By Matt Guerino|Published Date: April 19, 2010

Reversing The Curse (6)

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 14:34

Icons of culture

Neo lurches backwards in a desperate attempt to avoid certain death. The tails of his long black trench coat trail off behind him, flowing out in response to the super-human speed of his maneuver. Multiple bullets from the pistols of his two assailants speed towards him in slow motion, leaving corkscrew shockwaves in their wake. Miraculously, Neo contorts his body around the path of each incoming projectile, and emerges from the hail of gunfire unscathed.

This scene is, of course, the most familiar icon of The Matrix, the sci-fi action film that captured the attention of an entire generation with its unique mix of hi-tech gun fighting and martial arts, and its dazzling special effects. But there was more to the film’s popularity than just cool visuals. The Matrix also painted a particular picture of the world that resonated with many people.

“Your mind makes it real”

The Matrix was set in a computer generated virtual world, which users could learn to manipulate with their minds in ways that would be impossible in the real world. Yet the film did not limit the mind’s power just to the virtual world of “the Matrix”, as the protagonist Neo soon learned.

Reversing The Curse (5)

The National Anthem of Hell

I once attended a memorial service for a man whom I had not known personally. As the service proceeded and memories were shared, the things that defined his life became evident. He was a “strong” and “independent” man, who “knew what he thought” and stuck to it regardless of whether any agreed with him.

At one point in the service we were told that a favorite song of his would now be played; a song that captured his attitude and spirit. I listened as the familiar voice of Frank Sinatra wafted across the room:

For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he is naught

To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels

The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

Reversing the Curse (4)

This column is the fourth in a series examining practical ways that Christians can begin to reverse The Curse right now in each of 8 spheres of life: Relationships, Government, Creation/Environment, Culture, Economics & Vocation, Education & Human Development, Religion, and Science & Technology.

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Romans 13:3-6

Can anyone hear me?

Not long ago I had occasion to write two of my Congressional representatives on two separate issues. One was a Republican Senator from my state, the other a Democratic Representative from my district. In each case I made a moral point. That is, I was not merely expressing my political preference on the issues at hand, but rather arguing that the course of action being considered in each case was fundamentally wrong. I briefly described why I believed this was so.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Clarity of the Constitution

The health care reform legislation signed into law by President Obama may lead to a constitutional crisis. Lawmakers in 30 states are reportedly preparing to challenge the legislation on constitutional grounds. On the other side of the fence are “experts” like Wake Forest University law professor, Mark Hall, who said, “The federal Constitution couldn’t be any clearer that federal law is supreme.”[1]

Professor Hall is right about one thing. The Constitution is clear. Its 10^th Amendment clearly declares: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People.” Nowhere does the Constitution grant the federal government the power to mandate the purchase of health insurance by U.S. citizens.

Some argue that the federal government’s role in regulating interstate commerce grants it the power ensconced in this legislation. That is preposterous. If someone chooses not to purchase health insurance, there is no commerce to regulate. This argument is akin to saying that based on the federal government’s interest in interstate highway traffic, all Americans will be forced to purchase automobiles. Think of the benefits of such a mandate! It would rescue the ailing U.S. auto manufacturing industry. It would create jobs. It would lower the price of automobiles. As good as these things sound, it remains the case that Congress has no authority to require all U.S. citizens to purchase automobiles. Neither does it have the authority to mandate the purchase of health insurance policies, whatever supposed benefits such purchases would produce.

Talking our way to maturity

When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Acts 11.18

We can only imagine the conversation that boiled around Peter’s report of visiting a Gentile and leading Him to the Lord. This was unprecedented. Why, the Gospel had not even made its way into all the people of Israel, and now were we supposed to believe that God was even reaching out to save Gentiles?

Luke gives, in typical fashion, only a summary of the words that were spoken by elders, apostles, and others present at that time. We can perhaps flesh it out a bit by imagining the questions asked, citations of Scripture, references to Old Testament Gentiles who were blessed of God, and suggestions concerning the implications of this startling development.

But they all took the form of support for the idea: “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Everybody was talking. Everyone was animated and excited. Minds and hearts were changed. The horizons of people’s understanding of the Gospel were greatly enlarged. The prospects for the progress of the Kingdom were expanded beyond what anyone had dared to ask or dream. The faith they had come to know as the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham suddenly grew much larger, more immense and powerful, and filled with wondrous prospects of a world turned right-side up for Jesus.

All this conversation had the effect of glorifying God. That is, God was in the midst of these conversations, making His presence known, punctuating the discussion and validating the report by His own weighty appearing, carried along and accentuated by the words passing back and forth between the brethren. God was in their conversations, glorifying Himself in the things they shared.

We can believe that many were greatly stimulated in their faith, and grew significantly, as a result of this time of Gospel conversation. Well, if that could happen then, should we not expect the same to happen now? I believe we should. I believe that God wants to make His glory known in the conversations His people have together about spiritual matters – their experiences of Christ, insights into His Word, reports of His Kingdom’s expanding power and presence, and so forth. God can glorify Himself in our conversations, and we can be greatly edified by joining together to talk about the things of the Lord. Christian conversation – talking together about the Lord and His Kingdom – can be a powerful impetus and means to real spiritual growth.

We should add this to our regimen of spiritual disciplines and seek out opportunities to practice Christian conversation as often as we can.

But we should be careful to observe a few ground rules. First, the purpose of such conversations is to give honor and glory to God and to exalt the Savior and His Kingdom. There is no place for touting our own achievements or comparing our views with those of others in ways designed to exalt ours and denigrate theirs.

Second, we should encourage everyone to participate. If one person dominates then we don’t have a conversation, but something like a dialog or, worse, a monologue. If all have prepared for the conversation, then everyone will have some word or insight to contribute (Col. 3.16).

Third, let the Word of God be the touchstone. Measure everything by what the Scriptures say. Share passages together. Discuss them avidly. Submit your thoughts and feelings to the plain teaching of Scripture, and let the Spirit shape and mold you as He compares spiritual things from one section with spiritual things from another (1 Cor. 2.12, 13).

Fourth, let prayer and praise slip out in your conversation, talking and singing directly to the Lord, as though He were the primary participant in your discussion.

Finally, seek the glory of God in deliberate ways. Let the conversation move toward and culminate in a celebration of the greatness of God and the wonder of His salvation. God will certainly come to inhabit these praises (Ps. 22.3), and we will know His presence and glory, and be greatly edified.

Words are among God’s greatest gifts to His people, and we can use them in such a way as to honor Him and encourage one another. But we need to practice – regularly, diligently, and prayerfully. Why not seek out some Christian friends to engage in God-honoring conversation this week?

Reversing the Curse

Education/Development

A central feature in the Biblical view of life is The Curse: the understanding that things are bad – that they’re not the way they’re supposed to be – because the world and everything in it has been broken by mankind’s sin. Jesus came to reverse The Curse by eliminating its cause (mankind’s sin) through his death and resurrection. He then returned to heaven, sending his redeemed followers out into the world to live lives that imitate his Curse-reversing mission.

The assumption is that as Christians live in this broken world, we will encounter the results of The Curse just as everyone does. However, the Christian’s calling in such instances is to be a redemptive influence; to reverse The Curse through the power of God’s Spirit living in us. This column is the fourth in a series that will examine practical ways that Christians can begin to reverse The Curse right now in each of 8 spheres of life: Relationships, Government, Creation/Environment, Culture, Economics & Vocation, Education & Human Development, Religion, and Science & Technology.

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. Psalm 78:5-8

Justification for higher education?

Works of art, even simple pieces of mostly decorative artwork, sometimes make us stop and think. Such was the case with a poster that a college roommate of mine had hung from the wall.

The poster depicted a peaceful, twilight scene at the coast. In the background sat a mansion atop a hill overlooking the beach. A long, winding driveway led down the hill from the mansion to the poster’s focal image in the foreground: a massive, 7-car garage. Each of the seven individual garage doors was open, revealing the polished grill of a rare, expensive automobile, gleaming in the last light of the day.

Taken together, these cars formed a veritable monument to luxury, wealth, and an exclusive lifestyle. But what caused me to stop many times and ponder this poster wasn’t simply all the extravagance it depicted, it was its title. Emblazoned in bold letters across the bottom of the image were the words, “Justification for Higher Education.”

Winning the Game of Life

The poster’s message had a profound effect on me. I was a full time undergraduate student at that point, unmarried and employed only a few hours per week at a campus library. I spent virtually all my time and energy studying. Indeed, the whole focus of my life at that point was earning my college degree. As I left the room each day for class, the poster’s message made me ask myself, why am I doing this? What’s it all for?

My roommate’s poster accurately captures the spirit of the age (even if it did so in a pretty blunt manner): education is how we win. This view of education follows naturally from The Curse, and its man-centered worldview. The heart of sin as described in Genesis chapter 3 is usurpation: mankind taking God’s place. Adam and Eve made their own choice, trusting their own judgment rather than God’s and seeking to fulfill their own objectives rather than his. In so doing they put themselves in God’s rightful place at the center of their own lives. And we’ve been doing it ever since. The world of The Curse is a world in which people serve themselves rather than God.

In such a man-centered world, education simply serves to equip us to better achieve our own ends. It’s a tool we use to get us where we decide we want to be. Life has winners and losers, and getting an education is an important way we can make sure we are among life’s winners. Get a good education in order to get a good job, which in turn leads to an enormous paycheck and lands you in the winner’s circle of life. Seven exquisite luxury cars and a mansion by the sea are the shiny trophies that shout, “I won!” And that’s why we go to college.

Worship: A different winner’s circle

The Bible presents a different view of human development. Exodus 35:30 – 36:2 describes how God had given special skill in craftsmanship to a few individuals for the construction of the original Tabernacle. These men had developed their God-given skills to the point where they were master craftsmen, and they not only used their own skills on the Tabernacle, but they taught others as well.

Here is the Bible’s picture of the reason for education and development: it leads to effective worship. In this God-centered view of life success is measured not by cars and houses, but by being useful to God and reflecting his nature to those around us.

Knowing God: Our highest aim

But perhaps the most important reason of all for education is that it enables us to truly know God. Psalm 78 explains what motivated God to give us the Bible in the first place: he wants every generation to have a clear and accurate picture of who he is, what he’s done, and what they need to do in order to follow him faithfully. So he put all this in writing, and he charged each generation to pass it on to the next. He tells each older generation to teach, and each new generation to learn.

The Reformers certainly had this educational mission in mind. They believed that the Christian’s final authority is the Bible, an idea referred to as sola scriptura (Latin for “Scripture alone”). This conviction produced the belief that every Christian needed a copy of the Bible in a language he could understand for himself, which in turn led to a flurry of Bible translation efforts.

But this created two other problems. First, even if the Bible was translated into common languages how could enough copies possibly be made so that everyone could see one himself? This problem helped spur the development of the most significant single invention in Western history: the printing press. But second, what good is it to have a Bible in my own language if I can’t read? And so churches increasingly sought to bring education to the masses rather than just to the privileged few. Their goal was to teach people how to read and understand God’s words for themselves.

Real education

All of these educational efforts reflect God’s stated purposes in Psalm 78: that we would know Him. The Christian call to reverse The Curse means that education is seen in a different light. Kingdom-minded Christians view education as a divine calling, teaching others who God is and how to understand his self-revelation in the Bible. We value education highly as a means of knowing God and his will for our lives, and also as a way to develop our God-given abilities more fully for his glory.

Reverse the curse

How well do you understand God’s character and his plan of redemption? Perhaps educating yourself by doing a Bible study on the concept of redemption would be a worthwhile endeavor. Or consider reading a good scripturally-based book on who God is and what he’s up to in the world, such as Knowing God by J.I. Packer, The Knowledge Of The Holy by A.W. Tozer, or The Faith by Chuck Colson. Many of these also have accompanying study guides available.

In addition, consider what skills and abilities God has given you. How can you further develop those gifts to serve him? Perhaps taking a class at your local college is in order. Or maybe it’s time to find a mentor or teacher who can stretch your ability in music, decorating, mechanics, design, or some other area of personal strength. We can reverse The Curse by pursuing such personal development in order to serve God ever more effectively.

And that’s the best possible justification for continuing education.

For additional insight to this subject, get the book, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning, by Douglas Wilson, from our online store. Or read the article, “Faithfulness in Christian Higher Education,” by Michael Scanlan.