The Danger of Feeling Spiritually Entitled

I was reading Mark 6 in the English Standard Version the other day and verse 31 really stood out to me: "And he said to them, 'Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.' For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat." Prior to this, Jesus had sent out the disciples and they had preached the gospel of repentance, driven out demons and healed the sick in His name.  If you have ever ministered to the needs of others, as the disciples did, then you know how draining this can be.  Thus, Jesus simply wanted to have some solitary time of fellowship with his closest friends and followers to allow them to eat and refresh themselves after a very successful, yet tiring, time of travel and ministry. He was not seeking "leisure" in the way we often think of the word; he did not desire idle amusement or entertainment. He simply wished to enjoy a very necessary and quiet meal with friends. Shortly after this, however, the crowds accosted Jesus once again and yet, he satisfied their spiritual hunger by teaching them for the remainder of the day and then satisfied their physical hunger by feeding all 5,000 of them! If it were me, after seeking refuge from the crowds and being confronted with them anew, I would have reacted with extreme annoyance for having been once so thoroughly inconvenienced. But this was never the attitude of Christ.  He lived a life of perpetual inconvenience and physical discomfort because his priority was never himself but always those around him: "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34 NIV)." 

This painfully reminded me that too often, I equate the American dream with the kingdom of God. I want to avoid inconvenience and pain so that I can enjoy as much leisure and comfort as possible. I shy away from living sacrificially because I'd like to believe that I deserve the comfort and peace that I enjoy as an American with a middle class lifestyle. However, these notions are completely antithetical to the way Christ has called me to live as his child. Christ called me to pick up my cross daily and follow after him, not sit on my recliner daily and stream Netflix. Christ's call to sacrificial living is one that necessarily demands that I pay a price. We are very familiar with Matthew 16:24 in the NIV: "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.'"  But because denial of self is not a phrase we use in the common parlance, I think we skirt its meaning and try not to give it too much thought.  The New Living Translation, however, spells it out for us in plain English: "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.'" How often do I really renounce my selfish ways and seek to put others before myself? How often do I use the excuse that I am simply too tired or stressed out to help someone in need? For that matter, when was the last time I even shared the gospel with someone? (Actually, thank God, it was yesterday, but that was the first time in a long time!) 

Those of us who are politically conservative are very much against most government welfare programs because they tend to create an entitlement mentality in those individuals who benefit from them. The fact of the matter is that human beings tend to esteem too lightly that which costs them little or nothing.  Sadly, I think that Western Christianity has created legions of Christ followers who have assumed a spiritually entitled mentality. We have been blessed to worship God openly and freely in this nation and have faced very little persecution.  Rather than taking this freedom and living and sharing Christ with abandon, we have conflated comfort and prosperity with God's favor. I know that God can and does bless us, but not so that we can grow bloated and moldy like old spiritual wine skins! Too often we, as Americans, esteem too lightly the blood and sacrifice of Christ because we have had to pay absolutely no price for proclaiming his name.  

Now please don't misunderstand, I am not impugning all recreational activities or the material blessings God has so graciously bestowed upon us in this country.  Rather, I am simply asking us to be introspective and ask ourselves if we have been willing to embrace the challenge of the apostle Paul in Romans 12:1: "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him." We must remember that the cross was both a symbol and an instrument of execution in the Roman world! When we take up our cross, we must die to ourselves: our desires, our ambitions, our comforts, our EVERYTHING! At the very least, we should have some splinters in our back. So, while I am not suggesting that anyone actively seek martyrdom, I am suggesting that you pray for a willingness to be inconvenienced for Christ's kingdom. Ask that the Holy Spirit empower you to love and serve others the way that Christ did and you will find it far more eternally satisfying than any leisure could ever be!   

The Die in the Culture War is Cast...Which Side are YOU On?

On Friday, June 26, 2015 five un-elected Supreme Court Justices imposed the legalization of same-sex marriage on the entire country.  In doing so, they irrevocably cast a die in the raging U.S. culture war that will have a dire impact for people of faith that believe in the traditional definition of marriage. Based on national news coverage and just about everyone's Facebook feed, it seems that millions of Americans are celebrating this decision. Indeed, even many Christians, including those that are not necessarily in favor of gay marriage, are breathing a sigh of relief that at long last this issue can seemingly be laid to rest and that it no longer needs to be argued about in the public arena.  However, as Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his dissent, "I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools."  This victory for the proponents of gay marriage will in no way result in a cease fire in the broader culture war because the core issue has never been about the definition of marriage.  As brilliantly said by conservative columnist David French: "First, the conflict is not between gay rights and religious liberty, but between the sexual revolution and Christianity...Abortion battles continue to rage, sometimes with an intensity that matches or exceeds the arguments over gay marriage...And just over the horizon are new, widespread battles over the very definition of what it means to be male and female. Simply put, the sexual revolution questions everything about sexual morality and identity-demanding changes in every aspect of traditional sexual morality and, consequently, orthodox Christian theology."

Even a cursory analysis of Justice Kennedy's majority ruling makes it clear that the door has indeed been opened for the complete and total annihilation of marriage, not simply an extension of its parameters to include gay couples.  Kennedy wrote: "Under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, no State shall 'deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.' The fundamental liberties protected by this Clause include most of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights...This analysis compels the conclusion that same-sex couples may exercise the right to marry...A first premise of the Court’s relevant precedents is that the right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of individual autonomy."  Thus, if this "right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of individual autonomy," then we must extend the definition of marriage to include any configuration of consenting adults.  This opens the door to the legalization of polygamy, polyamory, and even incestuous relationships between adults.  While it may seem that I am being hyperbolic or intentionally inflammatory, the dissenting justices themselves pointed out this very fact: "Although the majority randomly inserts the adjective ‘two’ in various places, it offers no reason at all why the two-person element of the core definition of marriage may be preserved while the man-woman element may not. Indeed, from the standpoint of history and tradition, a leap from opposite-sex marriage to same-sex marriage is much greater than one from a two-person union to plural unions, which have deep roots in some cultures around the world. If the majority is willing to take the big leap, it is hard to see how it can say no to the shorter one,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts. Thus, Justice Kennedy in no way put to bed the argument over gay marriage. In fact, his opinion opens the floodgates for advocates of polygamy, polyamory, incest and who-knows-what-else to demand "changes in every aspect of traditional sexual morality," as predicted by David French.  After all, according to Justice Kennedy's legal logic, does not every individual, no matter how perverse or outside the mainstream their view on sexuality and marriage, have a right to express their "individual autonomy" in regards to marriage? Indeed, if this right only exists for gay and straight couples are we not perpetuating the very "discrimination" that Justice Kennedy just supposedly ended with his decision?   

Justice Kennedy's majority opinion, however, did something far more pernicious than lay the legal foundation for the decimation of the definition of marriage: it made Biblical morality incompatible with the U.S. Constitution and laid the foundation for the legal persecution of Christians. I am fully aware that this claim sounds, at best, as someone crying wolf and, at worst, as the paranoid ravings of someone with a persecution complex.  However, in legalizing gay marriage, the Supreme Court did not simply grant homosexual couples "equality."  Rather, this decision put gay couples on a pedestal as a legally protected class that cannot be "discriminated" against.  Thus, the free exercise of religion clause of the First Amendment not withstanding, sooner of later churches will NOT be allowed to refuse to perform gay weddings.  Indeed, if gay marriage and homosexual behavior is normalized as a matter of law, then Biblical texts that label homosexuality as sin will eventually be deemed hate speech and gay activists will see them exorcised from the public square. In fact, as I write this, the assault on religious liberty has already begun despite the fact that the ink has been dry on the Supreme Court's decision for a mere two days! Today, Mike Oppenheimer of the New York Times has already called for churches to be stripped of their tax-exempt status: "The Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage makes it clearer than ever that the government shouldn't be subsidizing religion and non-profits. Rather than try to rescue tax-exempt status that dissent from settled public policy on matters of race or sexuality, we need to take a more radical step.  It's time to abolish, or greatly diminish, their tax-exempt statuses."  Thus, as Justice Alito presciently predicted, dissenters will be free to express their disagreement, but only in private and only under the threat of federal retribution.

Believers should not be surprised or dismayed by the recent turn of events in regards to gay marriage. Jesus made it very clear in the Sermon on the Mount that those who faithfully followed him would be subject to persecution: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me (Matthew 5:11)."  He also assures us in John 16:33 that we need not fear persecution because he is always with us and his ultimate victory is assured: "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." The question we must ask ourselves is: are we ready to stand and be counted with Christ and face the scorn, derision, and ultimately, legal penalty for following Christ and Scriptural authority in ALL areas, including the realm of sexual morality? Sadly, I think lots of believers have bought into the lie that if they are simply loving. accepting and tolerant that they will not come into conflict with the world and the advocates of behavior that the Bible clearly labels as sinful.  These individuals do not seem to understand that the world is not looking to live and let live but to bring about the acquiescence and capitulation of people of faith.  The die has been cast and the battle is coming.  We must choose a side and realize that "friendship with the world makes [us] an enemy of God (James 4:4)." The reality is that we cannot pretend not to care because we will ALL be made to care. This issue has been and will continue to be pushed by gay activists in the media, schools, and soon, in our churches. God has given us the power to stand, but are we willing to pay the price it will take in order to do so? Please do not misunderstand, I am no way saying that gay individuals should be maligned or treated poorly by Christians. As believers, we have a mandate to treat every person, even our enemies, with the love of Christ.  However, this in no way mitigates the fact that gay activists and those sympathetic to their cause in government will continue to push their agenda in order to silence dissenting voices in the faith community.  We can either allow this to occur unopposed and betray what Scripture says, or stand with Christ, be counted as his followers and pay the cost that will undoubtedly come as a result.

Walking the Razor's Edge Between Truth and Love

The UK Daily Mail reported today that "A religious liberty law firm has taken up a US Marine's appeal case after she was prosecuted for refusing to remove a Bible verse taped to her computer.  At the time of the incident in May 2013, she was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina when she taped the slightly altered Bible verse in three different places that read: 'No weapons formed against me shall prosper,' according to Fox News.  Sterling, who is now unemployed and searching for a job, was given a reduction in rank from lance corporal to private, as well as a bad conduct discharge."  Unfortunately, in a nation whose first amendment supposedly enshrines the free exercise of religion, this type of story is becoming increasingly commonplace.  Take for example this story from April 26 by Todd Starnes of Fox News: "The owners of an Oregon bakery learned Friday that there is a severe price to pay for following their Christian faith.  A judge for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) recommended a lesbian couple should receive $135,000 in damages for their emotional suffering after Sweet Cakes by Melissa refused to make them a wedding cake.  As a result - Aaron and Melissa Klein could lose everything they own — including their home."  These are just two glaring examples, but they typify the kinds of assault on the religious freedoms of Christians in the United States that are the precursor to full-blown religious persecution.

No one who claims the name of Christ should be the least bit surprised by the current state of affairs in our country.  Jesus speaks about persecution in a very matter-of-fact manner, indicating that it is a natural by-product of following him: "God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers (Matthew 5:11)."  The Apostle Paul reaffirms the universality of Christian persecution in 2 Timothy 3:12: "Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution."  The Apostle Peter echoes Paul when he writes to the believers enduring the terrible persecution of the Roman Emperor Nero: "Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you (1 Peter 4:12)."

Thus, if persecution is to be expected, how should we react as believers? Particularly, how should we react as believers who live in a constitutional republic wherein government derives its power from the consent of the governed and the governed are guaranteed the free exercise of religion as a matter of federal law?  Herein is where the believer must walk the razor's edge between a response of love and a response of standing boldly for religious liberty.  As Christians we must always treat others the way that Christ did: with unconditional love, grace and mercy.  However, we must also remember that while Christ always interacted with sinners in a kind and gracious manner, he never failed to confront them with their sin.  Christ confronted the Samaritan woman at the well with her marital infidelity.  Christ did not condemn the woman caught in adultery but her urged her to "Go and sin no more (John 8:11)."  Also, lest we forget, Jesus demonstrated righteous indignation when he overturned the tables of the money changers and drove them out of the Temple with a scathing rebuke: "The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves! (Matthew 21:12)”  Too often, we as believers single out individual sins and individual sinners and lambast them in a manner which makes us look bad and Christ look worse.  However, if we fail to confront people with their sin as Jesus did, then we also fail to present them with the entirety of the Gospel.  Indeed, one cannot understand the Good News unless one first understands the bad news: that we are sinners hopelessly separated from a holy God unless we accept Christ's sacrificial death on the cross on our behalf!  Thus, while we must preach the Gospel, we must also realize that it is the Gospel itself which causes us to be persecuted because it is offensive to the world: "So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it's all nonsense (1 Corinthians 1:23)."

Just as we should not cease to share the Gospel, we would be remiss if we did not boldly speak out in defense of religious liberty.  We are blessed and privileged to live in a nation where we have the freedom to worship God without government interference.  However, we must always remember that privilege is only one side of a double sided coin whose opposite is responsibility.  The Bible speaks at length of stewardship, and thus, it is incumbent upon us to preserve the religious freedom which God has bestowed upon us.  Some people have told me that they refrain from such battles because when other believers speak out about some of today's hot button issues, such abortion or the battle over the legal definition of marriage, that they are shrill and and strident.  This adversarial tone ultimately turns people away from Christ and does very little to further the cause that is being championed.  I wholly agree that while the Gospel is offensive, God's people should not be.  On the other hand, just because some people aren't playing the game by the rules doesn't mean we should give up on the game altogether.  Our religious freedom allows us to worship openly, rear our children according to God's word without government interference, preach the gospel to our neighbors and support missions around the world!  The secular progressive Left in this country will not stop in its effort to cow Christians into submission to its worldly agenda.  As I noted with my opening examples, this is just a small taste of the battle that rages daily in this country.  Thus, we must speak the truth in love and with humility, but we must also fight to preserve the founding ideals that have made this country a beacon to immigrants from around the globe and the greatest missionary sending nation in history.  We must safeguard the precious and extremely rare religious freedom that is not enjoyed by the great majority of humanity, for once it has been revoked, it may never return. It is hard to walk the razor's edge, but with God's grace it can be done.

Jesus Christ the Original Superman!

It's a great time to be a comic book nerd!  What once was solely the province of the local comic shop or the convention hall full of individuals cosplaying as their favorite superhero has become culturally en vogue.  Superhero and comic book properties are dominating popular culture in a way that seemed unthinkable only a few years ago.  This summer the multiplexes will be dominated by Avengers Age of Ultron, as well as the upcoming Marvel Studio's Ant-Man and a reboot of the Fantastic Four.  Meanwhile, 2016 promises to be a veritable cornucopia of superhero cine-magic with no less than seven comic book properties coming to the silver screen including: Batman vs. Superman, Captain America: Civil War (AKA Avengers 2.5), and the third installment in the latest X-Men trilogy: X-men: Apocalypse.  This is to say nothing of comics' takeover of TV with the CW piling up ratings with both Arrow and The Flash as well as the upcoming spin-off DC's Legends of Tomorrow.  At the same time, Netflix has garnered critical and fan acclaim with the recent release of the first season of  Daredevil, Fox has shown us what Gotham was like when Bruce Wayne was just a wee, angry young lad, and even Play Station has gotten in on the action with their adaptation of the lesser known property Powers.  I write all of this not to demonstrate my knowledge of all things nerdy, but to pose a larger question: what is it about these brightly clad superheroes performing selfless deeds of derring-do that has so captured the American zeitgeist?  While I will in no way pretend to be an expert on matters of large scale sociological import, I will offer this simple explanation: I believe that the current cultural fascination with superheroes speaks to a deeper felt need that people have.  In an increasingly troubled, chaotic and uncertain world, people are crying out for an all-powerful, selfless savior to come to their rescue.  In short, the modern day superhero is pointing to none other than Jesus Christ the original Superman!

 

In order to see how Jesus is the archetype for the modern superhero, we must ask: what is a superhero?  Typically, the comic book superhero is a being of immense power and/or skill who uses their gifts to help those who cannot help themselves.  We are all too familiar with the maxim: "absolute power corrupts absolutely."  It is increasingly true in our day those in power use their power and influence not for the betterment of their fellow citizens, but rather for their own personal gain.  I believe this is why the idea of the superhero has become increasingly popular in American culture.  It is precisely because we have so few genuine heroes to spark the modern imagination that the superhero has become lionized.  Reality TV stars, celebrity debutantes, corrupt captains of industry and self-serving politicians have replaced people of actual virtue and character.  Furthermore, most modern "heroes" in both literature and film are far too dark, gritty and conflicted to serve as real sources of inspiration.  Superheroes, on the other hand, offer us men and women dressed in unambiguous primary colored garb, possessed of immense power, who use this power to save complete strangers without asking for recompense.  Moreover, they remain uncorrupted by the tremendous power they possess.  This is not to say that there are not dark and gritty heroes and antiheroes in the world of comics.  Obviously, Christopher Nolan's dark vision of Batman was wildly successful. However, typically, when one thinks of comic book heroes, characters like Superman and Captain America spring to mind; paragons that typify the ideal of virtuous, self-effacing heroism.

Jesus Christ, as revealed in the narrative of the New Testament, is the archetype for this type of selfless hero who sacrifices everything to save the world.  Jesus revealed to a religious leader named Nicodemus in John 3:17 that this was his entire purpose in coming to the world: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him."  Moreover, Phillipians 2:6-8 makes it clear that Jesus demonstrated extraordinary meekness by restraining his power so that he might save all of mankind: "...who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature.  He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross!"  Indeed, Christ declared that in God's kingdom, greatness is demonstrated through heroically self-sacrificial service: "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. It must not be this way among you!  Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Now, to some of you, this may sound a bit absurd and like a gigantic case of spiritual overreach.  However, I can prove that in modern superhero and genre fiction, heroic self-sacrifice is almost always presented with obvious Christological symbolism.  Here's Brandon Routh's Superman from Superman Returns falling to Earth in crucifixion position after saving the planet from a rogue continent filled with Kryptonite:
 

More recently, here is Henry Cavill's Clark Kent mulling over his soon-to-be heroic destiny in Man of Steel.  Notice that behind him is a stained glass window replete with an image of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane mere hours before facing the cross: 


Later in Man of Steel, in case the first image was too subtle, after Superman's father knowingly tells him, "You can save  them...you can save them all," Cavill's Superman takes a page from Routh:
  

Let's be honest, Superman is basically space Jesus with a cape!  And while it took Superman almost an entire year to come back from the dead in the comics during the 90's, Jesus did it 2,000 years earlier and in only 72 hours!  In all seriousness, though, if you have never really considered or taken seriously the claims of Christ, it's not too late.  Jesus unambiguously states in John 14:6 that he and he alone can save us from sin and from death: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."  While this claim is exclusive and offensive to many, Christ's call is not made from an arrogant place of power, but rather from a heroic heart of humility and grace: "Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).'"  As for those of us who already claim the name of Christ and have received the salvation he freely offers, it is incumbent upon us to proclaim his message to a world that is desperately searching for a hero.  But we should not be inviting people to look heavenward and proclaim, "It'sa  bird...it's a plane...it's Superman!"  Rather, we must carry the gospel of Christ because "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12)."

The Desperately Needed Gift of Discipline

My wife forwarded me a post from Facebook that caught my attention because it spoke to something of great interest to me as both a professional educator and as a member of my local church’s children’s ministry.  The post is by Marilyn Wedge Ph.D. and is entitled: “Why French Kids Don’t have ADHD: French children don’t need medications to control their behavior.”  In the article Dr. Wedge cites this absolutely staggering statistic: “In the United States, at least 9 percent of school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADHD, and are taking pharmaceutical medications. In France, the percentage of kids diagnosed and medicated for ADHD is less than .5 percent.”  She asks how the “epidemic” of ADHD seems to have bypassed the entire country of France while it holds our own in its heavily medicated iron fist?  Then, she answers this query most saliently:

"And then, of course, there are the vastly different philosophies of child-rearing in the U.S. and France. These divergent philosophies could account for why French children are generally better-behaved than their American counterparts…French parents have a different philosphy of discipline. Consistently enforced limits, in the French view, make children feel safe and secure. Clear limits, they believe, actually make a child feel happier and safer—something that is congruent with my own experience as both a therapist and a parent. Finally, French parents believe that hearing the word 'no' rescues children from the 'tyranny of their own desires.' And spanking, when used judiciously, is not considered child abuse in France."

    

As someone who has observed and mediated the behavior of children professionally for over a decade it often seems that poor behavior among children and lack of discipline have become increasingly commonplace.  Sadly, this is just as true among believers as it is among those who do not claim to know and follow Christ.  While the causes for this phenomenon are no doubt varied and complex, I think it is largely attributable to a cultural sea change wherein discipline is seen as something that is necessarily negative and spanking is all but verboten!  Clearly defined limits with consistently applied consequences for transgressions of those limits is seen as passé and overly authoritarian.  This “antiquated” style of discipline has been replaced with parent-child parity where parental authority has been eroded to the point of non-existence.  Thus, parents engage in endless negotiations with their children akin to the haggling that takes place at the local flea market.  To do anything less than be persistently positive and offer children endless alternatives rather than simply saying “No!” is seen as an emotionally scarring trauma upon a child’s delicate self-esteem.

This clash is perfectly captured in the movie Parental Guidance, starring Billy Crystal.  Crystal’s character, Artie Decker, is watching his grandchildren and is on the verge of spanking his incessantly misbehaving grandson, in front of an audience no less, when he exclaims in utter frustration: “I'm sorry! I can't take this anymore! This whole ‘teachable moments’ of protecting their self-esteem and nobody gets punished and every game ends in a tie! All I hear is ‘Use your words. Use your words,’ but the word they never use with the kids is ‘No!’”

This begs the question: what is Biblical discipline and what does it look like in practicality?  Obviously, this is a topic far too broad to be the subject of a single blog post.  However, allow me to offer a few points on discipline that are firmly rooted in Scripture.  The Holman Bible Dictionary defines discipline this way:

Discipline comes from a Latin word “disco” which means to learn or get to know, a direct kind of acquaintance with something or someone. Discipline refers to the process by which one learns a way of life. A disciple was like an apprentice who was learning a trade or craft from a master. Such learning required a relationship between the master who knew the way of life (discipline) and a learner (a disciple). Within this relationship, the master led a learner through a process (the discipline) until the learner could imitate or live like the master.

Thus, discipline is not a punitive form of retribution against a child, but rather a positive tool to help them learn the correct way to live.  Indeed, Scripture makes this quite clear: “My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for they will provide a long and full life, and they will add well-being to you… My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord, and do not loathe his rebuke.  For the Lord disciplines those he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:1-2, 11-12).” 

Moreover, while our culture tends to view discipline negatively or even as a form of abuse, especially corporal punishment, the Bible makes it clear that the withholding of discipline is far more negative.  “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him (Proverbs 13:24).”  Proverbs 23:13 even speaks of discipline as a positive benefit which a parent should not fail to give their child, like food or clothing: “Don't fail to discipline your children. They won't die if you spank them.”  Discipline is like the handrails on the stairs of life that keep us from falling and injuring ourselves.  Discipline is like the rails that keep a train on the right track and keep it from a terrible derailment.  Discipline, as the French would say, saves us from the “tyranny of [our] own desires."  The boundaries provided by discipline allow us to enjoy all that they contain without venturing out into the thorns, brambles and ditches of poor choices and over indulgence of self.  Thus, I have finally found something else that I agree with the French about, in addition to the French fry and the Statue of Liberty.  So you’ll pardon my French as I proclaim: “Vive la discipline!” 

An Introduction or First Things First...

I’ll be the first to admit that writing a blog that purports to offer advice or even a hint of hard scrabbled wisdom seems, at first glance, to be presumptuous.  After all, I have no credentials as a pastor or a psychologist.  I have no lofty scholarly perch that would afford me instant credibility.  What I do have is eleven years of experience as a professional educator, several years working in children’s ministry at my local church and a couple of years of experience working abroad as a missionary.  More importantly, I have God’s word and the infinite wisdom which it offers.  All of that is to say that in writing this blog, it is my utmost desire to help others apply God’s Word to their life.  However, I do so with great trepidation and humility.  I want to accomplish the purpose of Ephesians 4:15: to “…speak the truth in love,” so that believers will grow “…in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”  Indeed, I want to “think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works (Hebrews 10:24).”

This leads inexorably to a question: What topics will be the particular subject matter of this blog?  As the title of this blog would suggest, I want to leave the subject matter open ended so as to allow for addressing any topic that might arise.  Also, the title of this blog is taken from 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, which says: “for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.”  Thus, I simply want to acknowledge that culture is the ocean in which we all swim and just as a fish cannot help but be wet, so too, we as Christians are often saturated by the malign influences and arguments of our overwhelmingly secular culture.  Knowing that I too fall prey to these influences just as we all do from time to time, this blog is simply a humble attempt to speak the truth in love so that believers may be edified and encouraged and live in accordance with the wisdom and authority of God’s word.