What does it mean to “know Christ”? We speak of knowledge with multiplicity in our society, and we can often take for granted the depth of which the idea is fleshed out in Scripture. Sometimes we mean simply “do you know of such and such a person?”, as if to inquire about an elementary and impersonal head knowledge. We know all about celebrities and public figures. But on the same hand, we don’t really know them. However, in the gospel of John, Jesus gives us a comparison which can help us understand what it means, even as mature Christians, to truly “know Christ”.
The Sardis Hour Posts
The devastating shooting at Sandy Brook school in Newtown, Connecticut has once again given our nation pause. What was unheard of not so long ago is becoming nearly commonplace. As the nation grasps to understand and interpret a tragedy of this magnitude, ideologies are made evident by the conclusions and answers put forth. Do some of these conclusions have merit, or are the answers merely another trap of our own making?
Now I hear it. Sure, now I hear it. Devestation occurred on November 6th, as Barack Obama gained another 4 year term as President of our beloved United States. This is the one thing that we as a nation, and as Christians, simply could not allow to happen. Not if we wanted to keep our freedoms. Not if we valued our liberty. We had to pull out all the stops to ensure that this would not happen. Yet disaster struck. And now I am reminded from choruses of Christians everywhere that “Jesus is King”.
I didn’t intend to broach this topic again, at least so soon. However, an event recorded in Scripture was recently brought to mind, and its lesson is so pertinent that it bears some examination and contemplation.
In my previous article, I dealt with the subject of situational ethics as exhibited in the political realm and the implications of such philosophies for the Christian. I used the proposition of voting for Mitt Romney as a candidate in the general election to demonstrate situational ethics in action and frame the issue with a real-world scenario. Because my focus was on the Biblical sanction (or lack thereof) of Christians to use pragmatic reasoning, I left many questions unanswered regarding how (or even if) one should vote and the principles that should guide that decision.
Politics has long been known to be a dog-eat-dog venture, and there is typically, at any point and time, ample evidence to back up this maxim. This is certainly showcased once again in the case of Todd Akin, the Missouri Republican candidate for United States Senate who appeared on a local news program and tried to reason his pro-life position in the case of rape.
If most of us were asked to construct a sentence which contained “Jesus” and “blind”, we would likely produce something along the lines of “Jesus healed those who were blind” or “Jesus made the blind to see”. We characterize Christ’s earthly ministry in our minds as largely consisting of miracles of healing the sick, casting out demons, making the lame to walk, and causing the blind to see. While most would understand these miracles also as signs of His deity and symbolic demonstrations of Spiritual truths, there is another aspect to Christ’s ministry involving blindness which we are more reluctant to take to heart.
Few topics are hotter or more controversial right now than that of same sex marriage. From constitutional amendments to city ordinances to presidential declarations, this is a hot button issue almost everywhere in the United States. The irony of it all is that we are debating something that does not even exist.
One of the basic points of contention around homosexuality in our culture has been its cause. Is it something innate and inborn which is unchangeable, or is it a conscious choice of the individual? Most anyone with an opinion on the issue has an immediate answer to this question. While the knee-jerk response may technically be correct, is this answer alone sufficient, and does it accurately reflect the full testimony of the Word of God?
In the last 10-20 years or so, the United States has undergone a dramatic paradigm shift in how homosexuality is perceived. We have traveled the path from shameful to accepting, from accepting to affirming, and now from affirming to embracing. As homosexuality and its acceptance has become more mainstream in our society, the Bible and its clear teaching on the matter has come under much greater attack. New lines of reasoning are being postulated in defense of these “alternative” lifestyles. The battle lines are drawn around the validity and viability of the Word of God, and we must be ready to give a defense against these onslaughts.