On Liberty

Proclaim Liberty throughout all the
land unto all the inhabitants thereof.
Leviticus 25:10

(Observance of the Fourth of July 2012)

America is best understood not so much in ethnic terms, socio-economic models or even her Judeo-Christian heritage (as prominent as that used to be). In my view she is about the essential commitment to the inalienable right to Liberty. Liberty is the sine qua non oxygen that makes possible our existence in the temporal realm. And even that is possible because of the sovereign providence of The God Who is There. (cf. Francis A. Schaeffer)

 

Sadly, in our human brokenness and sinful orientation, we are too prone to seek "freedom from" rather than "freedom in" the security of God's covenant love for His people. As image-bearers we are hard-wired for libery.  In the Garden our first parents were established in the optimum conditions for true freedom. Adam freely chose bondage to the Liar who sought to ruin the loving relationship between Creator and creature. Ever since the Race of Men have tried to barge back into the Garden on its own terms only to be frustrated and miserable at every turn.

The wreckage of these failed methods (Babel, Golden Calfs, Asherah Altars, Self-righteous Pharisaism, most of Pop Culture, Greed, Adultery, Murder, Indifference, Apathy, Indolence) is strewn along the paths of human experience and history. Too many souls wimper their distress, finding themselves chained in dungeons of disillusion, dispair, desperation, deathly dullness or dreary distraction. Here they may even resemble sophisticated trolls squatting in the shadows shaped by the disappointing pale lights of self-indulgence, self-absorption or a faux self-sufficiency.

As C.S. Lewis mused,  many of us are too satisfied playing in a mud puddle in London, rather than spending a day at the beach. By contrasts others dismiss their ennui by clamoring for prestige, power, prosperity, personal peace and affluence; or they hunker down on their stuff, roll up their sidewalks and ignore the answering machine or doorbell.

Into these gulags/ghettos a Liberator has come. He has heralded the great declaration of independence: "You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free." (cf. John 8:32) ."He breaks the power of cancelled sin and sets the prisoner free." (John Wesley, O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing). More importantly He bought back His people from the slaveblock of sin by the price of a bloody Cross. His blood. Release from bondage to our various idols, our vain imaginations, our spiritual blindness/deafness is loving offerd of all who will exchange their self-confidence for a child-like trust in the Son of Liberty.

On our 236th birthday as a sovereign nation we remind one another that "freedom isn't free." We celebrate with traditional parades, fireworks, barbeques with family and friends. We remember the sacrifice of forefathers who resolved: "And for the support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Not only has God placed an unquenchable thirst for Liberty in every breast; He has placed within the hearts of His people a yearning for Eternity where we shall tirelessly praise the Liberating Lamb of God.

See you at the Potter's wheel!
G.K. Sexton

On Common Grace

(Toward an Everyman Understanding)

Recently my son Colin turned me on to Country music. While bee-bopping around in his stripped down Jeep we found ourselves sing along with George Strait, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks et al as they twanged and crooned on “Thunder 104.5 FM.”  Even though I am somewhat eclectic in my musical palette (Enya, Winton Marsalis, The Eagles, Yo-Yo Ma, Willie Nelson),  I found that the sometimes sentimental or forlorn lyrics of the songs of  the South would sneak up on me. I discovered that my growing affinity for home-spun story telling is founded on two factors.  First, I can actually sing along and harmonize. Second, I realized that many of the songs revealed the presence of Common Grace.

 According to Louis Berkhof, a Reformed Christian thinker “[Common grace] curbs the destructive power of sin, maintains in a measure the moral order of the universe, thus making an orderly life possible, distributes in varying degrees gifts and talents among men, promotes the development of science and art, and showers untold blessings upon the children of men,” [L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 1979, p.343]

I remember as a young Army Chaplain who desired to be faithful to my Biblical Christian identity and distinctives, that I was far too concerned about which religious tradition any given SOULdier might have embossed on his “dog tags.” As if knowing that, I would have a head start on how to provide ministry for him or her. Little did I know at the time, but that anxiety-laced approach actually created obstacles to genuine Gospel ministry. Thankfully the Lord allowed an epiphany of sorts; I had a built-in point of connection with every SOULdier and LEADer brought my way. It was the very real awareness that each were made in God’s image (“No duh!”).  This alone established a bridge between us. (Later I would conclude that for all the cultural contrasts, I could have a meaningful encounter sitting with an Aboriginal father, playing his didgeridoo at the fireside in the New Zealand wilderness.  After all we probably overlapped in our concerns, fears, hopes and dreams at some basic level.)

In the discussions about what constitutes “Christian/Biblical Counseling” certain schools/approaches assert that they are genuinely Christian because of how they bring the means of grace (Scripture, prayer, sacraments, etc.) to bear in a person’s life.  In striving for orthodoxy (right teaching) and orthopraxis (right method) there is a rightful circumspection concerning secular models. Overplayed however, this perspective risks throwing the baby out with the bath water as it assesses other approaches. As one who subscribes to an integrationist approach which is premised on the epistemological axiom that “all truth is God’s Truth” I am not espousing an irresponsible eclecticism or sloppy pragmatism. Integration is not careless syncretism or amalgamation which inevitably results in a muddle-minded mess. Therefore I suspect that those who see themselves as Biblically purist in the counseling closet are in some ways more integrationists than they may admit.

Within the realm of Common Grace, the observations and metrics of psychology and sociology can have a descriptive value (at least at a surface level). There may even be some diagnostic value. But authentic pastoral care, founded on Biblical anthropology (doctrine of man) and soteriology (doctrine of redemption) provides the truly reality-based soul-cure where the root issues of the heart (sin, fear, unbelief, etc.) are addressed.

Missions, evangelism and apologetics have an embedded assumption concerning Common Grace. Both of these ministries are expressions of the Incarnation and Emmanuel [“God with Us”]. When we prayerfully move about  in life, we ask the Holy Spirit to make us sensitive, compassionate, faithful in those occasions where we may share the Good News and invite/command liberating submission to the Lordship of Christ. If there is a meaningful connection between believer and the yet-to-be-saved it is in part because we have actually listened to the hopes, dreams, fears, doubts, questions and confusion of a fellow Image-bearer.. When we offer the cup of water in Jesus name, we do so not only in obedience, but with a compassion born of identification with another’s plight.

Of late this renewed awareness and appreciation of Common Grace, has humbled, empowered and motivated me as I live out what it means to be a student and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ in the real world of men and things.

See you at the Potter's wheel!
G.K. Sexton

More on Common Grace

For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:45