The Disgraceful, Cowardly Media

Why are the major media outlets in the US afraid to report on the multiple child murder trial of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell? Kirsten Powers writes that they’ve lost their sense of human justice:

You don’t have to oppose abortion rights to find late-term abortion abhorrent or to find the Gosnell trial eminently newsworthy. This is not about being “pro-choice” or “pro-life.” It’s about basic human rights.

The deafening silence of too much of the media, once a force for justice in America, is a disgrace.

Which is to say, the media cares more about cash and reputation than the truth.

Is This What We Want Boys to Do?

Former angry teen and current high school teacher Peter Brown Hoffmeister writes on the hidden link in America’s school shootings: angry young men who love violent video games:

I asked one of [the violent video game-playing students] later, and he said that he played Call of Duty “an average of 40 hours per week, at least.”

Is this what we want angry, adolescent boys to do? Do we want to give them this practice? Do we want them to glorify violent actions, to brag about violence in the school’s hallways? Or even worse, given the perfect equation of frustration + opportunity + practice, do we want them to do as Weise, Roberts, and Lanza did, and act out these fantasies in real life? Do we want them to yell, “I am the shooter” as they enter a crowded mall – as Roberts did? Or dress like video-game shooters – as Lanza and Roberts were – before heading into a murder spree?

Especially with teenage boys, we have to decide what we want them to do, what we want them to love, what we want them to emulate. Even if they don’t end up shooting people in a school, if they’re practicing car-jackings, knifings, and putting on body-armor as first-person shooters, what are they preparing to do with the rest of their lives? Will these video-game practice sessions make them better husbands or fathers? Will these boys become patient and understanding friends? Better co-workers?

In other words, do these video “games” contribute anything positive to any real relationship a young man has?

Victoria’s Secret Hates Women

Saying something like this (i.e., getting to the heart of the issue) is important in a contentious situation like this because it gets to the heart of the issue. Victoria’s Secret, proprietor of intimate women’s clothing, is now marketing a line of underwear for teens and preteens. Teaching women to find their self-worth in looks is deceptive and vain (Prov. 31:30), but now training teens to dress like whores and prostitutes? Pure hatred.

Seem a little strong? Track with me. Victoria’s Secret hates women because:

1. Marketing to teen girls is demeaning. First and foremost, a woman’s worth is more than a sexual mirage. Personhood is given by God, never defined or ultimately masked by clothes or relationships or sexual acts. A girl’s personhood is of utmost value; we must honor her from conception to death.
2. Marketing to teen girls is insubordinate. If Victoria’s Secret though what they were doing was right, they should at least have the decency (which they don’t) to speak to a young woman’s parents about her private wear. Are you going to let a lingerie-clad lady show up at your door and peddle to your daughter? Didn’t think so.
3. Marketing to teen girls is dirty. In Leviticus, God presents to us over and over the idea that sin is “unclean.” It’s why we call certain things “dirty.” If you don’t want to read a description of something, or see it, or think about it because that would sicken your soul, it’s dirty.
4. Marketing to teen girls is pedophiliac. Yep, we need to go here, because, otherwise, when will it end? Will we stand by and let Victoria’s Secret enlist our kindergarteners in their ad campaigns? As mom Amy Gerwing writes, “In this age when female sex trafficking is becoming a wide-spread crisis, is it really responsible for Victoria’s Secret to entice our impressionable young girls with this ‘come hither’ message?”

The last one sums it up: Victoria’s Secret markets slutty underwear to young girls because they love cash more than purity, thus encouraging the world to see these future ladies as the same lustful playthings as their underwear.

Sob-Stories, Guilt, and a Freed Conscience

A Long Con on the Streets of Raleigh, NC

The other night I was out talking to folks on the cold downtown streets, and a homeless man approached me. Let’s call him, “Pierre.” I’ve met Pierre before, even buying him groceries late one night a few years back.

And I’ve seen him around town since then, growing out his beard and wandering aimlessly. Pierre has learned over time to use his weepy eyes, his sob story about his long lost family, and his quavering voice to get cash out of well-meaning urbanites. The other night he was at it again.

Pierre ingratiated himself by offering to help me with whatever I might need, sitting to talk and acting like he wanted to listen. For a solid half-hour, he seemed humble and ready to listen. So much so that I forgot the three years of data that shows otherwise.

As I packed up to leave, Pierre asked for a sandwich. Since I had already given him a snack, I didn’t think this was necessary, but he persisted. There I felt that old feeling – and this is yet another reason we can’t trust our wayward “feelings” – guilt. I felt guilty for not wanting to help him, as though I were responsible to feed every homeless person in my city.

I felt guilty because I’ve heard so many lying, cheating, stealing sob-stories and become hardened to them. I felt guilty because I thought Jesus would just help the guy.

So I bought him the sandwich (which prompted this resolution based on what I’ve learned). But then I felt worse. How’s that?

How and Why Evil Sob-Stories Grip the Conscience
The reason we feel so bad is because those stories are so bad – but not in the way we think. Those sob-stories, affected with all the facial and vocal contortions of a stage actor, are evil not because of what the person claims to have experienced, but because of their hidden motives.

In many cases (to leave out exceptions), the storyteller just wants to steal. He wants to steal your hard-earned cash, your dignity as an image-bearer, and your responsibility to love. He does all this by lying to you.

A lie? That seems harsh. Here’s how it works: the storyteller turns your desire to love on its head by hiding the truth – he is likely too lazy to work and has been for some time. He just wants money for nothing. He’ll say anything he thinks you’ll believe just because he wants a handout.

We could make obvious connections to the current handout system in our beloved US of A, but we’ll hold off for now. The point here is this: the truth is hard to tell when you’re dealing with a professional liar. And handing him money only prolongs and multiplies the problem.

Many, many homeless (and not homeless) people lie for a living to get a quick buck, and as Christians we ought not be bound to their lies. We ought not be bound to even prove them wrong. We ought not let our conscience be held to their standard of handing out money. That’s a lie, and I need to stop believing it.

Then How Should We Love?
When approached and asked for a handout, how do we thus proceed? What else can we do besides offering cash and going along our way? Here are four options:

1. Talk: If you have the time and want to talk to the person, by all means do so. Get to know them, explain Jesus’ life-changing work in your heart, explain how all of us have broken every one of His commandments and deserve judgment, connect this sin to our current struggles and hardships – yours and the other person’s. But don’t feel like you have to end by giving them a ten-spot.
2. Direct: In many cities, there are multiplicities of ministries that put the poor into work-stay programs, job training, and the like. If your new acquaintance says she doesn’t want to go, it at least shows you where her heart is.
3. Jobs: If you know of someone who would like to hire an entry-level worker (though often the reply is predictably, “I don’t have my papers”) or you would like to extend the offer yourself for lawn-mowing or shed-building employment, offer the poor person a chance to work. Imagine that! Work!
4. Local Church: Should a poor person genuinely feel his need for deeper change, suggest attending a Christ-centered worship service in the area. Give specific details of name, place, and time. If you will be there, meet him promptly before service or offer a pick-up.

But What If She Says She’s Still Hungry?
It might seem “mean” to refuse money to a hungry person, but hunger is biblically a motive for work. “If he will not work, let him not eat.” Christians need to be willing to bear along God’s harder consequences in grace, too. Fear not, little flock: it is a gracious thing to relate this truth to a lazy person.

Of course, if we “feel led” to give money or food (I often give small servings of food, rarely money), we shouldn’t think we’ve necessarily sinned, either. If the poor woman lied to ensnare you, she bears the brunt of that responsibility, not you. But I write so as not to burden you with guilt and instead free you to love.

Conclusion: To Grow in Love
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating a “harden-your-heart-in-the-name-of-materialism” approach. Just the opposite: we need to grow in love for the poor precisely by being more careful in the way we love the poor.

Notice that none of these ways removes the dignity of the poor person and his need to work. Think this through with your local church and remember that, in God’s law, the poor could glean off of landowners’ fields, but the owners didn’t do it for them.

Again, this is a love-thing, not a guilt-thing. How are we promoting the gleaning of work for the good of the poor and the glory of God?

The Chalmers Center Helps Without Hurting

In my last post, I mentioned Corbett & Fikkert’s excellent book, When Helping Hurts. Here is the organization connected with (inspired by?) the book: The Chalmers Center.

Check them out for financial literacy and economic programs in the Americas and in the Majority World.

Why I’ve Stopped Giving Handouts

A Street Minister Rethinks Giving Money for Nothing

My Story
Like so many passionate young people ten years ago, I became enthralled with the radical generosity of God’s grace and began ministering directly to the homeless in my city. It gave me a feeling, quiet though it was, of self-righteousness in my own generosity.

Weeks and months of these one-sided relationships passed, and I saw change neither in the giver (me) nor the recipient. All of my handouts were doing nothing.

My friends and I would discuss our desire to help the poor, but come to no practical consensus about how to do so. Our handouts did nothing, and left us feeling violated – conscientiously and financially. It was as though the poor sought out idealistic young people to emotionally abuse with their sob-stories.

When “Helping” Hurts
But the pieces didn’t click together until we read When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself, by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. Their main points (outlined creatively in this video) are:

1. At the deepest level of need, poor people, like all people, have broken relationships (with God, others, creation, and self).
2. Though we may try to help the poor, “good intentions aren’t enough.”
3. Poor people (like all people) need Jesus Christ and His local church to heal broken relationships at the root of poverty.
4. The image of God in all people means that each of us has dignity, worth, and ability to work hard. “The ultimate solution to poverty comes not from the outside in, but from the inside out.
5. Practically, we should only help the poor in ways that they cannot help themselves (i.e., pay for work, not for nothing).

Wow, even watching that video reminds me of the great harm I’ve done, we’ve done, in giving handouts to homeless people who willfully choose to beg rather than work. And these are the “handouts” I’m talking about – not all types, just the dishonest, undignified types.

There is a woman we meet who works hard and still has unexpected troubles, then there is a man who comes to our church to beg off of everyone. The first should be helped and counseled; the second rebuked and cast out if he continues his dishonest ways.

Giving handouts to those who can and should work instead tells them that it’s okay to beg, steal, lie, and cheat to get their cash. Instead, we ought to be pointing them to the Christ who is able to help us each fulfill our callings wherever we need to serve, work, and love.

A Moment on White Guilt
I’m not big into talking about this (Doug Wilson is one who does it more faithfully and carefully), but we ought to think long and hard about how money and privilege entitle us neither to withhold generosity nor succumb to guilty handouts. The people around us need better “love” than that; their souls are worth more.

I know I often “feel bad” because I grew up with opportunities that maybe others didn’t have, but there’s nothing wrong with opportunities. We know not why the Master gives one manager ten talents, the next five, and the last just one. We just know He gives them and calls us to account for them.

So Paul’s word to the rich in Ephesus makes more sense:

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty,
nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,
but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
They are to do good, to be rich in good works,
to be generous and ready to share,
thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future,
so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 ESV

Let us who are rich in this present age do good with the talents our Lord has given us, with an eye toward loving others and storing up treasure, not in self-righteous works, but in heaven. These “good works,” however, ought not indebt the poor to our own “goodness,” nor maim the image of God within them, but stoke the fires of Godly passions.

Twelve Ways Romans Uses the Law

Romans uses the Mosaic law to:

1. Convict of sin (ch. 1)
2. Give just grounds for God’s wrath (ch. 1-3)
3. Prick the conscience and lead to repentance (ch. 2)
4. Show our utter inability and depravity (ch. 1-3)
5. Show the glory of God’s promise to Abraham (ch. 4)
6. Show our failure in the First Adam (ch. 5)
7. Show Christ’s glory as the Second Adam (ch. 5)
8. Explain our slavery to sin (ch. 6)
9. Heighten our sense of sin (ch. 7)
10. Show our freedom in Christ by the Spirit (ch. 8)
11. Explain the proud failure of even the most law-oriented (ch. 9)
12. Explain Christ’s substitution for us (ch. 10)

As always, there are probably more. But the point is: neglect neither the law nor its teachings!

Art Still Has a Place

Those independent movies on Netflix alone are worth the monthly fee. I remembered that tonight.

Whether it’s the strange flick about a half-crazed hospital inmate bribing a little girl with a tall-tale legend or the romantic comedy about the painted man on stilts, these artful movies still matter. Here’s why:

Stories go beneath the surface. Stories reach beyond us. Stories point to the eternal.

A good story isn’t a tall tale that tattles on sin and tatters reality; it’s (as songwriter Andrew Peterson has written) a “window in the world.” It illumines reality, particularly eternal reality.

The only way to see art, stories, music, movies, and the like in such ways is to see them through the lens of Scripture. We can’t know God’s reality without trusting His Word.

But it works the other way, too: good art can help us know the Bible better, too. Though the power direction always works in one way (good art draws its power from truth, not the other way around), art can reflect the power of truth in very powerful ways, too. When our hearts have become hardened to words, sometimes we need to be shocked into feeling the power of truth again.

Good art does just that.

There Ain’t No “Man Sauce”

I was talking to my students the other day about the Christian doctrine of manhood and womanhood, found preeminently in Genesis 1:27:

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

What we learn here is at least three key points:

1. God is the creator of man, and He gives us a God-centered meaning. We are not self-created nor self-determining. From the beginning, autonomous humanity is a contradiction in terms.
2. God created male and female in His own image. Both male humans and female humans glorify God by their respective designs. Men and women are different by design and yet united in their purpose to glorify their Creator.
3. God created male and female persons from the beginning. God never thought of Adam as an gender-less being, only later to add on the “man sauce.” God never thought of Eve as an androgynous person, later deciding to dip her in a “lady potion.”

The fact that God created two genders, alike in purpose but different in design, means that from the beginning He conceived of us as gender-centric humans. All that we are, in the personhood-identity sense, is wrapped up in our identity as either male or female, but not both and not neither.

To put a point on it, God never thought of you as X person and later decided you would be a man or a woman. He always conceived of you as either a man or a woman because your gender is intrinsic to your personhood.

Our world would avoid an army of confusions if we understood that gender is not an afterthought, not an add-on. It is essential as males and females made in the image of God.

Archives: “Do Stuff” Still Isn’t the Gospel

Talking with a friend tonight, we were both reminded of the great glory of the grace of God in the gospel. God requires not that we “do stuff” to earn His favor or His forgiveness, but commands us to trust Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins and eternal favor. The gospel isn’t that we “do stuff,” but that Jesus has already done all we need.

Here’s a rundown:

1. Jesus Taught Justification by Faith Alone
2. Did Jesus Teach Justification by Works?
3. What Preaching the Gospel Is, and Isn’t
4. Matthew 23: More Reasons “Do Stuff” Isn’t the Gospel
5. “Do Stuff” Isn’t the Gospel
6. Drink Deeply of Jesus Christ
7. Hate at the Bottom of Your Heart
8. Opinions We Make Into Law
9. Is Your Church Characterized by Commands or Christ?

My prayer is always that we treasure Jesus Christ more through believing the gospel.

How to Disagree on the Insider Movement

. . . without being disagreeable. Kevin DeYoung posts three questions and three concerns in response to the current Christianity Today cover article on the “Insider Movement,” in which former Muslim converts to Christ decide to stay in their Muslim worship context.

He closes with this:

Christianity Today is to be commended for highlighting such an important issue for the global church. What is less encouraging is the cautious endorsement of the insider movement in their editorial and the many weaknesses evident in this featured interview. Let us pray for seminaries, denominations, pastors, missionaries, mission committees, churches, and parachurch agencies as they think through these significant challenges and try to avoid these attractive compromises.

The Wrong H-Word

On days like today, I’m thankful for the clarity of Scripture. The Bible makes no “if”s, “except”s, or “only-when”s about it: unrepentant homosexuality is a damning sin.

But, when the pagan President of the United States invites a high-profile (celebrity?) pastor to pray at his highness’ inauguration, the homosexual crowd seizes the opportunity to use “anit-gay” sermon quotes to publicly break the pastor’s well-profiled bones. Before fracture is finished, the pastor runs away.

I understand not wanting to be lied about in public, but for the words of Scripture? Christians have to hold on better than that. Jesus said, “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake.”

Christians who run away fear the H-word “homophobe” more than “Holy One.” God is holy, and His holiness is more fearsome than the slanderous blurbs on ABC News.

The holiness of God doesn’t excuse homosexuality, and it doesn’t excuse cowardice, either. Calling homosexuals, thieves, adulterers, and coveters to repentance is brave, loving, and absolutely necessary for salvation. Those who fail to do so may find themselves joining unrepentant sinners in eternity:

    But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8 ESV)

Top Five Albums of 2012

A limited list, since I don’t listen to as many tunes as I used to, but it’s my list nonetheless:

5. Future of Forestry, Young Man Follow
I love the style, the mood, the soaring orchestra of sound. Perfect music to play for driving home.

4. Zach Winters, They Were Longing for a Better Country
This album is a little off-kilter, an acoustic album that isn’t always smooth, a lyrical masterpiece that doesn’t often feel lyrical, a biblical piece de resistance that whispers the truth.

3. Matthew Mayfield, A Banquet for Ghosts
Heart-breaking, heart-aching, honest, emotional – everything I need to hear in a good lament. And beautiful to boot.

2. The Modern Post, Grace Alone
The new Mars Hill band combines rock with new wave on some old hyms and produces something original in the process. Haven’t heard better hymns in a long time.

1. Thrice, Anthology
Live, living, the last one. A fan-picked greatest hits from their farewell tour, and Thrice is the greatest, meaning-filled rock band since . . . . The Who? I’m not sure, but “my heart is filled with songs of forever,” and I’m thankful for Thrice.

The Real Reason for “Atheism”

A few years back, I read Christopher Hitchens’ rather angry book, god is not great. As I reflected on it, it occurred to me that there are no real atheists. There are no true, self-assured atheists. There are only people who are lying to themselves.

“Wait, that sounds crazy! What about Hitler, Nietzsche, Stalin, and a host of serial killers and mass murderers?! What about the worst of the worst?!”

Contrary to humanistic psychology, the Bible teaches that all people have a knowledge of God, then reject that knowledge. Consider:

• “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.” (Psalm 53:1)
• “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18)

Notice in both verses that there is a knowledge of God that is innate within every human that unbelievers then deceive themselves about (“the fool says in his heart”) and reject (“suppress the truth”).

Why Do They Reject?
If self-proclaimed “atheists,” then, have a knowledge of God which they reject, why do they reject Him? The answer lies in their lifestyles, their self-chosen desires, their lusts of the flesh.

The Bible regularly connects self-deception about God to the desire to “do abominable iniquity,” such as violence against other humans (e.g., abortion), perverted sexual desires, envy, deceit, slander, disobedience to parents, and the like.

It is often assumed that beliefs lead to lifestyles, and this is very true. But the connection works in the other way, too. We suppress God’s truth because we want to do abominable evils against Him and our fellow man, then our false beliefs allow us to do just so.

The Evil Circle
Apart from God’s gracious deliverance, our evil desires lead us to believe lies. In believing these atheistic lies, we justify our own evil desires. It is an evil, dark circle of deceit.

Women and men want to kill “unwanted” children, so they invent doctrines that allow it. A young man wants to steal a pair of shoes, so he decides God hasn’t spoken in the Ten Commandments. A young woman wants to feel loved, so she morphs God’s institution of marriage to mean “being in love.”

To put it another way, in the unbeliever, the atheist, the “fool,” desires rule beliefs. Individuality governs truth. Selfishness stomps out the reality of God’s revelation.

For Christians, it is just the opposite. By the grace of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we have escaped the rule of ourselves to be conformed to God’s Word. God’s Word is reality, truth governs and changes individuals, and faith redeems desires toward the all-satisfying God.

Pray for those today who are still caught in this evil circle, and don’t think for a moment that their false beliefs are the strongest force in their hearts. Rather, it is their selfish, dark, evil desires to defame their Maker.

Update for My Readers

Of all the things I love in life (and I do love writing), writing comes after:

1. Jesus Christ
2. my family
3. work
4. the local church

Writing is somewhere after those four. So when things in life shift and change, often writing falls by the wayside for a while. So it seems that once a year I write something like, “Sorry I didn’t write for a while, but I haven’t forgotten you.”

Here it is again, but it should sound less like, “Sorry, this blog isn’t that important!” and more like, “There are other things life that are just more important.”

Nevertheless, I love writing and plan on being back regularly. Thanks always for reading.