Nine Tests for Your Screen Time

 

Screen Time 2

 

          We use screens in a wide variety of ways for a wide variety of purposes. We work on them, using documents and spreadsheets. We write code on them, fixing errors or creating programs and apps. Speaking of apps, we use them to navigate, to listen to books, to study the Bible, to read the news, to listen to podcasts and books, and to watch video. Speaking of video, we stream it by the boatload, amusing ourselves with that which catches our fancy – sports, drama, mystery, comedy, action, horror, and documentaries. We put screens into the hands of our children, placing at their disposal all that YouTube and Disney care to offer them. We browse social media, engaging in conversation and interacting with friends. We shop on our screens, researching products and then purchasing them. We buy lunch on our screens. We plan our vacations on our screens. We study on our screens, educating ourselves and our children. And this paragraph, as wide-ranging as it is, does not begin to plumb the depths of how, when, why, where, and to what extent we spend time on screens. Phones, tablets, televisions, laptops, desktops, all of them beckon to us constantly, singing their siren song.

          It is impossible to answer whether each of these uses, broadly or individually, is good or bad in every context. I am not going to try. What I do want to do in this post is give you the means to answer that question for yourself. To do so, I am going to propose a series of tests. These are questions designed to help you discern good from evil in the details of your everyday life.

          First, does using it in this way violate clear Scripture? There are numerous cases when the wisdom of our particular screen use is not confusing; it is downright sinful. Much of what we watch as we browse, stream, and game online violates plain Bible teaching. For example, consider the words of the psalmist. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight (Psalm 101.2-7). This clearly speaks and directly so to what I watch.

          Second, does using it – my screen – in this way offend my conscience? Granted, this is almost entirely subjective, but I am ok with that. God designed and created the conscience, placing it into every human heart as a somewhat fallible guide as we make life choices. I say fallible because we can bend it, molding it into our own image. The wise man strengthens it with the Word and the Spirit and experience; the foolish man weakens it with neglect, bad company, and shoddy justifications. Having said that, it is still a useful tool in this context. There is something powerfully attractive about having a clean conscience. Paul did. Earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day (Acts 23.1). Will you be able to say the same thing after beholding what you are contemplating beholding on that screen?

          Third, does using it this way cause others to stumble? Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way (Romans 14.13). I am aware of the fact that your liberty is not bound by my conscience. But my choices speak. They speak of me, showing what I value or accept. Further, they speak into other’s lives, affirming those same things as valuable or acceptable. It is this latter idea that is in view here. If I am using a screen around others, I must keep in mind where those others are in their emotional, mental, and spiritual maturity. I have spent hundreds of hours studying music. There is a running joke around our house that when Dad is on YouTube you stay away because he is probably watching some unsavory rock video for research purposes. While somewhat humorous, it does show us that there are some things you should not partake of while others are around because it may hurt them in ways it will not hurt you.

          Fourth, does using it in this way develop an unhealthy dependency? This is not strictly a matter of right and wrong. It is a matter of control. Something may not be wrong but still be wrong for me if it dominates me. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any (I Corinthians 6.12). I doubt there is a passage in the entire Scripture record that pertains more to our screen use than this one. Talk about relevant. Dopamine is a real thing, and while I will speak to it later in this series put simply, our screens have a built-in tendency to addict us. They wrap their electronic tendrils around our heart and our brain, inserting themselves without our notice into our subconscious. Without even being aware of it, we reach for our phone and begin to scroll mindlessly. Why? We have been brought under its power.

          Fifth, does using it this way edify? The root of the word “edify” is edifice or building. If my thoughts, choices, and actions are edifying they will build me and those about me. Something may not be wrong, but right and wrong are not the only questions at play. Will using my screen this way help me? Will it help anybody else? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not (I Corinthians 10.23).

          Sixth, what is the consensus of my counsellors? It is foolish to make important decisions entirely on your own, eminently foolish. Where no counsel is the people fall: But in the multitude of counsellors there is safety (Proverbs 11.14). There are people who are certified experts in the field of screen usage. Numerous studies have been done and more are being undertaken all the time. Parents and pastors have much to offer here by way of experienced perspective. We are foolish to charge on ahead, assuming that since there is nothing evil about our screen time then it must be all good.

          Seventh, will using it this way weigh me down as I try to run my race? Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12.1). It is not a sin to run a 5K in an overcoat and work boots but doing so will certainly slow you down. God has called you to accomplish something for His glory, to parent some child, to husband some wife, to follow some calling, to accomplish His purpose in your life. Will your use of your screen in this way – whichever one of the million ways you might use it – weigh you down as you seek to accomplish something with your life?

          Eighth, does using it in this way redeem the time or waste it? I am not of the opinion that every waking moment has to be spent in so-called useful occupations. Time resting is often well-spent. Time smelling the roses, actually and metaphorically, is wise. But there is a fine line between enjoying all that God has given us and killing time. And to kill time is, by definition, to murder it. I do not know how long of a ministry God will give me, but I have some important things I think God wants me to write. It would be wise to use the time I have rather than frittering it away on things that will not matter a hill of beans ten years from now. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time (Colossians 4.5).

          Ninth, does using it in this way feed my carnality? My flesh is a curiously stubborn thing. No matter how much spiritual Round Up I pour on my pride it still grows back. I am called to be constantly on watch, not just responding to my flesh when it rises up, but actively attacking it. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3.5). In the words of John Owen, “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” Something on that screen may be perfectly innocent of sin, but if it feeds my vanity or my covetousness, for example, I ought to excise it with the painstaking care of a surgeon operating on a cancerous tumor.

          “This is just great, Pastor Brennan. Now I can’t use my screens at all today.” I feel your pain. My screen time is on the same chopping block with this blog post as yours is. Rest assured, I am not against all screen use. I will speak more to that next week. But I do think it would behoove us to put more care and thought into whether we allow ourselves and our children a certain screen use or not.

          Screen time is not morally neutral. There are positive and negative consequences.

          Think on that today.  

Screens; Good or Bad?

Screen Time 1

          In 1895, the first commercially successful moving pictures were developed. In 1905, the first commercially successful movie theatre, the Nickelodeon, was built in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1927, the first feature length talkie film, The Jazz Singer, was released. In 1938, the first commercially available television was produced. In 1961, the first entertainment video game, Spacewar, was built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1971, the first coin operated arcade video game, a version of Spacewar, came out. It immediately transitioned to desktop computers when those arrived. Currently, 66% of the America population plays video games. In 1977, the first commercially available home desktop computers were released by three different manufacturers, led by the Apple II. In 1983, the first commercially available cell phone was put on sale by Motorola. In 1989, the first company was launched to sell internet access to the general public. Previously, it had been limited to defense and university purposes. In 1996, the first cell phone with internet access was launched in Finland, the Nokia 9000. In 2005, the first video was uploaded to YouTube by Jawed Karim, Me at the Zoo. It is still up. Now five billion videos are watched every day just on that platform. In 2006, the first television livestream service, Justin.tv launched. Now, every minute, 97,000 hours of Netflix alone are streamed around the world. In 2007, the first iPhone appeared, with all of its ancillary world of apps. Now, approximately 2.5 billion smart phones are in use every day around the world.

          It is difficult to put into words just how revolutionary this paragraph is in world history, and how impactful it is sociologically speaking. To illustrate, I lived through the second half of the above paragraph. I remember the first desktop computers and their limited capabilities. My Dad had a RadioShack Tandy one that I played Connect Four on as a kid. We did not own a television as a child, but, of course, all of my friends did and watched theirs often. I remember the first time I saw a cell phone being used in public. It was at my college graduation in 1995. I remember the first time I logged onto the internet, listening while AOL tried to connect with that weird screeching sound. It was 1998. Email became a part of my life that year for the first time. I remember my first smart phone. I was in my mid-30s. Now then, not counting writing or sermon prep, I spend more hours a week on a screen than I care to admit.

          Screens have changed me. They have made me more efficient. They have educated me. They have allowed my ministry to expand exponentially. They have also stolen my time, tempted me, and addicted me. In none of this am I alone. Our entire society is in some real sense being radically shifted as a result of screens. Our politics, education, entertainment, work, dating, growing up, spending patterns, and a host of other things are being influenced by screens. Nor is our religion exempt. The whole concept of a church service and of church itself is being shifted.

          Is all of this use bad or wrong or wicked? Of course not. Is all of this use good and right and edifying? Of course not. Two things are factual, however. Screens occupy a larger and larger part of our life. And since they are not right or wrong intrinsically discernment in that usage is required, in some cases desperately required.

          God could, if He so chose, have listed everything that will ever be right or wrong in the Bible. For several reasons, He chose not to do so. He does list some specifics in the Word of God, but for the most part He offers us biblical principle and calls on us to use it to discern the specifics of right and wrong in each generation. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word or righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5.12-14). In fact, as we mature, we are supposed to exercise this discernment in line with biblical principle so often that we actually become very good at it. Mature Christians use these muscles a lot.

          From time to time, I meet with those who insist if something is not spelled out in black and white in the Bible, I am not allowed to preach that it is right or wrong. That is utter nonsense. Paul told the Thessalonian church to prove all things; hold fast to that which is good (I Thessalonians 5.21). To prove here is to test something. It is to assay the ore in order to determine whether it is genuine or not. Why? Because with many things we do not automatically know. There is not a specific chapter or verse that speaks to it. So we must test it against biblical example and biblical principle, and carefully make a sound judgment call.

          In addition to this truth, just because something is not wrong does not mean it is good for you. A concept or practice may not be sinful but that does not necessarily mean it is edifying for the Christian. Paul instructs us in Philippians 1.10 to approve things that are excellent. This word “approve” is similar to his word “prove” above. It is to stamp “pass” on an idea or practice rather than “fail”. But the bar here is not ok or even good; the bar is raised to the standard of excellent.

          While I cannot deal with all of the issues at play here, between now and Thanksgiving on this blog I do intend to deal with some of the larger ones. I might also add that I found two books particularly helpful along this line. I will use some of their content in this series, though you would glean much more if you picked them up yourself. The first is a secular book by the experienced child psychologist Nicholas Kardaras. It is Glow Kids: Screen Addiction is Hijacking Our Kids and How to Break the Trance. The second is an evangelical Christian book, Tony Reinke’s 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You. To the illustrations and facts and thoughts I found here I will add some additional biblical principles, principles designed to help to prove all things, to help you discern both good and evil.

          I hope it will be a blessing and a practical help to you and your family. We will begin next week with nine questions to ask yourself in relation to your screen use.

          See you then.  

Mingled

 Note: Thirty-four years ago, I began writing poetry. From time to time, generally between blog series, I like to share one with you. Today's poem I wrote my sophomore year of college. I was struggling a bit, remembering a painful period in high school, and associating that with my current arc. It speaks of how I would cry as I walked my paper route of an afternoon after school. We so often minimize/ignore pain. I believe/d that is unhealthy. One of the ways I've dealt with pain in my life is to write. Such was the case with this one, a meditation on tears.

Stay tuned; a new blog series launches next week.

__________________________________________________________________

Mingled

How oft have I mingled my tears

With rain that came from the sky?

How oft through my highschool years

Did thunder drown out a cry?

The salt and the fresh on my cheek

As if they'd the perfect right

To merge into one angry streak

Stinging my face and the night?

How oft did a snowflake drift down

To melt at the touch of a tear?

On leaves all crumpled and brown

A darkening stain would appear.

How oft on a sweat-soaked face

Smudged with newspaper ink

Streaks from each eye would race

While eyelide rapidly blinked?

How oft would the bite of the wind

Whip a drop past my ear?

I'd glance, thinking to find

Rain, but be blurred with a tear.

Snowflakes, raindrops, and sweat,

Sunshine, night time, and dew,

Pine needles, gravel - I'll bet

Tears will still mingle with you.

-Tom Brennan

September 7, 1992

Obtaining Peace: Love God's Word

Peace 14

          In this blog series, I have attempted to shine a light on that precious blessing known as peace. I have defined and described it, spoken of what accompanies it, discussed what prevents it, and given you eight specific means of obtaining it. With today’s post, I offer you the ninth and last scriptural method of obtaining God’s peace, peace of mind and heart and spirit. It is this: love God’s Word. Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them (Psalm 119.165).

          Loving God’s Word is mentioned several times in this psalm. O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119.97). I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love (Psalm 119.113). I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love (Psalm 119.163). Plainly, this is a point of emphasis both in this psalm and with the Lord. Do you love the Bible? Do you love your Bible?

          It is relatively easy to quickly answer in the affirmative and move on. “Yes, Pastor Brennan, I do love God’s Word. Now, when will the peace arrive? Today or tomorrow?”  It is quite a different thing, however, to evidence that love for God’s Word. Do you have any evidence to back up your assertion that you love it? Is there any proof?

          Do not tell me you love it if you do not know it. A. W. Tozer used an unforgettable phrase as the title of his most well known book, “The Knowledge of the Holy.” The extent to which I love God is seen at least in this, the extent to which I know Him. Surely, I cannot claim to love a God I do not know much about. The same is true with God’s Word. I dare not claim I love it if I know little about it.

          Do you know the books of the Bible? Do you know the basic gist of each one? Do you know the great stories of Scripture? Do you know the main characters in the Old and New Testaments? Do you know the events of the life of Jesus Christ? Do you know where in the Word you might find the doctrines you hold as precious?

          Do not tell me you love the Bible if you do not study it. Jesus called us to search the Scriptures (John 5.39). Paul commended the Berean Christians because they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily (Acts 17.11). Paul instructs us to study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II Timothy 2.15).

          Do you merely listen to teaching and preaching, or does that listening drive you to study the content of it? Do you accept what your pastor says simply because he says it? Do you ever look up the references he cites later? Do you ever write down a question that comes to mind in order to search for the answer later? Would you recognize if he got off on some unscriptural tangent?

          Do you study what it has to say about your own needs? Yesterday, I sat with a child of God who is attempting to return to Him. We spoke at some length of their desire for God to work on their life. Do you have such a desire? Have you taken up the Word of God in order to find in it what you need to rebuild or grow your life?

          What do you do when you come across a word in the Bible you do not understand? Ignore the fact, or study it out? What about doctrines you do not understand? Ever study out one of those? What about a deep dive into some Bible character, tracing God’s hand at work in the arc of his or her life from beginning to end?

          Do not tell me you love the Word of God if you do not read it. Mandy and I exchange hundreds of texts a month. If I ignored them all, how could I maintain with a straight face that I love her? Why, it would be impossible. Read it at a scheduled time. Read it in an orderly manner. Read it when you are moved to, when your soul is hungry. Read it aloud with your family. Read it at work on break. Read it at school during lunch. Listen to it on CD or via a streaming app. Put it up as decoration all over your house.

          Do not tell me you love God’s Word if you do know think about it. God instructed Joshua, This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein (Joshua 1.8). Meditate on it by schedule. Meditate on when the Lord brings it to your mind. Meditate on it on purpose, to chew over what you read earlier. Meditate on how it applies to your life. Meditate on what it reveals to you about God.

          Do not tell me you love the Scripture if you do not speak about it. George Herbert said, “Love and a cough cannot be hid.” If you really love someone or something, it overflows all over your life like an unwatched pot of water boiling on the stove. People know you love the Michigan Wolverines. They know you love coffee. They know you love camping. They know you love Thai food. Yet somehow, you assert that you love the Word of God but no one in your life is aware of the fact?

          Do not tell me you love the Word if you do not sing it. Just this morning I read through Colossians and came again across the wonderful passage about singing God’s Word. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3.16). We have a culture driven by music. Our celebrities are music celebrities. There is music playing in every store, during every commercial, and on most radio stations. Music tracks fill our databases. Our lives are best reflected by our self-chosen soundtrack. How much of that music is composed of what you claim to love, the Word of God?

          Do not tell me you love God’s Word if you do not memorize it. In this very psalm we are called to such precious work. Thy word have I hid in mine heart (Psalm 119.11). Can you quote by memory the verses for the plan of salvation? Do you know what it is like to lay awake at night on your bed, and softly whisper the words of Psalm 23 to quell your heart’s fear and worry? When subjects come up in discussion around you do Bible phrases and passages come often to mind?

          See? It is relatively easy to say you love God’s Word; it is rather more difficult to prove it with our lives.

          The word “great” is a terribly over-used adjective. Yet God never over-uses any word, including this one. In fact, he only defines peace as “great peace” one time in the entire Scripture record. What a priceless possession great peace must be. For such a thing, a man might give all the possessions of his house, yet it only comes one way. There is only one avenue in the entire record of Scripture to obtain great peace. We must love God’s Word.

          “I do, Pastor Brennan, I do.”

          If you know me personally, you know I have a great love for each of my children. I do not claim that; I live it. I know them. I study them, trying to figure out what makes them tick, why they do what they do, why they want what they want. I think of them often. I speak of them often. I have memorized numerous details about their life. I have even made up unique songs for each one of them. Why? Because I love them.

          So it ought to be with the Word of God in my life. And when it is, peace comes. Not just ordinary, everyday, run of the mill peace. But great peace.

Obtaining Peace: Seek Wisdom

Peace 13

          Peace is a priceless jewel to the man who has none, and a priceless jewel to the man who has some. Whichever way you turn it, its facets reflect beautifully on the face and in the heart of the possessor. But how to get it is the question. Men pursue it desperately and though they sight it, it recedes before their vision as the mirage of an oasis does before the thirsty traveler. The world dangles it as a carrot in front of the horse, promising it via money and pleasure and possessions and chemicals and all manner of things that just never quite seem to deliver.

          God delivers. In the past seven posts we have seen seven different methods of that delivery, seven specific things we can incorporate or do that will produce genuine peace in our lives. Today, we come to the eighth. It is this: peace comes when we get wisdom.

Proverbs 3:13–17

13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, And the man that getteth understanding.

14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, And the gain thereof than fine gold.

15 She is more precious than rubies: And all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

16 Length of days is in her right hand; And in her left hand riches and honour.

17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.

          What is wisdom? It is seeing life like God sees it, making your decisions with the omniscience of His perspective. Picture, if you will, standing above a mouse at the entrance of a maze. At the other end is a chunk of cheese. Between the entrance and the cheese are a thousand choices, many of them wrong. But that mouse cannot possibly know, outside of trial and error, which choices are right and which ones are wrong. Your perspective, on the other hand, is omniscient. You can tell the result of every single decision that mouse makes. If he had the humility to avail himself of your perspective he would make correct choices and avoid the incorrect ones. That is wisdom. We are the mouse. Life is the maze. We need the perspective that sees the end from the beginning. We need God’s perspective to guide our choices. What is wisdom? It is seeing life like God sees it.

          Someone reading this will be tempted to drink this week. That would not be a wise choice, from God’s perspective. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosever is deceived thereby is not wise (Proverbs 20.1). Wisdom refuses such hollow offers, and receives instead genuine peace from God when it abstains. Oh, you do not believe me? The people you know who drink the most have the least peace. See?

          Why is it some churches are peaceful and happy while others tear themselves apart in sound and fury, hunting and pecking each other to death? One biblical answer is found in Proverbs 11.30. He that winneth souls is wise. Churches that are after people with the gospel are always happier, more peaceful churches than those who rarely if ever witness. Why? Witnessing is wise, and her paths are peace.

          Would you like a simple guarantee of a constant, never-ending lack of peace? Compete with everyone around you. Turn life into a game in which there are winners and losers and decide at all costs to be a winner. Wait, what? Yeah, the more competitive you are, the more you compare yourself to all and sundry the less peace you will have. We dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise (II Corinthians 10.12). I have zero interest in getting on the internet with all my preacher friends tomorrow and chasing down which one of us had the most in Sunday School today. What a mess that kind of thing becomes. Wisdom avoids comparison, and thus lives in peace.

          I could go on and on and on in this post. Some form of “wisdom” is used 467 times in the Scripture. There is much there for us to avoid and much there for us to incorporate. And as we embrace God’s perspective on our lives and make our choices with His vantage point we will find we walk in paths of peace.  

          Paul told the Colossian church something similar to what Solomon told Rehoboam. Wisdom and peace are connected. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly in all wisdom (Colossians 3.15-16).

          Do you want peace? Do you need peace? Are you desperate for it? Choose the wisdom of God and live by it. I promise you peace will come.  

Obtaining Peace: Exercising the Grace of Hospitality

 Peace 12

The Emmaus Disciples by Abraham Bloemaert
c 1622

Thus far in our discussion of the biblical means of obtaining peace I have been fairly predictable. Methods such as trusting the Lord, developing your relationship with Him and with His church, living right, and enjoying His creation have been mentioned. I am not afraid to be predictable. After all, much biblical teaching is predictable for those who know the Lord well. Having said that, I am also not afraid to be unpredictable if I am convinced I am being biblical. Such is the case with today’s method of obtaining peace. It is not one you would normally expect, I think.

          About six months before Jesus died, He made one final effort at evangelizing Judea. It had never welcomed Him. As the old statement says, Galilee gave Him a home while Judea gave Him a cross. He had systematically preached through it earlier in His ministry, and sporadically here and there in the interval since. But now, just a few months before His death, He organizes His followers for one last stab at the geographical heart of Judaism. Thus it is that He sends teams of advance men throughout the region to prepare for His last preaching tour of it.

          We pick up the story at this point in Luke 10.

 

1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.

7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.

8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:

9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

10 But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,

11 Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.

 

          I do not believe this passage is primarily intended to teach us how to obtain peace. I do believe, however, that we can find some applicable truth here that is often overlooked. Peace comes to our homes when we are hospitable to those preaching the Gospel.

          The Roman era Middle Eastern civilization did not have a structure of hotels and restaurants. In its place, a culture of hospitality formed, a culture that was continually cultivated from generation to generation. To this day, two millennia later, the hospitality of the Middle Eastern peoples is the best in the world. It is part of who they are and a core part.

          In a church context, then, when an evangelist traveled from place to place he did not drive an RV or pillow his head in a three star hotel. He went by faith, believing if he preached the Word that God’s people in that area would provide for him. They would take him into their homes, feed him at their table, and meet his physical needs for the length of his stay among them.

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha
by Johannes Vermeer, c 1675

          It is this to which Jesus alludes in Luke 10. He is readying one last preaching push through Judea. In preparation, He will send teams of men into each Judean hill town. If that town is receptive to the message proclaiming Christ it will be seen in the hospitality they extend to that team. If that town is not receptive to Christ’s message, well then, that, too, will be seen in the lack of hospitality they extend toward that team.

          In 21st century America, hospitality is a dying grace. It has been replaced with the cheap substitute of “entertaining.” Yet even that is largely only found in the business class eager to impress others with the square footage of their suburban McMansion. Such a thing has nothing to do with actual, biblical hospitality. Hospitality is not about impressing people. It is about opening up your home, and using every means at your disposal to make people feel welcomed, encouraged, taken in, and refreshed. It is not display; it is the opening up of yourself and of your life, inviting others into the peace and sanctity and happiness of your family circle. It is relationships grown to the point of being relaxed with one another, not all dressed up at church, but all dressed down at home. It is a practical, encouraging opening of your heart and hearth to God’s children. In short, it is loving your neighbor as yourself.

          It is a tragedy that this has all the appearances of a dying art. It is eminently edifying and entirely scriptural. We are commanded to be given to hospitality (Romans 12.13). We are told to use hospitality one to another without grudging *I Peter 4.9). As in other areas of the Christian life, the pastor is specifically instructed to lead in this. A bishop must be… given to hospitality (I Timothy 3.2). He is told to be a lover of hospitality (Titus 1.8). It builds deep relationships, fosters unity in and between churches, and lowers the guard of the lost.

In addition to all of these comes yet one further blessing: it brings peace. Homes that are hospitable homes, families whose lives are marked by hospitality are peaceful homes and families. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it (Luke 10.5-6).

I have mentioned a time or two in this blog series that when I purchased my home here in Dubuque last year I decided to name it Saint’s Rest. I chose that name because I want it to reflect what my home is to me and mine, yes, but also to all those who come within its walls. I want to live in a peaceful place, but more than that, I want my home to be a place of rest, refreshment, and encouragement for God’s people.

As I write this it is Saturday afternoon. Last night, we hosted two families from our church in our home. We ate a delicious Mexican themed meal al fresco on the deck, and then I built a fire while a group played Ticket to Ride in the gathering dark. Lamps were brought out, music was turned on, and the backyard echoed to the sound of laughter. Later, we all gathered around the flames and fellowshipped late into the night. Tonight, twenty-five or so men from our church will gather on the same deck and patio. We will eat some delicious food prepared by a man in our church who is an excellent cook. We will hear an area pastor give us a thought from the Word of God. Then while some shoot pool, others will gather around the same firepit still warm with last night’s ashes. We will mingle life and stories and food and biblical discussion in the broth of hospitality. And the men will be edified, I hope.

I do not think I could count how many people walk through the front doors of our home for a meal in a year’s time. A couple of hundred, maybe? Maybe more. Some stay a short time. Some stay late into the evening. Some stay until the next morning. Some are family. Some are friends traveling through. Some are preachers weary in the fight. Some are our own church members. Some are neighbors. All are warmly welcomed. I am sure there are saints better at hospitality than Mandy and I are but I am not sure there are saints more sincerely dedicated to it than we are.

My parents are up in years, to put it mildly. But the last time I was in their home in Michigan I found a refrigerator covered in missionary’s prayer cards, each one a family that had stayed in their home, eaten at their table, and gone away refreshed in body and spirit. It has been that way all my life. I hope my children will say the same thing about Mandy and me.

          We are not a perfect family, by any means, but it is no coincidence that we have a peaceful home. It is not because we are wonderful people. It is because God blesses obedience. In this case, He blesses the obedience of hospitality exercised toward His children with the presence of peace in my house.

How does that happen? I do not know, exactly, but I do know it does happen. Further, I invite you to undertake the biblical grace of hospitality. Yes, you have to clean your house every time you turn around. Yes, your grocery budget proverbially has a giant hole in it. Yes, you have purchase more furniture and creatively use space to house and feed people. But what you gain is much more than what it costs.

Elisha Raise a Son of the Woman of Shunem
by Benjamin West, c 1765

Someone reading this somewhere in America is thinking, “Yeah. This is exactly what my pastor needs to do. I hope he is reading this.” If that is the case, may I gently say, you have it all backwards. Hospitality ought to be exemplified by your pastor, yes, but it is to be practiced by all the saints. If he does, copy him. If he does not, let its ministry in your church begin with you.

Open your home, and your heart to God’s people, known and unknown. And do not be surprised when peace comes tripping through the door right behind Bro. and Sis. So-and-So. At some point, they will depart, encouraged, refreshed, recharged, edified. The peace will stay.

Do you need peace? Embrace the ministry of hospitality.     

Obtaining Peace: Living Right

 Peace 11

 

          In this series on peace we are spending the bulk of our time examining different scriptural means of obtaining this greatly desired commodity. We come today to yet another method, namely this: the peace of God comes when we are living right.

          The prophet Isaiah tells us, The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever (Isaiah 32.17). What is righteousness? Doing right in the eyes of God. What does righteousness work in us? Peace. What is the effect of righteousness? Quietness (a sense of peaceful calm) and assurance (confidence and faith in Him). We see here a clear linkage between doing right and having or being at peace.

          This holy wedlock between the two is likewise emphasized by the psalmist. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Psalm 85.10). At the close of the wedding ceremony I turn to the groom and announce, “You may kiss your bride.” That kiss is symbolic of their union. It is not wrong to say that peace and righteousness are married. They are one flesh. Where you find one, you find the other. You cannot separate the two. No wonder the writer of Hebrews labeled Melchizedek, who was an Old Testament appearance of Jesus or at least a type of Christ, King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace (Hebrews 7.2).  

          Elsewhere in Isaiah the prophet likens peace to a river, and links it again there with righteousness. O that thou hadst hearkened unto my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48.18). What is he saying? Very simply, when I obey God the result is the aforementioned presence of the union of peace and righteousness.

          I live a few hundred yards from the mightiest river on the North American continent. In the two years I have been in Dubuque I have spent much time along its banks. I have learned a few things. A river is constant; its flow is ceaseless. A river is refreshing to all the men and animals and plants along its banks. A river is a smooth path for commerce and travel. A river is a barrier to keep out the unwanted. A river is a delight with its song and its scenery. A river is smooth on top but powerful underneath the surface.

          …and that entire paragraph is true of peace as well, the peace that comes like a river when I keep His commands and live in righteousness.

          The aforementioned psalmist calls our attention to the righteous man. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace (Psalm 37.37). At the close of the day, when the toil we have endured through the heat of the day is laid down, the righteous man is at peace. He has done his duty to the best of his ability. Now he can rest both body and soul. And just as the end of the day so the end of a life. I am, just now, working away hammer and tongs at God’s will for my life. But if He tarry His coming the time will inevitably arrive where I will put down those tools for the last time. My books will be closed, my fingers on the keyboard stilled, my voice will no longer ring out from the pulpit. My life’s work will be done. Will I be at peace then? Will I be content with that life’s work? Will I rest easy waiting at the last finally to go home? It depends entirely on whether I live in righteousness between now and then or not. In the end, we will see. The end always tells.

          One of the mightiest Baptist preachers of the twentieth century was Lee Roberson. Longtime pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church, and the founder of Tennessee Temple University, his ministry was enormous in scope and impact. He has always been special to me for my father trained under him. Many years ago now, I heard him tell the story of the night he surrendered to the gospel ministry. He was a singer and a good one, classically trained, with a bright future ahead of him in radio. When God called him to preach he struggled to lay that aside. It was not easy for him. Yet he did.

The night duly came where he walked the aisle in that Kentucky church, and informed them of his yielding to the call of God. As the custom of the day was, the church formed a line at the end of his service as one by one the members came by to congratulate him on God’s call in his life. An old man lingered long in the auditorium until everyone else had gone. Finally, alone, he walked up to a teenaged Lee, took him by the hand, bent down, and whispered eight words in his ear: “I didn’t, and I have had no peace.” Turning, the old man walked out of that auditorium tormented with the knowledge he would never know peace this side of eternity.

How about you, my friend? Have you yielded to Him? There will be no peace until you do. But as you do, no matter what else there is, there is peace.

 

You have longed for sweet peace,

And for faith to increase,

And have earnestly, fervently prayed.

But you cannot have rest,

Or be perfectly blest,

Until all on the altar is laid.

 

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?

Your heart does the Spirit control?

You can only be blest,

And have peace and sweet rest,

As you yield Him your body and soul.

-E. A. Hoffman

           

Obtaining Peace: Creation

 

Peace 10

 

          In this section of our blog series on peace we are examining eight different ways the Bible tells us we can obtain peace. With this post we come to one that has ministered to me most deeply, the beauty of God’s creation. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness (Psalm 72.3). It may well be that there is in this passage some prophetic connection with the Millennial reign of Christ on Mount Zion. I can see signs of that. But I do not think it takes away from my point here. God’s creation pours peace into the battered soul.
          When God made man He did not place him in a city; He placed him in a garden. It was man that built the first city, specifically Cain. It is almost as if having lost so much of what God had originally designed with his father Adam and his brother Abel, he decided to reinvent things. Ergo, lets thrust man on top of each other and call it good.

          I do not believe cities are intrinsically evil. God Himself loves the city of Jerusalem, and will create a New Jerusalem in the end. But I do know from long experience that cities produce frantic schedules, crowded sidewalks, clogged intersections, a haste for riches, and endless miles of asphalt, concrete, brick, and glass. The stores are open twenty-four hours in the cities. Industry runs full bore in the cities. Music thumps from passing cars loud enough to rattle the dishes. There is endless hustle and bustle, running to and fro. Rudeness multiplies in the city. 

          Some of my perspective here is perhaps colored for me by Meniere’s disease and its side effects, and how difficult it became for me toward the end in Chicago. But some of it is just fact. It is not impossible to live in peace in a city for peace is largely a matter of the heart, but it is more difficult. The psalmist said, Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46.10). There is precious little opportunity to be still in the city, to be quiet. There is almost no chance of serene contemplation. You can cultivate a spirit of inner stillness but it is not the same. At the least it is not near as simple.

          I am a deep believer in setting your eyes upon something God made. It causes us to reflect upon His majesty and sovereignty. It reminds us of how big He is, of how powerful He is, of how eternal He is. It reminds us that when all is said and done the kerfuffle of events will fade and He will still be. Thou remainest (Hebrews 1.11).

          God has been good to bring me deep peace in such ways. I have laid in the black night on the greensward, with nary an electric light in miles, and feasted my eyes on the prodigal jewels of Heaven we call the stars. I have felt the ocean mist on the morning breeze, and heard the surf break on both sides of the continent. I have breathed deep of the scented pines of the northwest. I have craned my eyes skyward beholding the behemoths of the Rockies. I have been surprised by sudden waterfalls springing out of the jungle as the remnants of a hurricane passed through. I have watched the sun come up over the Great Lakes with my young son sitting beside me. I have stood in the desert as the dry wind sucked the moisture out of my lungs, and watched the tumbleweeds whirl by. I have seen some of what God has made and it is good.

          In God’s great goodness, he has brought me at last to live in what is truly one of the beautiful places in our country. Eagles and hummingbirds and turkeys and deer vie for my attention from my deck. Old Man River, the mighty Mississippi rolls merrily on just a few hundred feet from my home. Scores of miles of trails crisscross the county. Rainbows, produced by the rise of vapor up the bluffs along the river, grace the evening sky often. I live in what God has made and it is good. I weep, I praise Him, and I am at peace.

          Do you long for sweet peace? Is your soul a tumbling tumult of noise and uproar? Find something God made, where nothing of man intrudes. Stand there or sit there or lie there or walk there. Stay a good long while. Put your phone away. Listen to the wind, the birds, the creak of the trees and the rustle of their leaves, the play of the brook over the smooth stones. Drink deep of God’s creation, and be at peace.

Obtaining Peace: Fellowship

 

Peace 9

 

          God does not command us to live in peace without giving us the wherewithal to do so. He gives us the strength and grace to do so, yes, but He also tells us how to do so all through the Scriptures. So far in this series we have looked at three of them. We obtain peace by asking Him. We obtain peace by knowing Him. We obtain peace by trusting Him. In today’s post, we will discover that we can also obtain peace by fellowship with His people.

          The sweet psalmist of Israel went through several seasons of deep suffering. One of those periods he endured as an older, mature king. His son, Absalom, rebelled against his rule, subverted his chief counsellors, stole the hearts of his followers, and led the nation to into perversity and revolt. Through the support of a gracious God, and the loyalty of a few reliable retainers, David was restored to his throne. Betrayed by so many of his friends, attacked by his enemies, bereft of his son, a heartbroken but triumphant David penned Psalm 55. Amongst other gems, he gives us this precious statement of thanksgiving. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me (Psalm 55.18).

          I am a huge believer in spending time with God’s people. It is both commanded and exemplified all over the New Testament. While I maintain active and purposeful relationships with numbers of lost people, all of my friends are drawn from the brethren. I sit with them. I talk with them. I eat with them. I go to church with them. I laugh with them. I host them at Saint’s Rest. It is not wrong to say that I live my life among the community of the saints.

          I find many things in such community. I find accountability. If I am struggling, the people who know me well will both notice and call me on it. I find encouragement. The world is not our friend. It pushes against everything we hold dear and promotes that which we find abhorrent. It is often a lonely task indeed to be a Christian. Or it would be, if it were not for the assembly of God’s people. I find modeling and mentoring here too, living, breathing lessons of what I ought to be and can be as I follow on to know the Lord.

          I also find peace.

          As a pastor for twenty-four years, it has fallen to me to perform many funerals. Some of those funerals have been for people I did not know at all, people who died without a church and without a pastor, sometimes even without the Lord. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have also performed many funerals for people who not only knew Him, but loved Him and loved His people down here on Earth.

The difference between those funerals is stark. At the former, there is a strained effort to hold back despair, closed faces afraid of contemplating their own mortality and what it means. The atmosphere is cold and lifeless, and the moment the ceremony is over people flee for the supposed sanctuary of their secure little world.

          The Christian funerals of those who loved God and His church are a complete and utter contrast. There is joy. There are tears, yes, but they are sweet tears. There is emotional support. There is laughing as we recall precious memory after precious memory. There is the sheer delight of looking forward to Heaven. Such events are more rightly named a celebration than a funeral, a celebration of a life well lived, a celebration of the present Heaven, and a celebration of the reunion to come on that great day.

          The former had precious little if any fellowship with God’s people. Not surprisingly, there is precious little if any peace at their funeral.

          Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the 20^th century’s premier British preacher, referred to his church once as a preaching station. He bemoaned the numbers who flooded in to hear him orate, but refused to become an integral part of the actual church assembled there. I share that frustration with him as the technology and events of our day have only exacerbated the problem. I am weary of God’s people feeding their desire for God’s Word on YouTube preachers. I am indescribably frustrated with couch church, so much so that I stopped our church’s internet stream whole cloth, pandemic or no pandemic. 

          God did not design the Christian life to be lived in isolation; He designed it to be lived in community. He designed us to be together, to assemble. So get off the couch and go. Go early. Stay late. Force yourself to stick around and fellowship with God’s people. Open your heart and life to those around you. Laugh with them. Weep with them. Put your shoulder to the wheel with them. Love them. Serve them. Allow them, in turn, to minister to you.

          Like David, you will be in a battle someday. Like David, you will discover who your real friends are. I am convinced that when/if that battle comes to my life I will find hundreds and hundreds of sincere people at my side, ministering grace and comfort and counsel and support. I have built those relationships over time, with time. I have refused the alluring ease of isolation. Consequently, I am not alone. I am rich in relationships. And amongst all the other blessings that come here, there is a wealth of peace. 

Drink deep and long and often from the well of fellowship. And you will find peace.