Unity in Christ

This blog was supposed to be writing about the questions I have with the Roman Catholic Church. I still have some big questions about Roman Catholic dogma. But all of these have been addressed numerous times, by many different people, at many different times.

I am presently in Ft. Jackson, S.C. and have the privilege of serving with many different men (and a few women) of God, at the Chaplains Officer Basic Course. This part of the course is designed to put stress on the leader students and other students. As a prior service, I have experience, and have been placed as a Platoon (PLT) leader. I am being tested on issues that God has had to work on me before. One of these is the issue of pride. Pride makes me more concerned about competing with the other Platoon’s (PLT’s) rather than growing in brotherhood. Since my PLT is a direct reflection of what I’m in charge of, pride makes me more concerned about looking out for the image of my PLT more than it should be. Pride makes my speech more contemptuous, more conceited, and more divisive.

I noticed these old competitive thoughts (that the Army breeds) starting to creep back in. When an internal PLT dispute arose, due to other people’s misplaced pride…it hit me what one of my major callings will—and has always been in the back of my mind—to promote unity among the brothers of Christ.

This calling to the Chaplaincy has to do with me hearing about other Chaplain’s bickering when I was a young Infantryman. Now, I understand that everyone has issues. Chaplains are human beings as well. But when someone told me that they thought the Chaplaincy is more political than the other branches…it hurt me. I think that was an oversimplification. The Chaplaincy is full of hard working men and women of God. But when divisiveness strikes, it turns today’s post modern Soldiers off in a huge way. They see the pride and hypocrisy coming through on petty disputes (that we hold onto because of our own insecurities).

Chaplains are the salt for these Soldiers. We need to stay humble and serve our Lord with faith. We need to stay clear of the thoughts in our own minds that push us to be prideful and look out only for ourselves. We need to be lights for Christ.

This is the verse that I shared with my Platoon this morning: Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3).

The Fruits in Apologetics

I have learned much in the Apologetics class offered here at Liberty. The material is challenging and covers a wide variety of different religious worldviews. There are a couple of questions that have come to light during this process of learning.

A big question is: Why am I extra sensitive (probably too sensitive) in disputing theological points with other faith denominations that main stream Christianity labels as a cult? I have always had a good defense, but have always been hesitant on the offense. Just talking about each other’s faith in terms of a football strategy makes me squirm. I think that I am taking a sacred relationship with God through Jesus Christ and treating it like a political debate.

But it is more than that. I come from a background that was very cynical of organized religion. One of the big issues that kept me from going to Church for a long time is noticing other Christians fighting each other. To me they acted worldly, self centered, and short sighted. People’s beliefs on God should not be debated at the same level as sports, or even politics. My perception was that Baptists going to Salt Lake City to convert Mormons was off balance—institutionalized and not personalized. To me it was more “Crusade” like and less Jesus like. I saw so many people that were one generation removed from the Church because they saw only religion (institution) at work and not Jesus Christ (personal) at work.

In this class, I have learned about myself. This learning is that I am sensitive to the person who loves God but is suspicious of organized religion. This is me. Sometimes this is a strength…but other times it is a weakness. It is weak when in the name of sensitivity I do not do what the Bible commands. God’s Word tells us to stand up for sound doctrine and refute faulty doctrine. Thank God, Paul wasn’t being extra sensitive when he stood up against attempts by early Christians to go back into Jewish legalism. The Bible records all of these things for our benefit. The truth of Jesus Christ and the coming together of his followers is challenged by conflict and falsehood. Otherwise the Bible wouldn’t have referred to the Galatians’ as being foolish and asked who has bewitched them.

Out of all this, I go back to the need for people (especially in our postmodern generation) to have strong points put across to them in a personal and loving manner. Christians should not shout from the pillars of an institution, being propped up by spiritual pride. When Christians talk and show others about God’s true nature; they need to do it with the loving, authoritative confidence of the Holy Spirit. When this occurs, these things are evident: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Apologetics in our Postmodern World

The purpose of this blog is to bring to light some thoughts of apologetics in our post-modern world. These thoughts are not just my own opinions, but the opinions of other people that have grown up in a post modern culture that are suspicious of organized institutions stating that they have the only truth. An apologist today has to speak a language that sticks up for a truth, yet does it in a way that builds relationships and is respectful to the other opinion. I know this sounds way too political correct but it is not. A Christian apologist is still standing up for a strong truth. But the environment in where this truth is being defended is post modern. If an apologist does not recognize this, than the perception is that this person is just another over opinionated, polarizing person, that is more interested in pushing their agenda then having a respect for the greater good.

The crux and challenge of the issue is that the message of Jesus Christ is polarizing. His message stated a specific path that one would call opinionated—and it was God’s truth. This truth was so offensive to the establishment, that he was killed because of it. So how does one defend this truth in a postmodern world? Here are a couple of ideas.

Number one. Jesus’ truth is explained and defended with authority, yet with respect and love for the other person’s belief. Our postmodern generation has been educated and raised on entertainment that shows dogmatism as being ignorant. If the person with a strong belief is not ignorant, then he or she must be trying to gain power or wealth. The defender of Christ must be aware of the postmodern desire to “coexist” with all viewpoints and work around this by actually showing the “good news” of following Jesus.

Number two. An apologist needs to show that he is not gaining any power or material possession by a person accepting Christ. Our postmodern world is skeptical that every institution has a self serving angle. The perception is that these institutions use people for material gain and when threatened they fight with each other. To the skeptical post modern; Christian history is nothing more than fighting wars, conquering the natives, and feuding for more power. Even though this is an extreme oversimplification; perception is reality. In this mass media world, Christian apologists must show the sincere intent of why they are defending Christ.

http://www.Liberty.edu/seminary