Tag: Christianity

The Lonely Theologian

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Believe me, when I say this – It would be so easy to draw a “crowd.” I know what the right things to say are, the right doctrines and thoughts. I could be thoroughly orthodox in every way and no one would bat an eye and every blog I wrote would get likes, “amens” and maybe a few shares. I could completely immerse myself in a theological tribe and get pats on the back and a thumbs up from my kin all the while completely selling out on what is I really believe. If you want the easiest path to being liked by others in the Christian Faith let me tell you what to believe (on top of the obvious stuff about Jesus, the Trinity, Scripture and salvation which are non-negotiable):

  1. That the universe is roughly 6000-10000 years old. Christians love this one because Jesus said in order to receive eternal life you must firmly hold to the idea that the universe is young and then be born again… obviously.
  2. The Bible is to be read at face value and read literally. I mean because every single one of us reads the Scriptures in its original languages and has a thorough understanding of its original context. Wow! Amazing!
  3. That all we need to do is read just “read Bible.” We just need a “simple faith.” Amen, I mean who needs over 2000 years of theological thought, translation and reflection to at all help how we understand God’s Holy Word right?
  4. That the Bible is about me and you. The authors of the Bible wrote Scripture fully anticipating a white Western 21st Century Christian to be reading about food safety laws in Leviticus thousands of years later. How considerate.
  5. That our tribe has it all figured out. This one just speaks for itself.

Satire? Yes. I hope you get the point.

Trust me, being a theologian (though I’m not sure if I’d really consider myself as one) is lonely and tough work. You read and pray, and think and pray, and discuss and pray, and read some more. We’re in “ivory towers” not just because we choose to be there ourselves, but because sometimes we’re exiled to the ivory towers by the community of Christians we usually hang around. Usually, what ends up happening one way or another is that what you once thought you knew ends up changing or at least being convincingly challenged. This is extremely isolating because at least in my experience, you start believing and working through things that no one else likes and you become alienated even from people you were closest too. I make note of this issue in a blog I recently wrote but I’ll reiterate it here. Being a good theologian, even a good Christian is embracing “the wrong.” We should love it, look for it and welcome it like a dear friend. There is nothing more humbling and even exciting than realising something we’ve held to our entire lives wasn’t quite right and that there is an entirely new world of waiting for us to take hold of.

I guess my indictment is this. Let’s kill our theological golden calves before we “kill” one another. There are truths worth dying for –  but there aren’t any worth killing for.

The Sin of Scepticism: Finding Wisdom in an Age of Criticism

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The Age of Reason gave birth to the sceptic in a way never before experienced by humanity. All of a sudden, everything we read and believed was to be grounded in evidence and reason. If it didn’t make sense then it didn’t exist. In a lot of ways, this was really great. We could call in to question once held to beliefs, challenge them, and we could see if they held ground. This paved the way to a lot of what we have today technologically and even what we’ve rediscovered historically. Unfortunately, scepticism has become the default position of our generation, it has become one of the greats gods of our era. Recently, a good friend of mine asked me “Why do you reckon we find it easier to be negative and sceptical than positive?”

Love is the quintessential epicentre of Christ and ergo, the Christian faith. We are seriously terrible at loving people because we’ve learnt to hate our entire lives. What I mean is this. Consider one of the great meta-narratives making its way throughout our time. “You’re special. You’re smart. Whatever you put your mind to, you can achieve. You’re important.” This narrative perpetuates the notion that the individual is the most important thing in existence. We’re taught to love ourselves, to think highly of ourselves, and to believe we can do anything if we just try… and even then we’re still utterly amazing if we don’t. However, in the never-ending quest of self-love, we actually end up seeing others as less important, less special, less intelligent, less capable, and less wise. One can see how steeped in pride this is, easily leading to hating your brother and thinking him a fool.

Let me be clear if you’re reading this: in and of yourself, you are extremely mundane.  This is hard for us to come to terms with because every movie we watch, or book we read, the world is telling us that we’re destined for greatness, that we’re the chosen one who’s going to bring balance to the Force, that we can destroy the Matrix, throw the ring into Mt. Doom, and save the princess. Reality sucks. People go their entire lives and die without ever finding love, purpose or meaning. It’s tragic but nonetheless real.

Second, is change and challenge. We automatically disagree with new or different positions because change is an incredibly hard thing to have us do. Why? Because realising that you have to change and grow is admitting to yourself and to the world around you that you’re not as perfect as you thought. It’s an immensely humbling and often painful process which is why it might take years for someone to even shift their perspective on a certain issue let alone change the way they live.

Third, positive reinforcement, and having an open disposition to others’ opinions rather than being immediately dismissive means believing that another might have more wisdom than you. This is a big struggle for a lot of us because we’ve lived our lives acting (never admitting) that we’re always right about anything and everything we hold to. All of a sudden, someone else might know better than you and that’s a huge kick in the backside – extremely deflating to one’s ego (especially mine).

Finally, let me say this. I think God holds Christians to a high standard. The Scriptures tell us that Christ has become the wisdom of God, and we’re in Him (1 Cor 1:26-30), and if the Fall was about us living by our own wisdom and not God’s (Gen 3), then we’re called to not be wise in our own sight (Rom 12:14-21), to uphold one another in honour (Rom 12:10), and to even consider others better then ourselves (Philip 2:3). Now we’re getting somewhere, no we’re displaying the love of God. So, instead of coming into a conversation or situation with an attitude of disbelief or with scepticism, we should be asking “what can God teach me through this person. Especially, if all things are worked out for my good (Rom 8:28), even this conversation?”

Learning from the Puritans: Communion with the Triune God by John Owen

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I remember reading J. I. Packer a few years ago and being struck when he said that the Puritans are like the Redwood trees of the Christian world (the Redwoods are the biggest trees in America). And I remember being even more struck when he said: “And John Owen is the greatest of the Redwoods”.

And just as the Redwood trees would be a momentous climb, so John Owen requires a momentous effort to read. He even laments his own writing style. But I firmly believe his writings and works are worth all the toil in the world.

This short blog on communion with God is really an attempt to make accessible what John Owen has to say about how we worship the Father and the Son in an intimate and particular way. The aim of this blog is to elicit deeper and richer worship.

So how do we worship the Father, and the Son?

The Father: Owen begins pastorally by helping us to see that we commune with the Father in love. Christians should see that the Father is full of love for us. I think it’s tempting for us to sometimes think that God the Father only loves us because Jesus died for us. But notice the order of John 3:16. It’s because God loved the world that he sent his Son to die for it. Because God set his affections upon us he paved the way back for us to commune with him through the sacrifice of his Son.

And there are two responses from us if we’re to have communion with God the Father. First, we must receive this love by faith, and through Christ. We need to see, behold, and hold on to the fact that as the light of the sun comes to us and warms us by its beams, so through Jesus, the beams of the Father’s love comes to us with delight. Second, we are to respond in love as we marvel at the fullness of the Father’s love towards us. A right understanding of God’s love to us must pass through the head and into the heart. And when the heart is warmed by the love of God we cannot help but love him back. Ephesians 1:4 begins with God’s love to us in Christ, and finishes with our love for him.

The Son: We commune with Jesus Christ in grace. Grace is everywhere described to Jesus Christ. Grace and truth came through Christ (John. 1:16-17). We commune with Christ in grace in three ways.

  1. Grace as personal beauty. We commune with Christ in his beauty because we are desperately needy. As Christians, we can assume that when we first come to saving faith we are needy and Christ meets our need. But then we eventually move on and lose our neediness. But this isn’t the case, we never become not needy. But the good news is that Christ never becomes not sufficient to meet our needs. The Father was pleased for the fullness to dwell in Christ (Col. 1:19). Because of his fullness, Christ meets our every need. Are you dead? Christ is your life. Are you weak? Christ is your strength. Are you ignorant? Christ is your wisdom. Are you guilty? Christ is your righteousness. As we see Christ’s sufficiency for our every need we commune with him in the grace of his beauty.
  2. Grace as acceptance. Paul in the book of Ephesians reminds us that we’ve been saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). This grace is the free undeserving acceptance of God the Father through the blood of Christ. This grace is extended to us because of the perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And so we get to commune with him as the blood brought bride.
  3. Grace as renewal, and the enabling to walk in the holiness of a new life. This is an organic grace that we receive from Christ. It’s a grace that Jesus works in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. In John 15, Jesus says he is the vine, and we are the branches. When we are united to Christ by faith he will produce good fruit in us. This is a work of his grace.

So next time you drop to your knees in prayer, consider the unique ways you can pray to God the Father in love, and God the Son in grace. Consider how you relate to each member in particular. And may your walk with God become richer, deeper, and more meaningful in the years ahead.

Part II on the Spirit still to come…

Written by

Daniel Barden

Love is More Complicated Than You Think

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So I had this thought while driving to work this morning, “love is more complicated than you think.” On the one hand, it’s really simple, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Simple yes, the problem is though love gets a seriously bad wrap in the 21st century so the idea of loving your neighbour can be often misunderstood to mean a few things:

  1. Love is often misunderstood to mean that you should just lay down and die. Love does not mean that you’re a welcome matt for everyone to walk over. Love means service and sacrifice, but it doesn’t need to mean abused slave (persecution is an exception). I can’t even count the number of times I’ve seen Christians roll over and die for the sake of “loving your enemy or neighbour” (Mark 12:30-31). All I’m saying is this, Christian, be careful you’re not using love as an excuse to justice a passivism of idolatry. Be careful you’re not using love as a way to get out of confrontation because you’re afraid of what people might think of you or do to you. God uses the weak, yes (1 Corinthians 1:7). But sometimes He needs fearless warriors as well (Ephesians 6:13-18). This sorta leads into my next point.
  2. Perhaps it’s my sinful self but nothing frustrates me more than Christians allowing someone to do something in the name of love but at the expense of justice. Alright guys, let’s get real here. God hates injustice and iniquity (Psalm 5:5; Proverbs 6:16-19; Isaiah 59; Luke 12:45-46). He hates the oppression of the poor, the widowed and marginalised of the world (Psalms 68:5; 1 Timothy 5; James 1:27). Time and time again I see Christians use loving people as an excuse to not boldly call out when there’s something wrong happening in our communities because there’s a belief that being a meek and mild passive Christian seems to be more loving then stopping someone from doing something bad. Oh and that reminds me.
  3. Stop using love as an excuse for sin. This is the real fundamental issue. Time and time again Christians use love as an excuse to let people off the hook for their sin. “Don’t judge” they say, or “just love them, dude.” Let me be absolutely clear there is nothing more unloving, more ungodly, more unchristlike then allowing a person or persons, in the name of love, to perpetuate sin, injustice and chaos in a world where God wants to make all things new and free from these very things (Proverbs 17:15; Matthew 18:15-17).

All this tends to fly in the face of the modern concept of love. Allowing people to do what they want, acceptance and endorsement. This couldn’t be more unbiblical and, dare I say, abhorrent to the God of the Bible.

So then, what is love? This is where it becomes a touch more complicated because the Bible only gives us hints and clues but really leaves the practice up to wisdom and discernment. Love is servanthood and sacrifice (Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:10), it’s patient and kind (1 Corinthians 13:4-8), humble but also fierce, it’s human flourishing at its finest (Genesis 1-2). Love is the main game but it’s the sort of love we find in Jesus’ whole life and ministry. Jesus was, by today’s standards fairly judgemental, corrective of sin, stood out against the oppressed and marginalised, but loved the world so much that He died for it (John 3:16). He was the ultimate servant of humanity (Philippians 2). We need a complete and holistic perspective on Jesus’ character if we are to imitate Him. 

Must Read Books and Theologians: Part I

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N.T. Wright

Wright will probably go down in history as one of the greatest theologians/scholars of our age. He is a monster when it comes to writing books (he pumps one out every day I swear), and his work in the historical Jesus is unmatched. There isn’t a single book that won’t make you walk away with a fresh perspective and a greater appreciation for Scripture and theology.

  • Surprised by Hope 

Surprised by Hope is probably one of his more well-known works. This book almost single-handedly changed the way modern evangelicals think about the last days, heaven, the judgement to come. If there was one book out of this list you should absolutely read it’s this one.

  • The Day the Revolution Began

An excellent book on thinking over the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. For a more in-depth review click here.

  • Pauline Perspectives: 1978-2013

This was my first introduction to Wright. I gotta admit, when I first read it, I had no idea what was being said. It’s a dense read and has over thirty years of scholarship for you to comb through. If you can get through it then you deserve a clap. Good luck.

  • Paul: A Biography

A great introduction to the person and work of the Apostle Paul. For a good review on this book click here.

G. K. Beale 

Beale is an absolute genius and knows his biblical theology almost better than anyone I’ve read. If you want to understand how our eschatology integrates with the here and now as well as with the biblical narrative look no further.

  • A New Testament Biblical Theology

No pastor’s library is complete without Beale’s A New Testament Biblical Theology and A Commentary on the New Testaments Use of the Old Testament. These books are worth their weight in gold as you go back to it time and time again to make sense of the passage you’ll be preaching through.

  • The Temple and the Church’s Mission

Originally recommended to me by a good friend of mine, The Temple and the Church’s Mission coupled with Kingdom Come by Sam Storms thoroughly convinced of Amillennialism and it’s implications for the Christian life. Look no further dear reader.

  • We Become What We Worship

I first heard of this book through my old bible college lecturer as he was going through the idea of identity and idolatry (another great book by the way). I’ve gotta say, thinking about sin, and how we become what we worship changes the way you look at life on a fundamental level. I cannot recommend this book enough.

  • Revelation

I’ll be blunt. If you want a solid commentary on the book of Revelation, start here.

C.S. Lewis 

Does this man need an introduction? If you’re not sure who he is… where have you been? This guy is a legend and definitely belongs in the theological hall of fame.

  • The Chronicles of Narnia

Yes… ok… not very theological I know. However, go deeper dear reader and you’ll begin to discover and taste some of Lewis’ idea as they jump off the page in this grand story. Besides, this is a classic… so just read it ok?

  • The Screw Tape Letters

Edgey, scary, and so very thought provoking. The Screw Tape Letters are probably one of the best books ever written on the topic of spiritual warfare. It won’t be long until you start to adopt a more spiritual perspective of reality.

  • The Great Divorce

Hell yes. This book is so confusing but rich at the same time. I recently wrote a blog on hell that mentions this book, and let me just say The Great Divorce adds a lot of shape to the conversation around the nature of hell. Go! Read it.

John Walton

Walton is a great as he can be controversial. Personally, I love everything he does. However, he stirs up Christians who tend to read the Bible more literally. What fun!

  • The Lost World of Genesis One

The first book in his lost world series, Walton really digs deep into the ancient near eastern world, develops the context, and places the Scriptures in that world. Worth a read he is honestly one of the best people for this job. For a deeper review, click here.

  • The Lost World of the Flood

I personally clicked with this book better than Genesis one, but it’s similar in style and content, copy and paste above 🙂

  • A Survey of the Old Testament

A Survey of the Old Testament by Hill and Walton was actually my textbook for bible college. It’s easy to read, informative and a great resource to introduce anyone to the big picture of the Old Testament.

Other Must-Read Books and Theologians

  • The Cradle, The Cross, and the Crown by Andreas J. Konstenberger

One of the best New Testament introductions I’ve personally had the pleasure of reading.

  • Desiring the Kingdom by James K. A. Smith

Amazing. Compliments Beale’s theology on idolatry and worship. Smith is simply brilliant.

  • The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser

Still making my way through it as I’ve given it a friend. From what I’ve read of it and heard of Heiser on his podcast, the biblical theology in this is stunning, challenging and extremely thought-provoking. Expect a more in-depth review of this in the future.

Delightful.