Screwtape Letters Part 6

January 20, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Chapter 7

“All extremes except extreme devotion to the Enemy [God] are to be encouraged. Not always, of course, but at this period. Some ages are lukewarm and complacent, and then it is our business to soothe them yet faster asleep.”

In this excerpt, Uncle Screwtape is teaching his nephew the art of discerning the times. What he wants Wormwood to understand is that at times it is better to direct the Christian’s attention toward absolute devotion to a cause, even a “good” cause, rather than toward God.

My observation is that usually in the beginning, the cause is justifiable because it generally fits within the framework of being a “biblical responsibility.” For example, many times I have seen Christian men become so engaged in their jobs that they eventually lose both their spiritual life and their families because of absenteeism. They presumably devoted themselves to their job in order to fulfill their biblical responsibility of providing for their family, but their devotion to their job became increasingly larger than their devotion to their family, or to God. The demands of the job grew to the point that there was no time to pray or meditate on Scripture, or spend time with the family. Next thing you know, the husband/father is hardly ever home and is trying to fill his absence with stuff. Of course, it takes more money to buy more stuff and the cycle is spinning out of control.

Sadly, many pastors fall prey to this, putting their devotion to “ministry” above their devotion to God. The results of this are staggering: no prayer, no meditation, no spiritual life, and no joy – only rigorous, legalistic efforts at ministry.

Unfortunately, the examples of extreme devotion to a cause being destructive to a devotion to God are legion and are not limited to dads and pastors. I’m sure that anyone reading this can think of several examples of their own. Beware, lest we too fall prey to extreme devotion to something other than God!

The second point that Uncle Screwtape makes about discerning the times is that of mediocrity. In other words, if a Christian is lukewarm about his devotion to God there is no need to spark his devotion to become extreme toward another target. From a demon’s perspective, it is sometimes better to “let a sleeping dog sleep.” The dysfunctional state of the American church and popular Christianity is, I think, the result of “Wormwood & Sons” simply allowing lukewarm Christians to continue in their slumber. John gives us a warning of the danger of staying comfortably lukewarm:

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I ill grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ (Revelation 3:14-22 NASB)”

To be continued.

Filed Under: Bookshelf, C S Lewis

He Was a Gentle Soul

January 17, 2006 by 1 Comment

I first met Phil Berg in August of 1990. At that time, he was working at the Institute of Holy Land Studies (currently known as Jerusalem University College) as the campus manager and all-around odd-jobber. We both lived upstairs in the main building of the old Bishop Gobat School on Mount Zion. At the top of the stairs our doors faced each other, his on the north, mine on the south. Phil’s door was almost always open throughout the day and late into the nights. He was a quiet, contemplative man, a voracious reader and usually could be found in his room reading a book about the Middle East.

One of the things I remember most about Phil is that he was always even tempered with a selfless spirit, ready to help in whatever way had been requested of him. Whether it was carrying luggage up or down the narrow and steep stairs, shuttling people to or from the airport, or opening the Oasis at an odd hour, Phil was willing to serve.

Phil served me in a different way, though. During the fall 1990 semester, the prospects of war in Iraq were growing every day. Frequently, Saddam Hussein published threats to launch an assault on Israel. Tensions among Israelis were growing in a noticeable way, and I wasn’t terribly affected by all the threats of destruction…until one particular day when I became pretty anxious about the whole thing. On that day, Phil had opened the Oasis and I was the only customer. We struck up a conversation about the white elephant in the room, the pending war, and in a moment of vulnerability, I shared with Phil how I was feeling about it all. I don’t remember what he said, but I do remember the effects of his message: my soul was instantly calmed.

I was so moved by that moment that I wrote it up in a short story and sent it to Decision magazine, thinking it might be published. It wasn’t, but that doesn’t reduce the importance of what I learned when Phil demonstrated two Bible verses for me:

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver (Proverbs 25:11 KJV).”

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29 NASB).”

Phil, I’m a better person for having known you. Thanks.

You can read Todd Bolen’s tribute to Phil here.

Filed Under: Death, Ephesians, New Testament, Old Testament, Proverbs, Thanks

Persecution in Israel

January 13, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Jesus said, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake (Matthew 5:11 KJV).”

The latest group who were blessed in this manner in Israel was the Beersheva Congregation. You can see some photos and videos of this orchestrated protest turned assault here. [Update: The link is no longer good.]

The Beersheva and Arad congregations have been particularly targeted over the last couple of years and seem to be growing more vulnerable to such attacks. The police have been fairly ineffective at protecting the congregants in these cases. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, but it probably will not be long before that changes. Mob violence can get out of hand very quickly, even unexpectedly.

Persecution in Israel is primarily accomplished through social pressure intimidation, and ostracism, but occasionally manifests itself in violence. There is a tremendous amount of social stigma placed upon Jews who believe in Jesus.

Currently, it is legal for Jews to believe in Jesus and promote that belief through many different means, except toward those under 18 years of age. However, over the last eight years there have been a few attempts in Parliament to make it illegal to evangelize at all, or in another case to possess literature that might be used to encourage one to convert. So far, all political attempts to silence Jews who believe in Jesus have failed.

Please pray that the believers in Israel would “Remember the word that I [Jesus] said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me (John 15:20-21 KJV).”

Filed Under: John, Life in Israel, Matthew, Ministry, New Testament

Screwtape Letters Part 5

January 8, 2006 by 2 Comments

Chapter 5

Once again, Uncle Screwtape is disappointed with the work report of his nephew Wormwood. However, in the light rebuke that he drafts, Screwtape attempts to mitigate some of the blame that he is placing upon his understudy:

“Reading between the lines in your very unbalanced account of the patient’s sleepless night, I can reconstruct your state of mind fairly accurately. For the first time in your career, you have tasted that wine which is the reward of all our labours – the anguish and bewilderment of a human soul – and it has gone to your head. I can hardly blame you. I don’t expect old heads on young shoulders.”

I have no idea if demons age or mature as illustrated here, but I think Lewis accurately points out something that would encourage a demon, if they could be encouraged: “the anguish and bewilderment of a human soul.” The reason I think that this might encourage a demon in his labors against a Christian is that an unsettled soul is the opposite of what we are supposed to have.

“O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in Lord; He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield (Psalm 115:9-11 NASB).”

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:4-5 NASB).”

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7 NASB).”

Throughout the Scriptures, we are directed to trust in the Lord in all circumstances. The trouble is that the Bible doesn’t offer us wiggle room to trust the Lord when things are good and trust Him less when things appear to be bad, which, unfortunatel, is a common pattern among many professing Christians.

It seems that we are often like the proverbial pouting child: happy when things appear to go our way, and pouty when they don’t. Yes, there is too much of the consumer culture’s “the customer is always right” among us. In our relationship with God, He is not a clerk and we are not customers. He is Lord and we are His servants. He is the potter, we are clay. How are you doing in this regard? Are you encouraging Wormwood & Co.?

In this regard, I was greatly encouraged when I read John Piper’s announcement that he has cancer because he is encouraged by the news. Don’t misunderstand, though, he isn’t giddy over the doctor’s findings. He is encouraged by this new avenue available to God to show His mercy, faithfulness, and strength. You can read his letter of explanation here.

Filed Under: Bookshelf, C S Lewis

Is “Pro Life” Against Private Ownership?

January 7, 2006 by 2 Comments

Today, while trying to catch up on any news related to Ariel Sharon’s health, I stopped by Fox News and happened upon one of their weekend business shows, Cashin’ In, which is hosted by Terry Keenan.

The format of the show is to discuss the US stock market in the context of current political and social developments. On today’s broadcast, the host and guests were discussing how the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court would affect business in the United States.

When asked his thoughts on this topic, I was shocked to hear Jonathon Hoenig say that he thought Alito’s nomination would be terrible for the US economy because, “anyone who is pro-life is by default against private ownership.” (Note: this is not a direct quote, but certainly captures the essence of Hoenig’s reply.) This statement is so patently false (see why below), that I was almost beyond words, when the host asked Wayne Rogers, another regular guest, if he agreed with Mr. Hoenig and he replied in the affirmative.

We need to go no further than the ten commandments to see that Mr. Hoenig’s statement is wrong: Among the ten, we find “thou shalt not murder” and “thou shalt not steal.” The foundational premise of the pro-life movement is found in the following statement: “We are not allowed to murder, and abortion is, in fact, murdering an indefensible human being.” Additionally, the command not to steal presupposes private ownership: it is impossible to steal if nothing is owned. We could also offer the prohibition against coveting your neighbor’s stuff as evidence in our favor. If he didn’t own things, they wouldn’t be identified as his.

Therefore, we can easily say it is not only possible to be pro-life and pro-private ownership, but it is a biblically defensible position. In other words, it is the correct position. I would also add that within the framework of private ownership we are free to give our stuff away as was demonstrated by the early followers of Jesus in Acts 2:37-47.

It didn’t take long for me to track down Hoenig’s source for this type of belief. On his website, CapitalistPig.com, we find the following:

“We advocate and practice Objectivism, the moral philosophy developed by Ayn Rand.”

Ayn Rand summarizes her Objectivism philosophy in this way:

“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”

Some might be like me, a little fuzzy on what Objectivism posits, so I’ll add a clarifying statement from the “What is Objectivism” website:

“There is only one right from which all others are derived, and that is the right of self-ownership (protection of life) – the principle that each individual owns himself. This is the very definition of freedom. Laws against abortion, drug use and sexual freedom are predominently (sic) objections to this right.”

Okay, who protects those who can’t protect themselves? This goes beyond the infant in the womb. As you can see this philosophy is self-contradictory in that the right to kill the unborn, if carried out, would by default deny the victim any of the rights of “self-ownership.” I’m sure that proponents of Objectivism will step around this contradiction by suggesting that an unborn baby isn’t a human and, therefore, isn’t granted rights. Even if one accepts that argument (I don’t!), it still doesn’t address the issue of the weak.

By its very nature, freedom is limited. Your freedom can only extend outward until it interferes with my freedom, and vice versa. So that means that logically speaking, your sexual freedom can only extend outwards until it interferes with mine, which might be considerably less free than yours by personal/religious choice. Additionally, your freedom to drug yourself can logically only extend to the point that it interferes with my right to drug myself, which might be, by my personal/religious choice, considerably less free than yours .

God created people to live in community, and that necessitates limits on our behavior. Perhaps one can successfully argue that government restrictions are currently going beyond the bounds of reason, but that seems to me to be a different thing than saying any law against abortion, drug use and sexual freedom are objections to the right of self-ownership.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized
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