Friday, December 18, 2020

R. P. George: Central Tenet of Marriage

A central tenet of the traditional view of marriage is that the value (and point) of sex is the intrinsic good of marriage itself which is actualized in sexual acts which unite spouses biologically, and thus interpersonally. This does not mean that procreation and pleasure are not rightly sought in marital acts; it means merely that they they are rightly sought when they are integrated with the basic good and justifying point of marital sex, namely, the one-flesh union of marriage itself. (Robert P. George, Clash of Orthodoxies, pg. 82)

Sex is intrinsic to human persons, not an instrumental function. Therefore, the way we conduct ourselves sexually matters, and implies something about what we believe ourselves to be. Thus, if complementarity does not matter, then organs are purely subjective to the will. Therefore, gender is mutable, malleable; and there is no moderate realism whatsoever about masculinity and femininity. These most basic of human realities are now somehow subject to the human will and feelings. This can, I believe, be traced directly to loss of a sense of Creation. For Creation means intent and purpose and design and coherence. No creation means we can ultimately decide for ourselves since by some pure chance we have what we understand to be will and we further understand it to be autonomous and within such literally folly-ridden notions we lose all bearing completely because we make ourselves the beginning, end and all between. There can be no greater folly, no greater lostness. And its most stark demonstration is in the disintegration of sexual mores or norms.

George's definition of marriage: A one-flesh communion of persons consummated and actualized by acts which are reproductive in type and perfected, where all goes well, in the generation, education, and nurturing of children in a context -- the family -- which is uniquely suited to their well-being.

Alternate view as he sees it: Marriage is a mere convention which is malleable in such a way that individuals, couples, or, indeed, groups, can choose to make whatever suits their desires, interests, subjective goals, etc.

He then suggests the self-evident truth that a given view will have identifiable consequences and, in view of those consequences a government cannot afford to be neutral (were that possible) in its laws.

"A sound law of marriage is not one that aspires to moral neutrality; it is one that is in line with moral truth."

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Ministry Remnants: The Work of the Holy Spirit in Daily Life

Years ago I sat through a conference titled something like "The Work and Scope of the Holy Spirit in Ministry." I remember even then thinking it was a grand endeavor and yet I loved the teacher and mentor who led it, Edsel Trouten, not least for his largeness of vision and passion for thinking big thoughts.

And so to title this "remnant" as I have is a bit grandiose, for books and lifetimes have been spent on the question. Thus I shall see once again if my penchant for saying too much can be redeemed, the "too much" shepherded into something helpful, worth your time.

I tried to craft a message working from Luke's account of Mary's visit from the angel, specifically the answer to Mary's question, "How can this thing be?" "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you," explained Gabriel, and then, after further detail, he summed it up with immortal affirmation: "For with God nothing shall be impossible."

Does this Encounter Teach us about the Holy Spirit in our own life?

The same Edsel Trouten mentioned above -- there is no other! -- once pointed out no Scripture has direct application because no situation is thoroughly identical to that which occurred at the time of the writing. So if we hold too strict a a rule for applying we would apply nothing, since our situation has no angel, no virgin, no child to come, no Elizabeth -- you get the picture.

But if we step back we see a person -- Mary; a word from God -- "With God nothing is impossible"; the intervention of God in a person's life -- "the Holy Spirit shall come upon you." Can these things apply? To you and me? Today? Well, let's not be subtle: OF COURSE!

But Who is this Holy Spirit?

He is God, co-equal with the Father and Son, eternal, to be worshipped, heeded and obeyed. He "convicts the world of sin", a gift to make aware of that which will undo us and in the end, damn us. Furthermore, he can be grieved. He is self-effacing -- does not promote Himself. And he, therefore, works behind the scenes, deep within, slow, steady, unobtrusive.

How Do we Receive the Holy Spirit?

This can be difficult because often great emphasis is put on a point-in-time, an encounter, a specific filling. This is well and good and has biblical -- to say nothing of logical -- basis. If we are "filled" or "indwelt"; if the spirit is to "come upon us" it will happen at a point-in-time. But I think we often neglect the equally important truth that his life in us is always ongoing. 

How do we receive the Holy Spirit and begin walking with his inner, quiet, patient teaching and transformation?

  • Repentance -- this is an essential, grace-enabled response to God. We turn from our own way and the door is opened for God to come in.
  • We ask. Jesus taught so simply in the Gospels: "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." Need the presence of God in your life? Ask. He will give.
  • Be still. A W Tozer says it well: "...cultivating heart stillness may be our most valuable activity because then we can hear God's gentle whisper." Or as Dallas Willard has it: "When we learn to be really quiet we begin to feel the breeze of heaven in our face."
So that's the remnant for now, with this summation. 

What is your impossible? Whatever it is, bring it to God. With Him nothing is impossible. But He works by means of the Holy Spirit. Are you repenting of any known sin, learning to be still and listen, asking, truly asking? You will find the God of the impossible coming in and slowly -- always slowly by our reckoning -- transforming your inner life so that, in time, the impossible will be a memory, and from your life will flow rivers of living water.


Of Learning and Lasting and Living

He who notices the falling sparrow, also notices me, and makes meaning of naught.

You can only do well what you spend time with, and then only if it connects with spirit, calling, native instinct, talent. Try to do everything that strikes your fancy and life becomes like the frayed end of a rope: too many pieces, all short, none much use. Frustrating, not satisfying.

I rather dislike this summation. Like all generalities it bears exception, though it seems true on the whole. But I thought of it as I read Mark Spragg's account of the ranch farrier shoeing a horse. What I know of horseshoes is not worth telling, and I quite literally don't know the first thing about putting one on a horse's foot. I could stubbornly learn, sure enough, but without coaching it would be a long ordeal.

Shot through all of this is the longing to do what matters, and will matter. And in this the mystery of time bears in. There is never time to see for yourself the outcome, good or ill, of all the seeds planted in your life. And the fruit we do see we either hopefully construe as good, perhaps more than justified; or we cast it as regrettable and worse, also no doubt more-so than common mercy would allow. And of course there is the endless terrain of what can seem meaningless, of no account either way.

And then we talk about it, as I do now, and very few, ever, anywhere, will read it. Or if they do, imagining it had interest to a distant relative who read for sheer affection or duty to heritage, it would be years or lifetimes after the writer is seen only on a tombstone, if at all.

This is not somber or morbid. It is plain life. Youth cannot handle it: nothing terrified me more as a young man than the possibility of my own death. Old age, on the other hand, had better handle it for it is the reality. And if there is nothing beyond, well, nothing can be done about it.

Yet, I believe, and I hope in Christ who said.... Well, you know. He dared to believe His Father, our Heavenly Father, was redeeming the world and would make all things new. And so He did, and is doing. And with joy I hope for that endless day, ever learning, slow upon slowness, the daily tasks of life: healing of the heart, renewed day by day, knowing the One who holds my life will see to it that “all the ways of goodness are not stopped.”

So I live another day, a gift from God, with this reminder: "I never know how thought or word: action, random though it seems, within God's vast compendium has weight and import." He who notices the falling sparrow, also notices me, and makes meaning of naught. This is Alleluia.




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