Sanctity of Lives

Sometimes it is good to take a step back from a portrait being painted to take it in as a whole. Our artist, Luke, has been painting a portrait of Jesus who cares about people, specifically, people the world overlooks. God sees and loves and saves those who believe and gives them meaning as he uses them for his glory. There are so many examples. Just recently in Luke 12:

⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

While preparing for this message I was studying at home and watching the birds at the feeders on our deck. Chickadees, doves, wrens, cardinals, finches, and sparrows are regulars. Sparrows are many bird-watchers' least favorite. They’re the brownish-grey birds at McDonalds. Fact is, biologists tell us that our "house sparrows" as they are known here, are an introduced species that originated in the middle east, are now all over the world, and are perhaps the most common wild bird on earth. Coincidental? Everyone in the world knows the sparrow as a ubiquitous, hardly noticeable, insignificant little bird. But they're not to God. He knows them all by name and provides for and prospers them. Jesus uses the lowly sparrow to illustrate how important we are to God—so much so that every single hair on our heads has an individual number. Wow.

Next week we will study vv. 22-34. Here’s a little preview, and I want to pull out one aspect that illustrates what we’ve seen from Jesus as we’ve been studying Luke 12.

²⁴Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ^...27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you… ³²“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

We’ll unpack the whole passage more next week (there’s so much good stuff!) but I want to focus on how this reveals God’s heart for people. God loves all human lives. They are special, holy to him. Why? Because he created human beings in his own image. All other life forms and everything that makes life possible he made for us. To support human life. Not just for sustenance and survival, but for prosperity, productivity, awe, and purpose.

How important are you to him? He made you unique and wonderful, he created all things for you, he has created a plan to show you his love/forgiveness/grace by dying in your place, and he wants to give you the kingdom! And not just you.

Today is what Christians call “Sanctity of Human Life” Sunday. Yes, that's when we acknowledge that God cares for human beings, even at their most vulnerable place—beginning in the mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:13-16
¹³For you formed my inward parts;
   you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
   Wonderful are your works;
      my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you,
  when I was being made in secret,
      intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
   in your book were written, every one of them,
      the days that were formed for me,
      when as yet there was none of them.

God sees every human life—beginning with it’s very inception—as precious.

Here's my question:
If Christians don’t stand for life in the womb, who will?

One of the many reminders that evil is alive and well in the world is the continuing diminishment of the most innocent and vulnerable lives—unborn children. This is our age’s infanticide—an evil common to most ages (be it ancient civilizations like the Aztec, Maya, Inca, as well as some Euro-asian tribes, and seen in the Bible in ancient Egypt when Moses was born and even Israel when Herod heard of one "born King of the Jews" killed the children around Bethlehem). Abortion is ours. There have been about 60 million abortions since Roe vs. Wade. Half of them little girls, and 18 million of them black babies (that's 1/3). That's stunning.

Good news is we’re making a difference. A report released this week showed that the abortion rate has fallen 50% from it's height, to a historic low since Roe in the U.S. For the first time since 1973, under 1 million babies were aborted in a year.

One million...babies killed. Wow. We still have so far to go.

The issue of abortion is certainly not where it ends. Too many times when we hear “Sanctity of human life” we think only of the unborn. But they are not the only lives being diminished and devalued in our culture. Yes, you no doubt know that racism & sexism still exists. There seems to be a lot of conversation about these things. Of course, racism is evil. God sees no color. Of course sexism is evil. Gen. 1:27 NIV So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. We, regardless of race or sex are image-bearers of God.

Unfortunately not all the conversation regarding these hot topics is healthy. In fact, when you throw in political aspirations and people who have other self-serving agendas, we can find ourselves taking steps backward. It is important that Christians stand for truth and demonstrate God’s love to all. As bad as these things are—and they have many derivatives—I want, today, to talk (frankly and briefly) about some other denigrated people, who don’t get as much press.

•There are orphans and kids needing foster care who need parents and families to do as God has done when he pursued & adopted us as his children. Most of us never consider what it must be like to not have someone to call mom or dad. We Christians can make a difference.

Because their lives matter to God.

•Homelessness is an ongoing problem in our nation. You can’t drive to Turkey Creek or downtown without seeing homeless people. What isn’t as obvious is the brokenness and mental illness and addiction and abuse from which these people suffer. We support KARM. You can give… but you can also volunteer, serve meals, and help in many other ways.

Because their lives matter to God.

•Elderly and disabled/handicapped/infirm— Our culture seems to discard the elderly. We who are healthy forget those who are disabled or sick. This category includes people all around us, and so many times they are overlooked. Who in your life needs help, encouragement, or just a friend? 

Because their lives matter to God.

•Immigrants and refugees—Knoxville is a city that has been chosen by our government to receive refugees from war-torn parts of the world, and because of our universities and Oak Ridge, we attract people who legally are here from other parts of the world. We can welcome these people. We support KIN and Bridge, but more importantly, we want YOU to seek friendship with internationals. Most of the time they are eager for friendship. We have ESL and we need volunteers.

Because their lives matter to God.

•Addicted people. There are people in this room who have overcome addictions by God’s help. I know many who are in process. The best hope people have is Christ. One thing we want to do is create a mentoring ministry to help people overcome. Addiction is a HUGE problem in the USA. If the church isn’t the answer, what is? I am praying that God will raise up some who will lead us in meeting this need.

Because their lives matter to God.

•Victims of sex slavery- Y’all may know that I’m on the board of Street Hope. There is a real problem of especially girls pushed by pimps or sometimes family to have sex with men for drugs or money. The exploding porn industry is much behind it. I just read a 25 page report by Vanderbilt and government agencies that horrified me. There is so much pain, and we have so far to go. The church must respond to this evil, as we did in abolition.

Because their lives matter to God.

•Unborn babies and women in crisis pregnancy- now back full circle to abortion. Let’s not forget our church's first partnership. Way back in 1996 at the height of the abortion crisis, we decided to be a part of the solution in a positive way and were a founding church that supported Hope Resource Center. Many of you are a part, and we need many more. Here in Knoxville, over half of the abortion clinics have shut down since HRC began. Our prayer is that more unexpectant moms will have their babies, and that God will continue to redeem these women who find themselves in bad circumstances. This happens often at HRC. You can be a part.

Because their lives matter to God.

All these lives are precious to God.

So what can you do?

1. Repent from diminishing people. That means stop seeing them as less-than-precious. Search your heart regarding your own attitude toward others. Do you consider some as less-worthy to be image-bearers? Turn from sin to surrender. See things God’s way, embrace it, and adopt it as your own. Get off the intellectual bench and recognize all lives are precious to God and change your attitude wherever need be. Go through the categories: Do I have racist feelings? Do I have sexist feelings? Do I feel ill-will toward homeless, immigrants, addicts? Or how about this: Do I consider a gay man’s life any less important to God? Do I harbor hatred toward a transgendered person?

Here's the minefield we're in: many voices (even some "Christian" ones) are urging us to compromise. On the one hand we are urged to soften the Bible's definition of sin. We must not. On the other hand (and just as harmfully) we are urged to shrink from the Bible's call to love. We must not. On either side of Christ's hard way there are ditches of sinful compromise. What it means to be Christian is to be like Christ. Regardless of what culture says, be it the media or Hollywood or political pundits or someone at work or your parents or neighbors or anyone else. We obey Christ. That means truth AND love.

Check this out: In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul tells us that God gave leaders to equip you for ministry and to build up the church... ¹⁴so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, Speaking the truth in love. 

We do not compromise truth. Sin is sin. BUT WE ALSO DO NOT FAIL TO LOVE. If you claim to be a Christian, and there are people who you can’t love, you need to repent. 

John Barber this week reminded me of Cory Ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who wrote The Hiding Place, who was sent along with her sister Betsie to a Nazi concentration camp for hiding Jews. After being cruelly treated by their captors, Betsie (who eventually died in the camp) made it a habit to pray for these inhuman guards who abused them and the other prisoners. Cory objected, but her sister reminded her that Christ said to pray for our enemies, and that if we look at them through Christ's eyes, we can love them.

That's what it means to be Christian.

2. Make a change in your mind to care. Do you feel indifference? I think that’s probably the more important question we should ask ourselves. Even if some of us do not have racist/sexist/condescending feelings for others. We’re so often indifferent. We’re so preoccupied with our own lives that we have no energy or concern for others. It’s time to look at people as Jesus did: with compassion. He looked at a sister who lost her brother and wept. He looked at a crowd stuck in sin and without leadership and wept. He had compassion on those who were lepers, Samaritans, gentiles, poor, blind, lame, hungry. But as Jesus demonstrated, our job doesn't end with just feeling compassion.

3. Pray. When you feel the darkness and hopelessness and anger and hurt (and you will if you change your mind from sin or indifference to surrender), you should pray. Make this an automatic response to the high blood pressure that compassionate people feel. It’s not a stress-management methodology. It’s not the least you can do. It’s the MOST you can do. Phil. 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything… Pray for those HARD to love. Pray that God will HELP you love. Ask God HOW you should show love.

4. Get in the game. Do something. Get uncomfortable. Talk with someone who’s not like you. Stop being indifferent and start loving people and showing it by your actions. Yes, you’re going to be misunderstood, so was Jesus. Yes, you’ll probably be hurt by some you try to love, so was Jesus.

If you remember earlier in Luke, a man asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment. He said, love God and love your neighbor. Remember what followed? The man asked, “Well, just who is my neighbor?” And Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan. In it, those religious Jews who knew better walked by the beaten man on the other side of the road, indifferent. They were content to let him die. But thankfully for the man, a Samaritan—a hated, half-breed, unclean heretic—saw the man, had compassion, and took a risk at great personal cost to care for him unconditionally. 

Jesus said, "You go, do likewise" (Luke 10:37).

You who know better—you Christians—don’t walk by on the other side of the road. The greatest witness of Christ and the reality of the Gospel is Christians who love with their actions.

Give toward impacting these problems. Your missions giving through Providence helps these ministries. But don’t stop there. Volunteer in these ministries.

And look for ways to be Christ to those image-bearers around you who are diminished by others.

St. Patrick's Day. Don't Miss It!

Today is St. Patrick's Day. I've always liked it. It officially marks the end of winter and the coming of spring. As a kid, I loved that it was two days before my birthday (so I was already excited). It's also one of those fun little holidays with it's own little quirks (like, wear green or get pinched) and legends! But if we're not careful, we'll miss the great message about the real St. Patrick.

In short, the guy was a sincere and passionate Christian who allowed God to turn the tragic events of his teen years into an outpouring of the Gospel in a virtually unreached part of the world.

I've blogged about him before. There are other great articles about him. To state it briefly, here are just five quick lessons from his life:

1. God uses evils and hardship in our lives for his glory and our good. It happened with Joseph in the Bible. It happened with me. It happens with you. Patrick was kidnapped and enslaved in a hostile foreign country during what should have been the happiest years of his life. He was mistreated and he suffered. His trial made him earnestly seek the Christ he had exposure to in his childhood and he surrendered to Jesus. He finally escaped and found his way home. That much alone is a testimony of God's grace! But the story wasn't over. He refused to be a victim.

2. Courage is a great gift. There are so many ways Patrick was courageous. Besides enduring slavery and escaping home. He sensed God calling him BACK to that wretched, pagan island of Ireland. He took the initiative to train for ministry—and he WENT and boldly proclaimed the truth. He faced impossible odds, dangers, and death frequently, yet was never ashamed of the gospel.

3. Creativity is a powerful tool. Patrick may not have been a scholar, but he was creative in accomplishing the Great Commission. From using the simple, ubiquitous shamrock to make the Trinity understandable, to shifting tactics and going after the Irish chiefs in order to reach the masses, he was a strategic mastermind.

4. Persistence pays off. Patrick was no quitter. He just kept sharing, baptizing, and planting churches. Truth is, he proclaimed Christ in Ireland for about 30 years, saw over 100,000 conversions, and planted over 200 churches. Thousands of leaders were trained and sent into ministry. Many institutions he founded still exist today, almost 16 centuries later!

5. Social justice and the gospel are great partners. For understandable reasons, Patrick hated the institution of slavery. He fought against it and found success. But by no means did this fight deter him from communicating the good news—it propelled him in it. The two were symbiotic in making him such an influence whose legendary status is renown. It saddens me today that many champions of social justice have compromised the gospel, and many gospel-centered churches have ignored the poor and abused. Did not Jesus come to set captives free (both spiritually and temporally)? Of course the spiritual must take precedent. The truth is the gospel IS THE ANSWER to the problems that most plague mankind.

So don't buy the made up lore of ridding Ireland of snakes, green beer, and leprechauns. Know the real Patrick and ask God to make you more like him. Then you will be remembered for the right reasons and find great joy.

Righteous Outrage

I was minding my own business last week, studying the passage in Luke for the sermon on Super Bowl Sunday. Frankly, I was thinking I needed to weave in a football analogy or two, not be too long, and perhaps offer a reminder that there are more important things in the world than football. Oh yeah, and explain and apply the passage. 

That’s where my journey to outrage unsuspectingly began.

First, you need to know that I’m not given to outrage—and this becomes more the case as I grow older. In fact, I’ve become rather jaded to the supposed outrage of others, like that of the Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter varieties, as well as the war on the “War on Christmas” and other Christians-losing-their-majority-status causes. It all feels so manufactured. It seems to be either politically expedient, self-absorbed, or just petty. The offended sometimes attempt to identify their causes with that of antebellum slavery, Hitler’s treatment of Jews, or the Jim Crow south. To me, these are spurious comparisons. I’ve often wondered what the great evils of our generation really are (if there are any) and whether they are of the caliber of abolition, the anti-Nazi resistance, and the civil rights movement. Now I think I’m understanding what they are—at least one of them.

So there’s this prophecy Jesus read from Isaiah that we discussed last week that predicted what the Messiah would be about. In short, he would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim good news to the poor, give liberty to captives and the oppressed, and give sight to the blind. Jesus subsequently told his hometown audience that he was fulfilling that Scripture right then. When they realized that was different than the Messiah they wanted, they, outraged, tried to kill him. Luke then shows Jesus going about literally fulfilling this prophecy by his priorities, namely: preaching, releasing people from demon-possession, and healing people of various physical ailments. 

As I was considering ways we should apply this passage today, I was struggling with the “proclaim liberty to the captives” and “set at liberty those who are oppressed” thing. Jesus obviously had applied it by setting free people enslaved/oppressed by demons. Of course there are demons (and those oppressed by them) around us today. Demons may not be active today in the same way as they were (although they certainly are in other parts of the world). The devil and his demons aren't fools. They masquerade and deceive in different ways to our scientific culture that isn’t as susceptible to superstition. But I think demon-oppressed/possessed people are just as common and just as much in bondage today as in Jesus’ day. They are controlled/enslaved by a sinful spirit who hates them and uses them for the enemy’s purposes. Truth is, sin itself enslaves. It does through ignorance. It is an evil tyranny. 

As I thought about slavery in our culture, I remembered what I have heard about the growing problem of human trafficking. "Human trafficking"—the name itself is a problem due to its vagueness and vastness—and I want to be clear. There are many ways people (humans) are exploited by others often by moving (trafficking) them to places where they depend on those taking advantage to make money for them against their will.
I know, SO confusing, right? Officially, the U.S. National Institute of Justice defines the term thusly: “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation.” 

Human trafficking is quickly becoming a “catch phrase” about a big category of stuff from sex-slavery to sweat shops where people—usually women and children—are abusively exploited against their will. It happens everywhere in the world and EVEN HERE in Knoxville. 

Of course, there is no end to the exploitation in other parts of the world by abusers. Particularly in the non-Christian world. Yes, we (Christians) should do something about it. We (most importantly) must pray, plant churches, and (at times) give and go to bring an end to abuses of people created in the image of God. But in our “Jerusalem,” aren’t we especially obligated as Christians to recognize evils against people and do something? Absolutely. 

How, you may ask, are “humans” being “trafficked” here? (I truly hate that term). Primarily by sex slavery. 

Many times pimps will "brand" their slaves as a reminder of
who "owns" them. This is a real example.

"Sex slavery" is my term (although I'm sure it's not original) for what’s going on. And it is a huge evil, both in scope and severity. Yes, it is here in East Tennessee. There are thousands of sex slaves among us, before our very eyes, “owned” by pimps and managers and family members who are exploiting people (usually kids and women) for personal gain. It is absolutely evil beyond description, in some cases WORSE than what was done to Jews by the Nazis and to blacks by southern slaveholders (not to diminish the evils of the latter in any way). 

This is what I mean: there are little kids and teen girls who are lured away from their families (usually broken families) by men who show them attention and shower them with gifts and compliments, and don’t just stop when they take advantage of them sexually. They then exploit the girls’ emotional attachment, often get them dependent on drugs and financially, and frequently beat them in order to instill fear so that these girls will “work” for them to make them money. How do they “work” for them? Frequently as sex slaves. They will farm them out to have sex with anyone for money. This happens online, through Craigslist and other websites, ads, and publications, as well as more traditional forms of prostitution (i.e., hanging out on street corners). Of course I’m generalizing greatly so you get the picture. The victims can be boys, the abuse can be different forms of domination/enslavement, it can be different deeds (other than physical sex), and for different forms of payment or services.

These exploiters are evil. I struggle to have any compassion for them. I know I need to remember that they were perhaps exploited themselves and had broken families and experienced other factors that pushed them this way…but honestly, I’m going to have to work on that. I know they need Jesus and that he forgives even them. Seventy times seven. John Newton and Amazing Grace. I know. I know. God help me.

Of course the victims are to be pitied. Greatly. Even though some of them have made poor choices. As Christ came to rescue us (Romans 5:6-8: weak, without hope, unrighteous, sinners, ungodly), we must go to their rescue.

But there’s another component to this equation that is often overlooked. The “user.” The customers in this evil industry are the (typically) thirty- and forty-something white men who pay these prostitutes to have sex. Oh…and the people of all ages who view porn. 

What? 

Yes. The fuel that fires the exploitation furnace of sex slavery is porn. The millions of people who watch people having sex online. The revenue of this industry is in the billions per year…maybe even trillions. Truth is, no one knows for sure how much money is being generated. Ads (a majority of the proceeds), memberships, products, and supporting services are what drive the sex slavery industry.

If you view porn, that’s you. 

It's not harmless. Besides being immoral, it hurts you.

In addition, the young people who are exposed to easily-accessible porn often become victims, users, and exploiters themselves. Sex-slavery exploiters aren’t stupid. They are like clever drug dealers who give samples so that people will want more.

Point is, all aspects of this industry are happening here. And it’s not uncommon. As I dug in and read more last week, I became more horrified and saddened. That gave way to anger. And then brokenness. I'm a dad of two girls. Even more, I'm a Christian man. I can't live and let this happen to people.

It became more to me than just an example of possible application for a sermon on Super Bowl Sunday.

Someone has to be bold to set the captives free. To fight for those who are sex slaves is not for the faint of heart. But if it sets people free, is it not worth the effort? Is it not the right thing to do?

It seems overwhelmingly difficult and perhaps impossible. How do I…how do WE as a church make a dent in this problem? I’m sure that’s what the early abolitionists (who were "inescapably Christian") asked when America was becoming rich by the slave-driven cotton industry. I’m sure that’s what “confessing” Christians in Nazi Germany asked. Some like Dietrich Bonhoeffer answered and pleaded with fellow Germans, worked to stop the Nazis—even taking part in trying to assassinate Hitler, and ultimately gave his life...seemingly in vain. Yes it's difficult. But Christ is stronger! He sets captives free! 

Along with abortion, I think I’ve found the issue that is our generation’s great evil, an issue that is worthy of the church’s united effort to be salt and light.

Lord, let me be a part of the fight. 

Go to the Street Hope website for more on the sex slavery issue (a.k.a. "human trafficking") in East Tennessee. For those interested in learning more and discussing how we at Providence Church might engage to stop this evil and help those who are victimized, come to Providence on February 25 at 7:00pm. We'll hear from experts in our community and pray. That's where it begins.