Ordinary

Beware the pressure to be an "Extraordinary" Christian - Be Ordinary, Not Extraordinary by Justin Buzzard

Many of us live with a vague, pressured sense that we need to be extraordinary. Extra-ordinary: more than ordinary. Consider the synonyms of extraordinary, this adjective we highly desire: remarkable, exceptional, amazing, astonishing, astounding, sensational, stunning, incredible, unbelievable, phenomenal. Your hearts craves this. My heart craves this.

This is a mistake. A trap. A lie. A dead end.

Our pursuit of becoming extraordinary actually prevents us from experiencing the extraordinary. Chasing extraordinariness for ourselves leaves us exhausted and empty of the true extraordinariness we are designed to enjoy. Your job as a human isn’t to be extra-ordinary, your job is to be ordinary. Your mission in life is to be an ordinary person who trusts an extraordinary God. In the drama of life your role is to be human, God’s role is to be God. This drama is themed for the extraordinary, but the character who brings the amazing, astounding, sensational, unbelievable to the script is not you, but God.

So, quit trying to play a role in life that you were not designed to play. Be the very unique, yet very ordinary, human God formed you to be. And play your part with childlike wonder as you behold our extraordinary God who takes center stage and wants to dazzle you with his extraordinary being and extraordinary ways.

Today, be ordinary. Be human. And look to God—ask God, cry out to God, trust God, believe God to show himself extraordinary. Enjoy the freedom of playing your ordinary role which shines the spotlight on our extraordinary God.

Sustaining Motivation

The piece below was written by Tony Merida, author of Ordinary (which I reviewed here):- Good Doctrine Wins People, Not Arguments. Good theology is necessary to sustain ministries for social justice.

Social causes come and go like bad fashion trends, sometimes quite literally: what color bracelet are you wearing this month?

Surely our consumer-conditioned attention spans have something to do with this, but let’s be real: when you care about something enough to devote serious time and energy, it can be discouraging when the anticipated results never materialize.

Many people know they should care for the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed, but few are motivated to do this over the course of a lifetime. Jesus reminds his followers, “You always have the poor with you” (Mark 14:7). In other words, we ain’t gonna solve poverty anytime soon.

How in the world can we keep up the good work when it feels like a lost cause? Good theology.

Theological types often get stereotyped as all head and no heart. This is unfortunate because a few key doctrines of the faith provide the sustainable inspiration we need for a lifetime of good works.

LOVE EVERYBODY, BECAUSE IMAGO DEI

If we believe that everyone is made in the image of God—imago Dei—then everyone is worthy of dignity, love, basic human rights, and hearing biblical truth.

Those who abuse people made in God’s image through enslavement, torture, rape, and grinding poverty, are dehumanizing people and insulting God Himself. Many victims of human trafficking and abuse report how they felt inhumane after being oppressed.

Those who believe in the imago Dei should live out their theology through practical acts of love for the oppressed and vulnerable.

SHOW MERCY, BECAUSE REDEMPTION

The Bible records for us the story of God coming to save people. When we were enslaved, He freed us. When we were orphans, He adopted us. When we were sojourners, He welcomed us. When we were widows, Christ became our groom.

The mercy and justice of God meet at the cross, where our redemption comes from. We needed His redemption because we cannot live up to the standard God has set. But One did. Jesus Christ is the ultimate display of a life of righteousness and justice. Through repentance and faith in Christ, we are clothed in His righteousness.

Now, as believers, we have power to live just lives, and when we fail, we know God won’t crush us, for He has already crushed Christ in our place. Now we pursue justice because we love God, and have already been accepted in Him.

We want to show mercy. That’s what God’s redemption has done for us.

Ordinary: A Review

A Review of Ordinary:How to Turn the World Upside Down, by Tony Merida

I had never heard of Tony Merida prior to seeing an advertisement for this book. Now that I have read it, I;m following the author on Twitter and am anxious to read everything he writes! Merida is the founding pastor of Imageo Dei Church in Raleigh, N.C. He also serves as Associate Professor of Preaching at Southeastern Baptist Seminary in Wake Forest, NC

The thesis for the book is taken from a sentence borrowed from Steve Timmis: "Ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality." Merida lists Timmis, David Platt, Tim Keller and Russell Moore as influences on his thought as expressed in this book. The book is about uniting (or better yet maintaining the existing Biblical unity) of gospel belief and proclamation with gospel inspired mercy and service. Each chapter discusses another aspect of kingdom mercy and service: (1) Neighbor Love, (2) Kingdom Hospitality, (3) Care for the Vulnerable, (4) Courageous Advocacy, and (5) God-Centered Humility. Every chapter has both exposition of relevant Scripture and multiple examples and testimonies of how to work the them out in practical ways.

I found the book to be easy to read ,with an argument and presentation that was easy to follow. I also found it very hard to put down, yet I kept pausing to think and ponder over what he was saying. To put it simply, it's a great book and I highly recommend it. I certainly read it more than once.

By the way, a good book to read as a companion to this one might be Tim Keller's Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes us Just.

(Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes, but that does not influence my opinion. See my Policy on Book Reviews)

Radical Ordinariness

Are you a "radical" Christian, an "ordinary" Christian, or perhaps both? From "A Few Thoughts About Being Ordinary Christians" by Tim Brister

In case you did not know, there’s an ongoing debate regarding “radical” Christianity and “ordinary” (mundane/normal) Christianity.

Really. [Pardon the intensifier]

Best-selling books and viral blogposts have littered the evangelical landscape the last few years, and I’ve tried to keep up with the latest installments in this ongoing debate. I respect and appreciate the men on both sides of the debate, and while I may not be offering anything necessarily new, I’d like to offer a few thoughts.

1. Definition of Ordinary

So much of the debate begins with the premise of being radical. What does radical Christianity look like? How can it be defined? Is the challenge confined to middle-class white suburbia in North America? But what about ordinary Christianity? How much agreement exists in defining normal Christianity?

As it has been stated, much of the recent literature calling for “radical Christianity” is a discontentment with what many consider to be a sub-standard nominal Christianity (i.e. “Christendom”) that in many ways has neutered the evangelical testimony of biblical truth and dulled our motivation as followers of Jesus to “observe all that he has commanded us”.

Though this may sound redundant, I do think the pushback to radical Christianity is to be ordinarily ordinary. I have a real problem with this perspective, because we still have not come to terms with what Jesus identifies as ordinary or normative for run-of-the-mill Christians. So we are not spectacular or world-changing or facing death as a martyr – what then?

2. An Old Kind of Ordinary

The message of John the Baptist, Jesus, His sent disciples, and the early churchwas the same, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In other words, the ordinary way of living is unacceptable under the reign of King Jesus. When His kingdom comes, everything changes. Everything.

Take, for example, eating and drinking. This is about as ordinary or mundane as it gets. Jesus’ earthly ministry was characterized by eating and drinking, but it was how and with whom he ate and drank that set Him apart from others. You see, eating and drinking comes with a philosophy and ordinary approach to life. When I’m living under self-rule, it is “eat, drink and be merry.” But when I’m living under the rule of Christ, it is eating and drinking (and everything else) to the glory of God. That’s radical. The most basic things we almost unconsciously do on a daily basis are to be singed with motivations and aspirations that God might be glorified. Is this what we are talking about when we are speaking of ordinary or normal Christian living?

What about the Great Commission? Jesus commands us to go and make disciples. That should be normative for every follower of Jesus. That means our lives should have an orientation and intentionality that pursues this missional objective. How does that work? Where do we find time to do that? In what ways and venues of everyday life are we making disciples of Jesus? Is that what we are talking about when we speak of ordinary Christianity? If so, then where are the ordinary Christians?

What about the teachings of Jesus? He told us if our right eye causes us to sin to pluck it out. Do ordinary people treat sin so seriously? He told us to count the costto be His disciple and take up our cross. Do ordinary people prefer to die to self? Jesus told us to love our enemies, that the greatest will be the servant of all, that those who humble themselves will be exalted, and that those who put their hands to the plow looking back are not fit for the kingdom of God. Is this the ordinary teaching of normative Christianity?

Then there are phrases like doing all things for the sake of the gospel. Paul (and those he discipled) lived in certain ways to reach certain people because he sought to commend the gospel in word and deed and “save some.” Some people box like those beating the air. Paul disciplined His body. Some walked dependent on their senses. Paul said we Christians walk by faith. Some were civilians living a civilian lifestyle, “entangled with the affairs of everyday life.” Paul and his disciplessuffered hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ because they wanted to please their commanding officer. Is that what we mean when we talk about ordinary Christianity?

Yes, this is the same Paul who exhorted Christians in Thessalonica to “aspire to live quietly and mind your own affairs.” I don’t think they are at odds at all. Paul was someone who redeemed ordinary life for kingdom purposes. I think that is why he constantly spoke of how he himself worked with his own hands for the purpose of helping the weak and remembering the poor. In the same context, Paul would say things like “I do not consider my life of any value to me or precious to myself“. The two realities are not opposite visions of the Christian life, are they?