NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

Jesus And Divorce, Matthew 5

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Jesus gave us a rule of thumb to gauge when divorce is appropriate.

Was Jesus Writing
A New Rule
Or Confirming An Existing One?

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus made some very interesting remarks about divorce:

It has been said, whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery. Matthew 5:31-32

And by these remarks He threw everyone into a tailspin. Or at least it seems that way judging from the many diverse – and bizarre – interpretations imposed on the text.

Not A New Rule

Many people treat His statement like a completely new and inflexible rule that was intended to draw an indelible line in the sand, and anyone crossing the line is eternally doomed. But this can’t be the correct understanding.

Jesus was clarifying an Old Testament statute not writing a new one and the clarification represents no modification on the original ruling which, by the way, was quite liberal. You can read about the Old Testament teaching here. For now consider the following:

  • Any understanding of what Jesus said in the New Testament starts with what was said in the Old – the context in which divorce was first introduced.
  • Suggesting Matthew 5 disallows divorce and/or remarriage totally ignores the Old Testament or at least reshapes it beyond recognition.
  • If you honestly accept the context of the Old Testament, in which divorce was freely allowed, you cannot then think Jesus was fabricating restrictions that disallowed both divorce and remarriage, a complete reversal.
  • What Jesus essentially said – if adultery doesn’t occur before divorce it occurs after – changes nothing. That outcome is equally true in both the Old and New Testaments.

There aren’t enough word studies and grammatical arguments to erase these facts and whatever studies one produces are trumped by context every time anyway.

What Is Adultery

For the record, traditional definitions of adultery and fornication, which Jesus did not agree with, are: [Read more…] about Jesus And Divorce, Matthew 5

Tithing On Limited Income

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Tithing For Today: Why Tithing Is Good For Everyone In Every Era

Jesus Identified With Sinners
Some Of Whom
Were Quite Wealthy

With recent employment trends in the US going south, leaving a larger-than-usual number of people reliant on unemployment income to make ends meet, budgets are being radically adjusted.

Unemployment benefits are designed to supply only about half one’s normal income and in many cases it works out to be less. Obviously, under these circumstances some expense items have to go.

Since tithing’s status as a fixed expense is regularly debated in good times, it is no surprise that it is scrutinized even more closely during the bad. And most of the discussion focuses on one question:

“Should those living on unemployment benefits, hand-only-reaching-mouth-at-a-stretch, tithe?”

Not only are responses numerous they are often emotional.

We shouldn’t think that strange. It is inevitable that emotion would seep into any arguments about money. Contrary to what people like to think, we love the stuff. We love to keep it – meaning spend or hoard – or we love to brag about giving it away. The more we have to keep or give, the more attached we become to our pet ideas about managing it.

The arguments we put forth in support of our beliefs are no less emotional than the crazy perspectives we entertain about the filthy stuff.

Christianity Today, in their usual approach to dealing with searching questions about pressing needs, has offered three articles from three different perspectives addressing this very question. All of them are interesting. One, however, takes the emotional “cake.” [Read more…] about Tithing On Limited Income

“Tongues” Is A Sign, Part 6

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Lesson 6: Comparing Different Gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14)

The New Testament teaches that every Christian is given spiritual gifts and these gifts determine the shape of our service to God.

1 Peter 4:10 says three things:

  • Every person has received a gift.
  • The gift is best used in ministering to the community – “one another.”
  • Doing so makes the best use of the grace God extends to us.

That is easy to understand. The problem is there are two types of gifts.

  • Some are “supernatural” and some are “natural.”
  • Some are sensationally demonstrated and some are expressed through practical skills.
  • Some display the power of God alone and some display God’s power working through the abilities of His people.
  • Some gifts are very exciting and appealing while others are more mundane.

But all of them are “spiritual.”

Paul mentions both kinds in 1 Corinthians 12. In fact, he makes a very clear statement of his subject, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant,” (v. 1).

Before we go further let’s define our terms more specifically. What is a spiritual gift? What qualifies to be called a spiritual gift? There are several facts to consider. [Read more…] about “Tongues” Is A Sign, Part 6

“Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 5

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Lesson 5: Comparing The Principle To The Experience – Acts 18:24-19:7

It is very possible for a person to know they are wrong but not understand why or what to do about it. The Bible implies this psychological dilemma when it refers to non-Christians as “lost.”

Like getting sand in your eye – Jesus talked about a beam – you only have a vague sense of where you are and where you’re going.

The same thing is true when it comes to religious truth. A person can know that one thing is wrong without knowing what is right. This can be particularly frustrating if the tradition you follow has been historically true to God.

This was the case with the Jews in Jesus day. They knew that God had led them in the past but they also knew that God had done very little with them for several hundred years (approximately 400). They had been used to a regular diet of prophets, priests and miracles. Silence for so many years was a threatening state of affairs. They looked for and needed a fresh manifestation of God which Jesus was but unfortunately, when He came they were looking in the wrong direction.

There’s no excuse for that. The Scriptures are full of references giving details of his coming and even suggesting the timing but all of this information only got in the way of their religious agenda. Jesus was more of an inconvenience than an answer.

Israel had become obsessed with following a set of rules as if the rules were God. They were really just doing their own thing, changing and adding laws as they pleased. Once one set of rules became “easy” they stiffened things up by expanding the regulations. That was their way of feeling a sense of commitment.

That, of course, describes the nature of all religion. “Rules” make us feel “in.” The more aligned with the rules one is the more “in” they think they are.

This was why John Baptist’s message had such an impact. The Jewish leadership had become oppressive and the Jewish masses knew something was wrong but no one knew how to address the problem or had the courage to speak up.

To the greater populace John was fresh. To the religious establishment he was a challenge to the status quo. [Read more…] about “Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 5

“Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 4

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Lesson 4: Comparing The Principle To The Experience (Acts 9:32-11:18)

Speaking in Tongues was a miracle so to talk about tongues is to talk about the miraculous.

That partly explains why people are so bewitched by this experience. It is natural for humans to be fascinated by miracles of any kind even when they happen to others. The prospect of “experiencing” one personally multiplies the fascination. And although tongues are usually represented as something everyone can experience the Bible says exactly the opposite.

Paul rhetorically made this point when he asked, “Do all speak in tongues,” (1 Corinthians 12:30). The answer is obvious.

Tongues is defined as the ability to speak in an unknown language miraculously. That is, the person who spoke in tongues was enabled by God, miraculously, to speak a language they did not already know in the hearing of people who did. Tongues was a three-way miracle.

God miraculously enabled person A to speak in tongues in the hearing of person B. Person B was the focus not A and in every case God wasn’t revealing a truth, He was emphasizing one that had already been revealed.

Another point that is rarely made is the fact that the use of tongues was more for the person hearing than for the person speaking.

It was a miracle used to convince the hearer to accept a truth he or she had already heard but had difficulty processing. In the case of tongues, Hebrew believers were being convinced to accept the fact that God is no respecter of persons. Anyone, including Gentiles could be saved. Tongues was the mechanism used to emphasize this point.

Tongues were spoken several times in the New Testament and, according to Paul, served this very specific and short lived purpose. Once the purpose was served, tongues were no longer needed.

That is really true of all miracles. God doesn’t pass them out like Halloween sweets and they have little to do with alleviating pain or rewarding faith. They are intended to serve God’s purposes not satisfy our need to feel special.

They don’t happen just because you “want” one and it is misleading to suggest faith is the determinant factor. They serve specific purposes, they may make a point but they are always strictly under God’s control.

Of all the miracles in the Bible tongues illustrates this truth best.

  • No one ever expected to speak in tongues.
  • No one even knew they were possible.
  • No one ever prayed for this experience.
  • And after they happened no one talked about them.

The meaning was obvious to the first generation of believers, most of whom were Jewish. Tongues wasn’t an issue until years after the fact.

They happened only when God allowed and they made the same strong statement every time… [Read more…] about “Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 4