My younger daughter, knowing of my affection for reducing the Christian gospel to a pithy phrase on a church sign, sent me a text this weekend to add to my collection. Here’s what the church sign said, “I seek not for a faith that moves a mountain but faith that moves me.” She apparently has been listening to Dad over the years, and commented, “Wouldn’t we want a bigger faith than one that affects only us?”
There have been times in my life when I’ve searched the Scriptures, seeking some basis for thinking that faith was ultimately about me. Sometimes I’ve dreamed of thinking that it would be great if I could get in my car in the morning, hit the remote control for the garage door, drive to work, go straight to the office and close the door, come out and elucidate my classes from on high, go back to the office, get in the door, drive home and hit the remote control to open and close the garage door. After all, all I want is a “faith that moves me.”
But those searches have proven to be futile, selfish, overly individualistic efforts on my part to think it is somehow all about me! Thankfully, despite the fact that I can be very comfortable locked in an office doing research in uninterrupted fashion, someone along the way taught me well that from the point of view of Jesus, He comes when “two or more are gathered in His name.” (Matthew 18:20) It really isn’t so much about “Jesus and me,” but more about “Jesus and us.”
And it is the “us-factor” that should make us want faith that “moves mountains.” When Jesus looked around at the “us-factor” of His world, He saw people who could only be described as “sheep without shepherds.” (Matthew 9:35-38) If Jesus is the paradigm for how we live out the gospel, it is hard to imagine how I could ever be too focused on what’s in this for me. There are mountains to move – and they can only be moved by faith!
When I see and hear comments like this, I wonder if a part of our problem is that we wrongly assume that the power of faith is rooted in how much faith we have, rather than the object of our faith. I don’t think it can be said better than Dean Walker said it: “The power of the Christian faith lies in the person of Christ, through whom we are redeemed and endowed with new creation by the action of God in Christ.” (Adventuring for Christian Unity, page 121)That sounds like “mountain-moving faith” if ever there was such faith!
Ours is a faith focused on community, not self. Miroslav Volf says it well when he suggests “because the triune God is not a private deity, one cannot create a private fellowship with this God.” (After Our Likeness, page 33) Faith really isn’t about “moving me,” but rather about entering a relationship with a God who is in the business of moving mountains.
Our very individualistic culture is constantly tempting us to think that the gospel is all about me. Perhaps that is one of the mountains we need to start moving – by faith!
25 August 2011
10 August 2011
Discipleship
Acts 6:7 is the first of a series of six summary statements that seem to be used by Luke to shift the story line in Acts. Like the entire collection of summaries, this one is remarkable in its description of what the church looked like. Here is what Luke says: The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7, NRSV)
There are some very powerful verb ideas in that sentence – continued to spread, increased greatly, and became obedient. What makes them even more impressive in their testimony to life in the early church is that they summarize the earliest life of the church.
Think about the story line in Acts thus far. It all started with the followers of Jesus, eye witnesses to the resurrection, a bit confused about the whole Jesus thing. “Are you going to restore the Kingdom to Israel at this time?” was their question just before His ascension. Jesus’ response was simply “Go and wait.”
Wait they did – and on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon them, these otherwise confused and frightened followers boldly proclaim “This Jesus, whom you have crucified, God has made both Lord and Christ.” A mega-church was born that day – 3000 people (likely just counting the men) were baptized. That was a pretty impressive “first Sunday” by anyone’s standards!
They continued to bear witness to the gospel, and the church continued to have an impact on its Jerusalem community. A great Christian community is being formed in which there were no persons who had unmet needs. (Again, pretty impressive by anyone’s standards.) We meet people like Joseph, whose witness was so impressive the apostles gave him a new name – Barnabas, son of encouragement. We read the unfortunate story of Ananias and Sapphira and their horribly negative witness. There is a bit of persecution of the followers of Jesus – perhaps summarized in Acts 5:41 where Luke says, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.
For the first time since Luke 22:45, the word disciples is used Acts 6:1 to describe the followers of Jesus – perhaps suggesting that in Luke’s mind, the church really is the continuation of “what Jesus began to do and teach.” (Acts 1:1) The last story of this first “act of Acts” ends with those powerful verbal idea – spreading, increasing, obeying. Apparently Luke views such ministry as the work of those who see themselves as disciples of Christ – continuing the ministry He began.
I wonder if perhaps my own life as a disciple would be more productive if I were brave enough to evaluate it with words like spreading, increasing, and obeying. Then what about those I have the privilege to influence – are they spreading, increasing, and obeying?
When I review the story line of Acts – there seems to be this rather consistent idea that the primary focus of these early Christians was simply to follow Jesus as disciples. That idea has all sorts of implications for them in their culture – as it does for us in our own culture. It transcends culture in ways that are both amazing and filled with potential.
All of this leaves me with a simple question: If I were writing a summary of my life, my discipleship for Christ – would words like spreading, increasing, and obeying be the words I would honestly use!
There are some very powerful verb ideas in that sentence – continued to spread, increased greatly, and became obedient. What makes them even more impressive in their testimony to life in the early church is that they summarize the earliest life of the church.
Think about the story line in Acts thus far. It all started with the followers of Jesus, eye witnesses to the resurrection, a bit confused about the whole Jesus thing. “Are you going to restore the Kingdom to Israel at this time?” was their question just before His ascension. Jesus’ response was simply “Go and wait.”
Wait they did – and on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon them, these otherwise confused and frightened followers boldly proclaim “This Jesus, whom you have crucified, God has made both Lord and Christ.” A mega-church was born that day – 3000 people (likely just counting the men) were baptized. That was a pretty impressive “first Sunday” by anyone’s standards!
They continued to bear witness to the gospel, and the church continued to have an impact on its Jerusalem community. A great Christian community is being formed in which there were no persons who had unmet needs. (Again, pretty impressive by anyone’s standards.) We meet people like Joseph, whose witness was so impressive the apostles gave him a new name – Barnabas, son of encouragement. We read the unfortunate story of Ananias and Sapphira and their horribly negative witness. There is a bit of persecution of the followers of Jesus – perhaps summarized in Acts 5:41 where Luke says, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.
For the first time since Luke 22:45, the word disciples is used Acts 6:1 to describe the followers of Jesus – perhaps suggesting that in Luke’s mind, the church really is the continuation of “what Jesus began to do and teach.” (Acts 1:1) The last story of this first “act of Acts” ends with those powerful verbal idea – spreading, increasing, obeying. Apparently Luke views such ministry as the work of those who see themselves as disciples of Christ – continuing the ministry He began.
I wonder if perhaps my own life as a disciple would be more productive if I were brave enough to evaluate it with words like spreading, increasing, and obeying. Then what about those I have the privilege to influence – are they spreading, increasing, and obeying?
When I review the story line of Acts – there seems to be this rather consistent idea that the primary focus of these early Christians was simply to follow Jesus as disciples. That idea has all sorts of implications for them in their culture – as it does for us in our own culture. It transcends culture in ways that are both amazing and filled with potential.
All of this leaves me with a simple question: If I were writing a summary of my life, my discipleship for Christ – would words like spreading, increasing, and obeying be the words I would honestly use!
09 August 2011
Come and See!
I know I am a bit biased when it comes to students at Point University. So I recognize that it is possible that my loyalty to and admiration of them sometimes reflect that bias. I don’t say that as some sort of confession or apology – why would someone be in the role I am and not feel that way?
Probably, more than any other person on campus, I know our students aren’t perfect. In some ways I’m glad they aren’t, because if they were, I wouldn’t be qualified to work here! And if they were absolutely perfect, then what need would they have for coming to this institution in the first place?
I just spent Sunday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon at Woodland Christian Camp and Retreat Center with our Campus Life Ministers – the student group that works with student development at Point University to help create and nurture the Christian community that we want our campus to be. These students apply for the opportunity to serve as campus life ministers, get references, go through a process of interviews, and are chosen to make this commitment. In obvious ways, they are representatives of the kinds of students that make up this campus.
This retreat was one of the most rewarding few days I’ve spent in a while. I couldn’t be more impressed with the quality of the students with whom my office will be working this year and the commitment they all have to making Point University “the college of choice for students seeking a Christian learning community that is academically challenging, spiritually vibrant and globally engaged.” (Point University Vision Statement)
In preparation for the retreat, our summer reading assignment was "The Next Christians" by Gabe Lyons. Our theme for the year is “Renewing and Restoring: How Things Ought to Be.” We talked a lot about the implications of that book and its message on how we do ministry this year. Interestingly, Lyons calls the kinds of Christians he believes will be crucial in transforming our world “restorers.” Among the qualities of “restorers” as he sees it are that they are:
Provoked, not offended
Creators, not critics
Called, not employed
Grounded, not distracted
In Community, not alone
Countercultural, not “relevant.”
I wish that all the critics of young adult Christians in our culture could have heard our discussions about these six statements. I especially wish all the critics of Point University could have listened in to our discussion. As Paul describes it in Ephesians 3:20, 21 – God can work through young adults like this “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.”
Are Point University students fully mature and absolutely perfect? No. But the simple truth is that they never have been. I recently saw a letter written to students at Atlanta Christian College by President Redmon in 1968. It was in response to the fact that even back then in the good old days, students weren’t perfect. One line from the letter makes that obvious: “Some have broken college rules and have engaged in conduct unbecoming of Christians.”
I have no idea who those particular students were – it was written before my own student days. It could have, however, been written during my student days; and while we tend to talk about our covenant more than we do rules, it could be written today. That’s the story of all humans – and to pretend otherwise, especially to pretend that our own struggles didn’t exist, is to live with blinders that betray the truth.
Our Covenant for a Christian Community introduces life at Point University identifying several issues that are foundational to what we want to see happen on our campus. Words and phrases like young Christian adults, maturity, community, redemptive, spiritual oversight, and openness to growth describe how we hope to advance the Kingdom of God, both on our campus and around the world.
If what I saw the past few days at are treat is indicative of what this final year on the East Point campus for the traditional program will be like, then I have to say Paul was right – it is more than we can “ask for or think about.”
Probably, more than any other person on campus, I know our students aren’t perfect. In some ways I’m glad they aren’t, because if they were, I wouldn’t be qualified to work here! And if they were absolutely perfect, then what need would they have for coming to this institution in the first place?
I just spent Sunday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon at Woodland Christian Camp and Retreat Center with our Campus Life Ministers – the student group that works with student development at Point University to help create and nurture the Christian community that we want our campus to be. These students apply for the opportunity to serve as campus life ministers, get references, go through a process of interviews, and are chosen to make this commitment. In obvious ways, they are representatives of the kinds of students that make up this campus.
This retreat was one of the most rewarding few days I’ve spent in a while. I couldn’t be more impressed with the quality of the students with whom my office will be working this year and the commitment they all have to making Point University “the college of choice for students seeking a Christian learning community that is academically challenging, spiritually vibrant and globally engaged.” (Point University Vision Statement)
In preparation for the retreat, our summer reading assignment was "The Next Christians" by Gabe Lyons. Our theme for the year is “Renewing and Restoring: How Things Ought to Be.” We talked a lot about the implications of that book and its message on how we do ministry this year. Interestingly, Lyons calls the kinds of Christians he believes will be crucial in transforming our world “restorers.” Among the qualities of “restorers” as he sees it are that they are:
Provoked, not offended
Creators, not critics
Called, not employed
Grounded, not distracted
In Community, not alone
Countercultural, not “relevant.”
I wish that all the critics of young adult Christians in our culture could have heard our discussions about these six statements. I especially wish all the critics of Point University could have listened in to our discussion. As Paul describes it in Ephesians 3:20, 21 – God can work through young adults like this “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.”
Are Point University students fully mature and absolutely perfect? No. But the simple truth is that they never have been. I recently saw a letter written to students at Atlanta Christian College by President Redmon in 1968. It was in response to the fact that even back then in the good old days, students weren’t perfect. One line from the letter makes that obvious: “Some have broken college rules and have engaged in conduct unbecoming of Christians.”
I have no idea who those particular students were – it was written before my own student days. It could have, however, been written during my student days; and while we tend to talk about our covenant more than we do rules, it could be written today. That’s the story of all humans – and to pretend otherwise, especially to pretend that our own struggles didn’t exist, is to live with blinders that betray the truth.
Our Covenant for a Christian Community introduces life at Point University identifying several issues that are foundational to what we want to see happen on our campus. Words and phrases like young Christian adults, maturity, community, redemptive, spiritual oversight, and openness to growth describe how we hope to advance the Kingdom of God, both on our campus and around the world.
If what I saw the past few days at are treat is indicative of what this final year on the East Point campus for the traditional program will be like, then I have to say Paul was right – it is more than we can “ask for or think about.”
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