Ten years ago today! This was one of our Saturday kids’ clubs in the community of Jesús María, run by our capable friend Marta. The theme of the weekly club was “Learning with Rondi the Bear” (don’t ask – I don’t know either).
Part of the plan was that we also invited parents to a Bible study at the same time – the Chronological Bible study that I put together, which is intended to be very conversation oriented and non-threatening for newcomers. For more on what was happening, check out this post from 2012.
In our study of Biblical Anthropology, we’ve already talked a lot about truth. But let’s look at it a little more from the perspective of justice.
What is our ultimate authority – the source of all truth? That would be the ultimate Being – God – but because of that, we can say that our ultimate source of truth is His revelation to us – God’s Word.
We could also say, the Person of Jesus Christ, revealed in the Bible.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me…”
John 14:6
Colossians 2:3 says, “…in whom” (that is, in Christ) “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Truth is in the unchanging mind of God. He has given us physical laws, logic, math, science. God is truthful, God is consistent, and so when we are truthful we imitate Him.
That’s why Leviticus 19:36 says, “You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
I am God, and you are my people. And so, when you sell someone a gram of corn, make sure that it’s actually a complete gram of corn – not a little less. It’s about truth.
Exodus 20:16 – “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.” Honesty! Don’t lie. Don’t deceive.
“Truth” is basically a question of what is real. Lies aren’t real, right? Satan himself is the author of the unreal, the false, the empty. Jesus explained:
“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:44
And how does the devil distort the truth? He introduces doubt. “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)
You may think that you have your truth and I have mine. Maybe “truth” is relative – it’s only a matter of perspective. And in this way we can destroy truth completely.
This is actually a big problem for the world. If there is no truth – that is, solid, absolute truth – it’s not possible to unite together. Because what could we actually have in common? Matthew 12:25 – “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”
And so you can’t actually completely reject God’s truth. But you can use parts of God’s truth along with the lies to build something temporary and unstable, and try to attack God from there.
Let’s use this image to illustrate. It’s a half-built house, or a house in ruins. Look at it and remember it. If you want to reject God, you need to use some lies – some things that are not real – in order to build. But you can’t build anything with only “nothing-bricks”. You’ll also need to use some truth mixed in. That there is the headquarters of the enemy.
In this way, certain “experts” must build this house with lies mixed with truth, and everyone is supposed to follow their theories.
And of course, these will be the wise and powerful philosophers of this world. The sociologists. The politicians. The psychologists. The scientists. The professors.
Now, of course, I’m talking about unbelievers. Thanks be to God, there are many believers in all of the fields I just mentioned. And note again, I’m not saying that everything that unbelievers say is wrong – far from it! But it can never be a “complete structure”.
We’re going to look at a very influential thinker from the past, Karl Marx. Marx lived in the middle of the 19th century, and he hated both God and Christianity. He wrote:
Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and also the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of spiritless conditions. It is the opium of the people. To abolish religion as the illusory happiness of the people is to demand their real happiness.
According to Marx, in order to have real happiness, we must get rid of the “illusion” of religion. We need to free ourselves from God and His truth. But wait – what will we have in His place? Truth mixed with lies.
Before we go on with our other perspectives on justice (remember, we’re just on the first one – Truth), it will be useful to talk about the Marxist worldview in general, and how this and other ideas are affecting the world today.
For now, get the picture of that house in your mind. A temporary, unstable structure built with both the real and the unreal. That image will help a lot in the posts to come.
A heads up to all our friends in Sudbury! Or to those who are just curious! —-
Lord willing we’ll be in Sudbury on Sunday, at Lansing Avenue Baptist Chapel. The service is at 10am, and you can find the other details on their website.
I’ll be sharing a few glimpses about what has been going on for the past few years in Mexico, and also sharing a message from God’s Word which I hope you’ll find super helpful.
After the service we’ll be available for a Q&A time, which will include a discussion of how the COVID-19 situation has affected our ministry.
As we have worked through various topics related to Biblical Anthropology, we’ve had many many tricky topics to touch on. But this may be the most controversial one up to this point. One reason is that so many biblical ideas – and not so biblical ideas – are in churches themselves.
So before we start, I would like to explain a couple of things, and give you a bit of a road map to explain where we’re going.
These days, many of us are more and more aware of global issues. In my case, over the past few years, I’ve been very interested in the three countries of North America: Mexico, the USA, and Canada.
Some things that I talked about when I did this series originally were more specific to Mexico. Other things were more common to all countries in the world. You may find that some things have been common in other countries, and are now entering yours.
Talking about the topic of justice, those three countries in particular are quite different. But in a global culture, we need to see how some of the same ideas are developing in different areas. And so you’ll excuse me if I may talk about things that apply in varying degrees to different countries.
When we talk about justice, we may need to learn some new vocabulary and new ideas. But as usual, we’ll start by laying some foundations. And, as always, it’s most helpful if you’ve read all the previous posts in the series.
And I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll have questions, to say the least, about this topic. Because we have all been affected by the currents of ideas that are in the world around us. And I am certainly open to hearing your questions and concerns.
You will notice that, as you think about these ideas, you’ll start to see the applications all around you!
And I hope that, as we learn, we would understand how to “do justice”, as Micah 6:8 says.
But let’s start here:
You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 16:18-20
This is a fascinating summary in the Law of Moses. You see, when we “do justice”, we are imitating God Himself. The “Song of Moses” in Revelation 15:3 says, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!”
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
Psalm 33:3-5
God loves “righteousness and justice”. A study of Greek and Hebrew will show how these ideas are closely related – you might say equity, rights, the right, and so on. And sometimes, in fact, the same word can be translated in different ways. So we will be talking about justice and rights, that is, righteousness. More specifically, how we administer justice on earth, through the authorities that God has given us.
So here’s our plan for the next while. We’re going to look at the topic of justice from 7 different perspectives, 7 points of view. As we go, we’ll also try to look at how the world of today is trying to twist and distort these 7 things. And we’ll start with another look at something that we’ve discussed before – that ever controversial topic of – truth.
To all our friends in Southern Ontario! If you would like to come and see us and hear about what’s been happening in Mexico, come this Sunday to Garside Bible Church in Hamilton. 🙂
The service is at 10:30am, and Lord willing I’ll be preaching and sharing a few pics. Shari and Nathanael will be with me, to answer all your burning questions after the service. 😀
You’ll notice that in our Biblical Anthropology series, I haven’t given detailed answers on each topic – this would be a much, much longer series if I attempted that. Instead, I’ve touched on a lot of topics to start us thinking – hopefully applying God’s Word to our situation.
And we need to keep going back to the basics. As we discuss technology, including that device you may have in your pocket, we start at the beginning.
We recognize that truth comes from God. We recognize that we depend on Him. We know that our purpose comes from Him.
We also know that we live in a fallen world, and that Satan is active here. We know that there is salvation in Jesus Christ alone, and that He is our true hope. We also know that we must share this truth with those around us. As we have said, we have a purpose in this life.
As we get down to practical application, I have appreciated what Tim Challies has written on this topic in his book The Next Story. Although a few years old now, it has some great principles that apply to all our modern times.
One of the useful tips in the book is that we “talk to” our devices and ask questions. These are questions designed to help us accept (or not) new technology with open eyes, and guard our hearts while we use it.
I encourage you to get the book for yourself, but here’s a brief summary of some questions to meditate on in the mean time. (These are paraphrases, since I’m translating my notes from Spanish.)
Why were you created? In other words, what was the original purpose of this device/application/etc? For example, PowerPoint was created for businesses. How might this affect its use in religious contexts?
What is the problem you are trying to solve? Whose problem is it? Maybe the manufacturer believes we have a problem that we don’t really have. Or maybe this device solves a problem that the manufacturer has, but not a problem we have!
What new problems do you bring with you? Remember, we’re talking to our devices here. Even if the technology solves one problem, it may create several other problems. We need to think about that before we adopt it in everyday life.
What are you doing to my heart? Why do I really want this device (keep in mind that there may be many reasons, both good and bad)? Is this a potential idol in my life? Or does it increase the power of an idol in my life?
There’s a lot more that we could talk about, and Lord willing we will talk about more related to technology in future posts. But these questions leave us with a lot to ponder before we go on.
As you think about technology over the next few days, I would encourage you to read (or re-read) the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9. And meditate on your personal purpose, as a human being, and as a Christian. How do you focus your life? Why do you spend time and money on that which you spend time and money on? Think about what you actually did each hour for the last few days, and take a look at what’s going out of your bank account.
And may we learn to glorify the Lord, fulfilling our true purpose, with all of the devices and apps and everything else that we use – instead of trying to build our own towers to “make a name for ourselves”.
