Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

You are here: Home / Archives for Living Like a Christian

Living Like a Christian

What Are You Saying?

What Are You Saying?

Introduction 

The Proverbs put some colorful descriptions to how miserable a contentious household or relationship can be. Here are a few examples: when strife begins it is like trying to stop a leaking dam (Pro. 17:14); an offended brother is like an impenetrable fortress and his contentions are iron bars (Pro. 18:19); better to live alone in rural North Dakota than with a contentious and an angry woman (Pro. 21:19); along the same lines, it’s better to live in the attic than to live in a mansion with a brawling woman (Pro 25:24); wood fuels a fire and a contentious man fuels strife (Pro 26:21); it’s hard to tell the difference between a continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman  (Pro 27:15); proud hearts and angry men stir up contention and a furious man abounds in transgression (Pro. 28:25a & 29:22). 

The Text

1 Peter 1:13-21

13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Holy or Vain

The contrast in this passage is between holiness in all manner of one’s conversation, and the vain conversation from which we were delivered. Notice that vain conversation was a tradition handed down from our fathers. The word translated here as conversation is could literally be rendered from the Greek as “every turning”. I think the translation of conversation is quite a useful one. It conveys a pivotal idea which Peter is getting at. At every turn you are declaring something, and as those called by the Father we are called to communicate holiness. Set-apartness. Not of the world-ness. God-likeness.  

Peter builds on this in the next chapter (1 Pt. 2:9-12), highlighting that as a royal priesthood (composed of Jews & Gentiles) they would be shewing forth the praises of “Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The Gentiles who might be inclined to speak evil of the saints would, by witnessing their “honest conversation” as demonstrated in good works, be brought to glorify God.

Remember that it isn’t merely what you say, but what you wear, what you do, how you act, your facial expressions, the tone of your voice, and the whole manner of your life which communicates. The medium is part of the message. This should lead us to be mindful as to whether what we are communicating to our household and in our relationships is holiness or vanity. That is the contrast here. 

Will your words, actions, demeanor, and countenance belie the fact that you are a royal priest of God Most High, or that you are embroiled in the tradition of a vain and useless manner of life? Will what your words and actions convey declare your likeness to God, your growth in godliness? Or will your words and actions convey all the force of a wisp of vapor? Notice that what endures forever is the Word of the Lord, but even the most glorious array of man, of the flesh, will shrivel like grass in late July. Peter reminds us that we are delivered, not by earthly things such as wealth and prestige, but by the precious blood of Jesus. Indeed, the blood of Christ speaks a better word, and that blood is our clothing, our royal garments, our uniform.

Eggshells & Tripwires

A key litmus test for whether the communication channels in a home are clear of debris is to ask if the family is able to joke with each other. Can they be playful? What this gets at is not whether they are able to sit down and play a game of RISK together, but can they be playful with each other at any point throughout their rhythm of life? 

Many homes riddled with bitterness and unconfessed grievances become a house full of eggshells and tripwires. The jesting that takes place is barbed, acidic, and produces, at best, forced laughter, but more likely the response is scowls, tears, and more broken eggshells to avoid. The room is filled with fumes, and everyone knows it. So instead of opening the windows, instead of sweeping up the eggshells, instead of calling in the bomb-squad to defuse the tripwires, everyone just tiptoes around in self-preservation. They just hope the whole place doesn’t blow. 

But this is no way to live. Five minutes in such a household makes it plain to the outside observer that something is awry, even if they can’t place it. The missing ingredient is true joy, which of course gives rise to what I term playfulness. 

Solomon exhorts men to “Live joyfully with thy wife (Ecc. 9:9).” As well as to “rejoice in the wife of thy youth (Pro. 5:18).” The latter passage is much more sexual in context (cf Pro. 5:19); however, a marriage in which sexual intercourse is in the context of joyless, resentment filled daily life is likely to be anything but a rejoicing in one’s wife. Solomon also demonstrates (in his famous love poem of Song of Songs) that lovers see each other everywhere and in everything from flocks of sheep, to towers, from pomegranates, to piles of wheat. Paul teaches husbands to “love your wives, and be not bitter against them (Col. 3:19).” This could also be rendered as, “do not be a source of bitterness”; or “don’t be embittering/exasperating.” This follows Paul telling wives to submit to their own husbands (Col. 3:18); a lunkheaded lazy husband is going to embitter a wife in her endeavors to obey scripture and submit to her husband.

Living Like God’s Children

All of this comes down to heeding Peter’s admonishment “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance.” This echoes what Paul said in Rom. 12:2: “do not be conformed to this world.” You are either fashioning yourself after the world, in its ignorant lusts, or you are fashioning yourself according to your new Father. As such, we must do as our Father says: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers (Eph 4:29).” To riff on something R.M. M’Cheyne once said, if the four walls of your home could speak, would they testify of your devotion to God, your kindness and love to your family, or would they testify against you that you talk just like the world.

Practical Applications

If communication has gotten gunked up in a marriage or family, it is going to take deliberate actions by everyone involved to get things back on track. Remember from the Proverbs that a man is prone to folding his hands in sloth and his wife is thus prone to henpecking, this turns things into a vicious cycle. The husband should recognize that he is called to lead in restoring the conversation of the home from vanity to holiness.

He should get a time––preferably daily––where he and his wife (or if the whole home is involved in the crisis/fracas) can connect. Get it on the schedule. Prioritize it. They shouldn’t try to squeeze it in between the dishes and getting the baby in her PJs. They should also be ok with setting a time limit, not trying to solve all their problems in one go. Twenty minutes a day for a month would be better than one six hour slugfest until midnight. Forming a habit, or recovering from a hip replacement, takes more than an afternoon. 

The husband/father should set the example and lead such meetings. He should lead in prayer, turning to Scripture, owning his own sin (without attempting to leverage this to getting others to admit how rotten they’ve been). In other words, he should put on his Jesus uniform, and remind his wife (or the whole family in cases where the whole family is involved) to do likewise. The goal isn’t just to have a peaceful home for its own sake; rather, the goal is, as always, that God would be magnified in everything you say and do, whether in public or private.

Conclusion

When you are giving counsel you have to remember that where there is no contention the strife ceases. If the relationship is accustomed to playing by a certain set of rules, it is incumbent upon someone to begin playing by a different set of rules. Too many relationships are like playing chess using the rules for go-fish. Someone has to say, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” What are you saying? Because you’re always saying something. The Christian, and the Christian household is called to be deliberate and thoughtful about what you are saying. The fundamental Christian attitude is this: let everything you do, whether in word or deed, do all to the glory of God.

Companion of Fools

Companion of Fools

Introduction

Teaching our children to walk in wisdom when it comes to entertainment and friendship is an active task for parents.  Throughout the Proverbs the word used for companion is a poetic use of the same word used throughout the OT for shepherding/feeding/tending a flock.

One of our primary jobs as parents is to feed our children. Now, imagine a parent who lets their child rummage freely through the cupboards whenever they like. Those parents will soon find the health problems of a diet which consists solely of jelly-beans and potato chips. In the same manner, parents are called to shepherd their children to pastures of green pastures. This is particularly important when it comes to what flock they run with.

Lead Your Teens to Green Pastures

The task is to lead your children to green pastures where other sheep commune together under the Great Shepherd. Sheep require vigilant care and attention. Sheep are herd creatures, and if they wander from the herd, or wander with the wrong animal they’re sure to become the main course on some other animal’s menu.

The Scriptures are our authority not only for what sort of friendships we should cultivate, but also what godly friendship is for. Proverbs 13:20 says, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Paul reiterates this same reality that evil companionship leads to corruption, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners (1Cor. 15:33).” In other words, friendship is for the cultivation of wisdom.

When you walk with the wise, you walk in the way of the righteous, and so the fruit of wise friendship is that, “The lips of the righteous feed[H7462] many: but fools die for want of wisdom (Pro. 10:21).” Instead of becoming the main course, a wise man is able to feed many. Proverbs 15:14 offers a stark contrast to this exact thing: “The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth[H7462] on foolishness.”

So friendship is for the cultivation of wisdom and thus righteousness. But how does Solomon teach us to cultivate friendship, and what sort?

The clear guidance we are given is that the morality of your friends matters, and certain individuals are to be spurned, not befriended: “Make no friendship[H7462] with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go (Pro. 22:24).” And,  “Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion[H7462] of riotous men shameth his father (Pro. 28:7).” Lastly, “Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company[H7462] with harlots spendeth his substance (Pro. 29:3).” In other words, we are not to keep company with angry or riotous men, or with harlots.

There are other words of wisdom for us, but notice that here we have a simple summary of what sort of people shouldn’t be befriended. Are they bitter (and therefore prone to either outburst of wrath or cold, seething envy)? Are they out of control? Are they sexual loose? Then don’t keep company with such individuals it. Avarice, greed, and lust are not the traits you want in your children’s companions. As the Apostle John teaches, “Love not the world (1 Jn. 2:15-16).”

Contempt for the Cool

Perhaps one of the most important lessons which parents should teach their children is that of godly uncooperativeness. Proverbs 1:10, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” Those three words––“consent thou not”––is the sum and substance of what you want to aim for in raising your children to choose wise friends. It is the young man, void of understanding, who wanders down her street.

You want your children, at their various stages of development, to be sticks in the mud. They don’t just go along. They lead in the games, in the places the gang hangs out, what sort of things they talk about, what sort of jokes they laugh at, what sort of entertainment they enjoy. A wise son is not a log floating down the Mississippi; he’s a steamship going against the flow of foolishness.

But just going against the grain isn’t enough. Think about all the teens you’ve known who have gone through a rebellious “independent” streak. They shave the side of their head, put streaks of neon green, orange, or pink in their hair, put the bone through their nose and claim they’re doing it all to be different, to not conform. But the mugshots of all the Antifa protesters should be enough to conclude they they are not non-conformists, they are just conformists to an entirely different culture.

We want our children to go against the grain because they are being raised up to not depart from the way in which they’ve been trained. They already have a way they are going, and any deviation from that way will not entice them.

Lewis points out in the Four Loves that phileo love is oriented towards a mutual goal. Eros is face to face, while phileo is shoulder to shoulder. The question for your teens is: if you stand shoulder to shoulder with this individual or group of friends, which way are you pointing? Are you pointing towards folly, and thus poverty, despair, and death, or are you pointed at wisdom and therefore abundance, hope, and life?

Leisure Rather than Entertainment

An important distinction should be made here between entertainment, and leisure. Entertainment is akin to gluttony, in that it turns us into mindless consumers with no brakes to stop our indulgence. The rabbit hole of Youtube videos, the endless scroll of Social Media, all serve up to us a seemingly endless world of discovery and gratification. 

Leisure, on the other hand, is the enjoyment of one’s work, and the reception of the blessings of God. Entertainment gobbles and grabs, whereas leisure receives and rests. We rest in God, to work up a sweat, in order to rest once more. Leisure is a gift to be received.

Remember that friends are chosen, not assigned. We are born into families, but we choose our friends. Entertainment is a subset of friendship. In other words, no one forces you to watch whatever the latest smut-fest is. You choose it. Your choice is a fruit of your heart. A heart that either rejoices in evil or in the truth.

When your children are knee-high to a grasshopper, the father in particular is tasked with pointing and instructing. The movies you watch, the music you allow, the internet sites permitted should all be accompanied with pointing. Point out that Moana disobeys her dad, and then it is her dad who has to apologize in the end. Point out that the melody for most pop music is boring, repetitive, and unoriginal. All this pointing is so that by the time they are nearing adulthood, you’ve pointed out all the principles, and now they will continue to go in the way in which you’ve trained them.

One final note in regards to entertainment. The common complaint is that “clean” or “Christian” entertainment isn’t as cool, or slick, or well-produced as the latest “Dawn of the Freaky Brain Eaters” or whatever blockbuster garbagé Hollywood insists must be seen. The reply is this: “Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit (Ecc. 4:6).”

Narnian Friendship

You want your kids to be Narnian in their friendship: “You could see that they were ready to be friends with anyone who was friendly and didn’t give a fig for anyone who wasn’t (The Horse and His Boy, pg. 55).” Readiness to befriend, however, is not the same thing as being a friend with everyone.

While we may choose our friends, and by extension our entertainment choices, we cannot choose to not have friendship. Friendship is inescapable. You are either a friend of the world, and thus riddled with lust and envy, and so an enemy of God: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (Jas. 4:4);” or you are a friend of God, by faith, like father Abraham (Jas. 2:23).

So, as in all things, it comes back to believing the Gospel. This of course must be followed with obeying the Gospel out of love for God. And be like David, “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts (Psa. 119:63).”

Fellowship on the Frontlines

Fellowship on the Frontlines

Introduction

What is the aroma of your home? If your four walls could talk, would they describe a home of joyful love, or bitter carping. The tone and aroma of your home matter. The battlefield is where life-long friendships are formed. In the midst of conflict, fellowship is most necessary. The family is the frontlines for Gospel warfare. Too often we think of it as far off mission fields, or “important” spheres of society, like business, politics, finance, or the sciences. The Christian home is an arms dealer. The wife manufactures the ammo. The husband is then supplied with an arsenal, and then takes aim at the foe. As in any war effort, unity of force is a necessity. Disunity is the downfall of any military enterprise. 

Fellowship not Fraternity

An important distinction should be made. The word unity gets thrown around, and can conjure up recent political appeals. While unity is a Bible word (Cf. Eph. 4:3,13), there can be unity on any number of things. What Scripture describes as the basis for Christian unity is the fellowship we have with God and, by necessity, the brethren.

Our fellowship is no mere fraternity of humans. Rather, because of our union with Jesus Christ–the mediator between God and man–we have fellowship with God. Christian fellowship is not based on  commonly held beliefs; it isn’t a country club. It isn’t simply coffee and donuts after church. John Calvin once pointed out, “The ungodly have also a mutual union between themselves, but it is without God, nay, in order to alienate themselves more and more from God, which is the extreme of all evils.” Our fellowship is a spiritual communion of the saints through Jesus Christ which binds us into one body (Rom. 12:5, Eph. 2:16). It is in this fellowship with God by Christ that we are also reconciled to our fellow man (2 Cor. 5:18-21).

Christian fellowship is partaking. It is enjoying the benefits of our covenant union with God by Christ (1 Cor. 10:16). When you gather around your dinner table, your children partake of the benefits of your covenant vows. They taste the father’s hard work to fulfill his promise to provide for his bride; they enjoy the haven which their mother promised to make for her bridegroom. Eventually, they will enjoy the fruit of a life of covenant faithfulness by receiving their inheritance.

Fellowship is broken by sin, whether in Eden, or in your home. Sin breaks fellowship. What restores fellowship is forgiveness, and reunion into the partaking of the family riches.

Good Behavior is Not the Goal

One mistake that Christian parents make is that of trying to simply get good behavior out of their kids. They know they don’t want their children to become Philistines. But your goal is not merely good behavior, it is fellowship. God has brought us to enjoy fellowship with Him, and this forms the basis for true fellowship within the church, the home, and the nation. We don’t want to simply have good laws in our nation, we want a nation which enjoys true fellowship, based on the Gospel that sins are forgiven through Christ.

If you aim merely at getting good behavior out of your little ones, you can begin to treat your children like a programmer treats code. Input the code, out comes the program. But that’s not how God wants us to train up our children. Your children are not a pile of cinder blocks. The imagery scripture gives us is that of olive plants, growing up around your table (Ps. 128:3). Meaning you cannot treat them as a clump.

The practical here is that, while in some instances you are shepherding a flock (i.e. at DisneyLand), you can’t forget that you are shepherding individual lambs. Are they a son, or a daughter? Are they teething, or are they conniving the downfall of the empire? Are they needing a nap, or have they become possessed of a devil? Did you make a major life change that’s effecting them, or are they really just being a monster of iniquity?

Here’s a scenario, one child, call him Reggie, is misbehaving. Mom and dad are pulling out their hair to figure out how to corral him. They start to bicker about the approach, they air their complaints about him and each other in front of his siblings. Then one of the other children makes a loud noise, and her head is summarily bitten off. Mom and dad are the tail being wagged, and they’ll soon find the whole home is full of suspicion, and every square inch will be covered in eggshells. So, don’t discipline the whole family for one child’s “squirreliness”. You’ve failed to pave the way for the one child to be restored to fellowship, and as a result, the whole family is prepping for WW3.

Another angle here is that it is quite important that you don’t import stresses from work, marriage, or extended family into the atmosphere of your home. You are working to have an immune system capable of combating any toxin that comes from within or without. Dads, this means that on the drive home from work you need to put all the projects in the briefcase and leave them there, so that when you walk through the door you are breath of refreshment for your wife and your children feel solid beams of joy radiating from you. Cast all your cares upon Christ, and then walk into your home to cast cheerful love upon your family.

Moms, this means not anxiously complaining. Don’t whine to your children about your children whining. If you’re fatigued and feeling like Bilbo Baggins once said, “butter scraped over too much bread,” the kids shouldn’t be able to pick up on it. This is the work God gave you, so do it cheerfully. Clean up that mess of legos, again. Make the next meal. Do another load of laundry. Offer it all up in joyful worship. And husbands, make sure she gets good long Sabbath afternoon naps.

When parents grump about the headaches of their work, or friction with the neighbors, or tiffs with the in-laws, you are sending a message about how your children should face off against their rivals. Your showing them that when they butt heads with their siblings that griping and blame-shifting and envy are fair play. Instead of an aroma of joy, you’re cooking up a stench of strife (Ecc. 4:6).

A Potpourri of Joy

This is all about joy. Fellowship flows out of joy. If we look at 1 John 1:3-4, we see this truth ready at hand: “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”

This fellowship with the Father, through the Son, is the only means of Christian fellowship. This apostolic witness of our union with Christ is proclaimed so that joy brims over; so that your home is full of the sort of belly laughter that lasts until your cheeks hurt.

One of the key indicators that a marriage or a family is going sideways is if there is no more joking. The solution isn’t to buy a better joke book. Broken fellowship results in every interaction being poisoned, and the entire home will slowly be paralyzed. The Proverbs 31 woman , however, laughs at the days to come. 

Is your home riddled with anxiety? Is it full of back-biting, arguing, joyless interactions? Is it marked by rivalry, envy, and contention? Is fellowship broken? Then first things first: look to Christ on the cross. Your sins are forgiven. Then take stock, and find where you have sinned against members of your family, and go ask forgiveness. Remember that forgiveness is the promise to not remember the others’ faults against them.

This is the valve which makes joyful fellowship possible. When the Gospel is embraced within your home, you can interact with each other without dancing gingerly around the mutually agreed upon landmines. The Gospel starts disabling all the trip-wires of bitterness, envy, rivalry, and strife.

God invites us into fellowship with Him. He is joy. Bright, burning Joy. We partake of Him each Lord’s day, and then He produces fruit in us. Remember that joy is a fruit of God’s Spirit, which is the result of fellowship with the vine. Your home is the frontlines of the battle. You will be a blunt blade, and the munitions you fire will be duds, if fellowship is not maintained. How do you maintain fellowship?

Look to Christ. Forgive your brothers. Laugh at the days to come. 

Sweep Up the Eggshells

Sweep Up the Eggshells

One of the most distinguishing symptoms that a marriage has an infection of bitterness is that they have lost the ability to be playful. Instead, they bite and devour each other (Gal. 5:15). Every look is suspect. Every remark has a sharp edge to it. Every comment carries a sting. Every action is questioned. Every motive is suspected of nefariousness.

The eggshells cover every square inch of the marriage. Decisions about money, sex, the kids, work, in-laws, and what to have for supper are booby-trapped with trip wires which will set off another round of argument. And every argument is like a deep sea dredge which pulls up the rotting skeletons of unresolved offenses.

The insidious nature of social media, however, lets a couple post smiley, sunny pictures to keep up appearances; while the bitterness festers within the home like a boil in need of lancing. And again, there is no playfulness.

Now, I don’t mean that they never play Scrabble or Uno. I mean there is no laughing together, about each other, with each other, with no hint of animus. The fire of laughter can’t catch fire because everything is drenched in resentment. So they sit in the dripping rain of grumpiness, discontentment, and seething rage. There is no warmth between them. No shared jokes. No playfulness.

Solomon exhorts us to “Live joyfully with thy wife (Ecc. 9:9).” As well as to “rejoice in the wife of thy youth (Pro. 5:18).” The later passage is much more sexual in context (cf Pro. 5:19); however, a marriage in which sexual intercourse is in the context of a joyless, resentment filled marriage, is likely to be anything but a rejoicing in one’s wife. Solomon also demonstrates (in his famous love poem of Song of Songs) that lovers see each other everywhere and in everything from flocks of sheep, to towers, from pomegranates, to piles of wheat.

Paul teaches husbands to “love your wives, and be not bitter against them (Col. 3:19).” This could also be rendered as, “do not be a source of bitterness”; or don’t be embittering/exasperating.” This follows Paul telling wives to submit to their own husbands (Col. 3:18).

So if you are asking yourself “Where did all the joy and playfulness go in our marriage?” I’d bet that it is because the husband has been being an embittering lunkhead, and the wife has been a stubborn rebel. What should be done? If you are fed up with the eggshells, sweep them up by asking forgiveness for all your sins against your spouse. Which is why, I believe Paul precedes his instructions to wives and husbands (and then children and servants Col. 3:20-25) by insisting on forgiving and forbearance as the culture of Christian community (Col. 3:13).

When your conscience is clean, and your offenses are all forgiven or passed over, you can tease one another. Joke about how she leaves the cupboard doors open. Jest about how he forgot to put the slippers away again. Laugh at each other’s ridiculousnesses (I think that’s a new word I just invented). Rejoice in each other. Live joyfully with each other. Flirt with each other. Because your sins against each other are forgiven. Because your mistakes and forgotten chores are overlooked with forbearance and patience. You dance with each other while sweeping up the eggshells. You are playful, because you love her, and she respects you. The husband is a source of joy to the wife, and she is his glory and crown.

If that isn’t the case in your marriage, start with the eggshells right in front of you. Ask for forgiveness for today’s offenses, without demanding that your spouse grovel before you in return, or resenting them if they don’t seek forgiveness for their offenses against you. Give the gift of humble reconciliation.

Private Communion is Like Dry Water

Private Communion is Like Dry Water

Remember the Signs

As many churches and communities are heading into an uncertain period of quarantine, it is important that we keep our wits about us. As Aslan told Jill, “Remember the Signs.” Times like these fog the brain and we begin to do things that ought to be left undone. The authority of God’s Word is not suspended during these times. Rather, these moments should heighten our desire to seek the Lord, closely obey His Word, and teach the nations to do likewise.

The Supper of Our Lord

One way in which Christians mighty thoughtlessly go off the reservation is in regards to the Lord’s Supper. Practicing “private communion” either by yourself or with just your family might seem like a sensible way to continue to worship and honor the Lord, but is in fact a sort of oxymoron, or an inversion of the precise meaning of the meal. Remember that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is a sign of something, not just a nice tradition. It is meaningful bread and wine.

In other words, the meal is a sign of the Church’s union with Christ. We are commanded to “discern the body (1 Cor. 11:29).” I take this to mean that we are not only to see in the bread and wine the body and blood of Christ, but also we are to discern His body in the gathered saints.

An Inversion

Private communion inverts this. It takes a sign which represents the many-membered body of Christ and its union with our Head (whose body was broken and blood shed), and turns it into a sign of individualism. Furthermore, it neglects the proper ordering of Christ’s body, as it makes fathers (or individuals) into de facto elders in their own home. Christ is the Head of His church, and as such has ordered His church with various offices. Private communion is like telling the Lord with whom you are to be communing with that you really don’t bother about how He has established His church. You’ll do your own thang.

During these times, it is easy for various jurisdictions to get out of their lane. Your elders ought not to spank your children, so you ought not to do their job. Governors are not pastors so they shouldn’t excommunicate someone. Pastors are not senators, so they shouldn’t draft legislation.

Hodge On the Matter

Charles Hodge has a helpful point here regarding a relevant clause in the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chap. XXIX, Sec. III) which reads that the elders should “give both [bread and wine] to the communicants; but to none who are not then present in the congregation.”1Acts 20:7. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came to- gether to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. 1 Cor. 11:20. When ye come together there- fore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper
Here’s Hodge’s comment:

“It follows that it should not be sent to persons not present at the administration, nor administered by the officiating priest to himself alone. In particular cases, however, it may be administered in private houses, for the benefit of Christians long confined by sickness, provided that the officers and a sufficient number of the members of the Church be present to preserve the true character of the ordinance as a communion (Hodge’s Commentary pg. 362).”

Charles Hodge (Emphasis Mine)

In other words, we need to be mindful about the “true character” of the meal, while at the same time noting that there are exceptional cases (i.e. long confinement due to sickness). The key here is the remembering the “true character” of what we’re doing when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. We are eating a covenant meal. The Lord with His people. The minister is a representative of the Lord, and as such has authority to administer the sacrament. It isn’t meant for private devotion, it is meant for the community of believers.

Conclusion

If this quarantine were to last for a long time, Pastors and churches would need to make arrangements to have small gatherings of believers where the Word and Sacrament could be partaken. But the family is not a church to itself. It has its own jurisdiction, but it is not given the authority to act as an authorized representative of the Head of the Church (Christ) in regards to ecclesiastical matters. This isn’t because of some holy juju that the Pastors/elders have. Rather, we must recognize that Christ has ordered His church. He has set apart elders to be His authorized representatives in sacred matters. Fathers are assigned a different task.

So talking about private or family communion makes about as much sense as talking about dry water.

CLICK HERE FOR A RELATED BOOK REVIEW

References[+]

Christmas All Year Round

Christmas All Year Round

I’m gonna keep this one short. You should be with your family and friends, eating a slab of fudge, or smoked brisket, or downing some mulled wine.

All I want to remind you of on this Christmas day, is that Christmas is a year round truth. Yes, the month-long crescendo which leads up to Christmas morning is a wonderful reminder of the long wait for Christ’s first advent, and the joy which geysered forth that first Christmas morning. It is a month which should be full of giddy excitement, anticipation, and gladness. God has come to make us His temple, His dwelling place. But Christmas isn’t just for December.

That first Christmas was when God planted the flag of conquest on the human race by taking for Himself a body. This means he intended to claim this planet for Himself. Christmas is a political event. Man’s kingdom––long ruled by the prince of darkness grim––has been overthrown, and is now ruled by a Man, like us, but One who died and overcame death and will never die. This Man is ruling at God’s right hand, for He came to bring the Kingdom of God. So remember, that this day is a reminder that Christ is King. Not in theory. Not in wish. Not in some esoterical “higher consciousness”.

No. Jesus Christ is King of planet earth. Now. The flag has been planted. The campaign of conquest marches on. And one day every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue will confess that truth. Which is why we, His people, ought to celebrate like crazy. So from my family to yours: have the holliest, jolliest, merriest Christmas, for Christ the Savior is born.

Hopes and Fears of All the Years

Hopes and Fears of All the Years

Years ago, the church I attended had an interim pastor, whose name I don’t remember, who was from Australia. That is unimportant to the story, but I mention it anyway. Free of charge. Anyway…he served through the Christmas season that year, and I recall that his Christmas Eve sermon lingered on that phase from the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem:

“The hopes and fears of all the years, are met in thee tonight.”

What a great line. In the tradition of the pastor from down under, I’d like to run over the implications of that phrase.

Think of those 4000 years from Eden to Bethlehem, from Adam to the Second Adam, from ruin to redemption. Right after the fall, we see Eve overjoyed that she has conceived a child, a seed, and she must have hoped that this was God’s fulfillment of His promise. But her hopes were soon disappointed as this first child became the like the serpent: a murderer.

Noah was a preacher of righteousness in the midst of a world dwelling in the macabre caverns of indescribable wickedness and corruption. So God overthrows the world, and in a sense, starts over with Noah. But soon the hopes of mankind being restored to Eden are dashed to pieces.

Mankind builds a tower to the heavens. God thwarts their purpose. God calls Abram out of the moon-worshippers of Ur; he believes God through all the windings of his sojourns.

Down through the ages, the story runs, and it seems like the coils of the serpent are inevitable. Egypt enslaves the people of God. But God delivers them. But they soon show that the serpent’s poison is in them. They rebel, they wander, they conquer the promised land, then they do what is right in their own eyes, and are like toddlers who so easily forget.

They offer bulls, goats, and sheep without number. They demand a king, rather than God being their king. God grants their request, and the king is possessed by an evil spirit. God gives them good king David, but despite his (and his son’s) reign being quite glorious, they both falter, sin, fail.

The hopes of the believing Israelite were often brought to the brink. At one point, there’s only one child left in the Davidic line. Over and over, their fears seem to grow large, while their hope seems to fail. But every time, God brings about an unexpected deliverance. Foreshadowing His greatest triumph.

Cain wasn’t the savior, nor Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, or Daniel. Through wanderings, exiles, slavery, idolatry, sin, triumphs, conquests, and defeats, God was bringing all the hopes and fears of His people to focus on a single point in history. After Malachi’s prophecy there were 400 years of prophetic silence. Their hope had grown dim, their fears had multiplied.

And then a cry is heard. A child was born. Mankind’s hope for salvation from sin had finally been answered. Mankind’s fear of damnation had finally been silenced. So look towards that little town of Bethlehem, where––two thousand winters ago––a child was born of virgin. In that manger is laid the bread of life from heaven. In that stable is the hope of all the earth. In that boy is the king who would conquer all our fears. Joy and peace had finally come to earth, and His name was called: Immanuel. God with us. In Him all your hopes find their answer, and all your fears are cast out, but His perfect love.

Grinnin’ & Singin’

Grinnin’ & Singin’

The heavens are not silent. We know that night and day without ceasing the seraphim, those angelic creatures which surround the Lord’s throne, cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Unbelieving scientists even recognize that the universe is a noisy place. The stars are buzzing and humming away at frequencies so diverse we need very precise instruments to catch the faintest hint of their song.

When the heavenly host came down to Bethlehem heralding the glad tidings of Christ’s birth, they invited mankind to join their chorus. The Son of God had come, and should man remain silent? The world, which had remained under the dark lord’s tyranny since the fall in Eden, was now invited to follow this Child-king as He conquered the Enemy and ushered in His kingdom of peace.

Now, when Christ died, rose again, and ascended to the Father’s right hand, it might seem to the unbelieving eye that nothing had changed. But, indeed, everything had changed. God had become a man, died in mankind’s place, overcame death, and ascended to the throne of the universe. The early church while retaining the Hebrew Psalter, also began to compose hymns of praise to Christ. It became a singularly feature of the Christian faith: we sing.

And our singing is our weaponry. We sing good news. We sing “born that man no more may die.” We sing, “He rules the world with truth and grace.” We sing, “O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.” We sing, “The kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ.” We sing, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” We sing, “To free us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.” We sing, “Rejoice, rejoice.”

In other words, after all the shopping is done, after all the presents are wrapped, after the egg nog is poured in the mugs, after all the cookies are decorated, after the turkey is in the roaster, do not neglect to sing. After all, we have something to sing about. Sin is forgiven. Death is defeated. The works of the devil have been destroyed. The King of kings has come. He sits enthroned, swaying the scepter of the universe. Christians are to go about grinnin’ and singin’, telling all the world about this good news of man’s salvation in and through Christ.

So, sing, sing, sing. With big grins. Sing, and don’t worry about using your outdoor voices. Sing like men made free. Sing like men who will live forever in glory. Sing like those know that death has no sting. Sing, because the dragon is cast down. Sing, because Christ was born in Bethlehem. Sing, because Christ is King of kings, Lord of lords, and we are His people. Hallelujah, indeed.

Ben Zornes