plodblog

This is off topic for this blog, but I just had to tell someone.

I live in Africa in Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg) which is the major city for the region where Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa meet.

It is summertime here and we are in a mild drought, but there is enough water in the region for everyone.

Last week the main reservoir for Polokwane was running a bit low so the water utility board went to turn on some pumps to pump water from a few wells and another reservoir. But these pumps had not been used in five years and no one had checked them. That’s too bad because when they tried to turn them on and nothing happened they found out that the power lines to the pumps had been stolen some time ago.

The water utility board said that was no problem because only about 1/4 of the city has been without water for six days.

They said they would have had water restored to those people sooner, but they took this opportunity to replace those emergency pumps because they were old. Never mind that they should have been checked on and replaced when they were not needed to supply emergency water. They felt that they should have been congratulated for taking this opportunity to replace the old pumps.

Water should have been restored to everyone today, but we just got the word that the water for the whole city is now going to be shut off for the next four days!

Why? Because last night someone stole all of the new pumps.

So now they need to get new pumps again and install them. And now, in the middle of summer when the temperature is in the 80’s, they are shutting off the water to the entire city until the new pumps are installed and the reservoir is filled back up.

The hospital is out of water. Schools are out of water. Businesses are out of water. Nursing homes are out of water. All homes in town are out of water. No one has any water for the next 4 days.

Fortunately, I know a few people with wells so I am going today to buy a big water tank and some containers to transport water in.

Un-be-lievable. But actually, this is Africa.

Deuteronomy 8:17-18

You may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth.

1 Samuel 2:7

The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.

Job 1:21

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Proverbs 22:2

The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the maker of them all.

Eccleasties 5:19

Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Hebrews 13:5

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 17:15

Being justified means being declared not guilty.

When we venture out to make a judgment we often preface the activity with the pious sounding unbiblical statement, “I want to err on the side of Grace.”

We say this because worldly culture has told us that judging is wrong. Erring on the side of grace makes it sound like you have an aversion to judging and that only in extreme cases will you judge, though you prefer not to judge at all. If people like this do judge, and they do, then they use the erring on the side of grace tactic as a way to minimize their judging.

We also say this because we think that justifying the wicked is not as serious a crime as condemning the righteous. This is not correct.

God hates all miscarriages of justice.

Condemning the just is a grievous crime, no doubt. But, it is surprising to hear that justifying the wicked is a crime equal to it. Justifying the wicked has an appearance of grace and mercy to it. That is why it is given the acceptable name of “erring on the side of grace.”

But, it is cruel to the righteous and to the victims of the wicked to justify the wicked. If the wicked are not condemned they go on perpetrating their evil on the just and the unjust alike. Not only do they get away with it, but they are encouraged in their wickedness when they are not found guilty and stopped. When a person’s wickedness is tolerated they are emboldened in their sin. We justify the wicked when we refuse to hold them accountable.

This idea of erring on the side of grace is designed to justify the wicked from the beginning. It begins with the assumption that the truth of a situation cannot be found and so we must end up tolerating what we say we cannot know for sure. We would love to put a stop to wickedness, but we don’t want to risk condemning an innocent person.

There is an interesting theological point that illustrates this.

If you are a Christian, God has justified you. But, we all are born in sin and we all do sin. So, when God declares sinners not guilty isn’t He justifying the wicked? And so, isn’t it OK when we “err on the side of grace” because that is what God does when He justifies people? Isn’t “erring on the side of grace” being like God?

No. God does not do that. God does forgive and justify people who sin. But, God always judges, condemns and punishes sin and sinners.

The good news is that God judges and punishes sin at the cross and He does it to Christ Jesus.

God does not justify the wicked.

He first takes sin off us and puts it on Christ, the One who bore our sin on the cross, and there the wickedness is judged and punished. Once our sin has been judged and punished, God then justifies us because we are no longer wicked.

God does not err on the side of grace.

On the contrary, guilt is exposed, it is judged, and it is punished by the Righteous Judge.

God never overlooks an offence.

It is a particular glory of God to forgive sin and justify the newly innocent. But, God’s forgiveness is not done on a whim and it does not include letting the wicked get away with something. God’s forgiveness and justification is based in the very act of Christ suffering for the sin that the Father has judged.

There is no such thing as erring on the side of grace.

Grace does not err on the side of wickedness.

We must judge because we cannot let the guilty go free nor can we let the innocent be wrongly condemned. I have seen so many people suffer because no one was willing to judge and stand up and say something is wrong.

Proverbs 1:22

How long, O naïve ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? The direct answer is, forever. But, these are rhetorical questions.

How long, O naïve ones, will you love being simple-minded? Since they love it, and they do love it, they will remain simple-minded and naïve until they love wisdom more. This has nothing to do with your I.Q. You have seen this attitude. We would say this person has stuck their head in the sand like an ostrich. Blessed are the stupid beacuse they have determined that ignorance is bliss and they love bliss rather than understanding.

The verse continues with my expanded translation, How long will . . . scoffers [love and] delight themselves in scoffing? They will continue until they see the value of wisdom. They do not value godly wisdom, so they ridicule and scoff. You have seen this as well. “Oh come on! You don’t believe the bible do you!”

And finally, How long will . . . fools hate knowledge? As long as they hate God they will always hate the knowledge of God. You have heard this, “What makes you think you can speak for God? What do you think – that God wrote a book or something?”

There is nothing to excuse these people, no extenuating circumstance, if they are caught in the snares of the devil or are carried away and enticed by their own lusts. They are justly condemned because they love being naïve and they hate knowledge. And so, they cheerfully comply with every selfish opportunity presented to them.

Many are so mad about their lusts they would rather remain ignorant and stupid or take pleasure in scoffing at holiness. Though people try, they cannot blame God if He were to leave people like this to the consequences of their own attitudes and desires.

But we have a God who is not like other so called gods. Though these offenses are directed at Him He is merciful to creatures such as these because His own death has appeased His wrath.

A. T. Robertson said, “Give a man an open Bible, an open mind, a conscience in good working order, and he will have a hard time to keep from being a Baptist.”

This is true, but not impossible. I have an open Bible, I like to think I have an open mind and a working conscience, but I am not a Baptist and have found it very easy to avoid becoming one in my Christian life.

Even when I was the senior pastor of a Baptist church (which did not last long because we changed the name) I was not a Baptist. Even though I am now an associate pastor at a Baptist church I am still not a Baptist. I teach at a seminary that is very baptistic and is on the grounds of a Baptist church, but I am still not a Baptist. On more than one occasion I have told everyone at all these places that I am not a Baptist. Some of them tried to make me a Baptist. Some proclaimed me a Baptist. But I never succumbed.

But, I am mostly Baptist. I think everyone should be at least a little bit Baptist. It would be a good thing, but too much of a good thing can be bad for you.

I also have some Presbyterian in me along with some Methodist, a little bit of Old Time Pentecostal and even some Emergent/Missional/Whatever You Call It.

I may believe and look suspiciously like a Baptist, but I have enough of this other religious blood in me to keep me from being diagnosed with being Baptist. Which is fine with me.

The thing is, most of the Baptists I have met are not completely Baptist either. In my experience even they don’t want to be identified with the true purebred Baptists we have met.

When I explain this to people they always ask, “What are you then?” The nearest description I can give them is that I am a middle class American white guy from California and the Pacific Northwest who is a sinner saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for me.

That makes me a Christian, but beyond that I am having a hard time coming up with another label. But I’m not a Baptist.