Does God Care Who Wins?

After Indiana University beat Ohio State University on Saturday to win the Big Ten football championship, quarterback Fernando Mendoza said in a post-game interview, “I want to give all the glory to God.” Two nights later, after the LA Chargers beat the Philadelphia Eagles in OT on a game-saving interception by safety Tony Jefferson, he said, “All glory to God!” Houston Texans quarterback C. J. Stroud habitually gives credit to Jesus Christ after big wins, most recently over the Kansas City Chiefs, when he said, “It all goes back to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to be able to glorify His name.”

There are many other examples of athletes giving glory to God after big wins. I love to hear athletes give credit to God after winning; in fact, as I’ve written elsewhere, my purpose in life is to give glory to God. I don’t doubt their sincerity, and when the athlete is from one of my favorite teams, I love it even more! However, it has caused me to think about how Christian athletes react to losses; we don’t hear from them as often after those because, of course, most of the post-game interviews immediately after games are with the winners, not the losers. The aforementioned C. J. Stroud usually takes accountability after losses and has said more than once how a loss can serve as a “wake-up call” to him and his teammates. I love to hear that rather than athletes who play the blame game, whether it’s blaming the officials, “dirty plays” by the opposition, or (much less often) teammates or coaches. When it comes to the Christian life, taking responsibility and being accountable are incredibly important, and not just in sports.

As a fan, I admit that pretty much all I care about–at least in the moment–is that my team wins! However, I’ve noticed that some fans seem to take it to extremes. Sometimes when a camera is panning the crowd, I see fans with their hands clasped together in what looks a lot like a posture of prayer, especially right before a big play at the end of a tight game. Are they actually praying that their team will win? I don’t know, but I hope not; I don’t believe God cares who wins and loses. I think what He cares about in the context of the game is good sportsmanship, regardless of the outcome; that’s why I like to see athletes from opposing teams embracing or shaking hands after the game.

One thing I should add regarding fan behavior is that there is something I’ve noticed less of in the last several years, thankfully: fans bowing with arms outstretched, over and over, when an athlete makes a great play; that’s very dangerous as it looks a lot like idol worship.

Looking beyond sports: There are plenty of people who have written and spoken about the value of losses in all areas of life. I think most Christians–certainly including myself–have found that some–but not all–of the greatest spiritual growth comes when we are experiencing tough times; for myself, I want to learn what the Lord is trying to teach me in a given situation. And regardless of my circumstances, I want to remember to give thanks in all of them (1 Thessalonians 5:18) rather than complaining, as I’ve given examples of elsewhere.

When we who are Christians “lose,” whether in sports or some other area of life, I hope that we are able to focus on how the Lord wants to bring us to greater spiritual maturity: if not in the moment, then over time. Ultimately, in the great spiritual battle that has been going on since the beginning of time, we are on the winning side because Jesus has already won. After living a perfect life, culminating in His crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, ensuring our final victory. One of my favorite contemporary Christian songs regarding this battle is “You’ve Already Won” by Shane & Shane; you can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJWc4rP-D8c

If you do not yet know Jesus Christ, this month is a great time to find out more about Him, as Christmas is almost here. This is the time of year when we celebrate the wondrous mystery of the incarnation: Jesus’ coming into the world as a baby. If you are not part of a church, I would encourage you to find one where God’s Word is preached and check it out.

Hunger for the Word of God

With Thanksgiving just a couple days away, I’ve been thinking about what I’m most thankful for this year. What came to mind almost immediately is a man at my church who recently came to faith in Christ. Since then, he has shown a strong desire for the Word of God.

In the Sunday school class that I teach, we had recently finished a series and were ready to embark on a new study. When I asked the group to let me know if there was a particular book of the Bible they wanted to study, this new brother said he wanted to study Romans, which we’ve been doing now for a few weeks. After our class studied and discussed Romans 1, he wrote, “This makes me long for our next study [class] together.” After our most recent class (studying Romans 5), he wrote some specific things he had learned in that chapter. Like everyone, I appreciate words of encouragement, but truly, one of the things that makes this Sunday school class “go” is the wonderful discussion that always ensues, and that is very largely due to my brothers and sisters in the class.

As I thought about my brother’s hunger for God’s Word, I thought of three other individuals. One of them is a sister at our church who came to faith in Christ a few years back. In various contexts and various ways, she has expressed that same hunger for God’s Word. One notable example is at a couple’s fellowship that my wife and I are also a part of. The leader had said that we were running out of time one evening in our Bible study, and this sister said, “Oh, I would be fine with continuing!”

A third person who came to mind is a student I had about forty years ago while I was teaching in a Third World country. She had recently come to faith in Christ, and after a brief dry spiritual period, she wrote, “My hunger for the Word is greater than you can imagine.”

A fourth person is a friend of my wife from many years ago. Lisa had recently become a Christian and asked my wife if she could teach her something about the Bible. She attended church regularly and was part of a Bible study that my wife also attended. Even as a new believer, Lisa had a lot of insights into the Bible.

In addition to these four individuals, a large group of people came to mind: believers living in the country(side) of the same Third World country that my wife and I taught in many years ago. There were not many open churches at that time, but they were always very crowded on Sunday mornings, including by believers who got up very early (4:00-5:00 A.M.) in order to get there in time for the beginning of the service. And even so, they sometimes had to sit in pews or on chairs that extended out the open side of the building–if they got a seat at all. This is one primary reason why my wife and I did not attend more than once: two people would give up their seats for us, no matter how hard we tried to refuse. (Our fellowship was with other expatriates in the city.)

Another example of this spiritual hunger is the same large group of believers. During those years, itinerant preachers would go to villages in the country(side); they would stay for a couple days in a given community before moving on. We heard stories about how they would preach hour after hour, sometimes for essentially a whole day, and the villagers would soak it in. Some of them were presumably not believers, but it didn’t seem to matter in terms of their interest.

There are some verses in the Bible that speak to this kind of strong spiritual hunger. One of them is Jeremiah 15:16: “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.” Another example is Psalm 119:103, which says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Here’s what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:2-3, clearly referring to believers who are very young in their faith: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” On the other hand, for those who are more mature in the faith, the writer of Hebrews says (in Chapter 5:14), “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

One thing you may have noticed regarding the four individuals I wrote about is this: all of them were new believers at the time they expressed their hunger for God’s Word. And in fact, all of them came from non-Christian environments. In contrast, I grew up in a Christian household and went to church twice every Sunday; I also went to Christian schools (grades 1-12 plus my first four years of college). However, I didn’t become a Christian until age 20, and I didn’t read the Bible the whole way through for the first time until I was 26. I remember thinking again and again as I was reading, “I remember that story!” I’m thankful for the spiritual upbringing I had, and I am so thankful that over the years, I have had so many of my big questions answered. I can’t say I have ever had the kind of intense hunger for God’s Word that these brothers and sisters have expressed, but I do enjoy studying God’s Word.

For those of you reading this who are my brothers and sisters in Christ: Regardless of where you are in your walk with Him, may you never stop reading God’s Word and growing in Him; may the same be true of me. And for you who do not know Christ, I pray that you will read God’s Word and discover what we believers have discovered: God’s Word is true, and therefore, He can be trusted. He will give you the kind of peace and joy that Romans 5 describes.

Have a most wonderful Thanksgiving with the ones you love!

How Were Old Testament Believers Saved?

There is a young brother in my church who frequently comes up with good questions. One of his recent questions was whether King Saul and King David are in heaven. He rightly said that they both fell into sin. Having been raised with a rather strong focus on the Ten Commandments, I understand his question.

My young brother’s question is an interesting one in that the two people he mentioned are closely connected: Saul was the first king of Israel; David was the second. Furthermore, they had a relationship, starting with the time that David killed Goliath, the Philistine giant. Let’s start with the “easy” case, King David. Acts 13:22, quoting 1 Samuel 13:14, tells us, “After removing Saul, he [God] made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'” David was indeed a man after God’s own heart. However, he was sinful, like everyone else; as king, he became an adulterer and murderer. In fact, I have heard several sermons over the years that focus on David’s great sins. However, as I emphasized to my brother, David repented; in fact, he wrote an entire Psalm (51) confessing his sin to the Lord and asking Him for forgiveness. David still suffered grave consequences for his sin, but the Lord forgave him.

Now let’s look at King Saul, who was chosen by the Lord as Israel’s first king. After anointing Saul as king, the prophet Samuel instructed him in 1 Samuel 10:8: “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.” However, in Chapter 13: 8-14, Saul becomes impatient and offers the burnt offering right before Samuel arrives. Samuel rebukes him for not obeying the Lord’s command and says that Saul’s kingdom “will not endure.” (verse 14) In Chapter 15, Saul again disobeys the Lord by not completely destroying the Amalekites and everything that belonged to them. Saul admits he has sinned (he says it 3X, in verses 24, 25, and 30) and asks for forgiveness, but Samuel tells him in verse 26, “You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”

After David kills Goliath, Saul becomes angry and jealous (1 Samuel 18:8-9) because David is esteemed more by the people than he is. In verses 12 and 29, we are also told that Saul is afraid of David. Things go only downhill from there; over the next several chapters, Saul tries multiple times to kill David, who bears Saul no ill will; in fact, David has more than one opportunity to kill Saul, but does not. Saul hits a new low when he consults a medium (witch) in Chapter 28, and the spirit of the prophet Samuel says this to him in verse 19: “The Lord will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me.” (I should add that Saul killed himself rather than fall into the hands of the Philistines.) When I reread verse 19 recently, I thought, “Wow, in spite of Saul’s repeated disobedience, he was saved when he died.” However, when I dug deeper and consulted commentaries, I discovered that “you and your sons will be with me” did not necessarily mean that Saul went to heaven after death. Before Jesus’ resurrection, dead people went to Sheol (also known as Hades), which had two parts: the place of comfort (for believers) and the place of torment (for unbelievers). We see this, in fact, in Luke 16:19-31, where Jesus tells us the story of the rich man (in the place of torment) and Lazarus (in the place of comfort) following their deaths. Various commentators have written that “you and your sons will be with me” means that Saul and his sons went to Sheol, or the place of the dead, without specifying which part of it. The consensus seems to be that Saul was probably not saved and thus went to the place of torment. However, as I thought about this, I thought of Jonathan, one of Saul’s sons, who we have ample evidence for as a believer. It’s possible that after death, Jonathan went to the place of comfort and Saul to the place of torment; it’s also possible that they both went to the place of comfort and that we will see both of them, not just Jonathan, in heaven.

As I thought about my brother’s question regarding the salvation of King Saul and King David, I thought of a broader question, which is the title of this post: How were Old Testament believers saved? If we’re not careful, we may come to the mistaken conclusion that they were saved by obeying God’s law. Interestingly, at my church, we studied Romans 4 in Sunday school four days ago; the apostle Paul makes it very clear that Abraham was justified by his faith in God, and in fact, that is true of all Old Testament believers. They had the promise of the Messiah who was to come, although they didn’t know His Name, and they probably had some of the same misunderstandings that even Jesus’ disciples had, thinking that He would be a political savior. Regardless, for those in the Old Testament who believed and demonstrated it by their obedience–and their repentance when they sinned!–they were saved, and we will see them in heaven.

Sometimes when I read the Old Testament, I find myself making certain assumptions about people. One of them is Lot, who was Abraham’s nephew. Way back in Genesis 12, we are introduced to both of them. In verse 4, we read, “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.” Good start! Then in Chapter 13, Abram tells Lot that they should separate because they both had so many possessions, and their herdsmen were quarreling with each other. Lot chooses the well-watered plain of the Jordan (verse 10) and settles near Sodom. However, verse 13 says, “Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.” A good land with wicked people! Maybe you’re familiar with what happens a few chapters later; two angels come to visit Lot, and “all the men” of Sodom (Chapter 19:4) surround his house and tell him, “Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” (verse 5) In verses 7-8, Lot says, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” At this point, I’m screaming at Lot (at least inwardly) and saying, “What are you doing?! Don’t you care at all about your own daughters?!” The story continues: the angels blind the men; they then tell Lot to take his family and leave the city because the Lord is going to destroy it. In verse 16, however, Lot hesitates, so the angels grasp his hand, as well as the hands of his wife and two daughters, and they lead them out of the city. The Lord destroys Sodom and Gomorrah; Lot’s wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt; later, Lot’s two daughters get him drunk and sleep with him so that the family line will continue. Oh, and the sons they bear become the forefathers of the Moabites and Ammonites, who later become Israel’s enemies.

Was Lot a believer? Doesn’t sound like it, does it. But wait! Peter tells us in 2 Peter 2: 7-8 that Lot was “a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)”. Peter calls Lot “righteous” 2X, saying that he was distressed and tormented by the “lawless” (2X) men and their deeds. Regardless of some poor decision-making, Lot was declared righteous, just as Abraham was. We will see both of them in heaven.

Believers in the Old Testament were saved the same way that we are: by their faith in God. They demonstrated that faith by living in obedience, and they repented when they sinned; that is how we also demonstrate our faith.

Halloween, Horror, and Science Fiction

My wife and I are homeschooling the son of close friends of ours. The curriculum that his charter school asked us to use includes a language arts textbook with a unit on horror, which we were going to start this week. However, he said that he doesn’t want to read any horror stories, and I’m certainly not going to make him do so; we’ll just read some essays about horror and move on from there.

Not coincidentally, I’m sure, Halloween is just a day away, which has caused me to think even more about the horror genre, especially since the streaming service we subscribe to has been advertising such movies. I’ve written before about how old horror movies (up until the late ’70s) usually portrayed monsters as evil creatures that were, in the end, destroyed. In contrast, over the last 45 years or so, there has been an increasing tendency to portray monsters (especially vampires) as sympathetic, even attractive creatures; the Twilight series of movies (2008-2012) is a prominent example. Another difference is that the purpose of horror movies used to be to frighten people; in the last three decades or so, from what I’ve read, many seem at least as focused on grossing people out.

There is another genre of fiction which has been my favorite ever since I was a young boy: science fiction. While there have been some movies, TV series, and books that have incorporated horror elements (the Alien series of movies comes to mind), for the most part, sci-fi has not lost its original ability to impart a sense of wonder rather than fright. The best sci-fi sends one’s imagination soaring to other worlds–sometimes quite literally.

Another element of some of the best sci-fi which I eventually came to understand and love is heroism. I noticed this last summer when I watched the 12 Monkeys series; there are at least three primary characters that make the ultimate sacrifice. You can also see this in The Stand TV miniseries (1994), which portrays two groups of humanity after a virus wipes out most of the human race; one group is evil and led by a demon (in human form), while the other is not merely good, but is led by a godly character. For those who are familiar with Isaac Asimov (the greatest sci-fi writer ever!), you may recall that in his novel Second Foundation (part of a seven-book series), a group of 50 scientists make the ultimate sacrifice. As a final example, who could forget Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is killed by Darth Vader in the original Star Wars movie.

A third element of sci-fi which took me longer to appreciate was its poignancy, which is intertwined with the heroism in the four series (above). We also see this poignancy in different ways in Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past book trilogy, starting with the well-known The Three-Body Problem. That first book in the series has also been made into a popular Netflix series. If you want to “lose” yourself in a sci-fi trilogy that you’ll never forget, I strongly recommend Liu’s trilogy.

Sci-fi sometimes has elements of learning a new language. This applies to the setting (time and place), but also sometimes quite literally to the language. If you read the first book in Frank Herbert’s Dune series of six books, you will find a 22-page glossary to help you understand the book better!

As you’ve undoubtedly noticed, this post is primarily about why sci-fi is the best genre ever! I’ve only touched on some of the best. I hadn’t even mentioned the original Star Trek TV series yet! There’s certainly bad sci-fi out there, too, but if you’re looking for something that will send your imagination soaring rather than frightening and grossing you out, I recommend sci-fi. (OK, sometimes sci-fi can be frightening, but in a different way.) One final TV series I’ll mention is Fringe; it has what reviewers commonly refer to as “disturbing images,” but Season 2, Episode 16 (“Peter”) is my favorite TV episode (of any series, any genre) of all time. It has at least two of the elements of sci-fi that make it such a great genre.

In closing, I’ve written in another post that on Halloween, my wife and I give trick-or-treaters candy with an attached message. This year, our church couple’s fellowship group has decided to do this together, and here is the message: “For many people, Halloween is a time to fear. Witches, ghosts, and the like may be fun, but at the same time they can cause fear. But the Lord says to those who know Him, ‘Don’t fear because I am with you and will guide you.’ Have a fun—and fearless—Halloween.”

Does Everyone Always Deserve the Truth?

There has long been a struggle within me about truth-telling, particularly in relation to a story in the book of Joshua in the Bible. Related to this are similar accounts I have read of Christians during World War II and their differing responses to Nazis who were searching for Jews. The dilemma for the Christians, of course, was whether they should tell the Nazis the truth about hidden Jews.

Maybe you’ve read about the ten Boom family, particularly Corrie. They hid approximately 800 Jews in their homes over the years, but not everyone agreed on what they should do when, inevitably, the Gestapo would come to question them about whether they were hiding any Jews. Similarly, Nazi soldiers would round up young non-Jewish men to fight in the war. Corrie believed that it was morally right to lie in order to save Jewish lives as well as to prevent non-Jews from having to fight for an evil regime. Her sisters Betsie and Nollie, however, believed lying was always wrong and that they should trust God for protection.

One day, soldiers came to the home of Nollie and her husband in order to round up young men to fight. When they questioned young Cocky, their daughter, about her three brothers, she truthfully replied that one of them was away. Regarding the other two, she laughed nervously and said that they were “under the table.” This was also true; there was a mat under the table, and there was a trap door to a cellar under that. One of the officers lifted the overhanging tablecloth, slapped Cocky, and shouted, “Don’t take us for fools!” The soldiers then stormed out of the house.

There was another time when Nollie and Annaliese, a young Jewish girl who had been living with Nollie’s family, were taken away by the Gestapo; Nollie had told the truth when questioned about whether Annaliesse was Jewish. Nollie was imprisoned, and Annaliese was taken to a holding facility for Jews. However, a few weeks (?) later, Annaliese and other Jews in that holding facility were rescued, and Nollie was released from prison.

Some Christians have pointed to those two stories (as well as some others) and said that it is always wrong to lie, that we need to have faith that the Lord will reward our honesty; others have said, like Corrie did, that sometimes we have a moral right to lie.

R.C. Sproul, that theological giant of the later 20th century and on into this one until the Lord took him home in 2017, tells a story in his book Pleasing God similar to that of Cocky, above. In that case (also in the Netherlands), when the Nazi soldiers asked a woman if she was hiding any boys in her home, she answered, “No, there are no boys here.” The soldiers shot up the floor, watching the woman’s face as they did so; her face remained impassive–even though her son was hiding under the floorboards in that same area of the living room! Eventually, the soldiers left, and “the mother rushed to the hiding place. Her son emerged unscathed. Her deception had saved him.” Sproul goes on to say that we are not pleasing God when we tell the truth to people who do not deserve it.

Sproul writes in the same chapter of his book about two women in the Bible: Rebekah (the mother of Jacob and Esau in the book of Genesis) and Rahab, a non-Jewish prostitute in Jericho in the book of Joshua. Rebekah helps Jacob deceive his father (Isaac) by pretending to be Esau, thus receiving the birthright that should have been Esau’s. Sproul calls Rebekah the “Mother of the lie,” rightly saying that “God does not require the sins of humans to accomplish His holy will.”

Rahab, on the other hand, was a prostitute in a situation similar to what the ten Boom family and others faced during World War II. Joshua had sent two men to spy out the land that the Israelites (who were God’s chosen people) were planning to invade, particularly the city of Jericho. Rahab hid the spies, and when she was questioned, she lied and sent the Jericho soldiers on a wild-goose chase. After that, here is what she told the spies, in part: “I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.” (Joshua 2:9) She goes on to ask the spies to spare her and her family when the Israelites attack Jericho, and that is what they do. And in Hebrews 11:31, we read, “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

Sproul says that some people put Rebekah and Rahab in the same category; in other words, they think that Rahab was blessed in spite of her lie, rather than because of it. They say that the reason she is mentioned in Hebrews 11 is because of her faith, which is certainly true. However, as with the Nazi soldiers, Sproul says that not everyone is entitled to the truth.

I do not claim to have always told the truth, even as a Christian; however, it is something that I have strived to do–and it is something which my wife and I instilled in our children. In my post about trusting the Lord when we have no control, I tell a story about when I was teaching in a Third World country almost forty years ago. I was in a situation where I had resolved in advance to tell the truth when I was questioned about two visitors to my campus–two men that I had told not to come! You can read what I said in response to the two specific questions that I was asked later–and how the Lord protected me and others. https://keithpetersenblog.com/2022/06/16/trusting-the-lord-when-you-have-no-control/

Was Corrie ten Boom right in not telling the truth to Nazi soldiers? Were Cocky and Nollie right in telling the truth to them? Was Rahab right in lying to the soldiers who came to question her about the Israelite spies? Should I have felt free to lie, if “necessary,” during the meeting with my school officials? Is R.C. right in saying that not everyone deserves the truth?

In truth, I cannot answer these questions (except the one about me; the answer is an emphatic “No”). I think that in the end, it comes down to a matter of conscience. One thing I will say is that if someone came to my house asking, let’s say, for the location of my son, I would not necessarily reveal that location; it would depend on the reason(s) for the person’s asking for it. I probably wouldn’t lie, either, but would just say that I would have to ask my son about it. Now for a completely hypothetical extension: If someone pointed a gun at my head and asked for my son’s location, I would not reveal it; if someone pointed a gun at my wife’s head, I would lie about the location, at least the specifics of it. As I said, this last part is completely hypothetical, and my God-fearing son is not on the run! I’m trying to make a comparison, however poorly.

Here’s an example that is more germane to this post and not purely hypothetical. I have heard about Christians who think it would be OK to lie to ICE agents about harboring illegal immigrants; I think those Christians are wrong. I would not knowingly “harbor” an illegal; on the other hand, I would not deliberately direct ICE agents to someone I knew was an illegal unless I knew s/he was a “clear and present danger” to society.

I lean strongly in the direction of truth-telling; I think it can become far too easy to justify lying. May the Lord grant us wisdom in this!