Blogging Theologically

Theology for real life

Links I like (9/28)

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Links I like

Don’t Be a Do-Gooder: Pastoral Reflections on Goodness

Aaron Menikoff:

The word “good” is nearly meaningless today. The cook will take it as a criticism when you tell him dinner was simply good. He’ll think if you really liked the meal, you’d have said it was terrific, fantastic, or awesome. Compared to adjectives like these, “good” is average at best.

This deflated understanding of good makes it harder for us to appreciate the Bible. For example, when Paul lists “goodness” as a piece of the fruit of the Spirit, we’re unimpressed. We know goodness matters, but it’s no longer vibrant and colorful. “Good” is like a white towel that’s been washed so many times it’s now a dull gray.

It’s time to recover the meaning of good.

An Evening Celebrating God’s Very Good Idea

This was such a great night to be a part of. Check it out.

Searching for Treasures in Swiss Castles, Museums, and Churches

Tim Challies:

Where yesterday was spent driving through the Swiss countryside and mountain ranges, today was spent in castles, museums, and churches. We were looking for objects related to Anabaptists, Desiderius Erasmus and Ulrich Zwingli. The locations delivered! Here’s how the day went…

How to Be Teachable According to Proverbs

Kevin Halloran:

Teachable people don’t have to be the smartest to succeed—they seek to learn and grow in any and every situation. Being teachable is a foundational quality for everybody: workers, students, husbands, wives, and especially those in leadership roles. If you’re wondering how to grow in teachability, perhaps there’s no better place to turn than the Bible’s wisdom book.

Seven Characteristics of Liberal Theology

Kevin DeYoung:

Like any “ism,” liberalism is not easy to pigeonhole. But Gary Dorrien’s magisterial three volumes on The Making of American Liberal Theology present a coherent picture of a movement that has been marked by identifiable hermeneutical and sociological commitments. Even if one wishes to avoid liberal theology, it would still be wise to know something about a movement that has exerted such considerable influence over the past 200 years.

Below are seven characteristics of liberalism that have been culled from the first volume of Dorrien’s trilogy. The headings are mine; the indented text is from the book.

Pastor as Overseer of Worship Music

Joshua Jenkins:

Worship music can often be seen as a trivial thing for a pastor to spend his precious time on, or one of low theological importance. But I argue the opposite. It is my conviction that the songs we sing in church are of utmost theological importance, second only to the ministry of the Word from the pulpit. The church’s corporate singing is a direct mode of worship, so we had better get that right.

The source of real holiness

A favorite from the archives:

Christians should know this, but we’re prone to forgetting. The rules trap—legalism—is just too easy (because it’s easy, in theory if not in fact). We have rules about kissing dating goodbye. About what music to not listen to. Movies to not watch. Books to not read. Beverages to not consume…

And while the reasons behind the don’ts might be good and right and true, if all we have is don’t, what are we trying to accomplish? At best, the rules, and our attempts to keep them, make us try harder; we white knuckle our way through the things we know we’re supposed to do (including avoiding the things we aren’t supposed to). More often, though, they make us want to give up. Despite our intentions, we don’t become more holy, joyful people—people who increasingly find sin unattractive because Jesus is ever-increasingly attractive to us. Instead, we’re just people who are happy they’re not in trouble.

One thing you can’t afford *not* to do when reading the Bible

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An open Bible being read

Reading the Bible is absolutely essential to a Christian’s growth in his or her faith. All of us probably know this (even if we don’t always do it). But it can’t be overstated: There is no book more important to us as believers. There is no book that will shape us like this like this one. And there’s one thing that is absolutely essential for us to commit to as we read it. Prayer. I love the way J.C. Ryle put it:

Is the Bible the Word of God? Then be sure you never read it without fervent prayer for the help and teaching of the Holy Spirit. Humble prayer will throw more light on your Bible than any commentary that ever was written. You will not understand it unless your heart is right. You will find it a sealed book without the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Its contents are often hidden from the wise and learned, and revealed to babes.

Reading the Bible is essential, but it isn’t enough without prayer. We need the Holy Spirit’s help in understanding the text. We need Him to transform us as we read the text. We need him to give us the humility to repent and believe as we read. Of all the things we should do, this is one thing that should never be overlooked.

Links I like (9/26)

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Links I like

Don’t Sacrifice Truth on the Altar of Community

Michael Kelley:

And there’s the rub. I would argue first of all that community, though important, is not the most important thing we are involved with as Christians. As Christians, we deal in the truth first and foremost. That’s not to say we don’t have our opinions, and that it’s not right for us to express them. But when we gather together as Christians, we must both implicitly and explicitly acknowledge that what we’re after is not what we think, but what is true.

Burnout Begins with Bad Theology

David Murray:

The reason the vast majority of cures and solutions for burnout don’t work is that they merely focus on various techniques to manage stress or reduce anxiety. Some of these practical remedies can be helpful, but they don’t address the heart of the issue. They may put out the fire around the edges, but, because they don’t extinguish the central blaze, the fire within keeps erupting and charred remains keep piling up.

Like a Dream Come True

Jared Wilson:

To practice followship of Jesus is to believe the descriptions. It is to believe that around the corner where we cannot yet go is the most wonderful thing we could ever imagine—in fact, it is beyond imagination, beyond what we can conceive of. Even the descriptions cannot do this revelation justice. We hear the rumors of this place, read the travelogues of those precious few who trembled as though dead having spent mere seconds in that sacred space, and though we do not see it, we believe.

The Duty of Moderation

Tim Challies:

This is an age of consumption, an age of abundance, an age of excess. At least for those of us in the developed world, it is a time of all-you-can-eat buffets, of room-sized walk-in closets, of unlimited bandwidth and endless binge-watching. Our homes are so loaded with stuff that we’ve made self-storage units a thriving and growing multi-billion dollar industry. We’re overflowing and overwhelmed and unhappy.

If There Is No God, There Is No You

JD Greear:

If we stop recognizing them, it’s because something has distorted our view. I’m not saying that atheists are intellectually dishonest. Most of them sincerely believe in atheism. But atheism isn’t a default position. Theism is. Atheism arises when people turn their backs on what are rather obvious indications that there is a God behind creation.

These aren’t “proofs” for God’s existence. But they are, to borrow Francis Shaeffer’s phrase, strong hints that God really is there—and that he is not silent.

Stand by Me and the Magic of Summertime Questing

James Cain:

Apart from Watterson’s legendary comic strip, many books and stories have taken on summer from a kid’s slanted view. It’s hard to ignore the influence of Mark Twain’s pair of boy novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and my favorite remains Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine. That preference notwithstanding, sometimes a movie captures perfectly the essence of a story perfectly, all its promise, at the same time creating something vitally new. I’m not sure any better example of this exists than Rob Reiner’s Stand by Me (1986). The film does in images what Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine does, offering the joy and glory of summer “caught and stoppered.” And I argue it goes further, taking viewers along on a quest that encapsulates coming of age; deep, transforming friendship; and the possibilities of a “summertime kind of life.”

Kids are better theologians than grown-ups (sometimes)

A favorite from the archives:

As we drove to church yesterday, Emily and I were talking about the latest royal visit to Canada. It was a fairly typical conversation for us. Discussion about Canadians’ general lack of understanding about how our government works. A few toe dips into some soft anti-monarchism. We didn’t think about the kids listening in.

And then, my daughter piped up:

“God is the Prime Minister of our lives, and the Lord and King of the universe.”

He knows

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are my prayers too small?

I’ll be honest: my head hasn’t been in the game for the last few days. We got a bit of scary news the other day that’s got me frazzled.1 A few days ago, I could barely sleep. I got maybe four hours, split up into fits and spurts. Each day since has been progressively getting better in that regard, but the issue is still sitting in the back of my mind, stealing brain power that I would rather have directed to something I can deal with.

So as you can imagine, I’ve been praying a lot. Like a lot a lot, which is a good thing in times like this. And as I’ve prayed, I keep coming back to Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus’ word for those of us who might be struggling with anxiety over the cares of the world.

“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his life-span by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Jesus was and is right when he said that worry won’t actually a moment to my life, but this is not a message condemning my anxiety over this particular issue. Instead, my eyes keep falling on four words, “your heavenly Father knows.”

These words have been so much comfort to me over the last week, if for no other reason than they’re true. He knows about this situation; he is sovereign over it. He knows what will happen, because he is sovereign over that, too. He knows what I need in every circumstance.

He knows. And that is enough to get me through today.

  1. For those curious, it’s nothing life threatening. Just more hassles related to our move to America. ↵

We are what our Creator says we are

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debating at the table

How do you understand what it means to be human? Most of us think about humanity in terms of potential or utility—what we might be, or what we actually do. When someone asks us what we do for a living, for example, we say “I am a [fill in the blank].” When we talk about protecting the most vulnerable, it’s usually with an eye toward what they could be, whether a doctor, dentist, or delivery person.

I don’t think this kind of utilitarian approach to defining humanity works. It’s what we see the entire world trying to do every day, and it doesn’t make sense. If our identity is based on our job, education, intelligence, sexuality, or anything else you can think of, we’re thinking too small. We’re thinking in ways our Creator never intended for us. He gives us a better answer to the question we’re asking. He knows what makes a person a person because He’s the One who made us. And what He says is that a person, a human being, is one who is made in His image.

And therein lies the mystery, doesn’t it? What does it mean to be made in God’s image, according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26)? The short version is that as God’s image bearers, we are mirrors, reflecting God’s attributes to the rest of creation in three distinct but complementary ways:

  • Our nature. By virtue of being made like Him, we share characteristics with God, our Creator. We are creative and communicative beings. We are logical and rational beings. We are moral and compassionate beings. These are inherent to our nature, hardwired into our DNA.
  • Our actions. Humanity is given authority and responsibility over the rest of creation. This is what’s meant by the terms “rule” and “subdue” (CSB), or to “have dominion” (ESV). We “subdue” the earth, harnessing its resources for human flourishing, which naturally encourages wise technological and scientific development. In our dominion or ruling over creation, we not only resemble God using our shared characteristics, but we reflect God in managing the resources He’s provided responsibly.
  • Our relationships. All humans are designed for relationships (even introverts like me). Of all the things God created, the only thing He deemed “not good” was that man should be alone (Gen. 2:18). He needed a complement, someone like him who would be his equal, which led to the creation of the first woman from his side. In our relationships, both marital and platonic, we reflect God’s Trinitarian nature, existing in eternal community as the Father, Son, and Spirit.

All these characteristics are unique to humanity, and are fundamental ways in which we resemble God. And although our sin twists and perverts our ability to rightly reflect God, we still reflect Him in some way. Despite our sin, we are what God says we are: His image bearers, and no one and nothing can take this away from us.

This is another post in my informal series exploring different theological concepts for another project I’m working on. As such, application is going to be limited. Hopefully the knowledge will be helpful. 

Weekend reading (9/23)

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Weekend Reading

How Many Christians Were There in 200 A.D.?

Philip Jenkins:

At first glance, the Christian world was impressive in its scope and geographical range, to the point where it seems to constitute almost a parallel to the Roman Empire – almost a shadow Christian Empire in waiting. But then we turn again to the likely numbers, with just 250,000 believers in that wide world. Without any firm basis for such estimates, let me propose some possible figures for the largest communities, remembering that these would incorporate all churches and sects combined. Rome itself would likely have been by far the largest, with (say) 40,000 Christians. We might then estimate communities of 10-15,000 for such regional capitals as Antioch, Alexandria, and Carthage, 5,000 for Jerusalem and Ephesus. Those numbers do not seem very high, but if they are even close to accurate, those six centers alone would account for 100,000 people, or 40 percent of the world Christian population. That leaves just 150,000 to fill all those smaller cities and towns, from Britain to southern India.

What We Know about Arius and His Heresy

Brandon Smith shares a few insights from David Wilhite’s book, The Gospel According to the Heretics.

Living With Financial Integrity

Ryan Rice:

It was at this church that I first heard the pastor say, if you are a guest, feel no pressure to give. This was a breath of fresh air for me as it removed any thought in my mind of a lack of integrity within the ministry.  Yet, this all came from the leadership of the church taking a stand that “it is better to live a life of integrity than shame.”

3 Places Where Leaders Must Be AT LEAST Average

Eric Geiger:

The longer I lead, the more leery I am of bringing people to the team who dismissively shrug off their weaknesses because their strengths are so pronounced. For example, the person who says, “I am a big picture guy, an idea guy, but that means I am not really good at the details” still needs to be able to answer email and knock out some tasks. The person who says, “I am a task-oriented leader; just load my plate with work and I knock it out, but people can get in my way at times” needs to be able to connect with the team relationally. One doesn’t have to be stellar in everything, but there is a bare minimum of competency in all of the critical things or one just cannot function on the team.

Does Your Social Media Outrage Bear False Witness?

Gaye Clark:

What we post on social media can take on a life of its own. The matter feels urgent, so we hastily type rebuttals. Veiled as zeal for truth, we run to our computers and phones to adjust error and admonish the man who got it all wrong. Any public misstep can be called out to legions of our followers who, in turn, can pass on the public rebuke to their followers.

With so many people agreeing with us, confidence grows that we have chosen a worthy battle.

Career Idolators (And What to Do About Our Jealousy)

Sean Nolan:

A friend of mine recently shared that he was nearing completion of his fifth book. While I outwardly feigned excitement, inwardly I recognized an old acquaintance: jealousy. If you’ve been in ministry for any amount of time—and if you’re honest—you’ve experienced this as well.

Art as Idolatry

A favorite from the archives:

I have a love-hate relationship with the “creative” world. On the one hand, human creativity, in whatever expression it manifests itself, is a wonderful gift from the Lord. Because God is THE Creator, we imitate Him in our small-c creativity. On the other hand, I really hate the “culture” of creativity. While attending the 2012 Story Conference in Chicago, the impression I got of what the creative ideal could be summed up something like this: A true creative is a non-linear thinker; someone who doesn’t like rules (or in some cases logic), and is driven by a passion to just “create.” They want their work to matter—and in many ways, they themselves want to matter.

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