ.

Sadly, very few people ever even recognize the true Church on earth.  This is as the Lord Jesus explains to Nicodemus in John 3, when He says that no one can perceive the kingdom of God unless he be generated from above.  Faith is that through which the kingdom of God is perceived.  How can one who has not been regenerated recognize the kingdom of God?  How can such an unregenerate person speak concerning things of the kingdom of God, the body of Christ?

This is made worse by the fact that there are many churches and church bodies that falsely represent the true faith.  They do not hold to the pure Word and the pure Sacraments.  Thus they turn the life of the Church into a life of seeking to follow rules and regulations.  The freedom of living by grace through faith is never taught or embraced.  The God of mercy and grace is presented as a God of judgment and condemnation.  Even His great sacrifice of His own life on the cross is presented as something other than an act of grace.  The Sacraments are made to be demands for commitments and decisions and obedience.  Prayers are perverted to be means of obtaining favor rather than the communication of favor.  Works of every kind are piled up as requirements for acceptance by God, even though He has declared that His works are what bring us near to Him and keep us united with Him.

As this legalism becomes more and more prevalent, those who claim to represent the Lord and the true Church become more and more obsessed with control.  The Gospel becomes discounted as the power of God unto salvation, and various traditions and rules become the safeguards.  Then these “leaders” seek to have the power to enforce these.  They grasp after power, including secular power.  Then they enact atrocities like have occurred under the papacy, and under the Calvinists and Puritans and others.  Witch hunts and heretic trials are enacted.  People are tortured and murdered, all supposedly in the name of Jesus, even though He strictly condemned such ways.

How through these things would anyone looking on even begin to perceive the true Church, the true kingdom of God?  Who would learn of the God of grace from such monstrous actions?

This is not the way of the true Church.  The true Church is gathered by the Holy Spirit to the pure Word and the pure Sacraments.  The saints congregate with the sole intention of hearing the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ proclaimed and the absolution pronounced and the Holy Communion to be administered.  These saints seek no glory or power for themselves.  They gather to examine themselves, to confess their own personal miserable condition, so that they may hear again God’s gracious answer.  They have no desire to cast judgment at others, for they are concerned with receiving remittance of their own guilt and sins.  They rise up rejoicing and praising God for His goodness.  They come as one to the Holy Table to receive the very means of their salvation and new life, the body and blood of their Savior God.  They share together in this gracious life and they go home and to work displaying this in their daily lives.  They seek the good of their neighbors and countrymen, not from obligation, but from love.  They share the good news through which they have been regenerated to this new life.  They seek to protect the helpless in whatever ways that they can.  They obey the laws of the land out of love for their fellow man, knowing that good order benefits everyone.  They endure ridicule without returning evil for evil.  They love and bless those who persecute them.  In as much as is in their power, they live in peace with all men.  All of this flows freely from hearts filled with the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

But this is not the way when the churches compromise the doctrine and practice that has been handed down by the apostles.  When the churches look away from the pure means of grace and begin to modify themselves to be more like what people seek in the worldly circles, this peace that is provided through the pure means of grace disintegrates.  As the unity disintegrates the life and identity of the churches disintegrate.

Throughout history, such unity and communion has been rare.  Compromise is the prevailing way.   But where the saints count the pure means of grace to be more important than anything else in the world, there the true Church still thrives.  There God still is with His beloved and they share together in the Communion of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Whether it be a gathering of two or three, or a gathering of thousands, there the Church thrives and enjoys all the blessings of heaven and everlasting life and hope and joy.

Thus I grieve to observe the many who turn away to the ways of compromise and disintegration of the life and faith of the true Church.  Yet I also remain confident and unmoved and filled with ceaseless joy in knowing the faithfulness of the Lord in preserving His Church on earth until the day of the final consummation.

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Whom Shall We Trust?

Whom Shall We Trust?

This question is one that always looms before us.  Whom shall or can we trust?

On this blog I include links to Alex Jones’ Prison Planet/InfoWars because this site presents much valuable reporting of information.  Included in this is exposure of the dangers of processed free glutamic acid and aspartic acid being added to our foods and vaccines.  This really is very important news.

However, also on this site is the promotion of products from which Alex receives income to support his news network.  Among these products are the Youngevity products, including one that Alex promotes highly, Beyond Tangy Tangerine.

Here is the product label listing the ingredients from http://www.deaddoctorsdontlie.com/Beyond-Tangy-Tangerine.463 and http://www.american-nutrition.com/beyond_tangy_tangerine.html:



In the “OTHER INGREDIENTS” section are other items of concern, but specifically listed under the amino acids are aspartic acid and glutamic acid.

Both of these are in free form, having been processed, and therefore having the effects of excito-toxins.  Alex has rightly made a big deal about the dangers of both of these when they exist in this free form and are added to our foods to be ingested.

So I e-mailed him and his associates at every e-dress provided on their contact page, drawing to their attention that they were promoting a product that includes the very things that they are warning people to avoid.

Sadly, I never received a response and Alex continues to promote this product heavily.

My conclusion is that I cannot trust Alex not to compromise when money is at stake.  This is typical.  It is true of many companies, news sources, and even the mainstream church bodies.

So who can we trust?

As a pastor I have always admonished those entrusted to my spiritual oversight that they should never trust me and what I say without being certain that what I say is actually in accord with the Scriptures.  While I explained that it is right for them to give their pastor the benefit of the doubt and not to suspect him, they nevertheless should do like the people of Berea, in Acts 17:10-12, who carefully examined what St. Paul preached to them to be sure that he was preaching what the Scriptures declare before they received his preaching as true.

Regarding the Gospel, this is the most important area in which we must be absolutely certain of what we are hearing and receiving.  But we should also apply this caution to those to whom we turn for our news and nutrition and health information.

After all, what we don’t know can indeed hurt us, especially if we do not know that we are being fed spiritual and/or bodily poison.

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Romans 14 and Relationships

     A dear friend included in an e-mail today the following:

     I was reading Romans 14 and maybe you want to check this one out. I won't tell you what I think yet, but it made a great impression on how one approaches others. Very interesting.

     Reading this portion of the apostle’s letter was refreshing. It was encouraging, especially reading it in the greater context of the entire letter, with all that the dear apostle includes. In this wicked world of sin and turmoil, those who hold steadfastly to the pure Gospel find themselves often feeling alone. We hear from every direction, especially from those we wish we could embrace as brothers and sisters in the Lord, “Judge not. Judge Not! JUDGE NOT!!” We hear that love is equal to tolerance. People often quote particular passages from the Scriptures in this regard. But is this what the Lord actually says? Are people hearing Him for what He truly declares? Or are they utilizing selective hearing?

     Regarding Romans 14 it is important for us to remember that St. Paul writes this to those who are brethren in the Lord and not to the world, nor to those who are heretics. He is writing regarding the interaction between the saints within the church in Rome. What he here writes has not direct correlation to those who are not of the true faith. So we need to be mindful of this in how we apply it.

     The issue in Romans 14 is a lack of understanding regarding the old ceremonial laws from Moses. The kinds of meat that are allowed and which festivals to observe were the issue. Do we have the divine service on Saturday, Sunday, or every day? Do we dare to eat pork and lobster and crab and camel? Must we observe certain times of fasting or are we free to eat without such obligations? These are the kinds of questions addressed in Romans 14, questions that lingered for the first century Church.

     So long as those who were weak and unable in their hearts to let go of some of the old ceremonial requirements did not insist that these were necessary for salvation, St. Paul says that those who are strong and able to live free of these should be patient with the weak, even to the point of being willing to set their freedoms aside for the sake of their weaker brethren for a time if it appeared to be helpful.

     Not understanding this, in more recent times, has led to the development of sects such as the Adventists and the Jehovah's Witnesses, sects that have abandoned the Gospel and have supplanted it with various forms of works righteousness.

     To make certain that misunderstanding on this matter is avoided so that tolerance of schismatic opinions in doctrine and practice is not accepted, St. Paul says in his conclusion of this letter:

     “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” (Romans 16:17)

     So, then, while we are to be patient with those who are weak, we are not to permit them to impose their weaknesses onto the life of the Church. Most of all, we are not to allow them to abide in false doctrine themselves nor to bring this false doctrine into the life of the Church. Such are not to be counted as brethren. They are to be confronted a couple of times, and if they refuse to hear, they are to be counted as pagans and tax collectors. (Matthew 18, Titus 3:10-11)

     Whatever other thoughts one may have regarding this chapter of the apostle's letter, these are some important reminders.

     It is wonderful reading, especially in its context. The dear apostle reminds us that we are not the judges, only the proclaimers of what we ourselves receive. Thus, whatever judgment we speak we must first receive for ourselves. When we approach judging from this perspective, it changes us and makes us very cautious and gentle, for when we apply the judgment to ourselves, this is what we desire. Yet we also must hear God's judgment honestly and without compromise, otherwise we lose the Gospel. Since this is how we must hear God's judgment for ourselves so as not to lose that which we desperately need, so also we will proclaim it in this same manner to others.

     Sadly, it seems that we have entered into the time that the Lord foretold when people would no longer be willing to hear sound doctrine but would gather to themselves many teachers to tickle their ears telling them what they prefer to hear. In this age it seems that holding to the pure doctrine of the Scriptures leaves a person standing alone. But we are not alone. The Lord Himself assures us of this. Wherever we gather to the pure Gospel, He is with us to give to us that which we need most, along with all the other worldly blessings that He showers upon all, upon both the just and the unjust. But in His Holy Communion, we enjoy His saving presence, even as we partake together of His body and blood. This is why compromise cannot be tolerated.

     Romans 14 does not teach us to compromise. It teaches us to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of one another. Sacrifice does not equal compromise. In fact, it is the opposite. Compromise seeks to avoid the pain of sacrifice. Compromise is an act of selfishness whereas sacrifice is an act of selfless love. This is the love that we receive from God Himself which then moves us to act with that same love both in response to Him and also to one another. This love, far from being tolerant, is rather a continual call to the repentance that God works through the pure Gospel.


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THE Born Loser

Many times I begin to feel like a loser. Sometimes I even imagine myself to be the born loser, as though I were the worst off of anyone.

Yesterday, as I finally made it out to do some work that actually counts as work, after allowing various interruptions to alter my day’s schedule, I was feeling down on myself. I was thinking what a loser I am so often to be giving of myself, taking time for others, scrambling to shift funds to pay creditors, doing work that makes men half my age quit. My thoughts ran to the comic strip, The Born Loser. I was equating myself with that mentality.

Before long that line of thinking was overthrown by the realization that I have no business thinking of myself that way. After all, there is one who truly qualifies as THE Born Loser. We celebrate His birth at a season we call Christmas. He truly is THE Born Loser. He was born into the world for that very purpose. He was born to lose everything.

He was born of a virgin at a time when unwed motherhood was way beyond unacceptable. His adopted father was a poor carpenter. He grew to be a man and had no possessions except a little house in Capernaum. He sojourned from village to village, preaching the Gospel and healing the sick and driving out demons, all at no charge. He was ridiculed and demeaned throughout His ministry. Finally He was condemned for everything that He was and did and claimed to be. He was tortured and killed by a horrible and inhuman method. He was hung up naked on a cross for everyone to gawk at Him. He was spit upon. He was mocked. Finally he was buried.

He lost everything. He did so willingly. He did so for the sake of those who were born losers according to their inheritance. He did so in order to take their place as losers and give to them the riches that were His from eternity.

On His account St. Paul writes: “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

This the apostle writes in response to all of the things that would make us imagine ourselves to be losers. “In all these things,” we are more than conquerors.

MORE than conquerors? Yes! For the victory has already been won. All of the things that would bring us down, all of the things that would work against us, they have all been defeated. Christ suffered them all and rose again, ascending to heavenly glory, where these things do not even exist. He rose from the dead in order to guarantee that our lives would not be lost. He not only paid the price to release us from the punishment that we deserve, but He also rose again in His body to guarantee that death would not be our end. Our greatest enemy, death, has no hold over us. The victory has been accomplished. We cannot lose, not while we are bound to the life that is in Christ Jesus.

So how dare I imagine myself to be a loser? How dare I blaspheme against the grace of God by counting myself a born loser when Christ has taken that from me? Yes, by my own stupid choices I am a loser, but even these and their consequences are temporary. They have no power to defeat me so long as my gaze is fixed on Christ, so long as I am in communion with Him through His means of grace. For this reason I and my house refuse to bind ourselves to communions that corrupt these gracious means. After all, if we surrender to compromise the things by which Christ’s victory is made to be ours, then we truly shall be losers. What do we gain if for the sake of earthly fellowship we cut ourselves off from the Holy Communion that we confess in the Creed?

No, the way of victory is the way of the cross. The preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the hope to which we shall cling. The pure administration of the means of grace is sufficient to ward off all of the aspects of living in this world of sin that would make us to be losers. When we have these, why would we look to anything else? Why should we ever imagine ourselves to be losers?

Do You Renounce

In the rite of Holy Baptism the person who is baptized is asked to confess the Christian faith, which includes the following statement and vow as the very first:

Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways?

What are the works of the devil and all his ways? What does a person renounce with this vow?

Is compromise of doctrine a work or way of the devil?

Is compromise of practice a work or way of the devil?

Is acceptance of divisions in a congregation or church body, divisions that stem from divided understanding of doctrine and administration of the Sacraments, is this acceptance or tolerance a work or way of the devil?


Do you renounce?


Is this for real? Do people actually mean anything when they make this promise? Do people really mean that they reject the devil and his works and his ways and refuse to have anything to do with them?


Do you renounce?


How far does this question reach? After all, if this is treated seriously, it will completely change a person’s life. If this is treated seriously, it will affect every earthly relationship that the person has. If this is treated seriously, many former associations will also be renounced. If this is treated seriously, the person will be treading a very narrow path through life.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:13-15)

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:1-6)

Do you renounce?

The Final Week

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." -- John Quincy Adams


One more week to throw a stone or an angry word at the candidate who is worse than your own! Time is running out!

What a different way from what led to the founding of this nation! What a different way from what led to the very careful and arduous writing of our Declaration of Independence and the follow-up document known as our Constitution!

Yet it seems that the general populace was not that much different than today's populace. Otherwise, why would John Quincy Adams have written what is quoted above?

Apparently, the notion that a vote for a principle that is deemed by many as unobtainable and beyond hope for winning the day is a wasted vote may not be a new notion at all. Apparently those who fought for liberty and justice for all faced the same pessimism in their day as we face today. Apparently what they accomplished was accomplished through faith in what was declared to be impossible and hopeless. Apparently their ideals were counted by many as too high to be realistic and their candidates were counted as too far on the fringe to be electable.

So how on earth did they accomplish these things and win the day?

Apparently it was not by being compromising in their actions! Apparently it was not by settling for the lesser of two evils! Apparently they were unwilling to vote for a candidate on the basis of the rationale: "At least he's not the other guy!" or "He's for hope and change!"

It seems that those who accomplished the great things of the past had rock solid principles that they were willing to fight for, even beyond sacrificing their own lives, but also their fortunes and families.

But these heroes did not choose these principles for themselves. They had a basis for these principles. They declared this basis in their Declaration of Independence and debated from this basis in the Constitutional Convention.

Could that be what is missing today? Could it be that the willingness to tolerate compromise, even the eagerness to embrace compromise, found in the churches in our age, could be the cause of the willingness to settle for so little in the sphere of politics?

But then, the way of compromise is easier. Right? Who wants to stand alone with nothing but one's principles as his footing?

There are still a few. Yes, we do still exist.

Are you one those few, too?