Yesterday the news broke that Rob Bell, former pastor and bestselling author, is in favor of same sex marriage.

While not surprising in the least (when considering the trajectory of his teaching), it is disappointing, if for no other reason than the stance is couched in the language of Jesus’ “revolutionary message.”

But there’s nothing all that revolutionary about saying “this is the world that we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.”

This is not a post about Rob Bell, nor is it one about same sex marriage.

This is about the gospel.

The gospel really is revolutionary.

In the gospel, all have equal value, regardless of ethnicity, social status or gender (Gal. 3:28); men and women are made new (2 Cor. 5:17) and are declared “sons” of God—beloved children of their Creator (Gal. 3:26).

We are freed from the passions of the flesh and bondage to the “god of this world” (Eph. 2:3; 2 Cor. 4:4). We are God’s workmanship, “created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). We are heralds, ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor. 5:20), called to declare the glorious good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the hope that extends from it, and the promise of a world renewed and restored for God’s glory that is to come.

This—not affirming what the world affirms—is what is compelling and revolutionary. It’s not honest, compassionate or compelling to say, “I agree—you’re super just the way you are” when someone’s been sold a false bill of goods.

Especially if you know the real thing is so much better.

But many have forgotten this. “This is the world we live in” after all, and the message of the gospel, apparently, doesn’t cut it anymore.

We don’t want to be controversial because we’d be seen as being “against” people. And controversy gets kind of boring after a while, anyway. But we also, it seems, don’t really want to do the hard work of truly loving them by leading them to the source of their greatest good—Jesus Christ. So instead, we settle for small, meaningless, impotent, pretend “gods” who resemble Jesus in name, but have none of the power or majesty.

Controversy is boring… but so is taking a bold stance to be for whatever the world is for. 

The gospel—the real gospel—is so much better. Let’s be about that, shall we?

“How do I help people engage in worship?”

I know of few church leaders for whom this isn’t a concern on some level. Whether we’re small group leaders, playing in the praise band or the senior leaders, we all want to see the men and women in our churches increasingly engaged in worship (in every sense of the word).

So… how do we do that?

Is it through turning up the speakers? Singing songs with lots of participation, clapping and suggested actions in the lyrics?

D.A. Carson offers a pretty different suggestion in his recently released book, Jesus the Son of God: A Christological Title Often Overlooked, Sometimes Misunderstood, and Currently Disputed:

We increase the intensity, joy, and fidelity of our worship, not by including the verb “to worship” in every second line in our so-called “worship songs,” but by knowing more about God, and bringing our adoration to him, as he is.

Insofar as our conceptions of him diverge from what he has disclosed of himself, so far are we worshiping a false god, which is normally called idolatry. To study hard what holy Scripture says about the Son of God, who has most comprehensively revealed his heavenly Father, is to know more about God, and thus to begin to ground our worship in reality rather than slogans. (Kindle location 1204)

Carson’s point is simple: better worship requires better theology.

It seems counterintuitive. Indeed, some have suggested it’s simplicity, rather than complexity, that increases the intensity of worship. You often see this argument used in connection with battles over hymns in modern worship services.

The language is unfamiliar (unless the lyrics have been updated) and the theology expressed is too complex for the average Christian, or so go some arguments (never mind that the audience for many of the hymns we still widely sing today was illiterate farmers).

True, many (but certainly not all) of the hymns are anything but simple. But, then, neither are many of the preeminent examples of songs of worship found in the Psalms and throughout the rest of Scripture. They communicate profoundly deep—and often complex—truths about God.

At the risk of overstating, I would suggest the objection many have today about complexity in worship is not because “simple” is better. It’s that we are too ill-equipped to handle much more than the most basic truths of Scripture.

While we must always be careful that we don’t succumb to sinful intellectual elitism, we can’t ignore the way God appears to have wired the Christian faith—increased knowledge and understanding of God leads to increased worship.

Depth begets awe.

This is (at least in part) the desire that is to fuel our disciple-making, as Paul’s prayer for the Colossians makes clear. Maybe it should be our prayer, too:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share inthe inheritance of the saints in light. (Col 1:9-12)

(To learn more about this book, visit Westminster Books or Amazon and look for my review here soon.)

The hard truth is that if we fail to take time to think deeply about the unsearchable, wonderful, endless depths of the Word of God—even the difficult passages—it’s like turning off a tap or closing a door. We cut ourselves off from unique opportunities, robbing ourselves of rich possibilities including a deeper love for God, a more profound transformation of our hearts and minds, a more thorough shaping of our character, and a richer filling of our spirits. When Jude commands us to “build yourselves up in your most holy faith,” he’s talking about growing strong in our understanding—and this is impossible without faithful, consistent time in the Bible.

Building ourselves up in the faith, which means (at least in part) growing strong doctrinally, requires us to hold on to the Bible. The absence of a consistent devotional life is not necessarily a mark of a reprobate, but if you’re not engaging the Scriptures on a fairly consistent basis, you should take seriously the possibility that there is something fundamentally wrong with your walk.

Adapted from Contend: Defending the Faith in a Fallen World, pp. 73-74
Available from: Cruciform Press | Westminster Books | Amazon

One of the best things to hear in a worship gathering is a story of how God is working in another’s life. About once a month or so, our church has a member of the congregation share something about what God’s done in their lives—how they came to faith, something critical God’s Word convicted them on, and so forth.

Typically the story follows the well established pattern of “happy life > crisis moment > downward spiral > rock bottom > turn to Jesus > positive change in life circumstances.”

These are wonderful stories to hear, to be sure—it’s amazing to hear how God has freed someone from an addiction or restored a marriage or otherwise made a radical change in the life of a person. But I wonder if there’s a tendency to overemphasize the “crisis” salvation story to the exclusion of all others.

We want vivid details. Exact dates. High stakes…

There’s even a part of me that wonders if we gravitate toward these stories because we want to be entertained.

But here’s the thing: that’s not the story I want for my kids. And I’m pretty sure it’s not the story any Christian parent wants for theirs, either.

My silly big kids (photo courtesy of my lovely wife)

While I realize I have no control over the circumstances by which they may come to trust and obey Jesus, my hope is for the “boring” testimony. I’d love nothing more than for Hudson, Hannah and Abigail to have a testimony that echoes what Charles Spurgeon describes in his autobiography:

It would not be easy for some of us to recall the hour when we first heard the name of Jesus. In their infancy that sweet sound was as familiar to our ear as the hush of lullaby. Our earliest recollections are associated with the house of God, the family altar, the Holy Bible, the sacred song, and the fervent prayer. Like young Samuels, we were lighted to our rest by the lamps of the sanctuary, and were awakened by the sound of the morning hymn. Many a time has the man of God, whom a parent’s hospitality has entertained, implored a blessing on our head, desiring in all sincerity that we might early call the Redeemer blessed; and his petition a mother’s earliest “Amen” has solemnly responded. Perhaps the first song we learned to sing was concerning the children’s best Friend. The first book that we begin to read contained His sweet name, and many were the times when we were pressed by godly ones to think of Jesus, and to give our younger hearts to Him. (C.H. Spurgeon Autobiography: The Early Years, p. 42)

All testimonies are worth celebrating, whether “exciting” or “ordinary.” God’s grace at work in the lives of people is something worthy of rejoicing over. Let’s be careful celebrate both equally.

Every week, there seems to be a new fad diet or exercise program sweeping the nation.

The paleo diet. P90X. Insanity. The four-hour body diet. And on and on the list could go.

The fitness and dieting industry is a cash-cow, to be sure. Tens of millions of North Americans struggle to maintain a healthy weight and level of activity—and Christians are clearly among them.

Christians are right to be concerned about their physical health. Our highest priority must always be training ourselves to grow in godliness; nevertheless, “bodily training is of some value” (1 Tim. 4:8a).

I’ve struggled with my weight for my entire life. I’ve tried different fads. I’ve tried strictly regimenting my intake. Try as I might I’ve not found anything that’s had a lasting effect.

But as we examine dieting practices, we need to ask how the gospel applies to dieting.

That might sound ridiculous, but bear with me.

The primary way the gospel applies to dieting is less about identifying a particular program, but understanding the presuppositions that guide them. A key example is the paleo diet.

The underlying assumption of this is that the foods presumed to be eaten during the Paleolithic era are most ideal for human consumption—which, of course, presents a number of challenges for the Christian.

The first issue with this is that of our view of origins—the creators of this diet can only presume what was eaten during this period, and depending on where you land in the origins view spectrum, you may not agree that there even was a Paleolithic era. So basically, it’s just a bunch of guess work.

The second issue is that we need to be very careful of declaring anything bad which God has not. The modern version of it consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.

It’s all about certain foods being entirely bad, and others being kinda good. Therefore, do not eat the bad foods, just the good ones.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

The Apostle Peter, who grew up a Jew, received a vision from the Lord, a blanket filled with animals of all kinds. He was told to kill and eat from any of them. “But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.’ And the voice came to him again a second time,’What God has made clean, do not call common’” (Acts 10:14-15).

Paul, likewise, warned the Colossians about this very thing:

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Col. 2:20-23)

This is important for us to remember: what God has declared clean—or good for us to eat—we must be wary of declaring bad. It’s not that I’m advocating we all go nuts and eat nothing but refined sugars, but we should remember that all things are intended for our enjoyment.

The greatest concern with many of the fads out there is the almost religious zeal their practitioners have about them—and their certainty to disappoint.

Many people love P90X, but it’s not a sustainable lifestyle activity. It works and gets results, but you can’t do it day in and day out.

Severely restricting your foods too often results in binging if you let yourself off the leash for even a brief period of time.

Instead, we need to treat our diets like we would our growth in godliness—it’s about building a consistent lifestyle of intake and exercise. Just as we fail to grow spiritually if we aren’t creating regular patterns of reading God’s word (intake) and applying what God’s Word says in good works (exercise), we won’t develop healthy bodies that last through extremism and fads.

That’s how the gospel applies to dieting, at least the way I see it (now I only have to act on it).

image borrowed from TGC

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a hate speech ban against William Whatcott a self described “former drug-addict, petty criminal and homosexual-turned-Christian anti-gay activist.”

Whatcott’s pamphlets and flyers portray gays and lesbians “as a menace that threatens the safety and well-being of others, makes reference to respected sources in an effort to lend credibility to the negative generalizations, and uses vilifying and derogatory representations to create a tone of hatred,” according to one source.

Yesterday, Joe Carter made the following observation:

The ruling has potentially broad implications for the Christian witness in Canada. For instance, the court ruled that making claims which could be construed as “detesting or vilifying” homosexual behavior is enough to classify speech as “hate speech”:

Courts have recognized a strong connection between sexual orientation and sexual conduct and where the conduct targeted by speech is a crucial aspect of the identity of a vulnerable group, attacks on this conduct stand as proxy for attacks on the group itself. If expression targeting certain sexual behaviour is framed in such a way as to expose persons of an identifiable sexual orientation to what is objectively viewed as detestation and vilification, it cannot be said that such speech only targets the behaviour. It quite clearly targets the vulnerable group.

“The ruling also states that suppression of ‘hate speech’—such as claiming that homosexual behavior is immoral—is so important that it justifies infringing on religious freedom and provides a basis for a ‘reasonable limit on freedom of religion and is demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society,’” Carter explains. “The court also explained that truth was no defense since ‘Truthful statements can be presented in a manner that would meet the definition of hate speech, and not all truthful statements must be free from restriction.’”

Understandably, this has serious implications for Christians in Canada. As Carter observes in his article, according to the language of the ruling, that language that can be objectively viewed as detestation of a particular people group or behavior can be classified as hate speech, Christians in Canada are at risk of prosecution.

So how can Christians maintain a faithful witness in Canada under the circumstances? Here are three things I’d encourage us to remember:

1. Speak graciously.

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person,” wrote Paul (Col. 4:6). Sharing the Christian view of marriage and sexuality should be a simple thing… but too often we’re painted with as hate-mongers thanks to false witnesses speaking in a way that is thoroughly anti-gospel.

“God hates fags” might have a certain rhetorical flair, but it misses the mark in terms of gospel witness.

While we must never compromise on the clear teaching of the Bible, Christians in Canada (and everywhere else), need to show great love and affection to those within the homosexual community. We need to remember that we are called to love our neighbors, who may also be our enemies (whether figurative or literal). Speak well, speak kindly, and understand that the root issue behind the rhetoric of pro-gay activists isn’t one of behavior, but of identity, something the ruling itself makes very clear.

Homosexuality truly is an identity issue and we must show that our identity in Christ is the only thing sufficient to deliver on what it promises.

2. Speak clearly.

Nevertheless, where Scripture is clear, we must be also. We do need to acknowledge that homosexuality is described as a sin within the Scriptures. Paul speaks of it as being the result of God giving mankind over to a depraved mind. It is, in effect, God’s way of saying, “If you think your sin will truly bring you happiness, have at it.” Paul writes:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth…. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened…. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie…. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (Romans 1:18, 21-22, 24-31)

Notice Paul’s clarity here: “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness.” This “unrighteousness” isn’t limited to homosexuality in specific or sexual sin in general. It is all sin:

Envy, murder, strife, deceit, gossip, slander, arrogance, ruthlessness and so many other attitudes and behaviors—all of it, Paul says, is justly deserving the wrath of God.

Those who condemn homosexuality and sexual sin must also be equally incensed by the gossip, malice, greed, jealousy, strife and deceitful scheming that goes on in far too many of our churches.

But we must also be clear on the good news of the gospel: that Jesus’ death and resurrection is sufficient to atone for all the sins of men and women. No sin—not homosexuality, nor adultery, nor gossip, nor any other sin imaginable—is too great that the cross can’t overcome it. So speak both sides of the truth clearly.

3. Prayerfully accept the consequences.

Speaking the truth requires us to be courageous, now more than ever. The door has been opened by this ruling for serious consequences for Christians who speak the truth, no matter how winsomely. Inevitably one or more of us will face them.

But we need not fear. Our God is greater than any persecution, real or potential. If it’s His will that Christians come under fire in Canada, so be it.

We must remember that the church was born in an era of intense persecution—and grew from 120 believers at the time of Jesus’ ascension to around 20 million by 310 AD! While the consequences we may face will not be pleasant, we ought to consider them “all joy,” knowing that “the testing of [our] faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-3).

The power that seeks to wipe out the Church here in Canada will only make it stronger—that’s how the gospel works in trial and adversity.

And who knows? Perhaps it will be the means by which God brings about revival in a land desperately in need of it.

So, Christian, speak graciously. Speak clearly. Accept the consequences and pray that God’s will be done. 

Evangelicals have a love-hate relationship with knowledge, it seems. Many churches seem to be so embarrassingly anti-intellectual that it seems if you enjoy books, you may finding yourself looking for a new church.

There seems to be a great fear of having a swelled, puffed up head (cf. 1 Cor. 8:1), and with good reason—too many of us have made the error of putting too much stock in head knowledge that doesn’t move to the heart. Too often we take someone’s knowledge of Scripture and Christian theology as evidence of their spiritual maturity.

But where we go too far is when we assume that seeking knowledge is a bad thing.

In fact, knowledge should be a great concern of all Christians. We’re to be transformed by the renewal of our minds (Rom 12:3). Our love is to be informed by “knowledge and all discernment” (Phil 1:9). Paul connects salvation with knowledge—a coming “to a knowledge of the truth” (2 TIm. 2:25).

He even prays that the Colossians will be filled with knowledge in Col. 1:9-10:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

So does growth in knowledge mean spiritual growth? Anthony Hoekema puts it well:

The answer depends on what one means by knowledge. If it is mere abstract, intellectual knowledge, mere rote-memory knowledge, mere “Bible Trivia” knowledge, not necessarily. Paul  in fact, talks about a type of knowledge that “puffs up,” but does not build up (1 Cor. 8:1). But if growth in knowledge means growth in understanding what Christ has done for us, what the Spirit is doing in us, and what God wants us to do for him and to be for him, then growth in knowledge is bound to bring spiritual growth. This is the type of knowledge Peter has in mind when he enjoins his readers, in 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Anthony A. Hoekema, Saved by Grace, 142 (Westminster | Amazon)

We are right to take little stock in knowledge that fills the head but doesn’t transform the heart. But we should always rejoice as believers grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.