What a Savior

Commune with Jesus...

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

More Raconteurs

Santa Claus and Self-Justification

My wife and I have been debating whether or not we will "do Santa Claus" in our family or not for 6 months now. I know, I know. It is June 2nd. More than that, even debating it reeks of sub-culture, anti-culture Christianity. Still, I think that the issue is an important one to resolve, and not so much because Santa Claus is necessarily all that insidious, but because there is an underlying idea that the Santa Claus tradition promotes that is already generally insidious.

There are two basic reasons why we would not make Santa Claus a tradition in our family:

1. Santa Claus isn't real. Accordingly, telling our kids that he is real would be a lie.
2. Santa Claus promulgates the idea of works-righteousness, or self-justification.

I don't much care for the first argument. I think that there are probably ways to avoid lying about Mr. Claus and still make him into a family tradition. What troubles me more, however, is the second reason.

Hair Cuts and Works-Righteousness

I was waiting to get my haircut last December, just before Christmas, and overheard a father disciplining his two sons. "Now remember that Santa is watching. If you misbehave, you won't get any presets this year." Shocked an appalled, I put my supertheology cape on, ran up to him (at the speed of light) and, with fists on my hips, pronounced: "Do you know that you are teaching your sons works-righteousness?!" Then I sucker-punched him and ran out of the store.

I shouldn't have been surprised at the father's statement. It has since occurred to me that this aspect of Santa Clausian theology is well known. "He's making a list, and checking it twice, he's gonna find out who's naughty or nice..." I just quoted that from memory, as I am sure most Americans could. And this is not an idea unique only to America, or even to the Santa Claus Christmas tradition. All people are, it turns out, self-justifiers.

And it is so ironic that this idea of self-justification has arisen around the Christmas holiday. It isn't surprising, because all people believe that, deep down, we must work to get anything good (e.g. presents). But it is ironic, because Christmas celebrates the arrival of the man that would destroy the belief that we could ever be good enough to get anything good.

Three Ways

Tim Keller is now famous for his teaching that there aren't two ways to live, but three ways. Irreligion, Religion and the Gospel. The first two reject God as savior. The third way is the only way you can have relationship with him.

Irreligion (or unbelief) says that God is not necessary for happiness or salvation, and that what is important is living in opposition to God's laws and living the way you see fit.

Religion (or moralism) says that God is necessary for happiness and salvation, but that you gain this through your own hard work in following his laws. When you do this, God ends up owing you.

Now I'll get to the third way in a second, but make sure you see something about the first two ways. In some ways they are different. But in a most fundamental way, they are the same. They are both forms of self-justification. Though they have different gods they are working to please, both are working, nonetheless. Keller says that,

Irreligious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through irreligion, "worldly" pride. ("No one tells me how to live or what to do, so I determine what is right and wrong for me!") But moral and religious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through religion, "religious" pride. ("I am more moral and spiritual than other people, so God owes me to listen to my prayers and take me to heaven. God cannot let just anything happen to me--he owes me a happy life. I’ve earned it!") The irreligious person rejects Jesus entirely, but the religious person only uses Jesus as an example and helper and teacher--but not as a Savior. (Flannery O'Connor wrote that religious people think "that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin...") These are two different ways to do the same thing--control our own lives.

Do you see? Works-righteousness is the idea that we must work to gain our righteousness (if we follow the law closely enough, God won't have to forgive us). And that is a notion and practice that must be dismissed and avoided. But see that while 'works-righteousness' is a theological term pertaining to a religious person's attempt to get to God, an irreligious person is doing the same thing. We are all, at heart level, doing self-justification

The Third Way? The Gospel

Paul wrote in Ephesians 2: "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," (v. 8-9). Now how could he say this? Why would he say this? As we have said, Jesus Christ came because God knew that works righteousness was a futile enterprise. No one can make themselves right with God (See Rom. 3:23-26 and Gal 3:23ff). Self-justification is, ultimately, no justification. Not only will it leave you feeling empty, it will leave you outside of the grace of God. Paul knew that the only thing that would make us right with God was our faith in the grace of Jesus. The Reformers called it Sola Gratia, or, By Grace Alone. And that, in a nutshell, is what the third way is.

The Gospel says that we are so sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, but that we are more accepted and loved than we ever dared hope. Or, we are so sinful that Jesus had to die for us, but that we are so loved that Jesus was glad to die for us.

There was nothing, there is nothing, we can do to gain favor with God. There is nothing we can do that will remove our guilt. There is nothing we can do to escape the punishment we deserve. It is only by faith (Sola Fide) and the unearned grace of Jesus that we are able to get back into right relationship with God (which is what righteousness really is).

Santa Needs to Get Stuck in a Chimney

Now back to our original problem. Why is it (probably) a bad idea to do Santa Claus with your kids? Because it reinforces in them the idea that already plagues their tiny hearts: that in order to get right with (insert god/idol here), they will have to work to get it. And that is insidious. In a million ways they will try and gain the favor of the good things they have made ultimate (friends, money, sports). And because idols don't give back anything of what they have taken, the worshipers of those idols will quickly find themselves empty. Of love, satisfaction, grace. If we teach our kids anything, it must be that there is nothing good they can do outside of the finished work of Jesus Christ. And, once this is ingrained, it is life changing.

1. It makes kids humble because they know they know they are sinners (against falsely encouraging them so that they have high self-esteem).

2. But it also makes them incredibly confident because they know that they are loved and accepted by the God of the universe (against the idea that they are worthless and that there is no hope).

3. And this leads to the outworking of grace as they seek to do to others what Jesus has done for them (e.g. sacrifice, forgive, serve).

So this was a post a lot less about Santa and a lot more about the gospel (it is June 2nd, by the way). Parents, it is our job to make clear to our kids the glorious gospel. Over and over. And we do this first by believing the gospel ourselves. If it is clear and real and right to you, you will be able to make it clear and right and real to them.

In the end, it is up to you if you want to make Santa a tradition in your home. Just make sure that they understand that the presents your kids get are on account of Jesus and not Ol' Saint Nick.

What is a Gospel-Centered Marriage?

So Many Links (01 June 2009)

New Drag Me to Hell flick Calvinist?

Finally: prosthetic tatts.

Homeschooling isn't nerdy anymore.

Casting Crowns in North Korea.

Calvinism takes hold in China.

Wait. The Three Wolves T-Shirt I bought off Amazon is not actually magical?

DW:

The fact that (George) Tiller was a member of Reformation Lutheran pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with our nation. But even this highlights another interesting feature. If the suspect Roeder in fact is the guilty party, and is a member of a conservative church somewhere, the chances are pretty good that he will be excommunicated (as Paul Hill was) for his bloody ways. The chances that someone like Tiller would be excommunicated from a liberal church for his bloodlust are chances approaching zero.

Two question to ask God when I get to heaven: (1) What is the genesis of evil? And (2) Why has this video been watched 98 million times?

More from CT on J+K+8

Brutal, here. For example:

We evangelicals tend to be easily impressed. We cheered on Jon and Kate's decision to carry all six babies to term but rarely considered the prior question: Was it right for them to undergo risky fertility treatments in the first place? They had been married only a matter of months when Kate, who was in her mid-20s at the time, took fertility medication to stimulate her ovaries for intrauterine insemination and became pregnant with their twins, Cara and Mady.

Only a few years later, Kate's ovaries were stimulated once again, but this time they were hyper-stimulated. Warned by their doctor during an ultrasound examination that the fertility medication had worked a little too well and that four mature follicles were present, Jon and Kate nonetheless went ahead with the insemination. Apparently their doctor had miscounted on that fateful day, because Kate soon discovered that she was pregnant with seven embryos (one of which miscarried a short time later). Six babies were growing in a space designed for one, posing great risks to the life of each baby as well as to the life of their mother. Faced with this unintended but preventable situation, Jon and Kate were right to carry all of the babies to term. But this decision is not enough to warrant their status as models of Christian faithfulness. That most evangelicals were satisfied to celebrate the end—six miraculous lives—rather than assess the morality of the means whereby those lives were created, betrays the thinness of evangelical reflection on reproductive ethics. Too often our ethics have focused so singularly on the question of abortion that we have given comparatively little attention to the morally-significant issues surrounding infertility, reproductive technology, childbirth, and parenting. As such, we have a hard time challenging the assumptions of our consumerist culture or those who, like Jon and Kate, seem to be beholden to it.

As fellow Christians, we should have reminded the Gosselins that life is a gift to be received in gratitude, not something to be grasped, purchased, or sold. In many ways, the last four seasons of Jon & Kate Plus Eight is the story of a family that seemed to progressively lose sight of this truth. Of course, they had help along the way from TLC, from the show's producers, and not least of all, from their Christian viewers.

Whole thang.

People are Our Favorite Idol

Ed Welch, in his book When People Are Big and God Is Small, says that people "fear man" in two ways (at least so far). We fear that people will expose us (shame-fear), but also that people will reject us (rejection-fear). What do those two fears have in common? He says that they are both forms of idolatry (p. 44-45):

To use a biblical image, they both indicate that people are our favorite idol. We exalt them and their perceived power above God. We worship them as one who have God-like exposing gaze (shame-fear) or God-like ability to "fill" us with esteem, love, admiration, acceptance, respect and other psychological desires (rejection-fear).

When we think of idols, we usually think first of Baal and other material, man-made creations. Next we might think of money. We rarely picture our spouse, our children, or a friend from school. But people are out idols of choice. They pre-date Baal, money, and power. Like all idols, people are created things, not the Creator (Rom. 1:25), and they do not deserve our worship. They are worshiped because we perceive that they have the power to give us something. We think they can bless us.

He continues (p. 46):

What is the result of this people-idolatry? As in all idolatry, the idol we choose to worship soon owns us. The object we fear overcomes us. Although insignificant in itself, the idol becomes huge and rules us. It tells us how to think, what to feel, and how to act. It tells us what to wear, it tells us to laugh at the dirty joke, and it tells us to be frightened to death that we might have to get up in front of a group and say something. The whole strategy backfires. We never expect that using people to meet our desires leaves us enslaved to them.

The Raconteurs

Turn it up. Consolers Of The Lonely:

Jon and Kate Plus "Material Things"

I am one of the few men that has admitted he has watched and enjoyed Jon and Kate Plus Eight. It is interesting and the kids are cute. But the cuteness, if you haven't heard, has left the show. I didn't see the first episode this year, but from what I have heard, it was painfully awkward. Jon and Kate, if you don't know, are struggling in their marriage (there are a multiplicity of issues at play).

What is most troubling about it all is that they have chosen to stay with the TV show despite the harmful effect it is having on their marriage (they just signed on to do 39 more episodes). Jon, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, said that they thought about quitting, but that the perks were too much to give up. "You know," he said, "the material things."

This sort of capitulation to the world flies in the face of what good, Godly male leadership should be. Men, stand up. We are called to sacrifice for all sorts of reasons. And I am pretty sure I would put saving my marriage near the top of that list.

Also read Lynn Roush on this topic.

Al Mohler on Tiller's Murder

Mohler:

Proponents of abortion rights often charge that the rhetoric of the pro-life movement leads to violence. After all, we describe abortion as murder and point to the business of abortion as the murder of the unborn. We make clear that abortion is the taking of innocent human life and that what goes on in abortion clinics is the business of death.

We make these arguments because we know they are true. Abortion is murder. What goes on in those clinics is institutionalized homicide, often for financial profit. Abortion is a moral scandal and a national tragedy and a blight upon the American conscience.

But violence in the name of protesting abortion is immoral, unjustified, and horribly harmful to the pro-life cause. Now, the premeditated murder of Dr. George Tiller in the foyer of his church is the headline scandal -- not the abortions he performed and the cause he represented.

We have no right to take the law into our own hands in an act of criminal violence. We are not given the right to take this power into our own hands, for God has granted this power to governing authorities. The horror of abortion cannot be rightly confronted, much less corrected, by means of violence and acts outside the law and lawful means of remedy. This is not merely a legal technicality -- it is a vital test of the morality of the pro-life movement.

Whole thing.