What are you doing with God's stuff - Supplemental

This morning in the service we looked at the second part of our three part series on stewardship with an investigation of the parable of the shrewd steward from Luke 16 and a discussion on the question: “What am I doing with God’s stuff?” Stewardship is one of those funny topics that people only have a limited tolerance for – like really spicy foods that are good in small doses but which in large sittings make your digestive tract hurt. For that reason when I planned this series I only allotted myself three weeks in the pulpit to talk about it. By forcing myself to hammer home only the most important points in a short timeframe my hope was to really get down to the essentials and give you the maximum bang for your buck. The upside of that sort of plan is tremendous but the downside is that there is so much more to say than can be said in three sermons!

For that reason I’ve diverted some of the teaching to this blog and for those of you wanting to go deeper into the rabbit hole of radical re-alignment of fiscal priorities to the Gospel mandate I’ve provided a few extra tidbits here for your pondering. I also want to use this podium to re-offer what I invited you to at the end of the service:

***[If you are looking for the post that links to the John Wesley sermon referred to in this morning's message please click here the link is near the end of the post]***

If you are someone who desperately needs to revisit your financial priorities to get out of debt and free yourself up to be the kind of steward God wants you to be – we not only want to help you as a church, but we feel that we have a mandate to help you. Like I say at the beginning of the messages in this series: I am not a certified, qualified, or educated financial planner – but I do know how to create and work a simple budget to start working back toward balance. I may not be able to offer much by way of expertise but what I can offer by way of experience is at your disposal; just give me a call or an email to set up an appointment and we’ll see what we can do. It is my prayer that from within the community of our congregation some other people will arise with not only the passion I have to help people get a handle on their finances but with the skills, training and experience that I lack and will be willing to take this over as an official compassion ministry of the church – but until then I will avail myself to you.

Jesus said in Luke 16:13 that “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” When you’re being crushed by debt in your personal finances you are legally (and morally) obligated to pay back what you owe – in that sense you cannot give to God the first fruits of your labour because someone else already has dibs on that money (at least the minimum payment or interest payment value). Moreover you are handcuffed to a certain lifestyle, a certain job, a certain location and a certain level of commitment by your debt to the point that in many ways you are forced into serving money rather than God. We even talk this way in the secular world – the amount of money you owe is often referred to as the amount of debt you are servicing! God doesn’t want divided allegiances among his children.

 

So how can you start to take some baby steps toward correcting an allegiance imbalance in your finances? Well here are a few things that I have learned and want to impart to you:

1.       Stop feeling guilty

Sin is sin, and wastefulness is wastefulness but Jesus sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to cover the penalty for your fiscal mismanagement as much as it was for mine. Remember that “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” (Psalm 145:8)

2.       Don’t get hung up on 10%

The tithe as it is most often referred to in church circles the standard is sacrificial giving, which may mean more than a tithe in some cases - in other cases it may mean less than the tithe – the standard is heart transformation not formulaic law observance.  In the second place, the 90% still belongs to God. We are only its stewards and must use it in accordance with God's will. The tithe as a formulaic requirement is a part of the sacrificial worship system of the Old Covenant – it sits right alongside animal sacrifices and burnt offerings as a part of a system that Christ’s work on the cross makes redundant. Moreover the “tithe” was never given in money – it was always an offering of production – edible produce was brought in as a tithe from the harvest and it was always administered by the Levitical priesthood.

In the New Testament – we see plenty of instruction on giving. Both examples and instructions abound on how God’s people should be a people that give all they can both to the work of the Gospel and to alleviate the poverty and suffering of others but the principle of a fixed percentage of income that is mandated is not present. The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 illustrates the point that the income they generated through the sale of their property was theirs to do whatever they wanted with – God wants us to be generous but he wants us to give cheerfully and not out of compulsion. Paul says this succinctly in 2 Corinthians 9:

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

That means that while the standard of sacrificial giving often (and I would argue most often in our society) would comport to an offering of more than 10% there are times when an offering of less than that amount is prudent.

3.       Your basic necessities are a priority

God instructs us to pray for our “daily bread” and consider how he clothes the grass of the field and feeds the birds of the air. He wants you to know that your basic daily needs are important to him, and that it is not wrong or selfish to use what you have earned to take care of these. Needs are not luxuries – paying the heating bill in Saskatchewan in the winter is not a luxury – it’s a life and death situation. Don’t feel bad about paying for the basic necessities of life when your finances are out of control – they are still important.

4.       Your family is a priority

In 1 Timothy 5:8 when giving instructions on how the church should treat the less fortunate in their fellowship Paul gives the crystal clear mandate: “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” That means your spouse, your children, your parents or any other extended family members that are under your direct or indirect care – any financial plan or budget needs to put them first. Again, there is a fine line between supporting and spoiling (especially when it comes to children or grandchildren) but to the extent that you have the means God wants your family to be a priority.

5.       Take stock of your situation

The first and most important step of budgeting is finding out where the money goes. How is it that you’re living beyond your means? In some instances it’s as simple as curbing discretionary spending and you’ll have enough for an aggressive debt repayment plan that will get you out of trouble and a budget that will keep you out of trouble. Sometimes you’ll discover that you’re spending way more on luxuries than you thought you were and you’ll need to scale back your consumption. Sometimes it will be one particular thing that’s skewing all the numbers and it’s a simple decision to remove it – sometimes it’s more complicated.

6.       Stop the insanity!

Now that you know where you’re over spending, stop it! Cut up or freeze credit cards. Stop playing the revolving credit game. Vow that your debt has gone this far and no further and take a hard stand with it. There is no sense planning on going forward when you’re still travelling backwards.

7.       Consolidate and conquer

Often talking to a trusted financial advisor or debt specialist will reveal a way for you to consolidate your debt into a simpler and cheaper option that will not only reduce the total amortization on your debt load but will also lower your monthly interest costs. Talk to someone you trust about taking these steps but beware of shady debt consolidation “specialists” out there – it’s an area that people are frequently taken advantage of in.

8.       Be prepared to make the difficult decisions

Getting out of bondage to debt often means some fairly serious sacrifices to get your head above water. Some of those decisions should not be taken lightly and professional advice may need to be sought out to avoid making rash and unwise choices. In my story we had to leverage the equity we had built in our home and downsize to correct course and get back on track. For some people it will mean selling a second or third vehicle – or selling a luxury vehicle to drive something more economical. For some that big sacrifice will entail taking a second job for a season to accelerate debt repayment or a spouse that wants to stay at home to go back to work for a season to accomplish the same thing. Sometimes it will mean cutting off television, or getting rid of a cell phone, giving up eating out or cancelling membership in an organisation with monthly or yearly dues. The idea at this time is not to shuffle around debt robbing from Peter to pay Paul as it were but to look to ways to eliminate debt.

9.       Stay accountable

Don’t rely on your own will-power that has so frequently failed you in the past. Find accountability somewhere – from your spouse if the financial mismanagement in one-sided in a marriage; or form outside the home if both spouses have been complicit in the spiral down into debt. Don’t let the taboo of personal finance drive you into secret suffering – be open, honest and accountable with someone who wants to see you overcome this. Also make sure you choose someone for accountability that has the same priorities and financial values that you have – lest you come to a clash of ideologies over repayment strategies.

10.   Involve God all through the process

Even while you weren’t watching the money – God knew where every penny you spent was going. There is nothing in your financial history that is a surprise to him and there is nothing about your situation that you can hide from him. Bathe this entire process in prayer and don’t be ashamed to have other people pray for you too. When God speaks to you about money – listen! When he tells you to do something – do it! If he tells you to do something different than what I’m prescribing here – listen to God and not to me (but I would advise verifying with Scripture what God calls you to do – he will never contradict his Word with a personal leading). Most importantly don’t try to do this in your own strength. Remember that God sends you his Spirit so that you will never be alone – he has empowered and equipped you to do everything that he has called you to do and when he starts something in you he is faithful to see it to completion.

If you have further questions you can always give me a call, set up an appointment to meet, or just drop in during open office hours on Wednesday mornings. I’d love to help you – and in the same way if you know of someone else more equipped than I am to deal with these specific issues then please seek out their advice. I don’t want my ego stroked I want us all to be freed up to fully serve God with our finances. Next week we’re going to be looking at the issue of generosity with a message entitled Jesus doesn’t want your money. I’d love to see you at church to share that story with you!

May God bless you as you strive to serve him, and him only.

Chris

no caps christianity

I know that I will be wading into controversial waters with this post but that just seems to be the place I live these days so why not go deeper. I have long held to a belief (contrary to many of my beloved Christian brothers and sisters) that there is no Christian basis for support of Capital Punishment. I waded into the debate a month or so ago with some thoughts on the Troy Davis execution but today I stumbled across an excellent post by Ben Witherington III on the issue. This is what I believe to be the core of his argument:

Jesus did not care just about the sacred worth of unborn life, or young and vulnerable life, though about the latter he indeed said things like ‘theirs is the Kingdom of God’, and he gave stern warning to those who cause the least, last, and lost to stumble. No, Jesus died for adult sinners as well. He died for hated Samaritans as well. He died for hated Romans as well. We could go on. He died for every age and stage of human life, because all of it was seen as of sacred worth and all of it needed atonement.

I have long wondered how a person could simultaneously claim to be pro-life with regards to abortion but pro-death when it comes to capital punishment. In the same way - how has Christendom justified it's many holy wars - slaughtering the infidel in Christ's name? Isn't that what we're so angry with Islam for doing? Witherington goes onto talk also about the broader scope of a non-violent Christian ethic:

Jesus wanted no violence at all done in his name. It is not merely an irony, it is a disgrace that Christians later thought Jesus might endorse a Crusade or two. Those were some of the most shameful things ever done in the name of Christ, but of course, we could name much more recent examples from the Holocaust or the dark days of Apartheid in South Africa.

And then there is the issue of vengeance - why do we feel the right to seek out vengeance and why do we sully the name of Christ by claiming some divine mandate to do so? If we want to spend billions and billions of dollars showing the world that we won't be pushed around as many western nations did after the events of September 11, 2001 that's fine - it is the right of the state to pursue that sort of "justice" but lets not bring Jesus in as an accomplice to something he wants no part of. And let's not delude ourselves as Christians into thinking that God not only supports our vengeful indulgences but condones our celebrations when vengeance is extracted. Regarding that issue Witherington says this:

I was watching TV and seeing all those celebrating Muslims in Libya on the day Ghaddafi was gunned down in the streets of his hometown. They were partying like the Bridegroom had returned. It reminded me of the American reaction to when bin Laden was killed in his own home. These reactions are entirely understandable on the basis of human nature, or even on the basis of the Muslim credo when it comes to such things.

But they are not justifiable on the basis of a Christian life ethic. As John Donne put it—- ‘any man’s death diminishes me, for I am a part of mankind…therefore do not ask for whom the death knell tolls, it tolls for me.’ 

Witherington is not new to this debate - he's been sounding the alarm for Christian pacifism  for quite some time and has come under quite a bit of attack for his positions ( I remember a blog post a while back where he tacked the American sacred cow of gun control and almost faced the firing squad in the comments for his position) but I have a hard time arguing with his interpretation of Scripture. That  doesn't mean however that I am myself a pacifist.

I haven't come down on the issue totally but I still lean toward an understanding that allows for state sanctioned war. I still believe that there are times when eliminating a great evil for the sake of protecting the innocents is the right thing to do.  I support and admire our military and think that placing your life on the line for others is one of the most noble things a person can do - but I do question the motivation behind some of our more recent exercises in force - was the issue really defense or was it vengeance. When the issue is vengeance I struggle with whether it is right for a Christian to participate. Moreover I recoil at  the idea that any of our battles are Christian wars - as if Jesus was the general giving the orders to fire on the enemy. I recognize that my thoughts are probably a little convoluted on this issue - but please give me grace as I am a work in progress.

My point in sharing this blog with you today is to raise the very real questions about what the non-violent Christian ethic really looks like and hopefully cause you to think about these issues as they pertain to your own practices and politics. Because Jesus really does care what we believe on this issue and I want to care about what Jesus cares about. Don't you?

Until next time,
Chris

Asking for Help

Sometimes you need poignant reminders of simple truths. Today that reminder came through the blog of a couple from my Church that are chronicling their journey through the adoption process. The simple truth that I needed to hear once again today is that it's good to ask for help. Take a click on over to their blog and read the simple but profound observation - I hope it blesses you like it blessed me.

Ryan and Kala's Adoption Journey: learning to ask for help

Until next time,

Chris

The awkward conversation

Okay friends – it’s time we had that awkward conversation.

In our society today there are few topics that are left as legitimate taboos. In generations gone by there were many things that good people did not discuss in polite company – family matters, health issues, politics and the like – even the great taboo of sexuality has been torn down and now in the church (praise the Lord) we can have a healthy adult discussion about what Christian sexuality looks like. But there is still one topic that is guaranteed to make people squirm uncomfortably when it’s brought up.

There is still one issue that Christians in polite company don’t like to talk about.

There is still one final taboo in the church – money.

Not church finances, or budgetary expenditures, or taxes or anything as external and impersonal as that; I’m talking about my money. Your money. God’s money.

I can hazard a guess that you’re not going to like where this is going – which is a real shame because no one talked about the spiritual implications of wealth and finances more than Jesus did. Conservative estimates peg about 25% of Jesus teaching being related to the issues of money, wealth, possessions or finances. The only thing that Jesus talks about more in the Gospels than these issues is the Kingdom of God – and many of those verses dealing with the Kingdom ALSO have to do with money, wealth, finances and possessions. Jesus talks about these issues more than heaven and hell combined but we in Christian churches are reticent to broach the topic because it makes people feel uncomfortable. Well prepare yourself to feel uncomfortable.

This week we will start our new sermon series (tentatively mapped out for three weeks) on that final taboo – what Jesus has to say to us about money and stewardship today in the 21^st century; and as a preacher I’m not going to apologize for making you feel awkward or uncomfortable. The very first passage that we are going to explore in this series is from Luke 18 and it is about Jesus making someone feel very uncomfortable about an issue of money – so I feel like I’m in good company. That also means though that if you’re already feeling  as uncomfortable as the young man in our chosen text, perhaps Jesus has something to say to you as well.

The first sermon in this series entitled Idolatry: The sadness of the rich. And with that title comes a disclaimer: Many of you will go away from this message sad. I want to warn you about that up front – the question that I will be asking you to ponder though is: “Will it be a holy sadness that provokes change or will that sadness be a despair of hopelessness?”

This sermon and this sermon series will not likely affirm your lifestyle. As a society we are woefully out of touch with what Jesus has to say about our financial priorities. You will not hear during these coming weeks strategies and promises for how to tap into God’s endless fount of financial blessing. I will not be teaching you three easy steps to getting out of debt, saving for your retirement, inflating your stock portfolio or finding financial freedom. I am not qualified to, certified to, endorsed by anyone to, or at all interested in teaching you any of those things – my goal is singular: To teach you the priorities that Jesus set for his followers in areas of faith and finance.

And even if you hear all of what I say and you fully understand the scriptures we look at and manage to apply Jesus commands about money to the letter (which few, if any of us will be able to do apart from complete surrender to the Holy Spirit) I, and Jesus, am offering you no promise or guarantee of wealth, or a life of ease and luxury. The truth of the matter is that following Jesus is more likely to make you poor than it is to make you rich – the blessings for those who follow are real but they infrequently show up on your bank statement.

So if you’re up for it; if you’re ready for the challenge; if you want to know what Jesus says about money and you have the courage to try and walk with us as a church down this narrow road toward obedience – please come to church beginning this Sunday as we tear down the final taboo and open up our hearts and minds to hear the truth. No matter the cost.

Prayerfully hoping that you want to join us on this journey,

Chris

ThanksLIVING

Disclaimer 1: I stole this from my respected colleague Major Len Millar of the Estevan Salvation Army. He presented it as our opening devotional for this month’s ministerial meeting.

Disclaimer 2: Len claims no originality in concocting this either – it’s just good teaching. So if the original author comes looking for credit – take it up with Len J

Thanksgiving is now fading out of sight in the rear-view mirror of life and if you’re like me you’ve seen enough Turkey and stuffing to keep you sated until at least Christmas (if not longer). And as our waistlines start to slowly return to their pre-holiday circumference I wonder if our attitude of gratitude is shrinking proportionately?

This past Sunday we had a wonderful time of sharing in our church service – You were the message and your lives were the pages upon which God wrote the lesson that was shared. One by one people stood up and shared their gratitude for the things God has been doing in their lives, for the ministry of Estevan Alliance Church and for God’s provision and care through what has admittedly been a very difficult year for many in this part of the province with the damage caused by the floods this spring. Then something happened and someone shared about a struggle that they were going through that God hadn’t resolved. Someone spoke words of gratitude from a place deep inside the valley of despair and in that moment we were transported as a congregation from a time of thanksGIVING to watching as one of our own modelled a spirit of thanksLIVING.

I won’t go into more specific details – if you were there you know the person and the situation of which I’m referring to – but it really made me think: What do we do when the leftovers are all eaten up, and the emotional high of Thanksgiving weekend is past? How do we go on being thankful people when there isn’t a special occasion calling for it – or when our circumstances seem to deprive us of reason for it? That’s where I was when Len delivered his devotional on Tuesday morning – and why it affected me so strongly.

The question was how do we remain thankful in the valleys? How do we take an attitude of thanksgiving and turn it into a practice of thanksliving? How do we cultivate that discipline in the hard times? I propose that in those times we ask ourselves three questions:

1.       Is there sin in my life that is causing my pain?

This should always be the first test we put our distress through. Not because I believe that God is up there in heaven, lightning bolt in hand just itching to throw down his wrath on somebody – but because sin hurts. Sin is by nature destructive and often sin is self-destructive. Am I in a bad situation through choices I have made, or am making? Am I perpetuating my own misfortune by unrighteous living? Is my lifestyle or are my actions hurting others? Sometimes the answer to our distress is quite simply to stop doing the wrong things. In this case the action of thanksliving is that we have a God who is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love – a God who, while we were yet sinners, died for us so that we could find forgiveness and reconciliation with him. Recognizing and dealing with sin is a path to experiencing thanksliving all year long.

2.       What is God trying to teach me?

I would be a horribly callous pastor and grossly unfaithful to the word of God if I tried to tell you that all misfortune is a direct result of personal sin. Sometimes the valleys we walk through are not of our own making. Sometimes we walk in the consequences of the sin of others and sometimes all of our searching for causality leaves us, like Job, merely shouting at the whirlwind. At that point it is wise to ask the question: “What is God trying to teach me through this experience?” What greater truth does he want me to learn? How is this process going to make me a better Christian? How does he want me to learn to depend on him more through this situation? The applications are as diverse as the valleys we walk through but God disciplines those he loves – and that means sometimes hurting can help. It’s prudent to ask the question if we want to be able to walk through those situations with thanksliving, knowing that like eating our vegetables as kids – our suffering is good for us.

3.       How can God be glorified in this situation?

Some situations defy explanation. Sometimes the righteous suffer, and sometimes there is no rhyme or reason as to why. Sometimes there is not a lesson to be readily learned from an experience and sometimes the pain is so deep that to even suggest something as flippant as “God has a plan” is downright cruel and unloving. These are the hardest places to walk in thanksliving but also the time when I believe that blessing is nearest to the surface because it is in our times of greatest need and deepest sorrow that God draws near to his children as a loving father. The question at these times is very simple and very profound – how can God be glorified in me? How can God take the ugliness of my pain and make it into something beautiful? How can my suffering act as a spiritual sign-post that points to his love? How can he turn my mourning into dancing in a way that only God could? The precedent for this was set at the cross. The ugliest event in human history became the means through which God himself conquered sin and death for all people for all time. The cross was the darkest day in all of history but it led to the empty tomb and because of that we say, sing and pray time and again, “thank you for the cross” in a proclamation that apart from the intervention of God makes no sense at all. I believe that transformation of that sort is what God wants to do in our pain as well. And I don’t know about you but that makes me want to walk in thankfulness every week of the year – not just the ones that gorge myself on turkey and stuffing.

So there you go – Thanksgiving is over, but thanksliving is just beginning. Walk in thankfulness with God and I’m going to be asking for strength to do the same.

Happy thanksliving.

Scary Stuff

Lately Joanna and I have had to come to terms with our own convictions about Halloween as we now have an impressionable little boy attending full-day kindergarten. Our concerns are exactly the concerns you would probably expect the pastor of a conservative leaning Evangelical Christian church to have with a holiday that celebrates ghouls and goblins, witchcraft and werewolves along with all sorts of demonic ‘baggage’ packaged up in a bite sized, candy coated harmless-looking presentation that kids really want to be a part of.

We have opted NOT to allow Jack to participate in Halloween this year. Perhaps that’s inconsistent because we got excited as parents and had Jack dress up in costume for both his first and second birthdays (Jack’s birthday is October 28^th so the tow days go hand in hand almost – one year he went as a pirate the next as a lion) – for those of you who would level that charge against us I admit guilt and inconsistency. I agree with many Christians that there is nothing wrong with little kids dressing up and having fun one day a year – taking their imaginations to the limit as they pretend to be something that they are not – but somewhere along the way that harmless fantasy can no longer be separated from the grim reality of what Halloween means to so many. Perhaps there is a post in that for another day closer to the end of the month (but I should go onto say that people in general have been very supportive of our stand – even Jack’s kindergarten teacher is working hard to find Jack other non-seasonal activities to do when the class is doing Halloween things) but the reason I mentioned all of that is because I came across another reason that I don’t want to be a part of Halloween this year – and this one it a lot less contentious.

 

Child Slavery.

Check out this blog post from Rage Against the Minivan. And tell me that there isn’t something wrong with this.

Just my two-cents today.

Chris

The Pastor's Library: Jesus and Money

Following up from yesterday’s post – I promised the little-anticipated part two of this month’s edition of The Pastor’s Library – so here it is.

Once again here’s my little disclaimer - just because I recommend a book does NOT mean I fully endorse EVERYTHING the author says, either in that book or elsewhere - but if I recommend a book it does mean that I believe there is enough worthwhile material to make the exercise in reading and pondering an edifying experience for the believer. So here is a continuation what I’ve been reading lately:

Jesus and Money: A Guide for Times of Financial Crisis

Ben Witherington III is rapidly becoming one of my favourite New Testament scholars. Both through his books and his amazing commitment to blogging I have been blessed and informed by his knowledge and insights on the word of God and his commentary on the state of the Church. After the 2008 financial crisis hit the USA and then the rest of the world he decided that the time was right to revisit just what exactly Jesus said about money.

This past June I had the privilege of attending our biannual District Conference where I was treated to a series of messages by Rev. SteveKerr on the issue of stewardship in the church – not stewardship in the sense of filling your church’s coffers – but a holistic approach to stewardship that didn’t focus solely on the “10%” that you expected people to tithe to your general fund but instead was more concerned with discipling people how to manage the other 90% in a way that was congruent with the teachings of Christ. As a pastor I was completely convicted that this was a message that our people needed desperately to hear – so I resolved that week that this fall I was going to dive in where pastors fear to tread and I was going to talk to my people about money.

Which brings me back to Ben Witherington’s book:

I knew enough to know that I didn’t know enough to preach with authority on this topic – so this summer I started researching. I downloaded and listened to sermons from any preacher that I recognised and even moderately trusted on the topic of money and stewardship, I searched blogs and online articles from well known pastors and scholars on the issue and in my research I stumbled across a mention of this book. Seeing the topic of the work and being familiar with the author it was one of the first purchases I made along the downward spiral toward my new addiction to the kindle store. I found the background information insightful and the commentary compelling and it would not be an understatement to say that it has really challenged me to reframe how I look at the issues of money and wealth primarily in my own life and finances – but also as a pastor looking at leading a church.

Witherington begins the book with an appeal to creation: The Earth is the LORD’s and everything in it. When we think that we actually own anything we’re missing the point of the entire canon of Scripture – we own NOTHING. In fact we were created to be caretakers of someone else’s stuff – that is the first commission given to Adam and Eve – tend the garden. Before sin, before the fall, before we went and screwed everything up we were created to be stewards. The biggest problem the church faces today with regards to money is that we’ve missed this foundational truth that trickles down to everything else we believe. Creation needs to be the starting point for any theology of wealth and money that the church explores and Witherington does a good job directing the reader to it.

He then goes onto look at the perceptions and understanding of wealth in the Old Testament – particularly in Wisdom literature. Here it should be noted that Witherington is a New Testament scholar not an Old Testament scholar and the focus of this book is on Jesus and his teachings on money. I think Witherington did an admirable job here – and there was nothing that I would find contentious or in conflict with what other people I have been studying have said about money but I think that there is probably a lot more gold to mine (pardon the metaphor) in these books than Witherington takes the time to expose.

From the Old Testament we jump to world of Jesus where Witherington shows of his chops as a NT scholar by explaining in great detail the financial practices of the world Jesus walked in during the first century. Witherington spends a lot of time making sure the reader is aware that Jesus did not live in a world where money (in the strictest use of the word) was readily available or in wide use. Jesus lived in a culture where transactions were still completed by bartering of goods and the introduction of “money” in the sense of currency was still gaining traction. Before jumping directly into Jesus actual teaching on money Witherington makes five big observations that need to be understood to properly understand what Jesus says in the Gospels.

1.       The ancient economy was not a money economy

2.       There was no free market capitalism in Jesus world

3.       Money had explicit religious connotations in antiquity

4.       Religious values affected how one viewed property, money and prosperity (see the discussion on creation)

5.       By Jesus’ day there had been a long history of Jews not ruling their own country (to borrow a contemporary maxim: The Jews were the 99%)

Witherington then uses the following chapters that constitute the bulk of the work to exegete and explain what Jesus says about money, what Paul says about money, what James says about money and (most surprisingly to someone still inundated with dispensational pre-millennial eschatology) what John of Patmos says about money in the book of Revelation – that was a really interesting chapter. I’m not going to recount all of his observations here because that would a)take too long and b)spoil at least one of my sermons in the upcoming series – but suffice it to say it was really enlightening.

After looking at the Biblical texts themselves Witherington finishes the book with a couple of chapters of editorializing on what he’s just taken the reader through; focusing on developing a truly Christian theology of stewardship and giving and also allowing Christ to work in us – to deprogram us from the lies perpetrated by a culture of conspicuous consumption. The last two chapters are especially hard hitting but only because Witherington relies so heavily on where he’s just finished taking the reader through the Biblical texts – I was left feeling that even if I wanted to argue with his conclusions I’d have to deny Scripture to do it.

As an added bonus in this book Witherington provides some excellent appendices. The first one is a really quick-hit rebuttal of 10 Christian “myths” about money. All of them were things that I had heard at one time or another in churches, but each of them unbiblical at the root. It’s a great quick reference guide to some of the most common questions one might be asked on the topic. And the second was a real blessing – a sermon (in full text) by John Wesley on “The Use of Money”. Even if you don’t take my advice and pick up this book I urge you to at least read this sermon – its public domain and free on the internet and I doubt that I’ll ever preach a message on this topic even approaching its profundity.

If you haven’t already figured out that I highly recommend this book then you really haven’t been reading. Go and buy it – or at the very least if you’re part of the EAC family reading this blog, make sure you get to church beginning October 23 for our series “The Final Taboo: Stewardship in the 21^st Century”.

Until next time,

Chris

The Pastor's Library: Scripture and the Authority of God

So I haven’t updated the blog now in over a week – my apologies for the two or three of you out there that actually look forward to my updates ;). What I have been doing with my time however has been really refreshing – I’ve gotten back into the swing of reading and based on a few recommendations from some friends have really been blessed. Here’s a little peek in to the Pastor’s Library.

A word of caution bears stating again - just because I recommend a book does NOT mean I fully endorse EVERYTHING the author says, either in that book or elsewhere - but if I recommend a book it does mean that I believe there is enough worthwhile material to make the exercise in reading and pondering an edifying experience for the believer. So here is what I’ve been reading lately:

Scripture and the Authority of God

N.T. Wright is one of my favourite authors and New Testament scholars. I find that he has a way of New Perspective on Paul. It’s somewhat ironic that Wright has been so maligned by the reformed crowd because as Ben Witherington III puts it:
communicating his vast intellectual prowess in a way that is neither too heady for the average Christian nor condescending in tone. He is probably most famous in recent years for his disagreement with those in the conservative reformed camp (John Piper, D.A. Carson and the like) over issues related to what has been coined the

“I find it bordering on bizarre that he is being attacked by his own close theological kin.  This is truly an ‘in-house’ fight, and I don’t really have a dog in it, except Bishop Wright is a long time Christian friend, and it is not right to stand idly by and watch a brother being unnecessarily attacked. For what it is worth, I find Wright a far better and more Biblical ambassador for his particular Reformed theological view point than those who are attacking him.”

But this book is not about that issue. What is at stake here is arguable something much larger than the debates over the doctrine of justification (and that’s saying something!) what this book is about is the foundational idea of how we approach the Holy Scriptures, what we should be expecting them to say to us, how we should read them and then of course how we should apply them. These are the foundational issues of building any sort of Christian theology and Wright has written this book to provide some guidance.

After some theological preamble about the way Israel and Jesus related to the Scriptures Wright starts by giving an historical overview of how Scripture has been read and handled by the people of God from the early church into the time of the reformation. It’s an interesting survey of the evolution of people’s view of the Word of God within Christendom. Wright argues against what is becoming a disturbing trend in conservative Protestant Christianity these days which places not only the Scripture itself into uncontested territory – but also the interpretation of Scripture as expounded by the big name reformers (particularly Calvin). Wright sees this as a step backwards from the heartbeat of the reformation and into dangerous territory where it becomes scripture PLUS accepted interpretation that becomes sacred rather than Scripture alone. He says:

If the Reformers could return and address us today, they would not say, “We got it all right; you must follow our exegesis and theology and implement it precisely as it stands.” What they would say is, “You must follow our method: read and study scripture for all it’s worth, and let it do its work in the world, in and through you and your churches.”

Aside from critiques of contemporary interpretive methods – Wright does propose his own framework for looking at the Scripture: He sees the Bible as a five act play that is unfolding in the world. Wright sees Scripture largely in narrative terms – even the non-narrative books of the Bible compose part of a larger narrative arc – or a story of what God has done, what God is doing and what God will do. He breaks down the Bible into five acts – the fifth of which is incomplete. Act one is Creation – God ordering the cosmos; Act two is Fall – the story of how humanity took paradise and turned it into perdition; Act three is Israel – the beginning of God’s plan to bless all peoples through a chosen and favoured nation; Act four is Jesus – the shocking climax of history where through that chosen people the Father makes a way for All People to now be reconciled and opens up the path to renewal for the whole of creation; and Act five is the Church – which is the unfinished act. Act five is where we live and where God has invited us to become a part of the story. He has given us some understanding of what this act is moving toward in the end – what the conclusion of the play will be if you will – but He has called us to live out that narrative – to “improvise” the rest of the story in Wright’s own words. That improvisation of the Christian life is Wright’s explanation of hermeneutics. We are called to understand what has happened in the play so far, to get our heads around the arc of the story and then to with an understanding of where we’ve been and where we’re going fill in the gap that we exist in right now. God is asking us to craft the story along with him. It is an exciting and active way to read the Bible and allow it to change, influence, direct, guide and shape our lives.

For Wright that is the sense in which the Bible is authoritative – It tells us about where we came from, it tells us about our situation, it tells us about God’s great plan for redemption, it introduces us to the person of Jesus and exhorts us to tell others the same story. And after all that God places us in the middle of the story armed with enough knowledge to be a part of his plan to bring the narrative to conclusion. We are actors in the divine drama – God is the playwright, director, producer and lead actor in this drama and as the supporting cast the Scriptures implore us to play our parts in keeping with God’s creative vision for the story.

For me that’s a really exciting invitation and one of the reasons why I so enjoyed this book.

That was a longer review than I had intended to write so I’m going to let this one stand on its own. I’ll be back tomorrow with a few more recommendations.

Until then,

Chris