A HAS, an IS, and a WILL

‪‬‬‬Human life is an interesting thing. We are bound in space-time, and everything we experience is tinged by temporal reality. We always deal with life in light of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

As individuals we struggle with these realities. We either get caught up excessively in our pasts, or mentally wander around an unknown and underdetermined future.

The reality is that as time-bound creatures each part of our journey is significant. Our past shapes who we are and contributes to forming our identity. A people who forgets its history is not only destined to repeat it, but also risks not knowing their own names. The future is important as it gives us hope or despair. The fogs of tomorrow either stifle our present in a fearful inactivity or animates us in anticipation. The past and the future may either freeze or energize our present.

Just this morning I was caught up in my own past as my son sent me this song and asked me to listen to its lyrics. In my present moment I could not help but think how proud I am of my son and who he will be in his future. Something a bit like water got into my eyes as well. Weird.

I once heard a speaker recount that, “The only thing worse than nostalgia is amnesia.” An excessive nostalgia prevents us from changing and evolving in the present to become more than we are today. A debilitating amnesia will strip us of our identity and our sense of place in the bigger story of life.

I did not grow up in a church going world and was very uncertain as to what I believed about God, the universe, and my place within it. It was when I became a follower of Jesus Christ that the past, present, and future converged for me in a different way. The Christian teaching infuses each of these segments of time with meaning and significance. As a song sung in many churches rehearses:

Christ HAS died, Christ IS risen, Christ WILL come again

Our past sins and present reality need forgiveness and Christ has done this for us. He is also alive and well with us by his Spirit. We know each day is meaningful and has purpose. His promise is a glorious future where sin, sickness, disease, and even death itself is defeated. Our hope is a new unfathomable reality of light and love where Christ is our King. ‪

Every human life needs a HAS, an IS, and a WILL‬. What’s yours? ‬‬‬

I have spent the last several decades commending Jesus to others. I really hope you consider his person, his work, and his teaching as it applies to your story today. Hit me up if you want to chat about it.

The Rock and the Ruach

Would you rather have life be stable, static, and unchanging? Dependable and rock-solid? Or would you rather have life be wild, chaotic, dynamic, and untethered? Fully unpredictable? It is an interesting question particularly in times of rapid change, crisis, and chaos. In the diversity of human personality there are obviously many of us that would lean in one direction or another.

In the ancient world the ideas of constancy versus constant change were debated among the philosophers as to the nature of ultimate reality. In the constancy corner, you had the incomparable Plato arguing for his unchanging forms. The real things behind all the things. In the dynamic corner you had old Heraclitus and his classic quote about rivers:

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man. - Heraclitus

I recently began thinking about this interplay with the steady and the dynamic and what we really need out of life. If everything was unchanging, quite literally, there wouldn’t be much going on. No excitement, no dynamism, and certainly no fluidity in relationships. If everything was in constant flux and unpredictable life would evolve quite literally into some sort of insanity. The possibility for any planning or dependable science would cease to exist. There would be nothing you could depend upon day by day.

Recently our family was reading in a devotional book on the book of Psalms by Timothy and Kathy Keller. I was struck by this line were Keller quotes Alec Motyer:

They (the psalms) put their undeviating understanding of the greatness of the Lord alongside our situations, so that we may have a due sense of the correct proportion of things.

Quoted in Keller, The Songs of Jesus, viii (emphasis added)

Here we see something, or more properly an understanding of someone, presented as undeviating. God is the one who is constant and unchanging in his character and nature. As such he is ultimately dependable and our Northstar for truth, beauty, and goodness. At the same time this truth is put alongside our situations. Human life and relationships have a wonderful dynamism to them, yet we do not engage them without a compass. The wild and chaotic fluctuations of life are seen and understood in their proper proportions related to that which is unchanging and true.

In the created world there are two entities which the Scriptures use to describe these realities: the Rock and the Ruach. The first is an English word with which we all are familiar. The second word is an ancient Hebrew word (רוּחַ) for spirit, breath, or wind. One is solid. One is mysterious and dynamic. I believe that God has created human life such that we need and desire both of these realities.

The word of God, both written and living is the foundational truth by which we need to see all other things. As the hymn writer Edward Mote once penned, “on Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.” Furthermore the same Christ taught us about the mystery of the Spirit of God and the blowing of the wind in the gospel of John:

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." - John 3:8

The Bible is replete with these images of both rock and ruach.

2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. - Psalm 18:2-3

1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken...5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. - Psalm 62:1,2;5-7

24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. - Matthew 7:24-25

"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." - John 8:31-32

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

We all need a rock in our life and a foundation for all that we are, all that we do, and all that we endeavor to do in this world. We also need to be led by the spirit into the dynamic and uncertain realities of life and relationships under the sun. We need both.

In times that we live in, there are many uncertainties, but the solid foundation remains true. God is the anchor to life that always holds. God in his kindness has given us both rock and ruach. We follow the unchanging one into our ever changing world again and again and again.

In your world today do you need more rock or ruach? Do you need to find a firm foundation for your life? Or do you need to follow a be a bit more free and Spirit led?

Freaking Out - Worry, Fear, Anxiety, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Click to download - Freaking Out - Worry, Fear, Anxiety, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Several years ago I preached a sermon series at Jacob’s Well which focused us on the resources we have in the gospel to face a world full of fearful and anxiety inducing realities. I have updated that and provided it as a free white paper here for use as you see fit.

In difficult days, we can often focus on the circumstances rather than the beautiful truths about God and his love for his people. I pray that this resource is an encouragement as you walk together in these stress filled days of pandemic and economic uncertainty. To download, click the cover or you can just click right here.

Christ and Culture Revisted - A Review Within a Review

Carson, D.A. Christ and Culture Revisited. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012

Some Slides Reflective of this Review

I recently had the privilege of reading and interacting with DA Carson’s book Christ and Culture Revisited. Dr. Carson is Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he has served since 1978.  His primary academic work is with the New Testament, though he has written extensively on issues related to the church and her place in contemporary western culture. This particular book takes up a reflection on the relationship(s) between the church and culture in the early twenty-first century. 

Summary

I found this volume to be an interesting book because the launching point for its reflection is the seminal work, Christ and Culture by H. Richard Niebuhr originally published in 1951. In many ways, this review is a review of another review. One might say it’s a bit of book review version of Christopher Nolan’s dream within a dream film Inception.

Carson’s project is not to simply critique or applaud Niebuhr, but to “revisit” his thought and categories in order to help the church think through the gospel in the cultural setting some six decades later. The work is comprised of six chapters with a growing emphasis which flows out from the conceptual into some very practical concerns.

Chapter 1 begins with a contemporary discussion of what we mean by the word “culture” with Carson defining and defending the usefulness of the concept. He affirms several different definitions of culture while acknowledging what he calls the succinct and clear contribution of Clifford Geertz:

The culture concept…denotes the historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, as a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic form by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes towards life (2)

Considering this reflection and the sheer reality that the church exists in various times and places, there is a necessary presupposition that there is some sort of relationship between Christ and culture. From this acknowledgment, Carson launches into his “revisiting” of H. Richard Niebuhr’s work. The rest of Chapter 1 is spent in a succinct and helpful recounting of Niebuhr’s iconic categories for how the church relates and has related to its cultural settings: Christ against Culture, The Christ of Culture, Christ Above Culture, Christ and Culture in Paradox, and finally, Christ the Transformer of Culture. 

Chapter 2 begins Carson’s evaluation of Niebuhr’s work and he is clearly critical. After expressing some gratitude for the comprehensive nature of his categorization, he launches into a steady critique. First, he whittles down the categories from five to four by setting aside the Christ of Culture. Niebuhr’s examples of this category from history are early Gnostic Christianity and various flavors of theological liberalism in western society. Carson’s contention is that these flavors of ideology seem to have very little to do with Christ or Christian theology. He concludes: “If sober reflection commends the conclusion that neither is a Christian movement in any sense worthy of the adjective ‘Christian,’ then not much is left of this second category.” (36) His critique continues towards Niebuhr’s handling of the Bible and his relationship to canonical revelation. Carson contends that Niebuhr tends to chop the Bible into separate voices and paradigms (e.g. Matthean Christianity, the Johannine community, Pauline churches etc.) rather than a unified revelation with a holistic vision. Carson contends that we should look at the major themes and non-negotiables of Biblical Theology and apply them to our cultural situatedness. He spends much of rest of the chapter outlining these non-negotiables. This biblical-theological vision should serve as the basis for particular communities of Christians to evaluate and respond to their particular cultural setting and time. Carson prefers this dynamic model rather than the comprehensive categorizations given to us by Niebuhr. 

After moving on from Niebuhr, Carson begins his own Christ and Culture and it is a bit of a journey. Chapter 3 has the goal of giving us a more flexible view of culture without giving culture the dominating voice it has many times today. In doing so, Carson takes us through the perplexing halls of Postmodernism, emerging church thinking and some specific jousting with the work of James K.A. Smith. Carson seeks to justify the idea that the church is culturally embedded yet distinct enough to be in conversation with her surrounding cultural worlds. He offers Christianity as a different way of seeing and looking at one’s own culture when one sees things Christianly (86, 87). Carson also takes the time to justify and salvage our use of the term and concept of worldview from its detractors. Carson, in a sense, uses this chapter to argue that talking about “Christ and Culture” is a legitimate endeavor in a day when postmodernity seems to lose so much in the weeds of linguistic and epistemic uncertainty. The following is illustrative of Carson’s legitimization of this shorthand:

I cannot continually say that by “Christ and culture” I really mean “a Christian culture and its relation to its surrounding culture, understanding that every Christian culture is necessarily shaped by its surrounding culture even while it forms part of it, and even while it has strong ties to Christian cultures in other parts of the world by virtue of shared allegiance to the Bible and its storyline, to which all Christian cultures lay claim, which authoritative text has, for Christians, a norming authority that enables them in substantial measure to withstand the pull in the direction of other elements in the broader culture,” and so forth. We will usually take such caveats as the “givens”and speak, more economically, of Christ and culture, but do so in a way that these broader considerations are not ignored.(98) 

I found that to be quite humorous and myself grateful for his intellectual battle to redeem our use of the shorthand “Christ and Culture.” 

In Chapters 4 and 5 we find Carson’s application of his canonical application to thoughts about Christ and Culture as he approaches significant issues in contemporary western culture. In Chapter 4 he addresses secularism, democracy and power before taking up the massive issue of Church and State in Chapter 5. These chapters are illustrative of how one thinks through the issues of his own culture with robust categories from the biblical-theological narrative. 

Finally, Chapter 6 is used to summarize his argument and then look at various options for Christ and Culture interactions over the last century and paths taken by contemporary thinkers. In this analysis, Carson also includes how a church in a setting of persecution, outside of the power and confines of recent western civilization, might see and engage this whole “Christ and Culture” enterprise.

As expected from a scholar of D.A. Carson’s stature, the book was copiously researched and footnoted and a great addition to the other treatments on culturally engagement in my library. We now turn to revisit Carson’s re-visitation for some critical reflection upon the work. 

Critical Evaluation 

Strengths 

It is a difficult task to state only a few of my appreciations of this book as I found the strengths far outnumbering its weaknesses. This was a volume where I found much to delight in and commend to others. In order to be concise, I will limit myself to these three major strengths in the work: the book is Canonically Focused, Contextually Committed, and Constructively Hopeful. I will handle each of these in turn. 

Canonically Focused

Throughout this volume, Carson remains a scholar committed to canonical and confessional orthodoxy. As a Christian scholar, he insists that the major narrative movements of the Bible itself shape our cultural reflection and engagement. When exhorting Christians to evaluate their cultural setting and engage,Carson wants thoughts of creation, fall, redemption in Christ, a new covenant, and a coming kingdom of heaven, or of hell,to be directly in our view(44-58). The text of the Bible must be in the forefront of our thinking lest we veer off into cultural compromise or the abandonment of the mission.Carson maintains this focus even amidst of a deep and rigorous interaction with contemporary cultural ideologies.

Contextually Committed 

Another refreshing aspect of the book is Carson’s wide-eyed awareness of our current cultural setting. He neither bows to a naïve modernism that sees one’s own point of view as culturally privileged, nor to a pessimistic postmodernism that forfeits the birthright of revealed truth to the most recent of knowledge skeptics. Carson is careful to distinguish a robust cultural engagement from the overconfidence of the past as well as the trepidation of our present. Furthermore, he also exhorts God’s people to bring to bear biblical narrative and gospel truth to our own communities present. By drawing on gospel non-negotiables in the face of our current cultural idols, earthly powers, and communal situations, the church may contextualize both its witness and cultural interaction with thoughtful engagement and wisdom. With such a method of thoughtful engagement, we might avoid the reductionist categorization of Niebuhr and others (225,226). Such a strategy would call for the church to pray and to think about how to interact with the spirit of our age, the zeitgeist of this place and time. This forms a wonderful triangle of interaction between Christ,the covenant community and mission of God in the present world.

Constructively Hopeful

The final strength of Christ and Culture Revisited, I found in its overall tone. This is not a pessimistic work, despairing about the overwhelming onslaught of the secular world. It is realistic about the current challenges in western culture while not capitulating our most precious truths as the church. He maintains a voice that reflects faith and hope without a naïve triumphalism. Carson sees a path forward for the church in culture whether it is in power or under persecution. This is a hopeful path of trusting Christ within every culture as we continue to live as a distinct people within His story and mission. This path is one I hope to continue to follow in my own home, church, and city.          

Weaknesses 

Though I did not find many weaknesses in this book, there were a few things from Chapter 3 which detracted from the overall flow and argument of the work. In Dr. Carson‘s treatment of postmodernism, epistemology, and worldview, one starts to feel as if he is a bit of a  spectator in a larger, more involved, and nuanced battle. In order to engage well with Chapter 3, one really requires some prior reading in deconstructionist literary theory, philosophy, and perhaps some of Carson’s previous writings. As someone who has read some of his engagement with the “Emerging Church” movement, I felt at home in the discussion and was aware of his many interlocutors. If this was not the case, I would have been completely lost. One of my daughters was recently reading to me portions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion and I became overwhelmed with this feeling of cross-eyed confusion. My fear is that some readers may have that experience in some of the bowels of chapter 3. In a similar vein, the extensive jousting with James K.A.Smith and the radical orthodoxy crowd took on a similar feel.

Conclusion

In the past, I have been thankful for the articles, lectures and books I have read by Dr. Carson. His intellectual rigor along with a devoted biblical commitment to Christ has continued to be a refreshing guide to my own life and faith. I think his evaluation of such an influential work like Christ and Culture is both needed and helpful for our time.His judgment that the five fold typology now seems a bit parochial, (200) I found helpful and his own path forward to be inspiring. In what seemed like a false ending,before a final post script of the book, Carson quotes CS Lewis at length to offer wisdom to our age. I found that quotation to be quite helpful,and will close my review with it as well:

What is the good of telling the ships how to steer so as to avoid collisions if, in fact, they are such crazy old tubs that they cannot be steered at all? What is the good of drawing up, on paper, rules for social behaviour, if we know that, in fact, our greed, cowardice, ill temper, and self-conceit are going to prevent us from keeping them? I do not mean for a moment that we ought not to think, and think hard, about improvements in our social and economic systems. What I do mean is that all that thinking will be mere moonshine unless we realise that nothing but the courage and unselfishness of individuals is ever going to make any system work properly. It is easy enough to remove the particular kinds of graft or bullying that go on under the present system: but as long as men are twisters or bullies they will find some new way of carrying on the old game under the new system. You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.(Quoted in Carson, 225.Mere Christianity (1952; San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001), 73.)

In light of these realities,we must take the truth of the gospel to people in culture and engage the systems and powers that be with the appropriate posture led by the Spirit of God. In doing so, we might manifest the glorious kingdom of Christ right in the midst of our time and culture.To such ends we submit our lives to our sovereign King who is to be forever praised among the nations.

Hope. The final frontier

I'll never forget the season of life from early 1998 until September 27th 2001. My wife and I had married quite young and had hoped to start a family.

Our first pregnancy came with the expected joy, rapid family announcements and the fresh hopes of new parenthood. These hopes came quickly crashing down when we lost the first child to miscarriage. Over the course of the next several years we lost four more successively. It became an act of courage for my wife to hope to get pregnant and then hope the child would make it to term. It felt like a bad movie where the same script kept playing over and over.

In that season we thought about many things. My wife and I both wrestled with God’s relation to pain and suffering. Her questions were related to God's care for her and mine were more intellectual, considering if God was real. We also wrestled with the concept of Christian hope and the Lord really met with us in and through this time. God gave us quite a different perspective than we had in our youthful idealism.

The real struggle was with the continual disappointment with our circumstances. We were able to conceive quite readily only to have our hopes come crashing down. As a husband, it really hit me when my wife said, "I've been pregnant or dealing with the aftermath of miscarriage constantly, nonstop for three years and we have no children." Hearing that was heartbreaking. My bride had gone through every miscarriage physically, emotionally and spiritually and she began to really wonder if she wanted to try again. You see, there is a hope that disappoints. Trying again meant facing the unknown once again with a past that grew with disappointment.

One of the passages of scripture that really ministered to us came in the form of rhetorical question from the apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8.

24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. - Romans 8:24-25

Who hopes for what he sees? Who hopes for what they already have? Nobody. Hope is a future facing reality whereby we long for something we do not yet have. As such, hope in this life can be a very disappointing thing.

• We had hoped for children. Have our family, nice, quick and easy. Disappointment.
• We hope that things will go better at our jobs but sometimes they don't. Disappointment.
• We hope to accomplish something in a sport and we get injured. Disappointment.  
• We hope that our relationships will be full of joy and glory. Sometimes they are just made of the stuff of the earth. Disappointment.
• Many times we think it is a promise from God to make us healthy, wealthy and wise. Not the case. Disappointment.

It takes courage to have hope in our world. Our expectations vary, are adjusted by reality and sometimes come crashing down. The whole book of Ecclesiastes is about deconstructing and unwinding our earthly hopes. This wonderful book wrecks us for putting our hope in the wrong things. You think wisdom and learning will make life perfect? Wrong. Wealth and achievement? Wrong again. Having pleasure? Nope. Placing our ultimate joy and future on the shaky foundations of this world is a fools errand here under the sun. Vanity, emptiness, a mere chasing after the wind.

Yet the gospel offers such a different foundation for hope in this life. As a human being we hope for something different in our current story. We grow numb and disappointed. But as a Christian, we have hope in God’s promise that all things will turn out to be far more than OK. This sort of hope is such a scarce commodity among the human race.

Hope is described in the New Testament as a hope that does not disappoint (Romans 5:5). Gospel hope is transcendent because it is based on the promise of eternal life with God. This promise issues forth from one who never lies. (Titus 1:2,3)

Our hope is always future facing so with every earthbound disappointment we renew hope in the promises we have in Christ. His Spirit is in us as a deposit guaranteeing our possession of a glorious future (Ephesians 1:11-14). He has an inheritance for us that will never spoil, fade or perish, kept in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:3-9). The Spirit has poured his love into our hearts so that we have a renewed hope and renewed vision even amidst the darkest of days. This is why our hope in God's promises in Christ are called "a firm anchor of the soul" by the writer of the book of Hebrews.

Hope indeed is the final frontier for human beings. This life filled with sin and death can batter the small hopes of the masses into despair. Yet for those who trust in the promises of Christ, who believe in the resurrection of the dead, who believe in the life to come and his glorious Kingdom have a different story. They will live from hope to hope through every trial and difficulty. Today’s disappointments will one day fully and finally fade into the eternal promises of our God.

This Easter you may perhaps say to one another "He is risen!" And when you reply, "He is risen indeed," remember that you have a hope that will not disappoint and not simply a religious slogan to echo. Your future resurrection with Christ guarantees that you will stand some day in glory with hope fulfilled by sight. Even when you face the final blows of death your hope will transcend that moment where many think all is lost.

If we have placed our hope only in this life we are to be more pitied than all men. (1 Corinthians 15:19). Yet Christ is risen from the dead and he leads us into and over the final frontiers of hope into the Kingdom of Heaven. Bank on it. 

Part 3 - Preaching Should Engage the Affections

In the first two parts of this series on Preaching in Post-Chrsitian Contexts, we focused on the facts that preaching should be both biblical and contextual. Today we move towards seeing one of the aims of preaching: To raise the affections for Jesus so that we might love, worship and follow him. 

The great letter to the Romans has a pause at the end of chapter 11 which reminds us of the purposes of God in creation and the redemption of his people: For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36 ESV) Additionally, Paul writes of Jesus to the Ephesians when he gives purpose to the church:

[20] Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)

All glory in this life belongs to God! The purpose of the church in Christ is to bring glory to God. Along these biblical lines, one of the great historical catechisms of the faith teach us that our purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever[1]. With such aims in view, the goal of preaching should work to raise our love and affections to Jesus so that we love, worship, obey and thereby glorify him with our lives. The puritan pastor and scholar, Jonathan Edwards once described true religion as consisting in the heart; or in the desires or religious affections. His view was that the fervent love for God had many attending effects on people. This portion of his classic work, The Religious Affections, demonstrates the importance of our love for God upon our walk with God.

From a vigorous, affectionate, and fervent love to God, will necessarily arise other religious affections; hence will arise an intense hatred and a fear of sin; a dread of God’s displeasure; gratitude to God for his goodness; complacence and joy in God when he is graciously and sensibly present; grief when he is absent; a joyful hope when a future enjoyment of God is expected; and fervent zeal for the divine glory. In like manner, from a fervent love to men, will arise all other virtuous affections towards them.[2]

Preaching should pursue the hearts of people to lift them high towards God in Jesus Christ. The Lord taught us that if we love him, we will obey him. (John 14:15) Christian preaching must have Jesus at center stage for our highest loves and deepest devotion to be aimed. It is my hope that my own preaching will leave hearts with a desire to love, worship, follow and obey Jesus as Lord of their lives.

Notes

[1] "The Westminter Shorter Catechism," Presbyterian Church in America, accessed February 3, 2017. http://www.pcaac.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ShorterCatechismwithScriptureProofs.pdf.

[2] Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1746, 2001), 36, 37.

Engaging at The Shack

Over the last decade the book and now full length feature film, The Shack, has swept through our culture. Books have sold, millions spent and made and people's lives profoundly impacted in immense ways. There have also been many detractors from the work due to parts of the book and its message. 

The Shack is a work of fiction, an allegory of sorts, about God helping us work through the issues of pain and difficulty. It engages us to think through the facades we have created in and through life many times resulting from painful and difficult circumstances. We erect our own shacks, as it were, and never get down to being real and loving with God and others. In one sense, the book is a heartfelt plea for transparency before God so that we might be loving people. It also is a message of hope and forgiveness amidst the worst sorts of pain and human evil. 

In the post I have no desire to do a book or film review. I also have no desire to offer a theological critique of certain ideas in the story for that has already been done by people I respect like Dr. Timothy Keller. Just do a search here on the web for "Theological problems with The Shack" and you are sure to find many voices. Some are quite thorough. 

What I do want to offer here is something I have not seen as much of surrounding The Shack. How can people interact around the themes of The Shack in a way that is helpful, encouraging and unifying? That's a question of some interest to me as I've watched some Shack eruptions on places like the Facebook. I particularly want to speak to my theological friends who find major problems with the Shack and perhaps help them engage well with those who have been deeply touched by the story and message of the Shack. 

Engaging at the Shack

What I want to offer you is five simple ways to engage with friends who love The Shack, even as you have major concerns about its portrayal of God and salvation. I hope these ways of engagement will help you both love and think well about truth with others.

#1 - Read the Book

I have little patience for those who harshly critique something without actually reading it. I remember years ago having to read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code novel because so many people were asking me questions about its narrative and some of claims in the book. I had to read it. Not a bad book. Full of pseudo-Christian-religious falsehoods, but not a bad page turner. If you have read a critique by someone on The Shack and then have concerns for friends who are effusively rejoicing in it. Please read it before engaging with them. They will not care that you read Challies' blog on the book. They will likely ask if you have read it. If not, read it first. Then engage. Otherwise your critique just might come off as, and may actually be, disingenuous. 

#2 Affirm the True and the Good

Not everything in The Shack is bad. There are many wonderful things about being human, about our feelings and about God that are discussed in the story of Mack at the Shack. When you engage with anyone about something they treasure, do affirm the good, the right and true found therein. Personally, I read the book in audible format and just wept in the early part of the book which tells a very difficult story. I was particularly moved by it because I have daughters.

Furthermore, the Shack tells us that God does care about human suffering. This is a biblical truth and I'm sure glad God cares. It is my view that the God of the Bible is a quite different than the allegorical treatment found in the Shack, but certainly the Trinity is not unconcerned about the human condition. God is not distant and uncaring. The Bible says he is a present help in a time of trouble (Psalm 46) and Jesus wept with friends at a funeral (John 11). Let's agree and affirm with our friends that we love the fact that God is not distant and uncaring and that our suffering must be engaged. Rather than stuff our pain we bring it before our Lord.  

When interacting with anyone with which you have a disagreement, always look for some commonality and shared truth. It's good to start a journey and discussion holding hands in some way. You may part ways but let's not do so right at the beginning. 

3 - Listen and Share Truth about Father, Son and Holy Spirit

We should listen to our friends talk about the Shack and its effect on their lives. As we listen we can also joyfully share. As the god(s) began to talk in the book, I felt myself longing for God of Scripture rather than Papa, Jesus and Sarayu. In one way I was grateful that God is not merely a bystander and helpless when evil comes. I was grateful that the Sovereign God would be with my little girls if they were ever so abused. I was grateful to know that they would be with God forever no matter what befell them on earth. They were safe in the hands of God even if tortured by the hands of men. I was also grateful that God will judge, rightly judge, unrepentant sin and evil done on the earth. The one who did evil to the child in the narrative of the Shack can indeed be forgiven and have his sins paid for. Yet if he persisted in numb, careless, evil doing without any repentance? I am grateful to know that God will fully judge such evil and evil doing. The true gospel became more delightful to me as I read about a God that could not stop anyone's free will and nobody would be judged in the end.  

We can share kindly with our friends why we love the Sovereignty of God, the substitutionary death of Jesus for sinners and the reality and just nature of divine judgement. We can share our views of how the gospel is God's final and full answer to the question of suffering and that God's judgment is right and good.  

# 4 - Ask Questions to Reveal Concerns

Nobody likes to have someone simply rubbish something we have found helpful or beautiful. Such direct, frontal assaults with people are rarely helpful or even welcomed by others. If you have concerns about The Shack and some of your friends being taken in by troubling teaching, try asking them questions instead of blasting blog posts at them. Here are a few to get you started:

• This book made me really think about God and suffering? Have you thought about this much before? 
• In the middle of our suffering what would you want to know from God? 
• What did you think about the part of the book where God seems rather helpless in the face of our "free will?"
• How do we know if God is really like these characters in The Shack? 
• Do you think God is whoever we want God to be? How does it feel to you if someone misrepresents us to others? If God could "self-reveal" his character would you be interested in reading about that? The Scriptures are useful for correcting, rebuking and training in righteousness. Point your friend to the truth of the Bible.

Jesus always asked questions of others. He makes us think by questioning people and telling us stories that deeply challenge assumptions. This indirect mode of confronting us is a loving act of the loving God. We should look at the way of Jesus. No, he is not always "nice" to people he questions in that he tells them only what they want to hear. But he shows us that in bringing truth and clarity, asking people questions can help. If you want to share with Shack friends and be heard you may want try a different strategy than "Attack the Shack" with your friends. 

#5 - Love Well

You don't have to embrace the errors of the Shack to interact with others who have been moved by it. In fact, to be loving, we must rejoice in the truth (See 1 Corinthians 13). Yet we must also be patient and kind with others and not simply seek our own desire to win arguments. Even arguments related to The Shack. I don't want my friends and family to embrace an impotent, sin accepting God or universal atonement. It is a false vision that needs correction. Yet to lead people to the sovereign, sin defeating, sin forgiving savior we must be patient and kind, gentle and respectful as we engage with others. Yes, even those who just love, love, love The Shack. 

[24] And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, [25] correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, [26] and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:24-26

There are problems with fictional works if they teach people false things about God, Jesus, the gospel and salvation. It is a serious thing. And because it is, we want to engage well with others. I guess my plea is for you not to be another bit of proof to those rejecting theology and sound doctrine that those who are concerned about such things are mostly unloving jerks. All the best as you thoughtfully engage others with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even if this comes by engaging around The Shack. 

How to Pray...Before, During and After Competition

Have you ever see an athlete on TV saying the victory was guaranteed...because God? Ever wonder as an athlete how to pray related to your practices and competitions? I have a two part essay on sports and prayer going up over at Athletes in Action's web site this week. I hope these posts would be of benefit to the Christian athlete and sports fan out there. Let's stop all the goofy stuff and truly yield life and sport to the sovereign care of Jesus.

• Part 1 - How NOT to pray before, during and after competition
• Part 2 - How to pray before, during and after competition 

The Home Team - A Reflection on the Gospel and Family

Introduction

Family. It is a word that brings a sense of peace and calm to the soul or a sense of dread. It is a word that can cause us to wince or to wink with a deep sense of God’s grace and blessing. It can be argued that nothing shapes us more as human beings than the homes we grow up in. Nothing. We live in an age where there is much fluctuation and confusion regarding the home and the family. Some worship the nuclear family as if a return to Leave it to Beaver land would solve all of our world’s problems. Others disregard biblical teaching on the family as if home life had no divine design or intention. We tell ourselves a family is whatever you make of it and we have reaped a whirlwind. We tell ourselves that any configuration of humans is just as good as any other while the ache of the soul in fracture and isolation sings its dirge.

God has been infinitely kind to set the solitude in families. He has a purpose for singleness, marriage and children with all being part of one larger family of faith. Each of us had the opportunity to shape one another’s lives and impart grace and truth to the next generation. At Jacob’s Well we are rooting for the home team: singles, husbands, wives, moms and dads as well as all the little shorties in between. 

This essay will serve us in an introductory fashion and also provide footnotes and resources for further study in our community. Here I will lay out what we mean by the term Home Team and then describe briefly why we should root for it. Yet before getting to this I want to offer a few disclaimers.

Disclaimers

Before we begin, I think it is necessary to offer a few disclaimers of what my heart is as we go about discussing a topic as sensitive as marriage and family.  Consider these a heads up before we begin to keep in mind as we travel along.

For the Singles

For several years I was the pastor of a young adult congregation at a large church in the Nashville, TN metro area. I worked with hundreds of singles and walked with them through all manner of life issues and struggles. I still remember as I started this job fighting tooth and nail not to call our ministry “the singles group.” First, it brought up the far too common vision of a Christian mingle meat market in the south. Second, I don’t think God defines us by our current marital status as our identity is in Jesus not whether or not a ring is on the finger. 

Furthermore, I know that discussing sex, marriage and family with people not yet married can be a sensitive subject.  Some deeply desire to be married, yesterday, some are unfortunately completely uninterested in the subject “until later on in life” while still others are worshipping “getting married” to the point that it grows obnoxious for all their friends. Let me just talk straight for a moment. Not all will be called to marriage; statistically most will marry at some time in life.[1] Not all want to be married, buy many deeply desire this. I guess I want to call my non married friends to a few things. The first is hope. Your hope need be in the gospel and if you hope to be married someday that is not a bad thing. Keep hope alive! The second is helpfulness. You can be helpful to many people and their families all around you. No I’m not saying that you just get the title of designated baby sitter but you can be a person who helps make disciples of people young and old. Give your life to things of God and don’t make your story simply about waiting for what is next. Life is now, live it under the rule and reign of Jesus for God’s glory and the good of others. Third, I want you to learn. Even if you learn about marriage and family and you never marry you will learn something about God, his grace, his love for us and his purposes for the world. 

Finally, I need all of us to know something very important. The deep longing we have for love, intimacy, friendship, being understood fully, etc. will not simply come from “getting married” – Just ask a married person. This desire to be fully completed by someone else will not be realized even in marriage as this comes from a relationship with God first and foremost.

Family Backgrounds

Marriage and family is a mixed reality for many people today. Many of you, like me, come from families that were busted up by divorce. Some of you may look at marriage with deep suspicions and questions as it is only a painful memory for you. Others who are reading may be going through deep marital crisis or standing on the backside of a chaotic divorce. Issues surrounding marriage may be some of the most hurtful and devastating memories you have.  This is reality. Life and relationships with other human beings is just hard and sin seems to ooze out of people who live most closely together.  My hope for you is one big exhale and a desire to believe in something different and perhaps learn to breathe again in your view of marriage. I’m not saying you will be able to fix what was broken or that you should even enter into marriage again. I am saying that when we see marriage in the light of the Scriptures we can at least rejoice in God and his purposes. You might also know how to pray for and encourage married friends.

Many of us also have questions about being parents. Some are struggling to have children and meeting deep disappointment for various reasons. I can only say I understand this as it was our story for many years dealing with deep, recurring, disappointment. We are not promised kids but at times we wonder why this gift is not being given to us. For those who are walking in such seasons keep moving forward in hope and look at all ethical options before your family. God’s grace is sufficient for every season.  You have our prayers.

Others have deep concerns about becoming a parent someday as you feel so wounded by your own upbringing. Parenting is hard work and a huge responsibility. Parents make mistakes and many times kids are wounded by Mom and Dad. Here is what I want to say to those who have pain in relationship to Mom and Dad and perhaps standing with a little trepidation about repeating the same sort of things with your own kids: You will not be perfect and a gospel context can make even our sins shape our families in a positive way. All people are going to fall short at times. How will you and your family deal with this? Will you posture, spin, cover up, lie, fake it, BS, hit people back or hide? Or can we respond in repentance and faith in Jesus? Jesus is great at forgiving people and putting back together the broken. The gospel in our homes will make a difference in healing past wounds and shaping a different future. We can trust this as we have faith in Him.

Ideals, Hopes and Reality

Any idealists out there? Anyone only see the world as it should be and not as it is? This can be a real struggle and there are two temptations I want to address as my last disclaimers. As a community we will struggle between radical optimistic idealism and a give up, don’t try fatalism when it comes to the home and family. Both are really problematic.  The idealist can punish and reject the flawed people and world around him.  The fatalist gives up her hope for a future where goodness and kindness can flourish in our homes.  It is difficult to put forth the ideals of Scripture and not polarize as people. Here is my prayer for us. I want us to have hopes, dreams and prayers. I want us to look the reality of sin and selfishness in the face and see them as enemies to healthy friendships, relationships, marriages and families.  Yet I want no despair. I want us to look at the beautiful and lofty truths of God about marriage and family and not see them as expectations of perfections but a calling to follow in faith allowing God’s work in our midst. If you don’t mind I would like apply GK Chesterton’s words about optimism and pessimism a bit here as we conclude these disclaimers:

I know this feeling fills our epoch, and I think it freezes our epoch. For our titanic purposes of faith and revolution, what we need is not the cold acceptance of the world as a compromise, but some way in which we can heartily hate and heartily love it. We do not want joy and anger to neutralize each other and produce a surly contentment; we want a fiercer delight and a fiercer discontent. We have to feel the universe at once as an ogre’s castle, to be stormed, and yet as our own cottage, to which we can return at evening. No one doubts that an ordinary man can get on with this world: but we demand not strength enough to get on with it, but strength enough to get it on. Can he hate it enough to change it, and yet love it enough to think it worth changing?[2]

I want us to storm the castles of selfishness, hurtfulness and crappy home team realities all the while knowing that we need God’s grace, truth and lots of time to return to our own homes at evening. Will you root with me for the home team? Singles? Those coming through of painful situations? Idealists? Pessimists? Can we cheer for God to work in our lives, our marriages, our families and our church family? Yes, yes we can.  Let’s root, root, root for the home team…if they don’t win it’s a shame. So as we begin such cheering let us look together biblically at what a home team is anyway.  Here’s a quick high five…now let’s get on our way.

What is the home team?

To answer this question we must begin at our beginning as people were always meant to be on a team. The very way God created human beings indicates our purpose is found together in relationship. The Bible reads this way in Genesis 1:26-31.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:26-31

This passage clearly teaches us that God created humanity, male and female, in the image and after likeness of God. Dr. Wayne Grudem writes that this phrasing tells us simply “that man is like God and represents God.”[3]As such human beings are unique in all creation and imbued the highest dignity, value and responsibility. Furthermore, the image of God includes male and female together. Much theological discussion has been given to what it means to be “in the image of God” but here we will touch on three.

First, some have said that human beings are like God in that they possess emotions, intellect, volition or other such built in capacity. This has been the predominant view in historical discussions.[4]  This has been known as the ontological or substantive view in that it bases the image in “something” in the nature of God that is shared by human beings. Second, others have said the key to understanding the phrase is functional in that it is describing God’s creating man to be his vice regents, or co-rulers on the earth. The giving of dominion in the passage above gets right at the heart of the matter.[5] Finally others, particularly the writings of the Swiss theologian Karl Barth, have said that image of God means being in relationship. This seems a given by the description of man being created male and female. Barth describes his view in the following manner:

Men are simply male and female. Whatever else they may be it is only in this differentiation and relationship ... Man can and will always be man before God and among his fellows only as he is man in relationship to woman and woman in relationship to man.[6]

I find value in each of the views and have taken them together to give a comprehensive definition.  Human beings are created the way we are (ontologically), to serve as God’s responsible rulers on the earth (functionally) in community with him and one another (relationally). God is seen, known and experienced in relationships: people with God, God with his people and people with one another. This creative act of God and his plan for humanity was said to be very good.  Yet there wasn’t just a random huddle of human beings created on the earth to steward, cultivate and care for the creation as God’s servants. God has something far more intimate in mind hinted at in Genesis 1. They are to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The mandate to have dominion over the earth would go far beyond male and female for something would come forth from their own bodies. They would join in marriage and that marriage would serve God’s purposes for propagating humanity throughout the earth.

Genesis chapter two dials into more detail about the creation of human beings and it describes the complementary nature of men and women. We pick it up in verse 18:

18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:18-25

Here we hear God saying something is “not good” following the creation of a human being. As many people can attest throughout history, and certainly any visitor to a frat house room can tell you, leave a guy by himself for too long and it is not going to be pretty. A single man was not God’s ideal for the human race. 2 +2 = 4. A man by himself = not good. The ladies all know this. GK Chesterton reflected on something similar in the following manner:

It is true that all sensible women think all studious men mad. It is true, for the matter of that, all women of any kind think all men of any kind mad. But they do not put it in telegrams any more than they wire to you that grass is green or God all-merciful. These things are truisms and often private ones at that.[7]

The man certainly needs help, so God creates a woman from the man that is fit for or suitable for him. We see from the context precisely what is meant here. Out of all the living creatures in the world nothing was designed to complement the man and so he was left alone, no friend to hang close with, no partner in the gift of life, nothing but himself. Alone…and God says, “not good!” This is the context where we find the genesis of marriage.

Marriage is God’s idea not a human one. God is the one who fashions and creates the female to complement and be a helper to the man. We may ask the question: Help with what!?!  I can say with confidence this partnership was not simply to be about paying rent or cleaning up around the house but a much higher joint-endeavor is in view here. Remember, created male and female, with the calling to rule and reign on the earth as image of God together.[8] It is because of this design and calling that Genesis 2:24 begins with the word “Therefore.” This is what God has done…therefore men and women shall get married.

The marriage text at the close of Genesis chapter 2 clearly sets forth what a marriage involves. It involves leaving one’s father and mother, holding fast to one’s wife and becoming one flesh together. This leaving, cleaving and weaving comprise a covenant promise before God made together without shame.  We will cover each briefly in turn.

Marriage as Leaving

There comes a time when a man should leave his parents’ house. A man should get educated and get to work.  If this be the case he is prepared to assume the responsibility to love and serve a wife. The leaving part is when a new family is formed in the union between a husband and wife. This union involves making a covenant promise before God and leaving Mom and Dad to assume responsibility.

Marriage as Cleaving

Leaving and then “holding fast” to one’s spouse is the precise language of covenant which is used about God and his people. For instance, later in the Pentateuch, we read God’s calling for people to “hold fast” to him and his promises (Deuteronomy 4:4, 10:20). Furthermore, marriage is called a covenant clearly in the writings of the prophet Malachi. God’s had shown displeasure with his people and their offerings and we read part of the reason why in Malachi 2:

14 …But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

Malachi 2:14-16

Holding fast to one another in marriage, faithfulness to the marriage covenant is a spiritual reflection of our ultimate commitment to our covenant making and covenant keeping God. This is a motif taken up by the prophets of the Old Testament. Israel is seen as an unfaithful bride to YHWH, one who is constantly turning on her faithful husband and whoring around with foreign deities, giving herself to other lovers. The entire writing of the prophet Hosea takes up this theme and the covenant imagery of marriage. In that case, however, God marries the whore!

We understand the categories of covenant clearly because of the gift to humanity of marriage. God is faithful yet our unfaithfulness to covenant (sin) is akin to committing spiritual adultery. God’s grace is to patiently call his bride away from illicit lovers and hold fast to his people. His people are the ones who hear his voice, draw near to God and cleave to him.

Marriage as Weaving

One of the most beautiful realities in creation is human sexuality. Our very bodies were designed to become one. The oneness of the marriage covenant is sealed by the oneness of the man and woman’s bodies coming together as one flesh. Leave, cleave and then weave: sexual union is the sign of the marriage covenant! I have written on sex and the glory of God in other places[9] so I will refer you to that for more. What must be said here is that sex has many purposes in God’s design. First, it is for procreation, for bringing forth and raising children (Genesis 1, Malachi 2). Second, it is for unification, sealing a two people in devoted, faithful, intimate, unashamed relationship (Genesis 2). Third, it is for recreation, for the wonderful enjoyment of husband and wife together (see Song of Solomon). Finally, it is for glorification, sex is designed to teach us about the glory of God and his intense, wonderful love for his people (Ephesians 5).

Marriage – Covenant before God, No Shame

In our world of sexual brokenness, defilement, abuse, harassment and obsession and worship[10] of naked bodies I deeply love the final words of Genesis 2. The two were naked and without shame. Here we find the man and woman without sin, without covering, without hiding and fully before God and unashamed. This is the design of God for the marriage relationship. Forming a new family, based in the covenant promises of marriage with the union sealed in our very bodies.  This is the basic building block of human civilization and our understanding as our lives flowing from families.

Yet as we well know, sin entered the lives of human beings separating them from God and putting enmity between one another. As sinful people we know relationships are hard because we are self-centered. Tim and Kathy Keller say it this way:

Any two people who enter into marriage are spiritually broken by sin, which among other things means to be self-centered—living life incurvatus in se [Latin for turned inward on oneself]. As the author Denis Rougement said, “Why should neurotic, selfish, immature people suddenly become angels when they fall in love…?”[11]

Sin and selfishness seem to reign everywhere under the sun. Yet God’s purposes for humanity have not been revoked. He is redeeming people through good news and restoring us to the high calling we have as people to image God on the earth. Doing so requires us to steward and fulfill his purpose for our lives together. This involves marriage, the multiplication of children and through his work among us seeing the goodness and redemption of God in real time. 

This only happens as Christ works in the lives of sinful people, turning us godward rather than inward towards our selves. The Home Team needs less selfishness and more God honoring sacrifice for all. This is the essence of love to lay down ourselves for others.  

The Home Team exists by God and for God so there are good reasons that we root for it. For in cheering for our Home Teams we will seek to reflect the glory of God. By cheering for the family we will also be about the good of other people.  The family can also be a strong witness to the hope we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ together. To these issues we now turn.

Why do we root for it?

On the whole, I am rather less interested in what people do than why they do it.[12]

- GK Chesterton

Why do we care to cheer for marriage and the family? The simplest reason we should cheer for marriages and families today is that our own happiness rests in this. This, however, would be far too simple a view and far too disposable on the days in our families that don’t feel so happy. Yet our good and our joy is one of the reasons we should root for the Home Team. It is indeed a blessing to have God’s grace alive in your marriage and family. We want to begin somewhere a little more stable however. We root for the home team because our families exist for the glory of God.

The Glory of God in the Home Team

Every designer, artist and engineer shares a little DNA from their creator. The desire to make something and design things is ingrained in us as part of the image of God. Think for a moment that you designed a new smartphone. It was elegant, fast and beautiful and designed to make modern communications and entertainment really sing. Picture now you put a button on it that turns the device on. Pretty simple right? Now imagine your friend decides that he wants the on button to shoot laser beams every time he touches. He tries to use his laser button and gets frustrated, declares the phone to suck and throws it away. Sounds silly right? What if we are not seeing marriage correctly for how God made it? We might want to give up on the institution, malign it, pervert it and even throw it away. When marriage operates for the design and purposes of God the beauty and glory of the designer is clearly seen.

I’ll never forget encountering a family seeking to live out the gospel together. As a college student I was blown away to see a man try to serve and guide his family. I was intrigued by Moms and Dads who apologized to their kids, repented of sin and asked forgiveness. I was blown away by people who thought themselves so flawed but sought to humble themselves to stay married, work through problems and be about others and not simply themselves. In fact, I saw glory there. God’s grace shining through a marriage and a family can be a very beautiful thing. 

I root for the Home Team because I hope to see God’s beauty and grace in husbands loving wives and wives honoring their husbands. I root for the family because I see God’s truth when people serve one another in their homes, when kids obey their parents and parents lovingly discipline, build up and train up their kids.

Paul the great apostle of the early church gives some wonderful commands to husbands and wives in Ephesians chapter 5. Husbands are exhorted to humble, self-giving, sacrificial love for their wives. Men are called to literally lay down their lives, their agendas, their selfishness to be about the growth and spiritual well-being of their wives. Wives are called to respect their husbands, submit to his leadership out of love for God, to be on his team and be the partner in the gracious gift of life that God calls her to be. The key to the passage comes through at the end.

31“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Ephesians 5:31-33

Paul quotes Genesis to tell us that our marriage is about Jesus and the church! The way we love and respect one another is designed to display something. Marriage is far from simply a romantic dance between two people but has the capacity to carry with it a glimpse into the glory of Jesus Christ.  I think this is worth rooting for and learning how to work marriage in the way God designed it by his grace.

The Good of the City in the Home Team

Is marriage more like heaven or hell on earth? It probably depends upon who you ask and when you ask them. I will just say marriage is very earthy, very every day. Marriages and families have the potential to go in all sorts of directions. If people are humble, others centered, work at it and trust God together family can be one of the deepest blessings we can experience. If we are selfish, in it just for our personal happiness, to try to create a ME-world that you try force your spouse and kids to conform to…well, it might be a bit of a brutal place.

Marriage as God designed it is good for people (Proverbs 18:22). A loving and supportive family is a true gift of God’s common grace to all people. In fact, the sociological data bears this out. The National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia clearly shows that children incur more physical, sexual and emotional abuse in homes not led by a married couple consisting of both parents.[13] In the abstract reporting on the state of the American family, Wilcox summarizes his report as follows:

In a striking turn of events, the divorce rate for married couples with children has returned almost to the levels we saw before the divorce revolution kicked in during the 1970s. Nevertheless, family instability is on the rise for American children as a whole. This is mainly because more couples are having children in cohabiting unions, which are very unstable. This report also indicates that children in cohabiting households are more likely to suffer from a range of emotional and social problems—drug use, depression, and dropping out of high school—compared to children in intact, married families.[14]

Please remember the above disclaimers I shared as we begin. God is able to redeem and shed light into any and all circumstances; his grace is sufficient for us all. However if you are setting out on the journey of forming a new home team we must not ignore the good that a family can bring to the next generation. We should root for and fight for the family. Just last week I read an article in USA Today stating how simply having dinner together as a family adds to the emotional well-being of adolescents across the board.[15]

Speaking of the family unit, GK Chesterton poignantly stated the following: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilisations which disregard it.[16] The Home Team is for the good of the city and society rises and falls upon its flourishing. God’s grace and goodness flows to us through our families when we realize that its purpose is NOT ABOUT ME, my happiness, my fulfillment, or my kingdom come, my will be done! We are blessed when we all realize that the Home Team is about us, them and God himself. When Jesus taught us about what it meant to follow him, he described it as a losing our lives to find it for his sake (Matthew 16:24-26). The secret to home life is no different; it flows from self-sacrificial, self-denying love. It is in such self-giving that you find the most joy in the family. Choose to serve and ask God to see your “self” crucified with Christ. Then love your family; it will change things for everyone involved. There is a blessing to be had here for the good of all.

Hope through the Gospel together

The final reason we root for the Home Team is that “family” is actually a metaphor for God’s work in the gospel itself. Think for a moment about how the Scriptures talk about our relationship to our creator. Jesus taught us that God is our “Father in Heaven” and that men and women in the church are brothers and sisters. When the Bible describes how Jesus saves sinners it takes up the language of “adoption” whereby a gracious God intends to save his kids and bring them into his family (Ephesians 1). As stated earlier Jesus’ relationship to us is seen in the mystery of marriage (Ephesians 5) where Jesus is the bridegroom and the church is his adorned bride. The very commencement of the Kingdom of Heaven will be marked by a wedding feast where we celebrate the work of Jesus and his bringing us through together as his church (Revelation 19:1-10)[17]. Even the work of making disciples in the church is described as a family affair. Listen to the following words from Paul the apostle to the young church in Thessalonica:

7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. 9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 

1 Thessalonians 2:7-12

The family is a conduit for gospel-hope my friends. It flows first to our own children as we teach them the faith and bring them up in the discipline and instruction of God (Deuteronomy 6, Ephesians 6). The primary way in which God saves people and adds them to the kingdom is through our families. It is also the primary place of social development, physical growth, spiritual formation and discovering our callings.[18] This is no accident. Secondarily, our marriages and families take their place in the cosmic mission of God as we display and proclaim the saving work of Jesus to the world…together.

Conclusion

The home team is a family unit, beginning with marriage between a man and a woman. God then designs this unit to be the context in which children are born, cherished as gifts and brought up in the community. God has made us to be in families, to come up in families and to go to therapy because of our families. Just kidding about the last part, but talking to someone does sometimes help to work through how our families have formed us. :-) 

God designed the family to speak to us, show us who He is and what it means to forgive, love, hurt, hope, get saved and be blessed together. At Jacob’s Well it is not simply our intention to defend “tradition.” Our lives and our teaching about the Home team are so that we might live for Jesus Christ and his purposes together. The Home Team teaches us to put our hope in God not in the selfish pathway of the ME-world that is pimped to us every day. It is the lifelong pursuit of God that helps us to trust and follow his design for life. It is not dead tradition but a dynamic ride of relationships where the truth sets us free.

Will you root, root, root for our Home Teams with me?

© 2013 Reid S. Monaghan, Jacob’s Well, www.JacobsWellNJ.org

Endnotes

[1] "Although marriage rates have dropped among young adults, it is important to note that most young adults will go on to marry later in life. The probability of an adult getting married at some point during their lifetime is still nearly 90 percent." Diana Lavery Mark Mather, "In U.S., Proportion Married at Lowest Recorded Levels," (2010). http://www.prb.org/Articles/2010/usmarriagedecline.aspx (accessed April 12, 2013).

[2] GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy (New York: NY: Image books, 1959), 71.

[3] W. A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House., 2004), 442.

[4] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 2nd ed ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1998), 520.

[5] Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God's Image (Grand Rapids, MI, Exeter, UK: Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1986), 14.

[6] Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, trans., O. Bussey J.W. Edwards, Harold Knight, vol. Vol. 3: 1 (Edinburgh: T&TClark, 1958), 184.

[7] G. K. Chesterton and Alvaro De Silva, Brave New Family : G.K. Chesterton on Men and Women, Children, Sex, Divorce, Marriage & the Family (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990), 93.

[8] Kostenberger summarizes this as teh woman being his partner in ruling the earth for God.Andreas J. Köstenberger and David W. Jones, God, Marriage & Family : Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2004), 36.

[9] Reid S. Monaghan, "Dream and New Dream About Sex - Sexuality and the Glory of God," (North Brunswick: NJ: Jacob's Well, 2008). http://www.jacobswellnj.org/theology-booklets.

[10] Timothy and Kathy Keller make note of the work of pulitzer prize winning author Ernest Becker. Keller highlights Becker says that “we look to sex and romance to get what we used to get from faith in God.” Discussed in Timothy J. Keller and Kathy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage : Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God (New York: Dutton, 2011), 41.

[11] Ibid., 40.

[12] Chesterton and De Silva, Brave New Family : G.K. Chesterton on Men and Women, Children, Sex, Divorce, Marriage & the Family, 63.

[13] Bradley Wilcox, "Why Marriage Matters: Thirty Conclusions from the Social Sciences," (2011).

[14] Ibid.

[15] Sharon Jayson, "Each Family Dinner Adds up to Benefits for Adolescents," USA Today (2013). http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/24/family-dinner-adolescent-benefits/2010731/ (accessed April 12, 2013).

[16] From "The Superstition of Divorce" in Chesterton and De Silva, Brave New Family : G.K. Chesterton on Men and Women, Children, Sex, Divorce, Marriage & the Family, 223.The spelling of "civilisations" is in the original and reflects common spelling in the UK

[17] Jesus also used a parable of a wedding feast to describe his coming and the work of God through Messiah. Matthew 22:1-14,

[18] See "Marriage and Family in Puritan Thought" for an excellent treatment on the family's role in forming us. The particular emphasis on balancing public and domestic callings is excellent J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness : The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life, 1st U.S. ed. (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1990), 259-273.

Bibliography

Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. Translated by O. Bussey J.W. Edwards, Harold Knight. Vol. Vol. 3: 1. Edinburgh: T&TClark, 1958.

Chesterton, G. K., and Alvaro De Silva. Brave New Family : G.K. Chesterton on Men and Women, Children, Sex, Divorce, Marriage & the Family. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990.

Chesterton, GK. Orthodoxy New York: NY: Image books, 1959.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. 2nd ed ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1998.

Grudem, W. A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House., 2004.

Hoekema, Anthony A. Created in God's Image. Grand Rapids, MI, Exeter, UK: Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1986.

Jayson, Sharon. "Each Family Dinner Adds up to Benefits for Adolescents." USA Today  (2013). http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/24/family-dinner-adolescent-benefits/2010731/ [accessed April 12, 2013].

Keller, Timothy J., and Kathy Keller. The Meaning of Marriage : Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God. New York: Dutton, 2011.

Köstenberger, Andreas J., and David W. Jones. God, Marriage & Family : Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2004.

Mark Mather, Diana Lavery. "In U.S., Proportion Married at Lowest Recorded Levels."  (2010). http://www.prb.org/Articles/2010/usmarriagedecline.aspx [accessed April 12, 2013].

Monaghan, Reid S. Dream and New Dream About Sex - Sexuality and the Glory of God. North Brunswick: NJ: Jacob's Well, 2008. http://www.jacobswellnj.org/theology-booklets.

Packer, J. I. A Quest for Godliness : The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life. 1st U.S. ed. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1990.

Wilcox, Bradley. "Why Marriage Matters: Thirty Conclusions from the Social Sciences."  (2011).

Gospel Centered - A Metaphor from Physics

There is a basic equation in Newtonian Physics that describes the force of gravity acting between two masses.  It looks like this. Hopefully this will give flashbacks to science classes of days long ago. If you have never seen such a thing...well, you're welcome.

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The G is known as the gravitational constant. It is what it is because of the way the universe is.  God made it this way, it is observable and makes our equation work.  One thing to notice about the law of gravitation is that it is what we call an inverse square law.  The masses “m1 and m2” are on the top and the distance between them “r” is squared on the bottom. This means that “the further” away the two masses are from one another the weaker the force. If you want to stay strong in gravity, put things close together. Additionally, the masses on the top influence the equation by their size. The more massive, the stronger the pull on the other object. This is why our earth goes around the Sun by the way.  The massive Sun exerts a strong gravitational pull upon our tiny planet so we “orbit it.” Kepler had more to say about how this works, but for our purposes this level of detail will suffice.

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There is a parallel here for centering our lives on God and the gospel.  The thing that is largest in your universe is what influences you the most.  The strongest gravitational pull that the human soul knows is worship.  We are drawn to what is most massive in our souls.  We worship that which is the biggest deal to us, we are drawn in by our affections.  For the follower of Jesus we must worship and make God himself most massive in our universe.  Furthermore, we need to stay close to him day by day. Stay close to the most glorious, mighty and massive one and we will be strong in our walk with him.  Drift away or place some idolatrous false worship at the center of our souls and we court disaster. 

So what things are BIG in your life? Be honest. What do you fear to lose the most? What do you find your security in? What would you fight to hold on to?  These will be the things you are tempted to make into idols—things you worship.  List them. Pray that GOD would be bigger in your life than these.

Keep God the center in your life by the gospel!  But how do we keep close? God has graciously given us means of grace: Scripture, prayer, corporate worship the sacraments, work and witness to aid us in keeping close in following after Jesus.  By these spiritual practices we grow. 

Yet perhaps most the most important truth is that Christ pulls us all the way in. He is so massive in glory and importance that we are pulled fully into Him. We become one with Jesus by the Spirit, unified with Him, and this bond in the gospel is the strongest tie that binds.  We belong to Christ and our lives are spent learning, growing and living this out.

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Listen to GK

I've always found a sense of delight when reading the writings of GK Chesterton...just want to share some of that tonight...

The following propositions have been urged: First, that some faith in our life is required even to improve it; second, that some dissatisfaction with things as they are is necessary even in order to be satisfied; third, that to have this necessary content and necessary discontent it is not sufficient to have the obvious equilibrium of the Stoic. For mere resignation has neither the gigantic levity of pleasure nor the superb intolerance of pain. There is a vital objection to the advice merely to grin and bear it. The objection is that if you merely bear it, you do not grin. Greek heroes do not grin: but gargoyles do...because they are Christian.

G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Image Books ed. (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 104. Emphasis added.

If you have never read Orthodoxy you must remedy the situation soon...I highly recommend the recent audiobook edition narrated by the incomparable John Lee.

Thoughts on Suffering

Tomorrow I teach a passage​ from Scripture which gives an account of Jesus' betrayal, arrest, mockery of a trial, personal abandonment by friends and a physical beating from unjust thugs.  It has me thinking quite a bit about suffering, justice, goodness and truth this week.  This morning I ran a across an article by Timothy Keller on suffering which recently ran on CNN in edited form but released in its entirety by Redeemer City to City here. ​ I recommend the latter and longer form of the essay as its quite helpful. 

Some of my own thoughts on suffering and various ways, philosophical and theological, to understand it are here on the POCBlog as well.  See Thoughts on Suffering.

Flavors of Theology

Note: Graphic by Dr. Gregg Allison, Historical Theology, 32.

As the church lives out the mission of Jesus there is necessary theological work that must be done so that we rightly understand his character, his purposes and his will. The following is a brief sketch of ways of doing theology keeping biblical revelation at the center. All are necessary for building up God’s people and sending them in the mission of Jesus in our time.

Exegetical Theology is responsible interpretation and understanding of biblical texts.  Without exegesis you will miss the trees because they are in the forest. Key theme: understand the meaning.

Biblical Theology traces the major thematic teaching of scripture throughout the entire Bible and/or specified subsets or corpus.  Without biblical theology you will miss the forest from the trees. Key theme: see the big picture and story.

Systematic Theology is the formulating of doctrine based on the teaching of the entire Bible on a particular topic/subject appropriately interacting with the cultural setting of the church.  Without systematic theology you cannot teach about the trees or the forest. Key theme: teaching clearly.

Historical Theology is the study of the interpretation of Scripture and the formulation of doctrine by the church of the past.  Without historical theology you may think that you are the first person walking in a forest and looking at trees. Key theme: humbly listen to others.

Practical Theology is the living out of biblical doctrine together as God’s people in the midst of his mission in space and time.  Without practical theology you will not know the purpose for the forest or the trees. Key theme: all theology is practical and missional.

What might God say to the IRON MAN?

Confession: I loved comic books growing up. Not simply an awareness of them but collecting them, bagging them, boarding them, knowing their value in various conditions, reading various strength levels and super powers in Marvel Universe almanacs etc. Not sure how that happened but I still have a box of them in my attic. I think I enjoyed them because they develop interesting characters; characters you follow and watch develop over many issues and many years. In light of this I have been a full supporter of the comicbookization of Hollywood.  Seeing the Marvel Universe come to the big screens has been more than a little fun for me.  Not sure if my old favorites Powerman and Iron Fist are ever going to make it to the 3D screen, but who knows.

I say all of this to comment briefly on a scene from Marvel’s new movie The Avengers.  Now, before you judge this film, you should see it.  Sometimes a movie everyone likes is good and everyone likes it because it is good. That is for my film snob friends reading.  I saw the Avengers twice in its opening weekend. Why? For the children of course. I had to see it with my wife on Friday (my day off) to grasp why it had its PG-13 rating to decide whether my daughters could see the film.  After we determined the girls could go, Sunday night we hit the show on a Daddy date.  Tommy would be freaked out and afraid of the Hulk so he is not seeing it any time soon.

One scene that got quite a bit of traction in the trailer and is important to two of the main characters flows as follows.  For Avengers newbies, Tony Stark is Iron Man and Steve Rogers is Captain America.  Stark is a spooky smart guy who has invented some killer high tech weaponry and has a history of womanizing. Rogers is a super soldier from the early 20th century who got frozen in ice. His values are old school. Here is the short dialogue:

• Steve Rogers: Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?
• Tony Stark: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.
• Steve Rogers: I know guys with none of that worth ten of you

So after thinking for a moment about this intense exchange between super heroes, I paused and asked what God might have to say to the IRON MAN:

• Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 ESV
• And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 ESV
• “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28 ESV
• “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:1-4 ESV

Is there something deeper that Captain America is getting at? Is there something bigger, more important going on in life that our “external suit”, our abilities, what we have and do? Jesus asked the following questions and I think asking them today would be good for you:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

One of the great story-lines in the Avengers film is what takes place in the relationship between Cap and Iron Man…this dialogue isn’t the end of it so I recommend the movie to watch the rest of that story unfold.

The Joy of Suspense

What will Jesus do next? I find myself asking this as I read through the gospel of Mark in the New Testament. A great exercise for me has been to listen to Mark read aloud. The sense of movement and anticipation is quite a joyful experience. In the same way our lives are similar. We should always be asking the question: Jesus, what are you going to do next!?

I personally love a good story or film at the movies. Yet I do think we can neglect the significance of the story of our own lives. We watch a movie with suspense and expectation but we do not seem to watch “Tuesday” in the same way. Reading the story of Jesus makes me realize that he is present with me every day in significant events and in the normal routines of eating and sleeping. He also calls us to follow him in his work on the earth now.

This calling, when obeyed, leads to some joyful suspense as well as opportunities to let faith conquer our fear. My hope is that Mark would encourage us to swing our bat each day and joyfully watch as Jesus works in our lives and world. Standing on the sidelines, sitting the bench, standing with the bat on our shoulder as the pitch goes by, not trying at all to follow is lame Christianity as religion. I pray that in the joyful suspense of believing and following we might find life in his name (John 1:12). Sometimes there is a cross and pain in the trail before us, sometimes there is resurrection glory, yet on either path our hope is in Jesus. With this hope as a firm anchor to the soul (Hebrews 6:19) and our joy is seeing him lead us and surprise us day after day.

GK Chesterton once wrote that the modern mechanistic view of life and the universe drains it of its wonder. Real joy comes from knowing that life has a captain and we find delight as he fills each day with unexpected realities.

After the wave...

This morning just about all the roads in Middlesex County NJ are empty. This is rare occurrence caused by the recent rampage of hurricane Irene. The storm lost most of it’s southern Caribbean muscle, but still brought heavy flooding to parts of our state. This morning the worship gatherings of Jacob’s Well were cancelled due to the realities associated with the storm. We were to finish a series simply entitled “New School - A New Testament Overview”. Today was to be that enigmatic little book known as the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Last summer, when we began an Old Testament introduction, I introduced the metaphor of a wave coming through all of human history. At the very beginning of time, after the fall of man and the curse of God upon the world, the promises of redemption and hope began to flow. The covenant promises of God build throughout history and culminate at a specific locus in space-time, the person of Jesus himself. At this point, all the energy of a wave at sea, culminates in a glorious picture of the glory of God.  At the cresting of a massive wave stuff begins to happen.  There is blessing and joy - like surfing - and power and chaos unleashed - like a hurricane.

Today, I was to complete the image of the wave by looking at what happens after the furious storm passes by.  As a kid growing up in Virginia Beach, VA I know what happens after a big tropical storm clears out. There is a glorious and glowing calm, sometimes the groans and pains of destruction and and exhales of relief.  Revelation is a book where the cresting wave and the powerful judgments of the storm are on display.  Both the chaos of sin, the blessing of God and power of his holy and right judgment is fully felt in all its joy and fury. Yet, what happens after the wave fully passes through?  What is left after all the churning of the water, the height and power of the wave and all the glory which is felt and seen? After every wave is a serene calm; after every storm there is a profound and tangible peace.  As the words of Charlie Richardson’s song, there is a peace, so rightly recall:

Thereʼs a peace to settle your soul,
There is a peace that is calling you home

It is no small thing that one of the images in the vision the apostle is given in the Revelation is that of a glassy sea. The dangers and perils and fear associated with the sea have been calmed. That which used to hold doom and calamity is now a beautiful accessory around the throne of God; the foundation for the throne room of heaven is peace.

After the wave of redemption flows through history, unfolding in the covenants and cresting in the person of Jesus, his work of gospel grace and holy judgment have fully brought redemption to all things.  What is our response?

 “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:1-11

As the Kingdom of Heaven is still a far country we still have much work to do in this age as we await the full peace in the age to come. Watch, Work, Pray my friends…for the glory of God, the good of our cities as we extend hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The who shapes the what...short reflection on being and doing

The following diagram was shared during our NT Overview series to describe the importance of the culture of a community and how it lives out its mission. It simply seeks to show the interrelated nature of a community’s culture (and individual character) and its actual flowing out in its mission. 

Our identity as believers and as Christ’s church is foundational. He is our definition and we live our lives in him through the gospel. Who we are has been changed by the gospel both individually and collectively (see Ephesians 1-2) and it is from our union with Jesus that we live out our missional calling together. We are a gospel centered people following Jesus on his mission in the world.

Our actions as believers and as Christ’s church are then transformational in that we are shaped by our daily practices. Whereas our identity is in Christ through the gospel, our choices, decisions and actions need to be shaped by the gospel as well. As we live this out, following Jesus, God’s Spirit bears fruit in us (see all of Galatians 5). This is both active—we work at it. What we do, what we do together, really matters. It is also passive, in that God is doing work in us, on us and through us (see Philippians 2:12, 13). If we do not live out our mission, choose to sow sin in our lives, go AWOL from Jesus’ purposes, it will effect us. We will look less like Jesus, more like the world and be unfruitful and ineffective in gospel work (see 2 Peter 1:3-11) To be a part of a gospel centered, missional community means we shape and share a culture based upon our calling in the world. When we do so our life together takes on a different reality and this in turn has a profound effect on our lives.

In Summary the WHO we are together should determine the WHAT we live together. Then the WHAT we live together continues to shape and transform the WHO we are. We should never deceive ourselves to think that the crew we flow with in life does not matter. In fact, it is indispensible to life and mission. And this, as you can see if you step back and look at the graphic above, creates a smile…at least this what my daughter saw here.

Theology and Mission - Circumcision with Titus and Timothy

Theology and Mission…Both Matter

During the first few decades of the Christian movement there arose a controversy as to how the Old Covenant laws should relate to New Covenant faith. As the  gospel of Jesus was proclaimed in the world, both Jews and non Jews began to place their faith and trust in him as their Savior.  As God created a new community of the faithful out of groups of people that had been separated in the past, many questions come to the forefront. Since Jesus was the promised  Messiah of Israel fulfilling the Old Covenant promises did the new Christians need to become Jewish first and then become “real Christians?” What of the Old Testament commands regarding circumcision as a sign of God’s covenant promise? What of the dietary laws designed to set God’s people apart as distinct from the nations? These questions had to be answered. 

Paul was very clear in his letter to the Galatians that to go back to the law when salvation has been accomplished by Jesus on the cross would to be a foolish thing to do.  He spoke against the necessity for circumcision in the strongest, most forceful of terms. Paul quite literally went off on the Galatians concerning this subject. Paul’s theology was clear; circumcision is not what saves you or makes you a part of the new covenant community. What makes a sinful person, justified by God? Paul’s answer throughout his writings is that faith in Christ alone as a gift of God’s grace is what rescues and declares sinners forgiven by a holy and just God. As such, Paul refused to have Titus, a gentile, circumcised because it would have betrayed the gospel (Galatians 2:1-6). When the church convened some meetings in Jerusalem they were unified and clear about this point (See Acts 15). Gentiles were not required to keep the practice of circumcision and other aspects of the ceremonial law. Yet in the very next chapter in the book of Acts we see Paul take Timothy, whose Mom was Jewish but whose Dad was a Gentile, and circumcise him. “Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” So what gives? Why did Paul vigorously oppose Titus’ circumcision but not Timothy’s? In Titus’ case something theological was at stake, the very message as to what saves people! In Timothy’s case Paul’s concern was of a different sort. He was concerned with their mission among certain people.

In the context Timothy and Paul were to minister some may have considered Timothy, half Jewish, half Gentile, as someone who would not be speaking for God because he was obviously not following in his traditions as a Jewish man. So rather than hindering the hearing of the gospel, Paul circumcised Timothy so it would not be an issue of distraction from their message.  After all, Paul wrote to the Galatians “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” Gal 5:6. The point being is that the heart aligned to Jesus in faith is what matters, not the external reality of circumcision. So Paul circumcising Timothy didn’t hurt anything (well maybe it hurt something) as Timothy was not counting on this and the law to save him. Yet Timothy being uncircumcised apparently would have hindered their mission and the reception of their message so why not just do it for the sake of the gospel? This echoes Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22:

¹⁹ For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ²⁰ To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹ To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 

Paul would not give an inch in compromising the gospel and clearly shows us this in penning the strong warnings of Galatians. He also would not let things hinder a hearing of the gospel among people when those things were secondary issues of lesser importance. He proclaimed the good news in truth but with cultural wisdom and shrewdness. May we have both the courage to defend the truth and to proclaim it without hindrance to others in our own day.

An Overview of the Gospel Literature

Introduction

To come to know Jesus in spirit and in truth we must arrive to him instructed by the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  We must have a knowledge of him as he really is while the Spirit of God persuades us fully that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God. To know Jesus we must see him in the gospels and experience the living Jesus spiritually present with us by the Holy Spirit. Both truth and spiritual experience unite when we meet Jesus in the gospels.¹ In Jesus, God became flesh and lived among the peoples of the earth displaying to us his nature and his glory. Jesus is the majestic one and the written and proclaimed Word of God brings his majesty to us.

In the gospels of the New Testament we have compiled eyewitness accounts from people who walked with Jesus, talked with him, were taught by him, lived with him and were commissioned as his ambassadors and apostles to the world.² The canonical gospels were all first century documents compiled as the mission of God moved out geographically³ and as the apostles neared the end of their lives. They wanted to be certain to pass on the life, teaching and mission of Jesus to the broader Christian community and movement⁴ who would continue to carry out his work in history.  These gospels, inspired by God, would grow in their importance as false teachers began to arise and circulate strange and esoteric opinions about Jesus which were not a part of the apostolic teachings. Many of their writings posed as “gospels” purporting to give secret knowledge and teachings about Jesus. Such writings were rejected by early leaders of the faith such as Iraneus of Lyon who were directly connected to the apostolic tradition.⁵ These works were never considered part of the Bible and have never been part of the Bible.⁶ They were false teachings rejected firmly by pastors who loved their people.  The four gospels of the New Testament are the agreed upon standards for the life of Jesus accepted by all Christians everywhere. Protestants, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox believers all look to these works as the divine and inspired revelation of Jesus Christ.  Now let us turn our attention to what makes a gospel writing, a gospel and focus for a moment on the literary genre. 

History, Biography, Theology?

When we come to the gospels we arrive at some very unique writings composed of many types of literature.  These writings are composed of genealogies, narrative story telling, historical facts, proverbs of wisdom, teaching parables, commands, even some apocalyptic sections. Many questions can rightly be asked about these books. Are these books of history, mere biography or simply theological books aiming to teach us truths about God? For instance, there are certainly historical realities about the gospels in that they are set in real time and real places speaking about real people.  They do not speak about another mythical world in a galaxy far far away. So in that way the gospels are historical but they are not mere compilations of historical facts and figures.  They desire to teach us more than this. Furthermore, it should be noted that the gospels may well be properly classified in the genre of ancient biography.⁷ When we hear the word “biography” we may think of a show on A&E or a book telling the whole life story of a certain person.  We know the gospels do not do this as they only contain parts of the Jesus story; parts that serve the purpose and theological aims of the particular gospel in question.  This may lead us to see the gospels as books of theological facts but this seems far less personal that what we find when actually reading them. Scottish New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham gives a wonderful classification for the gospels in describing them as testimony:

Understanding the Gospels as testimony, we can recognize this theological meaning of the history not as an arbitrary imposition on the objective facts, but as the way the witnesses perceived the history, in an inextricable coinherence of observable event and perceptible meaning.  Testimony is the category that enables us to read the Gospels in a properly historical way and a properly theological way.  It is where history and theology meet.⁸ 

Therefore, we shall see the gospels as eyewitness testimony pointing to a real person, in real history, revealing to us real truth about God, ourselves and Jesus of Nazareth, who is called the Christ.  As the gospels are where the historical Jesus and his theological teachings meet the following will serve as a brief survey of each of the gospels. In these summaries we will focus on what each contributes to our view of Jesus and a small bit of its unique theological contribution to the church. It is my hope that you might enjoy a of lifetime of studying these writings, meeting Jesus in them and growing spiritually through their nourishment as the Word of God.

The Gospel of Matthew

The first book of the New Testament is a gospel written by Matthew, the disciple of Jesus.  Matthew was a tax collector which means he was a Jewish man who worked for the imperial power that was Rome. You might say that he was from the block and had sold out to the man. He was a servant of empire whom God called and made a servant of the humble, sacrificial servant King. Matthew, is a distinctively Jewish work demonstrating that Jesus was not simply a new teacher on the scene, but rather the promised one of the Old Testament arriving in the fullness of time. We see this in several ways in Matthew’s gospel.

First, Matthew begins with a long genealogy which seeks to show that Jesus is the Son of David, the son of Abraham.  This not simply an exercise in creating someone’s family tree and this statement is not something as simple as: this is Rick’s family tree, the son of Harry, the son Tom…blah, blah blah. These two figures from the Old Testament are massive in their importance. David is the one who in the Old School was promised that an eternal King would sit on his throne in 2 Samuel 7.  Abraham is known as the father of faith, who in the book of Genesis God chooses to use to so that through his offspring the whole world would be blessed. His descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore. So here is what Matthew’s genealogy says to us. This is the king of God’s covenant with us! This is the promised one who will be the savior of and blessing to the whole world.

Second, there are so many promises of the Old Testament which are fulfilled in Jesus on display in Matthew.  His virgin birth (Matt 1:22-23, Isaiah 7:14), his birth in Bethlehem (Matt 2:3-6, Micah 5:2), his flight to Egypt from Herod (Matt 2:3-6, Hosea 11:1), Herod’s murder of kids under two (Matt 2:14-15, Jeremiah 31:15), his healing ministry (Matt 8:16-17, Isaiah 53:4), his use of parables in teaching (Matt 13:13, 14, Isaiah 6:9, 10), his riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and her foal (Isaiah 62:11, Zech 9:9) and his betrayal by Judas for pocket change (Matt 27:6-10 and Jeremiah 18:2-6, 19:1-2, 4, 6, 11, 32:6-15 and Zech 11:13).9 These all point to Jesus being the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. 

Third, there is this fascinating section in Matthew 12 where Jesus quite literally is identified as “greater than the temple of God” and “Lord of the Sabbath.” The temple was the place of worship where the presence of God dwelled and the Sabbath was a divine command to rest and worship. Jesus is identified as the locus of worship and the one who is in charge of the very commands of God. He was not simply bringing a religious rule keeping to the world, but rather he himself was a fulfillment of all the ways of worship and the laws of God in the Old Testament.

Finally, Matthew’s gospel closes with one of the clearest declarations for God’s people who receive a mission from the great King. We are to go into all the world and make disciples (learners, followers of Jesus) of all nations/peoples (Matthew 28:18-20). The promised Christ of the Old Testament has come and he is our covenant King.  All Christians throughout history have this wonderful privilege to teach others to follow him until his eternal Kingdom comes.   This is some of what Matthew has to say to us.

The Gospel of Mark

Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the four gospels and contains just sixteen chapters. It is a gospel of action with Jesus’ bursting on the scene quickly and then at a high pace moving forward towards what has become known as Passion week.  This is the week of Jesus’s life where he will be tried, executed and subsequently rise from the dead. Church tradition has held from the earliest days that Mark recorded the accounts of the apostle Peter writing down his eyewitness testimony. Both Peter and Mark appear to be in Rome together and historically I find no good reason to doubt this tradition. When you come to Mark you get the sense that Jesus is a man with a mission; he has a job to do and he is getting after it. There are action words everywhere with the most prominent being the Greek term “euthus” which means right away or immediately. The writing of the gospel jumps from scene to scene with fast and furious frame changes showing us who Jesus is and what he came to do. Written in the imperial capital of Rome it does not contain as many direct Old Testament quotations as Matthew and Mark seeks to explain things well for readers who may not be as familiar with the Jewish traditions we find more quickly in Matthew. The promise/fulfillment themes does remain however particularly seeing Jesus as the suffering servant from the prophet Isaiah.

The gospel of Mark also focuses on the announcement and demonstration of the Kingdom of God.  In chapter 1 we read: Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15). The Scriptures speak of the Kingdom of God as his actual rule and reign the comes along with his sovereign king Jesus. In Mark’s gospel we see the statement “the kingdom of God is at hand” being demonstrated in the life of Jesus through his miracles. Sometimes people can look at Jesus as a miracle worker just doing tricks to impress people. The gospels do not put on display a Criss Angel Mind Freak special.  Jesus’ miracles are demonstrations that a new paradigm of life has arrived with him. The old era of sin, death and evil oppression in the world has been broken and a new way of life has arrived. This is partially realized today and will be fully brought to pass in the final Kingdom of Heaven at the end of time.  However where Jesus is at work today we see the realities and a foretaste of this coming Kingdom.

As mentioned earlier Mark’s gospel, though brief, spends the bulk of its time in the passion week of Jesus where we see him fulfill his role as sacrificial substitute and suffering servant. This is summarized well in the wonderful verse in Mark chapter 10: For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

The Gospel of Luke

Luke is an interesting figure in the New Testament and we see him both in the book of Acts and in the letters written by a man named Paul, a primary leader in the early Christian movement. For instance, we read the following of Luke. He is called by Paul “the beloved physician” in Colossians 4:14, “my fellow worker” in the work of spreading the gospel in Philemon 1:24 and he is the only one remaining with Paul as Paul awaits execution in Rome in 2 Timothy 4:11. As a physician he would have been well educated, well read and maybe a bore a parties…just kidding about that last part. Luke was a faithful, sharp, friend of Paul who was intricately involved in gospel mission and concerned to preach and teach the gospel well. 

Luke wrote a two part work in the New Testament which scholars often call “Luke/Acts” in that Luke is episode one and Acts is episode two of his work. We might call Luke, Gospel Episode One – The Spirit Empowered Savior and Acts Gospel Episode Two – The Spirit Empowered Church on Mission.  There will be no Empire Strikes Back or Revenge of the Sith however for evil and its empires will simply be beat down by Jesus, the true and greater Jedi knight.  Ok, forgive me, I could not resist.

Luke’s gospel is an historically detailed work and he tells us that he went to great lengths to compile the Jesus story in a deliberate fashion. He worked hard to collect data from eyewitnesses and to write an orderly account so that we might have certainty about what we have been taught (see his introduction in Luke 1:1-4).

His gospel also contains a genealogy but his concern is to not simply trace Jesus to David and Abraham…but to go all the way back to Adam. His point is that Jesus was the savior for all people, gentiles included, not only Jewish followers. Perhaps Luke had also heard Paul’s teaching that the first man Adam failed in following God whereas Jesus, the second Adam, would fully bring salvation to the world (see Romans 5). Luke presents Jesus as a person full of the Holy Spirit who would walk with God, fulfill his mission and lead us in practically living it out. The Holy Spirit is fully active in Luke/Acts causing New Testament Scholar Darrell Bock to make the following observation:

Luke is a profoundly practical Gospel. His message is not only to be embraced; it is to be reflected in how we relate to others. Luke is also known as the writer who tells us much about the Holy Spirit but this emphasis is less dominant in Luke than in Acts. Nonetheless, Jesus’ ministry not only fits within God’s plan, it is empowered by God’s enabling Spirit [as we will see in Acts]. The church’s ministry has a similar dynamic.¹⁰

The Gospel of John

The final gospel, written by the apostle John, one of Jesus’ closest friends, was most likely put down while John was in the ancient city of Ephesus as an elder of the church there. It is different in nature than that of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and focuses on some important aspects of Jesus identity. John is a highly “theological gospel” demonstrating the full reality of Jesus and his work. John, never the one to hide his purposes, tells us exactly why he wrote down what he did:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.¹¹

These words “Christ” and “Son of God” are the subject of John’s writing. His prologue states in unequivocal terms that Jesus was the preexisting son of God, in union with the Father, who became flesh in space, time and history (John 1:1-5, 14).  The signs and miracles of Jesus in John’s gospel show that the locus of divine activity is in his Christ (or Messiah) and this Jesus gives new life, eternal life, to all who believe and trust in him. (John 5:24, John 17:3). 

In John the dual natures of Jesus, fully human, fully divine, are clearly seen. His identity and works get displayed through the seven self identifying statements known as the “The I ams.” Jesus claims to be  the bread of life (John 6), the light of the world (John 8), the gate we enter and the good shepherd (John 10), the resurrection and the life (John 11), unique way to the Father, the truth and the life (John 14) and triumphantly claims to be the I AM, the very God of the Old Testament (Exodus 3, John 8). 

John’s gospel calls us to BELIEVE over and over but not simply a positive feeling or belief in believing.  No, John calls us to believe in the incarnate God Jesus Christ. The unique savior of the world who forgives sins, raises us to new life and promises us an eternal Kingdom without sin, death, disease, tears. In that day death will be smashed and done away with.

This is the Jesus of the Bible. This is the Jesus of the gospels. This is Jesus of living, resurrected power and ultimate reality. We echo the ancient call today: BELIEVE! and find LIFE in his name.

Notes

1. John Calvin, Insitutes of the Christian Religion, says this well “Scripture will ultimately suffice for a saving knowledge of God only when its certainty is founded upon the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit” (Book I, viii, 13).

2. A compelling case for the gospels being comprised of eyewitness testimony is found in Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses-The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006)

3. David Alan Black, following the work of William Farmer and Bernard Orchard gives an interesting hypothesis that the gospels were written during the periods of missional unfolding during the apostolic era. Matthew in the Jerusalem period, Luke in the gentile mission of Paul, Mark in Rome and John adding his theological gospel towards the end of the apostolic age. See David Alan Black, Why Four Gospels (Grand Rapids: Kregal, 2001) 13-33.

4. See Richard Bauckham, Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) 9-48.

5. See Iraneus, Against Heresies—available many places online.  Iraeneus is said to have heard the gospel from a man named Polycarp who was a disciple of some guy named John the apostle.  The point is Iraneus, in refuting false teachings, was in the position to know.

6. Some scholars today such as Bart Ehrman of UNC Chapel Hill and Elaine Pagels of Princeton present these other books as “Lost Scriptures” from “Lost Christianities” rather than “rejected books” and “rejected” Christianities. This is historical revisionism at its worst. For a treatment of these issues see Darrell L. Bock The Mission Gospels—Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006).

7. See genre analysis in Richard A. Burridge “About People, by People, for People: Gospel Genre and Audiences” in Bauckham, Gospel for All Christians , 113-145.

8. Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 5,6.

10. Portions of this list adapted from Frank Thielman, Theology of the New Testament: A Canonical and Synthetic Approach (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005)

10. Darrell L. Bock, Luke—NIV Life Application Commentary, 24.

11.  John 20:30-31

Freakin Out - Worry, Fear, Anxiety and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Worry, Fear, Anxiety and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

By Reid S. Monaghan

Introduction

In every epoch of history, human beings have struggled to find peace of mind amidst the chaos of life under the sun. Ever aware of the fragility of life and circumstances we can be gripped with worry, fear and crippling anxiety. The soul becomes caged to its own dark meditations and a strange bondage can overwhelm us. Our modern age is certainly rife with concerns of its own: rapid change, global terrorism, and economic uncertainty along with the lingering realities of disease, injustice, death and broken relationships press in on the modern psyche. This spring Jacobs Well will travel together in the words of God which speak to the deepest needs and fears of our lives. God wants to walk us from fear to faith, kindly teaching us what it means to trust Jesus our sovereign King. He is our Lord and will walk with us through the varied labyrinths of this world.

In this brief essay we will endeavor to do a few simple things. First, we will discuss the human experiences of fear, worry and anxiety and define some basic terms. Second, we will discuss the scope and suppositions which are underneath our study together. Third, we will speak of several issues which relate to our fear and anxiety and how these issues are connected to our relationship with God. Finally, we will give a brief outline of the subjects we will address biblically and theologically during the course of this series.

We are Freaked Out

To say that concern, worry, fear and anxiousness are “universal” would be self-evident to some and perhaps insulting to others. Though the degree to which we are gripped by such realities varies by individual and personality, they are indeed universal in scope. Not one of us can expect to sing hakuna matata for the rest of our days1. This world has many problems and troubles and these intersect with our story more often than some would like to admit. Current studies show that just over 18% of the adult population in our country meets criteria for suffering from various anxiety disorders.2 These are beyond the everyday stress, worry and fear experienced which is considered “normal.” Furthermore, when one looks at a list of modern psychopathologies the most prevalent category has to do with our fears.3 General anxiety also appears to be twice as common among the ladies as among men, likely because they have to deal with men.4 Just kidding, but the research is clear that though both freak out a bit, the ladies experience it a bit more. Finally, our own state of New Jersey is number five in the nation in “neuroticism” as we are in the “stress belt” of the northeastern United States.5 Things move fast here and you are expected to keep up or get out of the way. This does not give our own immediate context a peaceful easy feeling.

Furthermore, in our culture we might assume that money and financial security might alleviate one’s anxieties. However, a recent study conducted by researchers at Boston College is showing precisely the opposite. In a survey of 500 people who had an average net worth of 78 million dollars the research is showing that the super-rich are in no way immune to the specters of loneliness and anxiety. Many shared deep insecurity about, above all things, money.6

In every culture and place human beings “freak out” and are gripped with fear and anxiety. There are reasons for this that we will examine shortly. For now we must declare ourselves part of the world in which fear and anxiety will arrive at our doors. What we do with these thoughts and feelings we will examine during the course of our study. Before moving to look at the biblical backdrop for our world being a fear/anxiety producing place, I want to say a few things about the scope of our discussion and some assumptions we will have in looking at these issues.

Assumptions and definitions

I want to say clearly up front that our discussions of fear, anxiety, worry and the various relationships to God are not meant to be clinical in nature. We will be discussing these issues in a theological and pastoral context. There are cases of severe anxiety which call for clinical attention and I am thankful we have a good network of support for such circumstances at Jacob’s Well. However, with that said, it is my strongest conviction that our struggles in this area are indeed holistic and theological in nature. As such, the counsel and understanding of Scripture should not be neglected even in more severe situations. The worldview and teaching of the Scriptures should remain in the forefront of our minds as we wrestle with fear, anxiety and worry in varying degrees.

Basic Assumptions about Human Persons

Any discussion of things which affect both mind and body must proceed from a robust anthropology. Before we can address human persons, we must have an understanding of what a human person is. This is by no means taken for granted today in our culture. Some would say humans are only animals ruled by DNA working out its mechanistic replications due to environmental constraints.7 Furthermore, there is a view of humans which tends to boil down all behaviors into desires for sex and survival as if these are the only aspects of life which matter. Others would see the mind as merely a product of the electrochemical machinations of our brains.8 Of course I use the terms only and merely above as I find no disagreement with humans being partially animal in nature and certainly there is a correlation between the function of the mind and the human brain.9 Yet we resist a pure reduction of man into matter which would eliminate a functioning person residing in unity with his physical body. 

The view we are assuming here is a biblical anthropology whereby we consist of a psychosomatic unity. In this view, humans are not seen in either of two extremes. We are not reduced to being bodies alone nor are we seen as disembodied spirits trapped in a body. Soul and body unified as a human person is the view we will follow in our discussions. There is much more to be discussed here so for the interested reader I refer you to several sources on biblical anthropology.10 In light of this view we not only see a reciprocal nature between body and soul; we expect it. The state of the body affects the soul and the condition of the soul affects the body. As such what we believe, trust, assume and place our hope in has a holistic effect on us as human beings.

Basic Definitions

As we begin a discussion of “freakin out” I did want to provide some very cautious definitions. I am using the label “freakin out” to encompass several conditions of the soul, namely, worry, fear and anxiety. I do not intend philosophical precision in using these terms only to broadly describe our human experience. Dr. Ed Welch gives the following helpful example:

To deeply understand fear we must also look at ourselves and the way we interpret our situations. Those scary objects can reveal what we cherish. They point out our insatiable quest for control, our sense of aloneness. Even the vocabulary of fear indicates that the problem can be deeper than a real, objective danger. While “fear” refers to the experience when a car races toward us and we just barely escape, “anxiety” or worry is the lingering sense after the car has passed, that life is fragile and we are always vulnerable. The terrain is fear and anxiety. You are familiar with it, and you are not alone.11

We will follow this basic understanding that fear is concern of harm coming and worry/anxiety is a projection of such into the unknown. As human beings our fears and anxiety are byproducts of and reactions to the world. What we believe about and our response to circumstances in our world therefore matter greatly. Furthermore, as human beings who are made in the image of God, our fears and anxieties are directly related to our belief in the truth about God, ourselves and our circumstances. The goal we have is not to eliminate all fears but rather to see God transform how we experience life in a fearful world. Faith rises and trusts in God and can indeed overcome negative fear and anxiety. Yet before we look at the path ahead, we want to see biblicaly why this world is such a strangely fearful place? To these issues we now turn.

Fragmented and Fearful

If you look at the grand narrative of the Bible we see right at the beginning why the world is at once a good and hostile place. The earliest chapters of Scripture tell us that the entire world is the creation of God who made all things good (See Genesis 1-2). Human beings, made male and female in the image and likeness of God, are said to be created very good. The early creation is described as a primordial paradise, a place perfectly suited for human beings and their fellowship with the creator. The first pair of humans, by their own desires, disobeys God and the world is placed under a curse and severe consequences (See Genesis 3). There are many dramatic results from this human rebellion which make this world a hostile and fearful place. Though human beings were made to be in intimate communion with their creator, they are now separated from him, under a dominion of darkness, fighting with one another and destined to die. Welcome to the party on planet earth; welcome to a good world pervasively stained with sin. The following is a just a brief description of the unfolding cosmic struggle of which we are a part.

Drama with God

The result of our fall and sin is that we desire our own ways rather than following our creator. The essence of the disobedience of the first humans is that we are separated from the God we were made to worship and know in intimacy. As such we feel a sense of isolation in the universe while surrounded by the masses of humanity. Furthermore, we feel guilt and shame for our own sin and we find no remedy. Finally, as humanity suppresses the knowledge of God we are given over to our own paths which results in destruction (Proverbs 16:25, Matthew 7:7). As we invent ways in our rebellion to make ourselves happy and safe apart from God the alienation deepens and we find no peace for our souls. Read Romans 1 for a great description of all of this.

Drama in Nature

The world which was originally a hospitable Eden has been darkened by struggle, pain and death. As a result, we feel quite at home on the earth but also find deadly peril in nature all about us. The rains which feed us also sweep us away. The seas that make our environment hospitable to life rise up and consume us. Unseen organisms which balance the ecosystem also cause sickness and disease. Our own use and abuse of the natural world threatens us with environmental disaster. The Bible describes creation as good but in bondage to decay awaiting liberation (Romans 8:18-25) and as such is a beautiful design and a fallen catastrophe. Our place in nature can cause us great joy and fill us with great fears and worry. We also feel responsible for creation and the environment in a way that turtles do not. This too freaks us out and currently causes us to fight with each other. This of course is another problem we face. Can’t we just all get along?

Drama with Each Other

Another reality under the sun is the constant enmity between human beings. In the very beginnings of the Bible we see one brother murder another (Genesis 4:1-10) and we have found ourselves at war ever since. People have fought with one another for all of human history over land, tribe, honor, race or ideology (both religious and non-religious). Modern humanity is somewhat of a puzzle to me. We think ourselves enlightened and wise and grown past our barbarous past while sitting comfortably just on the other side of the bloodiest century in the history of mankind. On a micro level each day we politic at work and fight one another in our homes. On a macro level we drop bombs on the masses and shell cities with artillery. This too can cause great fear and anxiety in the soul.

Drama with Demonic Powers

In addition to our struggle with nature and one another, spiritual powers of darkness war against our souls. (Ephesians 6:10-20) Demonic and deceitful influence can bring false accusation and oppression upon people (John 8:44, 1 Peter 5:6-11). If you have ever looked into the face of pure evil the fear that it can bring does not depart with any sort of ease. The denial of God and the war against God by Satan and demons is often ignored but never absent from the world.12

Drama with Death

Finally, the great enemy of death itself looms large on the horizons for every human being with physical and psychological suffering along the way. Death is a peculiar thing. It is at once one of the most common and “normal” things about life but feels to be an alien invasion to it. The loss of loved ones, the death of a child, the finality of someone passing from this life and the regret of years lived without meaning haunt the human soul. Modern humans live with little discussion and answer to death. Some resigned to think that it is the silent snuffing out of life while others simply never prepare for its coming. The book of Hebrews teaches us that it is appointed for us to die and then face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). This too brings pause to the thoughtful soul.

It is in this world: a world of death, fighting, disaster, disease and rebellion against God that we find ourselves. It is in this world Jesus taught us plainly “You will have trouble.” (John 16:33) In this world, there is no way to avoid concerns, cares, worry and anxiety. It is in this world where we must face up to our fears.

Before we describe the journey ahead in this series I want to be clear that worry, fear and anxiety are not categorically “bad” things. Fear can be useful as it can keep us from true dangers. Concern for the future can cause us to pray and plan well in light of God’s leading. We clearly see this in the Scriptures. In the book of Nehemiah, the disastrous state of Jerusalem caused a man deep concern and led him to faith and action (See Nehemiah 1-2). In the New Testament, Paul lists two times in one of his letters to the Corinthians that his spirit was anxious and concerned for a friend as well as the new churches (See 2 Corinthians 2:12, 13 11:28). Furthermore, Jesus, who was fully human and lived without sinning (Hebrews 4:14-16), was so psychologically burdened the night before he was crucified that he was physically devastated (See Matthew 26, Mark 14 and Luke 22)13. These are simply a few examples to show that fear and anxiety in and of themselves are part of the human experience and not in themselves sinful. In fact, an unmoved apathy towards the concerns of our lives, other people and the fallen world is profoundly at odds with the demands of love.

Key questions for us are as follows:

• How will we handle fearful and anxious thoughts and emotions when they come?
• Will we go to God or run from God in our fears?
• Will worry cause us to seek other gods to save us or will we turn to the God who is mighty to save?
• In the anxiety of the day and our worries about tomorrow, will we take our seats in a den of idols or truly place our faith in Jesus, the living God?
• Will fear and worry cause us to pursue selfish paths of self-protection or will we be free to love and serve others?

I hope these questions help us to see one thing clearly. How we respond to God in our fear and anxiety will make a huge difference to our daily experience and our usefulness in the mission of God.

Our Study Together

Over the course of the next few months we will wrestle together with many issues related to our fears and anxiety. The following will serve as vignettes or abstracts for the ground, God willing, we will take together.

Where We Stand or Fall

There are several doctrines of Scripture which are crucial for us to understand in order to find peace of mind and rest for the soul under the sun. In this message we will discuss four foundational truths which settle the heart in the hands of the Father. The sovereignty of God, the love of God, the presence of God’s Spirit with us and in us and an eternal perspective for our longings for safety and security will be examined. These foundational truths will set the table for the practical teaching of the Scriptures to come.

Worried about Tomorrow

In this message we will examine the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 6 about worrying about the future. We fear the future for many reasons. We wonder if we will be safe, if/when will we be harmed, and the quality of our health and the stability of finances. We also have a profound desire to “make it happen” and control everything which can cause deep worry about days ahead. We also worry about the future of our families and whether we can keep everyone fed and a roof over our heads. We care deeply, so we worry. In this message we will look at trusting in our Father to face the future which always remains an unknown to us as we rise each day.

Anxious about Today

In our second message on worry/anxiety we will look more closely at how we face each day and its challenges “with God.” As we head out to our various duties many can have anxiety about not measuring up, not getting it done, being hurt by others and not being in control. Each day we are tempted to pray “my kingdom come, my will be done, on earth as I try to make it my heaven.” When we fear this won’t happen, we freak out. So we will focus in this message on prayer and fellowship with Jesus throughout each day to deal with the soul’s burdens as they arrive in real time.

Facing Fear

One of the most repeated imperatives (commands) in the Bible is “Do not be afraid.”14 Interestingly we are also called quite clearly to “fear God and keep his commandments.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14) In this message we will look at how the fear of the Lord begins a life of wisdom and how in fearing God we learn to not be afraid.

Disappointment with Idols

As human beings we are made to trust and worship. God created us this way yet we so often trust and worship everything but God. When we trust other things and they let us down, we get stressed out, worried, freaked out and even despair. A sure sign our worship is being misplaced is when we freak out over things which are not eternal. One thing is sure in the affairs of human beings: when our gods fail us, our world comes crashing down. A key question for us is this: when our idols fail us, where will we turn?

Trust and Confidence in God

A great image we find in the Scriptures that God himself is a sturdy, strong, secure place. Difficult circumstances are certain to come and the burdens of life will become heavy upon us. Learning to run to God as a present help in times of trouble, a strong tower and mighty fortress is an important rhythm we must grasp in our grappling with fear and anxiety. The safest place is found in one person; the one who is stronger than every enemy we will ever face.

The Arms of Community     

We like to tell ourselves that we can go it alone and take the world on our own terms. This posturing is not only foolish but does not help us towards peace of heart and mind. God has gifted us with his community to receive practical comfort from others in times of need. We learn to have compassion and empathize with others and when to have courage and exhort our brothers and sisters forward out of namby pamby land. Life has many burdens that we must learn to carry together. Sometimes we need a hand, sometimes we need to quit whining and lend a hand. God willing, we will seek this balance together.  

Conclusion

In all honesty my own personality and constitution teeters between being a visionary focused planner and being a concerned and anxious worrier who freaks out over the smallest of things. I am very much in process with all the matters of which we will speak together during this series at Jacob’s Well. It is both humbling and exciting to take this journey with you so that we might see worry, fear and anxiety properly related to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the one who calls us forward with the words “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Long ago a group of Jesus’s followers heard these words and then forgot them as they watched their master executed on a Roman cross. They then remembered these words after they saw him rise triumphantly over the grave. From that age forward many of his people have been bold as lions and peaceful as doves in the face of many a trial and atrocity. They knew the one that held the keys to death and hell loved them and would bring them safely home. They believed deeply the words of their Lord “in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Of these men and women…the world was not worthy (Hebrews 11). May we be numbered among them in our day!

Pastor Reid S. Monaghan

Bibliography

Allers, Roger. “The Lion King.” Walt Disney Company, 1994.

Beauregard, Mario, and Denyse O’Leary. The Spiritual Brain : A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul. 1st ed. New York: HarperOne, 2007.

Cooper, John W. Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting : Biblical Anthropology and the Monism-Dualism Debate. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1989.

Dawkins, Richard. “God’s Utility Function.” Scientific American 273, no. 5 (1995): 85.

Kessler, Ronald C., Wai tat Chiu, Olga Demler, and Ellen E. Walters. “Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of 12-Month Dsm-Iv Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survery Replication.” Arch Gen Psychiatry 62, no. June 2005 (2005): 617-627.

Koukl, Greg. “All Brian, No Mind.” http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5474 [accessed April 29, 2011].

Lewis, C. S. The Screwtape Letters. New York,: The Macmillan company, 1944.

Monaghan, Reid S. “The Implications of Nancey Murphy’s Non Reductive Physicalism on Confessional Christian Theology “  (2009). http://www.powerofchange.org/storage/docs/non_reductive_physicalism.pdf.

Murphy, Nancey. Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? Current Issues in Theology, Edited by Iain Torrance. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Simon, Stephanie. “The United States of Mind ” Wall Street Journal  (2008). http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122211987961064719.html [accessed April 28th, 2011].

Smart, John. “The Identity Theory of Mind.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy  (2007). http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mind-identity/ [accessed April 29, 2011].

Tyrer, Peter, and David Baldwin. “Generalised Anxiety Disorder.” The Lancet 268 (2006): 2156-2166.

Welch, Edward T. Running Scared - Fear, Worry and the Rest of God. Greensboro: New Growth Press, 2007.

Wood, Graeme. “The Fortunate Ones.” The Atlantic 2011.

EndNotes

[1] This of course is a reference to the Swahili phrase made popular by Disney’s 1994 animated hit The Lion King. The phrase means “no worries.” Roger Allers, “The Lion King,”  (Walt Disney Company, 1994).

[2] Ronald C. Kessler and others, “Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of 12-Month Dsm-Iv Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survery Replication,” Arch Gen Psychiatry 62, no. June 2005 (2005).

[3] Edward T. Welch, Running Scared - Fear, Worry and the Rest of God (Greensboro: New Growth Press, 2007), 22.

[4] Peter Tyrer and David Baldwin, “Generalised Anxiety Disorder,” The Lancet 268, no. (2006).

[5] Stephanie Simon, “The United States of Mind ” Wall Street Journal (2008). http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122211987961064719.html (accessed April 28th, 2011).

[6] Graeme Wood, “The Fortunate Ones,” The Atlantic 2011.

[7] The modern reductionist view is well represented by the works of Richard Dawkins who wrote “DNA neither cares nor knows. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” Richard Dawkins, “God’s Utility Function,” Scientific American 273, no. 5 (1995).

[8] See John Smart, “The Identity Theory of Mind,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2007). http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mind-identity/ (accessed April 29, 2011).For a version of this by a Christian author see Nancey Murphy, Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? , ed. Iain Torrance, Current Issues in Theology (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006).

[9] For a simple and popular level discussion of this see Greg Koukl, “All Brian, No Mind.” http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5474 (accessed April 29, 2011).

[10] See Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary, The Spiritual Brain : A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul, 1st ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2007); John W. Cooper, Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting : Biblical Anthropology and the Monism-Dualism Debate (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1989); Reid S. Monaghan, “The Implications of Nancey Murphy’s Non Reductive Physicalism on Confessional Christian Theology ” (2009). http://www.powerofchange.org/storage/docs/non_reductive_physicalism.pdf.

[11] Welch, 25.

[12] For a balanced and creative look at demonic activity see C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York,: The Macmillan company, 1944). There is also an excellent audio version of this work I would highly recommend.

[13] Some read the description in the gospel as demonstrating Jesus had stress induced Hematidrosis, a very rare condition where a person’s sweat glands secrete blood. Others find the sweating of blood to be metaphorical. Either way, the intense emotional anguish affected Jesus physically and was in no way sinful. It was a human reaction to facing certain and painful circumstances. The important thing we see in this narrative is that Jesus goes “to God” in prayer during his hour of greatest anxiety.

[14] Welch, 59-61.