Advent Reflections II: Immanuel

Last week I posted my reflection on the genealogy of Jesus.  The next day I posted a reflection on the Kingdom of God.  This post merges the two.  I unintentionally, but conveniently now for me, forgot to mention the importance of Jesus being called “Immanuel.”

Again, the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth would be highly suspect.  His mother is a betrothed teenager who all of a sudden is now pregnant, which would have been a major sin that would have not only reflected poorly on her but also on her family and her husband-to-be, Joseph.  After listing Jesus’ genealogy, Matthew writes:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way.  While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately.  When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”  When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord told him.  He took his wife, but did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus. – (Matthew 1:18–25 NET)

Imagine being Joseph–your betrothed tells you, “I’m pregnant but it’s by the Holy Spirit.”  Yeah right.  I think Matthew’s words are an understatement, “Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”  What amazing resolve and strength.  It’s also amazing that their betrothal, which wasn’t even quite engagement from what I understand, was as binding as marriage using our understanding of divorce.  Joseph and Mary aren’t the focus, thought they’re important; the focus is Jesus.

Each of the New Testament writers use the Old Testament differently (this is something I’d love to investigate more) and Matthew commonly reinterpreted passages in light of Jesus.  This is his first example.  He quotes the prophet Isaiah to show Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecy made to king Ahaz nearly 800 years earlier (It’s always a good idea to go read the context of whatever passage is quoted to try to get an idea of how the author is using those words to support his position).  Here Matthew is quoting Isaiah 7:14 as we divide it.  However, the richness of the statement is lost if we don’t know Isaiah 7 (actually Isaiah 1-7 but we’ll limit it to chapter 7 because its significance still comes through).  When Isaiah gave these words to Ahaz it was in the midst of great turmoil for the king.  Two of his closest-proximity enemies have become allies and Ahaz is scared.  The Lord tells Isaiah to encourage Ahaz and that he can ask for any sign to prove that what God has said will come true.  Ahaz lacks the faith to even take God up on this offer so he acts humble and spiritual and says he won’t test God.  Therefore God says, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.”

The Immanuel that is born shortly thereafter is a sign to king Ahaz that his enemies are defeated.  Within two years of Immanuel’s birth, Syria and Israel will be judged and humbled.  So Immanuel is a sign that God does not dwell with the strong and work on behalf of the faith-filled only.  He comes to us when we need him the most.  Ahaz is essentially faithless (“If your faith does not remain firm, then you will not remain secure.” (Isaiah 7:9b)) yet the Lord still acts on behalf of the people; the King (Hebrew adonai, “sovereign” or “sovereign master”) defends his people.

Going back to this prophetic word being fulfilled in Jesus, our view of this time is often so colored by Christmas cards.  We send cards to one another with just this verse printed on it and a serene image of nighttime or the “holy family” or something abstract with a star and different colors.  I think these cards are supposed to elicit an “Awww, how nice” response.  But it’s not!  IT’S FREAKING AWESOME!!  God has broken in.  He is among his people.  This has been the desire from the very beginning of creation.  He tried it with Israel in the Tabernacle/Temple and now he has done it in the person of Jesus.

Lastly, I’ve been thinking a lot about something that has confused me for some time.  It’s in the angel’s words to Joseph and Matthew’s interpretation of it, “‘She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’  This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: ‘Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,’ which means ‘God with us.'”  Shouldn’t his name be Immanuel?  Even the name Jesus isn’t all that special; it is to us because we’ve anglicized it but it was a common name, Yeshua or Joshua.  The name means “the Lord saves.”

Putting it all together, the Lord will save the people from their sins by becoming one of us.  He will come in the midst of our enemies surrounding us.  Our enemies are not the Romans or capitulating Israelites or the Hellenistic culture; they’re not Communists or those who oppose Christianity or whoever we believe is the antithesis of us.  It’s sin, Satan, and death.  They have been defeated.

God is with us.  He wants to be with us.  His dwelling place is individuals and the gathering of his Church.  This shouldn’t make us want to be holy so he can dwell with us.  We should want to be holy because he is with us.

Kingdom Reflections I: The Kingdom is at Hand

My good friend, who has also been one of my mentors, loves to remind himself and others that, “We talk about most what we love the most.”  He takes Jesus’ words seriously that, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” (Matthew 12:34).  If I love money, I’ll talk about money the most.  If I love my favorite sport/sports team, I’ll take about that the most.  Same applies to ministry, career, spouse, kids, etc.

Jesus was the same way.  What was foremost on his heart was the Kingdom of God/heaven (Matthew uses Kingdom of Heaven instead of God because of his Jewish audience and care not to take the Lord’s name in vain.  I’ll just use Kingdom or Kingdom of God going forward but know they’re the same thing.).  We know this because he talked about the Kingdom of God more than anything else.  In fact it is the first thing he taught about as Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels) record.  What Jesus cares about the most should be the thing we care about most if we want to be his disciples.  As Dallas Willard says, “If Jesus is the most intelligent person who ever lived, then follow him.  If Warren Buffett is the most intelligent person who ever lived, then follow him.”  So for a minute, let’s say I believe Warren Buffet is the most intelligent person who ever lived.  I would read everything about him or that he writes–interviews, articles, and books, and I would find out how he lives his life–what does he eat, how does he budget his money, how much sleep does he get, how does he spend his time, what does he think about the things I’m interested in, should I have a hobby, etc.  That may seem ridiculous to us, and it is in large part because we don’t bend our lives around a mission.  If we are to be disciples of Jesus we need to take this approach–what did Jesus do?  I’ll do it too.

As I said, the Kingdom of God was the first thing Jesus taught about.  In each of the Synoptics this is the first thing Jesus talks about after his temptation in the wilderness.  This is significant because he resisted the temptations of Satan.  Jesus can now proclaim the Kingdom because he is the representative of the Kingdom.  Those temptations are a conflict of the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world.  Which is more appealing, to obey our physical appetites at any cost or to obey God’s word?  Which is more appealing, the applause of humans or the applause from God?  Which is more appealing, power and ambition or a unity of heart that worships God alone?

Matthew records Jesus saying, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 4:17 ESV).  Mark records them as, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15 ESV).  Luke does not use a sentence but instead a scene in the synagogue in Nazareth where he reads from Isaiah 61 and tells the listeners, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (4:21).  The people clap and talk about how wonderful that message was from the pastor and he really has a gift and his daddy must be so proud of him.  Jesus knows they don’t get what the implications are so he tells them about how God is for the Gentiles too.  Suddenly this carpenter’s son is a real loon and needs to die (Luke 4:16-30).  John’s introduction of the Kingdom is through Jesus’ late night conversation with Nicodemus (3:1-15).  Jesus tells Nicodemus the Kingdom is not about how much a person knows or his or her ethnic origin but about being born from above (the Greek word anothen can be translated “born again” or “born from above” (John loves using double entendre).  American Evangelicalism has so reduced what “born again” means that I think “born from above” is preferable and shows the emphasis on the Kingdom of God).

I don’t have the time or space to look at the nuances of each Gospel writer so instead I’ll focus on their singularity of message: The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Much ink has been spilled over what Jesus means when he says it is “at hand.”  Some translations will use “near,” which doesn’t clarify the matter.  Here’s one thing I’m realizing about how our Lord loves to communicate–there are multiple layers to most of what he says.  That doesn’t mean hidden meanings or that the plain reading is incorrect but that the more we dwell on what and how he says something, the layers start being revealed.  The same is true with the Kingdom being at hand; it has to do with time and location.  Matthew especially shows this because he talks about John the Baptizer announcing that the Kingdom of God is at hand and then Jesus shows up to be baptized (Matthew 3).  The location of the Kingdom is the person of Jesus; he is the Kingdom bringer.  Jesus’ arrival allows the Kingdom of God to break in a powerful way.  The Kingdom is not limited to Jesus but it is inseparable from him.  Later Jesus says some will not die until the Kingdom has come (Luke 9:23-27).  That cannot still be a future event even from our perspective.  As George E. Ladd has famously said, “The Kingdom is already but not yet.”  The Kingdom of God is already here but it is not yet here in its fullest.  The Prophets and Revelation show us what it will look like when the Kingdom of God is here in its fullness.

In the meantime we need to pray for the Kingdom to break in all around us, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”  We need to dream about what the Kingdom would look like in our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, churches, etc.  Some have lamented that we can do church without Jesus.  The good news is that we cannot do the Kingdom without Jesus.  We need Kingdom conferences, sermon series, books, songs, prayers, and disciples.  We need to immerse our hearts, minds, souls, and strength/resources into the Kingdom.  We cannot be Kingdom bringers but we can be Kingdom seekers.  Let’s seek the Kingdom!

Advent Reflections I: The Toledot of Jesus the Messiah

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, which is important for followers of Jesus to remember that our God and King became a man to show us who God is, what his Kingdom is like, what humanity at its best looks like, and to defeat sin, Satan, and death.  For most modern readers, myself very much included, we often skim or entirely skip the genealogy sections of the Bible.  Matthew and Luke are the only two who include Jesus’ genealogy and they are different for their intended purpose.  I want to focus on Matthew’s genealogy and show its importance for the good news of Jesus the Messiah as told by Matthew and for our lives.

Matthew wrote for a Jewish audience; whether it was to show the Jewish people that Jesus is their long-awaited Messiah or help Jewish Christians grow in their faith is uncertain.  Matthew is broken up into five sections echoing the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  His first line is, “The book of the genealogy [toledot] of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1 ESV).  In Genesis there is the repeated phrase, “This is the generation [toledot] of…”  One thing about the Bible is that it never hides the blemishes of even the most faithful people.  The one exception is Jesus but only because there are no blemishes to hide.  His genealogy, however, is less than stellar as we’ll see.

First Matthew calls Jesus the son of David and son of Abraham.  Obviously Matthew does not mean that he is one generation removed from these two men or that he has two fathers.  He is showing two things: 1) Jesus is a direct descendant of these two men and 2) to be the “the son of…” means to be the epitome of the person or character trait.  For example Joseph the Levite was such an encourager of others he earned the nickname Barnabas, “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36).  Negatively, someone could be called “son of laziness” meaning if someone didn’t know what it meant to be lazy he/she only needed to look at that particular person.  Just like today we might tell someone, “If I looked up ______ in the dictionary, I’d see your picture next to that word.”  So Matthew is saying Jesus is the fulfillment of what God promised Abraham and David about their descendants.  The Lord gave a number of promises to Abraham about his offspring, which are all fulfilled in Jesus (look for them in Genesis 12 and on).  To David the promise is having a son to sit on the throne as king of Israel for all eternity (2Samuel 7).  This, for the first-century Jew would have been excitement about the fulfillment of these promises and a sigh of relief that their enemies will finally be defeated.  As the Gospel unfolds, we see who the real enemy is and how it will be defeated.

Next Matthew lists the people.  Whenever reading a genealogy, pay attention to the divergent people.  Who does the author spend more time on or give more detail than the others?  In this case it is four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and “the wife of Uriah.”  Each one would normally be a blemish on a genealogy but it is a reason for adoration of Jesus.  Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah who had to trick him into sleeping with her because he did not fulfill his promise.  This resulted in a pregnancy and perpetuated Judah’s descendants (Genesis 38).  Rahab is most likely the Jericho prostitute who hid the Israelite spies as they came to spy on the city before Israel entered the Promised Land (Joshua 2).  God rewarded her faith by folding her into the line of the Messiah.  Next is Ruth the Moabite who followed her mother-in-law Naomi back to Israel to worship the Lord even though they both lost everything (Ruth).  What’s miraculous about this is that the Lord had said, “No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever,” (Deuteronomy 23:3 ESV).  Once again mercy triumphs over justice; not only did she enter the assembly of the Lord, she’s an ancestor of the Messiah.  Finally there is “the wife of Uriah” who is Bathsheba (2Samuel 11).  It is interesting that Matthew does not name her.  Is it because this was too embarrassing for him to write her name?  Regardless, the line is not perfect and even in the Messiah’s genealogy we see the nations, or Gentiles, being grafted in to God’s Kingdom and plan for creation.

After this Matthew says there are three sets of 14.  Matthew knows it is not exactly 14 between each major section, rather it reinforces Jesus as the son of Abraham and son of David.  The third section, from the deportation to Babylon to the birth of Messiah, is unfinished.  Jesus is the end of the greatest exile–our exile from the presence of God, which stretches all the way back to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 and has been impeding humans from peace ever since until one repents and enters the Kingdom of God.

Finally, we have the whole business of Mary and Joseph and this child out of wedlock.  This is just one example where the Lord shows how little he cares for cultural norms and mores.  He knows rumors will spread about Mary but he knows, and he lets Joseph know, Mary has kept herself pure for her husband.  This is something that stays with Jesus his whole life.  Later, in one of his many debates with the Pharisees, Jesus is telling them who is Father is, “’You are doing the works your father did.’  They said to him, ‘We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.’  Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me'” (John 8:41–42 ESV).  This is a not-so-subtle dig at the suspicions around his birth, which apparently followed him throughout his life.

This Advent, may we see that Jesus is the “everyman.”  Are there great expectations placed on you because of your family?  Jesus had those too.  Does your family have a shady past (or present)?  Jesus did too.  Are there suspicions around your birth, real or not?  Jesus went through that too.  Jesus is the King of the Jews but not the King of the Jews only.  May we eagerly await the full coming of the Kingdom as the Jews awaited their Messiah.

I am Miley Cyrus. I am Tiger Woods.

Remember this commercial:

I wonder if Nike wants that one back?  There’s more truth there than they realized.

Miley Cyrus caused quite a stir at the 2013 VMA’s with her explicit actions.  The responses were typical for moments like these: “I’ll never let me kids have anything to do with Miley Cyrus again.” “Miley’s gone crazy.” “This is what Disney does to child stars.” etc., etc., etc.  It’s easy to point the finger at Miley and everyone else who contributed, by commission or omission, to Sunday night.

What do we do when we see things like what happened recently?  I think Paul’s words to his son-in-the-faith, Timothy, need to be appropriated as our own:

I am grateful to the one who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me faithful in putting me into ministry, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I was treated with mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief, and our Lord’s grace was abundant, bringing faith and love in Christ Jesus. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”–and I am the worst of them! [emphasis added] But here is why I was treated with mercy: so that in me as the worst, Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost patience, as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life. Now to the eternal king, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen. – (1 Timothy 1:12–17 NET)

In other words, I am Miley Cyrus.  I am Tiger Woods.  Not in talent but in the capacity for what is undesirable.  However, there is great tension here: Paul says he was “formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor, and an arrogant man” (past tense) and also “I am the worst of [sinners]!” (present tense).  This is the great tension of the gospel that frees us from judging others and ourselves!  I am no longer the way I used to be because I am a new creation but this old creation is still hanging around.

If we think or say, “I’d never do what Miley did!” we’re deceiving ourselves.  If we read Genesis 3 and think we would’ve responded to the serpent differently, we’re deceiving ourselves.  Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, which I’ll quote at length:

Therefore you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge someone else. For on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth against those who practice such things. And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! He will reward each one according to his works: eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness. There will be affliction and distress on everyone who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. For whenever the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend them,on the day when God will judge the secrets of human hearts, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus. – (Romans 2:1–16 NET)

This is in the midst of showing the very desperate state of humanity.  There are two equal and opposite errors when responding to sin.  One is to do the above and stand in judgment over others.  The other is to say, “No big deal, everyone sins/makes mistakes/does things they regret, so as long as you’re happy you should do what you want.”

Sin is a big deal.  Sin cost Jesus his life.  However, we need to see our own sin before seeing others’ sin.  Would I, as a nearly-33-year-old husband of 10 years and father of 3, do what Miley or Tiger did?  I hope not.  Would I, if I grew up in the same circumstances as each of them, do what they did?  Absolutely!  We must be honest with ourselves that there are sins we don’t commit not because of resistance but because we’ve never been given the opportunity.

As I understand the Scriptures, the message of God establishing his kingdom and rescuing his creation from sin, we cannot condone actions like Sunday night, and countless news stories report, but we also cannot condemn those who commit them.  The gospel frees us from seeing others’ sins as worse than our own.  I did nothing to choose the good family I was born into.  I did nothing to see my need for Jesus at age 16.  The sins I have committed since then are far worse than before that time.

I am Miley Cyrus and Tiger Woods.  The grace of God alone has made me a new creation in Christ.  Our joy and privilege is to pray for those who are looking to anyone or anything other than Jesus to save them.  A final thought from the apostle Paul,

But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.” – (Titus 3:4–7 NET)

IMMW: Of Rulers and Priests

To channel my inner Dwight Schrute, here’s a riddle: A king and priest walk into a restaurant and the host says, “Table for one?”  How is this possible?!

Answer: They’re the same person!

A thought that has been niggling at me for a number of years now, and even more since reading NT Wright’s After You Believe, is Why does growth in Christlikeness matter?  I’ve known character matters for as long as I remember thanks to my parents.  Is the answer as simple as, It gives us credibility to share our faith with non-Christians?  The common retort I’ve heard from nominal Christians or non-Christians is, “People from other religions are more moral than Christians I know.”  Could there be something else?  I think so.

First let’s go back to the beginning because that’s always the best place to go when investigating something especially a theme in the Scriptures.  Genesis 1-2 say a lot about God and creation; it is imperative we ask the correct questions and make sure we allow these chapters to say what they’re trying to say and not make them say what they’re not intended to say.  The imagery of Genesis 1 is one of a king on his throne making decrees,  “Let the(re be)…and it was.”  What a place of peace: the good king speaks and it happens.  The capstone of creation is humanity:

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.”  So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. God blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth.” Then God said, “Here! Throughout the whole earth I am giving you as food every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant.” And that is how it was. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day. (Genesis 1:26–31 CJB)

Two main distinctions are made about humanity that is not said of the rest of creation: 1) only humanity bears God’s image and likeness and 2) only humanity is given the charge to reproduce (everything else is supposed to but without intentionality) and rule.  There is a lot to deal with here and many good books have been written on this.  I’m going to limit us looking at two words: “image” and “likeness.”  The word for “image” represents the statues kings would place throughout their realm to remind the people who ruled the land.  So part of humanity’s role is to remind the rest of creation that YHWH rules the land.  The word for “likeness” was used only for kings during this time.  So only of the king would it be said that he bore the likeness of the gods.  God is saying all of humanity, male and female, bears his likeness.

God made humanity to be rulers; his vice-regents.  However, it’s his kingdom we are exercising authority in so we need to rule his way.  He is the King of kings and Lord of lords–these are superlatives stating that every king and lord is under his lordship.  He gives a realm to each person to exercise authority.

The other picture of creation from Genesis 2 portrays the other role of humanity:

ADONAI, God, took the person and put him in the garden of ‘Eden to cultivate and care for it. ADONAI, God, gave the person this order: “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die” (Genesis 2:15–17 CJB).

The two main words here are “cultivate” and “care.”  These words reveal the priestly role of humanity; when the Lord establishes his priests he says, “They are to carry out [care for] his duties and the duties of the whole community before the tent of meeting in performing the service of [cultivate] the tabernacle. They are to be in charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and to carry out [care for] all the duties of the people of Isra’el connected with the service [cultivate] of the tabernacle” (Numbers 3:7–8 CJB).  Humans are inherently priests, mediating between two parties.  Our original design was to represent God to the rest of creation and represent creation before God, that’s what a priest does.

Before quickly dismissing the dual role as something that was intended before the Fall but lost as a result of it, let’s consider a few key verses.  As the Lord is establishing Israel as his people he says, “’And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites” (Exodus 19:5–6 NET).  The two expressions I underlined should stand out to us.  A whole kingdom cannot be made of priests and a whole nation cannot be holy (“special,” “set apart,” “uncommon”).  Priests have a specific role, kings have a specific role, the commoners have a specific role.  They are all being merged together to describe the nation of Israel as a whole.

The next key moment is in 2Samuel 6 when David brings the ark of the Lord back to Jerusalem.  David is the king of Israel and he assumes for himself a priestly role by leading the procession into the city and performing sacrifices and offerings.  David foreshadows Jesus who is himself a priest in the order of Melchizedek (who makes this one appearance to Abraham).  Jesus is the king-priest par excellence, who is the perfect model of a person.

If we’re tempted to limit this dual role to Melchizedek, Israel, David, and/or Jesus, then consider 1Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 NET).  Peter uses the same terms from Exodus to describe all Christians.

The final two verses I’ll appeal to are from the final state, “and has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! Amen. You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 1:6; 5:10 NET).

So, our original design was to be ruler-priests, the Lord tried re-establishing that through Israel, the truest foreshadow of Jesus exercised this, God incarnate is the supreme Ruler-Priest, those in the Messiah are described this way, and, finally, this is the ultimate goal for the in-the-Messiah people.  Why does character matter?  We are preparing for ruling with God for all eternity and being priests.  We need practice.  This is why character matters.

We each have a realm that needs to be brought into God’s kingdom.  We each need to represent our Lord’s kingdom and his character to others (both within and without the Kingdom) and represent them before our Lord.  This reality is settling upon me in a heavy way and has totally changed how I read the Scriptures, pray, and interact with others.  I’m still learning this and I plan on developing more posts around this idea.

You are altogether beautiful, my love–10th Anniversary post for my wife

I’ve mentioned before that I was involved with The Navigators while in college.  In April of my freshman year I was going to the student leader meeting when I was surprised to hear two women talking down the hallway.  One voice I recognized because it was Lisa’s, the wife of the guy who had been discipling me since the beginning of the school year, Nate, but the other I did not.  Nate was in his office so I said hi and continued down the hall.  I turned the corner and saw the stunning young woman Lisa was talking to; who was this?!  I didn’t want to interrupt so I busied myself with something else until the meeting started while casually looking up to see if this young woman noticed me.  When Nate introduced this young woman as his sister, Carrie, my heart started racing.  Over the next two years we would see each other when she came to visit her brother and sister-in-law or when I was in Cincinnati; never intentionally it was always unplanned, “coincidence” you might say.

In the summer of 2001 I was in Colorado Springs doing a Summer Training Program with the Navigators.  During that summer I purchased and read a copy of Jerry Bridges’ The Joy of Fearing God.  In the introduction he quoted Proverbs 31:30, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (ESV).  That summer I started praying more diligently for my future wife and this verse was one of the things I asked for, along with a handful of other things.  I don’t want this to sound like dating and marriage is like going to the grocery store, it’s not.  I had a list because I knew marriage is such a joyful and serious thing. As C.S. Lewis writes in The Last Battle, “There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious.  It is too good to waste on jokes.”  I did not want to waste my own or someone else’s time and I wanted to know when the Lord was answering this prayer for me.

When I went back to school that fall, Carrie was a freshman and I was intentional to spend as much time around her as I could; could she be the Lord’s answer to my prayer?!  One day a group of us were hanging out in her dorm room and I noticed different verses she and one of her roommates put up around the room.  One of them was Proverbs 31:30.  As soon as I saw it my heart started racing; she has that effect on me.  I casually asked, “Who put the verses up around the room?”  Carrie answered, “Katie and I did it.”  Dang it!  No further insight.  In retrospect I should have followed up with who did what because I knew they were the ones who put those up.  I found out later Carrie did put Proverbs 31:30 above her dresser.

Over the next several weeks I saw she possessed each of the items on my list (in addition to her desire to be a Proverbs 31:30 woman) and my interest in and affections for her only grew until one day I let her know.  I was shocked to find out she felt the same way so we asked the Lord if this was his desire for us.  After a few days of praying about this we thought this was something the Lord was orchestrating so we committed our relationship to him in October 2001.

In August 2002 we were engaged and decided on June 21st, 2003 as our wedding date.  We planned on an outdoor wedding but the weather didn’t cooperate so we had the ceremony where our reception was going to be.  As I look back on it now, that really should have been a portent for our life together.  I still remember seeing her as she came around the corner–my heart jumped up into my throat and my eyes filled with tears as I saw the woman I had fallen in love with before me as the very picture of purity and grace.  As with all married couples on their wedding day, it was a blur.  I’ve seen video and pictures and there is eyewitness testimony and I have memories to know it happened but it’s all patchwork.

As beautiful as Carrie was that day, and she was ravishing!, that’s not the most beautiful she’s ever been.  Today is.  Then it will be tomorrow, then the day after, and the day after, etc.  Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting if they’re superficial.  My wife is the most authentic person I know and it comes from a deep, healthy, reverent fear of the Lord–knowing she is loved perfectly by him and reflecting that on to others.  That’s why she only grows more beautiful and charming with each passing day and year.  She still blushes when I tell her she’s beautiful; she’s so unassuming.

These words from the Wisdom literature of the Scriptures resound within all that I am when I think of Carrie:

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.

You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.  – (Song 4:7–11 ESV)

Our marriage has been anything but a magic carpet ride.  The Lord has given us three beautiful, healthy sons.  We’ve also endured two miscarriages in the last 13 months.  It’s always been lean financially, some years leaner than others.  However, we’ve seen very generous provision at just the right times.  We’ve made two big moves and essentially have had to start over with finding new friends.  She’s with me every step of the way in starting a church.  There is no one else I would rather to go through any of this with than her.  The highs are higher and the lows aren’t as low.  She has only grown in her fear of the Lord through this whole time.  She enriches the lives of those she comes into contact with, yet she requires no fanfare.  She is better than the best partner I could have ever imagined.

Happy 10th Anniversary Carrie.  You are altogether beautiful, my love and I love you.

ETB: Study. Do. Teach. The Ezra Model.

My older brother-in-law was the first person with whom I was in an intentional discipleship relationship.  He has an incredible love for God’s Word that he passed along to me not by demanding that I read the Bible everyday but by showing me a life permeated by the Scriptures.  I still remember how one year Ezra 7:10 was the theme verse for him, which reads, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”  That verse struck me and has stuck with me for quite some time.

I suppose I have a bit of an entrepreneurial bent to me so I have a hard time sticking with things for the long-haul; I just get to the point where I want a new challenge.  The same is true regarding ministry and different topics I’ve studied.  I posted here about some recent areas of repentance but, again, this is one of those areas.  I believe this verse stood out to me because it’s a model I need to follow, The Ezra Model.  There are six main words, three verbs (study, do, teach) and three objects (Law of the Lord, statutes, rules).  I’m going to look at 3 things: 1) the context of the passage, 2) what these words mean, and 3) the principle of this model.

1) Context

What’s the context of the book of Ezra in general and this passage in particular?  Ezra is one of the post-exilic books of the Tanak.  He was a contemporary of Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah; if you read or study any of these books it is really helpful to be familiar with the other three.  After the 70 year Exile in Babylon, the Lord moved king Cyrus’ heart to send the Israelites back to their homeland.  The first six chapters are history; Ezra isn’t even introduced until 7:1 and here is how he’s introduced:

Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest— this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him. – (Ezra 7:1–6 ESV)

The first thing from this is that Ezra was a priest and there is no question about his heritage.  This is important to the book Ezra-Nehemiah (these were originally one book) on the whole but I won’t tell you why; read it for yourself!  Ezra is a priest with a pure lineage.  He is also called a “skilled scribe.”  This description is only used a few times in the Scriptures; basically it means he could write quickly because he was so familiar with what the Scriptures said.  As Ezra is beginning the important journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, this is the first time we see that “the hand of the LORD his God was on him.”  So, that’s the context.

2) What These Words Mean

Next there are the important words.  Before looking at those words, we see that “Ezra had set (hekhin) his heart…”  This carries the idea of preparing something.  So Ezra prepared his heart. The heart in the Hebrew culture is not just the seat of emotions like Westerners think and talk about the “heart,” rather it’s the center of a person, the whole of his/her inner life.  To divide the heart and the mind from a biblical view is totally foreign.  To have a divided heart is incongruent to faithfulness to the Lord.  Ezra’s approach to the Law, its statutes, and rules was they were something that needed a home, a dwelling, which is what the nominal form of hekhin (makhon) means.  God’s words are not meant to just exist in some ethereal realm but in our hearts, which Ezra understood.

The author (perhaps it’s Ezra) says that Ezra set his heart “to study,” which is a translation of the Hebrew word derosh (infinitive of darash).  What’s interesting is that most English translations I consulted have this word as “study” except two, which translate it as “seek.”  When darash occurs in other places it’s often translated as “seek.”  The object of darash is often the Lord in order to be faithful to him or to receive an answer to some question or issue.  This is key because the study Ezra engaged in was not some academic pursuit or preparation for an exam.  If we think of what he did in terms of seeking, it’s not because the Law was lost.  His study was wanting to know the Law inside and out the way an art expert studies a piece of art. He sought the Law as a way of inquiring of the Lord how he should live.  Ezra saw an inseparable connection between the Lord and his Law.  Too often we can separate the two, which is something I’ve been guilty of doing.

The Law of the Lord is the next important word in the passage and the first of the three objects.  The Law (torah) often stands for what was revealed to Moses and we have in the first five books–Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  This is the foundational 5-volume document for the nation of Israel and how she was to relate to the Lord, one another, and outsiders.  This is enough about torah for now until looking at what “statutes” and “rules” mean.

The next verb is “do” (‘asah).  This is pretty self-explanatory–Ezra did what he studied.  This is further evidence that Ezra’s study of torah was not simply academic pursuit, he intended to have it influence his life.  More on this in part three.

The third and final verb is “teach” (lamad).  Like “doing,” “teaching” is pretty self-explanatory.  What did Ezra teach?  The “statutes and rules,” which we still need to get to, but here may be a helpful insight to this word, “The covenant nature of Deut[eronomy] and the meditative-cultic orientation of Psalms suggest that [lamad] pertains mainly to learning and instruction in the realm of the divine-human relationship and the manner of life expected to issue from that relationship.” (from lamad, limmed, talmid in NIDOTTE, 2:794).  Ezra was skilled at teaching the people who God is and how to relate to him.  The relationship of “do” and “teach” is vital.  These cannot be separated.  I remember hearing a sermon where one of the commands from the pulpit was for people to memorize Scripture, which is a great practice.  However, those who heard were set up for failure and/or frustration because the preacher quickly followed that up with, “I don’t do this but it’s a good practice so you should do it.”  That’s not The Ezra Model.  I’m curious to know who remembers hearing that and to follow up with seeing who actually tried this and who is still doing it because of this particular statement.  I’m not trying to be critical of this person because I’ve done this far too many times as well, this just stuck with me for some reason.

The subject of Ezra’s teaching was the “statutes and rules.”  What’s interesting is how often the Hebrew words behind these two, choq and mishpat respectively, are used interchangeably with torah.  There are nine places where all three occur in the same verse.  Of those, three other verses use choq and mishpat as a way to qualify what torah is.  “Rules” is a bit of a misleading translation because it sounds like something a teacher covers at the beginning of the school year, i.e. classroom rules.  The Complete Jewish Bible translates the words as “laws and rulings,” which are much closer to communicating the meaning of the Hebrew words.  Choq has to do with established order–boundaries for bodies of water, seasons, rain, the establishment of stars and planets, how to divide spoils of war, etc.  Also for worship–how to celebrate offerings and holidays and how much the priests are supposed to receive out of that.  Mishpat gives the judges and leaders of the cities and nation insight in how to rule in judicial matters.  These words also have to do with commands that make sense, because it’s good for a community like “do not murder,” and those that don’t like tying four tassels on your cloak (Deut 22:12).

All of this makes sense in its context–the people are returning to the land God gave on a promise to Abraham and, considering why they were gone, it is imperative they know how to live the way God intended.  Ezra knew he had an important role in re-establishing Israel’s fidelity to their God.

3) The Principle of This Model

There are two principles to draw from The Ezra Model: how to approach God’s word and how to do what God is calling you to do.

There are two equal and opposite errors when approaching the Scriptures–merely academic or merely pragmatic.  If it’s just academic, we know the structure of “Ezra” the book, we know the context, we know the differing views on the difficult passages, we can accurately parse out verbs, and we could teach a class on Ezra.  If it’s just pragmatic, we want to know what it means to be like Ezra in our day and location, or what principles to apply to our life, or what needs rebuilding, etc.

We can look at each of these and see that they’re important but much more so when held together.  When we prayerfully “set [our] heart” we hear what God’s saying to Ezra and the post-exile people and then we can hear what he’s saying to us in our situation.  If we only hold one side (study) or the other (do) then we are like rocks in a river bed–the outside gets wet and over many, many years it is smoothed over but on the inside it’s as dry as a bone.  If we hold both together we become like sponges–the water permeates every part of us.

During this time there were six key figures: two priests (Ezra and Joshua), two politicians (Nehemiah and Zerubbabel), and two prophets (Haggai and Zechariah).  Each had a role to play and what needed to happen would not have if each did not fulfill his role.  If you’ve committed to being a disciple of Jesus, there is something God is calling you to do.  What is he already blessing in your life?  What are you passionate about?

IMMW: Rated R: R@#$*!t

Reading church history shows us that we are always on a pendulum swinging back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, etc.  A false teaching of some sort, e.g. the Arian heresy, leads the church to emphasize the conflicting truth (in this case the eternal deity of Jesus) so that after a while a new misbelief or false belief arises (e.g., Docetism).  Then the church goes back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.  Holding simultaneously the full humanity and full divinity of Jesus will be a constant struggle until Jesus returns.  On this matter I believe we are swinging from the deity to the humanity side.  In 5-10 years we’ll be going back the other way.

One area that’s gone much slower is around the words “repent” and “repentance.”  They’re forbidden words in many areas and if not, then they’re largely misunderstood.  I don’t have empirical evidence to back that up, only anecdotal and personal. I’ll just share my personal experience.

My first understanding of repentance was really just confession.  A brief distinction between confession and repentance–confession is admitting the truth, e.g. (this is a silly example) admitting blue is the best color for a car, repentance requires a true change, e.g. selling my red car and buying a blue one or paying to have it repainted (that’s true re-paint-ance, sorry it was too easy); there’s a true cost to repentance.  My confession was the purge method–”God, forgive me for swearing, getting so angry with so-and-so, lusting, not honoring my parents, disrespecting teachers (because I was in high school at the time), speeding…” and whatever else I could remember.  The last thing I wanted was to perhaps die with unconfessed/unrepentant (because it was the same thing) sin and risk going to Hell for all eternity.

Then I was told I didn’t need to worry about that because Jesus’ death paid for all of those sins.  This led me to abstinence; as in abstaining from confession let alone repentance.  This works brilliantly for a prideful, self-righteous individual because I wasn’t all that bad anyway and it was really hard work thinking of what I did wrong when I was far superior to those around me. I am being facetious but this does show why pride is so destructive. I would make brief forays back into the purging realm when I would read biographies of heroes in the faith and how God worked through them.  These people often knew how much they’d been forgiven.  I wanted God to work through me so I thought self-flagellation was the way to go; confession = beating oneself up.  Or when I had periods when particular sins had a firm grip I me, I thought the way to freedom was through this self-flagellation.  Even here another reason this is not true repentance is my motivation is way off–it’s to get something from God anything other than greater intimacy of relationship with him.

I learned quite some time ago that true repentance means turning (Hebrew, shuv) or changing our minds (Greek, metanoia).  Only recently, however, have I experienced this in different areas of my life.  It has been difficult but so good.  What I’ve seen is that God is patient and kind when it comes to repentance but eventually he draws a line.  The line is not of frustration but of deep, never-going-to-quit love (Hebrew, chesed). I blogged about some of the troubles we were experiencing earlier this year (#firstworldproblems) and I think I have a much better idea why, which I’ll get to shortly.

When we truly repent it’s not easy because it requires looking honestly in the mirror.  It means leaving something behind even though we now know it is detrimental to us or those around us.  It can be scary because we’re venturing into new frontier.  In the Bible there are plenty of places where fire accompanies God’s appearance (e.g. Daniel 7:8-14).  Repentance means entering those flames.  However, they don’t burn us, they purify us.  As I heard someone say, “The flames of heaven burn hotter than the flames of hell.”  I think there’s some truth to that.

During this season of repentance I’ve seen that I’ve been neglecting some areas that the Lord is blessing me and trying to venture into areas I don’t really have as much of the Lord’s blessing, which is tiring.  I’ve also seen where I’ve been pretty immature and getting frustrated because we don’t have any leeway financially.  The Lord’s kindness and firmness has answered my pleas but not in ways I expected, which is often the case.  Repentance has brought freedom and a desire to mature.  I think some of what we’ve gone through could have been avoided had I focused more where the Lord has been blessing us and had I desired to mature in the area of finances.  I suppose it’s much more important that we learn rather than when we learn.

I was recently reading through Jesus’ last time with his disciples before his crucifixion (John 13-17) and quite a bit stood out to me, especially these verses in his amazing prayer for us,

Now I am coming to you [Father], and I am speaking these things in the world so that my joy may be made full within them…Sanctify them with your truth; your word is truth…My Father who gave them to me, it is my will that they be with me where I will be, so that they may behold my glory that you gave me, for you have loved me before the foundations of the world.  Indeed, my righteous Father, the world does not know you.  But I know you, and these have recognized you sent me.  I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known to them so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and that I will also be in them. – John 17:13, 17, 24-26 DHE

True repentance leads us to a place of seeing Jesus’ prayer for us being answered.  I’m working on another post where I try to explain what the natural outcome or fruit of true repentance is [hint: it’s in the passage I quoted].  Stay tuned!

IMMW: King Daddy

Imagine yourself in one of two scenarios (for some it may very easy because one of them may describe your real-life situation):

Your father is a king; the world is at his fingertips.  You never lack anything materially.  When you go to college, it’s a matter of which one you’d like to attend.  If you want to do something, he either has the resources or knows someone to call to make it happen.  When you let him know you want to spend a summer in Europe, he asks how long you’ll be there and what you’ll need for your trip.  He teaches you how to run a business and how to invest money so you can do whatever you’re passionate about.  However, he is emotionally distant.  At your graduation you received a very generous gift but only a hearty handshake or pat on the back.  At the birth of your child(ren), it was basically the same thing.

Or…

Your father is a pauper and barely has 2¢ to his name.  Whenever you share your desire to do something, he shares your desire and exclaims how wonderful it would be to do what your describing.  College is a question of “If” because no one in your family has ever gone to college before.  However, he is emotionally present; he feels whatever you feel.  When he comes home from a long, hard day at work he always has time for you.  He beams with pride at every accomplishment no matter how big or small.  He boasts about you to whoever will listen because he cannot believe what an amazing child he has.

This is an overgeneralization but I think these are the two most prevalent views of God that people have with the first one being more common.  Perhaps I should have added that the first father is a judge but also trained as an account and meticulously keeps track of all of your “debits” and “credits;” that would have really nailed it on the head.  Some, however, know God has an incredible love for us but maintain a sense of spiritual poverty–one should just be content with the love of God.  On the surface that is absolutely true.  However, I think underlying this is a buffer against disappointment–if I ask for something God may not be able to provide it.  I may be projecting these views onto others because I go back and forth between the two but I’ve also had too many conversations with others to see this common thread.

Which is the more accurate view of God?  Neither and both.  The Scriptures declare that the Creator-Redeemer God of the Bible, revealed as YHWH to Moses and perfectly in Jesus of Nazareth, is the “King of kings and Lord of lords.”  That is such church-y jargon that we often don’t pause to consider what those terms are and mean.  They are superlatives.  Of all of the kings and lords throughout the world and history, YHWH is above them all.  Of all of the gods that humanity has devised, they pale in comparison to God Most High (Genesis 14:17-20).

Theologians talk about God’s transcendence and immanence–he is entirely other and above creation and all it’s restrictions but he is near and became one of us.  At the dedication of Israel’s Temple, king Solomon prayed, “But will God indeed live on earth with man?  Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built” (2Chronicles 6:18) signifying God’s transcendence.  The fact that God dwelt in a Temple shows he is near.  The fullest expression came in the person of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and took up residence among us.  We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).  Now the Lord resides within those who acknowledge his kingship, “I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:16-17a).

Perhaps I should have spent more time showing the number of places where God is revealed as King and how high and lofty, or transcendent, he is but here is the crux of the whole thing:

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise. Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. Instead, he is under guardians and stewards until the time set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces of the world. When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. – (Galatians 3:27–4:7 HCSB)

If we are in Christ, we are God’s children!  As John says, “Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are!” (1John 3:1).  Someone somewhere said, “God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us.”  Our Father is the King, King Abba!  There is debate over what Abba means but it’s the first word an Aramaic-speaking child says, like the English “Dada.”  I was recently looking at the meaning of the Hebrew word we translate as “bless” (because what does that mean and why do we use it like we do?) but when God blesses us it’s like a father taking his young child onto his lap.  Think about that.  The God of the universe takes you on his lap and wants to look you in the eye.  Not to discipline.  Not to strike fear and intimidation.  But to play, as it were.  To let you know you are highly valued because he loves you.*  This is not anti-intellectual sentimentality.  This is not mushy-gushy, feel-good, old-timey religion, it’s the most fundamental truth in being a follower of Jesus.

Again, this goes back to being a disciple of Jesus.  A disciple did everything his Master did.  Jesus knew his Father delighted in him, “And there came a voice from heaven: This is My beloved Son.  I take delight in Him!…While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said: This is My beloved Son.  I take delight in Him.  Listen to Him!” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5).  Jesus spent whole nights in prayer (Luke 6:12).  I used to think Jesus had a lot to pray about, he spent a lot of time praying for the 12, and had to get his marching orders for the next day or week.  Now I think he was having a conversation with his Dad, loving him and being loved by him.  If Jesus spent so much time with Father and knew his identity so deeply, shouldn’t we follow his example?

Our most important “job” is to enjoy being a child of God.  When we know that, we’ll tell others about him.  We can ask people, “Have you met my Dad?  He’s the King.”  The world is at his fingertips and yet he shares our joys and our sorrows.  His boardroom is always buzzing with work to be done but he is able to devote his full attention to us when we come to him.

Here’s a great video to summarize what I’m trying to share:

That’s My King! from Albert Martin on Vimeo.

* There is a difference between “valued” and “valuable.”  The Hope Diamond is highly valuable; it has intrinsic value.  The old, beat-up pick-up truck that Sam Walton had until the end of his life was highly valued by him.  It was not valuable but he loved that truck and couldn’t part with it.  Human life is valuable because God highly values us.

How Fit Are You?

Jack LaLanne

Thin is beautiful.  At least that’s what we’re inundated with everywhere we turn.  We’ve confused thin with fit.  Being fit is a worthwhile goal.  A person can be thin and woefully out of shape.  The opposite is true as well–a person can be fit without necessarily being thin.  In other words, looks can be deceiving.  This is true outside the physical realm.

Mike Breen, in his book Multiplying Missional Leaders, says there are five types of Capital we can invest in others for the purpose of discipleship (in alphabetical order): Financial, Intellectual, Physical, Relational, and Spiritual (pp.105-109).  If we look around, each of these five areas have no shortage of books, videos, seminars, training opportunities, and “gurus” telling us how to get fit in each area.  Each one tells you that their particular subject is the most important area in a person’s life and therefore we need to be as fit as we can in that area.

So, on a scale of 1-10, how fit are you Financially, Intellectually, Physically, Relationally, and Spiritually?  If we don’t like where we are, which one should receive our attention first?  Before going further, let’s establish a definition of fit: The minimum Capital needed in order for you to go about your daily life without being totally exhausted at the end of any given day.  Somewhat arbitrarily, let’s call this a “7” because 70% is the “C” range in school, which means we’re average; not failing but not exemplary either.  If you’re below a 7 one area, who do you know that you would consider a 9 or 10 who could invest in you to bring you up to a 7 without damaging other areas?  If we’re a 9 or 10 in one area that means we could go an extended period of time not attending to those areas without serious damage to ourselves or anyone else.

What if you’re below a 7 in more than one area, which one do you begin with (let’s be honest if I’m relationally and financially unfit I cannot improve both areas equally and simultaneously)?  It depends.  Is your life characterized by living in the Kingdom of God or some other kingdom?  Living in the Kingdom of God means wanting God’s best to happen in each and every area of our lives.  In the Kingdom, the least to most important Capitals are: Financial, Intellectual, Physical, Relational, and Spiritual (living in any other kingdom reverses the order).  So Financial requires the least and has the least influence in the Kingdom of God but it is absolutely essential for the other areas.  Spiritual is the hardest to invest in and have Capital because it requires the others.  From the perspective of the Kingdom of God, if I share something with someone to help them spiritually, I’ve made the greatest possible (but not only!) investment I could in another person.  So begin with the lowest one and once you’re at a 7, move up.  If I consider myself below a 7 Intellectually, Physically, and Relationally, I start working on the Intellectual, then Physical, and then Relational even if Physical or Relational are the lowest.  One caveat to my previous paragraph is that if we consider Spiritual Capital the most important we shouldn’t neglect that as we work on other areas of our lives.  Maybe we can afford to spend less time there but we shouldn’t neglect it altogether.  Also, the reality is we still wrestle with impure motives in all aspects of our lives so daily attending to our lives spiritually helps keep our motives in check.

No matter where we are in life we can all afford to grow in each and every Capital.  It’s important that we take stock of where we are if we are serious about participating in the Kingdom of God and the fulfillment of the Great Commission.  I’m on a journey now to see how I can get fit Financially because I’m not where I want and need to be.  I see it negatively impacting the other areas of my life.  As I become more fit, I’ll pass along what I’ve learned.