Thoughts for Consideration

Brian Olson Theology

Historic Evangelicalism

I recently taught a a series on “What is an Evangelical?” It was an eye opening experience. There are, of course, many statements out there on what it means to be evangelical. The most notable include “An Evangelical Manifesto” and The Gospel Coalition’s “Foundational Documents.” Now both of these have writers and/or supporters for whom I have great respect. The problem is that we still do not have a clear definition of what it means to be “evangelical.” It becomes even more confusing when we add into this the term as it is commonly used today.

So what does evangelical really mean? Evangelical is a term that is thrown around today as much in the media as in the church. It is, in point of fact, a terms that is as common today as “White House.” Yet, while there is no question what is meant when people refer to the “White House,” evangelical is not so clear, despite being in the public vernacular for the last 30 years.

The presidential election of 1976 placed “Evangelicalism” at the center stage as both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter readily identified themselves as born-again evangelicals. America sat up and said, “evan-what?” This had such an impact that Time Magazine declared 1977, following the election, the “Year of the Evangelical.” Since then the battle has been on to define evangelicalism.

What I have found is that we have mistakenly come to identify “evangelical” with a political position, most often conservative Republican. (Understand that I am of this political persuasion but have come to believe it is not a defining characteristic of being evangelical.) I have also found that much of what the media refers to as evangelical today, is not truly evangelical. As a result of my study, I have come to a conclusion that there are 10 of what I refer to as “Historically Essential Components of Evangelicalism.” It is these essentials that I use to define “Historic Evangelicalism.” These ten essentials are:

Historically Essential Components of Evangelicalism

    1. Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone)
      1. The perspicuity of scripture
    2. Sola Fide (Justification by faith alone )
    3. Charitable handling of theological conflicts
    4. Priesthood of all believers
    5. Experiential heart
    6. Desire for Holiness
    7. Emphasis on the role of holistic worship
    8. Affirm the doctrines of historic orthodoxy
    9. Passion for missions
    10. Concern for the poor and disadvantaged

It is these 10 point I refer to when I use the term, “Historic Evangelicalism.” 

Brian Olson Devotional

New Year’s Resolutions


I have been pondering the idea of New Years resolutions. They have a long history going back to the early Roman Empire and continuing though today as detailed in the article “Resolutions Worth Keeping” by Chris Armstrong, found in Christian History magazine.

Now if we are all honest, at some point in our lives we have probably taken part in making New Year’s resolutions. These resolutions often include such things as loosing weight, exercising more, eating healthier, spending time with family and friends and being nicer to people.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with these resolutions. But how do our resolutions usually work out. If we chooses to loose weight, odds are we binge on food through December 31 under the idea that we will suddenly change on January 1. And what happens after January 1. We may do well for a day, for a week or even a little longer, but then comes that day when it slips our mind and without thinking we eat that thing we shouldn’t have. We then see ourselves as having failed. Often we say, well, since I have already eaten this, I will just take the rest of the day off and start up again tomorrow. We continue this way for a while, slipping here or there and restarting each time until we finally say, “what’s the point?” “I keep stumbling.” So we end out pitching the whole resolution.

So what is the problem. First we treat January 1 as though it has some kind of magical powers. We think we can do whatever up until midnight and then we will magically gain the ability to resist what we have been indulging in. This is like deciding that we are going run a marathon without having prepared and trained for it. It is not just the date or even our decision that will make the difference, but we must also change our habits and this is something that is not done over night. It takes time. We can not realistically think that we are going to change overnight, even if it is a “New Year.”

Second, we to quickly see a stumble as a failure and give up. But stumbling is not a failure, it is a chance to grow. It is from these experiences that we better learn to deal with temptations and bad habits. How do we grow, by correcting the error immediately. When we say, well I will continue this for the rest of the day and start again tomorrow, we are actually rewarding our stumbling, making it easier and easier each time we stumble to just let it slide. Soon it even becomes easy to justify a conscience decision to violate our resolution. We need to realize that stumbling only becomes failure when we do not pick ourselves back up and continue on.

It is the same way with the sin in our lives. We live a life indulging in our personal sins (over eating, drunkenness, pornography, sexual sins, etc.) and then think we can just put these things behind us the day we make a commitment to God that we are going to change. (Yes, I have heard the stories of the life changing conversions. The heroin addict who came to faith and the addiction was miraculously cured. I also believe that while this can happen, it is the exception and not the rule.) We need to accept that change is going to be a process and that it may take a long time. There is no magic pill that will make it all go away overnight. There will be times that we stumble, but what do we do with those stumblings? Do we make excuses? Do we use it as an opportunity to indulge? Or do we correct the behavior immediately? Do we pick ourselves up and move on?

You see, a resolution is not a one time thing. It is an ongoing commitment. In a world were we want, and to often get, things instantly, we need to slow down and accept that things take time. That changes will not just happen, but rather that we will need to work for them.

But remember this, we do not need to do this alone. We find accountability and support in friends and family. And for those of us who know Jesus as our personal Savior, we find our strength in him alone.

So as you take time to make your resolutions, think about those things that really matter. Think about those things that will not only improve your life, but improve your relationship with God as well as others. And realize that you are setting out on a journey that may well last the rest of your life.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”
I Corinthians 10:31

Brian Olson Community, Political

It’s Not Just a Right, It’s Not Just a Privilege, It’s a Responsibility – Voting

There are many traditions and rules around elections that most of us do not understand. Did you know that the Democratic donkey was originally used as an attack on Andrew Jackson, the Democratic candidate in the 1828 election. Did you know that the Republican elephant was taken from a passing reference in an 1874 cartoon in Harper’s Weekly. Did you know that the elections were set in November because this allowed the harvest to be completed, freeing the mostly agrarian society to vote. Did you know that Tuesday was chosen because Monday was not considered reasonable since it would require many people to begin travel on Sunday, conflicting with Sunday worship. Did you know that the first Tuesday, after the first Monday was chosen to avoid November 1 because 1) it was All Saints Day and 2) many business owners did their books on the fist of the month.

These are all interesting and perhaps even fascinating facts. But on a more serious note, American Citizens have been granted an amazing privilege that is not found everywhere in the world. That privilege is the right to have a voice in deciding our leaders. Historically, however, Americans have not met this challenge as they should. According to the Federal Election Commission, voter turnout for the presidential election years between 1960 & 2004 ranged from 49.1% – 63.1%. This means that two-fifth to one-half of the eligible voters failed to accept this responsibility. Voting is not just a right, it is not just a privilege, it is a responsibility.

“Taken as individuals, we are merely citizens like any other. Taken together as part of the body of the people, we are God’s anointed in this land. The people of this country are chosen out like David was chosen, like Solomon was chosen, to shape the destiny, by God’s providence, of this land. And as they stood before God to answer for their responsibility, so we stand before Him to answer for ours.” Alan Keyes, March 2000

Election Day is November 4. Please take the time to exercise your right and accept the responsibility that you have been given.

VOTE!

Brian Olson Community, Devotional, Servanthood

A Servant’s Heart.

 

Sarah Palin in her acceptance speech as the Vice-Presidential nominee for the Republican party mention that those going to Washington need a servant’s heart. This lead me back to a something I wrote up about a year ago when I was asked to come up with a definition of Servant Leadership as well as to a sermon I preached a couple weeks ago on Philipians 2 entitled “The Attitude of Servanthood.”
Philippians 2: 3 – 8.
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Here the apostle Paul addresses a self serving attitude that encroached in the church. I fin that he clearly lays out what a servant leader and a servant’s heart looks like. He builds this image for us around the example presented to us by Jesus. After reading through this, I am left with five clear cut criteria for servant leadership.
1) A Servant Leader does not seek his/her own glory (v 3)
– Man is a selfish being and likes to get what he believes he deserves. Most of us are willing to do things for others if it means we will get something in return. We ask ourselves, “What is in it for me?” Even the story of Androcles and the Lion teaches us to do something nice, because we never know when it will come back to us. It is further exemplified in the traditions of Karma where we are told that if we do good things, then it builds up a store that will come back to us in kind. The opposite is also shown that if we do bad things, it also builds a store that will come back to us in kind. The popular TV show “My Name is Earl” is built around this concept. In fact, Karma seems to have replaced the Golden Rule’ “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Now at face value, you may ask, isn’t this teaching the same thing, but they do not. While Karma says do good things so you can get good things back, Jesus never said in the Golden Rule, “Do unto others and they will do the same unto you.” Now I understand that it is our natural desire to get a “return on our investment” whether that is receiving praise, recognition and even reward. The truth is everyone needs a pat on the back once in a while, but the question to ask is, “Does he/she do the job to get the pat on the back?” Jesus told the audience Matthew 6 that we are not to do our acts of righteousness for people to see. When we do, we have already received our reward. A servant leader does not do actions to receive recognition, they do their actions simply because it is what should be and needs to be done.
2) A Servant Leader places the needs of other ahead of his/her own (v 4)
– We have our plans and desire for what we want and want to accomplish. Society tells us to strive for those goals no matter the cost. The Nike slogan, “Just Do It” embrace this self serving, self gratifying desire within us. A servant leader, however, recognizes that sometime their personal goals and the greater mission are in conflict. Sometimes, for the greater good, we must forgo our own pleasures and rewars. A servant leader chooses to seeks the greater mission, even if it means setting aside personal goals to set the goals of someone else as the priority
3) A Servant Leader genuinely cares about other(v 4)
– Sometime, out of misplaced guilt or obligation we may be able to getpast our own selfishness long enough to help a person in need. But are we doing it because we care about that person or simply to give us the feeling that we have done something. Do we put our hearts into our actions or do we simply go through the motions. A Servant leader must have the right attitude with which they serve. Are their actions accompanied by constant grumbling about what they have given up and how little recognition they get? If so the attitude is missing. A servant leader does not place others ahead simply out of obligation, but because he genuinely cares about other people.
4) A Servant Leader does not see himself/herself as being too good for a job (vv 6-7) and is willing to take on the most humble/humiliating of task for the greater mission (v 8)
– We human beings are a prideful lot. We often think more highly of ourselves than we ought. It is very easy for us to see some jobs as being “beneath us.” We say, “I want to serve, but you don’t really expect me to do that?” A servant leaders sees how each part is crucial to the mission and realizes that no job is unimportant.
– Are we willing to take on those jobs that will make us ridiculed or even cause people to avoid us? A servant leader is willing to take on not only jobs that do not bring glory, but those that may cause other to look upon him/her with disdain, for the sake of the greater mission.
5) A Servant Leader find strength through a personal relationship with Christ. (v 13)
-While we can go through the motions and can think of other, it is only through the indwelling of the Spirit and the work of God in our lives that we can truly find the joy and strength to continue in service. An attitude of servant hood grows from a relationship with Christ.
Governor Palin is right. Those who go to Washington, should go with a servant’s heart, not seeking their own glory, but seeking the best for America. So, each of us must approach our lives, not seeking our own glory, but seeking to serve a world in need.
Brian Olson Political, Servanthood

God, Give Us Men!

Recently I have been contemplating the poem “God, give us men!” by Josiah Gilbert Holland.

GOD, give us men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking;
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.

It is election year, and that means everywhere you turn there are people telling you what this country needs and who is the person to give it. The “who” I will not say at this time. The what is leadership. The what is a servants heart. The what is “Men.”

What do I mean by “Men.” I intend no sexist implications in the use of my words. Rather I use the term “men” as juxtaposed to mice. These truths apply to all human kind. So what are “Men?” They are those who will stand for what is right, even if it means standing alone. They are those who are not for sale or out for their own gain. They are those who possess their own convictions and are not swayed by public opinion. They are those who place the needs of others ahead of their own. They are those of integrity, who live their life the same in the public eye and their private refuge.

It is a sorry thing, when we look at the world around us and question if such men exist. But before we look to the world, we need to look in the mirror. How do we live our lives? Are we seeking our own, or are we standing for what is right? Do we go with the crowd, or do we follow our convictions? Are we the same when we are alone as we are when with others? How can we expect to find what we are looking for in the world, when we cannot find it in ourselves? Where do we find these “men”? They must come from us.

But we human beings are a selfish lot. It is our nature to seek our own. It is our nature to follow the easy path and simply fit in. If this is the case, then how do we find the “men” our country needs. How do we find the “men” that Holland calls for?

Holland has said it from the very beginning: “GOD, give us men!” It is God alone who can raise up men from such selfish, lazy people. Alone, we are lost, but with God, as the apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:13, we can say “I can do all things through Him who give me strength.”

Who are these “men?” They are men of God. A fact not lost on the founding fathers. John Adams said, “Our Constitution was designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” It is through God alone that we can set ourselves to the side and seek what is best for others.

I must agree with the words of John Adams, and have often said that the entire success of a democratic republic is based on Philippians 2:4 ” Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Only when people place others before themselves can democracy work. When “men” begin to look first to themselves, if not only to thenselves, democracy will fail.

So in my prayer that I cry out is for God to raise up “men”. Men of God, who seek not their own interest, but the interest others. Men whose strength is found in God alone. Men who humbly follow God wherever He may lead.

GOD, give us men!

Brian Olson Theology

Face Full of Snow


The other day, after having turned down a ministry possibility, I was led to consider the significance of following God’s leading. Many times I have heard people quote Jeremiah 29:11, ““I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”” This bring them great comfort, as it does me. God has laid out a course for me to follow. But all to often people get caught up with the idea that as long as they are following the path God has laid out, everything will go well. Last time I checked, God never said follow me and your life will be perfect. I John 3:13 says “Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.” In short, expect to face difficulties. Sometimes, the more we are following in God steps the more difficulty we will face. As I considered this, the the image of a small child following his father through the snow drifts came to mind and it struck me:

I know that God walks the path before me, but like the child following his father in the winter, I occasionally get a face full of snow trying to walk in His foot steps.

The child knows that by following his father, he will get where he needs to be. But just like the father, God did not promise that there would not be obstacles in the way, only that if we followed him, he would get us where we need to be.

When that face full of snow comes, you have two choices. You can lie there in the snow and freeze, or you can pick yourself up, wipe off the snow and keep following.

Brian Olson Political, Theology

The Evolution of the Law of Evolution

A Federal Court has spoken, but does this settle the matter? One hundred years ago, the questions was hardly considered. The answer was simple; God, an intelligent designer, created life. But then something changed. One young teacher dared to challenge the status quo and a court case ensued. A court case immortalized in the play “Inherit the wind” and commonly referred to as the “Scopes Monkey Trials.” So the courts declared that chance evolution was a theory which deserved to be presented along with any other theory. And so it was settled, intelligent design and chance evolution would be taught as equal theories. But something went amiss.

Those who had stood in opposition to the Christian faith, the most notable supporters of intelligent design for the time, had found a way to explain the world with out having to fall back on a designer. The opportunity was seized and slowly, very slowly at first, chance evolution was given more time and weight in presentations. Academics in higher education were even more bold, as they began to prepare the next generation of teachers to the young. Presenting to them the “intelligence” in human reason that had determined the process of evolution in opposition to the simple-minded tradition of a designer, which had been blindly followed for centuries.
And so things changed. Slowly, bit by bit, the theory of chance evolution came to be presented as fact and replaced the myth of intelligent design. But something happened that the evolutionist had not planned on. Scientist who bucked the status quo. Scientist who put as much research into proving the need for an intelligent designer to explain the origins of life. Scientist who were willing to point out the fallacies and holes in chance evolution.
And so, almost one hundred years later, the two sides return to court. Again, a group of educators were willing to challenge the status quo and present chance evolution as a theory, not fact, and equally present intelligent design as a theory.
But the Federal court has spoken. Declaring that intelligent design has no place in the classroom. Declaring that intelligent design is nothing but a subversive attempt by Christians to force their teaching into the classroom along side evolution. Even with a hope of replacing fact with an ancient myth.
I am willing to give this Judge the benefit of the doubt. I am willing to believe he simply missed the point. That those supporting intelligent design, were not asking that chance evolution be removed from the classroom, but that it be taught, as the courts had originally intended, as a theory along side other theories. For that is what they are, theories. While we may be able to prove the supporting legs of various theories, none of the theories themselves can be proven. None of us was there. In fact, no matter which theory you support, no one was present to document the events. If no one was present, then to follow any theory is an equal matter of faith. Therefore, teaching both is not an attempt to usurp fact with myth, but to lay all the cards out for review.
No, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. For to do otherwise, is to see a much darker picture. A world where a man sits in judgment of faith and not of law. A world where open discussion and free thought are squelched and children are indoctrinated with views in opposition of the tradition of their families. A world where God has no place among the intelligent. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and pray that the Supreme Court will choose to review the case and see the truth.