Foolishness to Greeks: Repentance

One thing that has been brought to light to me recently is a better picture of the extent to which Christians no longer make sense in society.  This wasn’t always the case, but within the last generation we have shifted away from a society rooted in Christendom and toward a Secular society.  There are a lot of consequences from this shift and I haven’t the time, space, or interest in unpacking all of those here.  However, one of those is that Christians continue to use terms and language that people do not understand.  

So, in an attempt at foreign relations, a task which I am immensely under qualified to perform (as I am not a scholar in Greek or Hebrew nor am I a linguist), I want to try and unpack some of the terms that seem a bit contentious.  To begin, I’d like to look at the idea of repentance.  Repentance has come to be understood as equivalent with an apology.  The term apology is defined as synonymous with regret, confession, admission of guilt, request for forgiveness, act of contrition, and expression of regret.  The term repentance, however, is synonymous with regret, sorrow, remorse, penitence, atonement, shame, contrition, and penance.

The dictionary doesn’t even define these things as being equivalent to one another, rather this is a cultural misunderstanding.  A part of this misunderstanding may be in the common language that both use to express themselves.  When we are apologizing we say “I’m sorry”.  This is a part of what is done when a person repents.  We have to ask forgiveness from those we have wronged when we repent.

However, when a Christian speaks of repentance it is not simply a matter of “saying I’m sorry to their imaginary friend in the sky.”  It’s also not as simple as just saying I’m sorry (and saying this to the person that was wronged, not a third party).  Repentance is predicated upon the recognition of wrong doing, and therein lays the largest distinction between the two ideas.  We apologize all the time, but we do not always admit we have done something wrong when we do so, and we certainly don't always make a change to ourselves.  It seems “I’m sorry” a lot of the time not for an action we have taken, but rather we are sorry for the reaction that was caused by our action.  

In Hebrew, there are multiple words that are translated repent. שׁוּב shuwb {shoob} is one (Ezekiel 14:6).  It means to turn back, or to return.  It does not always connect to the idea of returning to a starting point.  In some ways this might be a good thing to note.  From some actions, even if a person acknowledges wrong doing, they will have burned bridges that are not able to be repaired. נָחַם nacham {naw-kham'} is another. This is connected to the idea of sorrow, grief, but also to the idea of comfort.  A strange connection perhaps, but admitting we are in the wrong and wish to cease this, while it may be painful to go through is necessary if propitiation is ever to be reached.

This point is driven home in 2 Corinthians 7:9, 10:

⁹ As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, 

but because you were grieved into repenting. 

For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation 

without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

The Greek word for repentance used here is μετάνοιαν.  Its root is μετάνοια metanoia {met-an'-oy-ah}.  This is a change of mind.  Taken subjectively this is a compunction that drives one to reformation, and by implication is a reversal. 

So, I hope that helps clear up what repentance means in the Biblical sense.  This is no simple apology, this is declaring that we are in the wrong without excuse or exemption.  Admitting our wrongdoing to the party we have wronged is a part of this.  But we must also turn our backs on our wrong doing.  We can't persist in wrongdoing, that is not repentance.  Repentance demands actions on our part.  Not all bridges can be rebuilt.  Some trusts may never be restored and some fences may never be mended, even if a person forgives someone for wronging them.  But if we don't repent, and meld our apology with our actions; we can't even begin to try.

Why nerd girls, and others, get asked to "prove it"

Greetings everyone.

Well, after a lot of time, I think I'm going to weigh in on a couple things here.  The first is a divide between nerd groups today, and the second is some of the perceived discrimination that nerd girls experience.  The reason I'm addressing both of these at the same time is honestly I think they are connected at the source.

I think that the source of these issues is, simply put, an issue of trust.  Until the last roughly 5, maybe up to 10 years, it wasn't cool to be a nerd.  Admitting that you liked comic books, going to any sort of pop culture convention, watching Star Trek, reading Star Wars novels, and wearing costumes in particular were signs that you were a social pariah.

We were mocked, some going so far as to consider us unintelligent, with questionable morality.  We were ridiculed for being immature because of the media we consumed and the way we consumed it.  We struggled to make friends and only found acceptance with our fellow nerds.  It's one of the reasons why some of this has changed, but look at how the "popular" and "normal" people talk about the "nerds" on a show like Big Bang Theory.  While some of the stigma is gone, the overall tone remains one of derision.

A lot of us that are now adults still carry the scars we got growing up a nerd.  And some of those scars go a lot deeper than one might suspect.  Being a nerd, in a lot of ways, became a part of your identity.  It was something that we had to learn to accept.  Some of us embraced it regardless of the scorn it brought us.  It was the thing that we felt made us unique, and it was also the thing that we felt forced us to be alone.  I know that might sound a little melodramatic, but it's actually very true.

Though the next bit of this is anecdotal, I strongly suspect it is something that many others can relate to.  In my own family, my enjoyment of action figures and collecting is still considered a sign of immaturity.  When I initially decided to join the 501st Legion, my family thought I'd lost my mind.  To this day, when people find out that I wear a Star Wars costume, the eye rolls are easily predictable.  That I do so primarily for children's charity events does nothing to mitigate the perception that I must clearly be immature and a bit out of touch with reality. 

This is now, in an age when being a nerd is considered somewhat cool.  This is at the crest of the convention and cosplay boom.  When the top grossing films for the last several years are all rooted in the comic books I anticipated ridicule for reading, one would expect that the stigmatization would've lessened some. 

But old wounds heal slowly.  Now, we're expecting the other shoe to drop.  We see people who have never read a comic book talking about the characters we were teased for enjoying.  We see our subculture being co-opted by the jocks that would bully us.  There exists a divide between fans of comic book movies and fans of comic books today.  And a big part of that divide is caused by a lack of trust.

We are waiting for the next big thing to come along so that we can find ourselves the subject of one big societal prank.  And the reason is because it wouldn't be the first time.  This is why those of us who had to live with the discrimination, who had to put up with society mocking us until technology finally caught up to our imaginations enough that we were able to let people see what we had really been enjoying all along, this is why we have a hard time with those who didn't earn their stripes.  There's a part of us that doesn't trust them to really be our friends. 

Theoretically, this is also why "nerdgirls" have to prove it.  Nerds were never popular.  Girls wouldn't give us the time of day.  Watch any show starring nerds and see how fast you lose track of the number of "virgin" jokes that get made.  Far too many of us have stories about that pretty girl we liked who would only pretend to think we were worth talking to when they were getting help with their homework.  Some of us knew when we were getting played, but we didn't care because at least there was a girl paying attention to us for a little bit. 

So when a pretty woman starts talking about being a nerd, this is why the response is "prove it".  It's not because we want to be sexist or discriminatory.  But we developed a defense mechanism that doesn't let us get our hopes up that we might actually be able to connect, on any level with a woman.  (No, I'm not going to go into the idea that we are only interested in connecting physically here, that's a whole other series of conversations.)  In typical nerd fashion, we don't necessarily manage to communicate well.  It's not that we need to see someone prove they are legitimately nerds.  We want to know if we can actually trust them.

We want to know if this is a safe person.  We want to know if we can honestly be ourselves around them without worrying about being judged or mocked.  We want to know if we've actually found someone it's okay to try and connect with regarding something that really is a core/defining part of our identity.  I'm not saying it's right, but I also think that the divide between old school nerds and new wave nerds, and the distrust of the opposite sex when it comes to this topic is perhaps a bit more understandable.  

A Good Friend has Passed Away

So, I'm not really certain what I'm supposed to do right now.  Today we found out that a good friend of mine passed away Saturday evening.  What do you do when someone suddenly isn't there.  You don't have much choice but to go on living.  It feels like everything should be changed now, but it's not, and that seems really just as strange as the thought that he's gone.

Brad Wright was a good friend.  He was that guy that everyone who met him was glad to have had that chance.  There was a core joy to him, even when he was extremely frustrated, he was still able to laugh and make others laugh.  He had experienced the sort of pain I never would wish on anyone, losing a child when he was very young, and yet he didn't grow bitter because of that pain.  Brad was the guy you could count on in any sort of pinch.  A lot of the time, Brad didn't seem to have enough money to splurge on himself, but he always had enough to help other people.  He would just randomly pick up someone's check from time to time because he felt like being nice or helping out. 

He grew up in New York, and had some very interesting insights that he shared from those experiences.  He was a veteran, having served in the USAF.  The best story I ever heard him tell about his time in the service involved him tanning.  He would go out to the pool every day to read, and everyday some lady would keep complaining about him being in her spot.  Well evidently he got tired of this and so one day he went out and bought some white body paint, or something similar and put that on under his swim suit.  When she came up and started complaining he told her that he was out there tanning too because he was as pale as her when he started.  She didn't believe him so he pulled down part of his bathing suit to show her and evidently she ran away in shock.  On the other hand, he didn't get hassled for having her spot at the pool anymore.

Brad was also my convention travel companion.  I've roomed with him for almost every convention I've gone to in Dallas the last few years.  We'd drive down and both have fun, we were actually talking about making the trip for Fandays in October this year on Saturday, I wish I would've known that was going to be our last conversation.  One thing to know about rooming with Brad though, he snored.  And I don't me he made some noise.  I mean it sounded like a jet engine being powered by a chainsaw that was manned by a rabid badger had been shoved up his nose.  I almost never got any sleep the first night of a convention, and then by the second night I was tired enough to just sleep through the noise. 

He was nice always nice enough to help me out with photos at conventions.  Though he was a bit camera shy himself.  He also was always happy to just stand in line and hang while we were waiting for autographs.  (It's thanks to him that I have a great Huntress sketch by Amanda Connor).  He also was my contact for fundraising that we did with the Children's Miracle Network a couple of years.  He was a part of the group that I game with on Saturday nights, and one of my poker buddies for whenever we would get together for a night of cards.  Brad had a special knack for waking up just in time to roll his dice and do something amazing.  Once he rolled a Natural 1 and rather than cause a problem he successfully took out every enemy in the room. 

I'm not sure what more to say here.  Brad was my friend, and I am going to miss his kind heart and good nature.  I don't know how better to honor him, but I hope to find a way.  You will be missed my friend, may you rest in peace.

Why I still love Masters of the Universe

So, lately I have been on this gigantic Masters of the Universe kick.  I enjoyed He-Man and She-Ra growing up.  I never really saw the New Adventures of He-man when it came out, but I was able to watch it on YouTube not too long ago and quite enjoyed it.  When I got into college I loved the Mike Young Productions series.  A friend of mine called it an example of what American Anime was capable of at its best.  I agree with him on that to this day, the animation holds up and is absolutely gorgeous.  I've fluctuated a bit with how the comics have been handled since they came out, but overall I have enjoyed them, The Eternity War series has loads of potential that I can't wait to see explored. 

Starting with the 200x series, I also started to appreciate the sculpting and artistry of converting an animated character into an action figure.  With the Masters of the Universe Classics series, my appreciation for this has grown tremendously.  These action figures are gorgeous.  They really are works of art, and the story that has been built for these characters using their biographies is one I have found myself enjoying quite a bit.

But it's not the cartoons or the action figures that I think has me loving this series so much at this juncture.  Rather, I believe it's the two dominant concepts that the series consistently presents that I am still enjoying.  The first one is the idea in the title, Masters of the Universe.  The characters each act as epitome's have achieved mastery over something.  He-Man is the strongest man in the universe.  Beastman has mastery over beasts, Tri-clops over vision etc.  True the naming scheme is fairly simplistic a lot of the time, but it is a fun idea and employs a system of checks and balances that is a lot of fun from a story creation stand point (hey I did grow up playing with these characters after all).

But even more simplistic than the naming scheme of the characters is I think why I enjoy the series the most.  The good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad.  The villains have depth to them, the idea that Skeletor is actually the rightful heir to the throne of Eternia is really enjoyable.  I love that we are seeing a family at war with itself as it adds a bit of personal interest to each engagement.  But at the same time, the villains remain villainous and the heroes heroic. 

We live in a world that seems to celebrate the grey areas of life.  We can no longer trust our leaders and the sources of information we have available to us seem less and less reliable.  Having a moral stance against anything is no longer acceptable, and adhering to certain standards casts us as elitist or oppressive.  We live in a world where we practically can't do anything without someone being offended or somehow socially irresponsible, and in this world, the lines between good and bad, light and dark, are often blurred.  We've taken the Star Wars approach of everything depending on a certain point of view to preposterous levels.  Forget about confusing, it's exhausting.

I think that's what I enjoy the most about this series, is the simple demonstrations of good and evil.  True, the good guys will team up with the villains to fight a greater threat, but at the end of the day the lines aren't crossed.  The villains come in various shapes and sizes.  The Evil Warriors, the Horde, the Snake-Men, none really likes the others, evil takes many forms in the universe.  Heroes may abandon their principles and become villains (Snake Man-at-Arms), while villains may choose to reject who they had been and become heroes (Force Captain Adora).  But a hero does what is right while a villain does not.  A hero looks out for others, a villain only for themselves.  A hero plays the long game, a villain looks at the short reward.

In the real world, doing the right thing can get messy.  Even knowing what the right thing to do is sometimes can become complicated.  We are all fallen and we are all going to mess up.  But simply screwing up is not the same thing as switching sides.  When we are redeemed, we are given a new nature.  We wage an internal war that actually might well resemble the struggles of these characters.  But at the same time, no matter how complicated things become, there remains a line.  One of the truths that we are given in the Bible is that "If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." (Mark 3:25)  We can't be both hero and villain, we ultimately will have to choose.  While the Masters of the Universe is not real, like all mythology it gives us a chance to experience the complex realities we are surrounded with in a way that gives us the opportunity to process the things we are grappling with. 

I Still Believe in Santa Claus

Yes, that's right, I am 32 years old.  I have two "grown-up" jobs.  I pay my bills and have an M.A. in Sociology and I'm willing to put out there for the whole world to see that I still believe in Santa Claus.  No, I don't believe in a man in a red suit that is going to slide down a chimney on Christmas Eve.  I once lead a Bible Study where we talked about this subject.  At the time, I landed on I believed in Santa Claus as the anthropomorphic representation of the Christmas Spirit.  In a sense, that remains valid.  However, I've come to understand that a bit differently. 

As I've tried to grow in my faith, one of the things that I've come to accept is the doctrine of total depravity.  Essentially, the idea that mankind is rotten at its core.  To accept this though, I have had to reconcile it with the fact that humans also act in caring, compassionate, and altruistic ways.  These are usually tossed up as the evidences that the doctrine of total depravity doesn't work.  However, this isn't scripturally sound.  "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" ~Matthew 7:11

Knowing how to be caring, and even choosing to do so does nothing to eliminate the idea that we are innately evil.  One thing we've forgotten is that we are born under a curse, and we live in a world that is cursed.  We are sinful beings, no amount of good we might try to do will eliminate that.  However, we live not only under a curse, but also under common grace.  This is the grace that lets blessings fall upon the righteous and the wicked, offered to all even though it is undeserved.

This curbs the destructive power of sin.  I believe that common grace is connected to our having been created in the image of God.  That is to say, that even though all of creation is under a curse, we still are able to choose to do good.  Without this, all of society would collapse in on itself rather quickly.  The economic principle of the tragedy of the commons would be demonstrated even more rampantly.  So we are capable of making a good choice, of being caring and compassionate, even though at our core we are evil.

I believe in Santa Claus as the anthropomorphic representation of this common grace.  The best of what humanity could be.  Particularly during the Christmas season, it seems a lot easier to try and be generous, to take some time to care about the less fortunate, and to put forth a little extra effort to make a child smile.  Some of this might just be social pressure to behave more altruistically, but I like to think that some of it is connected to what I could only explain as the magic of Christmas. 

So yes, I believe in Santa Claus.  I believe that each of us is capable of making good choices.  I believe we can care about those less fortunate than ourselves and I believe that we can offer a helping hand.  Santa Claus has become the myth representing the best of what humanity can offer.  And that is the true sadness and the real beauty of Santa.  Santa Claus can give us temporary relief.  We get a moments joy, we get a sparkle in our eyes, but virtually the moment the wrapping paper is thrown away the joy fades.  Some things will stick with us, I still remember that feeling the year I got my first little stereo, but for the most part, all these things will fade away. 

Santa points us to Christ, in a way that I think would please the real St. Nicholas.  Offering people a gift, helping the less fortunate for a day, this all still takes place in a land where moth and rust destroy, where fire consumes, winds scatter and thieves steal.  If all there is good in this world is Santa Claus, we will always have to keep giving and consuming to try and feel fulfilled.  The only place we will find any real rest, the only chance we have to go beyond the temporary happiness and common grace of Santa Claus, is found in the joy offered to us through the saving grace of Christ. 

That's Not Fair! But is it Just?

We hear it all the time, shoot, we say it all the time.  "That's not fair!" or some variation thereof is our go to cry when we perceive an inequity or an injustice in our lives.  We actually tend to treat justice and fairness as if they are the same thing,  And conflating these two has on occasion been used as a basis for the idea that "If there is a god, he isn't a just god, and so the Christian God is declared illegitimate.  There's a lot of angles that people will take to advance either that argument or others, and so this is by no means an all inclusive discussion, we're focusing on just the topic of fairness and justice.  Let's look at the actual definitions of the words, per Merriam Webster:

Justice: : the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals
Fairness: agreeing with what is thought to be right or acceptable, treating people in a way that does not favor some over others

So, we see that while these are somewhat similar concepts, they don't mean quite the same thing.  Justice is concerned with a legal code.  Fairness is concerned with equitable treatment between persons.  Let's look at a really simple example.  2 persons are speeding down the highway.  A police officer pulls one over but not the other.  This isn't fair, both parties were speeding, but only one was caught and punished.  They aren't being treated equitably.  However, it is just that the person get the speeding ticket, because they broke the law.  So, a just action is not always a fair action.   

There is a side discussion here worth at least acknowledging.  How is an action determined to be just or fair?  The only way this works is if there is a universal, absolute standard unto itself.  This is not something that can be determined by a simple majority opinion.  Just because something is determined legal in a given time and place, in no way means that it is just, righteous, or holy.  And the determination of whether or not something is just is not a matter that can rightly be determined by finite individuals working with limited knowledge and experience whose minds are readily changed.

This connects us to the doctrine of Gods Immutability.  God does not change.  The very nature of the idea of justice demands that there must be a standard that is self-sufficient, and that is immutable.  While there are more hoops that could be jumped through, the punchline is that there exists a logical mandate for there to be a divine law.  These are also two of the qualities of God.  Anyone wanting to investigate the idea that God is self sufficient I would encourage to consult Summa Contra Gentiles by Thomas Aquinas.  And should anyone be interested in examining the idea that God does not change, I would encourage them to start with Erickson's God the Father Almighty.

Before I end, there is one last thing I wish to address.  God is declared just in the Bible in 2 Thessalonians 1:6 and 1 John 1:9.  One of the more common ideas put forward is that no god of love could possibly condemn people to an eternity in hell for a few years on this planet.  Were God not just, then perhaps this could work as an argument, but the love of God is compatible with His justice.  God is not simply a being who loves or is just, God IS love and IS just.  We didn't ascribe these ideas to God because they seemed to fit who we thought God should be, rather, we understand these ideas because we were created in the image of God. 

The nature of the Gospel message is that all have sinned against God.  We broke the law, we're criminals, or perhaps more accurately, we're traitors.  A just God cannot help but punish this infraction.  He must punish it, and the wages of sin is death.  But a God of love offers us redemption in spite of our failing.  "For God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for our sins."   He offers us salvation from the damnation we justly have earned by our own actions.  Is God fair?  Yes, salvation is offered to all.  It is not justice to ignore unrepentant treason.  It is only the love of God that would permit any of us to be redeemed.  So yes, a God of love will allow persons to reap the reward of their actions, even if it would grieve him; for a God of justice must punish the violations of his law, and a God of love must allow free-will.

Turtle Bonding

So, this weekend, I got to figure out something that my nephew and I share.  We both think that turtles are cool.  While my Mom, Sister, and Niece went to a craft show; Dad and my nephews and I went for a hike through the woods.  On the way back to the house, Nick spotted something and said "what's that."  What he had spotted was a cool little turtle.  It was cold and so we took him up to the yard where there was some nice grass and sunshine.  Nick ran off pretty quick, but Joey was fascinated.

Joey said he'd never really seen a turtle like that before, full grown but not like the ones at the Zoo.  He had the same look on his face I get whenever I see a turtle that I get the chance to admire.  He just wanted to watch and observe the little terrapin.  Once he warmed up, the turtle decided we were alright.  We tried to offer him a green tomato and a ripe one, but he wasn't hungry.  He walked around a bit and kept trying to find a place to hide. 

What was funny was that he didn't run away from us to hide.  He ran toward us.  I've never seen a turtle go toward a person before, but this one kept trying to bury himself under our pants legs to hide.  Nick came back over at that point and both the boys made a game of watching walk under them.  I hadn't anticipated finding a common bond with my nephews by spotting a little turtle.  But getting to share that moment of just watching a little turtle and sharing a bit of fascination with these really cool creatures was a really fun moment of bonding for this proud Uncle.