Falling from Faith: The Anatomy of Apostasy

Posted on January 15, 2022 by salooper57

(Read time: approx. 31/2 minutes.)

I have been acquainted with numerous people who have fallen away from the faith. One I knew well and remains a friend. Some have been Christian ministers.

I am distressed when people leave the faith. I find myself wondering why it happens – what are the dynamics involved? Is there a reason why some people stick, and others do not? Is there a way to predict who will make it and who will wash out?

Apostasy is hardly a new thing. People were falling away from the faith and from the faithful even in biblical times. The Bible does not attempt to hide the fact; rather, it warns of the possibility and encourages people to take steps against it.

One of St. Paul’s colleagues was a man named Demas, which was probably short for Demetrius, a common enough name in Greek-speaking regions in the first century. Demas is mentioned three times in Paul’s letters.

The first time he is mentioned, he (along with three others) is described as one of Paul’s fellow workers. High praise indeed to be called a fellow worker by the great apostle. It is comparable to being called a teammate by Lebron James or a business partner by Warren Buffett.

Demas is mentioned again in another list of Paul’s associates. This time, five other men and one woman are mentioned and each of these receives comment. For example, Luke is “beloved.” Nympha hosts the church at her home. Epaphras is a servant of Christ.

In this list, only Demas receives no commendation of any kind. This cannot be without significance. What could have been in Paul’s mind that he offered commendation to everyone but Demas?

The answer comes in St. Paul’s final biblical letter. During his imprisonment, he wrote his closest colleague, Timothy, a final letter. Paul knew that death would soon take him from this “son in the faith,” so he wrote to offer encouragement and guidance while he still could.

Near the end of the letter, he urges Timothy to do his best to come quickly. The shocking reason for this is that Demas had deserted him. The man who had once been his fellow worker had left him in the lurch.

There seems to be a progression here – or perhaps a regression. On first mention, Demas was a member of the company of the committed, the great apostle’s fellow-worker. The second time, he stands apart from the company, for Paul can find nothing positive to say about him. And by the third time, Demas is gone. He has deserted the apostle and possibly even the faith.

The author of the Book of Hebrews had warned believers to “pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” This, I believe, is what happened to Demas. He didn’t wake up one day to say, “Today, I am going to desert my post, abandon my friends, and leave the faith.” Rather, he drifted away into competing desires and diminishing commitment.

Marooned in the dead waters of diminishing commitment, faith flounders and doubts grow. People like Demas, who thrive in the current of love, lose their focus and sometimes even their faith when they leave it. Outside that current, they drift, and it is rare indeed that someone drifts to their goal.

This is not to say that intellectual problems do not contribute to apostasy. Thoughtful people wrestle with real and troubling questions concerning the faith. It is possible to find answers to those questions in the swift current of love and obedience. They are impenetrable everywhere else.

When European and American adventure-seekers raft the wild waters of the Zambezi River, their guides caution them to stay in the current when – not if – they are thrown from the boat. Their team will come and get them but, whatever they do, they must not swim to shore. Why? Because crocodiles are waiting to eat them in the calm waters near the shore.

Doubts do not live in the current of love and obedience, but they consume people who try to get as near to the shoreline of cultural accommodation as possible.

(First published by Gannett.)

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New Class in Biblical Theology Offered

Posted on January 13, 2022 by salooper57

The Bible is a big book, containing around three-quarters of a million words. It’s easy to get lost in its pages. Readers often wonder what the Old Testament has to do with the New Testament and what Leviticus has to do with anything!

I have the privilege of co-teaching a class on how it all fits together, and I’m doing it with one of my favorite teachers: Kevin Looper. Kevin is an awesome teacher. His knowledge of the Old Testament, of original biblical languages and, even more, his love of the Bible and profound commitment to Jesus, make him the ideal teacher for this class.

As a pastor, I’ve known many sincere people who simply don’t have a solid grasp of what the Bible is about, which is to say, what God is doing in the world. Some only read the New Testament. Some only read the Gospels. And occasionally I meet someone who spends all their time in the Old Testament. A poor understanding of the entire message of the Bible inevitably leads to a narrow, culturally colored view of God.

So, Kevin and I are teaching a class on how it fits together. This, of course, means that we must leave a great deal out. Our goal is not to be exhaustive (which would be exhausting for class members and is more than we are qualified to do) but to be informative and helpful in bringing together the great passages of the Bible to understand God’s ongoing work with humanity.

Each Sunday, throughout the duration of the class, I will post a video session of the class. We will discuss the high points of revelation – Creation, the Fall, the Call of Abraham, etc. – in their context. We will then see how they contribute to the overall biblical message and how they connect to Jesus.

Hope you enjoy! If you have comments, please share them to make the class even better.

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The Cross: Summit of Salvation History (Wide Angle)

Posted on January 12, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading time: Approximate 3 minutes.)

We have been on a wide-angle journey through the Scriptures and have taken little time to pause and take in the sights along the way. We have been like mountain climbers whose goal is to stand on the twenty tallest peaks in the state. At times we have had to pass by wondrous sights with barely a glance, otherwise we would never reach our goal and scale those momentous peaks.

Not long ago, we were at Jesus’ birth; a week later we stopped at his baptism. Today we stand beneath his cross. That means we have bypassed some glorious scenes: The calling of the apostles; the commissioning of the Twelve and the Seventy-two; the miracles; the transfiguration – we could go on and on. These things are like roses and rivers and mirror lakes at the base of great mountains. Any other time we would stop and gaze, admire their beauty and ponder their meaning.

But during this series we are surveying peaks, and today we come to the highest of them all. All prior history rose to this, like the Himalayas rise to Everest. All subsequent history, including our own, flows from this. It is the Great Divide, the watershed between heaven and earth.

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com

But the mountain of revelation at which we have arrived is unscalable. Mysteries hide its summit, like a halo of clouds sitting on the head of some exalted peak. We will never dispel its mysteries, but we can take off our shoes and acknowledge that we are on holy ground. Our wide-angle journey has brought us to the cross of Christ.

It was the Old Testament that led us here. In the ruin of the Fall, God promised his damaged children that he would one day defeat evil, not in spite of them, but through them: the offspring of the woman, he said, would crush the head of the serpent.1 Later, on Mount Moriah, Abraham predicted that God himself would provide a sacrificial lamb. “He called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”2

A thousand years before Christ, the Psalmist seemed to see the cross through Jesus’ own eyes: “A band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”3

The Old Testament led us here. Hundreds of years after the psalmist, but still centuries before Jesus was born, Isaiah the prophet wrote: “He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”4

“Pierced my hands and feet.” “Pierced for our transgressions.” Add Zechariah’s prophecy, “They will look on me, the one they have pierced.”5 These and other ancient prophecies prove that the cross was no afterthought in the mind of God. The cross was part of the plan from the very beginning.

In coming to our text, we have climbed to the zenith not only of revelation, but of history. The prophets pointed to it, Jesus himself foretold it; and yet, all that being true, who could have imagined it?

               1 Genesis 3:15

               2 Genesis 22:14

               3 Ps. 22:16-18

               4 Isaiah 53:4b-6, 10b

               5 Zechariah 12:10

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Five Reasons to Change Your Life Now (1 Peter 1:10-190

Posted on January 10, 2022 by salooper57
Approximate Viewing Time: 27 minutes

Over the years, I’ve met people who bristle at the idea that being a Christian means they need to change. They think, “I’m already a Christian! How can that preacher imply that I need to change!” Or they say, “That’s works! That’s not grace!” and feel content to stay the same.

I feel sorry for them. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you need to change; it means you’ve already changed. It doesn’t mean you need to change; it means you get to change! You are not stuck. All kinds of new and beautiful possibilities have opened up for you.

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The Bible in Wide Angle: Genesis 1

Posted on January 9, 2022 by salooper57

Enjoy this class on how the Bible ties together. This week, the who and why of creation from Genesis 1.

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Character, Power, and the Importance of Choice

Posted on January 8, 2022 by salooper57

Julia Child was almost 40 before she learned to cook. Her popular educational television show, “The French Chef,” didn’t premier on WGBH until she was 49.

Harlan Sanders worked in the food industry after a holding variety of other jobs. He began by selling chicken dinners out of his Corbin, Kentucky gas station. He didn’t franchise his operation until he was 62. He was nearly 70 before he achieved fame and fortune.  

Mark Twain was in his 40s when “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” was published. Nelson Mandela was elected president at 76. John Fenn developed electrospray ionization when he was 67.

Some people achieve success later in life. Some earlier. Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg were all young. So, for that matter, were Alexander the Great, Alexander Hamilton, and John F. Kennedy. I wonder how people fare who achieve success – and the power that accompanies it – early in life, compared to people who do so at a later age.

Power is a good and necessary thing, whether in organizational structures or in nature. However, power that is unstable or volatile, whether the personal power of a corporate officer or the impersonal power of nature, can cause serious harm.

Ordinary people possess power, which is the ability to cause something to happen. A baby exercises power when she screams her dissatisfaction and causes her mother to feed her. An infant who pushes his pacifier off his highchair and then watches his dad repeatedly pick it up is exerting power.

Whatever a person’s age, if power grows faster than the quality of character required for its rightful use, it will likely bring harm to others and will certainly bring harm to the person. Unfortunately, it seems that an early expansion of power can delay the development of the character needed to wield it.

The development of power, and the speed at which it grows, depends on a variety of factors. Alexander the Great came into power while he was still young because his father was King Philip II of Macedonia. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Donald Trump also became powerful early because they had powerful fathers.

Sometimes power grows quickly because of exceptional intelligence or ability. Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg are examples. Child prodigies can exercise power from an early age because of their extraordinary abilities. Mozart could play minuets flawlessly by age 4 and was composing a year later.

There are many reasons one person will develop power and not another. But what about character? How does it develop?

Character also develops in a variety of ways. Parental influence is certainly important. Intelligence and ability may play a part. But in a way that is unique, character develops in conjunction with the choices an individual makes.

One type of choice is particularly important to the formation of character. We can think of it as the “I’m going to do it no matter what” choice. “It” may be virtuous – “I’m going to risk my life to save hers.” “It” may be corrupt – “I’m going to pursue a relationship with my best friend’s spouse.” Such choices are the nodes around which character, which Dallas Willard defined as “the internal, overall structure of the self,” forms, for good or bad.

As choices are made, especially the “I’m going to do it anyway” kinds of choices, character solidifies. When I choose to take time from what I planned to do to help someone, my character is formed in a certain way. When I choose to ignore a need because it is inconvenient, my character is formed in a different way.

It is God’s intention that people develop the kind of character that can safely wield power. God is into power sharing and always has been. The Psalmist marveled that he “crowned [humans] with glory and honor and made them rulers over the works of his hands.”

But the kind of character that can safely wield power must be developed, and that happens as choices, sometimes uncomfortable choices, are made. One place people find guidance and encouragement for making those choices is in a faith community whose members have chosen truth over expediency, love over selfishness, and character over power.

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Wide Angle: Turning over a New Leaf or Turning into a New Person?

Posted on January 6, 2022 by salooper57

Following the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus made two claims that caught people’s attention. They were: the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom is near. In our Greek New Testaments, these are statements of fact. My old Greek professor would say that the verbs are in the indicative – the statement of fact – mood. Discipleship to Jesus is based on such facts. The foundation of the faith is built on the indicative – on rock-hard, often historically-verifiable, facts.

In Christianity there are facts to be affirmed: God exists, Jesus Christ is his son who lived a perfect life, died on a cross, was raised on the third day, ascended into heaven, and will return one day. Those are facts, and without them faith in Jesus is illusory. They form the foundation of the faith. But—and this is crucial—they are not the entire building.

Frequently, where we find the indicative (the statement of fact), we also find the imperative (the demand for action.) The two go hand in hand. After the fact comes the response. Because such and such is true (the indicative) this is what you must do (the imperative). In the Bible, as Ralph Martin puts it, we have both fact and act, and the two are bound together.11

Consider some examples: “You have been bought with a price,” (fact); “Therefore, glorify God with your body,” (act).12 “You have been raised with Christ, (fact); “Set your hearts . . . [and] minds on things above,” (act).13 “Your Father knows [what] you need (fact); “seek his kingdom and righteousness,”(act).14 I could go on and on, but let me give just one more: “We have a great priest over the house of God,” (fact); “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,” (act).15

Sometimes people get the idea that following Jesus is about knowing facts – and it is that. Facts are the foundation, and without a foundation a building (or, for that matter, a life) will collapse. But following Jesus is also much more than that. Following Jesus is knowing facts and engaging in acts. (Of course, this is not about earning your way into heaven. Nothing could be further from God’s mind. This is about living as citizens of God’s kingdom, about genuinely following Jesus: fact plus act.

In our passage, the facts are these: “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom is near.” The acts are these: “Repent, and believe the good news (the gospel).” The word repent is derived from two Greek roots: meta (which means change, as in metamorphosis – a change of form); and noia (or nous, which means mind). Repentance is a deep and real change of mind that leads naturally to a change of behavior.

Sometime people try to change their behavior without a deep and real change of mind. For example, they stop smoking, but they haven’t changed their mind about the pleasures and benefit of cigarettes. And of course, they go back to smoking. It’s inevitable.

In his book, Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller wrote about his addiction to tobacco. He knew all the facts. He knew he should quit. He tried to quit. But he always went right back to it. Then one day he heard a public service announcement on the radio about quitting, made by a man who had lost his lower jaw to cancer. He could hear the man’s odd, hollow, slobbery voice. He could imagine – for a moment he could almost see – what the man talking into the microphone looked like: a man without a lower lip, without a chin. And that’s when he had a change of mind about tobacco. He quit for good.16

Jesus called people to a real change of mind based on fact, not abstract religious data but hard-as-rock realities: God’s kingdom had drawn near, and people could enter it and live under God’s rule, in God’s way, as God’s people. This new reality called for a radical change of mind. A new way of life was being offered. Would they believe it?

The clasp that holds the indicative (the fact) to the imperative (the act) is belief. Jesus called his hearers to believe, and that, of necessity, is a call to action. Mark goes right on to describe how some of his hearers – people name Andrew and Simon, James and John – believed and went on to act on their belief.

The message of Jesus has been summarized this way: “Rethink your life in the light of the fact that the kingdom of the heavens in now open to all.”17 In our age people are still faced with the same decision: Will we believe that Jesus has brought God’s rule to earth? Will we act?

Rethinking our lives, and making the adjustments that are necessary, can be uncomfortable. Living under God’s rule looks different from the life our neighbors lead or, for that matter, from the life we lived in the past. It means living with a new focus on God’s will, not our own. With a new purpose to serve and please God. With new resources – not just money, but God’s gracious help and supply. In a new way – the way of love, not self-interest.

Does that mean that I cannot be a Christian and continue doing what I have always done? It might be uncomfortable, but yes. Believing the good news will inevitably (though not necessarily quickly) move a person from fact to act. Apart from belief, our attempts to repent are nothing more than turning over a new leaf. But when we believe we don’t merely turn over a new leaf. We turn into a new person.

When we hear a preacher talk about these things, the first thing we think is, “I knew it was coming. They’re always saying that. I’m not good enough! I have to change if I want to be a Christian.” That is nonsense! The reality is that we get to change. We get new resources, new desires, new peace, real purpose, a loving family, and a Father who will never forsake us. We get to change!

               11 Martin, Ralph P., Mark: Knox Preaching Guides, Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981

               12 1 Corinthians 6:20

               13 Colossians 3:1-2

               14 Luke 12:30-31

               15 Hebrews 10:21-22

               16 Miller, Donald, Searching for God Knows What, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2004, p.58

               17 Willard, Dallas, The Divine Conspiracy, San Francisco: Harper, 1998, p. 274

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Wide Angle: The Kingdom Comes

Posted on January 4, 2022 by salooper57

When we read the Gospels, it is helpful to remember that Israel was an occupied country. Its terror alert was always at red, and that the occupation forces and their collaborators in the government were constantly on the lookout for extremists.

The arrival of John the Baptist shook things up. He was the quintessential extremist. Think of his message, and how threatening it must have been to those who were in charge: A kingdom is about to arrive, led by someone with unimaginable power, and you had better get ready. He will do away with corruption. He will put this land through a baptism of fire, and if you are on the wrong side, you will get burned (Matthew 3:11-12).

As we might expect, his message did not sit well with the authorities, and John was eventually arrested. When that happened, Jesus went public. He had been teaching for many months, but now he took things to the next level. He climbed onto the stage that John had occupied. Verse 14: “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee,” which was the land of political extremism, “proclaiming the good news of God.”

The groundwork had already been laid. Now Jesus began proclaiming the good news. The word translated good news (it is just one word in Greek) is the word used to proclaim the victory of a coming military conqueror (for instance, Caesar) in the ancient world, and the very word routinely translated gospel. Here it is called God’s gospel or the gospel about God. The triumph of the God Jesus told people about is good news.

But the god many people seem to believe in – then and now – is not good news at all. He is hesitant to get involved. He carries a chip around on his massive shoulder and is ready to punish people at the drop of a pin. He hates to see people happy. He only takes care of those who take care of themselves – in other words, those who don’t need him – while he turns his back on the rest of us.

But the God Jesus told people about really is good news. He loves both the just and the unjust. He cares about the poor, the sorrowing, the meek – the people others don’t even notice. He is absolutely just, perfectly good, and infinitely loving. The God about whom Jesus spoke wants people to be with him. He is involved; he pays attention: not even a sparrow falls to the ground without him knowing it. He is not just the heavenly Father; he is our Father, our Abba even (that was shocking language to use of God). He truly is good news.

The gospel Jesus proclaimed is the announcement that this good God’s good kingdom has come near. “The time,” verse 15, “has come [or literally, is fulfilled].” The promises dating back to the Garden, to Abraham, to Moses, to David had been gathered into a single strand. The moment has arrived. The time is now. “The kingdom of God – his rule, through his king – is near.” Sometimes we skip over this message so that we can get to the part about going to heaven, as if the only thing that matters is our entrance into heaven when we die. But you cannot reduce the gospel of God to a method for getting to heaven. Jesus spoke far more often about entering the kingdom than he did about getting into heaven. His refrain was: “The kingdom of God is near.” He was still saying it the week he was executed. In fact, he was still saying it after he rose from the dead (Acts 1:3)

               10 Matthew 3:10-12

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Living Backwards – 1 Peter 1:1-4

Posted on January 2, 2022 by salooper57
Approximate viewing time: 27 minutes

This week we begin a new series titled, Strong, Firm, and Steadfast. The first message in this series is a hopeful one – is about hope – and comes from 1 Peter 1:1-4. It’s titled, Living Backwards. Read 1 Peter 1 (and all of 1 Peter if you have time) and come and be encouraged.

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The God-in-the-Box Problem

Posted on January 1, 2022 by salooper57
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Jack-in-the-box.jpg

An episode in the history of Israel has important implications for people of faith in today’s world. Israel’s army lost the battle of Aphek and suffered 4,000 casualties. In a desperate attempt to rally the troops and gain a tactical advantage, Israel’s leaders decided to send the Ark of the Covenant – yes, of Indiana Jones fame – into battle.

The result of this stunt was everything they hoped it would be, at least initially. Their own troops were emboldened, and their enemies intimidated. But that did not last. God would not let it. Whenever religion deteriorates into psychological manipulation, the real God is the first to leave the room. If the religious don’t go with him, they’ll need to learn how to get along without him. Religion of that sort does not bring blessing; it brings judgment.

The God whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain cannot be kept in a box, not even the Ark of the Covenant. To treat God like a servant or a hobby does not merely dishonor him; it damages the faith of others, including the faith of children. This is happening all around America in our day and is one reason so many young adults have left the church. They can’t believe in a God-in-the-Box. They are right not to.

What happened in 10th century B.C. Israel has application to our lives in 21st century America. Parents who are people of faith must not give their children a God-in-the-Box. If they do, their children will not be people of faith when they are grown.

When our kids were small, we had a Jack-in-the-Box. We would turn the crank, the melody would play on and on until, suddenly, the jester popped out of the box. Our kids wanted us to turn the crank again and again, and it always surprised. But then they turned three, and Jack was no longer interesting. They outgrew him.

If you give your kids a God-in-the-Box, the same thing will happen. What is a God-in-the-Box like? He is powerless. If you don’t turn the crank, he doesn’t do anything. He’s safe to ignore. You can go weeks, months – years, even – without paying any attention to him but, should you want him, you can turn the crank and he will do your bidding.

Whenever parents treat God that way – ignore him for a while and only get back to him when he fits into their schedule – they are giving their children a God-in-the-Box. If those kids don’t discard him altogether when they’re grown, it will be because of nostalgia, not faith.

A God-in-the-Box can be controlled. When you need him, you just say the right prayers, give a decent amount of money, go to church, and wait for him to pop up. You just need to turn the crank the right number of times.

A God-in-the-Box is smaller than us. We can comprehend him. But the real God awes. He is unpredictable. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are [his] ways higher than [our] ways and [his] thoughts than [our] thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). Even his love is beyond anything we can imagine. Who among us would ever have predicted that the God who refused to be put in a box would allow himself to be nailed to a cross?

A God-in-the-Box gets called up to serve our cause. The true God calls us up to serve his. In America today, we see the God-in-the-Box conscripted for many causes – and some of them good. The number of abortions in the U.S. is appalling, as is the heartless greed that profits by it and the political ambition that protects it. But God is not a pawn in the fight against abortion or any other fight; he is king. He will not be exploited even in support of a just cause.

People try to use God to get their candidates elected, to change laws, motivate voters, and intimidate unbelievers. The Hophni’s and Phinehas’s of the world are still carrying their God-in-the-Box into battle, but that is a campaign doomed to fail. God will not be a tool for psychological manipulation. He is Lord of all.

(First published by Gannett.)

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