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Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, August 3, 2009
My Holy People
“You must be my holy people. Therefore, do not eat any animal that has been torn up and killed by wild animals. Throw it to the dogs.”
Exodus 22:31 contains instructions about what the Israelites should do if they happened upon an animal that had been killed by some wild animal. Rather than trying to salvage some of the dead animal for food, they were supposed to get rid of it. Eating such “road kill” would not only be potentially unhealthy, but also it would make the consumer ceremonially unclean.
Yet this specific law includes an unusual explanation. The Israelites are to avoid eating animals killed by other animals because “you must be my holy people.” Although this elucidation appears in this particular law, it essentially undergirds the whole corpus of the Torah. The children of Israel are to be holy in the sense that they are to be different from the nations. In their daily lives they are to reflect their distinctiveness as God’s chosen people. Thus their holiness is not only separation from the world, but also separation for God. They are to be fully dedicated to him.
Sometimes we Christians get hung up on the rights and wrongs of discipleship, forgetting the deeper purpose. Like the Israelites, we are called to be set apart from the world around us and devoted wholly to God. The Christian life is not a matter of following the right rules so much as it is living fully for God’s purposes and glory. So, for example, I will refrain from dishonesty, not only because it is against biblical teaching, but also and more importantly because it honors God and sets me apart from this world.
As Christians, we must always remember that we are to be set apart from the world in the ways we live, but not relationally. In all we do, we are to be “in but not of” the world. We live as holy people in the midst of the world, exemplifying the love and truth of God so that our neighbors might be drawn to him through our example.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How does the call to be holy impact your life, if it does at all? When you think of holiness, what thoughts or images come to mind? How can you live as one who is “in but not of” the world in your workplace? neighborhood? school? family? church?
PRAYER: Gracious God, you have called me to be a holy person, a “saint,” to use the traditional language. This is no comment on my inherent goodness or even upon my exemplary living. Rather, by your grace you have chosen me to be set apart for you and your purposes. How I thank and praise you for this incredible honor!
Help me, dear Lord, to live each moment of each day as one devoted to you. May I reflect your truth and love into every corner of my world, especially in those places that need it the most. When I am challenged to give in to the ways of this world, give me the strength to stand firm for you and your ways, not with arrogance, but with humble reliance upon you.
In all I do, gracious God, may I honor and glorify you. Amen.
Topics: Inspiration | No Comments »
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, August 2, 2009
My Strength
O my Strength, to you I sing praises,
for you, O God, are my refuge,
the God who shows me unfailing love.
Psalm 59 begins as David’s cry to be rescued from his enemies. He asks the Lord to punish them because of their evil ways. By the end of the psalm, however, David shifts his focus away from his enemies and towards God. He remembers how God has protected him from danger in the past. Thus he concludes this song of worship: “O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love” (59:17).
When have you experienced the strength and safety of a place of refuge? I think of how it feels to be at home during a breathtaking thunderstorm. These days, my part of Texas is in the middle of a serious drought. But, even so, we have had thunderstorms unlike anything I ever experienced in California. Thunder crashes. Lightning flashes. The wind howls. And the rain falls in buckets. Very early one morning, my family and I were awakened by a storm. We all got up and sat in our covered porch, amazed at the power of the storm. Yet we felt completely safe and secure. It was a wonderful feeling.
So it can be in our relationship with God. The more we know him and live in him, the more we will experience his protection. To be sure, there will be times of turmoil and trial. But we will know that our lives are safely held in the Lord’s powerful hands. No matter what happens to us in this life, he will never let us go. To know God as our strength is one the most sublime feelings in all of life. Like David, being safe in God’s hands leads us to sing praises to him and to live our life each day as an act of grateful worship.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: When have you experienced a place of physical refuge? Emotional refuge? Spiritual refuge? When have you felt safe in God’s hands?
PRAYER: O my Strength, how I praise you for the ways you shelter me. You have kept me from evil that I know and from evil that I shall never know. You have guided me away from temptation and into the security of your will. You hold me when I am afraid and give me courage to live boldly for you each day.
Thank you, dear Lord, for the gift of knowing you, resting in you, and living in the protection of your might. All praise be to you, O my Strength! Amen.
_________________________________________________
Would you like to receive a Daily Reflection like this one in your email inbox each morning?
Here’s how . . . .
This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org), a wonderful website about work and God. You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | No Comments »
Church and the Internet: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore (Section 3)
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, July 31, 2009
In the last couple of days I’ve been reflecting on the impact of the Internet on the church, especially with respect to the calling of a new pastor in a church. I want to finish up (for now) with some general reflections.
1. We can’t go back to Kansas.
If Kansas represents a world of secure, local communications, a world where the confidentiality of things like pastor-calling efforts can be protected, then we can’t go back to Kansas. There are no Ruby slippers for the church. What the Internet, cell phones, and related technologies have started cannot be stopped. Oh, I expect some churches will manage to hold back the tide for a while. And, just you watch, soon we’ll be seeing younger generations rejecting electronic church and going unplugged. This kind of reaction is almost guaranteed. But, for the most part, we will not be able to unflatten the world. (By the way, the metaphor of the Internet-related flatness of the world comes from Thomas L. Friedman’s watershed book, The World is Flat. Photo: My daughter and her friend dressing up as ruby slippers for Halloween.)
2. Just because the technology is available, that does not mean we should use it.
Though I think the Internet and related technologies are here to stay, and though I think the church needs to use them in a thoughtful and faithful way, I do not assume that just because a technology is available that it should, therefore, be used. My family and I, for example, still live in the dinosaur age of TV antennas. We do have a television at home, but we do not have cable, or sattelite, or whatever else is available. The only TV we get comes in for free from the small antenna attached to our chimney. We have made this unusual choice, not only to save money, but also because we just don’t need more TV in our home.
3. Christians and churches need to learn to think strategically, creatively, and, most of all, theologically about technology.
In my experience, we’re pretty good at the first, thinking strategically about technology. We can evaluate its impact on our lives and ministries, though sometimes we do not consider unintended consequences of technology.
I have not sensed an abundance of creativity among Christians and churches when it comes to technology. Mostly we do what the world does. Or we copy the megachurches. Or at least we try (usually, without much success). I include myself in this observation, by the way.
But I am most concerned about the lack of theological reflection on technology among Christians of all stripes (conservative, liberal, pro-tech, anti-tech, etc. etc.).
4. Technology is part of this world, which means it necessarily includes both good and evil, as well as relatively neutral “stuff.”
There’s a bit of theological reflection. If we take seriously the fundamental goodness of creation and its fallenness, then we should expect all technologies to be a mix of good and evil, right and wrong. Moreover, they will be used by us fallen people, who, even if we have been redeemed, are not yet fully renewed. In my opinion, the example of Rich Kannwischer and St. Andrew’s exemplifies the moral mixed-up-ness of technology.
5. Those of us who have the resources to entertain ourselves with technological wonders, even in church, need to think long and hard about how our choices impact (or do not impact) Christians and churches who don’t have such resources.
I sometimes wonder if our lavish technological expenditures make sense in a world where so many Christians and churches have so little.
6. I have no idea how much technology there will be in the new creation, but a part of me hopes it’s rather more like a garden than a Wi-Fi hotspot.
I won’t be all that sad if there are cell phones and even the Web in the new heaven and new earth. But I do hope there’s something like an iPod for listening to music. Angelic choirs are fine, but I would prefer a little variety.
Topics: Church and Internet | 5 Comments »
Church and the Internet: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore (Section 2)
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, July 30, 2009
Yesterday I began telling the story of how the Internet impacted the recent calling of Rich Kannwischer as the next senior pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California.
Now, for the rest of the story. Last Sunday there was a congregational meeting at St. Andrew’s to vote on the recommendation of the nominating committee to call Rich to the church. Usually this sort of thing is a slam dunk. But, in the case of St. Andrew’s, the situation was much messier because one of the top candidates for the position was an associate pastor at St. Andrew’s who has a large following in the congregation. It was well known in the congregation that this other man had been in the running, but he was not the final choice of the nominating committee. This meant that the vote to call Rich would surely be significantly split in the congregation. (Presbyterian congregations almost never know who other potential candidates were. The process at St. Andrew’s, involving a short-term co-pastorate and an internal candidate, was unusual in the extreme. Photo: John Huffman and Rich Kannwischer in front of the congregation at St. Andrew’s. Photo from the nominating committee blog. )
During the early afternoon of last Sunday, I was dying to know what was happening in the congregational meeting at St. Andrew’s, but I was riding in a car that was speeding through the Texas countryside on Interstate 10. What did I do? Using my iPhone, I visited a Twitter search website, and searched for “Kannwischer.” In a few moments I was following two Twitterers who were members of St. Andrew’s. There were present in the congregational meeting and putting up regular tweets on the meeting’s progress. Sitting in a car in the middle of nowhere in Texas, and there’s a lot of nowhere in Texas, I was getting frequent, live reports of a congregational meeting in Southern California. Within seconds of the announcement of the vote, I knew that Rich had obtained a substantial majority. Then, a few moments later, I knew that he had accepted the call and was introduced as the new pastor at St. Andrew’s.
Like I said, we’re not in Kansas anymore. Not by a longshot.
How should we Presbyterians respond to the impact of the Internet on our process of calling new pastors? I can imagine one type of response that laments the behavior I’ve been chronicling and seeks to limit it. I can envision a church saying to its people, “Do not communicate about our pastoral conadidate outside of this church body. Don’t email people or Twitter or blog or anything. Plus, there will be no use of Twitter or Facebook or other social media in any congregational meeting.” This would be an attempt to uphold the past and its benefits. But I am positive that it would eventually fail. The reactive “we must clamp down” reminds me of what we’re seeing in China with regard to the Internet. But the world is just too flat to prevent electronic communication. If a church tries to keep people from communicating via the Internet, it will fail, and its members will feel as if they’re living under a repressive regime. Not a good plan.
The other option for Presbyterians (and other churches in a similar situation) is to think creatively about how best to manage communication outside of Kansas. My guess is that it will be harder and harder for pastors to keep their possible new calls hidden from their existing congregations until they are final. This may mean that both potential pastors and potential new churches will need to work harder, both at discernment, and in using new ways of communication to build support for a pastoral candidate. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, for example, produced a marvelous brochure in support of Rich, and the nominating committee had a very helpful blog with lots of pertinent information. Other churches would do well to imitate the example of St. Andrew’s. (Of course I realize that not all churches have the resources of St. Andrew’s. But it takes relatively little money to make good use of the Internet. A blog, for example, can cost a mere $5.00 a month and is very easy to do.)
Looking at the bigger picture, I think the example of St. Andrew’s points to the need for greater openness in communication, even when it comes to matters that we might prefer to keep quite. For example, one of the best pieces of communication on the blog of the St. Andrew’s nominating committee was a letter to the congregation that spoke with unusual candor and tenderness about the internal candidate who was not called as pastor. This was a bold and wise move by the nominating committee, which, in the end, surely contributed to the church’s ultimate vote. The fact that we don’t live in Kansas anymore will challenge people in church leadership to communicate in new ways. This will be messy at times, but it can also lead to greater health and trust in churches. Clamping down on communication, will, on the contrary, lead to less health and less trust.
Of course when Dorothy Gale realized that she wasn’t in Kansas anymore, she spent the rest of a long movie trying to get back to what was familiar and comfortable. She wanted to go home. Eventually she made it. I expect there will be some church leaders who share Dorothy’s mentality. But we have no Ruby Slippers to turn back the clock. Kansas is gone for good. There is no more home. Technology in general and the Internet in particular have forever transported our home to Oz. Our challenge and opportunity is to discover how to be the church in a new land of open, free, and sometimes frustratingly uncontrollable communication.
I close with a commercial. If you’re looking for help in learning how thrive in Oz, join me at the Christian Web Conference at Biola University on September 11-12, 2009. You’ll be glad you did.
Topics: Church and Internet | 12 Comments »
Church and the Internet: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Yesterday’s post focused on the Christian Web Conference at Biola University (September 11-12, 2009). Today’s post illustrates why I think Christian leaders need to attend this conference. Whether we like it or not, the Internet has changed (and will continue to change) the way we do church.
In my denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), pastors are called to churches through a process that involves a search committee (called a “Pastor Nominating Committee” or PNC, for short) and the affirming vote of a congregation. Given the touchiness involved when a pastor considers leaving a church, this process in a church is usually shrouded in secrecy so as to protect the pastor, the pastor’s family, the pastor’s existing congregation, and the integrity of the process in the calling church. In most cases, the pastor who is called to a new church has the opportunity to be the first person to communicate this news to the former church, beginning with church leaders. This communication comes after the vote of the calling congregation, when the deal is sealed. If for some reason the pastor does not go to the new church, the existing congregation doesn’t have to know.
That’s how we Presbyterian have done it for a long time. But, in the famous (though often misquoted) words of Dorothy Gale, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” For Presbyterians, “Kansas” was the familiar land of carefully managed communication and comfortable secrecy. But the fact is plain that we’re not in Kansas anymore.
I’ve watched with interest a recent example of the “not in Kansas anymore” syndrome. It involved the calling of a new pastor for St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. I’ve known this fine church for many years, since it’s quite near to Irvine Presbyterian Church, where I was Senior Pastor for sixteen years. St. Andrew’s has been ably led for over thirty years by the Rev. Dr. John Huffman, Jr. John’s imminent retirement required the calling of a new pastor, so St. Andrew’s began a long process of finding that person.
This new pastor turns out to be a good friend of mine from Texas, the Rev. Richard Kannwischer, currently the Senior Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio. I must confess that, though I’m pleased for St. Andrew’s, I’m sad that Rich is leaving Central Texas. He has been a great colleague and friend. Now our collegiality and friendship will be of the long distance variety. Plus, First Pres San Antonio, an excellent church and long-time partner of Laity Lodge, will have to go through another, long transition. The good news for this church is that they have an excellent pastoral team, not to mention a bunch of outstanding lay leaders. But they will surely miss Rich’s superior giftedness as a preacher and leader.
Nevertheless, the point of this post is not for me to lament or celebrate, but rather to note how the Internet has changed forever the protocol and assumptions of pastoral changes in the PC(USA) and beyond. Evidence of this change began right after Rich agreed to be the Pastor Nominating Committee’s candidate. No sooner did the word get out at St. Andrew’s (in the correct way, from the nominating committee, I believe) than someone in that congregation emailed lots of people at First Pres San Antonio, seeking information about Rich. (Update and Correction: The sender of the email may well not have been a member of St. Andrew’s church. This was assumed by the person who related the incident to me, but his assumption may not have been accurate.) I did not see this email, but only heard about it from a friend. In the old world of neatly managed communication, a candidate’s current congregation would not have heard anything until after an official call was extended, which requires a vote of the calling congregation. In this case, however, the folks at First Pres knew well in advance. This meant that Rich had to notify his congregation of the possibility of his leaving First Pres for St. Andrew’s . . . not the best scenario, that’s for sure. If, for some reason, Rich had not gone to St. Andrew’s, his relationship with the San Antonio congregation would have sustained considerable damage. Most folks don’t like the idea of their pastor looking for a new job (unless, of course, they don’t like their pastor!).
Besides the email from a member of St. Andrew’s to people at First Pres, Rich’s nomination by the PNC was also published on Twitter soon after it was announced in California. Even if the email hadn’t been sent, any hope of secrecy was lost with the “tweets” that were available to anyone around the world, including Central Texas. (Yes, we have Internet here.)
At this point it might seem as if the Internet is no friend to the process of calling a new pastor. But, stepping back for a moment, I should mention how the Internet has become a huge help to pastor nominating committees. The online process of dossier publication makes it much, much easier for committees to learn about potential candidates and vice versa. The fact that most candidates come from churches with websites also allows committees to learn lots about the candidates before contacting them directly. This saves countless hours and minimizes the awkwardness of saying “No” to potential candidates who are rejected. Plus, many pastoral candidates now have sermons that can be streamed or downloaded. In years past, it was an arduous task for committees to listen to sermons, a task requiring mailing of original tapes, duplication, distribution, etc. etc. Now a committee can hear sermons of a potential candidate without even letting the preacher know this is happening. This is a giant savings of time and energy for all involved.
The situation is similar for a pastor who is considering a new church. In the past, it was cumbersome for a pastor to get accurate and extensive information about the church. Now, a church’s website reveals all sorts of relevant data, including theological perspectives, ministry programs, church newsletters, etc. (I realize that some smaller churches don’t have extensive websites, or do not make sermons available online. But, increasingly, most churches have some Web presence.)
So, on the downside, the Internet has compromised the secrecy that was once an essential element of a pastoral calling process. On the other hand, the Internet has made many aspects of that process much, much easier and more effective. And I haven’t even mentioned the way email can accelerate communication in a committee.
I realize that I’ve left you hanging concerning how things played out with Rich Kannwischer and St. Andrew’s, though I revealed the ending. I’ll finish that story tomorrow, adding a truly mind-bending impact of the Internet. Stay tuned . . . .
Topics: Church and Internet | 9 Comments »
Recommendation: Christian Web Conference
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Today I want to recommend the Christian Web Conference to my blog readers. If you’re at all interested in the relationship between Christianity and the Internet, and especially if you are using the Web as a context for expressing your faith, you will want to check out this conference. Here are some basic details.
The Mission of CWC
To bring web leaders and creatives together as they collaborate and implement ideas by building relationships with one another.
Why You Should Attend
• Fascinating, visionary leaders in the area of Christian mission and the Web.
• Lots of time to build relationships and form friendships.
• Informative, challenging presentations and workshops.
• Cost = A great deal! ($50 before August 1; $60 after).
• On the beautiful campus of Biola University in Southern California (see photo).
My Participation
I will be offering a devotional during each morning of the conference. Otherwise, I’ll be hanging around to learn and develop relationships. TheHighCalling.org, a sister to Laity Lodge, is helping to sponsor CWC. My colleague, Marcus Goodyear, will be offering a workshop on the topic: New Ways to Listen.
When Is It?
Friday, September 11 - Saturday, September 12, 2009
For More Information
Topics: Recommendations | No Comments »
Lauren and Calvin at Laity Lodge
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, July 27, 2009
No, I’m not talking about designer labels. Not Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, but Lauren Winner and Calvin Miller. They were speaking at our most recent Laity Lodge retreat.
If you know Lauren and Calvin, you might think they’re an odd match. There is about a forty-year gap in their ages. Lauren is an East Coast intellectual Christian who was raised as a Jew and now teaches at Duke Divinity School. Calvin is Midwestern/Southern pastor and fiction writer who has spent his most recent years a Beeson Divinity School. At least they have div school teaching in common.
They also have written several excellent books. Calvin Miller has over forty books to his credit, both fiction and non-fiction. He read a parable of “Sleeping Ugly” from his book, The Unfinished Soul: Happening Upon Jesus in the Happenstance of Life. It was fantastic: clever, hilarious, tender, insightful, evangelical. Among Lauren’s books, perhaps the most influential has been Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to the Life of Spiritual Disciplines. In this fine book, she reflects upon Christian disciplines from the perspective of one who grew up as a Jew.
Lauren and Calvin turned out to be a fantastic match, complementing each other wonderfully. They both spoke about prayer, bringing their unique perspectives and personalities.
Lauren Winner is fascinating: funny, bold, brilliant, edgy, and rock solid in her Christian faith. She is one of my favorite speakers at Laity Lodge because I always learn a lot from her, and enjoy the learning process. Lauren makes me think and helps me to grow in my relationship with the Lord. In one of her messages this past weekend, she talked about why we have a hard time praying. Among her reasons was: “We get bored.” She talked about her own struggle with boredom prayer. I think her point is absolutely right on. And I also think very few Christian leaders have the guts to admit that they struggle with boredom in prayer. (I know I do!) Lauren, having made her second visit to Laity Lodge, is becoming one of our favorite speakers.
I had never heard Calvin Miller before this weekend, though I remember reading his books. When I was in college, his fictional The Singer trilogy was hot stuff in my Christian fellowship group. He has also written several non-fiction books as well. I was eager to hear Calvin Miller in person, because you’re never quite sure how an author sounds. Well, I’m here to tell you that Calvin was an absolute delight: hilarious, creative, humble, wise, compassionate, joyful. He quickly was added to my short list of best speakers I have heard at Laity Lodge. Calvin spoke on prayer from a Celtic perspective. You can find many of his insights in his book: The Path of Celtic Prayer: An Ancient Way to Everyday Joy. But no matter how good this book is, you won’t get to experience the “everyday joy” of simply being with Calvin Miller.
This past retreat also featured one of my favorite artists, Jim Janknegt of Elgin, Texas. Check out some of paintings online. Music for the retreat was provided by Charles Webb of Indiana University School of Music, and one of his students, the amazing baritone, Christopher Bolduc.
This past Laity Lodge retreat was one of those times when I rubbed my eyes, looked around, and still couldn’t quite believe that I get to part of such a fantastic ministry.
Topics: Laity Lodge | 4 Comments »
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, July 26, 2009
God Will Fulfill His Purpose for You
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.
David composed Psalm 57 when he was surrounded by his enemies, who were like “fierce lions” (57:4). Thus he cried out to God for mercy and protection: “I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me” (57:2).
The high elevation of God emphasized in the title “God Most High” (’elohim ’elyon) is reiterated in the refrain of Psalm 57: “Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens! May your glory shine over all the earth” (57:5, 11). God is more glorious, more powerful, and more worthy of praise than anything else in all creation.
Thus when David says that God “will fulfill his purpose for me,” this is not some hopeful wish, but rather a confident conviction. Because God is “Most High,” he has the power and authority to do whatever he desires. He will bring to fruition his plans for David. . . .
And for us too. If we put our trust in the Lord, if we seek to honor him with our lives, then he will fulfill his purpose for each one of us. We find an echo of Psalm 57:2 in the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians: “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (1:6).
Sometimes it can seem as if our lives are pointless, filled with empty routines. Our plans and hopes are scuttled by an economic crisis, a physical illness, or a broken relationship. We can become discouraged, fearful that our efforts will add up to nothing. In these times, we are encouraged by the truth of Psalm 57:2 and its echoes throughout the Bible. God will, indeed, fulfill his purpose for you.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What is God’s purpose(s) for your life? How have you experienced God’s faithfulness to fulfill his purpose for you?
PRAYER: Gracious God, what a marvelous affirmation and encouragement in Psalm 57. How good it is to know that you will fulfill your purpose for me. My heart yearns for this reality, so that my life might really matter. Let it be so, Lord! May your plans for me come to fulfillment.
Help me, O God, to know your purpose for me so that I might cooperate with you each day. Teach me to live for your purpose every moment, wherever I am.
Today I’m reminded that you are not just any god, but God Most High. You are more powerful, more glorious, more gracious, more majestic than any being in all creation. “Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens! May your glory shine over all the earth!” Amen.
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Would you like to receive a Daily Reflection like this one in your email inbox each morning?
Here’s how . . . .
This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org), a wonderful website about work and God. You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | No Comments »
Impressive Doings in Kansas City
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, July 25, 2009
Earlier this week I participated in the National Worship Leader Conference in Leawood, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. This conference, sponsored by Worship Leader Magazine, gathered 1500-2000 people from throughout the country so that they might grow as leaders of worship in their churches. Many of these folks were professional worship leaders/pastors, but many were senior pastors, band members, or lay folks involved in leading worship in their churches. From my observation, the average age of a conference goer was about 40. Many were from mainline churches. (Photo: The lobby of the church where the conference was held.)
The conference featured headlines such as Michael W. Smith, Paul Baloche, Marva Dawn, Greg Laurie, and Scotty Smith. Then there were folks like me, who taught workshops on a wide variety of subjects. I spoke on “Leading All Generations in Worship” and “Family Dynamics of Pastoral Leadership.”
I was impressed by the commitment of those who spent a fair amount of time and money (in a slow economy) to grow as leaders of worship. What an encouraging sign for the church!
I was also impressed by how Worship Leader Magazine puts on a conference. It was excellently planned and led. I would say this even if I weren’t on the editorial board of Worship Leader. I am proud to be associated with Chuck Fromm (publisher) and his outstanding team.
I was also greatly impressed by our venue, the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. This United Methodist Church is one of the most outstanding mainline churches in the country, with a forthright commitment to evangelism, community, and ministry in the world. Founded by Adam Hamilton in 1990, the Church of the Resurrection now has over 12,000 members, with more than 7,500 in weekly worship services. All of this growth has happened in a period of time when most mainline denominations, including my own, have been losing members by the tens of thousands. Perhaps we should pay more attention to what’s been going on in Leawood, Kansas.
Topics: Out and About | No Comments »
Intimate Fellowship with God and God’s People (cont)
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, July 24, 2009
Part 7 of series: What is the Christian Life?
Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series
In my last post, I showed how 1 John connects fellowship with God and fellowship with people in such a way that they are virtually inseparable. Although this notion might be surprising to some of us who have drunk deeply from the well of American individualism, in fact what we read in 1 John isn’t particularly new.
Consider the vast sweep of biblical revelation. When God created a solitary man, someone able to have a personal relationship with God, God said that it was not good for the man to be alone. So God formed a partner for the man, namely a wo-man (Gen 2). Later, God promised to bless Abraham not all by his lonesome, but by making him the father of a nation and by blessing all the families of the earth through him (Gen 12). God set his people free from Egypt, not so that each Israelite might please God individually, but so that the congregation of the Israelites would be a “holy nation” together (Exod 19:6). God views personal obedience as an aspect of corporate holiness.
Turning to the New Testament, we see that Jesus, in the moments before his death, prayed for those who would one day believe in him, that we might be “perfected into one,” even as he was one with his heavenly Father (John 17:22-23). Our Savior died on the cross for our personal salvation, to be sure, and also so that he might create one new humanity between formerly divided peoples (Eph 2). God’s ultimate plan is to “bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth” (Eph 1:10). Someday we will be united with all of God’s people, indeed, with all of creation. In New Testament visions of heaven, you will not end up sitting on your on private cloud playing a harp (as if this picture has any appeal). Rather, these visions show
a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. . . . And they were shouting with a mighty shout, “Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!” (Rev 7:9-10).
Someday we will join a vast heavenly choir, worshipping God in a way that is intensely personal and inescapably corporate. That’s not all we will do in heaven, I expect. But whatever we do, it won’t involve an eternity of playing spiritual solitaire. In fact, C. S. Lewis sees isolation from other people as an essential characteristic of hell, not heaven. (C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (New York: Touchstone, 1996).
Thus, when John, in his first letter, links fellowship with God to fellowship among God’s people, he stands squarely within the long line of biblical revelation. When we are adopted by our Heavenly Father, we also join a great extended family.
One of the highlights of my life occurred when I was three and a half years old. The spring afternoon was bright and warm as my parents drove across town to finish a process that had taken many long months. It had taken forever, from my childish perspective. When we finally arrived at our destination, I hugged a special teddy bear in one hand, while nervously grabbing my mother’s fingers in the other. After walking down a long corridor, we stopped at a room. It was sparsely furnished, with a plain wooden crib in the corner. In that crib was a three-month old baby, my parents’ newly adopted son, Gary. My heart raced as I peered at him for the very first time. Dangling the teddy bear before his giant blue eyes, I swelled with pride when Gary smiled at me. This was not just my parents’ son. He was my brother!
Once we shared common parents, Gary and I became part of the same family. He couldn’t be their son without also being my brother. This remained true throughout our lives, in the good times and the bad times, whether we liked it or not. I was still Gary’s brother four years after his adoption when I ditched him in the hills above our home and he was lost for hours. Gary was still my brother when he clobbered me on the head with the sharp claw of a hammer, not in retaliation for his being ditched or anything like that, but just because he was curious to see what would happen to my head. (It bled profusely, and Gary ran into the house crying because he hadn’t intended to hurt me.) Gary and I were joyfully brothers when we stood together in each other’s weddings, or shared the wonder of holding each other’s babies only moments after they were born. I suppose that we could live without relationship together, but our lives would be impoverished and incomplete as a result.
Through the best of times and the worst of times, fellowship with our Heavenly Father initiates fellowship with his other children. Eternal life is personal life and shared life. Therefore, John seeks to have intimate fellowship with his spiritual children as they share intimate fellowship together with the living God.
In my next post in this series I’ll begin to consider how intimate fellowship impacts our whole life.
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Intimate Fellowship with God and God’s People
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, July 23, 2009
Part 6 of series: What is the Christian Life?
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In my last post I proposed that the Christian life is koinonia, which should be understood as intimate fellowship. This koinonia is with God through Jesus Christ, but not only with God. I’ll explain what I mean in today’s and tomorrow’s posts.
Let’s return 1 John for a moment. John declares the message of life to his spiritual children “so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). John’s order may surprise us. Rather than first mentioning fellowship with God, John gives prior emphasis to the intimate fellowship he wishes to share with those who receive his letter. We might expect things to be the other way around, with the accent placed on fellowship with God rather than fellowship with people. But John accentuates the human dimension because it is essential to full fellowship with God.
The inseparability of divine and human fellowship appears again in verses 6-7:
So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.
Once we see in verse 6 that “living in spiritual darkness” precludes fellowship with God, we would expect verse 7 to read: “but if we are living in the light of God’s presence, then we have fellowship with God.” Instead, John mentions “fellowship with one another” as if it were almost identical to fellowship with God.
Later in his letter John makes a analogous point about loving God:
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. . . . No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too (1 John 4:7-8, 11-12, 20-21).
In this passage, love for God and love for God’s people are so closely connected that we cannot love God without loving God’s children, our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we love each other, God lives in us. If we don’t love each other, we don’t know God. The interweaving of relationship with God and relationship with God’s people is so complex in this chapter that we might easily become confused. Without a doubt, however, relationship with God is inseparable from relationship with the people of God. We cannot have one without the other. We cannot love God without loving our spiritual siblings, even as we cannot have intimate fellowship with God apart from intimate fellowship with these siblings.
The virtual equation of fellowship with God and with God’s people might seem surprising. Isn’t the Christian life really about relationship with God? Isn’t fellowship with people plainly secondary in significance? I suppose that if we had to choose between relationship with God and relationship with people, we’d rightly join up with God. But by making this sort of distinction we miss the indivisibility of divine and human fellowship as taught in the Bible. We echo the bias of our culture rather than the revealed word of God.
Many popular versions of the Christian life separate that which the Bible holds together so consistently. American individualism has penetrated deeply within our conceptions of Christianity. What really matters, we are told, is our personal relationship with God. That’s true as far as it goes. But, in biblical perspective, that personal relationship always has corporate implications. We tend to equate personal with private, whereas the Bible links personal and corporate. God’s personal relationship with me draws me into personal relationships with others. (Photo: Hey, even the Lone Ranger wasn’t really alone. He had his best friend and partner, Tonto, not to mention Silver!)
In my next post I’ll show how the inseparability of relationship with God and relationship with people is revealed throughout the Bible.
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The Christian Life as Intimate Fellowship
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Part 5 of series: What is the Christian Life?
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In my last post in this series, I asked: What is the life revealed by God? The answer of John in his first letter is: Jesus Christ. Through the one who is the Life, we experience the fullness of life. In the first chapter of 1 John we learn much more about the essential character of this life.
John explains his purpose in telling his spiritual children about God’s life this way: “We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1:3). Faith in Jesus, the eternal life that was with the Father, opens up a way to experience eternal life now, a life that John describes by the word “fellowship.” In fact he uses this word four times in the first seven verses of 1 John:
The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life. This one who is life from God was shown to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and announce to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was shown to us. We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We are writing these things so that our joy will be complete.
This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. (1 John 1:1-7, emphasis added)
What does John mean by this word “fellowship”?
We associate fellowship with camaraderie and informal friendliness. At Irvine Presbyterian Church, we had a “fellowship hall.” It was a place for church potlucks, wedding receptions, and casual conversation on rare rainy days. But our sense of fellowship fell far short of the word “fellowship” as used in the New Testament. (Photo: The Family Christimas Celebration in the Fellowship Hall of Irvine Presbyterian Church.)
The Greek word translated as “fellowship” (koinonia) means far more than hanging out with friendly people in a comfortable place. Koinonia literally means “holding something in common.” Among Greek speakers in the Roman Empire, it was used in business to refer to partnership or joint-ownership, a relationship in which two people held business interests and assets in common.
Early Christians used koinonia for their celebrations of the Lord’s Supper, that which we call “communion” (a word that is based on koinonia, coming to us through the Latin communio). By taking bread and wine in memory of Jesus, the first Christians were “sharing together” or “having communion” in him (1 Cor 10:16-17). Marriage could be called “the fellowship of life.” Sexual intimacy between spouses could be called simply koinonia. Clearly, therefore, koinonia implies a depth of relationship we don’t usually associate with a fellowship hall.
It’s hard to find an English word that unites the various and deeper connotations of koinonia. “Fellowship,” “partnership,” and “sharing” highlight limited facets of the word’s meaning. “Communion” gets much closer, but has a religious tone that might obscure the original sense of koinonia. The best translation I can conceive for koinonia in 1 John uses two words, “intimate fellowship.”
God’s kind of life involves, neither a casual relationship with him such as one might experience in a fellowship hall, nor a deep relationship that happens only when we “receive communion” in church, but intimate fellowship available at all times and in all places. God desires our kinship with him to consist of far more than a few rushed prayers or cameo appearances at Easter and Christmas services. The Creator of Heaven and Earth seeks an intimate, personal relationship with you and me. God wants us to share deeply in his life, both now and forever.
What a wonder! In our preoccupation with our personal search for God we can easily forget that God is searching for us too. That’s one of the major narrative themes of the Bible: God’s search for humankind, God’s effort to reestablish the fellowship between himself and his human creatures that was broken because of sin. Jesus Christ came, not only to save us from sin and death, but also to lead us into close, lasting relationship with God. As the source of eternal life from God, Jesus welcomes us into koinonia, intimate fellowship with God . . . but not with God alone.
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Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, July 20, 2009
The Ninth Commandment: Don’t Lie
“You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.”
The original Hebrew of the ninth commandment reflects a judicial setting. Specifically, this verse refers to lying in the context of a legal proceeding. But it suggests a broader application to lying in general. This is something God’s people, including us, should not do.
Often, when I have said that Christians should not lie, people rush to defend lying in some extreme situation, such as when Christians lied to the Nazis about hiding Jews. “Wasn’t lying right in this instance?” someone will ask. Certainly, it might be right to lie in order to preserve human life. But I am fascinated by the rush to find exceptions to the basic rule of speaking truthfully. My sense is that people look for extreme exceptions, not because they want to engage in ethical debate, but rather because they want to justify their own tendency to be much less than truthful in much less extreme contexts.
Several years ago, I preached a series on truthfulness at Irvine Presbyterian Church. I showed how the God of truth calls us to be people who speak and live truthfully. During the course of this sermon series, I was shocked by how often I “bent the truth” in ordinary speech. People in my congregation confessed to the same, using made-up excuses to when they were late, or offering compliments that weren’t honest, or exaggerating to impress their friends, etc. etc. etc. I don’t think my congregation and I were unusual. We are caught in a world of spin, and many of us play right along.
Behind the ninth commandment is an assumption that God’s people are to be truthful, literally, full of truth. When we speak and live honestly, we reflect the character of God, even as we set ourselves apart from the deceptive character of this world.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Are there situations in your life when you are apt to be less than truthful? When? What tempts you to “bear false witness”? How might you reflect the truthfulness of God more faithfully in your life?
PRAYER: Dear Lord, I can easily excuse myself from the impact of this commandment because I don’t tell whoppers. But doing so misses the chance for your Word to convict me and challenge me. Indeed, I sometimes am less than truthful. I don’t like confrontation. I don’t like relational disagreement. I want to be liked. And so I stretch the truth beyond the breaking point. Forgive me, Lord, when I testify falsely in my life.
Help me to be someone who speaks and lives truthfully. May I reflect your character in all that I do and say. May this be true in my family life and in my work, in casual conversation and in official communications.
In particular, dear Lord, I ask that you help me to be truthful in all that I write for these Daily Reflections. May I rightly discern your truth and convey it accurately.
All praise be to you, God of truth! Amen.
P.S. from Mark
A few years ago, I wrote a book on truthful living: Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. If you’re wrestling with what it means to be a truthful person, you may find this book helpful.
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This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org), a wonderful website about work and God. You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
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Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, July 19, 2009
Toss Your Burden on the Lord!
Give your burdens to the LORD,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
Psalm 55:22 was one of the first verses of Scripture I memorized as a child: “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you” (55:22a, RSV). The NLT captures the sense of the original Hebrew with “Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you.”
But something is lost in this more contemporary rendering. The Hebrew verb translated here as “give” (shalakh) and in other translations as “cast,” is not the simple Hebrew word meaning “to give.” Rather, it’s basic sense is “to throw” or “to hurl.” It was used, for example, in the story of Joseph and his brothers. Genesis 37:24 says that they “threw” him into a cistern, using the verb shalakh. Even the verb “cast,” which is stronger than “give,” doesn’t quite get the sense of the original Hebrew. Casting could be too calm, like fishing in some idyllic forest stream. I prefer a more robust “throw” or “hurl” or “toss” for shalakh.
The use of this verb in Psalm 55:22, therefore, paints a powerful picture of entrusting our burden to God. We’re invited, not just to hand over our concerns nicely, but to hurl them upon the Lord. It’s as if we’re shouting, “I’ve had it with this burden. I can’t handle it myself. Here, Lord, you take it!” In throwing our burden to the Lord, we’re really letting go of it. Once we’ve tossed it to him, it’s gone. It’s no longer ours to carry.
Notice the promise of Psalm 55:22. It does not read, “Toss your burden on the LORD and he will take care of it.” This is implied, surely. But the text says, “Toss your burden on the LORD and he will take care of you.” God is there, not only to help with our challenges, but to sustain and nurture us. What a wonderful promise, and an even more wonderful reality.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Are you carrying any burdens today that you need to toss at the Lord? What is keeping you from doing this?
PRAYER: O Lord, how good you are to me, again and again and again. Thank you for this marvelous invitation and promise in Psalm 55:22. Thank you for encouraging me to toss my burdens on you. I cannot carry them alone. Indeed, I’m not supposed to. You are there to bear my burdens with me, and, indeed, to care for me in the process.
Help me, Lord, to trust you with everything in my life. May I trust you especially with those things about which I am apt to worry. By your Spirit, help me to hurl my burdens to you. May I only pick up that which you give me to carry.
All praise be to you, gracious God, because you carry my burden . . . and because you carry me. Amen.
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Would you like to receive a Daily Reflection like this one in your email inbox each morning?
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This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org), a wonderful website about work and God. You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
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What is the Life Revealed by God?
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, July 17, 2009
Part 4 of series: What is the Christian Life?
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In the opening verses of 1 John, we discover some essential characteristics of the life revealed by God. First, it was “from the beginning” (1:1). Second, it is something John has experienced personally: heard, seen, and touched (1:1). Third, prior to its being revealed, it was “with the Father” (1:2).
For John’s original readers, these clues pointed to an obvious candidate for the revealed life: Jesus, the Son of God. The language of John’s letter echoes the introduction to the Gospel of John, the content of which would have been familiar to John’s community:
In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. . . . Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. . . . So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full on unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, . . . . God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ (John 1:1-2, 4, 14, 17).
The Word of God, who became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, is the one who existed “in the beginning.” As his disciple, John heard, saw, looked at, and touched Jesus. As the Word of God, Jesus was “with the Father” prior to coming in the flesh so that John and others could see his glory. So the introduction to 1 John makes it clear that Jesus is the life revealed by God.
John’s identification of Jesus and life reiterates that which Jesus said about himself. The Gospel of John records these words of Jesus,
I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again (John 11:25).
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me (John 14:6).
It would seem that we have found our answer to the question: What is the Christian life? The Christian life is Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. (Photo: A painting of the resurrection of Jesus by Matthias Grünewald, as a part of his famous Isenheim Altarpiece, c. 1515)
In a sense, nothing could be more important that this truth. But the use of language here can also leave us in a quandary. If the Christian life is Jesus, how do we live Jesus? If I want to live as a Christian today, what do I actually do?
The equation of Jesus with life is a figure of speech, a creative use of language that suggests an inseparable connection between Jesus and the divine life. When John sums up the point of his Gospel, he explains:
Jesus’ disciples saw him do many other miraculous signs besides the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life. (John 20:30-31)
Notice, here life is not equated with Jesus. Rather, it is a result of believing in him. John makes that same point earlier in the Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Once again, Jesus is the source of life. This life is often characterized as “eternal life,” a phrase that describes the way we will live one day when we are fully in God’s presence and all creation is the way God intends it to be. Yet we can begin to experience eternal life even now as we trust in the Son of God.
Jesus invites us to do more than trust him for salvation, however. In John 15, he invites his disciples, and by implication all who believe in him, to “remain” in him (John 15:4). The verb translated as “to remain” means “to abide” or “to make one’s home.” Jesus urges us to make our home – to center our experience, to orient our hearts, to find rest and security – in him. The results of such abiding are appealing: abundant fruitfulness, answered prayer, and plentiful joy (John 15:4-5, 7, 11). Since Jesus is the source of life, then staying closely connected to him leads to the best kind of life there is, a life of meaningful productivity and maximal delight. If you ask me, that sounds pretty good.
So, at first, the question “What is the life revealed by God?” isn’t quite right. The better first question is, “Who is the life revealed by God?” Answer: Jesus, the Word of God incarnate. Once we’ve identified him as the Life, we are then able to answer the question “What is the life revealed by God?” It is life lived in relationship with God through Christ.
I grew up in a Christian community that emphasized “having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” Thus I was disturbed when, as a teenager, my study of Scripture nowhere uncovered the phrase “personal relationship with Christ.” I remember once telling one of my pastors, “The Bible never mentions having a personal relationship with Christ,” much to his consternation.
I was literally right, in that the phrase “personal relationship” doesn’t show up in English translations of the Bible. But the idea of having a relationship with God permeates the Scripture, from the first chapters of Genesis to the closing chapters of Revelation. In my next post, and in the ones to follow, I want to examine in detail one of the ways that the Bible speaks of what we might call “having a personal relationship” with God.
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