Embracing Foolishness

I have found a tendency in my heart to want to have all the answers. To have my bases covered. To chew up, swallow, and digest truth in a single sitting. To take a complex theological question like assurance of salvation and make verses like Hebrews 6:6 and 2 Timothy 2:12 lie down peacefully with John 10:29 and Romans 8:30. To be able to (as Blake puts it) "pull God out of heaven, and box Him up so we can predict and control Him."

Then this morning I read the brilliant statement from the apostle Paul: "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." (1 Corinthians 1). I love the fact that this verse comes right after Paul finishes scolding the denominational factions of his day, but that's a topic for another day.

It doesn't make sense to us that there is so much tension in the Bible. Tension between Christ's humanity and divinity. Tension between our responsibility and God's sovereignty. Tension between Paul and James. But that's exactly the point. God doesn't follow our rules and He doesn't have a very high regard for human wisdom. He chose something as "foolish" as death on a cross to bring redemption. The Jews wanted miracles, glory, and conquest. The Greeks prized intellect and human philosophy. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. We know today that it was already prophesied, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't a part of the popular systematic theology of the day.

Not that I think God wants people to raise their hands and say: "God's just too complicated for humans to comprehend, so I won't even attempt to." He wants our minds to be in full pursuit of Him. To thirst for a deeper knowledge of the infinite and never be satisfied. But I think He also wants us to remember that the best of our wisdom still doesn't approach His "foolishness". And that's OK with me.

Alex Strauch

We need more guys like Alex Strauch. I just finished listening to his message from the 2004 "Iron Sharpens Iron" conference at Emmaus Bible College. Here's the link to the mp3.

Here's a guy who gets it, and this message should be required listening for anyone who has felt pressure to worship according to a prescribed format (especially according to the Assembly Way). He's telling people to stop being chained to tradition, to not be afraid to change things and be renewed in our thinking. Also, in relation to the Holy Spirit, there are some good thoughts related to what Tristan wrote yesterday. Here are a few quotes I enjoyed:

"There is the constant human tendency in every single heart to trust in the outward external forms and rites and formalities we go through. It's in every heart."

"If you focus on your techniques and special style of worship, then you will demean the elements. Jesus gave the elements of the bread and cup--He didn't give a time and place of worship. He didn't give some kind of special technique or science of worship."

And a quote from S. Lewis Johnson too: "In every generation, we need an enlightened purification of our traditions."

Gary Busey

I was a freshman in my first semester at Emmaus Bible College, and was hanging out with my new friend T. We were still in the small-talk stage. Looking back now, I realize what I did not then: freshman at Emmaus can be dorks, and I was no exception. In fact, I think my dorkness factor may have been a little higher than average. Anyways, I had never really known too many other people who came from a PB background, and all the sudden I was surrounded by them, and perhaps feeling a bit giddy about the proliferation of people who were familiar with The Assembly Way. So, in an effort to make conversation and build camaraderie, I said: "So...what assembly are you from?" He looked back at me with kind of a blank stare, and said something like "Assembly? What's an assembly?" Here he was--at Emmaus of all places--and he didn't know what the heck I was talking about. I found out he come from something called a "bible church". When it came to The Assembly Way, he was a mere Padywan, a tender brain just waiting to be enlightened in the ways of The Black Book, Remembrance, and Doilies.

T and I hung out a lot, and he quickly became one of my best friends. We both enjoyed basketball, theology, and the board game Risk. We developed an unbeatable method to study for Marinello tests. One time we were watching some old movie and I was convinced that the main actor was Nick Nolte. He assured me that it was NOT Nick Nolte, but was in fact Gary Busey. We made some little bet about who was right and when the movie was over and the credits rolled, we found out, in fact, that it was Gary Busey. From that point forward, anytime I turned out to be wrong about something and he was right, he would just shake his head and say "Gary Busey".

As my friend continued to attend Emmaus (and go to church at ACC) he became familiar with some of the peculiarities therein, and became fond of telling me how The Assemblies are a denomination. After all, he pointed out, we have our own college, magazine, and speakers of renown. I would counter that we were not a denomination. We weren't like the Methodists, Lutherans, and Baptists, who had non-local government and councils who met to decide how to address the issues of the day. We had independent thought and true non-denominationalism. Every church made decisions for themselves, and no one was looking over their shoulder to see what the "powers that be" thought.

Like I said earlier, freshmen at Emmaus can be dorks. I've been back a few times for DEW and other alumni events, and I see the 18-year-olds running around and wonder "was I like that?" OK, that probably just means that I'm getting old. I love the school and my time there was invaluable in so many ways. But it is painfully obvious now to look back and think about how easily knowledge puffs up. It was good knowledge, but I'm glad I've had some time to let it season in the stew of life experience for a few years now. And I have found out over time that T was right about PBs being a denomination. Gary Busey rears his ugly head again.

People are too focused on "who's in" and "who's out" with regard to The Assembly Way. I suppose there comes a point in every movement where there is a temptation to setup new boundaries of orthodoxy and build walls of religion, and Plymouth Brethren have been no different in this regard from many others who have come before them. But what did Jesus come to do? He came to take us out of the "fold" of religion and bring us into the freedom of the "flock" (John 10). The sheep in the fold are focused on the walls, because that's what keeps them safe from thieves and wolves. The sheep who are running free on the range belong to a flock, and they don't have any walls. How do they stay safe? By focusing on the shepherd and staying as close as possible to Him.

Everyday Worship

I'm still chewing on John Piper's series on worship he has going on over at Desiring God. In particular, I'm thinking about what worship should look like to me on a practial, everyday level. We spend a lot of thought and energy thinking about corporate worship. But I'm wondering if a disproportionate emphasis on the "gathering" aspect causes individual worship to suffer.

What I mean is this: when we put undue emphasis on the forms of corporate worship, we get into the mindset that worship is like a recipe. Mix prayer + scripture reading + singing + testimony and voila! You have worship. And we spend so much effort trying to get the recipe just right, because we are thinking (wrongly) that this will lead to better worship. Then there is a real temptation to carry this flawed thinking over to how I worship God daily. To try to find just the right combination of bible reading + prayer + memorization + quiet time so that I am maximizing my worship potential. But it's easy to do all those things and not have a heart that truly prizes and cherises God. It's easy for spiritual "to-do" lists to replace real love and relationship with Him.

I remember hearing a story (whether true or fictional I do not know) about a bachelor who hired a maid to help out around the house. He gave her a list of chores that he needed done: wash dishes, dust, do laundry, etc. And she came to work and did her chores and got her paycheck. Over time, a romance began to develop between the two and eventually they became husband and wife. Do you think the guy still kept the list of chores around? I'm thinking no. But of course the wife didn't need it because she still did the same things (and more) out of love for her husband. Do you think she still expected a paycheck? Of course not. And the same is true of our relationship to God. It is foolish to try to show our Creator love by worshiping with a "to-do list" mentality. We might as well give him an invoice of what He owes us at the same time. He wants real, heartfelt, authentic treasuring of who He is and what He has done.

Romans 7:6 -- "But now we have been released from the law, for we died with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power. Now we can really serve God, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way, by the Spirit." (NLT)

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