Flaunting Our Bacon

Imagine that the apostle Paul has an iPhone with Instagram capabilities. Do you think he would send this out to all of his Jewish friends:

    “Eat this Jews!”

Because of the work of Christ people are now free to eat bacon. Yet, some early Christians had a difficult time making this transition. They grew up thinking that everything that came from a pig was dirty and defiled. In the same way some Gentiles had a difficult time eating food that had been previously offered to idols. Others believed they were free to do anything. 

This was Paul’s response to both:

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings.

You can ask several questions of this text and debate them all day. But one thing is clear. The gospel caused Paul to be absolutely “others” focused. It’s the same thing he said in Galatians 5. “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

I don’t see Paul sending an Instagram photo of him eating bacon so as to teach people a theology of freedom. He didn’t flaunt his freedom as a way of showing the supremacy of Christ. In fact truly free people don’t flaunt their freedom, they quietly enjoy it. When you are free—and really living in freedom—you aren’t focused on the freedom itself. In Christ our focus is now on our liberty to truly love and follow Christ and lovingly serve others.

And that’s what has me bothered by much of the behavior of my generation when it comes to Christian freedoms. We pretend like Jesus Christ died to make us free--and then we stick a period on that statement and move on. But there isn’t a period there. There is a comma. Jesus Christ died to make us free so that we can “through love serve one another”.

Listen, the last thing I want to do is give a list of rules. When we are talking about these Christian freedoms I don’t think “right/wrong” is the most helpful question. It’s usually an issue of wisdom and an issue of love. So I propose three questions to ask ourselves about our freedoms:

1. Are you using your freedom to serve yourself or others? How so?
2. Is your identity in Christ or in your “freedom”?
3. Are you free to NOT engage in this freedom?  (Here you need to read this article by Patrick Schreiner which links to this helpful article by Brett McCracken.

There is more to be said on this, but I’ll leave it there for today…

FLAME on Christian Rap being an oxymoron

I thoroughly enjoyed this interview with Isaiah’s favorite rapper (Isaiah is my two year old), Marcus Gray (aka FLAME).  Particularly insightful was his response to this question: “One person had asked what you would say to someone who said that Christian hip-hop, or Christian rap, is an oxymoron.”

FLAME: First of all, I would understand that school of thought because if you look at secular hip-hop, it’s definitely, I believe, demonically influenced with an anti-Christ message. A lot of times people are anti-Christian even. They promote worldliness, debauchery, so I definitely understand that school of thought. But I would like for them to think through, number one, if Satan has the power to create? Number two, I would just hope that they would see that Satan doesn’t create anything—he’s a creature himself. Yes, he can influence people to start a movement, but I think hip-hop—rap—in and of itself can be redeemed just like anything else. God isn’t a wasteful God. He didn’t create us to say, “Oh, they’re sinners now because of Adam, I’m just going to cast them all to hell and start over.” He’s not a wasteful God; he chose to redeem people from sin.

And I think in that same light, the Lord is allowing people that came from the hip-hop culture, who have been redeemed and changed by Christ and now are seeking to go back into that culture, to minister the gospel to them. So it’s a mission field. It’s what any missionary would do—they would learn the language, they would learn the culture, what things are taboo to say, to do. I think it’s just a platform to do that, and I hope that people would see that and see hip-hop as a people group. It’s a people group that thinks a certain way, they act a certain way, they respond to the ills of society in one way. Every person is a responder and is responding in one way or the other. And there’s a culture of people called “hip-hop” that have responded one particular way, and that’s all I think it is.

I was also really happy to hear that FLAME will be putting out his fifth album around December 28th on his new record label Clear Sight Music.  I encourage you to read the entire interview.

Borrowed Light: This Week in Blogworld

Perhaps you've noticed the change in title. Instead of doing a "Today in Blogworld" we will now be moving to a "This Week". If something is pressing then I will provide a link throughout the week. As of now, we will be posting all of our links on Friday or Saturday of every week.

Michael Patton charts four views of God's sovereignty? Where are you on the chart? I am in between meticulous sovereignty and providential sovereignty. I'm probably a little to the right of John Piper.

Pulpit Magazine offers us a series on ministry to children. They consider When to Baptize Your Children, Proverbs and Parenting, Evangelizing Your Children Part 1 and 2.

Jared hits the nail on the head with his post on The New Legalism

Erin Sutherland continues the New Attitude series on applying the gospel to every day life. She discusses The Gospel and Relationships (for Girls)

Phil Johnson's final entry on Acts 17: Paul and Charitableness

Many bloggers went to the Together 4 the Gospel Conference (Hence, the small number of links). I was not one of them. I could link to all of their notes, but instead I will only point you to the audio for all the sermons. This should keep you busy.

This is also from T4G:
(HT:Challies)

Borrowed Light: Today in Blogworld 04/08-04/12

Timmy Brister has a short and succinct post on how to be a missionary at work.

I am pleased to inform you that the Reformed Mafia is back up and running. Not only that, but they have recruited a new writer: The Highland Host. Check out his first post on Monkeying with the Bible.

Last week Challies encouraged us to be accountable. Today he is encourging against being anonymous.

Phil Johnson continues discussing Acts 17 and contextualization.

John MacArthur lists eight ways that parents can provoke their children.

Carolyn and CJ Mahaney give practical advices to pastor's wives on how to deal with criticism of your husband.

On the heels of Together for the Gospel, Josh Harris, writing for New Attitude, delivers a great article on Unity in the Cross.

I have to get this CD:

(HT: Thinklings)

The Arrogance of Speaching

Phil Johnson has another excellent post on Acts 17. Here are his concluding statements:

But there's no give-and-take exchange of opinions. Paul does not act deferential in the presence of these great minds. He does not assume a false humility and pretend he's just a truth seeker on his own spiritual journey looking for companions along the way. He declares the truth of God to them with authority and conviction. He does not use the conversational style and subdued demeanor most people today think we need to use so that we're not thought arrogant. Paul wasn't arrogant, because he was declaring infallible truth God had revealed. He was not merely floating an opinion of his own for the philosophers to kick around. And he used an appropriate method: a sermon, not a conversation.(emphasis mine)

Here is a thought. Maybe it is actually more arrogant to NOT preach. I ask you what reeks of arrogance? Humbly attempting to unveil and make clear the very revealed words of God to a people, and standing behind his authority, all the while knowing that where you err at precisely that point you have no authority. Or is it more arrogant to sit in a roundtable and "discuss" your ideas about who God is and what He has revealed? Is it more arrogant to stand before God's people and converse without much conviction? Or is it more arrogant to stand before God's people and proclaim with conviction? I personally think the former is the most arrogant. It is rooted in self-confidence and a lack of trusting in the power of God. Brothers let us preach the word with authority and not timidity!

Borrowed Light: Today in Blogworld 3/27-04/01

Ligonier Ministries celebrates April Fools Day with an interesting topic: Did Jesus Ever Laugh?

Absolutely brilliant post from Brent at Colossians 3:16. As one that is attempting to change an anti-intellectual culture, this article really hits home. Why It's Arrogant to Say, "Just give me the Bible..."

One of the most oft questions asked of me, is how were the people in the OT saved. Terry Rayburn discusses this question today, find his answer here.

Abraham Piper gives us 6 reasons that pastors should blog. He also desires for your thoughts and suggestions.

C.J. Mahaney has interviewed Sinclair Ferguson. Last week I linked to the first two parts, now parts 3, 4, and 5 are available.

Challies reviews Young, Restless, and Reformed. I have to get this book, as well as the Harris' brothers' Do Hard Things.

Why is asking of the Bible, "what does this mean to me", dangerous? C. Michael Patton tells us, and I agree.

One of the most often cited passages in support of contextualization is Acts 17. Phil Johnson discusses Paul at Mars Hill.

This is a wonderful quote on worry from Ed Welch's book Running Scared: "Worriers are visionaries minus the optimism." (HT: Josh Harris)

Last week I linked to Dr. Galyon's series on Packer's points of Calvinism. Today we are treated Packer's Third Point.

It seems like whatever Michael Patton posts I link to. Nonetheless, you also need to check out this series on The Problem Passages of Scripture, Part 1.

Nathan Finn gives a Baptist Look at the Lord's Supper.

(HT: Purgatorio)

Guinness on Relevance

By our uncritical pursuit of relevance we have actually courted irrelevance; by our breathless chase after relevance without a matching commitment to faithfulness, we have become not only unfaithful but irrelevant; by our determined efforts to redefine ourselves in ways that are more compelling to the modern world than are faithful to Christ, we have lost not only our identity but our authority and our relevance. Our crying need is to be faithful as well as relevant.

-Os Guinness, Prophetic Untimeliness, page 15

In my opinion understanding Guinness' plea will determine whether missional (emerging, contextualizing, whatever title you use) churches are "successful" 15 years from now. If they uncritically pursue relevance or "coolness" at the expense of faithfulness we will be having the same dismissal of the seeker-sensitive movement.

What Guinness is saying in this book is that being faithful to be biblical gospel will bring about our relevance. Here is a question for you...is Guinness' quote at odds with this quote by Stetzer?

"It may sound uncharitable, but we do not mean it to be so. But...many will say that theses shifts, and a book like this, do not matter. They are convinced if you just 'preach the gospel' and perhaps 'love people' that your church will reach people. They are wrong, and their ideas hurt the mission of the church. Communities across North America are filled with churches led by loving gospel preachers--most of whom, if statistics are true, are not reaching people."

Ed Stetzer, Breaking the Missional Code, page 14

Borrowed Light: Today in Blogworld 03/20-24

Wyman Richardson posts an eight-year old interview with Timothy George. (Note that the interview is 8 years old, not the person giving the interview). It is an excellent resource. I particularly like this quote: I sometimes think, "Am I a five-point Calvinist?" I like to think I'm a "66-point" Calvinist because I think it's in every book of the Bible. But, in one sense, there's only one point, and that is that God is the source of our salvation from first to last. And if you believe that, then the points become ways of understanding or explaining this or that dimension of it but not a rigid grid through which everything has to be filtered. (HT: Founders)
Find out how $20 can supply fresh water to one person in Africa for 20 years. Lord willing, I will be giving 20 bucks to this cause, consider doing the same.

Phil Johnson continues his series on contextualization. Read part two here.

For those in the Puritan Reading Challenge, Timmy Brister provides an update. The April book will be Burroughs' Rare Jewel instead of Brooks' work.

For those that do not like the "Calvinistic tendencies" on this blog, Gordan Runyan has provided you a service: Defeating Calvinistic-blogs. Feel free to cut and paste as necessary.

Sorry I didn't give you this link sooner. Tim Challies discusses becoming a better apologizer.

Great post by Rhett on Altar Calls: The New Sacrament. I have been saying this for quite some time. In fact I have wanted to put together several posts comparing modern evangelicalism (or, heck, even Southern Baptist) with Roman Catholicism.

C.J. Mahaney and Jeff Purswell again treat us to the Leadership Series Interviews. Check out the latest installment on the Early-Morning Spiritual Battles.

Dan Phillips discusses Tim Keller's way of preaching on hell. It is an interesting article. I'm not sure if I agree more with Keller or Phillips. (My style probably matches Phillips, however). Be sure to read it and check out the comments too.

Borrowed Light: Today in Blogworld 03/16-19

Nathan White tells a very heart-felt story about his confrontation with a beggar and then asks a very intriguing question.

I am very intrigued by the series that Phil Johnson is beginning on contextualization. This is a very interesting discussion that is going on in the church. It seems to be one of those things that keep coming up in my life. To be honest, I'm leaning towards what Phil is saying here. Read his introduction here.

This one is for bloggers; Timmy Brister provides live-blogging tips.

The John 3:16 Conference continues to cause a stir. Oh, we who adhere to the doctrines of grace ought to brace ourselves for the bunk that is about to come our way. Dr. Galyon has pointed us in the direction of Jerry Choice Grace. All I can say after reading Grace's article, is "wow"...I am out of my "caged"-Calvinist phase. It's okay with me if you aren't Reformed minded. I understand, I was not at one point as well. But, to totally misrepresent and be so vitriolic is neither fitting to a Calvinist or an Arminian. Read Dr. Galyon's article and tell me what you think.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Tim Keller spoke at the Google HQ. If you get a free hour watch this:
(HT: Buzzard)