Friday, June 26, 2009

Rewards: Part 4

What Are Rewards(continued)
One of the glories of eternal life is to see God. So Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”(Matthew 5:8). John too writes, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is”(1 John 3:2). Now this is something to live for. I’ve been awed by mountain peaks, calmed by the ocean waves, amazed at the brilliance of coral life, but one day I will see the Maker of these and many other glorious visions I have not seen. And this Maker is infinitely more brilliant, awesome, calming, and beautiful than anything he has made. In fact, the vision of him is so powerful that John states that it will transform us: “We will be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” Thus, the degree of this sight, this vision, is in some part dependent upon the way we live our lives now.

Or take another example. Again the apostle Paul writes, “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?”(1 Thessalonians 2:19) Paul is asking rhetorically what exactly does he consider his reward? And the answer; “Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” The reward is people! Jesus says something similar: “Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life (read eternal rewards), so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together.” The one who sows (i.e. first shares the gospel) and the one who reaps (i.e. has the privilege of leading that person to follow Christ) are gathering fruit for eternal life, and the fruit, it seems, are the people they are gathering. Here again the reward now and the reward future are one and the same. Our eternal joy is the same as our current joy, which in this case is seeing people’s lives transformed and brought into eternal life.

One more example. In Jesus’ parable of the talents, the master says to his faithful servant, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” That last statement is what strikes me. Part of the reward is the “joy of your master.” Certainly, eternal life means joy for all those who enter it, but the degree of joy seems to hinge on the degree of faithfulness. After all, the reward isn’t just joy. It is the “joy of your master.” Experiencing God’s joy in the future will partly depend upon the degree which I enjoy him now.

In James 1:25, he states that in obedience to God we will be “blessed in our doing.” He doesn’t say blessed “for” our doing, but “in” our doing. The obedience itself is a reward. Paul says in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Obeying that command doesn’t just bring us a reward; it is the reward. So eternal rewards are not a bigger house, a fancy crown, or a standing ovation. The reward for seeking joy in God is greater joy in God, and the reward for loving others is more love for others.

Rewards: Part 3

What Are Rewards?
This, to me, is a huge question. I think one of the reasons rewards sound so distasteful is what we view rewards as. For example, suppose the reward is a 34,000 sq. ft. mansion, complete with its own olympic size swimming pool, a private waterfall and river, an indoor golf course, and of course an IMAX theater. It’s heaven, right? Why skimp? At least, that’s Billy Graham’s reward. I’m no Billy Graham, so sadly I have to live with a measly 1,000 sq ft. home and a koi pond. What’s more is that I become Billy’s neighbor, so everyday I walk out of my cramped two bedroom flat, dodge a mosquito from my pond, and see Billy living in luxury. Of course, I have the joy of the Lord, so it’s okay. The moral of the story would then be: Be good now or heaven’s going to be a real let down. Or to rephrase Jesus’ words, “Don’t buy a big house now where time and termites eat it down to rot and decay. Give your money away and store up for yourself a massive palace where there ain’t no termites.” Something seems a little wrong with that picture.

In Romans 2 we get a different picture. In verse 6, another “evaluation” passage, Paul writes, “[God] will render to each one according to his works.” Okay, so this is exactly the kind of passage we are looking for. Paul is arguing that God gives rewards and punishments, so what are they? “To those,” he says, “who by patience and well-doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality.” So he is talking about the good guys here, the ones who seek for eternal rewards, and the rewards they are seeking are “glory and honor and immortality.” And what reward do they get? He finishes, “[God] will give eternal life.” Well, that’s not exactly a detailed description of rewards. Eternal life is what every true Jesus follower receives. But I think this passage unlocks the mystery of these rewards.

Let’s start with what the good guys are seeking. What are “glory and honor and immortality”? “Immortality” seems easy enough. It would be real life, never-ending life, life as it was meant to be lived. But notice that overlaps with “eternal life.” What about “glory and honor”? We tend to immediately think of the applause and praise of others, but that cannot be the idea. The bad guys in this passage, the ones who don’t seek for eternal rewards, are those who are “self-seeking”(2:8). It would make almost no sense, then, for “glory and honor” to be personal recognition. Glory and honor do have that connotation, even in the Greek, but there is a more foundational meaning. Glory and honor are something that we can give, but they are also a quality. In Hebrew the word “glory” means “weighty” or “heavy.” It’s a word that refers to something of extraordinary value. This idea is the more foundational notion of glory and honor. After all, the reason you give a someone glory and honor is because they are glorious and honorable. The value of the person merits the honor or glory given. Therefore, to seek “glory and honor” is to seek that which has immense value, that which is tremendously weighty. All of this, I think, is wrapped up in the simple phrase “eternal life.” Therefore, Paul says that those who seek for the weighty things of eternal life receive them as their reward.

“Yes but again,” you say, “doesn’t every real Christian receive this?” True, but remember we are talking about degrees. We all receive eternal life, but the degree to which we receive that life will be different. This is a huge breakthrough, at least it is for me. Rewards are not additions to eternal life, but the degrees of which we enjoy that life. I'll gives some examples in my next post.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Love Your Enemies

Justin Taylor posted this a couple of days ago, and I thought it worth some reflection.
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 118:
Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out.

Is one’s first feeling, ‘Thank God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,’ or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible?

If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally we shall insist on seeing everything — God and our friends and ourselves included — as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred.
Then Taylor offered this observation:
This certainly applies in politics, doesn't it? When George W. Bush was President, he was demonized daily by those who thought virtually everything he did was utterly scandalous and terrible. And now many conservatives--including, ahem, many Christians--are returning the favor with President Obama.
Frankly, I'm embarrassed by half the things that come out of Christians' mouth towards our current president. I didn't vote for Obama and probably never would, but I do get the feeling that many Christians are more interested in rooting for Obama's failure and looking for a fight, then they are in ways they can support him, pray for him, offer constructive and helpful criticism of him, and maybe, just maybe, learn something from him. Oh, that we would love our enemies and not look for reasons to hate them.

Michael Jackson - He died a while ago

Andrew Sullivan provides some thoughts on the pop icon's bizarre and tragic life. This line in particular gripped me: "He died a while ago. He remained for so long a walking human shell."

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Brian Regan

Just felt like posting a couple of clips of my favorite comedian.



Thursday, June 18, 2009

Enjoyment or Idolatry

Just last night in our small group we were considering when wanting a good thing can become a bad thing. John Piper offers a very insightful little article and discerning whether our enjoyment of something is becoming idolatrous. Here is a taste.
Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is starting to feel like a right, and our delight is becoming a demand. It may be that the delight is right. It may be that another person ought to give you this delight. It may be right to tell them this. But when all this rises to the level of angry demands, idolatry is rising.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Rewards: Part 2

Why Degrees of Reward Makes Sense (Be sure to read Rewards: Part 1 below)
Degrees of rewards just makes sense. If nothing else, diversity makes this necessary. Let’s say you are part of a building project. Only this project is very unique, because the people carrying it out are totally free from selfishness and sin. The planning, designing, and building is all done by individuals whose concerns and passions are only for Jesus and for his people. So how does a group of perfect people build a building? Perhaps you’re thinking the process would be totally democratic. No need for leadership, authority, organization, etc. After all, aren’t those things only necessary for people who want their own way or tend to be lazy and unproductive. None of that exists with this group. Everybody gets along perfectly and wants what is best for each other.

However, maybe our inclination toward democracy is more due to our Western mindset than it is to necessity. Democracy would work better in a perfect world, but so would a dictatorship or a monarchy. When it comes to human beings, even perfect human beings, leadership and organization will always be necessary. And the reason is diversity. All are not equally gifted at construction or architecture or creativity. Some like to construct a building, others prefer building visions, and still others like to take the vision of the leaders, combine them with skills of the builders, and organize an efficient team.

But let’s take this a step further. Suppose you have half dozen people on the design team. Each has his own vision of the structure and proposes it. Who decides which design is to be implemented? Surely the team will talk and probably combine ideas, but who decides which ideas are used and not used? Who moves the conversation along? And once the design is ready, how do the workers get organized? The biblical vision of our eternal home is billions of people from dramatically diverse cultures and backgrounds building, cultivating, and creating for Jesus and each other. Even in a perfect world, you can’t have those dynamics and not have leadership, authority, and organization. The alternative is that everybody thinks the same way, has the same ideas, and have the same abilities. Does that sound like eternal bliss or eternal torture? One of the reasons the popular idea of heaven is so repulsive is that life in a monochrome world sounds suicidally mundane. But the biblical picture isn't less diversity in eternity but more. Not only will we be from different cultures, nations, and territories, but we will be from different periods of history. Ancient Romans with medieval Britons with 21st century Brazilians and so on. Diversity of people means diversity of station. And it seems to me that our station in the new creation is in some measure determined by our works in this present world.

There's more to come.

Rewards: Part 1

This is the first installment of a series of articles I want to write on eternal rewards. I’m not going to make a big case for why this is important. If you want to read it, read it. If not, don’t. But I do want to let you know where I’m coming from. The debate over rewards was sparked again in my mind by reading Randy Alcorn’s The Treasure Principle. I always find this little book a provocative read on Christian finances. However, some of his arguments, and particularly those on eternal rewards, seem at first glance a little off. As one individual noted, it’s rather economical. Do good things now for a big pay off down the road. I personally have a friend who doesn’t believe in an afterlife because he is put off by the apparent self-focused attitude of earning eternal rewards. That’s interesting to me. I’ve read some of Alcorn’s other work on rewards, and he likes to pin the problem on faulty Christian teaching. That no doubt is a problem. But I’ve come across plenty of unchurched, non-Christians who find the thought of eternal rewards distasteful. Perhaps it’s just a cultural thing, but something about the idea of a supernal stock market is a bit off-putting.

At this point, you might be thinking I disagree with Alcorn. You’d be incorrect. While I find some of his interpretations a bit off, overall I think he is right. But I didn’t come to that position easily. Basically what follows from this point on are my thoughts on eternal rewards.

Degrees of Reward
This point is essential to establish. Just to observe that there is a “reward” for Christians isn’t sufficient to argue for “eternal rewards” in the sense that I am speaking. All Christ followers will receive the reward of eternal life. The question is are there degrees of reward. I believe the Bible gives a big nod to that one. But before I delve into the evidence, let me preface by saying that I realize this raises some objections which will be dealt with in due time.

There are several lines of texts that I want to look at, but the first are those found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. In first part of Matthew 6, Jesus warns against performing righteous acts like giving, praying, and fasting in order to confirm the suspicions of your adoring fans that you are indeed a spiritual giant. Rather Jesus commends righteousness done in secrecy, for “your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” The problem isn’t reward hunting. It’s just hunting in the wrong spot. The faux spiritual gurus hunt for it in human applause. We are instead to seek for in God. Jesus concludes: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth . . . but lay for yourselves treasures in heaven”(Matthew 6:19-20). So here Jesus could have said something like, “Guys, stop being so economical. Doing good to get a payoff! It’s just disgusting.” But he doesn’t condemn economics; he encourages them. He just says we need to stay in the right marketplace.

The second line of texts are what I call performance evaluation passages. Texts like Revelation 22:14: “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.” Jesus doesn’t say we have to give an account (though other passages suggest that); he says he is going to distribute payments for what we have done. Or read this text:
Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
(1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
Some scholars argue that the reward is eternal life and the loss is eternal punishment (i.e. hell). But the one who “suffers loss” will be “saved.” So the “loss” is apparently not incompatible with salvation.

The third line of texts are Jesus’ parables of the talents or minas (found in Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:12-27). Biblical scholars uncomfortable with eternal rewards often point out that there is a lot of unquestioned faulty interpretation of texts discussing rewards. Generally, I agree with that assessment, and these parables are a case in point. We tend to notice that the guys who double their money for the master are rewarded, and the guy who buries his money in the ground gets no reward. But Jesus goes a bit further than that. Jesus says the coward is a “worthless servant . . . cast into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” To be a worthless servant for Jesus doesn’t just mean the loss of a reward. It means eternal death. Jesus’ point is that his true servants (i.e. those called by God, filled with his Spirit, and destined for resurrected life with Jesus) do something with what they are given for Jesus. Implication: If you are not doing anything for Jesus, then you’re not a true servant. So what does this text have to do with rewards. A lot. Because at the end of the day, there are two faithful servants and there are two different rewards. In the Luke parable, one servant is put over ten cities and the other is put over five cities. Sounds like degrees to me.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Why Read Fiction?

Mary DeMuth offers a great little article on why Christians should read fiction. Here is one paragraph I found very insightful:
Some might argue fiction should always tout an obviously-redemptive message in order to impact the world for Christ. Barbara Nicolosi, the executive director of Act One, adds nuance to that notion, expanding the purpose of art to posing and allowing for questions that spark a spiritual journey. She writes, “Too many Christians think we are supposed to use the arts to give people the answers. We’re not. We’re supposed to use the arts to lead them into a question. And that is just one stage in their personal journey of divine revelation. Once they have a new question, they will be on a search—consciously or subconsciously. . . The arts can definitely send people delving.”

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall."

Re:Sound

Here is some free music from Re:Sound. It's the music coming out of Mars HIll Church in Seattle. When Re:Sound launches fully on June 11th, all their music will be free.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Living Gospel Centeredly

J.D. Greear offers some helpful thoughts on staying centered on the gospel.

Romans 6:1-11

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Grace Doesn’t Abound So That Sin Can. The greater the sin the greater the grace required to overcome that sin. But the point of grace is not to increase sin but to destroy it. That in a nutshell is Paul’s main point here. In chapter 5, Paul declared that sin is a massive, universal epidemic killing all those infected with it. So profound are its effects and so tyrannical is its power that it disables all persons from resisting its destruction and death. Thus, a new man is needed. A true man, but a man unlike any other man, who is capable of absorbing in himself the destruction of sin for all humanity. This man becomes the ancestor of a new race of persons free from the dominion and death of evil. Thus, it is God’s grace delivered through this man, and through him alone, that sin is overcome. And the grace delivered through him brings total forgiveness and redemption for a lost race. So what do screwed up minds do with such grace. They either find a fault or a loop hole. Those wanting the opportunity to deliver themselves from sin’s power say, “But if the grace comes to us so independently of how good we are, then why not just disobey so that grace may abound?” Meanwhile, those wanting the opportunity to live the ways they always have think, “Ah, sin abounds, grace abounds. So my job is to sin and God’s job is to forgive. Sounds like a good arrangement.” So “are we to continue in sin that grace may abound”? There is almost no way to translate from Greek to English the force of Paul’s negative response to these thoughts, but it would something “#@LL NO!”

How Can We? That’s he what says: “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” He doesn’t say, “How could we” or “How dare we” or even “How would we.” This isn’t a lecture on how guilty we are or an argument for perfectionism. This is how God’s grace overcomes sin. The power of his grace unleashed on the cross doesn’t guilt or scare us into obedience. It loves us their. God grace brings us to the point where we cannot help but see our rebellion and say, “How can I do this? How can I stay here? Why would I?”

Sin Is Death. Sin isn’t just bad; it’s deadly. Forging that connection is key to understanding Jesus’ saving grace. Jesus didn’t just die to forgive the badness of our sin. He died to crush the destructive power of our sin as well. He rose not only to restore a relationship with God, but also to make us like him. You can’t have sin without death, and you can’t have life without righteousness.