Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (31)

 

 

In the final movement of his chapter on The Visible Church Community, Bonhoeffer reminds us that we are strangers in this world on our way to our heavenly Home. “The Christian community thus lives its own life in the midst of this world, continually bearing witness in all it is and does that the present form of this world is passing away (1 Cor. 7:31” (page 232).

 

“Here on earth, the church-community lives in a foreign land. It is a colony of strangers far away from home” (p. 232).

 

On page 233 Bonhoeffer writes that the church is to be “following only the voice of the one who has called it.” He says concerning the church, “They look only to their Lord. He is in heaven, and their life for which they are waiting is in him.”

 

From the middle of page 232 through the conclusion of the chapter on page 234, Bonhoeffer cites no less than twelve Bible verses that speak of our pilgrimage through the world to heaven, and to how our testimony of Jesus ought to appear.

 

“Christians are poor and suffering, hungry and thirsty, gentle, compassionate and peaceable, persecuted and scorned by the world. Yet it is for their sake alone that the world is still preserved. They shield the world from God’s judgment of wrath. They suffer so that the world can still live under God’s forbearance. They are strangers and sojourners on this earth (Heb. 11:13; 13:14; 1 Peter 1:1).”

 

Of course, the question is whether this describes us, the professing church in the United States, the professing church in the West.

 

Might we be like the Laodiceans in thinking, “‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17)?

 

Are we a cruciform people? When the world sees us, does it see a people marked by the Cross? Carrying the Cross? Suffering with Jesus for others?

 

Does the world see us at all? Do we matter? When the world does see us, does it see an appendage to a political party or a nationalistic agenda? Should the world notice us, does it see angry people, unmerciful people, people obsessed with worldviews and economic and political agendas, people aligning themselves with the economic, political, and religious forces of the antichrist and Babylon (Rev. chapters 13, 17, 18; 2 Thess. 2:1 – 12)? Are we living as the sheep or the goats of Matthew 25:31 – 46?

 

If Jesus is correct in teaching that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, then what can we say of ourselves? When we gather what do we talk about? If we are not speaking of Jesus to one another then we ought to tremble and call a fast and repent (Joel 1:14ff). If we are not serving “the least” of His people (see Matthew 25:31 – 46), then we ought to confess our sin and change our lives…serving the disenfranchised, the stranger in the land, the poor, the politically powerless, the hurting, the fearful, the hungry, the homeless, the sick.

 

When we stand before Jesus Christ, none of us will be wearing masks to conceal our identities – we will not be able to hide who we really are.

 

Following Jesus is not easy in the United States. We are bombarded with information, with hype and spin, with the peer pressure of agendas, with an Imperial Cult of nationalism, with various cults intent on wrecking our understanding of natural law, common grace, common sense, and human decency. We have been seduced by pleasure and comfort and affluence (or the illusion of these things). We worship at the altars of Wall Street, Hollywood, Nashville, Washington, D.C., Fox News, CNN, and other media outlets.[1] Our churches have imported idols into sacred spaces just as ancient Judah brought idols into the Holy Temple of God; political idols, national idols, economic idols, entertainment idols, idols of pleasure, religious idols.

 

It is not easy to follow Jesus in the United States, it is not easy for a congregation to keep focused on Jesus, the pressure to entertain, be attractive, to grow numerically, to grow financially, to measure ourselves by the standards of the world can be intense. It is difficult for pastors to be faithful when their churches are more attuned to the above idols than to God’s Word and Jesus Christ. How hard it is to serve people who have a consumer mentality, or who have a primarily economic and political mentality. We cannot serve more than one master (Matthew 6:24) – why do we think we can?

 

While we ought not minimize the obstacles to following Jesus as strangers and pilgrims, we should not fail to confess that if God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31).

 

Let us not forget that greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Nor that we have been given the Holy Spirit so that we might be Christ’s witnesses to the end of the age, and that He is always with us (Mt. 28:20; Acts 1:8).

 

Let us remind ourselves and one another that we are brothers and sisters in the communion of saints, joined to those who have gone before us and to one another across the globe this very day; we are not alone (Hebrews Chapter 11; 12:22 – 24).

 

Let us also realize the while all things around us may be shaking, that those things that cannot be shaken will remain; in fact, the great shaking that we see within and without the professing church is to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ and the City of God (Hebrews 11:25 – 29). We ought to soberly realize that “judgment begins with the house God” (1 Peter 4:17). In Revelation, the Holy City is fully manifested after great judgments and shakings, after God’s People have proven themselves faithful to the Lamb through incredible times and judgments and difficulties.

 

The book of the prophet Malachi portrays the people of God, the church after returning from Babylon, as failing to distinguish between the clean and unclean, as offering to God less than the best, as a covenant-breaking people toward God and in marriage, with an unfaithful priesthood.

 

The church was engaging in sorcery, in sexual promiscuity, they were liars, they did not pay employees a fair wage, nor did they care for the widow, the orphan, or the immigrant! They did not fear God. (Malachi 3:5). These people were not faithful stewards of the resources that God was giving them (Malachi 3:8 – 9).

 

There were even those who were saying, “It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge?” (Malachi 3:14). Doesn’t this remind us of our own approach to church life? We ask, “Where is the profit? Where is the return on investment? Where is the practical result of this action? What is it in for us?”

 

We ask these questions rather than ask, “How shall we follow Jesus? How shall we bear His Cross? How shall we deny ourselves and serve others?”

 

Yet we also read in Malachi:

 

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and esteem His name. ‘They will be Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘on the day that I prepare My special treasure [jewels], and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him’” (Malachi 3:16 – 17).

 

“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall” (Malachi 4:2).

 

God has always had a remnant faithful to Him and committed to each other.

 

Bonhoeffer wrote (as quoted above): “Yet it is for their sake alone that the world is still preserved. They shield the world from God’s judgment of wrath. They suffer so that the world can still live under God’s forbearance. They are strangers and sojourners on this earth (Heb. 11:13; 13:14; 1 Peter 1:1).”

 

Isaiah wrote, “Unless the LORD of hosts had left us a very small remnant, we would be like Sodom, we would be like Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:9).

 

Shall we live as a remnant, following the Lamb wherever He goes? Shall our Father prepare us as His special treasures, His jewels? Shall we live in the Light of the Sun of Righteousness?

 

“He who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God and he will be My son” (Revelation 21:7).

 

---

[1] Lest you misunderstand me, this is not to say there are not faithful people serving in these centers of power and influence, but it is to say that the ethos and underlying power in these centers is opposed to the Lamb (Psalm 2). The powers of this world are often depicted in the Bible as beasts, even as a combination of beasts, bestial Frankensteins if you will. They devour those who ride them, who serve them, and who are in proximity to them.

The Enigma of the World (2)

 

 

After posting yesterday’s reflection, I was reading Psalm 121 and thought I ought to connect it to John 17:15, “I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”

 

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus teaches us to pray, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). As you may know, “from evil” can also be translated “from the evil one.” Considering that Jesus has just faced Satan, the evil one, in the Wilderness (Matthew 4:1 – 11), this may make sense, plus there are grammatical reasons for it…or not. In any event, since evil comes from the “evil one” Matthew 6:13 has us praying along with Jesus in John 17:15.

 

As we saw in the previous reflection, Jesus promises to keep us, which takes us to Psalm 121 (ESV):

 

 A Song of Ascents.

121 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

    From where does my help come?

2 My help comes from the LORD,

    who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;

    he who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel

    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;

    the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

    nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all evil;

    he will keep your life.

8 The LORD will keep

    your going out and your coming in

    from this time forth and forevermore.

 

I prefer the ESV for this psalm for its consistent use of the word “keep” in translation, if you compare it to other translations you’ll see what I mean. I strongly believe that if the original text uses a word repetitiously that we ought to be true to the text, Biblical emphasis should take precedence over our English convention of not repeating the same word.

 

In verse 4 we see that God keeps Israel, God keeps His People; He kept ancient Israel when Psalm 121 was written, and He keeps the New Covenant Israel (Galatians 6:16; Ephesians 2:11 – 22) today. One of the messages of the book of Revelation is God’s protection of the Church through tribulation, with the background motif of Israel in Egypt and the Wilderness, Revelation portrays a victorious People in Christ who overcome by the “blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, not loving their lives even when faced with death” (Rev. 12:11). God does not keep us by removing us from the world but rather keeps us in Christ as we live in the world and overcome evil and the evil one.

 

“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

 

“We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).

 

We must not minimize the distinction between the Kingdom of God and the world, we must not ignore the gulf between light and darkness, good and evil, life and death.

 

Notice that in Psalm 121:3 and 4 that our God is ever watchful over us, He never slumbers or sleeps; when we must sleep, He watches over us; we are always and forever in His tender loving and almighty care.

 

In 121:7 we see that our Father keeps us from “all evil” and that He will keep our soul.

 

(Here the ESV uses “life” but in this verse I much prefer the other option “soul.” I think it better captures the essence of who we are, going beyond physical life into the core of our being.)

 

We can connect 121:7 with Matthew 6:13 and John 17:15, being assured that our Good Shepherd will walk with us through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, comforting us and preparing a Table (His body and blood) before us in the presence of our enemies, anointing our heads with oil, and giving us overflowing cups (Psalm 23).

 

We can be confident that God will keep us from “all evil,” and that our souls are secure in Him; that no matter what may happen to our bodies, that our souls are safe in Christ and that we have eternal bodies waiting for us…glorious beyond our comprehension (2 Cor. 5:1 – 10).

 

If we consider the context of John 17:15, we will remember that shortly after Jesus prays that we will be kept from the evil one, that Jesus will be betrayed, arrested, tortured, mocked, abandoned, and crucified – yet through all of this the Father not only kept Him from the evil one, but Christ Jesus defeated the evil one through His obedience and sacrifice.

 

This, my friends, is our calling in Christ. We see this calling throughout the Old and New Testaments, we see our participation in the sufferings of Jesus Christ for His glory, for our koinonia with Him, and for the salvation of others. As the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us. We behold this calling throughout the book of Revelation where the saints experience an ironic and irenic victory through suffering, even unto death. This has been our testimony through the ages, beginning with Abel (Hebrews 11:4). Let us not be so foolish as to follow a different gospel that would spare us the Cross of Christ.

 

We may have supreme and unwavering confidence that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit will keep us, they will keep our souls; our future is sure and certain in God, He protects us from the evil one, He keeps our souls.

 

Now, let us live for God and others.

 

Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (25)

 

 

“The ‘unworldliness’ of the Christian life is meant to take place in the midst of this world. Its place is the church-community which must practice it in its daily living…That is why Christians ought to carry out their Christian life in the midst of their secular vocation. That is why they ought to die to the world in the midst of their worldly calling. The value of the secular vocation for Christians is that it allows them to live in the world by God’s goodness and to engage more fervently in the fight against the things of the world” (page 227).

 

It is unfortunate that Bonhoeffer uses the terms “secular vocation” and “worldly calling.” All vocation and calling are sacred, unless it is evil. All that we do is to be a form of worship to God, service to Him and our fellow man, and a form of transformation into the image of Jesus Christ. However, we will move on from this observation into the heart of Bonhoeffer’s meaning.

 

We are to be “unworldly” in the midst of the world. I think there are two senses to this; we are to be unworldly people who live subject to an unworldly kingdom. Regarding the latter, we are citizens of heaven before we are citizens of any earthly nation in particular and to the world-system in general (Phil. 3:20). As to the former, we draw our life from above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God (Col. 3:1-4).

 

This means that we will be distinct from the people of the world and the system which they obey, for while we share the common bond of humanity, the air we breathe is different, the life which animates our souls flows from above, we are subject to higher commands, principles, and laws. For example, loving our neighbor is not an option, blessing those who curse us and use us is our calling, laying down our lives for others is our cruciform Way of Life. Money and the treasures of this age are not our arbiters, the accolades of this world are seen for the vanity they are; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are recognized as not being from our Father, but as the poison of the world-system which is passing away (1 John 2:15 – 17).

 

Bonhoeffer tells us that we are to “carry out” our Christian life in the midst of our vocation. What might this look like?

 

Certainly this includes love for our coworkers and customers, with a desire to serve others and be a blessing to them – whether they are thankful or not, regardless of the state of their souls (Matthew 5:43 – 58). It includes fulfilling our calling as peacemakers (Mt. 5:9). We are to be faithful witnesses to Jesus in word as well as deed (Mark 8:38; 1 John 3:18).

 

We must not engage in gossip, slander, or backbiting. We must always tell the truth and act the truth. Nor should we covet, steal, falsify records, or cheat.  

 

In my business career I was especially focused on treating employees fairly, on opening doors for training and education and advancement, on equitable compensation, and on good working conditions and morale. I was also insistent on outstanding and caring customer service and providing safe and healthy apartments for our residents. Giving clients my loyalty, telling them the truth, and wanting the best for them as we did business in a moral and ethical manner were nonnegotiable for me. I am sure I made many mistakes in my business career; I made decisions I would do differently; I hope, however, that in some measure I was a blessing to others and a witness to Jesus Christ.

 

What can you add to the above? How does living the Christian life look in your vocation?

 

Bonhoeffer writes that we are to “die to the world” in the midst of our calling. The world pressures us to conform to its ways and values, to take the short-term view, the easy way out, to believe that the ends justify the means. The world allures us with its approval and promises of influence, money, possessions, security, self-fulfillment, and self-preservation. These temptations (and many more) are real, they can be seductive and they can also blindside us. We ought not minimize the power of peer pressure, of the instinct to put ourselves above others, or our ability to rationalize ungodly and worldly behavior.

 

The more successful we are, the greater the temptations can be, the more subtle on the one hand, and the more blatant on the other. Pleasure, ego, pride and vanity, so many things can deceive us.

 

When we forget that we are on mission, that we are called to be the Presence of Christ in our vocations, that we belong to Another, and that by the Cross “the world is crucified to us and we are crucified to the world” (Galatians 6:14), we may find ourselves in the lap of Delilah. Each of us has vulnerabilities, what is a temptation to me may not be a temptation to you, and what may not be a temptation to me today may become one tomorrow. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).

 

I loved the sense of accomplishment in my business career. I loved it when I did well and I loved it when my teams did well. When I was a boy I loved playing sports, I wasn’t a good athlete, but I loved playing baseball and football and basketball. In business I was a pretty good “athlete” and I loved putting points on the board. There were days when my sense of fulfillment and satisfaction was overflowing, and I gave thanks and praise to God for His blessing.

 

The temptation was to get caught up in recognition; the temptation was self-centeredness. Early on in my career I learned the intoxication of vanity, and it frightened me – God gave me a healthy dose of fear. I learned through knowing Jesus and knowing His Word to see myself as the servant of all, to seek the welfare of my employees and fellow workers, my clients, my customers. I learned to rejoice in the success of others, in the recognition given to others, in the growth of others. I measured my days and weeks and years in how God was using me to bless others.

 

Dying to the world means that we often say “no” to the world. We say “no” to cutting corners, “no” to lies and spin and shoddy workmanship, “no” to treating people unfairly, “no” to withholding the truth. It also means that we insist on the truth and the welfare of others.

 

I had instances in my career, thankfully they were few, when a client would not address a health and safety issue in an apartment community – in those cases the course was clear to me. I put the client on written notice of the problem and gave the client an immediate deadline for action, otherwise I would end our relationship – no matter the financial loss to me or my firm.

 

Regarding the treatment of employees, more than once I placed my job on the line for an employee – protecting my people was an element of my calling. I lost what was probably the best job I ever had protecting an employee. I share this not to pat myself on the back but so that you will know that I mean what I write, this is no game to me, it is about Jesus Christ and others, it is about being faithful to Jesus.

 

Bonhoeffer tells us that as we fulfill our vocational callings, we are to “fight against the things of the world.” Much of the above speaks to this, and we ought never to forget it. We are to show others a higher way of life, a life of love and truth and service and self-sacrifice. As a rule, what impresses others ought not to impress us, for what impresses us, what we treasure, is to be that in which we find goodness, beauty, and truth. We are to value excellence in workmanship and fidelity in our occupations. We ought not to be impressed by possessions and positions, but rather by that which endures – character, wisdom, peace, kindness, courage, sacrifice. (When is the last time you witnessed courage in the workplace?)

 

We are to be different because we are different, and here is the rub for many of us, we don’t want to be different. Jesus may have been different, but we don’t want to be different. Rather than be used by God to transform the world and show its people a better way, we allow ourselves to be transformed by the world into its image and we conform to the people around us.

 

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).

 

The nature of our life is that of a sacrificial offering to God, a holy offering; we have been purchased by the Lamb and our lives now belong to Him. Whether those around us “see” this or not they ought to be witnessing us offering ourselves to God throughout each day, in each moment, in each decision, through each action, in the midst of each challenge.

 

And may I say, that this offering of ourselves includes asking forgiveness of others and making amends when we sin, of admitting our mistakes, of taking responsibility for our actions. This is a testimony to the world that God has made a Way in Jesus through which relationships can be healed, made right, and reconciled. As Paul writes, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Cor. 4:7).

 

As for being “different,” we wouldn’t mind being different if we had the cure for cancer, or were giving millions of dollars away to help others, or if we were feeding the hungry, or were saving people from fire or flood; do we not realize that we have the Word of eternal life and love for others, that we have the Hope of all mankind?

 

Medics on the battlefield are different from other soldiers, they are seen as the healers, their presence can be reassurance to others as the medics risk their lives, exposing themselves so that others may live.

 

Surely, in Christ, we can do no less.  

Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (23)

 

 

“Paul addresses Christians rather than the authorities [Romans 13], but he does this certainly not because the way this world is ordered is so good, but because its good or bad qualities are irrelevant compared to the only thing that is truly important, namely, that the church-community submit and live according to God’s will. Paul does not intend to instruct the Christian community about the tasks of those in authority, but instead only deals with the tasks of the Christian community toward authority” (page 224).

 

Let’s remind ourselves that the chapter in Discipleship which we are considering is The Visible Church-Community. Bonhoeffer is writing about the “space” that the church-community occupies in the world and what we ought to look like, how we ought to live as God’s People.

 

The “we” is critical here because this is about “us” and not about “me.” Yes, of course it is about me in the sense that I am a member of the visible church-community but the operative issue, the critical testimony, is how we as the Body of Christ live and stand in the world, including in our posture toward worldly authority.

 

“The framework for all of what Paul has to say regarding authority is summed up in his introductory admonition: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). The passage on authority does not deal with the question whether a given authority is good or evil; its concern is that Christians should overcome all evil” (page 225).

 

If Bonhoeffer’s understanding of Paul in Romans 13 is true, then we ought to take what he writes seriously, and if we take it seriously we ought to question the mindset of American Christians with regard to government and politics and so-called worldviews – for are we not (American Christians) engaged in a perpetual critique of and involvement in political activities?

 

When Bonhoeffer writes, “The passage on authority [Romans 13] does not deal with the question whether a given authority is good or evil,” we can restate his perspective by saying, “We ought not to be critiquing worldly authority, we ought to be evaluating ourselves, the church-community. Are we truly the City set on a hill? Are we distinct from the political, national, economic, and social movements of the surrounding culture? Are we overcoming evil with good?”

 

Bonhoeffer is not writing about what earthly government ought to look like, but what we, the People of God, ought to look like, for we are called to occupy a distinct space on earth, we do not share space with the governments and authorities of this present age, we represent a kingdom not of this world, not of this age; our citizenship is in heaven; we maintain our own space.

 

Do we take our cues from the news and the rulers (and want to be rulers) of this age, rather than from the Word of God and our Lord Jesus Christ?

 

Are we living in the community of Christ and affirming one another in Him as we wear the white robes of His righteousness, or do we live in communities of red, blue, and purple?

 

Are we affirming that we are a transcendent community without borders in Christ, or do we define ourselves in terms of national, economic, social, ethnic, and racial identity?

 

Let us again consider what Bonhoeffer says, “Its [government’s] good or bad qualities are irrelevant compared to the only thing that is truly important, namely, that the church-community submit and live according to God’s will… The passage on authority [Romans 13] does not deal with the question whether a given authority is good or evil; its concern is that Christians should overcome all evil.”

 

In a forthcoming reflection Bonhoeffer will speak to conflict between the governments of the world and the church-community, a conflict that occurs when we are faithful to Christ and which, I think, is inevitable. As I have written elsewhere, the Son of Man has no where to lay His Head in this world, this is true of the Only Begotten Son and it is true of the many-membered Son, it is true of the church-community. The lap of Delilah has many forms, it is clothed in many colors, she will do all she can to seduce us. O dear friends, let us not forget that Babylon deals in “the souls of men” (Rev. 18:13).

 

Please allow me to make two observations as we wrestle with Romans 13 and Bonhoeffer. The first is that it is quite difficult to be faithful to Christ, to be wedded to Him (2 Cor. 11:1 – 3), and live in the United States. (I focus on America because this is where I live and because most of my readers are American, however, this is also true for my international brothers and sisters – we all have this challenge.)

 

We have allowed politics, current events, culture wars, worldviews, economics, and nationalism to mold our souls…not to mention what Francis Schaffer termed “personal peace and affluence.” This is what we talk about, it is what we think about, it is what rules our emotions, it defines what we love and hate, it colors relationships, and it has invaded congregational life.

 

We have exchanged the Head of the Body for the talking heads of media and politics, and rather than be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ we are now conformed to the image of worldly “leaders.”

 

Bonhoeffer’s teaching on Romans 13 is nearly impossible for us to accept, we have reason after reason why it does not apply to us, why Bonhoeffer and Scripture must be wrong.

 

Let us remember dear friends, that the early Christians were not so much persecuted because they worshipped Jesus, but rather because they would not also worship the Emperor, they would not participate in the Imperial Cult.  Christians who belonged to guilds in order to practice their trades and earn a living for their families, were not expelled because they worshipped Jesus, but rather because they would not also worship the patron idols of the guilds. Economic and social hardship was not an excuse for disobedience in the Early Church.  

 

I have been in churches and small groups which were so politicized that anyone with an alternate political viewpoint, including the perspective that we ought to follow Jesus Christ and Him alone as citizens of heaven, was not welcome…and I have observed worse than I have experienced.

 

To follow what the Bible teaches can be very hard and it can be quite lonely. The way is straight, the gate is narrow…there is only One Way, one color of robe in Christ. For sure when we have encouragement from other brothers and sisters we are strengthened, even to know just a few others in the koinonia of the Trinity makes a significant difference; but there are times, such as with Nehemiah, when there are few building the wall of the City – if so, we must accept that and remain faithful to Christ and His Temple, His Kingdom, His Church.

 

The second observation is that in order to see the full import of Romans 13 that we should consider its context. Romans 13 is placed within a portrayal of the visible church-community. This portrayal begins in Romans 12 and extends into Romans 16 (or we might say that it begins in Romans 9, but for our purposes it is simpler to begin in Romans 12).

 

There is a sense in which Paul speaks to us as individuals in chapters 1 – 8, writing of justification, sanctification, sonship, and reconciliation. Then in chapters 12 – 16 (or 9 – 16) he speaks about the Body that is a result of chapters 1 – 8. In other words, in light of our redemption as set forth in chapters 1 – 8, how should we live together in Christ? The answer is in the second part of the letter to the Romans.

 

Chapter 12 begins with us offering ourselves as living sacrifices, and then we see the result of that in the balance of the chapter – living as the visible church-community.

 

Why then the shift from the visible church-community in Chapter 12, to our relationship to worldly authority in 13:1 – 7? Why this seeming interruption?

 

I think a facet of the answer is that there are two kingdoms on the earth, God’s kingdom and man’s kingdom. Since Paul is writing about the visible Kingdom of God, he will acknowledge the other kingdom in time and space, the kingdom of man (which nevertheless operates under the ultimate authority and control of God – a mystery indeed!). Just as government and power politics and military might permeate our lives today, so it was in ancient times under Rome – and this was especially true in the city of Rome where the recipients of Paul’s letter lived.

 

No doubt living in the city of power, near the center of gravity, had the same temptations in Rome 2,000 years ago as living in America has today, as living in a state capital has, as living in proximity to Washington, D.C. has – the closer one is to the center of power the greater the potential seduction and intoxication (this is true of national government, and it is true of a local PTA). There is a temptation to “play the game” that everyone else is playing who are enmeshed in the world’s system.

 

In other words, Paul is saying, “As you live as the visible church-community under the authority of Jesus Christ, be aware of another entity on earth. Here is how you should view that other entity, here is how you should critique yourselves in relation to that other entity, the governments of this world. You live in the seat of international power, the city of Rome, don’t get caught up in what Rome does, focus on how you are to live in Christ.”

 

We would do well to recall what Paul writes at the beginning of his letter, “I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:14 – 16).  

 

This, my friends, is our Great Commission (Matthew 28:16 – 20; 2 Timothy 4:1 – 5). Paul desires to go to Rome to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:1 – 5); this was Paul’s mission; it is our mission. The visible church-community that Paul writes to is “in the world but not of the world” (John 17:13 – 18).

 

This was true of Jesus, it was true of Paul, it is true of you, and it is true of me…it is true of “us” in Christ.

Only One City

 This is the third of three pieces written in October 2016.

 

How foolish for those who profess to follow Jesus Christ to think that there is more than one city we should be seeking – what fools we make of ourselves.

 

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their god, for He has prepared a city for them,” Hebrews 11:13 – 16.

 

That heavenly country invaded this world some 2,000 years ago, first in the person of Jesus Christ, then in the person of His body, His church. Yet we ignore the commandment that we shall have no other gods before the true and living God; we go so far as to claim that an earthly nation can be a “city set on a hill” – the church functionally says that it can have more than one husband. Paul wrote to the church in the Roman city of Philippi that “our citizenship is in heaven.”

 

It is not the infidelities of our political “leaders” that we ought to focus on – it is the infidelity of the church, it is our own infidelity. Do we think that when John wrote that we are not to “love the world or the things in the world” that he was giving throwaway esoteric advice? We are the woman at the well engaged in serial relationships, we are the woman caught in adultery, we are ancient Israel and Judah thinking that we can form alliances with surrounding kingdoms and that we can adopt their gods with impunity.

 

O that we would learn to be faithful to Jesus; knowing that He alone loves us, He alone died for us, He alone cleanses us, and that He alone has made a home for us. O that we would come home to Jesus – that His church would be faithful to Him.

Which Kingdom? What Voice?

 This is the second of three pieces written in October 2016. 

“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm,’ ” (John 18:36).

 

What would have happened had the followers of Jesus Christ stirred up the populace and attacked the Jewish and Roman leaders? Could they have freed Jesus? Could they have freed Jerusalem and Judea from Roman domination? Would the church have been born on the Day of Pentecost? Would there have been a Gospel? Would we be yet in our sins? Would Jesus, the Prince of Peace, today be associated not with a cross but rather with a bloody sword due to the actions of His followers?

 

One of His followers did indeed use a sword in Gethsemane and was rebuked by Jesus. Prior to arriving in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday this same follower sought to convince Jesus that Jesus should save Himself from rejection and death and was not only rebuked by Jesus but told that he was playing the role of Satan and not setting his mind on the things of God but the things of man (Matthew 16:21 – 23). Jesus followed this rebuke by stating that to follow Him meant taking up the cross, denying self, and losing one’s life for His sake and the Gospel’s. This remains the call of Jesus Christ, it remains the requirement of Jesus Christ – as Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

 

Do we desire the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of man? Are we seeking to preserve the Gospel by loving Christ and others and peacefully articulating, in word and deed, the message of Jesus Christ? Or, are our hearts and minds engaged in self-preservation – desiring the kingdoms of this world, the American “dream”, and agendas which draw our souls away from the Kingdom of God?

 

At a time in our nation when our nation needs (as it always does) the church to be the church, the voice of Jesus Christ, articulating the hope of the Gospel and the coming Kingdom of God; our shallow theology and thinking, our tenuous confession of Christ, and lack of identity as the People of God, has shown us to be a confused and manipulated people – without unity, without the confession of Jesus Christ, and without moral courage – for it takes courage to say in word and deed, “I will stand with Christ and with Him alone. His kingdom is not of this world and I am in His kingdom.”

 

We can only have one God and we can only serve one master and we can only desire one kingdom…and we can only look to one savior. Our nation or political or economic agenda must not be the god of the Christian nor can these things be our savior. To be sure we must pray for our leaders and be good citizens, but no earthly citizenship should take precedence over our heavenly citizenship, and no interest should take precedence over the interest of Jesus Christ and His kingdom and His Gospel.

 

Where is the clear articulation of the church in America that we are the people of God and that we will live within a nation in chaos loving people, serving people, and clearly sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the peril of our own well-being? Where is our willingness to suffer and be marginalized for the sake of Jesus Christ? Where is our voice for the defenseless, for the stranger, for the politically and economically and socially disenfranchised?

 

Are we able to say that we will love and minister to people of all political agendas? Or are we so embedded in the political and economic life of this nation that we can no longer live as citizens of God’s kingdom? Have our actions and words renounced our heavenly citizenship?

 

Two of my historical mentors are François Fenelon and Andrew Murray; the former a French Roman Catholic archbishop and the latter a Dutch Reformed pastor in Africa. During wars between the English and French, Fenelon ministered to soldiers on both sides – yes, he was a subject of Louis XIV but he was first and foremost a subject of Jesus Christ.

 

During the Boer War Murray also ministered to combatants on both sides. In Fenelon’s case both sides respected him for his ministry; in Murray’s case many on both sides disdained him for they thought he should choose sides. Sometimes people will understand us and accept us, other times they will not – that should not be our consideration. Both of these men were citizens of the Kingdom of God first and foremost – there could be little confusion about their testimony.

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is often quoted by religious people with political agendas, using him as an argument to vote one way or another. What these people miss is that Bonhoeffer came to the place early on, during Hitler’s rise to absolute power, when he realized that the church must stand as the church and speak from the Kingdom of God into the world as a distinct voice, the voice of Jesus Christ. Bonhoeffer realized that the politicization of the church would be the death of its testimony to Jesus Christ.

 

Bonhoeffer became increasingly isolated, he was considered too radical, he was not taking political and economic realities into consideration, those who had once stood with him separated themselves. Yes, there were others like Bonhoeffer, but they were few. Pragmatism and self-preservation caused many pastors, theologians, and the church to capitulate to evil – foolishly thinking that things would get better, stupidly arguing that they could moderate evil. They used the “lesser of two evils” as an argument and found that the lesser of two evils is still not only evil…it is absolute evil – for evil is evil and when we baptize an agenda as the lesser of two evils we anoint it as the authority in our lives – we subject our hearts and minds to it – we pollute ourselves and those around us. The lesser of two evils becomes the evil in our hearts and minds.

 

The choice of the church is not a choice to vote one way or the other – the choice before the church is whether we will live in the Kingdom of God and speak from that kingdom and live as citizens of that kingdom – serving all around us in love and charity and grace and seeking to bring them to Jesus Christ. If we must vote, then let us vote with our lives and not with our ballots – the world does not need our ballots, it needs our lives – it needs to hear and see the clear articulation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

We have lost our voice for Christ for we have not used our voice for Christ; let us recapture an awareness of who we are in Jesus Christ – let us return to our first love – perhaps the light of our candlestick will be rekindled.

 

God and Country?

 

I wrote the following three pieces in October 2016, nine years ago. They are as true today as they were then. The question is, are we true to Jesus?

 

 

God and Country?

 

“God and Country” is a term many of us grew up hearing. It was part of the ethos of my upbringing – a significant part. It was, if you will, “the American Way”. The ideal behind “God and Country” is an ideal that can inspire to the point of worship – and therein is the danger, for if our actions are our worship, if our words reveal our worship, then there is a dilemma for the Christian – for we are to have no other gods before (in the presence of) God, and no Lord that is coequal with Jesus Christ.

 

The teaching of Jesus Christ and His apostles is clear that we are to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”, but we are also to “render to God the things that are God’s”. Worship belongs solely to God, and that was the problem for the Roman state when it came to Christians – they would not worship Caesar, they would not worship the personification of the state. The Early Church had a sense of its heavenly citizenship and they lived in accordance with that sense, that identity, as a people distinct from the world around them.

 

Roman citizenship was something to be valued and prized, one could be a subject of Rome, in the service of Rome, but not be a citizen. Roman citizenship had special protections and benefits. And yet Paul, a Roman citizen, writes to the Roman citizens of Philippi (a Roman colony) that they are citizens of heaven – he writes this in Philippians Chapter Three, a chapter in which he emphasizes that he counts all things as rubbish for the sake of knowing Jesus – including his own impeccable Jewish and religious pedigree.

 

The Early Church knew the difference between Roman citizenship, as valuable as it was, and heavenly citizenship.

 

 There is a warning and a lesson here for the church in America.

 

Esther, Where Are You?

 

 

As I witness the sellout of the Gospel to political, social, economic, and national interests and idols, and as I wonder where men and women of courage are to be found among those who claim to be servants of Christ (though does anyone claim such a title anymore?), I wonder if there still might be an Esther or two “for such a time as this" (Esther 4:13 - 14).

 

If there are such women and men, there is but one promise for them, and that is the Cross. Rest assured, it is not likely either the “right” or the “left” will spare them, for the otherworldliness of the Cross and Christ cannot be tolerated, no opposition can be allowed to remain.

 

The Son of Man had no place to lay His Head 2,000 years ago, and He has no place to lay His Head or His Body today. There is no political, economic, political, social, philosophical, or national place where the Body of Christ can rest; we will find rest only in Him, only in Jesus, only in our Good Shepherd.

 

Esther was able, with the help of Mordecai, to overcome her initial reluctance to risk her life for her people. She could choose to be the instrument of God’s deliverance, but “if not” Mordecai promised her that God would raise up someone else. I am not sure about our own time; I am not certain of two things.

 

The first thing I am not certain about is that there will be any temporal “deliverance,” in whatever form that might take. This then means that it may be that there are no “deliverers” in the normal sense of the word.

 

We are seeing a great falling away from the Person of Jesus Christ, from belonging to Him, from the Biblical Gospel and call to His Kingdom, to the prostitution of the professing church in the name of Christianity, of so-called Christian worldviews which are Nehustan; they may have had worthy beginnings, but they have been formed into idols.  (A. W. Tozer identified the tragedy of Christians not actually knowing Jesus in The Pursuit of God almost 80 years ago.)

 

Many of those who still profess a Kingdom perspective, seem to think that if they play whack-a-mole long enough that the fog will eventually lift, the sun will shine, and we can go back to the way things used to be (though why we would ever want to go back to that which paved the way for our present insanity is beyond me).

 

When I write “whack-a-mole” I mean a preoccupation with religious (including Evangelical) and gnostic playthings which allows us to avoid speaking a clarion Word to the Church of Jesus Christ and society.

 

I wonder if these folks (those who know better) realize that as long as they avoid calling for complete and total faithfulness to Jesus Christ, as long as they avoid Mark 8:34 – 38 and 1 Corinthians 1:17 – 31, that they really don’t know what they have in their congregations, institutions, denominations, and movements. Or perhaps they do know and don’t want to confront the reality.

 

If the fabric of a congregation can be rent by calling for total fidelity to Jesus Christ, if it can be torn asunder by calling for the Bride to leave behind the movements of this world and be in a monogamous relationship with her Bridegroom (2 Cor. 11:1 – 3), if calling on professing Christians to leave behind garments of “red” and “blue” for the pure white garment of Christ’s righteousness and to be a City set on a Hill – if such preaching is sure to create upheaval – then what do we really have? We have dishonesty built on fear and intimidation; we do not have the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

On the one hand we have preachers who have left the Gospel of Christ and the only call that they really have, the call to present the Church as a pure Bride in a pure marriage to her one Husband. On the other hand, we have the people at the foot of Sinai insisting on golden calves to worship.

 

Is deliverance in such an atmosphere possible?

 

I don’t think so. I may be wrong, I hope I am wrong, but I don’t think so. I don’t think we would stand for returning to Jesus Christ. I don’t think we’d stand for pastors and teachers and other leaders insisting on us returning to Jesus. I think that, having mounted the beast, we now must ride the beast until the beast devours us. (Is it possible to have renewal outside old wineskins?)

 

As Revelation demonstrates, there are times when the only way to victory, to irenic and ironic victory, is via martyrdom. To be sure witness, martyrdom, takes many forms, but none of these forms are pleasant.

 

This means that any Esthers among us must walk alongside Daniel’s three friends, and that their credo must be, must always be, “But if not” (Daniel 3:18). It means that deliverance likely lies on the other side of this life, in that City where Christ and the Father and the saints await us. It means that the faithful “consider the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt” or Wall Street, or Hollywood, or Capitol Hill, or than anything this world offers.

 

It means that we confess that we are strangers and pilgrims and that we are seeking a country of our own (Hebrews 11:13 – 16). Such a testimony is in opposition to political, economic, and social movements – for it recognizes the kingdoms of this world and their systems for what they are, opposed to Jesus Christ (Psalm 2; Daniel 2; 1 John 2:15 – 17; Revelation chapters 17 – 18).

 

We seek good for all mankind, but we do not deceive ourselves as to the systems of this wicked world.

 

The overcomers of Revelation overcome by the blood of Lamb, by their testimony (of Jesus), and by not loving their lives, even unto death (Rev. 12:11). Run from any preacher, any pastor, any teacher, any professor, any fool who would tell you otherwise! Run, run, run from those who would spare you the Cross of Christ, and run to Jesus, embracing Him and His Cross (Matthew 16:21 – 23). O dear friends, if we are not learning to die with Jesus, then we are not learning to live with Him (2 Cor. 4:12; Gal. 2:20; 6:14).

 

If a man or woman meets God, it is not likely that person will ever be the same. Since Jesus is God, how is that we are still of this world, when we claim to be Christians? How is it that we dress ourselves in “red” and “blue” and seek to destroy one another? O dear friends, there are only two reasons why professing Christians act this way, the way of the enemy (James 3:13 – 18); it is either that we have never really met Jesus Christ and surrendered our lives to Him – living under His lordship, as His possessions, or it is that we have left our first love (Rev. 2:4).

 

To be faithful to Jesus Christ means that we must “go outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:13). This is the religious camp (both on the “right” and the “left”), it is the political camp, the nationalist camp; it is the camp of the world – it means that we identify with Jesus and preach Jesus and Jesus alone…and to be sure, that will incur the enmity of the world around us, in all of its forms…and yes, we will likely find ourselves put out of the synagogue (John 9:22, 34).

 

And yet, and yet, there will be those who see Him through the darkness and vitriol and hatred and cacophony…and on that Day those men and women and children will say, “Thank you. Thank you for showing me a better way, the Way of Jesus, the Way of the Cross. Thank you for showing me Jesus.”

 

One thing we can say with surety concerning potential Esthers, those who seek to spare their lives need not apply.

 

“As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).

 

What about you?

 

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1 – 2).

While my intention is to call us back to Jesus, and only to Jesus; if I have offended you, then I have made my point. Let us return to Jesus, He awaits us, He will restore us so that we can restore others. The Cross is always offensive, so that we might come to the end of ourselves and find Jesus. 

 

“For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2 – 3).

Bonhoeffer's Discipleship Part II - Reflections (4)

 

“Those who are baptized no longer belong to the world, no longer serve the world, and are no longer subject to it. They belong to Christ alone, and relate to the world only through Christ” (page 185).

 

The word “world” can be confusing, though it need not be. It can mean “people,” as in the people of the world, or it can “system,” an order of things and ways and dynamics that is governed and animated by Satan and his minions, which rules over unregenerate mankind and seeks not only its perpetual enslavement, but seeks to enlist it in rebellion against God and the destruction of His Kingdom.

 

Context indicates the sense in which we ought to understand the word “world.”

 

When we read, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,” we understand that “world” means the people of the world.

 

However, when read 1 John 2:15 – 17 we see something different:

 

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

 

The world system has myriad subsystems, and none is innocuous, none are innocent. In Christ we learn to be “in the world but not of the world” (John 15:19; 17:13 – 16), which also means that we strive to be a blessing to the people of the world, to show them Jesus, to lay down our lives for others as Jesus laid down His life for us.

 

When Bonhoeffer writes that we “no longer serve the world,” he does not mean that we no longer serve the people of the world, but rather that we no longer serve the system of the world. This does not mean that we do not live and function within world systems, for again we must live in the world for many reasons – to eat and drink, for provide for others, to benefit humanity, to share the Gospel and grace of Jesus – but we do not subject ourselves to the values of the world, to the goals of the world. We refuse to be intoxicated by the world, to grab for what the world dangles in front of us, and we refuse to offer our children on the altars of the world.

 

We have an adversarial relationship with the world system, and this means that we must often say “no” to the world if we are to be faithful to Jesus Christ, to the Church, and indeed to the people of the world. The professing Christian who does not live a life of saying “no” to the world perhaps ought to ponder the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4). The parent who is not teaching his or her children to say “no” to the world might want to consider how deeply he or she truly cares for those children and adolescents.

 

The people of the world need us to be faithful in our obedience to Jesus and in saying “no” to the world system, for otherwise they will not see a better Way, they will not see Jesus. This is one reason why it is critical for us to do all that we do in the name of Jesus and to the glory of God (Colossians 3:17, 23), so that when we do say “no” we will have credibility and integrity. People may not like it when we say “no,” but they may respect it; others may take courage when we say “no” and they may see the light of Christ.

 

But there is more than saying “no,” there is more importantly being an active blessing to those around us, seeking the welfare of others, attempting to improve the condition of our communities and broader world. We are to be the Good Samaritan to the world, the Presence of the Good Shepherd, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, visiting those in prison, caring for the widow and orphan and disenfranchised, clothing the naked and housing the homeless and caring for the sick. Whether at work, at school, in civic life, in recreation and entertainment, in economics – we are to be in the world but not of the world, we are to be showing the people of the world a better Way because we belong to Jesus Christ – we are no longer our own.

 

I am puzzled why we are more pleased with our children doing well in the world than we are in them growing in Jesus Christ. Perhaps because we are more pleased with our own success in the world rather than our growing in Jesus Christ?

 

Bonhoeffer writes, “The break with the world is absolute” (page 185).

 

Followed by, “It requires and causes our death.”

 

Bonhoeffer can be a nuisance, can’t he?

 

What do you think?  

Strangers and Pilgrims

Below is a note I sent to some pastors concerning a recent article regarding a political party that was sent to me and the other pastors in the group. The article, in essence, indicates that humanism is being embraced by the party, while I didn't address humanism in my response, I think the fact is that humanism reigns in all political parties in the U.S. 

I think there is a sense in which this is good news. After all, as Christ, as His Body, while we are in the world we are not of the world (John 17); and we are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20) - so perhaps this will help define us.

Plus, I think I would rather have folks be honest about where they are coming from than try to court us and seduce us and manipulate us....as is often the case.

Of course I desire these folks to come to know our Lord Jesus Christ, but I also want our own professing-Christians folks to have a greater sense of identity and definition in Christ...a danger, as I see it, in this is that our folks, rather than being driven deeper into Christ, will be uncritically driven deeper into opposing political parties. 

Is there not a sense, a deep Biblical sense, in which we are strangers and aliens, looking for a city whose Builder and Maker is God? Are we not looking at those things which are unseen as opposed to the things that are seen? What the natural eye sees can divert our attention. I think the world is the world is the world and there is a sense in which the world that would embrace us (for its own purposes) is perhaps more dangerous than the world that would outright reject us for we are more likely to compromise the Gospel and truth and virtue with the former. 

People were sleeping when Hurricane Camille hit VA.

"God will send strong delusion because they received not the love of the truth" (2 Thess. 2). What other explanation is there for what we see around us? "God gave them up" (Romans 1). What other explanation? 

The thing that does truly amaze me is the exponential speed in which all of this is occurring. In terms of my own life in Christ, as well as in my marriage, my life is becoming ever more simpler...for I am being driven into Christ, seeking Him, desiring to see His face, to live in His Presence...

In terms of ministry and witnessing to others...again...things are simpler for me...Jesus first, Jesus last, Jesus always. If I'm in a tsunami I want to pull as many people as I can, by God's grace, into our Place of Safety. I want my congregation to see themselves, as God's People, as His Ark with the door still open.

Love in our Good Shepherd,

Bob 

Ponderings on 1 Corinthians Chapters 1 – 4 (13)

“Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;…” 1Corinthians 2:6 – 7 (NASB)

Are we convinced that “God made foolish the wisdom of the world,” (1Cor. 1:20)? Are we convinced that, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men,” (1Cor. 1:25)?

Do we “see” that God is nullifying “the things that are, so that no man may boast before God” (1 Cor. 1:28 – 29)? Are we living in the realization that the rulers of this age are passing away?

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” 1John 2:15 – 17 (NASB).

Consider “the boastful pride of life” in 1 John with the thrust of 1 Corinthians Chapters 1 – 4. The rulers of this age are passing away, the “wisdom” of this age is passing away, indeed the world system is passing away – but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Why then, do we succumb to the pressure and temptation to exchange the epistemology of God in Christ with the epistemology of an age that is passing away? Why do we think we can “know” the things of God without the Spirit of God? Why do we write and teach and preach as if a methodology, in and of itself, can lead us into an understanding of the Scriptures and an encounter with the True and Living God?

Better yet, why do we conform our institutions of learning to the “academy” of this age? Why do we pattern ourselves after that (the academia of the world) which has a faulty and fallen anthropology? Why do we seek credibility according to the standards of the world…standards which not only are constantly changing, but which are often bent on the destruction of the testimony of God in Christ?

Why are our commentaries and small group and Sunday school curriculum patterned, all too often, after the wisdom of this age, rather than that of the Kingdom of God?

I think we have made morons of ourselves (I include myself). How else can we explain the phenomenon of men and women who have been in “church” and Sunday school for years remaining infants in both their general knowledge and understanding of God in Christ revealed in the Bible?

If we maintain the epistemology of the age that is passing away we will remain captives on this “Silent Planet” – (a term from C.S. Lewis). We will be a quiet and complaisant people on a Silent Planet.

God has predestined a hidden wisdom in a mystery “before the ages to our glory” and yet we insist on remaining slaves to an epistemology of darkness and an anthropology of darkness. Paul writes, “The natural (unspiritual/soulish) man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14) and we say, “Yeah but…”

What good is all of our learning if we are not seeing Jesus Christ? If we are not worshipping God in spirit and in truth? We are forging our own chains, what’s worse, we are teaching others the trade.