The Little Monk in Us All (Or: A Maid Is More Godly Than A Monk)

 Martin Luther’s excellent emphasis on vocation and the Christian life is something worth studying.  Since monasticism and spiritual retreats are becoming more and more common even in Protestant circles, we should be familiar with the biblical reasons why the Reformers rejected popish monasticism and Anabaptist world-flight.  There are a few reasons, of course, but here’s one good one by Martin Luther.  It, of course, has to do with vocation and love for our neighbors.  This is from a sermon on Matthew 22:34-46:

“…Christ gets right to the point…and immediately responds [to the Pharisees]: the first and greatest thing one can do is not adorning the temple or offering sacrifices, but to love God with all one’s heart and the neighbor as oneself.  I know that you Pharisees would have been very happy if I had answered that what the priests perform in the temple is the highest thing.  But I will not do that; rather, I shall cite as foremost the basic, ordinary things which God has commanded for everyone to do, namely, to love God and one’s neighbor, in keeping with what he commanded through Moses.”

“The Lord’s reply is especially irksome, that the everyday routine works which people are commanded to do, namely, that they are to love God and the neighbor, supersede all other works, regardless of how they shine and glitter.  The fact is, not only the Pharisees among the Jews, and the hypocrites under the papacy, have regarded human traditions as more important than God’s commandments; for there is a little monk that sticks in all of us from youth on.  We, too, regard the ordinary works God has commanded as insignificant, but the special, diverse works done by the Carthusians, monks, and hermits, about which God has commanded nothing, as especially noteworthy.”

“However, our Lord God is averse to such distinction.  He does not prefer one [person] before another, nor does he exclude anyone from serving him, no matter how lowly he might be.  Instead, he enjoins upon everyone to exercise love to God and his neighbor.  Since God seeks nothing extraordinary from us and tolerates no distinctions, we must conclude that when a maid, who has faith in Christ, dusts the house her work is more pleasing to God than that of St. Anthony in the wilderness.  That is Christ’s meaning here.  This is the highest commandment: to love God and one’s neighbor.  God is not concerned about the rules of the Franciscans, Dominicans, or other monks, but wants us to serve him obediently and love the neighbor.  They may consider their monastic rules to be something wonderful and special, but before God they are nothing.  The very highest, best, and holiest work is when one loves God and neighbor, whether a person is a monk or nun, priest or layperson, great or small.”

The dimensions of Luther’s thought here are many.  This has to do with justification by faith alone (not human merit); it has to do with freedom of conscience and Christian liberty (not following man-made religious rules).  It has to do with sanctification (obeying God by loving him and others).  This also has to do with ecclesiology (the church cannot legislate rules of piety).  You’ll have to read this whole sermon!  It is found in volume 7 of the Baker 7 volume set of Luther’s sermons.  It was preached in 1534 on the 18th Sunday after Trinity. 

shane lems

Racism/Discrimination in the Church!?

  A biblical Christian ethic is one free of all racism and discrimination.  God created man in his own image, so we have no right to play favorites or show partiality (Gen 1.26-27, Deut 16.19).  Furthermore, we are commanded to love our neighbor – even if he speaks a different language, comes from a different country, is disabled in some way, makes far less (or more) money than we do, etc. (Lev 19.18, Matt 22.39, Jas 2.1ff).  In fact, we’re called to love and pray for even our enemies (Matt 5.44)!

This carries over into the church.  Since Jesus is Lord of all, the church should be a discrimination-free zone (Acts 10.36).  In his death on the cross, Jesus not only resolved the hostility between God and sinners, but also between Jew and Gentile (Eph 2.13-16).  He made the two into one, thus making peace; he is the ultimate peacemaker (v. 15).  In Christ, there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, slave or free, male or female (Gal 3.28).  neither Jesus nor the early church avoided the disabled (John 5.8, Acts 9.34).  The Lord Jesus bestows the riches of his grace on whoever calls on his name (Rom 10.12).  His church is made up of people from all tribes, tongues, and nations (Rev 7.9). 

Because of this gospel truth, Christian churches don’t (shouldn’t!) make language, ethnicity, political affiliation, income level, or health status a part of membership requirements.  (As a side, this is one reason why I don’t believe national flags or patriotic songs are appropriate in a church setting.)  Discrimination in the church is such a terrible sin that Paul sharply rebuked Peter publicly and to his face for playing favorites (Gal 2).  James even said, if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors (Jas 2.9 ESV).  If a Christian shows partiality or discriminates in the church, he or she is wickedly rebuilding the wall of hostility that Jesus tore down.  It is hard to describe how sinful this really is!

Phillip Ryken said it well.

“Economic or social discrimination has no place in the church. …Genuine racial reconciliation is something only Jesus Christ can create.  …Only in Christ are we reconciled to God and to one another.  Only in Christ can many peoples become one people.  Only in Christ can racial hostility be put to death.  …It is sometimes said that 11:00 on a Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America.  If that is true, as it seems to be, it is a reproach to the church.  How can we glorify God if we do not worship together as a reconciled community?”

Ryken also tells a story of D. G. Barnhouse’s Bible study in the ’40′s on the island of Manhattan.  Barnhouse would often start the class with these joyful words (I’ll end with them).  ”Here we have all classes of people – rich, poor, well-educated, illiterate…. Here are brothers and sisters in Christ!”

(The above quotes can be found in chapter 11 of The Communion of the Saints.)

shane lems

The Jesus of American Consumerism (or: The Commodified Jesus)

 Here’s a great piece from Stephen Nichols’ wonderful book, Jesus: Made in America.  Nichols asks the question: “What happens to Christ in this culture of consumerism?  This question becomes all the more urgent when the negative influence of the commercialization and marketing of Christ gets noticed by a watching and increasingly more cynical public.”

“Such marketing of Christianity hasn’t escaped the ever-sardonic, animated show The Simpsons.  In an episode entitled “She of Little Faith,” disaster has come to Springfield as a rocket, launched by Homer Simpson, crashes into the church.  Left without resources to repair the church, the congregation consents to allow Mr. Burns, looking rather devilish, to rebuild the church join the condition that it operates like a business.  The church will now be sponsored, like a NASCAR team, complete with banners and commercial announcements by the pastor during the sermons.  Pews are replaced with theater seats, and kiosks surround the interior of the church auditorium, along with concession stands and JumboTrons.”

“Amidst the gaping mouths and wide eyes, the sagacious character Lisa is dumbfounded.  She asks, ‘What are they doing to the church?” only to be met with the reply, “We’re re-branding it.  The old church was skewing pious.  We prefer a faith-based emporium with impulse-buy items.”  The new church is also re-branding Jesus.  Throughout the building , the sacred and the secular mix, as religious icons appear alongside corporate logos.  One such icon is a prominently placed statue of Jesus, complete with a lasso.  When Lisa skeptically asks about it, Homer replies that Jesus looks like a cowboy ‘because he’s all man.’  Disgusted, Lisa leaves the church, embracing Buddhism through the help of Richard Gere, playing a caricature of himself.  By the end of the episode she realizes that leaving Christianity means leaving Christmas, which means leaving presents.  The siren call lures her back.”

Here are Nichols’ conclusions.

“Escaping consumer culture indeed is tricky business.  Materialism, since the time the golden calf hopped out of the fire for the Israelites in the wilderness, seduces and draws us in.  The seduction becomes all the more entangling when these commodities and products, their makers tell us, aid in the task of evangelizing.  Why wouldn’t you buy the T-shirt, bumper sticker or wall plaque if, as an added bonus, someone might come to Christ because of your bold and unashamed witness?  In a culture with such pressures, commodifying Christ becomes all to easy.  Equally, such selling of Jesus becomes all too problematic, if not lethal, for the church and the gospel.  The truth is, to many in the watching world, consumer Christianity is sacrilegious, not to mention that it just plain looks silly, which is precisely the lesson taught in this parable of The Simpsons episode.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Here’s the book info: Stephen Nichols, Jesus: Made in America, pages 175-176.

shane lems

I Would Have Fallen Away…

  One of my favorite phrases in the Canons of Dort is found in the last section which deals with the perseverance/preservation of the saints.  I’ll quote the entire article here (V.8).  Notice the bold phrase.

…It is not in consequence of their [the saints'] own merits or strength, but of God’s free mercy, that they neither totally fall from faith and grace nor continue and perish finally in their backslidings; which, with respect to themselves is not only possible, but would undoubtedly happen; but with respect to God, it is utterly impossible, since His counsel cannot be changed nor His promise fail; neither can the call according to His purpose be revoked, nor the merit, intercession, and preservation of Christ be rendered ineffectual, nor the sealing of the Holy Spirit be frustrated or obliterated.

What a great statement!  Even as I grow in the Christian faith, I’m sadly shocked at the times I still either wander from the path or consider wandering from it.  I think I can safely say that I wouldn’t be a Christian tomorrow if it depended upon my own fortitude and strength.  Thankfully God preserves his people (Ps. 37:28)!

The Canons of Dort go on to say that assurance of salvation is possible for believers despite their ongoing struggles with sin.  The key to assurance is neither our piety nor our faith itself but the object of our faith: the triune God.  Since the Father’s promises cannot fail, since the Son’s saving work is finished, and since the Spirit is sovereignly working in us, we can be sure that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ.  Not even our grievous sins!  I would either be living in terrible evil or in dark despair were it not for this truth of the gospel.

Richard Phillips said it well.

“Perhaps you are burdened with troubles and trials.  Many Christians are.  Yet you still have every reason to rejoice, for you are chosen of God, blood-bought by the Son, and sealed by the Spirit for an eternity of glory.  ‘Rejoice in the Lord always,’ Paul therefore concludes.  ‘Again I will say, Rejoice’ (Phil. 4:4).  Perhaps you are poor, yet in Christ you can know that a glorious inheritance is laid up for you (1 Peter 1:4).  Perhaps you are sick or even dying.  But you can know that ‘What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable’ (1 Cor. 15:42).  The salvation God has begun in you, He will complete!  Those whom God has caused to be born again, He will bring to glorious perfection!  Knowing and rejoicing in God’s preserving, completing, and perfecting grace will enable you to lay down your head in peace at night and rise up energized to live for God in joy each day.”

Indeed, the doctrine of the perseverance/preservation of the saints is practical and it leads to deep joy.

shane lems

People as Commodities

 If you’re looking for a fascinating study on how consumerism, capitalism, and Madison avenue have contributed to the watering down of Christianity, you’ll have to get Following Christ in a Consumer Society by John Kavanaugh.  I like the subtitle of the book: “The Spirituality of Cultural Resistance.”  While I disagree with parts of his Catholic ecclesiology and anthropology, Kavanaugh has some powerful insights in this book that are certainly worth investigating.  Here’s a helpful section I appreciated.

“It should not come as a surprise that a follower of Jesus might find himself or herself to be an outsider in a culture dominated by the commodity.  It should be no shame to feel different, even to feel a bit disjointed and out-of-place, in a civilization that divinizes the thing [i.e. smartphones, money, bodies, TVs, etc.].”

“A Christian’s values, if they have not been fully acculturated, are bound to be different.  If we do not feel different, even embarrassingly different, something is wrong.  Madison Avenue-land, television, …radio, advertising, will trigger constant reminders of our almost displaced existence.  We will feel like strangers.  The facts that life is cheapened, that retaliation and competition are conceived as ultimates, that familial consent and commitment seem alien, that armament and defense are so universally accepted, that fidelity in marriage seems strange – are thus not so dumbfounding as they might first appear.”

“I have heard Christian couples ask quizzically if they were the ‘weird’ ones, so little does anything in this culture seem to agree with their deepest beliefs.  They should not be distraught.  They have merely come into contact with their faith as a lived, historical option.  They have discovered that atheistic communism is not the greatest or only threat to their belief.  It is lived atheism – whether capitalistic or communistic – which assaults their faith.  And they have finally discovered the closeness of the danger – not in some different land, but in their own culture and its idolatrous belief system” (p. 128-9).

Following Christ in a Consumer Society is an outstanding book that I highly recommend.  It is a great discussion of how people have been depersonalized and commodified.  It wisely notes how consumerism and marketing ‘evangelize’ people and change they way they live and think.  It talks about idols, sex, money, and violence.  You’ve got to get this book if you want help navigating through the culture in which we live.  Alternatively, you’ve got to get this book if you want to dig deeper in the “Christ and Culture” debate.  Kavanaugh’s book will go well with other similar ones like Idols for Destruction, Habits of the High-Tech Heart, The Narcissism Epidemic, Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment, and Perfecting Ourselves to Death.

shane lems

sunnyside, wa