Apology or Doxology?

If there is one thing I've learned in 29 years of marriage, it is to seek clarification. If there is one thing I have learned in the past nine years as a debate mom, it is 'define your terms.' In the current climate of gender/sexuality issues, lots of people who self-identify as Christians use the term 'love' and yet seem to be talking past one another. A few weeks ago, some friends and I began A Beautiful Design by Matt Chandler.* It was a safe place for us to ask hard questions and grapple with concerns we have as friends, families, and moms. It was in that setting that I began to get my aha! moment about doxology.
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If you love Him, then you love holiness. What you please shouldn't present a problem. (ND Wilson) 

Two truths:
1. God is love. (I John 4:16)
2. All scripture is inspired by God. (2 Tim 3:16)
If you disagree that these are true, then we've come to the part of the flowchart that says "END." Have a great day. But if you agree with me...

If you agree that God is love and that all scripture is inspired by God, then all scripture must be love because anything that proceeds from a God who is love must necessarily be loving. Or else we negate the proposition, in which case we come again to the part of the flowchart that says "END." Have a great day. But if you agree that all scripture must be love...

Then why doesn't all scripture elicit worship from us, His Church?
Why does a six-day Creation make us squirm?
Why does Leviticus make us squirm?
Why does a bloody cross make us squirm?
Why does the Final Judgment make us squirm?
Why does God's Word, which is love because it proceeds from God who is love, make us squirm?
And, conversely, why don't people who identify as Christians but squirm over scripture make us squirm?
Why is there so much apology and so little doxology?

DOXOLOGY /dahk SOL' uh jee/  [Gr. "δοξα" praise, glory and "λεγω" to speak] (n.): a hymn in praise of the Almighty; a particular form of giving glory to God

A church in our neighborhood has this tag line under its title:
"Where Jesus is the key and people are the point."
Ah. No. As Charles Spurgeon would remind us, there is a difference between 'right' and 'almost right.' That tag line is almost right, but it is not right--which makes it wrong. People are inherently valuable. We are not incidental, but neither are we the point. God is. Loving God is the first and greatest commandment. Loving my neighbor is the second commandment. (Matt 22:37-38; Mark 12:29-30) The first commandment bounds the second, not the other way around.

Almost-Right-People-Are-The-Point is epidemic in the Church and has taken us down the Bunny Trail of Apology. Take the hot topics of our day: gender and sexuality. Who of us has more than two degrees of separation from someone who is confused by these issues? Either we know someone who is confused, or we know someone who knows someone who is. And we were sovereignly placed in such a time as this.
BUT...
when we think that people are the point, we start to apologize. They're real flesh and blood, after all, not some proposition on a page. (A hearty amen! to that). They're really great folks, too! (Possibly an amen! to that, too).

So down the Bunny Trail we go.
I'm sorry that God created only two genders.
Next comes, I'm sorry for Leviticus.
I'm sorry for the Law.
And pretty soon, we've arrived at:
I'm sorry for the cross. Let's just call it symbolic and call it a day.
I'm sorry that there are certain people who will never inherit the Kingdom.
I'm sorry. I didn't write it. My hands are tied on this one.

We're not quite willing to jettison the Word. But we do want to put some distance between It and us, because, remember, people are the point, so making our people feel badly must be avoided at all costs.  And while we're busy kicking the dirt, avoiding eye contact, and making God the bad guy, what we are really communicating is that if we were God, we would have done things differently. If we were God, we wouldn't be so hard line. If we were God, we would celebrate you.

People are the crowning jewel of God's creation. But we are creations. What makes us feel good on the one hand or guilty on the other is not the weighing mechanism for what is really and truly Love.

God is the point. And if God, who is love and who authored all of scripture, is the point, then His instructions should elicit worship and wonder, not apology. Never apology. And we shouldn't find ourselves affirming anything at all that is contra-God and contra-scripture.

Further, if God is love and all of His Words are love, it must necessarily follow that God's Word is the most loving thing we can share with our people. It must follow that His Words are the best way for our people, who are really great folks--but also under wrath--to reach their full flourishing potential.

Who are the covenant people of God, after all?
For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Hebrews 8:10
The covenant people of God have God's law on their hearts--because He put it there--and they love it, and they love Him.

The opening quote bears repeating: If you love God, then you love holiness. What you please shouldn't present a problem. 

So, gospel Christian, do we love Genesis 1 and Leviticus 18 and Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6? Do they bring forth doxology from us? If God has written them on my heart, then the answer is yes.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)



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*a wonderful series on gender that offers the compassion of Jesus without cratering His Truth

2017 Reading List

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So are books. Here are mine for the year, opinions occasionally included. Because, well, me.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
Silver Lining by Nancy Wilson. I turned 50 two weeks ago. Time to face facts; I am the older woman. And this is a good book for such a time as this.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
Comraderie of Confidence by John Piper
Madeleine Takes Command* by Ethel Claire Brill
Brave Companions by David McCollough. I'm not big on biographies, but these short sketches were actually very interesting.
A Child's History of the Life of George Washington* by Josephine Pollard. A little dry but more information here than most high schoolers get.
Discipleship by Mark Dever. Dever can be a little...aggressive...about evangelism, so I read with a 'we'll see' attitude. Turns out this was a great book affirming the power and appropriateness of one-on-one discipleship.
Thoughts for Young Men by JC Ryle. Written as a Titus 2 exhortation to young men to be sober-minded.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling

Family Life of a Christian Leader by Ajith Fernando. A little elementary.
Peter Pan* by JM Barrie
Mr. Standfast by John Buchan. Richard Hannay is my favorite spy. I would not usually classify a spy novel as literature--except for this one. I love Sam Gamgee and Boo Radley and all unsung heroes. There's one in here, too.
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling. Best book of the series. Juxtaposition of magic vs. legitimate 1 Samuel witchcraft. This is the one that really pulled me into the series.
Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by JK Rowling
Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Douglas Wilson. Second time on this one. Improved upon further acquaintance. Provides what she-who-shall-not-be-name failed to: the emphasis on the need for a fixed point of reference.
The Black Tower by PD James. Meh.
Better Late Than Early by Raymond and Dorothy Moore.
Reb and the Redcoats* by Constance Savery. Thought this would never end.

Ordinary by Michael Horton. If I gave you all the thoughts that impacted me in this book, I'd be violating copyright. Fantastic!
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. Luther did not get everything right, and some things he got very, very wrong. But his grasp of the scriptures and the sovereignty of God, demonstrated here, is what made him one of the greats and one of my favorites.
Fellowship of the Ring* by JRR Tolkien. How many times can one read LOTR? Well, I don't know; how many times are there?
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Amazing! We're still talking about it!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. And thus ends the tale of Harry Potter. Great fun! Thoroughly enjoyed!
Echoes of Eden by Jerram Barrs
Fantastic Creatures and Where to Find Them by JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling. Not quite as good.
Vendetta by Lisa Harris

The Two Towers* by JRR Tolkien
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
John Calvin edited by Burk Parsons
Befriend by Scott Sauls. I wanted to like this one more than I did.
Dangerous Calling by Paul David Tripp. Every pastor and pastor's wife should read this.
Watership Down by Richard Adams. Have wanted to read for a long time. Now I'm not really sure why.
Ten Ways to Destroy Your Child's Imagination by Anthony Esolen. Decent book but not a fan of Esolen. Blogpost forthcoming.
Return of the King* by JRR Tolkien
North! Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson
Revelation and Reason edited by K. Scott Oliphant and Lane Tipton . Mind-blowing read, really. If everything was corrupted in the Fall, including our ability to reason (and it was), and if we are knowing-but-suppressing (and we are), then we must jettison classical apologetics in favor of the far more scriptural pre-suppositional apologetics. Heady stuff and slow reading but worth it.

Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson
Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson. No secret that I love this series. Not since Narnia has there been such a thematically strong tale for children that adults should also read. Maybe one day I'll read it without crying. Maybe.
The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe. Scathingly humorous review of modern art. Laughed out loud.
Reading Between the Lines by Gene Edward Veith. I should probably have liked this more than I did.
For the Time Being by Annie Dillard. I'm not silly enough to give Dillard another moment of my life.
The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages
The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin. That's some good readin' there.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Now I can say I read it. And I never need to do that again.
The Road Home by David Kherdian
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie--one of her best.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Beautiful, tragic book by a soldier who was there. More convinced than ever that every politician who votes for war, arguing a 'just war,' should put their son on the front line first. Then we'll see how committed to their cause they really are.
Acts: The Church Alive by R. Kent Hughes
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Not a single good guy in the whole book. Ick.
Luther and Katarina by Jody Hedlund. No.
Water From My Heart by Charles Martin. Yes! Martin is one of my faves!
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Really short and really brilliant.
Long Way Home by Louise Penny. This is my favorite new series. But do NOT do what I did, and that was read them out of order. Because of an ongoing plot line, you need to start at the beginning and keep to the order. Caviat: Penny's likely not a believer; hold your fire.
How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch* by Jean Lee Lantham. Fourth time through. Really good.
Still Life by Louise Penny. THIS is the first one. Start here.

Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
Steadfast Love by Lauren Chandler. Chandler knows storms. And she knows Who holds us during the storms. Lots of comfort here.
Book of Dragons* by E. Nesbit
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase* by Joan Aiken
Whiter Than Snow by Paul David Tripp. Thoughtful meditations on Psalm 51.
My Father's Daughter by EL Konigsburg
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico

China's Long March by Jean Fritz. I don't know if Fritz is unhinged from history or just unhinged.
Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer. The story of a young Jew and a Hitler youth and their eventual collaboration. Worth reading.
The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I didn't quite agree with Bonhoeffer's take on the Sermon on the Mount, but he does prove he's not a red-letter Christian later in the book. Really good nuggets here.
The Little White Horse* by Elizabeth Goudge. One of those genuinely great read-alouds, riveting to both kids and their parents.
Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist by John Severance
The Crowd, the Critic, and the Muse by Michael Gungor. Jeff Baldwin of Worldview Academy exhorts young people this way: "If you want to go to MIT to learn to build bridges, go to MIT. If the professor at MIT starts talking about the meaning of life, flip the switch in your brain and turn him off. When he starts to talk about building bridges again, flip the switch and turn him on again." You'll need to read Gungor the same way. When he talks about God, the gospel, or faith, turn him off. When he sticks to what he really knows (art/music/creating), he has some worthwhile things to say about why we create, who we create to please, and how that impacts the outcome.
After the War by Carol Matas
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

That's it, folks. May your new year be filled with a comfy chair, lots of great new books, and the time to read them!
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*read-alouds