Sunday, November 29, 2015

Bible Scandals


Every human community (nations, churches, religions, schools, and so on) treasures certain stories, values, and morals which are deeply rooted within.  These values and morals may be formally written down or else they are unwritten but understood by most if not all of the members of the group.

As important as they are, most members of every society stray from those rules in private, and occasionally one will stray and get caught publicly either by plan or by accident.  When those people are caught straying in public, the result is what could be called a scandal.  A scandal exposes the one caught to be the center of shame, public ridicule, and disgrace.

Because the Bible was written about real people in the context of a community it has its share of scandals.  Some of those scandals were more scandalous to their own culture than to us.  Likewise there are some things in our own cultures that would not seem so bad in theirs.  The following is a list of the five scandals common to both our culture and theirs that I found in the Bible.

NUMBER FIVE - TAMAR SEDUCES HER FATHER-IN-LAW (GENESIS 38)

Several women in the Bible took chances by risking their reputations in order to obtain something of greater value in their community.  Tamar was one of the best of them for taking that kind of risk.

When her husband died, her brother-in-law was supposed to have sex with her so she could give birth to a son which would help her standing within the community and continue her dead husband's name in the same community.  Having a son and continuing one's name within the community were highly regarded values within Tamar's community; so when after her husband died, her brother-in-law refused to give her children, and her father-in-law failed to let her have sex with the third brother-in-law; so she took a chance with her reputation to get the child she wanted.  She literally sacrificed her good reputation in order to obtain a more important value within the community.

Tamar posed as a prostitute in order to have sex with her father-in-law and thus obtain what was most important within the community - a son to carry on her dead husband's name and to promote her reputation within her community.

By posing as a prostitute, Tamar's father-in-law had the right to have her executed, and that is exactly what he demanded - until he understood that Tamar sacrificed her reputation to obtain a more important value.

NUMBER FOUR - ONAN SPILLS HIS SEED ON THE GROUND (GENESIS 38)

When I first heard Genesis 38 in a sermon, an traveling evangelist was using the story to preach against the evils of masturbation.  Onan was supposed to fulfill a community requirement by having sex with his sister-in-law Tamar, but Onan was not concerned about his brother's wife or his brother, so when he had his moment with her, rather than following through with what he committed to, he spilled his sperm on the ground.

Because he was so callous toward his brother and brother's wife, God killed him.  God killed him, not because he was masturbating, but because he purposely failed to do his community duty.  His story became a lesson to future generations about the importance and warnings involved in fulfilling community duties.

NUMBER THREE - FATHERS AND SONS HAVE SEX WITH THE SAME TEMPLE PROSTITUTES  LYING ON TOP OF GARMENTS TAKEN BY PLEDGE (AMOS 2:7)

The prophet Amos was appalled at the behavior of people around him.  He saw creditors take all that was valuable from those who could not pay their bills (in that day people who could not pay their debts lost their clothes, their houses, and those worse off would lose their children, then their wives, and last of all they would be sold into slavery to pay off their creditors).

The creditors were business men who had money and could afford to lend out at money to those who were in need.  Today if you don't pay your bills, your car or house will be taken by the banks; in those days the clothes off your back were taken before your children, you and your wife / husband would be taken.  The prophet Amos saw creditors use the cloaks they took from those who owed money, and carefully lay them on the ground in some shrine built to honor another god so the debtors could have sex with the sacred prostitutes who worked at the shrine.

While the higher class of society accepted this picture as normal, Amos spoke for God and for the poor, calling it scandalous.

NUMBER TWO - SAMSON AND DELILAH (JUDGES 16)

One would expect that a child miraculously born after the proclamation of an angel would turn out to be a dedicated man of God; but this is not the case with Samson.  Samson was a miracle baby who grew up without much common sense.  He had no real friends around him that we know of, and his own people were probably more annoyed than impressed by his behavior.

Samson was part of a small group of Hebrews who was a Nazirite, which meant that he could not touch dead bodies, shave his hair, drink wine, or eat grapes.  The Nazirites made a vow to avoid such things and live for God.  Samson was a Nazirite from the day he was born and his parents made the vow for him.

The Bible paints a clear picture that Samson cared very little for his Nazirite vow.  He took honey from the carcass of a lion, he partied with and felt more comfortable with the Philistines than with his own people (it is not stated, but he could have been drinking wine with his friends), and he told a woman that his long hair which had never been cut gave him supernatural strength.

He didn't tell just any woman his secret; he told Delilah who was a Philistine.  Delilah - who gave Samson every signal possible that she would ruin him if he let her know.  Delilah was the Philistine's tool to find the secret behind Samson's strength; and with his secret discovered, the Philistines cut Samson's hair, took out his eyes, and put him into slavery.

Samson turned his back on his own nation by ignoring them in attempts to befriend the Philistines and his Philistine girlfriends; and that became his downfall.  Samson's parents warned him of going out with women who were not of his people, but Samson ignored them because even though no one knew it at the time, his desire for foreign women"was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel  (Judges 14:4)."

NUMBER ONE - ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA (ACTS 5:1-14)

For a short period of time the early church tried to live as directed by the teachings of Jesus (as they understood it).  Many sold all they had and gave to the Apostles for distribution and the Apostles distributed to the community as people had need.  As a result the church had all things in common.

Barnabas was a rather wealthy man who owned land, sold it, gave the money to the Apostles for distribution, and through this act of giving, and for whatever other reasons not mentioned, he won a high position among the inner circle of leadership of the early church which was centered in Jerusalem at the time.

Ananias and Sapphira saw this and decided together that they would likewise sell land and give it to the Apostles for distribution.  But Ananias and Sapphira decided to keep back some of the money for their own distribution to themselves - which was not a bad idea in and of itself.  Their problem was that they wanted the Apostles and the other Christians to think they were giving all their money to the community.  They didn't want anyone to know that they were keeping back some for themselves.  For that deception, they died while people looked on.

Their story in Acts 5 concludes with these words:  No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.  Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number (Acts 5:13-14).


Many would think the lesson of this story is that one should not try to deceive the church leadership.  But the lesson the early church received was not about lying as much as it was about holding back from the attempt to get into the inner circles of the Apostles.  In Acts 5:13-14 we read that while Christians were growing in number, no one dared to join "them."  "Them" does not refer to the Christians, but rather "them" refers to the Apostles' inner circle.  After Ananias and Sapphira failed to reach the inner circles of leadership through deceptionr, no one else dared to try in any way to enter the inner circle.

Barnabas sold land, gave to the disciples, and for whatever other reasons he joined the Apostles in leading the church.  He did not plan to become a co-leader, but it happened.   Seeing his success, Ananias and Sapphira concluded that they could likewise join the inner circles of leadership by copying Barnabas; but their plan backfired.  Just as Miriam and Aaron tried to be equal with Moses and were punished by God for doing so, the early church saw the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira as a warning to avoid attempts to become equal with the Apostles.

Friday, November 13, 2015

How People React in Response to Fallen Christian Heroes

The following are different categories I see for how people react to Christian heroes and/or celebrities who fall.  The categories are found online in discussion forums and in response / comments columns under videos and articles. 

THE INTERNET AS AN AVENUE TO OPEN UP A DIFFERENT SIDE OF SELF

For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”
2 Corinthians 10:10

INTRODUCTIONS

Two Sides of the Same Person 

For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”
2 Corinthians 10:10
 
The Corinthians accused Paul the Apostle of being 2 different people - one in his letters and another in person.  I think many of us are guilty of this problem.  It's easier to be bold and assertive in print than in person.  Paul knew that in his case, his accusers had a valid point, but he warned the Corinthians that he was just as capable of being forceful in person if needed to beEven though he was somewhat timid in person and bold in his writings, he was aware of the difference and preferred to keep it that way because he didn't want to be hard on the Corinthians in person.

This difference in writing vs. physical presence is clearly evident on the internet.  In fact, on the internet, the difference may become huge.  Even quiet, meek, and mild people can be brutal and scary with comments they make on the web, which is especially seen when well known Christians, politicians, celebrities, and heroes get caught in scandals.

In this blog, I will focus on scandals, both Christian and Non-Christian, of those who fall and get a lot of talk on the internet for their scandals. I will be focusing on the trash talk and discussions rather than the scandals.  But first I need to say something about modern media.

What's Wrong with the Media?

The media loves to find and expose the dirty sides of people, not because the media is some kind of evil entity feeding us unsuspecting and innocent victims, rather the media loves to find the dirt about people because we the audience want to see it, hear about it, and talk about it with others in and out of work.  Really, the media and its readers live in one big cycle.  Dirt sells because people want it, so the media digs it up and exposes it and gives it to the people so that we can have all the dirt we want.

I am reminded of a scene I saw in a most horrible movie about the life of Howard Stern.  The radio network wanted him off the air because he was rebellious, crude, immoral, and offensive.  They tried to tame him, but he wouldn't be tamed.  They couldn't let him go because of contracts, but eventually they caved in, celebrated in his success, and wanted to keep him because they found out their ratings were climbing so much.  When they researched what kind of audience Howard had, they found that listeners either loved or hated him.  The interesting thing is that the people who hated him listened just as much as the ones who loved him.  For the radio station, it didn't matter if people hated him, just as long as they turned their radio stations on to Howard Stern.

Getting viewers for better advertisement dollars is what the media seeks.  The media doesn't care about what we say we want or what we say we want; it cares about what we will be drawn to, and what we really watch (whether we are drawn in by our own disgust or admiration).  Media gives us what we will listen to or watch on a regular basis.  So it doesn't matter if you say, "That was so horrible," if you get hooked into what the media gave you.  Above I wrote how horrible the Howard Stern movie was.  I didn't like it, and felt yucky watching it.  But I watched it.

Some of the most popular videos on YouTube have such titles as "The Most..." The Best..." because it pulls in audiences that want the biggest, the scariest, the most extreme in any subject.  The media looks for extremes because extremes are what will pull us in.   We may say that the media is low down and disgusting, but it is giving a nation what they want.  We say we want it nicer, but nicer doesn't always sell.  Exposing famous people's faults sells big.

REACTIONS AND COMMENT

The Haters

For whatever reason, many of us love to hate.  We love to hate - not everyone, or anything - but we love to hate certain people, groups of people, or certain things.

We may love to hate famous people who act foolishly, over the top, or immorally like Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber; or we may love to hate sports figures like Tom Brady and Lance Armstrong; or politicians like President Obama or George W. Bush.  I know I have had my share of people I loved to hate on.  It's so easy to hate on someone and talk trash about someone I have never met. 

Some people who are easy to hate in the U.S. are the rich and the famous.  I don't have all the reasons why this is so, but when the dirt comes out on the rich and famous (even the most loved such as Bill Cosby), haters come out in droves.
 
There are two types of dirt digging that are most appealing to people.  The first is dirt found in huge contrasts - such as when Ted Haggard, who preached against homosexuality and drugs, was discovered visiting a homosexual prostitute, having sex with him while getting high on meth.  

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, many Christians portray themselves publicly as righteous and godly while hiding their faults and failures.  When Christians have positions of authority and have publicly spoken against the very practices in which they indulged, their portrayals provide the perfect starting point for those who love to tear down the mighty, the powerful, the popular, and those who stand apart morally or socially. 

Secondly, there are exposes on people who have already found a place of hate in our hearts.  When people we despise get exposed to some immoral or nasty behavior, something inside us gloats.  President Clinton's sexual affair with Monica Lewinski was absolutely delicious to those who hated him. 


IS IT PERSECUTION WHEN A CHRISTIAN IS INVOLVED?

When the mighty fall, and when the righteous sin, there will be a lot of hate and trash talk.  When Christian preachers and celebrities fail morally, it is not persecution for Christ.  The haters will spew out their comments and trash talk because they get to gloat that someone too good to be true fell in a most shameful way.  They see the ultimate contrast as well as a confirmation that the person (or type of person) they despised all along deserved to be hated all along.

Peter, who walked with Jesus, separated persecution for Christ from things we do to screw up our lives, "For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil (1 Peter 3:17)."   Peter also talked to the workers (servants) of his day telling them that suffering for doing wrong brings no credit:  "For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it?  But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God (1 Peter 2:20)."

Those who sin and get flack for it have no right in crying, "Persecution!"  The Bible is clear on this.  Those who fall into a scandal should not be surprised with the backlash the face. The best they can do is weather the storm of negativity.


This is not to say that it is okay to write nasty things in comment sections.  The ancient world never dealt with comment sections and most people didn't read or write.  The closest thing they had was people barking out their opinions about leaders and rulers, and on this subject the Bible is clear.  Both Jude and Peter warned their followers to avoid talking trash about the rulers of this world (Jude 1:10 and 2 Peter 2:12) claiming that when we trash talk our leaders we are talking big about things we don't understand.

The Doubters

When a Christian leader or icon falls into some scandal, there will be a group of protectors who get mad at the haters.  Some of this group may understand the fallen hero because they too have fallen (in a less public manner), but some just hate seeing some special someone under attack from the media.

When women began to come out saying that Bill Cosby was taking advantage of them, a coworker told me his opinion that mean spirited women were attacking a good man to get money.  My coworker immediately sided with the person he knew and admired.  When parents of a High School football player exposed horrible practices done at football retreat, the community turned against the whistle blowers, even though they were exposing repeated sexual perversions done by the team with new players.  People rally around those they gave grown to love or respect; even when the ones we respect turn out to have a dark side to them.

These people like my coworker may eventually give in and realized that their hero has feet of clay, but because their hero is someone they think they know well, some will still bind themselves to the fallen person and support him or her.  Others will feel betrayed and angry for being duped.  The second group can become vocal haters.

We Are All Sinners

To protect the honor and reputation of the fallen, many of the supporters and people who mean well will use verses and sentences such as, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,"  "No one is perfect,"  "We are all human,"  and so on.  In the Corinthian church there was a man who lived with and was having sex with his father's wife.  When Paul wrote to the church he did not try to protect this man from trash talk, neither did he excuse his behavior.  Paul told the church to have nothing more to do with him until he repented and left the twisted relationship.  If the Corinthians were anything like churches today, there would be a group of people in the Corinthian church who would disagree with Paul and say that the man just needed should be forgiven and should not be pushed out of the church for his failings. After all, we all sin and isn't the Gospel about forgiveness? 

The Bible insists on discipline in the Christian community, but on the flip side, there may hypocrisy in those who are quick to cast stones at the guilty.  Ted Haggard and Jimmy Swaggart were vicious with others who sinned.  Swaggart exposed another competing pastor in his city for adultery which caused that preacher to lose his congregation.  Swaggart also railed out against pornography while indulging in it.  Haggard visited male prostitutes in private while fighting publicly against homosexuality.

All Sin Is Equal in God's Sight

Because the holiness of God is so underrated by our community, when these people fall, there is an abundance of followers who quickly pass off or downgrade the importance of the behaviors of their beloved leaders by claiming the silly and unbiblical notion that all sin is the same in God's eyes, not knowing that the New Testament differentiates sin unto death and sin not unto death as well forgivable sin and unforgivable sin. They also neglect to see that the Old Testament requires different measures of sacrifice and different restitution for different sins.  They also fail to see that Jesus called for people to make restitution to others before coming to visit God at the altar, and there is no way that restitution would be the same for every sin.

Even nature tells us that all sin is not equal.  If all sin were equal, then we should freely let the pedophiles lead children's Sunday School without judging them - after all, God has forgiven them.  If all sin were equal, then we should allow convicted rapists (just out of prison) take our teen aged daughters on Christian field trips - after all, they became Christian in prison and turned their lives around.  These people are forgiven and should be allowed in our churches, but they will and should pay a price for their misdeeds for the rest of their lives in many cases; we need to protect our churches and children from some forgiven people - and those forgiven people should be the first to insist, "Do not put me in a place where I am tempted."  If they have truly turned around and become Christian, then they will want to flee temptation as much as anyone around them wanting them to.

I will agree that even the smallest sin severs our relationship with God and must be taken to the cross, but all sin is not equal.



 

Friday, October 30, 2015

Should I Be Afraid of What's Coming in the World?

26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. 27 You grumbled in your tents and said, “The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ ”
29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the wilderness. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”
32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.
34 When the LORD heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: 35 “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
Deuteronomy 1:25-36

Past History

After God did so much for Israel, delivering them from Egyptian slavery and feeding them in the middle of the desert, Israel was told to take the territory that God had set aside for them, but they didn't.  Israel was wise in scoping the territory before entering it; but their wisdom stopped there because they saw the difficulties and the negative in the situation set before them.  God reminded them that He had carried them in the wilderness as a father carries his son; but despite His past care for them, the Israelis feared what was on the horizon.

The Reporters - 15th Century B.C. Media

The fear began with a report from 12 people, and that report spread throughout the camp so much so that  the people began complaining about the way things were.  The twelve who reported the news to Israel were reporters who not only reported the news, but they interpreted the news for the people as they believed the people needed or wanted to hear.  Their reports and their interpretation of what they witnessed spread throughout the camp like wild fire resulting in people acting on their fears rather than on their faith.  They gave into their basic instincts for survival rather than looking upward and finding comfort and strength to move forward.  They looked to a glorified version of the past and compared it to their present hardships.

The Good Old Days

In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.  The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
Exodus 16:2-3

The Israelite camp remembered better days when they didn't have to live solely by faith day after day, wondering if there was going to be food or water in the next part of the journey.  They remembered having homes that didn't move every week or so.  They remembered  a stable society - sure, it had rules about how much work to do and how to do that work, and yes, those rules served the interests of another society, but Moses was beginning to set up big government with new rules and punishments for disobedience.   In their eyes their present world was not as good as what they remembered in the past.

Fear and Negativity

While glorifying their past they complained about the present.  Unable to see that an amazing and great future that could have been days away, all they could see was the negativity of the twelve witnesses who warned them of well protected cities wherein scary warrior giants lived.  The people complained and God closed the door for a generation of people to see His work in a new and in a powerful way.



The 21st Century

This negativity and fear has resurfaced in Christian churches today.  Fear of the government, fear of losing the country, fear of secular culture, fear of losing the past days of glory.  Days that are remembered or retold in mythological overtones.  Our own inability to bring back those days are seen as persecution when in fact, the Evangelical political movement is the most powerful political group in the most powerful nation in the world (without the Evangelical vote, the Republican party would die - and the Republican leadership knows it).  Some of us Evangelicals don't recognize the rising negativity because our eyes are on the negative, on the fear, on our doubts, on our mythological past, on our failed attempts to get more in the political process, and on our own group's self interests.

We have forgotten what God has done in the past.  We have forgotten that we belong to God's kingdom and call no place on this earth our home.  We have forgotten that God is still in control.  We have listened to those who feed fear and have passed on that same fear that says we are losing a battle for the hearts and the minds of our nations. The fear says we are under attack.  The fear says what is ours and what is good is being taken away from us.

When Jesus said the gates of hell cannot prevail against the testimony of Jesus, the gates implied that hell was trying to protect itself from God's onslaught through His people.  But today His people are choosing to be the fortified city seeking protection from the outside bombardment of a perceived enemy that only exists in part.  This needs to change.


Wednesday, September 30, 2015

How Did King David Deal with a Scandal?

KING DAVID

The Lord considered what David had done to be evil (2 Samuel 11:27).

King David is well known for being a young man who killed an enemy warrior so bad no one wanted to deal with him.  He eventually grew through the ranks of Israel until he was king.  As a king he led his army into one battle after another, conquering and taking territory for his country.  
During a period of his life and during a season when kings went out and battled David stayed home in his castle.  While looking over his balcony one evening he happened to see a woman bathing on her roof top.  David may have been looking a few times before and couldn’t hold back from the temptation, but it is not clear whether or not he was expecting to see her bathing.  What is clear is that he sent for her,  got her pregnant and to cover up his affair, he made sure her husband died in battle; but in having her husband die in battle, several other good fighters were killed in the process.  

Like most people who do terrible things, David must surely have had plenty of excuses to fall back on.  I would think that he used all of the following:
1. I am protecting a woman from capital punishment.
2. I am helping to keep a marriage from going bad.  
3. I am protecting a child from being considered a bastard.
4. I am protecting my testimony as a leader. 

These are common today and I assume they were common back in David's day.
To cover up his affair, David had a General let the husband die in battle; and to kill this husband, the General allowed several others to die.  David was a mass murderer, but his affair was kept secret, or at least he thought it was. The truth is, his affair was well known - the social media of his day (gossip) had already spread throughout the land. 

David was the most powerful man in area, and as a result he was above the Law, but he was not above God's judgment.  When Nathan the Prophet told King a parable of a rich man who brutally took another man's only sheep, David was so enraged that he demanded the rich man be put to death.  When Nathan told the king it was him, David's secret was revealed and David was told this:
Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites,,, you have despised me (2 Samuel 12:9-10).

Nathan was repulsed by David's actions and God was disgusted with David's acts of murder and adultery.  When I see modern preachers busted for some sin, saying, "Jesus forgives me and that's all that is necessary" so quickly, I find many are offended because it so quickly dismisses the gravity of the situation.  I feel like these people believe that God is up there in heaven, disappointed like a parent whose child stole a cookie, but quick to lovingly re embrace and to forgive.  King David sought God with his whole heart and yet he dared not take his sin so lightly.  His sin was terrible and he knew it.

When I hear preachers today say so quickly that God has forgiven, I am reminded of Psalm 51 where David, who loved God and was used by him in so many ways, pleaded with God for mercy and begged God not to take God's Spirit from him.  I see in Psalm 51 a man who is vulnerable and humble.
For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 2 Samuel 12:12

Sunday, September 27, 2015

I Want to Be Famous!

 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.
Acts 5:10

I overheard that not too long ago, Christian Sam Rader from The Sam and Nia YouTube series told people he wanted to be famous and he let people know he was going to be famous.  In the end, he became far more famous than he expected for allegedly faking a discovery of his wife's pregnancy, for getting kicked out of a vlogger's convention, and then for several payments he made to a website designed to help him find discreet adulterous affairs.  These events happened days apart from each other.  It was almost like God was allowing their lives to fall apart overnight.

A few years back, Richard and Mayumi Heene sought fame by staging a false report that their child was trapped in a large balloon somewhere over Colorado.  While the authorities were looking for the balloon, Richard had his kid hide in the garage.  Their plan to become famous and get into the news worked very well; except the kind of fame they were looking for was not the kind they got.  The Heenes will forever be known as bad people.

These are cases of people who wanted the good side of fame - the attention and the money - but got the nasty side of fame instead - the ridicule and hatred of the media and of the very people they wanted to win over for good.

Fame is a tricky beast to tame and for those who seek fame simply to be famous, there can be unseen consequences that can turn one's life into a place of hell.

I believe most of us want fame.  When I was younger, I wanted it badly.  I wanted to be recognized as someone special and to be looked up to.  Before I was Christian I was convinced I was going to be a rock star.  Shortly after I became a Christian I expected to become a famous Christian speaker, Christian musician, and prophet.  Fortunately I quickly outgrew the fantasies, but only life and experience helped me shake off the hunger to be well known.

When fame is the value most sought out, things can easily go wrong.  People do weird things to become famous or to hold on to fame, and those weird things can get them into a whole lot of trouble.

In Acts 4, Barnabas sold property and gave the money to the disciples for distribution to those who were in need.  As a result Barnabas immediately fit in with the top ranks of the new Christian community.  He became an instant Christian celebrity.  Seeing this, a man and his wife (Ananias and Sapphira) decided to do the same by selling a piece of their property and giving 1/2 the money to the disciples and secretly keep the rest for themselves.

When they gave the money to Peter and the disciples their plan backfired and God killed them as an example to the new community of believers.  This sounds terrible for us 21st Century Christians, but that is how things worked in the ancient times.

Ananias and Sapphira were looking for fame among a small community of Christians.  They wanted to hobnob with the Apostles who seemed to be bigger than life celebrities.  But their attempts were thwarted by destruction because they were only looking for fame and because they wanted fame so much, they resorted to dishonest methods to get to that fame.

How do we know they were looking for fame?  At the conclusion of their episode, the Bible says that no one else dared to join them, that is the disciples.  The people didn't dare attempt to join them because they got the message loud and clear from Ananias and Sapphira that the celebrity world of Christianity was off limits to anyone else.

Barnabas became a celebrity in the book of Acts and in his day not because he sought to become famous neither did he intend to join the circles of the disciples.  He became a celebrity as a result of what he did for a good cause without looking to become famous.

Ananias and Sapphira sought to join the disciple and take on the Christian celebrity aura by poorly copying what Barnabas did.

LESSON FOR TODAY

Most of us want to be famous.  However, to help avoid the nasty side of fame, be good at what you do and pursue to be good not for fame, but for the enjoyment of what you do. Work hard at it and stay honest, stay ethical, and make sure past mistakes are dealt with and cleaned up.  At the very least, be up front and honest about your past mistakes.  The celebrity life is filled with exposes.

Finally, realize that fame comes from skill, a lot of work, and most of all, a lot of luck.


I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.            
—Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)





Tuesday, September 1, 2015

How Famous Christians React after a Scandal


 Josh Duggar in Rehab: Reformers Unanimous Treating 'Addiction in a Biblical Way'

CONFESSION
 I have been the biggest hypocrite ever.  While espousing faith and family values, I have been unfaithful to my wife.  I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living...."
Josh Duggar 
The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. "I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring about it for my entire life. ..."
Ted Haggard 

Josh Duggar, Jimmy Swaggart, and Ted Haggard, like many cheaters who get caught openly, confess their misdoings and the revulsion with what they have done.  I assume they are used to confessing to God in their private lives, but they are not used to confessing to the nation.  But confession before the world has a negative side to it as most fallen heroes discover.

THE IMAGE OF CONFESSION

"I Was Wrong"
Jim Baker

Jim Bakker and his caked on make-up wife became popular among Christian TV watchers back in the 1980s on a show (the PTL Club) that discussed all kinds of events and opinions.  They became so wealthy that they began their own Christian themed park (Heritage USA) and that's what became their undoing.  Overselling rooms for their park put the Bakkers on the defensive and sent Jim to jail.  During this time it was also discovered that Jim was paying off a secretary who accused him and his friend of raping her.  His wife Tammy divorced him.

Spending 5 years in jail, Jim Bakker saw the error of his ways and later wrote a book claiming that the excessive lifestyle he lived was wrong.

 
"I have sinned!"  
(Jimmy Swaggart)

When publicly confessing misdoings, some people, like Jimmy Swaggart, give the press an image that will show up for the life of the internet. 

Old School Pentecostal Jimmy Swaggart (cousin and child buddies with Jerry Lee Lewis) was the world's most popular TV preacher in the 1980s.  He was a gifted speaker who railed against the world, Rock and Roll, and pornography local  Jimmy also viciously exposed another local preacher for committing adultery.  In the height of his career, that other preacher took pictures of Jimmy Swaggart visiting a prostitute.  After being exposed, he wept before his church and confessed his sins.

Weeping was a part of Jimmy Swaggart's preaching style.  He turned it on when needed as to emphasize certain points of his messages.  He learned from his preaching that public weeping produced positive reaction and empathy from his audiences.  For Jimmy Swaggart tears were a form of steering his followers.  Tears awakened the emotions of his audiences to the importance of what he was saying.  Jimmy learned to control audiences with his weeping, his mood swings, and his pacing on stage.  He was a master orator.

Unfortunately for Jimmy, his ability to control an audience was limited to his followers.  When he was faced with an audience outside of his faithful, his tears became an image of disgust and mockery.  Jimmy poured out the tears, just like he did in dozens of sermons, but his tears became a mockery and a picture of disgust to people who now saw his hypocrisy.

Jimmy Swaggart learned the hard way that openly admitting to guilt may add to the relentless news agencies and negative feedback of fellow Christians.  He could no longer control his audiences and he found that the media now owned him in ways he could not handle.

Several months later being pulled over by a police man for erratic driving, Jimmy was caught with porn magazines and another prostitute in his car.  When he was caught this time and asked by the media about the incident, his response was clear, "It is none of your business."  He learned that confession and tears didn't work with the world at large.

ON THE DEFENSIVE - STAGE 2 OF A CONFESSION

I knew a man who molested children. When members of his family and his church board found out about this, they got together and surprised him with the news that his secret was exposed.  Like Swaggart, he confessed as a broken man.  Several years later, when he was again exposed, he hardened up and the people harmed were met with nothing but a denial and a lawyer.

Like Swaggart, this man learned that the repercussions of public confession can be brutal, so with this experience in mind, the church member (like Swaggart) gave the people concerned the feeling one gets when someone gives you the finger.


Sam Rader is a video blogger who has gained a decent following online by filming a reality show surrounding his wonderful and outrageously cute family.  When the Ashley Madison website was hacked (this was a website designed to help married men and women find discreet adulterous affairs), it was discovered that Sam Rader had paid to find women he could meet on the side.

Upon being found out, Sam Rader confessed in a video blog, but then turned to the "It's none of your business" right away.  He did not wait for media feedback to begin setting up his internal defenses.  In one message he went from "I sinned, but I didn't really meet with anyone, Jesus forgives me, my wife is okay, and that's all I am going to say about it."  He really didn't give the media much to gloat over for very long, so the media moved on.  Besides, there were much bigger people with much bigger scandals out there than Sam.

On the surface, this seems to be an effective way to deal with the media.  Confess and move on.  Don't be too broken, but don't be arrogant either.

Personally, I was turned off by part of his message with the flippant attitude that came across when Sam said something like "Jesus forgives me, and that's it."  For those of you who face a public scandal in the future, it might be better to say something like, "I have prayed for forgiveness and am working on my relationship with God and with my wife who is facing a difficult time because of my actions."  The proclamation that "God has forgiven me," sounds like God is a vending machine giving out forgiveness every time I put in my quarter.  Grace and mercy are not cheap expectations we can take for granted.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RIGHT WORDS IN CONFESSION

"I did not have sex with that woman."
(President Clinton)

America was disgusted with Clinton's denial because his careful wording was an attempt to lesson the gravity of what he did and his attempt to lesson the gravity was obvious to all.  In Rader's online confession, he carefully worded that he had not had outside affairs while he was married which tells me he may have cheated on his wife before he was married.  I cannot assume that to be absolutely true, but his wording suggests the possibility.

Sam also stated that his Ashley Madison account was created before he started video blogging; but some on the internet say that is not true.  Furthermore, as was mentioned above, Sam told his viewers that he never really met with anyone he talked to on the internet.  A confession like his is loaded with questionable statements and possible cover ups - all designed to protect his image, his following and his marriage.

I don't know if Rader ever really visited any of his online girl friends in person, but Ashley Madison is designed for that purpose and Rader paid a lot of money to find fellow cheaters.  In the end, even though only he knows, his reactions are highly suspicious to the media and to many who listen to the media.

CONFESSION OF HYPOCRISY

So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  
(Matthew 23:3)

Whether it is through speeches and sermons, video blogs or TV, when people let you believe one thing and practice another, it is deception and hypocrisy.  The Pharisees were not all that different than many today whose private lives are filled with sexual and financial disgrace while their public lives are saying something completely different.  That is what Jesus saw in the religious leaders of his day and it is what He sees today.  Hypocrisy from an ancient group is not more evil than the hypocrisy of today.

Many such as Josh Duggar, Ted Haggard and Sam Rader freely admit the hypocrisy of their lives, but I wonder if any of them realize the gravity of their actions beyond the embarrassment of getting caught.  We live in a Christian culture that emphasizes and places highest value on God's love, forgiveness and understanding.  Even though these are good values to hold dearly, Christian culture is losing the sense of the holiness and the judgment of God.  Hebrews 10:31 tells Christians, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Because the holiness of God is so underrated by our Evangelical community, when people fall, the fallen quickly take comfort in God's forgiveness and compassion, not realizing that they have fallen into the hands of the living God who is cleaning His house from the hypocrisy these people so freely confess.

FORGIVENESS



"Jesus died for this sin, but there are still earthly consequences."
R.C. Sproul Jr.

Most Christians who face a scandal turn quickly to God's forgiveness.  Whereas Sam Rader seems to use his feeling of forgiveness as a tool to say "it's none of your business" to the media,  Josh Duggar and others use it simply to find personal peace.  The world is against them, but at least God supports them and loves them and is so touched by their hurts and their failures.

I am not going to speak for God, but I wouldn't assume that He so quickly wraps them up in His protective arms.  Throughout the Bible, when God's people angered Him, it took time and some changes made for the relationship to return to some kind of normal.  It took time for God to get over His anger.

On the surface of things, people who get caught in scandals typically think only of themselves and neglect the feelings and struggles of the rest of their family.  For me, I thought that R.C. Sproul Jr. who also had an Ashley Madison account, was an exception to this rule when he stated, "My sin, sadly, has impacted those who are innocent—my colleagues, friends, and family. I have and will continue to seek their forgiveness. I covet your prayers.”

Most of those caught seem to be protective and dismissive toward media intruders - they seem very inward and focus only on God and finding forgiveness without consequence from Him.  R.C. seems to realize that the outing of his sin has consequences and has affected others.  He acknowledges not only his sin, but its consequences and acknowledges that his scandal affects others.  Nevertheless, he later admitted that he wished he had withheld comment on the matter.

THE INNOCENT

In some movie I saw years ago the main character said something like, "When I confessed to my wife that I had an affair with another woman, a large burden was lifted from my shoulders.  But my confession placed a huge burden on my wife's shoulders who did not know I was having an affair."  

Most of the people caught in scandals haven't unloaded their burdens on others, but others are still given new burdens that are difficult to bear.

When Ted Haggard's follies were exposed, he became the center of his family more than when he was a pastor.  The same is true for Sam Rader, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Baker, Josh Duggar, Bill Gothard and the myriads of other fallen Christians.  The wives and the children disappear in the ongoing family story, as the family story becomes the story of dad's tragedy, confessions, and aftermaths.

The type of burden taken on by the innocent when scandal is exposed is worse in a public arena because under so much publicity, the fallen usually focuses on their own survival and their own reputation.  The innocent people surrounding the fallen quickly become victims of neglect, confusion, and hurt.  

The burden on others is not something that those caught intend to do; it is just what happens to the people who love or who are connected to the fallen person. 






Thursday, April 16, 2015

The Genesis of Covenants



We live in a world of readers and writers.  Most children in my country can read and write - but in ancient days, most people - even most adults - could not read and write, so spoken words became very important.

When people could read and write they made deals with with each other in words.  Any type of agreement was rarely made in writing in the ancient world.  Every agreement was made with words - and this became a problem.

Let's say Bruce wants to marry Fred's daughter, and Fred promises Bruce his daughter in marriage. But in 10 years when Fred's daughter is 12 and old enough to marry (and they did marry young in those days) and when Fred's daughter is old enough to marry, Fred tells Bruce that he never made such a deal because he found a better suitor for his daughter.  Bruce has only his memory to bring to the agreement, and his memory cannot compete with Fred's denial.  So Bruce concludes that if he wants to make an agreement with someone else, he needs something bigger than simple words.

Words were not enough because people forgot or denied ever having said things.  So a new level of words had to come into the agreements to help raise the level of commitment.  People began to promise certain things - but even promises could and were forgotten and broken.  So a higher level of promise called vows were used.  But even vows were forgotten and broken - so the highest of all levels of words were established - covenants.

Covenants were made between two parties and included certain events that helped people to remember.  Those events may be a meal or some strange ritual - both of which would be remembered years later.

Large meals in those days were costly and rare, so were easy to remember even years later.  And when Bruce says,  "Do you remember the agreement we had, when we shared a meal together?"  Fred cannot easily deny.

WITNESSES

But even though they were so powerful, people could still deny or break promises, vows, and covenants; so on occasion there were witnesses to the agreement.

Finally, whether there were witnesses or not, another form of protection was developed.

CURSES AND BLESSINGS

There were no police or outside protectors of the covenant to make sure agreements were established, so people began to using curses and blessings to protect what was said.

In a world of words, blessings spoke good for people and future generations; but curses created bad things that were expected to happen from those who cursed.   People believed that blessings truly brought good things to their lives.  And most people believed that curses really brought bad things to people, so curses and blessings became the protectors of covenants.