What Does it Mean to Make a Brother Stumble?

One of the things that always comes up when you speak of tattoos, smoking, drinking, et al is the issue of making a brother stumble to show why one should abstain from doing those things at all. When one proof texts and reads current culture into the passages, they seem to have a great point and one that kept me under a heavy yoke for some time. What actually ended up happening is that this so called "weaker brother" kept me under his yoke of conscience instead of me being able to seek out Christ and his easy yoke and burden that is light. I kept trying to refrain from certain things because I was always worried that I would make a brother stumble and was so consumed by this, my life was more about the weaker brother and his issues than the glorifying of God in my actions and actually loving the weaker brother.

We have extremes here that need to be pointed out. One extreme is like the one mentioned above, where we worry about everything, whether it is sin or not and abstain from it all. The other extreme is we say, "screw the weaker brother" and we do whatever we want without care. Like most orthopraxy, extremes suck and fly in the face of Christ and his cross and, so, we need to find the correct balance and test it to Scripture. I want to do some defining to search out how we should live within the context of the weaker brother and what it means to make him stumble.

First, what is a "weaker brother"?

We find the main passages concerning the weaker brother in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 and also in Romans 14. The weaker brother is the one who wishes to abstain from certain things. They are not the mature in the body, but they are the weak needing care. These people would be those who abstain from things that are not sinful, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, getting tattoos and of course eating meat sacrificed to idols. But, if you know the context of 1 Corinthians 8, 10 and Romans 14 we are not speaking of people who have merely been told that these things were sinful, but have a deep bond that ties the conscience to them. The weaker brother would be someone who has been addicted to smoking or alcohol, or who has a family history of addiction to these things. The weaker brother would be someone who came from a tribe who used to tattoo themselves for the sake of their pagan gods. The weaker brother is one who was in an idolatrous nation that sacrificed meat to gods for worship. These things are deeply entrenched in who they are and what they are about. These things identify them with the "old self."

The weaker brother is NOT someone who has issue with these things because of their culture and how they were brought up. One is not a mere weaker brother because they have always been taught that smoking is a sin or that drinking alcohol is a sin. Paul goes much deeper than this and is found when he uses the term to "destroy" the weaker brother (which we will handle later).

Paul and Jerusalem Council are dealing with a much deeper issue than someone not liking meat sacrificed to idols, they were dealing with an issue that was deeply ingrained in the people that practiced idolatry in a way that was demonic and part of every day life that associated one with the devil. Again, it would be the same as getting a tattoo for the dead in Leviticus 19:28 to worship some pagan deity. This was binding on the conscience, not because it was "odd" to them, or they were uncomfortable with it, but they were dealing with demonic opposition and something that identified them with their old self when their father was the devil.

So, the weaker brother is not merely some nutcase that wants you to abstain from something they don't like, the weaker brother is someone who is coming from an old life in sin, that is dealing with those things associated directly with their sin. Again, think of pagan worship in sacrifices when thinking of 1 Corinthians 8,10 and Romans 14.

Making the Weaker Brother Stumble

Now that we see what is means to be a weaker brother, we need to look at making that brother stumble. This term stumble is used almost synonymously with Paul using the term "destroy". Paul isn't speaking of making someone look at you in a light that is odd. It isn't making someone uncomfortable, but it is literally making them stumble into sin. It would be like you handing someone a beer that you know is an alcoholic and telling them to drink. You, in your freedom, have made the weaker brother stumble or have destroyed them. The thought is putting something (a rock) in the road that they are walking on so that they will trip and severely hurt themselves.

People use this for all sorts of things, as though we must have a swivel on our heads to make sure people don't look at us and think we are sinning. This isn't what Paul is speaking on. If this is the case, then Jesus was a sinner. He did things all the time that made people think he was a sinner, but he didn't make them sin. Think of the Pharisees of those that wear suits to church, don't drink, don't smoke, don't play cards, don't watch certain movies, listen to certain music. They do this so that they "will not make someone stumble", but in reality are showing that your sanctification and righteousness comes in what you don't do instead of whom you trust in. Jesus was not for this. What is interesting is that the term "stumble" can be both positive and negative. You can make someone stumble into sin, or make them stumble into righteousness.

"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,"and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall."They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

1 Peter 2:6-8

This is the point that no one actually brings up. If someone is trying to be self righteous in their abstention, the best thing you can do is be a stumbling block to them so that they can see that Christ is the corner stone of their faith, not their abstention for self righteousness. This brother, that abstains for the sake of self righteousness (which none of them will admit) is not the weaker brother, but the prideful brother that needs to be shown their sinful acts. This is why Jesus didn't care if he drank in public, ate with the sinners and loved the hookers. He did it partly to show the self righteous Pharisees their stupidity. We find further evidence of this when Peter has his vision and then eats with the Gentiles. Notice what the self righteous Jews do:

So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
Acts 11:2

Did Peter then decide to abstain from eating with them? No, he corrected their self righteous thoughts by telling them the vision of God and using this an opportunity to show the gospel to them. Here is the key. Someone who loves Jesus and not their self righteous deeds will react to this by not condemning the brother living in his freedom but will praise God.

When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."
Acts 11:18

Could this have been a stone of stumbling for these Jews? Yes. Did Peter refrain, or teach? He taught. Their reaction is an insight to their heart towards the love of God. They reject their self righteousness and cling to their new found Saviour.

So, Now What?

How are we to handle this then? You will notice that Paul has a huge point that he makes when speaking of refraining, and it does not mean that he will refrain always, only when he is knowingly among those whom bears a conscience against meat sacrificed to idols. People like to use Paul's hyperbolic term to bear witness against this when Paul says, "Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble." Paul is using this in speaking to someone he is directly in relationship with at all times, not for the sake of believers out there somewhere who have issues with this. Meaning, if Timothy had issues with this, Paul would never eat meat in fellowship with Timothy. He doesn't mean, he will literally never touch meat again. We see this clearly in the following:

If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake — the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:27-31

Paul states to enjoy your freedom, but to refrain when among someone who has a conscience against something. So, if I am going to a nation of tribes who once used tattoos to worship their god, I will cover up my tattoos. I will do this because this is something that is personal to them and hard for them to take. I will also cover up my tattoos if I go into a home where I know tattoos used to be a way for the person to sin against God in rebellion and they are trying to refrain from such things. I do this with those I KNOWLINGLY have deep issues with certain things that is related and identified to their old life of sin. So is the case with having a vegan over to my house, an alcoholic or someone who was addicted to smoking.

But, it doesn't stop here. You don't just refrain when you see these people, but you take the opportunity to teach them. You must teach the weaker, and not allow them to "turn you" into their weaker conscience. This was huge for the ministry of Christ. He was the one teaching the weaker, the weaker were not teaching him to turn to their ways. So, we should deal with the gospel with these people and love and aid them to the grace and freedom found at the cross.

Refrain out of love and teach out of love so that they may be won to the victory of the cross. There is a balance here. But, to throw out the "you might make a brother stumble" has become another way to control the actions of others to make them think they are more righteous. This is sin and contrary to the gospel. Also, those who freely do whatever they want without taking consideration of the TRUE weaker brother and don't take the opportunity to teach them in word and action what the Gospel is truly about, also sin.

We must live and teach the gospel to others without allowing them to bound up our actions so that we find the gospel as a restrictive gospel instead of a freeing one.

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Matthew 11:29-30

Read More......

Hairy Legs and the Kingdom of God

I was at an event this past weekend called, Jesus in the Quran, and was caught off guard when I heard one verse read from the gospel of Luke. I actually looked it up to make sure he wasn't making it up. Check this out:

The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.
Luke 16:16

This is Jesus speaking here, and he is speaking to the Pharisees. Think about this...the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. This is quite amazing. This idea of "forces" is also seen as someone pushing themselves into the kingdom in a forceful manner...like they can't wait to enter because of what they have heard preached. Now, I am not denying God's sovereign rule here, so don't read that. But, the question has to come, "Why aren't people around you (me) forcing their way into the kingdom?"

Some will say that is because they are like Jeremiah, who brought the oracles of God and it was just God's will for him to be "unsuccesful" in the eyes of the world. But what if it isn't? What if what we are preaching is causing people to be turned off to the gospel? What if we have created our own Gospel, that isn't good news at all? Think of this. Just after this Jesus brings up that not one jot of the law will be destroyed, yet people will force their way into the kingdom. Meaning, the only way the Pharisees were going to keep people out of the kingdom is if they ADD to the law and the prophets, which they did plenty of.


I remember when I was in middle school, or somewhere around there, and I learned that some women around the world didn't shave their legs or arm pits. I was honestly disgusted. I couldn't believe it. How could women not understand that in order to be beautiful, they needed to shave? Not only that, but the dudes didn't mind if their women had hair all over their bodies...seriously?

Throughout my life, the more I learn about other cultures, the more I learn what is truly Western, or cultural, and what is actual truth. As I read something like this in Luke's gospel, I wonder if people aren't pushing, or forcing their way into the kingdom of God because we aren't making Jesus look as glorious as he should be? What if we have created such a Western, consumeristic Jesus that he looks disgusting instead? What if it is more about accepting a certian cultural standard than what the gospels actually speak about?

Not only that, but what if what we preach, we don't live? So, not only do we preach a Western Jesus, but we aren't even willing to follow that Western Jesus? How much of the gospel do we need to bastardize before we wake up and see the lives we are ruining?

Jesus said this:

My yoke is easy, my burden is light.

Seems like we are creating some sort of quasi secret club, where you need to climb the levels of understanding and culture to be redeemed.

What is amazing about this, is that the gospel is so simple that the theif on the cross merely believed and was said that he would see Jesus in paradise.

We have lost our first love...belief in Jesus and his power. Not only that, but we refuse to live like he calls us to. We don't love our neighbors, we don't love, pray for or bless our enemies, we aren't peacemakers, we aren't humble, etc. etc. etc.

Return to the gospel and look to see where you have Westernized the good news and get rid of that as a requirement to enter the kingdom. If it is your conviction, that is fine, but don't put your conviction onto others, or they might never force their way into the kingdom.

Read More......

Tips on Disciplining Your Children

I have a read many things on the understanding of disciplining my children and try to be faithful in my love for them. The one thing I know for sure is, disciplining my children is very difficult. The reason is that to discipline them like God calls me to takes more time and more effort than if I were to merely yell at them, give them a time out or spank them. Not only that, but when I discipline them with a gospel intention, it brings my own sin and rebellious heart to the forefront. I have two boys, 7 and 4, so I would rather just wrestle them into submission and make them tap out. Although that would bring some quick satisfaction, the long term affects could be very odd.

On that note, here are some tips to aid you (and remind me) of how to discipline your children.

1. Use Scripture Always, Not Only in Discipline

I have noticed a lot of parents like to use Scripture when disciplining their child. What will happen to that child if every time they hear Scripture it is because they are in trouble? They will come to despise Scripture and see it as a rule book to follow. Completely the wrong message we should be giving them. Scripture should be used like it was intended. Scripture is a way to show us how to achieve our greatest joy for the glory of God. Redemption is at the center of this understanding of joy. It should be "used" as such.

We should be always speaking about the gospel, whether or not the child is in trouble or when the child is showing the love of Jesus to their sibling or friends. Let me give you an example. Ephesians 6:1 says, "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right." I have seen most use this verse only when kids are in trouble. But what about using it when the child DOES obey their parents? What about showing them why it is important to obey their parents? You have to give more than mere commands, you have to show them the truth of why it is God's command. Show them that the reason they should obey you, is because you want them to have the most joy in their lives and create the most joy in those that they are friends with. Show that you desire their joy and that is why you have different rules and such. Instead of seeing this verse as only a "negative" they see the wide truth claim it actually provides and it gives them a chance to see it's goodness. Think of telling them why you want them to look both ways before they cross the road. It isn't because you want to control them and make them stay where you want. You want them to look both ways to keep them safe, so they don't get hurt. When giving commands or using Scripture, you should always think of explaining it to them like you would when telling them to look both ways before crossing the road. With that truth, they see you as loving and not as controlling.

2. Be Just in Your Discipline, Pray About Your Discipline...and Mean It!

Make the punishment fit the crime. Don't under punish and don't over punish. So, if your child punches a kid in the face, don't merely tell him "that's okay, try not to do that." If your child sneaks cookies, don't ground them for three months and spank them every hour on the hour. I would highly recommend that you don't punish right away, unless it is something small. But, take time to tell them you are going to go to God in prayer to seek out his wisdom on what the punishment will be. This isn't just to show your child that you trust in God's wisdom, which it will do, but this is actually for you to seek out God's wisdom on the correct punishment.

Sometimes you won't even have to punish because if your child eats too much cookies, they might have a stomach ache and that is punishment enough...you just need to instruct them in those moments. So, don't always feel like you have to add punishment on top of the natural consequences that come with sin.

When you come to the decision of what the punishment will be, make sure that is the punishment that is carried out. If you say you are going to take away their toys, their blanket or whatever for a month...it better stand. They can see when you are weak, they can see when they can test you. Be careful what you say, but make sure that you mean what you say and carry it out.

Let your yes be yes, and your no be your no. If you say "no" to your child, mean it. Don't count, don't give them another chance, don't continually give in to your child. When you do, you are just showing them that if they keep at something, you will eventually give in. You are teaching them that persistence in sin pays off! If you only "mean it" on the third no, or when you get to the number three when counting...they will then push you to go that far before they stop. Your kids aren't stupid, they just want to know the boundaries.

In regards to this...make sure that you are always praying that God would have you discipline well and like Him and not like your selfish self. Always be praying for wisdom, so that when you need to discipline in haste, it will be godly and not out of a sinful heart that desires to be the authority. Praying about discipline shouldn't only happen at the time of incidents, but should be continual and persistant.

3. Do Not Discipline When You're Angry

No matter what...wait. Do not discipline when you are angry. You will say things you don't mean, you will not be patient, you will be harsher than you intend and you will have a lot of apologizing to do afterwards. My wife and I have an agreement. If either of us can see the other one getting angry in discipline, the other can tell the other one to dismiss themselves. We have agreed that we won't get angry, we won't respond, we won't fight it, but will trust the other one and remove ourselves from the situation. When discplining while angry you will always come off to the child as unloving and self righteous. You will never come off as one who is trying to seek out their joy and comfort. You will not be the one that they can trust, but just a crazy dictator that needs to be obeyed until they can move out.

4. Be Gospel Centered

You should never discipline without bringing it back to the gospel and the heart of the sinner. Always show off Jesus and his forgiveness in discipline. Make sure that your child understands this and sees how much Jesus, AND YOU, love them and forgives them. Don't make this a guilt trip of "look at what you did!" but make it all about the greatness of Jesus.

As an example. My kid got in trouble for throwing a ball inside the house after we told him to stop. We asked, "What is your sin?" He said, "Throwing the ball." We asked, "Is it a sin to throw a ball?" He replied, "No." We said, "So what is your sin?" He responded, "Not obeying you in telling me to not throw the ball." We continued, "So, are you desiring to obey your parents, or doing what you desire?"

Afterwards, we hand down the punishment, show him the cross and then we pray with him and then have him pray to Jesus for forgiveness.

Not only this, but we always include in our discipline the fact that mommy and daddy are sinners and do the exact same things that they do and also are in need of the gospel and the cross of Jesus. We make sure our children understand that mommy and daddy are not their saviour and are not the end all, but we are in as much need as they are of Jesus. BE TRANSPARENT IN THIS. Be real. Be a true sinner in front of your children calling out for grace. Make sure they understand you are in the same boat, and Jesus is the captain, not you.

5. Don't Be Scared to Show Grace

This freaks kids out. Think of it. Do you get physically punished every time you deserve it? There are times where we work everything out and then ask our kids, "How do you think you should be punished?" They'll come up with something and we'll correct where needed, and then we'll tell them we are not going to punish them but show them grace. This gives them a practical understanding of what grace is and the forgiveness shown in the cross. I have found this to be amazing to show off God and His good news. We don't want to raise legalists that think, "If I do good...good things happen, if I do bad...bad things happen...so I will do this, and not that." You want to raise children who obey you because they love you, and when they understand the gospel, they will want to serve God, because they love him, not to get good things from him or out of a thought that God will love them more because of their actions. Showing your kids grace is one of the best things you can do in discipline if you do it correctly with gospel intentions.

6. Speak to Them Literally at Their Level

Do not stand over your children when you discipline. Squat down, or sit down and look them in the eyes. They should never see you as some sort of "higher up" that is screaming down on them. Jesus came down from heaven to show us grace, we should take the time to merely squat down to speak to them eye to eye. This might sound small, but it shows more than you might think.

Discipline can be a very difficult subject to speak on or to approach. These are just a few things that my wife and I are continually trying to accomplish when we discipline. We are definitely not perfect and fail all the time. When we do, we go to our children and seek out their forgiveness, showing that we are not some "super Christian" that is over them and better than them. I know this isn't exhaustive, but these are the things that have really spoken to my wife and I on how to discipline with Jesus and his gospel being the center of it and not peripheral. To make this work, you can't just do this on the fly, but you must be continually in prayer, have open communication with your wife or husband and be ready to be consistent. This is a lifestyle, not something you can just do every once in a while.

I hope that this helps with those who have children and can show you how we have filtered the Scriptures so that the story of redemption is shown every day, including when they are being disciplined.

Read More......

Best Sermon Ever Preached

I believe this is the best sermon ever preached and one that we should truly model our own preaching from. The centrality of the good news and Messiah and the penetration of the hearts of those hearing is quite astonishing...especially since it was about half a minute in length.

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set free those who are oppressed,

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’ ”

And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

“But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

“And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;

and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.

But passing through their midst, He went His way.

Luke 4:16-30

Read More......

Pursuing Holiness Will Destroy You

I came from a church that preached personal holiness. They used Scripture to speak of ways to become holy in our actions, to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. What they meant was here are some things you should do, some things you should refrain from so that you can be holy in conduct. My pursuit for holiness was caught up in my actions and what I was either pursuing or abstaining from each day. I thought I was pursuing holiness as I didn't watch certain movies, didn't listen to certain music, refrained from using certain words, didn't drink certain drinks, didn't smoke, didn't go to certain places, read my Bible, prayed, was involved in "church", memorized Scripture, etc. If I could just do these things, I was pursuing holiness. The issue was that I kept screwing up and could never pursue these things perfectly. On top of that, as I pursued these things, or abstained from these things, I found myself falling into the worst trap of them all...pride. I was very proud of what I was accomplishing, and it was becoming evident that I didn't need Jesus, because I was becoming such a good saviour for myself.

Here's the real issue in all of this. Every time I pursued my own holiness, I heard from Isaiah saying,

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah 64:6

Not only this, but I also found other commands to be pretty empty and I truly didn't believe them. Jesus told us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. I used to laugh at this verse. How was this easy? How was this burden light? I felt like a Jew, hoping my righteous deeds were good enough for, not only my salvation, but also my assurance of salvation. I was hoping my fruit was ripe enough so that Jesus would say, "well done good and faithful servant." I thought that John was full of it when he said, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3). His commands are not burdensome? Yeah, right. What I found as I was pursuing holiness, like it was something to be obtained, was that Jesus' commands were hard, heavy and burdensome...just the opposite of what I was reading in the Bible. Then I thought...maybe it wasn't Jesus that was wrong, but the teachers I was listening to, this fake Gospel I was listening to.

Since leaving this church and pursuing Jesus, every time I hear "pursue holiness" it freaks me out some. Not because I want to "pursue licentiousness" but because I automatically revert back to this idea of sanctification, both positionally and progressive, come by my works for God, as though he needs them.

Yesterday I saw a quote by J.I. Packer that nailed it:

The holiest Christians are those who are fully focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, not on holiness.

This couldn't ring more true. If one pursues holiness, and sees holiness as a thing, instead of a Person, namely Jesus Christ, they will be destroyed, both in this life and the next. Pursuing holiness is a Person. We should be pursuing Jesus, pursuing God, through the work of the Spirit. As we pursue the Messiah, we will be pursuing holiness. As Jesus said, "you can do nothing apart from me," this includes holiness. Holiness isn't found in how much time you spend in the Bible, how much time you spend in prayer, how much time you spend in ministry, how much you abstain from sin, but it is found in how much you pursue the Person and work of Christ and understand that he has already done it for you...he wasn't joking when he said, "it is finished." He is our holiness, both now and forever.

This doesn't mean that we don't pray, read our bibles, minister to others, love our neighbors, etc., this means just the opposite. Because as we pursue more of our Saviour, the more these other things will naturally flow from us and not be a burden. It isn't a burden for me to love my wife, it is natural, because I love her.

Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
Matthew 15:16-20

This is why Jesus spends so much time on the heart. The only thing that can turn us from a sinful people is to circumcise our hearts and replace them from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh, which only God can do.

We must trust in his work, not our own. No matter how much we work for holiness, we cannot obtain it. Only God can clothe us in righteousness through replacing our sin, with the righteousness of Jesus. This is why grace is so amazing. This is why the gospel is so simple. This is why Jesus continues to point to the faith of children. Because the harder you try to obtain righteousness through what you do, the farther you are separating yourself from the perfected work on the cross by the Christ. Do you hear that? You aren't getting closer to Jesus the harder you work for righteousness...you actually are growing farther apart. I can't stress this enough.

Don't pursue holiness as though it is a thing to be obtained, but pursue holiness as a Person...Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
John 6:35

Read More......

Understanding Terms, Instead of Just Using Terms

What I have found when speaking to Christians is that we love to use big words. Listen to pastors and it seems as though they get some sort of extra credit the more times they use terms ending in "ology". But what is our aim when speaking to others about any subject? Shouldn't our aim be to make sure those that are listening to us actually hear what we are meaning to say? I've talked about this some in other posts when speaking about bible translation or when speaking about terms like "Son of God" with Muslims. I still find these thoughts to be very important and ones that I am not backing down from.

Let me give you some examples. Should I want to keep the term "propitiation" in my reprotoir when preaching, or should I want the hearers to understand that Jesus took away the wrath of God? What is more important? The term, or the understanding of the term? Should I want to keep the term "deacon" or should I want people to understand what it means to be a servant inside community, as the church gathers and scatters? Should I want to keep the term "gospel" or should I want people to hear the "Good News" of what Jesus has done for them specifically?

I bring this up because my wife and I were getting the morning going when my wife brought up the fact that we were going to be starting up our Bible study before the kids went to school each day. My oldest responded, "Doing the bible study in the morning is a waste of time!" Now, at first, I was a little miffed, and so was my wife. But, I then thought, "this is a 7 year old, does he know what he just said?" I then asked my son, "What does that statement mean for you? When you say that, what do you mean?" He responded by saying that they didn't have much time in the morning and doing a bible study makes them rush and could make them late for school.

I then told him, "your understanding of the saying, 'it's a waste of time' is wrong" I then went on to explain what it meant and he could see right away why he shouldn't use that saying for studying the bible.

I think we do this more than we think in everyday life with others and especially in preaching or explaining the gospel to others. We can use terms like Christian, sin, atonement, church, propitiation, and even Jesus without explaing what these terms or Person actually means. If we don't explain these terms, but merely use them, aren't we really just being a cheerleader for those who understand these terms and think you to be highly educated when you use them? I truly believe that there a lot of people out there that haven't rejected the actual good news of Jesus, but have rejected the Western Christianized version of what it means to follow Jesus. I believe there are many right here in America, both citizens and foreigners, who haven't actually heard, meaning understood, the good news of Jesus and rejected it.

I guess it depends on why you speak to people about Jesus and the good news. If you desire to have people actually hear you, you might want to make sure they understand what you are saying. If you want to just "be right" or "sound exegetical" then let's keep using big terms, get pats on the back from our comrads and watch people never come to the faith or reject the actual Good News of Jesus and his death and resurrection.
If you want to continue to read some other posts I have done on this idea check these out:

What is Contextualization?

Contending Well for the Faith by Mike G.

Translating the Bible from an Idiot's Perspective

Read More......

The Uniting Church Unites Nothing!

I'm here in the land down under where the current weekly church population is about 2% of the people. The Aussies are wonderful, hospitable people, but not much for the divine institution. I guess I can't really blame them since many of their mainline churches have opted out of church planting and the gospel, and have chosen to be "Affirming" (Pro Gay) and "Uniting" (Pretty much pro anything), and have tossed away the only redeeming message the church has to offer. This is their response to a culture who has shunned the institution called church. Sounds on the outset like an attempt to reach the marginalized, but it is quite evident that the uniting church has no interest in uniting those that hold to the biblical story of God. I'm all for a good 'ole tweaking of the machine, but mitigating the only thing that makes going to church worth it; Jesus, has neutered it's affect on a culture already skeptical of "Church." They have also alienated many young men who desire to see the gospel of Jesus Christ move into the cities of Oz, and are told that they are "personna non grata." It is no wonder that so many of their beautiful churches have been turned into cafes, and art museums.

It is a reminder that our contextualization always needs to include contending well for the faith, and that religion never saves anyone, but unfortunately many of our own mainline and "Fundamentalist" churches are falling into the same irrelevant condition because they too have attached so much religion and false dogma on to the gospel , mitigating its message and creating a dull theology that no longer moves us to love God and others, which should be the aim of any Christian theology (Matthew 22:37-39). No wonder church attendance has dropped from 64% to 46% in the last 30 years in America, we have become irrelevant and are content to grow churches, but fail to grow the kingdom of God by moving outside of our institutions and engage our culture with the Love of Jesus, and the message that He alone redeems us from the miry clay of our brokenness and sin.

Read More......

What Part of the Gospel is Optional?

Read More......

The Gospel of Peace?

I have decided to read through the book of Ephesians for a while…just read it…to see what the Spirit of God wants me to be gripped by. I would usually tear it apart looking for every specific meaning and find those ways to congratulate myself for being right in my current theological bents. What I’ve decided to do this time is actually humble myself to the Scriptures and seek the face of God through them.

When you think of the book of Ephesians, what is the first thing you think of? I would guess if you are a Christian it would be a few things. Maybe that salvation is by grace alone and a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8,9); if you’re a Calvinist you’ll look for ways to prove predestination in the first few chapters; if you’re a charismatic, you might look to the end of the book where Paul tells us to pray in the Spirit always and see it as speaking of tongues (Eph 6:18), some will look at the great debate in both marriage and slaves (some people think these go hand in hand) in Ephesians 5, and some still will look to the armor of God mentioned in Ephesians 6. There are many theological stalwarts in Ephesians, but as I was reading, I was struck by how many times a book, that has been used to divide the Christian church, mentions “peace.”

The term is used 7 times in the book.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:2

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
Ephesians 2:14

by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
Ephesians 2:15

And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near;
Ephesians 2:17

with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:2,3

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Ephesians 6:15

Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 6:23

When one reads Ephesians one will notice that grace, peace and love of God are the overarching themes in the book, as it is in all of the Scriptures. I will focus in on peace for this post, as I find it to be very interesting.

Why are we to be peaceful? And why does Paul bookend this letter with the term “peace” to the Ephesians? I believe it is because this is exactly how Jesus started and ended his earthly ministry.

When Jesus started his earthly ministry, by being dunked by John the Baptist, it is said that the Holy Spirit descended like a dove from heaven, which is no doubt a picture of the dove that was sent out by Noah that returned with an olive leaf. If you look at any major peacemaking effort, what is the symbol of peace? Is it not the dove with an olive leaf? This picture was to show that the wrath of God was now at peace with man, followed up with that the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on the man, Jesus the Christ, who was ushering in the Kingdom of God to bring peace to all nations.

Then when Jesus is raised from the dead, what is the first thing he says to those disciples who are scared for their lives in the upper room, wondering what to do?

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:19

Why would Jesus say this? Why would Jesus tell us to be peacemakers? Why would Jesus commit the apostles to be peacemakers when he says:

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
John 20:21

I believe it is evident throughout the Scriptures and history. We, as people, are at war, not just with each other, but within ourselves. We continue to see wars and violence and Jesus tells us that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, the life speaks, the man shows his heart. The warring around us, has very little to do our wants on the outside, as they are just evidence of the wants on the inside. The warring around us has EVERYTHING to do with the warring that is happening within our souls. We are a restless people, always desiring something more, something different, something greater. We are always looking for the grass that is greener on the other side. Yet, no matter what we do…that grass is never greener, just more that needs to be mowed.

You see, as a proclaimer of the good news, I have always focused on the greatest peace, the peace that Jesus gives our souls, yet have had little to do with the shadow of that peace, namely, building bridges of peace while here on earth. We are called to do both.

We are called to give food to the poor, to point them to the one who is the bread of life.

We are called to give money to the poor and to the needy, to point them to the one who will give them abundant riches in the next life and is our actual prize

We are called to go to the widows and the orphans, to point them to the one Father and husband who will never abandon them in life or death

We are called to go to the religious, to point to them that Jesus has paid their debts

We are called to the hopeless, to point them to the fact that Jesus is their only hope

We are called to the prisoner, to show them that only Jesus can release them from their bondage.

Why wouldn’t we desire to go to the warring, to show them that there is only peace found in the grace of God for their souls?

I have discarded this for a long time in my life. I am questioned a lot about why I desire to bring reconciliation between Muslims and Christians. The reason is not to show only the grace and reconciliation to the Muslim, but it is also to show this to the Christian.

Those who follow Jesus have peace. We are to bring that peace on this earth, which is a shadow, to point to the true peace that comes by healing our souls from the warring that is happening within.

If you love Jesus and you do not promote and actively seek peace with your enemies, with America’s enemies, or with the enemies of your state…you are in sin.

May we seek peace, for the sake of showing the greatness in the grace of Jesus.

May we see clearly that Paul calls the gospel we love so much, the gospel we desire to proclaim and live so much is called:

…the Gospel of Peace!
Ephesians 6:15

Read More......

The Anatomy of A Murder

"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."

James 4:1-8a

My friend and his brother were murdered by radicals yesterday morning (See accompanying article. Warning the Pakistan Christian Post doesn't soften the blow by failing to tell the truth through pictures like our American press does. The site contains graphic pictures).

Pakistani Christian Post

That alone is enough to cause despair, but it is exacerbated by the reality that this kind of thing happens everyday in the world. As a matter of fact, as I kept perusing the internet for stories in regards to my imprisoned friends, I kept getting the headline story of a girl that was raped and tossed out of the window of her apartment building in Islamabad for being a Christian. My reaction was “That’s horrible; I can’t believe that! Now where is the information about my friends?” I kept wondering why they weren’t “Headline News?” Yesterday they became just that, and it’s all I have been able to think about!

As humans we are guarded with self-preservation mechanisms that allow us to filter the horror of everyday existence, yet ironically, scripture doesn’t let us do that. I have been reading through the horrific battles in the book of Joshua, and the Psalms and Lamentations (To name a few) that continually remind me of the reality of this world, and the suffering that always exists around us; but “Enlightened” thinkers changed all that by “Getting rid” of human suffering by selling us a version of the world that is progressing rather nicely. The funny thing about it is our churches are marching in step with the same sanitized message of “Progress,” because that’s the reality in a world run by humans. Aren’t we progressing? Isn’t the world becoming a better place? I suppose that’s up for debate, but I suggest holding your opinion until you weigh all the facts. Biblically we are told that the gospel is advancing at the same time Satan and sin vie for the hearts and minds of God’s creation. There is a spiritual war being fought rather fiercely, or did our soft sermonettes that espouse a blessed “Christian” life cloud our thinking (See Ephesians 6:10-18). Biblical eschatology dominated by either flying away Christians or victorious warriors ushering in an age of utopia are either too simplistic or were shaped in a post enlightenment idealistic elixir. There is no doubt Jesus is coming back to usher in His kingdom, but until that time there is suffering this side of paradise until that kingdom is realized, and Christians are not exempt from this tribulation.

Oh, of course we can just blame these little glitches in the Truman Show the way Christopher Hitchens and his band of “new Atheists” do; “This is just the work of religion, and once we rid the world of these nut jobs, then the world will be the way it’s supposed to be!” In one sense I firmly agree, religion most often is the bane to humanity, but isn’t this banter just exchanging one human mistake for another? Is humanity really the answer if it was humanity that created religion? Why would we suppose Chris and his boys have it right this time? Sure, we Christians should get on board that blame game and say it’s not “All” religions that are to blame, just those evil ones that don’t fit our ideas of God. "It's those Muslim folk that are really to blame.!" Of course to do so, wouldn’t we need to forget a long lined of inquisitions, burnings at the stake, abortion doctor murders, etc…? Oh, yeah, those weren't really “Christians!?” How convenient!

Or maybe the real anatomy of a murder lies in the heart of every human, who “desires” more than we can have, so our jealousies cause us to participate in a multitude of sins? Isn’t this what our text in James expresses? “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel” When do we stop blaming that tribe "Over there" in our attempts to conjure up solutions to the world's "Glitches" and realize this is what sin really looks like 24/7! Maybe it's time to stop trying to make ourselves look better, and realize the problem is within, and that we are all sinners in the need of God’s grace; but when we set up the "us vs. them" mentality that many Christians are as guilty of as Hitchens et al., we mitigate the power of the gospel, and create a hatred that continues this cycle of violence and hate that only the gospel (Both proclaimed and lived) can destroy! Let's stop acting as the world acts, which is a blame game for our world's toughest problems, and stop vilifying cultures that are different, and start living a bit like that Gospel ethic Jesus talked about in Matthew 5-7? Oh yeah, that's an ethic for the future, not now though!!

Read More......

Is Our God Holy or Loving?

I have been reading through the book of Joshua, which would to even the devout western reader, cause a series of faith spasms. It is easy to judge the Quran and other religious literature for its violent content, but it would be a case work in cognitive dissonance to deny the violence of the Jewish/Christian text.

Christians seem to have a way to "Forget" the justice of God in the name of His love. Such an imbalance not only distorts the nature of God, but it distorts His story and mitigates its necessity. The other day we were at the ruins in Carthage with a group of young Christians ministering here in Tunisia, and we stopped at a place that had ancient grave-stones of children sacrificed to Baal-Humon, and those with us were commenting on how awful it was to believe in a god who could demand such a thing of his people and I was immediately reminded of Isaiah 53:10, where we are told that God was "Pleased to crush Him (His Son)...as a guilt offering." How easy is it to forget that at the heart of the gospel is an atoning sacrifice. God's love includes these "Dark Passages" that we all try to forget, but lie at the heart of the gospel! The bloodshed of the cross will always be an "Offense" and "Foolishness" to those that are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23), as it is to our contemporaries in the west, and many Muslims in the world who also believe that Allah could never do such a thing to one of His prophets! It appears as senseless as the killings in the Palestinian conquests in ancient Israel as they are in modern Israel.

We struggle to believe this is possible for a loving God, because we have neutered His justice, and denied Him His glory. Our man-centered opinions about God have created a western deity tame enough for us to handle, and now we are paying the penalty of having no answers to a savvy attack on the God of the bible, because our gospel has lost its connection with God's holiness and justice.

I was in a bookstore the other day in Tunis talking to an atheist who had spent 16 years in the church (Not the Mosque), and left because the church had no answers for these questions, and he became incredulous to think that a god had any right to be zealous for His own glory! Unfortunately too many people in the church feel the same way, so we have left the God of Joshua off our flannel graphs, created a god (An idol) that appeases the 21st century western mind, and then put our heads in the sand of ignorance and wonder why our kids are leaving the faith, and how come no one is coming to our churches?

It is not surprising that those churches that are growing are not backing down from the truth of the atonement, and preaching the "Whole Counsel" of God's word, so that people can be exposed to God's holiness and our sin, and turn to the only name under heaven by which man can be saved, by God's great grace and mercy; Jesus the Messiah. This message will always be both a scandalous stumbling block to some, and absolute foolishness to others, "but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). We can't back down from that message, but must be looking for ways that contextualizes that message so it can be heard, which includes knowing God's story, and how it fits into other stories like those we find in the Quran, or in the history of Baal-Humon. They may be appalling, but they provide a great avenue to talk about the one sacrifice that ends all sacrifices!

Below is an excerpt from a press release for an upcoming book called Dark Passages: How Religions Learn to Forget Their Bloody Origins by Phil Jenkins that may be pretty cool on the subject.

"Western observers often express concern about the violent nature of passages within the Quran, and ask whether fanaticism is somehow hard-wired into the faith of Islam. Absent though from such discussions is any sense of the still more violent and unforgiving passages that litter the Hebrew Bible, which is also the Christian Old Testament. To take just one example of many, when God orders the conquest of Canaan, he supposedly commands his followers to exterminate the native inhabitants: “you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy” (Deuteronomy 7.1-2). The book of Joshua offers an abundance of such texts. The most striking fact here is not that such passages exist, but that they have been so utterly forgotten by the vast majority of Christians and Jews, including among devoted Bible-readers. This in itself is a significant comment on the relationship between the scriptures on which a religion is founded and the ways in which that faith develops through history. The fact that such a gap exists constitutes a real challenge to fundamentalist assumptions, and raises profound questions about many prognoses that are currently offered for the future of Islam. It would be easy, if pointless, to assemble these disturbing Biblical texts in order to show the bloody roots of Western religion, and the apparent contradictions within those faiths. Much more significant is understanding the role that these texts play within the holistic reality of the scripture, and how successive generations of believers have come to terms with these difficulties."

Read More......

What Might A "Muslim" Gospel Culture Look LIke

Since I have been living in a Muslim culture for the last month, I started to think how would the gospel penetrate this place? It had surely penetrated this very culture 2000 years ago, certainly it could do it again. And I am positive that this is a job for the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, but the fact remains, we (The Church) are sent into the culture as Jesus was (John 20:21) to help penetrate every culture with the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14, 15; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8); so what's it take? I have been "Contending" for a gospel that is shaped by the cultural language in order to clearly communicate the message of Jesus Christ. Others of course have vehemently argued that this is an anathema and a compromise of Gospel truth. I will continue to contend though, that every presentation of the gospel is shaped by the cultural paradigm of the messenger. This is why there was a similar vehement argument in the first century, and the reason Paul had to write such glorious works as Romans and Galatians; to correct error, define the gospel, and exhort the church to be gracious in these culturally different movements (Romans 14:13-20).

The Jewish believers struggled greatly with the gentile believers who didn't adhere to their "Religious" traditions (Even traditions commanded by God in scripture), but the gospel spread when it was ripped from Jewish control, and was formed in pagan centers of asia-minor, Rome, North Africa, etc. There is no doubt that some syncretism resulted, but if the gospel is going to continue to move outward, it needs to be released by those that feel they own it, and trust that the Holy Spirit is still on duty (John 16:7-15; 1 John 2:27-29; 1 Corinthians 2:15-16).

Today we face similar challenges from many inside the church who believe they are the gate keepers of "truth," and foist their own culture on the gospel in the guise of gospel purity making missions to those outside their culture nearly impossible. Just the other day I was reading where a man was criticizing Rick Warren for praying to a "Merciful and compassionate God," during a prayer breakfast, because that prayer was Muslim, and catered to Islam; and although he acknowledged (Thankfully) that our God is "Merciful and Compassionate" he said it did not represent the gospel well. This is utter ridiculousness. Apart from apologetic sites trying to deny this reality, there are a plethora of verses in the bible that have been co-opted from pagan texts, and applied to Yahweh, the one true God. Like Psalm 29, which is clearly a Canaanite, or Phonecian ode to Baal. According to theologian H.L. Ginsberg, "This psalm is a Yahwistic adaptation of an older Canaanite hymn to the storm-god Baal...” has been “...corroborated by the subsequent discovery of tablets at Ras Shamra and by progress in the interpretation of these texts” (1966, 1:175). Paul himself indicates in Acts 17:28 that he quoted their poets when he wrote, "For in Him we live and move and exist...for we also are his offspring" (This was written at first about the pagan Greek god Zeus). If something is true, it is true no matter what the source is that says it, which should remind us that the culture's religions, and poets, and artists can and do speak the truth as they perceive it through general revelation. To this Calvin writes:

“In reading profane authors, the admirable light of truth displayed in them should remind us, that the human mind, however much fallen and perverted from its original integrity, is still adorned and invested with admirable gifts from the creator...Whenever we meet heathen writers, let us learn from the light of truth which is admirably displayed in their works, that the human mind, fallen as it is, and corrupted from its integrity, is yet invested and adorned by God with excellent talents. If we believe that the Spirit of God is the only fountain of truth itself, we shall not reject or despise the truth itself, wherever it shall appear, unless we wish to insult the Spirit of God.”

It amazes me that many who are quick to quote Calvin, Luther, etc. don't seem to have the intellectual integrity to think like these men. If we continue to ride into culture with our arrogant, white hats to spew our learned doctrine at the poor pagans who know no truth, we will continue to alienate billions of people from the truth of the gospel, all in the name of "Purity!"

It is quite possible that the gospel that transforms Muslim culture is going to do it as it has in any other culture and era, by the power of the Spirit regenerating hearts to respond to Jesus, and then creating the "Church" (Ecclesia) in that culture that will borrow from the sublime in the culture while discarding the chaff.

I heard a story the other day of a Muslim woman who converted to be a follower of Isa Al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah) through a series of dreams she had, and as she was meeting with a local missionary for discipleship, the Muslim woman asked, "What should I think and do about Mohamed?" The missionary woman, thought about it and said nothing, just pray to God, and let Him tell you, so the woman went home and prayed, and had a dream where she saw Mohamed in a coffin, beautifully adorned, and looking restful, and the Muslim woman concluded that God was showing her that Jesus is alive and Mohamed is in the grave. Can we still trust the Spirit of God to defend Himself, and to teach His people (Whom He loves more than we do) the truth about Himself, or are we obligated in wiping out every vestige of culture in order to replace it with our own "learned" thinking? This just makes us 'Functional Saviors" guarding the gates of our tribal god who is too weak to fend for himself.

Maybe a Muslim cultural version of the new believer may include praying five times a day, celebrating Ramadan and giving of alms, etc. but with a renewed sense of grace leading the way. Most Christians celebrate Easter and Christmas, and it is clearly known that those celebrations were very pagan; yet that's ok, since it's what "Christians" do. The way toward penetrating the diverse cultures of this world is through their own cultural stories that align in pointing to the gospel, which is as C.S. Lewis says:

“Now as myth transcends thought, incarnation transcends myth. The heart of Christianity is a myth, which is also fact (emphasis mine). The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from heaven of legend and imagination to earth of history. It happens-at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences. We pass from a Balder or Osiris, dying nobody knows when or where, to a historical Person crucified under Pontius Pilate. By becoming fact it does not cease to be myth: that is the miracle."

Our gospel is the meta-narrative, the story of stories; the culmination of all stories which aim at the truth but fall a bit short because they lack the "Word of God" in the flesh, the direct revelation of the one true God, Jesus Christ. I pray that we work hard at presenting Jesus, and leaving the Christian religion where it belongs, in a history book.

Read More......

Contending Well For The Faith

"I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith, that was once for all delivered to the saints"
Jude 3

There is no doubt we are to "Contend" for the faith, but the bigger question for those applying this in the field, is what does that look like in a non-believing culture? In Jude 3 we see Jude appealing to believers to contend ("fight" from 'agon' a contest, agonize, etc.) for the "Faith" (The Gospel of Grace v.4) against false teachers who pervert such a doctrine, and have "Crept in" amongst the brethren and have "Perverted the grace of our Lord." But what are the circumstances that force us to contend/fight, and how is this done in a manner that we are articulating God's "Good News" so that those we are contending against can understand it (Contextualization)?

It seems that the circumstances that caused both Jesus and Paul to come out fighting (And arguably here in Jude) are religious hypocrites that work from the inside out, and force moralistic and legalistic doctrines on the people. These are people who want to "wrangle about words," instead of preach the doctrines of grace to those that don't know Christ with love and patience (See 2 Timothy 2:14ff). Paul commends the Elders in Acts 20 to watch out for "Fierce wolves who will come among you" and preach another doctrine (See Acts 20:28-32). Jesus' harshest words were reserved for the Pharisees and Sadducees, while Paul reserved his for the "Judaizers" who perverted the truth of the gospel from the inside. Ostensibly when they spoke to non-believers and pagans, they spoke with grace and tact (John 4; Acts 17:28ff; see too Colossians 4:1-4).

It seems obvious that non-believers and pagans reject the gospel truth, and are definitely in error when they speak about Christ and the church (What else should we expect), but it appears equally clear that many evangelicals have developed a polemic apologetic toward 'outsiders' that takes verses such as Jude 3 and wages war on any 'error' in order to make sure their argument was heard and they had won, rather than effectively communicating the gospel truth so that is understood by a non-believing person(s) (Ala Paul in Acts 17, and other uses of contextualization like John's use of pagan terms such as "Logos" to present Jesus to a pagan audience).

This polemic is never as clear as when someone tries to step out of their culture and contextualize the gospel in another culture. Certain words and phrases become taboo, while others become gospel themselves. All of a sudden we find ourselves 'contending' for words and phrases and not the gospel, and in doing so, we are acting as the Judaizers and Pharisees who demanded that certain traditions and words could or could not be spoken (ie. It was forbidden to use the name of God given to Moses on Sinai).

An interesting tactic of those that disdain this type of contextualization is to call those that contextualize heretics, etc. and then deflect any criticism by saying, "Anyone who holds the 'truth' of the gospel is always labeled legalist and pharisees by the unorthodox liberals." Well if the shoe fits...?

This type of rejection of contextualization has become evident in the effort to bring the gospel to the Muslim world. There is much debate surrounding words and phrases, and much name calling and self-righteousness is becoming more evident in the debate.

One of the phrases that has gotten much attention as of late is the biblical term "Son of God." To the Muslim, this term means that Mary and Allah had physical sexual union and bore a son and called Him Jesus. I don't know of any evangelical that would teach this type of blasphemy to anyone, but when we ignorantly lead with Jesus as God's Son, we are unknowingly doing exactly that. Ironically those that hold that Jude 3 demands that we "Offend" with the gospel, are ironically offending without the gospel, since the gospel isn't being heard by those they are trying to communicate it to. In their effort to 'contend for the faith,' they are unwittingly strengthening a false doctrine based on a misunderstanding of words and concepts. I am in no way denying the use of this phrase, but it may be prudent to lead with Jesus, and begin to define these terms in relationship with Muslims, so we can present the Jesus of the scriptures, and not a Jesus of our culture, or their cultural misunderstanding.

As evangelists and ambassadors of the faith, aren't we supposed to find words and concepts that accurately articulate the truth of the phrase "Son of God," rather than apotheosizing the phrase itself?

All in all, the balance between contending and contextualizing needs to fall in an understanding of what we are contending for and how we can best communicate that to every culture (Which takes some hard work for the missionary, which we all are).

I think 'contending' has to include contextualization, otherwise we are contending for something no one can understand or cares about. So let's begin our contending for the faith within the church (Where contending was intended) and contend' against a rash of moralizing and therapeutic sermons that spew out of our "Seeker Friendly" and fundamentalist pulpits weekly, and then contextualize the gospel to a world that has no idea who or what the 'Son of God' is or what He has done for us!

Read More......

The Great God of Balance

The more and more I live this life of trying to follow Jesus and do what he calls us from the Scriptures the more I hear "balance" screamed from the pages that give us a glimpse into the mind of God. Have you seen this in your own sanctification? It seems to always come up. Think of it. God seems to always give us some basic rules for our joy, but rarely says, "don't do this or that" but instead asks us to look into our own heart and rely on the Spirit. Sure, he gives us things such as:

Do not hate
Do not murder
Do not lust
Do not commit adultery
Do not be greedy
Do not be drunk
etc., etc., etc.

But, what God doesn't tell us clearly is when my hatred of sin turns into woeful and selfish anger. What God doesn't tell us is when you have turned to merely drinking wine and turning into being drunk. What God doesn't tell us is what lust exactly is, what we can or cannot look at and when we should merely turn our heads. Although leaning on the conservative side of these will most likely be the best, we should be careful to both not judge others or refrain from confronting others when engaging these topics.

It seems as though these carry on to everyday aspects of our lives.

To drink or not to drink?
To make a lot of money or be a pauper?
To give too much, to give too little?
To be an Arminian or a hyper-Calvinist?
To engage culture or to withdrawal from culture?
To live the gospel, or to preach the gospel?

We can go on for days, but the it seems as though the answer never seems to be "always do such and such" in any of these cases. It seems as though there is always a balance. You don't want to become a Pharisee (following laws to such an extent where you rely on your work to gain salvation instead of Jesus'), but you also don't want to become a Nadab and Abihu (ignoring God's laws and doing what you deem to be okay). Like I stated above, there are definitely some things that are just wrong because God says it is. But there are so many gray areas in life it begs the question of "why?" Why doesn't God just lay out for us how we should appropriately follow what he has laid out for us in the Scriptures?

I believe it comes down to the fact that if he did, we would become self-righteous and depend on our own will and our own work of following God perfectly. Instead we are told,

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
Romans 9:16

I believe if God were to give us everything so clearly, then where would faith come in? Where would prayer come in? Where would dependence on the Spirit of God come in? Where would dependence on the body of Christ come in? Where would the hope of a new Kingdom come in? You see, because we don't have all the answers it causes complete humility (or at least it should), and reliance on the Spirit of God. If I already had all the answers I wouldn't need to continually rely on God, His Spirit, or His people.

What I have noticed though, the more and more I work and the more I study, is that God is a God of balance. Usually, it isn't one radical thing over another radical thing, but rather, a balance that involves both sides to come to the middle.

So, it looks like this in a nutshell:

It's not abstinence of alcohol or being drunk, but it's understanding when and how much to drink while relying on the Spirit

It's not abstinence of making money or making as much money as possible, but a balance of making money and understanding how to live sacrificially with it

It's not abstaining from the culture or so immersing in the culture that the gospel is lost, but it is taking the good news to the culture and redeeming it, yet without sin.

It's not drawing up straw men against other religions or becoming syncretic, but it is befriending other people in other religions and engaging in helpful conversations about our differences and similarities for the sake of the Gospel and the glory of God. Will both people of each religion desire the other to "convert" to the other...possibly...but I don't want anyone to convert to Christianity, but desire everyone to follow Jesus instead.

God desires our worship and our devotion. He desires our hearts to be completely His. To do this, we cannot merely make assumptions about others and draw up debates for the sake of winning, or rules for all to follow for all time in all cultures unless they are explicitly made in Scripture. We need to be as balanced as God is and know that we are sinners with a finite understanding. Understanding this will have us pang for the Kingdom of God instead of desiring to make everyone disciples of US, and will in turn have us desire for everyone to be disciples of the only King, the only salvation, the only Son of Man, the only hope...Jesus Christ.

Understanding the great gospel of balance makes me rely on Jesus instead of my own intellect and that is always a good thing.

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
But he who walks wisely will be delivered.
Proverbs 28:26

Read More......

Who Is A Missionary?

I'm writing as a follow up to Pete's question in the previous blog article. And I write this with the reality that I am going to spend my next year overseas, and quite possibly may move permanently outside of the USA.

The question seems easy enough at first; aren't missionaries those folk who go outside the US to share the gospel to the "Pagans?" I think this view dominated the great missionary period of the late 18th and 19th centuries. After all, America was "Christianized" and it was time to share the "Truth" of the gospel with those that had never heard of Jesus. Sounds like a biblical plan, but that same truth was ostensibly amalgamated to "Manifest Destiny" and other American idols, weakening the gospel story, and creating an American version that has hurt the gospel, and darkened the missionary endeavor.

Thanks to men like Leslie Newbigin, we have been "Enlightened" to the imperialistic missionary movement of the 19th century, and have re-focused our efforts on a fledgling America who has lost its gospel moorings (Not a bad effort at all in a post-Christian/postmodern west). This was most certainly a needed adjustment, as a weird dualism was created between missions (Overseas work) and evangelism (The gospel in America) that mitigated the need for fresh new church plants to help renew a dying institution. The church is always in need of a reformation as many of our reformed forefathers reminded us (Semper Reforma).

All of this was fine, except the fact that we have once again (As the church is so good at) thrown the baby out with the bath water. While we badly needed the corrective, many in the so called missional church movement have castigated overseas missions as imperialistic and arrogant. After all, doesn't each culture have the right to their own religion? Is it possible the church has drank the 21st century, enlightened western kool-aid, instead of the clear teaching of the scriptures to "Go into the world and make disciples?" This attitude has helped increase those that have not heard the gospel to close to 40% of the world's population. Only 2.5% of all missionary endeavors and church plants reach the unreached and/or un-evangelized.

So who are the missionaries in the 21st century? Two clear things come to mind when I think of this question; First, all of God's people are missionaries, as we are all called to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8) so that we "May proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9b). No doubt that means in our own back yards, and to the "Uttermost parts of the world." Right now though, more believers from Latin America and Asia are crossing cultural boundaries to share Jesus, than there is from the "West."

Secondly, God is a missionary. The Latin term "Missio Dei" was coined I believe by German Missiologist Karl Hartenstein to remind us of God's missionary movement throughout the world to redeem a people to Himself through His church. He is a revealing God that "Sent" us His Son as the ultimate revelation and missionary (Hebrews 1:1-3). John 16 reminds us that when Jesus left, He did not leave us alone, but promised us the Holy Spirit would come to "Convict the world concerning Sin and righteousness and judgment" (v.8), which gives us great comfort that it is God who is at work in the people's heart before God's servant shows on the scene.

It's a wonder that reformed people that believe in the sovereign grace of our Lord Jesus Christ have so much problem accepting the fact that our God is a missionary God already working in the religious and political structures of the cultures we enter, and in spite of vast cultural and religious differences, there are similarities and evidence of His grace wherever we go.

Thus we are all missionaries following our missionary master into the world, knowing He has already paved the way; therefore maybe we can enter other cultures with a gospel denuded of Americana and cultural arrogance and present Jesus in a way that allows the Spirit of God who is already working in the culture to sear it into the hearing and hearts of the people we serve. Maybe then we can enter presenting the gospel of redemption in the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit, and not with an heir of superiority, attempting conversions to our religion, ministry or country! Maybe then like 1 Corinthians 3:6 reminds us that we can plant and water, but it is God who creates growth and conversion.

Is it possible to do evangelism trusting in the Spirit of God to prepare the people we share with, and trust that God will do what He desires with His word as we faithfully bare witness to Jesus our savior?

Shouldn't we do this in our back yards, and in nations far away? Isn't the glory of God something that can't be co-opted by cultural, political and national values, and should be shared with men and women in every culture and people group? Sounds biblical?

Read More......

I Am Second: Ken Hutcherson

Back in the day, before we moved, we went to Antioch where Ken Hutcherson preaches. He is a very good preacher and this Antioch is where Driscoll and Gunn first met and started dreaming up Mars Hill. Currently, he is battling cancer...like a man. From what I have heard, he is sharing his struggles, yet continues to trust in the sovereignty and will of God. Speaking of his cancer he said:

"Don't pray that God would heal me. Pray He would make me like Christ."

Pretty powerful dude. But he follows an even more infinitely powerful God.

Read More......

John Calvin Was Missional: Truth and Culture

I've been looking for this quote for quite a while. I finally found it in Gunn's book on gospel and culture. This quote shows Calvin's understanding of how truth can be found in even profane authors. That God is so permeated in all areas of life that he is bound to be found in even the most profound places. So, when we see different cultures and different illustrations of that culture, examples would be in art, music, design, poetry, stories, etc., we should seek how we can speak to those things looking to cultivate the Gospel out of them. We don't take God to the culture we go to, God is already there. Our job is to redeem the aspects of the culture that show off who God is and reject those areas that cannot be redeemed.

Read More......

Innocent Until Proven Guilty?

Innocent until proven guilty is the law in the United States Judicial system, but it is not the law found in the word of God. We are told that we are guilty as we are born into this world by a sinful woman. There is no doubt in this. So much so, that the Revelations tells us what the devil is doing:

“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

Revelation 12:10

We are guilty. We are not innocent. There is no argument. There is no evidence needed and the devil knows this. How frustrating must it be for him to show us all our sin to our holy God, and yet come up short. Why is this?

The simplistic reason is that because of the cross, those who believe in Jesus are said to have had a "great exchange":

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10

So, although we are guilty and we do no good in of ourselves, we have been given the righteousness of Christ, who although he was tempted in all things, never sinned. When we are accused by Satan, God looks at those who believe and only sees the righteousness of His Son. And of his Son, God says:

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Matthew 3:17

Because he is well pleased with his Son, and the Son's righteousness has been given to us, there is nothing that we can be accused of, and there is nothing that we can do to gain "a more pleasing attitude or disposition" from God. May we remember this.

Read More......