What to Neglect, What to Let

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16 ESV)

Want to have a rich life? There are some things you will have to neglect, and some thngs you will have to let in in order to have one. Joe Bloom at Desiring God had this to say, based on Colossians 3:16

This verse from Colossians is so full of nourishment that there is no way to put the whole thing in our mouths at one time. It’s going to take a few blog bites to chew on it.

Today, all I want to do is chew on the first word: “let.” Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Another way to say it is, don’t stop the word of Christ from filling you to satisfaction. Or stop stopping it.

Here’s the thing: we are frequently impoverished spiritually by our own not letting ourselves be rich. On our shelves or bed stands or in our tablets or computers is a bank vault of “true riches” (Luke 16:11). But the pawnshop trinkets of worldly words are deceptively attractive. We can even be on our way to spend our time (the currency of life) on the riches in the vault and end up spending it in the pawnshops along the way.

What Paul wants us to do is neglect things that make us poor and not neglect things that make us truly rich.

What to Neglect

If the word of the Wall Street Journal or World Magazine or Wired Magazine or David Brooks or David Letterman or David McCullough, or John Mayer or John Steinbeck or John Paul II or John Calvin or Richard Dawkins or Richard Branson or Richard Baxter or Bono or Bach or blogs (even this one) dwells in you more richly than the word of Christ, you’re poor. You might be impressive at a dinner party or around a conference table or at small group. But you’re poor. You’re storing up dust.

You don’t need to be in the know.

You don’t need to be admired among the literati or respected in the guild. You don’t need an impressive net worth. You don’t need to be well traveled or well read. You don’t need to be conversant in Portlandia or know how many Twitter followers Taylor Swift has. You don’t need to be politically articulate, or up on the mommy blogs or the young, restless and reformed buzz. You don’t need to see the movie. You don’t need to read the novel. You don’t need to look hip.

What Not to Neglect

But what you desperately need, more than anything else in the world, is the word of Christ dwelling in you richly.

No one speaks like Jesus Christ (John 7:46). He is the Word of God and the Word that isGod (John 1:1) He is the Word of Life (1 John 1:1) and when he speaks, his word is living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and he shows you the path of life (Psalm 16:11) and his words give you hope and joy and peace (Romans 15:13).

Jesus is the one human being in all of history who speaks the very words of eternal life (John 6:68) and when you listen and believe his word, it becomes your life (Deuteronomy 32:47), your food (John 6:51), your drink (John 4:14) and your light (Psalm 119:105).

Only Jesus has the words of life. Only him. That’s why the Father pleads with us, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mark 9:7).

Everyone else’s words are dust in the winds of time and to chase them is to chase the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14). The precious few helpful, enlightening, even mortal life-preserving words are only of superficial help to us and in the end will blow away.

The only exceptions are those that help us (and others) listen to the word of Christ.

Let It!

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Don’t neglect it. Listen to his word. Soak in his word. Memorize his word. Eat and chew it slowly. Don’t stop it from benefitting you.Neglect the TV, blogs, social networks, video games, theaters, magazines, books, hobbies, chores, and pursuits that keep you from the Vault. Neglect the impoverishing pawnshop trinkets of words that will turn to dust in a day, a week, or a few years.

When it comes to life, time really is money. Time is how you spend your life. Don’t waste it. Spend your best time buying “true riches.”

Valuing Weakness

From DashHouse.Com - The Value of Weakness:

I’ve seen a lot of values listed by churches. Most of them sound lofty. I’ve only seen weakness listed as a value by a church once. The church is Holy Trinity Chicago, and this is what they say: Irony of Weakness While common wisdom places a high value on strength, our church is learning to live in weakness. Why? Because when we are weak, we are actually strong. You might call it the irony of weakness: God uses humble, reliant people. Weakness is divinely intended for us by God.  Indeed, a life of dependence on the Holy Spirit, of devotion in prayer and a willingness to suffer for Christ is a beautiful life. So we value dependence on the Spirit rather than dependence on self. We value prayer, which is the opposite of pride and self-sufficiency. And though we do not seek out suffering we know that it is a part of a gospel-centered life.  Our true strength is in Jesus Christ! I love the three implications listed in this definition: Weakness implies dependence on the Holy Spirit. Ministry is not simply a matter of best practices. It is a spiritual enterprise. As Francis Schaeffer said, “And as Christians, we too must comprehend something of our need for spiritual power. If we think we can operate on our own, if we do not comprehend the need for a power beyond our own, we will never get started" (No Little People). Weakness implies devotion in prayer. When we comprehend that we are weak, we turn away from pride and self-sufficiency to our true source of power. A prayerless life is a life that fails to recognize my true condition. Weakness implies a willingness to suffer. The illusion of strength and an unwillingness to suffer go together. Weak people, it seems, are less surprised by suffering. Ajith Fernando writes, “In a world where physical health, appearance, and convenience have gained almost idolatrous prominence, God may be calling Christians to demonstrate the glory of the gospel by being joyful and content while enduring pain and hardship.” It’s been years since I noticed that Holy Trinity values weakness. I’m not sure if any other churches have included it in their list of values, but perhaps many more should.

Celebrating Luther Today

Do you know what today is? Reformation Day! On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis on the church door in Wittenburg, Germany, starting the Protestant Reformation.

What, you thought I was going to say something else?

Justin Taylor has links to Carl Trueman's great posts on Luther's life and theology.

Carl Trueman at Reformation21 has been blogging of late on Martin Luther. Below I’ll provide links to his series on what Luther saw as the six marks of a true theologian, and the nine qualities of a good preacher.

But first, he has a nice list of recommended books for those who want to become familiar with Luther and his work. Read the post for more details on each book, but here’s an outline:

Luther’s Life

• Roland Bainton, Here I Stand. (“A classic.”)

• Martin Marty, Martin Luther: A Life.

Luther’s Writings

• John Dillenberger, Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings.

• Timothy Lull, Martin Luther: Basic Theological Writings.

• Martin Luther, Table Talk. (“I would suggest that, if you have never read Luther, this is the place to start.”)

Luther’s Theology

• Bernhard Lohse, The Theology of Martin Luther. (“Probably the best one volume introduction.”)

• Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand, The Genius of Luther’s Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church. (“Very highly recommended.”)

Trueman writes:

To be tired of Luther is to be tired of life. Only crashing bores, I suspect, can remain untouched by him as they read his works, though, sadly, the church has more than a few of those hanging around her doors and pulpits. Still, I trust that the above will whet a few appetites for reading him, reading about him, and using him in the contemporary church.

In Table Talk Luther gives a list of six things that make a theologian. After introducing the topic, Trueman does a series of posts explaining the marks of the true theologian:

1. the grace of the Spirit (as shaping the theologian’s identity)

1. agonizing struggle (the essence of which is the universal experience of doubt as antithetical to faith)

1. experience (the practical, real-life experience of the external word of God impacting the individual)

1. opportunity (interpreting or responding appropriately to an opportune moment)

1. careful and constant reading (particularly of the biblical text)

1. a practical knowledge of the academic disciplines

(Note: numbers 5 and 6 go to the same link, as they are treated in a combined post.)

Then, in a short series, Trueman looks at the nine characteristic that Luther lists for a good preacher. A good preacher should have:

1. an ability to teach

1. a good head.

1. eloquence.

1. clarity of speech.

1. a good memory.

1. know when to stop.

1. be certain and diligent in his subject.

1. put his life, limb, possessions, and honor into his subject.

1. be able to accept ridicule from anyone.

Marks 1-5 are dealt with in the first post, marks 6-9 in the second.

Jesus > Religion #3

Some more quotes from the new book by Jefferson Bethke,  Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough. 

“[The Bible] was not given to us so that we could highlight and underline our way into eternity, but in hopes that we would have a special encounter with our Creator.” (page 85)

“God’s ways aren’t our ways, but his ways save. Our ways don’t.” (page 89)

“When we become Christians, we begin to follow Jesus, but the moments when he completely obliterates our self-righteousness and gives us a potent dose of real, transforming grace is when following him becomes deeply special.” (page 132)

“That’s the truth with God’s grace. It’s not that we are holding on tight in hopes to not be seduced by our old life and sin, but rather it’s that God’s grace is so sweet and precious it compels us to stay with it. Grace is better music than sin.” (page 152)

“Our lives on earth aren’t just placeholders until we go to heaven. We are to create, cultivate, and redeem while we’re here… We are created to infect and infiltrate culture, restoring and reclaiming what is God’s.” (pages 156, 172)

“The truth is, God doesn’t just want your ‘Christian’ things. He wants it all. When we realize the beauty of God’s grace in the mundane, not just the religious, that’s when we will begin to see him correctly.” (page 166)

“I saw that the church wasn’t a museum for good people; it was a hospital for the broken. Jesus wasn’t trying to create a place to show off his shiny employees; he wanted a place where his children could be healed.” (page 186)

Hat Tip: Desiring God

The Need to Hear It

Interesting article on the preaching ministry of Martin Luther (before and after 1517) at The Anxious Bench. It concludes:

...The sermon became the centerpiece of Protestant worship, and it remains so in many contexts. At the same time, few Protestants retain Luther’s theology of preaching. Luther would have little stomach for the entrepreneurial world of American Christianity, in which individuals without any ecclesiastical ties or theological training found new churches. Nor would Luther — despite his own translation of the Bible and his own devotional and academic study of the scriptures — agree that it is most important for people to study the scriptures on their own or in small-group Bible studies. They need to hear the Word proclaimed and expounded upon, and not just a sentence or two, as is increasingly common. There is, moreover, an enormous gulf between Luther’s world and ours, and perhaps today Luther would open a coffee-house ministry or, more likely, a tavern. Today, churches try harder to “reach people where they are.”

Luther sympathized with every generation’s complaints about sermons, that they are too long, too boring, and not relevant. He noted the problem of snoring during church, and he said that one of a minister’s most important qualification was “that he know when to stop.” Indeed, the belief that human beings could step up to the pulpit and serve as the mouthpieces for the eternal Word of God is, humanly speaking, rather foolish. Most people in the pews (or theater seats) recognize that basic foolishness as they praise or criticize a sermon on the basis of its entertainment, humor, or edification. In his final sermon, Luther preached that God “did not make his gospel known to the wise and understanding, but to infants and children.” He closed with a call to “shut our eyes altogether, and cling only to Christ’s Word and come to him.”

Protestants do not necessarily need better preachers or a dethronement of the sermon from its place at the center of their worship services. Instead, we need a Lutheran expectation that God’s Word will manifest itself through the “fleeting breath” of human beings and that through sacraments and sermon, the Word of God will make clear to us the promises of the gospel.

Read it all at the link

Jesus > Religion #2

Some more quotes from the new book by Jefferson Bethke,  Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough. 

“Be careful when you pursue truth, because you just might find him.” (page 35)

“Heaven isn’t a place for people who are scared of hell; it’s for people who love Jesus. The reason heaven is heavenly—full of joy, life, and bliss—is because we’ll be with Jesus.” (page 44)

“If you care more about flaunting your Christian freedom than promoting Christian unity, you’re probably not free. You are actually a slave to your so-called freedom.” (page 53)

“No one is more religious than the Christian who gives grace to everyone except the religious older-brother types. [God] gives grace to the younger and the older. No one is past redemption. No one is past grace. All God wants is for both the religious and the rebellious to come into the party.” (page 56)

“The truth is, God doesn’t grade on a curve; he grades on a cross… A grace economy is backward to most of us—those who think they qualify, don’t; and those who admit they don’t qualify, do.” (pages 78-79)

Hat Tip: Desiring God

Why He Came

Jesus > Religion #1

Some quotes from the new book by Jefferson Bethke,  Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough. 

“I heard enough sermons to know Jesus died for me, but I also had such a broken and painful life that I figured Jesus wasn’t relevant… I had just enough Jesus not to need him at all.” (p. 3)

“Initially, I blamed God for the pain in my life, but slowly I started to hear the whisper of his grace. I didn’t know it then, but God broke me to fix me because he loved me.” (p. 6)

“Grace isn’t there for some future me, but for the real me. The me who struggled. The me who was messy. The me who was addicted to porn. The me who didn’t have all the answers. The me who was insecure. He loved me in my mess; he was not waiting until I cleaned myself up.” (p. 7)

Hat Tip: Desiring God

Where To Start

A question asked of Francis Schaeffer in 1972: How do we communicate this gospel to modern man?

"Moody and Sanky, working shortly before 1900, could come right to the subject of salvation because they were talking to people who at least had a memory of Christian content. Therefore they didn't need to lay a groundwork of a personal God and a God with character. They could use the word "God" and everyone knew they meant the Judeo-Christian God.

But we often function as if the consensus around us is still the same as it was in Moody's day, and that is a mistake. With people today I practically never start with how to be saved, I start with a God who is there. If God is not there then salvation is just another trick, just another way to get high, like grass."

~ Francis Schaeffer, How to Speak for the God Who Is There, Eternity Magazine, 1972.

Still true today!

From FrancisSchaefferStudies.org

He Is The Amen

"Prayer in the name of Christ ends with a calm and joyous Amen; for Jesus Himself is the Amen of God, in whom all promises and gifts of God are sealed. "

— Adolph Saphir   The Hidden Life

Hat Tip: Of First Importance