Tag: Worldview

Kingdom History: 1000 A.D.

If you had been living in Europe at the end of of the first millennium, would you have thought it was the end of the world?  Would you have been reading the equivalent of Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth and looking to the sky for Jesus’ return?

Christendom had been on the decline for some time.  Pagan Vikings continually raided what is today northern Europe and England.  Pagan Magyars (from modern-day Hungary) were encroaching on Christendom’s eastern borders, and Muslim Moors, who controlled most of Spain, were encroaching in the south.  What’s more, history was nearing the end of the first millennium A.D.  There were wars and rumors and of wars, comets were seen in the sky and there were other natural phenomena which people interpreted as bad omens.  There was much talk of the Apocalypse, the end of the world.

Then, within the span of forty years, everything changed.  The Vikings (Scandinavia) were converted to Christianity, following the conversions of Olaf of Trygvesson (991 A.D.), Svein Forkbeard (1014 A.D.) and Canute the Mighty (1014 A.D.).  The conversion of other pagan leaders solidified this glorious turn of history:  Harald Bluetooth of Denmark in 974 A.D., Vladimir I of Russia in 988 A.D., Boleslav the Brave (modern day Poland) in 996 A.D., Thorgeir of Iceland in 1000 A.D. and Leif Eriksson in 1000 A.D. The pagan Magyars were tamed when a Christian leader named Vajk (St. Stephen) was crowned king in 1000 A.D. and began facilitating the spread of Christianity through modern-day Hungary.  Spain was reclaimed when Sancho the Great defeated the Moors in 1002 A.D.

History is fluid.  The kingdom of God remains.  With the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, there will be talk of the end being near, as there has been for the last 2,000 years every time a temporary retreat of Christianity is coupled with a natural disaster or two.   Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye will sell more books, but the world will continue.  The world will continue because it must continue until the kingdom of God has covered the earth.  So, when things look bad in the world, when it seems Christianity is on the decline, if it means anything, it means the end is likely farther away than you think, not nearer.  GS

Movie Review: A Serious Man (2009)

I’d been looking forward to seeing the movie, A Serious Man, since seeing the previews and that it was a Coen brothers movie. After such hits as Raising Arizona, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou, Intolerable Cruelty, The Big Lebowski and No Place For Old Men they had become my favorite filmmakers.  But A Serious Man was a serious letdown, not because it wasn’t interesting and quirky like other Coen brothers movies but because of its message.

I’m worn out on movies that are excuses for two-hour chase scenes, and I long ago let go of the requirement that movies have happy endings.  I get that movies don’t have to cheer us up or give a false view of reality.  I get that movies are a medium for cultural dialogue and exploring the deeper questions of life.   In fact, that’s why I love going to the movies.  And when filmmakers can make me laugh while exploring the weightier questions, I appreciate them even more. That’s why I like the Coen brothers and Woody Allen.

But while we don’t need trite Leave It To Beaver resolution in our films, do we really need more nihilism?  (Note: In the movie poster our hero is on the roof adjusting his tv antenna because his reception is terrible–read, there is no God in the cosmos communicating with man).   Nihilism is about as fresh as disco.  It was once fashionable.  Now it’s hardly interesting.  And I expected better from the Coen brothers.  Even James Cameron’s graphic pantheism in Avatar was an attempt at something other than nothingness, misguided as it was.

And if Joel and Ethan really believe in nothingness, why do they feel it necessary to tell us?  I mean really, if the universe has no purpose, why would they think it theirs to tell us?  Have the Coens already forgotten that even The Dude, for all his slackerliness, had enough sense to fight off the Nihilists?  Rated R for language, some sexuality/nudity and brief violence. GS

What’s Wrong With The World, Part II

As you’ve probably heard, Adam and Eve ate from the tree from which God had instructed them not to eat.  When they did, they introduced into God’s creation a disease that affected every aspect of creation.  Principally, four things happened that explain state of the world ever since.

1.  Man was separated from God.  When Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the forbidden tree, they were separated from God.  We know this because “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”  (Gen. 3:6-10). They had never run from God before.  Man has been running from God ever since.

2.  Man was separated from himself.  When the Lord called out to Adam, Adam said he heard the Lord and “I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”  For the first time, Adam felt fear, shame and guilt.  Before eating of the tree, “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed,” (Gen. 2:25) but when he sinned man became embarrassed about who he was and realized he was naked and exposed.  Man has struggled with guilt, shame and poor self esteem ever since.  

3.  Man was separated from others.  When the Lord asked Adam if he had eaten from the forbidden tree, Adam went into a classic blame-shift: “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” (Gen. 3:11-13).  Prior to their sin Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony. (Gen. 2:24).  Since that time man’s relationship with his fellow man has been filled with contention, conflict and war.  

4.   Man was separated from his environment.  As a result of man’s sin, the rest of creation became cursed. (Gen 3:14-15, 17-21). There is now enmity between man and the animals God created to be man’s pets and companions.  Man’s separation from his environment changed man’s surroundings from a place of abundance to a place of scarcity.  Before his sin, food was abundant to man.  After his sin, the earth became cursed and began to bring forth thorns, thistles and other impediments for the first time.  (Gen. 3:17, 19).

Francis Schaffer described the effects of sin on creation as the four separations.  These separations occurred as a result of sin, not as part of God’s original intent for creation.  Man’s estrangement from God, himself, his fellow man and his environment, which seem normal to us, are in fact aberrations from the paradise God intended and are the reason we no longer have a paradise on earth. 

Man’s sin and the resulting four separations ended paradise on earth.  Those who would follow would find a sick creation enslaved to the effects of the corruption of that sin, a creation that longed to be free again and be the paradise God intended from the beginning.  In a nutshell that’s what’s wrong with the world.  Fortunately there is a solution.  More about that later.  GS

What’s Wrong With The World, Part I

Ever wonder what’s wrong with the world?  Here’s the answer from a kingdom perspective.  I will have to give it to you in two installments to keep below my goal of no more than 500 words per post.  Just consider it like the book-of-the-month club, except it’s a blog and not books, but pages, and you get the installments in days not months.

The world God created was a pretty cool place.  It was a place of beauty, peace and prosperity.  God created for man a garden that was beautiful and bountiful, containing trees of every kind, bearing every kind of fruit.  (Gen. 2:9).  There was a river running through the garden, providing a convenient, endless supply of fresh water.  (Gen. 2:10).  There was also an abundance of precious gems and metals. (Gen. 2:12).  This was kind of like living next door to a grocery story, jewelry store and art gallery where everything you wanted was free. 

There is no record of any natural disasters in or around the garden—no earthquakes, tornadoes or violent storms.  You wouldn’t have had to worry about Giraldo Rivera showing up with a crew to shoot the hurricane or flood.  Man gathered fruit and vegetables easily without contending with weeds, thorns or disease.  God created animals for man and brought them to him to name, presumably so the animals would know to come when man called them.  (Gen. 2:18-20).   It was like a zoo without the need for cages   Man was at peace with his environment, surrounded by beauty and abundance, and by any definition of the word was wealthy. 

Things were going pretty well for Adam, but being a single, successful guy was still not completely fulfilling.  So, God hooked him up with a gal named Eve, and the two of them started the world’s first nudist colony,… sort of.  They had the perfect relationship, free of strife, hurtful words and selfishness, and they loved one another unreservedly.  They suffered from no disease or sickness, emotional or mental problems.  They were completely secure with who they were and who God had created them to be. 

God gave what he created the cosmic seal of approval, calling it very good. (Gen. 1:31). It was so good God intended it last and that man export it to the rest of the world.  After placing Adam and Eve in the garden, God blessed them and instructed them to “…fill the earth, and subdue it.” (Gen. 1:28).   The Garden of Eden would have functioned as a reference point to which man could always return to view the blueprint for the world.  At this point, things were looking pretty good.  You think you know what went wrong?  Tune in for part II tomorrow.  There may be more to it than you thought.  GS

Seeking First The Kingdom

Matthew 6:33 has, for many years, been a foundational scripture for me, not just because it demands the kingdom be a priority in my life, but because it frames a balance as well. Jesus states that Christians are to seek first the kingdom and His righteousness.  I read that to mean Christians are to be focused on two things: 1) the expansion of the kingdom of God on earth; and 2) personal sanctification.

The priority is obvious. It’s the balance I want to explore here. If Christians focused on the expansion of the kingdom of God and ignored sanctification, they would quickly become seen as dominion-seeking bullies. If Christians focused only on personal sanctification to the exclusion of the expansion of the kingdom, they would become ineffective pietests. Jesus makes it clear both are to be a priority to the exclusion of neither.

Kingdom-building and sanctification are not an either/or but a both/and proposition.  Keep these two at the very top of your list of priorities and you will be neither a bully nor a wimp, excessive nor ineffective.  GS