Technological distractions

John Piper is famous for, among other things, not owning a TV. He's written a little bit on it, and the trend seems to be catching on. One of the Cathy brothers, bringers of the Chick-Fil-A, aka heaven on earth, wrote a nice post that is probably better said than anything I could ever hope to say: 


http://www.cathyfamily.com/BlogPost.aspx?post=746


"We have all been given the same amount of time in every day: 24 hours. That's 168 hours each week. Nobody gets more or less. The only difference we all have is how we choose to use it. Ephesians 5:15-17 states: "Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

I would never try to tell anyone what God's will for their life is, but I have to believe that our potential to impact the world for Him greatly increases when we're not being couch potatoes!"

I did a short study on that phrase Ephesians uses "making the best use." It turns out what the ESV turns into a phrase (and probably rightly so) is a single word in Greek, ex-agorazw. You probably heard about the Greek Agora in history class, it was just the marketplace in the city, where you bought things. So to "ex"-buy something is literally to buy back; someone took it from you and you are going to go and re-buy it. 

You may already see where this word study is going: the normal word to express physical or spiritual redemption has to do with a loosening or an untying (Jeremiah 15:20 tells us that God will loose/redeem Israel from the grasp of the ruthless); however, in Galatians 3 and 4 Paul instead uses this word ex-agorazw of Jesus' taking us out from the curse of the law. When the law was given, the Hebrews were trapped in it, serving the law. Jesus came and bought us out from the law; instead of being mastered by the rituals, we are now adopted as sons, heirs to God's throne (Galatians 4:3-5).

Ephesians 5 turns a similar phrase to how we as believers and sons of God should operate with time. The days are evil, the devil still has dominion over nearly everything around us (Eph 2:1-3), but we have been bought out from this world into God's kingdom and we are now on His time. We should be focusing on giving light to the world, not becoming partners with the darkness.

Does this mean we are sinning when we watch TV, when we daddle on blogs (even blogs that talk about the Bible!), or when we just lounge around? I don't think so, but it does mean I am going to aim to be much more intentional with my time, to buy it back from the world's desires and instead seek to use it for good and God's glory. Even while in seminary, where it seems most of my free time (if I want to pass my courses and move on) is devoted to theological education that I know is so good for me, I realize it is still so easy to waste the precious resources I have been given. Time is a very valuable gift from God - may I always make the best use of it as the Lord wills.

Parallel structure in Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:1-10 had long been a nice "power" passage for me, but it wasn't until about the 95th read through/study of it a few months ago that I noticed a nice parallelism in Paul's writing (also, I have a hard time remembering how to spell words with a mix match of single and double consonants. parralel? paralell? parrallell? accomodate? accooomadayteee?).

In verses 1-3, we have these indictments of we used to be before Christ:

• Dead through trespasses and sins. The word for dead is νεκρος - you are spiritually without a pulse. Grammatically I like to point out that this verse still applies even if you throw out half the Bible and don't believe in original sin; it's because of our individual sins we are dead, not because we are dead, therefore we sin. The law indicts us all.
• Following the course of this world, the prince of the air, ie, the devil. Notice Paul says this is an indictment of "all", even himself.
• Children of wrath. This is pretty intense, we were born dead, and into the family of wrath.

But then in one of Paul's usual epic, divine contrasts, "but God" steps in verse 4 and flips everything:

• Even while we were dead, God made us alive. I call grace the "spiritual defibrillator." You can't yell "clear" and throw on the pads yourself when your heart's stopped, God did that for you.
• Raised up with Christ and seated in the heavenlies - this is an interesting phrase which we can ponder the meaning of, but it stands directly opposite our previous position; instead of following this world and the prince of the "air," we now follow Christ who is in the heavenly places.
• We will be shown the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness, no longer bearing God's wrath. Praise Him who gives such grace to those who do not deserve it!

After a transitional statement about our workmanship and our purpose in God (v8-10), Paul presents another amazing study in contrast about the Gentiles place in Christ. He does not the inclusive "we" in this section since he was born into Judaism, but I think it's safe in most theological circles to assume that Jews post-Christ, unless they make a personal decision for Jesus, are no longer in the family (even if the Israelite nation is one day brought back to prominence in God's kingdom, its members will all be Christian), so this passage now applies equally well to all present day men and women.

We start with the before, v11-12:

• Separated from Christ.
• Alienated from the nation of Israel (God's chosen kingdom), strangers to the covenant.
• Having no hope, without God (literally, atheist).

And, the amazing after, v13 and following:

• Brought near. What brought us near? (Singing) "Nothing but the blood of Jesus."
• In peace, made us all one; the "dividing wall" is referring to the inability of Gentiles to enter the sacred parts of the temple in Jerusalem. We are now fellow citizens and saints in the household/body/building/temple of God.
• We have access now in one Spirit to the Father, through Jesus. What an amazing work of the Trinity!