“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Eph. 4:29, ESV)

“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” (Eph. 5:4, ESV)

In the discussion of “bad language” at the Boar’s Head Tavern and in the IM comments, these two verses from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians were cited by both ordinary readers and by my critics. I would like to record a few thoughts on these verses, not because I believe they are misunderstood- they are extremely simple- but because I believe they need to be heard and obeyed as Holy Scripture.Continue reading “Thoughts on Ephesians 4:29, 5:4”

How do we honor Paul’s pastoral advice, but not let the most easily offended among us become tyrants in the body of Christ?

1 Corinthians 8. Romans 14. These chapters have been my nightly reading many times after a controversy with my opponents on the reformed watchblogs.

How do we treat those with whom we disagree within the church, both local and universal? Who are the brothers who are “weak” in faith? How much power does their offendedness give them? How much does our understanding of the full implications of the Gospel and Christian freedom play into areas of disagreement over controversial behavior?

Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 are great chapters…but a lot of trouble for me to understand at times. By trouble I mean this: Paul introduces some pastoral ideas here that are vital to both evangelism and the life of the church, but the concepts create real problems for many Christians. The common application of these passages tends to leave me thinking that something important is badly amiss.Continue reading “The Tyranny of the Offended”

Why our conflicts over the Bible and Theology may sometimes have nothing whatsoever to do with being right.

Every so often, I will have a bit of an Epiphany. I wish I had written them all down, because sometimes the clarity of the moment balances weeks, months, years of confusion and I feel like I’ve learned something that matters.

So here’s one of those moments: Sometimes, the Bible doesn’t give you enough evidence, one way or the other, to settle a question beyond the possibility of a continuing discussion and debate. If this is true, and if the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit does not remove this ambiguity, then there are points beyond which dicsussion and debate ought to proceed only with considerable and generous amounts of respectful humility.Continue reading “The Humility Zone”

Father Andrew Greeley may be writing with a wink when he wonders if evangelicals have considered the possible irony of their current interest in movies, but the point is still well made.

Secondly, it seems to me that the evangelicals slip dangerously close to Catholic idolatry when they embrace a wondrous allegory as a summary of the biblical story. Jesus is not and never was a lion like Aslan in the film. To interpret him as a lion is to go light years beyond literal, word-for-word inerrancy. The evangelical enthusiasm about the sufferings of Jesus in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” put them one step away, it seemed to me, from importing crucifixes and Stations of the Cross into their churches. I’m afraid that their enthusiasm for both films shows just how seductive the Catholic temptation is. We delight in pictures and stories and allegories and symbols and signs because they appeal to the whole human person and not just to the rigid, rational mind.

There is nothing that is more of the essence of conversion than the capturing of the imagination. This is a truth that has confronted me in my mid-life years as have few others. Despite the neglect of the imagination in my own fundamentalist tradition, I have discovered that it remains a essential part of human nature. Fallen and fragile, but powerful and influential. To understand how to appeal to the imagination effectively is to be able to influence human beings on a much more deeper level than the appeal of reason alone.Continue reading “The Conversion Of The Evangelical Imagination”

Chuck Colson writes a riveting piece in Christianity Today on his own dark night of the soul. The key quote (my bold):

Exhausted from hospitals, two years of writing The Good Life, and an ugly situation with a disgruntled former employee, I found myself wrestling with the Prince of Darkness, who attacks us when we are weakest. I walked around at night, asking God why he would allow this. Alone, shaken, fearful, I longed for the closeness with God I had experienced even in the darkest days of prison….I’m not sure how well the contemporary evangelical world prepares us for this struggle, which I suspect many evangelicals experience but fear to admit because of the expectations we create. At such times, we can turn for strength to older and richer theological traditions probably unfamiliar to many writings by saints who endured agonies both physical and spiritual.

Continue reading “Looking Away From The Darkened Sun”