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The Key, the Truth that Transforms

Read Romans 3:21-31

Those of you who have been following our series on Romans, Be Transformed, will know that we are seeking to understand what it is that we are to be transformed by and what we are to avoid being conformed to (Romans 12). We have spent most of our time this far on the things that we need to avoid being conformed to; whereas, today we will turn to the basic truth that has the power to transform our lives completely.

Many a theologian and commentator on scripture has said that Romans 3:21-31 is the very heart of the gospel. Some have gone so far as to say that this is the most important chapter in the entire Bible. The key, if you will, that unlocks all the meaning of all scripture. Having worked to describe the downfall of all people and the reason that the wrath of God is warranted, Paul turns to the good news for the first time in this letter.

“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe;”

Paul is picking back up the other theme laid out in parallel to the wrath of God being revealed, namely, that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel (Romans 1:17) and this righteousness is the very power of God for salvation. He makes it more explicit. The righteousness has been revealed apart from the law though the proof of it can be found in the law itself and in the prophets. Paul means to say that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very thing to which both the Law and Prophets point toward. Paul has come to understand that all the revelation that God has provided for the Jew makes sense only when viewed through the Christ event.

“for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:23)

Many people know this verse; and many people assume that the sins involved are the “Big 10” found in the law. While those are certainly a part of the problem of sin, there is much more to our sinful nature. Our fallen-shortness includes those famous “thou shalt nots” but is more inclusive. Our pettiness, our selfishness, our gossiping, and peevishness are also included. Our idolatries, manifold as they are, also keep us short of the glory of God. Still there is more, because the wrath of God is not coming for those things alone, but also because of our ingratitude.

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks…” (Rom 1:21)

When my kids were younger, I would sometimes say to them “dogs gotta bark, fish gotta swim, and birds gotta fly. You need to figure out what you gotta do.” It was shorthand for do the stuff that needs to be done and learn how to be a person. When asked about it more specifically, I would tell them that everything that has been created has a purpose and a thing that marks them as different from the other things. People also have an attribute and a purpose that goes beyond what we do for a living. All of creation gives glory to God by being true to their creation and their purpose.

People are unique amongst animals because we are moral creatures with real options. We do not operate on instinct alone. As such we are able to acknowledge God as creator and render true thanks and praise.

Spoiler alert: We don’t.

No seriously, besides all the other ways in which we sin, we fail to be thankful for all the blessings that God provides for us. As Jesus himself said, the Father makes the rain to fall on the wicked and the good. The dependability of sunshine and rain, harvest time, the wonders of childbirth and parenting, the companionship of pets, the love of kith and kin, even the simple fact that there is a morning and a night every day are reason enough to praise God. Most of time we are so caught up in ourselves that we miss the chance. I live in Texas and people here complain about the heat in the Summer but beg for it in the winter. We complain that there is no rain and then grumble when the rain comes in buckets. I suspect that people are this way everywhere. Never thought of those things as elements of sinfulness, have you? Honestly, neither had I until I started studying and praying through Romans. None of us should be surprised; after all, for our fallen-shortness runs deep:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23)

We have been living into this fallen-shortness since the beginning according to Genesis. Have you ever read through Genesis beyond the creation story and the flood? The story of Abraham’s family begins with chapter 12 and the whole rest of Genesis could be subtitled: As the World Turns! For those of you reading this post from a foreign country, As the World Turns was the title of a long running soap-opera on American television. To this problem of rampant sinfulness, Paul says that God has revealed His solution in Jesus Christ.

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (Rom 3:21-24)

This is the gospel in a nutshell, the very gospel that Paul said he was not ashamed of because it was the very power of salvation for the Jew and the Greek. This is the good news of our God. We have been given a free and wondrous gift, a justification and redemption through Christ Jesus that is available simply because God is gracious. Let’s take a moment to break down those two terms for the fuller picture that Paul is illustrating.

Justification means that we were guilty (all have sinned) but we have been pardoned. Consider for a moment in English we say that someone can justify their actions. The notion being that when sufficient reason is given, we can understand and approve of a decision a person makes even if it caused us harm. For example, a “justified” killing might be one in which a person was defending their child from a predator. In Paul’s day, both in the Old Testament usage and especially in the context of the Roman Empire, the word had a forensic overtone, forensic meaning that it was the language of the law courts. Justification meant being decreed not guilty regardless of the truth of what you did.

Many years ago, OJ Simpson was found not guilty by a court of law for a double homicide. Most of the world was convinced that he had in fact murdered the two people in question. Point of fact a civil trial later held him liable for damages caused by the deaths. This civil trial judgment had no bearing on his freedom because the trial court had declared him not guilty. Not declared him innocent mind you, but not guilty. This was his status before the magistrate. No matter what anyone else thought, no matter whether or not he had committed murder, he had the status of a free man. This is the exact thing that Paul is saying is true for all of us because of Christ. Thoroughly guilty (all have sinned) and ongoingly guilty through our fallen-shortness nature we are in fact justified(!) declared to be free from the guilt of sin before an Almighty God through what Christ has done. For those who thought OJ was a murderer, the verdict not guilty was a scandal. Welcome to the scandal of you! God, the Almighty, Just Judge of all has declared your status to be not guilty. You are in fact righteous (in right standing) before God when you believe in Jesus Christ. It was a scandalous idea then, and it is equally scandalous now.

Redemption is a different thing altogether. For years when I taught young people about redemption, I used the example of redeeming a used-up glass bottle for five cents (ten in Michigan) or how a coupon is redeemed for something that you purchase for all or part of the total cost. After working through that concept, I would tie the concept to Christ’s blood being the means of redemption. His blood pays a price that you owe. I am not going to now say that this isn’t true. I am going to say I had a very narrow idea of what redemption meant.

In the Old Testament, redemption is used to describe deliverance from the bondage in Egypt, from the captivity in Babylon, from evil, and the ultimate setting to right of the world for the people of God in the eschatological future. In short redemption meant freedom from current enemies and the ultimate total freedom that is promised when God brings in the new creation at the end of time. Truth be told, in my coupon illustrations, I had short-shifted the meaning of the word making it synonymous with justification when in fact Paul was declaring two very different very grand accomplishments of God through Jesus Christ.

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (Rom 3:21-24)

What Paul is saying is that because of Jesus Christ, those who are sinners can be granted the status of innocent before God, not only this but that they are also set free from the bondage of the great enemies of sin and death. Many first century Jews believed that at the end of time there would be a general resurrection of all, some to eternal life and some to final judgment. You can see this in Martha’s response to Jesus (John 11) that she knows her brother will rise on the last day. This general resurrection is also mentioned in Daniel. Paul believed that the resurrection of Jesus was proof that this event would happen. God had brought the not yet of the future resurrection into the now of the first century and demonstrated the faithfulness of God to his eternal promises. When you read Romans the passage carefully you can see that the last phrase (being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus) is explaining what Paul means in the first clause (here and in Romans 1:17) that the righteousness of God (his unending, eternal faithfulness, has been manifested in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Our translations start a new verse in Romans 3:25, but the opening of that verse is actually the completion of the sentence begun in the passage above and when you put them together Paul explains how the justification of the sinner is accomplished in Christ dying on the cross. Together it reads this way:

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith.

That word propitiation is crucial. Propitiation is the word that the Greek translators of the Old Testament used predominantly to translate a particular Hebrew word kapporet. The word literally means lid, derived from the root word “to cover” or “to make atonement” and is used to describe the lid over the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat. The mercy seat was where the presence of God was present in the tabernacle and later in the first Temple until the Babylonian exile. The mercy seat was where the High Priest would (once a year on the Day of Atonement) sprinkle the blood of an unblemished lamb to take away the sins of Israel. The lamb’s death and blood were symbolic of the payment of death that the people of Israel were due because of their sins. That action occurred in private as the High Priest was the only one allowed to enter the Holy of Holies and stand in the presence of God as the representative of the people.

“But now”, Paul writes, God has acted in full view of everyone by lifting Christ up on a cross where his blood is the final sacrifice for the sins of the entire world (as John the Baptist prophesied when he called Jesus the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world) and Christ himself is now the very mercy seat. The High Priest having completed the action would declare the people righteous before God. In Christ, through faith, anyone can now be declared righteous before God. A new, permanent status of not guilty (justified) is available to all.

When you put all of this together you can understand the gospel as Paul understood the gospel. The final judgment of God, expected on the last day, has been rendered now in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And all who have faith in Jesus, and what he accomplished, have access right now to a judgment of not guilty and eternal life. The future is now, in other words, for all who believe.

As I write this the Christian world is preparing to celebrate Easter 2026. This passage in Romans is what Good Friday and Easter are all about. Christ Jesus has done the one thing that we all need, paid the wages of sin (death) through his blood, and his resurrection is proof that God vindicated him; and will vindicate all of us who cling to the promise of the faith of, in, and through Jesus. Because of Christ’s shed blood we can be declared righteous right now by God. Because of his resurrection we can live in a certain hope of our own resurrection to eternal life in the last day.

This is the most glorious truth ever; a truth that proves what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. A truth that enables us to be acceptable to God, a truth that when believed is our act of spiritual service of worship (Romans 12). A truth that is transformative.

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Hallelujah! Amen.

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People are No Good

3.3

Read Romans 3:1-20

A few years back, there was a popular country music song called “People are Good.” It was a number one hit for Luke Bryan. I know it was a number one hit because I looked it up and also any country song that I become aware of when it was released is bound to have been in the top ten. I don’t pay much attention to country music. The chorus begins with the line “most people are good”. Overall, the song is fine.

Mr. Bryan said that what appealed to him about the song when he first heard it was that it communicated some good vibes for people rather than the humdrum of negativity that we are exposed to most of the time. The song was made for pick-up truck drivers in places like Texas, Tennessee, and Florida where complementing mothers, acknowledging high school football, and recognizing the dignity of hard-working folks will always play well. In other words, it hits all the feels. About the only thing that you can say against the song is that there is no mention of dogs. Well, that and it is crummy theology!

The Apostle Paul has a counter argument:

There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:11-18)

With this litany of scripture verses, Paul completes the indictment of all of humanity that he began at Romans 1:18. Recall “for even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Along the way he pointed out our preference for the Gods of our own making, the appeal of self-righteousness, and reminded his Jewish brethren that even though they had received the law they failed to follow it. All people are guilty before the Lord God and deserving of punishment. We are all in trouble when the wrath of God revealed (Rom 1:18) becomes the wrath unleashed at the final judgment.

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Mr Bryan’s lyric (wonderfully sung in an understated way) reflects the attitude of most people. I heard similar sentiments all the time in my days as a youth director and pastor. It is comforting to think that people are at their core are basically good but that is not what the Bible teaches, nor does it jive with reality.

Look back at the litany above and ponder the following:

How many times in the last week did you say something negative about a friend, a coworker, a family member, a celebrity, or an elected official? Did you gossip about others?

Did you lie? Even a small one. Something seemingly irrelevant like telling the officer that pulled you over for speeding that you didn’t know what the speed limit was or how fast you were going?

Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness…

Did you get angry at the people who voted differently from you in the last election? Did you watch the news and think this or that politician is “stupid” or “a threat to the country”? Did you wish someone were dead?

I know many people who wish the assassin who shot at Trump hadn’t missed. Others have applauded the death of the United Health Care CEO and lionized his murderer this year. People have set fire to Tesla dealerships because of Elon Musk’s government service. Just two weeks ago, I saw a Tesla with a bumper sticker that said the driver is anti-tariff presumably in an attempt to protect them from the vitriol and anger that is being directed their way.

… their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

I haven’t even mentioned the wars that are raging, drunk drivers, the people who are profiting from sex traffic, molesters, pedophiles, murders, abusers, drug dealers, and terrorists.

Where I live even people who “are good” fail to yield to folks entering the highway, speed through school zones, and cut in line at the Starbucks. They are some of the wealthiest people in the world in terms of money and time and give very little of it back to aid the poor and the needy. They are more likely to rescue a dog from a shelter than give a homeless person a meal.

Here is a non-hypothetical example. A few weeks ago, I swung by the local grocery store to pick up a couple of items. As I am walking up to the store, I heard a grown man screaming obscenities at someone. Come to find out he was berating a woman in a car for her driving. He was escalating to the point that several male patrons, me included, began moving closer in case there was need to intervene. Thankfully he allowed her to drive on.

People are not good. Even Jesus said so. See Mark 10:17-27.

When God made people, we read that he breathed into Adam and Adam became a living soul. At first glance you think so Adam began to breathe and live, but “living soul” comes from a Hebrew word, nefesh and it means bundle of desires. That is what we all are — a bundle of desires — our mishandling of those desires is what causes sin.

If we are honest, most of the time, we do what we want when we want. If it is something that we should not do, we justify it to ourselves and others. We have been like this from the start. Eve saw that the fruit was pleasing, looked tasty, and she wanted to be like God. She and Adam ate. When God confronts them, Adam blames God saying, “the woman you gave me gave it to me”. Eve says, “it was the serpent”. No one is taking responsibility. Eve at least points the finger at the serpent’s cunning. Adam blames God.

How is this any different today when someone is in a car wreck and looks for a way to blame the other driver? What about when a rapist blames the victim for dressing provocatively? In degree of villainy, sure, but in principle not so much. Any parent of two or more children knows how easily people take to blaming someone else or finding a way to avoid being punished. Elementary school teachers learn early on to ask, “why did you hit Johnny” rather than “did you hit Johnny?” if they want an honest response. Speaking of teachers, they also learn way too early that a disciplined child will report to their parents that they were punished because the teacher doesn’t like them rather than explain what they did wrong in the first place.

Some of you will say that all may be true, but I follow the rules most of the time and I am not guilty of any of those truly horrible things that you mentioned earlier. I would tend to agree, and neither am I, but an honest assessment of human nature would say people in general are capable of most of them. Someone is doing them. My wife loves to watch Law and Order SVU. That show only has stories to tell because there are lots of those crimes being committed every week.

Paul knew about self-justification. Several times in his writings and in the book of Acts, Paul shares that at one time he was blameless before the law. That is to say that he was blameless in the way that he interpreted the law. When we first encounter him in the Bible, he is holding the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen for the “crime” of believing Jesus was the promised messiah and doing acts of kindness to the poor in Christ’s name. As my Christian Ethics professor was fond of saying “never forget that the first great missionary of the Church was once a murderer”.

Perhaps this why the Old Testament records all these stories of broken, messed up families, and the repeated idolatry of Israel; to remind us that all of humanity is always just a breath or two away from living into their depravity. In just a few short verses from the passage above Paul will reiterate is point that we are all guilty. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

And we have.

How depressing you might say to go through life with an attitude that everyone is a slave to depravity. that would be true if that was all the truth there was to hear. Thankfully, there is more to the story. People may be depraved but people are redeemable. That is a topic for next time.

1

No Escape

Read Romans 2: 9-29

As it happens, I believe that the Bible is the word of God. I trust that the LORD of heaven and earth, the one who created the cosmos and all that we perceive throughout reality, is capable of the relatively minor miracle of ensuring that the 66 books that we have are the 66 books that we need. There are several other reasons that I believe the Bible is trustworthy and the word of God, but that is for another post on another day.

Saying that I believe that the Bible is the word of God does not mean that I like everything that the Bible says. Like most Christians there are portions of scripture that I like more than others. There are stories that I find distasteful; I am looking at you Lot’s daughters. There are long sections that can seem tedious. I mean really, we could all build our own at-home tabernacle if any of us had any idea about the length of a cubit. The more I mature as a Christian the more I come to understand that it is all in there for a reason and it is all beneficial.

I bring this up at this point in our journey through Romans because I do not want us to forget Paul’s driving force for his missionary work. There is a day of judgment coming. Obviously, it was not coming as quickly as Paul feared, but as he pointed out in Romans 2:4 that the fact that the final judgment tarries is a reflection of the kindness and patience of God. Our response to the delay should be repentance.

There will be tribulation and distress for every soul who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek.

The idea of the final judgment is prevalent in the Bible.

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12)

God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12)

It is appointed unto men once to die, after that the judgment. (Hebrews 9)

For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels and will then repay every man according to his deeds. (Matthew 16)

It is that last one that stings the most, that is, if you know that it is Jesus speaking. Jesus talks about the final judgment quite a bit. He has several parables (sheep and goats, wheat and tares, the rich fool, etc) that are centered around the final judgment.

As central as it is to the teachings of Jesus, I am not so sure that it is a frequent topic from American pulpits. There are times when I think that I failed when I was a preacher for not commenting on the judgment to come more often. There are many who do not want the old “fire and brimstone” messages, but shouldn’t we occasionally have the heat turned up on us?

In Paul’s day there were many Jews who took comfort in the fact that they were children of Abraham. They thought that having the law gave them a special status. They were confident that they had little to fear of the coming judgment because they were the children of God. For them sin was something that needed to be atoned for with the proper sacrifice according to the covenant. Not unlike a Catholic today who might think sin is not that big a deal. I can go to the priest, confess, do the rosary prayer or whatever else he tells me and move on with my life. Protestants sometimes think “oh well the grace of Jesus covers that one too”. The Apostle Paul took a much more dire view of sin.

Paul understood what too many of us ignore. We Christians spend a lot of time talking down the importance of this sin or that sin. Like the Jew who was overly confident in the status of the people of God to be concerned with the condition of their own heart, we rely on grace to cover a multitude of our sins. As such, we are at risk of being overconfident of grace towards those sins that we simply will not stop committing. Like a junior high boy relying on body spray instead of a shower we expect grace to hide the stench. We are cavalier because we have not truly fathomed the cost of sin. I am not speaking in our own lives, although that cost is high. I am talking about the cost to God.

Christ died because of sin.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Sin was such a big deal that Christ had to die.

What is your own life worth? For what are you willing to die?

Christ died because of sin.

Christ died because of your sin.

Many are fond of saying that “Christ died for my sins”, but that also means that “Christ died because of my sins.” I mentioned in the previous post that mercy only has meaning when there is a law that demands punishment. There is no mercy where there is no judgment. In a similar way grace has no meaning where there is no sin. Soon we will be spending several posts on grace and justification and other good theology words as we go through Romans 3-8, but right now we need to sit in the knowledge that there is a judgment coming for a sin-filled world and that our sins are part of the collective problem that cost the savior his life. As Taylor Swift sings “it’s me, I’m the problem, it’s me”

Recall that Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1:16); but he wants to be sure that we understand that there is no other way to salvation. There is no partiality with God (Rom 2:11). Those who choose the path of self-justifying will suffer the same fate whether are familiar with the law of God or not. The path of self-justifying today looks like the person who wants to avoid faith and simply try and be a good enough person. They are not certain that there is a God or a judgment, but if there is, they intend to rely on the “T-Chart” method. Hopefully there is one more tick mark on the good side of the chart than the evil side of the chart. Poor things probably don’t even realize Jesus is serious when he says the “secret” stuff is going to be judged (Rom 2:16).

At first it seems that Paul gives this group hope when he says that the “doers of the Law will be justified” (v13), but Paul just spent several verses highlighting the sins that demonstrate the unrighteousness of humanity. Not only that but in the proceeding verse he says that all who sin outside of the Law will perish; and everyone who sins under the law are to be judged by the law meaning that they too will be deserving of capital punishment. Paul knows Psalm 24 too well to believe anyone can do the law perfectly enough to get into heaven.

No, there are no ways to justification with God through works. If there were then Jesus Christ would not have had to die.

The rest of Romans 2 relates to the Jew who is overly confident that his status as a Jew will result in his salvation. This first century Jew is in the synagogue (hearing the word but probably not being a doer of the word) and he is quick to correct and judge his neighbor. He knows the law, but he cannot be bothered to live a transformed life. Like a Christmas and Easter Christian, today; just need a little inoculation twice a year to keep up the effect of my baptism, but hey football, bass fishing, and travel ball are going to be more important most Sundays (or the rest of the week) than living a life guided by the Holy Spirit.

What Paul writes for the first century Jew (I fear may be true for the merely baptized) that circumcision is of value only if you are keeper of the law, as soon as you transgress the law your circumcision really amounts to very little. In a similar vein, you can be baptized, take communion, attend worship and be there every time the door is open, but if there is no transformation of the heart then it all comes down to nothing. Or as they use to say in East Texas “just being a church goer doesn’t make you a Christian any more than sitting in the garage once a week would make you a car.”

In summary, at the end of Romans 1, Paul explained how the wrath of God was being readied to be poured out on those who practice various idolatry and live fully into their decadence, depravity, and selfishness. At the beginning of chapter 2, he turned his gaze onto those who nodded approvingly at his list of vices and congratulated Paul for his apt condemnations. They forgot their own self-righteousness is a sin. Now, deeper into chapter 2, Paul has revealed that those who trust in their own innate goodness as one of God’s creations will also face the judgment. So too, anyone who seek to be deemed good enough on their own merit when the judgment comes will be found lacking. Those who are confident that they are among the elect (to borrow a phrase from the Presbyterians) and active in the church will not miss the guilty verdict either. Finally, he gets all the “good church people” who know what’s right and even remind others when they miss the target of righteousness. Those people who can quote scripture chapter and verse as they say but still also break the law on the regular will not escape the “tribulation and distress” of verse 9. This is because God is looking for those whose circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit. Jesus himself said the days were coming when people would worship God in Spirit and Truth for the Father is seeking such people to worship him (John 4).

All of this is building Paul’s case and soon enough he will reveal the gospel solution found in Christ Jesus. For now, it is Holy Week 2025, and we should all take our sin just a little more seriously.

Our sin is why Christ had to die.

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La Morte Javert: the Peril of the Self Righteous

Read Romans 2:1-8

Recently I attended Les Miserables for the first time. It was amazing. I had not seen any of the film adaptations over the years nor had I read Victor Hugo’s masterpiece upon which the musical is based. Even beyond the immense talents of the performers, the mind reels at the skill necessary to make such a powerful, yet concise, performance out of 1000 pages of literature.

Spoilers ahead! Although, since the novel is over 160 years old it is really on you if you do not know the story at all.

Going into the performance, I was really only aware of the scene where the protagonist Jean Valjean experiences grace from a bishop who takes him into his home. Valjean repays the kindness by stealing some silverware. The bishop, when Valjean is presented to him by the authorities with the evidence of his crime, rather than ensuring his recidivism informs the police that he had given Valjean the silverware; and that he had left some of his gifts behind! This moment of mercy changes Valjean’s life forever even though he can never escape his past identity as a thief to some. His character arc is the most obvious example of what Hugo called the novel’s march from “evil to good… nothingness to God… The starting point: matter; destination: the soul…”.

As I experienced the performance, I came to realize that there are 3 viewpoints at tension in the musical. Valjean, who has experienced grace and mercy and having been transformed is trying to live a life marked by both going forward. Javert the indomitable lawman doggedly chasing after Valjean to bring him to justice. The crafty Thenardier who provides comic relief all the while exhibiting a belief in doing whatever it takes to survive and take what you can get whenever and wherever. Thenardier’s worldview is the only one that is atheistic. The musical asks the listener to choose between a path of enlightened grace, slavish adherence to law and order, or a strictly self-serving existence. Each of the three characters have identities that are shaped by the viewpoint they espouse.

What does any of this have to do with the second chapter of Romans? This will take a minute or two of your time but bear with me.

Above is a print from one of the many editions of Les Miserables. Depicted is the death of Javert. The intrepid lawman has chosen to end his own life in the rapids of the Seine. What drives him to this despair? Jean Valjean had the opportunity to kill him and chose instead to demonstrate the same grace that he had himself once experienced when his own life hung in the hands of the bishop so long before. Javert whose identity and self-worth are so wrapped up in his understandings of good vs evil and the keeping of the law cannot fathom a world build on such mercy.

As he stares into the churning waters below, he sings:

Who is this man?
What sort of devil is he?
To have me caught in a trap
And choose to let me go free?

Vengeance was his and he gave me back my life!
Damned if I’ll live in the debt of a thief
Damned if I’ll yield at the end of the chase
I am the Law and the Law is not mocked
I’ll spit his pity right back in his face

And must I now begin to doubt,
Who never doubted all those years?
My heart is stone and still it trembles.
The world I have known is lost in shadow.

Unable to conceive of a world that has space for mercy, Javert would rather die and escape a world of mercy if it does not comport to his understanding of justice. If the law is to be circumvented by grace, then the law is mocked. He prefers the darkness of death to his shattered worldview.

Paul, the apostle, not a character from Les Miserables, culminated his discussion of the impact of idolatry on the soul with a litany of evils (1:18-25) that demonstrate the coming wrath of God is justified. As, chapter 2 begins he turns his indictment on the least suspecting evil of idolatry: the self-righteous.

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Paul knows that his audience (mostly Hellenized Jews in Rome) would have heard his railings against idolatry as judgment on the gentiles and in their hearts would be providing a hearty amen! It was not uncommon in the sermons and writing of first century Jews (and earlier) to point out the many ways in which the gentiles fell short of God’s law. Paul knows that the “amens” in their hearts and thoughts of “yeah, you tell them Paul” belies a heart that is not aligned with God but rather one that takes the place of God and renders judgment on others. I suspect that the first time that the letter to the Romans was read to the gathered faithful there was silence in this moment.

…do you suppose… when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?

Paul is never one to mince words. Look back at the litany of Romans 1:18-25. Everyone is on that list somewhere at some point in their lives. To bring it immediately back to Javert, Paul literally says that God’s wrath is coming because people are “insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.“

Javert would rather die than try to live in a world that makes room for mercy.

Paul asks all of us who pass judgment to reconsider our own need for a gracious response from God. Our failure to be self-reflective of our own weaknesses before a Holy God belies a subtle belief that others are more deserving of God’s wrath to come. Honest assessment of our own need for grace should makes us more loving and merciful. The failure to do so means we are at risk of following a God of our own making, one that judges those whom we judge and one that would never hold us accountable. Paul writes: Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 

Jesus told a parable about a King who forgave an exceptional debt to one of his servants. That servant subsequently refused to forgive the much smaller debt of someone else. When the King heard of this, he had the unforgiving servant imprisoned and tortured until he paid back what was owed. Jesus concluded the parable saying, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Mt 18:21-35).

Paul says that we have a choice. We can choose hardened hearts (Javert does so to the point of death), or we can recognize God’s mercy towards us as an opportunity to repent and choose grace and mercy as the guideposts of our faith. Paul assures us that there is a reckoning to come and those of us who choose to practice self-righteousness will be found wanting. In the end we will have mocked, not the law, but God himself.

So long as Christ has not returned then there is still time for us to repent (to change the way we think) and live lives marked by mercy and forgiveness. Those who persevere will experience eternal life, what Jesus called “the joy of the Master”. Best to not comment on the alternative.

What Javert (and far too many Christians) fail to understand is that mercy does not mock the law. Mercy does not negate the law. Mercy only exists because of the power of the law to condemn. Law has no means of forgiving; it can only assign guilt and punish. Mercy and its cousin grace only exist where there is first a law.

I can only appreciate the freedom mercy allows if I understand the penalty that is due. Mercy only has meaning where law is taken seriously. Jean Valjean understands the mercy of the bishop because he has already experienced the penalty for theft. In contrast, the rascal Thernardier has no respect for the law because he has always thwarted it. The self-righteous Javert having never broken the law feels justified in his interpretation of the law and its application.

Transformation in the Christian sense begins with the understanding of the need for grace. (I urge you because of the mercies of God to not be conformed to this world but rather to be transformed by the renewing of your mind…) A true understanding of the righteousness of God leads to an admission of guilt before the throne. The subsequent feelings of conviction and self-recrimination produced in us is a recognition of the righteousness and holiness of God and the wonder of his mercy and grace. We are forgiven and pronounced righteous instead of judged as guilty. Both Javert’s world of crime and punishment and Thernardier’s cavalier approach to life lead to death. Only Jean Valjean’s world provides the space for redemption.

Throughout the next several chapters of Romans, Paul is going to make us aware of the guilt of everyone before the law and of the exceptional character of God’s grace manifest in our reconciliation through Christ Jesus. That is for future posts. For now, heed the words of Jesus and “be merciful like your father in heaven is merciful”. Embrace a world where grace and mercy can abound. Start with those closest to you and work your way outward until your merciful heart can embrace even those whom you struggle to love.

Peace to you in your journey. Vaya con Dios!

Feel free to use this Bible Study for your own groups or discussion.  It is freely given. If you do I merely ask that you acknowledge where you got it and if you find it useful that you encourage others to seek it out. It is freely given and written with fear, foreboding, and prayer by a fellow hypocrite who is simply trying to figure out the road ahead.

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Enough Idol Chatter

Take a close look at the image above. It comes from an article I saw regarding the development of new towns in England. The diagram reflects the way in which new developments would be laid out. Not limited to the United Kingdom, I saw a similar design for a community being built here in Texas. Do you notice what is missing from the area that we Americans would call the town square? There is no house of worship whatsoever in the drawing.

When I was a boy, we learned about how the Spanish had designed settlements as they colonized the southwest. In the center of town around the livestock pens and the taverns and the government building there would be a church. You can still see examples in Sante Fe, New Mexico and Jackson Square in New Orleans, today. It was literally more likely that there would be a church or abbey or mission at the center of town than there would be a schoolhouse.

The prevalence of the local parish has been replaced with the GP Surgery (the local doctor’s office in England) in the plotting of new towns. The exact same health clinic was present in the model town I saw here in Texas. Why am I bringing this innocuous detail to your attention? Because idolatry is pernicious and omnipresent.

What can be idolatrous about a doctor’s office? In modern western culture, the health care system is the center of worship! Recall the ways that we can determine an idol: where we spend our time, where we commit our money, and the outcomes of the idol. I will add a fourth determining factor: the size of the buildings dedicated to the idol. We already discussed politics and sports both of which have major structures dedicated to them. Now consider that some of the largest buildings in any US city or town are hospitals. There are pharmacies, emergency clinics, and doctor’s offices on every other corner.

Every year, the pharmaceutical industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising for various medications encouraging the viewer to ask their physician about “drug X”. In 2020, the United States collectively made 1 billion visits to the doctor! That was nearly double the number of visits that we made as a nation in 1988. The population only grew by 30% during that same 30-year period meaning we go to the doctor a lot more. Let me be clear that in and of itself is not a bad thing. I merely mean to point out that given the amount spent ($4.8 TRILLION in 2023) along with the time committed there is the potential for an idol to be at work.

Everyone wishes to be healthy and being mindful of your health is a good thing, but just like the manner in which politics and sports can misalign the focus, so can our obsession with health. When I was a pastor, it was much more likely that when asked for prayer requests folks offered up concerns about upcoming surgeries and current maladies than to pray for the salvation of their neighbor or the hastening of Christ’s return. Admittedly I was a presbyterian minister, but I suspect that many clergy from other denominations would report a similar trend.

Many, if not most, of the hospitals and hospital systems in America were originally funded by churches. We have Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist health systems all over our nation; although, the roots that those systems have sprung from are largely forgotten, the only remnants being the name on the sign and a small benign chapel tucked away somewhere deep within the complex. As a culture we have gone so far from the church being involved in the health systems as to looking to the government to provide for our health needs. The pendulum has swung from churches and denominations loving their neighbor by funding hospitals and research institutions to the government being seen as a source for universal health care. One might be excused for thinking there was a malevolent force at work in the world to drive allegiance and fealty away from God and towards the government.

Allow me to suggest two other outcomes that indicate that an obsession with health has become an idol in the West. First, as the government takes on more of the expense of health care, the rationing of care becomes increasingly likely. Ultimately this leads to decisions about withholding treatments from the elderly and other members of society (those with special needs, for example) perceived to be a waste of expenditures. People become line items in a budget rather than patients in need of help. Second, there has been a breakthrough medication in recent years that allows diabetics to regulate their blood sugars effectively. The drug also happens to spark weight loss in non-diabetic users. The result is predictable. So many prescriptions have been written for people looking to lose weight that there has been a shortage of this life-saving medication for diabetics.

The first of these outcomes represents the dehumanizing of life. The elderly become expendable to save a dollar or two. Not exactly the stuff of honoring our fathers and mothers that. The second outcome reflects a potential selfishness that runs up against love of neighbor. To be sure there are some people who are not diabetic for whom a weight loss drug can be a significant blessing; however, last year the FDA reported 80 million prescriptions for these medications in a nation where less than 40 million people are diabetic.

Again, none of this is to say that health care and pharmaceuticals are inherently evil. Nor am I making political statements about how tax dollars are spent on health care. What I am suggesting is that for many people the modern health care system (like politics and sports) has become an idol complete with its own temples, priests, and sacraments.

I could continue to expose potential idols over and over again and never get on to the rest of the letter of Romans. I have hit on 3 of the biggies in modern America and I already feel like a curmudgeon hollering for the kids to get off of the lawn. I leave it to you to determine your own potential idols. They can be politics, sports, pleasure, food, healthcare, shopping, victimhood, just to name a few. The list is endless. John Calvin is right; people are idol factories.

Why is that?

Because we were made to worship. More specifically, we were created to respond to God; to glorify God as God and give thanks (Rom 1:21). If we choose to ignore the truth about God, that urge to worship will find an outlet and in the absence of God that outlet will be an idol, either physical or metaphysical, of our own creation. When we do this, we suppress the truth, and God gives us over to the freedom from God that we indicate that we want. It is a dark path that leads to increasing wickedness. Put another way, what we spend our time, talent, and treasure on begins to shape us and our way of thinking. The idol becomes increasingly important and determinative in our lives. Paul describes it as exchanging the truth about God for a lie and worshiping the created thing instead of the creator (1:25). What starts as sin becomes wickedness; idol worship begats immorality and injustice.

In his day, Paul looked around Roman culture and zeroed in on what he considered to be the most egregious example: homosexual activity. The truth about God that is revealed in creation is that there are two sexes (male and female) and that they procreate to “be fruitful and multiply” (in Genesis terms) and perpetuate the species (in evolutionary biology terms), but homosexual behavior does neither of these things.

Over the centuries many people have looked at this portion of the letter to the Romans and concluded that homosexuality is worse than any other possible wickedness. This is a misuse of the text in my estimation. Allow me to present two arguments against this interpretation. One, the fact that Paul zeroes in on homosexual behavior at the beginning of his list has more to do with the culture of Rome that he is addressing than any notion that this sin is greater than all the others. Rather than being the chief sin, homosexuality provided the most egregious example of Paul’s basic argument that when a people routinely deny the truth about God and begin worshipping idols of their own making, they live increasingly as a law unto themselves. Homosexual behavior illustrated how far from the intentionality of God’s creation humanity could fall.

If Paul were writing a letter to the American Church, it would look decidedly different than Romans 1. His principal example of humanity worshiping the creation rather than the creator might well be the embrace of transgenderism. If the truth revealed in creation is that there are two genders (male and female) then the notion that we should be altering the biological reality of an individual to suit their self-perception would be the ultimate example of the creation ignoring the creator. I find it interesting that the arguments about transgenderism beg responses from the 3 idols I have highlighted. The health industry designing the procedures and medications for transitioning a person’s gender begging for research dollars as they play creator all the while bristling at any attempt at restraint. People of conflicting politics demanding that the government either affirm multiple interpretations of gender or declare that there are only two options. Sports confronting the fairness of transitioned athletes competing in the alternatively gendered sports.

Perhaps another sign of idol is the expectation that the idol can declare truth.

The second proof I will offer that Paul is not mentioning homosexuality as the chief sin of humanity is scriptural. Take a moment to read the works of the flesh he relates to the believers in Galatia (Gal 5:19-21). Consider the two places in Corinthians where he lists out wicked behavior (1 Cor 5:9-11 and 6:9-10). Read his admonition to Timothy about the behavior of people in the last days (2 Tim 3:2-5). A careful reading of scripture indicates that there is plenty of sin to go around for everyone. Not convinced? Try on the words of Jesus: “out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a person unclean. (Mk 7:21-23)”.

None of this is to say that homosexuality is not a sin; it is. Elevating it above any other sin is a form of judgmentalism and denies the truth that all sins are equal in the eyes of God. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God whether the sin is an obvious violation of God’s law or more subtle like self-righteousness and judgment of the neighbor.

It is important to remember that the end of Romans (1:21-32) is a description of what happens to all those who “do not honor God or give thanks.” These individuals profess “to be wise, they become fools.” In the Bible, the fool is the one who rejects God. Earlier I said that idolatry begats wickedness and injustice. Paul put it this way:

 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;  and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

The truth is, though, all of us are somewhere in the list; no matter how difficult it is to stomach we are all in the list. We prefer to point the finger anywhere but ourselves. We try to ignore the subtle sway of our own idols on our souls. We deny the power of the idols in our culture and ignore the means by which the sphere of the flesh shapes our thinking and our actions.

The chapter culminates in that list because it is that list (and any other listing of wickedness found anywhere in the scriptures) that condemns us. Romans 1 ends this way because here Paul shares why “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness… (Romans 1:18)”.

As I am finishing this post it is Ash Wednesday. My pastor shared this thought tonight: “when we treat God trivially, we will treat sin trivially”. Not sure which ancient commentator said this first, but whomever it was must have been a careful student of Paul. Those ten words are an excellent summary of Romans 1:18-32.

The first reading for Ash Wednesday was Joel calling for a solemn assembly of the people to rend their hearts and not their garments because “the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near…” and so it is. There will be time enough for the gospel in Romans, it will be delivered in spades! But make no mistake even for those who trust in the gospel, what Paul called the power of salvation (1:16), the day of the Lord comes.

For now, it is best to linger for a time in the depths of your own depravity. Consider the litany of wickedness that Paul provided us. If you know the gospel, really know it in the depths of your being, such lingering will produce a deeper repentance and a deeper thanksgiving for grace. If you do not know the gospel, the lingering can prepare your heart for the truth of Jesus Christ.

Blessings to you in your journey. Vaya con Dios!

As always, the above is freely given, and all are welcome to use it. If you do it would be nice if you mentioned where you got it. Finally, if you know someone who might benefit from reading these posts please share the URL or email with them.

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The Lord is My Shepherd

Happy New Year’s! This reflection is a brief departure from our journey through Romans. Thank you for reading the Hypocritical Christian. If you enjoy what you find, please let others know where to find it.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

At some point over the past year, I began praying Psalm 23 almost daily. When I am at work, I typically have to park about a quarter mile from my workstation. I often pray this psalm to myself on my journey to the car for lunch. When you are paid by commission sales you have frequent motivation to pray!

I cannot speak for any other part of the world, but in the United States this may be the most famous passage of scripture in the Bible. John 3:16 used to be seen on signs on all the football telecasts but given that almost every person in my country has attended a funeral, and psalm 23 is the most common funeral passage, the percentage of Americans who can recognize the psalm approaches one hundred percent. Such familiarity does not breed contempt in this case, rather psalm 23 is beloved.

Beloved for good reason. The psalm, particularly in its final stanza, is a source of comfort and encouragement for those who are grieving a lost loved one. Their collective hope is that the person is already dwelling in the house of the Lord surrounded by the goodness and mercy. The fact that for years I thought of this psalm in the context of funerals conditioned me to read it and hear it a certain way.

That changed for me recently. As I mentioned, I walk to the parking lot reciting the psalm to myself. One day as I went, I was momentarily distracted at this point in the psalm: he restores my soul. Distraction over I resumed where I had left off and then an epiphany.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.

Wait!

What!?!

The psalm is always read as though the paths of righteousness is tied to the restoration of the soul as though that completes the first thought of the psalm. Read this way, the walk through the valley of the shadow of death is the beginning of a new thought. The verse breakdown and numbering work along this same thought process. Verses numbers are helpful, and they are assigned intelligently and grammatically, but that doesn’t mean they are not imposed on the original text in a way that is ultimately arbitrary.

What if we were to read the psalm in the manner of my accidental recitation? Is it possible that the psalm all along has been trying to teach me that the paths of righteousness include a journey through the valley of death? Much smarter people than I have studied the psalms and can explain the rhyme and meter of Ancient Hebrew poetry. I am not suggesting that we rearrange the versification of the psalm although it would end up looking like this:

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.

He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil.

You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

What does it mean that the paths of righteousness are a walk through the “valley of the shadow of death”? For one, it is a reminder that if you choose to walk the narrow way and look for the straight gate that Jesus spoke of, then you can expect some danger. To follow the Lord closely invites a world wholly antithetical to God to lash out at you. Persecution is to be expected Jesus warned, saying to his disciples that because they love him the world will hate them. “Fear not, for I have overcome the world (John 16:31)” is his reassurance to us all.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake…I fear no evil…you are with me.

Reading the psalm this way guides us into trusting the Good Shepherd when we are confronted by a world at odds with our beliefs. Furthermore, the psalm is also a reminder of the true nature of the world and this life. The path is described as the valley of the Shadow of Death. The reality of death permeates the journey of life. Regardless of the hour or the day, our mortality is an ever-present reality. To deny the reality of death is to fail to understand the curse on creation caused by sin. The “wages of sin is death” Paul writes in Romans and also that “all of creation was subject to futility” because of sin. This is a world and a life that is awaiting the Good Shepherd’s return when all of this is set to right. A return that will culminate in death and sin becoming nonexistent. If you sang Joy to the World on Christmas Eve, this is precisely the meaning of “he makes his blessings known as far as the curse is found.”

Each of us goes through every day surrounded by the threat of death. A crippling anxiety would overcome us if we contemplated all the different ways in which we could die even in the first of hour of our day. I once nearly choked to death on a piece of lint in the back of my throat on a Sunday morning. But following Jesus and taking on his name and his redemption for us frees us from such anxiety for we now are the ones who have a shepherd whose rod and staff comfort us.

The Christian life is not one that is free from misery.

The Christian life is not one that is free from consequences of our poor decisions.

The Christians life is one of hope and is meant to be lived free from fear.

The psalm reminds us that the valley of the shadow surrounds us, but we will find green pastures and still waters in the midst of it all. Our Shepherd will protect and comfort us. Most of all the Christian life is meant to be one of hope.

Hope because in the end the character of God is what provides the protection and the guidance and the promise of everlasting life.

Surely goodness and lovingkindess will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.

May you know this truth throughout 2025, amen.

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More Idol Chatter

Romans 1:28-32: And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,  without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

These are the culminating words of the first chapter of Romans. In them, Paul shares with us the impact that idolatry has on the heart and soul of a person. He also lays out for us the outcomes of the sphere of the flesh that seeks to conform us.

Previously I suggested the following ways to determine an idol: “There are a few simple ways. One it is where we invest our time, energy, and talents. Two is where we spend our money. Three is the outcome that the idol produces.” With this in mind I am going to point to another of the great idols of American culture: SPORTS!

American culture is positively obsessed with sports, football, in particular. I am as guilty as anyone and often have to check in on myself with the Holy Spirit. Every Saturday of the College Football season I wear something with the Texas A&M logo on it and I pay close attention to the outcomes of those games. This year I had the opportunity to attend the first game between TAMU (my alma mater) and The University of Texas in over a decade. This was a huge deal in my home state. Such a big deal that I seriously considered whether I might quit my job if my boss had not approved my request for the day off!

Sports has not always been an idol in America. All of our professional sports leagues were once smaller and college sports more regional and of interest primarily to alumni. But idolatry corrupts slowly. The historian in me would say that what changed was the rise of television and income inequality. Television provided more exposure and profits through licensing agreements and media rights. As income inequality rose, the promise of wealth and scholarships through sports led thousands of parents to invest more time and money into helping their children develop into top-tier athletes.

Not all of this is a bad thing. Children being involved in youth sports teaches many good life lessons if done right. It also keeps them from mischief and danger. I know many parents that choose to program every moment of the day for their children to avoid the child ever being in danger or left with idle time for drugs and sex. There are many wonderful stories of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who have achieved many great things through sports. Idols in modern culture can be quite tricky to recognize because they are not typically giant statues made from ivory and wood that people are worshipping.

Make no mistake, sports can become an idol. In my first pastorate, I had a conversation with a dad of three children. At the time, they would miss worship fairly regularly because they were in a travel baseball league for their son. They attended tournaments all over Texas and neighboring states. This was true for a lot of parents. The Dad asked me if I thought it was wrong that they were not in worship as often. As a pastor you learn that people often ask you questions about things they already feel guilty about in hopes that you will exonerate them. I said it was really about choices. I also asked if they ever attended worship in the town that the tournament was held in. He said they did not and asked me what I meant about choices. I said as parents where we put the emphasis and the energy communicates to our children what is valued and important. Whatever we choose it will be shaping ourselves and our children for good and for ill. Sports being emphasized will hopefully develop the tenets of sportsmanship, tenacity, and teamwork. What it will not do is teach them about a Creator for whom they should be grateful toward nor a savior that loves them. Choices.

Soccer was the first youth sport in America that invaded Sunday mornings for practices. This was a pragmatic decision because that was the day that practice fields were available to them. The parents and youth involved though were the ones who had to decide if Sunday morning worship was more important or not. When the NFL first began televising games the noon kick-off was deliberately scheduled to allow for those on the east coast to attend church before the game. Sixty years later the NFL broadcasts 3 games a year on Sunday mornings because they are played in Europe. Again, the airtime is pragmatic in nature for that is the time, in the USA, that the game is being played at the “normal time” in Europe. The decision as to skipping church to watch football is not pragmatic at all. It is a matter of devotion and allegiance.

If how we use our time is a measure of a potential idol, then sports certainly qualifies. In 2017, there were 134000 hours devoted to broadcasting sports in the USA. The equivalent of 15.29 years!

70% of that time was devoted to NFL broadcasts. Full Disclosure there is an NFL game on my television as I type this. This is not to say that we shouldn’t watch sports, rather as Christians we should be mindful of the time we spent on watching sports versus the time we spend worshipping God, loving our neighbors, and devoting ourselves to prayer, etc.

Money spent is another measure. No matter how we look at it the money is huge. This week a professional baseball player signed the largest sports contract in history at $765 million over fifteen years. Pundits predict that the player, Soto, will be solely a designated hitter for the last 10 years of his 15-year agreement meaning he will be paid tens of millions to do nothing except hit a little white ball. Professional sports in the USA resulted in $14.3 billion dollars in salaries for all involved in 2023. Global professional sports revenue in 2028 is estimated to be $680 billion. New NFL stadiums are billion-dollar buildings. The most recently constructed one is SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. It is the 4th most expensive building ever constructed. The list of the 30 most expensive buildings in the world is dominated by casinos, which brings us to gambling.

Professional sports leagues in the United States have all partnered in the past few years with sports betting. Broadcasts include tips on bets to make. Young people in the United States are learning about betting lines, over /under, and parlays. Gambling, when it becomes an addictive vice, is particularly pernicious. It is one of the few vices that can literally take everything a person has in a single day and now all of our professional sports outlets (not to mention their media partners) not only support gambling but actively encourage it.

While gambling is not specifically listed in Paul’s list of the vices that idolatry promotes (I have no idea if there was a Latin word for bookie in Ancient Rome) it certainly can be a vehicle for wickedness, greed, malice, and inventing evil.

Paul culminates that list with the damning phrase “not only do they do these things they give hearty approval to those who do.” Along with sports-betting, here is where we see examples of the outcomes the idol produces. In my lifetime the greatest NFL QB of all time is known to have cheated at the sport. We learned that one of the great College Football coaches of all time knowingly kept an assistant in his employ for years who molested young men. In both instances winning was more important than integrity. There are many other examples of wickedness across sports from gymnastics to basketball to soccer. When sport becomes an idol, it makes winning a virtue rather than an outcome.

What are we to do with all of this? Sports, like politics in the previous post about idols. can be a good thing. There are many virtues to sports and they play an important role in our lives. Politics, particularly, in democratic and republican (or democratic republics like the USA) forms of government provide a good means of distributing power and providing for the general welfare of their citizens. At the same time, politics and sports can become idolatrous and prevent the development of the fruit of the Spirit in the Christian. They can disfigure the individual Christian and produce in us attitudes and allegiances that run counter to our calling as Christ followers.

In modern culture, idols are not often foreign gods but forces in our cultures and societies that can corrupt believers. This is not really different from the idols we see in the Biblical times. The foreign gods that first the Israelites and early Christians faced were not actual gods rather they were representations of cultural forces that threaten fealty to the one true God. They demanded acquiescence to cultural norms that encouraged behavior inconsistent with the call to love YHWH with all your heart, soul, and strength; and, to love your neighbor as yourself. We have seen how sports can distract the believer from time spent in worship. Sports can also encourage an attitude that winning is the only thing that matters even to the point of accepting and encouraging the odious behavior of those who are the best at the sport. Sports increasingly encourages the vice of gambling as well with all of its potential destructive force on individuals and families.

The message of Romans is that there are forces at work in the world (the sphere of the flesh) that seek to conform us to their version of reality. These forces seek to train our souls to accept the supposed virtues of the world and divert us from depending on the Creator. Conversely, those who are alive in Christ are to be shaped by the ever-transformative work of the Spirit and the rule of Christ in our hearts (the sphere of the spirit). Therefore, it is incumbent on the Christian to constantly be checking on our beliefs and how we got them. We must ensure that we are spending adequate time to allow the practice of the faith to shape and mold us. We do this through the rhythms of prayer, worship, and scripture study. We do this through the willful and counter cultural striving to love our neighbor. We are to practice forgiveness and mercy. We are to care for the poor and the stranger in our midst. Later in Romans, we will look at the practical aspects of this Spirit life. The first step though is for us to be honest about the idolatrous forces at work in our world and through prayer discerning the hold they may have on our hearts and minds.

Blessings to you in your journey. Vaya con Dios!

As always, the above is freely given, and all are welcome to use it. If you do it would be nice if you mentioned where you got it. Finally, if you know someone who might benefit from reading these posts please share the URL or email with them.

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The Forgotten Holiday

This post is a brief reflection and departure from the current project of working through Paul’s Letter to the Romans; although, there are some connections.

By law in the United States the fourth Thursday of every November is set aside for a day of Thanksgiving. While it became law in 1941, days of Thanksgiving designated by government proclamation were a regular part of American civic life. Abraham Lincoln is generally credited with the proclamation that it be celebrated regularly on the last Thursday of November. That was in 1863, the Civil War was still raging when the President suggested that the nation would benefit from a day of prayer and thanksgiving to God.

A brief excerpt from the President’s proclamation: “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.”

When I was a child, we were taught that Thanksgiving has its roots in the experience of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts celebrating the harvest that would ensure their survival for at least another year. We were also told that they had invited their Native American friends to join them in a peaceful gathering. As my own children are grown, I am not sure if students today are taught these things; nor, do I know if they make pilgrim hats from construction paper and decorate turkeys that they have created by tracing their own hand on a piece of paper.

I do know that Thanksgiving is the forgotten holiday in my country. It still happens but it is being cast adrift from its roots and may someday be replaced by some other seemingly useful national holiday. To be clear Thanksgiving is not openly maligned, it is simply ignored and pushed to the margins by seemingly more important considerations.

One, the current national narrative to explain who and what we are as Americans runs counter to peaceful interactions between English Settlers (re: Imperialists) and Native Americans (re: Victimized Indigenous People) over a feast giving praise to Divine Providence. The notion that a Federal Holiday would exist to encourage a time of feast and prayer offends those who misunderstand our Constitution’s first amendment.

Second, Thanksgiving is a selfless holiday. What do I mean? Consider the self-centeredness of Halloween and Christmas (ironically) that border it. Thanksgiving is not as Instagram-ready as Halloween. Halloween has become a holiday for young moms to show off their children’s cute costumes with pictures and reels of the trick or treating process. Adults without children in the United States have increasingly turned it into an excuse to party, the costumes providing a means of dressing provocatively or trying out a different persona. I do not mean to sound curmudgeonly. The children are cute, and they deserve the fun of getting free candy. Adults can party however they see fit. Still, seeking social media likes and a night of bacchanalia reflects a certain selfishness inherent in how we are celebrating Halloween. Christmas, at least amongst the secular minded people, a time of gift giving which also means gift receiving. Again, parties are emphasized. Many folks look forward to it as a time of the year when they can get a great deal on new electronics or clearance priced clothing in the last week of the year. Every major car maker runs commercials during the holidays encouraging the purchase of a new vehicle. Christmas is almost becoming Consumptionmas.

Thanksgiving by contrast is chock full of selfless behavior. Consider the gathering of a large family. The host member of the family is expected to facilitate a feast! This entails being up hours before the company to work on the meal all the while keeping the toilets running and the linens washed (selfless behavior). The guests have travelled, often cross country, leaving their own homes and using their limited time off from work to spend time with family many of whom they intentionally left behind at some point in their lives (selfless behavior). There are still other members of society who will be responsible for the early opening of retailers for Black Friday deals, grocery stores for those who didn’t plan well and forgot cranberries, keeping gas stations open for travelers, diners for divorced dads, and hospitals for the misfortunate. All selfless behavior in its own right.

Third, Thanksgiving is being ignored because many people in this country are appalled at the notion of being forced to sit down and break bread with a family member that may have voted differently than them. Back in 2016 I remember hearing on NPR a radio spot on how to be around your family that voted republican. The incidences of similar stories as been on the rise for the past 8 years. The prevalence of such advice presented as newsworthy on cable networks and in major publications, both for liberals and conservatives, says something about us as a culture. Perhaps this helps explain the rise of Friendsgiving celebrations where it is considered easier and better to gather with your like-minded fellows than with your diverse family.

When you put it altogether a Christian might begin to think there are forces at work that want to distract us from the task of taking just one day out of the year to remember blessings and returning thanks to God. It’s as if these idolatrous forces work to secularize the day and make it all about consumption and football. You could read all the above reasons for the maligning of Thanksgiving as the work of the principal idols in modern culture (Sports, Money, Politics, Self) to distract and deflect any attention whatsoever on the Almighty.

Something to think about.

Faithful readers of this blog have already been reminded that part of who we are called to be is people who give thanks to God. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Rom 1:21) and Paul reminds the believers in Phillipi, Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:4-7).

Jesus encourages us to be in the world and not of the world. So, enjoy the football, eat the turkey, reminisce with family and friends. If you have to work let your Christ light shine. Do these things but do them with a heart filled with gratitude to the Almighty One who makes all things possible and all things new.

Vaya Con Dios!

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Idol Chatter

Read Romans 1:18-25

Trigger Warning: The next several posts may contain ideas that will offend some readers.

In the last post, we looked at the wrath of God and the call, since the beginning of creation, for us to honor God and give him thanks. Living this life of gratitude towards God is one part of how we can live out the calling to become “living and holy sacrifices acceptable to God” (Romans 12); and this life of grateful praise is also part of becoming transformed by the Spirit Sphere in our lives and not being conformed by the Flesh Sphere. (a description of the two spheres may be found in this post)

“Professing to be wise, they become fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” The Roman world when Paul is writing this letter was a land overflowing with idols. Cities had temples to various Gods. Homes had idols for household gods. The Imperial government itself was beginning to take on cult-like status elevating Augustus Caesar to a posthumous divinity. Good Roman citizens were expected to pay homage to these gods to maintain the peace and stability of society.

The Old Testament is replete with idolatry. We read of the “pillars in high places” that were idols of gods foreign to Israel. The Israelites fashion a golden calf when they get tired of waiting on Moses’ return. Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal. All this in a land that was instructed (commanded even!) that “I am YHWH your God… you shall have no other god before Me. you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness… you shall not worship them or serve them…” (Deut 5)

Many people think that idolatry is a thing of the past. They are wrong. John Calvin called people “idol making factories”. He was spot on because, then and now, we are really good at constructing things to place our faith and trust in. Paul is very clear that we are to have our faith in and our obedience directed towards Christ. So, any of these other things that we place our hope and trust in are idols.

I live in the United States. The Fall in my country is the time of year when our modern idols are on full display. Not only is it football season, but it is also election season, and thanks to Black Friday it is shopping season. I started this post with a trigger warning because when you begin calling out the idols some people will become offended.

How do you determine an idol? There are a few simple ways. One it is where we invest our time, energy, and talents. Two is where we spend our money. Three is the outcome that the idol produces. Allow me to clarify. Psalm 1 instructs us that the blessed person loves the word of God and meditates on it day and night. It follows that those things that we spend more time on than God’s word are potential idols. In Luke 16, we are told that the pharisees were great lovers of money and that we cannot serve both God and mammon because people cannot serve two masters. We will always ultimately love and serve one master more than the other. So, where we spend our money can reveal a potential idol. Finally, the word of God is truth, and its outcome is love (agape) and the promotion of unity; therefore, idols promote the opposite of these: animosity and division.

Understand that idolatry is like gambling in that it what may be a problem for one person is not a problem for another. That being said, there are Idolatrous forces at work in the world that constitute the sphere of the flesh that seeks to separate people from their calling to know God and praise him. Over the next several posts we will break down the principal idols at work in my culture (Western Civilization /USA). I can only speak of my context; your results may vary. We begin with one of the most powerful and pervasive modern idols: politics. I invite you to read the rest of Romans 1.

Romans 1:18-32

The impact of an idol, according to Paul, is that the idol worshipper devolves into foolishness (v24). Fool is a technical term in the scriptures for it is the fool who has said in their heart that there is no God. The appeal of the idol is twofold. Idols are simultaneously a god that we have constructed in our own image and a god that we can control. But bowing down to the idol eventually leads to becoming a fool. Once someone enters into this foolishness, God decides to give them over to their own desires and unwise thoughts (v28-31).

Paul’s list of vices and sins in the last verses of Romans 1 provides us with a convenient guide to determining idolatry. If idol worship produces that fruit in the fool; then it follows that we can identify potential idols by how many of these vices the idol promotes.

Allow me a quick clarification. Politics in the sense I am referring is not the same as government. Government is the necessary ordering of people to allow for their peace, safety, and prosperity. Government is evident in the Bible and later in Romans we will learn that Christians are called to be good citizens in the communities that they inhabit. By contrast politics is the effort to wield the power of government and to influence the policy directives thereof.

I suggest to you that politics is the principal idol of America today. Americans increasingly look to government to solve all manner of problems large and small. Americans seek laws to legitimize behaviors and belief systems. Americans also are fond of labelling certain groups victims who deserve more of the attention and resources of government. Finally, any casual observer of the American political spectrum will recognize that much of it revolves around who will be allowed to wield the extensive power of the government; because, on every level (local, state, and federal) the right to wield such authority provides both the allure of making over society in one’s own image and to benefit financially as a result. Some of you will think that is all very true, but does that make it an idol?

Let’s look first at some of the criteria I listed above in determining idols. A quick google search reveals the following: Money? Experts estimate as a nation we will spend around $2 billion dollars on relief for Hurricane Helene. By contrast the total amount spend on the 2024 election will be $16 Billion. Time? CBS dedicated around 23 hours to coverage of Hurricane Helene; no doubt they surpassed that amount in election coverage on the day before, during, and after the recent election without considering all the hours spent on the campaign trail over the past 18 months. In terms of time there are now at least 5 television channels devoted to around the clock news reporting the vast majority of which is centered on politics. This tally doesn’t include the channels totally devoted to business news which also invariably covers a great deal of politics. There are also a multitude of national and local radio stations whose format is strictly devoted to politics. Americans spend a tremendous amount of time following and arguing politics on the airwaves. Finally, given the vitriolic responses recorded on Instagram, Tik Tok, and X (formerly known as Twitter) there is little doubt that the outcome of our political life is division rather than unity. If a space alien were to eavesdrop on us during an election year, they could not be faulted for thinking that we were dealing with life-or-death decisions constantly.

I could cite a myriad of examples of headlines that demonstrate the above but that would risk this post becoming pedantic. I want to be clear that none of this is to say that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics. All I am suggesting is that all Christians should compare their commitment to politics to their commitment to scripture, prayer, and Christ. Again, I can only speak of the context in the USA. There are too many of us Americans who identify quickly as democrats or republicans rather than as Christians. We need to be involved but we would do well to remember these words of Jesus, “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God” (Luke 20).

Finally, let’s look at the list of vices that God’s word says idolatry renders and ask ourselves if an over emphasis on politics doesn’t produce wickedness, strife, deceit, and lack of mercy (Romans 1:29-31). If we are honest politics far too often results in people not only doing the same; “but also giving hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).

The good news is that Christ’s sacrifice covers a multitude of sins. We are always able to break the hold of an idol through repentance and seeking God while he may be found. All who have placed their faith and trust in Christ are under the influence of the Spirit. We are to practice the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) and utilize the full armor of God in our political life as we do in our personal lives remembering Paul’s admonition that our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

Politics has a way of infiltrating every aspect of our lives and causing us to filter everything through the worldview of the political ideology (or party platforms) with which we are aligned. I began pondering these things while I was in seminary. I had been very invested in the politics of America most of my life. While in seminary the 2004 presidential election happened. The responses that I saw and some of what I felt myself caused me to question the issues of allegiance to Christ and political allegiance. I began to think that if Jesus cared at all about politics that his own views would never reflect one party platform over another. It was much more likely that his thoughts on the matter would be a blend of positions from across the spectrum. Out of this, for a time, I led talks about how Christians should engage in political discourse.

Around 2008, some minister friends of mine and I gathered for a continuing education event. We spent the evening with a good meal and some drinks. My friend Paul, who often saw things the opposite of me, and I began to argue strongly about the virtues of universal health care. We both had had a little too much to drink and the argument turned ugly. Some mean things were said to one another. Our evening ended with anger and animosity. Our friendship took a body blow that evening.

The next day, I approached my friend with a penitent spirit and a desire for reconciliation. To Paul’s credit he was willing to accept my apologies and be merciful towards me. Eventually, we added a maxim to the rules I was developing for Christian political dialogue: “never get liquored up and talk politics!” We still speak weekly, and we still discuss the important matters of the day. We have been friends now for 20 years, but we almost ended that friendship 16 years too soon. That would have been a tragedy. I credit Christ with seeing us through that time and growing our friendship ever sense.

Regardless of where you live (there are some international readers of Hypocritical Christian!) I encourage you to take a moment to assess how often politics consumes your thoughts. Are you spending more time in conversations about the latest outcomes than you do asking your neighbor about their lives? Do you find yourself anxious and worried about the outcome of elections and judiciary decisions? Do you find it hard to love the neighbor who disagrees with you politically? Have you allowed your political leanings to give you the permission to lose friendships and family members?

Politics tries to draw your thoughts and energies to it. The more time you give to it the less time you give to both love of God and love of neighbor. If you found yourself on the wrong side of the questions above, I encourage you to spend some time in prayer and scripture. Jesus is waiting especially if you are weary or heavy laden. He will give you rest. He will forgive.

Peace to you and blessings on your journey. Vaya con Dios!

As always, the above is freely given, and all are welcome to use it. If you do it would be nice if you mentioned where you got it. Finally, if you know someone who might benefit from reading these posts please share the URL or email with them.

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