When Words Matter Most: Speaking Truth with Grace to Those You Love 

By Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Newheiser (Crossway)

Words matter, whether they’re spoken to us, we utter them to others, or we whisper them to ourselves. In When Words Matter Most: Speaking Truth with Grace to Those You Love, long-time friends and experienced counselors Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Newheiser move beyond everyday dialogue to intentional, Scripture-based conversation that takes words to a higher plane.

Marshall, who directs women’s counseling at Founders Baptist Church in Spring, and Newheiser, assistant coordinator of women’s counseling at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, N.C., use the book’s first six chapters to offer instruction on the call to speak, those we love, grace and truth. Although a bit tedious at times, without Part One’s context, definitions, underlying concepts and reflection questions, Part Two would be ineffectual.

The practicality of “speaking truth with grace to those you love” comes in the final five chapters. Using personal examples, step-by-step coaching and Scripture, the authors show the reader ways to extend truth and grace to the worried, weary, wayward and weeping. The final chapter instills the confidence to speak as the Holy Spirit leads. Appendices provide recommended resources as well as documentation, notes and general and Scripture indexes.

When Words Matter Most guides women—and men—to assess opportunities, prepare personally and accept the challenge of speaking scriptural truth with grace to those we love without editorializing or trivializing the power of God’s holy word. Every page of this practical volume seems to whisper Psalm 119:105—“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Amen.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Texas WMU and Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco 

• Lesson 11 in the Connect360 unit “The Conquerors: Heroes of the Faith” focuses on Judges 7:23-24; 8:1-9.

In one way or another, everyone is a leader. Leadership is influence, and there is at least someone, and probably many “someones,” that you influence. There is a great possibility the number of people you influence now will grow as life goes on. It may be a child, a co-worker, a friend, a neighbor, or someone at church you influence. You may presently lead a team, a class, a group, an organization or a club. If not now, you may lead one of those things one day.

You are probably around the leadership of others each day. Life is made up of leaders and followers, it has always been the case. You may choose your leader, or that leader may be chosen for you. There are many times in leadership that you don’t necessarily like the leader placed over you, or you may have very little say in how that leader is. However, you can choose the type of leader you will be when God opens up that door of opportunity for leadership.

Practical leadership tools

There are many books on the market today about leadership, but the greatest book of all time on leadership is the Bible. Not only are there examples of good leaders and bad leaders, but there are also excellent principles and guides for being an effective and wise leader. Gideon’s life and experiences give us some practical tools in leadership.

So often leaders are tempted to grab the glory, take the spotlight, enjoy the fame, and want the rewards. Gideon reminds us that sharing leadership and responsibility and the fruits of an accomplished goal is always the right thing. A wise leader will pull in others, will leverage the gifts and passions of others, will be quick to point out the strengths of others, and will joyfully give others the opportunity to lead in their strengths.

This passage also calls out to us to be wise and measured and gracious with our words, especially with our responses. Since the advent of social media and the growing polarization in our country, we have found ourselves too quick to respond to others with short, reactive retorts. Gideon’s mild, self-deprecating, and encouraging words back to the men of Ephraim set a stellar example to us. What a great testimony Christians would have if we aimed to respond to our critics or detractors with words of self-control, goodness and grace. Christ-followers, we have the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in us, so we can ask God to give us the strength and discipline always to respond to others with God-honoring words.

Compiled by Stan Granberry, marketing coordinator for GC2 Press, formerly known as BaptistWay Press.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.  

• The Explore the Bible lesson for Aug. 22 focuses on Ecclesiastes 9:1-10.

My grandparents had an old gumball machine with a glass filled with pennies right beside it at their house when I was growing up. As children, we always would run to the machine when we arrived at their home, put a penny in the slot, and turn the knob. Every time, a nice round gumball would fall down the shoot to the little clear door.

I wonder if we often approach life and God in a similar fashion. If I do right, if I attend church, pray, read my Bible, maybe even tell others about Jesus, and tithe, then God will turn the knob of life and blessings will come shooting down to me. This “prosperity gospel” is not only a lie, but it also robs the true gospel of its nature.

Iain Provan write: “It is untrue, however, that the faithful obedient person will only and ever possess such things [blessings] and can somehow be sure of avoiding illness, disaster, and death if he or she can simply muster enough religious devotion. To believe this is to believe something profoundly unbiblical; to teach it is to insult every Christian… who has known illness, poverty, and misery; and to press it on the sick, the poor, and the unhappy… is to place a millstone around the neck of those who are drowning rather than offer them the comfort and home of the [real, true] gospel.” (Iain Provan, The NIV Application Commentary: Ecclesiastes/Song of Songs, p. 184) Provan remind us faith is not about control or manipulation, hoping that God always will do as we wish.

The teacher of the book of Ecclesiastes seems to have been influenced by other sources in the ancient Near East, or at least that the wisdom of Ecclesiastes influenced more than just the Israelites. This week’s text is one of the places we see this take place. In the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, Vol. 5, Duane Garrett writes: “Our three different sources, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Israelite, have essentially the same message: ‘In the light of the brevity of life, enjoy yourself!’ This attitude, of itself, may not be too remarkable, but the specific nature and sequence of the advice suggests a common wisdom tradition.” (p. 512) While there might be connection between the advice of these ancient sources, Qohelet asserts God is sovereign (v. 1), the giver of favor (v. 7), and the giver of all our days (v. 9).

Reality of death

Qohelet expounds pragmatically this week on what is common with all living things—death. But John Goldingay asserts in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Songs for Everyone, “With Ecclesiastes it affirms that facing death doesn’t then inhibit you from enjoy life—again, rather the opposite.” I can’t change the fact that death is coming for you and me any more than I can change the love that God has for all humanity. I can try to hide from death, cheat death, deny its existence, but death will come for all. There will come a point for all when the breath of God that gives life will be withdrawn from our lungs for the last time. This finality cannot be avoided by how we live the lives we have been given.

While Qohelet does not yet have the same understanding of resurrection that will be revealed by Christ and the teachings of the New Testament, what he says is truly Christian as he reminds us that God is God, and we are not. God’s ways are beyond our comprehension, our control and our earthly view. Facing these facts about life and death do not leave Qohelet to despair, and neither should we. For we can know the God who gives life. As Christians, we know an even greater understanding of eternity than Qohelet possessed, as we live on this side of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Future secure with God

We do not control the future, nor can we erase the past. What we can do is trust that it is our God who has forgiven all the sins of our past, is present with us as we face present struggles, and will hold our future secure. We trust just as Paul did in 2 Timothy 1:12, “…I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.”  Paul uses the word “committed” or “entrusted” to him—a banking term. It means “on deposit” or secure. Our future is secure with God through Jesus Christ. No one is ready to die and face their Creator until they have done this first.

We all face death. But we all don’t have to fear death. When we commit ourselves to Jesus, not even the great equalizer of death will worry us, for we know that even in death, God has the final say. Qohelet concludes this week, reminding us life matters because it is a gift from God—we are to enjoy it and honor him with it.

I remember finishing high school and facing all the uncertainty of the next chapter of life—moving to college, choosing a major, starting a career, perhaps finding a future spouse, and all the other parts of life that are decided in those pivotal late-adolescent years. I spoke to a good friend, lamenting that I wished God would just tell me what he wants from me: What am I supposed to do?  Where am I supposed to go?  Who am I supposed to be with?  My friend wisely responded, “Do you think if God actually spelled it all out for you, that you would actually believe him?”  It’s both a challenge and blessing that we truly do not know what comes next.

Davey Gibson is associate pastor of education and discipleship at Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas. 

• The Explore the Bible lesson for Aug. 15 focuses on Ecclesiastes 7:11-22.

Most people in our world today normally avoid extremes. Extreme sports pose great risks and danger. Extreme diets and lifestyles can cause lasting harm. Extreme work schedules can damage relationships. Extreme political views breed fighting and disagreement.

In this lesson, Qohelet speaks of extreme foolishness and extreme righteousness and the dangers they possess. There are parts of our text that seem to contradict what we understand of God and his word. Beginning with vv. 13-14, are we to understand that God is the creator of both all the good and all the bad that happen in our days? Does God truly cause calamity on his children? Our lesson reminds us of the life of Job and of Job’s insightful statement to his wife following the utmost destruction that befell him, “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” (Job 2:10).

W. Sibley Towner writes of the reality that exists between God and the moral choices humanity faces every day, as well as the outcomes those choices produce. “Biblical faith is theologically monistic and ethically dualistic. That means that God is good and good alone; we human beings are capable of both moral good and moral evil. This reality about human nature means that we need help from God when we confront the choice of good or evil.” (W. Sibley Towner, The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol. III, p. 995). We know we won’t always make the correct choice, but God never forsakes us or leaves us for any reason; rather, he promises to “…be alongside, ready to muddle on through with us.” (Towner, p. 995) An example from the life of Christ that Towner gives us is John 9, where the disciples question the reason for a blind man’s blindness. The simple answer that Jesus gives is that it is neither a sin committed by the man nor his parents; it is seen as an occasion wherein “God’s works might be revealed in him.” (John 9:3 NRSV)

God brings good out of bad experiences

We will all experience hardships, trials, struggles and days we would rather just never have to relive. That’s the great news of God. He will use both good and bad to bring about his purposes in our lives. As Paul reminds us in Romans 8:28, “ That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good” (The Message). And nothing, not even our own sin—which Qohelet astutely asserts is something everyone, even the wise and foolish, have in common—will separate us from God’s love. Paul concludes his famous teaching in Romans 8:37-39 with this truth: “None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” (The Message).

Ecclesiastes takes us on a journey through the extremes of Solomon or another wise teacher/king—called Qohelet—as the examine the pursuits and gains in life. Much of what the son of David experiences in his life—becoming wise, powerful, wealthy, following God, and falling away from God—lines up with the teachings of Qohelet.

John Goldingay concludes his comments on our text in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Songs for Everyone, with the reminder that in life we are to “…accept that if God makes or lets things happen that interfere with the way you wish life would work out, you just have to deal with it.”  (p.207) He correctly asserts there is nothing a human can do to argue their way in or out of the mysteries in life that God has kept hidden or has not revealed just yet. Thus, Qohelet wishes to drive us to a better understanding of the fear of God and how this will lead us to living the life of love and balance as we depend completely and totally on him.

Davey Gibson is associate pastor of education and discipleship at Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas. 

• Lesson 10 in the Connect360 unit “The Conquerors: Heroes of the Faith” focuses on Judges 7:12-22.

Let’s consider together five details of God’s creative and exact sovereignty in this portion of the story. First is direction. There were 135,000 men in this camp, and this would have meant thousands and thousands of tents. Gideon either stumbled upon a conversation being had out in the open or walked by a tent at the guidance of God. He went to the one place in the entire camp, out of tens of thousands of people and many thousand tents, and God directed him to the exact right place.

The second is protection. Gideon and Purah moved past the outposts. The outposts were the most heavily fortified places in a camp. An intelligent general would put his most alert soldiers at the outpost to watch for any movement.

The third detail of God’s sovereignty is right timing. How many conversations would be going on in a camp as soldiers waited for the exact moment to be called into action? Surely thousands of conversations. Gideon and Purah walked up just as the dreamer was sharing his story—not a minute too soon or too late. It wasn’t a long dream. Had Gideon walked up 30 seconds earlier or definitely 30 seconds later, he would have missed the dream.

Fourth the right people displays God’s sovereignty. God supplied the dreamer and the interpreter. God slipped a dream into the mind of a dreamer, brought it to the right people who would talk loudly enough for Gideon and Purah to hear, and even put an interpreter there to rightly interpret it. Well done, God!

Finally God provides the right words. The words of the interpreter were just what was needed. It was the right word that encouraged Gideon.

After those five remarkable events happened, Gideon was filled with both worship and confidence. He returned, I believe quite hastily, to the camp of the 300 Israelites and announced that it was time to go win a battle. And Gideon wisely was quick to share that it was the Lord who had given the many Midianites into their hand (Judges 7:15).

Compiled by Stan Granberry, marketing coordinator for GC2 Press, formerly known as BaptistWay Press.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here. 

• The Explore the Bible lesson for Aug. 8 focuses on Ecclesiastes 4:13-5:7.

“You have two ears and one mouth. Therefore, you should listen twice as much as you talk.”  I have heard this advice most of my life. Most everyone enjoys a good conversation, and our favorite topic is usually ourselves. Qohelet gives us sound advice as part of our text this week, Ecclesiastes 5:1-2, to “guard your steps when you go to the house of God. …do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. …let your words be few.”

Prepare for worship

What is life like for you on a Sunday morning? The verses in chapter 5 give direction to those who would be going up to the Temple for worship. At the Temple, God took up residence in ancient Israel, where the sacrifice for sins took place, and it was there God’s word would be proclaimed. While there is no way of knowing what great priest Oohelet has in mind to whom the worshipper should give full attention, it is worth noting the wise approach worship with the respect, devotion and reverence that is deserved.

In what ways might we prepare ourselves better for Sundays? Do we approach each worship service with the reverence and awe that is required? Or do we judge other worshippers, the music selection, and our own choices that cause us to be tired and removed from the opportunity to join other corporately before God’s throne. Don’t be a fool in church!

How to pray

Qohelet also gives advice on our prayer life. Remember that old saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes?” Everyone prays. But, as Qohelet puts it, “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless” (v. 5:7). Those who pray this way get nothing from God and nothing really from men either.

Like Qohelet, Jesus offers practical teaching on approaching God in prayer in his Sermon on the Mount, starting in Matthew 6:5-13, “whenever you pray… .” The religiously observant Jews would pray at precise times each day. They would recite the shema from Deut. 6:4-5. It didn’t matter where they were, even if they were in the streets, they would stop, face the Temple and pray. The posture of prayer was to stand and raise hands towards heaven. Qohelet and Jesus both are more concerned with the posture of the heart than the posture of the physical body.

There was nothing wrong with praying in the synagogues. It was just what the Pharisees were putting out there was for man and their own advantage. Pagan babbling was to prove they had figured out the equation to activate this certain god. Our God isn’t that way because he is the one true God. He cannot be “manipulated” by formula. God’s name was revealed by himself. Prayer begins and ends with God.

Praying where the Spirit resides and intercedes

The pagan reward, according to Jesus? Nothing. But for those who pray out of sincerity, closing the door, praying in the closet (or literal “inner room or pantry”), these are the ones who have a heart prepared for God to speak and are listening for his voice. They are the ones who do not make idle vows, but rather keep a posture of fear and reverence.

We take as our example now Hannah (1 Samuel 1:13-17), Daniel (Daniel 6:10), and Cornelius (Acts 10:1-4), who were sincere and focused in their prayer to God. And their reward?  The reward was a more intimate relationship with almighty God. A better knowledge of God’s will. A better understanding of who God is and who God has called us to be. Their prayer is coming from the inner space in their lives where the Spirit resides and intercedes on their behalf.

Modern-day theologian N.T. Wright reminds us of Paul’s teaching in Romans 8:26-27, “At the very moment when we are struggling to pray, and have no idea even what to pray for, just at that point the Spirit is most obviously at work. We are often quick with our words and I wonder if we drown out the Spirit’s groaning.” As we pray this week, let us remember we have two ears and one mouth. Yes, God wants to hear from us; however, he desires to speak to us and through us, as well.

Davey Gibson is associate pastor of education and discipleship at Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas. 

• Lesson 9 in the Connect360 unit “The Conquerors: Heroes of the Faith” focuses on Judges 7:1-7.

One of the things we can learn from this story is simply that the fearful and the self-centered are not necessarily disqualified, but they rarely are selected. It is difficult for God to use a person who retreats in fear, and it is difficult for God to use a person who is self-absorbed and unaware of the needs of the people around them. How often have we missed an opportunity to boldly live for Jesus or to courageously share God’s word because we either panicked or were too consumed in our own lives? God, give us brave spirits and outward-focused hearts.

So, if the fearful and the self-centered often miss out in spiritual battles and victories, then it is the courageous and the selfless that go into battle and get to experience the joy of God’s victory. In our story from Judges 7:1-11, God did something he regularly does. God often strips away the things that produce a false sense of confidence so he alone becomes our confidence. God often will not use us until we are so weak that we could never boast in ourselves, but only in the Lord alone. God took away 31,700 fighting men from an army that already was far outnumbered. God was very clear that he would get the credit for this victory. God was not going to let “Israel boast over” him (Judges 7:2). God may take away your good health. He may take away a friendship. He may take away money. He may take away ability. He may take away position. God does not share his glory with another.

God alone gets the glory

There was no denying this victory was going to belong to God alone. Please notice the starkness of declaration in Judges 7:2 and Judges 7:7 that God would have this victory. This is good news for each of us. The battle belongs to the Lord, which means the victory belongs to the Lord. Whatever battle you may be in today, a battle of cancer, of joblessness, of uncertainty or of pressure, it is the Lord who will secure victory for his people. Thanks be to God for the victory we have in Christ. No matter the outcome of that cancer, joblessness, uncertainty or pressure, God will secure the victory. This is the promise of God to you.

Compiled by Stan Granberry, marketing coordinator for GC2 Press, formerly known as BaptistWay Press.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

Go Fish: Reviving Personal Evangelism

By Shonn Keels (Morgan James)

Shonn Keels has a passion for personal evangelism, and he is appalled by how few American evangelicals present the gospel to anyone. More specifically, when Keels recognized young adults at Putnam City Baptist Church—a conservative Southern Baptist congregation in Oklahoma City, where he is associate pastor—fail to prioritize sharing their faith with others, he determined to do something about it. So, Keels devoted more than two and a half years to researching personal evangelism and developing a plan a local church can use to motivate and train its members to become faithful witnesses for Christ.

Go Fish is the product of Keels’ research and creativity. It diagnoses the problem in the American evangelical church as he perceives it, proposes a plan to address it and presents his findings after completing a pilot project. In particular, he offers a detailed guide for the weekend personal evangelism seminar he led in Oklahoma City, with lesson plans and tests taken by participants before and after the event.

Go Fish is the ministry project/dissertation Keels completed for a doctor of ministry degree from Luther Rice Seminary. That statement reveals the book’s strengths and its weaknesses. Readers seeking to discover the biblical foundation for personal evangelism will find abundant Scripture references. Keels includes frequent references to books about evangelism and pertinent quotes from them. Readers with a hunger for data will find it in Go Fish. However, casual readers may find the dissertation format off-putting. The book would have benefited from aggressive editing to eliminate redundancy and to translate an academic exercise into a more user-friendly manual.

Some readers may choose to read the book from cover to cover. Others will find it more helpful as a reference tool. Ministers and lay leaders looking for ideas on ways to incorporate personal evangelism training into a church’s discipleship ministries likely will find the appendices particularly useful.

Go Fish will be released broadly in early January 2022, but it is available now from the author at shonnkeels@gmail.com or can be ordered in advance from Amazon or other online booksellers.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard 

Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church & What the Bible Has to Say

By Preston Sprinkle (David C. Cook)

If you are mystified by transgender, Preston Sprinkle assures you are not alone. Transgender is a contentious and sensitive subject, and Sprinkle addresses it and related topics directly, honestly and compassionately. He lays bare the complexity in the opening chapters of Embodied. Before wading into definitions and debates, though, he wants readers first to understand people are involved.

“If someone experiences incongruence between their gender and their biological sex, which one determines who they are—and why?” Sprinkle asks a version of this question throughout the first half of the book. In answer, he differentiates between biological sex and gender, returning throughout the book to the distinction. In response to the conflation of gender with male and female biology, Sprinkle asserts gender is culturally dependent; anatomy is not. He expresses particular concern for the weight given to a person’s degree of conformity to gender stereotypes as a measure of one’s maleness or femaleness.

Sprinkle summarizes a theology of the body built on Genesis 1:27 and 2:21-22, the incarnation and teachings of Jesus, and Paul’s instruction regarding cross-sex behavior. He asserts our physical, biologically sexed bodies are a significant and indispensable part of our being human and of God’s intent for humanity.

Intersex, brain sex, gender roles and gender dysphoria—all of which add complexity to the conversation around transgender—also are addressed. He points to debates within and without the transgender community about what qualifies a person to be transgender, and whether, when, how and to what extent a person should transition or detransition from one sex or gender to another.

Some readers will want to start with Chapter 12 on pronouns, bathrooms and sleeping arrangements, since these are points of concern for churches and youth groups. Sprinkle sees each as worthy of appropriate caution, and as opportunities to minister and draw people to Christ.

Readers are likely to disagree with some of Sprinkle’s arguments or conclusions. Even so, churches need to have difficult conversations about how they will live out the gospel for all people as Jesus Christ commanded us to do. Books like Embodied provide a framework and a good starting place, and should be part of those conversations.

In addition, friends and family members of those identifying as transgender, who experience gender dysphoria, or who are intersex will find in Sprinkle someone with conviction and compassion.

Eric Black, executive director, publisher, editor
Baptist Standard

• Lesson 8 in the Connect360 unit “The Conquerors: Heroes of the Faith” focuses on Judges 6:36-40.

Gideon had a great grasp that it was God who would save Israel through Gideon’s hand (Judges 6:36). To get greater clarity, Gideon put out two tests before the Lord. He asked God to confirm the call to lead Israel into battle first by putting out a fleece and asking God to bring dew onto the fleece but leave the ground dry (Judges 6:37), which God did. Then, Gideon again put out a fleece, this time asking God to cause the fleece to be dry while there is dew on the ground (Judges 6:39), and God obliged again.

There are two interesting and consequential phrases to see in this passage. Actually, it is the same phrase repeated twice. You see it as the last phrase of Judges 6:36, and you see it as the last phrase of Judges 6:37. The phrase is, “as you have said.” Even Gideon recounted that God had already given him the promise and the word. Gideon was simply showing his disbelief.

So many signs

The problem with signs is that we never are satisfied with them, and we always want just one more. God had given Gideon so many signs already. Let’s count them: (1) An angel came to him in Judges 6:11-12. (2) The Lord came to him in Judges 6:14. (3) A sacrifice was consumed by fire in Judges 6:21. (4) Gideon saw a change in his father’s heart in Judges 6:31. (5) The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in Judges 6:34. And now Gideon wanted God to jump through his hoops twice more!

Gideon dictated to God what God needed to be doing. Generally, my friends, that does not work. But Gideon was a new God-follower who had just left paganism. God is gracious and full of compassion, and God gave Gideon the signs he needed to move him forward in confidence as a judge and conqueror for the nation of Israel.

Compiled by Stan Granberry, marketing coordinator for GC2 Press, formerly known as BaptistWay Press.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

• The Explore the Bible lesson for Aug. 1 focuses on Ecclesiastes 3:1-15.

There is so much in our world that is totally out of any individual’s control. At the top of the list must be time. In our society we try to stop time, rush time, cheat time, keep detailed accounts of time … and often all simultaneously! I have been told I have poor time management skills, because a relationship is typically more important to me than being on time to another appointment. But the truth is, there are only so many hours in a day to accomplish what needs to be done. This is true for everyone.

In our lesson this week, we experience the first formal poetry in Ecclesiastes. In 3:1-8 we find seven short, paired lines; the number of lines indicating sacred completion. These are the most famous verses in the entire book (partially because of the famous song in the 1960s by Pete Seeger, “Turn! Turn! Turn!”). The topics for the writer seem random. However, almost every person will be go through each one at some point in his or her lifetime. And as to what time it is?  It’s almost never in your control to decide.

Most of human time is spent in the in-between times—perhaps it is not a time to weep, but not a time to laugh either. All the extremes and the in-betweens are part of human existence as we experience it, and we must find out how to live in them both. As John Goldingay writes, “…they are all part of human life as God has created it, part of life ‘under the sun,’ as we experience it” (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Songs for Everyone, p. 188).

Goldingay also notes the seeming randomness of the list is often a picture of how life can seem—there is positive and negative, good and bad. He continues: “Ecclesiastes itself isn’t evaluating them. … They are just realities” (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Songs for Everyone, p. 188). Ultimately, we are reminded God is sovereign. His lordship reigns over all human activities.

Seize the day

The popular movie The Dead Poet’s Society elaborates on a similar theme as Mr. Keaton (played by Robin Williams) challenges his students’ notion of their pursuit of life. As he takes them into the hallway at the boarding school, he guides them through a lesson to remember that time is ongoing, and encourages them to live by the motto carpe diem—“seize the day.”

Qohelet (our teacher) has in mind a similar instruction. Even when we think there is more to do than we ever get could done, we still can “seize the day” and make the most of what time we have. When we think all is lost and we cannot more forward because of tragedy or trial, we can “seize the day” and know there is a time for everything in life. And when we don’t see what God is doing or don’t even feel his presence, we can know “he makes everything beautiful in its time” (v.11).

But we also must note Mr. Keaton was not a theologian in the movie. As we “seize the day,” we need to remember this is our spiritual act of worship, as Paul would describe it in Romans 12:1-2. Paul writes of the sold-out life of a disciple as a “living sacrifice” and a life lived totally in God’s “good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Find contentment

So, perhaps instead of carpe diem, we should recognize Qohelet is speaking of living a life of contentment. Paul understood, as he followed the way of Jesus, there would be hardship and joy, there would be good and bad, and most times it would be entirely out of his control. So, he controlled what he could—his attitude. He determined that whatever the circumstances, he could be content and grateful before God.

“For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:11b-13 NIV).

In the second half of our text, we find the prose that expounds upon the realities set forth in the poem. We understand by faith God is the one who numbers our days (Psalm 139:16). While our time on earth is limited, God does not intend for us to sulk or become saddened; no, he has placed a desire for eternity or “permanence” (as Goldingay translates v. 11) into our minds and heart.

While we desire such lofty understanding, it is not possible for us to see God’s grand design in all things. Goldingay concludes: “Fortunately, we can know that God knows what the big picture is and that we can trust him for it. … enjoy your life, do what is good, eat and drink, enjoy the fruit of our labor, and accept the gifts God has given us but also the limitations God has placed on us” (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Songs for Everyone, p. 189).

Let the words of Qohelet be a reminder to “seize the day,” not for self-fulfillment, but rather, as an expression of faith in the God who is for us and not against us (Romans 8:31).

You can watch the clip from Dead Poet’s Society here.

Davey Gibson is associate pastor of education and discipleship at Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas. 

White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity

By Robert P. Jones (Simon & Schuster)

If a friend tells you she enjoyed reading White Too Long, you know she was just turning pages and not paying attention. If a friend tells you she was captivated and convicted by White Too Long and suggests you read it, follow her advice.

Robert P. Jones writes as both a credentialed researcher in the sociology of religion and as a Southern-born and Southern-bred white Christian with a keen self-awareness of his heritage. Many of us can relate to Jones’ personal story—baptized at age 6 in a Texas Baptist church, reared in a Southern Baptist church in Mississippi, educated first at a Baptist college and then at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. And all that time, oblivious to the way every institution that shaped his life had benefited initially from chattel slavery and later from the continued oppression of Black Americans.

However, Jones is an equal opportunity offender. As founding CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, his in-depth research has revealed white evangelical churches in the South are not alone in their racist underpinnings. Mainline Protestants in the Midwest and Roman Catholics in the Northeast likewise have been constructed on white supremacist presuppositions.

Jones asserts white supremacy has been woven into the warp and woof of the American Christian tapestry. In some instances, that has included church structures literally built by slave labor and occupied by folks who wore white sheets and burned crosses. More commonly, it simply means systemic racism has infiltrated otherwise benevolent Christian institutions in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Furthermore, selective reading of Scripture through the lens of a society built on white supremacist beliefs created a theological foundation for maintaining the status quo.

If all that sounds a bit like critical race theory, recognize Jones did not come to his understanding based on Marxist ideology or left-wing indoctrination. He reached his conclusions based on biblical principles he first learned in Sunday school and Training Union at Baptist churches and based on hard data from diligent research.

Don’t expect to agree with everything in White Too Long. But be ready to look into a mirror and take an honest appraisal of what you see. Read White Too Long and be challenged by it.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard