News from November 2009
Evangelism and Social Action
Posted on November 28, 2009 by Pastor Tom
Check out this comment by John Stott about the necessity of both Evangelism and Social Action in the church.
Evangelism and Social Action (cont’d.)
829. Polarization and specialization
I suggest the need for a threefold recognition about
evangelism and social action:
(a) A recognition that the two are partners in the
Christian mission… ‘distinct yet equal’ partners.
Neither is an excuse for the other, a cloak for the other,
or a means to the other. Each exists in its own right as
an expression of Christian love. Both should be included
to some degree in every local church’s programme.
(b) A recognition that both are also every individual
Christian’s responsibility. Every Christian is a witness,
and must take whatever opportunities he is given. Every
Christian is also a servant, and must respond to challenges
to service, without regarding them as merely occasions for
evangelism. Yet the existential situation will often
assign priority to one or the other of the two
responsibilities. For example, the good Samaritan’s
ministry to the brigand’s victim was not to stuff tracts
into his pockets but to pour oil into his wounds. For this
was what the situation demanded.
(c) A recognition that, although both are part of the
church’s and the Christian’s duties, yet God calls
different people to different ministries and endows them
with appropriate gifts. This is a necessary deduction from
the nature of the church as Christ’s body. Although we
should resist polarization between evangelism and social
action, we should not resist specialization. Everybody
cannot do everything. Some are called to be evangelists,
others to be social workers, others to be political
activists. Within each local church, which as the body of
Christ in the locality is committed to both evangelism and
social action, there is a proper place for individual
specialists and for specialist groups.
—From “Evangelism, Salvation and Social Justice”, by R. J.
Sider with a response by John Stott (2nd edn. Nottingham:
Grove Books, 1979), p. 22.
——————————————————————————
—Excerpted from “Authentic Christianity”, pp. 343–344, by
permission of InterVarsity Press.
A third way between Traditional and Emergent?
Posted on November 19, 2009 by Pastor Tom
A colleague of mine from my Wisconsin study group reviews the book “Deep Church.” Here are his thoughts.
Deep Church
from DashHouse.com by dsd@DashHouse.com (Darryl Dash)
My latest column at Christian Week:
Just when I thought the discussion on the emerging church had ended, Jim Belcher comes out with the best book on the topic so far. It turns out the discussion isn’t over, and there’s still lots that can be salvaged no matter who you are.
The book is Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional. It takes me back to the early days of the discussion before things got so polarized. Belcher describes the tensions that many of us felt in the early days. He is theologically conservative, and yet he was part of the early movement. He considers himself an insider and an outsider at the same time.
He’s written Deep Church for those of us caught in between, who “are unhappy with the present state of the evangelical church but are not sure where to turn for an answer.” It’s also useful for those who want to understand what the emerging church is all about, as well as for seminarians and pastors who want to sharpen how ministry is practiced in their context.
Belcher begins by telling his story. In the 1990s, he began to crave the deep fellowship he had experienced as a Ph.D. student at Georgetown, or the kind that Francis Schaeffer had developed at L’Abri in Switzerland. He started by inviting a few friends to his apartment for a weekly discussion. Within a couple of years, the group grew to a couple of hundred young adults. Belcher first thought that this group was unique within the larger church world, but he soon discovered that similar groups were starting all across the country. They weren’t satisfied with how church was presently done. Belcher began to develop friendships with other leaders including Rob Bell, now pastor of Mars Hill church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Belcher still appreciates a lot about the emerging church. He likes that people are trying to rediscover what the church should be like and how it should impact culture, and what it means to be a Christian in a changing world. He thinks the emerging church has done a good job of assessing the problems in the traditional church. But he also has qualms about some of the answers the emerging church has offered to the questions they ask.
In the main section of the book, he takes us through seven areas of discussion: truth, evangelism, gospel, worship, preaching, ecclesiology, and culture. Belcher wants both sides to understand each other, finding agreement in areas of classic orthodoxy described in the ancient creeds while allowing second-tier differences. “Learning from traditional and emerging voices,” he writes, “I believe that deep church moves beyond them to a more excellent way – mere Christianity.”
To be honest, I’ve been disenfranchised lately with the direction of the emerging church. Belcher’s book reminded me of what I used to appreciate. I’ve been wrong to be too dismissive. I needed this correction.
But if you’re worried that Belcher will be either too sympathetic or too critical, you can relax. I thought he did a good job of presenting the positions of people in the best possible light, refusing to paint caricatures or to take cheap shots. The endorsements from emerging thinkers indicates that he succeeded. But he isn’t afraid to analyze these arguments and point out where he thinks they are wrong.
It’s not a perfect book. Belcher probably errs on the side of graciousness. He may be too optimistic about the possibility of a genuine third way when things seem so polarized. I sure like that he is trying.
The real strength of the book is that it poses the key issues asked by the emerging church, questions which, after all, still need to be answered. It pushes us to a holy dissatisfaction with the weaknesses of the traditional church and shows us that we can do better. At the same time, it avoids the excesses of some who criticize the traditional church, and emphasizes the need for classic orthodoxy.
“It is my hope that Deep Church will become a platform for working out a third way in the church.” It’s a tall order – but it’s sure worth a try.
The Pro Life Two Step
Posted on November 18, 2009 by Pastor Tom
Justin Taylor’s blog describes a helpful way to engage in discussions about abortion.
When thinking through the logic of life, it’s always good to get some good fog-clearing advice.
For example, Alan Shlemon recently gave a defense of the pro-life position at Central Michigan University and he focused on just two claims:
(1) the unborn is a distinct, living, and whole human being from the moment of conception;
(2) abortion is discrimination: it disqualifies a group of human beings (the unborn) from being valuable because of an arbitrary quality or characteristic.
He then fielded objections from the audience. The vast majority of objections against the pro-life view, he says, come in one of two forms.
They either assume the unborn is not a human being.
Or, they disqualify the unborn from being a valuable human being based on an arbitrary quality or characteristic.
When I hear a defense for abortion, I figure out which category it falls in.
Then, I can show them the misstep by appealing to one of the two claims I defended in my opening remarks.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2009/11/15/the-pro-life-two-step
No big deal?
Posted on November 17, 2009 by Pastor Tom
“It’s no big deal.” That’s what I hear in my head when I make a “little” choice that puts convenience over obedience. But these little choices seemingly insignificant choices can lead to Big Trouble.
Consider King David. He was ruler over a strong nation. He was a man after God’s own heart. God promised to keep a member of his family on the throne forever. Yet “in the spring, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent his army but David stayed home in Jerusalem.”
What was he thinking? “I’ve done my fair share of battle. It’s time to delegate.” Or “I never get to see spring in Jerusalem. I think I’ll just stay home.”
But he made one little choice that pointed his life on a trajectory of rebellion, distance from God and long term misery. One little choice – then came lust, adultery, cover up, murder, loss of intimacy with God for over a year, death of the child conceived and never ending strife in his immediate family.”
Yes David repented and the Lord forgave. But the consequences of a “no big deal” choice lasted long.
Lord, help me to say no to choosing convenience at the expense of obedience.
Love always trusts?
Posted on November 12, 2009 by Pastor Tom
Isn’t it naive to always trust in love? The stories I hear from people in broken relationships often reveal betrayal, deceit and long term consequences. But 1 Corinthians 13 talks about a love that “always trusts” or “believes all things.”
How can this be? Upon further study, it became clearer that this trusting love is more willing to believe the best about people than the worst. It is more willing to assume good motives rather than bad motives.
I don’t think it means we give up discernment. But this love fights back when an immediate negative thought about another jumps into our mind with no factual basis. It’s a hard balance to maintain – discernment and trust. But we need not project one negative experience in a relationship onto every other relationship in our lives.
That’s just one nugget in the deep mine known as 1 Corinthians 13.
Do our soldiers willingly give up their lives?
Posted on November 4, 2009 by Pastor Tom
“Today we want to remember those soldiers who willingly gave up their lives for us so,” I said at a Remembrance Sunday worship service. We read “In Flanders Fields.” We had a moment of silence.
But following the service an elderly couple approached me. They asked a question I’d never thought about before. “Do you think soldiers willingly give up their lives on the battlefield?”
He was a veteran of the Russian and German armies in World War 2. He lived in Russia but was of German descent. When the Germans invaded Russia, he was recruited to the Russian army. He was captured in the first weeks of that campaign.
Then when the Germans found out he was German, they “recruited” him into their army. He fought at Stalingrad. But later he was captured by the Russians. He survived the war and eventually found his way to Canada. She was a German living in Poland. She saw first hand the German invasion of Poland and then the Russian counter invasion. Eventually she spent 13 months in prison at the end of the war for being German.
I thought about their question. I assume that soldiers who volunteer do so willingly. So they agree to put their lives on the line. But do they give up their lives willingly? I’m not sure. I’m not a soldier but from what I’ve read, it seems soldiers try to avoid death as much as possible on the battlefield.
This couple then shared their perspective. He said that on the eastern front, you fought for your buddies. You fought the enemy and fought hard to survive. You might have your life taken from you. But few willingly gave up their lives to death.
I don’t know if there is an absolute answer to that question regarding soldiers. But I do know there is one who did give up his life willingly. The Bible tells us he resolutely set out for Jerusalem to die. The night before his death, his arresters led by Judas searched for him. The Bible tells us he went out to meet them. (John 18:1–11). He asked them “Whom do you seek?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
He didn’t deny his identity. He didn’t try to get out of it. He said, “I am he.” Then something remarkable happens. “When Jesus said to them, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.” Judas and all the soldiers fell down. Perhaps they were struck by the resolute nature of the one who spoke.
Jesus could have maybe run away. But he asks them “Whom do you seek,” a second time. He again acknowledges his identity. It was like Jesus was helping his arresters arrest him. These are the actions of a man who is ready to willingly give up his life. That’s why His action is remembered as the great act of love.
On this Remembrance weekend we remember those who may not have willingly died but willingly put their lives on the line.