I Don’t Know
This morning, I was meeting with a good friend from church and talking to him about some of his struggles in feeling adequate enough to give an answer to the intellectual crowd around him. I have no doubt this is true for many others as well, including myself. The world’s wisdom is built on understanding. If we can’t see it, taste it, touch it, prove it, it simply cannot exist. How is it logical that God is simultaneously three distinct beings and one complete being? Who could be silly enough to believe that the earth was actually created by the Voice of God in six 24 hour periods of time?
It is easy for me to feel inadequate when big questions stump me. I feel like I am doing the Gospel an injustice through my inability to provide an answer. Apologetics are important and we should know what the Bible says and teaches, but I think 1 Peter 3:14a-15 is often taken out of context to make the case for answers being of supreme importance. It says,
Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
This is the warrior motto for the apologetic because we must know the answers (or reasons) in order to respond to the questions. The context of this verse addresses suffering for Christ though. It’s not talking about writing books or having debates. Peter is telling us that, in Christ, we are able to cling to hope in the midst of trial. When we do that, others will see our hope and ask us about it. The questions we need to answer don’t simply come from books and difficult passages in Scripture, they come from how others see us live our lives in light of the Gospel – Christ’s life, death, and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1-5)
I was reminded of a quote from Russell Moore in his book, Tempted and Tried that is a great reminder of Gospel transformation.
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The temptation toward self-protection moves with us as we move forward in the Christian life. In our dialogue with those outside the faith, we often fall for this temptation not only in tone (as we’ll see shortly) but also in content. We often want an incontrovertible, airtight argument for the truthfulness of the Christian gospel, something that can be tested and verified. We want to see Jesus – and thus ourselves – protected from any possible attack. Some do this by resting everything on intellectually rigorous arguments – historical evidence for the resurrection, say, or on the intricate structure of the human eye, or whatever. Others do this by looking for dramatic public evidences of God’s existence – in miracles or healings or revivals. This is an old and persistent strain in the Christian life. The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that the Greeks demanded signs of wisdom and the Jews demanded signs of power, but it was through the apostolic preaching that the aspirations of both were found in Christ, who is “the power and God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). Humanly speaking, this was a paradoxically weak power and a paradoxically foolish wisdom. But Christ alone could illuminate and overcome the darkness out there and in here.
Sometimes believers will throw up their hands in frustration with non-Christian people they know. “I have said everything I know to say to her about the gospel,” one might say. “She already knows it all and still doesn’t believe.” Often what we seek is another argument, a hidden angle that our interlocutor hasn’t thought through before. But that’s rarely how the gospel is heard and received. Think about it in your own case. Did you believe the gospel the first time you ever heard it? Perhaps you did, but if so, you’re quite unusual. Most of us heard the gospel over and over and over again until one day it hit us in a very different way. And what was different about it? Was it a new argument? Did you say to yourself, “Wait, you mean there’s archaeological evidence proving the historical existence of the Hittites?” or “Hold on, there were five hundred witnesses to the resurrection? Well, what must I do to be saved?”
No, in most cases what we heard was the same old gospel – Christ crucified for us, buried, raised from the dead – and suddenly there was light (2 Cor. 4:6). Suddenly what had seemed boring or irrelevant to us now seemed quite personal. We heard a man’s voice in that gospel, and we wanted to follow that voice (John 10:3, 16). We saw a light of glory that overwhelmed us (2 Cor. 4:6). The same is true with the as-of-yet unbelieving world around us or the as-of-yet unbelieving relatives we have waiting for us at the Thanksgiving dinner table. You need not be intimidated by unbelievers, as though what you need is a more nuanced “worldview” to protect the kingdom of God from their threats. Yes, we engage in apologetic arguments, but those aren’t at the hub of our mission. By talking with unbelievers about arguments against the existence of God or scientific evidence for blind natural selection or whatever, all we’re doing is listening to the defense mechanisms of those who are, as we were, scared of the sound of God’s presence in the garden. We should talk about those things lovingly, but not so we can defend the faith. We engage others only so we can get to know the only announcement that assaults the blinding power of the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4). The gospel is big enough to fight for itself.
The Foundation
“But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.”
Ezra 3:6
The Lord’s temple had already been destroyed once when Cyrus allowed the Israelites to return to their homeland and rebuild it. So they turned to masons and carpenters, the Sidonians and the Tyrians to construct and furnish the temple. They erected it in beauty and strength while adorning it with the finest decorations. It was dedicated and consecrated and stood for hundreds of years.
The city grew as did its wonder. Jesus’ disciples marveled over it. “Look Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” Christ responds, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Mark 13:1-2). History tells us that the temple was once again torn to the ground. Despite the Israelites’ concern for building a strong foundation, they placed their hope in the wrong material.
But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.
Christ is the only firm foundation. All else is like building a house on the sand that will be washed away at the first sign of rain. He is unshakeable. He alone will stand forever.
“Follow Me”
Then Jesus told his disciples, ”If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Matt 16:24
This is the quintessential challenge of discipleship, the fundamental call of everyone who claims to know Christ. The implications of this one sentence reach to every corner of our existence. To follow this command, we must allow it to claim our ambition, our desire, our bent for honor, our comfort. In short, it must claim our lives.
Of course, it would be a more preferable command if He had said, “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and do such and such things in such and such way.” Then we could look back upon our obedience and measure our personal progress, but a life with Christ is one of spiritual fruit and that is not something to be measured during our journey home. If we seek to glory in our progress, we have received our reward. Jesus adds to this point by saying that he who seeks to “save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (vs. 25). We lose it because it is not life, but death. We become that to which we cling. Through Christ, our flesh perished when the nails were driven through His hands and feet (Gal. 5:24). Therefore, by embracing our life, we mistakenly embrace death and trade away the full joy of experiencing life which is only found through Christ.
To follow, we must surrender the direction we grip so tightly. To follow, we must deny ourselves and count Christ’s ways infinitely better than our own. To follow, we must set our eyes on Jesus and follow Him no matter where He takes us. This cannot be accomplished if we are following Him for personal benefit to our own lives. It occurs only when we devote our lives to exalting Him and making Him famous.
The first words of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount take a dramatically different turn from the ways of the world. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). It is not the accomplished or the wealthy, it is not the courageous or the bold, it is not those who dwell upon the Law and succeed in abiding by it. Rather, it is those who are in spiritual poverty, who feel their own inabilities and realize their desperate need for a Savior. It is in this place that we find ourselves willing to follow Him.
Even further, Christ flips conventional wisdom on its head and tells us that we are blessed in times of mourning (vs. 4), in meekness (vs. 5), in extending mercy (vs. 7), and last of all in suffering and rejection among men (vs. 10-12). How can we possibly live in this reality if we still hold onto the desires of our hearts? We must be set free from the bondage of self-awareness and become enslaved to Christ alone. This is the condition of the believer. “For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ” (1 Cor. 7:22).
When we forsake this world to set our eyes upon Christ, He commissions us to love it in a way we never could before – through Him. In following Him, He does not permit us to remove ourselves from the world. He tells us instead to live like Him, to be in the world but not of it (Rom. 12:2). We are to engage the world as disciples (even slaves) of Christ by following Him. If this is not the primary and central element of our obedience, then our labor is in vain and we have received our reward.
“Follow me,” he says. If we do not, we labor for ourselves. This is the challenge: to depart from ourselves in order to live in Christ, through Christ, and for Christ. This is the call to discipleship, the heartbeat of the believer.
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“Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: ‘Ye were bought at a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
This was on my reading list for the honeymoon (which was awesome by the way!).
Before reading Eric Metaxas’ latest book, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, I have to confess that I knew very little of the life and legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Never had I read one of his works, nor had I known of his involvement in a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler during the reign of the Third Reich. However, after reading this utterly thorough biography I feel as though I lived and breathed the same air as this man. If you are considering your options for what to read next, look no further.
For a biography, Metaxas has created a work that reads much like a novel. As a reader, I never found myself bogged down in long-winded details of historical fact. Woven throughout the narrative are journal entries and letters from Bonhoeffer to his family and friends, which make for an intimate connection to the brilliant mind behind them. The true gold of this book however is not in the writing or the story alone, although both are excellent. Rather, it is in Bonhoeffer’s belief that faith in God means more than simply avoiding sin. Christians are to fix their eyes upon the Lord and follow Him wherever He leads no matter the personal cost. For Bonhoeffer, it led him to hanging from a noose outside of a Gestapo prison. Nonetheless, it is in this deeper theme of the book that the reader finds himself confronted with personal conviction and the need for thoughtful engagement. After all, the theological work behind Bonhoeffer’s decision to become involved in the conspiracy to kill Hitler is, at a very minimum, challenging and complex.
The young German walked with ferocity for the Gospel and love for humanity. He once expressed fear that those who lived with one foot in the world would also live with only one foot in Heaven. After all, “God wants to see human beings, not ghosts who shun the world.” He rose as a leader in the German church and was respected as a sharp theologian. His life began to take a turn when Hitler came to power. There was no confusion for him over who this man was and where he would take the country. For Bonhoeffer, commitment to one’s country was important, but commitment to the Kingdom was always a higher priority. His battle became one of persuading the biblically ignorant masses of his day and leaders in the German church away from Hitler and back to the Gospel. From a worldly point of view, it was a battle he did not win. Over the years, he grew tired with the church’s compromising actions towards Hitler and later the Nazi-oriented German Church that was birthed. Ultimately, his convictions and actions in opposition to Nazism landed him in prison and resulted in his being hanged.
The camp doctor who was present during the execution remarked, “In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.” Bonhoeffer was a gifted teacher and an eloquent preacher of God’s Word. His messages are challenging to anyone reading them today. He constantly preached a message of obedience as he was convinced that our beliefs lead to conclusions which ultimately lead to action in life. Otherwise, the belief is not real. It is a weighty challenge to those claiming the name of Christ. In this, he agrees with James who said, “faith without works is dead” (2:17).
Bonhoeffer knew a the holy and majestic God of the Bible who did not ask His followers to cast away the temporal as wickedness, but to engage it as ambassadors for His ministry of reconciliation. We would be wise to model his selfless giving of himself to others in discipleship and his relentlessly focused devotion to God’s will in this world.
You can find Eric Metaxas’ book by clicking here.
“No one has yet believed in God and the kingdom of God, no one has yet heard about the realm of the resurrected, and not been homesick from that hour, waiting and looking forward joyfully to being released from bodily existence.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Fourth of July/New Camera
As I’m sure everyone knows, yesterday was the Fourth of July and this past weekend my parents stopped by Austin to give me and my wife-to-be our wedding present from them: a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera. I’ve never had one of these before so I’ve been salivating over the opportunity to use it. Here are a few shots of me starting out. Enjoy!
Brittany and I started off the day with a good hearty breakfast.
Frying some bacon for breakfast
This is how every Fourth of July should begin
Brittany getting a head start on dinner.
Making dinner
Then I took a walk around her apartment complex to see what I could find.
That evening, we had dinner with our good friends, the Padulas.
Dinner with the Padulas
Orange-glazed chicken, creamy mac and cheese, and fresh garden salad
American flag cheesecake
Unfortunately, this year there was a burn ban in Travis Country. This was as close as we got to seeing live fireworks.
Petey is a true celebratory patriot.
