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Pray that our leaders would know AND love the truth

Posted in commentary, Scripture, Special Events on November 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

As I mentioned yesterday, the Evangelical Theological Society is having their annual meeting this week, focusing on the theme “justification by faith.”

Just a few hours after writing that post I came across an example of why Biblical scholarship with the perspective that God is both sovereign and good is so important.

In her article, “Biblical And Theological Perspectives On Disability: Implications On The Rights Of Persons With Disability In Kenya,” Pauline Otieno properly connects an understanding of the Bible with how people behave, including how that influences government systems.

One of the major root causes for the discriminatory acts against PWD (people with disabilities) in Kenya is religion-related. Theological interpretations of disability have significantly shaped the ways in which society relates to PWD. The Bible is intermingled with texts that have been interpreted in oppressive ways and together these continue to reinforce the marginalization and exclusion of PWD in the social, economic, political, and religious life of the society (emphasis mine).

She is correct; the Bible has been interpreted in oppressive ways.  I would contend those interpretations are inaccurate at best.

Unfortunately, she makes sweeping generalizations that are not accurate:

The New Testament also supports the link between sin and disability. This link is well illustrated in John 9:1-3. The disciples anticipated a connection between disability and sin with the question: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” This question implies that disability was the punishment meant for some unspecified sin. When Jesus healed the physically impaired man who lay by the pool of Bethesda, He said to him: “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse will happen to you” (Jn. 5:14). This clearly indicates that Jesus thought there was a connection between the man’s disability and some sin. In the portico lay a multitude of PWD and this comment applied to them as well (Jn. 5:3).

Neither Biblical account supports her conclusion!  Of course, Jesus himself answers the disciples’ question in John 9:3:

Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

And the “something worse” in John 5:14 is eternal punishment, not another disabling condition, as Pastor John helpfully articulates:

And yes, he warns him that, if he turns away, and mocks this gift, or makes an idol out of his health, and embraces sin as his way of life, he will perish. I take that—final judgment—to be the “worse thing” (in verse 14) that will happen because there aren’t many natural things worse than the 38 years this man endured, and because in verses 28–29, Jesus says, “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John Piper, Healed for the Sake of Holiness, August 23, 2009)

What is particularly frustrating about Dr. Otieno’s article is that it is very well written and she has clearly given this a great deal of thought.  This article is full of scriptural references, and she has looked directly at some of the most difficult passages on disability in the Bible.

But it is not written from the perspective that this is God’s story, that he is a holy God, that he has sovereign authority over his creation, that he is entirely good, that he is completely merciful, and that anything that draws us closer to him and into treasuring Jesus above all things is better than anything in this life.  Even a life full of suffering and exclusion because of disability – which he has ordained – does not compare to an eternity of increasing joy spent with Jesus.

And that is why we should pray for the gathering of the Evangelical Theological Society this week.  Disciplined, smart people write articles about the Bible all the time – and get it wrong.  It is God alone who gives new life, eyes to see, and a desire to make much of him.

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Thank you, Fast Company, for helping to make much of God!

Posted in commentary on November 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Fast Company didn’t intend to do this, but they really encouraged my faith last week.

In their article, “Infographic of the Day: What the Bible Got Wrong,” the writer of the article concludes this way:

So to anyone who thinks the Bible’s the last word on anything, remember this: It isn’t even the last word on itself.

Sam Harris, the atheist skeptic and writer of Letter to a Christian Nation among other books, commissioned the infographic that Fast Company posted.  He hates the Bible and any notion about God.

But the conclusion he wants us to come to (and which the writer of the Fast Company article writes) isn’t exactly accurate.

Justin Taylor provides a helpful response on his blog:

I know what it’s like to be confused about, and bothered by, alleged contradictions in God’s Word. A good study Bible—e.g., the NIV Study Bible, now the ESV Study Bible—will intentionally address many of these issues.

“Alleged” is the right word – and we don’t need to be Ph.D.s to study these issues for ourselves!

But the answer I appreciated the most came from Matt Perman, a colleague with me at Desiring God:

However, the appearance of contradiction in many places in the Scriptures is there on purpose and by God’s design because this is the mark of any profound text and because it causes us to dig deeper, leading to far more profound insight.

God uses everything to make us dependent on him, including alleged contradictions in his word or difficult passages about his goodness in relation to suffering.  By going deeper and asking for the help of the Holy Spirit, we get to see more of God and understand even more about his sovereign goodness over all things.

The real danger isn’t that arguments like this come up but that we so quickly give up!  There’s a reason the Apostle Paul exhorts people to persevere!

Just a few days ago I wrote about how Satan hates our joy and seeks to cheapen it.  Creating doubt in God’s word is just another one of those tools.  Turning truth about actual events (like the miracles that Jesus performed) into allegories or fables is still another tool.

But, in the end, this is God’s word and God’s church and he will defend it.  Attacks that draw us deeper into the word and make us lean harder on God for answers do exactly the opposite than what people like Sam Harris want – God looks even greater, the Bible is even more authoritative, and my confidence that God is who he says he is rises.

Which anchors my hope in God even more securely.

People in our churches understand suffering very well.  For those of us dealing with disability, we know that circumstances can change in an instant.  Dianne spent time with mothers on Saturday who’s children are living with much more difficult disabilities than we are.

It is a comfort to know and feel and experience that God is who he says he is.  And anything, even attacks on his word, can be used by God to make much of him, for his glory and for our good.

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Some resources on God and Disability

Posted in commentary, Sermons, Special Events on November 13, 2010| 1 Comment »

We have some new folks following this blog and I thought it might be helpful to highlight a few resources.

My friend, work colleague and BCS seminary student Bryan DeWire gathered this list of resources for the seminary students David and I spoke to this past Monday. Thank you, Bryan, for compiling it!

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Satan hates our children and our joy

Posted in commentary, Scripture on November 12, 2010| 1 Comment »

We have a great advocate.  And we have a formidable enemy.

Pastor John has helpfully talked about Satan’s aims:

The great aim of Satan is to prevent and weaken and, if possible, destroy faith. . . Destroy faith. Destroy missions. Destroy people. And thus dishonor God. That is his aim. Satan uses pleasure and pain to do it. Pleasure: to make us doubt God’s satisfying greatness. Pain: to make us doubt God’s sovereign goodness.

So we should not be surprised that Satan would hate our children because of how God talks about those who are considered weaker:

On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable (1 Corinthians 12:22).

With disability, we already know Satan uses our suffering to attack our faith.

But he also cheapens pleasure in ways that feed the destruction of our faith – and encourages the literal destruction of our children. After all, if joy is cheap, why persevere through hard things to get to real joy?

For example:

I don’t mean to make McDonalds into a villain – McDonalds doesn’t ‘hate’ children with disabilities.

But there’s a reason McDonalds felt like this ad with this tagline using the word ‘joy’ would be effective – we like our joy cheap and easily accessible.

And that feeds a mindset that hard things, like the daily care of a child with a disability, really isn’t worth it.  Which leads to very bad things:  abortion; split marriages; lonely, bitter, hurt people.  In other words, things that Satan loves because they dishonor God, destroy people, destroy missions and destroy faith.

But we know that persevering most certainly IS worth it!  Jesus did not suffer for the sake of a short-term caffeine buzz but for eternal, ever-increasing measures of joy!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

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Should length of time impact how we think about God’s sovereignty over disability?

Posted in commentary on November 4, 2010| 2 Comments »

When we talk about disability on this blog, we generally mean the kind of disabling conditions that last a lifetime.

In his article on John 9, Dr. Poirier suggests that time is one reason why we should not think God intentionally created the man born blind:

The old punctuation presents us with the monstrous thesis that God struck a man with disability from birth just for the sake of allowing Jesus to make a public display of God’s healing power at an obscenely later time in his life.   (Poirier, “Another Look at the ‘Man Born Blind’ in John 9“, Journal of Religion, Disability and Health, January 2010, v. 14, p. 62.)

We know he was a ‘man born blind’ so we can guess he had lived, and been blind for, decades by the time Jesus and he had their encounter.  Yes, that feels like a long time.

But is ‘obscenely’ an accurate descriptor of something God has chosen to do?

There are times I am still tempted to think time is one indicator of God’s care:  if God answers quickly (and in the right way), he cares; if he waits a long time, he doesn’t.

Of course a Biblical understanding of the character of God demonstrates that God has both full authority to do whatever he wants with his creation AND he perfectly loves and cares for us.  God knows how we think about time and the impact that experiencing something over a long period of time will have.  And he is sovereign over it for our good:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

There is also the problem of definition.  At what point does something become ‘obscenely long’?  Is a difficult thing we experience for a day acceptable but for a year it is ‘obscenely long’?

Does any part of God’s creation even have the ability, let alone the authority, to determine when something is too long?

Sometimes the Bible talks about hard things that last a long time:

One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. John 5:5

When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. Luke 8:27

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. Luke 8:43

Even the saints with God wonder about how long things are taking:

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. Revelation 6:9-11

But suffering doesn’t need to be measured in years for it to feel overwhelming.  My Paul’s seizures last less than a minute – and feel like hours as I watch him struggle.

Frequently I find it difficult to believe that my son is 15 years old.  If anyone had said when he was days old that we would have even survived everything we’ve gone through with him – let alone found peace in God – I would have called them crazy, or at least ignorant.  Daily, God helps us and those days add up.

But one minute or 15 years, or 38 years or however many years the man born blind lived with his disability is NOTHING compared to eternity.  And God seems to care a great deal about eternity.

About 15 years ago, Pastor John included this in a letter to us many of you have already read:

It seems to me that this life is a proving ground for the kingdom to come. Some are asked to devote forty or fifty years to caring for a handicapped child instead of breezing through life without pain. Others are asked to be blind all their lives…

But only in this life – ONLY in this life. I want to be the kind person who makes that “ONLY” what it really is – very short. Prelude to the infinity of joy, joy, joy. But not yet. Not entirely.

Pastor John gets that from the Bible.  Paul, for example, lived constantly with very hard things: beatings, imprisonment, slander, shipwreck, heart-ache to name a few.  And he calls it a ‘light momentary affliction!’  How is that possible, except that it is in comparison to something much greater than his suffering!

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Disability is hard.  On our own, our human reserves will disappear.  Human systems – church, medicine, schools, social workers – will fail us. Doubt and dispair are natural outcomes.  I am tempted to discouragement all the time, and frequently fail.

Yet, God has promised to supply our every need and to help us.

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Psalm 68:19

He confirms his promises based on the obedient life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The promises of God are anchored in God himself!

It really is the perfect combination – God has told us he has created some to live with disability for his glory, he has promised to help us, and there is an eternity of joy that makes these present difficulties look small by comparison.  There is hope in this God. Let us remind each other regularly.

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Interesting arguments that are hard to take seriously

Posted in commentary, Scripture on November 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

First of all, I’ve found a link for free access to The Journal of Religion, Disability and Health!  I don’t know if this is a new development or if I just missed it in the past. As I have written before, having easy access increases the opportunity for us to reason together, even when we disagree.

In the January edition, Dr. John Poirier of Kingswell Theological Seminary presented “Another Look at the ‘Man Born Blind’ in John 9.”  Dr. Poirier asserts that a change in punctuation could change the meaning of the verse.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to read this argument based solely on the merits of his argument about punctuation.  While I believe he has affections for God and his word, and that he wants to provide a helpful way to read the scriptures, he demonstrates a clear bias on how he thinks about God and God’s sovereignty:

The old punctuation presents us with the monstrous thesis that God struck a man with disability from birth just for the sake of allowing Jesus to make a public display of God’s healing power at an obscenely later time in his life.  Although we should not suppose that the writer of the Fourth Gospel shares our modern sensibilities, we should, I think, extend the benefit of a doubt when a particular reading makes God out to be so capricious. (Poirier, “Another Look at the ‘Man Born Blind’ in John 9“, Journal of Religion, Disability and Health, January 2010, v. 14, p. 62.)

Monstrous?  Obscenely?  Capricious?  If you are familiar with my story, those are all words I have thought myself about God – before God revealed himself to me and my standing before him without Jesus.  These words reflect a man-centered, experiential view of God’s word rather than how God presents himself.

Using the Bible alone, we can reasonably ask why Dr. Poirier would use the words ‘monstrous,’ ‘obscenely,’ and ‘capricious’ so freely in the space of only two sentences.

First, from Paul and Isaiah on God’s sovereignty over his creation:

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? Romans 9:20-21

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

Second, on the specific issue of God’s creating human beings, God takes credit for who and how he creates them:

Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” Exodus 4:11

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:13-16

Third, earlier in the book of John we see God giving Jesus all authority over everything made:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5

So, it becomes difficult to take the rest of Dr. Poirier’s argument seriously when he simply dismisses God’s word based only on how he (and he assumes we) view what is right and just in the world.  Why should we even care how one verse is punctuated if the rest of the Bible can be so easily ignored?

Of course disability is hard.  Anyone experiencing disability knows that.

But God brings glory to his name all the time through very hard things.

Like the obedient life, death and resurrection of his own son:

From all these prophecies, we know that God foresaw and did not prevent and therefore included in his plan that his Son would be rejected, hated, abandoned, betrayed, denied, condemned, spit upon, flogged, mocked, pierced, and killed. All these were explicitly in God’s mind before they actually happened as things that he planned would happen to Jesus. These things did not just happen. They were foretold in God’s word. God knew they would happen and could have planned to stop them, but didn’t. So they hap- pened according to his sovereign will. His plan.

And all of them were evil. They were sin. It is surpassingly sinful to reject, hate, abandon, betray, deny, condemn, spit upon, flog, mock, pierce, and kill the morally perfect, infinitely worthy, divine Son of God. And yet the Bible is explicit and clear that God himself planned these things. This is explicit not only in all the prophetic texts we have seen, but also in passages that say even more plainly that God ordained that these things come to pass. (Piper, Spectacular Sins, pp. 102-103)

This act of murdering the sinless son of God, the most heinous crime ever committed in all of history, was part of God’s spectacular plan to bring greater glory to his name and fulfill the righteous requirement of the law on behalf of those who do not deserve forgiveness, could never earn it, and would rightly be judged for eternity for every offense made against our perfect, holy and righteous God.

No, God is not monstrous, though some things are hard for us to comprehend.  We should be far more amazed that God is so patient with US rather than that he created one man to live with a disability for a few decades.

More later.

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When the great ones get it wrong – Matthew Henry and Martin Luther

Posted in Book Commentary, commentary, Scripture on November 2, 2010| 3 Comments »

There are too many examples of theologians and pastors misusing the Bible as they talk about God and disability, making God into a small, controllable ‘force’ rather than the awesome creator and sustainer of the universe that he is.

But even the ones who identify God as sovereign and have deep regard for God’s word occasionally get it wrong.

For example, Matthew Henry, in his commentary on John 9, includes this statement about one of the benefits of Jesus healing the man born blind:

The cure of this blind man was a kindness to the public,enabling him to work for his living who before was a charge and burden to the neighbourhood. It is noble, and generous, and Christ-like, to be willing to serve the public, even when we are slighted and disobliged by them, or think ourselves so.

First of all, there is nothing in the account about Jesus doing this for the benefit of the community.  The point was ‘that the works of God might be displayed in him’ (John 9:3).

Secondly, the man born blind in this accounting is a man who is articulate, bold and logical.  He was a ‘burden’ not because he wasn’t capable of learning and applying a skill; he wasn’t allowed to learn a trade because of his blindness.  In this case, the community created its own burden based on how it looked at disability.  Matthew Henry got it almost entirely backwards in this statement.

Martin Luther takes that to an entirely different level when writing about a boy he observed in Dessau.  From the description, this boy had significant disabilities – but Luther identified this boy as a changling, or a being Satan has placed in what otherwise would have been a ‘normal’ child.  That is just one of many possible definitions of changeling; regardless, a changeling was considered something other than or less than human.  Upon identifying this boy as a changeling, Luther is reported to have written:

So I said to the Prince of Anhalt: “If I were the Prince, I should take the child to the Moldau River whichflows near Dessau and drown him.”

Obviously, if you have read this blog for any time, we take the murder of people with disabilities very seriously.  And that is exactly what Luther is advocating.

So why do I (mostly) give Matthew Henry and Martin Luther a ‘pass’ on these statements?

First, the entire body of their work demonstrates a dependency on God, belief in the scriptures as God’s word, and desire for people to know and trust this God as sovereign.  Luther, in particular, is problematic on other issues as well.  But his essay, On Christian Freedom, is remarkable in what it says about God, freedom, and serving the neighbor.  Plus, he may not have actually written that statement above; there is some dispute about it, though it is frequently quoted and attributed to him.

Second, the Bible alone is the inspired word of God.  Both men are brilliant, but their writings are not of equal value to scripture.

Third, it says something important to me about how easily culture and experience can become the framework for interpreting a situation, rather than God and his word.  Both of these men were soaked in scripture in ways I can only imagine – yet Matthew Henry let that sentence about ‘burden’ slip into his commentary (rather than 1 Corinthians 12:22).  And Luther seems to have forgotten Exodus 4:11, Psalm 139, the entire book of Job and John 9, among others, in talking about a changeling (if he wrote it at all).

I makes me wonder, how frequently do I let my culture and experience shape my thoughts and writings, rather than scripture?  I expect more frequently than I would guess.

And it is another warning to me that when confronting bad, illogical or evil arguments, the emphasis should be on addressing the argument and not making final judgments about the people making the argument.  God alone knows the heart and what he has planned for the future of that person.  After all, we are all entirely evil without Jesus calling us out of darkness and the Spirit helping us.

But, if I read something where the writer has no affections for God, finds the Bible unreliable, or advocates something entirely contrary to the Word, that needs to be addressed as well.  This standard feels like a very fine line in which I could err in either direction!

I know I will be putting that standard for myself to the test in the coming days, as there is a ‘new’ argument about the interpretation of John 9 that I would like to address.

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The high calling of marriage and parenting

Posted in commentary, Special Events on October 31, 2010| 1 Comment »

On this Reformation Day, celebrating Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses, I found this word on marriage and parenting from the great Reformer.  Please notice two things in these two paragraphs:  the arguments from ‘natural reason’ that Luther is addressing on suffering and pleasure are exactly the ones we hear today; and, he is writing about (and to) fathers!

Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason (which the pagans followed in trying to be most clever), takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores, and on top of that care for my wife, provide for her, labour at my trade, take care of this and take care of that, do this and do that, endure this and endure that, and whatever else of bitterness and drudgery married life involves? What, should I make such a prisoner of myself? O you poor, wretched fellow, have you taken a wife? Fie, fie upon such wretchedness and bitterness! It is better to remain free and lead a peaceful, carefree life; I will become a priest or a nun and compel my children to do likewise.”

What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, “0 God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labour, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight.”

From Martin Luther. The Estate of Marriage, 1522. (Translated by Walther I. Brandt)

Some of us are called to deal with soiled diapers for a few years – and some for a lifetime.  Some are called to care for a child for 18 years – and some for a lifetime.  Martin Luther was right in this respect: we men are not worthy.  Nor are we smart enough or strong enough or righteous enough to be given this responsibility.

Except for God who gives us strength!

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27

O, what a happy reality of life in Jesus!  Happy Reformation Day!

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God is sovereign over everything, including elections

Posted in commentary, News on October 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here in the United States there’s an election happening next week.

During these times I’m very grateful God wrote to us about his sovereignty over leaders:

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1

Voting is one of those confounding things in my life.  The stakes, on the one hand, are very high as decisions our elected officials make have an impact on issues of direct consequence to those of us dealing with disability – healthcare, access to education, and parental rights just to name a few.

And there are the issues of literal life and death importance: abortion, infanticide, ‘mercy killing’ and ‘death with dignity.’

On the other hand, in light of eternity, every leader today will someday – soon – just be a footnote in a history book and every decision will have been changed, added to or discarded.

So, I would encourage you to pray, research and vote – and then trust God over all of it!  If God gives us Wednesday morning, no matter how our candidates fared on Tuesday, he will still be sovereign over everything.

Tim Tomlinson, President of Bethlehem College and Seminary, writes a weekly prayer email and always includes a meditation, reflection or devotion.  I found his thoughts this week on the election helpful (you can subscribe to the BCS prayer email here):

Next week the biennial election is upon us. As is usually the case, there is much at stake in this election at all levels of government. As I drive by the hordes of yard signs and billboards, I’m struck by several impulses. First, aside from the higher profile candidates and offices, I don’t really know much about many of the names I’ll see on the ballot on Tuesday–judges, mayors, city council members, county commissioners, etc. Second, I must fight the tendency to despair about the outcome of the election. Third, does it make any difference at all in the long run what I do? Fourth, should a Christian even be concerned about such things?

The first impulse is real, and a challenge to overcome. Even in the Internet era, finding the kind of information which might be helpful (candidates’ stand on key issues–especially local level candidates) is still difficult, as many political candidates have learned the fine art of being vague on controversial issues. However, interest group sites (National Right to Life, etc.) can often be helpful.

The second impulse is harder to overcome because its cause is my momentary lack of faith in the sovereign God of the universe. I need to remind myself regularly that Jesus Christ is the one who holds all authority in his hands.

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).

The third impulse is like the second, only more subtle. The answer, of course, is that it does make a difference what I do. The outcome of any given election may not be the one I hoped and voted for, but my participation may affect an election–especially at the local level.

The fourth impulse is clearer, but Christians are divided over this nonetheless. We know that the outcome of an election isn’t going to alter God’s plan for the culmination of history; that isn’t our business–it’s his alone. Instead, we are called to be faithful members, citizens, and participants in this temporary home we call life on earth. This is part of what it means to be in the world, but not of the world. We know the ultimate outcome of all things is in the Lord’s hands. In the meantime, we must be faithful witnesses–even through our voting in elections–to the glory, worth, beauty, and righteousness of Christ Jesus.

May we all put our faith in the sovereign God of the universe, and be at peace in this world.

Amen, Tim.  Thanks for the good word.

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You have immeasurable value in the workplace. . . if you are allowed to live

Posted in commentary, News on October 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

October is officially National Disability Employment Awareness Month.  President Obama included in his official declaration:

Individuals with disabilities are a vital and dynamic part of our Nation, and their contributions have impacted countless lives.  People with disabilities bring immeasurable value to our workplaces, and we will continue to address the challenges to employment that must be overcome.  This month, let us rededicate ourselves to fostering equal access and fair opportunity in our labor force, and to capitalizing on the talent, skills, and rich diversity of all our workers.

I agree whole-heartedly.

But I would also suggest the President, in wanting to make a generous statement about people with disabilities, did not use the word ‘immeasurable’ accurately. The Federal government measures value all the time: gross national product, employment levels, investment in capital and personnel.  We watch these measurements with great interest.

By contrast, God, who creates out of nothing, knits together little human beings for his glory who will have an eternal existence.  Eternity would seem to be more appropriately connected to ‘immeasurable value’ than productivity in any workplace.

In fact, it is that connection to productivity in the workplace that leaves me unsettled.  I know quite a few children who will never be ‘productive’ in terms of their ability to produce an economic benefit to society.  This lack of future benefit combined with alleged certainty about the ‘quality of life’ a child will experience results in some horrendous things – like abortion rates of more than 90% for some disabling conditions.

How can we even begin to make statements about ‘immeasurable value’ in one area of life when these future workers aren’t allowed to be born?

Yes, I’d feel much better about this declaration if the President took a stand on pre-born babies with disabilities having intrinsic value and inherent, God-given dignity.

Please, Mr. President, do more than make declarations about employment for people with disabilities.  Do more than talk about abortion being ‘safe, legal and rare‘ in this country.  Please, tell people to let the children live.

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