Struggling With the Ideal

Recently during a conversation with two dear believers the subject of dieting and exercise came up; specifically about how the body should look. Well, I'll ask you, how should the body look? How healthy should we be? How much focus should we put on these things? Undoubtedly, some Christians (and non-Christians) see the body as a temple; a living temple. Commonly, they use scripture as a proof text: 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV1984),
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" and thus ingesting nothing unhealthy. Yet, some are fully intent on denying the body any nutrition except for that which can be gleaned from the substrate of a double-cheeseburger--either ignorantly or leaning on the grace factor. Maybe their proof text is something like 1 Corinthians 10:27 (NIV1984), "If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience." Some would want to argue that the "you" in chapter six is plural and is, therefore speaking of the body of the whole church; or that the chapter 10 verse is taken out of context. These discrepancies, be they true or not, do nothing to answer the question of, how ought we treat our bodies? Should we dive headlong into a wedding cake because we have freedom in Christ or should we suppress our desires that send us wantonly into the arms of the foodstuffs of the state fair?

Ultimately, many of our questions as a Christian bring us to an apex. On one side of that apex we have grace and on the other we have holiness. Daily we have before us a fine line to walk; antinomianism on the right and legalism on the left. For those who specifically struggle with how to treat the body this can lead to some very heavy spiritual and psychological stress. There are two areas where the Christian tends to err in this area. On the one hand you can say that the body was made by God and therefore we have a obligation to maintain it--becoming a steward of our own bodies. On the other hand you could say that the body was originally made by God but today's bodies are products of an equation involving time, DNA, and the fall--they are fallen, mutated, and decomposing--so we ought to eat like we're dying (or at least our bodies are). Either of these arguments fall victim of the dreaded Is-Ought fallacy. The Is-Ought fallacy grasps the individual who believes that because something is a certain way, that is the way it ought to be. For an example you will remember the old canard,  If man were meant to fly, God would have given him wings. The fallacy seems obvious here, but when it is used to talk about the teleological status of the body.... well, not so much. 

Of these two the one that seems to be the most troubling for believers in Christ is the concept of the body being perfectly created by a perfect creator--the problem of holiness. That is, since we are obliged, or we ought, to keep the body in its most pristine then it is sin to let it fall from perfection because to do anything other than what we ought is, by definition, sin. The only way we can maintain this idea in our minds is to have an idea of what is the good and perfect concept of the body--the ideal. As Christians we mostly err on the side of holiness. Often, though, we over-correct our trajectory from sin on the one side all the way to sin on the other side. So, while trying to be holy we end up falling under an extra-biblical,  man-made law; trying to reach the ideal we end up being legalistic.  However, the ideal in our eyes is rarely the ideal that is seen in His eyes (the is-ought fallacy). 

The opposite of this is erroneous concept is just as dangerous, yet not as common. The believer is far less likely to struggle with antinomian ("against law") beliefs, but is equally susceptible. When the Christian is finally through, ultimately fed up with the fruitlessness and overwhelming depression of legalism they tend to fall fast and hard towards our friend grace. Now, though grace is a beautiful and major tenet of the Christian faith it is easily abused. Seeing the body as essentially fallen and without hope until the resurrection coupled with the grace of God we are almost compelled to view the ideal state of the body as whatever gets us around; a completely utilitarian view.

In nearly every path of the Christian walk we will be confronted with this dilemma--the struggle with the ideal. This is ultimately a false dilemma. The Christian religion is filled with seemingly contradictory doctrines: just sinners (simul justus et peccator), a man named Jesus who is God incarnate (very God of very God), a God who "is Love" and decrees punishment in Hell. The humble man will look into these matters and find that these things are not contradictory but complimentary; not illogical but incomprehensible. The gifted theologian Don Carson, in his book Exegetical Fallacies, lists a fallacy he titled "false disjunctions: a false appeal to the law of the excluded middle." A false disjunction is "a false either/or requirement when complimentarity might be acceptable". We as Christians are called to walk the line between holiness and grace. There is no either/or disjunction here; it is a balance. 

The question is, How do we find that balance. I do not pretend to know for sure and it is not my intention to answer that question here. Perhaps you know. I do know one thing for sure: if the answer is to be found anywhere it is in scripture. So, let us struggle with the ideal by looking for answers in the God's word and in those especially gifted to teach it. I was recently listening to a conference of such gifted teachers when, during the Q&A, the question, "Why don't Christians care when they are sinning?", was asked, Alistair Begg responded:

The  reason is that the believer does not understand the notion of union with Christ.
And when we don't understand what it means to be united with Christ, then all we will be left with is either legalism on the one hand or lawlessness on the other hand. It is since then you have been raised with Christ you seek those things that are above; and it is because of who you are in Christ; because your nature has been changed; your status has been changed; because you have been raised to the heavenly places that these things are not impossible but they are now incongruent.
And I think part of the problem is people do not know who they are in Christ.

Down With the Ship

The  tongue is a rudder;
I'm clueless how to sail.
The ships abound in the harbor;
the crew is clinging to the rail.

If I make it out to sea alone,
casualties will be low.
There my rudder will be freed;
where I toss about, to and fro.

If I trust the good Captain,
I can learn to use my lips.
Though, even with a mended rudder,
I'll still go down with the ship.

Truly Free

The sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.--Abraham Lincoln

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.--Winston Churchill

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.--Ronald Reagan

The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.--John F. Kennedy

Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry is own weight, this is a frightening prospect.--Eleanor Roosevelt

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.—St. Paul

“Figures—The letter kills—Everything happened figuratively—Christ had to suffer—A humiliated God—This is the cipher St Paul gives us. [2Cor 3.6] Circumcision of the heart, true fasting, true sacrifice, true temple;[Rom 2.29] the prophets showed that all this must be spiritual. Not the flesh that perishes, but that which does not perish.[John 6.53-7] ‘Ye shall be free indeed.’[John 8.36] So the other freedom is just a figurative freedom.
‘I am the true bread from heaven.’[John 6.51]”—Blaise Pascal

If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.—The Lord of all, Jesus of Nazareth

A Half-a-Moon

Today we got only a half moon. I say only, because it could have been full. Is not a full moon better than a half? To me, it is. This half moon is at most halfway pleasing to me. If we could simply have a full moon today, then I would be happy. However, since I only see a half moon I will complain about it.

The moon today was ugly; it put me in a bad mood. It surely could have been bigger. It really could have been fuller. Brighter. Shinier. Clearer. Now that I am thinking about it, do we really need a moon at all? I mean if it is not going to be full, bright, and shiny, then what is the point of putting it up there? While I am at it, there were a few other things not quite right this morning. For one, my feet were sticking out, bare and cold, when I woke up. Furthermore, my coffee was a little bitter; I do not like that all. Not to mention the temperature drastically changed from the weekly average that we have been receiving. What’s the deal?

Now let me regain my composure. Well, now that I look at it again, these really do sound like silly things to grumble and complain about. Do they seem silly to you? They really do seem a menial and trivial thing when you take a step back and look at them from another point of view.  Though, I suppose, from God’s point of view, these things may not be trivial at all. They may have great importance in my life. I guess it is considerable to remember that God is the determiner of the importance of everything in each area of our life as it relates to His ultimate plan. So, maybe I should not complain about the half moon then. I really shouldn’t complain about anything. After all, I’m sure that Moses’ Israelites thought it was an insignificant thing to complain about having only manna and no meat to eat. Yet, Numbers 11 says this:

 ¹ Now the people began complaining openly before the LORD about hardship. When the LORD heard, His anger burned, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. ² Then the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. ³ So that place was named Taberah, because the LORD’s fire had blazed among them.  ⁴ Contemptible people among them had a strong craving for other food. The Israelites cried again and said, “Who will feed us meat? ⁵ We remember the free fish we ate in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. ⁶ But now our appetite is gone; there’s nothing to look at but this manna!”…
¹⁸ “Tell the people: Purify yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you cried before the LORD: ‘Who will feed us meat? We really had it good in Egypt.’ The LORD will give you meat and you will eat. ¹⁹ You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or 10 days, or 20 days, ²⁰ but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and cried to Him: ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”…
 ³¹ A wind sent by the LORD came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped them at the camp all around, three feet off the ground, about a day’s journey in every direction. ³² The people were up all that day and night and all the next day gathering the quail—the one who took the least gathered 50 bushels—and they spread them out all around the camp.
 ³³ While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the LORD’s anger burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a very severe plague. ³⁴ So they named that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved the meat.

To Judge or Not To Judge; That Is Romans 14

                In Romans chapter 14, Paul uses the analogy of one person judging another’s slave, according to their own standards, in order to show the absurdity of one person judging another Christian—mind you, this only works with believers and not unbelievers, who are not slaves of God. The absurdity comes in at the idea that says that the one judging knows the end of the slave’s task or works. He does not.

                One very large and important inference we can draw from this argument of Paul’s is that one cannot tell whether a slave of Christ is where he should be, because that slave of Christ has one very specific and predetermined goal: to glorify God; one certain end: to be sanctified. In order to judge, then, this servant of the Most High, we would need to know the order in which this life of sanctification is taking place and the means that God is using for this end.

To exemplify this point we can look at one other analogy. Consider a particular historical figure who had his own personal secret means to another certain predetermined end. Consider Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (a.k.a. Michelangelo) the sculptor—the artist. When Michelangelo was commissioned to create a certain work, the one paying the artist would often have a very good, if not total, idea of what the end would look like. However, if the commissioner came to the sculptor prior to the works completion and at various times, would he be justified in judging the work or not? Would he be right in telling Michelangelo that his partially carved piece of stone was not where it should be? No. He has no idea of where it should be. Even another artist would be unjust in making a premature judgment of a piece of art. How much more, then, should we not judge another Master’s work of art—a work of holiness?