Covenant Community – It's Beauty Cannot Be Denied

We recently returned from a trip to visit my daughter and son in Virginia.  They’re members of an OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) there in Lynchburg.

Like the church I attend here in Idaho, I’m always struck by the beauty of a true Covenant Community.  Beauty is something that cannot be denied.  It’s not subjective - like encountering a striking outdoor scene, it’s beauty cannot be denied and it’s the same with a Covenant Community. Here are some of the specifics.

My daughter’s car had serious mechanical issues; more than could be handled easily by a member of the church but still several members had given it the once-over and then my son, Taylor, spent four days ripping it apart.  My daughter rents from a family who attend her church and the next-door neighbors are also members of her church as well as others who rent from them. They have a place in the back where they help each other with auto repair tasks.  We hung-out there during Taylor’s arduous repair-job; we drank a few beers and smoked pipes, all while we encouraged him.  Lot’s of kibitzing went on until Katie’s car was finally running like a dream.

We bowled a couple of times with their friends who took us in like we were one of their own.  I played tennis a couple of times with one of the members. We sat on the front porch several times and discussed politics, religion, guns and other assorted stories with the men of the church. We were invited to another member’s home for dinner and we invited a couple of families to my daughter’s (Katie) place for dinner.  We attended their church a couple of times. We attended an all-day picnic where we played basketball, volleyball and wiffle-ball.  They barbequed huge pork roasts for everyone and there was wonderful potluck food in abundance. We played cards on the porch in the evenings. The men I saw treated their wives with tenderness and the wives treated their husbands with respect. The children were well behaved and disciplined when necessary by both parents. There seemed to be no end to the fellowship. The beauty of their Covenant Community is beyond question. 

Truly the purpose of life is to fellowship with God and enjoy Him forever and a Covenant Community is the obvious extension of that purpose.

Now I’m back in my beautiful Idaho where my wife and I enjoy the same Covenant Community – just different people. Life is good.

Liberty University's Commencement - A Sad Commentary On The State Of The Evangelical Church

Glenn Beck, the nationally syndicated talk-show host recently spoke at my daughters’ commencement ceremony at Liberty University (LU). A glaring incongruity immediately beset the entire event but the largely evangelical audience seemed unaware. LU is arguably the nations preeminent undergraduate Christian university. Glenn Beck is a Mormon.

That LU would give any Mormon access to one of their school-sponsored venues, let alone invite him to be the keynote speaker at their commencement was mystifying. I learned however that inviting unbelievers to speak is nothing new at Liberty. Ben Stein spoke last year and Chuck Norris the year prior. Obviously LU cares more about a speaker’s public prominence or at least their politics than their standing before the Lord.

As far as I can tell the reasoning behind inviting Mr. Beck to speak (according to Jerry Falwell, Jr.) was that “he is one of the few members of the media who stands for the principles upon which this nation was founded.” I presume Mr. Falwell missed the Sermon-Sunday when the pastor taught on Psalms 2 admonishing us not to sit in the council of the ungodly nor walk in the path of sinners.

There is not nor can there be an equality of faith between Mormon’s and Christians. We can’t let them think they’re one of us, nor can we let fellow Christians think of them as one of us. Like any other cult, adherence to Mormonism leads to eternal damnation, so ya; it’s a big deal. How could LU miss this glaring incongruity?

Many other issues come to mind as well. For instance, LU’s mission statement is: To develop Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge, and skills essential to impact tomorrow’s world. So where’s the disconnect? Very simple –LU’s actions betray the university actual mission statement: building the size and worldly stature of the university. In other words they’re not a lot different than any other secular university. However revealing it may be, the fact that LU would facilitate a Mormon giving spiritual advice to its student body is disturbing.

Secondly, Mr. Beck’s speech was little more than a rah-rah session about how bad things are. I agree but I can hear this daily on his radio program. Mr. Beck didn’t talk about any of the Biblical solutions to the world’s problems because he doesn’t have any understanding in this area. His only admonition to the graduates was that we had better do something about this or “the blood will be on our hands.” Mr. Beck’s talk was the essence of shallowness itself.

Over-the-top however was Mr. Beck’s cry-talking; Here’s the thing – I don’t think he was faking it. Well at least he probably wasn’t. Either way, sincerity is not the measure by which we decide the soundness of one’s philosophy for indeed Mr. Beck was sincerely wrong in so many ways. His words seemed designed to evoke an emotional response and to cause the audience to embrace him as one of our own. Sadly it seemed to work.

He read a long letter that he’d written previously to his daughter as she headed off to college. Again, nothing of substance that might anchor a young person in their faith as they strikeout to conquer the world for Christ. Funny? Yes in a sort of a gratuitous way; superficial – definitely.

Lastly, and here’s the main point – the largely evangelical crowd in attendance, gave Mr. Beck a standing ovation. They seemed to have no problem with his Mormonism or of the shallow content of his speech. In fact, they loved it. One can only surmise that they loved it because they too are shallow which pretty much sums up the condition of the Evangelical Church these days.

Though we Evangelicals have access to God’s plan (His Word) for fixing this mess (the world) we’ve not examined the blueprints. Our answers to the world’s problems are not Biblical – they’re Beckish and thus the evangelical community is by-in-large relegated to a status of uselessness. We have little if any effect anymore in the culture and the commencement at Liberty University clearly demonstrated as much.