Drive-By Evangelism and the Good of Guilt

So I drove out to Arkansas this past weekend to visit my sister and some friends. On Thursday night, I met up with a few of the guys out at the fishing pier in Searcy.

Now, if you're not familiar with Searcy, it's kinda hard for me to explain "the dock," as it is called (even though there is no dock). It's just a nice little pier that stretches out across this little pond between the highway and a car dealership. I don't know how it is for fishing. All I know it for is what I've always used it for - a place to get away from everybody else, talking about the things you don't want to talk about in the Waffle House, occasionally spooking the ducks.

So that's where we are. And that's what we're doing. We're just standing around, cutting up, not bothering anything or anyone, just catching up. It's the first time I've seen the guys in 2 months, and we're just enjoying each other's company, when this big truck with insanely loud pipes and an insanely louder driver rolls by. Without stopping, or really even slowing down, the driver leaned out of the window - seriously, from nearly his stomach up, both shoulders fully out of the window - and bellows to us, "JESUS IS COMING SOON, REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED!"

At first, we were just stunned into silence, but after a second or two, we all started laughing. There were just so many things about that scenario that struck us as absurd.

For starters... Yeah! We all know Jesus is coming. We already did the "repent and be baptized" bit. Got it covered. Thank you for your concern, sir, but you are literally preaching to the converted.

And then, beyond that... Does this guy actually think he's reaching people with this method? Does this actually work? Is his church just packed with folks who come in off of the street saying, "Well, some guy drove by and shouted at me, so I figured he was right"?

The next day, I spent some time with another friend, and while we were hanging out, I shoved my foot so far into my mouth that I still have teeth marks on my kneecap. Everything I said made sense just before it left my lips, but once it was actually floating out in the air... Oh, man... It was ugly. Just ugly.

When I came to my senses - several hours after I should have - I felt like a big ol' flaming bag of not a very good person. I realized that I had been judgmental, arrogant, rude, and a whole bunch of other negative adjectives that apply to me far more often than I wish they did. And it absolutely tore me up. I couldn't get it out of my mind until I really apologized, but even then, I still felt like a jerk.

(And really, writing this and remembering everything, I actually still feel like a jerk even now.)

I knew I had messed up. I knew there was a problem that needed forgiveness. I took what steps I could to make sure that things were made right...

But I'm still holding on to it...

And I'm not entirely sure that's a bad thing just yet.

Let me get you into my headspace with this. It'll be kind of a convoluted metaphor, but I hope you follow.

Let's say I'm down at the range doing some target shooting. I'm holding the butt of the rifle against my forehead, I've got one of my eyes closed, and I'm pulling the trigger with the big toe on my left foot. BANG! Well, I broke my glasses, I'm bleeding from the bridge of my nose, my toe is stuck in the trigger loop, and I think I just killed a cow. Not really a surprise. There's a right way to shoot a gun if you want to hit the target, and this is definitely not the right way.

Now let's say I'm at the range again, but I've got the butt of the rifle nestled firmly against the muscle of my shoulder, I've got my cheek lined up on the stock, I've got my breathing slow and steady, I've got my sights lined up, I've got my finger squeezing the trigger... BANG! Bullseye. Nailed it. Go me. Again - not really a surprise. I did it right, so I got the right results.

So if I want to be a better shot - if I want to more consistently hit the target - I've got to learn how to shoot right. There's a right way to do it, and everything that isn't that, isn't right.

It seems to me that there is an inescapable, unavoidable relationship between guilt and the Christian life. A healthy amount of guilt is necessary in order to attain salvation, and once that threshold is broken and there is a dedication to Christ, there is still a purpose for guilt. The trick is just making sure it's that "healthy amount of guilt" and not a self-inflicted beat-down.

For someone who's not yet a Christian, guilt is absolutely necessary. How else can people know that they've got sins that need forgiven if they don't feel any guilt for their sins? How can someone repent without knowing what to repent for? The recognition of guilt - the awareness of falling short of God's standards for Man's life through sin - is key to being able to accept and understand the grace of God through the redemption of Jesus Christ.

And so, to that end, you can't just drive by a group of dudes hanging out and cutting up and shout out to them that Jesus is coming and that they should repent and be baptized. There's nothing convicting in that.

But what about someone who's already a Christian? (More to the point - what about me?) What good is guilt for someone who is forgiven? What does guilt accomplish when sin is no longer held against you?

I'm not entirely sure I have a good answer for that one yet.

I believe that it would be a mistake to hold onto guilt in such a way that it impedes my acceptance of God's grace. There is no sin that I have committed or could possibly commit that cannot be washed away by God's forgiveness. So there's no point in me hanging on to something for days, weeks, years past my recognition that it was a sin and asking that God (and any people I offended) forgive me.

But I still want to do better. I still feel like I'm occasionally holding the rifle up against my forehead and firing with my toe. That's where I think guilt is still good.

I realize this may seem like a really elementary point, but it's what I had on my mind. I don't want to hold on to guilt as a burden, keeping me from fully appreciating the gift of grace, but I do want to use the guilt when it hits me to push me towards being a better Christian.

I'd like to think I've got a fairly well-adjusted moral compass. I try to base my actions on my understanding of the Spirit, Will, and Word of God. I realize I'm not perfect, and I don't think I'm holding myself to too high of a standard. But at the same time... when I get good and stupid and really mess it up, I feel terrible! Just awful all over.

So I try to learn from it. I don't always know what to learn, exactly... But I try.

I want to be better. I have a goal in mind: pure love. I want to exist as a man who is singularly dedicated to love. Love for God, which manifests itself in love for people, is my one true aim, and I regret to inform you that I fall short of that goal with alarming frequency.

I want to make it clear that I'm not wallowing in guilt. I know I've been forgiven by God. I'm pretty sure I've been forgiven by my friend. But even beyond the forgiveness, it still breaks my heart that I messed up so bad (believe me - SO BAD) with someone I really care about.

But I'd like to get to the point where it breaks my heart when I mess up with someone I don't even know.

I'd like to use my guilt to learn from my mistakes and continue my push towards being the man God wants me to be.

Please pray for me as I do this.

Spiritual Nudity and the Unbearable Weight

I have almost no idea what I'm doing.

While I am confident that God has plans for me and is working to deliver me to a place where I am best suited to carry out His Will, I struggle with finding the confidence that I'll actually do a good job once I get there.

How much of that do I actually need, anyway? How much confidence do I need in my own broken self?

At what point does humility become bad self-esteem?

Look, I know I'm good at some stuff. I don't think I'm entirely worthless. I know I'm occasionally funny. I know I'm a pretty decent cook. I know I have moments of being a good listener (even though I'm deaf).

But I also know that I am pretty abrasive at times. I know that I've got a tendency towards arrogance. I know I'm pretty good at being an obstinate jerk about getting what I want, when I want it, and when I don't get it, I either turn into this really grouchy twit or I just get super depressed, which is no good, either. I bring everybody else down, because let's face it, nobody likes to see a big fat guy sad. It's a whole lot of sad in one place. (Plus, that's like seeing Santa Claus sad.)

So what can I do with that - confined within my own broken life, limited by my imperfect understanding - to bring others closer to God?

I think it's a pretty big step (for me, at least) to just open up about how much I fall short of getting this right.

I'm OK with saying I'm imperfect. Everybody is! There's no shame in a vague admission of exactly the same guilt that everyone on the planet carries.

I'm still OK with saying I've committed specific sins at undefined points in my past. Yeah, I'm guilty of lust - what guy isn't? Sure, there's been nights where I had too much to drink - I've been in college for nearly a decade. Come on. Let's not be silly.

But what about opening up about the late-night conversations with a married woman that went a good bit farther than they should have? I'm cringing even now just thinking about it. What about telling you I once got so drunk I blacked out, barfed all over some stranger's rug, and woke up with no idea where my glasses, wallet, keys, shirt, pants, or dignity were? That story used to be hilarious... Now it has, for some reason, been sucked completely dry of all of the humor. Funny how that happens.

I've made mistakes. I'm not proud of them. I'm not proud of my behavior. I'm not proud of who I am.

But isn't that kinda the point?

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

- James 4:10

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed...

- James 5:16a

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up...

- I Thessalonians 5:11a

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

- Ephesians 4:32

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

- II Corinthians 1:4-7

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

- Romans 12:9-16

Is it just me, or is all of that impossible if we're not actually letting each other in and showing each other who we really are?

How am I supposed to carry your burdens if the only confession I ever get from you is "I'm a sinner, pray for me"?

How are you supposed to show sincere love for me if I don't let you actually see who I am?

Aren't we supposed to be dead to ourselves and to the world, living as new creatures in Christ? Aren't we supposed to be conquering the hurdle of selfish pride and humbling ourselves in the sight of God and man?

I'm not saying we've all got to stand up in front of a crowd of millions and confess to the worst things we've ever done. (And believe me - while kissing a married woman and blacking out drunk are pretty high on the list, they're not the worst things I've ever done.) What I'm saying is that we've got to get over this idea that we're good enough to do it all on our own.

There's this epidemic - it's like some sort of theological mutant super-virus - among Christians today. People drop it in conversation when life is at its low points. There'll be a pat on the back, a pitying smile, and then it comes, the evil, horrible, entirely false and entirely corrupted statement, direct from Satan himself...

"God will never give you more than you can handle."

Oh, how I shudder at that sentence. It is blasphemy, it is heresy, and it is just flat out wrong.

Now, I don't think that people are being malicious when they quote it... And for the most part, folks think they're quoting the Bible. But what they think they're quoting is actually very different.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

- I Corinthians 10:13

So Paul tells us that God will not let us be tempted beyond what we can handle, and I believe that is completely true. In every temptation, in every struggle of sin, there is always a way out. There is always the power within you and me to say no, to move on, to resist evil and embrace good. We don't always do it, but the capacity is there.

But that's very, very, very different from saying that God will never allow things in our life to get so bad that we can't handle it on our own. It's very different from saying that God will make sure that - even though we are promised, several times throughout the Bible, that following God will lead to difficulties in and with this world - our problems will never be bigger than we are.

Look - it's us versus the world. It's the straight and narrow versus the crooked and wide. It's the redeemed few versus the teeming, unwashed masses. There are still people all over this world who are dying for sharing in our faith.

If your problems aren't more than you can bear every single day, get on your knees and thank God with everything in you right now.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

- II Corinthians 1:8-11, emphasis added

Paul and Timothy were under more than they could bear, so what makes us think we're gonna be any different?

When trouble comes - and I don't even know why I'm saying this, because if you've got the capacity to read what I'm writing you already know that trouble WILL come - you've got to have something other than your own two feet holding you up, or else you're gonna fall.

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

- II Corinthians 12:7-10

So in our weaknesses, we learn to better lean on God... But there's still one more step.

God's strength is unbelievable. Don't get me wrong - it still works wonders in the world today. God still shapes the world as well as the hearts and minds and lives of the people that live in it.

But God doesn't give hugs. God doesn't physically come sit next to us in the hospital and weep with the bad news. God doesn't take the long drives late at night talking about the heartbreak and laughing through it just to keep from crying so much you can't see the road.

That's what we're supposed to do for each other, for God.

That's why we're here.

That's why you have me and I have you. That's why we know everyone we know, in Christ or outside of Christ.

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

- Galatians 6:2

It's all about love, isn't it? I John 3:11 says, "This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another." Jesus says that the greatest command is to love God, but the second is to love your neighbor.

So when are we going to get over this antiseptic, sterile, distant, cold love for the body of Christ?

When are we going to stop telling each other, "I'm praying for you," and instead start holding each other close and praying together when we learn that there's something to be prayed for?

When are we going to start tearing down the walls of pride, ignoring the self-comforting desire to look like we've got everything together?

When are we going to realize that we can't do this on our own - none of us - and that the ONLY way we can expect to get where we're going is by holding each other tight and marching on to the goal together?

Our salvation is found in Christ alone. Grace comes from God alone. Our guidance is through the Spirit alone.

But we are never alone.

I am imperfect, I am broken, I am flawed, and I am weak, but I have found strength by leaning wholly on God and I'm slowly understanding how to lean on the Christians around me. I want to do a better job of letting them - YOU - lean on me, and I want to do a better job of allowing myself to lean on others...

...and I still find that to be very hard.

I love you.

So What's the Point of All This, Anyway?

When I posted a copy of the "Freethinking In Christ" post to Facebook, the comments got really in-depth really quick. I'll let you read it for yourself if you want, but just be warned - it gets WORDY.

But in the midst of all the chaos, my dear friend Peggy made a point that I really latched on to, and it's actually the whole point I want to make with this post. This is just an excerpt, but here's what she said:

...religion could be the earthly method that tries to train men into beings who can discern the truth of God's reality even in the middle of a world like ours...

So... uhh... Yeah.

Wow.

That is a particularly humbling statement for me, especially in light of the last few posts I've put up. I don't consider myself to be any great scholar or anything like that, but I definitely do put a lot of emphasis on theology and understanding scripture, understanding the Spirit, understanding God. And there's nothing wrong with a desire for understanding those things, so long as that understanding leads to a transformation of my life.

Too often I see people who get caught up in the minutiae of doctrinal issues, who take hard-line legalistic stances on things that Jesus obviously doesn't take the same stance on, who put so much focus on making sure they look like they're doing the right Christian thing.

Too often I meet people who are mired in tradition, who believe that their church is the church and there's no other way anyone could ever possibly please God, who believe that asking questions about the nature of our faith and our God is the most heinous, offensive, earth-shattering blasphemous act one can perform, when the Bible itself is chock full of great heroes of faith who question God, who aren't sure if God knows what He's doing, even in the midst of miracles being performed right in front of their very eyes - miracles that they themselves were taking part in!

Too often I have discussions with people who are too focused on the right thing in the wrong way. They're too focused on what the Bible says instead of what the Bible means. They're too focused on getting people to church instead of getting people to God. They're too focused on Christianity instead of focused on Christ.

By the way - all of those people? They're all named Aaron J. Rushton. I'm the guiltiest one in the world of all of everything I just listed. I get trapped in myself and my way of doing things. I question someone else's motives if they don't act exactly like me. I obsess over details of interpretation that really aren't even close to being "salvation issues," I get trapped up in thinking that I'm a terrible Christian for ever doubting or questioning God, and I spend a whole lot of time focused on making sure I'm checking off my list of "How to Be a Good Christian Today" instead of surrendering my will to the Father, accepting the presence of His Spirit, and simply living my life in singular dedication to loving God and loving others.

Which brings us back to what Peggy said:

...religion could be the earthly method that tries to train men into beings who can discern the truth of God's reality even in the middle of a world like ours...

What's the point of being a Christian? What's the motivation behind the message? Why bother in the first place?

Sometimes people emphasize the danger of an eternity in Hell as a motivator for taking up the Christian lifestyle. But that's like teaching a little kid not to start fights just because he's liable to get beat up.

Sometimes people turn to the message of Heaven, an eternal reward for a life of sacrifice and piety. But that's like teaching a little kid to be nice to his sister because he's going to get ice cream if he does.

There's not really anything wrong with either of those... But I don't think they're really good enough.

If the only reason a kid has for not starting a fight is so he can avoid pain, he isn't understanding that there's a better way of life: being a positive influence on the people you find surrounding you, showing patience, kindness, gentleness, understanding and love to everyone you come across.

If the only reason a kid is nice to his sister is so he can get the ice cream, he's not going to learn that good, long-lasting, honest relationships with other people are built on a genuine connection, a genuine desire to do the best possible and be the best possible for the other person's sake, sacrificing the desires of the self in the interest of others.

Don't get me wrong - Hell is real, and it is bad, and I don't want to go. Heaven is also real, and it is good, and I would very much rather be there than here.

But focusing solely on the reward or the punishment isn't going to inspire the change in the world that I believe God wants to see.

So what is the proper motivation? What will inspire that change in the world?

I believe that the ultimate goal of life, the ultimate goal of God's plan for humanity, the ultimate goal of the teachings and the sacrifice of Christ, is that we learn to be good.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

- Matthew 22:34-40

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.

We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

- I John 4:7:21

The whole point of Christianity - as I see it - is not to eventually experience Heaven, or to eventually be wrapped up in the presence of God, or to eventually do anything. The point is to do something NOW. It's got to matter right here. It's got to change who you are now in order to affect where you go later.

The whole point is to reshape the entire world, one person at a time, to bring all of humanity into a perfect union with God, and therefore also with itself.

All the theology in the world is completely useless if it doesn't actually change lives or bring people closer to God. In the passage from Matthew I just quoted, Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. Too many people focus so strongly one one aspect of those three that the other two are completely ignored. All heart with no soul or mind leads to an empty, superficial show of love for others without a genuine connection. All soul with no heart or mind gives us a vibrant worship experience that doesn't actually relate to anybody on a communal level. All mind but no heart or soul produces an environment where people become proud of their own righteousness, and especially proud of their own "understanding" of the Bible in a textual sense, able to quote passages at great length, but completely ignoring the message contained within. Straining out gnats but swallowing camels.

That last one - all mind, no heart or soul - is the trap I most often fall into. I want my "great theological understanding" to be enough of a devotion to God that I don't actually have to reach out to people or allow an emotional investment in worship, because hey, I'm a big tough guy and I'm not supposed to ever get all emotional. It is a constant battle for me to actually let down my defenses and be genuine with people. And, for the moment at least, it is a battle I lose far more often than I win.

(Please assume the " " around "great theological understanding" to be sarcastic finger-quotes, because I don't actually think for a moment, even on my most arrogant days, that I've really got ANYTHING figured out...)

I Peter opens up with an exhortation to the Christians reading it that our salvation has been in the works since the time of the prophets. God's plan for Christ on earth has been in motion since the beginning of time. But to what end?

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

- I Peter 1:13-16

In all of it - in all of the redemption from our sins, in all of our reconciliation to God, in all of our love for Him and for each other, it all serves to bring us to one purpose, and that purpose is a life of holiness - and holiness is defined as the pinnacle of moral behavior. God has set up Christianity as a way for us to understand Him, know Him, and love Him, so that - through that understanding, knowledge and love - we would understand how to behave.

So... uhhh...

Be good.

Seeing the Love of the New Testament In the Wrath of the Old Testament, Part II

Last time:

• There was a big unresolved nuclear warfare introduction.
• The universe itself was created with morality in mind.
• Morality and mortality are inextricably linked.
• Abraham was called by God to be different - signified by a physical marker.
• Moses and the 12 Tribes of Israel were called by God to be different - signified by a legal marker.
• The law serves as the foundation of God's standards for morality, anchored to three different reasons for obedience:

1. Material prosperity
2. Because God said so
3. Pursuit of Holiness

And now... a segue!

When God set up the Law, He filled it with some pretty strict punishments. Ostracism from the people of Israel, death by stoning, banishment from the presence of God in the tabernacle or, later, the temple... Pretty harsh stuff.

In today's laissez-faire society, insistent that morality is merely subjective and personal, it's hard to see how commandments to stone blasphemers or to deny someone's sacrifice and cut them off from the people of Israel for eating their leftovers on the third day make any sense. What we forget, though, is that the Law was not born in a vacuum. Israel was surrounded by other cultures who held worship practices that were similar in many ways. Israel was not the only culture to practice circumcision. Israel was not the only culture to sacrifice the firstborn of their flocks. Israel was not the only culture that viewed certain animals as clean and others as unclean.

I have heard people say before that all of the dietary restrictions are there for health reasons. For instance, God did not allow the Israelites to eat pork because Bronze Age understanding in the Near East had not yet developed to a point that pork was cooked throughly enough to avoid the dangers of trichinosis. That's a cute theory and everything, but it's also completely wrong. For starters, Isaiah 65:4 mentions people "who eat the flesh of pigs." Obviously somebody in that time period had figured out how to make pork chops without getting sick. It's really not that hard to figure out. Besides the Biblical evidence, there is plenty of archaeological evidence of pig bones in the areas surrounding Israel. Bacon is not a new thing.

Now I will admit that God probably was putting up a few health codes for His people with some of the Law (take a look at Leviticus 14:33ff), and it's perfectly OK to recognize that God created the Law with at least some practical down-here-on-the-ground purposes in mind. But there are some things - a whole lot of things - in the Law that just don't make ANY sense unless we understand that it is God's Law, and that God's Law is meant to set Israel apart from the cultures around her. (While you're in Leviticus 14, read verses 1-7. Go ahead, tell me the medicinal value in that one. I dare you.)

The Law, for whatever practical purposes it may have served, had one primary purpose: to make the people of Israel different from the cultures around them. These differences served one purpose - making Israel holy.

It's not that wearing clothes made of two materials is an especially profane act, or that any one material is more holy than another; it is the attention to detail, the observance of regulation in every aspect of daily life, that serves as a step-ladder to holiness.

And here's how that works.

The law of the LORD is perfect,

reviving the soul.

The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever.

The ordinances of the LORD are sure

and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

- Psalm 19:7-11

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.

Then you will win favor and a good name

in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

fear the LORD and shun evil.

- Proverbs 3:3-7

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

- Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Even from the very beginnings of the Law, when Moses told the Israelites the terms of the covenant laid out between them and God, there has been an impetus towards a holistic inclusion of the Law into one's life, ingraining it into not only the soul of the personal self, but into the corporate soul of the family, the community, and the nation. God set up the Law not to keep Israel in line, but to transform them. The Law was meant to rewrite the Israelite culture, separating them from the cultures they were surrounded by, but also instilling them with a sense of what it means to live for God.

Think about it like this. In the United States, we take for granted our freedoms of speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion. If you're a native-born American, you've just lived with that understanding your whole life. You have the right to say what you want. You have the right to believe what you want. You have the right to be who you want.

But imagine the difference it must be for someone who leaves a strict totalitarian rule and comes to America. Imagine their awe at the permissiveness of our country. It is ingrained in our culture - soaked all the way through to our cores - that we have those basic freedoms, and that idea shapes how each American lives. Our laws shape the national moral fiber, one way or another. The American view of inalienable rights is passed down even to young children, establishing a framework for how we all think, and therefore how we act.

God's Law for Israel was designed to meet the same end. If Israel had stayed true to the Law and had allowed it to change their hearts, change their minds, change their lives on an intimate level, they would have found themselves living lives singularly dedicated to a pursuit of holiness, focused solely on understanding the wisdom of the Law, and applying it to every single aspect of their lives, putting God first in all things, and reaching out to those around them with every action they made.

But that didn't happen.

And when Israel messed up, God had to use pretty strong corrections - punishments, even - to remind them to get back onto the path. In the years between the Exodus and entering the Promised Land of Canaan, God uses disease, poisonous snakes, 40 years of walking around in the desert wilderness, and even mass deaths to remind His people that there are consequences for straying away from the Law.

So how is that "the love of God"? How could God send so much destruction and pain to His people if He really loved them?

Well...

My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline

and do not resent his rebuke,

because the LORD disciplines those he loves,

as a father the son he delights in.

- Proverbs 3:11-12

Didn't your parents punish you when you did something wrong?

"Oh, well, sure," you might be saying to your monitor, which is dumb because it can't hear you, and neither can I. "But the worst thing that happened to me was that I couldn't sit down for a while - they didn't KILL me."

And that's a fair objection - IF we're only focusing on the moral growth and quest for holiness of an individual. God is not focused on YOUR moral growth or MY holiness. He is focused on the holiness and morality of the entire world. Think back to Exodus 32, the story of the golden calf. God was ready to wipe out all of Israel and start His whole plan over with Moses. Moses managed to talk God out of a complete annihilation, but the Levites still killed about three thousand people (v. 25-29) and God still sent a plague on top of all that (v. 35).

So, yeah, that's a pretty strict punishment. But hey, it's a pretty big sin! Worshiping a false idol at the very base of the mountain where God was giving Moses the Ten Commandments?

The life of holiness is a war. It is a war between our own personal will and the will of God. Sometimes God has to use the nuclear option (you thought I'd forgotten all about that, didn't you?) to push us, to break us, towards a more complete and more perfect surrender. Sometimes He had to push Israel really hard.

But even in God's anger, we still see His love, at least in His restraint - God was perfectly within His rights to kill everyone at that moment and start all over - He is, after all, God, and the cost of sin, since the beginning of time, has been death. That any of us - here and now or then and there - survive our first sin is a testament to the grace of God.

It is this transformative power of the Law that sparked Jesus' ire at the Pharisees in Matthew 23.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

- Matthew 23:23-28

That whole chapter is nothing but Jesus roasting the Pharisees, the scribes, and the teachers of the Law on a spit over an open fire. Their dedication to carrying out the letter of the Law had blinded them to the transformation that the Law was designed to spark inside the souls of those who followed it. In Matthew 9, Jesus, quoting Hosea, says "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." The Law is not the ultimate will of God. The entire point of the Law was to guide people into an understanding of how to behave in a life that pursues God's righteousness.

But if the Law was God's guide for Israel to lead them to righteousness, why don't we observe it anymore? What about Jesus' words in Matthew 5:17-20?

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

- Matthew 5:17-20

The question here becomes one of discerning what Jesus meant by saying that He came to "fulfill" the Law.

Think about the sacrificial system required under the Law. Sin meant death. Sacrifice - specifically a sin offering - was the shedding of blood that satisfied the wrath of God. By blood, Israel's sins were forgiven. But these sacrifices had to be made regularly - a bull or a goat had to be sacrificed for every sin!

But in Jesus, we have a sacrifice that blows bulls and goats out of the water. God Himself came down to earth and shed His own blood to satisfy His own wrath to take away the guilt of His own creation. The law was fulfilled. The sacrifice was finally big enough to cover everything.

This is why the veil on the Holy of Holies ripped in the temple. The Law has been fulfilled in the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. By fulfilling the Law - ALL of the Law - the physical marker of circumcision was no longer a prerequisite to a relationship with God. The legal marker of the Mosaic Law was no longer the only steps that could be taken to approach God.

God used circumcision to separate His people from the world. God used the Law to tell His people how to behave in His world. God used Jesus to show us how to behave, how to escape this world, and how to focus on the next.

Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the moral training of God for His creation, mankind. Jesus takes the Law and tells us to look at its intent. Jesus tells us that the Law was only the beginning. Living a life that abides by the rules is good. But living a life that understands the holiness at the core of the rules is better.

You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

- Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus was telling people not to treat the Law as a limitation on how bad they could be, but as a guideline for how good they should be! It's not enough to JUST love your neighbor - you've got to love EVERYBODY! That's the point! That's what the whole Law is about!

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

- Matthew 22:34-40, emphasis added

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

- Hebrews 7:18-19

The Law would never have been able to make men perfect. The Law served a purpose in showing a standard of righteousness. But nobody could keep the Law perfectly - so it also served as a standard of sin. God's Law paved the way for the moral development of Israel, and through Israel, the moral development of the world, through its sanctification through the blood of Jesus.

So that's what I've got. That's how I see it. I believe that God loved Israel, but He had to rewire an entire culture, and that takes a lot of time. Sometimes He had to use drastic measures to get their attention, to correct their behavior, to remind them to focus on Him. Sometimes we - at least some 3,000 years removed from the events recorded - look back and want to say that God wasn't justified in His use of such extremes.

But doesn't God sometimes use drastic measures to get your attention, to correct your behavior, to remind you to focus on Him?

And don't you feel the pain when it happens?

But doesn't it lead you back to Him?

And can't you look back on it now and say, "Wow, God has brought me closer to Him through all of it"?

And since He loves you enough to do that for you, wouldn't you agree that it was worth it for Israel?

Seeing the Love of the New Testament In the Wrath of the Old Testament, Part I

In February of 1945, the United States began an extensive and intensive firebombing campaign on Japan. This firebombing lasted for six months, up to the issuance of the Postdam Declaration - the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender - on July 26, 1945.

The Postdam Declaration was issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, stating that if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction."

The official Japanese reply - the only Japanese reply, really - was mokusatsu, a Japanese term meaning "silent contempt." There have been discussions since the conclusion of World War II about whether or not Japan's reply should have been taken as "silent contempt" since the termmokusatsu can also simply mean to ignore something. Perhaps there was still some deliberation going on within the Japanese government. Maybe they just needed time to decide what to do. Maybe it was all just a big misunderstanding.

Well, maybe... But probably not. The Potsdam Declaration was worded in such a way that it could not, in any way, be seen as vague, misleading, or anything other than a direct statement to Japan, saying, in no uncertain terms, "Look - if you don't surrender right now, we will kill you. We just got through beating the pants off of the Nazis, what makes you think you've got a chance?"

So for whatever reason, however it happened... Japan didn't surrender.

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM local time, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the Enola Gay, dropped the atomic device known as "Little Boy" over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. At least 70,000 people were killed instantly, with another 70,000 injured, and by the end of 1945, somewhere between 90,000 and 140,000 had died from burns, or radiation and radiation-related diseases.

On August 7 and 8, Japan still did not surrender.

On August 9, the Bockscar dropped "Fat Man" over Nagasaki.

Prior to August 9, Japan had insisted on four conditions for their surrender. After August 9, those conditions were gone.

Emperor Hirohoto officially announced Japan's unconditional surrender a little after noon on August 15, 1945 - August 14 in America.

Since then, there has been a huge black spot on the reputation of the United States of America. The U.S. is still the only country to have actually deployed nuclear armaments in warfare. And not just once, but twice. How could we be so vicious? How could we be so cruel? How could we unleash such horrors on to innocent civilians?

Well... It stopped the war, didn't it? We're allies with Japan now, aren't we? Japan is a thriving society now, isn't it?

I am not looking to discuss the United States' nuclear warfare policy, or Japan's failures in World War II, or anything else. But I couldn't really think of anything better to lay the foundation for what I really want to talk about.

Some people have a hard time marrying the image of the wrathful, jealous I AM of Abraham, Moses, and David with the loving, merciful Father of Jesus, John, and Paul.

Some people outside of Christ take the violent view of God in the Old Testament as basis for an objection against following Him. "If God is so loving, how can He order so much genocidal slaughter in the conquest of Canaan? How can you believe in a God who kills hundreds, even thousands, of His own 'chosen people' as consequences of the sins of others, but then claims to 'love the world'? How can the God who sent the flood that killed everyone on the planet but eight people be the same God of whom John says, 'God is love'?"

I will admit, readily, that those are all really hard questions, and they are questions that deserve to be treated with seriousness and depth, as opposed to the generic brush-off answer of "God moves in mysterious ways." (That answer, by the way, is not actually Biblical at all, but rather comes from a 1774 hymn by William Cowper.)

Before I go any further with this, I want to make it very clear that I am only telling you what I personally believe. I am posting it in hopes that it makes sense to you, if you are struggling with this seeming dichotomy, but I cannot even begin to claim that I am any definitive or even reliable source of wisdom or understanding on this topic. I'm not just grasping at straws or anything; I feel confident in what I'm saying. But I do want it to be understood that I am not incredibly well-read, I am not incredibly well-educated (nor am I a particularly good student), I am not any sort of expert... I'm just giving you the answers I found through my own learning when I asked the same questions.

So here we go.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. This creation process is filled with moral education. (By the way - I definitely owe a tip of the hat to Dr. John D. Fortner of Harding University here for helping me come to a lot of this understanding about the moral lessons found in the Genesis creation . Thanks, Doc.) In God's plan for the world, from the beginning, there has been Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, Order and Chaos. The dichotomy has always existed, and it serves a purpose. God laid out Good and Evil as characteristics of the cosmos, and wove both into the very fabric of our world.

Then God creates Adam and Eve. The Garden was theirs, save for one tree: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent, most cunning in his temptation, actually speaks some truth in what led to the first sin. Adam and Eve were told that to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would lead to their deaths. The serpent told Eve that she would "be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4)

So Eve eats, shares with Adam, and the world is never the same.

What happened? Did God just really like that tree? Did He just want it all for Himself? Did He create Adam and Eve to just exist in the Garden, never knowing that they were naked, never knowing Good from Evil?

I don't think so.

I think that it is only when we know the difference between Good and Evil that we can actually choose which one we want. It is in knowing that difference that we can decide to be Good, to do Good, to seek Good. And seeking Good means seeking God.

So the Garden is an inescapable lesson. God has created mankind and given them exactly one rule not to break. Obviously mankind has, from the beginning, been created with free will. Adam and Eve had, even from the beginning, the right to choose to follow God or to not follow God. They chose to not follow God, and there were consequences for their actions. Consequences that showed up not only in their own lives, but in the lives of the rest of humanity.

The Creation and the Garden show the first two points I want to make: first, that Good and Evil are laid into the very fabric of the world, and second, that, even from the beginning, mankind has been created with moral free will - the ability to choose to submit to God or not - and there are consequences for not submitting.

In Israelite thought, the sea represented the untamed wild, the chaos of the world. All of the forces of chaos were found in the sea, including the Leviathan, a great horrible creature of the deep.

[The LORD said to Job:]

Can you pull in the Leviathan with a fishhook

or tie down his tongue with a rope?

Can you put a cord through his nose

or pierce his jaw with a hook?

Will he keep begging you for mercy?

Will he speak to you with gentle words?

Will he make an agreement with you

for you to take him as your slave for life?

Can you make a pet of him like a bird

or put him on a leash for your girls?

- Job 41:1-5

Here God expresses His ultimate power over all things by stressing His power over the Leviathan, and stressing that power in such a way that He not only defeats the Leviathan, He completely dominates it, humiliating it, treating it as a pet.

In that day,

the LORD will punish with His sword,

His fierce, great and powerful sword,

Leviathan the gliding serpent,

Leviathan the coiling serpent;

He will slay the monster of the sea.

- Isaiah 27:1

But here we see that God has not yet destroyed the Leviathan - that action is reserved for a future date. In the context of Isaiah, this verse comes from the prophecy concerning the repatriation of Israel. Metaphorically, Leviathan here means the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, all of the foreign powers that have oppressed Israel. Their destruction - Israel's deliverance - had not come yet because God has a purpose for allowing chaos and evil to exist in the world. In fact...

I am the LORD, and there is no other;

apart from me there is no God.

I will strengthen you,

though you have not acknowledged me,

so that from the rising of the sun

to the place of its setting

men may know there is none besides me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the LORD, do all these things.

- Isaiah 45:5-7

...not only does God have a reason for allowing chaos and evil to exist, He created them! Notice the parallel structure here - light to prosperity, darkness to disaster. Think back to the words of Jesus, who uses references to light dozens of times to refer to Himself, or God, or the acts of Christians in the world. Light is good, darkness is evil. That's a pretty common theme throughout the Bible.

So that puts a different spin on Creation, doesn't it? At the beginning of all things: "the earth was formless and empty" (no form or substance sounds like chaos to me), and "darkness was over the surface of the deep" (there is an absence of light - darkness, chaos - over the gigantic chaos)... But then! "...God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness." God created the darkness, God created the light, and saw the the light was good. This pronouncement not only shows God's approval of the light, but it makes a distinction between the "good"-ness of the light and the chaos of the deep and the darkness.

And since the light and the darkness, the order and the chaos, the prosperity and the disaster all coexist within the frame of the world before Man is even created, we can understand that morality itself transcends Man. God has woven morality into the very fiber of the universe. The earth may not be able to make moral choices, but the lessons of order and chaos are there for us to see.

But what happens when we ignore those lessons? Well... We die.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

- Genesis 3:15-17

Notice that the introductions of morality and mortality occur in the same instance. It is the beginning of moral understanding that leads directly to the idea of a limited time in this world. Here's how I see this coming down. Sin - any sin, all sin - is an attempt to usurp the Throne of God. Yes, that's a rather dramatic turn of phrase, but ride it out with me. God has given us the rules, as well as the moral understanding to discern between good and evil, as well as the blueprint of the universe, to show that good and evil are distinct forces. So when I violate one of the rules, go against my God-given understanding of good and evil, I am placing my own desires, my own passions, my own self, above the will of God. The creation is trying to defy the Creator. That's not the order of things. In fact, that is chaos. Chaos leads to death. So morality and mortality are inextricably linked.

Now I want to turn your attention to the story of Abram.

Let us assume, for the sake of Abram's story, that the content of the first 11 chapters of Genesis were completely unknown to Abram (or anyone else, for that matter). I don't really think that's much of a stretch.

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods.'"

- Joshua 24:1-2

To this [Stephen] replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.'

- Acts 7:2-3

These two passages point out pretty plainly that Abram was called out of a polytheistic culture, presenting Himself as a new theological concept. Here was something bold: The One True God, not just a chief god among other, lesser gods. And it would appear that Abram was not only the first to be called, but also the only to be called.

When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods.

- Genesis 31:19

Laban's grandfather was Nahor, who was Abram's brother, but in verse 29, Laban refers to the LORD as "the God of your father" when addressing Jacob. So it seems - to me at least - that God has made a special revelation of Himself to Abram, and not necessarily to anyone else.

So now we've got humanity up and running, civilization is taking root in the Fertile Crescent, and God reveals Himself to a man from Ur, in Babylon, and tells him to leave everything behind.

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

- Genesis 12:1

God called Abram out of a specific culture, a specific world, a specific lifestyle, and took him to a completely new place. God met Abram where he was and took him where God wanted him to be. God had a purpose. God was calling Abram out of his world and into God's world. God was beginning the long educational journey of the world.

So over in Genesis 17, God sets up the covenant of circumcision with Abram - who is now called Abraham by God - and lays out the beginning of the nation of Israel. The covenant of circumcision immediately precedes God's prophecy of the birth of Isaac. God has called Abraham to be separate from the culture he was born into, and now God is calling Abraham's descendants to be separate from the world they will be born into. The circumcision is a sign of separation, a sign of being called apart, called into a life defined by a difference.

Now we're going to skip ahead a bit and get to Exodus 20. This is where we see the first of the Law. God gives Moses - and Israel - the Ten Commandments, and then the rest of the Law, throughout the rest of Exodus, then all of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Now God has not only chosen a people and called them to be separate, He has also given them a Law, a set of rules to live by, another way to distinguish themselves from the world that they are surrounded by.

Within the Mosaic Law, however, we see a few big things that will become important later on in this discussion, and I'd like to point those out now.

"'Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.'"

- Leviticus 18:24-28

We see here that God's commandments for morality carry with them a conditional aspect. I touched on this very briefly in the Jephthah post, but I want to bring it up again here. God's moral law for the Israelites comes with a built-in punishment. If they violate the Law, if they defile themselves, then they lose the Promised Land. This implies a reward, as well - keeping the Law means keeping the Promised Land.

If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

- Deuteronomy 28:1-14

Here we have Moses imparting another aspect of the conditional nature of the Law. Moses tells Israel that keeping the Law will result in an economic prosperity for the whole nation, as well as for each family. The crops will be good, the livestock will be healthy, the children will be strong, and the enemy nations will scatter at the very sight of the armies of Israel. In the rest of Deuteronomy 28, Moses also lays out some corresponding curses, but I wanted to stress the "Be Good and Good Things Will Happen To You" idea here.

The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy."

- Leviticus 19:1-2

Here we have a phrase that is repeated a few times through Leviticus as well as the rest of the Law. What it shows us is that while God is providing the Israelites with a pretty high calling, holding them to a pretty high standard, it really boils down to a cosmic "Because I said so, that's why."

So let's recap what we've got so far...

1. God created the universe with morality woven into its very fiber.
2. God created Man with the capacity for moral thought, understanding, and free will.
3. God inextricably linked Man's morality into Man's mortality.
4. God called Abraham and his descendants to be separate from the rest of the world by a physical marker.
5. God called Israel, through Moses, to be separate from the rest of the world by a legal marker.
6. God set up the Law as a standard of morality. The Law comes with rewards and punishments to serve as motivation for obedience, as well as two higher motivations: "because [God] said so" and "because it's holy."

"Because I said so" may not seem like a higher motivation, but it actually is, if you recognize that it is at least a step towards righteousness for the sake of righteousness. Righteousness for the sake of blessing (or even just the avoidance of curses) is very self-interested. "I'll be good, but only because I will get something out of it." A higher understanding of morality, then, says "I'll follow the Law, because it is the Law." But an even higher understanding than that says, "I will be holy, because it is right and good to be holy."

Here endeth Part I of "Seeing the Love of the New Testament In the Wrath of the Old Testament." Next week, I'll let you know why I opened this whole discussion with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I'll take a good look at God's use of the death penalty, and I'll lay out what I believe Jesus meant when He said "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17)

When you hear the tone, turn the tape over and push play.