Faith is Not a Democracy

June 6, 2025June 5, 2025Todd R 3 Comments

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

Minding Our Own Business

February 20, 2025February 19, 2025Todd R 1 Comment

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.

^{Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash}

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.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/virtue signaling
[2] 1 Timothy 5:13; 1 Peter 4:15

The Traps of the Wicked

February 17, 2025March 23, 2025Todd R 2 Comments

The world is, unfortunately, full of people who seek to get other people in trouble, and this has been true for millennia. Far back in Old Testament history, King David wrote in Psalm 140:4-5:

“Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
            preserve me from violent men,
            who have planned to trip up my feet.
The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
            and with cords they have spread a net;
            beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah”

When David wrote this, he was probably describing immediate, physical threats against him, but when I read verse 5 it sounds like many obstacles Christians currently face. Every day, we encounter traps put in front of us, and David’s Psalm has many applications.

What about irresponsible news coverage, which too often includes inappropriate opinions and suggestions about how we should think or act? We could pray, “Guard me, O LORD, against putting my faith in falsehoods.” Or “Guard me, O LORD, against temptation to hate my enemy.” Or “Guard me, O LORD, from putting aside the work you have for me to do to fight battles that aren’t mine.”

^{Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay}

Also, the internet is a dangerous place. Many websites use sexual images to get our attention, and in some cases if we even stop for a second to stop scrolling and look, those websites take that as interest and show us more of the same. We could pray “Guard me, O LORD, when websites ‘have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net’”. Other websites use misleading and provocative headlines to pull us away from what we intended to look at. “Guard me, O LORD, against click bait that leads me where I should not go, and that makes me spend my time unwisely.”

Back to the Psalm, note that in verse 5 David describes threats as being “beside the way,” meaning they are off the main path we should travel. The traps may be hidden off the side of the road with bait trying to lure us aside to an ambush. Therefore, the key is to stay on the road. Proverbs 1:17 says “For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird.” Even birds, if they see a trap, will know to avoid it. Yet people don’t seem to be as wise, or else they wouldn’t fall for click bait and other temptations.

One of the best ways to stay away from those who “have planned to trip up my feet” is to stay busy doing good things. Samuel Johnson wrote: “If you are idle, be not solitary; if you are solitary, be not idle.” He knew temptation is most powerful when we are alone with nothing to do, which applies to much of our time online. I try to use writing as a way to stay busy when solitary, but that doesn’t always work for me and might not work at all for others.

Staying on the right path, we avoid snares and traps, which are near, but not on, the true way. Once we allow temptation to move us a little, we often find it has moved us a lot, and into a trap.

What can we all do to avoid the traps of the wicked?

“Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from violent men,
who have planned to trip up my feet.”

Stay on Target

July 15, 2024Todd R 2 Comments

Every Christian needs some “Gold Five’s” in their life. Who is Gold Five? He’s the guy known for saying “stay on target” repeatedly in Star Wars. If you’re a fan, you know this line, but for those who don’t, here is some background:

In Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, released in 1977, the climax of the story is a space battle between the good rebel forces and the evil Empire. The Empire built a moon-sized battle station capable of destroying entire planets called the Death Star, which was getting into position to destroy the rebel base. Fortunately, some rebel spies stole plans for the Death Star and located one fatal weakness: an exhaust port that led to the main reactor, but could only be approached by a long trench in the surface of the Death Star. After other pilots failed, the hero, Luke Skywalker, was getting into position to fly his X-wing starfighter down the trench. He’s under constant fire from cannons and enemy fighters and distracted by the intense battle going on everywhere above him. But in this battle only one thing really mattered: attacking that exhaust port.

Enter Gold Five. We don’t know Gold Five’s name, but as Luke was flying down the trench and having trouble focusing, Gold Five radios to Luke several times “stay on target!” Luke refocuses[1] on his mission and succeeds in firing torpedoes down the port and destroying the Death Star. Just in time, of course.

Every Christian needs to hear from people like Gold Five – people who keep us on target – often.

Luke was distracted by enemy cannons and Tie Fighters, and our enemy seeks to distract us in many, many ways. There’s a massive spiritual and physical battle constantly raging all around us. Much of our culture is designed to draw us to every “new” thing. These are constant messages telling us to pay attention to things we shouldn’t. To put our politics or other philosophies above our obedience to our Maker. To fight battles that aren’t ours and that keep us from our own goals.

Temptation to stray from Christ’s specific mission for us is everywhere, and the desire to not give Him our best with everything He’s given us can be strong. When these distractions bombard us, we need to hear “stay on target.” Not once and probably not twice, but over and over again. When the world is screaming loudly in our eyes and ears, we need to hear Gold Five speaking into our headset. We need someone to encourage us to stay on the path God has laid out for us.

As Jesus is quoted in Matthew 7:13-14 –

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

There are many voices that lead to the wide path of destruction, but who are your Gold Fives? How can we all be better Gold Fives? We all need more of them.

Stay on target!

[1] With some help from Obi-Wan as well.

Love When Bad Things Happen

April 15, 2024Todd R 3 Comments

Fellow travelers,

Sometimes things happening in the world grab our attention and make us assign more significance to them than they deserve. Sometimes these are natural phenomena, like earthquakes, comets, or eclipses, and sometimes they are manmade phenomena, like wars.

One reason we do this is that passages in the Bible like Mark 13:5-23 describe what events will happen before Jesus returns again. We want Him to return! While it’s right to anticipate with excitement that Jesus is coming back, it’s important to sort out such passages by what is describing what will happen (descriptive truth) and what God tells us to do when these things happen (prescriptive truth). In all circumstances, the God’s primary commandments for us are to love God and to love our neighbor, even if they are our enemy. No phenomena should pull us off that path, and Mark 13:5-23 recommends that.

In the table below, I paraphrase and categorize Mark’s message into what is descriptive vs. prescriptive truth:

Descriptive	Prescriptive
Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’	See that no one leads you astray
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, and nation will rise against nation	Do not be alarmed
Earthquakes and famines in various locations	Be on your guard
You will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake	Bear witness before them and do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say
Brother will deliver brother over to death and you will be hated by all	Endure
False christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders	Be on guard

To Jesus, none of the things in the descriptive column are new information. All were included in His plan from eternity past. The actions He recommends are not new information either. The “Prescriptive” column tells us not to panic, but to endure, to keep doing what we should be doing before these bad things happened – Love God, love your neighbor, even if your neighbor is your enemy.

On the other hand, false christs and prophets will tell us current events are unprecedented and a fulfillment of prophecy and they will tell us what we should do. The false prophet takes the descriptive of evil in the world and creates their own false prescriptive. They recommend an incomplete and inaccurate narrative of current events as an ultimate solution. Their own Babel which God must “come down” from heaven to even see (Genesis 11:5). But the true Christ calmly says, “be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand”. (Mark 13:23). The true Christ comes down from heaven and demonstrates how to create a true ladder back to heaven, offering forgiveness to all, even those who refuse to accept it or practice love. He will be thoroughly and eternally glorified by manifesting His kingdom as the only eternal kingdom, ruled by love, not by panic over current events.

No matter what we see happening in the news or in the world, Jesus knew it was coming and He told us that in any circumstance we should obey and glorify Him, through love for Him and neighbor. He doesn’t panic and neither should we.

Amen.