Tonight at my church’s service, we had a band perform of several from my Sunday School class along with our minister of music. I like them really. They’re a good band. Music’s not my thing really, but I can enjoy it. However, I listen closely to lyrics in songs and watch to see if there’s anything I think is a bit off.
We were listening to a song they were doing about Jesus coming to one’s rescue. I do agree with that concept. Jesus is the deliverer of our souls. However, I was a bit concerned when I got to the passage with them saying “This world has nothing for me. I will follow you.” I understand the sentiment, but I think it’s wrong.
I think it’s a far difference from songs like “I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold.” I would hope that we’d all agree with those. I would also say that I would hope that I would. For the record, I do think we can have too much bravado in our devotion to Christ and then fall like Simon Peter did.
Does this world really have nothing for us? This seems to be more of a gnostic idea that there’s nothing good in the material world. In fact, passages like 1 Tim. 6:17 indicate quite clearly that God does create a lot of good in this world and the verse specifically says they’re for our enjoyment, and the context is on worldly wealth.
I get more concerned over this seeing as I’m now reading a book by Os Guinness. “Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think And What To Do About It.” Guinness mentions many things that are good in themselves, but they have sadly produced an anti-intellectual climate.
This seems common in our era when we can replace devotion with truth. If someone is so devoted in their walk, then their views must be true. Not so. There are devoted Christians on each side of many issues. This kind of thinking can lead to what Greg Koukl says from Francis Beckwith. When you argue with other Christians, if they can’t win with logic, they’ll trump you with spirituality.
The truth is that this world does have a lot of good things. In fact, these good things speak of the nature of God. It is his creation and it is all meant to reveal him. If we walk outside our doors and do not see God, we need to adjust our vision. Nay. If we look at anything and do not see God, we need to adjust our vision. I even remember an IM conversation with someone a long time ago where the nature of an IM was used to explain why God gave us his message in Scripture. God is there if we will only look for him.
This is also the reverse to the problem of evil. G.K. Chesterton said that he’d explain the problem of evil to his opponents as soon as they explained the problem of pleasure. Atheologians seem to enjoy having Christians explain all the evil if there is an all-good and all-powerful God. How come they’re not asked to explain all the good if all is just from random chaos?
Do I need Jesus to come to my rescue? Yep. Would I rather have him than silver or gold? I hope so. However, I will not deny the good things that he created and I intend to honor him in this world by enjoying them.
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