A Brief Overview of Monasticism

Chapel Talk -- October 13, 2021: Introduction to Monasticism

(Mark 8:34-38)

This was written for a weekly chapel service at a local Christian school. The target audience includes students from Kindergarten to 12th grade, the faculty, and a few parents and grandparents that sometimes attend. It is obviously not a scholarly analysis but is meant to be devotional and practical for school aged children.

Introduction

This week we are thinking about monasticism. I want to give you a broad overview of when, where, and how monasticism developed, talk about some of its main features, critique some of its negative aspects, and suggest a few lessons we can learn from the monastic tradition that may be helpful in our Christian life. There are still monastics today, but I will focus on the movement historically.

Overview of Monasticism

First, what is monasticism? Monasticism refers to the devotion practiced by monks and nuns. It is the complete dedication of oneself to God, historically by renouncing an ordinary life and personal possessions and living a life of prayer and contemplation either in solitude or with other monastics. The term comes from the Greek word μοναχός which means single or solitary. Monasticism first appeared in the early AD 300s. Some people will suggest some characters in Scripture who were a type of monks whose example the monastic tradition follows, but this is reading the Bible anachronistically, i.e. reading later traditions back into the Bible where they do not actually appear. In fact, there have been monastic traditions in many world religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, so it is not surprising that some of these practices were adopted by some Christians. But the practice did not originate with the Bible but came from other, external factors.

The Church experienced intermittent and sometimes very severe persecution in the first 300 years of its existence, but after Constantine declared an end to the persecution, Christianity became very popular in the Roman world. Many people became Christians who were not really devoted to following Christ. It was convenient to be a Christian, even if it was not really a matter of faith for some of those converts. As the visible Church became more and more worldly, there began to be more and more Christians who wished to devote themselves fully to God in a life of holiness.

The earliest monastics first appeared in Egypt. These were the Desert Fathers. Anthony, whose biography we mentioned last month since it was written by Athanasius, was the most famous, though he wanted to live in solitude and not be widely or well-known. Anthony had once been a fairly wealthy man, but after hearing the story of the rich young ruler, he decided to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and live in solitary devotion to God in the wilderness. This isn’t exactly how we are supposed to apply the lessons of that story, but we can appreciate Anthony’s sincerity. There were already some Christians living in solitude in the desert, but many more followed after Anthony’s example.

There are two basic types of monasticism practiced by Christians. (These could be divided into several more kinds, but two will suffice for our purposes today.) Anchorites were monks who lived in solitude or mostly in solitude. Cenobites were monks who lived in communities dedicated to the practice of monastic devotion.

There are different features to the devotion practiced by different monastic groups, and later orders of monastics would be established with each group having its own emphases. But we can broadly summarize the main features under six headings, at least five of which were shared by all the different groups. First, celibacy: monastics were committed to living in singleness and sexual purity. Some of them even left their wives in order to become monks. Second, poverty: monastics were committed to renouncing earthly goods. Some of the communities might have possessions, but the individual monks would have nothing except a garment and, perhaps, a Bible. Sometimes they would not even have those. Third, asceticism: monastics believed that extreme self denial, refusing bodily comforts and pleasures, and even mistreatment of their bodies would make them more holy. Fourth, separation: monastics were committed to separating from human society and ordinary life. Some of them would interact with people in towns, others would not, but all of them shared a commitment to being aloof from the rest of the world. Fifth, prayer: monastics devoted most of their time throughout the day and night to prayer and contemplation. This would include memorizing large portions of Scripture, frequently the entire Book of Psalms and the NT. Sixth, in the case of cenobites living in a commune, obedience: monastics would vow complete obedience to their superior, usually the chief monk in the community.

Monasticism has a number of negative features, but there were also many positive results. Monks copied the Scriptures carefully and preserved not only the Bible but many ancient works of literature and Christian writings that we continue to benefit from today. Monasticism preserved and advanced learning and culture during times when upheaval in the world threatened it. Some monks also became great teachers and reformers within the Church, including Martin Luther who was a monk when he became a Protestant.

Critique of Monasticism

There are a number of positive things we could say about monasticism, but there are also some negative things we must say. First, monasticism depends on a twofold concept of morality. This means that there are varying levels of devotion that might be acceptable to God, and that some are better than others. So an ordinary Christian might be able to be married and have a house and a job, but the monk is much holier because he has none of those things. It is true that God calls Christians to different types of service, but this is not because of a difference in the moral value of those choices, only because the Lord does not give everyone the same job in the kingdom.

Second, monasticism depends on the idea of asceticism. Remember that asceticism is the belief that self denial and mistreating the body will make you holy. There is a type of asceticism that is good and commanded by God. We see that in Mark 8:34. But you are not more holy because you never eat Oreos or because you stay up all night or because you sleep on the ground. It is good to practice self discipline. But these kinds of manmade rules do not make a person more pleasing to God.

Third, monasticism denies the moral and spiritual value of enjoying the good things God has given to us. It is certainly possible for us to indulge too much in the pleasures of this world. But pleasure itself is not the problem; it is our sinful desires and idolatrous misuse of God’s good gifts that are wrong. God meant for marriage, food, rest, and friendship to be enjoyed. Monasticism views these as lesser goods, but God made the world very good, and even though it is marred and cursed by sin, we glorify him by enjoying his good gifts with thanksgiving.

Application

What can we learn positively from monasticism? I think the answer is a lot! Even though there is a lot to criticize in the monastic tradition, there are also a lot of good lessons we can learn. First, we can learn a more rigorous commitment to holiness. It is easy to make excuses about our sin and to think lightly about the demands of discipleship. Monasticism reminds us that being a Christian means following Christ in every aspect of our life, every day, and all day and all night.

Second, we can learn to pursue a simpler and less worldly life. You do not have to sell everything that you own and actually live in the desert, but most of us would probably benefit from having less stuff and caring a lot less about our stuff. Getting rid of some of our worldly possessions can free up our minds and our time for the things of God.

Third, we can learn to spend more time in prayer and spiritual contemplation. Most monastics would pray the entire Book of Psalms once a week or every two weeks. They would pray at fixed hours every day, including in the middle of the night. They would organize their entire day around prayer and direct their thoughts to God throughout the day no matter what else they were doing. You may not follow the same rules for prayer that they did, but their example reminds us that we should seek to live a life of prayer and not merely to have a prayer life. Amen. --JME

2021 Reading: Q3 Review

It is almost two weeks late, but I am finally posting a review of my reading in the third quarter of 2021. As in the first quarter and second quarter reviews, I will not be listing everything I read but only providing a snapshot and mentioning a few highlights. I previously explained my plan for reading in 2021 and the way in which I log books.

The third quarter was my largest volume of reading so far this year measured simply by the number of books read. This is not the best way to measure the quality and quantity of one’s reading, but it is the metric we are using here. In the third quarter I read thirty-three books: ten in July, fourteen in August, and nine in September. I have read eight so far in the first eleven days of October, so the numbers in the fourth quarter could go even higher, but I plan to shift my reading in the last two months of the year to longer and denser works which will bring the total number down somewhat.

My third quarter reading included nine works of theology, one volume of philosophy, three works of history, five classics, two on current events, four biographies, two on personal development related themes, and two others from the list of books I reread each year. These last were the last two volumes of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I cannot describe how bittersweet it is to finish this series each year. It is simultaneously thrilling and deeply satisfying while also frustrating my evening reading for sometime after. Three weeks later I still have not settled comfortably into my next evening reader.

My reading plan for the year has been fairly successful overall. There will be several changes to it for 2022, but the distribution and categorization this year has been helpful. I have already read almost twice as many volumes of theology, biography, and classic literature as I originally planned. Other categories have not been as useful as I thought, so I will modify my goals there in the future. But the general strategy has proven sound and useful in directing my reading. Those who wish to read more or read more profitably would be well-advised to adopt a similar strategy. Plan the types of books you want to read, set specific and manageable goals for each category, and then track your reading through the year.

Here are three highlights from the third quarter that merit special mention.

First, Voddie Baucham’s Fault Lines is a must-read for those wishing to understand the current controversy in conservative, evangelical, and Reformed churches over Critical Race Theory and social justice. It is not the only book that ought to be read on these issues, but it may be the most useful for the majority of Christians. Dr. Baucham has done the church a great service in analyzing, summarizing, and documenting the movement in its proponents’ own words. I highly recommend it and would encourage elders and deacons especially to read it.

Second, Ned Stonehouse’s biography of J. Gresham Machen is a classic within the OPC, but I had never read it until this summer. It was interesting, informative, and surprising in a number of ways. I never realized how firmly rooted in the southern Presbyterian tradition Machen was, and though I had some sense previously, Stonehouse’s biography demonstrated even more convincingly that the man who was the catalyst in the formation of the OPC would likely be criticized as a “culture warrior” by some members of the denomination today.

Third, on a much lighter note, Mark Eddy Smith’s Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues is a brief primer on theological and philosophical virtues found in the best-known tales of Middle Earth. Written like a devotional, the chapters are brief but useful in recognizing themes in Tolkien’s rich trilogy. The chapter on Atonement is sadly confused, though there are still valuable insights to be gleaned even there. I have already given two copies away to friends and likely will again. It is a short and easy read but an edifying one.

The three volumes listed above were not necessarily the most enjoyable or profitable from my third quarter reading, but there are ones I think most of the readers of this blog would probably find useful. Before closing this review, I should also mention Diane Langberg’s Redeeming Power which I also read in the third quarter. I do not include it as an honorable mention but because Dr. Langberg’s work has lately been promoted within OPC circles, something that in light of this book’s content I find both alarming and appalling. Redeeming Power is largely shaped and informed by the framework of Critical Theory. It contains a number of theological errors--a reminder that many people writing theological works today are ill-equipped and unqualified to do so. The perspective on Theology Proper found within the book is explicitly contrary to the Westminster Confession, which raises the question why Dr. Langberg is being sought out and given a platform by leaders in a confessional denomination. I will not attempt a thorough review here, but the content is a mixture of unremarkable statements on egregious abuse, conflation and confusion of kinds and categories of abuse, sweeping and systemic denunciation of religious institutions, and a caustic and condescending tone. It is unhelpful, problematic, errant, and divisive. --JME

Two Sacred Days: Meditation for the Lord's Day (Sept. 12, 2021)

Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day, and today is 9/11. It is an interesting juxtaposition of sacred days, one hallowed by violence, madness, false religion, and sorrow; the other hallowed by God as a day of rest for all creation and of celebration and peace for his saints. One might properly be regarded as a day of fasting, but the other, the Lord’s Day, should always be celebrated as a day of feasting. On 9/11 we remember the many who died under the godless and wicked violence of terrorists, and we honor the sacrifice of many others who gave their lives to resist terrorism that day, to preserve life even at the cost of their own. But on the Lord’s Day we remember something far more sacred, the death of One who laid down his life when godless and wicked men sought to kill him, but who did so as the ultimate sacrifice which would not seek to preserve lives that who eventually end anyway, but which saved souls eternally from wrath and everlasting punishment. Christ did not save us merely from violence or terrorists. He saved us from sin, from God’s judgment, and from the danger we created for ourselves. Our greatest enemy is not Islamic terrorists or the foolish (and wicked) progressives who justify and enable their violence. It is not the world around us or the Devil. Our greatest enemy was always our sinful nature that placed us in opposition to the holy God and exposed us to his righteous judgment. Jesus died to pardon our sins, rescue us from judgment, and deliver us from the sinful nature which would otherwise have destroyed us all.

On Friday morning I attended a local 9/11 memorial, and during a moment of silence, I prayed and asked God for mercy because we (as a nation) have disregarded so great a judgment as he sent us that day. When I reflect on 9/11 and look at our nation today, I see opportunity squandered, divine judgment disregarded, and the rebellion which brought judgment upon us in the first place only growing more explicit. National calamities are warnings from God, and we have rejected that warning and doubled down on the arrogance, irreverence, immorality, and stupidity that brought chastisement in the first place. But as we look ahead to the Lord’s Day tomorrow, we do so with hope. The United States of America will not stand forever, and soon enough they will be divided, if they continue to exist at all. God will shake every kingdom of man until only the kingdom of God remains. He will bring the nations into submission to the Lordship of his Son, or he will crush them into dust with an iron scepter. This is not a reason for grief but a reason for calm, confidence, and celebration. Christ is Lord of all, and the fate of this nation, and every other nation, lies in his hand. We can trust him for our present and our future. Our destiny is not bound up in the liberty, prosperity, or perpetuity of the United States. Our destiny is to be with Christ in glory.

Pray for our nation. Honor our dead and the heroes who gave their lives so that others might live. But honor Christ above all, and pray for the peace of the heavenly Jerusalem. May her walls be strong, her glory great, and her supremacy be seen and acknowledged with reverent joy in all the world. -JME

Judging All Things by the Mind of Christ

This is a sermon manuscript written to be preached at ROPC (AZ) on August 22, 2021.

Introduction

Competent to judge, yet free from the judgment of the natural man. That is the substance of v.15 that we are focusing on today, and it has tremendous implications for the believer’s life and work in this world. In Christ, believers are enthroned in the position Adam was made to occupy, as vicegerents of creation. This is the plain teaching of Scripture. Yet we cannot take for granted that this is understood--the proposition must be proved by Scripture--since even in the Reformed camp (especially in the Reformed camp?) there are many who challenge the assertion. “Jesus is Lord,” they say, “but we are only exiles.” Exiles, true enough, the Bible does refer to saints in that way. We are still pilgrims and sojourners living in a foreign land. But unlike the children of Israel in Babylon, we are not here because of our own disobedience, and our hope is not to escape or return to some distant land. No, we are exiles as Abraham was an exile. We are in the wilderness just as Caleb was when he approached the city of Hebron and prepared to liberate it from the giants. We live in the midst of usurpers. Our home is not somewhere else; it is right here, and our exile will not end with our departure but rather with the expulsion of the Canaanites whose inheritance is not in this realm but in Sheol.

To thoroughly expose and expound this theme would require more time than we have in this lesson and would not permit us to examine what we have before us in v.15, but for the sake of demonstrating that these are biblical arguments and not mere assertions, let me point you to several texts of Scripture (out of many) that support the overall perspective I am suggesting. I recommend rereading your Bible with these points in view and see how many passages fit together with this theme once you see the big picture. The Bible is a unified story, the story of King Jesus and of those whom he has redeemed to rise from spiritual death and share in his everlasting, glorious rule.

1Cor. 3:21b-22: For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

1Cor. 15:25-28: For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

2Cor. 5:17-20: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

2Cor. 6:10: … as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

Eph. 1:10-11: that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will

Col. 1:16-20: For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

1Cor. 6:2-3: Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels?

Rev. 11:17-18: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Matt. 5:5: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Cf. 2Thess. 1:6-10; Rom. 8:18-25; 2 Peter 3:10-14; Rev. 21:1-8; Rev. 22:1-5; Isa. 65:17-25; 66:5-24

We need to keep a few points in mind as we explore v.15 today. First, Jesus is Lord of all, absolutely everything. He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. The only thing excepted from that is the Father. As the victorious, exalted God-Man, Christ rules over everything in all creation: heaven, earth, and sea and all that is in them; the Devil, all demons, and every spirit being and spiritual force in every realm of the created universe. Nothing and no one is outside of his authority and control. He has jurisdiction over everything. Second, believers are raised to life in Christ, united to him, and enthroned with him in heavenly places, i.e. the spiritual realm. We may not sit as kings in the present age, but we are lesser kings in exile, wandering the lands where we will one day rule. (If you are a Christian, you are Aragorn, waiting to take your throne when the land is freed from darkness.) Third, as we have seen in our earlier studies of 1 Corinthians 1-2, believers have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit so as to recognize and rejoice in the wisdom and power of God which the world, darkened by the ignorance of sin and rebellion, perceives as foolishness and weakness. The saints see the world for what it is, the reality that lies behind the appearance. It is this spiritual insight to the world around us, the heavenly perspective, that is crucial to our passage.

We said last week that truth is whatever conforms to the mind of God. Reality is first conceived in the mind of the Creator; then actualized through the works of creation, providence, and redemption; and finally perceived through the natural and special revelation of God. There are not separate, self-contained, isolated systems. All truth is God’s truth, and Christ is Lord of all of it. Truth is neither arbitrary nor subjective. It is objective and universal. Jesus is Lord of math just as much as he is Lord of theology. All true philosophy is Christian philosophy, and philosophical systems that deny Christ’s Lordship fail by definition: they neither know true wisdom nor love it. There is no rivalry between faith and true science, only between Scripture and the arrogant ignorance of rebellious man. Truth is one thing, and it finds its origin and unity in the Lord Christ.

Believers Are To Judge All Things by the Mind of Christ

If Jesus is Lord of everything, then we are to think about and interact with every part of the world in view of his authority and power. This is what is meant when Paul says: he who is spiritual judges all things. The terms natural and spiritual we examined last week are probably the best we can do to translate these categories in English, but they are imperfect translations. A more literal, wooden translation would be something like soulish (ψυχικὸς) and spiritual (πνευματικὸς) man, but that would only create greater confusion. The natural man is man in his natural, unregenerate state, and therefore dead in sin because of the Fall. The spiritual man is man in Christ having been made alive by the Holy Spirit who continues to dwell within him.

By judging all things, Paul is not referring to the kind of judgment Jesus warns about and forbids (cf. Matt. 7:1-5). Judge not has taken the place of John 3:16 as most loved and most often cited Bible verse in the modern, western world. But Jesus condemned hypocritical judgment--he judged such judgment to be unjust. He did not condemn righteous judgment. On the contrary, he commanded it (John 7:24). Righteous judgment is judgment which conforms to the mind of God. It is judging according to reality, according to truth, and not merely on the basis of appearance or in a hypocritical manner. Jesus righteously judged hypocrisy to be unrighteous, and believers should do the same. It is this kind of discretion, this kind of wise and proper evaluation according to truth, that Paul says the spiritual man is enabled and expected to apply to all things pertaining to this life.

What does it mean to judge all things? It means to evaluate everything through the lens of truth, through the revelation of the mind of God. It means thinking Christianly, considering what is temporal through the lens of what is eternal. It means measuring truth, goodness, and beauty by God’s definition of those categories, and not by the world’s standards. It means applying biblical values and virtues to every aspect of our lives, not restricting them to religion and the Church.

Too many Christians have embraced a false dichotomy between sacred and secular, compartmentalizing faith in the name of respecting “natural law” and the “common kingdom.” But the same Lawgiver who gave us the Bible is the Author of natural law as well, and the substance of these two forms of revelation is declared in Scripture to be the same (cf. Rom. 2:14-15). Jesus is Lord of the common kingdom just as he is Head of his Body, the Church. We may distinguish these two “kingdoms”--though, in my judgment, they are frequently misunderstood and misapplied --but we should never divorce them as if they are self-contained. The same Lord is Lord over all, and his law applies just as much to one as to the other. Any attempt to apply one part of the Law to one kingdom and exclude another part must separate natural law from biblical law in a manner the Scriptures plainly do not. We are sometimes too clever theologically for our own good. This is how we had an elder in the PCA run for governor of Texas in 2018 affirming, “My personal faith is personal to me, but I will not let it interfere with how I govern,” and “I’m for marriage equality and everyone deserves to be treated equally under the law,” and who promised if elected he would “respect Roe v. Wade and not push for further abortion restrictions in state law.” (Andrew White, the elder and gubernatorial candidate in question subsequently resigned his ecclesiastical office https://www.excellentthought.net/texas-andrew-white-abortion-and-the-pca/, and https://www.excellentthought.net/andrew-white-resigns-as-pca-elder/.)

How do we evaluate public policy on economics, criminal justice, marriage, and welfare? According to some Christians, these issues are political, therefore outside the realm of faith. Do you see the problem? Who decides what is just, good, right, true in these matters? Are justice, goodness, and truth neutral categories when it comes to economics and criminal justice? Are they arbitrary standards, determined by the judgment of man in the civil sphere? I am not suggesting the Church ought to involve herself in strictly partisan politics. I am suggesting there is no neutrality, and the only way to know what is good, right, just, and true is to evaluate it by God’s revelation.

I remember having a disagreement with two young ladies in the Church in 1997 after the movie Titanic came out. The film contained explicit female nudity, and with the naivete of an 18 yr old, I suggested such content was inappropriate. I was informed such nudity was art and, therefore, morally acceptable. I wonder if pornographic movies ought to be admitted on the same guidelines? I remain unrepentant in my naive notions of decency in art.

The spiritual man judges all things. That doesn’t mean he is an expert in everything. It does not mean he knows everything that is knowable. It does not mean his judgments are infallible. But it does mean that he is to judge everything--and everything seems to mean everything--by the Spirit revealed and illuminated law of God made perceptible and comprehensible in regeneration.

This means the Word of God applies everywhere, to everything. It does not tell me how to change the oil in my car, but it does tell me how to do so honestly to the glory of God. It does not tell me how to design clothes, but it does tell me how to do so modestly and appropriately in a way that manifests beauty without unnecessarily provoking lust. It does not tell me what career field I ought to pursue, but it tells me how to pursue whatever career I choose and what kind of person I ought to aspire to be regardless of the work I do.

There is no neutrality. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things (Php. 4:8). But you can only learn what these things are from the Creator and Fount of all goodness and truth, the Maker and Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. You cannot learn these things from experts who deny the existence of God, the accountability of man, and the objectivity of what is good, right, and true. If man is a verbal primate, then the Nazis were neither evil nor immoral, and no one can say otherwise, because good, right, and true only exist in relation to God.

Believers Are Free from the Judgment of the Natural Man

At the same time that spiritual men are enabled and enjoined to judge all things, they are not judged by anyone. This must be understood in context. Just as the ability to judge all things does not imply universal expertise or infallible judgments, neither does the phrase judged by no one mean the believer is not subject to any authority or review of his actions. He is judged by God (2Cor. 5:10). He is subject to the righteous judgments of the Church (1Cor. 5:9-13). And he is subject to the authority of civil magistrates if he violates just laws (Acts 25:11; 1Pet. 4:15). But the contrast is between the natural man and the spiritual man, the wisdom of this world that regards the gospel as foolishness and the wisdom of heaven that proclaims the gospel as the power of God. It is from the judgment of the natural man and the folly of this present age that the spiritual man is exempt. The spiritual man is able to rightly discern the truth behind and before all things, but he is not himself subject to the ignorant and arrogant judgments of this present world.

Do you remember the great scene when Paul made his defense before King Agrippa and the Roman governor Festus? The story is told in Acts 26. Let me read just a portion of it.

Acts 26:19-29: “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come— that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” 

Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” 

But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” 

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” 

And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

Paul is making his defense, not by defending himself, per se, but by proclaiming Christ as the truth and true way to everlasting life. Festus is obviously unsettled by what Paul was saying, and so he tried to discredit him. “You’re crazy, Paul!” What did Paul say? “Thank you for helping me see this about myself. I did not realize I had become mentally unstable. I know that as a civil magistrate, you are God’s minister over the common kingdom, so I accept your judgment. I must be crazy after all. And while we’re on the subject, I have to admit our worship gatherings are pretty risky. If you say we can only meet to worship God over Zoom, I’m sure I ought to respect your authority.” If your Bible says anything like that, you need to get rid of it, because it isn’t the Bible. Festus may have been a legitimate government official, a minister of God in the civil sphere, but he could not sit in judgment of Paul as a member of the Body of Christ. That does not mean Paul did not submit to Festus’s lawful authority; it does mean that Festus’s unlawful and ignorant judgments of Paul’s faith were without merit or authority.

Do you remember when the prophet Elijah confronted Ahab after 3.5 years of drought?

1Kg. 18:17-18: Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals.

Did Elijah say: “Thank you, O King, for helping me see that I have been a troublemaker. I have not been the winsome, irenic, nuanced prophet I ought to have been. In fact, I have been a pain in the neck to your administration, and for that, I am truly sorry”? Nope, Elijah said, “Wrong. You are the troubler here. God sent me to deal with the mess you created and to start putting things right.”

If the world says you’re crazy for believing in Christ, don’t stress about it. Why do you care what they think? They have already proven by their unbelief that they do not have the wisdom to see what is real. Their vision is distorted. You’re not any better than them. You can only see it because the Holy Spirit had mercy upon you. But why would you let someone who lives in an upside down world criticize you for walking around on the ceiling? They think sodomy can be solemnized as marriage. They think it’s wrong to kill black people but okay to kill millions of people so long as they are still in the womb. They think burning down businesses and assaulting police officers is an acceptable response to what they perceive as racial inequities. They think you and a dung beetle have the same great, great-grandmother, that human beings are highly evolved monkeys--and listening to them, you’re almost convinced they are right. They think it is foolish to believe in God and that it is scientific to believe the world with all its beauty and complexity is the product of chance. And you are concerned about what they think about you?

Matt. 5:10-12: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

1Pet. 3:13-17: And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

There is a fine line that must be balanced. The servant of the Lord must be humble, not arrogant; conciliatory, not contentious; kind and gentle, not caustic and rude. But he also must learn to be indifferent to the judgment of those who lack the ability to judge what is right, good, beautiful and true in this world. We should not be troubled if the same people that think sexual perversion is a reason for pride and a parade think little of our conscience and conduct in this world. Fear God, and you do not have to fear anyone or anything else. Fear God, and be free of the fear of man. You do not need man’s praise if you know that you have God’s approval.

Conclusion

The man who has been raised to new life with Christ and in whom the Spirit of God dwells is able to discern all things. He sees the reality behind the appearance. He understands the truth that lies out of sight to those who have not received new eyes. He is not subject to the ignorant and unjust judgments of unenlightened men who belong to the present world. They may scoff and curse, hate and assault, but their slings and arrows are powerless against the people of God. 

Psa. 115:3-9: Our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.

Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell;
They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.
O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield.

The believer is competent to judge all things by the truth which God has revealed, yet he is free from the judgment of natural men. That is the substance of our passage, and it has tremendous implications for the believer’s life and work in this world. In Christ, you have been enthroned in the position Adam was made to occupy. You are God’s vicegerents over creation. Stop chasing the world’s approval, and start thinking and living like the king you are called to be in Christ. Amen. --JME

Re-blogged: COVID Fear (and Thoughts on Death) by Nathan Williams

This article is worth a read and thoughtful consideration. --JME

We have been hearing media outlets and our government tell us for a year and a half now that COVID is super-extra-duper dangerous, that it’s a killer, and that we risk everyone else’s lives if we walk around without something covering our faces. It’s hard not to believe that now, even though the risk level has plummeted extremely low.

Even in the worst periods of the pandemic I tried not to listen to fear-mongering but look at the raw data. It didn’t look so bad even then. If I were older, I’d probably have been more concerned, quicker to grab a vaccine. But at my age I have not been greatly concerned. I am certainly not fearful for my kids, who are all under 18 years old. If they get it, it probably won’t hurt them badly and it almost certainly won’t kill them. It will be like a mild flu for them, most likely.

But guess what? We will all die of something at some point. And I mean that in the most comforting and encouraging way possible. I mean, you could go get the vaccine and immediately walk out in front of a semi. You could be diagnosed with some form of cancer. You could have a heart attack. You will die of something at some point. All those who are spreading COVID fear are attempting to sell us on the lie that we can somehow cheat death if we just do the right things. But death is a door each of us will walk through, an appointment each of us will keep. I suppose if you are not ready to die, this is probably not so encouraging, but to someone who loves the Lord Jesus Christ and has faith in His promise of eternal life, death is just the beginning of eternity with God.

Read the article HERE.