A number of years ago, I wrote about a peace I had on that particular day. Somehow, that peace has eluded me one way or another on almost every day since. I wonder at it: where did it go? Did it go the same way as the feelings of contentment I used to have at the warmth of the sun, the cool of the breeze, the sight of the trees? Was it ever mine to begin with?
I used to write so much poetry... I miss whatever it was in me that enabled such passionate expression. I miss feeling like I could write anything I felt. There are too many consequences now.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
disturbing, saddening, maddening...
Please, please, brothers and sisters... just what are we doing?
Perhaps it's because we live amongst a culture of popularity, where pin-ups are gods and the rich and famous are household names. Perhaps it's because we live amongst a culture of intellectualism, where those who are smart (or those who sound smart) are elevated above us, by us, onto our own shoulders. Or perhaps it's because we live in a culture of blindness, where you have to look very, very hard to see through the endlessly-propagating spin to the truth. Whatever it is, we have no excuses as Christians for living in these same ways - God alone is to be our all-in-all, and we are to be His holy people.
Why then, when we are called to be holy - separate, distinct, set apart for God - do we treat some preachers as celebrities? Why, when we know that God's word can be spoken powerfully through an ass, do we flock to gifted biblical orators as though God's word spoke more powerfully through them than through the rest? Why do we malign the good, godly, Spirit-enacted ministries of these orators by idolising them?
Seriously, if you are a fan of Mark Driscoll, ask yourself why. Is it because he is your brother in Christ and you support his ministry, or because you are in awe of him as a preacher? Or more subtly: is it because he expounds the word of God faithfully, or because he expounds the word of God faithfully and in a clearer manner than your minister at church? I want to suggest to you that the second of each of these is idolatry.
Or similarly, ask yourself this: Am I going to Burn Your Plastic Jesus and taking my friend because my friend needs to hear the gospel, or am I going because I think my friend could get a lot out of Mark Driscoll preaching the gospel and I would get a lot out of it too...? Or likewise: Do I go to Barneys for the community of believers God has placed me in, or do I go because sometimes I get to hear Ian Powell preach and he's really good? Do I go because the word of God is taught faithfully at Barneys, or do I go because the word of God is taught faithfully at Barneys by Ian Powell or Malcolm Gill or Mike Paget? Again, the second of each of these is idolatry.
I will never say a word against the faith in Christ or against the work of God in the lives of Mark Driscoll, Ian Powell or any other solidly biblical preacher you may name. The fruit borne of their ministries is enough to convince me that God works through them and in them. This word is against myself for being an idolater - for holding up Ian Powell and others as preachers par excellence and failing to give the glory to God. And this word is against you, if you too have idolised your preacher.
I'm writing this principally in response to the celebrity of Mark Driscoll, spurred on by the 20-minute sell-out of Engage with Don Carson and Mark Driscoll headlining. Again, nothing against these men - everything against treating them as stars. Brothers and sisters, they proclaim Jesus!!! Who on Earth are we to take them and lift them up as they seek to hold Him up? If they will be glorified (and they will), let them be glorified by God, and not by our hands. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit, not of Driscoll and Carson - let our hands be sanctified for the glorification of God, not dirtied by idolatry. And furthermore, Driscoll and Carson are temples of the Holy Spirit. Do not worship the temple, but the One who lives inside. Do not worship the talk, but the One the talk is about. Do not worship the image - worship the Creator.
I am angered by this. My anger isn't righteous, I know, because I have sinned here too. I am fairly certain, though, that I'm not just sprouting hot air. We have sinned, and we are sinning, and God has called us out of it. I myself have refused to go to a Mark Driscoll talk or to even listen to his talks simply because of the hype surrounding him. I would listen, because everything I have heard from him or about him has been solid, but the hype is too great. I think this hype is the most obvious example of this sin today, but that it is symptomatic, like many of our problems as evangelicals, of deeper sin - perhaps of the pride we take in our good preachers and theologians, perhaps in the shame we hold for our boring ones. May God help us out of it, and to God be the glory.
Perhaps it's because we live amongst a culture of popularity, where pin-ups are gods and the rich and famous are household names. Perhaps it's because we live amongst a culture of intellectualism, where those who are smart (or those who sound smart) are elevated above us, by us, onto our own shoulders. Or perhaps it's because we live in a culture of blindness, where you have to look very, very hard to see through the endlessly-propagating spin to the truth. Whatever it is, we have no excuses as Christians for living in these same ways - God alone is to be our all-in-all, and we are to be His holy people.
Why then, when we are called to be holy - separate, distinct, set apart for God - do we treat some preachers as celebrities? Why, when we know that God's word can be spoken powerfully through an ass, do we flock to gifted biblical orators as though God's word spoke more powerfully through them than through the rest? Why do we malign the good, godly, Spirit-enacted ministries of these orators by idolising them?
Seriously, if you are a fan of Mark Driscoll, ask yourself why. Is it because he is your brother in Christ and you support his ministry, or because you are in awe of him as a preacher? Or more subtly: is it because he expounds the word of God faithfully, or because he expounds the word of God faithfully and in a clearer manner than your minister at church? I want to suggest to you that the second of each of these is idolatry.
Or similarly, ask yourself this: Am I going to Burn Your Plastic Jesus and taking my friend because my friend needs to hear the gospel, or am I going because I think my friend could get a lot out of Mark Driscoll preaching the gospel and I would get a lot out of it too...? Or likewise: Do I go to Barneys for the community of believers God has placed me in, or do I go because sometimes I get to hear Ian Powell preach and he's really good? Do I go because the word of God is taught faithfully at Barneys, or do I go because the word of God is taught faithfully at Barneys by Ian Powell or Malcolm Gill or Mike Paget? Again, the second of each of these is idolatry.
I will never say a word against the faith in Christ or against the work of God in the lives of Mark Driscoll, Ian Powell or any other solidly biblical preacher you may name. The fruit borne of their ministries is enough to convince me that God works through them and in them. This word is against myself for being an idolater - for holding up Ian Powell and others as preachers par excellence and failing to give the glory to God. And this word is against you, if you too have idolised your preacher.
I'm writing this principally in response to the celebrity of Mark Driscoll, spurred on by the 20-minute sell-out of Engage with Don Carson and Mark Driscoll headlining. Again, nothing against these men - everything against treating them as stars. Brothers and sisters, they proclaim Jesus!!! Who on Earth are we to take them and lift them up as they seek to hold Him up? If they will be glorified (and they will), let them be glorified by God, and not by our hands. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit, not of Driscoll and Carson - let our hands be sanctified for the glorification of God, not dirtied by idolatry. And furthermore, Driscoll and Carson are temples of the Holy Spirit. Do not worship the temple, but the One who lives inside. Do not worship the talk, but the One the talk is about. Do not worship the image - worship the Creator.
I am angered by this. My anger isn't righteous, I know, because I have sinned here too. I am fairly certain, though, that I'm not just sprouting hot air. We have sinned, and we are sinning, and God has called us out of it. I myself have refused to go to a Mark Driscoll talk or to even listen to his talks simply because of the hype surrounding him. I would listen, because everything I have heard from him or about him has been solid, but the hype is too great. I think this hype is the most obvious example of this sin today, but that it is symptomatic, like many of our problems as evangelicals, of deeper sin - perhaps of the pride we take in our good preachers and theologians, perhaps in the shame we hold for our boring ones. May God help us out of it, and to God be the glory.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
interesting
So I've noticed a few interesting things today...
1. There's a vaccine available for chickenpox.
2. They're making an Australian version of human tetris. It's gonna be called Hole in the Wall, and it's coming on soon. Australian television has reached a new low.
3. Usain Bolt is amazing!
4. Walking is a sport for weeds. I think I also saw the Aussie bronze medalist grinning as the Russian anthem was played. Maybe he watched The Hunt for Red October when he was younger and remembers a submarine full of Soviet men singing it.
5. Red Rooster's ads playing on how China loves red just make me think "Communists!"
6. I like the smooth water in front of the olympic swimmers.
1. There's a vaccine available for chickenpox.
2. They're making an Australian version of human tetris. It's gonna be called Hole in the Wall, and it's coming on soon. Australian television has reached a new low.
3. Usain Bolt is amazing!
4. Walking is a sport for weeds. I think I also saw the Aussie bronze medalist grinning as the Russian anthem was played. Maybe he watched The Hunt for Red October when he was younger and remembers a submarine full of Soviet men singing it.
5. Red Rooster's ads playing on how China loves red just make me think "Communists!"
6. I like the smooth water in front of the olympic swimmers.
Monday, August 04, 2008
fifth year
The chairs in half the room have changed,
The other half remain the same...
The same as they've been since they were changed.
Does anything remain the same?
The caf sells Indian now, and wine,
The art has moved with changing times,
Old friends have left, can't hear me whine:
Does anything remain the same?
The street across the road has gone,
And in its place, a spacious throng,
An improvement, but a costly one,
Does anything remain the same?
The people here who sit around
Sit in the place of last year's crowd,
Diff'rent folk the old words sound,
Does anything remain the same?
I ponder, as I plod the race,
A four-year fixture in this place,
The fact that I, even I, have changed.
Does anything remain the same?
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