Jared C. Wilson's Blog, page 54

Your Best Links Now – 2/25/14

Casting the Devil Out of the Jesus Movie

Craig S. Keener writes about the removal of the Obama-resembling devil from the Son of God movie, “Given his role in the Gospels, symbol or not, it seems natural that Satan would appear in a movie about Jesus. [Producer Roma]Downey has voiced publicly her belief in the devil’s personal existence, so she and her husband didn’t exclude Satan from the big screen because of theological bias. Yet with the devil’s absence from the film, some Christians have questioned whether the Christ story can be told without mentioning Satan.”

The Strange Saga of Jesus Calling by Ruth Graham

“In early editions, Young’s introduction pays specific respect to a book called God Calling, a 1932 devotional edited by British writer A.J. Russell, who claimed not to have written the book himself. He said the book was written by two anonymous female ‘listeners’ who wrote down what they thought were messages from God. The Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, a guidebook published by evangelical Harvest House, says God Calling is ‘replete with denials of biblical teaching.’ Young’s original introduction said that God Calling ‘became a treasure to me’.”

Conference publishers remove database of gibberish papers

“The publishers Springer and IEEE are removing more than 120 papers from their subscription services after a French researcher discovered that the works were computer-generated nonsense . . .”

Jesus and Tithing by Ray Ortlund

“Tithing, then, is an obedient thing to do. But we should not think of it as heroic and sacrificial and impressive. Tithing is Obedience 101. It is entry-level discipleship . . .”

Here’s a Chihuahua Dancing Salsa

No joke. This dog’s got the jiggy.

Jesus, The Antidote to Blame Transference Syndrome

He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

– Genesis 3:11-13

My religion professor in college, M.B. Jackson, called this phenomenon “Blame Transference Syndrome” (BTS), and said this disease became part of our fallen DNA since that first disobedience. (Pretty good stuff for a Cumberland Presbyterian pastor moonlighting at a state school.)

Understanding BTS helps us see how sin works and how infectious and complex it can be: We believe lies to enter sin, and then we try to cover up our shame, dismiss it, hide from consequences, protect, and self-justify once inside it. Then, when we are called to account, we try to get out of it by offering some excuse about why it’s not really our fault.

All of this begs the question: How do we get out of this mess?

Well, we don’t. We can’t cure ourselves. But Christ can, and he does so in primarily three ways:

First, Christ endures the same temptations Eve and Adam did, only this time, demonstrating perfect obedience.

We need a perfect righteousness to cover us now that we’re sinful and broken. Jesus has that perfect righteousness and one way he manifests it is in undergoing the temptation of Satan that Eve did. In Matthew 4, we find him in the desert. He’s actually in a worse state than Adam and Eve in the garden physically because they are well-fed and healthy, and Christ has been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. Then Satan shows up.

And so do the same three desires tempting Eve!

Satan tells Jesus to turn the stones to bread, appealing to his appetite in the same way Eve saw the fruit was good for food. Satan then tells Jesus to employ his access to angels, appealing to his deity in a similar way that Eve was tempted to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Satan also shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, demonstrating their shiny appeal, echoing how Eve found the forbidden fruit “delightful to look at” (Genesis 3:6). The DNA of sin we see in Genesis 3 (and in 1 John 2:16) – desire of the eyes, desire of flesh, pride of possessions – are all introduced here as some mutation to Jesus’ perfection, and he rejects them all.

The narrative of Jesus’ temptation in the context of the biblical storyline shows us the total redemption available to us through Jesus’ work, not ours. Where Adam and Eve — and we — messed up, Jesus comes through. Where we failed, he succeeded. We are sinful through and through, so there is no sacrifice we can make that won’t be tainted with our inability to perfectly withstand temptation. But as his temptation in the wilderness reveals, Jesus is sinless, so his sacrifice will be effective. Here, in a foreshadow of the cross, Jesus presents himself as a perfect withstander of temptation. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,” Hebrews 4:15 says, “but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”



Secondly, Christ willingly accepts the blame we’re trying to transfer!

Where we are always passing the buck, shifting the blame, justifying ourselves, Jesus says, “Okay, kids, pass the buck to me.”

Adam’s saying “it’s Eve,” and Eve’s saying “It’s the serpent.”

In our lives we are always trying to figure out who else’s fault it is, and Jesus says, “Enough with all that. Give it to me.”

The one guy who is without sin says “Give me your sin. Pass the blame, the shame, the cover-ups onto me. I will take them.” Jesus interrupts BTS by inserting himself into the cycle of blame and absorbing the accusations.

In the fulfillment of the ancient rite of the scapegoat, Jesus provides expiation by taking our sin upon himself, as if it was his, and taking it away into the void of nothingness at the cross. It is “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin . . .” (2 Cor. 5:21).

But he does more than take away our sin. He gives us his perfect obedience. 2 Corinthians 5:21 continues: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

So, finally, Christ transfers back to us blessing, not accusation.

While Satan comes to accuse, Christ comes to accept.

Where the law announces death, Christ announces eternal life.

While we’re all blame-shifting, Jesus is blessing-shifting.

When you think about it, the justice of the gospel is rather unjust towards us, because in the gospel Jesus calls guilty people innocent. And he makes them innocent. He doesn’t just wipe the slate clean, he fills it with his sterling record of perfect obedience — we become “the righteousness of God.”

When God comes to us that we might give an account, we start the defense presentation, and we start naming names. “I wouldn’t be like this if it weren’t for my mother — she really made me this way. I wouldn’t act like this, if it weren’t for my spouse — they push all my buttons. I wouldn’t struggle with this anger, if my boss wasn’t always riding me. I would be much further along spiritually, if it weren’t for my pastor . . .”

The reckoning comes and we start naming names. But the name above all names, Isaiah 53 tells us, was willing to be named among the transgressors. He was willing to be called all kinds of names himself: friend of sinners, drunkard, blasphemer, servant of Beelzebub . . .

And when that time for reckoning comes, he names us in a completely different way: He could tell the truth of the law: sinners, unholy, unclean, unworthy, accursed, dead. But he tells the better truth of the gospel: saints, holy, clean, worthy, blessed, alive.

He is not ashamed to call us his brothers (Heb. 2:11).

Zechariah 2:8 reads, “For thus said the Lord of hosts . . . he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.” This is where the phrase “apple of my eye” comes from. And this is a rather interesting phrase since it was a fruit in the eye that started this whole mess. But God is a jealous God. He desires to possess us for himself. So where our sin brings the curse of death, Christ brings the gift of life, that all who trust in him should be freed from the bondage of lies, shame, and passing the blame.

Jesus endures the temptation we cannot, he accepts the blame we deserve, and he transfers the blessings of his righteousness that we could never earn.

Praise God for the gift of his perfect Son Jesus, the only antidote to death!

Your Best Links Now – 2/24/14

Tchividjian and DeYoung on obedience — can Piper help? by Steve Fuller

Fuller seeks a middle, Piperian way between apparently rival views of faith and works. “Tchividjian — obedience comes from faith alone — faith in our justification. Our effort should go into strengthening faith in our justification. DeYoung — obedience does not come from faith in justification alone. We need effort in addition to faith. Sounds like a stalemate . . . John Piper gives another option . . .”

The Powerlessness of Positive Thinking by Adam Alter

Over at The New Yorker, Alter reveals the true secret that junk like The Secret doesn’t work. “According to a great deal of research, positive fantasies may lessen your chances of succeeding . . .”

Has the Voynich Manuscript Finally Been Decoded?

“A breakthrough has been made in attempts to decipher a mysterious 600-year-old manuscript written in an unknown language, it has been claimed . . .”

30 Things You Didn’t Know About Grumpy Cat

She’s actually pretty happy, apparently; it’s her brother who’s the grumpy one.

The Movie “The Son of God” and The Second Commandment by Michael L. Johnson

Is this film, and others like it, a violation of the command against graven images? Johnson, following the trains of thought of Mark Dever and J.I. Packer, thinks some risks aren’t worth taking.



Doing the Loop the Loop — On Foot

This pioneering stunt was sponsored by Pepsi Max. I drink Pepsi Max, so I’m pretty sure I can do this too.

Your Best Links Now – 2/21/14

Steven Furtick and the “Disneyfication” of Baptism by Christopher Smith

“Furtick offers much fodder for critique — the multi-million dollar house, etc. — but this new story of Elevation’s practice of ‘Spontaneous Baptism’ highlighted many of the criticisms of industrialized Christianity . . .”

On the other hand,

Charles Spurgeon Says We Oughtn’t Count Our Unhatched Chickens

His piece “What Is it To Win a Soul?” is a good corrective on so much silliness.

Is Required Reading Hurting America?

When I scroll through my Facebook feed, it seems like the consensus opinion is that the American educational system is in trouble because they set standards that are way too high for children and at the same time have lowered the bar too low. We expect kids to learn dry facts and numbers that don’t apply to their lives and we also let them explore and feel and learn values that don’t actually educate them on facts and numbers. Or something like that. This fellow suggests schools shouldn’t assign books. But kids should read books. You’ll figure it out (if you didn’t go to public school, I guess.)

Pagan Propitiation vs. Biblical Propitiation by Fred Sanders

“In pagan propitiation, the gods need to be propitiated because they are grumpy and capricious. They don’t care much about humans except when something makes them angry; then they smite! . . . But every aspect of biblical propitiation contrasts with the pagan kind.”

11 Simple Ways to Disciple Your Kids On Mission by Seth McBee

“I learned early on, from my brothers at Soma Communities, that I only have one life, and mission has to be part of my everyday life, not some other life that I need to live . . . How can we disciple kids in the midst of such hectic community and mission filled lives?”

The Restaurant Fight Scene from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Zhang Ziyi shows some dudes what’s up.

Kill Your Jesus Talisman

I can win any slam dunk contest through him who gives me strength. If I will ask God for the ability to do so “in Jesus’ name,” of course.

When I was a kid I had a poster of Philippians 4:13 — “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” — with a photo of a guy dunking a basketball. You can bet I thought long and hard about how Jesus was gonna help me dunk on some fools.

Paul wrote the letter to the church at Philippi from jail. Chapter 4, verse 13 may sound like it needs to be slapped on whatever the Christian equivalent of a PowerBar is, but Paul was not talking about Jesus being our genie, but Jesus being our satisfaction in all situations, whether rich or poor, free or enslaved, healthy or sick, successful or getting dunked on. Wherever our promised trouble-full life finds us, we will persevere only in Christ.

Similarly, Jeremiah 29:11 is a great verse, but it’s not an affirmation of the American dream. It’s an affirmation of God’s predestining purposes even when the American dream crashes down around us and we are crushed. You can put it on a coffee cup, I s’pose, but don’t throw it away when you’re on the streets and you need it to beg for change. The verse will still be true.

Jesus is no talisman. Crucify “Jesus as key to your personal achievement” and he will stay dead. But the real Jesus achieves a victory greater and far superior to any wish-dream of any man. He is life itself, and life eternal. Worship that Jesus.

Your Best Links Now – 2/20/14

The Pope Addresses the Prosperity Gospelists

And he really let them have it! (No he didn’t.)

Discipline in a Pornified Society by Darrin Patrick

“It isn’t the desire for excitement that is the problem. It’s the lack of delight-inspiring discipline that dries up the souls of such pleasure-addicted men . . .”

Japanese Travel Tips for Visiting America

These are actually more complimentary than I expected them to be, but they’re still pretty amusing observations.

The Lego Movie is Subversive Propaganda

So says The Weekly Standard’s John Podhoretz, and I’m not sure why he cares.

5 Quotes Luther Didn’t Say

Glad the thing about the little doggie getting a golden tail isn’t listed.

Goats Playing on a Metal Sheet

Your recommended daily dose of cuteness.

An Improvement-Proof Gospel

And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
– Galatians 2:6

Oh, how I love Paul! He is hilarious. He is so cheeky. “Sure, sure. Peter, James, and John, those pillars, they seemed like somebodies, I guess.” Love it!

But is he being as disparaging as he appears? Not really, but sort of. Here’s Luther on this verse:

Paul disparages the authority and dignity of the true apostles. He says of them, “Which seemed to be somewhat.” The authority of the apostles was indeed great in all the churches. Paul did not want to detract from their authority, but he had to speak disparagingly of their authority in order to conserve the truth of the Gospel . . .
What they say has no bearing on the argument. If the apostles were angels from heaven, that would not impress me. We are not now discussing the excellency of the apostles. We are talking about the Word of God now, and the truth of the Gospel. That Gospel is more excellent than all apostles.

“The gospel is more excellent than all apostles.” Yes!

You know what? Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, John Piper, Mark Dever, Will Willimon, David Platt. These guys and more are (probably) better preachers than you and me. But if your gospel is the Bible’s gospel, their gospel isn’t better than yours. Same gospel. They can’t improve on it any more than you can defuse it.

If you’re a good preacher, you’re probably a better speaker than Paul — because Paul himself acknowledged he wasn’t an impressive speaker — but if your gospel is the Bible’s gospel, it is not your speaking that wakens hearts, but the same power the “unimpressive” Paul set loose.

If you know and speak the gospel, you are a channel for God’s destroying of strongholds and resurrecting of lives. Every Christian who can articulate the gospel has the launch code and access to the button.

If you preach the gospel, you wield the most powerful word in the universe. It’s not the gnosis of the apostles. It’s the resurrecting word entrusted to us all.

New Release: The Storytelling God

My newest book, The Storytelling God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Parables, is now available from Crossway. You can read a sample chapter here.

Synopsis:

The prodigal son. The good Samaritan. A treasure hidden in a field. Most of us have heard these parables before. Yet if these oft-repeated stories strike us as merely sweet, heartwarming, or sentimental, we can be sure we’ve misread them. Jesus’s parables are simultaneously working to conceal and reveal profound spiritual truths about God, humanity, the world, and the future—and we must learn to plumb their depths. A careful reading of the biblical text reveals the surprising ways in which such seemingly simple stories rebuke, subvert, and sabotage our sinful habits, perspectives, and priorities. Discarding the notion that Jesus’s parables are nothing more than moralistic fables, Jared Wilson shows how each one is designed to drive us to Jesus in awe, need, faith, and worship.

Endorsements:

“Growing up in church and Christian schools, I was taught that Jesus’s parables were basically about how we should live. To be sure, many of the parables do show us God’s standard for our lives, but they also reveal how we have failed to live up to that standard, and how God in his infinite mercy has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. My friend Jared Wilson shows how Jesus used parables to illustrate the upside-down and counterintuitive ways of God compared to our ways. We see how the parables are not a witness to the best people making it up to God, but rather a witness to God making it down to the worst people—meeting our rebellion with his rescue, our sin with his salvation, our guilt with his grace, our badness with his goodness. Thanks for the reminder, Jared. I keep forgetting that this whole thing is about Jesus, not me.”

—Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; author, One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World

“Jared Wilson’s new book is a punch in the gut. Gone are the tame, bedtime-story versions of the parables we’ve been told in the past. Instead, Wilson invites us to see them afresh with all of their explosive, imaginative power.”

—Mike Cosper, Pastor of Worship and Arts, Sojourn Community Church, Louisville, Kentucky; author, Rhythms of Grace

“In showing us the parables of Jesus for what they are (and are not), Jared Wilson invites us into a deeper understanding of their author and the kingdom he came to establish. The Storytelling God teaches us to read and reflect upon the parables with great care, and rightly so. The parables, and this book, point the way to life abundant.”

—Scott McClellan, Communications Pastor, Irving Bible Church, Irving, Texas; author, Tell Me a Story: Finding God (and Ourselves) through Narrative

“My own bookshelf has precious few commentaries on the parables and this will definitely fit nicely into that gap. In fact, this book is actually two books for the price of one. Part devotional commentary and also doubling as a solid gospel tract. This book serves the gospel straight up on a plate. His chapter commenting on the gospel and the poor is worth the price of the book alone. Clear, straightforward, biblical, gospel-centered writing. Definitely recommended reading.”

—Mez McConnell, Senior Pastor, Niddrie Community Church, Edinburgh; Director, 20schemes

“With a characteristic combination of wit and wisdom—humor and sobriety—Wilson grabs your attention, fixes it upon Christ, and keeps it there for the duration of the book. Readers in search of a pastoral introduction to biblical parables that is rich with real-life applicability can gladly make room for this volume on their bookshelf.”

—Stephen T. Um, Senior Minister, Citylife Presbyterian Church, Boston, Massachusetts; author, Why Cities Matter

A companion volume on Jesus’ miracles is scheduled for July release.

Your Best Links Now – 2/19/14

On Jamie Coots by Daniel Silliman

You’ve probably already heard that Coots, perhaps the most “famous” of America’s snake-handling preachers, died from snakebite last week. But Silliman’s piece goes much deeper than the news stories. I learned some things.

What Can Evangelicals Learn from the Thabiti Anyabwile and Doug Wilson Dialogue?

RAAN’s Phillip Holmes sits down for a short reflection with John Piper.

Speaking of . . .

Doug Wilson Does His Thing On the New “Son of God” Movie

“I don’t want a Russell Brand Jesus. Our Lord’s first command was ‘follow me,’ and so why do we always get these guys that you wouldn’t want to follow for ninety seconds on an escalator?”

On Cryptids and The Paranormal at The Thinklings

Thinkling Bird weighs in on the likelihood of the most intriguing of the speculative species.

Makerness by Lore Ferguson

“Whenever people ask me how I learned to sew or write or design or crochet or cook or make flower arrangements or make a home or anything, I tell them I taught myself, which is true. But not entirely. The whole truth is my parents taught me to value hard work . . .”



Tom Brady Highlights

Bask in the greatness.

Where is The Gospel in the Mutilation of the Concubine?

Judges 19:22-30 is one of the most horrific texts in all the biblical text. Plugging it into Google reveals it is used by many haters of the faith as examples of the Bible’s awfulness and unreliability. And the passage does reveal something awful.

If you’re not familiar with it, take a minute to read it.

Disgusting, yes?

What do we do with something like this?

The first thing we need to say is that the Bible contains many passages that are descriptive, and this does not make them prescriptive. Contrary to what many of the online opponents of biblical authority would have us think, there is no approval from God for the man of Gibeah’s heinous bargain or the subsequent rape, murder, and mutilation of the concubine. The Levite gives up his own virgin daughter and his concubine as some sort of trade of self-protection. And that the concubine’s dismembered body is grotesquely sent around Israel is reacted to the way it ought to be: notice the people’s reaction is shock. “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day,” they say.

A lady in my church asked me how an unsaved person might read this passage in the Bible; they might think the Bible is somehow condoning this act. But we’d have to show them otherwise. It is in fact a consequence of everyone doing what was right in their own eyes (17:6, 21:25), a consequence of having no king over Israel (19:1). Judges 19:22-30 shows the Bible is honest and realistic about the depravity of man when left to his own devices. In that sense, it is not putting a gloss on what men are capable of which we can clearly see on the evening news. And while we should be disgusted by the imagery, we should also commend the Bible’s brutal honesty.

But there is a gospel spring beneath this text too. When there was no king in Israel, a man betrays his women. A woman is unprotected and given over to the enemy to have his way with her, and then she is made an example of in a murderous way to the twelve tribes. But when Jesus is King over Israel, he protects his bride; he won’t give her over to the enemy to have his way with her. And Jesus leaves the house himself and offers his own body, going in his bride’s stead to be torn apart for the twelve tribes of Israel. Instead of giving us up in some evil bargain, he gives himself up. And his battered body is the sign to his people that he won’t sell them out.