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In the Land Which God Gives You

Christ Church on July 3, 2022
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Excellence in Education (Further Up #5)

Christ Church on July 11, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

Education fills up our days and hours and weeks and spills out constantly in our community, and that is entirely on purpose. Teaching and learning is at the center of discipleship, and we are disciples of Jesus who have been given the Great Commission to disciple the nations, beginning with the ones living our own homes. But we do not want this mission to grow into anything perfunctory. What we are doing is aiming at cultural impact over generations.

THE TEXTS

“Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily… And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou rise up…” (Dt. 6:3-9) “… That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:1-4).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXTS

Both of these texts teach not only the moral imperative of teaching God’s truth to your children diligently, they also teach the significance and potency of that education: lives going well, mighty increases, and long lives in the land (Dt. 6:3, Eph. 6:2-3). Both of these texts also clearly lay the responsibility for education at the feet of parents, and fathers in particular (Dt. 6:7, Eph. 6:1, 4). Finally, both of these texts insist that a Christian education take place all day long: at the breakfast table, in the car, in the front yard, on the front porch, and when you go to bed and everywhere in between (Dt. 6:7-9) and it must be applied to every area of life: giving the counsel and culture of Jesus in everything (Eph. 6:4).

EDUCATION, BLESSING, AND POWER

Pagans understand in a very narrow, limited way that education is important for jobs, and jobs are important for money, security, and provision. Many Christians are either Gnostic in their thinking, pretending that they have no needs or responsibilities with regard to jobs or provision or they imagine that vocational skills and wisdom will just happen. Both tend to mismanage the opportunities of education and resources. Other Christians simply live bifurcated lives, where they pretend to be Gnostics on Sundays and during small group, and then they just assume pagan assumptions about their work, 401Ks, or retirement plans. But notice that both of our texts connect material prosperity and the blessing of God to the task of education (Dt. 6:2-3, Eph. 6:3). This is because living under God’s blessing really does tend to prosperity. This does not mean that God’s blessings are like a vending machine. We are in no position at any point of demanding anything from God. But those who obey God’s commands and honor their parents are offered the promise that it will go well with them, and this promise that was originally given to Israel in Canaan, was then offered to Gentile kids in Asia Minor, and therefore we can apply it to us here in Idaho. Teaching God’s truth diligently to our children is God’s ordinary way of raising up generations that increase mightily in every form of wealth: wisdom, children, churches, businesses, lands, houses, technology, medicine, influence, etc.

EDUCATION IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PARENTS

The duty of teaching children is placed squarely on the shoulders of parents, and this begins with teaching obedience to children (Eph. 6:1). This is the foundational lesson: hear and obey (Dt. 6:3-6). And parents are the first people that must hear and obey by teaching their children to hear and obey. It is not heavy-handed to require complete, cheerful obedience of your children, but your first lesson you are teaching is your parental obedience. If you are slow to correct, angry, or frustrated, the lesson you are teaching is that it is ok to obey slowly or with a bad attitude. Fundamentally, if children are not taught to hear and obey, they will not be able to learn any other lessons. We should also note here that this task of education applies to both sons and daughters. While we do recognize the gloriously different callings of men and women, this does not mean that our daughters need less of an education.

Notice also that it is not enough to teach wooden conformity; the center of Christian obedience is love: “love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Dt. 6:5). Instinctively, people tend to remember and learn well those things which they love the most, but do not fall into a modernist sentimentalism, love is a skill and duty that God requires, that must be taught and practiced. This need not devolve into cold duty, but it really is something like warm-hearted duty (Prov. 3:1, 4:23). Related to all of this is the requirement that fathers in particular not provoke their children to wrath (Eph. 6:4). This provocation can come from a father’s harshness and short fuse, but it can also come from a father’s abdication and emotional or physical distance or detachment. But God the Father is loud about His pleasure in His Son, and now you are in His Son. The education of children is the responsibility of both parents, but the father is responsible for the state of his whole household. Many Christian families suffer from the father’s lack of leadership in education.

EDUCATION & VOCATION IS ALWAYS MORAL

Finally, wound through both of our texts is the clear teaching that all education is always moral in nature. There is no neutrality. You are either growing to love God all day long or not. You are either learning the counsel and culture of Jesus in mathematics, science, writing, history, literature, and music, or else you are learning some other counsel and culture. The greatest lie of modern, government education is that there is such a thing as “religion-free” zones, which is what the First Amendment has been twisted to mean. But it never meant that; it always meant that the government could not run churches or be partial to a particular denomination. But our founding documents universally acknowledge the Christian God and Creator, and our constitution recognizes Sunday as the Lord’s Day and the birth of Christ as the most significant date in human history. All of which should have kept government out of the education business. In the absence of Christ, other gods and values always fill the vacuum. The other side of this lie is the claim that you can have math or language or history work apart from Christ. But all things hold together in Christ (Col. 1:17). Remove Christ and you remove reason. But Christ is always there to be loved and worshiped. And refusal to do so is disobedience and cowardice.

CONCLUSION

The center of Christian education is to love all that God is with all that we are. This is the “counsel and the culture of Jesus.” But we are only able to love God rightly as we receive His love in Christ: Christ the Creator, Christ born, Christ obedient, Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ ascended over all. And where Christ is there is always flourishing and abundant life. This life is creative, curious, joyful, diligent, savvy, courageous, and it looks for fruit over many generations.

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The Law of Unsolved Murder (Christendom 2.0)

Christ Church on November 22, 2020

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THE TEXT

“If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities. 3 And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke. 4 The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. 6 And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 7 Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. 8 Provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. 9 So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord (Deuteronomy 21:1–9).

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The Law of Female Captives (Christendom 2.0)

Christ Church on September 27, 2020

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THE TEXT

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife, 12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. 13 She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14 And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally, because you have humbled her” (Deuteronomy 21:10–14).

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The Laws of Warfare (Christendom 2.0)

Christ Church on August 23, 2020

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THE TEXT: Deut. 20:1–20

DO NOT BE AFRAID

When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. 2 So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. 3 And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; 4 for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’

EXEMPTIONS FROM WARFARE

5 “Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. 7 And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.’ 8 “The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’ 9 And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

PEACE, PLUNDER, AND THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE

10 “When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. 11 And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you.

12 Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. 14 But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which the Lord your God gives you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.

CITIES DEVOTED TO DESTRUCTION (“HEREM” WARFARE)

16 “But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, 17 but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18 lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

TREE LIVES MATTER

19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man’s food. 20 Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued.

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