Vanity and Vapidity

Vanity and Vapidity

I don’t know if you like words, but you should. Thinking carefully about words can help us see things from a fresh perspective.

So let’s start with “vanity.” Ecclesiastes begins “vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” The dictionary gives a 3rd option which fits this passage: “Worthlessness, pointlessness, or futility.” We are not talking here of “conceited” or “arrogant.” We are thinking about people who are regarded or are occupied with worthless or pointless things.

Abel was born to Eve, a second son, and she named him “worthless.” “Abel” is from Hebrew whose only given meaning in the lexicon is our definition above. It seems that Cain was Eve’s prize. I think Eve thought that Cain was the “seed” who would triumph over the serpent and restore order to the world. As it turns out, Cain only brought about greater disorder, murdering “worthless” Abel. But it is Abel we will see in heaven, not Cain. A quick point here: just because someone is named or regarded as worthless doesn’t mean that he/she is worthless.

Our next word is vapid: “lacking flavor, zest, interest, animation, or spirit: flat, dull.” This can apply to the can of Coke that has been sitting on the counter too long; or it can apply to the person with whom you are caught in conversation. It may be a person who can only think about petty concerns; or, it can apply to a person who has filled his/her mind with small-minded things, and their minds have shrunk to accommodate the quality of its content.

You may think I’m being rude and uncaring. But that’s not my point. My point is that human beings are to be neither vain in the worthless sense, or vapid in the shallow sense. Humans are the most interesting thing on this earth (and Jesus, since He walked this earth, is the most interesting Person who ever lived here). Humans are more interesting than any (other) animal; more interesting than inter-galactic theories, more interesting than microscopic mysteries. Humans are created in the the image of God, and are created to pursue ideals and to argue for what is better and what is best. Monkeys don’t do that and never will.

And because humans are worthwhile, and are found to be interesting, than they ought to be interesting. Certainly each one is interesting in their own way, but they should not allow themselves to be boring, with no flavor or scent or, interest. And that will only happen as we consider higher thoughts and bigger things than ourselves. It only happens when we consider the One who is bigger than us, and the One who made us to be worthwhile, and interesting.

Why is it that You have Contrived this Deed in your Heart? (Acts 5:4 NAS95)

Why is it that You have Contrived this Deed in your Heart? (Acts 5:4 NAS95)

I killed a mouse recently. I named him Ananias. I was pretty sure that he wasn’t working alone, so I re-set the trap for Sapphira. They played dirty in the wrong house. Both are now dead and gone.

In the fledgling days of the New Testament church it was essential to get off on the right foot and stay on the right track. The “right foot” would be the power of the Holy Spirit, and the “right track” would be to live in humility and holiness.

This was true in the Old Testament as well, as Israel entered into the Promised Land. They needed to follow God’s lead and do things God’s way. This is why Achan’s sin in stealing some of the spoil from the destruction of Jericho was so bad (Joshua 7). It was under God’s ban. And this is why Ananias’ and Sapphira’s sin was so serious (Acts 5), with serious consequences for all involved

At the beginning of the New Testament era, people were “all in.” Here is a statement from Acts 4:34, just prior to our story: 34 “For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35 and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.”

Ananias and Sapphira, husband and wife, indeed sold land and claimed to have given all to the Lord, though they kept back part for themselves. I do not believe it would have been wrong to have kept back some. Their offense was to falsely claim they were giving all. What was involved in this sin?

First would be the word in our “critical question” in the title: they “contrived.” It was premeditated. It was not a mistake or an oversight. They wanted to look “sacrificially heroic” before others.

But Peter also implies a couple of other things in his cross-examination. He asks Ananias, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” That is parallel to the human action of contriving or plotting. They were not walking in the Spirit, but were coopting with the devil. Later, to Sapphira, Peter asks, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test?” As if they could “pull one over” on Him. As if any of us could.

We would excuse such behavior. At least they gave something, right? But can Jesus’ church excuse those whose hearts have been filled with Satan rather than the Holy Spirit? Can we excuse putting the Spirit of the Lord to the test? I don’t think so. Ananias and Sapphira - they played dirty in the wrong house. Both are now dead and gone.

By what power, or in what name, have you done this? (Acts 4:7 NAS95)

By what power, or in what name, have you done this? (Acts 4:7 NAS95)

The critical question in the title of this piece refers back to a fascinating story told in Acts 3. The apostles have received power after the Holy Spirit descended upon them. They are preaching in the Temple; many people are believing in Jesus, and then Peter and John come face-to-face with a lame beggar in the Temple. Peter says, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene — walk!” (3:6), and the crowd reaction is one of joy and amazement.

It is not that the apostles are seeking attention for themselves. They are promoting and preaching Christ. Peter later says, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” (3:12); and, “on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know” (3:16). 

This, of course, is just too much for the religious leaders of the Temple and the temple industry. They are losing their constituency to this group of ragamuffin, uncredentialed apostles, and they are determined to put a stop to it. The temple guard puts Peter and John in jail, and the next day they are brought before the “rulers and elders and scribes,” along with the father-son high priests, Annas and Caiaphas. If you are familiar with Jesus’ story, these are the very same guys who conspired to put Jesus to death: hiring Judas, taking Jesus before Pilate; and demanding crucifixion. They and the devil had seemingly won, only to find that Jesus’ influence is now seemingly compounded. And so they ask the question above: “By what power, or in what name have you done this?”

Well, it wasn’t in their own name. They were not seeking to make a name for themselves, as do many of our present-day religious titans. Nor were they acting in the name of a church, marketing the latest-best-place to go to get inspired and thrilled. They were filled with the Spirit, but they didn’t talk about the Spirit. They only wanted to talk about Jesus. Because it was (and is) Jesus’ power, and Jesus’ name, that changes lives, both of the beggar, and the lives of thousands of repentant sinners who are introduced to Jesus, and find that they have no other place to turn.

We need a return to the promotion of Jesus, not preachers and leaders and organizations or high-profile churches. Preachers and leaders do not save. A college or a camp does not save. Churches do not save. It is Jesus, and Jesus alone, who saves.

The Un-Spiritual Gift of Destruction

 The Un-Spiritual Gift of Destruction

We live in the age of take-downs. We like to see the mighty fall. We hear the stories of a giant’s faults, and then we tell them over and over, whether or not the story that we heard was true. We learned this skill, this unspiritual skill, from the media. But then, we already know that they, in large part, are not Christians. Why, then, do we as Christians, in large part, go and do the same thing?

In fact there is a whole “Christian” industry dedicated to examining the faults of Christian leaders and Christian organizations. I won’t mention any names, because I don’t to give them any more notoriety, but I believe that what they are doing is un-spiritual.

There is a wonderful word in the Bible for building people up. It is called “edification.” That is, you find someone who is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, and you seek to “edify” them, to build them up through teaching and encouragement and perhaps some face-to-face correction. But that would be the opposite of what I have described above. The opposite of edification is destruction. Christians practice edification. Destruction is the work of the devil, and I have drawn the conclusion that this “Christian” internet industry of the take-down of brothers and sisters in Christ is the work of the devil.

This is not to say that Christian leaders and organizations are not to be held to account. There is a wonderful place for that to happen, described in the Bible, and it is called “the local church.” We all need to answer to someone. And the trouble is, some have gotten so large, people with common sense and Biblical sense are no longer in charge. Pastors of large churches are no longer accountable to the congregation, and instead answer only to a Board of Directors. They may be called “elders,” but if the pastor is “too big to fail,” that is, if your weekly attendance and cash flow depends upon the pastor’s continued popularity, then the elders will most likely act more like directors, and then, there goes the New Testament.
Para-church organizations are worse. Built like corporations, they start with a Board of Directors whose main job seems to support the “face” or “personality” of the organization who keeps the machine humming. It is a problem, and it needs to be corrected, but where? And how?

Not on the internet. Not by self-appointed faultfinders who themselves answer to no one, and who can traffic in all kinds of half-truths, leaving the rest of us to religiously read their garbage and repeat it at our church fellowships. Like I said, unspiritual.