Matt’s Marvelous Mailbag seeks to provide marginally adequate answers to much better questions about politics, economics, social life, theology, or any potpourri you see fit to have answered. Send questions to mailbag.bereans@gmail.com.  

So there I was, checking the mailbag and wondering to myself if anyone was going to send something in for this week, when all of a sudden I got a rush of questions, more than I can actually handle this week. The good news is that I’ve got plenty to talk about. The not-bad, but inconvenient news is that some questions will have to wait a week. But, y’all are a resilient lot, so I think you’ll be ok.

Q: Marcus Aurelius asks: “Should we discontinue pennies? They are not worth the copper they are minted on and the government loses more money than it produces every time a new round of pennies is made.

A: Why do you hate Lincoln, Marcus? I’m kidding, death to the penny. Lincoln has his place on the $5 bill, so we’re not going to lose him anytime soon, and pennies are just an awful nuisance. Frankly, I’d be ok with slashing the nickel and dime as well. Inflation has simply taken us to the place where pennies just are not that practical anymore, and you are correct that we are actually losing money by producing pennies. We’ve done away with smaller denominations before; there’s nothing wrong with laying the penny to its well-deserved rest.

Q: Marcus also asks: ” How did Judas die? Matthew and Acts have two contradictory accounts of his death, and I’ve wondered about this since I was quite young.

A: Different? Yes. Contradictory? Meh, I don’t think we have enough evidence to make that case. So here’s Matthew’s account:

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Matt. 27:5)

And here’s Luke’s account in Acts:

[Peter speaking] “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus.  He was one of our number and shared in our ministry. With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood. Acts 1:16-19

So Judas hangs himself, the rope snaps eventually, and his body explodes upon impact in a grisly, gory mess. How lovely…hopefully that satisfies your morbid, childhood curiosity.

A contradiction would be more along the lines of Matthew saying, “Judas hanged himself,” and Luke saying, “Judas did not hang himself.”  That’s a blatant, easy-to-spot contradiction. That’s not what we have here; it can easily be two perspectives of the same event, just with a focus on different parts of it. You can make your contradiction case if you want, but I think you’d need substantially firmer ground to do so.

Q: Marcus finally asks: “What do you think is the role and purpose of baptism? Is it a commitment that should be made on an infant’s behalf or should it be something one enters into as an understanding adult like a First Communion in Catholicism?

A: Well, not to offload every theological question to this guy, but, once again, Michael Heiser has some good work on this for the especially curious. Feel free to rifle through his archives sometime.

For the hurried, the important thing to remember here is that whenever we talk of baptism, we should be thinking of circumcision because Paul links the two in Colossians 2:11-12:

“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

So, let’s tackle two misconceptions of what could be going on and just cut away the fat as necessary:

1. Baptism/Circumcision as salvific: I don’t know how you could honestly hold this view (sorry, Roman Catholics) given the consistent “Believe and repent” message of Scripture. Peter himself is so blatant about this, I don’t know how you could miss it. It’s not the removal of dirt that saves you, but the pledge of a good conscience towards God. Grace given through each individual’s faith, not baptism, is what saves. Likewise, tying salvation to circumcision in the OT would be nonsense. Women and Gentiles were not circumcised, yet a female, Gentile prostitute (Rahab) is listed as a faithful, believing member of God’s community and an heir to the Messiah.
2. Baptism/Circumcision for the ‘elect’: This one is dead on arrival because circumcised Israelites and baptized followers of Christ have apostatized. There is no way that circumcision or baptism guarantees anything down the road the way that many ‘infant baptism’ apologists would like to have it.

I think we’re on firmer ground by saying that baptism is essentially a public loyalty pledge with spiritual warfare and community implications:

1. Spiritual warfare: Go back and read the Peter passage from above and notice what he lumps into the passage. He couples the act of baptism together with the Genesis 6:1-4 passage about the divine rebels and Christ’s declaration of their defeat to them. That should tell us something. Baptism is one more way in which we publicly declare the victorious King Jesus to those around us in both the physical and spiritual realms. It’s not salvific; it’s a loyalty pledge.
2. Community: This is where I think we can tie circumcision and baptism together. Circumcision granted men and their families (remember, patriarchal society where women and children operate in society through their husbands and fathers) access to the community of Israel. Why was that important? Because Israel alone had access to the true worship of Yahweh in the OT. In the same way, baptism brings someone into the fold of the church. Why is that important? Because the church alone has the truth of the Gospel. The tie-in is about access to truth, not personal salvation.

So, the tl;dr of all this is that baptism, rightly done, is a loyalty pledge that grants one access to the community of fellow believers. It’s not about salvation; it’s about community and spiritual warfare.

Q: Nathan asks: “Will Boris Johnson be the next UK PM? If not, who do you think? And what do you think the ultimate fate of Brexit will be?”

A: Probably, and if it’s not Boris Johnson, then it’s a definite toss-up at that point. On the Brexit question, just consider this list of potential PMs and tell me what you see in common with the top few. Got it? Yah, most of them are ‘Leave’ voters. Honestly, we’re probably headed for no Brexit or hard Brexit at this point. We’ve gone through a gaggle of potential deals, all of which have been slapped down by both parties, so it’s likely going to come down to a simple ‘leave’ or ‘stay’ at this point. So, after all of this hubbub for 2-3 years, we’re probably just going to get what the people originally voted for. Huh, how about that. Cast aside what you may think of the merits of leaving the EU, this should have been the course of action from the get-go simply because that was what the people of the UK voted for. For better or worse, it’s time for the government to honor that vote.

Q: Nathan also asks: “Any prediction for what will happen in Israeli politics after the failure of Netanyahu to form a government? Is Bibi a net positive or negative in your opinion both for Israel and the US? Do you wish to see him continue on or would you prefer to see him go? If you wish to see him go, would that opinion be any different if not for his current legal woes.

A: Nathan, you win the trophy for rapid-fire questioning this week. Let’s see if we can parse this out somewhat.

• Prediction: I have no clue. The vote was so close last time, I can’t imagine it’s going to swing mightily in either direction, so the best I can say is that we’ll probably have another nailbiter on our hands. The trouble with predicting here is that you can reason yourself to a victory for either party (e.g. – “oh, the Blue and White party will be angry that it lost and more motivated to get out and vote” vs. the equally likely “oh, Likud really wants to nail this down this time, so they’ll come out in droves”). But, just for kicks, I’ll say that Netanyahu wins again somehow.
• Bibi’s influence: As far as US national security concerns go, Bibi is a definite positive, and I think he’s been a good force for Israeli security as well. Israel is a very important geopolitical ally for us, and Bibi’s made that connection stronger over the years.
• Should he stay or should he go? I don’t have a great reason to wish for Bibi to go, but I would probably be relatively unconcerned if he did. Blue and White is a little more centrist than Likud’s traditionally conservative positions, but anyone who thinks a radical change is coming with Blue and White has their head in the sand, particularly on the Arab-Israeli question. Blue and White’s four prereqs for a peace deal are: (1) The IDF being allowed to enter Palestinian territory to hunt for terrorists, (2) Jordan valley remains with Israel, (3) No “right of return” for Palestinians, and (4) Jerusalem remains the undivided capital of Israel. So yes, I’d prefer Bibi, but I’m unconcerned with Benny Ganz.
• Legal woes: We’ll have to let the Israeli legal system work these out. I have heard the charges are legitimate, and I have heard the charges are a sham. Let’s see how it plays out, and I’ll get back to you.

Q: Daniel asks: “What are your thoughts on the Mexico tariff? I don’t like the idea of tariffs generally, but what would be better options at this point given he’s tried Congress (who doesn’t seem to care about our national security), plus other executive procedures, and Mexico hasn’t cooperated much at all so far.”

A: Well, I am an economist in training right now, so I have very little sympathy for tariffs because they translate into less economic growth for everyone. Yah, your targeted industry may receive a boon, but that only comes at the expense of all the unseen victims who now have to buy at higher prices in that sector and can’t purchase as much in other sectors.

Broadly speaking, the other options for stemming illegal immigration from Mexico are out there (guest-worker programs, better funding for border security [wall included], changing our asylum policy to be less generous, etc.), but I understand your frustration with nothing getting done. Yes, it’s mightily inconvenient to watch the gridlock grow thicker. Yes, I think the Democrats are holding reform hostage out of spite and electoral gambling. Yes, I wish Mexico would do something themselves.

But that’s not within our set of options right now. The hard truth is that this is politics, and part of the game is spending a lot of time in political gridlock hoping the other guy will blink. Resorting to bad policy doesn’t help and neither does circumventing Congress. I am old enough to remember when conservatives were mightily outraged when Obama declared he had a pen and would make things happen without Congress. Let’s not make the mistake of overlooking Trump’s actions just because he’s on our side. Tariffs, especially in this case, are an immensely bad idea, and Trump needs to be called out on it.

A Final Reflection:

So it’s June in America, and, if you haven’t realized it already, that means it’s pride month for the LGBTQ+ community. Obviously, I realize there is not a little room for contention here, so what I think I’m going to do for the next few weeks of final reflections is deal the best I can with the topic in relation to right, Christian living. That will start next week, but, for this week, I actually want to talk first about the appropriateness of time and place.

On Memorial Day last week, my hometown went through something of a kerfuffle when various groups around town painted the pride rainbows on streets and businesses and made much-ado about LGBTQ+ military members and launched a substantial social media awareness campaign to that end. Obviously, those actions drew the mixed ire and praise of many people. Words were exchanged, and a lot of people just grew more hostile to one another as a result, which was fairly predictable all things considered. As I’ve reflected on it, I’ve tried to pin down exactly what it was that got people so hot under the collar, and I think the answer is obvious but gets muddled because of the heat surrounding the issue.

The issue with actions like these on a day like Memorial Day has less to do with the pride issue itself and more to do with the co-opting of Memorial Day. Regardless of your stance, Memorial Day is not a day for pride celebration, in the same way it’s not a day set aside for autism awareness or civil rights or religious festivities or anything else. It’s a day for honoring America’s fallen. That’s it. Co-opting that day for any other purpose is improper and, frankly, disrespectful to those celebrating it. Thinking biblically, Paul reminds us that observance of certain days is purely a matter of Christian liberty and common decency. Do you celebrate Memorial Day? Great! Do you not? That’s fine as well, just let the day pass and do not co-opt it for another purpose. The true problem of what went down in my hometown was the perception, intentional or not, that the LGBTQ+ community was stealing Memorial Day for their own agenda and redirecting attention from the America’s fallen to themselves.

And now let’s see if I can get myself in trouble with everybody by switching gears entirely. To American churches and the American Christians therein: following this logic of the appropriateness of time and place, I’m not sure we should celebrate Memorial Day or really any secular holiday in church. I realize I’ve probably just bristled some feathers. We visited a church on the Sunday before Memorial Day that had a very patriotic, very nice service that ended with the playing of ‘Taps’ and a silent exit in respect for America’s fallen. It was indeed moving, it was indeed a tear-jerker, it was indeed very respectful for the fallen…and I don’t think it should have been done there in church.

At the end of the day, the Body of Christ unites around Christ, not America’s bravely fallen soldiers. The Church Eternal does not regard national or ethnic lines. When we gather together, we gather under the unity found in Christ and Christ alone. I absolutely observe Memorial Day. I absolutely salute America’s fallen. I absolutely think all Americans should honor their sacrifice. But I don’t think a gathering of believers is the right place to do it. So, if you haven’t tuned me out or plotted my downfall yet, hear this final word of encouragement:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.