Trans Sport Nation or, Who You Gonna Call?

Posted on May 9, 2024 by RC

There are myriad reasons conservatives lose so many battles in the culture wars. Among them are the hunger for approval, the desire to find a middle way, ignorance on the issues, lack of backbone. We should not overlook, however, our propensity to miss the forest for the trees, our dandelion lopping failure to get to the root of the issue.

Consider the recent outrage over President Biden’s executive orders bringing the sexually confused under the protection of Title IX legislation. Among other things Title IX came into being a generation ago to ensure “fairness” to women at universities and colleges across the country. It sought to ensure that women’s collegiate athletics received as much institutional support at a given school as men’s collegiate athletics. Now it is being used to require schools to open up their women’s athletics programs to men. Cowardly, unmanly and confused men to be sure, but men nonetheless.

As is to be expected, since there are votes to be won among the sane middle, conservative heroes donned their armor and have gone out to meet this dragon in battle. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has led the charge. Five states have already begun the process of filing suit against the federal government. For which I give two cheers.

Why not three? I’m aghast and appalled at the notion of men competing against women. I reject trans ideology, along with every letter and symbol wrapped in the rainbow flag. I also, however, reject the unconstitutional notion that the federal government has any right to say anything to anyone about education. The 10th Amendment from the Bill of Rights explicitly states that if the Constitution doesn’t explicitly grant the federal government jurisdiction over something then it has no jurisdiction. What does the Constitution say the role of the federal government is with respect to education, college education, college athletics, or competitors in college athletics? The same thing war is good for, absolutely nothing. Huh.

The issue isn’t what rules Title IX adopts under this president or that. The issue is Title IX. If Title IX forbad a college from allowing men to compete against women it would still be wrong. It’s simply none of their business.

Wait, you say. I’ve left something out of the equation. Title IX only applies to colleges and universities that take federal funds. Yeah, well, what about that? Doesn’t that give them jurisdiction? I’m so glad you asked. Let me remind you of something you may have forgotten since two paragraphs ago- the 10th Amendment. The federal government, violating the Constitution by writing checks to colleges, is not now exempt from the Constitution’s prohibition against intrusion into college athletics. Biden’s rules are out of line because Title IX is out of line. Federal subsidies change nothing because, you guessed it, federal subsidies are out of line.

When my alma mater, Grove City College, refused to affirm its compliance with Title IX back in the 1980s, the feds took our case all the way to the Supreme Court. There Grove City emerged victorious on 10th Amendment grounds. We refused to king’s money and were thus free of his dictates. In the end who controls the government is far less important that what the government controls.

Posted in Economics in This Lesson, Education, ethics, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, logic, persecution, politics, RC Sproul JR, sexual confusion, sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More Conversation with Doreen Virtue; COVID Nuremberg & More

Posted on May 8, 2024 by RC

This week’s Jesus Changes Everything Podcast

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Sober Minded

Posted on May 7, 2024 by RC

All of us, I presume, from time to time change our minds. We know that we err, and we know that we grow in grace. At least part of that growth happens when we no longer believe the errors we once believed. Sometimes we add new information to what we believe. Sometimes we jettison old information. And sometimes we do both. I used to believe, decades ago, for instance, that the universe is many millions of years old. I now believe that it is less than ten thousand years old. That is progress.

Paul commands of elders that they, among other things, be sober-minded. I suspect that many of us give precious little thought to this command. Too many of us dismiss all of Paul’s qualifications. Even if we try to apply them, however, we often slide right over this one. We may assume “sober-minded” means the same thing as “not given to much wine.” We may assume that we don’t want elders who are given to whoopee cushions, joy buzzers and oversized clown shoes.

To be sober-minded, however, is to treat truth seriously, and to have a healthy doubt as to our own understanding of truth. It is all too easy to get confused here. Many churches have their fair share of “theology wonks.” These are usually young men who, happily, have a passion for theology. They read substantial books, and they engage in substantial conversations. You’ll usually find them at the church picnic, smoking a pipe, with a small cadre of acolytes sitting around them as they share their wisdom. They are contemplating the tug and pull of Nestorianism and Eutychianism. They are wondering out loud if maybe the hyper-preterists have it right, that Jesus may not be coming back again. They are expositing the proper procedure for stoning rebellious children.

A sober-minded person should think through the challenges of the incarnation. A sober-minded person should know the claims of all sorts of heretics, including hyper-preterists. A sober-minded person ought to contemplate the law of God. But there are two things a sober-minded person doesn’t do. He doesn’t practice experimental theology right in front of people. And he certainly doesn’t veer from this bedrock position to that one, dragging his sheep behind him. Indeed a sober-minded man, if he finds himself questioning some fundamentals, will grow frightened rather than excited, will grow more careful rather than more reckless, will encourage the faithful to look away, not to draw near.

If a man, for instance, suddenly “gets” covenant theology and now believes in baptizing covenant children he does not now take up this holy cause with the same zeal with which he defended the Baptist view just weeks before. A sober-minded man doesn’t, when he gives in to the biblical weight of Calvinism crusade for it just as he once crusaded against it. A sober-minded man instead thinks- “Wow. I once was so passionate about what I now know is error. Perhaps I ought not to lay hands on myself and become webmaster of www.don’t-listen-to-old-me-listen-to-new-me.com.”

One need not be the theology wonk to fail here. Neither does one need to be or aspire to be an elder to heed the call to sobriety of mind. Those who follow theology wonks are likewise not sober-minded. They are instead drinking a dangerous brew. If you are following someone who gives you intellectual whiplash, you would be wise to get off that bus. If your local guru is telling you about all the exciting things he saw on the other side of the Tiber, walk away. He leads sheep to slaughter, not to green pastures. It makes no difference whether it be sensual or intellectual delights. Only fools heed the call of the seductress. Her paths lead to death. Wisdom, on the other hand, is sober and steady. Heed her.

Posted in Apostles' Creed, Bible Study, Devil's Arsenal, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, RC Sproul JR, theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Romans Study Tonight, Ch. 13, part the second

Posted on May 6, 2024 by RC

Tonight we continue our look at the monumental, towering book of Romans. All are welcome to our home at 7 est, or you may join us for dinner at 6:15. We will also stream the study at Facebook, RC-Lisa Sproul. We hope you’ll join us.

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How can we disarm those we are witnessing to?

Posted on May 6, 2024 by RC

When the believer interacts with an unbeliever, seeking to share the good news of Jesus Christ, we have one great advantage- we’ve read their mail. That is, before the conversation even begins we know the unbeliever already knows God exists, and that they are under His judgment. This unpleasant truth they seek to suppress. But we know it’s there. We’ve read Romans 1. We know their objections are insincere smokescreens.

We don’t, however, announce our inside knowledge. Such only makes them more defensive. Instead we use it to their advantage. We can chip away at their bulwark before we even begin to make our case. I’d suggest that for most unbelievers the foundation of that bulwark consists of two “truths.” The unbeliever believes the believer is first, not as smart as your average bear and second, more mean than your average snake.

What if, when we approach the unbeliever, we seek to bring doubt on those two gratuitous conclusions? We start by adopting a position of humility about ourselves. We are not telling the unbeliever how they can be good like we are. We are instead telling them about the one good man redeemed bad people like us. We acknowledge what is already obvious to everyone around us, that we not only were sinners before but we, even as saints, continue to struggle with sin. We rejoice that in Christ we are deemed righteous, and beloved of our Father, as are all who repent and believe.

With all due humility we also strike at the second part of that foundation, the premise that believers are stupid and unbelievers smart. Here our advantage is that this premise is only half true. We believers are stupid, but no stupider than anyone else. Our stupidity, like everyone else’s, flows out of our sin. We all face the temptation to believe what we want to believe, not what is obviously true.

The unbeliever, for instance, likely embraces the creed of western civilization- there is no such thing as objective truth. The problem is, going back to Romans 1, they already know this truth isn’t true, and, ironically, if it is true, then it’s not true. This epistemological bedrock is self-referentially absurd. It contradicts itself. If it’s true, it’s false. If it’s false, it’s false.

The unbeliever knows there is truth, even when he denies it. That he is engaged in the argument with you is all the proof you need. He’s trying to persuade you that “his” “truth” is the real truth and “your” “truth” is false. Don’t, though it can be hard not to, embarrass him. Acknowledge that you too have been known to embrace some pretty silly ideas, that you too are sometimes mislead by your own emotions. However stupid we may be, truth is knowable. And he knows that.

We haven’t yet come to the place for explaining or defending God’s existence, the Bible as truth, Jesus as God our Savior. What we have done, however, is prepare the way. We have made low every mountain and raised up every valley. We have been John the Forerunner. That is a good start.

Posted in 10 Commandments, apologetics, Ask RC, Biblical Doctrines, Devil's Arsenal, grace, logic, philosophy, post-modernism, preaching, RC Sproul JR, repentance, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Hard Book

Posted on May 3, 2024 by RC

There are at least two different kinds of hard sayings in the Bible. On the one hand, there are texts that are just plain terribly hard to understand— texts to which we respond, “What in the world could that mean?” Peter himself acknowledged that Paul was often difficult to grasp (2 Peter 3:16). On the other hand, there are texts that are not at all hard to understand but that are hard to submit to— texts to which we respond, “This text couldn’t possibly mean what it says, could it?” See the disciples wrestling over Jesus’ saying about rich men and needle eyes.

Among the many snippets of wisdom I remember learning from my father was this one— when you are reading in your Bible and you come across a text that troubles you, that doesn’t quite sit right with you, don’t move on while saying to yourself, “All the Bible is helpful. I’ll just move on to something else helpful.” Instead, he encouraged, slow down, set up camp, and dig in. It is these texts that are most needful for us. Where we are in tension with the Word of God is just where we need to change, for His Word is always right.

Which brings me to my caveat about “hard sayings.” The truth of the matter is that the Bible is a hard book. It does not merely contain hard sayings—what it says is hard from beginning to end. It calls us to absolute and total obedience to the God who made us and made the world we live in. It then exposes our utter failure to obey. Indeed, it recounts the history of God’s people so that we might see our own failure in theirs. It shows us in Jesus what we are supposed to be, and then it shows us killing Him for being what we are supposed to be. It shows the Father pouring out His wrath on Jesus, the wrath we earned with our own sins. It calls us to acknowledge our sin, to turn from it to Him. And then again calls us to obey all that He commands.

If we have been reborn, we are stuck with all of this. The Bible, that book that is in part and in whole hard, is His Word. We, unlike those outside the kingdom, are not free to deny that it is true. But we are, like those outside the kingdom, made uncomfortable by it. What we do with the Bible is less denying that it is true, and more denying that it speaks. Our skepticism doesn’t defy God’s Word; it mutes it. We take the shocking demand for obedience and turn it into an ethic soft enough that we are capable of keeping it.

Perhaps more important, our ethic is soft enough that our unbelieving friends won’t complain. We remove not just the offense of the gospel, but the offense of the law.
It is, of course, fear that drives our weakness. We don’t want to lose our social standing. We don’t want to trouble our own consciences. We don’t want to rock the boat of our well-ordered lives.

Jesus, however, gives this hard saying to us: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Note how we soften this terrifying command. First, we turn the kingdom of God into something invisible and otherworldly. If the kingdom is invisible, or in a distant future, there is no reason I can’t at least appear to be normal to the watching world. Seeking the kingdom— this radical call to set aside our own agendas, this radical call to be set apart from the kingdom of this world— becomes vague and empty.

But we are also told to seek His righteousness. We can, however, dial down the dread even on this command. We begin by defining righteousness down to a bland niceness that, again, even the world approves of. Indeed, we are tempted to take all of the Bible’s commands and reduce them down to “be nice, like the Jesus that the world believes in and loves.” Jesus, however, the real Jesus, was and is hated by the world, and He promised us that as we are like Him, we too will be so hated. And we end by turning the glorious gospel truth that we receive by faith, His righteousness, into a soft pillow to loosen us from the demands of the law. We do receive His righteousness by faith. This, however, grounds, rather than replaces, our call to become more obedient to His law.

We are called to take up not just His cross, but ours, to embrace not just His shame but our own. The hard truth is that the Bible tells us that we are called to hard lives, to be hated by the world and to walk the via dolorosa. If we are not crying out for His mercy and His strength, we may just be on the wrong road.

Posted in 10 Commandments, Bible Study, Biblical Doctrines, hermeneutics, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, RC Sproul, RC Sproul JR, repentance, theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Clickety Do Daw

Posted on May 2, 2024 by RC

One of the troubles with inward sins is that they are inward. (The other trouble is that they are sins.) With inward sins, those we cannot measure objectively, it is all too easy to claim we have them whipped. When I covet my neighbor’s car, no alarm goes off. When you hate your brother without just cause, no one calls 911. That’s why it’s so easy to pretend we’ve mastered what has actually mastered us.

We not only pat ourselves on the back for having won these invisible battles, but we all get together and mock those losers that we assume are failing. Everyone knows that social media gives us the opportunity to present ourselves in our best light. Everyone knows that people tout their victories rather than their defeats. Everyone assumes that this is everyone else, when it’s really everyone. As one wise comic put it, “You’re not stuck in traffic. You are traffic.”

“Man pleasing” is another of those internal sins that are invisible, unless they reach the most obnoxious extreme. One need not be an obsequious lickspittle to like it when people think your vocabulary level proves your high intelligence level. All one has to do, like me, is look for the clicks, the likes, and the shares. All one has to do is keep an ear out for notifications, harbingers of tiny little dopamine releases.

I may belong to the most ironic and pathetic class of man pleasers. Some of us wouldn’t think of softening a position to maintain respectability. Some of us would never seek out gentle words to communicate hard truths. No, we’re the ones who proudly earn the reputation of being prophetic, bold, uncompromising. We hunger for the most precious of accolades, entrance into the Untouched by the Approval of Men Hall of Fame. We want people, lots of people, to think we don’t care what people think.

The problem isn’t the hunger, but its object. That is, we only begin to win this battle when we seek satisfaction in the love of our heavenly Father. Strangers on the internet cannot fill that yawning belly, no matter what our analytics report. We will never be truly alive until we are dead to ourselves. The trouble with our solution, as with so many solutions, is getting there is so much easier said than done.

It is a good thing to want to do great things for the kingdom. It is a bad thing to want to be great in the kingdom. It is a difficult thing to tell these two apart. We get there, I suspect, when our Father does a good thing in us. We need His grace to put to death in us our hunger for the approval of men. We need to implore our Father to bless us in this way, knowing that He is our good Father who loves us, who gives us good gifts. He has shown His love for us, not by growing our reach, or building our brand but by hiding us under the shadow of the cross.

Posted in 10 Commandments, Biblical Doctrines, Big Eva, church, cyberspace, Devil's Arsenal, ethics, grace, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, prayer, RC Sproul JR, repentance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This Week’s Romans Study- Ch. 13, God & Government

Posted on May 1, 2024 by RC

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Special Guest Doreen Virtue; The Simple Gospel & More

Posted on May 1, 2024 by RC

This week’s Jesus Changes Everything Podcast

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Fear God and Obey

Posted on April 30, 2024 by RC

Ecclesiastes is one of the most difficult books in all the Bible. One key reason is that it is inverted. Much of it is an extended ad hominem argument. By ad hominem I don’t mean that Solomon is insulting his intellectual opponents. Rather he is embracing, hypothetically, an errant worldview, and then showing forth the necessary implications of that worldview. When Solomon says “Vanity of vanity, all is vanity” he is not saying that all is vanity. Rather he is saying that if there is nothing beyond the sun, if this world that we perceive with our senses is all that there is, then all would be vanity.

The bulk of the book is taken up with various explorations of attempts to find meaning under the sun. He looks at earthly wisdom, at pleasure, at work, at success. And each one dies a swift and brutal death when confronted with… death. If there is nothing beyond the here and now, there is no meaning in the here and now. Solomon looks unflinchingly into the empty chasm of meaninglessness and returns to tell us the horror of what he saw.

He does not, however, leave us there. Having left the world of matter and energy in a heap of dust he turns to remind his reader that there is meaning, and that there is direction. He finally tells us, truthfully, the sum of the matter- “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). After all the complications, after the hard work of tearing down our idols, Solomon brings us right back to the most simple of truths, to the direct, plain, eminently understandable calling of God on our lives- we are to fear Him and obey all that He commands.

It would be easy to find this conclusion anti-climactic. Of course we are to fear God and obey all that He commands. Every child knows that. There’s no disputing it. But what about… We may be willing to confess that this is our default position. The trouble is we think there’s a switch, and that sometimes circumstances cause us to flip it. Yes, fear God. Obey God. But if they threaten your livelihood, if they see you as a second-class citizen, if hardship comes, if this or if that, then it gets complicated. Then we have to figure out how to get what we want. God understands. He wouldn’t want us to be miserable and overrun.

Reformation happens not when we embrace a complicated, man-made strategy, but when we do the simple and obvious, when we fear God and obey Him. Consider the Great Reformer. When Martin Luther spent the night in his cell praying over his second appearance at the Diet of Worms his prayer was as simple as it was powerful. He did not ask for God to show him a way out. He asked God to recognize that the battle was His. Luther reminded himself that the end was in God’s hand, that all he had to do was fear God and obey. It is still true for all of us. It is the sum of the matter.

Posted in Biblical Doctrines, ethics, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, RC Sproul JR, Reformation, Theses | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments