Conversations at the Ranch with Dudley Hall

FIGHT, ADAPT, RECLAIM, OR WITHDRAW? -- The word “Christian” is overused as an adjective these days. We hear about Chris- tian music, Christian ethics, Christian education, and Christian culture. It is not uncommon to hear some pundit speak of the “Christian response” to a given social or political issue. However, if you listen to Christians, you will hear all kinds of answers to the questions relating to how we are supposed to relate to our culture. There is no monolithic Christian view.

John 13-16, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - Just before his betrayal and the events surrounding his death, Jesus met with his disciples to celebrate the Passover meal, inaugurating a whole new era. As they gathered, he did something that none of them fully understood at the time. He washed their feet. As an act of humility it could stand alone as a model for their future, but there was more to it than that. Jesus was dealing with defilement. The disciples had been walking the filthy streets of Jerusalem, and they needed their physical feet washed, but they were also part of a race that had been defiled in the Garden of Eden and needed to be washed spiritually. That washing would happen in a few hours as his blood flowed down a cruel cross and cleansed them from a defilement that went deeper than the skin.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - The Christian gospel is truly good news. It declares that sin and Satan have not won the battle for the ones God created in honor. God offers his own life to those who want to be a new kind of human. The problem never has been primarily sexual- ity. It has always been idolatry. When that problem is fixed, all other issues are aligned. When we live for his honor, our dignity is restored. Without guilt and shame, we can live according to the purpose and design of our Creator.

1 Timothy 2:1-6 - Christians have the challenge of being citizens of two nations. We are sons and subjects in the Kingdom of God, and we are also part of the nation on earth in which we hold citizenship. Paul wrote to Timothy, who was leading the citizens of the Kingdom in their responsibility as citizens of their earthly society.

The TV screen was filled with the red-faced spokesman for his cause drumming up followers who would agree that this was the defining issue of the times. Of course, the very next story featured another upset victim of society, declaring that all who didn’t march with her were unconcerned about justice. It seems that there is conflict everywhere. Sometimes we get confused as to where the battlefield is and what we are fighting over. There are issues of concern affecting almost every area of our lives. Physical war is taking the lives of thousands on several different fronts, devastating societies that have existed for centuries. Ideological battles are being fought in the media. Government agencies are stalemated because of partisanship. The religious world is fraught with battles over who is right and what that means. Social media has exacerbated the divide as blogs, posts, and tweets, hidden behind the wall of supposed anonymity, blurt out hateful opinions and accusations.

Matthew 6:5-11 - What difference does the arrival of the Kingdom of God in Jesus Christ make in mankind’s praying? All men pray. Prayer is endemic to the human race. If not universal, it is global. Men everywhere pray.

Even a large percentage of professed atheists admit to praying. The concepts of God may change, but there is something inside that prompts all people at some point to pray. But how do Christians pray?

Galatians 2:20 - In Paul’s farewell address to the elders of the church at Ephesus, he quotes Jesus saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). More than once I have heard this quote being used to exhort people to give—but adding that the reason it is more blessed is that you will receive more. Isn’t that saying the blessing is in the receiving? Actually, in most contemporary Christian teaching, the focus is heavily on the receiving. Though there is obvious truth in the planting and harvesting dynamic, that is not at all what Paul is talking about in his sermon to the Ephesian elders. He is referencing a higher dynamic. He is speaking about the kind of giving that is a fruit of the gospel.

JEREMIAH 9:23–24 -

We are experiencing a collective angst regarding the perceived loss of a previous moral culture that we remember as being better than today. In any culture, the morality standards are set by the values that the particular society celebrates. So, technically, we have a moral culture, but we are not satisfied that it is a GOOD moral culture. What does a good moral culture look like?

The great temptation is to take a short- cut and focus on conforming behavior, but morality doesn’t start with behavior. Morality includes behavior on the way to something even better. We want a better culture, and so we try to be better and get others to be better the same way we do. But when life is defined in “mere morality” terms, real Christianity is lost. However, when we move beyond mere morality, we move from being good to being loved. That really is better.

1 Corinthians 15:1-10 -

The debate continues. What part do the choices of mankind play in the purposes of God? Is salvation a work of God or a choice of man? Is there a difference in God’s role in initial salvation and the part he plays in our lives lived as rescued people? Is it a work of God and mankind? Is it a work of God through mankind? What has been done, and what remains to be done?



Isaiah 39:8

Can you remember the days when social politeness deemed it proper to comment on others in a group picture before you mentioned yourself? It's not a secret that all of us quickly look to find ourselves in the picture and usually wish we had postured differently or smiled bigger. Now, however we are taking pictures of ourselves and sending them out to everyone connected to social media. Has there ever been a more blatantly self-focused culture? What about Hezehiah?