JR. Forasteros - January 14, 2018
Where's the Line?
Our culture values personal freedom above all else. We’re not the first to do so – the Corinthians did too. But the Apostle Paul challenges personal freedom as the highest value, observing that when what matters most is my desires, I become a slave to those desires. Instead, Paul insists personal freedom must submit to the law of Love. We belong to each other.
From Series: "Ask Better Questions"
Does it seem these days that people don't ask good questions? Questions come with barbs all over them, or are asked in such a way that the answer is already obvious. God coming into the world raises some big questions about how we live in the wake of his coming. But we need to ask the right questions. This series will explore the questions asked of Paul by the Christians in Corinth. We'll get at the questions behind their questions, to the good news for all of us - even here at the dawn of the 21st century. Jesus has come into the world, and nothing has been the same since.
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I was speaking at a pastors conference once about youth ministry. I had spent 45 minutes encouraging the pastors to think outside the box and – even more importantly – to trust their youth leaders. Some of the youth leaders had shared with me that they had tried to bring in “rock music” (by which they meant Christian worship bands like ours here at Catalyst), but their pastors often shut them down. I made a plea – if they want to bring in a rock band, let them try it!
There was a Q&A afterwards and immediately a pastor asked a question: “Why should I let rock music into my church if the beat of rock music summons demons?”
If that question surprises you, then you didn’t grow up in the Church in the late 80s/early 90s loving rock music.
Everyone from Kansas to AC/DC to yes the Rolling Stones was accused of being Satanic.
And why rock music? Well the arguments get pretty complicated (and hilarious), but they’re all ultimately rooted in a particularly origin story of the Devil that pretty much standardized in our culture:
The Devil was once an angel named Lucifer who was basically second in command of Heaven (some say he was the music leader, which is why he’s so into rock n roll). For some reason, he decided he should be God instead, so he led a rebellion, tried to take over heaven, and was cast into Hell. All this happened before anything else was created.
I’m guessing that sounds at least vaguely familiar to most of us.
But here’s the fascinating thing: that story isn’t in the Bible anywhere.
Bits and pieces of it are, but the whole thing isn’t anywhere.
And that’s actually sort of a big deal. Because we should take the Devil seriously. But the Devil’s mission isn’t to get us all hooked on sick guitar licks and double-kick drum. The Devil’s mission is to deceive us, to convince us that we are not worthy of God’s grace and to convince us that others aren’t either.
But to see that, we’re going to have to figure out what the Bible actually does say about Satan.
Even more than being about the Devil, today is about the God who overcomes him with the light of truth – the truth that we’re all loved and all given impossible, infinite grace that no one – not even the Devil – can take from us.
