The Ideal Poor

John Piper recently tweeted:  "Don't idealize the poor and afflicted. God is merciful, but he is not a refuge to the afflicted who cleave to their idols."

I posted it on Facebook and got some great interaction!  One friend said, "Jon, there must be a context to Piper's quote. I don't know anyone who idealizes the poor and afflicted. Most of the people I know want to ignore them. Let me know your thoughts."

Here's my response:  

Thanks for your interest.  I think that the quote is based on two or three ideas.

1.  There's a movement afoot in the church that the mission of the church is primarily to minister to the physical and temporary needs of people.  Piper is calling us to recognize that meeting the needs of poor people is not the mission of the church.  It is certainly good and right to minister to the physical needs of poor people, but our primary mission is reaching and teaching the Gospel--calling sinners to repentance in Christ.  Minister to the poor?  Yes, but not at the expense of the Gospel.

2.  There is a movement afoot that if we share with poor people they will "ideally" see the light.  If we are just nice enough, we will "win" them.  But again, winning them relationally (or materially) is not the same as winning them to Christ.  So having stuff is not usually the thing that is the final domino to fall in their pursuit of Christ.  Again, kindness and love to all?  Yes.  But not without the Gospel.  Poor people who have clean water and are given bigger houses must still repent of their sins and trust Christ.

3.  There is a movement afoot to minister to the poor because they are poor.  The New Testament says it is harder for a rich man to go to heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.  In some ways (this is hard to read), poor people are closer to the kingdom of Christ than the rich because they have less self-sufficiency.  But it seems that it is actually morally questioned by some to minister to both poor and rich.  We must minister the Gospel to both poor and rich.

Those are the things I meant to imply by re-posting the quote.  The poor have indeed been overlooked by the church and society for generations.  In some ways, we have always overlooked the poor.  To that end, the church must not lose sight of loving all of our neighbors with Christ's love.  But I am wary of leaving the gospel behind if we are not careful.  And I'm wary of those who are kind and loving and generous in material ways, but think their work is done with good deeds and 'generosity.'  We are losing the urgency of preaching and sharing the Gospel.

In the conversations that I read, lots of people are idealizing the poor, saying that they should be our primary aim, that kindly meeting their physical needs is primarily what the church should be doing and that if we just do that, we shouldn't even worry much about if they respond to the Gospel:  "Let God take care of that," I hear.  The whole mission of the church is the Gospel to every nation!

We must not do the opposite either!  If we focus on the rich or those most like "us" only, we equally miss the mark.  If we have words, but no deeds our faith is dead!  We must continually press toward becoming all things to all men that by God's grace we might win some.

The quote without all that context may be lacking.  Sorry!

Book review: "Why We Love the Church"

There's another movement afoot of critics who contend that in the local church, "Everything must change" or everything will die.  These voices are just the next wave--following the mega-church wave, the Emergents lapped up on the shore and now the "Missional."  Careful.  Your feet may get wet.  Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck bring us a steady and realistic critique of the cynic of today's local church and also a remedy for the stout-hearted and self-aware.

What the cynics are saying
From fiction pieces such as The Shack (William Young), to personal stories such as Dear Church (Sarah Cunningham) to seemingly non-fiction prescriptions like Revolution (George Barna), there are many who focus on the irrelevancy, the hurt and the failures of the visible church in recent days.  What each of the cynics seem to have in common is their willingness to be incredibly in touch with their own pain and "realness" as they take the local church to task for their part in causing or continuing the pain they and their friends are experiencing.  They "Left Church to find Jesus," and some of have developed new ways of doing church such as Leonard Sweet's Gospel According to Starbuck's where he suggests that we can worship just as genuinely (maybe more so) on the golf course as in the pew.  Another thing they all seem to have in common (since at least 1990) is the opinion that if the church doesn't do something something drastic soon it will either implode or explode, ending its presence as we know it in this world.  The mantra?  "Out with the rituals, long, boring sermons, bad worship music, professional pastors (disclosure:  the author of this review is a pastor), doctrines, elder teams, policies, creeds, and political right.  Up with the short sermon delivered by a regular guy (or girl), community renewal, social justice community projects, art-based and freestyle worship time, organic community, political left and words that only communicate love and acceptance, because after all, that's what Jesus would do."

Summary
DeYoung and Kluck boil the contentions down to four key areas:  the missiological, the personal, the historical and the theological.

What is the mission of the church?  DeYoung says, "Missional churches are 'in' these days.  Social action is hot.  Evangelism is regarded as too aggressive (just a sales pitch), modern (cold, logical argumentation), and condescending ('my God is better than yours')" (p. 36).  For some of our missional friends, the purpose of the church "is often reduced to one thing:  community or global transformation" (p. 38).  But, he argues, "the concerns of the New Testament seem to have little to do with explicit community transformation" (p. 39).  It's excellent to do acts of kindness and service which help others, but "What makes the church unique is its commitment, above all else, to knowing and making known Christ, and him crucified" (p. 45).   "What's missing from most of the talk about the kingdom is any doctrine of conversion or regeneration" (p. 48).  And further, his "observation is that as people grow tired of the hearing about the atonement, salvation, the cross, the afterlife, they grow tired of church" (p. 51).

But what about personal hurts that have come from or been overlooked by the church?  To summarize the cynic, they are fed up with the local church's "poor leadership, no vision, [old age], inbred, concerned with appearance over action, comfortable in its misery, out of touch with the times, all about money and too political" (p. 73) ways.  And to be sure, there is much to be disgruntled about in a church that reflects those criticisms.  DeYoung reminds us to listen to the critic and, after prayerfully considering the criticism and the critic, to prayerfully seek the Lord regarding the church's part in the pain.  If we follow Christ however, we also see that the gospel necessarily brings a divide when it is preached faithfully.  DeYoung puts it this way, "In our self-esteem oriented, easily-offended, suffering-averse world, I fear that the church is too eager to be liked" (pp. 80-81).    The 'church is lame' crowd says that the church is boring, outdated, abusive (because Christ calls believers to submit to church authority or hierarchy) and inauthentic.   I believe DeYoung's response to these critics is best summarized like this, "If Christians are interested in a Christianity free from doctrine, demands, and damnation, they aren't just sick of the church and its unflattering quirks;  they're tired of the Christian faith altogether" (p. 87).

DeYoung interacts with historical objections that church-leavers have by contextualizing and explaining the reality of history surrounding the Crusades and slavery.  These chapters are very edifying to anyone and everyone who has had to respond to cynics regarding the history of Christianity;  or history in general.

The book closes with theological dialogue with the cynic.  "The New Testament knows nothing of a churchless Christianity."  Further, one cannot love Christ and hate His bride.  The church has been the vehicle throughout the ages with which God has brought salvation, taught the truth, preserved His Word, and  through which He has manifested the glory of His name.  Through the organized local church we have done great things such as evangelized the world, cared for orphans, housed the homeless, fed the hungry and given to the needy.  And much more must be done.

The local church does have problems.  We hurt each other, forget to consider other people's needs and get caught up in gossip.  Sometimes services are repetitive, predictable or cliche. Some sermons can seem too long or irrelevant.  Church can be a place that produces bad coffee and even worse grounds for judgment:  inactive and apathetic people.  There's plenty of room for constant improvement.

Critique/recommendation
In my life plenty of movements have come and gone.  Various seasons in the life of the church such as the 60s with its Youth For Christ, the 70s with its Contemporary Christian Music; the 80s with its events (such as Billy Graham crusades), the 90s with its Promise Keepers and now the 2000s and 2010s with its Emergents and Missionals.  All these were reactions to needs that the church was not responding to.  We needed youth ministries! We needed acceptance of differing kinds of music!  We needed fresh evangelism!  We needed men to lead in the homes.  And now we need churches to have more "deed" with their "creed."  In my opinion, this book is showing us why the emergents and the missionals will be a lot like the Promise Keeper movement and the parachurch youth ministries of yesteryear.  Will they incite some action in the church?  I think so.  Will they catch on as a new way of doing life or church?  I don't think so.

Church is not supposed to be a nice sermon for fun and the pastor's ego.  The preaching of the Word of God and the glory of His name is the reason we meet.  God uniquely moves when His Word is preached with power.  That's not an archaic idea--that's God's plan for "building His church."  Furthermore, Satan is not the father of poverty who will be combated with the re-distribution of wealth.  He is the Father of Lies who will be combated with the proclamation of the truth:  preaching.

Who should read this book?  Youth Pastors.  Anyone who is so in touch with their own pain that they have used it as an excuse to fall out of touch with the local church.  Anyone who is "bored" with church.  Anyone who thinks "Missional" is the next great movement in the history of the church.  Anyone who has made being disgruntled what they are best at (ask yourself, "What am I NOT disgruntled about?").

Christ loves the local church.  We should too--warts and all.

I know this is way long.  Sorry.  Thanks!

You're so 'real' and other cynical lies I sometimes believe

Why do we hate good people?

For instance, the Orlando Sentinel is asking "What has Tim Tebow done to deserve all the hate?" and suggesting that maybe we hate him BECAUSE he ‘practices what he preaches,’ or maybe we hate him because so many other people love him. The world around us is convicted by the love (and moral goodness) that flows out of a true Christ follower. The life of a good person puts those outside of Christ "to shame."

It’s normal for people outside of Christ to hate those who practice moral goodness (John 15:18), so we all expect it. But within the Christian church we expect something different: to love goodness, to celebrate victory and to desire to live holy lives (Ephesians 5:1). One would think that the church would celebrate this kind of life and those kind people, wouldn’t you? But we usually don’t.

For some reason people who strive to walk in obedience to Christ (and are having some measure of success at it) seem to be intimidating to the rest of us. We can’t seem to relate to their success or moral goodness and that makes us begin to secretly hate them. When we finally do hear of some area of weakness (or sin), there’s actually relief somewhere inside us because we found out that they’re “real,” too. “At least I’m not THAT bad,” we think, or “See, it’s normal to sin.” (Isn’t that a twisted mindset!)

The disclosure of sin is not a joyous thing—ever. When David’s sin was disclosed (2 Sam 12), he first burned with anger about the sin (v. 5 when he thought Nathan was describing someone else’s sin) and then Nathan provided a hot rebuke, exclaiming, “You are the [sinning] man.” The story continues with David weeping on the floor because he has realized the depth and breadth of his heinous sin “against the LORD.” And Nathan did not end the story with good feelings and a, “You’re so real, David. Thanks, I feel better about myself.”

Sometimes when I am struggling to obey God in a certain area I find happiness when I hear about someone else struggling, too. I feel better knowing I am not alone. There is a word for that: sin.

There is joy in heaven because of repentance, not disclosure. There is joy in heaven because of the reality of forgiveness that flows from our merciful Savior at the cross. There is joy because of Christ.

Nobody in heaven ever apologizes for Christ’s perfections or secretly hates Him.

The next time I hear about the imperfections of a fellow Christ-follower, I want to weep with them and for them (and I hope you’ll weep with me for my sin), longing that at least in the “fellowship of believers” we expect victory, not defeat. Obedience, not disobedience. Maturity, not excuses. Then we’ll be men being transformed into the image of Christ.

Speechless

I know what you are thinking and I agree. It is ridiculous (and a little annoying) to write a blog entry (based on nothing but words) and entitle it "Speechless." Indulge my annoyance this once.

Today my wife turns, well, another year older. I think she has finally reached the threshold of secrecy in terms of the actual number, and so, as a husband who wants to make this day perfect, I shall apologetically reveal this number another day. Suffice it to say, she has no reason to avoid revealing her number. She is literally more beautiful than ever. She's in the best shape of her life (I should know) and we are getting older TOGETHER--there's something incredibly comforting about that. It does seem that I'm getting older faster than her somehow.

Nikki came into my life around her fourteenth birthday. I was drawn to her because of her balance. She is funny and serious-minded. I have pictures of her doing the silliest things in her childhood. Standing with a group of girlfriends in the boys' bathroom at youth group (she has her hip cocked to one side and looks very proud of herself), wrestling her mom at a family gathering in the park, and a professional portrait of her and her brother Adam wearing some kind of sweet Muppet hats. But serious, too. She has always been serious about her relationship with Christ.

She was and is the "good girl." I don't mean that in a self-righteous, "no-fun" sort of way (though there was one concert we attended and got soaked to the bone because she refused to take shelter under the amphitheater because the tickets we purchased were "lawn" tickets--even though there was plenty of room under there . . . ). She has maintained a passion and consistency in following Christ. She is happy to follow Jesus. Through her character I have learned that following Christ is incompatible with a lot of my own "that's just the way I am" things like compulsive speeding and serial "trying-to-shield-you-from-the-pain-of-the-whole-truth" half-truths. I have been graciously changed by this woman, and I love her.

So Nikki, I thank my God for you. It is my intention to always have my mouth full of praise for you in the "gates" of all my relationships. And you make it easy. I thank God for your health (you're looking good), your wisdom (thank-you for giving up your life to raise our children with contentment!), your relationships (can I get together with you for some coffee?), and for making me the most blessed man ever by faithfully loving me.

She won't even be offended by me closing this birthday entry with a "Go Brewers!"

Happy birthday, Nikki. I love you!

Judgment Day

So there is a really old guy, Harold Camping, who has predicted that the "Judgment Day" will take place on May 21, 2011. If you're reading this and you haven't seen me for awhile, please read Matthew 24 for the clue to what may have happened. And go to my house and let my dog out.

Some interesting thoughts about our "Family Radio" guy, Mr. Camping? First, he already predicted the end once, in September of 1994. He was wrong, I think. And while the Old Testament commands to stone a false prophet, we are all thankful for grace and forgiveness. He blamed his previous error on a miscalculation. No biblical prophet who was wrong had the opportunity to explain himself . . . or to make a second prediction. Suffice it to say that while I certainly wish him no harm, neither shall I place any stock in his subsequent predictions.

Second, his whole house of cards is built upon a very shaky card table (remember that Brady Bunch episode when the dog came in and knocked over the house of cards??)--the idea that the flood took place in 4990 BCE (Before the Common Era). Huh? When we go with extremely literal and conservative dates and times, we get a Flood which occurred about 1,500 years after Creation. Conservative young-earth creationists place Creation at about 4000 BCE. So the most conservative scholars put the Flood around 2,500 BCE. Camping gets his date from a series of questionable piecemeal-ling of texts which has little merit (the piecemeal-ling has little merit; the texts are inspired!!). His date (4990) is not held by serious Bible scholars.

The REASON that 4990 is so important is his insistence that Peter [(2 Peter 3:8) "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."] is trying to tell us that the Judgment Day would come EXACTLY 7,000 years after the Flood (-4990+7,000=2010, but keep in mind there was no "year zero"= 2011). But Peter makes no such guarantee in his simile. He says that a thousand years is "as" a day, not that it is a day. And he is explaining why the people should STOP trying to make Christ's return fit into our human sense of timing--he's not trying to give a hint about the exact time!

Mr. Camping was wrong once before. Furthermore, we have doubt about his dates, and even more doubts about his interpretation of the Scriptures. I therefore reject out of hand his prediction. The Scriptures say in Matthew 24:36 that we should not even try to place a date on Christ's return. Mr. Camping is violating that directive.

However, bad predictions can often produce false security in the heart of naysayers.

While Mr. Camping's predictions should be dismissed, the fact remains that a Judgment Day is coming. Christ will return for His bride, the church. Everyone of us will give account for himself to God (Romans 14:12). And his return will come in the twinkling of an eye--when we least expect it--like a thief in the night.

So what will you do this weekend? Some gardening, maybe attend a wedding, or plan your summer vacation. Whatever you do, use every minute purposefully and continually reminding this world (and yourself) that God is King over his world. We are all living life in His universe and on His terms. Don't allow faulty dates and poor interpretation to rob you of the privilege of considering your ways, and living with a loving urgency that your time is indeed short. Number your days and hours and minutes as you consider this question:

When the Lord does return, what will he find me doing?

Left unsaid

Some things are better left unsaid: "Is that the only shirt you had?" "Are you pregnant?" and my personal favorite from Father of the Bride, "He's just like you, Dad, except he's a genius."

But there are tons of things better off said. And on this Mother's Day I'd like to say a couple of them to and about my wife:

"When I was nearly lost, maybe forever, God used your love to turn my heart to his."

"Without your character I'd be way too willing to settle for good enough and gray."

"Thanks for balancing our checkbook for 20 years without 'pleases' or 'thank-yous.' Without you we'd have even less money." :0

"Thanks for couponing, shopping deals and buying off brands that I have learned to like."

"Thanks for your willingness to hear and respond to the voice of Jesus calling you to die. The life you now live in the flesh glorifies God. You look more and more like Jesus everyday."

"Thanks for carrying our children inside you while I sat around and made stupid and unfunny comments about baby weight. You did everything in bearing our children. All I did was run to White Castle for sliders (true story)."

"Thanks-you for enduring the body changes, stretch marks, ill-fitting clothes, stupid remarks and especially the pain of childbirth. You graciously and miraculously made it look pretty easy. I'm astounded"

"Thanks for loving, nurturing and understanding the baby years. If it were up to me the children would have received one diaper change per day and I would have constantly done what was needed to stop the crying. You made crying babies into little men through appropriate love, firm guidance and regular diaper changes."

"Thanks for teaching our children, well, everything. They know about this world God made because of you. They tie their shoes because of you. They learned to count because of you. They learned the alphabet because of you. You literally taught each one of them to read and write and rhyme and think. You have passed more than life onto our children. You have given them legacy."

"Thank-you for helping our children to know God. We both do some things, but you do many if not most of them yourself. Daily Bible reading with them, understanding, explanation and most importantly, constant modeling. They have seen Christ in you and been changed because of Him in you."

"Thank-you for your sensitive and emotional heart. Without you I would not understand a grieving heart, the deep places of the human soul or the extent of the glorious victory that Christ achieved for each sinner at the cross. I would not understand the depths of my own heart, my own feelings and my own grief if I didn't learn from you. Though I do not usually display it well, my emotional heart has been dug-out more fully and is more able to contain joy because you showed me how deep it really is."

"Thanks-you for sharing your life--your very soul with me. I always desire that you FEEL that it is safe to trust, and yet sometimes when you trust I hurt you."

So on this Mother's Day, 2011, these are just a few of the things about you that I am thankful for. In every corner of my heart there is another dark place that God has used you to help me discover and surrender to Him. I love you. More.

How has the Cross changed my life?

I recently addressed a local gathering of "United Evangelical" friends at the Good Friday service in the city I live. I stated that for those perishing, the cross is foolishness, and they honestly believe that the death of a man half-a-world-away over 2,000 years ago has had no impact on their lives. In contrast, those of us who are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) count the cross as the power of God, and understand that for us, the cross has indeed changed everything about out lives.

So I compiled a list from my own devotions and from John Piper's book, "50 Reasons Why Jesus Christ Came to Die." When the reason is closely associated with a "50 Reasons" chapter title, I will cite the chapter. Here we go.

• Whereas I used to be an object of God's wrath, I am now loved by God as a son. (Romans 1:18)
• Whereas I used to hate God, I now love Him. (Romans 1:30, 1 John 4:7-8)
• Whereas I used to be imprisoned to sin, I am now set free from my sin. (Romans 8:2)
• Whereas I used to live in bitterness and anger, I am now free to choose joy in Christ. (Philippians 4:4-7)
• Whereas i used to be a grudge-holder, I am now forgiven so that I can forgive. (Matthew 6:9-14)
• Whereas I used to be an orphan in this world, I am now adopted in God's love. (John 14:18)
• Whereas I used be cut-off from the people and promise of God, I have now been brought near. (Ephesians 2:13)

Because of the cross:

• I was born into my earthly family.
• I was raised to know and love the Scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:14-17)
• The wrath of God against my sin has been absorbed. (5o Reasons, #1) (Galatians 3:13; Romans 3:25; 1 John 4:10)
• The experiences of my own youth do not define me. (Psalm 25:7)
• I have seen the treasure of God's love and grace for sinners. (5o Reasons, #5) (Romans 5:7-8)
• I have seen the treasure of Christ's love and grace for sinners. (5o Reasons, #6) (Ephesians 5:2)
• The demands of the law against me have been canceled. (5o Reasons, #7) (Colossians 2:13)
• The experiences of my pre-Christ life do not define me. I am forgiven. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• My mind and heart have an expanded use (they are spiritually alive) by God which includes knowing and loving the truth and rejecting deceit and the wisdom of this world. (James 3:13-18)
• I have been declared righteous by the holy God (5o Reasons, #10, #15) (Romans 3:23-25)
• My conscience is clear (5o Reasons, #16) (Hebrews 9:14)
• I can love others since He first loved me. (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:2)
• I have discernment and boldness to reject supernatural "signs" which do not glorify Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:4)
• I have discernment and boldness to reject wisdom which is merely "earthly." (James 3:15)
• I am healed of moral defects (and some physical ones!). (5o Reasons, #18) (Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:16-17)
• I have been reconciled and brought to God. I am His and He is mine. (5o Reasons, #23) (Romans 7:4; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
• I can come boldly before the throne of grace (I must ask things of God!!) (Hebrews 4:16)
• I am not defined by heredity or ancestry. (5o Reasons, #28) (1 Peter 1:18-19)
• I have grounds for boasting only here at the cross. (5o Reasons, #33) (1 Corinthians 1:31; Galatians 6:14)
• My marriage has it's deepest meaning. (5o Reasons, #35) (Ephesians 5:25)
• I belong to a community of crucified followers (dead to sin, alive in Christ). (5o Reasons, #38) (Luke 9:23; Matthew 10:38)
• The rulers and authorities of this world have been disarmed and crushed forever. (5o Reasons, #42) (Colossians 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8)
• My own ridiculous racism is destroyed. (5o Reasons, #44) (Ephesians 2:14-16)
• It has been shown to every "why does God allow bad things to happen to good people" question that the worst evil in the history of the world, the crucifixion of Christ, was meant for good by God. (5o Reasons, #50) (Genesis 50:20; Acts 4:27-28)

So, the next time someone asks you, "but what difference does the cross of Christ really make? I hope your mouth and mine are full of quick and certain answers like these. Furthermore, it is my hope to inspire you to live every moment taking full advantage of these excellencies and learning to treasure them more and more--even above life itself. For Christ indeed has accomplished the will of the Father that we might enjoy the Father forever. Happy Easter!!