Zach’s Theological Musings

  After making a number of good observations on the matter, The Common Loon asks:

“Is there something about Reformed theology that is inherently complementarian…?“

It is a fabulous question that I wished got asked more often. The answer from this Reformed Complementarian is YES! Yes, in a very direct, powerful, beautiful, poetic, and profound way.

  To see why, try this experiment. Look squarely at the relationship between God/Christ and His people from the Reformed (i.e. Biblical) perspective. Now tilt your head 90 degrees so that the vertical axis transforms into a horizontal one and spiritual dimensions get projected down into earthly/physical ones. Now, with your neck thus bent, Rev 19 overlaps with Gen 2 (passing through 1 Cor 11 and Eph 5 on the way), the shadow of God/Jesus’ initiatory/leading role in the “divine romance” is taken up by a husband, and the particular submissiveness which adorns the church is embodied in a wife. I would argue that what you are looking at is precisely complementarianism—Calvinism turned horizontal.

  Someone who is called a Calvinist will look at someone who is called Arminian and say, “You are ascribing roles, duties, and responsibilities to humanity which are only fit, right, proper, and/or possible for God.” Now make the following replacements in the previous sentence:
Calvinist –> Complementarian
Arminian –> Egalitarian
Humanity –> Woman
God –> Man
In other words, the “Calvinistic” doctrines of grace are not merely connected or related to complementarianism via third-party doctrines and convictions, but the two are in fact one doctrine, in its ultimate/spiritual and allegorical/typological/physical presentations, respectively.

  One the modern American evangelical scene, I would probably be considered a hyper-complementarian in that, ideally, I highly favor a system of godly arranged marriages even above the current conservative fad of “courtship”. The Biblical picture of a bride that is “effectually” chosen and called by the masculine component of society, who is “wooed” by her husband after betrothal and matrimony, makes the Reformed-complementarian link that much more clear and stark to me.

  (On a related note, the qualities that make a husband’s heart flitter for his wife are precisely what God is working to bring about in His bride as well (1 Peter 3:2-6). I have often emphasized this point when writing of a yearning for revival.)

  I have not set out to “prove” or even “defend” Reformed or complemenentarian theology in this post; God willing I will do more of that at another time. But I hope to at least have shown a theologically coherency that makes it not at all surprising that the two commonly (though not universally) go together.

  In a recent post I mentioned an observation that people who have a dishonoring attitude toward their parents often take on, in some sense or another, a “surrogate parent” (or “parents”) to fill the void. As an addendum, I would like to warn against a particularly subtle, deceptive, and destructive way this can happen: when God is put in the position of “replacement parent”.

  Now, make no mistake about it, God definitely is the ultimate, true Father of all who have received and believed in His Son Jesus Christ (John 1:12). But that is just as true for those who have a great relationship with their biological parents as it is for those who have a sour relationship with them. His role as true, eternal Father does not replace the role and respect due to the physical, earthly mother and father He ordained to give to each of us. Receiving His Heavenly Fatherhood only intensifies, rather than diminishes, our responsibility to honor our earthly parents in ways pleasing to Him.

 And [Jesus] said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

   “‘This people honors me with their lips,
   but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me,
   teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”‘ (that is, given to God)—then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (Mark 7:6-13)

  I think Americans have a hard time wrapping their heads around the above passage. Did Jesus really scold people for “giving money to God” (we could say, “giving to the Lord’s cause”) rather than to their parents? Yes, that is my understanding of this passage. But doesn’t Jesus command us to hate our “own father and mother…” compared to our love and devotion to Him? Yes, absolutely. I will be the first to acknowledge and proclaim that fidelity to God trumps everything else in life (Matt 10:34-39). So if God wanted you to give your money to the temple rather than your parents, then by all means that is what you must and should do. But that’s not the way He wants it. The way He wants us to honor and obey HIM is through honoring our parents, which includes providing for them in their old age. If you wrap a pious explanation around sinful disobedience to God’s command, it remains just as repulsive, in fact more so; not only is your heart far from the Lord, but you have “covered over your tracks” by honoring Him with your lips. This kind of hypocrisy made Jesus quite angry.

  Just as then, so now, the “traditions of men” (e.g. pop-evangelical psychology) reject and make void the commandments of God whenever we (explicitly or implicitly) tell people that it is OK to dishonor their parents because God is now their real Father.

  Christian citizens submit to human governments because God the Great King commands them to. Christian wives submit to their husbands because Christ the Forever Bridegroom commands them to.  Christian children (including adult, grown children!) honor their parents because the Father commands them to. The Lord’s Kingship, Husbandship, and Fatherhood do not undermine our human-to-human responsibilities. Indeed, because I have a Benevolent King I can deal with the wickedness of human leaders, because a woman is so deeply known and pursued by the Lover of her soul she can live with her husband’s shallowness, because our Father in Heaven raises and cares for us in all the right ways we can accept the fact that our parents didn’t.

  When we are not fully satisfied in God, all human relationships go awry because we will inevitably try to extract the infinite satisfaction we were designed for from finite beings. When we are fully satisified in God, then no one can disappoint us because we need nothing from them, the only “need” we have is spread the love, forgiveness, understanding, mercy, grace, and kindness that overflows from us in abundance (Rom 13:8). The image of a “God-shaped vacuum” appears to have come from the following quote by Blaise Pascal:

What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself. [Pascal, Pensees #425]

Our fallen, sinful parents leave a “Father-shaped vacuum” in each of our hearts. When God fills that vacuum we are not freed from the obligation to honor our parents, we are freed to honor them fully, from the heart, regardless of circumstances and without expecting anything in return.

  Ephesians 6:2:

“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

  Deuteronomy 5:16:

Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

  Deuteronomy 27:16:

‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

  Note, in particular, that these promises and threats are issued within the context of the covenant community of God’s people. I find strikingly recurrent “quality of life” patterns in two distinct classes of Christians whom I know well enough to discern such things in.

  Camp A are those who speak with a certain bitterness, resentment, and/or ingratitude towards their parents—that is, if they speak of them at all; you can be friends with someone in this camp for several years and never hear them mention their parents because they prefer not to talk (or think) about them. People I know in “Camp A” generally have most or all of the following traits in their life:

1. Recurring attempts or thoughts of suicide, or at least a general “wish I was dead” mental/emotional state. Ongoing (not just temporary) depression.
2. Often there are “replacement parental figures” who take the place in the person’s affections that rightfully belongs to the parents who bore and raised them. (Yes, issues of adoption and such may complicate things here. But probably the best response, in the spirit of God’s command, is simply that a special, irreplaceable place of honor should be given in your heart to EACH of the people who played a parental role in your life: biological parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, AND spiritual parents, not just one or the other.)
3. Continual, seemingly unresolvable conflict and strife in certain (generally family) relationships. This is significantly more intense than the occasional, resolvable conflicts that those in “Camp B” face.
4. Continual, seemingly unconquerable sin, temptation, and suffering issues. Again, while those in “Camp B” obviously also face sin, temptation, and suffering, there is a marked distinction in the way that these issues seem to dominate the lives of people in “Camp A”.

  Camp B are those from whom you hear a generous, honoring attitude towards parents. Their parents certainly weren’t perfect; people I know in this camp include children from divorced and unbelieving households. Nevertheless, those in “Camp B” long for any faults and sins their parents might have to be made whole in Christ more than they long for “justice” to be served. They don’t make much of any wrongs they may have suffered from their parents, but rather embrace their parents with the unrelenting love and forgiveness that they themselves have received in Christ. As mentioned above, while those in “Camp B” certainly have bouts of depression, conflict and strife, and while they certainly face even prolonged temptation and suffering issues, these things do not dominate their spiritual joy and quality of life in Christ in the way that those in “Camp A” are dominated.

  In summary, the clearest distinction I can make is that the lives of those in “Camp B” exude a certain powerful shalom (peace) that is absent from “Camp A”.

  These distinctions can also be made within different periods of the life of a single individual. I can personally testify to periods of parental-dishonor in my heart during which I suffered the devoid-of-peace curses described above even when times were “good”, and periods of parental-honor in my heart during which I experienced persevering shalom even when times were “bad”.

  Yes, of course I know what pagan pop-psychology would say: “These `Camp A’ people were abused and neglected by their parents, so it is no wonder if they are screwed up and bitter about it.” But far more than even any experiential evidence I could offer, I would remind brothers and sisters in Christ to accept the diagnosis direct from God’s word: You may have suffered the most horrifically unspeakable things at the hands of, or under the closed eyes of, your parents, but the spiritual havoc you wreak in your own life, closing doors to blessing and opening doors to cursedness, by failing to honor your parents from the heart as God wants you to, is worse that what anyone else did do, or could do, to you!

  Thus this post is not merely meant as a descriptive analysis, but rather a plea: Receive the blessing that God has promised! There is a level of peace and joy in life available far beyond what you have experienced even as a professing Christian. I am not saying that there is a state of having something “more than Christ” in the Christian life. Rather, I am saying that “Camp B” is part and parcel of the normal Christian life, but that by choosing to live in violation of God’s command (Camp A) you have blocked yourself from fully experiencing the true blessed life in Christ. Repent! And receive the blessing! From someone who has spent time in both camps, I say PLEASE put away ALL bitterness and seek a heart of genuine honor toward your parents, and see if God isn’t faithful to His promise!!!!

  For more on this, see the very first entry posted to this blog: Honor Your Parents.

  Scripture, hands down!

  As an illustration, consider that most of the Bible’s explicit teaching on marriage, at least in the New Testament, comes from single men: Jesus and Paul. OK, Jesus is the perfectly wise, all-knowing Logos of God through whom everything was created, so of course He has full authority on every subject. So consider Paul with me for a moment.

  There is general consensus from passages such as 1 Cor 9 that the apostle Paul never married. This is the same Paul who wrote such passages as the cornerstone of a Biblical perspective on marriage: Ephesians 5:22-33. If perhaps Paul was married earlier in life, lost his wife to death, and was a widower during his Christian and apostolic years, I’ll still stand by my point. Paul’s teaching on marriage is an illustration of my point, not the proof of it.

  Regardless of personal experience, Paul knew his Lord intimately, he knew the Jewish Scriptures, and he knew the fulfillment of those Scriptures in Christ. Boom, that’s a recipe for being an expert on marriage in my book. Say on the other hand we have a couple that have been married for 80 years, have stayed together, and would even claim a mostly “happy marriage”, but they don’t have a clue what their marriage has to do with Christ. Well, there may be a thing or two worth hearing and considering from their experience, but I’d rather listen to the single guy who knows his Bible deeply any day.

  Experiencial wisdom is valuable if our experiences have forced us to dig harder and deeper into God’s word for answers and direction and understanding on issues we are confronting. But years of experience gained through a pagan, secular, humanistic, godless lens either needs to be redeemed by filtering all of it back through the grid of Scripture, or else thrown out in the rubbish bin.

  The area of application which has prompted me to write this post is that of evangelism and discipleship strategies targeting specific sub-cultures. In particular, I’ve been compiling some articles for missionaries to Muslims lately, and certain ideas and issues repeatedly come up. Now, let me first say that any talk about “targeting” certain groups, about “strategy“, and about “effectiveness” makes me feel edgy at the outset. That aside, the question relevant to us now is: should ministry approaches be guided by insider believers within the “target” sub-culture or by outsiders who have crossed cultural boundaries to reach out to them?

  Well, first I would want to stake a claim that insiders and outsiders both have unique advantages when it comes to understanding a cultural group and their needs. Insiders of course have years of experience, understanding on a deep level many nuances of their culture that outsiders will never fully appreciate. However, what is less often noted is that outsiders bring some crucial advantages of their own. In particular, they see the new culture with fresh eyes and probably in many ways without certain biases that insiders have. Just as each one of us individually finds it easier to see others’ sins while downplaying our own, cultural insiders often have blind spots to their own group’s weakness and faults (or conversely can even be overly critical and not aware of their own strengths).

  On that note, let me mention that I promote much more intercultural accountability in the church. We need not just white evangelical American men holding white evangelical American men accountable to God’s word, and not just mainland Han Chinese holding mainland Han Chinese accountable, etc., etc., but we need Christ’s church in Korea to keep the American church in check, the Americans to keep the Nepalese in check, the Nepalese believers to keep the Syrian church in check, and the church of Syria to hold the Ugandan saints accountable, and the church of Uganda to expose the oversights of the Koreans.

  For example, by and large I’ve seen that most American Christians don’t feel a sense of utter shock and horror to hear about a congregation spending millions of dollars to add an extension on to their already overly spacious under-used building structure, but bring in a visiting pastor from a poor African country where there is one Bible per congregation and people struggle to have enough to eat and the abomination of it all is unmistakable. Or again, by and large I’ve found that ethnic Chinese Singaporean and Malaysian Christians don’t find it utterly unthinkable to hear that a church would actually prohibit distribution of Bibles in the Malay language for fear of being known as a church that is trying to reach Muslims, whereas any outsider can clearly see the appalling hypocrisy.

  So then, if insiders and outsiders both have advantages, who is ultimately more qualified to judge what a people group or sub-culture needs and what is best for them? I would argue that, on any particular given issue, it is the one — insider or out — who has the most Biblically-saturated perspective on that particular issue. The crucial qualifiers here are that it can vary on a case-by-case basis for different issues. An insider can have profound Biblical insight into his own culture in one area and glaring worldly blindspots in another area. An outsider can have penetrating Biblical exhortations for a foreign culture in one area, and shallow, naive, humanistic wisdom in other areas.

  Who’s to decide which is what? In the end we must each make a choice as to what we believe to be right and act on it, and let others do the same. Each one to his own master must stand or fall (Rom 14:4). In the process, at least as for me I will continue to judge the validity of ideas not on the experiences of the one promoting them, but ruthlessly and solely based on fidelity to Scripture. When I’m 80 years old and have been married for 50 of those years (God willing) and a single 20-year old young man comes to me and says, “I’ve got something I think you need to see about marriage from the Bible,” O Lord that I would listen to him carefully. When an Asian believer comes to me and says, “Can I talk to you from the perspective of God’s word about some blindspots in the culture you spent your entire life growing up in?”, I hope that I would genuinely say, “Please do!” And I pray my brothers and sisters would do the same.

  For the last few weeks, on and off, I have hung a banner from my car in the parking lot of my workplace with this image (click for better resolution):

together with a magnetic car door sign which simply reads, “Men are the Problem, menaretheproblem.info.” To make a long story short, some people complained, the property management got upset and threatened my company that they were in violation of their tenancy agreement unless they made me stop. On Monday October 27, 2008, I was fired.

  Now, it seems that whenever I do something that is considered slightly controversial amongst Christians, like hang a banner displaying the plain reality of abortion from my car or pass our Bibles to Muslims (don’t ask me to explain how the question of whether or not to pass out Bibles can be a controversy in the church !!!???!!!, or how it can even be a question at all !!!???!!!) that there are certain recurring questions and remarks to be addressed. So here is my first edition of an activism FAQ. There is a particular focus on this recent incident with the banner at work, but many of the principles also have wider applicability. Many of these are questions or remarks I’ve heard first hand, some I have heard second hand, and some are questions that I’ve asked myself.1) “Hmm, well Zach. I do appreciate the fact that your heart is open to do something about this issue [whatever it is], but are you sure this is the best way?”  Nope! I’m not sure it is the best way. But I’m pretty sure that it is a good way! Or at the very least an acceptable way! There is a saying out there that, “The good is the greatest enemy of the best,” that is, we never reach the best because we settle for the good. But I’ve found that mixing that adage up is much more relevant to my life, and perhaps yours. My modified saying is, “The best is the greatest enemy of the good.” That is, as long as I keep searching for the best way to do something, I never find it, because every path has its list of disadvantages. Pursuing the best, I end up doing nothing. Better to do the good thing, than to do nothing while on the endless quest to find the best! See also this post.2) “Um, wow. That’s an, um, interesting thing that you did. I’m not sure how to respond.”

  Here is what I think is some Biblical advice for the person in such a situation. You’ve got two choices. If you’ve gathered enough information to adequately understand the situation, and you think that what I’ve done is sinful, then by all means you must rebuke me (Matthew 18:15ff). If not, if what I’ve done appears to be within acceptable parameters for a disciple of Christ, then I think that Biblically you are called to encourage me (1 Thes 5:11) as we continue to spur one another on towards love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24). Certainly, such encouragement can take the form of constructive suggestion, “Hey, did you think about trying this… ?” But of all of the “one another” statements in the New Testament, I don’t see any that say, “Heap discouragement on one another.” Either rebuke the sin, or encourage the fainthearted (1 Thes 5:14). And yes, I do get fainthearted; I probably loathe conflict more than most people, and yet the Lord keeps putting in me a compelling drive to step out in ways that inevitably bring conflict. It’s hard.  And this isn’t just about me. Let’s all try to stop discouraging each other. One person loves to share Christ in the context of relationships and another loves going door to door. Praise the Lord for both of them, don’t attack each other! One person wants more prayer meetings and another one wants more Bible study. They are both right! Any desire within the church to turn off the tube and devote oneself to holy endeavors of eternal value should be cultivated rather than squelched. To anyone I have discouraged in their simple quest to love and please the Lord, I’m sorry; I’m seeking to turn away from that and be an encourager of all things good.

3) “What’s all this focus on abortion? Have you abandoned your passion for missions?”

  I still think the greatest need, and what I would like to do more than anything, is the public preaching of the gospel in so-called closed countries. Please pray that God would fill me with His Spirit to empower me for that ministry. I tried standing up on street corners and speaking out a few times in China. Words of conviction and power just don’t seem to come to my lips when I try public speaking. I must say that I just don’t feel the Holy Spirit is in it. Now, when I give a talk on an issue that I’ve written five papers about and spent ten years thinking about, I can by God’s grace give a good empassioned talk. I hope and pray that through writing the Lord will solidify things in my heart and mind which I can then speak about more effectively.

  But I digress. Abortion? Ya, it is quite important too. In fact, I can’t begin to tell you the numerous ways I see the issues as utterly interrelated. Well yes, I can at least begin to do it. See this post and this one. Consider also the non-compartmentalization of God. It seems to me in the Old Testament that if a Hebrew cheated with unbalanced weights and measures in the marketplace (see Deut 25:13-16), then as an “abomination” in the eyes of the Lord, he would have no reason to expect victory out on the battlefield (compare Joshua 7). If I harden my heart to a wicked and unjust atrocity of such magnificent proportions in my own country (and elsewhere) as abortion, how can I go make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that Jesus has commanded us? Again, the Great Commission isn’t to rake in millions of prayer cards signed by professed converts who don’t really even know Him, it is to make disciples.

4) “Have you thought about your family and especially your kids?”

  Ya, I’ve thought a lot about my family. I’ve thought about my family through the perspective of the German kids who were raised by parents who didn’t really support the Holocaust, but who thought that standing up against the actions of the Nazi regime would be too costly. I’ve thought about my family through the perspective of those kids, now grown, whom I’ve heard say, “I can’t believe my parents stood by and let that happen.”

  As a father I have a responsibility to protect my kids. And some dangers are greater than others. I might let my son fall out of his chair and get a small bump if he insists on ignoring my instruction to sit down on his bum. But I won’t let him “learn the hard way” with a chainsaw. The greatest danger facing all of humanity is eternal hellfire for rejecting God and the salvation offered through His Son Jesus Christ. Unrepentant cowardice is one way that we demonstrate that we have never come to know Jesus or had our name written in His book of life (Rev 21:8), because those who do come to Him receive a Spirit not of timidity but of power (2 Tim 1:7). My greatest responsibility then, to the two little boys who imitate just about anything I do and say is to model for them godliness and faith, rather than fear of man and unbelief.

  When my friend Rick and I were facing the threat of a 2-5 year jail sentence for proselytization in Malaysia, our main interrogator Sergeant Ibrahim repeatedly said to Rick things like, “You are a bad father. You did this and got yourself in trouble while you have a little daughter at home.” In speaking this way, Sergeant Ibrahim was the very mouthpiece of Satan for discouragement to Rick. Little Esther (and now Sarah as well) are very blessed to have a father who loves Jesus as much as Rick does. The best love and care and protection he can give them is to show them how to live for Jesus. Second to my own dad who loves me dearly and was instrumental in leading me to Christ following his own conversion, second to him Rick is (at least tied for) the father I respect the most.

5) “But what about providing stability for your wife?”

  Let me tell you about a woman I know, let’s call her Lisa. Lisa is a preacher’s wife. Lisa’s husband has preached solid Biblical truth from the pulpit for many years. He has emphasized that our thinking must be shaped by the Bible. He has repeatedly said he wants his church to “not merely be a church with Bibles, but rather a Biblical church.” Then one day someone comes along and says, “Hey, here are 1000 free copies of the gospel of Luke in the language of the local Muslim people of this area. Let’s distribute them to people in this church to give to their Muslim friends.”

  Seems like a no-brainer, right? But for a church in this area to be known as actively evangelizing Muslims would bring some consequences. People could lose jobs, the government could take away the expensive church property, and Lisa and her husband who are actually citizens of a different country could be deported. In the end, Lisa’s husband goes along with the decision of his elder board not only to refrain from distributing these Bibles but actually to prohibit the distribution of Bibles in the Muslim language on church grounds. Lisa’s husband has flipped from wanting to shepherd a congregation that seeks “not merely be a church with Bibles, but rather a Biblical church,” into leading a church that outlaws Bibles because the consequences of having them around are deemed too costly. Lisa and her husband get to keep their house and keep their jobs, simply by throwing away everything that her husband has claimed to stand for for decades.

  I feel sad for Lisa. I don’t want to do that to my wife. I want to provide her the stability of knowing that through loss of job, loss of freedom, loss of house, loss of money, loss of property, and loss of life, not only will I never leave her nor forsake her, but I will also always strive to uncompromisingly keep our family on the one solid and stable rock that can endure any tsunami (Matthew 7:24-27).

6) “What crazy thing are you going to do next?”

  I’ve found that the Lord doesn’t open my eyes to step 2 until I’ve taken step 1. So I try to be faithful in the little things, and hope that He will entrust me with greater things. See also the answer to question 1 above. Whatever it is, may it not be “crazy” except in the sense of being “crazy for Jesus, His kingdom, and His righteousness.”

7) “If you end up in jail in some country for doing whatever it is, how do you want people to pray for you?”

  Pray through Philippians 1.

8) “How would you encourage others to act in light of the overwhelming atrocity of ongoing slaughter in this country?”

  If you have an idea of your own, that fits the way God has made you and is within Biblical parameters, then by all means I want to encourage you to do that which is on your heart.

  Ultimately I think the only hope and only answer to the abortion problem is prayer (Luke 18:1-8). But note, the cited parable doesn’t speak of the Lord being moved by a half-hearted word of prayer. Rather it says that He will not delay to bring about justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night. I believe that a movement of empassioned prayer will only happen in tandem with a movement of empassioned living. If the Spirit prompts us with ideas of, “Hey I could hang a banner from my car,” or whatever, and if we quench Him, then we will be quenching the Spirit of prayer. See again this post.

  If you really feel you “should do something” about this issue, and really don’t know what, I’d be glad to talk you through it. I do have some ideas myself, but even better if in talking I could help draw out some ideas that suit how God has made you.

9) “What drives your concern about abortion? Are you concerned more about the babies, or the mothers, or your own reputation, or what?”

  There is concern for the babies. If you haven’t already, definitely watch The Silent Scream in which an ultrasound recorded the actual images inside the womb as an abortion was happening. This movie is in some ways even more moving than the graphic movies of baby hands and feet being removed from the uterus after he has already been dismembered, because in the Silent Scream you actually see the terrified baby in the supposed safe, warm haven of his mother’s womb, sensing that he is in trouble as the baby vacuum starts poking around. You can almost hear him screaming, “Help me, help me, I’m in trouble, momma, dadda, can you help me? I’m scared!” But of course momma and dadda don’t come to help because they are the ones who paid to have him torn to pieces. So even though the baby is in some ways blessed to be spared from having to live a long life in this evil fallen world (Isa 57:1-2), you still have to have compassion for such a defenseless one to face such a traumatic experience.

  There is pastoral concern for the mothers, too. Hopefully they will find repentance, restoration, forgiveness, and spiritual and even physical healing. Even still, the saddness of such a terrible choice will be hard to break free from in this life.

  And I have a particular concern for the party that is all too neglected in discussions about abortion — the fathers. It is one of the most pathetic and disgusting things imaginable to see true manhood disappearing in a landscape of immature boys who care more about “getting laid” (and football) than things like honor, valor, and responsibility. Seeing selfish boys of any age turn in to real men is always a refreshing and inspiring experience.

  But more so than any of these I’d say my concern is for Christians. If I hang such a banner from my car, I’m more hoping to move the hearts of pro-lifers than pro-choicers. What? Yep. Really, what I want more than anything else is to remove any barriers to a passionate relationship between Christ and His church. And the ongoing hardening of our hearts is just such a major barrier. See again this post.

10) “Why did you sign the end of your prayer letter with `Zach, on behalf of my wonderfully supportive wife, and our two martyr-for-Jesus-in-training sons’?”

  Well, I’m Zach, my wife really has been wonderfully supportive during this and the one or two other “controversial” deeds of activism I have engaged in since we’ve been married, and oh, the bit about our sons being in training for martyrdom for Jesus? I can’t say I have a well formulated curriculum at this point, but basically that is just another way of saying I want them to be Christians. Because I’m sure you realize that Bonhoeffer was Biblically spot on when he said, “When Christ calls a man, he calls him to come and die.” Martyrs-for-Jesus-in-training are the only kind of Christians I see in the Bible.

11) “Perhaps you are being rebellious against authority [the government, or the employer as the case may be].”

  That certainly is a valid issue. The extent to which God expects us to submit to human authority structures even when those people are sinful, wicked, unbelieving, Christian persecuting pagans, is astounding. David knew that Saul had departed from the way of the Lord, but refused to lift a finger to harm the king whom he called “the Lord’s Anointed.” David even killed the messenger who came to tell him of Saul’s demise. All this despite the fact that Saul had spent years on a rabid mission to destroy David (1 and 2 Samuel). Slaves are taught to obey masters who mercilessly beat them (1 Peter 2), and wives are taught to submit to unbelieving husbands “in the same way” (1 Peter 3). Christians of all stripes are commanded to submit to the very governments that persecute them (1 Peter 1, Romans 13). Remarkable.

  Ultimately the reason, I believe, is that human authority is a shadow of the One True Authority over all heaven and earth. Just as Saul, having been anointed as king, was a shadow of the Anointed One (i.e. the Messiah = Christ). As much as a king, or a husband, or a master, or a parent might fail to live a life of godliness, they still hold the “office” which is a shadow of the true King, Husband, Master, and Father of all.

  But at the same time, we are clearly taught to obey God rather than men (Acts 4) and to fear God rather than men (Matthew 10:17-28). We are also called to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather to expose them (Eph 5:11). When Esther dared to approach King Xerxes she said, “If [I and my people] had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king [emphasis added]” (Esther 7:4b). Causing annoyance to the king, or the president, or the master, or the boss, or the husband, or the parent, or the church elder whose authority you are under is no small thing at all. And yet, when people are in fact being given over to slaughter, destruction, and annihilation (Esther 7:4a) it is not only commensurate but in fact incumbent upon the people of God to somehow intervene (Prov 24:11-12).

  When it comes to these sorts of things, there is nothing that I struggle with more than seeking to know how to respect and be submissive towards authority while at the same time realizing that to completely satisfy the authority would require exalting their wishes and desires about God’s priorities. I agonize for days and weeks and months over such things. I would be delighted to receive a clear and unmistakable prophetic word from the Lord saying, “Do this, don’t do that.” But until that comes, I’m accountable to make the best decisions I can in light of His revealed word with dependence on His Spirit through prayer.

  Do I come out with exactly the right balance on these issues? Probably not. Before this most recent banner at work experience there was something else I had tried, and after a conversation with my boss one time I had to go back to him and apologize for not speaking respectfully. He said he didn’t think I was disrespectful but I knew that by the standard I’d seen in Scripture I was. Of course, I later went on to do some things he didn’t like. But I sought harder to be respectful in the process. So I make mistakes, repent, persevere, keep learning, and move ahead.

  So yes, perhaps I have been rebellious against authority in this or that situation, and to the extent that it is so may the Lord bring correction. But before jumping to such conclusions or lightly throwing around such accusations, please realize that there are agonizingly difficult issues in the balance here.

12) “Why do this at the workplace? It’s not like you work for a company that makes baby vacuums or anything like that. If you are going to protest, why not do it outside of Planned Parenthood?”

  First of all, it is not either/or. Protesting outside of an abortion clinic is certainly commendable and I have done so in the past.

  But I was specifically compelled to take action at the workplace primarily because, after my home, that is where I was spending the most of my time each week. I believe that with proximity (be it geographical, relational, etc.) comes responsibility. Let’s talk about evangelism for a minute. It is good and commendable if you wish to share a brief word about Christ to the cashier at the checkout counter or the person riding in the elevator with you. I almost never do that, unless they happen to say something that gives me opportunity to simply speak my thoughts about the Lord. But as for somebody you spend gobs of time with, isn’t it all the more reasonable that they should know what you believe? [And yes I have spoken about Christ with people in the workplace, especially how He is foreshadowed in the Old Testament (a subject I’m particulary interested in), more than I have spoken with workmates about abortion.] So the more time you spend with people, the more it tears you up inside if you haven’t talked with them about the matters you know to be most important.

  Also, bringing the issue of abortion into the “average everyday workplace” is precisely my intended target. One of the big reasons atrocities such as the slaughter of American lives on the order of a 9/11 tragedy every single are allowed to continue, is because we who know the truth allow society to define the categories and parameters in which the “issue” is addressed. We allow society to stick it with the label “political and/or religious issue” and then we go along with the reasoning that the workplace is not the appropriate context for dialogue on religious and political issue. Ladies and gentlemen, this is more than a religious or political issue. Although I certainly support Colorado’s “Personhood Amendment” 48, I find it offensive that alongside being asked whether I want to reduce tax subsidies to energy companies, I am also asked to register my “personal opinion” on whether a small defenseless person should be acknowledged as a person or whether we should be allowed to chop him up into pieces and suck the pieces out with a vacuum. This is more than a “ballot issue.”

  When there is a national tragedy, even “business workplaces” show enough respect to lower the flag to half mast. Flags should be lowered for respect, rememberance, and shame over the fallen every single day in this country, and short of that happening, I believe that making my own show (in the workplace parking lot) of respect for the dead is entirely appropriate, and if anything it is probably far too little.

13) “OK, but if you want to speak out in the workplace, why a banner on your car?”

  Why not?

  Actually, I did try a few other things before I had the banner idea. I did talk about the issue with the coworkers I knew best [of course, not charging such time to my record of working hours]. The boss said that if the issue came up, it was OK to discuss, but if I tried going from person to person or office to office with such an agenda that I would be canned. I passed out fliers in front of the workplace for about 10 minutes before property management came down on me. I talked with the boss about having an informal, off hours, voluntary forum in which to invite fellow coworkers, and he was actually OK with the idea, but the rest of the management team nixed the idea. The lines kept getting pushed back further and further. Eventually I came up with the idea of a banner on my car, figuring that what I did with my own car in the parking lot outside of the workplace was my own business. And again, to his credit, the boss was personally agreeable, but property management wasn’t.

  I could have stuck with a bumper sticker on my car, and probably wouldn’t have had any trouble. It also would have had virtually no impact. Unfortunately, on such matters, there seems to be a high correlation between people not getting upset and people not paying the least bit of attention to what you are doing.

14) “Are you going to sue your company for violating your rights to free speech?”

  No. Certainly there is a place for “claiming one’s Roman citizenship” not merely for the sake of defending one’s self from receiving a flogging but also: 1) to bring attention (light) to a matter that the forces of the world would want to sweep under the rug and hide and forget about, and 2) to set a precedent. I can see the legitimacy of at least considering the possibility that the case with my current employer is such a case that should fought in court with a godly demeanor. However, my conclusion is that this is not such a case. My main two reasons are:
  i) My bosses are Christian. Along the lines of 1 Cor 6, I think it would bring shame on the name of Christ to bring this issue before the pagan courts and news media. I can hear them now, “Look, the Christians can’t even agree amongst themselves about this issue, so why should we listen to anything they say?”
  ii) Even if I did have a right under American law to not be discriminated against in this way, it is not a right I want to claim or press for. Personally, I believe my employer should be able to fire me if they don’t like the effect my views have on the workplace environment. Morally, I think my employer is wrong. But I don’t think that “doing the right thing” is something that should be legislated in this type of case.

  If the boss wanted to stand up to property management in court and say, “Hey, you can’t threaten us that we are in violation of tenancy agreement for refusing to fire Zach over this,” then I think I would support the company in doing so. But they don’t want to. They would rather get rid of me and the legal counseling fees I was costing them. So if that is the way the company wants to go, I don’t want to fight from that angle in court.

15) “Are you seeking to get persecuted?”

  Are you crazy? No way! If you think I enjoy conflict then you definitely don’t know me. Or is it that you think that I love to get praised by fellow Christians for being zealous? Well yes, I do, and I repent of that. But I need to make you aware of a very sad reality that my experience has been whenever you seek to serve the Lord in a way that may bring about some suffering that could have been avoided had you compromised and watered down your stance, then in choosing the path of righteousness that involves a bit of suffering you will face more discouragement from professed Christians than encouragement. Other professed Christians get afraid that you are going to “make trouble” for them too. Perhaps that is why some portions of this post may come across as defensive or even bitter. I’m sorry for that. I don’t want to give any room to bitterness.

  I don’t seek persecution. But I don’t make the avoidance of it a high priority either. Here is the key: neither seeking persecution nor seeking to avoid persecution should be our decision criteria. The decision criteria is, “How can I please the Lord? What decision is in line with godliness and holiness as revealed in Scripture?”

  You can tell what a listener values by what they focus in on. Supposedly (I haven’t found verification of this story) one time Tony Campolo, speaking to a church audience, said, “Four million (or some such number) people died from starvation last year and nobody gives a shit about it. And the proof of that is that you are more worked up that the guy in the pulpit just said a naughty word than you are about the four million dead from starvation.”

  Suppose I say, “Tom preached the gospel to 100 Muslims and they beat him and threw him in jail (or killed him or whatever).” One person will say, “What? Tom did something that got himself beaten!? How foolish!” Another will say, “Wow, 100 Muslims got to hear the gospel at once! Praise the Lord!” Be careful how you listen, because in doing so you reveal what you consider to be of great account and what you consider to be of small account.

  To those who say that I’m seeking persecution, I say you are missing the point. You are focusing in on the wrong part of the story.

16) “You are not even being `persecuted’, you are just facing the consequences of a bad decision. Christians should be willing to suffer for Jesus, but not for doing something stupid.”

  I don’t think that I ever said I was being persecuted. The word comes up when we discuss such issues, but I don’t think I would choose to use it to describe this situation. I would say though that I believe this incident falls under the category of suffering for righteousness sake. If you think that displaying my banner [or say, passing out Bibles to Muslims] is “stupid”, well I guess you are entitled to your opinion. But I think it is a pretty sad opinion to have. Could you explain to me why you would call such things “stupid”?

  The Biblical call to be ready to suffer in this world alongside Jesus is more than merely passive. Yes, if someone of their own initiative comes to you and points a gun to your head and tells you to renounce Christ then you should stand firm in the faith. But love demands more than that. Let’s say that you were a white Southerner a few decades ago when hate-filled white folk were lynching blacks in America. Let’s further say that no one comes around demanding to know where you stand on the “lynching debate” with threats to harm you if they discover you are a “nigger-lover.” The only way you will suffer is if you take the initiative upon yourself to step out and do something. At the same time, the only way you can LOVE the black community is if you take the initiative upon yourself to step out and do something.

  Note that we didn’t go up to heaven to bring Jesus down and crucify Him. He came. We didn’t even want Him to come, but He came. LOVE often demands that we put ourself in the line of fire to rescue others. The fact that such a concept would be so foreign to contemporary evangelical Christianity is a testimony to how far we have wandered from the core of the true Biblical gospel itself.