Christianity

Matthew 19:16; I am the Rich Young Ruler

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“Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Matt 19:16 NRSV

So begins the story of the “rich young ruler” in Matthew.

There’s a lot said negatively about this man, some founded and some unfounded. But let’s start by giving him the benefit of the doubt. He comes to Jesus, recognizing Him as a Rabbi with authority, to ask about how to attain eternal life. It seems as if at first that he is appealing to do something over and above what is necessary regarding the law, as he is asking about a “good deed” and not a general “what do I do”. No doubt that Jesus had many ask him this as it would be a question pressing to many Jews. No doubt the Pharisees and Sadducees had their own teachings on this and I would imagine people going from Rabbi to Rabbi (like the way people church-hop today) to gather opinions and find one that they find best fitting and proper, or most convenient for them. Continue reading →

Humble orthodoxy and the narrow well

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I recently listened to a message by Joshua Harris put out by The Gospel Coalition on the subject of “Humble Orthodoxy”. I have to say that he hit the mark generally, although I slightly question his exegesis of some of the scriptures he used to defend his position. That’s neither here nor there – I don’t want to debate pins and angels. He made a good point in that, in defending doctrine many Christians come off sounding conceited or arrogant. At worst, we have Fred Phelps. Harris proposed rightfully that supporting orthodox doctrine is not about asserting our own rightness but about pointing to God and His rightness. Though some may say “the gospel offends”, we don’t need to add to the offense.

However I don’t think he went quite far enough. I think we need to be not only humble in regard to our presentation of our faith, we need to be humble about what we believe our faith is. That is to say, not only do we need to be humble but our orthodoxy needs to be humble. We need to acknowledge that our wisdom is limited and our knowledge is finite. We are still, along with Paul, looking through the glass darkly.  Continue reading →

Thinking about discrepancies in Scripture

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I highly recommend Relevant Magazine, both online and in print. This article is a bit shallow but raises interesting questions important for anyone studying the Bible. How you answer the question of “is the Bible inerrant?” – which leads to the question “well what do we mean by inerrant?” – will completely shape how you read and interpret Scripture.

While in seminary this was a challenge to me. I had never even heard of the idea that there were discrepancies in the Bible, and honestly believed that there simply couldn’t be. However when confronted with the idea that Jericho may have not had the enormous walls attributed to it, or that there were differences in some other historical accounts, I was a bit flummoxed. And if you haven’t thought about it, read the Gospels and consider what day Jesus was crucified on. Anyway, this article makes a good point regarding what we can and should mean by “inerrant”.

I think the sad thing that is brought out in this article is how, in many Christian circles, asking these kinds of questions is not permitted. Questioning details is tantamount to questioning Scripture. The argument goes that if Scripture isn’t fundamentally and literally perfect in every detail then there’s no reason to believe any of it (which is a huge jump). If we can’t have a Christian culture where asking questions about a fundamental resource for our faith is OK, then our faith is built on a shaky foundation.

article after the jump >>

Continue reading →

Keep your friends close, and your “-ism”s closer

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yes, that's Geneva in the background

I’m trying to work on a new post on Calvinism and having a bit of a hard time, so I thought I’d take a break.

I grew up Calvinist but only because that was the only pool I could swim in at the time. During and after seminary I questioned things more but still held on to a lot of it. Now I’m investigating the other side of the fence – that would be the more Arminian traditions including the Anabaptists – and even the contemplative Catholics like Thomas Merton. All of this has been great, and disturbing at the same time. Continue reading →

Why is Christian radio so… frustrating?

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**update**I changed the original title from “Christian music” to “Christian radio”, as that’s more accurately where my complaint lies. Thanks Jnana!

As I sat down to write this, I just couldn’t think of an appropriate word to express myself regarding Christian music. Segregated? Balkanized? Overlooked? Mediocre? None of these are accurate, and that leads to the main point of my frustration. Christian music is in a hole.

Growing up I listened to a lot of Christian rock. My first real concert was a Rez Band show in Pittsburgh at Soldiers and Sailors Hall. I also dug a  lot of Christian punk (MXPX, Altar Boys, One Bad Pig). I even used some money I got to start a music library for our youth group. I did that because it was so hard to find good (or at least what I thought was good) Christian music on the radio.

Unfortunately I think that’s still the case. Not Christian music, but Christian music radio. At least here in Pittsburgh, we have only one station devoted to Christian music, the grand mammoth that is K-Love. Our other Christian stations are devoted to teaching and preaching, though one has music on the weekends. But on the weekends it sounds just like K-Love. Continue reading →

On Donald Miller and Christ outside the church

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image: Amy Corron Power

Donald Miller recently wrote in his blog, “I don’t connect with God by singing to Him.” Well Don, I don’t either.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t sing to God. But I find that the only time I do is in church on Sunday for about 20 minutes. At times I find myself being drawn closer to God by music, including Christian music, but those songs somehow never make their way into the worship center.

Plus I don’t sing well. While I knew this all along, it became glaringly obvious to me when I attended a Reformed Presbyterian church in college. At RP services no hymns are sung, and there is no musical accompaniment. The congregants sing the Psalms a-capella, often breaking into multiple lush harmonies as the verses change. I just stood and listened. It was beautiful, but I was a spectator, not a participant.

Continue reading →

What do we mean by inerrant?

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I highly recommend Relevant Magazine, both online and in print. This article is a bit shallow but raises interesting questions important for anyone studying the Bible. How you answer the question of “is the Bible inerrant?” – which leads to the question “well what do we mean by inerrant?” – will completely shape how you read and interpret Scripture.

article after the jump >> Continue reading →

“Son of God”: For us, by us, but what for?

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“S’cool dude! It’s all good!”

The movie “Son of God” opens today and I, for one, am not interested. This is not to diss the movie at all. I’m not here to judge it on it’s cinematic merits, cinematography or anything else really. I’m just wondering if a movie of this type really needed to be made.

A quick peek at Rotten Tomatoes gives “Son of God” an 18% rating, and even skimming over the positive reviews you’ll see that this is a good movie – for Christians. I’m not sure if the film was designed to be evangelical in nature, as in “invite your non-believer friends to the show with you”, but it doesn’t seem like it was designed to change anyone’s mind about anything. That said, I have to wonder if this film really needed to be made at all.

No doubt many Christians will view it favorably and find it affirming of their own beliefs. However it does not, at least on the surface, seem to make one think about Jesus, the nature of His ministry, or legacy in any new way. Reviewers note that it’s “incredibly safe” and “made by believers for believers”. However if a film, or even a novel or other piece of media, serves only to affirm one’s already held belief without enhancing or challenging it in some way, I have to wonder what the point of it is other than to provide a sense of familiar satisfaction.

“The Passion of the Christ”, for example, tells an extremely familiar story but was compelling in how direct and brutal it was, to the point where some Christians thought it was too violent. However this also made it one of the more historically accurate representations of what crucifixion was like. For me, as a Protestant, it really opened up the role and character of Mary in an unexpected way. Watching the film as a new dad, the image of Mary comforting a young Jesus after he fell juxtaposed against her inability to help him as he is tortured, broke my heart and was the prevalent image and lesson I took from it. It spurred a lot of discussion both within and without the faithful, which is a good thing.

But is this another case of Jesus being too safe for our own good? If this film changes some minds and gives the opportunity for others to talk about their faith in a positive way, then yay SoG. But what else could have been done with a $22 million film that is basically an edited-down version of the History Channel’s “The Bible” with deleted/extra scenes added in?

If this is a film for Christians by Christians, why couldn’t it challenge the faithful as well as the unwashed masses?

Do seminaries teach practical ministry?

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In seminary much of the coursework, depending on where you go, is geared toward making you an effective preacher, evangelist or scholar. You can’t get out without studying original languages (except at Yale Divinity School, which was why I went there!), systematic theology, preaching, church history and so on. But are schools that train ministers effectively training them for practical areas of ministry, such as pastoral care and counseling?

I use the term “practical” here as a way to distinguish between the more typical idea of ministry from the pulpit from the ministry that happens outside of it, such as chaplaincy and counseling.

Is there a gulf between ministry and counseling? Are they seen as not incompatible but effectively separate fields?

I’m interested to find out people’s experiences in terms of their training in and for the more practical parts of ministry that they had in seminary. At YDS for example, CPE was an option but not necessarily a requirement. There were a smattering of courses offered in the areas of pastoral care and counseling, but again these weren’t a requirement and the classes were rather small.

So what were your experiences? Please comment below and keep the conversation going…