Application: Pressing the Text upon the Heart (Part 2)

Today's post deals with a fundamental biblical truth that is essential for application. That truth can be summarized as follows:

We resemble what we worship, whether for ruin or restoration.

Think about it for a minute. Every kid growing up imitates someone they look up to. My kids love sports, so I constantly hear them say things like "Rondo goes behind the back, lays it up and in! What a shot by Rondo!" or "Pryor, sidesteps the rush, throws downfield to Posey, TOUCHDOWN!" The impulse to imitate does not stop once we reach adulthood. Have you ever noticed we tend to speak and act like the people we admire? People spend large sums of money to even dress like those whom they admire.

The reason for this pattern is that God has made us this way. By creating Adam and Eve in his image, God intended mankind to reflect his character in thought, word and deed (Gen 1:26-31). By beholding God in submissive worship they would reflect his glory. But when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they usurped the rightful place of God as the sovereign King and placed themselves at the center of the universe (Gen 3:1-24). In other words, they committed idolatry (cp. Romans 1:21-23). This act of rebellion, however, did not change the fact that man resembles what we worship. Notice, for example, what Psalm 115:3-8 (ESV) says:

Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.

The psalmist warns against the worship of idols because inevitably those who worship them become like them. Because idols are spiritually blind, deaf and dumb, so those who worship them become spiritually blind, deaf and dumb. (See additionally passages like Psalm 135:15-18; Isaiah 6:1-13; 44:1-20).

But there is a flipside to this reality. As we worship the one true God in Jesus Christ, we become like him. Although there are many texts that point in this direction, we will focus on just two. The first is 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV):

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Notice the progression. We as believers behold the glory of God himself in the face of Jesus Christ (see 2 Cor 4:6), and as we behold that glory we are transformed so that we more fully reflect the very glory of Christ himself. The apostle John says something very similar in 1 John 3:2-3 (ESV):

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Notice the progression here. When Christ appears, we as his people will be like him, because we will see him as he truly he is. In other words, the vision of Christ is what will complete the transformation to complete Christlikeness. In light of this eschatological hope, in the present believers purify themselves just as Jesus is pure.

Thus at the heart of application is the fundamental truth that we resemble what we worship. As a result, application is first and foremost a reorientation of our whole lives to Christ, a commitment to see him for all his beauty and experience the transformation that comes from seeing his glory. It is not first and foremost a list of things to do or not do.

In the next post we will look at the necessity of recognizing "fallen condition" in the biblical text and identifying how that fallen condition shows up in our own lives.

POSTCRIPT: I wanted to point out two books that have been very helpful in my own thinking on this particular subject. While at Wheaton I had the privilege of learning from G.K. Beale, whose work in the area of the use of the OT in the NT is superb. As part of my Ph.D. program I was first exposed to this concept that we resemble what we worship. In fact, the wording of the quote at the beginning of this post is taken straight from him. A couple of years after I finished my degree at Wheaton, Beale published the book pictured to the left, entitled We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Worship. In this book, Beale walks through in extensive detail this biblical-theological thread from Genesis to Revelation and all points in between. To make this case Beale does detailed work in the Hebrew Old Testament, Greek Septuagint, Second Temple Jewish literature and the Greek New Testament. As a result, it is not something that is easily readable, although those who make the effort are richly rewarded with a firm biblical foundation.

For those who want a much more accessible and readable book that deals with this same subject, the place to look is the book by Tim Keller entitled Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters. As the title makes clear, Keller singles out three particular forms of idolatry that are prevalent in our culture. With his characteristically clear and engaging writing style, Keller sheds light on how these forms of idolatry surface in our lives and offers Christ as the one who will truly satisfy. This is a book that I would not hesitate to hand to just about anybody, even those who are not naturally drawn to reading.

Application: Pressing The Text Upon the Heart (Part 1)

Application should be the ultimate goal of studying the Bible. Howard Hendricks is correct when he claims "Interpretation without application is spiritual abortion." The goal of application is life transformation--becoming progressively more conformed to the image of Christ. Yet despite this, most believers receive very little instruction on how to apply Scripture to their lives. The assumption seems to be that we will somehow just "pick it up along the way" as we grow spiritually.

In light of this, I have decided to write a series of posts on application. Today's post will attempt to briefly sketch a basic theological framework for application. Our starting point is a familiar text:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13 ESV)

Paul commands us to work out our own salvation, while at the same time emphasizing that it is God who is at work in us for his good pleasure. Thus application is the work of God and it is the work of the believer. So as a starting point let's look at each of these.

God's Work. Not surprisingly, all three persons of the Trinity are involved in the work of application. According to 1 Peter 1:14-17, it is the Father who calls his children to be holy as he is holy. Paul makes a similar point in Romans 8:29, when he asserts that the Father "predestined [us] to be conformed to the image of his Son." Thus the Son is the ultimate pattern of God's work in our lives. Of course, it also the Son's work on the cross that makes conformity to him even possible, as our union with him enables us to share in his death and resurrection (Rom 6:1-11). The Spirit is the one who applies the benefits of Christ's work to us, and this is true in application as well. He is the one who enables believers to put to death the deeds of the body (Rom 8:13).

The Work of the Believer. Growth in holiness does not come by waiting for God to zap us. As a starting point we can begin with Paul's paradigmatic claim in Romans 10:17 that "faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ." We are responsible to believe the good news about Jesus Christ and his work on our behalf. All proper application flows out of the gospel. Thus it is imperative that we expose ourselves to the word of God and believe what it says. It is also crucial that we pray for God to do his work in our lives; without prayer our efforts to apply Scripture quickly devolve into self-effort that is rooted in self-righteousness. We must also prioritize the role that other believers play in our lives to assist us in application. Other believers identify our blind spots and confront and/or encourage us when necessary. As we live in fellowship with other believers we are able to grow together in godliness.

Much more could be said, but this is a sufficient foundation for us to build upon. The next post will deal with what I regard as the single most important principle of application.

A Place at the Table: George Eldon Ladd and the Rehabilitation of Evangelical Scholarship in America by John A. D'Elia

This past weekend I finished reading A Place at the Table: George Eldon Ladd and the Rehabilitation of Evangelical Scholarship in America by John D'Elia. For those who do not know him, George Eldon Ladd was one of the most significant evangelical scholars of the 20th century. In this biography, D'Elia sketches the life of this fascinating man in a readable and engaging manner. It was hard to put the book down, and at a mere 182 pages of text (plus another 50 pages of endnotes) it is a fast read.

Central to the book is Ladd efforts to gain a "place at the table" for evangelical biblical scholarship at a time (1940s-1960s) when very few in the academy paid any attention to it. Ladd recognized that this was in part due to a failure by evangelicals to actually engage liberal scholarship rather than dismiss it outright. As a result Ladd was among a small group of evangelicals who pursued doctoral work in elite level Ph.D. programs such as Harvard as a means of establishing scholarly credentials that would enable them later to produce scholarship from an evangelical perspective that could gain a hearing in the broader academy. The fact that many evangelicals today have a seat at the table in the larger academy is due at least in part to Ladd.

Ladd's efforts to produce evangelical scholarship that would be received within the larger academy culminated in 1964 with the publication of Jesus and the Kingdom: The Eschatology of Biblical Realism (later renamed The Presence of the Future). Ladd hoped the book would a definitive study of the Kingdom of God in the New Testament, and the fact it was published by Harper and Row gave it a hearing in the broader academy. Ladd thought he had accomplished his goal of gaining a place at the table.

All of that changed when he read NT scholar Norman Perrin's review, which thoroughly trashed the book. Although Ladd's work was well-received by others, the prominence of Perrin within the academy meant that his review was devastating. Ladd was crushed, and as a result he spiraled downward into a depression that he never fully recovered from. The rest of his life he considered himself a failure, despite continuing to publish and teach for another ten years or so.


Before reading this book, I knew almost nothing about Ladd other than his groundbreaking work on the Kingdom of God. His New Testament Theology book remains a classic contribution to the field even 35 years later (a revised edition was produced in 1993 with some additional essays; I still use the text in my own NT Theology course). As I read the book, however, I was saddened to learn of the mess that was Ladd's personal life. D'Elia does a nice job of describing Ladd's upbringing and the effect it would have on him for the rest of his life (though I think this is overplayed at times). In his quest to gain a hearing for evangelical scholarship, he largely sacrificed his family, resulting in very strained relationships with his wife and two children. Because he set his hope on academic recognition, Ladd fell apart when he failed to received what he believed he deserved. He increasingly turned to alcohol and strongly considered divorcing his wife. The irony is that although Ladd considered himself a failure, he left behind a legacy of students who did go on to successful academic careers and gained a place at the table within the broader academy. Ladd simply did not live long enough to see this, dying in 1982.

Reading this book was a healthy reminder to me not to set my hope on academic achievement or recognition within the broader academy. I am grateful for my wife and kids who help keep me grounded and are a great source of joy in my life. I also am grateful for my local church an how it allows me to contribute to the growth of fellow believers in the gospel and how it applies to all of life.

The Prodigal God and His Prodigal Sons

Last month (3/25) I had the privilege of speaking at the Day of Worship here at Grace College and Theological Seminary. I spoke on the parable commonly known as "The Prodigal Son"; however as you can see from the title of this post I have changed the title to fit the text more accurately. You can listen to the audio here.

N.B. Those who are familiar with Tim Keller's book The Prodigal God will notice that I largely follow his take on the parable. I highly recommend this book; it is short and very readable even for those who are not particularly inclined to read.

TGIM - Thank God It's Monday?

We are all familiar with the abbreviation TGIF - Thank God It's Friday. It has become such a part of our culture that there is even a restaurant named T.G.I.Fridays! We live in a culture that often lives for the weekend, or the next vacation. According to a recent study, only about 45% of American workers are either satisfied or extremely satisfied with their jobs. A different survey suggests that the number may be as low as 33%. Only 20% of Americans feel very passionate about their jobs. Perhaps most telling was the fact that 33% of those surveyed believed they had reached a dead end in their career.

In light of that reality, a good number of us do not look forward to Monday and the start of the work week. But what would have to happen in our hearts to make us actually look forward to going to work no matter what kind of job situation we are in? To get us to the point where we might actually find ourselves saying TGIM - Thank God It's Monday?

Only something as powerful as the gospel can transform our work from drudgery to delight. Curious? At this link you can listen to a recent sermon I gave from Ephesians 6:5-9. It was part of our church's series entitled "The Gospel Changes Everything" in which we walked through the entire book of Ephesians.

Review of G. Walter Hansen, The Letter to the Philippians (Pillar New Testament Commentary)

The most recent issue of Themelios is now posted. For those who may be interested, in it you can find my positive review of this new commentary on Philippians:

God Transforms Us into New People (Ephesians 4:17-24)

This past Sunday I had the privilege of preaching at Christ's Covenant Church. I continued on in our series in Ephesians entitled "The Gospel Changes Everything". My text was Ephesians 4:17-24, and you can download the message here.

God's Greatest Gift (John 1:14)

Tonight I was supposed to preach at tonight's Christmas Eve Service at Christ's Covenant Church. Because the service has been cancelled due to bad weather, I am posting it here. Merry Christmas to you all.

God’s Greatest Gift
John 1:14
Matthew S. Harmon
Christ’s Covenant Church
Christmas Eve 2009

INTRODUCTION

Growing up as a kid Christmas Eve was probably my favorite day of the year. That’s because our family would open our gifts on Christmas Eve after we went to church. Because of that I often found it difficult to focus during the service as my thoughts wandered to what gifts were awaiting me when I got home. Would this finally be the year I get that remote control airplane? (It never happened). Maybe that’s you right now. Perhaps you even have a specific gift in mind that you hope is waiting for you under the tree.

No matter what that gift may be, it pales in comparison to the many gifts that God has given to us. Tonight we are going to look at the greatest of those gifts, and we find that gift described in John 1:14.

In words that are probably familiar to us, John writes “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Tonight we are going to focus on the phrase “dwelt among us.”

Here in this simple phrase we have mysteries so great that the angels desperately long to understand. In a nutshell, the greatest gift that God gives us is himself. But in order for us to understand the magnitude of what John is saying here, we need to step back and look at the larger story of the Bible.

GOD’S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

When God created Adam and Eve, he placed them in Garden of Eden. He set aside the garden as the place on earth where he would be with Adam and Eve in a special sense. Genesis 3 even implies that it was customary for God to walk in the Garden with Adam and Eve. Imagine that for a minute: God himself walking with Adam and Eve! Seeing God face to face in all his beauty and glory was a regular thing for them.

All of that changed when they rebelled against God by listening to the serpent. It didn’t take long for Adam and Eve to realize that they had made a disastrous mistake. Rather than feeling a sense of power and wisdom they experienced alienation—alienation from each other and even more importantly alienation from God. Instead of running TO God when the LORD came for his daily stroll through the Garden, they ran FROM him to hide from his presence.

When God finally confronts Adam and Eve about their sin, something very interesting happens. As the final aspect of his judgment on their sin, God banishes Adam and Eve from the Garden. Instead of being in the very presence of God they were exiled from God and sent away to live at a distance from God himself. God even placed cherubim, angelic beings, to prevent Adam and Eve from reentering the Garden. Because God is holy he could not allow sinful human beings into his presence.

From that point forward humanity remained at a distance from God. Occasionally God would appear to various individuals such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. But when God redeemed the nation of Israel from their slavery in Egypt, he made a covenant with them. As part of that covenant God instructed Moses to build a tabernacle. The tabernacle was a portable tent that the Israelites would set up to meet with God. When they set the tent up, the Israelites surrounded it with a makeshift fence that enclosed an area that was 150 feet long by 75 feet wide. The tabernacle itself was 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and 15 feet high. Inside the tent were two distinct sections. The first was called the Holy Place, where only the priests could enter and perform their priestly duties. But at the back of the tabernacle was a second section separated by a thick veil. This section was called the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place. Inside was the ark of the covenant, and it was here that God descended in the form of a cloud to meet with his people. But the catch was that only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only on one day a year—the Day of Atonement. Even then he had to go through elaborate washing rituals and sacrifices to be able to enter into the presence of God.

So on the one hand it is great that God dwells among his people, but this is a far cry from the way it was when Adam and Eve were in the Garden. They were able to walk with God and see him face to face. Now only one person—the high priest—could be in the very presence of God, and that only once a year! In fact, the average Israelite could not even enter the Holy Place; the closest he could get to the presence of God was in the courtyard outside of the tabernacle itself. The most he could hope for would be to see the cloud of God’s presence descend into the tabernacle from a sizable distance. We are a long way from the Garden at this point.

Hundreds of years later King Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem as a more permanent place where God dwelt with his people. The structure was similar to the tabernacle only on a grander scale. It had the Holy Place that was covered in gold throughout, measuring 60 feet long by 30 feet wide by 45 feet high. Behind that was the Holy of Holies, which was a 30 foot cube where the ark of the covenant was placed between two golden cherubim. Just as with the tabernacle, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. So again, although the temple was a magnificent building, God’s presence remained accessible only to the high priest and that only once a year.

Eventually Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. when the Jews are taken off into exile. Although they return 70 years later and rebuild a temple, it was a pale shadow of Solomon’s temple. Indeed, those who had seen Solomon’s temple and then were present when the foundation for the new temple was laid wept because it fell so far short of what they had remembered. However, by the time that Jesus was born some 500 years later, the temple had once again become an awe-inspiring structure, even surpassing the grandeur of Solomon’s day. But there was one all-important difference—God’s presence never filled the temple! For hundreds of years God’s presence had remained absent from the temple.


THE WORD TABERNACLED AMONG US

With all of that background in place we can now look again at John 1:14 with fresh eyes. When John says that the Word, whom he earlier indicated was God himself, dwelled among us, he uses a very specific word. A literal translation would be “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” Just as God dwelled among his people in the tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament, now he has done something far greater. He has taken up residence among us by taking on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ to live among sinful humanity.

Think about it. In the Old Testament only one person once a year could come into the presence of God, and then only after elaborate washing rituals and sacrifices. But now God takes on flesh and people could walk right up to him and touch him, talk to him, interact with him face-to-face! And yet the vast majority of people who encountered Jesus during his earthly life had no idea they were encountering God with us.

At this point you may be thinking, “That’s great for them, but Jesus is no longer walking the earth. How is God with us now that Jesus is gone?” Would you believe that there is something even better than Jesus dwelling WITH his people?


THE WORD TABERNACLES IN US

Listen to how Jesus comforts his disciples about his departure from them in John 14:16-17—

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you
forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be
in you.

Not only will the Holy Spirit dwell WITH his people; he will dwell IN them! Think about it. In the Old Testament only one person once a year could come into the presence of God, and then only after elaborate washing rituals and sacrifices. Then the Word became flesh and dwelled AMONG us. But Jesus says that after he departs to be with the Father he will send the Holy Spirit to be IN us. We have come a long way from the Garden of Eden!

But how is it possible that a perfectly holy God can dwell IN people who are by nature rebellious sinners? That is where the cross comes in. The Word becoming flesh by itself was not enough to reconcile us to God; instead it was necessary for the Word who had become flesh to live the life of perfect obedience that God demands of us and die a shameful death on the cross as the penalty for our sinful rebellion. Just as it was necessary for the high priest to offer sacrifices for sins to enter the presence of God, Jesus became our great high priest. And instead of offering the blood of bulls and goats, which could never actually take away sin, Jesus offered his own blood as the spotless Lamb of God. Through his death God opened the way for us to enter into his presence and for his presence to enter into us.

CONCLUSION

We began tonight talking about gifts. God’s gift of himself to us is far better than anything waiting for you under that Christmas tree. But this gift is something that has to be received. God does not dwell in everyone. For those who remain lost in their sinful rebellion are still in exile, separated from God and under his judgment. So how do we know whether or not God dwells in us? Listen to what John says in his first letter:

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

When John speaks of confessing that Jesus is the Son of God, he does not mean simple intellectual agreement or saying certain words. Instead, he means trusting completely in who Jesus is and what he has done for our acceptance before a holy God. That kind of trust means turning away from our sin and treasuring Christ above all else in our lives.

Some of you here tonight have never trusted in Jesus Christ. Just like Adam and Eve you are cut off from God’s presence and lost in your sin. But there is no need to remain there. Tonight God offers you the greatest gift imaginable: himself. He offers it to you freely even though it cost the life of his very own Son to do so. He invites you right now to turn away from your sinful rebellion and surrender to him by faith in his Son Jesus Christ. There is no greater gift you could receive this Christmas than God forgiving you of the sin that separates you from him and coming to dwell inside of you by his Holy Spirit.

For those of us who have already received God’s greatest gift by trusting in the person and work of Jesus Christ, God is calling us to rediscover the wonder of that gift. That God would take up residence in our hearts is one of the great wonders imaginable. The God who spoke everything, including us, into existence has chosen to make us the place on earth where he dwells. This Christmas, let’s treasure God’s greatest gift—the gift of himself to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Let’s pray …

Free Trial of Sage Journals

Until October 31, Sage Journals is offering a free trial that allows you access to all of their journals, including free downloads of pdf copies of the articles since 1999. This is relevant to you because their journals include: Journal for the Study of the New Testament (JSNT), Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (JSOT), Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, and Expository Times.

You can sign up for your free trial here.

Google Books - Use It

I am guessing that at least some of you are already familiar with this tool, but some may not be: Google books. This tools allows you to search for and view pages from an astonishing number of books. Ihave found this especially helpful as I work on revisions for my dissertation. I come across a book that is referenced and I want to look at it, but my school's library does not have a copy. I could use Interlibrary Loan and wait for several days for the book to arrive. Or, I can search for it in Google Books, find the relevant section, and get what I need in a matter of seconds.

The only downside is that for copyright reasons some pages/sections of some books are omitted. So sometimes the section I want is not available. But in most cases it is. An additional advantage is that if I know that a book is available on Google books I do not need to take the hard copy with me when I travel, thus lightening the load.

If you are familiar with other helpful tools available on the web, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Categorizing Four Different Reformed Approaches to Gospel and Culture

Continuing our discussion of the relationship between the gospel and culture, here is an interesting article that divides present day Reformed approaches to the question into four camps: (1) neo-calvinism, which focuses on the comprehensive claims of the gospel; (2) two kingdom approach, which stresses the distinctiveness of the church from the culture; (3) neo-puritans, who emphasize the sovereignty of God and the role of the individual in seeking the good of the city; (4) old-calvinism, which contends that cultural engagement inevitably leads to worldliness.

While not the final word on the subject, the article is definitely a helpful (albeit brief!) overview of how different folks in the Reformed family approach a challenging issue.

HT: Kevin DeYoung

The "Evangelical Drudge Report" Changes Address

Most readers of this blog may already know this, but the popular "Between Two Worlds" blog run by Justin Taylor has now moved under the umbrella of the Gospel Coalition. The new address is:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/

Also worth noting is a new blog run by the Gospel Coalition:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/

N.T. Wright Headlines the Wheaton Theology Conference 2010

The topic for The 19th Annual Wheaton Theology Conference has been announced, and it is sure to be an interesting one--Jesus, Paul and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N.T. Wright. In addition to Wright, other noteworthy speakers include Markus Bockmuehl, Richard Hays, Kevin Vanhoozer and Nicholas Perrin. You can see the full lineup here.

The conference is not until April 16-17, but given the heavy hitters it may be wise to register early.

Friday Morning Resources

Here are two resources worth your attention:

1. Jim Hamilton, Associate Professor of Biblical Theology, Southern Seminary, recently lectured on “The Orthodoxy of the Text of the New Testament: Reasserting the Obvious.” Here is the abstract:

"The first chapter of Bart Ehrman’s book The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture suggests that our understanding of early Christianity needs to be radically revised, but Ehrman himself acknowledges that the rest of the volume does not provide the kind of evidence that would warrant such a revision. This presentation argues against the revisionist view that the traditional story of early Christianity distorts what really happened because “the victors rewrote the history.” Instead, the geographically widespread, early, abundant, and orthodox manuscript evidence points to an original mainstream of orthodox Christianity from which the heretics deviated. The orthodoxy of the manuscripts can be seen in what can be deduced from the use of the codex form, in the nomina sacra abbreviations used to refer to both God and Christ, in the staurogram, and in the concern of the scribes themselves to make exact copies of their texts."

2. Yesterday At Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Al Mohler hosted a panel discussion on N.T. Wright's view on justification with Dr. Denny Burk, Dr. Tom Schreiner, Dr. Mark Seifrid, Dr. Brian Vickers. You can find the audio here and the video here.

D.A. Carson on "The Good Samaritan"

This past Sunday D.A. Carson preached at Fox Valley Bible Church in South Elgin, Illinois. His text was the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Carson does a nice job of preaching this text in a Christ-centered way. You can listen to it online here or download the MP3 file here.

Gospel-Centered Resources

Timmy Brister has compiled a list of gospel-centered resources that are worth checking out here.

HT: Chad Knudson

Should Evangelicals Use the Term Social Justice?

As a follow up to my two posts on the Kingdom of God and social justice, I want to briefly raise the question of whether we as evangelicals should use the phrase "social justice." Please note that the issue is not whether evangelicals should be involved in social action; my two previous posts should make it clear enough where I stand on that.

But what about the expression "social justice"? While I am not ready to say evangelicals should completely abandon the phrase (though it might be warranted), I want to raise several concerns that we must think through when using the expression.

1. What do we mean by "justice"? Justice is one of those terms that seems self-evident, until we begin to press a bit harder. Whose idea of justice do we mean? What does the implementation of justice look like? Does it mean the redistribution of resources to ensure each has the exact same? What does Scripture say about justice? How much can we expect our efforts at justice in this life to match God's standards for justice.

2. The flexibility of the term. The term is used by so many people from so many different perspectives with so many different agendas that it can be used in almost any cause: ending the global sex trade, poverty relief, debt relief, providing clean water, education reform, healthcare reform, gay rights, abortion, job training, welfare, environmentalism, etc. If you are really curious, check out this link, where there are multiple definitions of "social justice" by various folks. When a term is so broad as to include so much, I wonder just how useful it is.

3. What about mercy? In the midst of an emphasis on "justice" we must never lose sight of mercy. Strict justice in some situations would preclude the opportunity for people to experience mercy. Many of the people who need the kind of ministries that fall under the umbrella of social justice desperately need mercy. They need someone to help them even though they deserve no help because they are in a situation of their own making.

Isn't the beauty of the gospel that justice and mercy meet in the cross (reflect on Rom 3:21-26)? So as believers we should be those who seek to show the mercy of Christ who suffered the justice that was due to us.

So should we abandon the expression "social justice"? Perhaps. In some cases it has the great potential to muddy the waters. I understand the desire to use common expressions as an attempt to build bridges. But at what cost? And can we not continue to work to show mercy and work for justice without using the expression "social justice" with its potential to mislead? At the end of the day what matters is that our actions adorn the gospel of Jesus Christ and are an outworking of the justice and mercy that we have received at the cross

The Kingdom of God & Social Justice – Part 2

Last week I posted the first five of my theses regarding the relationship of the kingdom of God and social justice. Here now are the second five:

6. We must realize that our actions are not self-interpreting. There is absolutely a place for being salt and light in a community through good deeds. But unless those deeds are given an interpretation, people will simply not know why we are doing them. There are plenty of groups who do good deeds in the community. Our actions will not truly adorn the gospel unless people are made aware that the actions flow out of our commitment to Jesus Christ. Again, faith comes by hearing, not simply doing good things before people and hoping they make the connection to Christ.

7. We must recognize the trend towards increasing social action and decreasing evangelism within the church. In many (if not most) evangelical churches today it is easier to recruit people to go do a neighborhood service project than it is to do evangelism. My concern is that a growing number of evangelicals assuage their guilt (if it even exists!) for not sharing the gospel by doing good deeds in the community. While I am not arguing a strict causation, it seems more than coincidental that at a time when evangelical participation in social action is rising rapidly active participation in evangelism falling rapidly.

8. We must think through and articulate the connection between specific social action and the gospel. One of the reasons that social and action and evangelism are hard to marry is that we have often failed to think through the relationship between specific physical needs and the gospel. When ministering to the hungry we can point them to the bread that truly satisfies. When ministering to those who are poor we can help them to see that their physical poverty is a window into the spiritual condition before God, and their need for spiritual riches that cannot be destroyed. When we think through these kinds of connections the relationship between social action and the verbal communication of the gospel seems much more natural.

9. We must not allow people's physical needs to blind us or them to their even greater spiritual needs. This is related but distinct from the previous point. There is a danger in meeting physical needs that we become so engrossed in them that we lose sight of their spiritual needs. By all means we should do what we are able in meeting their physical needs. But if we stop there we are not loving our neighbor in the fullest sense of the term. Regardless of their current situation, they must stand before a holy God on the Last Day, where they will either be welcomed into heaven or banished to hell. Sometimes those who are suffering physically are so consumed by their situation they cannot see the greater spiritual realities; at other times their very neediness in the physical terms opens their eyes to their spiritual condition. Either way, we must remember there is a heaven to be gained and a hell to be avoided for everyone.

10. We must recognize the challenges that come with working with others of different beliefs. Who should believers partner with in these endeavors? Should we accept government money (which almost always comes with strings)? What about other churches? How much do they have to agree with you doctrinally? What private social agencies with no spiritual affiliation? Where does one draw lines? These are all difficult questions that do not have simple answers. But they must be considered when engaging in social action.

I still feel as though I have much to learn and think through on these issues, but these ten theses are where I stand today. As always, I welcome your thoughts on these specific theses or the larger issues.

Manuscript of Apologetics Talk Now Posted

This past weekend I spoke at the No Doubt Apologetics Conference in Indianpolis. They have now posted my detailed notes from the session, and should be posting audio and video in the near future. You can download the notes here.

Although I do deal very briefly with textual criticism, the majority of the presentation was on how we got our New Testament canon. You will plenty of resources for further study in the footnotes of the document as well. You are welcome to leave any feedback in the comments here.

CORRECTION: The updated version can now be found at this link.

The Kingdom of God and Social Justice

During the last week of July, I taught a two-day course for the Equip Conference, put on by the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. As the title suggests, the main burden of the not-for-credit course was to explore what the relationship is and should be between the kingdom of God and social justice. I approached the issue by: (1) providing a brief and necessarily selective historical survey of how the church has engaged these issues; (2) exploring the nature of the kingdom of God as revealed in both the Old and New Testaments; (3) revisiting Niebuhr's fivefold typology from Christ and Culture and critiques of it; and (4) noting the vague and nebulous definitions of social justice. I also hosted a panel discussion with three individuals involved in ministries that broadly fit underneath this umbrella to hear their perspective on these challenging issues. It was a very enjoyable experience.

I concluded the class by stating Ten Theses for Further Discussion. I do not intend these as the last word, but rather a statement of key components to this discussion that need to be remembered if we are to be faithful to Christ in these areas. I am posting the first five below; the second five will follow in a later post.

1. We must learn from church history. There is a rich and varied history of the church engaging these issues, and we are fools to ignore this history. By looking at the past we can benefit from the thinking and practice of those who have gone before us, while hopefully avoiding their mistakes.
   
2. We must allow biblical and theological convictions to shape our engagement in social action. There are simply too many individuals and churches that jump into these issues out of compassion devoid of biblical and theological foundations. The responsibility for this rests primarily with the church to provide solid teaching on this area, but also for individual believers to ground themselves in Scripture. Compassion that is not rooted in the gospel will ultimately and inevitably lead to assuming and eventually even denying the gospel in the name of caring for people in this life.
   
3. We must not collapse the already/not-yet tension. However one puts this together, we need to be sure to recognize both. Emphasizing the already to the neglect of the not-yet results in people thinking that our efforts usher in the kingdom, or worse yet that the ultimate goal of God is to improve conditions in the life. Emphasizing the not-yet to the neglect of the already results in people thinking that any engagement in social issues is a waste of time because it is all going to burn. Holding the two together holds the promise of engagement in social action while prioritizing eternal issues of heaven and hell.
   
4. We must recognize that evangelical engagement with these issues will take different forms within different political, cultural and social contexts. While it is increasingly popular to champion individuals like Abraham Kuyper and the goal of transforming culture, large numbers of believers simply do not have that option available. Believers in the Middle East and parts of Asia (just to name a few) have little or no access to the various institutions of a culture to effect transformation. Believers in the United States, by contrast, often do. Thus a one size fits all approach to this issue simply cannot and does not work.
   
5. We must prioritize proclamation of the gospel without neglecting social action. This is the point where our theology really surfaces. If we are convinced that heaven and hell are ultimate realities that each human being must face, then we will prioritize the communication of the gospel message. This does not mean that every kind deed must be accompanied by a gospel tract, but it does mean an intentional effort to share the gospel in the context of meeting physical needs or addressing social structures. Actions are not self-interpreting; there are plenty of nice moral people who do good things for the community and have no interest in Jesus Christ. If we are to distinguish our efforts from them (and at some level we MUST if we are to be faithful to Christ) there must be communication of the gospel. Faith comes by hearing (Rom 10:17), not by simple observation of good works.
   

I'd welcome your thoughts on these first five theses.