The American church has been given four years of a respite from the Progressive onslaught. We must capitalize on the moment with bold action and agency.
I would be interested on your take on competition. I have many Christian friends that avoid board games, swimming competitions, sports. They believe it is anti-Jesus to win at something. They describe a guilt at winning, which hurts another person they say. Love to hear your thoughts.
Paul constantly uses sports metaphors, telling us to run the race so as to win. That's certainly not an endorsement of Monopoly, but it's not the sort of thing he'd do if he thought competition was bad: quite the contrary, he'd go out of his way not only to avoid such metaphors but to actively caution against sports.
So I think these folks are well-meaning, but not applying the full counsel of God.
Also, we are to do everything with excellence. No one is doing anything entirely unique. To be the best at anything, you must necessarily be better than someone else. God doesn't say anything to suggest that's wrong: He says we're to excel, doing everything as unto the Lord to the best of our abilities and gifts. So we shouldn't focus on "self-esteem" like our culture does: we should focus on improving ourselves to be more and more like Him, and we should be grateful for whatever God gives us as the result.
We have taught our kids how to win graciously. And to lose graciously. Both are very important life skills to demonstrate it’s not all about you. And you were given talent by the grace of God!
Rod, I agree with some of what you shared but I think Jesus and the apostles could fall into your loser theology category. Here’s why. None of them fought for Jesus AND country. And none of them had a reprieve from an evil culture — not even for the span of four years. Fact is, their theology grew in spite of the culture. Their focus wasn’t on the culture first and hearts later. Rather, it was always a focus on the heart first. They knew that without heart change there could never be any culture change. I think we’ve missed this truth. Too often Christians in our country want to invest their energies into culture change first. But this is putting the cart before the horse.
I’m confident that Jesus and the apostles were as (or more) masculine as any 21st century masculine man. Jesus was the ultimate example for every man — and yet He never comported himself in the way many of the men do today that we tend to place on a pedestal as examples of masculinity. In fact, when Peter acted like most of us (me included) 21st century men, and Peter drew his sword to protect the Son of God, Jesus rebuked him. Isn’t this just like the most masculine American men? We need our closets full of guns and our garages full of ammo because that’s what makes a good masculine man… and that’s how we’re going to protect our right to share the gospel. Yet it’s not the way of Jesus. (I’m not against gun’s and ammo.)
But we must be careful that we don’t confuse this window of time you reference as giving God the window He needed. The gospel generally flourishes when times are the most difficult, not when the winds are blowing favorably. Am I against the good that we see happening and the evil that’s being called what it is? Of course not. But we should never believe that a “conservative” win is just what the doctor ordered for the gospel to finally make headway. If the gospel was falling flat during hard times, it’s not because the gospel lost its power. It’s because Christians likely got distracted with the world vs the remaining focused on gospel by loving God and loving their neighbor.
A powerful message! Thank you for sharing.
I would be interested on your take on competition. I have many Christian friends that avoid board games, swimming competitions, sports. They believe it is anti-Jesus to win at something. They describe a guilt at winning, which hurts another person they say. Love to hear your thoughts.
Paul constantly uses sports metaphors, telling us to run the race so as to win. That's certainly not an endorsement of Monopoly, but it's not the sort of thing he'd do if he thought competition was bad: quite the contrary, he'd go out of his way not only to avoid such metaphors but to actively caution against sports.
So I think these folks are well-meaning, but not applying the full counsel of God.
Also, we are to do everything with excellence. No one is doing anything entirely unique. To be the best at anything, you must necessarily be better than someone else. God doesn't say anything to suggest that's wrong: He says we're to excel, doing everything as unto the Lord to the best of our abilities and gifts. So we shouldn't focus on "self-esteem" like our culture does: we should focus on improving ourselves to be more and more like Him, and we should be grateful for whatever God gives us as the result.
Think of it as contentment without complacency.
We have taught our kids how to win graciously. And to lose graciously. Both are very important life skills to demonstrate it’s not all about you. And you were given talent by the grace of God!
100% true.
Cleary Michael Clary and Eric Metaxis should have a conversation on this, it would be great!
That would be a lot of fun.
Rod, I agree with some of what you shared but I think Jesus and the apostles could fall into your loser theology category. Here’s why. None of them fought for Jesus AND country. And none of them had a reprieve from an evil culture — not even for the span of four years. Fact is, their theology grew in spite of the culture. Their focus wasn’t on the culture first and hearts later. Rather, it was always a focus on the heart first. They knew that without heart change there could never be any culture change. I think we’ve missed this truth. Too often Christians in our country want to invest their energies into culture change first. But this is putting the cart before the horse.
I’m confident that Jesus and the apostles were as (or more) masculine as any 21st century masculine man. Jesus was the ultimate example for every man — and yet He never comported himself in the way many of the men do today that we tend to place on a pedestal as examples of masculinity. In fact, when Peter acted like most of us (me included) 21st century men, and Peter drew his sword to protect the Son of God, Jesus rebuked him. Isn’t this just like the most masculine American men? We need our closets full of guns and our garages full of ammo because that’s what makes a good masculine man… and that’s how we’re going to protect our right to share the gospel. Yet it’s not the way of Jesus. (I’m not against gun’s and ammo.)
But we must be careful that we don’t confuse this window of time you reference as giving God the window He needed. The gospel generally flourishes when times are the most difficult, not when the winds are blowing favorably. Am I against the good that we see happening and the evil that’s being called what it is? Of course not. But we should never believe that a “conservative” win is just what the doctor ordered for the gospel to finally make headway. If the gospel was falling flat during hard times, it’s not because the gospel lost its power. It’s because Christians likely got distracted with the world vs the remaining focused on gospel by loving God and loving their neighbor.
I don't think this is terribly responsive to the article, but okay.
Protestantism is a man made religion. The beginning of rationalism.
No, but thanks for your opinion.