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What Do You Have That You Did Not Receive?

5/10/2014

by Bill Walsh

"What do you have that you did not receive?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

In a recent sermon on Romans, Tullian Tchividjian relayed the story of his travel to a southeastern U.S. city where he spoke to a group of financial supporters on behalf of a ministry that serves the poor---homeless, addicted, abused, and unemployed. Earlier that day, he toured this ministry's facilities and chatted with those being helped. During the talk he said, "I learned more about God's grace talking to those people, because they were desperate, than I do most people I talk to in church."

Why? Perhaps because those in need are more in touch with their desperate dependence on grace. When things are great and our basic needs are met, we tend to forget our actual impoverished condition. It's too easy to mistakenly believe that we are self-reliant; we might even pat ourselves on the back for how smart and hard-working we've been.

This story got me thinking about how we who live in material comfort often take for granted our access to gospel resources. We're surrounded by teachers, sermons, good books, online resources, Bible software, blogs, and the list goes on. Sure, many of us work hard to gather good resources and regularly imbibe truth to feed our souls. But in the end, a gracious God has handed us things we didn't choose or earn:

When and where we were born
Our families
The economic, social, and technological environment in which we live
Awareness of the gospel
The legacies of preachers and authors who preceded us

In contrast, we should consider those in the Global South who often suffer from theological famine. We are frequently in touch with leaders in countries where solid Christian publishing in their language practically does not exist. Many pastors and church leaders lack sufficient access to gospel-centered teaching and resources. While good books are hard to come by, those by false teachers are quite prevalent. Due to poor technology, online study resources are also rare.

Imagine how desperate you would be, especially trying to shepherd a flock of God's people. Most of us in the West will not face this kind of need, though a majority in the rest of the world endures it. Their poverty should remind us of our true condition and desperate need for the grace of God. What we enjoy so lavishly has been given to us by sheer grace. Thank God!

As Tim Keller has said, "When Christians who understand the gospel, see a poor person, they realize they are looking into a mirror."

Bill Walsh is director of international outreach for The Gospel Coalition. He worked for Desiring God Ministries for 13 years. Starting in 2006, he and a small team built a global network of partners for the cause of Theological Famine Relief for the Global Church. This initiative joined TGC in 2012. He lives with his wife, Cindi, in Minneapolis and has two adult children, Beau and Regan.

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"The Surest Way to Promote God's Good Plan for Marriage"

7/3/2013

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Without any further introduction, here is a very helpful article by Dan Doriani on a gospel-centered mindset toward the recent Supreme Court decisions regarding homosexual civil unions. Don't let the legal jargon of the first paragraph discourage you from reading to the end...

The Surest Way to Promote God's Good Plan for Marriage

With additional time to assess last week's Supreme Court decisions on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's Proposition 8, we can see how both advance America's move toward accepting and affirming gay marriage. Analysts disagree about what comes next, but many believe the language in Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion will soon let the Supreme Court declare a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Wherever we live, same-sex marriage is probably coming soon. Kennedy wrote that DOMA is unconstitutional because of its "interference with the equal dignity of same-sex marriages." DOMA's effect, Kennedy said, is "to identify a subset of state-sanctioned marriages and make them unequal." DOMA's "principal purpose is to impose inequality . . . to disparage and to injure" people who, Kennedy concludes, live in less respected forms of marriage.

Reacting to these decisions, many Christians are pleased by the way rights have been extended to an often oppressed group. Whatever our view of marriage may be, we must know that the law of Moses often insists on equal legal protection for all (e.g. Exod. 23:8, Deut. 16:19). On the other hand, Genesis states and Jesus reaffirms God's good plan for marriage: "From the beginning the Creator made them male and female. . . . For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" (Matt. 19:4-5). Many of us are troubled by the Supreme Court's decisions because they show how our nation's allegiance to biblical norms is eroding. But the paramount question is this: How does this ruling change things for the church and the cause of Christ and the gospel?

In a vital way, nothing changes. Jesus is still our living Lord. As Russell Moore has said, the gospel doesn't need family values to flourish: "Real faith often thrives when it is in sharp contrast to the cultures around it. That's why the gospel rocketed out of the first-century from places such as Ephesus and Philippi and Corinth and Rome." None of these cities had moral systems that promoted healthy marriages. In fact, the very contrast between Christian marriages and the wreckage of pagan marriages extolled the virtue of Christianity. One respectable philosopher, writing in an era of moral chaos that included slave concubines and easy divorce, even said in a wedding speech that a husband's adultery should be viewed as a sign of respect for his wife: "It is respect for her which leads him to share his debauchery, licentiousness, and wantonness with another woman" (Plutarch, "Advice to Bride and Groom"). This sort of nonsense strengthened the appeal of Christianity.

Let's remember, too, that this is hardly the first time an America court or legislature has promoted or tolerated actions contrary to biblical morality. We think of abortion and Roe vs. Wade. Sadly, states don't just allow gambling—they actually promote it. The state cannot, however, force us to gamble. And while compulsory abortion is practiced in parts of China, our laws give us every freedom to promote life, which we do.

For those who are prone to despair, a word on abortion is apt. Through persistence and courage, abortion has been rolled back. In the 1980s, my state of Missouri had an abortion rate that exceeded 20 percent of pregnancies. Today it is 8 percent, and the rate is even lower in the upper Midwest. Since the abortion rate remains as high as ever in some states (near 40 percent in New York), it seems that gentle persuasion can create a moral consensus. Not long ago, this sort of progress in the protection of the unborn seemed impossible.

Adorn the Gospel

The recent decisions of the Supreme Court in no way restrict our freedom to marry, have children, and love each other. If anything, recent decisions should prompt us to rededicate ourselves to Christ-like love in marriage. The Christian marriage ideal attracted many pagans to Christ in the apostolic age. And when the Reformers restored the biblical teaching on marriage 500 years ago, it enhanced the call to the gospel of Christ. When Reformers like Martin Luther married and became faithful husbands and fathers, their conduct adorned the gospel. May our marriages become an ongoing testimony to God's purposes.

Jesus said, "From the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female.'" We use this statement to promote God's ideal and rightly so, but let's remember that Jesus made that statement in order to correct an error in his age and ours: rampant and arbitrary divorce.

Sadly, the rise in same-sex marriage is possible in part because our culture has strayed so far from God's plan for marriage. Casual cohabitation, promiscuity, and easy divorce all erode the appeal of God's ideal. Church conduct looks all too similar. What then?

First, we should tend our marriages, steadily regarding our spouse as God's great gift (Prov. 19:14). At its best, Paul says, the love of a Christian marriage reflects the love of Christ for the church. A strong marriage can adorn the gospel (Tit. 2:10). Waves of good marriages will make the case for God's plan more effectively than any state or federal law.

Not long ago I was seated at a wedding reception next to a Christian professor who did his doctoral work at one secular university and now teaches at another. He said that the great majority of his fellow professors are secular and non-Christian. Nonetheless, they love their Christian students. He explained why: On the whole, they are far more likely to come to class faithfully and well-prepared. They are willing to argue their convictions. They are active in campus life. They volunteer to do worthwhile things and they keep their commitments.

The Christian faith and Christian ethics have lost the home-field advantage in our culture. But we are still free to present our faith and the gospel. We can do that with words and with lives that show the beauty of the gospel. That is the surest way to promote God's good plan for marriage.

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Gossiping the Gospel

2/26/2013

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Marcus and I are grateful and encouraged to be pastoring a church that has grown much in the habit of intentional conversations that reflect on the gospel and touch daily life. I recently came across the following article, written by Colin Marshall, that expresses that heartbeat and that I pray you will find to be encouraging and practical...

"Church Was Great! Let's Not Talk About It"

We've just heard the Word read and proclaimed, sung the praises of our great God, and petitioned him for mercy in our time of need. And then we spend our time afterward talking about last night's movie, the game, the hobby, the state of the nation, or whatever. Anything but the great truths of the gospel we've just heard and by which we're saved. Why do we do this?

"Drive-thru church" doesn't help. We have six other commitments on Sunday, so we aim to get through church as efficiently as possible on the way to the next thing. Some of us have just never thought about having conversations about the sermon (apart from pestering the preacher about something). Others know it's crazy to talk about everything but God, yet they still feel uncomfortable striking up "spiritual" conversations. We've never been in a context where this is normal. Sometimes, perhaps too often, we leave the service with no sense of engaging with God by Word and Spirit, and so we have nothing to say to anyone.

For still more, the underlying problem is our consumer view of church---an unsurprising consequences of "what's in it for me" contemporary Western culture. "Church is put on for me by the professionals and their teams," we assume. With this mindset, engaging in spiritually encouraging conversations certainly won't be on the agenda.

Ironically, those with a serving mindset---the antithesis of consumerism---can also find it difficult to get into "God talk" at church. The busyness of serving can keep us from stopping to encourage others and can let us feel we've done enough by helping to organize things.

Why We Meet

But why should we use our conversations at church to encourage one another in the faith? Because that is the reason why we meet.

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." (Heb. 3:13)

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb. 10:24-25)

The church gathers God's people to hear his Word, respond in obedience, and use our gifts and abilities to strengthen one another in the faith. All believers are involved in building Christ's church. Therefore, we shouldn't see ourselves merely as part of an organization called "St. Hubert's Church," but as servants of God's people, eager to meet the needs of others even if it means stepping out of our comfort zone.

Not the Only Ones

I love our heritage of expository preaching delivered by godly, studious, articulate pastors. But somehow we've inadvertently communicated that they're the only ones (plus a few others on the stage, perhaps) who do the work of encouraging and building. If that's your assumption, read the New Testament (e.g., 1 Cor. 12-14; 1 Pet. 2) again with an eye toward how the whole body builds itself up, with each part doing its work by speaking gospel truth in love (Eph. 4:15-16).

Perhaps some of you are thinking, I may not talk much about God and what we've learned in the sermon, but I do show love in lots of other ways, through caring for people in need and asking how to pray. But encouraging someone isn't only putting our arms around them and urging them to press on. What gives courage is the truth of the gospel. We see a clear example of this in 1 Thessalonians 4:18: 'Therefore encourage each other with these words." In context, "these words" that encourage are the words of the gospel (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

Here's my question for you: Do you come to church expecting God to use you to minister to others, to encourage them in faith, hope, and love through the Word? Are you asking him to provide such opportunities?

What to Ask

So how do we start these encouraging conversations after church? Asking "What did you get out of the sermon?" might work, but often you'll get a blank look or worse. Here are a few suggestions:

Pray during the service that God would lead your conversations, and pray for specific people around you.
Listen to what God is saying to you through the sermon (or songs, creeds, and so on) and formulate a comment or question to start a conversation. This past week at our church, the sermon was on what it means to praise the Lord, from Psalms 146-150. Since I was thinking about this article (and, I hope, for more godly reasons), I picked out two things to try as conversation-starters after church.
With another couple we somehow got into a conversation about their blended family, and I reminded them of God's favor towards the alien, orphans, and widows (Ps. 146). Since the husband is not yet a believer, I was deliberately talking about God's character. I have no idea what effect it had on him.
Even if the conversations don't always get off the ground, your enthusiasm for learning the Bible and knowing God will be contagious. And non-Christians will see that church isn't dull and boring but fascinating and life-shattering.
These intentional conversations after church will sometimes lead to prayer for one another. Why not stop for a moment and give thanks or petition God for some need?
Another way to deepen our fellowship is to ask each other how we came to salvation in Christ. Sometimes we've been in church with people for years without ever learning their story. The other day at church I asked a guy named Phil how he became a Christian, and we discovered God had worked in us in very similar ways as young men. The door is now open to building a friendship with this brother. What a joy!

Family, Not an Audience

The benefits of working at these encouraging conversations go way beyond the few minutes after church. Our gatherings are enriched, and our partnership with one another in the gospel is enhanced. We know each other as God's family, not as anonymous audience members at a performance.

Moreover, I'm convinced we don't "gossip the gospel" with our unbelieving neighbors and friends at least in part because we've never learned to talk about God and our Christian life, even with other Christians. How will we engage unbelievers about God's grace in Christ if we don't talk with our brothers and sisters about these great truths—especially after listening to a sermon together?

If your church gathering doesn't include coffee and refreshments after the service, let me encourage you to consider doing so. You'll set the pattern of staying afterward to minister to others, and, after a while, it will be quite normal.

Too costly? Going deeper in Christian friendship and stirring up one another to love and good deeds? I don't see much cost there.

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"Keep It Complicated"

9/11/2012

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It is interesting to me how many people I meet seem content to have what they call a "simple faith." Usually, this self-description comes up in the context of a conversation in which the person is struggling to accept some particular teaching of scripture with which they are unfamiliar, uncomfortable, or both. In these cases, my sentiments are usually fourfold: 1.) I praise God for the faith that the person already has, "simple" or otherwise. 2.) I am burdened for the person to be able to love and trust all of the Word regardless of the implications. 3.) I am burdened for pastors and other teachers (myself included) to be willing to "dig in" to the Word in their teaching in such a way that people will learn to "wrestle" with the Word while still loving and trusting it, thus molding maturing believers. 4.) I am burdened for myself not to arrogantly expect everyone to believe everything exactly as I do on the same time frame that I do. With that in mind, I found the following article by Randy Newman to be appropriately challenging and gracious...

I am sometimes told, when discussing how to present the gospel to a non-believer or how to formulate a sermon or Bible study, to "keep it simple." Sometimes the admonition is "to keep the cookies on the lower shelf."

If the advocate of simplicity elaborates, he'll tell me that, if we "make things complicated," people may get confused, reject our message, get lost in unimportant issues, not remember what we said, or fail to benefit from the Bible's teaching, the gospel's power, or the truth's beauty.

But what if "keeping it simple" is really distorting the message? What if our message isn't really simple? What if the gospel is complex, rich, multifaceted, nuanced, far-reaching, and touching upon an infinite number of other aspects of life? What if the Bible isn't really a simple book after all? What if God's Word points us to its inspirer---the God who is beyond comprehension, beyond finding out, beyond our finite reasoning, and beyond all we can pull together?

What if "keeping it complicated" really did justice to the subject matter and "making it simple" misrepresents it? What if we can't "keep" it simple because it never was simple to begin with? What if we're not "making" it complicated but reflecting the truth as it really is?

Have I made this argument complicated? Good.

Nice and Easy
I certainly see the need to find ways to state things concisely and simply. Sometimes you only have a few minutes to explain what you believe to a sincere inquirer. In those instances, a short booklet or a diagram drawn on a small napkin is the best vehicle for telling people the message of salvation.

But it's one thing to draw that diagram or read that booklet and say, "This is one way for me to express my faith in a concise way. There's obviously more but this is a helpful introduction." It's another thing to say, "There. That's all there is to it."

I have often pondered the best-selling book title, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Apparently, given its popularity, a lot of people think it's the only book they need to read. But I remain unconvinced. All I really need to know? Really? I have found that the dramas of life, the complexities of marriage, the trials of disease, the confusion of evil, the pain of death, the ever-evolving challenges of parenthood, not to mention the wonder of beauty, the joy of music, the blessing of laughter, and all the delights of worship to be just a few of the things my kindergarten teacher left out of the syllabus.

Do I think the lessons I learned in kindergarten were helpful, foundational, crucial building blocks upon which to learn many of the lessons that would follow? Absolutely. Am I thankful for kindergarten? Remarkably.

But am I glad there was also a first grade and a second grade and every other learning experience I've encountered since kindergarten? Increasingly so.

If I reflect on this tendency to "keep it simple" vs. "keep it complicated" from a missional perspective, I would have to say, "keeping it simple" hasn't served the church all that well---at least, not lately. Our world is complex, and people know it. In fact, people love it. They reject (rightly, I believe) simplistic answers to complex questions because those answers haven't worked. Formulas haven't helped them make relationships work. Short explanations haven't helped them grapple with long problems. And the people who insist, "it's really quite simple" seem to be out of touch with reality.

Many people wonder about the complexities of life and want to explore them. They long to see how seemingly unrelated topics intersect. They are not surprised by mysteries that keep unfolding, revealing more and more levels of wonder. They enjoy movies like Inception.

Maybe we should try to "keep it complicated" because God's Word and his gospel are complicated---not in the "confusing" sense of complicated but in the rich and beautiful and intellectually fulfilling and aesthetically pleasing and awe-inspiring ways. I think it's worth the experiment---both for the deepening of our faith and the challenging of our friends' searches.

Randy Newman serves with Campus Crusade for Christ’s Faculty Ministry in the Washington, D.C., area. He blogs about evangelism and thoughtful faith.

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What Do You Have That You Did Not Receive?

"The Surest Way to Promote God's Good Plan for Marriage"

Gossiping the Gospel

"Keep It Complicated"

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