The rise of socialism in America today is a direct result of the churches failure to remain relevant, not its failure to express its disapproval. Anyone who is a part of a grace-based community will be repulsed by an institutionalized response to human need.
There is little difference between the modern religious charity and the government program in that neither one require relationship or change of heart for either the giver or receiver.
For too long morally upright Christians with a passion for leadership have shunned politics, and now the reverse over-response is a movement to impose Christian values on the populous. Instead of relationship, counseling, miraculous healing, and deliverance the church offers program, service, obligation and theological debate.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
True Restoration:
Janice asked me a long time ago to translate one of her books, "Reality Exercises to Develop the Inner Man," into language more engaging to the masculine heart. I have been eager lately to get back into the project, and its been going great.
So far I've uncovered a number of verses that support what we've often talked about as a Reality for us Christ followers. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. For a few weeks now, God has been saying to me, "I'm responsible for sanctification." I didn't know if this was a message to me, or for me to publish among people I know, or both. So now I'm reading Janice's verses, which are pretty common encouragement verses, and looking them up in context and in several translations, (so that I can state them from a man's heart.) Several of these verses, which are commonly truncated to mean God is on your side, are actually very out of context. Not that they aren't saying what people use them to mean, but that in context they rock even more.
I guess I'm trying to say that, if you are speaking to a "newb" Christian you might use them as they are commonly used but in context they are so much meatier. And its that meat which supports everything God has been laying on my heart. Here's one example:
Romans 8:28 says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him..."
Romans 8:31 says "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
1 Thessalonians 5:24 says "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."
However, Romans 8:28-39 says "28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."[c] 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[d] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Emphasis added by me)
Now Combine it with 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 really says, (NASB) 23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
Maybe this is obvious and you guys have always read it this way, but to me this clearly says that God is taking responsibility for both our salvation and our sanctification. He is also promising to complete us (here and now) and preserve us unto the second coming of Christ. In other words 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is saying God will sanctify us so that we may be blameless when Christ returns, not one day we'll be blameless after Christ returns.
Now what is calling in reference to in verse 24? At the least it refers to God calling us out of sin, but isn't that also calling us into light. The writer here is blessing this church by saying may the God who called you bring it about. That means finish it, right? If He already called them but He's going to bring it to pass that means finish it, right? So John, at least, is presuming that God has saved us and he is faithful to complete it. I know other verses say just that, but this clearly says he is preserving our salvation and is sanctifying us.
Back to Romans 8, if we eliminate the "who can condemn you" theme, for which we know the answer, we are left with Paul's assumption that God is going to sanctify us. Romans 8:28, again the word calling. But what if we also eliminate the whole "predestination" theme for a second, because what they are predestined to is conformity to the likeness of His Son. In other words we were made in God's image, right? I think Paul is saying, before God made the world He designed us to be like Christ and that's what he's called us back to when He gave us Christ as our savior.
I know we've talked about this being true, and I knew there were verses somewhere to support the notion, but I didn't expect to find them as the context around verses we've turned into evangelical platitudes. Roman's 8:30 "Those He Justified, He also glorified." BOOM! You can't beat that. No can defend.
But it picks up the theme again in verse 32, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also...graciously give us all things? ...(35) Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." This clearly states (to me) that If God gave his only son for our salvation, then he wouldn't deny us the sanctification in his resurrection, or the authority of His ascension to the thrown. Bang! Its all right here.
It's all right there in one neat little package. I don't care how legalistic you are. Paul and John agree that Christianity isn't just guilt and graveling for forgiveness. It's the full inheritance of Christ--restoration to the glory God intended for each of us when he dreamed of us before He spoke the world into existence.
That's why men hate church. The act of contrition feels like a place we might need to go, but not a place we want to live in. Until Christians are willing to let Christianity be about more than just feeling bad for sin, it will never be appealing to men. It's not a man's fault that a message of guilt doesn't excite his heart. What men crave, what Christ REALLY offers is an answer to the question his heart has been asking him his whole life, "who am I really, and do I have what it takes."
When Christian's let sanctification be a gift too, men will join the church. Until then you are powerless to reach the stronger sex.
So far I've uncovered a number of verses that support what we've often talked about as a Reality for us Christ followers. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. For a few weeks now, God has been saying to me, "I'm responsible for sanctification." I didn't know if this was a message to me, or for me to publish among people I know, or both. So now I'm reading Janice's verses, which are pretty common encouragement verses, and looking them up in context and in several translations, (so that I can state them from a man's heart.) Several of these verses, which are commonly truncated to mean God is on your side, are actually very out of context. Not that they aren't saying what people use them to mean, but that in context they rock even more.
I guess I'm trying to say that, if you are speaking to a "newb" Christian you might use them as they are commonly used but in context they are so much meatier. And its that meat which supports everything God has been laying on my heart. Here's one example:
Romans 8:28 says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him..."
Romans 8:31 says "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
1 Thessalonians 5:24 says "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."
However, Romans 8:28-39 says "28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."[c] 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[d] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Emphasis added by me)
Now Combine it with 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 really says, (NASB) 23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
Maybe this is obvious and you guys have always read it this way, but to me this clearly says that God is taking responsibility for both our salvation and our sanctification. He is also promising to complete us (here and now) and preserve us unto the second coming of Christ. In other words 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is saying God will sanctify us so that we may be blameless when Christ returns, not one day we'll be blameless after Christ returns.
Now what is calling in reference to in verse 24? At the least it refers to God calling us out of sin, but isn't that also calling us into light. The writer here is blessing this church by saying may the God who called you bring it about. That means finish it, right? If He already called them but He's going to bring it to pass that means finish it, right? So John, at least, is presuming that God has saved us and he is faithful to complete it. I know other verses say just that, but this clearly says he is preserving our salvation and is sanctifying us.
Back to Romans 8, if we eliminate the "who can condemn you" theme, for which we know the answer, we are left with Paul's assumption that God is going to sanctify us. Romans 8:28, again the word calling. But what if we also eliminate the whole "predestination" theme for a second, because what they are predestined to is conformity to the likeness of His Son. In other words we were made in God's image, right? I think Paul is saying, before God made the world He designed us to be like Christ and that's what he's called us back to when He gave us Christ as our savior.
I know we've talked about this being true, and I knew there were verses somewhere to support the notion, but I didn't expect to find them as the context around verses we've turned into evangelical platitudes. Roman's 8:30 "Those He Justified, He also glorified." BOOM! You can't beat that. No can defend.
But it picks up the theme again in verse 32, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also...graciously give us all things? ...(35) Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." This clearly states (to me) that If God gave his only son for our salvation, then he wouldn't deny us the sanctification in his resurrection, or the authority of His ascension to the thrown. Bang! Its all right here.
It's all right there in one neat little package. I don't care how legalistic you are. Paul and John agree that Christianity isn't just guilt and graveling for forgiveness. It's the full inheritance of Christ--restoration to the glory God intended for each of us when he dreamed of us before He spoke the world into existence.
That's why men hate church. The act of contrition feels like a place we might need to go, but not a place we want to live in. Until Christians are willing to let Christianity be about more than just feeling bad for sin, it will never be appealing to men. It's not a man's fault that a message of guilt doesn't excite his heart. What men crave, what Christ REALLY offers is an answer to the question his heart has been asking him his whole life, "who am I really, and do I have what it takes."
When Christian's let sanctification be a gift too, men will join the church. Until then you are powerless to reach the stronger sex.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
We should get on with it.
Here's a good shot in the arm from my friend Mike Pink.
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Phil 1:6)
I thank God that we are no surprise to Him today. He knew what He was getting when He formed us, called us, and ordained us for good works prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10) He knew we would not walk perfectly before Him despite our promises to the contrary. He knew exactly what He was getting when He chose us. We need to get on with it.
We tend to live such a performance oriented acceptance paradigm that makes us feel we have to earn His blessings and favor. That somehow if we kicked the dog, argued with our spouse or otherwise fell short of the mark, we would not receive His blessings. What tends to happen when we blow it is that our heart condemns us (1 John 3:20-21) and we deny ourselves the privileges God has provided. It’s not that God is holding back on us. We hold back on ourselves because we count ourselves unworthy.
To which of the people Jesus healed did He first require some proof of performance? Some proof of worthiness? Do you think the thousands of people He healed in those three and a half years were all spiritually mature and walking out their lives in an unblemished way? Of course not.
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Phil 1:6)
I thank God that we are no surprise to Him today. He knew what He was getting when He formed us, called us, and ordained us for good works prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10) He knew we would not walk perfectly before Him despite our promises to the contrary. He knew exactly what He was getting when He chose us. We need to get on with it.
We tend to live such a performance oriented acceptance paradigm that makes us feel we have to earn His blessings and favor. That somehow if we kicked the dog, argued with our spouse or otherwise fell short of the mark, we would not receive His blessings. What tends to happen when we blow it is that our heart condemns us (1 John 3:20-21) and we deny ourselves the privileges God has provided. It’s not that God is holding back on us. We hold back on ourselves because we count ourselves unworthy.
To which of the people Jesus healed did He first require some proof of performance? Some proof of worthiness? Do you think the thousands of people He healed in those three and a half years were all spiritually mature and walking out their lives in an unblemished way? Of course not.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Psalm 118
Psalm 118
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
"His love endures forever."
4 Let those who fear the LORD say:
"His love endures forever."
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
23 the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O LORD, save us;
O LORD, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you. [a]
27 The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine upon us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up [b] to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
"His love endures forever."
4 Let those who fear the LORD say:
"His love endures forever."
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
23 the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O LORD, save us;
O LORD, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you. [a]
27 The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine upon us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up [b] to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Time and Chance: Part B
Well here is where I think I was going with part A.
When Ami and I got together, I planned on taking my time. I knew she was fresh out of a marriage, and we even talked about her taking a year at least before she dated anyone. But I followed my heart and over-ruled conventional wisdom. I knew from God that I was authorized to pursue her and that I was ready. I didn't know at the time that it wasn't a guarantee of success, but live and learn.
About three quarters of my friends went out of their way to tell me I was a fool. When it didn't work out they all lined up to say I told you so. The fact is it doesn't matter. What people don't understand is time and chance.
Sure I spent some time moping over my broken heart. I was angry at God for leading me up another dead end. But after spending a month in prayer and fasting (mostly prayer) the conclusion I've come to is that I would do it all over again. This is a crazy world of uncertainty. We shouldn't make a practice of setting aside our wisdom, but given a choice between following the desire God put in my heart and conforming to conventional wisdom I'll have to pick my heart every time.
Especially when the potential reward is so great. Ami is amazing. I got to fall in love with a beautiful woman and her three daughters. I refuse to regret that. I won't walk away from this with an agreement to be timid. I'm days away from 38 and I'm still single--I need to leap more, not less. I seized a time: I took a chance. I won't shortcut this journey to shorten my pain.
I want to heal from this, but I want it to leave a scar. I don't abhor my scars, I'm proud of them. They are monuments to my adventure in Christ. I know that God did something for Ami through our relationship I believe he will bless me in it as well, but even if He doesn't, I'm ok with that. I'm his to use and I will not back down from these types of tough decisions. I will not run from a course of action I feel called to just because it's risky. The race is not always to the swift.
Here's what I think the Lord is Blessing me with. Now I know I can survive a failed relationship. One man may loose his fortune and when he gains it back, he'll vow never to put it at risk again. Another man may loose his fortune, and upon gaining it back, he'll risk it whenever he chooses because he knows he can do it all again if he needs to.
I treasure my heart, but I have lost the fear of heart break. I'm now free to love without reservation, because in Christ I'm bigger than even a shattered heart.
When Ami and I got together, I planned on taking my time. I knew she was fresh out of a marriage, and we even talked about her taking a year at least before she dated anyone. But I followed my heart and over-ruled conventional wisdom. I knew from God that I was authorized to pursue her and that I was ready. I didn't know at the time that it wasn't a guarantee of success, but live and learn.
About three quarters of my friends went out of their way to tell me I was a fool. When it didn't work out they all lined up to say I told you so. The fact is it doesn't matter. What people don't understand is time and chance.
Sure I spent some time moping over my broken heart. I was angry at God for leading me up another dead end. But after spending a month in prayer and fasting (mostly prayer) the conclusion I've come to is that I would do it all over again. This is a crazy world of uncertainty. We shouldn't make a practice of setting aside our wisdom, but given a choice between following the desire God put in my heart and conforming to conventional wisdom I'll have to pick my heart every time.
Especially when the potential reward is so great. Ami is amazing. I got to fall in love with a beautiful woman and her three daughters. I refuse to regret that. I won't walk away from this with an agreement to be timid. I'm days away from 38 and I'm still single--I need to leap more, not less. I seized a time: I took a chance. I won't shortcut this journey to shorten my pain.
I want to heal from this, but I want it to leave a scar. I don't abhor my scars, I'm proud of them. They are monuments to my adventure in Christ. I know that God did something for Ami through our relationship I believe he will bless me in it as well, but even if He doesn't, I'm ok with that. I'm his to use and I will not back down from these types of tough decisions. I will not run from a course of action I feel called to just because it's risky. The race is not always to the swift.
Here's what I think the Lord is Blessing me with. Now I know I can survive a failed relationship. One man may loose his fortune and when he gains it back, he'll vow never to put it at risk again. Another man may loose his fortune, and upon gaining it back, he'll risk it whenever he chooses because he knows he can do it all again if he needs to.
I treasure my heart, but I have lost the fear of heart break. I'm now free to love without reservation, because in Christ I'm bigger than even a shattered heart.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Time and Chance
The Lord seems to be speaking to me about time and chance. Mike Pink has been doing a serious of blogs about it, which I've enjoyed, but I've also been running into it as a theme everywhere.
I'll insert a blog post at the end, and I want to link to a couple TED talks that are awesome and speak to the topic, but I'll try to get some of my own thoughts out first.
I think this is one area that Christians really struggle with. We have the bible and we can read most of it for ourselves pretty effectively, but we tend to get a lot of help with reading it--both on the parts that we wouldn't understand without an expert and perhaps on the parts that we could have gotten for ourselves. We can call the collection of assisted interpretations incidental dogma. It's the kind of predisposition with which we read the bible that prevents a truly fresh reading. BUT there is remarkably little accurate dogma, whether incidental or deliberate, on the topic of Time and Chance.
Consider the children of Israel charging across the desert, having to wonder around for decades and finally entering the promised land where they are to kill EVERYTHING. And here is this Rehab lady who saves the spies, gets spared, and is in the bloodline of Christ. Think about that for a second. I mean there has got to be someone out there who's meshed this story with Ester saying "for such a time as this," and Jesus saying even the wicked serve the Lord. Someone has to have formulated an official statement, perhaps a crazy one, regarding how Time and Chance relate to an all knowing, all powerful, and eternal God.
I mean sure it might be one of the great mysteries we'll never understand, but that's never stopped us before. I've never really encountered a good opinion on this. I don't know what yet, but I know there is something there to be revealed.
From Mike Pink's Blog:
“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding…; but time and chance happens to them all.” Ecclesiastes 9:11
“Now therefore let Pharaoh seek out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt… And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Since God has showed you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are… And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Gen 41
Here is Solomon telling us that men of understanding don’t necessarily end up with riches. He wants you and I to know there is a game changer that dramatically alter the outcomes in life: Time and chance.
Consider Joseph. The first time in the bible the word “biyn” (translated as “understanding” in Ecclesiastes 9:11) is used is in Gen 41 where it is translated as “discreet” when describing the wisdom Joseph had. Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph’s understanding of his dreams and wisdom to know what to do, that he promoted Joseph and put him over all the land of Egypt.
But it wasn’t his understanding or wisdom that got him the job. While he wouldn’t have gotten the promotion without having great wisdom and understanding, it was “time and chance” that put him in position to be brought before Pharaoh. Time and chance were the big game changers here. And by the way, not all the “chance” occurrences leading up to that moment were particularly delightful.
Joseph was sold to a band of Ishmaelites who happened to be passing by when he was but a teenager. Chance. He was sold to Potipher. Chance. Potipher’s wife got him alone when her husband was gone. Bad timing. He resisted and ended up in jail. Bad break. Coincidently, his cell mates were some guy who was a butler for the king and the other was the king’s butler. Chance. The butler and baker both have dreams that Joseph rightly interprets and what they portended came to pass. What are the chances?
Finally after the butler is restored to his position with the king and promises to remember Joseph, he forgets. Ingrate! Finally, Pharaoh has a disturbing dream which no one can interpret. That chance event triggers the butler’s memory and Joseph is sent for to interpret the dream. He does. Great timing!
So get this, while Joseph was definitely a man of understanding who came into power and great wealth, was it his understanding or time and chance that made that happen? And before you answer that, consider what Joseph said several years later when reunited with his traitorous brothers who originally sold him to those slave traders who happened by that fateful day many years earlier. He said, “But as for you, you thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
TED talks:
(A word about TED talks, I would like to point out that I don't agree with every sentiment uttered by TED presenters or even everything these particular videos convey, BUT I have found pieces of inspirations within these and others. In particular, I enjoy them when filtered through my understanding of God.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhjUJTw2i1M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLmzxmRcUTo
I'll insert a blog post at the end, and I want to link to a couple TED talks that are awesome and speak to the topic, but I'll try to get some of my own thoughts out first.
I think this is one area that Christians really struggle with. We have the bible and we can read most of it for ourselves pretty effectively, but we tend to get a lot of help with reading it--both on the parts that we wouldn't understand without an expert and perhaps on the parts that we could have gotten for ourselves. We can call the collection of assisted interpretations incidental dogma. It's the kind of predisposition with which we read the bible that prevents a truly fresh reading. BUT there is remarkably little accurate dogma, whether incidental or deliberate, on the topic of Time and Chance.
Consider the children of Israel charging across the desert, having to wonder around for decades and finally entering the promised land where they are to kill EVERYTHING. And here is this Rehab lady who saves the spies, gets spared, and is in the bloodline of Christ. Think about that for a second. I mean there has got to be someone out there who's meshed this story with Ester saying "for such a time as this," and Jesus saying even the wicked serve the Lord. Someone has to have formulated an official statement, perhaps a crazy one, regarding how Time and Chance relate to an all knowing, all powerful, and eternal God.
I mean sure it might be one of the great mysteries we'll never understand, but that's never stopped us before. I've never really encountered a good opinion on this. I don't know what yet, but I know there is something there to be revealed.
From Mike Pink's Blog:
“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding…; but time and chance happens to them all.” Ecclesiastes 9:11
“Now therefore let Pharaoh seek out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt… And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Since God has showed you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are… And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Gen 41
Here is Solomon telling us that men of understanding don’t necessarily end up with riches. He wants you and I to know there is a game changer that dramatically alter the outcomes in life: Time and chance.
Consider Joseph. The first time in the bible the word “biyn” (translated as “understanding” in Ecclesiastes 9:11) is used is in Gen 41 where it is translated as “discreet” when describing the wisdom Joseph had. Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph’s understanding of his dreams and wisdom to know what to do, that he promoted Joseph and put him over all the land of Egypt.
But it wasn’t his understanding or wisdom that got him the job. While he wouldn’t have gotten the promotion without having great wisdom and understanding, it was “time and chance” that put him in position to be brought before Pharaoh. Time and chance were the big game changers here. And by the way, not all the “chance” occurrences leading up to that moment were particularly delightful.
Joseph was sold to a band of Ishmaelites who happened to be passing by when he was but a teenager. Chance. He was sold to Potipher. Chance. Potipher’s wife got him alone when her husband was gone. Bad timing. He resisted and ended up in jail. Bad break. Coincidently, his cell mates were some guy who was a butler for the king and the other was the king’s butler. Chance. The butler and baker both have dreams that Joseph rightly interprets and what they portended came to pass. What are the chances?
Finally after the butler is restored to his position with the king and promises to remember Joseph, he forgets. Ingrate! Finally, Pharaoh has a disturbing dream which no one can interpret. That chance event triggers the butler’s memory and Joseph is sent for to interpret the dream. He does. Great timing!
So get this, while Joseph was definitely a man of understanding who came into power and great wealth, was it his understanding or time and chance that made that happen? And before you answer that, consider what Joseph said several years later when reunited with his traitorous brothers who originally sold him to those slave traders who happened by that fateful day many years earlier. He said, “But as for you, you thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
TED talks:
(A word about TED talks, I would like to point out that I don't agree with every sentiment uttered by TED presenters or even everything these particular videos convey, BUT I have found pieces of inspirations within these and others. In particular, I enjoy them when filtered through my understanding of God.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhjUJTw2i1M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLmzxmRcUTo
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