Read About Those Old, Dead Guys

This weekend I got the opportunity to read a new biography on Charles Spurgeon, the so-called "Prince of Preachers" who built up an English church of eighty to one of thousands before turning 23 and maintained that church, while training hundreds of aspiring pastors to plant others, until his death at 58.  While I started the book just out of interest in the man's life,  it had a much deeper impact.  When reading biographies of people truly passionate about Christ, it's almost impossible for that passion not to be contagious to the reader.  That passion is reflected through their unwavering boldness for evangelism and cause of the gospel, their commitment to sound doctrine, and dedication to the spiritual disciplines.  So I encourage anybody to pick up a book on a bold missionary like Jim Elliott, a wise theologian and pastor like Jonathan Edwards or John Owen, or a true reformer like Martin Luther.

Go ahead  and read about the old, dead guys.  Luther's up next for me.

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Jesus' Faith in...Rob Bell?

If you pay any attention to news within Christianity, you've probably heard of Rob Bell. He is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, one of the fastest growing churches in America, and the author of Velvet Elvis, one of the hottest books around. He has now influenced literally hundreds of thousands and has been tagged by some as "the next Billy Graham".

Recently, he's put together a series of spiritual short films called Nooma. In one of them, entitled "Dust" (you can check out the abridged notes here), he talks about the unique relationship between Jesus and his disciples and points out how God called the disciples, this JV team of regular Joe's, to change the course of human history. He moves on to a brief exposition of Matthew 14, where Jesus walks on water and Peter tries to do the same but can't. Bell then asserts that Peter didn't sink because he lacked faith in Jesus but because he lacked faith in himself. In Bell's own words, "Faith in Jesus is important, but what about Jesus' faith in us? I mean he must have faith in us because he leaves it all in the hands of these disciples."

While Bell makes some interesting points in the video and actually seems to use OK logic in asserting that the command to us in the Great Commission must imply faith in us, this is completely unscriptural. Scripture says that apart from God we're all evil-doers (Gen. 6), impure (Prov. 20), rebellious (Isaiah 65), children of the devil (John 8), unrighteous and not seeking God (Acts 7), without fear of God (Romans 3), hostile to God (Romans 8), spiritually foolish (1 Corinthians 2), and defiled and unbelieving (Titus 1). That, to me, doesn't make it sound like we're the ones Jesus has put his faith in. Certainly God has used and does use man to spread the gospel across the world, but that is, as scripture repeatedly says, through the work of the Holy Spirit, and it's a much different thing to acknowledge what God can do through us than to say that we're worthy enough for God to put his trust in us. You can even see this in the words of Jesus. Before his ascension, Jesus commanded the disciples, before sending them out into all the world, to wait on the Holy Spirit. He didn't have faith in Peter, a man who denied him three times while he was being tortured to death, or any of the other disciples. Instead, it's the empowering grace (1 Cor. 15:10) of the Holy Spirit that Jesus trusted- the grace that works through us to work out the call of the Great Commission that Bell mentioned.

In Matthew Henry's commentary on Matthew 14, he says, "We can never come to Jesus unless we are upheld by his power. Christ said 'Peter come' not only that he might walk upon the water and so know his Lord's power, but that he might know his own weakness." This is good news! It is once we can recognize and acknowledge our own weakness that we can truly appreciate the grace we've been offered. It may be appealing or attractive to have a faith in ourselves, but ultimately that's not the gospel. More >>