Is Sarcasm a Prophetic Function?

I guess probably, in the fullness of time, I had to link to this blog, so I figured I might as well get it over with. I don’t particularly feel good about it, nor do I “enjoy” it as I read it, like someone enjoys, say, a movie, or a good book, because of the indescribable weirdness and familiarity you get as you become convinced you’re not the only one thinking or wondering about something. But I think maybe God can be and is glorified through it, so I am linking to it. Warning: don’t open it at work, you might get fired. Not because the content is inappropriate but because you won’t stop reading it and forget you have a job and before you know it the job will be gone. I don’t wish that for you.

Examples of posts on this blog:

Subtly finding out if you drink beer too

The Prayer Ninja

Hand Raising Worship – the 10 Styles

Jessica Simpson - Should we take her back?

The Super Hero Guide to Famous Pastors - 1
The Super Hero Guide to Famous Pastors - 2

Missionary family photos

You get the idea. I could go all day.

If God is sovereign, and involved and active in the details of our life, then those strange thoughts or questions we all have about certain aspects of the Christian culture are not unique to us, nor inappropriate and sinful any more than our nature is sinful and deceitful above all things, nor are they altogether pointless, perhaps. I don’t think they can be simply explained by the possibility that God has a sense of humor, though that may be true. It could be more than that – like maybe God works profoundly through humor to save sinners, encourage saints, and bring glory to His name. I believe that, and believe that Christianity is not so boring, traditional, or bland that we Christians can’t have a little fun and perhaps make legitimate observations about church and life that are a little sarcastic while still pointing ourselves and others closer to Jesus.

Mark Driscoll once said, “I think irony and sarcasm is a prophetic function that is greatly overlooked in Scripture.” Though the tone of this statement was itself a bit sarcastic, it is still in many ways well said. But even Driscoll would not discount the importance of humility and cultural sensitivity within the Body of Christ, as our diversity and differences bring glory to God. And I mean to be careful that such humor or sarcasm would not lead others to stumble in the areas of pride, gossip, or unwholesome talk, but that it would bring about a certain level of laughter and understanding that in the end, sometimes the things we do and the ways we interact as Church, is a little silly and representative of us as sinful, imperfect human beings. I think realizing that should actually destroy our pride, rather than puff it up. And God is still more holy and we are still more sinful and the cross is still more necessary and central than we could imagine.

As the author of this blog says, if you worry that such observations about communion, missions, worship, relationships, etc. will ruin, or taint, your experience of them, then you are silly, and your real problem is not the observations but your overall communion with Triune God. In other words, authentic communion with God through prayer, worship, church, and all the rest is not distracted by anything. Get a fresh does of John Owen and you will be fine. The God of the universe transcends and is sovereign over humor, awkwardness, and even sarcasm, yet He is willing and able to use them and be glorified through them. And this is strange and wonderful beyond measure.

The World is Not Enough

In light of the Olympics, which regrettably I've been mostly unable to watch (what's with the time difference?), and out of general curiosity, I've picked up my reading of the intelligent, yet extremely secular, publication The Economist. Simultaneously, I've been encouraged and convicted through participation in the Global Prayer Challenge, a daily prayer resource put together by Operation World, that I was introduced to by a friend, through, of all things, Facebook. I don't believe its a coincidence that the hardly known country Mauritania was the Pray Today country (which is alphabetical) the same week that a military coup overthrew the established government and caused further instability to a continent plagued with it.

I'd like to invite you to check out any of these things (the Olympics, The Economist, Operation World) if you haven't already and let your world get a little bigger. Our generation is hopelessly secluded and enslaved to things and a culture that in retrospect will be but a fleeting fantasy, and my intention, only by the daily grace of God, is to not be a part of it, save from the influence I can perhaps have to the glory of God. For a balanced Christian perspective on many of the same stories and happenings around the world, I will always recommend the wonders of Christianity Today.

More to come.

Bears and the Glory of God

A friend of mine (who is probably reading this post), and who is an admitted agnostic, and who has the most dry (and refreshing) sense of humor in the history of humor, recently referenced the following passage on his facebook profile:

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears (“she bears” in the King James Version) came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

2 Kings 2:23-25

As you might have guessed, this gives me something to write about. And with the help of God Almighty, I will strive with all of my being to offer words with an appropriate combination of grace and truth.

Truly, this is a passage that would make anyone curious; whether a lifelong devout Christian or an outspoken unbeliever. Two bears jumped out of the woods and mauled 42 children for calling a man a name?? Really? Where was God? What kind of loving God is that? Children?? Not to mention the fact that we feel guilty ourselves because when we first read it, it conjures up a good chuckle. And it shouldn’t be funny – children being mauled, I mean.

To be fair, we should dig into the passage a little, and begin to see that words like “baldhead”, “youths”, “LORD”, and even “bears” does not mean what it would first appear. And, to repeat a phrase I used to summarize the nature of the popular book, The Shack, let me say again, in reference to our culture in general, that God is more holy, we are more sinful, the Bible is more preeminent, and the cross is more central (and shocking and appalling and glorious), than we could ever possibly imagine. I think this passage, among other things, makes us realize this concept in a way that alters our perspective more towards Christ, and helps us understand reality a lot better than if we never had read it. In other words, this passage (like the entire Bible) is true, and helpful – but only if we understand what it really says and what it really means, in the larger context of 2 Kings, the Old Testament, the entire Bible, and the eternal story and history of redemption.

So what in the heck does this passage mean? Well, for starters, nothing by itself. It finds itself though, at the beginning of the Second Book of Kings, tracing the stories of the Prophets Elijah and Elisha and the history of both kingdoms, Israel and Judah, before their final conquest. As was common in the Old Testament, God is speaking through Prophets who urge the people to turn away from idols and repent, much as we need to do even today. For us, not idols in the form of figurines or golden animals or abstract deities, but more likely in the form of materialism, wealth, and the American dream. We are crazy to think this passage, the Old Testament, and the entire Bible is not shockingly relevant to our lives. Anyway, Elijah was a great Prophet at this time, and was widely recognized as having the Spirit of the LORD. Chapter 2 in 2 Kings starts out with the miraculous event where Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind with the company of chariots and horses of fire, among several witnesses. You may recall that a scene like this does not happen again until the Ascension of Jesus Christ. Elisha, then, becomes the successor to Elijah as a Prophet and spokesperson for God, and he from the beginning of his commission is seen to also possess the Spirit of the LORD. Right before the strange passage in question, Elisha heals, or purifies, the water in the city saving many from death and increasing the productivity of the land.

The passage in question is the second miracle performed by Elisha, this time, as opposed to one of blessing to the needy, it is one of judgment to those who disrespect the one true God.

For the record, when you start to look at passages like this, it is really remarkable how much meaning and significance is packed in such few words of text. It is not boring. If you’re reading this while watching TV or perhaps working on a spreadsheet, I would wager that it is much more fulfilling and exciting than those things. My concern that this is boring and few are reading it is small compared to my confidence that God speaks through His word to the everlasting joy of His people. I’m humbled to think that may be happening right now.

To explain the bears and the mauling, I’ll let commentator Dr. Thomas Constable help me: “Bethel was a center of idolatry in Israel, one of the golden calf sites. Evidently Elisha's approach triggered a mass demonstration against him by many young men. The Hebrew word na'ar translated "lads" in 2:23 describes young men, not boys, in many other places in the Old Testament. "Baldhead" was and is a term of disrespect. The idolaters challenged Elisha to "go up" to heaven as Elijah had done if Elisha could. These youths were typical of a nation that "mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at his prophets" (2 Chron. 36:16). Not motivated by personal pride but by a desire for God's glory, Elisha pronounced God's curse on them for their disrespect for His prophet and Himself. As before, God used wild animals to judge the rebels (1 Kings 13:24). Wild bears were common in ancient Israel. These early miracles identified Elisha as God's spokesman who possessed His power to bless or to curse.”

So “baldhead” does not simply mean a man with no hair, “youths” do not simply mean young, innocent children, “LORD” does not mean anything less than the one true God, and “bears” do not mean just animals, but a force of nature used by God for righteous judgment. Does that help?
The miracle of blessing was especially significant because it was not only a physical miracle of healing and restoration to the people and the land, but also it served as spiritual refreshment and fertility to a people who were suffering from apostasy, or the turning away from God (which was common). I’ll let Dr. Thomas Constable help me with the exposition here also: “Elisha was a new vessel in God's hand similar to the new jar he requested. Salt seemed like the worst thing to add to brackish water to make it pure just as return to Yahweh must have appeared to be a backward step to many idolatrous Israelites. Nevertheless since salt is what God ordered it was effective. The use of salt may have symbolized a break with the past since this is what rubbing certain sacrifices with salt to sanctify them indicated. Yahweh, not Baal, could restore blessing and fertility to His people.” Elisha’s first miracle was one of blessing to the needy and humble.

The second miracle of judgment was especially significant not only because it snuffed out rebellious young men, but also because it showed the holiness of God, which the people mocked and undermined repeatedly; it showed the sinfulness of man, who after just witnessing the wonder and amazement of God himself calling Elijah into heaven with the dramatic scene of chariots, horses, and fire, moments later mocked the scene itself and disrespected a man of God, and jeered at him; it showed the necessity of something permanent to solve the endless rebellion of people and daily trading of the glory of God for “images”, and opened the door another crack to reveal the eternal plan of redemption. Elisha’s second miracle was one of judgment to the proud and arrogant people who disrespect and reject God Almighty.

So how does all this Bible talk translate into our world today and how can a story of bears mauling children possibly help me better understand reality? Well, put yourself in the shoes of the people of Israel at that time. Who do you more closely identify with? Perhaps you identify with the men of the city, who humbly strive to be productive in the land for the benefit of the people. You enthusiastically and faithfully carry out your work during the day, perhaps in meetings and at a computer, or with your hands, working hard to feed and provide for your family. And when you notice a need, you don’t automatically assume it will be fulfilled, but humbly ask for help. Maybe it’s a financially tight situation or a loved one who is sick, and you see that people are suffering and the land is unproductive. God is waiting to give you grace in such situations. He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Or if you are honest with yourself, you might more closely identify with the young men, who after witnessing the glory of God, through nature, or a miracle, or through the person of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible and as you learned in Sunday school growing up, you trade that glory away, seek worldly things, suppress the truth, and might even mock those who proclaim it. You may not use the word “baldhead”, but maybe in your mind you jeer at those who speak about and for God. You resist the kind and gentle conversation in the break room at work, or you stubbornly doubt the impact and significance and necessity of God in your life, and turn away from the people He has put right in front of you who just want to heal your water and make you productive. Ready or not, and bears or no bears, God is preparing to incinerate those who deny His Son Jesus Christ, and trade His glory for temporal, selfish, fleeting pleasures. He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

So, this passage is relevant for us and it helps us understand reality because we are all either like the men of the city who humbly ask for help and healing from a condition we can not remedy ourselves, or we are like the young men, who scorn and deny and jeer and mock God by our actions or preoccupation with the things of this world, and because of our stubbornness and unrepentant heart we are storing up wrath for ourselves for the day of wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. We approach the one true God of the universe with either humility or pride, and He will respond to us accordingly, and in either case will prove himself good and righteous and His glory will be revealed to the utmost. My reaction to this realization of reality is, to quote John Newton in Amazing Grace, “Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clear: I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior.”

What is the Gospel?

Let’s do a hypothetical: You’re waiting in a grocery line, or waiting for the next subway train, or waiting for a doctor’s appointment, or waiting for an oil change; and there are people all around you. One of these people, surprisingly, notices something about you that is intriguing, perhaps a book you’re reading, and asks you, “So I bet you are a Christian. I’ve heard about this Gospel of Jesus Christ thing – what is that exactly?”

What would you say? What is the Gospel? How do you explain it simply, completely, correctly, faithfully, effectively, in a relatively short period of time, and recognizing that the person who is asking you undoubtedly has countless preconceptions, experiences, and understandings as a result of being immersed in this post-modern culture?

Well, this is not a new question, nor an easy one, and the Church has been trying to figure it out for years. This blog specifically has been trying to do it for about seven months, offering it as simple truth for a complex culture. But unfortunately, because the culture is complex sometimes the truth is not that simple. So, if you’re willing, I’d like to encourage some reader participation and ask you to respond with what you think. What is the Gospel? I will try to do the same myself after a little while.

But first, here are some of the guides I have used as I wrestled with this issue. I encourage you to check them out – sometimes it takes a lot of information to understand a simple truth. Otherwise, perhaps, the Bible wouldn’t have to be 66 books. As you’re thinking about it, remember that “the Gospel” is true, and necessary for the ultimate hope and joy of every human being; that helps me put it into perspective when I am thinking about how (or whether) to explain it to someone who looks like they are getting by fine without it, or to someone who is desperate because they’ve never heard it. And those someones could be the same someone.

The Christian Vision Project – Is our gospel too small?

Tim Keller – The Gospel in all its Forms

D.A. Carson – What is the Gospel?

Al Hsu – A Multifaceted Gospel

John Piper – How I Distinguish Between the Gospel and False Gospels

Mark Dever – Improving the Gospel: Lessons in Unbiblical Theology

James Chambers – Gospel Zeal

The Broad Side of The Shack

So now I have read The Shack. There are a lot of good things in this book, and truly it is interesting as to a perspective on the most important being in the universe, namely the Triune God. It is emotional, especially at the beginning, and then it is deep, penetrating, and revealing throughout. You will be better, and not worse, off from reading it. My favorite exchange is between Mack and the three members of the Trinity, because it reminds me of the powerful truth found in Romans 8:

“Look at the cost – all the pain, all the suffering, everything that is so terrible and evil….and look what it has cost you. Is it worth it?” “Yes!” came the unanimous, joyful response of all three.

If it does nothing else, the book does make you long for a true, lasting, living relationship with God, who is uniquely and mysteriously in a relationship within Himself. This is convicting for me. As I was reading it, I struggled to pinpoint exactly what it was about the book that I most enjoyed, or most connected with. Was it the characters? Yes, maybe, but in the end, they were not real. Even the Godhead, who is real, was only a fictional interpretation here. Was it the detailed, narrative beauty of the writing and the pictures it painted? Yes, maybe, but in the end, these pictures fade away when the book is not in front of you. After pondering, I realized it was the truth in which I most connected to, and most warmed my heart. The truth lasts. It was the truth that God exists in three persons, and this concept is mysterious and glorious beyond words. It was the truth that this same God is working out all things together for good for those who love him, even in the abduction and murder of a little girl. Those truths do my heart good. Imagine, if those truths were not true. Imagine, if the abduction and murder of a little girl was only a random act of violence that had no meaning, no purpose, and had nothing from which to derive comfort. Sure, we as humans appeal to God, and ask why these things have to happen at all to accomplish His ultimate good. And we lose faith sometimes in our confusion. But isn’t it so much better that there is purpose and comfort and hope in these types of evils? What a frightening thought that such things could happen outside the will of the God of the Universe. I choose the Sovereign God any day of the week, and will brace myself for what that means, because the truth is worth it, and it is ultimately where my joy comes from anyway.

So then, it is the truth that I most like about The Shack. But alas, it is also the truth in which I am the most frustrated. I still ultimately agree with the review written by Tim Challies that I posted before. There still are theological errors in this book, and the errors matter. Without the errors, the book would have been better. It makes me wonder in general why the temptation is so strong to fabricate or reduce or theorize the truth when the truth is clear and in its entirety is better. My general synopsis is this: God is more holy, we are more sinful, the Bible is more preeminent, and the cross is more central (and shocking and appalling and glorious) than the author of The Shack would lead you to believe. I can accept that his intentions were good and that some readers will benefit from his story, but I believe more people would benefit, and it would be more helpful, encouraging, and fruitful for the reader if these things were magnified and not undermined. The most striking example to me is the following excerpt:

“Don’t ever think that what my son chose to do didn’t cost us dearly. Love always leaves a significant mark. We were there together.” Mack was surprised. “At the cross? Now wait, I thought you left him – you know – ‘My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’” It was a Scripture that often haunted Mack in The Great Sadness (his daughter’s death). “You misunderstand the mystery there. Regardless of what he felt at that moment, I never left him.”

This is not true. The Bible teaches that the Father did forsake the Son when He poured out the wrath that we deserved at Calvary. If this is not what happened, then the accomplishment on the cross was something less than the once-for-all, complete, definite, substitutionary sacrifice that otherwise we justly deserve. The Gospel is incomplete and downright insufficient if those agonizing words from Jesus on the cross were not literally true. The fact that the Father did forsake the Son is kind of the whole point; otherwise the sacrifice would not have been completely in our place, because our sin deserves complete separation from God, and only by Jesus stepping in that place do we have any hope.

Responding to the claim that everything sinful and agonizing would be forgotten in heaven and in eternity (which would include Calvary), John Piper says, “Calvary will not be forgotten! Hell exists, sin exists, the cross exists, heaven exists, we exist, everything exists to magnify the worth of the Scream of the Damned! That is the whole point of the universe!” The Scream of the Damned; a description of those infamous words at the cross used originally by R.C. Sproul, and further by C.J. Mahaney and Randy Alcorn, to reinforce the shocking revelation we see through this event. If the Savior’s scream on the cross is explained as anything less than the agony of being forsaken by His Father, for a time, to completely and definitely be our substitute and absorb the wrath we deserve, than the Gospel is diluted, the good news is less good, and the whole point of the universe is missed.

Make no mistake, I fall on my knees in awe and surrender at the implications of what I am saying. I take no pleasure in making the allegation that some people miss the whole point of the universe. I also fall on my knees as I am convicted of daily, reminded of often, and strive to remember always that I don’t want to love studying God more than I love God himself. I don’t ever want to be so into doctrine and theological interpretations that I neglect a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior. I don’t only want to know Him through propositional truth, but also as Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting God, and Prince of Peace.

“There are a lot of smart people who are able to say a lot of right things from their brain because they have been told what the right answers are, but they don’t know me at all. So really, how can their answers be right even if they are right, if you understand my drift?”

I do think that my relationship is deepened by focusing on doctrine and theology, and I do believe He can (and has to) be known through propositional truth, but it should never be at the expense of the relationship itself. Additionally, I don’t want to ever love the gifts of God more than God himself. I don’t ever want eternal life, escape from hell, forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with family and friends, heaven, social justice, etc. to be so much my focus that I lose the source of all those things. Those gifts are precious beyond words, but not more precious than the God who makes them possible.

I don’t want to discourage the helpfulness of this book, especially to those who seek an answer to or comfort from suffering. And I also don’t want to assume that The Shack was written by a theologian for a specific theological purpose, because I know it wasn’t. But I think that like The Pilgrim’s Progress, fictional accounts of this nature have some level of purpose of expressing truth for the spiritual benefit (or consideration) of others. I believe that the author of The Shack, while not attempting to make truth claims, had the intention of using a narrative to interpret truth. (And good for him; thousands of people will be encouraged by that to the glory of God). Or maybe he didn’t mean to address theology, but he did nonetheless. When someone, even through fiction, put words into the mouth of God, which the author of The Shack clearly did, that person is addressing theology and means to say something about who God is and what He would say. Outside of the Bible, if you do this, you have to understand the fact that you could be wrong about some things; and wrong in a way that is dangerous.

Theology will never only be scholarly; it will always also be practical, because God is sovereign, and involved in the details and experiences of our life. If someone at the store says in frustration while waiting in line, “Jesus Christ, come on already!” that person just addressed theology. “Where is God when the line is a million people long and I have to get to school to pick up my kids? Why would he let that happen? I can’t understand a God like that.” Silly, maybe, but a simple example of the ubiquitous reality of theology in our lives.

I don’t automatically believe that seminary or formal theological education is necessary to write books or serve in a church (or write on blogs, obviously, or I would be a hypocrite). But the reason I think it is a popular prerequisite is because it shows a commitment to interpret and apply truth with truth (assuming “seminary” is most fundamentally and generally a prolonged study of the Bible in various ways, and the person of Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life). To interpret and apply truth with experience, or culture, or our immediate surroundings, or our own creative imagination is not always wrong, but it is more likely wrong than using the entire Bible first, and these things second. And truth is not just true; it is helpful – more helpful than untruth.

I passionately believe that a true understanding about God and a theology of who God is and how He works in our lives, as revealed in the entire Bible, is better, and more comforting than a less than true understanding. In other words, I don’t think we as Christians should put the Bible aside and just imagine the true nature of God and the true meaning of His sovereignty, or goodness, or love, especially in suffering. I don’t want to get God off the hook for suffering or misunderstand the nature and purpose of it if His ultimate, eternal plan through suffering is much better than the alternative, which I believe it is. Parts of The Shack refreshingly confirm this reality. I don’t want to expect God to reveal himself separately from the Bible if his revelation in the Bible and the implications of that revelation fulfills the deepest longings of my soul, which I believe it does. I don’t want to explain the mystery of the Trinity in a way that is close to true in regard to roles, hierarchy and distinction, when an explanation that is more true presents a Godhead that is the culmination of every desire I’ve ever had and every relationship I’ve ever pursued, which I believe He is. So in that sense, I don’t necessarily believe certain theological errors relating to revelation, salvation, and the Trinity in The Shack are altogether dangerous, but that they just take a little away from the potential comfort and helpfulness of the entirety of God’s truth.

In my brief tinkering with theology, I have seen that the error of reductionism (which means not necessarily saying things that are untrue, but not saying everything the Bible says about a particular subject) is not only flawed, but also unhelpful. It would be more helpful, and more comforting, and more encouraging to say everything that the Bible says about a subject, like the nature of God, or suffering. To truly believe in the sovereignty of God means to believe that His plan, which He is working together for good in all things for those who love Him, is the “best of all possible worlds”, as John Piper would say; even as hard as that is to believe or accept in the face of unthinkable suffering, such as the abduction and murder of an innocent little girl. We see now in a mirror dimly; but then, we will see face to face.

Alongside Paul, I am convinced that these present sufferings are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us, and that these light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, as we wait for the things that are unseen, namely, the Triune God and His coming kingdom. With or the without The Shack, I hope this is your heart and perspective day in and day out.