Prayer Moves the Plot Forward: A Meditation on Ruth

By / Nov 17

No Christian would deny the importance of prayer, but many of us silently go through seasons when motivation to pray is all but absent. On the other hand, nothing revives our desire to pray like seeing our prayers answered. When God allows us to see the direct connection between our prayers and His intervention, our prayers flow. Answered prayer fuels more prayer.

One of the greatest biblical witnesses to answered prayer—and therefore a source the Spirit can use to invigorate our prayer life—comes from a surprising source: the book of Ruth. Ruth beautifully portrays God’s faithfulness to His (and every) people and God’s power in preserving a faithful remnant even in the darkest generations. But if we have eyes to see, Ruth also gives perhaps the clearest demonstration of answered prayer in all of Scripture. From beginning to end, the story hinges on prayer.

The best way to see the primacy of prayer in Ruth is to take time to read the whole book, noting each prayer. The book of Ruth records no fewer than a dozen prayers of blessing, petition, and praise (1:6, 1:8-9, 2:4, 2:14, 2:19, 2:20, 3:10, 4:11-12, 4:14). The prayers are often simple and easy to overlook as greetings. A closer analysis, however, sees the prayers in Ruth as the track along which the story runs.

The God Who Hears and Provides

From the outset, the author of Ruth describes God as the one who heard the prayers of His people and responded to their needs (Ruth 1:6). Many read the opening verses as background information, minor but necessary points to explain why Naomi left and returned to Bethlehem. But a sensitive reader will recognize this verse as an intentional description of God’s character that sets the stage for the entire story. God heard the prayers of his people. He is a God who acts on behalf of those who call on His name. Had God not paid attention to his people’s need, Ruth and Naomi would never have traveled back to Bethlehem, and their story of redemption would never have unfolded. The initial description of God subtly foreshadows answers to come.

The God Who Hears and Protects

Next, consider Boaz’s blessings over Ruth in 2:12 in 3:10. At their first meeting in the field, Boaz recognized Ruth’s sacrifice and devotion, and he prayed that God would reward her fully for her faithfulness. In time, the reader comes to see the beauty of God’s answer. God would indeed bless Ruth richly and provide her a full reward, including protection under His wings. And he would use Boaz to bring it about. Later, when Ruth uncovered Boaz’s feet and made her request at the threshing floor, Boaz recognized Ruth’s virtue and once again proclaimed a blessing over her. Boaz’s blessing hastened the story to its climax. Boaz awoke and immediately acted to bring Ruth into his home as his wife. In doing so, Boaz provided and embodied the very protection he had prayed over Ruth in 2:14.

The God Who Hears and Heals

In both 2:19 and 2:20, Naomi responded to Boaz’s kindness to Ruth by praying that God would bless the man who showed her favor. Once again, Naomi’s prayer planted a seed that would eventually grow to fruition. God would indeed bless Boaz, both immediately with an abundant harvest (3:7) and permanently by making him the progenitor of the kingly line. For Naomi, her prayer represented a turning point towards healing. Rather than considering herself irredeemably afflicted by God (1:20-21), she began to experience the first fruits of God’s ultimate healing and blessing (4:14-17).

The God Who Hears and Redeems

Finally, the elders of Bethlehem invoked a triple-blessing over Ruth, Boaz, and their future child. They asked God to make Ruth like Leah and Rachel, the great matriarchs of the tribes of Israel. For Ruth the Moabitess, nothing would solidify her standing as an adopted-but-true- Israelite more than identification with these matriarchs. The elders also prayed that Boaz’s name would become great and his house strong. God answered the prayer emphatically by making Boaz the great-grandfather of a king, and God would make Boaz one of the most well-known Bethlehemite in Old Testament history. And finally, the elders asked God to bless Ruth with offspring. Nearly as soon as the blessings were spoken, the story records God’s faithfulness in bringing them about. God himself opened Ruth’s womb and caused her to conceive (4:13). The child would grow, and Ruth and Boaz would become the mother and father of the house of King David (4:18-22) and the eternal house of King Jesus (Mt 1:5-6).

Connecting the Dots

And those are but a sample of the prayers God answered in the book of Ruth. Each prayer—even those so neatly tucked away they often escape notice—was a hinge upon which the story turned. From beginning to end, and at every point in the middle, God heard and answered the prayers of his people. Even the simplest blessings changed lives and brought God’s purposes to pass. Prayers moved the plot forward.

As a final encouragement, consider that those offering the prayers had no awareness how God was using their prayers to forward His plans. They prayed in faith—even bitter faith—trusting God would hear and perhaps answer. And in his own perfect timing and unexpected way, God did. Only in hindsight could they connect the dots.

The same is true for us. At any given moment, we, too, may struggle to see how God is using our prayers to shape His story in our lives. But when we lose heart and the seasons come when the last thing we want to do is pray, we can look to Ruth as a reminder that God is using our prayer to bring about His intervention, protection, and redemption. May the prayers God answered in Ruth lead us to offer our own in faith.



Spiritual Gloom and Psalm 42

By / Nov 14

If you’re like me, you may recall seasons of vibrancy and zeal in your Christian life. Spiritual disciplines come easy: time in God’s Word is fruitful, prayer is often, the gap between each journal entry is minimal, and fellowship brings glee. The streams of God’s endless love and grace that flow from the fount of Christ are delightful to drink.

But if you’re like me, you may also recall seasons of spiritual gloom, where dullness and indifference paralyze your pursuit of God’s glory. Spiritual disciplines become arduous. God, although as near as ever, feels farther to reach. Christ’s splendor and grandeur seemingly lose their spectral colors.

Spiritual gloom is a sickness suffered by so many. The author of Psalm 42 also suffered from this spiritual sickness. He was a worship leader separated from temple worship and God’s presence because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, forced into exile from his home and God. During his exile, he recounts the deep, soul-wrenching spiritual pangs of spiritual gloom—how he yearns to delight in God’s presence once more.

Psalm 42 is a tear-jerking lament that captures the soul’s dire need for God’s presence. But it’s also a Psalm shimmering with glimmers bright enough to repaint spiritual “gray-ness” with the colorful array of hope in the living God. It’s a Psalm littered with remedies reliable enough to cure the sickness of spiritual gloom.

Remedy #1: Thirst for God.

The Psalmist illustrates his spiritual longing and proclaims his severe thirst for God. Comparable to a deer panting for water, the writer’s soul longs for the Lord. The inner depths of his being are parched from lack of communion with the Divine. He reiterates his desperation in verse two: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” He thirsts for the living God. God, compared to a flowing stream, is also declared as living. Such a declaration has the reader consider streams that never run dry during arid seasons. Streams of “living water” are what these streams are called. Thus, the Psalmist pants for God, who is the Living Water able to quench the drought in his soul.[1]

Spiritual complacency is poisonous in the Christian life. It will intoxicate believers and trick them into waiting for the next “spiritual high,” where they’ll enjoy brief moments of divulging on God’s Word and practicing the spiritual disciplines. Psalm 42 is a soft rebuke to that mindset. Instead, believers must echo the Psalmist and embrace their thirst for God, driving us to dunk our heads into the Living Water, knowing that we’ll always be satisfied. When you don’t feel thirsty, pray for thirst. And when you thirst, race to the flowing streams knowing the waters will flood your soul.

Remedy #2: Remember God’s faithfulness.

Remembrance is a central theme in Psalm 42. Throughout the Psalm, memories of worship, fellowship, and communion with God leap to the worship leader’s mind, giving him hope to press on in his spiritual gloom. He remembers leading the masses in worship (42:4a), singing songs of praise (42:4b), and praising God in His presence (42:4b). Ultimately, he recounts the faithfulness of God. Memories of God’s faithfulness warm the cold heart of the Psalmist as he waits to commune with the Divine once again. Yet, spiritual destitution loomed over him.

I remember going through a season of spiritual gloom last year. Daily devotions that were once fruitful were dry. I fought daily to enjoy communing with the Lord through spiritual disciplines. I confess that a portion of my daily devotion that season was another item I “checked off” my daily list. It was grueling. Waves of spiritual sadness and longing for a rekindled desire for the Lord pained my heart. I eventually started to read and reread Psalm 42, prompting me to reflect on God’s faithfulness in my life. His faithfulness soothed me in my spiritual despair and spurred me to delight in the Lord again. My apparent drought and gloom ended.

God’s faithfulness ought to be the anthem among Christians enduring spiritual gloom. No spiritual depression or decline can overshadow the mountain of God’s faithfulness. In our highest of highs and lowest of lows, God’s faithfulness should resound in our hearts. We ought to recount God’s faithful love shown for us in Christ. We should reflect upon the spiritual blessings believers have in Christ. We should dwell upon the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must reflect on the many mercies given to us by the Most High, that such memories sway the distressed, gloomy souls of the spiritually downtrodden.

Remedy #3: Hope in God.

Psalm 42 is sectioned by two desperate self-rebukes to a downtrodden soul with a singular message: hope in God (Ps 42:5-6a, 11). Although separated from his worship and his people’s rhythmic fellowship, the soul of the Psalmist can boast an assured hope in God. And his hope will one day be realized: that he shall again praise his God, his salvation.

Christians can hope in God in seasons of spiritual sadness. Why? Because the God of the cosmos is a God in whom we can hope. The transcendent God stepped into a world that abandoned hope and embraced sin, incarnating as an infant. He walked the earth, showing compassion to all, teaching the masses about the kingdom of God, and performing miracles. He was the hope of God in a groaning world. And just when His death appeared a lost hope, He rose again in a blazing glory of triumph, declaring victory over sin and death and securing humanity’s ransom.

We can hope in God because He quenched our thirst. We can hope in God because He’s faithful. We can hope in God because we will one day praise Jesus Christ as we kneel before Him, the Lamb, and worship Him amongst a great multitude from every nation and tongue, extolling Him as we recount His faithfulness and glory.

[1] Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms Volume 1, NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 671.



Thoughts on Longevity

By / Nov 10

Like most toddlers, my childhood was not marked with patience. It was too natural to demand immediate gratification. I wish I could say this was a former vice long left behind by the years of personal growth, but like many others, patience has sometimes felt like an elusive virtue. In my formative years, this impatience had trained me to think only in the short-term. I couldn’t wait to have a car when I became old enough to drive. I couldn’t wait to graduate high school and move off to college. I was all too eager to discover my major in college and thus my trajectory for a life. I couldn’t wait to find a wife, get married, and become an adult. Looking back now, I want most of these moments back; to learn to live in the present and relish its blessings.

Bygone days and reminiscing are not my point. I simply want to illustrate that many of us can identify with this impatient push to have immediate success and gratification whatever our individual and momentary desires may be. My real point is this: over the years of ‘trying’ to fight impatience, most of us have developed subtle and unhelpful habits. Chief among these incidental habits is a training of the mind to think in only short-term intervals. Decision-making, worldview, and success have all been framed by the impatient gene we carry in our flesh. This certainly influences all of life, but I wonder if it is one of the most common culprits of ministry displeasure in the church today?

As I prepared for the ministry, I remember an older pastor counseling me to keep my ministry and my personal life separate. The two were not to be the same thing. I tried to live by that advice for as long as I could until I realized that it was impossible. God doesn’t call my abilities (or lack thereof) to the ministry; He calls me to the ministry. This means our lives – the good and bad habits we form, the experiences that define us, our general dispositions – have enormous influence upon our ministries. If we have conditioned our minds to think in the short-term only, we will find that most of ministry is not only unsatisfying, but deeply unsettling. We will find that we view ministry in the short-term as well.

Before you know it, we will be running from ministry to ministry or program to program trying to satisfy the here-and-now moments. We will see every drop of conflict as a world-changing tsunami demanding immediate attention. We will live, not in a sense of biblical urgency, but in a hamster wheel of exhaustion trying to keep up with the ever-changing trends of the world. That is no way to last in ministry. That is no way to succeed in ministry.

Let me offer an alternative. Instead of seeing the world in the short-term, what if we did ministry with our eyes set on the long-term? Instead of short burst of programmatic “success,” what if we engaged in the slow, painstaking work of laying stones for a solid foundation? Such work may not yield fast fruit, but it will yield sustainable fruit. When the fast fruit has sprung up and withered for lack of root, the sustainable fruit from a long-term oriented ministry will last long after we are laid in the grave.

As a pastor, I have two goals in my decision-making: the health of the church now and the health of the church in the future after I’m in heaven. I ask, “Is this healthy for the people now? Will this set the church up for long-term health in the future?” The things I do to today I want to see benefiting the church tomorrow. I want to train people over a long haul. I want them to see that walking with God is a lifetime commitment and not simply done in short bursts of effort followed by slow seasons of complacency. I want to redefine what success is: slow and steady faithfulness with each step being deliberate for the future, not just immediate gratification.

I believe this will liberate many pastors and churches from burnout and discouragement. Instead of spinning the ministry wheels trying to one-up the latest and greatest effort, pastors can breathe a breath of fresh air knowing that the tried-and-true disciplines of the church, though requiring long-term commitments, perspectives, and diligence, will actually breed a healthier church than otherwise. Things like preaching faithfully, prayer, evangelism, and community, though less flashy, are all that God requires for faithfulness. More than that, they are often the only things that God will use to build His church.

Instead of planning with immediacy in mind, consider the trajectory that your ministry sets for the church in the long-run. Are you bouncing from one thing to the next, training your people to chase glittering, immediate gratification? Or are you training your people to progress faithfully and steadily toward the shores of heaven; to see the Christian life as a marathon and not a sprint? Are you training your people to persevere, to be standing in the end, and to increase in faithfulness, or are you setting them up for burnout?

Pastor, your job is to shepherd God’s people to the grave. Minister with heaven in mind and you will not go wrong.



4 Keys to Healing from Betrayal

By / Oct 27

Partnership in the gospel is a gift from God. Few passages in Scripture remind me of this more than reading of Paul’s goodbye to the Ephesian elders in Miletus in Acts 20:36-38:

And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

While gospel-centered friendship is a sweet gift, it also can be a great source of pain when it goes away. Some of my tightest hugs have been with believers leaving to take the name of Jesus overseas, knowing we will most likely not reunite this side of eternity. Ministry is full of gospel goodbyes, and I have had my fair share.

Taking a new job, moving to a different place, or entering a new stage of life often alters relationship rhythms. But how should we respond when separation between friends occurs not by weeping together through the night but with an unceremonious, dry-eyed goodbye? When someone does not walk away from the faith—they just walk away from you?

In the past few years, I’ve experienced betrayal by other believers that left me breathless. We live in a digital, fast-paced age where there is hardly time to mourn the division in our churches or personal lives before the next dissension occurs. If you find yourself trying to catch your breath, here are four encouragements for you to pause and reflect upon as you seek healing in the Lord:

Humble yourself.

As one who has experienced it, I know one of the worst questions to ask a person who feels betrayed is, “Are you sure they sinned against you?” Even so, I think it is an important question for believers ask ourselves as we evaluate how to move forward in prayer and reconciliation with one another.

What one person may receive as a personal betrayal may actually be another believer’s obedience to God’s calling.

It can be easy to forget that not all decisions revolve around us. For example if a pastor prayerfully pursues a position in another place, it could be a temptation for some congregants to view the move as a personal abandonment rather than a movement of God. Assuming the worst of others’ intentions allows a root of bitterness that could eventually grow to choke out the relationship.

There is a better way! By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can trust God through difficult situations and lovingly seek understanding. It is appropriate to be honest about feelings, ask questions, and take the person’s previously displayed character into account. But it is essential to recognize that relationships are a gift that can be given, changed, and taken away by God.

People who genuinely submit their lives to Jesus do not usually make decisions to be malicious. They make them based on their understanding of God, His Word, and the world. These choices form from their own conscience, convictions, wounds, sins, and experiences. Combine those factors with a broken world and the result? Even the best intentions (or truly holy actions) can still hurt. Processing pain from someone else’s decision does not mean the decision was inherently wrong or sinful.

Have grace for them.

That all sounds good in theory. But what if it is personal?

Betrayal from another believer hurts. It cuts especially deep because the blood of Jesus binds us in love. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, we break bread together, walk with one another through joys and sorrows, and share the same Holy Spirit. In God, we are family. To share in such intimacy only to experience a betrayal of trust is devastating.

Releasing this kind of hurt to God requires us acknowledging that even someone who stands justified before God through the blood of Christ is still a sinner in the process of being sanctified by the grace of God.

Recognizing people are sinful does not mean we have license to villainize them. Do they slander you? Spew lies or hatred? Mock your ministry? God will hold them accountable for these actions. It’s easy to justify pride or retribution by labeling it as a desire for justice. But regardless of how much pain we endure at the hands of others—believers or unbelievers— we need not look further than the nail-pierced hands of Jesus to know forgiveness is possible. Who are we to withhold it when God so graciously extends it to us through the blood of His Son?

Humans are all sinful, and no matter how hard we try, we will fail in this broken world before we reach heaven. Romans 5:6-8 reminds us that the peace with God we experience through faith is not because of anything in us, rather:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

For this reason, we should be willing to demonstrate the grace God poured upon us to others so they might remember the gospel. Though their sin may still elicit consequences like loss of trust or removal from leadership, we can still pray for the Holy Spirit to enable us to be kind, speak truth, and show grace even when the offender does not.

Have grace for yourself.

There are always two sides to a betrayal. I am confident we have all been on both.

Do you find yourself in the position of the betrayer rather than the betrayed? Confess your sin before God and find healing in confessing to others (James 5:16). If you have made mistakes or there is truth to the words of your hurt brother or sister, you may want to run from or deny the reality of the situation. Denial is dangerous for you and unloving to them. Instead, lean on the truth that no matter how badly you’ve messed up, you are not outside of God’s grace. Cherish the reality that according to Romans 8:1, “There is therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”

If you are the one who is hurt and need to distance yourself from a relationship because it no longer produces fruit for the Kingdom, there is grace for you as well. That person’s life does not rise and fall on your decisions, and if it does, that relationship may be an idol for them. Sometimes the most loving thing is to help break that idolatry by refusing to enable them. You can recognize your bond in the body of Christ without being best friends. If your loving distance is unforgivable in their eyes, pray for them from afar and trust God to work in their life even if you no longer are part of it.

Trust the character of God.

God our Father is just. When people act unjustly, God knows. When we act unjustly, God knows. You may not have seen it coming, but God did. Before the foundation of the world, He foreknew our sinfulness and ordained for His Son to bear the wrath we deserve (Isaiah 53:10).

The only sinless person ever to walk the earth was betrayed.

Our Savior experienced betrayal from his closest friends on earth. Imagine: the friends he shared meals with, traveled long distances with, and shared the gospel beside abandoned him in his darkest hours. These men knew Jesus. They were his disciples. They were his friends.

Jesus experienced betrayal by his friends, by previous followers, by crowds that had at one time praised him. Yet he still faced the path before him, praying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). The Son’s fulfillment of the Father’s will meant bearing scorn from the world. Christ was let bleeding to an instrument of torture and died, uttering to his Father: “Forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

It was the sins of his betrayers that Jesus atoned for on the cross. His blood atones for the sins of fellow believers just as much as it atones for yours.

So, look to Jesus as you heal from betrayal. Whether you are processing pain caused by a friend turning against you or find yourself in the process of your own repentance, know God alone is wholly trustworthy. His sovereign hand lovingly holds you through your failures and the failures of others.

 



A Plea to Church Members: Give Your Pastor Grace

By / Oct 27

A few days ago I was scrolling through my Timehop and I came across a tweet that I had retweeted from Ray Ortlund in which he said, “If your pastor loves the Lord, is faithful to his wife, preaches Jesus from the Bible, don’t hassle him. If he’s imperfect in some ways, don’t fix him. Who can flourish under that scrutiny? Instead, get down on your knees and thank God. He gave you your pastor (Eph 4:11-12).”

This is a good word no matter the season. Pastors reading that would give a hearty “amen” to such sage advice year-round. But there is no greater time to take this advice as a church member than right now.

We find ourselves in an incredibly strange and taxing time. I do not need to recount the ways in which our world causes us to be anxious, for you are well aware. At the height of our anxiety is the present pandemic which has caused us all to change our lifestyles for the greater good. But even something as impartial as an unseen virus has become political fodder and subject to conspiracy theories.

On top of the stress of coronavirus, opinions offered uncensored across social media. When it comes to the reopening of churches and how pastors lead during a pandemic, the opinions are legion. Some think churches should re-open ASAP, others think we should wait awhile. Guess who is caught in the middle of every opinion about what the church should and should not do in the midst of the pandemic?

Your pastor.

I have been privileged enough to study theology and pastoral ministry on the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral level and I have not once taken a class called, “Pastoring in a Pandemic.” Why? Because no such class exists.

My point is thus: all of us are navigating this for the first time. There is no playbook on how to lead when a global pandemic is ravaging communities in which the best course of action is to do nothing and stay home. Questions abound concerning when is the right time to re-open the churches for in person gatherings. Is there a right or wrong answer? I don’t know, but I do know your pastor is under incredible stress about what is the right thing to do.

While coronavirus caused many people to slow down and do less, I promise this is not the case with your pastor. In fact, your pastor may be working harder than ever in an attempt to shepherd his flock from a distance all the while keeping them connected and provide content to minister to their souls. Add to this the prospect of opening too quickly and putting members at risk of illness and you have a “perfect storm” for pastoral stress.

Many members might not realize this, and they may be genuinely trying to help by offering critique or advice, or maybe they think they are the only ones doing it, not realizing he is hearing things from multiple people. That adds even more stress.

But wait, there’s more.

On top of all of that, your pastor and church are being compared to other churches in town. “Fourth Baptist Church has already re-opened, why haven’t we?” or the opposite, “Maybe we re-opened too fast. I’m not going to attend for a long time. Other churches are being more cautious.” Or the classicly unhelpful “People have been saying…” or “Brother Demas thinks we should have opened a long time ago and this is all blown out of proportion.”

What is your pastor to do? Pastoral ministry is already a highly criticized, stressful calling. Add a pandemic and you may have a pastor who is questioning his calling and/or is on the brink of burnout—a dangerous place to be, for sure.

I have seen pastors admit this on social media platforms. Many comments and replies are supportive, offering prayer and an ear. Others suggest the pastor should “suck it up,” or compare them to others who “have it much worse.” How helpful is that?

I tell you all of this to offer a simple plea in these strange times: give your pastor grace. He needs it, he hurts, he’s stressed about doing the right thing in a moment where there is no playbook, he loves his people, he wants what’s best for the physical and spiritual well-being of the people Christ has called him to shepherd, and he is trying his best. Would you give him grace?

Consider Hebrews 13:7, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Or, right before Paul talks about God giving churches pastors in order to equip them for the work of ministry, he commands his readers in Ephesus (and us) to patiently bear with one another in love (Eph 4:2).

So brothers and sisters, be patient, be loving, bear burdens (don’t add to them), and remember the grace you would want to receive and then give it to your pastor. He needs your support and encouragement now more than ever, would you lovingly offer it to him? Because he desperately wants to give it to you, but may find it difficult when he’s ministering with “groaning,” which “is not advantage to you.”

Give him grace.



Gospel Appropriation

By / Oct 27

I used to dream of skydiving. There was something about jumping out of an airplane that just seemed like the right thing to do (I was a teenager!). To my surprise, and after much persuading, I actually convinced my parents to pay for the big jump as a high school graduation gift.

I couldn’t believe it; dreams were coming true. I imagined standing at the open door of the plane nervous as ever, jumping into apparent nothingness, feeling the freedom rush by me at 9.8 m/s ², and experiencing a level of excitement that could only be matched by the fear of impending death at any moment – compelling, right? But I can’t truly be considered a thrill seeker because I never made the jump.

The price was paid, but I didn’t take advantage of the gift. Things came up, excuses were made, and I never pulled the trigger, or the chute in this instance. I didn’t experience the joy I imagined the jump would bring. And the sad thing was, I had no reason not to! Nothing stood in my way. I was like a child sitting in front of their presents on Christmas morning, refusing to open them for fear of disappointment or concern with what others would think of my reaction. And to this day, I still haven’t made the jump, which now seems like far less of a great idea than I originally imagined.

As I think back on this experience, I’m reminded that I’m not unique. So many people in the world fail to take full advantage of the gifts right in front of them. Whether it be with something as small as letting your coupon for a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich expire or forgetting to use your pre-paid monthly subscription service, we often fail to take full advantage of the good things in life that cost us nothing.

The same is true for Christians. As Richard Lovelace wrote:

“Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives… In their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification…

Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude.” 

Christian, God has given you the greatest gift – union with Christ and all the benefits therein. In His life, we have fullness of joy, a peace that transcends understanding, a home in the love of the Father. Christ becomes our righteousness, wisdom, peace, and hope; and the Spirit becomes our comforter, friend, and helper. And yet, we don’t always appropriate the full benefits of this gift into our lives. We’re far too easily frustrated, frenetic, and frantic.

Jesus offers a word of correction for us on this journey with Him – “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him” (Col. 2:8). Simple, yet profound. Basically, the way in which we received Christ as Lord and Savior should now be the operating principle for real life today.

In other words, what directs your head, heart, and hands today? Not only in the quiet moments, but when things go wrong. When you get cut off on the highway or when you get sick again, what moves and motivates your heart then? What would make you satisfied? Is it Jesus – His Word and His love for you? Or is it something lesser that moves you in those moments, such as a desire for different circumstances, the fear of man, or the pursuit of ease/comfort in life?

I’m convinced, along with Lovelace, that Christians oftentimes fall into the latter group rather than the former. Namely, we often operate out of a pursuit of something less than Jesus in hopes to gain something that only Jesus can give. This pursuit is evidenced by what seems to be an increased anxiety, dissatisfaction, and internal “striving after” or “rush” rather than “resting in” or “calm,” even for Christians!

What would it look like for us to pivot the focus of our hearts from the pursuit of something we don’t have to the enjoyment of all we do have in Christ? How might we take the first steps into this life with Christ and walk everyday with Him as our Lord, rather than something else directing our hearts?

While much could be said to answer these questions, I’ll simply offer one thought: We can only enjoy someone rightly to the extent that we know them truly. For Christians, then, we can only enjoy Jesus in our lives rightly – and find our satisfaction in Him alone rather than lesser things –to the extent that we know Him truly.

Christian, you have the Word of God. If you long to be satisfied in Christ alone, if you long to “relax into trust” by appropriating the work of Christ into your life, then engage with the Lord in His Word. Take full advantage of all the gifts given to you in Christ. Meditate on all His excellencies you see in the Word throughout the day, moment-by-moment. Trust that only He can provide you with what your soul most deeply desires. As you do, I believe you will grow to relax and delight in Christ as you were meant to all your days.



Why the Church?

By / Oct 26

“Unchurched Christian” is not a biblical category. Ask Paul, John, or Peter what they think about unchurched Christians and they would have responded, “Why are you calling them Christians, if they are not a part of the church?”

The New Testament does not have a vision of the Christian life outside of the church, the local church. But there are many professing Christians today who seek to be committed to Christ with no commitment to the church. They do not believe in organized religion. They claim the church is full of hypocrites. They have experienced church hurt. They cannot find a faithful, biblical church. They do not find the church necessary, supportive, or beneficial. So they follow Christ but forsake the church.

It is wrong. It is unbiblical. It is non-Christian. You cannot have a high view of Christ and a low view of the church at the same time. Jesus declared, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The church belongs to Jesus. Christ himself is building the church. And nothing can defeat the church of Christ.

Christ is the head of the church. And he does not have out-of-body experiences. To submit to the authority of Jesus Christ over your life is to live in fellowship with the church.

Here are nine reasons why you should have a high view of the church…

Faith in God is practiced in spiritual community. The unbelieving society we live in regularly claims that faith is a private matter. But this is not the truth. Indeed, faith is a personal matter. As Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). But personal faith is not private faith. True faith is lived in spiritual community with others. In the Old Testament, the faith community was the nation of Israel. In the New Testament, it is the church, a new community in Christ that transcends gender, race, or status (Galatians 3:28). To live in faith in Christ is to live in fellowship with the church.

The church is the household of God. Writing to Timothy in Ephesus, Paul called the church “the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). In salvation, we are born again and adopted into the family of God. But a newborn child needs to become a part of a household for nourishment, fellowship, and protection. The church is the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). More than that, it is God’s household. To reject the church is to reject the means of care the Lord has provided for his redeemed children.

Church membership brings assurance of salvation. A Christian is one who has professed saving-faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But that personal profession must be made to and among the church for there to be true assurance. In the New Testament letters, the two essential marks of true conversion are faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love for all the saints. Christian fellowship is as essential to true assurance as personal faith. Love for the saints demonstrates faith in Christ. “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers,” wrote the Apostle John, “whoever does not love abides in death” (1 John 3:14).

The church is spiritually united to Jesus Christ. In the Gospels, Jesus called would-be disciples to follow him. But the actual relationship between Christ and his follows is greater, deeper, and higher than that: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). No other religion speaks of the relationship between its leader and adherents that way. But this is the spiritual union between Christ and the church. We are in Christ, and Christ is in us. This spiritual union with Christ is what binds us together as the church. The indwelling presence of the Life-Giver King resides within each us and has made us one in Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church. The church is often rejected because of things members of the church do or do not do. But no leader or member of the church is the standard by which we measure what the church should be. Christ is the standard. He is the head of the church. The church is the body of Christ. The church is safe and secure in him, as you cannot drown with your head above water. “The church is full of hypocrites,” it is complained. But Christ is no hypocrite! And if Christ is not a hypocrite, he is worthy of our trust and obedience, even if he tells us to go hang out with a bunch of hypocrites!

The church is the most valuable thing on earth. Paul exhorted the Ephesian elders, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the flock of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The church is God’s flock, purchased by the blood of Christ. There is no institution in the world more valuable than that – not family, nor business, not government. There are many worthy causes in the world that deserve our support. But no worldly cause should usurp our commitment to the church for which Christ died. The church is the hope of the world.

The church is the outworking of God’s eternal purpose. This scripture is not a haphazard collection of stories, poetry, and letters. It is the unfolding of a divine plan. This plan of God was initiated in eternity past. It will be fully accomplished in eternity future. The church is essential to the eternal purpose of God. Paul declared “the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:9-10). The church is not incidental to the plan of God. It is the platform of the glory of God in the heavenly places.

The church is an earthly expression of heaven. What do you think heaven is like? To answer that question, turn to scripture, not near-death fantasies. For all we do not know about heaven, scripture makes it clear that heaven will be filled with the glory of God. In this regard, the church is to be a reflection of heaven on earth. Church growth experts advise pastors to shape the church around desires of the culture. But this only makes the church like the world. The church should be shaped around the character of God. Only the church can display the truth, love, and holiness of God, as it is in heaven.

Your sanctification is a community project. Hebrews counsels, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25) This is why is we must not neglect to meet together with the church for corporate and public worship. Many Christians feel it is no big deal if they miss a Sunday or two. However, scripture teaches, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).



Pastor, Your Body Keeps the Score

By / Oct 25

And after you have suffered a little while . . . — 1 Peter 5:10a

I finally went to the doctor. Here’s the deal: I’ve been suffering from a sporadic driving anxiety for about eight years now. For a long time, it was just an every now and again thing. I could go months without any trouble. For some stretches of time, however, I will experience it nearly every time I drive — especially on highways (high rates of speed), in heavy traffic, over bridges, at night, or in bad weather. It doesn’t always happen, and I could often take the same route in the same conditions with no issues one time, only to experience overpowering flashes of panic another.

I remember the first time it happened. I was driving back to our home in Vermont with my family from a ministry trip in Boston. On the interstate in our final leg of the journey, I began to have this overwhelming sensation of losing control, like my body was going to fly out of the car. I had to pull over and let my wife drive. Since that time, I’ve had this recurring issue.

In the last year or so, it’s struck me so often, I’ve started taking back roads everywhere. It takes me longer to get where I need to go, but I don’t seem to have any issues when I do. But that’s no way to live, right? So I finally went to the doctor. In a way, it was a follow-up, because I’d had my one and only non-driving panic attack January 2020. That was so bad, I didn’t realize that’s what it was at the time and thought I was having a heart attack. I started eating better, working out more, and — thanks to Covid — slowed my ministry pace considerably. But the driving junk persisted and actually seemed to get worse.

She asked me if I’d been any traumatic events related to driving in the past, any car accidents. I had, but a long, long time ago, and neither of them anything serious. Just regular fender-bender type stuff. I drove for nearly twenty years after the last accident with no problems at all. “I don’t think so,” I said.

“Well,” she said, “what was happening when the incidents started?”

“I was coming home from Boston–” I started.

“No,” she interrupted. “What was going on in your life?”

I thought for a second. And then I said, “Ohhhh.”

I don’t know if she was on to something or not. I’m not a psychologist, and neither is she. But when these incidents started, I was neck deep in a very long period of suffering in our church. Lots of death, including the death of friends. Lots of sitting by bed sides in hospitals and hospice rooms. Lots of grief and grief counseling. Funeral after funeral.

On top of all that, I realized, right when I was on the verge of burnout (for which I never had a substantive break), I was on the receiving end of multiple angles of conflict in the church. I was carrying a heavy weight and giving my blood, sweat, and tears to the ministry, and it didn’t seem to matter with some people. The criticism, anonymous and otherwise, was demoralizing.

When my wife and I came out of that situation six years ago, we both felt very beaten up. I would attend members’ meetings at our new church in Kansas City and feel jumpy, waiting for someone to come after our pastors. It never happened, but it was still difficult to go without feeling anxious. My body may be telling me, “You’ve never healed from this, bucko.”

You might say that being so far removed from that time, I shouldn’t have any “issues” today. But we know that incredible stress takes an incredible toll. Those who suffer far worse — abuse, the horrors of war, front-line first responder work — can tell you about the long-residual effects of past trauma that lingers in your mind, your nerves, overtaking you in sudden moments for years after the fact. It would seem that, as Bessel van der Kolk has said, the body keeps the score.

I don’t at all wish to put pastoral ministry on par with those experiences, but the impact is similar, I think. And others have said the same.

Every day it seems I read about or even hear from pastors who are struggling with anxiety, depression, or other severe effects of hard ministries. The burnout rate for ministers is too high, and things have only gotten worse over the last year and a half.

I take a weird comfort, I admit, when I read the apostle Peter characterizing the ministry of the elder as one of suffering. “And after you have suffered a little while,” he says (1 Peter 5:10). He makes no bones about it. Good pastoring means hardship. The emotional and spiritual weight of normal ministry is very heavy by itself. Good pastors take seriously the reality that they are responsible for the souls of their flocks, that they will give an account for all the precious people stewarded to them. The apostle Paul calls this just the “daily pressure of anxiety for the church” (2 Cor. 11:28). Add to that conflict, other harsh treatment, gossip, false accusations, weaponized disappointments, the frequent loneliness of leadership, financial stressors, and the like, and — well — the pastor’s body will keep the score.

If you’re not a pastor and you’re reading this, you may think it’s all overblown. You may think your pastor has it great and is doing fine. And he might be. (I pray he is!) But far too many are suffering in silence. This isn’t a call to throw pity parties. Pastoring is a great privilege and an incredible joy. But it can also take a serious toll.

If you’re a pastor reading this and nodding your head, you know it’s not overblown. I could probably say a lot more. But you may somehow already suspect that the irregular heart rate, sleeplessness, inability to relax, recurring feelings of depression, or even anxiety or depression may be your body telling you it’s getting frayed around the edges. You are physically dealing with something very spiritual. Your body has kept the score.

If that’s you, I want you to remind you of God’s affectionate grace. Yes, ministry is “suffering for a little while.” But this suffering is sanctifying. It is making something great of you, even as it makes you small. God’s strength, remember, is perfected in our weakness. Don’t be afraid (or too stubborn) to get help, to speak up, to do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself.

If you’re a pastor struggling with what my friend Jeff Medders calls “pastoral PTSD,” you should also know that you are not alone. There may not be many people around you, but the Lord is right beside you. He is facing down all the things you struggle to pick your head up and look at. He bears the scorn with you. And he is keeping track of all your hurts, all your godly anxieties. He will trade your ashes for beauty. He is storing all your tears in a jar (Psalm 56:8).

And when all is said and done, what feels like drowning now will strangely feel like victory. The greater your pain — and I really believe this — the greater your reward. That’s not a call to be a martyr; it’s simply a call to look to him. He will not forget you in this age or in the age to come. He remembers, and he will more than compensate you.

Yes, yes, pastor, the body keeps the score. But, then, so does Jesus.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. — 1 Peter 5:10



3 Ways to Turn Against Your Pastor

By / Oct 20

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
— Galatians 5:15

Most people don’t set out to dislike their pastors. Something just happens. Oh sure, there are generally disagreeable folks who seem to possess the spiritual gift of discouragement and are always looking to find faults, but most pastors I know who have congregants (or congregations) turn on them felt utterly ambushed. It takes time to trace the outworking of anger and even sometimes ousting to the root causes, and very often these causes are things that could’ve been headed off at the pass given communication, clarity, and charity.

Sometimes pastors preach heresy, engage in unrepentant sin, or unnecessarily stir up hostility or division, but a great number of pastors who’ve seen their share of congregational betrayal were, despite their flaws and failings, simply going about their ministry business when it blew up in their face.

So how does it happen? How do otherwise good Christians turn against otherwise good pastors? Here are three very common ways it happens.

1. Disappointment Turns into Disgruntlement

I have seen firsthand the weaponizing of disappointment in a congregation. Bonhoeffer was right that pastors must beware of the “wish-dream” when it comes to their congregations, but the danger works both ways — congregants often have wish-dream pastors. That is, they have an idealized version of what or who their pastor should be. They wish he was more academic or less so. They wish he was a better communicator, more like the guys they listen to on the Internet. They wish he was more extroverted or more studious or more something than he actually is.

The truth is that pastors will fail us, and this is not because they are necessarily bad pastors, but because they are human. They do not have infinite physical or emotional resources. They mess up. They make mistakes.

But when consider our pastors’ failures to live up to our idealizations of them, we must be careful we do not engage in idolatry — that we want from our pastor what we can only get from Jesus. I can think of a couple of significant disappointments I gave to church members once — both stemming from my apparent inability to “solve” counseling issues. It wasn’t my lack of availability or my lack of concern. I was engaged, I was gentle, I was pastoral. But I didn’t have a silver bullet and thus “failed.” These disappointments turned into severe critcism of me, became exaggerated into a wholesale attack on my qualifications and heart.

Remember that it’s not a sin to disappoint you. Sometimes pastors have to do that. Sometimes they don’t mean to do it, are just as disappointed as you are to be a disappointment to you. Don’t let your disappointments fester into disgruntlement. Consider Christ who never fails and let your pastor off the hook for not being him.

2. Disagreements Turn into Division

Maybe you disagree with a particular interpretation or application your pastor has made in his sermons. Maybe you disagree with a particular leadership decision that was made. Maybe you wouldn’t do things the way he does them or say things the way he says them. Barring actual sin — he’s preaching something theologically heterodox, etc. — it’s okay to disagree with your pastor on all kinds of things.

What it is not okay is turning your disagreement into a campaign of division against him. Sometimes congregants are so driven by their disagreements, they rehearse them in front of others. This is usually gossip. Sometimes these rehearsals become recruitment parties for commiseration and cooperation in the disagreeements. This is divisiveness.

When we take our disagreements on a grievance tour of other church members, trying to enlist others in our contrariness — martialing troops, in other words — to march against the pastor, we have swerved into the kind of division the Bible warns us against. “Some people are saying . . .” becomes a passive aggressive way of scaring a pastor into agreement with you or submission to your emotional blackmail.

Remember that very often wise Christians have significant disagreements about secondary or tertiary matters of doctrine. We can hold these disagreements in tension with each other while maintaining charity and unity as brothers and sisters. Remember, too, that leaders often have to make decisions with the best information they have at the time, and with the best intentions, and when those decisions are not matters of theology but simply matters of preference, the best routes forward involve assuming the best, seeking clarity if needed, and ultimately submitting to those responsible for your care (Heb. 13:17). Disagree in love and humility.

3. Confusion Turns into Accusations

“Pastors only work one day a week,” the joke goes. But some congregants are routinely suspicious of their pastors’ schedules. Or motives. I recall once being accused of slacking off because I was not in my office on successive days during the week. The reason was that I was engaged in a series of fairly intense counseling situations that required my presence in homes. That is not something I obviously felt the need to broadcast on social media or post on a sign on my door. It was nobody’s business but the elders’. And yet my mere absence was turned into an accusation of laziness or other dereliction of duty.

The truth is, most church members who have never been on the pastoral side of the congregation have no clue how much time and energy ministry actually takes. It’s not a grounds for a pastor’s martyrdom complex or self-pity. Good pastors aren’t always airing everyone’s dirty laundry or telling you all the weight they’re enduring. So it’s largely unknown to large swaths of the congregation.

Similarly, sometimes pastors have to make difficult decisions that are the result of much prayer and study. But in the moment of reception, those who have no clue how much “pastoral anxiety” was put into a decision immediately think the pastor is acting rashly or stupidly or just wrongly.

Good pastors will work towards appropriate transparency and clarity of communication with their churches, not leaving them in the dark about their care for the flock. There is such a thing as a lazy pastor and a detached pastor and an unproductive pastor. But just because you don’t know the situation doesn’t mean any of those latter things are true.

I always appreciated it when church members asked how I was doing, when they inquired as to my emotional state in ministry. Many times I suffered in silence, and so do many other pastors. It is doubly hurtful, then, to not just have to keep one’s burdens to one’s self, but then to have others make ignorant accusations on top of that suffering.

These dangers are possible in every church, because every church is made up of sinners — pastors and laypeople alike. Let’s remember to assume the best about each other until it’s proven otherwise. Hoping all things, believing all things — this is the stuff of love (1 Cor. 13:7), and thus the stuff of God (1 John 4:8). The rest — as logical or natural as it may seem to us in the moment — is from the lair of the devil, the great Accuser of the brethren.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
— Ephesians 4:1-3



How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament: Step 12––Practical Theology

By / Oct 20

To summarize How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament, this blog journey has supplied twelve steps from exegesis to theology. I categorized each of the twelve under the acronym TOCMA, which stands for Text > Observation > Context > Meaning > Application.

  • Text: “What is the makeup of the passage?”

(1) Genre; (2) Literary Units and Text Hierarchy; (3) Text Criticism; (4) Translation

  • Observation: “How is the passage communicated?”

(5) Clause and Text Grammar; (6) Argument-Tracing; (7) Word and Concept Studies

  • Context: “Where does the passage fit?”

(8) Historical Context; (9) Literary Context

  • Meaning: “What does the passage mean?”

(10) Biblical Theology; (11) Systematic Theology

  • Application: “Why does the passage matter?”

(12) Practical Theology

This is our final installment in this series, and it addresses step 12. Having exegeted the text and grasped God’s intended meaning, you as the interpreter now need to apply it to yourself, the church, and the world, stressing the centrality of Christ and the hope of the gospel. Such is the task of practical theology, by which we seek to live according to the biblical author’s intended effect.

God Gave the Old Testament to Instruct Christians

To apply the OT faithfully, one must have the conviction that God intends us to do so. That is, preachers and teachers must recognize that the OT is Christian Scripture, which God gave long ago to serve saints today.

1. Old Testament Reflections on the Main Audience of Old Testament Instruction

The OT authors consciously wrote their documents for new covenant members. For example, Isaiah noted how his audience was spiritually disabled, unable to grasp the words he proclaimed (Isa 29:9–11; cf. Rom 11:8). Nevertheless, he also envisioned a day when “the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see” (Isa 29:18). Thus, Yahweh told Isaiah, “Inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever” (30:8). In that day, he says, “Your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it’” (30:20–21).

Similarly, Yahweh told Jeremiah to write for God’s restored community. “Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it” (Jer 30:2–3). Jeremiah needed to write his words in a book because the new covenant members would need them, and it was they that would understand them (cf. 30:24–31:1; cf. 31:33–34).

2. New Testament Reflections on the Main Audience of the Old Testament Instruction

Paul, too, stressed that God gave the OT for new covenant believers. Referring to the statement in Genesis 15:6 that Abram’s faith was “counted to him as righteousness,” Paul asserted that “the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also” (Rom 4:23). Indeed, “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction” (15:4; cf. 1 Cor 10:11). “All Scripture is … profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16). Peter even explicitly states that God revealed to the OT prophets that their words were principally for us, not them (1 Pet 1:10–12). Therefore, far from being not applicable for believers, the OT is more relevant for Christians today than for most in the old covenant.

General Guidelines for Applying the Old Testament

In his book Old Testament Exegesis, Douglas Stuart offers helpful guidelines for applying biblical texts.[1] Here I develop them, using Exodus 19:4–6 to illustrate the process.

1. The Passage’s Original Revealed Application

a. Identify the application’s audience.

Does the passage target individuals, groups, or institutions? If one can’t differentiate in this way, why not? If the object is individuals, what kind (e.g., believing remnant or faithless rebel, parents or children)? If the object is a group, what kind (e.g., the community of faith, a nation, clergy)?

The second masculine plural “you” throughout Exodus 19:4–6 suggests that the target is every individual within the entire community. God redeemed the nation as a whole, and he called this nation his “son” (Exod 4:22–23).

b. List the application’s external life issues.

Here we consider: With what aspects of life is the passage most concerned? What do we encounter that is similar or related to what the passage addresses? Is the application directed toward matters that are more interpersonal in nature? Is the concern social, economic, spiritual, familial, etc.? Does the passage relate directly to the people’s relationship with God?

In Exodus 19:4–6, we see the personal experience of communal deliverance (v. 4). This deliverance should produce a daily pursuit of God among a geopolitical nation that is distinct from the surrounding nations (v. 5). This pursuit of God should give everyone a sense of life’s purpose (v. 6).

c. Clarify the application’s nature.

Some passages inform the mind, supplying information, whereas others direct the will, giving instruction. Some focus on the root of faith; others address the fruit of action. One passage describes some aspect of God’s love (i.e., inform), while another commands the reader to love God wholeheartedly (i.e., direct). One may clarify the nature of trust (i.e., faith), while another illuminates the nature of deeds. Often these two pairs come in packages so that informing leads to directing and believing leads to obeying. Ask, “Does this passage supply an indicative or an imperative? Does it address more the heart and head or the hands?”

On the surface, Exodus 19:4–6 recalls God’s gracious past redemption and informs Israel of their future responsibility and calling. Implicitly, the text calls the people to godward allegiance for the sake of mediating and displaying God’s glory to the nations. In addition, Exodus 19:4–6 explicitly addresses action and state of being, calling Israel to “hear” and “keep” and “be” (v. 5). Only to the level at which the people desire the promise of being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation and believe the promise-maker can act will they be motivated to heed his voice, keep his covenant, and intentionally seek to live as his treasured possession.

d. Determine the application’s time focus.

Does the passage call for present faith or action? Does it look back to something in the past or ahead to something in the future?

Exodus 19:4–6 called Israel to make an immediate response. And for every future generation in the old covenant, God’s revelation will remain the same. He had set Israel apart to express his worth in the world. Through this single nation, the world would be blessed, and Israel’s lives of surrender would parade God’s upright character until the time when the promised deliverer would overcome the world’s curse with a blessing.

e. Fix the application’s limits.

Does the passage function more as background or support? Is it part of a larger passage that suggests a clearer application than your passage does? Is it one of several passages that all function together to suggest a given application that none of them individually would quite have? Does the passage call for a response that could be misunderstood or taken too far? In what ways does the passage not apply?

Exodus 19:4–6 is perhaps the most foundational synthesis of the revealed purpose of the old covenant within Scripture. It looks back to the Abrahamic covenant promises and anticipates God’s revelation of his person and word at Sinai. It expresses God’s revealed will for Israel, but it does not address the implications of failure.

f. Summary

Exodus 19:4–6 synthesizes the old covenant by addressing the nation of Israel’s redemption and life-calling in relation to the world. It explicitly informs but also implicitly directs, calling for action and motivating this call by the promise of global impact. The words target every community member and address a surrender to Yahweh that impacts every facet of life in every present and future generation.

2. The Passage’s Theological Significance[2]

a. Clarify what the passage tells us about God and his ways.

Theology matters. When applying the OT, it is important to recall what we have learned about Yahweh’s unchanging character, desires, values, concerns, and standards, and what our passage says about his purposes in redemption.

Exodus 19:4–6 portrays Yahweh as one who delivers in order to create people who can in turn display his excellencies. With respect to his character and actions, he is an able warrior God who redeemed Israel from Egypt (v. 4). He is a God who commands, establishes covenants, and treasures some more than others (v. 5). Finally, he is a God who motivates through promises and desires his people to mediate and display his greatness to the world (v. 6). One could make appropriate application from these features, for his work in the new covenant is very analogous (see 1 Pet 2:9).

b. Assess how Christ’s fulfillment of the OT impacts applying the passage.

Some of the questions we can ask here are as follows: Does the passage speak directly to old covenant structures that God transformed in the new? How has the progress of salvation-history influenced how we hear and apply this text? How does the passage anticipate Jesus’s life and work, the church age, or the consummation? Does the text express time-bound or culturally bound elements that no longer relate to us this side of the cross? Does the NT cite or allude to the particular text in a way that clarifies its lasting value for Christians?

Christ’s work fulfills Exodus 19:4–6 in at least three ways: First, the initial exodus typologically anticipated a greater, second exodus that Jesus himself embodies. In Exodus 19:4, Yahweh highlights his defeat of Egypt and his deliverance of Israel from the bonds of slavery. Christ’s death and resurrection initiates for all believers the antitypical exodus, the ultimate redemption to which Israel’s liberation from Egypt only pointed (Luke 9:31; cf. Jer 23:5–8).

Second, Christ fulfilled the charge of this text as the perfect king-priest. Israel’s fleshly, rebellious hearts were hostile to God, making it impossible for them to submit to God’s law or to please him (Deut 9:5–6; 29:4). But where God’s corporate “son” failed to be the kingdom of priests and the holy nation for which Exodus 19:4–6 called, his individual Son Jesus, as Israel’s royal and priestly representative, succeeded. Christ’s perfect life embodied the ideals of righteousness the law requires (Rom 5:18–19; 8:4). Thus, based on Christ’s fulfilling the law, God now charges and empowers the new covenant community to fulfill Christ’s law (Rom 2:26, 29; 13:8–10; 1 Cor 9:21; Gal 6:2). This includes applying OT laws in view of how Christ fulfills them (Matt 5:17–19).

Third, Christ perfectly represented the nation of Israel as a holy king-priest, succeeding where they failed and by this magnifying God’s holiness to the world (see esp. Isa 49:1–6). And now, for those of us in him, God has made us “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9).

3. The Passage’s Lasting Significance for Today

Consider one chief application that is most central to and flows naturally from the passage. Keeping in mind God’s unchanging nature and his progressive purposes, and reading the passage in the light of Jesus’s new covenant work, what is God calling for in this passage?

With respect to Exodus 19:4–6, perhaps the simplest synthesis of what this passage calls for through Jesus is that the church is to live as a royal priesthood and holy people, proclaiming through our life-witness the worth and majesty of God (1 Pet 2:9). Our unchanging Lord is consistent in what he requires, in what he intends, and in the way he uses promises to motivate obedience. Like the nation of Israel, the church is called to follow the instruction of our chief, new covenant mediator: “Make disciples of all nations, … teaching them to obey all that I have commanded” (Matt 28:20). And as we do, we will display God’s great worth and power.

[1] Douglas Stuart does not include this element, but it is essential for applying the OT faithfully.

[2] Douglas Stuart, Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors, 4th ed. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009), 25–29.

 

To read the rest of the series here.