Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Us and Them Thinking: It can be Terrible, It can be Biblical



“Us and them” thinking occurs whenever we view people as being in different groups with ourselves being in one of the groups, the “us” group. In “us and them” thinking there is almost always some amount of conflict between the groups. These groups may be based on many different factors: ethnicity, nationality, beliefs, economic status, politics, etc. Often, “us and them” thinking produces negative results like pride, envy, hate, prejudice, discrimination, and even violence. Because of this, many people want to jettison all “us and them” thinking. But is all “us and them” thinking is wrong? Is there any type of “us and them” thinking that is actually helpful? You may be surprised to see that there is a type of “us and them” thinking that permeates the Bible and is a deeply embedded part of a Christian way of viewing the world.

I want to begin by giving some examples of the harm caused by distorted, unbiblical “us and them” thinking that I have personally seen. Then I’ll share about the right kind of “us and them” thinking that is found embedded in God’s Word.

Terrible Results of “Us and Them” Thinking Gone Bad

The following is an account of something we experienced in September, 1997, about a year after moving to the large city of Makassar, Indonesia.

Our eyes began to water and we began to sneeze.  It was my first, and so far only, experience with tear gas.  But we were thankful for it.  It meant the riot police were holding back the angry rioters in front of our housing complex.  Many of our neighbors had hung their Muslim prayer rugs in front of their houses or had made little signs reading “Muslim house” in hope that their houses would not become a target of the angry mobs of rioters who were ravaging our city.

My wife and I had been living in our new country, Indonesia, for about a year.  We had rented a small house in a housing complex that is behind a row of shops.  Some of those shops were owned by an ethnic minority group, Indonesian Chinese. The Chinese in Indonesia are mostly non-Muslim and tend to be better off economically.  We could hear the rioters, who were mostly from the Makassar people group. The Makassarese are almost 100% Muslim, and the majority of them are very poor. The rioters were beating down the steel doors of those Chinese owned shop-houses a block away.  A mentally impaired Chinese man had killed the daughter of a Makassarese professor at an Islamic college. This tragic event had sent a spark into the dry timber of hatred and resentment which existed between the Makassarese and the Chinese minority.  Now there was rioting all across our city. It went on for several days. During the rioting we could see plumes of thick, black smoke rising from multiple points around the city. When the rioting ended, the city looked like a war zone, with burned out vehicles in the middle of once busy roads and many burned and damaged buildings. Lives had been lost.

You don’t have to move to Indonesia to find painful examples of “us and them” thinking gone wrong. I’ve seen it here in the US as well. When we moved back to the US, the first church I served in, like almost all churches in Eastern North Carolina, was 100% one ethnic group. In this case, the church was 100% white. Other churches in the area are 100%, or nearly 100% black.  I told the church that I would be delighted if in several years the racial make up of our church reflected the make up of our community, which was 50/50 black and white. Some of the members fully agreed with this vision, some were uneasy, and a small group fought against it. That small, but influential, group began a two year long campaign of constant slander, anonymous letters, and opposition which eventually led to me leaving the church. It was a very painful experience. I understand the danger, harm, and evil that “us and them” thinking can lead to.

The problem of twisted us versus them thinking is not new. Jesus was addressing this problem when He told the parable of the Good Samaritan. Paul faced this problem as he pleaded for Jewish and Gentile Christians to worship and serve together in harmony in the churches he planted. Around the world and throughout history, distorted “us versus them” thinking has led to racism, feuds, fights, and wars. It is at the root of the holocaust and the Klu Klux Klan.

In light of all the evil related to viewing humanity as consisting of “us and them,” you might think that all “us and them” thinking is wrong and should be done away with. But we should not come to such a conclusion quickly. After all, sexual immorality has been and continues to be a source of immense suffering and evil around the world, but we would not want to do away with all sex. Overeating is among the top preventable causes of illness, yet we shouldn’t do away with food! So, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that despite all the evil from wrong, twisted “us and them” thinking,  there is another type of “us and them” thinking that is right. In fact, this type of “us and them” thinking is deeply woven into biblical teaching.

A Biblical “us” and “them”

Over and over again we meet in the New Testament a way of thinking that divides all people into two groups.  Different words and images are used to describe these groups:

1.)  The many who enter through the wide gate that leads to destruction & the few that find the small gate that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14)

2.)  The wise who build on the rock & the foolish who build on the sand (Matthew 7:24-27)

3.)  The wheat and the weeds, which Jesus explains stands for “the sons of the Kingdom” and the “sons of the evil one” (Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43)

4.)  The good fish and the bad fish, which Jesus explains stands for the “righteous” and the “wicked” (Matthew 13:47-50)

5.)  The sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:32-46)

6.)  Those “taken” and those “left” (Luke 17:34-35)

7.)  Those who believe and those who do not believe (John 3:18)

8.)  Those who are Jesus’ sheep and those who are not Jesus’ sheep (John 10:25-28)

9.)  Those who are perishing & those who are being saved (1 Cor 1:18, 2 Cor 2:15)

10.)  Those inside the church and those outside, or “outsiders” (1 Cor 5:12, see also Col 4:5, 1 Thes 4:12, and 1 Tim 3:7)

11.)  “Children of God” & “Children of the Devil” (1 John 3:10)

12.)  Believers and unbelievers, also called “righteousness” & “wickedness”, and “light” and “darkness”  (2 Corin 6:14-18, also see 1 Cor 6:6, 1 Cor 7:12-15, and 1 Cor 14:22)

13.)  “Brothers” who belong to the light and the day, and “others” who belong to the night and the darkness (1 Thes 5:5-6)

14.)  “Us” and “them” (Eph 2:3 and 1 John 2:19)

We’ve only listed New Testament examples above, but this way of seeing people is present in the Old Testament as well. It is seen in the many verses in Psalms and Proverbs which contrast “the righteous” and “the wicked” and a few stunning prophetic verses which look far ahead with clarity like this one from Daniel:

NIV Daniel 12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

What can we learn from these Bible examples?  What is the nature of this division of people into two groups?  What are the consequences of being in each of these groups?  Do these groups have certain characteristics?  Can we know who is in each group?  Can people “switch groups”? And, of great practical importance, how should “we” think about and act towards “them”?  Let’s look as some of the examples above and try to answer these questions.

The Eternal Importance of Which Group You’re In

One of the first things we notice is that which group you are in is very important.  One group is on a road that leads to life.  The other group is on a road that leads to destruction.  One group is destined to be thrown “into the fiery furnace”, while the other group will shine in the Kingdom of the Father.  One group will receive eternal punishment, the other eternal life.  One group is perishing, the other is being saved.

One Group Believes the Gospel about Jesus and the Other Group Does Not

As noted above, the Bible uses many words and images to portray this idea that all people are divided into two groups.  One of the most common ways to refer to the two groups is believers and unbelievers.  Below are some passages that discuss believers and unbelievers:

NIV John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Here we see the two groups.  One group is not condemned.  The people in this group believe in Jesus.  The other group is condemned.  They are condemned specifically because they do not believe in Jesus as God’s one and only Son.

Next, let’s look as some passages where it is assumed the readers (initially the church at Corinth) already have a worldview that identifies people as being either believers or unbelievers, and evidently already have a basic understanding of these groups:

1 Cor 7:12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.
 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.

NIV 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

The above verses help us see that this understanding, this way of seeing people as being in one of two groups, was so much a part of the Christian worldview Paul had imparted to the Corinthian church, that he could refer to believers and unbelievers without stopping to explain who he meant.

Can We Know Who is in Which Group?

Can we know who is in which group?  To begin to answer this, let’s look back at the verses in the last section from Paul’s two letters to the Corinthians.  In these passages Paul is giving some practical instructions regarding believers married to unbelievers, and believers being yoked together with unbelievers.  Now here’s a question:  how could anyone ever obey these instructions if we don’t know who’s a believer and who’s an unbeliever?

In general, it seems like we are expected to know who is in each group.  But obviously walking down the street as we pass strangers we can’t tell which group they are in.  The instructions and teachings about relations between believers and unbelievers seem to apply to people whom we know, not to strangers. Of course, you should know a person before you marry them, and you should know them well enough to know if they are a believer or an unbeliever.

But even when we know people well, can we really be sure?  One way to answer this question is to say no, we cannot be absolutely, omnisciently certain.  In fact, the Bible gives examples and discusses cases of “false brothers” (2 Cor 11:26, Gal 2:4) and of people whom we believed “belonged to us”, but in fact they did not really belong to us:

NIV 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

But we do not have to know with absolute certainty who is in each group to obey the teachings of the Bible.  In practice, when we know someone well we can tell if they are a believer.  If we know someone we really well, we can feel certain and almost always be right.  For instance, I know with a high level of certainty that my wife is a believer, and if she were to pass away before me I would take comfort in knowing that she would be with the Lord and that I would see her again.  In fact, the Bible says we should take comfort in knowing that those who have “fallen asleep in him” will be with the Lord (again implying that we know, in general, who is “in him”).

This brings up perhaps an even more important question about knowing who is in each group.  Can I know that I am in the saved group?  Can you?  It turns out that we can, and in fact one of the reasons some parts of the Bible were written is specifically so that we can know we are in the “saved group”:

NIV 1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Obviously, from the verse above and others we have already seen, one of the key ways we know that we ourselves or others are saved is if we believe in Jesus.  But it turns out there is more to it, which brings us to the next characteristic of these two groups.

One Group Bears Good Fruit, and the Other Group Bears Bad Fruit

When God saves us, He has a purpose in mind:

NIV Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

God’s plan is for us to become like Jesus.  He wants us to love like Jesus loves, to give like Jesus gave, to forgive like Jesus forgives, and to do good like Jesus did good.

As a result, when we are adopted into God’s family, God begins a radical transformation in our lives.  This transformation means we become more like Jesus.  It means we sin less and less, and do good things more and more.  Not just our actions are changed, but the way we think, the way we feel, our motivations, our very heart and soul.

While much of this change process happens in deep places (our hearts, our soul, and our thoughts) which are not directly visible to other people, it produces fruit that can be seen.  And this fruit is primarily moral in nature.  That’s why we often read things like this:

Col 3: 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

(see also Rom 6:19, 1 Cor 6:9-11, Eph 2:2, Eph 5:8, Titus 3:3-5, 1 Peter 4:3-4)

In the passage printed above (as well as those listed), we see that we used to live a life that was characterized by immorality, but now we are being changed, in both our thoughts and practices, to be more like Christ.

This moral change is not something that might happen if you really believe in Jesus.  It is something that certainly will happen. 

This certain change will result in us doing good deeds.  Thus, the believing group is characterized by giving the hungry something to eat, giving the thirsty something to drink, clothing the naked, inviting in strangers, caring for the sick, and visiting those in prison.  This is what Jesus teaches in Matthew 25:

Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'….
46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

In the above parable/teaching, Jesus again views all people as being divided into two groups, which here are pictured as sheep and goats.  One group is known for good deeds and will enter eternal life, and the other group is known for not doing good deeds and goes away to eternal punishment.  But we must always remember that the good deeds we do, our own righteousness, is not the basis of our salvation, rather it is evidence that we have been saved by believing in Jesus who died for our sins and whose righteousness is credited to us who believe.


Can People Move from the “Perishing Group” to the “Being Saved Group”?

Praise God!  The answer is yes or else we would all be lost. 

Colossians 1:13-14 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We all begin under the dominion of darkness, but by God’s grace some people are rescued by God and brought into the Kingdom of the Son he loves.  This is made possible because we are redeemed by Jesus’ work on the cross and our sins our forgiven.

A lot of these ideas are all brought together in this passage from Ephesians:

NIV Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by grace you have been saved.
 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In this passage we see again the Biblical way of seeing people in two groups.  Notice, for instance, the “us” and “them” language in verse 3.  We also see that all of “us” were initially in “their” group, dead in transgressions and sin.  We see again that we are saved by faith (by believing), and we see again that once we enter this salvation we find that God has prepared good works for us to do.

Speaking of good works prepared for us to do, let’s move on to our next topic.

How Do These Two Groups Relate to Each Other Here and Now?

We began with some examples of how ugly things can get when we treat them badly.  Over and over again we see examples of one group resenting, hating, or being envious of, another group.  But we are called to be different in Christ.  Yes, as we read our Bibles and our thinking is shaped by the words of Scripture, we begin to see all people as being in one of two groups:  one group believes in Jesus, is characterized by fruit of the Spirit, and will receive eternal life; the other group does not believe in Jesus, is characterized by deeds of the flesh, and is perishing.  But we also realize that we all were once in the perishing group, and only by God’s grace have been rescued.  And we also know that every person we meet who is in the perishing group has the very real potential to become believers and be saved.  And furthermore, God wants to use us to help rescue them (Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Corinthians 9:22, 2 Corinthians 5:20).

So we are called to love them.  And this love will be expressed in many ways.  We tell them the good news about God’s love.  We seek to serve them and help them in many ways with the problems they face in this world.

Loving them is not an easy task.  Until Jesus returns there will always be strong opposition to us loving them.  Some of them will hate us, and violently oppose us, and even sometimes kill us, as they did Jesus and many of His first followers. When this happens, we remember the command of Jesus to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Not that we consider them our enemies (Ephesians 6:12), but sometimes they treat us as if we are their enemies.

Conclusion

While distorted versions of “us and them” thinking have often caused great harm, there is a good, biblical version of “us and them” thinking that is helpful, even necessary, for us to see humanity as God sees it. This biblical “us and them” should motivate us to pray, give, work, and share in order to reach them with the love and truth of God.




Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Joseph of Arimathea, a Secret Believer



Around the world today, living in settings hostile to Christianity, there are many secret believers. I had the blessing of meeting, knowing, and being friends with some of these believers during the fourteen years I lived in a Muslim majority nation.

Being a secret believer basically means that a person believes in Jesus but does not openly declare this fact. They may share it with a small circle of Christian friends, but they are very cautious. The reason for their caution and the reason they remain hidden is that open declaration of their belief in Jesus as their Lord and Savior could result in them being expelled from their family and home, losing their job, being imprisoned, or even physically attacked or killed.

One of the first secret believers is mentioned in all four gospels as part of the Easter story. His name is Joseph of Arimathea. John tells us explicitly that Joseph was “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38, ESV).

Is it Right to be a Secret Believer?

Jesus said:

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
 – Jesus (Matthew 10:32-33 ESV)

Based on this, some might question rather it is acceptable to be a secret believer. But Luke tells us that Joseph of Arimathea was “a good and righteous man.” It is hard to see how John could call Joseph a disciple of Jesus and Luke could call him good and righteous if Joseph was living a life that was not pleasing to God.

Being a secret believer is not the same thing as denying Christ. At some point a secret believer may indeed be called on to openly declare her faith in Jesus. They certainly should not explicitly deny it. But that does not mean they are required to openly state it in every setting. Jesus told his disciples that in the hostile world where they would be ministering they would need to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Being innocent meant that they could never compromise with evil in order to avoid persecution. But being wise sometimes means knowing when to be patiently silent until God opens the door to speak at an opportune time.

Secret Believers are Sometimes Called on to Serve God in Ways that Require Great Courage

Joseph’s part in the Easter story is small, but it is important. It is important enough that he is mentioned in all four gospels. Joseph could not prevent his fellow religious leaders in the Sanhedrin from carrying out their evil plot to have Jesus crucified. But there is one thing he could do. He could provide a decent burial for the body of Jesus. This burial proved to be part of God’s plan to provide a good setting for the discovery of the resurrection, first by some of the women who were following Jesus, and then by the other disciples. However, in order to provide this burial for the body of Jesus, Joseph had to ask Pilate for his body. This involved a great risk. He might be viewed as being on the side of the guy who was just flogged and killed. Mark tells us that Joseph “took courage” (or “dared”) to approach Pilate (Mark 15:43).

In a similar way, God will occasionally call on a secret believer today to take some action that requires courage. This is the kind of courage that only comes from the Holy Spirit. They may not be asked to publicly declare their faith, but they might be moved by the Spirit to quietly take a risk and witness to a friend or family member. This was sometimes the case with the secret believers I knew. Often the risks they took did not result in any suffering. Sometimes it did. I shared the story of one such believer, whom we call Lily, in a previous blog post.

Applications for Us

If, like me, you live in a place and time where the risk of violent persecution as a result of openly identifying as a disciple of Jesus is low, you may feel that the story of Joseph of Arimathea has little relevance for your life. However, there are several important applications that may apply to us.

1. When the Apostle Paul was chained up for his gospel witness, something surprising happened. You might think that other Christians who heard about it would become more timid and quiet. But Paul wrote, “And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:14 ESV). In a similar way, reading about Joseph of Arimathea and hearing about the courage of secret believers around the world today can encourage us to take the relatively small risks God asks us to take in sharing His truth and love with our neighbors.

2. We can help Christians in hostile settings around the world by praying for them and by supporting ministries that work with them. The author of Hebrews wrote, “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3 ESV). One of the many wonderful things about prayer is that we can pray for people we have never even met (see Colossians 2:1).

3. We can draw encouragement from the example of Joseph of Arimathea if we or someone we know is in a similar situation. While violent persecution against Christians is thankfully rare where I live now in the US, there are still situations where Christians need the right balance of wisdom and courage, of being “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”  This happens because some part of God’s truth that they believe could cause them to lose their job, their position, or face painful conflict with their family and friends. Some scientists who believe that scientific evidence points to God’s creative acts rather than evolution are very cautious about sharing this because other scientists have lost jobs over this belief. Today, simply sharing that you agree with the biblical teaching that homosexual acts are sinful could cause you to lose your job. Sometimes a pastor or a church member will discover a biblical truth that is different from their church tradition. I know pastors who have lost their jobs when they saw the doctrine of conditional immortality in the Bible (even if you don't agree with the doctrine of conditional immortality, I hope you can see how wrong it is to fire a pastor over a secondary issue like this one). They were not pushing their new view, but they were in situations where integrity required them to acknowledge it and then they were fired. They remained “innocent of doves,” but like many faithful believers they suffered for God’s truth. In situations like these we are sometimes called to speak out clearly and boldly and sometimes even publicly. But other times wisdom and guidance from the Spirit may lead us to be a type of “secret believer” for a season, until God asks us to take a risk. Being in the position of a secret believer of any type is hard and stressful. We can find encouragement from a man who had a small, but important, role to play in the Easter story, a “good and righteous man,” Joseph of Arimathea.




Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .