A Normal Life of Love

I watched the series finale of The Office last night. Intriguing! There was so much there that echoes biblical truth (and so much there that undermines it too).

The last line was:

I think an ordinary paper company like Dunder Mifflin was a great subject for a documentary. There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?

Mark Galli has an article in the latest issue of Christianity Today about Rob Bell. But it’s about more than that. It’s about our religion of feeling and disdain of the ordinary. I found Galli’s last words to be utterly profound and full of biblical truth.

To be sure, we now also know joy, but only because the promise of our redemption is assured by Christ’s death and resurrection and made known to us by the Holy Spirit. But it’s not a present experience of redemption – of flourishing and thriving, of becoming all that we can be, of amazement at the immediate encounter with God each day – but the assured hope that redemption is coming. “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (vv. 24-25, ESV).

To wait in patience is just the opposite of what we are often encouraged to do. Instead, we convince ourselves that we don’t need patience as much as willpower, because if we do everything right, we can make divine encounters a daily, ongoing, and enthralling experience. But with this comes the corollary: There must be something wrong with me, something lacking in my devotion, if I don’t have these experiences. By contrast, Paul’s admonition to wait in patience suggests that it’s normal not to have such experiences.

Yes, they do happen. In his grace God gives us periodic glimpses of the future, tastes of what is coming. This happens in those famous conversion experiences, and in healings, in miracles, in those moments when God’s presence is keenly felt. I myself have experienced a healing of severe pain in my leg. I have also almost been “slain in the Spirit” (but got hold of myself just in time!). And as the Spirit leads, I speak in tongues. I have also had ecstatic experiences when the love of God penetrated my whole being.

And in a life of 60 years, I can count these experiences on one hand. Because I’ve had such experiences, I understand perfectly the desire to have them all the time, and to imagine that maybe there is a technique, a method, a way to pray, a way to be open and alert – something! – that will allow me to experience this daily. Believe me, I tried that for a while and discovered that, yes, I could manufacture something very similar to a genuine spiritual experience. But it soon became clear that the search for daily wonder was creating a religion of Mark Galli. It wasn’t helping me love my neighbor, though it did help me judge my neighbor as relatively unspiritual, at least compared to me.

I believe there is yet another reason we’re fascinated with divine encounters: our boredom with the life God has given us.

Instead of a life of experience, Christ calls us to a life of love. And a life of love for the most part means attending to the tedious details of others’ lives, and serving them in sacrificial ways that most days feels, well, not exciting at all. Rather than sweeping the kitchen, cleaning the toilet, listening to the talkative and boring neighbor, slopping eggs onto a plate at the homeless shelter, or crunching numbers for another eight hours at the office – surely life is meant for more than this. We are tempted to wonder, Is that all there is to the “abundant” Christian life? Shouldn’t my life be more adventurous if God is in me and all around me? How am I going to be all I’m supposed to be if I have to empty bedpans in Peoria? I would just die if I had to do that.

Yes, you would. Jesus called it dying to self. Love is precisely denying the self that wants to glory in experience. The cost of discipleship most of us are asked to pay is to live the life God has given us, serving in mundane ways the people he has put in our path. To be free from the self and to discover such love is the essence of abundant life.

As Paul put it, in the final analysis love is not about speaking in tongues, having prophetic powers, understanding all mysteries or knowledge, having experiences of wonder, or being all we can be. Love instead “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7; ESV). Yes, endures. It endures now because it hopes. And it hopes because it has not yet been given in full what is promised, but only glimpses here and there, mere appetizers to the great kingdom feast.

Vocation

The doctrine of vocation, based on the doctrine of justification by faith, is what will change Chicago if pastors could get it and help their people to get it! Watch this:

Everyone Gets What They Want

While I was looking for another quote I stumbled upon this highlighted in my copy of J.I. Packer’s Knowing Christianity (Wheaton: Harold Shaw, 1995), 202:

For pagans as for Christians, the day of judgment will mean deeper entry into the life they prefer – in their case, life without God, which has all along been their heart’s real desire, even when they cloaked it with a form of religion.

Bunyan’s Struggles

In John Bunyan’s concluding thoughts to Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners he confesses that “of all the temptations that ever I met with in my life, to question the being of God, and truth of his gospel, is the worst, and the worst to be borne.” Even after his conversion Bunyan testified to experiencing these temptations. God could visit his soul with “ever so blessed a discovery of himself” and then shortly afterwards in his spirit he could be “so filled with darkness, that [he] could not so much as once conceive what that God and that comfort was, with which [he had] been refreshed.” Sometimes he saw “more in a line of the Bible than [he] could well tell how to stand under,” and other times the whole Bible appeared to him to be “a dry stick.”

Bunyan is an encouragement to those Christians who struggle with spiritual ups and downs. They are not unusual. Bunyan wrote:

I find to this day seven abominations in my heart:

1.) Inclining to unbelief.
2.) Suddenly to forget the love and mercy that Christ manifesteth.
3.) A leaning to the works of the law.
4.) Wanderings and coldness in prayer.
5.) To forget to watch for that I pray for.
6.) Apt to murmur because I have no more, and yet ready to abuse what I have.
7.) I can do none of those things which God commands me, but my corruptions will thrust in themselves. ‘When I would do good, evil is present with me.’

But then listen to this:

These things I continually see and feel, and am afflicted and oppressed with, yet the wisdom of God doth order them for my good.

1.) They make me abhor myself.
2.) They keep me from trusting my heart.
3.) They convince me of the insufficiency of all inherent righteousness.
4.) They show me the necessity of flying to Jesus.
5.) They press me to pray unto God.
6.) They show me the need I have to watch and be sober;
7.) And provoke me to pray unto God, through Christ, to help me, and carry me through this world.

Numbers 3 and 4 are especially powerful. May we learn more and more to fly to Jesus and his alien righteousness imputed to us!

Found in The Life of John Bunyan (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977), 131-32.

That Was A Sweet Sermon

On the temptations a preacher faces to pride and liftings up of heart:

Mr. John Bunyan having preached one day with peculiar warmth and enlargement, some of his friends, after service was over, took him by the hand, and could not help observing what a sweet sermon he had delivered. ‘Ay,’ said the good man, ‘you need not remind me of that, for the devil told me of it before I was out of the pulpit.’

Toplady’s Works, vol. iv., p. 11

John Bunyan

I’m reading a little biography of John Bunyan – The Life of John Bunyan (Baker, 1977). I can’t even tell who it’s by. It’s been on my shelf for years. It’s turning out to be mostly autobiography. I had heard part of this section before, but not all of it. It’s really good. Bunyan had been a tortured soul with big ups and downs. But then:

One day, as I was passing into the field, and that too with some dashes on my conscience, fearing lest all was not right yet, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, – ‘Thy righteousness is in heaven;’ and methought withal I saw with the eyes of my soul Jesus Christ at God’s right hand: there, I say, was my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, ‘He wants [lacks] my righteousness,’ for that was just before him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, ‘the same yesterday, to day, and for ever,’ Heb. xiii. 8.

Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed; I was loosed from my afflictions and irons; my temptations also fled away; so that from that time those dreadful scriptures of God left off to trouble me: now went I also home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God; so when I came home, I looked to see if I could find that sentence, – ‘Thy righteousness is in heaven,’ but could not find such a saying [how did they do this before computers?]; wherefore my heart began to sink again, only that was brought to my remembrance, – ‘He is made unto us of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,’ 1 Cor. I. 33: by this word I saw the other sentence true.

For by this scripture I saw that the man Christ Jesus, as he is distinct from us as touching his bodily presence, so he is our righteousness and sanctification before God: here, therefore, I lived, for some time, very sweetly at peace with God through Christ; oh! methought, Christ! Christ! there was nothing but Christ that was before my eyes. I was not now only for looking upon this and the other benefits of Christ apart, as of his blood, burial, or resurrection, but considering him as a whole Christ; as he in whom all these, and all other his virtues, relations, offices, and operations met together, and that he sat on the right hand of God in heaven.

It was glorious to me to see his exaltation, and the worth and prevalency of all his benefits, and that because now I could look from myself to him, and would reckon that all those graces of God that now were green on me, were yet but like those cracked groats and fourpence-halfpennies that rich men carry in their purses, when their gold is in their trunk at home: oh! I saw my gold was in my trunk at home in Christ my Lord and Saviour. Now Christ was all; all my righteousness, all my sanctification, and all my redemption.

Further, the Lord did also lead me into the mystery of union with the Son of God; that I was joined to him, ‘that I was flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone,’ Eph. v. 30; and now was that word of St. Paul sweet to me. By this also was my faith in him, as my righteousness, the more confirmed in me; for if he and I were one, then his righteousness was mine, his merits mine, his victory also mine. Now could I see myself in heaven and earth at once, – in heaven by my Christ, by my head, by my righteousness and life, though on earth by my body or person.

Now I saw Christ Jesus was looked upon of God, and should also be looked upon by us, as that common or public person, in whom all the whole body of his elect are always to be considered and reckoned; that we fulfilled the law by him, died by him, rose from the dead by him, got the victory over sin, death, the devil, and hell, by him: when he died, we died; and so of his resurrection. ‘Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise,’ saith he, Isa. xxvi. 19. And again, ‘After two days he will revive us, and the third day we shall live in his sight,’ Hos. vi. 2. Which is now fulfilled by the sitting down of the Son of man on the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, according to that to the Ephesians, – ‘He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,’ Ephes. ii. 6.

Ah! these blessed considerations and scriptures, with many others of like nature, were in those days made to spangle in mine eye, so that I have cause to say, ‘Praise ye the Lord God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness,’ Psa. cl. 1, 2.

(pp. 61-63)

City Vision

Wow. Wow! WOW! Tim Keller has done it again for me. Reading his article “Ministry in the New Global Culture of Major City-Centers” back in 2005 literally rocked my world. God used it to give me and our church our vision for being a ‘City-Center’ church.

But after several years fatigue sets in and you can begin to doubt whether the vision is right or realistic.

I’ve been reading slowly through Keller’s new magnum opus, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City (Zondervan, 2012). I just finished Part 4: City Vision. It is much of the stuff I had read and heard from him before, but more fully developed and honed. Reading this section has re-convinced me that this is indeed God’s calling on my life and our church and re-invigorated me to rally people around this vision.

Listen to this conclusion to chapter 13 – “The Call to the City” (p. 162):

We can be confident that the cities of the world will continue to grow in significance and power. Because of this, they remain just as strategic – if not more so – than they were in the days of Paul and the early church when Christian mission was predominantly urban. I would argue that there is nothing more critical for the evangelical church today than to emphasize and support urban ministry.

The need is great, as is the cost – ministry in city centers is considerably more expensive on a per capita basis than it is away from the urban core. But the church can no longer ignore the profound and irreversible changes occurring in the world today. If Christians want to reach the unreached, we must go to the cities. To reach the rising generations, we must go to the cities. To have any impact for Christ on the creation of culture, we must go to the cities. To serve the poor, we must go to the cities.

Many people who are not naturally comfortable in the city will have to follow the example of Abraham. Abraham was called to leave his familiar culture and become a pilgrim, seeking the city of God (Gen. 12:1 – 4; Heb 11:8-10). And while Christians should not deliberately seek difficulty for its own sake, can we not follow the example of the incarnate Christ, who did not live in places where he was comfortable but went where he was useful (Matt 8:20; John 4:34; Rom 15:3)? Can we not face difficulty for his sake (cf. Heb 11:26), embracing both the difficulties and the riches of city living?

While difficulties exist, there are many riches to cities and urban life, as Keller and my own experience show.

Later, Keller clarifies (p. 166):

I am not saying that all Christians should pack up and go live and minister in urban areas. What I am saying is that the cities of the world are grievously underserved by the church because, in general, the people of the world are moving into cities faster than churches are. And I am seeking to use all the biblical, sociological, missiological, ecclesial, and rhetorical resources at my disposal to help the church (particularly in the United States) reorient itself to address this deficit.

This he does masterfully.

Yet I am a Midwestern farm boy at root. Through unmistakable and unexpected Providence I find myself pastoring a church in the ‘City-Center’ of Chicago. But I feel pulled. Many times have I read Wendell Berry and his tales of Port William with a mixed sense of longing and nostalgia as he writes about rural/small town life. Many times have I wondered what this means for me living away from my roots and in an urban setting. Could the best of small town life be replicated in the city. And could our church be part of realizing that?

I literally cried when I read these words in Center Church (p. 170; emphasis mine):

Even those (like Wendell Berry) who lift up the virtues of rural living outline a form of human community just as achievable in cities as in small towns…. [Berry speaks of the 'agrarian mind' as] holding a commitment to a particular place for a lifetime and to conducting one’s work, recreation, family life in the same place and within a web of thick, long-term, local personal relationships…. What this means, I believe, is that a person with an ‘agrarian’ mind can live in a city very well. It is illuminating to compare the seminal work of Jane Jacobs (The Death and Life of the Great American Cities) with Berry’s work. Jacobs was as committed as Berry to the importance of neighborhood – of local economies in which members of the neighborhood knew each other, had regular dealings with each other, and identified their own interests with the interests of their neighbors.

On the next page Keller quotes political theorist Mark Mitchell as saying (p. 171):

Ultimately, healthy communities will only be realized when individuals commit to a particular place and to particular neighbors in the long-term work of making a place, of recognizing and enjoying the responsibilities and pleasures of membership in a local community. These good things are not the unique provenance of agrarian or rural settings. They can and have been achieved in urban and town settings.

Wow. Wow! WOW! This section is a must read. And I must learn to communicate it better to those in our church who won’t read it. I desire so passionately that this would be achieved in the UIC Area, for the glory of God and the good of us.

Church Growth

I recently received a mass ministry email that began with this question – “Do you want your church to grow?”

Then it explained that so-and-so has worked with over 2,000 churches and has found there are 5 systems that if deployed correctly, will grow your church. Here are the five:

• Volunteer system: Gaining, training & inspiring volunteers
• Outreach system: Advertising & outreach system to reach new people
• Administration system: Internal processes & systems
• Follow up system: Following up with givers, guests & new Christians
• Communication system: How to communicate with your church clearly

I have no doubt that these systems are important and beneficial for churches. But why no mention of the supernatural? Of the fact that the Lord builds his church (Mt. 16:18)? Of the priority of prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4)?

Church Attendance

From The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Aged 37 3/4 (p. 90):

He said he’d rather come to church and be made to feel guilty, rather than stay at home and feel even more guilty about not coming to church to feel guilty.

May this never be the mindset of people that come to Immanuel!

The Gospel in Everything!

Tonight sitting around the dinner table the conversation with the kids turned to bodily functions. Giggles abounded as we discussed ear wax, puke, mucous, and the many different synonyms for passing gas that we will allow to be used in our family. Then I remembered something that I read in Tim Keller’s Center Church (p. 121) earlier today and shared it with them:

Ajith Fernando, a Sri Lankan evangelist, communicates the idea of substitutionary atonement to his listeners by using an illustration:

Have you ever had an infected wound or sore? When you open it, what comes rolling out? Pus. And what is that? It is basically the collective corpses of white blood cells fighting the infection that have died so that you may live. Do you see? Substitutionary salvation is in your very blood.

You really can turn every conversation with your kids to the gospel in a fun way!