The Gospel Coalition

You called
and cried out loud
and shattered my deafness.

You were radiant
and resplendent,
you put to flight my blindness.

You were fragrant,
and I drew in my breath
and now pant after you.

I tasted you,
and I feel but hunger
and thirst for you.

You touched me,
and I am set on fire
to attain the peace which is yours.”

- Augustine of Hippo

I rarely post funny videos here, but in this case, I can’t help it. This baby cracks me up. When his mother blows her nose, he reacts with a mixture of fear and laughter. After you watch it, you can thank me for bringing a smile to your day!

Seven links for your weekend reading:

1. John Mark Reynolds on Japan: Mourn! Rejoice! Help!

2. Band of Bloggers at The Gospel Coalition is limited to 150 participants this year. Register now!

3. What Would Jefferson Do? (How Jefferson’s grandsons tried to guide the state toward secession – and emancipation)

4. How Strange Love Is

5. Reflections on Universalism from Michael Bird

6. Bearing Our Cross: How Does It Advance the Gospel?

7. Pedophilia now considered a “sexual orientation”

The folks at Moody were kind enough to overnight a copy of Counterfeit Gospels, which should arrive in bookstores and start shipping from Amazon in the next few days or so. The book is dedicated to our kids, Timothy and Julia, who in the pictures below are intrigued by a book with their names in it!

Whenever I finish a book by James K. A. Smith, I feel encouraged, puzzled, and provoked. Perhaps that’s one reason I continue to read Smith’s books. I like when writers force me to think. Good books shift categories and reframe discussions in ways that shine light on truth from different angles.

Smith’s shortest book to date is Letters to a Young Calvinist: An Invitation to the Reformed Tradition (Brazos, 2010), a collection of letters that Jamie writes to a younger version of himself. The book is designed to respond to the Reformed Resurgence among young people in recent years. Jamie wants to help young Calvinists avoid the pitfalls of Reformed theology and instead embrace the promise of the wider Reformed tradition. And just as I expected when reading Jamie’s work, I was encouraged, puzzled, and provoked.

Encouraged

I’ve counseled lots of guys who (1) grew up in typical evangelical churches, (2) went to college where they asked deep questions about their faith, (3) found in Calvinism some clear, seemingly biblical answers, and (4) came home ready to share their nuggets of wisdom with the rest of their congregation. I could probably put together my own collection of emails I’ve sent off to young Calvinists. (I should say younger Calvinists, since I still fancy myself as young!)

Much of Smith’s book overlaps nicely with the counsel I’ve given others. Most helpful is the warning against the sin of pridefulness. Humility should be the primary Calvinist virtue. Jamie writes:

“How strange that discovering the doctrines of grace should translate into haughty self-confidence and a notable lack of charity.” (xi)

“The way you talk in this most recent letter seems more concerned with pointing out what’s wrong with all the other Christians around you – especially our friends at church. I’ll be honest with you: it sometimes sounds like you think you’ve achieved some new secret knowledge, which somehow gives you license to mock those who don’t have it.” (6)

Right on. The last thing we need is a bunch of neo-Gnostic Calvinists impressed by their ability to read between the lines of Scripture until they can rightly discern all the ways of God.

Particularly helpful in Jamie’s warning against pride is his communal focus. He constantly prods his young Calvinist conversation partner toward the local church. Friends matter. The church matters. The church you grew up in, even if it is decidedly not Calvinistic, is the church God used as the instrument in your life to bring you to faith and shape your Christian character. You were loved into the kingdom. Jamie is right to remind us of our need to serve the church. I especially like this line of advice:

“What should you be doing to become a Reformed theologian? That’s easy: teach third-grade Sunday School.” (30)

Another positive aspect of this book is Jamie’s decision to begin his brief exposition of Reformed theology by emphasizing that everything is a gift, including our existence. “To be is to be graced.” (15) By speaking of grace that “goes all the way down,” he effectively reframes Calvinism as more than the doctrines of election and predestination. Instead, one must adopt a God-centered view of the world that widens the lens of Calvinism to all the earth, not just tulips.

Puzzled

As the book progressed, I found myself scratching my head at times, not quite sure regarding the direction Jamie wanted to take us. For example, in his letters about the wide scope of God’s redemptive work, Jamie writes:

“To say that God is concerned with more than the salvation of individual souls is not to say that he’s interested in less than the salvation of individuals.” (65)

He goes on:

“The you of God’s dealings is always an ‘us’. The gospel is always already a social gospel.” (68)

I think I agree with Jamie here, but I question the language he uses. Jamie prefaces his remarks about corporate salvation by insisting that individual salvation cannot and should not be undermined. I say something almost identical in Counterfeit Gospels.

But I don’t think it’s wise to call this a “social gospel.” Even if Jamie’s point is that God’s salvation incorporates us into the covenant community, the term “social gospel” has too many negative connotations for it to be a helpful description. There’s not enough room in this book for Jamie to further explore what he means here, which is why “social gospel” will throw up unnecessary red flags to conservatives on guard against last century’s liberal “social gospel” theology.

Another point that puzzles me is the way Jamie describes the storyline of the Bible. Granted, he traces the plot line in a way that emphasizes the covenant community (which is the subject of the letter this storyline appears in). But I fear this way of reading the Bible’s story is reductionistic:

The basic lineaments of the narrative are simple and unchanging: the Creator of the universe establishes norms and standards for his creatures (“the law”) and requires them to obey. In the face of their original disobedience, he doesn’t suspend those norms or standards; rather, he keeps calling humanity to that standard while at the same time graciously enacting countermeasures. But the call is the same: humanity, created in God’s image, is called to bear his image as Yahweh’s ambassadors, his vice-regents in the territory of creation, by continuing to unfold and unpack all the potential that has been folded into creation. And he calls us to do that well, in ways that accord with his norms and desire for the final flourishing of his creation “to the praise of his glorious grace” (Eph. 1:6). The core of the covenant remains the same. Unfortunately, our covenantal infidelity also remains constant – until the climax of the covenant when a Son of Mary lives up to the calling on our behalf, and then makes it possible for us, by grace, to live up to the covenant.” (74)

There’s nothing untrue in this summary of the Bible’s plotline. But the emphasis on the creation mandate appears to overshadow and even eclipse the weight of biblical testimony upon how the cross resolves our sin problem. If this is the major plot line of the Bible’s grand narrative, one wonders why so much of the covenant story deals with bloody sacrifices, the temple as the place of God’s presence, and the exile that is only ended when the Jesus – the true Israelite – lives, dies, and rises on our behalf.

Provoked

And then there is the underlying irony of this book that makes it difficult for me to recommend it to my young Calvinist friends. Despite his advocacy for a wider view of Reformed theology, Jamie takes an adversarial stance toward the young, restless, Reformed from the Westminster tradition.

While his desire to widen our view of Reformed theology is admirable (I too prefer the Heidelberg Catechism over Westminster), Jamie jabs at the Calvinists who want to “get people to toe the party line.” Included in this group are the Baptists (like myself) who lean Reformed in certain aspects, and yet who are unashamedly Baptist in ecclesiology.

Jamie wants people to embrace Reformed theology as a full package, which includes infant baptism and Reformed ecclesiology. That simply won’t do for guys like me, and it’s the Reformed principle of sola Scriptura that keeps me from going there. I am beholden – not to Westminster, Heidelberg, or even the Baptist Faith and Message – but to Scripture above all. Jamie would surely agree with this conviction, but then he targets Westminster:

“The Westminster stream diminishes the catholicity of the Reformed tradition, so the ‘Calvinism’ that it articulates is just the sort of slimmed-down, extracted soteriology that can be basically detached and then inserted across an array of denominations.” (61)

The irony here is that – even as he assumes the role of peacemaker and advocate of big-tent Reformed theology – Jamie is actually narrowing “Reformed” in a way that excludes, rather than includes. He criticizes Westminster for diminishing catholicity, when it appears to me that Westminster-influenced Baptists, at least in this instance, have a greater understanding of the catholicity of the Christian church than he does. For all his talk against the party line and drawing lines about who’s in and who’s out, Jamie’s book is – at least at some level – an attempt to draw lines.

Conclusion

Encouraged, puzzled, and provoked. But overall, I believe Letters to a Young Calvinist contains good, pastoral insight into the pitfalls and promise of Reformed theology, even if I disagree with Smith in some of the particulars.

Creativity Needs Structure:

Creativity rarely sneaks up on us. I agree with that statement. If you’re going to write or preach or paint or teach, you have to develop a left-brained structure for your right-brained inspiration.

Update from Japan – How You Can Pray:

Maybe you felt the same, but my prayers have only been groanings, hoping the Holy Spirit can give content to the needs I haven’t been able to articulate for Japan.

The Napping Habits of 8 Famous Men:

If you’re still not convinced of the benefits of napping and are in need of some additional inspiration, or, you’re simply curious about how some of history’s famous men incorporated the nap into their daily routines, today we provide a look at the napping habits of 8 eminent men.

This guy turned a school bus into a home. Wow.

A few weeks ago, Tim Keller offered some helpful insight into the motivation for obedience, when he answered this question:

What should be the motivation of Christian obedience? What’s the broad motivation of why we should obey the Bible and obey the Lord?

Beauty and duty.

If we were completely sanctified, we would only do what God has said in His Word, strictly out of desire to please Him. We would never do it out of fear. We would never do it out of coercion. It would only be out of joy. That’s how it ought to be.

The fact is our hearts aren’t right. So sometimes we have the do the right thing because we know we should.

If you have an anger problem, ultimatley if you are a Christian, you have to say, Why do you get so angry? Maybe you get angry because of inferiority feelings. How do you deal with those inferiority feelings? You’re going to have to use the gospel in your heart. You have to remind yourself of who you are. In the end, the only way to overcome anger is to use the gospel in your heart until that insecurity is gone.

However, if you have an anger problem and you want to pick up a rock and hit somebody in the head, and actually your heart isn’t right, I still think you should not do it. Just because you might go to jail. Just because your family is going to be so unhappy with you. Just because God says no.

In the long run, you should always do the right thing out of love for God out of joy for God. But in the short run, very often you should use any means possible to do the right thing, which means tell yourself, I’ll probably go to jail if I do that. God will be mad at me (which He will be, by the way, if you do that). Even inside being a Christian, you’re beautiful in Him and in Him there is no condemnation, He is still angry at his children, I think, who He loves, when they do something wrong.

In the long run, beauty is your motivation. But in the short run, do it because it’s your duty to do the right thing.

Thom Rainer - Four principles for leading the change-resistant church:

The telephone call happened just this past week. But it was representative of dozens of similar calls and emails I receive in the course of a year. The pastor was deeply frustrated. He was considering leaving his church, but was also dealing with the reality that the congregation may push him out as well.

J.D. Payne answers questions about evangelism:

In your estimation, what are the top 3 reasons Christians don’t share the gospel with the lost?

Aside from general disobedience, I believe most people are apathetic about evangelism because they do not understand the implications of the gospel on their lives. They fail to understand who they are in Christ and what it means to live in obedience to Him. Second, people are afraid of what others will say or think about them. The fear of man is their primarily concern. Finally, some people think that they do not know what to say to others. They fear being asked a question that they cannot answer. Or, they fear giving someone incorrect information. Since they do not see themselves as “evangelists,” they decide to leave such Kingdom labors to the “professionals.”

Doctrine to die for - Telling the story of French monks murdered in Algeria, Of Gods and Men is a wonderful affirmation of Christianity:

Few people would expect a film that beautifully articulates both the sacrifice and security of life in Christ to come out of France, one of the world’s most secular nations. They’d probably be even more surprised to hear that the French made it an enormous commercial and critical hit and selected it as their country’s official submission for this year’s Academy Awards.

Seth Godin: Are you doing a good job?

You might very well be doing a good job. But that doesn’t mean you’re a linchpin, the one we’ll miss. For that, you have to stop thinking about the job and start thinking about your platform, your point of view and your mission.

The furor over Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins, shows no signs of subsiding. The development of the discussion has caused me to reflect on what a fever is and what it represents. Fevers don’t show up without a cause. A high temperature points to a bigger problem. It’s the sign that the immune system has kicked in and is fighting off an infection of some sort.

If we had a thermometer for the evangelical movement, we’d find a raging fever. But some evangelicals are responding to the fever in unhelpful and pastorally-damaging ways.

Response #1: The Fever is the Problem

When bloggers and pastors began responding to the promotional materials for Love Wins, many evangelicals used the occasion to point out their disagreement with the young, restless, and Reformed instead of dealing with the substantive issues Bell’s book brings to the surface. Conservative evangelicals sounded the alarm that Bell’s book was unorthodox, and a number of evangelicals threw stones at the messengers: You’re an alarmist. You’re just a bunch of heresy hunters. You can’t get along with anyone you disagree with.

Imagine being in a crowded building when the fire alarm goes off. Instead of looking for the fire or heading for the exit, everyone stands around the alarm and begins discussing its shortcomings:

“Wow, this alarm sounds so shrill. It hurts my ears. Someone should change the tone!”

“Who pulled this alarm anyway? I don’t smell any smoke. I don’t see a reason for the warning.”

“Well, I can smell smoke, but I’ve got to tell you – these alarms just go looking for smoke. Who do they think they are anyway?”

“Even if you can smell smoke, you shouldn’t sound an alarm until you see the fire for yourself. Silly alarms… so early. I’ll just sit tight and wait until the flames get here.”

A few days ago, I read a blog post in which the author was mourning the fact that we Americans aren’t more like our British brothers when it comes to controversy. Why can’t we keep ourselves from being embroiled in theological controversy? We Americans are the only Christians who feel compelled to join in robust theological debate with the intent to expose heresies.

In other words, fevered discussion of theological truth and error is the problem. The fever is the issue. Why not take a Tylenol and some Dramamine and chill out?

I can immediately think of two reasons to go after the infection. First, the Bible shows us a way of doing theological debate that is anything but sedated. Paul tells the Judaizers to emasculate themselves. John the apostle of love calls everyone who denies Christ’s humanity an antichrist. Jude calls us to defend the faith against those who deny Jesus Christ as our only Master and Lord.

Here’s another reason we shouldn’t just shrug our shoulders and say: “Let’s have a cup of tea and talk it out.” Look where that kind of theological engagement has gotten England. The “everything goes” mentality has robbed the Church of its power and has spawned a radically post-Christian society in which the Church practically has to begin all over again to gain a hearing for the gospel. As one British theologian has joked, “Wherever Paul went, there was a riot. Wherever I go, they serve tea.”

Response #2: The Body is Okay with Infection

The other response from evangelicals that has me scratching my head goes like this: Rob Bell’s universalistic tendencies are nothing new. In fact, we’ve always had a segment of evangelicals who lean in this direction. So let’s not get too worked up about universalism. After all, the denial or redefinition of hell isn’t that big of a deal in the long run.

To be fair, this kind of evangelical isn’t denying that universalism is heterodox. Returning to the sickness metaphor, I believe this group sees universalism as problematic. But the underlying message is this: This problem isn’t life threatening.

I don’t think so. And I don’t think Rob Bell thinks so either.

At the heart of Bell’s book is the issue of what God is like. The denial that God saves us from Himself and His holy, just, and awesome wrath is a denial that goes to the heart of the gospel. This is not a discussion on the level of complementarianism versus egalitarianism, views of the end times, or Calvinism and Arminianism (or any of the other “isms” that fall between the two).

Rob understands the stakes and he makes them clear in his book. He describes the traditional view as toxic. I disagree with his conclusion, but I admire his candor. Rob recognizes how high the stakes are in this debate. Why shouldn’t we?

So the idea that we can move forward in good Christian fellowship, accepting these kinds of views as just one segment of evangelicalism, is hopelessly naive. It assumes that there is still a unified evangel in evangelicalism, something that is simply not true if this kind of teaching passes as evangelical.

Conclusion

Evangelicalism has always been a big tent. The question before us today is, How big can the tent be before it caves in? How big can the tent be before “evangelical” means nothing more than “a professing Christian who is serious about what he/she believes”?

Where do denominations and confessions of faith fit into this picture?

What is the center of evangelical theology? Are there boundaries? If so, where? Who decides?

The situation created by Rob Bell’s book doesn’t answer any of these pressing questions. But the discussion certainly reveals the sickly state of the movement. For the past few weeks, I’ve been grieved by the unfolding of events and the response. At the same time, I’m confident. In every day and every age, Truth wins.

Ed Stetzer on mission of the Church:

The missional objective(s) of the church are (in Lesslie Newbigin’s words) to be a sign and instrument of the kingdom of God. The believers/church do this by showing the redemptive power of God through transformed lives that are lived in the community of faith for the good of their world. They also do this by sharing the redemptive message of the gospel which is necessary for the eternal salvation of people.

Justice Wins (A Creative Parody of Rob Bell’s promotional video):

Several years ago I was touring a holocaust museum, and I was deeply moved the images of suffering and inhuman brutality that I saw there. And near the end of the tour on the wall was a picture of Hitler standing in front of the Eifel Tower in Paris. I and many who were with me were struck by the idea of Hitler enjoying the beauties of Paris while at the same moment one of the greatest genocides the world has ever known was being carried out on his orders.

But apparently not everyone saw it exactly the same way

Sometime in the previous few hours, somebody had attached a hand written note to the picture, and on the note they had written, “It’s okay because God forgave Hitler too.”

God forgave Hitler?

He did?

And someone knows this for sure?

And felt the need for the rest of us to know?

Do the most evil and unrepentant people in history, remaining what they are, still make it to heaven?

In case you’ve been in a cave for two days, Kevin DeYoung has a 20-page review of Love Wins.

Dr. Greg Beale will deliver lectures on “Recent Challenges to the Study of the Old Testament in the New” at Southern Seminary today and tomorrow. You can watch a live stream of the lectures on Southern’s website.

Continue praying for the people of Japan. Heartbreaking video here.