As I type this, my father-in-law is busy upstairs, spackling some holes in our walls.  He likes to keep busy with projects while at our house…and we never lack for projects.  Anyway…a few years back they came out with a new type of spackling for those that weren’t quite sure they would know when the wall was ready to sand and paint.  The spackling was pink…but slowly turned white as it dried.  This neat little trick gave countless home improvement amateurs the confidence they needed to paint their newly-patched walls at the right time.

It’s nice to have alarm clocks to wake us up.  It’s convenient to have timers that tell us when the pizza is cooked.  It’s handy to have a battery charger that blinks red while it’s charging and turns green when it’s charged.  Such things give us the confidence that we will not oversleep, burn/undercook our food, or worry whether our battery is fully charged for the job at hand.  These “indicators” tell us that something is ready or that a certain time has arrived or that something must now happen.

One of the most difficult things about confrontation (something I spoke of in the previous post) is knowing when to actually confront.  Knowing when to confront is not a perfect science, but the Bible is not silent on the matter.  Jude feels the obligation to confront these “certain people” (v 4).  What kind of criteria is Jude using?  While I doubt that Jude is meaning to be exhaustive in his comments, he does give us some very general parameters for the kind of behavior he considers confrontation-worthy.

It is these who cause divisions..

There will always be disagreements.  There will always be hurt feelings.  There will always be misunderstandings.  However, most of these things don’t cause division on their own.  Divisions are caused when someone willfully fights to establish, encourage or participate in “sides” that do not exist under the Gospel.  In other words, any disagreement that is about anything other than the Gospel itself is a false and harmful division.  Apparently, these scoffers were causing divisions that were based in something other than the Gospel—their own passions or preferences (v 18).

…worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

In the most basic of ways, one would find it hard to argue with being “worldly”.  After all…we LIVE in the world…so how can we NOT be worldly to some extent?  Fortunately, Jude gives us more to work with—these certain people are also devoid of the Spirit.  In other words, they’re living a half-life.  They live, think and act in the world…just like everyone does…but they divorce themselves from the very nature of life—that life is spiritual and can only be seen clearly and lived well when guided and empowered by the Spirit.  One’s passions and preferences are a poor substitute.

Jude doesn’t really give any more details regarding his criteria for confronting these men.  So while we might have a little more insight as to who needs to be confronted, we aren’t really given a fool-proof method for confronting the right people at the right time.  Perhaps there’s a more basic teaching in these verses.

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, we shouldn’t be caught off guard by scoffers, grumblers, etc. that follow their own preferences and passions because the apostles of Jesus had already predicted that such people would be a part of the “last time”.  In light of Jude’s comment, he at least considered the “last time” to include the time in which he wrote this letter.  Therefore, the same must be true for us today.  We live in the “last time”.

Unfortunately, we’re a people that tend to waver between extremes.  Sometimes we’re like Jude’s readers and we get lulled into a sense of false-peace, believing everyone’s our friend, acting surprised when others have other-than-good motives and designs.  Jude’s letter calls us out of this lull and reminds us to stay alert.  For the most part, that was the subject of my last post.

For this post, I would like to address the fact that sometimes we go the other direction.  We label people that disagree with us as grumblers.  We sometimes see a scoffer when someone simply has some pressing intellectual questions that they legitimately want answered.  We see heretics around every corner and look for fights, simply because we know that somewhere there’s a fight to be had!

Fortunately, Jude doesn’t allow us room to take this approach.  Jude makes a clear distinction between being alert and ready to confront vs. jumping the gun.  In other words, we must clearly think through whether someone is actually seeking to divide or simply being an inquisitive disciple.  We must be sure as to whether someone is really devoid of the Spirit or simply working out the beliefs of their heart.

In giving us the end-result of these “certain people”, Jude gives us an example of how he has measuring the fruit of these men’s shepherding.  Jude has clearly articulated the harm that was being done to God’s Church and to the Gospel’s witness.  When we confront someone, we should do likewise.

Father God…please give us the wisdom to clearly see and measure the end results of people’s actions.  Give us the grace and courage to know when to confront men of division…men devoid of the Spirit.  Also, give us great mercy with those that are simply trying to figure things out as they progress under the Gospel.  Help us see the difference when it isn’t always clear to us by the end-results.  Finally, let us be spiritual men and women that do not allow our own preferences and passions to usurp your Gospel.  To You be the glory.  We pray all these things in the grace-giving name of Jesus.  Amen.

The other night, my son apparently had a bad dream and hopped into bed with me and Stephanie.  I say “apparently” because I seemed to have missed the whole episode due to being in a dead sleep.  Stephanie, on the other hand, was sleeping lightly and caught the boy’s bed-entry, snuggle-down maneuvers and the subsequent elbows to the face and ribs that happens when he nests with us.  I was blissfully unaware.

Spiritually, we are far too prone to be caught in a dead sleep.  We are far too prone to let things slip by…unnoticed.  Our “radar” is faulty or simply not turned on.  As a result, both the smaller and larger body of Christ can suffer from the ill-effects of those that would do Christ and His people harm.  Spiritually, we are to be sober and awake.  We are to keep watch and take notice of our surroundings.  We are to have our radar in the on position.

My father spent most of his adult life as a police officer until he retired.  I “caught” a lot of lessons from the way he lived-out his policing.  For instance, I must have picked up on his “surroundings-awareness”, because I’m a freak about knowing where I am and being aware of who’s in a room.  In addition, when I’m eating out, I do my best to position myself in a seat that faces the door.  They call this the gun-fighter’s position.  For me, it’s just about knowing who comes in and leaves the room.

I sometimes wonder whether we’re more often inattentive to the character and actions of others due to a fearful resistance to entering others’ business (confrontation) or whether we simply enjoy the fruit of ignorance (an excuse to not get involved).  I’m sure there are other reasons.

Where Jude is concerned, he actually changed the subject matter of his letter because his readers had fallen asleep at the wheel.  They allowed “certain people” to creep into important, shepherding roles, unnoticed.  We are called to notice when destructive forces enter our churches–escpecially those that would enter positions of influence.  We are to have our radars turned on.

However, not every destructive force is necessarily a “bad” person in the sense that they have embraced their evil side so as to willfully hurt God’s church.  Some destructive forces are simply allowed a position or role that they are not equipped for (not the right skills or gifting) or their current character is not up to the task (new believers, those in serious and debilitating emotional pain, etc.).  In these cases, the Church has failed both those who have become destructive forces and those they hurt.  Either way, we are called to notice such things.

These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

Most of us don’t like being labeled or associated with things that we would consider bad or negative.  As such, we sometimes hesitate or even recoil at the thought of labeling other people.  It is possible that we are merely trying to follow the Golden Rule in some way–whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.  We don’t like to be called names.  Therefore, we don’t call other people names.  But even good things like the Golden Rule can be misapplied.  We cannot use this or similar excuses to ignore necessary confrontation.  Apparently, Jude is quite comfortable in calling a spade a spade.

The people Jude describes sound pretty bad.  In fact, prior to the above statement in verse 16, Jude seems to compare these “grumblers” to quite a few unpleasant groups in history.  You don’t have to be an expert on Jude’s references to see that these are meant to be analogous examples of bad behavior amongst God’s people throughout history.  Further, the fact that Jude mentions these examples actually tells us something.  It tells us that the same mistakes are made over and over again.  It tells us that history is important.

So what should we learn from all this?  While not exhaustive, I think there are at least three key lessons we should take away.  First, we must be people that have our radar in the on position—able to notice those around us (especially those that are leaders amongst us).  Good, godly leaders won’t be bothered by this.  Only false teachers and those with bad motives will get uncomfortable with a church that chooses to notice the lives of others.

The second thing to see is that we are both empowered and obligated to call a spade a spade.  It’s really quite amazing how much Jude seems to be piling on to these “certain people”.  Jude uses seven very negative analogies for the disruptive forces along with ascribing to them many less-than-flattering names and descriptions.  Jude is showing us that there is very little tolerance for those that would seek harm for His Church and His Name.

Finally, we should see that there is something very instructive about knowing your history.  Knowing your history doesn’t necessarily guarantee you won’t repeat it (with all due respect to George Santayana).  However, knowing one’s history provides clarity in spotting history-repeating bad behaviors—it removes our blinders and attunes our radar.  Knowing history shows us what happens when we don’t call out bad behavior—it paints a stark picture of action vs. inaction.  History puts things in perspective and shows us the constants of human sin-behavior, regardless of our context.

The truth is, many of you have not been trained very well to notice…or to confront in a godly way…or to know your History.  So how can we correct this?  I have some thoughts as to how we can do this at CityView Church.  I’ll hold some of my thoughts for now…but I’m guessing you’ll hear about them soon.  For now, I would urge you to consider the following.  Am I even committed to noticing when bad behavior and teaching happens around me—especially from those that lead me?  Am I committed to calling a spade a spade when it’s obvious and necessary?  Am I committed to knowing our history as it relates to false teaching?

Father God…let us notice when your glory is being clouded by the behavior and teaching of others.  Let us do this without being a people of “witch-hunts” and ungodly suspicions.  Give us the courage to confront those who choose an ungodly path and to do so using the Scriptures as a guide while also searching our own hearts to ensure we are not also in error.  Give us both respect and hunger for our history as a way to be more aware of our tendencies as a race and to be reminded of your graces that are showered upon us, despite the ways in which we have contributed to the pain and ills of this world.  We ask this in the name the strong and able name of Jesus—Amen.

“I told my wife I loved her when we got married.  I meant it then, so there’s no reason I should have to say it again!”  So goes the reasoning of a man that has little understanding of the human condition…or women.  As any still-married and reasonably intelligent husband will tell you, you can’t simply let your original “I love you” be the last word on the matter.  Wives need to be reminded.

I’ve started countless workout programs through the years.  I love the first few days of a good regiment.  I pay attention to detail, make sure my arms are located in the right spots when doing my upper-body and keep my back straight for those exercises that could strain my muscles unnecessarily.  A trainer would be proud…but not so much several weeks later.  As time moves on, I tend to pay less attention to detail as I get into a groove.  Before I know it, I’ve drifted into bad habits, risking injury to my body.  To maintain good habits and attention to detail, I need to be reminded.

I have fond memories of my earliest days reading the Bible.  I remember how fresh it all seemed.  I remember paying close attention to the little stuff and noticing things that my “more mature” peers might consider child’s play.  As time moved on, I became more confident in my understanding of the Scriptures and eventually concluded that the only way I could continue progressing was to learn the original language, the culture and the historical background.  I was off to Bible college!

But all my eventual new-found knowledge didn’t seem to matter when my world crashed prior to my sophomore year of college.  All the “deep” understanding I had gained failed me when I had forgotten some of the most basic…simple lessons I learned early on as a Christian reading the Bible for the first time.  Fortunately, a kind and compassionate professor jogged my memory to recall such lessons.  People that know a lot about the Bible and really “deep stuff” need to be reminded.

“I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it…”

This is life.  This is how it is.  We need reminders.  I see three key truths in Jude’s statement.  First, we are capable of “fully” knowing the most important things about God, ourselves and life.  We have an amazing capacity!  We are not inept or stupid.  We CAN understand truth and live according to truth.  This is good news!  This is the truth that counter-acts the lies that we can never really know anything about God, ourselves or life.  God has revealed all that we need to know so as to enjoy the grace of living under his Gospel.

Here’s the problem.  While our capacity is great, we’re like a really high-capacity leaky bucket.  We forget.  But we don’t just forget.  We forget really important things.  For those of you that are young parents, have you thought about the day your kid comes up to you and asks for your help with Algebra?  How about Geometry?  Just thinking about it gives me cold sweats.  Maybe you’re smarter than me.  Or maybe you just married a math major…which is what I did!  In a way, I guess I married my reminder!

But what about living the Christian life?  The truth is that we forget.  We forget really, basic stuff.  We forget that we are made in the image of God and that our worth is found in Christ and not in status, job titles and lifestyle.  Did you notice the illustration Jude used concerning God’s people?  He used the Exodus where God saved His people out of slavery in the land of Egypt.  Can you imagine anyone actually forgetting such a thing?  I somehow doubt that they forgot the FACTS of the Exodus.  What they forgot was the weight of what occurred…the grace of our God…the power our God has over our enemies.  They needed reminders.

There’s something else being said in Jude’s statement.  SOMEBODY needs to remind us of things we once fully knew.  In this case, Jude is doing the reminding.  In our lives, the reminding is something of a shared responsibility, with a heavy part of the responsibility given to those that lead in the church and in the home.  Beyond that, we are called to remind each other daily in our personal relationships and weekly in our worship gatherings.

Think about it.  When we sing songs on Sunday morning, we’re singing AND reminding ourselves of what’s true.  When we hear the preaching from the Bible on Sunday mornings, we’re being reminded of what’s true through what God has revealed to us.  When we take Communion, we are reminding ourselves of what God has done in Christ.  When we give of our time, talents and resources, we are reminding ourselves that all gifts are from God and for God–meant to be stewarded for His glory.  We need these reminders.

I wasn’t planning to end like this, but as I write this, I can’t help but be astonished and grieved at how lightly we sometimes take the weekly gathering for corporate worship.  This is not simply a CityView problem—this is an American evangelical problem.  It’s hard for me to go two weeks without worshipping with God’s people!  I need to be reminded!

Maybe some of you are just less leaky than I am, but I’m prone to forget and I need the truth of our Scriptures, our songs and our ordinances to remind me.  The weekly worship gathering has always been a time to remind Christians of the things we already fully know, but so easily forget.  As a bonus, our worship gatherings are also a place where non-believers can fully know for the first time.  Reminders are a grace!

So what about it?  Do you need to be reminded?  What do you forget most?  Will you join me in pleading with God to remind us of His goodness and grace daily?  Will you join me in reminding ourselves of what he has done for us when we gather for corporate worship?  If not…consider the fate of those that “forgot” in Jude’s illustration.  They were “destroyed”.  The man that forgets and refuses needed reminders is choosing his own fate.  May this not be true of us!

Father God…thank you for the grace you show in reminding your sons and daughters of who you are.  Give us grateful hearts when we hear things, sing things and experience things we have fully known before.  Grant us the mercy to be thankful for such reminders and to allow recalled truth to inform our hearts and actions.  We pray this in Jesus’ great and powerful name.  Amen.

I’m sometimes tempted to equate the sacredness of the Bible with formality.  This tendency betrays the fact that the Bible can be surprisingly informal when we consider the many different personalities of its writers and the many types of literature God used to communicate His revelation.

For instance, Jude is one of the Scriptural writings that reads like a typical letter from one person to another person (or group of persons).  The way in which Jude opens his letter reminds us that the Bible is not simply one long set of religious truth-statements that we need to read, memorize and believe.  Jude’s letter has character.

And so while Jude’s letter IS inspired by God, the humanity of Jude is not removed from the truth God communicates.  What kind of faith-system actually allows the humanity of writers to seep into its sacred writings?  Apparently, Christianity does.  As a result, even in the way Jude’s humanity drips off the pages, God is still communicating His truth.

“I was eager to write to you about our common salvation”, Jude says.  If you didn’t catch that, Jude is basically admitting that he had another agenda for writing to his readers.  At first glance, this would seem to be the kind of trivial information that is both unnecessary and unrelated to the REAL message God wants to communicate through Jude.  But is this really the case?

As I sat down to work today (sermon prep), I thought about how messed up my schedule is right now.  I had an amazing amount of goals and plans for how I would start the New Year.  However, most of those plans and goals depended on the quality time that I was going to spend reading and writing last week.  However, I was never able to accomplish the reading and writing I had planned on doing last week due to some unforeseen events.

Leading up to last week, a 20×20 portion of our church building’s brick fascia collapsed in the high winds of Christmas Eve.  On top of that, my wife broke her wrist in two spots the following Sunday.  My wife’s broken wrist was a big enough deal that she had to have surgery.  I joked to our church-family this past weekend that “I had a broken building and a broken wife”.  Both of these “inconveniences” shot holes through my agenda for last week.

God interrupts.  As much as it often grieves me and makes me mad, God sees fit to change the course of my life AND your life when it pleases Him to do so.  I don’t deal well with my rhythms being hijacked.  I like routine.  But I’m pretty sure God isn’t real concerned with what I prefer.  He’s more concerned for His Glory and that His people not miss out on being the mediators of His glory to one another and to those far from God.

Back to Jude.  I just stared at verse 3 for a little while and thought about how Jude might have felt when his original purpose for writing this letter was hijacked by God.  Was he angry?  Sad?  Pouty?  I’m pretty sure he was somewhat put out by having to alter his original plan.  Why else would he have mentioned his original intent?  I’m sure I’m reading too much into this, but it almost seems as if Jude is a little miffed with his readers for interrupting his original plan.  I’m pretty sure God wasn’t concerned with Jude’s preferences either.

Regardless of Jude’s feelings, he DID change the subject-matter and addressed something that was apparently of major importance to God–so much so, that his letter actually became a part of the Bible.  I can’t be for sure, but I get the sense that Jude’s letter wouldn’t have been in the Bible had he stuck with his original subject matter regarding their “common salvation”.

So I wonder:  Do I hold my agenda and my plans loosely enough to be used by God when He interrupts?  No matter how “noble” or good my plans might be, do I have room to stop and consider that God might be doing something more noble and good when my rhythms are trumped by His providential hand?  Knowing myself like I do, I prefer not to answer that question–because the answer only exposes my self-centered tendencies.

How about you?  Does God have “permission” to interrupt your life and your plans?  Perhaps God is in the midst of a full-on interruption of your life right now.  As I write this, I find myself almost panicked that we would/could miss (or choose to avoid) God’s call on our lives and our church because God’s will might arrive in the form of interruptions that we perceive as mere “barriers”.

But here’s the deal.  God’s will cannot be thwarted by us.  He is sovereign.  If Jude had not abandoned his original plans, we might be reading the same content of Jude’s letter, only by a different writer.  Who would have missed out?  Jude’s readers?  God’s will?  No…JUDE would have missed out!  He would have missed out on being a partaker in the Gospel’s work by allowing God to use him in the midst of interruption.

You never know what God might be doing when He puts the breaks on your plans and my plans.  Who loses out if you or I run from God’s will or reject God’s intervention in our plans?  You know the answer.

Father God…let us love your will and your ways and always be watchful of when you might be accomplishing Your will by changing our direction.  Please keep us from despising the work of your hand and loving the work of our hands too much.  We pray these things in Jesus’ great and glorious name.  Amen

Jude’s epistle is one of those writings that can be read in a matter of minutes.  If you happen to have legalistic tendencies that compel you to read the Bible daily so as to feel like you’re right with God, chances are that you’ve read Jude a thousand times!  Think about it.  Anyone can read this little letter and say “I read my Bible today” and still maintain one’s schedule.

Hopefully, you DON’T read your Bible for some sense of righteousness—rightness before God can only be found in Christ.  Hopefully, you read the Bible out of a desperate desire to hear from and know your God and His ways.

On that note, for the next few entries, I’d like to invite you into my pursuit of our God and His ways via my reflections on Jude.  If you read this, you’re more than welcome to read along with me.  While I’ll be doing my reflections in a linear fashion, I would encourage you to read this little letter on your own or with others daily.  Why?

My experience is that many men and women can “read” the Bible just fine.  Outside of a few mispronunciations and working around some strange sentence structure (in certain translations), most people can digest the text so as to understand the essence of what’s being said.  There ARE a few exceptions where the text is confusing in its content (some of which are actually in Jude), but even those exceptions need not interfere with our reflective reading of the Scripture…as I hope to show you.

Where many people struggle is in training themselves to extract devotional thoughts to ponder and meditate upon daily.  Many find themselves bogged down in what they DON’T understand and let it interfere with what they CAN understand.  How incredibly sad!  The Enemy takes pleasure in your frustration.

So give yourself permission to NOT understand everything.  Don’t let the Enemy receive glory and pleasure from your frustration in reading the Bible.  Instead, let’s see what can be learned by prayerfully reading the text.  Perhaps by following how I’m reading through Jude, some of you might be able to train yourself to better see things that are worthy of your reflection so that you can then ultimately act on your meditations.

I hope this is a way I can shepherd you through reading the Scriptures well.  But be warned…this isn’t a text/language study and cultural considerations will rarely be addressed. This is a prayerful/reflective engagement of the text.  Starting next week, we will begin our journey through Jude.

Male leadership does not imply superiority on the part of the male or inferiority on the part of the female.  On the contrary, the idea of male headship in both church and home is 100% consistent with the understanding of equality of status and dignity given to both men and women in Genesis 1:26-27.

Thus, male headship is not in conflict with the incredible redemption found in the Gospel that prompts Paul to declare that we are “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28-29).

Now…having said all this, I believe many complementarians do a terrible job of offering a defense for their views.  Thus, I would like to suggest a way to think through how we communicate these important truths to those that might be reasonably skeptical of male headship.

In light of former President Jimmy Carter’s recent article related to this matter and having recently spoken on the subject of men and boys during our Fathers’ Day service at CityView Church, I felt that an essay on this matter would be timely (and hopefully, helpful).

It is my conviction that those who hold to a male-headship view need to think through a defense of their views on three fronts.  First, we need to think through this subject biblically.  What does the Bible say on this matter?  What are the most basic and elemental texts that speak to gender roles?  If you can’t make a scripturally sound defense of the complementary view, it will be difficult to speak intelligently on the matter.  Here’s an example of how I approach this (minus some nuanced points I might make in a more in-depth discussion):

Since the Gospel is God’s graceful response to man’s rebellion and fall, I prefer to go to the earliest, pre-fall teachings on the subject (along with the cross-referenced New Testament passages).  Taking Genesis 1:26-27 along with Paul’s teaching in 1 Timothy 2:11-15, we are given a picture of pre-fall man and woman…completely equal in dignity and worth, yet created with different gender roles.  One must either explain away Paul’s statements OR acknowledge complete consistency in saying men and women enjoy an equality of worth in spite of a division of roles and responsibilities.

Further, the Genesis account also reveals that human beings are representing the image of God in as much as each gender displays his male-ness or female-ness.  We were created both male and female in the image of God in such a way that our gender is crucial to the ongoing display of God’s image.

For either a man or a woman to act in any other way (or reject/deny their gender) would be to subvert our collective image-bearing mandate.  Thus, not only does creation order confirm male headship to be considered consistent with gender equality, but our originally created state intends these differences to be a natural part of the Imago Dei’s display in creation.

While some would argue that the Gospel eliminates all gender-role barriers (usually accompanied by a twisted reading of Galatians 3:28-29), such arguments fail to remember that the Gospel is “putting things to right” in a way that responds to the Fall in Genesis 3.  Since the pre-fall texts indicate gender roles as being in full swing, it would be a strange argument to assert that the Gospel “puts thing to right” by eliminating gender roles.  Besides, it was the perversion of natural roles that were one of the many pieces of the fall (In Genesis 3, God was ignored while the man stood by as the woman was subdued and dominated by creation instead of the exact opposite order as God had established!).

Not only should a complementarian think through these things scripturally, but theologically.  What are the doctrinal implications of not holding to a complementarian position?  What key doctrines will need to be adjusted to make way for the egalitarian view?  If you can’t make a theological defense of male headship, it will be difficult to converse with those that want to think and speak philosophically on the matter.  The following is an example of my preferred way of discussing this:

Since the Trinity is such an important, primary doctrine and its perversion would cause a whole host of theological dominoes to fall, I prefer to converse on the subject of headship and equality as it relates to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  For instance, the scripture is clear in declaring the Son’s submission to the Father and His will (Father-headship).  Yet it is generally accepted that Father, Son and Spirit are also co-equally God in character and both communicable and incommunicable qualities.

If headship is bad and being “under” one’s leadership is demeaning or makes the submissive one “inferior”, then it follows that Jesus must also be inferior–not co-equal–with God the Father.  The same could be said of the Holy Spirit.  Are egalitarians willing to speak of the Trinity in these terms?

Further, since the Trinity is the model for the Imago Dei (image of God) in man, it also follows that by being made in God’s image–both male and female–part of bearing God’s image will be living out the gender roles He has established.  Why?  Because we are bearing the image of a Trinitarian God that is co-equal in every way while at the same time acting out their different roles!   By embracing male headship in both church and home, we actually affirm our understanding of the Trinity!

Some egalitarians might say that this is all fine and good for the Trintiy because God can hold co-equality and headship of the Father in tension because God is perfect.  However, man’s sinfulness prevents him from doing this in a way that is responsible and consistent with the Trinity and thus, men and women are best to eliminate roles so as to prevent the abuse of male headship.

The problem with such an argument is that one must shrink the Gospel in such a way as to believe that men and women cannot be redeemed and sanctified enough so as to successfully live out male headship without sinning.  Thus, one has traded a “Trinity-problem” for a “Gospel problem”.  And the dominoes keep falling.

A final way in which one must think through matters related to male headship is personally.  How do you live out the tension of co-equal, yet different roles?  How does your behavior and attitude speak to a successfully sanctified out-working of scriptural gender roles?  How does your life fight against the notion that male headship necessitates a low view of women?  If you can’t convey–in speech, attitude and action–a reasonable case for the consistency of male headship with equality of worth and dignity, you will be handicapped in any discussion you might have on this matter.  Here’s an example of how I handle this:

While I’ve tried several approaches, my wife has always been my greatest apologetic on these matters.  Many egalitarians imagine—wrongly—that most complementarians have weak, quiet, barefoot and pregnant wives.  While my wife prefers sock-free feet and HAS been pregnant quite a few times, she hardly fits the descriptions many would imagine.

My wife is a type-A personality that likes to be in charge.  She’s competent and strong-willed.  She intimidates some men (and some women) because she’s beautiful, smart and extremely confident in herself.  While I in no way intend to paint my wife as the model woman for all men, she is most-definitely the model women for me.  In fact, I not only “accept” my wife’s traits, but I actually love and prefer them.  I love that she has a strong personality.  I love that she can be loud and that she has an edge to her humor.

However, at the end of the day, my wife joyfully respects me and honors my leadership by submitting to my headship as the Church submits and respects the headship of Christ.  My marriage is a testament to the Gospel’s power to both bring us in alignment with God’s created order (male headship) while preventing us from sin (viewing each other as both co-equal and necessary to reflecting God’s image).

My marriage presents a bit of a problem for those that would prefer to pigeon-hole those that teach male headship.  Since the dynamics of my marriage are obvious and observable to anyone that knows us, I leverage my marriage to convey a sanctified picture of male headship.  For men that have a different home-dynamic, you might have other ways of displaying sanctified male-headship to others.  My point is that you better be ready to present a very personal case that destroys people’s pre-conceived (and often emotionally-charged) notions of the domineering, abusive male chauvinist.

It is my belief that if one is going to teach and persuade others of male-headship, one must have clarity on at least one key talking-point that addresses the issue in each of the aforementioned fronts–biblically, theologically and personally.  The truth is, some people will only be willing to discuss the matter from one angle.  Do you know how you would discuss male headship in such a way that both persuades and conveys the Gospel?

This past Sunday at CityView, we took a look at Mark 11 and Jesus’ reaction to the activities taking place in the Temple near Passover.  The actual account starts in verse 15, but the story needs to be placed in context, going back to verse one.  To listen to the sermon, go HERE.

Near the middle of my sermon, I mentioned that Jesus’ intent was not to cleanse or reform or set-straight the manner in which Temple worship should be conducted…but rather to clear the Temple so as to communicate His rejection of the Jerusalem Temple in making way for a better Temple–Himself (John 2:18:22).

With Jesus as our better and ultimate Temple, we are no longer in need of continual and short-lasting animal sacrifices.  Because of Chrst’s shed blood and broken body, we are provided a better Temple sacrifice whereby our sin-penalty can be fully paid  for those that trust in the sufficiency of Jesus’ finished work on the cross.

Thus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross also clears the way to enter the presense of God uninhibited by veils and walls.  There is no longer a barrier due to pedigree (Gentiles weren’t allowed beyond the outer courts of the Jerusalem Temple) OR even due to our status as sinners (w/ the Jerusalem Temple, nobody was allowed into the Most Holy Place where God’s presence dwelt, except the High Priest once a year because of the depth and seriousness of our sin would result in immediate death).

So how do we know Jesus wasn’t also trying to reform the Temple worship?  The following is a synopsis of the arguments made by Professor David E. Garland:

1.  Some believe Jesus was reforming the Temple worship by re-claiming the commercial space in the outer courts for it’s proper use of prayer (for the Gentiles).  The problem with this is that it is theorized that the small market in question was actually located in the Royal Stoa–not spread out all over the outer court.  Also, the outer court was not necessarily viewed as the “courtyard of the Gentiles” during Jesus’ day…but rather, the place from which the Gentiles could go no further into the temple.  Plus, such a reform still wouldn’t do anything about giving the Gentiles access to the inner place of God’s presence…so it would seem to be a minor reform if it was meant as a reform at all.

2.  If Jesus intention was reform, then it was ultimately a failure.  His alleged reforms probably wouldn’t be able to be enforced on an ongoing basis.  In other words, the Temple commerce probably recovered and continued the next day or soon thereafter.  Surely Jesus would not have attempted to reform something he knew very well would not “take”.

3.  Some believe that Jesus was reclaiming the purity of the Temple from the desecration by money-changers, sellers, etc.  However, there is little evidence that the outer courts were considered “sacred” in the same way as the inner courts and the Holy of Holies.

4.  Some believe Jesus was making a statement concerning corruption (den of robbers) in regards to the defrauding of buyers and the greed of the high priest and his family in charging for goods and services.  But since Jesus throws out sellers AND buyers, there is little evidence to show that the elimination of corruption was his motive.  Plus, this is a misunderstanding of the term “den of robbers” as I outlined in the sermon on Sunday.

As a final comment, perhaps some would want to see “reform” in the Temple action so as to conjure up a modern “application” for the text (fight against injustice of those that would defraud like the money-changers, fight against those that would impede prayer, etc.).

Unfortunately, we are sometimes addicted to application because it gives us something to “do” which sometimes feeds our tendencies towards a works-based righteousness.  The truth of the matter is that this text gives us less to do and more to “feel” in weight and seriousness.

While most of those reading this might not worship at THE Temple…we have plenty of “temples” in our life that serve as functional saviors that seek to replace or do a work-around the only Temple that both makes a complete and final sacrifice while making God fully approachable at all–Jesus Christ.

As we continue in Holy Week, perhaps intead of feverishly trying to apply the Mark 11 text, we might need to feel its weight as we approach Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.  Is Jesus your Temple during this season?  What temples might need to be rejected in your life?

1.  I have ALWAYS used an email/calendaring client of some kind.  Back in the day, I used Eudora lite…now, I’m a faithful MS Outlook user (Ical would be sufficient if you’re a slave to Steve Jobs).  My reasons are really simple.  First, Outlook is still heavily used and therefore heavily supported by 3rd party software (add-ins).  Case in point, the “Getting things Done” add in is simply great and a must if you’re a GTD fan (if you even know what that is).  If you’re not, don’t worry…my system is not dependent on this.  The other reason for using an email/calendaring client on your computer (for popping your email) was highlighted the other day when gmail went down for half the world.  If you don’t pop your mail and do your calendaring from your machine, you had no access to your account.  Plus, it’s always smart to have a copy of your mail on your computer, IMO.

2.  Ok…so when you choose an email/calendar client, use THAT calendar as your go-to appoinment making calendar.  Be disciplined about this.  Refuse to make appointments until you’ve been able to check with that particular calendar.  If you have to, email yourself from your phone to remind yourself to look at appointment options for a meeting.

3.  Alright…after establishing your desktop client, download the google sync for syncing your client calendar to your gmail calendar.  Set it up so that the gmail calendar always gets synced with your client calendar and that your client calendar is never affected by the gmail calendar.  The goal is to have ONE calendar…your client calendar…that is your go-to for making appointments and creating tasks (plus, gmail calendar doesn’t do tasks…yet).

4.  Now…if you’re an iphone or blackberry (or some other smart device) user, download the google tools for your phone (this will include sync in addition to many other tools).  Set your phone/device to RECEIVE appointments/updates from your gmail calendar.  Don’t allow your phone to update your gmail calendar.  This is meant to be a one-way procedure. Gmail should ALWAYS update the phone.

4.  Quick aside:  Why the one-way syncing?  Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of syncing?  Well…yes.  But practically speaking, I’ve noticed that many people’s calendars get messed up when the sync gets confused (which it sometimes does when syncing two or more devices/machines).  Allowing a “one-way street” of data ensures one origin point for any creation or edits.  I’ve yet to have the one-way approach fail me like the two (or three) way approach has failed me.

5.  Quick aside 2: Why go through gmail?  Simple–convenience.  While you could USB sync your phone/device with your computer or even do this wirelessly with some phone/computer combos, this is usually a manual procedure for most people.  Under my method, Gmail calendar is updated in the background while you’re working (and not thinking about it).  Further, gmail calendar will update your phone wirelessly without you thinking about it.  You only have to worry about your calendaring client being up to date.  Gmail sync pretty much handles everything else without you thinking about it.  This is priceless in my opinion.

Let me give an example of how this all works out.  I’m in the lobby after church and someone wants to meet with me.  I tell them I can’t make a meeting without my calendar in front of me.  So either ask them to email me some times they’re available OR I email it to myself right there from my blackberry.

On Monday morning, I look at the email they’ve probably sent me and determine which date/time works.  I confirm the date/time via email and make the appointment on my Outlook calendar.  I go about my business.  Meanwhile…over the next 30 minutes, gmail calendar has synced with my desktop calendar and now has the appointment.  Shortly after that, my blackberry is updated by my gmail calendar.

This all occurs while I’m either working or whatever.  Later in the day, I’m out and about (away from my calendar and internet) and look at my blackberry and see that the appointment I made earlier is on my phone without me having done anything.  Genius.  Technology has literally worked for me while I work on other things–the way things SHOULD be. 

Ok…without the rationalization and detailed explainations…here’s the simple low-down on what to do:

1.  Make appointments from your client/computer calendar only.

2.  Have google sync already setup on your calendar to sync ONE-WAY with your gmail calendar (gmail calendar is always updated by your client calendar).

3.  Have google sync on your phone/device already setup to sync one-way with your gmail calendar (phone/device is always updated by your gmail calendar).

4.  Enjoy technology that works FOR you.

This is only one way for things to work…but it’s extremely effective after having lived it for many months.  If you know of any tweaks to this, I’d love to know about them.  I’m always in the pursuit of freeing my time more.  But a word of warning.   I don’t consider “get an iphone” to be a tweak.  That’s for all you iphone snobs out there.

My only wish is that gmail calendar would sync my outlook tasks as well.  As it is, I STILL need to manually connect my computer to my phone/device for task updates.  This is only a minor irritant, since appointments are much more timely and critical than tasks in my system (which is based on GTD).

For me, blogging provides the outlet I occasionally crave to write out my thoughts on a particular subject (like now).  Blogging is not–and should not be–something that enslaves me to write everyday.  Blogging is done at MY pace.  If I don’t blog for a month, that’s fine.  The purpose of the blog is not to produce content or even to be read by hundreds of people…but to clearly articulate my thoughts on a matter or argue persuasively for something I believe in.  It’s an excellent exercise for when something is really nagging at me.  For me, I simply can’t blog about what I just ate or what I’m wearing.  For others, that might be fine and fit their purposes for blogging…but for me, it has to be an essay-worth topic, primarily.

Facebook seems to be the more intelligent (and free) version of classmates.com. While I utilize it for interactions with my current crop of friends and family, my main thrill with Facebook is that I can actually re-connect with friends and foe alike from high school and college. Great stuff…and I have some thoughts on Facebook that I want to share in the future.  But again…I digress.

I don’t really use Myspace because–and forgive me Myspace users–it seems more like the creepy under-belly of the social networking scene. Ugly interfaces (that have been changing, I’ve heard) and those constant messages from people wanting your number so that we could “meet” were enough to drive me away. Facebook just seems to fit my style and comfort-level better.

Speaking of Facebook, there is one feature where things get a little messy concerning how people use Facebook–status updates. The reason it gets messy is because of Twitter. I’m warming up to the idea of twitter and it’s potential applications…but am not sure why it’s intermixed with Facebook for so many users. Perhaps my disconnect is that I use Facebook for completely different purposes–interacting with friends, both new and old.  For those friends, my purpose is to connect and converse in a manner consistent with a never-ending social event or party.

To me, Twitter is best used within the arena you currently exist…be it a job, industry, group/club, etc.  For instance, if I connect a Twitter post to my Facebook status, I have concerns for how pertinent my current work-related status has to do with my 2nd grade friend that doesn’t live in my town, work in my field , etc. Too much is lost in translation and you become one of those people they skip when reading status updates. In short, it seems to defeat the purpose of social networking on both fronts.

Similarly, I’m confused by the “what I’m eating” banter I sometimes see on Twitter.  Again…not trying to be critical of someone else’s choice of use…but that’s not going to be a compelling reason for me to follow someone on Twitter.  This strikes me as creepy and “stalking by permission”.  But hey…if that’s how you use it…whatever works for you.  I just won’t be following you. 

Ok…so this has brought me to a conclusion as to how and why I utilize the aforementioned tools:

Email: Pretty basic…specific communication. Little explanation needed. Use this constantly.  Those who need it, already have my email address.

Blogging:  Extended writing on pariticular matters that will resemble a magazine article or short book chapter–and only when I actually have something to say.  This is my blog, so no need to list the address.

Facebook:  Purely social networking.  I treat Facebook (along with the groups and pages features) like a party that I never leave.  It’s the friend and family zone for sharing random thoughts, Seinfeldian-observations, pics, videos, links, etc.  My Facebook page can be found HERE.  I won’t approve you as a friend unless I know you or I’m reasonable sure you’re somehow connected with CityView or Acts29.

Twitter:  I’m new to this…and I’m mainly experimenting right now.  I’m not 100% sure I’ll even continue.  However, I see a unique application for this in that I can update my status as it relates directly to my job in particular and my field in general.  As a pastor, this provides immediate updates regarding pertinent info for followers within our church, accountability on how I’m  working my schedule and generally useful information–both to church members and to other pastors and/or followers in my field.  My Twitter ID is Rick_White and can be found HERE.

In short…determine why you use what you use and stick to your own rules with singular focus.  This is the only way you’ll steward these tools (and your time) well.