For many years I've struggled with how to identify myself when folks get around to asking about my faith or spirituality or religion.  People in the work place like to say things like, 'you seem to be a spiritual person' or 'I can tell your faith is important to you'.  They hint around and finally ask, 'so what kind of church do you go to'.  If I tell them that I attend a small Associate Reformed Presbyterian church, they usually only remember the presbyterian part and I'm never sure they have a clear sense of my religious beliefs.  This is more specific, however, than simply saying I'm a Christian.

These days when you say that you are a Christian you aren't really communicating much at all.  The only thing that most people on a global scale are able to tell from that statement is that you aren't Muslim or Jewish or Buddhist or Atheist.  By saying you are Christian you are saying that you fall into a large category of people around the world that believe all sorts of things historically and many of whom have serious disagreements about the core beliefs they do have.

I've noticed that some folks identify themselves as evangelicals and I think this is a better word and more descriptive but I'm not sure that people outside of Christian circles know what that means either.  I'd be interested to know if readers of this blog have an opinion. 

A survey that came out from Gallop and Baylor University had some interesting statistics:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-09-11-religion-survey_x.htm 

I am an evangelical and here's what I mean:

"The word 'evangelical' comes from a Greek root meaning 'good news' and it refers to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In a broad sense, evangelicals are people who believe that the Bible is God's inspired Word and that an individual can become a Christian only by accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. Evangelicals believe:

1. The Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible authoritative Word of God.
2. That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3. In the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His Virgin Birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through the shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
4. That for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
5. In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
6. In the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; that they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
7. In the spiritual unity of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessings to you ~ Steadman

The Scripture speaks to the need for our unity and tells us how we are to attain this unity:

Ephesians 4:1-5  “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

In many ways we are living in a non-creedal age… an age of anti-creedalism.  Our society is relativistic in nature.  We have lost a sense of the importance of history.  We have an increasing tendency for simplification and a great concern for individual freedom of belief.  Most of all there is a great fear that the use of creeds undermines the sufficiency of Scripture.  We have a sense that the supremacy of the Bible discredits the use of Creeds.  Let us ask the question, “What is the relationship between the creed and Scripture?”

You may recall that the word creed comes from the Latin word “credo” which simply means, “I believe”.  It would be good to stop here and read what is perhaps the most important and widely accepted of all Christian creeds, The Apostles’ Creed.  Because this is a rather long creed it may quickly open us to one controversy or another.  Let us begin by talking about a simple creed that we find inside this larger creed such as, “I believe in God”.  The statement, “I believe in God” is a brief creed or statement of faith.  This simple creed is not an independent assertion of truth but rather a truth derived from Scripture.  The content of all Christian Creeds is always derived from the Bible, God’s infallible, inerrant Word.  It is important for us to recognize that a Creed will always be subordinate to Scripture.  Creeds do not call into question the supremacy of Scripture - they affirm the supremacy of Scripture. 

When a church member says that there should be no creed and that we should only use the Bible they are in essence saying, “I believe only in the Bible”.  This “I believe” statement is using the very same credo language.  They are saying, “My creed is that there be no creed.”  We need to own up to the fact that as church members and as Christians, we all adhere to some creed.  We all have a statement of belief that defines what we believe to be the essentials of Christianity.  The problem for us is that the less we say in creedal form, the greater the danger that our position allows almost any doctrine into the church.  Remember that James 2:19 tell us about a problem with one very simple creed, “You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that – and shudder.”  If we say, “I believe in Jesus”, that Creed alone should lead us to draw out of Scripture more of who Jesus is… what is his relation to God the Father, is he a human, how was he born, what makes him different than other men of history, when did he live, what happened to him, did he die, will we see him again??? 

The next question that is often posed has to do with the exclusionary nature of creeds.  Creeds sure do seem divisive.  In short, yes, they do exclude, they are a reason for many to feel divided.  One who does not know us well will surely ask, “What do you believe?”  The creed provides us with an answer!  We reply, “I believe in the Bible and I have written out exactly what it is that I believe the Bible teaches…  When asked what we believe, we should certainly respond with emphasizing our belief in the Bible but the next logical question will always be, “What do you believe the Bible teaches?”  The creed provides us with a place to start, a list of the essentials, a summary of our faith.

Finally, we will often run into a common question that is asked of those who first read The Apostles’ Creed.  It says in there, “I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic church…” Why should I say that I believe in the catholic church if I’m not Catholic?  Note that this is a lower case “c” which simply means, “universal”.  We are saying here that we believe in one universal church or one body of Christ.  We come together through the creed belonging to one universal church or one holy catholic church irregardless of where we attend worship on Sundays… this is the church that we all have in common as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Why is it good for us to have a creed?

Ø    The Bible calls us to publicly affirm our faith.  Just as someone pointed out in our last meeting, it is good for us to publicly confess what we believe and the Bible is a BIG book.  Romans 10:10 tells us, “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

Ø    Small creeds are preserved in the Scripture as a record of what Christianity believes.  Romans 8:24 “Christ Jesus who died, or rather has been raised from the dead, who is on the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us…” and 1 Corinthians 8:6 “We, however, have one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we to him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we through Him.”  And there are more elaborate statements about Christ in Colossians 1 and Philippians 2.  The concept of creedalism is a Scriptural one!

What is the value or function of a creed?

Ø    Creed gives us identity.  When I recite the creed I identify myself with its object, I am saying I go with that God!  This provides us a unity in our fellowship and labor.  When we identify ourselves with the creed we are provided with a community of believers.

Ø    Creed provides boundary and definition.  Within the creed there is freedom and unity and for those outside or coming in they are provided with a clear sense of where truth is to be discovered.  Like we have said, creeds exclude and this is an important function… they tell us who we are, but also who or what we are not.

Ø    Creeds affirm that truth is important.  Learning, understanding, and using creeds trains our mind to resist the pressure form our culture which says there is no ultimate or absolute truth.  We use the creed to remind us that there is something true about Jesus Christ in whom we believe and confess.

Ø    Creeds serve as a useful tool for Christian education.  Creeds give us a proven and time-tested way to pass on the central truths of the gospel to the next generation, our natural and spiritual children.  Initially, creeds were used to prepare new converts for their public confession of faith.

Ø    Creeds give shape to our worship.  Truth about God is for praise of God.  All the early hymns or hymn fragments we have in the New Testament read like mini creeds or statements of faith.  When we praise God, we celebrate all that we know to be true of Him, who He is and what He has done.

Ø    Finally, creeds give a sense of communion and unity with the church throughout the ages and the church throughout the world.  This, as we have mentioned, is one of our greatest needs today… to shore up the unity in core essential areas of truth and to stand together against the forces that assail us.

Blessings to you ~ Steadman

For years now I have been eating breakfast with a group of friends on Friday mornings.  Our conversations run the gambit.  We may talk about the weather, the difficulties we face at work, the movies we like, or what matters most – our faith.  This morning we stumbled into the topic of natural law, reason, and revelation.  One of my friends had been reading the book of Romans with his wife and he was interested in the passage in chapter 2 where Paul says, “Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.” (vs. 14-15)  This passage points, it seems, to the natural law of God that provides us with a common sense knowledge of God’s ways.  This common sense of all mankind could have the effect of drawing us to God.  C.S. Lewis argues that the natural law provides us all with a proof that God exists.  Many theologians differ on how it is that natural law and reason are useful in leading us to faith in God.

 

I find John Calvin to be most convincing in his position regarding the relationship of faith and reason.  Calvin holds a view that places revelation over reason.  Reason can only take us so far.  Reason is certainly meant by God to be used by all mankind.    However, at some point reason must be submitted to revelation.  The problem with reason alone is that without God’s revelation the total depravity of man taints and spoils everything we try to accomplish through reason alone.  In sum our reason is stained or tainted with this total depravity.  Our sinful self-interest alone will spoil and pervert our understanding of God warping it into some cheapened form of idolatry. 

 

Allister McGrath makes this point in his appendix to Intellectuals Don’t Need God.  He explains Calvin as saying,” Our natural knowledge of God is imperfect and confused, even to the point of contradiction on occasion.  A natural knowledge of God serves to deprive humanity of any excuse for ignoring him; nevertheless, it is inadequate as the basis of a full-fledged portrayal of the nature, character, and purposes of God.”  God is absolutely sovereign and we are absolutely responsible for our actions and decisions.  These two viewpoints held together seem to go against reason.  However, it is clear to me that Calvin is right in that the God-given reason to which all mankind has access leaves us without excuse for our sins and our failure to rightly worship the one true God.  We see that there must be a God when we consider creation, our own mortality, or our unfulfilled spiritual longings.  And it is by our reason that we are held accountable and can be justly judged by God for having misplaced our worship of the true and living God.

 

Calvin would ask, why did God give us reason if it was not to be used?  Our natural knowledge of God can only be perfected or completed through biblical revelation.  “Scripture reiterates what may be known of God through nature, while simultaneously clarifying this general revelation and enhancing it.  ‘The knowledge of God, which is clearly shone in the ordering of the word and in all creatures, is still more clearly and familiarly explained in the Word’.  It is only through Scripture that the believer has access to knowledge of the redeeming actions of God in history, culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  For Calvin, revelation is focused on the person of Jesus Christ; our knowledge of God is mediated through him.”  Furthermore, Calvin adds, “that Scripture can only be properly read and understood through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”  Revelation, for Calvin, supercedes reason.  Reason must submit to the saving power of God’s revelation where He intervenes in the totally depraved life of a person to lift them out of their sin to redemption.  This for me is a most convincing perspective.

 

Blessings to you ~ Steadman

Or more precisely, “What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?”  This was the 2005 Edge Question posed to a group of 120 scientists, futurists, and creative thinkers.  I was introduced to the question and a few excerpts from the responses when I read an article from the New York Times that I downloaded to my Dell Axim yesterday.  Here’s a link if you are interested in reading more, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/science/04edgehed.html?pagewanted=1. 

 

I thought the question was an excellent one for all of us to consider and I greatly appreciated the few answers that I had a chance to read.  There were quite a few answers that hit on the category of the existence of God and the belief in an intelligent design.  I was pleased to see that there was equal representation for those who believed and admitted that they were unable to prove that the world was a product of Darwinian evolution.  We are often led to believe that many scientists feel that evolution is not a belief similar to the religious beliefs of those who hold to creation, but rather, a fact, that can be proven and with which we should not argue.  It was good to see these view placed on a common ground.  Both views require faith in what cannot be proven.  I was also interested to see answers that I did not expect to see.  One researcher offered up his belief that infants were more conscious than we gave them credit for and another researcher stated his belief in ‘true love’, something he could not prove but believed existed.  There were many interesting takes on the answer to the question of the year.

 

The Christian has many answers to this question as well.  Our Christian creeds are full of beliefs that we hold to be true and yet cannot prove.  The Apostles’ Creed is an excellent example:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.  Amen.

Here we find a number of beliefs that can arguably be substantiated by historical record:  Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, he was crucified, he died, and he was buried.  However, the majority of these statements are matters of faith.  We are reminded in Scripture, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1a)  For the Christian what we do not see is the equivalent of what we cannot prove. The difference between the multitude of answers provided to this great question by this most recent collection of modern scholars and the Christian beliefs or faith summarized in the Apostle’ creed has something to do with hope.  The Christian has a great hope in the things which we believe but cannot prove.  We have the hope of salvation, the hope of resurrection, the hope of heaven.  I would like to ask these same scholars if the answer they offered provides them with any hope.  My prayer for you as you ponder the answer to this challenging question is that you can have true hope, a hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

 

Blessings to you ~ Steadman

Knowing that there are hundreds of thousands of suffering people grieving the loss of their homes, livelihoods, and family members, it feels a little trite for me to write some sort of peppy ‘Happy New Year’ blog entry.  This new year of 2005 I have been contemplating several of the barriers that exist in the minds of unbelievers.  Many outsiders to Christianity and many Christians struggle with the seemingly inconsistent notion that God can be all powerful and all good and at the same time able to allow suffering in the world. 

 

So, how is it that a good God can sit back and watch the twin towers crumble or the coastlines of entire countries be destroyed by a giant tsunami?  The concern can be further complicated by the following suggestion:  1) A good and omnipotent God could eliminate suffering entirely.  2) There could not be morally sufficient reasons for God permitting suffering.  Lee Strobel conveys the problem in the words of Charles Templeton with, “’A loving God’ could not possibly be the author of the horrors we have been describing—horrors that continue every day, have continued since time began, and will continue as long as life exists.  It is an inconceivable tale of suffering and death, and because the tale is fact—is, in truth, the history of the world—it is obvious that there cannot be a loving God.” 

 

The problem can be debunked by challenging what is meant and understood by the terms of “all knowing”, “all powerful”, and “all good”.  Augustine was able to reconcile this problem by working with these concepts to deduce that, “Since God is the highest good, he would not allow any evil to exist in his works unless his omnipotence and goodness were such as to bring good even out of evil.”  We must remember that God embraced suffering by sending His only son to die a horrible death on a cross—a death that would free mankind from the shackles of sin and restore communion between God and His creation.  We must appeal to a deeper understanding of an all good and all loving God.  The love of God is not one that merely desires the happiness of men and women.  “The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves is insoluble only so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word ‘love’, and look on things as if man was the center of them.”  God, it seems, has a purpose for suffering that brings about a much greater good than our temporal understanding is able to quickly grasp.  God is all knowing and He has in mind the eternal perspective when he allows the suffering of the moment. 

 

My desire for my fellow Christians is that we grow in our faith to the point where we are comfortable letting God be God resting in His sovereign and eternal perspective.  My desire for those who do not know God through relationship with Jesus Christ – especially for those who are suffering – is that the salvation and redemption made possible by Jesus’ death on the cross would be experienced and that the comfort that only Christ can provide will tend to the wounds inflicted on your hearts.  I pray for those suffering the very real losses due to this most recent catastrophe that God will heal your lands, that He will provide for your needs, and that you will know the Good News of Christ in the midst of this great sorrow. 

 

Blessings to you in this new year ~ Steadman

For the last couple of days, I have been sharing some of my views on the modern Christian approach to apologetics – the branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines.  I believe the aim of apologetics is best achieved when reason is employed and ultimately submitted to revelation.  God has given us the ability to argue rationally and to contemplate the implications of rational argument upon our lives.  Therefore it is essential that as apologists we use the tools of rational argument to address the points of contact that every person has in common with the truth about God's existence, his purpose, his plan in history, and his love for every individual.  For the audience of unbelievers including the remnants of doubt and unbelief lurking in our own hearts, it is critical that we apply reason in order to connect these points of contact to the truth that can be represented through rational and reasonable argument.  However, we cannot find God independent of God's revelation, independent of God reaching down and finding us.  It is God that does the miracle work of revelation by the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Our application of reason is always tainted with our fallen nature, the state of total depravity within which we are bound.  Only God's powerful work of revelation can loose the chains that bind us and lead us to warped alternatives to truth.  Without God's divine intervention in our lives, our best attempts to know him will only result in some dimmed down version of true worship of God the result of which is self-worship and idolatry.

            The priority of our apologetic aim must start with what is universal to all audiences.  We have all been given reason and we all require God's intervention in our lives via His revelation.  However, as apologists we must recall that the truth is applicable to all generations and all audiences of all cultures and peoples.  The venue through which our rational argument is conveyed can carry many forms and come in many languages.  A second priority in our apologetic approach must be to apply our rational argument within an appropriate venue for a specific audience.  God has used the work of evangelists, revivalist, cell group leaders, discipleship leaders, the emotionally compelling witness of one, and the hellfire and brimstone message of another to bring about the revelation work of the truth in the hearts of men and women all over the world.  The importance of pairing the argument of truth with the appropriate common language for an audience is certainly a priority we cannot forget in the midst of our apologetic work. 

            Finally, it is critical of every apologist to remember the importance of his own witness in relationship to others.  We must recall, "we who teach will be judged with greater strictness (James 3:1)."  Our life must be lived in a manner that presents a good argument in and of itself.  How can we teach the rational arguments of truth and not live lives that have been visibly transformed by that truth.  As apologists, we are all ambassadors of Christ and it is important that we live in such a way that "abstains from every form of evil” (1 Thes. 5:22) and lends credence to the truth that we profess.  In sum, our apologetic approach must appeal to the universally available form of reason within every person, it must speak in common language specific to the audience, it must be consistent with the personal witness of the apologist, and it must ultimately appeal to the revelation that only God can bring about in the hearts of men and women.

Blessings to you ~ Steadman

 

For weeks now I’ve been asking myself, why do I want to have a blog – what is the point of spending all of this time talking to people I may never meet?  A few of you have shared that you feel a bit like a ‘peeping tom’ looking into my life from a distance and at times this may feel a little strange.  I’ll admit that initially this was simply an experiment.  My wife tagged my time on the web blog as ‘journaling for extraverts’.  I do invite anyone to take a peek here and see who I am and what I have to say.  It feels nice to have a place in this giant world of data where I feel like I live so to speak.  However, as I have continued to think about the mission and purpose I have for The Christian Guy Next Door, I am clear that I do have a few reasons for continuing this work that may be truly worthy of my time and attention.  First, I hope to be of some encouragement to fellow believers wherever they may be.  This is a new age of technology and the church universal is much more easily connected online than it ever has been in the past.  I have greatly appreciated the encouragements that my Christian brothers and sisters have given regarding what I have shared here.  My second reason is that I really do hope to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  I want to be an evangelist wherever I can be, a good ambassador of Jesus Christ and to defend the faith to the world around us that may see my beliefs as just another religious world view among many.  I don’t want a ‘pat on the back’ for being religious… I want those who read this to see that Christianity stands alone as the One Way to relationship with God.  Hence my URL – 1way.  My prayer is that some seeds may be planted for the Kingdom and that there will be fruit eventually that I may never see that will come from the things that I share here.

Blessings to you ~ Steadman

In an age known for its widespread ascent to relativism, the Christian faith alone must rise above personal opinion and individual belief to assert something dynamic about truth. Christianity will either stand up for what is true in opposition to all that is false or it will become yet another nominal point of reference in the pluralistic fabric of our society. Our culture demands that all religious faiths respect one another and “play well together”. However, if Christianity is to make a claim about truth, then the Christian apologist must be willing to put a stake in the ground and be willing to pass judgment against what is false in other religions. Hebrews 4:12 tells us plainly that, “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” This sword must be picked up and wielded wisely. When the truth of Scripture is applied to our society at large, we find that the Christian is forced to take a stand and determine the apologetic response to the flawed moral thinking of our legislation, medical doctors, technologists, and teachers. Our society has lost its moral compass. Faith must once again become a rudder for our society turning us away from the danger of the rapids that are ahead. Science without faith setting the guidelines is on a slippery slope towards a destructive end. The Christian apologetic speaking from a position of the truth in Scripture has something to say about—not only the protection of innocent life but also—the breaking of the commandments that go against God himself. It does matter whom we serve rather than simply how we serve in regards to one another. The Christian faith must decide in this day and age when members of every faith stand unified and speak with one voice in our National Cathedral whether our apologetic is aimed only at individuals or at the society as a whole. If we see ourselves as doing more than simply saving a few individuals out of a bad society and, instead, reforming society by making a claim about what is really true, only then will the Christian faith have genuine public significance. We teeter on the verge of becoming just another face in the pluralistic crowd. My hope is that we will stand firm and be bold as regards these difficult decisions trusting that the God of creation will give us the grace and strength to truly be set apart as a holy people called out by Him.

In his preface to A History of Apologetics, Avery Dulles states that after a long period where apologetics focused on Moslems, atheists, and others, “Finally apologists came to recognize that every Christian harbors within himself a secret infidel. At this point apologetics became, to some extent, a dialogue between the believer and the unbeliever in the heart of the Christian himself. In speaking to this unregenerate self, the apologist assumed—quite correctly—that he would best be able to reach others similarly situated.” The primary aim of apologetics should be just this, to speak in common language understandable to each particular audience regarding the unbelief and unregenerate life habits and perspectives that loom in the hearts of all people. First, apologetics must address the unbelief of the individual. By an appeal to reason the apologist can approach the individual regarding a number of identifiable points of contact or starting places from which a dialogue can proceed. God must do the powerful work of revelation in the life of each person. So, our laying bear the Gospel can only go so far. It is important to recognize that apologetics is not only for the unbelieving audience but also for the believing audience. Dulles makes mention of the infidel within every Christian and he focuses in on the fact that there are remnants of the unregenerate self within all of us. The commitment of the Christian is to be active in our work to transform our minds, to put away childish things, to put to death the things of the flesh and of the old man. Apologetics plays an important part in the life of every Christian to continue the good work that has been started in us. We must apply good reason and solid biblical understanding to the habits of our lives to speak to where we are in history and in the vein of culture within which we find ourselves. Apologetics, therefore, serves a two-fold aim of providing a starting point from which God will or will not do his work of revelation and providing an ongoing effort to reform every aspect of the lives of those to whom God has revealed himself. Blessings to you ~ Steadman