Archives for March 2016

Paul Tripp on Ends and Means

Posted on March 25, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

I decided to re-read Paul David Tripp’s book Dangerous Calling and thought I would share two paragraphs with you. Paul was writing about a particular pastor in a particular place, but I found what he writes challenging enough to pass along.

“The problem was the pastor’s lack of a living, humble, needy, celebratory, worshipful, meditative communion with Christ. It was as if Jesus had left the building. There were all kinds of ministry knowledge and skill, but those seemed divorced from a living communion with a living and ever-present Christ. All this knowledge, skill, and activity seemed to be fueled by something other than love for Christ and a deep, abiding gratitude for the love of Christ. In fact, it was all shockingly impersonal. It was about theological content, exegetical rightness, ecclesiastical commitments, and institutional advancement. It was bout preparing for the next sermon, getting the next meeting agenda straight, and filling the requisite leadership openings. It was about budgets, strategic plans, and ministry partnerships. None of these things are wrong in themselves. Many of them are essential. But they must never be ends in themselves. They must never be the engine that propels the vehicle (emphasis added). They must all be an expression of something deeper, and that something deeper must reside in the heart of the senior pastor. It must ignite and fuel his ministry at every level, and what ignites his ministry must ignite every aspect of his personal life as well.

The pastor must be enthralled by, in awe of – can I say it: in love with – his Redeemer so that everything he thinks, desires, chooses, decides, says, and does is propelled by love for Christ and the security of rest in the love of Christ.”

This challenges me with two thoughts:

First there is the personal challenge to examine my own motivations for being in ministry at my church. I am not on staff, nor am I a pastor, but I am a lay leader. What is my motivation for being involved in leadership? If it is not a result of my love for God, then little good will come from it.

The second thought I have is that if you have a sense that the pastor of your church is not motivated by love for God, then something must be done. There is no benefit to the pastor to allow the charade to continue if the pastor is struggling with his motivation.

Looking back on some of my church experiences, I suspect that I have been in more than one church where the pastor confused ministry ends and means as Paul Tripp describes above. In one case, I did not diagnose this as the root cause at the time, but the symptoms seem to fit the disease. In that situation, the end result was that the pastor would not allow anyone to speak into his blind spots and many people got terribly hurt by the pastor’s behavior.

But, as noted in the first thought above, I have my own flawed motivations to deal with. As a result, my first response should take the form of sadness rather than anger. I am glad that I am currently in a church that will gently, firmly and continously confront me with my need of the Gospel (Tweet This).

The sufficiency of natural revelation

Posted on March 23, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

The title of this post is a shameless play on words. It is not uncommon in theological circles to speak of the in-sufficiency of Scripture, but I dropped the “in” to make a point. Scripture is sufficient to make known God as creator.

Some would argue that nature points to the possibility that God might exist but does not provide conclusive proof. Yet Scripture seems to go against this statement. For example, the Apostle Paul writes:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:18–20, ESV)

Paul tells us that those who reject God are without excuse. They cannot argue that God did not give them sufficient proof. The problem is not the absence of evidence, the problem is the suppression of the evidence that is given to all men. Creation is sufficient to reveal the character and perfections of the God of the Bible.

While nature does not provide exhaustive knowledge of God, it does provide enough information to show us that God exists and to challenge us to seek him.

Value vs. Talent

Posted on March 21, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Jesus told the story of a man who went away and gave three servants money to work with while he was gone (Matt. 25: 14-30). The idea is that each servant differed in his ability to handle the money so they each got a different amount to work with. But, they were all required to produce gain from the amount they were given. All three of the servants had value but they had different talents and abilities.

All through the Bible, we are taught that man (in the collective sense – men and women) gets his dignity from being created in the image of God. So every human being has value in the eyes of God. This is the reason for laws which protect people from being killed or mistreated.

The problem is when we confuse the difference between a person’s value and their talent.

Two errors that result from this confusion:

We assign different value to people based on their abilities.
We make the assumption that because we are all of the same value, then we should all have the same abilities.

It seems to me that Western culture leans more toward the first error. We put talented people on a pedestal. As evidence of this, I would point to the tendency of actors and musicians who have achieved notoriety for their craft, then think themselves able to make pronouncements in the public arena on subjects they know little about or have greatly simplified to the point of misunderstanding.

When the second mistake is made, it is thought that no-one should have more resources than another. In socialistic societies, it becomes the government’s responsibility to be a bulldozer to level the economic landscape.

But, when we maintain the correct distinction between talent and value, we understand that people will have differing abilities and as a result, different accomplishments. From the Christian perspective, we understand that it is God who has given varying abilities to people for purposes that he does not always reveal to us.

For example, while I consider myself of equal value to Bill Gates, it is readily apparent that Mr. Gates has abilities that I do not possess. I do not have the vision or the talent to create a computer operating system. Mr. Gates has been well paid for creating something that has proven to be a benefit to society. I would not be able to write this blog post were it not for the invention of the personal computer.

This also applies to the church. God has given different gifts and abilities to members of the church. The discussion in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14 centers on the Corinthians misunderstanding of this. They valued the “supernatural” gifts above all others and put those who possessed such gives on a higher standing than the rest of the church. Paul wrote the letter to them as a correction to this error.

A proper understanding of value vs. talent also frees us up from jealousy.

Not only should we be freed from jealousy by this understanding. We should also be freed up to celebrate the diversity within the church. We can celebrate the God who gives men and women the ability to teach and to lead. We can celebrate the God who gives talent to those who lead us in musical worship. We can celebrate the God who allows some to gain notoriety while others of us remain unknown to the larger world.

Every person is valuable in the sight of God, but we are not equally talented. Let us make this distinction clearly and avoid the errors that result from confusing talent and value.

A mediation on Psalm 1

Posted on March 18, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

The book of Psalm opens with these words:

Psalm 1 (ESV)
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

I have read this psalm many times, but this morning I came away with a different impression than I have ever had before.

In my past readings, I could sum up what I read by the phrase, “don’t act like the wicked, but be righteous.” As I read it, this psalm was an encouragement toward avoiding wicked influences and an encouragement to read the Bible and do what it says. It also implies that the righteous look on the wicked with disdain at worst or condescension at best.

But I missed one crucial point in my previous readings.

I am not righteous by what I do; I am declared righteous by being in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). But what I do will be heavily influenced by the fact that I am declared righteous. As a result of being in Christ, I have been given a heart of flesh to replace my heart of stone.

While I agree that I am in the camp of the righteous, I cannot look at anyone else with disdain or condescension. I am not in the camp of the righteous because of anything that I have done for myself. It has all be done for me by Jesus Christ.

With the change of heart, it is then possible for all the things to that are listed in verses 2 and 3 to be true. My new heart allows me to delight in the law of the LORD. Where I previously only saw condemnation, I now see love and blessing. Where I previously saw only duty and burden, I now see opportunity and freedom.

The Psalmist tells us that The LORD knows the way of the righteous. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

I am not righteous because of what I do, but what I do is heavily influenced by the fact that I am declared righteous.

I am one of his sheep and he knows me.

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