Cause And Consequences

Publication:Pastoral Letter, August 2000

Dear Friend in Christ:

Age and open-heart surgery have focused my attention more on eternal issues, and less
on temporal issues that once consumed my thoughts. Even as I think more about eternal
issues, it seems that our society is becoming more focused on trivial circumstantial
issues, and other things that are passing away.

As I remember, it was the “Cause of Life” and not the cares of life that called me into
the Lord’s service. How easy it is to forget the original cause and become lost in the
immediate cares.

NO CAUSE
Our Western world has lost its sense of eternal cause, and has become lost in temporal
cares. The world I grew up in seemed to have fewer cares…it was much less
complicated. But we believed in the original cause – God. We believed in the pre-
existent Christ, the Eternal One, the Creator of all that is, the Beginning and the End.
We believed in both Genesis and Revelation, and all in between. Oh, I did know of
some people who were skeptics, but they were a small group, and not really part of my
world.

I will never forget my first serious encounter with Darwinism; I was in the eighth grade.
Our teacher was also a Christian and a Sunday School teacher. Darwin was disturbing to
the class, and to the teacher, but she was compelled to teach the text. We were
comforted by knowing that it was “just a theory,” that no one really knew for sure. That
was around 1950.

I recently took my family and granddaughter to see the Disney movie, Dinosaur. It was
one of the very few clean movies available. Disney produced a technically spectacular
portrayal of dinosaurs. And as I sat, I realized once again that Darwin and Disney have
more credibility in this generation than does Moses. Life, for too many of our youth, is
causeless, void of absolute truth, and only randomly evolving.

Darwin is now the official dogma – most people believe we live in a causeless universe.
How has the removal of cause affected everyday life? The removal of the eternal cause
has cut our anchor line, and Western society is adrift on the seas of chance and
relativity. The passengers on this ship are living for the moment, not the future; for
experiences, not purpose; for sensuality, not spirituality.

Many people_even Christians_have become “shoppers for sensations,” rather than

contributors to a cause. Others have joined the “cult of one,” totally independent, self-
esteeming, self-loving, and worst of all, self-worshipping…because there is no cause
(except perhaps “Mother Nature,” whom some also worship). Much of our world has
become an audience that is living vicariously through those who entertain them. We pay
them well to give us an “experience.”
NO CONSEQUENCES
It is just a short step from life without cause, to life without consequences. When
Genesis is removed, sooner or later Revelation will be removed also. If one is convinced
that there is no Creator, no purpose, and no grand design, then it becomes easy to
believe that since there is no God, there are no absolutes, and there is no
accountability…except what the State may require to maintain civil order. Such people
are unaware that those who are not ruled by God’s Kingdom in their hearts will soon be
ruled by an external kingdom imposed by a tyrannical state. As we grow more temporal
and self-centered in our lives, the State grows more controlling over our lives.

If there is no God, there is certainly no eternity and no judgment with its heaven and
hell. It is therefore easy to assume that belief systems, philosophies, and theologies are
merely matters of personal choice with little or no consequences. Or, as Shirley
MacLaine said, “You can create your own reality.” (Wow!) There are many people who
are considered mentally ill that would agree with her.

The removal of eternal judgment from our thinking influences us to remove other forms
of consequences, accountabilities, and responsibilities from our thinking. If there is no
consequence in eternity, how many consequences will there be in daily life? Everything
from cartoons to sitcoms to action movies give us actions without consequences. Virtual
reality games give us action in which consequences can be eradicated by simply
pressing the “restart button.” Unfortunately, life does not have a restart button.

Churches can also become compliant in the causelessness of society by treating the
Christian congregation as a mere audience, and by omitting the message of
accountability and eternal consequence. In so doing, churches can cater to the perceived
temporal need verses the real eternal need, induce a “worship experience,” and make
people feel good about themselves…all without affecting behavior.

BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY
I will simply cite two chapters that give us a window into the biblical philosophy of life.
One is Matthew 6; the other is 1 Corinthians 15.

Matthew 6 contains part of the Sermon on the Mount which Jesus delivered early in His
ministry. The Sermon on the Mount is about the principles of the kingdom of God.
Matthew 6 tells us how to pray, and even gives us what is often called, “The Lord’s
Prayer.” In this passage, Jesus admonishes His followers to be aware of what God sees
in us and in our activity_not what people see. We should not try to project an image, but
live to please God.

Jesus further tells His followers to lay up treasures in heaven – where they are safe, and
He reminds them that where their treasure is, their heart will be also (see verse 21). He
continues to warn that we cannot serve God and money. We can serve God with our
money, but to serve money is to make it god, and deny the eternal God. God and money
cannot both be the God of our lives. We must choose. In fact, we must choose between
God and all else.

Jesus sums up this issue by saying that if we seek God’s kingdom and righteousness
above all else, He will add everything else that we need. If we serve His cause – He will
take our cares. If we serve our cares, and lose His cause, we are lost and have lost our
souls.

Biblical Christianity is Christ-centered and eternally invested; it is being motivated to

“serve God first, others second, and ourselves last.” It is strange how such a timeworn
statement has once again become radical.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul tells us that the core of the Gospel is Christ’s
death, burial, and Resurrection on our behalf. This chapter makes a strong evidentiary
case for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and its vital importance to our faith (see verse
19).

This chapter goes on to tell us about the return of Jesus Christ to conquer His enemies
and death itself. It tells us about the resurrection of the dead, immortality, and how Jesus
will deliver the Kingdom back to the Father. Chapters such as 1 Corinthians 15,
Matthew 25, and Revelation 20 remind us that there is a day of accountability.

There is a beginning and an end to history. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. The
biblical view of history is linear. It starts, moves toward a purpose, and concludes. It is
not cyclical, or random, as some might suggest. There is a vast difference between the
biblical purposeful view held of life and the random meaningless view held by
secularists and naturalists.

To the Corinthians, and to us today, Paul wrote, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be

steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your
labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). We are admonished to have
steadfastness in our lives and to labor sacrificially, because there are eternal
consequences and rewards. We who believe these things are looking forward beyond
death to eternity, and not just to the next moment or the next experience. Original cause
and final consequence define our lives and how we live between those two points. To be
without cause or consequence is to be without purpose and hope.

Why have so many wonderful people sacrificed and given so much to others? Why did
they not spend their lives on themselves, instead living for God and others? Why did
they sow themselves, like Christ, into the soil of human history? I believe they did these
deeds believing in the divine cause and in the eternal consequence of life with Christ…
and understanding the eternal consequence of life without Christ.

LIVING OUT ETERNAL TRUTH

People who believe such truths do great things. Our family recently traveled to Costa
Rica to be a part of our daughter Charlyn’s marriage to Enrique Mejia (pronounced
“Ma-HEE-ah”). The wedding was performed by our close friend, Hugo Zelaya, and
attended by many of our friends in Costa Rica and some friends from the United States.
We also were able to spend time with the nine children that Charlyn has received for
foster care.

Now she is joined in this special ministry by Enrique, who is both a husband to her, and
a father to these children. They love the children so much, and the children are very
grateful to them. It was a special experience to see the children in the wedding and to
know their stories of redemption…to know that just a few months before, they had no
shoes and no floors in their homes, and that their little bodies had parasites, and to know
that they had been neglected and abused…now to see them radiant and joyful, healthy
and well-fed, clean and well-dressed, and so proud as they marched down the aisle in
the wedding…it was a great reminder of God’s redeeming love for all of us.

We took all of the children to eat at a restaurant. When we first entered the restaurant,
the host looked at all the children and seemed rather frightened. You can imagine the
difficulties that nine children could cause in a restaurant. But these children behaved
perfectly. Enrique and Charlyn already have had a strong impact on their lives.

There is no government support for Charlyn’s work. There is no subsidy for the
children. Yet Enrique and Charlyn have begun their marriage with nine children, each
one of them having special needs. Why would anyone do that? They have done so
because they discovered the Cause and they have seen the consequences, just like
thousands of other young people who are giving their lives for an eternal purpose today.

CSM is investing in many outreach efforts like those in Costa Rica. We publish and
proclaim biblical truth in more than 70 nations worldwide, as we have for more than 30
years. This has always been a faith ministry. We have no “guarantees” of income, other
than the faithfulness of our God and His people. Those of you who have received our
materials through the years know that we have never been into “high-pressure”
fundraising. But we do believe it is biblical to keep you aware of the ministry needs and
opportunities. When you stand with us, whether it’s in your prayers, your giving, or in
telling a friend about CSM, you help us to move forward in the mission that God has set
before us. Thank you so much for your friendship and faithfulness.

In Christ,
Charles Simpson

Scripture References: Matthew 6; 1 Corinthians 15; Revelation 20