A rebuttal of Ch. 8 of Your Best Life Now

Chapter 8: Understanding Your Value
Rebuttal

In the first paragraphs of Chapter 8, Joel tells us that we must derive our self worth from the fact that we are God’s children. I’m not going to contradict him on this point. He says that if we want to have a healthy view of how valuable we really are, we must move past our imperfections and know that God loves us despite our faults. Again, no argument here. Joel runs into trouble, however, when he tries to use scripture to support his claim. He uses a fairly well known verse, Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Joel says the use of the word workmanship connotes an unfinished product; a “work in progress.” The Greek word used for workmanship here is poiēma. The Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defines poiēma as denoting “that which is made,” not that which is being made. The same word is used in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made (poiēma), so that men are without excuse.” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.) Here Paul is telling the Roman church about general revelation, or God’s will revealed to the entire human race, in this instance, through creation itself. When poiēma is used here, the noun does not have a kind of present progressive connotation; creation stopped on the sixth day. Likewise, the same word used in Ephesians 2:10 does not have the meaning of a “work in progress,” but simply something that has been made. Even the English word workmanship does not have the meaning that Joel claims it does. According to Wiktionary, workmanship is defined as “1) the skill of an artisan or craftsman. 2) The quality of something made by an artisan or craftsman.” Merriam-Webster defines it as “1) something effected, made, or produced. 2) The art or skill of a workman; also: the quality imparted to a thing in the process of making.” So, Joel is mistaken when he says that “the word workmanship implies that you are not yet a finished product; you are a ‘work in progress.’” Not that I am arguing against the idea that we as humans should continually work to improve ourselves, but the verse Joel is using to support his assertion here is poorly chosen.

Joel says that the key to future success is not to be “discouraged about your past or present while you are being ‘completed.’” He claims that the Bible says that we “go from glory to glory as we are being transformed into God’s image.” Here he cites 2 Corinthians 3:18, which goes, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Joel does not expound on the meaning of this verse at all; he leaves the definition of glory and the meaning of the verse in the context of what he is trying to say all up to the reader. I think he’s trying to say that things are going to get better, that you have things in you life to look forward to. While this is a comforting statement, it is not what the verse means. The NIV’s “ever-increasing glory” and “being transformed into God’s image” both refer to what happens after one dies and goes to heaven. This does not fit Joel’s message, which would necessitate that glory manifesting itself in the earthly realm.

To finish up the paragraph, Joel tells us that “God is moving you onward toward greater things. The path of righteousness gets brighter and brighter.” Stop right there, Joel. We’ve used this verse before, but it’s so applicable that it bears repeating: 1 Timothy 3:12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (Emphasis added.) However, Joel does use Proverbs 4:16 as evidence. “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter ‘till the full light of day.” If, however, we take into account the very next verse, the passage takes on a whole new meaning. “But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.” So we can see that the righteous are not walking on the sunny side of the street per se, but their way of life allows them to see clearly to learn from their mistakes, unlike the wicked, who “do not know what makes them stumble.” (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible.) To bolster my point, I’ll add the following sections of scripture:

Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,”

1 Peter 3:17 “It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

Joel continues to tell us that God loves us, warts and all. He tells us to remember that “according to God’s Word, your future is getting brighter; you are on your way to a new level of glory.” Here he is absolutely right; after we die and go to heaven, we will certainly be surrounded by the glory of God (Romans 8:17). I doubt this is what Joel actually means, though. Like I said above, this entire book hinges on what happens on this side of eternity. Joel comforts us by telling us that even though disobeying God can and does have consequences, we cannot do anything to make God love us less, just like we can’t do anything to make him love us more. This is absolutely true. Joel tells us that no matter how difficult the times are that we go through, we are still no less valuable. This is also true. The rest of the chapter goes on to that effect.

A lot of what Joel says in this chapter is accurate; his main problem is when he uses scripture to support his points. Let’s hope this is one of many steps in the right direction.