Thoroughly Vetted Faith

Blind Faith (No. 35, 2008)

Everyone these days, from candidates for President and Vice-

President to judicial appointees to school teachers are subjected to

vetting, although almost no one had heard of the process a couple of

years ago. Now, everyone and everything must be thoroughly vetted

before any decision or action can proceed. Similar processes have been

occurring all along, but the term, vetting, seems to have

emerged as a word of the decade in recent years.

I was curious about where the term, vetting, came from.

Merriam-Webster reports that the first appearance of the word in print

occurred in 1891, so it is not just a recent invention of political

pundits or security operatives. Wikipedia explains that “‘to vet’ was

originally a horse-racing term, referring to the requirement that a

horse be checked for health and soundness by a

vet</strong>erinarian before being allowed to race.

Thus, it has taken the general meaning ‘to check.’” Vetting in

journalism is done by fact-checkers to assure that assertions made in

print are correct. Software is vetted during development to verify

that the code is error-free, and that the program performs according to

specifications. Stocks, bonds, and other financial securities are

vetted prior to committing capital to an investment. Intelligence

assets are vetted to determine their reliability and usefulness. An

employee may be vetted before a firm job offer is extended. And, of

course, candidates at all levels of political life should be thoroughly

vetted before they are selected for office. In each case, the subject

is evaluated for possible approval or acceptance.

Another plausible etymology for vetting proposes its

root as the Latin verb, vetare, “to forbid.” The contemporary

usage of vetting in this sense refers to thoroughly

investigating a subject and having an opportunity to veto a decision

before it is finalized. Although the notion corresponds well with many

applications of vetting , evidence is scant to support this derivation.

This etymology simply cannot be positively vetted!

Deciding to live as a follower of Jesus is a matter of utmost

importance. The New Testament says again and again that it is a life-

or-death (or eternal-life-or-death) matter. It is a decision that

should be thoroughly vetted. Part of the process is on our side,

deciding that the claims and promises of Christ are worthy of our total

commitment. The other side of the process belongs entirely to God,

who, alone, is in any position to measure our response to his

grace.

Vetting the claim of Christ on our lives draws on an abundant

supply of credible witnesses. Jesus, himself, offered complete

transparency for his disciples to vet him for faith. He told them

during a time of severe criticism from religious leaders opposing him,

” Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

The words I say are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his

work through me. {11} Just believe that I am in the Father and the

Father is in me. Or at least believe because of what you have seen me

do.” (John 14:10-11 NLT) Jesus appealed to the disciples’ first-hand

experiences of his words and deeds to authenticate who he was and why

he was worthy of their faith. Peter also cites Jesus’ public ministry

to vet him for the crowd at Pentecost: “People of Israel, listen! God

publicly endorsed Jesus of Nazareth by doing wonderful miracles,

wonders, and signs through him, as you well know…. This prophecy was

speaking of Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and we all are

witnesses of this…. So let it be clearly known by everyone in Israel

that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified to be both Lord and

Messiah!” (Acts 2:22, 32, 36 NLT) Other witnesses provide documentary

support and eyewitness accounts to verify Jesus’ qualification as Lord

and Savior. Paul submitted this report: ” I passed on to you what I

received, of which this was most important: that Christ died for our

sins, as the Scriptures say; {4} that he was buried and was raised to

life on the third day as the Scriptures say; {5} and that he was seen

by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. {6} After that, Jesus was

seen by more than five hundred of the believers at the same time. Most

of them are still living today, but some have died. {7} Then he was

seen by James and later by all the apostles. {8} Last of all he was

seen by me….” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8a NCV) The strongest vetting

sources are the people who know the subject best. John, the “Beloved

Disciple,” certainly was one of Jesus’ closest associates, and he

openly presents the facts of who Jesus was and the significance of who

he is: ” The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have

heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our

own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life. {2} This one who is

life from God was shown to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify

and announce to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with

the Father, and then he was shown to us. {3} We are telling you about

what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have

fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his

Son, Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:1-3 NLT) John’s more complete report is

available in the gospel that bears his name. Book after New Testament

book vets Jesus as the only one deserving our total commitment, as well

as detailing the cost-benefit analysis of surrendering our lives to

him.

We may remain tentative – some might say fickle – about our

commitment to Christ as we continue to vet him. Doubts and questions

may cloud our side of the vetting process. God’s side of the process,

however, is always crystal clear. His vetting of us is supremely

important, and only God does it with perfect justice, combined with

grace and love. God’s vetting of us is always for the purpose of

leading us to eternal, right, loving relationship with himself. David

welcomed God’s vetting, and faithfully sought its intended result: ”

Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; cross-examine

and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself

whether I’ve done anything wrong — then guide me on the road to eternal

life.” (Psalm 139:23-24, The Message) Our most pervasive

departure from God’s way is to assume that we can manage to save

ourselves on our own terms. God’s examination lays such designs bare,

guiding us away from our own hubris to the only authentic saving faith

in Jesus Christ. True faith seeks God’s vetting and his veto before we

fall prey to our own misplaced confidence in ourselves. Paul sought

God’s vetting in this sense: ” God forbid that I should boast except in

the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been

crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14 NKJV) Those

words inspired one of Isaac Watts’ most cherished hymns, When I

Survey the Wondrous Cross. Written in 1709, almost two centuries

before anyone wrote about vetting, verses 2 and 4 of the hymn

magnificently express a desire for God’s careful examination of our

faith, and the faithful relationship to which we should aspire:

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the

death of Christ my God:
All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his

blood.
Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too

small;
Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
(Isaac Watts, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, 1709)

How well will your faith stand thorough vetting? If you have

questions or doubts about God’s love demonstrated in Jesus Christ,

consult the documentary reports in the Bible, or talk with someone who

has both done the research and has personal experience as a faithful

follower of Jesus. What will vetting by God’s Spirit reveal about your

faith, your actions, your attitudes, your life? Allow God to guide you

in the only way to authentic life, faith in Jesus Christ.

- J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.

100!

Blind Faith (No. 34, 2008)

Permit me a moment of celebration. This week’s Blind

Faith is the 100th episode of the weekly devotional series! I am

thankful for fellow Sunday School members who were the first readers.

I am humbled by others who have subscribed after receiving forwarded e

-mail devotionals. I continue to be eager to hear from you, as you

have inspirational thoughts to share, or issues concerning following

Jesus in today’s world, or questions about what the Bible has to say to

a contemporary situation or in a particular passage. I continue to

pray that God will direct my writing and that he will use these

devotionals to draw you closer to Christ, fellow believers, and other

people.

If Blind Faith was a TV show, reaching the 100th episode

would mean that it would be generally marketable for syndication.

Instead of being broadcast by only the original network, syndicated

shows may be aired by multiple channels, at all times of the day and

night. Some syndicated shows are rerun so many times that many viewers

can identify the next lines of dialog and the plot of the episode from

any three or four words they might hear. Somehow, I don’t think that

will ever be the case with episodes of Blind Faith! So far, no

reruns of my words have appeared in this space, although several

favorite Bible passages have been repeated.

Such things as key Bible passages should be

rerun until they are easily brought back to mind. A regular part of

the curriculum in English when I was in elementary school was

memorizing classic poetry. Two poems that everyone learned were Psalm

23 and Psalm 100. I honestly do not recall the psalms being taught in

the school classroom as they might have been treated in Sunday School.

No elementary education was thought to be complete without learning

these and other ancient poems. Knowing them was considered every bit

as important as knowing the mythological Greek and Roman pantheons.

Once upon those times, almost everyone could recite Psalm 100 upon

request.

In celebration of 100 Blind Faith devotionals, Psalm 100

seems especially appropriate. First try to recall the psalm in the

familiar King James Version. (Can you do it without looking at the

page?) Then we will ponder what it says:

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with

singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and

not we ourselves;
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with

praise:
Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth

endureth to all generations.
(Psalm 100 KJV)

(Could you recite it? Why not refresh it in your memory right

now?)

Psalm 100 is a marvelous song of celebration for God’s merciful

care and grace. Shouting for joy is a universal human response when we

experience thrilling surprises, or exciting victories, or happy

discoveries. Singing adds to the expression of joy. Psalm 100 reminds

us that God’s perfect goodness and his gifts of loving care are

continual reasons for bursting forth with shouts and songs of

thanksgiving and celebration. When we remember that we are not self-

made men and women, but everyone of us is God-made, our joyful praise

becomes rightly directed to God, and may not degenerate into blowing

our own horns. As James reminds us, ” Whatever is good and perfect

comes to us from God above.” (James 1:17a NLT) So every good thing

that happens today and every day is a loving gift from God, and is

deserving of our happy shouts of thanks an a never-ending song in our

hearts, praising God. Whether the gift is an opportunity to write

something others may read and thus think more about God, or if it is

some simple joy of sharing life with family or friends, or if it is a

happy sense of accomplishment of some task, we have ample reasons for

singing a song like Psalm 100 to God.

While I love the grand language of the King James Version of

Psalm 100, modern translations help to connect the psalm a bit more

naturally to my daily experiences. If I consistently cultivate the

attitude toward God, myself, and life in general expressed in the

modern God’s Word Translation (God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society,

1995) of Psalm 100, I could become a closer follower of Jesus and a

better friend to everyone around me:

Shout happily to the LORD, all the earth.
Serve the LORD cheerfully. Come into his presence with a joyful

song.
Realize that the LORD alone is God. He made us, and we are his.
We are his people and the sheep in his care.
Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving. Come into his courtyards

with a song of praise.
Give thanks to him; praise his name.
The LORD is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness endures

throughout every generation.
(Psalm 100 GWT)

No matter what kind of day you may be having, remember that

everything good that happens is God’s gift of love for you. Singing a

happy song and thanking God for his good care can change your

perspective on the day. The psalm reminds us to fill each day with

service, worship, thanksgiving, truth, joy, faith, and humility. A

life filled with those attributes calls for a celebration!

J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.

P.S. Thanks for continuing to read and forward Blind Faith.

Thank you, God, for each reader, and for the opportunity each week to

write.

Start Strong, Finish Strong

Blind Faith (No. 33, 2008)

“Start strong, finish strong.” Applications of that

sage advice appear in fields as diverse as sports, weight control

programs, public speaking, creative and technical writing, and many

others. Amazing sprints to the finish in this year’s Olympic races

have won gold medals by hundredths of a second. Intense desire to win,

or to bring a project to a successful conclusion often fuels a strong

finish, but getting off to a strong start can be more difficult to

achieve.

When Snoopy sat at his typewriter to begin another novel, he

always began with the cliché` worst-opening-line for a book, “It was a

dark and stormy night….” The line is the actual beginning of the

1830 novel, Paul Clifford, by British novelist Edward George

Earl Bulwer-Lytton. His first paragraph has become infamous for

exemplifying florid, ostentatious, self-contradictory writing. Its

reputation became so widespread that it inspired professors in the

English Department of San Jose University in 1982 to launch an

international literary parody competition, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction

Contest. Entrants are asked to submit bad opening lines to imaginary

novels. Although Bulwer-Lytton also wrote The Last Days of

Pompeii (made into a movie three times), and originated phrases

such as “the pen is mightier than the sword” and “almighty dollar,” his

place as a cultural icon is secured by the satirical contest and that

almost never credited opening line, “It was a dark and stormy

night….”

Far more positive accolades have enshrined the opening lines of

Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities as paragons of how to start

a novel: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Dickens (a contemporary of Bulwer-Lytton) goes on to construct a

paragraph deftly foreshadowing the themes of oppression and freedom,

death and resurrection, privilege and squalor portrayed in his

historical novel set during the French Revolution. Dickens both starts

strong in the novel and finishes strong. The last lines of A Tale

of Two Cities are, ” It is a far, far better thing that I do, than

I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I

have ever known.”

Getting off to a strong start can make a profound difference.

Opening lines can seize attention, powerfully directing the reader’s

interest to the major theme of all that is to follow. The Bible starts

with a loaded theological affirmation that resounds through all the

subsequent pages: “In the beginning God ….” (Genesis 1:1, all

versions) Much of our theology is encapsulated in those four words.

Before anything else, God was present, and God’s work of creation

underlies all that follows. God is the principle character, acting

throughout the book to create, sustain, and redeem what he has made.

The Bible’s strong start foreshadows God’s desire to bring us, the ones

created in his image, into loving relationship with himself and one

another.

The Bible finishes strong, too. After telling the story of

mankind’s rebellion against God, and our futile quest for good fortune

and glory on our own terms, it tells about the gracious solution

provided by God, himself, in Jesus Christ. God enters humanity, born

as a baby in Bethlehem, teaches and demonstrates his love in the

ministry of Jesus, and vanquishes sin and death by his crucifixion and

resurrection. Many of the closing pages implore us to follow Jesus’

way of life, loving God and one another as he did. The strong finish

voices a faithful anticipation of the eternal, perfect presence of

Christ in the consummation of God’s Kingdom, along with an all-

sufficient prayer for the interim: ” Come, Lord Jesus! {21} The grace

of the Lord Jesus be with all.” Amen. (Revelation 22:20b-21 NCV) If we

begin with the recognition that God is before all else, and finish with

seeking to be with Jesus and to spread his grace to all, we can achieve

the strong start and the strong finish God wants for us.

Since failing to start strong is more often our downfall, the

Bible offers some encouraging opening lines to some of the individual

books in the collection. Psalms, a favorite source of comfort and

inspiration, starts with a strong description of the conflicting ways

of life we face, and an affirmation of the one we should follow: ”

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor

stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

{2} But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he

meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2 NKJV) Coming about halfway in

the Bible, this strong start to Psalms helps to reorient our thoughts

to what God has in mind for us to do.

Several New Testament books begin with strong statements of the

core of our faith and our actions that should result from staking our

lives on such a faith. John picks up the theme from the opening lines

of the Bible in Genesis, intrinsically weaving the story of Jesus into

the beginning of all things in God: ” In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the

beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and

without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in

him was life, and the life was the light of all people. (John 1:1-4

NRSV) John’s gospel continues to develop the theme of Jesus as the

origin of life, and the only One through whom we may find life again,

after losing ourselves in rebellion against God and one another. Lest

we forget, a book for second-generation followers of Jesus starts with

a recapitulation of God’s history of loving us and inviting our

faithful love in return, epitomized in the ministry of Jesus: “In the

past God spoke to our ancestors at many different times and in many

different ways through the prophets. {2} In these last days he has

spoken to us through his Son. God made his Son responsible for

everything. His Son is the one through whom God made the universe. {3}

His Son is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of

God’s being. He holds everything together through his powerful words.

After he had cleansed people from their sins, he received the highest

position, the one next to the Father in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:1-3 GWT)

Hebrews starts with strong reassurance that no other voice calling for

us to follow can lead us more authentically to him than that of Jesus.

John scores another strong start with his first letter, setting the

focus on the profound effect Jesus had on John and his colleagues, the

relationship Jesus invites us to have with himself and fellow

followers, and the task we are to assume as believers in him: ” That

which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen

with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this

we proclaim concerning the Word of life. {2} The life appeared; we have

seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life,

which was with the Father and has appeared to us. {3} We proclaim to

you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship

with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus

Christ. {4} We write this to make our joy complete. {5} This is the

message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him

there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:1-5 NIV) As the last lines of

the Bible say, we are to extend Jesus’ grace to people around us,

inviting them to share the joy of real life through faith in

Christ.

Start strong, finish strong. The good news is that Jesus

continually offers a new start, overcoming our botched beginnings with

the strength of his grace and love. Find a beginning and an end of a

book in the Bible that gives you new hope and strength for living as a

faithful follower of Jesus. Make them your prayer for starting and

finishing your day. Start with Jesus, finish with Jesus. The start

and finish of your day can’t get any stronger than that.

J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.

Big Rocks First

Blind Faith (No. 32, 2008)

d

Modern parables that have true “staying power” don’t come along

very often. Illustrations abound in speeches and sermons, but pithy,

striking images that can vividly imprint themselves in your mind and

easily reappear when life presents situations addressed by the parable

are much more rare. One I have always loved has been replaying in my

mind since last week’s Blind Faith dealing with What Really

Matters.

Last week I wrote that visions of Olympic gold, or images of

people desperately trying to salvage truly important items after

earthquakes, floods, and other disasters may cause us to ask of our own

lives, “What really matters?” Loving God, demonstrating God’s grace to

others, and following Christ, whatever the cost were the items I

highlighted among what the Bible says really matters. But many other

important concerns – from home and family, to work, to self-improvement

- quickly and persistently demand attention. How do you deal with the

competing demands?

Setting priorities correctly touches everything we do at

church, home, work, school, or wherever we spend our time. Stephen

Covey tells about one of his associates attending a time-management

conference where the seminar leader presented this memorable modern

parable. It has been repeated in countless sermons, speeches, and

online postings since Covey included it in his book, First Things

First. Stephen Covey, himself, has demonstrated the parable

numerous times. The following version is slightly shortened and edited

from the book:

One day an expert in time management was speaking

to a group of business students. As he stood in front of the group of

high-powered over-achievers he said, “Okay, it’s time for a quiz.”

Reaching under the table, he pulled out a wide-mouthed gallon jar and

set it on the table next to a platter covered with fist-sized rocks.

“How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?” he asked

the audience.

After the students made their guesses, the seminar leader

said, “Okay, let’s find out.” He put one rock in the jar, then another,

then another–until no more rocks
would fit. Then he asked, “Is the jar full?”

Everybody could see that not one more of the rocks would fit,

so they said, “Yes.”

“Not so fast,” he cautioned. From under the table he lifted

out a bucket of gravel, dumped it in the jar, and shook it. The gravel

slid into all the little spaces left by the big rocks. Grinning, the

seminar leader asked once more, “Is the jar full?”

A little wiser by now, the students responded, “Probably

not.”

“Good,” the teacher said. Then he reached under the table to

bring up a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar.

While the students watched, the sand filled in the little spaces left

by the rocks and gravel. Once more he looked at the class and said,

“Now, is the jar full?”

“No,” everyone shouted back.

“Good!” said the seminar leader, who then grabbed a pitcher of

water and began to pour it into the jar. He got something like a quart

of water into that jar before he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the jar

is now full. Can anybody tell me the lesson you can learn from this?

What’s my point?”

An eager participant spoke up: “Well, there are gaps in your

schedule. And if you really work at it, you can always fit more into

your life.”

“No,” the leader said. “That’s not the point. The point is

this: if I hadn’t put those big rocks in first, I would never have

gotten them in.”

(Paraphrased from Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R.

Merrill, First Things First, Free Press, 1996, pp. 88-90)

Identifying the big rocks, gravel, sand, and water allusions in your

own life is helped greatly by the vivid visual image of the

parable.

One big rock, according to Jesus, is setting our highest

priority as living the way God designed us to live. The Bible verse I

have quoted most often in these devotionals states Jesus’ teaching

clearly. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, ” The thing you

should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all

these other things you need will be given to you.” (Matthew 6:33 NCV)

Food, clothing, and personal appearance are some of the sand and gravel

Jesus mentioned specifically just before he called for putting the big

rock of living responsibly as a citizen of the Kingdom of God in our

lives first.

Paul had an impressive resume`, which he recited on several

occasions. He was highly educated in the best schools. He was a full

Roman citizen. He was a respected religious leader. His star had

blazed brightly among his contemporaries when he was a young man. But

Paul would certainly have called all these laudable factors in his life

just more sand and gravel, (actually, he called them something much

less!) when compared to the essential rock of Jesus Christ in his life.

Another of my favorite passages of scripture conveys Paul’s testimony:

” I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I

consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. {8} Yes,

everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of

knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else,

counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ {9} and become

one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to

obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me.” (Philippians 3:7-9a

NLT)

Jesus seems to recognize how constantly we are tempted to fill our

lives with what we think of as the “nitty gritty” matters of life, many

of which simply turn out to be gravel and sand. As important as

families, homes, jobs, financial security, education, and all our other

daily concerns may appear from our point of view, if we fill our lives

with those concerns first, we may not find room for our relationship

with Christ. But if we miss following Jesus, we miss foundation-sized

rocks that will sustain us all the way through eternity. Jesus was

clear about this with his disciples: “Then Peter said, ‘We’ve left

everything to follow you.’ {29} Jesus said to them, ‘I can guarantee

this truth: Anyone who gave up his home, wife, brothers, parents, or

children because of the kingdom of God {30} will certainly receive many

times as much in this life and will receive eternal life in the world

to come.’” (Luke 18:28-30 GWT)

Can you identify the big rocks that need to go in your jar?

What about sifting out all the sand and gravel that always wants to

fill your jar prematurely A little of this, a little of that, and soon

no room is left for what really matters, personally following Jesus and

loving others the way he does. But get those rocks settled, and other

concerns will snug up around Jesus’ kind of love very well.

J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.