Kevin DeYoung's Blog, page 164

Don't Let the Big Gospel Story Distract You from Personal Gospel Salvation

J.I. Packer:

In recent years, great strides in biblical theology and contemporary canonical exegesis have brought new precision to our grasp of the Bible's overall story of how God's plan to bless Israel, and through Israel the world, came to its climax in and through Christ. But I do not see how it can be denied that each New Testament book, whatever other job it may be doing, has in view, one way or another, Luther's primary question: how may a weak, perverse, and guilty sinner find a gracious God? Nor can it be denied that real Christianity only really starts when that discovery is made. And to the extent that modern developments, by filling our horizon with the great metanarrative, distract us from pursuing Luther's question in personal terms, they hinder as well as help in our appreciation of the gospel. (In My Place Condemned He Stood, 26-27)

Children and Secondhand Stress

If I had to name a besetting sin right now it would be impatience, especially with my kids. I don't think this is a constant problem, but it is recurring. I love my kids dearly and play with them and do special things with them and try to teach them the Bible and discipline them when they disobey. But I can also be impatient. And that's a sin. I needlessly exasperate them at times. And that's a sin too.

So I took note of these paragraphs from Bryan Caplan who has written a sometimes-right-on, sometimes-head-scratching, non-Christian, pro-big family book on parenting:

Most parents worry about the dangers of secondhand smoke. But few consider the dangers of secondhand stress. If you make yourself miserable to do a special favor for your child, he might enjoy it. But if he senses your negative feelings, he might come to share them.

Secondhand stress is one of kids' leading grievances. In the Ask the Children survey, researched Ellen Galinsky interviewed over 1,000 kids in grades three to twelve and asked parents to guess how kids would respond. One key question: "If you were granted one wish to change the way your mother's/father's work affects your life, what would that wish be?" Kids answers were striking. They rarely wished for extra face time with their parents. They were much more likely to wish their parents would be less tired and stressed. The parents were simply out of touch. Virtually no one guessed that kids would use their one wish to give their parents a better attitude.

Galinsky also asked kids to grade their parents' performance on a dozen dimensions. Overall, parents did pretty well. Moms had an overall GPA of 3.14, versus 2.98 for dads. A majority of moms and dads got As for "appreciating me for who I am," "making me feel important and loved," and "being able to attend important events in my life." Anger management was parents' Achilles' heel. More than 40 percent of kids gave their moms and dads a C, D, or F for "controlling his/her temper when I do something that makes him/her angry"—the very worst marks on their report card. (Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun, 32-33)

I'm never quite sure how much stock to put in studies like this, but Galinsky's study certainly rings true. As parents we love our kids to the moon. We love to plan special events and give them special treats. We never want to miss a soccer game or recital. Way to go us! But we are easily frustrated and prone to anger. The basic point of Caplan's book is that parents make parenting too hard by trying to do too much, getting too worked up about little things, and thinking they have almost sovereign control over their children's future. I certainly don't agree with all his suggestions and findings, but Caplan is right about this: it would be better for us and for our kids if we made fewer outings, g0t involved in fewer activities, took more breaks away from the kids, did whatever we could to get more help around the house, and make parental sanity a higher priority.

Beware the secondhand stress. If mommy (or daddy) ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Or as God put it, "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil" (Eph. 4:26-27).

What Is the Mission of the Church?

The question is more controversial than you might think. Any number of responses can sound about right until you really dig in and see that they aren't all saying the same thing.

Phil Ryken says, "One of the last gifts Jesus gave to the church was a clear, unambiguous statement of its mission to the world. Jesus said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth….' That Great Commission is still in effect. Although it was first given to the apostles, it is a mission statement for all Christians at all times and in all place" (City on a Hill, 129).

I think this statement is spot on. Few Christians would have problems with it. But others would want to give a much more expansive view of the mission of the church.

For example, Christopher Wright maintains that, "Fundamentally, our mission (if it is biblically informed and validated) means our committed participation as God's people, at God's invitation and command, in God's own mission within the history of God's world for the redemption of God's creation" (The Mission of God, 22-23).

Reggie McNeal argues that the missional church is the people of God partnering with God in his redemptive mission in the world (Missional Renaissance, 24). We are to be an incarnational presence on the earth (31), working for those things that enhance life and opposing those that steal life (35).

William Dyrness and James Engel advocate a missions model which "affirms that evangelism and social transformation are inseparable elements in Christ's kingdom that embraces all of creation. The goal is shalom—a sense of human welfare and well-being that transcends an artificial distinction between private and public worlds. Shalom, by its very nature, is rooted in justice and compassion" (Changing the Mind of Missions, 93). The new paradigm for missions is "the establishment and extension of God's kingdom reign on this earth" (79).

And finally, Gabe Lyons explains our mission by suggesting that "God commissioned us to share his whole story and become conduits for him to bring healing to earth and its residents. Like a capstone to the story of God, Christians are called to partner in a restorative work so that the torch of hope is carried until Christ returns" (The Next Christians, 55). Later he says, we are "on a mission, partnering with God to breathe justice and mercy and peace and compassion and generosity into the world. [The next Christians] believe that in small ways they are turning back the hands of time to give the world a glimpse of what the world looked like before sin entered the picture (59)."

So what is the mission of the church? What is it that God's collective people are sent into the world to accomplish? With finite people, finite time, and finite resources, what should be the missions priority for your church? Should we even have priorities? And if we have priorities how should we look at other good things we could do as God's people in God's name?

These are the sorts of questions that prompted Greg Gilbert and I to write the book What Is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission (WTS). Greg is the pastor at Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville and a good friend. It was a joy to work on this project with him. We hope the book is biblical, accessible, useful, and encourages the church in mission.

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If you'd like a FREE COPY of the book, leave a brief comment about a missionary (past or present) that you love and respect. Please, just write one or two sentences, and be mindful the some current missionaries may not want their identities or locations made public. You may have to speak in ambiguous terms about some of your heroes.

At 2pm Eastern time, we'll put all the comments into some kind of random number generator doohickey and pick TEN winners. We'll announce the winners and someone will email you and figure out how to get you the book.

If you'd like more information on the book, try this link. There you'll find a description of the book, endorsements, a video discussion, a 24 page excerpt, and other information to peruse.

A Friendly Reminder as the Campaign Season Gets Into Full Swing

I think I can make this brief.

Here's a friendly reminder for Republicans, Democrats, people like myself, and every other American: the President of the United States is not God.

Or to put it more memorably, if less transparently: POTUS is not totus.

I'm not talking about the current president or any specific person. I'm talking about the office. We should not expect the President to be the panacea for the nation. We should not expect that most of life's troubles will be solved with the right electoral outcome.

As I've said before, I believe politics is important. I believe it's important to have Christians in politics. I believe some political ideologies, ideas, programs, and policies are better than others–better for the common good and better in God's eyes. But let's remember that presidents are not omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, or omnicompetent.

The President is not omnicausal either. When the President is on your team, be honest to admit that not every single good thing in the whole country is because of him. And when the President is on the opposite team, don't make it sound like every failure in society can be traced to his administration. There are 300 million people in this country. America is big. It's complex. None but God can trace the thread of cause of effect for every person. So let's not expect that our presidents should right every wrong, solve every problem, fix every pothole, provide health and prosperity for all, and on top of that be a likeable, fatherly, dignified, fun-loving, brilliant, down-home, urbane, humorous, serious, athletic, good looking, poet-warrior-manager man that we all want to be like and hang out with.

There are no lines to read between here. I have no one incident or person in mind as I write this post. But as one who follows politics and the campaign season pretty closely I'm continually amazed at how much candidates claim for themselves and promise to accomplish.

The only thing more amazing is how we expect them to make these claims and love them for it.

Why We Worship the Way We Do

Recently, I wrote a short piece for our congregation explaining why we worship the way we do (see below). I wanted to help our people understand that there is a reason the service looks like it does each week.

Just as crucially, I want visitors to understand the thought process behind our worship. Non-Christians may have no reference point for what's going on. And Christians checking out our church may think our style seems strange.

Increasingly, the normal evangelical worship services consists of 25 minutes of singing, a brief prayer, 30-40 minutes of teaching, then a closing song (with the offering and the announcements somewhere in between). Many good churches worship in this way, and I have no doubt God is sincerely and faithfully worshiped with this order of service. But it's not the way Christians have historically worshiped. And, I would argue, it is not as rich and deep and gospel-shaped as a service can be. I would never suggest University Reformed Church has everything nailed down or that we are the only ones "doing it right." We do, however, have reasons for worshiping the way we do.

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Why We Worship the Way We Do

There is nothing more important in life than worship. We all worship something or someone. The only question is whether we will worship the right One in the right way. At URC we want all of life to be worship to God (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 10:31). He is worthy to receive glory and honor and power (Rev. 4:11). In particular, we want our worship services on Sunday to be pleasing to Him. To gather with God's people on the Lord's Day to worship at God's throne under the authority of God's word is our solemn duty and joyful privilege.

It's with that supreme goal in mind that we hold to a number of values when it comes to corporate worship.

1. Glory to God – Worship is ultimately for Him. He is the most important audience at every service.

2. Edifying to God's people – Corporate worship must build up the body of Christ. Believers should be equipped, comforted, and exhorted.

3. Understandable – New words and concepts may be introduced, but the service should be intelligible to both Christians and non-Christians.

4. Biblical – The whole service teaches God's people, so everything—the prayers, the songs, the preaching—must be biblical. We like the saying: in worship we read the Bible, preach the Bible, pray the Bible, sing the Bible, and see the Bible in the sacraments.

5. Emphasizing the ordinary means of grace – God can work in many ways, but he has committed to being with us and transforming us through certain "means of grace." He communes with us through prayer, through the word, and through the sacraments of the Lord's Supper and Baptism. Our services emphasize these ordinary means whereby God promises to give us more grace.

6. Expositional preaching – The central act in the worship service is the preaching of God's word. We believe this is best accomplished through the careful, Spirit-filled exposition of Scripture. Normally, this means we work systematically through a book of the Bible, verse by verse. No matter the approach, every sermon should flow from Scripture and proclaim the gospel of Christ's death and resurrection.

7. Thoughtful – Every church has a liturgy (an order of service). Our service has four parts: praise, renewal, proclamation, response. We see this pattern in the covenant renewal ceremonies of Scripture and in various divine encounters. In Isaiah 6, for example, Isaiah comes before God and praises him; then he confesses sin and seeks renewal; God then speaks his word to Isaiah; and finally Isaiah responds with commitment to God. This is also a gospel pattern: approach God in awe, see our sin, hear the good news, respond in faith and obedience.

8. Historical – The Church has been thinking about how to worship for centuries. We want to learn from our spiritual ancestors and build on their models. To that end, we regularly employ creeds, confessions, catechisms, responsive readings, and other forms that have been common in church history.

9. Mixing old and new – We believe there are new songs to be sung to Jesus. We also believe there is a great heritage of church music that we should embrace. You'll find that our services use music from different genres and different centuries. It can be fast, loud, slow, or soft. We use a variety of instruments, everything from guitars and drums to the organ. In all this, the most important sound is that of the congregation singing.

10. Prayerful – Our services include many different prayers. Often you will find a prayer of confession because we sin every week and need gospel mercy every week. We usually have a longer congregational prayer, which is an important time to pray for the needs of our church family and for the world.

Monday Morning Humor

A Prayer for 9/11 Ten Years Later

[image error]Ten years ago on this day the United States was attacked by Muslim extremists working for the terrorist group Al Qaeda. Two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City, a third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Almost 3000 American civilians lost their lives on September 11, 2001—a greater number than were killed during the bombing of Pearl Harbor 60 years earlier.

All of us who are adults can remember exactly where we were when we heard about hijacked planes or what we felt as we watched the Twin Towers fall. It's not an exaggeration to say the events of 9/11 changed this country and the world. That day probably changed us too. On the tenth anniversary of 9/11 there are reasons to give thanks, reasons to mourn, and many reasons to pray. So join me as I lead us in prayer.

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O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we worship and adore you, for  you are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though mountains be moved into the heart of the sea. We will not be afraid though skyscrapers tumble and fall, though terror alerts are raised and the constant noise of wars and rumors of wars is all around us. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; you utter your voice; the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

We live in an uncertain, sad and dangerous world. We always have and always will. But your sovereignty is secure, your loved is fixed, and your promises are altogether sure.

We turn to you, heavenly Father, as our rock and our refuge, as our King and our comforter. We pray that you continue to sustain all those who lost loved ones on 9/11. Show them mercy. Give them comfort. For those who believe in you, minister by your Spirit and the truths of your word. For those who are far from you, use this tragedy in a new way a decade later to draw these broken-hearted men, women, and children to yourself.

We thank you Lord for the fire men and police officers who risked their lives, and often gave their lives, to search for and rescue the victims of 9/11. We thank you for the opportunities many have had, like Lisa Beamer, to witness to the hope of the gospel in light of 9/11. We thank you for the men and women of our armed services who have fought bravely in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere during these ten years, some of them paying the ultimate price, so that we can have security at home and others can have freedom abroad. Thank for the yearning for freedom in parts of the Arab world. Thank you for the downfall of evil men like Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. Thank you that despite many threats and scares, we have not had another 9/11 in this country. This is an undeserved gift and we praise God from whom all blessings flow.

We ask that you give wisdom, courage, humility, safety and strength to President Obama, to his cabinet, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and to all who are responsible for making tough choices to try to keep this country safe and prevent needless suffering in the world. We pray for good policies, good intelligence, good character, and good decisions that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way.

We pray for Muslims in this country and around the world. Give them the safety and freedom we all deserve as creatures made in your image. Most of all, give them the eternal safety that only comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the freedom that only comes through faith in him.

And finally, we pray that you wage war against the terror in our own hearts—our rebellion against you, our pride, our worry, our disobedience, our hatred, our cowardice, our intolerance and our overtolerance.  May we see every disaster—be it hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, or terrorism—as an opportunity and a summons to repent. Help every American to realize—as well as every Chinese, Korean, and Arab Muslim—that far worse will befall us on that day when the rocks and mountains crumble and people all over the world flee from the wrath of the Lamb. May every moment of adversity and prosperity point us to Christ. Keep our eyes fixed on the Author and Perfector of our faith. Let us run to Christ. Let us cling to Christ. Let us find forgiveness in Christ. Let us find assurance in Christ. For the only true promise of peace, in this life and in the next, is found in Christ. We gladly confess that he is our only comfort in life and in death.

Some trust in chariots; some trust in horses; some trust in the Koran; some trust in their wealth; some trust in their ancestors; some trust in their degrees; some trust in tanks and talks and predator drones. But we trust in the name of the Lord our God. It's in his name of the Lord Jesus that we live and move and have our being, and it's in his name we pray, Amen.

Baseball, Loss, and Life

Lee Congdon:

Even the greatest teams, such as the '53 Dodgers, fail to win championships more of than they win them. In their best years, the greatest hitters—Rogers Hornsby, Ted Williams—failed to hit safely 60 percent of the time. "The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, the cliche has it, but my guess," Joseph Epstein has observed, "is that for those who have undergone both, the memory of defeat in sports is stronger and sharper."

This is true, and for good reason. Life too, as Kahn suggested, is primarily about losing: losing parents and other loved ones, friends, jobs, health, memory—life itself. Such losses are painful, but like losses in sports, they teach the valuable lesson of human limitation and shed light on the meaning of life and the paradoxical words of Christ (St. Matthew 16:25): "For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." (Baseball and Memory, 73).

Glory of God: Glorifying our Glorious God

Romans 1:18-23

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God (v. 21a)

God wants to be worshiped. He is worthy to be worshiped. He made us to worship him, and in worshiping him we will find joy for our souls.

But God doesn't want to be worshiped any old way. We do not worship God rightly unless we worship him as all-glorious. If some generations have conceived of God as an austere kill-joy, other Christians have little sense of the holiness of God. We'll say "awesome" while playing video games or watching football, but we don't know what it means to worship One who is awe-full and awe-inspiring. Too often we have a "hang-out" God who is a buddy-therapist-chum and not the Holy One of Israel. When we worship God as a feel-good, safe, squishy God who laughs all the time and hugs us a lot we are not honoring God as God.

We need to know Christ as a tender lover of our souls. And we also need to know Christ as the Son of Man with eyes like a flame of fire, feet like burnished bronze, a voice like many waters, and a face like the shining sun at whose sight we fall down as though dead (Rev. 1:12-17). King David was right: You who fear the LORD, praise him! (Psalm 22:23)

Daddy, Where Do Jobs Comes From?

Jobs are in the news. The lack of them actually. Unemployment is high and underemployment is higher. So tonight President Obama will address Congress and the nation and unveil a new jobs agenda. The Republicans will follow up with their plan next week.

I'm not interesting in commenting on the specifics of either party's job plan. There are, no doubt, many good ideas that could help the economy and many bad ideas to avoid. I'll let you decide which are which.

But I thought it might be worthwhile to think about where private sector jobs come from. Most basically, new jobs come from people with money to spend who want to spend their money on more people. This means:

(1) The employer must have money. He may spend his own money. Or he may borrow money from investors or the bank. But somehow he has to have money.

(2)The employer must believe that spending his money on new employees will be good for his business. We may wish that employers hired people just cuz. But that's not the way the world works. When employers want to be charitable they give to church or to their alma mater. But with their business they know they need to make money. Consequently, they hire new workers only when they believe that paying more people will eventually be offset by making more money.

(3) The employer must be willing to take a risk. Very few new hires are sure things. Employers don't know exactly what they are getting with their new employees. More important, they don't know what will happen with their profits. They follow trends and track receipts and keep money in reserve, but in the end every expansion of business is a risk.

(4) The employer must be somewhat confident in his projection of the future. Yes, risk is inevitable. But shrewd businesses look to minimize risk. They want to know what their taxes will be, whether existing laws will be fairly enforced, what regulations will be like, what's happening with their competitors, what's happening with the prices of things they need to buy, what's happening with markets overseas. There are a thousand things they'd like to know. They can't know them all. But the more predictable their future looks, the more apt they will be to take risks.

Underneath it All

Of course, none of this matters if the employer is not profitable. Almost no business will expand unless profits are increasing, or it is believed strongly that they will.

So where do profits come from?

People make a profit when they sell goods or services for more than it costs to produce or perform those goods and services. No doubt, many people are greedy and pursue profits at the expense of principle and the good of people. But profits by themselves are not bad. In fact, they tell you that you are delivering a product that people find valuable. Profits help allocate scarce resources toward the goods and services that people want.

When the same goods and services can be delivered more cheaply, profits increase. And with fair competition prices will eventually decrease, which is good for consumers. Productivity is the name of the game. Whenever the same stuff can be produced for less cost, productivity has increased. And when productivity increases, an economy expands. This doesn't mean everyone will profit equally. One business windfall may spell bad news for some other industry. But over time, with increased productivity, the net effect on the whole economy is positive. And that means more jobs.

Let me illustrate.

Mr. Moo and His Milkmaids

Mr. Moo sells milk. He charges $5 a gallon. Everyone in town wants milk so everyone pays Mr. Moo $5 a gallon. But Mr. Moo wants to make even more money. Maybe he's greedy. Maybe he wants to give more to his church. Maybe he wants to buy a new car. Maybe he just had a new baby that needs food and clothes. Maybe he wants to bet on horses. No matter the reason, Mr. Moo (like almost everyone) wants to make more money. What should he do?

He could charge more for his milk, but he realizes that at $6 a gallon some of his customers will drive to the next town where milk is only $4.75. So instead he tries to lower his costs. He needs $4 to make a gallon of milk, but he'd like to do better. So next month he replaces his milkmaids with new milking machines. This requires a substantial up front investment, but within a year the milking machines have paid for themselves. Without having to pay milkmaids, his milk only costs $3 to produce. Now he charges $4.25—a savings to his customers and more profit for him.

This simple example shows how productivity fuels profits. Mr. Moo found a way to make the same thing for less money.

But, you ask, how is this good for anyone but Mr. Moo? Well, as the other farmers purchased their milking machines their costs went down too. So they started to lower prices, hoping to attract more customers. Mr. Moo did the same. Even if he is now getting richer, his customers are too. They save 75 cents on every gallon of milk (paying $4.25 when they used to pay $5.00). Now they have the same milk as before but more money. The economy has expanded.

And that's not all, with more money in his pocket Mr. Moo goes out to eat more, which helps the local burger joint hire one more cook. And all the new machines need servicing, so the local repairmen hires an apprentice. The grocer spends less on milk so he can add another bagger. The doctor, who is saving money on dairy, has more money to spend so he donates to the local art museum which can afford to purchase two new paintings from an aspiring artist. No one knew Mr. Moo's machines would help so many people and create so many jobs. No one really notices either, but it happens.

But what about the poor milkmaids? True, they are out of work. Their lives, at least in the short run, are worse because of the new innovation. Those dreaded milking machines seemed to have ruined everything. In fact, the mayor almost outlawed them. Others wanted to institute a new milking machine tariff to discourage farmers from buying them and to help save milkmaid jobs. But none of this happened. Instead farmers kept buying milking machines and milkmaids kept losing their jobs. Which was really hard on the milkmaids and their families.

And yet, that's not the end of the story. Some of the milkmaids went to work for Mr. Pump who manufactures milking machines. His business was booming. He needed more workers to help make more machines. So he hired a few milkmaids. And remember, as the price of milk dropped, so did the price of cheese and pizza and yogurt. Everyone's grocery bill was less. The whole town had the same stuff but more money. So Mr. Wall and Mr Mart decided to open a new thrift store. Mrs. Lovejoy, who started watching busy Mr. Wall's and Mr. Mart's kids during the day, decided to open a daycare. She hired some former milkmaids to help, as did Mr. Wall and Mr. Mart. A few of the married milkmaids decided they didn't have to work anymore because groceries were cheaper than they used to be and the family could get by on less. It was hard and humiliating to lose their jobs, but five years later the whole town is better off because Mr. Moo bought his milking machines. There are more jobs. Families are able to purchase more things. And there is more ice cream for everyone.

Coming to a Point

The point of this little parable is to highlight the power of productivity. Obviously, my story is hugely simplified. This one example doesn't take into account that some technologies are morally suspect and some people use them immorally. Virtue is necessary for any flourishing economy. Economists call it social capital. It's the fancy phrase for trust, honesty, and the rule of law. Economies drag when corruption soars. Every economy needs rules that are justly enforced by impartial rule keepers. All of this is assumed in the story of our capitalist friend Mr Moo.

I don't believe the Bible mandates a specific economic system. Capitalism is not required by Christianity. But Christian principles do undergird capitalism. And the biggest of these is capital itself. When we hear "capital" we think of money. But that's not the only, or the most important, kind of capital. Remember, capital comes from the Latin word for "head." The most important element in capitalism is the human brain. The engine of capitalism is the God-given drive, ability, and responsibility to create, to innovate, to conquer and subdue. When humans make something out of nothing, or when we make the same something more efficiently, we show for the image of God in us. We turn a black gooey mess into gasoline and sand into silicon chips. That's the result of human ingenuity, which results in increased productivity. And it just so happens, that increased productivity leads to profit, and profits are ultimately where jobs come from.