December 12, 2016
Dear __________________,
 
Thank you for your note and the copy of the parent’s guide to the health and physical education curriculum.  I commend you on your wisdom in sending this home to parents and inviting concerns and questions.
 
I have read through the parent’s guide a couple of times and wanted to write a brief note so that you can understand the perspective my wife and I take as parents.  My only area of concern is related to the section on ‘sexual health’, and my concerns here are very deep.  As a parent with deep and specific moral convictions, I find it tragic that we have now reduced sexual morality to the question of consent.  Rightly understood, what we are teaching the next generation is that anything is acceptable, provided both parties are consenting.  This is not the morality that has long established the culture you and I grew up in, and I believe it will bring forth very bitter fruit in the future.  Having said this, I realize I am in the minority.
 
I think many people are surprised to discover how openly matters of sexuality are discussed in the home of Christian’s concerned for their children.  We speak openly, and at age appropriate times, to our children about all matters related to human sexuality.  Unlike the current provincial curriculum, however, we hold a much higher standard than consent.  I would agree, that any sexual act that goes against consent is wrong, but I would also teach my children that there are sexual acts between two consenting adults that are also wrong.  The standard we teach and hope our children will be faithful to is that all sexual action is wrong when it occurs between two unmarried people.  Furthermore, we believe that marriage cannot be redefined by the government and will always exist only between one man and one woman.  Again, I realize that I am the minority in this regard, however, this is the firm belief I hold and what I teach my children.
 
In many circles, this sort of teaching is now being exaggerated by our opponents, as if we would teach our children to treat others with disrespect when they hold views other than that which we have taught them.  I hope that you will see in S____ and E_____ that this is not true, that they are taught the older, and I believe more sincere, form of tolerance, that every one has a right to hold an opinion, but not all opinions have equal validity.
 
I have written this note in the hopes of imparting some deeper understanding to the reason behind my request that my children not be instructed in ways that contradict what I believe.  I would be pleased if more teachers took a moment to seek the input of parents on these very sensitive matters.  It is my strong belief that public educators are not rightly equipped to teach morality to children, this is the realm of the parent.
 
I realize that as a public educator you are required to teach certain curriculum.  I also realize you have your own personal views on these matters.  My request, in this regard, is simply that S____ be excused from any class where there will be specific instruction on human sexuality.  I think it would be most helpful if you could let me know by the agenda of upcoming days when this curriculum will be taught so that I can make alternative plans and you will not have to disrupt class in order to centre S____ out and excuse him to the hall.
 
Please feel free to contact me if you wish to work these things out further.  Be assured of my respect and support for you in your role as S____’s teacher, and thank you for honouring my role as his parent.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Marc  Bertrand

Ever had a response like the one below to an article you’ve written or a post you’ve shared online? 

“…my basic truth leads me back to what Jesus would do.  He walked with sinners. Prostitutes, murders, thieves.  He counseled all.  He preached love and exemplified love.  Rules and guidelines come with religion... one very clear rule that has come down through scripture is that we don't sit in judgment of each other.  So I try to understand the different views... but my default is to champion love and understanding.”

This is one of a number of similar responses that have appeared in the comments to a recent article I wrote on how Christians should respond to the SCOTUS ruling in the US.  This response sums up well the common response from religious people who have a ‘fuzzy’ idea of what the Bible says, often backed by the teaching of a pastor who also has a ‘fuzzy’ idea of what the Bible says.
 
(By the way, there is a solution for those with a ‘fuzzy’ idea of what the Bible says – but that isn’t what this article is about.)

Clearly the Bible has a great deal to say about love, and Jesus, in particular, spoke in terms of love.  (Use your computer to search love, loved, loving, etc. in the gospels – you’ll find many results – and most of them aren’t the ones being used to paint Jesus as a gentle flower of inclusivity.)

Here are the ones that are popularly used on social media:

John 3:16 – ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’

John 13:34 – A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

John 15:9 – As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Abide in my love.  (Make sure you DO NOT read the next verse or it ruins the impression that Jesus was calling all people to a non-discerning position of general acceptance of all people and positions.)

Or – to draw from a different gospel…

Matthew 5:43-44 – ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…

Matthew 22:39 – ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

These sorts of responses have a tendency to set a lot of Christians on their heels; after all, they believe the Bible is the Word of God, and the Bible truly says the things that people are quoting, so maybe opposing same-sex marriage isn’t a Christian thing to do!

However, in Romans 12:9, the Bible gives us a working definition of genuine love.  This little verse is worthy of your consideration if you’re trying to figure out how Christian love works.

‘Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.’ Romans 12:9 (ESV)

I want to define three terms from this short verse.

I. Let Love Be Genuine

The Greek text at this point contains no verb.  To be super literal, the apostle Paul simply writes: ‘Genuine Love’ (agape anupokritos) and then goes on to his teaching.  Every major translation supplies a verb, transforming this into an implicit command, and that is the intent of the passage.  This verse heads a section that describes and defines what genuine love looks like in the church and the Christian life.

We need to consider this.  Our culture doesn’t use words very clearly. Those who hold to liberal theology – that is, theology that would reject the infallibility of scripture and would scoff at believing that every word in the Bible is the word of God – default to ‘love-language’ on a regular basis.

But my own camp, the camp of historic conservatism does not repudiate love – we simply want to define it.

If, for example, what you mean by love is that we are willing to perish in order to give you an opportunity to hear the gospel – and we will pour out our lives to get it to you, and dig you a well and build you a school while we pray and preach and plead for you to leave behind your old idols and come to Christ.  We are all for that.  Our gospel drive is fuelled by love.

If, on the other hand, what you mean by love is that we respect and honour people too much to disrupt their lives by explaining that there is a just and righteous God before whom all the world will one day stand and give an account; that in their current state they stand condemned and separated from God; that no amount of effort on their part can save them – but that God has sent his own Son to pay the penalty for their sin and will save them on the basis of his righteousness if they will only lay their faith on Christ alone.  If you mean by love that we don’t do that – we simply make sure that you have water, food, education and a micro-finance loan because it would be unloving to link the GOOD NEWS OF SALVATION with the good news of clean water.  If that is what you mean by love – than historic conservatism repudiates you as a citadel of Satan; doing the work of the devil by shoveling souls into hell.

That may seem like an extreme response, but I believe it is the biblical response – look again on this little verse and what it reveals about genuine love.

II. Abhor What Is Evil

 ‘Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.’ Romans 12:9 (ESV)

How is ‘Sincere Love’ described?  The first description is to abhor what is evil.

Do you know how the lexicon defines the term ‘abhor’?  To abhor is quite literally to hate exceedingly!  Does that strike you as strange – I think Paul meant for it to strike you as strange!  I think he was very intentional in setting up this paradox:

LOVE HATES EXCEEDINGLY!

What does love hate?  Love hates evil!  So how do we define evil?

If we were to ask the person on the street what is evil – what responses might we find?

ISIS – HITLER – CHILD-ABUSE – TERRORISM

If we were to ask the person in the pew, what is evil, the list would expand.

ABORTION – EUTHANASIA – SEX AS AN EXPRESSION OF PERSONAL PREFERENCE

But what answer would Paul give when we come back and ask him to define evil.

We don’t have to look far, he uses the term 11 times in the book of Romans – let’s look at how the term is used:

(Speaking of those who do not worship or thank God we come to these words in Romans 1:28-32) - And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.  They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.  They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (ESV)

Paul is describing every person in the world, evil is set in among four other words –

UNRIGHTEOUSNESS – the opposite of righteousness.

COVETOUSNESS – discontent with what God has given.

MALICE – the desire that bad things happen to people I don’t like.

Add EVIL to this mixture and you have a definition of how the whole world lives.

In Romans 2:9 we read that God’s judgment is upon those who do evil, and it is equally against Jew and Gentile: There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek…

If we stopped at this point in our examination, we would have a skewed picture.  We would then say that love means HATING worldliness.  We are opposed to the sinful practices of the world. 

That is correct, but it isn’t the whole picture.  The Christian who has sincere love looks deeper.

The apostle Paul, speaking of his own struggle with sin in Romans 7 writes: For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

Brother and sister Christian – it is to vague to speak of evil as the most heinous things of history perpetrated by people given to violence.  Those things are evil but evil is closer to home.

It is not enough to speak of evil as worldliness, as unrighteousness and discontent and malice towards neighbours.  These things are evil, but evil lies closer than this.

It is disingenuous to speak about evil only as that which God hates so much that he will finally destroy it in judgment – that is true – but there is more.

Evil, as Paul is describing it, is something that I struggle with day by day.  Sin is evil.  All sin is evil.  My sin is evil.

So as I seek to ‘let love be genuine’ I am called to HATE the sin that I find in my life!

This is where the gospel comes in -  Jesus is a Saviour who saves sinners.  I do not rely on some internal goodness to overcome my evil – I turn to Jesus who has overcome all evil.  This is good news, not only for me, but for those in every other list – the grace of God is great enough to wash  away the evil of sexual sin, abortion, divorce, malice, covetousness and unrighteousness.  Even the abuser, the terrorist and ISIS are invited to be redeemed by faith in Christ.

But there are two sides to genuine love, not only what we hate exceedingly, but what we desire deeply.

III. Hold Fast (Cleave) To What is Good

The old translations used the word CLEAVE and that’s a good word – because this word comes from the idea of marriage.  We so desire the good that we bind it to ourselves.  The word cleave carries the connotation of being bonded, welded or glued to something so that there is no way to separate one from the other.

We are to cleave to what is good!  It is easy for Christians to be known only for what they denounce and reject.  But we are to be equally known for what we affirm and embrace.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  Philippians 4:8-9

There are many things in this world that have been created for our enjoyment and to lead us to worship God in thanksgiving.

My desire is that I should be known for what I love and delight in as much as I am known for what I repudiate.  I find in this little verse the command to hate sin in every incarnation – especially when I find it in my own heart and life.  But equally to lay hold of the good that God has made and to delight in these things.

The true Christian should be famous for their happiness, joy and the fullness with which they partake in all the good that God has made – and it is right to be reminded at this point of the words that God spoke at creation over all that he had made… he called it good!

So, Christian LISTEN!  LOOK!  SMELL!  EAT!  TOUCH!  God gave us senses.  So I aim to listen to music and rejoice; to sit on my back porch and watch as many sunsets as I can with joy; to smell the flowers that I cultivate in my garden and to give thanks to God as I eat my grilled chicken!

Let us LOVE and DELIGHT in everything we find that is TRUE, HONORABLE, JUST, PURE, LOVELY, COMMENDABLE, EXCELLENT AND WORTHY OF PRAISE.

Christian, do not be silenced in your repudiation of evil with an argument from love – true love repudiates evil.  But don’t get so caught up in repudiation that you neglect delight.  Perhaps a review of your social media is in order.  Does it reflect ‘Genuine Love’?  Does it reflect both the things you repudiate and the things you delight in?  Does your life reflect both?  I hope, that when people seek to describe you, they can come as quickly to the things that you DELIGHT in and REJOICE over as they can in the things that you HATE and RUPUDIATE.

My Facebook has been alight with articles, op-ed pieces and strangely altered profile pics for the better part of a week now.  As a Canadian pastor, I have lived with and contended with culture on issues of sexual ethics more openly and longer than my American brethren.  But I have been slow to post on this matter.  A couple of years of open polemics have taught me that policies and opinions don’t turn on a dime, and posts made in haste are often the cause of later regret.

So I offer a few thoughts a week late – with the hope that this brief article will provide ballast for your pastoral ship in the rough seas ahead.

1. God is on the throne.

God has NEVER lost control of his universe.  Wrap your mind around this, get it into your heart, pray over it, believe it – and you’ll sleep like Jesus in the bottom of any storm battered boat.

I offer two passages that are a constant help to me when it feels like the world has gone mad.

Isaiah 46:8-11 – Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country.  I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purpose, and I will do it.

In case you don’t know the context, God is speaking both of judgment and redemption in the book of Isaiah.  I don’t pretend in my pulpit, or in this paper, to understand the secret counsels and purposes of God.  But I stand fast on the fact that nothing has occurred which God did not ordain – not even a 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court.

Proverbs 16:33 – The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. 

I don’t think I need to take the time to spell this out.  If you believe in the inspiration and authority of scripture like I do, you will recognize that God makes the claim that nothing is random, nothing is chance.  God is in control.

2. Unless you’re ‘post-millennial’ these cultural shifts are to be expected.

The church of a century ago was reeling at the suddenness and ferocity of the Great War.  Most churches of 1915 held some form of ‘Post-Millennialism’, the belief that culture would become progressively more ‘Christianized’ until Christian’s held the majority position, ushering in the second coming of Christ.  The advent of a World War destroyed that confidence – a cursory reading of scripture should have destroyed it before WW1 had the chance.

We are not a ‘post-millennial’ people.  It is going to get dark before the end… really dark.  I’m not ready to call the game yet.  I think the warnings of final Armageddon coming from some parts of America might be premature (and incredibly American-centric – why would God bring Armageddon based on the US decision and not on the Irish decision a month earlier or the Canadian decision years ago).  I would counsel you to pray and preach in the hopes of revival – but realize that even revival is a mixed blessing.  Every awakening has faded, and mingled with genuine conversion are false conversions – yet I cannot help but pray that God might be gracious and merciful to my generation and come down in power.  That is what I pray for, and that is how I preach.

But remember what Paul warned Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 - But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

ARE YOU SUGGESTING THESE ARE THE LAST DAYS?  Yes.  And these last days may extend well beyond your natural life-span, so get some ballast in the bottom of your boat, buckle down to faithful exposition of the Word of God, and preach so that you will not be ashamed if you are called to give an account tomorrow or in forty years for the souls God has entrusted to you.

3. There is not, nor has there ever been, a Christian nation.

We are waking from a strange time in the history of the church – a time of relative peace and complacency; a time when pastors were honoured and respected in the public square.  But there are no Christian nations, there never has been one.  To be a Christian nation, an entire nation would have to love God with all its heart – it would have to govern itself like a theocracy and every citizen would have to be regenerate and submitted to the will of God’s Spirit.

Jesus warned us to expect this.  John 15:18 - If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it has hated you.  Reflecting on the words of Jesus, the apostle John writes in I John 3:13 – Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

Yet we seem absolutely astounded that culture has turned on Christian morality.  We seem flummoxed that we are being mocked, ridiculed and treated with contempt.  Get used to it – it’s the default setting of the world.  If your Lord stood before an angry mob bruised, bloody, with Roman spit dripping from his face, you need not expect better treatment.  Even the preachers of the great awakening had to contend with rocks, rotten fruit and hostile crowds.  You’ll survive – or you won’t – but don’t waste your suffering by griping all over Facebook that no one respects your opinion.

4. The answer you should offer when someone asks why you publicly oppose another person’s lifestyle.

This final thought is different from the others.  In some ways it doesn’t fit, but I didn’t have time to construct another article for it (I have sermons to prepare and people to visit).  So take it for what its worth.

I continually hear the question – ‘Who are you to legislate what a person can do with their own body.’  (Or something to that effect.)  I’ve been thinking for a while about this question.  I have an answer.  It’s not an answer that will satisfy the culture, the world, or the liberal church friend that wants to celebrate what scripture won’t.  But I offer it for your peace of mind – an answer that should satisfy you that you are right to stand firm against what scripture stands firm against.

The answer:  You don’t belong to you (Psalm 2:1-6; 24:1-2; Isaiah 40:15-17; Daniel 4:35).  No human being can look at anything in their possession, including themselves and say MINE.  That is the council of scripture.  We are, every one of us, stewards of what God has given.

God has granted me life (Psalm 139:13).  He has granted me certain privileges in life (Proverbs 22:2).  He has granted me both afflictions and joys (Job 1:21).  He has given me an authoritative Word to tell how I should steward what he has granted (2 Timothy 3:16).  And I ignore his counsel at my peril (Romans 14:10-12).

I am not opposing homosexuality because I have no regard for another persons happiness in this life.  I am opposing homosexuality because I have great hope for their happiness in eternity – and God has declared that no one who practices homosexuality will enter the Kingdom of God; but that those who formerly practiced such things can yet be justified in the name of the Lord Jesus (I Corinthians 6:9-11).

Don’t expect them to set down the rocks and rotten eggs when you explain yourself in this way.  But remember you are not trying to convert the culture – you are calling out to individuals – and some will hear and be converted.

So I conclude with a simple call to Bible believing pastors.  Be steady, be faithful, preach the gospel – earnestly, robustly, lovingly, winsomely, passionately.  Present the means of salvation to the world and pray that the Holy Spirit might use it for God’s greater glory.    

Chapter 10 – The Sacrament of Living

Did you make it finally?  For a long time I had the bad habit of starting books and never finishing them.  I had an endless stack of books that I needed to finish.  A few years ago I felt convicted that this wasn’t the best use of the books I had invested in, so I made it a point to mark in the beginning of my books when I began them and often would mark the date I read each chapter.  The practice of keeping all the books I was reading on a particular shelf reminded me of the ones I needed to finish.  And in this manner I have managed to finish a great number of books.

This book on the Pursuit of God has a final chapter worth reading (if you’ve lost your steam along the way, let me encourage you to take in the final chapter).  It addresses a chronic problem in the church today; the separation of life into sacred and secular.

Tozer points out that God makes no such separation, that all of life is intended to be lived for God – Jesus providing us with the perfect example of what this looks like.  I have found tremendous freedom in this knowledge.  This doesn’t mean that I can only ever do things like pray, read my Bible and sing hymns – I am free in Christ to drink deeply of all that life has to offer.  When I ride my bike out into the country, I am able to do this for God’s glory.  When I fire up the barbecue for dinner, this is equally something that can be done for God’s glory.  I can enjoy time with friends and family for his greater glory.  Is there anything that cannot be done for God’s glory?  YES!  Of course, a person cannot sin for the glory of God, so there are certain actions, activities and attitudes that have no place in my life – but none of those things can actually carry through on a promise of joy and peace – sin actually brings about the opposite result – grief and guilt.

But let me offer a caution to you as you discover the freedom to ‘live’ for the glory of God in the job you have and the family you are in.  We cannot simply slap a bumper-sticker on our lives and make it true.  What I mean by that, is that too often people take hold of this sort of teaching and use it as an excuse NOT to be holy, but rather to declare what is common holy.  The upward call of God upon Christians is to live their lives intentionally for his glory – literally with God’s honour and glory at the forefront of our minds.  That means I will go out of my way to obey him, to serve him, and to show my love for him.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones offered a single question as a means for rightly understanding the condition of our heart: “What is your supreme desire?  Are you out for the fleshly carnal results, or do you long to know God and to become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ?  Are you hungering and thirsting for righteousness?”

Answer this question honestly and you will know whether you are living for the glory of God or if you are simply asking God to bless your indifference to all things holy and living instead for the pursuit of STUFF that will leave you empty in the end.

Thanks for reading along.  I hope you will continue to pick up books that challenge your thinking and lead you into a deeper love and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have found the principle that Tozer speaks of in this chapter to be ABSOLUTELY invaluable!  There is no better path to peace than to trust God, and meekness is implicitly trusting God.

The character of David in his days in the wilderness demonstrate meekness beautifully.  Consider David’s situation:  He is running around the wilderness, hiding in villages and caves from murderous King Saul who has attempted to skewer him with a spear multiple times.

Is David too weak to defend himself?  No, this is David, of whom the women of Israel sing, ‘Saul has killed his thousands and David his tens of thousands.’  This is David, through whom God slew Goliath.  David does not lack the power to defend himself.

Is David without opportunity to rid himself of Saul?  No!  Twice David comes upon Saul with the advantage (once in a cave, and once while Saul is sleeping) and both times David spares the kings life, stating that he will not raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed.

Now, consider what David knows.  David knows that he has been anointed king over Israel.  But David is meek.  He is not weak, but he is patient, trusting that God who has anointed him king, will also bring his promise to fruition.  God does not need David’s strength or David’s sword – so David places his faith in trust in God and continues to flee from Saul.

What does this speak to your heart?

To me, I am reminded of the promises that God has made to me – the promise that my sins have been forgiven, that my debt has been paid, that my place in heaven is forever secured by my Saviour.  I am free now to live as a son of God, to delight in God, and live for Him.  I often find myself caught up in spiritual conflict with the adversary, but I don’t concern myself with my own reputation, with what others will say about me, or think about me (though I feel that temptation upon me regularly).  I am reminded that my God is supreme, my Saviour sufficient and my future certain and sure.

How is that for peace and rest.  This is the peace that comes from resting in meekness on the power of God to accomplish what he has promised in his time, and to use me for his greater glory.

It's Saturday, and the end of a very busy week, that included all the usual sermon and Bible Study prep - but also a very important meeting on renewal that soaked up a lot of time and energy. So I apologize for the lateness of this post. I hope you're still reading along and finding gems in Tozer.

I really felt that he hit on a solid point about mid-chapter when he points out that the prayer, 'Be thou exalted', is the corrective for all things in the spiritual life. In his own words: "Let the seeking man reach a place where life and lips join to say continually, 'Be thou exalted,' and a thousand minor problems will be solved at once. His Christian life ceases to be the complicated thing it had been before and becomes the very essence of simplicity."

In my own experience I discover this when I stop worrying about 'what' God will do with me; and 'how' God might use me, and simply begin to pray that he might be glorified in me and through me. Then I believe that God is already doing what I have prayed and I open His Word and begin to obey whatever I find there. I don't worry if my finances seem to founder, or if attendance dips at the church, or if God seems to call me to a very 'unglorious' task. I have prayed that God might be glorified in and through me, and I am no longer concerned with whether I will receive glory, or whether my church will be glorified, or whether anyone will remember my name. However - I find I need to be reminded of this from time to time. The old flesh often pushes in and starts asking, 'Hey - How is this going to benefit me?'

I appreciate Tozer's honesty in pointing out that this is not 'perfection' that is on display in our lives, but 'holy intention'. We are inclined to seek God and his glory and in doing so "...God finds a theater where He can display His exceeding kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Beware... God often uses his faithful servants as a canvas for grace in the midst of suffering and sorrow. Daniel was thrown to the lions; David had to hide in caves from Saul; Paul was beaten and imprisoned. But in all of these characters, God displayed the marks of his glory and his grace.

So pray this with me. Pray that God might be restored to his rightful place as king and lord of your life, that you might find the genuine, lasting joy of being in the centre of his will and purpose for you!

One of the repeated questions I heard at the open-house in Walsh this past week had to do with hermeneutics.  (Hermeneutics is 'The Science or Study of One questioner wanted to know why we would hold a conference that advertised gender as one of the topics for hermeneutical discussion.  Another asked ‘what hermeneutic’ we would be using.  Now I don’t deny that there are different approaches to hermeneutics, certainly the Roman Catholic church holds to a different hermeneutic, but should it not be concerning that within our own denomination we approach the Bible as if the whole thing were some mysterious puzzle that is beyond our understanding and agreement (or even just an open discussion)?

The question that wanted answering at the open-house was: “What sort of hermeneutic are you recommending to the churches of the CBOQ?”

So here is my contribution to the conversation at this point.   (I hope you will agree with me, I think you should, but if you don’t, feel free to add your voice to the conversation in the comments below.)

In order of importance, the materials necessary for good hermeneutics (the first three are sort of like the trinity, impossible to separate but distinct at the same time).

1) The Holy Spirit.  Don’t try to do hermeneutics with those who aren’t born again – they are lacking the key component to understanding the Word of God (You’ll end up reliving the Jesus Seminars and casting votes about whether the Word of God is the word of God).

2) The Bible.  This is the perpetual trump card.  If the answer you came up with at the end doesn’t agree with this – you got the wrong answer.

3) Prayer.  The Holy Spirit and scripture are sufficient, prayer goes hand in hand with these two and sets us in submission and humility before God.  You might try some version of this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven...’  That invites the Holy Spirit to lead us rather than to simply follow us around blessing and endorsing whatever we decide to believe.

4) Your brain.  God made it, sin has twisted it, but the Holy Spirit can renew it as long as you’re willing to submit humbly to the Bible, to believe it and obey it even when the rest of the world suggests that it sounds like foolishness.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  Romans 12:2

5) Your personal experience.  You can never escape your personal experience, and it holds some validity, but it is also treacherously connected to the old flesh.  (Example: So you felt a burning in your bosom at campfire when you were 15… there might be something to that, but I wouldn’t base your entire call to ministry on some experience until you have submitted it to the Word of God.)

6) The writings and thoughts of others.  This is really an optional element, if you are about to board a tiny space craft and are only allowed to bring one book, leave the Augustine’s Confessions, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary and the CBOQ Blue Book behind and take your Bible.  Remember two things about these writers: A) If they don’t have the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t matter how many letters come before or after their name, they are disqualified from saying anything worthwhile about scripture; B) The Bible is the perpetual trump card.  It doesn’t matter if all the puritans agree in the same direction, if the Bible contradicts them, they’re wrong.  If the Bible commands it: obey it.  If the Bible forbids it: abandon it.

I think that list is sufficient (and even a little superfluous), maybe you want to suggest a couple of other things we might bring along?  With these tools – especially the first three, we are ready for biblical hermeneutics.  You can do it on your own, like most pastors do week by week in sermon preparation;  You can get together for Bible Study with a bunch of other people and do ‘hermeneutics’ together; Hey we could even do this with a bunch of CBOQ pastors (forget the latest fad that is on the front page of Christian Book Distributors, choose a topic and open our Bibles in search of understanding).

Biblical Hermeneutic stated simply: We must read the Bible as a whole.  No one passage can be torn from its context and used to prop up some pet doctrine; it must all be brought to bear.  You don’t need a theological education in order to read and understand your Bible (it was written in the common language of the people for a reason).  There is no passage that does not matter, if it is recorded within the 66 books it is there for a purpose.  Examine the word prayerfully and humbly.  What does it tell you?  Your experience may be admissible, we can never escape experience, but realize that your experience is the lowest point on the totem; what you feel, what you like, what you think, what you love, and what you hate are all things that may find more influence in your flesh than in your renewed spirit.  Pray that the Holy Spirit might lead you into all truth, and then begin to read ‘all-truth’. 

I often say to my congregation, “The Lord has given you a pastor for a purpose.  I am here to lead you and feed you, to guard you and protect you, and to open the Word of God to you.  But the Lord has also given you a Bible and a brain.  Please don’t arrive at the final judgment shrugging your shoulders and saying, ‘….well my pastor said.’  Get into the Word of God!  Read it, meditate upon it, study it, memorize it!”

Biblical hermeneutics is not some mysterious ‘Urim and Thummim’ that we cannot use.  Hermeneutics is the agreed upon means by which we read and understand the Word of God.  It controls what we preach and teach and how we live, even who we are. 

We are not surprised that from time to time someone will come to the church with some ‘new hermeneutic’ and try to explain the casuistry behind how they have justified some new practice or belief.  But we must come to the church with our hand upon the page of the Word of God and the words, ‘Thus says the Lord.’  That, my friends, should settle the matter.

Marc Bertrand

Chapter 6 – The Speaking Voice

It took me a few pages to settle into this chapter – sometimes it seems like Tozer wants you to ‘intuit’ what he’s aiming at, rather than coming out right at the beginning with the chapters major theme.

Tozer is right in pointing out that there is a right and a wrong way to read the Bible.  You would be amazed to know how many academics and scholars have written books about the Bible who haven’t begun to read it in the right way.  They have read it as a history text, or as a thing to be analyzed and parsed up into the parts that matter and the parts that don’t.  Amazingly, you don’t need a Master’s degree or a PhD in order to rightly read and benefit from the Bible – but you do need to approach it as a living and authoritative word.

I have had other ministry leaders criticize me for rejecting the writings of certain scholars based on the argument that they aren’t qualified to write anything about scripture because they prove by their opening premise that they don’t believe it is the Word of God.  The moment a person, who doesn’t believe the Bible, takes it upon themselves to write about the Bible, everything they write will at best be without understanding, and at worst, will be reliant on human wisdom and divorced from every aspect of the fear of God.

Now, I especially appreciate how Tozer points out that God is speaking both in nature and in his word.  Psalm 19 immediately came to mind as I read, The heaven’s declare the glory of God and the skies above proclaim his handiwork.  Day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard…  Indeed, God makes himself known to any who are attentive to see Him and hear Him.  But reveals himself fully through the scriptures.

Tozer also points out that the world is hard of hearing, for inspite of God’s continual proclamation of his reality, we stubbornly refuse to praise him, honour him or give him the worship he rightly deserves.  However, I think I am willing to follow along on his suggestion that every act of goodness and beauty produced in the world has been “[a] result of [man’s] faulty and sin-blocked response to the creative Voice sounding over the earth.”  Scripture makes the claim that: ‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…’ (James 1:17).

Tozer then writes of the universal sense of awe in the face of the universal vastness: ‘…a sudden sense of lonliness, or a feeling of wonder or awe in the face of the universal vastness.  Or we have had a fleeting visitation of light like an illumination from some other sun, giving us in a quick flash an assurance that  we are from another world, that our origins are divine.”  These words reminded me of some of my favourite words from C.S. Lewis, from his sermon ‘Weight of Glory’ (you can find it online if you like).  In it, he speculates on the open secret of the universe, that we were not made for this world.  After explaining that what a man or woman desires, demonstrates that whether or not they ever obtain that thing, it is a sure sign they were made for it – he then states, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

I think that both Tozer and Lewis would suggest to us that human experience – these inexplicable, emotionally charged moments, are key aspects of our journey in life – but that many go astray at this point, because they try to self-interpret experience rather than setting experience within the contexts of divine revelation and asking God to anchor in scripture our experience.  So I deeply appreciated the instruction Tozer offers, “It is important that we get still to wait on God.  And it is best that we get alone, preferably with our Bible outspread before us.  Then if we will we may draw near to God and begin to hear Him speak to us in our hearts.”

That, my friends, is the vast difference between Eastern meditation that invites stillness and emptying of the mind (which will lead to the self being magnified, exalted and glorified – and great spiritual confusion) and Biblical meditation that invites stillness and the filling of the mind with the living word of God.

So to conclude this (slightly overlength) reflection on chapter 6; let me challenge you to take up the Word of God and read.  Many of you already do this, but is it your daily practice?  Begin with a simple prayer that God might impress the truth of His Word upon your heart – and then take up and read.  Let me add one more aspect to this challenge 1) Read systematically, don’t just jump all over the place; 2) Read from at least two places at once, this not only gives breadth to your reading, it will reveal to your mind and heart the fact that behind every human writer is the divine author who has presented a complete text in 66 books, 3 original languages, 2 testaments, over the period of 2500 years.

May God meet you there.

(This is a letter written by my friend and fellow pastor Paul Carter.  Paul will be preaching the anniversary services at Walsh on April 27.  In the letter that follows he, and I, invite you to come and visit the new website for CLRA.  You may notice some duplication, as I have supplied some edited versions of articles first written here - but there is plenty of fresh content as well.)

Late last month we launched a new website for our wider Canadian Baptist family interested in Gospel renewal and discussion.  Many of you will be aware that our relationship with the denomination has been somewhat strained over the last several years.  At root the issue is compatibility and alignment.  Though we all came from common stock and commitments, over the last 100 years there has been a lot of drift and we haven’t all been drifting in the same direction.  Many churches within the denomination are waking up to the fact that we may no longer have sufficient agreement among ourselves to facilitate any form of significant partnership, particularly with respect to mission.

What is the appropriate response to that?  Some would say that the only appropriate response is to pull out and associate elsewhere, and while there is a time for that, I can’t help but feel that 135 year old friendships should not be abandoned lightly.  With that in mind, a few relationally connected churches began a conversation forum known as the Covenant Life Renewal Association (CLRA for short, pronounced like the lady’s name ‘Clara’).  CLRA has as its aim to stir up Gospel conversation that could potentially, by God’s grace, reestablish a basis of theological agreement that could facilitate a more robust missiological partnership within our denomination. 

We’d like to invite you into the conversation.  We’ve recently launched an on-line discussion platform at www.adfontes.ca and we’d love for you to visit and take a look.

When we met with Tim McCoy, the Executive Minister of CBOQ, to explain our plan and approach, he referred to our efforts as “a very Baptist way of addressing these concerns”.  Baptists believe in free will association, which means that none of us are obligated to participate in our denominational activities or mission programs; they are “free will”.  However, we also believe that such partnerships can be very useful, provided we agree on what we are trying to do.  This requires discussion, dialogue and mutual understanding and the more people that participate, the broader the potential base of agreement going forward.  Please join in this conversation in the hopes that our deeper agreement will serve to advance God’s glory among the nations in our generation.

Pastor Paul Carter
Lead Pastor

Let me add my Amen to all of this!
Marc Bertrand