I’m just a few pages away from finishing the book Game Change. The book is about the 2008 Presidential election. It’s the first purely political book I’ve bought in a long time, maybe ever. The book is decidedly Pro-Obama and an Hillary.
It’s been a fun read. The book showed me many things I didn’t previously know and yet those things reinforced for me some things that I had been thinking all along.
This post has nothing to do with Politics or the book. I just wanted to give you the background.
It occurred to me throughout the book that many people cast their vote not based on ideology. That is to say, many of the people throughout the book talked about why they cast their fate with a particular candidate. Time and time again it came back to one word. Not the plan (with some of the candidate’s the plans were very very similar). I mean obviously the Republicans were going to vote with the Republicans and Democrats with Democrats, but ultimately it came down to something intangible.
That something is called hope.
It struck me as I read this sweeping book about the sport of politics that hope is the one thing that the church has in spades. I mean think about it! We have hope that God is and will make all things new. He’s reconciled all things to Himself.
God gives us the promise of Hope. In fact one of the most misquoted verses in the whole Bible is because often the person doing the quoting leaves off the most important phrase. You know the verse. It says
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
Now, I’ve heard this verse used to defend people who are literal 6 dayers and why they fight for it. I’ve heard heretic hunters use it. Of course they never actually get to the next part of the verse. It says
to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
Give an account for the hope you have in you. What is that hope? Christ died for you for me to bring us to God. I wonder if the reason we’re so rarely asked about our hope is because we don’t actually act like people with hope.
The fact that passage goes on to talk about how our gentleness and respect (actions) are our actual defense and not our finely tuned theological statements is just a bonus. Not our megaphones, or our witty blog lines. Not our book deals, or our denominations. Not how many years we’ve been in “professional ministry.” Not our cred’s. Our action.
Did you ever wonder why he had to put the whole gentleness and respect in right after talking about hope. I think it’s because hope is offensive and scary to many people. In fact just today I talked to a guy who said, “Let me tell you something, hope is an f-ing scary thing. It may be the worst thing ever. A man can go crazy with hope.” I’m going to withhold the rest of the conversation because the words would cause too many you to focus on them instead of the post. (Maybe me too?)
May you be someone who is filled with hope. May you be someone who people ask about the hope found in you. When pastor’s betray you, and friends abandon you. When Christians give more kindness to drug addicts than to you and you’re worse nightmare comes true may you be able to see and hold onto the hope found in you.
When you are at the end and are convinced you can’t go another step, may you be filled with the Hope that only God can give. May God grant you the clarity to see the Hope He offers.
May you always remember that God died for you.
28 Comments(+Add)
Politics = False hope
Christ = The only hope.
#1 – amen
Joe,
Excellent post.
#1 and #2,
I’m glad I was able to communicate the point of the post to you.
#3. Thanks
please, God, please, God, do NOT let this thread devolve into a political conversation.
#5, Amen.
#3, Amen.
Joe, excellent thoughts. Thank you.
jerry
Obama and the rest of the world system only offer a false sense of hope and security. Pastors and churches can do the same thing, the Gospel having devolved into the idea that all you have to do is good things, or if you do bad things or live a life in opposition to the truth of the scripture all you must do is ask for forgiveness. That is false hope, for it serves a false Christ.
It is also a false hope that we are all saved somehow, that we all have been reconciled and redeemed. It is false hope that we can take out a spring or a brick from Bible doctrine and still have the same Bible and serve the same God. It is false hope that whatever man-pleasing sail we build can catch the Spirit of God.
The hope that is within us is to be educated by truth, believing in the God of the Bible which can be trusted to do just what He says He will do. Our only hope is in Him who draws us to Himself, making us holy in the spiritual, and allowing us to walk in His ways in the physical. Our hope is embedded in the veracity of God who makes and keeps promises, one of which is a new heaven and a new earth which those who believe in Him alone for salvation look forward to.
We should be ambassadors of that hope. That hope should drive us to live lives that are filled with the love of God for a fallen world.
John Chisham,
Why should we hope for anything more from you?
Leave it to Pastorboy to become the spewer of hate rather than hope…
#7.
John Chisham, I agree that our hope should drive us to live lives that are full of love for God and a fallen world. I’m not really sure what you were getting at in your comment.
I think you were trying to take swipes at Rob and Chad and everybody kind of at once. I think you might have been trying to take a swipe at me too.
What exactly was your point? Do you disagree/agree with the OP? Let’s start there.
The only thing comment 7 was missing was a reference to evolution.
Dude, you are obsessed with making Christ the size of your fist.
What a hopeless mission. It’s just tilting at windmills….
When a man becomes void of all hope, he either kills himself or others or both.
Well, Joe, I guess I didn’t get the point because of your hidden swipes at people who proclaim the Gospel verbally (with or without megaphones) and people who actually study the Word of God and have an answer.
What is more gentle and respectful? A pat answer? A sunday school answer? Or a matter of fact answer based on knowledge, given with gentleness, meaning an attitude of empathy understanding where the other person is at, and respect, honor due another person regardless if they agree or disagree. This verse does not mean that we change the truth, it is all about love and our delivery of the truth.
I think gentleness and respect can be shown one to one, on a street corner, or in a pulpit. I think all of these things demonstrate hope, the hope that we have in God.
Great post, Joe!
May I suggest one thought that runs a bit counter? Re: the guy that talked about hope being scary.
When Scripture talks about the hope that a Christian has, it’s a certainty. In other words, it’s not the way that we use the word today (e.g. “I hope it doesn’t rain Saturday.”).
It seems to me that genuine hope (as cited in the Bible) shouldn’t be scary at all. If anything, it ought to be very calming.
Now, unfortunately, the unsaved person can’t grasp this. And really unfortunately, many Christians don’t either. I’d guess that that guy (and the “many people” you cited) are somewhere in there.
Caveat: Not that I live the right way all the time. Hey, I can talk theory.
#13 (PB): your hidden swipes at people who proclaim the Gospel verbally
Darn it, now I’ve got Carly Simon stuck in my head again.
John Chisham,
No hidden swipes. I put it in the post plain as day. I also included book deals. When does your book come out? Oh it doesn’t? Maybe I was talking about my teaching pastor then?
I’m not sure I’ve ever said everyone is magically saved, so I’m not sure why your still trying to grind that axe while it’s bucking out of control underneath you.
#12.
Rick, I used to think that but I think there’s actually a third choice. Sometimes, they end up living miserable lives that suck the joy out of everything around them. They sometimes cover it in Atheism and sometimes cover it in Religion.
Brendt,
I agree it’s not the same as I hope the rain comes out and that isn’t how the guy yesterday meant it. He meant it as hope that somebody would put the world back to right again.
3rd generation pastor.
I have always loved that verse. It has always spurred me on to devour books on apologetics and comparative religion so that if I get the hard questions, I will be able to answer (hopefully).
I also love that the word hope is paired with the words gentleness and respect because if you are really talking about hope… how else could you speak to someone?
Anyway, just a few thoughts,
Blessings,
grinding a bucking axe beneath you?
that sounds dangerous….
“I also love that the word hope is paired with the words gentleness and respect because if you are really talking about hope… how else could you speak to someone?”
Very good but rarely manifested.
A question:
Should a believer always take another person’s hope into consideration when evaluating our own behavior even if that person is lost and does not presently understand the divine hope he could have? For instance, is it ever God’s will that we kill a lost sinner and send him to hell because we are defending some earthly cause?
Do we remove any hope from a lost sinner by killing him in war or anything else and send him eternally to hell? (Calvinists have a built in theological buffer)
Since our hope is secure in Christ why would we be justified in killing someone who has no hope presently but could come to Christ’s hope in the future? Is any earthly issue worth defending at the expense of the eternal consequences of a lost sinner?
Nobody said any differently. Because we are saved, we demonstrate our love by loving and living within the law, rather than in fear of it.
As the Psalmist writes: Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.
Nope. It is part of Jewish civil law (which has proscribed punishments), for them to live “set apart”, not as Noaic Law.
From Acts 15:
With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
The section I have bolded is the common first-century shorthand designation for Noaic Law, by which non-Jewish God-fearers were to live. It did not include ceremonial law (including circumcision and festivals) or dietary laws (apart from forbidding cruelty to animals). It includes the prohibition against idolatry, murder, cruelty and sexual immorality.
Tell you what – I’ll believe Jesus rather than Rick:
Jesus: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.\
I think I’ll believe what he said…
Already dealt with this straw-man argument above.
FYI: Paul’s argument in Galatians 4 is against Jews/Jewish Christians who insisted that (as had been practiced by Jewish missionaries in the previous century) Gentiles must become Jews in order to be saved (which required circumcision, recognition of holy days, etc.). Paul is right that the Law does not save, but he does not day that the Law has been abolished. As Paul and I were discussing above, the audience of Paul’s letters understood how the Torah was structured (with different rules for different groups, depending on their office and whether they were Jewish or not), and he never speaks against the moral laws (anti-idolatry, murder, cruelty, and sexual sin). But if you ignore the context of Paul’s letters, like you have done, you’re likely to completely draw the wrong conclusions, as you have done.
We certainly do a great job of mischaracterizing them as believing in salvation by works, though…
“I’ll believe Jesus rather than Rick:”
And by that you suggest I teach against what Jesus taught but you, of course, follow and teach every jot and tittle that came from Jesus’ mouth. You cannot even quote Jesus without prefacing it with a demeaning swipe and a not so veiled claim to self righteousness.
I attempt to teach and believe what the Lord Jesus did and taught. I do not always succeed, but I do try. I will run it by you in the future to make sure.
setting aside the false dichotomy i would agree that matter of fact answers given with humility and respect are what is ont mind.
This may be delivered on a street corner or beach. yet, i believe railing against sinners with a list of their (assumed) sins does not. calling people names does not. reducing the gospel to a mental ascent so as to avoid hell does not.
i have not seen any advocate that it does give license to change the truth.
#23 and #24,
Please keep your argument on the appropriate thread. Thanks
Love is kind. Just say’n.
#23 and #24 – Well **my** Bible says . . .