Kevin DeYoung's Blog, page 144

On Race and Love and Trying to Understand

I'm no expert on racial reconciliation. It's a thorny, painful topic. I don't wade into it lightly or, frankly, with a lot of confidence. It's too easy to say something hurtful or dumb, and it's hard to say something insightful and profound. But with all the news surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin and with all of our country's old racial scabs being picked at again I have been reflecting again on something I have been thinking about for a long time.

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Surely part of loving in this way is trying to understand what another person wants us to understand. I may not understand perfectly and I may not agree, but if I love you I should try to know what it is you wish I could know.

When it comes to racial reconciliation—and here I'm thinking primarily of blacks and whites—there are certain things I think each group wishes the other would understand. Rather than venturing to suggest what blacks wish whites understood, let me simply speak from my own fallible perception and offer one thing I think many whites want blacks to know and one thing I think many white people should try to understand in an effort to love their minority neighbors as themselves.

In my experience, whites want blacks to understand that they are not racists. Granted, even the term "racist" is subject to interpretation. This is part of the problem. In seminary there was a class offered once a year on race and ministry. The professor (a white man) took great pains to define racism as prejudice plus power. His definition was always controversial. By his definition a minority person could not be racist—even if he thought his race was inherently superior to others—because he did not have power, while almost all whites are racist because they are in a position of power and inevitably hold to certain stereotypes about nonwhites.

Debating his definition is not the point of this post, except to note that I've known very few whites who understand racism that way. White people, myself included, tend to think of racism as explicit animus toward certain people based on the color of their skin, or more simply, as a belief in the superiority of one race over another. Our picture of racism is the tragic black and white videos of KKK rallies or segregated schools or separate pools and drinking fountains. Whites think of racism hating someone or looking down on someone because they do not share the same race or ethnicity.

You may think this is too narrow a definition, but I believe it is the way most whites think of racism. It is a serious sin, and we want to steer clear of it with all our might. Growing up in Michigan, I can't think of anything so explicitly communicated to me in my whole education experience as the vileness of in-your-face racism. I grew up in the public school schools in Grand Rapids, not exactly the hotbed of progressivism. And still, I was taught—frequently, consistently, and earnestly—from an early age that Martin Luther King Jr. was a hero and that the civil rights movement was heroic. It seemed like we watched Eyes on the Prize and Glory every year in high school. We were taught in school, and I was taught at home and in church, that blacks and whites were equal and we should not discriminate based on skin color, even if my school was almost entirely white.

None of this means whites like me couldn't be racist, but it means for most whites my generation or younger that we understand racism to be a serious evil. You can hardly call anyone anything worse than a racist. That's why I believe most whites want others to understand first and foremost that they are not racist. They do not hate nonwhites. They do not think other peoples are inferior. Most whites in this country detest blatant discrimination and are appalled by racial violence. And (as you can tell by my previous sentence) most whites assume that virtually every other white person feels the same way.

On the other hand, in my experience, most whites do not understand that racism still exists. At the very least, prejudice is not as uncommon as we might think. I can't remember ever talking to a minority in this country who hasn't had some experience of insensitivity, unfair treatment, discrimination, or outright racism. Because much progress has been made in the last 50 years, many whites assume that racism is over and done with. Such a view is naïve.

Just as importantly, whites are usually blind to all the ways we assume our culture is normal, neutral culture. White folks will sometimes joke, "Why do they need BET? You don't see any station called White Entertainment Television." Besides using a pejorative sounding "they," such sentiment overlooks the facts that for virtually all of American history what has been considered mainstream culture has been the culture dominated and controlled by white people. This doesn't make it all bad or all racist (though some was). But it means we don't have a clue as to what it is like to live as a minority.

This is true in the church too. White Christians are just beginning to realize what a price African American brothers and sisters pay to be a part of "our" evangelicalism. We can think, "Gee, no one is keeping you out. You are perfectly welcome here. We don't have anything against black people." And yet, we are completely blind to the ways songs or illustrations or habits or expectations or dress or demeanor can feel very strange to others and require a tremendous amount of effort for nonwhites to overcome.

In a nutshell, it is my contention that blacks and whites approach the subject of race from completely different perspectives (duh). In general, I think when whites hear of another race story in the news their first inclination is, "Why do we have to see everything through the prism of race. Can't we move on and just see each other as people? Isn't that what Martin Luther King Jr. was calling for?" By the same token, I wonder if blacks have the opposite inclination: "We have not moved on as far as people think. Race almost always has something to do with it." I'm not pretending to sort out these different perspectives. But acknowledging these perspectives—if indeed they are accurate—can be a first step in turning down the temperature on these sorts of conversations.

The prospect of fruitful discussion about race is also hampered by the politically-charged nature of such discussions. Take the Trayvon Martin case for example. Sides quickly form—with high walls and heavy artillery—because both sides have sweeping narratives which feel affirmed by impressionistic and anecdotal evidence. Many whites think we are a largely color-blind society. They may broadly affirm that some discrimination here and there may negatively affect blacks, but white are more apt to see an unhealthy pathology and victimology in the black community. They are incredulous when African American leaders like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton take a slight offense on random crime and turn it into another example of systemic oppression and racism. Conservative outlets like Fox News and talk radio provide public support for this understanding of the world.

By contrast, many blacks (and left-leaning whites for that matter) would understand the problems in African American communities to be a product, not only of personal choices, but just as importantly, a product of past injustices, governmental neglect, and systemic unfairness in our society. They see racial profiling as a major problem and the legal system as rigged against them. Blacks acknowledge that whites pay lip service to racial harmony, but can be suspicious of such platitudes. Liberal outlets like the mainstream media and academia provide public support for this understanding of the world. One of the reasons the Trayvon Martin case is so explosive is because both sides find evidence to confirm their own narrative.

Obviously, I have simplified and generalized. Others may respond to this post and show where my analysis is all wrong. I am open to correction. But again, the point here is not to solve these entrenched differences. The point of this post is to recognize them. The model of discourse we see on television is impatient, defensive, and rude. As Christians we need to be patient, understanding, and kind. Instead of going on the attack, we can ask genuine questions. Instead of bristling when our narrative is summarily dismissed, we can carefully explain our way of seeing things. And when we are wrong, we won't be afraid to say so.

In conclusion, let me suggest two simple things white Christians can do that would be huge steps in the right direction toward racial harmony. One, we can understand that we don't understand what it is like to be black and then try our best to see what we don't understand. Let's admit we are clueless about a lot of stuff. Two, we could chillax on the racial front and just be normal friends with the minorities we know. Talk about stuff you like. Talk about your kids. Talk about the Bible. Talk about the gospel. Of course, be open to talking about the sticky racial issues, even though you might be uncomfortable or might see new sins. But don't make friends with blacks so you can say "my black friend says" or because you want to know "how black people think" or because you are passionate about social justice. Just make friends because you are friendly. Don't go looking for a social laboratory. Go out and meet someone you don't know. Take it easy, be yourself, and see what happens.

See What a Morning

The Silence of God

Our Cursed Christ (A Good Friday Sermon)

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For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:10-14)

The point of this sermon is very simple: for us to understand what Jesus was doing on the cross.

Jesus died. That's what we remember today. He died as a convicted criminal on a Roman cross on a Friday afternoon in the first century on a hill outside Jerusalem. Those are the facts. But what was the meaning of his death? Why do Christians sing songs about a bloody cross? Why did the cross become the universal symbol for Christianity? What happened there on the instrument of execution?

It's possible, likely in fact, that you have come here with positive thoughts about the cross, even warm feelings about the cross. You see Jesus hanging there and see a wonderful example of compassion and sacrifice. You find in the death of Jesus an inspiration to forgive and be kind to others. You may think of the cross as a powerful testimony of how much God loves the world. And for others, the overriding emotion in your heart in pity. You feel sorry for Jesus. You think about what a good man he was, and how young he was, and how mistreated he was. It's common for people to turn the cross into nothing but a sad martyrdom or a sentimental statement about God's unconditional love or how God feels our pain or how suffering is sacred or how we need to be courageous and principled like Jesus.

But brothers and sisters, these sentiments do not begin to explain the cross.

I dare say that most folks in this town know something about Good Friday, but many do not know the truth. At least not all of it. Or if we know the truth, we've forgotten it. Or its' been crowded out by lesser things. Or maybe we've become ashamed of what we once knew, embarrassed by what the Scriptures actually say about Jesus' death. Or perhaps we assume we've heard it all before and we already know all there is to know about what happened on this day.

Well here's what happened: on the cross Christ set us free from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Now, that's not all we can say about the cross. But there is nothing we can say about the cross apart from this. Whatever else this day is about, whatever else we remember on Good Friday, whatever else you find moving or inspiring or motivational or spiritual about this day-none of it matters and none of it holds together unless this is true: that on the cross Christ redeemed from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

Death through Self-Reliance

Here's our problem as human beings. It's stated in verse 10: "all who rely on works of the law are under a curse." Now the law of God is not bad. The law is a reflection of God's character. It is holy and right and good. We ought to obey God's commands. We ought to pursue righteousness and justice and holiness. The problem here is not with the law or with a desire to obey the law. The problem is with those who rely on the law. And we are all hard-wired to rely on the law.

Paul is talking about a religious approach that does not work. If you think you are going to get to God or get right with God or have a relationship with God traveling down this road marked "law" you are going to fail. You may think that you succeed. You may feel like a good person. You may imagine yourself to be a rather decent fellow because you are not like other really bad people. But the Bible tells us that if you rely on works of the law you will be cursed.

Why? Because we cannot keep the law. You may keep some laws. You may be keep them better than other people. You may improve in some areas. But you and I cannot keep the law of God. Do you really love God with all your heart and all you soul and all your strength and all your mind? Can you really say there is nothing you ever want or love more than God? Can I say that I truly love my neighbor as myself? That I am always tuned in to other people's needs and desires more than my own. That I always treat people how I would want to be treated. That I am always fair and honest and truthful and kind and never judgmental, selfish, and proud? Can I say that?

"Well," you say, "I know I'm not perfect. But I'm not that bad. I don't deserve any kind of punishment." But what happens when you break one of the laws of the State of Michigan? If you get pulled over for speeding can you get out of your ticket because you did not murder someone? If your company poisons the water supply will it be let off the hook because it follows zoning requirements? If you kick someone in the gut and steal his wallet is it no big deal as long as you paid your taxes?

The problem with each one of us is that we are worse than we think. We do not keep all of God's commands Not even close. And even the ones we think we keep we do not keep with the right motives or for the right reasons. So we are going to be in a heap of trouble if we rely on works of the law. That's why Paul quotes from the Old Testament in verse 10: "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Some of the Galatians would have been surprised to hear Paul talk this way. They knew the book of Deuteronomy and knew the verse Paul was quoting. But they believed that was about other people. That was about pagans, about Gentiles. But here Paul says it is also about them. The curse is upon everyone and anyone who does not do everything that God commands. No one can be justified, none can be acquitted, none can be declared innocent, no one will go free, no one can be right before God based on this principle of lawkeeping. Whoever relies on the law for his religion is under a curse.

Now, you may not like this idea of curses. You may not think of God that way. You may want a God who does nothing but bless and affirm and encourage. But if you think about it for just a minute, such an idea hardly makes sense. What kind of parent would you be if all you did was affirm and encourage? What kind of coach would Tom Izzo be if all he did was pat people on the back and say "Atta boy!" (He wouldn't be Tom Izzo that's for sure.) Well, what kind of God never judges? What kind of God has no standards? We may all like the idea of a God without judgment for us, but such a God becomes monstrous when we think of everyone getting away with everything. A God who simply gives a wink and a smile to corrupt dictators and racial bigots and murderers is not a God worthy of worship. Such a deity would be out of step with all semblance of justice. Deep down, we want a God with laws. We want a God who makes things right. We want a God who smiles on righteousness and is angry with wickedness. We just don't want a God who could be angry with us.

But you know what—it's not our place to make God the way we want him to be. He is God. He made us and we will one day stand before him. The essence of human rebellion is that we would put God on trial instead of us. But the Bible says it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment (Heb. 9:27).

So the question is how can we be confident on that day of judgment. Galatians 3 says we are under a curse if we try to stand before him on the basis of our lawkeeping. We can't do it. We can't be justified by trying to be good people-whether that means keeping the Sabbath like a good Jew would in the first century or caring for the poor like a good person would in our century. We are sinners, fundamentally flawed in our thinking, our feeling, and our doing. That's our problem. And that's bad news.

Life through Execution

But here's the good news: there is an answer for our problem. On the cross Christ set us free from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. You'll notice that Paul quotes from the Old Testament again in verse 13. He actually quotes from Deuteronomy again, just like he did in verse 10. According to Deuteronomy 21:23 everyone hanged on a tree was cursed. That makes sense. If you see someone hanging from a tree, they've been executed. And if they've been execute they must been an especially nasty criminal. So of course criminals are cursed. That's not a controversial.

But then notice, Paul has the audacity to apply this verse to Jesus. He hung on a tree, on a wooden cross, just like a condemned criminal. In fact, Paul goes so far as to say "Christ became a curse for us." If this weren't in the Bible we'd have a hard time saying it: we worship a cursed Christ. Look at 1 Corinthians 12:3 sometime. Paul there is explaining that some people say by the Spirit "Jesus is Lord" and other people say, not by the Spirit, "Jesus is accursed." It seems that one of the things the opponents of Christianity said was, "Look, you don't worship the true God. How can you believe Jesus is any kind of Lord? He died on a tree. He was executed as a criminal. Jesus is not Lord. Jesus is accursed." It was a blasphemous thing to say, as they mean it. Jesus was not some wicked imposter who deserved to die. And yet, there is another sense in which we do worship an accursed Christ. Galatians 3:13 says so. That Christ became a curse is what makes Good Friday good.

And that's always been the scandal of Christianity. Even today, even among many professing Christians, even among many people and institutions that fancy themselves evangelical, we find an embarrassment (if not an outright rejection) of this idea that Christ was our substitute, bearing our penalty, facing the wrath of God that should have been ours.

Blessing through Cursing

What did it mean to be cursed? Think of the scene in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. After taking a bite of the forbidden fruit Adam is cursed, Eve is cursed, the serpent is cursed, the ground is cursed. The curse is God's just punishment for lawbreaking sinners.

Or think of the promise in Genesis 12. God promises to bless Abraham and make him a blessing and bless those who bless him. But whoever opposes Abraham and his family God will curse. To be cursed was to be outside the line of God's chosen people, apart from God's family. To be cursed was to have God turn everything for your ill, instead of using everything for you good.

Or think of Deuteronomy 28. Moses first announces all the blessings that will come upon Israel if they obey. They will have good harvests and fruitful wombs and military success and peace and prosperity. "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out" (v. 6). And then Moses announces all the curses that will come upon Israel if they do not do all that he commands. They will have pestilence and disease. They will be defeated by their enemies. They will have drought and famine. They will experience "extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sickness grievous and lasting" (v. 59). "Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out" (v. 16). This is what it meant to be under the curse of God. And this is what Jesus became for us.

At the end of our worship services I stand in the back and give a benediction to close the service. It's a blessing on the people. The most common one is the priestly blessing from Numbers 6. "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." That's the best description of blessing in the Old Testament. To be cursed is to have just the opposite of this benediction: "The Lord curse you and forsake you. The Lord make his face frown upon you and be angry with you. The Lord turn his back upon you and give you wrath."

This was the experience of Christ on the cross. He was not a victim and God was not an abusive Father. The plan of redemption was carried out in complete unison-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We must not think God was taking out his frustrations on Jesus. But in love, God punished his own Son for our sakes. And in love, Christ redeemed us free from the curse by become a curse for us. "He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes were are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Everyone knows the cross is about the love of God. But it is no cheap, sentimental, look-at-how-special-we-are kind of love. It is a costly, deep, rich, free, wrath-sustaining, burden-bearing, grace-saturated, in-my-place-condemned-he-stood kind of love. 1 John 4:8 says God is love, and then verse 10 explains what this love is like. "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation [the curse-bearer, the one to turn away the wrath of God] for our sins."

That's what happened on the cross. Do you get it? Do you believe it? Do you cherish it? Works do not work. The only way to be right with God is to lay hold of Christ. God acted in Christ to save us, and therefore we must be in Christ to be saved. Works do not work. But as Galatians 3:11 tell us, "The righteous shall live by faith." The good news of the gospel is that faith is able to receive what the law could never accomplish. Trust in this Christ who died on the cross. Don't trust in your unimpressive obedience. Don't trust in your good intentions. Don't trust in your religious habits or heritage. Don't even trust in your trusting. Just trust in the one hanging on the tree. All the blessings of the Garden of Eden and of Abraham and of Israel and of Number 6 are found in Christ alone. It is only in worshiping this cursed Christ that you and I can be set free from the curse we justly deserve.

Were You There

Go to Dark Gethsemane

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." (Mark 14:32)

Sometimes we picture Jesus far too serene. We imagine him in the garden praying rather stoically, "Not my will, but yours be done." But the mood at Gethsemane was anything but tranquil. Mark 14:33 says Jesus began to be greatly distressed and troubled. Verse 34 says his soul was sorrowful unto death. And in verse 35 Jesus fell flat on the ground. Here is a man with the weight of the world, and heaven and hell, on his shoulders.

Never has a man prayed facing more temptation than Jesus faced in the garden. Never has a man prayed awaiting so much suffering. Never has a man prayed with such emotion and anguish. Luke records that "being in agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat become like great drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:44). It's called hematidrosis: under intense pressure or fear, the blood vessels around the sweat glands contract and then dilate violently, causing them to rupture. Blood then enters the glands and is secreted through the pores of the skin. The endocrine system knew what was coming.

It is impossible to exaggerate the depth of Jesus' anguish in the garden. Imagine knowing your child would die later today or that the planes were going to crash into the Twin Towers or that you'll have a terrible car accident next Friday. That's what Jesus knew was coming, only terribly and eternally worse. Jesus was facing more than death or sadness. He was facing God-forsakeness.

Jesus stared at the worst drink a man could drink–the cup of God's wrath. He gazed into its bitter poison. He thought of draining it down to the dregs. And hoped for another way.

But there was no other way. Upon making his request three times–"Remove this cup from me"–Jesus was not set free from the suffering before him. Just the opposite. After praying in the garden, his closest friends disappoint him (Mark 14:36-41), one of his disciples betray him (14:42-49), and all his companions desert him (14:50). Even the anonymous young man in the background would rather run stark naked through the woods in the middle of the night than be caught next to Jesus.

This is dark Gethsemane where Jesus Christ–the perfectly obedient, perfectly faithful Son of God in perfect relationship with his Father–did not get his request granted. At least not his first one. The cup was not taken from him. The wrath would not be assuaged another way. Jesus could not avoid his infinitely grievous dark weekend of the soul. God's will would be done. Not the way Jesus had hoped. But the way he was willing for it to be.

For us. For joy. For glory.

More Love to Thee, O Christ

I want to be a better evangelist for Christ. You want to be a better evangelist too. Virtually every pastor and ever church member reading this blog wants to be better at sharing the gospel with those who don't know Jesus.

Strategies can help. Methods can help. Knowing your personality can help. Understanding your context can help. Holding each other accountable can help. But if we are to grow in our boldness and faithfulness in speaking of Christ, the one thing we really need is more love for Christ.

We are all natural evangelists for the people and things we love most.

On my recent trip overseas I had the opportunity to share the gospel on several occasions. This was a joy and a privilege. But the gospel is not all I was an evangelist for. In fact, I found that it was even more natural and more spontaneous (and, sadly to say, perhaps even more joyful) for me to share other kinds of good news. As we met people on our trip and I got to share where I was from I would often talk up the great features of Michigan. I gladly rattled off my assortment of Michigan factoids: largest concentration of freshwater in the world, more shoreline than the entire U.S. Atlantic seaboard, and more than 10,000 inland lakes. I boasted of our trees, our sand dunes, our mild summers, and our snowy winters (except for this year). If the listener seemed especially engaged and knowledgeable, I might throw in something about giving up Toledo to gain the UP or inform them of our inspiring state motto (Si quaeris peninsulam amoenan circumspice – If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you). I even got into one good natured verbal joust with a Wisconsinite over whose state truly looks like a mitten (obviously not Wisconsin). All in all I showed myself to be a proud, knowledgeable Michigander eager to tell others about the unique joys of "Pure Michigan."

Similarly, by the end of the trip my travel companion was tired of hearing me wax on about the Dutch. Since we flew through Amsterdam both ways and had the opportunity to meet some Hollanders and Dutch South Africans on our trip, I had ample excuse to regale Nick with how great it is to be Dutch. So Nick had the privilege of learning about William of Orange and poffertjes and the expression Eet Smakelijk! and the role of the domine in huisbezoek and the inspiring motto "Eendracht maakt macht." All in all I showed myself to be a proud, pseudo-knowledgeable Dutchman eager to talk about the few bits of random trivia, Dutch history, and Dutch language I could remember.

We are all natural evangelists for the people and things we love most.

As I seek to grow as a personal evangelist, and want my church to grow in the same way, my first prayer is "More love to Thee, O Christ!" What need first and foremost is greater wonder and greater delight in our Savior. The more we love, the more we love to speak of the things we love. Granted, there is less scandal in talking about Michigan or the Dutch than there is in talking about the cross. But the lesson is still legitimate. I didn't have any plans to talk about Michigan or the Netherlands. It just came out of me. It wasn't forced. It wasn't awkward. I wasn't trying to sell something. I was simply, and naturally, excited to share good things and fun facts about my home state and my ethnic background. It is the essence of joy to overflow. Would that my joy in Christ knew no bounds.

What Is Your Glue?

Every church has a musical center. No music ensemble, no matter how talented, can do every type of music equally well. Even if they could, we would drive our church's crazy without a canon of familiar songs and some predictability in style. It's hard to have vibrant worship without a musical center.

But on the flip side, it's all to easy for a center to become the glue. There are boomer churches where the glue that holds people together is a soft rock, easy listening, "contemporary" sound. There are new churches with plenty of young people where the thing that holds everyone together is an identifiably hip look, hip taste, and hip sound. And there are, no doubt, traditional churches with graying membership where the adhesive is a uniform appreciation for Fanny Crosby played methodically on a Hammond organ. There's nothing wrong with having a discernible style to your worship. Most churches do. But the glue ought to be the gospel.

Harold Best says it, well, best:

[In] a culture of addiction (and music can be a form of addiction), we must dissociate ourselves from music as the primary social glue in the secular world and spiritual glue in the ecclesiastical world. We must realize that, if we are to be a biblical church, not simply a culturally relevant church, we must discount such heavy dependence on our limited and provincialized inventory of works and get down to the business of depending on the power of the Word and the force of the unleashed gospel. We must look to the Spirit, not to our humanly contrived proxies, as the only Paraclete. (151)

Best is not arguing against new musical styles. What he's doing is pointing out one of our most likely idols. If your church is primarily known as the bluegrass church or the indie rock church or the classical music church (or, for that matter, the homeschool church or the social justice church), you run the risk of building a body of believers whose faith is first of all in something other than the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. "Risk" is the operative word. It's not automatic. Our churches can get known for all sorts of things. The PR is not always in our control. But if your church is mainly known for its style of music, and the people who come all mention the band's swag, then you ought to at least ask the question: what is really the glue holding us together?

Once that question is squarely and fairly faced then, Best argues, let the music flow rich and free.

As I have said before, then, but only then, and by all means, let the music come. Traditional, contemporary, avant-garde, ethnic, jazz, rock and chant–name it and pour your heart and mind into it. Rejoice in it. Dance with David in it. Let Taize ring the changes on the glory of God, and let "Jesus Loves Me" done in a thousand styles become everybody's invocation and benediction. Let the emotions roll and the endorphins break their dikes. But for Jesus Christ's sake, let's get music back where it belongs–as a lisping sign and not a glittering cause, as the response to a  commandment and not just a set of tools for influencing people. (Unceasing Worship, 151)

It doesn't matter your tastes, your skills, or your context: church music will always be a marvelous servant and a cruel master.

Monday Morning Humor

You may have seen this parody already, but it is delicious nonetheless.

 

On the opposite side of delicious…

[P.S. I've never seen this show and am not recommending you go out an watch it.]

Mission Work Is Not Missional if We Change the Message

Eckhard Schnabel:

If we avoid speaking of God's wrath, of God's justice, of the coming day of divine judgment, of Jesus' death as an atoning sacrifice for us, we are not changing the form of the missionary presentation of the gospel but its content. The foundational centrality of "Christ crucified" is of critical importance for the existence of the local church. In mission and evangelism the search for a presentation of the gospel that will convince listeners is misguided if the fact of Jesus' death on the cross and the significance of this death are not central to that message.

The cross has been and always will be regarded as a religious scandal and as intellectual nonsense. The search for a message that is more easily comprehensible must never attempt to eliminate the provocative nature of the news of Jesus the messianic Son of God who came to die so that sinners can be forgiven by God who hates sin and judges sinners on the Day of Judgment. Paul knows that it is only the power of God, the "proof" of God's Spirit working in people, that convinces unbelievers of the truth of the news of Jesus and that leads them to faith in Jesus the Messiah and Savior. (Paul the Missionary, 399-400)