Coping with Cabin Fever While Sheltering Indoors

In sunny California we continue to self-shelter. Anna, my daughter who is a tech worker, has many meetings and presentations to do, even from home. She works upstairs in our townhome. Teri, my wife, keeps us all going. She keeps in touch with our son-in-law and daughter, who shelter in place nearby. Me? I work downstairs in a separate room. In some ways the church is busier than before but in different ways. The pastoral team is continually moving, working, and innovating…filming services and classes to post online… and coordinating other ministry. They even teach live online classes on Tuesday Nights. But one thing is certain. We all look forward to returning to ‘normal.’ We know that this, too, shall pass.

 And yet, we are all pretty much stuck in doors. For some it’s like being snowed in, which can be fun for a while… Notice the emphasis on the wording, “for a while.” Depending on your family size and the size of your home, you might be feeling the pressures associated with sheltering at home—indoors. So, let me offer some spiritual and logistical advice.

 Spiritual Advice:

 In some cases, we may find our patience beginning to wear thin with one another. Nobody’s perfect and it’s oh-so-easy to see those imperfections (especially) in others. You may be tempted to offer a little correction to others who are not as perfect as you (think) you are. Jesus provides us great advice, rather forcefully in Matthew 7:1-5.

 Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)

 What’s the gist of all this? Before you get upset with others, ask God and yourself if any of these shortcomings might present in you. I knew someone who made a list of stuff they didn’t like with their spouse. They took it to marriage counseling. They handed it to the counselor. The counselor examined this list thoroughly before asking, “Are you sure this isn’t a list of your behaviors?” That’s the point of verse 5: “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” This passage isn’t a prohibition against evaluating behavior. Jesus is fine with that because in a paragraph later he talks about just that. It is a prohibition against hypocritically evaluating others without a little healthy self-critique or evaluation. As they say, “look before you leap…” and, therefore, “think before you judge.” And if you must speak into a knotty situation using Ephesians 4:29, ask the following questions:

 Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29)

 Before you speak, ask:

• Am I about to say this in a helpful or hurtful way?

• Can I find a way to say this in a way that encourages or builds up rather than discourages?

• As far as fitting the occasion, how’s my timing (can it wait)?

• In these close quarters, will others who might overhear find my words gracious and helpful, too?

• Is what I’m about to say necessary and pleasing to God/

 Think about it. Pray about it. You’ll be glad you did.

 Logistical Advice:

Human beings typically are creatures of habit and routine.  The truth is that even the creative and innovative types have some sort of routine. We are all wired differently, and our routines may not look or be the same. But we have do routines. Armies have routines, banks have routines, even my cat, Scheherazade, has a schedule. Every single person and field of endeavor has a routine.

 Try and stick to (or maintain) a routine, or your routine. Here in Silicon Valley many “Tech People” already work from home a couple of days a week. Others… not so much. For your sake and the sake of your family sheltering at home with you make things are predictable as possible. Too much uncertainty can create stress and strife.

 Establish a new routine with your family as you shelter at home. Meet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Talk with and to one another. Pray after breakfast or dinner. Go for a walk together to get some sunshine. Establish a routine. Program an exercise time you can find online programs for subscription. My wife and I exercise right after breakfast.

 Use this time to firm up or reestablish your connection to Christ. Establish or reestablish a routine of prayer, reading your Bible, and worship. Remember that our worship services are online, and we post them for review so that if you missed the streaming you can go back. For worship services, click here. Last and not least, consider making outreach part of your routine. How? Invite people to church. People who would not normally accept an invitation to accompany you to your own church are more likely to click a link you email or text them in difficult times like this.

 So, as you shelter indoors. Show a lot of grace. Establish a routine. Wait on the Lord.

On Getting the Family Ready for Sunday Morning (Particularly If You Have Children)

The pastoral staff and I are together reading Disciplines for a Godly Man (updated) by R. Kent Hughes. Hughes was one of my professors during my Doctoral Cohort. By the time I began my doctoral work, “Disciplines” had been out for close to 20 years.

Dr. Hughes practices what he preaches and writes. Each Tuesday at 9 AM the pastoral staff discusses another chapter. Whether a man is a pastor or not he’ll always benefit from reading and re-reading this book. Ladies, this is a great Father’s Day gift (just sayin’). One of the (many) impacting chapters in this book has to do with worship and getting ready for Sunday worship (as a subtopic). Rereading it took me back to my days as a father of young children. One of the things we did right was to create an anticipation of sorts for Sunday worship. We talked about going to church and worshipping God, God’s love for us and the children and how we should love Him back.

In chapter 9 Hughes gives great advice on practical steps to prepare the family for Sunday. I won’t cover them all here because I want you to invest spiritually by buying and ingesting and digesting what he writes in his book. Nevertheless, let me touch on a few practices that fathers and mothers of young children—and teens to young adults—can do to prepare the family for Sunday. Getting babies and toddlers ready Sunday morning (particularly if you have a number of small children) can be like herding cats on Sunday. Getting them up, fed, dressed, and out the door can be a challenge. Getting yourself ready presents its own challenges. There’s nothing like getting all stressed out and frenetically getting everyone out the door 15 minutes late and exchanging glances and barbs with your spouse on the way to church. It teaches children profound and lasting lessons of the worst kind, giving them a peculiar impression of the Christian faith and Christian worship.

What to do? If you don’t do this already, make plans with your spouse and then your family to pre-prepare by laying out clothes the night before, getting to bed at a decent hour, prepping breakfast the night before (if necessary) so that you can be ready to roll come Sunday. The “grab and go” scenario that this sets up is markedly stress-free compared to the alternative. This can be done any time on Saturday before the day gets away.

Spiritual preparation is far less complicated and more impactful. For example, take time at the dinner table to pray for Sunday worship when you say the blessing. Consider reading the passage or chapter of the Bible that is going to be preached on Sunday and discuss it at the table—or just mention it. Mention throughout the day that you are looking forward to church (tomorrow/Sunday). Set aside a few minutes to pray together as a family for the service, the sound techs, the ushers, the musicians, the Sunday school teachers, the pastor, the passage, and the work of the Lord in the hearts of His people.

Last and not least, make sure everyone goes to bed at a decent hour. It will be easier to get them out of bed in the morning and young children will be less cranky—adults, too. Plan a wake-up time that allows for the family to get ready without a frenzied rush. As you consider what I’ve written here… think through for yourself other steps you can take to prepare yourself, your heart, and your family for Sunday worship. And when it’s over, then what? Consider discussing at lunch or dinner how you as a family can, collectively and individually, apply the sermon. See you Sunday!

Capital Punishment

Let’s talk about capital punishment. Amid the discussion of the church shooting in White Settlement, Texas I was asked about capital punishment and self-defense killing. Therefore, I will take up these two questions in successive blog posts. We’ll start capital punishment.

Is capital punishment biblical? Does God favor capital punishment? Briefly stated, the answer is yes. How can we say this? Some may ask, “Isn’t capital punishment part of the Old Testament Law and hasn’t the Gospel of Grace, embodied in the teachings of Jesus, rendered capital punishment obsolete?”

There are typically two arguments forwarded against capital punishment. They are as follows: (a) capital punishment is unbiblical and now obsolete; (b) capital punishment is unfair because of the possibility corrupt officials may use it against undeserving, voiceless defendants, as well as the possibility of an innocent person being sentenced to death. Both arguments are invalid.

God prescribed capital punishment before the giving of the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses incorporates capital punishment. God prescribed capital punishment before Moses received the Law from God and shortly after the Noahic Flood. That capital punishment was decreed before the Mosaic Law indicates that with that law’s fulfillment in Christ (i.e. ceremonial law) that capital punishment still stands. Where do we see capital punishment was decreed before Moses? We see this command in Genesis 9:6.

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6)

Don’t miss what is going on here. First, you have a prescription, then you have the rationale. The prescription for capital punishment is murder. If you kill someone, then you will be killed. The reason for terminating the life of a murderer: human life is precious in that it was created in the image of God.

God created man in His own image. Scholars refer to this as the Imago Dei (Image of God). Humans are a reflection of God’s moral, spiritual, and intellectual nature. Thus, humans mirror God's divinity in their ability to exercise the attributes or qualities of God which He gave them (i.e. communicable attributes). These attributes separate humankind from the animal kingdom.

Defacing the image of God and taking a life that God has given is a serious offense. The Law of Moses expands on our understanding, distinguishing between premeditated murder and manslaughter. The Law of Moses goes on to consider and develop aggravating and mitigating circumstances warranting mercy or execution. But the premise of capital punishment is violating the Imago Dei (Image of God) bestowed by God. No one has the prerogative to careless or wantonly terminate that image. To do so invokes the death penalty.

Is it possible to execute the wrong person for the wrong reason? Yes, it is. Do the imperfections of fallen, sinful, and fallible humanity invalidate the word of God, the will of God, or the commands of God? No, they do not. The Old Testament Law and the New Testament prescriptions assume a trial by peers or duly constituted governing authority to minimize this.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:1-4)

God gave government to administrate capital punishment. He did not give us perfect governments. Realize that Paul, or rather the Holy Spirit through Paul, is calling upon us to respect governing authority (see also 1 Peter 2) in a time when the governing authority was the Roman Empire (and Nero). The God who causes all things to work together for good (Romans 8:28ff) employs fallible people, sometimes even corrupt people and institutions, to do his will. And we see this principle of treating these governing authorities with respect modeled by Jesus Christ during His interactions with Pontius Pilate in the gospels. During the time when Israel was governed by Torah such decisions were left to councils of elders or civic leaders. In Romans 13 “bearing the sword” speaks to the ability to take life. This prevented vigilante justice. Nevertheless, human beings’ fallibility, being a consequence of the fall of humanity (Romans 5:12-13) did not and does not invalidate capital punishment any more than human failings preclude the enforcement of any other command of God, civil laws, or criminal laws.

God has typically relied on imperfect, fallen human agency to execute the unrighteous. You see this when human armies are used to mete out divine justice on a large scale. You see this when government or city councils (councils of elder citizens) adjudicated cases in the Old and New Testaments.  

Capital punishment is capital protection. It removes a threat from society. This is why God gave it as a command in Genesis 9:6 and this is what we find in Romans 13:4 “For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer (Romans 13: 4).”

Logically speaking, capital protection does not correct behavior but removes a threat. A dead person cannot be reformed. As a threat to society, his individual danger to society is eliminated when he is executed. This is why some refer to capital punishment as capital protection. Capital protection has a deterrence factor—when not ignored or neglected.  

The gospel of grace does not nullify capital protection. Jesus affirms capital punishment, even elevating the bar (widening the list of capital crimes and punishment) in The Sermon on the Mount:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21-22)

Understand what is going on here. “Liable to judgment” (for murder), in Matthew 5:21, refers to execution. Jesus is saying that His hearers had heard that murder will likely result in the death penalty. He is also warning that hatred deserves the same penalty (hatred in one’s heart) and the expression of hatred (“you fool”) warrants hell in the next life. Notice the presence of the word “council” as a duly constituted authority.

Capital punishment (capital protection) is no small matter. The taking of human life is no small affair. God has prescribed (commanded) that murder (the unjustified taking of human life) not go unpunished. In cases where He shows grace (as only God can do), we are not to assume that God’s grace speaks to either God’s approval or permission. Capital punishment was always a governmental function from the time of Noah to Moses to Rome to today. It was administered primarily by fallible human agency. There was and is no room for personal vengeance. Nevertheless, a civilized society protects its people from murdering and marauding wolves vis-à-vis a council of elders in a tribe (ancient Israel), the prescriptions of the Mosaic Law (via the council), or the governments that God ordains and permits (Romans 13, 1 Peter 2; Matthew 5:21).

A society that ignores this mandate subjects itself to moral decay decays because it does not take God at His word. Life becomes cheap as in our own culture of death and injustice today where we murder the unborn and infirm but not the wolf who preys on the flock. We must ask ourselves what does the Bible say?

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21-22)

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:3-4)

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6)

The Bible is clear. There are no biblical prohibitions against capital punishment prior to the giving of the Law of Moses, after the giving of the Law of Moses, or after the incarnation of Christ. The commands have never been nullified by God, Jesus Christ (God the Son) or anyone else. Capital punishment is biblical. It is mandated by Scripture.