From Harmony to Discord and Back Again

The devil does not delight in love and harmony.  He relishes discord and sorrow.  He seeks to create this by anger and resentment.  He does this wherever there are relationships: Christ and the Church, husband and wife, Pastor and Church, even between two friends.  The devil cannot tolerate harmony for where there is harmony, there the Word can be proclaimed and indeed faith grows and more souls are brought to faith by the Holy Spirit.  And so the devil seeks to create wedges of conflict.

The first example is clear.  The devil sowed discord into all relationships—between Adam and Eve and between God and mankind!  The Devil knew that there was complete harmony between Man and God.  This was not acceptable to him so he sought a way around this and he found it in the relationship between man and woman.  Here were two creatures whom God loved, whom he had made perfect.  The devil’s hope was to create distrust between God and man and he did it by creating distrust between Adam and Eve. 

Eve relied on the word Adam spoke to her.   Adam was already having discord sown.  In his harmony with his wife he did not speak up for her and show her that the serpent was trying to deceive her.  Instead he allowed his wife to incorrectly speak God’s Word rather than speak it on her behalf and thereby become deceived.  Adam ate what his wife gave him trusting her more than God.  The devil’s plan was successful.  He had created disharmony due to a lack of trust in the promises of God.  God was in discord with man.  While this discord was remedied by God providing the Messiah, the discord amongst mankind was forever to be tested.

You see Adam and Eve didn’t trust each other anymore.  In fact, Adam blamed Eve rather than owning up to his selfishness by protecting his wife from the devil and the punishment that God was going to pass down.  From that moment, sin came into the world and discord ruled the day.  We see this over and over throughout Scripture as people were in discord with each other and especially with God.  The cause behind this is always the devil.  As 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

For this reason the Lord seeks to create harmony.  We see this first of all because the Lord sent the Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us and bring about a reunion of faith.  It is only in Christ that we are united with the Father once more.  This we hear loud and clear in Ephesian 1:7-10, “In Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Because Jesus died for you and me, God created harmony that we receive through faith. 

The devil seeks to destroy this harmony, so he creates discord in homes and the church.  He seeks to cause division and it is only through faithful catechesis of both husband and wife that this is overcome.  How often do we see discord in a church because someone in the church refuses to hear God’s clear word on a point of doctrine?  This is especially true when a church experiences change—for example the change of a pastor.  For where there is a change in the pastor, there is a change in delivery and emphasis in the midst of continued right teaching. 

While the Pastor’s teaching and his method of delivery may be foreign to the new congregation in the midst of this change, the devil will seek all the more to cause discord.  In this manner, both Pastor and congregation must recognize when something has gone awry and seek the scripture to comprehend the discord that the devil is sowing. The congregation must trust her elders to work with the pastor, and she must also listen to her called pastor about what he is actually teaching comparing it to scripture and the confessions and trust that he is listening to their concerns. In like manner the pastor must hear the concerns that are presented and seek all the more diligently to be sure that what he is presenting is truly from the Word of God.  He must work to be clearer in the delivery and answering the questions.

It is in this challenge that one also can look to scripture at the relationship between the Pastor and the Church; that it is like a bridegroom and the bride.  How do the bridegroom and bride interact?  Luther states, “It would give the devil great pleasure if a husband and wife were constantly grumbling and mumbling against one another.  Even better: If chairs, benches, and tables were being constantly thrown back and forth!  Then the devil would rejoice!  For he would love to see the institution of marriage totally disappear from the face of the earth and to have nothing good ever come out of it.  The devil does everything in his power—being the destroyer of God’s works and order which he is—to accomplish his goal.” (What is Marriage Really? pg. 31)

In the same way the devil would rejoice to watch churches tear themselves apart.  For if he can remove the church from the community, then the Gospel would be destroyed in that community!  So instead we must see the devil for what he does and understand that the Lord has created the marriage between the Church and Pastor for her edification and salvation.  The Pastor does not demand or force his way, but gives himself up for her.  He lovingly speaks God’s Word of Law and Gospel to her.  He teaches her.  He does not use her for selfish gain, but instead seeks to make her all the more beautiful in the eyes of the world, not through vain action but by speaking well of her and grooming her with the very Word of God.  He is not to be a glory hog seeking to build up the church to make himself look better so that he may go on to a different church but love and cherish her as one whom the Lord has given to him to care for and love.  Likewise the Church is called to submit to her pastor for what he does is sacrifice for her.  He cares for all her needs giving of himself so that she would not lack.  She listens to his words and trusts his work. 

Like every marriage we must not be tempted to think we can find better.  We should not be full of sorrow and disappointment that they are not who we thought they would be, but rather cling to God’s Word, and see that all our relationships are given to us like a beautifully set gem (pg. 31).  It is only by truly being in God’s Word that any relationship will truly endure.  For the Word of God will certainly turn the bitter wormwood of marriage into honey and turn sorrow once more into gladness (pg. 32)

Yes, the love that is found in marriage or any relationship will have it struggles.  But when we understand what God has done for us, we will then turn away from our discord, anger, resentment, sorrow, and hatred in that relationship and instead embrace a relationship founded on forgiveness.  Whether it is in marriage, the church, or a friendship, when God’s Word is put first, the love of God always prevails in true reconciliation, a coming together again, a truly god-fearing relationship founded in Christ alone.  For only in Christ can we truly come together. 

When one does come together in Christ, there is an even greater excitement.  The love that pours out from that relationship results in a true confession of Christ.  Where the devil would seek to destroy marriages, relationships, and churches, it instead is strengthened and God’s Word goes forth to grow churches, relationships, and marriages.  Where God’s Word is put first instead of our own egos others desire to have what you have.  It is in the midst of Christ’s promise of forgiveness spoken to one another that others will seek what you have.  So that in turn, you get to teach others.  In teaching others about the joyful harmony we have in Jesus Christ, the devil loses.  In that there is a great victory, especially in this Easter season as we proclaim Jesus’ victory over the devil.  Discord is destroyed in Christ and harmony is created. May our Lord always keep this beautiful gift before us.

Why Are Our Children engaging in Mass Shootings and Other Attacks?

I’m going to make a bold theory. Could the way that our children are acting be because of the way parents and grandparents are acting?  The more I see the way our communities act, it is turning into a very possible reason.  Paul gives strict warning about what is coming regarding this.  He says in 2 Timothy 3:1-7, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” 

Let us simply break down these verses for an understanding of why things are the way they are.  Dear reader, we are in the last days as we have been since the time of Christ’s ascension.  Every society in every age has always had to confront that they are in times of difficulty. Today is no different. 

What makes our society today so different is the rampant and immediate way in which these problems are manifested and who has the capability to answer.  With the advent of 24/7 news coverage, then the internet, Facebook, Twitter, and any other app that has become the latest fad, give us instant access to people’s sins AND then other people’s opinions on such matters.  There is no such thing as relying on an expert’s opinion because social media makes it possible to have everyone think they are an expert on the topic.  Where once an individual would have posited his theological question before his pastor, he now takes it to social networking where too many people believe they have the theological acumen to answer the question.  I’m a self-taught expert or better yet, I took four theology classes at a college and now know all!

I would argue that there are signs of even greater distress than ever before.  The appearance of godliness is manifest throughout society as we hear the come catchphrase, “I am spiritual but not religious.”  In this lackluster saying, a person shows how shallow they are as they deny the faith.  Paul points out about such people, “they deny its power.”  That is, they deny the power of faith.   In fact, by such sayings, Paul shows us, “that they creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions.” 

Who is the they?   They are those who teach falsely and all people, but especially Paul points out women are being captured by false teaching.  Paul points out women here because as he says elsewhere in 1 Timothy 2:14,  ^“and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”   Why women are more sceptible is another conversation, but to start, it must be driven home that if women are led astray it begins with man’s unwillingness to be the man and lead his household.

Too many men are unwilling to teach and correct their wives.  Too many men, even more tragically, are unwilling to be taught by the church and either be strengthened in the faith or be corrected in their false belief.  The arguments for this are many, but too give a couple examples, a common saying, “happy wife, happy life,” plays predominantly into such thinking.  Also the all too common belief that I can worship my god (yes that is small g on purpose) anyway I want, or that church is for women and children plays principally into such a false belief. The failure of society is the failure of the husband and it is a neglecting of the husband’s primary responsibility, to love his wife as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:25) 

If we wish to begin to correct such a problem, men need to lead a life of life humble assertiveness and nowhere is this better displayed then in leading a life of repentance.  (Jeff Hemmer, Man Up! pg. 244)  Men confess their sin, receive absolution, and bear fruit in keeping with repentance.  Husbands/Fathers be the man and lead by example.  Protect your family from the assaults of the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh.

An example would be helpful here.  We are witnessing the destructive problems that were created in the fall by Adam and Eve.  In 2 Timothy 3, Paul is warning Timothy to be on the watch for men who lead women astray.  Why is this? It is because man is all too often abdicating his role as head of the house to his wife.  In fact, worse than that, too many men in culture are giving the headship over to their wives.  They allow the woman to determine the theology in the household,  and our church is reaping its destruction for such callous oversight.  (Now sometimes it is important if the husband is in error for the wife to point it out, but we are speaking of a man simply abdicating his role as head of house and not speaking about the healthy dialogue between husband and wife.) Nowhere in history have we seen this deceptive work occur so blatantly than over the past 30 years as women have been allowed to pursue the Office of Holy Ministry and the homosexual agenda continues to be shoved down the Church’s and home’s throat.  Paul knows that our Christian families need to be protected.

It is no coincidence that liberal Christianity (if we can even call it Christian) has been able to forward its agenda into society.  When a husband cedes his role as pastor over his house, we certainly are going to witness a decline in the society.  When man chooses his own selfish desires over that of what his family needs (Christ and the gifts of the Church, first and foremost), then the roles of the family will fall apart.  When he does not love his wife more than himself, when he is not willing to sacrifice his own self-interest for the sake of the family, she will not submit to his care, because she does not believe (rightly) he will truly love her.  Her desire then will not be for her husband, and she will attempt to take care of her own needs that he has been called to provide. 

Worse yet, is the reaction of the community to a wayward head of house.  Rather than call husband and wife to account, they step in and say we will do the job.  This community is found first and foremost in the local congregation, but when false theology creeps into a church, she will not understand her God-given responsibility and teach the family but rather the church will usurp the role of head of house in order to promote the false teaching that she has swallowed.  This is why liberal Christianity is having a hay day amongst the people.   Too many  local churches are being influenced by socialism and are seeking out the latest fad in religious heretical writings or, succumbing to the suggestions of the world.  In this way, we see why there are demands for more and more laws and the taking away of freedoms.  Even more frustrating, restrictions and laws are now being made against the Christian faith. 

So when both the husband and wife and then the bride of Christ, the church, take care of their own perceived needs first and ignore God’s properly given roles, whoring themselves out to the world, then our children will see the same behavior.  And what will their desire be?  It is to solve their problems on their own.  And sadly, they conclude,  that life is all about me and I am the most important. 

We, parents and community, have created an entitlement society.  We are to blame for our children’s behavior.  We teach our children it’s ok to bully for example.  We teach this as we gossip about someone.  Gossiping is nothing else then bullying someone behind their backs.  We teach our children how to bully by ignoring people in society.  We teach our children to not love the new kid or loner in school and to involve him in our established circle of friends when we ignore our own neighbors in the community and focus on our comforts.  We especially do, when we don’t teach our children to invite new children over to get to know them. 

By our actions or in-action, we teach our children that it is okay to create outsiders and loneliness, that it is ok to not speak kindly and welcome others who have come into the community. We teach our children to bully by excluding new people in our towns (whether done explicitly or implicitly).  We teach our children to bully when we demand that others accept our ways for no other reason than they are our traditions (as opposed to going into Scripture and teaching why such traditions are pious and right). 

In fact, we encourage our children’s bullying, even though we would never say we do, when we refuse to admit our children do it when confronted by someone else saying our children are being bullies.  (If you have been told your child is a bully, you definitely need to do some self-examination!) 

We, the parents and community, instead cry out that the reason the child lashed out is because we don’t have strict enough gun laws, that mental health is the problem, the schools did not prepare, or the parents of the child were not watching them. That’s not the problem.

The problem is us. 

When parents reject the Church and hearing how we have sinned, or when the community says other things are much more important to participate in then the church (i.e. club sports and other activities that attack our Sunday mornings), the problem falls square into our laps.

When we refuse to admit that we are guilty of the sins listed in 2 Timothy 3, or when we seek to blame someone or something else for our sin, we are pulling the oldest and worst trick out of the book:  It’s the trick of Adam and Eve.  And guess what?  They were found guilty. 

So are we.  The supposed “campaign” that has come out to fight against gun violence has one thing right.  Enough.  Have you had enough?  Stop blaming others.  Until we begin to confess our sins and admit we are guilty of sinning against these families, and our children can confess they are guilty of sinning against these children, it will keep getting worse and worse.  The sins of the father will continue to follow his children to the third and fourth generation of those who sin against God. 

But there is good news.  You are invited to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Wyoming.  If you a new family in town or have you found something lacking in your own personal community come here—you are welcome here.  In our church is a family that will never forsake you.  If you are reading this and don’t live in my town, let me know I will help you find the right church home. 

Why is this good news?  If you have failed as father or mother or as a member of the community, there is forgiveness here.  You don’t need to do anything for it.  You especially don’t need to decide it is for you.  If you are desiring forgiveness right now, the Lord has already done his work.  He has already called you to repentance.  He has already drawn you to himself. 

Come receive the fruit of repentance worked in you, hear Christ’s absolution from his pastors.  These men are called by God to deliver to you the gifts of forgiveness.  They won’t judge or doubt your confession of sin.  These men will simply proclaim Christ’s forgiveness to you.  If you have a place you call your church but never hear the absolution, the forgiveness of sins, come hear it from this pastor’s lips.  It is ok to admit you are a sinner, your Lord will not abandon you.  This is the joy that we know in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, forgiveness is yours every time. 

It does not matter how horrific is your sin, it doesn’t matter how long you have been away from the Church, come now.  Receive God’s gift of grace, receive his forgiveness of sins in the ways he has created for you to receive.  Come to his holy Church and receive these gifts!

This life changing gift of forgiveness will be your constant encouragement throughout your life.  As you are continually filled with Christ, you are then led to reject the works of Satan and embrace the fruit of faith.  You will begin to love your neighbor as yourself.  You will earnestly desire to be the faithful husband or wife and member of the Church.

In Christ, as a child of the holy Christian church, you will begin to understand how Christ and his bride, the church truly shows love to you.  It is found because Christ gives up his life for your holy mother, the church.  It is found because the church desires you to earnestly receive this gift and will constantly call you to receive this gift.  Whether you were baptized as a child or are an adult convert to the faith, you are constantly called to receive forgiveness.  In turn, Christ and his bride, the church, will teach you.  He blesses our Church with a pastor, who confesses his own sin, and desires to teach you. This fascinating relationship you have as a child of God will show you that you are not alone either.  For the Church will always love you: teaching you, rebuking you, forgiving you, keeping you as their child in the faith till the day you are called to receive your eternal home.

A word of caution should be noted though; this is not prescription for 100% success.  It is impossible to keep sin out of this world.  Will there still be hatred in the world?  Will there still be people who act out irrationally?  Is it possible for you to live rightly and to teach your children rightly and still see them be attacked or be the attacker?  Yes, unfortunately.  Again, it is impossible to keep sin out of this world.  But we who have received the love of Christ, his forgiveness of sins, have the joy of Christ to befriend the bullied neighbor or child.  We have the joy of Christ to love those who are lonely or hurting, because it was Jesus who for our sake chose to love the unlovable—this is us—first.  He endured the cross, the shame, in order to bring you the gift of forgiveness.  This is also what the world needs to hear—the gift of forgiveness.

Don't Judge Me!

What do you do when someone says you are wrong?  Do you cry out stop judging me?  What happens if they are right and you are wrong?  Do you have the Christian freedom, the right, to say, “stop judging me.”?   Is it wrong for them to speak words of judgment against you, or have you simply been misguided into a false belief that no one is allowed to issue a statement of judgment against you besides God?

Here’s the simple truth:  when God's Word says you are wrong and have sinned and someone has told you what God's Word says, that person is not being judgmental. That person loved you enough to know that you may hate him/her for telling you God's truth.  We live in a society where it is unacceptable to say someone is wrong. So then we grab hold of clichés like, God said, “Judge not lest you be judged.”  “Don’t pull the sliver from my eye when you should be worry about the log in your eye!”  And we say, “See!  Don’t tell me I’m wrong!  Only God can tell me I’m wrong.”   

Unfortunately there are multiple problems with such defensive statements.  When you use these passages, you use them out of context and without the knowledge of the whole scripture.  How are you going to know you are wrong?  How are you going to know you have been doing it wrong (maybe all your life) if someone doesn’t say it?   Does God say that his voice from heaven will call down to you and say, “You are wrong,”?  The obvious answer is that there are certain people that your heavenly Father has placed into your lives to tell you what is right and wrong, who in fact are to “judge” you. 

First and foremost, you have your parents.  They are given to you as God’s authorities and that authority doesn’t end at a certain magical number.  Parents have a difficult job because they want their children to grow and learn, but they also have to say, “Son, you are wrong.”  When we listen to our parents it is to our advantage, so that we may live long on this earth.  Also, don’t begin to think that just because you are an adult that your parents should no longer tell you when you have erred.  Maybe, even more than ever, we need our parents then because they will continue to instruct us and all the more must tell us when we have failed as adults.

Also included in these authorities are the government.  They are there to uphold the laws and keep you doing what is right and to punish you when you are wrong.  This is the very point of judges.  They do not exist to create right and wrong, but to use the laws to declare you right or wrong. 

One also cannot forget our pastors.  Our pastors are called to say God’s word which is not just speaking the Gospel. It begins with the Law.  The Law convicts you and that is what makes you feel judged.  Pastors are here for the salvation of your souls.  Pastors are not judges, rather they are called as dispensers of forgiveness.  The pastor must diagnose the problem in order for the healing balm of the Gospel to be applied.  When there is no admittance of the disease, how can the salve of the gospel be applied?  One may think that the pastor benefits from pointing out sin, but is not a work that he relishes.  One could call it his alien work for he would rather simply be the absolver.  He would much rather let the sick come to him so that he may give them the cure.  Unfortunately, his charges are more like sheep who have gone astray, wandered off, gotten injured and can’t get back.  The shepherd does not say the sheep can figure it out.  Rather he judges the sheep as wrong and carries it back to the flock to be healed.  So also the Pastor points out sin and carries his hurting member back to the meals of healing and forgiveness. 

There is one more group: your friends or let us call them your neighbors.  They are certainly here to love you.  In fact, that is exactly what they do when they tell you that you are wrong, they love you.  When you love your neighbor as yourself you are holding yourself to the same standard—God’s standard.  This is the difficulty that we have because when someone tells me I’m wrong, we think, “Who is he to say I’m wrong?”  The answer is: if he is truly acting as neighbor, who loves the Lord, his God, he has my best interests at heart.  To put it simply: he is the one who should tell me I’m wrong.

His focus is not on being able to point out sin, but on his love for his fellow neighbor.  Our true neighbor loves us completely when he points our sin, so that we may go running back to the church and receive the means of grace.  Your neighbor doesn’t want to see you suffer in your sin, but rather that you be incorporated back into the church!  For God is using neighbor to point out your sin.

Can someone be judgmental?  Yes, definitely, if they point out sin out of a desire to feel superior to someone else or if they do it for the fun of being able to point out wrong.   There is then no love in pointing out the sin.  When Jesus tells us to remove the log from your own eye before removing the sliver from someone else’s he is pointing out the need for all of us to be repentant.  When he says, “judge not lest you be judged,” he is saying repent of your sin, before you point out someone else’s sin.

The point is that a truly loving person is not judgmental, he is loving.  He wants to save you, and the only way he knows how to do that is to diagnose the sin and draw your attention to it so that the Holy Spirit may lead you to repent and receive forgiveness.  To decry someone as judgmental is in fact, judging.  Worse yet, your cry of judgment can most certainly be an additional sin because what your loving neighbor is trying to do is save your soul!

Finally, when sin is pointed out by a fellow brother or sister in Christ, or even by someone who is in authority, they are not judging you, God is judging you.  In fact God has already judged that action, and declared you guilty.  What that person does for you is he begins to deliver your soul.  He speaks not his word to you, but God’s Word to you.  That person’s desire is to save your soul, not laud your sin over you.

It is ok to be judged, because in that judgment God wants to give you the gift of forgiveness. It is ok to be told you have done wrong, because you also know that where God is feared there is also forgiveness.  That is what we fear. When we cry out, stop judging me, we are really saying, stop saying I’m not good enough.  Stop telling me I deserve death.  That is precisely what we need to hear, we’re not good enough.  We’re not good at all.  It is only God who is good. 

God is so good, he desires to deliver to you forgiveness.  He sent his perfect, good son into this world to be judged on our behalf.  The only man ever to be not guilty is declared guilty.  The only man who could never be judged was judged and he was sentenced to death.  That is the good news!  He was truly not guilty and because he truly could not be judged of any wrong doing, death could not hold him. In fact he destroyed the gates of hell and freed the prisoners who were held captive, who waited on and hoped in Christ. 

This is why you need not fear judgment, because you are called to trust in Christ alone who delivers you out of the accuser’s hands.  Yes, you have been freed from the devil’s accusing grip and placed into your good shepherds hands who has bound your wounds and declared you not guilty.  Jesus paid the judgment of your sins, so you don’t have to. 

No sin you have committed is to great, confess that sin.  Admit to the one who holds you accountable and say, you are right.  I was wrong.  I sinned against my Lord and Savior.  Thank him, profusely you.  You are forgiven.  Your sin will be expunged and you will be set free.  Being judged is a good thing.  Trust the Word of the Lord, for with him there is always forgiveness.