The Great Realignment

A few years ago we started hearing that America's roaring economy was fueled by credit; millions of Americans, including a great many Christians, were up to their ears in debt. The fuel for that roaring economy wasn't just credit but also materialism as millions bought things they didn't need with money they didn't have.

And it was abundantly clear that changing that, getting Americans and especially Christians to refocus their desires and spend less than they earn, would cut our economy off at the knees.

Well, that's no longer a problem. Our economy is on its knees. Millions are out of work. Millions have taken pay cuts or lower paying jobs. Credit is harder to come by. Even the affluent have cut back on their spending — out of caution, guilt, or simply a desire to blend in.

So where do we go from here?

A major disruption in your life presents an opportunity to change bad habits. We're at one. We can decide to do things differently than before.

The "Great Recession" can result in a great realignment. We can re-evaluate what we're going to value. Instead of toys, we can decide to value simple pleasures.

Recently I took a stay-at-home vacation. Originally I did it because I have much more vacation than my wife. (Where am I going to go without her? Why would I want to?)

But as it approached, I began to look forward to it more and more. The simplicity was so appealing. Instead of going somewhere with the hassles of driving or flying, I stayed home. Instead of bustling the kids around on a schedule of all the sights we wanted to see, I sat in my reading chair. No hotels, no looking for a decent restaurant, no packing or unpacking. I slept in my bed, ate in my kitchen, watched my tv, read my books, and generally had a marvelous, relaxing week. And my expenses that week were less than they would have been if I'd gone to work — and much less than if I'd gone to Disneyland.

Now I plan to make it an annual event — hopefully even with my wife.

I read a while back that in Finland they don't have big houses or nice cars but enjoy a quiet, simple life. (In part, because of their confiscatory tax system, which we do not need to emulate.) I hope and pray we can move in that direction, if not all Americans, at least the American church.

If we live a lifestyle that allows us to give away 10% of our income and save 10% of our income, we'll find a happiness that can't be bought for 110% of our income.

Lighter Links

How about an assortment of light and entertaining links?

Pictures taken from the space station.

Ten Books that Influenced C.S. Lewis
"Reading everything C. S. Lewis tells you to read is not a bad stimulus for a continuing education project."

How to save water-damaged books and photos

I hope you never need this. My parents did.
When a child puts something up his nose

For the book lover's book lover: Pictures of the world's most beautiful libraries
(HT: Tony Reinke)

Are Bats Birds?

Are bats birds? Who would even ask such a question?

Skeptics. Here's why:

"These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, ... the hoopoe and the bat" (Lev 11:13, 19).

Are bats birds, or is this a scientific or factual error in the Bible?

Neither; it's actually a translation issue.

Our society categorizes animals based on all sorts of characteristics — physical, behavioral, internal, and external. We have people who are paid to sit around doing nothing but this; our system is going to be more complicated. Ancient Hebrews used a much simpler system, for example, things-that-swim, things-that-crawl, and things-with-wings. Their system wasn't wrong, just different.

But their system doesn't always translate smoothly into English. "Things-with-wings" translates fine as "bird" until you get to bats.

That's the case with many passages of the Bible, whether they appear to be "errors" or not. To properly understand the Bible, we have to strive to put ourselves in the heads of the authors and their audiences. When we read the scriptures as if they were written by and to twenty-first century Americans, we are bound to go astray.

The Normative Argument

A lot of modern evangelicals are pretty old-fashioned — especially where gender roles are concerned. Being the contrarian I am, I always have to ask why.

It's not unusual to get a response that appeals to what was "normative" during the time when the Bible was being written.

While I don't think that's completely invalid, we need to be able to base our answers on more than that simply because there are a lot of things that were normal during ancient times that aren't now.

During Jesus' lifetime, it was normal for extended families to live close together. The men worked while the women kept the home and raised the kids. They honored the aged, disciplined the young, worshipped together, and took care of their neighbors.

That all sounds great. This doesn't:

The men performed back-breaking labor from sun up to sun down hoping desperately to scratch a living out of the earth. The women stayed home because there was little else they could do, and someone had to watch the kids. They tended to have lots of them because ... well, there wasn't much else for a married couple to do for entertainment once the sun went down. Plus, the mortality rate made it necessary to have lots of children so that a few would reach adulthood.

"Aged" was fifty. A man answered to his father for as long as his father lived. In some parts of the ancient world, a father could kill his children at any point for any reason, even into adulthood (though that was rare).

Disease was rampant, there wasn't enough food, and what food they had couldn't be stored for long. Sanitation was non-existent. People bathed infrequently, and they went to the bathroom in a hole dug in the ground.

This was normative.

You think it's best that women stay home and raise the kids? You think large families, homeschooling, and careful religious instruction of your children is healthy? Great, so do I. You think it's required? Why?

We can't just appeal to what was normal during Jesus' day without explaining why we no longer poop in a hole.

Does God Promise to Speak?

"Pay attention, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak."

I've seen this verse from Job used a few times lately to say God will speak if we'll only listen. Do we have that promise from God?

Not from this verse. It's Elihu speaking to Job.

This is a danger inherent in using concordances and Bible search programs — it's too easy to find something that falsely appears to support your position when removed from its context. Of course, there are plenty of other ways to take verses out of context too.

Why is this a big deal? When people mistakenly take statements in the Bible to be promises to them, they are frequently disappointed. They're disappointed with God, even though He never made them a promise.

Remember, never read a Bible verse. Read a paragraph or more to be sure you're reading in context.

It's no small thing to decide to live your life after the precepts of the Bible. Let's make sure we're living by what it actually says.

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Related:
All for Good?
Bad Verses on Tithing