Thoughts on Tebow

Just finished watching the broncos vs bears game and it's always something to see the opinionated comments on my Facebook newsfeed regarding the broncos. Comments range from excitement all the way to flat out hatred of the broncos famous quarterback, Tim Tebow.

At a party last night someone asked me if I believe the criticism Tebow receives is due to his abilities as a player or because of his Christianity.

I believe the answer is both.

Jake Plummer calls Tebow a winner but said he needs to chill out with the faith.

I always find it mind boggling that some people want to keep matters of religion out of the public arena, but the greatest hypocrisy behind this is that the folks that demand you leave your religion behind are not willing to leave their beliefs aside.

Should Tebow thank Jesus after every touchdown?

Let me put it this way, if you believe that God is the giver of breath you would be thankful every time you get to tie your shoelaces. If God is the one that gives breath then everything else is a gift.

This brings to mind the verse where the apostle says "Be thankful at all times..."

Now of course Im not suggesting that this is something we must verbalize every second, I don't believe the apostle is suggesting that, but we must have an attitude of thankfulness... for all things proceed from God. Wins, losses, touchdowns, lost yards, injuries, draws, all things.

While it is easy for Tebow to be thankful now, the true test will be when he loses, when he is injured. That is when we must show the world that all things proceed from God.

The God that cares for creation

Yesterday I walked into my mother’s apartment and discovered my dog Terry was dead. My faithful companion for 13 years must have been dead a couple of hours. The minute I saw his body I knew he was gone. He was just lying there in his accustomed position of rest with his ears still up, a position that he assumed all the time. You know, that position where a dog is at rest but still alert listening for someone knocking on the door, except this time though, he wasn’t alert. He was gone.

It broke my heart to see him go. It made me realize once again the teaching of the Bible that the world is not the way it’s meant to be. In other words, this world is fallen, what was once good has been stained and marred by sin.

As I drove into work today, there was a dead squirrel in the road and once again I came to a greater realization of how sin has affected every facet of life and creation. These verses from Hosea 4 come to mind:

“There is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.”

As I dig deeper into God’s word I can see the mess that we, mankind, have made of this world. The Bible is like a mirror, it does not hide our depravity it exposes it and yet it is full of hope.

The Bible reveals to us a God that loves all His creatures and all His creation. I realize that many have hi-jacked Christianity and made it individualistic; all about them. However, the Scriptures present a God that is concerned for beasts, trees and land. You can even say God is the ultimate environmentalist; no one is more concerned for nature than Him.

I find great insight into God’s character in Psalm 36:6 where the Psalmist says

“… Man and beast you save, O LORD”

Also in Revelations 5:13 where the Apostle John describes a worship concerto in the future that includes creatures of all types He says:

“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"

I can go on with many more references. However, I will end by saying that the essential message of Christianity is that Jesus Christ died for sinners. I have no other hope than this message, because I am the foremost of sinners. But yet the Bible reveals a God that cares. A God that emptied Himself and became a human being, there is great insight into the character of God in His incarnation. He saw this fallen world and cared to save it.

As I took Terry’s body back to the Vet I thanked God I had him for 13 years, he was such a loyal friend. And as I see fallen creation I am hopeful because

“…the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:21

I have included this short talk at the bottom “Can faith be green?” by Pastor Tim Keller.

Here is a short description of the talk:

Genesis shows us the goodness of creation, the stewardship of creation, the fallenness of creation, and the final restoration of creation. The Bible calls us as Christians to be careful stewards of creation because nature reflects God’s goodness and because nature will ultimately be restored in heaven

http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/can-faith-be-green

Feeling Superior

We would never say it but we certainly show it: We value ourselves more than others.

Western culture is individualistic, and I've seen the injustices wrought from this mentality in colleagues that are willing to trample the good reputation of another as long as it means getting a promotion for themselves.

Let's face it though, our culture bids us to demand our rights. Our culture bids us to consume recklessly and achieve the American dream even if it is at the cost of someone else.

We would never call ourselves superior but we certainly live as if we are. I believe this is why the commandment "Love your neighbor as you love yourself" is indicative of how in tune Jesus was with the culture of His time. No one ever really had a problem loving themselves then, and no one really has a problem loving themselves now.

The cure to superiority is to find our identity in the gospel. The gospel says "Christ came into the world to save sinners, Christ lived the life you should have lived and died the death you should have died and then rose from the dead"

This immediately rids the soul of superiority because our rightful standing before God is free not earned. Only when our rightful standing before God is earned can we feel superior and look at others as inferior. But when it is free and an act of grace on the part of God it is absurd to feel superior because we didn't earn it.

Believing in the gospel also rids us of any superiority complex because God came to save sinners. God is not just on the side of a nation or on the side of a particular ethnic group, but He came to save sinners.

Revelations 7:9-10 "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”"

Religions and rule of non-contradiction

There is a rule of logic that says no two contradictory statements can be true at the same time. I am not a philosopher but this principle is not hard to swallow and yet when it comes to religion we are quick to dismiss it.

I know there are some sincere people that want to believe all religions are equal, and I'll look at that in another blog post. But for now I will quote Charles Spurgeon: "If you sincerely drink poison, it will kill you. You must not only be sincere, but you must be right. - "

Now, the law of non-Contradiction says: No two contradictory statements can be true at the same time. If I say that I am a bird and you say that I am a not a bird, we both cannot be right. We are both saying two different things.

When it comes to religion as author Tim Keller said "Anyone who would make a claim that "all religions are equally right" is not listening very well to what each teaches." Christianity for example does not teach that salvation is something to be earned through rituals, church attendance, prayers etc. Christianity teaches that salvation is to be received through the merit of another, Jesus Christ.

I have often run into some well meaning folks in this city who say that I am arrogant for ever thinking that my religion is right and all the other ones are wrong. But if you think about it these folks have a double standard. They are quick to say to me that I am arrogant for thinking I am right but all the while they think they are right. And yet they wouldn't accuse themselves of being arrogant.

Don't you see? It is impossible to not believe in absolute truth. We all have a belief about God that we think to be true. Even if we say all religions are equal, that is a belief about God that we think to be true.

Now, I certainly do see the point of many who would say that the minute you believe that your belief about God is true and all the other ones are wrong, that is going to cause you to harm others. I do not completely dismiss this, history has shown this with many beliefs about God including atheism eg: Stalin in Russia. We also see in the bible how Jesus rebuked the pharisees for using their beliefs of moral superiority to oppress others.

However, the person that is really concerned for the welfare and good of other people ought to be really asking: Which belief about God will really transform our communities and cause us to look outward rather than inward? Which belief about God will humble us and crush our feelings of superiority?

Christianity teaches that salvation is received not earned, this means I can never look down on anyone including non-believers and think my self superior, because I didn't earn my right standing before God.

The God of Christianity is a God that left His heavenly throne and took on human flesh (Cf: Phillipians 2:8) to save "enemies"(Cf: Romans 5:10). What a great example of sacrificial love to get out of our luxurious condos and suburban homes and out into those areas where we can serve the needs of others.

So you see not all religions can be equal because they aren't all saying the same thing and there is a double standard when we tell people they are arrogant for believing their belief about God is true. If we are really concerned for the welfare of others let us not wage war against absolute truth but instead ask which belief will transform us in such a way to love our neighbor and meet the needs of the marginalized without feeling superior?

Additional resource

http://sermons.redeemer.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=29

Click on

Exclusivity: How can there be just one true religion?

TOMS, Charity and me

I took my wife to a shoe store today at park slope to get her a pair of TOMS. If you are not familiar with TOMS they are basically a shoe company whose mission is to give shoes to children in need. To quote their website "With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need".

I think that this is a great mission and so many people are on board with this, as people usually are with charity.

Yet it seems that some are particular as to who you partner with to do charity. A recent article online showed a large group's discontent at TOMS for partnering with a Christian group. Many are on board with the idea of giving to charity just not alongside people that name the name of Christ, which I respect. But one thing that this does show is the selfishness of some even when taking up a good selfless cause.

Many years ago I once had a conversation with a man who organizes Christmas parades in which toys and food are given out for free and one of the questions I remember asking the man is, why do you do it? His response went something like "I do it because it makes me feel good, it makes me feel like I did something".

Now, initially you may not see the selfishness behind that statement but I want you to notice that this man's underlying cause for doing charity is "me" "It makes me feel good" "It makes me feel like I did something"

I don't want generalize and say that everyone that does charity does it for me but why were so many people opposed to the partnering of TOMS with a christian group? I believe one reason is the me attitude.

"I will give shoes to children so long as its not associated with Christians".

There is a concern for image there, it is not just about giving to underprivileged kids for this person but rather about doing it in a way they can feel good about it.

Religious and irreligious people alike enjoy to do charity. Many irreligious people and corporations boast of their charity and brag about how much they have done but this is all self-centered. My point in saying all this is to say: This is no different than what the very religious pharisees of Jesus' time did. They would brag about how much money they'd give for the cause of God, they would brag about their long prayers and what is evident from their religiosity is that their underlying motivation was me.

Now you may think "Well what is wrong with doing it for me? What does it matter as long as kids get shoes?" The problem with this is that it ignores the sinful and evil nature of me. The reason why we have underprivileged kids and the reason why we have poverty to begin with is because of that very same attitude. The me attitude.

Many have misunderstood Jesus and view Him as a humanitarian that did nice things to help people and feel good about Himself. They look at the Jesus that fed 5000 people, healed lepers, gave sight to the blind and think "That's what we should be doing, charity" but they fail to see the Jesus that hung on a cross, the Jesus that took the wrath of God to save sinners from their sinful nature. When Jesus fed 5000 people he was not saying "hunger is what is wrong the world", He was giving a glimpse of what a world without sin would look like. A world without the me attitude.

And so I don't want you to miss seeing that what is wrong with the world is a three letter word: sin. At the root of poverty, domestic violence, crime, etc. is sin. Should we do charity? Should we feed the hungry? Absolutely. Of all religions, Christianity is at its core most concerned about poverty and the physical world. One of the significance's of Christ rising from the dead in bodily form is that this physical world matters and we must care for the physical needs of our neighbors. The Christian believes that one day this world will be renewed and freed from the curse of sin, whereas other religions teaching's on the physical world are at best shallow, many even teach that the goal is to get away from the physical since only the spiritual is what truly matters, this is not so for Christianity.

So please do not fail to see that what is wrong with the world is the sinful nature of humanity.

Purpose of This blog

I want to start by saying that the purpose of this blog is to present Christianity to people that would consider themselves irreligious. I want to show this group of people that "Christianity is neither religion nor irreligion but something different" as stated by a popular preacher, Tim Keller.

Most people think that they have figured out the essence of Christianity and the truth is that Christianity is misunderstood by many, even by people who profess faith in Christ.

I had a conversation with someone last night and was asked questions such as "You can't possibly believe every word of the bible? or Look at all the evil done by people who say they are Christians why follow a religion whose members are lunatics? or How can you say that your religion is the only correct way to God?" I believe these questions are fair and should be answered by believers, which is one reason I want to do this blog.

And so, with this blog I hope that I can tackle these questions that many of my friends and family members have and at the same time show that understanding and applying the central message of Christianity, the gospel, to ones life is not subjugating but liberating.