Profiling
08/14/05
Philippians 3
5
Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews;
as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church; touching the righteousness
which is in the law, blameless.
Depending on the literature one reads, the
professional development of profiling over the past
several decades will most likely be attributed to
the work of the Behavioral Sciences Unit (BSU) at
the FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia. More
specifically, a few key agents will be known by
name, if not by reputation, including John Douglas,
Robert Ressler and Roy Hazelwood amongst others.
Many of the mass-market conceptions often include an
agent as a representative of the BSU working on the
case with local law enforcement. While the role of
the Bureau in the development of profiling cannot be
denied, they are often afforded a greater
involvement in criminal investigations than they
have in reality, and many of the agents (current and
retired) are often attributed with developing
methods that were in place before they even reached
the FBI. (Taken from "Criminal Profiling" by Wayne
Petherick on the Web.)
Profiling refers to targeting certain types of
people and is usually seen in a negative light. For
example, the New Jersey state police were accused of
targeting (profiling) young black men driving fancy,
expensive cars. Their reasoning is that the average
young black male doesn’t have the money to buy such
an expensive car, unless he is doing something
illegal. On the other hand, it was claimed that a
white man, of the same description, driving an
expensive car, will not be profiled or stopped for
questioning.
The
definition of a profiler is one who gives a short
vivid biographical description of the most
outstanding characteristics of someone. However, the
way it is used by the media now is a more general
than personal. The profiler does not target a
certain person but general types of people.
This
is a subject that we hear a great deal about these
days. There was a TV show based on that subject;
there is a woman criminal investigator who is called
the Profiler (TV Court channel). When the police
have a difficult case they can’t seem to solve or
make any progress on, they call this woman. Her name
is Dayle Hinman. She is based in Florida.
And
what does she know or do that the ordinary
detectives don’t do or know? She looks at all the
circumstances of the case, including often times, a
visit to the location where the crime was committed,
and comes up with certain observations based on
those facts. I remember one case where a man had
assaulted a woman in her home. While committing this
crime, this sex offender actually fed (gave a bottle
to) the poor woman’s baby! From this incident, Mrs.
Hinman decided the offender was perhaps a teenager
and very inexperienced in criminal activity. When he
was apprehended, sure enough he was an 18-year-old
boy.
In
today’s national news (THE TIMES 08/10/05), it was
reported that a certain group had a great deal of
information on Atta, the ringleader in the tragedy
of 911. Yet, it was reported this important
information was not delivered into the hands of the
FBI. Why? Could it have had something to do with
profiling? Or perhaps politics? I don’t know the
answer to my question but I do this lack of proper
action contributed to the tragedy to 911.
However, we actually practice profiling all the time
without realizing it. For example, if we are walking
along a dark street and see a certain type of
person, we change directions. If you are driving and
see a trooper’s car, you slow down. A company hires
employees using a profile of some kind.
In
the verses above, Paul gives a partial profile or
bio of some of the characteristics that would have
distinguished him from others. He tells us eight
different things about himself in these some 35 plus
words. From these facts, we have a somewhat limited
description of who he was and what he was like.
I.
Profiling Sinners
Romans 3:23
For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned:
The
black, white, good, bad, male, female, educated,
ignorant, successful, the not so successful, the
old, the young, in short none can escape this
profile because all humans fall into one or another
of these categories.
2.
What do sinners do best? They sin of course! In
God’s sight, they can do nothing good. The third
chapter of Romans gives us a good view of what God
thinks of sinners:
Rom 3
9
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise:
for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles,
that they are all under sin; 10 As it is written,
There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is
none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh
after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they
are together become unprofitable; there is none that
doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open
sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit;
the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their
feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and
misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace
have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God
before their eyes. 19 ¶ Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the
knowledge of sin.
Is
there anyone who is silly enough to deny this
statement? There may be but it impossible to deny it
based on facts.
II.
Profiling a Saint or a Christian
1.
What is a saint and can we profile a saint? To the
Catholic, a saint is (a) dead (b) worked at least
two miracles (c) declared to be a saint by the Pope.
Then he is beatified and canonized. (Based on info
from THE WORLD BOOK). It is to be noted that the
Bible and the pope are not on the same page.
Mat 7
15 ¶
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do
men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit;
but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A
good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can
a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree
that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and
cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye
shall know them.
James
2
¶
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say
he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save
him? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is
dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast
faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without
thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my
works.
19
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest
well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 22 Seest
thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works
was faith made perfect? 24 Ye see then how that by
works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 26
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without works is dead also.
Do
you think a practicing homosexual can be a saint?
Better yet, what does the Bible say?
1 Cor
6
9 ¶
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye
are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the
Spirit of our God.
In
these verses, he profiles certain types as unfit to
occupy heaven. One type he names is the
"effeminate." In Greek the word means homosexual.
The phrase, "abusers of themselves with mankind"
comes from a Greek word meaning, "one who lies with
a male as with a female, sodomite, homosexual"
(Strong # 733). According to the Scripture, Bishop
Robinson, a short time ago ordained by the Anglican
Church in Massachusetts, is not a Christian, as he
admits to a homosexual relationship of long
standing.
The
above reminds me of something I read in THE TIMES of
Aug. 10, 2005.
SAO
PAULO, Brazil—Thieves spent three months tunneling
under a busy city boulevard in northwestern Brazil
to break into a Central Bank vault and pull off the
biggest robbery ever in South America’s largest
country.
The
vault in the city of Fortaleza, about 1550 miles
northeast of Sao Paulo, was robbed "by a group of
highly sophisticated thieves," said Sabrina
Albuquerque, a federal police spokeswoman.
The
homosexuals (and others also) have bored or tunneled
into Christianity from underground and are trying to
steal it away, because they see it as a credible way
to make their sinful life style seem more
respectable.
I
also heard another good illustration from a news
cast by Paul Harvey, about a certain group of
prisoners in Brazil who tunneled for over three
months and came up just 12 inches inside the prison
wall! Sodomites can try to look respectable all they
wish but they are still in the prison of their own
sinful life style.
2.
Profiling a Dedicated Christian. A dedicated
Christian is one that does the following:
Repents of his
sins as a prerequisite to an experience of
grace, follows the Lord in baptism, which is
the door to church membership, tithes, knows
what he believes and why he believes it.
3. A
non-dedicated Christian may or may not go to
church, belong to a N.T. church, tithe, be
baptized. He just professes to be a
Christian.
III.
Profile of an Elder (Preacher)
1.
Can we profile a preacher? That’s easy. In fact,
Paul does it for us.
1 Tim
3
1 ¶
This is a true saying, If a man desire the
office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2 A
bishop then must be blameless, the husband
of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good
behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3
Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of
filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not
covetous; 4 One that ruleth well his own
house, having his children in subjection with all
gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule
his own house, how shall he take care of the church
of God?) 6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up
with pride he fall into the condemnation of the
devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of
them which are without; lest he fall into
reproach and the snare of the devil.
In
case you are wondering about the lack of commentary,
my comment is no comment because it needs none. It
seems to me Paul makes it abundantly clear what the
requirements are.
IV.
Profiling a N. T. Church
1. It must conform to
the New Testament pattern: Local, autonomous,
carries out the rituals (baptism and the Lord’s
Supper), recognizing Christ as its Head, must
believe in religious liberty, only two officers
(pastor and deacons), and it must believe in
salvation by grace. This most certainly describes a
Baptist Church. But are Baptists the only ones who
meet these criteria?
The
Episcopal Catechism says: "Baptism is that wherein I
was made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an
inheritor of the Kingdom of heaven."
The
Presbyterian Confession reads: "Baptism is a
sacrament of the new Testament ordained by Jesus
Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the
party baptized into the visible church, but also to
be unto him a sign and a seal of the covenant of
grace, of his engrafting into Christ, of
regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his
giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to walk in
newness of life."
The
Methodist ritual reads as follows: "Sanctify this
water for his holy sacrament and grant that this
child now to be baptized, may receive the fullness
of thy grace and ever remain in the number of thy
faithful and elect children."
Wesley wrote (Sermons, London, 1872 vol 2, sermon
45, and p. 74): "It is certain our church supposes
that all who are baptized in their infancy are at
the same time born again; and it is allowed that the
whole office for the baptism of infants proceeds on
this supposition."
The
Lutheran view: "Concerning baptism, they teach that
it is necessary to salvation…and condemn the
Anabaptists, who hold …that infants can be saved
without it." (Neander, History of Christian Dogmas,
vol. 2, p. 693.)
Quoting Dr. S.E. Tull: "The Catholics believe that
salvation is not purely of grace, that the death of
Jesus Christ is not the only means of salvation, but
that the ordinance of baptism is efficacious,
contains sacramental grace, and it essential to
salvation." The Council of Trent declared that in
"baptism not only remission of original sin was
given, but also all which properly has the nature of
sin is cut off." It makes one "a Christian, a child
of God, and an heir of heaven."
Not
wishing to leave out any major denomination, I have
personally heard many, many, times by way of KEEL
radio, the Church of Christ preacher say, teach,
preach and adamantly affirm, that baptism is
essential to salvation. They are not the least bit
reluctant to affirm that as one of their fundamental
doctrines.
(All
the above quotations are from Bro. Roy Mason’s book
THE CHURCH THAT JESUS BUILT.)
Bro.
Oscar Mink in his book THE BAPTIST BRIDE, Part 7,
says that the Catholic Church claims to be the true
church (MY CATHOLIC FAITH, Pgs 111, 149). He goes on
to say Albert Barnes, a famous Protestant expositor
of yesteryear, says, "The church is the Bride of the
Messiah." He is referring to the whole body of
Protestant churches excluding Baptist and Catholics
(Barnes’ NOTES ON THE NEW TESTAMENT, Pg 280.)
In
fact, in my opinion, virtually all denominations
make this claim. I have heard the Anglican Church
say, by radio from Shreveport, they believe they can
trace their origin back to the apostles. I have
heard one Assembly of God preacher by way of TV say
the same. I receive the United Church of God’s
publication, THE GOOD NEWS, and they make a similar
claim in that publication. (I have already mentioned
the Church of Christ in this regard.)
But
if we Independent Baptists make such a claim, based
on undeniable facts, more so than any of the above,
there is an outcry that we are prejudiced no end and
bigots beyond compare.
In
J.M. Carroll’s book, THE TRAIL OF BLOOD, under the
subtitle "MARKS OF A NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH," on page
5, he points out several things that must prevail in
order to have a New Testament church.
1.
Its head and Founder-Christ. 2. Its only rule of
faith and practice-THE BIBLE. (This would of
necessity include all the Bible doctrines-ed.) 3.
Its name—"CHURCH," "CHURCHES." 4. Its
polity-CONGREGATIONAL-all members equal. 5. Its
members-only saved people. 6. Its ordinances-BELIVERS’
BAPTISM FOLLOWD BY THE LORD’S SUPPER. 7. Its
officers-PASTORS AND DEACONS. 8. Its work-getting
folks saved, and baptizing them by immersion only.
9. Its financial plan- (TITHES and OFFERINGS). 10.
Its weapons of warfare-spiritual, not carnal. 11.
Its independence-separation of Church and State.
V.
Profiling a Savior
Hebrews 2:16
For verily he
took not on him the nature of angels; but he
took on him the seed of Abraham.
2 Corinthians
5:21
For he hath made
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in
him.
Titus 2:14
Who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works.
Hebrews 7:25
Wherefore he is
able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them.
Acts 1:3
To whom also he
shewed himself alive after his passion by
many infallible proofs, being seen of them
forty days, and speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God:
Conclusion: Of course, all the above passages refer
to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other being
anywhere in the universe that meets these
stipulations. He needs no help nor has He any
competitors. Anyone who thinks otherwise is leaning
on a broken reed.