Dec 27, 2010
Tommy Shelton
Well, it’s come and gone once again. Christmas is over. The space under the tree is empty, but the dumpsters are full. Christmas carols no longer play on the radio, but they’re still playing in our heads. New stuff gets tried on, exchanged, hooked up, played with, displayed, modeled, etc. The only rum ball left is the one far under the refrigerator that will still be there next Christmas. The mistletoe is shriveled up and the remaining sliver of the pie sits there waiting for mold. The company is either gone or now at risk of overstaying their welcome. And the siren songs of those after-Christmas-sales lure all gift certificates and cash gifts to come meet their demise.
Such is the aftermath of the Christmas of present day culture. But, as counter-cultural followers of Jesus Christ, this week between Christmas and New Year’s hopefully affords us some less frenetic time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas that is intended to continue giving the other 364 days of the year. It’s also a time to reflect on the year that’s about to pass and the one that’s about to burst on the scene. To that end, I invite you to read and ponder this: "The Purpose of Christmas" . And I pray that every single day of 2011, not just December 25th, is an inspiring, enriching and hope-producing experience of the fullness of the incarnation in your soul and life. Happy (as in truly blessed and fully content in Jesus Christ) New Year!
Dec 11, 2010
Tommy Shelton
I’m two chapters into Tim Keller’s latest book, “Generous Justice – How God’s Grace Makes Us Just” (Dutton, 2010). I know for me personally and, I think, for the community of Fellowship Dallas this is a book for such a time as this as we continue to learn what it means to live missionally in the world. As with pretty much everything I read or hear from Tim Keller, this book is taking me to a deeper, richer, truer understanding of who God is, the revelation of that in the Bible, the implications of that on every aspect of living, and the requisite transformation that my soul needs in order to align myself and my life with God. It is profoundly humbling and hopeful. I’m humbled because I see my ignorance, blindness, brokenness, and failure to love God and others on so many levels and to such sorrowful and unjust degree. Yet, I feel hopeful because, at the same time, I see God more clearly and thus worship Him more dearly. I have inspired vision and new passion. I experience a peace that comes from knowing truth from lie, order from chaos. And, I rejoice in God who allows me to grasp what I do and empowers me to share it with others and live it out to His glory.
In the book’s introduction, Keller tells the story of how he came to be interested in the subject of justice and for whom he wrote the book. In chapter 1 he begins to answer the question “What is doing justice?” Starting with Micah 6:8, “And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” he shows that justice is care for the vulnerable, that it reflects the character of God, that God is on the side of the poor, that it means right relationships, and that it includes generosity. In chapter 2 he works through justice and the Old Testament. He puts into perspective for Christians today the relevance of Jewish ceremonial law and the civil law of Moses that existed when Israel was a theocratic nation state in covenant with God. Though that is by no means what we have today, Keller argues that “everything in the Old Testament has some abiding validity, though it must be applied with great care.” He then gives many examples of how that can be done today. He also attempts (and succeeds I believe) to explain biblical justice and our political categories, as well as the complex causes of poverty. In typical Keller genius, he lifts the discussion to a level that rises above contemporary poles, categories and models.
I plan to write more on what I’m learning from “Generous Justice” in future posts, but, for now, I leave you some quotes from the book:
“…there is a direct relationship between a person’s grasp and experience of God’s grace, and his or her heart for justice and the poor. …those most affected by the message [become] the most sensitive to the inequities around them.” (Introduction, page xix-xx)
“We began to see how, in so many ways, we made our cultural biases into moral principles and then judged people of other races as being inferior.” (Introduction, page xvii)
“I want the orthodox to see how central to Scripture’s message is justice for the poor and marginalized. I also want to challenge those who do not believe in Christianity to see the Bible not as a repressive text, but as the basis for the modern understanding of human rights.” (Introduction, page xx-xxi)
"...if you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice when we give all human beings their due as creations of God. Doing justice includes not only the righting of wrongs, but generosity and social concern, espcially toward the poor and vulnerable." (Chapter 1, page 18)
“It is the generosity of God, the freeness of his salvation, that lays the foundation for the society of justice for all.” (Chapter 2, page 40)
And, if you want to read the first chapter of "Generous Justice" on line, here's the link http://timothykeller.com/images/uploads/pdf/Chapter_One_Generous_Justice.pdf
Thanks for reading and, as always, your comments are most welcome!
Feb 22, 2010
Tommy Shelton
HOW SHOULD WE THEN CHANGE?
Before we answer that question, let's first consider another: “How Should We Then Live?” That's the title of a classic written by Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer, one of the foremost Christian thinkers of our time. Its subtitle is “The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture.” Let it not be lost on us that 1976, the year it was published, was also the 200th anniversary of the nationhood of the United States, which is a paragon of western thought and culture, whatever you may think of it currently. In the book, Schaeffer takes the reader from ancient times through the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, right on up to the Atomic/Scientifc present. He discusses the breakdown in philosophy and science and moves on to art, music, literature, film, and much more. Along the way, he analyzes the reasons for present day society’s state of affairs and gives the only viable alternative: living by the Christian ethic, acceptance of God’s revelation, and total affirmation of the Bible’s morals, values and meaning. I agree with Schaeffer, as would all followers of Christ I assume. How should we then live? Answer: in accordance with revealed truth from the Bible as personified by Jesus (1 John 5:20). In other words, live like Jesus taught and lived. He is self-proclaimed truth (John 14:6). You know how many times Jesus says, "I tell you the truth...?" Twenty-seven times. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that Jesus is full of truth and truth comes through him (John 1:14, 17).
Having hopefully established (though briefly) that the preferred and truthful way to live is to live like Jesus, how do we stop living like we have been and start living like Him? How are our lives changed to look and feel like His? Thankfully, it's not entirely (nor primarily) up to us. The Bible teaches that God is the one committed to making us like Jesus once we have put our faith in Him. He in turn indwells us, and we begin a relationship with Him. (See John 17:17, 19; Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Thessalonias 2:13; and 1 Peter 1:2; 5:10.) Just like we needed God's intervention to save us (through Jesus), we need God (through the Holy Spirit) to make the indwelling Christ real to us and to make us like Him. However, we're not passive players in this change process. Quite the contrary, we are called to action in response and submission to what the Spirit wants to do in us. Paul compares our life in Christ to the training of an athlete (1 Corinthians 9:25; 1 Timothy 4:7-8 and 2 Timothy 2:5). Check out these passages if there is any doubt about the level of love and holiness that we are called to rise to: Romans 12:1-2, 9-21; 13:9-14; Ephesians 5:1-21; Colossians 3; 1 Peter 1:13-22, 2:11-21; and 2 Peter 1:5-10. We may be tempted to ask, does the Bible contradict itself? Don't these verses take us back to a works-based theology thereby stripping God's grace of its meaning and effect? No, because, to put it very simply, the opposite of grace is not effort, but earning. We can't earn God's love, favor or help. But, we must absolutely let that unearned and unconditional love movitate us to fully cooperate with and submit to His powerful, purposeful working on our behalf. We confirm (to ourselves, each other and the world) that we have accepted God's love and that His love is in us by loving Him and who and what He loves (Luke 10:27; 1 John 4:7-21; 2 John 5-6). However, we don't always (if ever) come by this love mandate naturally. We must study it, learn it, desire it, pray for it, and practice it. It is a process of transformation and relationship development that lasts our entire lives and it requires something from us. We must engage with God in the process. We must invest in developing the relationship. It takes effort. But the motivation is not one of earning God's love and approval, but one of fully responding to and engaging with Him in the redemption story of our life that He wants to tell and in developing the intimate, life-giving relationship that He desires with us.
The call to love like God loves, to live a holy life as Jesus did, and to live in relationship with Him is also a call to Kingdom living. Jesus taught on the Kingdom more than any other subject and He beautifully modeled what Kingdom living looks like everywhere He went and with everyone He engaged. I'm loving what we're learning about the Kingdom through the "Captivated" series. It is impacting my veiw of the world and my place in it. Truly, the Kingdom of God involves profound and revolutionary change in how a person seeking to live a Kingdom-oriented life makes sense of his or her existence and purpose in the world. I find myself asking how do I grow in my understanding of it all and, more importantly, in my application and experience of it all? Once again, I know that change is required, repentance if you will. I'm a product of the world's way of being, thinking and doing, specifically the western, scientific modern/post-modern world. His Kingdom is not of this world so a life lived according to His Kingdom will not mirror this earthly kingdom. It should instead mirror His heavenly Kingdom. WOW! That's a lot to even ponder, much less see come to fruition. How should we go about it? How should we then change?
In case it's not clear yet, what I'm trying to get at in this blog post is a process for transformation (or "life-change" or "repentance" if you prefer one of those terms). I'm reading from the Apprentice Series by James Bryan Smith. In the first book, "The Good and Beautiful God, Falling in Love With the God Jesus Knows" (Intervarsity Press, 2009), the author presents four necessary components for tranformation. Try drawing this diagram on a piece of paper. First draw a triangle and in the middle of it write "The Holy Spirit". Just above the top angle of the tringle write "Adopting the Narratives of Jesus". Out to the side of the bottom left-hand angle write "Engaging in Soul-Training Exercises". And out to the side of the bottom right-hand angle write "Participating in Community". Those are the four components involved in the process of our transformation into Christ-likeness:
1. Adopting the Narratives of Jesus. We have to replace whatever stories, tapes, messages, and hauting words are embedded in us driving the way we view the world and ourselves in it. These narratives can come from parents, siblings, teachers, and coaches, or from TV, movies, books and the Internet. While some are clearly false and harmful, others may be good and helpful. But, they must all ultimately be tested against the truth of Jesus. To do that, we must study, learn and adopt His narratives (stories, truths, parables, sermons, etc.) and let those dominate our thinking, feeling and acting.
2. Engaging in Soul-Training Exercises. Once we have the right narratives in place, we need to let them change and shape how we live. For this to happen, we need to train, like an athlete trains for his sport, or like a musician practices her instrument. Soul-training exercises (like prayer, Bible reading or solitude) are the means by which we grow and improve our functioning as Christians. They are not righteousness or Christ-likeness in themselves. "But they are wise practices that train and transform our hearts." (Smith, p. 27). And they are the means by which we invest ourselves in deepening our relationship wiht Jesus.
3. Participating in Community. Being created in God's image means, among other things, that we are created for relationship and community. If it's good for the members of the Trinity (Father, Son and Spirit), then it must be good for us. This truth about us suggests (and is reinforced in scripture) that life-change happens most effectively in the context of community. We need others to speak truth to us, to encourage us, to warn us, and to help us along the way in our journeys of transformation.
4. The Work of the Holy Spirit. Each of the above three components only happens when the Holy Spirit is at work in the midst of them, which is part of His "job". As James Bryan Smith says, "The Holy Spirit orchestrates the events of our lives with the single aim of making us disciples of Jesus. [He] is at work in...subtle ways, ways we cannot often discern. But the Spirit is at work nonetheless." (Smith, p. 28). It is the Holy Spirit who gives us accurate understanding of the Jesus narratives and deepens them in our hearts and minds. It is the Spirit who comes alongside us in soul-training exercises and ensures that they have their intended effect. And it is the Spirit who is present with us in community empowering love, grace and truth among the members and leading us all to a deeper love of Jesus and the Father.
And, so, my encouragement to us all is to embrace these components of transformation and order our lives such that they become priorities. We must make room for them. We must practice them. We must learn them and learn from them. The reason is not to earn anything. In Christ, we already have God's unconditional love and acceptance and His commitment to bring us into intimacy with Christ, Christ-likeness and Kingdom-mindedness. But, these components help put us in the best possible position to receive all that God has for us, to realize what He wants to do in and through us, and to experience that as reality in our lives. And they help keep us in that one place that we are meant to never leave--that of abiding in Him (see John 15).
Nov 29, 2009
Tommy Shelton
That’s my heart—an idol factory. By its God given nature it will manufacture something or someone to idolize, i.e. to trust, to obey and to love. Its capacity and need for this is endless and constant. It never takes a break. Now, if God made it that way, then idolizing or worshiping is not itself a bad thing or a good thing. It’s neutral. The real issue is the object. Therein lies the problem, but also the solution.
Why am I writing about this, about idols? I’ve been thinking all along that the next blog entry should be on thanksgiving, joy, peace—you know, the desired emotions and feelings of the season. But, I just finished a new book by Tim Keller entitled “Counterfeit Gods, The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters”(New York: Dutton, 2009). I simply couldn’t not write about its subject matter, so purifying and freeing is the effect on me of what Keller has to say. Anything by Keller grabs my attention. I think he is brilliant. What God is saying and doing through him and the church he leads in New York City (Redeemer Presbyterian www.redeemer.com) inpsire and inform so much of my current thinking on many issues within the realms of following Christ, advancing His Kingdom and building His Church. Ironically, I have to note that my heart could make an idol of Keller (or any other author, philosopher, politician, counselor, teacher, sports hero—come on, what guy wouldn’t want to be Tim Tebow or Colt McCoy after their recent performances—the list goes on and on).
Citing Paul in Romans 1:21, 25, Keller points out that idolatry is the root sin of the heart. "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him….They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator." Dig up any sin and dangling from its roots will be an idol. It’s not just that we are weak and fleshly. In every situation of sin there is something—human approval, reputation, power over others, financial advantage—more important and valuable to our hearts than God (p. 166). It’s in service to that something that we sin. We usually make idols out of good and right things, even things like being a great parent, espousing right doctrine, succeeding in business or ministry. But, when we elevate those things to be ultimate things in our hearts and we look to them for our justification, security and meaning in life, we commit idolatry.
Bottom line, asks Keller, “What is operating in the place of Jesus Christ as your real, functional salvation and Savior?” (p. 174). To help identify our idols, he says to consider the following:
- What do you enjoy daydreaming about?
- How do you spend your money?
- How do you respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes?
- Look at your most uncontrollable emotions and thoughts.
I’ll add a fifth one: 5. What person or relationship occupies more real estate in your mind and heart than God?
If your results are anything like mine, you are sobered and convicted. Here’s a sampling. My answer to no. 2 confirmed what I already knew, that I spend too much money on too many material things that I don’t need and too little on Kingdom matters. My answer to no. 4 revealed that I idolize job security because I experience too much anxiety over the thought of losing my job due to a bad economy, personal failures or becoming ineffective. No. 5 exposed approval idolatry in my heart where certain people are concerned. If I were to lose their love and respect, what I would experience would go far beyond understandable sorrow.
Ultimately, says Keller, idolatry is setting our whole heart on something (anything) besides God. Remember the first two commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of ANYTHING in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." (Exodus 20:3-4a). Repentance and willpower to live differently are not remedy enough. We can’t stop at identifying and uprooting our idols. We have to replace them or “plant” something else in our hearts so the idol won’t grow back. That something else is the love of Christ as demonstrated by His birth, death and resurrection all for the sake of saving us from the destructive and deadly consequences of our idolatry. In short—surprise, surprise—it’s the Gospel. But, even knowledge of the Gospel truths doesn’t replace our idols. We have to take that cognitive knowledge and work it into our hearts and imaginations as life-shaping and life-changing reality. And for that we need patience, perseverance and spiritual disciplines (or practices) like private prayer, corporate worship and meditation. Spiritual disciplines are basically forms of worship and it is worship, says Keller, that finally replaces the idols of our hearts (pp. 171- 175). Remember the second part of the second commandment: "You shall not bow down to them or WORSHIP them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God..." (Exodus 20:5a). Two excellent works on spiritual disciplines are Richard Foster’s “Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth”(New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998) and Dallas Willard’s “The Spirit of the Disciplines, Understanding how God Changes Lives” (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1988).
I hope I’ve stirred your heart to consider any idols that lie therein and to replace them with the loving God who made you, saves you, sustains you, and who, ultimately, will glorify you. As I read and processed all this, my heart was eventually filled with gratitude, peace and joy like I have not known for some time. How wonderful that the Spirit left me with these since they were the very things I was first after when I started thinking about this blog entry.
