shine bright 2 - moodycenter.org

SHINEUncomplicated Reflections inspired by Erwin Lutzer’s

BRIGHTPROCLAIMCHRIST

We Will Not Be Silenced

by James Spencer, PhD

TABLE OF CONTENTSUNCOMPLICATING CHOICES1.

2. UNCOMPLICATING CALLING

3. UNCOMPLICATING UNITY

UNCOMPLICATING SPEECH4.

UNCOMPLICATING OPENNESS5.

UNCOMPLICATING LEGACY6.

UNCOMPLICATING WEALTH7.

UNCOMPLICATING DISCERNMENT8.

UNCOMPLICATING OBEDIENCE9.

SHINE BRIGHT PROCLAIMCHRIST

Greetings, First, thanks for your support of and interest in Moody Center. Our desire is to see the uncomplicated gospel proclaimed as in the day of Dwight L. Moody. It has been my pleasure to write this set of brief reflections inspired by Pastor Erwin Lutzer’s book . We pray that the reflections in this short piece will be a blessing to you. If so, you can receive a copy of Erwin Lutzer’s book for a gift of any size to Moody Center by visiting www.uncomplicatedgospel.org. Proclaiming Christ requires more than our speech. It is a whole life activity. Learning to be obedient and to embody a love for God and others in deed and truth is the essential work of becoming a disciple. And discipleship is no simple task. The nine steps included in this guide are neither exhaustive or easy. Instead, the steps were chosen to inspire moments of prayerful reflection on the Scriptures. It is intended to prompt you to think differently about the God we serve and the way we offer testimony about him through our everyday lives. We are grateful that God continues to prompt individuals to support the work of proclaiming the gospel through Moody Center and a host of other ministries. Thank you again for your ongoing interest in Moody Center’s work fo proclaiming the uncomplicated gospel to a world that needs to hear it. Blessings, James Spencer, PhD Vice President and COO

SHINE PROCLAIMCHRISTBRIGHT

We Will Not Be Silenced

The media not only reflects the culture but directs the culture; it is out in front and we are expected to follow.

We Will Not Be Silenced- Lutzer,

Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of

my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their

fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools

destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of

disaster.

Prov 1:29–33

I don’t believe a man is in a fit state to hear a

sermon whose mind is full of such trash as the Sunday newspaper is

filled with.

- Dwight Moody

The media, particularly social media, has been something of a hot topic of late. The rise of “fake news” along with the relatively quick erosion of public discourse between everyday citizens and those who represent them has been put on display on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and twenty-four hour broadcast news. Beyond the news, the stories we watch on Netflix and other streaming services often invite us into a world where God does not exist. Perhaps worse, so-called Christian media has entered the fray reporting on scandalous stories with more sizzle than steak in an effort to drive page views. However the media environment may have changed of late, our basic relationship with media hasn’t changed as much as we might like to think. In his 1992 essay entitled “The Idiot Culture,” Carl Bernstein (of Woodward and Bernstein) highlights the alliance between “the press, the media, the politicians, and the people” to turn our “political and social discourse. . .into a sewer.” He goes on to note, “For the first time in our history the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming our cultural norm, even our cultural ideal.” Writing well before Bernstein, Aldous Huxley recognized the sort of enslavement that propaganda could produce. Contrasting the brutality and inefficiency of the totalitarian states of the past, he notes,

Huxley also recognizes something often missed in discussions of media today:

A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude. To make them love it is the task assigned, in present-day totalitarian states, to ministries of propaganda, newspaper editors and schoolteachers.

1

2

3

selectivity. As he rightly observes, “The greatest triumphs of propaganda have been accomplished, not by doing something, but by refraining from doing. Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth.” 4

Huxley’s work reminds us of our contribution to the sort of discourse we find in the media. We have opted to sit at the feet of self-proclaimed experts and advocates who know how to draw a crowd. When we celebrate and support those who feed off of


UNCOMPLICATING CHOICES

the failures of others, bow to the agendas of the world, and, ultimately, distract us from pursuing the full counsel of God’s Word, we become the disciples of idols. We adopt their understanding of the world, affirm their practical actions, and look to them for comfort. They offer us the appearance of a settled world and we happily accept the illusion. In Proverbs, Wisdom cries out to the people in an attempt to draw them away from embracing simplicity, delighting in scoffing, and hating knowledge (Prov 1:20-22). Because they will not listen to Wisdom, the people “shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices” (Prov 1:31). The “complacency of fools destroys them” and by turning away from Wisdom, “the simple are killed” (Prov 1:32). Listening to Wisdom, however, brings security, ease, and peace (Prov 1:33). Our media practices don’t always reflect our commitment to “choose the fear of the Lord” (Prov 1:29). Instead, we fill our minds with those who reject and mock the ways of God. We sit at the feet of those who spread gossip, profit from scandal, tell simple stories when they should be committed to reporting “the most complex obtainable version of the truth.” We laugh with those who scoff at God and his people, and we call it entertainment. I am not suggesting that Christians abstain from any and all forms of entertainment or media. Aside from being unrealistic, I generally find that such rules miss the point. In this case, it would seem that Wisdom is not calling people out of the streets and markets (Prov 1:20–21). Instead, she is calling people to be so steeped in wisdom and the fear of the Lord that the logic of the streets and markets has no appeal. We have an uncomplicated choice between following our sovereign, wise, benevolent Lord or charting our own course. May we be a people who chooses well.

Lord, may we be so captivated by your word that the ways of the world are unintelligible. Help us to see beyond the media of our day so that it does not direct your church. Give us the desire and discipline to steep ourselves in your instruction that we may demonstrate what it means to be your people. Amen.


5

Our calling and privilege is to represent Christ at this turbulent moment in history


But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that

you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Pet 2:9

pick apart Moody’s decisions in hindsight, we would do well to learn from Moody and from others who sought to serve the Lord within difficult moments in a fallen world. As we consider what it means to proclaim the gospel within a world bent on denying God his proper place as Sovereign, we must recognize that our task is beyond us. We are not capable of charting a course or determining a strategy that will allow us to proclaim perfectly the gospel in word and deed. We are faithful and flawed. Our witness will always (on this side of

In the place God has put us He expects us to shine, to be living witnesses, to be a bright and shining light. While we are here our work is to shine for Him...

- Dwight Moody

During the 1800’s, the United States built the infrastructure that would establish it as a world power. Yet, urbanization, immigration, and industrialization created the context for poverty, exploitation, disease, and a host of cultural ills. Progress had its consequences. It was in the midst of these circumstances that Dwight Moody sought to serve God without reserve or regret. From 1861 to 1865, the United States would fight a bitter Civil War in order to sustain the Union. Moody was heavily involved in caring for soldiers on both sides of the battle. He would later struggle as the nation dealt with the divide that remained during reconstruction as he made the controversial decision to hold segregated evangelistic campaigns in the South. Moody was opposed to segregation but saw no other way to proclaim the gospel in the South. The post-Civil War context pressed Moody to choose between his calling to preach the gospel and his opposition to segregation. Moody was not perfect, yet, as a faithful and flawed member of the body of Christ, he sought to represent Christ well in a challenging era in U. S. history. While it is easy to

heaven) involve repentance and confession. Our responsibility to represent Christ involves embracing the truth. To do so, we have to acknowledge not only that the world is not as it should be but also that we are not as we should be. When we confess our sins, we proclaim the truth. We show the world that God has saved us from sin and its consequences. As such, we have no need to hide our failures and our mistakes. We can live openly knowing that whatever consequences we may suffer for our poor decisions pale in comparison to the benefit of living in accordance with God’s truth. In the first of his letters, Peter reminds us that we have been set apart to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9). Surely, it can be easy for us to think that when we represent Christ or “proclaim”


UNCOMPLICATING CALLING

his excellencies, we do so by adhering strictly to a set of rules. While there may well be instances in which our decisions are more or less clear- cut (e.g., do not steal, do not murder, do not practice partiality), many times we will find that acting living faithfully is often more complex. I’ve often likened the Christian life to an episode of the popular Food Network show Chopped. Professional chefs are given a “mystery basket” with odd food items like gummy worms, kale, pre-cooked fried chicken, and frozen mozzarella sticks. They have to make a more-than-edible appetizer, entree, or dessert out of these items, which are evaluated by a panel of judges. The chefs don’t know what they are getting and they have to use their knowledge of taste and experience with food preparation to avoid being “chopped” and not making it to the next round of [competition. The point is that the Christian life is seldom recipe driven. Even if there were a recipe for every situation, we seldom have all the ingredients required. It is not so much that God does not provide, but that within a fallen world waiting to be restored, we often need to improvise. The more deeply we understand our craft. . .the craft of being Christian. . .the easier it will be for us to life faithfully in the varied situations in which we find ourselves. Still, we are a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet 2:9). We are God’s people. As God’s people, we are to show those who do not know him the difference God makes in the way we live our lives. It is our uncomplicated privilege to proclaim the gospel in word and deed to a world that needs to hear it.


Chopped

Lord, remind us that we are your possession. While that does not make them easy, you have delivered us from sin. We are now a people whose primary purpose is to give you glory and to proclaim your gospel. We obey not because you will punish us if we don’t but because we desire to showcase your excellencies in the midst of a fallen world. We obey because in a complicated world with little direction and fleeting surety, you offer clarity and it is now our uncomplicated privilege to represent you in this moment in history. Give us all we need to be faithful witnesses to you. Amen.

Christ created something new: The church is not a collection of individuals with a common interest, but a group of people who share a common life


To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light

for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of

God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Eph 3:8–10

In 2017 I became frustrated that I couldn't seem to drop any weight, so I decided to lean into the extra poundage and see if I could bench press 350lbs. Despite my undergraduate degree in kinesiology and my five years of experience as a personal trainer, I went after my goal of benching 350 lbs in what was possibly the dumbest way possible. I chose to bench three times per week and add 5–10 lbs per week to the weight I was lifting. While I eventually hit my goal, it came with a price. My elbows and shoulders were consistently sore and my upper back and neck were under pretty heavy strain because of the posture I'd developed and the imbalances in the strength of my muscles around the shoulder joint. It wasn't that I had hurt myself. . .though I did aggravate an old shoulder injury. . ..it

I never yet have known the Spirit of God to work where the Lord’s people were divided. Unity is one thing that we must have if we are to have the Holy Spirit of God to work in our midst.

- Dwight Moody


UNCOMPLICATING UNITY

was that I had focused too much on my chest and had neglected everything else. I developed a stronger chest, but it was at the expense of the muscles needed to ensure good posture. The other muscles may not have been pushing the weight but they were essential to maintain the integrity of my joints. At various points in his letters Paul applies the analogy of the body to the church. The church is made up of different members that are to work together in a coordinated fashion in service to Christ, who is the head of the body. All the members are connected and have a necessary function and position as part of the body. We cannot isolate or privilege one of the body’s member or group of members. Growth and development in one area may create strains and tensions in other areas that, if not addressed, will be detrimental to the body as a whole. We can’t act in isolation and expect to accomplish all God desires us to do because without the rest of the body’s members, we are incapable of demonstrating the “manifold wisdom of God,” which is showcased through the church. The diversity of the church is divinely ordained. It is a constant reminder that God’s power is given to all who believe “to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16). It is also an opportunity for the church to show the world what it means to be a body in which each member contributes to the others. By acknowledging our differences, we also acknowledge our unique capacities and limitations. We allow Christ to govern

who we are even as we bring our individual selves that have been formed through the various circumstances and situations we have experienced. It is within the comforting, encouraging, challenging body of Christ that we learn what it means to live with the various members of the community of faith. More specifically, we learn how to contribute to others and how to receive the gifts of God through the lives of the other members of the body of Christ.

Lord, may we be a people that are not consumed by the world’s conversations of diversity but by the task you have given us as a diverse people called from darkness to light. Show us what it means to be members of the same body, to coordinate with one another, to feel one another’s pain, and to celebrate one another’s victories. Give us a deep desire to showcase your manifold wisdom to a world whose futile attempts to come together will always be hindered by selfishness and sinfulness. Help us show them a different path. Help us show them “the way and the truth and the light.” Amen.


The secret of boldness? Fear God more than the flames. Fear him more than your reputation. Let us be done with fainthearted leadership. Ours is the day to ‘play the man’ with bold, uncompromising truth and love, risking it all for God


But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of

what we have seen and heard’

Acts 4:19–20

Speaking the truth is important. We must fear God more than the flames. Boldness is crucial. To boldness, however, we must add savvy discernment. Often, speaking the truth is not simply a matter of being on the right side of the issue, but of seeing past the agendas set by others to address significant issues of great importance that have been lost, hidden, or ignored. In , Herman and Chomsky argue for a “propaganda model” in which the issues discussed in popular discourse are influenced by political and economic forces. Herman and Chomsky suggest that the stories and issues covered by mass media outlets are driven by the interests of those who have the capacity “to shape and constrain media policy.” They note that this shaping “is normally not accomplished by crude intervention, but by the selection of right-thinking personnel and by the editors’ and working journalists’ internalization of priorities and definitions of newsworthiness that conform to the institution’s policy.”

...if you want to stand with the Lord Jesus Christ in glory; if you want the power of God to be bestowed upon you for service down here, you must not hesitate to take your stand boldly and manfully for the most despised of all men—the Man Christ Jesus. His cause is unpopular.

- Dwight Moody


UNCOMPLICATING SPEECH

The point is that part of speaking truth and being bold may very well mean stepping away from the “hot-button” issues of the day to explore matters that are seldom raised as major societal concerns. That is not to say that we shouldn’t also speak into the issues of the day. Rather, we must take care not to accept blindly the idea that the “hot button” issues are the only or even most important issues. For instance, based on research from the Pew Center, 79 percent of registered voters said the economy was “very important” in determining their vote in the 2020 presidential election. While the economy is often addressed from a broader philosophical perspective advocating for specific proposals regarding tax increases or decreases, job growth, manufacturing and innovation, energy, and employee wages, one issue that is seldom discussed is campaign reform and the regulation of lobbyist groups. There is no denying the importance of tax policies, the availability of jobs, appropriate wages, and forward-thinking. Yet, these matters do not exhaust the range of topics that might be addressed. They may not even be the root causes of the challenges we are facing. At some point, speaking the truth boldly may well require that we make those around us uncomfortable by raising topics that aren’t normally part of the mainstream conversation.

Manufacturing Consent

6

7

8

As Christians, we do not want to get caught up in the narratives of the day to the extent that (a) we ignore the full counsel of God’s word and (b) we are incapable of looking beyond the obvious to understand the challenges we face in a more comprehensively. The Scriptures remind us that we “do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12). Does that mean we can divorce ourselves from the day-to-day problems we face? Certainly not. As James tells us, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (Ja 1:27). It does mean, however, that we must look beyond symptoms to the sin and spiritual corruption that motivates human willingness to deny God and to engage in selfish behaviors. For those who know Christ, the most profound word we can speak is the gospel. To do so with boldness and love is a fearless act that is rooted in our conviction that God is sovereign, wise, and benevolent. He is never short on resources and, despite the troubles we will ultimately face, will never abandon us. Those who place their faith in Christ commit to obeying Christ’s commands and to walking in a newness of life (Matt 28:20; Rom 6:4). We offer a word about what it means to be genuinely human. If we try to solve the problems of the world as if they are not, at root, theological problems, we will lose sight of the gospel. That is the one thing Christians must never do.


Lord, help us to remember that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. May we not get so caught up in the conversations of the world that you get pushed to the side. Give us eyes that see and ears that hear so that we recognize your works in the world. Grant us the boldness to speak the gospel. Amen.

As Christians, we need to become better at recognizing propaganda and identifying its most egregious uses in our culture, the media, and social networks. We should do our best to understand how we are being manipulated unawares, and how we might also be manipulating others. And we should be willing to change our minds if the evidence warrants it


For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from

listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure

suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Tim 4:3–5

In “The Power to the Powerless” Vaclav Havel tells the story of a grocer who places amongst his produce the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” Havel then goes on to suggest that the slogan is less a means for the grocer to support the workers of the world and more a means of protecting himself:

I don’t believe a man is in a fit state to hear a sermon whose mind is full of such trash as the Sunday newspaper is filled with. Men break the Sabbath and wonder why it is they have not spiritual power. The trouble nowadays is that it doesn’t mean anything to some people to be a Christian. What we must have is a higher type of Christianity in this country. We must have a Christianity that has in it the principle of self-denial. We must deny ourselves. If we want power, we must be separate.

- Dwight Moody


UNCOMPLICATING OPENNESS

The grocer Havel describes is “going along to get along.” His obedience and desire to be “left in peace” reflect his understanding of who is in charge and what he must do to survive. The propaganda machine, in the grocer’s case, is fueled by a threat of social consequences. His willingness to obey is coupled to his unwillingness to suffer loss.

The slogan is really a sign, and as such it contains a subliminal but very definite message. Verbally, it might be expressed this way: “I, the greengrocer XY, live here and I know what I must do. I behave in the manner expected of me. I can be depended upon and am beyond reproach. I am obedient and therefore have the right to be left in peace.” This message, of course, has an addressee: it is directed above, to the greengrocer’s superior, and at the same time it is a shield that protects the greengrocer from potential informers. The slogan’s real meaning, therefore, is rooted firmly in the greengrocer’s existence. It reflects his vital interests.

Havel’s grocer illustrates the phenomenon of “preference falsification” in which we do not express our true beliefs in order to avoid negative consequences. Kuran notes, “A phrase that captures the meaning of preference falsification exactly is ‘living a lie.’” He goes on to suggest, “To live a lie is to be burdened by one’s lie. The source of the burden could be the guild one suffers for having avoided social responsibility, or the anger one experiences for having failed to live up to one’s personal standards, or the resentment one feels for having been induced to suppress one’s individuality.” When I first read Havel, I found it easy to identify with the grocer. It was relatively simple to identify the burdens I was carrying by living a lie. As I have reflected on the

9

10

11

12

Scriptures, my various experiences and the experiences of friends and colleagues, I came to realize that we are not always the grocer. Sometimes we are the grocer’s superiors or one of the grocer’s fellow citizens who would shun or look down on him were he not to display the slogan. Sometimes our “propaganda” hinders us and others from seeing all that God is doing in the world. It denies us the opportunity to see with eyes of faith that acknowledge our own lack of perspective. There are numerous times in the Scriptures when God works in ways that his people didn’t anticipate. His “mysterious ways” were not fully known to those who followed him. The lack of perspective of God’s people likely created discomfort as the God and the world they thought they understood shifted. As God enlarged their understanding of who he is and how he operates, the people had to learn more deeply what it means to trust and obey even when doing so seemed strange and new. God acts beyond our understanding, so it stands to reason that, when he does so, our understanding will need to change. When our conceptions of God begin to rule God, we create an idol of our understandings and run the risk of calling others to conform to our image rather than the image of Christ. Abraham wasn’t expecting to have a child with Sarah (Gen 15:2–3). Jesse left David in the pastures when Samuel came to anoint the next king of Israel (1 Sam 16:11–13). It seems unlikely that the Israelites would have identified Cyrus as “the Lord’s anointed” who would deliver them from Babylon (Isa 45:1; cf. 44:28). When the disciples walked with Jesus, they were often unclear about his path to the cross (Matt 16:21–23). Stephen was stoned because the Jews of his day refused to acknowledge that their view of God was too narrow (Acts 7:1–60). It is certainly not the case that anything and everything fits within the Christian life. Our conception of God is governed by God’s revelation given to us in his word. There will never be a time, for instance, when our conception of God would justify false witness (Exod 20:16; Deut 5:20), coveting (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21), or adultery (Exod 20:14; Deut 5:18). At the same time, however, the Christian community is not governed by a list of rules but by a God who is able to “do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Eph 3:20). As such, we must remaining open to the ways God is moving in the world that do not fit with our current understanding of God. Rather than trying to restrain God’s movement so that what he is doing fits our conceptions, we need to recognize that God may be working in unexpected ways. We have to cultivate an appropriate openness to God’s movement that allows us to discern when God is moving in unexpected ways versus when others are only claiming to be participating in a new work of God.


When the Holy Spirit came to the Gentiles, the Jerusalem Council saw something unexpected. Rather than seeking to control the situation and to box the Holy Spirit in with a set of guidelines and rules, the council accepted that God was doing something new. Their instructions were minimal: care for the poor, avoid eating meat sacrificed to idols, and avoid sexual misconduct. While others, like Paul, would continue to instruct the Gentile churches, the Jerusalem Council initially recognized that their role was not to constrain God but to remain open to following where God was leading.


God, we freely admit that it can be difficult to allow you to lead our lives. We want the stability that comes with understanding. We don’t like surprises. Yet, we freely acknowledge that you work in ways that we don’t fully comprehend and that your thoughts are beyond our thoughts. Help us not to mislead or manipulate others. Keep us from being manipulated ourselves. As you move, help us to see the work you are doing, to discern the truth of your operation in the world, and to follow you. Amen.

Parents—and I include most Christian parents—no longer raise their children. Rather, Culture does—most significantly, through the Internet


You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind

them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them

to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by

the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your

house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land

that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth

Deut 11:18–21

In his article entitled “The Vulnerable World Hypothesis” (VWH), Nick Bostrom addresses the issue of technology and its (positive and negative) effects through an analogy involving an urn containing a variety of different colored balls representing (1) technologies created that benefit humankind, (2) technologies that have negative impacts on humankind, and (3) technologies that end up being civilization killers.

You are not training your children for God and eternity. You do not live as though there were anything beyond this life at all. You keep your affections set upon things on the earth instead of on things above, and the result is that the children do not believe there is anything in Christianity. Perhaps the very next step they take may take them into eternity; the next day they may die without God and without hope.- Dwight Moody


UNCOMPLICATING LEGACY

Bostrom goes on to suggest that, so far we’ve only created technologies in categories 1 and 2. He argues that we have yet to pull out a “civilization killer” that will end humankind as we know it. As Bostrom notes, “What we haven’t extracted, so far, is. . .a technology that invariably or by default destroys the civilization that invents it.” In the context of Bostrom’s article, he describes “civilizational devastation” as involving “any destructive event that is at least as bad as the death of 15 percent of the world population or a reduction of global GFP by >50 percent lasting for more than a decade.” While that certainly seems sufficiently destructive, I wonder if Bostrom has not given sufficient weight to destructive criteria that do not result in (a) the physical loss of life or (b) the massive loss of fiscal resources. For instance, current research demonstrates a significant increase in depression and suicide amongst the younger generations. We are surely experiencing some form of individual and collective catastrophe due to the proliferation and availability of pornography. Our intellectual lives are being influenced (not always for the better) by skewed and false accounts of “facts.” We are also being pressured to adopt worldviews that are, according to Murray, “dementing.” While physical death is not trivial, it seems worth asking whether lives characterized by (increasing?) psychological afflictions, the loss of intimacy, and increasing difficulty in finding reasonable dialogue, or rigorous investigations and presentations of facts, are, in some sense, worse than death. What if our “technologies” (used in Bostrom’s broad sense to refer to “not only machines and physical devices but also other kinds of instrumentally efficacious templates and procedures—including scientific ideas, institutional designs, organizational techniques, ideologies, concepts, and memes” )

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

are forming us into a people who do not know where we come from (origin), why we are here (meaning), how we differentiate “good” and “evil” (morality), and where we will end up (destiny)? Ultimately, Bostrom’s hypothesis is quite interesting. It offers a unique line of thought. Understood within a Christian framework, it would seem that the VWH loses some of its teeth. After all, in Christ’s resurrection sin and death were conquered, so that all who believe in him may have eternal life. On some level the VWH holds no particular concern for Christians because we know this world will give way to a new creation. At the same time, the Bible does not authorize escapism. Christians are to offer faithful Christian testimony in a world that is not as it should be. While we need not give in to some sort of apocalyptic or eschatological paranoia, we can’t assume that just because we aren’t facing a financial or physical “civilization killer” doesn’t mean we aren’t facing a challenge equivalent to a civilization killer. We need to consider what we need to do given the seriousness of the challenges we are facing. One way we address those challenges is by teaching our children to obey the Lord. For Christians, raising children is an ongoing discipleship journey. We cannot assume that our children will just “pick up” what it means to be Christian through osmosis. We have to be intentional in teaching our children to obey Christ’s teaching. It is not our job as parents to raise “good people” but to challenge our children with the gospel, inform them of the mighty acts of God in history, and guide them through the Scriptures so that they learn to delight in the word of the Lord. As the Israelites were commanded in Deuteronomy, so also we are to teach God’s words to our children, to raise them in homes immersed in his teachings, and to take every opportunity to display the wisdom of God’s instruction (Deut 11:18–21).


Lord, give us the wisdom to proclaim the gospel to our children. Help us to raise them in a context that demonstrates what it means to follow you. Grant the children of your people a special grace so that they may come to faith in you. Amen.

We need to rethink what money really is and ponder more deeply what Jesus taught about how we use our funds.


Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to

the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a

blessing until there is no more.

Mal 3:10

One of the Old Testament’s most compelling commands is found In Leviticus 25. Having already told Israel to keep Sabbath by resting on the seventh day of every week, God now commands Israel to rest every seventh year:

Matthew tells us that the deceitfulness of riches chokes the Word of God. Like the Mississippi river, which chokes up its mouth by the amount of soil it carries down. Isn’t that true of many business-men to day? They are so engrossed with their affairs that they have not time for religion. They lose sight of their soul and its eternal welfare in their desire to amass wealth. They do not even hesitate to sell their souls to the devil. How many a man says, “We must make money, and if God’s law stands in the way, brush it aside.”

- Dwight Moody


UNCOMPLICATING WEALTH

Once you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must celebrate a sabbath rest to the Lord. You will plant your fields for six years, and prune your vineyards and gather their crops for six years. But in the seventh year the land will have a special sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord: You must not plant your fields or prune your vineyards. You must not harvest the secondary growth of your produce or gather the grapes of your freely growing vines. It will be a year of special rest for the land. Whatever the land produces during its sabbath will be your food—for you, for your male and female servants, and for your hired laborers and foreign guests who live with you, as well as for your livestock and for the wild animals in your land. All of the land’s produce can be eaten (Lev 25:2–7).

Centuries after Leviticus was written, in the book of Malachi, the Israelites are holding back their tithes from God. By holding their wealth, the Israelites demonstrate their dependence on physical resources. They believe that their wealth offers security and comfort. Yet, God tells his people to “bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more” (Mal 3:10).

God also anticipates what seems to be an obvious question: “What will be earth during the seventh year?” While God has already given Israel all the fruit the land produces in the seventh year, he also promises to care for Israel by sending a “blessing on you in the sixth year so that it will make enough produce for three years” (Lev 25:21).

These passages demonstrate an important lesson about wealth: it does not make the world go around. Money and other forms of wealth are gifts. God gives them to be used for his purposes. No amount of savvy financial management can solve the problems of poverty or fill the coffers of God’s people for mission. We should certainly be smart with our money, but more than being smart, we should be generous. As Christians, we don’t view our wealth as something to be grasped (Phil 2:6) or used for our own advantage. It is easy to get caught up in conversations about economic systems. Market capitalism and socialism are both human attempts to manage the creation and distribution of wealth. While they have their differences, they share one characteristic: neither are substitutes for God. The fuel for the church’s mission is not found in material wealth but in the obedience of faith. God empowers his people. Just as God promised to bless the Israelites in the sixth year, so also he will provide the resources necessary to accomplish his work in the church. While those who serve the Lord may never be rich with material goods, they will store up treasure in heaven as they faithfully follow the God who gives good gifts to his people.

Lord, give us an appropriate view of wealth. Help us look past the gift to acknowledge you as the giver. We are grateful for the wealth you have provided, yet we know the temptations that come with money. Keep us from placing our faith in money and show us what it means to depend on you. Amen.


Political correctness divorced from common sense has discouraged people from taking care to wisely discriminate against harmful and dangerous ideologies and influences.


The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

Prov 17:24

In a 1963 essay entitled “A Definition of the Concept of History,” Johann Huizinga notes, “Every man renders account to himself of the past in accordance with the standards which his education and Weltanschauung [worldview] lead him to adopt.” Huizinga’s definition highlights the bane and blessing of being human. The blessing is that we always have more time behind us. Even as we look back upon the past with eyes that have become accustomed to the present, we have wealth of

Here is where Lot made his mistake... He was influenced by what he saw, he walked by sight, instead of by faith. I think that is where a great many Christian people make their mistake—walking by sight, instead of by faith.

- Dwight Moody


UNCOMPLICATING DISCERNMENT

information that can help us correct our vision. While we look back on the past with a certain framework and worldview, we can correct our vision. We are not trapped by our present understanding. The bane is that we are situated beings often too committed to the worldview we have adopted in the present and, thus, less willing to reconsider the ways the past might teach and transform us. We become creatures stuck in time unable to benefit from those who came before us. We become children of our time. As Huizinga’s definition suggests, ideas like

Chesterton’s observation highlights both the need to explore history and to interrogate the present. As Christians, we provide a logic that transcends political correctness and common sense. I do not wish to suggest that Christians should intentionally offend others out of some sense of rebellion. Instead, we might want to make our offenses increasingly incidental to our truth telling. In other words,we must consider how, in advocating

. . .nobody has any business to destroy a social institution until he has really seen it as an historical institution. If he knows how it arose, and what purposes it was supposed to serve, he may really be able to say that they were bad purposes, or that they have since become bad purposes, or that they are purposes which are no longer served. But if he simply stares at the thing as a senseless monstrosity that has somehow sprung up in his path, it is he and not the traditionalist who is suffering from an illusion.

political correctness and even common sense are context dependent. In other words, what it means at this moment to have common sense or to be politically correct isn’t necessarily what it will meant one hundred or even fifty years ago. What makes sense can change with time. Chesterton puts it well:

21

22

for an economic theory or political system, we are glorifying God and proclaiming the gospel. Surely it is possible to proclaim the gospel while also exercising common sense. Yet, as Christians we must take care not to confuse the logic of faith with political correctness or common sense of the day. They are drastically different. Political correctness obscures the truth. When we settle for the veneer of kindness, we deny others the opportunity to be challenged by the gospel. We adhere to the rules of the world rather than practicing the politics of the kingdom. The logic of faith recognizes that as offensive as the truth may be and whatever negative consequences may come from proclaiming God’s word, there is no better way than to speak truthfully. Common sense will always be limited by our own capabilities and resources. Common sense will leave us to see, as the disciples did, that “we have only five loaves here and two fish” (Matt 14:17). The logic of faith knows that in the hands of Jesus the crowds can be fed with even less than five loaves and two fish. Followers of Jesus do not simply walk by sight. We walk by faith. We pursue the wisdom of God that begins with the fear of the Lord and ends with obedience. It ends with trust. The logic of faith is never determined by our own capabilities or vision. It is rooted in the unfathomable riches and power of the God who condemned sin in the flesh and freed those who believe in Christ to be led by the Spirit. We are to be a people that embody those who discern faithfully the world around us as Proverbs says, “The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth” (Prov 17:24).


Lord, allow us to discern with eyes that see and ears that hear. May we look upon our meager resources and dire circumstances knowing that they should not bring despair but anticipation and hope at what you will do. We praise you. You are a God who can do more than we can ask or think. We a grateful that you have revealed yourself to us and pray that we may be men and women who set our faces toward wisdom. Amen.

My concern is that we are submitting to culture’s most enticing temptations and justifying this in the name of compassion, love, and cultural relevance. We are willingly being deceived. And too often, we are feeling self-righteously good about it.


Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe

all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Mt 28:19–20

Niklas Forsberg begins his book, by pointing to the way in which we lose control of the words we use:

You are just to obey what God tells you to do, and let your feelings take care of themselves. I can’t control my feelings. I can’t make myself feel good and bad when I want to, but I can obey God. - Dwight Moody


UNCOMPLICATING OBEDIENCE

Words are worn and torn, and so turned (differently). At times they are torn and worn out. But since words are turned- changed but not necessarily exchanged since words may look the same while their concepts change – it is oftentimes hard to come to see that one may fail to be in command of one’s own language...we are not, or might at times not be, at home in our own language. We do not understand our own language.

neighbors (Matt 22:39), the radical notion that we should not hate our enemies (Matt 5:43–48), and, perhaps most of all, the selfless sacrifice of Christ that stands as an example of the sort of lives we are to lead (Phil 2:1–11). Disconnected from the biblical text, “love” and “compassion may be construed as good but they cannot be considered Christian. Not understanding our own language creates a wide range of problems. Proclaiming the gospel becomes intolerant or crazy. Pure and undefiled religion becomes a crutch or opiate. God is no longer Father, but an oppressive patriarch who holds humans back from realizing their full potential. Cultural relevance becomes less about conversion and discipleship than about scratching the ears of those who “will not endure sound teaching” (2 Tim 4:3–4). As we lose our command of our own language, particularly the language of love, we put ourselves at a higher risk of being disobedient because, as John says, “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:2). When we are no longer at home with the Christian language of “love,” we will no longer be at home with the Christian language of “obedience.”

Arguably, the Christian community is, in many ways, no longer at home in our own language. If, as Jenson suggests, “the church...is the community that speaks Christianese,” it stands to reason that our language will not align with the language of those outside the church. When Christians speak, for instance, of compassion and love, we do so from a decidedly Christian perspective. That is to say that when we think of love and compassion, we understand those words to express the unreserved loyalty to God required by the covenant (Deut 6:4), the second greatest commandment that orients us toward our

Language Lost and Found

23

24

For Christians, discipleship is therefore more than a matter of teaching behavior. It is about mastering a language. As we master the language of faith and learn to speak “Christianese,” we are doing more than simply learning what words we should use in a given situation because “out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Our mastery of the Christian language is a matter of the heart. We do not parrot words without meaning. Instead, we become disciples whose hearts are knit ever more closely to the Master so that we are always at home in our Christian language. As we learn to observe all of Christ’s commands (Matt 28:20), we sit at his feet and learn more deeply what it means to be genuinely human.


Lord, change our hearts. As we commit to discipleship, we pray that you would train us in the language of faith. Solidify your word in our minds and hearts. Keep us from distorting the words you have spoken and making them into something that is no longer true but deceptive. Allow us to sit at the feet of Jesus, to learn to obey his commands, and to master the language of the Master. Amen.

(1992), 22.1

The New Republic

2

3

4

5

Carl Bernstein, “The Idiot Culture,”

Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky,

Routledge, 2010), 15.

Nick Bostrom, “The Vulnerable World Hypothesis,”

Bernstein, “The Idiot Culture,” 25.

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2005), 11.

Huxley, Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited , 11.

Bernstein, “The Idiot Culture,” 24.6 Manufacturing Consent: The Poli>cal

Economy of the Mass Media (New York: Pantheon, 2002), 8.

Herman and Chomsky, 7 Manufacturing Consent , 8.

8 hWps://www.pewresearch.org/poliYcs/2020/08/13/important-issues-in-the-2020-elecYon/

Vaclav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless,” in The Power of the Powerless: Ci>zens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe ed. John Keane (New York:

9

10 Havel, “The Power of the Powerless,” 13. 11 Timur Kuran, Private Truths, Public Lies (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,

1995), 4.

12 Kuran, Private Truths, Public Lies, 4-5.

13 Global Policy 10 (2019): 455-476.

14 Bostrom, “The Vulnerable World Hypothesis,” 455.

15 Bostrom, “The Vulnerable World Hypothesis,” 458.16 Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, The Coddling of the American Mind: How

Good Inten>ons and Bad Ideas Are SeKng Up a Genera>on for Failure (New York: Penguin, 2018).


Chris Hedges, 17

22

Bostrom, “The Vulnerable World Hypothesis,” 458.20

Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (New York: NaJon, 2009), 55-88.


18 Mitchell Stephens, Beyond News: The Future of Journalism (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014).

19 Douglas Murray, The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and IdenCty (London: Bloomsbury ConJnuum, 2021).

21 Johann Huizinga, “A DefiniJon of the Concept of History,” in Philosophy andHistory: Essays Presented to Ernst Cassier ed. R. Klibansky and H. J. Paton (New York: Harper and Row, 1963), 6.

G. K. Chesterton, The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton v. 3 (San Francisco: (Ignacio’s, 1990) 157.

23 Niklas Forsberg, Language Lost and Found: On Iris Murdoch and the Limits of Philosophical Discourse (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), 1.

24 Robert W. Jenson, SystemaCc Theology: Volume 1: The Triune God (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 18.

WWW.MOODYCENTER.ORG

THE UNCOMPLICATED GOSPEL FOR A WORLD THAT NEEDS TO HEAR IT

shine bright 2 - moodycenter.org

Documents