Year: 2024

Copyright 2024 by Shea Oakley

All rights reserved

I completely abstained from any consumption of alcohol for the first 26 years of my Christian walk. I’ve been a believer for 34. There were a host of reasons for my deciding to abstain during that time including, frankly, pride about my “holiness,” but spelling them all out isn’t the theme of this piece. Rather I want to express a sense of vindication I felt during a former pastor’s (and still friend of mine’s) sermon several years ago when he wrapped up a message series by tackling, among other things, the controversial subject of Biblical Christians consuming alcohol.

During the entire period of my abstinence I made it clear, when the subject came up, that I was in no way advocating my stance for every believer. Why? Well, first and foremost there was the testimony of the first miracle Jesus ever performed: turning the water into wine at the wedding he attended in Cana. Through the years a few books and people (including a previous pastor of mine who I otherwise highly respected) tried to convince me that the wine in question was somehow much weaker than the wine of today. The idea was that Christ basically turned the water into barely fermented grape juice! This struck me as being a completely untenable position as the people went to the master of the feast in that account and complimented him on bringing out the best wine last, since everyone else gave their wedding guests watered-down wine “after the guests have had too much to drink” (John 2:10)

But there were other passages in the Old Testament that also reinforced the idea that God was not against human use of alcohol for other than medicinal purposes. The sermon brought up two that seem to have slipped under the radar of those who tell us no Christ-follower should ever have a drink (and certainly never enjoy it if they do!) One is the verse declaring that God gave wine to “gladden the heart of man” (Psalm 104:15). This is particularly interesting in that it implies God knew and was OK with the fact that alcoholic beverages would actually have a pleasant effect! Then my pastor friend mentioned Deuteronomy 14:26 in which the Israelites are told by God, on a special occasion, not only to enjoy wine but also “strong drink.” This verse is even more shocking for the “Christian teetotaler” as it not only sanctions wine, but apparently also beverages with even greater alcohol content!

Now here the same caveat must be inserted by me that my pastor did that Sunday. If you have become addicted to alcohol by its overuse than almost certainly you should abstain from any kind of imbibing on a permanent basis. I have a dearly loved relative who is an alcoholic who has not touched a drop in nearly 45 years. I applaud both that decision and the self-control that has been required for her to live it out. Also, we are clearly told by Scripture that, even if we are not addicted ourselves, we should never become drunk on wine, or anything else, and also that if drinking in front of someone who is an alcoholic will tempt that person to drink we should always abstain in their presence (I would even go so far as to say that drinking in front of someone who is uncomfortable with the practice should at least cause us to inquire with them about it before picking up our glass).

That said the Bible clearly teaches that, as a non-intrinsically sinful practice, the consumption of alcohol in true moderation, and with the aforementioned caveats, is in no way wrong. It also implies that such drinking may induce a pleasant feeling that does not impair our faculties to the point of drunkenness, and that is OK too. For someone who has once again had an occasional drink over the past several years, that message was one I was very pleased to hear. It was the first time I’ve heard a pastor have the guts to publicly explore the verses he did, and I’m glad for it.

It’s nice to feel vindicated…whether I drink a toast to that vindication or not!

Copyright 2024 by Shea Oakley

Recent statistics tell us that continental Europe has, by percentage, the lowest population of Evangelicals in the non-Islamic world. In fact, most of the European Union (EU) nations also have the lowest percentage of churchgoers of any theological stripe; with those saying they regularly go to a house of worship in the low single digits (with Ukraine being a massive exception). The profound secularization of what was once the cradle of Christianity has caused some missions organizations to target Europe as an area for “re-evangelization”. In an ironic twist Christians from nations that were brought the Gospel by Europeans during the 18th and 19th Centuries are now sending missionaries to the EU. As these efforts go forward it might be wise to ask the question: Who Lost Europe?

The most common reply to that question has been to blame the Continent for introducing theological liberalism. It is true that the trend started there, with the lion’s share of “Higher Criticism” and the “New Theology” coming out of German universities from teachers such as Adolph Harnack, Paul Tillich and Rudolf Bultmann. But to only blame the decline of Christianity in Europe on such men is to grossly oversimplify the deeper reason.

What if the mass falling away from faith in Europe actually has more to do with the corporate memories of its people? Throughout almost all the time that has passed since the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th Century there has been a cancer eating away at the health of the Faith in this part of the world. That cancer was spawned by the mutual co-option of the Church and the State. Today public opinion in the United States has made the separation of church and state a “hot button” issue to say the least. In America the fear mostly seems to be that the church will unduly influence the state, but the Founding Fathers acted at least as much from the opposite fear; that the state would contaminate the purity of the Church. There is a reason for this. They had seen the results of the religiously charged politics of their continent of origin.

Religious wars of various kinds were almost continuous in Europe from the bloody “Holy Crusades” of the Early Medieval period through to what is probably the longest recorded war in human history, the Thirty Years War of the 17th Century. This was just one of many wars involving the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism, both of which were completely identified with the opposing nation-states of the time. Another blight on the Christian history of Europe came from the infamous Inquisition which unjustly slaughtered thousands of genuine believers between 1300 and 1600 in the name of a Roman Catholicism that was entwined with the civil authorities of the time. But whether by Protestant or Catholic the name of Christ was far too often invoked to justify the slaughter of innocents.

Could it be that modern Europe is haunted by these ghosts of religious extremism? Perhaps that history has more to do with the dismal state of the Faith in the EU today than any school of liberal theology ever could. If this is true mission efforts on the Continent must reckon with these corporate memories if they are ever to succeed. At the very least Evangelicals need to consciously separate the true Gospel from the corrupted “State Christianity” of centuries gone by. Only the original purity of the early Church reborn and recaptured in the present day will liberate Europe once more from darkness. Part of that will mean facing the hard truth that Europe was “lost” by the Church Herself.

Copyright 2024 by Shea Oakley

Here in United States the events of the mid 2020’s has caused some Evangelicals with an interest in the “End Times” to take eschatological matters more seriously than ever.

As the world simultaneously focuses on strife in both Israel and Ukraine unprecedented in recent times those of us who take a Pre-Millennial theological perspective here in America sometimes only hear the ticking of the Biblical countdown clock grow louder. Add to these “wars and rumors of wars” the ongoing and dangerous socio-cultural and political polarization we see happening here in our own nation and surely, it seems, the return of our Redeemer to take us to meet Him in the skies is just around the temporal corner.

Of course, events like these and much worse have plagued parts of the world during the past century. Unprecedented disasters, manmade and otherwise, claimed the lives of over 100 million human beings. In a sense the entire 20th Century was apocalyptic. What, some might be tempted to ask, are the lives lost in Ukraine and Israel today compared to the bloodbaths of Hiroshima and the Holocaust?

Also, it may be asked, what does this have to do specifically with eschatology? It’s more a question of what it has to do with American eschatology. Will the ratcheting up of prophetical speculation cause the Church here to adopt a “circle the wagons” mentality? This term refers to the pioneer days of our nation when a westward-bound wagon train under assault would cease moving forward and instead create a temporary circular “fort” of wagons to try to hold on until help came. The spiritual equivalent in the 21st Century sometimes appears to be the section of the American Church which has seemingly decided to “dig in and wait” for the heavenly cavalry to arrive, with Jesus on the lead horse.

But there is a danger here.

The primary mission of the Church in this present age is to engage the world around it and move ever forward in the evangelization of the lost everywhere on the planet. Today Christianity is on the move in Africa, Asia and South America. Cultures that never received the Word of God are embracing the Faith in ways unique to them. The Body of Christ is changing as the fulcrum of global Christianity continues to move from the West to the East and from the North to the South. Just look at the vibrancy of the Korean Church. Today the largest church in the world isn’t in New York or London, it is in Seoul. Meanwhile the rapidly rising conflict between the democratic West and a “New Axis” of Russia, China, and Iran, all three of which are opposed to biblical Christianity, is developing into a divide negatively affecting the evangelization of the several billion human beings who have yet to hear of the biblical Jesus.

For now, the center of funding for missionary recruiting and activity remains largely in the United States. As the wealthiest, most powerful nation on Earth we still export missionaries, and the financial and technical support they need, to the rest of the world. On a more secular level America also, despite the moral rot in our culture in recent decades, continues to lead (along with Europe and some other nations) in maintaining basic democratic values around the world. Such values, even when to some degree debased by a post-Judeo-Christian mindset, remain a far better option for both believers and non-believers than a new and expansionist Russian hyper-nationalism, an increasing Chinese authoritarianism, or the machinations of a radical Iranian theocracy.

It can be argued that both global evangelism and the survival of the democratic societies which support it will only continue to move forward if the American Church, still an immensely powerful political force in the United States, does not decide to “dig in” and wait for a Rapture that may come next week or may not come for another half-century. What God does in the world is, to some degree, paced by what His children are doing in the world. Also, God’s timing and ours are often radically different from each other. Yes, the signs of the times seem to indicate that He is coming soon, but we’d do well to define a bit more loosely what “soon” is in the light of a God to whom “a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day.” Exciting things are happening all over the world as Christ continues to “call all men to Himself.” We, in this country, who identify ourselves with His Name dare not miss out on doing our part in promoting global evangelism (or preserving the international democracy which supports it) in the name of a self-serving “New Isolationism.”

We must not “circle the wagons” and wait but instead courageously keep moving forward, with the Holy Spirit of our soon-coming King as our only Guide.

Copyright 2005, 2024 by Shea Oakley

All rights reserved

“I keep hearing feed the poor, clothe the hungry, give shelter to those who don’t have it. The (people) that say this don’t recognize that capitalism and technology have done more to feed and clothe and shelter and heal people than all the charity and church programs in history. So they preach about it and we are the ones doing it. They want to rob Peter to pay Paul, but they always forget that Peter is the one creating the wealth in the first place.”                                    -T.J. Rogers, C.E.O. of Cypress Semiconductor

The above quote, taken out of John R. Schneider’s book, The Good of Affluence, is one capitalist’s frank response to the wing of the church that condemns both affluence and the engine that sustains it. While somewhat overstated, his viewpoint is well taken. The Evangelical Left has often made the mistake of condemning the very economic system that has more effectively lifted people out of physical want than any other in human history. Whatever capitalism’s faults it is incumbent on Christians to compare it to other constructs, from feudalism to state socialism, which have failed to be anywhere near as effective in ameliorating poverty.

Many might argue that First World capitalism in developed countries is built on the backs of the Third World nations. This is an accurate observation in some cases. It is true that millions are presently working for multi-national corporations in conditions no Western worker would endure. However a salient question is whether these millions would be doing better had they never been offered such employment opportunities. Subsistence farming, for example, has left millions to die in famines when weather or soil conditions have turned unfavorable. What if such starving farmers and their families had been employed in these much-maligned foreign-funded manufacturing jobs? This is an important question for “social justice”-oriented Christians to ask.

Another question the Ron Sider’s and Tony Campolo’s of this world might want to ask themselves is what the real reason is for extreme poverty in places like Africa. That continent, for example, has been blessed by abundant natural resources, probably valued in the tens of trillions of dollars. The conventional wisdom is that oppressive, usually capitalist, nations in the West have economically raped the people of Africa over the past three centuries. While it is certainly factual that economic colonialism has played a role in the misery that we unfortunately now almost take for granted on this continent there is another reason that rarely gets much play. Many African nations have no functional rule of law regarding property rights. In addition these same countries often have few enforced laws designed to further the market mechanisms that have been in place for hundreds of years in Europe and America. Without property rights, and the market mechanisms such rights support, the massive wealth potential of natural resources in Africa will remain untapped and useless to the welfare of Africans.

Perhaps Western financial aid to developing countries should be tied to progress in establishing the practical institutions necessary for the functioning of market economies. Many charitable Christians are already involved in “micro-enterprise” projects in these nations, but what about campaigning for “macro-enterprise” as well? We do the global poor no favors sending them fish without helping to make them fishermen.

Over a century ago “sweatshops” staffed by new immigrants were a common part of the economic landscape in the United States. Today the descendants of those immigrants are among the most affluent people in human history. Western capitalism ultimately developed, by necessity, into a more perfected system that did away with the sweatshops. Given time this same system can be imported into Third World countries if the West invests political and economic capital in building the undergirding structures required for modern market economies. The Church can and should be a major partner in this 21st Century effort.

It has been said that God “helps those who help themselves.” While this phrase is found nowhere in the Bible it does contain some truth. The global welfare state mentality implicated by the words of some prominent Evangelical social activists needs to be replaced with one that sets the poor free to climb the same economic ladder that the affluent citizens of the West have already climbed. This is the most effective way to help those caught in poverty around the world. We who identify ourselves with the name of Christ are indeed called to feed the poor and clothe the naked, but at some point we must enable them to feed and clothe themselves as well.