Category Archives: Philosophy

Question: The Christian Life Is Just Change, Or More?

Anonymous asked:
How can you tell when you’re actually living out your faith? Is it simply the fruits of the spirit gradually becoming apparent in your daily routine or does it look more radical?

So it looks we’ve set up a conflict here between fruits and radical living.  In other words: Is the Christian life just about personal holiness?  Or should I be fighting crime and rescuing slaves and beating up dictators?

Let’s be clear: The American church absolutely loves the whole personal holiness thing.  Almost every Christian book in your bookstore is about transformation, renewing your mind, a better you, “Gospel Centrality,” fixing your heart, tending to your emotions, and a bunch of other self-involved disciplines.  Not all these are bad, but the focus is obvious. 

Even missional work in America is considered a personal holiness thing.  I’ve heard it preached, “In the end you’ll grow closer to God and see what He’s doing for you.”  Again, not really wrong, but you see the implication.

We’ve very much disconnected God’s saving grace with His call to glorify His name.  When we stick a wedge between Grace and Glory, we’ve lost the Gospel. A lot of theologians want to set up Jesus and Paul like they were saying different things, but NO, they were not.  Jesus and Paul would both say Jesus is both the Gate and the Road.

I’ll put it simply, in sort of a rhyme:

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“The Holiness of God”



God is a holy, holy, holy god. He does have the freedom to judge you however He wants to. I don’t care how much you feel something, desire something, believe God ought to do something a certain way. He’s not bound to your feelings, your notions, your opinions. He doesn’t care what [I] conjure up in my head of what I think ought to be right or ought to be wrong. He says, ‘You’re not God. I am. And here’s what I say is right and wrong.’

It doesn’t matter that you say, ‘He has no right to punish me. He has no right to have this type of wrath. Or a loving God can’t create a place of punishment.’ You need to understand: God does whatever He wants to do, and it’s not about you. Maybe you’ve lived this weird Disney Land life where people bow down to you and really care about your opinion. That’s not the way God is. I don’t care how powerful you are. I don’t care how much money you have. I don’t care how good you look. I don’t care how popular you think you are. You’re nothing. I’m nothing in the presence of God. … But because of the blood of Christ, He calls me His child.

– Francis Chan

The Holiness Of God (April 25th, 2010)

Probably the most straight-up thing he has ever said.


Question: Why Shouldn’t I Worry?

Anonymous asked:
Hey can you tell me about worry like why should we as Christians not worry.

Well first please allow me the shameless self-promoting humility to offer up two sermons I did on that:

The Crazy You Secured In Christ, Part 4 – Don’t Worry About It

The Crazy You Secured In Christ, Part 3 – Everything’s Going To Be All Right

Some reasons not to worry then:

1) God is in control of everything.

You’ve heard this before, but worry assumes that God is not in control of a few things, which implies that He’s not in control of anything.  I don’t want to be the fool that puts in Him that position, since I don’t like the taste of lightning either. 

Deadlines, traffic, your relationship, the economy, the cancer, your mortgage, your kids, death, world hunger, your computer files — ALL these things are in control by an all-knowing God.  Nothing happens without His stamp of approval, and if you believe God is good and He loves you, then you know He’s got this. He’s got an end in mind. Trust Him about that.  If you don’t think God is good nor loving, then we’re not talking about God, but just an idolatrous version of God.  Worry about that first.

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Question: Christianity and Psychology Can Reconcile?

joshtheyipper asked:
How valuable is understanding psychology in living a Christian life? Like, how much does it help us understand ourselves? Is the modern understanding of psychology valid (say, as opposed to pop-psychology)?

I’ve had this conversation plenty of times and it appears to be endless.  I’ll break it down as easy as I can.


1) Secular psychology is useful for diagnostics and research.

While I absolutely believe Scripture is the highest court of authority as God’s sufficient powerful revelation, both for salvation and wisdom, there are “lower courts” of authority worth a listen.

Psychology says some whacky things about the human condition, particularly the causes and solutions.  But two things in psychology are helpful: diagnoses and research. 

While certain diagnostic labels like “bipolar” or “manic depressive” are shotgun phrases that cover a lot of things (most psychologists still can’t agree on definitions), it’s a good starting place to know how you’re diving in.  Psychologists speak a specific language that others can pick up on, sort of a shorthand for an array of issues.  So at least upfront, the vocabulary helps.

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Quote: Trade


“We have the best deal in the universe: trade in your sin for Eternal Glory and Endless Joy and the Creator of the Universe. Trade in your sorrow for rejoicing. Trade in your hurts for healing. Trade in a spirit of rebellion for a Spirit of fruitfulness. Trade in death for life. Trade in idols for Jesus. That’s a pretty good deal, you know.”


Maybe I Don’t Disagree Because You’re An Atheist, But Because You’re Being A Moron

Atheist and other unbelieving friends:

You spend all day spouting your opinions, many of which I agree with because I can agree with a fellow human being outside the purview of our “religious affiliation,” or lack thereof — and I love you and respect you outside of our proclaimed identities.

But the moment I disagree with you — not having even brought up anything spiritual —suddenly you become a trashy pedestrian version of yourself with predictable, preprogrammed, Pavlovian-reflex statements about my “brainwashed zealot hive mind.”

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Question: I’m Gay And My Church Judges Me — What Do I Do?

averageinsecureteenageboy asked:
I’m gay, and have no plans of being otherwise. I just have a question that burns in my brain. I do believe in god, I do think we were created by someone, its just that when I go to church my with boyfriend it seems like a hostile environment. The church is traditional but accepts me and my partner because of my long history of going, but I still can not shake the fact that I feel in a hostile environment when I go to Sunday service. Whats your take on it?

Thanks for feeling comfortable enough to message about this.  I want you to know I got love for you and part of that means I bring some truth in, because I can’t possibly love you without being truthful.  So please allow me the grace to speak to you as plain as I do with everyone else; I don’t use kid gloves with anyone.

- It’s cool when you say you have “no plans of being otherwise.” I was a womanizing, near-alcoholic, porn-addicted, hard-partying, over-violent atheist and I had no plans of being otherwise.  I understand the sensitive issue of sexual orientation, but I would at the very least hear out all sides of the issue before making such a stubborn claim. 

No one, and I mean no one, who actually believes the Bible is somehow specifically hating on gay people.  Rather we uphold the beauty of biblical sexuality.  So I would really hear out why we call that the truth.  And be open to God interrupting your plans with other plans.  While we’re making them, He already has one.

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How To Retcon and Fanwank God: Punishment? Wrath? Discipline? Grace? Consequences? Just Because?

This is the part we don’t like to talk about.

Pastors, Christians, the blogger, the theologian, your hi-and-bye church neighbor — they all say that suffering is for a reason.

But be clear: What reason?

If you get cancer, you can assume that it’s:

A) A specific punishment from God for something you did.

B) A preview of God’s wrath.

C) Discipline to make you stronger.

D) Grace for a bigger reason, like a testimony to relate to people, or mercy from something worse.

E) Consequences from something you did, like smoking or a poor diet or building a nuclear bomb.

F) A random event, because God or fate or the universe felt like it.

At times it seems like all this is based on our human perspective, so that pain can be “made good” and suffering can be “redeemed.” But I’m not sure if it’s that simple, that trite, or that easy.

So which is it? What is the fine line between punishment and discipline and grace?

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Question: God Says No But I Want It — What Now?

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Anonymous asked:
what do you do when you want something so badly, and you know it’s completely against God’s will, but you just don’t want to give it up? i can’t state it explicitly here, but it’s not a tangible object, and it’s not lust. i’m sorry for being so vague. i just don’t know what to do anymore. i haven’t brought it before God wholeheartedly considering the nature of the problem; there’s such a huge gap between my conscience and the rest of me. i know i need to surrender but it’s easier said than done.

I’m assuming you’re talking about some kind of temptation since it’s against the presumed Will of God. You’ll have to clear up if it really is against God’s Will, or if maybe there’s a hyper-religiosity happening.

With temptation, I feel for you there. That’s just one of those things that gets right in our face until we can’t see much else. But you have a choice now to run to the balcony and see it for what it really is.

Like I’ve said before: I wish I could bottle up all the regret you’re going to feel after you keep pursuing this thing, then hand it over to you as Liquid Regret After-Juice, so you can drink that and go, “Oh yeah, duh. That would be stupid.”

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Four Things To Remember When You Rebuke

Rebuking is one of the hardest things to do. We’re either too soft or too strict, and for most of us polite church people, we would rather go on a mission trip to a war-torn third world country than speak truth to our neighbor.

But once you’re ready to pay the cost of awkwardness, there’s some things we need to know.

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Kings, Courage, and Cowardly Lions: Maybe You’re Following God Because You’re Too Scared Not To

Sometimes you do the right thing because you’re tired, not because you love doing the right thing.

We obey God because we’re scared not to. There’s no real love for Him; just a fear of everything that could go wrong.

At times I imagine quitting this whole God-thing and going to Vegas, sleeping with hookers, ingesting every drug known to man, and crashing all the parties until I die from it. Maybe that’s too honest, but that’s my wicked heart. It wants evil because evil looks delicious.

Except I don’t do those things. Because of the law. Or I’m scared what people will say. Or the consequences of hookers and drugs and waking up with no teeth.

Very rarely do I think, I can’t do that because I love God, and I have better. Again, my wicked heart.

Maybe we’re not really growing here, but just getting too old to sin. Maybe it’s just a resignation to comfortable, boring modesty.

I am naturally a coward and I forget: God gave me a new nature. He gave me a God-sized heart that can hate evil and ferociously love Him. A Spirit of love, power, and self-discipline. A Spirit that says no to fear, which I must choose. I just forget.

You’re either growing up or just getting old.

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Quote: Convictions


I fear that far too many followers of Christ have been sucked into the angry political polarization that characterizes our culture — a culture that has come to venerate the enraged rant as an art form. And when we do this, the name Christian is diminished to an adjective for modifying certain political positions rather than a noun for a person who is deliberately attempting to imitate Jesus Christ. This absolutely must change. We can hold all the convictions we want, as long as we can hold them in love.

– Brian Zahnd


This Time (Like Last Time), It’s Personal

Most of the time, they didn’t really do it on purpose. But you’d like to think they did.

The lady at the grocery check-out is not purposefully going slow to mess with you.

That driver who cut you off is just late to work: not trying to ruin your life.

The post office is not deliberately sending your precious package late.

The waiter isn’t trying to reduce his tip.

Your boss might have had a rough day: he’s not Hitler.

Your pastor isn’t preaching against you: maybe that’s God dealing with you.

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Quote: Real


“Your real, new self (which is Christ’s and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. The principle runs through all life from top to bottom, Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”

– C.S. Lewis


Before asking about this sexual holiness stuff:

When I get questions about fighting for “sexual purity,” I always check out your blog. 

Usually the blog is full of half-naked women, toned up hairless dudes, almost-but-not-quite-but-could-be-porn, and some suggestive-raunchy-provocative imagery. Always a slew of oily tanned celebrities.  Plus plenty of dirty jokes, anti-parent slurs, and all kinds of entitled, angry, spoiled, insufferable memes.

In other words, I would never ever in a billion years let you near my future kids.

If you’re seriously asking about how to fight for holiness — well, hey, like: shouldn’t you actually get serious about that?

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Seven Things The Holy Spirit Does

I know this whole “Holy Spirit lives in you” can be weird, mysterious, New-Age-ish, and more difficult to fathom than O-Chem II.

But if you believe the Gospel — that Jesus the Son of God dropped down into human history as a perfect sinless healing savior born of a virgin, absorbed the wrath you deserve for your sins on a dirty Roman cross, jumped out the grave like shark madness on Shark Week, and flew up to Heaven with a promise to come back with 100 million angels — then you have God’s Spirit living in you.  That’s no small thing.

So what does He do? What does this change?

Well you know.  Like everything.

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Quote: Undeserving


“God’s decision to forgive Peter required the death of his Son; Peter’s decision to forgive those who had offended him would cost him little more than his pride. The same is true for us.

In the shadow of my hurt, forgiveness feels like a decision to reward my enemy. But in the shadow of the cross, forgiveness is merely a gift from one undeserving soul to another. Forgiveness is the gift that ensures my freedom from a prison of bitterness and resentment.”

– Andy Stanley

Quote: Balancing


“Justice must be about much more than balancing out the wrongs of the world. It must be about making things right, about the kind of restoration that does not reverse the pain, but moves beyond it toward something new.”

– Rachel Tulloch