Zwingli on Love & Useless Quarreling

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This is a challenging word from Zwingli. He roots this in 2 Timothy 2:23.

“[Those] who bring hatred upon the gospel are those who are more inflated with knowledge of the gospel than ignited with love. They exercise themselves more with quarreling than with gentle Christian living. They see in others what is lacking in their own Christian lives, but in themselves they see no fault. In their minds the way they act is the right way; where they tread, there is a violet or a rose. “If they are to see first their inward state, their eyes should be turned inward. But since they are turned outward, they do nothing but judge and condemn those who are before them and quarrel about external thing” (Zwingli’s Treatise on Rebels and Rebellion, Zurich, 1524).

Video of Messages at Charlotte Chapel Conference

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Earlier this year I mentioned The Call conference for pastors to be held at Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh, Scotland. I was blessed to be apart and benefited from all the messages. I have mentioned some of them along the way but just recently noticed that video of all the messages has been posted online. So, here are the messages:

The Shepherd’s Soul: Jeremy Walker (video)
One of my joys in this event was the opportunity to get to know Jeremy. His message was a searching and powerful one on the call to holiness, sure to remind us of our need of grace.

The Shepherd’s Ministry to the Church: Brian Croft (video)
Brian, who is well known for his practical insight and advice concerning pastoral ministry, summarized the key aspects of pastoral ministry as seen in Scripture.  You will notice that many of the top priorities he lists come under what I refer to as “oversight.”

The Shepherd’s Ministry beyond the Church:  Matthew Spandler-Davison (video)
Matthew gave a strong call for outreach and evangelism. He is living what he preaches with his church’s regular mission trips to specific places. He is also leading his church not simply to collect attendees at their church but to actively plant from their membership.

The Shepherd’s Call: Ray Van Neste (video)
This is a modified version of what appeared previously in print and in audio. It is my attempt to demonstrate from Scripture and the testimony of the church across the ages the centrality of soul care, the oversight of souls, to the work of pastoral ministry.

My Week at the Sovereign Grace Pastors’ College

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This past week I taught a week-long course for the Sovereign Grace Pastors’ College in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was an invigorating and particularly blessed time. Over three and a half days I walked through Hebrews through Revelation with 23 guys from a wide range of ages, and experience both practical and academic- some fairly new, others with decades of experience, one with a DMin and another finishing a PhD. But there was a unified eager, humble, servant spirit, loving one another and ready to revel in the beauty of God as we experience Him in His word.

A humble graciousness permeated the place from students, to staff, to leadership. I am encouraged to see the work they are doing and excited to see the men who are being sent out whose love for Christ is translated into shepherd hearts for the people of God.

John’s Letters as Highest-Proof Grain Alcohol

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“Finally, if 1-3 John leave the disciple who studies them with any single lasting impression, it is the grandeur and centrality of God.  Part of this is the sheer volume of references to him.  There is hardly a verse or even clause anywhere that does not name a person of the Godhead (Trinity), a divine attribute, or a divine work (like a command that has come from God).  These letters are not simply theological, as one might say ale is alcoholic; they are rather theology distillate, analogous to highest-proof grain alcohol that is highly flammable and intoxicating in even small amounts. God- mainly Father and Son, but occasionally Holy Spirit- suffuses every situation John envisions, each piece of counsel he issues, every sentiment he conveys, each affirmation he sets forth. No OT psalmist is any more God saturated in awareness than the writer of these letters” (Robert Yarbrough, 1-3 John, 27-28).

Dominated by Jesus

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In a technical article on the Greek word for “false teacher” used in 2 Peter 2:1, K. Rengstorf says this term shows their teaching was false and “in every respect they are a perversion of the Christian διδασκολος [teacher], since they reject the claim of Jesus to domination over their whole lives.”[1]

This is an accurate description of Peter’s point since he stresses that these people do not live according to the teachings of Christ.  What struck me in the article was the use of the word “domination.” If we resist Jesus’ domination of our lives we will be false teachers. He must rule all. Rebels will not be able to proclaim the Kingdom of God and the Lordship of Christ.

[1] Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol 2, p. 160. I was unable to get accent marks for the Greek word to post properly.

Own Your Ignorance

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“In our daily reading of Scripture we come upon many obscure passages that convict us of ignorance” – John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.2.4

This statement from Calvin is striking. At the time Calvin is writing this he is widely regarded as the leading theologian of the Reformation. No one else had produced such a systematic exposition of the faith in that day, explaining the Bible and how people could understand it as they came away from what “they had always heard” from the Catholic Church. And, it is clear from letters, Calvin was aware of the leadership role he had and how people looked up to him. If ever someone might be excused for thinking he might be justified in hiding what he did not know or understand, it could be Calvin at this time. But, he does not hide his ignorance. He does not try to present himself as more than he is. He boldly proclaims in his magnum opus that he is regularly, in his daily reading of Scripture, convicted of his own ignorance as he comes upon passages he cannot understand. He wrote commentaries on almost every book of the Bible, but he is regularly convicted of his own ignorance.

Pastor or Bible professor, do you acknowledge when you just don’t know the answer to a question? Or do you seek to cover your ignorance with some pious or technical obfuscation to keep up an image? Drop the charade. We can’t know everything and even some things we should know we won’t know or will forget. Don’t be afraid to simply say, “Sorry, I don’t know. I will look into it.” It is humbling and, sometimes, even humiliating. But it is real and honest. It’s also a relief. There is only one perfect man, one Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). Don’t try to impersonate Him, just rest in Him. And point the people to Him, not yourself.

C. S. Lewis, Preaching & Rhetoric

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I am in the midst of the last proofreading of the forthcoming book, Forgotten Songs: Reclaiming the Psalms for Christian Worship and am really enjoying the essays even though I’ve been through them several times already. In Jack Collins’ essay on the liturgical purpose of the Psalms in their Old Testament context he helpfully discusses the value of the rhetoric of the Psalms.

In that context he quotes C. S. Lewis

The proper use [of rhetoric that shapes the emotions] is lawful and necessary because, as Aristotle points out, intellect of itself ‘moves nothing’: the transition from thinking to doing, in nearly all men at nearly all moments, needs to be assisted by appropriate states of feeling. [1]

Collins uses this quote about the Psalms, but the quote is also helpful when thinking of preaching. In my tradition many are quite familiar with overblown rhetoric which really gets in the way- all heat and no light, more bluster than Bible, windy but not winsome, lacking in wisdom. In response to this abuse, some swing to the other side carefully avoiding emotion, or any rhetorical effort, etc. This can be light which gives no heat, truth that doesn’t touch, doctrine without delight.

Lewis’s summary here is quite helpful. “Intellect of itself ‘moves nothing.’ Proper preaching must begin with truth and then seek to elicit ‘states of feeling’ appropriate to this truth. Light properly producing heat.  Effective preaching must be affective.”

And, to come full circle, the Psalms can help us here.

[1]C. S. Lewis, Preface to Paradise Lost (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1942), 52. Lewis is alluding to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, VI.ii.5.

Worship Frees Us from Self-reliance

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Here is another excerpt from Brueggemann’s sermon on Psalm 100 [“Psalm 100,” Interpretation 39 (1985): 65-69]. In this section he is making the point that worship along the lines called for in Psalm 100 is a summons to reorient life in light of the reality that God is our Creator and Shepherd.

To sing in this way to Yahweh is to abandon self-groundedness. A life without praise is more likely a life turned in on self. It is a life of autonomy and self-invention, which imagines that one is self-made, need answer no other and can rely on no other. Such a notion of self-groundedness is a pervasive temptation among us, which may lead to cynicism and anxiety or to pride and domination. But this psalm is an acknowledgment that life is a gift. Life is always and regularly to be referred back to the giver. Such ultimate submission of sheep to shepherd leaves one free and unencumbered by the burden of self-invention.

Praise as Polemic

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I have plenty of differences with Walter Brueggemann, but his sermon on Psalm 100 is very rich [“Psalm 100,” Interpretation 39 (1985): 65-69]. The following quote makes a profound point about praise and has helped me see more of the importance of praise.

To praise is to reject alternative loyalties and false definitions of reality. Praise is relentlessly polemical. As this God is affirmed, in the same act other gods are dismissed as irrelevant and denied any legitimacy. As Israel acknowledges to whom it belongs, it also asserts to whom it does not belong. The ones dismissed may be variously the gods of Egyptian enslavement, the gods of Canaanite manipulation, the gods of Babylonian imperialism; all these are now declared null and void. (66)

To lift up the one true God is to cast down all would be gods. We fight idolatry in our hearts with praise. And, when thanklessness creeps in, beware. There is an idol lurking. Unleash the cannons of praise!

But Brueggemann is really making a point about corporate, cultural claims more than internal personal issues.  When we praise Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are saying that all others, put forward as gods throughout the world, are nothing.  This is strikingly countercultural in a pluralistic age. Praise is surprisingly subversive in a relativistic age. Praise then lays the groundwork for evangelism. Let us hold fast and advance by being people marked by hearty praise of our God and Savior.

Watching Out for One Another

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The New Testament is clear about the duty of church members in watching out for one another and helping one another persevere (see esp. Heb 3:12-14; 4:1-2, 11; 12:15-16; James 5:19-20). Too often Christians have not learned to think this way. I also often find myself trying to help people see that evangelistic labors, properly understood, include both calling people to initial faith and helping one another persevere in that faith. The following quote from 2 Clement, a 2d century Christian document, illustrates these points well and shows how they were understood early in the history of the church.

Let us therefore repent with our whole heart, lest any of us perish by the way. For if we have received commands, that we should make this our business, to tear men away from idols and to instruct them, how much more is it wrong that a soul which knows God already should perish! Therefore let us assist one another, that we may also lead the weak upward as touching that which is good, to the end that we all may be saved: and let us convert and admonish one another. And let us not think to give heed and believe now only, while we have departed home, let us remember the commandments of the Lord, and not suffer ourselves to be dragged off the other way by our worldly lusts; but coming hither more frequently, let us strive to go forward in the commandments of the Lord, that we all having the same mind may be gathered together unto life. (2Clem 17:1-3, Lightfoot trans.)

Note that earnest evangelism is assumed- “tear men away from idols.” Added to this, the author pleads that his hearers not to sit idly by while professing believers wander from the truth (cf. James 5:19-20).. The remedy for wandering away is “assisting one another”, “admonishing one another”, and gathering frequently with the church (cf. Heb 10:24-25). God has given us the church, one another, fellow believers, to help us persevere.