What's Love Got To Do With It?

I often attend a small monthly philosophy group in Atlanta. The discussions are quite different from what I have with my friends during the rest of the month, because no other evangelical Christians ever attend this group (as best I can tell). For that matter, no other Christians of any discernable stripe attend, and the leader is a determinist who doesn't admit to believing in any God at all.

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It's good for me to be there, because it helps me think through my worldview and convictions and how I can explain them to someone who's approaching our discussion from a very different angle. Of course, I hope that the others will somehow be nudged toward Jesus by what I have to say.

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This week, we were discussing what makes for a good marriage relationship (or nonmarital partnership). One of the guys was claiming that the ideal relationship is one where:

• You live and let live.
• Tolerance reigns.
• Neither party demands anything of the other and neither changes anything to accommodate the other (neither one "compromises").

It's hard to summarize accurately what he was saying, because to me it seemed inconsistent and a bit incoherent, but it was clear that he didn't agree with my claim that the best relationship is one based on active love, commitment, deference, service, and sacrifice. His view seemed to be that each should do whatever he/she wants, with the goal of maximizing self-pleasure and minimizing self-pain. I commented that if two partners with that view ever actually agreed on something, it wouldn't be a relationship, but a coincidence.

I left there thinking how radically different our worldviews are, and when I got home, I took the dog for a walk and prayed, remarking to God how vitally different my life is because God made me His child. Certainly, I don't always practice what I claim to believe about good relationships, but it's my aspiration to do so, and I'm immensely thankful for the significant friendships God has given me over the years. I believe I'm a lot less lonely than the guys I was talking to last night.

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Of course, our Heavenly Father, Himself, is the best example of how to build good relationships (though it sounds weird to state it that way):

• "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3.16)
• "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15.13)

God's extraordinary love gives all (or at least all we could ever imaginably need), and it demands all. When we understand what He's done, we gladly give all in return - first, as a sign of thanks, and then in confident expectation of even more demonstrations of His love for us. "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4.19).

A New Day

I will heal their waywardness

and love them freely,

for my anger has turned away from them.



Hosea 14.4

The Greatest Apologetic is Love

The statement in the title of this post has been attributed to Francis Schaeffer. Regardless of its provenance, it came to mind when reading the following article from the AP in today's newpaper. It's edited below for brevity, but the full article is here.

Southern Baptist membership, baptisms decline in 2007
By ROSE FRENCH Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The number of people baptized in Southern Baptist churches fell for the third straight year in 2007 to the denomination's lowest level since 1987, and membership dipped slightly as well.

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention blamed the decline in part on a perception that its followers are "mean-spirited, hurtful and angry."

For a denomination that places winning converts at the heart of its mission, the continued slide is troubling and disappointing, said the Rev. Frank Page, the convention's president.

Part of the blame can be placed on a notion that Baptists have been known too much in recent years for "what we're against" than "what we're for," Page said.

"Our culture is increasingly antagonistic and sometimes adverse to a conversation about a faith in Christ," he said. "Sometimes that's our fault because we have not always presented a winsome Christian life that would engender trust and a desire on the part of many people to engage in a conversation on the Gospel.

"All Southern Baptists should recommit to a life of loving people and ministering to people without strings attached so people will be more open to hearing the Gospel message."

In the past 50 years, the number of annual baptisms per church member — a key indicator of church growth — has dropped sharply. Southern Baptists baptized one person for every 19 church members in 1950, a ratio that dropped to 1 baptism for every 47 church members in 2007, according to the report.

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Me speaking, again: I'm guessing devotees of the in-your-face Way of the Master methodology won't approve of the new Baptist approach. So be it. I'm loath to criticize any preaching of the Gospel - being well mindful of Philippians 1.15-18 - but all I see when I view their videos (or others like them, such as the one below) is a lack of humility and a lack of love. Why do people have to be berated into the Kingdom? Even if the presentation is doctrinally correct, can it not also be presented with compassion and respect? Why is conversation, rather than rank confrontation, forbidden?

The group that produced the following video has a rather extensive website, but I was unable to find anything about the effectiveness (fruit) of their methodology. I wonder.

(Sorry for any weird formatting in the last couple paragraphs. Some day I'll learn some HTML so I can fix my mistakes.)

Have You Hugged Your Terrorist Today?

Back in my grad school days at Washington State, I heard a well-known veteran missionary speak about God's "mission" throughout history - namely, that all the world would be blessed through God's people. I think the missionary was Don Richardson, but I could be wrong about that.

During the course of the talk, Richardson referred to Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, who was sort of the Osama bin Laden of his time, the person we Westerners loved to hate. And then Richardson brought us to Ezekiel 33.11, where God says, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live."

The challenge Richardson issued was for us to pray for those who hate us and would just as soon see us dead - in particular, to pray that they will turn from their wicked ways and be saved.

Since 9/11, we've come to understand that terrorism is a serious threat, that there are people who want to eliminate us and our way of life. Although it's appropriate for the governments of the world to seek out these people and eliminate them, what should our response as individuals be? Perhaps even as we pray for justice and God's protection, we also should pray for the conversion of our enemies, that we might enjoy Heaven side-by-side with them.

With all that in mind, I was intrigued to find out recently about the "Adopt a Terrorist for Prayer" website. You can choose your very own terrorist and commit to pray for him. (Sorry, none of the terrorists is female. I'm guessing it's a Muslim thing.) It's not like sponsoring a poor child in Africa, though, so I doubt you'll get updates from your selected person. But once you get to Eternity, you'll find out what happened. Check it out.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." - Jesus, Matthew 5.43-45

Augustine On: True Brothers

The young adults group at my church is starting a 6-week series on authentic manhood. Too many grow up in our society with inadequate male role models; it's no wonder that we feel lost and act clueless when it comes to what a "real man" is. Add the modifier of "real Christian man," and it gets at once simpler and more complex.

So we're going to take 6 weeks, get all the 20-something men together on Tuesday nights, and talk about this. We'll spend part of each meeting watching an episode from the HBO series, "Band of Brothers," hear interpretive talks from older and younger men in the church (including yours truly), and discuss it all in smaller groups. Since we'll be meeting in a bar, we'll be able to drink beer, which we all know is a sign of authentic manhood.

I like what Augustine has to say about the band of brothers which God desires for us to have: "They are my true brothers, because whether they see good in me or evil, they love me still" (Confessions, X.3).

That's hardly a comprehensive description of brotherhood, but it's an awfully good start.