In a slight change of plans, this past Wednesday night we switched topics from what we had planned on talking about to discuss the question of why God didn't make us robots, or why He gave us free will and the ability to reject Him and Truth. Wouldn't the world be better if God just made us love Him and obey Him?
To get to this, we had to start in the beginning. In the garden, God made man in His image. He gave him responsibility and instructions. The primary instruction God gave was concerning some trees. All the trees in the garden were good and man could eat from all of them. But there were two special trees. There was the tree of life, which man was not forbidden to eat from, and there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God commanded man to not eat the fruit from. Of course, we know how the story goes and the implications from that sin, but the question we talked about was why would God plant a tree in the garden if He didn't want man to eat the fruit from it? Wouldn't it have made more sense to simply get rid of the tree entirely and thus avoid the temptation from existing?
We then looked through the story of Abraham as an example of God's plans. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of nations, and yet, he had no offspring until he was well past the age of producing kids. And yet, miraculously, God gives him a son, Issac. But, not too long after, God commands Abraham to take his only son up to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him. This made no sense, but out of obedience, Abraham goes through with the preparations. Right before he jabs the knife into his son, an angel of the Lord stops him and provides a ram in Issac's place. We read the story and wonder why God would test Abraham. The answer most often given was so that Abraham could prove to God that he trusted Him. But an omniscient God knew what Abraham would do before he did it, or even before He created anything, so did He really need the test to prove it? Of course not. So why test Abraham? The answer is so that Abraham would know he trusted God.
Back to the garden. Why put a tree there that an all knowing God knew was going to play a part in the first sin? Why let one man make a choice that would lead to death for all men? God knew Adam and Eve would eat the fruit, that their eyes would be open and that sin would enter into the world and need covering, so why allow it? Was it so God would know for sure? No, it's so man would know and then would have to choose. By giving man the choice, God takes the biggest gamble of all: to be loved or be rejected. And to God, it would appear that the risk of some choosing to love, even while in a state of sin and separation, was worth the pain and loss of those who would refuse. A forced love is no love at all. God didn't want robots to obey Him out of obligation, but rather people that would love Him out of relationship.
We also looked at how that works by reading Deuteronomy 30:15-20 where God gives us instructions on making the choice. He says that if we want life and success, then we have to choose to follow Him and obey Him. If we don't, then life will be full of pain and suffering. Doesn't seem like much of a choice. Do you want life and success or pain and misery? If you choose life, then here is the cost - love and obey God. If you can't do that or don't want to do that, then you automatically choose death.
Finally, we looked at 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 where Paul talks about how he can't help but love God and obey Him out of that love. If God wanted gospel-wielding robots, He was certainly capable of doing that, but He took the risk of giving us a choice. And when we choose to love Him, He is glorified because of the choice rather than the obligation.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
WWJLT?
The question posed this past Wednesday night was all about What Would Jesus Listen To? Ok, it might not be the next fashionable bracelet or t-shirt design, but it is a good question to ask. If Jesus was alive today and listening to music, which music would he be listening to? The first thing we did was clarify what makes music good or bad. No, I don't mean quality of musical performance... but rather, what makes a song appropriate or not? There is nothing in the notes or instruments that makes it evil or not, as music in itself is neutral, so lyrics are the thing we want to focus on.
So, what makes the lyrics good or bad? Is it just language? Is it content? Is it more subtle, perhaps with suggestive ideas or innuendo? All of these things play into deciding if a song is worthy of praise or pure or honorable, as we looked at in Philippians 4:8 last week. But what if it sounds really cool? Is there a way to listen to a cool song for the music and ignore the lyrics? How big of a role do lyrics play in our lives?
Obviously there isn't anything in the Bible that directly speaks to music in such a way. And so, we looked at a couple verses that speak into the heart of decisions that we make, not just as it relates to music, but all choices in life that aren't clearly called out in scripture. The first places we started was 1 Corinthians 6:12 followed very closely with 10:23 as Paul clarifies that everything is allowed, but not always good. Part of the difficultly of the new covenant that God created with man through His son was the freedom of making choices for ourselves. The old system was so much easier: God gave rules and you followed, or as you felt led, added to the rules to make other rules that you used to judge people in their ability to follow rules. Well, ok, maybe it wasn’t that much easier…
But Paul brings up an interesting point that God doesn’t give us specific instructions about all of the things in life we’re going to encounter. Whether it is music, movies, books, television or even something huge like jobs or who we should marry, our choices have to be based on more than the law itself. And so, God provides a type of filter that we see here. Imagine everything is permitted… then which things do you choose to do? Well, if it goes directly against a commandment of loving God or others, then it’s a no (including if our parents tell us no, since we are commanded to obey them). And, if it is against the law of the land, you can’t do it because God commands us to obey the laws. We looked at the Philippians 4:8 filter last week, and now Paul adds to it by saying if it isn’t good for you, if it causes dependency and if it causes someone else to stumble, then you shouldn’t do it. So, even without saying it directly, God has some pretty descriptive guidelines for us to use as we make the choices in life.
Lastly, we looked at Paul’s instruction in Colossians 3:16-17 about what we should sing and why we should sing it. Does that mean that only songs about God are good? I’m sure that could be argued, but what about songs of love or victory or hope? And what would the book of Psalm look like without David lamenting and writing songs of despair, loss and anger? How do we reconcile the music we choose to listen to with the Bible and our freedom? These are great questions and ones that I personally struggle with. But the great news is that God has provided some guidelines for us in His Word and has given us His Spirit to help us discern. And as we asked in class, if God was sitting next to you (which of course He sort of is), would you listen to that song?
So, what makes the lyrics good or bad? Is it just language? Is it content? Is it more subtle, perhaps with suggestive ideas or innuendo? All of these things play into deciding if a song is worthy of praise or pure or honorable, as we looked at in Philippians 4:8 last week. But what if it sounds really cool? Is there a way to listen to a cool song for the music and ignore the lyrics? How big of a role do lyrics play in our lives?
Obviously there isn't anything in the Bible that directly speaks to music in such a way. And so, we looked at a couple verses that speak into the heart of decisions that we make, not just as it relates to music, but all choices in life that aren't clearly called out in scripture. The first places we started was 1 Corinthians 6:12 followed very closely with 10:23 as Paul clarifies that everything is allowed, but not always good. Part of the difficultly of the new covenant that God created with man through His son was the freedom of making choices for ourselves. The old system was so much easier: God gave rules and you followed, or as you felt led, added to the rules to make other rules that you used to judge people in their ability to follow rules. Well, ok, maybe it wasn’t that much easier…
But Paul brings up an interesting point that God doesn’t give us specific instructions about all of the things in life we’re going to encounter. Whether it is music, movies, books, television or even something huge like jobs or who we should marry, our choices have to be based on more than the law itself. And so, God provides a type of filter that we see here. Imagine everything is permitted… then which things do you choose to do? Well, if it goes directly against a commandment of loving God or others, then it’s a no (including if our parents tell us no, since we are commanded to obey them). And, if it is against the law of the land, you can’t do it because God commands us to obey the laws. We looked at the Philippians 4:8 filter last week, and now Paul adds to it by saying if it isn’t good for you, if it causes dependency and if it causes someone else to stumble, then you shouldn’t do it. So, even without saying it directly, God has some pretty descriptive guidelines for us to use as we make the choices in life.
Lastly, we looked at Paul’s instruction in Colossians 3:16-17 about what we should sing and why we should sing it. Does that mean that only songs about God are good? I’m sure that could be argued, but what about songs of love or victory or hope? And what would the book of Psalm look like without David lamenting and writing songs of despair, loss and anger? How do we reconcile the music we choose to listen to with the Bible and our freedom? These are great questions and ones that I personally struggle with. But the great news is that God has provided some guidelines for us in His Word and has given us His Spirit to help us discern. And as we asked in class, if God was sitting next to you (which of course He sort of is), would you listen to that song?
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