Faith and Religion

October 19, 2016 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

Words: I’m finding that trying to hit a moving target, while still forging my message, is a full-time job.

“O words, words! Wherefore art thou words?”…” Belonging to a man. O, be some other word! What’s in a word? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet…” paraphrased from Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 33 – 49.

Recently, I have had the feeling that my aphasia is kicking up again. After more than six months of no headaches and the luxury of having ideas and words flowing almost as easily as they did before my TBIs in 2009, I have very recently hit a dry spell. During the past several weeks, I have found myself in numerous situations where I can’t find the word that I am seeking. Draft after draft finds its way into the trash bin of my computer or the wastebasket in my office. What a waste of time and paper! What’s been just as disappointing and disconcerting is that these spells have coincided with an increase in the number of health concerns. I have started having problems with my right knee (the one that is my original knee; not the replacement knee), a recurrence of extended headaches, and an all-out war with increasing fatigue and my new BIPAP. It seems that I am heading back to the place I was immediately before my knee replacement surgery. There has been no decrease in the generation of new ideas. I am just having to fight to find the right words to communicate the ideas that I clearly see in my head. I can’t write or talk without words.

Through thoughtful and helpful conversations with several friends about my recurring difficulties with words, I have isolated two conditions that I believe are my biggest problems. How is someone with a mild case of aphasia suppose to convey his ideas meaningfully when he finds himself fighting against a double edged sword? The first source of difficulty is strictly internal. With a slicing forehand, the first swipe of the sword attempts to destroy my ability to communicate. How am I to communicate when words that I have used my entire life suddenly disappear? I stubbornly search but I can’t find them in the crevices of my mind? If you will look at one of my earliest posts Words Are More Like Cats Than Dogs (December, 2010), I used a metaphor involving dogs and cats to describe how some words were easily recalled like dogs, while others were as stubborn as cats and just would not come to me. In another early post, Gazing into the Abyss; a Deux (November 2011), I described the hard work of searching for words was very similar to the process of digging for coal on one’s hands and knees, in the deep recesses of a mine. However at the end of the shift, I come out of the mine with an empty coal cart.

The second source of difficulty is primarily external. Even when I find a word that seems right to me, I find it no longer means what I thought it did. Thinking back on my target shooting and hunting days, almost all of the time, stationary targets were easier marks to hit. It becomes much more difficult when the words start acting like moving targets. If the first edge of the sword is battling lost words in my head, then the second edge of the sword strikes me on a backhand swing. The words that do pop into my head no longer have the same meanings and connotations as when I first encountered them. I know that this is not a new phenomenon. The meanings of words have evolved for centuries. For example the word senile comes to us from the Latin senex, meaning “old age.” In ancient Rome, the Senate was the group of wise, old men who were the figurehead government of the empire. The Senate, after careful and considerable deliberations, approved or vetoed laws legislated by the Populous Council of citizens of Rome. Thus by the 14th Century, senile was introduced into the English language as an adjective that simply meant “aged” or “mature.” In those terms, “a senile, old man” is actually a redundancy. In today’s English, senile carries the connotation of having lost cognitive ability. In this sense, senility can kick in at any chronological age. As is the case with many things in today’s world, the rate of change of meanings seems to be increasing exponentially. How do you find the right word when its meaning changes almost daily? It’s like throwing darts at a moving target, while you’re moving also. Even though our character below is right on top of the target, he is still having trouble hitting the bull’s eye.

Fighting this double edged sword is compounding my difficulties in successfully communicating the myriad of ideas that keep flooding into my head. I found myself having to hammer out a message like the famous smithy from the 1840 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “The Village Blacksmith”

Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns what’er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear the bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his might sledge,
With measure beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
Look in the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar.
And catch the flaming sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter’s voice,
Singing in the choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like his mother’s voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hands he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

Toilng, — rejoicing, — sorrowing,
Onward in life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned his night’s repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou has taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.

Many of life’s important lessons are found in these 8 stanzas, 48 lines and 286 words. We find the physical and spiritual aspects of mankind. We find the human feelings of joy, sadness, exhaustion, and love. We find the virtues of hard work, honesty, humbleness, plainness, strength, perseverance, and stability. The blacksmith is a role model to the whole village, but especially the children. In the face of a multitude of competing forces, he balances his commitments to work, family, and community. The blacksmith is the symbolic “every man.” He stands as the iconic craftsman, standing upright before the onslaught of the coming industrial age. In the face of the inevitable, Longfellow wanted to make sure that we did not forget the agricultural age that birthed his current age. The smithy’s forge is a precursor to the steel furnaces of the 20th Century cities, spewing out the sparks of modernization. The community feel of the village stands in stark contrast to the rash of social isolation that is rampant in the sprawling cities that would soon develop. This poem is an American history and sociology lesson that all of us should remember and take to heart.

September 22, 2016 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

Four Lessons from Five Verses: Part IV

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. (II TImothy 2:1-5, KJV)

St. Paul in Prison, by Rembrandt [Public domain],1627, via Wikimedia Commons

This is the final installment of lessons from five verses in the second chapter of Paul’s second epistle to Timothy. In this post we concentrate on the first verse, Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (II Timothy 2:1, KJV)

Paul begins the second chapter with the conjunction “Therefore.” In doing this, he is telling TImothy to “be strong” because of what he said in Chapter 1. What did Paul say in Chapter 1 that should prompt Timothy to be strong? I see at least three things.

The first is Timothy’s faith and God’s priceless gifts. Immediately after Paul’s salutation, he reminds Timothy of his faith and the upbringing and grounding in God that his faith has given him. “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (II TImothy 1:5-7, KJV) What were those precious gifts? “the spirit of…power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

The second point relates to the circumstances under which Paul was writing the letter. Many scholars believe that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy during his second imprisonment in Rome. Three times in chapter 1, Paul mentions prison, suffering, afflictions or chains: “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;” (II Timothy 1:8, KJV); “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (II Timothy 1:12, KJV); and “The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:” (II Timothy 1:16. KJV). Paul was telling TImothy that because of his faith and service to Christ, he was suffering in ways similar to how Christ suffered. So Paul didn’t want TImothy to be discouraged or get caught off guard,when he was called upon to suffer for Christ’s sake. Suffering for Christ is our reasonable duty since Christ died for us.

The third point is God’s grace that is bestowed not only on Timothy, and Paul, but on everyone who is saved. Paul writes “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” (I Timothy 1:9&10, KJV). This passage echos the thoughts of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, of which Timothy was the minister.

“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:5-10; KJV)

Our Christian life all comes down to God’s grace, which is wrapped up in Jesus Christ, who through his sinless life, death and resurrection secured our salvation. We need to live strong in that thought. However, it’s not our strength. It is Christ living in us. As Paul said in his letter to the church in Galatia, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, KJV).

Image courtesy of Wikimedia-Creative-Commons-Attribution-2.0-Generic-license.-e1466009718389

Have you ever heard the expression, “the elephant in the room?” In the picture above, you can’t miss the elephant in the room, even though it is upholstered with the same fabric as the curtains hanging at the window. The picket fence in the room would be no hinderance to a real elephant, if that animal wanted to get out of the room. Thus the phrase and the image are obviously meant to be facetious allegories of a situation or truth that many people wish to avoid. The truth of Galatians 2:20 that many people hope to avoid is the idea that we must die to ourselves to partake in the eternal life offered in Christ by grace through faith. The elephant allegory may be facetious, but the truth that stands behind it is sharply and unmistakably real and has devastating consequence for those who avoid the truth in this world. They will not avoid it in the next one.

September 17, 2016 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

Four Lessons from FIve Verses – Part III-B

As indicated in the previous post, Lesson III-Part A , from my Four Lessons from Five Verses series, I took my Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day posts from the first five verses of chapter 2 of Paul’s second letter to his protege Timothy. The first post focused on the attributes of a good soldier taken from verses 3 and 4. The second looked at how to be a winner using verse 5 as the text, while the third began to look at the repetitive, self-sustaining cycle of Biblical Teaching from verse 2. It looked at the office, qualifications and work of a Biblical teacher. This post continues looking at that same verse:

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (II Timothy 2:2, KJV)

I freely admit that the wording in the KJV of this verse baffled me at first. My initial reading was that Paul was suggesting to Timothy that he concentrate on things that he heard “about” Paul from many people who had observed Paul’s action and preaching. However, Timothy didn’t need to hear about Paul from others, because Timothy had sat directly under Paul’s teaching. He had lived with him, and traveled with him. Timothy had personally witnessed and heard Paul preach and live out the winsome gospel with his own eyes and ears. I believe that Paul is telling Timothy in this passage to concentrate on those things Timothy heard and saw Paul say and live out in the presence of many witnesses.

In the King James Version, this verse begins with the phrase “And the things that thou heard of me among many witnesses,..” The English preposition “of ” comes from the Greek preposition para which together with its variation par appears 200 times in the New Testament. These two Greek words are all purpose prepositions. They are translated at least seven different ways in the King James Version, with another 10 variations in other versions of the Bible. Three things help determine the meaning of the word para in particular situations. We begin with a grammar lesson. A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of the noun or pronoun following the preposition, known as the object of the preposition, and some other word or element in the sentence known as the subject. In II Timothy 2:2, the preposition “of” is describing the relationship between “things,” the subject, and “Paul”, represented by the pronoun “me,” the object. In Greek we have one additional clue to the meaning of a preposition. That clue is found in the grammatical case of the object. In English, the most distinctive use of grammatical case is the Genitive case signifying possession. In the sentence “We are going in my car,” the subject is “We”; the preposition is “in” and the object is “car.” With the possessive pronoun “my”, we know the car belongs to me.

In the Greek, objects following the preposition para (παρά) take three different cases. These cases are the genitive, accusative and dative. In the Greek, the case of a given noun or pronoun can be visibly seen by the form of the word. In English, the case of nouns and pronouns are more generally defined by their usage. The only exception to this is with the genitive case which signifies possession. The genitive pronoun for a male person is “his” while the dative and accusative pronouns take the same form “him.” The accusative case reflects the direct object of a preposition, while the dative case represents the indirect object of a preposition. In II TIm 2:2, in the preposition phrase “things…of me” the Greek word translated “me” is emou (ἐμοῦ) which is in the genitive case. This signifies that the subject of the preposition “things” belonged to or were inherently part of Paul. Thus, it makes more sense to think of the things spoken of here to be the actual words, teachings and life of Paul.

However, there is far more to be gleaned from this verse. Verse 2 also lays out a multi-step family tree that can be extended indefinitely. It begins with Christ, who commissioned and ordained Paul as a master teacher, who received his commissioning and marching orders from Jesus Christ. Timothy was Paul’s student, apprentice and protege. Timothy was in turn destined and charged with the responsibility of becoming a teacher for the next generation of students and teachers. In this passage Paul is giving us God’s plan for the spread of the gospel and his teachings. God was going to raise up a self-sustaining tree of preachers and teachers who would in turn nurture and train the next generation of preachers and teachers.

While Christ was present with the disciples, he could teach them directly. After his resurrection and ascension into heaven, was anyone going to teach and help Paul and the other apostles? God the Father had made provision for that. In John 14, Jesus tells his disciples that he would not always be with them, but that God was not going to leave them alone.

¹⁵If ye love me, keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; ¹⁷Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. ¹⁸I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. ¹⁹Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. ²⁰At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. (John 14:15-21, KJV)

Through the Holy Spirit, God’s Comforter, Paul and Timothy had direct access to help from God. But this aid was not available to only Paul and Timothy. Since the time of Christ’s ascension, it has available to every Christian, especially those commissioned as teachers.

Chart created by author using ClickChart Professional

What was Paul’s responsibility as a Master Teacher? According to I Corinthians and Ephesians, Paul was to follow Christ and faithfully teach the next generation. What was the responsibility of the next generation? They were to remember what Paul did and taught. They were to keep the ordinances that Paul delivered unto them. They were to help teach and perfect the next generation so that they would mature in faith. They were not just to strive to resemble Paul. They were to be like Christ.

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. (I Corinthians 11: 1 & 2, KJV)

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: (Ephesians 4: 7 – 15, KJV)

In the two centuries since Christ taught and commissioned that first level of teachers, we have seen more than 60 levels of students, turned teachers. We no longer have the physical presence of Christ or Paul to follow. However, we have the scriptures and we have the Holy Spirit to guide in our study and interpretation of the Word of God. We also have the stories and the lives of the saints who have gone on before us.

I end this post with Paul’s statement about scriptures to Timothy:

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (II Timothy 3:14-17, KJV)

We need to remember a big part of “all good works” is teaching and leading the next generation.

September 6, 2016 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

Four Lessons from Five Verses: Lesson III-Part A

Structural diagram of II Timothy 2:2, created by author using ClickCharts Professional

I took my Memorial Day and Independence Day Posts from the first five verses of chapter 2 of Paul’s second letter to his protege Timothy. One focused on the attributes of a good soldier, while the second looked at how to be a winner. I didn’t plan this series of posts to be a holiday series. However, the first two coincided with Memorial Day and Independence Day. This post coincides with Labor Day, which may be very appropriate, as verse 2 opens the door for us to look at the office, qualifications and work of a teacher. It also opens the door for us to look at much more than we can cover in one post. Thus, this post will become a wormhole for us to investigate more fascinating topics dealing with the process and responsibilities of teachers, and the cyclic, self-sustaining patterns of biblical teaching.

It seems very appropriate to look at teaching this Labor Day, since many have declared teaching to be a labor of love. The dictionary definition of a labor of love is work “done as an end onto itself, rather than a means to an end. It is work that benefits others rather than significantly rewarding the laborer materially.” In Paul’s case, it was definitely a labor of love. He did it out of his love of his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul also did it for the heavenly reward or benefit that others might receive.

Love is central to all of Christian theology. We love God because He first loved us (I John 4:19). In fact, God loved us so much that he sent His Son to die for us and be a propitiation for our sins. (I John 4:10). Propitation is a big word that means “turning away one’s wrath.” Christ’s sacrifice on the cross satisfied the demands of a righteous God, turning away his wrath against our sin. As demonstrated in I John, the Apostle John could be called the disciple of love. In his gospel, after Mary Magdalene discovered the empty tomb, she ran to Peter and “to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved.”

However, love is just as central to Paul’s view of theology, as it was for John. In Romans 5:8, Paul wrote, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” In his first letter to the Christians in Corinth, Paul wrote what’s known as the Love Chapter. He begins Chapter 13, with these words “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” and ends it with “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity,” The word translated “charity ” could just as easily have been translated “love.” Without love, there is no harmony, only discord.

We are to love as Christ loved. However, our love doesn’t originate in us. We can’t generate our own love. It is a reflection of God’s love, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Be ye therefore followers [imitators] of God, as dear [beloved] children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.” The Ephesian 5 passage is not the only time Paul talked about imitating Christ. Paul begins Chapter 11 of I Corinthians with these words, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” Do you see the repetitive pattern starting to form? Follow Paul, as Paul followed Christ. Teach others to follow you, as you follow Christ.

So just as Christ taught his disciples how to love God, Paul is teaching Timothy “the same things.” So what is Timothy to do? He is to find faithful men, capable of teaching others, these “same things.” It is the cyclic, repetitive, self-sustaining pattern of Biblical teaching. It is a labor of love.

July 9, 2016 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

Four Lessons from FIve Verses – Part II

My Memorial Day Post, Four Lessons from FIve Verses was inspired by the Memorial Day message at Calvary Baptist Church in York, Pennsylvania by our senior pastor, Reverend Greg Wahlberg. The scripture reading for the day was taken from II Timothy, chapter 2. I return to this passage for my Independence Day post (a little late).

The author of Psalm 33 is not definitively known. It falls between two Psalms of David, and carries on a thought directly from the end of Psalm 32. Therefore, it may be a Psalm of David; Image courtesy of Graphics Stock

In the previously mentioned post, I concentrated on the lesson of being a good soldier from verses 3 and 4. In this post I move on to verse 5, “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. ” to look at the lesson of winning by the rules. As God would have it, the call to worship was Psalm 33:12. In addition, the Independence Day message. delivered by our Associate Pastor, Rev Richard Hall, was about winning and losing. The scripture lesson came from the Old Testament story of Jacob wrestling God.

Image courtesy of clker.com; Shared by Ruthie

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. (Genesis 32: 24-30, KJV)

I am an extremely competitive person, and I love to win. VInce Lombardi, venerable coach of the Green Bay Packers says his famous quote “Winning isn’t everything; it is the only thing.” was misquoted. He claims to have said, “Winning isn’t everything, the will to win is the only thing.” More than 50 years of playing baseball, softball and basketball taught me the truth of the second quote very well. Scripture also teaches us that winning is for winners. Paul writing to the Corinthians says:

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (I Corinthians 9: 24-27, KJV)

However, winning at all costs is not an option. Paul, writing to his protege Timothy in the text for today’s post, puts winning in its proper context: And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. (II Timothy 2:5, KJV)

Nevertheless, we have all seen cheaters prosper and the righteous suffer. Two Old Testament writers describe this experience far better than I could ever do. The author of Psalm 73 (usually attributed to Asaph, but some modern scholars date this Psalm to the post-exile and Second Temple period, ruling out Asaph, who served David) eloquently laments this perplexing situation:

For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. (Psalm 73: 3-13, JKV)

Echoing the sentiments of the writer of Psalm 73, the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk bares his heart and soul to God with a prayer for vengeance against the unGodly in the opening of the book that carries his name:

The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. (Habakkuk 1:1-4, KJV)

Be careful what you ask for in your prayers to God. You may just get it. The answer God gives Habakkuk leaves him totally shaken and confused.

Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not their’s. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. (Habakkuk 1:5-11, KJV)

What is Habakkuk’s response to God’s answer? It essentially puts God on trial for using a more wicked people to punish the evil doers of the Israelites.

Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?… I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. (Habakkuk 1:12-13 & 2:1, KJV)

God wasted no time in responding to Habakkuk’s challenge:

And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:2-4, KJV)

Thus, we see that the unjust will be judged, but the just shall live by his faith. This passage is quoted three times in the New Testament. In each passage, living by faith is seen in a different context. In Romans 1:17, the context is sanctification and forgiveness from our sins. In Galatians 3:11, the context is justification and the removal of the penalty of our sins. The context of Hebrews 10:38 is the perseverance of the faithful. Therefore, from Habakkuk, we have the message that the unjust will be punished, but the just will live.

There are many references to this concept throughout scripture. We find one more in what may well be the oldest book in the Bible. This concept of the fate of the just and unjust is also explored by the author of the Book of Job, who is most likely a highly educated Jew who lived between the reign of Solomon and Israel’s exile to Babylon. Even he had a great deal of trouble putting into words the internal battle this dilemma caused him. Instead of directly lecturing or preaching, he turned to another effective educational process. He begins the book of Job by metaphorically looking his audience in their eyes and saying to them, “Let me tell you a story about a man…”

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. (Job 1:1, KJV)

If ever there was a human who deserved to “win,” Job was that man. However, Satan was out to show God up. Thus, he saw Job as a convenient target. If Satan could bring Job down to his level, he would win over again to his side one of God’s favorites, just like he did in the Garden of Eden. Although Job wavered and wound up on the dung heap in sackcloth and ashes (as depicted in the 1880 painting by Gonzalo Carrasco), when he looked squarely at God, he couldn’t say anything negative about Him.

Therefore, whether we look at the Old Testament or the New Testament, at the end of the day, God rewards the righteous and punishes the unjust. An old childhood jingle comes to mind: “Cheaters never win, and winners never cheat.”

June 11, 2016 By B. Baylis Leave a Comment

Importance of Investing in Real Knowledge

Benjamin Franklin reportedly said: “If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays best interest.” This particular quote emphasizes the importance for an individual to acquire knowledge at any price. In some ways it is analogous to Christ’s teaching from the sermon on the mount:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6: 19-21, KJV)

Both were teaching that there are things that are more valuable than material wealth. Whereas Christ was teaching the supremacy of spiritual things, Franklin raised the flag of intellectualism. However, it seems both teachings were lost on much of American culture for the first 150 years of this country’s existence. The predominant, driving force in the United States from 1776 until 1929 was materialism, the accumulation of wealth and material things.

Beginning in the 1930s, American society in general started transitioning from an industrial society to a new type of culture where value was based on technology, information and the use of information. Fritz Machlup was the first economist to popularize the term information society. Following in his foot steps, Peter Drucker was credited by BusinessWeek with the invention of the science of management. In 1966, he was the first author to give currency to the terms knowledge economy and knowledge worker. A knowledge economy is an economy in which growth is dependent on the quantity, quality and accessibility of available information, rather than the means of production.

By the year 2000, the concept of the knowledge worker had permeated all levels of all industries. Drucker can easily be seen as a disciple of Franklin…put your money in knowledge. In 2004, in Handbook of Business Strategy, Vol. 5 Iss: 1, George Elliott wrote: “Cognitive excellence: our people are our most important asset.” A year later, Baruch Lev, director of the Intangibles Research Project at New York University Stern School of Business, stated that “people are the most important asset of most companies.” Not only their knowledge, but the people themselves had become assets. This set off a firestorm of arguments. Are people to be treated like material resources?

However, in the 21st century, people are not the only intangible assets. In Lev’s earlier work, he demonstrated that in 1980, the total value of many international corporations was fully accounted for by their tangible assets. Today, he estimates that 80 percent of their value is tied up in intangible assets — brands, patents and trademarks. Note, that he didn’t mention people or intellectual property. Franklin seems to be right. Investing in knowledge, both by individuals investing in their own knowledge and by corporations investing in their employees’ knowledge, pays off most handsomely.

I can’t argue with the main premise of Franklin’s maxim. However, I do think that today we take, and even Franklin in his day took too narrow a definition of knowledge. Franklin was placing his emphasis on “head” or content knowledge. I want to broaden the scope of knowledge to everything that can be an answer to the question, “What can I know?” How many different ways do we fill in the blank in the phrase, “I know ________.”

How many times have we said:

“I know something.” This is the content knowledge of a subject matter. This is what many of our school teachers asked us to learn.
“I know how to do something.” This is a skill that we learned or could do instinctively.
“I know what I like.” These are the values that I hold dear.
“I know myself.” This is personal knowledge that we generally believe that we don’t learn, but just know.
“I know that person.” This is social or relational knowledge.” Sometimes this knowledge is very deep and intense. Other times this knowledge is superficial at best, and is said to be a “nodding acquaintance.”
“I know God.” This is very personal and is on a different level from the material or physical world. This is spiritual or supernatural knowledge.

These six types of knowledge constitute whole or real knowledge. In another post I will more fully examine the six types of knowledge and how one can obtain such knowledge. In the meantime, like the television advertisement suggests, now is the time to start investing more in your future.