Jared C. Wilson's Blog, page 53

Jesus, The Good Pastor

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

- John 16:12

These words of Christ really minister to me. The immediate context is this: Jesus has resurrected and he is issuing warnings and promises to his disciples. He is consoling them about his soon departure, saying he is going to send the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth. He’s going to keep speaking to them, only now through the Holy Spirit, primarily through the Spirit-inspired new covenant Scriptures.

But I love Jesus’ pastoral heart. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” Jesus is patient with his people. He plods. He knows how to hand out bread day by day. He doesn’t overcook his sermons like us dumb pastors, thinking we’ve got to hit everybody with everything all at once. He does not “turn on the firehose.” He does not inundate. Of course, Jesus has the benefit of omniscience — he knows how things will play out tomorrow — and we do not. But he is so gentle in this moment.

These words remind me that Jesus is committed to giving me all that I need at the times I need it. It has been said that all our knowledge of God at any given moment is merely a thimble of water compared to the ocean of water available. And yet the thimble is a daily supply, more than enough, just the right amount. Jesus is so good. He knows my limits and condescends to fill them and minister to me within them.

We undershepherds should take note.

What’s Wrong With Buying Your Way Onto the Bestseller List?

. . . or buying Twitter followers or gaming the analytics to inflate website stats, etc.

At least 5 things:

1. It’s dishonest.

No, it’s not illegal. But neither are lots of unethical, dishonest things. The asumption that people make when they see “Bestseller” labeled on a book or 600,000 followers on your Twitter page is that you came by those accomplishments the straightforward way: attracting or impressing enough readers to merit their attention. Many “bestseller lists” are assembled in such a way to prevent certain gamings of the system. It may not be a crime to figure out the workarounds, but it’s certainly against the rules, the spirit of the lists, and the expectations of those who respect the lists. Exploiting the loopholes is a patently deceptive practice. Some may ask what the difference is between this practice and paying for an ad. But the difference should be obvious: when people see an ad, they know it was paid for by the writer/publisher/marketer, but when people see a book make a bestseller list, they assume it was paid for by readers. That the net effect may be the same — influence — doesn’t justify non-transparent means.

2. It’s egocentric and lazy.

Rather than actually write a strong book or assemble a steady body of social media work that people find valuable over time, rather than putting in the actual time and investing the relational capital necessary to build a genuine audience, one opts to leverage one commodity (money) for another (power). And while some may say the system-gaming strategy is simply a way to get “the gospel” into the maximum number of hands, others of us would suggest that the efforts to gin up an insta-hit indicate it’s not so much the gospel that needs a bestseller as an antsy writer who needs one.

3. It may eventually harm your reputation and will bug you in the long run.

It may harm your reputation when people find out. That’ll stink. Then you’ll spend more time defending yourself or owning up to your shadiness than you will enjoying your success and leveraging your influence for Christ’s fame.

But maybe nobody ever finds out. Maybe the only ones who know are you and the ones you paid to create your status. Instead, it will start to eat at you. As people congratulate you for your bestselling status or express regard for your widening audience, you’ll know inside it’s a sham, that you didn’t actually earn it but bought it. That’s assuming, of course, you have a sensitive conscience. Either way, it’s just not worth it in the long run.

4. It’s poor stewardship and bad strategy.

Okay, so let’s say you are just trying to “promote” the book. Wouldn’t it have been more efficient to simply pay the same amount for an advertising blitz in key publications? Let’s say you really are just trying to reach people with the gospel. Wouldn’t investing the same amount in an actual ministry endeavor (supporting a missionary, funding a church plant, etc.) be money better spent? If you’re simply trying to expand the audience of the gospel — or your gospel-teaching material — wouldn’t it be more effective to simply purchase thousands of copies of your book and give them away to lost people? Or, alternatively, not to sell your book at all and just give it away for free? (Did Keith Green make any bestseller lists? Has John Piper?) As a ministry maneuver, system-gaming works against its purported aim because it’s non-transparent, but it also seems too complicated and inefficient to effectively accomplish what it means to.

5. It disadvantages those actually gifted.

This is a subtle point but I think an important one. Some people take years to gather thousands of blog readers or Twitter followers by consistently putting out quality content over time and earning readers’ trust and therefore the widening influence this affords. Then someone comes along and buys twice as many fake followers. You may call this sour grapes on the part of the guy who came by his readers honestly, but I think he’d have a genuine grievance about the buyer’s inadvertent cheapening of the earner’s effort and influence. When more and more people get quickly and easily what others worked very hard for over time, it lessens the value of everybody’s influence. This is why the celebrity culture pervading evangelicalism doesn’t advance the gospel so much as it creates a culture of competition and consumerism, and also distrust.

Additionally, authors who buy their way into sales and accolades disadvantage their brothers and sisters who are actually gifted to write. Yes, I know some of the bestselling Christian authors have actually written their own books, but too many have not, and adding the dishonesty of system-gaming to the dishonesty of ghostwriting further hinders the work of real artists who are getting crowded out of the marketplace.

And the disadvantage is a real one, if only because the “horning in” can’t run the other way. There are no ghost-preachers, after all. Many talented preachers are not talented writers, and vice versa, but talented writers can’t pretend to be talented preachers. But talented preachers can sure pretend to be talented writers. When we let them, we diminish the writer class in evangelicalism. We do a disservice to the Body, actually, because we let the preacher class cannibalize the writer class. They used to coexist harmoniously. But that was before the preacher got envious of the writer. And one of the awful results is that evangelicals don’t have very good literary taste. What if we let our gifted preachers preach to us and our gifted writers write to us? And when the twain meet, great, but when they don’t — also great.

You’re Going to Die (and So Might Your Dreams)

. . . for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

– Genesis 3:19

One of the problems I have with all the “chase your dreams!” cheerleading from Christian leaders is not because I begrudge anyone wanting to achieve their dreams, but because I don’t think we readily see how easy it is to conflate our dream-chasing with God’s will in Christ.

You know, it’s possible that God’s plan for us is littleness. His plan for us may be personal failure. It’s possible that when another door closes, it’s not because he plans to open a window but because he plans to have the building fall down on you. The question we must ask ourselves is this: Will Christ be enough?

Are we pursuing our own greatness or the expansion of worship of Jesus Christ? They aren’t necessarily incompatible, but God is more interested in the latter than the former. And ultimately, if we prioritize Christ’s glory, we won’t really care in the long run how noticed, renowned, recognized, or “successful” we are personally. We’ll realize that our lives aren’t really about us anyway.

Sometimes we have to let our dreams die.

And that’s okay. We will be okay.

Look, “for those who love God, all things work together for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). So God’s plan might be for your littleness, and that’s okay, because his plan is not for his own littleness! His plan for your efforts, big and small, is that they will maximize the glory due his Son. That he might draw all men to himself. That he might fill the earth with the knowledge of his glory – as Habakkuk 2:14 says – as much as the waters cover the seas.

One day, you are going to die. Perhaps today. What will they say about you? What legacy are you truly leaving? When the funeral is over and all the accolades about you are used up, your body will become dust.

In Al Mohler’s book The Conviction to Lead he writes of

. . . an old preacher [who] told a group of younger preachers to remember that they would die. “They are going to put you in a box,” he said, “and put the box in the ground, and throw dirt on your face, and then go back to the church and eat potato salad.”

Here’s the point: As great as you can make yourself, as many wonderful things as you can accomplish in your lifetime — even religious things — it will all be a blip on the radar of eternity. You will become dust. The worms will eat you. Statistically speaking, since most of us will never accomplish such great things that history will laud throughout the ages, memory of us will start fading with our grandchildren. Our great grandchildren will (likely) not have any clue who we are.

But!

If you are bringing glory to Christ, not a thing about you is wasted, because the mission of the Spirit of God is to maximize the glory of Christ over all the universe. So that even at the end of days, as Revelation shows us, all the glorious kings of the nations in all their renown and splendor, file in one by one into the holy city to throw their crowns at the feet of Jesus. Revelation 21 reveals that the light of the new heavens and new earth comes not from the “sun” but from the “Son,” and the kings of the nations will bring their glory into it.

There is the vision of greatness the redeemed of the Lord ought to aspire to. That he would increase and we would decrease. That our decrease would serve his increase!

And those who are willing to lose their lives — whatever that might mean — for Christ’s sake, will find them.

And from dust you will return.

Your Best Links Now – 3/5/14

Believers in a Hostile Culture by Randy Alcorn

I will confess that it’s not the culture’s hostility that is increasingly unnerving to me but the hostility toward the brethren of fellow professing believers who seem to be increasingly aligning with the views of the culture. Alcorn writes, “If our eyes are on anyone but Jesus, we’re not going to have the stamina to put up with criticism or outright hostility. Paul said, ‘If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ’. . .”

Wes Anderson: King of Empathy by Andrew Barber

Over at Christianity Today, Barber writes of the maestro of cinematic quirk Anderson, “[He] mourns the wounds we carry because he believes that people are valuable. Even if he can’t explain why.”

Kayaker Discovers 110-Year-Old Ghost Ship in a Tributary of the Ohio River

“The photos are cool, but what’s more incredible is the history of this ship, and the things it has seen before it’s current resting place!”

Why Does Your Nose Get Stuffy One Nostril at a Time?

Your nostrils take breaks, apparently, on a work cycle.

Why “I Believe in Logic and Reason” is a Nonsense Statement by Clint Roberts

“Nobody likes an ugly custody battle, but in the recent era of boisterous ‘in your face’ internet debate styles, we’ve seen an attempt to co-opt the favored terms and claim them as the natural and exclusive property of the self-appointed champions of reason and logic. When you see any particular individual or group lay claim to ‘reason’, you should get suspicious . . .”

Awesome Chemical Reactions

I’m not sure this is science so much as witchcraft.

The Bible and “Le Mot Juste”

“Flaubert was always adamantly opposed to illustrations for his literary works. This apparent contradiction can be explained by his concept of pure art and his association of art with style, from which it follows that one art cannot be translated into another. For Flaubert, writing was a long, sometimes agonizingly slow, quest for perfection in style. His correspondence is filled with descriptions of his efforts to polish his prose, to eliminate repetition or assonance, to find le mot juste [the right word].”

– The Gustave Flaubert Encyclopedia edited by Laurence Porter (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 2001), 15.

Flaubert was obsessed with finding the exact right word. He would labor over his composition, sometimes finishing a long day’s work having written just a few words, perhaps one sentence. The result was both beautiful and cold, as anyone who made it through Madame Bovary can attest.

Some scholars say that you can’t read Flaubert in anything but French, for all translations lose the pristine fruit of his labors. One said Flaubert’s works would need the “Flaubert of translators” to do le mot juste justice.

Yet it occurs to me that in the Scriptures, which are God-breathed, we find ostensibly un-artful census results as well as ecstatic exultation, and lots of literature on the spectrum in between, and yet in its variety of authors from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of motivations in a variety of genres, every word of Scripture is perfectly placed. Flaubert wrung himself out like a limp rag for a few droplets a day, and the result was pretty, sterile. The Spirit pours it effortlessly out through similarly wrung men into the Bible’s flowing fountain, and the result is a tidal wave of exhilarating warmth. I remind myself of this when bogged down in Numbers as when lifted to Pauline pinnacles. It helps to know the biblical languages, I know, but it helps especially to know that every word of Scripture from Genesis 1:1-s “In” to Revelation 22:21-s “Amen” is le mot juste.

Your Best Links Now – 3/4/14

Pro Football Was My God by Derwin Gray

“Then I met the Naked Preacher, a linebacker for the Colts in 1993. It was impossible not to notice a linebacker who would take a shower, dry off, wrap a towel around his waist, pick up his Bible, and ask those of us in the locker room, ‘Do you know Jesus?’ I would think, Do you know you are half-naked?”

Red Letter Nonsense by Kevin DeYoung

“The unity of Scripture also means we should be rid, once and for all, of this ‘red letter’ nonsense, as if the words of Jesus are the really important verses in Scripture and carry more authority and are somehow more directly divine than other verses. An evangelical understanding of inspiration does not allow us to prize instructions in the gospel more than instructions elsewhere in Scripture. If we read about homosexuality from the pen of Paul in Romans, it has no less weight or relevance than if we read it from the lips of Jesus in Matthew. All Scripture is breathed out by God, not just the parts spoken by Jesus.”

Bono Got Rejected

1979 record company letter, informing the singer that his “tape of ‘U2′” is not suitable for them at them at the time.

Girl’s Facebook Idiocy Costs Her Dad $80,000

“You know all those times you read about lawsuit settlements where the financial terms are undisclosed? That silence isn’t a sign that no one wants to talk about how much they won or lost; it means that agreement will likely be nullified if people start blabbing about the money changing hands. And that includes a plaintiff’s teen daughter . . .”

Why Deep Teaching Matters by Brett Derr

A good piece about going deeper to the affections with a biblical text, despite the fact that Bret says entirely too much about the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Let it Go” on Toy Instruments

Adele Dazeem (née Idina Menzel), Jimmy Fallon, and The Roots do their thang.

Your Best Links Now – 3/3/14

Does PowerPoint Really Help Your Sermon? from Kenton Anderson

Over at Preaching.org, Anderson writes, “You have all heard the statistics – that listeners retain only 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they see, but more than 30% of what they see and hear, or something along those lines. People use this as their reason why they have to use powerpoint in preaching. It is hoped that retention rates will increase if we add this element of communication to our preaching. I will admit it makes a certain common sense – if only it were true . . .”

A Free Gospel-Centered Pre-Marital Counseling Program Online

Counselor Brad Hambrick offers up a one-stop shop for pastors and couples interested in gospel-centered pre-marital counseling, including video training, meeting agendas, pdf studies on all the pertinent topics covered in counseling.

8 Surprising Historical Facts That Will Change Your Concept of Time Forever

These are really interesting, despite the skepticism that clickbaity title may evoke. Did you know, for instance, that the fax machine was invented the year of the Oregon trail migration?

The Story Behind that “Creepy” Children’s Book Love You Forever

Many parents have come to the end of this story and thought, “What? That’s creepy.” Maybe the origin of the poem will give you another perspective . . .

Lloyd-Jones on The Church and Social Concerns by Jared Sparks

Sparks excerpts from strong words from Lloyd-Jones’s Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, including this tidbit: “The moment the Church begins to intervene in these political, social and economic matters, therefor, she is hampering and hindering herself in her God-appointed task of evangelism. She can no longer say that she ‘knows no man after the flesh’, and thereby she is sinning.”



U2′s “Ordinary Love” Live

U2 performs their Oscar-losing song on The Tonight Show.

Your Best Links Now – 2/27/14

Fracking Isn’t a Four-Letter Word by Chris Horst

This CT piece is the first I’ve ever seen from a Christian perspective on this subject, which is what made it of interest to me.

“There are many times when I don’t share about my husband’s work,” said Christine Bess.

Christine did not marry a secret agent or a drug dealer. She married an oilman.

“It’s not because I’m ashamed of it,” she continued, “but because of the reactions I receive, including from many Christians.”

4 Time Management Tips for Leaders by Joe Stengele

Good stuff here. “I get to meet lots of leaders. Some are young, some are old, but without a doubt the ones who get the most done always manage their time well . . .”

Sharp, Memorable Sentences by Steve McCoy

Steve writes, “For all who desire to change hearts, convince minds, to influence and teach, it would be good to consider the example of John Piper and his memorable sentences, with sharp barbs that lock them deep into our minds and hearts . . .”

And if it is true that, as Piper says, “books don’t change people, but sentences do,” it makes Twitter all the more valuable and our need to follow the right people on it all the more important.



Pennsylvania Sasquatch Sighting?

“Is it an optical illusion or a rare sighting of the legendary Bigfoot? Either way, several recent articles, and this picture are causing a big stir in Pennsylvania . . .”

What We’re Saying When We Don’t Mention the Gospel by Cameron Cole

“As one living in the gutter, I want to plead with you: Remember that behind the veneer of nice clothing, well-kept hair, and apparent smiles on Sunday morning, Wednesday nights, and gatherings in-between lie dozens and dozens of broken hearts, desperate spirits, and doubting souls . . .”

Super Sheng Mario Brothers

“The sheng is one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments; it’s a mouth-blown reed instrument with pipes. And, it turns out that the instrument has the perfect sound for music from Super Mario Bros . . .”

Your Best Links Now – 2/26/14

Can I Reject an Eternal Hell and Still Be Saved? by C. Michael Patton

“I don’t really like this question,” Patton writes. “No, let me be stronger: I hate this question . . .”

10 Ways to Love Someone With Depression by Kelley Baker

The greatest comfort is the gospel tenderly and consistently applied, but this advice lists very good ways to corroborate the truth of the gospel to someone who is struggling under depression (as I have).

Was The Epic Ali-Liston Fight of 1964 Rigged?

You’ve seen the iconic knock-out photo from their 1965 rematch, probably. Was the mob in the shadows of the portraits of their original bout the year before, when Ali shocked the world? The Washington Times reports on old FBI suspicions.

Mark Dever, Matt Chandler, and Darrin Patrick on Spontaneous Baptisms

Are they biblical? Practical? Beneficial?



The Jesus Lens, or The Jesus Tea-Strainer? by Andrew Wilson

“I don’t think Steve Chalke, Brian Maclaren, Tony Campolo, Rob Bell and co are reading the Bible through a Jesus lens, as much as they are reading Jesus through a selective, progressive postmodern lens, and then reading the rest of the Bible through that . . .”

“Blurred Lines” Parody, “Church Signs”

Jesus sees what you did there.

New England Soil, Then as Now — And Now as Then

“But what a dead and barren time has it now been, nor a great while, with all the churches of the Reformation. The golden showers have been restrained; the influences of the Spirit suspended; and the consequence has been, that the gospel has not had any eminent success. Conversions have been rare and dubious; few sons and daughters have been born to God and the hearts of Christians not so quickened, warmed and refreshed under the ordinances, as they have been. That this has been the sad state of religion among us in this land, for many years . . .”

This is a description of New England — of Massachusetts, specifically. Dry, spiritually parched, not much receptive to the gospel. It is a description of New England in the early 1700-s.

Then, as now, the spiritual landscape was discouraging. But then the Spirit did something extraordinary through the work of Jonathan Edwards and others in Massachusetts specifically and New England in general. This passage quoted is from W. Cooper in his Preface to one of Edwards’s works, describing the state of the place before the Spirit began His Great Awakening.

Now, as then, we are dry.

Now, as then, we only need the Spirit’s inclination to see revival.

Because of this, now, as then, things are not hopeless.

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(Interested in ministry in New England? Check out www.middletownchurchresidency.com)