The Gospel Coalition

You really can be bored to death:

Boredom could be shaving years off your life, scientists have found.

Researchers say that people who complain of boredom are more likely to die young, and that those who experienced ‘high levels’ of tedium are more than two-and-a-half times as likely to die from heart disease or stroke than those satisfied with their lot.

Z is giving away copies of D.A. Carson’s new book, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.

Mike Wittmer is reading through Brian McLaren’s new book, A New Kind of Christianity and posting about it chapter-by-chapter. Here’s an excerpt from his thoughts about chapter one:

He does not believe that there was a Fall (or original sin or total depravity or hell) but that what we have traditionally called the Fall is actually “a coming-of age story” which—wait for it—describes “the first stage of ascent as human beings progress from the life of hunter-gatherers to the life of agriculturalists and beyond.”  I have quoted him verbatim so you know I am not making this up.  I asked my Old Testament colleague where Brian may be getting this from, and he said that this sounds like modern Judaism (which doesn’t believe in a Fall or original sin), except that even it wouldn’t say that Genesis 3 represents a step up.

The idea of being “covered in the dust of your rabbi”, which has become popularized by Rob Bell’s Nooma video, is not factual. Joel Willis explains:

This is powerful stuff isn’t it? Well the only problem is that it just isn’t true. Anyone who would take the time to investigate the saying would discover that the context in which it is given in Mishnah Aboth1:4 is expressly not what is assumed by those who promulgate this idea.

Yesterday, I stopped by Christianity Today’s Out of Ur blog and answered a few questions from Collin Hansen about Holy Subversion. Here are some of Collin’s questions:

• How has your experience as a pastor shaped your desire to write Holy Subversion?
• What are the key threats to the church that you believe Christians need to subvert?
• You write, “The Church often mirrors the culture in its definition of ‘success.’ ‘Successful’ churches have the most wealth, the greatest influence, the most power, and the greatest talent.” What should be our definition for a successful church?

How do you perform deeds of mercy and keep a strong emphasis on proclaiming the gospel?

D.A. Carson offers one suggestion:

Ideally, the place to start is with ministers themselves who know what the gospel is and who are faithful to it in their preaching and teaching.

In our day and age, we get a lot more credit in the press if we work with a whole lot of people to overcome poverty or open a pantry. But if we preach the gospel and say that only in Christ can men and women be reconciled to God, then the popular press views us as right-wing bigots and narrow-minded fundamentalists and all the rest. So obviously there is social pressure on us to emphasize the first and not the latter.

I will not soon forget a Gospel Coalition member who said, “I’ll tell you how to fix the problem. Preach hell.”

We looked at him. This particular chap is known for his bluntness. We wondered: How does that answer the question? How do you preserve gospel faithfulness while doing deeds of social mercy? We knew this chap. He is into racial integration in his church. He is very concerned about these things. How do you keep those things from swamping the whole direction of the church?

“Preach hell!”

So we asked him to explain. He said, “In the first instance, as long as you are still preaching the wrath of God against all rebellion and all sin, then you are preserving in your own mind and in the consciousness of believers in the church, that you are interested in the relief of suffering both in time and eternity. You start fudging on that corner and you lose that eternal dimension.”

“Preach hell.”

Then he said, “At the practical level, as long as you are preaching hell and the way to escape hell through responding by the strength that God gives through the Spirit to the gospel, to what God has done in the person of his Son, in repentance and faith… As long as you are still preaching hell and the need to be saved from hell, then a lot of the broader, quasi-liberal social justice crowd don’t want anything to do with you. And that preserves you as well.”

Preach hell.

- from “Proclaiming the Gospel and Performing Deeds of Mercy”

There has been an interesting discussion going on between Vern Poythress and John Walton regarding Walton’s book, The Lost World of Genesis One. Poythress critiqued the book in World. Here is John Walton’s response to Poythress’ critique. For an overview of Walton’s proposal, you can check out my review of his book here.

In case you missed the Tim Tebow Superbowl ad… here’s the clip. (Why anyone thought this ad was remotely controversial is beyond me!) Sally Jenkins, a pro-choice feminist, says the controversy over the ad is because NOW is pro-abortion, not really pro-choice:

Tebow’s ad, by the way, never mentions abortion; like the player himself, it’s apparently soft-spoken. It simply has the theme “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life.” This is what NOW has labeled “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.” But if there is any demeaning here, it’s coming from NOW, via the suggestion that these aren’t real questions, and that we as a Super Bowl audience are too stupid or too disinterested to handle them on game day.

Russell Moore on why he is now caffeine-free:

Because I wasn’t mindful of how much caffeine I was consuming, I also wasn’t mindful of what it was doing. A little bit of lots of things are beneficial: a little bit of sleep, a little bit of work, a little bit of meat. But there are consequences that come with too much or too little of almost anything, consequences that ought to keep us on balance.

Several reviews for Holy Subversion came out last week. I’m grateful to the bloggers who have read and reviewed the book so far:

• Tony Kummer did a brief video review and is offering a way to win 5 copies.
• The Boston Bible Geeks posted a review of the book here.
• Jon Seger also posted a review of the book.

Whatever you may think of the old-time evangelist, Billy Sunday, you’ve got to love this quote about fighting sin:

“I’m against sin. I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot, and I’ll fight it as long as I’ve got a fist. I’ll butt it as long as I’ve got a head. I’ll bite it as long as I’ve got a tooth. And when I’m old and fistless and footless and tootheless, I’ll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition!”

We are not merely called to tolerate those who disagree with us; we are called to love. The world’s idea of tolerance is a parody of the Christian understanding of love.

Tolerance is passive. Love is active.

Tolerance is a feeling of apathy. Love is accompanied by feelings of great affection.

Tolerance keeps people at arm’s length in hopes of not offending them. Love embraces people where they are and ‘hopes all things.’

Tolerance leaves people alone as individuals. Love ushers people into a community of generosity.

Tolerance keeps a safe distance between those in need. Love rolls up its sleeves in service even to those who may be unlikeable.

Tolerance avoids confrontation in order to maintain ‘peace.’ Love tells the truth boldly and graciously in order to bring about a deeper, more lasting peace.”

Excerpt from Holy Subversion (pp 145-146)

Bestselling author, Huston Smith, a man whose knowledge of world religions probably surpasses most people’s knowledge of their own religion, has written a book on Christianity that is “relevant and profound” according to the back cover. The Soul of Christianity: Restoring the Great Tradition (2005, Harper San Francisco) seeks to tell the story of Christianity by elaborating its worldview, history and three main divisions. Does Smith succeed?

I covet Smith’s insights into world religions. If I had the time, I too would study the other religions of the world, of course always comparing and contrasting them to Christianity – my own.

But Smith makes too many comparisons to the world’s religions in this book, and too few contrasts. By the time I finished the book, I was left wondering if Smith understands Christianity as well as he thinks he does.

Smith argues for Christianity’s superiority (though weakly), but not Christianity’s exclusivity. (It seems to me that arguing for Christianity’s superiority is actually more arrogant than the exclusivity argument, because at least the exclusivity argument is based on the belief that Christianity is true.)

He says that most Christians today believe that God is defined by Jesus, not “confined to Jesus.” I challenge the statistics that led him to that conclusion, but even more so, I challenge the idea that if a majority of Christians were to reject the exclusivity of Christ for salvation, they must be right.

Another problem is Smith’s disregard for interpreting the “literal meaning” of Scripture. He cites the church fathers as examples of those who found allegorical meanings in Scripture and rejected the “literalism” of today’s fundamentalists. I agree that not all Scripture should be taken literally, meaning that poetry should be interpreted as poetry, apocalyptic language as apocalyptic, etc. But where narrative is straightforward and written with the intention of describing actual events, one does injustice to the text to reject its “literal meaning.”

This rejection of literalism leads Smith to reinterpret the meaning of crucial New Testament moments. With regard to the resurrection, he says that “something like that” happened. And then:

“It seems flippant to say that ‘something like the virgin birth and the empty tomb happened,’ but we must remember that the alternative to that wording is to stay trapped in literalism.”

Actually, the alternative to that wording is capitulation to modernist arrogance that assumes such events could not actually occur.

When Smith begins to speak about the Christian Story, specifically Jesus, things don’t get better. When writing of the Lord’s Prayer, he makes the laughable statement,

“The prayer is addressed to the abba (father) of us all, and the full salutation, ‘Our Father who art in heaven’ makes it clear that it carries no gender connotations…”

I’m still trying to figure out how “Father” carries no gender connotations whatsoever.

Smith quickly dismisses the Protestant understanding of the atonement and chooses to side completely with Abelard - the “Jesus as an example of God’s love” theory – which if taken together with the other theories is fine, but when separated from the others is woefully inadequate.

The end of the book describes Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism. Smith speaks negatively only of Protestants (not surprisingly).

I was thoroughly disappointed by this book. The back cover and the description made it sound like this would be a book about the most important aspects of Christianity. Instead, I suffered through 160 pages of “soulless” Christianity. Smith has several good points to make, but other books make those points better than this one, a work that turns out to be the latest rehash of early 20th century liberalism.

This book review was first published in April 2007.

In pursuit of God-glorifying blogging:

Blogging, it seems to me, is neither good nor bad. It is a neutral field that can be used for either good or bad ends. It thus takes discernment and careful thought to blog in a distinctly Christian manner. From a quick and under-developed look at the evangelical blogosphere, I think it’s clear that many of us need to think more about how we blog, myself included.

U.S. News and World Report takes notice of a growing embrace of ancient tradition among Christians.

Put simply, the development is a return to tradition and orthodoxy, to past practices, observances, and customary ways of worshiping. But it is not simply a return to the past—at least not in all cases. Even while drawing on deep traditional resources, many participants are creating something new within the old forms. They are engaging in what Penn State sociologist of religion Roger Finke calls “innovative returns to tradition.”

David Prince on why Christians should be good story-tellers and story-listeners:

God certainly could have revealed Himself to us in the form of a Bible dictionary. We simply could have looked things up in the index and learned about all of the topics and doctrines we needed to understand. But He did not do that. That is why good expository preaching does not come in a Bible dictionary format, but rather it tells the story of Christ and the unfolding of His Kingdom purposes, and it also challenges you to evaluate your story in light of His.

The KJV Only Debate in light of the translators’ preface to the reader.

Reading rates are down even as literacy rises. Americans can read; we just don’t.

Harry Potter has at least infused a generation of children with the joy of reading, but it is difficult to know whether that will translate into reading more serious works in future years.

Christians tend to read more than non-Christian counterparts, but a quick glance at the book selection in your local Christian bookstore will deflate your bubble of joy. Serious books for serious minds are usually relegated to the back of the bookstore (or occasionally in the bargain bin!).

I felt an odd mixture of joy and sadness at last year’s Southern Baptist Convention as I came across row after row of great books marked way below their regular price. I was happy for the great deals. I was saddened to know that the reason the greatest books were on sale was because they weren’t selling.

Several years ago, I began setting a goal of reading 100 books a year. That’s roughly two books a week. 2007 was the first year I met the quota. Since then, several people have asked about setting goals for book-reading. Others have asked, Can it really be done? Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Set a reasonable goal.
If you’re not already an avid reader, don’t try for 100. You might try for 40-50 in 2008. Let me encourage you to set the bar high. But don’t make it so high you can never make it.

2. Read everywhere.
Waiting for a haircut? Read. Waiting at the doctor’s office? Read. Going on a trip? Read. Watching TV? Read. Taking a bath? Read. Getting dressed in the morning? Listen to an Audio Book while you’re combing your hair, brushing your teeth, taking a shower. Boring sermon? Read. (Just kidding on that last one… although I will admit that as a kid I used to read Scripture if the preacher was making me sleepy.) Get in the habit of reading anywhere and everywhere.

3. Read faster.
I’ve given some tips on faster reading before on this blog, so let me just summarize them quickly. Don’t read out loud. Use your finger or a bookmark to follow the lines on the page. Pace yourself so that you are forcing your eyes to take in the lines and paragraphs faster than you normally would read. Stop reading word-for-word, and start reading line-by-line.

4. Read smarter.
If you’re reading an intellectual work, read the introduction and conclusion of the chapter first. Glance at the subtitles and get an idea for where the author is going. Then go back and read the chapter quickly. You will be able to fly through the chapter because you’ll already know what the author is saying.

5. Turn off the TV.
Start using your down time to read good magazines and good books. Don’t let entertainment rob you of your brain cells. Wake up a little earlier in the morning to get some reading in (if you can stay awake).

6. Read what you like.
Find books on topics that interest you. Read widely. Don’t get into a rut of only reading one type of book from one theological persuasion. Read some fiction. Read biographies. Read the classics. Mix it up and keep it interesting. If you start a book and don’t like it, put it down. Don’t slow yourself down by sludging through a book. Better to find another book you like more and read it.

7. Stretch yourself.
Don’t read just what you like. Push yourself to read important books and not fluff. Take a look at what great Christian thinkers are reading and read those books too. Read famous authors. Read hard books. Just make sure you read hard books in between more enjoyable books so you don’t lose your passion for reading. Who knows? You might start liking the books that stretch you.

I hope these words of advice inspire you to set a reading goal in 2010. Happy reading!

This post was adapted from an earlier post on January 1, 2008.

Russell Moore on “Retaking Mars Hill”:

Often at the root of so much Christian “engagement” with pop culture lies an embarrassment about the oddity of the gospel. Even Christians feel that other people won’t resonate with this strange biblical world of talking snakes, parting seas, floating axe-heads, virgin conceptions, and emptied graves. It is easier to meet them “where they’re at,” by putting in a Gospel According to Andy Griffith DVD (for the less hip among us) or by growing a soul-patch and quoting Coldplay at the fair-trade coffeehouse (for the more hip among us).

Knowing Andy Griffith episodes or Coldplay lyrics might be important avenues for talking about kingdom matters, but let’s not kid ourselves. We connect with sinners in the same way Christians always have: by telling an awfully freakish-sounding story about a man who was dead, and isn’t anymore, but whom we’ll all meet face-to-face in judgment.

Tullian on how to identify a reliable preacher:

Thankfully both the Bible and church history give us some direction here. So I want to provide you with a brief list of five questions that can help you discern the reliability of a particular teacher or preacher.

J.D. Greear on Inclusive Exclusivism:

The Gospel doesn’t exclude anyone based on anything about them as other religions do. It is not the morally perfect, the intelligent or the successful that the Gospel accepts. The Gospel says that a person is accepted not because of anything they have or haven’t done, but because of what Christ has done for us, if we receive it! Thus, Christianity is (to use the phrase of Tim Keller) the most inclusive, exclusivism that there is!

Some humor for your Wednesday. Sermon Writers’ Guild Goes on Strike: Churchgoers Face Sermon Repeats

“Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.”

- Jesus to Zacchaeus (Luke 19:9)

Zacchaeus was indeed a “wee little man,” and not only physically. He was a small man spiritually, a crook that ripped off his neighbors and pocketed his profit at their expense.

One day, Jesus informed Zacchaeus that he would be staying at his house. It was a visit that forever changed the undersized tax collector. After Zacchaeus hosted Jesus in his home, he proclaimed exuberantly that he would repair all he had broken in the world, restoring everything he had ever stolen. Then, Jesus exclaimed that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’ house!

Salvation came to Zacchaeus’ house because Jesus came to the house. Where Jesus is, there is salvation. Where salvation is, there is a renewal and restructuring of a person’s entire life. Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus led him to make restitution by paying back four times as much as he had stolen in his life. For Zacchaeus, repentance was not merely a feeling sorry for sin and a short, simple prayer. Repentance constituted a visible act that made amends and transformed evil into good.

When Jesus enters our lives, we cannot stay the same. Salvation cannot be reduced to our response to an altar call, or our filling out a decision card at church.

True repentance reaches into our checkbooks and makes changes, shuffling our priorities.

True repentance pushes us to our neighbor’s doorstep to ask for forgiveness for past faults.

True repentance cancels debts, transforms our priorities, reforms our desires, modifies our dreams, and heals our hurt and the hurt of others.

It was only after Zacchaeus expressed his change of heart and yearning for restoration that Jesus exclaimed: “Salvation has come!” What sin is lurking in your life that needs to be dealt with? In what area have you not allowed God to fully have His way? What are you holding back? Make the necessary adjustments, and the fresh winds of restoration will sweep over your life. Then, Jesus can say: “Salvation has come to this house! Salvation has come!”

first posted in February 2007