[Re]Connected

Building Up the Body of Christ

November 26, 2011
by Dave Ketter
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[Re]view: Primal by Mark Batterson

“We’ve gotten away from the New Testament pattern.” “I’m tired of human traditions.” “My church just doesn’t feel right to me.” These are words that escape the lips of far too many people in American churches today. They find fault with the liturgies, teachings, and practices that are present, or are noticeably absent, from their churches. What they’re too often unwilling to consider, though, is that the problem isn’t fundamentally with the denomination, tradition, or the leadership as such. The fundamental problem is us. Churches have no soul because we have no soul. In Primal: the Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, Mark Batterson seeks to address that very thing.

The book is written as an extended exegesis of the Church, the culture, and the work of Jesus through the lens of the Great Commandment. Batterson writes to explore what it would mean for us to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. The fundamental problem of our slack obedience and bitter squabbling and heated conflicts is not in our methodology, tradition, or leadership but in our own failure to love God for all that He is with all that He has made us. That is our individual and corporate sin, and our response should be thorough repentance and learning to love God.

Batterson writes in a personable, casual style that allows the reader to relate and “talk it through” with him. His own experiences of loving God are insightful, often humourous and always convicting as he challenges the reader to pursue the love of God. His challenge invites us back to knowing God, loving God, and serving God in ways that exceed the norm and resonate with the radical nature of our ancient faith. I would recommend Primal with no reservations whatsoever.

November 23, 2011
by Dave Ketter
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[Re]Con: Loving Those with Questions

One of the constants in ministry is questions about theology, the Bible, and how they interact with the lives people live everyday. Pastors and leaders in the church are often looked to for answers. Many of them have good theological training and many hours of biblical study under their belts and do their best to provide biblical answers…but, as Michael Kelley shows, this isn’t necessarily the way to go. As we minister, let us be discerning enough to see that our primary goal in serving those with questions isn’t to give answers, but to love them with the love of Jesus right where they are.

People pose questions about theology, about the nature of good and evil, about suffering and sovereignty, and yes, about suicide. But when those questions are really, really posed, they often are not done so in a purely theoretical way.

There’s something else going on.

Read the rest here.

October 30, 2011
by Dave Ketter
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“God will destroy him…”

It’s a serious threat in the midst of Paul’s rebuke of the Corinthians. The Corinthian church has a reputation for being messed up, divisive, unholy, disorderly, unconsiderate, and all manner of things we’d like to say is just plain unbiblical. And it is, but Paul never stops addressing them as saints (1 Cor. 1:2), the church of God even, and as brothers and sisters. He even pronounces that God’s presence among them has been confirmed by the Holy Spirit (1:6). It’s unexpected and a little disconcerting, but Paul is far more sure of this “messed up” congregation’s faith than he is of the holier-than-thou Galatians. Shocking.

And yet, there’s one thing that Paul will have no tolerance for in Corinth: their divisions. In fact, the reason he says he can’t address them as people who are living by the Spirit isn’t due to their lack of proper ethics or seeming ignorance in the Scriptures, but because “there is still jealousy and dissension among you” (3:3). Another shock. Paul will eventually call them to lives worthy of the Gospel in regards to holiness and in relating to the rest of the world and in their worship, but his first priority is their dissensions and schismatic behavior.

Schisms most often occur because of strong reactions to human leaders. In some cases, it is a matter of extreme devotion to particular leaders in the church. In others, it is because of extreme opposition to particular leaders in the church. In all of these cases, Paul is downright disapproving and, perhaps, confused. “What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us.” (3:5). In other words, not much. God causes the growth. “[Christian leaders] are coworkers belonging to God. You [Christians] are God’s field, God’s building.” (3:9)

And this is where we begin to see the stupidity of these dissensions: why do we moan about Apollos’ humanity or exalt Paul’s apostolic ministry as if we belong to either of them? We are God’s. He called us. He made us grow. He owns us and is building us His way. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (3:16). Christians these days too often identify so deeply with human leaders that they are sparking an identity crisis: who are we? Who is a good Christian? Who is a bad Christian? Who needs to repent? Who needs to receive the confession? It’s when we are in the midst of those times we need to remember Paul’s challenge to us: “Are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people?!” (3:3). It’s despicable when we deny the power of Christ in our lives, and deny the Spirit that lives in us, when we make our dissension about human leaders go this way, and are controlled by their jealousy. If anyone needs to repent, it is us, for behaving so divisively and acting more the like a temple of demons rather than the temple of God.

That doesn’t mean human leaders won’t be held accountable for their work. Neither do they get a free pass on what they do. That’s what Paul interrupts his own rebuke of the Corinthians’ dissension to remind them of: leaders will be held to account. But just like you, as the Church, belong to God, so do the leaders, and God will judge them on the Day of His return (3:9-15). Paul even goes more into detail later on, commanding the Corinthians, “So then, do not judge anything [about leaders] before the time. Wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts. Then each will receive recognition from God.” (4:5). The reason for this is simple: “What do you [Christians] have that you did not receive [from these leaders]? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (4:7).

But he returns to addressing the Corinthians here. and pronounces what is perhaps the most dreadful statement in this epistle: “If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.” (3:17). That isn’t addressed to human leaders. That is addressed to everyone. If we destroy the Church of God through our dissenting and jealousies, there will be consequences, and the evidence of such unregenerate behavior is that we indeed have unregenerate hearts, and will come under wrath.

It’s why we need Paul’s admonition: “Guard against self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise.” (3:18). If we think we are wise enough to condemn the leaders of the Church, or one another. If we think we have unlocked some deep secret in Scripture about how repentance works, or how Christians are “supposed to” confess or why one method of judgment and vindication for ourselves is biblical, we better check ourselves. Because we live in an age and culture where knowing how to scandalize, shame, and bring down religious leaders (not only Christian ones)  is the epitome of worldly wisdom. We’ve become too good at it. We need to repent.

But when we become foolish – when we commend ourselves into the hands of God, knowing that He cares for His Church, Paul has a word for us: “So then, no more boasting about mere mortals! For everything belongs to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” (3:21-23). And we will come to it, someday, by the grace of God, when all things will be brought to light, and we shall be as He is.

August 23, 2011
by Dave Ketter
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[Re]view: Peace be With You by David Carlson

For a generation that has grow up in the “Age of Terror”, the question of what it means to be Christians, to be Americans, both, or none puzzles many young people, and just as many of older generations. In Peace be With You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-filled World, Dr. David Carlson attempts to provide a “word of life” for all of us through the lens of monks and nuns around the country. In this, he partially succeeds.

Through a series of interviews, Carlson goes on a journey to understand how people in monasteries responded to 9/11 and what their context and training helped them to do and how to reflect on it. These brothers and sisters who have sworn vows of stability, obedience, and renounced pursuit of possessions for the sake of prayer and the good of their neighbors have many helpful insights and a love for God and people that is inspiring. And, yet, Carlson often misses the opportunity to see that the Gospel itself is radical enough without having to indulge some of his own less orthodox tendencies. It’s a good read, but one that requires discernment.

July 27, 2011
by Dave Ketter
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[Re]view: J.R.R. Tolkien by Mark Horne

In the last decade, interest in the writings and work of J.R.R. Tolkien has surged to new heights. Movies, biographies, fresh publications of old work and posthumous production of materials that were never available to the public before have made it so that Tolkien is once again a household name.  But as interested as people can be in Tolkien’s work, they very rarely know much about the man. And although there are a number of interesting biographies and books out there on the man, this new one has its place among them.

Mark Horne’s work as a biographer is to provide a sketch of Tolkien’s life and the things that were significant to him. Horne, in a significant step, seeks to provide a telling of Tolkien’s life that ties in his literary and linguistic work together with the developments of his relationships with significant people in his life (including his family, friends, and colleagues).

Horne explores Tolkien’s origins, his faith, his passions, his flaws (perfectionism, anyone?) and his legacy with an appropriate goal of honoring “the author of the 20th century” as a devout Christian, scholar, and author. Horne’s research is well done, and succinctly communicated so that this biography is an excellent short biography about the life of Tolkien and, for that purpose, I most definitely recommend it.

July 14, 2011
by Dave Ketter
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[Re]view: The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet & Lori Wagner

What happens when you mix a little DaVinci Code with a little Left Behind and a little theology? You get The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet and Lori Wagner. This is a bit of a different end time novel. Choosing not to delve into the intricacies of dispensationalism and avoiding the question of the Rapture altogether, Sweet and Wagner weave together a last days story uncovering the mysteries of the ages about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The world is degenerating into conflict and ecological disaster as Dr. Paul Binder and his friends face off with USAmerica President Matthew Serafino to discern when the age-to-come begins and who will possess the power to enter it.

 

Sweet and Wagner’s tale is premised on the idea that eschatological events are ultimately a matter of “conditional semiotics” – the human freedom to accept God’s blessing or God’s curse, and God’s freedom to make it happen in spite of us. So, rather than presenting itself as an authoritative interpretation of Revelation, The Seraph Seal is merely one scenario and exploring it. As far as scenarios go, it’s a fun read. After all, what if Tatian’s Diatessaron was actually an apocalyptic cluebook? Or the Four Horsemen were human beings chosen to help bring the world into the next age? These are fun, speculative questions. They’re not the stuff of theology, but of good storytelling, and for that reason, it’s a good book to read.

July 4, 2011
by Dave Ketter
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Your Kingdom Come

Many of us derive inspiration from the so-called “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. We look at the great heroes of the covenant, who remained faithful and endured so many things for the sake of the promise of Christ’s coming, and we celebrate the reality “that they would be made perfect together with us” (Heb. 11:40 NET). But I think we ignore their true accomplishment too often. In fact, the true accomplishment by faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah is not that they walked with God and obeyed Him (and that is most commendable!) but that “These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.” (Heb. 11:13). The author of Hebrews steps away from talking about the heroes for this very reason.

These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Heb. 11:13-16)

According to the author of Hebrews, these heroes were seeking a homeland, a country, a patris. Patris, the Greek word for “homeland” or “country” in this text refers to one’s native country or “father-land.” He also says that if they’d wanted to return to their own native-lands, they had opportunity for that. “But as it is, they aspire to a better land, a heavenly one.” In other words, the patriarchs had forsaken acknowledging their home countries as their own native lands, recognizing, instead that they were foreigners and exiles on the earth. Just like disciples of Jesus are supposed to be.

You might be objecting by pointing out that Noah had an ark and Abraham and Sarah lived in tents, and Enoch was taken, literally, from the earth and that doesn’t in any way resemble the permanent residency that most Christians, especially in the United States, But at the same time, Scripture tells us that foreigners and exiles is the exact nature of the Church. “You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul…” (1 Peter 2:10-11). And Peter’s own greeting to these churches in 1 Peter 1:1 tells us that he understands Christians to be just that.

It’s the reason why Justin Martyr, writing half a century later, is able to say “He called Abraham and commanded him to go out from the country where he was living. With this call God has roused us all, and now we have left the state. We have renounced all the things the world offers.”

God made us foreigners and exiles, living in the world, because the patris that he has prepared for us is coming. The author of Hebrews tells us that he has prepared a city. Revelation 21:2 gives us more information about this city: “And I saw the holy city – the new Jerusalem – descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.”

If you are a disciple of Jesus, you’re not an American, a Kenyan, an Italian, a Brazilian, an Australian, or an Indian. You’re a foreigner and exile. And we are the household of God, together, and we’re waiting for a better homeland, that God will bring to us when He comes Himself to make all things new, symbolized in the New Jerusalem. Until the, the house that He has prepared for us is in heaven. This is why we should confess, with the apostle Paul, “But our citizenship is in heaven – and we also await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” So let us live like patriots – patriots of the Kingdom of God, not any worldly nation.