That's So Weird!

How biblical is the way you live your life? Watch this video...

What is the "weirdness" of our generation? I think in 50 years people will be saying "What? They became so focused on improving what happened within the walls of the church, but then once they became aware that wasn't producing fruit, they became so focused on reaching "the lost" that they skipped right over their first calling - making disciples of their very own children? That's so weird."

I pray that one day that seems weird.

Does your life story fit in the pages of the Bible? What do you need to review in your life through biblical lenses?

"Can He -- Will He -- Become a Disciple?"

The Rich Young Ruler

Rich: More than enough wealth to sustain life

Young: Between the ages of 25-45

Ruler: Corporate Management, Church Leadership, Community Status, etc.

This description hits pretty close to home right now. In this description, I see my husband. A young man with a wife, two kids, dog, two cars, two houses, significant investments and responsibilities, established career, leadership roles in the church, status in the community, etc. Now, I am not comparing him to the actual man described in the scriptures, but I am saying that the man’s “title” could easily suit Justin and our family situation as a whole. And since my husband (of course with 100% support from me and our families) recently decided to return to Ozark Christian College as a full-time student, we are definitely feeling the call of Jesus to “come follow me.” So, what does that look like today? In a time of prayer this particular passage of the Gospels came to mind and I began making the comparisons. These likenesses sent me searching out more about this story. I found an excellent lesson on this passage from Dr. Ralf F. Wilson and a majority of the following is excerpted from his writings (emphasis mine). As I continue to think and meditate on this passage, I still wonder what awesome truths are in store for us.

“The story of the rich young ruler exposes a raw nerve in us that causes a reaction. But disposing of wealth was not all that Jesus asked the man to do. "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' " (18:22) … The word "follow" is the characteristic word of discipleship, Greek akoloutheo, "' follow,' figuratively, to follow someone as a disciple, 'be a disciple, follow.' "[12] However, I don't think that the following Jesus invites this man to do is just figurative. Jesus looked at this man and loved him (Mark 10:21). I think he is inviting the rich young man to join him on his journeys, to become one of the disciples who enjoy the immense and unspeakable privilege of spending time with Jesus and learning from him on a day-by-day basis. What a wonderful invitation! But the invitation implicit to us is no less wonderful. We, too, are invited to come to Jesus, and then to follow him on a spiritual life journey. To enjoy his company, his presence. To be taught along the way by his Word and Spirit. To become part of his great extended family, the Body of Christ throughout the world. And to be filled with hope in the closing days of our journey as we know his promises and feel his comfort with us. "Come, follow me," is the invitation Jesus extends to you and me.”

We fully accept the “Come follow me”, but are we willing to accept the “Sell everything you have and give to the poor,” portion of the calling? We seem to have skipped right over that part. How much of a commitment will this really take? Are we willing to sacrifice our comforts to become completely dedicated to the call?

“The young man has kept all the commandments, but still senses a lack, an incompleteness, or else he wouldn't have come to Jesus in the first place. Now Jesus speaks to the young man's point of need:

"When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' " (18:22)

“If the man does this, Jesus assures him, he will have treasure in heaven. "Treasure" is Greek thesauros, "that which is stored up, 'treasure.' "[10] It is an ironic exchange that Jesus proposes -- exchanging fabulous wealth here on earth for fabulous wealth in the Kingdom of God… Recently, Jesus has taught his disciples about the importance of faithfulness with regard to money: "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money" (Luke 16:13). Now his disciples have an object lesson to learn from -- an actual rich man, fabulously wealthy. Can he -- will he -- become a disciple?”

We fully understand that accepting the call to follow Jesus requires sacrifice. But what sacrifice, and to what extent? Can we -- will we -- resign our salary & benefits? Can we -- will we -- sell our things, our car, our house? Some would say we would be better off to sacrifice time rather than wealth; to keep the salary, continue in school and have less time for other things. But if all our time is spent with Justin studying and working (both full-time hours) in addition to all our other responsibilities in the church and our family, we are not simply sacrificing time, we are sacrificing relationships. Our marriage will weaken, friends and family will have to be neglected: is that what Jesus has called us to? I don’t believe so! Jesus has called us to make disciples -- to minister to those in our home and in our lives. I would rather my children suffer the pains of hunger than to be starved from love.

Another part of the calling is to be generous. If we maintain all our worldly responsibilities while attempting to respond to Christ’s invitation to follow him, we also have nothing to give. We will have to grasp with all our might to each and every thing: school, work, church, family; each one in danger of become its own stronghold on our family. There will be little to nothing left to be generous with. But if indeed we do eliminate the stresses of career and maintaining the extra comforts in life (by “selling everything we have”), we may find we have an abundance of love, faith and encouragement to distribute to those in need simply because we refused to sacrifice what we thought we could do without, over what Christ has specifically asked us to give to Him.

“… Jesus' words don't just upset the rich young ruler. They also upset us… But why are we even worried with the question? Do we, too, feel possessive of what we have? Do we fear that Jesus may require us to do something that would cost us too much? What are we afraid of? And why do we fear? We fear because we sense that we are not fully surrendered, that's why.”

All of this comes about because Justin and I will indeed need to make that life-changing decision as to what exactly it looks like to give everything it takes to follow Him. And we have so many options. The most difficult and emotionally weighing decisions we have to make are whether or not the opportunities presented to us are a result of God’s leading or a vice perpetuating a stronghold in our lives. I so appreciated the prayer that Dr. Wilson offered at the end of his lesson. My heart echoes it here:

“Dear Father, Jesus' words have a way of piercing our hearts and defenses we have built up against you and doing things your way. Make us tender-hearted. Gently expose the reservations of our hearts, as you did for that wealthy young man those many centuries ago. But give us grace to be able to obey you, the Great Physician, who alone can heal our corrupt and deceitful hearts, and make us whole. Forgive us, O Lord, for clinging to the remnants of a life independent of you, and make us wholly yours. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.”

See Dr. Wilson’s complete lesson text at: http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/18_18-23.htm

We covet the prayers of our family and friends for us in this time in our lives.
Pray that in all things we might bring glory to God. -AB

Humanism in the Bible?

In March of 2011 a new, updated edition of the New International Version Bible will hit the shelves. But if you read your scriptures online or via some phone application, you already have access to it (maybe without even knowing what you are reading is different than what you were reading a few short months ago). I became aware of this when my husband enrolled in classes at a Christian college after he told me that some of his professors made specific requests for their students to use the 1984 NIV verses the 2010 NIV. With the controversial release of the TNIV in 2005, I became curious about the changes made to the 1984 text. This curiosity coupled with other personal reservations about the company that publishes the NIV sent me into research mode. I began comparing new and old versions of the NIV, searched for info on reputable online Bible reading sites, and read the Notes from the Committee on Bible Translation on this topic in its entirety. The following quote from this document is what got me going.

“…hearing God’s Word the way it was written is only one part of the NIV’s overall mission. If readers are to understand it in the way it was meant, translators need to express the unchanging truths of the Bible in forms of language that modern English speakers find natural and easy to comprehend.”

Updating the New International Version of the Bible: Notes from the Committee on Bible Translation (Complete text can be found at: http://www.biblegateway.com/niv/Translators-Notes.pdf)

This implies that the translators’ assumptions of “the way it was meant” are true. Not to mention their assumption that the language “modern English speakers find natural and easy to comprehend” is even sufficient to communicate the awesome truths of the Word of God. It seems to me that the language we speak today is NOT sufficient. And to water down the Word of God based on pandering to current cultural trends borders on heresy.

What I’m NOT saying…

Let me be clear. I am NOT saying that the translators of the 2010 version of the NIV are heretics. I am NOT saying that they do not love, worship, and revere God.

What I am saying…

I believe they have chosen to rely too heavily on our humanistic culture as they interpret the very words of God. Humanism is one of the most subtle, yet dangerous schools of thinking that a Christian can participate in. Humanism in Christianity places mankind as the center of the Bible. It assumes that the PEOPLE are the main characters in the story, when in reality GOD is the main character is HIS story. They are HIS words. What we read is what he wants to tell us about HIMSELF, not about US. The Bible is meant to communicate the character and awesomeness of God, not the successes and failings of mankind. It’s not about me. It is about God and His words are TRUTH. So, why would we change them based on what is “acceptable” by human culture?

Now I fully believe the Word of God should be both accurate and understandable. If you cannot understand what is written, then you can not apply His Truth to your life. Knowing, understanding, believing, and acting on the Word of God brings glory to him. Not to mention that His words are sufficient for every question, need, encouragement, instruction, or leading that mankind will ever need. Who are we to bend that sufficiency to cater to a humanistic culture? Integrating a humanistic worldview into the very place where we find everything we need to have a biblical world view is just disturbing. Here is an example. Zondervan Publishing (the company that publishes and distributes the NIV translation) recently released a Family Reading Bible. GREAT NEWS! Families are always in need of resources to help them instill faith at home - right? But what you might not notice right away is how the editors of the Family Reading Bible have included humanistic thoughts and teaching into the margin notes. The following quote is found in relation to the passages in Genesis regarding the flood.

“We do not know how many years passed after
the creation of the world to the time of Noah. It
may have been thousands of years; it may have
been millions. All we know is that there were
many people in the world and sin was everywhere.”

Did you notice that? If not, than you may be a victim of a Christian’s humanistic world view. If you didn’t catch it, read it again. The editors of the Family Reading Bible specifically undermine the sufficiency of scripture on the same pages they print the very Word of God! They have believed the lie. They are marketing the lie to families across the nation. They are instilling humanism into the young disciples in your home that we call children. How can we let this happen?

Consider the following passage from Deuteronomy 7 (emphasis mine):

¹ When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— ² and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally.^a]">[a] Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. ³ Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, ⁴ for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. ⁵ This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles^b]">[b] and burn their idols in the fire. ⁶ For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. (2010 NIV)

The Family Reading Bible is only one example where we have intermarried humanism with the very Word of God. This treaty we have made between humanism and Christianity has turned our children away from following God. They have begun to serve other gods, such as themselves. They are confused by the hypocrisy. They do not know TRUTH. We have led them astray by pandering to our modern culture. We have lowered expectations on them and ourselves to know and understand and believe in the sufficiency of scripture. And we perpetuate it by continuing to read, share, promote, and support the use of materials that are published by a company that so blatantly attacks the Creator God. Let’s not forget God’s specific promise to those who turn the children away, “the LORD’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” Let us repent. Let us beg for forgiveness. Let us divorce humanistic thinking and embrace the responsibility to lead our children to the TRUTH. What does the Bible say (even in the NIV)?

God has used man to communicate His truths since the beginning of time. This has not failed us. I have complete faith in the sovereignty of God and the sufficiency of scripture to lead us through the person of the Holy Spirit to know and understand the TRUTH - no matter which translation is read. But as for me; I will choose not to continue supporting a publisher that perpetuates the lie of humanism. I encourage you to find out more about ALL the available Bible translations. Don’t settle for what is most readily available. Seek the knowledge and understanding you need to make a wise choice. The following is one of many places online where you can find a Bible Translation Guide. Do the research, seek the Truth. Give glory to God.

http://www.mardel.com/bible-translation-guide.aspx

AB