Textual Crisis

Ok. I’m having a crisis of Biblical textual criticism.

I remember being taught as a child the phrase “Jesus set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem.” I’m reading today in Isaiah 50:7 where it says, “For the Lord GOD will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.” And I thought, “oh, cool, it’s a quote,” and went to make a note of what the New Testament reference was.

Only I can’t find it. All I can find is Luke 9:51, which reads in every translation I can find, something like “He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” I can’t even find the word “flint” in the new testament. So, where am I getting the phrase, “Set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem?” I know I didn’t make that up. Somebody taught it to me.

The Spirit of Mercy Should Move Us (Pt 8)

It is hard to preserve just bounds of mercy and severity without a spirit above our own, by which we ought to desire to be led in all things.

We Are Debtors to the Weak

In the last place, there is something for private Christians, even for all of us in our common relations, to take notice of: we are debtors to the weak in many things.

  1. Let us be watchful in the use of our liberty, and labor to be inoffensive in our behavior, so that our example doesn’t compel them. There is a commanding force in an example, as there was in Peter (Gal. 2). Looseness of life is cruelty to ourselves and to the souls of others. Even though we cannot keep those who will perish from perishing, if we do that which tends to destroy the souls of others, their ruin is imputable to us.
  2. Let men beware of taking up Satan’s office, in misrepresenting the good actions of others, as he did in Job’s case: “Doth Job fear God for naught?” (Job 1:9), or slandering their persons, judging of them according to the wickedness that is in their own hearts. The devil gets more by such discouragements and reproaches that are cast upon religion than by fire and ember. These, as unseasonable frosts, nip all gracious inclinations in the bud, and as much as they are able, with Herod, labor to kill Christ in young professors. A Christian is a hallowed and a sacred thing, Christ’s temple; and he that destroys his temple, him will Christ destroy (1 Cor. 3:17).
  3. Among the things that are to be taken heed of, there is among ordinary Christians a bold usurpation of censure toward others, not considering their temptations. Some will unchurch and unbrother in a heartbeat. But ill humors do not alter true relations; though the child in a fit should disclaim the mother, yet the mother will not disclaim the child.

There is therefore in these judging times good ground of James’s caveat that there should not be “many masters” (James 3:1), that we should not smite one another by hasty censures, especially in things of an indifferent nature; some things are as the mind of him who does them, or does them not; for both may be unto the Lord

A holy aim in things neither clearly right nor wrong makes the judgments of men, although seemingly contrary, yet not so much blamable. Christ, for the good aims he sees in us, overlooks any ill in them, so far as not to lay it to our charge. People must not be too curious in prying into the weaknesses of others. We should labor rather to see what they have that is for eternity, to incline our heart to love them, rather than laboring to see into the weakness which the Spirit of God will consume in time. The only effect of that would be to estrange us. Some think it’s a strength of grace to endure nothing in the weaker brother, but the strongest are readiest to bear with the infirmities of the weak.

Where most holiness is, there is most moderation, where it may be without prejudice toward piety to God and the good of others. We see in Christ a marvelous temper of absolute holiness with great moderation. What would have become of our salvation, if he had stood upon terms, and not stooped so low unto us? We don’t need to try to be more holy than Christ. It is no flattery to do as he does, so long as it is to edification.

The Holy Ghost is content to dwell in smoky, offensive souls. Oh, that the Spirit would breath into our spirits the same merciful disposition! We endure the bitterness of wormwood, and other distasteful plants and herbs, only because we have some experience of some wholesome quality in them; and why should we reject men of useful parts and graces, only for some harshness of disposition, which, as it is offensive to us, so it grieves themselves?

Grace, while we live here, is in souls which, because they are imperfectly renewed, dwell in bodies subject to several humors, and these will incline the soul sometimes to excess in one passion, sometimes to excess in another. Bucer was a deep and moderate divine. After long experience he resolved to refuse none in whom he saw aliquid Christi, something of Christ. The best Christians in this state of imperfection are like gold that is a little too light, which needs some grains of allowance to make it pass. You must grant the best their allowance.

We must supply out of our love and mercy that which we see wanting in them. The church of Christ is a common hospital, wherein all are in some measure sick of some spiritual disease or other, so all have occasion to exercise the spirit of wisdom and meekness.

So that we may do this the better, let us put upon ourselves the Spirit of Christ. There is a majesty in the Spirit of God. Corruption will hardly yield to corruption in another. Pride is intolerable to pride. The weapons of this warfare must not be carnal (2 Cor. 10:4). The great apostles would not set upon the work of the ministry until they were “endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The Spirit will only work with his own tools. And we should think what affection Christ would carry to the party in this case. The great physician, as he had a quick eye and a healing tongue, so had he a gentle hand, and a tender heart.

And further, let us take to ourselves the condition of him with whom we deal. We are, or have been, or may be in that condition ourselves. Let us make the case our own, and also consider in what near relation a Christian stands to us, even as a brother, a fellow member, heir of the same salvation. And therefore let us take upon ourselves a tender care of them in every way; and especially in cherishing the peace of their consciences. Conscience is a tender and delicate thing, and must be so treated. It is like a lock: if its working are faulty, it will be troublesome to open.

Comparison

Here’s another cross-reference that I found quite interesting:

Psalm 107:10-16 (emphasis mine) Isaiah 45:1,2
10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death
Bound in affliction and irons–
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God
And despised the counsel of the Most High,
12 Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;
They fell down and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble
And He saved them out of their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
And broke their chains in pieces.
15 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
16 For He has broken the gates of bronze,
And cut the bars of iron in two. 		Thus says the Lord to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held–
To subdue nations before him
And loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
2 “I will go before you
And make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.

Presumably, Psalms was written before Isaiah. So was Isaiah quoting here?

Posting Less

Kevin DeYoung has a nice article up on why you should think before you post. I thought it was helpful.

This is actually why I don’t blog much anymore.

First, there are too many people that I feel obliged not to speak poorly of in public. I don’t want to reflect poorly on my wife, my kids, my extended family… Worst of all, due to my job, I don’t want to reflect poorly on the United States Government. Do you have any idea how difficult that is?

But secondly, I want to say things that are worth reading. Less flippant, rather than more. I don’t want to say something that somebody else has already said, unless I can say it even better. I don’t want to say anything better left unsaid. I don’t want to say anything important that hasn’t been sufficiently thought through.

Currently, I find that I have plenty of time for shallow and summary reading, plenty of time to go, “huh!”, but not much time for thorough reflection. So I find that I have plenty to share from other people, but not much to say of my own. That’s not because I don’t have much to say, but I don’t have the time to say it in the way that I would like.

As a result, the blog often gets left untended. Facebook and Twitter become my friends. Facebook has much better link sharing, for instance. And for a time, that may be okay.

Outside Opinions

Ugh. This sort of thing irritates me.

I’m not saying Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill as a whole haven’t blown it. Frankly, I haven’t been at a church yet where the leadership, in some sense, hasn’t blown it. I have personally been a member at a church with an international name for itself, and gotten squashed – squashed no less by people who were trying very hard to do the right thing. Ultimately, I got to the point where I concluded I couldn’t make the changes I thought should be made, and I couldn’t get any benefit to anybody by my staying there, unhappy. So I left.

But here’s the thing. I left in part because I determined that there was nothing I could do to make a difference in what I thought was a bad set-up. Now that I’ve been gone for a number of years, how much less can I make that change? I can’t. I can take a few notes and share them for people’s future reference. I can say, “this kind of behavior has this kind of effect. We should build churches this way and not that way.”

But there is no benefit to anybody in my saying, “thus and so church is a nasty place. It was nasty when I was there, and from what I hear it hasn’t gotten any better.” Who would be my audience? Current members of the church, who know more than I do? Potential fans? The governing body of the church? What am I, the Protestant police?

I get the irony of my criticizing somebody for talking about the root of bitterness. She’s obviously much closer to the situation she’s talking about than I am. But it isn’t working for me. There obviously ought to be people outside of a situation, who have the capital to address that situation without capitalizing on it. I just think that, if your biggest source of fame or notoriety is your negative opinion of somebody else, you might do well to find something else to talk about for a while.

Proverbs

The words of Lieutenant Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him:

  1. The two rivers that Hercules (our Christ) joined to clean the Aegean Stables of the church are the Spirit and the Word
  2. The Holy Spirit will pursue His children. Or, The Lord will not let go of His elect.
  3. Loving Jesus means loving His church, even if the church doesn’t love you.
  4. I am the appendix in the body of Christ. Nobody knows what I’m there for, but as long as I don’t cause any trouble, I can stay.
  5. It doesn’t matter if no one else is worshiping. Fix your eyes on the stained glass window at the back of the sanctuary, and worship anyway
  6. Being right is not as important as being obedient. Being right is not as valuable as building the church toward maturity.
  7. Sometimes it takes the right person to communicate a difficult truth.
  8. God’s kindness is not the best proof of His love; a lack of happy circumstances do not show a lack of God’s love.
  9. A single wicked thought is not a sin. We have an enemy who is actively seeking to incite wickedness.
  10. Incitement to rioting is not an excuse for rioting.
  11. Sometimes God’s providence is confusing because he needs you at a certain place & time for the sake of someone else.
  12. Everything stops to correct a bad attitude.
  13. Parenting is more important than eating, more important than sleep, more important than career, more important than appointments, more important than classes, more important than teams.
  14. Everything stops for parenting.
  15. She’s mean to you because she likes you.
  16. When you leave, it should be normal to hire three people to replace you.
  17. It doesn’t matter if you are not worthy to worship. He is worthy to be worshiped.
  18. A little poison in a bad book can ruin a child’s mind. It can only be remedied by a lot of really good books.
  19. Some things that sound fine in print are too vile to be said out loud.
  20. The task at hand may not be the test.
  21. We all sensor. The question is what we sensor.
  22. All laws legislate morality. You cannot legislate anything else.
  23. My goodness, what do they teach children in school these days?
  24. Dance with the grace God has given you.
  25. Never be afraid to ask the question.
  26. Stop asking questions. You’re scaring people.
  27. Always be ready to entertain a good argument.
  28. Some people cannot understand an argument they don’t already agree with.
  29. The Bible doesn’t say that; his grandmother says that.
  30. Prejudice is generational, but it can be corrected.
  31. Don’t act according to your instincts. Act according to your understanding.
  32. Anything worth saying is worth repeating.
  33. Repetition builds retention.
  34. Ignorance and prejudice are brain damage. They deserve your pity, not your wrath.
  35. The gospel has two wings: the Spirit and the word.

Full of Vapid Things

In recent discussions about worship music, we haven’t said much about the fact that so much of the music that comes to us is just… vapid. I don’t mean that the song is short. Plenty of short songs have lots of gravity. You can get a lot of depth out of a 12 measure song. Nevertheless, a lot of songs today don’t have much to say.

It’s easy to gloss over this, because it’s pretty easy to get people to agree that worship songs shouldn’t be vapid. Pack in as much as possible. That’s what makes a song worth singing.

But a bigger question is why do so many songs come out that have the musicality of a masterpiece and the lyrics of a child’s paint-by-number scheme? Here’s my guess – too many worshipers are spending too much time on their stringed instruments, and not enough time in word and prayer. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and the hearts of vapid songwriters are full of vapid things.