Tag: Travis Peterson

The Necessity of Church Attendance

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A believer cannot obey God without being a part of a local church. Stop, read that again. It is impossible for you or me to obey God without being an active, regular, present part of a local church. [As a disclaimer, I’m not aiming here at a person who has no local church near him to attend.]

 

Hebrews 10:24-25 – 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

 

The author of the letter to the Hebrews has spent ten chapters pointing to the glory of Jesus. Jesus is our great high priest, much greater than Moses or the Levitical priesthood. Jesus is kind and understanding. He made a single sacrifice for sins, just one, and the sacrificial system is at an end. He opened the way for the people of God to freely enter the presence of God.

 

It is in the light of such glorious things that the author of the letter then tells the church that they are to do certain things. Look at the passage in context.

 

Hebrews 10:19-25 – 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

 

See all the “since” statements. Since Jesus has done all he has done and since Jesus is who he is, we are to respond in certain ways. We are to draw near to God (v 23). Would anybody rightly argue that a Christian can be what he is supposed to be without drawing near to God? We are to hold fast to the confession of our faith (v 24). Would anyone argue that someone can be a faithful Christian who does not hold fast his confession? And we are to spur one another on toward love and good deeds (v 24). And again, I point out that no Christian can be what we are supposed to be without obeying this command.

 

But how are we to obey the command to spur one another toward love and good deeds? The author makes it plain. WE do this, not by giving up meeting together. Instead, we spur one another on by continuing to meet together and encouraging one another (v 25).

 

So, let me say it again in case you think I’m not clear enough. If you have the physical capacity to attend a local church, you must do so in order to be obedient to the word of God. For a believer to be obedient, he or she must encourage other believers as we meet together. This is part of faithful, biblical Christianity.

 

Now, let’s consider what is now the common practice of American Christians. I’ll not try to prove the statistics, but you can look them up easily. American Christians tend to attend church around 2 to 3 Sunday’s per month. There are 4 Sundays in a month. Thus, there are many who claim to follow Christ who make it a regular habit of refusing to worship with other believers at least twice per month. This is disobedience to the word of God, plain and simple.

 

OK, we do not do each other any good by sitting here and bemoaning the state of American Christianity. We do no good by talking about denominations where 2/3 of church members could not be found on any given Sunday even by the combined efforts of the FBI, CIA, and NSA. Instead, let’s talk about you and me. Instead of worrying what others should or should not do, ask yourself if you are being what God calls you to be?

 

God says to you, believer in the Lord Jesus, to make sure that you are regularly encouraging other Christians. How do you do that? You do not give up meeting together with them. You keep showing up. You show up when you feel like it. You show up when you do not feel like it. You show up when you could have done something else. You show up when it is raining. You show up when it snows. You show up when it is hot. You show up when it is beautiful at the lake. You show up to take part in the worship of Christ and the encouraging of believers.

 

Again, I’m not here writing about the person who would have to walk 75 miles through mine fields just to attend a service. Nor am I putting guilt on the shoulders of a mom who has to sit at home with a little one running a fever. Nor is this supposed to hurt the heart of an aged saint who cannot leave the house. But, hear me, if you are an able-bodied believer who has a local church nearby where the gospel is preached, go. It should feel utterly foreign to you to let a Sunday go by without being gathered together with people of God you know and love for the sake of worship and encouragement.

 

“Ah,” you say, “but none of the churches near me see the doctrines of the Bible as perfectly as I do. So Obviously, I cannot attend any of them.” While it is possible that a believer is in a setting where there are simply no churches nearby of any sort of faithfulness, the more likely truth is that the person making such a claim is thinking far too highly of himself and his discernment. Go and love people. Go and encourage people. Who knows, you may actually become part of the solution to the problems you see. Or you might find out that some of the things you are elevating to 1st level issues are actually not.

 

Let’s not worry about all the what ifs that could arise here. Instead, let’s strive to be obedient. If you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, regular gathering together with the people of God should be normal. Absenting yourself from such a gathering should feel as weird to you as RUNNING OUT OF THE HOUSE WITH your shoes on the wrong feet. Sure, you may have to do so in an emergency, but it will feel wrong and you will correct the problem as soon as you can.

 

Hebrews 10:24-25 – 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

#END

Carson — The Farewell Discourse of Jesus — A Review

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D. A. Carson. The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Evangelical Exposition of John 14-17. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2018. 242 pp. $13.89.

 

As a pastor, I have taught through the Gospel According to John at least twice, and of course have gone back to the text many times. Whenever I study this book, I eagerly refer back to D. A. Carson’s commentary in the Pillar set. So I am a fan. And thus I am a fan of this shorter work by Carson aimed at helping anyone in the church body to gain a greater understanding of John 14-17.

 

Carson is a brilliant writer. He can move from faithful exegesis and examination of Greek on the one hand to citing the lyrics of sweet old hymns on the next. He can go from heavy argument on more difficult verses on the one hand to talking us through what it means that Jesus calls us his friends on the next. Carson knows how to be the scholar and he knows how to right as a fellow believer with all the rest of us.

 

Carson’s work on the farewell discourse feels much like his commentaries, though the heavier lifting is not there. Unlike a scholarly commentary, when Carson runs across a debated point in the text in this work, he will not offer 4 or 5 alternative views before making his argument for his preference. Instead, he simply gives us the argument he believes is correct. This is no weakness to this book. Rather, it is a product of the purpose of the text. Carson is writing here for pastors and laypersons who want to go deeper in their study but who do not want to purchase a $50 commentary on the subject. He wants to be readable and understandable without bogging people down in minutia. And Carson, as always, does an excellent job of finding the balance between heavy scholarship and readability.

 

If you would like a solid book to help you to do an in-depth Bible study with other believers on the farewell discourse of Jesus, this would be a great tool for you. No, it is not a fluffy work. No, it does not offer you study questions and outlines for the study. This book simply takes you through the text, shows you its meaning, and draws for you helpful application. If you are interested in such things, this book is a good one.

 

** I received a free copy of this work from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Did Sacrifices Work?

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In the book of Leviticus, the Lord set forth for the people a system of sacrifice, offerings for a variety of purposes. When the people sinned against the Lord, he gave them particular things to do in order to be forgiven. And the forgiveness of sin never came about without the death of an animal. A substitute was put to death in the place of the sinful person. And, hopefully, the people saw that sin is an ugly, bloody, deadly business.

 

And some might wonder why this would work. Why would God allow the blood of an animal to be shed in place of the blood of a sinful person who, according to God’s own law, ought to die for his own sin? How can a bull or a goat or a lamb or a bird be enough to take away my guilt?

 

Hebrews 10:4 – For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

 

Then we read the book of Hebrews, and we see that it is impossible that the blood of such animals could take away sin. There is no way that a bull’s blood is sufficient payment for the wrongs that I have committed before the Lord. There is no way that a sheep’s life can substitute for my own, not really. There is no way that a finite animal could ever make up for my falling infinitely short of God’s perfection.

 

So, obviously the offerings didn’t work, right?

 

Leviticus 4:20 – Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.

 

Note that last phrase, “they shall be forgiven.” Moses did not tell the priests that the offering would not work. In fact, he makes it clear that the sacrifice, the blood, the transference of guilt, the substitution, all of it would lead to forgiveness. This was not a pretend forgiveness. God said they would be forgiven of their sin if they went through this system.

 

So, what gives? How do we understand the sacrifice? Hebrews says that the blood of the animal is not enough. Leviticus says they will be forgiven.

 

Romans 3:23-26 – 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

 

Look at Paul’s explanation for a few of the reasons for the death of Jesus on the cross. Paul tells us that Jesus died to accomplish something glorious. Jesus died for propitiation. He died as an offering for sins in order to take away the wrath of God and turn God’s face of favor toward the saved.

 

We know all that pretty much instinctively if we grew up in a gospel-preaching church. But the next phrase in verse 25 is not one many dwell on: “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” That sentence tells us another reason for the death of Jesus. It says that this, this sacrifice, this propitiation, was for a purpose. It was to prove the righteousness of God. It was to prove that God had never and would never wink at sin and just let it go. The death of Jesus was to prove that God always rightly, justly, and perfectly punishes all sin, all of it. God had, in the time before Jesus, not perfectly punished all sin. He had passed over former sins. How? He had forgiven people who had made the offerings like those in Leviticus, even though the blood of those animals and the lives of those animals were nowhere near enough to be a just and right substitute for the sins of men. Jesus died to show that God is perfectly righteous.

 

In verse 26, Paul further says, “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” God is just and must be just. God also desires to demonstrate his grace. The sacrifice of Jesus allows both to happen, as God is proved to be just, rightly dealing with sin with no tolerance for evil, and at the same time the one who justifies, who makes right in his sight, the one who has faith in Jesus. So God is both perfectly and totally just as he is also perfectly and justly merciful, facts proved by the blood of Jesus.

 

But what about those sacrifices of old? Did they work? Yes and no. The blood of those animals never took away sin. But the blood of those animals pointed to Jesus whose blood would pay the price for sins. It was as if God was reminding himself that all sins would be perfectly punished. Either the sinful man would be justly judged in hell for his sin, or he would be justly forgiven, not because of the blood of the animal, but because of the infinitely perfect sacrifice of the Son of God.

 

Then, were the saved in the old Testament saved by works? No, at least not by their own works. They were saved by God’s grace through faith. They believed God enough to obey his commands to make the sacrifice that would ultimately point to Jesus. They were saved, not by the action of the offering of the bull, nor by the blood of the bull, but by faith in the God of the promise who commanded the offering of the bull, the offering that points all to Jesus.

Unclean

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Some words just stand out. In a read through Leviticus, the word unclean is a big one. It shows up time and time again. In chapter 15, we see all sorts of things that can make you unclean. Honestly, the whole book hammers that point. Touch the wrong kind of animal, unclean. Get the wrong kind of rash, unclean. Touch something dead, unclean. Get a kind of sore, unclean. Get mold in your house, unclean. Eat the wrong kind of food, unclean.

 

Leviticus 15:31 “Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”

 

And it looks like the whole unclean thing is a big deal. You could die in your uncleanness by defiling the tabernacle. This is a dangerous thing.

 

Looking at all this, we want to say, “Man, it looks like anything, even little things, make us unclean.” You want to say, “it looks like I am almost always unclean, always in danger of judgment.” And if you see that, you’re seeing the point.

 

One of the key reasons for the law in the Old Testament is to demonstrate to humanity just how much we need someone to rescue us. In Genesis 3, after the fall of man, God promised that he would send someone special into the world to crush the devil. In Genesis 12, God told Abram that one of his own offspring would be the one to bless the whole world. All of Genesis kept showing us God preserve that promise, keeping it alive though it was threatened. In Exodus, we saw God keep the promise alive by preserving the nation from the attacks of the Egyptians. Later we saw in Exodus that God also preserved the nation by preventing them from destroying themselves, and thus God kept the promise alive.

 

Here in Leviticus, we see how desperate the situation really is. We are  by nature an unclean people. WE do evil things that make us unclean. We live in a fallen world that makes us unclean. We touch things that make us unclean. Our own bodies make us unclean. And we see that we need atonement, or we are without hope.

 

Why are we so without hope? God is clean. God is pure. God is holy. And We have no chance at all to be clean on our own. Everything around us and everything in us seems to be conspiring to make us unclean. So if God does not make a way to make us clean, we are dead.

 

Part of the problem with the way that the world around us views religion is that we no longer have any concept of the unclean. We have, as a society, redefined sin to be the things that society disapproves of. We tend to only think of sin as things we can see hurt others in a measurable way: murder, rape, abuse, theft, bullying, racism, etc. But we have forgotten that to fail to live up to God’s standard of purity, of cleanness, that is also sin, deadly sin. And we do not, we cannot, live up to that standard. We are not good enough. WE can never be good enough.

 

What makes the Old Testament law beautiful? It points us to our need for a Savior. It shows us that God made a way of providing for our being made clean. It showed us that God would open the door for our sin to be atoned for. It, in short, points us to Jesus.

 

What makes the Bible beautiful? God promised to send someone to rescue people from all our evil, our self-destruction, our uncleanness. Then God sent Jesus, God’s own Son, to earth to do the job. Jesus lived clean—nobody else ever did. Jesus died and suffered the punishment for our sins. Jesus rose from the grave and proved that his work was done. Jesus tells us to let go of controlling our lives, to surrender to him, to turn from sin and to trust in him for life. Jesus brings us salvation by grace through faith in him. And when Jesus gives us new life, salvation, and forgiveness, he also gives to us the cleanness to enter the presence of God, a cleanness that we could never have gained on our own.

 

2 Corinthians 5:21 – For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

As you read Leviticus, as you see, unclean, unclean, unclean, let it lead you to two things. Let the word of God remind you that you are not clean, no matter how good you think you are, if you are left to yourself. WE are unclean by nature and by choice. Then let the word of God remind you that Jesus came to make us clean, forgiven, and acceptable to God.

A Life and Death Issue

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In Leviticus 8, we get a whole chapter 36 verses, around a thousand words, about the ordination of Aaron and his sons as the priests in Israel. We see offerings, blood, sacred meals, washings, and all the sorts of things we see regularly in Leviticus. But before we shut off our brains and let it all slide by, we ought to see the words that Moses spoke to his brother as the process was coming to a conclusion, because those words teach us about our own need.

 

Leviticus 8:34-35 – 34 As has been done today, the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. 35 At the entrance of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the Lord has charged, so that you do not die, for so I have been commanded.”

 

The process spelled out took a week. And Aaron had to do it all. Why? Why was this so important to Aaron? He needed to do this stuff, and do it rightly, to be protected. If Aaron was going to minister in the presence of God, touching the holy things of God, he had to be under God’s protection. If not, he and his sons would die. This is why Aaron had to take this so seriously. A mistake here led to death.

 

In that truth is a picture of the gospel for you and me. We must remember that none of us qualify to enter the presence of God. That means, dear friends, that because of our sin, none of us qualify for heaven. Not one of us could survive the presence of God, at least not in our natural state.

 

God made Aaron go through a week long ordination process full of sacrifices and other ceremonies to show how big the gap is between Aaron’s goodness and the cleanness required to enter the presence of God. And in truth, God let Aaron off easy. The gap between Aaron’s goodness and that of God is infinite. In truth, Aaron could have washed for a million years and still not made up for his sin against God in the past. But God was gracious, allowing the sacrifices to atone for Aaron’s guilt. God chose to grant Aaron a grace that would allow him to be in God’s presence.

 

Do you see the gospel here? You and I need to be able to be in the presence of God if we are to go to heaven. If we want to live, we must be covered by the grace of God. But God has also made it clear that we cannot make any animal sacrifice to pay for our sins. Nor can we do enough good in our lives to make up for even one sin against God in his holiness.

 

But God made the way. God sent Jesus, God the Son, to be our sacrifice for sins. God also grants righteousness to his people, not for their doing good, but in response to faith in Christ. The good news is that, though we could never cover over our sins or make ourselves good enough to live in the presence of God, Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection, covers all our need. Turning from sin and entrusting our souls to the care of Jesus in faith leads to our being fully forgiven by God. Turning to Jesus leads to God counting us as righteous because of the righteousness of Christ. This is the only way for us to be saved.

 

Aaron had to go through the bloody ordination process so as not to die when he got near the presence of God. We have a bloody sacrifice that was made on our behalf too, a sacrifice of infinitely more worth than that which allowed Aaron to serve. The Son of God has died to save the souls of all who will come to him. May we not fail to see how great such a sacrifice is. May we see, even in the priestly office of Aaron and his ordination a glimpse of our desperate need for Jesus.

A Reminder of the Image of God

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What makes any human being valuable? That question is at the heart of any person’s actual worldview. Depending on how you view the world, your answer to that question will be vastly different. If you believe that all we are is matter that has fallen together and developed by chance, where is the value in a human life? If you believe that the universe is in itself an organism, and humans are merely cells in the body, why would they be worth any more than a kitten or a rock?

 

But the Bible has always shown us an answer to the question of the value of life that is far clearer, far more consistent with morality, far more helpful as we look at the world. The Bible reminds us that every person in the world has value, high value, simply by being human.

 

Now, before even looking at a verse of Scripture, think about this question: Why is it wrong to oppress the poor? If you are an atheist, what reason do you have that it is a moral wrong to enslave or abuse people for your personal benefit? You might say that it harms society as a whole by shredding the understood social contract. You might say that it is counter-productive in the long run to us as individuals to hurt others. But what makes it wrong? What makes it more than just unhelpful, bad business strategy? What makes it wrong to abuse other human beings if you have the strength to do it and get away with it?

 

Proverbs 14:31

 

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,

but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

 

In this little proverb, we see the Bible stand in opposition to the oppression of the poor. And The reason that the Bible shows us that it is wrong to oppress the weak and needy has nothing to do with social contracts or pragmatism. It is wrong to oppress other human beings because other human beings have been made by God. To intentionally hurt or use people is to attack the Lord God who made them.

 

Remember that in Genesis 1:27, we saw that God made mankind in his image. We exist to display the glory of God. WE are here on earth as little pictures of the fact that there is a God who made us. For us to attack and do harm to humans, then, is for us to attack the very image of God. For us to use and oppress other humans is for us to attempt to do harm to the image of God. When we attack people, we attack God. This is not because people are divine, but because people exist in the divine image.

 

The point here is not to say that all soldiers and police officers cannot use force to protect. In fact, the Bible is clear that such people have been authorized by God to use force to protect the innocent who are created in God’s image. In Genesis 9, God told Noah that murderers would receive death for attempting to destroy the image of God.

 

The point is that God values his image. To intentionally oppress or abuse people is wrong because people exist in the image of God. WE protect human life and move to increase human flourishing because people exist in the image of the Creator. We act to limit cruelty and atrocities because all human life has value. We strive to move people away from immorality and toward obedience to the Lord because we desire their good, their protection, and their salvation by God’s grace through faith in Christ. WE value people, all people—old people, young people, rich people, poor people, white people, black people, brown people, any color of people, people with accents, people who talk like us, people who love us, people who oppose us—we value all people because all people exist in the image of God. That worldview truth gives true and consistent rationale for why we protect people, it is for the glory of God.

Do Something

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I’ve never been a fan of those books that try to develop leadership lessons from the bible. A book that tells me that I can uncover the secret management strategies of Jesus is not going to be one that impresses me. God’s word is about far more serious things than all that.

 

At the same time, the book of Proverbs has for us some of those timeless life lessons that we need to know to survive. There are things in that book that people three thousand years later think they have come up with about living a meaningful and productive life.

 

Proverbs 14:23

 

In all toil there is profit,

but mere talk tends only to poverty.

 

Look at the antithetical, the opposite-looking, parallel lines of that verse for a major and simple life lesson. There is value in work. There is value that comes from taking action. Good leaders know this. Good leaders know that movement in a life or in an organization is often what is needed. Movement in any direction, even a failure or two, is far better than stagnation.

 

The second line contrasts to show us the point of the first. Toil is compared to mere talk. Just talking about a problem or a strategy does nothing. Eventually, talking without work leads to poverty. Multiple meetings, multiple strategy session, developing new plans, new mission statements, and new goals is useless if not accompanied by actual action.

 

Of course Solomon is not against planning. Other proverbs are clear about that. But Solomon is against talking yourself to death without doing something. Planning is good. But nothing happens if nothing happens. We do nothing unless we do something.

 

Think about your life and things that need to happen. Do you need to develop a plan for family worship and devotions? Do you need to reach out to neighbors with the gospel? Do you need to get physically healthier? Do you need to find a job. Plan a little. Think a little. Talk about it a little with someone. But the key in most of those kinds of things is doing something. Do something, even if it is the wrong thing. Risk failing. Just fail forward.

 

You know, of course, that you as an individual are not likely to be strong enough to move a thousand pound automobile. If you want a car’s direction to change, you do not turn it while it is sitting still. But when it is moving, you can steer. That is true in life too. Talking and talking with no action may change nothing. Sometimes the best thing to do is start rolling, see where your action is carrying you, and then steer.

 

Perhaps what would be good for you here is to stop and talk to God for a moment. Ask the Lord where you need to stop worrying, stop planning, stop talking, and start acting. Ask the Lord where in your life it is time to move instead of being paralyzed by indecision. Ask that about yourself, your family, and your church. Let’s be a people who think well, who plan well, and who discuss well. But let’s not be a people who only plan and never act. 

Willing to Believe – A Review

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R. C. Sproul. Willing to Believe: Understanding the Role of the Human Will in Salvation. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, (1997) 2018. 240 pp. $12.18.

 

What is the role of man’s will in his salvation? How fallen is fallen man? Has the fall ruined our ability to respond to God, or has the fall merely damaged that ability greatly? These questions have been asked throughout theological history, and the debate still carries on.

 

In Willing to Believe, R. C. Sproul does the scholar’s work of gathering for his readers the arguments of a set of theologians throughout the history of the church regarding the issue of the human will. Each chapter of this work summarizes the view of a different important figure in the development of theology. Some names are more familiar and some less so. But all the men mentioned in this work have brought something new to the table, for good or for ill.

 

Where this work is valuable is in the summary of the development of Christian doctrine. If a reader wants to see how people from as early as the 4th century or as late as the 20th century have thought about the issue of man’s will and the impact of the fall, this work is very helpful. Students needing to write about the issue of free will could not have a much more helpful volume. And any Christian who hears a name such as Edwards, Calvin, Augustine, or Pelagius, could quickly turn to the appropriate chapter in this book to find out how each figure contributed to the development or confusion regarding the issue of God’s sovereignty and our salvation.

 

This work could, however, leave readers disappointed. If a student wants to see how Sproul would interact with each scholar, she might find the treatments thin. While Sproul points out errors from time-to-time, he does not thoroughly critique each man’s view in such a way that the critique is simple, clear, and powerful. Other works by Sproul offer his own take on the issue of man’s will. And, yes, this book will let you in on Sproul’s view, but there is not, as one might have wanted, a nice summary chapter from Sproul to help his readers wade through the controversy to a simple and clear conclusion.

 

** I received a free copy of this work from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Responding to Insults

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We live in an insulting culture. Social media is full of people sniping at one another from anonymous accounts. Politicians hurl invective after invective at one another. Even the news media is quick to insult or to publish insults. And the atrocity that is daytime television has thrived for decades on letting people watch foolish people snap at each other.

 

But what is a wise response to the insult-driven culture we live in? How are we to react? It is not hard to understand.

 

Proverbs 12:16

 

The vexation of a fool is known at once,

but the prudent ignores an insult.

 

It’s not hard to understand, but it is hard to do. A fool shows his or her annoyance at an insult at once. Anger flairs. A retort flies. But the word of God tells us that the wise course is not to allow offense at the first moment of insult. Instead, wisdom is what people’s moms used to tell them all the time: Just ignore it.

 

The wise person lets an insult go. Why? There is nothing to be gained for us by jumping into the fray. When we are insulted, what do we think to accomplish by engaging the insult? Do we think we will give back a better insult? That is not honoring to the Lord or helpful in society. Do we think we will show the one insulting us the error of their ways? If we are angry or offended, our response will not be effective. Do we think we are going to call those nasty anonymous Twitter folks to account? If they cared about righteousness, they would not be tweeting insults from behind the safe cover of a keyboard and a fake screen name.

 

In truth, we respond to insults most often because of personal pride. How dare you say that about me? How dare you not see me as great as I see myself? How dare you besmirch my reputation? But the truth is, we have no reason to let this be an issue. Insulting words are just that, words. To allow words to stoke a fire in you that requires you to react is a mistake on your part. It is unwise. It is damaging. The far more mature response is to see the insulting words of many as the hollow things they are.

 

Now, I understand that there may be times when you face the wounds of someone who is a friend. In those situations, you may have to go to them, talk it through, and come to a point of reconciliation. That makes sense. There is nothing wrong with sitting down with a friend and telling them, “I was hurt by what you said.” Maybe you will find they meant it a different way. Maybe you will find that there are real things in your life you need to work on. Maybe you will find that they simply got carried away. Maybe you will find that they are not as close a friend as you think.

 

But sitting down with a friend and calmly talking through how their words affected you is not nearly the same as showing your vexation from the beginning. Nor is it the same as screaming out a demand for an apology or trying to return insult for insult. May we be wise enough to know that jumping into the insult game will make us look foolish. Learning to ignore words that do not matter used to be a part of growing up in a mature society. Perhaps our culture has not learned this lesson, but we who know the Lord should learn it for ourselves.  

50 Core Truths – A Review

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Gregg R. Allison. 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith: A Guide to Understanding and Teaching Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2018. 448 pp. $19.36.

 

We do not often find a book that does something that other books are not also doing. This is especially true in the world of systematic theology. But Gregg Allison has given us something fairly unique in 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith.

 

What makes this book different is not that it covers a variety of important theological truths. What makes it unique is that it prepares us to teach these truths to people in our churches. Allison did not intend to give us another twelve-hundred-page theology textbook or another abridged version of such a work. Instead, Allison gives us a teaching tool that is designed to prepare pastors, Sunday School teachers, and small group leaders to help learners make their way through the key truths of the Christian faith. This book is a springboard for teaching, not an attempt to be the end of any discussion.

 

In each chapter of the book, Allison introduces an important doctrine and gives a brief explanation of the concept. If there are differing views on the doctrine among orthodox believers, Allison offers explanations from each point of view. The author also gives his readers examples of major errors that Christians and cults sometimes fall into. He shares with readers ways to live out important truths of the doctrine in their lives, giving us practical implications of some pretty big truths. And Allison presents, in each chapter, an outline of how to teach the doctrine to others along with resources for further study.

 

What is best about this book is its potential to be useful to a great variety of folks. If you want to get a basic understanding of the issues being discussed in a particular doctrine, this book is for you. If you want to know how to communicate the components of a particular doctrine to others in an understandable way, this book is for you.

 

If you are looking for a book that solves for you the debated topics among evangelicals, this book is not for you. Allison will help you to see how different Christians make cases for issues such as baptism, charismatic gifts, election, or end times. But the author will, in the end, instruct you to teach the doctrine in accord with your church’s official stance.

 

I believe that Gregg Allison has done the church a service by writing50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith. This book is easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, easy-to-use, and sure to be helpful to those who want to learn or teach doctrine. I would recommend this to pastors, small group leaders, and students. It is a useful resource to pull off your shelf if you need a quick summary of a doctrine, arguments surrounding that doctrine, and further resources. The fact that Allison has given useful teaching outlines for each doctrine means that this book contains at least 50 solid small group sessions or discipleship classes.

 

** I received a free copy of this work from the publisher in exchange for writing an posting an honest review.