The Gurufication of Evangelicalism (1)

They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

I’ve thought about the above verses and their import for evangelicalism for at least three years now. Over the last 18 months, I’ve been writing and thinking more intently about it, observing how “the greatest among us” develop within evangelicalism and how evangelicalism in turn treats those “greatest.”

This presupposition drives my thinking: the perceived “greatest among us” in evangelicalism are the pastor-teachers. They are invited to conferences, they draw large crowds at their churches, they write and sell popular books. They carry a following that extends beyond their local churches, and many times Christians implicitly identify more with the individual leaders then with a particular church or organization. Don’t get me wrong: having particularly gifted individuals known in the broader evangelical world is a wonderful thing. But the proliferation of influence by a few often has unintended consequences, both for those who follow the few and those who aspire to be like the few.

In this series I want to explore four contrasts between two kinds of pastor-teachers: “leaders” and “gurus.” I’ve chosen the latter term for reasons that will hopefully be immediately apparent. Consider:

Leaders are accountable to those they serve and lead.
Gurus are accountable either to their peers or to no one and don’t seek such accountability.

Leaders share their responsibility and the power it affords
Gurus cling to their responsibility and power.

Leaders raise up other leaders and hope they will be surpassed by those leaders.
Gurus ensure that no one in their midst will surpass them.

Leaders point disciples to the one Rabbi.
Gurus gather disciples to themselves. 

Before I explore these four contrasts further, I want to examine 1) how the “market” in evangelicalism has become ripe for gurus to thrive, and 2) how the market sometimes makes gurus out of people who don’t want to be gurus at all. That’s for next time.

Difficult ≠ Important

Or it least not always. As a “type A” personality, it’s my tendency to throw myself at the most difficult tasks. As a sinful man, it’s my tendency to think that whatever difficult task I’m involved in is the most important thing.

For instance, Hebrew in seminary was far harder (for me) than being a husband and a dad. But that doesn’t mean it was more important. No, in the Scriptures I am nowhere called to be an excellent Hebrew student (although I should do all things to his glory and with all my might); but as a man with a wife and children, I am objectively called to be a godly husband and father. That is most important. When difficult things come along, I find myself checking to see whether or not they’re important. This triage, I feel, is another way of expressing the truth of Matthew 6:33:

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

I’m hoping to post more along this theme in the months to come as a way of thinking out loud on the topic.

 

The Fog Lifts, The Cobwebs Fall

Well, it has been awhile. I’ve been writing, but not posting, for the last 18 months or so. My MDiv studies have consumed the vast majority of my time, not to mention working three jobs, getting a new addition to the family, and starting up ThM thesis research. Now that I’m done with the MDiv, I plan on writing far more often here (a couple times a week, I’m hoping).

First up are some reflections on marriage, family, and juggling a busy life, followed by a series on the “Gurufication of American Evangelicalism.” Concurrently, I’m hoping to explain the new taxonomy for posts that I’m adopting (as I mention in the updated “About” page).

I’m looking forward to writing more in lieu of the weekly work of the MDiv. I also hope to share more as I dig deeply in studies for my ThM thesis on Revelation, ethics, and reception history.

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. – Psalm 3:5

The Light of Other Days (2)

The increasing consumption of information leads to insulation in our personal lives while giving an ostensible broadness in our interactions with the wider world. This was the conclusion from my last post. As more information is imbibed, we have less time for that which should be most important and immediate to us. But the exchange of information in increasing manner has another implication.

If you use the internet, your life is archived someplace. Regardless of how careful you are, your personal information resides someplace. Between cookies, IP logs, memorized form fields, and the increasing tendency for social networking to record everything… well, you get the point. My contention: to be a consumer, you must also be a contributor. And that puts us into a quandary as information exchange continues to multiply with each successive generation.

To be a part of the system, I must contribute. And, quite simply, the machine doesn’t allow us the luxary of saying “no” to ever increasing amounts of participation in distributing information about ourselves.

It reminds me of the plot in a science fiction novel I read near the end of high school. The Light of Other Days posits that there will come such a time as mankind can limitlessly view the past through technology. It’s not a book I would recommend per se – part of their observation of the past includes the discovery that Jesus was not virgin born – but the ideas contained therein seem to be prophetic when we look at all that is taking place around us.

In the book there are two contrasting responses: the rejection of such technology by people whose spend their entire lives wrapped in sheets to avoid the public eye, and the wholesale acceptance of it by the masses. Do these responses find a parallel today? It would seem to be so… take Facebook, for example. Facebook’s EULA (End User License Agreement) has increasingly taken the ease and/or option of privacy away from the user. You can opt out for a time, ‘suspending’ your account while all your content remains in limbo. But to truly opt out means all of your content, interactions, etc. are all deleted.

For the average user, this neverending documentary of your life is an acceptable sacrifice. It’s what Facebook is designed to do, after all. But it’s also predicated on the idea that we should be allowed to control the privacy settings on our account, something that appears to be less and less likely to endure. The fact that Facebook records my every move on its site (and Google, and Amazon, etc.) will eventually result in the access of and potential dissemination of that information by means legal or illegal.

Is this something we should be willing to accept? Upon deep reflection, I greatly doubt it. But is there a compromise between wholeheartedly embracing the medium in such a way that it changes our very perceptions of public and private, and figuratively wrapping ourselves in a sheet for our entire lives? I’m not sure, but I want to think through it, and especially how this encroaching horizon should affect ministry.

The Light of Other Days (1)

Having seen all that went down at the Elephant Room last month, and all the ensuing discussion, some of the varied conclusions could be: 1) TD Jakes is still a heretic, and Mark Driscoll and James McDonald are heretics, 2) TD Jakes is still a heretic, and Mark Driscoll and James McDonald need to be careful, 3) Jakes is fuzzy and hard to nail down, and Driscoll/McDonald are at least unhelpful, or 4) Jakes is orthodox, and Driscoll/McDonald are heroes for having helped prove that evangelicalism is a centered set rather than bounded set. This is the standard way of talking about the event.

The purpose of the blog isn’t to discern which of the above actually took place, but rather to speak towards audience expectations behind events like the Elephant Room, and to a lesser degree the Gospel Coalition National Conference and the upcoming Together for the Gospel Conference. In short, private worlds are being invaded, and we’re opening the gates to others and demanding that others open their gates wider. Two observations along these lines:

1) The transaction of information has increased exponentially. The flood of technology in our lives means that we can observe vast amounts of information is short amounts of time and we are, in fact, creating this state of affairs by our own hands. The culture, attuned to the new means of procuring information through new technology, invites more and more information. The purveyors of information (for our purposes men like McDonald and Driscoll, etc.) appropriate the new technology to get their message out.

This is, of course, the normal state of affairs and there’s nothing in principle wrong with this. What intrigues me is less so that these men use available means to get their message out, but instead that the audience demands increasing amounts of information to consume. Another BCS student and I were discussing how amazing it is that John Piper’s entire life is practically recorded by Desiring God. Whether there’s a documentary that’s filmed in his home, or every sermon or he preaches, no matter the venue, it seems to be recorded. This is, again, not wrong. But it shapes the desires and demands of the audience that follows him.

There’s a deeper assumption, and the more concerning one:

2) The type of information being exchanged is increasingly private.  Consider Hollywood: internationally known figures are followed and their private lives photographed for all to see. The wider culture pines over comments about private lives. We need to know about Beyonce’s and Jay-Z’s baby, for instance.

But consider the phenomenon of evangelical celebrity: not only are their lives tracked, but their personal thoughts are queried at a much deeper level by the wider world. We want to know all about the inner workings or ministry, family, life, etc.

And the kicker is: they put it out there. The Elephant Room is a bigger example of this than the other conferences, but there’s still an application: the increasing exchange of information means naturally that more and more private information must be exchanged as public information is exhausted. The audience is both demanding such information and being shaped by the release of such information. 

Just think about the gossip machine that is Christian blogging. Or perhaps, better stated, commentators on said blogs. For instance, there were demands to know what was taking place behind the scenes leading up to the Elephant Room. The fact that more calls for discernment and information came after the Elephant Room certainly says something about the event, but doesn’t it say something about our being accustomed to desire and demand such information? The evangelical world mirrors the culture: many want private knowledge about the ins and outs of public figures and public events to be fully known.

In of itself, this could be a fine thing within reason. But the corollary is the most shocking thing: in being enamored with the private information of public figures, are we in fact ignoring what is most important: our own lives and the lives of those we influence? 

So, for public figures… I wonder if their lives so open and so directed towards the larger world that they cannot be helpful for those who know them personally. That’s just me thinking out loud. But for those of us who are observing… are our lives so geared towards information consumption in the wider world that we fail at knowing family, friends, and strangers? Loving and respecting our spouses? Our families? Our friends? Our churches? Our communities?

I feel like I’m looking back on a season of my life, especially when I was single and still in college, where I was overly consumed with things outside my immediate sphere of influence. Life moves on, and these things are less keenly felt now. But there’s another point I want to talk about tomorrow, one that strikes even closer to home for me.

Seminary: Food Prep Before the Feast

 During the break my wife and I stopped to reflect on different going-ons. With the birth of our son over the summer, a whole new dynamic entered the household: what do I, as father and husband, decide to drop? Quite simply, too much went on last semester. I’m making a conscientious attempt to be more balanced this semester, including saying “no” when possible.

This is the thought I had: as last semester came to a close, I had inordinate amounts of stress piling up on me. We pulled through, I didn’t fail anything, but the effect on our home life was less than commendable. Just wading through all the assignments in addition to two jobs and family life was overwhelming.

But what’s been sweet on the backend is apparent: increased time in the Word on my own, increased vitality in my love for God, real prayer taking place personally, and many other things.

This is what I said about it to Natalie: all semester long I’ve been in food prep class. Getting to taste the things I’m preparing, but not hovering over a meal to enjoy it. Now, having prepared the banquet during the semester, the time for feasting has arrived. I’m hoping to integrate the preparation with the feasting a bit better this semester. One thing is for certain: this semester has more margin built into it arbitrarily. Trusting that God will continue to show Himself in truth to us as we pursue Him in His Word… in seminary and apart from it.

Making the Switch (2)

The last time I wrote on this subject, the “switch” referred to moving to Minneapolis, beginning seminary, etc. Now the change is much more profound. Caedmon arrived back in August, and the blessings haven’t stopped. I mean so much more than just noticing a smile, singing a song to him, hearing him coo, etc.

You see, this little boy is a miracle. Yes, it is true that they’re all miracles. Our situation heightened awareness of what we otherwise may have been taken for granted. Caedmon was supposedly an impossibility. Too many complications from too many years of sickness for my wife. Caedmon is our “Abraham and Sarah” baby. Now I read Hebrews 11:8-12 with greater understanding and appreciation for the God who gives grace and fulfills promises:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

I can kinda’ crawl around inside Abraham and Sarah’s minds. No, I haven’t been promised innumerable offspring. No, we were never promised a son. There’s no promise as per se that we had from the Word concerning offspring, but we knew that God would “work all things together for our good” (Romans 8:28ff). That’s grace… good coming to us from God, undeserved. All things? Yes, all things. Thinking from the perspective of a man who thought he’d never have a biological son… yes, this is nothing short of pure, unbridled grace. Something we didn’t deserve, and yet here he is. The same is true of everyone, if only they had eyes to see. Lord, give me sharper eyes to see.

Natalie and I are rejoicing in him… and in Him. God is everlastingly good, even if He hadn’t given us a son or if He someday takes ours away. The fact that we have a son for any length of time proves all the more that Yahweh is the God of the womb and the God who lavishes love upon us.

But there’s been even more grace poured out… the kind that humiliates and humbles. More on that soon.

Remember (2)

Today, October 15th, marks the fifth anniversary of Tim Trometer’s death. Tim was my college roommate during the first part of my freshman year. If one quality could describe Tim, it surely would be His love for Christ… and his fun-loving, goofy personality cannot be easily forgotten. In the few months that I knew Tim, we became fast friends. God was good to place me in that room, and good to take Tim in the way He did.

Sovereignty was on the front end of Tim’s death in a discussion in our room about death and contentedness the Tuesday before he died, and on the back end in the eulogy that Tim’s father gave. He exalted our sovereign, massive God in all His ways. I’ve never looked at God the same since that week.

For five years now Tim has beheld His face… a sweet reminder in the midst of all this.

God ordains in the lives of his messengers that suffering severs our bondage to the world. When joy and love survive this severing, we are fit to say to the nations with authenticity and power: Hope in God.

– John Piper

This is the legacy that Trommy left, the legacy that Jesus Christ left, and the legacy we’re called to leave: hope in God. Let this be cemented anew within me amid all the memories. May the sorrow we feel in retrospect be overcome with great joy as we grow by grace in faith towards our great God.

Related blogs, here, here, here, and here.

Beholding Him in His Glory

One of the best ways to write for a public audience is to take what’s written in other mediums and adapt it for a new venue. This post will be the first of several that will be experimental in that regard. Lord willing on Fridays I’ll look back over the week and simply post anything that was particularly thrilling in my personal devotions.

After Theology of Worship last week with Church Steddom, I was processing the revelation of God to the elders on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24), and lo and behold, Exodus 24 was part of the yearly reading program that Nat and me are going through. This started a whole line of thinking regarding what it means to behold the glory of the Lord. What did it look like? Who encountered the glory of God?

Exodus 33:9-10 – Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.

When the 70+ are there on the mountain, they can’t really seem to describe God himself. Peripherally they see God, but they can’t actually describe Him. The actual manifestation of His glory is apparently too much to actually look upon. The ground beneath Him is described, and the manifestation of His glory turns it into “as it were a pavement of sapphire store.”

Isaiah 6:1 – In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Isaiah only describes the Lord of Glory briefly; it’s obvious that he cannot describe him particularly. Instead, all he can say is that “the train of his robe filled the temple.” Again, something peripheral to God Himself is described. Then, Isaiah goes on to describe the seraphim that surround His throne.

Ezekiel 1:26-28 – And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.  Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Ezekiel describes one with the “likeness” of a man sitting on the throne, but Ezekiel is not really able to discern his face. The preceding context is all descriptions of the cherubs around God, but there’s a little more detail. The “likeness” of man is “as it were gleaming metal” above the waist, and below the waist is “the appearance of fire.” All similes, not concrete language. Ezekiel is grasping for words to describe what he’s seen.

And then we come to Revelation 1, where John describes one who could only be Christ, but very similar language to the descriptions of Yahweh.

Revelation 1:12-17a – Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

Is this is part of progressive revelation, that in the OT they cannot see the face of God, but in the NT, there’s a progression to actually describing Christ’s glorified features? With the assumption that Christ is Yahweh, there is a connection between this passage and the previous OT passages.

Exodus 24, Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1, Revelation 1… certainly there were other times that God was seen.  Genesis 32, Exodus 33, Matthew 17, 1 John 1 all describe instances of God either in or apart from His shekhinah glory (the visible manifestation of His glory). Some might debate Genesis 32, but the text implies Jacob wrestled with God, who is described as “the angel of the Lord.”

It appears worth noting that as God’s revelation progressed, each divine vision of God in His shekhinah grows more detailed. I wonder: a beautiful picture of the nature of the revelation we’ve been given in the face of Christ? To ponder Him in His shekhinah, or in the Word, and to be changed into the same image of glory (2 Corinthians 3)… not physically, but spiritually as we take on His character… wow. What a God that He would do this for His own renown, but for our absolute delight.

Making the Switch (1)

Life has been a whirlwind. Brief updates:

– I’m now working as an intern at Bethlehem Baptist Church in the Family Discipleship Department. It, quite simply, is incredible means of sanctification. There’s such camaraderie and accountability as to make the steady slaying of sin visible in my life. God uses means, and these means are indeed sweet. I get to teach the Sunday School for the senior high students starting this Sunday. Some of my blog posts (hopefully starting again in the next week) will come from my studies through this.

– Seminary is better than I thought it would be. And that’s not saying I didn’t have high expectations. Just a glimpse: during the week prior to school starting, we took two days for everyone to get to know each other. All 17 students in my class got 30-45 minutes to share the story of God’s grace in their life. Heard the same from three of the faculty members. Just simply glorious to see salvation worked in (and out) in the lives of brothers.

The classes are similar… much discussion (though there’s plenty of lecture too). A certain level of competency is expected coming in, and thus the discussions are lively and thoughtful. I’m grateful for all the brothers God has brought into my life, and the setup is such that I can expect lifelong friendships to form over the next four years.

– I bought a Mac. And it’s serving me and the cause of Christ quite well. No blue screens. No random shut downs. No viruses. No slow-downs after being on all day. Very, very pleased. Just need an iPod or iPhone now to organize my life!

Your prayers have been more than appreciated; they’ve been treasured. I pray that as you see Christ being shaped in us that it becomes more kindling to the fire of your faith. Jesus is treasure indeed… like nothing else.