Will Standing Up For God's Truth Be Costly?

About five or six years ago a minister told me he thought he would probably go to prison one day because the teachings of the Bible would become so politically incorrect that they would actually be illegal. I remember thinking, “Wow, I hope this fellow’s concern is a crazy, extreme exaggeration.” But the guy did not seem like a kook. I did not know him well but he was smart, educated and eloquent. He seemed like a reasonable, credible, sane person.

Last week I was at an event and during a conversation with a pastor who is a friend of mine he told me, “I think there’s a possibility I will go to prison before I retire from ministry.” He basically invoked the same reasons the other minister mentioned. This man is in his early 60s.

I thought, “Hmm that’s two guys, now, who have shared this concern with me.”

Yesterday I was talking with yet another pastor who is a good friend and I mentioned these previous conversations. My friend said, “Yeah, I think that’s a possibility.”

That sound you just heard was me gulping.

I went into pastoral ministry in my mid-thirties. Entering the ministry as a vocation involved a significant change for my family and myself. So I had to think and pray about the matter a lot. It took me a couple of years to come to a sense of certainty that the call to ministry was, in fact, a genuine calling from God.

When I was thinking, praying and talking with people I trusted about this matter—I hate to admit it—but the idea of having to stand up for God facing truly difficult circumstances like, say, the possibility of prison never really entered my mind in any significant way. (The worst case scenario I imagined was putting several people asleep in the same service.)

I don’t know if these men are way off base—and if their concerns are just plain silly—or if what they are saying has some likelihood of happening. But what they have said makes me think about myself and my commitment to Christ.

To be very frank, I have never seen myself as a courageous warrior for the faith. This is not false modesty it’s just an honest, somewhat embarrassing, admission. But when my friend and I finished our meeting yesterday we prayed—as we normally do—and I prayed that he and I would always be willing to lovingly, graciously speak God’s truth no matter what the cost.

I realize this is a somewhat personal post. I am sharing it with you because I find the comments of my colleagues to be interesting and I thought you might find them interesting, as well. Also, I am sharing this because I want to be on record saying, “It is my desire to stand for God’s truth with love, gentleness, respect and grace and to trust in God as my protector.” I pray the Holy Spirit will empower me to do this.

P.S. I came across this quote from the respected Christian writer and thinker, A.W. Tozer, several years ago. I know I’ve shared it before but I continue to share it because it is very meaningful to me...

“Whoever defends himself will have himself for his defense, and he will have no other. But let him come defenseless before the Lord and he will have for his defender no less than God himself.” A..W. Tozer

Learning A Lesson About Pride... Over And Over Again

There is a guy who unfortunately had to learn—the hard way—the truth of this lesson: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18.

In other words, at a young age pride and arrogance brought trouble and embarrassment to this fellow’s life and he discovered, firsthand, their difficult consequences.

It would be nice to say, “Since the fellow learned this important lesson that is the end of the story.” But what happened is the guy forgot about the lesson and, sure enough, he had to learn it all over again.

You know what?

It would be nice to say, “Since the fellow learned this important lesson TWICE that is the end of the story.” But what happened is the guy forgot about the lesson and, sure enough, he had to learn it all over again.

You know what?

It would be nice to say, “Since the fellow learned this important lesson THREE TIMES that is the end of the story.” But what happened is the guy forgot about the lesson and, sure enough, he had to learn it all over again.

Are you seeing where this is going?

It is amazingly easy to fall back into the trap of pride and arrogance even when you know the trouble they will bring. They come so naturally to us, don’t they?

Over the years, the guy has had to learn this lesson many, many times. In fact, it’s downright embarrassing how many times he has had to learn it. But I’m happy to say that I think…maybe…he’s finally gotten it. At least, I hope he has because I’m getting tired.

They Got The Order Wrong

Yesterday I stopped at a McDonald’s in central Illinois for breakfast.

I ordered a couple of breakfast burritos and the clerk seemed hesitant to complete the transaction. I didn’t think much about it—I just assumed she was moving a little bit slowly—but then the clerk turned to look behind herself, leaned over the counter toward me and in a lowered voice said, “I wouldn’t get the burritos.”

I had a puzzled look on my face.

Before I could say anything she continued, “Our microwave isn’t working and the burritos aren’t good today. They are sort of… well… trust me, they’re not good. I’m just being honest with you. I wouldn’t order them.”

I said, “Oh. Okay. Well, then I will have a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit.”

She said, “I’m sorry but I’m just trying to be helpful. I, personally, would not eat the burritos.”

I said, “No need to apologize. I appreciate your honesty.”

When the order came we sat down at a table, unpacked the bag and discovered that they got the order wrong.

For about 4 seconds I felt really irritated. Then I laughed and thought, “Hey, this will make for a fun little post online.” But now that I’ve posted it online… on second thought, I wish I would have had some decent breakfast burritos.

To Be Positive Is Better

I believe, in general, it is good and important to be positive. Over the years, I have discovered there is research in the field of psychology which confirms this is true. However, my understanding that being positive is a good thing is much more simple than that. It is based on the straightforward idea that having a primarily negative attitude throughout the course of life would be a miserable way to live. And in the end the negative person will look back and see that he/she has experienced a sad and sorry life.

(By the way, I have encountered a few people along this journey who have provided confirmation of this truth with their negative misery.)

My belief that being positive is good and important does not mean I am unwilling to recognize there are ugly, bad, evil, tragic, frustrating and sad things that occur. Of course I realize terrible things happen. No one is immune from this aspect of life.

But even though bad things occur I still believe we can choose to seek solutions and, because of the wonderful truth of God’s grace and mercy, attempt to focus on what is good. It may be that we seek the good even as the tears are flowing. But for the sake of my life and, frankly, for the sake of my own sanity I want to seek and find the good. It is not always easy to do this, and I have not always succeeded in this attempt, but I believe it is worth it.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

Surrender To God Is Victory

Christians do not view surrender to God as something negative. This type of surrender is not understood to be a form of losing. Rather, surrender to God is an acknowledgement of the truth that power and life are found in Him. This may seem odd, but surrender to the Almighty One—the One who knows what is best for us—is actually victory.

It's Important To Recognize Real Courage

The concept of courage is occasionally being mischaracterized in our culture.

If people do something involving very little risk, knowing in advance they will be celebrated, applauded and even awarded by the leading people and institutions of the culture in which they live then what they have done really does not need to be characterized as “courage.” For example, if an actor takes on a particular role and plays it in a unique and artistically creative way, that may be interesting or noteworthy—it may even be worthy of an Academy Award—but it is not really an example of extraordinary courage.

Courage is demonstrated when people do something they understand to be right even though there will be very difficult consequences or perhaps even great personal danger, as a result.

I bring this up because real courage is significant and important—even honorable. It is helpful for us to be clear regarding a concept like courage. We need to understand what it really means, and how to recognize it.

So, when first responders show up at the scene of a disaster, for instance, and they enter into perilous situations—at great risk to themselves—to help others, that is courage.

When the infantrymen stepped off the boats as part of the Normandy Invasions, fighting for a cause that was right even though they knew many of them would not make it, that was courage.

Real courage is meaningful, vital and not all that common. It deserves to be esteemed.

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1Corinthians 16:13&14

Is Free Will Real Or Is It An Illusion?

A materialistic worldview rejects God and posits that matter is all that exists. This is an increasingly common and influential worldview in our culture, particularly in academia. On this view the universe is basically a large machine which is simply working according to the laws of physics. Materialism is a deterministic view of reality.

One of the implications of a materialistic worldview for you and me is we do not have free will. The scientists and philosophers who hold this view and write about the subject understand this implication and suggest that what we believe to be free will is actually an illusion. We “think” we are exercising real choices in the course of our lives but guess what? We are not.

It is interesting, however, that some of the scientists and philosophers who hold this view will admit free will is an illusion we need to maintain.

For example, Marvin Minsky of MIT states, “No matter that the physical world provides no room for freedom of will; that concept is essential to our models of the mental realm.” He goes on to say, “We’re virtually forced to maintain that belief [free will], even though we know it’s false.”

There are a number of problems with the view that we do not have free will. It runs counter to common sense, for instance. Also, it does not adequately explain our human experience. Notice that Minsky, who holds a materialistic worldview, openly admits we, nevertheless, need to maintain the belief in free will even though we know it is false. Isn’t that a strange position for a scientist to hold?

There are other problems with the denial of free will, for example, if we do not have free will then we have no true basis for the concept of moral accountability. After all, we are just machines working according to the purely materialistic, pre-determined laws of the natural world. We shouldn’t hold a machine accountable for doing what it has been programmed to do, should we?

Christian theologian and philosopher Nancy Pearcey writes, “It is ironic that people who reject Christianity—who think that without God they can finally be free—end up with philosophies [like materialism] that deny human freedom.”

*NOTE: These thoughts were prompted after I read Part Two of Nancy Pearcey’s excellent book, “Finding Truth.” Nancy is a brilliant and insightful author who writes about substantive issues in an accessible way that even regular guys like me can understand.

The Extraordinary Gift of Freedom - Happy Independence Day!

When I think about this country in which I have been blessed to be born and for which I have great love and appreciation, my mind frequently turns to the concept of freedom. Freedom is an extraordinary gift.

Because I have spent my whole life in the United States and have experienced the comfort of what would be thought of, here, as a middle class lifestyle I realize that I too often take freedom for granted. I forget that the basic freedoms I consider to be normal are actually not the norm for many people in our world and have not been the norm for most of the people throughout history who have lived on planet Earth.

The freedoms I—and many of you who will read this post—have assumed to be normal are actually rare, unique and quite special.

So first of all, I thank God for freedom because all good things come from Him. (See, James 1:17)

But I also recognize that God frequently works through people. Therefore, I am extremely thankful for courageous men and women who have fought and sacrificed to establish this freedom long before I was born and for those who continue the fight to maintain this profound gift.

Freedom is never secured in such a way that we can sit back and say, “Well that’s it. We don’t have to worry about freedom anymore. It’s taken care of!”

No. The struggle for freedom always continues because there have always been and there will always be people who want to deprive others of freedom.

There is gratitude in my heart for the privilege of living in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Independence Day helps remind me of something significant that I should probably bring to mind more frequently: the importance and beauty of freedom.

I hope you all have a safe and happy fourth of July. My sincerest heartfelt thanks to all American military personnel past and present.

Love and blessings to you. And God bless America!

Dan Marler