Revelation 5 tells us that God has ransomed a people for his glory from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Jesus Christ is alone is declared worthy to bring to an end all the sin and suffering of this world because he has made these people a kingdom and priests to our God. And because of this, thousands of saints and angels worship Him, saying “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!”
During my time in China, I saw clearly what this worship of Jesus demands of the Church now, and what it demands of me. Last November God used numerous means to call me to go on the STAMP China trip. I offered numerous reasons to avoid going on the trip, But God graciously removed from my life all the things I coveted rather than heeding his call.
During the four weeks I spent in China, I was able to share the Gospel with Han Chinese who had never heard the Gospel clearly proclaimed. I was able to visit an underground training school full of Chinese nationals with a zeal for the Gospel and for prayer that humbled me, because I have far too great a fear of man. I met a Muslim-Background believer who is, by all accounts, the first baptized follower of Jesus from his people. I saw God at work in more ways that I have time to recount now. But most of all, God opened my eyes to the truths of Scripture regarding God's people and their calling in this world.
After God scattered the people of the earth at Babel and made them into may nations, he called Abraham to be one through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. As the story of Salvation develops, this blessing comes ultimately through Abraham's descendant, Jesus. Through Jesus we have been made children of Abraham, and we have inherited the mission of being a blessing to the nations. At Babel the nations were scattered. In Jesus, God has called them back together as one people. We are given the honor—and responsibility—of having been made agents in the harvest of the nations.
My point is this: Scripture shows that I—and we— are not saved for the sake of ourselves. We are saved for the sake of the glory of Jesus. We are called out of darkness to be a light in the darkness. Each of us is called to consider the difficult question of whether we are to go. Each of us is called to prioritize our lives to support the mission of God. Each of us is called to labor in prayer for those who go.
God used my time in China to make the Scriptural call to go to the nations more clear to me. And it seems that He is calling me back to China in the near future. But STAMP China, and Scripture, and the stories I have told you, are not just about me. I pray that the reports you have heard today heighten your awareness of how God is restoring the nations to himself. I pray that you will seriously consider what the mission of God's people requires of you. The calling is not my own. As the body of Christ, we are united in this singular effort.
A common refrain on our trip was that after seeing what we had seen, our lives could not be the same. Now you, too, have heard the stories. How must your life change?
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Reading the Bible
College Church is doing a summer series at the evening service on the Word of God. One sermon in particular has stuck in my mind over the last month. Ministry Resident (and now Pastor) Andrew Fulton taught on the perspicuity of Scripture.
Perspicuity is somewhat of an ironic word. It's an uncommon word whose meaning is unknown to many that means that Scripture's meaning is commonly available. The core of the message of perspicuity is that the essentials of faith are understandable to all in Scripture. While there are many things that are difficult issues of interpretation, the core message of salvation is consistently clear throughout Scripture.
Fulton discussed how group Bible Studies often progress. There are the intellectuals, who can make others think that you have to have an MA to read the Bible. And there are the argumentative types, who tend to focus in on every controversy possible. Of course, at the other end of the spectrum are those who read the Bible with so little nuance that they never feel the deep tensions that God uses to grow our roots deeper.
But the general negative tendency of Bible Studies as a whole is to focus so much on the difficulties of Scripture that we never affirm and internalize that which is perfectly clear. Yes, we need to work on the difficult portions of Scripture. And we need to have answers for the difficult questions of life. But many Bible Studies digress to only talking about the difficult sections. When people walk away from such a study, they are usually discouraged, lacking confidence that God's Word is perspicuous, and lacking the impetus to internalize anything. After all, they don't even know what the text is even saying.
This needs to shape how we lead Bible Studies, but also how we behave as participants. Participants that seek intellectual quarry will find just that in Scripture. But those who seek the clear Word of God, the message of salvation, will find the Gospel in its simplicity, but also in its depth that reaches and changes every aspect of life.
Perspicuity is somewhat of an ironic word. It's an uncommon word whose meaning is unknown to many that means that Scripture's meaning is commonly available. The core of the message of perspicuity is that the essentials of faith are understandable to all in Scripture. While there are many things that are difficult issues of interpretation, the core message of salvation is consistently clear throughout Scripture.
Fulton discussed how group Bible Studies often progress. There are the intellectuals, who can make others think that you have to have an MA to read the Bible. And there are the argumentative types, who tend to focus in on every controversy possible. Of course, at the other end of the spectrum are those who read the Bible with so little nuance that they never feel the deep tensions that God uses to grow our roots deeper.
But the general negative tendency of Bible Studies as a whole is to focus so much on the difficulties of Scripture that we never affirm and internalize that which is perfectly clear. Yes, we need to work on the difficult portions of Scripture. And we need to have answers for the difficult questions of life. But many Bible Studies digress to only talking about the difficult sections. When people walk away from such a study, they are usually discouraged, lacking confidence that God's Word is perspicuous, and lacking the impetus to internalize anything. After all, they don't even know what the text is even saying.
This needs to shape how we lead Bible Studies, but also how we behave as participants. Participants that seek intellectual quarry will find just that in Scripture. But those who seek the clear Word of God, the message of salvation, will find the Gospel in its simplicity, but also in its depth that reaches and changes every aspect of life.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
The Trip Home
Today was the Jordan canoe trip. The Jordans less my sister, plus my cousin Nate, who is visiting for a few weeks and will be in 10th grade in the fall. Nate and I make a pretty good Mario Kart team. We also dominated our kayaks. This is us before the trip. Before the torrential rain. Before the hail. Before Nate flipped his kayak. We came across some Boy Scouts before the rain hit. Let it be noted, they were no better prepared than we were.
However, things cleared up nicely this evening. This is the view from where I blog.
This is the view from where I was reading earlier.
And this is our BB gun. There are a few various rodents for whom the orders are to shoot first and let God sort them out. I'm a crack shot.
Why no one ever wants to come home with me, I do not know. I haven't even talked about my mom's food. She just put a rhubarb pie in the oven.
However, things cleared up nicely this evening. This is the view from where I blog.
This is the view from where I was reading earlier.
And this is our BB gun. There are a few various rodents for whom the orders are to shoot first and let God sort them out. I'm a crack shot.
Why no one ever wants to come home with me, I do not know. I haven't even talked about my mom's food. She just put a rhubarb pie in the oven.
Friday, August 08, 2008
Natural Opportunities
One of the internal difficulties I had in China was that I was in China specifically for the purpose of sharing the Gospel with pretty much everyone I met. To me, it felt surprisingly insincere at times to move the conversation intentionally to a place where I could share the Gospel.
Sharing the Gospel is a great joy, even when it is not received warmly. But although I knew that sharing the truth and joy of Jesus with someone is ultimately the most loving thing one can do, I cannot help but sometimes think—from a human perspective—that my presentation of the Gospel is less loving, or even deceptive, because I am meeting people for that purpose alone. It just doesn't feel natural to me.
Another reason it can seem unnatural to share the Gospel is for lack of grounds for conversation or friendship. Awhile back I came across this blog entry by a Chicago area pastor. It has put me to thinking about how important it is to develop opportunities in our own lives where we can naturally show and tell the Good News.
I laughed to myself recently when a friend said in passing that she needed to have a favorite architect. The reason, ultimately, was for the sake of conversation with a friend who was interested in such things—an end which I would never ridicule. Or, another example is blogger and pastor Zach Nielson, who treasures his time playing jazz with local musicians as a means of natural friendship developmenet with non-believers.
While in the "bubble" of Wheaton College, I regularly struggled with what to make of my separation from non-believers. I wanted to have meaningful interactions with non-believers, but the spontaneous conversation never felt right to me. So rises the importance becoming excellent at what one can. While in China, being an American granted a degree of celebrity status that allowed us to develop relationships with almost anyone, in America, it takes a great deal more to gain someone's interest and ear.
Or, the sharing the Gospel can seem unnatural because we go from organic friendship to a wooden presentation. One thing I did learn in my time in China was the importance of my evangelism training prior to the trip. Most everyone will agree that reading through a four spiritual laws booklet is a lame way to share the Gospel (though I personally know an example of a person coming to faith through just that). I didn't once use the exact patterns I was taught. Instead, I became able to express what I already know in a clear way, guided by the patterns devloped by those more wise and gifted than I. My personal knowledge and passion combined with this framework enabled me to share the Gospel as what it is, the most important thing in my life—without sacrificing clarity.
This felt more natural to me than pulling out a booklet, even when the relationship wasn't as far along as I would have liked, it was natural. I wasn't just forcing my views on someone. They wanted to know who I was, and so I would share with them the most formative thing in my life.
There is always going to be discomfort in sharing the Gospel. It comes in lack of deep friendships or a lack of common ground. But perhaps more fundamental is this third area: the Gospel being presented as something other. What message is given when we go from personal, interactive conversation to talking in abstractions about a worldview when we 'begin' sharing? Our most natural presentation of the Gospel is one that shows how our nature has been changed by Jesus.
It will be a message entirely unnatural to the unregenerate hearer. Work to let the unnatural happen there, and not for lack of our efforts to build the relationships that show us to be speaking the truth in love.
Sharing the Gospel is a great joy, even when it is not received warmly. But although I knew that sharing the truth and joy of Jesus with someone is ultimately the most loving thing one can do, I cannot help but sometimes think—from a human perspective—that my presentation of the Gospel is less loving, or even deceptive, because I am meeting people for that purpose alone. It just doesn't feel natural to me.
Another reason it can seem unnatural to share the Gospel is for lack of grounds for conversation or friendship. Awhile back I came across this blog entry by a Chicago area pastor. It has put me to thinking about how important it is to develop opportunities in our own lives where we can naturally show and tell the Good News.
I laughed to myself recently when a friend said in passing that she needed to have a favorite architect. The reason, ultimately, was for the sake of conversation with a friend who was interested in such things—an end which I would never ridicule. Or, another example is blogger and pastor Zach Nielson, who treasures his time playing jazz with local musicians as a means of natural friendship developmenet with non-believers.
While in the "bubble" of Wheaton College, I regularly struggled with what to make of my separation from non-believers. I wanted to have meaningful interactions with non-believers, but the spontaneous conversation never felt right to me. So rises the importance becoming excellent at what one can. While in China, being an American granted a degree of celebrity status that allowed us to develop relationships with almost anyone, in America, it takes a great deal more to gain someone's interest and ear.
Or, the sharing the Gospel can seem unnatural because we go from organic friendship to a wooden presentation. One thing I did learn in my time in China was the importance of my evangelism training prior to the trip. Most everyone will agree that reading through a four spiritual laws booklet is a lame way to share the Gospel (though I personally know an example of a person coming to faith through just that). I didn't once use the exact patterns I was taught. Instead, I became able to express what I already know in a clear way, guided by the patterns devloped by those more wise and gifted than I. My personal knowledge and passion combined with this framework enabled me to share the Gospel as what it is, the most important thing in my life—without sacrificing clarity.
This felt more natural to me than pulling out a booklet, even when the relationship wasn't as far along as I would have liked, it was natural. I wasn't just forcing my views on someone. They wanted to know who I was, and so I would share with them the most formative thing in my life.
There is always going to be discomfort in sharing the Gospel. It comes in lack of deep friendships or a lack of common ground. But perhaps more fundamental is this third area: the Gospel being presented as something other. What message is given when we go from personal, interactive conversation to talking in abstractions about a worldview when we 'begin' sharing? Our most natural presentation of the Gospel is one that shows how our nature has been changed by Jesus.
It will be a message entirely unnatural to the unregenerate hearer. Work to let the unnatural happen there, and not for lack of our efforts to build the relationships that show us to be speaking the truth in love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)