Peter Witkowski Apologetics

5 Thoughts On Last Week

1. Racism is Real

I am not saying that you are racist. Nor am I saying that all of our crises are racially Five-thought-blogmotivated. Nor are all of country’s problems tied to racism. But racism is real. The recent controversies make this fact abundantly clear.  Our black brothers and sisters and neighbors feel that the system is stacked against them. Throughout the history of our country, they have been attacked and belittled because of the color of their skin. And those feelings have been touched off over the last year or so.

If we pretend otherwise, we are closing our eyes to needs of our neighbors. We must recognize the pain many in the black community feel. We must admit there is racism in our towns, neighborhoods, and churches. We must confront it when we see it. And we must repent of it when we practice it. We cannot meaningfully speak into our culture until we have removed the log out of our own eyes (Matt 7:5).

2. Sin in the Ultimate Problem

The U.S. is coming unglued because of sin. As I John 3:4 makes clear sin is lawlessness. When we sin and when we live for self and for our wants, disorder and chaos always follows. As James 3:16 says,

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

Innocent people have been murdered because people are controlled by sin. If we want peace, we must address the sin in our hearts and the sin in our culture.

3. Evil Has Consequences

The controversy of late have involved some very sinful men and women. Now, one person’s sin in no way justifies another person’s sinful actions. As I Thess. 5:15 clearly says, “See that no one pays back evil for evil.” But the scriptures also don’t excuse sinful choices (Gal. 6:7). If we are driven by hatred, we will can expect to be destroyed by evil. Proverbs 26:27 says,

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone it will come back on him.

4. Only Jesus Saves

Because racism is ultimately a sin problem, there is only one solution. And it’s not a nationalized police force or body cameras. It’s the gospel. The gospel saves. Through the gospel men and women get the power to love their enemies and to bless those that curse them. Through the gospel men and women can stop viewing their race as superior and can begin treating other races with love. Only the gospel can save and bring peace. As Christians, we need to be quick to preach the gospel with our words and actions. We need to love those who are different from us by practically meeting their needs. And we need to tell them about Jesus. Only through the advancement of the kingdom of God can racism be ended.

5. Parents Have To Step Up

One thing I have noticed over the years is that kids are not inherently racist. If put together a whole a bunch of black, white, and Asian preschoolers into a room, you don’t get race riots.

To some degree kids have to be taught by adults to think that their race is superior. Admittedly, little kids are sinners and are ready to embrace sinful ideas. Parents can model the gospel and still have racist kids. But most kids adopt racist ideas because their parents practice them.

If we want gospel change to happen in our culture, we have to live it out in our families. We have to apply Colossians 4:11 to our homes:

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

We have to stop using racist language and criticizing minorities as if the color of one’s skin determines their actions.  We need to be open to having friends that look different from us. We need to encourage our kids to make godly friends, caring nothing about their friend’s skin color. We need to start modeling the gospel.  I.e, we as parents have to view all people as being created in God’s image.

Peter Witkowski Parenting

Getting Back Up After Sin

stairs-blogSin stinks. And I think that the stench is even worse when we sin against our kids. Every time I sin against my toddler son or baby girl, I feel the weight of it twice over. So how do we find relief? What do we do when we mess up and dishonor God with our thoughts, words, and actions? We take a look at a very familiar Bible story found in Luke 1.

The Setting

In Luke chapter 1, we meet Zachariah and Elizabeth. They are both describes as being, “righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (Luke 1:6).  But as with all good stories, Zacharias and Elizabeth face a large crisis. They have no children. And though many Americans view children as an imposition to their rightful exaltation of their selfish desires, the ancient Jews viewed kids as a blessing. They understood the Word of God. You were to want children. Because Zachariah and Elizabeth had no children, their lives were undoubtedly a conundrum to themselves and to those around them (Luke 1:25). They all had to be asking, “why would someone so godly not have kids?”

The Sin 

The answer, God even greater plans for them. Plans they could not even imagine. So God sent an angel to tell Zachariah that he was going to send the couple a son. And not just any son, he was going to send them a child with the spirit of Elijah who would turn many to the Lord (Luke 1:16-17).  And now we get to good part of the story. Zachariah says no. He tells an angel that he is too old to have a baby. He tells a supernatural being with a supernatural message that the supernatural cannot happen. He blows it; he sins. After a lifetime of following God, he doubts God’s goodness. He sins and becomes mute.

When we sin, we follow Zachariah’s pattern. We stop believing the promises of God. Sure we aren’t contradicting the word of an angel. Talk about an insane moment. But we can still relate.

If the truth be told, we are doing something far worse. We are doubting the love and wisdom of our risen savior. We are ignoring a lifetime with the savior, and once again trust in our flesh. And when we snap at our kid for interrupting our football game, for not doing the dishes, and for lying about her homework, we fail to trust God. We assume that God cannot work. We assume that happiness comes from us getting what when we want it. When it doesn’t  happen, we doubt God’s goodness and power. We sin. And as Zachariah, we suffer the consequences of our sin. We experience broken relationships. Momentary lapses come with real loss.

The Solution

So how do we get back on our feet? How do we recover? We do what Zachariah did. We start trusting in the Lord. We repent and remember that God is good. We remember that our obedience to God is not driven by others. It is driven by our love for God who first loved us. The solution for doubt is trust. And as we begin to renew our trust in God, obedience and joy will follow. When it came time to name John, Zachariah obeyed God. He named John, John even though all his friends wanted John to be Z. Jr. Zachariah obeyed (Luke 1:63).

The solution for all of us who have doubted God and made a mess of things is to trust and obey. Even if we have sinned against our kids who are too little to speak, we can find restoration through Christ if we will repent.

Have you sinned recently against your family? Repent, set your mind on Christ, and begin obeying!

Are you ready for joy to return to your home?

Peter Witkowski Children's Ministry

Why There Are More Babies Than Mean, Old Ladies in Heaven

The mom panics, the dad’s face turns a touch red, and the old ladies begin to shake their old ladyheads. The baby has cried. As the baby is run out the sanctuary back door like patient about to be airlifted to the hospital for a brain transplant, the murmurs start: “Why did they bring that kid in?” What a distraction; I can’t focus with all that noise.” “Nursery, anyone?”

And while parents with young children should seek to be considerate of others, most of the people who dislike having kids in their services don’t have a people problem. They have a gospel problem.

When the disciples rebuked the parents who wanted Jesus to bless their kids, Jesus rebukes his disciples. And Jesus rebukes his disciples not because kids’ ministry is his number one passion. He rebukes the disciples because they get the gospel wrong.

The disciples didn’t want the kids interrupting Jesus’ day because they thought salvation was a matter of works. I.e. you help God help you be what God wants you to be. Because the little babies being thrust before Jesus could do nothing meaningful for the kingdom of God, the disciples shewed them away. Jesus only had time for those who belong in Big Church. No distractions please. Or so they thought.

But the disciples got the message of the gospel wrong. Jesus flipped the religion on its head. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14). Jesus was saying that the church doesn’t belong to all the cranky, self-righteous people. The church, the kingdom of God belongs to the children! How can this be? The babies don’t vote, tithe, or lead Sunday school classes!

Well it all goes back to our understanding of salvation. According to the scriptures, crying babysalvation is a free gift of God. Our Lord saves us not because we were able to focus on the sermon for 50 straight years, not because we earned our 100th Sunday School Pen, and not because we tithed 3% of our income for the last 60 years. God saves us by his grace. He saves us not because of works that we have done but because of his love (Eph. 2:8-9). And because God is loving and merciful, he saves little babies and children that die. (For a full look at how this happens, see my blog Onesies: the doctrine of salvation.) As John MacArthur wrote:

The salvation of young children…is a deathblow to any form of legalism, since such children obviously can do nothing to merit salvation.

In a since the disciples were right. The little children could offer nothing to the kingdom of God. But they missed was the fact that they too could offer nothing to the kingdom of God. If we view children as a nuisance, as a bother, or as an unwanted distraction, we need to check our hearts for pride. We need to ask: “Are we impressed with what we and our church is offering to God? Do we think ourselves as being more worthy and deserving than little babies? Have we forgotten that we add nothing to our salvation?” And then, we need to welcome the little babies like Jesus did. We need to be glad that they are with us.

At the end of the day, the church does not belong to the senior adults. Is also is not supposed to be the millennials’ new coffee house. The church belongs to those who are trusting in Christ alone for their salvation. The church belongs to those who have been saved by grace. As a result of God’s mercy, there will be more crying babies in heaven than self-righteous old ladies. Shouldn’t our churches reflect heaven?