ABC Messenger

Good Cop / Bad Cop
by Pastor George Van Alstine

This is a technique that apparently helps get key information out of people who are being investigated for crimes. The way it works is that the suspect is first questioned one-on-one by the “Bad Cop,” who comes across as tough, loud, harsh and accusatory. At a key moment, this first questioner abruptly leaves and allows the suspect to sweat and worry all alone. After a few minutes, the “Good Cop” enters, relaxed and smiling. He offers the suspect a cigarette or a cup of coffee. He may begin the conversation by talking about family, hobbies, baseball. When he asks about the case, it’s with sympathy and understanding of extenuating circumstances. Just when the suspect has calmed down and become comfortable, the “Good Cop” leaves and the “Bad Cop” re-enters, immediately resuming his overbearing, browbeating attack. After a few minutes of squirming, the “Good Cop” is back again with another cigarette. In theory, this alternating interrogation goes on until the suspect cracks and admits something important.

Sometimes it seems that the Bible’s picture of God shows him as the “Good Cop,” but at other times he comes across as the “Bad Cop.” He is presented as absolutely righteous and uncompromisingly holy, which means that we sinful humans cringe under his judgment and wrath — the “Bad Cop.” But he is also the all-merciful one, compassionately seeking his lost sheep, anxious to forgive our sins and restore fellowship with us — the “Good Cop.” God, the “Bad Cop,” scares and intimidates us. God, the “Good Cop,” draws us to his loving arms. In his dealings with us, how can God be true to the “Bad Cop” side of who he is (perfectly righteous and holy) and, at the same time, be true to the “Good Cop” side of his nature (forgiving, loving, embracing)?

Our first emphasis at ABC, during our Lent time of preparation, is on confession. Here is a Bible verse about confession that demonstrates both aspects of the kind of relationship God has with us:

“If we confess our sins, he who is FAITHFUL and JUST will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

FAITHFUL — He has committed himself to his people, and he
will never let them go.

JUST — At the same time, he stays true to his absolute
standard of perfect righteousness.

In the act of forgiving our sins, God is being both the “Bad Cop” and the “Good Cop” at the same time.

The mystery of how God does this comes to us through an understanding of what Jesus Christ did in his crucifixion and resurrection. Paul put it this way in his Letter to the Romans, where he explained how God could be just and still be justifier of sinners. The reason is the Cross. Here’s the passage:

“The righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. . . All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. . . . This was to prove how he could be both just and justifier of those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:22-26, edited for emphasis)

Just and justifier, “Good Cop” and Bad Cop,” Righteous Judge and Gracious Savior — this is our God!

ABC Sunday morning worship, February 19, 2012. Sermon by Pastor Connie Larson DeVaughn: "WHAT IS YOUR LABEL?". Lead Worshipper: Glenn Molina.

MP3 File

Exploring Lent at ABC
by Glenn R. Molina, Director of Worship Arts

What comes to your mind when you hear terms such as “Lent” or “Ash Wednesday”? Your response would certainly be shaped by your past spiritual experiences—or inexperience—with these annual events. Some of us who previously worshiped in a “high church” tradition (Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian, etc.) might remember ashes on the forehead, fasting and prayer, or abstaining from something such as meat or smoking. Others, including many of us who have been life-long practicing Baptists, have had little or no experience with Lent-related practices.

Traditionally, Lent has functioned within the church as a time of preparation for believers, helping them to meditate upon the crucifixion and resurrection for a forty day period, culminating during Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The symbolism of “forty days” is related to the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and praying before he entered into public ministry. Over the centuries, Christians have developed various disciplines to help them focus during the period of Lent, including fasting and prayer, as well as other forms of abstinence and self-denial.

In recent years, we have gently explored the season of Lent at ABC, making an effort to more intentionally prepare for Easter in the weeks preceding it. This year, we have chosen to work more methodically through this Lenten period, but in ways that are geared to address the needs and spiritual journeys within our own congregation. Our expression of Lent in the coming weeks won’t necessarily look like the way Lent is practiced in other churches; we will seek to find unique ways to examine the challenges of living our lives for Christ in a world filled with distractions and temptations. We will consider the cost of committing and devoting ourselves to Christ, remembering along the way the cost that Christ himself paid for us through his own death. For the next six Sundays, our pastors will be preaching on Scriptures concerning Jesus’ final days as he approached the reality of the cross. The other elements of our worship services will supplement the content of the sermons, and will also focus on various disciplines that we are called as Christians to practice daily, not simply during the season of Lent. These disciplines include such themes as confession, sacrifice, humility and compassion, forgiveness, perseverance, and faithfulness.

We invite you to join us on Wednesday, February 22, at 7:00 PM, for an evening of worship and reflection, as we officially enter into Lent as a community. We also invite you to join us for each of the six Sundays in Lent, beginning February 26, as we embark together on this journey towards and beyond the cross. They will be unlike other Lenten services you may or may not have attended, but it will be true to who we are as the Altadena Baptist Church family of believers. We hope that this season will serve to be a spiritually enriching opportunity for our church community, both individually and corporately.

ABC Sunday morning worship, February 12, 2012. Sermon by Pastor George Van Alstine: "THE SPRING OF LIVING WATER". Lead Worshipper: Glenn Molina.

MP3 File

“The Samaritans, Part 2”
by Pastor George Van Alstine

In last week’s article I gave the historical background for the animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans in Jesus’ time and why the Samaritans were treated as a despised minority. I suggested that there are some parallels to the treatment African-Americans have suffered in our society throughout the history of our Nation. In this second article, I’d like to review the way Jesus interacted with Samaritans and what difference this should make to how his followers deal with minorities in the societies they live in.

There are three passages in the Gospels that describe situations in which Jesus took the Jewish prejudice against Samaritans and turned it upside down into a condemnation of their sense of superiority:

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35). This familiar parable was told by Jesus in response to a skeptic’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus set up a story about a critically wounded man laying by the roadside. Some of the religious leaders, who should be expected to reach out to help the man, instead moved as far away as possible. By contrast, a Samaritan who came by was “moved with pity” and nursed the man back to health. Jesus asked who was the true neighbor in the story, and the obvious answer was, This despised Samaritan!

The Ten Healed Lepers (Luke 17:11-19). In one village, ten people with the fatal disease of leprosy called upon Jesus for mercy, and all were healed. Nine of them were preoccupied with their own good fortune, but the tenth came back to Jesus and thanked him profusely. The Gospel writer adds in simple understatement, “And he was a Samaritan.” Jesus marveled, with a touch of irony, “Where are the other nine? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

The Woman at the Well (John 4:7-42). The account begins with the words “A Samaritan woman came to draw water.” Jesus got into a discussion with her about their different religious traditions, but soon she came to see that he was the Messiah both Jews and Samaritans were hoping for. She couldn’t wait to tell the people of her town about her life-changing encounter with Jesus. As a result of her testimony, “many Samaritans from that city believed in him.” He stayed in this alien environment two more days, teaching and inviting people to know God through him, and “many more believed.” The Gospel writer reports that they said, “We know this is truly the Savior of the world.”

After Jesus died and rose again, he met with the disciples before ascending into heaven. He indicated that they were destined to become his witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). They would start their ministry at home, and they would ultimately reach the whole world, but on the way to fulfilling the Lord’s Great Commission, they would have to go through Samaria. Just as the Old Testament prophet Jonah had to bring God’s message to the people of Nineveh, whom he hated, so Jesus’ disciples would have to bring the Good News of salvation to the people they were brought up to despise, the Samaritans.

And they did. The Lord had changed their hearts, and they now had the attitude of Jesus toward the Samaritans. Philip was the first to preach in Samaria, and the people “listened eagerly,” responding with”great joy” (Acts 8:5-8). Peter and John went to check out the reports of these conversions, and they also proclaimed “the good news to many villages of the Samaritans” (Acts 8:25).

The lesson we should learn from how Jesus related to the Samaritans is that when we embrace his gospel, we must also embrace the despised and oppressed minority group nearest to us. It’s a sad fact of American history that white Christians were sending missionaries and humanitarians to the ends of the earth while they were still treating nearby Americans, with darker skin and African ancestry, disgracefully.