"Go and Take" vs. "Come and See"

*Editor's Note: This was #11 on our Top Posts of 2012. _

I was recently asked to give a quick thought on why I believe that the structure of missional community (MC) life is better than traditional church structures. I really wouldn’t start by saying, “MC’s are the only way.”

Instead, I’d start with the fact that making disciples of Jesus, that make disciples of Jesus, with the power and authority of Jesus, is the mission of the church. Based on Matthew 28:18-20, we are called to baptize these new disciples in a new identity with a new mission. This identity is found in the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit. So, we are now to live this out as family because we have the same Father. We are servants because our King, the Son of God, came down to show us how to be servants as he was and to serve and not be served. And we are missionaries because the Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, now lives in us to make us his witnesses (Acts 1) to the ends of the earth.

We are now a family of missionary servants with a new mission – making disciples of Jesus, who make disciples of Jesus, instead of making disciples of self, who make disciples of self.

God's Family

When we look to the very beginning of time, God was always looking for a community, a family, that would show off who he was to the world. From Adam and Eve who were to be fruitful and multiply, to Abraham who was going to be a great nation, to Paul saying the church is the body of Jesus to the world, and of course Jesus saying that he was bringing in other sheep that were not of the fold, creating one flock under one shepherd. Again, the purpose is showing off Jesus (Acts 1). The whole story is about God’s pursuit of a people to show off who he is and what he’s done.

With all this said – that we are to be a family of missionary servants on the mission of God of making disciples – we now look to see how can that functionally happen. In Acts, we see this happening in all spheres of life: house to house, sharing all things, and being in each other’s lives continually. We see this happening in smaller oikos’ and then seemingly larger gatherings as well. Paul also continues to call us to share each other’s burdens and speaking truth in each other’s lives.

How Does This Happen?

We have to ask: How do we ensure that this holistic life-on-life with one another is happening? (The passages about loving one another and bearing each other's burdens are numerous.)

If we look to see how Jesus discipled, we have find that he discipled his apostles approximately 80-85% of the time while in the midst of unbelievers. So, Jesus discipled, or made disciples, by being on the mission of God, on the mission field with those he was discipling. Not only that, but these people were normal people sacrificing anything and everything to ensure that they made disciples of Jesus. Normal people with an abnormal calling.

How do we do this? The traditional church has historically (I am speaking of the time from the 1940’s to 1950’s until now, so maybe I should say “recently”) have said “come and see.” They’ve acted more like Israel and created a subculture of religious activities for people to come to. Whether a program or an event at a church building, they’ve invited people to “come and see what we do and what we’re about and become one of us.” This has gone through good times and bad in the past 70 years. It was good when postmodernism was just beginning; it became bad more recently as postmodernism and post-Christendom has taken root in the West.

The MC "model" is pondering what it would look like to add an element rather than simply saying "come and see." We don't want to rid ourselves of the “come and see,” which we would keep in the form of public worship, but what if we added a huge emphasis of living normal lives, in normal rhythms among normal people? How would it look if we added “go and make” by the power of the Spirit and authority of Jesus? Not only this, but what if we got rid of anything that isn’t aiding in the making of fully formed disciples of Jesus and added or emphasized those things that would help create an environment of disciple making? This means putting everything on the table, including how many times a week/month/year we gather together for meetings, because there is no mandate Scripturally on how often to get together for meeting. Hebrews 10:25 does say that we need to be together as often as it takes to ensure that we can stir up one another to love and good works. This can include a traditional worship service but we don’t buy into the fact that this is the only, or even the primary, way we can stir up one other to love and good works.

Many might be doing this right now in the traditional churches and not calling it “missional communities” and that’s totally fine. It’s not about a model, or about what it’s called; it’s about living everyday lives, in everyday rhythms, with everyday people, with an extraordinary message of redemption.

Questions I Try and Ask

• How can we emulate the way Jesus discipled? Where and how do we see him discipling?
• How can we live out the understanding of our new identity with our new commissioning to make disciples?
• How can we best see the ways in which our hearts, our church people’s hearts, and our neighbors’ hearts need the good news?
• How can we make sure that ANYONE can make disciples, not only a select few?
• Are there ways we can change our structures to aid an environment of disciple making? Meaning, are there ways our churches are using a fork to eat soup? (It might work, but not as well as it could work if we merely changed the how, not the foundation.)

The Daily Gospel

The idea of discipling yourself may sound odd. In my church experience, I often saw discipleship as two people meeting together to talk about God. This approach to discipleship is so ingrained in our church culture that when I was talking about getting together with a guy from church for discipleship, my wife immediately asked “What book are you guys reading through together?” One on one discipleship is wonderful. I enjoy the iron-sharpening-iron effects of this kind of discipleship. But we shouldn’t limit discipleship to this methodology alone.

All of Christian life is discipleship. The gospel weaves throughout every fiber of our life. The gospel isn’t just skeleton truth that we acknowledge and say amen to. No, the gospel is truth. Who we are in Christ is massively important. It’s our foundation for living and dying well. The Belgic Confession of Faith captures this tension when it says,

These works, as they proceed from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable in the sight of God, forasmuch as they are all sanctified by His grace. Nevertheless they are of no account towards our justification, for it is by faith in Christ that we are justified, even before we do good works; otherwise they could not be good works, any more than the fruit of a tree can be good before the tree itself is good (BC, Art. 24).

Foundations are meant to be built upon. The life, death, and resurrection of Christ and its necessary consequences will change the way you live. If this is the truth of your life, you will find yourself building upon the only sure foundation. And when the rains falls, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat against your house, it will not fall (Matthew 7:24-27). Because you built your house on the only sure foundation, Jesus Christ. Who is the architect of our faith and who empowers us to build a life of godliness through the Spirit.

Discipleship is following Jesus by learning more about the gospel and how it changes every area of our life.

Preaching the Gospel to Yourself

You must know how to apply the gospel to your own life. Martyn Lloyd-Jones sums up this skill well,

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc.

Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: "Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you . . ."

The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: "Why art thou cast down" -– what business have you to be disquieted?

You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: "Hope thou in God" -– instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do.

Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: "I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.”

I’ve struggled with depression for my entire life. No lesson was longer in the learning but more beneficial than preaching the gospel to myself. I recall sitting in my room during high school struggling with my faith. Struggling with life. I allowed everything but God to define who I was. So, I was tossed about with every wave of life. Until one day, the Spirit opened my eyes to the significance of Christ’s life, death, & resurrection for me. He shifted my doubts and fears to Christ. So, you can listen to lies, like me, or you can preach the good news of Jesus to yourself.

You may ask: How do I know I’m listening to lies?

• You may find yourself loathing your current state in life.
• You may find yourself rehearsing the lies instead of the gospel.
• You may find yourself speaking against the promises that are yours in Christ.
• Or, like me, many times you may find yourself desiring the return of the darkness.

These are the times you must fully rest in Christ. Fully trust in his promises. You must believe the words of God’s promises above the lies. You must learn to interrupt yourself with the truth of the gospel. Upbraid yourself with the blood of Christ.

That’s why I chuckle when people deride doctrine. There’s nothing more practical than doctrine. Doctrine, grounded in Christ, saved me. It was the foundational truth of the gospel that transformed my life. Without tangible gospel truth; there is no life transformation. The truth of the gospel breaks through the darks cloud of our suffering and sin speaking when our eyes are blinded. For instance, when I doubted God’s promise of love for me in Christ, the Scripture told me “Nothing can separate you from his love” (Romans 8). That’s doctrine. Doctrine isn’t dead. Doctrine is alive and sharp like a sword. We must fight lies with truth; truth applied to life.

The Heidleberg Catechism is a wonderful example for those who wonder what rich doctrine looks like when mixed with practical living impetus. Tim Keller has condensed The Heidelberg Catechism Q/A #1 for his New City Catechsim Q/A #1:

Question: What is our only hope in life and death?

Answer: That we are not our own but belong to God.

Life and death represent the entirety of life. Is anything more comforting and more practical than knowing without a shadow of doubt, “We are not our own but belong to God”? Not for me. It is truths like these we must preach to ourselves.

Recognizing Parseltongue

You must not only learn to accost yourself but also preach and apply the gospel to your own life. You must learn to recognize parseltongue (that’s the language of serpents in Harry Potter). You aren’t the only one who desires to speak into your heart. The Devil is called the Father of Lies (John 8:44) and the Accuser. You must learn to recognize his voice and his tactics. Paul mastered this and forcefully argues against the Accuser’s lies in Romans:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. - Romans 8:31-34

Paul asks “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” Yet, how many times does the Accuser seek to bring a charge against you? How often does he speak subtly in your ear:

• Did Jesus really die for you?
• Can the death of Jesus cover your sins?
• Is the cross really enough? You must die.
• You must earn God’s approval.
• Is Jesus really interceding for you?
• Your wife, friend, and boss know your sinfulness and condemn you. God also condemns you!

Yet, hear these words of truth again, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?”

This passage contains individual application to various sin issues, but the beauty lies with the corporate nature of our union with Christ. We must know more of our union with Christ because all of our new life is tied up in the truth of our union with Christ. When you were saved, you were baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Your old self is here no more. You are a new creature. Dr. Tom Holland expounds this truth in relations to Romans 8.

Paul already dealt the possibility of an accusation of guilt being brought against the church for entering into another marriage relationship (Rom 6:7; 7:1-4). Satan will accuse Christ and the church that their union is not lawful. Should the call go out: “if anyone can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together in matrimony, let him now declare it, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace” he is read to cry out: “She is mine. She is already married.” It is into this awful scene that Paul confidently declares: “It is God who justifies!” The judge of the whole earth will accept there is a charge to answer, and Paul states why this is so in the next verse [i.e., we have died with Christ and have risen to new life]. Of course, if Satan cannot persuade believers that it was unlawful for Christ to take his people as his bride then he will find other means to charge them. The answer to all charges, whatever they may be, is: “Christ has died and is rise! Hallelujah!”

So stand firm Christian. Battle those accusations with the blood of Christ shed on your behalf.

The Daily Gospel: Feeding on Christ

For you to be able to preach the gospel to yourself and for you to be able to recognize parseltongue, you must know the truth. You cannot fight with something you are unfamiliar. If you’re unfamiliar with a sword, would you expect to handle it expertly in combat?

Yet, how many of us are journeying through life without any familiarity with the gospel story found in scripture? How many of us desire the Spirit’s daily transforming power to kill sin but aren’t using the scripture inspired by the Spirit?

The Christian life is a journey. We are “sojourners and exiles” but in order “to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11) you  must have an offensive strategy.

That offensive strategy is feeding on Christ. The more you feed on Christ. The more you will have of the Spirit. The more you have of the Spirit the more you will recognize lie from truth.

First, you must engage God in Scripture. Scripture is our sole authority and will equip us to live in light of the gospel.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

How can the author of Hebrews say the word of God is living? It lives because the Scripture is breathed out by God and his Spirit changes us through the truth of the gospel found within its pages. Therefore, to do discipleship without a heavy daily dose of the gospel is folly. This dose comes through reading, meditating, and sharing the word.

Second, you must engage the Gospel word with others. This requires intentionally growing relationships with other Christians who you can share life and the gospel with. The death of Christ builds community so to disciple yourself without involving others is also folly.

Be actively involved in a local church. Give others permission to speak lovingly into your heart. Humbly accept criticism and rebuke from others. That’s hard. Community is hard! It is in community that we see the redemptive power of God working in and through us. We cannot fight the lies of the enemy on our own. We need one another and we also need to own our discipleship journey. We preach the gospel to others and ourselves. This is the journey of discipleship in all of life.

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Mathew B. Sims is the Editor-in-Chief at Exercise.com and has authored, edited, and contributed to several books including A Household Gospel, We Believe: Creeds, Confessions, & Catechisms for Worship, A Guide for Advent, Make, Mature, Multiply, and A Guide for Holy Week. Mathew, LeAnn (his wife), and his daughters Claire, Maddy, and Adele live in Taylors, SC at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains with their Airdale Terrier. They attend Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA). Visit MathewBryanSims.com!

The Podcast Church: A Plea for Spiritual Fathers, Not Just Guides

Editor's Note: This is a repost of Discipling: More than a Podcast Preacher by Jonathan Dodson. It appears here with the author's permission. Website: www.9Marks.org. Email: info@9marks.org. Toll Free: (888) 543-1030. © 9Marks ---

Preaching and hearing the gospel is not enough.

Jesus didn’t just preach the gospel—he mediated it. As he taught and modeled the gospel of grace, it was mediated through his flesh and blood relationships. He didn’t rely on mountain top airwaves alone. He always came down the mountain, right into the mess of everyday sinners. Jesus was attached to disciples who were attached to one another. The gospel went viral through flesh and blood not silicon and megabytes. He mediated the gospel of the Father, Son, and Spirit through father-son-like relationships with others. His incarnation was not only to bear the cross but also to become a person his disciples could imitate.

Paul, too, brought the gospel down to earth when he faced factions and over-realized eschatology in Corinth. The church was more oriented toward personalities than actual persons, guided by personas rather than “fathered” by mentors they could imitate. Writing to the church, Paul contrasts guides with fathers: “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:14-15). Guides were hired tutors bound to their students by money. But fathers are relational leaders bound to their children by love. Paul also called the church to mediate the gospel through close, imitable relationships.

Therefore, it is not enough to identify with a gospel guide. Favorite authors, preachers, and teachers are not sufficient for discipleship. Relationally detached, hired teachers cannot replace attached, loving fathers. In the tradition of Jesus and Paul, the church desperately needs to recover a relationally mediated gospel. We need fathers, not just guides.

WHO’S TO BLAME: PODCASTS OR PASTORS?

Today, many Christians identify themselves with specific preachers through podcasts or online sermons. Listening to these sermons can be a tremendous benefit to Christian growth and spreading the gospel. However, in the hands of sinners, podcasting can also become a detriment to growth. Listeners can be so beholden to a preacher outside their church that they identify less with those inside their church. They possess a technologically mediated gospel, not a relationally mediated one.

When this happens, disciples stunt their growth and the mission of the church. They settle for doctrine over life instead of “watching their life and doctrine closely” (1 Tim. 4:16). When discipleship is doctrine-dominated, it tempting to act like an armchair quarterback. Disciples try to call the shots, criticizing local pastors for not being like other “celebrity” preachers or for not “doing church” like certain practitioners. Podcasting comparison (not podcasting) undermines the centrality of the local church. Instead of actively pursuing local leaders for discipleship, church members passively listen to other preachers’ sermons. While “countless guides” are assembled in podcast playlists, local discipleship declines. This “podcasting comparison” compromises the discipling impulse of the gospel. It produces more guides and groupies than fathers and sons. Worst of all, it misrepresents the gospel of the discipling God.

Who is to blame for this famine? Technology? Media mogul General David Sarnoff remarked: “We are too prone to make technological instruments the scapegoats for the sins of those who wield them.” Podcasts are not to blame. We are. Technological blame-shifting will not help our churches raise up spiritual fathers to disciple others. Pastors and non-pastors mistake a diet of theological information for whole-life discipleship. As a result, we face a disciple-making famine amidst a homiletical feast.

Both pastors and churches will need to repent.

REPENTANCE FOR CHURCHES

There are disciples in local churches who need to repent of celebrity-leader comparison. Some will need to confess to their leaders. Others will simply need to change. Setting a new course, they should turn to affirm the leadership of their local pastors and look for ways to join the disciple-making mission of the church. Recognizing God has appointed elders and leaders for their good, disciples should search for a local father, or fathers, in the gospel. These gospel fathers will help them grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. Look for a “father” among those older in the faith, small group or ministry leaders, or pastors.

Instead of looking to countless guides for information, disciples should seek out (and eventually become) fathers who disciple for imitation.

Although technology itself is not to blame, “I” technology certainly caters to the individual consumer. Ken Myers notes that, in the West, the identity of “disciple of Jesus” has been replaced with “sovereign consumer.” As sovereign consumers, we select our influences without regard to God’s sovereignly appointed influences. We seek podcast theology over pastoral discipleship. We prefer isolated information instead of relational transformation. While the sins of individualistic consumerism and evangelical comparison are ours, the podcasting medium, relied on excessively, does carry a message: “All I need is informational discipleship.”

REPENTANCE FOR PASTORS

Pastors who offer theological information at the expense of genuine relationships also need to repent.

Fellow pastors, our theology should disciple. It must express itself in intentional, mentoring relationships. Our calling is to shepherd not only through preaching but also with people. Our flocks hear our countless sermons, but do they have many fathers? Are we favoring theological information over fatherly imitation?

Jesus could have transmitted the gospel by dropping a Bible from the sky, launching an infallible podcast, gathering Twitter followers, or projecting holograms of himself in every village and city. But he didn’t. He chose flesh, human touch, sight, smell, and presence. The Son of God became a spiritual father to twelve disciples in order to transmit the gospel through flesh and blood. He calls us to do the same. Technologically mediated preaching—and even preaching in person—isn’t enough. People need to see the gospel live and hear it in relational stereo. They need our bodily presence, faults and all. Disciples need encouragement that breathes and correction that has a heartbeat. We all need gospel fathers to help us imitate Jesus.

WHO TO IMITATE: GOSPEL FATHERS

You’re probably wondering: “What is a gospel father?” Paul viewed himself as one: “I became a father to you in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:14). A gospel father (or mother) is someone who takes spiritual responsibility for a disciple’s growth (Thes. 2:7-14). This relationship happens by relating to someone through the gospel. It does not begin because the father is morally, experientially, or spiritually superior. It begins by a common, joyful commitment to the superiority of Jesus and his unmatched grace towards us. The gospel connects father to son, mother to daughter in a shared identity in Christ Jesus.

When we repent and believe in Jesus, we are converted not only to his lordship but also into his family. This family is like interconnected circuits, rewired into a new network of relationships energized by grace. When grace is absent, the network drags and gets disconnected. Fathers are separated from sons, mothers from daughters. Guides dominate. Family dysfunction creeps in. The gospel, however, offers an endless power supply of grace to strengthen family relationships. This is why we need not just fathers, but gospel fathers.

Gospel Fathers are Templates of Christ

Gospel fathers take responsibility for others by giving their disciples a template to imitate. As a gospel father, Paul exhorted his disciples: “I urge you, then, be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:15; cf. 2 Thes. 3:7, 9). The author of Hebrews reminded the church: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7).

Imitation is hardwired into family. My one year-old daughter bends her lip in like I do when I’m thinking. My seven year old son loves to explain things like I do, using hands and all. As gospel fathers, we have a responsibility to show the church what it is like to follow Jesus. We are to be templates of Christ. In order for people to imitate us, we must spend time with them. An occasional meeting won’t do. People need to share our life as well as our faith. They need to see our struggles as well as hear our sermons.

As a pastor, the people with whom I spend most of my informal time often go on to become gospel fathers, leaders, and pastors. Why? Because shared time exposes them to a template of Christ that, by God’s grace, they can confidently imitate. They see through the template into Christ. They observe how desperately I need the gospel of grace to reflect the image of Jesus. They see me frustrated and full of faith, discouraged and confident.

When gospel fathers share their lives with others, the template becomes tangible and attainable.

Tell the Gospel Truth & Offer a Template

Fathers also tell their disciples the gospel truth. They instruct their children and give them something to imitate. Guides cannot offer imitation, but fathers can. Fathers who are present are fathers we want to hear from. When we are present, our words have more meaning. Gospel fathers get deep into people’s lives to struggle with and for them in life. Our experience and example is not enough. They need the gospel of grace applied in concrete, practical areas of struggle.

One of the men I spend regular time with is a professional in the tech field. In his new position, he found himself continually frustrated. As we peeled back the layers through shared meals, prayer, and life, we discerned that he was most frustrated when his boss disapproved of his work. This demanding boss made it difficult for him to work in peace. As a result, he oscillated between a sense of overconfidence or under-confidence depending on how his boss related to him. I shared how my confidence in preaching sometimes rises and falls depending on how the church responds. He was surprised. I also shared how I have found great confidence in Christ because Scripture reminds me that, though I am inadequate for preaching, the Spirit of God has made me more than adequate (2 Cor. 2:4-6). He reminds me that my approval comes through Christ not the church. Similarly, his approval is secure in the gospel, which frees him to work from approval in Christ not for approval from his boss. As a result, our confidence doesn’t rise and fall with what people think but rests securely in what Christ thinks. Working through 1 Corinthians together we seized upon this promise: “all is yours, you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:23). We have everything we need wrapped up in the love and approval of the Father and the Son! Now we encourage one another regularly with this gospel truth. Sharing my life as a template along with telling him the gospel truth, my “spiritual son” has since weathered unemployment remarkably well, drawing from deeper confidence in Christ.

When discipling others, we must be present enough to provide a template but truthful enough to point them to Christ. As good fathers, we must assure our disciples they are loved and accepted regardless of their success in imitating us. Through these kinds of relationships, others can see that the gospel of grace is enough to get us through both failure and success.

WHAT WE NEED

If the church is to grow, fathers must be present to be imitated. Disciples must seek them out. We must find time with men and women who can mediate the gospel to us. Pastors and church leaders must move beyond dispensing truth to offering a template. The church needs gospel truth and relational templates. We need the gospel mediated through fathers, not just guides.

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Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv; ThM) serves as a pastor of Austin City Life in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Gospel-Centered Discipleship and has written articles in numerous blogs and journals such as The Resurgence, The Journal of Biblical Counseling, and Boundless. He has discipled men and women abroad and at home for almost two decades, taking great delight in communicating the gospel and seeing Christ formed in others. Twitter: @Jonathan_Dodson

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For more information on cultivating fresh faith in the gospel, check out Jonathan Dodson’s Unbelievable Gospel. Now available in print.

For more free articles on missional living read: Invite & Invest to Make Disciples by Greg Gibson, Theology is for Everyone by David Fairchild, and The Gospel & Our Neighbors by Alvin Reid.

The 8 Best Post-Election Responses

Soon after Obama's re-election, many evangelicals had provocative and thoughtful responses. I've aggregated my eight favorite articles here (in no particular order): > Jonathan Merritt believes that "American Christians may be on the cusp of a healthier engagement in the public square."

> Albert Mohler is concerned that the 2012 election represents "a new moral landscape in America, and huge challenge to those of us who care passionately about these issues."

> Thomas Kidd charges us to focus on "the little cultural spheres we inhabit on a daily basis."

> Denny Burk contends that Christians owe President Obama "our loyal opposition."

> Russell Moore also wants Christians to remember that "honor doesn't mean blanket endorsement."

> Anthony Bradley proposes that the exit polls reveal that "for black voters, entitlement programs trump moral-social issues every time."

> Owen Strachan to young evangelicals: "God is sovereign ... But even as Jeremiah wept for Israel, so we weep for what America is becoming."

> Ed Stetzer exhorts Christians "to do better next time by not calling pollsters liars and not believing the unbelievable."

What to Do with a Told Gospel

Editor's Note: This is a repost of What to Do with a Told Gospel from the Desiring God blog. It appears here with the author's permission. ---

It was a beautiful Saturday morning, the kind nobody in Minnesota takes for granted. The sun was running strong, the air was happy, the sky had never been more blue. My family and I were finishing up breakfast outside when I opened the Bible for some kid-friendly devotional thoughts.

On this particular morning our four-year-old was digging it. Maybe it was the change of scenery, or maybe the Fruit Loops, but something had her leaning forward, all ears. I was sharing about what it means to be messengers for Jesus in 2 Corinthians 5:20–21. The reason we had moved here, I explained, is because God wants our neighbors to know him. Plain and simple. We have good news, really good news — the kind of news that compels us to tell it. Amen then, and breakfast was over.

Within ten minutes we closed down the cereal and laced up our shoes for a stroll around the block.

Elizabeth (our four-year-old) took one step out the front door and gladly bellowed, "Neighbors! Hey, neighbors! Come out! We're here to tell you about God!"

People heard her.

I've sat on this scene for months because, to be honest, I've not been sure what to do with it. What was she thinking? Was she street-preaching? Doesn't she get the value of relationships? Was she trying to give attractional ministry one last hooray? I've mulled that picture over several times and tried to stamp it as cute but misguided. Admirable, but not serious. Deconstructing the zeal of a four-year-old — I know, it's embarrassing.

But here we are now. I think I get it. The fact of the matter, blaring the loudest that morning, is that a little girl bridged the most necessary application from what I said to how she takes walks. That is, she connected what the Bible teaches to how she really lives (and her dad has a lot to learn).

Believing & Telling

Every Christian knows there is something about the gospel that drives us to tell it. There is some indivisible connection between believing it and making it known. It is good news, after all, and news is just that — news. Perhaps it would help, then, to re-highlight this simplest, most fundamental reason why we speak the gospel to others: because the gospel is essentially a told gospel.

There is good theological rationale here. One could start with what it means that God is a communicative agent. That he speaks and has always spoken in the intra-Trinitarian majesty of the Father and the Son by the Spirit. The knowledge of God's identity has always diffused itself. And undoubtedly, if this principle is found in his eternal essence, it will be detected in the preeminent word of who he is. More could be said here, but let's get to the Bible. Consider two texts.

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. - 1 Timothy 3:16 (emphasis added)

This is a succinct dose of doctrine, perhaps a creedal formulation from the early church, maybe even a hymn. But whether that's the case or not, it's at least a memorable Pauline expression that distills the identity of Jesus into doxological prose. And essential to this confession of Jesus is that he is proclaimed among the nations. He is a spoken Jesus. A heralded King. One, in fact, who is heard and believed.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. - Colossians 1:21–23 (emphasis added)

Look closely at that phrase "the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven." Here’s one of those rare exceptions where it helps to take a peak at the original language. John Piper explains:

The Greek for the phrase “which has been proclaimed” is tou kēruchthentos). This is a substantival participle which we could render “the proclaimed one” in English. It is in apposition with “the gospel” (tou euangeliou . . . tou kēruchthentos) — “the gospel . . . the proclaimed one.” (Has the Gospel Been Preached to the Whole Creation Already?)

Basically, Paul calls the gospel the "proclaimed-in-all-creation gospel." He refers to the gospel as what it is. The gospel is proclaimed. It is told. We don't get to opt out for a more myopic brand. There’s no less expensive version without that feature. There's not a gospel for social butterflies and then another for introverts. Everyone of us has only ever believed the told gospel, if we’ve believed the real gospel at all.

And the simplest, most natural implication of believing this gospel is that we ourselves tell it. We tell the good news in which we hope because hoping in told good news inevitably compels our telling it, too.

But There's a Problem

So then why don't we? According to a recent survey from Lifeway Research, we Christians don't seem to be telling people about Jesus very much. If we believe a "proclaimed-in-all-creation gospel," but we don’t proclaim it ourselves, what gives?

Training, resources, equipping, examples — all of these are good and important. And we've seen a fair share of them the last twenty years. But what if it's simpler that that? (I’m speaking as a poor evangelist here.) Might it be that we don't tell the gospel because we're missing something in how we understand it? Maybe the lack of our telling it points to a deficiency in our grasp of its inherent toldness? Maybe we've skimmed over the gospel's built-in compulsion to not just believe, but believe and speak. Maybe the real need is not additional components of training, but deeper wonders to mine, depths by which to be overcome — so that the step from gospel to mission is not a moving beyond but a moving further in.

Do you know what God has done?

Remember the story of the sinful woman who washed Jesus's feet with her tears. She fell before him in awe, bewildered by his presence and mercy. And no one else got it. "This man isn't a prophet," the Pharisee criticized, "he doesn't know who this woman is!" The disciples may have been baffled, too, until Jesus tells a story.

Two men owed debts, one debt was a day's wage, the other a year's income. The debt of both men were cancelled, and Jesus asks which of these men would love the lender more. Simon responds, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt" (Luke 7:43). Then we begin to see. . . The cluelessness of those bystanders corresponds to their ignorance of mercy. The crowd didn't understand the woman's devotion because they didn't understand what it means to be forgiven. That's why they responded so dumbly, so critical, so jaw-dropped and confused. Here was a reality — a beautiful, holy reality — that they could not wrap their heads around because they haven't tasted the depths of Jesus's grace.

And maybe that's our problem with evangelism. We don't tell the told gospel because we've loss sight of what it means to be forgiven. All this talk of mission might as well be a broken prostitute washing Jesus's feet. It is nonsense to us unless we remember our debt. Unless we're flooded again with the news that it's cancelled — the news that it's cancelled, which we heard, which we were told.

The news that makes us step out the front doors of comfort and civility, and say, "Neighbor! Hey, neighbor! I’m here to tell you about God!"

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Jonathan Parnell is a content strategist at Desiring God. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife, Melissa, and their three children: Elizabeth, Hannah, and Micah. Twitter: @jonathanparnell

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For more resources on spreading the good news of Christ's renewing work in our lives, check out Proclaiming Jesus by Tony Merida.

For more free articles on discipleship, read Justification & Hope in the Gospel by Jason Garwood and How to Cultivate Fresh Faith in the Gospel by Jonathan Dodson.

Are You a Glory Thief?

Two weeks ago, Jake Ledet of CityView Church preached a powerful message entitled "Glory Thieves" from Judges 6-8. He focused particularly on our propensity to want glory for ourselves rather than to give glory to God. The sermon is well worth a listen, but here are some provocative questions (via Paul Tripp) that Jake asked near the end:

• Where do you attempt to control things that you do not need to control?
• Where do you fail to listen when you should?
• Where are you tempted to speak more than you should?
• Where do you fail to recognize and esteem the gifts of others?
• Where are you unwilling to examine your weaknesses and to admit your failures?
• Where are you tempted to think of yourself as more essential than you actually are?
• Where do you care too much about people's respect, esteem, and appreciation?
• Where do you find it easier to confront than to receive confrontation?
• Where are you less than thankful for the people whom God has connected you to?
• Where are you too confident of your own strength and wisdom?

From Moralism to Evangelism

When people hear the story of my family and how God has rescued us from the American Dream into a sacrificial calling of discipleship, after spending almost 6 years in my neighborhood doing nothing for our neighbors besides condemning them, they often ask “Why?” What was it that caused me to change from a self-centered life to one that seeks to show off who Jesus is and what he has done? This question has to be asked. Not only asked but answered. If we just give the “how tos” of discipleship, we'll only help foster moralists who can follow the new “rules of discipleship.” If we express an understanding of why we're called to discipleship, then we'll move the discussion away from moralism and dispel the myth that the church is only an institution, another corporation in need of investors. By boldly offering our reasons for following Christ on mission, we can inspire movement, multiplication, and joy - a genuine dialogue with the Holy Spirit.

Basically, we need to ask, “Why does the gospel change us from inward love of self to outward love of God and neighbor?”

Kill Moralism Or It Will Kill You

When I moved to my neighborhood almost 9 years ago now, I was involved with a local church and became a champion of moralism. I seriously won the gold medal of moralism. I could have easily battled the best of them and come out on top as I built up my Ebeneezer of pride, thumbing my nose at those who weren’t as holy as I.

Then I woke up one morning at around 3am and asked myself, “If I died tonight, would I go to heaven?”

I thought through my works of righteousness and knew that all my best works on this earth were simply fodder for sermon illustrations. All my righteousness pointed to how great I was and how lacking the hearers were. Basically, my works were to create disciples of Seth who would be ready and willing to follow me and parrot my every word. Realizing this early that morning, I was no longer sure if I would go to heaven. In fact, the more I thought about heaven, the more I was sure I wasn’t going. All my best works were muddied with self.

Then I read a verse that made me angry with God. I mean not so angry that I’d swear because my holy tongue would never utter such disgrace. Anyways, here was God's word to me that morning:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. - Matthew 11:28

I had to laugh. For me, being a Christian was anything but easy. It was a burden. My life was so heavy, so difficult. Maybe Jesus died for my sins, but it was my job to “get to it” so I could be sanctified. Whether it was praying more, reading my bible more, using people as a checklist/project to feel better about myself, or serving the church more... whatever these things were, they weren’t easy or light.

I took holiness to mean that it was us versus them.  Saints versus Sinners. God's people versus the World.  Me versus Them.

The only reason I interacted with neighbors was to knock on their door, give them a bible, tell them they were going to hell, and be glad I did my work. I was sure they'd never repent because the road is narrow. I was the only one on it. Lonely. Hurting. Weary. Heavy-laden.

Be Rescued, Rest, & Then Work

My good friends weren’t taking super-holy lifestyle to kindly. Praise God for them. They asked me to listen to some preachers they knew were godly and gospel centered.

Then, one of them asked me: How do you know you are saved and one of God’s children?

I responded: By testing my works

He asked: How is that going? Do you ever pass that test?

I somberly answered: I’ve never passed that test

He then showed me this from Calvin:

If we have been chosen in him, we shall not find assurance of our election in ourselves; and not even in God the Father, if we conceive him as severed from his Son. Christ, then, is the mirror wherein we must, and without self-deception may, contemplate our own election. For since it is into his body that the Father has destined those to be engrafted whom he has willed from eternity to be his own, that he may hold as sons all whom he acknowledges to be among his members, we have a sufficiently clear and firm testimony that we have been inscribed in the book of life (cf. Rev. 21:27) if we are in communion with Christ - John Calvin - Inst. III.xxiv.5

My friend asked me: What if your works weren’t the barometer of assurance of salvation but the works of Jesus were?

I exclaimed: That would change everything!

What ended up happening throughout this conversation and throughout my journey out of legalism is the word of God became powerful to my heart.

Jesus says in Matthew that those who hear his words and put them into practice are wise, and those who listen to his words and do not put them into practice are fools. That passage rings true in every aspect of missional living.

I thought back to the words of Jesus when he said that his yoke was easy and his burden was light. Either Jesus was a liar or I wasn’t understanding the gospel and didn’t understand that it was actually good news.

If I lived in light Jesus as the mirror of my election, then the gospel would be very good news. The yoke of missional living would be easy and the burden would be light. God rescues moralists. So rest... then work with his power.

Old Hearts Die Hard

God took me and my family out of that church and landed us with Soma Communities. This was like being taken out of slavery into not only freedom but a palace. It wasn't the old church’s fault, it was completely my heart's fault for desiring self more than God.

As we moved to another church family and Soma started to speak what it looked like to live on mission, all my wife and I heard was "do this, do that." We again felt as though moralism was being piled on. We were still hearing what we wanted to hear instead of what was actually being said. Moralism doesn’t die quickly. The gospel must be applied by the Spirit over and over again.

At this point in our journey, we were just sitting back and taking everything in. We were asked to lead in certain ways, but I still didn't trust the moralist living inside me. I didn’t want to open up the cage to let him out quite yet. He needed to be slaughtered by the sword of the Spirit.

One day, we finally heard what our brothers Jeff Vanderstelt and Caesar Kalinowski were actually saying. Jeff was preaching and he said the following:

When Jesus was at his baptism, the Spirit descended like a dove and God said, “This is my Son with whom I am well pleased.” Do you know that if you trust in the works of Jesus that God says the same thing about you because of his Son?!  God is well pleased with you! Not because of anything you have done or will do but because of Jesus. You can do nothing to gain his acceptance. You can do nothing to please him any more. You can do nothing so that the Father will love you more. Jesus has done everything on your behalf so that you are accepted and loved.

When I heard this, the scales off my moralistic eyes were shattered. I was now starting to understand what God meant when he said his Spirit would replace our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19).

It wasn’t just this one time but every week. The good news was being preached to my heart and to my wife’s heart. The gospel wasn’t just a term, but it was now good news. We saw that the gospel wasn't something that happened 2000 years ago. It is for us today. It gives us hope for tomorrow:

1. We have been saved from the penalty of sin (justification)
2. We are being saved from the power of sin (sanctification) and...
3. We will be saved from the presence of sin.

Our justification (by Christ) leads to our sanctification (by the Spirit). That’s glorification.

It is all by the work of God. It is nothing we do! This is good news. In Christ, the yoke of discipleship is easy. Support by the Spirit, the burden of missional living is light. I could do nothing for the rest of my life, and God would love me the same. This freedom gripped my heart and caused me to finally worship God in Spirit and truth (and stop worshiping myself).

Discipleship Models Collapse Without the Gospel

The “Why?” of changing from internal living to sacrificial living came about because the gospel was finally good news to my heart.  When this happened, my wife and I couldn’t resist… our natural reaction, our natural inclination, our natural conclusion was this: People need to hear and experience this gospel.

We had no idea where to start, so we went to my now close friend, Caesar Kalinowski, and asked him, “We want to make disciples of Jesus, how do we start?”

He said, “Go home and ask the Spirit, ‘What’s Next?' It’s his mission and it’s by his power, so he’ll let you know.”

The rest is history. (To get a better idea of where I’m coming from, you can read this article: A Story of Gospel Community.)

When we are so gripped by good news, we don’t need an evangelism class, we naturally desire to share it. The reason people don’t want to share the gospel is because it’s not good news to them. It’s not today’s news. It's like telling folks we landed on the moon, old hat, distant.

But, when you preach, teach, live, and disciple others how the gospel is good news for them today, they become instant evangelists.

Caesar didn’t give me some model to follow, some class to attend, or some pre-written conversation to follow. He, along with my brothers, gave me the gospel. The water that never runs dry. The bread of life. The Alpha and the Omega. When a thirty soul receives water, he’ll go and tell the other thirsty souls where to find life.

Here are some questions to consider asking yourself and of your community:

• Do you believe you were saved by God's work and not your own?
• Do you still believe you have to do more to be saved from God’s wrath and loved as God’s child?
• Do you work hard at religious activity to be accepted and loved by God?
• Do you work tirelessly at your job in order to gain significance and security?
• What happens when you disobey God? Do you live with guilt and shame? Do you beat yourself up endlessly?
• Or do you go to the cross and receive the grace of the gospel?
• How's your "yoke" feeling these days?

May we believe the wisdom of God when he says: My yoke is easy and my burden is light!

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Seth McBee is the adopted son of God, husband of one wife, and father of three. He’s a graduate of Seattle Pacific University with a finance degree. By trade Seth is an Investment Portfolio Manager, serving as president of McBee Advisors, Inc as well as a missional community leader, preaching elder with Soma Communities in Renton, Washington, and executive team member of the GCM Collective. Twitter @sdmcbee

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To go more in depth into the gospel centered life, read Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson. Now available in print.

For more free articles about missional living, read Mission is Where You Live by Jeremy Writebol and Revival: Ways & Means by Tim Keller.

Generosity & Contentment

Editor's Note: This is a repost of How the Gospel Makes Us Generous and Content with Our Money. It appears here with the author's permission. ---

The danger of wealth has been a prominent theme in the teaching of several pastors in recent years. John Piper's chapter on money in Desiring God has shaped me and many others to a great degree. More recently, authors David Platt and Francis Chan have championed a similar message with their books Radical and Crazy Love.

Their message has met considerable resistance with counter warnings against embracing a “poverty theology.” Should we not rejoice in what God has given? Shouldn’t we want to take care of our families and provide for them? Shouldn’t pastors be paid well so their wives don’t have to work and they are not continually stressed out with financial pressure?

I'm afraid the framing of this discussion leads us to ask the wrong questions. Like the junior high boy who wonders "how far is too far" with his girlfriend, we are quickly caught up in questions about how rich is too rich, how poor is too poor, and the like. Where is the line? Do I feel guilty for having too much? Do the kids have enough? What does “enough” even mean? Should I feel guilty about not giving as much as so-and-so? If I give more, does that mean I am more spiritual? The hamster wheel of comparison, propelled by our spring-loaded legalism, keeps spinning unto exhaustion. We are all tempted to be prideful about what we give or feel guilty about what we don’t. Neither response befits the gospel, which crushes pride and erases guilt.

Financial Peace

Still, the question remains: how should we handle money? I've learned a lot from Dave Ramsey, an extremely popular radio host, author of The Total Money Makeover, and speaker who teaches people how to manage money so they can attain “financial peace.” He is also a Christian who loves to motivate people to cease being a “slave to the lender” Prov. 22:7 and manage their money so that their money doesn’t manage them.

Ramsey markets his successful 13-week program, Financial Peace University, to churches, schools, military institutions, and others all over the world. My wife and I used his program a few years ago to pay off all her graduate school debt and our minivan (total: about $50,000) in roughly four years. We have lived in the past with big debt. Now we are living with zero debt, as we rent a house. The debt-free lifestyle has given us freedom and removed the stress of money from our our marriage, even when times are tight.

When counseling young couples, we plead with them to obtain a plan for their money. If we would have heard about Ramsey when we were 22 instead of 30 years of age, our financial outlook would be much better today. But there is a point of grave danger that I always communicate when we talk about Ramsey. If you follow his principles, most likely you will have more money. You will perhaps get really rich. In fact, Dave emphasizes this every day on his radio show when he regularly says, “Debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has replaced the BMW as  the status symbol of choice.” Is it wrong to be rich? No, but it IS dangerous.

When I read the Bible I don’t see the pursuit of riches as a worthy goal to pursue as an end in itself. I don’t think Ramsey believes this, either, but I wish he would state this clearer and more often.

Think of all the warnings from Jesus about money:

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. - Matt. 6:24

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

As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. - Matt. 13:22

Even so, we shouldn't respond to these warnings by resolving to be dumb with our money to make sure we remain poor. Rather, pursuing a biblical perspective involves three things: 1) financial wisdom, 2) contentment, and 3) generosity.

Seek Financial Wisdom

Said plainly, I would get Ramsey’s book and do what he says to get out of debt and manage your money. You might not agree with everything he says, but most of us need a much better financial plan.

Pursue Contentment

Contentment is a more biblical goal than getting rich. Paul writes about this 1 Timothy 6:6-10:

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

This is where I have a problem with Ramsey’s emphasis on getting rich. It doesn’t seem to square with what the Bible teaches. Is it wrong to be rich? No, and “rich” is a very relative term. No one thinks he is rich, because everyone knows someone who is WAY wealthier. Ramsey is a millionaire many times over, but his wealth doesn’t hold a candle to Bill Gates or Michael Jordan. So what is “rich” anyway? Who knows, but however you slice it, the Bible tells us to be content with what we have and pursue simplicity (Heb. 13:5). The goal needs to be freedom with contentedness, not a yearning for more stuff.

Be Generous

To Ramsey’s credit, he frequently emphasizes the joy of extravagant giving. Look at how Paul exhorts the rich in 1 Timothy 6:17-19:

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

If you have the ability to make lots of money, maybe you should. But as you do, be sure to constantly check your heart along the way. Jesus’ words cannot be trifled with. Be constantly on the lookout for how you can be a blessing and how the kingdom of God can be furthered in our day through your resources.

Gospel Emphasis

Rather than debating between "radical" living for God and the dangers of "poverty theology," we learn from 1 Timothy 6 that contentment and generosity should be our emphasis in light of the gospel.

God has already provided all that we will ever need (Rom. 8:32). He cares for grass (Matt. 6:28-30) and birds (Matt. 10:29), so we can be content with or without stuff. God has been infinitely generous with us in Christ so, rich or poor, we can be joyfully generous in a way that makes our neighbors scratch their heads and say, “Who are these people?"

Generosity is not a poverty theology. Contentment with thankfulness is not a prosperity theology. The gospel motivates us to be generous and gives us ultimate contentment.

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Zach Nielsen is one of the pastors at The Vine Church in Madison, Wisconsin, where he serves in the areas of preaching, leadership development, and music. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and Covenant Theological Seminary and blogs at Take Your Vitamin Z. Twitter: @znielsen

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For more resources on thinking through the implications of the gospel in our everyday lives, check out Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson. It is now also available in print.

For more free articles on the gospel and money, read: Against Transactional Sanctification by Bill Streger and 8 Ways to Fight Consumerism by Hugh Halter.

The Witness of the Church in Hurricane Sandy

This week at the 20^th anniversary celebration of Hope for New York, Redeemer’s non-profit created to organize Christians to serve the city, Dr. Tim Keller spoke on the value of mercy and justice for the church in an increasingly secular society. His words came in the wake of the worst natural disaster to ever strike our city.

One of the striking statements that he made was that the church must become famous for mercy and justice. He was articulating the seamlessness of word and deed in communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dr. Keller is one of most famous preachers in our day but said that when an increasingly secular society hears him preach, they may hear it as intolerant and narrow-minded; but when they see the church serve their city, society finds it attractive and becomes open to the word connected to the deed.

I watched this firsthand in New York City last week when Sandy caused devastation and destruction through flooding and power outages. The response of the church declared the gospel of Jesus Christ and demonstrated a concern for His name to be lifted high and represented rather than the name of any church.

Church Unity in Proclaiming our One Savior

In John 17:20-23, Jesus prays for the unity of the church in order that our oneness would demonstrate to the world that we know Him. Now, what constitutes unity is always debated, but what I’ve seen in New York City for a while now and demonstrated beautifully recently is exactly that - church unity.

In New York City, pastors, deacons, and parishioners from different churches have been praying together regularly for a while - praying for one another in need and praying for each other’s churches. This praying together has led to celebrating one another and last week it led to serving side by side for the good of our city.

When the power went out in lower Manhattan, the ocean washed away many homes and lives in Staten Island, the South Brooklyn shores and the Rockaways here in New York City, the reflex of the church was to give until we had no more to give and then to repeat the effort the next day. There was confusion for the first couple of days in all of New York City with many not knowing what could or should be done to help, but churches from around the country and locally sprang into action to help however they could.

I live in Manhattan, so I saw many different churches serving together to feed thousands of people in the Lower East Side and East Village. Churches rallying together to organize the distribution of goods, to identify elderly and disabled stuck in their apartments in high-rise buildings, and to clean up places ruined by the storm and its aftermath. The same story was happening in Red Hook, where a church convinced a community center to open and be the primary hub for organized distribution of goods which enabled the local health clinic to maintain its operation. They not only convinced them to open their doors, but were the leadership for the distribution. A number of Brooklyn churches joined them, even rallying older congregations who had not joined the efforts later in the week.

In Chelsea and around the city, government agencies required a mandatory evacuation of the projects, the location of our city’s most vulnerable. Many in the projects refused to evacuate because of past experience and the lack of easy access to shelters. This left them without power and water as well as without assistance as the local government aimed to serve the shelters first. I served alongside five other churches and a few relief organizations, watched as members of the broader church convinced restaurants to feed hundreds for meals costing only $2 (in New York City!).

It’s moving to watch the church be unified in mission and mindset. In mission, to see the church rally to the needs of the city and in mindset to be concerned only that Jesus received the credit. The relief efforts are far from over, FEMA and the National Guard remain throughout the city to help as they can, but the church has the opportunity to provide the long-term relief well after the government is gone. This is one of many opportunities for the church to become famous through demonstrating the love of Christ in order that they may declare the good news of Jesus Christ.

Deeds of Mercy Paving the Way for the Message

The aim of the church was to extend the tangible love of God as we met the tangible needs of those suffering in our city. Leading with this desire and praying for those suffering opened people’s eyes to the message of Christ in new ways. In a city that has aimed to ban churches from meeting in public schools, the church is paving the way for the message of Christ not by protesting, but by posturing ourselves as servants.

This is not merely a disaster relief story, but has been the repeated pattern of mission history, the combination and seamlessness of word and deed being the full declaration and demonstration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Dr. Keller spoke of this as the future reality for the church, it was clear to me that this has been its present and past need.

Dr. Keller cited Portland, OR where churches have organized over 20,000 volunteers and approached the city government and mayor asking where they can do the most good for the city. Can you imagine if churches around the country and the world organized to simply bless their city, not for the agenda of the church, but to demonstrate of God who loves the people of their city?

Our message is good news, and justice makes people feel it as well as hear it.

The Journey of a "What's Next?" Missionary

One of the things that we knew up here in Seattle is the cultural rhythms... it wasn't hard being that we, meaning my wife and I, have lived up here most of our lives. We ended up creating a yearly calendar because of it and have lived on this calendar as a missional community since we started over three years ago. Not only do we look around to see what we can join that the community already does well, but also what needs to be redeemed. Here is what our yearly calendar looked like: June - September:

• People are outside because the weather is somewhat nice. That made it very easy to connect with people in the neighborhoods. We used this time to have BBQ's in our front yard with an open invite to all.
• July 4th: People in Seattle, and specifically our neighborhood, love the 4th of July.  We used this time to create an event in our neighborhood so people didn't leave the neighborhood - a wiffleball tournament, cook-off, live band, and lots of fireworks.

October - May: 

• This is the rainy season for Seattle. People stay inside because of it and don't go outside to do any sort of general association with others. It's lock-down mode. Knowing this, we used this time to have Saturday morning breakfasts at our house. This caused people to see each other, stay in touch, etc.
• January: Knowing people usually start new things in January, this is when we started the 10-week "Story Formed Way" with our neighborhood.  This gave us a chance to dive deeper with the neighbors who were interested in seeing the fullness of why we live the way we do in our neighborhood.

Joining and Redeeming

One of the first things we knew needed redeeming was the bedroom community feel of our neighborhood. Everyone played and worked away from our city, and they only slept and sent their kids to school in our city. We wanted the understanding of community redeemed for our neighbors. I think that has definitely happened. Actually, one of the ways you can pray for my family is that we speak clearly the good news to our neighbors before we leave. We have 6-9 months before we move, so be praying that the Spirit gives us opportunities with those we have yet had the chance to speak clearly with. I've been praying for "what's next?" with a few neighbors and the Spirit is telling me to look for how the good news is good news to their story.

We've joined, a little, with a single mom's home in the area that were taking care of those in need and doing a very good job with it.  Because we only have 6-10 families (depending on when you ask) in our missional communities, we didn't have the man power to join too many other works.

Now on to Arizona

Because I know that one of the major things we'll be doing as missionaries to Arizona will be to understand the cultural rhythms - where to join and where to redeem - we have started the process of speaking to those who are already living there. Why start from scratch if you don't have to? I have talked to men from Church of the Cross and other churches. Some are in the city, some are in the 'burbs, some are pastors, and others are businessmen.

Here is what I know so far:

• Summer is hot. Meaning, no one does things outside in the summer. This is a complete change from Seattle. We'll need to figure out how to engage the neighbors during this time. I am thinking that the breakfasts will happen during the summer months.
• The fall through spring is amazing. It seems as though BBQ's, pool parties, and other parties will work the best during this time.
• Phoenix is one huge suburb. Many have told me that this is why Phoenix is a difficult place. I have heard for years that making disciples in the 'burbs is near impossible. Yeah, whatever. The Spirit won't fail, we just have to be patient and love people because God loved us, and not want anything in return from people because of our love. This is playing in my favor and the gifting of the Spirit in my life.
• Not only this, but few are from Phoenix as most have moved there and have little family. That is something that needs redeeming, to show people what true family looks like.

As you can see, because the weather is far different than we are used to and many don't have close family nearby, which is not the case in the NW (for the most part), some things will have to be thought through in regards to our rhythms and the rhythms of our new culture.

Here are some things you can think through where you are at, as we are also thinking through these things currently for AZ:

• What does the culture like to celebrate? Is it 4th of July, Christmas, Halloween, Friday night pub nights, etc.?
• What needs to be redeemed in the culture God has sent me to? How can I be the feet of Jesus to show them that the good news is redemptive to those needs?
• What is the story of the culture I am sent to? Then, what is the story of the specific people I am interacting with? Where does their story - both the culture's and the people's - point to Jesus, and then where does it need to be pointed to Jesus?
• How can I show love to the culture that I am sent to? How can I do this so that they find it as actual love and not judgment?

On Gospel Amnesia & Building a Sister Up

Editor's Note: This is a repost of On Gospel Amnesia and Standing Before Your Own Master by Luma Simms, which appeared originally at Domestic Kingdom. It appears here with the author's permission and is adapted from a section of her forthcoming book to be published by GCD Press. ---

A few weeks ago a few friends and I were bantering back and forth about what our children watch on TV. It was a playful exchange. At one point I realized how two years ago it would not have been friendly or playful at all. My mind would have been full of criticisms, and my heart would have stood over that conversation with judgment.

You see, my heart used to be very sick. I was a Christian, but I had set aside the gospel as something just to get me into the kingdom. I set my heart on other things at the expense of cherishing Christ: becoming a “godly” wife and woman, being content in domesticity and doing it well, offering unparalleled hospitality, keeping my children as far away from worldliness as possible, homeschooling because it was the only truly “godly” way of educating children, healthy whole-food eating because that meant I was in line with a more “biblical” agrarian type of living, and on and on … you get the picture.

I had “gospel amnesia,” big time.

From Gospel Amnesia to Grace

You don’t need to have full-blown gospel amnesia like I did to despise other women, tear them down, and pass judgment on their choices. When we forget the gospel and turn away from the charity and grace we are called to have for one another we can turn into women who look sideways at each other.

Grace. I’ve learned so much about grace from Romans 14:1-4:

“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

On its face, Romans 14:1 says there are Christians with stronger and weaker faith, and that the one with stronger faith should welcome the one with weaker faith and not quarrel over things that are a matter of opinion. Paul assumes here that there are indeed things in the Christian life that are a matter of opinion and not of primary salvific importance.

So, from the first verse we know that we need to welcome each other; we should not snub each other, or refuse or avoid fellowship with each other; and we should not quarrel over matters of opinion. If we apply the principle here to any type of secondary matter (e.g. children’s entertainment choices, education choices, diet choices, diapering/clothing choices, birth choices, etc.), we see that the Christian with stronger faith has a broader acceptable spectrum, whereas the Christian with weaker faith has a narrow understanding of what is acceptable or right.

From Condemnation to Charity

When it comes to secondary (non-sin) issues we are tempted to strain gnats and swallow camels (Matt 23:24). But Jesus said:

“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ ...” (Matt 9:13)

“And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” (Matt 12:7)

I grieve in my spirit when I remember how I have condemned the guiltless.

One of the most important manifestations of gospel living is treating each other with grace and charity. Scripture says that a gracious woman gains honor (Prov 11:16). Nitpicking at each other and judging each other's choices will not make us women of honor. In the end, we will make a mockery of the grace of Christ when the world sees our lack of graciousness.

May we who love Jesus and cherish his gospel look on each other with a tender grace that seeks to build each other up with sisterly affection rather than tear each other down by rendering our personal standards as the watermark of sanctification.

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8).

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Luma Simms (@lumasimms) is a wife and mother of five delightful children between the ages of 1 and 18. She studied physics and law before Christ led her to become a writer, blogger, and Bible study teacher. Her book Gospel Amnesia is forthcoming on GCD Press. She blogs regularly at Gospel Grace.

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To go deeper into the gospel, read Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson.

For more free articles on gospel identity, check out Justification & Hope in the Gospel by Jason Garwood and Rethinking Devotion by Matt Manry.

Permanent Impermanence

Reality shows come in all shapes an sizes. Some involve risk and danger, some involve competition, some involve talented musicians, and others involve somehow-famous thirty-somethings. I'll admit that I often find them entertaining and occasionally inspiring. Reality shows are not sinful in and of themselves, but they do cause a dangerous unrest in our culture, particularly in the realm of "romantic" relationships. There appears to be a general unrest amongst younger people due to their desire to be like these reality stars - brave, macho, talented, attractive, rich, etc. Because of this, there is a significant amount of singles that I meet and know who cannot be satisfied with what God has blessed them with and impose these sanctions on potential spouses. Of course, reality shows aren't the only factor, but speak largely about the cultural shift we are experiencing. People always want a better job, a nicer house, a more precise talent, and a better-looking spouse. For those who do not know Christ, we can expect this at some level; for those who know Christ, there must be greater wisdom.

As culture teaches young single folks that they can never be satisfied with their "lot in life," there must be a ferocious battle against stagnation. We must trust Jesus with what we have and what we may or may not eventually have. Younger Christians should seek older Christians who are willing to invest in them, gleaning invaluable advice in the process. Do not let the pleasures of this world press upon your pursuit of joy in marriage.

If I could give a few pieces of advice, I would plead with the singles of this generation in the following ways:

MEN

1. Take Responsibility - Look, we all know that video games can be fun and even a rare form of male bonding, but the fantasy has to take a backseat to reality. I have known so many guys who will play sick so that they can skip work in order to play their new game. Additionally, there is a propensity to stay up too late and not be prepared for work, school, or another appointment. Just because you aren't out late getting drunk or staying the night with a woman doesn't mean that you are being responsible. Take everything you do seriously and with real preparation not because of men, but because of the One who provided you the task (Eph. 6:6; 1 Cor. 10:31).

2. Seek a Bride - Notice the order of these tips - responsibility, then seek a bride. The Bible is clear that singleness is a gift from God, so if you are called to singleness, don't waste ladies' time. For the rest of you, join them in not wasting ladies' time unless you are seeking a real covenant with them. I am not a hardcore proponent of "kissing dating goodbye" but I also am not a supporter of "dating for fun." God did not create inter-gender relationships to have some ethereal scenario that is beyond friendship but less than marriage. If it is not leading anywhere, kill it. God has something much bigger for you than temporal attention. Seek a woman with the heart of Christ out of your own heart for Christ. Marriage is a beautiful picture of the gospel (Eph. 5:22-31) and we should not play games with that.

WOMEN

1. Be the Standard - This may sound weird coming from a guy who so elevates male leadership in these things, but here's the point: you will attract a certain type of man based on your actions. There will always be sleazeballs with poor intentions, but a good Christian man will notice a good Christian woman. When the gospel informs decisions, things tend to come together. When I started dating my wife, the criteria that got her a first date was not that she was pretty (even though she is), smart (even though she is smarter than me), or even her particular personality (which is a perfect balance to mine); I was attracted immediately to her open love for Christ and reputation among those whom I respect and love. Let your integrity be of utmost importance, portraying the wife that God calls you to be (1 Pet. 3:1-4) and let God bring the right man when the time is right.

2. Lower Expectations - Most women have an innate desire for security, and rightfully so. However this plays itself out in two ways: 1) "I'm going to work hard and make money 'cause I don't need no man!" or 2) "I'm going to wait for a man who is on a trajectory toward wealth so that I will always be taken care of." The truth is, God has called your husband to be a leader and he should be able to provide, but financial security causes even the best of people to make bad decisions (Prov. 23:4). I know many Christian men who are working hard at work and pursuing Christ earnestly who struggle weekly to pay bills. Is this an ideal situation? Of course not! But do not let living paycheck to paycheck be a deterrent when you find a man who loves Christ.

Mission Is Where You Live

“I just don’t know any lost people.” “I find it so hard to meet people that don’t know Jesus.” “Sharing my life and faith with unbeliever is so difficult. Apart from going to a bar I don’t know where they are at.” These are all excuses I’ve made for my failure to know, bless, and share Jesus with unbelievers. I hear these statements regularly among other Christians as well. It’s as if unbelievers are actually physically lost, and finding them is like finding a unicorn or a white elephant--exceptionally rare. Underneath these excuses is a common reality: I haven’t really been present in the locations where I've lived. Recently, it occurred to me that I’m not really thinking about the whole concept of mission and evangelism in a clear light. A friend asked me a pointed question once that brought me to repentance and helped me rediscover an important tool in living a life “on mission.” The question was this: how could I live in the same house for over three years and not know the stories and situations of the people that lived within 100 yards of me? Several answers were apparent (lack of love, disobedience, etc.) but the real answer that stood out was that I wasn’t really present in my neighborhood.

Oh sure, I was physically there. I ate, drank, slept, played, worked, laughed, cried, and did everything a physically present person would do. However, none of my neighbors would have known it or cared about it. To them I didn’t exist. And they didn’t exist for me either. So when I said, “I don’t know any lost people,” I was technically right. I had failed to live my life in their life. And this was the beginning of the awakening for me. How did I come to know God? He actually came and lived in my life. How can I find lost people? Live my life, where I am at, in their life.

I’m willing to bet that if you are reading this, you have a similar situation. Most of the world lives in highly dense, urban areas, surrounded on all sides by neighbors. Over eighty percent of Americans live in what is classified as an urban area. All of that to say the lost are out there; you probably live next to them. But do you really live in their lives? Would they be able to affirm your existence?

God is Everywhere---God is Here

As a parent my kids often ask me questions that have stumped philosophers for centuries. One of the questions my kids would ask early on is, “Where is God?” This always gives me an opportunity to talk about the character and attributes of God. One of the things I share with them is the “omnipresence” of God; God is present fully everywhere at all times. For creatures that are limited to seeing only the physical, trying to comprehend a being who is everywhere all the time and fully, is a recipe for making your brain explode. Most Christians would affirm that God is everywhere just the same as they would affirm that the lost are everywhere. The only problem is “everywhere” often means “no where.”  We can’t see God, so we really wonder if he is here. We don’t know the lost, so we really wonder if they exist.

But the Bible gives us a greater perspective regarding the presence of God. Not only is he everywhere and present at all times, but he has uniquely and clearly disclosed his presence with his people all through history. The story of God’s presence with his people begins in the garden. God made a good place for his people and dwelt with them (Genesis 2). The Scriptures tell us that God lived in the presence of our first parents. As sin entered the picture the relationship broke. No longer was humanity in the presence of God. Instead, distance and separation from the place of God was the consequence of rebellion against him (Genesis 3:23-24). Though God evicted Adam and Eve from the temple of his presence, he continued to be present with his people as the story of redemption unfolds. Through burning bushes, the ark of the covenant, pillars of cloud and fire, tabernacle tents, and temple buildings, God effectively, but not fully, displayed his presence with his people. Until, that is, he lived in our lives.

Jesus, fully present

John’s introduction to his Gospel brings this aspect of the presence of God fully into view. Jesus, as John writes, became flesh and dwelt with us (John 1:14). God with us. Jesus is the one who fixed the break between God and man. He is the presence every shadow-symbol of the Old Testament points toward. As John put it, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he [Jesus] has made known” (John 1:18). God became a man and lived among us. He lived in our lives. God with us.

Not only is God with us, but he is God for us. Jesus came not just to hang out in our ghettos (as compared to heavenly realms, that is); he came to live the life of righteousness we failed over and over again to live. He came to die the wrath-deserving death we were entitled to because of our rebellion (Galatians 3:13). He came to live again so that the reality of rebirth would be ours and his power would be shown to encompass all things.

Now push-back is natural here. Where is this Jesus? How is “God with us” because I don’t see him in my living room or across the street? These are honest questions. The reality, however, is not that God has once again left our lives. No, the reality is that he has doubly reinforced his presence in our lives. He has given us two ways of seeing his glory and knowing him on a daily basis:

1. We’ve been given the promised Holy Spirit. The fullness of God dwelling within us daily. By virtue of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, he has sent his very presence and nature to be our Helper, Comforter, and Advocate (John 13:15-17). He has given every believer everywhere his life to live in ours. Paul confessed this by saying, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives within me” (Galatians 2:20). Christ lives in our lives through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
2. He’s also given us the church. Jesus has given us community in himself. As believers, we have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit in order to live the life of Jesus in the lives of others. We are the tangible, physical demonstration of the invisible God (John 13:24-25). We are the reflection of his glory to the lost world. The story is being written right now. To the lost, God’s existence is debatable unless they’ve seen the life of a person inhabited by the Holy Spirit lived in front of them. As the church lives its life, it must live in the life of the world (1 Peter 2:12). This is how the presence of God is made real and manifest to the world.

Living In the Lives of Others

My neighbor, Herb, walks his dog up and down our street daily. Usually in the early evening right before dusk, I see Herb plodding along with his dog. Does Herb know I exist? Would he care?

If we see that God has not abandoned us, and has not withdrawn his presence from us, but actually has done the exact opposite and inhabited our world, then we can begin to see how to live among our neighbors. Herb knows I exist, but that’s because I’ve gone out to Herb. I’ve lived in his life. I’ve invited Herb into my life. When Herb walks his dog, he stops and talks and tells me his story. As I learned how God has always placed his presence in the midst of His people, I began to see how I can meet and befriend and know lost people. I must live in their lives.

This might sound daunting. It certainly is, mainly because we don’t want to give up our comfort. Going outside and walking with Herb while he walks the dog and talks doesn't always feel normal. But it happens. Inviting my neighbors into my home can be risky. Letting my children meet people that probably don’t share the same values as we do is dangerous. Yet this is exactly what our Savior has done. He has lived in our lives.

So how do we live in the lives of our neighbors? How do we inhabit their world so that we can show them a God who has inhabited our lives?

1. Be present in your neighborhood. For so many, especially in the suburbs, it’s easy to come home after work, pull into the garage, and disappear into our homes. We must be intentional to be outside our homes. Use every opportunity to leave the garage door open, be in the front yard, out in the open amongst your neighbors. Talk with them, learn their names, invite them into your space, go to their space.
2. Bless your neighborhood. It used to be that when a new person moved into a neighborhood, a few neighbors would go visit the new neighbor and bless them with some cookies or pie or something as a way to meet and get to know the new folks. I’ve moved into three different houses in the last seven years and have yet to see a plate of cookies. I use this as a small example to challenge us to live in a neighborhood intentionally to bless and give. You don’t have to take cookies to the new neighbor, but do something to bless a neighbor. Walk over and give in some way, bless and be kind to them.
3. Bring in your neighbors. When was the last time you invited a neighbor over for dinner or barbecue? We can live in the lives of our neighbors by inviting them into our homes, into our spaces, and letting them see our lives up close. How will our neighbors know what the love of Jesus is like if they don’t see the love of Jesus lived in our homes and families. What would happen on your block or in your apartment complex if you invited a neighbor over for a meal on a frequent basis?

Being, blessing, bringing are three simple strategies toward living in the lives of our neighbors. As we pursue Christ and bear the image of a God who has lived in our lives by living in the lives of the lost we will find the lost.

Try It---It works

Not too long ago we hosted a block party for our neighbors. We did it with our missional community because we want to reach the neighborhood of Wichita where I live. Several neighbors we didn’t know stopped by, had a hot dog, and did something I thought was unexpected. They stayed in my front yard and talked. For hours. As they talked, I began to learn their stories, hear some of their griefs, laugh at their jokes, live in their lives. As my wife and I were cleaning up, she looked at me and said, “I finally feel like I know lost people in my neighborhood. I finally feel like I know my neighbors.” We rejoiced and praised God that for once “the lost” were real people that we could put names and faces to. And they’ve now put a name and a face with “Christians.” We’re praying that they become the disciples of Jesus we are seeking to be.

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Jeremy Writebol is the husband of Stephanie, daddy of Allison and Ethan, and lives and works in Wichita, KS as the Community Pastor at Journey the Way. He is the director of Porterbrook Kansas and writes at jwritebol.net.

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To go deeper into living a gospel centered life in your neighborhood, read Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson.

For more free articles from Jeremy Writebol about missional living, check out Discipleship in the Sporting-Life and Redeeming Fantasy Football.

Redeeming Worship

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. - Ephesians 5:15-21

When we gather as a church, we demonstrate our worship of God in a number of ways. Some of us worship through setting up for our gathering. Some of us worship by teaching in Kids Life. Some worship through playing music. Some worship through greeting visitors. In our missional communities, some of us worship by leading the discussion. Some worship by preparing food for the group. Some worship by coordinating our group’s service projects in the community. These are all great ways to demonstrate worship through gratefulness to God by serving one another.

In Ephesians 5, Paul specifically addresses our singing as a church. I want to reflect on why singing enables us to demonstrate worship through gratefulness to God and service to one another. Paul gives us three ways that we are to live out our worship through gratefulness and service to one another, addressing one another with songs, hymns, and spiritual songs; giving thanks to God; and serving one another. Another way we could look at these is: worship of God that results from the Gospel is expressed horizontally (to one another) and vertically (to God) as a redemption of our time together. Let's begin by looking at how we worship God through song.

Vertical

Singing is a gift God has given us to better know him and experience him. In Colossians 3:16, Paul tells the church to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another is psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” How does singing allow the Word of God to dwell in us richly? It allows us to express the truth of the Gospel and our grateful response to the Gospel in ways that are more emotive and meaningful than if we just said them. For example, in church we often sing hymns or spiritual songs. The song can be incredibly emotional. It is often a sort of battle cry of commitment to God for us to sing as a church. When I just recite the words to most hymns, it's not very inspiring. It sounds like I’m planning a carpool. The melody of the songs connect to what we are called to: following God on his mission, remembering what Christ has done, worshiping God. Songs allows us to express all these things in a way that is much more heartfelt.

The music also helps us remember God’s goodness and truth. Chances are you can recite the first verse of “Amazing Grace,” but if I asked you to recite the first four sentences of this article back to me, you couldn’t (even though this article is so much like poetry). Singing is a great way to learn the truth about God. What we sing gets stuck in our heads. What we sing works its way into our hearts. Like everything in life, music can either draw us into deeper fellowship with God or draw us away from him and toward our desires. That’s why - as worship leader - I strive so hard to only sing songs that accurately represent the truth and beauty of God. God has given us music to help us internalize and embody his truth. What we sing forms us as followers of God. In the early church, there was a heretic named Arius who taught that Christ had not existed eternally but had been created by God, and so was not equal to God.  And one of the ways he attempted to spread this very false doctrine was by writing catchy songs that contained his heretical theology. This worked for a time, until Ambrose of Milan countered by writing equally catchy songs that reflected the truth of God.

Music helps us remember and hold to the truth of God because our songs about God combine both the intellectual truth about God and our emotional response to those truths. Singing about God gets his truth stuck in our hearts, and as it dwells there richly, it draws us into deeper communion with him.

But many of us have a hard time with singing. We see the command to “make melody to the Lord with our hearts,” and it seems weird. “Making melody” is not an everyday occurrence for most of us. When your boss asks you why you took an extra fifteen minutes on your lunch break you never say “well I got caught up making melody in my heart”. You'd get some strange looks.  Men often have a hard time singing with the church. It is an act closely tied to emotions, and we are not known for being very good with those. Some of us are timid to sing with the church because we feel like our voices aren’t good enough. Maybe someone told us we weren’t good singers and now whenever we attempt to sing, all we can hear is that person’s voice in the back of our head telling us how bad we sound. But the Gospel frees us from all of these hang-ups.

Men, Jesus wept for you, he was in anguish for you so deep that he sweat blood. If Jesus is the ultimate man there is no shame in showing sorrow for your sin. Jesus has already cried harder than you ever will over your sin. But men, sorrow wasn’t the only emotion Jesus showed. He showed anger over injustice and the manipulation of the poor when he trashed the tables of the priestly charlatans in the temple. He showed joy as he raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. Men, the Gospel compels us to express these same emotions. We should rage at our sin. We should weep at the brokeness of our world. We should rejoice in the conquering of our sin by Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. And our singing is a great place to begin to express these Christ-like emotions. Our singing is a great place to express the worship of God.

For those of us who do not feel that we sing well enough, and so we sing quietly (if at all). The Gospel frees us from our fear as well. We sing because God has shown us favor in spite of our abilities. We don’t sing to earn God’s favor. Your ability to be pitch perfect cannot save you! Your voice cannot get up on a cross and die for you, and it cannot get out of the grave and conquer death for you. That has already been accomplished by Christ, and that is why you are called to sing! So don’t think that your voice needs to be good enough in order for you to sing with the church. None of our voices are good enough for God. Christ has been good enough for you, so sing out of joy for what he has done and who he is. We sing because we have been loved and served so perfectly in Christ. Singing is not about us.

One last thought on why some of us may struggle with singing. I live in the Live Music Capitol of the World, and here everyone is a musician. Everyone has an opinion. We are used to having whatever kind of music we prefer available to us. And here in Austin some of us pick what church we join based on the music. Some of us choose not to sing certain songs with the church because we don’t like that particular song.  I’ve been guilty of this. And I don’t think this practice is unique to Austin. When we decide what church family to be apart of based on our music preference, we place ourselves at the center of the gathering instead of God. We substitute our preferences as our motive for singing in place of worship of God. We are not the center of our singing. There is only one time a year when you are the center of the song, and that’s on your birthday. The Gospel frees us from this self serving mode of singing. Instead of trying to serve our musical needs and tastes, we sing because we have been loved and served so perfectly in Christ. Singing is not about us.

Horizontal

While singing is not about us and our individual tastes, it is about one another. In Ephesians 5 we are told to address one another with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Again addressing one another with songs in person is not something we often do. When you meet a friend for coffee you don’t greet them by singing “Hey, we are getting coffee, and that is neat.” Yet the Gospel inspires us to encourage one another in song. Do you ever think of singing on Sunday that way? Do you ever think to yourself, “I’m going to sing this song not just because I need to hear it, but because other people need to hear it?”

Sadly many in the church don’t view our time together singing as a chance to serve one another. Often we view it as an “intimate” time between “me and Jesus.” We have the lights down low, our eyes closed, the music so loud we can’t hear our voices, and we don’t consider one another when we gather. And if we aren’t considering one another, if we aren’t listening to one another when we sing together, whats the point? Why not just put my headphones on and go sing in my closet? Parking would be easier.

To display the fullness of the gospel in worship, we need each other. We need the testimony and the encouragement of hearing one another sing the truth about God. We need to be formed by the Word of God dwelling richly in all of our hearts, and we need  to hear it from one another. We don’t gather because we need more music. We gather because we need more of Christ through one another. I know I can think of many times when I have been encouraged, convicted, and refreshed by singing with the church. We need each other when we sing.

When we view singing as an act of service to one another, we are given even more Gospel reasons to sing. Men, your wives and kids need to hear and see you sing. The need to see a leader who unashamedly embraces the truth and emotions the Gospel inspires. You are given an awesome opportunity to teach your family the Gospel in song. You are given an awesome opportunity to show your son what it looks like to feel powerfully about the Gospel. You are given an awesome opportunity to show your daughters that a godly man feels powerfully about the Gospel. So sing all the time, as weird as it may feel! Sing around the table, sing on the way to school. Take the opportunity to get the Gospel stuck in their heads and hearts. For those of us who don’t feel that we sing well enough, singing as an act of service frees us from the fear of what others will think about our voices. It frees us because we are no longer singing (or not singing) to gain the approval of people. We're singing to share the good news of the Gospel with one another. For those of us who struggle with singing based on our preferences, or base what church we join on our musical preferences, the Gospel frees us to worship God by serving others through our singing.

This is why we sing together, to worship God, and to serve one another. Singing is one of the ways we fulfill what Jesus called the greatest commandment: To love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

Redeeming the time

Finally, worshipful singing is one of the ways the church learns to “redeem the time.” Said another way, how we act as a family shapes how we act when we are out on our own. Think of a newly married couple. They have individually learned all sorts of habits, quirks and expectations from their families, and they bring those to their marriage. For example, in my marriage, my wife and I have conflict over the placement of the hand towel in our kitchen. In my wife’s family, they hung the towel over the handle of the oven. In my family, we hung the towel over the counter in front of the kitchen sink. My wife would really prefer it if I would hang the towel over the oven handle. I don’t have a preference, but because I am so used to doing it the way I did it growing up I cannot for the life of me remember to hang it on the oven.

There are millions of different ways we are formed by our biological families. In the same way, we are formed by how we act together as a church family. Singing out of gratefulness to God and in service of one another forms and trains us to live like Christ out in the world. It trains and forms us to worship God, to place him at the center of our lives, when we are apart. It builds us up through encouragement, it teaches us through the truth we sing, and it disciplines us for service by giving us ample opportunity to serve one another through song.

Worship is all because of what God has done for us in Christ. We are freed from sin by his life, death, and resurrection. This is what inspires our gratefulness. The Gospel of Christ frees us from our fear of man and releases us into serving one another. It frees us from our consumerism, because Christ rightly puts himself at the center of our gatherings and our lives. This is how worship redeems our time - because in our singing, in our gathering, in our service, in our work, in our marriages, in our families, in our hobbies, in our hopes, in our fears, and in our struggles God is at the center. Because of Christ we have a reason to celebrate. Because of Christ we have hope. Because of Christ we have life. Because of Christ we worship.

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Matt Oakes lives in Austin with his wife Joanie and two daughters, Isabella and Imogen. He serves as the Music and Arts Director at Austin City Life. He graduated from Corban University with a B.S. in Worship Arts and is currently working on an M.Div at Redeemer Seminary. He enjoys guitars, smoking meat, and loving the city with his church family. Twitter: @rubatomovement Blog: www.mattoakes.org

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For more reading on the significance of worship, check-out Winfield Bevin's A Beginnger's Guide to Family Worship.

For more free articles on worship, read: The Harmony of Community by Greg Willson & Seeking God's Vision for Marriage by Gloria Furman.

Justification & Hope in the Gospel

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.Romans 8:1

I grew up with this understanding that discipleship happened in a classroom in front of a flannelgraph and that the only way to grow as a follower of Jesus was to sign up for Bible studies, attend Sunday school, get your kids to VBS, don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t have sex and be good. Rules, rules and more rules. It was a cyclical pattern of condemnation. I could never be good enough.

When Jesus commissioned us to make disciples he certainly desired for us to engage the world. We are to go to the nations, teach them to observe what Jesus said, baptize them, and then do it again—all with the gospel Story as the center. But what I was missing was real life-on-life, Spirit empowered, Story-formed community.

It’s not, “Come to Jesus, join our church and then get discipled.” It’s, “Here is the gospel. Here’s what Jesus has done for you. Repent and believe, and live a life on mission with the Church through the power of the Spirit as you learn to make disciples who make disciples. Your life, which is not your life now, is to be gospel-saturated and set on fire for the mission. Now go.” The gospel Story tells of freedom from condemnation. If freedom to live a life on mission comes with the gospel driving your life, what holds us back? Let's take a look at a couple of all too familiar scenarios.

Condemnation Scenario One

We sat in my office, and I listened to her story for nearly an hour. She was in tears as anger, bitterness, frustration, anxiety, depression, and uncertainty all plagued her. She had moved out of the house away from her husband, and things were not going well. I had a couple of meetings with the two of them, but we never seemed to be able to get anywhere with the situation. They had both been married before and now this marriage was about to crumble. Again. She couldn’t live with herself if another marriage fell apart. Not this time.

She talked a lot about the problems in their marriage, but the common, underlying theme in all of her analysis was condemnation. How could God still love me? Why would God allow this to happen? I still feel ashamed of my past. I still feel distant from God. There is no way I can live like this and still have a relationship with Jesus.

Condemnation Scenario Two

Steven (not his real name) is not a Christian. He had been coming to our worship gatherings for quite a while now, and sat in the back curiously looking around. If he as a not-yet-believer was likened to anything, it would be that of a window shopper. He enjoyed browsing the flurry of activity that was a Sunday morning. He was here each week and was engaged with everything, especially the sermon. He was here each week and was engaged with everything, especially the sermon, though he didn’t necessarily care for our music. Almost every week, I would stand in the back of the auditorium and greet him, and he thanked me for my message each time.

Steven and I got to know each other as he took the initiative to come meet with me. I had previously given him a Bible and he had been reading it every single day. As far as I could tell he’d read the New Testament a couple of times over. Steven was searching.

One day he sat on the couch in my office and told me his story. His background didn’t shock me, for I had worked in the social work field in inner-city Philadelphia during seminary, but I was blown away by the fact that he was still alive. Steven interrupted me that day (which was highly unusual because he was normally quiet and reserved) and said, “Pastor Jason, I understand why Jesus died. I understand my sin. I’m not ready to become a Christian yet.”

What in the world do I do with this, I thought. The man had heard the gospel over and over again, was reading his Bible, talking with me, praying with me, and had a better attendance at our Sunday gatherings than most everyone else. What gives? Then he told me, “I don’t understand how God could accept me.”

Justification in the Gospel

Both scenarios I laid out above are about shame; both have guilt. Both are desiring to be accepted by God. One is a believer struggling with identity; the other is not yet a believer struggling with identity. But both require the same approach to discipleship: the gospel. This gospel says that you are accepted, not because of anything you have done or will do, but because of what Jesus has done. You are accepted now!

The Apostle Paul was intoxicated with the gospel. He was stunned by Jesus and penned the greatest theological treatise ever written. In the Letter to the Romans, Paul’s entire premise hinges on this all-important doctrine of justification. He says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

This word, “therefore,” is the crescendo of all things gospel-centered. It is a powerful word especially because of where it is in chapter eight. Paul has just laid out in the previous chapters the doctrine of sin and justification and in Romans 7:23-25 says that we have an impressive victory won “through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Backing up even further, Paul says in Romans 7:6, “But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”

Don’t miss this statement. Paul is giving us a new grid to work with, and it is that of the Spirit’s working in our life because we died with Jesus. This is a significant part of Paul’s robust doctrine of justification. We are free from the law of sin and death! (Romans 8:2). And “now” we have this status—this right-standing-before-God status that was inaugurated by Jesus, and because of what he has done we have been united with him. Justification is always connected to our union with Christ.

Paul says that the condemnation is gone. It’s finished. Obliterated. Never-to-return. The fruit of sin is death and because we have peace with God, because of what Jesus has done, we are acquitted. Sin and death were condemned on the cross. Their verdict was rendered “finished” by Jesus’ substitutionary death. The Spirit in our life points us back to that reality over and over again, to drink deeply from the gospel well. The future verdict of “not guilty” has been given to us now. We’ve been adopted (Romans 8:15). We’ve been changed. We’ve experienced the gospel.

Gospel Identity through the Trinity

At the center of all things discipleship is an identity crisis. Finding hope with the doctrine of justification requires that we look deeply at our identities. At our church I use something I call “The Trinitarian Story” with our people. The Father, Son, and Spirit are all at work in the mission of God. Each Person plays a role during the life of the believer. The Father is our heavenly father and we are a family. The Son is Lord and came to serve us, so we worship him as servants. The Spirit was sent by Jesus to shape us as a community on mission, and therefore we are missionaries. Each of these identities are connected to the gospel. Each of these give us a profound sense of worth, dignity, and value. Notice that we don’t give ourselves this worth; it comes from God.

Taking it a bit further, I’ve heard fellow Soma Communities pastor Jeff Vanderstelt and others talk about four key gospel-fluent questions for whatever you find yourself dealing with in life (be it success, problems, sin, or trial). I have framed them this way:

1. Who is God?
2. What has God done in Christ?
3. Who does that now make me?
4. What’s next, Holy Spirit?

The key to growing in holiness by the power of the Spirit is to learn to appropriate the gospel and do so by connecting it to our identities. We must learn to allow the Spirit the opportunity to help us revisit this, over and over again.

Hope in the Gospel

My counsel to these two? No matter the circumstance, trial, or tribulation, you can find hope. Paul says that nothing can separate us from Jesus (Romans 8:35-39). Nothing. Do you believe it? Now let's try the gospel-fluent questions:

Questions 1: Who is God? He is Righteous, therefore he is Judge.

Question 2: What has God done in Christ? He has offered his Son Jesus as a substitution for our sin. Jesus bore the wrath of God on himself in our place, and in doing so was crucified and raised on the third day. Scripture says that this Christ event is what gave us justification.

Question 3: Who does that now make me? A justified sinner, saved by God’s grace, who’s condemnation is null and void. My guilt has been destroyed, my shame put to death. I can now be a joyful person because Jesus has taken my punishment.

Question 4: What’s next, Holy Spirit? Rest in my justification, praising God for the gospel. I can find hope because Jesus stepped in my place to get me.

Counseling and discipling in these situations is incredibly difficult. It takes time. It takes us remembering the gospel and learning to listen while making fresh applications of what Jesus has done. By God’s grace, there is hope. May we spur on our efforts of disciple-making by the power of the Spirit for the glory of God, resting in what Jesus has done to justify us.

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Jason M. Garwood (M.Div., Biblical Theological Seminary) serves as Lead Pastor of Colwood Church in Caro, MI. Jason and his wife, Mary, have two children, Elijah and Avery. He enjoys theological banter, good pizza, tinkering around on the iPad and fighting for joy. He blogs at the Storied Jesus. Connect with him on Twitter: @jasongarwood

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To go deeper into the gospel, check out Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson. 

For more free articles about realizing your gospel identity, read The Love of Our Father by Jake Chambers and Rethinking Devotion by Matt Manry.

The Noetic Effects of Sin and Discipleship of the Mind

Matt Capps is an ordained Baptist minister and a pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in North Carolina. Matt is a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and is currently a student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (D.Min.). Matt blogs here.  

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“In spite of a clouded memory, the mind seeks its own good; though like a drunkard it cannot find the path home.” - Boethius[1]

The scandal of the evangelical mind is that the evangelical mind is darkened by the noetic effects of sin.[2] Hoekema argued that “…sin has poisoned the very fountain of life [therefore] all of life is bound to be affected by it.”[3] Sin cuts through all aspects of our being, and even has consequences to our cognitive faculties. This is true of Christians and non-Christians alike. This is not to say that human depravity has darkened the mind to the extent that human intellect is incapable of knowing truth, beauty, and goodness. The fall did not destroy human reasoning faculties all together. John Calvin asserts, concerning earthly knowledge:

Shall we deny that the truth shone upon the ancient jurists who established civic order and discipline with such great equity? Shall we say that the philosophers were blind in their fine observation and artful description of nature? What shall we say of all the mathematical sciences? Shall we consider them the ravings of madmen? No, we cannot read the writings of the ancients on these subjects without great admiration.[4]

Van Til makes a similar point in arguing that we are well aware of the fact that all humans, by virtue of common grace, have a great deal of knowledge about this world which is true as far as it goes.[5] However, concerning spiritual knowledge Plantinga has argued that if it were not for our sin infested noetic structure, human beings would believe in God [thus the gospel] to the same degree and with the same natural spontaneity that we believe in “…the existence of other persons, an external world, or the past”, but because of our sinful condition faith seems to difficult and for some absurd.[6] Moreover, as Bavinck has labored to show us, relying on human reason alone to ground faith will always disappoint.[7]

Humanity sees through a glass dimly because of the effects of sin. One of the most baffling characteristics of sin is that it is usually masked and elusive, and is especially hard to recognize in ourselves. For this reason it is important to understand the noetic effects of sin and its implications for the discipleship of the mind. Moroney argues that sin disturbs human thinking in some areas more than others, more so when it comes to matters related to God.[8]

The Origin of the Noetic Effects of Sin

In one sense, the fall of mankind occurred because of noetic rebellion. What the serpent proposed in the Garden of Eden was nothing less than a line of thinking diametrically opposed to God’s good and designated order. Essentially, Adam and Eve questioned God’s truthfulness and reliability and decided that autonomous reasoning would reign supreme as the definitive mediator of truth. After the fall God declares that “…the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.”[9] In other words, man wanted to be like God in determining for himself what is true and good, and became, as it were, his own god. As a result of the fall, sin has become universal; except for Jesus Christ, no person who ever lived, or ever will live, on this earth has been free from sin.[10]  Therefore all have inherited sinfulness along with its noetic effects.[11]

The Noetic Effects of Sin and the Good News of Jesus Christ

Thankfully, the gospel is the power of God for salvation. According to Paul salvation includes the renewal of the mind.[12] As Goldsworthy puts it, “…it stands to reason [nice play on words there] that, if the fall involved an epistemological disaster, then salvation must include epistemological redemption.”[13] As mentioned earlier, Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever lived with a sinless and pure mind. A robust account of salvation includes redemption of the mind through the perfect mind of Christ our savior. According to Paul, all believers are given the mind of Christ.[14] At the same time, all believers still experience the effects of sin until the new heavens and new earth.[15] Until then, believers are conformed to the image of Christ in the process of sanctification. Our noetic sanctification is the fruit of our justification in Christ. Simply put, the Christian mind is renewed at conversion, but it continues to be transformed throughout the life of the believer. Goldsworthy describes this process of noetic sanctification as follows:

It is the gradual formation within us of what we have in Christ through faith. The renewal of the mind is an on-going process by which our thinking is conformed more and more to the truth as it is in Jesus.[16]

Towards a Discipleship of the Mind

Apart from regeneration, reason is in bondage to sin.[17] Even the Christian mind is not sequestered from the reality of sin. Our natural tendency, inherited from Adam, is to seek and love the wrong things, or seek and love the right things in an inordinate manner. This is why Paul commands that Christians need to be continually “transformed by the renewal of the mind.”[18] The renewing of the mind is a common theme in the writings of Paul.[19] While the transformation of the mind is an act of God, there is also responsibility upon the Christian concerning their intellectual life.

How then is one to take all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ? At the heart of this discussion is revelation of, and faith in, the gospel of Jesus Christ, through which noetic salvation is granted by the grace of God. Anselm and Augustine’s “faith seeking understanding” approach to knowledge is helpful here since it implies that faith for the Christian is always striving to understand and apply what has already been believed. By his grace God has provided means through which noetic sanctification can be spurred on in the life of the Christian.

First, humanity has been given God’s word, the cannon of Scripture. When it comes to distorted minds because of the noetic effects of sin, God is not passive but intentional in clearly revealing and communicating divine truth to humanity. God’s self-revelation through works in the unfolding drama of revelation is made clear to darkened minds through his word. Moreover, all Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is himself the focus of divine revelation. As Paul argued, it is God who shines light into the darkness of our minds to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God’s word is the perfect treasure of divine instruction through which the Spirit shapes our mind to the mind of Christ.[20] Understanding and passing on the deep treasure of Scripture is the task of all intellectual theological endeavors and catechesis in the church.

Also, God has provided the Holy Spirit as the indwelling helper in the fight against the noetic effects of sin. Luther distinguished between the magisterial and ministerial uses of the mind. The magisterial use occurs when reason stands over and above the gospel and judges it based on argument and evidence. The ministerial use of the mind occurs when the mind submits and serves the gospel. While much of the gospel-centered movement today focuses on believing right propositions as the aim of fighting idolatry, one cannot forget the ministerial role of the Holy Spirit in enabling and shaping our minds to the truths of the gospel. Without the Spirit, one is powerless to believe in the gospel.[21] There must be a prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit to treasure God with all one’s mind.

Lastly, God has ordained the church as the context of spiritual formation. “The church is to be a learning a teaching fellowship in which the passing on of what we learn becomes a regular part of the service we render to each other.”[22] The church is God’s ordained context in which persons will grow in their godliness through instruction, teaching, nurture, and formation. Biblically grounded and Spirit empowered community life is vital in conforming the believer’s mind to the truths of the gospel. Often one cannot see their own need for transformation because of sin. However, others in the context of Christian community become instruments through which God’s grace is made known. Just as iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another.[23]

Concluding Thoughts

Noll has recently argued that knowledge of Christ provides the most basic possible motive for pursuing the task of Christian learning.[24] Concerning discipleship of the mind McGrath has contended that “Christian theology is one of the most intellectually stimulating and exciting subjects it is possible to study, rich in resources for the life of faith and the ministry of the church.”[25] Considering the riches of knowledge in Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and the Christian community, one cannot help but be thankful for God’s gracious provision concerning the fight against the noetic effects of sin. Let us be diligent in the transformation of our minds until the coming of our Lord, when our minds will finally be free of the noetic effects of sin and we will finally see Him as He is! As the Apostle Peter reminds us, prepare your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.[26]

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[1] Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, 49.

[2] The term ‘noetic’ includes all aspects of the mind, including the will, and is therefore a wider category than ‘knowledge’.

[3] Anthony Hoekema, Created in God’s Image, 172.

[4] John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, II.ii.15.

[5] See Cornelius Van Til, Introduction to Systematic Theology, 26ff.

[6] Alvin Plantinga, Reason and Belief in God, 66.

[7] Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Abridged, 115.

[8] Stephen Moroney, The Noetic Effects of Sin: An Historical and Contemporary Exploration of How Sin Affects Our Thinking, 37ff.

[9] Genesis 3:22

[10] 1 Kings 8:46; Job 14:4; Psalm 130:3, 143:2; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; John 3:3; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:3; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8, 10.

[11] Romans 1; 1 Corinthians 2:14.

[12] Romans 12:2,

[13] Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, 60.

[14] 1 Corinthians 2:16.

[15] Romans 7:13-25.

[16] Goldsworthy, Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, 61.

[17] Colossians 1:21; Romans 1:18-28; 8:5-7; Ephesians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 3-4.

[18] Romans 12:2.

[19] Ephesians 4:17-24.

[20] I Corinthians 2:16.

[21] Galatians 5-6.

[22] J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett, Grounded in the Gospel, 15.

[23] Proverbs 27:17.

[24] This seems to be the primary argument throughout his book Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind.

[25] Alister McGrath, The Passionate Intellect, 7.

[26] 1 Peter 1:13.

Dear Christian: Making Money is Good (So is Workplace Dignity)

Do you ever think about the dignity of work, and the humanity of workers?  Christians have a powerful stake in this conversation.  The saving gospel transforms all of our lives, including the way we work, we are employed, we employ. This article, “Productivity and Grace: Management and Labor at a Denver Manufacturer,” is about a Denver manufacturer whose leaders treat their employees with kindness and dignity.  From Christianity Today‘s This Is Our City project, it’s an inspiring piece by Chris Horst, and I commend it to you.  Much to chew on here.

Sandwiched between rail lines and a tire depot, the Blender Products factory hides in a quiet neighborhood in Denver. The nondescript warehouse looks from the outside as nondescript as most warehouses do. But the way Steve Hill and Jim Howey lead inside the building is unusual in an industry known for top-down hierarchies of management.

“The metal fabrication business is extremely cutthroat,” says Hill. “Workers are given a singular task, and maximum output is demanded. They’re simply a factor of production. As a general rule, they have no access to management. There is very little crossover between guys on the floor and guys in the offices.”

Hill and Howey aim to subvert the us-versus-them mentality. Many days they walk the shop floor, engaging their workers as peers. Employees on the floor are treated as importantly as the managers, undermining the adversarial culture simmering in many manufacturing businesses.

Here’s the whole shebang.

I am not one who would advocate for unions as a general rule.  But as I read up on progressivism, the history of American labor, and the captains of industry–an ongoing reading project involves the Industrial Titans of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries–I am keenly aware of the way some manufacturers and industry leaders of the last couple centuries have failed to treat their workers with appropriate dignity.  A figure like Andrew Carnegie, for example, shows us both the tremendous ingenuity of the capitalist and the shameful inhumanity every person is capable of.  Carnegie built libraries for his workers, but they had precious little time by which to visit them.

Christians who believe in the rightness of the free market nonetheless must also be known for their application of the doctrine of the image of God to labor and capitalism.  We don’t only care about making money in order to flourish domestically and societally (and globally); we also care about workers, people, those whom God has invested with meaning and purpose and talent.  The Blender Products leaders, Steve Hill and Jim Howey, clearly get that.  It’s beautiful to read their story along these lines.

With the above stated, don’t misread me.  I’m fundamentally for big business (and medium and small businesses), I generally trust the free market, and I think it’s intellectually facile to think wealth and wealthy people are bad.  The best program of social uplift I know of is one that involves marriage, hard work, and earning money, and there should be absolutely no shame in such things (contra what we are encouraged to feel today). But the Bible seems to be pretty clear about the need to be fair and even kind to others who need to earn money (see 1 Timothy 5:18).

In fact, let’s sharpen the point: Christian employers should be widely known for how well they treat their employees.  Failure on this point is not a small matter.  In the broader world and the political-cultural realm, we should be known not only for our belief in meaningful work and money-earning, but for our advocacy on behalf of the weak, including employees who are mistreated and who need appropriate representation. (By the way, for more resources on the goodness of work and much more, check out the Center for Faith and Work, affiliated with Redeemer Presbyterian Church of Manhattan–cool conference on this subject coming up in early November 2012.)

The image of God means that we can work, create, be entrepreneurs, be day laborers, be manufacturers, homemakers, bosses, ad consultants, teachers, and so much more.  The gospel creates a love for such work in Jesus’s name, and a desire to bring others to the flourishing and spiritual life they can never find outside of the workplace of God, the kingdom of Christ.

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Cross-posted from Owen's personal blog.

What to Do with Halloween?

For all the saints who from their labors rest,Who Thee by faith before the world confess, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Alleluia!

I am the proud dad of three little girls and recently they have been invited to several Halloween parties, not to mention their schools’ annual Halloween bash. So what are we as Christians to do with Halloween? I am not alone, many Christians are baffled.

Halloween's Roots

A good place to start is to take a look at the history of the holiday we commonly call Halloween. The modern celebration called Halloween is a yearly holiday observed by people around the world on October 31st. The origins of the holiday has a complex history that is rooted in paganism and Christianity. Its pre-Christian origins incorporated traditions from the pagan harvest festivals and festivals honoring the dead in Scotland and Ireland.

Halloween is also thought to have been heavily influenced by the Christian holy days called All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day. These holy days were a time for the church to honor the saints and pray for departed loved ones who had not yet reached Heaven. The earliest record of this holiday is in 837 when Pope Gregory IV ordered its church-wide observance. By the 12th century, it had become widely observed by Christians throughout Europe.

Over time, strange ideas and practices began to be connected with the holiday, such as ringing bells for souls in purgatory and wearing masks and costumes to disguise oneself. These practices eventually evolved into the modern-day Halloween activities that include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, and attending costume parties.

Christian Responses

Not all Christians embraced this holiday. During the time of the Reformation, Halloween came under attack by Protestants who denounced purgatory as a “popish” doctrine. Puritans in New England were strongly opposed to the holiday and banned its practice in the new colonies. However, Halloween gradually made its way to North America through the mass Irish and Scottish immigration of the 19th century. It quickly took hold. By the 20th century it was celebrated across the United States by people from all backgrounds.

It is important to say that Christians' attitudes towards Halloween are very diverse and that we can and do disagree over what to do with Halloween. In some traditions such as the Anglican Church, Christians celebrate the All Hallow's Eve through special worship services that include prayer and fasting.

Many Protestant churches celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, to remember the Protestant Reformation. Others celebrate with Harvest Festivals or Reformation Festivals, in which children dress up as Bible characters. Still other churches embrace the holiday by providing events such as Trunk-or-Treat where families can come and get candy in a safe, Christian atmosphere. Many Evangelical Christians reject the holiday because they feel it celebrates or embraces the occult and paganism.

What to Do with Halloween?

I may have explained a little bit about the history of Halloween, but you’re probably still wondering, "What should I do with Halloween?" Here are a few things to take into consideration as you discern how you, your family, and your church should handle Halloween.

1. Don’t be a Freak So many Christians are just downright freaks when it comes to Halloween. What I mean is they retreat from the world, lock their doors, turn off their lights, and get under the covers on Halloween night. Worse yet, they judge other people by whether or not they celebrate Halloween. I think some Christians can and do turn nonbelievers off by their attitudes about Halloween.
2. Be Missional I think Halloween is one of the best opportunities to be missional in the year? My family and I get together with some other families for a meal. Then we go through a small kid-friendly neighborhood together to collect candy. It is very innocent. Every year I have a chance to talk about Christ as we walk through the neighborhood. Don’t miss the moments and opportunities the Lord may be giving you to share and live out your faith.
3. Set Boundaries I am not advocating a wholesale celebration of Halloween. Much of it is dark and can introduce your children to the occult. I encourage you to use discernment, prayer, and set boundaries as needed. There are times when we can and should say no if it is going to compromise our faith in Christ. I can’t tell you what to do in every situation; how that plays out depends entirely on you and your context.
4. Talk to Your Children Tell your children about the history behind Halloween, and warn them about the dark side that can and does so often get associated with the holiday. Children are smart, and Halloween can be a teaching time to share with them and others the gospel of Christ.
5. Don’t Judge Others Lastly, don’t judge others when it comes to celebrating Halloween. Good Christians can and do disagree on this issue. Some Christians feel very strongly about not celebrating Halloween while others have no problem with it at all.  I believe that it is an open-handed issue, that each Christian must seek the Lord and obey his or her conscience. You have to decide what is right for you and your family when it comes to celebrating Halloween.

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Winfield Bevins serves as lead pastor of Church of the Outer Banks , which he founded in 2005. He has a doctorate from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary  in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He lives in the beautiful beach community of the Outer Banks with his wife Kay and two daughters.

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For more free articles about missional living, see Mission: Suburbs by Casey Cease, and Satan in the Suburbs by Seth McBee.

The Problem with Proselytizing

No exaggeration, there was a time when I took Deuteronomy 6:7 to mean that the only form of truly godly education was home-education:

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. - Deuteronomy 6:7

D.A. Carson is known to say, “My father used to tell me that a text without a context becomes a pretext for a proof text, so when I was still quite young I learned to look at the context." In my insistence on homeschooling, I was not applying Carson's piece of solid wisdom. I justified my view. I claimed that flowing from this verse a case is made for homeschooling only. Later, I expanded my view to include classical Christian schools or homeschooling only.

During those years I invested a lot of my time recruiting for these two methods. At one point, I gave a friend a book the premise of which was basically “homeschool at all costs.” I was so black and white about homeschooling that I offended my friend deeply.

As I've looked back on it over the years, I remember talking a lot about being more “godly.” It was always about becoming “holy” and being more “godly.” The things I had in mind to accomplish this holiness/godliness was a long list of what we used to call “distinctives.” Besides homeschooling or classical Christian school, this list included: no youth groups; no Sunday school; no church programs; women can read books together but not Bible study; singing Psalms and hymns only and preferably in 4-part harmony; communion every week (and must be with wine); healthy natural diet. I best stop here. The list is very long. It even contains things that are good, but upholding them as I did - especially in prideful opposition to brothers and sisters in Christ - was the opposite of holiness and godliness.

Believe me when I say I was able to justify all these things from Scripture, and to top it all off - as if this wasn't enough - I had a healthy dose of mockery and scoffing for those who were not “like-minded.” Maybe you have your own list.

I have tried to unravel what coalesced in my thinking and brought me to that point.

What are we sharing?

Over the last year or so I realized how much easier it is for people to become excited about something that works for them or has been a blessing in their lives. We want to share it with everyone we know. Except sometimes it's not just a simple sharing. There's pressure to go with the particular brand/idea/method that we're advocating.

In my experience, we are so often more excited and more pushy and more willing to talk about all kinds of things (e.g. cloth diapers vs. disposable, organic eating, natural baby birth, parenting and education methods) rather than sharing the gospel or talking about Jesus. I'm not casting blame. I had to confront this in my own heart.

There was a time when I was convinced that speaking theological truths to each other was actually out of bounds for godly, obedient Christian women. My rationale was that women should only learn the Scriptures from their husbands and spend their time with other women concentrating on being better keepers of their homes. Obviously, with this mindset, participating in organized women's Bible studies was out of the question, and I imagined that “sharpening” would come through organic relationships. I find it beautiful that in God's mysterious providence he has now put it on my heart to teach and lead Bible studies for women. I now long for women to make their greatest treasure Jesus and the Scriptures.

The Problem with Proselytizing

I understand that not everyone falls into, or has fallen into, this way of thinking. You don't have to take proselytizing to the extremes that I did to stumble in this way. Why do we find it more palatable, or even preferable, to spend more of our time “sharing” or talking each other into things that fall into the category of freedom in Christ, instead of investing our precious time with each other talking about the depths of the gospel? This is the problem with proselytizing.

In Unbelievable Gospel Jonathan Dodson has some hard truths to say about proselytizing versus evangelizing. These things can be just as easily applied to a group where all are Christians—proselytizing, instead of sharpening one another according to Scripture, instead of discipling one another.

Dodson sets up this convicting contrast:

“Proselytizing is motivated by recruitment. Those who proselytize try to recruit people to different things... The proselytizer puts faith in rational arguments and in social networks. Whatever is of greatest value to us motivates our proselytizing. Depending on your values, Christianity may have its strongest expression in a political party, a moral code, a view of the book of Revelation, form or denomination of church, or doctrinal stance. Notice that none of these are focused on Jesus. We all recruit to what we think is most important. Men recruit to sports teams; women recruit to fashion trends. In the case of the proselytizer, he recruits to faith in a messiah and lord other than Jesus. On the whole, faith is placed in the messiah of church and the lord of doctrine. This false gospel goes something like: 'If you join the right church and get the right doctrine, then you can be saved.' The true gospel simply says: 'If you join Jesus through repentance and faith, then he will save you.' Quite different.” (emphasis added)

And here's where it really hurt:

“The proselytizer’s good news is that you can swap out your inferior beliefs and community for her superior beliefs and better community (which is offensive).”

The Opportunity for Evangelizing

In my opinion, Dodson nails it. You can substitute any of your hobby horses for the examples he gives. The bottom line is that for one reason or another we all at times would much rather “recruit” someone in order that they be more like-minded with us, then to help them have the mind of Christ. In our prideful shallow hearts, we are all about our “kingdom of one,” rather than the kingdom of God, as Paul Tripp puts it.

It's helpful to ask how and why sincere Christians fall into the trap of proselytizing rather than evangelizing unbelievers or sharpening fellow believers in Christ. Here is a short list of what I learned when I searched my own heart. (There will be different rationales for different folks):

1. I insulated myself and my children as much as possible from unbelievers, and from believers whom I considered to be not as mature of Christians as I would prefer. Obviously this led to absolutely zero evangelistic opportunities. It also led to a lack of discipleship. I didn't want to take the time with people who I considered to be less sanctified than I was. I only wanted to be around people who were “like-minded” with me and living their lives the way I thought “godly” people should. My reward for this type of living: gospel amnesia, isolation, lack of grace and compassion, judgmentalism, self-righteousness, and rigidness.
2. I preferred to proselytize women to what I believed to be the high watermarks of sanctification defined by what I had read or heard instead of the actual Scriptures. This caused me to be more willing and excited to give out books that I believed would convince others of my view. (Of course I was operating out of blindness since I had not taken the time myself to read widely and compare these authors to the Scriptures and to other authors.)
3. I was more excited about our life choices then I was about my Lord and Savior. That made it easier to talk about all the things we can “do” to be “better” or “godly.”
4. I was more willing to recruit women to the things I was excited about because I sincerely believed that these were the things that could change their life for the better. Because I was not washing my soul with the gospel, daily, I put my faith and hope for transformation in something else—something other than Christ.
5. I was more willing to recruit women to my way of things because it made me look like I had all the answers.

We need to take this Scripture to heart and not think it was just for all those foolish Pharisees two thousand years ago:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. —Matthew 23:15

Why would Jesus give such a rebuke? Because they were proselytizing in order to turn people to their way of living and being “clean” instead of seeking to turn the hearts of people toward God himself. As John Piper has said in God is the Gospel, even the blessings of God are not to be what we desire. Yes, God is the gospel! We are to desire God himself.

It wasn't until God opened my eyes and brought me face to face with Jesus again that I was able to start “gospeling” instead of recruiting—discipling and sharpening instead of proselytizing. The friend I gave that homeschooling book to forgave me for my pushy, immature offensiveness. But our relationship was never the same again. I had gone too far. We were able to say goodbye as sisters in Christ when I moved away, but I have thought about her often over the years—so many things I would take back if I could.

I am grateful that through the convicting and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, I am not that woman anymore, but these habits are hard to break. I need Jesus! I need a deep full-orbed understanding of the gospel. I need books like Unbelievable Gospel to wake me up. And I need loving brothers and sisters in Christ to model true evangelism and communal sharpening for me.

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Luma Simms (@lumasimms) is a wife and mother of five delightful children between the ages of 1 and 18. She studied physics and law before Christ led her to become a writer, blogger, and Bible study teacher. Her book Gospel Amnesia is forthcoming on GCD Press. She blogs regularly at Gospel Grace.

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For more insights on authentically sharing the gospel, check out Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel. We're now offering a Print Edition.

For more free resources on gospel centered living, read: Stephen Witmer's Psalm 127 & 3 Ways to Live or Ben Connelly's A Child's Gospel.

When Love Refuses to Affirm

*Editor's Note: This was #2 on our Top Posts of 2012. _

There are times when your love for people trumps your desire to stay away from potentially offending them. This is one of those times.

I recently stumbled across a theological statement of The Vision Church of Atlanta which proudly boasts Bishop Allen and his life partner, "First Gentleman" Rashad. Included on the page is a horrific handling of Leviticus, the Law, and Jesus's views on such things, but that's probably a post for another day. Here is the particularly gut-wrenching section that I want to focus on here:

We believe that God’s love is inclusive and welcoming to all. We believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ cuts across all barriers which fragment and divide us. We are called to love, affirm and welcome all regardless of race, gender and/or affectional orientation, class, or life situation. As Christ-centered Christians, we are to be known for our inclusiveness, reconciliation, and liberation for all who are oppressed. The church has too often allowed particular aspects of a person to place them out of the faith. Therefore, we emphasize the “whosoever” in John 3:16. We are also called to “love our neighbors as we love ourselves” (Mark 12:29-31), and “love our enemies” Luke 6:27.

So much can be said about this section, but what troubles me most is that the drafter of this explanation (likely the bishop himself) uses the love of Christ as a springboard for the "love equals affirmation" hermeneutic. I totally agree much of this presentation, everything from the power of the barrier-crossing gospel to the call to love our neighbors and enemies. Any Christian would quickly and rightly say "amen!" to that.

Where the logic totally falls apart is assuming that the inclusiveness of the gospel allows for no standard of right and wrong. The gospel is indeed the power of God to save the Jew, Gentile, man, woman, child, black, white, etc. But that's not all. It is also a proclamation that sin has been conquered and that God's righteous reign is supreme. His glory is paramount. In short, the implication by The Vision Church is that because the gospel is not a sectarian message in its reach, tolerance is the highest form of love. In fact, love is often the opposite.

What's Love Got to Do with It?

When defining love, we must be extremely careful not to confuse it with affirmation. I love my wife whether she commits adultery or not, and I would forgive and reconcile with her if that were to ever happen (God forbid), but I would not condone nor endorse her to do it again. Christ's death on the cross would cover that sin, but he would also command repentance and I rightly would expect the same. The beauty of the gospel is not that we get to sin freely, but that we are free to sin no more. We have so individualized everything in our culture that "what works for me is best for me" has firmly seeped into much of today's Christian thought. Repentance and dying to self flip that script entirely.

Jesus clearly spent much of his ministry teaching and modeling love. As mentioned before, he said that we must love our God, our neighbors, and our enemies. Indeed, John says that "God is love" in his first epistle (1 John 4:8). However, we should also pay attention to how Jesus loved. His interaction with the woman caught in adultery in John 8 is a striking example that comes to mind. After saving her life from those who sought to condemn and marginalize her, he said this:

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

What a beautiful picture of grace! He could have easily judged her (as the true Judge) and yet he told her, "I do not condemn you." Now, we could stop there, but we can't. Why? Because Jesus didn't stop there. He then says, "Go and sin no more." See that? Love is not just the forgiveness of sins, but also the pointing toward something better. When Christians, exercising real humility and gentleness, tell a homosexual or alcoholic or adulterer or gossip queen that what they are doing is a sin, they are exercising the love of Christ. It is not loving to leave people in their sin or simply offer hollow acquittal. Jesus pardons sin and points us in the right direction.

At the Cross

In reflecting on the aforementioned theological averment that promotes a choose-your-own-lifestyle therapy, it is grievous that the gospel is weakened to such a nebulous ideal. What's more, this kind of thought is being broadcasted as the true teachings of Jesus. Jesus becomes nothing more than a naïve mother who accepts all of her children's flaws. This flies in the face of the cross, where God in the flesh died the most gruesome form of execution ever created to gain victory over sin. He hung there because sin is that hideous and offensive. Paul lists a very particular set of sins in 1 Cor. 6:7-10 that range from the greedy to the homosexual and in verse 11 says, "that's what some of you were, but you were sanctified and justified in Christ." In this transferred vindication, we walk away from those things and into the newness of life.

The cross indicts every one of us but there is hope on the other side of an empty tomb. We cannot trust our own hearts. We cannot think of our own preferences. We cannot be defined by those things which God clearly warns against. We must be washed in the blood, sent out of the grave and into the world. There can be no reconciliation where sin is not only accepted but endorsed. It pains me to see people so blinded by their own fragmented hearts, but I can pray with joy and hope knowing that no one is out of the reach of God's saving hand.