What We Mean and What People Hear: Communicating God’s Mercy to and Loving the Secularized Person

Sir Anthony Hopkins was interviewed by Piers Morgan the other night on CNN and it got me thinking about how people outside the church hear us when we talk about our beliefs in God and scripture. Here are some snippets from an article describing the interview:

When asked if he believes in God by Piers Morgan on his CNN talk show, he said: "Yes, I do. I'm not an atheist. I don't know what it is. None of us do… I believe in a God that Einstein believed in, a sort of Spinoza kind of interpretation."
…
Discussing the absolute beliefs of organized religions, he said: "I think it is dangerous. Certainty is responsible for some of the most awful terrors in the world.

"I made a point in the film ('The Rite'), I was saying to the young priest, 'So what do you believe in? The truth? Oh, yes, the truth. Look where that got us. Hitler, Stalin - they know the truth.'

For those of us who have a Christian faith or other specific faith convictions, we might take offense at this, but I believe it’s more constructive to think about Sir Anthony’s reaction to the idea of intellectual certainty (Stalin could hardly be called a person of religious certainty unless that he was certain that God didn’t exist). Intellectual certainty, in Sir Anthony’s mind, leads to a destructive arrogance and a devaluing of human life.

Whether we agree with this logic or not is not my concern at the moment. The fact that many people in our culture think this, logical or not, does interest me. It interests me because when I seek to talk about God’s mercy in Christ, I want to make sure they hear what I mean. When I talk about God's mercy, I mean 'God values you and so do I... God has shown me grace and that has humbled me... that humility leads me to service and care of any person who crosses my path.' Saying “I am a Bible-believing Christian” may be akin to saying, “I am a religious extremist,” in the minds of many people. Is this what we mean to communicate?

I have no formula to vault over the prejudices of our culture against those who have religious convictions, but I can tell you how I have sought to present to people the orientation of my life. When someone asks, ‘Do you believe in the Bible?’ I answer, ‘I believe in God… I trust Him… and I believe that he has spoken to me in a way I can trust: namely, the Christian scriptures.’ I don’t imagine that this would dispel all fears a secularized person might have of me, but at least it puts my faith in terms that don’t hit upon his or her worst fears: bigotry and arrogance.

If we are to communicate what we mean to say about God’s love and mercy, we must spend time thinking about what people are hearing when we talk. And this kind of sensitivity and care is usually the first step in answering God’s call upon our life: loving your neighbor

For the full article about Piers Morgan’s interview with Sir Anthony Hopkins, click here.

The Active Ingredient in Loving Relationships: Submission

I have been thinking a good bit about marriage and relationships in general... what makes them work, what puts strain on them. Again and again I come back to this idea: submission is the active ingredient in loving relationships. Of course, there are many things which go into healthy relationships but what makes these diverse ingredients come together is submission.

I am not talking about rolling over and playing dead in a relationship. I mean taking what you have... your gifts, your resources, your very person... and actively submitting it to the good of another. "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Phil. 2:4. So many of our relationships are a pursuit of self-affirmation. This is why we tend to be friends with people who share our outlook and interests. It also tends to be why we have so much tension in our marriages, as our spouse seem less and less interested in telling us how great we are.

This is at once both a difficult concept and an empowering idea. It is difficult because the idea of willfully submitting ourselves to another's interests seems to violate our freedom and personhood. It is empowering in that our love no longer becomes a question of someone else's behavior. As Christ actively gave himself to the good of those who were undeserving but in need... submitting who he was to our good, so we should love others... by submitting ourselves to their good. Food for thought as we lie in bed next to people who we feel often disappoint our expectations.

(For more on this idea, come here Daryl preach on 2/6/11 at West County Fellowship, Marriage: Loving Self or Loving Another? or listen online after 2/6/11)

Staff Thoughts on Christ, Part 1: Music Director Eric Stiller

Christ is central to our faith and our worship. His divinity and the necessity of his life, death and resurrection are clear from scripture. However, there may be many different aspects of who Christ is and what he has done that strike us most powerfully. We thought we would ask our staff about their personal reactions to Christ and share their thoughts with you. We start that today with a brief interview with Eric Stiller, Director of Music for West County Fellowship.

Charlie and Rachel Looney Welcome a New Son, Calvin

We wanted to let you know the good news: Charlie (intern with Central and WCF) and Rachel Looney are now the parents of a baby boy, Calvin James Looney. Calvin was born this morning (1/29) at 4:30 am. Mother and baby are doing great and will head home tomorrow. Glory to God for this amazing blessing to the Looneys and to our church. Take a look for yourself.

A Brief Chat with Matt Wicker, WCF Children's Ministry Director

We are showcasing two things with this blog entry. First, we are trying to make better use of our video capabilities to let folks know about West County Fellowship... our staff, our events, our hopes for West County as we tell folks about the love of Christ. Second, we took advantage of this technology to talk briefly with our Director of Children's Ministries, Matt Wicker and hear about his work day. Take a look and let us know what you think about going 'behind the curtain' with the WCF and Central staff. We hope you enjoy this first taste.

The Need for Discipleship

I have been thinking a great deal about our fledgling group out in West County St. Louis and both the need and opportunity we have to grow both deeper and wider. Though we are connected to a well established and mature church (Central Presbyterian, Clayton Campus) we need to be working on how we, as the West County campus of Central, grow in maturity.

Most of the programs Central offers tend to be Clayton based and therefore not always easily accessible to our folks. With that in mind, I wanted to begin building a menu of things for our folks based here in West County. First on the menu: What Christians Should Believe... this is 13 week (a quarter) one-on-one meeting with the pastor (me) walking through the fundamentals of our faith and how it should impact our lives.

It is based on the book Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. If you are a man looking to go deeper in your faith through study and mentoring, contact me and we'll get started. I am looking to work with four men this quarter but if more show interest we will schedule you for the next quarter. If you are a lady looking for an opportunity to be mentored by either walking through this book or doing something else, please let me know and we will get a mentoring relationship set-up for you.

Lord willing in the next couple of months we will add more things to the menu... perhaps a weekend seminar or a mid-week class. Until then, let me know if you would like to take advantage of this appetizer!

Getting Real at Christmas Time

(Adapted from the sermon, He Comes to Bring Joy. An audio of the sermon can be found here)

I am always struck at how bossy people can be at Christmas-time: “Have a Merry Christmas!” “Happy Holidays!” I feel as if people are commanding me to be joyful just because winter is arriving.

Well… I am not quite that ‘hum-bug’ about Christmas. But there is no escaping the fact that many people have a hard time being cheerful either because very hard things are happening at the moment or the holiday season brings family together and family tensions to the surface. Just when we hear choruses of “Joy to the World” we presently feel a persistent sadness.

Jeremiah, a prophet and contributor of the writings found in the Old Testament (The Book of Jeremiah, Lamentations), even though he lived, taught and wrote thousands of years ago, knew what is was to feel anguish as we feel it. In his poetry found in Lamentations, he pours out his heart after his capitol city, Jerusalem, has been attacked and destroyed by an invading army.

He knew loneliness:
Lamentations 3:2
He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light....

There are certainly places in the world where Christians are persecuted and driven from their homes and they will be able to relate immediately to Jeremiah’s circumstance. However, those of us who live in religious freedom are not free from these feelings of hardship. There are times when our feelings of heartbreak drive us into isolation… and we are walking in darkness… lost. Jeremiah knew loneliness and so do we.

Jeremiah knew humiliation:
Lamentations 3:14
I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.

Jeremiah’s country, Israel, was supposed to be “chosen” by the Lord Almighty for great things: to serve as a bright light to the world. Now, Jerusalem was a smoldering ruin… humiliated… shown to be a phony… apparently abandoned by God… right?

The pain of being exposed… of being rejected… of being “passed over”… can be unbearable. We know this kind of pain and some of you are experiencing even though its Christmas

And Jeremiah knew the bitterness of loss.
Lamentations 3:15
He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.

Undoubtedly Jeremiah lost friends and family in siege of Jerusalem. But he also felt the bitterness of the lost hope he had for his nation and people. He had given his life, fighting with but also for a people he loved. Now that dream seemed dead.

Some dismiss the Bible as an ancient book irrelevant to modern times. Does the struggle with heartbreak, the perplexing questions of suffering, and the apparent futility of living seem like an irrelevant experience to you? They are all too familiar. So perhaps these people of ancient faith may have something relevant to say to our modern experience.

What do they have to tell us? First (and this is by implication) they “say” acknowledge the present sadness. Jeremiah spends nearly 2000 words (in the English Standard Version’s translation) spilling his sadness and heartbreak before he gets to a profession of trust in God v. 21 (the famous "Great is your faithfulness... your mercies are new every morning"). There are hard things in life and its appropriate to be sad… even if it is Christmas!

“Isn’t this a contradiction? What are Christans saying to the world if we don’t smile at this time of the year?” You tell the world that you can acknowledge reality! And there is no contradiction between acknowledging our present sadness and celebrating the coming of Christ. Its because of this sadness that Christ has come!

As fantastic as it sounds, God took on flesh that He might enter into our sufferings and overcome them through his life, death and resurrection. “He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.” If we can keep this line of "Joy to the World" in mind, perhaps we can get real this Christmas about our present sadness as we look to Him to replace our sadness… with joy!