Taking the Name of the Lord in Vain

"The irony for these legalists (of which I’ve labeled myself a recovering one), is that to live contrary to Christ’s teachings, indeed to live contrary to the empowered life of God’s Spirit, is to violate God’s Law in the third commandment:  “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” How is that?  Briefly, to take God’s name in vain is not merely to misuse the name in crude speech.  The Scripture teaches that the application of that commandment is broader than that (see the explanation given in the Westminster Larger Catechism). To wear Christ’s name, yet to deny him by living legalistically, hypocritically or by rejecting his clear teachings, is to take his name in vain." -- Pastor Don

War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles

Rating:
Category:	Books
Genre:	Religion & Spirituality
Author:	Paul David Tripp

This past summer, the gals in our church decided to read and discuss a book together. We chose War of Words, by Paul David Tripp. The book is divided into 3 main sections, so we met three times throughout the summer break to discuss a section each time. I’ve already written about my thoughts on the first part of the book, which bothered me both because of how he supported his point, but also because of how he overstated his position. However, I thought the rest of his book was not only better written (although he continued to persist in aiming in one direction while continually pointing to another), but he also had a lot of really good things to say. (In other words, it's a good thing I was reading this book in a group because if I was reading it on my own, I probably would have chucked it a few chapters in. But having to meet with other folks to discuss the rest of the book kept me plugging on through.)

Let me first address my biggest pet peeve with this book before I get on to acknowledging several of the excellent things he said. The book is titled the War of Words because the goal is to teach Christians, in particular, how to speak in a way that reflects the loving, forgiving, gracious character of God. So obviously, Tripp's focus was on what people say to one another. But he repeatedly said things such as:

"...it is important to recognize that the war of words is actually the fruit of a greater, more fundamental war. This is the war of wars; it is what life is about." (p. 37)

"Like all wars, this war is for control. It is a war for our hearts." (p. 39)

"...a life of godly communication is rooted in a personal recognition of the sovereignty of God." (p. 69)

"The war of words is, at bottom, a war for sovereignty." - page 69

In other words, the heart of the matter isn't our words at all, but the heart (or attitude) that our words spring up out of. I feel like Tripp is pointing me in one direction ("focus on the conversation" - "the words are the issue") and then he keeps redirecting me toward the "heart of the matter" which is our attitudes and beliefs. I suppose an analogy would be if a doctor wrote a book on the "War of the Cough" and then repeatedly said throughout the book that the cough wasn't the essential core of the problem but the cold that caused it. If that's the case, then why not focus on the cold throughout the book and address the cough as needed within that discussion? Why title the book and spend the entire first section of the book focusing on the symptom only to undermine both of those by focusing on the underlying heart of the matter for the entire rest of the book? Why not get the focus straight from the get-go and deal with the symptoms throughout as well... as symptoms, not as the central, but not primary, problem? I found this continued bifurcation of focus to be distracting as I read.

And yet, I think Tripp has some excellent things to say as well. I do agree that the root of relational problems often has far more to do with our attitudes, our need to be right, and the sense that we are in control of our lives than what words we use or how we couch them. In disagreements we often approach the other person as the enemy, rather than seeing the disunity or anger as the enemy and both our self and our supposed opponent as the victims. Christians in particular are keen to use the Bible as a weapon against our own spiritual family rather than applying it as a balm to heal the wounds that divide.

Right relationships come about when we also have a right understanding of ourselves. If we think that we know more, know better, and act better than those around us, it's quite likely that we'll have a fair bit of disunity (within our family, our workplace, our congregation, etc.). But if we are willing to take an honest look at ourselves, acknowledge our own faults, accept the help others are willing to give to change our attitudes or our behaviors, then we can grow, and change, and heal. It boils down to recognizing that we are not divine. We are not God. We don't know it all. And even when we're right about an issue, lording that rightness over another does more harm than good. It's not just our knowledge or beliefs that must be accurate, but our attitudes as well. If we cannot speak the truth in love, then we'd best just shut up until we can.

Tripp says that "our words should bring God the glory he deserves. And second, our words should bring redemptive good into the lives of the people God has placed around us." In other words, we should love the Lord our God with all our heart and love our neighbor as our self. As Christians, we should be ambassadors for God who help to bring about God's redemptive purposes, rather than ambassadors who act as agents of wrath - wrath that wells up our of our own selfishness. God is not a tool in our lives that we can wield to get our own way. In fact, entirely the opposite is true. Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." We're not known to be Jesus' disciples because we're right, or our opinions are shown to be better, or we act more godly than other people. We're known to be disciples because we are people who, even in difficult relationships -- like with our enemies -- operate with an attitude of love.

So in the end I think I'd recommend this book. But if you're going to skim at any point, I'd suggest skimming the first three chapters. This book challenges some of the standards attitudes and opinions within the church (at least the church in America) and in that regard I think it makes a good book for discussion. The evangelical American church is rather known for being arrogant, self-righteous, and unforgiving. As Tripp says, "It is never okay to communicate in ways that contradict [God's] message, methods, and character." (Which sounds very much like what Os Guiness said as well.) And yet Christians frequently do exactly that. Until we get to the heart of the matter, I think Christians will continue to be arrogant and bitter ambassadors for a God who is neither.

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Quotes from the book

"Winning the war of words means living with eyes open, aware not only of our own struggle, but of other pilgrims struggling on the journey with us."

"Paul says, 'Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently....' Let's be sure we understand these words. Notice first that Paul does not say, 'If you catch someone in a sin...' He is not talking about sneaking up on someone to catch him in the act! Rather, he is talking about how we as sinners get 'caught' -- that is, entrapped and ensnared in sin."

"Self-indulgent, sin-indulgent talk contradicts our identity as the children of grace."

"Gentleness doesn't mean compromising the truth. Rather, it means keeping the truth from being compromised by harshness and insensitivity."

"When we are wronged, the thing of highest importance is not that we feel satisfied or avenged, but that we respond according to God's plan and for his glory."

"We seem to forget that, really, there is only one enemy -- and it is not the person being confronted! The purpose of confrontation is not to stand against the person, but to stand alongside him, pointing out the things God wants him to see, confess, and forsake."

"The lack of forgiveness causes us to fight God rather than submit to him and causes us to stand against rather than with one another."

"Truth is the casualty when I love myself more than I love you."

Unwholesome Talk

"When Paul says, 'Forbid any unwholesome talk from entering your conversation,' [Ephesians 4] he is not just talking about cursing, swearing, or vulgar, four-letter words. In fact, to think of the passage in this way grossly minimizes its intent. Paul has something much more redemptively revolutionary in mind. For Paul, unwholesome talk is me-centered talk that has no higher purpose than my own wants, desires, dreams, and demands. Unwholesome words flow from a heart that is controlled by present, personal, earthly desire. They are spoken because they please me and accomplish my goals. They are an attempt to get me what I want, without reference to the lordship of Christ or my call to speak as his ambassador." -- Paul David Tripp, in his book War of Words

I like the phrase he uses here, "grossly minimizes its intent." I think Christians often grossly minimize the intent of a Scripture passage or Biblical directive. And they frequently proceed to take the grossly minimized understanding and magnify it in such a way that minor offenses become major offenses while major offenses are ignored. 

God's Computer

Oil in Israel, Idiots in the U.S.

I got an email today that consisted of this and "subscription info." I am not making this up. I don't have Photoshop any more and I'm not very good at mash-ups like this anyway. 

So I clicked through. You know me. I'm not afraid to click. All I ended up with was this page: 

Introverted Church: A Matter of Motivation Redux

http://www.introvertedchurch.com/2010/08/matter-of-motivation-redux.html
Adam McHugh (author of Introverts in the Church) just reposted this. Here's a quick quote:

It's not that we [introverts] don't like people or are anti-social or standoffish, it's that it actually feels better for us to be alone sometimes.

Would You Like Fries With That Theory? Part Three | The BioLogos Forum

http://biologos.org/blog/would-you-like-fries-with-that-theory-part-three/
I discovered the BioLogos Forum this morning as I read through an article that my mom had sent me: Bruce Waltke headed to Knox Theological Seminary? (His move from the Reformed Theological Seminary to Knox was precipitated by some statements he apparently made in a BioLogos video (which I still need to dig up and watch).)

I particularly liked one statement in this article. Not only do I agree with it wholeheartedly, but I think a similar statement can also be made.

"Science is about finding out how the world is whether we like it or not." -- Karl Giberson

Theology is about finding out who God is whether we like it or not.

Culture Shock - Life in the Christian Ghetto

Even though I've been attending "Evangelical" churches for the past 28 years, there are still times when I almost feel like I'm walking in a foreign country. I think this tends to happen more when I'm with a group of people who have grown up in the evangelical church and very likely their parents grew up in the evangelical/protestant church and so on. So there's a "church culture" there that these people have been raised in that's tied very closely with their understanding of Christianity (whether or not it actually is a part of Christianity as described by the Bible). 

I was raised as a Catholic through a long line of Catholics (both Roman and Byzantine) and I suppose that's why these things sometimes come as a culture shock. Despite having been immersed in the Evangelical culture on and off for 28 years, my roots are different enough, and my study of the Bible has been compared to an alternate set of cultural understandings, that it's a bit jarring when I run into something from another culture that's called "Christian" but that's rather different than my own understanding of what the Bible says.

It feels like running into a wall. When I try to point out the difference between the Biblical statements regarding the topic and the cultural ones, that pretty much feels like backing up and running into the wall again and again. That's when it finally dawns on me that we're not talking about the Bible or what God has said, we're talking about the way people were raised and what they were told to believe growing up. It may very well have next to nothing to do with what the Bible says, but because it's a part of what they've always thought of as Christianity, it therefore is in their minds intimately related to Christianity. It's not really up for debate. 

My head hurts.