N.T. Wright – After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Matt

N.T. Wright’s book After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters is simultaneously encouraging and confrontational, engaging and challenging. In the work, Wright shows that the belief held dear by so many Christians, that Jesus came to die for our sins, is only a half truth and without the other half we are left wondering what happens between the day we accept Christ and the day we die. He confronts what many of us have been taught and shows that Christ had a bigger purpose in mind that requires our active engagement. It is that engagement that I find so encouraging, but also proves to be harder than it looks, yet replete with rewards.

Wright explains that Jesus did come to earth to redeem His followers from sin, but illustrates that His real purpose was to usher in the Kingdom of God and the purpose of salvation is to enable us to ultimately serve as the royal priesthood of the Kingdom itself. The challenge of this broader vision of our lives as believers is although salvation has made us available to serve within the royal priesthood, we are not naturally ready to do so. Utilizing the example of learning a foreign language, Wright shows that just as we cannot naturally speak a foreign language by virtue of being in the country of its origin, so too we cannot emulate the character of the Kingdom simply by acceptance of Christ. He argues that as with learning a language, Christian character is something that must become a daily discipline until such time as it becomes second nature. It is this, Wright says, with which we are to be engaged after we have come to know Jesus.

Careful not to suggest rules for Christian living, Wright leans heavily on the writings of St. Paul and fleshes out three “virtues” that he believes define the Christian character necessary for abundant life within the Kingdom; love, faith, and hope. Everything good about the Kingdom and necessary to be part of the royal priesthood Wright says, is based on these virtues and each of these virtues is dependent on two others, humility and patience. The importance of the virtues is like the extensive flight training of Capt. Chesley Sullenberger. They develop our character over time so that when we are in the line of fire we don’t have to think about how to respond. Instead, we have developed our character such that our Christ soaked responses are second nature.

Finally, Wright concludes his argument by describing a model he calls the “Virtuous Circle”, connecting scripture, stories, examples, community, and practices into an infinite feedback loop whereby each arc of the circle strengthens those next to it, the whole coming together into a sum greater than it parts, fomenting the development of the Christian virtues in each of us.

The act of reading scripture, he writes, is clearly important for our understanding of the Bible and God’s use of it as a communicative tool, but also for the formational aspects that are only received in our attempt to immerse ourselves in God’s Word for His sake. That is, there is something transformational about the intent and effort to be in the Word. The stories present in scripture are equally important to us as they allow us to see parallels, both good and bad, between our lives and those of the Biblical characters. These stories enable us to ruminate on different scenarios and how we would respond to them, as well as how we should respond to them. Within the stories of some of these characters we find examples, such as Timothy, of people who we are able to effectively model our lives upon. Participation in the wider community of believers is necessary because the vocation of the royal priesthood is not an individual but a collective one that requires the tension and support being in communion with others creates. And for Wright, all of this is ultimately dependent on our practice of these activities as daily, hourly, breath by breath disciplines until the virtuous circle becomes second nature to us, allowing us to vest for the royal priesthood.

Wright’s book is important for seminarians and other church leaders for at least two reasons. First, he challenges those of us who are or will be in church leadership positions to think of the church differently. “The church has been divided between those who cultivate their own personal holiness but do nothing about working for justice in the world and those who are passionate for justice but regard personal holiness as an unnecessary distraction from that task.” (p. 247)

Secondly, the book is important for those of us studying spiritual formation because it effectively describes the “already/not yet” paradox of the Kingdom. By showing that our nature is sin he makes plain our need to develop spiritual disciplines that, over time, create the virtues that result in the character we were created to have. As Wright says, the pursuit and cultivation of these virtues allows us to once again become fully and completely human, to transcend the fall and accept all the Christ has made available to us.

In short, this is a valuable book for those Christians who have come down off the mountain and found life to be much as they had left it. It is encouraging in its expansion of the modern Christian view of Jesus’ ministry, challenging in its call for believers to engage their Savior throughout their lives, and enticing in what it promises we can become.

May we all have humble spirits, simple lives, and loving hearts.

In Christ.

Matt

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The Virtuous Life – William Law

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Matt

It’s been way too long since my last post. I could make a bunch of excuses for why I haven’t been writing, but they would still be excuses. One of the things I’ve undertaken recently is to begin the Diploma in Christian Ministry program through the Trinity School for Ministry. For now, I’ll be posting some of my work from my current class, “Spiritual Formation”. It’s not a substitute for my weekly reflections and I’m hoping I can get back to them soon. If you don’t enjoy these posts I hope that you at least find them thought provoking. Either way, I’d love to hear what you think.

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This week I’ve been going through certain passages from William Law’s book, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life and many of the passages left me questioning and re-evaluating my own life. Law’s writings are succinct and best summarized by his own words: “If we are to follow Christ, it must be in the way we spend each day.”

Law’s words convicted me because I live and work in a fallen, secular world. I work in the financial services industry and believe me when I say that although Jesus cast the money changers out of the temple, they are not gone but have merely taken up residence on Wall Street. It is a world that richly rewards behaviors that are diametrically opposed to the Gospel. It may be impossible to spend much time in that life without it rubbing off on you to some extent, and so I take a certain satisfaction in my regular church attendance, Bible studies, and ministries. When things become particularly challenging I often comfort myself with the reassurance that the ordained life is where the truly devout reside and those of us in the secular world can be content with being “good” as our days afford it.

Law must have had me in mind however, when he wrote the words, “Many people are strict when it comes to times and places of devotion, but when the service and the church is over, they live like those that seldom or never come there…they are like the rest of the world.”  In these words I found no respite and was reminded of Jesus’ warning, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Mat 23:27).

Faced with these words I must acknowledge the sheer absurdity of my life as I try, like a chameleon, to fit into my environment; to be pious and serene when at church and to be ambitious and unrelenting when at work. As Law rebukes, “nothing more absurd can be imagined than wise, sublime, and heavenly prayers added to a life where neither work nor play, neither time nor money are under the direction of our prayers.” Again I hear in Law the echoes of scripture as James wrote, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26)

So where does this leave me? The same place it always does, back on my knees at the foot of the Cross. Law wrote that “If our lives cannot be offered to God, how can our prayers?” I believe that what he said was true and so I am left, once again, to rededicate my life to my God. If my work is worth doing, and for the sake of my family and my community, I believe it is, then it is worth doing for God alone. I must trust that God has led me to this occupation and to the place in which I perform it so that His glory may be revealed. It means that my interactions with my wife and my children, my co-workers, and even with complete strangers must be viewed as kinetic prayers through which the presence of Christ in my life is revealed. It means that the ways in which my money is spent and saved and given away are of infinite importance to God. In fact, what it means is that there is no part of my life that is actually “mine”. Either all of it belongs to God or none of it does.

Where do Law’s comments leave us church leaders? In my judgment, we are left needing to reassess our churches. I do a little woodworking from time to time. It’s something I love but my approach to the work is a little unconventional. In a sense I began at the end and while in college worked teaching woodworking classes. Normally, I would learn the skills I needed to teach the class at hand, but didn’t have a true grasp of the basic fundamentals of the craft. These days I only do work for myself or occasionally family or friends. I would like to do more but my skills are somewhat stunted because I never began at the beginning. I never learned the lingua franca and have paid the price. I think the same is true of many new Christians and our churches bear much of the blame. So often we encourage seekers to accept Christ and once they do, we immediately find ways for them to be useful to the body through ministries and programs, but they often miss the basics. Rather than emphasizing true discipleship and teaching the importance of a transformation of our lives, we validate our human willingness to only submit a little; to say, “you can only go this far”. We excuse those who want to worship on Sunday’s and be worshipped the rest of the week and in so doing, prove that our lives too, have yet to be transformed.

Reading passages from William Law’s book A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life has ultimately convinced me that those of us who aspire to minister to others must be doubly sure that we live our lives above reproach and trust God in all things, big and small. “If we are to follow Christ, it must be in the way we spend each day.”

May we all have humble spirits, simple lives, and loving hearts.

In Christ.

Matt

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Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Matt

+Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 + Psalm 100 + Ephesians 1:15-23 + Matthew 25:31-46 +

 In this week’s Gospel reading Jesus concludes a long passage of teaching known as the Olivet Discourse. In this particular passage He explains that, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will come and say to those on His right. ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (v. 31 – 34) The clear implication of this passage is that we want to be one of Jesus’ sheep. It is His sheep who will inherit the kingdom. It is they for whom it was prepared.

What may be shocking however, is what Jesus says it takes to be recognized as one of His own. “For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to me.” (v. 35 – 36) I use the word “shocking” because nowhere in this passage does Jesus suggest that the way to heaven is through faith alone, although that is a belief commonly held by Christians today. Like last week’s Parable of the Talents, Jesus is telling us that if we truly are His disciples then our lives will be transformed. Our faith in Christ cannot help but manifest itself in outward, visible acts of compassion and mercy.

The other implication of the passage is that when the Son of Man is on His throne, the goats will meet an unpleasant end. “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me”…”And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (v. 41 – 43, 46)

The critical instruction of this passage is that as believers in Christ, we are to show compassion and mercy, in all ways and in all things, to everyone we encounter. A deliberate reading shows that there is no one who is unworthy of our time. There is no one who is undeserving. The Gospels do not reflect any instance where someone asked for the help of Jesus and was ultimately denied. So too are we to help all in need, because of our faith in Him and because, as the passage makes clear, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” (v. 40)

We are to show unvarnished compassion for all in need because He is present in us and He is present in them. The passage enumerates a list of afflictions that would normally be the purview of the destitute, but there is no reason to become legalistic and assume that if someone’s need is not on the list, there is not the same imperative to help them. Jesus makes clear that the stakes are too high for such a view. So look around at the lost and the lonely, the hurting and the friendless, the broken and the unloved that surround you at work, at school, and sadly, even at church. It is these people too, to whom we are called to minister.

It is what Jesus has already done for us and what, if we have been transformed by the power of Christ, we will do for those He loves.

May we all have humble spirits, simple lives, and loving hearts.

In Christ.

Matt

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Something to chew on…

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Matt

Is it possible that in our search for success, however we define it, material, spiritual, temporal, or eternal, we miss the forest for the trees? Is it possible that in our quest to take the next hill, to earn a credential, to obtain a promotion, to “know Christ”, we in fact spend so much time looking ahead that we never stop to look around? Are we trying to digest the meal before we’ve eaten it?

Could it be that the examined life, the Disciple’s life, is one in which we pay more attention to today than to tomorrow? What if the Disciple’s life is one in which we’re myopically focused on the people and the experiences at hand, allowing time to unfold in front of us as God wills it? What would that mean for us and how would it change our lives?

In Christ.

Matt

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Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Matt

+Psalm 90:1-8, 12 + Judges 4:1-7 + 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 + Matthew 25:14-30 +

This week’s Gospel passage is a parable that can be unsettling and confusing on the first, or even fifth, reading but in fact is a great joy and comfort to those who know Jesus.

Essentially, Jesus tells a tale of a wealthy man going on a trip, leaving three of his slaves to look after some of his property. “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” (v. 15 – 18)

So how much is a talent? From what I can tell it’s a measure of gold that would be worth around 15 to 20 years worth of wages for most people of the day. By any measure, these slaves were entrusted with an enormous amount of money, “each according to his ability,” and each stewarded over his funds in a different way with different results.

After a long time has past, the master returns to the slaves to “settle accounts.” “And the one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me; see, I have gained five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.’ The one also who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted to me two talents; see, I have gained two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground; see, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ For to everyone who has shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (v. 20 – 30)

A cursory reading of the passage can result in confusion because it doesn’t seem to portray the Jesus we know. The Jesus we know surely doesn’t reap where He didn’t sow or gather where He sowed no seed. The Jesus we know also wouldn’t punish those who fear Him and surely wouldn’t take away from those who have little only to give it to those who have much. Surely that can’t be the meaning of the passage, can it?

In fact, a careful reading of the passage demonstrates the master as one who is incredibly generous, like Jesus. Think of a master entrusting twenty, forty, or one hundred years worth of wages to a slave with no instructions for its use or care, and then leaving town! That is an act dripping with trust and generosity. Our God has blessed us with riches beyond our wildest dreams, certainly far surpassing what we have earned or what we deserve. But He is a generous and trusting God who loves to give good gifts to His children.

However, like the slaves in the parable, we too will have a day of settlement with our Master when we will have to give an accounting of our stewardship over what we have been given. Now, St. Paul makes clear in his letter to the Romans that we are “justified by faith,” (Romans 5:1) and not by works. I don’t dispute this and I don’t think the parable does either. But James says that “faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” (James 2:17) That, I think, is completely consistent with the parable. Similarly, St. Luke tells us that, “from everyone who has been given much shall much be required; and to who they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” (Luke 12:48) The parable makes clear that although God has given us unspeakable riches, freely and without compulsion, He does expect us to put them to work for His glory. As my faith tradition prays after receiving communion each Sunday, “And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.” At some point, we will have to settle accounts with God with regard to this work.

So what of the fearful slave and taking from those who do not have? In the parable the fearful slave accuses the master of reaping where he did not sow and gathering where he did not scattered seed, but the master never admits to that behavior and it isn’t something that concerned the other two slaves. Instead, the third slave was so infected with a spirit of lack that it colored the way he viewed others around him. When I talk about a “spirit of lack”, what I’m referring to is when we get in the mood where all we see is how little we have and how much everyone else has. It’s a common problem today but it isn’t unique to our period in history. I believe that when Jesus talks of “the one who does not have,” He is addressing this very attitude. It is true that some of us have enormous material wealth and others of us have modest means. But remember, the parable says that to each was given, “according to his own ability,“ and that in the parable, the slave with the comparatively modest means had been entrusted with twenty years wages! It also shouldn’t be overlooked that the master never reprimanded any of the slaves for taking excessive or unnecessary risks. It is entirely likely that in our efforts to do the work God has given us to do that we will make huge mistakes. So, to paraphrase Martin Luther, if you must sin in the service of God, sin boldly. Take huge risks in the name of Christ. Know that He has your back and will catch you when you fall.

The point is this. Our God is a generous and loving God who has entrusted each of us with more than we can ever dream. Part of that trust is the implicit understanding that we are to use the talents (pun intended) we have been given to further the kingdom and it is only through living a life of lack, of seeing how little we have compared to those around us, of constantly being so afraid of doing the wrong thing that we never do anything, that we could ever disappoint or displease the One who loves us so very much. Never, ever forget that, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

May we all have humble spirits, simple lives, and loving hearts.

In Christ.

Matt

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