Don't Rock The Boat!!

There are many times when I easily recognize that someone else has a better handle on a topic or situation or idea than I do, and when that I happens, I like to give that person the opportunity (and sometimes a nudge, or a shove (-;  I've got a couple of people who have really wrapped their heads around certain ideas that I've only just begun to think about, and I can't wait for them to guest post for me), to share their knowledge with my readers.

This is one of those times. Now, I'm just a kid who has been blessed with a solid Biblical foundation, and I consider myself a student of the Bible, because I study it, I read parallel passages and commentaries, I consult other people who have the same zeal for discerning practical application of Biblical truth, and I do my best every day to apply those principles to how I live and interact with others. Those are my credentials.  My father, who has again agreed to guest post for me here today, attended a well-respected seminary, has a master's degree in ancient languages, has taught philosophy and sociology at the college level, and has been a tireless student of the Bible his entire life, as well as a solid model of what a Godly man, a real and true persuer of Christ, looks like.  Those are his credentials. And it's not that this makes him the Grand Master of All Knowledge and Understanding, it's that it makes him someone who has thought about this particular subject (and more than a few others) a whole heck of a lot more than either you or I. So let's lend him an ear:


"On a rare occasion it will happen that someone will stand on an important principle and dissent from a group.

I'm going to give you three challenges here; the first two are easy, but the third one only one in perhaps hundreds will ever accept. The first challenge is this: name for yourself what groups you belong to. I'll get you started. You are first a member of the human race, then also of some tribe or nationality, then maybe a political party, maybe a workplace, maybe some associations or clubs, maybe a church, maybe THE Church, and certainly a family. These groups have enormous influence over who you are: how you think, how you feel about things, and what you want: greater power than you may be willing to admit. Every group you belong to has a culture: the way things just ARE in that group. And you are expected to conform to that culture. In fact you are under constant pressure to not dissent from that culture. For fifty years or so this subject has interested many good thinkers, who refer to the general subject as "groupthink."

The second challenge is for your memory. Can you recall anyone associated with you ever standing alone, on principle, against your group? It is a rare thing. Why? The answer lies in an idea some teacher (can't remember who!) suggested to me long ago. That the basic motivator for fallen humans is fear. The fallout if you were to dissent is terrifying. If you dissent you will be considered disloyal, or spiteful, or evil, and shunned, and it really doesn't matter if the concerns you voiced were valid or not.

Now, God created us and knows all about the power of groups. He knew when He planned out His Church and its life in the world what His peoples' experiences would be. And in the Bible He has left us tons of instruction about this subject. How am I as a Believer in Jesus to live in this world? The Bible word "world" is an English translation for a term meaning a beautiful, fallen system. Almost synonymous with our term "culture," only bigger. So John (I John) wrote "Don't be loving the world," and "We belong to God, but the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One." So the situation we have is that the world is fallen, in rebellion against God and thoroughly corrupt, and that corruption infects all our human groups. And in the event an individual Believer is convinced by the Spirit of God, as he reads the Bible, that some teaching or practice in one of his or her groups is simply and clearly wrong, there is conflict. First inner conflict, and then, as God gives grace to the dissenter to speak up for Him and His ways and His Truth, there comes the conflict of dissent. I'll make two examples, both about the Church.

In the 1850s or 60s, in England, the state had an official church, the Church of England. An official teaching of that church was that infants became Christians, and wholly children of God, by baptism. Called baptismal regeneration. Along came a bright, young preacher named Charles Spurgeon, who saw clearly that the Bible taught no such idea, and he found the grace to proclaim that salvation is by faith alone, irrespective of baptism.

 Do you suppose there was fallout?

 A current day example now. In our generation, there has been great, organized cultural pressure to accept homosexual practice as normal and acceptable. The nominal Christian church has bowed to this pressure. Now the Scriptures are explicit and unquestionable about the plan of God for marriage, and sexual boundaries. But if you dare to speak up for God on this subject, dissenting from the culture, there will be fallout.

 Feel the tension?

When Jesus said to His followers "You are the salt of the earth" this is exactly what He was talking about.  (Now if you are a reader of The Message you may have been confused here, where that version sadly fails with its reading  "You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth."  That is obviously not what Jesus meant.  Salt was used throughout the ancient Near East to slow down spoiling of meat).  Jesus is challenging His followers to live out His Truth in full view of the world, so that the difference in lifestyles is obvious.  Be truthful when everyone else lies.  Be a faithful husband or wife when everyone else finds excuses to fool around.  Call Jesus Lord over every area of your life even if your church leaders won't.  

So my third challenge is rough:  

If God's Word is clear, but your group is fuzzy, dissent.  

If the boat needs it, rock it.  

Be willing to stand alone until God brings along other faithful Believers to stand with you. 

 Paul wrote to the Romans (12:2) 'Quit copying the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing.'"