May 24, 2018 | Son Reflectors

 
“I affirm by the pride in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die every day! “
[1 Corinthians 15:31 HCSB]
Not about me
With one of our church Elders, I was discussing God’s call that we die to self. He posited that the main problem that holds us back from the freedom of self-sacrifice is an attitude of self-centeredness. He shared this antidote from the book It’s Not About Me by Max Lucado:
When God looks at the center of the universe, he doesn’t look at you. When heaven’s stagehands direct the spotlight toward the star of the show, I need no sunglasses. No light falls on me.
Lesser orbs, that’s us. Appreciated. Valued. Loved dearly. But central? Essential? Pivotal? Nope. Sorry. Contrary to the Ptolemy within us, the world does not revolve around us. Our comfort is not God’s priority. If it is, something’s gone awry. If we are the marquee event, how do we explain flat-earth challenges like death, disease, slumping economies, or rumbling earthquakes? If God exists to please us, then shouldn’t we always be pleased?
Could a Copernican shift be in order? Perhaps our place is not at the center of the universe. As John Piper writes, “God does not exist to make much of us. We exist to make much of him.” It’s not about you. It’s not about me.
The moon models our role
What does the moon do? She generates no light. Contrary to the lyrics of the song, this harvest moon cannot shine on. Apart from the sun, the moon is nothing more than a pitch-black, pockmarked rock. But properly positioned, the moon beams. Let her do what she was made to do, and a clod of dirt becomes a source of inspiration, yea, verily, romance. The moon reflects the greater light.
And she’s happy to do so! You never hear the moon complaining. She makes no waves about making waves. Let the cow jump over her or astronauts step on her; she never objects. Even though sunning is accepted while mooning is the butt of bad jokes, you won’t hear ol’ Cheeseface grumble. The moon is at peace in her place. And because she is, soft light touches a dark earth.
What would happen if we accepted our place as  Son reflectors?
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May 17, 2018 | For The Edification Of All

 
“What then is the conclusion, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, another language, or an interpretation. All things must be done for edification.“
[1 Corinthians 14:26 HCSB]
Building up all
1 Corinthians 14:26 calls Christians to a life of worship where each one is ready to serve and share. When we come together, each is ready to sacrifice for the edification of all.
I was recently reminded of an excellent example – Don Tabb. As a young partner to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Don was a dynamo of energy. He gave himself tirelessly so the gospel might go forth. As pastor and church planter, Don was vested in the lives of God’s people. He mentored scores of young men, many of whom went on to become brilliant ministers themselves. Don gave whatever was needed for each person in each moment.
I became friends with Don at the Amsterdam 2000 conference, where I was chaplain responsible for 12,000 participants from 210 countries. There were wonderful pastors serving with me, but Don could tell we were stretched thin. Though he was there to teach a seminar, Don pulled me aside and said, “What do you need? Put me anywhere, no matter the hour.” Trusting his sincere zeal and gifting, I asked Don to solve a big problem. One of our task groups had to work very late – from about 11pm to 4 am – to prepare for the next day’s translation duties. Their group was stuck in a hot auditorium with limited interaction. Don, sizing up the situation, took over. He stopped the work, called all 40 of them together, and led a sharing service in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 14:26. Afterwards, they returned to work with new hearts. Productivity shot up and continued for the next two weeks as Don joined them every night at midnight.
Even in his recent death in a boating accident, Don was directing help to his comrade at the moment he was taken under. As he entered eternity with his Savior, Don Tabb was busy edifying, saving, building up the members of God’s church. May you and I go and do the same.
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May 5, 2018 | For The Common Good

 
“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.“
[1 Corinthians 12:7 ESV]
Common Good
God’s spiritual gifts are given for the benefit of the whole church, as the ESV puts it: “for the common good.” Corinth appears to have missed this and gotten all excited about their specialness and how each person could boast about his or her gifts. They thought life revolved around them. That is tragic! But it still occurs.
I recently talked with a pastor whose church attendance has changed dramatically. The church has more members than ever, but the average family is only attending 1.7 times per month. Their old numbers – from 3 years prior – were 2.6 times per month. He said they had done a little digging and discovered a few adjustments are needed to the church ministries. However, the number one reason they could find for the drop was summarized in this statement from one family: “We get all that we need this way [i.e., attending less]. We are so thankful for messages online and other things the church gives, because we just have too many activities to come more often.”
Isn’t that sad? No understanding there that God commands us to not flag in meeting together. No comprehension that church isn’t only about them. That poor family doesn’t even seem to realize that they have been gifted precisely to build up the church – for the common good.
Theologian Craig Blomberg nails the cause and effect:
All of Paul’s emphasis on diversity within unity [and] unity within diversity calls into question the behavior of growing numbers of Americans who…believe in God and even Christ, and yet drop out of church life or at least fade to its periphery. In a land still heavily influenced by a heritage of rugged individualism, believers need to work ever harder to demonstrate that Christianity is not a merely personal religion but fundamentally corporate. Even evangelical language for conversion betrays this bias: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” That is the necessary starting point, but we dare not stop until that relationship leads to intimate interpersonal relationships with other Christians. – Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians
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April 26, 2018 | Cliques

 
“For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.”
[1 Corinthians 11:18 HCSB]
Cliques
In Corinth, their agape feast (what we might call communion) was being poisoned by castes. Throughout his correspondence with Corinth, Paul blasts their penchant for separation as a destructive tendency. Seeing that, we can only sigh and think, “Thank goodness we never struggle with that today!”
But of course we do. As Librarian Emeritus of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin noted way back in 1993:
The menace to America today is the emphasis on what separates us rather than what brings us together…the notion of a hyphenated American is un-American…It’s time that we reaffirmed the fact that what has built our country is community and that community is [solely] dependent on the willingness of people to build together.
In my home country, racial divisiveness receives the most press. Yet the solution for racial disharmony is profoundly simple – the intervention of Jesus. It’s the same answer for all castes, cliques, and conflicts. Church deacon Darrell B. Harrison (who happens to be black) details it perfectly:
Christ came into the world to save sinners, not society (Matt. 1:21; 1 Tim. 1:15). The problem of racial reconciliation is rooted in our inherent enmity with God, not our inherent ethnicity. In other words, it is what is on the inside of us that is the issue, not what is on the outside of us.
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April 19, 2018 | God’s Way

The Way

It is telling that in the first century possibly the most popular name for Christianity was “The Way.” Early believers in Jesus recognized that they were being blessed not only with justified eternal life; they were also granted the opportunity to follow Jesus in everything here and now. It was this radical commitment to the joy of Christ-likeness that changed individuals, communities, and human history.

The epistle from Paul that we call 1 Corinthians deals with some aspects of God’s way that have proven thorny for the inveterately rebellious human flesh. Yet we must not shy away because we want to do everything our own way. If we will study these texts and submit to them, we have opportunity to continue to see transformation in ourselves and the world.

As Dr. Michael J. Svigel of Dallas Theological Seminary recently summarized:

As an American, I have every right to set any doctrinal and moral standards I like. But as a Christian, I have a responsibility to submit to the doctrinal and moral standards revealed by God through the apostles and prophets—whether I like it or not.

If you wish to aid your study with my notes on the last section of 1 Corinthians, you can access them through this link.

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April 5, 2018 | Full Resurrection

Full Resurrection

 
“For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
[1 Corinthians 15:3-4 HCSB]
Amazing
This weekend past, I was blessed beyond measure. I studied scripture with large crowds of people, played games with passels of wonderful kids, sang amazing songs of truth beautifully led by gifted friends, witnessed nine moving baptisms, and got to be a small part of twenty people trusting Jesus as Savior. Wow. Hashtag blessed indeed.
One of those new Christians – a young man – told me after a service, “That information you shared about how Jesus’ resurrection differs from other ancient legends was what I needed. That made the difference for me.” In case it can be useful for you, friends, I include it below.
Full resurrection life
Jesus rose from the dead according to the scriptures. And this is not same as or even similar to any other mythical story about resurrection. Look at the contrast:
Mythical resurrections
  • Pieced together after dismemberment or decay
  • Not fully alive [either alive only part of the year like Persephone or in a zombie-like state like Osiris]
  • Released by death’s power; even with another power added, Hades always must give permission
Jesus’ resurrection
  • Whole physical body
  • Completely alive in perfection
  • Conquered death’s power
There were “resurrection” stories in the ancient world. But none of them were like what witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection describe. The others were considered mystical, legendary, or promissory. But no one – and I mean no one – really believed Baal rose in a physical, perfect way. No one believed that of Osiris…or Heracles…or Dionysius…or Mithras.
At best, these gods and heroes were considered less than fully alive. They were in a sort of half-life. And it was always Hades that sent them back. Death was never conquered by resurrection. Oh no! Death was still very much in charge. In fact, they were released by Hades’ own power. That’s why the Greek thinker and writer Aeschylus declared in the 5th c. B.C. that “No one has come back to full life from the dead and no one can.” It’s telling that this was not considered blasphemous in Athens.
Dr. N.T. Wright summarizes well: “We are forced to conclude that when the early Christians said that Jesus had been raised from the dead…they were using the language in its normal sense. That which Aeschylus said couldn’t happen to anyone…had happened to Jesus, all by himself. That was what they [the early Christians] intended to say.” – N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God
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