Zach’s Theological Musings

  [See Hyper-Contextualization post for some background regarding what concerns me on this subject.] 

  Paul’s sermon in Athens is often cited, especially in missionary contexts, to support the ideas of “building bridges” and “meeting people where they are at.” If anything, though, the kind of “bridge building” that I hear coming out in Paul’s sermon is very different from the kind of “bridge building” that says we should identify as much with our listeners as possible. Note in particular, the contrasting first and second person pronouns in Paul’s opening words:

“Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you…. Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” - Acts 17:22-23, 29-31

  The Greek word for “judge” here (in verse 31) is rooted in the idea of separation. In this sermon we see a chasm of separation. Paul is declaring to the Athenians that they are on the dangerous side of the chasm, the side that is soon to face that righteous judgement of God. He, on the other hand, has found safe ground by God’s grace. If he was still in their position he would be of no help to them. But precisely because he is not where they are at, he is able to plea with them, “Come, cross over from there to here.”

  Yes, there certainly is a bridge in this sermon. But Paul didn’t build it. He pointed people to the Man appointed by God, the One and Only who has ever bridged the gap from death to life.

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24

  In 1963 MLK Jr. declared his dream of racial justice and harmony. From the Bible we know that racism, like every other sin, will only be fully and completely eradicated in heaven. There the great diversity of people from every nation, tribe and tongue will bring great glory to God as the One and Only Lord of all peoples. Nevertheless MLK had a good dream, and it is perfectly Biblical to dream dreams like his. Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven [emphasis added].” On the one hand we don’t let our hope rest in this ugly, fallen world, because we set our eyes solely on the treasure of heaven. But on the other hand we do pray and work and dream for more of heaven to come to earth.

  MLK Jr. had a good dream. And I have a dream too. A good one. My dream is a beautiful picture that plays clearly in my mind every day, and I certainly didn’t make it up. It was inspired by real life history.

[T]hey began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Acts 2:45

For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. Acts 4:34-35

I have a dream of upper class, middle class, and even lower class American Christians voluntarily choosing a lower standard of living, joyfully sacrificing and doing without things that our culture deems as “necessary” for the sake of pouring our wealth into eternal-valued investments like feeding the poor and spreading the gospel to unreached nations. (Oh yes, feeding starving bellies does have eternal value, despite the claims of some people to the contrary. Perhaps we can look more into that topic another time; for now I’ll just mention Matthew 25.)

  Vague dreams are usually weak, and weak dreams are usually vague. MLK Jr.’s dream was powerful enough in his soul to fill him with specific images of former slaves and slave owners sitting together on the “red hills of Georgia”. He heard freedom ringing from “the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire”, “the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania”, “the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado”, and “the curvaceous slopes of California”, not to mention Lookout Mountain of Tennessee, and “every hill and molehill of Mississippi”.

  My dream, while not punctuated by such colorful adjectives, is equally clear, crisp, and specific. I have a dream of suburbian home owners downsizing to one or two bedroom homes, renting the basement in someone else’s home, moving into trailer parks or inexpensive inner city areas, and all of this in order to divert former mortgage payments towards humanitarian causes. The interest paid on a standard thirty year mortgage is approximately the same as the value of the house itself. Depending on where you live, that can be $100,000 to a quarter-million to a half-million dollars for a “middle class” home! Wow, how many missionaries could be supported and how many children crying from hunger could be fed with a quarter-million dollars over the next thirty years! What a wonderful dream!

  I have a dream of overflowing and abundant joy in Christ causing His disciples to say, “Hey, I don’t need that new technological gadget to play with, or that fancy piece of fabric to stick on my body, or that extra CD to add to my bulging collection. But hey, wouldn’t it be great to send money to rescue children forced into prostitution in Thailand, or to help families whose homes were destroyed in Darfur, or to support my local homeless shelter and crisis pregnancy clinic, or to help the wife of a martyred native evangelist in India, or to supply Zambian pastors with Bibles,… .” Wow, now that’s more like the kind of “shopping” I could get excited about. Isn’t it a great dream?

  I have a dream of Christian congregations voluntarily giving up their piece of real estate and channeling that massive monthly budget entirely into Word and people ministries. Where would the church meet? Good question. I don’t know that answer to that in all circumstances, but I do know that the body of Christ is full of very creative and resourceful members! I also know that Jesus spoke to 5,000 people (the size of a small/moderate megachurch) on a mountain/hillside without electronic amplifiers. How does that work? I don’t know, but I have a dream of congregations working and thinking hard to figure it out.

  I’m not saying that it is a sin to have a church building, I’m not saying that it is sin to live in a middle class suburbian house, and I’m not saying that it is sin to buy things at the mall. But those things certainly aren’t required for godly living. At best they are optional. So what I’m saying is that I have a dream. A dream about choices being made, not grudgingly or under compulsion, but from purposeful and cheerful hearts.

  See, the thing is, Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. And everything that Jesus says is true, because He is the Truth. I hope, dear affluent reader, that you won’t read about my dream and hear me pointing a finger of condemnation at you. All of us, including those who would call themselves poor, are certainly guilty of greed and gluttony to at least some extent, and that does demand repentance. But that is not what I’m going after right now. Law and conviction of sin have their place, but they alone have to power to fuel a transformed life. Christ, His cross, and His Spirit whom we receive when we trust in His gospel are the power for godly living.

  Look at the context of the two passages from Acts that I quoted above. Both of them follow immediately after words of gospel proclamation (in the form of preaching and prayer, respectively). Oh how futile and hopeless is my dream if it doesn’t flow from an overwhelming sense of awe and delight in Christ.

  The King of Kings has pardoned my guilt and granted me the gift of eternal fellowship with Him. We will dance on the streets that are golden. We will cast our crowns along the glassy sea. We will eat the healing leaves of the tree of life that grows along both sides of the river. Why would I want a video game or a Gucci armband? I’ve got all I need for eternity, and by God’s grace I even have three hearty, solid meals a day on top of it; let the money go to somebody who actually needs it!

  In my dream the recipients of the money aren’t the greatest beneficiaries, because Jesus is right when He says that it is more blessed to give than to receive. My dream is about much more than money itself. I have a dream of renewed spiritual vitality, long since choked out by the thorny “American dream” of success and prosperity (Matt 13:22). I have a dream of sleepy American evangelicalism being set free from the bondage of maintaining property and possessions, and even, by God’s grace, I have a dream of experiencing the kind of Christianity that I have read about in Holy Scripture:

And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:46-47

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the apostles’ feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need. Acts 4:32-35

  The church in Acts was not perfect. Oh no, no, no, no. Not by a long shot. But I dare say, there was a passion there unlike anything most of us have ever seen today. What happened? Well, I can’t claim to have a complete, authoritative answer. But I do see a principle in Scripture that wealth suffocates spiritual zeal (e.g. Matt 13:22, Mk 10:21-23, Rev 3:15-17). I have a dream of a church that casts off the burden of earthly possessions, and catches the fresh gust of wind that disciples were breathing long ago.

  Don’t you love the book of Acts? I sure do. My interest in writing theological essays started 11 years ago with “What Revival Means to Me.” Here’s the summarized version:

What Revival Means to Me: See the Book of Acts

Since then I wrote Remember, The Pursuit of Maximum Pleasure, and Our Need Runs Deep. Here’s the upshot:

Acts, wow!

  I’m a bit embarrassed to go back and read those writings because of my amateurish writing style in the way that I express certain things (from that time until now). But I still keep them posted on the internet for the world to see. Why? Because I’m not ashamed of the basic content and core message. I’m not ashamed of the perspective that some people will call “youthful idealism.” The last eleven years of life, world travel, getting married, having two children, facing profound disappointments in myself, and facing profound disappointments in the church haven’t kicked out of me the so-called “idealism” that God (I believe) infuses deep into my soul every time I read that book or even short passages from it.

  I’m putting the word “idealism” in quotes because I don’t believe that my perspective towards Acts as expressed in the above papers really is idealistic (as opposed to realistic). I know with certainty that the church of Christ will remain oh so far from perfect this side of heaven. I know with certainty that the first century church was full of heresy and gross immorality. I know with certainty that periods of revival have not only excited people’s holy affections, but have been times of horrendous evil as well. I reject over-realized eschatologies. I recognize that many of the New Testament epistles were written precisely because of the fact that the churches had so many problems. But even still, oh friend please hear this, even still I insist: there is a massive difference between them (the church of Acts) and us.

  Of course I am not the only one who feels “fired up” when I read the book of Acts. You probably do too, dear reader, assuming that you also have the fiery Holy Spirit of God living in you. I know a lot of people, especially young Christians who haven’t yet been taught how to water down the Scriptures, feel the Holy Spirit stirring in them when they read about the awe (Gr. fear) and the passionate zeal that filled the church after Christ’s ascension.

  But then along come the passion quenchers with their fire hoses. One of their main tools is the following logical fallacy: the church today is imperfect but the New Testament church was imperfect too, so in fact we are not so different from them. In mathematical terms, their argument goes something like this (with: X = The church of Acts, Y = The church today, and Z = Perfection):

X does not equal Z

Y does not equal Z

Therefore X = Y

Wrong! If you were to write something like that in one of my math classes you would be headed for an F. The hypotheses in this case are absolutely correct. But the conclusion does not logically follow and in this case is not at all true.

  You can find the church today in the Bible, but not so much in Acts. Look instead to Revelation:

I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance… But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place — unless you repent. Rev 2:4-5

I believe that Acts is in the inspired canon, not so that we might point to it and say, “Oh that looks so much like us!” But rather so that God would have something to point to when He says, “Remember the height from which you have fallen.”

  The genre of Acts is history. It really happened. IN THIS WORLD. THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN. The church at large was far from perfect both in terms of orthodoxy and orthopraxy. But it was also a time of great love for God, celebratory wonder in the coming of Messiah, and unspeakable fullness of joy in the Holy Spirit which overflowed in sacrificial love for fellow man. And Jesus commands us, to the extent that we have left our first love, to look back, remember, repent, and do the deeds that the church His bride did at first.