There has been a dust-up or two this week among social media Christians. Typically, it is wise to ignore such dust-ups and avoid social media Christianity altogether. But fools rush in… More on foolishness below.

In one controversy a well-known evangelical pastor preached a sermon where he told the story of visiting an older and wiser pastor whose ministry had been long and faithful. The older pastor was near death, and the younger pastor asked him about his Bible reading and his prayer life in his final days, seeking an assurance that it was “well with his soul” as he approached death. “Really?” critics of the inquisitor asked. “Will the old saint be welcomed into glory based on his Bible study and prayer habits in the final days of his life?”  Too much law and too little grace, the critics argued.

In the other (of many such) online fight, the token evangelical columnist for the New York Times defended the progressive and theologically heterodox candidate for senator from Texas, arguing that he “acts” more Christian than many “MAGA Christians.”  To be sure, the candidate seems nicer and more polite than many of his adversaries. But should we really say that Gabriel’s announcement of the incarnation and Mary’s faithful response to it are a proof-text for a woman’s right to have an abortion?

Foolishly I will jump into the muck. First, speaking of foolishness, I must say that I find both the questions the younger pastor asked the older pastor and the Biblical exegesis of the seminarian running for the senate in Texas to be foolish. Maybe the fruit of decades of ministry and life as a Christian offer more assurance of salvation than making sure your prayer list is up to date in the final hours of your life. Maybe it is a better practice to allow a biblical text to speak into our world rather than speaking our political views into a biblical text.

Among the social media Christians, those on the other side of the argument of the day are declared not to be Christians, surely not “true” Christians.

So, what is a Christian? Dare we ask the question? Is a Christian one who maintains the habits of strict spiritual discipline to the end? (And one who asks foolish questions of a dying saint?) Is a Christian one who rightly interprets the Scriptures? (And one who avoids foolish proof-texting?)

Or is a Christian simply the one who claims the name regardless of what they believe?

I will avoid the temptation to categorize Christians as “true” or not. I can no more determine if one is a “true Christian” than I can determine if one is a “true fan” or a “true patriot.” Jesus tells us that not all who say, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom (Matthew 7:21). John Calvin reminds us that the determination of saving faith is God’s alone to make, and that those who follow Christ should assume that all who call on his name are among the elect even though we see the “visible church” to be filled with “many ambitious, greedy, envious persons, evil speakers, and some of quite unclean life.” (Institutes IV.1.7).

So, what is a Christian? Or maybe we should ask, “Who is a Christian?” Was the old pastor (or his inquisitor) a Christian? Is the candidate for the senate (or his evangelical defender) a Christian?

The internet warriors offer a variety of definitive answers to the question of whether this preacher or that candidate is a Christian. I have the right and authority, however, only to add my provisional “yes” to the question and leave the final answer to Jesus. I won’t say – I can’t say – that they are “true” Christians, but I will say they may be foolish Christians. As am I. Fortunately, foolishness is not a disqualifying trait for Christians (1 Corinthians 1:20-25).

Should we, then, even ask the question, “What or who is a Christian?”  I think so. Beginning with John 3:16 we might say that a Christian is one who believes in the Son sent by the loving Father. With Paul we might add that a Christian is one who trusts that Jesus Christ entered the world to save sinners (1Timothy 1:15). Yes, in the present and at the end the Christian confesses that “Jesus Christ is Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:3, Philippians 2:11).

For now, I think that is sufficient.

Personally, I would add concurrence with the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds as measures of historical orthodoxy – and I hold to the importance of such orthodoxy. And, yes, living out Jesus’ lordship involves doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). The Christian life includes praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and submission to Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Christians respect life as given by God alone (Psalm 139:13-16). Being a Christian sends us to welcome the stranger and feed the hungry (Matthew 25:41-46).

But neither prayer nor Bible reading, neither defense of life from beginning to end nor social advocacy for the stranger and the hungry (all very good things!) make us Christians. Those who believe in the Son sent in the Father’s love are the ones who inherit eternal life. At the end of all things, every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.

Perhaps foolishly, I believe the columnist and the candidate, the pastors young and old, are fellow Christians. Until Jesus says otherwise.

In June of 1967 I was just finishing my sophomore year of high school and was already something of a news junkie. I remember well watching with eager fascination the news reports coming from the Middle East during what would come to be known as the Six-Day War between Israel and a consortium of Arab states. I’d read the latest stories from the front each morning in the San Diego Union and then watched each evening as Walter Cronkite moved model tanks and aircraft across a 3-D map of the region.

The war was over in six days, and we knew the good guys had won.

As we come to the sixth day of the war against Iran, we have no such sure knowledge. Some wonder who the good guys might be in this conflict, and in our wired world there is no Walter Cronkite whose reporting we believe to be implicitly true. For many of us, the conflict and our view of it have become a litmus test of other partisan sensibilities – or insensibilities.

An accurate assessment, let alone understanding, of what is happening is shrouded in the fog of war, to use an often-repeated phrase. The New York Times tells us “fog of war” has “come to be used by military experts to describe the often imperfect information that officers and troops must process in the thick of battle.”

The fog is thick today. Continue reading →

Many of us are aware of last week’s tragic news of the deadly avalanche in the California’s Sierra Nevada not far from Lake Tahoe.

The heart-rending story reminded me of the much happier story from 40+ years ago when Becky and I and a group of good friends set off on cross-country skis from Badger Pass in Yosemite National Park for a couple of days at Ostrander Ski Hut, ten miles and 3,000 feet in elevation gain away.  By the time we reached Ostrander, we, too, were caught in a winter blizzard and our two-day trip ended up being a four-day trip. We weathered the storm in the protection of the old stone hut and by the time we skied out through three feet of new snow, the sky was blue and the sun was bright.

Good times and a story we have told often. On that trip and other wilderness expeditions, one of our friends, who was also our leader, made wise decisions – at Ostrander to hunker down, and on other expeditions to turn back. I thank God for his wisdom. Continue reading →

Becky and I are planning a return trip to Brazil this spring and we are thrilled to be able to be a part of the thirtieth anniversary celebration at Igreja Presbiteriana no Jardim América! But the getting-there part of the trip can be a bit of a downside. Even with good connections, a flight from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is 22 hours, 13 of those hours sitting on a plane – 10 hours overnight from Atlanta to São Paulo. I suppose we could be flying to New Zealand, but by any count, 10 hours is a long time on an airplane squeezed into an economy class seat. Well worth it, however. So I found a good itinerary at a decent price and booked our seats.

A couple of weeks after confirming our reservations, the airline began to tempt us with upgrades to premium economy and even first class. At first the price of the upgrades was ridiculously high and even the thought of being comfortable for those 13 hours was not enough to click “buy.”

But then it appeared. An upgrade to first class that was cheaper than the upgrade to premium economy. I checked the travel blogs and on a per hour or per mile basis, the price was deemed exceptionally good. I booked it and began to dream about that glass of champagne as we boarded our flight and ten hours in a lie-flat seat. Continue reading →

Our friends are concerned about raising their young children in the digital world, particularly the world of artificial intelligence. Yes, we know that AI is going to make all of us rich and heal every disease, but what if there is a downside? What if artificial intelligence, fake knowledge, makes us less human? What if it obscures the image of God inherent in our creation?

Since talking with our friends about AI a couple of months ago, it seems like I see an AI-related news story or commentary almost every day.

My curiosity was piqued, then, when I saw this Wall Street Journal headline earlier this week: Meet the One Woman Anthropic Trusts to Teach AI Morals

The column begins by telling us that the one woman “knew from the age of 14 that she wanted to teach philosophy. What she didn’t know then was that her only pupil would be an artificial-intelligence chatbot named Claude.

“As the resident philosopher of the tech company Anthropic, (she) spends her days learning Claude’s reasoning patterns and talking to the AI model, building its personality and addressing its misfires with prompts that can run longer than 100 pages. The aim is to endow Claude with a sense of morality—a digital soul that guides the millions of conversations it has with people every week.”

There is no such thing as a digital soul and there cannot be such a thing. Continue reading →