What does Capitalism have to do with Christianity?

First of all, let me admit that much of what I'm about to write is purely opinion. Second, let me admit that I am no expert, and I am no politician. Having said that, I want to take a quick look at what I believe to be an important question: What does Capitalism have to do with Christianity?

The connection between faith and moral conservatism is clear enough. Christians believe that the Bible teaches specifically about some of the great moral issues of our day such as gender, homosexuality, abortion, marriage, pornography, capital punishment, etc. However, I think it's a little less clear why the majority of moral conservatives are also staunch Capitalists. Many people would agree that our nation is continually becoming more Socialistic, but it also seems that those who are pushing a socialistic agenda are moral liberals. So why this polarization? Why are moral conservatives speaking out for capitalism, and why are moral liberals pushing more socialism?

I'm not really sure how to introduce my theory on this, so I'll just throw it out there and hopefully you'll give me some feedback. I think this divide has to do with our understanding of people and whether they are inherently good or evil. Christianity teaches that people are naturally sinful and rebellious against God. This means that all people are naturally self-centered, greedy, prideful, etc. All of this is due to the Fall in Genesis 3. In this view corruption exists in every facet of life and in every level of leadership. It has a more skeptical view of government because power doesn't necessarily corrupt; it just reveals the corruption that is already there. In Capitalism the financial power lies in the hands of the people. And yes, corruption will exist in this realm. But my theory is that whether we hash all of this out or not, moral conservatives are more comfortable with a corrupt business lead economy than a corrupt socialistic government. Moral liberals, on the other hand, usually have no basis for morality. Either good and evil do not really exist, or they are defined in terms of a humanistic framework. So it may not be evil to kill an unborn baby, but it may be evil to let rich people be rich and poor people be poor. Joined with this is a positive view on humanity. Either due to the Enlightenment or the view that the species is evolving to something better due to Darwinism, moral liberals usually believe that people are basically good. Therefore, there is a optimistic view of government. If we just have the right policies, then the government can make sure that our future will be bright.

I'm not saying that our current polarization is reduced to one's perspective on the morality of mankind. Events in history and media bias are definitely important factors. Nevertheless, I think the divide is clear, and I do think that our view of humanity, good, and evil will greatly influence our view of government and the amount of power we believe government should have.

Hearing is Seeing, and Seeing is Becoming

Most of what I'm about to write is heavily influenced by John Piper's book "When I Don't Desire God." If you're interested in going deeper into this discussion I would encourage you to read it.

There are two kinds of seeing. That's why God laments in several places in scripture that "seeing they do not see." (Deut. 29:4, Ezekiel 12:2, Jer. 5:21, Matt. 13:13). But what exactly does it mean to say "seeing they do not see"? It means that we have both physical eyes and spiritual eyes. Almost everyone can see with physical eyes, but no one can see with spiritual eyes, because we are all blind when it comes to seeing spiritually. The reason we are all blind is because we all have the same cause of blindness....unrighteousness. That's why Paul says in Romans 1 that "...what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." (ESV) However, Paul tells us that we suppress what is seen in unrighteousness, hence we have become blind. That's why millions of people can look at God's creation and give glory to chance and evolution rather than giving glory to God. Seeing they do not see. This isn't primarily an intellectual problem. It's a moral problem.
Why is it important that we see? I think there are two reasons. First, it is in seeing the majesty of Christ that we have ultimate joy and God is ultimately Glorified. This is why Paul says in 2 Cor. 4 that Satan works to blind the eyes of those who do not believe. And he is seeking to blind their eyes from something specific..."the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Satan's primary desire is that God not be glorified, and Satan knows that God is glorified the most when people truly see the majesty of Jesus Christ. When our eyes become truly opened to see Jesus the result is that our hearts delight in Him and He is glorified in our joy.
The second reason that we need to see is that in order to be with Christ we have to become like Christ, and we become like Christ by seeing Christ. It is a perpetual plunging in the grace of the Gospel of Christ that conforms us to His image. We do not move beyond the Cross in order to grow in His likeness. On the contrary, it is in diving deeper into the grace and mercy that is revealed in the Cross that we grow in His likeness. So the way that we see spiritually in this lifetime is by hearing the Word of God. When our ears are opened to hear the Gospel, our eyes are opened to see the majesty of Jesus. And this process continues throughout life. We hear more fully and deeply, and the result is that we see more clearly. And the result of seeing more clearly is that we have greater joy and give God greater glory. Yet we will never fully be like him this side of eternity because we will never fully see this side of eternity(1 Cor. 13:12). However, John tells us that a day is coming when we will see Him as he is, and the result is that we will be like Him. (1 John 3:2) So the process of hearing the Gospel in order to see the majesty of Christ, in order to delight in Him, in order to bring Him glory will be culminated on the day that He returns and we see Him perfectly both spiritually and physically. On that day, we will have ultimate joy, He will have ultimate Glory, and we shall be like Him. May God grant that we will be people who truly see the majesty of Christ. May He not say of us, "Seeing they do not see."

Is Jesus the Only way to Heaven?

I was getting my taxes done last year and a lady at the tax office asked me what I did. At the time I was a youth pastor, so I explained a little about what it involved. I told her that I got paid to have fun with teenagers and teach the Bible. She seemed pretty intrigued and told me that she went to church. She proceeded to tell me something to the effect that church was important to her, but it aggravated her when people where close-minded. When I probed a little about what she was referring to she said that she just didn't think that anyone could say that they had the only answer when it comes to faith. She said that maybe God dealt with different people groups in different ways, and maybe He revealed Himself to one group of people in the form of Jesus and revealed Himself to another people group in the form of Ali, or Buddha etc. I probably didn't respond in the best way possible, but since she claimed to be a Christian I asked her what sin she thought seemed to anger God the most in the Bible. She said she wasn't sure, so I said, "What about Idolatry?"
I tell this story because it is disturbingly common for professed Christians to think that Jesus is simply one of many ways and not THE ONLY way. In fact, one of the leading "Evangelicals" of our day commented on Larry King Live that he just couldn't say that people of other faiths won't be in Heaven. What's wrong with this picture? Are we really being closed minded, fundamentalist, haters if we say that Jesus is the only way of salvation and all people are condemned without Him? Well, that depends on what the truth is. If it's not true that Jesus is the only way, then yes...we are being closed minded, fundamentalist, haters to say that He is the only way. But if Jesus is in fact the only way, then we are doing the most open minded, loving thing to tell the world this truth.
So the question is: Is it true that Jesus is the Only way to Heaven? The Bible clearly leaves no room for discussion on this issue. Verse after verse declare that confession and belief in Jesus Christ are necessary for forgiveness and redemption.
But the question I want to ask is: Why? Why does the Bible say that Jesus is the only way, and why should people who claim to be Christians be absolutely unswayed when defending this truth? I believe the answer is very simple, but Americanized Christianity has left us with a distorted understanding of Salvation and Jesus. Regular church attenders have been conditioned to see Jesus as a ticket to get to the destination (Heaven). Since Heaven is the destination and Jesus has been taught primarily as a means to get there, many "Christians" have begun to allow for other possible "tickets." But this way of thinking is completely wrong. What we need to see is that Jesus IS the DESTINATION, not merely a means to get there. Heaven is Heaven because Jesus is there. Yes, He is the means, but He is also the end, the goal, the prize, the treasure. We need to let that soak in. If Jesus really is the destination, does it even make sense to claim that there could be another way?

How Heavy Is A Cross?

1) "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."
2) "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and
follow Me." (emphasis added).

These two statements came from the same man. Jesus said both that the yoke he would place around our necks is an easy yoke and that if we want to be His disciples we have a cross to carry.
In saying that His yoke is easy Jesus is essentially saying that His yoke is not like the yoke of the Pharisees. It's not a yoke bound up in following a code in a legalistic way without any understanding of grace. His yoke is not burdensome like the yoke of the Pharisees. His yoke is easy.
Then, in another place we find out exactly what Jesus' yoke is. Jesus' yoke is a cross (Remember that a student is not above his teacher). But how exactly is a cross a light thing to carry? Jesus is not speaking in puns or playing with words. He makes it clear that following Him means that we must truly deny ourselves...even die daily. So how can he say that this is an easy thing? How is it easy to deny one's own passions, plans, preferences, goals, ambitions, etc.? How is it easy to consider one's own life as being nothing, meaningless, even dead?
I think the best answer comes from the Apostle Paul. Paul had been beaten, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and nearly killed for the sake of the Gospel. When reflecting on all of his suffering Paul said "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Rom 8:18). The key word here is "compared." Paul says that whatever suffering we may endure for the sake of the Gospel is not even worthy to be placed on the same set of scales as the glory that will be revealed to us in Christ Jesus. Compared to the glory of Christ Paul testifies that his suffering (his cross) is light. And this is also what it means for our cross to be light. It is a comparison game. In view of the Beauty that is Jesus Christ...in view of the weight of His glory, our cross is light. It is only when our eyes are fixed on the world that daily death is a hard thing. But when our eyes are fixed on Jesus we can say with Paul that the weight of this cross is not even worth comparing to His Glory.

The Pursuit of Happiness

I think it's a given that everybody wants to be happy. We might disagree on what a happy life looks like, but we all want to have joy, be satisfied, fulfilled, deeply content. So, excluding those who have given up on finding it, it is a natural thing for people to search for joy or happiness. I think it's the drive that brings us from one day to the next. We are either strengthened by the joy that we are experiencing now, or we are strengthened by the hope that joy will come in the future.
The question of the day is: how do we catch the joy that we are chasing? I would say that the first principle we have to understand is that joy is not an object to be obtained. Instead, joy is the effect of obtaining something else. In other words, joy is an abstract idea that cannot be sought after. The "Pursuit of Happiness" is a misnomer because it is not really happiness that we are pursuing. Instead we are pursuing things that we perceive will bring us happiness. So someone might say, "If I could just get this job, then I will be happy." or "If I could just get married and start a family, then I will be happy." Even though happiness is desired, an object must be obtained in order to gain that happiness. So here is the question I ask myself, "What object am I pursuing?" "What do I chase because I believe it will give me joy?" As I have been thinking about this I have come to an important realization. Since joy is an effect, it only lasts as long as its cause lasts. And it is only as solid as it's cause is solid. If the cause of my joy is money, then I will only have joy as long as I have money. If the cause of my joy is a relationship, then I will only have joy as long as that relationship is strong. I began to think about the kind of joy that I want to have. I don't want temporal, weak joy. I want unshakable, eternal, immeasurable joy. Therefore, the object that I am chasing must be unshakable, eternal, and immeasurable. This is what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes my heart is fixed on temporal things. So my joy either doesn't come at all, or it is short lived. But when Jesus is the One my heart pursues I find myself in this strange paradox of receiving Him and yet longing for more. So I have joy because I have found the object of my desire, yet I know that deeper joy is in store for me. And I know that since He is eternal, unchangable, immeasurable, and perfect, so my joy will be also.