Growing up in the Evangelical subculture of the United States, support for the nation of Israel was as American as apple pie, baseball, and bald eagles. Ben Gurion and Golda Meir took their place alongside King David and Deborah as heroes of God. Israel, the apple of God’s eye, remained deserving of His people’s devotion and anyone who dared contend against it was tempting God’s fierce wrath. The American church didn’t want the United States to be Egypt, Babylon, or Assyria; nations destined for destruction as the object of God’s jealous anger. We wanted Washington to be the champion of Jerusalem that we might share in some of her promised blessings.

But, in all this support, was there much gospel concern for the Jewish people? Was there much effort made to understand what the Bible had to say about Israel and its destiny? Was there any wrestling with the need to love and win Israel’s enemies? When it comes to the conflict in the Middle East, too many believers have become Old Testament Christians; regressing to preoccupations with land, law, national identity, and political sovereignty. While the Church has in no way replaced Israel, but remains a branch graciously grafted into the covenant tree of life, it is the bride of Christ and the world’s lone agent of salvation. The Church is the ark in the flood, designed to house all the reconciled of God from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Therefore, she should not be allied to anyone but Heaven.

When Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land, their commission was to conquer and expel all its inhabitants. The whole land had been given to them, but taking possession would require faith, determination, submission, and a will to fight. God didn’t expect this occupation to happen overnight, but He did expect it to happen and He expressly forbid the establishment of any peace based on treaties, truces, or diplomatic maneuvering. As we know, God’s people started strong but never finished. In the second chapter of Judges we find God’s sobering word to Israel: “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you” (Judges 2:1-3) When the people heard this terrible word, they wept. The grief and sadness was so great that they named that place Bochim, meaning “weepers”. God’s promise to give Canaan to Israel was absolute and absolute was His decision to leave it a thorny thicket. So, what should our attitude be toward the nation of Israel today and should we choose sides between it and her Palestinian and Muslim citizens and neighbors. It’s a complex but rich subject for consideration. Please take the time to read this week’s article on this topic written by John Piper and come prepared to join the conversation Sunday morning. We’ll be meeting at 8:30am upstairs in the Family Life Center. Hot coffee and a yummy peace offering will greet you at the door!

Click here to read Piper’s article, “Israel, Palestine and the Middle East”

In 2004, I began pastoring a little city church in the Deep South. Some seventy years prior to my arrival, the fellowship there had survived a significant church split that hewed the church in two and left an open wound that still festered in the memories of some. The church had been planted in the early 1900s in the neighborhood of a bustling textile mill and ministered to the salty, plucky, rough and tumble folks living in the shotgun shacks lining the streets around. The mill families that walked to church on Sunday were a poor, hard-working, brass-knuckled bunch. They were joined in worship by people who drove in from nice homes on the hill; folks in linen suits and chiffon dresses whose manners were genteel and whose speech was erudite. Both classes of people loved Christ but they found it hard to love and appreciate each other. There was little fellowship and a lot of tension. One of the happenings that lingered long in people’s memories as having contributed to the open hostility that would eventually split the church had to do with clothing. The stately families from up on the hill began bringing bedsheets to church with them. Before sitting down, they would cover the pew with the sheet. When asked why they would do such a thing, they remarked rather demurely that they did so to protect their clothing from the soot and grime the factory workers had left behind. While it was true that many in the congregation came to church on Sunday wearing what they’d worn to work the night before, it was also true that they often didn’t have anything else to wear. While it was true that covering the pew in a bedsheet was tactless and insensitive, it was also true that it was important to these folks to give God their best by wearing their best. In all, it was a mess.
I would love to know what the Apostle Paul might have written in an epistle to that little mill town church, but I think I can guess. He would have argued for humility, unity, and grace and would have scolded them for being so petty when the world around was lost and dying.

When it comes to the matter of what type of dress is appropriate for worship and whether or not church services should become more casual and informal or cling to a more traditional decorum, I confess to being a little worn out on the question of what to wear. It’s not true to say that it doesn’t matter – of course it matters. Nonverbal expression is just as important as verbal and clothing says a lot. It’s also not true to say that God only looks at the heart. God looks at it all and wants it all to reflect reverence for His word and a desire to please Him. That said, is there a standard and a code in all these things and are we crazy enough to try and adopt an approach? Is the sanctuary a living room or a throne room or both? Are we with our Abba Father in our jammies or before the King in our finest raiment or both? Now, to be clear, I don’t think it’s a top 20 issue, but I do think it opens up a fruitful line of discussion. We’d love to know what you think! Please take a moment to read the link to this week’s article and then come as you are to the roundtable discussion this Sunday morning at 8:30am upstairs in the Family Life Center. There’ll be hot coffee and a homemade treat!

Click here to read this week’s article