What’s The Story Being Told?

Posted on June 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

Those hearing the Apostle Peter’s Pentecost sermon were convicted in their hearts that Jesus is indeed the Lord and Messiah.  So they committed themselves to living the life of Jesus as his disciples through repentance and baptism.  In turn they received the promised Holy Spirit which had been poured out like a torrential downpour of rain.  The result, according to Acts 2, was about 3,000 new disciples joining this Jesus movement.

Luke tells us what happened in response to these people making the radical decision to live as a Spirit-empowered follower of Jesus, making the beliefs and values of Jesus their own.  Acts 2:42-47 reads:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Now that we see what has happened once the Holy Spirit began overflowing among the community of disciples, the question is what do we do we do with this text?

In years past, the temptation for me was to exegete this text out.  I still think there is value in such exegesis but I also think that if we are not careful, we can miss what Luke is trying to do.  Luke is not trying to give us a “how to” manual for being church.  It ought to be obvious that Luke is offering a summary of what was happening as this Jesus movement gets underway.  The summary paints a picture that tells a story.  So a good question to begin asking is what story is this Jesus movement telling with the way they live out the life of Jesus?

I find it very helpful to remember that the story being told is the result of people believing that Jesus is the Lord and Messiah, committing their lives to him in repentance and baptism.  (Is it possible that so much energy has been poured into trying to win sectarian arguments over the phrase “for the forgiveness of sins” that we have missed the fact that what separates this baptism apart from John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins is that this baptism is received “in the name of Jesus Christ” with the promise of receiving “the gift of the Holy Spirit”?)   As a result of their repentance and baptism, God made them a community of disciples bearing witness to the reign of Jesus, who is Lord and Messiah.  So the question for us who believe that Jesus is the Lord and Messiah and have committed ourselves to Jesus through repentance and baptism is what sort of story should we expect God to tell through our church?

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Posted in Kingdom of God, Missions and Ministry, Scripture, Theology

Friday’s Faith Forum: Take Out the Garbage

Posted on May 31, 2012 | 1 Comment

Most of us have read our Bible enough to know the story of the Apostle Paul [1]. His Jewish name was Saul, he was a Pharisee, and he persecuted the church prior to becoming a Christian.

I’m not entirely sure how Paul was involved in this persecution. Did he ever kill anyone himself? I don’t know. What is known is that he was present at the killing of Steven, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:58; 22:20) which means that Paul’s efforts at persecuting Christians involved murder at least as a co-conspirator. According to Paul’s own testimony, he seems to have advanced pretty high among the ranks of his Jewish comrades (Gal 1:13-14).

Like modern day Islamic terrorists, Paul’s persecution was motivated by a radical devotion to his ideology which was a mix of religion and politics. Paul held on to the national aspirations of the Jews, the hope for the kingdom being restored to Israel. Christians, on the other hand, proclaimed a message that claimed God’s kingdom was already at hand through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, which was different from what most Jews seemed to be expecting. So this Jesus movement was viewed as a dangerous threat to the political and religious aspirations of Israel, making it necessary to stop by means of persecution.

So Paul was a radical who persecuted the church, using today what we call terrorism as his weapon of choice. That, of course, changed when Paul encountered the risen Jesus Christ which we can read about in Acts 9:1-31; 22:1-22; 26:9-24.

To understand how transformative this encounter with Christ was, we need to hear Paul’s own words. In Philippians, Paul list all of his Jewish accomplishments and then has this to say:

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ… (Phil 3:7-8).

All those accolades, accomplishments, merits, or whatever we call them, are regard by Paul as “garbage”. What we read as “garbage” or “rubbish” (NRSV) is actually referring to fecal matter in the Greek [2] which why the King James Bible opts for the word “dung” in v 8. So Paul in essence is saying that since the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, everything about his former life is futile waste or worthless in the grand scheme of things.

So what does this have to do with us…our ethnicities, nationalities, educational and career accomplishments, even our own tribal heritage within Christianity…all these things we take pride in, perhaps even believing our life is somewhat dependent on? I know many people who seem more interested in their ethnic heritage or standing up for their nationalistic interests. Others live for their educational and career accomplishments. Some of them are Christians and some of those Christians even believe their salvation depends on attending the right church. For Paul, not so…it was about Christ.

Maybe there’s some garbage we need to take out so that we may “gain Christ!”

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1. This post is an adaptation of an article titled “Garbage” appearing in Connecting, 27 (2012), a biweekly publication of the Columbia Church of Christ.

2. Moisés Silva, Philippians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 2 ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 157; the abrasive nature of this word may even be translated best with the rather crass term “crap” or even the more vulgar “s***”, see N.T. Wright, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 2009), 149.

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Posted in Columbia Church of Christ, Faith, Scripture

Mission Renewal: Why I Am Hopeful

Posted on May 30, 2012 | Leave a comment

So the last couple of posts have spoken of problems pertaining to nationalism which I believe is doing harm to the mission of God in America.  So I thought I would write a blog post on the reason why I am hopeful for mission renewal that is already taking place here in America.

Tonight as our house church gathered in our home, we read the passage from Acts 2:29-41.  After we read the passage, I asked the question “what do you like about this passage?”  The first response said, “I like the fact that we have the promise of the Holy Spirit.  It wasn’t just a promise for them; It’s a promise for us too.”

Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  And that is why I am hopeful.  When we realize that we have the promised Holy Spirit and we allow it to empower us and guide us….  Well, make sure we strap our seat belts on because God will be in the driver seat and if scripture tells us anything, it tells us to expect the magnificent to happen.

Of course, there will be challenges and difficult circumstances that come our way. But in our weakness, God’s strength is made perfect.  All throughout scripture, God has taken the weak, the small,  and the powerless to accomplish his mission.  I expect God to do no less now.

I am hopeful because the more we seek to be empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit, the more convicted and courageous we will be to bear witness to Jesus Christ.  Wherever believers live by the power of the Holy Spirit as witnesses of Jesus, the kingdom of God expands.

And the most amazing thing, this renewal is already happening!

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Posted in Kingdom of God, Missions and Ministry, Scripture

A Story of Nationalism and Christian Missions

Posted on May 29, 2012 | 1 Comment

It was the spring of 2002, my last year as an undergraduate student at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. My views on war we very different then and I was very supportive of the United States invasion of Afghanistan. I also met regularly with other students who were interested in Christian missions. For some it was domestic missions while others had dreams of serving God as a missionary around the globe.

I don’t recall the student’s name, I just know that it was a girl who was part of a mission team forming that would move to somewhere in Africa. I don’t know if the team ever did launch or not. What I remember was the disappointing story that this one particular girl told. Her story was the first time that I began to sense that there was a problem with nationalism among American Christianity.

The young student was upset. Her brother, who was a year older than her, had enlisted in the Marines and was preparing to begin basic training during the summer of 2002. Even knowing that this would likely mean that her brother would wind up fighting in the Middle East for War on Terror, which would place his own life in peril, her parents were very supportive of his decision. Rightfully, this girls brother was being lauded for his decision to place his college education on hold and serve his country as a wartime military soldier.

Yet the girl was upset. While she was very supportive of her brother’s decision to enlist in the Marines, she had received a different calling in life. After some time of praying and discerning God’s calling for her life with some friends of hers, she believed that God was calling her to serve as a missionary and as a result she committed herself to a team preparing for mission work in Africa. All seemed great except for one problem.

Her decision to pursue mission work in Africa was not a decision her Christian parents were supportive of. The reasons seemed to be concerns about her own safety to the fact that mission work is not a very wise choice of vocation from an economical standpoint.

Since I never spoke to the girls parents, it is hard to know why exactly they were unsupportive of their daughters decision. For all I know it could be merely the shock and the reasons this girl spoke of being just more of a gut reaction. Whatever the case, it is still tragic. I’ve heard similar stories told by others and they are all tragic.

Regardless of how patriotic we are…

  • When we as Christians value service to our nation over service to God, the gospel is failing in us.
  • When we as Christian parents are proud of our children’s decision to join the military but criticize and condemn their decision to serve as Christian missionaries, the gospel is failing in us.
  • When we laud a military soldier as a “hero” but in unspoken ways treat the decision to serve God as a missionary as foolish, the gospel is failing in us.

This post is not meant in any way to slander men and women who serve their country in the military or any other form of civil service. My point is simply to point out that something is wrong when Christians value service to the nation over service to God.

May the church pray for those men and women who serve their country and do so honorably while facing grave danger, that they will return safely to their families. May the church also pray that God raises up more missionaries among us, that we encourage and support them to serve God faithfully even if such service calls them to martyrdom.

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Posted in Churches of Christ, Contemporary Culture, Missions and Ministry

Christianity On The Decline in America

Posted on May 29, 2012 | 6 Comments

This past Sunday was Pentecost Sunday, that day in history when God poured out his Holy Sprit and Jesus Christ was preached as the crucified but resurrected and exalted Lord and Messiah.  According to Acts 2:41, three thousand people joined the small group of disciples.

The Jesus movement was off and running.  Fueled by the Holy Spirit, these disciples lived out the life of Jesus Christ whom they fearlessly proclaimed as their King and Savior.  This was a singular focus, their mission, which earned these disciples the name “Christians” (Acts 11:26).

Today…this is no longer so.  Here in America it’s common to hear “God, country, and family” touted by many Christians.  But where did we get this idea from?  Certainly not the Bible!  But is it such a bad thing?  Well, judge for yourselves.

Is it really by coincidence that Christianity is on the decline in America?  The gospel of Jesus Christ now shares the spotlight with civil religion (with the later increasingly getting the majority of airtime).  Where in Acts, followers of Jesus were called Christians because they were living as disciples, today people can be Christians without necessarily being disciples.

Maybe it’s time to stop trying to juggle “God, Country, and Family” and live exclusively for the mission of God!

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Posted in Kingdom of God, Missions and Ministry, Scripture

Sermon: The Pentecost Promise Today

Posted on May 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

According to the Western Christian calendar, this past Sunday was Pentecost Sunday.  Two Sundays ago, I began a new sermon series with the Columbia Church of Christ on Acts 1-11 titled The Church: Christ Convicted, Spirit Fueled Mission Living.  So I purposely planned it so that I would be preaching from Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2 on Pentecost Sunday.

Below is a link to my sermon, “The Pentecost Promise Today” from Acts 2:29-41, which I invite you to listen if you are up for being challenged to make a deeper commitment to Jesus Christ as his disciple.  The teaching presented from Acts 2 is not what one might traditionally expect with a Church of Christ but I do believe the sermon is faithful to the text and to Jesus (which is my only concern).  So if you are up for a challenge, download the sermon and listen.

Acts 2_29-41 _The Pentecost Promise Today_

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Posted in Churches of Christ, Columbia Church of Christ, Kingdom of God, Missions and Ministry, Preaching and Teaching, Scripture, Theology

Friday’s Faith Forum: Drenched In The Spirit

Posted on May 25, 2012 | 2 Comments

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday according to the Western Christian calendar.  It is the anniversary when God began to pour out his Spirit on all flesh as a demonstration that the his reign was at hand, that his crucified and resurrected Son, Jesus, was exalted at his right hand as Lord and Messiah.  What a joy to be, by the grace of God, a part of God’s kingdom.

In the sermon, in Acts 2:17-21, that the Apostle Peter preached on that first Pentecost Sunday, Peter quoted from the prophet Joel.  Here is what Peter quoted from Joel 2:28-32:

“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

In vv. 17 and 18 the word “pour out” invokes the image of a massive rain storm.  In fact, one commentator describes it as a “torrential downpour” (Darrell L. Bock, Acts, 113).  This is part of the promise that is for all (cf. 2:39).  The idea is that we are to be drenched in the Spirit.

I was thinking about this the other day as I was sitting and watching a fountain outside a shopping center.  There is one sure way to be drenched in those fountain waters and that is to jump into the fountain pool and stand in the center of it.

There’s a lesson to be learned from this observation.  If you are like me, then you certainly don’t always feel as is you are drenched in the Holy Spirit and your life doesn’t reflect it (at least not on the inside that is hidden to everyone except you and God).  Yet there are ways of jumping in and drawing near to God, so that it is like we are standing in the center of the fountain being drenched by the outpouring of the Spirit.  Typically, such ways include the disciplines of prayer, scripture reading, contemplation, etc… (for a good beginning read on this see  Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline).

God has offered us the gift of his Holy Spirit.  He wants to drench us in his Spirit. Does that not sound so refreshing?  I hope this post might encourage us to pursue those disciplines that will take us to the center of the fountain that flows freely without end.

Questions:

  • What sort of thoughts are triggered within you as you think about God pouring out his Spirit like a torrential downpour?
  • What sort of disciplines have you tried practicing in your life so that you can draw near to God, as though you were standing in the center of a fountain?

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Posted in Faith, Kingdom of God, Redemption, Scripture, Theology