Ummm . . . Better Read a Little Further There

...they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.

 - From the Second Chapter of Acts

Scoffers and mockers in our time, love to throw this verse in the face of "evangelical" and "conservative" Christians. The online version of this scripture is usually accompanied by such accouterments as "lol" and its many variants. 

It is indeed, a wonderful concept. It is of course a great challenge to believers. And guess what? We are all familiar with it. We know that we fall short in this area. We test our own depth of faith. We challenge each other. It happens in a rather private type of format. We do not parade around the ways in which we grow, fall, and grow again, spiritually. So to the unchurched that love to point this out to us: Thank you for caring, and for pushing us to higher levels. But we struggle enough with passages like this, without your help.

But at the same time, scoffers, typically, cherry pick one or two verses that can cause the most embarrassment (note how their objective is to embarrass - - - how wonderfully mature of them). But there are other concepts contained within, that they always fail to mention:

* Signs and wonders were everywhere
* They stayed together, and shared everything
* They stayed in church
* Even the unbelievers were drawn to them
* Their growth was meteoric

Now, these other features are usually not mentioned. But each item needs the others to flourish. It's okay to sell all you have, and give to the poor. But you also need to be in church, and in prayer, almost constantly. You need to adopt a communal lifestyle. And if you don't see signs and wonders, i.e. miracles happening all the time, then the parallel to modern Christians is very weak indeed.

Let me suggest this to those that love to point this verse out to Christians:

Show, don't tell. If you want to shame Christians, don't talk about our Bible . . . DO it yourself. YOU sell your possessions and share with those that have needs. This will do way more than just talking and pointing a finger. Not only does this challenge Christians in a gentle way, but it does so in an EFFECTIVE way. YOU would be starting a grassfire of charitable goodness. 

And since your hearts would be in the right place, you would find yourself no longer interested in shaming Christians. And that is a step forward for all of us. 

Precious

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his servants.

 - Psalm 116:13

The 116th Psalm talk a lot about evading death. The Psalmist asks God to save him from death.

Death and enemies - - - the two are often joined in Scripture. Death is called an "enemy."

And indeed it is. How then, is death called "precious"? How can something that is an enemy, be considered "precious"?

Well, first, the word "precious" likely doesn't mean the same to us, as it did even fifty years ago. We can say a baby is "precious," which is often through to mean "cute," or "darling."

But it would be ridiculous to say that death is a cute, or darling thing. But think about it a little further . . . 

What if precious means . . . something we would not want to mistreat, or harm? What if it means: Something of great, delicate, and profound value, or meaning to us?

Mortality is a central topic throughout all of Scripture. The whole point of the Garden of Eden was that humanity began to die. Cain and Abel is all about the first murder.

Death is a central theme everywhere in Scripture. It is not something to trifle with, or slip over. If you are not driven by am urgent desire to live forever, it is hard to see how you would be at all interested in the Gospel.

How about this - - - when a servant of the Lord dies . . . God is moved, tenderly and massively. It brings Him to tears. He will miss us, as we miss our loved ones, until Christ's return and He can commune with us again, except now . . . in person, physically. 

God notices when we die. It moves Him. It is a precious thing to Him.

Corrupt

“Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

 - Peter, from the Second Chapter of Acts

That can't be popular. 

I'm pretty sure most people understand what "corrupt" means. We can blame our parents, our upbringing, our lack of privilege, our bad luck, our lack of attention, our phobias, our self-identity. We can blame our teachers, our friends, our physical imperfections, our former employers, our spouses.

Heck, even I have been tempted to blame an ex-spouse for my problems. 

Peter makes a bold statement: It's the generation. 

It's all of us. It's all of YOU. 

One of the most electrifying statements I've ever heard from a pulpit, happened around 1983, in Denton, Texas. Glenn Fell was candidating to be pastor of the Pleasant Hill Advent Christian Chuchin Southlake, Texas. As he pointed the finger, without mincing any words, he berated the congregation for being in such a prime location and not growing. 

He said something like this: "But we don't do enough, we're not bold enough! No! I'm not including myself in that! You don't do enough! You're not bold enough!" "Amens" and Hellelujahs" rained down from the congregation, that needed, and loved to have its feet stepped on.

We can imagine Peter defining what it means to be "corrupt." Or maybe, people got the point, if he called them "corrupt." It needs no definition. If a random member of modern society walks into a church, having never set foot in one for years, and hears a preacher call the entire society "corrupt," he knows exactly what the preacher means.

And he is not happy with it. 

Don't believe it when people say they're happy with themselves, no matter what others say. Just have one Christian suggest that someone out there might be corrupt, or that our culture is, and most unchurched will come unglued. They really do care. They really do get hyper offended if someone suggests that someone they know is "corrupt."

Which proves the point. 

Abandonment

 For you will not abandon me to the grave, 

 - From Psalm 16

Death is a very frightening thing. I don't think we fear pain, or any kind of torments, really. But we do fear darkness and isolation. And this is the character of "eternal punishment" envisioned by many modern theologians. 

I think that loneliness is perhaps the thing we fear the most. Or how about this word: "lonesome." that sounds even worse than being "lonely."

The Psalmist expresses this, when he says "You will not abandon me to the grave."

Just give me that much Lord - - - just don't leave me in the ground, lonely.

When at the bedside of a dying person, you become more and more aware of their state of going it alone. Even with the room full of loved ones, it is obvious that nobody can relate to the dying person. Only the person dying understands what's happening. He or she is about to go through a journey, alone . . . no one in that room can do anything about that.

It's the ultimate abandonment, the ultimate loneliness: being left in the ground, dead.

This is a something to cheer about. The most terribly feeling of utter despair and helpless isolation - - - God will not leave us there. That sounds way better than some vague reference to eternal life, about which none of us have a clue. 

Whoops - That's Gonna Be a Problem

"When the rulers and elders and scribes saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, ..."

 - From Acts 4

If you cite the scientific underpinnings of your opinion, you have already cost yourself some points with me.

If you claim that you have academia on your side . . . that you only go with what experts are saying . . . then you have made yourself less persuasive with me.

If you suggest that your study of Greek and Hebrew makes you a better Bible scholar than I, then you may have just locked in my already-firm position.

God is very clear. The entire witness of Scripture is unequivocal:

Your higher learning and "love" for science is meaningless.

Let science raise a dead person to life. Let science solve just one of the world's most pressing problems: hunger, disease, poverty.

Science can't do it, because science is not as great as it thinks it is.

I have disdain for the way you look down on "uneducated" people.

I began my Christian pilgrimage grounded in a system that regarded "common" people more highly than the gifted, the beautiful, the wealthy, and the well-connected. This happens to be a very high virtue, the lack of which has fostered so many of our current world problems.

The sooner we can put "experts," "scientists" and all other "important" people in the back of the line to solving the world's problems, the better.

Oh wait, I take that back. The sooner we get rid of the line completely, and treat all people with respect and dignity, the better.

You

Peter said to the multitude, "Let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."

 - From the Second Chapter of Acts

I heard a curious thing once, coming from a pulpit on Easter Sunday.

A pastor that fancies himself "accessible" to seekers, and is always altering Scripture so that it is not uncomfortable to the average church visitor, was talking about Christ's crucifixion.

He obviously was wanting to affect humility and not be a "finger pointer." Nobody wants to be judgmental these days. He was referring to this statement by Peter, and others, in which they said something like "this Jesus whom you crucified."

Except, he put it this way: "We killed Jesus."

Because, you know, if you say "you," you're being judgmental. 

But the problem is, that's not what Scripture says. There is a big difference between "you" and "we." The word "You" has a way more convicting effect than "we." "You" means "You did this. You are a sinner. You need to think about this."

But "We" means "Hey it's okay. We all mess up. Let's just tag along together."

Look who pointed the finger at the masses: Peter. Yes, Peter. Simon Peter. The one that denied that He even knew Who Christ was. The chief offender at being offended at the name of Christ. The cowardly one. 

Peter became bold and said "You killed him!!" Kris Kristofferson even referred to it in a song about Christ: "My God they killed Him." Here, it's not 'You," but "they," because the point is more piercingly made when the speaker takes himself out of the act of villainy. 

People shudder when they hear "They killed Him!" Or better: "YOU killed Him!"

There is a time and place for humility. Yes, we all put Christ on the cross. We all pierced Him. We all nailed His hands and feet down into the wood. We hollered "Crucify Him!!"

But there also is a time for the speaker to point the finger, accusingly, and make the point loud and clear: "You did this!"

Now . . . what are you going to do about it?

Not Abandoned

For you will not abandon me to the grave,

 - From Psalm 16

Every year, every Easter . . . the world misses a great and profound truth from Scripture. 

When this word, "for" is used at the start of a sentence, it means that a conclusive, or critical  phrase is about to follow.

Why has God done all of this? Why has He let us endure trials? Why has He laid out His plan for us? Why did Christ live, teacher, die, and be resurrected?

"For you will not abandon me to the grave."

Don't worry. Death is not the end. We will not be abandoned there. "My God, why have you forsaken me?" Even Christ felt despair when faced with the horror of death. It is the loneliest place. For survivors . . . life becomes lonesome, because of death.

But we are not abandoned there. If there is a waiting period . . . if there is sadness and trouble - - - fear not!

For He has not truly abandoned us.