Author Archives: Luke Kallberg

About Luke Kallberg

Luke has been helping with VOICE since 2005 and is now one of the conference advisors. A doctoral candidate in the philosophy department at Saint Louis University, he enjoys learning, thinking and writing about science and morality. He likes building things and reading books for the kids, driving around on road trips with the family, and talking about theology with his wife Karen.

The Right Motivation for Doing the Right Thing

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Our vision is to live out God’s reality – “God is real; live like it!” But what does that mean? We believe that God’s reality has implications for the choices we make in every part of life – if God is real, then there is a best way to live and think. But this can be taken three different ways. Many Christians, many Basic Seminar attendees, end up thinking that life is a search for the behaviors that God wants us to carry out, and if we do those behaviors, then we’re living like God is real. I’m realizing that it’s easy for our message to sound that way, and to many students, it probably has. But it’s wrong. I’ll call it the “do the right thing” message.

Matthew 7:22 describes some people on judgment day who did the right things:

“On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name!'”

These were people who did all the behaviors that would make sense if they believed in God’s reality. The next verse records Jesus’ chilling answer to these good people:

“Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

So it turns out that “doing the right thing” isn’t enough. Why does Jesus reject them? He doesn’t know them. They don’t have a relationship with him.

Living like God is real is something entirely different from making lists of appropriate behaviors. Jesus Christ is the kind of God toward whom the most important behavior is to build a relationship with him as a person. And it turns out that that relationship will give us the motivation to do the various behaviors that God’s reality implies. I’ll call this the “have a relationship with Jesus that motivates you to do the right thing” message. I mean, why in the world would a college student care what the Bible says about sex before marriage? There’s a lot of motivation to do it! Why would he or she say ‘no’? Why should a teenager living at home think that God has anything to do with his or her internet usage? That kind of God seems pretty invasive, and is easy to react to. We can make lists of what God wants us to do in different parts of life, but they are worthless unless we have the right reason for following them. If the God of the Bible is real, then the right way to live is in a close personal relationship with him. The right behaviors are really just good manners toward a God that we know in a close personal relationship. I hope that we can emphasize this more in the future at VOICE.

Living like God is real isn’t doing the right thing: it’s having the right motivation for doing the right thing.

Into All Truth

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But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. 
John 16:13

I’ve been thinking about how it is that we find the truth. And maybe the answer is that we don’t find the truth: the Truth finds us.

Some people look to science for truth. After all, science is just looking at the world and describing what we see. The famous scientist Stephen Hawking wrote a book last year about how he thinks science can now explain where the universe came from – and explain it without God. So is that true? Well, Hawking thinks that if more than one explanation works, we should use whatever explanation is most convenient – both are equally true. I think that this is what happens when we trust science too much: our idea of truth becomes confused. What we think we see when we look at the world today is different from what people thought they saw 100 years ago. It’s even different from what they thought they saw 15 years ago (that was when many scientists began to believe that most of the stuff in the universe is a strange stuff called “Dark Energy.” No one had suggested that before). When the things that are considered scientific “fact” change so fast, who can blame Hawking for thinking that there is no stable truth about the world? No, science is good for doing work, building technology, and such things; but it’s not very good at finding out truth.

But if we can’t find the truth by looking at the world, what hope is there of finding the truth? Well, none. This might be part of what the Bible means when it says we are “lost,” “blind,” and “in darkness.” There is no hope of finding the truth about God, of knowing God. We don’t have the ability to do that. Well, a clarification: we don’t have the ability to do that unless we already know God. So how do we go from not knowing God to knowing God? This is the whole story of Christ: we don’t become God, instead he becomes human. We don’t seek him: he seeks us (Rom. 3:11). We don’t find him: he finds us (Lk. 19:10). This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit: to guide us to the truth that we would never find on our own (Jn. 16:13, above).

What good news! Even the scientists should realize that’s the only way we could ever know the truth.

Midnight and midwinter

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I’m still thinking about a Christmas song that I was able to sing a few times this Christmas season:

“Lo, how a rose e’er blooming,
from tender stem has sprung.
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
as men of old have sung.
It came a flow’ret bright,
amid the cold of winter;
when half-spent was the night.”

I’m especially captivated by the last couple of lines: Christ came “amid the cold of winter, when half-spent was the night.” We celebrate Christmas during the “cold of winter,” but we know from historical clues that Jesus was actually born in the springtime. So does this song simply make a mistake when it says Jesus was born in the winter? And half-way through the night? Was Jesus really born at night?

Many places the Bible pictures God’s Kingdom as a thing that begins small, and grows until it fills the earth (Ez. 47:5, Hab. 2:14, Dan. 2:35, Mt. 13:31-33). Since Jesus is the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12), we might think of the whole world as being in darkness before His coming (Lk. 1:72). To those waiting for His coming, it must have seemed that the darkness grew deeper, the cold of separation from God more bitter.

Into this night of sin, this winter of mankind’s soul, Christ came. “When half-spent was the night”…when the world looked darkest, when all hopes had failed, at the mid-night and mid-winter of history, Christ came.

How fitting that, right after celebrating Christmas, we should celebrate a New Year. In this new year, let’s see and display the new life, the new light that is in each of us because of Christ’s coming. As the light of His Kingdom increases, may He also “shine in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.” (2 Cor. 4:6)

 

Relationships That Last

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Last week, Karen and I finally returned home from VOICE and other travels. The same day we returned, we were delighted to have a visitor who stayed with us for two nights. It was Robin Hsu, a VOICE student from my team in 2005. It has been at least a year or two since we’ve seen or talked, but it was just like old times. We had great conversation about what is happening in each others’ lives, about God and how to live in a way that displays Christ’s presence. Karen and I had fun showing him around Oklahoma City (when he came to VOICE, it was held in a different city – Flint, MI), and overall, it was just wonderful catching up and amazing how easy it was to hang out again.

I think most of us don’t make many friends like that, but VOICE gives us the opportunity to – if we will seize it. Being friends with Robin has challenged me to be the kind of friend that it’s worth stopping to see when you’re traveling far from home – or even scheduling a special trip for. What kind of friend would that be? Well, I try to be interesting, to understand him and his life, ask questions about what he’s doing…but most of all, just be concerned for him. That’s something that we can’t force in our own life: but we can do things that will help to develop it over time. Here’s some ideas:

  • VOICE brings people together from very different places and lives. Stay in touch with people who you met, and keep learning more about them. Visit them and do things together.
  • VOICE challenges you to focus in on the things that are really important in life: God’s things. Value these in your life, talk about them with your VOICE friends, and learn how they are valuing God in their lives.
  • You need other people. It is prideful to think that you will first make yourself comfortable, then pursue friendships. If you have to sacrifice to build relationships, you have to see the value. It’s not that other people need to know you; it’s that you need to know them.

It’s great to see so much enthusiasm by the newest VOICE class for keeping in touch. Remember that these relationships can last a long time. Be the friend who is worth being pursued. And be the friend who is pursuing others.

Believing About God vs. Believing God

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You believe that there is one God? You do well. The demons also believe, and tremble. – James 2:19

I’m just finishing a college class in philosophy of religion. Our professor guided us through many of the philosophical arguments for and against the existence of God, and in our last class, we talked about a more basic question. How much does all of this matter? Do we need a logical proof of God’s existence in order to believe in God?

A philosophical position that has grown more popular is the idea that our belief in God is justified not by logical proof, but by religious experience – in the same way everyone’s belief in the world around us is justified by experience. The only difference is that while everyone experiences the world around us, only some people have religious experiences (like sensing God’s presence, conversing with God in prayer, etc.). This explains why everyone believes in the world, but only some people believe in God.

If there were a logical proof of God’s existence that no one could reject, what kind of belief in God would it lead to? Everyone would have to say, “Yes, God exists.” But does that mean everyone would become religious believers? Of course not. There is an important difference between believing a fact about God, and believing in God as a person. If there were a proof that no one could ignore, then everyone would believe that fact: “God exists.” But other facts, such as the evil and suffering in the world, could still cause that person to distance themselves from God.

I, on the other hand, don’t respond in that way because I have a different kind of belief: I trust God, I believe God. This is not a kind of belief that can be inspired by logical arguments. It is a product of my relationship with a person whom I know: God. So even when terrible things happen, I remain committed to God because I believe I know Him, and He’s not the kind of person who will let those things happen for no good reason. I trust Him.

Logical arguments may or may not help me to know and believe things about God. Regardless of that, I still know and believe Him.

Thanks To God

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Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks, for telling others and ourselves how thankful we are for things in our lives. Usually it’s a time for looking at the bigger picture and declaring how thankful we are for various “big” things.

“I’m thankful that I got a job.”
“I’m thankful for peaceful evenings.”
“I’m thankful for my family.”

There is no person that we could be thanking for these kinds of things…except God. No human, or even group of humans, could really take responsibility for these things and say, “You have that because of me.” Thankfulness is a quality that requires two people. Without God in the picture, all we have is a kind of happy feeling that says, “Man, I love the fact that I have this!” Without God, Thanksgiving Day is just Warm Fuzzies Day.

I recently read God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens, a well-known atheist in America. He talks about places in life where we seem, coincidentally, to have exactly what we need. Many people have claimed that this shows God’s goodness in giving us what we need. But Hitchens claims just the opposite: that it shows there is no God because we get what we need without him.

This perspective would eliminate most of what we talk about at the Thanksgiving holiday. If someone decides to give me a bowl of soup, it makes sense for me to thank them. But if a coin is flipped and without anyone’s good will I am given the soup, where can my gratitude be directed? To the coin? There is no place for thankfulness in that case.

But of course we are thankful for the kinds of things mentioned above. As we celebrate this holiday, realize what a significant statement you are making by simply declaring what you’re thankful for. You are declaring that God is real-– and living like it.

What is Good?

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I’m taking philosophy classes at the University of Oklahoma, and enjoying it a lot. Many issues come up in philosophy that also come up in Christianity, but I think that Christians often don’t think about it. For example:

Why are good things good?

Of course, we believe that the things that are good are the things that God has commanded for us to do. But consider:

  1. Does God command them because they are good, or
  2. Are they good because God commands them?

I think that many Christians would say they believe the second definition, but act as if they believe the first. Think about it: we all walk around with lists of “good things” and “bad things” in our minds, and when we think about any of those things, we simply look at the list and exclaim – “Oops! Skipping Church! Bad thing!” or, “Yay! Praying! Good thing!” Is there anything important missing from those exclamations? Think about it. There is no mention of God.

The problem is that we are now starting with these ideas of “good,” and when we now think about God, we will assume that He will follow these ideas of good that we have. We think this way:

  1. These things are good
  2. God always does good things
  3. Therefore God will always do these things

Our “good things” are at a higher level than God! In fact, since they are telling God what to do, they might as well be god themselves. If God brings something unexpected into our life, like the need to skip church or our normal prayer time, we will almost certainly miss Him because we are focused on “doing good.”

It takes effort to learn, but living like God is real means acting as if good things are good…simply because God commands them. Put God at the top of your thoughts. Only then will we be motivated to seek a relationship with Him – so that we can hear from Him what the good things are for us to do.

Is An All-Powerful God OK?

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Sometimes I stand at the edge of a field and watch wind blow the grass. Each blade moves differently from each other blade. I am overwhelmed trying to watch the movements of only five or ten blades of grass. Slowly I become aware of the incomprehensible number of blades of grass in the small area right where I’m standing…and then the whole huge field.  And many more fields throughout Oklahoma. And many, many more throughout America and around the world…so many blades of grass. And the cells inside each blade…and the atoms inside each cell…and a universe full of such wonders!

The Bible says that God is all-powerful, but I confess that I have often doubted God’s ability to control all of this. Is God really in control of the world? I can’t even imagine what that would mean. It’s incomprehensible. How could there possibly be one Person who is vast enough, smart enough, powerful enough, to know and control all that is going on at each second throughout this little patch of grass; much less the unfathomable universe? I can certainly appreciate the perspective of non-believers who scoff at the idea of God, saying it’s an impossible idea.

Whoa, what happened? We arrived at this point of doubting God’s existence because we started by looking at the world without God. We concluded that it is outrageously huge and complex; therefore it is outrageous for any one being to control it all. We started with our knowledge of the world, and allowed that to define our knowledge of God. But if God really came first, then we should start with our knowledge of Him, and allow that to define our knowledge of the world. What if we were to start with the idea of an all-powerful God? If we assume that such a God exists, then why should it be difficult for Him to create an unthinkably complex and vast world?

The Bible says that God is infinite. If we start with this idea, then why should it be particularly hard for Him to make one type of universe or another? Perhaps the only world that would be worthy of Him would be one that is, itself, infinite!

The universe is huge and amazing, and it does make perfect sense for an infinite God to be in control of every detail.

Written by Luke Kallberg

Debate People

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I recently participated in an online debate with an atheist. It’s rather long, but you can read it here if you wish. It was a profitable experience and when I have time, I would like to do it again.

I used to think of “debates” as unfriendly and unproductive, kind of like a war where neither side is going to win. But this time, I did the debate not for the purpose of convincing someone I was right, but for the purposes of learning to communicate better, and building relationships. I used to think that debates would destroy relationships, but I found out that is not true. Bad debates destroy relationships; but good debates build relationships. Neither I nor the other guy were able to convince each other of anything in the debate, but I found some areas where I need to learn to talk more clearly, and I also gained new familiarity and respect for atheists as people.

In America, we’re noticing that people who disagree with each other are having more and more difficulty talking with each other about the thing they disagree on. People have less and less desire to talk honestly with others who disagree with them. People are less and less convincible. This is terrible. In the introduction to his book, The Reason for God, Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, puts it this way:

Those who believe in God and Christianity are out to “impose their beliefs on the rest of us” and “turn back the clock” to a less enlightened time. Those who don’t believe are “enemies of truth” and “purveyors of relativism and permissiveness.” We don’t reason with the other side; we only denounce.

We need to talk with people who disagree with us, be willing to learn from them, and be nice about it.