Scripture Twisting

On April 14 President Obama, in a speech at Georgetown University, used--i.e., misused, abused--the Bible in an effort to promote his economic plans:

Now, there's a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells the story of two men. The first built his house on a pile of sand, and it was soon destroyed when a storm hit. But the second is known as the wise man, for when "the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock."

It was founded upon a rock. We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock. We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity -- a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest; where we consume less at home and send more exports abroad.

I suppose there's a kind of conventional wisdom that says, "Lot's of people view the Bible positively, so why not borrow some Bible-talk to add a little credibility to my message?" But the result, in so many cases, is a brazen disregard for the word of God and for God himself.

A reading of Matthew 7:24-27 reveals this: the one who builds his house upon the rock is the person who hears what Jesus teaches and obeys it. The whole point of the parable is to exhort listeners/readers to hear and obey Jesus Christ. Founding your life upon the rock means trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

But, alas, a little ripping of the text out of context, and you can (mis)use the Bible to make it say anything.

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Hope in Christ "only for this life"?

God’s word of Easter hope from 1 Corinthians 15 is glorious—hundreds of eyewitnesses confirming Christ’s resurrection, and as the “first-fruits” of victory over death the risen Lord prom­ises that all “who belong to him” will rise again to true, eternal life (v 23). This is “good news” (v 1)—the greatest news! But 15:19 still reverberates in my mind: “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” Is it possible that we could fall back into that pitiful state?

“This life” stands in contrast to life beyond the grave (remember, you were made for forever, Eccl 3:11). Human experience includes our here-and-now “three score and ten” (or so) in which we walk this earth, but it also includes one’s eternal destiny (i.e., heaven or hell). All who are in Christ will put on imperishable, immortal resurrec­tion bodies for the everlasting joys of heaven (15:26, 54-57).

But what would it look like to hope in Christ “only for this life”? On the one hand, it would mean regarding Christ as being able to bring some relief of today’s troubles. But on the other hand, it would mean disre­gard­ing and devaluing (or even rejecting) his promise of resurrection life and all the wonders of heaven! How sad—pitiful, actually—that some at Corinth fell for this incomplete, twisted, unbiblical theology (vv 12-15).

In our day a hot trend in certain cutting edge church circles is to turn to Jesus for comfort and peace and justice and relief of earthly suffering. Sometimes this is called “kingdom” ministry (as if the kingdom of God had to do with improving our living situation here and now but had little or nothing to do with life after death). Frequently those who wave this flag think they’ve found the way to make Jesus “relevant” to a broken world. Typically they present Jesus as a model of radical justice and love to be followed, but not as the Sovereign Lord to be believed and worshipped. Commonly they divert the historic mission of the church from making disciples among all the people groups (Matt 28:18-20—loving whole people, body and soul) to meeting physical needs today.

God calls us to be discerning and courageous as we follow his Word, and thus refuse to limit Jesus’ message and ministry to present-world woes. Hoping in Christ only for this life would be pitiful! But can I point fingers without also being guilty of such offenses? Is the looming reality of heaven impinging every moment on my mind and my way of life? Is my hope in Christ riveted on the promise of resurrection? Or do I, too, shrink Jesus, ignore heaven, and live to maximize earthly comforts?

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The Wonder of Resurrection

Easter makes the stunning assertion that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Various efforts have been made to discount that claim (e.g., “He wasn’t really dead”; “The disciples stole his body”—see Tim Keller’s chapter on the resurrection in The Reason for God for a careful response to such ideas). But Roman soldiers weren’t novices in the execution business, and they made sure Jesus was definitely dead (John 19:34). Further, the risen Jesus appeared to over 500 people (1 Cor 15:6), and to make sure his followers understood that he was really there “in the flesh,” the risen Jesus let Thomas to touch his wounds (John 20:27) and he ate with his disciples (Luke 24:43). This was a bodily resurrection!

Let’s turn from the fact of the resurrection to its meaning: what was accomplished that first Easter Sunday? 1 Corinthians 15 is a long essay about the resurrection’s vital importance. Here are some key points:

• Christ was raised “according to the Scriptures” (v 4)—in the mind of God, Easter was pre-planned.
  
• Without the resurrection, Christian preaching and all sharing of the Gospel message are useless, “in vain” (v 14).
  
• So too, Christian faith would be “futile” (vv 14, 17): no point believing in a dead “savior.”
  
• And there’d be no remedy for sin (v 17)—we’d never know if Christ’s death would have satisfied the Father’s holy wrath.
  
• But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead (v 20)!
  
• Christ’s resurrection is the “first fruits” (vv 20, 23) of a coming general resurrection of all who belong to him.
  
• The final outcome of Christ’s resurrection is the destruction of death (vv 26, 55-57): the curse of Genesis 3:19 will be reversed.
  
• Our resurrection bodies will represent a vast improvement over our present, temporal, flawed physical bodies (vv 42-44).
  
• Our resurrection bodies will be imperishable, immortal (vv 53-54).
  

So where do YOU stand with Christ this Easter? Do you see the blazing importance of the resurrection? Are you trusting Christ for the forgive­ness of sin and the solid hope of resurrection life? Don’t let this Easter slip away if you have yet to come to terms with Jesus Christ!

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Palm Sunday

I find Palm Sunday unsettling.

Of course, outwardly the picture of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is exhilarating. Crowds of followers with visions of victory cheer the arrival of royalty: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38). But do his fans see that Jesus weeps for the unrepentant city (19:41)? Probably not—too busy celebrating.

But then, consider their deafening silence in the days to follow. The cheering crowds, the festive throng casting palms and coats on the road before King Jesus—where do they go? As the soldiers march out to the Garden of Gethsemane in a plot to abduct Jesus, where are all his followers, and where are their energetic praises? As Jesus prays, where are his trusted men, the inner circle of Peter, James and John? Answer: sleeping (22:45). As the grim events of the week unfold, the only shouts are from enraged masses crying out, “Crucify him!” (23:21).

Hymn writer Henry Milman picked up this dissonance (1820):

Ride on, ride on in majesty
As all the crowds “Hosanna!” cry:

Through waving branches slowly ride,

O Savior, to be crucified.

Ride on, ride on in majesty,
In lowly pomp ride on to die:
O Christ, your triumph now begin
With captured death, and conquered sin!

Ride on, ride on in majesty—
The angel armies of the sky
Look down with sad and wondering eyes
To see the approaching sacrifice.

In fact, this seemingly innocuous event, Palm Sunday, pierces to the soul. It’s a subtle rebuke of my fickle faith and your fair-weather discipleship. Receive the Lord’s rebuke today, his good discipline. For the Father disciplines those he loves (Heb 12:6).

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