Sermon Video: "hope does not put us to shame" - Romans 5:3-5

Suffering is an oft misunderstood topic.  Many religions and philosophies, including people within Christianity, get it wrong.  Suffering isn't necessary, for evil will ultimately be vanquished, and it can be opposed and lessened, nor does God cause it in the hopes of bending it to his will.  Suffering is, however, a reality in this present life, but so is hope.  Hope is not only possible but guaranteed if we trust in God, live righteously no matter what, and persevere by faith.

The deplorable shame of using Potiphar's Wife to discount sex abuse victims: A refutation of Pastor Doug Wilson

Given the recent insanity of the "Empathy is Sin" movement {The folly of the "Sin of Empathy" - A self-inflicted wound to Christian Fundamentalism}, I've looked back a bit into recent history to try to understand the pieces of the pattern that led Pastor John Piper, who is well respected even by those who disagree with him, to put his weight behind the likes of Doug Wilson, Joe Rigney, and James White in this endeavor to pulverize empathy toward abuse victims.  Which is where I came across a trend that I was previously unaware of: the use of Potiphar's Wife from Joseph's story in Genesis to insinuate that some (if not most) women (and others) who claim to have been sexually abused, secretly really wanted the sexual activity that was forced upon them.

It turns out this trend is fairly widespread.  In a public letter to then SBC President J.D. Greer, Russel Moore, the President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC, an SBC entity) wrote, "You and I both heard, in closed door meetings, sexual abuse survivors spoken of in terms of 'Potiphar’s wife' and other spurious biblical analogies. The conversations in these closed door meetings were far worse than anything Southern Baptists knew—or the outside world could report."  In some circles, evidently, it is routine behind closed doors to treat the entire MeToo movement, and even the larger Clergy Sex Abuse scandal, as a nefarious plot.  It should be little wonder then, if this is how those entrusted to lead portions of the Church are acting privately, that Rachael Denhollander was treated shamefully in public by many of these same people.

The SBC dis-fellowships a church which continues to employ a child-sex offender as their pastor: a step in the right direction, but not enough.

"By What Standard?" - A shameful trailer made by Founders Ministries utilizing the worst political ad tactics

The use of Potiphar's Wife to defend those in power accused of sexual misconduct is both despicable, in that someone would use the Word of God for such an immoral purpose, and exegetically a very poor interpretation of the text itself.  The balance of power in Joseph's story is the exact opposite of that when adult, males, in positions of power/authority, abuse others.  Joseph has no power, he's a slave.  The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife is a cautionary tale on behalf of the powerless in society, not a defense of abusers.  This analysis further examines the text: The Real Sin of Potiphar’s Wife:

The story of Potiphar’s wife and Joseph isn’t the story of an ordinary woman falsely accusing a man of assault and not suffering the consequences; it’s the story of a powerful person using her power to exploit someone weaker, and then bearing false witness against them to cause them to suffer even further in the midst of their vulnerability.  

But most importantly, it’s the story of the good news that there is no human power so great that it can ultimately thwart the purposes of an all-powerful and all-loving God.

Another capable explanation of what the story of Potiphar's wife is actually teaching: STOP USING POTIPHAR'S WIFE TO DISCREDIT SURVIVORS BY JUSTIN COBER-LAKE 

To be clear, it is true that Potiphar's wife made a false allegation. No one denies that false accusations happen but using this story to somehow discredit all women coming forward devalues holy text, turning it into a political bludgeon rather than a liberating truth. Doing so is a political error leading to dangerous eisegesis; the text isn't about the reliability of women, victims, or witnesses. Making that issue central misses the larger point of Joseph's story and the redeeming work of God.

That's not to say we can't apply the story to current events. What we primarily see is a person in power using that position to try to gain sexual access to a subordinate.

The Bible repeatedly speaks to this sort of abuse of power. The structural forces that landed Joseph in prison are largely the same forces that prevent modern assault victims from having a voice. Power oppresses individuals in multiple ways, and one of the most immediate is through enforcing silence. We have no knowledge of Joseph's response because he was likely allowed none.

I am reminded of the classic trope from The Princess Bride, revolving around the word Inconceivable. So it is here with the misuse of the story of Potiphar's wife, it doesn't mean what they think it means.

It isn't surprising that those who would attack victims to defend abusers would also twist the Word of God to that unholy purpose, but it is dangerous.  In an attempt at satire, Pastor Doug Wilson in 2017 reimagined Potiphar's wife as a modern-day feminist, eager to destroy men: Potiphar’s Wife, Survivor

Then that fateful afternoon came when he tried to rape me. Yes, I am no longer afraid to use the word rape. If he been a little more patient, if he had groomed me for just another month, I might not have cried out. I had been almost completely absorbed into the rape culture that Joseph truly embodied. I was truly in a vulnerable place, which my therapist has really helped me to finally grasp. I still am in a vulnerable place, in so many ways. My therapist is so kind and gentle . . . not at all like Potiphar. He truly listens to me. He actually believes me when I dare to share my innermost thoughts. I am almost to the point where I can tell him what would really satisfy me.

What is the point of this sexually suggestive nonsense?  Pastor Wilson uses the Word of God to suggest that (1) mental health professionals are part of the problem, (2) downplay real dangers from sexual abusers like grooming their victims, and (3) hint without much subtlety at the end that 'women really do want it'.  This is, very much, a dark place, and one that fits fairly seamlessly with the more recent call to abandon empathy lest we identify with those claim to have been abused.

Dig further, and you find that Pastor Wilson views marital sex in terms of rape, in fact he believes that this is the God-ordained dynamic, as he wrote the following: 

A final aspect of rape that should be briefly mentioned is perhaps closer to home. Because we have forgotten the biblical concepts of true authority and submission, or more accurately, have rebelled against them, we have created a climate in which caricatures of authority and submission intrude upon our lives with violence. When we quarrel with the way the world is, we find that the world has ways of getting back at us.

In other words, however we try, the sexual act cannot be made into an egalitarian pleasuring party. A man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants. A woman receives, surrenders, accepts. This is of course offensive to all egalitarians, and so our culture has rebelled against the concept of authority and submission in marriage. This means that we have sought to suppress the concepts of authority and submission as they relate to the marriage bed. -Douglas Wilson, Fidelity: What it Means to be a One-Woman Man (Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press, 1999), 86-87. - emphasis mine.

I don't have the proper words for how disgusting this attitude is, and how unbiblical.  This is not two halves united as a whole, not a man treating his wife's body as his own for her betterment.  Here is a similar response to the above quote from Rachel Held Evans: The Gospel Coalition, sex, and subordination

There is so much about this passage that I, as a woman, find inaccurate, degrading, and harmful that it’s hard to know where to begin.  That Wilson blames egaliatarianism for the presence of rape and sexual violence in the world is ludicrous and unsubstantiated.  His characterization of sex as an act of conquering and colonization is disturbing, and his notion that women are little more than the passive recipients of this colonization, who simply “accept” penetration, is as ignorant as it is degrading. 

In addition, the Apostle Paul flat-out condemns marital sex that is one-sided in a passage full of mutual submission: 

1 Corinthians 7:3-5   New International Version

3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Lastly, here is a examination of Wilson's view of marital sex from a fellow Complementarian, who also utilizes 1 Corinthians 7 to demonstrate how dangerous this viewpoint is: Does Doug Wilson endorse marital rape?

Pastor Doug Wilson is a central figure in the charge to abandon empathy (because it is helping the Libs).  Even without the theological refutations of that argument, which are many, looking further at the overall worldview of the source is damning.

 

Sermon Video: Ashamed of Jesus? - Mark 8:38

 Can you demonstrate that you're not ashamed of Jesus by sharing a meme on social media or putting a bumper sticker on your car?  No, the hard truth of the matter is that allegiance to Jesus Christ needs to go much, much deeper.  If we are unashamed of Jesus and his teachings we not only repeat them (without changing them) but LIVE them.  We begin to think, feel, talk, and act like Jesus, to imitate him.  Unfortunately, for millions of self-professed Christians, the only difference between their lives and those of their unbelieving neighbors or friends are surface issues.  Wearing the 'team colors' so to speak, but not denying materialism, embracing sexual purity, or living a life of self-sacrificial service to others.  Ashamed of Jesus?  It isn't your Facebook feed that answers that question, but the life you're living.

Sermon Video: Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love? 1 Corinthians 4:14-21

Nobody enjoys being corrected, but it is an absolutely necessary part of life, spiritual life being no exception.  Paul had ample reason to bring corrective discipline to bear on the people of the church of Corinth, and yet he chose to do so with a fatherly warning instead of public shaming.  Paul recognized the ineffective nature of using shame against a rebellious heart, focusing instead upon warning them in love.  That Paul eschewed using shame is not an indication that he wasn't serious about the discipline that was needed, in fact, Paul told the people of Corinth that his approach to them would be determined by how they responded to his letter of warning.  If the people accept the warning, he will be able to come to them in gentle love when he visits, but if they refuse to cede their pride to the authority of God's Word, Paul will instead be forced to visit them with the "whip" of tough love.  In the end, what matters is keeping the people of God on the path of holiness, if gentle persuasion works, all the better, if not, love will have to get tough.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sinking to a new low

There are certain things that some "Christian pastors" teach, and I don't use those quotation marks lightly, for it is no small thing to doubt the faith of someone who claims to be a Christian, especially when you don't personally know him/her, but there are some beliefs that go so far beyond the boundaries of a Christian-worldview that they call into question anything else that person might say about faith, Jesus, and the Gospel.  Social media and Youtube have given such people a voice, and during the past twenty years we've seen the chaos and hate spawned by the people of Westboro Baptist Church as they protest at the funerals of American service members.  The utter bankruptcy of their willingness to cause pain to the families of those who have given the 'last full measure of devotion" to their country is obvious to all who don't share their fanaticism.  Alongside the people of Westboro belongs the "pastor" of the Faithful Word Baptist Church, Steven Anderson.  I've known of Steven Anderson for some time, his shrill KJV only claims are well known on the Internet, as was his much publicized public prayer that President Obama would die of a brain tumor.  On top of this foolishness is also added the damning title: Holocaust denier.  There is no legitimate reason to deny the Holocaust that is not fueled by anti-semitism.  The documentation of the Holocaust is so massive and exhaustive that to deny it stretches rationalism beyond its breaking point.  There are few things that Islamic Jihadists and White Neo-Nazis agree upon, denial of the Holocaust is one of them, shouldn't that be a frightening group to join.
It pains me that both of these examples are from those calling themselves "baptists".  Please, those of you who don't know the difference between Christian denominations, or who don't know personally any baptists, please, don't think for a moment that the rest of us have anything at all in common with these who are profaning the names of pastor, baptist, and church.  Sad, but true, this is a new low, lower than the last, that anyone calling himself a Christian would deny that millions upon millions of the descendants of Abraham were murdered in WWII, for shame.

Sermon Video, The Promise of John the Baptist - Luke 1:5-25

The opening act to the Christmas story begins with the morally upright priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth.  This ideal Jewish couple have only one problem, they can't have kids.  What would be seen as a difficulty to be overcome today was a shameful deficiency in the 1st Century.  While serving in the Temple, Gabriel appears to Zechariah and promises that God has answered their prayer in the form of a miraculous child who will take up the mantle of the prophet Elijah and lead his people back to their God as well as prepare the way for the Lord's advent.  If this is God's opening act, imagine how amazing the Messiah must be.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

The Shame of Joe Paterno

There is no excuse.  That the family is trying to spin the Freeh report to protect his "legacy" is only adding to the shame he deserves.  Joe Paterno may have served his fellow man for decades, and he did, but what will he be remembered for?  Looking the other way to protect his buddy and his football program as children were raped by the man whose office was next door.  The legal ramifications for Penn State will be huge, and they should be, but the moral ramifications are beyond the pale.  Each of those students who gathered to protest the firing of Joe must now look themselves in the mirror and realize that they were helping to protect a man who made an inexcusable evil choice. 
Those of us who serve the public as our life's calling know that everything we have worked for could be ruined by a false accusation.  It makes us tentative, causes us to have rules about ministering alone with anyone, and plays to our fears.  It cannot be helped.  The innocent deserve our discomfort.
If any of these 4 leaders at Penn State (plus who knows how many more further down the ladder) had any sense of courage or honor, they would have gone to the police regardless of the consequences.  It is not a choice, it is an obligation.  Everything else that may be offered in their defense is meaningless.  They knew enough, they knew children were at risk, and they walked away.  Only one person needed to do the right thing to put a stop to Sandusky's predatory rapes of children; at Penn State, to their shame, there was none.
There is no excuse, only shame.

A Lesson from my dog...

One of our dogs hasn't been feeling very well of late.  Not eating, stomach problems, lethargic, that sort of thing.  The problem is that we can't ask her what is wrong.  Was it something she ate, is she in pain, is she sad that she misplace her favorite bone?  Who knows.
The thought occured to me that many people act the same way.  They go through struggles, difficulties, and troubles without ever letting those who care about them know it.  Why do people hid their pain?  Usually it is some mixture of shame, fear, pride, or stubborness.  What will people say if they know what I've done?  What will people think if they know what I'm afraid of?  How will people look at me when they know how much I've let them down?  I don't care how much it hurts, I'm going to fix this myself.
Maybe you've had some of those thoughts, maybe you're saying something like that right now.  There are two very good reasons why you should let other people help you through tough times in your life.  The first is that we're not meant to fight those battles alone.  God created us to be social, to lean on each other, to offer mutal support.  We're designed this way.  When we try to do everything on our own, we make things much more difficult and miss out on the love that our friends, family, and church would offer if only we would let them.  The second reason why we should ask for help is because we deny those same friends, family members, and church members the chance to be Christ-like when we don't go to them for help.  As believers in Jesus Christ, we have an obligation to support and help those in need.  The only way that we will grow as Christians is by serving others.  If we all try to solve everything on our own, none of us will grow to be the mature Christians that God wants us to be.
The next time you face something difficult in life, rather than digging a moat around yourself so that nobody can get in, try instead to build a bridge so that someone can show you how much they love you.  As God's Word reminds us, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (I Peter 5:7)  Go to God, go to his people; we are his hands, his feet, here to serve each other, here to carries the burdens of those in need.