Prodigal God Chapter 3

Redefining Sin - Two Ways to Find Happiness

Jesus portrays the two basic ways people try to find happiness and fulfillment in life: the younger brother's method of self discovery, and the elder brother's way of moral conformity.

In ancient patriarchal cultures few tried self discovery, but today it is common. Individuals must be free to purse their own goals and self-actualization regardless of custom and convention. "I'm the only one who can decide what is right or wrong for me, not tradition."

In the second view, we attain happiness and a world made right by achieving moral rectitude. We fall at times, of course, but we are judge by how object and intense our regret is. In this way, even in our failures we should measure up. "The immoral people who do their own thing are the problem with the world, and moral people are the solution."

America is divided by these two paths, with each saying "Our way is the way the world will be put to rights, and if you are not with us, you are against us." A few combine these approaches and as self-righteous of their independent lifestyle as the worst Pharisee, and others are Pharisees living a secret life of rebellion as a release.

While it seems the parable has a good son and a bad,  the father has to invite each of his sons into the feast: there is not one lost son, but two. The elder brother is not withdrawing from the father's love, because of his 'goodness'. It's not his sins that create a barrier, but his moral record. The hearts of the two brother's were the same, both wanted the father for his money. The elder's unspoken demand: "I have never disobeyed you! Now you have to do things in my life the way I want them to be done."

Religious people often obey God to get things, which is just as wrong as disregarding God to get what you want. Jesus left the elder's brother's plight unresolved, perhaps to show his listeners that since his rebellion was less obvious, it was all the more dangerous. The majority of those listening were probably elder brothers, and He gave them a chance to finish the story in their own life. Would they accept Jesus's radical alternative for the third path to enter into a relationship with the Father, for it's own benefit?

The Hole in Our Holiness Chapter 1

The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness by Kevin DeYoung

DeYoung doesn't like camping. "Who decided that vacation should be like normal life, only harder?" Do you look at personal holiness like DeYoung looks at camping? It's fine for other people, and I sort of respect people who make their lives harder than they have to be, but it's not my thing. It wasn't something we did growing up, and my church doesn't talk about it much.

Summarize the great commission for yourself in one sentence before continuing. It is often summarized as "preach the gospel to all nations" or even "make disciples everywhere you go", but it has an emphasis on holiness and obedience that is seldom remembered. Not only are we to preach, baptize, and make disciples, we should be "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you". This isn't observe like one would the work of a great artist, but a call to holiness (which literally means set apart). If we are set apart by our obedience we should be recognized for it by the world.

In fact, Paul says in Romans "your obedience is known to all." In Revelation 21 we get a glimpse of heaven, without a lot of specifics, but we we do know is that it will be glorious  shining with the radiance of God's presence. It will be holy. If you dislike a holy God, why would you want to live with him forever? Even if you could enter heaven without holiness there would be no joy there for you. Spurgeon put it "sooner could a fish live upon a tree than the wicked in Paradise."

1 Peter 1:16 and many other scriptures command us to be holy many more times than we are commanded to take care of the needy or engage in politics, but it is much easier to declare war on poverty than war on your own sin.

Screwtape Letters Part 3

This finishes the book so it's extra long!

• Social Gospel. The 'historical' Jesus who was a chiefly a humanitarian is to be encouraged, since if we can't get him to use Christianity as a means to personal advancement, let it be to achieve social justice. First get a man to value social justice as a thing The Enemy demands, then to value Christianity as the best means for that good society. (pg 126)
• Social vanity. Under the influence of love, he may still think himself unworthy of the girl, but not of the others. Make him mistake the contrast between this circle that delights and the one that bores as Christians versus unbelievers, but feel he deserves those who in charity have accepted him as his right.  (pg 130-132)
• Christianity and... This is the state of mind we want. If they must be Christians, give them an agenda: psychology  healing, health or reform. Slowly substite the faith itself as a framework for advancing their noble cause. (pg 135)
• Courtship. "The time for sowing seeds which will grow into domestic hatred." Problems they have "solved" merely postponed. Make them establish as Law the degree of charity that at present is sprouting out of enchantment. Let A argue in favor of B's supposed wishes, while B does the opposite. As it is impossible  to determine wishes, with luck they will do something neither wants, while both feel self-righteous for their unselfishness and a secret grudge against the other for not being more vehement. (pg 141)
• "I wish Slumtrimpet could do something about that undermining that young women's sense of the ridiculous." It looks like Lewis approves of silliness, haha. (pg 145)
• "How valuable time is may be gauged by the fact the Enemy allows us so little of it." What humans call a normal life is the exception, and the Enemy apparently wants some, but few, to have to resist us to a full age. (pg 157)
• Regards to physical weariness caused by the great war (or attacks on patience, chastitity, and fortitude). Let his resolution be not to bear whatever comes (the Enemy chooses to send his way) but to bear it for a reasonable period. The fun is to make the man yield just when relief was almost in sight. If he meets the girl, make use of the fact that fatigue makes a women talk more and men less. (pg 167)
• Religion. "It will be an ill day for us if what most humans call 'religion' ever vanishes from the earth." A relationship with God will accomplish what an unlimited number of rules and relics cannot hope to even start. (pg 209)
• Word of the day: coeval means contemporary.

The Screwtape Letters Part 2

A few more chapters worth...

• Marriage. 'Being in love' is the reason for marriage, which ought to render this excitement permanent, and if it does not do so is no longer binding. "Falling in love is not necessarily favorable either to us or to the other side, like most other things humans are excited about such as politics, health, war, and peace, they are spiritual raw material. Make him think that it is intrinsically meritorious, or instill him with overweening asceticism... The unhappiness produced by a bad marriage is of a very lasting and exquisite kind."
• Beard, ha. "We have succeeded in making the beard disagreeable to nearly all females."
• Appearance of youth. Especially in women, creating a horror of growing old, and less willing to have children. Exhibiting the body on the beach or stage.
• Time. "Let him have the idea that he starts out each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours." A grievous tax is taken by his employers, a generous donation to religious duties, and the talkative person he runs into is clearly robbing him of his time.

Merry Christmas! I'm sure Screwtape would want you to think of all the gifts you should have gotten and didn't, and if you must, be grateful for those presents you did get, but not to cultivate relationships with your family or remember the real reason of Christmas.

The Screwtape Letters Part 1

A fictional account of a senior demon instructing another how to tempt. Some temptations I thought notable:

• Feelings. 'When they meant to ask Him Charity let them, instead, start trying to manufacture charitable feelings...pray for courage, let them be trying to feel brave...praying for forgiveness, let them be trying to feel forgiven.'
• Doing nothing. 'spent most of my life doing neither I ought nor what I liked.'
• Improper speech or actions in the name of humor.
• Pleasures. As reluctance to face vanity and move to real happiness, the habit of excitement and flippancy become at once less pleasant and harder to forgo.
• Pride. Catch him the movement he is really poor in spirit, and smuggle in the reflection, 'By Jove! I'm being humble!' But don't awaken his sense of humor in the absurdity of this.
• Critics. Get him to be a church connoisseur, sampling churches, being a critic and not a pupil, and not committing to love and serve together with other sinners on their way to heaven. Critical of the sermon, the people, the order of service,  and the music.
• Time. Keep thought away from the present (relationship with God, bearing the present cross and receiving grace) and eternity (being concerned with Him). Tempt say a widow or a scholar to live in the past, but is better to make them live in the future, for that is least like eternity. The past is frozen, and gratitude looks to it, the present is lit up by Christ's promises, but in the future lies fear, avarice, lust and ambition.

Planning for the future is one of the present's responsibilities, but don't but your treasure and hopes in it, heaping on the altar of the future every real gift which is offered in the present.

Till We Have Faces

Big spoiler alert if you haven't read the book and plan to, since I'll mention some of the big plot lines and surprises. Lewis retells the Greek mythology of Cupid and Pschye, from the perspective of Pschye's sister, Orual. She starts out writing the book as a complaint to the gods. She is considered ugly and often wears a veil to hide her face because of this. She ends up being a great Queen, excelling in politics, economics, and war, and the people love her. However she still feels incomplete because of her lack of beauty and love in her life.

Her sister, Pschye, was the only person she really ever loved. Pschye was beautiful, but much of this beauty came from her ability to make other people feel beautiful. Psyche is a type of Christ as she is sacrificed for the people. When she discovers Pschye is still alive, she convinces Pschye to light a lamp to see who her husband is, since death would be preferable to dishonor. Psyche does so, and discovers it is the god Cupid, who was trying to hide marriage from his mother. Pschye is thus cast out, but Orual is cursed with the anguish that Pschye would have experienced, although she doesn't understand this until close to death.

When Orual finally gets to present her complaint to the gods, they don't answer her in words, their answer is themselves. She was shown grace, and got to see Pschye accomplish the impossible tasks, and in the end became beautiful like Pschye because she was judged together with Pschye. When we get to heaven, we will be found clothed in Christ's righteousness, and judged beautiful because of it too! Most of the book was sad, but it ended up encouraging, and gave me new insight on the nature of beauty.

Summary of Spring Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

It was a long journal, so the below summary might help you skip to the sections that interest you...

Women stop submitting to men:

• The verse says submit to your husband, not men in general

Masculine ministry:

• Men be willing to take the criticism that comes from ministry
• Teach with courage
• Bring the difficult parts of the Bible out even if people don't want to hear them
• Heralds truth with urgency and forcefulness
• Publicly and privately advocates for the ministries of women in the church
• Models nurturing, protection, and cherishing his wife

Dad moms:
Interchangeable roles don't lead to happiness as our culture tells us. Men are designed to be protectors and women nourishers by nature. A better way is Dad dads who serve, leading in all areas including training of the children, discipline, and sacrifice, being willing to help out with the kids and do the same chores that a Dad mom would do. So the Bible holds us men to a higher standard than the world.

Gender neutral language Bible translations:
Changes roughly 1000 verses that have a gender in the original language to be genderless in order to be more natural. However, this isn't done with Shakespeare or Dickens and no texts ever feel it beneficial to insert a note in the margin saying that when they say mankind they mean everybody.

How do we speak about homosexuality:
The Bible puts the behavior in the same category as other sins. Paul still calls himself the chief sinner, so it is important to be humble and loving. "And such were some of  you" shows that no matter what you struggle with there is hope to change.

Book reviews:

• A book by Mark Driscoll, Real Marriage, that I thought might be good turns out to not have much useful substance, and has recommendations that contradict what he says he believes.
• Dr. Dobson wrote a book Bringing up Girls that has a lot of good advice on understanding them. The one complaint that appealing to the Bible was tacked on in the last chapter, and most of the book was based on behavioral analyses. I would consider reading this book.
• Give them Jesus: Parenting with the Gospel sounds like a well written book that is a good reminder on the importance of grace. I plan on reading this book someday.
• Feminine Threads shows how women in the Bible and church through history were made equal in importance by the gospel, but still had a different role to play.