I do think wisdom falls in that category of things that God gives and yet things we also work for. How do we work for wisdom? We work for wisdom by watching for wisdom. Let me give you just a few statements that some people made about wisdom. A man named Bruce Waltke said “wisdom is skill in the arts of living.” Alvin Plantinga said “wisdom is the knowledge of God’s world and the knack of fitting oneself into it.” The Bible states how the world is, not how it ought to be.
How do you gain wisdom? You gain wisdom by:
1. watching, by watching the world, by observing the world,
2. asking God to help you see the world rightly because it is possible to see it wrongly.
3. watching the wise. James 3:13 says those who are wise will show it by their beautiful lifestyle.
Dr Dan Doriani
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
not me but God
"How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" John 5.44
Jesus is a Messiah that insists on humbling himself. The pharisees and all the jews were waiting in expectation for a great Messiah to come. One that would free them from political oppression, one that would rise, and make Israel great again as in the time of King Solomon. They wanted a mighty leader that would promote the Israeli cause, and one that- but on a different level- would endorse their way of living (v43b).
Then one who says, 'I can do nothing on my own' (v30), comes on the scene and claims to be the Messiah, in fact claims to be God himself! Jesus, who makes little of himself but much of God, claims to be the one the pharisees and jews were all waiting for. If He really is the one, that means following Him. That would mean their way of living would need turning upside down. That means praising him!
At this point, our hearts are exposed and cut open (Jesus tends to do that). Why won't you accept that I am He? Moses points to me, the whole Old Testament points to me, I am making it clear through signs and wonders. They stand before Jesus - God himself - and don't want to come to him! (literal translation of v40) How can this be?
The answer is in verse 44. Seeking praise and glory from man: who would have thought it could be so dangerous! Jesus shows us what it is to be God's child. To not thirst after the praise of man, to not be making a name for yourself, to not seek to be exalted, to not be stuck in the realm others opinions of you, as if you depend on it for your glory. Positively: to live a 'gloriously heroic' life (see entry below), with Jesus as our model. People don't like the sound of this, so they don't come to Jesus.
To be much more concerned for God's glory, than my own.
Then one who says, 'I can do nothing on my own' (v30), comes on the scene and claims to be the Messiah, in fact claims to be God himself! Jesus, who makes little of himself but much of God, claims to be the one the pharisees and jews were all waiting for. If He really is the one, that means following Him. That would mean their way of living would need turning upside down. That means praising him!
At this point, our hearts are exposed and cut open (Jesus tends to do that). Why won't you accept that I am He? Moses points to me, the whole Old Testament points to me, I am making it clear through signs and wonders. They stand before Jesus - God himself - and don't want to come to him! (literal translation of v40) How can this be?
The answer is in verse 44. Seeking praise and glory from man: who would have thought it could be so dangerous! Jesus shows us what it is to be God's child. To not thirst after the praise of man, to not be making a name for yourself, to not seek to be exalted, to not be stuck in the realm others opinions of you, as if you depend on it for your glory. Positively: to live a 'gloriously heroic' life (see entry below), with Jesus as our model. People don't like the sound of this, so they don't come to Jesus.
To be much more concerned for God's glory, than my own.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Made for glory (to give glory)
I would say we have lost our sense of the heroic in the West. Today, philosophy insists on the death of the transcendent, which means, the death of transcendent values. If we are merely an accidental concoction of atoms and protein chains, how can there be heroism in us? There can't be. This thinking evaporates the idea that somebody can be heroic. And classical psychology tell us that almost everything we do that is grand or noble is the result of suppressed desires. The Freudians suggest Leonardo da Vinci was so busy with inventions, painting and political life because of his suppressed homosexuality. Behaviorism reduces everything to some kind of quest for a reward. Behaviorists might even say that Mother Theresa wasn't truly altruistic; she didn't really care for the people of the slums, she did it for some sense of wholeness, gratification or significance. The economists say we do everything in hope of a reward. In the West, even if you do something for free, you may be thinking that maybe somebody will do something in return. There is some truth to all of these, that's what makes it so dangerous. Every sacrifice can be explained away by cynicism.
Of course, in the West, we still have our heroes, but they're one dimensional. We have mighty men, kicking balls through posts, bowlings cricket balls at great speeds, scoring centuries, and so forth. But we must take care not to look too closely, because when they're done bowling, and kicking and batting, they have no more idea of how to live then we do! They're not role models, except for maybe if you're looking to model them as professional sportsman, but not how to live life. We also have mighty men who play the guitar, or who act or dance- whatever the case may be. We have heroes, but they are not people whose lives we want to model. This is heroism in the West today.
I would like to suggest that the Bible asserts that heroism is important. In the NT alone, the command to imitate somebody is given 28 times, 11 of which are to imitate God the Father or God the Son. We are urged 17 times to imitate, or model ourselves after some human, most often the apostle Paul. The Bible wants to recapture the idea that there are heroes. There is something to imitate, a vision of excellence and maturity. It captures the imagination and makes us say 'I want to be like that'. There are role models who induce admiration and inspiration somehow.
Sometimes we can think or act as if being a Christian is a matter of keeping certain rules- doing certain things and not doing other things. But the Christian life is vastly more than what you do not do.
It is very easy to think, 'if I do certain things, I will please God and He will be on my side. If I just keep the rules and follow them, then I'm living the Christian life'. This, essentially, is an alternate form of legalism: we may not be saved by keeping the law, but we do keep God's favour by observing the law. How can we get away from this idea?
To have heroes. To have a vision of greatness and grandeur and to let these images of greatness enter our minds. Think about this. Do you have a hero? We should choose wisely. Who's your hero, besides King Jesus? In important ways, how can you model yourself after this person?
This idea of heroism helps us form our identity as Christians because it addresses a problem we neglect in the Christian life: the problem of shame. The problem of shame is different from the problem of guilt, because we can be ashamed of things for which there is no guilt. For example, what if a boy lacks dignity and excellence because of blemishes on the face or a squeaky voice? You can be ashamed of that, even if there is no sin involved. The problem of shame. Shame comes from a lack of heroism, and the cure is to be great, excellent and grand.
In the Western church, the biggest problem is the violation of moral rules. We're stuck in the realm of rules and morals. We say, rightly, that Christ solves the problem of our guilt and violation of the moral law. This is absolutely true! And we say the cure for the problem of guilt, by violating the law, is gained by the righteousness won for us by the work of Christ through faith. But this is not all the Bible says: Romans 3:23, 'All have sinned' = our violation of the moral law which makes us guilty. We need righteousness. 'All have fallen short' = the problem of not being great. We fall short of the glory of God, as we also see in Hebrews 2:8 and following. We were meant to rule the world (Psalm 8) for God, and if we do not, we have fallen short of glory. We are not just meant to be good, we are also meant to be glorious. We have fallen short of that and so have a sense of shame.
We violate God's standards and the result is guilt, and the problem is solved graciously by the righteousness of Christ. The second problem is a lack of glory, and this is solved not by Jesus dying for our sins, but by Jesus giving us glory. How do we get glory? The solution is two fold: we are accepted, we belong, we are loved. If you are inept in sports, but somebody is willing to say, 'I'll take him on my team', that removes the shame of not being picked on a sports team. Hebrews 2 tells us Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers; He calls us into His family, and gives us His creation to govern. Second, we possess greatness by being made into the likeness of Jesus and by faithfully governing the world for Him. We should look to Jesus as our hero, and to fellow Christians as our heroes to get a vision of moral excellence. The Christian life isn't just following rules, it is greatness. It is having a vision that transcends. It is having a concept of ruling the world for God, of accomplishing great things, of being made noble and virtuous. We look to fellow Christians for this, but also much more to the Lord.
How can we be like the Lord? He can be your hero/model, not in His being, eternal power or sacrifice for sins, but in his manner with us and the world. We can imitate his willingness to accept us, His boldness, His style, His courage. Jesus had a way of life that is exciting. He never shirked at difficult questions. He was willing to fight the strong, identify with the weak. He had friends who were rich and poor, slave and free, upper class, outcasts. Jesus had greatness.
I'm meditating on this because it seems as though this is a portion of Christianity that is almost ignored in the Western church. We're so stuck on rules, and that Jesus saves us from violation from the rules. And this is true, in fact, it is the most important thing, but it is not the only important thing. It is important to realise that we were created for glory and that Jesus leads us to glory. We both have a need and desire for that. There are consequences for lacking glory- such as shame- and the cure is in Christ Jesus.
Of course, in the West, we still have our heroes, but they're one dimensional. We have mighty men, kicking balls through posts, bowlings cricket balls at great speeds, scoring centuries, and so forth. But we must take care not to look too closely, because when they're done bowling, and kicking and batting, they have no more idea of how to live then we do! They're not role models, except for maybe if you're looking to model them as professional sportsman, but not how to live life. We also have mighty men who play the guitar, or who act or dance- whatever the case may be. We have heroes, but they are not people whose lives we want to model. This is heroism in the West today.
I would like to suggest that the Bible asserts that heroism is important. In the NT alone, the command to imitate somebody is given 28 times, 11 of which are to imitate God the Father or God the Son. We are urged 17 times to imitate, or model ourselves after some human, most often the apostle Paul. The Bible wants to recapture the idea that there are heroes. There is something to imitate, a vision of excellence and maturity. It captures the imagination and makes us say 'I want to be like that'. There are role models who induce admiration and inspiration somehow.
Sometimes we can think or act as if being a Christian is a matter of keeping certain rules- doing certain things and not doing other things. But the Christian life is vastly more than what you do not do.
It is very easy to think, 'if I do certain things, I will please God and He will be on my side. If I just keep the rules and follow them, then I'm living the Christian life'. This, essentially, is an alternate form of legalism: we may not be saved by keeping the law, but we do keep God's favour by observing the law. How can we get away from this idea?
To have heroes. To have a vision of greatness and grandeur and to let these images of greatness enter our minds. Think about this. Do you have a hero? We should choose wisely. Who's your hero, besides King Jesus? In important ways, how can you model yourself after this person?
This idea of heroism helps us form our identity as Christians because it addresses a problem we neglect in the Christian life: the problem of shame. The problem of shame is different from the problem of guilt, because we can be ashamed of things for which there is no guilt. For example, what if a boy lacks dignity and excellence because of blemishes on the face or a squeaky voice? You can be ashamed of that, even if there is no sin involved. The problem of shame. Shame comes from a lack of heroism, and the cure is to be great, excellent and grand.
In the Western church, the biggest problem is the violation of moral rules. We're stuck in the realm of rules and morals. We say, rightly, that Christ solves the problem of our guilt and violation of the moral law. This is absolutely true! And we say the cure for the problem of guilt, by violating the law, is gained by the righteousness won for us by the work of Christ through faith. But this is not all the Bible says: Romans 3:23, 'All have sinned' = our violation of the moral law which makes us guilty. We need righteousness. 'All have fallen short' = the problem of not being great. We fall short of the glory of God, as we also see in Hebrews 2:8 and following. We were meant to rule the world (Psalm 8) for God, and if we do not, we have fallen short of glory. We are not just meant to be good, we are also meant to be glorious. We have fallen short of that and so have a sense of shame.
We violate God's standards and the result is guilt, and the problem is solved graciously by the righteousness of Christ. The second problem is a lack of glory, and this is solved not by Jesus dying for our sins, but by Jesus giving us glory. How do we get glory? The solution is two fold: we are accepted, we belong, we are loved. If you are inept in sports, but somebody is willing to say, 'I'll take him on my team', that removes the shame of not being picked on a sports team. Hebrews 2 tells us Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers; He calls us into His family, and gives us His creation to govern. Second, we possess greatness by being made into the likeness of Jesus and by faithfully governing the world for Him. We should look to Jesus as our hero, and to fellow Christians as our heroes to get a vision of moral excellence. The Christian life isn't just following rules, it is greatness. It is having a vision that transcends. It is having a concept of ruling the world for God, of accomplishing great things, of being made noble and virtuous. We look to fellow Christians for this, but also much more to the Lord.
How can we be like the Lord? He can be your hero/model, not in His being, eternal power or sacrifice for sins, but in his manner with us and the world. We can imitate his willingness to accept us, His boldness, His style, His courage. Jesus had a way of life that is exciting. He never shirked at difficult questions. He was willing to fight the strong, identify with the weak. He had friends who were rich and poor, slave and free, upper class, outcasts. Jesus had greatness.
I'm meditating on this because it seems as though this is a portion of Christianity that is almost ignored in the Western church. We're so stuck on rules, and that Jesus saves us from violation from the rules. And this is true, in fact, it is the most important thing, but it is not the only important thing. It is important to realise that we were created for glory and that Jesus leads us to glory. We both have a need and desire for that. There are consequences for lacking glory- such as shame- and the cure is in Christ Jesus.
Joy
The mark of the believer, individually and corporately. A quality, not simply an emotion, grounded and derived from God (Psalm 16:11, Phil 4:4), which characterises the Christian life (1 Peter 1:8), and anticipating the joy of being with Jesus forever in Heaven. The gospels speak with joy of the proclamation of the good news, that the Kingdom of God has come and is open to all who repent and believe! And John speaks of joy flowing from a deep fellowship between the church and Jesus. Paul uses the term in 3 ways:
1. as fellow Christians grow in Christ -particularly the ones he himself led to Christ- it is a cause for joy.
2. Christian joy might paradoxically be an outcome of suffering, and experiencing sorrow for Christ's sake.
3. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. As a fruit of the Spirit, it can be interrupted by sin and so all believers are called upon to share in the joy of Christ by a daily walk with Him and a daily practice of rejoicing in the knowledge of Him and his salvation (Phil. 3:1, 4:4, 1 Thess. 5:16)
The New Bible Dictionary (summary)
1. as fellow Christians grow in Christ -particularly the ones he himself led to Christ- it is a cause for joy.
2. Christian joy might paradoxically be an outcome of suffering, and experiencing sorrow for Christ's sake.
3. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. As a fruit of the Spirit, it can be interrupted by sin and so all believers are called upon to share in the joy of Christ by a daily walk with Him and a daily practice of rejoicing in the knowledge of Him and his salvation (Phil. 3:1, 4:4, 1 Thess. 5:16)
The New Bible Dictionary (summary)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
my theology of gifts and more...
The cogs of my mind started spinning fast last night after a good chat to my insightful sister about general insights about life and people and how they work. The question of gifts sprung off inside my head as a shoot from a conversation about church. How do we function, as a community of God's people, when people have some gifts but lack other important ones? How best should we view living in community with other Christians who act unlovingly, without being aware of it?
So I propose a theory- or maybe more a model- of how we, as Christians, function; a model representing what it means to give of oneself in love for another (of which I think is the basis of what a 'gift' is), and how this may look diagrammatically.
First, we all are born as a multi-sided shape, I'll use a decagon. So the decagon represents us at birth. Now, let me explain: the decagon's outline is the barrier between us and the outside world (other people, etc). This barriers stops us from giving ourselves in love for another person. God created us good and He created Adam and Eve to be in a relationship with each other characterised by Mutual Love (I should reference Michael Hill for his Mutual Love ethic that he draws from the Bible). So I represent us, as God created us in the beginning, as being a decagon with no sides, so maybe more accurately, no shape at all. It is a relationship in which each person gives of him-/herself fully in love for the other person: a most harmonious relationship.
Adam sinned as our representative father. His wickedness of rebelling against a God of all goodness, love and peace reveals thorough perverseness in all of us. We all choose to rebel against this loving God. The human heart is perverse, in that it seeks its own glory, rather that the consummate glory of God. If I can use an analogy, it's like exalting the mechanics of a pendulum over and and against the near-unfathomable workings of the human body, with all its different systems working in perfect synchronisation.
Sin, flowing from the hearts of men and women, begins its devastating effects on all of God's creation, disconnecting all things from their life-source, God. As a result, all thing degenerate into a shadow of their former glory- including the giving, harmonious relationships spoken of above. Because we turn our backs on the loving rule of God, and disobey His good and loving rule as Creator, how much more will we turn our back on our fellow human? The relationship is broken, now characterised by distrust and fear, instead of mutual love.
In the face of this distrust and wariness, we feel the need to build walls between each other. This is where the 'boundaries' come in (the sides of the decagon). In order to protect ourselves from others, we build boundaries between us and them, sort of like a city wall from ancient history, or possibly similar to the high walls built for many houses today. More than this though, the boundaries are our own sins, committed against God and man. This causes breaks in relationships with others, and so in their own way, act like barriers between people.
Another element worth mentioning is the post-modern concept of individualism. I must say, I don't know much about the concept of post-modern individuality, but I think it may stem from an age-old issue we have previously called pride; pride, expressed more overtly, as a desire to be like God. And this is THE desire that has tripped up humanity for all of history, that flows from a lie that this (becoming like God) can actually happen, which of course it can't.
In today's society, the most basic unit of society is the individual. So there is much focus on the development and confidence of the individual, outside their place in relationships. However, the Bible sets bipolar relationships (ie. 2 people in relationship) as the most basic unit in society. This means a society should have as their first priority the betterment of the bipolar relationship, not the individual. However, most non-Christians- being convinced that it is most important to build a self-identity outside and apart from relationships- want to establish themselves over and against others (and God), and want others to see how 'established' (or great) they are. I've represented this with the arrows pointing in to the centre of the decagon.
While non-christians build for themselves boundaries for protection, security and safeguard, and have arrows pointing in towards themselves to their own 'greatness', Christians- only through the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit- are 'born again' with an entirely transformed inner nature, or 'heart', as the Bible usually expresses it. No longer do we want the arrows pointing in to us, but we want them pointing out to God, expressed through our love for others. In this life, even with changed dispositions, we constantly wage war against our own sin and yearnings to be made much of. Still we together as Christians, moved by the Holy Spirit, sing together 'All glory to God!', while the non-Christian competes with all unregenerate people to shout loudest, harking to his own pint-sized glory.
I would argue that the arrows pointing in act as something similar to a vacuum, keeping the decagon's side sturdy and unmoving. But the regenerate heart, with its outw
ard pointing arrows, forces the decagon's sides to slowly be moved over time (Christians may know this to be the process of 'sanctification'). So as a Christian grows more like Christ, they begin to loose their sides, and become more a like a decagon with no sides (which would be no shape at all!). Adam represents sinful man and the decagon with all sides intact. Jesus represents the regenerate man with no sides intact. Jesus was the perfect God-man, who loved- and continues to love- all people of all time perfectly and wants to be in a mutual love relationship with all people, if only they would choose (rightly) to glorify Him (as God), and not themselves. He established himself by giving of himself to others, quite literally. As Paul's letter to the Philippians puts it:
"Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." ch.2 v5-8
Summary: we were created with no decagon sides with arrows naturally pointing out. Sin enters the world and we respond by adding the sides of the decagon (sin), and have arrows now pointing in. Jesus dies and gives His Holy Spirit to all who choose to give glory to him, as a result we are 'reborn' with arrows again pointing outwards to God as the sides of our decagon continue to break away, allowing us to restore the mutual love relationships that God had originally intended in the beginning.
Now, back to my thinking on gifts. Most basically, I think a gift is the giving of yourself in love for other people. A gift has the potential to make one look good and better than another, and this could be typified by anyone using their gift with arrows pointing in. For instance, one my have the gift of piano playing. He or she may use this gift in the loving service of others and God (arrows out), or to show how good he or she is (arrows in).
Adding to this, Christians have a regenerate heart that, wants more than anything, to point outwards. But sometimes they have a decagon 'side' preventing the arrow from
moving outside the shape (hope you're following the model of the decagon, it's getting more complicated!). We must remember that sanctification (the removing of decagon sides) is a process that occurs over time. It does not occur instantaneously, leaving the Christian exactly like Jesus as the one who is a decagon with no sides. So there may come along a more mature Christian or one with more insight who can see particular barriers, or decagon sides, in others that others can't see, or who themselves can't see. This, I suppose, might be a good time for the 'humbly informed' person to humbly inform/rebuke the 'uninformed' person who has the 'barrier' preventing the outward journeying arrow. Theoretically, the uninformed person should welcome the insight.
Again, in summary, gifts are the application of the arrows pointing outward, applied to bipolar relationship in love. This should be a unique characteristic of Christian community. Be that as it may, 'barriers' may prevent gifts from being used as they should be. A Christian, desiring to be like Jesus, should desire all barriers to be taken away, and if a brother or sister in Jesus can help achieve this, he or she should warmly welcome such help.
Now, I would like to think this model is based on sound and biblical principles, but all my theorising could have gone down wrong paths, so please, if you get this far, leave a comment if you disagree or have any other thoughts. One day I might back up what I've said with some Bible references.
So I propose a theory- or maybe more a model- of how we, as Christians, function; a model representing what it means to give of oneself in love for another (of which I think is the basis of what a 'gift' is), and how this may look diagrammatically.
First, we all are born as a multi-sided shape, I'll use a decagon. So the decagon represents us at birth. Now, let me explain: the decagon's outline is the barrier between us and the outside world (other people, etc). This barriers stops us from giving ourselves in love for another person. God created us good and He created Adam and Eve to be in a relationship with each other characterised by Mutual Love (I should reference Michael Hill for his Mutual Love ethic that he draws from the Bible). So I represent us, as God created us in the beginning, as being a decagon with no sides, so maybe more accurately, no shape at all. It is a relationship in which each person gives of him-/herself fully in love for the other person: a most harmonious relationship.
Adam sinned as our representative father. His wickedness of rebelling against a God of all goodness, love and peace reveals thorough perverseness in all of us. We all choose to rebel against this loving God. The human heart is perverse, in that it seeks its own glory, rather that the consummate glory of God. If I can use an analogy, it's like exalting the mechanics of a pendulum over and and against the near-unfathomable workings of the human body, with all its different systems working in perfect synchronisation.
Sin, flowing from the hearts of men and women, begins its devastating effects on all of God's creation, disconnecting all things from their life-source, God. As a result, all thing degenerate into a shadow of their former glory- including the giving, harmonious relationships spoken of above. Because we turn our backs on the loving rule of God, and disobey His good and loving rule as Creator, how much more will we turn our back on our fellow human? The relationship is broken, now characterised by distrust and fear, instead of mutual love.
In the face of this distrust and wariness, we feel the need to build walls between each other. This is where the 'boundaries' come in (the sides of the decagon). In order to protect ourselves from others, we build boundaries between us and them, sort of like a city wall from ancient history, or possibly similar to the high walls built for many houses today. More than this though, the boundaries are our own sins, committed against God and man. This causes breaks in relationships with others, and so in their own way, act like barriers between people.
Another element worth mentioning is the post-modern concept of individualism. I must say, I don't know much about the concept of post-modern individuality, but I think it may stem from an age-old issue we have previously called pride; pride, expressed more overtly, as a desire to be like God. And this is THE desire that has tripped up humanity for all of history, that flows from a lie that this (becoming like God) can actually happen, which of course it can't.
In today's society, the most basic unit of society is the individual. So there is much focus on the development and confidence of the individual, outside their place in relationships. However, the Bible sets bipolar relationships (ie. 2 people in relationship) as the most basic unit in society. This means a society should have as their first priority the betterment of the bipolar relationship, not the individual. However, most non-Christians- being convinced that it is most important to build a self-identity outside and apart from relationships- want to establish themselves over and against others (and God), and want others to see how 'established' (or great) they are. I've represented this with the arrows pointing in to the centre of the decagon.
While non-christians build for themselves boundaries for protection, security and safeguard, and have arrows pointing in towards themselves to their own 'greatness', Christians- only through the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit- are 'born again' with an entirely transformed inner nature, or 'heart', as the Bible usually expresses it. No longer do we want the arrows pointing in to us, but we want them pointing out to God, expressed through our love for others. In this life, even with changed dispositions, we constantly wage war against our own sin and yearnings to be made much of. Still we together as Christians, moved by the Holy Spirit, sing together 'All glory to God!', while the non-Christian competes with all unregenerate people to shout loudest, harking to his own pint-sized glory.
I would argue that the arrows pointing in act as something similar to a vacuum, keeping the decagon's side sturdy and unmoving. But the regenerate heart, with its outw
ard pointing arrows, forces the decagon's sides to slowly be moved over time (Christians may know this to be the process of 'sanctification'). So as a Christian grows more like Christ, they begin to loose their sides, and become more a like a decagon with no sides (which would be no shape at all!). Adam represents sinful man and the decagon with all sides intact. Jesus represents the regenerate man with no sides intact. Jesus was the perfect God-man, who loved- and continues to love- all people of all time perfectly and wants to be in a mutual love relationship with all people, if only they would choose (rightly) to glorify Him (as God), and not themselves. He established himself by giving of himself to others, quite literally. As Paul's letter to the Philippians puts it:"Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." ch.2 v5-8
Summary: we were created with no decagon sides with arrows naturally pointing out. Sin enters the world and we respond by adding the sides of the decagon (sin), and have arrows now pointing in. Jesus dies and gives His Holy Spirit to all who choose to give glory to him, as a result we are 'reborn' with arrows again pointing outwards to God as the sides of our decagon continue to break away, allowing us to restore the mutual love relationships that God had originally intended in the beginning.
Now, back to my thinking on gifts. Most basically, I think a gift is the giving of yourself in love for other people. A gift has the potential to make one look good and better than another, and this could be typified by anyone using their gift with arrows pointing in. For instance, one my have the gift of piano playing. He or she may use this gift in the loving service of others and God (arrows out), or to show how good he or she is (arrows in).
Adding to this, Christians have a regenerate heart that, wants more than anything, to point outwards. But sometimes they have a decagon 'side' preventing the arrow from
moving outside the shape (hope you're following the model of the decagon, it's getting more complicated!). We must remember that sanctification (the removing of decagon sides) is a process that occurs over time. It does not occur instantaneously, leaving the Christian exactly like Jesus as the one who is a decagon with no sides. So there may come along a more mature Christian or one with more insight who can see particular barriers, or decagon sides, in others that others can't see, or who themselves can't see. This, I suppose, might be a good time for the 'humbly informed' person to humbly inform/rebuke the 'uninformed' person who has the 'barrier' preventing the outward journeying arrow. Theoretically, the uninformed person should welcome the insight.Again, in summary, gifts are the application of the arrows pointing outward, applied to bipolar relationship in love. This should be a unique characteristic of Christian community. Be that as it may, 'barriers' may prevent gifts from being used as they should be. A Christian, desiring to be like Jesus, should desire all barriers to be taken away, and if a brother or sister in Jesus can help achieve this, he or she should warmly welcome such help.
Now, I would like to think this model is based on sound and biblical principles, but all my theorising could have gone down wrong paths, so please, if you get this far, leave a comment if you disagree or have any other thoughts. One day I might back up what I've said with some Bible references.
Monday, September 14, 2009
In search for the lost
Probably the most dangerous lie to believe is this: that you're (I'm) not all bad; that, actually, you (I) scrub up pretty well. Hypocrisy is bad: putting on a veneer of religiousness so that others think you're good. Receiving accolades without a sincere heart. But what's worse is believing this lie.
At church we looked at Luke 15, the 3 parables about Jesus receiving the lost with joy. The 3rd parable, the prodical son, see both sons sin: one, a sin of libertine (my new word for the day :) pride, the other a pride stemming from self-righteousness, a legalism that prevented him from enjoying life with his father. But worse by far, a pride that kept him from recognising his need for forgiveness. The difference between the 2 sons is not in terms of whether they sin- they both are sinful- but in their recognition of their sin and repentance.
Pride leaves us high and dry. Elusively it sprouts, totally disorientating us, leaving us hopelessly lost- but worse, we're oblivious to the fact!
Contrasted to this is the joy and generosity of the father. Rescuing sinners, showing mercy and providing salvation generously is an expression of God's righteousness. Humbly recognise your need, and happily be on the receiving end.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Physical side of Spirituality
Speaking of training and action...
In the 21st Century of endless mp3 sermons (and even free online Bible college courses), infinite books and great quality Katoomba conferences all at the disposal of Christians (in Sydney anyway), the threat of becoming spiritually fat is a real one.
What I mean by being 'spiritually fat' is a desire to be continually fed- enjoying a scrumptious text of the Bible, exegeted and put in to context- again and again and again. At this point, it's very easy to see how quickly one can apply the corresponding physical principles to combat this over indulgence (well, as an exercise scientist, it is very easy for me to see).
So how can we combat spiritual fatness? By being disciplined in spiritual exercise. Exercising your faith! Having a spiritual workout! Going for a spiritual jog :)
Now, I'm writing this for a reason: because my intake of 'Bible stuff' is high, I need to be weary to expend more; I need to exercise to keep fit!
If you think about it, being 'well nourished' (physically) is conducive to a good quality exercise session because your body has all the vitamin, minerals and macro-nutrients it will ever need! In the same way, being well-nourished spiritually provides you with certainly enough motivation, encouragement, inspiration and knowledge to serve you well during your 'exercise'. There may be a point in which being 'well-nourished', leads to being over-nourished, which obviously doesn't result in the most conducive physical state for exercise, but I'll stop there...
So the goal is to be spiritually fit and so to avoid ever becoming so overfed you can't get up and be a part of the world. For, one great theologian once said: "Do and you will know".
I will endeavor to live by this
In the 21st Century of endless mp3 sermons (and even free online Bible college courses), infinite books and great quality Katoomba conferences all at the disposal of Christians (in Sydney anyway), the threat of becoming spiritually fat is a real one.
What I mean by being 'spiritually fat' is a desire to be continually fed- enjoying a scrumptious text of the Bible, exegeted and put in to context- again and again and again. At this point, it's very easy to see how quickly one can apply the corresponding physical principles to combat this over indulgence (well, as an exercise scientist, it is very easy for me to see).
So how can we combat spiritual fatness? By being disciplined in spiritual exercise. Exercising your faith! Having a spiritual workout! Going for a spiritual jog :)
Now, I'm writing this for a reason: because my intake of 'Bible stuff' is high, I need to be weary to expend more; I need to exercise to keep fit!
If you think about it, being 'well nourished' (physically) is conducive to a good quality exercise session because your body has all the vitamin, minerals and macro-nutrients it will ever need! In the same way, being well-nourished spiritually provides you with certainly enough motivation, encouragement, inspiration and knowledge to serve you well during your 'exercise'. There may be a point in which being 'well-nourished', leads to being over-nourished, which obviously doesn't result in the most conducive physical state for exercise, but I'll stop there...
So the goal is to be spiritually fit and so to avoid ever becoming so overfed you can't get up and be a part of the world. For, one great theologian once said: "Do and you will know".
I will endeavor to live by this
Training and activity
Continuums are everywhere.
This particular continuum I sometimes see in a Christian's view on investing years to study the theology/doctrine at Bible college. On one side, there are those who feel they already know enough to begin their ministry, and years spent at Bible college are a grind. They feel they know about Jesus and have read the gospels a number of times, they've been in churches that faithfully teach the Bible for years and they just think, 'Let me go!'. On the other side, are those who never feel qualified enough. They study for years but still feel they don't know enough, and they feel right at home in a Bible college to point they don't want to leave.
Actually, as I write, these observations are probably true of the 'everyday' Christian too (like myself). The symptoms being a persistent perception of themselves as having a lack of ability to go out and tell the gospel, or, going out with no prep and being quickly found loose.
But I'm thinking particularly about the disciples being sent out by Jesus in chapter 10 of Matthew. Now, the disciples are men who get things wrong! In Matthew, they are regularly referred to 'as men of little faith'; in Mark, men without faith! These men, you would think, are not ready to be entrusted with the same message Jesus had been teaching, the message of the 'Kingdom at hand', and with the power to do his works among the Israelites. On the other hand, these men had been with Jesus for a while now (not exactly sure, but maybe a couple of years by now?), hearing his teaching, seeing his actions and miracles. So it's not as if they had no training at all.
So how can they- as men with some teaching in their back pocket, but little faith- go and be the first bearers (besides Jesus) of such great news? v20. Because "it is not they who speak, but the Spirit of the Father". That's why: the Spirit we have in us is also in them.
This particular continuum I sometimes see in a Christian's view on investing years to study the theology/doctrine at Bible college. On one side, there are those who feel they already know enough to begin their ministry, and years spent at Bible college are a grind. They feel they know about Jesus and have read the gospels a number of times, they've been in churches that faithfully teach the Bible for years and they just think, 'Let me go!'. On the other side, are those who never feel qualified enough. They study for years but still feel they don't know enough, and they feel right at home in a Bible college to point they don't want to leave.
Actually, as I write, these observations are probably true of the 'everyday' Christian too (like myself). The symptoms being a persistent perception of themselves as having a lack of ability to go out and tell the gospel, or, going out with no prep and being quickly found loose.
But I'm thinking particularly about the disciples being sent out by Jesus in chapter 10 of Matthew. Now, the disciples are men who get things wrong! In Matthew, they are regularly referred to 'as men of little faith'; in Mark, men without faith! These men, you would think, are not ready to be entrusted with the same message Jesus had been teaching, the message of the 'Kingdom at hand', and with the power to do his works among the Israelites. On the other hand, these men had been with Jesus for a while now (not exactly sure, but maybe a couple of years by now?), hearing his teaching, seeing his actions and miracles. So it's not as if they had no training at all.
So how can they- as men with some teaching in their back pocket, but little faith- go and be the first bearers (besides Jesus) of such great news? v20. Because "it is not they who speak, but the Spirit of the Father". That's why: the Spirit we have in us is also in them.
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