Ten Ways to Distinguish the Voice of Darkness from the Word of Light

The voice of darkness makes me shudder. But it's not an eerie moan or ghastly wailing that chills my soul. I do not shudder from fear. I shudder because the voice of darkness tickles my ears pleasantly with cheerful sounds—and I know that its siren songs lead many astray (2 Tim 4:3).

For the voice might tell us to think positive thoughts. How could it be evil? The voice might tell us that we deserve the best life has to offer. How could it be bad? The voice might tell us that we are special. It makes us feel better about ourselves. The voice tells us that the truth lies within us. It sounds enlightening. The voice tells us to believe in ourselves. It is inspiring. The voice tells us to chase our dreams and reach for the stars. It is uplifting.

The truth is, the voice of darkness doesn't always sound so dark. The Father of Lies prefers to fly under the radar, avoiding scrutiny, glossing over inconvenient truths, and making light of it all. To those who question him, he'll whimsically respond, what's all the fuss about? Can't we all just get along? ...The voice delivers a positive, inclusive message! It stirs in us warm and fuzzy emotions! How could it be so dark if it seems so enlightening?

1. Because the voice comes from one who masquerades as an angel of light. While the voice of darkness might mimic one that comes from the light, uttering positive and uplifting things, remember that this is an optical illusion (2 Cor 11:14). In actuality, it comes from one who displays fifty shades of grey. And when contrasted with God's true light, which chases away the darkness, his shadowy lies remain exposed. The lies may initially seem inspiring, comforting, encouraging—but ultimately they lead to death. While the darkness constantly shifts and contorts itself into many different shapes and takes on many different voices, God's light is unchanging, steadfast, and pure. For in the true "Father of lights" there is "no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17b).

2. Because the voice twists the truth. It masterfully mixes truth with lies. And sometimes the voice even sounds Christian. It might teach us about love, peace, truth, and spiritual fulfillment. It might talk about "god." But if we listen discerningly—especially when the voice emanates through the mega-popular spiritual and self-help icons of contemporary culture like Oprah Winfrey, Eckhart Tolle, and others—we might realize that what the voice means by love, peace, truth, and god, is very different from the biblical definitions of those things. "Love" is a mere emotion. "Peace" is mental detachment. "Truth" is relative. And "god" is the inner light within ourselves. The voice claims that we create our own truth, that we shape our own destinies, and ultimately that we can save ourselves. It can use "Christian" terminology, while at the same time convincing us that we have no need for a Savior. 

3. Because the voice points us away from Christ. It is always coaxing us to take our eyes off Jesus and to focus on cheap substitutes—often on ourselves. If the words of a preacher, religious leader, spiritual teacher, or "Christian" author are not rooted in the gospel of Christ, then be on guard! Because if they are not speaking God's Word then they are speaking the words of the enemy. There is no in between. Remember that the Word is Jesus (John 1:1-3). And Scripture always points to Jesus; for as He said Himself, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me." (John 5:39). Beware of self-help teachers who claim that self-actualization is life's ultimate goal. When you hear teachers who urge you to rely on your own strength and fulfill your own dreams—run! Even if their teaching is sprinkled with a Bible verse here and there, they are preaching nothing more than a false gospel of personal godhood. Just like Satan span together partial truths with lies to tempt Adam and Eve with promises of their own godhood, the voice will often dangle the carrot of self-deification before us. Simply put, if it's not about Jesus, then it's not of God.

4. Because the voice preaches counterfeit christs. Jesus warned that, “Many will come in My name” to lead people astray. (Luke 21:8; Mark 13:6 emphasis added). Jesus urged us to, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matt 7:15-16). Indeed, some "woolly" forms of false teaching use deceptively Jesus-friendly language, as is now becoming common in today's religiously pluralistic culture. False teaching gives rise to counterfeit christs, who not only appear as the more easily identifiable false messiahs (such as the recent Korean false messiah, Sun Myung Moon), but more insidiously in the form of misleading "Christian" teaching that distorts people’s view of who Jesus really is. Take, for example, the Convenient Christ of the powerful celebrity-pastors who preach Word of Faith theology. The New Age Jesus is another shadowy counterfeit that has even permeated the Church. You might think the Muslim Jesus would be a more obvious offender, until you realize that this treacherous counterfeit is cozied up to by an alarming number of evangelical missionaries and missiologists in Muslim ministry like those practicing "high-spectrum" contextualization or the "Jesus in the Qur'an" method. And it is becoming increasingly common to hear outlandish lies about Jesus—even from prominent evangelical leaders like that made by former Fuller Seminary President, Richard Mouw, when he pronounced on CNN.com that the Counterfeit Christ of Mormonism is essentially one and the same as the biblical Jesus. Do not be surprised when you encounter the voice of darkness in form of the false teachers about whom Jesus forewarned us—whether it comes from professing Christians or not. Test everything.

5. Because the voice adds to, or contradicts, Scripture. The Word of Light is God-breathed, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that believers may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). Remember that Scripture is sufficient for all teaching and is the basis for sound biblical doctrine. If the voice you hear doesn't hold closely to biblical truth, beware. If the voice comes from a pastor who likes to veer frequently from Scripture and add his or her own voice, gimmicks, and clever ideas more than adhering to the purity of God's Word, beware. If the voice you hear preaches a doctrine that distorts Scripture, or takes verses out of context, to corroborate that doctrine, beware. As believers, we are called to examine every teaching and hold fast what is good (1 Thess 5:21). We are to hold all teaching up against God's Word, like the "noble" Berean Jews were commended for doing in the Book of Acts. For we've been forewarned that "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." (2 Tim 4:3-4). It is crucial, then, that we equip ourselves with a thorough knowledge of Scripture, and biblical doctrine (such as that of the Trinity), in order to distinguish absolute truth from lies in a relativistic culture of deception.

6. Because the voice quotes Scripture to trick us. And just because a Christian teacher or a spiritual adviser might quote Scripture, doesn't mean they are reflecting the Word of Light. Satan knows the Bible well and loves to quote Scripture in order to destroy faith or lead others away from Christ. For example, when he tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the temple roof, he argued from Scripture, saying, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: He will give his angels charge of you.” (Matt 4:6 emphasis added). Beware! Satan does not always try to ruin faith by denying the Bible. He often tries to destroy our faith by cherry-picking one Bible verse out of context to lead us into disobedience. But if we know the Word of God well, we will not be led astray when Scripture is twisted or misapplied! If we remember that all Scripture points to Christ, we will not be duped when we encounter teaching that ultimately points away from Him, or to a counterfeit of Him. If we abide in God's Word, we can rest assured that He will abide in us and His Word will be a lamp to our feet. (John 15:7; Psa 119:105).

7. Because the voice tells us not to think. When you hear teaching that tells you to relax and let your conscious mind go, let your thoughts go, let your ability to exercise judgement, reason, and discernment fly away, beware. Today's increasingly popular mindfulness teaching, for example, does just that. But Scripture teaches us that using our minds—our God-given ability to exercise critical thinking—is a crucial part of our Christian faith (Matt 22:37; Luke 10:27; Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 10:3-6; Phil 2:5). A cognitive grasp of God's Word is essential to Christian living. Learning, pondering, and examining Scripture in order to know God more is fruitful (2 Tim 3:16-17; John 15:7). And biblical truth is worshipfully mind-stretching, not mind-detaching or -emptying. Rather than letting our thoughts drift away, Christians are called to love and honor God by taking captive every thought in obedience to Christ and by being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Cor 10:3-6; Rom 12:2). The enemy, however, wants us to feel, not think. Emotions are not bad in themselves. But they shouldn't be the basis for life decisions or form the foundation of our faith. Because our emotions tend to change with our circumstances, a perspective fueled by feelings rather than one built on our knowledge of God's Word, will cause us to be tossed about by every wind of teaching and our faith will not stand firm when times get tough.

8. Because the voice is disorienting. The Word of Light brings clarity and stability of mind, but the voice of darkness muddles our minds and darkens our understanding. And while the Word of light imparts wisdom, the voice of darkness promotes foolishness and sends its listeners on an emotionally exhausting rabbit trail of futility. The voice hisses its lies in slithery and surreptitious ways. It is confusing and hard to pinpoint as it twists, turns, and contorts. This is because it is infused with serpentine trickery. Characteristically, then, it doesn't often deny Christ outright, but pays Him lip service before gradually nudging us down a path of thinking that does just that. But the Word of Light is clear, pure, and accessible. Like an arrow, it unmistakably and unwaveringly points to Christ.

9. Because the voice sings a deadly lullaby. Not only does the enemy want us to stop thinking, he wants us to fall asleep spiritually. In other words, we can be tempted to stop living out our faith actively, and to merely go through the motions or become despondent and apathetic towards our relationship with God. The voice of darkness can become a deadly lullaby to those who lend it an ear. It can lull us into a spiritual slumber. Jesus warned us to "stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:36). And Paul exhorted us, "with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming." (1 Peter 1:13). And as he cautioned the Thessalonian believers, "So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober." (1 Thess 5:6). Rather than slumbering lazily in the world, then, we are to remain spiritually active and alert until we are called home.

10. Because the voice is double-minded and manipulative. It changes its tone and takes on different personalities in order to trick us. In one breath it tells us we aren't good enough, we'll never succeed, we're worthless, we're a failure, things will never get better. In the next breath, it feeds us self-help advice and sends us on an endless quest for self-improvement to be accomplished in our own strength. The voice of darkness always prays on our fears and anxieties. The voice tears us down, and then builds us up on self-absorbed shaky ground. The niggling voice that chatters negatively at us one moment, contorts into an inspiring voice that fills our desperate ears with false hope in the next. And after years of listening to it, and constantly failing because of it, the voice leaves us feeling hopeless and defeated. Ultimately, it leaves us for dead. Remember that the voice comes from one who yearns for your spiritual ruin. He longs to see you stray from the Father. He will use trickery and temptation without hesitation. He will beat you down until you're emotionally exhausted. He prays on your weaknesses and appeals to your fleshly desires. He will gladly feed your ego, and tell you that you don't need God. Remember that Satan cannot destroy the gospel, so he will do all he can to distract us from it.

Remember that if the voice you're listening to doesn't come from God, then it is of the enemy. It is black-and-white. There is no grey. God doesn't share the stage with anybody. For, "what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Cor 6:14). Why tolerate preaching in our churches that doesn't point to Christ? Why bother dabbling in Eastern philosophies? Why bother taking cues from secular self-helpism or New Age spiritualism? If we take God at His Word, we will believe that His Word is sufficient (2 Tim 3:16). And God promises that the work He has begun in you, He will bring to completion (Phil 1:6). Why look elsewhere?

Yes, the voice of darkness makes me shudder. But it's not from fear (Psa 23:4). For while the voice of darkness speaks death, the Word of God speaks life, which is the light of men. (John 1:4). The light has overcome the darkness. And Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

The Good Dinosaur: Hindu Gods for Children

Our guest blogger, Marcia Montenegro, is a former astrologer who spent 20 years practicing New Age spirituality. After she became a Christian, she founded Christian Answers for the New Age. Her insights are invaluable in discerning occult influences in mainstream secular society and even within the Church.

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Movie Review: The Good Dinosaur

About a year ago, I woke up with the word "Hanuman" repeating over and over in my head. It took me a few minutes to remember who Hanuman is: he is a monkey-headed god, one of the billions of Hindu gods but also a figure in Tibetan Buddhism. Although I had first become involved with Hindu beliefs (Vedanta, the non-dualistic form), it was when I immersed myself for awhile in Tibetan Buddhist teachings that I heard about Hanuman. For some reason, that name popped up from somewhere in my brain; I still recall much of what I learned and was exposed to. But this name, Hanuman, was like a buzzing fly I wanted to swat.

A short video shown before the children's movie, "The Good Dinosaur," gave a lesson on a young boy, Sanjay, whose father (family is originally from India) wants his son to join him in his Hindu worship practice. But Sanjay prefers the super-heroes he sees on TV., creating conflict. Eventually, Sanjay learns to appreciate the Hindu gods, who become his super-heroes, as the video states:

"In the short, Sanjay plunges into a vivid fantasy that blends his favorite superheroes with manifestations of three Hindu gods after accidentally interrupting his father’s prayers while reaching for an action figure. Trapped in a temple being ravaged by a chaotic demon made of smoke, Sanjay teams up with Vishnu, Durga, and Hanuman to bring back balance before his father realizes what he’s done."[1]

A reviewer at the theater stated that this video, "Sanjay's Super Team," created a stir:

You could hear and see the amazement that swept through the crowd as the sound of chiming ghanta bells filled the room and Durga conjured a spectral tiger on the screen.

The reviewer sees this a good lesson for children in other cultural stories and beliefs. Perhaps so, but I also see the exposure to spiritual beliefs that are glamorized and false gods presented as adventurous and powerful.

Aren't Vishnu, Durga, and Hanuman just make-believe? In several passages, the Bible refers to false gods or idols as demons:

• They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread. Deuteronomy 32:17
• They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons." Psalm 106:37
• ....but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons." 1 Corinthians 10:20 (also see next verse)
• Also see Leviticus 17:7

In contrast to false Gods, we read in Scripture: "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3). And Scripture says, "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." (1 Cor 10:14)

Cartoons tend to be dismissed and not taken seriously. Any character of a children's cartoon or story is viewed as cute, innocent, and/or harmless. This is a mistake. We need to remind ourselves that evil beliefs can be disguised as innocent or as good, just as Satan comes disguised as an angel of light.

In sum, I wouldn't recommend voluntarily exposing your children to this movie for the sake of fleeting entertainment. The movie makes light of evil and glosses over serious issues of false teaching that Christians are repeatedly warned in Scripture to watch out for.

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[1]  http://fus.in/223r95b

The "New Normal" and the Future of Sound Judgment

There is currently war being waged against the practice of sound moral judgment in our society. Secular author and radio host, Tammy Bruce, in her book, The Death of Right and Wrong, puts it this way:

How best to change Americans’ fundamental values? How best to indoctrinate you into a culture that grows sicker and more corrupt by the minute?...The Left has had to restrict individual freedom of thought and deed in order to destroy the concept of judgment and undermine notions of right and wrong that have been held nearly universally for millennia.

She is right. Over recent years, cultural attacks on sound moral judgment and biblical thinking, have been lodged with alarming success and surprising rapidity. It's as if our society has undergone a Blitzkrieg of political correctness and moral relativism that has left the Judeo-Christian foundations of our country in shambles and turned absolute truth upside down...Bruce Jenner has been celebrated as a "hero" for adorning his body with breast implants and dressing like a woman. Female celebrities have been lauded as "brave" for donning t-shirts announcing in bold-print the abortion of their unborn children. Coldblooded cop-killer and death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal has been glorified by masses of young supporters for over a decade for his black activism and politically driven writing. And more young criminals have since been venerated, while cops have been unjustly vilified.

Our children are growing up in a new era in which Christianity is more counter-cultural than ever before in America. Sexual immorality is unabashedly exalted in our culture. Homosexuality is lionized on Emmy-awarded TV shows like Modern Family, for example, which received mass acclaim for airing an "historic" gay marriage proposal (how many "ground-breaking" or "historic" gay moments can there really be?). Promiscuity is promoted everywhere we look. Sexual sin is becoming so deeply embedded into the fabric of our society that it's hard to distinguish it anymore as we become increasingly desensitized to it. The shock-factor we felt back in the 80s when celebrities like Madonna first flaunted their sexuality so controversially has less impact now that an anything-goes mentality is so prevalent. We might have talked about the antics of Miley Cyrus for 5 minutes, but now we're getting used to the new Hannah Montana. She's just one of the many skin-baring, hip-gyrating young stars stooping to new moral lows in the name of "expressing themselves." These young women are selling their bodies, and people are buying in droves.

These few examples alone indicate that the normalization of wrong has become commonplace in our society. Are we still talked about the body parts of murdered babies being sold for profit by Planned Parenthood? Or is that already yesterday's news...?

In the midst of all this, the Great Accuser is ready and waiting to condemn all those who practice sound judgment. And our culture is proving an accommodating climate for him to do so. We are increasingly being dubbed as closed-minded—even as bigoted haters.

A widespread sickness has gripped our nation. And it often attacks where we least expect it. While more striking cases of moral corruption such as those above might be easier to detect, some attacks against sound judgment are far less overt and arguably all the more insidious as a result. For example, the practice of mindfulness—a meditation practice that finds its origin in Buddhism—is steeply on the rise in our society. Widely deemed a harmless stress-reliever, mindfulness is in fact a dangerous form of false teaching that unapologetically undermines the use of our God-given conscience, our ability to practice sound judgment, and discern right from wrong. Psychology Today describes mindfulness as, "a state of active, open attention on the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience." (Emphasis added).

As a form of therapy, mindlfulness is now a growing trend in psychology and psychotherapy, which has been strongly promoted through mainstream media outlets as an effective stress-relieving remedy. Mindfulness is now being implemented in the American workplace (in companies such as Google, Safeway, Target, General Mills, and Aetna), in the public school system, in the federal government, and even in the armed services. And Christians need to take heed.

Why? Because mindfulness, especially when practiced routinely over a prolonged period of time, places the mind in a mild hypnotic state and leaves one vulnerable to the power of suggestion. Think about the long-term implications of our public school students growing up with the practice of mindfulness. They might have better attendance records and test scores (as has already been reported by a number of schools). They might feel temporarily more relaxed. But they won't be at peace (just because it feels good for a moment, doesn't mean it is good). And if this practice continues to grow in popularity in our schools, it'll be like we're fostering a generation of zombies who are trained to be indifferent to sin and who are preconditioned to resist their consciences for fear of experiencing stress. Think this is an overstatement? Google the number of schools that have adopted the practice, some as a routine part of the school day, like Patterson High School in Baltimore, for example. It's a growing trend, and it's coming to a school near you.

The implications of this are quite frankly mind-boggling. For the less we exercise sound judgment as a culture, the more our nation will embrace sin and reject God.

Our post-modern culture already encourages us to live in the here-and-now and place subjective feelings and personal experience over universal and absolute truths. Moral relativism (what is true/good for me might be different from what is true/good for you) is barely talked about anymore; it has become so ingrained in our collective consciousness that it's difficult to stand back and observe it. But, like a cancer, it's working its way to the backbone of our society. And it's eating us away at the core.

The evidence of this is undeniable; you've probably noticed that exercising judgment of sin is widely frowned upon nowadays! It's often confused in people's minds with judgmentalism and is hurriedly passed off as a negative behavior—something to avoid. Yet, Scripture repeatedly teaches that sound judgment is essential for spiritual health. In Proverbs, we are urged to preserve "sound judgment and discretion." (Prov 3:21). Jesus consistently encourages us to exercise righteous judgment, to hold one another accountable and to watch out for false prophets in our midst, for example. And Paul tells us to "test everything" (1 Thess 5:21); We are to judge every teaching, holding it up against God's Word, like the "noble" Berean Jews were commended for in the Book of Acts. For Scripture warns us that, "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." (2 Timothy 4:3-4). It is crucial, then, that we cling to sound judgment in a world of deceit in which Satan masquerades as an angle of light (2 Cor 11:13-15).

Don't believe the lie that sound judgment is judgmental! Throughout Scripture, there is a clear distinction drawn between two contrasting natures of judgment; judgmentalism (being excessively critical) is decried, while sound judgment (exercising wise discernment) is strongly prescribed. While humility is at the essence of sound judgment, judgmentalism is motivated by pride. Sound judgment is permeated with an acute awareness that it is by God's grace that we are saved, so that we cannot boast in our own strength. We can exercise sound, righteous judgment purely because our righteousness is in Christ. Judgmentalism, however, is self-righteous—and is not, therefore, of God.

Secular culture, however, is rejecting the use of moral judgment altogether—just as it is rejecting God—to embrace a "new normal" and the pursuit of "self truth." Just because immorality is being normalized in our culture, however, does not mean Christians need to accept it and refrain from discerning right from wrong for fear of being condemned by the world as bigots. For it is indeed very possible that within the next decade or two, it will be illegal to practice certain aspects of biblical Christianity, especially within our public school system. Signs of this have already begun. Gender-neutralization, for one thing, is on the horizon. How are we going to respond? With courage and righteousness, or with fear and capitulation?

As believers, we must live with our eyes wide open, while not giving into fear (it's not about being fearful, it's about being awake). As Christians, we are called to go against the tide of our culture when it comes to morality, not to live in denial or to unwittingly go with the cultural flow. For now is the time to be vigilant and to watch (Mark 13:37). Now is the time to pray for, practice, and preach sound judgment with courage. We must pray for our children. Pray for our country. And pray for the lost. Before it's too late.

Why I Am Not a Hopeless Romantic

Don't get me wrong. I love the stuff of classic romance novels...the aloof Mr Darcy's inner torment over Elizabeth...the explosive love of Benedick and Beatrice...and the improper love of George Emerson for Lucy Honeychurch. I also love getting flowers from my husband on Valentines Day and having a candle-lit dinner once-in-a-while. But, I am far from a hopeless romantic. Let's face it: Our culture is obsessed with looooooooove. Love is presented to us in a chocolate-box variety of assorted shapes and flavors like the saccharin, gooey kind of love you find at the end of a feel-good movie. Or the dark and salty kind of love bemoaned by angsty pop singers. Or the nutty variety seen in the insipid gushiness of contestants on The Bachelor. 

In a sex-saturated culture that is breaking free from old taboos, love comes in all sorts of packaging. Nowadays, we are presented with a colorful array of choices when it comes to love—monogamy, polygamy, polyandry, polyamory—along with a glittering selection of orientations to make the mind boggle. The possibilities are endless. Love, it seems, is everywhere in our anything-goes culture. And if it feels good, it is good.

There is certainly a huge market of consumers in demand of chocolate-box love. But this is a godless form of love that is grabby and self-serving. It is a love that drains, consumes, and depletes. Through the Holy Spirit are we empowered to love God and love others in a self-sacrificial way—a truly Christ-like way. But, loving others in our own strength, as well-intended as it may be, often ends up being self-serving because of our fallen nature. Even if it masquerades as selfless on the surface, this type of love often serves the self in one way or another; it gives us a sense of purpose, a sense of being needed, or something to worship, or someone to love us back. At its core, it is consumer-driven love that cannot last. Like chocolate, once eaten, it ultimately leaves us wanting for more. It gives us immediate gratification, but cannot sustain us for the long-haul. 

Chocolate-box love has a voracious appetite, consuming and idolizing the objects of it's infatuation. It can lead people to worship their significant other—or a fanciful idea of that person—in place of God. This unhealthy form of love eventually burns out revealing itself to be an ephemeral counterfeit of the real thing. But the love of God endures forever! In a godly marriage, spouses endeavor to love God first, and each other second only to Him—fostering mutual love and respect, rather than idol worship or co-dependency. A marriage like this will weather the hard times, being built on an eternal foundation.

We know from Scripture that God is love (1 John 4:8) and He is the origin of love (1 John 4:7). The gospel is rooted in love (John 3:16). The purest form of love is revealed in Jesus’s death on the cross. The Greek term for love used by John to describe God in 1 John 4:8 is agape, a form of agapeis, which is also used by Jesus (agapaō) when he quotes the greatest commandments to love God and others (Matt 22:37-38). The essence of agape love is self-sacrifice. True love, then, is not self-seeking (1 Cor 13:6), but glorifies God, who is its source.

Godly love is patient and kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud (1 Cor 13:4). But pride and jealousy are often at the heart of chocolate-box love. Jealousy insights us to be possessive over the one we love. Pride—an unhealthy form of self-love—demands that the object of our affection meets all of our needs. Pride is even paraded with rainbows on banners in the name of love. Godly love, on the other hand, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (1 Cor 13:5). Godly love does not diminish, devalue, or distort. Instead, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Cor 13:7). 

The love of God gives birth to ever-lasting hope—hope that is in Christ Jesus. It is so encouraging to know that we can truly love others in God's strength, with a love that points others to Him. In light of this, I want to build the love I have for my husband on this hope, not on some hopeless romance!

Are You Ahead of the Cultural Curve?

A few days ago, I received a voice mail from a ministry representative inviting me to attend a well-known [rather expensive] Christian conference in the DC-area. In her message, she exuded a kind of cultivated charisma, brimming with back-slapping enthusiasm as she used my first name unabashedly at opportune moments throughout her spiel. I listened as she confidently rattled off the reasons why it was important—no, imperative—that I should benefit from all that the conference had to offer. Two reactions surfaced as I listened to the message. My first was along the lines of: wow, this ministry is employing some gifted young Christians who know how to sell a ticket. This reaction was then quickly followed by a distinct feeling of unease.

I quickly forgot about the voice mail, until couple of days later, when I received a follow-up email about the conference. And the uncomfortable feeling crept back. The message read:

Do You feel like the church is constantly one step behind our culture? Our environment is constantly advancing, constantly shifting, constantly adapting, and if we want to stay ahead we have to know what's coming before it gets here.

You are ready to break this cycle. You are a Change Maker - A forward thinking, innovative leader who wants to be ahead of the curve in addressing the issues and questions our culture is grappling with. We've designed this gathering to help us answer those very questions.

Questioning whether my sense of unease was misplaced or perhaps unfounded altogether, I pondered for a moment what it really was that had disturbed me about the message. Was it because I didn't like being bossed about by a presumptuous 20-something telling me I needed to learn something? Well, maybe a little. But that's my own heart-issue. Was it because I didn't like being pressured into buying a conference ticket in order to "get head"? Yes, probably. But I quickly realized that these things weren't the crux of it. It was actually the perspective reflected in the message that had really unsettled me. And my heart sank a little further.

The thing is, it's no fun to be a party-pooper. Who wants to be the old curmudgeon in the corner shaking his bony finger at an upbeat crowd of young believers setting out to change the world for Jesus? Why attempt to pour cold water on their enthusiasm? After all, their message is a positive one. And anyone who takes issue with it comes across as negative, mean-spirited, and unloving.

But the truth is, the Bible calls believers to test everything (1 Thess 5:21), especially when it comes to teaching. And especially when it comes to a highly influential Christian conference such as the one in question. We should all be like the Bereans in Acts who examined Scripture carefully to see if Paul's teaching was true (Acts 17:11). John wrote, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1). In the same vein, Paul wrote to the Romans, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God." (Rom 12:2). If we are to test everything, then, it follows that at some point we'll have to play the role of whistle-blower as well. (For recovering people-pleasers like me, this is never an enjoyable task). And so, after some "testing," and a deeper look into the conference sessions and some of the speakers (there's a fairly wide spectrum of theological positions represented), the root of my unease was exposed...

The idea that Christians should "get ahead" of our culture implies a need to go with the cultural flow in an effort to anticipate, and respond more effectively to, the issues and trends of the times. This has become an influential way of thinking among many church leaders today. The effort to be "relevant," "culturally sensitive," or "seeker-friendly," etc., is part of a widespread movement over the last decade or two to make Christianity more relatable to younger generations (who have been leaving the church in droves) by speaking more directly to their lives. But more often than not, trying to be relevant to young people has led churches to mirror secular culture as opposed to presenting a counter-cultural [ie biblical] worldview. This is because it seeks to please people first, not God first.

Furthermore, the assertion that we are to race ahead of, or somehow outfox, worldly culture, is found nowhere in Scripture. In contrast, Christians are simply urged not to conform to the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2). Instead of competing with secular culture, then, we are to reject it altogether. In other words, the Bible teaches us that rather than attempting to surf the cultural tide, we are to go against it.

And the truth is, you can't surf the waves forever—for eventually, you're going to be engulfed by them. Worldly culture is already seeping insidiously into our churches as it is—so any attempt to ride its treacherous waves seems like opening the flood-gates. While it is true, as the conference emails states, that "our environment is constantly advancing, constantly shifting, constantly adapting," attempting to "stay head" of these rapidly evolving developments seems like an exhausting, futile—even deadly—undertaking! For getting ahead of the curve is near impossible when the waves of our worldly culture are in constant, often tumultuous, motion.

And even if we do succeed in riding one of the waves for a moment, it will soon come crashing down even so. In other words, the world will ultimately bring us down even if we rise up for a time. How many celebrities have we see rise and fall in popularity? How many stars who were once idolized have we seen plummet from fame? They may seem fashion-forward, edgy, or culturally relevant for a moment, but they are soon outmoded by the inevitable next-best-thing who rises up to steal the stage.

After so many "ground-breaking" artists, TV programs, and movies, the foundations of our culture have been shaken to the core. How much ground left is there to be broken before everything falls apart? In light of this, we mustn't forget that our broken, crumbling world is ruthless and fickle—leading many who pursue its approval only to death. Those intent on earning it's favor, therefore, will soon become last month's flavor, and yesterday's news. Why, then, should the Church even attempt to win worldly popularity and acceptance in the name of outreach or "loving neighbor"?

But wait! You might say. Shouldn't the church be outreach-minded and provide a welcoming, unintimidating environment for seekers to find Jesus? Yes and Yes. But it is not our job to finesse or tweak the Christian message to make it more culturally appealing. It's the job of the Holy Spirit to draw people to His Church and to convict hearts. Christians are called to be witnesses, not sales representatives.

But surely the Church needs to stay up-to-date on current issues facing young people today! You might also say. Surely the Church should speak directly to those issues in order to remain relevant to peoples' lives! This is a valid point. There are contemporary issues that the Church must grapple with. But while the Church should take a biblical stand on these issues, strategizing about how to repackage Christianity to make it appear more culturally relevant is missing the mark. This can—and has—led our churches down a dangerous path.

Within Emergent churches, for example, Christians strive to incorporate culturally sensitive approaches to reaching the postmodern, un-churched population with the Christian message. In doing so, however, these churches often promote a feelings- and experience-based relationship with God, while downplaying the need for sound doctrine and a cognizant understanding of His word. Polarizing and inconvenient biblical truths, along with the gravity of sin in the eyes of a just and holy God, are often glossed over in an effort not to alienate anyone and to make everyone feel more comfortable. But once you downplay sin, you detract from the amazing grace of the gospel. It isn't so much about making people feel guilty as it is about highlighting the vast extent of God's love and mercy for them. It is this that makes the gospel of grace so amazing.

The truth is, the gospel isn't compatible with what our culture demands. While our culture will encourage us to be proud of ourselves, to promote and "actualize" ourselves, and to seek worldly status, pride is actually our biggest hurdle to salvation by grace. The Bible counters that we need to let go of our pride (Prov 16:5; 16:18; Ja 4:6). To brush sin under the rug is prideful because it tries to elevate the self to a holier status that it deserves. And enabling sin is not acting in line with the truth of the gospel (Gal 2:14).

Our focus, then, shouldn't be on cultural relevance and sensitivity, but on the transcendental truth of the gospel. The gospel is always applicable to people's lives, regardless of their cultural or demographic context. Furthermore, if we go with the cultural flow, instead of remaining anchored in Christ, we may find ourselves following an abstract Jesus—a false Christ—of our own making.

The distinction between numbers-driven popularity and furthering the authentic Kingdom of God is becoming increasingly blurred in the minds of many Christian leaders today. But, if we base the way we "do church" on worldly opinions, we will find ourselves being blown about by every wind of teaching. Outreach strategies and church models that do this, often end up being inconsistent with Scripture. It's when we turn to God's Word, however, that we can drop our anchor and withstand the swirling chaos. Unlike worldly popularity and cultural trends, the love and truth of God endures forever. In light of this, we should seek to please God first, not people first, in how we lead our churches—even if doing so might not win us mass appeal, make us more culturally relatable, or seem cutting-edge and innovative in the here-and-now.

The mass email I received told the generic "me" that I am a change-maker. But it's not I who can change the world. It's the transformational gospel of Jesus Christ. While I am merely a messenger, empowered by the Holy Spirit to be His witness in the world (Acts 1:8), it is Jesus who actually changes lives.

I guess the conference representative's sales pitch reminded me of Paul's words to the Romans, "For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive." (Rom 16:18). This may sound harsh, but I think the gravest mistake the Church is making today is to look to the world first, not God first on how to further His Kingdom. When this happens we begin to devolve—we begin to look and sound more like the world, and less like the One whom it has rejected.

And as foreigners in the world (1 Peter 2:11), then, we should stand out from the crowd, not blend in. Sometimes, this might mean we are rejected by the world, just as Jesus warned us (John 15:19). And it might mean that we aren't getting ahead of the cultural curve. But we shouldn't be measuring ourselves against the bell-curve of this world, which rises and falls, and tapers away to nothing. Instead, we should set our feet steadily on the eternal, immovable, unchanging ROCK that stands high above the stormy seas.

Soundbite Theology in the Twittersphere #mylovehaterelationship

If you can't tweet it, don't say it. Because no one is listening. And if you want to be heard, you'd better say it on social media. Like it or not, we've entered a new era dominated by a group of Internet-based applications that enable the creation and exchange of user-generated content. And isn't that both the beauty and the tragedy of it all at once? Anyone and everyone can be heard. And any content holds the potential to go viral.

I'm not adding another voice to the chorus bashing Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, etc. In and of themselves, they're just tools for online interaction and information-sharing—with a little censorious bias thrown in here and there, albeit (which I've experience firsthand, btw). But, generally-speaking, it's all a matter of stewardship. And God can use social media to spread the gospel just like He can any other tool, electronic or otherwise. Simply put, social media can be used for good or evil. Hence my love/hate relationship with the way Christians use it.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov 18:21). And the tongue, when given a virtual mouthpiece, now has more far-reaching impact that ever before. The power of social media can be harnessed to spread the Word of God across the world with never-before-seen speed and magnitude. Formerly unreached people groups are now being reached with the gospel as a result of social media. But, false teaching is being disseminated widely online too. 

As stewards of God's Word, we are urged to watch our lives and our doctrine closely, persevering in them, in order to save both ourselves and our hearers (1 Tim 4:16). Social media is a big part of our lives, and how we handle it as Christians is crucial. The world is watching. 

Because biblical living is counter-cultural, using social media in a godly way is to swim against the tide. In our all-about-me culture, social media is dominated by narcissistic content that places the self at the center of everything. It's tempting to join in with the trending stream of self-promoting humblebrags that dominate our newsfeed. But as Christians on social media, we shouldn't conform to this worldly pattern of behavior, seeking instead to place Christ at our virtual center. Our presence on social media should reflect a sincere humility and love of Christ. At the very least, our faith in Him should be consistent with any content that we're putting out there. (This may sound like I'm stating the obvious, but the truth is, worldly culture is seeping into our churches and our presence on social media is certainly reflecting the impact of this).

This doesn't mean we need to be legalistic about tweeting only bible verses or sticking to exclusively "Christian" content. It doesn't mean we can't post a cute pic of our kid's first day at school or tweet about non-spiritual topics. It's more about having discernment. Rather than being sanctimonious about it, we simply need to live out our faith authentically in all areas of our lives, both on and off social media.

But it's hard to stay grounded in a fast-paced, over-stimulated culture in which our time is short and our attention-span, shorter. Our society is undergoing an A.D.D. epidemic in which the attention-span of the collective consciousness is shrinking by the second. If you can't tweet it in 140 characters or less, if it doesn't fit into a peppy soundbite, if doesn't download in a matter of seconds, it isn't worth our time.

And the same symptoms are affecting the spiritual health of Christianity in America. Today, many Christians, overwhelmed by life's frantic pace, are turning to quick-fix spirituality—or as I also like to refer to it, cotton candy for the soul. And for many of those in pursuit of the quick-fix, there's no time for discernment; if it sounds right, it probably is right. If a well-known pastor tweeted it, it's gospel. If a bestselling self-help author posted it, it's gotta be enlightened. If the word love is thrown in there enough times, then it must be loving. Inner truth? I'm sure that's in the Bible somewhere...No time to look it up on BibleGateway though.

Quick-fix spirituality provides people with feel-good moments inspired by nuggets of self-help wisdom and pithy pep talks: Don't feel down about yourself! You're beautiful! You're great! Tweets like these cater to human feelings first in an attempt to cheer everyone up. But in doing so, they center people back on themselves, not on Christ—missing the fact that His love for each of us is actually the good news!

It certainly seems that the time is upon us when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Tim 4:3).

The short attention-span of the over-scheduled populous has given rise to what I've begun to call "soundbite theology." Pastors are increasingly using soundbites in their sermons for impact. Christian writers, filmmakers, and leaders, competing for the spotlight in an information-saturated world, often use soundbites to grab the waning attention of the over-stimulated masses. And understandably so.

The Twittersphere, for example, is dotted with millions of theological soundbites. Indeed, the very nature of Twitter necessitates concise word-usage. This can be either a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it can encourage us to boil things down, to get to the crux of the matter. On the other hand, it can lead us to be lazy-minded and spiritually shallow, satisfied with spiritual tidbits alone. But spiritual tidbits are rarely capable of doing justice to the depth and fullness of God's Word. Often, therefore, soundbite theology can leave us hanging...

Here are just a few tweets I read today from very prominent, well-known Christian leaders in America:

"Maybe it’s been years. You tried and it didn’t work out. It is time to start dreaming again. Get your hopes up." —Hope in what?

"No obstacle is too big for you, no dream too great. You have the greatest force in the universe on the inside." —Force of what?

"Stay the course. Keep believing. You may be tired, discouraged and tempted to be frustrated, but don’t give up on your future." —Believing in what?

"God sees you with unlimited possibility. Don’t limit him with your doubt!" —We have the power to limit God??

This random selection of tweets exemplifies the ambiguity of bad soundbite theology. Ultimately, the reader will decide what they mean, and there's plenty of room for error. None of them refer us back to Scripture. All of them center on the self, and distract us from Christ.

Rather than reducing our faith to a slew of superficial slogans, then, good soundbite theology should not only grab our attention, but should challenge us to both grow in our faith and go deeper into God's Word. We should handle soundbite theology much like we should the Proverbs of Solomon. Proverbs can stand on their own as nuggets of wisdom, but they are much better read in context and in light of other Scripture. Soundbite theology should be a teaser, inspiring people to contemplate the deeper biblical meaning that lies beneath.

Praise God that there are a lot of very good, biblically-sound tweets out there in the Twittersphere! Here are some good ones I saw today:

C. S. Lewis @CSLewisDaily
“The #Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”  ― #CSLewis

John Piper @JohnPiper
“The immeasurable power of God toward those who believe.” Shown how? They believe. It is impossible with man. (Matt. 19:26)

Lee Strobel ‏@LeeStrobel
Our little time of suffering is not worthy of our first night's welcome home to Heaven. - Samuel Rutherford 

Dr. Wayne Detzler ‏@profdetz
The Doctrines of Grace. Salvation is by God's grace alone, not my fickle fumbling efforts, expectation, or endurance. (Titus 3:5)

Kevin DeYoung @RevKevDeYoung
The devil doesn’t want to make things spooky as much as he wants to make you forget about Christ. 

The fact is, we can't avoid it: soundbite theology is here to stay. The more Christians who are committed to using social media to glorify God, the better! Let's saturate social media with content that points us to Christ!

Speaking of which, don't forget to share our posts on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! @faithactually :)

Why Grace Isn't So Amazing Anymore

The word, grace, pops up quite a lot in church these days, doesn't it? We often hear about the need to act with grace toward others to help foster healthy relationships. And, it's become common to say things like: "I need to show [insert name here] some grace." Perhaps one of the more comical usages of the term, grace, would be "EGR"—an abbreviation for extra grace required, which is apparently Christianese for dealing with "a person in church whose ongoing spiritual and emotional needs frustrate the efforts of others to interact with that person or minister to that person." I'm pretty sure a lot of us can relate!

Comical as this may be, it actually points up a real problem: when we use the term, grace, we often do so in a way that isn't really consistent with how it's used in Scripture. It's a good thing that we're talking about grace more often. But, the things is, we've developed a tendency to over-use the term without giving much thought to what it actually means. And as a result, we end up trivializing it and obscuring the powerful meaning behind it. In other words, grace doesn't seem so amazing anymore.

Having used the term quite liberally over the years myself, I've recently been pondering, what does it really mean to "show grace" to someone, anyway?

Interestingly, in the New Testament, the word grace—charis—is not as often used to describe the way in which we should treat others as it is mentioned in direct relation to the gospel. In other words, grace isn't presented nearly so much as something we do, as something we have received. This is because grace isn't self-generated, it is God-given. And so, grace itself points us to the gospel of Christ because He is its source and His work on the Cross is its purest expression. In fact, the Apostle Paul used the terms "gospel" and "grace" interchangeably (Gal 1:6). And he made it clear that grace is at the very heart of the gospel when he wrote, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:8-9).

But worryingly, it seems that, of late, the idea of "showing grace" is being applied in a way that actually marginalizes the gospel message. Over time, grace has taken on new meaning among Christians, diverging from Scripture, to describe a purely human action or behavior rather than an unmerited gift from God. As Robert Girdlestone puts it, "We have gradually come to speak of grace as an inherent quality in man, just as we talk of gifts; whereas it is in reality the communication of Divine goodness by the inworking of the Spirit, and through the medium of Him who is ‘full of grace and truth.’”[1]

Furthermore, when we talk about grace these days, it seems like we're less often referring to salvation from sin and more often to tolerance of sin. It seems that "showing grace" is increasingly confused with overlooking—even enabling—sin in our culture, sin in others...and by extension, sin in ourselves (which is perhaps the underlying reason for why this application has become so popular). "Showing grace," it seems, has morphed into a tendency to brush sin under the rug in an effort to smooth things over and keep the peace. In other words, it is a biblical principle that is misapplied when it is motivated by a desire to please people rather than God. Acts of "grace" that are of this world, will mirror the patterns of this world. And "grace" doesn't so often mingle with truth in this context.

But because authentic grace comes from God, and is not of this world, it is counter-cultural. And as a result, grace will be undervalued in a worldly culture. To authentically show grace to others isn't always going to be the popular thing to do because it will ultimately point them to Christ and away from themselves. Showing grace, then, will not always please people. 

The prevailing culture of political correctness and moral relativism that dominates our society at large has seeped into our churches (just as culture tends to do!). And because of this, it's becoming less and less socially acceptable to call sin, "sin," and to differentiate between right and wrong, even in the Christian community. We're so often told, these days, that acknowledging the existence of sin and distinguishing right from wrong is to be judgmental or to be a guilt-tripper.

But distinguishing right from wrong as a Christian isn't about feeling guilty, or guilt-tripping others; it's about God's forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of others. For why would we ever seek God's forgiveness and His righteousness, if we haven't confronted the reality of our own sinful nature? And how can we forgive someone for something that we haven't recognized as wrong in the first place? 

In other words, it's not about being judgmental; it's about being discerning. It's not about accusing others, record-keeping, or burdening ourselves with a lot of emotional baggage; it's about simply acknowledging that we are sinners and humbly, joyfully standing in God's grace, knowing that when we are weak, He is strong. And it's about encouraging others with the same good news.

...But it's only good news if we realize our need for a Savior.

So, what then is it to "show grace"? If grace is unmerited favor, showing grace to others is loving, forgiving, and blessing them when they don't deserve it, because this what Christ did for us. The purest, most powerful example of being loved and blessed when we don't deserve it, is Christ's death for us on the Cross. Think about that for a second: we don't deserve it...Why don't we deserve God's grace to us? Because we are sinners. Yet while we were sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). He didn't die for us because we had done pretty well that week with our devotions or shown kindness to others that day. His grace to us was unearned, unconditional, and unmatched. Even if we accomplished some monumental life's work for His glory, we still wouldn't deserve His grace.

In fact, if we believe the bible, we know that what we actually deserve is eternal separation from God. But it's not so popular to talk about such inconvenient truths these days, is it? In a culture that believes we deserve to be happy, we deserve to be loved, we deserve the very best life has to offer, there is no real room for grace. If we inherently deserve all these good things, the very nature of grace is nullified. And if we deserve to be saved, then what is grace? As Paul said in his letter to the Romans, "if [salvation] is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." (Rom 11:6).

It is true that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet 4:8), but at the same time love rejoices with the truth (1 Cor 13:5). To truly love one another is not to gloss over sin, it is to encourage one another with the truth that we are justified in Christ and our sins have been washed away. And by speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Christ (Eph 4:16). Failing to acknowledge the truth about how sinful we are, is to downplay the surpassing power of the gospel of grace.

Grace, then, must go hand-in-hand with truth, or it's no longer grace. The other day, Kevin De Young tweeted: "We need to be grace people and truth people. Not half grace and half truth. But full on with both all the time." And in the gospel of John, we read that "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth … From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1:14, 16-17). Grace is synonymous with the truth of the gospel.

While our culture will encourage us to be proud of ourselves, to promote ourselves, and to seek worldly status, pride is actually our biggest hurdle to salvation by grace. The bible counters that we need to let go of our pride. To brush sin under the rug is prideful because it tries to elevate the self to a holier status that it deserves. And enabling sin is not acting in line with the truth of the gospel (Gal 2:14).

Living in God's grace, then, involves neither ignoring sin nor sinking in sin; Paul made this clear when he said, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (Rom 6:1-2). And if we are to die to sin, we have to recognize what it is before we can walk away from it. Standing in grace is to reject self-righteousness and embrace our righteousness in Christ, for it is in Christ that there is no condemnation (Rom 8:10). Standing in grace is to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Rom 5:2)—this is the crux of the gospel.

Peter tells us that we should use our gifts to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace (1 Peter 4:10). Authentically showing grace to others is an outworking of God's grace to us and will be inherently self-sacrificial, unconditional, and unearned, just as modeled by Christ. It isn't motivated by self-gain or people pleasing. 

The bottom line is this: Christ is what makes grace so amazing. Let's not forget to make Him central when we act with grace towards others.

-----------------------------------------
Robert Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1871), p. 179.