getting your joy from the right things

Do you get your joy from the right things? Jesus’ disciples rejoiced that he was absent from them. Look at Luke 24:52 - after he was taken from them, hidden from them, no longer physically present, no longer within reach and completely out of sight, they went back to Jerusalem "with great joy".

Of course, their joy wasn’t rooted in his absence but in what that absence meant: he had ascended into heaven as the Priest whose sacrifice for sin had been effective and whose blessing would remain on them; he had ascended as the King over all who would govern all things for the sake of his people and for his purposes of grace for the world. That’s why they rejoiced at his absence.

Is your joy rooted in those realities or are you looking to find joy in certain experiences of the nearness of God - something that can be felt, something unusual? Those experiences may come or they may not. But their absence does not invalidate the larger realities of the ascended Lord Jesus Christ whose blessing was, is and remains on his people. That’s where joy can be securely rooted.

Jesus' hands outstretched

He stretched out His hands on the cross, that He might embrace the ends of the world; for this Golgotha is the very centre of the earth. (Cyril of Jerusalem)

quoted in Mike Bird’s Evangelical Theology

quick to reply or mull things over?

I recently read CS Lewis’ book, Letters to Malcolm (Chiefly on Prayer). I’d highly recommend it. It’s a series of letters to a friend (I presume they’re real letters) albeit without the replies in between. That form is what I want to highlight here.

The book was written in the good old days of snail mail and the letters seemingly passed between them on a weekly basis. Of course, almost no-one does that today, it’s just so passé in this world of apps and social media. But something has been lost in the process: the time and space to mull things over. To chew over not only what’s been said to me but what I want to say in response, so that my own thinking has time to mature and be self-corrected.

Replies can be written, responses penned and posted, almost instantly - as though the case someone has made is instantly and fully understood, such that it needs no time to percolate its meaning. But some things need that time. Or maybe it’s that I need space to mull over how and why I’m reacting as I am to what I’ve read: is it simply a matter of plain fact or are there things going on in my heart and mind that I need to become aware of and account for? It might be helpful to talk to someone about the issues raised - a friend, a colleague - before penning the pungent rejoinder.

But here’s the rub: if proper, responsible time is taken to mull things over, the moment to post a reply will be gone; the conversation will have moved on and something else will be making headlines. If the rush to judgement is born of folly, so, too, the dash to comment, to be the first in line with a quip.

Perhaps it’s better to mull things over and miss the commenting boat than to board it with a forged ticket? I think James might add his ‘Amen’ to that (James 1:19).

keller on augustine on prayer

Keller on Augustine on Prayer

Are Christians prone to over-compensate for cultural “losses”?

Are Christians prone to over-compensate for cultural “losses”?

Are we (Christian leaders) sometimes over-reacting to current cultural issues in ways that actually hurt our churches?

why you hate work

Why You Hate Work

Employees are vastly more satisfied and productive, it turns out, when four of their core needs are met: physical, through opportunities to regularly renew and recharge at work; emotional, by feeling valued and appreciated for their contributions; mental, when they have the opportunity to focus in an absorbed way on their most important tasks and define when and where they get their work done; and spiritual, by doing more of what they do best and enjoy most, and by feeling connected to a higher purpose at work.

Ben Witherington: Was Lazarus the Beloved Disciple?

Ben Witherington: Was Lazarus the Beloved Disciple?

Outlandish suggestion? Maybe; maybe not. Worth a read I’d say.

what, are we blind too?

It strikes me that it’s worth asking whether the following claim can also be applied to our own cultural context:

…the greatest missiological challenge the American church faces is not, say, the Islamic world but rather the lack of critical contextualization of the gospel in much of American cultural and political life.

Vinoth Ramachandra, Globalization, Nationalism and Religious Resurgence, in Globalizing Theology: Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity (ed Ott & Netland)

Ignoring Herod

Commenting on Jesus’ lack of interaction with Herod and his ways, Eugene Peterson notes that,

Jesus ignored the world of power and accomplishment that was brilliantly on display all around him. He chose to work on the margins of society, with unimportant people, giving particular attention to the weak, the disturbed, the powerless. (The Jesus Way, p.204)

There’s something to chew on.