Wise Words from a Pretty Boy

First of all, a point of clarification: I am not the "pretty boy" referenced in the title of this post. I use that title to describe a young Hollywood actor, Chace Crawford, recently voted "Hottest Bachelor" by People magazine. His wise words, which I will quote later in this post, are an oasis of rationality in the inchoate worldview propounded by the cultural elite (include Hollywood, which makes his words all the more oasis-like).

In a nutshell, for several decades (perhaps much longer) Western culture has posed doubt to be the summum bonum of life. Our current cultural quest, it seems, is to rid our minds and hearts of any attachment to "absolute truths" as foundational to existence. This is the ultimate end of Western "individualism" - ridding our lives of any external, transcendant standards so that each individual may "define his or herself" however he or she wants, without any risk of accountability or judgment.

This can be seen in two current postmodern philosophies. Neo-pragmatism avers that the only standard of value in life is "what works for me." Deconstructionism propounds the meaning-laden theory that nothing means anything, so I can make anything mean whatever I want.

This is seen also in international politics, in which our current President seems utterly unwilling to take a clear moral stance towards the evil regimes in the Middle East, but only expresses his doubt about American goodness. In fact, it seems that any sense of absolute morality has been ejected from political discourse.

Hollywood recently put forth two films that explicitly address this topic.

The film Doubt, featuring riveting performances by its four cast members, superficially deals with a case of child-molestation by a Catholic priest. But the deeper issue in the film is the utter inability of people to have absolute certainty about anything. An older nun (superlatively portrayed by Meryl Streep) is the only character in the film who displays a sense of firm conviction about her faith; yet the climax of the movie comes when she despairingly cries, "I have such doubts!"

Religulous is comedian Bill Maher's satirical attempt to poke holes in the very notion of religion itself. In the film, he interacts with individuals who represent only the most absurd elements of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other faiths. He does all of this to prove that religion is pointless, that those who endorse it are ignorant rubes, and that it is much better to live in perpetual doubt.

Sadly, this attitude is infecting the Church as well, with "Jesus Seminar" followers destroying the credibility of Scripture and with some (though not all) Emergent Christians expressing disdain for orthodox Christian teachings or for the exclusivity of Christ as the unique Savior of humankind. I still haven't decided whether these phenomena are the result of Christians' prideful unwillingness to submit to the authority of God's revelation, or the result of Christians' sad proclivity for desiring to be "with it" even more than they desire to be "with God."

In any case, it's my opinion that the following simple quote from pretty boy Chace Crawford ought to be seen as prophetic to all disciples of Jesus Christ:

Doubt your doubts before you doubt your beliefs.

I called the quote simple but it is, in fact, quite profound. Think of it this way: When you are confronted with a proposition that claims to be an absolute truth, and your initial reaction is to doubt that truth, today's culture would say that you should go with your doubt not just about that particular absolute but about all absolutes.

Chace Crawford's words give us a different piece of advice. When we doubt a proposition that claims to be absolute, we should first ask ourselves why do we doubt it? Is it because we have thought carefully about the questions raised by the proposition, and have we looked at it logically? Or is it because there is something deep within us that doesn't want to acknowledge its truth?

If we reject a truth claim, is it because we have found a more logical proposition to answer the questions is raises? Or does the proposition so unsettle us that we'd rather dismiss it than deal honestly with its claims?

The ancient and medieval philosophers put it this way: We should not seek to conform the truth to my own mind and soul; rather, we should seek to conform my own mind and soul to the Truth. It is objective truth that critiques me, not I who critiques objective truth. When I am confronted with a proposition that claims to be absolute, like 2 + 2 = 4, I have only two options: I can conform my mind to that truth and accept it, or I can live in rebellion against its reality. There is no middle ground.

We Christians--indeed, all human beings--have been seeking to find middle ground in matters of faith for too long. In reality, we have only two options: we can doubt the Christian faith and reject it (as much of our culture is doing), or we can follow Chace Crawford's advice to doubt our doubts, and live boldly (not apologetically) in the truth of the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Practical Significance of the Trinity

Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday, in which we acknowledge and celebrate one of the most distinctive theological tenets of the Christian faith.

Our confession that the Divine actually exists, and that we can know objectively true information about the Divine, distinguishes us from atheism and agnosticism. We distinguish ourselves from deism (as well as much of ancient pagan philosophy) by affirming that the Divine is a personal Being who continues to interact with the world He has created through revelation and miraculous acts.

However, we also classify ourselves differently from the pantheistic (or panentheistic) tendencies of Hinduism, Buddhism, and many current spiritual fads by affirming that the Divine is a transcendent Being who confronts all nature with His sovereign holiness. Finally, the Christian belief about God is at odds with Judaism and Islam in that, while we affirm God's unity, it is a unity that is expressed mysteriously in three distinct Persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As a theological doctrine, the Trinity has been grappled with for centuries. Specifically, we owe a debt of gratitude to the great Cappadocian Fathers of the Eastern Church (Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianus) and Saint Augustine of the Western Church for their masterful attempts of expressing the life of the Trinity. Today we are seeing a remarkable renewal of trinitarian thought among both Protestant and Catholic theologians.

However, in honor of Trinity Sunday, I would just like to share a few brief thoughts I've been thinking about this doctrine's practical significance in the everyday life of the individual believer, and in the life of the Church:

First of all, the Doctrine of the Trinity reminds us that Ultimate Reality is relational in nature. The highest Truth in existence is not a static, bare fact to be analyzed or reasoned about: Ultimate Truth is the creative, dynamic interaction—the perichoresis—among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who exist in intimate communion with one another.

Perhaps this should give us a clue as to how we should “package” the truths of our faith. While systematic theologies and rational apologetics serve an indispensable purpose as part of the package, Christians must understand that living out the truths of faith in intimate communion with others, and in a dynamic and creative way, is perhaps the best way to communicate truthfully the nature of the God we represent, worship, and serve.

Secondly, the Doctrine of the Trinity implies that unity and diversity need not be contradictory terms, but that they together give us a deep insight into the nature of truth and reality. The three Persons of the Trinity are clearly distinct; there is, therefore, diversity within the Godhead. At the same time, the Godhead is inseparably unified in essence and in purpose; thus, there is also unity.

This extraordinary fact of the Divine relationship may have something unique to say about human relationships as well, especially in the church. There are those Christian denominations that call for a unity that is almost “uniformity”—a situation that allows for no originality or creativity in communicating and living out our faith. At the other side of the spectrum are those who champion diversity at all costs, to the extent it is nearly impossible to acknowledge or articulate what truly unites us (the Gospel) without being labeled “offensive” or “doctrinaire.” Our Trinitarian God can be a model for us as we strive to acknowledge and celebrate the rich diversity that exists within the Christian community, while also unapologetically confessing a greater unity because of the reconciling work of Jesus Christ.

Finally, individual human beings (both male and female) are created in the Image of God (Genesis 1:27). As an individual I am a multi-faceted creature, and my identity cannot be reduced merely to my body, or my mind, or my emotions. All three constitute distinct parts of one being: me. As the Trinity is three distinct Persons in one God, I must strive to harmonize the distinct aspects of my personality into the single purpose of loving God and loving others (Mark 12:28-31).

Loving others, I must show respect for these different facets of personality in every person I meet. I can never view another human being as merely a body to be exploited, emotions to be manipulated, or a mind to be debated. I must view each human being as a whole person…as my neighbor…and as C. S. Lewis once aptly remarked, “Next to the blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses” (C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory). May God daily grant me the ability to see His Trinitarian Image in my wife, my friends, my congregation members, and every person I meet, and may He give me the grace to love them as He loves them.

"Engaged With God" - A Biblical Look at Worship

WARNING: Before reading this blog entry, read Psalm 96. This is an adaptation of a sermon I preached a while back.


As is true with many terms among Christians, the word “worship” can become a cliché without any significant content if we don’t stop to consider its true meaning.
- Jerry Solomon, pastor

I take that quote seriously, because I think that there is a lot of confusion in the Body of Christ regarding what worship really is. Each of us defines it differently and has differing expectations, but we don’t often ask ourselves how God defines worship and what He expects from us.

And I know this is going to sound a little weird, but in order to get into that, I’d like to tell you about I proposed to my wife Cherith. Guys, when you proposed to your wives, how many of you got down on one knee?

I didn’t get down on one knee. I thought that it was sort of old-fashioned. But here’s what I did: I cooked dinner for her, I had a fire blazing in the fireplace, I had roses for her, and then I took her to the top of Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh. We just sat down on a park bench there, and I took out the ring and proposed. By the way, it was late November and about 20 degrees outside, so when I said, “Will you marry me?” her response was “y-e-e-s-s-s.”

Cherith told me that I did everything perfect that night. But in retrospect, I wish I had gotten down on one knee.

Since then I learned what that symbol really means. It’s from the days when warriors were knighted. They would get down on one knee before the rulers of the land, and it was basically a sign of unconditional faithfulness, a sign of their willingness to fight and even to die for their beloved country. And when this symbol was transferred to marriage proposals, it was the man saying the same thing to his beloved: I pledge my unconditional faithfulness to you, and I am willing to fight and even die for you.

Now, the reason I’m starting out with this is because I see a parallel with the Bible. In my opinion, the entire Old Testament is kind of like God’s courtship with His chosen beloved, His people. It’s God and Israel coming into a deeper and fuller understanding of each other, Israel coming to a greater awareness of what God’s heart is all about. And then in an incredibly dramatic act, God kind of got down on one knee. Like a medieval knight...or like a man in love...He humbled Himself and showed the depth of His commitment to us His beloved by affirming that He is willing to fight for us and to die for us — in fact, that He did die for us. In spite of our sin and rebellion, He is committed and wants to be united with us for all eternity.

Some people say that the Bible is God’s love letter to humanity. I would challenge that by saying that Scripture is God’s proposal of marriage to His Church. We are the “Bride-to-be” - that’s one of the major biblical images of the church. We are engaged to God. The wedding date is set some time in the future. And in the meantime, how we respond to God’s proposal is worship.

I told you how I proposed. Now I’m going to tell you 4 things that Cherith did in response to my proposal — and I think these 4 things are common to most young ladies in love. And I want to suggest that these 4 things can help us to interpret what Scripture says about worship.

The first thing Cherith did after accepting my proposal was she got emotional and she told me how much she loved me. And in the months of our engagement, she very creatively expressed how much I meant to her. She made me some home-made greeting cards for every holiday known to man, as well as a few holidays that she made up just for an excuse to give me a card. She wrote me an “old fashioned love letter” on three pages of notebook paper. Nowadays you can just whip out your cell phone and text "I luv u,” but she took the time to do it right. She expressed genuine and heartfelt gratitude to me just for being who I am. You might think it gave me a big head...maybe it did alittle, but on the whole it was quite humbling. As a man who had been a bachelor until age 32, I can’t tell you how much it meant to hear who I am in the eyes of the person I love.

And if that’s any indication of how God wants us to respond to His proposal, then a huge part of worship is simply expressing to God who He is in our eyes...what He means to us. This is the sense of the first words of Psalm 96: “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name.” I think the first aspect of a biblical idea of worship is PRAISE.

Our culture has, in many ways, reduced worship to having music that I feel comfortable with, getting a sermon that addresses my felt needs, and that holds my attention for an hour or so. But if you look at Scripture, worship has very little to do with me...with us. We shouldn’t come to worship expecting to get anything for us; we should come to worship prepared to rejoice in God for all that He has already blessed us with. That is the biblical concept of worship.

But I’m afraid that America has become a place where it is easier to complain about what we don’t have or to act like a victim, rather than to take an honest look at the magnitude of what God has given to us. In preparing to write this, I did a little exercise. I sat at my computer desk with a blank page of Microsoft Word in front of me, and I challenged myself to take 20 minutes and list as many personal blessings from God to me. The result was an 8-page list with 30 blessings per page.

And that’s just what I was able to come up with in 20 minutes!

To praise someone is to recognize something that they are or something that they have done. That’s what we should be doing with God. Yet today, we look at everything we have and we see it as a deserved entitlement rather than as a gracious gift. We even see heaven itself as the rightful destination of everybody after they die, rather than a costly gift given only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. When we fail to see magnitude of what God has done on our behalf, what He has given to us, our worship will be inadequate regardless of the musical style, the technology, or anything else.

As a challenge to anybody who feels like taking it up: Next Sunday morning, before you come to church, take just 10 minutes, and make a list like I did, of all the blessings that you recognize in your life. And after church, see if your experience of worship was any different.

You see, to praise God requires that we adjust our attitude before we come to worship, rather than coming to worship hoping that God will adjust our attitude. As one of my seminary profs used to say, “We praise God not in the hope of receiving something from Him, but in the acknowledgment of what we have already received.”

But praise is only the first aspect of a biblical view of worship. And now I’ll go back to my illustration of Cherith’s response to my proposal.

After we returned home as an engaged couple, the first thing Cherith did was go to the phone and start calling people, telling them the good news: “He finally asked me!” She couldn’t wait to call her parents, my parents, her siblings, my siblings, and all of her girlfriends. And she didn’t just say, “Yeah I’m engaged.” She rehashed every single detail about it. And why? Because for Cherith, every time she told somebody about it, it was like she was reliving that moment for herself.

And I think that’s true not just of getting engaged, but of any meaningful experience in our lives...Marriages, family vacations, mission trips, births… When you talk about them with others, it adds a level of depth to your experience and somehow makes it more meaningful than it already was.

We look at the second part of Psalm 96, we see a similar theme: “Proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”

If I can summarize this in one word, I would say PROCLAMATION.

Apparently worship isn’t just praising God and telling God how great He is, but it’s also telling other people how great He is too. It’s bearing witness to what you believe in the presence of others. Throughout the New Testament, one of the Greek words used for “worship” is aineo, and a real translation of that word is “to announce and to celebrate.”

We Americans have a “gentleman’s agreement” to kind of keep our religious commitments under wraps...mostly I think because we’re afraid of offending anyone or of looking like some “religious nuts.” But the truth of the matter is, if my relationship with God is just between Him and me...if I’m not testifying about that relationship to others...I’d say that relationship isn’t really all that important to me.

That would be like an engaged woman saying to her future husband, “Yes, we’re engaged, but I don’t want anyone else to know about it, and I don’t want to invite anyone to our wedding.” Does that sound like love? True worship isn’t just praising the beloved: it’s also proclaiming to others what the beloved means to us.

Some of the most moving worship services that I’ve attended included a time of personal testimony...when a someone, almost moved to tears, shares with the congregation the real experiences of God that they’ve had.

So worship includes both praise and proclamation.

But there’s a third element of our engagement with God, so let’s go back to my engagement to Cherith. After I proposed Cherith did what most engaged women do: she put on the ring that I gave her. And that was a sign to any other guy out there that might have been interested, that she put one above all the rest: that only one has the right to her total allegiance. So all those other guys would have to back off. I'm the man!!!!

Again, if we look at our Psalm for today, we see these words: “For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and glory are in His sanctuary.”

These are great words, but they say something that’s very challenging to us. They say that to worship is to put God above anything else in our lives that might claim to be a “god” to us. Anything else that demands our unquestioning allegiance must be put second. A biblical understanding of worship means that we show a PREFERENCE for God above anything else in creation.

And let’s be frank, folks. In America today there are many “false gods” that we worship without question. We worship the god of money; we let our money control us instead of us controlling it…and we think that if we just spend more and have more we’ll be happy.

We worship the god of sex. I recently heard a statistic that 35% of all Internet usage is pornographic in nature. That’s a sad statistic. And that’s just one statistic that proves that we as a culture are obsessed with sex and it controls us.

And those are just two of many false gods: I could mention the government, which people think is the solution to all of their problems. I could mention sports and technology. And this might shock some of you, but even religion is a false god for many people who spend more time worrying about the trappings of “church” than about nurturing a vibrant relationship with our Creator.

And what does Psalm 96 say? That all these other “gods” are idols (wimps, nothings) and that God himself is to be put above them in our lives. And so it is an act of worship when we say, “Yes, money is good, but because God is more important to me than money, I will order my finances in a way that is pleasing to Him.” It’s an act of worship when we say, “Even though our culture worships not just sex but deviant sex, I will practice it only according to God’s standard in Scripture.” In short, it is worship when we show a preference for God’s Lordship in our lives, and we say that all these other “false gods” are secondary and must be submitted to His authority. If we are engaged to the one true God, then we must put Him above everything else.

And now we come to the final point. After I proposed to Cherith, the 4th thing she did was to start planning for the wedding. She got a subscription to those Bridal magazines, she put together a huge binder with all her plans and details. You ladies know what I’m talking about. She had a vision of exactly what she wanted: the invitations, the flowers, the dresses, the photographers, the reception, the wedding cake. She was motivated by the desire to have everything beautiful and perfect on that day.

Let’s look at the last few verses of Psalm 96: “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.” The Psalmist is artistically imagining the beauty and the glory of that day when God returns to earth; he’s anticipating it and it’s moving him to worship, and to invite all creation to worship with him.

I’ve been saying all along that we, the Church on earth, are engaged with God. But the whole point of engagement is that it’s only a temporary state. Engagement is only a time of
PREPARATION.

I think the real reason there are so many "worship wars" in churches isn't because of the style of music, or because of the pastor's preaching abilities, or because of the technology utilized. It's because we as a culture have become so focused on the the here-and-now, that we are no longer able to envision the reality of the future in which we will stand before Jesus Christ as His bride, and enjoy intimate fellowship with God Himself.

This life, that we sometimes take entirely too seriously, is nothing but a preparation for the great wedding feast between God’s people and God Himself. So let’s just take a moment and envision that day.

Think about the greatest piece of music that you have ever heard, a piece moves you to tears. And then multiply that by ten million.

Think about the greatest sight that you’ve ever seen: maybe it’s a sunset or a landscape or a newborn baby or a work of art. And then multiply that by ten million.

Think about the most enjoyable and intimate moment you’ve shared with another human being. And then multiply that by ten million.

Think about one loved one who has already gone to be with God, who you would give anything just to have one more hug or one more laugh with.

You see, the real reason I worship is that I firmly believe the greatest joys that we can experience on this earth are infinitesimal compared to what is in store for us in eternity with God.

When God down on one knee, on that cross of Calvary, he was communicating to us very clearly that He wants to be with us for all eternity, and that everything that He is and everything that He has, He is going to share with us.

And that’s a promise beyond anything that we can ask or deserve. But when we keep our minds focused on that, and put all of this earthly stuff in its proper perspective, then we are preparing ourselves to truly receive everything that God wants to give us.

And that is the ultimate reason to worship!

What is the Church and its Mission?

Here is a recent paper that I wrote as a part of my Covenant Ordination. It answers the question, "What is the nature and mission of the Church?" Obviously this is not a "compendium" on ecclesiology...just a handful of insights into my perspective on what Scripture says about the Church...

In attempting to articulate my understanding of the nature of the church, I find two images especially meaningful and helpful. The first is the New Testament (especially Pauline) image of the Body of Christ, and the second is the Evangelical Covenant Church’s affirmation of the church as a fellowship of believers.

The Body of Christ image is a vital reminder that the Christian church is not merely a free association of individuals, like a Kiwanis club or American Legion. It is an objective reality founded and built by Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 16:18) and of which He is the head (Colossians 1:18). Since Christ is both its source and head, the Church can never be found to promote any human agenda (however good or noble), but it must humbly be the servant of His agenda: to reconcile the world to God through His atoning sacrifice on the Cross.

The Scriptural image of “body” also suggests that the church is not merely an institution, certainly not a modern corporation, but a dynamic and living organism graced with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit indwells each believing member and equips him or her with unique gifts and talents so that—like the distinct organs of the human body—each member might contribute uniquely to the body’s life, health, and growth (I Corinthians 12). I believe the church is at its best when each member’s spiritual gifts are acknowledged, encouraged, and utilized for the good of the whole body. The Spirit also calls individuals who—through the preaching of the Word and administration of the Sacraments—provide spiritual leadership for the church (Acts 6, I Timothy 3). This will be discussed in the paragraphs below.

While in the later Pauline epistles (Ephesians, Colossians) the Body of Christ refers to the universal church, it is clear that Paul applies this image to the local body in his earlier letters (Romans, Corinthians). Therefore it would seem that from a biblical perspective, in some sense the whole Body of Christ is present in each local manifestation of the church. Being careful to recognize the importance of the greater universal church, we must affirm that each congregation of believers is gifted by God with everything necessary to continue Christ’s ministry in its unique setting (Hans Küng, The Church, 292-312).

The Evangelical Covenant Church’s affirmation of the church as a fellowship of believers also finds significant biblical support. The Last Supper narrative in John’s Gospel reveals an intimacy between Jesus and His followers to the point that He refers to them as His “friends” and He commands them to love one another in the same way that He has loved them (John 15:9-15). The early chapters of Acts (see especially 2:42-47) reveal that this intimate friendship was continued by the early church, and Paul consistently reacted against churches in which intimate fellowship was disrupted by faction, false teaching, or sinful behavior. Clearly, the church is not merely an objective reality; it is also a deeply subjective experience of friendship and fellowship with God and with others (Course Reader, 153-154). Jean Lambert challenges us to avoid trivializing this concept through overtly emotional language or sentimentality, and that is why I think this image of church is best seen in creative tension with the more objective image of the Body of Christ (Course Reader, 155).

This sense of church as fellowship is distinct from the authoritarian, power-driven institutional model that has (unfortunately) often manifested itself as church. Christ’s lordship of the Church was secured to Him not through power but through submission and service (Philippians 2:1-11), and those who want to be great must also be willing to serve (Mark 10:42-45). The Greek term for fellowship (koinonia) means more than mere companionship; it is a partnership in which individuals come together and work for a vision that is greater than all of them (Course reader, 157-158; see also William Taylor, Partnership: Philippians. Christian Focus, 2007). Deep relationships are necessary byproducts of such a partnership, but they must not be allowed to distract from the purpose for which the partnership was formed. This is why I find the ECC’s term “mission friends” helpful: it affirms fellowship while placing it within the greater blueprint of the church’s mission in the world.

What is the church’s mission? I believe it is to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ in the world until His return. The practical aspects of this have been understood in many different ways. In my own life and ministry, it has been most helpful to understand the church’s mission in terms of Jesus’ three offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. (This approach is helpfully outlined in Mark Driscoll’s recent book, Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008).

In its prophetic ministry, the church is called to confess the sufficiency and authority of God’s Word over all human wisdom and authority. There are objective truths in Scripture that must be upheld by the church, and these truths do not merely involve right belief (orthodoxy) but also right living (orthopraxy). In upholding these truths, the church must contend against the world’s false teachings that contradict what God has spoken explicitly in His Word. The church must also expose sin (both individual and corporate) for what it is: willful rebellion against the Creator and against our own nature as beings meant to live in relationship with Him. At the root of both false teaching and willful rebellion is the basic sin of idolatry, and here the prophetic church must intentionally combat all idols that lure people’s hearts away from God and His will. This is especially important in contemporary American culture, where the two most destructive idols (sex and money) have caused significant damage inside as well as outside the church.

In my opinion, it is in the prophetic ministry where the issue of ordination is crucial. I believe that every Christian is called to ministry in general, as I will address in the paragraphs below. What distinguishes the ordained minister is only the kind of ministry to which he or she is called: a greater investment in spiritual formation, biblical study, theological inquiry, and practical training, so as to bring God’s Word to bear on the vision and ministry of the local congregation. This call must be recognized and affirmed both by the individual and the local congregation through a process of prayer and discernment. Through Word (preaching) and sign (sacraments), the ordained person proclaims the truths of Scripture to the people and exhorts them to join him or her in living out those truths in a transformational way.

The priestly ministry of the church is a ministry of reconciliation and healing, of experientially living out the grace and love of Jesus Christ in community. It is in this sense that we can speak of a priesthood of all believers, since all Christians must actively participate in such a ministry for it to be fruitful. In this context, all boundaries that would normally divide (economic, racial, gender) are eradicated as all believers stand in solidarity with one another and with Christ (Gal. 3:28-29). As believers encourage one another, exhort and rebuke according to Scripture, and provide care and mercy in times of need, they are truly functioning as priests.

This area of ministry is so important and yet so misunderstood, and the American church in particular has been remiss in faithfully putting it into practice. Our individualistic culture has created a milieu in which genuine community-building is almost impossible. Too many people go to church only to have their own needs met, and many pastors are at fault for caving in to this and becoming (as Bishop Willimon calls them) “quivering masses of availability.” Yet, I believe the priestly ministry of the whole church is more likely to convert people today than any prophetic sermonizing, and Jean Lambert’s thoughts in Amicus Dei would seem to substantiate this (Course Reader, 161-163; see also Matt. 5:14-16). It is high time the church reclaimed the “priesthood of all believers” and put ministry back into the hands of the people.

Finally, Scripture makes clear that in His resurrection and exaltation, Jesus now reigns as king over all creation, and His church is called to proclaim this gospel to every culture in the world (Acts 1:8). Indeed, every church is an “outpost of Christ’s coming kingdom” (Driscoll, 10). This ministry involves the planting of self-sustaining churches into every people-group on the planet (see Winter and Hawthorne, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, 248); contextualizing the method of communicating the gospel so that all people may understand and respond in faith; prophetically denouncing worldly powers which—through their dehumanizing and destructive acts—exist in opposition to Christ’s rule; and working on behalf of the poor, oppressed, and children, to whom Jesus said His kingdom belongs.

This is the whole mission of the church. Every local body of believers must prayerfully discern how God is calling them to be invested in this mission at the local, national, and international levels, and they must invest both actively and financially. As Edmund Clowney wrote, “the congregation that ignores mission will atrophy and soon find itself shattered by internal dissension. It will inevitably begin to lose its own young people, disillusioned by hearing the gospel trumpet every Sunday to those who never march” (Clowney, The Church. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1995).

In conclusion, I believe that all three of these functions (prophet, priest, and king) must be present in church ministry for it to be wholly biblical. When a church excels in only one function, to the exclusion of the other two, it will weaken the church’s witness to a world that desperately needs all three. The world needs the truth that only comes from Jesus Christ; it needs communities of love and reconciliation; and finally, it needs the transforming power of God’s Kingdom.

Behind Every Great Man...

Everyone knows how much I rave about C. S. Lewis, whose writings have influenced my Christian walk more than any others outside the Bible. There is, however, that old saying that "behind every great man is a great woman." This is especially true in the case of C. S. Lewis.

Although a bachelor for most of his life, in the mid-1950's he married Helen Joy Davidman. Born a Jew in New York City and living as an atheist for much of her younger life, she was - like Lewis - an adult convert to Christianity. Joy was a scholar and artist in her own right; she published a renowned book of poetry (Letters to a Comrade), a novel (Anya), and a lucid interpretation on the Ten Commandments (Smoke on the Mountain). She was honored, along with Robert Frost, with a national poetry award.

Since her writings are not well known, I would like to offer just a few quotes from her book Smoke on the Mountain. Although published 55 years ago, it has much to say to a fragmented church and disillusioned world today. (Please notice that she wrote these things a half-century before the pompous Emergent Christians suddenly claimed to have "discovered" them.)

On Idolatry: An idol is an inanimate object that can do no harm...So is a gun. But a man can do great harm with it. Idolatry lies not in the idol but in the worshiper. The real horror of idols is not merely that they give us nothing, but that they take away from us even that which we have...The more we look to material objects for help, the less we can help ourselves or ask help from the grace of God.

On the Name of God: The necessary corollary of the Third Commandment must be: Thou shalt take the name of the Lord thy God in earnest! We who have used the Name for unhallowed ends, from necromancy down to getting our own way in a family quarrel; we who have misused the power God put in flesh and coal, in wood and waterfalls, in solid matter and in empty space; we who have called upon God to bolster up our own vanity, or have NOT called upon Him to deliver us from prejudice -- we are all black magicians, and like Elymas the sorcerer, we have been struck blind for our sins and now grope in mist and darkness. Habitually, day after day, we have taken God's name in vain. Let us, if we can, teach ourselves to take it in earnest. It is high time.

On Sabbath-Keeping: Most of the ordinary people who lose their faith are not overthrown by philosophical argument; they lose faith because they are disillusioned by the churchmen they meet. One sanctimonious hypocrite makes a hundred unbelievers. One little knot of gossips tearing a neighbor's reputation apart on the church steps smashes the Sabbath to splinters. If we are to put it together again, we must be Christians indeed -- must show the rest of the world that a Christian gets something worth having out of his worship. It is not much use asking others to turn to God unless we set them the example. Let the church members behave like Christians seven days a week, and it is likely that the Sabbath will take care of itself. For how do you make a day holy? By seeing that it is holy already; and behaving accordingly.

And perhaps the most relevant to our current economic crisis, here is what Helen Joy Davidman has to say about stealing: The mother who teacher her child to slide under the subway turnstile rather than pay his dime; the athlete who sells his skill to the highest bidder; the rich man who wins applause through benevolent foundations that just happen to be tax-free, and the poor man who feels more comfortable with government support than with a job; the bribed policeman and the bribing bookie, the bribed judge and the bribing gangster, the bribed Congressman and the bribing industrialist -- are they getting something for nothing or aren't they? And who pays the bill? And what would Christ have called them? And anyone who promised to cure the ills of our time with easy hopes and facile solutions would be the most heartless of all.

Thank God for thoughtful, faithful women like Helen Joy Davidman, whose witness and leadership have spoken prophetically to the church and the world. May we heed her sound words and example!

Quit Hitting the Snooze Button, Americans!

Last fall during the presidential campaign, right here on my blog, I quoted a phrase from G. K. Chesterton -- kind of as a warning to any honest American who happens to stop by and read my ramblings.

In the light of recent actions from our current president, his predecessor Mr. Bush, the mainstream media, and the U. S. Congress, I feel compelled to reiterate Chesterton's warning. I will make a more general political reflection in my next blog, with a proposed solution to our economic and political crisis that is certain to offend some people. For now, here are Chesterton's words of wisdom and common sense:

If there is one fact we really can prove, from the history that we really do know, it is that despotism can be a development, often a late development and very often indeed the end of societies that have been highly democratic. A despotism may almost be defined as a tired democracy. As fatigue falls on a community, the citizens are less inclined for that eternal vigilance which has truly been called the price of liberty; and they prefer to arm only one single sentinel to watch the city while they sleep.

Slowly but surely, the liberties and rights that we have cherished as being uniquely American are being taken from us by a "nanny state" that thinks it knows how to take care of us better than we do. The current "economic stimulus" is neither economic, nor will it stimulate. It is a political weapon, and it is aimed at you and me.

Wake up, Americans.

What We're Made Of

If you believe the Genesis account of creation (and I do), then there are only two ingredients necessary to make a human being: The dust of the ground, and the Breath of Life. (See Genesis 2:7) Sounds pretty basic, doesn’t it?

The dust of the ground is the most common thing in creation. We can find it anywhere. Even in areas of the world where there is abject poverty and famine, you can find dust in abundance. I know that my wife finds dust all over our house...especially in my areas of the house!

The Breath of Life, on the other hand, can be found nowhere in creation. It is not common, it is holy. It comes to us only from God.

Without God breathing the Breath of Life into us, we would be almost nothing. But with God, we are the crown of all creation (see Psalm 8).

We are about to enter the Season of Lent, and it is a good time to reflect on the fact that we owe everything we have to God Who has breathed His own breath into us. It’s only because of Him that we live and move about, and enjoy all the blessings that we have.

I was raised in the Catholic Church, and I remember going to Ash Wednesday services every year, having ashes placed on my head and hearing the priest say, "Remember that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return."

As we eagerly wait for Easter to come, take a few minutes every day breathing in and out, and thanking God for that breath that has given you life. For without Him, you are nothing but the dust of the ground.