Social media is a great place to share short bursts of pontification, whether in memes, quips, quotes, or what have you. Sometimes a little more research may do some good, though. Several times recently I’ve seen the quote below shared by people protesting what they see as people in power playing loose with information to pompously push pernicious policies that are precariously close to imperious:
“Truly, whoever can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” – Voltaire
Since this quote was often posted by Christians, they might be appalled by the context of the quote:
“Formerly there were those who said: You believe things that are incomprehensible, inconsistent, impossible because we have commanded you to believe them; go then and do what is unjust because we command it. Such people show admirable reasoning. Truly, whoever can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. If the God‐given understanding of your mind does not resist a demand to believe what is impossible, then you will not resist a demand to do wrong to that God‐given sense of justice in your heart. As soon as one faculty of your soul has been dominated, other faculties will follow as well. And from this derives all those crimes of religion which have overrun the world.”
On the positive side, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”[1] Being a Christian requires holding on tight to things that seem absurdities to the world, but it also means we have the “God-given sense of justice” that requires we show mercy to those whose absurdities are different from our own.
If I post anything that seems absurd, please let me know, mercifully… ( I think Abraham Lincoln said something similar on his website)
I am on vacation this week, so I’ve collected some old posts about James 1:27 for the week. I’m reposting them as is, but they definitely need some editing!
It’s become cliché to say social media brings out the worst of people, since they can hide from consequences behind internet anonymity and distance. Mike Tyson, one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, said “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.” But disrespect and wanting to punch people in the face who disagree with us is nothing new. Just one generation after Adam and Eve were made in the image of God and living in perfect love, their son Cain killed his brother Abel for uncertain reasons. Genesis also doesn’t tell us exactly how Cain killed Abel, but we can be sure social media wasn’t involved. Hate doesn’t require an internet connection or working Wi-Fi, only one person deciding that another person is a thing to be defeated, not as a person made in God’s image. Sometimes by focusing on what we are disagreeing about, we can lose sight of the fact that the person disagreeing with us is inherently valuable.
Today, after months away, we return to a series on James 1:27, which says: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James gave careful thought to this phrase, not as hyperbole, but as an example of what perfect religion – worship of God the Father – looks like. Eternal life is for people who love when there’s nothing more at stake than the person being loved, but putting issues above people is one way we get stained by the world and fail to represent Christ. Note that I didn’t say ignore the issues – it’s a question of priority.
The Singular Person Psalm 113 is a Psalm about praising God and making Him known throughout the world, and ends with a very specific praise:
“He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!”
To me, what’s most striking here is that this is a singular barren woman, not barren women as a group. It doesn’t say that God ends all barrenness (although He might). The Psalmist chose as a climactic ending to this poem about the heart of God and how He wants to be known a praise to God for giving a home and family to one barren woman. This means that the sovereign God of all the universe is concerned about individuals, their specific circumstances, and their specific need for salvation. He does not respond to an “issue” of the barrenness of women but responds in a way that satisfies the needs of individual people. People are not statistics to Him, to be counted and divided into opposing sides until one prevails over the other. Each person’s needs and path to redemption are unique in God’s eyes, and only He can provide for all. He is the only way to a perfect world.
Similar to the “barren woman”, James 1:27 is about visiting specific “orphans and widows,” not fighting for the end of all afflictions for all widows and orphans. He is fighting for people, not total victory in an argument. While this might seem obvious to some, it’s so easy to exalt issues over people that we don’t always notice when we do it.
The Issue of Family A common issue today is “family,” which I put in quotes because as an issue it doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. A lot of time and energy is put into fighting for “family values,” defined many different ways, and James 1:27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world,” is relevant in multiple ways.
First, an earlier post of this series, said “whatever its source, civil law is a provision for a fallen world, not a pathway to a perfect world.” In both the Old and New Testaments, God tells us there will always be poor in the land and that every civil law is inherently limited in a broken world. Christians should “defend the family,” but in what way? James 1:27 says to stand for individuals for whom the institution of family has already failed – widows and orphans. “Pure and undefiled religion” succeeds where law fails, filling the gap with the heart of God, who cares for the specific “barren woman” of Psalm 113:9. There is no perfect law that solves the issue of “family values,” therefore “visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” Affliction comes in many forms and is too complex and diverse for any government to deal with entirely.
Second, when we fight for perfection in our laws, taking absolute stands on either side of an “issue,” we risk elevating law to a level it’s not possible of achieving, and we also may justify hurting people in the process, thinking the end result will be worth it somehow. Once we see the world in fully black/white, either/or terms, it becomes easy to think that if only the right side came out ahead, the issue would be resolved, any collateral damage can be explained, and everyone would be happy. However, consider the extreme example of violence around both abortion clinics and crisis pregnancy centers. In that case and many smaller ones, when we cause harm to opponents, we prove that there are cracks in our own system, creating new victims on top of the existing ones. Those left behind haven’t been helped, but new affliction has been added by those hoping it will be somehow worth it to win the “issue” battle.
Third, ministering to widows and orphans keeps us from the pollution of the world which insists that our salvation is political and based on power. James 1:27 encourages us to reject a world that wants to put laws, culture, even hashtags above actual people. The world too often believes the ends justify the means because belief in worldly utopia depends on a 100% solution, but also believes it’s ok to ignore concrete problems while fighting for a solution that will never arrive. Salvation comes from only one source: the cross.
In the start of this post, I wrote that it’s become cliché to say social media brings out the worst of people, and its cliché because massive amounts of time and energy go into fighting over abstract issues and dividing into groups of “us” and “them”. James 1:27 says that we are not defined by which side of an issue we support, and what we’re willing to do to achieve victory for our side, but by how we love those individuals for whom this world has failed.
It is better to minister to the ones who have been punched by this world than to add another punch to the damage.
Therefore, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” – Hebrews 10:23-25
And what are “good works”? “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Every blog needs a mascot, right? Well, maybe not every blog, but I decided this one does. Before I introduce him, a little backstory on where he came from.
Boston is one of my favorite places to visit, and when I was there in October 2022, we got this great picture of a squirrel in Boston Common. The squirrels there ignore people most of the time, instead of running away like squirrels usually do. But this one was not afraid of us at all; he walked right up and stared us down. He stayed like this long enough for us to take a picture and was still around after we walked away. For squirrels, fear of humans is a learned behavior and, in some environments, they just go about their business, unconcerned.
Ebenezer, at home in Boston Common
He was a great contrast to the “squirrel moments”[1] dogs (and people) have when they are “distracted by random nothingness.” The Facebook page where I share this blog is called “A place to inject hopeful reminders of eternity into the distraction that is Facebook.” I’ve used this squirrel as my social media picture before to joke that it was the best way to draw attention, and if people are easily distracted by squirrels, why not use one to distract people toward the blog?
So, this squirrel is now the mascot for Driving Toward Morning! But he needs a name. What to call him?
Meet Ebenezer Many people know the name Ebenezer from Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, but in the Bible an Ebenezer is a stone monument constructed as a tangible and visible reminder of God’s past help for His people. Ebenezer means “stone of help,” and such monuments were built in Genesis 28:18, 35:14, Joshua 4:9, 1 Samuel 7:12 and elsewhere. When I write, I’m often trying to create a type of written Ebenezer.
For example, inspired by a devotional about Ephesians 2:4, I wrote a post about the power of the words “but God.” In it, James Montgomery Boice says: “The words ‘but God’ show what God has done. If you understand those two words – ‘but God’ – they will save your soul. If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely.”[2]
So, I’ve decided to name him “Ebenezer, the ‘But God…’ Squirrel,” but you can just call him Ebenezer. Whenever I see Ebenezer, I hope to be pulled back into awareness of God’s help when I am distracted or frustrated. I hope to be reminded to store up treasure in heaven as squirrels store food for the winter. I hope to fear God and not man. I hope to be encouraged to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), as every squirrel I see reminds me that interrupting the seeming chaos of the world with “but God” can change everything.
Next time, and every time, you see a squirrel, I hope you are reminded of the same. The world is not random, and God is relevant to your situation, whatever it is.
If you’re ever in Boston and see Ebenezer, say hello to him for me.
In our lives, there are many “voices” that try to influence us, from the people we know, to the things we read, to all the messages in our culture, and beyond. These may not be literal voices in our heads, but all of these influences affect our inner dialogue and compete to make us act in certain ways. Often, we don’t know why we do what we do or feel the way we feel, but chances are we got the idea from somewhere.
For Christians, one of those voices in our minds is God, guiding us in the perfect way to go by His Spirit, but we often let the other voices overrule Him. This can be especially easy to do when He’s telling us to do something that seems strange to us. One example is from ancient Israel, when the sins of the nation resulted in God passing sentence on the people, in the form of conquest by, and exile to, Babylon.
Once God had made up His mind, the result was inevitable and God, through His prophets, told His people to submit to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Israel was not to follow all the customs of Babylon, or commands from its king[1], but Israel was supposed to submit to Babylon as long as it didn’t make them disobey God. In this message, His prophets were often lonely voices among many speaking to Israel. Jeremiah was one of these, and he had to remind the people about whose voice mattered, in Jeremiah 27:8-9.
“if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the LORD, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’”
I bolded all the different groups of people who were competing to influence Israel. These were the many voices Jeremiah had to compete with for the people’s attention, and there were perhaps dozens or even hundreds of them. If people took opinion polls in those days, God’s word would have barely registered in the results.[2]
Also note that these people were “your” (Israel’s) messengers, not God’s. These people were telling Israel what they wanted to say and to hear, not what God wanted them to hear. In modern times, this might be like news networks and celebrities saying only what is popular to say or to believe. Sadly, this also includes many Christians, even preachers, acting as messengers of our own culture’s values rather than as messengers carrying God’s word.
However, the lesson from the Jeremiah passage above is that God does not care about polling data, and He doesn’t want us to care about it either. Even if many, or even all other, voices contradict God, He is still right. Christians need to discern between the many influences inside and outside of us and find the ones that are coming from our Lord. Even if He is telling us to do something strange, like submit to His judgement under a foreign king.
Paul warned his protégé Timothy and he warns us as well: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”[3] These teachers are our modern “prophets, … diviners, … dreamers, … fortune-tellers, or … sorcerers” who seek influence over us. They may be pastors and teachers, but they can also be the news channels we choose to watch, the politicians we support, the celebrities we emulate, subtle messages in our culture like advertising, things we learn in school or at work, or simply what’s popular at the time. But only one voice matters and there is only one that deserves our absolute faith – God – no matter how many others vote against Him.
Our actions should not be ruled by a democracy, but by our King. Be careful who you listen to.
[1] See the book of Daniel for some examples. [2] Read the story of the prophet Micaiah in 1 Kings 22 for more about how outnumbered God’s true prophets were. [3] 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Have you heard the term “virtue signaling”? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as “the act or practice of conspicuously displaying one’s awareness of and attentiveness to political issues, matters of social and racial justice, etc., especially instead of taking effective action.” The phrase seems like it’s been around a long time, but the first use of it may have been as recent as 2013.[1]
Maybe the words “virtue signaling” are new, but the idea is at least as old as the Bible. In chapter 26, verses 6-13 of Matthew’s gospel, he tells the story of a woman who came to Jesus with “an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment” which she poured on Jesus’ head in front of the disciples. In Jesus’ view “she has done a beautiful thing to me…to prepare me for burial.” But the disciples didn’t see it the same way Jesus did. They indignantly said “Why this waste? For this [ointment] could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”
Jesus responded how it was “a beautiful thing”, but also made another comment that made it clear the disciples were virtue signaling. He told them not to “trouble the woman.” “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.” I think Jesus had at least 3 points in this phrase, related to virtue signaling.
The first is that knowing what to do isn’t enough. In fact, it just increases our responsibility. James 4:17 says: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Although the disciples knew that giving to the poor was good, in this case were more concerned about sharing that knowledge than about using it. Today, we might call such people virtue signalers, but the Bible calls them “busybodies” and “meddlers”[2] People who go from person to person evaluating and criticizing their work instead of minding their own responsibilities. These people are common on social media.
Second, that there is always an opportunity to help the poor – they always will exist and aren’t hard to find – and each disciple surely missed opportunities every day. On what basis could they pick on someone else’s failure to help the poor? By criticizing the woman, they revealed that virtue signaling was more important to them than actually being virtuous.
The last point is that service flows from worship, not the other way around. When we worship Jesus, the ultimate servant, our own ability to sincerely serve others increases as a result. The woman with the ointment knew this may be the only opportunity to anoint Jesus for burial, and knew she shouldn’t miss it. On the other hand, the disciples wanted Jesus to punish the woman when they should have been minding their own business. An internal posture of worship may be the best antidote to hypocrisy and the temptation to merely signal virtue.
The phrase “mind your own business” usually is said to someone we want to leave us alone, but the words actually mean that we should consider our own activities and motives more important than the policing of other people’s activities and motives. We “always have the poor” with us and fall far short of the standard we need to meet to judge other people’s use of resources.
When we all stand before God in judgment, Jesus will tell the blessed: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’” In other words, the blessed minded their own business instead of just criticizing others (virtue signaling). Jesus notices when we take effective action and doesn’t care much about our opinions of others’ effectiveness.
Therefore, pray that we can all mind our own business, in worshipful service, “for you always have the poor with you,” and thank God for His forgiveness, because I know I don’t mind my own business nearly as often as I should. Sometimes I just blog about it.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 