You Go, Rahab!

Talk about ending well.

She's a hooker. A prostitute. A whore.

Plain and simple. That's where she finds herself in life.

And she lives in Jericho, a city given over to wickedness.

And the holy people of God are coming... ...to destroy the city.

That doesn't sound like a very pretty package. Anyone signing up to be Rahab?

Well it turns out better than one might expect. Much better. But I didn't realize just how much better until today, when I did a quick perusal of where her name shows up in the Bible.

I knew her name was in the genealogy of Christ. That's something you can hang your hat on all by itself. The honor of having Jesus Christ as one of your descendants. No mean feat for a hooker living in a dark city about to be destroyed.

But it gets better. Yes, she's in Matthew's genealogy. But she shows up elsewhere in the New Testament, and the shocker for me this morning was to note that she shows up in two somewheres. Hebrews and James.

And the thing that tickles me pink, amongst all the back and forth of the great debate about faith and works (and which is the one which "saves" us), is that she is listed in both categories.

Hebrews 11:31
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

OK, so the book of Hebrews points out that by her faith she was saved (literally).

But wait...

James 2:25
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

So let the great debate continue. As a parenthetical comment, I really don't think Paul, James or the author of Hebrews had any disagreements on any of this. It's just us moderns who seem to struggle with the obvious unity of faith and works.

But regardless... whichever side one picks (if one indulges in this modernist debate at all) one thing is sure.

Rahab the prostitute is in the winning camp.

But why should we be surprised? She found herself in the winning camp a long time ago, when by all rights her life was finished. She found herself amongst the victorious Israelites. She alone, of the entire city of Jerico pulls off this amazing feat.

And then, as icing on this cake, she somehow ends up not simply bumping along bottom amongst her new people, but in the lineage at the top. As already noted, she found her way into the lineage of King David – and therefore also of Jesus Christ himself.

There is a bit of ambiguity on this point, however, but I'm pretty sure where to go with it. What do I mean? Well, Rahab didn't apparently have a husband in Jericho. She negotiates with the Israelite spies for her life and the life of her close family. Siblings, parents, etc... No mention of husband. Over the course of the story, this list of close relatives is repeated in two or three places. Never a mention of a husband.

Hookers don't easily acquire (or keep) husbands. So while the scriptures are rather quiet about the matter, I think the answer is somewhat obvious. She left Jericho sans husband. But she fixed that problem after joining the Israelites. That's how she ended up in the lineage of Christ. At least, that's how I suspect she did it.

In any case, to say Rahab found her way into the family of God gives new meaning to the words double entendre and understatement.

You go, Rahab!

Choking Fear

Abby lay there choking and weeping. She was literally stuggling for breath. Oxygen tubes leading into her mouth delivered what she needed most, but in her fear and anguish she could barely get oxygen, the very thing she needed most.

I stood there over her, in my own anguish of soul. Could nothing more be done? Calm down, Abby. Calm down.

Thankfully, it was only a dream. Only a dream? I woke up this morning with that scene still before my eyes, in living color. The fear I felt in my dream was strong and fresh in my heart as I opened my eyes.

I don't take such dreams lightly, and this one I took seriously all the more because Abby is in a fight for her life. Her body is safe, but her soul is troubled, and we know it well.

I went over to her bed and prayed over her, that God would deliver her from the fears and sorrows that choke her. Then I began business of my own with God. I too struggle with choking fear.

Today I am due to have a conversation with a major client whose firm seems to have more people ready to take my work internal than people who want me to stick around. It's nothing personal – to them, anyway. But it sure is personal to me. And when I'm honest I've been in fear of this moment for a long time.

I picked up my book this morning and read where I left off yesterday. Abraham. Isaac. The long walk up a mountain. My mountain is smaller but it's been a long walk too. The transitioning process with this client is stretching on toward a year now.

If Abraham was counting on earthly things, he'd have been afraid. And maybe he was. I imagine he was. But He feared God more. And trusted God more. Maybe just barely, but enough.

If I counted on earthly things, I'd be afraid. I am afraid. So that answers that. But I fear God more. Maybe just barely, but enough.

Or do I? Do I fear God more? For if my life, from end to end, is marked more by trembling fear than by holy fear... that is not saying much. Trembling fear... that's what our new hamster has when my huge hands enter the cage. I keep delivering carrots, but she's still afraid of me. I'm not impressed by her fear. But I still love the little critter. Goofball. Doesn't she know I'll provide for her?

I'm as stupid as that hamster. Perhaps worse. She has no promises. But I do. The Bible, end to end, is a string of promises and words of affection. I will never leave you nor forsake you... Be strong and courageous... The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go...

I can be the recipient of these blessings... but only if I trust God.

So as I pray for my daughter Abby, I pray for myself too, and not least that by demonstrating trust myself, I will give her cause to do the same. If I cannot escape fear, what hope do I have to offer Abby? I tell her to let go. "Let go and open up those hands," I tell her. But my hands... why are they white and shaking? Why the sense of gloom in my heart today?

Hebrews 12:11-13
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

God help me to pave this home with level paths, that Abby would be healed.

Hebrews 12:18-24
You have not come to... darkness, gloom and storm.... But you have come to ... thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly... You have come to God... to Jesus...

God free me from choking fear and fill me with joy. And may Abby be likewise delivered.

No Wonder Creation Groans

Thanks to a book I'm reading, I just had an epiphany moment about the creation story in Genesis.

In the past, I'd always struggled a bit with what it means to be human – by way of comparison with animals. I'd taken from the first chapters of Genesis this notion that God made us humans special and different from the animals. Unlike all of them, we were given souls and, needless to say, a heaping amount of intelligence to keep the soul company. To make us God-like. Thus in this fashion we were created in God's image.

The problem was, and is, that we are getting more and more clear understanding that the animals are not entirely lacking in these things. We have a lot more in common with the animals than we like to admit.

The secular world includes many people who err on the other side, of course. Many enlightened souls (pun intended) think we're all animals at the end of the day. No wonder things are going downhill on planet Earth. Once it is accepted that we humans nothing more than rather smart animals, we begin to behave in approximately that fashion. Not a pretty scene. But I digress.

We have come to realize that animals with higher intelligence literally mourn death (duh... why did it take that long to figure that one out?), and, of particular note to me, know how to intentionally deceive. Even birds know how to do that, it turns out. Never mind the apes.

Knowing that some animals mourn death and know how to deceive, I begin to get uncomfortable with the great divide – the assumption that animals ain't really thinkin' and they ain't really got no soul. Maybe they have spirits too. Immortal ones? Perhaps. God never said they didn't. I love the verse where God rips into his prophet Jonah for wishing that God would hurry up and wipe out the ancient city of Ninevah.

Jonah 4:11
But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?

God cares ever so dearly about the animals too.

Which takes me back to that mystery. I'm not fool enough to think we're all just a bunch of animals. But I'm not happy with the line some Christians take either – the one that pretty much buckets all animals as another class of critters because... because... because they're critters. And we're not. So critters don't matter. Because they're critters.

Thus the epiphany moment as I read these words:

Just as powerful earthly kings, to indicate their claim to dominion, erect an image of themselves in the provinces of their empire where they do not personally appear, so man is placed upon earth in God’s image as God’s sovereign emblem. He is really only God’s representative, summoned to maintain and enforce God’s claim to dominion over the earth. The decisive thing about man's similarity to God, therefore, is his function in the nonhuman world.

Lightbulb moment.

It's not that "we think and have souls [and animals don't]... so we get to rule and are special to God." Rather, it's that God chose us to rule over all other animals [and of course equipped us to do so] – and for that reason we are special. As God rules over the entire universe, we rule (in a limited fashion) over a small corner of his creation. It's the fact that we rule at all (and that only by God's decree and decision) that makes us special.

This approach does not detract anything from the animals. They can still think (as they obviously do) and even have spirits (which the higher ones seem to have). We bear God's image because we rule over them. We were appointed for that task.

Which leads me to my final reflection. No wonder creation groans.

Romans 8:22
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Creation has a right to groan. The appointed regents are lousy administrators. We are doing an awful job in our care over this corner of creation. And we know it too.

Romans 8:23
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

We are fallen humans leading fallen lives, ruling in a fallen way over a fallen world. No wonder creation groans. No wonder so many animals flee from the presence of their appointed rulers.

One day God will make all things right. Until then...

Creation groans.

Do Not Attempt This In Your Own Home

Do Not Attempt This In Your Own Home. Those words are splayed along the bottom of commercials sometimes – usually when a stunt actor is doing something rather crazy. Try to replicate his feat and you might end up in the hospital.

I'm thinking those words ought to be underneath some of the behaviors that various New Testament writers condemn so often. Rage. Gossip. Malice. Scorn. I find myself often trying to draw some fuzzy line around home behaviors that permit me to stray into those behaviors "because the situation is different when I'm home."

It's hardly the case that I have no struggles with rage or scorn in the home, but at the moment I'm thinking about gossip. There are all kinds of nuances to the special marriage relationship, but when I cut through all the excuses, the fact is that I know I'm telling my wife things she doesn't need to hear. I gossip with my wife.

God's been convicting me about it. Specifically, a comment made by Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline cut me like a knife. "Guarding the reputation of others is a deep and lasting service."

Too often I fall far short on this. And it's usually at home, at the end of the day. With Debby. When I read Foster's words, I immediately had a gut reaction which said, "There are a lot of reputations I don't guard when I'm alone with Debby."

But that's how my day went... She's my wife and has a right to know... I don't keep secrets from Debby...

Excuses, excuses. By and large a pile of cheap excuses. Excuses to allow me to unload gossip and hurtful words in the home that I often know better than to share when I'm elsewhere.

So I'm thinking to try another approach to this matter of gossip. It goes like this: If I can hold the line with Debby, I can hold it anywhere. If I fail to hold the line with Debby, I'll fail elsewhere too. This good habit needs to begin at home. Yes, I suppose there will be things that still need to be said. But an awful lot of things that spill from my mouth don't need to be said.

James 3:3-12

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Man of Lawlessness

Mikhail Gorbachev is the anti-Christ!

...Or maybe not.

When I was growing up, Russia was the great bug-a-bear. The end of the world was going to happen when Russia attacked and yada yada yada. By the time Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power, Russia's days as a super-power were numbered, though this wasn't obvious at the time. How ironic, then, that we saw the blotches on his forehead and shouted, "Aha! The mark of the beast!"

OK, so I didn't shout it, but goofballs discussed it occasionally, and I did take note. 30 years later, I laugh now at other people's certainties and even at the things I speculated about at the time.

It has always been thus. Humans have a gift for seeing patterns that are not there. ("I saw the face of Jesus on my toast this morning!") Christians are great at this. We have an enormous Bible which affords all sorts of opportunities to link extremely confusing and mystical prophecies to the latest world events. And I'm about to embark on that course right here.

With all that as prefatory disclaimer (!) I've been reflecting on what Paul was referring to when he spoke of the Man of Lawlessness.

To say I'm going out on a limb would suggest I think I am still on the tree. Perhaps I'm beyond the last limb and in fact now falling to the ground. But I am pondering what truths (if any) can be gleaned if I were to pretend for a moment that the Internet is what Paul was prophesying about.

The Internet Is The Man Of Lawlessness. There. I said it. That way I can be the first hit on Google (presuming this page gets indexed eventually) to match these words.

Do I know that the Internet is the Man of Lawlessness? No! Needless to say, I haven't got a clue. Paul himself probably only had a prophetic notion of what he was speaking about. His words were no doubt inspired by God, but that doesn't mean he himself knew quite what he was saying.

But suppose the Internet were the Man of Lawlessness. Just as a thought exercise. How does that match up with scriptures? Probably 9 theologians out of 10 would say, "Not at all." And I'd have to grant that they know more about the matter than I do.

So, that being the case, why am I playing with the notion? Because even if it's not true, it's certainly thought-provoking.

And theologians have been wrong before. Jewish theologians, for example, did not and do not accept that Isaiah's reference to a virgin with child had anything to do with a certain Jesus being born of Mary. And Isaiah himself would have been surprised to find that one out. But God knew.

A simpler question: Why am I blogging about this topic today?

Flash back – I blogged a few weeks ago back about why the Internet is so dangerous. Then my Book of Common Prayer readings just a day or two after that blog brought me up against 2 Thessalonians 2, which refers to this mystical Man of Lawlessness. I couldn't help but see the connection, but at the time just let the notion bounce around in my head.

Flash forward – Last night (against my better judgement, I might add...) I went to YouTube with two of my little ones to view a funny clip I knew was there. To find it, I searched for "dog" and, sure as the sun rises in the morning, up popped autocomplete options ranging up through and including bestiality. I'm upset not because I believe YouTube offers actual videos of such things up. Presumably the links went to nothing quite so graphic – though I made it a point not to check! What drives me bonkers is that such horrifyingly sick stuff is on my autocomplete list.

All I wanted to view was the clip of the dog running in his sleep. And I had two youngsters on my lap. So again I find myself bumping up against what this Internet is and what it means for humanity. If the Internet is not the Man of Lawlessness, it's certainly the Land of Lawlessness.

Bestiality? Sure. If you want to.

Lest I start to sound unhinged I'll bring this thought to a close quickly. Well, maybe not that quickly. I did a bit of research on the Man of Lawlessness – and I do mean just a bit. From this passage in 2 Thessalonians the notes in my study Bible sent me directly into Revelations. Oddly enough, I found myself viewing the famous Revelations passage in chapter 14 that indicates that, in the last days, the power to buy and sell being restricted to those who take the mark.

Hmmm. Not that the Internet has anything to do with buying and selling.

Now don't get me wrong. I do have most of my bills handled electronically. I don't even get receipts through the mail on most of them. So it's not that I am calling these things wicked. I love the ease of use, the reduced paper waste and all that. I wouldn't want to go back. But, that said, I'm just taking note of where things are going. Soon there will be only one way to pay for things. And if I get excluded from it for some reason... well, you can draw the dotted lines.

This may truly be the most conspiratorial blog I ever write, but I'll press on to make one last point. the next verses in that passage from Revelation have to do with 666. Yeah, good ole' 666. As I read the passage with the Internet hot in my head, I became suddenly curious if 666 had any link with www – the lovely prefix to web pages.

It does.

I got what I'm about to write from here and this author does not buy into this flight of fancy. But ironically he convinced me that there is a case for such a crazy notion. In short, the Hebrew numbering system assigns the value 6 to the letter vav which itself is the letter often used for the English W. vav-vav-vav... www... 666...

And vav, it turns out, also has the meaning hook in Hebrew. Is the Internet a hook?

Naw... I'm just seeing the face of Jesus in my toast. That's all.

Conspiracy theorist Brian signs off with this note... while searching around, (and again I swear it was all of 30 minutes work) I ran across someone's "sign-off" post.

Some people have poetry. Others have inspirational words. This sign-off quote was as follows:

"The Internet is the last light of truth and hope...it is truly of the people, by the people and for the people. We must not let it be subverted for any purpose other than the truth. And that truth shall spread to every man woman and child across the globe. No longer will those in power carry the sole means to decide for us, yet we now shall have the power to decide to tune them out."

My rejoinder to words like these would be this:

2 Thessalonians 2
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

And, oh by the way, speaking of counterfeit miracles... Life itself is commonly acknowledged as a miracle. We just counterfeited it for the first time. I wonder if Paul had that in mind. The link I provide in this paragraph will no doubt go cold, but it points to an editorial on the dubious wisdom of creating synthetic life, which, as of last week, we can now do.

As the character Malcolm noted in the book Jurassic Park, we asked not whether playing with DNA should be done but simply if it could be done. Anybody who saw the movie should have walked away with a morality lesson on what happens when you do that...

Power

Power. It's a strong word! But I was struck this morning by how Paul uses the word in his prayer for the church of Ephesus.

Ephesians 3:16-21

I pray that out of his glorious riches God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

That's not the kind of power that gets much press these days. Hollywood-style power involves, inevitably, some combination of money, physical strength, and/or control over others. Furthermore, in Hollywood and in our popular imagination power is used to do things. Usually to beat up the bad guys.

Paul is clearly talking about something else. In this passage, power does not enable us to do anything at all. No baddies get wiped out. What kind of power is Paul talking about? Well, I'm not going to win any sleuthing awards here, but just from the text it is clear to see that through this power:

1. Christ dwells in our hearts, and
2. we can grasp how great Christ's love for us is

And... that's it. That's it. That's it for us, that is to say.

But we mustn't miss item #3. By this power which enables Christ to live in us and which enables us to know Christ's love.... by this power which is at work within us:

3. God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

Now the action is beginning to kick in. Here comes the action? Well, not quite. God himself (not us!) is "doing the doing."

So this is a different sort of power. It's not Hollywood power, not military power, not physical prowess, not monetary power... but on the other hand, given how these resources have been squandered and how many evils have been wrought by these means – no wonder God prefers to still be in control of this kind of power. Because this power is his power. Only God can be trusted to wield the power of God.

And therein lies the mystery, because God has chosen to do great things through us. If our deeds and words accomplish more than can be explained in human terms, then indeed it can be said that the power of God was at work within us.

So we face two choices. We can either accomplish nothing of eternal significance, and have the pleasure of pulling off that feat on our own, or we can allow God to include us in on his plans to accomplish immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

As I write these words, I think of the scoffers of this world. Great empires, of course, have been built by godless souls. But these empires are destined for dust. God is building an eternal kingdom, and it is toward this end that all his power is being exerted. Paul's words here cannot be improved upon...

1 Corinthians 3:10-15
Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

God, let your power through me bring glory to yourself. May my work be empowered by you, that the fruits of my labor be deemed worthy of eternity.

Chasing Jesus

Chasing Jesus.

Those two words roll around in my mind and on my tongue like honey.

As soon as I gather my thoughts around those two words, I can almost hear his rustling robes and smell the warm, dusty Mediterranean air. No wonder crowds followed him wherever he went. Life was with him and Life went forth from him. "Stay near that man!" my heart sings.

But then I get on with my preferred activity.

The other day I blogged about Chasing Pharisees. And the truth is, I do it an awful lot. In the blog I dealt mostly with the action of chasing Pharisees. I used to do that pretty regularly, but have wised up a bit on that score in recent years.

The problem is, I still do it in my head all the time. What I no longer indulge with my body and tongue I continue to nurture in my thoughts.

Words fail me as I contemplate how many hours and days of cumulative wasted time I have spent chasing Pharisees in my head. Winning arguments. Pointing out errors. Watching evildoers squirm. Conducting scathing interviews with people who aren't even part of my life anymore.

Chasing Pharisees.

It's a bitter game with a bitter taste – and my spirit becomes bitter within seconds when I indulge the poisonous thought pattern.

Chasing Jesus is so much better. So much better. When I place the two phrases side by side, it is nothing short of amazing that I waste my time entertaining the alternative. I might as well say that chasing death is preferable to chasing Life.

Or I might as well say that I prefer to look backward than to look forward. When I chase Jesus, I am running forward after the one who can give me Life... Life Abundant! When I chase Pharisees, I am returning back to those who by my reckoning have been taking life and poisoning hearts. As a dog returns to vomit... Why would I want to do that?

I don't know. But I do it in my head every day. Not a day goes by when I don't reminisce and re-live a painful experience with someone who hurt me. Once I enter that rabbit hole, it's usually several minutes before I come back out – and it is amazing how much life can get sucked out of me after so short a time. A few minutes of poison can leave me heart-sick for hours.

Chasing Jesus. It's equally amazing how much Life can seep into me when I spend those spare minutes in fellowship with the Lord of Life. I know this because every now and then I get it right – and rapturous joys are indeed available when we turn our eyes upon him and conduct real conversations with the Lover of our Souls and the Lord of our Life. Periodic conversations like that can redeem the whole day.

Chasing Jesus!

And the best thing is?

Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus like to be caught.

Chasing Pharisees

Pharisees.

It's a great label for certain deserving folk... nice and strong.

I like to think I can smell a Pharisee from a long ways off, and I love to name one when I see one.

But... as they say... it takes one to know one. I'm not free of the charge myself. Legalistic? Well, not entirely. Judgemental? Oh, my. Yes, judgemental.

In fact, I'm so judgmental, I chase after Pharisees for the sole purpose of letting them know that they are Pharisees. Problem is, I cannot remember Jesus ever chasing down a Pharisee. They chased him down plenty! But he... I just cannot recall an incident where he went in search of one.

I suppose a few words of caution are in order here. First, it is indeed in the purview of prophets to bring God's (sometimes unpleasant) messages to (sometimes unrepentant) people. Prophets sometimes chase Pharisees.

So when I (or anyone else) play the game of chasing Pharisees, the big question is this: Am I redeeming God's name as a Prophet? Or am I redeeming my own name as a Pharisee?

Redeeming my own name? What do I mean by that? Well, when I'm a Pharisee, I chase people down for two main reasons:

1) To show them how awful they have been to me. If I can do this, my name rises as their name falls.

2) To show them how awful they are as people. If I can do this, my world-view rises as theirs falls.

In either case I'm redeeming something of myself. At their cost.

Now surely it is true that sometimes people have been awful. And sometimes their beliefs and lives are in a terrible state. Granted. But when I go after someone so as to redeem my name or my views, I'm on my business. Not God's. And it always becomes clear that this is so by the way I treat them.

That's not to say that prophets are nice by way of comparison. The difference is that Pharisees leave other people in no doubt of their own judgment. That can be ignored. Prophets leave people in no doubt of God's judgement. That can get you killed, as biblical accounts amply demonstrate.

Another observation on the difference between Prophets and Pharisees: the former risk their lives when they rebuke people, wherease the latter generally prefer to operate from a position of safety. Jesus was always quite safe when the Pharisees were feeling afraid. It is delightful to note, in sharp contrast, that Jesus did not feel (or act) afraid when the Pharisees were feeling safe.

All that to say... Our true motives in moments like these are revealed when something bigger is on the line. A candid personal observation: I note that my inclination to refrain from criticizing someone to their face is directly proportional to that person's ability to make my life miserable.

God, give me a heart to proclaim your name and your business when you call me to do so – whether it's safe or not.

And please grant me the wisdom to know better than to chase down Pharisees for reasons of my own.

One choice...

I was playing H-O-R-S-E (the basketball game) with little Luke a few days ago. I am not even sure he was winning.

Perhaps he was.

In any case, he turned to me at one point and informed me of the following:

"Daddy, you have only one choice remaining: Losing... or Failure."

Basketball aside, I've often suspected that my options in life have been along those lines too.

Choose Your Party Carefully

Ephesians 5:12
For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

Those words have been haunting my thoughts recently. In a recent blog I noted that both Google search toolbar and Google News offer up sexually charged and deviant material even when I've done nothing to ask for them. Why?

I think St. Paul understood perfectly well how both of these phenomena have come to pass, and his insight into the matter exposes exactly why our world is on a downward spiral into debauchery. We have forgotten that it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

The Google folk who provide both services have their excuse ready, of course. "Don't shoot the messenger!" they cry. "We don't pick the stories or the phrases. An automated algorithm decides what to display based upon what stories people are reading and what people are searching for."

This is, of course, quite true. And sexual depravity, moreover, is hardly a recent invention. What I find disturbing, is our collective failure as a society to find an Internet answer to Paul's admonition. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret, but the Pied Pipers of the Internet — the ones leading the way — are the disobedient. The tail wags the dog.

A case in point: how did "average penile length" find its way the top of the list for those typing in the word "average" into google search? I am not certain, but I have a pretty good hunch. It goes like this...

Suppose you have a sample of 100 ordinary people. For argument's sake let's assume that 70 people in this group avoid depravity altogether. Of the remainder, 25 know they shouldn't go there, but can easily be tempted. The last 5 people are consuming sexual depravity on the Internet whenever the opportunity arises. Let's call this last group of people"The Fringe Five" — or TFF for short.

What happens when an Internet search engine tracks the behavior of all 100 people? Inevitably, some of the preferences of TFF will make it onto the bottom of the auto-complete suggestions list. Maybe just barely — the last option on a list of 20. But once those search terms hit the list, even if it's the bottom of the list, a certain respectability is imputed to the behavior of TFF.

Why do I say that? Well, the big shift is that the choices of TFF are no longer hidden and not really stigmatized. What society in the past had the wisdom to shun, the Internet exposes. What wider society used to shame the Internet now allows to be nurtured. Auto-complete lists are value-neutral. 95 other people can now see what TFF are doing on the Internet, and the habits of TFF are simply more options to choose from.

The coup de grâce lies in the fact that the actual lives that make up TFF are hidden from view. Nobody sees who these people are or, critically, how their lives are impacted by their sexual addictions and licentiousness. It's not a pretty sight! But we don't see it. We just see that their sexual interests are now on our auto-complete options when we start to type. And we start to suspect that we're missing out on the fun.

I'm reminded of what I'll call "The Mardis Gras Syndrome" — the fact that women who never lift their shirts elsewhere will perhaps do it in New Orleans during Mardis Gras. Somehow devant group behavior helps individuals abandon their principles, if only for a day. The problem is, of course, that the Internet is one endless Mardis Gras.

Returning to our sample of 100 people, what happens after TFF legitimize a bad search term even just a wee bit? It's safe to say that a few of the swayable 25 souls give in. Yesterday only five fringe people were curious about average penile lengths. Now ten are. The search term makes it higher up the list.

From there it is all downhill. Eventually a pretty boring topic (come on, we have to admit it is...) has become Hit Topic #1 for those looking for information on averages. What was once depraved and shunned gets legitimized first, and celebrated second. All this is accomplished via anonymous mouse-click democracy. One click at a time.

I don't think there is any happy ending to this story. This is a trend which I don't believe will ever be reversed. The evil genie is out of the bottle and I cannot imagine it going back in.

So... is it time to give up hope?

No! St. Paul saw the problem 2,000 years ago, but he also knew the cure. Those who want it can have it any time. You just have to switch party affiliations.

Ephesians 5:15-20
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ... Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We as individuals do not have to join this Mardi Gras parade to the bottom. We can party with God. Needless to say, if we choose the latter, we'll be stigmatized, called prudes, ridiculed, and (worse still!) our search words will not impact the Internet.

Try this, for example... Type life with (and a space after the with) into google search. Derek, Liz and Louie are there. Christ didn't make the list. The Internet apparently is not much aware of the glories of life with Christ.

I have no idea who Derek, Liz and Louie are — and I don't need to.

My life is with Christ. I party with Him.

Is It Worth The Risk? Seriously? Part 3 of 3

(This blog continues from Part 2...)

The Alternative

In Part 2 of this 3-part blog I shared my conviction that we easily fall victim to two Internet addictions which can simply be described as (1) porn entertainment that destroys our souls and (2) non-porn entertainment which threatens to deaden and bury our souls.

We churn through our hectic days (complaining about how busy we are) and then proceed to expend the last gasps of our free time either watching TV or on the Internet trolling through vast mounds of trivia that we never needed to know.

But a lot of us hit those news sites pretty fast and then get back to work. What do I really think we'd gain by not doing that? Is it really so bad to get a quick look at cnn.com?

The apostle Paul used his free moments to pray. I suggest that we use our free minutes to do the same. If you have time to check the latest news (this will only take a second, we reassure ourselves) then we have time to pray. Instead of reading one more pointless piece of news (or, dare I mention it... check in to Facebook to see what changed), why not pray for a friend or family member in need? Or just give God a cheerful hello. God would not be disappointed to hear from us more often. On that point I am pretty confident.

I say this: treat TV like the plague. And as for the Internet? Let us treat the Internet like the research section in a cold library. We go in to get our schoolwork done, but no kid would be caught dead in there on any other occasion. We do what must be done and then leave as fast as our legs can take us... Because we'd rather play (or pray!) in the sun.

My Personal Story: A 2-Step Program

Two years ago (during the great financial meltdown) I found myself refreshing web charts on the plummeting stock markets. As often as every few minutes! Sometimes every few seconds. As Lent of 2009 began to loom large before me, a faint realization dimly lit my fogged mind....

Perhaps an Internet fast would be good for me.

So for Lent I restricted my news intake to "after 3PM central time." This meant that markets would close before my feverish fingers found out what happened that day.

I faithfully abided by the commitment throughout that season of Lent, but it's a fact that I was generally watching the clock and, I kid you not, usually reading market results no more than a few seconds after 3PM. I was desperate to know.

The delerium tremens faded, however, as the weeks of Lent rolled along. By the end of Lent a curious transformation had taken place. I found that I wasn't so sure I wanted to return to my old habits — or, should I say, my old master. Easter came and went. And I continued to hold off on reading the news "until after 3PM."

A year passed... Lent of 2010 began to loom large. "Just for grins," I thought to myself, "I'll reduce myself this Lent to getting the news once a week." Maybe a few minutes of it on Friday or Saturday. And so I did.

I never dreamed that the cycle would repeat.

But it did.

As the weeks of Lent rolled along, I found myself wondering each Friday what exactly it was I wanted to know, now that my moment had come to read the news. And I didn't have a good answer.

Easter came and went, but the pattern held steady. I don't want to return to my old master. I do still use google quite a bit for work purposes, but the Internet is not my source of entertainment anymore. It's far too dangerous a thing to be used so flippantly.

I hope, going forward, to treat Internet news like junk food. Nobody ever said candy bars had anything to do with a healthy diet, but the occasional treat never killed anyone either. That said, when I'm tempted to check the news for no good reason, I ask this simple question: "Isn't now a good time to pray?"

The answer has never failed to be Yes.

Is It Worth The Risk? Seriously? Part 2 of 3

(This blog continues from Part 1...)

Two Reasons Why We Need To Flee The Internet

[Note: by Internet I am referring chiefly to the not-so-humble but ever-so-ubiquitous web browser]

There are two reasons why, as a general rule, we should use the Internet only sparingly — when the Internet and the Internet alone can help us accomplish what would be much more difficult or expensive to accomplish by any other means.

#1 Reason To Flee...

(Surprise, surprise...) It's Sex. I know this is hardly news to anyone with a pulse, but even so I provide two examples from this past week.

Anecdote #1: (Average What?)

I recently blogged that the Average American now watches 37 hours or so of TV each week. I'm happy to report that I first ran across this piece of news on printed media — my weekly news magazine which for some odd reason is still interested in providing real news about real world events and trends. (This is getting more and more rare! Witness the decline of U.S. News, Time and Newsweek... But I digress...)

But the number was so amazing... Really? 35 hours a week? Five hours a day??? So I went to a google shortcut and typed exactly this much...

"average

And as soon as I typed a space key....

The first auto-complete options started to render...

Number one choice? "average penile length"

A curious child might end up in a very strange place if they had gone with that first hit. Not a few adults might end up there too. I was tempted to go myself. So... just out of curiosity... what is the answer?

But I don't need to know that!!! And it's not the question I had set out to answer!!!!

But now that you mention it... what is the answer? I think I know what the answer was! But the answer I have in mind is from years ago. Perhaps since then it has changed? Just one click to find out!

Anecdote #2: (Have You Heard The Latest On...?)

I spoke with a work acquaintance today. He lives in Franklin, TN. We chatted about the recent flooding in Nashville, and after we hung up I decided to hit Google News and check up on that Nashville flooding and the oil spill in the gulf. The news I sought was right there at the top. Nashville water and Gulf oil. Top two articles. Perfect!!

But, oh look! There is another option right next to them! Fox on Sex: The Allure of Vibrating Panties. A shimmering blue hyperlink, just waiting for me to click....

(Isn't it appropriate that hyperlinks often start out in crisp and bright blue but then turn to a much more murky and muddy color after you click on them? It's hard to get the blue back. Kinda like what happens to your soul. But I digress...)

In light of these two anecdotes, I ask this simple question: Is my weird little parable from Part 1 of this blog (the story about The Perfect Bookstore) really very far off from the world we live in now?

I submit this answer: Not at all. Not at all.

Would we send our children into The Perfect Bookstore to buy us the newspaper? NO!! Do I feel safe leaving my child alone with Google News? NO!!

But never mind the kids. What about us? We mock the folly of allowing young teens of the opposite sex to spend time alone together in remote places. Then while we're alone we hit the Internet, looking for something interesting to read. Is that any wiser?

Curiosity and a yearning for hidden knowledge is what got humanity into the mess we're in! And now a it's a national hobby to troll through web pages littered with links-of-knowledge carefully designed to tempt the curious.

So... some risks are worth taking. What is our reward for exposing ourselves to such a barrage of temptations? What is our reward for surfing the Internet? If we're lucky, our reward is nothing more than a generous dose of whacked out news that we didn't need to read in the first place.

Oh! Did I touch a soft spot? Was someone thinking the Internet posed no dangers to those who avoid the smut? Not at all. Not at all. As the old saying goes, "If the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy." The Internet can keep us busy for the rest of our lives. Facebook could do most of the job all by itself.

#2 Reason To Flee...

Reason #2 is Idle Entertainment. (And you thought IE stood for Internet Explorer!) We must flee this trap with no less urgency than we are to flee sexual temptation. And since Internet news and random surfing is a heck of a lot more respectable than porn, our growing addiction to it is widely undiagnosed. Internet news and Facebook, my friends, can be as addicting as sex. Well... close, anyway.

Think I'm exaggerating? Well then! Give them both up for two month and tell me about your experience when you're done. Not keen to try? (The psychiatrist on the sofa begins scribbling down notes furiously...)

(This blog continues with part 3...)

Is It Worth The Risk? Seriously? Part 1 of 3

The Situation

Suppose you needed to buy a book. Suppose you could find it, with effort, after a few days of hard work. As in, 16 hours of work driving around looking for it in various libraries, and that only to borrow it... or perhaps find it already checked out. For whatever reason, this book simply cannot be found on the Internet. You have to get it in person. So you can drive and drive... or...

You can buy that book at The Perfect Bookstore. Where the Internet fails, this store comes through. They always have every book. You have never left that store disappointed. Never. Ever. And — get this! — it's just a few blocks from your house. And the prices are cheap!! Way cheap. Do you search somewhere else? Or do you get your book at The Perfect Bookstore?

Um... the latter, of course! That bookstore sounds awesome!

But wait.

Suppose you knew that this store didn't just have books. It also carried explosive devices. Loaded and lethal explosive devices.

[Yes, this story is getting a little weird, but just humor me and don't ask too many questions...]

Now these explosive devices that I speak of are only on display in certain aisles. So if you're really careful you can just get your book, get through checkout, and beat a hasty retreat from the store. Do you still get your book at The Perfect Bookstore?

Um.... I suppose.... but I won't bring the kids into the store with me!

But wait.

Suppose that this store places magnets in these aisles. You can literally get sucked into them if you enter the store with a lot of metallic stuff on your person. Do you still get your book at The Perfect Bookstore?

Um.... I guess.... but I won't bring the kids and I'll also be sure to empty my pockets and remove my watch before entering the store. I do need that book, after all! You said I really needed that book, right? With care I can accomplish in a couple of minutes what takes several days of work to do elsewhere!!!

But wait.

Suppose that this store requires that you put on a full metal suit at the door before you enter the store. Some sort of anti-theft mandate. Really weird... but those are the rules. But... this is a store with magnetized aisles full of deadly explosives! Do you still get your book at The Perfect Bookstore?

Um.... Maybe not. Not without suction cups attached to my feet. Can I anchor myself to the doors with rope? How important is this book, anyway?

Well I'll stop the silly story here and get to the point.

I hinted at the outset that this bookstore was even better than the Internet. In fact, ladies and gentlemen, The Perfect Bookstore IS the Internet. Those metal suits? Our fleshly bodies.

...And I don't think I need to explain to anyone what sorts of flesh-oriented-magnets can be found in the dangerous aisles of the Internet.

Happy shopping!

(This blog continues with Part 2)