educational pontificating

image courtesy of davidajacobs.com

Some time ago I was engaged in an online discussion concerning Jesus’ purposes for coming to earth (there are many).  I offered that I was fairly certain it’s not possible to separate and fully distinguish between those purposes — and that such a western mindset might not be helpful anyway.  But if pushed to sum it all up, I supposed giving glory to God would top my list.

There was some disagreement, though, as others felt the salvation of man was Jesus’ chief priority.  The discussion was intelligent and challenging, yet polite and Christlike.  And then someone posted this:

It is this kind of “educational” pontificating that leaves the lost…LOST.

It is part of the reason the Church is shrinking in the US now. We spend too much time pontificating the mission and not enough time doing the mission.

Is it the “Overall” mission? WHO CARES…the lost still need Him!

Other than the insinuation that those of us involved in the discussion are not very involved in actually reaching out to the lost, I thought this comment was appropriate.  There is an awful lot of time spent discussing and debating the word of God — not that this in itself is wrong.  But there are certainly times when I myself ought to be doing… and am found only to be talking.

another trinity

image courtesy of trackemtigers.com

[Warning: Scathing assault* on Christianity to come.]

Jeremiah 2:26-28 (and the actual passage):

As a college quarterback** would be disgraced were it proved he was playing for cash,
so Christianity is disgraced —
its adherents, their leaders and teachers, their priests and their pastors, all.
They say to knowledge, “You are our father.”
To money, “You are our friend.”
To popularity, influence, and control, “You represent our greatest goals and ambitions.”
They have turned their backs toward me instead of their faces;
yet when they are in trouble, they say, “Come and save us!”
Where are knowledge, wealth, and power?  Let that trinity save you!
As if three were the number of your gods — but, no…
you have as many gods as you have denominations, O church.

***********

* This attack is overstated, and does not reflect my view of Christianity as a whole.  I do not believe the following is representative of all of us — or even most of us.  And I will not be venturing a guess as to the actual percentage to which it does and should apply.  I will simply state:

1. That I don’t mean this as an attack at all.  Rather, I’ve been reading through Jeremiah and applying it as best I can to our current culture and context.  After rewriting this passage in my own words, to address today’s church, I realized it might come across as harsh and excessive.  This was not my intention.
   

2. However, the ideas presented are indeed serious problems within Christianity today.

** Any seeming relationship between this phrasing and Cameron Newton of Auburn University is completely and totally intentional.  I say Cam’s innocent until proven guilty and — if he indeed is eligible to play — should win the Heisman hands down.  Full disclosure: I attended Auburn and desperately want all of this to be character assassination and nothing more.  War Eagle!

obedience and brushing

image courtesy of teethingsolutions.co.uk

Speaking with Christians here in Tanzania (many of whom are so in name only), I often find myself attempting to express the difference between reading the Bible for knowledge and reading it for obedience.  I explain that, when it comes to Christianity, we’re far too intelligent to be so disobedient — that the Bible is, contrary to popular belief, not so difficult to understand that we must study it for years before we can begin to do as it says — or that we need to hire one expert to teach us what the good book means.  I generally am asked to explain further, and this is one of the verses I offer:

“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation…”  – Philippians 2:14-15a

I don’t have to make use of my bachelor’s and master’s degrees to understand that I shouldn’t complain and argue.  But I still do.  If you don’t believe me, you can ask my wife.  [Please don't.]

Knowledge isn’t the answer, but is only useful towards (and for) obedience.  Adding Bible knowledge to an already disobedient life is like sending someone to medical school who refuses to brush his teeth and wash his hands.

image courtesy of ethicsoup.com

I’m afraid we claim to take seriously The Great Commission, but have stopped at the Holy Spirit.  Here’s the way we often read it:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  [Full stop.]“

What we often miss is this line, which immediately follows:

“… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

In fact, we’ve horribly misunderstood The Great Commission when we don’t stress obedience.  Making disciples requires that they learn to be obedient to Christ.  And it doesn’t seem to be especially effective attempting to teach others to obey Jesus’ commands when we are not doing so ourselves.

I probably ought to stop complaining and arguing.  And I have got to start brushing my teeth.

For more reading on this subject, see these posts:

the smart young m.div. candidate

my (current) definition of worship

the smart young m.div. candidate

albert einstein, smart enough to enter into eternal life

image courtesy of, and designed at, signgenerator

A well-versed Christian came up to Jesus and asked, “Savior, what intelligent thing do I need to know to get eternal life?”

“Why do you ask me about what is intelligent?” Jesus replied.  ”There is only one who is intelligent.  If you want to enter life, obey his commandments.”

“Which ones?” inquired the excellent and highly revered Sunday School teacher.

Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

“I have memorized all these commandments,” the seminarian said, “and I’ve even kept a lot of them.  I also understand completely how the Trinity functions, have interpreted in its fullness the book of Revelation, made ‘A’s in both Greek and Hebrew, know why the justification theory is lacking, can name three reasons why ever other denomination is wrong, and have correctly identified the unforgivable sin.  What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go rid your brain of all those answers, and you will have made room in there to grasp the idea of obedience to my words.  Then come, follow me.”

When the brilliant young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great knowledge and really believed that’s what Christianity was all about — despite the fact that Jesus had just told him otherwise.

– taken from Matthew 19 (kind of)

we’re a bunch of scheming swindlers

This has turned into a bit of a series.  Today, a simple quote given me by my good buddy, David Robinson (here and here).  And next post, more practical advice — but concerning how to overcome the American church’s infatuation with the individual.  Past posts in the series are here:

Tendencies of an American Church

Practical Advice for Incarnational Ministry — Part Moja

Practical Advice for Incarnational Ministry — Part Mbili

“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”

Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
Danish Scholar

obedience and knowledge

Before sharing with you a couple of brief thoughts, I need to make it clear that they are not in any way original with me.  Much of my thinking these days has been influenced by the CPM seminar in Rwanda.  And that seminar, I believe, was influenced by God Himself, as he touched our hearts through His written word.  If you’re not reading your Bible every day, I cannot encourage you enough to start doing so.  I’ve changed my method of personal reading and study lately, and it has been such a blessing.  If you are interested in a different way to read, understand, and apply scripture to your life, please ask me — and I’ll share this method with you.  I believe if you give it one week, you will experience a change in your life.

In the beginning, we find Adam and Eve in the garden, put there to enjoy all God had created.  And they were given only one rule, only one command:  not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  That’s it, one command.  [After writing this, I was informed that indeed there was a second command: to multiply and fill the earth...] Enters the serpent, the craftiest of all the wild animals.  He asked Eve if they were allowed to eat fruit from any of the trees in the garden, and she explained they were allowed to eat from all the trees except the one in the middle.  She then explained the punishment that would follow the eating of its fruit — death.  The serpent told her that she wouldn’t really die, but that her eyes would be opened and she would have knowledge like God.  When Eve saw that the fruit looked good to eat “and was desirable for gaining wisdom,” she broke the one (really one of two) command God had given, and sin entered the world.

In the beginning, God created a system of obedience.  Satan’s counter to that system of obedience was knowledge.  Commonly in our lives and churches, we find two systems operating: knowledge and obedience.  Which one did God introduce?  I’m not saying knowledge is not important, but I am saying that knowledge without obedience is worthless.  And most of my life has been focused on wisdom gained from the word.  I’ve studied the Bible in a group of people a minimum of three times a week since before I could read.  I’ve read my Bible on my own at least as many times.  I have two degrees in Bible, and paid (and am still paying) a lot to get them.  I know a lot about the Bible.  But for a lot of my life, I’ve also been disobedient.  We need knowledge in order to be obedient and show our love for God.  But it seems the emphasis should be on obedience to God’s desires, not our understanding of them alone.  I would challenge you to think about the way you study your Bible personally, the way your church studies, whether or not you strive during the week to be obedient to the things you’ve “learned,” and whether your religious community encourages obedience and holds one another accountable to it.  

If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.  These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Jesus