Sovereign Grace - It Makes Us Go

As I continue to wrestle through the implications of theology in every day mission I am struck by a simple little question, "How do we keep at it?" We have looked at Jesus as the theological center, we have looked at the centrality of being "in Christ", and so now we must consider the role of sovereign grace in this whole thing. You may wonder why I would place sovereign grace here in the midst of this discussion. I mean, we could naturally look at the person of the Holy Spirit and his role in the incarnational church.  We could naturally look at the importance of the Scriptures.  However, it seems to me that we need to grapple with how we get "in Christ" and we need to come to grips with the sovereignty of God in all that we are. I think the best place to begin is with a little Bible, Ephesians 1:11-14,
"11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."
This little snippet from Ephesians is so full of goodness that we need to work through it over the course of a few posts.  Let's begin with the first phrase, "In him".  We are reminded again that the this is the central understanding of who we are people.  We are people who are "in him".  This is the primary marker of our identity. Paul wants it to be clear that to be "in him" is the context for all that follows. Ae we pursue our brief analysis of this passage we must keep our in-himness in the front of our minds.

A long time coming...

I have not posted in a while.  This means that I have broken the number one rule of blogging.  That rule states that you are to blog approximately thrice weekly. But, you see real life, the place that is not connected to a computer has become full. Therefore, I haven't had time to write. Even writing this I feel like I should be doing ten other things. So, here's the deal, I am hopeful that things are going to begin slowing. I need the space to write. It gives me a place to work out what is going on in my head. I want to continue writing about how our theology and doctrine drives us into mission. But, right now the mission is demanding my time and the keyboard doesn't hold a candle to the mission.

The Beginning

As I stated in my previous post, we are going to go on an expedition with God to see how what we believe matters and how it determines the ways by which go on mission. Any good expedition requires the right provisions. So what are our provisions? I think we must start with a brief discussion of my own presuppositions. The reality is that none of us are 'objective'. We all have passions, history, frameworks, and a lens through which we evaluate things. I think that my presuppositions would include some of these frameworks:
  1. I am a male, anglo, middle-class, American, with a graduate level education. I am married, I have children (a boy and a girl). I come from a broken home, the oldest of three sons.
  2. I am Presbyterian in polity and Reformed in dogma. I do think that the Westminster provides us with one of the best frameworks for systematic theology. However, I am growing weary with systematic theology as much of it seems to be disconnected from biblical theology and has slipped into proof-texting.
  3. I grew up church-going in a mainline church. I did not begin living the Christian life until June 1995.  My foundational understanding of how to be a Christian comes from the teaching of Campus Crusade for Christ.
  4. My ecclesiology was shaped through the ministry philosophy of Campus Crusade for Christ and over the last six years has been largely influenced by a mix of Reformed writers and missional church writers. Therefore, I reject the attractional model of 'church growth'. It seems to me that the church joining in with God on mission is attractive, so much so, that we don't need lights, fog machines, or super-stars.
  5. I think that the church is responsible for transformation and the cultural mandate of Genesis 1.
  6. I am not post-modern.  I am not modern.  My epistemology is a bit convoluted, I'm working it out, bear with me.
  7. I think that the Bible is authoritative and without error in its original manuscripts.  There are plenty of other venues to discuss this one, it's my presupposition. You can presuppose otherwise, but I am not going to spend time defending this.
I reserve the right to edit this list as more comes out in my writing.

Why Dad?

On our way home from school I decided to break the news to Ethan. He had only one question, "Why Dad?" Listening to all the talk about Miguel Cabrera and thinking about my own family's history with alcohol and drug abuse, I am realizing that all of us are asking the same question. We feel a lot like this: You know what though? We don't want to hear the answer. Why would a man who has a great wife sleep around? Why would a person with a family who loved him turn to drink? Why would a kid with everything in front of her slice up her arms? Why does a kid with a great future waste it away sitting on a couch getting high? We are constantly left with the question, "Why Dad?" The answer, while simple, is profound. The answer, while simple, sounds weak coming off the tongue. The answer, while simple, is not what we want to admit to. The answer is that the world is broken. Each of us are broken. There is a cloud of stink that sticks to us and we can't shake it. Some of us can go about hiding it really well, for a while. Some of us can even hide it for our whole lives, but deep down we know it's there. What bothers most of us is that we know, "...but by the grace of God go I". What keeps any of us from doing these things? What keeps us from living out our brokenness in such a way that leaves us alone in a jail cell? It seems like there are two are things. The first is that there is someone in our lives who is willing to fight for us. They make it clear that they are with us and for us no matter what. For me, it was my mother. I remember when my mom and dad were divorced and her telling us, "You will not become 'those' kids. Your Dad and I love you and we expect that you will become successful, hardworking, good men. This divorce is not an excuse for anything." She backed it up. Over and over. The second is that there comes a point where individuals take responsibility for their own lives. There was a time, for me it was college, that each of us have to decide how we are going to live and whether or not we will take full responsibility for our actions. For those of us don't get to that place we become like this: So, how did I answer the question, "Why Dad?" I told Ethan that we live in a broken world that is filled with broken people. Sometimes this brokenness gets the better of them and they do things they don't want to do. That's why we have each other and that's why we need each other. Then I told him we need to pray for everyone we know who's broken and hurting because God really does care. That's why Jesus came here and that's why Jesus died and rose again. Because God, really does care. How would you answer?

Dear Miguel

Dear Miguel, I don't know you. I have not ever met you. I have watched you play baseball every summer since your arrival in Detroit a few years ago. You may be the best baseball player I have ever seen. Every night before I go to bed I see your life sized poster hanging on Ethan's, my nine year old son, bedroom door. You are his favorite player. He's never met you either. Ethan and I cheer for you. We feel like we know you because you are in our home nearly every night from April through September (hopefully October too). Ethan wants to be a baseball player when he grows up and you are one of his heroes. Today as I drove into work I heard on the radio about your DUI. My heart broke and my eyes filled with tears. I thought this is stupid, I don't even know him. My heart is broken because I know that Ethan when he watches Sportscenter tonight or tomorrow will find out too. So, I know that he and I will have to talk about it. I know that he will experience heartbreak. I know he will cry. I know I will hold him. I can't imagine what it's like to be you. The pressure you must feel everyday has to be overwhelming. To live every single day in a bubble because you play a boy's game better than anyone else has to be one of the most difficult things there is. I don't want to pretend to understand. Because I don't. I do want to say this, I am praying for you and Ethan will be too. Whether you know it or not you're part of our family. You're one of us, even though we've never met you. When you hurt, we hurt. Miguel, I hope that you will set aside baseball for a while and get the help you need. I hope that some day soon Ethan and I will be able to watch you play baseball again. We will be praying and asking that God will heal your brokenness and that he will break the addiction to alcohol. My hope is that you will realize that you cannot do this on your own. My hope is that you will realize that you are not invincible and that you need other people to come alongside you and care for you. Let them help. I also hope that you will realize that there is great grace, mercy, and community available to you in relationship with Jesus if you will repent and seek the forgiveness he offers. Ethan and I will be praying and waiting. Sincerely, Ethan's Dad

Can You Feel It Coming…

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It seems as though there is something huge waiting to break through.  I can't put my finger on it but there is something almost tangible enveloping my heart, mind, and soul. Have you ever felt this way?Naysayers don't seem to have any power. The vision, the mission, the dream are in front of me and yet it seems as though there is a fog that causes me to not quite be able to fully comprehend. So I actively wait. Faithful to the things that are clear and before me. Hopeful for the things that wrapped in the mystery of the fog. Thankful for the sovereignly good God within whose kingdom I serve.

Community and Christmas

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What is the meaning of Christmas? That was the question that NBC's Community asked last week in an incredibly creative stop motion animation episode that left me laughing. The episode was full of hat tips to great Christmas specials of the past and a few nice shots at the Christian faith. Shots at Christianity in a Christmas special? Yes. Are you offended? The shots that they took weren't the kinds that you might expect.  The most crushing one came from Shirley, whose character is an outspoken Christian. She said, "I am a modern day Christian, I have learned sensitivity and so I say Happy Holidays not wanting anyone else's religion to feel inferior to mine." I laughed. Then, I cried. Not really. But, I have been thinking about this for the last few days. Christmas has lost something in the post-modern malaise of mutual worldview affirmations. Then I remembered last Friday, my son sang in a "Holiday Concert" at his school.  They sang Happy Hannukah, Mud Slide, and Up on the Housetop. Silent Night was played on the piano, no singing. Something manifestly changed. A hush came over the crowded cafeteria. You could have heard a pin drop. Christmas, the moment when God split time one passover many years ago and entered into history. Even today with all of our sensitivity and complacency humanity still becomes silent before the reality that took place when God moved into the neighborhood. Everyone in that cafeteria experienced something different in that moment than all that had come before. That moment was thick with the holy. I wish I could sit down with Abed and over a peppermint mocha just talk about the meaning of Christmas. Maybe I can, maybe there are people all around me looking for the real meaning if I would just open my eyes to see and have ears to hear.

What are you thankful for?

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What are you thankful for?  This is the question that was posed by the boys at Professional One a "boutique of awesome" or also known as one of the best real estate firms in the country run by Mike and Todd. Ever since the question was asked I have been thinking about it. This is a question we ask around our kitchen table as opposed to the generic "God is good, God is great..." How can you answer such a question with any kind of authenticity and keep the post relatively brief? When I think about what I am thankful for I am amazed at all that I really ought to be thankful for, but I'm not. I am not thankful, at least not usually.  I want to be one of those people that are constantly overwhelmed by gratitude. I really do. But, I'm not. Life is more complicated, it seems. What am I thankful for? I am thankful that there are people who are asking the question and forcing people like me to actually consider the question. I hear that question and the normal sorts of things that I ought to be thankful for pop into my head: friends, family, God, faith, love, relationships, provision, daily bread, grace, mercy, and the like. My head tells me I am thankful for these things. My life tells me otherwise. I don't think I'm alone. To answer the question, I ask another: If our lives don't reflect gratitude are we really thankful?