In our culture, eating is viewed as either an expression of, or an attempt to, reclaim joy. Whether we are celebrating something joyous (birthdays, graduations, weddings, etc.) or lamenting our lack of joy (break-ups, depression, and funerals), excessive food consumption seems appropriate. And of course, one of the main excuses to eat an uncomfortable amount comes in the form of holidays. Currently, we find ourselves sandwiched between the two biggest ones: Thanksgiving and Christmas. By now, we’ve worked off our guilt from Thanksgiving but a fresh wave will come on Monday, Dec. 26^th.

The Subtle Sin of Gluttony

Gluttony is one of the most excused vices that we American Christians have. Our inordinate attraction to unhealthy food and overeating is hardly ever confronted from pulpits. And yet, food can become an idol just as much as lust, pride, and materialism. I should know because overeating is one of my biggest struggles.

Oddly enough, this struggle with idolizing food is captured well by the grotesquely overweight character from the Austin Powers movies: Fat Bastard. At one point in the second Austin Powers film, he regretfully notes, “I eat because I’m unhappy, and I’m unhappy because I eat. It’s a vicious cycle.” The root problem he’s experiencing is trust in food. It has become his idol. He is trying to make it his emotional savior, and it’s utterly failing him.

You might not have a triple-digit waste size like Fat Bastard, but the same danger of food-worship is still there. The question we must consider is this:

How can we feast for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31) during this holiday season?

Consume the True Bread from Heaven

Our eating habits become inordinate because we trust food to satisfy us more than we trust Christ to “supply all our needs” (Phil. 4:19). This is why Jesus uses language like “living water” and “bread from heaven” to describe Himself. He wants us to continually fill ourselves with Him! Jonathan Edwards gets at this in his sermon A Divine and Supernatural Light. He writes, “There is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness.” We need more than to cognitively think about what Christ has done for us, we need to ask God to fill our hearts with the sweetness of His love. When that is granted, our spiritual senses will be overwhelmed and we will run to Him for joy and pleasure.

Recognize the Goodness of Feasting

Biblically-speaking, feasts are a very good thing. In the Old Testament, food consumption played a significant part in the sacrificial system and in major festivals. In God’s instructions for the Passover in Exodus 12, He commands every Israelite to eat the lamb whose blood they painted on their doorposts. In the New Testament, according to Jesus and Paul, we feast each time we take communion (Luke 22:14-23, 1 Cor. 11:13-34). Moreover, as we look forward, our entrance into God’s eternal kingdom will be consummated by a sumptuous feast (Isa. 25:6, Rev. 19:9). While there are many different reasons that God prescribes feasting, the controlling motivation is to celebrate God’s gracious activity. Feasts are for the recognition of God’s boundless love toward imperfect, guilty sinners—like you and me. We still have the pleasure and challenge of introducing that focus to the celebrations in which we participate.

Anticipate the Great Feast

I already made reference to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb from Revelation 19, but it’s worth observing the present benefit of keeping that feast in mind. The reality is that that banquet will make any and all of our feasting here look like child’s play. The “rich food” and “well-aged wine” (Isa. 25:6) will be provided for us by the Bridegroom, and it will be incomparably better than the wine He created in John 2. When we can keep the joy of that day in mind, we will have the strength, by God’s grace, to refrain from fashioning today’s feasts into our own idols.

Take a moment to consider if the dominating thought in your mind is about the holiday ham and candy canes you’ll get to enjoy this Christmas. If so, turn your thoughts and attention toward the lovingkindness of God in sending His Son to live and die for you. Pray that the Spirit will keep the gospel in the front of your mind throughout this holiday. Then go, grab a fork, and enjoy the delightful food that will be on your plate soon! Feasting will remain a blessing and benefit if it continually draws your heart and affections toward Christ. And, perhaps, when you find yourself completely overwhelmed with the beauty of Jesus it will radiate to those family and friends in your vicinity during this holiday.

…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(Matthew 6:20-21)

Here are three things that are more valuable than material wealth:

An excellent wife:

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels (Proverbs 31:10).

Wisdom:

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her (Proverbs 3:13-15).

Suffering for Christ:

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward (Hebrews 11:24-26).

Question: How wealthy are you really?

This is adapted from a post on Matt Perman’s blog.
Reposted with permission.

John Starke:

The idea that we can commit virtual adultery without real-life consequences is absurd and morally reprehensible.

Good words. Starke explains.

(This is the fourth post in a series titled Biblical Masculinity. View the rest of the series.)

Real life is rude.  As I sit here thinking about biblical masculinity and “the way it’s supposed to be”, I’m more aware of the way it so often is.  And “the way it is” can be very ugly.

A while ago a friend shared that his son-in-law had recently abandoned his wife (my friend’s daughter), and three young children.  Evidently the “fishing trips” and “nights out with the guys” had more to do with another woman than good clean fun.  While his wife was carrying their 3rd child, he was chasing his girlfriend.  When he called his kids in the evening, they would cry and go to bed alone, while he returned to shack with the mistress.

The same day another dear friend admitted how she was just beginning to heal from the wounds of a father who never told her that he loved her.  She is beautiful, talented, sweet, and fun; but for some reason, her own father had not the words.

As painful as these stories are, they are not rare.  No doubt you could tell some of your own. I think of the rock band King’s X song Father, which laments,

My brother’s on crack.
My sister’s a wreck.
My mother…she tries.
Our fathers are lies.

The Biblical writers weren’t dumb to this reality.  The author of Proverbs wrote:

Many a man proclaims his steadfast love,
But a faithful man who can find?
(Proverbs 20:6)

In the last post of this Biblical Masculinity series, I summed up a definition for biblical masculinity.  I wrote, “Adam is responsible to be a benevolent cultivator, protector, and sage in the place God has given him,” and I believe that definition and calling holds true for every man ever since.

But here’s the painful question: Why are the men in our lives (and we ourselves) so often less than men? If the answer to the question “What is biblical masculinity?” was found in Genesis chapter 2, the answer to “What is the problem with men?” immediately follows in chapter 3:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

In Genesis 3, Adam (who we know from the previous chapter is called to be benevolently responsible for the place God has given him) has his place invaded.

Satan enters Adam’s garden and begins to toy with and taunt everything Adam ought to be holding dear.  Satan is attacking Adam’s business in at least four very important ways.

1. Satan goes after Adam’s wife.

Certainly the most precious and treasured part of Adam’s place is his wife, who was given by God, “bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh”, co-equal in echoing God’s image and Adam’s perfect help and complement.

And Satan’s messing.

2. Satan goes after Adam’s role.

Many scholars see an insult from Satan—to both Adam and God—in the way he ignored Adam and proceeded to deal with Eve. God’s order in creation went man – woman – beasts.  Satan’s order, coming as a snake, reverses everything with beast – woman – man.

This is an in-your-face move to God, the Creator, and a disregarding of Adam’s God-given role and responsibility.

3. Satan goes after God’s Word.

As we saw last post, one of Adam’s “benevolent responsibilities” is to be a sage of truth; he is to know, do, and teach God’s Word.  He is to protect and guard it.  And now Satan is twisting the Word, denying the Word.

4.  Satan is after life itself.

As the Westminster theologians put it, Adam was under a “covenant of life” with God contingent upon obedience.  But Satan, on the other hand, is pushing for Adam’s disobedience.  God promised death with disobedience, but Satan is planting doubt.  Literally everything is in danger: physical life, emotional life, relational life, cosmic life, and most importantly, spiritual life, as expressed in fellowship with God, are all at risk for Adam, his world, and his posterity.

It’s all under attack. What should Adam do? What Adam should have done is clear. He should have stood with his wife and cultivated her instead of leaving her to fend for herself. He should have protected her, grabbed the nearest back-hoe and de-headed the snake. He should have proclaimed the truth of God’s Word when it was twisted. After all, Adam was with her (Genesis 3:6).

But instead, Adam…did…NOTHING. Sadly. He forgot his benevolence. He abandoned his responsibility. He surrendered his rightful leadership to a snake. He ate the fruit.

And the rest is history.

Adam’s fall is our fall

As Paul would later write in 1 Corinthians 15:22, “In Adam all die.”  We could be Lord of the Rings geeks and quote Elrond and we’d be right in doing so: “the day the strength of Men failed.”

Men (and women for that matter) died with the sin of Adam.  We share his disease of rebellion against God, and we share his disease of death without God.

In future posts, we’ll consider how sin contaminates masculinity specifically, and then, finally, get to some Good News about the Ultimate Adam as we “behold The Man.”

Shout out with comments or questions!  I’ll respond as best I can.

Hi, folks. Sorry this third post is a little tardy. Repentance for being late.

(This post is the third installment in a series on Biblical Masculinity)

It’s high time to try and define biblical masculinity.  We’ve seen so far (post 1) that there’s serious confusion about masculinity in the world around us and yet (post 2) gender remains a transcendent reality as it comes from and images God.

No one but God has the wisdom or authority to define masculinity.  And thankfully, He has.  We find this truth in the book of Genesis, chapter 2, verses 15-17:

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

There are two points in this passage that help us to understand what God intends for men. In these verses we see 1) a place and 2) a job description for living in that place.

Adam is given a place where he is responsible.

God breathed life into Adam and put him in a garden—a place where he would live out his God-given calling.  This “place” would include all the variety of things (and later and more importantly his relationship with Eve) and spaces that make a life.  Commentator Gordon Wenham helps to express the meaning of this place for Adam:

The garden of Eden is not viewed by the author of Genesis simply as a piece of Mesopotamian farmland, but as an archetypal sanctuary, that is a place where God dwells and where man should worship him.

Adam’s “place” is the stage for his worship to be expressed as he lives his life for his Lord.  But what will this life of worship entail?

Adam’s Worship = Benevolent Responsibility

God gives Adam a three-fold job description for this garden.  Adam is to “work” the garden, “keep” the garden, and live under the authority of God’s word in the garden.

To “work” the garden gives the idea of cultivation.  Adam is to understand his place and do what he can to make it thrive.

To “keep” the garden is a natural implication from the mandate to cultivate; Adam is not just to improve his place, but he is to protect it from whatever would tear it down.   Keeping the garden includes protecting the garden.

And let’s not think these responsibilities are simply about getting the tomatoes to grow.  Greg Beale speaks to the importance of these words in his book, The Temple and the Church’s Mission:

The two Hebrew words for “cultivate” and “keep” are usually translated “serve” and “guard” elsewhere in the OT…When however, these two words occur together in the OT they refer either to Israelites serving God and guarding [keeping] God’s word or to priests who keep the service (or charge) of the tabernacle.

This text is about a man’s worship to his God.  This is emphasized in the third aspect of Adam’s responsibility.  As Mark Driscoll has coined it, Adam is to be a sage.  In this text especially, being a sage means knowing, doing, and teaching God’s word.

That forbidden tree is smack in the middle of Adam’s place.  As Adam goes about his business seemingly every moment will be about obedience.  Moreover, the text gives us no evidence that God will give the command regarding the fruit to Eve personally.  Rather, it is to be implied that Adam was teach God’s word to Eve and live it out with her on a daily, moment-by-moment basis.

A Definition of Masculinity

So now we’re ready to make an effort at defining what it means to be a man.  In his book Recovering Biblical Masculinity John Piper gives these two words towards masculinity: benevolent responsibility.

To be benevolent is to be self-giving for the benefit of another.  Responsibility includes the authority and accountability for accomplishing that which one has been given.

Benevolent responsibility is clearly the mandate for Adam. He is to give himself to the benefit of the place that has given him.  Adam is responsible to be a benevolent cultivator, protector, and sage in the place God has given him.

The same is true for us.

So men, consider with me:

1. What is the nature of the “place” God has given you?  Over what resources has He given responsibility?
2. What are the major relationships you have in your place?  How are your responsibilities different with each?
3. Considering your place and relationships, what does it mean for you to be a cultivator, protector, and sage in each?  A man’s different relationships will call for different expressions.

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
     (Psalm 139:13-14)

Tomorrow, Sunday the 23rd, many people around the Untied States will be celebrating Sanctity of Life Sunday.  This day was originally set aside by Ronald Reagan in 1984 to coincide with the 11^th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade in which the Supreme Court tragically decided that abortion is a matter of women’s rights.  It is a day in which we Christians remember that God has created all people, including the unborn, in his image and are therefore sacred and deserve life.

As someone who was adopted as an infant, this day has become very significant to me. Thirty-one years ago, God, in his grace, spared my life and brought me into a family that I am very grateful for. Through this grace, God has brought me into his own family and calls me his own—using me to build up his church and share the gospel with many.  I am thankful for the grace of Jesus Christ, for the wisdom of my birth-parents, and for generosity and compassion of my parents who adopted me.

Let’s pray for the rights of the unborn this weekend.

For those who are interested in learning more about this issue, I recommend the following links:

Regarding Abortion

• www.abort73.com
• www.living-well.org
• www.horizonpc.org
• www.generationher.org/

Regarding Adoption

• www.togetherforadoption.org
• www.abbafund.org

Regarding Orphans

• www.worldorphans.org/

Regarding Foster Care

• www.orangewoodfoundation.org/
• www.ocgov.com/ocgov/OC4Kids

The wild woman… hear her roar.

For Christmas 2009, I received a desk calendar called “Wild Words from Wild Women”. Each day provided a quote from a woman who snugly fit society’s view of a so-called “wild woman”—from socialites to First Ladies, Madonna to Judge Judy. Many of them were men-bashing, bra-burning, “don’t take anything from anyone”…you get the picture. And with each day-to-day calendar glimpse throughout 2010, it occurred to me multiple times that this is what the world’s view of femininity was coming to. This “wild woman” is what so many women aspire to be. Most days, I would cringe at what was written, rip it off, crumple it up, and throw it away. I couldn’t help but think that somewhere, some “wild woman” hopeful was reading the same quote that day, laughing, and nodding in agreement with it. Then I saw this quote:

“The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” —Dorothy Nevill

The reason this quote stuck out to me was not because of who said it (not quite sure who she was until I ran a quick Google search), but because it went against most of the other quotes. It spoke wisdom and struck me in a place that I had been struggling. How many times could I have withheld saying something and been so much better off?

Plenty of times, I’m sure.

Taming the tongue to speak wisely

Taming the tongue is no easy task, especially when you’re a sarcastic one like myself. In Nevill’s quote, she uses the term tempting moment. Rarely has there been a tempting moment where I didn’t succumb to the temptation and just spew out whatever was in my head.

As believers, our lives are supposed to bring glory to God. Not just attending church and volunteering for ministries and tithing and praying before bed. Those are great and important, and there is certainly a place for them. But our lives are supposed to bring glory to God. Our walks. Our every minute of every day—including, especially, the words that flow from our mouths.

A Proverbs 31 kind of wild

In my opinion, the most “wild woman” I can think of today would be the Proverbs 31 woman. Why? Because she’s different than what we see in our world—she’s in the world but not of the world. She goes against the grain. And regarding her speech, this is what we see:

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
(Proverbs 31:26)

Oh, to be regarded as such.

Let’s be women (and men!) who are truly wild—opening our mouths with wisdom to spread kindness, to the glory of God.

The greatest challenge I face as a believer (especially living in Orange County) is not the hardship of poverty, disease, or persecution, but rather the belief that the “American Dream” is what life is all about!  Before I go on, I should state that I am very thankful to live in this country. I am blessed beyond belief to have freedoms that other people in this world could only dream of.  This is God’s grace. Nevertheless, the danger I see in the “American Dream” is found in the ways it has lured many Christians, including myself, into believing that the best God has for us is found through comfort and security in this life.

Look around…

This belief is lived out every single day in our churches, isn’t it?  We encourage our children to pursue a safe and secure education, rather than taking a risk on an education geared toward missions or service to Christ.  We don’t give financially because we are saving for the house with an adorable white picket fence. We teach our children that nothing is more important than Christ. Well… except for sports and extracurricular activities, of course. After all, these look good on job and college applications. We don’t like to put a strain on our relationships, so we only share the gospel with like-minded people.  If we are around non-Christians, the weather and current affairs will do just fine.  It is much more comfortable that way.

Consider the words of Jesus:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:44-45)

The all-sufficiency of Christ

What would cause a man to sell everything he had to obtain a treasure? The only explanation would be that the treasure is worth more than everything that man owned.  What is the value of the “American Dream”?  What is the value of Christ?  How do these play out in your life?

Christ offers us security and comfort but not in this life.  Let us not buy into any philosophy that offers a false hope for these things here on earth.  We are not called to the mundane lifestyle of comfort and security; rather, we are called to a lifestyle of sacrifice and service.

To let go of the “American Dream” can be terrifying for some. But the supreme treasure of Christ makes letting go infinitely worthwhile.

Great question, Charlie Brown. And yes, there certainly is:

(HT: BLB)

(This blog post is the second part in a series)

Transcendent Gender

There is confusion regarding gender, no doubt about it (see part 1).  In this second post in our biblical masculinity series, I want to briefly consider why gender is both real and important.

It is becoming more popular to see gender as culturally conditioned or a matter of choice (this is illustrated by “pregnant men” and “children choosing their gender”. While we would have to admit that plumbing and chemicals can be manipulated by technology, we must beg the questions: Are these decisions simply negligible physical adjustments?  Can I, a man, really choose to “become a woman” in the same way that I choose to become darker skinned or stronger or thinner? Or is there something to gender that—though it is deeply connected to the physical—has truth that transcends the physical and therefore defines and gives meaning to the physical?

I am asking if gender is transcendent.  In other words, is there a “masculinity” that exists whether or not we agree with it, that is above culture and technology, that we must celebrate and submit to?  Is there a “femininity” that is real and true, and given as a gift?  Or is gender just another lifestyle flavor in this Baskin-Robbins world?

Gender Comes From God

The only One who inherently knows such things and can make such claims upon gender is the God who created it.  And for our good and His glory, thankfully, He has spoken on the matter.

In Genesis 1 we see the Creator’s powerful hand in making all things good. But the very good only comes with the creation of humanity.  There in Genesis 1.26-27 the word proclaims,

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image,?in the image of God he created him;? male and female he created them.

The glory of mankind is being made in the image of God.   This at least means there are beauties and truths about God that shine forth and echo from mankind. And what’s so crazy and wonderful about mankind is that it includes these two amazing, same-but-different beings: male and female.

We must therefore conclude three things: there is something unique and wonderful about God that echoes forth 1) in being man, 2) in being woman, and 3) in man and woman being together. Male, female, and both together glorify eternal truths about God.

Gender is indeed transcendent because it comes from God who never changes and always has been and always will be radiating His perfections.  Gender is real. Rejecting it is rebellion.

Gender Glorifies God

The highest, most powerful juncture in the meeting of the genders is marriage.  Genesis 2, which focuses in on the glories and uniqueness of both male and female, climaxes with this beautiful picture:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:24-25)

But we must realize that this text is about much more than marriage.  The apostle Paul, when quoting these very words from Genesis in his letter to the Ephesians, says “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5.32)

Gender and its combination is ultimately about the Gospel.  Gender is real because it comes from God, and it is paramount because, chiefly, it teaches us what is of first importance (1 Corinthians 3-8): the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is, indeed, the great husband of His church.

That’s the point.

Gender Is A Treasure

As Christians we need to understand, submit to, and celebrate God’s gift of gender because there is something beautiful and different in boys and girls, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, dads and moms, husbands and wives.  If we lose the meaning of gender, we lose some of that beauty and do ourselves harm.  But more than that, in losing biblical understandings of gender, we lose truth about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the nature of God Himself.  That would be a steep price to pay.

Next Post: An attempt at defining masculinity