Month: May 2014

Solid Witness

Solid Witness

As we progress in postmodernity more Americans, than ever, are asking why Christianity is still so prevalent in our time. Believers in Jesus Christ are being mocked by a growing cynicism that asserts far too many Americans are still unintelligently infatuated with Jesus in the new millennium. There are a multitude of explanations for why our critics think we are silly for still believing in what they consider fairy tales about the deity of Jesus. The biggest reason critics of Christianity cannot comprehend our commitment to our faith is because they grossly underestimate the power of solid witness.

It is because of solid witness Christianity is prevalent today. Without the witness of Jesus’ resurrection Christianity may have died on the cross a forgotten fable. But, after his execution Jesus visited his followers. Like usual, he was met with disbelief. According to the witness in the Gospel of Luke Jesus put on a demonstration of his “realness” by urging people to touch him to ensure them that they were not seeing a ghost. The same Gospel records Jesus eating a piece of broiled fish; post execution. This is not to say that there were not times in which the witness made claims about Jesus appearing in a mysteriously inexplicable way after he died. Rather, it is to say that Jesus did appear resurrected as a solid being. After his death Jesus briefly appeared as one that could be seen plainly, and touched physically. He ate food, and he had apparent wounds. Christianity is alive today because of the testimony of former-unbelieving people who witnessed a solid Jesus Christ, pre and post his crucifixion.

Our critics should be aware that Christianity was birthed out of a milieu of skepticism, unbelief and scrutiny. Different from today, the consequences of making false claims about God in the First Century were deadly. Those who held claim to the extraordinary occurrences of Jesus had far more to lose than an exhaustive argument about who God is, or if God is. More difficult than accepting the professions of Jesus, is believing that multiple witnesses would be willing to die for telling imaginative stories. The testimony of those who witnessed Jesus Christ in the flesh is (1) solid in that they had far more to lose than to gain by fabricating events. Their witness is (2) solid in that they had no earthly incentive to tell such outrageous, socially unacceptable stories. Their witness is (3) solid in that they had to overcome their own doubt when encountering Jesus resurrected. In other words, it took some convincing on Jesus’ part to show that he was not a ghost, but solid. They witnessed a resurrected, solid Jesus.

Those of us who accept the testimony of Jesus’ disciples as solid witness know something that non-Christian intellectuals don’t. That is, critical thinking is not void of emotional intelligence. Just as sound decision-making requires that you use your head, it equally demands you use your gut (instinct). There are some things we simply cannot comprehend without first taking the risk of exercising faith. Sometimes we must put forth what we feel, apart from what we think. A skydiver never really knows whether her parachute is going to open until she takes a leap of faith. Thus, before jumping she is left to trust the testimonies of all those who leaped before her. Only after we decide to believe God in Jesus Christ will we be able to add to our faith knowledge. Christians know that when our intellect runs out our faith can carry us the rest of the way. This is not enough to convince a determined skeptic that Jesus was God incarnate. Nor is that the aim. The purpose is to illustrate that no intellectual pursuit will prove Jesus’ deity above the convicting testimony of a solid witness. We either believe the witness, or we don’t.

Jesus said to Thomas, after he demanded proof that Jesus had been resurrected, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29).” Believers are blessed because we know that only after taking a leap of faith we can give solid witness of Jesus Christ. Christianity will remain to be prevalent as long as we continue to give solid witness. We need to be careful not to leave this generation, or the next to wrestle with the nature of God with nothing more than intellect. We must pass on to them what was given to us, the testimonies of solid witness.

Read: Luke 24:36-43 & John 20: 24-27

 

Tidying Up

Tidying Up

What do we know, teach and do about morality? In this expanding ideological society “morality” is becoming an increasingly ambiguous term. Though the term “moral” has never been one in which we could speak about definitively, there are some attributes of morality that we all ascribe to in common. At the basic level most people would agree that human beings ought to be kind and helpful to one another. The problem is we view this basic attribute as the pinnacle of moral standard. Contrary, kindness and helpfulness is the least we do to demonstrate our sense of morality. Kindness and helpfulness is where we begin in celebrating the evolution of our humanness, not where we end.

We fail miserably at the ground level of morality; which probably explains why most of us never reach beyond being kind and helpful to others. If we were to graduate from the ground level of morality we would find that there is more to it than the way we behave towards others. There is also the morality that exists within us for us. It is the way we temper our self-destructive behavior. Our internal morality should serve to warn us of the sins we commit against ourselves. To behave with moral integrity is to be kind to others while being kind to ourselves. How moral are we if we offer the best of ourselves to others, but inflict our mind, body and spirit with toxic pollutants (e.g. selfishness, drugs, cigarettes, profanity, laziness, porn, drunkenness, poor diet)?

Demonstrating moral integrity consist of being kind and helpful to both, others and ourselves. Perhaps, only after we master these two levels of morality can we truly advance to the third and final dimension. That is, living in peace with our Creator. The ultimate morality is to express continuous gratitude for being made. We express thankfulness by celebrating creation in its various forms, and honoring the Creator. Anything less than acknowledging and paying homage to that which is responsible for your existence is immoral.

These are the three levels of morality we must know, teach and do; be kind and helpful to others as well as to ourself, while paying homage to our Creator. It is evident in how we behave towards one another that what has been simply stated about morality here is proving to be increasingly difficult as we become more diverse in our thinking. Progress we must, but how far can we expect to advance if we fail to tidy up on morality?

Read Mark 7:21-23