Xenophobia is “fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign.”

And we should have more of it in our churches.

Wait, let me explain.

In chapter 3 of The Holiness of God, R. C. Sproul says that “God is the ultimate object of our xenophobia. He is the ultimate stranger. He is the ultimate foreigner. He is holy and we are not.”

In that chapter, Sproul is at pains to remind us that “holy” primarily means “separate” not “pure.” When we say “God is holy” we are first and foremost communicating His difference to us. As Sproul says, He is “a cut apart…transcendent…above and beyond us…exalted loftiness…an infinite cut above everything else…so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign to us.”

Mysterium Tremendum
Sproul commends Rudolf Otto’s special term for the holy, a term Otto devised after studying people’s reactions to the holy. He labelled it “the mysterium tremendum” or “the awful mystery.” He called it “awful” because of the fear and dread with which the holy fills us, overwhelming and overpowering us with a sense of our creatureliness. He called it “mystery” because of its strange attraction. We run from it and run to it. It repulses us and attracts us. “We can’t live with it and we can’t live without it.”

This is an appropriate and rational xenophobia. It is an understandable reaction for sinners before such a God of consuming fire, especially for sinners without a mediator between God and men.

Xenophobic Churches
To come back to my opening words, we need more of this kind of xenophobia in our churches. Our worship, prayers, and sermons should at times provoke and reveal a fear and even hatred of God, especially among unbelievers who don’t know Christ. There should be times when such hearers are acutely aware of God’s otherness, that He is the ultimate foreigner, that He is the mysterious stranger, that He is holy and we are not.

As Sproul says, although death is scary and reminds us we are creatures, “Yet, as fearsome as death is, it is nothing compared with meeting a holy God.”

God With Us
But we don’t stop there; because God has not stopped there. He saw the distance, the contrast, the difference between us and Him; and He bridged it by becoming us. He took human flesh and blood, a human mind, a human will, a human soul, a human conscience, a human existence, human suffering, and even a human death.

Through Christ, He is no longer God above us, but Immanuel, God with us. From transcendent to immanent. From the ultimate foreigner to the ultimate friend. From Creator to creature. From infinite to finite. Not only “God with us” but “God like us.”

And that’s an even more awesome mystery than Otto discovered.

It’s also the cure for all the other xenophobias that traumatize our world.

Positive is always good, negative is always bad. According to Joel Osteen. In the opening pages of Your Best Life Now, he says:

“In each of these areas, you will find practical suggestions and simple choices that will help you to stay positive in your lifestyle and believe for a brighter future…To do that, you may have to rid yourself of some negative mind-sets that are holding you back, and start enlarging your vision, seeing yourself as doing more, enjoying more, being more.”

Here and elsewhere, Joel Osteen challenges our passivity, our defeatism, our fatalism. He calls us to rid ourselves of negativity and build more positive thought habits.

So what’s wrong with that? For some people, it’s exactly what they need to hear. We’ve all met them haven’t we? Sometimes we’ve been them. Recognize this description from Osteen?

“Many people go through life with low self-esteem, focusing on the negative, feeling inferior or inadequate, always dwelling on some reason why they can’t be happy.”

A pretty miserable existence isn’t it, both for the person and those who have to live, work, and worship with them.

They do need to be confronted with their unhealthy and unhelpful negativity, and called to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. That isn’t a call to false optimism, but a call to true realism.

However, Osteen goes further than this, way further, and sees all negativity as bad and positivity as only good. That is not biblical, truthful, or helpful.

Good Negativity
First, some negativity is accurate, true, good, and beneficial. It is right to examine ourselves for sin and ignorance, to repent of it when we find it, confessing it, humbling ourselves, and seeking forgiveness. This process of spiritual humiliation may not be a pleasant experience for us, but it is pleasing to God and necessary for any progress in the Christian life.

False Positivity
Second, some positivity is false and harmful. For example, if you tell a small man with short legs that he can do anything, even leap a 20 foot gap between buildings, his positive self-image is going to be splattered all over the pavement in short order.

Similarly, if you tell a sinful woman that she is essentially good, and can do good and be good unaided by God, then she will positively go to a negative eternity with a lie in her right hand.

No Foundation
Third, Osteen says that in his book “you will find practical suggestions and simple choices that will help you to stay positive.” But his proposed suggestions and choices are neither biblically accurate nor scientifically proven.

Over the last 20 years, a popular new science called “positive psychology” has produced many studies and books that claim to have found empirically proven ways to happiness. Although they won’t admit it, and they probably don’t even know it, many of them line up with the Bible’s teaching. But Osteen’s teaching lines up with neither the Bible nor science. Its only and shaky foundation is his own enthusiasm and sales skills.

Unrealistic
Fourth, Osteen’s positivity is completely unrealistic. For example, he says:

“I’m confident that if you will take these steps along with me, you ultimately will be happier than ever before, living with joy, peace, and enthusiasm—not just for a day, or a week, but for the rest of your life!”

To paraphrase a little, “If you will take these steps, then you will be happy, joyful, peaceful, and enthusiastic for the rest of your life.” These kinds of cast-iron, unqualified guarantees litter the whole book. If he’d said “you can” or “you may” be happier, etc., then that would be more acceptable. But he doesn’t; he says “you will.”

This totally fails to take account of the fallen world and the fallen human condition. Yes, we are called by God to grow in gifts, in grace, in joy, peace, and other fruits of the Spirit. But what happens when our teen is killed in a car crash, our husband gets ALS, age devastates our minds and bodies, our best friend dies of cancer, our daughter is raped, thousands are killed in acts of just war and evil terrorism, and so on?

Take a few simple steps and you will be happy, peaceful, and enthusiastic for the rest of your life? That may be true of Joel Osteen’s world, but it’s not living in the real world. Such a shallow and false message can only lead to disillusionment and demoralization.

Some well-founded and biblically grounded negativity can help us prepare for these inevitable days of pain and suffering, and get us through them to the place of eternal and unmixed positivity.

This is the second post in a series on Joel Osteen’s book, “Your Best Life Now.” The first post was A Book That Begins With A Lie.

It’s one of the oldest political tricks in the book. Create such an impression of momentum behind a certain candidate or policy that everyone else jumps on board to avoid being left out or left behind. It’s a deception that plays on common human weaknesses; the desire to be on the winning side, the fear of being on the “outside,” the instinct to avoid unpopularity, and the yearning for approval.

And Time magazine is attempting to pull off this sneaky ruse on Evangelical Christians with an article headlined, How Evangelicals Are Changing Their Minds On Gay Marriage (full article requires subscription). In it, Elizabeth Dias (sexual orientation undisclosed, as usual), marshals multiple pieces of “evidence” for this revolution in Evangelical morals and ethics. She begins:

“If evangelical Christianity is famous for anything in contemporary American politics, it is for its complete opposition to gay marriage. Now, slowly yet undeniably, evangelicals are changing their minds. Every day, evangelical communities across the country are arriving at new crossroads over marriage.”

So, what’s the evidence for this unstoppable tsunami of change among evangelicals?

1. One poll
Dias quotes one poll of young people which claimed to show that among young evangelicals, “support for gay marriage jumped from 20% in 2003 to 42% in 2014.”

2. One megachurch
She cites one megachurch, EastLake Community Church outside Seattle, which she says is “one of the first evangelical megachurches in the country to support full inclusion and affirmation of LGBTQ people.” And she claims, “It is almost impossible to overstate the significance of this move” given that “EastLake is in many ways the quintessential evangelical megachurch.”

Much later in the article Dias admits that “EastLake has lost 22% of its income and 800 attendees in the past 18 months, and it anticipates that those numbers may continue to climb.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement from even Eastlake’s evangelicals.

3. Anonymous leaders
She portrays evangelical leaders as accepting of gay marriage in private, yet still maintaining opposition in public.

“[My article] is a deep dive into the changing allegiances and divides in evangelical churches and communities over homosexuality. In public, so many churches and pastors are afraid to talk about the generational and societal shifts happening. But behind the scenes, it’s a whole different game.”

But she doesn’t give any names.

4. Two discussions
She references discussions between two evangelical leaders (Andy Stanley and Bill Hybels) and their congregations “about how to navigate the changes they are seeing in their pews.”

5. Two meetings with LGBTQ “Christians”
She says “Hybels has been meeting privately for the past year with LGBTQ congregants to learn to better understand their stories,” and “Stanley met together with both LGBT evangelical advocates and SBC leaders for a closed-door conversation about whether their different views on gay marriage put them outside the faith.”

6. One friendship
She points to Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, who “has developed a friendship with LGBT activist Ted Trimpa and the Gill Foundation, and they are working together on topics like passing anti-human-trafficking legislation.”

7. One college hire
Wheaton College’s hire of a celibate (underline that) lesbian as a student counselor is also said to herald significant change. In fairness, Dias does acknowledge that Wheaton also allowed converted ex-lesbian Rosaria Butterfield to speak to the student body, although Dias presents this as contradicting the hiring policy!

By the way, #4-7 above should be a solemn warning to us about how gay activists will wickedly distort our best intentions and twist our sincere attempts to reach out to gays and lesbians. Doesn’t mean we should stop talking and end friendships, but be aware of how our love and goodwill may be turned against us.

8. One gay choreographer
I know, this is getting ridiculous, but apparently “Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University hired an openly gay choreographer to assist with a campus production of Mary Poppins last spring.” Dias admits that the University defended itself “by saying he was an independent contractor, not an official employee.”

9. Three “Gay Christian” activists
The well-worn names and well-refuted teachings of gay activists, Matthew Vines, Brandan Robertson, and Justin Lee, are presented as the clinchers in this case for an evangelical revolution.

That’s it?

Yep, that’s it. One poll, one megachurch, unnamed leaders, two congregational discussions, two meetings with LGBTQ’s, one college hire, one gay dancer, and three gay activists.

That’s Dias’s strongest case for this alleged bandwagon of evangelical change. Rather unimpressive bandwagon isn’t it?

I don’t buy it, and neither should you. Yes, there are some worrying signs here and there of evangelical capitulation. No doubt, some evangelical leaders will jump the shark to maintain popularity with the world. However, don’t fall for this trick of “Everybody’s doing it (or thinking it).”

We don’t let our children off with such arguments, especially when the evidence is so flimsy. So let’s not allow this childish case to shake our commitment to biblical morality.

Not now. Not ever.

But there’s one line in Dias’s piece with which we can all agree: “For everyone on all sides, the Bible itself is at stake.”

It’s never a good idea to start a book with a falsehood, but that’s how Joel Osteen begins his best-selling book, Your Best Life Now. Here’s the first sentence of the Introduction:

“The future is yours for the taking.”

Osteen clearly agrees with this common phrase, heard in many graduation ceremonies, as he goes on to explain why it doesn’t always work out for some people.

Contrast this opening falsehood with a truthful saying we often hear in Christian circles:

“We don’t know what the future holds, but we know God holds the future.”

Starkly different theologies right there.

The future is yours versus the future is God’s.

You can take the future into your own hands versus God holds the future.

These are two very different views of God, of humanity, and of living the Christian life.

A Slither of Truth
As with so much of Osteen’s theology, there’s a sliver of truth in what he’s saying. Our future is influenced by our present choices. But influenced by is very different from determined by.

Yes, what we choose today may have an impact on tomorrow, the next year, and even extend to future generations. Who we decide to marry, where we choose to live and work, whether to make that phone call or write that email, all of these things influence beyond the present moment and may have a bearing on the rest of our lives and on the lives of others.

However, that’s a very different thing to saying that we can take the future into our own hands and determine our future by our present choices. That completely fails to take account of the sovereignty of the God who has His own plan for our life and can thwart and overrule any of our choices.

This means that our good choices do not always mean happy outcomes, and, thankfully, bad choices do not always mean unhappy outcomes.

Yes, we must live responsibly and make our choices prayerfully, but all our choices are ultimately under the overall sovereignty of God.

A Terrifying Message
Although Osteen is trying to inspire people to take charge of their lives and make a better life for themselves in the future, his message here actually scares the wits out of me.

If the future is in my hands, then I will either work it out independently without reference to God’s wisdom, God’s glory, or God’s will for my life.

Or else I will be paralyzed with fear at the thought that I’m in total charge of my destiny and everything depends entirely upon my decisions.

That’s why I’m utterly baffled that Osteen can teach that the future is in our hands and then say:

“No matter where you are or what challenges you are facing, you can enjoy your life right now!” (K50)

There’s no way I could enjoy my life right now if the future is entirely in my hands. I couldn’t eat, sleep, or do anything profitable with that crushing responsibility on my shoulders.

But if my sovereign God not only knows but holds my future, if God can guide and bless my good choices and even overrule my bad choices for good, then I can enjoy my life right now.

Moreover, trust in God’s sovereignty means I can enjoy my life even in the midst of pain and suffering, even pain and suffering that has resulted from my poor decisions, and those of others.

Best Books

Practical Prayer by Derek Prime $2.99

The Screwtape Letters by C S Lewis $3.08

To Live Is Christ to Die Is Gain by Matt Chandler $2.24

Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine by Gregg Allison $4.27

The Promises of God: Discovering the One Who Keeps His Word by R C Sproul $3.03

John A. Broadus: A Living Legacy by David Dockery $1.99

Think Christianly: Looking at the Intersection of Faith and Culture by Jonathan Morrow $1.99

Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In: Lessons from an Extraordinary Life by Louis Zamperini $3.99

Some interesting and helpful non-Christian books at good prices.

Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Levitt & Dubner $4.99

Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely $3.22

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg $7.99

Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind by Jocelyn Glei $5.99

Best Blogs

Why You Should Make The Move To Logos | Challies

Why Do We Wildly Over-Estimate The Proportion of Gays and Lesbians?

Three things I’d like to see in the Christian blogosphere in 2015

Why and How to Be Self-Critical When You Write | TGC

A Baker’s Dozen of Pastoral Lessons | The Christward Collective

A “heavenly tourist” takes back his claims

Ask R.C. Jr.: What are the “third rails” in evangelical social media? – R.C. Sproul Jr.

Turn the other cheek? Does this apply to abuse victims? | Musings of a Christian Psychologist

8 Ways to Become a Warm-Hearted Preacher | Biblical Preaching

Study Finds More Reasons to Get and Stay Married | Denny Burk

Learning from a Hard Knox Life | Desiring God

When Was the Exodus? – A Review of ‘Patterns of Evidence: Exodus’ | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

The 1 Secret to Squashing Anxiety this Year | A Holy Experience

The 37 Best Business Books I’ve Ever Read – Michael Hyatt

What Depression Teaches Us | Counseling One Another

A Letter to the Doubting Christian | Gentle Reformation

Today Is One of the Happiest Days of My Life. Here’s Why. | Gretchen Rubin

Best Videos

Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran’s Statement on Being Terminated
Religious leaders gather outside of the Georgia State Capitol to protest a decision by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to terminate Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran. Supporters believe the decision was based on religion, while the Mayor contends the decision was about judgement and protocol. The chief’s statement begins at 1:20.56.

Joni Erikson Tada On How She Went From Despair to Hope

Beautiful Precision Woodworking

Reformed Christians are famous (some would say “infamous”) for our emphasis upon theology; especially biblical theology, systematic theology, historical theology, and exegetical theology.

Just look at our creaking bookshelves and impressive libraries!

Critics, though, often ask, “Where’s your practical theology?”

And they sometimes have a point. At times we do struggle to translate the knowledge our heads are bursting with into our vocations, our families, our evangelism, our ethics, and other areas of the Christian life.

Practical Opposition
Indeed, some Reformed believers are practically opposed to practical theology. Any hint of “ought” or “should” or “don’t” raises cries of “Legalism!”

Others think practical theology a kind of second division theology; a little brother to the BIG BOYS; something for smaller minds.

However, without practical theology, we will never make any real lasting progress in any of the other theologies – biblical, systematic, historical, etc.

How so?

Doing and Knowing
Jesus said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).

Did you see that? Doing leads to knowing! If we do, we shall know. Action leads to knowledge.

I can’t fully explain that connection, but Jesus established and emphasized it. The verse teaches that if we don’t do what we know, we will not know for long, we will not know for sure, and we will not know in a way that leads to praise and glory for Christ.

Unsustainable Theology
We are right to be concerned about a Christianity that only does, does, does, and never knows – that’s unsustainable.

But Jesus says we should be equally concerned with a Christianity that only knows, knows, knows, and never does – that too is unsustainable.

So, if you are struggling to learn, retain, or enjoy biblical theology, systematic theology, or historical theology, the answer for you may be to do more practical theology.

PS: If you want to know where to start, have a look at these free books full of practical theology for leaders, families, students, and churches.