Thoughts on Sovereignty

[This is a rather long, probably rambling thought on the question, "If God deserves the full credit for the salvation of the elect, does He also share the full blame for the damnation of the rest?"]

I have written on this before, but the topic has arisen once again and it is an important topic, fully worthy of two posts on my prestigious blog.

The issue of sovereignty is, at its core, the age old question, “Is God good?” Some think sovereignty is about Gods power verses our lack of power, but that is merely the first level of the discussion, and it is rather easily answered. With just little research and discovery we find that He has all power and we have none, or we have none outside of that which He has given us.

No, the much more pressing question is, how does this all-powerful God choose to use His power? Is He giving and kind or sadistic and evil? It is the question the serpent first posed to Adam and Eve in the garden. Would God really be so cruel as to deprive you of His good fruit? Would he really kill you simply because you ate of it?

Before we go much further let me say that there is only one answer to the question, “Is God good?” It is a whole-hearted “Yes!” Jesus uses goodness as His standard for God. When the people called Him “good teacher” He reminded them that there is only one who is good, and that is God. By definition anything God does is good, regardless of how it looks through our eyes.

With that as our foundation let us consider a more specific case; whether God has found it good to create some people for His glory and others for His wrath. This is the end reality of most discussions about the chosen and elect. In our desire to give God full credit for our salvation (which He deserves) we often paint a picture in which He also receives full credit for the damnation of the lost.

Though I am willing to accept that premise, I neither desire to do so nor do I think it is necessary according to Scripture.

One objection is somewhat subjective, loosely resting upon principle’s found in Scripture. It has to do with my nature as a father in light of God, the ultimate Father. He says of me that I am evil, and yes I still desire good for my children. How much more, He continues, does He want good things for His children? In Matthew this was not directed only at people who were destined for eternity with God. He was speaking in a more general term, relating our “good” wickedness to his perfect goodness.

Imagine a scene that took place five years ago as my wife and I were discussing children. We decided that we wanted two, a son and a daughter. We hoped to have the son first and the daughter second, some two years later.

The son will be our treasure. Each day we will shower him with love, and each night he will fall asleep secure in our acceptance and care.

The daughter will be reserved for our wrath. Each day she will receive only what she needs to survive. We will not let her die so that we can torture her for another day. Each night we will cut, burn, and beat her and then throw her into a room of utter darkness to fall asleep in her misery.

After this talk we look at each other and agree that our plan is good, in fact it is very good. Then we rest and go to bed.

My stomach squirms just writing these things. They are so far from the truth as to be horrific and ghastly. No sane person would read that conversation and call it “good”. And, if I heard anyone talking like that about my children I would do whatever it took to stop it. I would die before I let my daughter be treated in such a way.

In that light it is no great stretch for me to believe God’s heart went out in the same way about His own sons and daughters. Then, in His great power and mercy he made sure that it did not have to be that way. He would do whatever it takes to redeem His creation. And he did it.

Scripture is extremely clear that when God redeemed creation through Jesus that He completed the task. He saved all, fixed it all, and covered it all. Every wrong was righted; every sin covered when Jesus paid the price and proved His power.

This is what we expect from a good and powerful God. When we were completely unable to save ourselves from an eternity of suffering He stepped in and saved us.

And yet Scripture is also clear that some will not be saved. Some will experience God’s wrath for all eternity. That is really where the problem arises. If God were to say to us, “All will be saved, even if you don’t think they should be,” ten we would deal with it. We might not like it, but in submission to His will we would live with it. Jesus told a parable similar to that after all and the message was clear; God’s mercy is much greater than ours.

But, God does not say that. He tells us that some will be judged for all time in endless fire and separation. How does that happen? We only have two choices. The first is that God decided from the beginning that it would be good to create some things for the sole purpose of releasing His wrath upon them. The second is that He created us with the ability to reject His love and choose His wrath instead.

I reject the first option for two reasons. First it goes against the definition of love that God uses to describe Himself. (His very nature is love, defined as fully giving oneself for another. Wrath receives its definition from love, as the absence of true love.) Second, God says that each will be judged according to his own words and deeds.

Some hesitate to land upon the second option for fear that it will raise a new problem. For, if someone is able to choose death, then couldn’t they also choose life? Not necessarily. Let us take the first man and woman as an example.

What part did Adam and Eve play in the life they discovered? None. Yet, what part did they play in their own death and separation from God? Every part according to God, perhaps somewhat shared with the serpent.

Similarly let us consider the children of Israel. What part did they play in their rescue from Egypt? None. And yet to whom does Scripture attribute the blame for those who died in the wilderness? Certainly not to God. The terms “hardened hearts, disobedience, and unbelief” describe those who were saved from Egypt and yet did not enter His rest.

Might the process of our salvation follow a similar pattern? Might it be more of a process than a single point in time? What if we are all dead in our sins, bound in slavery until God comes and breathes new life into us, setting us free with the offer of eternal life? What if when Scripture says that Jesus died once for all it means just that? That all of us who are by our sinful nature objects of God’s wrath are offered freedom? It has nothing to do with any action or choice we take; God just chose to pay the price for our sin and offers us new life. And this new life is offered to us all, in fact it is granted to us all in his superior grace and mercy. He says to everyone, “Come and eat, enter my rest!”

What then do we say of those who end up experiencing God’s wrath? Perhaps it is of those that the author of Hebrews refers in chapter 6:4-6, “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

This is a picture of one who has been freed from the blindness of sin, who has tasted the breath of life… and yet then rejects that very life choosing to embrace death instead.
And so God retains full credit for all those who are saved, and yet He holds none of the blame for those who are condemned.

Generational Change

Change. It is a hot topic these days as many people find themselves dissatisfied with the status quo. In all of our recent talk about change we seem to have forgotten an important fact.

It often takes as long to change the status quo as it took to establish it.

We know this is true from experience. If you spend ten years adding weight to your physical frame, don't expect it to come off in ten weeks. If you spend ten years building your debt portfolio (car, credit cards, school loans, etc.), don't expect to be debt free in ten weeks.

Most pastors and ministry leaders will nod in agreement to these points; they are things we regularly speak about. But, let us bring it home into the church realm.

If we have spent ten years (or more) building mediocrity and apathy into our churches, why do we expect them to become missional in ten weeks (or even ten months)? People will give lip service to things like life-long commitment to a vision, but few actually mean it.

Everyone wants to sign up to be Gideon; called to change one day, and seeing God's deliverance soon after. Fewer want to sign up to be Moses, who was called, then sent to 40 years of training, then served for 40 years, and then asked to turn the ministry over to someone else before ever entering the promised land.

Imagine if God revealed a fool-proof plan that guaranteed in twenty years your church or denomination would begin growing 100% each year. Would you sign up for that plan?

What if you got to the fine print and read that the next nineteen years will see mostly internal change and very little external fruit. To top it off the twenty-year plan has someone else's name at the top of the leadership chart.

Is the plan still as appealing as it was at first? Would you still be willing to commit the next twenty years of your life to the plan knowing you may never see the fruit?

Our culture has infected us with such "new" and "fast" mentality that we have a hard time talking about generational change. We spent a generation getting where we are; what if it requires a generation to get back on track?

It is true that nothing is impossible with God. He can turn a nation to himself in mere days (see Nineveh and Jonah). It is also true that God is not as concerned with our calendar as our character. If it takes forty years for Him to mold us into a usable vessel that is acceptable to Him.

Is it acceptable to us?

Lessons from the Outside: Why the Walls?

The separation between clergy and laity was very clear to me early in my ministry. In these last years, however, that line has become more blurred. I believe it has much to do with the language I use to describe each one and the connotations it contains.

When I entered the ministry I "surrendered to a call" from God. That accurately describes the process I went through. It was not a quick process, nor an easy one. Following God's call on my life required me to surrender my own dreams and desires to His Will.

The problem comes when we do not use the same phrase to describe how someone becomes a banker, or plumber, or stay-at-home mom. The connotation is that everyone who does not enter "the ministry" does not receive a call from God.

It is as if the call on my life was higher, deeper, or more consuming than the call of the average believer. I don't see that idea supported in Scripture.

We can build an argument that supports the reality that some callings place us in roles that carry more authority or require certain qualifying standards. Say we call that a "five talent calling" (even though I am not sure God would). The question then becomes, "Does God view the 'one talent calling' as less important or less demanding?"

Scripture says "No". That means that our calling has less to do with where we draw our paycheck and more to do with the roles God has chosen for us. He expects the same focus and the same results regardless of where He places us.

Consider this example. We believe that a pastor (bishop and elder in the Bible) will be judged by God according to how he takes care of those in his flock. Do we believe a CEO will be judged in the same way by how he cares for the employees in his business? If not then it may be time to re-read Proverbs, the Prophets, and much of the New Testament.

Even though I am no longer working on a church staff I feel no less "called to the ministry". My role may have changed, but God's expectations of me have not. My purpose is the same whether I am coaching a small business owner or a church planter; to see God's glory increase in and through them.

Lessons from the Outside: "My Identity"

God has been speaking to me recently about my identity, where I find my purpose and value. Though his Word clearly says that I should find my value in His glory (Matt. 6:33), too many times I try to identify myself by my plans, abilities, vocation, and my ministry.

It is deceptively easy to define my identity by the ministry I do for God rather than the purpose for which God created me. God created me to reveal His glory through good works. All too often I begin finding my meaning in the good works rather than in His revealed glory.

That became clear when He removed me from ministry life. I was unaware how much of my “self” was tied to my ministry. Ministry was something tangible that I could measure myself by. I could see “lifechange” and measure things like baptisms and group attendance. If the numbers were good then it was not hard to believe that my life had great meaning; especially since all of these numbers had to do with God’s Kingdom, not my own.

I am beginning to see that when I find my identity in anything other than God’s glory revealed through me I am headed toward idolatry (with me as the key idol). That path leads to both delusion and depression. Delusion occurs when I believe I am overly important in God’s Kingdom. Depression occurs when I believe God could never use me.

The truly amazing thing is that when my value and purpose are resting on things other than God I can swing between delusion and depression at an alarming rate.

It makes me wonder if Jesus felt like he was more successful after feeding the 5000 than the day He spoke about His body as the bread of life and watched most of his followers leave. I doubt it. The mission of Jesus’ life was God’s glory revealed, not God’s glory well received and celebrated.

I have found several signs that indicate a life that is grounded in God; whose sole purpose is His revealed glory:

1. Humility and Intensity. There is a strange mix of humility and intensity from those operating under the identity of Christ. He modeled this in His own ministry. Early mornings, late nights, and days full of pouring Himself out at every turn were the norm. Followers seeking His glory have this same drive, not to lift up themselves, but to pour themselves out each day for His glory.
2. Consistent Confidence. Even your most Christ-centered follower will have difficult days or seasons of doubt. Christ himself struggled as He learned obedience (see the garden before his crucifixion). Consistent confidence comes from daily renewal as each day we lay down our life and take up His cross. God refreshes the discouraged spirit, refocuses any misappropriated glory, and removes any misplaced trust. He reminds us that victory is not a question of if, just when.
3. Creativity. God longs to accomplish His work and reveal His glory. When I line up with Him, He reveals methods of ministry that are beyond my own creative ability. When you see extremely creative ministries do not covet their creativity, covet their connectedness to God.
4. Clarity. The life of Christ revealed God’s glory through the redemption of mankind by His death and resurrection. We also reveal God’s glory through the redemption of mankind by _______________. When I am connected daily to God, it is easy for me to fill in that blank.
5. Audacious Goals. Only God would set a goal of “redeeming all of Creation.” Those connected to God have the audacity to set huge goals. Those goals often go unreached because as soon as they might draw near one they pick it up and toss it further away, raising the bar even higher. They have a hunger to see God’s glory revealed that will not be satisfied until all of Creation is reconciled to Him.

Which of these characteristics are revealed in your daily life? Which are missing, and what does that reveal about where you are finding your identity?

His name was James

My grandfather passed away a little over a month ago. That is what led to the events of this weekend. I celebrated my 12th anniversary on Saturday, a day early. Then early in the morning SundayI left town with my parents to get the last load of furniture and other memorabilia from my grandfather's house.

The trip is just under seven hours one-way. Most people don't really understand just how huge Texas is; we were still hours away from the nearest state line. In any case, the fastest we could make the trip was two days. We arrived in the afternoon Sunday, spent four hours packing the car and trailer, then crashed. This morning we were up early and left to come home.

When we got home we were all exhausted. So was my wife. Taking care of two kids, one sick and the other screaming, can take it out of you just as much as a 2-day packing/driving extravaganza.

So, Monday night we decided to treat ourselves to a sweet treat... that means Sonic and ice cream. As we were enjoying our Limeaid (her) and Chocolate shake (me) we decided to go browse movies at Blockbuster; just to see if there might be something that piqued our interest.

As we were walking up to the door we were interrupted by a man asking for money. He asked if we could remember him on the way out, perhaps donate a dollar. We deftly made our way in, walked around the store for a bit, and exited with some other people fifteen minutes later.

Fifteen minutes. It could have ended then, except that God's Spirit seemed to be speaking to my spirit, asking me questions. "What is his story? How did he end up like that? Does he even have anyone to talk to, much less someone who will care for him?"

All of these questions kept pounding into my head. As I got back into the car I said to my wife, "Man, I feel sorry for that guy." That was when my reading from James flooded back into my mind; that passage that says it is rather useless to wish someone warm and well-fed and not to give them a coat or food.

I had done a rather good job to that point rationalizing why I could not help this guy. In general I don't support people asking for money on the highway. And, I really didn't have any cash... just a debit card.

But, I had a hard time convincing myself that I could not spare a few bucks for this guy while I sucked down a three dollar milkshake. Even worse I feared that he could very easily have turned invisible to me, as if he did not even exist. God's Spirit was screaming that this man was not invisible to Him.

So, with my wife's encouragement, I went to the nearest burger place and ordered some food. About five minutes later we were back at Blockbuster, food in hand... only to find the store front empty. It hit me just how quickly opportunities can pass us by.

I figured I should attempt to give the food to someone, so I went into the Blockbuster and asked, "Anyone want a burger?" The employees looked at me a bit askew, so I explained that I had bought it for the "guy standing outside."

"Oh, you mean barefoot guy?", one of the employees said. "Yea, I guess... is that his name? Barefoot guy?", I responded.

"No, he normally wears shoes", she said, "When I saw him tonight I said, 'James where are your shoes?'"

There it was. The man now had a name. James. This was no longer a somewhat scary guy bothering me on the way into Blockbuster. This is James, the guy who apparently lives under the bridge across the street from the Blockbuster no more than 2 miles from my house.

They pointed him out through the window. James was over trying to get a burrito. I thanked them for their help; they thanked me for thinking of James. I took him the burger. He asked God to bless me; and I did the same for him.

My heart changed. Something happened inside of me; and I believe it involves God showing me some of what He feels for James.

Service does that. When I allow my time, my money, and my effort, to be spent on others, something happens. I begin to see them a little more clearly, as God sees them. Now I pray for James; not just some impersonal prayer for "the guy at Blockbuster", but for James, the guy who lives under the bridge. Even now I find myself growing more curious about his story. How did he end up there? Could I give him someone to talk to? Could God use me to pass along a bit of His love to this son of His?

I hope so.

Lessons from the Outside: "Superbowl Sunday"

Inside the ministry, life can often be dominated by Sunday. Every week revolved around Sunday with a new worship experience to create and countless volunteers to schedule, train, equip, and resource.

So much time and energy is spent getting ready for Sunday that when it finally arrives it is often like taking the 100th step in a 100-step journey. That last step is a bit more special than the others because it marks the completion of journey. But, it is not all that different because it often repeats many facets of the steps taken before it. And, there is always the nagging reality that as soon as the journey ends, another similar journey begins.

This last month on the outside has created a large shift in my Sunday experience. I spend all week looking forward to Sunday, not just planning for it. Sunday is a huge day on our calendar, not merely the last step of a week-long journey.

Perhaps it is the newness of "getting" to go to church rather than "having" to go. Say what you will, but when you work on a staff you have to go to your church. You may also get to go, but there is a definite expectation for you to show up regardless of your desires; and that can affect you over time. You can begin to believe that just showing up is your main responsibility.

There are a few things that I want to remember if I ever do end up back on the Inside:

1. The weekend worship service is not the end of a required journey, it is the culmination of a desired destination. I want to be at church now, even multiple churches some weeks. That is something I don't want to lose even if I have to be at church again in the future.
2. New does not equal Fresh. When we were constantly planning Sunday Experiences, one thing that often came up was to "keep things fresh". What we would do is add a new song or perhaps a special media piece. Other times we might change the order of service. I find that those things do not matter as much to me now. The fact is after a week of living out "in the world" I don't really remember the exact order of last week's service, or even all of the songs we sang. I just expect to hear a Fresh Word from God today... I don't care if you take the offering at the same time as you did last week.
3. The experience of being united with dozens (or hundreds) of other believers to celebrate God is unique in my weekly schedule. This is the one time a week where most believers get to celebrate their God in the midst of many other believers... make it special!
4. Take care of my kids! Everyone told me this was a big deal when I worked on a church staff. Now that I drop my kids off at other churches each week I know... this is important!!

I think it would be very healthy for staff members to take a week "off" from their church on a regular basis. There is something very refreshing and revealing about stepping out of our weekly tradition and into a worship service with no other plan than to worship God and hear from His Word.

Lessons from the Outside: "Open Door"

It has been over 15 years since I have been “outside” the church. I don’t mean outside Christianity, I mean outside the workings of a local body. I began leading worship for my youth group when I was about 16, and then in May of this year God called me to step out of my church and into a new calling of coaching and consulting.

During these last two months my wife and I have taken the opportunity to visit many local churches, meeting pastors and staff when we can. It has been a great experience as we worship and learn from so many expressions of God’s body.

It has also revealed a few things that have caused me to look back on my time on staff and ask a couple of questions. The first question I asked is, “Was I as approachable as I thought I was?”

Pastors are busy people. I knew that when I was one, but I see it even more clearly from the outside. One of the things I wanted to do when I arrived in Austin, TX was to meet with local pastors to hear about what God is doing in the city and share the vision He has put on my heart.

I envisioned days filled with meetings. Morning coffee, lunch, perhaps an afternoon frappuccino or two. I have had many of those meetings, and they have been just as meaningful as I hoped.

What struck me was that the people I was attempting to meet often had to look weeks, or even months, out to find a free hour.

That is not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to these pastors meeting with me. As far as they know I could be a complete waste of their time, and time is precious as they focus on the vision God has given them.

What got my attention is that as I spend more time with the laity I am hearing similar comments from them. There is a general feeling among many lay people that “their” staff person is difficult to reach, or does not have the answers and support that they are looking for.

As an associate pastor I was responsible for communicating to the leadership of many of our teams. I needed to communicate on a weekly basis to small group leaders, guest services, and worship leaders. I felt like I had a pretty “open door” policy with my leaders, but I wonder now if they felt the same way.

I wonder because I can remember times when members of those teams were uninformed or misinformed about important details. It was all too easy for me to blame these volunteers for not “hearing correctly”. I would console myself with thoughts like, “It was in the program”, “We announced it in church,” or even worse, “It is on the pre-service announcement scroll.”

I am even more ashamed of my tendency to scold my leaders for not “telling correctly”. I would question their communication methods and frequency. I was as nice as possible on the outside, but on the inside I was often shaking my head as if to say, “this is really not that hard.”

Too seldom did I look at myself and ask the question, “What does Joe-the-greeter’s confusion reveal about my communication with my leaders?” That question led me to consider my leaders more carefully, leading to another set of questions, such as:

1. Am I answering the questions my leaders are asking?
2. Am I talking in a way that they enjoy listening?
3. Do they believe we have conversations, or just mini lectures?
4. Who is the first person they call when they have a struggle in their ministry?

I have a feeling many of their answers would reveal that my door was not quite as open as I believed, or that they needed me to walk through their door more often.