Being Church: Missionally Shaped

I consider this one of the minor climatic parts of the book of Galatians because the interaction between Paul and Peter, who he calls ‘Cephas’ when he is apparently upset, is Paul’s blunt and honest assessment of Peter’s actions. F. F. Bruce writes, “Indeed, the purpose of the decree was in large measure to solve the social problem which arose during Cephas’s visit to Antioch” (Bruce 128). Bruce continues in his commentary stating that Peter enjoyed the freedom to have fellowship with the Gentile believers as he did when he was given a vision by God to eat non-kosher food on Simon’s roof-top in Acts 10. Peter enjoyed this fellowship until (συνησθιεν) brothers from James came to meet with Peter. Peter would then ‘run out the back door.’ Bruce writes in his commentary, “What was their message? It may have been something like this: ‘news is reaching us in Jerusalem that you are habitually practicing table-fellowship with Gentiles. This is causing grave scandal to our more conservative brethren here. Not only so: it is becoming common knowledge outside of the church so that our attempts to evangelize our fellow-Jews are being seriously hampered’” (Bruce 130). A final comment from Bruce’s commentary concerning this passage states, “…‘he drew back and separated himself’: the double imperfect suggests that he did not make an abrupt break with his former practice, but proceeded to change it gradually” (Bruce 130-31). It is this fear of accepting the freedom of the Spirit, as the sign of salvation not just for Gentile believers but for Jewish believer as well, that causes Peter to draw away from the Gentiles when his Jewish friends show up for a visit.

I have seen this in my own life as well regarding how I act among non-Christians and Christian brothers and sisters alike. I never realized how much of a hypocritically I had been acting until I was confronted by a brother in Christ in whom I respect. His words were words of love through a stern voice and a piercing stare. He shared with me these verses in Galatians a few years back and brought me to a state of repentance. How can I be a follower of Christ among friends who are Christians and yet not live in the same manner around those who were not? I have taken these words of personally to keep myself in check with others. When we live as someone we are not, our ‘conduct is not in step with the truth of the Gospel.’ Being confronted by anyone is not the most enjoyable experience but it is life changing and convicting. Without a ‘Paul’ in my personal life, I am not sure how long I would have continued to live two separate lives without knowing the freedom I have in Christ to be who I was created to be in Jesus. It gives me great joy to live as a believer in Jesus. I should not and am no longer afraid of being recognized as someone who loves the Bible and who desires to desperately grasp all that Jesus has for me as His son; His new creation. This is what true freedom is all about.

Fung, concerning this matter of Paul’s confrontation with Peter writes, “The serious public consequences of Peter’s conduct-which “would make a divided Church inevitable or a united Church impossible” – called forth the public rebuke by Paul, who explains in vv. 15-21 the deeper issues involved in this apparently mundane matter of having meals together” (Fung 111). This was not just an issue of not having fellowship with Gentile believers. It goes so much further than a simple meal. This has everything to do with the message of the Gospel that is given both to the Jewish believers and to the Gentiles alike. We are not directly told what Peter’s response was to Paul’s stifling words of rebuke. However, we have been given a platform to discuss in our own communities of faith the issue of hypocrisy and the situations and implications that has for the body of Christ respectively. In the boldness we have in Christ, we have the ability to do likewise with all humility, realizing that we are no better and no worse than others.

I am taking a class with Scot McKnight at Biblical Theological Seminary. He is teaching through the book of Galatians which is an aweosme book. One of our assignments (and the largest of them all) is to write a basic commentary on five different verses of the book of Galtians and show how these verses relate to the ‘grace-creating freedom’ we have in Christ. This is the first of five mini-posts I am going to post from this paper. It is my hope that you will be blessed and encouraged throughout its entirety.

The first set of verses we will look at is Galatians 2: 1-5. This event is where Paul meets the Jerusalem Council to discuss the matters of his Apostleship and his message to the Gentile people. H.A. Ironside writes, “In this second chapter Paul tells of another visit to Jerusalem, a very important one, referred to in Acts 15… This was after certain persons came from James to Antioch, where the apostle was laboring, and insisted upon things that are mentioned in this letter” (Ironside 58-59). Acts 15 is a very important marker for this text. Many believe this is where Paul defends his ministry and calling from God. The issue surrounding Acts 15 is exactly in which the context of the book of Galatians. Luke records the events of the Jerusalem Council stating,

And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question… When they came to Jerusalem, the church and the apostles and the elders welcomed them, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the Law of Moses.” The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter… Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood… So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement (Acts 15: 1-2, 4-6, 19-20, 30-31).

As we reflect then on the context of Galatians 2, we have a broader picture of what had taken place during this meeting of the believers in Jerusalem. Paul had gone to Jerusalem for his own benefit but to ensure the Gospel message for the Gentiles and their safety from being bound to the Law of Moses. After the debating had subsided, Peter stood and granted both Paul and Barnabas freedom to preach the Gospel to the Gentile converts without the necessity of receiving circumcision. Paul even states that Titus, who apparently was with he and Barnabas, was not circumcised even though he was a Gentile (Gal. 2:3). Longenecker asserts the significance of this verse in his commentary stating, “Ελλην ων, “even though he was a Greek,” like ο συν εμοι, “who was with me,” adds a fact probably already known to the readers, but necessary to be kept in mind to appreciate fully the significance of what is about to be said” (Longenecker 50). There is a discussion that has arisen among scholars over the term ‘compelled’ in reference to Titus being circumcised (ηναγκασθη περιτμηθηναι). Longenecker states there are two views: Either Titus was not circumcised at all or that the term ‘being compelled’ meant that Titus was in fact circumcised because Paul had encouraged him to do it. Not because the Jerusalem Council told him or ‘forced’ him, which they had not. I am more convinced of the latter choice. It would explain why, in Acts 16, which follows the Jerusalem Council, the circumcision of Timothy whose mother was a Jew and Father was a Gentile.

One would think after the Jerusalem Council’s decision to allow the Gentile people to live according to the Spirit rather than according to the Law of Moses, there would cease to be opposition towards Paul, Barnabas and others. However, Paul states, ‘Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in-who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery-to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment” (Gal. 2: 4-5). Dunn writes in his commentary, “The implication is that they would have given Paul’s account of his missionary work a suspicious hearing, with the intention of subverting it. The piling up of such language (‘False brother’, ‘smuggled in’, sneaked in’, ‘spy out’) indicates Paul’s total lack of sympathy towards this group” (Dunn 99). As I think about these words myself, I cannot help but think of someone who attempts to commit a robbery of someone’s house or a consumer business. My thoughts also consider the workings of 9/11 and the implications of those who ‘sneaked in’ and ‘spied out’ our aviation schools to steal our sense of safety and freedom in America. Can we really negate the two? If we consider these ‘false brothers’ as ‘terrorists’ who have come to take away our freedom, I believe we can get a better sense of the urgency of Paul’s message. We need to always be on guard. We need to raise the ‘red flags’ when there arises a need of concern. Paul makes this very clear in verse five. He states, “…even for a moment.’ As I consider the implications of this manner, I have to sit and wonder how often I am on guard of my freedom in Christ. Do I allow other people to lead me to a yoke of bondage in which Christ has ultimately set me free from now that I am a new Creation in Him? Do I recognize the warning signs; the birth pain of bondage before it is manifested in my community of faith? These are open and honest questions we need to continually ask ourselves so that those who seek to “spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus so that they might bring us into slavery” will not lead us astray.

This Sunday was not a normal service at our church. Instead of having someone preach a sermon, we had a day in which we could worship God as a community. I was so excited to be there to experience worship with a new church family. It is something about worshipping with other believers in Christ that is energizing and fulfilling. This is the attitude I had when I entered the worship service.

One of the parts of the service that really stretched my thinking was a statement made by one of the people who were in charge of leading the service was a statement referring to how people are made to worship something. When people go to rock concerts, their hands are up in the air, they know all the words, their eyes are closes and they are lost in adoration of the song. How is this not worship? I never thought of a concert being a form of worship. When I took a step back to consider these thoughts, I can only say that they must be right. We are made to worship. The question we need to continually ask ourselves is: Who or what are we going to worship? Why should we worship God? It is a humble disposition to consider.

This was an awesome experience of prayer, worship, singing and community. We need to experience more of these times together as a body of Christ. It is a picture of heaven. With all of this, I went home and thought through how I can be a serious worshipper both in my private life and within my community. Thanks for reading. God bless

This past Friday, we began a study on the book of Colossians. After reviewing the demographics of this area, it has been suggested that this letter was probably written to about 115-170 people. I do not know exactly all of the ways in which they figure that stuff out but I will take their analysis and state that the Colossian Church was not a large ‘mega-church.’ It was a smaller community where people interacted with one another in homes.

If there is a word that is overly used again and again in this letter, it is the word, ‘thanks.’ Paul says that he gives thanks in prayer. This is something that is not seen often enough in the body of Christ. We would rather find ways in which we could contend with one another or build multiplex conglomerations. Why is it so hard to work together as the body of Christ? Why do we need to always compete against one another? Paul was not worried about how large a church was growing or who God had put in place to oversee that particular church. He only cared that the Gospel was being taught and lives were being changed. We could learn a lot just from that one verse. Instead of fighting with one another, let’s be the body of Christ.

I have already posted about my second thought concerning this first chapter Colossians but it does not hurt to mention it again. Paul says we have hope in heaven. The future of heaven is a beautiful thing however it should not be the only reason in which we live and breathe as the body of Christ. We should desire to serve Christ and follow Him solely because He is freaking awesome. We need to continually ask ourselves, ‘Do I know Him? Is He my friend? Do I have fellowship with God?” Asking these questions on a daily basis will allow us to maintain a humility the body of Christ is in need of each and every day.

What is the Gospel? It is the announcement that Jesus Christ is Lord. It is because of this Gospel, we are able to produce fruit that is plentiful and good. As I sit and reflect on this fruit, my mind continually goes back to the Psalmist (Psalm 1). To be a tree, planted by streams of water, whose fruit does not wither and bares fruit in its season, is the very thing Paul is praying for this believing body of Christ. It is a worthwhile prayer. Paul also wants this body to be ‘filled with the knowledge of His will. Again, after thinking about all of this, my mind was drawn to Romans 12: 1-2. We are called in Romans 12 to be ‘living sacrifices.’ It is in this way (though the transforming of our minds), we know the will of God. Could it be that Paul was referring to this passage in prayer for this Colossian Church? I cannot say for sure but Paul wrote in great detail about how we should know the will of God. It is a continual filling that God desires for us. It is our responsibility to grasp after these things in which Paul prays to this church. We all have been gifted and we have been gifted by God. We would do well to live according to this truth.

Because of Christ, we have moved from the darkness into the light. We were created in the image of Christ. The term ‘image’ refers to a ‘thumb print’ or a ‘photocopy.’ Wrap your head around that fact for a few moments.

In Him, everything was created; in Him, everything is held together. There is so much we do not know about particles and even our own DNA. We have never seen an Atom or the different parts of an atom that make up its parts. Yet, God holds them all together. He held together the particles that made up the nails that hung Him to the cross for you and I. If God were to let go of everything, I am sure it would explode. That just continually blows my mind.

My final thought centers around the statement, ‘the fullness of God.’ What on earth does this mean? How can we even comprehend the fullness of anything, let alone God who created it? I will not pretend to even know how this works out. However, it does happen. There is a realm in which the fullness of God is displayed. One day, we will be in His presence and the fullness of God will continually be revealed for eternity. That is truly awesome.

These are just a few thoughts I have concerning the book of Colossians. I hope it has been beneficial for your reading experience. God bless.

It does not seem very comfortable to put one’s nostrils in the dirt. To picture the imagery of what that must look like is not very pretty to my visual perception. Why on earth would anyone want to place his or her nostrils into the dirt in the first place? What if I told you that the OT reference to the term worship literally means, “nostrils in the dirt?” What kind of picture is now painted in your mind? What is the significance of placing one’s nostrils in the dirt have to do with worship? Is there any significance at all? In fact, there is:

In the metanarrative of the Bible, we read in the creation story that man was made from dirt. He was fashioned as a ‘dirt sculpture’ with no life and no breathe. That was until God did a very interesting thing: God ‘breathed into man’s nostrils and he (man) became a living being.’ That is a little freaky. The Jewish scholars realize the significance of God breathing into the nostrils of man, to create man as a living being, that the most meaningful display of thankfulness for all God has done, is to place their ‘nostrils in the dirt.’ This goes all the way back to Adam before God had breathed life into man. The basic statement one makes when they place their nostrils into the dirt is, “Without you God, I would be a mound of dirt with no life and no breathe. When you breathed into my nostrils the breath of life, I became a living being, created to worship you. You are my only reason that I breathe.” That is astounding to me. It is quite simply amazing.

Today, worship has been seen in a different light. The songs that are sung in most churches are, to say the least, man centered. Oftentimes, the songs we sing in our churches are focused more on us as the body of Christ rather than on Christ, Himself. We have lifted our nostrils out of the dirt. We have many times forgotten who we were outside of Christ (a heap of mud) and who we now are in Christ (a new creation – living, breathing creation.)

It is humbling to put your nostrils in the dirt. It is an acknowledgment of God’s love for us and His continued mercy and grace upon our lives. The least we can do is put our nostrils in the dirt every once in a while and give God the glory. The smell might not be so great and the taste might make you puke, but without the breath of God in us, that is what we really are – nasty filthy dirt.

It is Christ that gives us value; Christ, He gives us worth. We are like dollar bills (perhaps a crude analogy but we will work with it nonetheless). The large amount of money you possess in your wallet or bank account (or perhaps like myself the lack there of) is really on pieces of green paper with ink and dead presidents printed on it. It really has no value outside of the cost of making the paper to be printed. It really is no different than going to wall-mart or some store and getting some construction paper (green if you would like) and cutting it to the size of a dollar bill and saying that the two are the same – which in some respects they are. I cannot however take that construction paper dollar or the money from Monopoly to the store and buy something with it because it has no value. The reason why the dollar bill you hold in your hands or that is held in a wallet or purse has value is because people in government said that this certain dollar bill will be give a value to buy things and to earn. It is considered a legal tenure – a capital investment.

In some ways, if God had not breathed in us the breath of life, we would be no better off than that piece of construction paper we cut out ourselves. There is no value to it – it is just play money. But when God breathed into us the breath of life, we became something different. We now were given value; given worth.

I do not know if we have truly consider the significance of worship in this manner. It is not the only aspect of worship – there are many. This is one that goes all the way back to Adam though. This is the first act of worship that goes beyond any other form of worship in the Scriptures or in tradition. Perhaps we would do good to place our nostrils in the dirt every once in a while. That’s the challenge. It is not easy but it is the least we can do after all. God bless

This Sunday at Church, David taught the last book of our series, ‘The One Chapter Wonders.’ The book of Jude is not one of those books that are read as much as other books of the NT. One does not find many people eager to memorize the verses contained in this small 24 verse book yet, as we have seen with the other ‘One Chapter Wonders,’ the book of Jude is an amazing book with both warnings and hope for now and for the future.

We believe the book of Jude was written by the half brother of Jesus. Not knowing the whole context of why the letter was written, Jude starts off very pleasant and positive, the majority of the text is not so welcoming. Making references to Sodom and Gomorrah and the fallen Angels, Jude calls the church to strive in their salvation; to make their salvation in Christ strong and secure. The foundation of the message is found in the last four verses:

But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

I believe this is where the focus of the message of Jude needs to be for the church today. Though not a popular book in its own regard, the book of Jude gives us some incredible things to consider. We can ask some serious questions about Jude’s writing in which we need to seek God’s guidance in understanding. Questions like, “How do we pray in the Holy Spirit? Does that require us to speak in tongues? How does one keep them in the love of God? Can one fall out of love with God? What really is mercy and how do we effectively show it to those who do not know Christ?” There are others we could ask. The book of Jude assumes we understand the message he is trying to convey to his audience (i.e. you and I). Yet, we are without understanding. We must take Jude’s message to heart and strive to maintain our relationship with Christ in order to effectively follow the commands left to us in the Scriptures from those who were led by the Spirit to write the Words we hold before us.

My challenge is to read the book of Jude, especially these four verses at lest five times. Take a piece of paper and write down questions about what you have read (questions like the ones I have provided in this post) and seek the Scriptures to see how Christ and others have demonstrated these commands throughout the metanarrative of the Word of God. I hope that, though this was not a ‘formal teaching’ of the book of Jude, it has enticed your mind to explore the fullness of this message. God bless.