Slender Incursions of Splintered Light

I have to look for cracks and crevices.
Don’t tell me how God’s mercy
Is as wide as the ocean, as deep as the sea.
I already believe it, but that infinite prospect
Gets farther away the more we mouth it.
I thank you for lamenting his absences—
His absence from marriages going mad,
Our sons dying young, from the inescapable
Terrors of history: Treblinka. Vietnam.
September Eleven. His visible absence
Makes it hard for us in our time
To celebrate his invisible Presence.

This must be why mystics and poets record
The slender incursions of splintered light,
Echoes, fragments, odd words and phrases
Like flashes through darkened hallways.
These stabs remind me that the proud
Portly old church is really only
That cut green slip grafted into a tiny nick
That merciful God himself slit into the stem
Of his chosen Judah. The thin and tenuous
Thread we hang by, so astonishing,
Is the metaphor I need at the shoreline
Of all those immeasurable oceans of love.

-Rod Jellema

Disappointed Pt. 2: Wandering Toward Holiness

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago but for some reason didn’t get to post it. This is Part 2 of a series of reflections on things that bother me about my generation (and subsequently, about myself).

Part 1 was about how we tend to be overly obsessive about journeying through life’s stages without being too concerned with our destination. Our fascination with newness is a gut-reaction toward previous generations’ focus on oldness. Whereas previous generations emphasized religious tradition or the deification of reason, our emerging generation asks, “Where did that get us?” resulting in a “we don’t care” mentality. And that sort of mentality leads to our seeking the middle ground in all things.

The middle ground is the new standard. It discourages lengthy debates and strong opinions, unless of course these debates and opinions are held against representations of the previous generation. Our generation is united in our rebellion against the older generation’s issues (i.e.,”Where did that get us?”). So the middle ground is the new moral high ground. But it’s not the high ground–it’s mediocrity.

My generation of Christians also seek the middle ground. We see extremes like conservatism and liberalism and say, “It’s not good to be either, so I’ll just be in-between.” So then you’ve got people who don’t cuss (against liberalism) but then also don’t care about spreading the Gospel (against conservatism), or you’ve got people who don’t engage in premarital sex (against liberalism) but enjoy music with tons of sexual content (against conservatism). The Gospel is not the fine line between conservatism and liberalism — it’s the freedom to do what’s right according to one’s Word-informed conscience with Christ-exalting heart motives.

A growing number of Christians find themselves in the tiresome tension between legalism and liberalism. We know conservatism (of the legalistic variety) is wrong, but don’t know any other way to feel like we’re growing in holiness. So either we return to legalism or we fall into liberalism, saying, “Oh well, if God wants to change me he will do it on his own.” I see most young Christians going in this second direction, while the older generation tends toward legalism.

The other option is not a tension between legalism and licentiousness, but it is still a tension. It’s the tension between radical holiness and radical pardon. It’s about knowing God’s holy standards with regard to sin and righteousness, but also God’s holy provision for sin and righteousness in Christ. Jesus says our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. It has to be more radical than the righteousness born of legalism. It has to be born of the Gospel. It has to come from a heart continually being melted by the grace of God in the Gospel.

The Sufficiency of Christ’s Atonement and the Absurdity of Christian Guilt!

Reflect on the words of this hymn “Why Should I Fear?” by William Williams:

Verse 1
My soul, thou art emerged in sin,
So deep that none can trace;
Look to the ransom God decreed
To clear the guilty race.

Chorus
Had I the guilt of all the world,
He’s able to forgive:
Why should I fear? The debt is paid.
If only I believe.

Verse 2
The atonement once made on the tree,
Can balance many more
Than all the sins of Adam’s race,
If numbered over and over.

Verse 3
He paid the mighty sum and died
For sinners yet unborn;
From men, the works of his own hands,
He suffered shame and scorn.

Bavinck on Compartmentalizing God

I started reading through Herman Bavinck’s Essays on Religion, Science, and Society last Friday. Much of his writings (including his Reformed Dogmatics) cover the intersection of theology with philosophy and culture. In that sense, he is thoroughly Reformed. Surprisingly, his insights into modern thought are still as timely as they were when he first recorded them.

In his essay “The Philosophy of Religion,” he surveys philosophers such as Kant, Rosseau, and Hegel, showing how they all tended to limit religion to “one human faculty,” emphasizing either the rational, mystical, or ethical.  But biblical revelation does not give us license to emphasize one over the other.  He proposes, “if we want to do full justice to religion, we must return to the central unity in man . . . which in Holy Scripture is often designated the heart, from which proceed all expressions of life in mind, feeling, and will.”  In other words, don’t limit your interactions with God to only one realm of life. Don’t compartmentalize God!

God is grieved when we relegate him to our habits of study, prayer, or duty. It is as if we only wish to make him Lord over those particular areas of our lives. That’s why God becomes irrelevant to so many people who are interested in art, politics, leisure, health, social justice, technology, marriage, etc. That’s why when people think of sold-out Christians all that comes to mind are people who read their Bible, read theology, pray, and try to be good.

Bavinck laments the failure of post-reformation theologians to bring the reformed worldview to bear on all of life:

It is even surprising how little the principle of faith that people confessed was developed in different directions or applied to various areas of life in the centuries of orthodoxy. After a time of struggle, when a firm doctrine was established, there soon appeared a traditional dogmatics. Later theologians simply agreed with the earlier pronouncements and naively copied them. Hardly anyone felt a need for development. They rested on the laurels that the fathers had achieved, keeping what they had, but they did not sufficiently consider continuing reformation. That is why in our century there is so much for Reformed peoplt o do, not only academically but also practically.

Disappointed With My Generation (Pt. 1)

I know, the title sounds completely arrogant and self-righteous. Hope you read this anyway.

Usually when someone writes a diatribe against young people in any culture, it tends to come from the assumption that oldness — a commitment to anything traditional or old-fashioned — is superior to the new. Just so you know, I’m not that guy.

Actually, I disdain oldness for a very specific reason related to my disappointment with my generation. Oldness is all about preserving the culture of the past for the sake of it being how it used to be. Contrast that with newness — a commitment to anything progressive or counter-cultural. Oldness is concerned with what is believed to be tried and true, but newness is concerned with experimentation or trial-and-error.

My disdain of oldness is that its proponents have touted the tried but untrue, resulting in the emergence of a new generation committed to aimlessness and triviality. The old generation consisted of truth-seekers, while my generation consists of wanderers who embrace the idea of journeying but have no intention of reaching a destination.

If you think about it both are forms of trendiness, which the progressive counter-culture allegedly rejects but doesn’t. Both stifle creativity, being more reactionary than trailblazing. Both find their identity and thrive in rejecting one another, but this also means they can never exist without one another. All the while, oldness knows that it is old. Newness, on the other hand, is a hypocrite.

This is a philosophical conundrum. Culture is constantly moving between the polar opposites of newness and oldness. Do we forge ahead or return to old paths? If we return to old paths, we hinder good progress. If we continue to forge ahead, how many more creative forms of sin must we construct before we feel satisfied in our novelty? This is an issue our postmodern culture is currently facing, which is why postmodern culture gravitates toward retrofitting things of the past (e.g., Nintendo emulators on iPhones).

Where are we headed in the future? Cultural analysts love asking that question, but they’re asking the wrong question. The question they should be asking is, “Where will we end up?” The question of where we’re headed is concerned with the journeying and not necessarily the destination. But if there is no destination or no way to get there, then why journey to begin with? The point is that the soul’s ache for creativity, journeying, and forging ahead means that we are created and designed for a destination.

The worldview of the Bible answers this conundrum. Proponents of oldness love to quote the Bible in their defense of oldness, but did you know that the Bible is infinitely far more progressive than postmodern culture will ever be? The Bible not only calls us to return to old paths for the sake of their being old, but because those old paths point to a Creator God who is the originator of all that is new (e.g., Isa 42:9, 43:19, 48:6; Ps 98:1, 33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 149:1).

God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning (of oldest old) and the end (of newest new). He is outside of time, meaning that he is not bound by time. As such, he is the only one who is truly able to bring newness to bear on the old. While we merely reinvent, he recreates. If we truly wanted to be progressive, we would go with him instead of constantly trying to rehash ourselves and our cultures in search of some semblance of a new identity.

Trembling and the Cross of Christ

One of my highlights at the NEXT conference was Kevin DeYoung’s message on the life of Christ (audio here).

DeYoung walked us through Luke 8:22-56 where Jesus rebukes a storm, delivers a demoniac, heals a hemorrhaging (thus ceremonially unclean) woman, and resuscitates a dead girl. Such miraculous signs are meant to point us to the greater reality of Christ’s identity as divine Lord. The application of this truth is simple, yet profound: Tremble!

I was reminded of something I’ve grown quite familiar with: Jesus is holy. He is our friend, our elder brother, and our merciful high priest. But he is also the majestic Lord to whom we owe fullest obedience. DeYoung told us, “He is more frightening than you think . . . you may not know Jesus if you’ve never trembled before him.” Jesus’ rebuking the storm and causing it to cease had the effect terrifying his disciples, leading them to conclude that this same man with whom they’ve shared intimate fellowship isn’t exactly safe to be around.

Since that evening, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on what it means to take on the heart-posture of trembling before King Jesus. It means Jesus is not merely cute or cool or my homeboy. It means I do not merely “dabble” in the activities of one who seeks to know and serve him. If there is no holy awe and reverence in my relating to him, then I am guilty of idolatry of the worst kind. Not only do I bow before that which is not God, but I take God’s divine name and ascribe it to a figment of my own imagination.

But to acknowledge such miracles is somehow not enough to cause me to tremble before him. There is a reality far more astonishing than the obedience of a storm, a demon, a sickness, or even death itself. Greater cause for trembling is found in beholding the crucifixion of this holy King.

The wrath of God has fallen upon this holy Son of God! That wrath which is revealed throughout the pages of Scripture against all ungodliness and unrighteousness has fallen on him who is infinitely holy and deserving of worship. Unless I see this, I will not draw near to God in repentance and faith. The crucifixion of God’s holy Son requires my trembling, or else I have no part in its benefits! May I not be too happy in the world to see, mourn, and tremble before the cross of Christ!

Post-Semester Update

After about 3 months or so without any real updates (besides quotes), I think my summer break from school will give me more time to post on here. So uh, here goes…

I probably shouldn’t feel like this, but coming back to this blog is a bit like picking up an old book I could never finish reading (I’ve got plenty of those on my bookshelves) or like some unfinished work of art. Sometimes, that’s what life looks like too. Maybe in the future I’ll look back at this blog and realize how foolish and scatterbrained I was. But good news, when I look back at my life I will see the fingerprints of God’s providence on every memory recorded.

Last semester was tough for a variety of reasons. For one, school kept me busy. But also, thoughts about the future gave me more anxiety than I’ve ever experienced. Right now I feel an immense peace about it all. I realize I’ve been foolish to try to discern all of the details concerning God’s will for my future in pastoral ministry. It seems most if not all guys who enter into pastoral ministry are surprised by where God takes them. I think I’d like to be surprised too. I’m going to trust God to do that.

I just returned from the NEXT conference. The whole conference was centered on the person and work of Jesus. I’ve never been to a event more explicitly Christ-exalting than this one. We learned about Christ’s pre-eminence, incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and return. The teachers were so disciplined in their preparation and delivery. The line up was outstanding: Josh Harris, D. A. Carson, Kevin DeYoung, C. J. Mahaney, and Sinclair Ferguson. Hopefully I’ll post some quotes later on.

Right now I’m in VA staying with my family and catching up with some friends. Then it’s back down to Orlando on Saturday!

Truth is Good For the Soul

I got this e-mail from Catalyst, written by Francis Chan. A good (and challenging) thought to start off the morning.

Try to be COMPLETELY honest with yourself right now. Is the following true of you?

You passionately love Jesus, but you don’t really want to be like Him. You admire His humility, but you don’t want to be THAT humble. You think it’s beautiful that He washed the feet of the disciples, but that’s not exactly the direction your life is headed. You’re thankful He was spit upon and abused, but you would never let that happen to you. You praise Him for loving you enough to suffer during His whole time on earth, but you’re going to do everything within your power to make sure you enjoy your time down here.

In short: You think He’s a great Savior, but not a great role model.

The American church has abandoned the most simple and obvious truth of what it means to follow Jesus: You actually follow His pattern of life. I pray for those who read this article- that we don’t become cynical or negative toward the church. Instead, let’s make a personal decision to stop talking so much and begin living like Jesus. Then we can say as the apostle Paul, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). My guess is that you’ve never had someone say that to you, and you’ve never said it to anyone else. Why Not?

Cultivating Spiritual Cravings

I don’t regularly crave McDonald’s. I think it’s a sign of my spiritual maturity (just kidding).

I only eat McD’s in good company because it’s a completely different experience from eating it alone. I can never get myself to enjoy eating a filet-o-fish on my own, but it tastes twice as good whenever I eat it with others. Then it becomes a feast.

I’ve heard that if you want to get someone else hungry, the quickest and most effective is to eat in front of them. I’ve also heard that this principle applies to the Bible. Reading it, learning from it, applying it, and enjoying it has to be modeled.

I used to always hear that sort of statement and think, “Gee, I’d better start reading my Bible more so that I can inspire spiritual hunger in others.” But that’s missing the point. The point is not, “Read the Bible more!” Rather, watch others eat!

Yesterday one of the visiting professors from RTS Atlanta, John Yeo, shared his experiences learning from the late Edmund Clowney at WTS California. He told us Clowney would cry often as he walked through the pages of the Old Testament and showed the students how every passage points to Christ. Clowney was anything but a dry scholar during his time on earth. His love for Jesus and his enjoyment of God’s Word was infectious!

Luke 24 records a 7-mile walk with Jesus and two disciples after the resurrection. The disciples didn’t recognize who was walking with them until he led them in the most engaging Bible study ever. Verse 27 says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Later on after he left them, the disciples turned to one another and said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (v. 32).

The Gospel In a Paragraph

Couldn’t have said it better than D. A. Carson:

God is the sovereign, transcendent and personal God who has made the universe, including us, his image-bearers. Our misery lies in our rebellion, our alienation from God, which, despite his forbearance, attracts his implacable wrath. But God, precisely because love is of the very essence of his character, takes the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own Son by raising up a people who, by covenantal stipulations, temple worship, systems of sacrifice and of priesthood, by kings and by prophets, are taught something of what God is planning and what he expects. In the fullness of time his Son comes and takes on human nature. He comes not, in the first instance, to judge but to save: he dies the death of his people, rises from the grave and, in returning to his heavenly Father, bequeaths the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of the ultimate gift he has secured for them—an eternity of bliss in the presence of God himself, in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of this God forever, in the torments of hell. What men and women must do, before it is too late, is repent and trust Christ; the alternative is to disobey the gospel.

D. A. Carson. “The Biblical Gospel.” Pages 75–85 in For Such a Time as This: Perspectives on Evangelicalism, Past, Present and Future. Edited by Steve Brady and Harold Rowdon. London: Evangelical Alliance, 1996.