"Set apart for the gospel of God,"
Once we are slaves of the Messiah and celled to be apostles, we are intrinsically different from those around us. The third thing that Paul tells us is that he is specially separated out in order to be an emissary, a delegate of the gospel. The word for "set apart" means that he is marked off by boundaries, separated, appointed. Limited, even.
We've already talked about how God's people are "bond-servants". Remember, we have a hole punched in our ear. Everyone knows that we're different. Or at least they should.
Like the best friend tells every superhero, we are "special". Chosen. Our spiritual DNA has mutated and we now have access to a greater power than we ever imagined. We're no longer one of the general populace, but rather a unique breed. "A chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." But though a superhero chooses to hide his identity to protect himself from the onslaught of villains, our enemy already knows our real identity and will attack us in any way possible. Let's not fool ourselves by thinking that if we hide from everyone else, our enemy will be deceived as well.
Most times, the superhero is likened to Christ. But for a moment, let's continue to draw the comparison with us. While the average superhero has been changed through no choosing of his own, he does make the choice to use his newfound abilities of the greater Good. Likewise, we can be the "dead man walking", OR we can use the power of salvation to be a witness for God.
But beware. The superhero uses his power to fight evil. We must use it to promote Good. It's not the same thing. Rarely do you see a superhero praising a citizen's actions or encouraging those around him to follow in his steps and fight evil as well. Rather, he swoops in, cleans up the mess, and vanishes.
We don't have the luxury of being the superhero. We have to stick around. We have to take care of the citizens. We're the ones that must convince them that they can be superheroes too.
But here's the catch: We have to live in a way that makes them WANT to.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Romans 1:1 (Take 2)
“Called to be an apostle”
These days, we don't begin our letters with identifying the writer. We begin with the recipient. I like the Paul way of doing it. I especially like what he does here because he says his name, and then the three things that people need to know about him. First, that he is a bondservant of Jesus. We already talked about that.
Second, he mentions that he is “called to be an apostle”. This is a word that has become almost exclusively biblical. The Complete Jewish Bible uses the word “emissary” and the word actually means “messenger”. Back in the day, countries used to send emissaries to foreign lands bearing gifts to represent the king of the sending land and open up trade or alliances. So essentially, if we're apostles, that means that we are ambassadors to the world (sometimes the Bible refers to Christians as “strangers” and “foreigners”). God's given us gifts that help us serve each other and be a witness of good tidings to those that don't know God. Because remember, God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9).
I've heard it said that there are no more “apostles” today- that the men in the New Testament are it. I'm not sure I believe this- aren't we all messengers, emissaries, missionaries to a world separated from God? If so, then we're apostles. What message are we bringing?
From a world's perspective, it's not a good one. The message that the world sees from the church as a whole (if translated into ambassador-type language) would be something like this:
So, obviously, I addressed this from an ultra-conservative viewpoint (I could just as easily have come from a more liberal stance, but the conservative lends itself so much better). And I freely admit that not everyone is like that. But honestly, that's how the church is viewed- more as some kind of freak religious nut-case sect. Even Ghandhi said that if Christians were as loving as the Bible told them to be, he'd become a Christian.
Remember from my last note how we go out into the world tacitly broadcasting our fulfillment? Well, now we have to live it. Once everyone knows that we're foreigners-- strangers from another land-- they're going to be watching every move we make to see if this is a place and a King they want to hook up with. So if we're called to be apostles, we darn sure better live it.
These days, we don't begin our letters with identifying the writer. We begin with the recipient. I like the Paul way of doing it. I especially like what he does here because he says his name, and then the three things that people need to know about him. First, that he is a bondservant of Jesus. We already talked about that.
Second, he mentions that he is “called to be an apostle”. This is a word that has become almost exclusively biblical. The Complete Jewish Bible uses the word “emissary” and the word actually means “messenger”. Back in the day, countries used to send emissaries to foreign lands bearing gifts to represent the king of the sending land and open up trade or alliances. So essentially, if we're apostles, that means that we are ambassadors to the world (sometimes the Bible refers to Christians as “strangers” and “foreigners”). God's given us gifts that help us serve each other and be a witness of good tidings to those that don't know God. Because remember, God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9).
I've heard it said that there are no more “apostles” today- that the men in the New Testament are it. I'm not sure I believe this- aren't we all messengers, emissaries, missionaries to a world separated from God? If so, then we're apostles. What message are we bringing?
From a world's perspective, it's not a good one. The message that the world sees from the church as a whole (if translated into ambassador-type language) would be something like this:
“Hey, I'm from this awesome place. It makes me really happy to be there and I'd like to invite you. Oh, except all those things that you enjoy doing? Yeah, you're gonna have to stop before you come, because people won't really talk to you if you do those things. And you might want to wear a tie. Jeans are a bit casual, don't you think?
“Yeah, and actually, once you join my particular group, you're going to have to stick with us, because we really don't like or get along with the other groups. Actually, sometimes we don't even acknowledge that the other groups (we call them denominations) are even from the same place. We don't talk to them, we make fun of them, and generally hate each other.
“But we're very friendly and welcoming! We'd love to have you, so long as you abandon your current lifestyle, friends, and habit, and fully subscribe to ours.”
So, obviously, I addressed this from an ultra-conservative viewpoint (I could just as easily have come from a more liberal stance, but the conservative lends itself so much better). And I freely admit that not everyone is like that. But honestly, that's how the church is viewed- more as some kind of freak religious nut-case sect. Even Ghandhi said that if Christians were as loving as the Bible told them to be, he'd become a Christian.
Remember from my last note how we go out into the world tacitly broadcasting our fulfillment? Well, now we have to live it. Once everyone knows that we're foreigners-- strangers from another land-- they're going to be watching every move we make to see if this is a place and a King they want to hook up with. So if we're called to be apostles, we darn sure better live it.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Romans 1:1
The book of Romans is a basic introduction to the Gospel. It is a step-by-step representation of our basic spiritual state, our fallen nature, our need for a savior. It goes on, though, to present the whole of the Gospel- everything from Christ to how to live day by day. This is how we should approach Romans. And this is how Paul begins:
v. 1. "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus..."
-In most cases, when Paul says "servant", the term is a shout out to the idea of the "bondservant" in the Jewish system, which we can see in Deuteronomy 15:17. The idea is that when you set a slave free but you've been good to him and he wants to stay, he will tell you that he loves you. You then lean him up against a door and drive an awl (pretty much a long metal spike) through his ear. Forever and wherever he goes, he will be segregated from the other servants and slaves by the hole in his ear. Everyone will know that he has chosen to work for his master.
That's what Paul is saying when he calls himself a "servant". It means he's chosen that life- he's bonded himself to Jesus.
I think that's how I should be. I have to remember what Jesus did for me and how good He's been to me. And then, no matter what, I really can't see any other option than to choose to live for Him in everything I do.
But I also need to think about the intense commitment I'm making. Since I've been doing a lot of thinking about marriage, I have to liken my commitment to Christ to that. When we say we're bondservants of Jesus, we're also saying, "Hey, mark me. Punch a hole in my ear. So that everyone will know I serve you." Later, it talks about being circumcised and what that means. I won't get into it now, but the point is that people who see you should know what you've chosen. I think a lot of Christians like to hide behind their humanity. It's like the default state is human. We feel like we're undercover. Like we know something others don't. And we do know something others don't. But should we really be hiding that? Should we be bolstering our pride with our salvation when really we should be offering it to everyone around. And everyone should know we have a secret.
Okay, imagine it like this:
Say you're a homeless man. You happen to know this really great place to get awesome gourmet food and designer clothes all the time. You go to the place and there's other homeless people there also living off this awesome source of stuff. You guys hang out only at that place and you just kind of acknowledge each other if you pass on the street. But when you do walk around on the street, you put your ratty old plaid suit jacket and your stained slacks and your nearly-destroyed Reeboks back on, you tousle your hair, and make sure that you look like you never found a cool place to begin with. Then you see the other homeless guys that don't know about your place, and inwardly you think, "Gosh, what losers. My life is so much better than theirs."
But is it really? Now, I know most Christians don't do this consciously. They don't think that unsaved people are losers for the most part. In fact, maybe they think that non-Christians are cool.
And then, while everyone around us is working so hard to hide their inner misery, we're working equally hard to hide our inner fulfillment, to look like the rest of them. When really, they should look at us and go, "Hey, check out that guy. He's found a master that is worth serving. Gosh, I wish I had a cool master like that."
Paul proclaims it in the first sentence of almost all his letters. How are we proclaiming it?
I promise in the future, I'll cover more than a fraction of a verse.
v. 1. "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus..."
-In most cases, when Paul says "servant", the term is a shout out to the idea of the "bondservant" in the Jewish system, which we can see in Deuteronomy 15:17. The idea is that when you set a slave free but you've been good to him and he wants to stay, he will tell you that he loves you. You then lean him up against a door and drive an awl (pretty much a long metal spike) through his ear. Forever and wherever he goes, he will be segregated from the other servants and slaves by the hole in his ear. Everyone will know that he has chosen to work for his master.
That's what Paul is saying when he calls himself a "servant". It means he's chosen that life- he's bonded himself to Jesus.
I think that's how I should be. I have to remember what Jesus did for me and how good He's been to me. And then, no matter what, I really can't see any other option than to choose to live for Him in everything I do.
But I also need to think about the intense commitment I'm making. Since I've been doing a lot of thinking about marriage, I have to liken my commitment to Christ to that. When we say we're bondservants of Jesus, we're also saying, "Hey, mark me. Punch a hole in my ear. So that everyone will know I serve you." Later, it talks about being circumcised and what that means. I won't get into it now, but the point is that people who see you should know what you've chosen. I think a lot of Christians like to hide behind their humanity. It's like the default state is human. We feel like we're undercover. Like we know something others don't. And we do know something others don't. But should we really be hiding that? Should we be bolstering our pride with our salvation when really we should be offering it to everyone around. And everyone should know we have a secret.
Okay, imagine it like this:
Say you're a homeless man. You happen to know this really great place to get awesome gourmet food and designer clothes all the time. You go to the place and there's other homeless people there also living off this awesome source of stuff. You guys hang out only at that place and you just kind of acknowledge each other if you pass on the street. But when you do walk around on the street, you put your ratty old plaid suit jacket and your stained slacks and your nearly-destroyed Reeboks back on, you tousle your hair, and make sure that you look like you never found a cool place to begin with. Then you see the other homeless guys that don't know about your place, and inwardly you think, "Gosh, what losers. My life is so much better than theirs."
But is it really? Now, I know most Christians don't do this consciously. They don't think that unsaved people are losers for the most part. In fact, maybe they think that non-Christians are cool.
And then, while everyone around us is working so hard to hide their inner misery, we're working equally hard to hide our inner fulfillment, to look like the rest of them. When really, they should look at us and go, "Hey, check out that guy. He's found a master that is worth serving. Gosh, I wish I had a cool master like that."
Paul proclaims it in the first sentence of almost all his letters. How are we proclaiming it?
I promise in the future, I'll cover more than a fraction of a verse.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
What This Is
Okay, so I listened to Romans today on my Audio Bible and I realized that there's really a lot of great stuff in there and that I should write some of it down. And since I'm lousy at keeping up a Bible Study, posting it on here should help me because I like getting feedback! So here we go!
P.S. I'll be using mostly the English Standard Version, but might switch occasionally. I'll let you know when I do.
P.S. I'll be using mostly the English Standard Version, but might switch occasionally. I'll let you know when I do.
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