GOSPEL DELTA

Looking For a Movement to Join

// March 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection

Phil Johnson at Pyromaniacs gave a message 5 years ago at the Shepherds Conference titled “Dead Right: The Failure of Fundamentalism,” and it caused a ton of controversy in the blogosphere. Something just clicked for me as I read this excerpt from Phil’s talk. It’s a hard thing to discern the times we live in, and it’s an easy thing for young men without the wisdom of years, to get wrapped up in things which ten years down the road won’t mean a thing, or will be shown to have been a big mistake. Surely there are movements in Christianity that come from God and show the unique stamp of Christian revival upon them, but the hard truth is that the majority of movements we see these days will pass away without us even noticing it. There is something in us, however, a restlessness, that yearns to be part of a movement. The problem is, most Christians fail to realize that they already are a part of one. And much effort is wasted when we pine after the movements of other men, rather than asking God to use us mightily in the movement of Christ, which has withstood the test of time. Phil’s comments here resonate with me, and they remind me that my deepest desire should be to belong to Christ–not to a tribe, not to a group of men who share my theological distinctives, not to a denomination–but to Christ and his Gospel.

I have always preferred independency. I consider myself an independent in every sense. I’m not looking for a movement to join. I belong to [Grace Community] church. That’s enough for me. And I’m willing to work alongside anyone and everyone who shares my essential biblical convictions, whether the label they would slap on themselves is “fundamentalist,” “evangelical,” “strict and particular Baptist,” or just plain old “Christian.”

Think about the fruits of the various twentieth-century movements. Liberals and theological radicals never did anything but kill churches and turn denominations into spiritual wastelands.

“Fundamentalists” who tied themselves to the movement got sidetracked into fighting and dividing into ever-smaller and less significant factions. They managed to start with the all the right ideas, all the right enemies, and all the best men? and reduce their movement to virtual insignificance in less than a hundred years.

“Moderates” never did anything, period, except gum up the works of denominational discipline, while compromising and clouding everything that ought to be kept crystal-clear.

If you think about it, the twentieth century saw the same pattern repeated that you see throughout all of church history. The true vitality of the church is traceable through the nonconformists, the independents, the true biblical separatists. The true secret of their power is not ?and never has been ?in earthly organizations, political clout, or visible movements of any kind. Their power is derived from the biblical truth they preach. And the influence of that kind of power has always been what determines the relative health and spiritual vigor of the church.

“Upon a Wasp Chilled With Cold” – Edward Taylor

// March 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection

Edward Taylor is a Puritan poet whom I’ve recently rediscovered. I remember reading and analyzing his poetry back in an Honors English class in high school. The English teacher at my liberal, all-boys Catholic school had a strong prejudice against Puritan literature and poetry, which peaked especially in our study of Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Having grown up in a ‘jack catholic’ family, and holding no personal allegiance to the faith, I was able to read the Puritans without the same bias as my classmates, and I remember feeling a strange affinity for the “bigness” of the Puritan God; the strength of His judgement, juxtaposed with the tenderness of His mercy. I see now that God was wooing me even then. Taylor’s poems stick out like mountain peaks in my mind as I recall those days of searching for God in that place and feeling like I was stuck in the valley.

“Upon a Wasp Chilled With Cold” by Edward Taylor

The Bear that breathes the Northern blast
Did numb, Torpedo-like, a Wasp
Whose stiffened limbs encramped, lay bathing
In Sol’s warm breath and shine as saving,
Which with her hands she chafes and stands
Rubbing her Legs, Shanks, Thighs, and hands.
Her petty toes, and fingers’ ends
Nipped with this breath, she out extends
Unto the Sun, in great desire
To warm her digits at that fire.
Doth hold her Temples in this state
Where pulse doth beat, and head doth ache.
Doth turn, and stretch her body small,
Doth Comb her velvet Capital.
As if her little brain pan were
A Volume of Choice precepts clear.
As if her satin jacket hot
Contained Apothecary’s Shop
Of Nature’s receipts, that prevails
To remedy all her sad ails,
As if her velvet helmet high
Did turret rationality.
She fans her wing up to the Wind
As if her Pettycoat were lined,
With reason’s fleece, and hoists sails
And humming flies in thankful gales
Unto her dun Curled palace Hall
Her warm thanks offering for all.

Lord, clear my misted sight that I
May hence view Thy Divinity,
Some sparks whereof Thou up dost hasp
Within this little downy Wasp
In whose small Corporation we
A school and a schoolmaster see,
Where we may learn, and easily find
A nimble Spirit bravely mind
Her work in every limb: and lace
It up neat with a vital grace,
Acting each part though ne’er so small
Here of this Fustian animal,
Till I enravished Climb into
The Godhead on this Ladder do,
Where all my pipes inspired upraise
An Heavenly music furred with praise.

Analysis: Taylor observes the wasp and sees how she is warmed by the sun and brought out of her numb, chilled state and into glorious flight. So also, Taylor longs to bask in the sunlight of God’s grace and have his soul warmed and stirred into flights of praise for the goodness of God. There is the use of an emblem or conceit, an extended metaphor to illustrate an important theme. In this case, Taylor is saying that just as the wasp needs the sunlight to warm it from its frigid state, so we need God’s grace to thaw our frozen hearts and warm us so that we may praise God as we should.

The Gospel in Life

// March 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection, Doctrine, Life

“The Gospel in Life” is the title of a new intensive survey course that Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NY developed to explore how the gospel changes us. Here is the explanation from the Gospel in Life website:

www.gospelinlife.com

This eight-session small group course includes a DVD of Timothy Keller’s teaching for each session as well as a detailed study guide which features Bible studies, discussion questions, quotations from literary sources, and home study work. It is designed for both lay people and ministers.

The material can also be adapted to a shorter or longer time period, from a single-day workshop to a 24 week study.

Gospel in Life will be available in March 2010.

Table of Contents:

Week 1: City – The World That Is
Week 2: Heart – Three Ways to Live
Week 3: Idolatry – The Sin Beneath The Sin
Week 4: Community – The Clue To Change
Week 5: Witness – An Alternate City
Week 6: Work – Cultivating The Garden
Week 7: Justice – A People For Others
Week 8: Eternity – The World That Is To Come

Tim Keller says, “The concept behind the “Gospel in Life” course is that Christ-likeness happens when we bring the gospel to bear on the roots of a person’s heart. We want to help people work out what it means to believe the gospel more deeply and rejoice in Jesus’ salvation more fully in a community. So we’re working these things into people’s lives, we’re doing it in community and that is the basic concept behind the ‘Gospel in Life’ discipleship curriculum.”

Check out the Resources Page

Keeping a Gospel Church

// March 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection, Doctrine, Life

The following is an excerpt from Dick Kaufmann’s paper entitled “The Gospel-Driven Church” (Aug 2006). Dick Kaufmann is the former executive pastor of Redeemer Pres in NYC and current lead pastor of Harbor Pres in San Diego, CA.

One of the most important questions you can ask about ministry is: What kind of church do you want?  What kind of church are you seeking to plant, grow and be? My philosophical approach to ministry has been greatly influenced by John Frame’s tri-perspectivalism. John writes: “The knowledge of God’s law, the world, and the self are interdependent and ultimately identical” (The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, Presbyterian and Reformed, 1987, p.89). “Human knowledge can be understood in three ways: as knowledge of God’s norm, as knowledge of the situation [environment], and as knowledge of ourselves. None can be achieved adequately without the others. Each includes the others” (p.75).

In thinking about ministry from a tri-perspectival approach, we thought about what makes our church distinctive in its relationship to God’s Word, the world, and our selves.  In relation to God’s Word, it is a Gospel-centered church.  In relationship to our selves, it is a Grace Renewal church. And in relationship to the world, it is a Missional church. Let’s look of each of these.

A Gospel-Centered Church

The whole Bible is the Gospel of Christ

· Luke 24:25-27 – He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

· Luke 24:44-47 – He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”  Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.  He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

· 1 Corinthians 1:22-24; 2:2 – Jews demand miraculous signs [power] and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God… For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Implications:

1. We resolve to read the Bible as the Gospel. Since the central theme of the Bible is-the sufferings and glory of Christ, we resolve to read the Bible as the story of salvation, not moralistic lessons. We resolve to see how the law, the ceremonies, and the history all point us to their fulfillment in the coming of the Deliverer promised in Genesis 3:15 and throughout the Bible.

2.    We resolve to preach and teach the Gospel to believers, not just unbelievers. We become Christians and we grow as Christians by grace through faith in Jesus.  Therefore, we resolve to preach the Gospel as the means to grow, not ‘biblical principles for living’ (which means ‘the law’) to believers..

3.    We resolve to preach and teach the Gospel in every sermon and every lesson. The most desperate need of both unbelievers and believers is to hear and appropriate the Gospel to their lives each and every day.  Therefore, we resolve to point people to the Gospel in every sermon, lesson, small group meeting, etc.

4.    We resolve to receive the Gospel as the “milk” and the “meat” of God’s Word. Since the whole Bible is the Gospel and Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God (1Cor.1:22-24), then we never move beyond the Gospel to something deeper.  There is nothing deeper than the Gospel.  Therefore, we resolve to view the Gospel as both the A-B-C’s and the A-to-Z of Christianity.

5.    We resolve to view the world and the church through the lens of the Gospel. Since the Bible is our ultimate authority and the Bible is the Gospel, we resolve to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1Cor.2:2).  This means our understanding of the world and church and how to address its needs and problems will be based on the Gospel.

A Grace Renewal Church

We live and grow by grace through faith in the Gospel of Christ.

· Galatians 3:1-5 - You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing-if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

· Galatians 5:1-6 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

· Romans 1:16-17 - I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the Gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

· Colossians 2:6-8 - So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Implications:

1. We resolve to live in ongoing grace renewal. To that end, we resolve to preach the Gospel to our selves, love our neighbors, and pray it forward through kingdom centered prayer-all done in a community of grace.

2. We resolve to be “new” people, not “nice” people. The Gospel is out not to reform people but to transform people. Churches that preach for behavioral reformation tend to elevate middle-class values to the level of biblical norm and focus on external change.  We resolve to seek transformation at the motivational and character level, not merely behavioral modification.

3. We resolve to believe that the Gospel can change anyone. Since we are saved by grace, there are no hopeless cases and no hopeless situations.  Since we are saved by grace, we resolve to have great respect and great hope for every unbeliever.

4. We resolve to motivate with grace, not guilt. The Gospel is the power of God to motivate us.  Those gripped by the Gospel are compelled by the love of Christ (2Cor.5:14) to serve, give, and witness.  Therefore, we resolve not to motivate people through guilt trips driving them to obey out of fear.  But rather we resolve to motivate people through the Gospel that sets us free to love unconditionally out of gratitude for God’s grace.

5. We resolve to solve all problems (personal, church, social) with the Gospel. The root of all of our problems is that something other than Christ is serving as our functional savior.  Therefore we neither tell people: “You shouldn’t act like that–stop it!” nor “You need to accept yourself as you are!”  Rather, we call them to repent of their idols and trust in Christ who through his life and death is the only one who can give them all they are longing for.

A Missional Church

The Gospel calls us to be “for” the city/culture/people.

· John 17:18-19 – [Father] as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

· Matthew 28:18-20 – Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

· Acts 1:8 – You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

· Acts 8:1,4 – On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria… Those who were scattered preached the word wherever they went.

What does it mean to be missional?

· Bottom-line it means: We are a church “for” the city/culture/people where God has placed us, and through it the world.

· Some churches are “of” the culture. They so embrace the culture that they lose their distinctiveness.

· Some churches are “against” the culture. They so oppose the culture that they lose their relevance.

· And some churches are “above” the culture. They so “super-spiritualize” life that they lose their point of contact.

· On the other hand, a church “for” the culture engages the culture in order to transform it.

The following implications are based on Tim Keller’s paper entitled “The Missional Church” (June 2001).

Implications:

1. We resolve to learn and speak the language of our culture. We resolve to avoid speaking ‘Christianese’, ‘holy-huddle’ talk, pious prayer language, in-house ‘jargon’, and ‘super-spiritual’ talk.  We resolve to avoid technical theological terms, unless we explain them.  We resolve to avoid ‘we-them’ language, language that belittles people of different political, spiritual, social positions, or is disrespectful of people who we disagree.  We resolve, instead to engage people by humbly admitting our weaknesses and failures, while demonstrating the joyful difference the Gospel makes.  We resolve never to talk as if non-Christians weren’t present.  We resolve to do this not as an out-reach strategy but as the fruit of a Gospel-changed heart.

2. We resolve to sincerely listen to people and their ‘stories’. We resolve to understand, love and respect them unconditionally, and serve them by showing them how the Gospel meets their deepest longings.  To do this we resolve to have a knowledge and appreciation of the culture’s movies, books, music, etc., in order to understand the culture’s hopes, dreams, stories, and fears.  So, we can show people that only Jesus can fulfill their greatest desires.

3. We resolve to be a Christian community that is counter-cultural/intuitive. We resolve to show the world how radically different a Christian society is with regard to relationships, sex, money, and power.

Regarding relationships: We resolve to celebrate diversity and cultivate unity-to radically love each other-so that the world will see the difference Jesus makes.  We resolve when there is conflict we will not just walk away but we will actively work at reconciliation with one another.

Regarding sex: We resolve to avoid the extremes of idolizing sex and fearing sex.  Instead we will hold a glorious view of sex in marriage as a pointer to intimacy with Christ.  We also resolve in regards to people whose sexual lifestyles are different than ours, that we will show love rather than hostility or fear.

Regarding money: We resolve to be radically generous in our giving of time, money, skills, and relationships to working for social justice and caring for the poor, weak and needy.
Regarding power: We resolve to share power and build friendships between different races and classes.

We resolve to be more involved in deeds of mercy and social justice than traditional liberal churches and at the same time more involved in evangelism and church planting than traditional conservative churches.

4. We resolve to live out our Christianity in our work and recreation. We resolve to learn together how to think, do, and be distinctively Christian in our work and recreation.  We resolve to learn: a) what in our culture is good and can be enjoyed and celebrated, b) what in our culture is anti-Gospel and must be rejected, and c) what in our culture can be renewed and adapted for good.  We resolve to encourage and celebrate Christians who are advancing the “kingdom of God” in the public square.  We resolve to show Gospel love and tolerance toward those with whom we strongly disagree with.  One of the biggest criticisms of Christians is that we are intolerant.  But since we are saved by grace, we should be the most humble, tolerant people in society.  And so we resolve to be.

5. We resolve to demonstrate the unity of the church in the city. We resolve to celebrate what God is doing in other churches, instead of criticizing other churches.  We resolve to develop alliances with other like-minded churches in order to serve our city together.  We resolve, beyond that, to cooperate and develop meaningful relationships even with congregations much different than us.  Although this will raise some areas of tension, we will continue to head in the direction of cooperation.

Case Study (Tim Keller)
“Let me show you how this goes beyond any ‘program.’ These are elements that have to be present in every area of the church. So, for example, what makes a small group ‘missional’? A ‘missional’ small group is not necessarily one, which is doing some kind of specific ‘evangelism’ program (though that is to be recommended). Rather, 1) if its members love and talk positively about the city/neighborhood, 2) if they speak in language that is not filled with pious tribal or technical terms and phrases, nor disdainful and embattled language, 3) if in their Bible study they apply the Gospel to the core concerns and stories of the people of the culture, 4) if they are obviously interested in and engaged with the literature and art and thought of the surrounding culture and can discuss it both appreciatively and yet critically, 5) if they exhibit deep concern for the poor and generosity with their money and purity and respect with regard to opposite sex, and show humility toward people of other races and cultures, 6) if they do not bash other Christians and churches–then seekers and non-believing people from the city A) will be invited and B) will come and will stay as they explore spiritual issues. If these marks are not there it will only be able to include believers or traditional, “Christianized” people.”

Feel (2)

// March 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection, Doctrine

Another great resource that is helping me go deeper on the role of emotion is Jonathan Edwards’ 1746 classic Religious Affections, which examines the centrality of emotions in Scripture and in the Christian life. Edwards defines emotions by making a distinction between two types of emotions: affections and passions. The affections—things like love, joy, courage, and meekness—were to be nurtured, developed, and encouraged. The passions—things like appetite, sexuality, fear, and anger—were not evil, but simply part of man’s natural makeup, to be held under control. In any conflict between the passions and the will, the passions always won unless the will was supported by the affections.

As in worldly things, worldly AFFECTIONS are very much the spring of men’s motion and action; so in religious matters, the spring of their actions is very much religious AFFECTION: he that has doctrinal knowledge and speculation only, without AFFECTION, never is engaged in the business of religion….I am bold to assert, that there never was any considerable change wrought in the mind or conversation of any person, by anything of a religious nature, that ever he read, heard or saw, that had not his AFFECTIONS moved. Never was a natural man engaged earnestly to seek his salvation; never were any such brought to cry after wisdom, and lift up their voice for understanding, and to wrestle with God in prayer for mercy; and never was one humbled, and brought to the foot of God, from anything that ever he heard or imagined of his own unworthiness and deserving of God’s displeasure; nor was ever one induced to fly for refuge unto Christ, while his HEART remained UNAFFECTED. Nor was there ever a saint awakened out of a cold, lifeless flame, or recovered from a declining state in religion, and brought back from a lamentable departure from God, without having his HEART AFFECTED. And in a word, there never was anything considerable brought to pass in the HEART or life of any man living, by the things of religion, that had not his HEART deeply AFFECTED by those things…The religion of heaven consists very much in AFFECTION.

(Edwards, Religious Affections)

The Bible teaches that enemies of Christ serve their passions while Christians nurture noble affections. When people today talk about emotion, they are speaking of a broad category that may include the affections, passions, or the resultant feelings. That is why I think we need to be more specific when discussing Christian psychological issues — “emotion” is too broad a term. When the Bible talks about desires, affections or passions, most people are thinking of “feelings”.  My sense is that we need to deconstruct the categories that the Bible uses and then start from there. Having the ability to learn from our emotions and discern what things stir up our affections for Christ, or rob us of our affections for Christ, is a gift that goes a long way when we’re leading ourselves and others toward Gospel-shaped character.

I recently picked up a book that promises to be a life-changing read. It’s actually a 5-book compilation of Jonathan Edwards’ life and major works called the The Essential Edwards Collection. “They unearth the choicest treasures of Edwards’ writings and present them to lay people for discovery and personal transformation.  The wisdom of Edwards is brought in all its heat and light so that the people of God might drink deeply from the Scriptures” (Kevin DeYoung).

1. Jonathan Edwards: Lover of God
2. Jonathan Edwards on Beauty
3. Jonathan Edwards on the Good Life
4. Jonathan Edwards on Heaven and Hell
5. Jonathan Edwards on True Christianity

Here are some blurbs on the new collection:

“Everyone says Jonathan Edwards is important. Quite frankly, however, his writing style is pretty dense by contemporary standards, so few pastors and other Christian leaders have invested much time reading him. Edwards is one of the “greats” of whom everyone has heard and whom relatively few have read. This new series tackles the problem. Here is the kernel of much of Edwards’s thought in eminently accessible form.”

—D. A. Carson

“In The Essential Edwards Collection, Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney play the role of the good friend who pulls the book down off the shelf. With knowledge and excitement, they open the large and intimidating tomes, and point to some clear and searching section which illuminates God’s truth and searches our hearts. In this collection, Edwards is introduced to a new generation of readers. His concerns are made our concerns. This is a worthy effort and I pray that God will bless it.”

—Mark Dever

“Books on the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards could fill a library. So where does an average reader (like me!) begin? Right here, with The Essential Edwards Collection. Strachan and Sweeney provide a doorway into the life and teaching of one of the church’s wisest theologians. But this book is more than history. The authors have included notes of personal application to help us apply the life and teaching of Edwards to our own lives. I’ve read no better introduction to Jonathan Edwards.”

—C. J. Mahaney

“Why hasn’t this been done before? The Essential Edwards Collection is now essential reading for the serious-minded Christian. Doug Sweeney and Owen Strachan have written five excellent and accessible introductions to America’s towering theological genius—Jonathan Edwards. They combine serious scholarship with the ability to make Edwards and his theology come alive for a new generation. The Essential Edwards Collection is a great achievement and a tremendous resource. I can’t think of a better way to gain a foundational knowledge of Edwards and his lasting significance.”

—R. Albert Mohler Jr.

“Jonathan Edwards is surely one of the most influential theologians of the eighteenth century, yet until now a representative sample of his work has required the reader either to wade through poorly printed double-column editions or to purchase incredibly expensive scholarly editions. Now at last we have a wide-ranging and representative sample of his work published in an attractive, accessible and, most important of all, readable form. The authors are to be commended for the work they have put into this set and I hope it will become an important feature of the library of many pastors and students of the Christian faith.”

—Carl R. Trueman

“You hold in your hands a unique resource: a window into the life and thought of Jonathan Edwards, a man whose life was captured by God for the gospel of Jesus Christ. In these pages you’ll not only learn about Edwards, but you’ll be able to hear him speak in his own words. This winsome and accessible introduction is now the first thing I’d recommend for those who want to know more about the work that God did in and through America’s greatest pastor-theologian.”

—Justin Taylor

Feel (1)

// March 3rd, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Affection, Doctrine

 In a recent class on Gospel-centered Leadership, focusing on the topic of character, one of the class members voiced this concern:

My notes are fuzzy on this but I think I heard you say that character is built out of our emotions.  Did I hear correctly?  I have always felt that emotions are not too reliable and if you were to look at my character through my emotions, I am going to be in trouble!! Please give me any insights into this.   Thanks!

She was referring to what our associate pastor Chris was talking about when he described the meaning behind the phrase “youthful passions” or “evil desires” in 2 Tim 2:22. He explained that the word Paul uses there is “epitumia” which can be translated as “over-desire”. Paul uses it often when referring to idolatry, i.e. desiring or loving a created thing more than God. I believe his point was that our emotions are a good barometer for uncovering our idols. If we regularly ask ourselves questions like “What is my greatest fear?”, “What do I worry about most?”, “What am I the proudest of?”, or “What would really make me happy?” it will become evident whether our character  is rooted in the Gospel, or settled on something else.

But this person’s comment about emotions intrigued me, because I have noticed that this is a common theme among people who lived through the charismatic movement; it’s a big concern. Even in contemporary circles, I have seen how the draw of experiential Christianity can drive church toward unbiblical positions and how charismania can move churches away from orthodoxy. But I’ve also seen how the pendulum can swing too far in the other direction, all the way to a sort of stoic anti-emotionalism, a fear of charisma, and even a diminishing of role of the Holy Spirit. As a guy who’s big on doctrine, I can say from personal experience that there are equally dangerous pitfalls on this side of the pendulum. I’ve seen how the pursuit of theology (knowledge, truth) apart from the practice of doxology (worship/experience) can easily lead people astray into dead orthodoxy. I’ve seen this tendency in my own life, and it’s forced me to think deeply about how to balance these things.

I recently read some snippets from a book called Feel by Matthew Elliot. It’s about uncovering what the Bible really teaches about our emotions. John Piper has touted Eliot’s work as “the most thorough study on emotions in the New Testament.” The basic premise of the book is that the concept of “emotion” has been radically altered today from the way biblical authors or original readers would have thought about it. In Feel, Eliot describes some of the errors he has observed in American Christianity when it comes to emotions:

• “we have become indoctrinated in the belief that emotions are unreliable, dangerous, and bad.”

• “we have made our relationship with God more about fulfilling our duty than expressing our passion. We make our spiritual lives into a list of dos and don’ts. We pursue this list more than we actually pursue Jesus. And this leads to a life that eventually becomes tired and numb, devoid of feeling, dead.”

Based on his reading of Scripture, Eliot puts forth a few key ideas:

• “our emotions were given to us by God to drive us to our best”

• “emotions give us a window to see truth like nothing else”

• “the true health of our spiritual lives is measured by how we feel”

I think that understood rightly, our emotions can be a great help to us, especially for uncovering our idols: “something or someone besides Jesus the Christ that has taken title to our heart’s functional trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear and delight?” (David Powlison). I suspect that some of these statements from Eliot would raise eyebrows among most evangelicals, but I think there’s a lot of truth there and I would highly recommend checking this book out.

Here are some more great quotes from Feel:

• If you want to conquer a besetting sin, you need to stop loving it.

• Jesus Christ brings to each of us a new set of information about the world around us. Without him, we have reason to fear and worry. With him, our emotions have a whole new context.

• What we feel–our loves–reveals what we really believe and becomes the motivation for how we live.

• …emotion does what a friend does–it counsels and advises…As we are conformed to Christ, we can learn to rely on emotions as we might rely on a friend.

• Our emotional response to anything is a collage of our personality, upbringing, self-image, worldview, experiences, and beliefs. What we concentrate on, what we dwell on, what we run over and over again n our heads is what we get emotional about. So we need to stop and think about what we are always telling ourselves. If it does not line up with what is true, we must cancel the download. Then we need to reboot our thought patterns with godly values and beliefs. Only then can our emotions reflect a godly perspective.

• Whatever podcast you play in your head is what you will eventually believe about God, others, and yourself. It will determine your emotional starting point and the place out of which you will respond. You can spend most of your life at a single spot emotionally because you pitched your tent on one thing that you relive and rehash every day. Sometimes, you have to make yourself pack it up and move on to something new.

Licking the Earth

// February 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection, Life

When I look back on my life nowadays, which I sometimes do, what strikes me most forcibly about it is that what seemed at the time most significant and seductive, seems now futile and absurd. For instance, success in all of its various guises; being known and being praised, ostensible pleasures, like acquiring money or seducing women, or traveling, going to and fro in the world and up and down in it like Satan, exploring and experiencing whatever Vanity Fair has to offer. In retrospect all these exercises in self-gratification seem pure fantasy, what Pascal called “licking the earth.” They are diversions designed to distract our attention from the true purpose of our existence in this world, which is, quite simply, to look for God, and, in looking, to find Him, and, having found Him, to love Him, thereby establishing a harmonious relationship with His purposes for His creation.

–Malcom Muggeridge, “A Twentieth Century Christian Testimony”

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

– C. S. Lewis

Key to Change: Affections

// February 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection

Reading this quote today from David Powlison got me thinking about how the Gospel transforms our character and behavior:

“What one thing about God in Christ speaks directly into today’s trouble? … Just as we don’t change all at once, so we don’t swallow all of truth in one gulp. We are simple people. You can’t remember ten things at once. Invariably, if you could remember just ONE true thing in the moment of trial, you’d be different. Bible “verses” aren’t magic. But God’s words are revelations of God from God for our redemption. When you actually remember God, you do not sin. The only way we ever sin is by suppressing God, by forgetting, by tuning out his voice, switching channels, and listening to other voices. When you actually remember, you actually change. In fact, remembering is the first change.”  – David Powlison

It all starts with truth, right? Doctrine. Then there are our responses to truth:

• Romans 1 talks about those who SUPPRESS or vandalize the truth because they’re glorying in something else other than God.
• Romans 6 talks about those who OBEY the truth as those who have been united to God through faith, and glory in Christ alone.

So we can either suppress or obey. But why is it that in the moment of decision, when we know the truth and the opportunity for obedience presents itself, we just go ahead and switch the channel? We all do it, all the time. But why?
 
I think Paul gives us the key to connect doctrine and obedience here in this chapter, and it’s the heart – what Jonathan Edwards called “the affections”. Look at verse 17:

“you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed”

The heart is the seat and source of our whole identity, the essence of our total inner selves that expresses itself outwardly in word and deed. The word “heart” appears over 900 times in its derivatives and forms in your Bible. Out of the heart comes ruling desires, “epitumia”. Look at verse 12: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. (Epitumia, some translate this “lusts of the flesh”).
 
See, the old self has affections (lusts of the Flesh) and the new self has competing affections (lusts of the Spirit). When we die, are buried and are resurrected with Christ, the Holy Spirit gives us new passions, new desires, new sources of joy. And over time, those new passions begin to conquer, to overcome the old ones. In a time where stoic rationalism characterized much of the Christian landscape, Jonathan Edwards wrote this:

“As in worldly things, worldly AFFECTIONS are very much the spring of men’s motion and action; so in religious matters, the spring of their actions is very much religious AFFECTION: he that has doctrinal knowledge and speculation only, without AFFECTION, never is engaged in the business of religion….I am bold to assert, that there never was any considerable change wrought in the mind or conversation of any person, by anything of a religious nature, that ever he read, heard or saw, that had not his AFFECTIONS moved. Never was a natural man engaged earnestly to seek his salvation; never were any such brought to cry after wisdom, and lift up their voice for understanding, and to wrestle with God in prayer for mercy; and never was one humbled, and brought to the foot of God, from anything that ever he heard or imagined of his own unworthiness and deserving of God’s displeasure; nor was ever one induced to fly for refuge unto Christ, while his HEART remained UNAFFECTED. Nor was there ever a saint awakened out of a cold, lifeless flame, or recovered from a declining state in religion, and brought back from a lamentable departure from God, without having his HEART AFFECTED. And in a word, there never was anything considerable brought to pass in the HEART or life of any man living, by the things of religion, that had not his HEART deeply AFFECTED by those things…The religion of heaven consists very much in AFFECTION.” – Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections

I love this about Jonathan Edwards. He said that the true sign of a genuine believer wasn’t simply correct doctrine, or personal piety, but beneath those things a true and deepening joy, forged through the sufferings of life, that can never be suppressed. These new affections that the Spirit creates in us, begin to conquer our souls the way an invasive plant would conquer and take over a field of crops overtime as it gradually expanded and snuffed the life out of the other plants. CS Lewis would call this “the good infection”, spreading like a virus in us, killing the old man, vivifying the new. Thomas Chalmers, the great Scottish Presbyterian preacher, in his sermon “The Explusive Power of a New Affection” wrote this:

“The love of God, and the love of the world, are two AFFECTIONS, not merely in a state of rivalship, but in a state of enmity, and that so irreconcilable that they can not dwell together in the same bosom. [It is impossible] for the HEART, by any innate elasticity of its own, to cast the world away from it… It is seldom that any of our bad habits or flaws disappear by a mere process of natural extinction. At least, it is very seldom, that this is done through the instrumentality of reasoning, or by force of mental determination. What cannot be destroyed, however, may be dispossessed. One taste may be made to give way to another, and to lose its power entirely as the reigning AFFECTION of the mind. It is thus, that a youth may cease to idolize central pleasure, but it is because the idol of wealth has gotten the ascendancy (so, he becomes disciplined). But the love of money might actually cease to have mastery over his HEART if it is drawn more to ideology and politics, now he is lorded over by a love of power, and of moral superiority, instead of wealth. But here is not one of these personal transformations in which the HEART is left without an object of ultimate beauty and joy. The HEART’s desire for one particular object can be conquered, but it’s desire to have some object is unconquerable. The only way to dispossess the HEART of an old AFFECTION is by the expulsive power of a new one.” – Thomas Chalmers

One of the great keys to discipleship is to identify the things in your life that stir up your affections for Christ, things that inspire you and bring you joy, versus the things that rob you of your affections for Christ. Prayer, scripture reading, time out in the wilderness, fellowship with other believers, robust dialogue on theology, sermons by Tim Keller and John Piper…these things stimulate my soul toward higher levels of feeling, thinking, and doing. Watching too much TV, following soccer too closely, being physically lazy, over-working…these things take my joy in Christ away, and I’m constantly needing to flee from them. What stirs your affections for Christ? Inspires you to holiness? What robs you?

Confessions – Book 2

// February 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection

Reading through the first chapter of Book 2 in Confessions, I couldn’t help but notice Augustine’s use of words when describing those dark times in his adolescence when his sin and distance from God was at its peak. The closing line “”I became to myself a wasteland” pretty much sums it up. Descriptions like ” mists of passion steaming up”, “puddly desires of the flesh”, “hot imagination”, “boiling over in my fornications”, “barren fields of sorrow”, “tides of my youth”, and “foaming in my wickedness” paint a picture of a wasteland. As I reflected on this, three things from my own life jumped to mind:

1)   TS Eliot’s poem “The Wasteland”

I read this poem back in high school. Eliot’s descriptions of despair have a similar flavor to those of Augustine.

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.

Unreal city,
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.

In this decayed hole among the mountains
In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing
Over the tumbled graves, about the chapel
There is the empty chapel, only the wind’s home.

In addition, there are even thoughts in “The Wasteland” that were directly inspired by Augustine’s “Confessions”.

To Carthage then I came

Burning burning burning burning

O Lord Thou pluckest me out

O Lord Thou pluckest

Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,

Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell

And the profit and loss.

A current under sea

Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell

He passed the stages of his age and youth

Entering the whirlpool.

This poem rang true to me when I read it 10 years ago. Even then, in some sense I had realized that we live in a wasted world. In “The Wasteland” we see Eliot as a tormented man, not unlike Augustine, who sees and experiences the spiritual emptiness, paralysis, and disease of this world. But Eliot’s despair turned to hope when he became a Christian in the middle of his life. Much like Augustine, God saved him “from fire by fire”. Post-conversion, Eliot became a profound Christian writer. From his pen came this stunning quote:

“The only hope, or else despair

Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre-

To be redeemed from fire by fire.”

2)    ”The Dead Marshes” from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Two Towers:

In The Lord of the Rings, the Dead Marshes were an ancient battlefield of the where many of the fallen were laid to rest. Over time, the battlefield became marshes, which swallowed up the dead, though their bodies could still be seen floating in the water. In Two Towers, Gollum leads Frodo and Samwise through a passage through the marshes, which was marked by lights that danced about, and Candles which Gollum called “candles of corpses”. The Marshes were also known as ‘The Mere of Dead Faces’; and are described in Two Towers as:

“dreary and wearisome. Cold, clammy winter still held sway in this forsaken country. The only green was the scum of livid weed on the dark greasy surfaces of the sullen waters. Dead grasses and rotting reeds loomed up in the mists like ragged shadows of long forgotten summers.”

In The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Tolkien speculated that the description of the Dead Marshes may have been based on his personal experience in World War I, specifically, the Battle of the Somme, fought on the banks of the Somme River in France. One of the largest battles of the First World War, by the time fighting had petered out in late autumn 1916 more than 1.5 million casualties had been suffered by the forces involved. It is understood to have been one of the bloodiest military operations ever recorded.

I think both Augustine and Tolkien are alluding to an all too easily-forgotten truth: that life is truly a battlefield that has, in many places (especially our hearts), turned into a swamp of despair, and there are casualties all around us. We feel that. But on this side of the Cross we have the solid assurance that God has not left us alone.

3)   ”The Pond”

This is a video I recently saw at Ray Ortlund’s blog. It so aptly illustrates the deceptiveness of sin and temptation, and the rescue we experience from the sewage that Augustine is describing through this part of his life. “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” – Romans 7:15.

Hero Worship vs. Holy Emulation

// February 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection, Life

Oftentimes people ask me about my love of pastors, preachers, and authors, and wonder if it is an unhealthy thing that I listen to and read the thoughts of men whose opinions most Christians could care less about. Many of my friends in Christian community hear me quoting Puritans and other dead and living theologians like Tim Keller, D.A. Carson or John Piper and write me off as another “fan-boy” of celebrity Christian culture, if there were such a thing as celebrity in this small corner of Christian world known as “The New Reformed.” They call it being a “second-hander” or “hero-worship.”

But there is a difference in my mind between “hero worship” and “holy emulation.” Throughout his letters, the Apostle Paul exhorts others to imitate him, as he is imitating Christ. Most notably in 1 Cor 11:11 (“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”) and Phil 3:17 (“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us”). If another brother in Christ speaks truth to me, or reflects Christ to me, or illumines my mind with spiritual thoughts in such a way as to renew my spirit with the Gospel, I love that brother for it. And if they do so on a consistent basis, ministering the Gospel to my soul through their preaching, writing, or leading, then I am drawn to emulate them, and want to be like them…and I thank Jesus that through them he is shining his divine and supernatural light upon me.

True to form, and in ironic fashion, I will quote Puritan Thomas Brooks to conclude my point. In The Secret Key to Heaven, Brooks wrote this about holy emulation:

Bad men are wonderfully in love with bad examples…. Oh, that we were as much in love with the examples of good men as others are in love with the examples of bad men.

Shall we love to look upon the pictures of our friends; and shall we not love to look upon the pious examples of those that are the lively and lovely picture of Christ? The pious examples of others should be the mirrors by which we should dress ourselves.

He is the best and wisest Christian…that imitates those Christians that are most imminent in grace…. It is noble to live by the examples of the most eminent saints. (12-13)

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” – Romans 10:14-15