Monday, May 24, 2010

Bob Dylan: Prophet, Poet, and Enigma

"Years ago they ... said I was a prophet. I used to say, "No I'm not a prophet" they say "Yes you are, you're a prophet." I said, "No it's not me." They used to say "You sure are a prophet." They used to convince me I was a prophet. Now I come out and say Jesus Christ is the answer. They say, "Bob Dylan's no prophet." They just can't handle it." Bob Dylan

Today Bob Dylan is 69 years old. He has been a cultural icon, poet, prophet, minstrel, and a mystery for the past five decades. He is what Duke Ellington called "a man beyond categories." Every time you try to classify him by musical genre, political philosophy, or spiritual beliefs - he breaks out of the box.

In the early 60's, he was the voice of folk music, having written "Blowin' in the Wind," and "The Times They Are a -Changin," which became anthems for a new generation. But Bob was not a "protest" songwriter (he hated that label), and refused to fit into the "box" that the political left fashioned for him. He alienated the folk music world by going electric and in July 1965, Dylan released the single "Like a Rolling Stone", which Rolling Stone Magazine listed as number one on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

Bob recorded with Johnny Cash, sang at the "March on Washington," toured with the Grateful Dead, championed the cause of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, wrote songs recorded by the Byrds and Jimi Hendrix, refused to appear at Woodstock, and reportedly introduced the Beatles to marijuana. He was friends with Woody Guthrie, Allen Ginsberg, the actor Sam Shepherd, and Keith Green ( a major voice in contemporary Christian music). He never participated in the anti-war movement during the Vietnam era, and wrote a song poking fun at the John Birch Society. He has written songs about Lenny Bruce, Jesus, Woody Guthrie, Catfish Hunter (the baseball player), and John Wesley Harding. His music has ranged from rockabilly, to blues, to country, to Christmas carols, to gospel.

In the late 1970's Bob announced that he was a "born-again" Christian. His concerts took on the atmosphere of an evangelistic crusade. He recorded three "Christian" albums and played the harmonica on Keith Green's album, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt. But Bob would not fit into the box that the evangelical Christian world wanted to put him in. Nevertheless, you can continue to hear the message of the gospel in his music thirty years later.

Bob Dylan has been interpreted, re-interpreted, evaluated, and speculated upon time and again. But Bob has always enjoyed being an enigma. He is what he is, and he clouds himself with mystery. I hope he has a happy birthday, and I think I'll take sometime today and listen to this mysterious poet laureate. He has been a a prophetic voice to me over the years.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Alpha and Omega of History

We are told in Revelation 5:5 that Jesus is “the Root of David” which seems to us to be a rather strange expression. We can easily understand Isaiah’s prophetic reference to Jesus as “a shoot from the stem of Jesse” (Isa. 11:1). Likewise, as a descendent of Jesse and David, Jesus could be called a “branch” (Jer. 23:5; Zech. 3:8). But how could He be called the Root?

Our problem lies in our non-Biblical understanding of how history works. We are accustomed to thinking of history as if it merely a cosmic chain of events. History is often viewed as one event leading to a string of other events. This is very much like a board game we played when I was a child called “Mousetrap,” based on a fictional Rube Goldberg machine. Trip a lever at one end, and a series of domino-like “whatchamacallits” and “thingamajigs” bang into each resulting eventual in the mousetrap coming down on the mouse. By pure cause and effect, each event causes other events, in direct chronological succession.

While this is true – it’s not the whole truth. History is not simply a matter of the past causing the future; it is also true that the future causes the past.

Allow me to illustrate it this way. Let’s say someone walks into your home on a Saturday afternoon and finds you packing clothes in a suitcase. Since “inquiring minds want to know,” they ask for the reason you are engaged in this activity. You reply, “Because I am going out of town tomorrow.” What has happened? In a sense, the future – the planned trip – has determined the past. Because you have planned a trip, you packed your clothes. Logically, the trip preceded, and caused, the packing of the clothes, even though it followed it chronologically. In the same way, God desired to glorify Himself in Jesus Christ; therefore He created Jesse and David, in addition to all the other ancestors of Christ’s human nature, in order to bring His Son into the world. The Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, was the Root of David. The “effect” determined the “cause.”

The Lord Jesus Christ is thus presented in the most radical way, as the center of all history, the divine Root as well as the Branch, the Beginning and the End, Alpha and Omega. The Bible is clear in its emphasis of Christ being the beginning and the end of history. For example, we are told that Christ is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev.13:8 KJV). The end was already established from the beginning. History is not an “open book” that is in the process of being written, based upon the actions of men and the effect they have on the course of future events. Rather, history is “closed,” in that it has been determined by the Creator at the beginning.

We, as human beings, do have a will of our own. We make things happen. Yet the power of choice we exercise is only secondary. God’s sovereign providential power stands over and above our actions. He works out His will through the actions of human wills, without violating the freedom of those human wills. As the Westminster Confession of Faith states:

“God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dispose and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.”

Benjamin Warfield expressed the same concept this way: “In the infinite wisdom of the Lord of all the earth, each event falls with exact precision into its proper place in the unfolding of His eternal plan, nothing, however small, however strange, occurs without His ordering, or without its peculiar fitness in the working out of His purpose; and the end of all shall be the manifestation of His glory, and the accumulation of His praise.”

Our understanding of history must not originate from history itself, but from the fact that Christ is the Creator and Redeemer of the world. We must understand that all of history, created and controlled by God’s personal and total government, is moving inexorably toward the universal dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of history will be summed in the Alpha and Omega of history.

Monday, May 17, 2010

God With Skin On

Years ago I heard a story about a little 4 year old boy who had gone to bed, but as soon as he fell asleep a thunder storm came through the area and the loud thunder both woke and scared this little boy. So much so that he ran down the hall into his parents bedroom and jumped into their bed. The father who was a Christian took his son back to his own bed and assured him that there nothing to be afraid of because Jesus was right in the room with him and that He wouldn’t allow anything to hurt him. This seemed to comfort the little boy until the next loud clap of thunder which caused him again get out of his bed and get into the bed of his parents. Once again the father him took back to his own bed assuring him again that Jesus was in the room with him. But once again after another loud clap of thunder was again in the bed of his parents. This time before his father could carry him back to his own bed, the little boy said to his dad, "I know Jesus is in my room with me, but I need someone with skin on."

In other words when the Lord sends us to someone, we become God with skin on for that person. The ministry of Jesus, is placed in us the ministers, for the purpose of releasing the ministry of Christ into the lives of others. But, whether this ministry is released, or not, will be determined by how the minister is received by those who need the ministry. The Greek word for "receive” in Matthew 10:40 is "dechomai" which means to receive favorably, to receive with hospitality, or to treat the one who was sent with generous kindness. Jesus is saying if you receive with hospitality the one that I send to you, you will see and get Me, and if you get Me, you get all the power and provision of the One who sent Me.

In Luke 10:16 Jesus tells His disciples the opposite of what He told them in Matthew 10:40, He says, "the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me." The Greek word for reject is "atheteo" which means to void, nullify or neutralize the power that produces the effects. In other words when we reject the one that God sends to us, we also neutralize the power and the provision that they carry for our lives. I can’t tell you how many times I missed out on God’s provision and power because I didn’t believe the one that was sent to me by God could possibly be from God. So instead of receiving them, I judged them and criticized them, thereby neutralizing all that they had for me.

For example, there have been many times that I came to a meeting when we would have a speaker and I would find myself judging the speaker instead of listening to him. It may be because of how he was dressed, or that he had a particular accent, or that he repeated a particular phrase too often, but for what ever reason I didn’t receive him but was in fact rejecting him. My criticism caused me to take the posture that he didn’t have much to offer me, not knowing that it was my criticism that was neutralizing what he did have for me. What surprised me was that there were others in the same service that seemed to really get blessed by what the speaker was saying. They would be taking copious notes and saying amen after almost every sentence. In the midst of this I would think to myself, why are they getting so excited about this fluff. The truth is that it was only fluff to me not them. Because they received the minister, they released the ministry into their lives. The words they heard were anointed by the Holy Spirit. They were hearing the word within the word as a result they got in on the provision and power that this man carried for them.

Let’s go back to Matthew 10 and look at Verse 41, "He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward." This verse tells us that in order to get what a prophet has you’ve got to embrace, receive with hospitality the prophet. What the prophet carries for our lives is defined as a reward in this verse. The Greek word for reward here is "misthos" which means dues paid for work, labor which is rewarded in some way. It means that the prophet has labored in some way, probably through seeking God on our behalf through prayer and fasting, which has resulted in the prophet receiving some provision and power for our lives. The implication is that it costs the prophet to have what he has for us. But now, we must labor to get the reward of his labor. It’s not laboring to produce the reward, it is laboring to receive the reward. It takes work and will cost us to receive someone with hospitality and generous kindness. It has the idea that as you enter into the reward of their labor they should be able to enter into the reward of your labor.

The challenge for myself, and possibly for you as well, is to receive the one who the Lord sends will all of their imperfections, idiosyncrasies, and obnoxious manners. By receiving them I open myself up to receive the reward that Christ desires to give. In reality, it is Him coming to me by His Spirit “with skin on.”

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Judas "Sin-drome"

Judas, as one of Jesus’ disciples, walked daily with the Living Truth. He was an eyewitness to many of the miracles performed by our Lord. He heard Jesus teach both the multitudes and His small band of disciples. But in the end Judas was able to betray Jesus, reject the Truth, and in the ultimate act of self-destruction committed suicide. In so doing, Judas fulfilled Proverbs 8:36, “But he who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death.”

Before we pounce on Judas Iscariot, we must recognize that inherent in each of us are the seeds of the Judas “Sin-drome,” the tendency to betray the truth, to cause misery to others around us, and to self-destruct. We can listen to God’s Word, gain ”head” knowledge of the truth, and yet never allow that truth to penetrate our “heart” and transform us.

Ezekiel 33:30-32 speaks of the way God’s prophet was received, “But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.”

As a Bible teacher, I have come to learn that there are people who “like” my teaching, but don’t “believe” my teaching. If they believed it, it would produce action. They like to be intellectually stimulated, they like to be entertained with words, and they like to be given conceptual knowledge. But they are only hearers and not doers. I have made the mistake of thinking because they “like it,” they “practice it.” Unfortunately, that is not the case. But I also must acknowledge that tendency toward hearing but not doing is in me as well.

Judas received Jesus as a teacher, but he did not receive Jesus as Lord and Master. Matthew 26:20-25 reveals the striking difference between Judas and the other disciples. Matthew tells us, “Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. As they were eating, He said, ‘Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.’ Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’ And He answered, ‘He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, ‘Surely it is not I, Rabbi?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it yourself.’”

We need to take note of several things in this passage. The first being, the statement of Jesus concerning the one “who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl.” This was more than a simple violation of etiquette, it was an act of Judas, affirming his perceived equality with Jesus. In that culture one would never dip his hand in the bowl with one he viewed as his master. Craig Keener in his commentary on Matthew points out: “By dipping his hand with Jesus in the bowl containing the sauce of bitter herbs Matt. 26:23), the betrayer had shown himself a treacherous person indeed; rising against one with whom he had eaten violated the sanctity of tradition (Ps. 41:9).”

Secondly, Matthew makes it quite plain, that the other eleven disciples refer to Jesus by the term “Lord,” the Greek word being “Kurios.” But Judas uses the term “Rabbi,” which means “teacher.” There were many rabbis in Israel and Judas acknowledged Jesus’ status as part of that group, but he did not acknowledge Him as Lord. Thirdly, note the response of Jesus in verse 25; “You said it yourself,” what had Judas said? I believe it was his reference to Jesus as “Rabbi” rather than “Lord.” I recognize that there are those who claim that these two terms were used interchangeably in the popular parlance of that day, but many commentators see significance in Matthew’s nuance. They also find Jesus’ roundabout reply as significant. Judas regards Jesus only as a teacher.

The Judas “Sin-drome” begins to take effect in our lives when we receive Jesus as our teacher, but not as our Lord. We listen to His teaching and even agree, mentally and verbally, to the wisdom of it. But we fail to come under the authority of it. As a result, the “sin-gap” begins to widen in our lives – the gap between what we know and what we do (James 4:17). We begin to drift toward destruction. If I think that I am immune from the Judas “Sin-drome,” I am already ensnared by it. We can minimize, justify, and rationalize our betrayal of the truth, our disobedience, and our sin.

The only way to live free from the Judas “Sin-drome” is to be well aware of our tendency to fall prey to it. This brings us to the place of dependence upon God’s grace, working through His Spirit, to keep us from the assumption that because we know the truth we are living the truth. Being in the company of Jesus’ disciples does not necessarily make you one. Having Jesus as our teacher is not the same as having Him as Lord.

Monday, May 10, 2010

The Legacy of C.S. Lewis

When I think of the true giants of the Christian faith over the past 100 years, several names come to mind. Billy Graham and Mother Teresa would be near the top of my list. Others like Francis Schaeffer, G.K. Chesterton, E. Stanley Jones, and Charles Colson would be in my top 10. But near the very top of that list would be C.S. Lewis. Lewis was a man who had brought a dimension to the Christian faith that has greatly influenced the generation that has followed. Though Lewis was neither an evangelist, theologian, or a missionary, at least in any traditional sense, he left a legacy that surpasses that of virtually all others.

Clive Stapleton Lewis wrote over sixty books dealing with theology, apologetics, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, and literary criticism. He wrote such Christian classics as The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Abolition of Man, The Problem of Pain, and Mere Christianity.

Lewis had the ability to blend reason and imagination. He provided a conformation of the intellectual validity for Christianity. He saw truth as not merely a subjective opinion, but an objective reality that could be grasped by the human mind. But he also demonstrated the power of an imagination that could be used as a vehicle to communicate truth. Lewis used fantasy and myth-making (like his friend, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings), to give us new eyes though which to see the message of the gospel.

Lewis was prophetic in his writing, for he was a man of great insight, who understood his times and where ideas ultimately lead. In his book, The Abolition of Man, written in 1947, he warned that an educational system based on moral relativism would have dire consequences. It would produce as he called it, “men without chests,” men who had lost touch with the moral law and their own conscience. They would be men who were “unable to reason with their own hearts.” The current state of Western culture bears witness to his solemn warning.

If you have not read any of the works of C.S. Lewis allow me to encourage you to do so. He was a profound thinker that has left us a rich legacy. “Though he is dead, he still speaks” (Heb. 11:4).