"Am I the only Christian who isn’t bending to the world, which wants to remove Christ from everything?" he asked. "First it’s the Ten Commandments removed from schools and public buildings, prayer and the Bible banned on school grounds, turning Merry Christmas into Merry Xmas. Now, even ‘Christians’ show their loyalty to the world instead of Christ by using this ridiculous ‘C.E.’ and ‘B.C.E.’ dating method instead of ‘Before Christ’ and ‘Year of Our Lord’— which serves absolutely no purpose except to remove Christ yet again from our society."

Maybe. But maybe not.

I responded: "I appreciate your concern about the public disappearance of many symbols that are near and dear to us as Christians. And often my first reaction, too, is to become rather defensive. However, there may be another way to look at it. And it goes like this:

"Suppose some other religious figure—one we’ll just make up—had eclipsed Jesus in terms of historical impact. And, like Jesus, that figure claimed to be God in the flesh and actually referred to himself as ‘God.’ So all dates would bear either a B.G. (Before God) or an A.G. (After God) designation.

"Since you and I believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit of Christian doctrine, we certainly wouldn’t see this other human as ‘God.’ An important historic figure, yes. But God, no. So how would we like it if every time we wrote a paper for history class we had to date events by calling someone God when we don’t feel he actually is God?

" . . . I understand how Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others would be hesitant to say, ‘This happened x number of years before the coming of the "Christ"’—when they don’t believe he [Jesus] was the Christ. And I understand how those same people would feel uncomfortable saying, ‘This happened in the year of "our Lord"x’—when Jesus isn’t their Lord.

"So we’ve come to a compromise. We still use Jesus as the reference point—which in itself is quite a tribute to His impact on our world—without having to use terms that imply a belief or an allegiance that may not exist.

"So I see it rather differently from you. I see not using the B.C. and A.D. delineations as an example of the Golden Rule truly being put into practice by Christians. I see it as an act of courtesy and graciousness—Christlikeness—from Christians toward those who don’t share our beliefs, just as I think the Golden Rule is being put into practice when believers in Sunday don’t complain when I mow my lawn on the day they consider holy but that I don’t.

"I may be totally up the creek. But it seems to me that taking steps not to impose on others even an implied religious belief is an important value. So important that I think Jesus himself would be proud of us for showing such sensitivity . . . ."

Jim Coffin, Senior Pastor

The writer of Genesis says of God’s freshly created male and female human prototypes: "The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame" (Gen. 2:25). What an amazing description: Nothing to hide. Total openness. No danger of being judged negatively.

Unfortunately, this idyllic picture evaporates when the original pair partake of the forbidden fruit. "Then the eyes of both of them were opened," the Bible says, "and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves" (Gen. 3:7).

Remember, Adam and Eve had been naked from the beginning. But with sin comes guilt and shame. They now face the frightening specter of judgment.

Not only have they questioned how much God truly loves them by indulging in what he has forbidden, they now question whether he’ll deal compassionately with them.

They seek their own solution. Yet they recognize immediately that the fig-leaf façades they’ve thrown together are useless in restoring what they’ve lost. So they hide.

We read: "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden" (Gen. 3:8).

The promise of the serpent was that they could be like God. The idea appealed. Why remain a mere human when a status so much higher seems within reach? Having attempted to attain God-status, they continue acting as if they’re God.

Let’s see, they reason, if we were God, how would we react if our created beings did what we’ve just done? And realizing what they’d do, they dash for the woods.

God finally coaxes the guilt-ridden, shame-filled couple out of hiding and hears their confession about being afraid because of their nakedness. His comment is instructive: "‘Who told you that you were naked?’" (Gen. 3:11). I read his words to mean: "Am I chastising you about your appearance? Have I complained?"

Remember, God came to Adam and Eve as he always had. The change was in them, not in him. They ran. He pursued. Their offspring likewise have run ever since. He has continued to pursue. Relentlessly.

Which brings us to why this story is such an appropriate launching point for a discussion of divine love. The ultimate goal of God’s love, in addition to securing our salvation eternally, is to remove our fear—in the here and now. God wants to restore us to something akin to the absolute sense of security that existed in Eden.

In 1 John 4:16–18, we read: "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

Next week we’ll pursue this further.

Jim Coffin, Senior Pastor

This was back in the days before air-powered nail guns were ubiquitous. So all nailing was done by hand. No one could hold a candle to Milton and Melvin Greenwood. Their ability to nail shingles was truly impressive.

I didn’t consider myself a slouch when it came to roofing. Day in and day out, I could average one square (three bundles) per hour. But the Greenwoods each consistently nailed three times as many. And once when a storm was brewing and it was crucial to get the roof under cover, they nailed six squares (18 bundles) each in just one frenzied hour.

My senior year in high school, I had a light load because I’d taken extra classes during my first three years. On Fridays the load was even lighter. Since I had only two Friday classes, and since classes started at 7:00 am, I was done by 8:30. Fridays became roofing days for the two-men-and-a-boy Greenwood construction crew.

In those days, shingles weren’t placed on the roof when delivered. We had to carry them up a ladder, bundle by bundle. And a 90-pound bundle of shingles, which is no small load even on the level, seems a lot heavier when being hefted up a ladder.

But Milton and Melvin were always in a hurry. And they were strong. So they each carried two bundles up the ladder every time they ascended to the roof. I could only stand back in awe at their prowess. I clearly wasn’t in their league.
Then one day, against my better judgment, I decided to give it a try. Reeling like a drunkard, I finally got two bundles of shingles simultaneously hoisted onto my shoulder. I staggered to the ladder. I found it hard to believe that I was carrying only 180 pounds—because it seemed like a whole truckload!

Picking my way precariously up the ladder step by step, I finally made it to the top and deposited my load onto the roof. There was enough huffing and puffing that my employers definitely noticed what I’d done. But they offered no word of surprise or commendation.

Instead, they descended the ladder and each threw three bundles of shingles (270 pounds) over his shoulder and headed up the ladder—with dramatically more ease than I’d carried my 180-pound load.

In J.B. Phillips’ paraphrase of the New Testament, he renders Romans 12:3 to say that everyone should "try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities." I like that.

I didn’t have James’ shingles deposited on his roof because it would have cost $200 extra. But thanks in part to Phillips’ paraphrase—not to mention my age—I’m totally at peace with the idea that I’ll never be more than a one-square-an-hour shingler and a one-bundle-of-shingles-at-a-time pack mule!

Jim Coffin, Senior Pastor