The Lion and the River

One of the great things about C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia is that they appeal to people of all ages and all religious backgrounds.  I first read these books as a kid and loved the new world they opened up to me.  As an adult they continue to delight me with their simple writing style that seems as fresh today as it did 60 years ago, their vivid creativity and imagery, and their humor.  Best of all, the beautiful Christian symbolism adds an additional depth of meaning for me when I read the books, although it is not heavy-handed and would probably not be noticed by someone who is not familiar with the New Testament.

In a recent sermon, my pastor read a long quote from The Silver Chair that is one of the best examples of Christian symbolism in the book.  This quote touched me so much that I wanted to reproduce it here at some length.

[Jill] came to an open glade and saw the stream, bright as glass, running across the turf a stone's throw away from her.  But although the sight of the water made her feel ten times thirstier than before, she didn't rush forward and drink.  She stood as still as if she had been turned into stone, with her mouth wide open.  And she had a very good reason; just on this side of the stream lay the lion.

It lay with its head raised and its two fore-paws out in front of it, like the lions in Trafalgar Square.  She knew at once that it had seen her, for its eyes looked straight into hers for a moment and then turned away -- as if it knew her quite well and didn't think much of her.

"If I run away, it'll be after me in a moment," thought Jill.  "And if I go on, I shall run straight into its mouth."  Anyway, she couldn't have moved if she had tried, and she couldn't take her eyes off it.  How long this lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours.  And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first.

"If you're thirsty, you may drink."

....For a second she stared here and there, wondering who had spoken.  Then the voice said again, "If you are thirsty, come and drink," and... she realized that it was the lion speaking.  ...She had seen its lips move this time, and the voice was not like a man's.  It was deeper, wilder, and stronger; a sort of heavy, golden voice.  It did not make her any less frightened than she had been before, but it made her frightened in rather a different way.

"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.

"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.

"Then drink," said the Lion.

"May I -- could I -- would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl.  And as Jill gazed as its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

"Will you promise not to -- do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.

"I make no promise," said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

"Do you eat girls?" she said.

"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion.  It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry.  It just said it.

"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."

"There is no other stream," said the Lion.

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion -- no one who had seen his stern face could do that -- and her mind suddenly made itself up.  It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand.  It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted.  You didn't need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once.

I almost don't know where to start in pointing out all the Biblical references packed into this excerpt.  Throughout Scripture, water is symbolic of the eternal life and true satisfaction that can only be found in God Himself.  In Isaiah 55:1, God calls His people to Himself using this language: "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."  In Jeremiah 2:13, God states, "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

The New Testament reaffirms this use of the word water and clarifies that the way to receive this water is through Jesus Christ.  When speaking to the woman at the well in Samaria in John 4:10-14, Jesus told her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.... Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  Later on in John 7:37, Jesus spoke at the Feast of Booths and said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."  And at the very end of the Bible, the book of Revelation describes heaven in this way: "The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:17).  The description of heaven also includes a reference to "the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city" (Revelation 22:1-2). 

The description of the majestic and stern Lion in this passage also brings to mind imagery about Jesus Christ in the New Testament.  He is described as having "eyes like a flame of fire" and a "voice like the roar of many waters" in Revelation 1.  Throughout the New Testament His miracles and teachings produce not just love and loyalty but also fear and awe among His followers, in much the same way that the Lion's majestic voice made Jill "frightened in rather a different way."  The Lion's statement about having swallowed up kings, emperors, cities, and realms is reminscent of some of the shocking claims made by Jesus during His ministry, such as saying "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58), as well as His statement in Revelation 1: "I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." 

And of course, the Lion's final statements that if Jill does not come to drink she will die of thirst and that there are no other streams remind us of Jesus' statement in John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  God Himself is the only source of eternal life, and the only way we can know Him is through His Son Jesus.  And just as when Jill drank the water her thirst was immediately quenched, so Jesus promises that "whoever believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).

What a beautiful illustration C.S. Lewis provides for us of the Gospel in this simple "kids' book"!

"Stretch Marks"

I read this article in World magazine a few weeks ago and I thought it was one of the simplest and best articles I have read on marriage.  In it Andree Seu Peterson addresses in her own gentle way the opinion -- which has become almost universal among non-Christians in our society -- that it is "insane to marry before living with the person first."  The whole essay is well worth reading, but here are some highlights:

The too-shrewd-by-half Shack-Upper misses this hidden wisdom: Your Christ-like love, and Christ-like faith, would have made the live-in girlfriend you rejected a different person than she was when you rejected her. You reserved the right to cast her aside if you found you didn’t get along, little considering that the annoying habit or temperament that was your deal breaker was the very thing God had in mind for you to help her through.... Unconditional commitment creates a new reality that conditional commitment never can.

That last sentence is worth repeating. "Unconditional commitment creates a new reality that conditional commitment never can."

A little further down, Peterson adds:

The secret to marriage is related to the secret of the meaning of life. If the meaning of life is to find the way of pleasantness and ease, then try out as many partners as you must to find the one who maximizes your happiness quotient. Lots of luck with that.  But what if marriage is for stretching, for no-pain-no-gain advance in maturity, rather than primarily for having one’s desires met?  

Peterson is simply stating, in a slightly different way, some of the same points made by Albert Mohler, Jr., the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in a column I remembered reading a couple of years ago.  Mohler states that the wisdom of marriage is permanence before experience.  After noting that couples who cohabitate prior to marriage have higher rates of divorce than those who do not, Mohler argues:

[Couples who cohabitate] miss the central logic of marriage as an institution of permanence. They miss the essential wisdom of marriage - that the commitment must come before the intimacy, that the vows must come before the shared living, that the wisdom of marriage is its permanence before its experience. Cohabitation weakens marriage - even a cohabiting couple's eventual marriage - because a temporary and transitory commitment always weakens a permanent commitment.

I wouldn't necessarily expect this view of marriage to make sense to a non-Christian.  But as Christians, I think it can be worthwhile to focus not just on the rules that God has set up for us but also on why those rules are for our benefit and protection.  Peterson and Mohler offer an intriguing glimpse of some reasons why God, in His perfect wisdom, set the standards He did for sexual purity and marriage.  As a married man I can say without hesitation that God knew what He was doing when He established marriage and that being married has challenged, stretched, and matured me in ways that nothing else in my life has. 

How Not to Win Friends and Influence People

Most of us have a strong desire to be liked.  We want to fit in, to be accepted by others, to be praised and respected rather than criticized and attacked.  This is true of Christians just as much as it is of everyone else.  And most of the time, provided we are not too outspoken or obnoxious, American Christians can slide through life without facing much in the way of open persecution or attacks on our faith (although I believe that could change in the not-so-distant future).  There is a small minority of people who will take offense at virtually any reference to Jesus or the Bible at all, but most people will be at least respectful of our religious beliefs as long as we are somewhat respectful in how and when we express them. 

Three Faultlines

My (admittedly limited) experience, based on interactions with co-workers, listening to speeches and discussions in a variety of venues, and reading online articles, comments, and debates, has shown me that there are at least three major exceptions to this rule -- three significant faultlines in American culture where an uncompromising expression of Christian belief can trigger an angry, even hateful backlash from many people.  Those three faultlines are the belief that Jesus is the only way of salvation, the belief that God created the universe out of nothing, and the belief that homosexuality is morally wrong.  When it comes to these issues, at least, it is definitely not easy being a Christian in today's culture.  The belief that Jesus is the only way of salvation is considered narrowminded and intolerant, the belief that God created the universe out of nothing is considered ignorant and anti-scientific, and the belief that homosexuality is morally wrong is considered hateful and bigoted.

Whatever our culture may have to say, the faithful Christian takes his stand on the Bible and there can be no doubt what the Bible has to say on any of these issues.  After all, it was Jesus Himself who uttered these words in John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."  Peter decisively reaffirms this truth in his speech before the high priest in Acts 4:11-12, when he says, "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

With regard to the origin of the universe, the Bible opens with these majestic words: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  Genesis 1 goes on to describe in detail God's creation of every part of the earth and the creatures that live on it.  The rest of the Bible reaffirms this teaching in many places.  Psalm 33:6 states, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host."  Isaiah 40:28 says, "Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth."

Scripture is equally clear in its position on homosexual behavior.  In Romans 1, Paul condemns mankind for worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator and then writes in verses 26 and 27: "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."  1 Corinthians 6:9-11 states, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

Caveats

Of course, some caveats apply for each of these issues.  The Christian belief that Jesus is the only way of salvation does not mean that we should be disrespectful of other people's beliefs or refuse to listen to their opinions.  Arrogance and disrespect are the opposite of how we should behave, in light of the Scriptural command to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Despite the new definition of tolerance that is widespread today, it is possible -- and in fact necessary -- for Christians to hold staunchly to Biblical truth (including all the positions above) while at the same treating people who disagree with them with kindness and their opinions with respect.

With regard to creation, Christians hold differing opinions about the age of the earth.  A Scriptural belief in God as the Creator does not require one to believe that the earth is 6,000 years old, but it does decisively rule out evolution -- in the sense of a wholly naturalistic process that brought the universe into being by blind chance. 

And when it comes to homosexuality, it's important to emphasize that all the Biblical condemnations of this sin focus on behavior and lifestyle -- that is, things that a person has conscious control over.  A person is not condemned for an orientation that he did not choose -- he is rather condemned for engaging in activities that are contrary to God's design for human sexuality.  Furthermore, the 1 Corinthians passage quoted above makes clear that homosexuality is one of many sins that keep people from inheriting God's kingdom but also that homosexuals can be forgiven and brought into God's kingdom just like other types of sinners.  Christians should not hate or fear gay people, but should view them as sinners in need of God's grace just like the rest of us and should treat them with kindness and love.

Going Deeper

Why do these three particular issues generate such a strong backlash in this country against Christian teaching?  I believe it is because each of them cut against the grain of our culture at a fundamental level in a way that often makes people feel exposed or judged.

Let's start with the issue of Jesus being the only way of salvation.  The implication of this teaching is that anyone who does not put their faith in Jesus Christ will be excluded from God's kingdom and denied eternal life.  This is not what people want to hear in a multicultural area like the one in which I live (Montgomery County, Maryland), where a substantial percentage of the population either practices a religion other than Christianity or practices no religion at all.  (Of course, since belief in Jesus is a commitment of the heart and life that goes far beyond baptism, church membership, and church attendance, large swaths of professing American Christians also stand condemned by this teaching, but they fail to realize it.)  Such an absolute truth claim stands in sharp opposition to the prevailing philosophical opinion that truth is relative and therefore all religious opinions are equally valid.  No one likes to hear that they are wrong, and it makes people especially upset when they are told that their wrong beliefs will cause them to be judged by God.  To even suggest such a thing is the height of hatred and intolerance to many people.  Sadly, it never seems to cross people's minds that is possible to believe that something is true without taking delight in it or wishing for it to happen.

Yet, the offense that comes from this belief is the offense of the Gospel.  If people are offended by this teaching but not by your sharing of your personal Christian testimony, it is because your personal testimony does not press upon them the requirements of the Gospel as clearly they need to be.  People must come face to face with the stark, life-and-death implications of the claims of Jesus Christ in order to really understand and believe in Him.  Soft pedaling the exclusive claims of the Gospel may make your beliefs more palatable to others, but for that very reason the Gospel message will be muddled and will fail to convey the necessary urgency to unbelieving hearers.  The very concept of salvation is meaningless to anyone who does not realize that he is in grave danger and needs to be rescued.

The second issue, a belief in God as Creator of the universe, provokes a backlash because it is perceived as being against science.  And indeed the biblical doctrine of creation is in direct conflict with naturalism, the philosophy that forms the foundation for the way scientific inquiry and education are commonly practiced in most of the Western world today.  Naturalism believes that matter is eternal, assumes that the universe came into existence and evolved to its current state through random chance, and either denies outright the existence of God or believes He is impossible to know and uninvolved in the universe.  Science in the Western world has not always been dominated by naturalism and many great scientists throughout history have been devout Christians, but today science is inextricably linked in most people's minds with naturalistic evolution.  Science is also considered by many people to be the realm where objective facts and cold, hard reality reign supreme, despite the fact that highly subjective a priori philosophical assumptions often contribute substantially to scientific conclusions.  Therefore, Christians who dispute the "settled" naturalistic conclusions of science are assumed to be hostile to objective facts and rational thought, and therefore by extension ignorant, backward, and worthy of ridicule.  I can recall watching the news as a teenager and hearing a presidential candidate (Pat Buchanan) who had expressed skepticism about naturalistic evolution being openly mocked by news anchors as a candidate for membership in the Flat Earth Society, and I am confident that the hostility and mockery you will face for this belief is far worse today than it was in 1996.

I believe that consciously or unconsciously, however, there is a deeper issue in play for many people beyond a deeply ingrained confidence in the infallibility of science.  The belief that God created us and the world in which we live inevitably leads to the conclusion that we belong to Him and therefore are accountable to Him for our actions.  As Paul points out in Romans 1, people choose (in some cases subconsciously I believe) to suppress a knowledge of God as Creator because they wish to be the captains of their own fate and the masters of their own souls. 

The third and final issue regarding the morality of homosexuality is one that seems to be front and center in news headlines in one form or another almost constantly nowadays.  Rarely in American history has there been as rapid and dramatic a shift in public opinion on any issue with serious implications for morality and public policy as there has been on the issue of homosexuality.  As recently as 10 or 15 years ago, overwhelming majorities of the public opposed same-sex marriage and there was a relatively broad consensus that homosexuality was morally wrong.  Today, to even insinuate anything negative about homosexuality, much less to state that it is a sin, will get you laughed off the stage or branded as a bigot very quickly.  Part of the reason for the rapid sea change in public opinion on this issue, I think, is because the gay rights lobby has power far exceeding its size in many influential areas of our society and has worked tirelessly to force a change in public opinion using both sympathy due to past mistreatment of gays in our society and threats of being labeled intolerant.  An even bigger reason, I think, is a growing cultural consensus that most gay people do not choose to be gay and deserve to be accepted for who they are.  Once the notion that homosexuality is a fundamental part of certain people's identity rather than a lifestyle choice takes hold, as it has in our country, it becomes almost impossible to declare that it is wrong or immoral.

However, homosexuality is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Christian teaching about sexual morality as it relates to our culture.  The Bible's moral requirements when it comes to human sexuality are a veritable straitjacket to our highly permissive culture.  Pornography, adultery, pre-marital sex, co-habitation, sexual jokes and innuendos, lustful glances and thoughts, sexually revealing clothing -- our culture is so awash in these sins that most people barely give them a second thought.  Yet every single one of them is just as much of a sin from a Biblical perspective as homosexuality.  And our society is also awash in the consequences that inevitably follow from this sexually permissive behavior -- divorce, broken families, single-parent homes, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.  In all of these areas, including homosexuality, the prevailing cultural opinion can be summed up with the question: "Who are you to judge?"  It is widely assumed that suppression or repression of one's sexual desires is unhealthy, while the pathway to happiness consists in indulging in one's sexual desires and following them wherever they lead.  Our society scoffs at "Victorian morality" and takes pride in being sexually liberated to find happiness wherever the desire may take us. 

Of course, the Bible teaches exactly the opposite.  Self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians, and Paul warns Christians in Romans 8 that they must "put to death the deeds of the body," a reference to those sinful behaviors that characterize human beings.  After starkly declaring that "everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart," Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount goes on to use extreme hyperbole to communicate the necessity for His followers to suppress and subdue their sinful desires: "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell" (Matthew 5:29).  In his classic Christian apologetic Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis notes in his chapter on chastity that "surrender to all our desires obviously leads to impotence, disease, jealousies, lies, concealment, and everything that is the reverse of health, good humour, and frankness."  No matter how natural, normal, and reasonable our sexual desires may seem to us, we must renounce them in order to live in obedience to God.

Conclusion

None of this is to say that we should go out of our way to bring up these issues with other people if it is not warranted or appropriate.  It would likely be very counter-productive to start a discussion about Biblical creation with the random person sitting next to you on the plane, and it is probable that your co-worker is not interested in hearing your unsolicited opinion about homosexuality.  I can state from my personal observations that nothing is more annoying to non-Christians than when Christians hijack conversations or blog discussions with Bible-related opinions that have nothing to do with the topic at hand, especially when those Christians come across as judgmental, disrespectful, or rude.  However, if you intend on living out your Christianity consistently in post-Christian 21st century America, sooner or later you are going to find yourself with these issues staring you in the face.  It will probably be sooner rather than later.  You will have the choice to either deny or downplay the Biblical position on these issues, which will be the easy way out, or else to take the much harder course of graciously but boldly affirming your faith and Scriptural teaching on these issues.  Just as Moses had to decide whether to "be mistreated with the people of God" and accept "the reproach of Christ" rather than to enjoy the "treasures of Egypt" and "the fleeting pleasures of sin," so we too must decide whether our ultimate loyalty is to Christ and His Word or to being popular or accepted in this world.  Your choice to affirm Scriptural teaching on these issues could very well make you an object of ridicule or brand you as a bigot.  But Jesus Himself said, "Whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).

Welcome!

As some of you may know, I've been blogging on politics since 2009 on a blog called Common Cents.  I enjoy writing and appreciated the opportunity to express my perspective about politics.  Unfortunately, the 2012 elections wiped out any hope I had that our country would get back on the right track from a constitutional perspective, and for the sake of my blood pressure and general peace of mind I no longer intend to follow politics closely.  However, I have missed blogging over the past few months and wanted to find some way to continue to put down my thoughts and perspectives in writing.  Hence, I decided to create this blog.

The general purpose of Unchanging Truth for a Changing World is to discuss and analyze current events, news stories, cultural issues, and occurrences of daily life from a Christian perspective.  For me, the Bible is not just a holy book but an infallible guide for daily living.  It is the final and complete revelation of God's will, and therefore contains truths and principles that are applicable to every area of life and timeless in their application.  In the increasingly post-Christian culture in which we live, I believe it is essential for followers of Jesus to not only know the doctrines of Scripture but also to be able to think critically about how they relate to the world in which we live and to make decisions that are consistent with those Biblical doctrines on a whole host of important issues.  This blog will be my attempt to analyze big world events and small issues of daily life from the perspective of a Christian worldview. 

My goal for this blog is to be able to post at least once a week, with an awareness that with a young child in the house I will not always be able to hold to this schedule.  I would like to incorporate a variety of approaches, including editorials on current events, devotional thoughts and quotes, commentary on Scripture passages, personal stories, discussion of important cultural issues, and poetry (written by others, not myself).  I want this blog to be a vehicle for me to think through issues critically, to engage the culture, and to stay motivated to read good books.  Hopefully I will be able to encourage others to do the same along the way.  While I am unabashedly approaching issues from a Christian perspective, everyone is invited to read and comment and I welcome respectful discussion from others with differing perspectives.  I am sure political issues will come up, since our country's politics is deeply intertwined with key cultural issues, but I do not intend to make politics a primary focus.  For a more explicit political focus, please continue to follow commoncentspolitix.blogspot.com, as others (and perhaps myself from time to time) will probably continue to post there.

Welcome to all!