Weekly Articles

There is a great amount of confusion and consternation about identity.  We hear about people who have “identity crises” and even people who have multiple identities.  There is the tremendous problem of identity theft – 8.3 million Americans were victims in 2007 (as reported by the FTC).  And there is the problem of mistaken identity.

There are a lot of Christians who are in the middle of identity crises; they cannot seem to find themselves.  They look in the newest books or the latest music in order to find some help in figuring out their lives.  Some try to carry on two or more lives, changing identities to fit different crowds.  What these Christians cannot seem to understand is that their crises cannot be solved without reading the Bible and applying it to their life.  And the multiple identity Christians seem to be trying to be both a Christian and a Non-Christian in how they live their lives.

Identity theft is another problem for the Christian.  Some  people seem to want to claim the reputation of Christ without living the lifestyle of Christ.  The end result is often a ruined reputation for the congregation and the name of Jesus being smeared.  Related to this is the problem of mistaken identity, in which a person looks at Christ and perceives something other than that which he claimed to be.

Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”  They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”  Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.  And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”  Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.   (Luke 9:18-26 NIV)

These problems stem from a basic misconception about Jesus – we sometimes forget that he is the divine son of God.  We mouth the words, but we sometimes lack the faith to back them up.  We search everywhere for the answers to our problems except the one place in which the answers are found:  the Bible.  We live multiple lives and claim things that are not true, thinking that somehow it will all be right and no one will ever know.  But we forget that God knows.  We also forget that our solution is simple:  the acknowledgment of Jesus as the Son of God. 

Do we want to follow Jesus?  Do we want to save our lives?  Then we must proclaim Jesus, in our lives and our deeds, and in our relationships.  Our words and our actions should be in harmony with the standard set by Jesus.

So, what about you?  What are you confessing to the world about Jesus?

-Charles Peterson

There is no accomplishment without cost.  In biology, this means that organisms must struggle in order to advance and grow.  For example:  without straining against a resisting force, your muscles would never have developed any strength – this is why people wanting stronger muscles tend to pick up weights.  This principle of development through adversity can be seen in how people build immunities to disease; the Spanish who came to the new world did not know that they carried the deadly small pox virus with them because they had built up the immunities that the natives did not have, resulting in a massive epidemic. 

In economics, this principle can be seen in the example of healthcare:  people want to control the cost of healthcare (they want others to pay for it) and they want to control access (they want to go whenever they want).  But what many people seem unable or unwilling to understand is that whoever pays the cost determines the result, so that if the government pays the bill, then the government gets to choose the amount and timing of the healthcare decisions.  On the reverse side, if the people want to decide for themselves where, when, why, and to whom they go for medical care, then they need to pay the bill.  If someone else pays for your healthcare, then you will pay by surrendering choice and options.

In physics, the first law of thermodynamics (the Law of Conservation of Energy) means that you cannot get more energy out of a system than you put in, and in fact you will get less.  For example:  if you throw a ball, not all of the energy that you put into throwing that ball will go towards the distance travelled by the ball.  Some of the energy will go into the ball’s flight; some will go into the friction of the ball and the air; some of the energy will go into moving the arm that throws the ball.

This principle applies most importantly to the Christian.  The first example of development through adversity is seen in how we are shaped and molded through God’s discipline and guidance (Hebrews 12:7-11).  It is through this process of being refined in the fires of life that we become purified. 

The second example of wanting to control the cost and the benefit is seen in the Christian as a desire to eliminate the need for changing self and to expand salvation to be all-inclusive (as in, everybody is in).  In John chapter three, Jesus teaches Nicodemus that only through being born again of the water and the Spirit can a man enter the kingdom of God.  Not only must he believe and be baptized, but he must also change his life to be based in truth and light. 

The third example, the conservation of energy, is seen in the Christian as the futility of trying to build a life in Christ by human efforts alone.   We cannot live on our own!  We need the presence and the power of Jesus in our lives and our works.  As Jesus said in the parable of the sower in Matthew chapter thirteen, the seed that falls on the good soil yields thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown.  But, as Paul points out in 1 Corinthians chapter three, it is only God who causes things to grow.  Our effort alone will not cause any grow; our efforts by themselves appear weak and ineffective.  But combined with God’s infinite power they are highly effective.

There is no way to get something for nothing.  Too many people view salvation that way – as a handout.  Consequently we have many among us who do not value the sacrifice and terrible cost that Jesus bore for our sakes.  Let’s not fall into the trap of confusing “freely given” with “free”.  There is no free lunch – Jesus already paid the price, so we had better ante up the only thing we have left, which is … us!

-Charles Peterson

In the 2006 movie Amazing Grace, the lead character William Wilberforce is given a tour of a slave trading vessel by a former slave-turned-writer named Olaudah Equiano.  Down in the belly of the ship, Equiano shows Wilberforce the 16-inch wide berths wherein shackled slaves were forced to remain for the entirety of the three to six week voyage.  Equiano describes how hips and shoulders are commonly pulled out of joint, resulting in constant pain (this being the kindest of treatments endured on the voyage…others were worse).  In another scene, Equiano shows the branding mark made on him to “show that you no longer belong to God, but to a man.”

This movie illustrates the faith, courage, and persistence that was needed to legally abolish slavery.  The movie, refreshingly, does not shrink away from acknowledging that the faith of these men and women was the Christian faith.  That is important for all of us to remember, because just as the story of the Israelites acts as a mirror to the condition of mankind, so the slavery of Africans in the 18^th and 19^th centuries acts as a mirror to the slavery that all mankind has been sold into.

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  …  I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves.  Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.  When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.  What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?  Those things result in death!  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 6:16, 19-23)

All mankind has sold itself into a bondage more cruel and savage than the worst journey suffered by those African slaves – I say this not to mitigate their suffering, but to cast into the proper light what it is to be a slave to sin.  Those Africans were dehumanized and brutalized – one infamous ship’s captain threw his cargo (133 people) overboard to collect the insurance for “lost cargo”!  So, how can our lives possibly compare with the kidnapping, rapes, tortures, and murders of the slave trade?  In order to see, you have to look beyond the flesh.

We are not a mass of cells, but rather are spiritual beings.  As such, much of our existence (and our worth) is spiritual in nature, and is seen most vividly in our relationships.  But look at what sin does to us!  An artist in Australia is defending his magazine cover nude pictures of his six-year-old daughter as an artistic way to demonstrate the sensuality of children.  It is fairly common for fathers in India, China, and elsewhere to sell their daughters (as young as 5 years old) into prostitution in order to pay off gambling debts and bar tabs!  Look at how many people use the high price of gasoline as an excuse to steal and cheat (such as driving away without paying); how many federal employees have “leaked” classified information because of their own political agendas (that crime is called espionage, treason, and/or theft); and how many mothers will kill their own unborn babies this year – 1.5 million?  More?

Our life here is filled with pain, despair, and death – spiritual ships of pain.  But Jesus died to give us another way!  The path of the Christian is that of leaving behind the life of sin and following Christ’s pattern in our new life.  It was this transformation that led John Newton to write “Amazing Grace”.  If Jesus could do that with a slave ship captain, what do you think he can do with your life?

-Charles Peterson

In the July 8, 2008 issue of Fortune magazine was a feature story titled “How They’ll Fix the Economy,” in which both candidates for President (John McCain and Barack Obama) were interviewed.  Besides illustrating the basic differences between the two candidates (which is the real point of the story), the article also showed something else:  people think the economy is broken.  This is simply another case of man’s hubris, another example of man thinking that he can control that which is clearly beyond him.

This is a common theme for humanity.  Man is, by his very nature, a creative and domineering creature – this is how he was made.  But adapting and changing the environment around him, domesticating animals and plants, and pushing the limits of his voracious appetite for discovery are all a far cry away from being in control of the world around him.  And there are several great examples to demonstrate this point.

Back to the economy; both candidates are trying to show how they will “fix” the economy.  But the economy is not broken!  It cannot be – the economy is, of course, the environment wherein we all exploit resources and engage in the activities of our lives.  Everyone, from the billionaires to the homeless engage in economic activity.  It is so complex a system that no person (or even collection of people) could possibly run it; think about how many transactions and decisions are made in this country every day.  It is too big; it also is a force of nature (granted, it’s a force of human nature, but a force nonetheless).  Now, the President could try to implement policy to change certain aspects of the economy (such as the growth of the stock market or the price of commodities like oil), but the system is not broken; if anything, it is man’s policies that are broken.

Another great example of the hubris of man is the environmental movement.  For years this movement was complaining about global cooling and the horrors of everything from nuclear power to overpopulation and food riots.  Now, the proponents of that movement complain about global warming.  In the 1970’s they were predicting that in the year 2000 we would have food riots, but instead we had more food than we knew what to do with and the only riots we had were in toy stores by parents wanting the “Tickle-me Elmo doll”.  These people epitomize the view that man has power in this world.  After all, they are causing food shortages in the world by forcing (through political and economic means) food producers to convert into fuel producers – law requires gasoline to be blended with ethanol and large government subsidies encourage corn producers to sell corn as ethanol rather than as food.  All of this because man feels that he somehow affects this planet in a real way.  Because hurricanes, floods, temperature changes and erupting volcanos just didn’t occur prior to the industrial revolution of the 1800’s.

Now, these questions are fine for social and political discussions, but what really concerns me is that the same hubris tends to infect the church.  We did not start the church, if the church is the “New Testament” church – Jesus did!  I also remember reading something about Jesus being the head of the church, so we are also not in charge of the church.  So, if we did not start the church, and we are not in charge of the church, what makes us think that we can either break or fix the church?  Now, we can break individual Christians, certainly; and we can break individual congregations (sometimes that seems to be a favorite pastime for some people).  But we cannot do anything to harm the kingdom of God!  On the reverse side of the coin, we cannot fix the church!  This is the problem in many of our congregations today – there is a struggle between the people who fear we are breaking the church and the people who are trying to fix the church! 

The first group of people need to relax – the church is not going to break!  It has been through far harder times than today, and God has proven himself faithful.  All we need to do is grow in the truth and teach the Bible to everyone who will learn, having no tolerance for sin but all compassion for the lost sheep.  And the latter group need to grow up and realize that the church is not broken!  It remains culturally relevant because it is composed of people.  Remember that it is God who fixes us, not the other way around.

-Charles Peterson

More Americans believe in heaven than in hell.  In a recent study conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, it was determined that of all Americans, 74% believe in heaven while only 59% believe in hell.  Among evangelical churches (which included the Churches of Christ), the numbers were 86% believe in heaven and 82% believe in hell.  It is this second set of data that really concerns me.

If you look at popular culture (especially movies), we tend to like to believe in heaven in America.  Movies such as Heaven can wait, Ghost, The Frighteners, and What dreams may come show a life after death with the good people going to heaven and (with the exception of Heaven can wait) the bad people going to hell.  It is not really surprising to me that the more Americans believe in heaven than in hell.  Heaven is a place of hope, rest, comfort, and reward; hell has only one purpose:  punishment.  And considering that while 88% of Americans believe in God, 70% of Americans believe that there are many religions that lead to God, then the picture becomes fairly clear that Americans as a whole want to believe in God and heaven, but not the narrow gate of Jesus nor the consequences of hell.

What really concerns me, though, is the data about the evangelical churches.  The Churches of Christ were represented in this category, and the data throughout paralleled fairly closely between the whole category of evangelical churches and the Churches of Christ subset.  So, with that in mind, think about what the numbers mean:  86% believe in heaven and 82% believe in hell.  What in the world are we teaching in our churches?!?  Fourteen out of every one hundred Church of Christ members do not believe in heaven?  And Eighteen of them don’t believe in hell?  How does that happen?  Or how about this:  98% believe in God (88% absolutely certain, 10% fairly certain).  What do the 2% believe in?

How can it be that only 86% believe in heaven, and only 82% believe in hell?  It can only be that we are not teaching our flocks to listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice!  Jesus was not exactly cryptic in his stance on the existence of heaven and hell!

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  (Matthew 5:11-12 NIV)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’  (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  (Matthew 10:28 NIV)

And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.  (Matthew 18:9 NIV)

There are many things that we can have doubts about, but the existence of heaven and hell are basic to the gospel; if there is no heaven, what was the point of the resurrection of Jesus?  If there is no hell, what is so great about God sending Jesus to die on the cross?  No, heaven and hell are fundamental Christian principles and cannot be removed from the gospel without turning the gospel into meaningless drivel.

Let us focus on teaching the body of Christ properly, so that our members will be well equipped spiritually to reach out to their neighbors, seeking and saving that which was lost, and teaching them the truth of Jesus.  Because no matter what we say, think, and do down here, Jesus is 100% reliable.

-Charles Peterson

The song “More Than Words,” (recorded in 1990 by the band Extreme) is the plea for the singer’s significant other to demonstrate their love, not just to say “I love you”.  The opening lines are:

Saying I love you / Is not the words I want to hear from you

It’s not that I want you / Not to say, but if you only knew

How easy it would be to show me how you feel More than words is all you have to do to make it real

Then you wouldn’t have to say that you love me / ‘Cause I’d already know

(written by Nuno Bettencourt and Gary Cherone)

This song illustrates a basic human need for love that is demonstrated by action, not just by words.  It should not surprise us that, just as we want demonstrably genuine love, so too God wants our love to be proven by action.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live.  On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.  Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.  He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”  (John 14:15-21 NIV)

Look at what is depending on our love being “more than words” – our obedience to Christ and our adherence to his commandments.  Those who demonstrate their love for Jesus in this way are given the Spirit of Truth!  But only those who are not of this world can know this Counselor, and thus only those not of this world can accept him!  Those who demonstrate their love through obedience are the only ones who truly love him; thus only they are loved by the Father!

But wait!  Doesn’t God love everyone?  Isn’t it written that “for God so loved the world…”?  Well, yes, but let’s look at that.

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. “  (John 3:14-18 NIV)

Remember the bronze snake that God had the Israelites fashion in the desert?  Those who were bitten by snakes were going to die, unless they looked to the bronze snake.  Likewise, those who are bitten by sin are going to die, unless they look to Jesus.  God did indeed love the world so much that he sent Jesus to save us; but only those who return that love through obedience to the gospel of Christ will receive that love!  Those who reject Jesus will not receive love from God but only the just punishment that they have earned.

So remember that God wants us to love him.  We cannot show our love merely through praise and words.  We must demonstrate our love for him through our actions – through our lives!  After all, even Judas gave Christ praise from his mouth.  I think Jesus wants us to give him more than just lip service.

-Charles Peterson