Avoid Worthless Pursuits

I spoke with a friend this morning about this challenging Proverb, so I am reposting this entry from April 1 of this year.

“Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.” Prov 12:11

What a great standard for the activities we choose for ourselves and our children! First is the priority of work. Our provision should come from our own work. We cannot train our children or allow adults to expect others to provide for them. Everyone works!

Second, not that everything we do must be work, but everything we do must have worth; it must have value and benefit. We are an entertainment driven culture and many of our activities qualify as worthless pursuits. Entertainment is not inherently bad since it is a form of relaxation that we all need. However, there are so many spiritually and intellectually nourishing forms of relaxation and entertainment! Instead of justifying our entertainment habits as "relaxation we all need," we can raise the standard and engage in activities that qualify as "worthy pursuits."

The Perfect Number of Children

I had so many hits on my last post, "New Life at Our House," I was suspicious that people thought it was an announcement that we were having another baby. Well, it wasn't; but this is! The perfect number is seven, thus we now have "the perfect number of children." I'm sure you know I don't mean that seven is the perfect number of children to have. But that brings up a good question and provides an opportunity to explain why we have so many children. How many children should a couple have?

There are many cultural assumptions that cause people to answer this question very differently than we do. (You all can check back with us in about 20 years to see whether any of our children starved to death, were neglected, or received an inadequate education). The perfect number of children for each couple is the number that God blesses them with when they start with the principles of Scripture and allow God to lead them in discerning how those principles apply to their own lives. That is our confidence and conviction in the face of criticism. It is important that believers in our present culture dig deeply into their reasoning and assumptions and be sure they are openly following the teaching and leading of God and not drifting along with the masses.

The Vapor of Vapor!

I started reading Ecclesiastes today and am fascinated by the mystery and wisdom is holds. I enjoy poetry and riddles. The reoccurring theme is:

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (1:1)

Vanity literally means vapor.  And we are not just talking about vapor, but the vapor of vapor! Vapor is fleeting and elusive. As I work through the book, I will be considering what the writer means by this. Verse 2 immediately presents at least one concept of vanity: “What does man gain by all the toil?” I just taught on 1 Cor 15, in which Paul explains the vanity of preaching and faith if Christ was not raised from the dead (v. 14). In Greek, this word translated vanity can mean without result, reason, or purpose. The suggestion that man gains nothing from his work is the vanity of no result.

The obvious answer to the Preacher’s question is “a living.” When one works he is able to provide food and shelter for his family. But the question forces the reader to go deeper than this. The Preacher is pushing us past the obvious cycles and assumptions of this world to consider the meaning and value of food and shelter, the meaning of existence at all. The writer has come to a point in life, as many of us do, when we are desperate for a deeper purpose. “Surely food and shelter is not what this is all about.” Food and shelter are no the end, but a means. They are simply necessary for survival according to God’s design. The purpose of our existence must be something more. At least that is what depths of my soul cry out for. “What is this all about anyway?” Amazingly, though, so much of our culture has become a half-dead mass of humanity that is satisfied to run the rat race for the prize of food and shelter. They have only modified it in that they hunt for greater and more glamorous food and shelter. I will live for more than this.

"Free markets and property rights stimulate the technological innovations and behavioral changes required to protect our environment and ecosystems. We realize that our planet's climate is constantly changing, but environmental advocates and social pressure are the most effective means of changing public behavior." - From the National Platform of the Libertarian Party

College Persuasive Speech Topics

I always enjoy seeing what my Public Speaking class students select for their persuasive speech topics. It reveals, at least for a small (possibly regionally representative) group of college students, what topics are important to them and what positions they take on those issues. Here is the list of topics for the first persuasive speech of one of my classes: For animal rights For prayer in schools Against gay marriage For gay marriage Against the legalization of marijuana For the legalization of marijuana Against outlawing talking on cell phones while driving For total smoking ban on campus Mac is better than PC Violent video games lead to violent behavior For removing certain chemicals from diet Religion as a cause of war Against abortion For teaching creative design in school Against the manipulation of images in media Drinking milk is not healthy Global warming is not caused by humans Against capital punishment Some military jobs are only for menPer

Strive Against the Wicked

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked,but those who keep the law strive against them.” Prov 28:4

Once again, the righteous do not simply mind their own business carrying out righteousness in their own lives. Righteousness includes striving against the wicked around us. But what exactly does this mean? Stopping them from harming others? Not allowing it to spread by exposing its wickedness? Trying to get them to stop? On what basis does a righteous person do this? Does he use law and government? Personal persuasion? Community pressure? Prayer? Does he attempt to convert the wicked? I suppose a righteous person would strive against wickedness by any righteous means available. I am reminded of Gao Zhisheng, the lawyer in China who was working against the oppressive Chinese government and is now in prison, probably being tortured (because he already has been several times). The bottom line is that the righteous do not stand by while the wicked work their evil unchecked.

Discussing Morality in a Pluralistic Culture

How can Christians engage in fruitful discussions within our culture about issues of morality? One may also ask how anyone may do so in our current pluralistic context. There seems to be a great deal of confusion about what ethics are and how one may establish or argue for a particular ethical framework. We have some in our culture who think they are ethical relativists. However, this belief mysteriously disappears when it comes to establishing civil law or protecting their own personal rights. Others may have a sense of “right” and “wrong” but don’t really know where they got their moral standards. There are also Christians, who even share the same authority for ethics, but still cannot agree on what the Bible says. Many times engaging in a discussion of morality provides an opportunity for people to identify the basis for their ethics or to think clearly and consistently about them. Beyond this it is important to think clearly about the relationship between law, ethics (morality), and religion. For example, where do appeals to religion fit into a discussion concerning public policy in a system that requires freedom of religion? I hope to explore these dynamics in future posts.

For now, it may be helpful to identify how a Christian basis for morality fits into the overall study of ethical theory. There are relativistic theories, command theories, utilitarian theories, deontological theories, and virtue theories (see Ruble, Critical Thinking, 144-151). A common version of command theory is “the divine command theory, according to which only God has the real power to create morality. What God has commanded is moral, and only because God has commanded it” (Ruble, Critical Thinking, 146). The basis for Christian morality is whatever God has said is moral. This is unique from the other theories because it inherently includes religion as a part of the discussion.

As a proponent of this view, I would make one important modification. Righteousness is not established only because God said that it is righteous; righteousness is established because God is righteous. Right and wrong are not established by his whimsical set of rules, as if he could have just as well established a different set. Righteousness flows from his character and it will not change. Other command theories end up being another type of relativity theory since the standard is relative to whoever is in command (Ruble, Critical Thinking, 147). The Christian divine command theory, however, is unique in its claim that the character of God is the basis for righteousness for all humans.