Ask the Pastor with J.D. Greear

Pastor J.D. talks about whether aliens are a possibility or a mere figment of the imagination. A glimpse inside this episode: Our faith doesn’t rise and fall with this question, so we have some liberty here. It’s not in our church’s statement of beliefs. C.S. Lewis seemed to keep the option open, and he’s smart … so there’s that. Evolutionists say yes: the likelihood of that much space. Stephen Jay Gould thought we should stop trying to send out signals because they in all likelihood would be hostile Astronomers estimate the number of stars at more than 3,000 billion trillion. Mathematicians says Septillion. 24 0’s. Now, if you’re like me, numbers like million, billion, trillion, or a septillion tend to sound all the same after a while. One million seconds ago. Do you know what you were doing a million seconds ago? 11 days ago.  What about a billion seconds ago? Do you remember what you were doing then? That’s 31 years and 8 months ago. Some of you, of course, can’t remember what you were doing then because there was no “you” to speak of. Sometime in the 1980s. The compact disc player had just been released. Rambo was saving our world from certain destruction. The Jedi were returning for the first time. How about a trillion seconds ago? How long ago do you think that would be? A couple centuries back? A trillion seconds ago was 29,672 BC. The 1st Rocky movie had just come out. And there are as many as 40,000,000,000 (40 billion) potentially habitable planets. So the likelihood is high. But: Anthropomorphic/Goldilocks Principals (chances are low) Creation thought: Did God really waste that much space? But: (Lewis: God creates for himself). Plus, according to Genesis 1, man is the center of creation: God created the Sun, Moon, and stars to give light (brightening the utter darkness of the night sky) and to assist mankind (see Genesis 1:14-15). Throughout Scripture: This centrality of man continues. “Thou dost make him [man] to rule over the works of thy hands, you have put all things under his feet” (Psalms 8:3,6). Why so many stars for these purposes? Is it any big thing to God? Plus, God says that all of Creation exists to declare the glory of God! Psalm 19:1. The very vastness of space declares to us the awesome power and majesty of God! The more we know the more we say with David in Psalm 8: “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is your name in all the earth, Who hast displayed your splendor above the heavens! …When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, The moon and the stars (I say)…O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is your name in all the earth!” Also: The Bible tells us that one day we will rule even angels, and the 2nd member of the Trinity became a man and now sits on the throne of the universe. It’s hard to read Scripture in a way that allows for other races. The Bible also pretty clearly indicates that God’s plan for mankind and the universe itself are intertwined. When Christ returns, he’ll destroy this universe and the Bible talks about a “…new Heaven and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:7, 10). So, what does that mean for aliens? Well, because the Bible talks about the destruction of the earth and the universe and the re-creation of a “new Heaven and the new earth”, it seems unlikely and unfair that there would be other life on other planets whose reality still revolves around us. Distant planets would be destroyed by God because of his plan for Earth. The implication of Scripture is that there are no other intelligent beings besides man, animals, and the angels.” I’m not sure we could TOTALLY close the door on other intelligent life, but another rebellious race that God gave himself for? That’s hard to integrate with Scripture. Practical question: If there were, could we ever be visited? Based on the physics of the universe, hard to imagine. The closest star to the Earth, Proxima Centauri (a-Centauri C) is 40.7 million million kilometers (approximately 25 million million miles) away. The Apollo flights took three days to get to the moon. At the same speed, one would need 870,000 years to get to the nearest star. Of course, one could accelerate (particularly unmanned) probes to a greater speed. At the incredible speed of one-tenth the speed of light, the trip, one way would still take 43 years. However, one would need enormous amounts of energy for such an acceleration, roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of the entire world’s population for one month. Furthermore, in every cubic kilometer of space, there are an estimated 100,000 dust particles (made up of silicates and ice) weighing only a tenth of a gram. At such a velocity, colliding with even one of these tiny objects could destroy a spaceship. What is behind all the sightings? I don’t know. People’s imaginations. But something to consider, Sociologist Gerald Eberlain said: Research has shown that people who are not affiliated with any church, but who claim they are religious, are particularly susceptible to the possible existence of extraterrestrials. For them, UFOlogy is a substitute religion. Furthermore, in Ephesians the devil is called the “prince of the power of the air.” As Dr. Werner Gitt points out, “The devil has his own repertoire of deception in the form of various occult practices and a multitude of religious rites. It could be that behind those unexplainable UFO reports there is the work of the arch-deceiver.” All that to say: Believing in the possibility of aliens is probably fine, though questionable at best. But obsession over them might indicate something troubling for a Christian. We don’t need beings from another planet to save us; We’ve already had a heavenly being walk in our midst.

Pastor J.D. discusses transgenderism, gender ambiguity, and the concept of pronoun hospitality. A glimpse inside this episode: Old maxim: Behind every question is a questioner. When I hear a question like this, I immediately imagine the sort of person asking it. Sometimes it may be someone trying to pick a fight. But behind those who identify as transgender, that experience is invariably a person filled with confusion, pain, and rejection. Sadly, the church has often failed to be the sanctuary of the hurting for people in the LGBTQ community. We need to acknowledge that and repent of it. Behind every case of ssa or gender dysphoria is a question about unanswered prayer. Before we talk about trans pronouns, I think it may be helpful to talk a little bit about transgenderism more broadly. Two excellent books (that far excel my own knowledge here): Ryan Anderson, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment He deals with these questions (about sex vs. gender, pronoun usage, etc) in a very straightforward while (usually) grace-filled way. Andrew Walker, God and the Transgender Debate. 1. What determines your gender? Anatomy? Identity?  The real answer is genetics: However things look on the outside, sex (male/female) is hardwired into our DNA. But since the external manifestations of sex do not always cohere with the genetics, scientists use the helpful phrase, “genetic sex.” This refers to whether a person has XY or XX chromosomes. Genetic sex is established at conception, and is a binary. Despite advances in medical technology, there is still no way of altering this, as it is a part of our DNA. No matter what sexual reassignment surgeries people undergo, or what hormonal supplements they take, they will always have the genetic sex they did at conception. There are periodic mutations in which individuals get other unconventional combinations (besides XX or XY), the most common of which is XXY. (This is called Klinefelter syndrome.) But even though this is the most common genetic sex disorder, it only occurs in about 1 in 1,000 men—and most of them never manifest symptoms. If they do manifest symptoms, it is usually via infertility. All told, when it comes to genetic sex, at the DNA level, there really is just male and female. QUESTION 2. What about ambiguous Genitalia and the “Intersexual” Now, when it comes to external anatomy, the situation is slightly different. Sometimes a genetically female child will have an enlarged clitoris (resembling a penis), or a genetically male child will lack one (or both) testicles. In most of these cases, the abnormality is minor and can be corrected surgically. This is sometimes referred to as “ambiguous genitalia,” though some people with this condition prefer the title “intersexual.” Again, the numbers here are very small. Only 1 in 1,000 babies undergoes corrective surgery for genitalia abnormalities. Not all cases of ambiguous genitalia require corrective surgery, of course, so the number of instances may be higher—though only slightly so. But here’s the important thing to note here: those who identify as transgender are nearly always not those with abnormalities in genetic and anatomical sex. Even the “Intersex Society of North America” admits that transgendered people “have an internal experience of gender identity that is different from most people,” not an identity based on their ambiguous anatomical makeup. It’s not found by looking within. Our hearts are inclined to be deceitful, not trustworthy (cf. Jeremiah 17:9). And as Tim Keller has shown in his recent book, Making Sense of God, the more we look within for our identity, the more we get confused, toggling between elation and despair. Our identity is formed by our Creator. We are who he has declared us to be. QUESTION 3: OK, the pronoun question… Andrew Walker, God and the Transgender Debate “Christians disagree—hopefully charitably—about pronoun usage. Some think that as a personal courtesy, you should refer to a transgender person by their preferred pronoun. … Others think that it is wrong to inject further confusion into a person’s situation by referring to them with a pronoun that is not aligned with their biological sex.” In other words, there is a spectrum of generosity of spirit vs. telling truth I tend toward generosity of spirit. Andrew Walker: “My own position is that if a transgender person comes to your church, it is fine to refer to them by their preferred pronoun. .. If and when this person desires greater involvement or membership in the church, a church leader will need to meet with them and talk about how they identify. … The best solution is to avoid pronouns altogether if possible. Calling a person by their legal name or preferred name is more acceptable because names are not objectively gendered, but change from culture to culture.” Best if you use the proper name over and over, even if it means it sounds weird Preston Sprinkle, who heads up The Center for Faith, Sexuality, and Gender, has a similar approach: He calls it “pronoun hospitality.”  The Bible appears to use accommodating language. ACTS 17. We know there is only one God. You might find a correlation in “wives” in polygamous society / to a divorced man: “your adulteress” I wouldn’t invest too much into language–”oh, I am lying” You can be clear in other ways. “I’ll argue in this paper that the most biblical response to transgender people’s pronouns is a posture of unequivocal pronoun hospitality.” That is, I believe that all Christians can and should use pronouns that reflect the expressed gender identities of transgender people, regardless of our views about gender identity ethics. If a person identifies herself to you as ‘she,’ I hope you will consider it an act of Christ-like love to call her ‘she’ out of respect, whether or not you believe that the way she expresses her gender identity is honoring to God” (11.1). “What does it look like for people who think differently about gender identity ethics to speak truthfully and effectively about one another? This paper considers the common reasons given by Christian conservatives for rejecting the idea of pronoun hospitality, then challenges two assumptions about the nature of language that such arguments make and lays out an affirmative case for pronoun hospitality based in a robust understanding of how language works” (11.1). “Christian arguments against pronoun accommodation—that is, using the pronouns with which trans people identify—are generally rooted in the importance of truth-telling. According to this view of language, the purpose of a pronoun is to make a statement about a person’s appointed sex” (11.4). “Whereas [the truth-telling position] emphasizes the importance of truthfulness for the sake of personal integrity before God, Andrew Walker’s position focuses primarily on how his truthfulness will impact others who are listening to his words” (11.5). “The arguments against pronoun accommodation summarized above all rely on two important assumptions about the nature of language. These assumptions are all the more powerful because they remain unstated: Assumption #1: Pronoun gender always and only refers to an individual’s appointed sex. Assumption #2: When our definitions of words differ from other people’s definitions, ‘telling the truth’ means using our own definitions” (11.6). “When we apply Paul’s linguistic approach to the pronouns we use about transgender people, I believe we arrive at a posture of pronoun hospitality: a willingness to accommodate the pronouns of our transgender neighbors regardless of our own views about the Christian ethics of gender identity” (11.10). Based off of Acts 17

Pastor J.D. explains why slavery isn’t a problem we should brush aside and how we should view it through the lens of Scripture. A glimpse inside this episode: I want to start by pointing out that this isn’t a problem we should just brush aside. It’s a good thing for us to be offended at depictions of slavery, even in the Bible. We ought to be troubled by things and not explain them away… So, for instance, when we hear the basic story of the first slave described in the OT (Hagar), we are rightly troubled. Abraham sleeps with his wife’s slave girl. That’s not just slavery; that’s sex slavery. We ought to be troubled by things and not explain them away… I get it. There’s a sense in which you don’t want to judge people of old by today’s understanding, I get that. But you don’t want to lose the horror of it. That people in the NT like Philemon didn’t immediately recognize the injustice of the practice. A couple of key concepts to keep in mind: There is a big difference between description and prescription. In other words, just because the Bible talks about it, doesn’t mean the Bible approves of it. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. When Abraham took Hagar as a sex slave, the results were disastrous for everyone involved. Preferring the older brother Here’s another: Progressive Revelation It’s the recognition that Scripture sometimes left deficient systems in place, while planting the seeds into the system of its undoing. For example, here’s one we don’t often think about: primogeniture, where the eldest son got all the inheritance and the younger son got the shaft, was clearly practiced in the OT. But in Genesis, God always chose the younger. God subtly overturned the system. Many scholars see something similar happening throughout the Bible with slavery. When we look to slavery in the Bible, there are three things we need to keep in mind: 1. In the NT, the “bondservant” practice of the 1st century is nothing like what we think of when we say, “slave” (i.e. where you take someone captive and force them into labor.) That kind of slavery is explicitly condemned in the Bible: “Anyone who kidnaps another and sells him must be put to death” (Ex. 21:16). Or, in 1 Tim 1:8–10 Paul puts slave traders in the same category as those who kill their parents, adulterers, perjurers, and perverts. So, that can’t be the kind of servant Onesimus was. This was more like what we think of as indentured servanthood; and it was part of the economic system in Rome. If someone became extremely poor, or consumed with debt, the only thing left for them to sell was their labor. So in agreement for paying off debts and the promise of provision they would sell themselves to a wealthy person like Philemon. Now, that’s not to say this was a good system, or that it ever part of God’s plan… 2. The New Testament subverts the entire premise of (any form of) slavery.  The entire NT ethic can be summarized as, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” It calls us to treat one another as “brothers and sisters,” and tells us that in Christ there is neither “slave nor free.” That new view of humanity would ultimately undo any form of slavery. The ground is level at the foot of the cross: one RACE: human. One CLASS: sinner. One HOPE: JESUS. One FUTURE: resurrection. One FORTUNE: the eternal riches of Christ. 3. Rather than issuing a political manifesto, God planted seeds which undid the current order. Had God said, “This system is wrong; get rid of it now,” Jesus followers may have focused exclusively on political action. (And there is a time to work politically). But God had a different way of going about his agenda on earth: he was transforming the world from within, and the place he started was in the church. Eventually, this new vision of humanity will transform the whole society, but it starts in the church. Even the slave masters recognized the push of the Bible toward liberation! In the Museum of the Bible, I saw “The Slave Bible” where they had cut out large sections of Old and New Testament they thought would push the slaves toward desires for freedom! D.A. Carson says that the best work on slavery is by an African-American scholar named Thomas Sowell. Massive: 3 vols. He points out slavery was universal. The terrible European slave trade trafficked 11 million Africans; but twice that many were bought and sold on the Arabian Peninsula during that same time period. Furthermore, he says, almost every slave he says sold in the European slave trade were enslaved and sold to them by other Africans. So, in other words, slavery was a nearly universal problem. Here’s how Sowell put it:  Thomas Sowell on slavery: “Although slavery was a worldwide institution for thousands of years, nowhere in the world was slavery a controversial issue prior to the 18th century. People of every race and color were enslaved – and enslaved others. White people were still being bought and sold as slaves in the Ottoman Empire, decades after American blacks were freed. Everyone hated the idea of being a slave but few had any qualms about enslaving others. Slavery was just not an issue, not even among intellectuals, much less among political leaders, until the 18th century – and then it was an issue only in Western civilization. Among those who turned against slavery in the 18th century were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and other American leaders. You could research all of the 18th century Africa or Asia or the Middle East without finding any comparable rejection of slavery there.”   Why, he asks? Slavery is universal, but what stopped slavery it in the West? His answer? Undeniably, the Great Awakening: The preaching of men like John Wesley and the reforms of Christian statesman William Wilberforce. The gospel plants seeds that ultimately undid the broken systems of the world from within. Yes, Christians have been hypocritical with this down through history. But when they really reckoned with the gospel (as in the Great Awakening), it brought the entire system of slavery down on its head!

Pastor J.D. discusses some misconceptions and implications regarding the issue of masturbation. A glimpse inside this episode: A friend of mine named Todd Wagner offered some helpful clarification for what it’s not: The unforgivable sin An unavoidable sin (1 Corinthians 10:13) A single man’s struggle (70% of married people—men and women—struggle with this question) A male problem (89% of women struggle with masturbation) FYI: “Onan’s” sin in Genesis 38 was not the sin of masturbation. What we do know: Lust is sinful. The classic Protestant answer follows a relatively simple syllogism: Lusting after women is a sin. It is difficult to masturbate without looking at or imagining a woman who is not your wife. Ergo, masturbation should be discouraged. But what if I think of something else while I’m masturbating? Not entirely possible–how God wired it. John Piper: “I know there are nocturnal emissions, which I regard as innocent and helpful, but I doubt that they are ever orgasmic apart from a sexual dream that supplies the necessary image in the mind. Evidently God has constituted the connection between sexual orgasm and sexual thought in such a way that the force and pleasure of orgasm is dependent on the thought or images in our minds.” Something else: It can be dangerous because it can be addictive. The physical act of orgasm releases certain chemicals (oxytocin, epinephrine, etc.). It has become a legitimate addiction for many people. We shouldn’t play with it. Hooked—it’s not a Christian book, but a scientific study written by a couple of neurologists showing how sexual stimulation rewires the brain Also, it objectifies the opposite sex and reduces sex to an erotic pleasure What about thinking of my spouse during masturbation? If a woman gives her husband permission to do this—maybe during a long military deployment—this is different, but I would still discourage it. Romans 8:12 says we are not under obligation to our flesh. Don’t be captive. Good news of God’s grace: We shouldn’t beat people up because of their sin. But we shouldn’t indulge their sin either.

Pastor J.D. talks about whether the legal use of marijuana is wise or helpful for Christians. A glimpse inside this episode: In the past, this was an easy enough question, because marijuana was illegal. It wasn’t a “gray area” for Christians. The drug was illegal, so it was off-limits to those who are “subject to the governing authorities” (Rom. 13:1). But as recreational marijuana becomes legal in more states, some Christians are having conversations about whether there could be an acceptable use. While the Bible never mentions marijuana, it does prohibit intoxication. If one hit of marijuana makes you high, there’s no way to smoke it and obey the Bible’s commands against drunkenness. No drug should not move us to the point of losing control. But that’s much of the intrigue and mystique of marijuana. Furthermore, marijuana has been demonstrated to have a lot of addictive qualities, more so than alcohol and nicotine, and Paul says: “Though all things are lawful, but I will not be ruled by them.” So, on the whole, it’s just hard to see how this could ever be wise. And that’s the wisest question: Is it helpful? I will add: marijuana use makes you demonstrably dumber. I mean, so does watching the Bachelor or 5–6 hours of golf. But it’s not a helpful variable in this equation. One deeper issue: the effects of marijuana work against the kind of community we should seek in the body of Christ. In Ephesians, Paul contrasts being drunk with wine vs. filled with the Spirit. That’s not an accidental comparison. Both are ways you deal with stress and problems. Wine (and we could add marijuana) dull your awareness of reality. The Spirit heightens your awareness of an alternate reality–the promises of the gospel and the sovereignty of God. And you speak those to one another in the church, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Some who speak from experience say that getting high “pulls you within yourself, causes you to become more disengaged, not only from people, but also from life in general.” One says: “Before I was a Christian, I smoked marijuana to . . . disengage from both people and issues.” One guy said: “By causing users to disengage from life, marijuana works against the love of neighbor Jesus commands. Christians seeking to honor God with their lives would do well to avoid it.

To kick-off our new season, we want to share some of our favorite leadership lessons from Pastor J.D. This has been a minor departure from our question/answer format, but these quick thoughts on different leadership topics are too helpful not to share. Oftentimes, Pastor J.D. will ask the staff of The Summit Church to read a book before our monthly large team meeting. In our episode today, J.D. is teaching the staff from the book A Praying Life by Paul Miller.

To kick-off our new season, we want to share some of our favorite leadership lessons from Pastor J.D. This will be a minor departure from our question/answer format, but these quick thoughts on different leadership topics are too helpful not to share. You don’t want to miss any week in September. In our episode today, J.D. works quickly through value statements about disciple making at The Summit Church. ________________________________________________ This Episode’s Sponsor: You’ve probably heard about the movie OVERCOMER. But you may not know there are a few books and Bible studies inspired by the film. One is called Defined by Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick, which is a book and Bible study based on insights from the Book of Ephesians. You can find these books and Bible studies at LifeWay.com/Overcomer.  

To kick-off our new season, we want to share some of our favorite leadership lessons from Pastor J.D. This will be a minor departure from our question/answer format, but these quick thoughts on different leadership topics are too helpful not to share. You don’t want to miss any week in September. In our episode today, J.D. very quickly answers some common questions around working – specifically working in a church. How many hours should we expect our team to work each week? What does rest look like while in ministry? ________________________________________________ This Episode’s Sponsor: You’ve probably heard about the movie OVERCOMER. But you may not know there are a few books and Bible studies inspired by the film. One is called Defined by Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick, which is a book and Bible study based on insights from the Book of Ephesians. You can find these books and Bible studies at LifeWay.com/Overcomer.

To kick-off our new season, we are sharing some of our favorite leadership lessons from Pastor J.D. This will be a minor departure from our question/answer format, but these quick thoughts on different leadership topics are too helpful not to share. You don’t want to miss any week in September. Oftentimes, Pastor J.D. will ask the staff of The Summit Church to read a book before our monthly large team meeting. In our episode today, J.D. is hitting three quick leadership application points from the book Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar and Disney Animation. Join Pastor J.D. as he talks about setting and changing culture. ________________________________________________ This Episode’s Sponsor: You’ve probably heard about the movie OVERCOMER. But you may not know there are a few books and Bible studies inspired by the film. One is called Defined by Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick, which is a book and Bible study based on insights from the Book of Ephesians. You can find these books and Bible studies at LifeWay.com/Overcomer.  

In one of our two most popular episodes from season one, Pastor J.D. shares four important things to keep in mind when responding to instances of sexual abuse. Enjoy this re-broadcast, and watch for season two in September. A glimpse into this episode: This is an extremely important question, so much so that after becoming SBC president, the first thing I did was appoint a Sexual Abuse Advisory Group to lead our denomination. They have been leading in dozens of ways—one of the biggest is they’re developing a curriculum to help churches answer this very question. Churches should be a safe haven for the vulnerable, so we need to do everything we can to make our churches safe for survivors and safe from abuse. A few preliminary thoughts: Don’t be shocked it’s happening. Prioritize the protection of victims, not the guarding of your reputations. Your goal is not to meet the minimal requirements–but as a shepherd to protect your flock. This is just the start of an answer, but here are four important things to keep in mind: Disclosing sexual abuse takes an enormous amount of courage, so we should honor that. This may be the least understood aspect of sexual abuse—it results in a huge loss of voice for the victim. Abuse is usually followed by threats not to say anything, and that’s usually what happens. What you need to know is that the first time you hear about an instance of abuse, chances are the person talking to you has been carrying this for years. They’ve been terrified about what people will think. They’ve assumed they wouldn’t be believed. To speak up takes bravery. Now, there are important responses and action steps after you hear of abuse. But don’t be so quick to rush to the action step that you forget your first response—listening to a person, made in God’s image, reveal one of the most hurtful experiences of their lives. Listen, listen, listen. If you know of a report of sexual abuse against a minor, you are legally obligated to alert the authorities. This is not a “Matthew 18” situation. This is a “Romans 13” situation. Because certain sins are not only immoral; they are also illegal. This is never clearer than in the case of sexual abuse against minors. If you know of sexual abuse against a minor, no matter who you are, no matter who they are, your first response is to alert the authorities. Call CPS or call the police. You may not know all of the best next steps. But they do, and you need to bring them in. The safety of more children than you know may be on the line. If an abuser has access to minors at your church, remove the access immediately—and, again, call the authorities. Statistics here are horrifying. Those who abuse minors don’t just do it once or twice. They do it repeatedly, even after they’ve been caught (if given the opportunity). So if you know about one case, you need to see that as dozens of more potential cases. This isn’t a gray area: Bring in the authorities. We need to reject any understanding of grace that puts the vulnerable in harm’s way by giving abusers a chance to do it again Help connect the survivor to other resources. If someone has disclosed to you, that’s an honor. And you will have a key role in their healing process. But you need to know you shouldn’t be shouldering this alone. Questions are going to come up—pretty early—that are best processed through a counseling relationship. So one of the best things you can do for a victim is to get them connected to a counselor. This isn’t a handoff—you need to remind the victim that you are still there and want to process everything with them—but it allows other people more trained in abuse care to do what they do best. Conclusion: It’s a gospel issue ________________________________________________ This Episode’s Sponsor: With Ministry Grid’s library of over 3,000 training videos, it’s now simpler than ever to train every volunteer and leader in your church. And this is training you can trust. Each Ministry Grid video features an experienced ministry leader who has been where you are now. Learn how to get unlimited access for you and your church at MinistryGrid.com.