Miscellaneous Monday: "Contemplating Criticism" - Ron

This post is supposed to be a miscellaneous one, which means that the blog allfather, Stephen, has not provided me with a theme. Unfortunately, there are many miscellaneous things about which I would like to write, and only one post in which to do it. For example, I am one of millions of college basketball fans which in the past two days have moved through the five stages of grief regarding our March Madness brackets. I could write about that journey from denial to acceptance. Regrettably, I am still in the fourth stage, not yet having accepted the dumpster fire that my bracket has become. It was Ben’s recent post about social justice that caused the wheels of my brain to turn. And they have not stopped. Thus, one could say my post is born from that. 

I try not to take criticism too seriously when it comes from a person to whom I would not go for advice. However, this is not always the best route, and so it should be traversed with care. Maynard James Keenan (hereafter MJK) is most definitely not a person to whom most Christians would go for advice. He is the lead singer of such bands as Puscifer, A Perfect Circle, and Tool. I would not recommend that you open a Spotify tab and listen to this music. For the most part, there are few, if any, redeeming qualities. 

That being said, 2018 saw A Perfect Circle release a new CD called Eat the Elephant. As a high school worldview and apologetics teacher, I try to stay abreast of popular music and entertainment. I heard about the song TalkTalk on the new album, so I listened to it. I was stunned. Silent. Dare I say that I was even convicted? Now, in 2021, I have an outlet to speak to someone other than my wife about the song and the impact that it had upon me. I will produce the lyrics below, but be aware that I have purposefully censored a certain word that MJK seemed intent on repeating.

"You’re waiting on miracles

(While) We’re bleeding out.

Thoughts & Prayers.

Adorable.

Like cake in a crisis. We’re bleeding out.

While you deliberate, bodies accumulate.

Sit and talk like Jesus

Try walking like Jesus

Talk Talk Talk Talk. Get the **** out of my way.

Don't be the problem. Be the solution.

Faith without works is dead.

Talk without works is dead.

Sit and talk like Jesus.

Try walkin’ like Jesus.

Try braving the rain.

Try lifting the stone.

Try Extending a hand.

Try Walkin’ your talk or get the **** outta my way."

First, it should be noted that MJK is not a believer in Christ. Yet somehow he shows a wonderful understanding of at least some of the Book of James in this song. Ironically, he places the song on an album that many Christians will not hear. For me, this lessens the impact, as I do not think that MJK wants a dialogue with Christians so much as he wants to scream at them. My misgivings notwithstanding, it seems to me that if this is the general perception of Christianity, we’ve some work to do, brothers and sisters. 

Would I go to MJK for advice? Certainly not. But I can take this criticism and at least examine my own life against it. Am I truly being an example of Christ in both word and deed (1 John 3:18)? Am I loving as He loves? Am I seeking truth, justice, and mercy (Psalm 89:14)? In the end, perhaps the best advice for a Christian who refuses to walk the talk is to just get out of the way. See, the profanity can easily be left out. 

You may disagree with me, and that is your prerogative, but knowing that MJK is opposed to Christ actually causes me to respect his thoughts more. Like the atheist Bertrand Russell who said that “if we want a stable world" what we really need is "love, Christian love, or compassion" (Russell, 1951, Ch. 6), it seems apparent that MJK recognizes that the true Christ-life changes things. At least it should. When it doesn’t, we cease to be above reproach. 

Perhaps when we are chastised and prosecuted by the MJKs of the world, it is not so much for well-doing as we think it is. Maybe we have become too comfortable saying, “depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,” without actually lifting a hand. We may argue with MJK, but dare we argue with James? He asks the question: what does this profit (James 2:15-16)? To paraphrase, “what good does this kind of faith actually do?”

Another band, Five Iron Frenzy (FIF), led by Reese Roper, put it this way in a song released just last month:

"If you vote to stop abortions

**** the pregnant girls and orphans

Blame your decline on the LGBTQ

Offer platitudes not portions

Then your rancor is your fortune

And your poison is what’s poisoning you"

Language notwithstanding, FIF was, or is, a band of Christians. If you care to know, the censored word is not the same in both songs. FIF’s earliest works were the jams of my tweenage years. The album on which this song appears, has no less than six songs devoted to social justice issues. It smacks of liberalism and is, in essence, an attack on the politics of conservative Christians like me. To be honest, it was disappointing and it made me sad. But again, three years later and from a source much closer to home, the thought is the same. Christians have a lot of talk about morality, but not a ton of action. 

For what it is worth, Reese Roper sat down with CCM Magazine for an interview about the new album and said, “Yes, I think it is Christian music. In fact, there were people in the band that kept saying it wasn’t Christian enough—and we needed more overtly-Christian songs in there. I sent the lyrics back to them with at least 5 Bible verses that had inspired the lyrics” (MacIntosh, 2021)!

I am not saying these perceptions are accurate. I pray to God they are not. But today I heard a pastor say, “Americans are three generations removed from seeing a massive move of Jesus.” Could this be true? As the culture grows darker, shouldn’t Christ’s lights shine brighter? So, what could happen if every Christian did a heart check? What would happen if every Christian prayed, “Dear God, let it not be me!” What would happen if every Christian fully backed up his words with actions? I think we would turn the world upside down (Acts 17:4-9). And maybe today you will read this, and the prayers will rise from your heart, and real change will begin with you. And me. And others. May it be so.

A Perfect Circle. (2018). TalkTalk. On Eat the Elephant. BMG.

MacIntosh, D. (2021). Five iron frenzy: Until this shakes apart. CCM Magazine. https://www.ccmmagazine.com/reviews/music/five-iron-frenzy-until-this-shakes-apart/

Five Iron Frenzy. (2021). While Supplies Last. On Until This Shakes Apart. Independent.

Russell, B. (1951). The impact of science on society. Simon and Schuster.

Redefining Contentment - Ben

Paul told a young pastor, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” This is remarkable especially when one considers that Paul also admitted to being whipped five times, beaten with rods three times, stoned, shipwrecked, cast adrift at sea, in constant dangers from foreign and domestic threats, he was cold, hungry, thirsty, and spent many a sleepless night tossing and turning in his bed as he worried over the state of the church (cf. 2 Cor. 11:24-28). Maybe when Paul used the word “contentment,” he meant something else. Sorta like when my son head-butts me in the breadbasket and my wife asks, “You okay?” To which I reply sarcastically, “I’m greeeeeeat.” I am not great. I’ve just been billy-goated by 23lbs of unbridled kinetic energy. In fact, I’m so “ungreat” that I may need to go to the emergency room to stop my internal organs from hemorrhaging. 

But Paul wasn’t being sarcastic. He knew how to be content in every situation. Now, lest we feel too badly about ourselves, I’m quick to point out that Paul wasn’t born with this trait. No. As Ron so eloquently laid out in his post, contentment was something that Paul had to learn (cf. Phil 4:11-13). And if he could learn how to be content, so can we.

The key to learning contentment lies in the very situations where we find contentment allude us. You see, Paul showed us that the measure of one’s contentment is discovered in times of catastrophe rather than in times of serenity. Meaning, you must be brought to the end of your contentment before you can ever grow your contentment.

We’ve all been brought to the end of ourselves. Such as when a day ended up being too hot or too cold. Or when something you had meticulously planned out went completely haywire. Or when you finally got what you wanted but were shocked when you discovered you still wanted more. Contentment is as much a state-of-mind as it is an end-goal. We must have a mindset that controls our “wanter,” or we’ll allow what we want to govern what we do. We must see what we already have on hand and then choose to say, “I do not need more.” Our capacity to be content grows when our desire for more does not.

Contentment will be outside one’s reach when a person does not find their satisfaction in God alone.  True godliness looks to God to provide. When God inevitably provides, the godly do not need or desire anything more. The gains of such a person will eventually grow to such an extent that if the world itself were offered to them, it would hold no appeal (cf. Mat. 4:9-10). Who could want anything more when God has already filled every desire. Thus, content is the man who finds his fulfillment in God, and discontent is the man who finds his fulfillment apart from God. 

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

Psalm 16:11

Redefining Contentment: All We Like Sheep - Stephen

 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Psalm 23:1

Can you imagine the setting as David writes these famous words? I can just see him sitting in a field looking at the contentment of his sheep eating the grass he had led them to earlier in the day. Those animals didn’t have a care in the world nor a fear in their heart because the shepherd was there watching and providing for their every need. And the words of this verse mirror the contentment of David’s sheep with the satisfaction David felt towards God’s oversight and provision in his own life. 

 

As David pondered those things God had bestowed upon him he couldn’t help but feel anything less than satisfied. Who else could have brought about such protection from the attacks of a bear and a lion upon his flock? Who else could have provided the green pastures of sustenance and the cooling of the still waters within his soul? “No one but the Lord,” David concluded quietly to himself. The Lord as his shepherd allowed David to say, “I shall not want.” 

 

Yet we are soon reminded later in his life that David is fallen. With the Lord as his shepherd David was satisfied but like all of us “sheep” our hearts are prone to wander.

 

“And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 

2 Samuel 11:2-3

 

Where once David had satisfaction with the Lord’s provisions, he now finds himself in want. He finds himself discontent with what the Lord had provided and now desirous of something more. 

 

But what had changed? Had the Lord been slack concerning His provision for David? Certainly not—the once keeper-of-sheep was now the King of Israel. The once defender of a flock against wild animals is now victorious in battle in protection of his people. The trajectory of David’s life made the Lord’s hand of blessing evident to those around him, yet our hearts can fool us into believing otherwise in a single moment of weakness. A heart once satisfied is now in want. And the very One who was once our Shepherd seems now to be the very One holding us back from our utmost desires. So, David sinned. 

 

“And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.”

2 Samuel 11:4

 

David got what he wanted! If this were a Hollywood film the light music in the background would crescendo into a melody of triumph and resolve in a scene of “happily ever after.” As the camera pans out our 21^st century hearts have seen this story before. Where once previous generations saw looming consequences, our “evolved” minds think we are seeing a beautiful love story. We might be prone to believe that David leaves this scene content and satisfied. “My lust is my shepherd, I shall no longer want” is how some imagine the plot to end echoing our world’s refrain.  

 

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;”

Psalm 51:12a

 

But that is how this story actually ends. David’s heart went from one of contentment in Psalm 23 with the Lord as His shepherd to desirous of something more as his lust led the way to one more moment of dissatisfaction here in Psalm 51. Yet David is not asking God or anyone else for another moment upon the rooftop or another sinful bout of pleasure. He is asking God for something different. He is asking God for a restoring of a joy and a contentment he once had laying in the field watching his sheep. Psalm 51:12 is a call for a return to the satisfaction of Psalm 23. 

 

Contentment is sought by many but found by few. If this is true the fault cannot be because of a wrongful journey but a misplaced idea of the destination. Satisfaction within one’s heart that David’s life so clearly illustrated is only found when the Lord is our Shepherd. There will always be others applying for that job but there seems to be only One truly qualified for the position. 

 

Some call Him God. 

Others jokingly refer to Him as the Man Upstairs. 

But in the moments of his greatest contentment David called Him Lord. 

And I believe when contentment is found in our own lives we will find ourselves calling Him that very same thing—Shepherd. Leader. Lord. 

Redefining Contentment - Ron

     Maybe you think that contentment is just about being happy with the stuff you have. But it isn’t. March 11, 2009, holds special significance for me. On that day, my wife gave birth to our second child, a boy we named Ronin Joshua. Almost immediately after his birth, we knew that something was wrong. Not with the baby, but with my wife. I had never seen a person look more like a ghost. Even her lips were white. Before long, nurses were rushing in and I was being rushed out. I was confused. My mind was a fog. I watched as a crew of medical professionals began the process of moving her bed. They beckoned me to come with them. 

    As we walked, I heard phrases like, “emergency surgery,” and “stop the bleeding.” We reached a point where I could go no further and we had to say goodbye. I held Erin’s hand until distance separated us. Before her doctor left me, she ran through the possible outcomes of the surgery. Before the surgery could begin, I would have to sign liability papers. I listened, I signed, and then I was alone. 

    I did not know if I would see my wife alive again. As I paced the waiting room, I remember thinking over and again, “God, I cannot leave this hospital without my wife.” Thankfully, the surgery was successful. Then, after way too many blood bags were transfused into her body, Erin’s color came back. I honestly don’t remember much else from the time between saying “goodbye” and seeing her again. I remember the phrase I mentioned, but I do not remember anger. I don’t remember ever bargaining with God, blaming Him, or accusing Him. I simply made the same statement repeatedly. I was confused. My mind was a fog.

    The next year we had our third child--and third boy. Four years after that, in December of 2014, we had a little girl. We named her Eden Joy. In the summer of 2016, we travelled to Kentucky to visit Erin’s family. Eden had found a rocking horse and was enjoying playing on it. Until she wasn’t. One second she was fine, and the next she began to convulse. She was having a seizure. I was confused. My mind was a fog. Our other children were screaming and crying and people were rushing to call 911. My wife had scooped Eden into her arms and kept saying, “Ron, do something!” I could do nothing. 

    Eventually, Eden stopped seizing, but also stopped breathing. Erin was in denial, but I could see Eden turning blue. Her lips were purple. And I could do nothing. I did not even pray. I just stood there while my daughter was dying in the arms of my wife. But Eden did not die. She and my wife were rushed to the hospital by ambulance, while my father-in-law drove me in his vehicle. I did not speak. I did not pray. I thought. I brooded. When we arrived at the hospital, I was allowed to be in the room with Erin and Eden. It turns out that Eden had pneumonia and a very high fever had caused the seizure. 

    We arrived back at the house around two in the morning, but I did not sleep much. For the next few days the events of that night were never far from my mind. There was something I needed to confess to my wife, but I did not know how. I barely had the courage to admit it to myself. But I knew it was true. The reason I would not, could not, pray on that night is that I knew that I would never forgive God if my daughter died. I remember thinking it while I was standing there. “God, if she dies, I will never forgive you.” I graduated from Bible college, I was a youth pastor, I taught at a Christian school, and I could not pray when my daughter was, for all I knew, dying before my eyes.

    You may be wondering what any of this has to do with contentment. First Timothy 6:6 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Does this mean that it is possible to be godly without being content? I don’t know. But I do know that it is possible to appear godly without being content, and that form of godliness is of no gain at all when push comes to shove. You see, I was content with things the way they had been, but not with God alone. I was not content to trust in His sovereignty. My faith was not content in His plan. In the very next verses, Paul tells Timothy that we neither brought anything into the world nor can we take anything with us, so we should be content that our basic needs are met. I was not content. If God had taken my daughter, I would never have been content. And I let Him know that.

    But Paul knew about both godliness and contentment. He wrote in Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Adam Clarke paraphrases Paul’s thoughts, “I am so satisfied with the wise providence and goodness of God, that I know whatever he determines is the best; and therefore I am perfectly contented that he should govern the world in that way which seems best to his godly wisdom.”

    This is the biblical definition of contentment. To trust that the Judge of all the earth will do right (Genesis 18:25). To trust that God’s judgments are true and righteous altogether (Psalm 19:9). To believe that He works all things for good to those that love God according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). To have faith to cry out, “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief,” when our world falls apart (Mark 9:24). And remember what Paul said in Philippians 4:11? He said that he learned contentment. This is encouraging to me. I failed miserably. I crumpled like a paper house in a hurricane. But I’d like to think I learned. 

    There’s an old song by Kutless called, “I’m Still Yours.” The first verse asks questions. “If You washed away my vanity, if You took away my words, if all my world was swept away, would You be enough for me?” I was forced to face the honest answer to those questions. The song ends like this: “Even if You take it all away, You'll never let me go. Take it all away, but I still know that I'm Yours. I'm still Yours.” This is contentment. 

    Sure, it’s contentment that is learned, maybe slowly, over periods of testing, but contentment all the same. Maybe you think that contentment just means being happy with the stuff you have. The biblical definition of contentment is being satisfied with God whether or not you have anything at all. And godliness with this kind of contentment is great gain indeed. If I am again faced with anything like what I’ve described above, I pray I am content enough to pray. I pray you are, too.