I’ve just read The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission by John Dickson, subtitled Promoting the Gospel with More Than Our Lips. It is not often anymore that I read books on evangelism or mission. I am tired of “how to’s” and this book’s title smelled like another how to book. Although I must admit that I’ve never liked sermons giving me 10 ways I can defeat the enemy or 15 ways to act like a Christian, I thought I’d give this book a chance - mostly because it had forewords by one of my favorite authors, Alister McGrath, along with Ravi Zacharias. It also had a nice word written by N.T.Wright on the back of the book jacket along with several others. So, I read it. I’m glad I did!
John Dickson begins with an apology. Not an apologetic, but an apology. Dickson is a self-admitted evangelist. And as such, feels that how evangelism has been taught has oftentimes hurt more than helped. By giving us specific ways to bring someone to the point of a ‘sale’ we have moved away from genuine interchange and into the realm of artifice. Potential ‘buyers’ can smell it and put up their sales resistant shields. Thus fewer and fewer sales are made and a rift is placed between the sellers and ‘targets’. The joy of sharing the gospel is replaced with self-consciousness and frustration and the world is left without a clear witness to Christ from His people. John hopes to help remedy that situation through this book.
John lists four unhelpful perspectives that have come from how we have been taught. These unhelpful perspectives have undermined our witness to Christ. First, because we have been given what words to say when, we have become self-conscious and contrived. Evangelism has become a special type of behavior that is somehow different than our daily life in Christ. We go out to witness as an add-on to how we actually live our lives. Thus our witness becomes contextually divorced from life.
Second, since our witness has been divorced from life, when we get an opportunity to say something about our faith in Jesus, we feel the need, nay the requirement, to say everything that we can say about the gospel. Every verse that has a bearing must be said. The ‘Roman road’ has trod over many a weary traveler, to this I can attest.
Third, we reduce the gospel to two simple points. First, we are unworthy of God’s acceptance, and second, that to be accepted by God we need only believe. The actual story of Christ Jesus as testified to in the four gospels is never mentioned. It is as if we expect people to already know who Jesus really is and all they need is some guilt and or fear to move them along. ‘Witnessing’ becomes a sales pitch instead of a personal testimony of the living Lord of life. No wonder people often feel like they have been sold a bill of goods. The Jesus that John wrote of who he had seen with his own eyes and his own hands have handled is noticeably absent.
The fourth unhelpful perspective is that we have underestimated the mission we all have in promoting the gospel in this world. We have often thought that the only way to get the message of Jesus out is to preach, or at least give verbal witness (lip service?). Now Dickson assures us that the verbal expression of the gospel is vital. He just wants us to realize that the verbal witness to Christ must come in a context that promotes the acceptance of this verbal witness. We all have a role in promoting the gospel by living a life consistent with the truth of this gospel.
This is where the title of the book comes in. Dickson writes “perhaps the best kept secret of Christian mission is that the Bible lists a whole range of activities that promote Christ to the world and draw others to him. These include prayer, godly behavior, financial assistance, the public praise of God (in church) and, as already mentioned, answering people’s questions. All of these are explicitly connected in the Bible with advancing the gospel and winning people to Christ. They are all “mission” activities, and only a couple of them involve the lips at all.” The first seven chapters are devoted to filling out what he means by these ways in which we all can promote the gospel.
He makes a helpful distinction between promoting the gospel and declaring the gospel. While we all can promote the gospel by these ways, not everyone is to declare the gospel through preaching. This service is set aside for those whom God has equipped and called to do such things.
This book was both a relief and a challenge to me. A relief in that I do not have to knock on doors or accost people at the mall in order to contribute to the church’s witness to Christ. The last vestiges of that leftover guilt was washed from my spirit, of which I am thankful. It is a challenge in that I can see several ways that not only I, but also those I lead, could be more involved in promoting the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This book is an excellent and timely encouragement. In an era where the pressure on Christians to acquiesce before the god of this age is intensifying, squeezing them into a crippled posture of hopelessness and ineffectiveness, the thoughts that John Dickson has shared herein can work as an antidote. I pray for the day when Christians will live their lives in such a way as to adorn the gospel with beauty, presenting Jesus as He is, the gracious and awesome Lord of all.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Justice For All
Justice stands above the doorway to the court. She wears long, flowing robes while one hand is uplifted holding scales, the other holds a sword. Blinded, she weighs the evidence and enforces the law without corruption, greed, prejudice, or favor. Her name was Themis, a mythical goddess of those Greeks. She represented impartial divine justice. Her daughters were also in the justice business, but they were not blind. Their justice was only for those transient beings, the mere mortals of earth.
Everyone wants justice to be fair, one size fits all. All are to be under the same law. Ah, but whose law? God’s? Can we know God’s law? If we did, what then? Can justice really be objective? Or is it some idea made conveniently enough by those in power?
Most people have a sense of fairness and seem to know when they are being treated unfairly. Even young children have a fairness meter in their brain. Those of us who have raised children have seen that our children’s fairness meter is skewed, skewed in their own favor. The child’s sense of justice comes with open eyes. It is their own justice, that is what they want. And seeing this we conclude that justice is in the eyes of the beholder.
Have you ever heard that parable where six blind persons encounter an elephant? One says that the elephant is like a fan as he holds onto an ear. Another says that no, it is more like a rope as he holds onto the tail. No it is like a tree as she holds onto a leg. No a wall as another feels the side. I am sure it is like a snake says another as she holds onto the trunk. More like a spear concludes another holding a tusk.
This parable is used to show how each of us perceives only part of the truth yet think we see the whole. Applied to justice, we can see that all of us think we are being just, yet others do not see it our way. We are left with Themis’ daughters whose sight influences what is put onto their scales.
But who is telling this parable? Who is it who actually knows that it is an elephant? Who knows objectively the actual state of affairs? The only one who can be objective is God. He is the only one. Therefore, the only justice that is actually blind, that is truly objective, is God’s.
But we cannot have society functioning without justice. Without enforced law to restrain wickedness, those who are cruel will rule. Might will make right. They will administer their “justice” to please themselves alone. What good does a divine justice serve when any and all can claim divine sanction for their evil work? Hasn’t history shown that the evilest deeds required a supposed divine authority? But what is it that gives us all this sight? How can we see that it was indeed evil and not good that was done by those who claimed divine right? Are we blind? Can we really be that impartial?
Wouldn’t it be more prudent to assume that we all are dipping into that underground pool, that hidden reservoir of justice, left there in our psyche by our creator? We all have a sense of what is right and fair when it comes to ourselves. I know when I’ve been wronged. And I can put myself in your place, if only for a moment, and empathize with you enough to get an idea as to when you have been wronged. Where does this sense of justice come from? Evolution? How could this improve our chances of survival enough to make a genetic change? Wouldn’t the most aggressive survive? Wouldn’t the uncaring and the unfeeling be better at taking care of number one? Our awareness of justice is unlikely evolutionary in origin. It is divine.
So it seems that Themis has left her mark on our nature. We all naturally have this sense of justice, unless effaced by rogue genes or twisted beyond recognition by the hardships encountered through lack nurture. We know that there is a right and a wrong, usually defined by a worldview that has us as its center. But justice exists, however we see it.
Yet Themis herself is an artifice of the intellect of man. She is humankind’s attempt at understanding divine justice. But how can we say we understand divine justice? How can we dress her up and say there she is: behold Justice! All idols have the imprint of their maker upon them. Like any good craftwork, a discerning eye will recognize the hand that made it. So it is with justice. Can your eye discern the hand of God?
Whenever mankind brings retribution for wrongs committed, they always leave within a seed, a seed of vengeance that will, in time, grow up with a hunger for retribution again. Wars do not end wars, at best they just put it them off for a generation or two. When man punishes evil, evil is not thereby ended. At best it is merely restrained. This is the flaw of human justice. It does not end the matter. Yin and yang, forever circling each other. Each with the seed of its own opposite within itself. Human justice.
Yet there is a divine justice. Much deeper than any human can fathom or concoct. The Apostle Paul wrote to us telling us to judge nothing before the time. Why? Because we can only see the external – and that makes us so easy to deceive. This is what he wrote: 1 Cor 4:4-5 NIV “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.”
There is only one blind who yet sees. The One-who-made-it-all, he alone dispenses true justice. He demonstrated this justice in the death of Jesus the Christ, the only begotten son of God. When he was conceived in Mary’s womb he not only took on a body that was recognized as Mary’s son, but he also was enfleshed in humanity. Being sinless he could represent all humanity before God. The cruel death he suffered was what mankind deserved. Justice was served in Jesus’ death. Paul again wrote in Rom 3:23-26 NIV “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
This then forms the basis of divine justice for humanity. All have sinned. All have done things that were not loving. Each of us have, through our own brand of justice, justified ourselves when we have hurt others. But God’s justice, the real divine justice, is demonstrated on the cross of Christ where we all died.
The justice of God declares that, if you agree with God’s assessment of humanity, more than that, if you agree with God’s assessment of you, He will forgive you. In fact, He has already forgiven. You must only believe to receive. Believe that God speaks in Jesus Christ in the same way as the light shines from the sun.
The time will come when all things must be judged, when justice will be served and evil ended forever. The apostle John saw this day in a vision. This is what he wrote recorded in Rev 19:11-16. NIV “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” With justice he judges. Everyone’s heart is before him like an open book. He judges not only actions, but motivations.
The things that people have done to hurt one another, the things people have done to disguise the truth, the things people have done that is unloving, will all be judged with justice. It would be unloving for God to allow wickedness do go on forever. He who alone has the power to stop evil. The evil in each of us has led us to ignore our maker. We have not believed our God. This is the root of all the evil mankind has done. More personal than that, my rejection of my maker is the root of everything I have ever done that was unloving. Our rejection of God is the root of it all.
The apostle Paul wrote in Rom 2:5-11 NIV “because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.”
Loving God and man is doing good. Believing Jesus is the beginning of a new dawn. A day in which righteousness will prevail. Wickedness will be judged at the root. The root of evil is to disbelieve the truth by believing the lie. Where is justice? Look to the cross and believe.
Everyone wants justice to be fair, one size fits all. All are to be under the same law. Ah, but whose law? God’s? Can we know God’s law? If we did, what then? Can justice really be objective? Or is it some idea made conveniently enough by those in power?
Most people have a sense of fairness and seem to know when they are being treated unfairly. Even young children have a fairness meter in their brain. Those of us who have raised children have seen that our children’s fairness meter is skewed, skewed in their own favor. The child’s sense of justice comes with open eyes. It is their own justice, that is what they want. And seeing this we conclude that justice is in the eyes of the beholder.
Have you ever heard that parable where six blind persons encounter an elephant? One says that the elephant is like a fan as he holds onto an ear. Another says that no, it is more like a rope as he holds onto the tail. No it is like a tree as she holds onto a leg. No a wall as another feels the side. I am sure it is like a snake says another as she holds onto the trunk. More like a spear concludes another holding a tusk.
This parable is used to show how each of us perceives only part of the truth yet think we see the whole. Applied to justice, we can see that all of us think we are being just, yet others do not see it our way. We are left with Themis’ daughters whose sight influences what is put onto their scales.
But who is telling this parable? Who is it who actually knows that it is an elephant? Who knows objectively the actual state of affairs? The only one who can be objective is God. He is the only one. Therefore, the only justice that is actually blind, that is truly objective, is God’s.
But we cannot have society functioning without justice. Without enforced law to restrain wickedness, those who are cruel will rule. Might will make right. They will administer their “justice” to please themselves alone. What good does a divine justice serve when any and all can claim divine sanction for their evil work? Hasn’t history shown that the evilest deeds required a supposed divine authority? But what is it that gives us all this sight? How can we see that it was indeed evil and not good that was done by those who claimed divine right? Are we blind? Can we really be that impartial?
Wouldn’t it be more prudent to assume that we all are dipping into that underground pool, that hidden reservoir of justice, left there in our psyche by our creator? We all have a sense of what is right and fair when it comes to ourselves. I know when I’ve been wronged. And I can put myself in your place, if only for a moment, and empathize with you enough to get an idea as to when you have been wronged. Where does this sense of justice come from? Evolution? How could this improve our chances of survival enough to make a genetic change? Wouldn’t the most aggressive survive? Wouldn’t the uncaring and the unfeeling be better at taking care of number one? Our awareness of justice is unlikely evolutionary in origin. It is divine.
So it seems that Themis has left her mark on our nature. We all naturally have this sense of justice, unless effaced by rogue genes or twisted beyond recognition by the hardships encountered through lack nurture. We know that there is a right and a wrong, usually defined by a worldview that has us as its center. But justice exists, however we see it.
Yet Themis herself is an artifice of the intellect of man. She is humankind’s attempt at understanding divine justice. But how can we say we understand divine justice? How can we dress her up and say there she is: behold Justice! All idols have the imprint of their maker upon them. Like any good craftwork, a discerning eye will recognize the hand that made it. So it is with justice. Can your eye discern the hand of God?
Whenever mankind brings retribution for wrongs committed, they always leave within a seed, a seed of vengeance that will, in time, grow up with a hunger for retribution again. Wars do not end wars, at best they just put it them off for a generation or two. When man punishes evil, evil is not thereby ended. At best it is merely restrained. This is the flaw of human justice. It does not end the matter. Yin and yang, forever circling each other. Each with the seed of its own opposite within itself. Human justice.
Yet there is a divine justice. Much deeper than any human can fathom or concoct. The Apostle Paul wrote to us telling us to judge nothing before the time. Why? Because we can only see the external – and that makes us so easy to deceive. This is what he wrote: 1 Cor 4:4-5 NIV “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.”
There is only one blind who yet sees. The One-who-made-it-all, he alone dispenses true justice. He demonstrated this justice in the death of Jesus the Christ, the only begotten son of God. When he was conceived in Mary’s womb he not only took on a body that was recognized as Mary’s son, but he also was enfleshed in humanity. Being sinless he could represent all humanity before God. The cruel death he suffered was what mankind deserved. Justice was served in Jesus’ death. Paul again wrote in Rom 3:23-26 NIV “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
This then forms the basis of divine justice for humanity. All have sinned. All have done things that were not loving. Each of us have, through our own brand of justice, justified ourselves when we have hurt others. But God’s justice, the real divine justice, is demonstrated on the cross of Christ where we all died.
The justice of God declares that, if you agree with God’s assessment of humanity, more than that, if you agree with God’s assessment of you, He will forgive you. In fact, He has already forgiven. You must only believe to receive. Believe that God speaks in Jesus Christ in the same way as the light shines from the sun.
The time will come when all things must be judged, when justice will be served and evil ended forever. The apostle John saw this day in a vision. This is what he wrote recorded in Rev 19:11-16. NIV “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” With justice he judges. Everyone’s heart is before him like an open book. He judges not only actions, but motivations.
The things that people have done to hurt one another, the things people have done to disguise the truth, the things people have done that is unloving, will all be judged with justice. It would be unloving for God to allow wickedness do go on forever. He who alone has the power to stop evil. The evil in each of us has led us to ignore our maker. We have not believed our God. This is the root of all the evil mankind has done. More personal than that, my rejection of my maker is the root of everything I have ever done that was unloving. Our rejection of God is the root of it all.
The apostle Paul wrote in Rom 2:5-11 NIV “because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.”
Loving God and man is doing good. Believing Jesus is the beginning of a new dawn. A day in which righteousness will prevail. Wickedness will be judged at the root. The root of evil is to disbelieve the truth by believing the lie. Where is justice? Look to the cross and believe.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Exponential book review
I have been reading a new book called Exponential: how you and your friends can start a missional church movement by Dave and Jon Ferguson and published by Zondervan © 2010. I was intrigued with the title before I ever read the book. Since I am presently considering how to plant more churches I wondered if the Lord had anything in store for me within its pages.
Can you imagine me feelings when the first words of the first line of the first chapter were “You can do it!” Conflicted would be the best description. On one side hope popped up her head and grinned. On the other side past experience frowned and lightly shook his head. Who to believe? So I read on.
Dave and Jon were telling me how they started with four of them at a restaurant dreaming about how to reach the 8 million people of the Chicago metro area. Dave drew his plan on a napkin. It consisted of circles, circles of influence. This dream sat in the back of mind for several years. Then, with the prodding of a friend, he started to take his dream seriously. The Lord brought Acts 1:8 strongly to his mind. It reads: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (NIV). So then he decided that his dream was consistent with Jesus’ purpose and was granted the power of the Holy Spirit to do the impossible. By the help of the Holy Spirit they would “help people find their way back to God”. This became their mission statement.
They decided that the best way they could do this was to begin a church that had a high impact on the community it was in. This was to be accomplished by not only planting a church, but they wanted to plant many churches and then have a movement of reproducing churches.
The foundation of this potentially exponential reproduction was that everyone was to have an apprentice. If everyone was reproducing their ministry in someone else, then the expansion would not be limited due to a lack of leaders, artists, or helpers. There would be no lack.
All the growth necessary to build large community impacting churches is built upon the principle of this simple reproduction. Each person who had any responsibility was to have an apprentice – someone they could impart to who would either someday replace them or do the same thing somewhere else. The main thing that was to be reproduced in your apprentice was to hear God and do what he says. At this point Hope sat up straight in her chair next to me and smiled.
The rest of the book takes you on a journey through their structure for reproduction. It involved teaching everyone to ask God how they were to go into the world and find a way to help those they find find their way back to God. They taught people to go into the world and not just to only bring people to some meeting. They commissioned everyone to think about how they could start a church or small group. This led to the kind of growth which led to more churches which led to a movement of churches which led to spinning of other movements of churches. They really believe that “you can do this”!
As I tried to hear what God might be telling me through this book, I wondered. How did these guys find so many potential leaders? Did they just attract them by their personality? Did God just give them to them? Is it a matter of call alone? After all, does God really call each of us to start churches as the Fergusons state? I have a lot to think about. That is why I am tardy in getting this review posted on my blog. There is a lot to think about.
Can you imagine me feelings when the first words of the first line of the first chapter were “You can do it!” Conflicted would be the best description. On one side hope popped up her head and grinned. On the other side past experience frowned and lightly shook his head. Who to believe? So I read on.
Dave and Jon were telling me how they started with four of them at a restaurant dreaming about how to reach the 8 million people of the Chicago metro area. Dave drew his plan on a napkin. It consisted of circles, circles of influence. This dream sat in the back of mind for several years. Then, with the prodding of a friend, he started to take his dream seriously. The Lord brought Acts 1:8 strongly to his mind. It reads: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (NIV). So then he decided that his dream was consistent with Jesus’ purpose and was granted the power of the Holy Spirit to do the impossible. By the help of the Holy Spirit they would “help people find their way back to God”. This became their mission statement.
They decided that the best way they could do this was to begin a church that had a high impact on the community it was in. This was to be accomplished by not only planting a church, but they wanted to plant many churches and then have a movement of reproducing churches.
The foundation of this potentially exponential reproduction was that everyone was to have an apprentice. If everyone was reproducing their ministry in someone else, then the expansion would not be limited due to a lack of leaders, artists, or helpers. There would be no lack.
All the growth necessary to build large community impacting churches is built upon the principle of this simple reproduction. Each person who had any responsibility was to have an apprentice – someone they could impart to who would either someday replace them or do the same thing somewhere else. The main thing that was to be reproduced in your apprentice was to hear God and do what he says. At this point Hope sat up straight in her chair next to me and smiled.
The rest of the book takes you on a journey through their structure for reproduction. It involved teaching everyone to ask God how they were to go into the world and find a way to help those they find find their way back to God. They taught people to go into the world and not just to only bring people to some meeting. They commissioned everyone to think about how they could start a church or small group. This led to the kind of growth which led to more churches which led to a movement of churches which led to spinning of other movements of churches. They really believe that “you can do this”!
As I tried to hear what God might be telling me through this book, I wondered. How did these guys find so many potential leaders? Did they just attract them by their personality? Did God just give them to them? Is it a matter of call alone? After all, does God really call each of us to start churches as the Fergusons state? I have a lot to think about. That is why I am tardy in getting this review posted on my blog. There is a lot to think about.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
You Shall Be My Witnesses
Jesus is quoted in Acts 1:8 saying "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The reason for the Holy Spirit coming upon these disciples was so that they could have power to be a witness to Jesus.
A witness is someone who has seen something and has firsthand information. This to me is intriguing. If, as it is commonly done, we apply these verses to all Christians making us all witnesses - which I too think is correct, what are we firsthand witnesses of? Certainly not Jesus as He was in Israel. We, like Paul, are witnesses of the exalted Jesus.
But why would we need power for this? Why would we need the power of the Holy spirit coming upon us for this? I don't think that what Jesus was simply referring to was some synchronization with what we say and the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the listener, although true as far as it goes. But the power is given so that our claim that Jesus is Lord of all could be demonstrated with action, not in words alone.
This is why Paul wrote in 1 Cor 2:4-5 NIV "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." It is an essential part of our witness to demonstrate the veracity of our claim that Jesus is Lord. This is demonstrated by the Holy Spirit, who is supposed to be on us, seen by the acts and signs of power. Without this supernatural demonstration our witness is just another ingredient in the plurality soup.
The Jesus we have come to know is indeed Lord of all. This is our eyewitness claim. We declare that he is exalted to the Father and to prove it He has poured out the Holy Spirit upon us. (please note the italicized words - on not in) These supernatural gifts of the Spirit and the resulting love of the Spirit reproduced in our lives is our gift to the world to demonstrate the living reality of Jesus. We are witnesses.
A witness is someone who has seen something and has firsthand information. This to me is intriguing. If, as it is commonly done, we apply these verses to all Christians making us all witnesses - which I too think is correct, what are we firsthand witnesses of? Certainly not Jesus as He was in Israel. We, like Paul, are witnesses of the exalted Jesus.
But why would we need power for this? Why would we need the power of the Holy spirit coming upon us for this? I don't think that what Jesus was simply referring to was some synchronization with what we say and the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the listener, although true as far as it goes. But the power is given so that our claim that Jesus is Lord of all could be demonstrated with action, not in words alone.
This is why Paul wrote in 1 Cor 2:4-5 NIV "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." It is an essential part of our witness to demonstrate the veracity of our claim that Jesus is Lord. This is demonstrated by the Holy Spirit, who is supposed to be on us, seen by the acts and signs of power. Without this supernatural demonstration our witness is just another ingredient in the plurality soup.
The Jesus we have come to know is indeed Lord of all. This is our eyewitness claim. We declare that he is exalted to the Father and to prove it He has poured out the Holy Spirit upon us. (please note the italicized words - on not in) These supernatural gifts of the Spirit and the resulting love of the Spirit reproduced in our lives is our gift to the world to demonstrate the living reality of Jesus. We are witnesses.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Faith Reasonings
I am reading Robert Webber's book Ancient-Future Faith. I came across a place that accurately describes why I entitled this blog Faith Reasonings. Webber is talking about the differences in approach to the Bible between moderns, both liberal and conservative, and a postmodern point of view. On page 46 he writes "The issue in a postmodern world is not to prove the Bible, but to restore the message of the Bible, a message which, when proclaimed by the power of the Spirit, takes up residence in those who know how to hear."
Then, even more to my point, he writes, "This message is an event oriented perception of the world... The center of the message is person and work of Jesus Christ. The Bible is the authoritative interpretation of this event... In this classical/postmodern view we have shifted from an understanding of the Bible that results in faith to a faith that results in understanding the Bible... The mystery of the person and work of Christ proclaimed is the starting point of faith, not a rational argumentation that seeks to prove the Bible to be correct."
My rationale for naming this blog faith reasonings is just this: it is faith doing the reasoning. This is seen in Abraham believing God's command to sacrifice his own son, and reasoning from there to a resurrection based upon the earlier promises that the Abraham would have as many children as there are stars in heaven and sand by the sea through this very son Isaac.
That kind of reasoning is what I hope to have. The kind of reasoning that builds on what God has said and done to even clearer perceptions. It is faith reasoning, not reasoning to faith.
Then, even more to my point, he writes, "This message is an event oriented perception of the world... The center of the message is person and work of Jesus Christ. The Bible is the authoritative interpretation of this event... In this classical/postmodern view we have shifted from an understanding of the Bible that results in faith to a faith that results in understanding the Bible... The mystery of the person and work of Christ proclaimed is the starting point of faith, not a rational argumentation that seeks to prove the Bible to be correct."
My rationale for naming this blog faith reasonings is just this: it is faith doing the reasoning. This is seen in Abraham believing God's command to sacrifice his own son, and reasoning from there to a resurrection based upon the earlier promises that the Abraham would have as many children as there are stars in heaven and sand by the sea through this very son Isaac.
That kind of reasoning is what I hope to have. The kind of reasoning that builds on what God has said and done to even clearer perceptions. It is faith reasoning, not reasoning to faith.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Purpose of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
I was having a conversation yesterday with a friend of mine. Not odd in itself. We were talking about what some people mean by revival, by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It seemed to him that if all that was expected was a lot of commotion and stuff going on for 6 months then the purpose of the whole thing was not fulfilled; that purpose was a life of love lived in the power of the Spirit.
He wondered why moves of the Spirit only seemed to last for a short time. My response was that to my way of thinking they stopped or slowed because people would grieve or quench the Spirit by refusing to live life according to the nature of the Holy Spirit. Instead of living a life of love they would be jealous, angry, divided, controlling, fearful, dishonest, thieves, liars, and the like.
I told him the story of how, when the Spirit was outpoured at Asuza street the very early 1900's, a guy named William Seymore was then the pastor. He was a poor guy of African heritage and had experienced the segregation common to the era. It was at this church where the move of the Spirit began that many of today's Pentecostal denominations find their roots. Seymore used to say that even though many people experienced the supernatural power of the Spirit manifesting in the gifts of the Spirit, the greatest manifestation of the Spirit he saw was that white and black people, rich and poor, men and women, would sit on the same pews together, work in the ministry together, and generally behave like they loved one another. This to him was the point of it all.
But, like I said, it didn't last. The Assembly of God were the white folks, the Church of God in Christ were the black folks, and they parted ways. This had to have grieved the Holy Spirit. This was just one division, there were others. Like 1Corinthians 13 says, without love we are nothing.
So when I say I want to see people baptized in the Holy Spirit and experience the power of the Spirit, it is for this end: that we Christians would find the power and presence of the Spirit of Christ filling our hearts with love like the scripture speaks. I am looking for a loving and powerful Christianity; first of all in me then in those I know. This is the kind of Christian that will be a true witness with a true testimony of our risen Lord.
He wondered why moves of the Spirit only seemed to last for a short time. My response was that to my way of thinking they stopped or slowed because people would grieve or quench the Spirit by refusing to live life according to the nature of the Holy Spirit. Instead of living a life of love they would be jealous, angry, divided, controlling, fearful, dishonest, thieves, liars, and the like.
I told him the story of how, when the Spirit was outpoured at Asuza street the very early 1900's, a guy named William Seymore was then the pastor. He was a poor guy of African heritage and had experienced the segregation common to the era. It was at this church where the move of the Spirit began that many of today's Pentecostal denominations find their roots. Seymore used to say that even though many people experienced the supernatural power of the Spirit manifesting in the gifts of the Spirit, the greatest manifestation of the Spirit he saw was that white and black people, rich and poor, men and women, would sit on the same pews together, work in the ministry together, and generally behave like they loved one another. This to him was the point of it all.
But, like I said, it didn't last. The Assembly of God were the white folks, the Church of God in Christ were the black folks, and they parted ways. This had to have grieved the Holy Spirit. This was just one division, there were others. Like 1Corinthians 13 says, without love we are nothing.
So when I say I want to see people baptized in the Holy Spirit and experience the power of the Spirit, it is for this end: that we Christians would find the power and presence of the Spirit of Christ filling our hearts with love like the scripture speaks. I am looking for a loving and powerful Christianity; first of all in me then in those I know. This is the kind of Christian that will be a true witness with a true testimony of our risen Lord.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Why Bother?
It is clear, if you have been following this blog, that I think a lot about the baptism in the Spirit. The question arises, why bother? What is the big deal?
I have been a Christian now for 40 years. I find that the thing I miss the most is the kind of immediacy of the Spirit that I experienced and witnessed in the first years of my journey. I miss seeing many people come to Jesus hungry for all that Jesus offers. I miss seeing people by the hundreds want to burn every and any bridge in order to serve Jesus. I miss those silly mistakes that were made because someone stepped out on to the water like Peter did only to find that even when they go beyond their faith Jesus is still there to rescue them.
Today's church seems to me to be more interested in fitting in with society than believing the gospel. Christians were never socially accepted unless they were the ruling power. Even though someday I know that we will rule, that time awaits the coming of our King. We will reign and rule with Him.
The baptism in the Spirit has the potential to blast people out of their conforming cultural complacency into the rule of the kingdom of God. This faith filled life that is entered into by a willing abandonment of the concern for how we look to ourselves and others has had a bad reputation. So many people have done harm to others because they were unconcerned with how others felt that now few want to go anywhere near this kind of abandonment.
I think that the mistake was made in what our focus became. We were so interested in seeing others come to Jesus and be filled with the Spirit as we were that we forgot that the chief goal of all this was the power to show real love. That was too hard though. We would rather tell people our version of the gospel and leave it with that, not wanting to actually spend the time to love that person.
The day is upon us when neither an emergent rehashed liberal social gospel, or a powerless Evangelicalism, or a provincial Pentecostalism will do. Not a new kind of Christianity as Maclaren wrote, but Spirit filled, supernaturally powerful, loving Christians are what is needed.
This is why I think so much about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. A Christianity without the power is not the Christianity that is needed. But since so many Christians are unaware or willingly ignorant of this power, I had hoped that if I could understand how to correctly teach it I would be able to help others of my brothers and sisters who have not yet received what is theirs in Christ would then be able to. Only God knows if I have succeeded.
I have been a Christian now for 40 years. I find that the thing I miss the most is the kind of immediacy of the Spirit that I experienced and witnessed in the first years of my journey. I miss seeing many people come to Jesus hungry for all that Jesus offers. I miss seeing people by the hundreds want to burn every and any bridge in order to serve Jesus. I miss those silly mistakes that were made because someone stepped out on to the water like Peter did only to find that even when they go beyond their faith Jesus is still there to rescue them.
Today's church seems to me to be more interested in fitting in with society than believing the gospel. Christians were never socially accepted unless they were the ruling power. Even though someday I know that we will rule, that time awaits the coming of our King. We will reign and rule with Him.
The baptism in the Spirit has the potential to blast people out of their conforming cultural complacency into the rule of the kingdom of God. This faith filled life that is entered into by a willing abandonment of the concern for how we look to ourselves and others has had a bad reputation. So many people have done harm to others because they were unconcerned with how others felt that now few want to go anywhere near this kind of abandonment.
I think that the mistake was made in what our focus became. We were so interested in seeing others come to Jesus and be filled with the Spirit as we were that we forgot that the chief goal of all this was the power to show real love. That was too hard though. We would rather tell people our version of the gospel and leave it with that, not wanting to actually spend the time to love that person.
The day is upon us when neither an emergent rehashed liberal social gospel, or a powerless Evangelicalism, or a provincial Pentecostalism will do. Not a new kind of Christianity as Maclaren wrote, but Spirit filled, supernaturally powerful, loving Christians are what is needed.
This is why I think so much about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. A Christianity without the power is not the Christianity that is needed. But since so many Christians are unaware or willingly ignorant of this power, I had hoped that if I could understand how to correctly teach it I would be able to help others of my brothers and sisters who have not yet received what is theirs in Christ would then be able to. Only God knows if I have succeeded.
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