World versus Lord

Well, after much angst, the presidential election of 2024 and along with it, the inauguration of President Trump have come and passed.  Neither event went without gnashing of teeth, but they’re both behind us, and fortunately without too much drama besides the usual pomp and circumstance that always accompanies such ceremonies.  

From prayers that were a bit bombastic to some theologically stout hymn singing, the inaugural festivities showed no shortage of religious displays, both sincere and showy.  The most controversial of these came the day after the inauguration at the National Prayer Service, in a message delivered from a woman known as “The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde", an Episcopalian Bishop, who saw fit to chide President Trump from her lofty podium.  

Perhaps less surprising than the fact that she chose to do so was the amount of Christians lauding her for her bravery because she supposedly “spoke truth to power.”  The most inflammatory part of her speech was what was most broadly shared by those on both side of the political aisle: those in favor shared it with applause, while those opposed shared it as a fraud.   In fairness, I knew that there was more to it than the famed section I saw circulating in a video clip, and so I sought out the full transcript of the “sermon” and read it so I could have a more complete picture of what Budde was saying.  (You can read it here.)

The thing about Budde’s speech is that she spoke a lot of flowery words that shroud falsehood in the illusion of truth.  Apparently a lot of people, even Christians, can no longer tell the difference.  In our instantaneous culture, we don’t want to have to stop and consider whether the words we are hearing actually align with Scripture.  As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Discernment is not the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong; rather, it is telling the difference between right and almost right.”  In this day and age, that is ringing ever more true.  

Our culture has taken concepts that originated with our good God and has hijacked them for a worldly alternative.  Words like love, justice, peace, and unity have been taken and twisted beyond recognition.  Because of this, it is of utmost importance that we no longer take such concepts at face value, especially when they come from culture.  It is essential we define our terms through the lens of Scripture and that we ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern the sometimes minute differences between truth and almost truths.  

They must be weighed.  They must be measured.  And those that don’t align with Scripture will always be found wanting.  

God is the Maker of all that is Good, True, and Beautiful.  And the world loves to distort His Goodness, Truth, and Beauty for a version that is lacking.  Sadly, there are those Christians who, whether from the pulpit, or as a parishioner, like the worldly version better than the Lordly one.  They proudly proclaim that the worldly standards of love, justice, peace, and unity will suffice.  Why want God’s perfect version?  Why wait for Him to bring it to fruition?  Surely we humans can do it better, can we not?

Or so they claim.  The truth is…we can’t.  As Romans 3:23 reminds us, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  What we want to think we’re capable of we can’t do outside of Christ.  It won’t work.  It can’t work without Him.  Our human attempts are guaranteed to flop and fail because we fall short.

Without His hand, “love” becomes a selfish pursuit of worldly lusts operating outside His design rather than something selfless and sacrificial.

Without His rule, “justice” becomes a shifting game of unequal weights and measures as we constantly try to tip the scales in the favor of those we’ve deemed as somehow wronged in whatever way society deems unacceptable rather than something that blindly weighs each deed by its merit and each heart by its motivation.  

Without His giving it, “peace” becomes a toxic way of telling others they shouldn’t hold divisive views (even and especially when based in truth) rather than something that God grants to ground us and get us through even the most hard-to-understand circumstances.  

Without Him, “unity” is a false pretense based on a short-sighted illusion of shared identity in something other than Christ rather than the true, deep ways He has united His people through the blood He spilt on the cross for our sake.  

You get the point.  These words can sound good.  But when separated from Scripture and from our Savior, they are but a hollow shell masquerading as the real deal.  It doesn’t matter if it is an Episcopalian bishop, inspirational speaker, or random man on the street…these concepts separated from Christ lose the substance.  What remains is but a shadow.  A cheap imitation.  It will never be what it claims.  

How could it?

It can’t usurp the Lord. 

Try as it might.  

This week in church, my pastor noted that if we really want God to reign in our lives, we can’t have all rain or all rein, but that we need both.  His reign by its very nature needs His lordship in our lives. 

Probably one of the most poignant passages of Scripture on this is in Galatians, when Paul describes the difference between walking by the flesh and walking by the Spirit.  He doesn’t mince words.  In many of his letters, he lists out some of the licentious behaviors, as well as other sins which can keep us from the Kingdom of God if we don’t seek His Son as Savior to set us free and His Spirit to sanctify us beyond the bonds of such sin that binds us.  

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit

are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you

from doing the things you want to do…I warn you, as I warned you before,

that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong

to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” 

Galatians 5:16-17, 21b-24

This is at odds with the feel good cultural sermon constantly being preached at us by the likes of Budde and society.  

She proclaims unity as the “threshold requirement” and that Jesus said it was “the solid rock” to build upon.  False.  Christ is that rock.  Scripture repeatedly refers to Him (and alludes to Him) as such.  

She claims that “unity” will cause us to “respect differences” and “hold multiple perspectives as valid and worthy of respect".  Funnily enough, that doesn’t fit very well with passages such as the one above that encourage us to live according to the Spirit and admonish us against living by the flesh. If what Budde claims is the case, and unity is the rock we are required to build upon, how could we reconcile living in the flesh with living in the Spirit if such concepts are, by their very definition, opposed to each other? We can't. And neither can she.

Budde argues that unity most “honor the inherent dignity of every human being” by “refusing to mock, discount, or demonize those with whom we differ” and that we must “seek common ground”.  She fails to mention that Christ is meant to be that common ground upon which we unify.  He is what unites us across all these differences.  Also, God Himself designed us with all these differences, and yet she advocates that people make a mockery of His good design through transgender mutilation and family breakdown because somehow humans still think that they know better than their Maker.  

“Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’” 

Isaiah 45:9

She also claims we must be honest and humble and look beyond our “blind spots and biases.”  She says “we are perhaps the most dangerous to ourselves and others when we are persuaded, without a doubt, that we are absolutely right and someone else is absolutely wrong.”  But what if the so-called “blind spots and biases” are actually biblical?  What if we are persuaded by the absolute truth that God has graciously given us through His Word?  What if someone goes against that?  Must we then, for the sake of “unity” set aside all absolutes, even those based on what God Himself has declared to be true?  

That’s some dangerous ground to tread upon.  If there are no absolutes, can truth even exist?

She goes on to declare that if we go forth without unity, we are building upon sand.  Strangely enough (though by now, not surprising in the least), that’s not what Scripture says.  It is the person who hears the Word of God and acts it them that builds their house on the rock.  Those who don’t do so will see their sandcastles swept away!

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them,

will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed

against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them,

will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed

against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.” 

Matthew 7:24-27

Ironically, at one point, she declares that God doesn’t “spare us from the consequences of our deeds, which, in the end, matter more than the words we pray.”  I daresay that if her deeds are any reflection of the words she so proudly proclaimed (which lacked both the humility and honesty she advises), she is in desperate need of repentance.  She is leading people astray, claiming to proclaim God, yet her message is one that puts such a worldly spin on things, that she can’t even differentiate between Christ and the false unity for which she advocates.  

Indeed, she knows not the Truth.  How can it be said she speaks it to power?  

And if she’s speaking falsehood, how can anyone who claims Christ laud her for doing so?  

Yet, she and society will say that to live in unity would mean to do nothing that could possibly offend anyone.  I was reminded of this passage in Matthew, where Jesus takes no issue with the fact that His words had offended someone.  His answer is telling.

“Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees

were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said,

“Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.

Leave them alone; they are blind guides of blind people.

And if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.” 

Matthew 15:12-14

Those God doesn’t plant will be uprooted.  

Woe to those who blindly allow themselves to be led by the blind.  Dare I say, woe to those who think it’s okay for someone so obviously blind to lead others astray?  Do you wish damnation upon the souls who fall prey to such false teaching?  

No worldly wisdom offered by false teachers such as these can be of a gain to souls in need of the one and only Savior.  Each misleading worldly morsel draws them one step closer to Hell.  It’s as if this trail to salvation is being built by Hansel and Gretel, composed of crumbs which will rapidly decompose or be devoured by creatures before they can find their way back along the path.  By the time they realize just how lost they are, are they even able to find their way again?  Have they been so misled that they don’t even know where to look?

But Christ makes it clear.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  There is nothing ambiguous about that.  No having to Hansel and Gretel ourselves along in the hopes we can find our way back to Him again.  

 "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 14:6

He is straightforward.  His path may seem neither straight, nor forward at times, in the walking out of it.  And it certainly will have seasons of difficulty instead of ease.  But it always leads directly to Him.  It always goes through the cross.  

John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is an age-old classic tale that tells of the trials we may pass through on the path to Christ.  For Christian, the path isn’t easy.  It isn’t without offense.  At times he is oppressed.  But His eyes are on the One who can see Him through to the end.  Many times worldly things try to change his path, offer an easier way, alter it ever so slightly.  And each time, it leads him astray towards something that isn’t Christ.  

John 14 talks about the importance of those who believe in Christ doing His work.  Verse 12 tells us, “whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do”.  Verse 15 proclaims, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.”  “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me,” declares verse 21.  “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word…” says verse 23 in contrast to verse 24 which says, “Whoever does not love Me does not keep my words.  These are just passages from one chapter in one book in the whole entirety of the Bible, yet Jesus is not unclear.  

In the same chapter, He goes on to proclaim, “Peace I leave with you, my peace, I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.”  The world won’t do it like Jesus.  They can’t even come close.  Their efforts are in vain and are nothing but a sideshow along the path He has for us, just as in the Pilgrim’s Progress.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace, I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.” 

John 14:27

They’re put there by the design of a scheming devil to distract us from the path to Christ and lead us down dark alternative paths to the very destruction of our souls.  They may shroud themselves in things like comfort and ease and even those more virtuous sounding things like love, justice, peace, and unity.  But if those good things that are sought after cause us to separate from Christ, they’ve been distorted, often into the opposite of what the biblical definition of such virtues would be.  

Each of these (and others) can easily be turned into an idolatry that draws us down a path different than the one Christ has called us to.  We need the discernment of the Holy Spirit to distinguish the difference.  What may seem a subtle side path can quickly turn into a parting of ways and an entirely different route.  

We cannot claim Christ and continue to choose a worldly route. It is the world or it is the Lord.  He offers us through His narrow path what the world cannot.  The world offers us what He won’t give us.  Because He is utterly good, and what the world has to offer isn’t (even if at first glance it may fool us into thinking otherwise).  The world cannot hope to offer anything True, Good, or Beautiful, because that’s His domain.  He gives us common grace so that those who don’t yet know Him can catch glimpses, but they don’t see fully. 

Of course, no human can see fully, not even those who follow Him wholly and hide His Word in their hearts.  We know in part and we see in part.  But for many Christians, unfamiliar with what the Bible says, what little they know is lacking the wisdom of the Word of God.  Their human understanding is further limited by the cultural blinders they put on their own eyes.  Blinders they believe they must wear because the world insists on it.  Because the world doesn’t want what God’s got to offer us.  They don’t care how good, true, or beautiful the lordship of Jesus could be because it would inconvenience what’s worldly in then.  

And thus, they fill in the blanks, just as Budde did in her speech.  It’s like a bad round of Mad Libs, but somehow way worse.  They equivocate.  They replace what God says on the matter with what the world wants to hear.  This is the opposite of “speaking truth”, even if they do feel they must do it to whoever they deem to be in “power”.  

But God doesn’t equivocate.  He wants us.  Not just in word, but in heart, and in deed.   God knows we love Him when we keep His commandments.  And obedience born out of love for Him is NOT burdensome.  He doesn’t ask of us that which we are incapable of giving.  He helps us to overcome that which feels hard and heavy because He made us, He sent us His Son, and He gave us His Spirit to aid us.  

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,

and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God

and obey His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep

His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.  

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  Who is it

that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 

1 John 5:1-5

He knows what we’re capable of, and like a loving Father, He challenges us to live as He has called us to.  Because He can see that it is better.  In His sovereignty, He knows fully what we can only see partly.  He has a bird’s eye view of those little side trails that lead us astray, and they all lead away.  

These are those powers and principalities that Ephesians 6:12 reminds us of.  Our true battle is with them in this world.  We cannot hope to fight against them when we choose to ally ourselves with them.  Those who claim otherwise are deceivers who will lead people to their destruction.  

 “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. 

For many deceivers have gone out into the world,

those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ…This is the deceiver…

Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished,

but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far

and does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God;

the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” 

2 John 6-9

They say “The path to Hell is paved with good intentions.”  Those pavestones are the worldly virtues which seem like a good idea, but are the fruit of a bad root of the enemy and not of God.  The world’s soil is fertile with festering ideas that masquerade as if they can hope to contain the goodness of the God who originally invented the concepts.  But it is a stinky substitute and it will not suffice.  Indeed, this world and all its desires will pass away.  

Will we choose to abide in Him and in His will?  It won’t come without cost.  John 15:18-19 tells us that the world hated Jesus before it hated us.  It admonishes us that if the world loves us, it’s because we are worldly.  But because He chose us out of the world, it will hate us.  To be conformed with this world is to be at odds with Christ.  

Romans 12:2 tells us we must flee such wordly conformity by allowing the renewal of our mind to transform us, and that through testing the will of God, we may walk in what He deems good, acceptable, and perfect.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes

and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.  

And the world is passing away along with its desires,

but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 

1 John 2: 15-17

We have become so accustomed in our culture to the idea that everything should revolve around comfort and convenience, and that nobody’s opinions should inconvenience someone or cause them discomfort.  This lie of the enemy is contrary to Christ.  We cannot hope to stand for a Savior which the world despises if we are unwilling to ruffle some feathers.  I’m not talking about being contrary just to be a contrarian.  I’m talking about the fact that the truth as God defines it is absolutely absolute.  And thus, if we abide in His Truth, His Goodness, and His Beauty, we by definition must lack worldly conformity.  

As we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, our lives should reflect the transforming power of His Spirit’s sanctifying work in us.  We can look back at where we once were and recount how He rescued and redeemed us out of those graves of yesterday.  But we must leave those graves.  

To live as His redeemed, we must walk out what God’s Word tells us with the way we live our lives. This isn’t works-based-righteousness, as this is not salvific.  But it is the fruit of souls changed out of those grave clothes and onto Christ’s path.  If the prodigal son had stayed in the slop with the hogs, would anyone recognize his life as having changed?  We too, must run to our Father, and clothe ourselves in His armor (Ephesians 6:10-18).  Our lives should bear the fruit of His Spirit as we live out our love through our obedience to Him (Galatians 5:22-24).   

We cannot abide by the false unity Budde appealed to.  Nor the false justice, peace, love, or any other virtues that the world somehow manages to turn to vices by their distorted definitions.  Only that which can be found in Christ will suffice.  For His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. 

Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. 

Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God,

for He will freely pardon.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher

than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” 

Isaiah 55:6-9

Thank God for that!