Maintain a Good Relationship with Christians from Other Churches

By / Jul 22

“Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding manoeuvres [around the board], as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!”

I read the box lid with skepticism. “Join a team?” “ Work together?” This was a far cry from the dog-eat-dog board games of Monopoly and Risk I’d grown up with. Nevertheless, Forbidden Island has become a firm family favorite. Believe it or not, three somewhat competitive children (and one very competitive Dad) sit around the kitchen table and work together discussing strategies for capturing treasure and escaping an imaginary flooding island before our little counters sink.

What’s the key to victory? Bizarrely, in this particular board game, it’s all about players maintaining good relationships with other players. If The Engineer doesn’t cooperate with The Explorer, we lose. If The Messenger refuses to give The Navigator their treasure cards, it means defeat for all. If The Pilot declines to rescue The Diver, game over.

Sadly, when it comes to real life, it can be tempting for many Christians (conceivably those of us who love our own local church most of all) to live like we’re playing Monopoly or Risk. When it comes to other local churches, we think about competition. I want the most money, the most territory, the most treasures, the most people—for our church , of course. If relationships with other Christian players outside our own local church suffer, so be it. We want our church to win.

Some churches, sadly, cultivate this kind of philosophy. But many don’t. It’s our natural bent, after all.

When it comes to the Christian life, when it comes to how members of different gospel-preaching churches ought to relate to one another, we need to change our strategy. We need to remember we’re playing Forbidden Island—not Risk or Monopoly.

The Why

Here are a few reasons why:

1. Good relationships with other Christians occur because we’re on the same team.

We should work hard to maintain good relationships with Christians from other churches because ultimately, we’re on the same team. The common goal in this real-life game is not our personal glory but God’s. Our opponents are the world, the flesh, and the devil (Ephesians 2:2–3). We fight for victory over these fierce powers, not for victory over brothers and sisters from different churches. Christians, therefore, strive to be a united team. And not only in their own local church, but as the church universal. For the church is one, as God is one. Christ saw the importance of this one team mindset and prayed that you and I might have it: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you” (John 17:20–21).

Practically, if we are Christians in a large city-center church and a gospel-preaching church plant sets up around the corner, we shouldn’t scowl and draw our treasure cards close to our chest. Likewise, if we belong to the fledgling church plant, we should see resource-abundant Christians up the road as allies in a victory march, not as other players who could potentially scupper our chances of “winning.” God’s people rejoice when new players join. As Stephen Witmer helpfully writes, “In Psalm 48 we see God blessing his spectacular city, Mount Zion, the wonder of the whole world—and the villages and towns of Judah aren’t jealous. Instead, they’re jubilant, rejoicing along with the city. In the end, neither the city nor the country is ultimate: instead, it’s God who gets the glory.” [1]

2. Good relationships with other Christians help us capture more treasure.

In Forbidden Island, each player ascertains a certain skill at the start of the game. Some players can move around the board more rapidly; they often get the glory of capturing the most treasure. Other players keep the island from flooding. The Messenger has the very humble power of sharing his or her resource cards with others! To get as many treasures as possible, every player must use their own talents for the whole—even if that means some players collect none.

The same is true when it comes to real-life gospel success. The opportunity to unearth very real treasure—namely, unbelievers coming to Christ and Christians growing to be more like Christ—is often set in motion by recognizing our own aptitude, limitations, and location on the board.

One Christmas, when pastoring in London, I recalled that another local church had a plethora of gifted musicians. Last minute, I asked if they could help us put on an evangelistic carol service. They happily agreed (indeed, even their pastor played!) and the gospel was proclaimed. A few weeks later, a short-term mission team I knew was staying in London. I realized they couldn’t serve our church as we were too far away, but I knew of an opportunity to serve another needy church. Good relationships with other Christians allowed more treasure to be gleaned.

3. Good relationships with other Christians help us shore up our island.

Christian success isn’t only about collecting gospel treasure, but also about building up the church (Ephesians 4:11–16), and therefore keeping weary believers from going under. The very best way to keep Christians afloat is to foster deep relationships within local churches. By joining a certain church, we give certain pastors and certain Christians permission to support us amid the rising floodwaters of temptation, worldliness, and false doctrine.

But sometimes, we need other Christians from other churches to graciously and patiently counsel us. We especially need this if we’re discontent or discouraged about something that’s happening inside our own church. We often need people who are not personally absorbed in what we’re facing to see it clearly. This is not to minimize the work of the local church in the pastoral situation. Indeed, I’ve often found that my best friends outside my church have supported me in such a way that has turned me back to my local church with empathy, compassion, and resilient commitment. Such shoring up can only happen if we work hard to maintain good relationships with Christians from other churches.

4. Good relationships with other Christians remind us our time is short.

There’s a final characteristic of Forbidden Island which parallels the Christian life: time is short. In real life, we only get so many moves to capture sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. The sands of time are sinking. As a result, Christians must work together locally and quickly. If we spend all our time squabbling over resource cards and planning others’ next moves, then we’ll lose. We should look at the clock as we strategize together for the sake of the lost and the immature. Sometimes we will plant the seed, and it won’t germinate at our church. Sometimes we will faithfully water the plant, only for it to flower elsewhere. The fleetingness of our days here should make us care a little less.

The How

With all this is in mind, how can we maintain good relationships with other Christians from other churches? Here are a few tips.

1. Spend time with other Christians from other churches.

When I pastored in London, once a month I’d go out with a Christian neighbor who was firmly committed to a large Anglican church in the center of London. On a personal level I’d really enjoy it. But spending time with him also reminded me that the Kingdom of God was bigger than my own church. And as he told me all the wonderful things that his church was able to resource, my pride and jealousy were revealed, which consequently helped me to fight them.

2. Encourage your pastor to spend time with pastors from other local churches.

Deep relationships take time. Don’t sigh if you see your pastor out for lunch with his local pastor buddies, and think “Why isn’t he in his study or at the hospital?” Amid all the laughter, he’s hopefully fostering a trust and a unity, which in turn will benefit him, you, and most of all the whole church.

3. Speak well of other churches.

When we mention other churches in passing, there’s the temptation to define them only by their faults. “Do you mean the dancing-in-the-aisles megachurch? Or the stuffy little one where they only let you in with a suit?”

Amazingly, Paul addressed the church at Corinth as “the church of God, those sanctified in Christ, who are not lacking in any gift” (1 Corinthians 1:2, 7) not “the proud, disorderly, sexually licentious Greeks who sue one other and get drunk at the Lord’s Supper.” In the same way, we should work hard to define other churches by their virtues and their standing in Christ. Speak well of those whom you will share eternity with.

4. Pray for other churches.

As we have opportunity, we should pray for all Christians, even those who might attend churches that we have some reservations about. At my current church, we pray for any church in our city that preaches the gospel. We pray for such churches by name in our pastoral prayers in our main weekly gathering. Every week, our small group Bible study notes have a section with names of other local churches to pray for.

5. Give to other local churches.

Again, the primary church we should give to is our own. We have the responsibility and joy to contribute generously and regularly to the ministry we glean the most from. Nevertheless, there may be opportunities to support other churches either directly, or through the encouragement of our church leaders. I remember my former church supporting the work of another in our city. I had some real questions about the robustness of their ecclesiology and their discipleship philosophy. But ultimately, they were moving into an area with no gospel witness. I wouldn’t have made some of the moves they made, but I came to see that they were searching for treasure that I would never be able to exhume. We gave to them, and we rejoiced to hear of their labors for Christ.

Conclusion

We must work together on this sinking island as fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission. We must play the game in front of us. We must play as best we see fit with the opportunities and skills graciously given. And we must play cooperatively, lest we become an island unto ourselves.

[1] Stephen Witmer, A Big Gospel In Small Places, p. 163

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared at the 9Marks blog and is used with permission.



When Nightmares Become Reality

By / Jul 21

Have you ever awakened from a dream so painful, so vivid, that your pillow soaked through with tears? The kind of dream that caused your heart to ache long beyond your waking? Even if you are not the kind of person who dreams (or remembers them), have you ever been startled by your negative emotional response to something?

I woke up sobbing recently, and I have not yet been able to shake what I saw behind closed eyes. Moving on from a terrible dream with no grounding is one thing, but trying to rightly process struggles that are still real in the light of day is quite another. For me, it was the latter.

Just as in sleeping, feelings of anger, regret, or sadness sometimes seem to slip into the mind without permission.

It should not come as a surprise when the brokenness of the world attempts to seep into our thoughts any more than it should surprise us when the brokenness of our minds seeps outward into the world. Sometimes this is a tactic of the Enemy–tempting us to yearn for something ungodly. Sometimes it is just our sinful flesh revealed. Always, it is a result of the Fall presented in Genesis 3. The shadow of this narrative is not just a bad dream; it is reality.

As immediately as Adam and Eve felt pain in their bodies and brokenness in their relationship, the whole world began to groan under the weight of sin (Gen. 3:16-24; Rom. 8:19-23). Just as God cast them from the Garden of Eden, so too were we all separated from God by our iniquity (Is. 53:6). Now, no matter how tightly we shut our eyes or grasp for comfort, humanity must face the existence of fallenness within and without.

No one is exempt from experiencing the effects of sin in our being, our relationships, and our world (Rom. 3:23). Humanity will slog on continuously when we trust in our efforts or solutions; we will toil in a slumber of death from which we cannot wake. A death that, if attempted by our own hands to escape, will be eternal.

Yet through the darkness, there is a beam of hope:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4-5).

From the displaced refugee searching for hope, to the rich man caught in the snare of a thousand mistakes, to the girl sold into a life of inescapable slavery, the eye of the Lord rests upon them. The hand of the Lord is not short to save. The Lord extends love in Jesus to every broken mind, every bloody hand, every busted-up heart. Including yours. Including mine.

By grace, through faith in Jesus, one may be saved (Eph. 2:8). This salvation is not a promise of deliverance from every bad or hard thing on this side of eternity, but it does secure our eternal life in Christ. If you “heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him,” then you “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:13-14). This truth should bring immense comfort.

But what does someone who loves God do when face-to-face with the nightmarish realities of life now? How should we react when the worst fear comes true: the abuse uncovered, the terminal diagnosis given, the relationship severed?

When Corrie ten Boom, imprisoned for helping hide Jews during World War II, experienced “too much misery, too much seemingly pointless suffering,” pressing in on her and others at the Nazi concentration camp, she said this:

“The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the Word of God. ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us’ (Rom. 8:35,39).”[1]

The truth that God’s love is present with us in our pain now is just as real as the promise that we will one day dwell in his presence forever.

One day we will awaken in glory, and God “will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore” (Rev. 21:4). Every nightmare will cease, and all shadows will dissipate in the light of his presence (Rev. 21:23). Every sad thing will come untrue.[2]

For now, God’s Word comforts. God’s Spirit guides. Fear dissolves in the light of truth, and the heart steadies in the grace of trust. We can hold onto the promises our eyes cannot see and the hope our souls know to be real. Even when nightmares become true, God’s love is the enduring reality.

[1] Excerpt from The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom

[2] This phrase comes from J. R. R. Tolkien’s character Sam Gangee in The Lord of the Rings, chapter 4 of book six

 

 



Episode 127: What Does it Mean to be Gospel-Centered?

By / Jul 21

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz break down the implications of gospel-centrality beyond the buzzword.



The Body and The Bread

By / Jul 21

As we reached across the communion table last Sunday, my husband whispered in my ear,

“The crackers are bigger today because Rita didn’t prepare them.”

We laughed initially, but then sank back a bit, remembering the reality: two of our members, an elder, and his wife, had recently announced a sudden move to a new ministry.

“Canaan-bound,” some said, and in a matter of weeks, they had left to follow the Lord’s call, selling nearly everything to pack their truck and move across the United States.

Their loss to our church was devastatingly bittersweet.

For my husband and I, it was bitter for us both personally and individually. They were key mentors and disciplers as we walked through dating, engagement, and now marriage. They shepherded us as we learned to counsel, guided us through serving the church, and exhorted us in everything from our decision-making to ministering to unbelievers in our lives.

For our church as a whole, the loss is bitter. Our “living-room-church-plant-roots” linger in the way we are intimately involved in each other’s lives. Even as our body has grown, our members have done the hard work of staying connected with each other, and this couple paved the way: lending their toolboxes, fixing probably all of our cars, hosting monthly game nights — you know the kind. Many of us don’t know our church without them. Their fingerprints are everywhere. Their example of humble, gracious service and generosity has been a gift to us in so many ways corporately.

But although we are sad, it has been such a sweet season, too.

It is such a sweet gift to witness radical obedience to God. Their willingness to hear from Him and obey, no matter how sudden, is a challenge to us all. It is good to remember that this earth is not our home, much less the state of Kansas — hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit and following the pull is so much more valuable than keeping the same zip code as your friends.

But no matter how sweet it was, and how sure we were that this was indeed the right decision, the first Sunday wasn’t quite the same, communion crackers notwithstanding.

One of our most cherished practices during our Sunday morning service is the taking of communion together. Every time we gather, we file down the carpeted aisle, then back to our seats, and we eat and drink together, taking the bread and the blood and remembering the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf so that we might be restored into God’s family.

Our church family remembers God’s family as a whole, and what God himself has done to bring us together. The first Sunday they were gone, our church felt their absence, and rightly so.

The Bible tells us that the church is a body, and each member has a different role. When members come and go, we should notice. It should be significant to us when the body changes. And boy, did we feel the loss — we had lost a listening ear, a discerning eye, and at the very least, a hand that prepared the bread for us. And yet, although the absence was there, so was the hope that always accompanies the Lord’s table.

As we eat and drink together, we don’t just take and remember with our immediate body and family, but we remember the body of Christ at large, the family that extends across state lines and cultures and peoples and nations. The taking of communion sets our hope on the bread and the blood that we will take together at the marriage supper of the lamb. What a day of rejoicing it will be as we reunite with brothers and sisters who left father and brother and mother and sister to follow the Lord’s call, forsaking all else that they might be obedient. What a gift to know these kinds of people — what an exhortation to be like them, too.

May we all put our hands to the plow and resolve to not look back, and to fix our eyes only on Jesus, the founder and finisher of our faith.

The Lord gives, the Lord takes,

Blessed be the name of the Lord.



Learning Church Commitment from Lucy Hutchinson

By / Jul 20

One of the greatest benefits of learning from Christians in past eras is that it changes you as a person.

Thus, even if you can explain who historical figures were and what they did, you know in your heart that this explanation is a bit of a sad attempt to paint a picture of real humans who, like yourself, are just too complex and wonderful to describe in words. If I attempted to write what I have learned from the Puritan author, poet, and theologian Lucy Hutchinson, I could not perfectly communicate all that it entails. The best advice I could give is to read her yourself, and be changed yourself, and yet, I have to try.

I think on a regular basis about how Hutchinson fully appreciated the importance of committing to care for the church despite its weaknesses, and how she had a deep sense of personal responsibility to do this as a lay person and mother. This comes through best in her theological treatise, “On the Principles of the Christian Religion,” which Hutchinson wrote for her daughter Barbara, after she married and moved away to start an independent life as an adult in order to reinforce her love bond with the church. Something that parents today may take less seriously, Hutchinson lost sleep over, as she described this document as: “a testimony of my best and most tender love to you who cannot consider the age and temptations you are cast upon without great thoughts of heart and earnest prayers for you.”[1] Yet, she was not only concerned for Barbara but also Barbara’s own children and employees, to whom Hutchinson instructed her to pass the faith. Interestingly, Hutchinson wrote this document during the most burdensome time of her life, when, after her husband died, she was left to secure financial stability for herself and her children.

It is remarkable to think about how Hutchinson wrote her most theologically technical document for this purpose and at this time, and it is equally striking to see how, in it, she continually recognized both the difficulties of church life and the necessity of maintaining love between fellow believers. For example, she told Barbara:

Sects are a greate sinne and Christians ought all to liue in the vnity of the spiritt and though it cannot be but that offences will come in the Church yet woe be to them by whom they come. It is the Apostles rule that wee should not haue the faith of Christ with respect of persons and he warns vs that wee should not follow them further then they are followers of Christ Loue is the bond of perfectnesse and they that breake the Communion of saints walke not charitably and will be accountable to God for it…In his name therefore I beg of you to study and exercise vniversall loue to euery member of Christ vnder what denomination soeuer you find them.[2]

Elsewhere, in one of her statements of faith, she similarly affirmed that the catholic church is made up of believers who are united by the same Spirit and love and added, “all whose true members vnder what errors or weaknesses souer they be I desire to owne as brethren and sisters in Christ and to exercise towards them all offices of charity.”[3] Hutchinson claimed that though the visible church contains true believers and hypocrites, it is so beneficial to meet together that each member is required to uphold this as best they can. Thus, she also suggested that it was convenient for Christians in the same neighbourhood to gather together, since they had so many opportunities to care for one another in practical ways by living near each other.

After a year of being prevented from fulfilling some of our regular duties of meeting together as believers, the goodness of coming together, taking care of one another, and owning each other as family despite weaknesses, rings true from Hutchinson’s writings. The truth is, before 2020, there were many things that threatened to loosen our love bond with the church, and there will be more in years to come. What Hutchinson inspires me to do is recognize my own neediness for these people, renew my commitment to them, and encourage others to do the same—through personal contact or other ways—whether it be those in my own local congregation, those in my neighbourhood who are part of a different denomination, or those who live in other areas of the world, who are perhaps suffering or are in danger. Whatever difficulties and temptations arise this year, I hope you can think of Hutchinson as your own mother, a spiritual one, pleading with you to walk charitably instead of becoming lax or finding excuses to argue and divide.

[1]  Hutchinson, “On the Principles of the Christian Religion,” in The Works of Lucy Hutchinson, vol. 2, Theological Writings and Translations, part 1: Introductions and Texts, ed. Elizabeth Clarke, David Norbrook, Jane Stevenson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 2:193.

[2] Hutchinson, ‘Principles,’ Works, 2:191.

[3] Hutchinson, ‘My owne faith and attainment,’ Works, 2:119.

 



Exchanging Truth for a Lie: Image, Idolatry, and the People of God

By / Jul 20

The Apostle Paul reserves some of his harshest, most theologically poignant words about sin for Romans 1:18-32. In 1:18 he states, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people.” Paul pulls no punches here. If we read Romans 1:18-32 in isolation, we arrive at a distorted view of God, sin, and his wrath. But if we read it against the storyline of the Bible, then Romans 1 resonates well with all of Scripture. The aim of this essay is to explore the nature of idolatry and God’s subsequent wrath in Romans 1:18-32, tying it to the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden and the fall of Israel at Sinai. What we will find should not come as a surprise–history repeats itself.[1]

Image and Idolatry in Genesis 1-3

To grasp the nature of idolatry in Romans 1 and God’s subsequent wrath, we must begin with the beginning of the story—the creation of Adam and Eve in the garden. Genesis 1-3, though only three chapters, forms the core of the Bible’s storyline. It’s here where we learn about God’s intimate relationship with creation and his ultimate intention for it.  We also learn about the great “cosmic tragedy,”[2] yet God’s commitment to preserving his people through a coming redeemer.

Genesis 1-2 narrates how God created Adam and Eve in his “image.” When God creates Adam and Eve in his image, they are to become his official representatives on earth. According to 1:26, God intends to create “man” in his “image” so that “they will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” One verse later, God fulfills his intention, and “man” is “created” in God’s “own image” (1:27).[3] Extensive research in the last several decades on ancient creation accounts and a continued interest in ancient Near Eastern archaeology have sharpened our understanding of “image” here in Genesis.

Just as God rules over the entire cosmos, so mankind, created in the “image” of God, was to rule over the earth and its inhabitants. Fundamentally, being created in God’s image means that Adam and Eve represent him on the earth in all their thoughts and actions. It is the divine imprint of God that reflects his divine attributes and functions in the threefold office of king, priest, and prophet.

Following Adam and Eve’s marriage in 2:22-25, the narrative immediately turns to the serpent’s deception of Eve. The serpent is introduced as being “more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made” (3:1). We learn here that the serpent is part of the created world, the same world that Adam and Eve were to exercise dominion. By associating the serpent with creation, the implication is that Adam and Eve were tasked with ruling over the serpent.

The serpent’s lie is that Adam and Eve can cast off the divine image and become gods themselves. In their eyes, representing God on earth wasn’t good enough. They wanted to be him, to have what he has, and to know what he knows. The temptation threatens all three offices of Adam and Eve, striking at the heart of being created in God’s image. As God’s images, the first couple represents him on the earth and serves on his behalf. But the serpent allures them to rid themselves of God’s image and become independent of God and function at his level.

Immediately after partaking of the fruit, Adam and Eve “realized they were naked” (3:7). The word here for “naked” is related to the Hebrew word for “crafty” (Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; Job 5:13). A few verses earlier in 3:1, the serpent is considered “more crafty than any of the wild animals.” The point is that the couple is, as a result of the fall, beginning to take on characteristics of the serpent. [4] Instead of representing God on the earth, Adam and Eve are now beginning to represent the serpent.

This insight brings us to an important principle: images will always be transformed into the object of their worship. G. K. Beale rightly states, “what people revere, they resemble, either for ruin or restoration.”[5]  Images are meant to imitate God on earth, so if Adam and Eve obey God, they become more like him. Their divine image was to become more and more aligned with God’s character. But, because they believed and trusted in the serpent instead of God, they began to transform into the serpent’s image. Instead of manifesting the traits of God on earth, they and their descendants will manifest the traits of the serpent. In the following verses, Adam and Eve shift the blame and are unwilling to answer the Lord truthfully (3:11-13). They, like the serpent, are attempting to deceive.

Though God mercifully begins to restore Adam and Eve’s image and the first couple once again enjoys harmony with God, the damage has been done. The first couple and the entire created order is severely affected by the Fall. Sin dwells within them and affects every aspect of their image, both functionally and ontologically. Humanity and creation are now in a state of rebellion against the creator. With Adam and Eve’s corrupted image and proclivity to assert independence of God (3:22), the Lord expels them from Eden. Ironically, Adam and Eve were to expel the serpent from the garden, but because they disobeyed, they are now expelled. Adam and Eve are unclean and deserve of God’s wrath.

Adam and Eve’s transgression in the garden plunged humanity and creation headfirst into sin. As a result, God banished them from the garden sanctuary and “drove” them out and “placed” cherubim “on the east side of the Garden of Eden…to guard the way to the tree of life” (3:23-24). Adam and Eve now find themselves exiled from God’s presence in the garden. When Cain murders his brother later in the narrative, he too is “driven from the land” and becomes a “restless wanderer on the earth…[away] from the Lord’s presence” (4:14, 16). The remainder of Genesis narrates the story of God’s people moving farther away from God’s garden sanctuary heading eastward (13:11; 25:6). As the effects of the fall begin to take root within the created realm, humanity repeatedly fails to obey God resulting in increased estrangement from God. Sinful individuals cannot dwell in God’s holy presence and survive. Sin must be punished and God must restore humanity.

Image and Idolatry in Romans 1

Much of what we’ve discovered in Genesis 1-3 is iterated in Romans 1. As many commentators point out, Paul’s mind is attuned to the Genesis narrative, especially, the fall. The result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience is exile and estrangement from God’s life-giving presence. As humanity spirals into sin, they become more and more consumed with worshipping themselves and creation, thus deserving God’s wrath.

The New Testament authors were convinced that the “latter days” had dawned and that Israel and all of humanity were experiencing an unparalleled time of restoration and tribulation. Oddly, while the Old Testament expected that tribulation would precede restoration, the New Testament states that both, tribulation and restoration, overlap. John himself even admits, “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus” (Rev 1:9).

The “overlap of the ages” is important to our understanding of Romans 1 because as we read the opening chapter to the book we must realize that Paul is articulating the nature of sin and idolatry in the context of the “latter days.” What the Old Testament expected to take place at the very end of history is now beginning to be fulfilled in the first century. The sinful behavior that stretches from Romans 1:18-32 is not a list of generic sins, but a list of eschatological sins that culminate in sexual perversion.

Romans 1-4 confronts this issue of eschatological hostility from God without mincing words. Sin’s tyranny affects both Gentiles and Jews. Both groups must grasp that, because of their rebellion and idolatry, they deserve physical and spiritual death. Paul must also convince Gentiles that, although they do not have the “Mosaic Law” in written form, they remain legally culpable. Gentiles, according to Paul, have a clear knowledge of God. They have a natural law to convict them of idolatry and “unrighteousness” (2:15). Jews, on the other hand, contend that since they have the Mosaic Law they are righteous, without blame, and surely not idolaters. So, Paul must convince them that although they had “Law,” they were still unrighteous before God because they had grievously broken the Law. Though all humanity remains guilty before God: faith in Christ saves humanity from their sinful plight.

In 1:17, the positive side of God’s righteousness comes to the fore. It is righteousness that comes to the aid of believers and is credited to their account. Romans 1:18-3:20, however, concerns the other side of God’s righteousness: God pronounces judgment upon all those who are idolaters: “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness” (1:18). Again, this is not generic “wrath,” but “eschatological wrath.” This is the same wrath that the Old Testament predicted would arrive at the very end of history when God would consummately judge the pagan nations and idolatrous Israelites (Ezek 38:18; Dan 11:36).

According to Romans 1:18, the behavior of the Gentiles is indistinct from the behavior of idolatrous Israelites at Sinai. They, too, have failed to worship the creator and have turned to worship figurative idols. Unbelieving Gentiles believed the lie that knowledge of salvation could be attained outside of the sphere of God, outside his revelation. They were convinced that they could indeed procure independence from him (1:21). Adam and Eve’s fall is repeated here in the behavior of Gentiles. They worshiped creation instead of the Creator, a behavior is antithetical to being in God’s image. Humanity is designed to worship only God, but because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion, humanity is ensnared in a spiral of idolatrous behavior. Lack of trust in God’s word inevitably leads to trust in ourselves. When we trust ourselves, we commit idolatry. When we commit idolatry, we conform to our idols. When we conform to our idols, we become enslaved to them. When we trust ourselves, we commit idolatry. When we commit idolatry, we conform to our idols. When we conform to our idols, we become enslaved to them. Click To Tweet Left to ourselves, there’s no way out.

Unbelieving Gentiles remain condemned because they have access to a “law of God,” a “law” that is evident from creation and their conscience (2:12-16). Since all Gentiles have “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image” (NASB), they are deserving of judgment. The result of this heinous idolatry was that God “gave them over” to their own wickedness and lusts (1:26-32). Paul’s words recall Psalm 106:20, where the Israelites “exchanged” the object of true worship or “their glory” for an idolatrous image. Psalm 106 alludes to the episode of the golden calf at Sinai. By referring to the idolatry of the golden calf, Paul has tapped into the first formal sin in Israel’s existence as a nation. Exodus 32 portrays Israel’s idolatrous worship of the molten calf in language describing rebellious cattle to convey the idea that Israel had become like the object of its worship. Israel is called a “stiff-necked people” who were “running wild” and “out of control” (Exod 32:9, 24-25). Sinful Israel is mocked by being depicted metaphorically as rebellious cows running amuck because the nation had become as spiritually lifeless as the inanimate golden calf.[6]

Resembling their parents in the garden, the Israelites immediately break God’s law by committing idolatry through worshipping the golden calf (Exod 32). This is, as one commentator, states, “Genesis 3 all over again.”[7] It’s not entirely clear, though, how they broke God’s law. On the surface, yes, Aaron forged a golden calf, and Israel explicitly broke the first two commandments (Exod 20:3-4). But the breach of the commandments revealed a fundamental issue in the hearts of the Israelites—a lack of trust in God’s word. God promised that he would dwell his people and that his life-giving presence would nourish and protect them (Exod 19:5-6). But they failed to believe him and took matters into their own hands. Just like Adam and Eve in the garden, God’s word was deemed insufficient. The Israelites wanted to dictate the terms of their preservation. They wanted to be in charge of their destiny. They wanted to be gods.

Paul’s wording in Romans 1:26-32 also echoes Genesis 1-3. The language of “exchanging the glory of the immortal God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” (1:23; NASB) recalls the early chapters of Genesis. Instead of worshipping God and giving him glory, Adam and Eve worshipped themselves in pursuing independence and committed idolatry. Paul, therefore, concludes that Adam and Israel sinned by committing heinous idolatry, and such behavior continues to be recapitulated among all sinful individuals.

Image and Idolatry Today

In a very real sense, when we sin, we repeat the fall of Adam and Eve and the nation of Israel. The story always remained the same. It wasn’t until the coming of Christ that the pattern was broken. Though he was tempted just like Adam and Eve and the nation of Israel, he remained faithful. His faithfulness is passed on to those who trust in him. It is only through Christ’s perfect life that we are freed from our idolatry and escape the wrath of God. Christ bore the unfaithful, idolatrous behavior of his people so that we could become perfectly restored images in the sight of God. We would do well to remind ourselves daily of the seriousness of our sin but the grace that is found in Christ’s work on our behalf.

[1] Portions of this essay are drawn my from forthcoming book, From Adam to Israel: A Biblical Theology of the People of God (ESBT; Downers Grove: IVP, forthcoming).

[2] Stephen G. Dempster, Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible (NSBT 15; Downers Grove: IVP, 2003), 66.

[3] Unless noted, all translations are from the NIV (2011).

[4] Meredith G. Kline, Genesis: A New Commentary (ed. Jonathan G. Kline; Peabody, 2016), 22.

[5] G. K. Beale, We Become What We Worship (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2008), 16.

[6] Beale, We Become What We Worship, 76-86.

[7] Terence E. Fretheim, Exodus (Int; Louisville: John Knox, 1991), 279.

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared at the blog for Credo Magazine and is used with permission.



Lament For The Man In The Mugshot

By / Jul 19

I scrolled through Twitter and recognized a face. My eyes were tired, and I was just about to close the app and go to sleep. It was a mugshot of a man I once knew tied with a news article that said “Youth Pastor Among 18 Men Arrested in Tennessee Human Trafficking Operation.” 

Not just “Youth Pastor,” a descriptive title many hold, but my youth pastor. The man whose family I knew, who made me his intern, who I cried over when he moved away. He discipled me, taught me about Jesus, gave me opportunities to serve and lead, and he declared God’s Word as truthful and powerful every week. Over a decade later and his face filled my timeline with a horrific accusation. 

I’m not a lawyer, an investigator, or an expert on sexual abuse. I am not a personal victim of abuse. I don’t know what constitutes a “crisis” or how pervasive the problem really is in our churches. But twice now I’ve sat in front of a screen and read about a man I loved, trusted, admired, respected, and knew who threw obedience to the wind and chose to elevate his desires while exploiting fellow image-bearers. Within 24 hours of sharing the article, two friends reached out and told me stories of youth pastors who abused their friends. 

I know we’re not unique in our experience. To discover that someone who was called to shepherd you betrayed that calling by seeking that which brings them pleasure is unnerving and all too common. I hope and pray this is never your experience. But if you have felt the pain of a family member, mentor, teacher, pastor, or friend who has sinned in this way, I do not dare to offer empty words of empathy or bandages to cover the wound.

There are no easy answers. I’ve felt betrayed, numb, appalled, powerless, shocked, overwhelmed, and downright angry. I’ve asked, “Why?” and “How?” and come up with no good response. 

In moments like this, I want to fast forward to a happier place where the hurt is gone. I don’t like emotions, and I especially don’t like this kind. 

Speeding past the pain removes an opportunity to lament. We, as children of God, do not build our entire lives upon lament and sorrow. We do, however, take up temporary residence in a broken world. If our eyes are fixed forward on the promise of eternity, we can both mourn and have hope. We can be sorrowful and comforted by the Holy Spirit. We can be “grieving, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). 

This, then, is my prayer of lament for my former youth pastor, all those wounded by his actions, or for anyone else marred by abuse.  

May You enact justice for those exploited.

May You avenge Your children,

Comfort them in the perfect love You offer,

And heal their wounded hearts.

 

May evil men be sentenced,

May those who carry out justice on earth

Be strengthened in all wisdom,

And let wrongdoing be punished.

 

May You bring about repentance, 

May true sorrow come from wrongdoers.

Point them to Jesus,

And keep them on the narrow way.

 

May objectification cease in our land,

May we view others through Your eyes.

Remind us of Your Image,

And help us love as those redeemed.

 

May Your churches be intolerant,

May Your children protect the vulnerable.

Give us eyes to recognize sin,

And swiftly confront what we see.

 

May You come and bring us home,

May our sorrows turn to joy.

Return and gather us, O Lord,

And make the world perfect again.



Links For The Church (7/19)

By / Jul 19

Jesus Owns Your Phone: How Christ Frees Us from Screen Slavery

Our phones have changed the way we interact with the world. Often we allow them to control us. Phones are not immoral in and of themselves, and in this post, Dan Crabtree shares how we can honor Jesus with our phones.

You Will Fail Sometimes. Don’t Quit.

“Every day is a new opportunity to examine ourselves, to put on the armor that God has mercifully provided, to rely on His perfect strength, to do battle against our own lying hearts.”

Finding Hope When You’ve Made Mistakes with Your Children

Rebekah Matt shares helpful passages of Scripture that are particularly encouraging to parents. Her words are not just for times of encouragement, but times where parents haven’t been perfect.

Single in a Church of Families

This helpful post speaks to and about those who are single in the church. Ryan Griffith walks through Old and New Testament portrayals of singleness and provides encouragement for those who find themselves single in churches where there are mostly families.



Clint Pressley On Writing Sermons

By / Jul 16

We asked Clint Pressley, “How do you write sermons? Describe your sermon preparation process.”



Are You In God’s Kingdom?

By / Jul 16

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Mark 12:28-34

The scribe made a great first move. He came to Jesus. But he didn’t come close enough. He came to Jesus to ask a question but he didn’t draw close enough to see the true answer. If he had, he would have seen that Jesus not only knew God’s law but obeyed God’s law. He would have seen Jesus wasn’t only a teacher but a savior, a man like himself in appearance but unlike him in divinity. He would have seen a perfect man there before him who loved God with all he was, who never disobeyed for a second, and loved his neighbor as himself, headed to the cross to prove it. But the scribe didn’t see that because he didn’t come to Jesus as a sinner in need of saving but as a scribe in need of a theological answer.

How have you come to him?

Jesus told the scribe he was not far from the kingdom of God (Mark 12:34). But being not far doesn’t mean being in, and the difference between being near and being in the kingdom of God is simple, though I admit, not easy. It comes down to this: What do you do with Jesus? Is he a teacher or a savior? Can you see him for who he is and what he did or do you merely admire him for what he taught?

Standing before Jesus, the scribe never saw him for who he truly was. He who transcribed the Old Testament events about God’s glory coming into the temple didn’t see it when glory stood before him. He never saw the crushing weight of the law. He never realized the man before him was a Rescuer, the Son who, as Paul said in Galatians 4, “God sent forth…born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Jesus was there to pull him from under the law by taking his place. The scribe remained a slave to the law, but how close he was to being a son! How close he was to finding in God not only a great law-giver but a loving Father! Jesus was there for that very reason, but he missed it! And because he missed it, he was outside the kingdom. He wasn’t far, that’s true, but to be not far is to be altogether out.

Let’s beware of missing Jesus. Let’s beware of standing in the presence of God and missing the hope of the gospel. Let’s beware of our knowledge and agreement shielding us from repentance and belief. Let’s not merely discuss matters with Jesus but fall down in worship before him, crying out for rescue. There is only one way to enter the kingdom of God, and the Bible is clear from cover to cover that the one way is faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone.

So here’s the hope for any of us that feel not far from the kingdom but want in. As great as his teaching was, Jesus did not come only to give you tips on how to live. He did not come merely to show you how to be kind to others. He came to rescue you from sin and death. He came to save you from the crushing weight of the law. He came, as he said in John 10, to be the door by which you enter the kingdom of God. He came to have his flesh torn open so that by his blood you find cleansing and hope. He suffered the separation on the cross that you deserve to give you the peace of God that you don’t deserve.

So if you want to be a citizen of his kingdom, all you have to do is ask him to bring you in. He will gladly do it. If you’re tired of trying to obey a law you’ve already failed and you’re tired of gaining more knowledge for knowledge’s sake and you’re tired of just agreeing with God and you’re ready to lay it all down at his feet and ask for new life, he’s ready to welcome you. How do I know? Because he said he would. To all who are weighed down by their sin and their failed attempts at obeying the heavy yoke of the law, Jesus says this morning, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The kingdom of God is not for high-achievers. It is for repenters. If you can repent and admit your need for Jesus, the kingdom of God can be yours. If you see the law is killing you, Jesus will be your life.

I want you to know about God and I want you to agree with everything God says, but that alone won’t get you into heaven. And, in fact, the first step is knowing and agreeing with God that you’re a sinner in need of a savior. You enter God’s kingdom by coming to Jesus as your only hope and laying every other merit down at his feet. Your hope cannot be in your obedience. It cannot be in your character. It cannot be in your knowledge or agreement with God or anything else. Your hope must be placed in the power of Jesus Christ crucified, raised, ascended, glorified, and coming again. If it is anywhere else—even God’s law—you stand outside the kingdom looking in. But you must be in. Life is in there!

That’s not a matter of theological debate. It’s the truth of the gospel—something to rejoice in and enter into.

And if you’ve not come in yet, well, the door is still open. Hurry inside.

Editor’s Note: This originally published at Things of the Sort