Whether anyone reads these thoughts, or not, is immaterial to me. This is my attempt to capture my beliefs into a concise statement. I am doing this as a result of the last episode of the truth project. The Truth Project is a twelve episode series exploring life from a Biblical perspective. In the last episode Del Tackett encourages believers to engage in the world around them, not retreat. Although I think fighting Leviathan, the world’s culture, will not be successful until Jesus Christ returns, I do agree that we are called by God to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
I am also emboldened by a new Harvard research article cited by the Federalist that Christianity is not declining but growing stronger. People are leaving progressive churches and aligning with Churches that believe the Bible. Thus, I think it is important for me to solidify my beliefs biblically, socially, and as a business person. So here is my imperfect attempt to concisely state what I believe.
I am going to start with my thoughts on the church and Church. The Church is Jesus’s bride and represents Him to the world today. The Church, or the invisible body of Christ, is redeemed and being changed into the image of Christ daily by the Holy Spirit. The physical representation of the Church is the church that is imperfect because the people within the church is imperfect. Let me explain.
When my wife and I were in Ghana we visited the slave castles on the coast. There were many poignant and reflective moments as we walked through the castles, but none as paramount as we were told how church services were being conducted above where the slaves were being held. It was a horrible testimony of the church’s complicity with an abhorrent practice. There are many examples through history where the church was on the wrong side of human dignity, but that does not change the importance of the Church to the society around us.
As a part of the Church, and the church, it is imperative that we seek to be as close to Jesus as we can to accurately reflect Him to a world in desperate need of salvation. The Church is made up of people from all tribes and tongues and is the most diverse entity in history. The physical representation of this, the church, is not as accurate a picture as it should be. It is time for us to repent of the sin of inaccurately representing Jesus and seek to be what He wants us to be. My thoughts on this matter come from my worldview based on my study of the Bible.
What I see in God’s word is that God, YHWH, is one God manifested in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are at work in the world today to draw all people to salvation, resulting in a relationship with Who was and will return. The fact that God is one is contrarian to the view of plurality of gods throughout the world. The Father cares for His children, first Israel and now all people who enter into a relationship with Him through belief in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is a person that we submit ourselves to, not a power to get ahold of. The second person of the Trinity is Jesus Christ.
I believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. As such to minimize His death as leading to universalism is a rejection of the severity of sin. When human kind fell in Adam, sin entered into our reality. We demonstrate this reality by the fact that we all sin. God saw the severity of this and realized the only way to deal with this is to have His Son die for our sin. It had to be God the Son to die for us and redeem us. The bible very clearly states that Jesus was God and became flesh. Therefore, His sacrifice is much more meaningful.
What I am describing above is salvation. I know that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I know that through my own good works, which are as filthy rags before the Lord, I cannot be saved, it is only through the grace of God by giving His Son to die for me that I enter into a relationship with God. By grace I have been saved. But it does not end there. Now because the sin issue has been dealt with I am now His workmanship created unto good works. Now I serve Jesus in this world to make a difference. I am not saved to do nothing, I am saved by grace to be and do.
Why is this important. I heard someone speak on the radio yesterday about hell. I believe in a literal hell. And this hell will be deposited in a literal lake of fire during the last judgment. As a result of this belief, if I don’t warn people about this, then I am not doing my job. I am not doing what God has called all of us in His Church to do. We are to make disciples. We need to prepare for His return.
I believe in the literal return of Christ. I believe that this world will get to a point that the only thing that will save it is Jesus returning as the victor over Leviathan. Leviathan is the daemon of this world, who will be defeated during the return of Christ. As I have stated earlier in my writings, the goal for the last 25% of my life is to prepare for the next world. I want to love those around me, and bring them closer to Jesus, and help myself and others be ready for the future. This leads to my social beliefs.
As you will note my social beliefs align somewhat with Catholic Social Foundations. I believe in the dignity of life. I believe in the Imago Dei. We are all created in the image of God. Therefore, black, white, yellow or red we are all created in the image of God. Therefore, we all have value. I believe that abortion is murder and should only be available for the most extreme circumstances. I am appalled by recent events that would allow a baby that survives an abortion attempt and is born, can be killed. That is nothing more than infanticide. I also believe that if a woman has a child she should have resources available to her and support to ensure that baby gets the opportunities in life. This could be through adoption and/or family support. The government should be the last option. I also believe that our penal systems should be changed and be more redemptive. I have always stood with the work that Chuck Colsen did. I am trying to create a wholistic view of the dignity of human life.
I believe the family is the foundation of our society. Therefore, the family should be supported. I realize that some would define family different than I would. In a pluralistic society the state can, and should, define those things, but as a person who has a worldview based on the bible, I believe the family is one man and one woman who have children. I do think the state can deem gay marriage as ok, but I do not see the bible supporting that perspective. But, in our country I believe that people have the right not to be discriminated against, and the LGBT community have the same rights as I do. I will not judge them if they marry and will attempt to love them and draw them to a fuller relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I will love, and God will sort it all out later. I believe in only two genders. Male and female.
I believe in basic human rights, and I think the constitution does a good job of describing those basic human rights. No one should be denied these rights because of the color of their skin or their sexual orientation. I believe that people are truly free when they come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Other than people repenting and believing in Jesus, there is nothing more important to God than caring for the poor. The current mistake that we in the church are making today, is we are trying to rely on government to care for the poor. That is not to say that we should have regressive taxes that only help the rich. I am saying that there should be government supplied social systems paid for by our tax system, but the main activity for caring for the poor should be through the church.
The church should be following the whole gospel – bringing salvation to people around us and taking care of people, aka the poor. I see so many people trying to make this a socialism versus a capitalism issue. It is not. It is a church issue. We are the Church, who brings the truth to the world around us, not Leviathan. We have to be very careful partnering with those who represent Leviathan. I am not saying don’t be a part of things not the church, I am saying be careful, because so many people today who have partnered with Leviathan have begun to move away from the disciplines of the faith, thinking it is the right thing to do.
The Church is here to prepare the earth for Christ’s return. It is not here to create another tower of Babel. It is not here to give any victories to Leviathan, we are to support the work of the Holy Spirit in the redemption of humankind, and to care for those around us. This includes those of us who are in Business.
As I have stated earlier in this blog, there is nothing more ubiquitous than business. Economics is basic human endeavor that seeks to create an efficient distribution of goods to meet the needs of society. I believe there are no economic systems that truly represent God’s economy, but I do believe that capitalism, as it should be practiced, is the closest ism to true freedom. Socialism is a representation of Leviathan.
I believe the business organization is similar to the Church – in the way that the Church is made up of all tribes and tongues. Business organizations are diverse entities where we as black, white, red, and yellow can come together and work for the betterment of our customers. Business leadership needs to support this more completely.
The news media has done an excellent job creating a narrative that is destructive to a free market. However, business itself has done an effective job of supporting the narrative of greed and oppression. Therefore, the redeeming of capitalism is critical to the preparation of the earth for Christ’s return. Business leaders who are believers need to redeem their business practices and align them with biblical principles to demonstrate how the freedom of opportunity can lead to individual and collective success. And revising practices business leaders can redeem work as something that is good and provides for a meaningful life.
Ultimately, my worldview is an attempt to create a battle plan for myself. Whether you agree with me or not, I don’t care. I want to see Leviathan defeated. The above is my attempt to follow a meaningful strategic plan.
And that is my thought for the day!
DOCMARTIN1: It's Business and Personal 