Mission and the Early Church
A few days ago, Jeff at “Until All Have Heard” published a very interesting post called “What Was the Secret of the Early Church?” In this blog post, Jeff quoted several authors in relation to mission and the early church. Here are a few of my favorites:
2. “In part, it seems to have resulted from an awareness that mission was the task of ordinary Christians and of congregations acting together. Professional agents and special boards did not yet exist. Unconsciously these early Christians grasped that mission was a total activity involving preaching, teaching, baptism, personal witness and service to humanity.†James Scherer
6. “The chief agents in the expansion of Christianity appear not to have been those who made it a profession or a major part of their occupation, but men and women who earned their livelihood in some purely secular manner and spoke of their faith to those whom they met in this natural fashion.†Latourette
8. John Gager maintains that while many external and internal factors contributed to the growth of Christianity, the single overriding internal factor was “the radical sense of Christian community,†which was open to all but required absolute and exclusive loyalty and involved every aspect of a believer’s life.
There are other great quotes in Jeff’s post. The common thread that I found running through all of the posts was that in the early church every follower of Jesus found themselves compelled to witness to the greatness of God and his work through Jesus Christ in their words, their life, and their community with one another. Even if the mission boards and professionals had been available, these “ordinary” disciples could not have stopped witnessing to the good news of Jesus Christ if they wanted to. Why? Because that good news permeated and changed every aspect of their lives. For them, everything had changed.
Give a little bit?
The topic of April’s monthly synchroblog is “Social Activism and Christian Mission”. This topic is very similar to the topic of the “Missional Synchroblog” that I took part in on Monday in a post called “Living the Love of God“.
In 1977, Supertramp released the album (no, it wasn’t a CD) Even in the Quietest Moments. The first track of this album was caled Give a Little Bit, and it started with these words:
Give a little bit
Give a little bit of your love to me
Give a little bit
Ill give a little bit of my love to you
There’s so much that we need to share
So send a smile and show you care
At times, I think this could be the theme song for the majority of Christians. We are willing to give to others, as long as we only have to give a little bit. We are willing to do for others, as long as we only have to do a little bit.
We like to think that our giving attitude comes from God, but I think our current attitude of helping those who are in need comes more from society than from God. Last week, on Tuesday, April 8, on the insanely popular (even in our house) reality show American Idol, the top eight contestants sang for a chance to become the next American Idol. For two hours after the show aired, over thirty million votes were cast (that would be 30,000,000 votes).
The next night, Wednesday, April 9, American Idol presented a show called “Idol Gives Back” in which the contestants, the host, the judges, and many celebrities and near-celebrities encouraged Americans to give toward many great relief organizations. Several stories were shown to elicit donations – stories involving infants stricken with malaria and children dealing with Aids in Africa, and stories involving poverty and illiteracy in the United States. Just over 24 hours later, on the Thursday night results show, it was revealed that “Idol Gives Back” has raised sixty million dollars so far (that would $60,000,000).
Sixty million dollars is a huge sum of money. Unless, of course, you compare that financial total to the vote total of the night before. By comparison, American managed to raise two dollars per vote (that would be $2 per vote). As a nation, Americans value entertainment, but when it comes to giving, we only want to “give a little bit”.
For the most part, this is the state of the church and Christianity in America as well. Again, we will give, if we can only give a little bit. We will do, if we can only do a little bit.
It only takes a quick perusal of Scripture to see that God’s heart is toward the poor, the homeless, the foreigner, the widow, the orphan, the weak, the needy. As we learn especially in the New Testament, God’s heart is not moved to give a little bit, but to give the best and to give all.And, the Gospel teaches us that we, as God’s children, are given a new heart that is being changed toward God’s heart. Thus, our thoughts and our actions and our priorities should be changing toward God’s as well. And our desire to give and do should be changing from “a little bit” to “all”.
Don’t mistake this post for a rant. I am not ranting. I am simply observing that social activism is not a concern for our society, for much of the church, or in my own life. I admit that in this area my heart is more attuned to the attitudes of this culture than it is attuned to the attitudes and concerns of God. Perhaps we need a twelve step program for those who realize they should be socially active, but are not:
Hello. My name is Alan. It has been two months since I have given to or done something to help someone in need…
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Below you will find links to other bloggers who are taking part in the “Social Activism and Christian Mission” synchroblog:
Phil Wyman at Square No More
Mike Bursell at Mike’s Musings
Bryan Riley at Charis Shalom
Steve Hayes writes about Khanya: Christianity and social justice
Reba Baskett at In Reba’s World
Prof Carlos Z. with Ramblings from a Sociologist
Cobus van Wyngaard at My Contemplations: David Bosch, Public Theology, Social Justic
Cindy Harvey at Tracking the Edge
Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church
Matthew Stone at Matt Stone Journeys in Between
John Smulo at JohnSmulo.com
Sonja Andrews at Calacirian
Lainie Petersen at Headspace
KW Leslie: Shine: not let it shine
Stephanie Moulton at Faith and the Environment Collide
Julie Clawson at One Hand Clapping
Steve Hollinghurst at On Earth as in Heaven
Sam Norton at Elizaphanian: Tesco is a Big Red Herring
Living the Love of God
This post is part of a “Missional Synchroblog” organized by Jonathan from “Missio Dei“. Jonathan has proposed that we each publish one post per month over the next four month concerning four different topics: 1) What does missional living look like to me? 2) What attracts me to missional? 3) Where is God calling me into mission? and 4) My best missional story. Since this is the first month of the synchroblog, the topic is “What does missional living look like to me?”
A friend of mine moved into a new neighborhood almost two years ago. He bought a house that was in need of many repairs, and, in fact, he’s still working on the house now. In less than two years, he has met most of his neighbors, inviting them to dinner at his house. He has started friendships with several neighbors, some of whom are Christians and some of whom are atheists. Although he doesn’t necessarily enjoy fishing, he has been fishing with one neighbor a few times. He has also helped several of his neighbors work on their houses. Spending all of this time with his neighbors has meant that the work on his house has taken alot longer than expected. But, he thinks that spending time with his neighbors is important.
Another friend moved from the United States to another country a few years ago. She spends most of her time with local college students teaching them English. Some students come for one or two lessons, other students come back several times. One or two students have been attending her English classes for over a year. She is building relationships with these students as she is able, even inviting them into her home and spending time in their homes. It is very difficult for her to live in a strange culture, to learn a new language, to break old habits, to leave behind family and friends and comforts and familiar things. But, she thinks that it is important for her to travel around the world and spend time with these college students.
Another friend and his family spend their Saturday mornings at the community center of a local government housing project. For the most part, they spend hours playing with boys and girls. They play on the playground equipment, ride boys and girls on their shoulders, play football with the older children, and even provide lunch. They have spent so much time with the boys and girls that they have gotten to know many of them – and some of the stories will break your heart… stories of broken families, abuse, neglect, missing parents, drugs, alcohol, prostitution. But, they think it is important to insert their lives into the broken lives of these boys and girls.
Another friend spends much of her time helping people with nutritional, health, and lifestyle issues. She spends hours every week talking to people, praying with them, encouraging them, and helping them recognize the importance of living a healthy life. She shows them alternatives to over-medicating and teaches them how to thrive in spite of constant pain. Although it is stressful to deal with hurting people all of the time, and although she doesn’t get paid for these services, she feels that it is important for her help people live physically and spiritually healthy lives.
Another friend and his family have “adopted” a couple of people who are struggling both physically and financially. Several times this family has found money, or furniture, or food that someone needs. They have given people rides to the hospital or the doctor’s office, even if the trip lasts several hours. This family takes care of people together, with the entire family getting involved. Perhaps some would think that this type of service would take too much away from “family time”, but they think that it is important for them to care for those who need help.
There are many other friends that I could mention – brothers and sisters who consider it important to give up something of their own lives in order to serve others – both those who are part of God’s family and those who are not in God’s family. I could mention the brother and sister who moved their family to an urban area to demonstrate God’s love in a desparate situation. I could mention a brother who gives up nights and weekends to work on people’s cars without charge. I could mention many brothers and sisters who cook dinners for those who have been sick or need a break for other reasons.
Which of my friends are living missionally? I think all of them are. They are living the love of God as he has provided opportunity and means and passion. And, they are all inserting their lives into the lives of other people. Their lives have been changed by God through the good news of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and they desire to demonstrate God’s love and proclaim that same good news to others in tangible ways.
There are dangers in describing the lives of some of my friends in the way that I have above. First, I definitely left out some people and some examples. God has surrounded me with many, many friends who are attempting to live the love of God in their lives. I could not mention all of them. Second, it is possible that someone could read my description of their own life and become proud. Knowing the people that I described above, that will probably not happen. Most will be embarrassed that I mentioned them, saying that they are not doing anything special. Third, there is a danger that someone will read my descriptions above and assume that those are the only ways that God works through his people into the lives of others. I would like to finish this article on this point.
Missional living means living the love of God in a way that impacts other people. As Paul said, we have been reconciled to God, and we are now to serve others with the goal of seeing them reconciled as well. This reconciliation affects all aspects of our lives, beginning with our relationship with God, but also affecting our relationship with other people.
However, the common grace of God and our common reconciliation with God does not mean that we all serve others in the same way. God has gifted us differently. He has given us different talents. We all have different opportunities. God has given us different passions and interests. Thus, we will serve others in different ways. There is a danger, especially among leaders, in thinking that every Christian will serve in the same way that I (or the leader) serves. This is not the way that God works.
Thus, missional living will look different for different people. However, in all instances, a life that mirrors the mission of God will love the love of God in the lives of others in order to reconcile them to God and to one another. This is what missional living looks like to me.
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This blog post is part of the “Missional Synchroblog” dealing with the question, “What does missional living look like to me?” If you would like to read other posts about this same topic, click the links below:
Jonathan Brink – Meeting God Where He’s Already Working
Ben Wheatley – Are Things You Are Living For Worth It
Blake Huggins – What Does Missional Living Look Like
Alan Knox – Living the love of God
Dave DeVries – The Missional Challenge
Bryan Riley – What Does Missional Living Look Like To Me
Tim Jones – Living Like the Word Says
Jeromy Johnson – What is Missional Living to Me?
Dave Wierzbicki – We are Missioning
Nathan Gann – Inevitability?
An Alabamian and MLK Jr
Yesterday, April 4, was the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. I thought about writing something related to Dr. King, but I recognize that my understanding of him is clouded by my upbringing (raised in Alabama) and my recent education in church history (Southern Baptist church history).
Imagine my surprise when I found another Alabamian had written an excellent piece about Martin Luther King, Jr. and had expressed some of the same reservations about writing that I felt. Alan Cross at “Downshore Drift” has written an article called “40 Years Later… The Tarnished Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Among Southern Whites“.
Alan began his article where I would have had to begin my article – with what he had been taught:
Basically, I heard everything bad about him and almost nothing good. I was a little amazed at how much my elders knew about Martin Luther King from a negative perspective. I silently wondered why the rest of America didn’t how much was wrong with him. I recall watching one episode of the Cosby Show as a child when they remembered Dr. King and the March on Washington in 1963. They played his I Have a Dream Speech and sat around talking about how wonderful those days were. I was confused. What was so great about this man? Wasn’t he just trying to get hand-outs for blacks? Didn’t they have enough? That is what I had been told. I thank God that I never really incorporated those views into my own heart, but I still had to work through them with questions and investigation of my own. Children believe what they are told, or at least they have to work through it.
While admitting that he does not agree with all of King’s theology, he also now recognizes the benefit of King’s service and the blindness of the White Southern Church at that time.
I now have a VERY different view of Martin Luther King, Jr. than the one I was given growing up. I also see our past differently and recognize that “the good old days” of the 1950’s that we talk about so much were not very good at all. How could they be when we supported injustice on the level that we did, either through outright support or through silence? I recognize that that was a simpler time and there was much good during those days, but a whitewashed view of our history does not profit any of us.
I am a white Southern Baptist and I recognize that Dr. King will never be considered “one of us.” We admire him from afar because we now admit that what he did was right. We now admit that we were dreadfully wrong on racial issues and it is just idiotic to not say that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man. But, as I think about him and the other ministers who stood up against oppression during that time, I am greatly affected by their courage. I look at my own heritage and see that we were on the wrong side of history and we opposed God. I do believe that Dr. King was wrong on some of his theology, but it is hard for me to blame him. If I were a black minister in the South during that day and the proponents of conservative theology were also the proponents of racism and Jim Crow, then I probably would have gone looking elsewhere for a theology that helped set my people free. Dr. King never completely left his conservative roots, however, and continued to believe that man was sinful and needed a Savior, namely Jesus Christ. He just also believed that all people should experience justice and equality under the law. He spoke straight to the heart of our Christian heritage and called us to be true to who we really were as a Nation. He called us to be true to our God.
Alan then wonders how America would be different today if the White Southern Church had stood against injustice to blacks instead of standing firm and violently in order to maintain their “Southern Way of Life”.
You should read all of Alan’s article. It is very thought-provoking.
I wonder, what are the issues of injustice today? Is the church actively working to relieve oppression in those areas of injustice? Or, is the church turning a blind eye and doing nothing about the injustice? Or, is the church working working to maintain “the American Way of Life” and actually working to continue injustice?
Origen and Jerome on submitting to one another
Yesterday, I published a blog post called “Origen and Jerome on Ephesians 4:11” about Origen’s and Jerome’s views of that interesting verse. I’m getting their views from a book by Ronald E. Heine called The Commentaries of Origen and Jerome on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). In this post, I’m going to examine their views on another interesting passage in Ephesians, a passage which is still debated today. The passage is Ephesians 5:21 –
… submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21 ESV)
This is what Origen says about this passage:
This completely destroys all desire to rule and be first. The following command has been given to all, ‘For although I am free from all I enslaved myself to all that I might gain all’ (1 Cor. 9:19). The command which says, ‘Be slaves to one another’ (Gal. 5:13, also prescribes this. Wherefore, the apostles ‘were slaves’ to the churches ‘because of love’ (Gal. 5:13), ministering and being servants for the salvation of humanity. Even the Saviour assumed ‘the form of a slave’ (Phil. 2:7) for no other reason than to be a slave to the disciples. Consequently, he one ‘put water in a basin’ to wash ‘the feet of the disciples’ (John 13:5). Furthermore, one who has understood this statement, ‘He who wishes to be great among you shall be the slave of all’ (Matt. 20:26-27), ‘will be subject’ to serve those whom it is necessary to serve. (pg 231-232)
Similarly, Jerome jumps into this passage with both feet – even calling names:
Let the bishops hear these words, let the presbyters hear them, let every order of teachers hear them, that they be subjected to those who are subjected to themselves and imitate the apostle who says, ‘For although I was free from all I made myself a servant to all that I might gain all’ (1 Cor. 9:19)… [Here Jerome quotes the same passages as Origen above.] This is the differences between the rulers of the Gentiles and of Christians. The former dominate their subjects, but we serve. (pg 231)
Yes, I know that these quotations do not address the questions which are asked today: “Should men submit to women?” “Should parents submit to children?” etc. However, perhaps by concentrating on these questions, we are missing the main point of this passage. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18), we will submit ourselves to one another by serving one another.
In the seminar on the Gospel of John that I’m taking, we’ve reached John chapter 13, which opens with Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. While there continues to be much discussion today concerning whether or not believers should literally wash one another’s feet, again I’m afraid that discussion is missing the main point. Whether or not we are to wash one another’s feet literally, we should all be able to agree on the fact that we are to all serve one another – with Jesus washing the feet of the disciples being at least one example of this.
But, do we serve one another? Especially those of us who are “leaders”… do we serve others? It has become popular to call leadership a new form of service, but that is not what Jesus said. Jesus did not say, “Follow your leaders because their leadership is their service to you.” No, he said that the one who serves is greater. He said for us to follow those who serve. Thus, the servants among us should be our leaders – the ones whom we follow.
We should follow someone who is not afraid to get his or her hands dirty. We should follow someone who is willing to give up his or her time for the sake of other, spending time with them and helping them in ways that benefit the other people. We should follow servants.
Look around… do you see people who are submitting themselves to one another? Follow them.
Relay for Life
Our family is participating in the local Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Several of our family members and friends have been affected by cancer, and we feel this is a way to demonstrate the love of God to others and to help the “sick” as in Matthew 25:34-40.
My wife, Margaret, wanted to take part in the Relay this year (she has taken part in past years) and even volunteered to be our team captain. Our children are also very excited about this opportunity, mainly because they can take an active part in helping alot of people.
So, if you would like to read more about Relay for Life, or if you would like to help us raise money to help cancer survivors and the families of those who lost their fight with cancer, please visit our family blog “The Knox Clan” and the post “Relay for Life“.
Thank you for supporting us as we try to serve others in and through our community.
Attendees or Ministers?
Recently, a friend of Jeremy’s (my son) used a word that I had not heard before: Chreaster. Apparently, a Chreaster is someone who attends church meetings on special holidays like Christmas and Easter, thus “Chreaster”. In a recent article about Chreasters, a reporter comments:
The usual response of church leaders is, “Oh, well, at least they get it right twice a year.”
I understand his comment, and I agree that this is probably the usual response of many church leaders. Many are excited to have extra attendees on special holidays, and most would admit that its better for people to attend twice a year than never attend at all.
However, I think this response reveals a mistaken understanding of the church meeting – assigning a sacramental value to merely attending a church meeting. In fact, I would suggest that there is very little value in merely attending any and every church meeting, even if someone attending every church meeting held during the year.
Yes, I realize that this is a broad and general statement. But, if our goal is for people to merely gather together, to listen and sing along to some songs and to listen to a sermon, then Chreasters and even regular attendees meet our goal.
But, if our purpose in meeting together is edification, then attendance at a meeting does not accomplish that goal. Instead of attenders, we should desire to see our meetings filled with servants (ministers) who use their spiritual gifts in order to build up one another and help one another grow in maturity toward Jesus Christ – whether there are two servants present or more. Attendance is not our purpose. Edification must be our purpose. (See my post “But I have perfect attendance…“.)
As I was thinking about the difference between attendance and mutual ministry, I remembered this passage from Peter O’Brien’s commentary The Letter to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) in the Pillar New Testament Commentary series. In this passage, O’Brien is discussing Ephesians 4:7-16, specifically vs 12-13, and the difference between the “special ministers” of 4:11 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers) and other “ministers”:
[T]he letter as a whole has emphasized Christ’s riches being received by all the saints (1:3; 3:20), while the immediate context of vv. 7-16 is framed by an insistence at the beginning of the paragraph that each believer was given ‘grace’ (v. 7), and at its conclusion that the whole body is growing from the head as each part (v. 16) does its work. If it is only the leaders of v. 11 who perfect the saints, do the work of ministry, and edify the body of Christ, then this is a departure from Paul’s usual insistence that every member is equipped for ministry. It is better, therefore, to regard those enumerated in v. 11 as helping and directing other members of the church so that all may carry out their several ministries for the good of the whole. (pg. 301, emphasis in original)
Thus, we can have as many attenders as we like, but they do nothing to edify the body. What we need, instead, are those who are willing to spend the time, energy, and preparation necessary to know others, to serve others, to help others, to teach others, to guide others, to speak to others, etc.
There are certainly times when I gather with the church in which I have nothing to say and nothing to do to serve others. This happens occasionally. There are times when God brings me together with other believers because I need to be served. However, if this happens week after week, month after month, year after year… there is something wrong. God brings me together with other believers to benefit them, not only for my own benefit and certainly not to simply attend a meeting.
Helping Chreasters become regular attenders may be good, but it is not the goal. Instead, we should help all believers use their gifts and give all believers opportunity to use their gifts to build up others during the meeting of the church. God does not call together attendees; he calls together ministers.
My PhD Mentor
People often ask me why I decided to study for a PhD at SEBTS. There are many answers to that question. But one important factor regarding my decision to remain at Southeastern is my PhD mentor – my doktorvater. I was given some good advice about a year before I started my PhD studies. Someone told me to think about different schools and programs, but to also remember that your mentor will play a large role in your studies. Therefore, I was advised, pick a mentor whom you respect, with whom you can work, and who will be a good model.
My PhD mentor, Dave Black, fits that advice precisely – not merely in his academic work and his teaching, but also in his life. He constantly challenges me to live the new life that Christ has created within me. Consider this gem which he posted on his blog on Wednesday, March 12, at 5:44 pm:
In recent days I have been relating the intimate story of a pastor’s wife in Ethiopia. The scene is Addis Ababa, but it could be any city in the world. It is a case where one believer saw a need and did what she could – as a “layperson†– to help. I am absolutely convinced that had not Becky been an aggressive medical advocate for sister Aberesh, baby Nathan would be no more. Why go to so much trouble? The answer is found, I think, in the little letter of Philemon, which we studied today in New Testament class. Here Paul does something very simple, so simple in fact that it is easy to miss. He calls upon Philemon to act as a Christian. When we were worth nothing, God gave us everything. This is how God acts toward us, and we in turn are called upon to take that same attitude and exhibit it toward all men, even our enemies. The mark of a true believer, writes Paul to Philemon, is that his actions toward his fellow men are governed by the love of God poured out into his heart by the Holy Spirit. God has given every believer a new nature, one characterized by giving rather than getting, by love rather than hate, by selflessness rather than selfishness, by forgiveness rather than bitterness. Since this is true of all believers everywhere, it should be natural and normal for us to want to help each other. The family of God to which we belong includes all Christians of all ages, all levels of intelligence, all levels of social strata, all nationalities. We are all “fellow citizens with the saints,†and therefore we are called upon to demonstrate the reality of our oneness in Christ in tangible ways. “Bear one another’s burdens,†says Paul. “Place your shoulder beneath the burdens under which a fellow believer is groaning, whatever those burdens may be!” The reality of our unity in Christ makes inevitable and inescapable demands on us regardless of race, color, age, denomination, nationality, or political affiliation. Yet individualism has shattered our churches and our communities. How can I give up my job, my health, my ease, my family for the sake of others? Our oneness is organizational, occasional, and spasmodic. If any unity appears it tends toward the back-slapping variety of the country club. Paul was eager to remind Philemon that the church is nothing less than a community of love: Christ-in-me loving Christ-in-you. And for this love to be real it must issue forth in forgiving one another’s sins, bearing one another’s burdens, washing our brother’s feet, caring for our neighbor’s children, helping in the tiny incidents of everyday and the great emergencies of life. A heavy responsibility, then, lies on our shoulders.
The church today must deliberately move toward this type of Christianity. But only Christ can produce it. The danger of dwelling too long on “our†service is that we soon begin to speak as if we had done it by ourselves. We can be sure that we contributed nothing in comparison to what Christ has done for us. It is His wonderful and mysterious love that is at work in and through us. How much reason, then, to pray that God will turn our hearts to Him and set us free by His love to serve others.
As the drought makes me wish for rain, the clouds for the sun, the storms for the gentle winds, so my heart yearns for Thee, my Lord and my God!
And, this thought-provoking excerpt from his blog post on Thursday, March 13, at 8:20 am:
The genius of the Protestant Reformation lay in its struggle with the problem of justification in all its aspects. For the greatest question of life is the conversion of man and his reconciliation to God in Christ. But Protestantism, once it answered this question biblically, failed to press on to treat Christianity in its most radical form — the form presented in the New Testament. The Protestant teaching on justification, in emphasizing truth, sometimes leads to a neglect of the new life, life in the Spirit, life in Christ, life as Christ’s body. Koinonia takes on a superficial and rather suburban goodness — moral platitudes, covered dish fellowships, an occasional “mission trip” to the local nursing home or to a nearby state. The Christian life has become merely a fidelity to ethical prescriptions or participation in the multitudinous programs in our churches. There is little real sacrifice about it. Witnessing becomes a trite tract or a bumper sticker. Heb. 10:24 is cited to drive people back into church but not to encourage them to “provoke one another to love and good works.” Passive spectatorism becomes par for the course.
It is to the credit of the Jesus Movement of the 1960s (of which I was a part) and perhaps of the modern emerging church movement (of which I am not a part) that both sought to expose this hideous problem for all to see. There is a new generation and a new spirit at work today, and perhaps it will turn out to be the catalyst that will bring on our transformation from churchianity to a Christianity that is dedicated to the forceful living out of the life of Jesus in this world.
This is the kind of encouragement and admonishment that I – and all other believers – need! Plus, his teaching extends beyond the classroom, as he lives his life as an example for others, opening his home to visitors and spending his own time and money to serve our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia. This is a very important distinction, because it is easy to think that scholarship is discipleship or that academic work is service.
If you are considering PhD work, I pray that God would provide a challenging, godly mentor for you as well.
Stepping into God’s path
We’ve been friends with Stan and Renata for over five years, starting back in 2002 when Stan and I started working together. We’ve spend time in their home, and they’ve spent time in our home. We’ve played with their children, and they’ve played with our children.
Several months ago, Stan and Renata moved from North Carolina to the Cleveland area. Many people in the seminary could not understand their move. Stan was not taking a “ministry position”, nor was he going as a “church planter”. Instead, they moved their family into an urban area of Cleveland because that’s where they think God wants them. They are living as salt and light, building relationships, making disciples.
The last few months have been very difficult for them. So, I was excited to read Renata’s blog “Nurturing Notes” Thursday night. In a post called “A renewed passion“, she told how God has renewed her interest in Public Health. That night, she didn’t know what that meant, so she closed her post with these words: “This has reminded me how much I really want to move away from just thinking and start working this out with real people (i.e. my community).”
When Renata wrote those words Thursday night, she didn’t know what God had planned Friday. On Friday, she had a conversation with someone who shared the same interests as Renata. Not only does this person share the same interests, but he had alread taken some steps in that direction. Renata told us about this in a post on Friday called “Exciting update from my past post“:
Well, I don’t know what to make of all of this yet, but in casual conversation with a fellow storytimer at the library today, let’s just stay that desire has just taken one baby step closer to reality. And I wasn’t even trying to make this happen, neither did I bring this subject up.
I don’t know how fast things could develop, I think it is still a long time coming, but as I am comfortable in sharing details, I will definitely blog about it.
Renata was very vague in her blog post, so I had to call her to see what was going on. I’m not going to reveal any details, since, like she said, it could still be a long time coming. But, suffice it to say that God was already working in the direction that he was leading Renata. She didn’t know that, but she started stepping out in faith, trusting God even though she didn’t know what he was doing. And, as she started stepping out in faith, she stepped right into the path where God was already working.
I can’t count the number of times when I’ve seen God work in similar ways. Times when God has encouraged me or another person to step out in a certain direction, and as soon as I or the other person stepped in that direction, God revealed what he had already been doing.
What is God calling you to do? What passions or interests has God stirred in your heart? What gifts or talents or training do you have that God wants to use to expand his kingdom? Step out in faith, even though you do not know how God is going to use you, or what God is going to do. You may find that you step directly onto a path where God has already been at work. Then, like my friend Renata, you can watch in awe as God does wonderful things through you.
To God be the glory
We have often heard it said that our purpose is to glorify God. The Westminster Confession even says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” But, how do we glorify God? What do we do that brings God glory? Here are a few passages of Scripture to help us think about this:
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 ESV)
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6 ESV)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV)
By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others… (2 Corinthians 9:13 ESV)
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:12 ESV)
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies- in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11 ESV)
But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. (1 Peter 4:15-16 ESV)
We certainly bring God glory by thinking rightly about him, as the Spirit renews our minds and we are conformed to his kingdom instead of to this world. But, we also bring God glory by acting in a right manner, both in our character and in our relationships with other people as we walk in the Spirit. These are not distinct ways of bringing God glory, but they should coexist. Thinking rightly about God cannot exist apart from acting rightly in response to God. If we are not bringing God glory through our actions, then we are demonstrating that we are not thinking rightly about God and are therefore not bringing God glory with our thoughts and attitudes. When the Spirit changes our thoughts, he also changes our actions.
Are you glorifying God and causing others to glorify God because of your actions and your service?