Quote of the day

“Lovers are always talking to one another about their love; friends hardly ever about their friendship. Lovers are normally face to face, absorbed in each other; Friends, side by side, absorbed in some common interest” (Lewis, The Four Loves, emphasis added).

Unequally equal?

I’ve been thinking for a while about equality in the Church. I guess it’s finally time to share some of these thoughts with you.

Most everyone would agree that there exists, at least in theory, equality among Christians. After all, we all have been given equal access to God through Christ. There is no longer a special class of people having access to God, but every believer can go directly into God’s very presence through of Christ. Furthermore, believers have each been given spiritual gifts to serve God. Therefore, each is equally a minister and servant of God.

In light of such equality, one righly wonders if there remains any inequality among believers. As shocking as it may sound, I think that there remains significant, God-ordained inequality. Failure to understand this inequality leads to all sorts of misunderstandings and faulty practice. Only when the church understands its inequalities will it rightly be able to serve and function as a unified whole.

So are there inequalities in the body? While there is an incredible equality of status as God’s saved and serving priests, there remains an altogether different kind of inequality. For each is a priest, but each has a a different gift. Some seem to have a whole plethora of giftings, while others seem to have one small gift that often goes unnoticed and unappreciated. In other cases, some share the same gift, but in different measures. Though they share the same capability, one seems to excel far beyond the other in the exercise and use of that same gift.

What then do we make of such seeming inequality, especially of gifting, among beleivers? Do we deny that inequality exists? I think this is the wrong response. To echo the words of C.S. Lewis in his speech on “Membership,” “Artificial equality is necessary in the life of the State, but in the Church we strip off this disguise, we recover our real inequalities, and are thereby refreshed and quickened.”

I think that the Church, in responding to such inequality, has made some false assumptions. The fatal assumption is that the highly gifted should do the majority of the ministry, while the less gifted should take the back seat, and become spectators. The highly gifted, then, end up accumulating more and more responsibility, leaving less and less for the other believers to do. It is easy to understand how such an error was made. After all, wouldn’t it be logical to assume that the most highly gifted should do most of the ministry? Sadly, I think in our ultra-technological age we are beginning to see the tragic consequences of such a flawed assumption. Now the super-gifted do not merely accumulate the ministry within the four walls of a local congregation. Rather, we find that now the most gifted pastors and Christian speakers are not merely confined to their own congregations, but are projected live via satellite to numerous locations throughout the country. If such a practice continues, we could very soon find that five or six super-gifted believers do all this type of ministry for those of us who have an average or sub average gifting in this area.

So it seems, then, that although there remains inequality among beleivers, this does not mean that the most gifted should take on more and more of the work. What is the proper response, then, to such inequality? I think the solution is quite simple. Allow the less gifted a chance to exercise their gifting. There will always be someone more qualified, more gifted, more experienced, more capable. But maybe, just maybe, God delights in using the unlikely, the weak, the bumbling, the foolish. Perhaps it is not about always having the polished delivery, the best, most state of the art, most professional. Perhaps God delights to use those who don’t have their act together, who are still beset with weakness and struggles. Wasn’t it the apostle Paul who talked about God using cracked pots so that the glory would go to the contents, rather than the vessel?

Perhaps Paul had this idea in mind when he wrote, “On the contrary! Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indespensible, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor” (1 Cor 12:22).

For some reason, God delights to entrust his magnificent gospel to us weak, foolish human beings. Why would he do that? Perhaps, whatever the answer is to that question, it is the for the same reason that he delights to equally use the unequally gifted.

Let us not pretend that all possess the same measure of gifting. But let us also avoid the mistake of thinking that the most gifted must do the most service, for God delights to use the foolish to shame the wise.

Only a catechumen

In his Confessions, Augustine states, “In my mother’s breast you had already begun to build your temple and the foundation of your holy habitation – whereas my father was only a catechumen, and that but recently. She was, therefore, startled with a holy fear and trembling” (21, emphasis added).

I don’t mean to be nit-picky, but I find Augistine’s statement here about catechumens interesting. He seems to contrast the work of salvation begun in his mother with the unsaved state of his Father. Perhaps this is due to Augustine’s view of baptism, but even still, a catechumen was one learning the fundamental teachings of the faith in preparation for baptism. Doesn’t it seem odd that he would expect a sinful temperament in his soon to be baptized father?

Speak for yourself

I’ve been thinking about this verse today, so I thought I’d share it with you.

“He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth” (NIV, Jn 7:18).

My personal prayer is that when I speak, I will do so to honor Him, and not myself.

(funny) Quote of the day

“Some people like to read their Bible in Greek,
Some people like to read their Bible in Hebrew;
I like to read mine in the Holy Ghost.”

What a waste

The newspaper reported yesterday that as the economy recedes, so does a persons daily garbage output. So, before the recession, the average North Carolinian threw out about 2250 pounds of trash per year, as opposed to the current 2,000 pounds. Some simple math tells us that you and I throw out about 5.5 pounds of trash a day now. This is hard to believe, but tells me that we as Americans still have a lot of stuff. Personally, it is a very convicting reminder that I live in a land of superabundance, and am deliberately to seek to give to those less fortunate, to those who cannot even imagine having 5.5 pounds of anything to throw out a day.

fortune statistic?

I was faced with a dilemma yesterday after lunch; should I choose the fortune cookie in my left hand or right hand? Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but after all, it really is. It is all the difference between openning the cookie with the message destined for me and handing the right one to my wife. I don’t want to open hers, and have her open my fortune cookie. So I chose the one in my right hand, it felt a little heavier. What was my result? I found this message inside:

“42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.”

Is that even a fortune? So of course now I’m spending the rest of the day wondering if this statistic on my fortune cookie was also made up on the spot.

HJ’s said “You have a curious smile and a mysterious nature.”

True, but I didn’t need a fortune cookie to tell me that. In my opinion, fortune cookies are supposed to have those vague, ambiguous predictions that could come true for anyone, like “you are about to make an important decision.”

Small Group

Our small group started back up last night after a lull for the holidays. Jonathan and Lauren are graciously hosting the meetings in their home. The discussion last night focused on the purpose and goal of our small group. We all agreed that there is something very special about meeting in one anothers homes and allowing time for such fellowship. That’s why in addition to having prayer, study, and accountability each week, Jonathan wants to allow time just to hang out and get to know each other. Meeting with each other during the week, having some unregimented time together, and encouraging one another… who knows, God may even use such a meeting to draw others to himself!

Definition?

As many of you are aware, words often carry more than one meaning. This can make translation a difficult task. For a great example of this, check out all the possible definitions of the word “solvere” here. This website is also a useful tool worth adding to your favorites.

confessions

I have a confession, this is my first time to read Augustine’s Confessions. For months the book has silently but persistently beckoned to be read as it gathered dust on my shelf. Last night I finally gave in and began it. I am amazed at how saturated the book is by quotes, allusions, and references to Scripture. The edition I have footnotes such references, but misses quite a few.

I found this honest prayer last night from the book very uplifting:

“The house of my soul is too narrow for you to come in to me; let it be enlarged by you. It is in ruins; restore it. There is much about it which must offend your eyes; I confess and know it. Cleanse me from my secret faults.”