Mathetes

It's interesting that one of the criticisms of non-religious folks is that we're using "religion" as a "crutch."  Years ago, I would have become defensive and argued at the idea, but today I happily admit that Jesus is like a crutch but so much more.  Why the change of heart? Often we're tempted to think that our spiritual walk with God is a lot like physical therapy for person recovering from a crippling injury.  When many of us first come to believe, we imagine we're like someone who just awakened from a horrible accident and received the diagnosis that our legs don't work.  We rely heavily on God, especially at first, like a recovering man would with crutches or a walker.  And we imagine that as we work our spiritual muscles, as we do our disciplines and try hard to be good people, as we do more spiritual therapy, we get stronger.  God lets us walk through some hard times too, perhaps, and that gives us the extra push to work out a little hard

There are some things we get ourselves into trouble with that are the result of direct poor choices we have made.  There are other things that trouble us because they are afflictions we did not directly choose, burdens seemingly placed upon us that seek to destroy us.  Most of us would say that the first describes sin -even all sin (which often has lumped in with it things like depression and anxiety)- and the second describes something else, such as having a debilitating illness.  But in the context of what the Bible teaches, these overlap and both describe sin.   Many sins involve deliberate, poor choices.  Take adultery, for example.  Still, we know from Scripture that even bad decisions stem from what's already in the heart.  Other sins or spiritual maladies, in particular what our spiritual forefathers would call “besetting sins," are more heavily on the spectrum of crippling afflictions than they are deliberate poor choices.  To understand this distinction is important,

I have at least three things in common with everyone I will meet, no matter what gender, race, sexual orientation, or political persuasion.   The first is that we're both created by God as His image-bearers and placed in this moment in human history.  The second is suffering.  This person before me either has suffered, is suffering, or will suffer.  The third is that we're both "sinners" -spiritually lost, dead, and bankrupt, in ourselves, in need of God's grace, forgiveness, and life found only in Jesus.

Below is an example of how the proper distinction between Law and Gospel is both practical and pastoral.   Chesterton's quote "We fear men so much because we fear God so little.  One fear cures another," is true, for all I understand.  I remember reading a whole book on this subject called "When People are Big and God is Small."  I was desperate to find a solution to what I was painfully experiencing, which some had diagnosed (and which I self-diagnosed from reading too many internet articles) as "fear of man."   I remember as I began reading the book, I was excited.  Many things written in the book resonated with me, and I had some hope.  But as I approached the end of the book, my countenance and hope had fallen.  Why?  In retrospect, I believe it's because though I had hoped for a solution, something I can do to change this, to free myself, and the truth is that the book was long on diagnosis and very short on a useful prescriptive for solving t

 John was by all appearances a good husband.  He always remembered their anniversary, and was diligent in doing things like helping his wife with the kids, buying her flowers, and being kind to her.  He read all the right books, was part of the latest fad movements in the Church that focused on man's responsibility, and he even led men's ministries to help teach other men how to do what he did. It was their tenth anniversary, and John was certainly not going to forget that.  He came home early from work with a bouquet of long stemmed roses.  His wife opened the door, and he handed her the roses.  "Oh, thank you, John! I love them!" she said.  Confidently, he replied, "Think nothing of it.  I'm just doing my duty like I always do!"  Upon these words, her countenance dropped.  The roses fell to the ground, and she turned and headed to the bedroom in tears. Bewildered, John’s first reaction was to become angry.  After all, as he played the reel in his head,

Being offended is the new pastime, but it doesn't have to be.  Long before it became cool on social media to be offended, I took up the sport of holding onto offense.  I've been a true pioneer in the art of brooding, a regular Tom Brady, a man ahead of his time, and I know I'm not alone in that.  But holding onto offense is like the worst kind of sport you can play.  The only ones involved in this game are you and those unwilling participants within the radius of the steam fuming out of your nostrils.  Any spectators who get close enough to watch are more like witnesses of a slow train-wreck.  Plus, there's no amazing come-back story where the score gets flipped in overtime and your team, the "good guys", win.  There are no wrongs righted in the making of this movie, and there's no happy ending to it. The only thing that happens, in our cosmic protest, is we hurt ourselves and those closest to us.   The offense game is  addictive, though -I'll give it