No matter how subjective or logical one’s reasoning might be, each person regards the actions of others according to his own tastes. These cultured judgments define social groups, organizing people based upon agreements as to which actions are in good taste, and which in bad.
While enjoying a fine dinner, one delights not only in an evening with pleasant company, but also in the relaxing environment and fine meal provided by the restaurant. As the courses are cleared and the company dispersing, one can expose poor taste in no surer a fashion than by leaving a meager tip. Was not the food prepared with consideration, and served with equal grace? Then consider your station and leave an appreciable tip. Though differing in nature, one commits an equally reprehensible offense by wearing white sneakers with khaki pants. This celebration of bad style assaults the senses, praising the virtues attendant upon loss of sight. The offender, at least, may be counted as happily ignorant, for no one knowing his error could commit such a crime.
Meanwhile, the gentleman may demonstrate his class and taste by opening vehicle doors for a lady before taking his own seat. Though women of the twenty-first century are now capable performing this difficult maneuver, the respectable man rises above the criticism heaped upon him for perpetuating such an uncivilized action, and opens the door for his lovely guest regardless. A lady does not become so by accident or ease: recognize her worth through this simple deed.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wilberforce in Three Hundred and Fifty-Four Words
“For [The Lord] will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who has no helper.” Psalm 72:12
To plead the cause of the oppressed is to honor God (Proverbs 14:13, 17:5, 19:17), and when a Christ-infused perspective transformed William Wilberforce, he could not help but feel the plight of the oppressed as his own. In 1785, 25-year-old William Wilberforce was renewed by the Cross, and from that moment to his death, he devoted his life to upholding the downtrodden. Abolishing the European slave trade stands as his greatest accomplishment and required his tireless devotion for over 40 years.
From Wilberforce’s life we can be encouraged in several ways in our own struggle to follow Christ. First, Wilberforce demonstrated the impact that a life fully yielded to the Cross and to ones convictions can have. He felt his convictions deeply and worked tirelessly to address the problems in his world. His life reminds us to look at this life through the lens of heaven rather than the lens of our own world; he lost friendships, endured public vilification, and bore reproach as a hypocrite for his commitment to honor his conscience, but he stayed the course and accomplished much because of his devotion to a heavenly perspective.
Secondly, we can learn from him to appreciate the brevity of life. Wilberforce wasted the first 24 years of his life and suffered greatly from this misappropriation of time. Upon receiving faith in Christ, he faithfully sought to redeem every day. He understood his responsibility to “live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil. 1:27) and humbly made this his life’s goal
Wilberforce accomplished much in his time because he was deeply impressed by the transciency of this life and lived grateful for Christ’s mercy. Though he succeeded in ending the British slave trade, the world continues to oppress the powerless and the cry now falls to us to make this one life count – to give our very lives, like Christ and like Wilberforce, to declare to the world that we are citizens of another kingdom (Phil. 3:17-21).
To plead the cause of the oppressed is to honor God (Proverbs 14:13, 17:5, 19:17), and when a Christ-infused perspective transformed William Wilberforce, he could not help but feel the plight of the oppressed as his own. In 1785, 25-year-old William Wilberforce was renewed by the Cross, and from that moment to his death, he devoted his life to upholding the downtrodden. Abolishing the European slave trade stands as his greatest accomplishment and required his tireless devotion for over 40 years.
From Wilberforce’s life we can be encouraged in several ways in our own struggle to follow Christ. First, Wilberforce demonstrated the impact that a life fully yielded to the Cross and to ones convictions can have. He felt his convictions deeply and worked tirelessly to address the problems in his world. His life reminds us to look at this life through the lens of heaven rather than the lens of our own world; he lost friendships, endured public vilification, and bore reproach as a hypocrite for his commitment to honor his conscience, but he stayed the course and accomplished much because of his devotion to a heavenly perspective.
Secondly, we can learn from him to appreciate the brevity of life. Wilberforce wasted the first 24 years of his life and suffered greatly from this misappropriation of time. Upon receiving faith in Christ, he faithfully sought to redeem every day. He understood his responsibility to “live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil. 1:27) and humbly made this his life’s goal
Wilberforce accomplished much in his time because he was deeply impressed by the transciency of this life and lived grateful for Christ’s mercy. Though he succeeded in ending the British slave trade, the world continues to oppress the powerless and the cry now falls to us to make this one life count – to give our very lives, like Christ and like Wilberforce, to declare to the world that we are citizens of another kingdom (Phil. 3:17-21).
Monday, June 30, 2008
Contextualization and the Gospel
In the debate over how to be ambassadors of the gospel, liberals shout that we must be ‘relevant’ to our culture and contextualize the gospel, while fundamentalists stake their claim in the offense of the Cross and the non-negotiable Truth of God’s Word. In this debate, while the liberals have forgotten that Truth does not change and that the Gospel must include the offense of sin and man’s need for God, conservatives are prone to overlook the fact that no matter how religiously you stick to the gospel, it is still a gospel that is fit into your specific cultural understanding. Contextualization here means simply that “every interpretive community has a perspective that helps us see aspects of God's self-disclosure that other communities cannot in themselves see or hear.” (Tim Keller) Every community has a certain type of language that it uses, familiar references, approved music styles, and certain values that it cherishes. Adopting any one of these automatically makes you easier to understand for some people, and more difficult for the rest. In writing to the Corinthian church, Paul says that in sharing the gospel he became “all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel.” (I Corinthians 9:22-23) If you look through the book of Acts, you can see that though Paul preached to different audiences in unique ways, he never changed the message of the gospel. This is fascinating, because we see in Acts 16:3 that Paul had Timothy circumcised for the sake of the gospel, while the book of Galatians vehemently charges those who force circumcision upon gentile believers with changing the gospel. We must follow his example, so that whether we are preaching the gospel in a foreign country or to a neighbor with a foreign worldview, we do not let our cultural prejudices cripple the listener’s ability to hear.
As noted earlier, whenever a person articulates a thing, they articulate it based upon their native context, and if in presenting the gospel our aim is to be clear, then we should state it so as to make it easier for our audience to see the truths that we are presenting. When Mark Driscoll preaches at Mars Hill church in Seattle, his t-shirt, which at times boasts skulls on the front, appeals to the young/super fly/grunge crowd and make them more receptive to what he says, while traditional conservatives prefer their preacher to wear a suit and would be less likely to listen to Driscoll’s extolling of the Cross. Now, the thing to remember is that each of these cultural expressions comes with specific pitfalls: the super fly/grunge crowd must be careful not to make light of sin and God’s holiness, while the traditional conservative struggles to realize that grace alone saves, and not piety (nor proper clothing).
In the end, if we will effectively communicate the gospel to those outside our own narrow cultural preferences, we must follow Paul’s example and determine “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” (I Corinthians 2:2) Only if we fully grasp the work of Christ will be able to strike the proper balance in contextualizing. We are saved by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), and as you nod your head in agreement, I pray that you realize what this means. It means that Christ demands you be humble, because salvation is a gift, and if a gift, then you cannot boast as if you earned it by any amount of piety or law keeping. But it also makes you confident, because when Jesus came to this earth and stretched His arms out upon the Cross, He said “Don’t you see, I have just paid an incredible price to demonstrate how much I love you.” For God, though He was rich, emptied Himself of everything (Philippians 2:5-8) and became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9) to purchase our redemption. This means we are infinitely valued, and that our worth and identity are found in Christ. Because of this, when considering how to contextualize, we can be humble about our own cultural context, realizing that we are not specially imbued with a superior culture. We can be confident too, though, which will spare us over-contextualizing, because our identity does not come from the approval of men, but from the one Man, Christ Jesus, who demonstrated our worth on the Cross. This will allow us to lose customs that inhibit gospel communication, while making sure that the truth of the Gospel, the story of God’s redemption of mankind, shines brightly; for we know that if Christ is lifted up, He will draw all men to Himself. (John 12:32)
As noted earlier, whenever a person articulates a thing, they articulate it based upon their native context, and if in presenting the gospel our aim is to be clear, then we should state it so as to make it easier for our audience to see the truths that we are presenting. When Mark Driscoll preaches at Mars Hill church in Seattle, his t-shirt, which at times boasts skulls on the front, appeals to the young/super fly/grunge crowd and make them more receptive to what he says, while traditional conservatives prefer their preacher to wear a suit and would be less likely to listen to Driscoll’s extolling of the Cross. Now, the thing to remember is that each of these cultural expressions comes with specific pitfalls: the super fly/grunge crowd must be careful not to make light of sin and God’s holiness, while the traditional conservative struggles to realize that grace alone saves, and not piety (nor proper clothing).
In the end, if we will effectively communicate the gospel to those outside our own narrow cultural preferences, we must follow Paul’s example and determine “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” (I Corinthians 2:2) Only if we fully grasp the work of Christ will be able to strike the proper balance in contextualizing. We are saved by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), and as you nod your head in agreement, I pray that you realize what this means. It means that Christ demands you be humble, because salvation is a gift, and if a gift, then you cannot boast as if you earned it by any amount of piety or law keeping. But it also makes you confident, because when Jesus came to this earth and stretched His arms out upon the Cross, He said “Don’t you see, I have just paid an incredible price to demonstrate how much I love you.” For God, though He was rich, emptied Himself of everything (Philippians 2:5-8) and became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9) to purchase our redemption. This means we are infinitely valued, and that our worth and identity are found in Christ. Because of this, when considering how to contextualize, we can be humble about our own cultural context, realizing that we are not specially imbued with a superior culture. We can be confident too, though, which will spare us over-contextualizing, because our identity does not come from the approval of men, but from the one Man, Christ Jesus, who demonstrated our worth on the Cross. This will allow us to lose customs that inhibit gospel communication, while making sure that the truth of the Gospel, the story of God’s redemption of mankind, shines brightly; for we know that if Christ is lifted up, He will draw all men to Himself. (John 12:32)
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