Psalm 23

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            So goes the first verse of Psalm 23. It’s been an unbelievable comfort for me recently. My life isn’t hard by any means, but when I’m drained and worried and irritated and everything else, this verse comes to me like a bug to light.

            Okay, that wasn’t very poetic.

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            As I’m nearing graduation, what am I going to do? I want to be a pastor, but is that going to happen? What do I do for the four years before seminary? Where will I go?

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            I’m tired and my work is getting on my nerves. The customers drive me crazy and I’m supposed to serve them with a smile? Like, as if I don’t want to eat the food I’m serving them?

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            If the Lord is my shepherd, I am a sheep. If you’ve ever been on a farm with sheep for a little bit, you’d understand the same thing David did. Sheep are completely and utterly dependent on the shepherd. They can’t defend themselves. They can’t lead themselves. If their brains disappeared, they would probably get smarter.

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            While the last part is often the focus (not desiring anything), that’s not actually the point. It’s the “why” behind the “what” that matters in this case. You don’t desire anything because the Lord is everything.

            “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

            The Lord is the focus of the verse. When I’m worried and irritated, I’m not letting God be my guide. I want something He isn’t leading me to at the moment. I want clarity. I want reasons. I want plans (or maybe a change of plans). But often He doesn’t allow me those things right away. I forget that as my shepherd, He is my everything.

            The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

            He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

            He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

            Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

            You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

            Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (NKJV)

Defeating Doubt and Changing America (At the Same Time!… ok, not really)

            A long time ago, I decided to take on the world. I wanted to storm the Internet and defend the Bible, especially against atheists. I went on their blogs and responded to their attacks on my faith. But I stopped dead in my tracks.

            They had some pretty good arguments. Oh, I thought I was just going to encounter a bunch of dim-witted haters that spewed vitriol everywhere. But I found many former Christians. I found many conscientious, careful writers who were searching for truth also.

            And did I say they had good arguments? They did. In fact, their arguments were so good that I took a look at the foundations of my faith.

The Mistake We Made

            Apologetics is my hobby. I enjoy any book that has a detailed defense of Christian theology and history. I know it’s essential, not only to defend my faith against outsiders, but to defend my faith against my doubts.

            That’s precisely what happened when I explored atheist blogs. In particular, I was overwhelmed by their arguments against the existence of God. But God was using this time to wake me up.

            If I, an apologetics kinda guy, was caught off-guard with atheist arguments, what must it be like for other Christians who have never been taught to defend their faith?

            They go to sunday school and learn the Gospel. The whole “Jesus came down and died for the sins of the world” story. Then they go to school and hear that Jesus’ very existence is doubted. They hear that Evolution is everything that is needed; God is unnecessary. They hear that the Bible is unreliable.

            They come home “a little shook-up”, and ask their parents and pastors about it. They don’t really have answers because no one taught them, either. The kid is left thinking that the non-Christians have the answer to life’s questions, and so leaves the church when he is able. College is often the final nail in his faith's coffin.

            The mistake the church has made has been to let apologetics (defending the faith) and polemics (challenging other faiths) slide. As the American church has fallen towards emotionalism (feeding the heart), it has neglected rationalism (building the mind). It also doesn’t help that the rationalist Christians are often the wacko fundamentalists (I can say "wacko fundamentalist" because I’m on the “fundamentalist” side of things usually).

The Short Term Answer

            How do we fix this lack of rationalism in the church? On the church’s end, it is simple:

1. Spend money to get apologetical and polemical resources
2. Have classes using those resources, and involve EVERYONE (teens especially)
3. Attend conferences and host speakers (Q&A sessions are absolutely amazing ways of getting conversations going)

            On the individual’s end, it’s the same, except with one more point: 4) Start conversations with friends, coworkers, and other students. What’s the use of knowing how to defend the faith and challenge other faiths if you never get the chance to do so?

The Long Term Answer

            While the above is a good start, it can’t compete against the school systems. We go to church once a week and school five days a week. We can’t compete against an atheistic school system for long.

            We have to aim for the university.

            Whereas the church used to be the institution that shaped current thought, now it is the university. And it doesn’t look good, because there are three times more atheist professors to everyone else in colleges in proportion to the population.

            To take back the universities we have to flood graduate schools and get doctorates in history, philosophy, etc. Then, when today’s professors die off, Christians are hired to replace them. The cycle repeats after tomorrow’s professors pass away, and so on and so forth.

            When we take back the universities, we’ll change modern thought because the highest academic circles decide how everyone else thinks. For good, or for worse.

Summary

            Looking over this post, I realize I’m all over the place. That’s alright because everything I cover is somewhat related, but let me tie everything together:

            We have to be able to defend our faith and challenge other faiths. The way to do that is to become rational by studying these topics. But that will only affect those already in the church. To reach those outside of the church, we have to gain back the institution that determines current thought: the university.

Ultimate Truth: The Results

            Alright, so what’s the big deal? We threw out the Bible’s views and replaced it with the beliefs of scientists. We get “Jesus” AND the respect of the world. We can keep hold on Jesus’ resurrection and throw the rest out. What’s the price of a little compromise?

            The next generation is the price.

            Studies are showing that two-thirds of the next generation of church kids will not be there when they are older. Why? I’ll set a common scenario before you.

            Dave gets to school on Monday. All throughout the week he learns several things:

1. Science is the only source of truth (science class)

2. We all came from animals and are no more important than animals (science class)

3. There is no truth (any class)

4. The Bible is false and filled with fairy tales (any class)

5. Etc.

            Then Dave goes to church on Sunday. He learns that the Old Testament is full of wonderful stories that most likely didn’t really happen. His teachers tell him that the only thing he really has to hold on to is the resurrection of Jesus. Dave also learns to not offend others because we should just love everyone.

            He asks his pastor what the Bible says about the beginning of the world. His pastor responds that the beginning of the world is found in Genesis, but that it is myth. The beginning of Genesis was just meant for poetry, much like the Psalms.

            He asks his pastor if the flood was global. His pastor shrugs and said that the flood possibly didn’t even happen, and that if it did, it was local.

            He then goes back to school, where his growing doubt is bolstered. Some of his school teachers even tell him that his pastor will side with them when it comes to science! He goes to school to learn truth; he goes to church to learn about nice stories that never happened.

            Tell me, through the years, which side will have a greater effect?

The Next Generation

            The next generation asks some practical questions. “Why should I trust the Bible?” “If I can’t trust some of the Bible, which parts do I trust?” “If I can’t trust all of the Bible, why should I trust any of it?”

            We took some of the authority of the Bible and put it behind scientists. The youngest generation takes the next step and  doesn’t see the Bible as authoritative at all.

            The next generation realizes what the older generation did not. You cannot have two ultimate truths. It’s the Word of God or the word of men. When you take one over the other, that is the death knell. There is no going back. The church of the 1800s and 1900s chose science as the bearer of truth; it was only time before the Bible was totally discredited.

            Once the Bible fell, what is Christianity? Not worth waisting a Sunday morning, the next generation will tell you.