Don’t play with dead fish! Mom said don’t bring it home thinking we’ll eat it! A dead fish is useless, worthless.
What are we to do with dead faith? Since a fish is a symbol for a Christian, maybe we can see how a dead faith isn’t much different from a dead fish.
Why do we declare a dead fish dead? Most obvious is that it doesn’t move. Ever poke someone who was still to see if they were still alive? I try poking motionless Christians to see if their faith is alive. They don’t like it.
If our faith has no action, is it faith? James declares that faith with no action is dead (James 2:17). A living faith moves us: moves us to worship and praise our living God, moves us to pray and read his word, moves us to share Christ and bless others for His sake. A faith without the life-giving Spirit is dead (James 2:26). And a dead faith is as useless as a dead fish because it is not living the aliveness that God intends (James 2:20).
(A faith that is about making ourselves feel good about our righteousness is not faith in Christ. I will cover that in a future article.)
If our motionless faith is just words; an empty lifeless confession that we are a Christian but not swimming in life as a Christian, then our faith is dead. If our faith is just the stripes of ancestors and heritage from days gone by but does not inspire fresh living today, then, well even dead fish have stripes. Knowing facts about God or Christ is like a dead fish skeleton. You can see the outline, but a skeleton alone does not manifest life. A static dead faith isn’t just infertile and lifeless. Not having a living faith means we lack life-changing love, but rather are full of worry, obligation and tedium.
Why bother having a faith that is dead? Should a dead faith Christian just become an atheist to become dead to God all together? Should we just drop the farce of faith? NO!
Embrace your dead faith. Yes, you are dead in your faith and also dead in your sins where you stand. But God excels at dealing with the dead. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”(Eph 2:4–5)
You have every privilege as a dead fish Christian to call upon God to make your faith alive. You are baptized. You are baptized into the death of Christ so you can be raised to a new life in Christ. (Rom 6:3-6)
Are you content to be a motionless, dead fish Christian or will you pray for your faith? God promises to give you life. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also throughhis Spirit that dwells in you.” (Rom 8:11)
So, I invite you to drag your dead faith butt to worship. Sit there in the pew in your grave clothes of this dull, exhausting existence to hear the Word of God. Dead fish Lazarus didn’t come out of the tomb patting himself on the back but rose up because Christ spoke to him (John 11:43-44). Christ calls you to be alive with faith.
“He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.” (1 Th 5:10)
When I was dating my wife Debra, I was so excited about being with her. I was eager to talk with her, be with her, and go off on adventures with her. I am still delighted that she is my wife. But I sometimes worry my beautiful wife may think I am too contented with her. I am surely tip-toeing on danger if I take her for granted. Does my contentment give me an excuse for being lackadaisical about our relationship?
As Christians, are we excited to belong to Jesus? Or are we just contented to be church goers?
Of course, excitement is a feeling or an emotion. We know emotions come and go, often because of circumstances. Where do we turn when our excitement has drained away and we are left with the day-to-day patterns? A faith dependent upon emotions will bottom out when hard times eventually arrive.
Are we so contented with our relationship with Christ, that our faith is a ho-hum contentment marked by satisfaction but not joy? Is contented faith acceptable to the Lord? We are warned by Jesus, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16)
While we may be bored, apathetic or lukewarm in our faith towards Christ, that is not how the Lord considers you. The LORD is not content for you to wander away in sin or indifference. The LORD seeks after us. (Luke 19:10) Consider how Christ came to call us sinners, not the righteous. (Mt 9:13)
Today we use the word “passion” to describe our emotional intensity. But in our faith, we use the phrase “the passion of the Christ” to communicate the depths to which God is willing to go to redeem us from sin and to convey the intense commitment of His love for us. Jesus tells us that the LORD rejoices over you and every other sinner who repents and is saved (Luke 15:7,10, Zeph 3:14-17, Isa 62:5). Holy Week, or Passion week, is all about Christ Your Savior who loves you so much he is willing to die for you.
Do you feel like you are in a love affair with God? Do you have a contented faith where you are satisfied with just knowing who Jesus is? Is your faith excited about a what or a who?
Rather than speak about emotional excitement, the Spirit-inspired scriptures speak of rejoicing and joy. Do we rejoice in the Love Christ pours into us? “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” (1 Pe 1:8, cf 1 Th 1:6–7) We are to have joy and rejoice with all our being in the LORD (Zech 10:7, Isa 61:10, Ps 70:4).
Is the Lutheran pattern for faith to be mildly contented and satisfied with minimal investment or contact with the LORD? No. Pastor Martin Luther was driven by a passion to exalt and praise God. Listen to his prayer: “Dear Lord God, I want to preach so that you are glorified. I want to speak of you, praise you, praise your name. Although I probably cannot make it turn out well, won’t you make it turn out well?” The passion of Luther comes across on almost every page that you read from him.
As Christians we have the absolute assurance and presence of Christ to save His people from their sins. We can be contented that Christ’s work is complete (Christ Alone) and that through trust in Christ we are redeemed (Faith Alone). This faith is a gift of love from God, not our effort (Grace Alone). Such was Luther’s rejoicing that we stay focused on Christ.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6)
Your servant in Christ, Pastor Douglas
(BTW: picture above is not my wife. 🙂 Debra always has a bright eyes and smile on her face.)
The stream behind my brother’s home has tons and tons of gravel consisting of large boulders, all manner of rocks down to the finest sand filling in a good portion of the riverbed.
One spring the Ozark mountain region in southern Missouri where my brother Billy lives experienced heavy rains. The rainfall cascaded down the mountains, hills and valleys carrying sediment down into the creeks, streams and rivers. The storm water uprooted and carried huge trees downstream. So much rain fell the tributaries were filled breaking beyond their bounds. The water became a torrent flooding land, homes, and Ozark villages.
As we are baptized into Christ and washed with the Word, the Holy Spirit cleanses us from the sediment of sin, guilt, shame, and brokenness.
How can we speak of being cleansed when there is still the gravel of sin and shame in our lives? Granted, because of sin we are never as clean and holy as we should be. BUT you have been baptized which is pure. You also receive God’s Word which is also pure. Since the purity we receive in faith comes through Christ (who is brilliantly pure), we can certainly say we are whiter than snow, purer than a mountain spring. Even though the gravel of sin still is in the stream of our lives, our sin is covered by the purity and innocence of Christ. We are washed Holy, Pure, because Our God is Holy and Pure.
How can you have this? You receive this when we hear and trust God’s Word. Of course we know this purity comes from outside ourselves completely. Pastor Martin Luther wrote, “If we look at Christians apart from Christ and see them as they really are, we would notice how much they are contaminated by sin. Even if they were fine people, we would see not only that they’re thoroughly contaminated, but also that they’re covered over with a thick, dark film of sin. If someone tried to separate us from Christ and take away our baptism and God’s promises, we would no longer have Christ’s purity. We would be left with nothing but sin.”
This purity is also a process where the Holy Spirit washes our lives, especially through the Word. Sometimes we go through periods where the Spirit flows through our lives like a torrent moving boulders of brokenness and shame out of our lives. Most often the Spirit is gently flowing through us each and every day cleansing us of the nitty gritty sins.
Having a holy life – a life that is connected to our Holy God – encourages us to daily be washing the sediment of sin. Each day we are to drown the old Adam / Eve with repentance so the new person in Christ can be raised up. Each day we are being sanctified and purified for our Holy and Pure God.
As Christians we should never be content to have a shriveled up spiritual life like the Kings River in a time of drought. When you actively seek the LORD – being in the Word – coming into His presence in worship – daily living as Baptized child, you are filled to the brim life giving, nurturing flow of the Spirit in your life.
Since summer is a time of relaxation and refreshment, come on Sunday mornings to relax in the loving grace of your Holy and Loving God and be refreshed by the Word and Sacraments. Come for this worship series: Holy God, Holy Lives.
May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Thess. 5:23)
While visiting another Lutheran church in the area as the gathered worshipped the LORD through the prayers and praised God through the songs, across the pews I saw a man, arms folded, a closed lip face saying, “I dare you.”
How can you be resentful in worship when we should be joining the angels in singing and celebrating the LORD God who showers us with His glorious grace?
If you say to yourself that you won’t sing louder; if you argue within your spirit against the invitation give yourself to worship – Right there! Right in that thought of your rebellion dwells your sinful resistance. If you hear the Word in a sermon and you are whispering in your mind, “Pastor, you can pound sand!”; just perhaps you have a resentful, rebellious faith.
Is your resistance because the call to worship is unbiblical or contrary to faith? No. Is being resentful and stubborn to the invitation of God unbiblical? No. Unfortunately we see a lot of stubborn resistance in the bible.
After people fled from the Babylonian siege in Judah into Egypt, the wives gave themselves over to worshipping a goddess. Even though idolatry and false values were the reason for all their previous troubles, still they traded the LORD for gods and priorities that have no power to give life. When the prophet Jeremiah warns them, they resent the prophet for meddling (Jer 44:1-30). Is that your attitude? “Don’t tell us how to be faithful to God.” Do you have a resentful faith where you want Jesus, but don’t want him “telling me what to do!”
In worship, we gather not for our amusement. We gather to celebrate the glory of God. When your pride and your resistance to worship gets your hackles up, you are not worshiping or faith-filled to God. When you are offended for being called to worship regularly, your stubborn nature is resisting God’s grace.
As redeemed sinners we need to recognize that the very act of worship is spiritual warfare. That the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God and the Gospel of our Crucified Savior are doing battle with the false gods and values embedded and bonded to our human nature. Worship is about the very act of being called, exorcised, out of darkness and brought into God’s marvelous light by the Spirit.
How can we resent the Lord who loves us stubborn folks so much, that not only does he give us the blessing of each breath and each day, but gives his own beloved Son to die on the cross for our stiff-necked sin to release us into the joy of faith? Rather than stubborn resistance, we have been reconciled to God through Christ so we may bask in God’s grace, love and forgiveness. Rather than arm folded resentment we are called to angel flying joy of praising the One who loves us.
Since Jesus endured the cross and its shame so that we may gather in the joyful assembly. We have something to be joyful and excited about. In the presence of God we glory in the hope and joy we have received through Christ. As God’s people we are celebrating the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit.
Christ wants you to have the full measure of his joy. Faith replaces resentment. Be filled with faith.
May the proven genuineness of your faith result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.(1 Peter 1:7) Pastor Douglas
“You’re welcome.” A joy comes from saying those words to someone who recognizes and thanks you for an act of service or kindness. When you perform such gracious acts to express respect, kindness and even love, you hope your service will bless the other person. So, when the recipient of your kind service is oblivious or seems entitled, you might say sarcastically, “You’re welcome!”
Ingratitude is an ugly behavior of people who think they are entitled. Ungrateful miscreants are ever present irritants in our contemporary culture causing much friction. I can understand how secular unbelievers are trained by hyper-consumerism to be lousy ingrates.
But I scratch my head explaining Christians who have an ingrate faith. Ingrate faith is an entitlement that God owes you. Ingrate faith is not joyous for God’s work of redemption. Ingrate faith is selfish with a hardened heart and a stubborn mind
What in your life is not a gift from God? Can you say you have real faith if you are ungrateful to God who blesses your every moment, redeems you from sin and death and bestows every spiritual blessing? I know people the LORD has rescued personally or a loved one from death, yet they are not moved to give thanks. Not thanking God emerges out from a darkened, foolish heart (Rom 1:21). So, If you take the blessings God for granted you are an ingrate to God. Since God created us and we owe him everything, if we simply “live a good life” for ourselves and we do not live for Him, it is not enough. We are not just spiritual ingrates; we are bona fide ingrates.
If you feel slighted when someone takes your kindness for granted, how does God look upon those who do not give thanks. So, when God gives in our lives, repeatedly how do we remain silent (1 Cor 15:57). Ingratitude is the opposite of the spiritual gift of gratitude or thankfulness.
How do Christians become grateful people? By the work of the Spirit, gratitude arises from faith in the redemption Christ bought so preciously for us. Faith marked by gratitude and thankfulness creates joy within us.
Gratitude is a blessing that comes through faith from the LORD. We joyfully thank God who made us his people to live in his kingdom of light (Col 1:12). I am grateful because God delivers me from sin to live a new life through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom 7:25, 2 Cor 2:14)
The funny thing is that gratitude is seriously good for us. People who were more grateful actually had better heart health, a boosted your immune system, a less depressed mood, less fatigue, and they slept better. Gratitude has the opposite effect of stress. Another study found a simple key to happy and lasting marriage is regularly expressing gratitude. Teenagers who are grateful have higher grades, are less envious, depressed, and materialistic and are more satisfied with their lives.
What does grateful faith look like? Thankfulness expressed in worship (Heb 12:28). As Christians, our lives of faith are to be characterized by thankfulness (Col 3:15-17, 1 Thess 5:18). Rejoicing and praise mark a grateful faith, a grateful Christian (Eph 5:20). We are singing to God with gratitude in our hearts for his victory in our lives (Col 3:16). At the center of our worship is the thanksgiving meal for Christ’s sacrificial cross. Our communion meal is called Eucharist in the Greek meaning “thanksgiving”.
If you are an ingrate to God, you are not living in true faith. Come know blessings of your generous God, give thanks to the LORD who blesses you.
“May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father” (Col 1:11–12)
The Lutheran World Relief (LWR) of yore that was a bold effort of Lutherans to put their faith into action around the world has morphed into a government contract conglomerate whose primary client is the US government and its policies. LWR has become a Lutheran-in-name-only, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) government contractor which operates under the auspices of CORUS INTERNATIONAL as one its nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries.
One of the North American Lutheran Church’s (NALC) requirements for endorsing independent ministries is that they have an evangelical focus, which means they will share the name of Jesus to advance the Kingdom of God. Earlier this year, the Great Commission Society reviewed LWR recommending to the Executive Council to withdraw NALC endorsement of LWR.
Surrendering The Name of Christ:
While LWR says not using the name of Jesus allows them to get into places where that would not be allowed, there are plenty of places where they do work where other Christian agencies are able to be explicit about Christ. LWR does not function as a Christian aid society, but rather as a USAID foreign aid contractor focused on carrying out its work “in compliance with the US government regulations”. As many service ministries understand, they cannot receive US government funds and still evangelize. You surrender the name of Christ and any explicit work to advance his kingdom when you take government funds.
LWR belongs to Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) made up of government agencies and NGOs (non-governmental organizations), working to advance US government and UN interests. The Global Resilience Partnership, which is funded by the US govt, other government agencies and the UN, promotes a progressive globalist vision of the world. On the GRP website, LWR communicates clearly to US agencies, the UN, and other secular NGO’s that it will be trusted secular partner: “LWR works with people based on need, regardless of race, religion or nationality and we do not evangelize.”
Since Corus operates as a foreign aid NGO working with the US and other governments they have no interest in advancing the Gospel of Christ, but they are very much involved in advancing a globalist humanist kingdom on earth. CORUS is committed to the secular cultural agenda of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DEI) which is rooted in political critical theory as well as climate change. LWR does not recruit for people of faith but employees who are good at implementing government contracts and following federal government policies.
Pushing Abortion:
A hidden concern is that CORUS and their IMA World Health subsidiary in encouraging health access and reproductive rights seeks to advance abortion around the globe, as per US government policy. The corporation has funded groups that push for abortion. One report on their website laments an effort they supported was “not enough to liberalize abortion laws in Latin America” and points to the influence of religion as an obstacle. This pro-abortion stance comes from the same board that oversees LWR.
LC-MS Left Long Ago:
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LC-MS) parted ways with LWR in the early 2000’s because of the increasing influence of government policy on LWR. The LCMS created their own relief effort which is officially named “LCMS World Relief and Human Care”, but internally and in donation drives is referred to as “Lutheran World Relief”. These references may create confusion for outsiders, but officials with the LC-MS are adamant that no official relationship exists with LWR.
Where To Give?
At the NALC Convocation in Oklahoma City in August 2023, during the discussion on the budget the assembly voted to no longer send money to the LWR. Some are concerned that if we do not contribute to LWR, where can our efforts be redirected? While LWR will not miss the NALC or our donations compared to the $120 million in government funds CORUS receives, our donations could have a huge impact on smaller missional agencies the NALC endorses.
If you are concerned about feeding the poor you can contact Pastor George Black (NALC-Auburn, CA) who works with Food For the Poor. Your congregation can give its quilts and donations to the NALC Disaster Response which unabashedly shares the love of Jesus and bibles with victims of disasters. You could send your money to the Malawi Orphan Care Project, SON Network or one of the other NALC endorsed ministry partners.
For St. John’s, NALC- Fort Wayne, after examining LWR we redirected the benevolence line item to a ministry of the Uganda Lutheran Church. This ministry was seeking to help feed the poor on a local level by building a chicken farm. As this congregation got excited about helping directly with the chicken farm our initial gift of $800 grew to $4200. This direct world relief has encouraged our people to look for other ways we can share the name of Christ and help the needy.
May the LORD bless our NALC and LCMC congregations as we seek to be Mission Driven by sharing the name of Christ in word and deed.
Choices, choices and AdChoices. Our hyper-consumer culture overwhelms us with all the choices we can make to please our whims. For all the hyper-individually focused advertising that is pushed at you, you as a person are lost. You are just a consumer whose only value is what you can spend.
Our Adchoice mentality affects our faith. We say we can be spiritual on our own with a custom order Jesus on our terms. This consumeristic spirituality caters to our self-centeredness. The whole “ME and Jesus” private relationship is not biblical, but blasphemous. This misguided, “Me and Jesus” spirituality not only runs counter to scripture, but even more, it degrades God’s saving work. We are redeemed as we are part of God’s people. Our ultimate communal expression is communion where we are joined to Christ and one another (1 Cor 10:17). Certainly, a self-centered spirituality will not require us to participate seriously in a church community.
If you revel in being a severed foot cut off from the body of Christ because us other Christians stink and you are more holy than us, I am offended! Who are you not to grace us with your unique embodiment of sinfulness? Who are you to think you can have Christ without us? Who are you to withhold the work of the Spirit in you to bless others for God’s glory?
The Way of Christ is not about and cannot be just a personal relationship with Jesus. Our faith has been handed down through the faith community. We are individually members of the body, the Church, but there is no severed foot faith separate from the body. The weakness of this self-centered faith in the United States is apparent from the weakness of individuals to pass along the faith.
Following Christ is not a private individualistic affair. Yes, you are to have a personal connection to Christ. While we do have our personal and solitary times with the LORD, we are baptized and called to exercise our faith in God by how we live with one another. We are to meet together to encourage one another in the faith, rather than flying solo to be picked off one by one in spiritual warfare. (Heb 10:23-25) If even the Son of God needed a small group of disciples to do faith with, why would we think we can sever ourselves from the body and be okay?
That we are to follow Christ with one another is abundantly clear throughout the New Testament (see below). We worship together. We experience life and salvation together. We are bound together. In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others (1 Cor 12, Rom 12:5). So, we forgive one another. We bear one another’s burdens. We share God’s love with one another. We are to be devoted to one another in love. We are to honor one another above ourselves. Rather than slacking, we are encouraged to do more and more life together as God’s people.
Don’t be a sinner alone. You are redeemed by Christ to belong to His people, not to go life alone. To be clear, if you are doing faith as a severed foot without fellow sinners, you are unbiblical and disobeying Christ. So as baptized Christians joined to the Body of Christ, actively engage your spiritual life by living it out in the temple of God’s people (1 Pet 2:4-5). Embrace the Spirit-given blessing of belonging to the family of God. Come join your brothers and sisters in Christ so you may more powerfully grow in knowing Christ in your life.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give y’all a spirit of unity with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together y’all may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6)
Your servant in his Church, Pastor Douglas
(See Jn 13:34, Rom 12:10, 13:8, 1 Cor 3:16-17, 12:12-14, 2 Cor 13:11, Gal 5:13, Eph 4:2, 4:32, Phil 2:5, Col 3:13, 1 Thess 4:9, 5:11, Heb 3:13, 10:23-25, 13:1, 1 Pet 1:22, 1 Pet 3:8, 1 Pet 5:5, 1 Jn 1:7, 3:23, 4:11-12)
Within our neo-pagan society Christianity is considered a subversive religion. How will we live out our faith as aliens in this culture?
Pagans and Christians in the City: Culture Wars from the Tiber to the Potomac by Steven D. Smith, Professor of Law, University of San Diego. Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Douglas Schoelles
Pagans and Christians in the City is a solid treatise on the philosophical battles Christians must engage for the sake of our own people in this neo-pagan culture. Addressing the issues with fairness, Steven D. Smith makes the case that the current societal and legal conflicts are a renewed struggle of Paganism to “reverse the revolution Christianity achieved in late antiquity” that brought an end to rollicking pagan party of sex and self-liberation (259).
The Golden Age of Roman paganism was a rollicking party where people had the liberty to chase their heart’s desires and passions and to be whoever they wanted to be. This pagan immanent religiosity saw the sacred in all aspects of life and nature and infused all aspects of Roman culture. Rome was in essence a pagan mega-temple.
Roman Empire pagans saw Christianity as a threat to the pagan order by their subversive moral code. In persecuting Christians, Romans would release them if they would simply get back into line by acknowledging the pagan pantheon. When Christians did not comply, they represented a “profoundly subversive force” because they insulted the gods and defied the State. The conflict between the biblical faith and the old hedonistic pagan ways is as unavoidable today as it was in the Roman Empire.
Modern paganism seeks to locate the sacred immanently in people, in nature, and in the world, similar to “philosophical paganism” from Roman times. Essentially everyone is their own little subjective god where they look to themselves for a self-transformative, self-centered human fulfillment rather than looking to a transcendent god. All the Americans who label themselves as “spiritual but not religious” embrace this amphoras paganism. They believe life is sacred but have no defining understanding of how that is and do not want to be encumbered by anything beyond their own self-interest. As Martin Luther said, all people are religious and all people have a god. The question is what thing do they worship and to which they devote their lives.
Modern philosophers claim that paganism makes no promises and makes no demands. But paganism demands uncertainty and chaos as it has no basis of truth claims everything is subjective and up from grabs. Modern paganism defaults into rampant individualism where everyone is after their own self-fulfillment. With no transcendent foundation, modern paganism cannot affirm any objective beauty or meaning for our existence. Though modern pagans say life is sacrosanct and inviolable, they have no grounding or logic for these faith claims. While certain people with higher educations cannot take transcendent faith claims as credible, these higher educated folks do not honestly apply higher criticism against their assumption to see these leaps of pagan faith are even less credible. When the hard press of life comes they are left with wishful thinking. Some pagan philosophers recognize that modern paganism provides a “foundation of unyielding despair”, so “embrace the suck” to build a real life. Ecclesiastes agrees that all of life is vanity and futile, but the true answer is found in God.
Where Christianity is a transcendent religion that looks to the LORD beyond itself as the source of inspiration and ethical guidance, paganism looks inward. This inner world is the nebulous source of their moral authority. Thus, when progressive Christianity abandons scripture to look to the “Pan within” for guidance it abandons orthodoxy for nebulous, subjective paganism. “If the goal of morality is nothing more than the satisfaction of lofty desires [with no grounding beyond] why should anyone ever care about the good of others, except in a self-serving, quid pro quo way? (226) Modern paganism provides no foundation for ethics beyond what people think or feel. Even though they strive to be “good without God”, their self-serving, virtue signaling works righteousness is an effort to show they are good enough. Ironically, these progressive pagans want to rid the society of Christianity which gives them the foundation for so much of what they value: equal value of persons, charity for the poor, or unbiased application of the law. Even reparations for slavery is a biblical concept, not pagan.
Neo-pagans claim the pagan city can impart immanent sacredness to its citizens, but how is not explained. The author recognizes how modern subjective immanent religion struggles to establish a reason and meaning for life beyond the immediate. In the modern pagan society people yearn for community, yet an epidemic of loneliness impairs our health and drags down our lives. The question of the meaning of life is fundamental which “Cannot be deflected through analytical deconstruction.” The need to affirm the sacredness of life is essential to deal with the stark, inescapable event of death which extinguishes our value.
In Roman times, Christianity offered a profoundly different understanding of human life and destiny that gave it advantages over paganism. Rather than descend into the pit of death, men and women would be resurrected to enjoy eternal life with God. This is good news, especially to the suffering poor of this world. Secondly, the God of the bible is a personal God who passionately cares and is devoted to human beings. So much so that God came in the flesh of Christ to sacrifice himself for the fate of people. These same theological advantages exist today in our disconnected, consumeristic vapid pagan society. Christian faith doesn’t leave Christians as purposeless strangers in the world. Rather Christians are challenged to boldly go to address societal issues out of their own time and expenses, as opposed to ineffective government programs. (352) Christian theorists envision a community that is open to all, but exclusive to the baptized. Christians are encouraged to actively participate in the life of their community, guided by faith in their vocation to be servants of others regardless of creed.
Pagans made the false case that Christians were detached from this world living as resident aliens and did not see this life as sacred. Yet, Christians live faithfully to God in the everyday world in their families, their vocations, their churches, and their communities. Christians are called to live liturgically in the world in everyday life where all aspects of life are a sacred vocation. (Brother Lawrence/Luther). We are engaged in the sacred way of living by doing unpleasant tasks, especially in serving others. The biblical religion consecrates life as we live and know it. (371)
We agree that “paganism is the natural condition of humankind” bound in selfish sinfulness. The New Testament writers were well acquainted with paganistic passions and desires and spoke about how believers were relieved of the enslavement, chaos, and damage of those passions and desires (Roman 7:5, Gal 5:24, Tit 2:12, 3:3, 1 Pet 2:11). In the Christian perspective Paganism is sin living to satisfy the selfish, lustful desires of the flesh and arrogantly boasting one does not need or be answerable to God. These behaviors are not only foolish, but destroy the human community and are rebellion against God. Smith writes that the “all-encompassing divine standard of truth and morality could be viewed – and resented – as an oppressive limitation on a man’s liberty to think and … to live as he pleased.” (148) Sinners always resent the morality that refrains them from doing whatever they want, following whatever they think best. Christians always knew selfish self-interest and sin was alive and well. Christianity has never thought it completely displaced earthly religion.
Smith makes the point that not all Christians live devoutly, but rather many live as Pagans. Yes. Every Christian is in the sanctifying process of moving from sin-centered paganism to living for God and others. Christians are “simultaneously sinner and saint” Christians have always believed that the world is still engaged in paganistic, selfish hedonism. Some in the literary and artistic fields signaled their sophistication with anti-Christian sentiment with longing for the return of pagan “sexual paradise”
Much of the ideological tension between paganism and Christianity from the 1st century to now revolves around sexual mores. Disparaging Christian sexual ethics as simply restrictive and repressive, modern pagans do not understand the biblical perspective on sexuality or sexual relations as blessing from God to be protected and honored for the sake of intimacy of the husband and wife. Where paganism understands sexual activity as a physical or psychological release, subjective desire and self-fulfillment, the Christian ethic of sexual relationships promotes a self-giving, intimate expression where the sexual activity serves relational vulnerability and intimacy. Has divorcing sex from procreation and marriage been life-affirming? Has increasing promiscuity for women been a good thing for women or for men? Contrary modern paganism, Christian theology does see sexuality as central to human life and meaning, but not our defining identity (Gal 3:27-29)
We Christians agree with modern pagans that our current society lives out free-wheeling sexual mores: we do not agree that this is a good thing for people. While advocating this permissive pagan approach to sex, libidinous pagans do not concede the wreckage our current sexual chaos and unmarried sex causes: psychological damage, unwanted children, single parent impoverished households, and incarceration of fatherless criminals. Even though the evidence of the psychological, relational and exploitive damage from the internet explosion of pornography abounds, Pagans consider any restraint unreasonable. Though progressive pagans accuse Christian societies of imposing their sexual mores upon its citizens, they do not admit the modern pagan state also imposes its pagan morals on dissenting people of faith. As pagans are in political ascendency, they are willing to infringe upon religious conscience about sexuality to impose their pagan views over all citizens. Or as they would say, to keep Christians from imposing their views.
Smith discusses how in the pagan world, sexual desires of men in power were met by their property owned wives, prostitutes or household slaves. The author obtusely states how in Roman paganism wanton sexual desire was satisfied through slave exploitation and human trafficking. Are we to assume that the modern pagan state wants open borders to facilitate and foster the current surge of human trafficking and sexual slavery?
Modern paganism does not seriously examine how human selfishness undermines human interactions thus necessitating the law. Nor does modern paganism have any serious explanation and answer for the problem of ever-present evil in our world. That secular paganism offers no worthwhile explanation or hope to deal with human wickedness and the problem of evil is its Achilles heel.
Just as in Rome Pagans and Christians struggled to define the meaning of various symbols of the empire, so today Christians and modern pagans are battling over symbols in our society to define this culture in one way another; otherwise known as the Culture Wars. As pagans are ascendant in government, education and now corporations, they are imposing their moral views on us, including their rejection of our moral values. The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores that corporations are expected to submit to corporate investors showing how they address climate change, social justice and enforcement of human rights, pressures companies to endorse and pursue progressive social and political objectives.
In our culture, modern paganism is emerging with communal elements. Month long PRIDE celebrations and its flag. Rather than temples, they have bars, strip clubs, drag shows and casinos. Ultimately the government buildings are the most sacred space of this new pagan City. Smith asserts rightly that pagans and Christians are fighting over rituals, symbols, and songs. But really, we are fighting over identity, the worth of individuals, freedom of conscience, and family. More than politics, we are fighting about what is essential to human life. We can see that much of the venting against the boogeyman of “Christian Nationalism” is the rejection by the Marxist Left and Progressive pagans of the classic American civil religion which imposed Judeo-Christian moral values on this nation from its founding. Rejection of the American flag to instead fly the LGBTQ+ Pride flag is a political and religious rejection of our founding Christian principles. We are in a cultural civil war with flags for each side.
Opponents point out that “Christian societies” always fell short of their ideals, did pagan societies ever fail dismally short of their ideals? The question is never asked. Pagan societies encouraged using people as a means for self-gratification. We do well to recall the hundreds of millions who have been enslaved, tortured or murdered by paganism and atheism. While pointing out the failures of “Christian societies”, opponents fail to give credit for the society enhancing work Christians have done throughout the centuries into our current age. Unlike de Tocqueville in Democracy in America, detractors do not recognize the benefits of transcendent religion has made to our American public life, such as self-governing and volunteerism. Where they claim the pagan city flourished in Ancient Rome, they don’t recognize the city flourished under the Christian canopy as much and more in Europe and the Americas.
Our contemporaries try to assure us that the new paganism would not be like the old paganism. That slavery would be renounced; but more people are enslaved today than any other time in human history. That the equality of women and men would be upheld; forgetting that Christianity assert the value and dignity of women. That the weak would be protected; again, forgetting this is practice of Christians, not paganism. That a new pagan state would be against bullying and aggression against those with whom we don’t agree, yet we already have witnessed how the current pagan Federal government does not label hate crimes against Christians as such. If the treatment of biblical orthodox Christians by woke, mainline Christians is any indication of how the pagan bureaucracies will treat us, we can expect punitive reaction. The corrupt Pagan city will be imposed by application of law and force. We have witnessed the FBI labeling and spying on conservative Catholics as domestic terrorists. We see progressive states stripping Christin parents of their right to raise their children as they see fit. In Europe Christians are already being legally persecuted for wrong think.
Throughout American history the government has been viewed as “secular” and not advocating or hindering religious expression. What is peculiar is that “secular” government is an invention of Christian Theory put forth most clearly by Martin Luther in explanation of Two Realms & Two Kingdoms. “The Christian commitment to dual jurisdictions – Caesar and God” has been a bedrock of American governing principles from the beginning. Progressive pagans argue for attacking the accommodation of religion employed within current jurisprudence as an inherently Christian perspective. The neo-pagan progressives are determined to capture the US constitution and wrest it from a neutral agnostic perspective to be read instead from a pagan viewpoint. This current legal battle is a worrying development as Christians would lose the religious protections to exercise their faith freely without state interference. Progressive pagans question the unrestricted, free exercise of religion. Certainly, China, the leading persecutor of religion, would be glad to lend a hand around the globe with social credit scores to minimize the influence of religion.
Neo-pagan philosophers speak optimistically about the city, the polis in Greek from which we get the word politics. Pagan Rome did not require a “secular” government because it saw itself as absolute, answerable to none. So, when the author speaks about the City and the Community, we all need to be clear: the city is the State. Where he asserts that in a secular, pagan state a theistic, transcendent religion must be viewed as false, the secular pagan state is not impartial or agonistic. Rather than being accountable to a higher and transcendent authority, God, the unfettered State of which pagans dream will be tolerant and humane, becomes “fully and exclusively sovereign”. The State becomes God because the pantheon of other gods is inconsequential. As the City, the State, is to be the center of life, citizens and subjects would give their civic allegiance, “unqualified by loyalties to some other, foreign or transcendent sovereign. (348) Much of the intellectual grist for this legal theory derives from communitarian utopian ideals where the interest of the State overrides the rights of citizens, otherwise known as Marxism. (349-50) Regardless of your religious views, Americans should be troubled by pagan legal scholars who want to make the State absolute and sovereign.
With the rejection of transcendent reality, political rights are not inviolable and sacrosanct, but rather are the “freedoms” the State confers to grant. Freedom of conscience is a gift from the State, not naturally endowed by our Creator. Allegedly this pagan State could “still leave open the possibility of legal and political deference to individuals’ judgment about the transcendent with respect to their own lives.” (328) With the absolute, pagan State everyone is seen as subject and property of the State. If religious accommodation is removed as a legal perspective, what is say the State could not flip this against immanent religious practitioners or against LGBTQ people? The whole argument to withdraw protection of religious conscience is based on a worldly, immanent paganism that has no foundation other than its desires, passions and whims. Just as in Rome, the new paganism benefits the elites the most while impoverishing, enslaving, and exploiting the rest of us who experience the loss of freedom, beauty and grace. The erosion of individual rights will not take long just as the author and other progressive legal scholars have been amazed how rapidly legal changes have occurred over the past three decades.
Smith writes, “The immanent religiosity of modern paganism promises to consecrate this world, this life and this city in a way that has not been possible since the Christian revolution.” (347) To which we ask, what guides the State unrestrained by a transcendent religion? Power and control? Wealth and greed? The State certainly will not be accountable to the citizens because it will be above and over them as sovereign. These wonderful pagan cities exist all around the globe now. While overpaid, over educated elites are able to insulate themselves from the disastrous consequences and continue to subsidize their detachment from the claims and promises of the transcendent God of the Bible, the poor of this nation and the world who suffer the exploitation of Paganism will turn more and more to Christianity just as they did in the Roman Empire.
Smith raises the question from the start whether we will see Christians persecuted in the United States simply for being Christian. He asks why progressive pagans go out of their way to attack Christian business owners who decline services due to religious values when those services are readily available from others? He never really addresses the probability of increased attacks upon Christians and churches, even though that is exactly what we have witnessed in recent years. While Smith wonders whether Christians will maintain a pacifistic stance or turn violent, the question is never asked if pagans or the State will turn violent against Christians. We recognize that the Federal government and states like California, are actively establishing pagan religious values already. “Ultimately, in fact, it is not merely the overt expression of the offending view [Christian faith] that inflicts injury, but rather that someone holds the offending view and it known to hold it.” (362) Citizens with “strong versions of Christianity” [aka Biblical Christianity] will be seen as a foreign and divisive element in the modern pagan city. The secular pagan state is not impartial or agnostic, but evaluates a theistic, transcendent religion as a subversive threat. We must agree Christianity is always a subversive religion because believers ultimately are not subjects and slaves of the emperor, state or society, but are servants and children of God. Just like the Roman persecutors from the past, he asserts that the pagan State will seek to seal off religious freedom thinking to impede transcendent religion to have public or ethical implications.
The irony is that the Christian community understands more and more that it must exit elements of the pagan society in order “not to surrender the name of Christ”: no government funds for social work, no government schools, and boycotting certain businesses.(363) Even though Christians are asked to check their biblical beliefs at the door, the very nature of the Christian faith is to hold fast to God’s Word and be shaped by those teachings. Pagans want to ostracize and ghettoize Christians for their “strange beliefs” but this will only strengthen the community whose resistance will be lived out in their marriages, families and churches. Christian communities that understand they are to live as aliens in this culture will become more focused on training disciples. (Hauerwas and Willimon)
What I find alarming is that as the pagan State emerges more concretely, the ferocity of persecution against Christians will increase with no legal or societal no remedy against it. As modern pagans advance a new pagan city, the State, as their hope for tomorrow, those who are subversive to the pagan State by their beliefs and life style will be open to persecution.
“Such [transcendent] belief is a foreign and offensive element within the ethos of pagan civility; the city would accordingly try to marginalize transcendence and its devotees – to relocate them outside the (ever-expanding) walls that define the civic or public sphere. Forceful measures might be needed to achieve such closure and marginalization.” (377)
The Romans tried persecutions and executions. Those kinds of forceful measures?
Our Christian people are facing the philosophical deceptions of a neo-pagan society that is inherently dishonest about the role of God in creation and their need for a Savior. The secular world dismisses orthodox Christianity as subversive. Rather than becoming well-versed in the pagan pantheon, we do best to counter their arguments by deepening our understanding in confessional truths. To know the Truth so well the deceptions and counterfeit religions are easily spotted.
Christians will not be leading the United States or any western nation back under the “Christian canopy” any decade soon. Perhaps we should not even consider it. Rather, we must strengthen our discipling communities to be wellsprings of forgiveness, healing, peace and meaning in the midst of a chaotic, exploitive, demeaning, consumeristic pagan society. As church people, we may feel we are on the losing end of this political and legal struggle as our national government becomes pagan. The blueprint for our future is found throughout the Old and New Testaments and in the first three centuries of the Christian Church (see Rodney Stark). The Christian faith is weakened when compromised to be the state or societal religion. In the Church we are made community through the Word and Sacraments. How can an entire society be made a Christian community? Instead of Christianizing culture, we are called to be Salt and light in the world.
Rev. Dr. Douglas J. Schoelles
St. John’s Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Suggested books for further reading
The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries, Rodney Stark
Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony, Stanley Hauerwas & William H. Willimon
These anthropological finds are not discovered in ancient Mesopotamia but in your cupboards. When these contaminated clean dishes touch our lips, we curse the dishwasher.
How do you feel about a pile of dirty dishes? When you see the sink filled with dirty dishes, do you get frustrated with those who made the dishes yucky to touch?
Is your dishwasher broken? Is that why the dishes stack up around your sink? Why is pushing the dishes around in new stacks more convenient than tackling the task? Ever wonder why only some people in your household have the magical skill to get dishes loaded into the dishwasher? Or even more amazing, to start the devise to get the dishes actually cleaned?
Everyone hopes someone else will load the dirty dishes. If everyone would just put their own dishes in the dishwasher right after they eat, life would be easier and less contaminated, right?
Am I just talking crazy that everyone in the family has their part to play in having clean, uncontaminated dishes and utensils?
So too, in the church family, we all have a part to play. If you want our church to grow healthier and bless your life and others with the grace of God, how will you help?
Will you be regular in your worship attendance? That is the simplest and easiest first step.
Will you help sing in the worship team or choir? Of course if that is your gift, don’t be shy!
Will you help greet folks? We want everyone who comes into the House of the Lord to feel welcome.
If you want us to have Sunday School, will you bring your children regularly? Will you help with teaching?
If you want us to serve others in the community, how will you help us organize these efforts?
We all have a part to play. When all of us add to the efforts, our tasks are easier and the results are pleasing.
Yes, we are busy. You know who else was busy? Jesus was a busy man! He was traveling to all sorts of places to proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom. But Jesus was not alone. Jesus was assisted in his ministry by the twelve apostles and some women who had been reached with the good news. (Luke 8:1-3)
To advance the cause of Christ, to fill people’s lives with the power of the Gospel, takes all kinds of people using all kinds of gifts. Ask God how he can use you today.
“Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” (Philippians 2:2)
She is related to one of our members. I have gotten to know her a little bit at social functions. I see her in the community. Recently I asked her, “Do you guys ever go to church?” Her reply, “No. I mean I believe, but . . .”
She is like a lot of Americans. A Harris Poll finds that a strong majority (74 percent) of U.S. adults say they believe in God. But few Americans are active Christians. Even with a broad definition of church attendance, where a regular attendee is someone who shows up at least three out of every eight Sundays, only 23–25 percent of Americans would fit this category. So, 74% versus 24%.
“I believe in God.” Great. So does Satan. What else do you believe in? The Laws of the Physics? The Indianapolis Colts? Unicorns or Angels?
Does it matter what we believe? Absolutely. What we believe impacts how we see the world and how we behave in this world.
For a lot of people, they believe God exists. They believe in God, but they are not sure what to do with God. They are functional atheists in their day-to-day lives.
A lot of people believe in God, but they do not believe in the Church. They do not think belonging to the people of God makes a difference in their lives. They do not believe that being part of the worship, discipleship, the evangelism, the fellowship or the ministry service will add value to their lives.
Their response challenges us. Do we live out a life changing faith that can affect other people? How is our life together as the resurrection, hope-filled, faithful committed community of Christ adding value to people’s lives? Do they see our believing in God in our lives?
I see how our life together adds value to people’s lives. We bring hope, belonging, forgiveness, encouragement, enlightenment, and purpose to our people’s lives just to name a few of the benefits we derive from sharing Christ together.
What does it mean to believe? The Greek word translated as believe is the word pisteuo. To believe, to trust in, put faith in, to rely on.
Our believing in God deals with real-life contexts for real-life people challenging them to be helpful to others who are in doubt and to deal with that doubt honestly, because there is an answer. How are we helping others to come to know Christ? To experience Christ?
In August we will talk about how relying on the LORD, trusting God to work in our midst makes all the difference. We will talk about trusting Christ in Holy Communion and we will talk about trusting God in our prayers.
I hope for this young lady and other infrequent Christian believers, the LORD will use us to draw them into a faith, a trusting, where they will more than simply know about God, but that they will come to Know Christ.
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better (Eph 1:17)
The Daily Plunge 