Entries by Cal

Jesus' priority, above all else in his 3 year ministry, was preaching and teaching about the Kingdom of God and demonstrating it.  The Kingdom is God's activity, His dominion over everything He has created.  It is primarily a dynamic concept- God’s sovereign reign or rule.  The eventual outcome of His work (not ours) shall be a world-wide, universal Realm on earth.  [A major resource for me about the Gospel of the Kingdom is the writing of George Ladd]

It is popular to believe God's Kingdom is strictly spiritual, equating the Kingdom with Salvation and Heaven or simply with the Church itself.  Others equate the Kingdom with Social Activism and, specifically, human efforts to transform Society/Culture worldwide according to current cultural (American) values. My understanding of the Kingdom and, therefore, of the Signs of the Kingdom is derived primarily from the entire Bible, including Genesis, the Mosaic Law, the Prophets, as well as the four Gospels and the rest of the NT.  

God has been sovereign, ruling over His creation and Humankind, since the beginning of time and Human History! The Kingdom was kicked into high gear with the incarnation of God the Son and particularly with his ascension to the Throne in Heaven from which He now rules. It is executed world-wide by the work of God the Spirit. Understanding this reality challenges and changes our view about many common Christian doctrines and practices.  It greatly enlarges our (my) perspective of God, His work and ours in today's world.

The Triune God's work in the world is accomplished directly or indirectly through many instruments and agencies.  The Kingdom breaks through and progresses here and there, throughout the centuries and around the globe.  Providential History is the attempt to find and record what God has been doing.  Many Evangelicals believe such History simply cannot be done.  Others, who would like to do it, are very cautious about doing it because it is prone to much speculation and very subjective conclusions. I am convinced however, while caution and humility is required, the six following developments in History or in Current Events are trustworthy Signs of the Kingdom of God at work.  They also provide signs of strong Satanic obstruction to that Kingdom.

Care of the Environment (the Creation) as defined in Scripture

Neglect, waste, destruction and exploitation of natural resources are wrong

Preservation and fulfillment of all people(s) as rational, relational, creative, moral and spiritual human beings

Policies or programs that exploit, oppress, dehumanize or destroy persons are evil

Spread of the Gospel of Grace and Conversions of People to Christ and growth of the Church.

At a minimum, I believe we must define The Church as all people who believe in and worship the Triune God and who personally confess faith in Jesus as the Christ, their Lord and Savior

Restrictions, persecutions and attempts to destroy the Church are evil

Strengthening of Marriage and Family as defined in Scripture, ie- heterosexual, complementarian and extended (multi-generational).

Laws, policies and practices that undermine or destroy such Marriages or Families and their functions are wrong

Economics as defined in Scripture, ie- stewardship of private property for the common good and compassionate free-market capitalism

Laws and policies that undermine or destroy such Stewardship and Capitalism are wrong

Government as defined in Scripture, ie- a democratic but limited, constitutional republic under God and His Law, whose primary purpose is to preserve and protect the well-being of its citizens [Justice]

Laws, policies and practices that undermine or destroy such Government are wrong

Ideally, Believers should actively align themselves with the work God is doing in any or all of these six theaters of spiritual warfare.   We do not build the Kingdom! God does!  But we can be, the Church can be, His instrument(s) as we obey Him, individually and corporately, submitting to His authority and power in our lives, in the myriad places in the world to which He calls us.  It is also important to recognize that God uses unbelievers and "secular" institutions to advance His Kingdom in the world.  We must not discount Common Grace, even as we promote Special Grace.  Our sovereign God rules as He shall, where He shall.

All of the above, very simply stated, requires much unpacking and real world application.  My current personal study is to discover any or all of these signs of God at work (or the opposition to God at work) in the 50 year period of US History in the United States between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the First World War.

"History" is linear, a meaningful sequence of events leading to the fulfillment of God's purposes for humanity"  "History is not meaningless.  Rather it is teleological, going somewhere, directed towards a known end.:  "History is the record of the involvement and concern of God in human events.  History is the divine purpose of God in concrete form." 

Partial answer to Worldview Question 7 p.43;  The Universe Next Door by James Sire, 5th Edition

My approach to interpreting the Scripture has been seriously challenged recently. I hold to an originalist approach, ie- what did the original writers intend by the words they chose to use.  This is the same approach I also use to interpret the US Constitution.  We see that approach to the Constitution challenged almost daily.

The Original Intent approach is also challenged by its use to justify Slavery from the Scripture by both the North and South before and during the Civil War.  And again by its use to justify segregation and particularly Miscegenation as in the case of the Court case, Loving vs Virginia [I recommend the Movie called "Loving"]

The lesson is not to reject seeking the original intent of either the Bible or Constitution, but to be very careful in its use, especially paying careful attention to a study of original social and cultural context in the written document.

Selected Biblical Labor Laws

1Tim 5:18 “The laborer deserves his wages.”

James 5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; 4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

Lev 19:13 "'Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. "'Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker..

Deut 24:14 Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Deut 25:4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. cf 1 Cor.9:9

Jer 22:13 "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.

Mal 3:5 "So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.

• Workers must be treated well and fairly ...and must be paid fully and promptly [i.e.- as per contract]


• Workers must fulfill employers expectations


• No harsh or unsafe working condition; rest periods: one day a week and holidays


• Workers may decide to change employers


• All commands re personal morality apply


• Productivity is expected--profit-making is expected, BUT


• Not at expense of the workers- no exploitation


• No jeopardizing resources


• Private property rights/ownership must be honored


• No peonage or slavery


• No usury


• Profits and products must be made available to the destitute


• The Government and Courts are to enforce these Laws: Justice


• [Note: there is nothing here about Government Welfare or State Socialism]

God has spoken: "Six days you shall labor" [As He did] Exo.20:9

Paul commands us to work also: 1 Thess 4:11; 2 Thess 3:10-12

5 Standards for Work as God intends it to be

The Biblical mandate to rule & subdue (have dominion over) the earth and its creatures is consistently misused.  All kinds of selfishness, greed, waste and exploitation are justified with it.  A standard is needed to decide  whether specific work is as God intends it to be.  When is a specific work activity (or work environment) bad and to be rejected.?  What is the Standard to judge?

That standard is the “image of God”.  It enables us to answer these questions biblically.  God did not say: “I have made human beings.  They have my authority to rule the earth.”  God said: “I have made humans to be like me, my image.  Because they are my image, they are to rule the earth.”  The Image is not itself the mandate to have dominion.  The Image determines how we are to have dominion. Human beings are to obey the “cultural mandate” as bearers of the image of God.  The image is meant to govern the entire enterprise.  This has practical implications:  to act according to the image of God is to act according to the characteristics of God, as follows:

1.  The Personal- the “person”

All that we do must value and respect “persons” above all- not simply “people”, but all that is meant by “person”.  A “person” has infinite value.  A “person” is defined by the ways in which God is a “person”.  It means a living being who is self conscious, knowable, who communicates meaningfully and can share in “personal” relationships; a person has a will and makes considered judgments.  Like God, all Persons have the faculties of rationality, creativity, morality, communality and spirituality.  
Work which demeans, exploits, neglects, injures or destroys persons is evil

2.  The Rational- rationality

God thinks and makes decisions in a reasonable, logical, orderly way   All of creation reflects these qualities of its creator. 

Work of any kind which is essentially, characteristically, unreasonable, illogical or chaotic is not acceptable

3.  The Creative- creativity
 All work should seek, in appropriate ways,  to be creative, artistic and beautiful, as is God and the natural world He has made.

Work which is uncreative, boring, deadening, repulsive or ugly should be rejected

4.  The Moral- morality
 All work must be moral, righteous and just, as God defines those terms in his Word.

Work which is immoral, sinful or corrupt, must be rejected

5.  The Communal-  community

The work of cultivating and of culture must be done in, of and by a community (“Community” could simply be one’s co-workers, a team or unit. It could be a Company.   Community could be neighborhood or town. etc.)  Work must seek to promote the welfare and good of all members of the (appropriate) community.  We are our brothers and sisters keepers, accountable for the welfare of all.   Work that is good will serve the good of the whole.  Work which is done for
selfish purposes or for self aggrandizement is not good.  Work that harms
the community or violates personal relationships in the community
sinful. 

SUMMARY

Allowing the image of God concept to guide us, requires these 5 principles.  All employment, every project and work environments should be evaluated on these terms.  Work that respects and protects persons and is reasonable, beautiful, moral and good for the community is good work.  Work that is dehumanizing, unreasonable, ugly, immoral or selfish is bad work

Christians are not to engage in “bad” work or support the work of others that will knowingly harm, ruin, destroy or otherwise exploit themselves, their community or the Creation. Taking this stand and explaining why, would be a strong witness for God, the Creator. 

New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice July 12, 2016

"Robert P. Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), challenges us to grasp the profound political and cultural consequences of a new reality that America is no longer a majority white Christian nation.

For most of our nation's history, White Christian America (WCA) the cultural and political edifice built primarily by white Protestant Christians set the tone for our national policy and shaped American ideals. But especially since the 1990s, WCA has steadily lost influence, following declines within both its mainline and evangelical branches. Today, America is no longer demographically or culturally a majority white Christian nation.

Drawing on more than four decades of polling data, The End of White Christian America explains and analyzes the waning vitality of WCA. Jones argues that the visceral nature of today's most heated issues the vociferous arguments around same-sex marriage and religious liberty, the rise of the Tea Party following the election of our first black president, and stark disagreements between black and white Americans over the fairness of the criminal justice system can only be understood against the backdrop of white Christians anxieties as America's racial and religious topography shifts around them.

In 2016 and beyond, the descendants of WCA will lack the political power they once had to set the terms of the nation's debate over values and morals and to determine election outcomes. Looking ahead, Jones forecasts the ways that they might adjust to find their place in the new America and the consequences for us all if they don't."