Take up Your Cross

"But it behooves the godly mind to climb still higher, to the height to which Christ calls his disciples: that each must bear his own cross (Mt. 16:24). For whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of his fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with very many and various kinds of evils. It is the Heavenly Father's will thus to exercise them so as to put his own children to a definite test. Beginning with Christ, his first-born, he follows this plan with all his children. For even though that Son was beloved above the rest, and in him the Father's mind was well pleased (Mt. 3:17, 17:5), yet we see that far from being treated indulgently or softly, to speak the truth, while he dwelt on earth he was not only tried by a perpetual cross but his whole life was nothing but a sort of perpetual cross. The apostle notes the reason: that it behooved him to "learn obedience through what he suffered" (Heb. 5:8).
"Why should we exempt ourselves, therefore, from the condition to which Christ our Head had to submit, especially since he submitted to it for our sake to show us an example of patience in himself?"
--John Calvin, Institutes, Book 3, Chapter 8, section 1

Michael Jackson

I don't know about you, but I am blown away by the worldwide tribute Michael Jackson has received since his death yesterday. He was surely given great common-grace gifts in music and dance. But his story, like that of most such gifted people, tended toward, and ended in, tragedy. What do you think?

What Is Preaching About?

As a pastor, what I do most is preach. T. David Gordon has written an excellent book on preaching that is afflicting to me (I resemble very much his remarks!), but that also has helped clarify a great deal. One of the most brilliant--and biting--sections of the book (one that did not afflict me as much as other parts did), and one that might afflict you, the reader of this, is his section on "Social Gospel/Culture Warrior" preaching. Here are some (rather lengthy) excepts:

"An alternative... to real Christian proclamation is what would have been called the 'Social Gospel' in the early 20th century, but what is more likely to be called the 'Culture Wars' today. [It is where] the Christian pulpit is devoted to commenting on what's wrong with our particular culture, and what ought to be done to improve it, either by individuals or (worse) the coercive powers of the state. Since... the function of religion for many people is analogous to the function it had for the Pharisee (who always thought himself righteous and despised others), there will always be a warm welcome for such preaching. Many people love to live in their imagined and self-made world of good guys and bad guys, to be reminded that there are good people and bad people and that they are among the good.

"What's wrong with our culture and every culture, and all human culture since Genesis 3, is that all of us (not some of us) in Adam have revolted against the reign of God, and that each of us (not some of us) prefers his own will to the will of God. Worse, we are utterly incapable, in and of ourselves, of changing. The government cannot change us or rescue us from our revolt; education cannot deliver us from our darkened understanding that considers our own way better than God's way; and surely coercive human governments cannot cure souls. Only the God-man, the last Adam, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice and present intercession at the right hand of God, can rescue us from our revolt. So the one inadmissible thing to a culture warrior (that culture change is out of our hands) is the basic subtext of everything the Bible teaches...."

"Culture Warriors are not content with the two legitimate ways in which humans may exert influence on the behavior of others: through reasoned discourse and the power of example. The power of example is much too costly and too slow, and besides, we don't wish to be around unbelievers much anyway. And reasoned discourse is beyond the capacity of most of us today; most could never explain convincingly why one behavior choice is wiser than another. Se we resort to coercion: using the coercive power of the government to enforce external compliance to the ways of God...."

"The culture warrior's religion and his patriotism are in conflict. His Christianity teaches him that God is not pleased with mere external confession of insincere religious faith; but his patriotism just cannot accept the fact that his culture is moving in directions of which he disapproves. He desires to be proud of his nation; and he therefore concludes (wrongly, in my estimation) that it is better to have a public display of commitment to Christianity that is the result of coercion than to have a decline in the public display of commitment to Christianity.

"Haven't we already had a historical experiment that is precisely what the culture warriors want? Wasn't ancient Israel a nation whose constitution demanded obedience to the revealed laws of God, and didn't its executive branch use coercion to attain such obedience? Did Israel not, effectively, have the Ten Commandments in its courthouse? Yet which prophet ever had anything good to say about the nation? Indeed, as Jesus and the apostles more bluntly put it, which of the prophets did they not kill? If theocracy didn't work in Israel, where God divinely instituted it, why do people insist on believing that it will work in places where God manifestly has not instituted it?"

If you have read this far, and been able to digest what Gordon says--what do you think? does that afflict you? It helps me, as a preacher, especially the emphasis that the solution to all our ills--including cultural ills--is in the last Adam, Jesus Christ, and not in the coercive power of the state. 'Him we proclaim," Paul says rightly.

Prayer

O Holy Spirit,
As the sun is full of light, and the ocean full of water, heaven full of glory, so may my heart be full of you.
Vain are all divine purposes of love and the redemption wrought by Jesus except you work within, regnerating by your power, giving me eyes to see Jesus, showing me the realities of the unseen world.
Give me yourself without measure, as an unimpaired fountain, as inexhaustible riches.
I bewail my coldness, poverty, emptiness, imperfect vision, languid service, prayerless prayers, praiseless praises.
Do not permit me to grieve or resist you.
Come as power, to expel every rebel lust, to reign supreme and keep me yours.
Come as teacher, leading me into all truth, filling me with all understanding.
Come as love, that I may adore the Father, and love him as my all.
Come as joy, to dwell in me, move in me, animate me.
Come as light, illuminating the Scripture, molding me in its laws.
Come as sanctifier, body, soul, and spirit wholly yours.
Come as helper, with strength to bless and keep, directing my every step.
Come as beautifier, bringing order out of confusion, loveliness out of chaos.
Magnify to me your glory by being magnified in me, and make me redolent of your fragrance.
(from Valley of Vision)

"The Devil Votes Christian Values"

There's a provocative sermon title for you! A sermon by a Southern Baptist to boot. Read about it, and find a link to it, here.

On Consumption...

There is an intriguing video making its rounds in schools and other places. It is worth a watch. Pro-business political conservatives will quickly denounce it (government appears in it as a toady to corporations, who appear as greedy fat cats), but it has a point if you can see through the sterotypes (for my part, I am not convinced that all government officials are toadies, nor that all corporations are greedy, irresponsible fat-cats--though in both cases, some surely are). Particularly the section on "Consumption" rings true as I observe people; and surely as followers of Jesus Christ we dare not define ourselves as consumers, but as stewards of God's good gifts. So take a look. Let me know what you think.

Got Joy?

Started another book this week. Mike Mason went on a 90-day experiment with joy--an attempt to feel joy for 90 days. This book is a collection of 90 2-page scriptural reflections on joy. So far I've read only a few, but am intrigued.
Actually, a pastor friend of mine who describes himself as a "brooding Russian novelist" (think Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky) recommended it. I confess to a startling lack of joy in my life for some time, and am eager to pursue it. I'll keep you posted.

Hymn for meditation

Here is a verse from an old hymn. Meditate on it when you feel overwhelmed by failure or criticism:

What though th' accuser roar
Of ills that I have done!
I know them well, and thousands more:
Jehovah findeth none.

Praise God that in Christ Psalm 103:11-12 are fulfilled:

For as high as the heavens are above the earth
so great is his steadfast love to those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgression from us.