Ferguson, and Lessons We Can Learn

         It is hard to fully wrap our minds around the menacing violence, destruction, looting, and general chaos being committed by several in wake of the announcement of the grand jury verdict in Ferguson, MO on November 24^th. Officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted in the August shooting death of Michael Brown. The particulars of this case were considered and weighed heavily by the District Attorney and handed over to a Grand Jury for their examination of the facts and sequence of events. At the end of a 3 month investigation their conclusion was not to indict the officer.

         From the beginning of this situation there has been a substantial distorting of facts. Attorneys have certainly done their fair share of distorting, as they often do. The family has looked at this, much like any family would, through the prism of emotion. The one place though we should actually expect to get unbiased information is from the media. But, once again just like in countless other stories, the media has been anything but fair and balanced in its coverage. Over time, the media has traveled a road taking them past fairness, through bias, then through substantial bias, to the point of corruption at least in many outlets. There are still good journalists and there are still good news outlets, but they are scarce. The media culture breeds conformity and for those who do not follow the script, there is a hefty price tag to pay. Early on, the media adopted a narrative that a white police officer had gunned down an unarmed black man; therefore race was a major factor. Early on, some eyewitnesses made claims that quickly were proven false. Once the true sequence of events began to emerge, some in the liberal media had already backed themselves into a corner. When journalists become activists they are no longer true journalists.

         The police in Ferguson made many mistakes in how they handled the Michael Brown crime scene. For instance, they let Brown’s body lie in the street for 4 hours thereby fueling anger from the community. Their attempts at public relations in the days which followed were poor. But, in all fairness, they were not trained in how to deal with something that grew so big so quick and became nationally prominent.

         Politicians made rushes to judgment, notable among them were comments betraying prejudice against Officer Wilson by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. There was certainly bias displayed by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama administration as a whole. Three representatives were even sent to Michael Brown’s funeral last August. Race hustler, opportunist, and MSNBC host Al Sharpton, was seen at various points throughout the ordeal, including speaking at the Michael Brown funeral. Sharpton’s presence and words clearly jazzed up crowds of people to expect a certain outcome. There were no real calls for fairness, justice, or finding out the truth. Regrettably, he had made up his mind and, in his mind, justice would only be served when the investigation proved him to be right.

         What I am most concerned about in all of this is what is not being said. So often the root causes of problems are ignored and symptoms are treated like they are the problems. Here we have a young man, Michael Brown, seen on camera shoving the owner of a store out of the way when he tries to stop him from stealing from his store. The autopsy confirmed he had marijuana in his system. This was not his first run-in with the law in his 18 years of life. And it all ends one day when he grapples with a police officer trying to do his job and arrest him. Every dad in America should have set down with their teenage sons and had a talk about living right and making wise choices and not wasting your life like Michael Brown. Every parent should be using this to teach their kids not to steal, use drugs, run with the wrong crowd, respect authority, and live as a person of character, lest your life be a total waste and end like Michael Brown’s life ended. He was not a hero, he was thug.

         But instead of hearing the common sense truth, we are hearing charges of racism, some calling the police force out of control, people talking about blacks being disproportionately targets, etc. But very little is said about what started the whole chain of events. Only at the point a scapegoat entered the picture (a white police officer) is there real outrage, and its all directed at him and “the system.” Where is the outrage from the black community about the murder rate in the south side of Chicago made up almost exclusively of black on black violence and it has been unchanged for 50 years! Where is the outrage from the black community when more than 70 percent of black babies are born out of wedlock? There seems to only be outrage when they can find a way to pin blame on others for their own problems. Could their time be better spent addressing the root causes of the problems – absolutely! Could they wise up and see how one particular political party has played them and used them as pawns for decades?

         Very few these days have a wholesale commitment to the truth. Everyone, it seems, has their own version of truth. Sadly, most of the truth claims which are made are not true at all. God’s Word is the only reliable standard for truth and we are only truthful when our beliefs, conduct, speech, etc. are consistent with and in agreement with God’s Word. Within sinful man, wickedness and lies of every sort abound.

         The Michael Brown shooting is, most certainly, a tragedy. It is tragic because a young life with so much potential was totally wasted due to the very bad choices he made, his lack of respect for authority, and disregard for the law.   So many people could potentially learn so much from these events.  But will they learn?

In Christ,

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

Previous weblogs may be viewed at www.fbcrogers.com

Recent messages may be heard at www.fbcrogers.com

Study to Show Yourself Approved

        When it comes to the prospect of “study” I have observed that there are two things, and most often only two things, that people will study – that which they are required to study and that which they desireto study. People will study for a test in school or a licensing exam or something job-related. People will also study within their areas of interest. I am amazed at how many facts some people know about sports. Those interested in hunting and fishing enthusiastically study to learn more about hunting and fishing. Basically, detailed information related to whatever hobby or interests a person has is worthy to be studied by them. They will spend countless hours in the zone that brings them pleasure and fulfillment. It is far from a burden, but rather their pleasure.

         For many, perhaps most people, Bible study falls into a 3^rdcategory. The category is “things we ought to study.” Many will simply read their Bibles but not study them. They will attend church as long as it is simple enough so as not to challenge them to have to put their thinking caps on. Yet, we are not merely called upon to “read” but to “study” Scripture. In this day and age when the Christian worldview is under such vehement attack, it is essential we be ready to defend our faith, and “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 3:17) is the weapon we use.

         Many believers have children, grandchildren and other loved ones who have adopted secular worldviews of various sorts, and the Christian parents and grandparents have no idea how to defend the Christian worldview and only fall back on ineffective appeals to their loved ones to come to church and/or start reading the Bible. In other words, they cannot engage in meaningful conversations with those who are deceived by another worldview because they themselves only know the very basics of their own Christian faith/worldview. Yet study materials are available, in abundance, to help equip them to beef up their knowledge.

         One of the most widely quoted verses in the New Testament is “Study (be diligent) to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15) To be diligent in the manner called for here includes making the most of every opportunity given to increase in the knowledge of the truth. I have been amazed at how many spiritual opportunities I have seen wasted.

         Study to increase in knowledge is profitable. Further, the profit is not merely for the person who gains in knowledge but for the whole body of Christ. Sadly what we often see is the reality stated in Hebrews 5:12-14 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” How many perpetual babes in Christ do we have in our churches? When Peter Pan stayed a boy and refused to grow up, everyone smiled, but I do not think God smiles when His children neglect to take the necessary steps to grow up spiritually! In this passage the writer goes so far as to say that many who would/should be teachers have refused to grow up spiritually and are still struggling with the basics.

         Writing concerning the same theme in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 Paul writes “And I brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able.” The trend in the modern day church is to dumb down messages and lessons because even those who have been Christians for a number of years are not prone to trying to grasp anything very deep. Church has become much more about “what I get out of it,” than about “what God may have to say to me.” Many of our parents and grandparents went to church 3 times a week singing doctrinally rich hymns and being taught the Word of God verse by verse at each service. Now those things will not draw a crowd and few churches practice them. Those who do, have only a handful of people showing interest.

         Hebrews 5: 12-14 indicates that many within the purview of this epistle should have matured to the point of being teachers by now but have not. What kept them from failing to be teachers? Quite simply, it was the fact they were not desiring “solid food,” but only “milk.” We wonder, at times, why there is always a need for teachers and few, if any, will step forward and show their willingness to teach. But what many fail to realize is that the answer is right here in the pages of Scripture. Too many have desired milk instead of solid food for far too long. Many potential teachers are people who stopped maturing years ago and never developed spiritually as God intended and may not even attend much at all anymore. Sadly, the waste of potential in our churches and in many individual Christian lives is enormous, and no doubt grieves the heart of God. Further, the witness and overall effectiveness of the church is weakened as a result.

In Christ,

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

Previous weblogs may be viewed at www.fbcrogers.com

Recent messages may be heard at www.fbcrogers.com

Ethical Standards and Changing Morality

        What or who determines standards?  In times past in America, the obvious answer was the Bible.  This was true even for individuals, marginal in their Christian commitment.  But no such standard exists anymore – at least not in the minds of a great number of people.  Where there is no standard, confusion will rise to fill the void left in its absence.

          It is near political suicide for a candidate running for office to quote from or refer to the Bible.  The only exceptions might be vague, general reference to a passage that is hardly controversial.  The 1828 edition of Webster’s Dictionary defined a great many terms by appealing to the Bible as the absolute standard.  Our American laws all are rooted deeply in the standards found in the Word of God.  Laws were not simply pulled out of the air.  Their basis was overwhelmingly in Scripture.

          Over time morality and ethics have become largely lumped together and essentially are now viewed as being one and the same.  However, drawing a clear distinction is valuable.  Morality is a measure of what “is” taking place; what people are doing; their attitudes toward certain issues and standards of behavior.  Therefore we can conclude that morality is forever in a state of flux and change.  The phrase “moral standards” is mostly an oxymoron.  A standard is set and unchanging, whereas morality is merely a reflection of what “is” taking place.  There is no guiding principle.  Ethics, on the other hand, speaks to the “ought.”  Ethics are grounded in a true and unchanging standard.  Christians would appeal to biblical ethics, in particular, and see Scripture as the standard of all ethical conduct.  In other words, “ethics” should determine “morality.”  Even if it is not perfectly followed, believers would claim that we “ought” to follow the teachings and standards of the Bible.

          In our present world, no such distinction is made between ethics and morality.  The absolutes of ethical standards have given way to the moral norms of the ever-changing culture.  To say someone is “moral” only means they are consistent with what is generally seen by a society as being moral.  However, to say someone is “ethical,” means they are following standards that may be outside normal behavior and might even be quite counter to the culture.  To say someone is “biblically ethical,” means someone is ordering their life around the teachings of Scripture.

          Many Bible-believing Christians lament that their adult son or daughter is, for example, now living with their boyfriend or girlfriend out of wedlock, or are engaging in other behaviors that are contrary to the standard taught by the parents in the home.  This standard was based in the Bible.  What has happened?  Presumably, the parents taught an “ethical” standard to their child, particularly a “biblical ethical standard.”  However as the child left home, went to college or joined the military, and got out into the world their biblical ethics came into sharp conflict with the morality of the culture.  In the back of his/her mind the biblical ethic remained, but the morality of those around them was such that they were made to feel uncomfortable and felt tremendous pressure to conform.  Typically this does not happen overnight.  It usually takes time.  It is very hard for those with ethical standards to consistently live up to the standards in which they believe when their encouragement for doing so is minimal or non-existent.  And it is further difficult when their encouragement to adopt the moral norms of those around them is strong.  You see this, for example, on a college campus.  What is more common, to see incoming Christian freshman influence the campus with Christian ethics and teachings or to see the moral norms found on campus to influence the incoming Christian freshman? 

          God knew of this dilemma long before human beings ever gave it a thought.  He knew believers needed to encourage one another, because “lone wolf” Christianity was always destined for failure.  “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”  (Prov. 27:17)  Church is the institution He gave, not only for that “sharpening” or “encouragement” to take place but also a place for instruction.  Many have sought answers to why there is such a decline in morality today, when compared with previous generations; but the answers are fairly simple.  People attend church far less frequently, and the Bible is read and studied more infrequently than before.  Add to this the fact that culture is imposing itself on all people with far greater intensity.  Christianity is under direct assault, and the price to be paid for living by biblical ethical standards is much greater than it has ever been for men, women, boys and girls.

          There is more to life than living for the moment.  Moments come and moments go.  According to James 4:14 our lives are a “vapor” that appear for just a moment and then are gone.  The “morality” of the moment is here, and then it is gone.  But biblical ethics are standards that come down to us from God and they do not change.  God declared in Malachi 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change.”  As mankind in every generation grapples with trying to determine morality, God’s ethical and absolute standards remain preserved in the Bible.  

In Christ,

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

Previous weblogs may be viewed at www.fbcrogers.com

Recent messages may be heard at www.fbcrogers.com