Category: Nerd Word

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:6)

I hope Nerdchurch won’t get flagged for posting about crypto. We’re only talking about crypto because Jesus does, as recorded in the middle chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, where this section of teaching forms the setting for the Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus warned against doing pious activities–alms, prayer, and fasting–as the hypocrites whose goal is to call attention to themselves. People who make a public performance out of charitable service, or prayer, or fasting, can get noticed. They may impress others, or be socially rewarded. But Jesus says of each, “they [already] have their reward.” If your goal is to get views, you just got some. (Resounding golf clap for you.)

As an alternative, if your purpose in these activities is actually about God, Jesus says to do them secretly. Help others without being identified, let alone trumpeting your good deeds. When fasting, fix your face and don’t look miserable. When praying, go in your closet and shut the door. Be stealthy.

And that really pious, sacrificial, virtuous thing you did? The thing that would really let people know you’re a good person? Don’t post about it. Don’t tell anyone. Don’t even help them guess.

Why do our god-ward activities secretly? Because, Jesus says, God is our Father, and God is also tō en tō kruptō–the [One] in the secret. God sees in secret, because God is in secret. This is one of the names of God:

Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? (Judges 13:18)

God keeps a pretty low profile, if you think about it. Yes, God has done some stupendously public things, like creating the universe or multiverse, but in such an elegantly subtle way that many clever people find it unnecessary to posit his involvement.

In the gospels, Jesus follows his Father’s example by avoiding publicity when possible, slipping off to undisclosed locations to pray, and letting his message and life story be written down by others. Jesus never asked everybody to reset the calendar for him, celebrate his birthday, or use his name as a swear word.

And the Holy Spirit who meets us today also operates with great subtlety and reserve. He inspires and empowers and speaks to millions of people, without a blue checked account on any major platform.

God is tō en tō kruptō, the One in the secret. He invites you to connect with him on an unpublished, secure, encrypted private channel that cannot be spoofed or hacked, where things are completely real between you and your God.

Hypocrites already have their rewards. Friendship with God is something else. If you want it, enter into your closet, shut the door, and pray.

See the corresponding video at https://youtu.be/A5caZMGR7CI

Many games include buffs and debuffs that can make the challenge level a little easier, or a little or a lot harder. Designers will scale buffs and debuffs to bend the game without breaking it. Most are temporary, or can be removed or reversed one way or another to bring the game back into its original balance.

Real life is not balanced, or fair. Real life hurts. Real life can somehow be both scarier and more boring than you ever want to experience. And the debuffs of real life frequently just suck. If I got you a subscription to a game that was too much like real life, I doubt you’d want to play it!

Looking at what the Bible says about real-life debuffs–or what the Bible calls affliction–I’m really relieved it’s not some pat answer that life is somehow fair, or not as hard as it seems.

Not everything in the Bible is ‘what the Bible says.’ Satan is quoted in the Bible, recommending quick fixes and immediate gratification–turn these stones into bread! Job’s crummy religious friends are also quoted, implying that Job just wasn’t living right. But that’s not ‘what the Bible says,’ really.

What the Bible says about affliction sounds more like this:

For [the LORD] hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Neither hath he hid his face from him; But when he cried unto him, he heard. (Psalm 22:24)

See how non-religious the LORD can be?

• He doesn’t despise affliction, saying it’s no big deal, blaming or shaming the afflicted person, telling them to just rub some dirt on it.
• He doesn’t abhor affliction, being grossed out, backing away and treating the afflicted person like they have cooties.
• He doesn’t hide his face, avoiding eye contact and depersonalizing the afflicted person as “them, not us.”
• He hears the cry of the afflicted person. When they call, the LORD picks up and doesn’t just let it go to voice mail.

People will do all those things to you when you’re afflicted, and feel just fine about themselves. If you’re at a disadvantage, or maybe just different from them, people can be ungenerous and just plain mean. But the LORD is something else.

If you’re a Bible nerd, you know that Psalm 22 is the psalm Jesus started to quote from the cross. He made it his prayer:

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1)

This Psalm starts out with the absolute honesty that real life includes situations where we literally feel godforsaken, like God has rejected us or let us down. And we ask, why? If Jesus felt that way, and he was (to put it mildly) a believer, it may not be realistic for me to expect that as a believer, I will never feel that way.

Sometimes I will feel like my problems are just too much, like God should never let life get this hard, like I should never be this clueless about what to do next. This game is broken!

But it’s not a game. And without despising, without abhorring, without hiding his face, the LORD is listening.

Watch the corresponding video here.

“If God is real, how come nobody can see him?”

This inside fastball question, as only a ten-year-old can deliver it, was pitched at my friend, Russ.

Russ was a Greatest Generation guy who had done a bunch of cool stuff as an aerospace engineer, inventor, and perpetual entrepreneur. In his later years, he volunteered at his church’s Vacation Bible School, doing science demonstrations for the kids.

Russ was brilliant, opinionated, challenging and let’s call it, “gruff.” Adults often found him intimidating.

But he showed another side to kids. Maybe he was tapping into the sense of wonder and tenacity he’d shown as a kid, growing up in the Depression. He’d scavenged in junkyards for wire to build a crystal radio. (It worked.) Maybe the kids picked up on that.

He’d also been known to reward students with candy, although this was no longer encouraged in childrens’ ministry circles. So when Russ said, “Any questions?” the kids would have questions.

“If God is real, how come nobody can see him?”

There was a pause. The kid who asked this question knew it was a tough one.

Russ had not fielded this question before. But he replied:

“If you were that powerful, wouldn’t YOU be invisible?”

Oooh. The kid nodded with satisfaction.

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17)

Watch the corresponding video here.

I am come to send fire on the earth… (Luke 12:49)

I cited this verse responding to a question on the Nerdchurch Discord server: If you build yourself as an rpg character, what is your class and alignment?

My choice is: human cleric–with the fire domain (Pathfinder) or light domain (5e). Because: Fireball!

In-game, casters aren’t always responsible with fireballs. We may overlook flammable objects (including party members) in the area of effect. [Or, if you’re a video gamer, ask yourself if you’ve always been responsible with a grenade launcher. I thought so.]

Is there a legit Bible angle here? Of course. Jesus, being Jesus, has access to the fire and light domains. But he’s not careless about any aspect of his power. 

Back in Luke 9:51-56, James and John had asked Jesus about commanding fire from heaven to consume a Samaritan village. (Jesus vetoed this.) But the crowd in Luke chapter 12 wouldn’t know about that incident, and Jesus doesn’t bring it up. 

We can understand the “fire” that Jesus came to send on the earth as the intense presence and power of God, spreading from Jesus and confronting and transforming everything it touches.

The fire of God hits hard. God’s grace can make it possible to catch his fire, without being consumed–like the burning bush Moses sees in Exodus 3.

But by the numbers, in 22 out of 26 sayings about God’s fire in the gospels, the fire does damage. Surviving the fire of God, being transformed and reforged by it, is exceptional. It’s a miracle.

A lot of people misunderstood Jesus. They did, and they still do. Jesus did not come to condemn or destroy anyone. But he did come to change the world. The authorities weren’t wrong to see Jesus as a threat to their power. And Jesus is a divisive figure. As much as he would like to bring peace, realistically he is both accepted and rejected.

Jesus brings out all kinds of reactions in people. I’m not as perceptive as Jesus, but when I wear my Nerdchurch shirt with the message, JESUS LOVES NERDS, I can pick up on the mixed reactions people have to Jesus, his infinite love for nerds, and maybe the quirky guy who’s wearing the shirt.

I look forward to what it will be like when a party of us show up where our fellow nerds gather, in Nerdchurch gear, curious characters who are overtly nerd-positive and Jesus-positive. I imagine that feeling awesome! Yet, realistically, reactions will be mixed and we need to be prepared for that. 

I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? (Luke 12:49)

How does Jesus feel about bringing fire, by being who he is? That’s what he’s asking himself, out loud, surrounded by his disciples and a crowd so dense people are stepping on each other. Maybe he’s thinking:

I came, I let people hear me and see me and touch me and experience who I am. I lit the fire, and it’s spreading. Now what? 

Jesus is not glib about sending fire on the earth. Jesus knows that he is seriously disrupting the world. It needs disrupting. He personally understands the pain of being misunderstood, stigmatized, plotted against. He knows that if he keeps going, he will face betrayal, abandonment, and death. And he keeps going.

Now the question comes to you and me. What will I?  

Do you still want to send fire on the earth?