Intellectual Virtue - Knowing Why We Believe What We Believe, and Having a Good Reason For It

     I have come to believe that it is crucial for each person to closely examine each of their beliefs, and to understand what they are and why they hold to them. This is why I often stress the importance of theology. One cannot hope to interact well with a God about whom they know nothing, and one certainly cannot present an apologetic for a system of belief which they do not understand and have not fully explored. Furthermore, I would say that to hold a belief without knowing why you believe it, or to accept something simply because it is what you have always been told is sheer folly. One simply cannot accept anything and everything they are told simply on the basis of the source, or because it seems to make sense in the context of their already established belief system. No, our beliefs must find their source in the ultimate pursuit of truth. Christ says, “you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” We cannot settle for anything less than the truth. 
     Many of the students at Johnson University where I study are at a point in our lives where we must make our faith our own. It would be easier simply to believe what we have always believed, and it would certainly be more comfortable. But we cannot afford to be comfortable, we are not called to be comfortable. We are called to challenge ourselves, to step out of our comfort zone, to be willing to be outside of our tradition, rejecting what he have always assumed to be correct if it leads us to the truth. Why is truth so important? Because ultimately truth is not some abstract idea, It is a person. God is the embodiment of all truth, and the only way for us to know him who is infinitely higher than we could ever imagine is to pursue truth.
      I greatly admire the way in which Descarte boiled down his belief system to one foundational belief that he knew was absolute, and built his system from there. “I think, therefore I am.” As I boiled down my own system of belief I decided to add to that statement. “I think therefore I am, I am therefore god is.” I say little 'g' god because all I can be sure of based only on the surety of my own existence is that there is something that caused me to be here. Something that made the place that I am in and gave me the capacity to think. Now, through rational deduction and research one can come to the conclusion that 'god' little 'g' is God big 'G,' and that 'God' big 'G' is Yahweh, the Sovereign Lord of the Judeo-Christian tradition. To do this one merely has to follow the train of historical evidence and determine the authority of the Scriptures. That is easily begun through something as simple as watching the prophecy of Scripture fulfilled in history. Once the authority of the Scriptures have been established, the rest is smooth sailing. As Christ says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” The Scriptures tell us of a perfect Creator God who is synonymous with truth. Therefore, we can build our lives and belief on the Scriptures which we have established as true and reliable through rational deduction established from the simple thought, “I think therefore I am, I am therefore God is.” Obviously this is a greatly simplified argument, but I truly believe that should one approach this proposed line of thought with an open mind, one would come to a similar conclusion.
      The way in which we examine such beliefs, it would seem, is hotly contested. A variety of systems of justification were described in Wood's text. I do not think that the three systems he presents are mutually exclusive. On the contrary, I have come to believe that if we are to be truly intellectually virtuous, we must examine our beliefs in light of each of these systems of justification.
     First we must examine our beliefs to see if there is enough solid evidence based in things we know to be true for us to accept them as verifiable beliefs. When we have gathered the evidence we must ask ourselves, did it come from reliable sources? What was our condition when we gathered it? Were we tired or in an altered state of mind that would affect our clarity of thought? In short, is the source of the evidence (and thus the evidence itself) a reliable basis for justified belief? Finally we must evaluate it in light of our already justified beliefs. Does it fit in with what we have already determined to be truth? And since we are pursuing truth, should we find that ourselves convinced that our new belief is more true than previously held ones, we must revaluate both. This is not a process that can be rushed. Nor is it something that we will ever complete, but that is the beauty of it. Our theological and philosophical systems are always developing. When they cease to do so, we must quickly repent, for we have become unteachable.

Attitude is Everything: Developing a Missional Mindset

     The following is adapted from a sermon I preached at the beginning of the academic year. Never has it been more relevant to my own life, and so I thought I would share with you all, in the hopes that it might help you as it has helped me. While it has specific application to Bible college students (particularly JU students), my hope is that God may use it to speak to you wherever you find yourself today.

Acts 20:22-24

22“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, arguably one of the greatest preachers outside of the Bible, once said this: “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.” We are all called to missional living in some context. Wether this means we witness to co-workers, friends and family, or we travel across the world to reach the unreached in a foreign country, or even if we go into our own backyard to extend compassion to the poor and homeless, we cannot claim to follow Christ and yet ignore those who so desperately need him, those who he died to save.

Acts Chapter 2, verses 22 through 24 jumps right into the middle of a story. Paul is on his third missionary journey, going from Miletus to Jerusalem. From Miletus, he sends for the leaders of the Ephesian church. When they arrive, he begins to recount his ministry with them in Ephesus, the telling of which culminates in a tearful farewell, as he is nearly certain that he would not see any of them again this side of heaven.

This passage of Acts 20 gives us some invaluable insight into Paul's mindset as a man on fire for missions. So today I want to take a look at three characteristics of a missional mindset.

1. The first characteristic of a missional mindset is receptiveness and submission to the Spirit's leading.

Paul says that he is “constrained by the Spirit.” That wordconstrainedis the greek word Deó, which means bound, compelled, put in chains, imprisoned, constrained. This indicates the strength and extent of the compulsion Paul was given. In short, there was no doubt in Paul's mind that he needed to go quickly and directly to Jerusalem, even though the Spirit also made it clear that danger and persecution would await him. In this way, Paul was both receptive and submissiveto the Spirit's direction.

That being said, I cannot stress enough the importance of walking in daily communion with God. Now if you can use your required reading and study as your devotional time more power too you, but the reality is, that doesn't cut it for most of us. So I want to encourage you to be intentional about making time in your crazy schedule to just stop. Get alone with God, go on a walk with him and worship him for who he is, for his glory, for his power, for his sovereignty his love and his mercy. Tell him about your life and your struggles, and then sit in silence with him, and listen for his voice. Only when we have consistent connection with our heavenly Father can we grow spiritually, and only as we seek his direction in our lives will we become receptive to the guidance of his Spirit.

Paul was not only receptive to the Spirit's leading, but he was also submissive to it. This means that when he felt led to go to Jerusalem, he didn't say, “well God, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. I mean, look what happened to your Son when he went to Jerusalem, I might die too! No, God, I think I'll just stay here in Miletus instead.”

Paul could have tried to rationalize his way out, but he chose not to. There was instead a sense of urgency about his going to Jerusalem, and he wasted no time in getting there. Likewise, we should embrace the leading of the Spirit on our lives, trusting that what he has planned for us—difficult, impossible or terrifying as it might seem—will work out for our greatest good and his greatest glory.

2. The second characteristic of missional mindset is a willingness to face opposition for the cause of Christ.

I think as I said that I might have heard a bit of a sigh of relief. We are in America after all, and on top of that, we're in Bible college. Persecution for what we believe is not something that we're too concerned about. Because of this, It is so easy for us to become complacent and to embrace lukewarm Christianity—which in reality isn't Christianity at all. See, in America, we can blend in. And even more so in Bible college.

But what would happen if we were to step out of our comfort zones, to take the claims of Jesus seriously and challenge the ways of society? People would think we were crazy, backwards even. And were we to persist in having this radical counter-culture attitude, we might even face some persecution. Now again, I know that's hard to picture in this setting; we spend most of our time surrounded by Christian brothers and sisters, so it just doesn't make sense that we would face any opposition here. Christian living isn't against the grain!

I want to take a moment to challenge that idea, because I think its wrong. The more time I spend in the dorms talking with the guys, and the more I see the way people talk and act at events like sports games, or even while just hanging out in the lounge, the more I have to question that idea that Christian living isn't necessarily against the grain.

Now I want to be clear, I'm aware that I'm making a pretty broad generalization here, and I know that there are many godly young men and women on this campus who are passionate about living to make much of Jesus. Even so, I think, that even in this environment, if we where to truly live out the Christian walkin every aspect of our lives, we just might face some opposition.

Notice that I put a bit of emphasis on “every aspect of our lives” in that last statement. I did that for a reason. Its easy to give Jesus part of our lives, but that's not enough; he wants allof us.Let's lay a foundation for what following Christ in every aspect of our lives means.

Jesus is our example, and we are called to follow that example as closely as possible, Amen? Jesus says in John 8:29, “I always do what pleases [the Father].” So let me ask you, can you make such a claim? If Christ is the standard that we are to strive for, how can we settle for anything less? And please, don't say, “well Connor that's just too radical, the Bible doesn't mean that.” Well it really does, and I say this because I love you: you need to come to terms with that fact, and decide what to do with it.

So do the topics of your conversations please the Father? What about the way in which you discuss theological concepts or perspectives, is there any arrogance or divisiveness there? Let me be the first to admit that I'm certainly guilty of that. How about the words you use? For example, the last time you called someone gay, or a douche-bag, do you really think that pleases the Father? What about your relationships with your peers, or your relationships with the opposite sex? Are you striving to please God and pursue holiness in every aspect of your life, or are you holding something back?

3. The third characteristic of a missional mindset is a single-minded focus on the furthering of God's kingdom.

I think it is clear from the way that Paul writes, and from the lifestyle he lived, that there was nothing more important to him than the mission he had been given by God. That's why he is willing to lay everything on the line, even his very life. “Iconsider my life worth nothingto me,” he says, “my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

In Paul's life, God came first. The primary goal of his life was his calling: the spread of Gospel to the unreached peoples of the earth. Likewise, we are called to give God first priority in all things, and get this: anything less would be a form of idolatry. It only makes sense, then, that if we claim to follow Jesus, we need to be willing to give up anything and everything that we find ourselves putting in front of God.

That's hard for us in America, isn't it. Because like it or not, we are very rich. Yes, even us broke college students. I'm convinced that the rest of the world laughs hysterically at us when we complain about money. And like the rich young ruler in Matthew's gospel, we often shy away from following Jesus because we are too attached to something else. The bottom line is this: we cannot serve two masters, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24. We must choose wether we will serve him, or ultimately, ourselves.

I think this goes beyond just attachment to material possessions as well; in Luke 14:26 Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” Friends, if we wish to be Jesus's disciples and receive the benefits thereof, we must first be willing to make sure absolutely nothing, comes before God and his purpose for our lives.

Maybe there is a call on your life that you are trying to ignore because it would mean giving up something you prize. Perhaps you're called as a missionary to a foreign country, but you are in a relationship with someone who just is not called in that way. Are you willing to give that relationship up for the kingdom of God?

Maybe you are feeling led to get involved in something like a local homeless ministry, but if you're being honest homeless people scare you to death, and you really just aren't comfortable ministering to them. Would you be willing to lay aside your anxiety, step out of comfort zone and follow God's leading?

Perhaps for you today there is a pattern of habitual sin in your life that you can't seem to shake. And maybe that's gluttony, or little white-lies, or an addiction to porn, maybe you're a closet klepto—I don't know what it is for you. But are you willing to bring that into the light, confess, and get accountability and the help you need to break free?

What is it that is holding you back from a single-minded focus on God's mission for your life?

Conclusion:

Three seemingly simple characteristics that are so difficult to put into practice in day-to-day living. In order to develop a missional mindset we must be receptive and submissive to God's leading, we must be willing and prepared to face opposition for the cause of Christ, and we must have a single-minded focus on God's mission for our lives, putting his purpose above all else.

Just take a moment at think about what the world would look like if each and every one of us in this room lived that out. Think about the lives that could be impacted and the souls that could be saved.

But Its easy to talk big, isn't it. It's easy to dream big for the kingdom. But when it comes down to it, many of us just aren't willing to take the steps necessary to make that dream a reality. And so we make excuses for why we aren't being intentional about reaching people for Christ.

W.E. Sangster, a former president of the Methodist Conference and a powerful speaker and evangelist said this, and I'll close with this thought: “How shall I feel at the judgment, if multitudes of missed opportunities pass before me in full review, and all my excuses prove to be disguises of my cowardice and pride.”

Friends, let us not allow fear of our inadequacy, or cultural norms, or desire for the affection of our peers overcome the still, small voice of the Lord Jesus telling us to go, make disciples.

A Theological Reflection on Manhood and Marriage from an Unmarried Christian Guy

      Let me preface this by saying that I do not yet consider myself a man, but I want to be one. Nor am I a husband or father, but I hope to be some day. What I do know is this: I've only got one chance to do this right, and I want to start preparing right now, because the ideas and attitudes we cultivate while we are single will carry over into our marriages. With that said, take as you will the thoughts and passions that have emerged from my quest for manhood as I strive to figure out what that looks like and what God says about it.

     To be a man is at its core to repent, take up our cross and follow Jesus. After all, Jesus was the perfect man. The problem is that our society has confused us so much in terms of what it means to be a man. It doesn't help that the media tends to portray men as bumbling fools, drunks, or hopelessly violent womanizers. As a result, we have a world--and a church--full of adolescents who are too scared or too selfish to grow up. I don't want to be that guy, I've seen too many families torn apart and sisters in Christ hurt by manhood gone wrong. Fortunately, in a world that is so confused, scripture paints a relatively clear picture of what manhood is meant to be. Unfortunately our culture tells us this is outdated and irrelevant. However, what our culture considers to be relevant and ideal clearly isn't working, so lets take a look at the "outdated and irrelevant" word of a holy and sovereign God, and perhaps we shall see how it is just as relevant and perhaps more urgent now than ever.

     "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies" (Ephesians 5:22-28). 

    The language used in this passage is covenant language, similar to what we read throughout the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the New Testament, particularly in Pauline literature. 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 gives us a glimpse of this. Paul writes, “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

     Adam was the head of the first covenant between God and mankind, as the representative thereof, he sinned and broke the covenant with God. As such, all of humanity must now pay the penalty of sin. Humanity is now subject to death, the natural result of their disobedience (Genesis 2:17). This is both physical—physical death was not part of the original creation—and spiritual. In Ephesians Chapter 2 Paul writes, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Ephesians 2:1-4).

     Similarly, Christ is the head of the New Covenant, as the representative of all humanity he lived in perfect obedience to the Father, the life we could not live, dead as we were in our sins. And he died the perfect sacrifice, being fully human and thus paying our penalty and being fully God and thus fulfilling the necessity of perfect righteousness, in doing so redeeming all creation back to himself. As Paul continues in Ephesians 2:5, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

     Just as Christ was held responsible for the sin of humanity as covenant head, so the man is held responsible for the well-being and spiritual health of his family. This means he is responsible for providing for the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of his wife and children. It also means that when he stands before God on the day of judgement he will be held accountable not only for his own deeds but for the holistic well-being of his family. If his children went wild and he failed to give them godly counsel and do all he could to restore them to Christ, he will be held responsible for their apostasy. If his wife is dying spiritually, not growing in community and in grace, he will be held responsible for not doing all he can to lead her into a closer walk with God.

     Men, we are given a high calling and great responsibility. If we are not ready for this, who are we to even look at a woman as a potential relationship? If we are married or in a relationship, we must ask ourselves how well we are fulfilling this calling. These are god's daughters, sacred and beloved. Not only is their Father absolutely holy, all-powerful and sovereign, but he is all knowing. Every thought, every action, every intention of our hearts is an open book to him. We would do well to be afraid! This is not something we can take lightly. 

Why "Evangelism" Is a Horrible Idea

     Last night I went out to hang with some homeless friends under a bridge, and I witnessed something that broke my heart: A couple hundred of "the least of these" standing hungry and broken beneath a bridge, waiting for a bite to eat that they might no longer be hungry, or a cup of water to drink that they might no longer thirst. Only a few feet away were tables covered with good food, clean water and intact clothing, and it would seem for a moment as if all their needs were about to be met. Until the guy praying for the meal breaks off his prayer to start preaching.
     Don't get me wrong, I'm not against preaching... I'm a preacher. I believe in the power of words to bring home the timeless truths of God. Jesus himself preached, as did Peter and Paul. I did however, have a problem with this. As the multitudes stood waiting, helpless to leave unless they wanted to go yet another day without a meal, he yelled at the top of his lungs, shouting about hell and condemnation and telling these people how absolutely terrible they were. Every now and again a verse of scripture was interspersed through the clamor, but when it was heard I wept, for the words of Christ were horribly misrepresented as they emanated from this man's mouth. It was clear to me and those who I was with that the only thing this "gospel" was doing was hardening these peoples hearts.
     Think with me for a moment, how did Jesus do ministry? He sat down and ate with sinners, he developed genuine relationships with people and loved on them. To the "religious" folk who wanted to condemn he spoke harshly, but to the lost and the broken he showed love. This is what we must do! We must meet people where they are at and love them unconditionally. Jesus did not tell us to, "love your neighbor until he converts and stop loving him if he doesn't," but to "love your neighbor as yourself" and to "love one another as I have loved you."
     What would it look like for us to love unconditionally? To reach out and to treat those whom society has marginalized like a human being? That's all they want! Imagine what it would be like to go through life being judged constantly people assuming that you got to be where you are at because of drugs, alcohol or laziness; people treating you as if you where somehow inferior--sub-human because of the circumstances you have fallen upon.
     Or even imagine for a moment that you find yourself without a job, without a home and without a friend because of bad choices you have made. And now, no one will even look you in the eye! Imagine for a moment the brokenness, imagine the despair. Now imagine for a moment that someone looks you in the eye and says, "good morning friend, is there anything I can do for you? Can I get you food or water? Perhaps some clean clothes? Is there some way I could be praying for you today?" What if someone were to ask your name... a name that had become unfamiliar to your own lips from neglect, because no one cared to ask. What if you were treated like an actual person bearing the Imago Dei and dearly loved by your Creator?
     Would not this give you hope? And if this were to happen consistently, wouldn't you wonder, "what makes this person so different? Why do they care so much about me? They say they're 'just a group of folks trying to follow Jesus, and he told us to love people so that's what we're doing...' What if there's something to this Jesus person?"
     Friends, preaching's all well and good, but its not going to validate itself! You can talk and talk until you're blue in the face but if there is nothing to lend credence to your words other than the words themselves, then the words won't have a whole lot of impact. It is a changed life that will bear witness to the truth of your words, a life changed by Jesus and inspired to follow in his footsteps by loving people without limits or conditions.
     And what if they don't respond to your kindness with anything more than a smile and a thank you? We keep loving them! The love of God is not conditional on conversion, and ours shouldn't be either. We're called to feed the hungry, even when they are our enemies (Romans 12:20) and to clothe the naked (Matthew 25:35). For Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40 ).
     So do I think we should even preach to the poor and marginalized when we go to serve them? Well, in the traditional evangelistic sense? No. I believe our lives of love and service are to be our witness and these things will speak far louder than our words ever could. The church has gotten a bad rap, we're hypocritical don't you know? And we judge and condemn. We don't actually care for those who we preach Christ to, we just want them to convert, be baptized and go home.
     The truth is, if people believe that about us they will want nothing to do with what we have to say or the Jesus we represent. We must first prove in a very real and tangible way that we genuinely love those who we profess to, and that we care for them holistically. Don't mistake me here, the key word is genuinely. This isn't some new-fangled evangelism scheme to make converts. Listen: In order to convince people you genuinely love them... we need to genuinely love them! We're not pretending to love people so that they'll believe us and repent, I can't say it enough--Love is not conditional upon repentance! We're to be about genuinely loving people because that's what Jesus was about. Does genuine love mean that eventually we address spiritual needs? Yes. But we do that from a place of friendship, not detached sunday-school street-evangelism.